Author: ÜberSciFiGeek

Town of Vulcan adds its Trekkie flair to Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Sci-Fi Spectacular

from Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station:

Representatives from the friendly, Star Trek obsessed Town of Vulcan, Alberta were invited to add their Trekkie Flair to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Sci-Fi Spectacular concert at Edmonton’s Winspear Centre on January 23 & 24, 2009.

Narrated by George Takei, Mr. Sulu of Star Trek fame, this concert will feature a laser light show and musical selections from Star Trek, and other well known science fiction movies and TV shows.

“The Town of Vulcan is honoured to be invited to participate at the Sci-Fi Spectacular event. I think that when organizations, such as the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, host this type of event, it shows that Star Trek and science fiction really do have a universal appeal.” said Dayna Dickens, Tourism Coordinator for the Town of Vulcan.

Vulcan’s Tourism & Trek Station crew will be at the Winspear Centre in full uniform on both nights of the concert, taking pictures of guests posing with life sized cutouts of Capt. Kirk, Dr. McCoy and of course Mr. Spock.

The Town of Vulcan will also be supplying fun prizes for the best sci-fi costumes worn to the event.

Already on the international radar for its famous name and for its homage to Star Trek and Science Fiction, the Vulcan Tourism office is hoping to bring the World Premiere of Star Trek XI to the Town of Vulcan, Alberta for its May 2009 release.

The campaign to bring the movie premiere to Vulcan follows in the wake of 2008’s unveiling of a large Star Trek Memorabilia Collection and the 2007 launch of the “Vulcan Space Adventure” virtual reality game. Vulcan has a long Trekkie history, including opening the Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station — a spacey tourist information centre, in 1998; the unveiling of the 5-tonne Vulcan Starship FX6-1995-A in 1995; and the town’s first Star Trek Convention held back in 1993. Tributes to science fiction are everywhere from space murals and alien signage that grace the walls and street corners of this little town on the prairies to a Star Trek grave stone in the local cemetery.

The Town of Vulcan, Alberta is a “logical” year-round destination for science fiction enthusiasts from across the galaxy.

Join the Facebook Group called: Star Trek XI: Help Bring Spock Home to Vulcan, Alberta to show your support for Vulcan’s quest to bring the World Premiere of Star Trek XI to Vulcan for its May 2009 release.

Live Long and Prosper…

Streamys.org: The Guild Needs Your Vote

from The Guild:

We try to be VERY sparing with appeals to vote for us in various online awards/contests. Most of them are pure link baiting and we don’t like to waste our fans’ time. Last year we entered the YouTube and Yahoo awards (which we won’t be doing this year). So, we’re putting our eggs in one basket for the new awards show on the block that we would really love to participate in: The Streamy Awards.

The biggest major New Media Blogs, NewTeeVee, Tilzy.tv, Tubefilter are co-hosting this new awards show, with the aim to make the first really “classy” award for New Media productions. This is the first year for it and we’d love to have The Guild be nominated, which depends on audience votes to get to the top 5. After that, industry professionals choose the winners.

The deadline for nominations is midnight Jan 23rd (Friday). If you could spare a moment, we’d love for you to go to Streamys.org and consider us in the following categories:

Best Comedy Web Series: The Guild
Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series: Sean Becker
Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series: Felicia Day

Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series: Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis or Vincent Caso (Zaboo, Vork or Bladezz)
Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series: Felicia Day, Robin Thorsen or Amy Okuda (Codex, Clara or Tink)
Best Ensemble Cast in a Web Series: The Guild
Best Guest Star in a Web Series: Fernando Chien (Wade Wei, the Stunt Guy)

Best Editing: Sean Becker
Best Cinematography: John Schmidt
Best Art Direction: Leah Mann
Best Visual Effects: Doug Luberts
Best Animation: Matthew Brackney (for the Season 2 credits)
Best Original Music: Don Schiff (Theme) Eanan Patterson (Season 2 Scoring)

We know it’s a lot, but every single person contributed their amazing talent to this season, so if you have the time, please vote for us! 🙂 We appreciate it so much.

The Guild Management

Interns and Costume Designer needed for Legend of Neil 2

from The Legend of Neil:

We need INTERNS and a COSTUME DESIGNER for season 2 of The Legend of Neil.

Interns:

We’re looking for interns to help out in the office 1 or 2 days a week with production on The Legend of Neil from FEBRUARY 1 through MARCH. Duties would cover a variety of things from office work to helping make props. We need responsible, hard working people who want to be part of something ridiculously fun and funny. You MUST BE LOCATED IN LOS ANGELES and you MUST HAVE YOUR OWN TRANSPORTATION.

Please email resume and contact information to leah@effinfunny.com. Also feel free to write us a quick paragraph introducing yourself and why you want to help out.

Costume Designer:

The Legend of Neil Season 2 is packed full of new characters and we have a lot of costumes to build. We’re looking for young, creative costumers who want to work on this great show for Comedy Central. You’ll get to make fabulous fantasy costumes that will be seen on TV! There is some pay (but not as much as we or you would probably like.) Please email resume and a link to your portfolio to: leah@effinfunny.com.

Growing Up Star Wars: 1977-1985

Flickr: Growing Up Star Wars: 1977-1985

Glen Mullaly (a group admin) says: Welcome to Growing Up Star Wars!

With the creation of this group you now have permission to post that Polaroid of yourself as Princess Leia in 1977 (I’m talking to you, Bob) or that crayon portrait you did of the Death Star Droid that hung on your parent’s fridge for months in 1979 until someone spilled Kool-Aid on it. Even that great shot of your little brother meeting an off-model Darth Vader at some local in-store promotion in 1983.

Let your vintage Star Wars fan freak flag fly free!

About Growing Up Star Wars: 1977-1985

A nostalgic look back at the world-wide Star Wars phenomenon through the creativity of the first generation of young people to experience it. Vintage photographs and scans of childhood Star Wars drawings, costumes, toys, homemade crafts, birthday cakes, local showings and events (and local ads for such) and more. The focus is on the personal experience and the variation & customization that was common in the early days of Star Wars.

Only vintage (1977-1985) photographs, or scans/photos of vintage kid’s art & crafts please. Found photos are fine, but need to be from your own collection. No borrowed or swiped internet photos without express permission of the owner! Photos of toys need to be vintage, not just of vintage toys. Also — please be sure that the Star Wars elements of the photo or scan are large enough to see clearly and that you DATE THE IMAGE. Sorry, but images that do not fit within the rules of this group may be removed.

***** A quick note to all those visiting from outside of the Flickr community: We’re really happy you’ve stopped by, but just to let you know that not all images will be visible until you join the group. Most, just not all. Thanks!

Bond Between Anakin and Ahsoka Strengthens in Star Wars: The Clone Wars

from StarWars.com:

Ahsoka Tano (left) keeps watch over a wounded Anakin Skywalker in “Jedi Crash,” an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiering at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Jan. 16, on Cartoon Network
Ahsoka Tano (left) keeps watch over a wounded Anakin Skywalker in “Jedi Crash,” an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiering at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Jan. 16, on Cartoon Network

As Jedi Master and Padawan, the relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano is central to Star Wars: The Clone Wars — and it faces a difficult test in “Jedi Crash,” an all-new episode that premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday on Cartoon Network.

With Anakin suffering from life-threatening injuries, Ahsoka needs to find medical aid for him on an unfamiliar planet. The task leads her to a village populated by friendly but devoutly pacifistic creatures. As she implores them for help, Ahsoka finds she needs to practice the Jedi philosophy that prohibits personal attachments.

The episode not only introduces a brand-new race of characters to the Star Wars galaxy — the Lurmen — but also brings a new dimension to the bond between Anakin and Ahsoka. Their relationship is one that Ashley Eckstein, who voices the young Padawan, says she understands.

“I wanted to be just like my big brother when I was growing up, and I really was just like Ahsoka — I was such a tomboy,” Eckstein recalls. She says she remembers “playing Star Wars” with her brother in their living room. Back then, she took the role of R2-D2 to her brother’s C-3PO, and Eckstein says their relationship helped her define Ahsoka’s interactions with her Jedi master.

“I was the only girl on the baseball team and proud of it,” she says. “I may not have been the best hitter or the best fielder, but I was the fastest runner, and I would outrun any boy on the field. I was close in age with my brother, and we played in the same league, but my mom insisted that we not be on the same team because she wanted that sense of competitiveness, and she wanted me to be able to flourish in my own light and not be in my brother’s shadow.”

It’s a challenge similar to the one Ahsoka faces, particularly since Anakin accepted her only begrudgingly. “Being a girl, and a younger sister, made me strive that much harder because I wanted to prove to my brother that I could hang with him and his friends. I really loved having an older brother, learning from him and kind of being his Padawan, in a sense.”

While Star Wars: The Clone Wars is packed with thrills and action, Eckstein is most enthusiastic about the series’ exploration of her character’s emotions and humanity. She says Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship helps form the emotional core of the series.

“There are some really touching moments in the series between Anakin and Ahsoka, and you definitely see their relationship grow and mature,” Eckstein says. “In the beginning of the series, they’re still learning about each other. But as the battles go on and they go through all these trials and tribulations, their relationship just grows and blossoms. They learn a lot from each other.”

Jolt Online Gaming Announce Legends of Zork Browser Game

from Jolt Online Gaming:

Jolt Online Gaming today announced that it will be publishing Legends of Zork, which will give players the chance to once again take up the mantle of Zork, this time via an Internet browser.

The Great Underground Empire has recently fallen and the land is in disarray. The Royal Treasury has been sacked. The stock market has collapsed, leading even mighty FrobozzCo International to fire employees from throughout its subsidiaries. A craze of treasure-hunting has swept through the remnants of the Great Underground Empire. The New Zork Times reports that trolls, kobolds and other dangerous creatures are venturing far from their lairs. Adventurers and monsters are increasingly coming into conflict over areas rich with loot. It’s a dangerous time to be a newly-unemployed traveling salesman, but it’s also a great time to try a bit of adventuring.

LegendsofZork.com will provide online gamers with a persistent online adventure, playable from any Internet browser. Players take up the role of a recently laid-off salesman and part-time loot-gatherer, as he explores the Great Underground Empire. Designed to provide gamers with a casual MMO game they can play on their laptop, desktop or Apple iPhone (in school, work or on the bus), there’s nothing to download, just go to legendsofzork.com.

“As a complete Zork geek, I’m very proud to be releasing this title”, stated Dylan Collins, CEO of Jolt Online gaming. “Anyone who plays MMOs will definitely like to spend some time with Legends of Zork while they’re taking a break or browsing around the web. It’s very addictive”.

For more information, beta-registration, and game announcements please go to legendsofzork.com.

Jolt Online Gaming is one of the leading browser games publishers in the world with millions of players across its titles.

The Jolt Online Gaming network was founded in 2008 and is building a global network of passionate online gamers. The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with operations in Los Angeles and Germany. Its gaming properties include Trukz.com, NationStates2.com, Jolt.co.uk and Swirve.com. More information can be found at joltonline.com.

Legends of Zork © 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark and Legends of Zork is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. Published by Jolt Online Gaming.

All other trademarks and trade names are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Vote for Neil!

from The Legend of Neil:

Only a few days left until the Streamy award nominations are announced and who gets nominated is solely up to you. January 23rd is the deadline. Go vote! Once again here is our ideal ballot:

Best Comedy Series: The Legend of Neil (legendofneil.com)
Best Director (Comedy): Sandeep Parikh
Best Writing (Comedy): Tony Janning & Sandeep Parikh
Best Male Actor (Comedy): Tony Janning
Best Guest Star in a Web Series (Comedy): Felicia Day
Best Editing: Sandeep Parikh
Best Cinematography: Richard E. Stark
Best Art Direction: Leah Mann
Best Visual Effects: Sevan Najarian
Best Original Music: Robert Harrington

New “Knights of Good” Tee Now Available

from The Guild:

The official Guild Jinx Store has a new addition!

“Knights of Good stand for good and all things related to… good.” Become a member of the guild inside The Guild with this shirt. Vork would approve. Meta-Tee’d.

Available in Women’s and Men’s sizes. Art done by Jeff Carlisle.

Vulcan Tourism

from Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station:

We have just relaunched the Vulcan Tourism website. If you have not already done so, check it out at: vulcantourism.com. We will be posting press releases and updates on our continuing quest to host the premiere of Star Trek XI both on this Facebook Group, and on our new website, under Vulcan News.

Felicia Day Live Video Chat: A Humanety Charity Auction

from Humanety:

Felicia Day‘s Charity Auction Benefiting the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation

You’ve seen her as Codex of The Guild, Penny of Dr. Horrible’s Sing–Along Blog and from many roles in hit TV shows and movies including Monk and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Here’s your chance to meet actress, writer and producer Felicia Day for a 30-minute live video chat.

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation donates new and refurbished musical instruments to underserved schools, community music programs and individual students nationwide, in an effort to give youngsters the many benefits of music education and inspire creativity and expression through playing music.

Felicia Day Live Video Chat: A Humanety Charity Auction
[direct eBay link]

Will you lend a caring hand? Please join me in supporting the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. That’s got to be worth at least 10,000 experience points!”

— Felicia Day

Humanety is an exciting new method for you to connect with your favorite celebrities in support of charity. Your winning bid goes to a worthy cause, and you get to enjoy quality one-on-one time with some of the most interesting people in the world. Please join Felicia in giving the gift of music to students everywhere.

Bonus Loot! The auction includes a DVD of Season 1 of The Guild autographed by the cast!

Jungle Speed on the Wii

from Playful Entertainment:

The internationally renowned, lightning-fast card game from Asmodee Editions, Jungle Speed, is coming to WiiWare on January 12th. It’s fun for the entire family, where quick reflexes and a keen eye will put you on top. Flip your cards, pay attention and grab the totem at the right moment to win the game.

Jungle Speed is a twitchy, fast-paced WiiWare game that’s fun for all ages. It’s also the first Wii game to offer simultaneous play for up to eight players. Each remote and nunchuk pair can support two players at a time, making it a great game for get-togethers. Just watch the elbows!

Available for 1000 Wii points, Jungle Speed is not for the faint hearted. Players must watch carefully and react quickly. With a jungle character seated comfortably at the game table, players are each dealt a pile of cards. Play starts when the first person flips their card. Moving around the table symbols are revealed until two of the exposed cards match. Players with the matching cards must then scramble to grasp the totem in the middle of the table. The faster player then gives their cards to their unfortunate adversary. With paws flying, the first person to get rid of all their cards wins the game.

To add to the difficulty, certain cards are almost identical, which can trick a hapless player into grabbing the Totem by mistake — a grave error. Other cards force all players to make a grab at once, change the method of play, or otherwise add to the difficulty. And just when you think you’ve got it down, a special card can change the rules and keep you on the edge of your stump. Every game is an exciting new experience.

It’s been said that Jungle Speed was invented by the Aboulou Tribe in subtropical Spidopotamia. The Aboulous used eucalyptus leaves as cards for the game, which was played to determine shares in the spoils of a hunt, but the leaves were identical and no one ever won. This simple error almost drove the tribe to extinction. Jungle Speed remained unknown to the outside world until two clever gamethropologists, Tom and Yako, invented the modern day playing cards that spawned the WiiWare version.

Jungle Speed is being published by Playful Entertainment and was produced with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada.