Cons This Weekend (Feb 8-10)
(come upon this at several cons in Texas)
Hey y’all ! Sorry I skipped last week – was pretty busy in New York. So what I do is scour different websites to put together this “Cons This Weekend” post. These are US-based ones and in most cases are 3-day cons unless otherwise noted….though this weekend there’s two sci-fi cons running 4 days long. If I missed a con, feel free to post it in the comments.
To help y’all a bit more, the sci-fi cons this weekend are : Capricon, Galaxyfest, SheVaCon, Sci-Fi Expo . All the cons listed have anime tracks. By the way, you know today’s anime con environment – the dealer, masquerade, artist alley tables and such are based from sci-fi cons right ?
BTW : the Sci-Fi Expo in Dallas has like half the cast of Back to the Future there as well some of the cast from Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica (new series), Walking Dead, Tron (80s), even Kevin Sorbo ! Comic book guests include Adam Hughes (dude !), George Perez, Jim Valentino. Dude, check it out if you’re in Dallas area.
Anime cons this week are : AlmaCon, Kawa Kon, and Ushicon, Looking for a free con ? Alma located at Alma College is for you. Looking to go to a con without teenagers ? Ushicon is for you then – it is an all 18+ anime con located in Round Rock, TX (not far from Austin).
Con with the weirdest name ? Marmalade Dog in Kalamazoo, MI is a gaming con run by the Western Michigan Gamers Guild (WMGG) each year for the past 18 years. Yeah, most anime cons aren’t even that old.
Comic cons aren’t having a good week. Only found a one-day con in Dunn Loring VA – Capicons
Next week, probably one of the most anticipated anime con of the year, Katsucon which unfortunately I’ll be sitting out. I posted about this a few weeks back and while I was in New York, I changed my mind…..but, I got a text from someone I work with regularly and he booked me on a 2-day gig …. which happens right during Katsucon and well, as I’m finding out, #realworldcomesfirst
AlmaCon (Alma, MI)
Capicons (Dunn Loring, VA) Feb 10
Capricon (Wheeling, IL) Feb 7-10
Galaxyfest (Colorado Springs, CO) Feb 7-10
Kawa Kon (St. Louis, MO)
Marmalade Dog (Kalamazoo, MI)
Sci-Fi Expo (Irving, TX) Feb 9 + 10
SheVaCon (Roanoke, VA)
Ushicon (Round Rock, TX)
Listen To BATMAN: CAPTURE AND ESCAPE – The 45 rpm Record by Burgess Meredith
Here are some cool audio wavs I knew I should share because they’re really fun and will probably bring back a lot of fond memories for the people who owned this 45 rpm record back in the day. I found them at a website called BIG GLEE! It’s written by a friend of ours, named Al Bigley, and he went to the trouble of recording them for online play.
Here they are, down below, two very rare “Penguin” songs recorded to cash-in on the 1966 BATMAN TV show craze. Sung by Burgess Meredith, the actor who portrayed the Penguin in the TV series. ( Thanks Al )
Wear a Rainbow of Dripping Daleks [T-Shirt]
This t-shirt design has taught me something new about Daleks: they can be beautiful. Artist J. William Grantham has taken the Doctor Who villain and transformed them into a whimsical illustration that I’d love to wear. I recommend getting this tee in white for maximum effect, though other colors are available if you have a policy against white shirts.
Product Page ($22.49)
Sword Art Online: Kirito 03
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| Source: Tokyo Otaku Mode on Facebook |
A few months after Sword Art Online began, Kirito decided to join a guild known as the “Black Cats of the Full Moon”. He decided to keep his level and status as one of the frontline clearers from his guild mates, possibly because he didn’t want them to know he was the infamous Black Swordsman. He became attached to Sachi, a fairly timid girl who harbored fear of the game and of dying.
Such a handsome cosplayer from Malaysia’s Comic Fiesta 2012! I love how he has both the Elucidator and the Dark Repulser in each hand. Thanks to photographer, Jimmy Cometa and Alisson for sending this in!
IceRocket Tags: cosplay, cosplayer, cosplay holic, role, play, roleplay, costume, anime, manga, game, series, character, photographer, photo, photography, feature, sword art online, sao, kirito, sword art, black cats, target, alisson, dl 1, full moon, cometa, swordsman, otaku, cellpadding, table border, mates, fiesta, amp, tokyo, fear, , , , ,
DC Comics: Justice League
A fictional hero party, all of the Justice League initially found Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Environmentally friendly Lantern (Hal Nike jordan), Aquaman, as well as Martian Manhunter of their company list all through the 50′s. Ever since then, many superheroes include become a member of his or her’s position as well as Green Arrow, Chief Formidable device, Charcoal Canary, a Atom, Hawkman, Spear like Boyfriend, Inflammed Tornado, Firestorm, Zatanna, different Green Lanterns, and a lot more.It is outstanding. A nightmare, even Starro is normally awesome. Along with the requesting, Wonder Woman is certainly cosplayed from Margie Cox, so i highly recommend you visit the woman Youtube and discover the main image right here. I’m not sure all of the other cosplayers, still thumbs nearly Grace Moss with BodhiTree Digital photography training for any magnificent photo!
Devil May Cry / Blackâ Rock Shooter: Dante and Black Rock Shooter
At this point here’s an epic cross-over you will don’t take a look at daily.Cosplay married couple Dante by Satan May perhaps Holes plus Schokohutige Small gravel Shooter were noticed go on Otakuthon 2012 within the Palais des congr s environnant les Montr al , Montreal Norm Facility (I have faith that married couple this means that several other snapshot but proper us if perhaps I’m bad).Friends connected with quarry, Satty, appeared to be one of the several audience within the conference, anf the took quite a number of pics. You might want to go and visit his particular Otakuthon record if youve been one of many cosplayers inside the hoax.Doing it looks like quite a huge event. I wish I found myself furthermore there too.
REVIEW/RECAP: ‘Doctor Who’ Episode 7.1 – “Asylum of the Daleks”
A key reason why I’m such a stalwart fan of the Moffat era of Doctor Who (and do, in fact, prefer it to the Davies era, though David Tennant is still my Doctor) is its ability to constantly upset any sense of a comfort zone we might get as viewers. We’re now in our third year of Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and his companions, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), and despite the fact that we’re now watching the longest continuous pairing of Doctor and Companion(s) in the history of the revived series, nothing about this show ever feels safe. The balance is constantly upset, and that element of uncertainty is even more prevalent now that we know the Ponds are about to make their exit in an as-yet-unknown way. With “Asylum of the Daleks,” Steven Moffat kicked off his third series as Doctor Who showrunner up to all his tricks, throwing plenty of curves into the story, putting the Ponds on already-shaky ground and introducing us to a new face (sort of).
NOTE: I will keep the first portion of this review as spoiler-free as possible, but near the end I’ll want to talk a bit about some major plot points, so there will be a SPOILER ALERT hitting you later on. Watch for it if you don’t want to know about something you haven’t seen.
A message from a mysterious woman ends in a trap for The Doctor, and he suddenly finds himself surrounded by the Parliament of the Daleks alongside Amy and Rory (who aren’t having the best time as man and wife at the moment. But this time, it’s not about the Daleks fighting to exterminate their old enemy (at least, no yet). This time, the Daleks have a mission for The Doctor: visit a legendary planet-sized asylum filled with crazy Daleks (yes, there are things even the Daleks consider to be unreasonable) and deactivate a force field so the Dalek parliament can purge the asylum of all those crazy exterminators. Of course, if he succeeds, The Doctor will probably be killed too, but at the moment he doesn’t have much of a choice.
On the asylum planet, the Doctor finds his two friends squabbling, a problem that seems nearly impossible to solve, and a mysterious woman stranded in a crashed spaceship communicating with him through the Dalek security system (because, apparently, she’s a genius). Oh, and the Daleks have a new trick: they can put themselves in human bodies.
Despite often inventing his own new adversaries for the Doctor, Moffat has said more than once that the Daleks have always been his favorite. But, as with the last Dalek stories he showed us, he’s not interested in exhibiting them in the form we’re used to. Odd as it might seem, there’s an element of raw, painful emotion to these creatures, and here it’s put front and center. Moffat shows us a world where Daleks, a species dominated by a searing hate for things that aren’t like them, can in fact become some overwhelmed by that emotion that even they go crazy. That’s intriguing in itself, but by the end of this episode Moffat has taken the mentally unstable Dalek conceit much, much further, and the result is a deep new layer in Who mythology that’s likely to keep resonating for a long time.
Moffat also shows us a new layer of Amy and Rory that few people could have expected: the unhappy one. Yes, we’ve seen them bicker for two years, but it’s not the same this time. It’s a deeper wound, one that could have big implications for their exit later, and that’s not even taking into account how this affects The Doctor. When these two elements – Amy and Rory and the crazy Daleks – combine, we get an episode that’s equal parts breakneck, plot-heavy joyride and deep-cutting, mythos-altering storytelling.
For me, “Asylum of the Daleks” actually managed to be a better season premiere than last year’s “The Impossible Astronaut” (an episode I really loved), not just because it returned the Daleks to the forefront, but because it set up something bigger than “Will the Doctor die?” which is a question that has a very obvious answer. Something big is happening here that, though we only have a few episodes to explore, could dig into the Doctor’s inner darkness more than Moffat ever has before, and that’s saying something.
Now comes the part where we talk SPOILERS. So if you haven’t seen the episode yet, look away now.
Seriously, I’m not holding anything back past this point, so if you don’t want to know things….
Still here? OK
So, obviously the first thing we have to talk about is the appearance of Jenna-Louise Coleman, the Doctor’s new Companion, a good while before most people expected her to show (a lot of people, including me, were guessing Christmas special). And not only did she show up, but she had a big role to play in this story. It’s interesting for several reasons, but the thing that occurred to me first is that we usually don’t see the new Companion until the old one(s) has gone. Usually the Doctor simply happens upon his new friends in the midst of an adventure, but Moffat promised us something different here, and we definitely got it. And then the big bombshell came: Oswin (Coleman’s character) is only formerly human. She’s been converted into a Dalek, but she’s still holding on to her human identity. So, as it turns out, she’s the craziest Dalek of them all. But she made an impression on The Doctor. Unlike some previous companions, she’s not intimidated by him or blown away by his power (she’s a bit like Donna in that respect). She can hang with him verbally, she’s sassy and smart and funny and she’s definitely got some kind of edge going on. But how will Moffat work around the whole Dalek thing? Time will tell.
Then, there’s the news that Amy and Rory are on the verge of divorce when we first rejoin them, only to be reunited after a very poignant resolution of their issues by episode’s end. That’s all well and good, but really look at what happened there. The big implication is that they probably would never have reconciled had it not been for The Doctor. Last season was all about how The Doctor hurts the ones he loves, even if he doesn’t mean to. Will this year be about the tragedy of Amy and Rory’s dependence on The Doctor? It certainly seems to be skewing that way, and if that’s really the case it could be the seed of their downfall.
Next week: “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”
Michael Dorn Pushing ‘Captain Worf’ Spin-off with Some Success
Three years ago brought us the new J.J. Abrams reboot of the Star Trek universe. This reimagining was met with mixed reactions from fans but the popularity of it was unquestionable, as evidenced by the release of the second installment in the new franchise coming to the screen next year. Since then, the desire to add to the Star Trek mythos has grown, attracting some big names that also happen to be big fans.
The Bryan Fuller/Bryan singer super-combo have expressed interest in making new Star Trek episodes for television, though not much has been heard on that front. Some months ago, everyone’s favorite Klingon, Michael Dorn, proposed a tentatively titled project by the name of Star Trek: Captain Worf. Though this seemed at first like a pipe-dream, it looks like Dorn might be making serious headway on his brain-child.
When talking about the project with Trek News, Dorn had this to say about its conception and his motivation:
I had come up with the idea because I love [Worf] and I think he’s a character that hasn’t been fully developed and hasn’t been fully realized. Once I started thinking about it, it became obvious to me that I wanted to at least put it out there, which I have, and the response has been pretty amazing. We’ve been contacted by different individuals-I can’t say who and all that-about wanting to come on board and be part of this.
And these comments on the likelihood of the project coming to fruition:
Interestingly enough it has gotten traction. I was very surprised, I was on a movie not too long ago, where one of the producers was basically lobbying to be part of it. He was like Michael, I’d love to write it, if you haven’t.” So at this point, my agents and my manager are looking at all the avenues and trying to figure out which is the best one. My agent and manager have been in the business for awhile, so they’re very savvy about where to start and how to get it going. Like I said, in this business you never know and I’ve been through pitching things and I never want to do that again [laughs]. It’s pretty brutal, but definitely I think once again, if Paramount or CBS or anybody thinks this is a viable thing, they’ll jump on it.
Well, sounds good so far, right? Like maybe it has a chance somewhere down the road? The main problems is, with the reboot changing the face of the Star Trek universe and a second movie coming up that will establish the new world’s boundaries even further, everything is in a state of flux.
Only time will tell if Dorn’s dream (and the dream of countless fanboys/girls) comes true. If he does get a shot, it’s highly probable that he’ll have to unlearn all the back-story from his decades of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and various movies. Abrams’s vision is almost certain to lead all future Star Trek productions, which means Dorn will be following his lead.
So what do you folks think? Good idea/bad idea? Reboot world or original recipe? Speak your mind, for we hath commanded you!
Thanks to screenrant for the heads-up on this one.
Sexy Lace Panties With Wonder Woman, Supergirl Or Batgirl
Yeah, we pretty much had your attention at lace panties, didn’t we? These panties are 95% cotton/5% spandex and have lace waistbands. You can pick from Batgirl with an all-over print of the bat signal, Wonder Woman with her sparkly gold symbol on the front or Supergirl with a big red “S”.
See Batgirl and Supergirl after the break…
Product Page: Wonder Woman/Supergirl/Batgirl ($9.99)
‘The Walking Dead’ Prison Set Tour, Courtesy of Robert Kirkman
Season 3 of The Walking Dead is coming up fast – just over a month away, in fact. But for those that can’t hold in the excitement for another 4 weeks there is more to tease you. The latest comes in the form of a video that Robert Kirkman put together giving fans a tour of the new prison set that will become the main base for our zombie-survivor pals. Give it a watch and see what Kirkman has to say:
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Make sure to check out season 3 when it starts up on October 14th.
And thanks to blastr for the heads-up.
Nail Decals In Batman, Superman, Darth Vader And More!
These decals are perfect for adding a little nerd to your manicure. Each is made of vinyl that you just peel and stick to your nails then cover with a few coats of polish to secure. They’re available in an assortment of colors so you can be subtle with black or scream your fandom with bright red or blue.
See more nail decals after the break…
Product Page ($1.99-$4.99 via Incredible Things)
How Five Doctors are Helping One of Their Former Companions
Many of us are familiar with Janet Fielding for playing the Fifth Doctor’s companion, Tegan Jovanka. Recently she was diagnosed with cancer and Peter Davison is rallying the troops to cheer her up. See, she’s been an avid spokesperson for the the charity Project Motor House which seeks to turn an “old motor museum” into a cultural center for the downtrodden community of East Kent. Here’s their official proposal,
For more than two years, a group of residents has been working on a plan to save the derelict West Cliff Hall (aka ‘the old motor museum’) and turn it into an exciting mixed use venue where people of all ages can enjoy themselves and where Thanet’s young people can be introduced to a business culture and get the hands-on experience they need to feel confident about starting their own businesses. We intend using low carbon techniques to renovate the building and foster interest in the burgeoning low carbon economy of East Kent.
To help with Project Motor House, Davison has devised Project Motor Mouth in honor of Fielding with all the proceeds from the event gong to the charity. And he’s enlisted some pretty big names to help out. In addition to Davison, former Doctors Colin Baker, Sylvestor McCoy, Paul McGann, and David Tennant will all be making appearances as the one day event. The booking of Tennant is especially noteworthy because he so rarely makes convention appearances. But could he really say no to his father-in-law? Didn’t think so.
You can visit their website for more information, but to no surprise the event is already sold out. Still, how swell of all those Doctors coming to together to help out not only Fielding, but the community in East Kent.
Oh! And if you haven’t heard Peter Davison (@PeterDavison5) has recently joined fellow Doctor, Colin Baker (@SawbonesHex) on Twitter so you can thank them yourself for being such cool dudes.
Source: Blastr
“Are You…?” – A Nerdbastard Review of ‘Dexter’ Season 7, Episode 1
First things first – if you haven’t watched the last season of Dexter you might want to go away now, cause season 7 relies heavily on the climax of season 6 and you will be ruined if you read this. Also, I’m not writing this spoiler-free, so best to watch the episode before reading. That being said, on with the show.
Last season ended with a great cliffhanger that pretty much guaranteed people would be tuning in for more. Deborah (Jennifer Carpenter) walks in on ol’ Dexter (Michael C. Hall) doing his thing, complete with plastic wrap, big shiny knife and all. There’s no way to hide the situation, so Dexter is backed into a corner.
I have to first say that I was pretty skeptical going into season 7. Dexter has a long habit of writing itself out of corners in ways that are fairly half-assed and leave one feeling like they just tried to get drunk off of nonalcoholic beer. I thought they might do something similar with this one, having Dexter just explain away the situation and then Deb, after a brief inner conflict, accepting the situation and moving on. If this had been the case, I may have given up on the show forever. But no sir, they did not deus ex machina this one. Instead, they jumped right into the lion’s mouth and the quality of this episode is directly reflected in that decision.
Episode 1, “Are you…?” begins in the middle, a silly attempt to make us think that Dexter is making a run from the law. Just ignore the first minute or two and you’ll be fine. From there it goes back to the church, with Deb trying to figure out “What the fuck?” is going on. Dexter attempts to lie his way out of the situation, claiming temporary insanity of a sort. After finally getting Deb on his side, they dispose of the body and life moves on. Well, sort of. Something about what happened doesn’t sit well with Deb and she just keeps looking into it deeper and deeper. This is a sign that the writers were thinking, not trying to play Deb as a dunce who couldn’t eventually figure out the obvious. She notices the inconsistencies and familiarities of the situation and tries to put the pieces together.
In the meanwhile, old characters are reestablished, a character gets killed off (must not have renewed his contract) and Dexter forgets a wee bit of evidence at the crime scene. Louis Greene (Josh Cooke), the jackass hacker from last season, decides he’s going to start fucking with Dexter. And Dexter tries to deal with the Deb situation while also indulging his need to make bad guys into corpses. A typical day-in-the-life of the show, really.
The actors all did a fine job, with special props to Jennifer Carpenter who had to perform what is probably the most complex character twist in the history of the show. She managed it amazingly, never letting her anxiety drop for even a second. Whether she was in the middle of a shot or just a piece of the background, she was always in character.
Things are ramping up and we can see what’s being prepared for our enjoyment of the seventh (and second-to-last) season of the show. Greene hates Dexter and has mad hacking skills. LaGuerta has a piece of evidence that could be trouble for Dexter. And it looks like the Russian mob will be poking about pretty soon as well. Not to mention the whole fucked-up relationship between Deb and Dex. There’s been nothing said about the “Deb loves Dex” story arc yet, but I imagine it’s not too far behind.
In the end, I have to say I was pretty impressed – a very strong start to what will hopefully be a great season. The last few seasons have left me hollow. Even though the cast has done a great job, the writing has been mediocre. I am hoping this one will make up for the others and if the first episode is any indication of things to come, this could be the best season yet.
Check back next week for a review of the next episode of Dexter, “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl”, once again brought to you by yours truly and a generous helping of Nerdbastard power!
Put Dice And More In This Leather D20 Purse
You need a purse of holding for your dice, phone, wallet, and everything else you carry on a daily basis, and this hand-tooled leather bag from Etsy seller Smart Pencil Designs is beyond perfect. It comes with a removable strap and closes completely thanks to magnetic snaps. You might not be able to fit an infinite amount of supplies into the 8″ diameter bag, but it does fit over a pound of dice (in case you wondered).
See a close up of the bag after the break.
Be sure to check out the shop at the link below for different colors and options!
Product Page ($160)
The Bastardcast vs. Dinosaur Clones, ‘Arrow’, and New York
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This time on the Peabody ignored Bastardcast, Jason and Jeremy discuss the high points of a bacteria that poops gold, Mila Kunis‘ candidacy for Miss Glamour Puss of Earth-19 (aka the Sexiest Woman Alive), bullshit Marvel casting rumors, the real death of the dinosaurs, the benching of Community, and the greatest internet review of all time.
Then, in THE MAIN EVENT, our hosts discuss the mayhem of New York Comic Con and then briefly touch on that other event where a horde of diseased monsters stand between Jason and serenity (literally, the line for the Walking Dead panel is totes going to keep Jason from the Firefly panel) — The Walking Dead, which comes back to your television devices this Sunday. Will the Governor rise? Will Rick fall? Will it all take place in the snow globe of an autistic child? We just don’t know, so stop fucking asking us asshole!
Then, last and probably least, these fine young cannibals take you into the basement cage match where blood is spilled and Pokemon get cut — it’s the VERSUS ARENA and Jason is saying that a robot apocalypse trumps a zombie apocalypse because it will mean the end of twitter and because you can have less gross sex with a borg than you can with a walker. “Nuh uh, no you didn’t” says Jeremy though, as he punches Jason in the throat with his words and reminds him that zombies can’t climb stairs, so we would then all have more of a chance to survive. Except Jason because he’ll be knee deep in droid trim… apparently.
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Latest ‘Django Unchained’ Trailer Is Out & It’s A Must See
The second trailer for Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained has hit the Internet and everything points to this film being one hell of a fun ride. There’s gonna be action, humor, quick-quips from smirking lips, and some serious social undertones to discuss.
My favorite part, I spit soda across my monitor, was Jonah Hill‘s cameo appearance and scene in the trailer. I couldn’t stop laughing, but I’m sure there are going to be lots of other scenes like that in the film.
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The film stars Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kerry Washington, Kurt Russell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L Jackson and lots of other cameos like Jonah Hill.
The movie hits theater screen on December 25th 2012. Will your butt be in a theater seat for this one?
G4 Announces Cancellation of ‘X-Play’ & ‘Attack Of The Show’
It’s the end of a nerdy era over at G4 TV. Today the network announced the cancellation of two of it’s longest running shows, Attack of the Show and X-Play.There’s not been any official word on what will replace the shows and it’s anyone’s guess at this point.
G4 posted the announcement on it’s web page:
G4′s two longest-running and defining series, Attack of the Show! and X-Play, will be ending their run at the end of 2012. Both shows will include original episodes through the end of the year, and will look back at their most memorable moments as we lead up to their final episodes. A rotating lineup of guest co-hosts including John Barrowman, Michael Ian Black, Josh Myers, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel and Horatio Sanz will join AOTS hosts Candace Bailey and Sara Underwood, and X-Play hosts Morgan Webb and Blair Herter as part of the farewell shows.
With well over a thousand episodes each, Attack of the Show! and X-Play have defined gamer culture for a generation, serving as the launch pad for prominent personalities including Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn, Chris Hardwick and Adam Sessler. Attack of the Show! debuted March 28, 2005 and from the start was the ultimate guide to everything cool and new in the world of technology, web culture, gaming and pop culture. X-Play made its debut almost two years earlier, on April 28, 2003 (on G4′s previous incarnation: TechTV), and immediately became the go-to destination for young men seeking the latest video game news, honest reviews, hands-on demos and exclusive video game trailers and footage. The year-end celebration will take you back through highlights of these landmark shows’ history, including its exclusive live-from-the-floor coverage of San Diego Comic-Con and E3.
Both long-running shows helped define, as well as expand, the pop culture and gaming TV experience for a generation. We hope you’ve had as much fun watching them as we have had making them, and sincerely hope you join us in bidding a fond farewell to Attack of the Show and X-Play’s as we look back over the next two months and head towards each series’ finale.
Now the question remains as to what will replace these shows. I only ever really watched the channel, on purpose that is, for Attack of the Show‘s coverage of Comic Con. Looking over what is left at G4 one can only wonder if there are replacement shows in the works or retools of the two canceled shows coming with a complete wipe of the existing programs.
What do I think will happen? Sadly, I think that G4 is going to go “Reality” shows, old movies, and repeats of old television shows.
What’s your take on this announcement? Let us know in the comments section below.
Via: G4
Shop Our Nerd Approved T-Shirt Store!
The latest shirt in our Nerd Approved T-Shirt Store has arrived! And this fearsome wiener dog is ready for battle. Grab “Wolverwiener” while stock is available.
Our men’s glow-in-the-dark Sneak shirt is back in stock as well (women’s sizes are also available). Level up your sneak skill in the dark with the “DETECTED” icon on the front and a green glow “HIDDEN” icon printed on the back. We also have Cthulhu and Friends, A Wild Sith Appeared!, Piece and Serenity and Angry Nerds in stock.
Plus, you can save 15% on your total order using codes like “CHEAPASS15″ or “buytees15″ at checkout.
Take On Hoth With This Giant AT-AT Costume
This Halloween is apparently the year to dress as a vehicle from Star Wars. I must have missed the memo because yesterday we saw an AT-ST costume, and today brings a two person AT-AT Imperial Walker costume.
Stkmach on Instructables wanted to do something big this year, and he succeeded. His 1:6.5 scale AT-AT takes two people to operate and measures over 10′ tall and 12′ long. The frame was built from PVC, and the skin was corrugated plastic (just like the AT-ST). He had to work stilts into the rig too so that it could actually move. I hope he teams up with the AT-ST and that they find a rebel base to threaten soon.
See a few in-progress photos after the break.
(via Instructables)
Interviews: R.L. Stine Talks Spooks, Scares, ‘The Haunting Hour’, and ‘Red Rain’
If you were born anytime after 1980, chances are that the last thing you saw everynight before you went to bed was the page of an R.L. Stine book. Stine, the master of horror for kids and pre-teens has been at it for 20 years, churning out over 100 “Goosebumps” books, a TV series, and now Hub TV’s R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.
Last week I had the chance to chat with Mr. Stine, armed with questions crafted by myself and my newfound partner in crime, Anne Sisk, and I got to ask the King of Spookiness what scares him, why we want to be scared, how it is writing children’s books in the internet age, and all about the challenges of writing his adult novel, Red Rain. Here is what Mr. Stine had to say:
Is it harder to scare kids now and have you changed your style at all with kids increasingly moving away from books and turning to TV and the Internet and that kind of thing?
I don’t accept that, kids are reading a lot. Years ago the children’s book business was tiny, it was a very small part of a publisher and now it’s a billion dollar industry. Kids are reading. Children’s book sales are up eight percent for this year so I think kids are reading which is a really wonderful thing.
I really haven’t had to change much, when you write scary books you don’t have to change much because the fears never really change. You know; being afraid of the dark, being afraid of what’s under the bed ready to grab you, being afraid that you’re being chased, that never changes so that’s kind of lucky for me.”
Why do you think we want to be scared by spooky stories when we’re little and even now as adults?
Well, I think kids like to be scared a lot, but they have to know they’re safe at the same time. It’s really fun to go out and have these creepy adventures and fight the monsters and battle all this adversity if you know that you’re safe reading in your room at the same time. And I’m very careful with my books, like with the Goosebumps, that kids have to know that this is a fantasy. This is fantasy horror, this isn’t going to happen, this can’t happen to you. Yeah, it’s very creepy, but they have to know that it can’t happen and it’s not going to go too far.
Has there ever been a fear or a theme or an image where you’ve started to go in that direction and then you’ve had to pull yourself back, you didn’t want to go that far. Is there anything you consider “off-limits”?
Very rarely, I’m kind of conservative with it. A lot of times my editors are saying “Hype it up. Make it scarier, make it scarier.” I hear that a lot more. Every once in a while I will, like the very first Goosebumps book is called Welcome to the Dead House, this kid moves to a new town and all these kids come up to him and say “I used to live in your house” and it was the very first one I did and they’re all like zombie kids and they’re out to get him and right now I think it was too scary. I think that book went too far, the first Goosebumps book.
And after that one I kind of realized it and I pulled back and I started adding a lot more humor.
Is there still a challenge for you? You’ve been doing this for so long.
I find it much more of a challenge cause it’s twenty years of Goosebumps, twenty years, it’s over one hundred books and so I guess I’ve done every story you could possibly do, right? So to find new scares and new plot lines and not repeat myself has become a lot more of a challenge, but that’s kind of fun for me.
How do you, just as a writer I have to ask, how are you that prolific? How are you able to day in and day out pump out high quality material like that for such a long period of time?
I don’t know, it’s the only thing I’ve ever been good at, you can ask my wife really. It’s the only thing I’m competent at and I just love it, I’ve been doing it since I was nine years old and I still look forward to getting up and sitting down at the computer and banging out ten more pages a day and getting new stories.
I don’t know what else I would do all day, but the writing is fun for me because I do so much planning first. I do all my planning before I write.
I chart out the whole book; I do very complete outlines of every book I write before I sit down to write, so by the time I’m writing I know everything that’s going to happen in the book. And then I can just fill out the outline and have fun with the writing and enjoy it and that helps me I think to turn out more books than having to plot it as I go.
I noticed in the ‘Weeping Woman’ episode of the Haunting Hour series, I noticed a bit more social commentary and implied marital trouble, are kids these days responding to that kind of stress more? Can you now add those kinds of pressures?
I don’t do it much, but the Haunting Hour is sort of aimed more for teenagers and for families and so they’re pushing it a little farther, the writers. They decided to make the Haunting Hour a bit darker then the Goosebumps books and they’re teenagers instead of kids involved so they’re getting into some of those issues that I wouldn’t do in the books.
In the ‘Weeping Woman’ the basis of the story is the myth of La Llorona, so you kind of have this cross-cultural terror happening. Do you find yourself pulling inspiration from different cultures like this or is it more like these are certain fears that undercut all cultural differences?
I think the fears all are the same, but there are wonderful legends in all these cultures and it would be nice to be able to explore them. But that’s the same fear, that statue is not very much different from Lilly D, that doll that came to life is it?
You just released Red Rain, which is a novel that’s targeted for adults. What’s the bigger challenge: creeping out and scaring kids or scaring adults?
Oh for me scaring adults because I’m not used to it, so it’s a much bigger challenge and I just wrote it because I thought I needed a challenge. Kids’ books are a lot of fun and they’re so easy, they really are a pleasure for me and I thought why not do something hard? Why don’t I do something a little more ambitious?
And then I have all my readers from the 90s who’ve grown up, all those Goosebumps/Fear Street readers who were 10 back then are all in their 20s and 30s, and they’ve been telling me “write for us, please write something for us”. So that’s why I wrote Red Rain, but I found it was a challenge.
How long did it take you to write it?
Five months and I did research for a month, mainly on that island. You know, it takes place on an outer banks island off South Carolina and I’ve never been there, so I just sort of deliberately did it as a game for myself to see if I could really research it and get it right and get all the details right; the vegetation, the birds and do it right. So, I spent about a month doing research and then five months writing it which is a lot for me because the Goosebumps books take a couple weeks.
Is that something you want to continue to pursue. do you want to keep writing for adults or mix and match?
If people like it, yeah I’d enjoy doing more. I love writing for my original audience, I mean those are my kids, those are my people from back in the 90s and I love writing for them, but it just depends if it’s a hit or not. If people really buy it and enjoy it I would love to do more otherwise nobody will ask me to do more.
I’m sure that won’t be a problem.
They won’t answer my calls.
What scares you?
I have no good answer for that, I don’t get scared. I have normal adult fears of course, but horror doesn’t scare me at all. I go to a scary movie or something I don’t know what that feeling is of being scared, I always laugh. When I read a horror novel it makes me laugh, I always find horror funny.
People say “Oh, I was up all night because of your book, you scared me so badly” — I wish I could feel that. I’ve never had that feeling I always find that funny.
Who is your favorite horror writer? If you have one.
Steven King is, I think he’s a wonderful story teller and there are a couple of Steven King books that I think are amazing. Pet Cemetery is one and Misery is another book I just think are brilliant, maybe the best book ever written about writers and editors.
R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour airs on Hub TV at 6PM ET on Saturdays and you can learn more about the show here. If you want to pick up a copy of Red Rain, you can get it at Amazon.com and wherever fine books are sold.
Special thanks to Nick Bungay for all his transcription help.
“Killer Within” – ‘The Walking Dead’ Recap/Review
‘The Killer Within’ is simply too big of an episode for this to be a spoiler free review. So if you have yet to see the it, please turn back now and don’t think that reading this article and then watching the episode will make the events of the ep easier to deal with. This episode will eviscerate you, no matter how prepared you are for it or how many times you watch it.
Before I really start with the review I just need to get this out of my system and say what we are all thinking, “OMFG WHAT THE FRAK JUST HAPPENED?”
So anyway….. !!SPOILERS!!
In the fourth episode of the season we’re back at the prison and we also spend some time with the Governor. What happens in Woodbury isn’t as dynamic as what happens in the prison but groundwork is being laid for major drama. While the Governor tries the smart tactic of appealing to Michonne’s warrior sensibilities, he doesn’t count on her being more than just braun. She’s too smart for his manipulation and is unmoved by his flattery. Andrea on the other hand is hooked on life in Woodbury and is clearly charmed by the Governor, whose name we now know is Philip. Andrea’s readiness to be wooed is likely due more to exhaustion than with the Governor’s ability to flirt. She’s even slightly charmed by Merle, so the only explanation is that this girl is just at the end of her rope and will believe anything if it allows her to pretend that she’s not in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
In the prison, someone (probably Andrew) is feeding the zombies dead animals and using that as bait to lead the zombies into the prison. But before these walkers make their way to our beloved gang, we get some much needed moments of group interaction before all hell breaks loose.
There is some adorable levity when the gang discovers Glenn & Maggie having sex in the guard tower. But the fun is short lived when the two remaining prisoners show up and beg to be part of Rick’s crew. Despite saying this is no longer a democracy, Rick does the right thing and let’s everyone share their opinions and he also explains why he doesn’t want to budge on his decision to keep them away from his family. In the end, the majority of the group decides agrees with Rick and the prisoners are locked outside to fend for themselves.
T-Dog is really the only one who wants to give thse guys a chance. But Rick poses a very solid question to him, “Who’s blood would you rather have on your hands? Maggie’s? Glenn’s? or theirs?” T-Dog’s response is “Neither,” and while that response is one most of us are likely to say, sometimes in dire situations you need to make tough calls. This scene may not be important to the story overall, but it is a key part of T-Dog’s narrative and his character’s humanity. He does believe in making tough calls and he makes the toughest call ever in this episode.
The writers amp up the feelings of hope by having Hershel take his first steps outside in this episode and everyone in the group has all the good feels until the zombies that were let into the prison at the beginning of the episode attack and it’s horrible and intense and I hide under my couch for the rest of the episode crying and eating my hair.
It is complete chaos and as a viewer, it was slightly hard to follow what was going on but it was clear that was a purposeful directing choice. I expected someone to bite it (heh) and truly thought it was going to be Hershel, Carl or even Lori but the one to succumb to the zombie horde was our hero, T-Dog, who is bitten on the shoulder. He’s still able to run inside the prison with Carol but when they get trapped by more walkers, he sacrifices himself to the zombies so that Carol can escape. We know he’s going to die regardless, he knows he’s going to die, Carol knows he’s going to die, he’s been bitten – but that doesn’t make his death any less tragic or emotional. His heroism in this episode was beautiful and ultimately one of the goriest things ever in the history of all things.
The horror doesn’t stop there, as the stress of the invasion causes Lori to go into labor. It’s not an easy birth, she starts to bleed out and needs a c-section. Her group has been separated from Carol, leaving Maggie to perform the operation that will ultimately kill her friend. It’s worth mentioning here that the only people with Lori at this time are Maggie and Carl, her son. This is the only time I’ve liked Lori and marginally liked Carl. Sometimes there is wisdom in loss. Lori’s final speech to her son is heart-wrenching and brilliant. Sarah Wayne Callies always does a great job with Lori, as much as I dislike the character, and she made this death scene as heavy as it needed to be without going over the top.
To prevent Lori from coming back as a zombie Carl makes the choice to shoot her in the head. This episode is all the more tragic when you consider that Lori was killed, essentially, by both of her children. The title of this episode ‘Killer Within’ refers to three different things – most obviously Lori’s baby, but also the zombie virus which is lying dormant in everyone’s system waiting for the right moment to activate. Then there is the more metaphorical killer which, like the virus, lies dormant in all of us – the ability to take a life. Carl finds his killer within tonight. He does it for the right reasons and it is the honorable thing in this case but at the same time, I think it’s safe to say that the Carl we’ve seen these past few seasons died tonight along with his mother.
“Goodnight, love,” indeed.
This is only the fourth episode and I’m excited and terrified to see what will happen in the future.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.
Tickets for ‘The Hobbit’ & Extended Edition ‘LOTR’ Trilogy Marathon on Sale Wed – First Track From ‘Hobbit’ Soundtrack Released
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey won’t open for another month and a half – December 14th specifically – but come this Wednesday, November 7th you’ll be able to buy your tickets and secure your seat for the journey back to Middle Earth. Deadline is reporting the breaking news that theatres across North America will have tickets available for purchase on Wednesday starting at 12:00pm ET.
A Warner Bros. source also told Deadline, “We’re expecting a big result as we start the journey for all 3 films,” and that yes, expect a marathon event featuring the three extended editions of the Lords of the Rings films on December 8th and 9th. The tickets for these all-day events will also go on sale November 7th.
I don’t know about you, but I am in no way shocked by this news. I believe we’re all expecting The Hobbit to biggest grossing film of the holiday season. Are you gonna snag your tickets Wed? What about the marathons? I know I’m going.
And just to sweeten this news, the first track from what I’m sure will be another brilliant Howard Shore soundtrack has been released. Click the image below to give “Radagast the Brown” a listen.
Source: CBM (2)
