The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The quick version

Arthur Dent is at home, in his dressing gown, doing nothing of consequence, when planet Earth is destroyed to make way for a new interstellar highway.  Well it's no use complaining now, the aliens inform them before blasting Earth to smithereens, because the planning application has been in their local galactic council chambers for several months now!  Suddenly homeless and with only a few friends, a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and a towel to his name, Arthur begins his journey across the universe...

The Guide, with it's first piece of advice printed on the cover

Firefly

The quick version

I have two words for you:  Space Cowboys.

via LadyRedDarkness on deviantart

NO.  Not like that.

Closer, but still no.  Oh, Cowboy Bebop, you glorious thing.  We'll get to you eventually.

Ah.  Here we are...

In 2002, Joss Whedon (who brought us 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and, more recently the blockbuster movie 'Avengers Assemble') created a show called 'Firefly'.  Only 13 episodes were made and only 11 shown before it was cancelled by FOX television.  Yet this short run of less than 3 months produced a fanbase that's as die-hard now as it was 10 years ago.

So what was this 'Firefly' thing about anyway?

Harry Potter

The quick version

There is this kid called Harry Potter.  Turns out he's a wizard!  Who knew?!  And he's not just any wizard, but the wizard that some other evil wizard with no nose accidentally magicked into his own arch nemesis.  Oops!  Harry may be the only person on the planet with a chance of beating this evil noseless dude.  And he's 11 years old when he learns this.  Sucks to be you, Harry.

The Lord of the Rings

The quick version

With Lord of the Rings you need to understand something: There is no quick version.  JRR Tolkien’s work is a saga of epic scale and proportion, making it the original realm of modern geekdom. Nevertheless I’m going to try.  In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit...

Star Trek

The quick version

In the 23^rd century a Federation of 150 planets, human and non-human, exists in a state of liberal democracy.  Starfleet, the organisation in charge of peace-keeping and exploration in space, regularly sends its starships on missions of discovery.  The USS Enterprise is one of these.  She looks a bit like a massive rocket-powered frisbee.

Star Wars

The quick version

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... the tyrannical Empire has most of the planets in the galaxy under it's control.  A small group of under-resourced rebels are battling to end this reign of fear and dictatorship while the Empire attempts to wipe them out in return.  In particular we focus on three of them; Princess Leia Organa, whose family has a long involvement in the Rebellion, Han Solo, a mercenary who gets involved by accident, and Luke Skywalker, an eager and talented young pilot from a backwater planet.

As well as fighting for the Rebllion, Luke learns from an enigmatic old man that he, like the fabled Jedi, has the ability to connect with and use the Force.  This is a mystical energy or life force that permeates the fabric of the universe and ties everything in it together.  Certain people are hyper-sensitive to this energy and can tap into the Force and use it to give them almost supernatural awareness and abilities, including Luke, the Emporer himself, and his sinister lacky Darth Vader.  We follow Luke and the others on their adventures as they fight to restore freedom to the galaxy.

Geeks. What are they and why are they so weird?

The word 'geek' can be a positive or negative term depending on who's using it and why, but basically geekery is a subculture.  Geeks are unusual in that they are extremely enthusiastic about something that mainstream culture suggests isn't 'cool' or a worthwhile pursuit.  Their ability to immerse themselves in a subject that most people consider inconsequential or silly and take it completely seriously is what makes them a geek.  You can be geeky about almost anything, but the usual areas you see this in are popular culture and technology (although techno-geeks often evolve into nerds due to the amount of time this pursuit demands from them.  Let me explain...)