The Crew
Mike Lunsford
Mike is the co-founder of the Great Geek Refuge. He is editor-in-chief of the site, co-host of GGR Pirate Radio and hosts Mike on the Mic and Stop Me If You’ve Heard This… When he’s not podcasting, he fancies himself a writer, amassing many articles here on GGR plus he’s written 3 issues of a comic book, Ethan Stone P.I.
He and his family are avid Disney World fans. Mike is a huge D.C. sports fan, loves Star Wars, Star Trek and his favorite writer is Stephen King. He grew up in the D.C. metro area in Northern Virginia and now lives not far from there in Fredericksburg.
Favorite Movie - “god…too many. To name a few: Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Lebowski, Young Frankenstein
Favorite Band - Foo Fighters or Nirvana
Favorite Food - “bad question to ask a fat guy lol. Probably sushi, but I can never eat just one thing over and over so it changes.”
What Did You Want to be as a Kid? - “Baseball player, or Jedi. Maybe both.”
MC Brooks
MC (real name Marques) is the Chief Content Director and Convention Correspondent of the Great Geek Refuge. He is the host of The Overflow podcast and a weekly contributor to the flagship podcast, "At The Diner".
When he is not working on GGR-related content, he is a talented musician/rapper who has released several projects and performed all across the United States. He also enjoys cosplaying, photography, anime, video games, cheering on DC sports teams that aren't in the NFL, and memes (show me your dankest memes). Being nosy on the internet is how he met Mike, and it's been a hell of a ride so far, in a good way lol.
Favorite Movie - “Remember the Titans. It's the perfect mix of many of my favorite things.”
Favorite Band - “My Chemical Romance. This is almost an impossible question to answer but if there was a gun to my head, I'm going with them.”
Favorite Food - “Pizza, although if you ask me tomorrow, I might say burritos. Fine. It's burritos.”
What did you want to be as a kid? - “Depending on when you asked me, you'd get any number of answers. I wanted to be a pro-athlete, train conductor, astronaut, video game designer, and adventurer. Ultimately, I think I've got a good thing going with music and podcasting.”
James Rambo
James Rambo is Art Director and a chief contributor at the Great Geek Refuge in addition to being a co-host of At The Diner. More often than not he can be found shilling comics and games at his day job in NoVA but he’s also been known to write the occasional article or op-ed. Oh, and he can talk. At length. About most anything. But he’s not a bad listener, either.
Raised in Hyattsville, MD on a steady diet of scifi, westerns, and fatty foods, Rambo is an avid movie buff that can run lines from many a film, though he tries not to as that crap can get old fast. When not selling trades and dice, he is likely at home watching horror movies or playing Borderlands with his beloved and his two stupid cats.
Favorite Movie - “I always split the decision between The Shawshank Redemption and The Monster Squad. I have most of both memorized.
Favorite Band - “Silversun Pickups has been my go-to for the last couple years.”
Favorite Food - “It’s hard to beat pizza but most anything Latin is goddamned delicious.”
What Did You Want to be as a Kid? – “Animator, illustrator — something that involved art.”
You Think Mighty Mouse Could Beat Up Superman? — “Mighty Mouse is a cartoon. Superman is a real guy. There’s no way a cartoon could beat up a real guy.”
Mariah beachboard
Mariah Beachboard is Executive Editor for Sci-Fi/Fantasy content, and host of FedCon (Federation Conversation). She grew up in Northern Virginia and was raised in the Trekkie fandom. Madeline L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey, and Robyn Tallis pulled Mariah through her adolescence, and now she devours Stephen King.
Mariah writes editorials, children’s plays, articles, and podcasts. She lives in the Deep South with her Trekkie hubby, her three teens, and a card-playing cat. In her free time, she plays Bioshock, Borderlands, Fallout, Portal, and Among Us. Her current favorite podcasts (besides GGR’s) are The Deep Vault, Rabbits, and King Falls AM. Radiolab is pretty awesome, too.
Favorite Movie – The Fifth Element
Favorite Band – It changes with her mood. Her playlists include Alanis Morisette, Billie Eilish, Josh Groban, Outkast, Jessie Reyez, Hadestown…Let’s just stop there.
Favorite Artist – Lora Zombie
Favorite Food – Sushi, and her husband’s gluten-free chicken and dumplings.
What did you want to be as a kid? – Dragonrider, nun, microbiologist, actor.
Chelsea House is a chief contributor here at GGR. She is also a singer, and enjoys “to doodle a little here or there.” She also states “I am married to hottest guy alive, and mother to two of the sweetest and craziest kids out there that have directly contributed to my coffee addiction.” She has always been an avid gamer, although she admits that two kids and a full time job slowed that down quite a bit. She thoroughly enjoys a well written book, as well as really well written shows or movies, with the exception of the horror genre or “anything with zom zoms... Because they’re gross.”
Chelsea was born in Madison, Virginia where she grew up on a farm. She moved to Kentucky for a few years where she met her husband, and eventually settled south of Fredericksburg, Virginia. She hopes to one day publish some of her writings and go to a cosplay or two.
Favorite Movie – Hmm... I’m a fan of so many genres it really depends on my mood. The only one that I rewatch on the reg though is Pride and the Prejudice (2005) because well... Mr.Darcy.
Favorite Band – Again depends on the mood. I’m a huge Imagine Dragons fan, though.
Favorite Food – These questions are making me realize how inconsistent my tastes are. I love a good authentic taco.
What did you want to be as a kid? I wanted to be Xena Warrior Princess. But when I realized that couldn’t happen, I wanted to be a costume designer, graphic designer, Broadway singer or writer.
Russ Brown, aka the “Opaque Senator” is the self described video game expert of this group. He is co-host of The Gamer Den, GGR’s video game podcast and a chief contributor. Long time friend of the site, it was only a matter of time before all things nerdy brought him to GGR as the resident game expert. Russ is a life long gamer, playing as far back as the Inn Television and NES. He spent his longest times on the Sega Saturn and N64, but enjoys all types of video games, card games, and board games. In his free time beyond gaming, he dances the night away (both salsa and on a DDR/Pump It Up pad ^_^).
Favorite Movie - Way too many to name. Top few for sure are the Last Samurai, DragonHeart, the John Wick series, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Cool Runnings.
Favorite Band - Less than Jake.
Favorite Food - Sushi, pizza, or steak depending on my mood
What did you want to be as a kid? - Storm chaser thanks to the movie Twister
Want to become a part of the GGR team? Contact us! We’re always looking to add more awesome, geeky folks :)