Celebrate Your Geekdom
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.
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!
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.
from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog:
We won the People’s Choice Award thanks to you people! thank you thank you!
Favorite ONLINE SENSATION
- Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
- Dance Battle 2
- Kobe Bryan Attempts Massive Stunt
- Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad
- Pork and Beans
from Garfield Minus Garfield:
If you’ve enjoyed it, then please vote Garfield Minus Garfield for Best Comic Strip in the 2008 Weblog Awards.
A reblog will help too 😉
from The Legend of Neil:
Tony and I have been furiously writing season 2 of Neil and we’re getting pretty pumped about shooting this thing. But since the release is months away, I’m going to be trolling the forums to keep my adrenaline flowing.
There’s been a host of great activity on the LON forums and we’d love to see you post! Tell us what you want on the Legend of Neil DVD, or how you might be able to help us subtitle season 1, or what enemies you want to see in season two, or create your own topic!
I promise to post more often myself and let Tony out of the cage I keep him in so he can get on there as well.
Also we’ve had some problems with our fanart submission form. So if you’ve tried to submit something and it hasn’t shown up on our pictures page then we didn’t get it. Please just send us an email at fanart@effinfunny.com. Thanks!
Oh and Happy Happy New Year, make sure to keep those resolutions going for at least a week or two before reverting back to your old self. 🙂
One of the most anticipated books of 2008 was J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of wizard fairy tales referenced in the final book of the Harry Potter series. Prefaced by an introduction by Rowling, the slender volume contains the stories “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”, “The Fountain of Fair Fortune”, “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart”, “Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump”, and “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. The latter tale appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where it aided Harry, Ron, and Hermione in their quest to unearth the Deathly Hallows and thereby defeat Lord Voldemort, but the other four stories are completely new works. Scholarly notes attributed to Professor Albus Dumbledore, which “appear by generous permission of the Hogwarts Headmasters’ Archive”, with occasional footnotes by J.K. Rowling, add an air of verisimilitude to the book, as does the title page that quite fittingly credits Hermione Granger for translating the book from the original runes. Rowling’s charming illustrations, black-and-white line drawings perfectly suited to Beedle‘s Brothers Grimm-style storytelling, reveal another facet of the author’s creative talent, making it even more interesting to guess at what she’ll produce next, post-Harry Potter.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard was released in both a Standard Edition and a Collector’s Edition, the second offered exclusively by Amazon.com. The Standard Edition contains the five fairy tales, a new introduction by J.K. Rowling, illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book, and commentary on each of the tales from Professor Albus Dumbledore. The Collector’s Edition features all five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard; an outer case disguised as a wizarding textbook from the Hogwarts library; 10 ready-for-framing prints of J.K. Rowling’s illustrations; an exclusive reproduction of J.K. Rowling’s handwritten introduction; 10 new illustrations by J.K. Rowling not included in the Standard Edition or the original handcrafted edition; a velvet bag embroidered with J.K. Rowling’s signature; metal skull, corners, and clasp; replica gemstones, and an emerald ribbon. Available only in limited quantities, Amazon.com recently posted a sold-out notice for the Collector’s Edition:
Thanks to the incredible enthusiasm of Harry Potter fans, we have sold out of all copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector’s Edition available in the United States. To ensure that we have enough replacement copies (for example, for books damaged during shipping), we will be holding a limited number of copies in reserve. If you missed out on ordering your copy of the Collector’s Edition, it is possible that a small number of copies will become available in the weeks following its release on December 4, 2008.
J.K. Rowling has waived her royalties for The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and net proceeds from book sales will be donated to the Children’s High Level Group, a children’s rights charity co-founded by Rowling to benefit children who have been relegated to residential institutions. A press release from the Children’s High Level Group — J.K. Rowling Delighted as Beedle Sales Raise More Than £4M for CHLG in First Week — thanks Muggle fans for their support of this very important cause.
Check out the full range of Harry Potter titles, aside from The Tales of Beedle the Bard published specially by the Children’s High Level Group, at Raincoast Books. In addition to the original books, Raincoast Books offers adult, large print, “magic”, deluxe gift, foreign-language (Latin, Welsh, Ancient Greek, Irish), and box set editions, as well as the textbooks that Rowling wrote for Comic Relief, Quidditch through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them.
Order now at Amazon.com:
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector’s Edition (Offered Exclusively by Amazon)
Harry Potter Store featuring books, audio CDs, DVDs, posters, soundtracks, toys & games, video games, and videos.
Or order directly through the Bloomsbury Publishing website.
Shop for unique Harry Potter merchandise at Alivan’s Master Wandmakers.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is distributed by Children’s High Level Group, in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic and Amazon.com. The Harry Potter series is distributed by Bloomsbury Publishing (International), Raincoast Books (Canada), and Scholastic (US). For more information on the books and their author, visit the J.K. Rowling Official Site.
from BBC Press Office:
The BBC today announced that Matt Smith has been cast in the role of the Doctor in the iconic BBC series Doctor Who.
Smith will be the 11th Time Lord and will take over from David Tennant who leaves the show at the end of 2009. He will be seen in the forthcoming fifth series that will be broadcast in 2010.
The fifth series will also have a new lead writer and Executive Producer in the form of the BAFTA award-winning writer Steven Moffat, who is taking over from Russell T Davies.
Moffat will be joined by Piers Wenger, who will be the new Executive Producer for BBC Wales making the show.
Following David Tennant’s decision to step down at the end of 2009, the team behind the new series set about casting the new Doctor so that new adventures could be created and scripts written with Matt in mind.
The identity of the new Doctor was revealed on a special edition of Doctor Who Confidential that was broadcast on BBC One today (3 January) at 5.35pm (17.35 GMT).
In it Smith revealed his initial reaction at taking on such a legendary role and his thoughts on what direction the Doctor might now be going with him playing the part.
Matt Smith said of his new role: “I’m just so excited about the journey that is in front of me. It’s a wonderful privilege and challenge that I hope I will thrive on.
“I feel proud and honoured to have been given this opportunity to join a team of people that has worked so tirelessly to make the show so thrilling.
“David Tennant has made the role his own, brilliantly, with grace, talent and persistent dedication. I hope to learn from the standards set by him.
“The challenge for me is to do justice to the show’s illustrious past, my predecessors, and most importantly, to those who watch it. I really cannot wait.”
Lead writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat said: “The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe.
“As soon as Matt walked through the door, and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man.
“2010 is a long time away but rest assured the 11th Doctor is coming — and the universe has never been so safe.”
Piers Wenger, Head Of Drama, BBC Wales, added: “With two hearts, a ferocious mind and over 900 years of experience behind him, it’s not every 26 year old actor who can take on a role like the Doctor but within moments of meeting Matt he showed the skill and imagination needed to create a Doctor all of his own.
“It’s just the beginning of the journey for Matt but with Steven Moffat’s scripts and the expertise of the production team in Cardiff behind him, there is no one more perfect than him to be taking the TARDIS to exciting new futures when the series returns in 2010.”
Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama, added: “I am delighted to see Matt take on this iconic role. It will see him continuing his relationship with the BBC following his performances in Ruby in the Smoke and Party Animals, and his upcoming role in Moses Jones.
“The combination of Matt, Steven and Piers will, I know, take Doctor Who onto new and even dizzier heights.”
Jay Hunt, Controller, BBC One, said: “Matt Smith will be a mesmerising 11th Time Lord, true to the spirit of the show.
“He is a worthy successor to David Tennant who has been utterly remarkable in the role and promises to continue to be in next year’s four special episodes.”
Doctor Who Confidential — The Eleventh Doctor can be seen on BBC iPlayer until 10 January 2009.
There will be four Doctor Who specials featuring David Tennant that will run in 2009 into New Year 2010 (dates to be confirmed).
An extended interview with Matt Smith can be seen at bbc.co.uk/doctorwho.
Matt Smith pictures are available from bbcpictures.com.
Matt Smith, 26, grew up with his family including one sister in Northampton. He was head boy at Northampton School For Boys where he excelled at sports, music and drama.
Initially, Matt wanted to be a professional footballer and played for Northampton Town Under-11 & 12s, Nottingham Forest Under 12, 13 & 14s and Leicester City Under 15 & 16s before a back injury forced him out of the game.
Following his injury, and with the encouragement of one of his teachers, Jerry Hardingham, Matt decided to join the National Youth Theatre.
It was during this time that Matt first gained attention at the Royal Court Theatre when he was cast in the play Fresh Kills, directed by Wilson Milam, whilst still at the University Of East Anglia where he was studying Drama and Creative Writing.
Already a stalwart of the National Youth Theatre, his performance at the Court led to a variety of theatrical experiences at the National Theatre: in the award-winning History Boys (directed by Nick Hytner), On the Shore of the Wide World (directed by Sarah Frankcom) and also in the acclaimed trio of plays Burn / Citizenship / Chatroom (directed by Anna Mackmin).
These roles led to Matt’s first outings on the small screen, alongside Billie Piper in Phillip Pullman’s period detective stories, The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North (both BBC One), where he played Jim, right-hand man to Billie’s detective heroine Sally Lockhart.
These pieces were followed by the lead role of Danny in the BBC Two series Party Animals, the brilliantly observed drama set in the world of young politicians.
In a dazzling return to the Royal Court in 2007, Matt played Henry in Polly Stenham’s award-winning first play That Face, opposite Lindsay Duncan. His performance gained Matt an Evening Standard Best Newcomer nomination and a year later the play had a second life in the West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
In between the two runs, Matt played Guy opposite Christian Slater’s Buddy in Swimming with Sharks, Mike Leslie’s searing West End adaptation of the 1994 Hollywood film.
In this time he also played a lead role in the BAFTA winning BBC One series The Street, opposite Gina McKee and Lorraine Ashbourne.
Matt has recently completed work on Moses Jones for BBC Two, directed by Michael Offer, in which he plays the lead role of Dan Twentyman, alongside Shaun Parkes in the title role.
from The Guild:
We are very proud here at The Guild to be a truly world-wide show. Our Xbox Live distribution is translated into 8 languages and launched internationally each week, we believe that is a first for any web show. But, as always, we are especially honored by the time that our FANS have put into adding translations to our videos on YouTube, so the whole world can laugh with (or at) us!
Our latest language is Italian, kindly translated by uber fan Franceso Spreafico. Not only do we have an Italian YouTube Channel now with a truly impressive number of hits already on the Season 1 videos, but we also have Italian subtitles on our central YouTube Channel, all thanks to his hard work! We couldn’t be more grateful for your work and outreach, thank you so much Francesco!
In a strange coincidence just last week on Christmas Day, Corriere della sera, one of Italy’s biggest newspapers, featured an article on our show! We’re pretty sure the Yahoo Babelfish translation of the article was not that accurate (what does “whose screw virtual ends with finding outlets” even mean?!) but it seemed flattering from the general tone at least, and inspired by an article that was written up on us in The Guardian Newspaper, a leading paper in England. Very exciting to have the world as our audience!
from StarWars.com:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars gives audiences a different look at Separatist leader Count Dooku, and also introduces a new set of villains in “Dooku Captured,” an all-new episode of the hit animated series directed by Jesse Yeh, premiering at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Jan. 2, on Cartoon Network.
The episode finds Anakin and Obi-Wan attempting to capture Dooku, only to discover the Sith Lord has already been kidnapped by intergalactic pirates.
Yeh says the episode reveals more insight into Count Dooku’s descent from Jedi Knight to his lofty place within the ranks of those wielding the dark side of the Force.
“I have always been interested in the drama behind this particular character,” Yeh explains. “He thinks realistically, and has a solid mind. The actions he takes are always so direct and straight forward.
“In a way, he’s almost pathetic. His mind is constantly being twisted by his pride, which is what originally led him to the dark side. Because of his pride, he doesn’t realize he has turned into exactly the sort of monster that he once fought against. From his perspective, he is not doing anything different from what he did when he was still a Jedi. He’s just trying to save the universe — but this time from what he sees as a corrupt Republic. In the end, he’s become just another expendable pawn of the true evil.”
Yeh said Dooku’s position as a prisoner in “Dooku Captured” provided a dramatic and animation challenge. “Dooku is no longer in control of the situation, so we had to spend some time trying to figure out how to animate this ‘tamed’ Dooku.”
In addition to working with Dooku, Yeh said it was particularly exciting directing an episode that introduces new characters.
“The pirates have a gangster-like society. The fact that they were actually capable of capturing the legendary Dooku took me by surprise,” Yeh says. “Since the pirate chief is a new character, there were really no limitations on how to bring him to the screen. As a director, I got to determine who this new character would be — how to bring out the combative and greedy nature of this particular species, and put those characteristics onto the very surface of his performance.”
from Garfield Minus Garfield:
Merry Christmas!
from Garfield Minus Garfield and thank you all for your support over the year.
I’m going to take a break for a few days but in the meantime if you’d like to show your support for G-G, please vote for it in the tumblr awards. It’s in the Overall Best Tumblelog and Best Image Posts categories.
Thank you 🙂
Dan