I have it on the best authority that the above was pretty much how it happened. Don’t believe me? Come along to London and find out. If you’re a bored geek in London then it’s time you moved out of your parent’s basement, stopped looking at the world through a computer screen, and took a great big dive into society. It’s not as scary as you think, not when there are so many others with similar interests and hobbies.

I used to live in Brisbane, Australia – a tiny city by pretty much anyone’s standards. Back then my idea of a big weekend was to have my neighbour over for a movie, maybe order a pizza. If we were really feeling in the mood to party there might be popcorn involved, but let’s not get too crazy now. Then I moved to England and a few days later found myself wandering lost and over-awed amid thousands of other geeks in Earl’s Court, the annual London Film and Comic Con. While there I met Claudia Black, saw Patrick Stewart (wasn’t game to meet him – now kicking myself), several from ‘Aliens’, ‘Indiana Jones’, and too many more to name. I wasn’t completely ignorant of the existence of these things called conventions, it’s just that back in Australia our big names were “The guy who played the father of the main guy in that show that isn’t very good.” Oh, and the car from ‘Dukes of Hazard’ – the crappy new version, not the potentially less crappy old series. Sci-fi, I’ve often said, is treated with nothing close to due deference in Australia, with most shows playing around midnight, if at all. Despite being filmed in Australia, the 4^th season of ‘Farscape’ has apparently never aired.

So I really didn’t know what I had coming for me when I moved to London.

At the aforementioned Film and Comic Con I was pounced upon s

omeone advertising a local sci-fi group. I was initially a little wary ‘cause I’d attempted assimilating into a fan group back in Brisbane and the few get togethers ever held bore a such stunning resemblance to the real life geek meeting shown in ‘The Guild’ that it made the idea of socialising with other geeks a bit of a scary one. (And for anyone who doesn’t get the Felicia Day reference, shame on you, go and complete your geek education by going to www.watchtheguild.com). But I gave it a go and have never looked back, the League of the Non Aligned (LOTNA) taking me under their wing and essentially becoming an instant group of friends.

What I want to do here is basically encourage others out there to embrace their inner geek and indulge in all manner of geekery (yes, it’s a word, I declare it to be so…). While the internet has its place, so much of life is missed out on if we spend our time in forums or podcasts. My social life now includes regular pub meets, live action role play, sci-fi themed stand up comedy, costumed ‘Away Teams’, fan-run conventions, sci-fi theatre (yes, it exists, I was surprised too), just to name a few. If there’s something sci-fi on in the city we’re usually all over it, and if there’s nothing on, we’ll make something.

If you like the sound of anything I post about here or in the future, I really encourage you to take a look at the following websites.

http://www.lotna.org.uk/

http://www.meetup.com/london-sci-fi

This is *not* an advertising page for LOTNA (although they are awesome and 99% of my greatest experiences come from being with them), but just a call to get geeks out in the world and having fun. There aren’t enough groups like LOTNA around so if you can take some inspiration from the shenanigans we get up to and start a similar group in your own city then that’s fantastic. LOTNA’s been going strong since 1998, so we must be doing something right.

(Photo credits to... erm... someone other than me)