Gear for a Geeky Memorial Day and an Awesome Summer!

Get Your Name on the Wall of the Geek House!

Before we get into it, I have a BIG announcement. And no, it’s not that I opened a burger joint. As you know, we’ve spent the last several months renovating the new Geek House. We’re just a few weeks away from the first phase of construction being done and getting our Certificate of Occupancy from the city. Which means we can get out of the leased office and stop paying both rent AND a mortgage! Which will be nice. But it doesn’t mean we’re done! We will still have a lot of stuff to be done once we’re in the building, and by that I mean some really awesome super secret stuff we’ve told no one about!

You guys keep asking how you can help support us in our efforts to make this building Geek Heaven! The coolest, high tech, drool-worthy building in the world! So we came up with an idea for getting YOUR name on the Geek House Supporter Wall of Fame, to live there for all eternity! John P. designed an artistic wall that will be made up of four different sized plaques. The bigger the plaque, the more you as a donor get to put on there. We have a mockup so you can get an idea for how it’ll look, and a special process in mind for making it an amazing WALL of art when it’s all said and done. This wall will be in the Lounge – the lobby area where EVERY single visitor walks into, displayed proudly for the world to see YOU, our Geek Beat family, the ones who are helping to defray the MASSIVE costs we have for the Geek House. The plaques range from $125 to $1,000, so you can choose which size and budget best fits you. Go to geekbeat.tv/fundraiser to learn more and you can help out by purchasing a plaque at geekbeat.tv/store. And might I say and early THANK YOU!

Happy Impending Summer Solstice!

Ooookay…. So it’s almost Memorial Day in the US – which means Summer is almost here (which, as every Geek knows coincides with the Summer Solstice… when the tilt of the earth’s semi-axis is most inclined toward the sun…. which of course gives us the day with the most sunlight of the year. In North America the Summer Solstice arrives on June 21st at 6:51 Eastern Time (or for those of you in the UK, 10:51 GMT). If you’re watching us from the Southern Hemisphere…like Chris Martin is, who just became a patron from Australia, thanks!…. you’ll have to wait until December 21st, so consider this a VERY early look at summer and enjoy your winter down under! Hehe! Wait…no, I… I wasn’t laughing AT you.

Anyway! For the rest of us in the Northern Hemisphere, here’s a Geek Beat Guide to some cool Summer Stuff you can find on Amazon.

Braven BRV-1 – $135

Let’s start with the water, where we’ve got two highly-rated wireless waterproof speakers for playing songs or audiobooks from your device of choice via Bluetooth: For $135, consider the Braven BRV-1. It’s got great battery life! (You can use it to charge up your cell phone, tablet, or MP3 player through its USB port, by the way!) It has great sound, survives encounters with water (and sand if you’re going to the beach) all in a fairly small form factor. John P. and I love this thing and take it out to the lake whenever we go out. Me on my paddleboard. Him on his hacked kayak.

Soundcast Melody – $450

But when we’re just lounging by the pool and are in highly relaxed or party mode, we want something a little bigger and louder. For that, there’s the Soundcast Melody, which gets high marks for its audio fidelity even when the amplifier is cranked all the way up. Like the Braven, the Soundcast Melody also has a long battery life and can withstand a little rain and getting drenched in water by @hollypoz’s father trying to do cannonballs! It’s bit bigger and definitely meant to impress at just under $450.

Super Soaker Switch Shot Blaster – $25

Okay, so since you’re going to be having summer parties by the pool or lake, let’s talk Super Soakers, shall we? If you’re planning a shoot-out, I recommend buying the $25 Super Soaker Switch Shot Blaster for your opponent. They’ll feel pretty confident thanks to its 20-ounce reservoir with detachable clips, which produce three streams of water with a 25 foot range…

Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow Soaker – $20

UNTIL you whip out your Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow Soaker with its 38 foot range and 40 ounce reservoir. I’m TOTALLY going to ambush John P with one of these! This is a three stream super soaker just like the Switch Shot Blaster (except it carries twice as much water and shoots it 13 feet further– ah… John will never know what hit him). The Tri Strike Crossbow Soaker sells for right around $20.

Grill Sergeant Bar-B-Que Apron – $15

Once you’ve humiliated your opponent in Super Soaker Close-Quarter Combat, consider strapping on a Grill Sergeant Bar-B-Que Apron with its camo design, multiple pockets for utensils, condiments, and spray bottle. At less than $15 it’s a bargain, AND for about five bucks more you can strap on a camo bandoleer of beer! Word to the wise: don’t try wearing this through a TSA checkpoint.

Bar B Que Branding Iron – $19

Bacon Hot Sauce – $9

And while John is looking forward to personalizing his patties with a $19 Bar B Que Branding Iron (that’s right, it brands your name on your steak) — I’ve got a much better suggestion for taking your burgers to the next level: For less than nine bucks you can crank up the heat AND the flavor with a bottle of BACON HOT SAUCE. How could you go wrong?!?