Photo lovingly stolen from Technically Philly

McGillin’s is turning 150 soon, and to celebrate, they’ve invited a number of authors, all of whom have mentioned the famous pub in their works, to come back to Philadelphia for a special reading. One of these authors, has particular interest to us geeks. Duane Swierczynski.

So what’s the big deal about Duane? His latest work with Marvel comic’s The Punisher series brought Frank Castle’s escapades to our fine city. The late, great, Stephen Wells covered Duane’s story back in February. Read about it here on the Philly Weekly’s website.

Next Tuesday, August 25th, Duane visits Philly, and will be signing and reading his recently published paperback with fans. Awesome. In his comics, Duane created a historic tavern called the Interesting Times Pub, modeled after McGillin’s.

There’s no cover at the event, and pints of McGillin’s 1860 IPA are reduced to $2 for the party.

See you there, geeks!

McGillin’s
www.mcgillins.com

A Sony patent was recently discovered by Siliconera which features the company’s plans to introduce emotion tracking software to the PS3. The software is designed to pick up on players’ laughter and other visible emotions through use of a microphone and camera (most likely the Playstation Eye). The application can interpret a wide array of emotion by reading body gestures and even group interaction (think multiplayer games).

Let’s go a few months back to this years E3 where Nintendo offhandedly announced the Wii Vitality Sensor, which is a sensor that attaches to the player’s index finger and interprets pulse. What this means for the future of Nintendo’s games is as uncertain as what Sony’s ideas allude to, but we can always speculate!

So, our question for you, loyal readers, today is what do Nintendo and Sony’s ideas mean for our future gaming pleasure? My personal guess is they will be used to moderate elements of our games such as difficulty. For example, if your pulse rises or an angry expression grows  on your face after dying to the same boss for the 100th time (like this one), the application could tune down the difficulty briefly so this doesn’t happen. What applications for this technology can you guys come up with? As always, sound off in the comments section.

(Via Joystiq)

With Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds coming out this Friday,(I already have my tickets.) filmadelphia CLASSICS has wisely chosen to show the film the director is best known for, Pulp Fiction this week for one night only – Wednesday August 19th at 7.30 pm. The  showing will be held at the Ritz East and the film will be shown on 35mm. This was the film that launched Tarantino’s career back in 1994 and brought him from the indie circuit to the main stream pop icon he is today.The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, it ultimately won for Best Original Screenplay. Pulp Fiction was also known as being the comeback of John Travolta, and birth of the role Samuel L. Jackson has kinda played ever since then.(not like it’s a bad thing) Little known fact, event though most people think Quentin Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction himself, in reality it was co-written with Roger Avary, which he shares his Oscar with.

Tickets for the showing are $9. After the film there will be a post film discussion at the Triumph Brewery. Wow, this has just been an awesome summer for the Philadelphia Film Society and I can’t wait to see what they have in store next summer.

Really, there’s nothing like a good experimental game. Inspired by the short story The Distance of the Moon, this great little flash game, I Wish I Were the Moon, is absolutely wonderful.

The premise is simple. Use your mouse to take a photo of anything in the game, and place that box someplace else on the screen. Move the boy off the moon and into the water? Maybe the boat next to his gal? It’s up to you.

There are seven endings. See what ones you can get.

The super talented game creator, Dan Benmurgui, has several other games available on his site. Take a look!

I Wish I Were The Moon via Kongregate

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Section 8 Video Game Release Party – The Tech Philly boys are partnering up with these douches to present a video game release party at Tattooed Mom. Terrible move guys.

Digital Philadelphia – The guys were hard at work at this for quite some time, and wow, did it pay off. Check out their outstanding feature regarding Philadelphia and its wireless internet saga.

Microsoft Sells Razorfish – For a cool $530 million. Did you know Razorfish had an office in Center City? I didn’t. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

David Clayton at the Klein Gallery – Art + Technology = This Guy.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com

I got the chance last week to check out Donkey Punch a short film produced by Emmy Award winner Anthony Russo(who is now currently executive producing the upcoming NBC series Community, and known for his work on for Arrested Development) and created by three key players behind the hit TV series The Shield (actor Jay Karnes, writer John Hlavin, and editor Jordan Goldman) the short premiered at the Hollyshorts Festival on August 9th and is currently making the short film festival circuit as you read this.

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Images lovingly stolen from Joystiq

In the era of the hardcore shooter and epic RPG, it’s rare to find a game these days that makes me feel like a kid again. And I’m not talking about that nostalgic feeling you get when playing a remake or a compilation. I’m talking about a genuine, smiling-while-clapping-your-hands feeling. The sort that makes you, just for a second, feel like you’re two decades younger again. The kind of feeling that Atari’s much anticipated, and already bestselling (a million copies!) Ghostbusters: The Game delivers.

Ghostbusters opens up with you as a nameless, new recruit. New York City is suddenly taken over by a number of ghosts and new supernatural beings, and the Ghostbusters entrust you, new recruit, to test out their wealth of new weapons and gadgets in the fight to win back the city.

And is it really that big a surprise, that Ghostbusters: The Game turned out so well? With the original actors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson) returning to reprise their roles and a script penned by Akroyd and Ramis, the only thing that could have possibly held this game back, was gameplay. Does it? Read on to find out.

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Last night I was lucky enough to see a preview screening of the Peter Jackson produced, and Neill Blomkamp directed District 9. I went to see the film with my wife and I had heard that they had stepped up security measures for pre-screenings of films, but this was a bit much even by my standards. On the tickets they had printed “no cell phones” simple enough, and I thought that was a fair warning and it made sense. Of course people still brought their cell phones and ushers then proceeded to put them into little brown bags and staple them, to be given back after the show. Then we were ushered down a hall and wanded to make sure we REALLY didn’t have any cell phone and or cameras or any other recording devices. After that we entered the theater and were literally flanked on both sides by users wearing night vision goggles, no joke. I have to say the lent a level of ambiance to the viewing of the film.

District 9 has to be one of the best sci-fi films I have seen in a very long time. The reason for this is almost everything I can think of that bothers me or I have ranted about in the current state of the Hollywood blockbuster was absent from this film, and I am pretty picky. Let’s go down the list. Just a note, there will be no spoilers on this list. I don’t want to take away anything from the story of the film in any way,

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I’ve been pretty psyched about Section 8 since I first read about it. The game promises to offer up some seriously fun looking innovations. Dropping all the way from outer-space and into the middle of a firefight? Massively multiplayer battles that can handle up to 32 users at once? Yeah… I’m down for that. The game finally drops at the end of the month, on August 28th, and we’ve decided to celebrate. It’s time for a release party.

On Wednesday, August 26th, we’re throwing a release party for Timegate’s upcoming first person sci-fi shooter, Section 8, at Tattooed Mom on South Street. You can RSVP on Facebook, here. Best of all, we’re teaming up with our boys over at Technically Philly to throw this, as Christopher Wink would say, “jawn”. Expect custom made cupcakes from the lovely ladies of Open Source Cupcakes, as well as awesome giveaways from the gaming studio. I’m talking free games, posters, and other promotional swag.

Tattooed Mom will be raffling off free gift certificates and offering Section 8 themed drink specials. Something robot-ish or sci-fi, and guaranteed to be delicious. And speaking of delicious, I can’t wait to chomp down on a chicken parm sandwich at T-Mom. One of my fav sandwiches in the city, right there.

This party is our attempt to bring monthly video game release parties to the city of Philadelphia. Why should New York City and places out in California have all the fun? Especially when we have a city full of people passionate about gaming. See Joystiq (buncha writers live here, sup Ben and Chris!) and the Videogame Growth Initiative for awesome examples.

We’re already planning another bash for Halo 3: ODST in September, and will be polling you, dear readers, as to what games you want to celebrate for future months. Until then, get psyched! August 26th is going to be a blast.

Sign up for the event on Facebook here, and let us know you’re coming! Invite some friends!

Section 8 Release Party @ Tattooed Mom
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
8PM – Midnight

Just yesterday I had read Comic Book Resources article on Robert Kirkman‘s Comic-Con International panel where he was asked whether or not his zombie epic The Walking Dead, would ever become a film or tv series. While he confirmed there were talks about a tv show, nothing was concrete. Less than 24 hours later it’s been confirmed that AMC, who’s been on a roll with their original content such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad, have acquired the rights to make The Walking Dead a television series. I have read maybe half of the series at this point, but it’s easy to see that this is a great decision. The comic is well written, suspenseful, scary, and just all sorts of awesome. Plus it will be on cable, where all the best television lives!

In the Hitfix article,  AMC won out over NBC to make the series. NBC, for anyone not keeping track, is in bad shape at the moment. Besides 30 Rock and The Office, the network has been taking a beating in ratings and popularity. Sure Law Order is still gets viewers, but it’s Law and Order. They will always be around. They need more original hit shows. At the very least, one original hit show. While the Joel Mchale starring comedy Community, whose pilot can be watched by joining their facebook fanpage, has been getting good buzz, they definitely need a hit drama more than, say, five nights of Jay Leno at 10pm. Who knows, maybe their fortune will turn around.

Also worth noting is that Frank Darabont, director of “The Shawshank Redemption“, will write and direct the pilot. This means that maybe, just maybe, Morgan Freeman might narrate the story. Since this is all just happening, I doubt there will be anything to see until next year. Maybe a San Diego Comic-Con debut next July? Until then, catch up on The Walking Dead like I will. Either pick up the trades, or the ridiculous murder brick they released recently.

What do you guys think of this development? Good idea? Bad idea? Are you happy it’s not more vampires? Let us know.

Via Hitfix, Variety, CBR, and Entertainment Weekly

Last week I got the chance to speak for a bit with actor Jay Karnes whom you might know from his great role as Detective Holland “Dutch” Wagenbach on the FX show The Shield or as Lieutenant Ducane on Star Trek: Voyager. The occasion for this interview was the showing of the short film he recently starred in Donkey Punch at the Hollyshorts film festival in Los Angeles California – last weekend. Now a short film, with a name like Donkey Punch you kind of know what your in for. That combined with his role on The Shield I have to say this interview is not for the easily offended. I had a lot of fun with this interview, Jay was a great guy and very easy to talk to, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did conducting it. I will keep the naughtier sections of the interview after the more tag and I also will be reviewing Donkey Punch later this week.

Can you tell me a bit about your background and how you became an actor?

Wow, that goes back. Well I was in school at the University of Kansas and I had done some plays and things like that. I was a terrible student. Towards the end of my tenure there I auditioned for a little Shakespeare festival in Omaha, Nebraska and I got in. While I was there I met a couple of actors there who traveled around and did little jobs that paid a little bit of money – various regional theatre and small regional theatre festivals, and I thought “I could do that, what a nice gentle life that would be.” So that’s what I decided to do. It was kind of an epiphany for me and I have been an actor ever since. I was 24 at that point. I had done plays in high school and college, but that was the first time I thought, “Wow, I could make a living doing this.” So, for about another 10 years I traveled around the regional theatre and finished up at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, which is the biggest regional theatre in the country, and then I got married. My wife worked in Los Angeles, so I moved to Los Angeles and tried to get into TV and film. I was in my early 30s and suddenly how I looked didn’t matter as much as whether I could play a convincing doctor, lawyer or cop and I started to get jobs.

How was the transition from Acting in the Theater to TV and Film?

Well it’s not like going from being an architect to being a lion-tamer, but it’s very much like going from being an architect to being an engineer. Some of the skills are the same, but it is a completely differently group of people and it’s really not the same job. It was frustrating from me because I had a big career in the regional theatre, and I am playing title roles in Ashland one moment and the next I am auditioning for co-starring roles on Growing Pains or whatever the show was at the time. I really didn’t want to do it even if they gave it to me, and yet I had to establish myself by doing the small jobs and working my way to getting the larger role.  For 3 or 4 years I started to gradually get bigger roles starting with the co-starring roles, then the guest star, then a big guest star, then my first job that I booked where I was playing a serious regular on a pilot was The Shield. So I got hit right between the eyes with a big ol’ lucky stick, and that show went seven seasons.

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I’m not wild and fanatical into reading the Dune series the way that some of my friends are, but I’m all about watching the 1984 david Lynch movie version with the crazily animated Shai Hulud and Sting in his sexy space underpants/ diaper getup.

For you Geekadelphians that actually are into the series, I thought I’d tip you off that Brian Herbert (the son of Frank Herbert) and New York Times bestselling writer, Kevin Anderson, will be appearing at the Free Library of Philadelphia  tonight at 7:30pm to discuss their newest work, “The Winds of Dune”.

This event was waaaay under-publicized (even to the Geek community, sheesh!) and was discovered by accident (in a teeny tiny blurb in today’s Metro) by yours truly…but I’m putting it up anyway and I hope some fans can make it out.