TruTV is home to a handful of surprisingly decent reality shows. Black Gold, a show that centers around oil drilling crews in Texas, Worlds Wildest Vacation Videos, which features plenty of Shark-Week Worthy footage, and The Smoking Gun Presents, a video-commentary show that pokes fun a dumb criminals, thieves, wanna-be daredevils, and obnoxious party goers, are three particular highlights of the network’s programing.

And the network’s website, well, in many cases, the content there is just as good. With Top 10 lists galore that regularly find themselves on Digg, there’s always something interesting to read when you’re taking a quick break at work.

Another one of their programs, Rehab, recently debuted its second season earlier this month. The show takes you behind the scenes at Rehab, a party that claims to be the wildest bash in the city of Las Vegas. What makes this the hottest party in town? It probably has a lot to do with the celebrities, the insanely attractive women running around in skimpy bathing suits, and the alcohol that never seems to stop flowing. You can learn all about the party on their official website, or better yet, get an inside look at the program here.

Learn more about TruTV’s Rehab, and how to win a trip to Las Vegas, after the jump!

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We’re sure you’ve heard the news already unless you’re paying rent and utilities for the rock you live under. Disney bought Marvel this past week for about $4 billion and the internet has been in an uproar ever since (did you really think we could resist?).

Could this effect your favorite Marvel characters and franchises? Most likely. So, enjoy your Spider-Man while he lasts! All joking aside, Marvel will still hold their 70-year-strong brand and their 5000+ characters will remain largely unaffected in the realm of comic books.

That being said, there are several licensing issues at hand when it comes to Marvel’s film and video game divisions that will take a while to iron out. Will the end result be witnessing Darkwing Duck and Captain America fight evil side-by-side? Not likely, but that’d be badass.

So, loyal readers, are you jumping for joy or already in tears? What do you think are the creative and financial possibilities of this merger? Sound out in the comments section.

Don Miller, AKA No Carrier, AKA Guy Who Creates Awesome 8-Bit Visuals

Philadelphia is a city full of geeks. Me and my pals here on Geekadelphia love to show that fact off, and once a week, we highlight individual geeks here on the blog with Geek of the Week. Just another way for us to show off our awesome community, and hopefully, introduce you to some great people doing awesome things. Think you should be featured? Have a friend you’d like to see on here? Email us.

Meet Don Miller, also known as No Carrier. From his installations at the University of the Arts, to performing at 8static in West Philadelphia, as a visual artist here in Philly, Don is involved in a lot, and I’m thrilled he took the time to do this little interview. Read up, and learn about one of Philly’s best 8bit visual artists.

So tell us a bit about yourself and your visual work as No Carrier.

I’ve been performing as NO CARRIER for a few years now, with my earliest gigs right here in Philadelphia. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to play around the US and Europe from small shows to international festivals. I use old computers and video game consoles, like the Nintendo Entertainment System / NES and Commodore 64 / C64, to do live visuals. It may sound kind of odd, but I write software for these systems that I use to generate video in real time that is projected while musicians play on stage. I’ve always been a fan of chip music, which is music made with older computers and video game consoles.

I realized that there were great chip musicians, but most of the video shown at these shows was created on modern computers. So I decided to start programming. I never programmed anything before, but I figured the NES was a good place to start. I think I filled that video void pretty well, using old hardware and software to complete the experience of chip music for the concert attendees. I have a lot of fun lugging crates of twenty year old consoles across continents and through customs to do this. I’ve also written a lot of NES and C64 demos and open source software, and you can download them on my webpage here.

No Carrier… where’d you come up with that name?

I came up with the name NO CARRIER during my BBS days. It was the handle I used on local bulletin boards. NO CARRIER was the message you saw when you were disconnected from a BBS. It has an old school feel and I think it fits well with what I do now

Philly’s 8-bit scene is certainly on the rise. Whether it’s people creating music or folks programing visuals. Who are some of your favorite local artists in both fields?

There are a lot of really talented artists here, from Cheap Dinosaurs, Animal Style, Alex Mauer, and VBLANK. However, I would love to mention some new guys on the scene that are really killing it. Enso is an amazing visualist and pixel artist. I’ve worked with him on some demos and mixed with him at live events. He is unbelievably talented. Ro-Bear is another talented artist who played 8static in August. His music has a unique groove and his sets are really tight. Look out for more from both of them soon.

More after the jump!

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Woo hoo! The Philly Fringe is alive and kicking… like only some of the creatures in FrankenFestival.

As you all know, I’m a fan of the Philly Fringe: I was actually in a Fringe Festival kickoff event at First Friday (it might have involved a nuke suit). FrankenFestival is a ”comic creature-feature” that will put a stitch in your side written by husband-wife duo Paul and Sharri Jerue. I’ll be seeing this on Monday with my Mister and I hope some of you Center City Geekadelphians can make your way over to the Adrienne.

A collection of four titillating, bizarre, and downright hilarious ten-minute monster plays stitched together and violently shocked to life. Come spend an hour with spacemen, undead flesh-eaters, and everyone’s favorite mythical forest ape for a romp-rollicking good time. A must-see for fans of B-Horror films and outrageous comedy.

For the box office call (215) 413-1318 or be an online boyscout here.

September 6-September 14, 2009
The Playground at the Adrienne
2030 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19103

If you have been to a convention you’ve probably seen them, their colorful lightsabers and colorful costumes you really can’t miss them, they are the PA Jedi -  and among Star Wars fandom they are a unique bunch. This is probably due to the fact that they are not the most canon fan group out there. Canon for those of you not in the know basically means “authentic, from the movies or licensed media”. This is a big point of contention in many fandoms from Star Wars to anime, it’s a pretty big deal. Because while most groups like to see how accurate they can be to the films and media the PA Jedi Like to see how creative they can be with the world Lucas has given them.

I went to one of the PA Jedi’s meetings last Friday, they meet at St. Stephens Church Parish Hall every week. They are not affiliated with the church but do donate for using the space for their meetings.  When I was asked to do this quite I honestly I didn’t know what to expect. I arrived early as I normally do with every thing(nervous habit of mine), and was met with a nice couple Phoenix and Dale who were there early was well. I chatted with them a bit about the organization. They also showed me their custom made lightsabers, it’s here things start to get interesting. See unlike most fandom groups the PA Jedi not only want to look the part but they also train as the part as well.

The lightsabers some of them use are master replicas that are converted to be more durable, because they also use them to spar and train with. See, the way the really expensive master replica lightsabers are designed, heavy use will eventually shatter the LEDs in the blade – and when your fencing and fighting with your lightsaber on a regular basis this doesn’t bode well for said LEDs. The conversion as they call it changes the lighting system in the blade and they sometimes put a more durable blade onto the hilt as well.  Several members also custom make their own brand of home-made lightsabers made to hold up to the rigorous training it will need to withstand as someone learns the fighting style of the PA Jedi. (more…)

Zombie Tobias Funke (Arrested Development) and Leeloo Dallas (The Fifth Element)

My pal Krystine Lopez is an incredibly talented artist. Whether she’s creating her awe inspiring deep sea creature paintings, her simple ink sketches of wildlife, or her gorgeous, vibrant abstract paintings, her works never cease to leave me amazed. And her latest project, Art is Dead: Pop Culture of the Undead, is certainly no exception. Especially since the series involves zombies.

We’re not just talking mindless and decaying monstrosities like in Dawn of the Dead. Krystine takes pop culture icons and transforms them into surprisingly adorable zombie art. The never nude Tobias Funke, Leelo from the The Fifth Element (Mooltipass?), Dr Manhattan from Watchmen (complete with bulge)… the list goes on. She even takes custom orders.

?uestlove and Ben Franklin zombie sketches!

When she visited me here in Philadelphia earlier this summer, she fell in love with our wonderful city. Can you blame her? And as a result, she’s created several “Philadelphia Zoms”, as a special for Geekadelphia readers. She’s created zombie versions of the Philly Phanatic, ?uestlove, Rocky, Ben Franklin, and even our Love Park statue. She’s sent me some of the sketches, and as you can see, they look pretty great. You can score one of these special Philadelphia Zoms for $5 for a 5×7 watercolor, or $15 for one on wood.

Pay a visit to her Flickr and check out some of her work on Etsy. She’s selling wood-cut prints of her series at 50% off, and Geekadelphia readers will recieve one free Philadelphia Zom with each order. Pictures of the other Philly Zoms after the jump!

Krystine Lopez’s Art is Dead Series
Shop: www.artisdead.etsy.com
View: www.flickr.com/photos/kwaleska/sets/72157617718052075
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Did I ever mention I designed my undergrad thesis on Science Fiction? All of the other kids would make fun of me, but at the end of the day, only one of us ended up with an awesome timeline chart of robots in pop culture since 1940. And that person was me.

My thesis broke down an academic text on the genre and made it accessible to people who normally wouldn’t think twice about sci-fi… like my parents and professors. I compiled a giant list of events in science and history that influenced the literature of the time, and then made a chart of all of the sci-fi publications starting in the 1700s. Pretty nerdy for a girl getting a BFA in Graphic Design… especially when some other people did their thesis on things like… fashion.

Anyway, I found this amazing graph on io9 on how sci-fi television has changed since 1970. For those of you who tripped and landed on this blog by accident, that’s pretty much everything after the original Star Trek series aired in the early 60s. It’s nothing short of chart porn, it’s done so well. Enjoy.

This First Friday, our pals at Brave New Worlds are up to something different. While we’ve become accustomed to seeing the super talented folks of Philadelphia’s Autumn Society in the house, this time around, attendees will be introduced to the guys (and gals) of Philly Comix Jam. They’ll be on the scene, dishing out copies of their newest effort and showing off their artwork in the gallery.

What are Philly Comix Jam debuting? Their first free citywide publication What Makes a Man Dress Up Like a Bat?, which features “16 pages of underground caped crusading from 20 Philadelphia-area cartoonists, including former Xeric Grant winners Art Baxter, sieve Peters & Box Brown,” as well as “up-and-comers such as Ian Harker, Pat Aulisio, & Beth Heinly.”

Interested in joining Philly Comix Jam? They meet up twice a month to visit bars and draw comics. Visit their official website for more info, and be sure to stop by BNW this First Friday!

Free Comics Tabloid Party
Friday, September 4th 2009

Brave New Worlds
45 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.bravenewworldscomics.com

I Blame Drew’s Cancer for the pixelated-ness of this logo!

If you live in Philadelphia, you’ve seen the tweets, twitpics, and hash-tags on Twitter, all about Blame Drew’s Cancer. When I explained to some friends of mine that I wasn’t quite familiar with the movement, gasps were uttered, people screamed “WTF!”, and I may have been slapped across the face. But now I know, and knowing is half the battle. Let me give you the quick rundown, thanks to a wonderfully written press release.

When Drew Olanoff, was diagnosed with cancer back in May, he began to blame cancer. “Losing his keys, misplacing his wallet – any annoyance, obstacle, or tragedy in his lief became an opportunity to beat up on cancer. He offered Twitter users the ability to do the same, tweet using the tag #blamedrewscancer, and fault his cancer for anything that was wrong with their lives.”

What followed was over 10,000 folks on Twitter invoking Drew’s message, “coverage on CNN, Fox 29, AOL Health, and articles in the City Paper. From a social media trend to a fund-raising movement across the country, with events in Philly and San Fransisco.” Since it’s inception, the chartiable start-up (founded on Twitter, btw), has raised over $10,000 for charities through events and social media. Bravo!

Well, on September 9th, Drew and his crew (I like that) present the first annual Blame-A-Thon, a 24-hour event and benefit concert that seeks to unite Philadelphia and a live audience on the web in blaming cancer and raising awareness for LiveStrong. The event takes place at The North Star Bar and Indy Hall.

The concert at North Star will feature Good Night Lights, Up The Chain, and Paul Datch, as well as a wealth of other local artists, plus catering from the Taco Bell (yes!) Truck and Philly’s own Buttercream Cupcake Truck. Indy Hall’s party will host live tapings of 2 Guys on Beer and Drew’s podcast, the Best Damn Tech Show.

Tickets to the North Star Bar part of the Blame-A-Thon are $15. For more details on the Indy Hall event, visit their official website.

Good luck to everyone involved. Especially Drew.

Blame Drew’s Cancer
www.blamedrewscancer.com
www.blamedrewscancer.blogspot.com

You know I refuse to believe Abe Lincoln went out without a fight and its nice to see someone else feels the same way too. In a shirt that not only invokes the awesomeness that is our 16^th president, but also a nod to another great maverick Han Solo, this shirt just drips of win. The shirt is available on topatoco.com and maybe the only shirt that will save you from a direct attack from a 3 wolves shirt.