Archive - June, 2009

District 9 Invades Philadelphia

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If you have been out and about in the city no doubt you may have seen these stickers on the sides of news paper vending machines, or as posters in stores and various other places in the city where humans tend to go. This is the start of the viral marketing for the movie I think might be the salvation of a summer filled with remakes sequels and rehashes and other re-treds that have become a staple of the summer movie season.

The movie is District 9 and it’s produced by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, and directed by first timer Neill Blomkamp. Neill is best known for his work on HALO Land fall a short film that was meant to be viral marketing and a warm up with Weta for the Halo live action movie, that he was supposed to direct until that project was sadly derailed. But what we saw in that 7 minutes was some of the best sci-fi warfare I have seen since Starship Troopers, and the general opinion was if he could do this with a shoe string budget imagine what he could do with a real budget and a real film.

See Landfall and more after the Jump!

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Beautiful Exposed Gear Watch Necklaces

Wow.

I am officially smitten with Fortunate Sky’s Etsy shop. Along with selling other steampunk themed jewelry, like this cool looking crescent moon here, this Atlanta resident specializes in these gorgeous pocket watch necklaces.

Perhaps what’s most surprising about these pieces, is how affordable they are. At first glance, these necklaces look like they could cost some serious coin. However Fortunate Sky (I’ve emailed her to get her actual name), sells these pieces for under $100.

Have a look and see for yourself!

Pocket Watch Necklaces via Super Punch

My First WANT: Sue Storm Statue

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Most of the Geekadelphia crew have their fair share of WANT items. Be they t-shirts, videogames, or posters. Personally, I haven’t had that feeling for anything. Sure I may want something, but not really WANT it. That, is until last night when I stumbled upon this amazing Sue Storm statue from Marvel based on a design by Rockin’ JellyBean (link  NSFW).  It took maybe all of one second to realize that this warrants my first ever WANT.  Considering I don’t own any figures like these at all, or that I’m that big of a Fantastic Four fan, there’s just something about it that makes me WANT this bad boy (or girl). I don’t know what it is I like about it more. The design itself, the Farrah Fawcett hair, or the fact that it was designed by a guy named Rockin’ JellyBean. Take your pick.  The statue is available for pre-order and will be released in October.

Via MishkaNYC and Erostika

Chiptunes & More @ Tritone on Thursday

Cheap Dinosaurs, performing live

Not up to anything Thursday night? Of course you aren’t. Head on over to Tritone for a sweet lookin’ concert, featuring chiptune and visual artists like Cheap Dinosaurs, Void Vision, and vBlank. Our pal Don Miler, aka No Carrier, will be on the scene as well, creating his always stunning 8-bit visual Nintendo cart art.

You can scope out the flyer from Cheap Dinosaurs’ Myspace page, here.

It’s $7 at the door, and 21+. Tritone is located over on 1508 South St. See ya there.

Cheap Dinosaurs & No Carrier @ Tritone
June 18th, 2009 @ 8PM

Is ‘Buffy’ ‘Buffy’ Without Buffy?

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According to the Hollywood Reporter, a remake of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) film may be in the works, one that Joss Whedon would not be involved with. Put down your wooden stakes (why do you even have those things?) — it’s not because Whedon’s unrivaled bad luck has struck again. This time, it’s by choice. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch blog, he mentioned that the project is “something better left untouched by me.” And unless the new script involves some sort of demon time warp, the likelihood that Sarah Michelle Geller will reprise the role of Buffy is low, low, low. Like, nonexistent.

Rumor has it this new slayer flick would be a complete reboot. It would have a darker storyline, no connections to established characters such as Angel, Spike, Xander, or Willow, and feature a more modern slayer. You know, one with a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and an iPhone. Can’t expect a girl to slay some vampires without Google Maps, right? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. JJ Abrams proved with Star Trek that, in the right hands, it is possible to successfully reboot iconic television shows and movies.

What I want to know is: What’s the deal with vampire fads and mainstream media? They come and go like tidal forces, often times flooding the market whenever they return. Considering the popularity of Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse/Breaking Dawn and True Blood, it’s not surprising that Hollywood producers want to get their hands on more vampire properties. I would honestly much prefer Buffy be resurrected in some capacity than lost to time.

Via io9.

Next Generation Magazine: Preserved & Remembered in Philadelphia

I’m pretty sure that, on a semi weekly basis, John Freeborn and I discuss the idea of opening a video game museum in Philadelphia. I mean, come on. We have every other kind of museum you could think of. There’s even a museum about The Three Stooges. Why NOT a video game museum?

During the past few months, my pal John has moved quite a bit, before settling down into his new (gorgeous) house. And in the midst of all the shuffling about, he came across his epic Next Generation magazine collection and decided that, instead of throwing it out or putting it up on eBay, he’d give a bunch to me.

Freaking. Awesome.

He posted a bunch of the covers on his blog, many of which have headlines that are fairly hilarious considering how dated they are. On his blog, he writes a bit about the magazine.

The magazine went from 1995 to 2002 and was unlike any video game magazine of the time. It was more grown-up, when video games were still just for kids. The paper was higher end and the design was smart and clean. Imagine if WIRED made a video game mag, that’s what it would be like, smart. They would often show detailed schematics of systems, talk about technology and its effects on people and they treated video games like an art. The rest of the world came around to this view, but it took years. Next Generation was ahead of its time. Read more at Wikipedia.

Thanks John. These mags will have a special place in the eventual museum.

Next Generation Magazine Covers @ John Freeborn’s Blog

Coffee Talk: Games That Play Themselves, The Way of the Future?

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As you may remember from a while ago, famous Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto filed for a patent for future Nintendo games to include a skip feature. It seems that we’ll be seeing this technology sooner than we thought, as Mr. Mario himself recently disclosed to USA Today’s Game Hunters that his recent patent material will be included in Nintendo’s upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Elaborating on exactly what this feature does, Miyamoto told Game Hunters, “In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, if a player is experiencing an area of difficulty, this will allow them to clear troubled areas and take over when they’re ready.”

So, how do you feel about this, loyal readers? Will this become a staple feature for all Nintendo published titles and if so, what do you think this means for the future of casual gameplay of which Nintendo is emperor king? Let us know in comment box.

(Image and Story Via Joystiq)

Home Phabrication

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Next week is a rocking week for DIY geeks in Philadelphia. There’s not one, but TWO different 3D printing workshops happening right here in Philly. These machines are the little brothers of professional 3d printers, and using one you can print out, as 3d objects, pretty much anything you dream of. If you want a little 3D copy of your own WOW character on your desk, or a Stormtrooper helmet to keep pencils in (or anything) stop on by one of these workshops, and make something!

Fab@Home 3D printing workshops

Fab@Home creator, Evan Malone will give a workshop on 3D Printing and 3D Modeling for the Fab@Home Fabber. Attendees will be able to work hands-on with the Fab@Home machine. The workshop is Wednesday, June 17 from 6 to 8PM at Klein Art Gallery (3600 Marrket St. Philadelphia, PA). Please RSVP to the Klein Art Gallery (via facebook) as space is limited.

MakerBot 3D printing workshops

The MakerBot workshop is happening at Hive 76 and is starring MakerBot founder Zack Hoeken. The class is Saturday June 20th, from 1PM to 5PM at Hive 76 ( 915 Spring Garden, Suite 500, Philadelphia PA). You just need to show up on time, and with a laptop, and we do the rest. We’ll teach you everything you need to do a first design, and a first printing using the MakerBot. Tickets for the 4 hours class are $25 (or $5 for students).

Blood: The Last Vampire advance screening at Wizard World Philly!

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Wizard World Philadelphia is next weekend, and we here at Geekadelphia are starting to gear up for what is promising to be a really great con. One event that I am really looking forward to is an advance screening of Chris Nohan‘s live-action film adaptation of Production I.G‘s Blood: The Last Vampire, a month before the July 10th release date! Regular readers of Geekadelphia will recall me writing about this back in May and news of this screening is starting to circulate on the various anime and manga blogs. This sneak preview is a Philadelphia exclusive and will be on Friday June 19th at 7 pm in room 201A.

More after the Jump!

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Wearable Social Media Venn Diagram

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I think it’s pretty clear that social media outlets cater almost exclusively to our obsessive behaviors.  This shirt says it all in a handy dandy diagram in the style that John Venn conceived in 1880.

If you have $19.95 in exact change burning a hole through your pocket, I’d recommend grabbing a copy of this Asphalt colored American Apparel shirt just for fun. (via Neatorama)

Video Tour of the Star Trek Exhibit @ The Franklin

Last week, our BFFs over at Crunchgear (what up Doug!) hit up The Franklin Institute for a tour of the awesome Star Trek exhibit. Regardless of what some of you commenters might say, we here at Geekadelphia adored the exhibit, and highly recommend it.

Here’s what Doug over at Crunchgear had to say.

“Jeff Victor of STARFLEET, the International Star Trek Fan Association, recently showed me around the 12,500-foot Star Trek exhibit at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute. We laughed, we cried, we played a little Dabo. Good times indeed.”

I’ve got to show Crunchgear some serious love for the fact that they have a “More Geeky Philly Stuff” link at the bottom of their recent Philly posts, which sends you to a bunch of Philadelphia related geek posts from this year. Check it out.

Crunchgear Checks Out Star Trek @ Crunchgear

Geeky Links: Sonic’s Facebook & More

Sorry pal. It really isn’t worth it anymore.

Sonic’s Facebook – Head on over to 2P Start, one of my favorite video game webcomics, to scope out what Sonic the Hedgehog’s Facebook would look like.

Soundtrack to Braid – One of best XBox Live games (and now on the PC, Mac, etc) out there, also happens to have an outstanding soundtrack. Download it here!

Play Heretic, Doom, & Hexen in Browser – In related news, I was just fired from my job for playing too many flash games.

Half Life, Resident Evil, and Pikmin Magnets – Handmade and awesome.

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