Going with the theme of Personal Effects: Dark Art and Zach Taylor being a art therapist working at Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital we thought we would do what I am calling “Comment Therapy” here on Geekadelphia.com.  Thanks to J.C. Hutchins we are offering a free copy of Personal Effects: Dark Art, all you have to do is comment and tell us what sends you to the “Brink”. You get to tell us about that weird guy or girl who is always looking at you funny on SEPTA and you get the chance to win a signed book all about crazies. How therapeutic is that? Contest will run 2 weeks and we will pick and announce the lucky winner June 24, 2009. If you can’t wait you can pick up Personal Effects: Dark Art on Amazon HERE or start off with the prequel Personal Effects: Sword of Blood HERE. Good Luck!

Our boy Johnny Zito, the legendary Philly figure behind DC Comics’ The Black Cherry Bombshells (Dustin interviewed him and co-creator Tony Trov back in March) is up to his ol’ tricks again. This time, instead of illustrating comics, he’s working on t-shirts.

Recently, Zito designed this sweet looking Star Trek t-shirt, which has been named a finalist in a competition sponsored by CBS. The winner gets to see their t-shirt printed as an official Star Trek Tee and of course, gets the spoils associated with such an honor. Fame, women, money… you name it. Johnny already has all three, and will be sharing those things with Geekadelphia when he wins.

In a recent interview, or rather, in the email he sent to me, Zito states that “everything I know about love and friendship, I learned from Star Trek.” Same here, Zito. Same here.

Give the guy a vote, and wish him some luck.

Johnny Zito’s Star Trek Tee
www.is.gd/NJ4J

There is an interesting thing happening in the publishing world right now. Where once upon a time if you wrote your great American novel, and after shopping it around and found out it wasn’t quite what the publishers were looking for, for some reason or another. The only home it would find is in your dusty desk drawer between last years tax return and that really great script you wrote in high school after seeing The Matrix. But now that isn’t the end of the line for authors looking to get published these days, thanks to podcasting and the publishing industry is starting to take notice.

J.C. Hutchins is one these authors that started out giving his great American novel away in podcast form on Podiobooks.com as a sort of serialized audio drama or “Podcast Novel” if you will and over the years it has become one of the most downloaded “podcast novels” in history. The 7th Son trilogy still receives over 100,000 downloads each month and this led to his eventual book deal with St. Martin’s press, not bad for someone who has up until Personal Effects: Dark Art never had a novel published the old fashioned way.  With the podiobook and social media route authors like J.C. are building their audience by promoting their own work and by proving to publishers that there is an audience for their work making dream of the great American novel into a reality.

J.C.’s first book with St. Martin’s press Personal Effects: Dark Art was released this week, and it is what you would expect from someone who has made a career thus far of using all the tools at his command to tell a more compelling story his own way. The book is not simply a book but a true transmedia experience. With the book you get a envelope of “personal effects” which tie into an online alternate reality game, so once you have finished with the book you can further explore the story online adding to the experience. Due to the nature of the book itself and these “personal effects” the book will not see an electronic or podcast version to better keep the experience as it was intended. I do have to say being a designer by trade a lot of work went into creating the business cards, drivers licenses. photos and birth certificates that come with the book. Don’t fret he is currently releasing Personal Effects: Sword of Blood the prequel to Dark Art as a free podcast.

I am a huge fan of the J.C.’s work and hope you enjoy my interview and in true transmedia fashion the interview is also available as a downloadable podcast because quite honestly I couldn’t fit it all here so enjoy!

Check out the interview after the jump!

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I wonder if he looks anything like Professor Layton?

Ah, Philly Pecha Kucha. It’s kind of like Ignite Philly meets your 2nd grade Show N’ Tell class, only with a little more room, a lot less crying, and no one brings a hamster. But what is it, exactly?

It’s the Japanese word for “chit-chat.” It’s also a kind of rapidfire creative show-and-tell governed by a simple rule: show 20 slides, talk about each one for 20 seconds. Wired magazine called it: “Say what you need to say in six minutes and 40 seconds of exquisitely matched words and images and then sit the hell down.” We call it an evening of fun, sociability, and a little larnin’ thrown in.

Invented by Tokyo architects, Pecha Kucha (say peh-CHAK-cha) events have been held in more than 170 cities.

Their last event back in March was a huge success (check out some photos, here), and they’re back with their sophomore effort this Saturday, June 13th.

One of the featured speakers is Kevin Werbach, an assistant professor over at the University of Pennsylvania. He’ll be giving a talk entitled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in World of Warcraft. Needless to say, we’re pretty excited about that one. Here’s hoping for some video we can embed after the discussion, because that sounds awesome. Yeah, he isn’t exactly a professor of WoW, but that title sounded great.

Other presenters include Morgan Andrews of Puppet Uprising, Jonny Goldstein (who will illustrated his fear of snakes), and more. Visit Studio 34′s page for more.

Philly Pecha Kucha @ Studio 34
Saturday, June 13th, 7:30pm – ? (that’s how you know it’s a party)
www.studio34yoga.com
www.phillypechakucha.com

In these pictures that look like something out of the latest summer blockbuster we see the Japanese hard at work at what else, but building a giant robot. It’s a 1:1 scale model RX-78 Gundam to be exact and its being built in in Odaiba, Tokyo. Why are the Japanese building a giant robot statue you ask? Why to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. When completed it will be full-scale, standing 59-feet tall, weighing 35 tons, and even shooting “light or mist” from 50 different points along its structure. The robot should be completed by July 11. I have been fascinated by the work in progress pics that have surfaced as this project has moved to completion.

But why Gundam? Gundam is probably one of the most popular and influencial anime shows in Japan and is probably more well known over here for the model kits or Gunpla of the robots than for the actual anime series, several companies have tried to launch the Gundam franchise in America with little or no success. The Basic story of the anime revolves around the mobile suits or mecha and their pilots fighting in an epic war that over the years has spanned many generations, and also many different anime series and many different toylines as well. Which is the other problem of an American launch this show, it has been running in various incarnations since 1979 and getting into Gundam is a daunting task for anyone to say the least. I have fared rather well with much research though. You could almost compare it to Star Trek but with giant robots with the many different series spanning many time lines being not only a great character piece but also filled with political intrigue. For more info on Gundam read the wiki here there is way more here than I could ever cover.

UPDATED: After posting this article the head, chest and arms were assembled and a new pic was posted! All I can say is WOW!

More Pics after the jump!

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Q: How many letters are in the alphabet?
A: 24, because ET went home!

What If E.T. Was One of Us? That’s what Mallory Politz’ has been asking these days… and she’s chosen an awesome, awesome way to figure it out …that may or may not have resulted in the birth of my new fav local blog, E.T. Close Encounters.

Click on the jump to read my interview with the gal behind the mask!

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The phenomenon known as E3 came and went last week, and what a phenomenon it was. The Big Three had a terrific presence, and this year marked a return to form for E3. I couldn’t have asked for more. Something has felt “off” ever since the ESA lobotomized the show in 2007. But this year, things felt right again, and even though I couldn’t attend E3, I was able to experience the event vicariously through G4. Let me tell you, I could still feel the energy and excitement even from almost 2,800 miles away.

I’ve gathered some of the best trailers from E3 and posted them below, so ride the (more…) wave, scope ‘em out, and let me know what you’re excited for in the comments section. (more…)

If there’s one thing we here at Geekadelphia believe in, it’s the inevitable robot uprising and enslavement of humanity. We’re ready for it, whenever it occurs. That cute little robot in the flyer there? Yeah, we’re ready for you, Boombox-bot. Your mechanical arms and adorable “i think i’m Button Gwinnett” wig aren’t going to save you. Bring it.

Speaking of that flyer, if there’s another thing we believe… it’s supporting our boys.

Our pals over at Used Wigs (what up Jeff!) are hosting their first live show this week, on Friday, June 12th, from 8PM to 10PM. The whole crew from their award winning deserving podcast, Used Wigs Radio, will be on stage dishing out the LOLs nonstop at Ardmore’s Milkboy Coffee.

In addition to their hilarious podcast, they’ve got lots of guests planned. Best selling author Josh Piven, comedian Don Weir, and a musical guest, Philadelphia’s Audible.

For more information, hit up the official site over at Used Wigs. See you there!

We have a strange hunch you guys might know what this week’s discussion topic is (see image above). If you guessed “E3 impressions”, you’re right on the money! I’ll start with claiming that this year’s E3 trumped last year’s in almost every way. Ahem, I’m looking at you, Nintendo.

With major announcements from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony as well as some of the most renowned independents, what more could you ask for (price cuts)? A few announcements and first-looks that excited me the most include Final Fantasy XIV, of course. Now, don’t claim that I’m all up in a hussy about some CG trailer, as it includes some footage using Square-Enix’s new gameplay engine. More of my impressions as well as (ideally) what you think after the break.

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Kaiju Big Battel is one of those things that definitely has to be seen to be believed. It’s described as “performance entertainment” and basically entails 2 grown men dressed up as really bad “Godzilla” style monsters beating the crap out of each other. How can you possible go wrong with that?

Meant to be a mixture of professional wrestling and the tokusatsu kaiju(special effect monster) movies it began as a video project by students at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. While said video project was never realized, another student suggested that more characters be created to fight at live competitions or Big Battels. The first Battel occurred on Halloween night in 1996 and they have been battling ever since. They have appeared at several anime conventions and regularly tour the US and they will be at the Trocadero June, 20  8:00pm tickets are $18.50 and the show is all ages so feel free to bring the kids. Get your tickets here!

Check out a video of the greatness that is Kaiju after the jump!

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The dudes at Brave New Worlds… well, they just know what’s up. They throw awesome events and manage to involve some of the city’s most talented folks each and every time. Back in April, we saw Joker’s Wild, a stunning gallery chock full of Jokery goodness. This time around, we’re getting an 80′s nostalgia gallery, from the very same illustrators, the Autumn Society of Philadelphia.

Like their email blast says, BNW and the Autumn Society are doing a great job of “teaming up in order to bring great geek art to the masses.” The art will be on display all month, pending I don’t buy it all.

So yeah, head on down to the city’s best comic shop on First Friday, June 5th, to catch the show in the BNW’s Old City Lobby. I’ll see you there. Oh, and keep your eyes open. Word on the street is you might see some proton pack wearing busters of ghosts. If you can’t figure that one out, you’re no longer invited.

Brave New Worlds
45 N. 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 925-6525

You know, I’ve always wanted to drink and learn at the same time. Unfortunately, while attending Ramapo College for my undergrad, this was greatly discouraged. Shots of Jack Daniels before Classical Music 101… didn’t go over so well. Isn’t that right, Glen?

However, due to a monthly science cafe created by several of Philadelphia’s science museums, including the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and, my personal favorite, The Academy of Natural Sciences you can do just that, and at Philly’s favorite geek hangout, National Mechanics, no less! Science on Tap… I’m sold.

Last month, Science on Tap discussed plant ecology and biology, and come July, you can learn about the origin of limbed animals and fossil discoveries in the arctic. However this month’s talk at National features Janet Monge of the Wagner Free Institute. She’ll be talking about her career as a forensic anthropologist in discussion called The Unknown Skeleton – Forensic Anthropology and the Unsolvable Case.

Will she touch on issues raised in Dexter? Not likely. Will Eric Smith ask her questions about Dexter anyway? You bet.

Come on out. Science on Tap meets on the second Monday of every month.

Science on Tap: June
Monday, June 8th, 2009 @ 6:00 PM

National Mechanics
22 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 701-4883
www.nationalmechanics.com