Jul 27 2009 Wicked Awesome Crazy Sci-Fi Cartoon

I have no idea what I just watched, but, like catching my dog humping the cat for the first time, I knew it was something special (and romantic). Only difference is this time I didn't film it. Just watch, listen, and be amazed.

BIRDY NAM NAM - THE PARACHUTE ENDING [vimeo]

Thanks to Lee, who makes movies about reading books. The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story FTW!

Jul 19 2009 eBay: Piece Of Film From Original Star Trek

Want to own a piece of Star Trek that you can wear around the house like a boa? Then you're in luck, because a man is selling an 11-foot piece of film from the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of the original Star Trek series.

This is a unique, one-of-a-kind item. I was an assistant film editor on the original series of Star Trek and this is an original section of film that came right out of the camera after shooting. This is from the episode "Mirror, Mirror" which aired October 6, 1967. The clipping is 11 feet 7 frames long, about 183 frames total. Pictured on the film is Chekov (Walter Koenig) when he is foiled in his attempt to kill Captain Kirk. The clip follows the fight sequence and includes two different phaser blasts which were hand scribed by me back in 1969.

Starting bid is $500, and I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up selling for a pretty penny. Or a handsome quarter. You hear that? Better luck next time you busted ass nickel!

eBay Auction

Thanks to Sigrid, who doesn't need a phaser to know how to rock pew.

Jun 24 2009 Interesting: Ray Bradbury Hates The Internets

Ray Bradbury, seen here showing you how to properly do an alien, hates the internet. The author, despite his often futuristic, sci-fi themes, may secretly be a unabomber.

"The Internet is a big distraction," said Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, while speaking out in defense of libraries in The New York Times.

"Yahoo called me eight weeks ago," he said. "They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? 'To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.'

"It's distracting," he continued. "It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere."

It's not "in the air somewhere", Ray, it's a series of tubes. One minute of fact-checking on Wikipedia could have told you that. Just sayin'.

Ray Bradbury to Yahoo: "To hell with the Internet!" [scifiwire]

Thanks to Chase and FDSY, who love the internet for all the joy porn it brings to their lives.

May 8 2009 Star Trek Band Warp 11 Releases New Album

Just in time for the new movie, Star Trek band Warp 11 has released a new album entitled "I Don't Want to Go to Heaven as Long as They have Vulcans in Hell". It includes such sure to be classics as: Jim Beam Me Up, Betazoid Mind F%%k, Beam into Me, They Put Creatures in Our Bodies, Suds Me Up Sulu (Mirror Mirror), and What Would William Shatner Do? This is the promo video for said album. And, if you can get past the two dudes in the heart-shaped tub, the music is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, it's hard to get past the two guys in the bathub, so skip to 0:20.

Official Site

BWHAHAHAHA, did I say I say 0:20 -- I meant 0:45. Suckers!

Thanks to Ryan and Steve, who once pushed their bikes up the steepest hill they could find and then rode them down at Warp 12. And to Karl, the man in the tub himself.

Mar 16 2009 The Sci-Fi Channel Is Changing Its Name

To SyFy. Why? Well, I don't know why. But like Nas says in 'The Message', "a thug changes, and love changes, and best friends become strangers. Word up." Word up indeed, Nas, thanks for that.

By changing the name to Syfy, which remains phonetically identical, the new brand broadens perceptions and embraces a wider range of current and future imagination-based entertainment beyond just the traditional sci-fi genre, including fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure. It also positions the brand for future growth by creating an ownable trademark that can travel easily with consumers across new media and nonlinear digital platforms, new international channels and extend into new business ventures.

"Imagine Greater" will become the new brand message and tagline, inviting both consumers and advertisers into a new era of unlimited imagination, exceptional experiences and greater entertainment.

I didn't actually bother reading any of that, but I think it said something about becoming a much more generic cable station and not playing reruns of Star Trek: TNG anymore. Smart move. And speaking of which, rook to D2. Checkmate, bitches!

http://scifiwire.com/2009/03/sci-fi-channel-to-become.php [scifiwire]

Thanks to big jerm and Mike, who were going to change their names but realized they'd have to get new vanity license plates and decided against it.

Feb 6 2009 Moon, Here I Come!: Scientists Succeed In Teleporting Matter A Whole Three Feet

That's right folks, I estimate in a few short months we'll all be able to teleport ourselves to our favorite vacation spots. Or inside a bank vault -- or the women's locker room! The possibilities I'm imagining are staggering, and, for the most part, illegal. Awh yeah -- breaking the law with science!

No one is galaxy-hopping, or even beaming people around, but for the first time, information has been teleported between two separate atoms across a distance of a meter -- about a yard.

In the Jan. 23 issue of the journal Science, the scientists report that, by using their protocol, atom-to-atom teleported information can be recovered with perfect accuracy about 90 percent of the time -- and that figure can be improved.

Well I would hope that figure can be improved. If 1 out of 10 teleporters winds up with their penis for an arm, well, I want a penis arm! Seriously though, I think we can all agree: this is one small step for man, one ironically giant leap for me never having to move again. Tele-beer me!

Hit the link for a much more in-depth article that better explains the science behind teleportation (read: transfer of quantum information).

Scientist Teleport Matter More Than Three Feet [foxnews]

Thanks to Chuck Nunchuck, Marc and Pete, who once teleported themselves to China to ride in a rickshaw.

Jan 12 2009 Massive Stargate SG-1 LEGO Ship On eBay

You a Stargate SG-1 fan? Want a LEGO replica of the Asgard Beliskner Battle Ship? Got $3,500? Live in or around Highland Park, Illinois? Willing to drive there? If so you're in luck because eBay user fentonhardy is selling the ship of your dreams!

AFTER THREE MONTHS OF HARD WORK AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PIECES MY BELISKNER IS FINALLY FINISHED. FANS OF THE SHOW KNOW THAT THE BELISKNER WAS THE FLAGSHIP OF THE ASGARD FLEET IN STARGATE SG-1 UNTIL IT BURNED UP IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. AFTER WATCHING THE SERIES I KNEW THAT I HAD TO BUILD THE SHIP OUT OF LEGOS, THE THE RESULT WAS A INCREDIBLY LARGE AND DETAILED SHIP THAT MEASURED FIVE FEET LONG, SIX FEET WIDE, AND TWO FEET HIGH.

DUE TO THE ENORMOUS SIZE OF THIS SHIP IT IS PICK UP ONLY

My god that guy loves to yell. Tens of thousands of pieces though -- that's a lot. But not as many as hundreds of thousands of pieces, am I right? Damn right I am. Math: I know that shit. And also, poetry. Here comes a haiku!

Massive Stargate ship

Makes my penis look tiny
I won't stand by it

Damn, you just got poetried, son!

Hit the jump for several more shots and a link to the auction with a whole bunch more.

Continue Reading " Massive Stargate SG-1 LEGO Ship On eBay "

Mar 19 2008 R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008)

If you haven't heard, Arthur C. Clarke passed away in Sri Lanka after suffering from breathing problems. He was 90. Best known for writing 2001: A Space Odyssey and developing the idea of geosynchronous orbiting satellites, Clarke was a talented writer, inventor and futurist. I hope even you Mac haters out there can look past that computer in the back and take this time to remember a brilliant mind.

RIP Arthur C. Clarke (December 16, 1917 - March 19, 2008)

Writer Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 [yahoonews]