Barack Obama, Comic Book Collector

You know, there’s something really different about this Barack Obama character. He’s about to make history, about to achieve a first in the history of the U.S. as the first … geek president.

Seriously. The president-elect of the United States of America, the Chicago lawyer who is about to become the most powerful human being on the planet, likes to collect comic books.

In particular, he likes Conan the Barbarian and Spider-Man. This is really cool news. I found it on a list of 50 things you don’t know about Obama.

This list also includes other interesting facts: he rarely drinks, he’s addicted to his BlackBerry, he uses a Mac laptop, and he owns several identical pairs of the same shoes.

We also heard last week that he might be a bit of a Star Trek fan. Apparently he made a Trek crack about his wife’s Starfleety belt buckle while on the campaign trail.

These are qualities that remind me of someone else I know … oh yeah: Me.

In other words, Barack Obama is a bit of a geek.

I like him more every day.

New Star Trek Posters

Paramount has today given us new Star Trek teaser posters: Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in black-and-white Trek glory. These aren’t very different from the colour-tinted teasers from a few weeks back, but give us a slightly different look.

Chris Pine is still doing that oh-so-mysterious thing he did in the last poster, and does not look very Kirk-like. In other set photos and in some YouTube interview video that’s been popping up, though, he looks a little more Shatneresque. Although he does seem to be pretty tall. That will take some getting used to.

There’s been some criticism of Quinto’s Spock makeup, but I think that stems more from the airbrushed photos used in EW and Empire than the way he will actually look onscreen. In these photos, the makeup looks more subtle. But it’s clear he’s had some prosthetic work done around the eyes. And although that is supposedly his real hair, it looks like polyester.

Meanwhile, don’t forget the new trailer; it will be with Quantum of Solace on Friday. Apparently there’s a new Watchmen trailer along for the ride. Life is rough.

Today’s Morons: Puckett Attendance Center

Today’s Morons are the administrators at a school called the Puckett Attendance Center in Puckett, Mississippi. At this school, it’s against the rules to say the word “Obama.” Students can’t talk about their new president-elect anywhere except history class.

Now, let’s get the obvious out of the way: What kind of school calls itself an “attendance center?” Is that really the base requirement? “So long’s you show up, you gets to graduate!”

Also obvious is how stupid this rule is. I thought at first this might be one of those Internet things, like the Palin kid giving the finger, but it turns out to be genuine Puckett school policy … but not for the reasons you think. No, this isn’t a school run by anti-Obama racists; it’s a school with kids whose parents are anti-Obama racists, and kids whose parents aren’t. It seems that the potential for racial acrimony over Barack Obama is considered a real threat, so the school decided to nip the potential in the bud by just banning the topic. If nobody talks about Obama, nobody fights about Obama. That’s the logic.

Unfortunately, that won’t work, and here are three reasons why:

• Kids are kids and will talk about what they want to talk about
• The rest of the world now thinks Puckett is Klan central
• This hides the issue. What the school should do is worry about more than “attendance” and use this opportunity to help its latest generation learn more about the way the world is going.

Mississippi has its problems. My great-great-grandfather was a slave there, and I’m sure there are some people there who don’t have a problem with that. But there are a lot more who do. The South is changing, one opinion at a time, and that’s good to see. It has taken more than a century, and it may take a century more, but it’s happening.

Forcing children to avoid an issue is a mistake. I hope the Puckett school reconsiders this decision.