Today on Geekadelphia
Did you know that there is a Cardboard Tube Fighting League? Well, there is, and they’re coming to Philadelphia on July 11th, taking over the park across the street from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is a one weekend jaunt, as the Seattle Cardboard Tube Fighting league will be hosting a back-to-back tournament in Philly on Saturday, and on Sunday in New York City.
Suggested supplies? Water, cameras, name tags, and, of course, a positive, friendly attitude. Cardboard armor and costumes are encouraged, and don’t worry! Tubes are provided by the Seattle Tube Fighting League. No outside tubes allowed! Sorry Dustin, but we’ve been over this. You can’t bring a lead pipe that you’ve wrapped up in brown paper.
You can learn more about the league at their official website, tubeduel.com, and check out some seriously awesome photos on their Flickr page. Some of the costumes are straight up amazing.
See you there. May the best cardboard tube samurai win.
Cardboard Tube Fighting League Battles in Philly
July 11th, 2009 @ 1PM
Entry: FREE!
Yeah, that’s right. That’s Ted Danson right there, posing with a cute little fish named Finley back in 2007, when he became a lobbyist to help protect the world’s oceans and marine life. Good man, that Danson.
Tomorrow, Philadelphians can catch Danson in action, and no, not in the form of a Cheers or Becker rerun. You’ll be able to hear Danson’s soothing voice as he narrates The End of the Line, a documentary that’s coming to the Landmark Ritz at the Bourse tomorrow night. Based on the book by Charles Clover, it’s “the first documentary about the imminent peril facing the world’s oceans.”
You can scope out the trailer here on YouTube. It’s not for the squeamish.
Called “The Inconvenient Truth about the impact of overfishing on the world’s oceans” by the Economist, this is definitely a documentary I plan on catching during its stay at the Bourse. It’ll be infinitely better than Transformers 2, that much I know.
You can get more details about the documentary on the film’s official website.
This weekend, during Philadelphia’s intense three day 4th of July celebration, the NBA and Sprite are looking for the best dunkers in the city… and sadly, my skills with a chicken nugget will not qualify me for a damn thing. But you… you, my dear readers, perhaps some of you partake in outdoor sports, and can claim a prize or two for yourself in my stead.
The event is free and will take place on an outdoor basketball court, which will be set up on the Ben Franklin Parkway between 21st and 22nd, this Saturday on July 4th. The competition kicks off at 4PM. People watching will cast their votes for the winners via SMS, and ultimately, the four winners get flown out to Dallas for a large competition.
For those of you who can’t make the event, you can enter online by sending in a video. Get the details on that, here.
There’s a promo video for the event here, have a look, and good luck to anyone who enters. We’ll be giving away a gift card courtesy of the NBA over on Twitter, so keep an eye open folks. Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
Poster Illustration by Eamon Dougherty / Design by Chogrin
Featuring works inspired by the glorious Golden Age of Comics and Animation, the Autumn Society is hosting their 4th gallery show at Brave New Worlds this Friday night. Stop by and pick up some awesome work from some of Philly’s most talented artists… and say hi to the Geekadelphia crew. We’ll be there, lurking in the shadows the way most bloggers do. After all, light hurts our eyes.
You can get a sneak peak at a lot of the art in the show over on the Autumn Society’s blog.
Golden Age of Comics & Animation Gallery
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
Brave New Worlds
45 North Second Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 925-6525
www.bravenewworldscomics.com
If you ask me the one thing that always bothered me about the new Transformers movies, and no I am not going to rant about plot acting or anything else I think Dustin covered that pretty well and honestly whenever Hollywood remakes anything it’s almost guaranteed to screw it up. The thing that always seemed l like a “I can believe you screwed that up” is Bumblebee is supposed to be a yellow Volkswagen Bug hence the name, Bumblebee. He was not a 2008 Camaro! I am sorry why would you name a 2008 Camaro Bumblebee was there a rights issue with Ladybug? With a Camaro I would have named it something a bit more masculine like Snake or since it’s yellow, Yellowhammer that may be a really cute breed of bird but you have to admit, it sure sounds manly. I know they got a bucket of cash from Chevy for what basically amounted to product placement but they could have at least changed the name and left my childhood out of it.
One man in California has taken matters into his own hands and created a an 18-foot-tall, 1200-lbs. statue of Bumblebee, the REAL Bumblebee. Tom Rhodes and a friend spent a year making the statue out of a real Volkswagen Beetle. While doesn’t look quite as polished as Michael Bay’s Bumblebee you have to admit it’s pretty impressive for a guy who built it in his yard. Rumor is the next project will be made out an old semi. I can’t wait.
More Pics after the jump!
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Does Square Enix really have the time to be counting down to anything with about four Final Fantasy titles in the works as well as Dragon Quest IX? Well, it looks like no member of their numerous development teams will be getting a vacation this summer. Hey, overtime pay is always nice.
Kotaku has been following Squeenix’s countdown clock since Friday and has done the math (thank Jeebus) to know that it will end on July 6. While the clock has been ticking, the illustration has been gradually filled to reveal what you see now.
While there has been rampant speculation in Kotaku’s comments section as to what it is, Silicon Era is on to something. Also, that NES style 8-bit music accompanying it should be a huge hint. Let us know what you think (or hope) it could be in that little white box.
(Image Via Kotaku)
Just think, one of these could be yours!
Game over! Congrats to Missy! Expect your guitar in the mail by the end of the week!
As of this posting, the contest already has 32 entries. Awesome! I’ll be announcing the winner at noon tomorrow, so there’s still time! Head on over to the contest post, and enter! Missed the original post? Here’s the deal.
Pepsi and Harmonix sent me this ridiculously nice, limited edition XBox 360 Rock Band guitar, designed by Matt Moore. They were limited to a run of 30 and come complete with a signed seal on the back. And despite my love for all that is limited edition… I’m giving it away.
So head over to the original post and leave a comment, telling me your favorite experience playing Rock Band.
Good luck!
The following review is solely my opinion and not the opinion of the entire Geekadelphia crew.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was released last Wednesday and since then has made a ton of money. No matter what you, I, or anyone else may think, Michael Bay is richer than we’ll ever be. However, is the film any good? That’s what I plan to answer in this review and hopefully get some feedback from readers on what they thought as well. I should warn you that there are some slight spoilers of the film, but nothing that would ruin your experience if you haven’t seen it yet.
Hit the jump and let’s discuss. (more…)
I apologize, my fellow Geekadelphians, for the lack of “Coffee Talk” last week . Condensing a semester’s worthof material into a four week study abroad session combined with endless day trips and bus tours can be unforgiving (everything is under control… for now). On to the discussion!
We assume you know Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel to 2007 theatrical debut of the robots in disguise, released June 24th. It’s also safe to assume that you either A) have seen the movie already or B) have read or seen the reviews. Personally, I have yet to see it (currently across the pond in Ireland) and after reading Rotten Tomatoes’ verdict I am afraid to part with the $10.50 (€10.50, rather) to see it in theaters.
Knowing how the original film was publicly and critically accepted, what gives? Maybe Michael Bay simply dropped the ball on this one (hold your fire) or maybe the script could have been passed over a few more times. Regardless of what caused this film to flop critically, the movie has clearly succeeded commercially with a draw of over $200 million in less than a week.
So, was it merely hype and expectations that carried this release or the Transformers franchise itself? Obviously, these films carry the clout of nostalgia about them, which can lead to their commercial success, but what do you think, Geekadelphians? Do you feel that these memories should be left untainted by modern technologies and interpretations or do you simply enjoy reliving the good ‘ol days? Also, let us know what you thought of the film or its reviews. Let your voices be heard, loyal readers, in the comment box below.
Google is once again proving that they are cooler than your average company. In celebration of Chrome expanding into other languages they released a Google Chrome Manga drawn by Yutanpo Shirane (Let’s English, hon-nin) on their blog. This 9 page manga commission by Google Advertising and Information services is an addition to the previous Chrome comic done by Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics).
From what I have read on The Anime News Network, “The manga explains the major issues that the Japanese developers on the Google Chrome team faced in ensuring that multilingual web pages are displayed quickly but accurately. For example, the web browsers tries to automatically and quickly determine which fonts to use in different Asian languages, without needing the user’s assistance. The manga also highlights the contribution of one Japanese team member, software engineer Masanori Harada. Harada and his team developed the Navigational Suggest feature which suggests which web sites to visit as the user types.” Wow, I just thought it was talking about some forbidden martial arts techniques involving web browsers. You can read the manga here free of charge.
Via Anime News Network
