Steve Vivona appropriated the title of “Head Geek” when he started hosting Geek Fests in 1994, just because he felt like it and it fit his outsized ego. He somewhat earned the nickname because of his unyielding obsession to get his hands on any Geeky piece of film and television, no matter how obscure or rare. During the Geek Fests he would often showcase his latest conquests for his fellow Geeks, like a hunter showing off a prized lion.
Steve’s obsessions include (but are not limited to):
Star Trek, Star Wars and the Marvel and DC pantheon of superheroes. His all-time
favorite TV shows include most iterations of
Trek (except
Voyager),
Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica and
Firefly. Ironically his all-time favorite film is of the non-Geeky variety – Rocky, (although
The Empire Strikes Back is a close second) and he cried like a girl at the end of
Rocky Balboa. He currently lives in Huntington, NY, with his wife Tracy and his cat Kallie.
Brian...visionary...man among men....warrior-poet....he is none of these things. What he is is a man torn between traditional fanboy fare and artier stuff. His role in the group is somewhere in between the harder-core geeks(Carlos and Steve V) and Rob's more art-house sensibilties. He can participate in conversations with his fellow geeks about the entire film career of William Shatner(not pretty) or participate in discussions with Rob about the artistic collapse of Francis Coppola.
His favorite films range from 2001 to Raiders of the Lost Ark to Point Break. Music runs the gamut from classic pop to electronica. He lives with his wife in New Jersey.
Steve developed his passion for music, movies and TV at an early age. Christmas came early in those days, in the form of the TV Guide Fall Preview episode. In this early VCR/pre-DVR era, hours would be spent dissecting the proposed fall schedule to plot out what shows would make the cut and which would be relegated to re-run viewing. Remember the Pac Man cartoon anyone?
The abbreviated list of film favorites includes Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original Star Wars trilogy, anything Sam Raimi has done, John Carpenter and the Harry Potter series. On the TV side of the equation there's Cheers, Family Ties and of course Lost. Music includes, but is not limited to, Rush, Depeche Mode and heavy metal, with a proclivity towards guitar virtuosos. Steve currently resides in northern NJ with his wife Brenda (a fellow SJU alumni and "she-geek") and their three children.
Tony is the black sheep of the group because he actually prefers wholesome entertainment like The Andy Griffith Show and It's a Wonderful Life to action movies. He also remains a staunch champion of VHS tapes and believes color TV and movies are just a passing fad ("If black & white was good enough for Casablanca, it's good enough for the rest of the medium!").
However, since Tony is a fan of Star Wars, comics, and more recently Lost, he was drawn to the geeks like a moth to a flame. And much like Linus in the "Peanuts" comic strip, Tony offers theological insights into the discussion when they're called for ("That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Perrone."). Tony's age is rumored to be somewhere between 40 and 672, but the truth remains a mystery. Regardless, he looks darn good for his age.
Rob brings what he thinks is some balance to the steady diet of mainstream material that usually passes for entertainment among the geeks. While Steve, Carlos, Steve, Brian, and Tony are ranting about how much more money they're being "forced" to give George Lucas for his 15th home video release of
Star Wars, Rob is sitting there urging them to check out the latest Kurosawa Blu-ray, or the most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film. It's at that point when the other geeks pull out the pliers and the blowtorch...
Rob grew up a huge movie buff in Astoria, Queens, and his proximity to Manhattan and its art house theaters helped feed his interest in non-Hollywood fare, though he's been known to enjoy a good, cheesy action movie now and then. His favorite films include The King of Comedy, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (the original!), The Third Man, Apocalypse Now, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. He now lives in Kew Gardens with his wife Eileen and their two boys.
