This Week in Geek (3/2/2020–3/8/2020)

Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, March 2, to Sunday, March 8.

Uncle Hugo’s 46th-Anniversary Sale

What: Books, Community
When: Monday, March 2, through Sunday, March 8
Where: Uncle Hugo’s Science-Fiction Bookstore & Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore

Fans of genre literature in the Twin Cities should know of Uncle Hugo’s, a great old bookstore that’s existed since 1974. In order to celebrate that tenure, the shop is running a 46th-anniversary sale with 10% off of everything except gift certificates and discount cards. This is your chance to dig through the stacks and track down that one Fred Saberhagen book you were really looking for, or find something that surprises you from an new (or new to you) author.

Pre-K Mornings

What: Family, Educational, Science & Technology
When: Monday, March 2, at 9:00 a.m.
Where: The Works Museum

This morning full of special activities is designed to handle the rapidly expanding minds of some three- to five-year olds. This event will feature activities specifically designed for preschool-age children in order to spark critical thinking and interest in engineering for long-term growth. Kids get in for $4.25; adults for $9.

Twin Cities Monday Night Backgammon

What: Gaming
When: Monday, March 2, at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Mainstreet Bar & Grill (Hopkins)

Enjoy a night of backgammon with two tournaments. Entry to this event is $5, and this is a great chance for both pros and newcomers to learn this classic game of strategy which has informed game design for centuries. It’s also a great chance to meet new folks.

Earthseed Reads: Beloved

What: Books
When: Tuesday, March 3, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Moon Palace Books

This monthly event, hosted by Erin Sharkey and Junauda Petrus of Free Black Dirt, will bring fun discussion of a different afro-futuristic book each month. The focus of this month’s event is Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel Beloved, an award-winning novel set in the aftermath of the Civil War, highlighting motherhood, the aftereffects of slavery, family, and manhood.

Pokémon GO Trainer Tuesdays at Parkway Pizza

What: Gaming, Food & Drink
When: Tuesday, March 3, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Parkway Pizza

A trainer strives to catch them all, and gain prowess and respect. This weekly event at Parkway Pizza is an opportunity to catch fun drink and food specials, meet other aspiring trainers, and square off against worthy opponents to win status and power. You can and will win, even if winning may just mean having a good time meeting other pocket-monster fans.

Chris Kluwe Presents Otaku

What: Books
When: Tuesday, March 3, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Magers & Quinn Booksellers

Chris Kluwe, a former NFL player and geek icon, will be at Magers & Quinn Booksellers to present his new novel, Otaku. The novel focuses on a young woman living in Ditchtown (former Miami), and trying to cope with loss and young men who want to control her while excelling at a virtual-reality game. Chris Kluwe received wide attention for a TED talk about augmented and virtual reality, so it’s likely that he comes at this from an informed perspective.

Tape Freaks March

What: Movies
When: Wednesday, March 4, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Trylon Cinema

Tape Freaks, a local cinema group focused on mystery VHS-era films, will focus on the theme of “Cats” for the month of March. As with every Tape Freaks event, you will not be aware of what is coming until the film begins, so prepare for a fun surprise. Tickets are $5.

First Thursday Films: We Are the Radical Monarchs

What: Movies, Educational, Music
When: Thursday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: North Community High School

First Thursday Films, a screening and speaking series at the North Community High School, will be showing We Are the Radical Monarchs, a film focused on community organizers Anayvette Martinez’s and Marilyn Hollinquest’s attempt to create lasting change in the face of gentrification, police brutality, and media attacks. Tickets are $5.

Fantastic Fest Presents: Extra Ordinary

What: Movies
When: Friday, March 6, through Thursday, March 12; various showtimes
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Twin Cities

Fantastic Fest, the largest horror/fantasy/sci-fi/awesome film festival in the US, continues its partnership with the Alamo Drafthouse with Extra Ordinary. The film stars Will Forte, and focuses on the story of an Irish driving instructor facing off against a washed-up rock star and his pact with Satan. This film promises Irish wit, goopy gore, and fun. Tickets are $13.

Human Combat Chess

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Friday, March 6, through Sunday, March 8; various times
Where: Christ Church Lutheran

As geeks, we seem to be drawn to imaginary sports such as quidditch, zero-g laser tag, brutal blood sports involving child tributes, and podracing, so come and see the greatest sport that never was: Human Combat Chess. This game looks like chess on the surface, but unlike chess, the results of moves are not certain and come down to choreographed fights between the human pieces involved. See website for ticketing and times.

VGM Con 2020: Video Games and Music Convention

What: Music, Gaming, Conventions
When: Friday, March 6, through Sunday, March 8
Where: Minneapolis Sheraton West

Were some of your earliest and strongest musical memories formed through video games? Do you find yourself fascinated with the way that music can be used to enhance the interactive storytelling of games? Then this is the convention for you. This convention brings the worlds of music and video games together for a weekend of fun and learning. Expect panels, workshops, and more, all focused on the ways that video games and music might come together. Tickets start at roughly $50 after fees.

Twin Cities Comic and Toy Expo

What: Comics, Community
When: Saturday, March 7, at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Bloomington Eagles #3208

See a vast panoply of toys and comics at this expo held at the Bloomington Eagles. This is your chance to find something truly special among the thousands of selections available. Admission to this event is free.

United Geeks of Gaming Open Gaming

What: Gaming, Meetup
When: Saturday, March 7, at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Fantasy Flight Games

The Geek Partnership Society’s United Geeks of Gaming group offers its open-gaming session, to which gamers of all ages and abilities are invited to “spend the day hanging out with fellow geeks playing, learning, and teaching games.” Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite board games, card games, and role-playing games, but the group has amassed an impressive library of its own games as well.

Fairywing Forest Workshop

What: Arts, Educational, Family
When: Saturday, March 7, at 11:00 a.m.
Where: Shakopee Public Library

This is the first 2020 Fairywing Forest workshop, a place to learn the ropes of being a fairy at the Renaissance Festival. The group will be meeting in a large meeting room in the library on the first floor. RSVP via the email provided in the Facebook event. This is a great place to play and learn!

Minneapolis Dungeon Crawl Classics Society: Sour Spring Hollow

What: Gaming
When: Saturday, March 7, at 2:30 p.m.
Where: Tower Games

The Minneapolis DCC Society is a group dedicated to running Dungeon Crawl Classics (think of rules like modern D&D, but deadly, wacky, and with a strong inspiration from the pulp literature that inspired old D&D) and other old-school tabletop role-playing games. The group runs regularly at Con of the North, and due to popular demand has begun offering other games. This month, Judge Gary will be running the popular Sour Spring Hollow module for some deadly fun, with the possibility of overflow to another scenario, Nebin Pendlebrook’s Perilous Pantry.

Weekly Comics Chat

What: Comics, Meetup
When: Saturday, March 7, at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Midtown Global Market

The Girls Only Comic Club hosts a Weekly Comics Chat on Saturday afternoons where there will be shared opinions, drinks, and fries for comics fans. Additional information about this event is posted on the Girls Only Comic Club’s Facebook group. Individuals interested in attending are encouraged to join.

BockBier Fest

What: Food & Drink, Nightlife
When: Saturday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota (St. Paul)

Enjoy a night of dancing, drinking, and music at the second-annual BockBier Fest. Enjoy a variety of local beers (August Schells, Utepils, Summit, and Waldmann), and music by Alpensterne, Bratwurst, and Brez’n(pretzels). This is a great way to connect to central-European culture through food, drink, and dance. Tickets are $15 for attendees over 21 (and comes with a drink ticket), and $7 for those under 21 (and comes with one non-alcoholic beverage).

Minnesota Comic Book Convention

What: Comics
When: Sunday, March 8, at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Doubletree Hilton by St. Paul East

This comic book convention is a great place to meet up with fellow comics fans, and is free! This event is able to be free due to a choice to not invite guests, and instead focus on comics fandom. This is a great place to pick up comics, ranging in price from just a couple dollars to hundreds. As always, a careful check of quality is advisable.

Surlesque Brunch

What: Food & Drink, Theater & Comedy
When: Sunday, March 8, at 11:00 a.m.
Where: Surly Brewing Co.

Come and see Surly’s take on the most important weekend meal coupled with burlesque. This event will feature a full burlesque show and brunch buffet. Water and coffee will be complimentary, and Surly beer/beer cocktails will be available for purchase. Foxy Tann and her talented crew will present a provocative, silly, and fun morning’s entertainment to accompany your eggs and farro salad. Tickets are $40 to this 21+ event.

Shieldmaiden Sunday

What: Gaming, Meetup
When: Sunday, March 8, at 12:00 p.m.
Where: Source Comics & Games

Shieldmaiden Sundays are a dedicated space for female nerds and geeks at Source Comics & Games. This is a recurring weekly event providing a space for women to play games, chat about comics, cosplay, or just enjoy the company of other geeks. See the calendar for more events!

So, which of these events will you be attending? What events would you like to see featured in the future? Let us know in the comments section below or contact us via email. And don’t forget to add your events to the Twin Cities Geek Community Calendar!