A Meeting of Minds

I found this on youtube this evening. It's not really funny unless you've seen both of the movies they're talking about, but if you've seen both Slingblade and Naploeon Dynamite, then you're in for a treat.

Enjoy!

Hey nerds! It's quiz time!

Hola, Nerduary folks.

I ran across a good set of quizzes for all of us here at the Nerduary. The quizzes are on everything from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars. And they are damn near the hardest questions I've answered about Star Wars. They not only test your answers but also the speed in which you give the answers.

I have to say, I didn't do as well on the Star Wars questions as I thought. I've only taken Episodes four and five and lets just say if you can top the charts on these, you are super nerd.

So enjoy. I would love to see some scores posted if you guys got some extra time. Just to be fair, I'll add my scores to the bottom.

Star Wars A New Hope: 19/20 in about 80-something seconds (a wookie score, according to the site)
Empire Strikes Back: 16/20 in about 60 seconds (I'm so embarrassed. My favorite movie of the series and I miss four. But my quick time gave me the rank of Grand Moff. I'll take it)

Enjoy!
http://www.empireonline.com/features/howwelldoyouknow/

Heroes: Heroic?

For anyone who hasn't turned on their TV in the last few months, Heroes is a new show on NBC. The pilot aired last night.

Before I write my thoughts I'm very curious about what the Nerduary readers thought of this idea/show/whatever. So, post a response at some point.

First of all I want to complain about the sound on the show. It was difficult to understand some of the dialogue because the background noise was way too loud. I think the sound editor was going for a summer blockbuster action movie feel, but it just pissed me off. The reason it pissed me off is I feel that for this show to have any chance it needs solid dialogue to establish story and characters, otherwise it is just a special effects expo.

Onto the show itself. It seems like this is going to be a pre-X-men, beginning of the mutants story (there is no continuity with Marvel though). Human kind is seeing the first wave of mutants (I will use the word "mutant" for simplicity's sake) and there appears to be a small group that knows about them and wants ungood things for the mutants. Most people including some of the mutants are completely or mostly unaware of the changes occurring. One mutant, who happens to be a painter strung out on drugs, has the unique ability of painting the future, but only when he is high. He paints a picture of a massive explosion in downtown NYC, thus foreshadowing the direction the show will take.

I like the idea of seeing essentially the birth of mutantkind (even though there is no continuity with Marvel). The acting seems solid, and the little Japanese kid makes me giggle. Not too mention Ali Larter (playing the part of an internet streaming video stripper) is hot as is the most likely underage Hayden Panettiere. At the end of the first episode the characters lives were starting to intertwine, and I think the show has a lot of promise.

Besides the sound the biggest improvement would be to just wait until the show comes out on DVD and watch it straight through.

Peace out homies!

Why does Michael Bay still get to make movies?

NOT SAFE FOR WORK (language!)The rude awakening of Optimus Prime.



And since I've nothing else to do today:

The video to "White and Nerdy," you say? It's right here.

Oh, and though it pains me to do so, these folks have created what may be the spiritual successor to "A.S.S."

Weird Al "The Original Nerdcore Rapper"

Heard about this on the Johnboy and Billy show this morning while driving back to Macon. Weird Al has a new album out featuring a song called "White & Nerdy". You can listen to the song free on Weird Al's Myspace page. Hopefully the link worked, if not the address is http://www.myspace.com/weirdal. Look for the video in myspace videos as well, quite funny.



Oh, and on a side note, I was offered a job yesterday.

Turner! Go to church for me!

The Gospel According to Buffy.

Wish I lived in Macon. Well, sometimes I do. Ok, this is like the 3rd time I've wished it. Whatever.

D

To Boldly Go...

Don’t know if you guys are aware of this, but in honor of Star Trek’s 40th anniversary, Paramount is going back and tweaking the original series a little bit. Now, as Star Wars fans, we all know what tweaking can entail, and that it can be a bad thing. However, I think this is going to be great.

Here's the link again.

New Star Wars DVDs? Pshaw.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, Nerduary readers...

As you all know, the "original" Star Wars trilogy is coming out tomorrow on DVD. Screw that. I'm waiting for the HD versions.

In the meantime, however, I have gained access to the "Darth Editous" edition of "A New Hope." I'll be more than happy to make DVDs of it available to interested parties.

Why do you want it? Read here to find out. The dude works magic.

Bookkeeping

I'm pretty sure somebody on this site borrowed my "Battlestar Galactica" season one DVD set. Problem is, I can't remember who.

If you've watched 'em, can I get 'em back? I've got a co-worker who needs to be introduced to the goodness, and I need to rewatch all of 'em (got season 2 Tivo'ed) to prepare for the goodness coming in October.

Jake's Dragon*Con experience.

If you're here for my pictures, look here.

Jake's lessons:

1) Chris knows more about comics than anyone else. ANYONE.

2) When in the Dawn lookalike contest, and the lookalike in question is rather... large, and the narration for her posing has the line "is she out of your league?" the right answer is not "Hell no, but she's sure as shit out of my weight class!"

3) Dragon*Con is great for anybody who's too skinny, too fat, too ugly, too zit-ridden or too bald. Not only can you wear stuff you'd never wear in public, but you may just find someone who things you're pretty damned sexy.

4) That person is not Chris, Sean or me, though.

5) I can rock the faux-hawk.

6) Zach is still Zach. And for some weird cultural reason, I'm not allowed to meet his children.

7) Holy shit. Sean told the guy who writes G.I. Joe "not to fuck up Snake-Eyes."

8) Freddie Mercury may not be a good choice for a costume contest, but god-DAMN, could that guy get a crowd goin'.

9) When you're seven feet tall, about 400 pounds, bald and white, Kingpin really is your only costume choice.

10) The dude who played Chewbacca does not give a shit that I've been a fan since I was one year old. Plus, his hands are about as long as my lower arm.

Dragon*Con Report, part one

Another Dragon*Con has come and gone, and for those that couldn’t make it up to Atlanta, rest assured, a good time was had by all. Crowds were heavier this year than ever, but that just meant we got to see a lot more freaks than usual.

Tiffany, Jake, Sean, Erin I spent all of Saturday together, roaming three different hotel convention areas, taking in all the sites. I even got to talk to the guys who make “The Venture Brothers” on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. On Sunday, it was just me, Jake and Sean, but that didn’t mean the fun was about to stop. We met celebrities, drank beer, took pictures of geeks in great costumes, and made fun of geeks in shitty ones. We even met up with the immortal Zach Rushing on Sunday night for some drinks.

Here’re some of the weekend’s highlights:

- Sean scaring the shit out of a cross dresser.
- Watching Anthony “C-3PO” Daniels ogle at scantily clad women at a costume contest.
- Hearing Anthony Daniels say the word “fuck” twice in two minutes.
- Talking politics with one of the founders of EC Comics.
- Listening to Sean warn the writer of G.I. Joe that he had better not fuck-up Snake-Eyes (seriously, Sean warned the writer of G.I. Joe that he had better not fuck-up Snake-Eyes).
- Getting a great bargain on an action figure that should have been sold to me at least twice the price that it was.
- Watching Tiffany perpetually break in the front of every line to meet the celebrities she wanted to meet. Seriously, the line to meet Summer Glau of "Serenity" fame was frick’n huge, but Tiffany just broke right in RIGHT IN FRONT OF SUMMER GLAU AND SECURITY. She did this to Buffy: The Vampire Slayer'sNicholas Brendon as well.
- Bumping into Traci Lords.
- Seeing a guy dressed in a perfect Mayor McCheese costume.
- Seeing a guy wearing a pimp suit and a Darth Vader helmet… with a pimp hat over it.
- Losing count of impossibly hot girls wearing Princess Lea slave girl outfits.
- Losing count of impossibly fat girls wearing Princess Lea slave girl outfits.
- Noticing that no matter where you go, Jake Hallman will know at least ten people.
- Realizing that Erin knows more than you about the Adult Swim line-up.
- Telling friends that knew Sean from high school as a mild mannered kid that yes, Sean once offered to help you bury a body… and was disappointed when it wasn’t necessary.

There’s a whole lot more to write about, and I’ll relate some stories that I either didn’t mention here, or that need more details, in the days and weeks to come. Meanwhile, here are just a few of the pics we got from the convention (Jake took a shit-ton more that will be up soon). Enjoy!


Got any room for me an Alfred out there, Adam West?

What about George Clooney?

Behold, Galactus, Devourer of Worlds! This guy is as tall as he looks (that or I'm shorter than I thought) and was always surrounded by a group of folks dressed as various heralds. I wanted to ask him if he was interested in heading to Statesboro for a weekend to have a pizza eating contest with a buddy of mine named Derek...

Always wanted to see how I would look beside the world's greatest criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor. I think I fit in quite nicely.

Random heroes and villains posing for the crowd in the hotel lobby.

If you were a fan of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, then you'll know this fellow as the guy who played the chaos demon that Drusilla left Spike for. Only we thought by mistake that he played Clem, a different, cooler, funnier demon. However, when we asked if he played Clem, he said that he did. He kind of fibbed to us. He also recently moved to Atlanta, and wanted to hang out with me and Tiffany. Gave us his number and everything. Later, he pulled Tiffany aside, and invited her to a late night pajama party in his hotel room. Yeah, the whole affair had a high creep factor to it.

I got this picture especially for Turner.

This little fella was running around in a sun dress wearing a gold top hat. I demanded not just a picture of him, but a picture of him with Sean. I bullshit you not, when this guy saw Sean wearing Sean's scary face, he freaked the fuck out. We honest to God had to assure him that Sean wasn't going to hurt him. Look at the guy's face. You can still see how uncomfortable he is standing that close to Sean. I almost wanted to ask if he knew he was dressed in drag...

Anyone can spend a couple grand on authentic Stormtrooper armor, but making your own out of cardboard boxes is just priceless. Plus, judging from the movies, I'll bet the cardboard armor is about as effective as the real deal.

Trues story: We were up on the 17th floor of the Hyatt, hanging out with some folks who had gotten a room, and just a few minutes after I'd scared the hell out of Jake by pretending that I was going to toss him off the balconey (long story, but funny ending), someone runs into the room screaming "there's a guy in the hall wearing only a gold thong." So me and Jake figured we'd go see for ourselves. How did the guy end up in my arms? Fuck if I know, but I ended up with a great photo.

Tiffany found a pimp hat and a few minutes later, actually tried to peddle Beaker's ass on Peachtree Street for $10.

Jake made it clear on several occasions that he's not the biggest fan in the world of Atlanta, or any city for that matter. Anyway, we lost Jake for a few minutes Saturday evening as we were trying to find food. Jake was none too impressed to find that he had been left behind.

We ended up Sunday night at an Irish pub where we all got a little buzz going, and Sean actually downed just one Irish car bomb (usually, he stops at about four). We then got this picture Sean and Erin, and yes, Sean is really smiling.

Ladies, and gentlemen, Mr. Zach Rushing.

Sadness...

At 4 a.m., David called me and told me that Steve Irwin had been killed. Anyone who’s hung out with me long enough knows of my affinity towards the Crocodile Hunter. I even used his action figure a few times when doing Astounding Comics with Jake.

I just thought the guy was a class act. He seemed genuinely concerned for the environment and all the animals in the world, even the ones that aren’t all that cute or cuddly. A few months back, I saw a show on the Travel Channel that he did with his entire family, and they looked like the happiest group of people you could ever meet. Though they were doing extraordinary things together, they seemed so normal doing it.

No one can be surprised that Steve Irwin died the way he did, filming a documentary about dangerous animals. A guy like that that literally cheats death for a living is going to get tagged eventually. Maybe he even expected to go out in some gruesome fashion. But there is a certain sadness to the fact that he was killed not by a venomous snake, or a man eating crocodile, but by a one-in-a million stingray sting, the kind that ended in death only twice in the last 60 years.

“The Crocodile Hunter” was a big part of my life in college. A lot of you may even have had the unfortunate experience of being dragged to the theater with me to see his big screen debut. I just liked the guy. He seemed like a real life super hero, and all round nice guy.

So long, Steve. I know I’m going to miss you.