Sure, a lot of you came to the big Geekadelphia & Fiesta Movement bash at North Bowl. We had a good time… but we haven’t even begun to party. That’s right. Cue the epic music. Or at least, cue some pop punk.

We’d like to announce Geekadelphia’s FREE CONCERT at the Piazza at Schmidt’s on Saturday, May 15. Yes, it’s completely FREE and you’ll be able to listen to the awesome sounds of two fantastic bands:

Action Item is a pop rock band from New Jersey crafting songs with powerful, addictive choruses and catchy hooks. Even though unsigned, the band has tapped into a huge national fan base. They’re showing no sign of slowing down just yet and will be rocking out with us in mid-May.

Case of the Mondays is a 7-piece rock juggernaut hailing from the Philly burbs on both sides of the river. Empowered by intensity brought about from the combination of their rhythm, lyrics, and melodies that draw comparison to the RX Bandits, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake.

Should we win this mission, we’ll be opening up votes to send one of them to Bonnaroo to play on Ford’s Garage Stage. Want to help us win, and send a great band to an awesome festival? We’re getting scored on RSVPs & text messages.

• RSVP for yourself and up to three others.
• txt GEEK2 to 44144 (same as last time: no weird charges, no spam)

That’s not all. Have you heard about the iPad? Of course you have. RSVP by 11:59pm on Monday, May 3 and you’ll be eligible to win one. Using multiple email addresses does increase you chances of winning, but you’ll still have to show up to our awesome concert in order to claim your prize.

So what are you waiting for? RSVP NOW!

Related Links
Geekadelphia’s Fiesta Movement Mural

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas… actually, the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma…

If you know what I’m getting at, you’re reading the right blog. So, on that note we have a soundtrack with our roundup this morning! I got a little warm and fuzzy reading this article from Flavorpill today that gave some geek love: the oh-so appropriate Mixtape for Science Nerds. Enjoy.

This week in science:

• If you’re creeped out by crustaceans, do your self a favor and skip to the next bullet. For the rest of you fine folk, check out the fossilized tracks of a giant, prehistoric, six-legged “sea scorpion.” Not just any ol’ tracks… the Hibbertopterus sandstone tracks are actually the largest known walking trackway of a eurypterid or any invertebrate animal, according to BBC.

• A battery was developed that can run on pee. Seriously.

• Wired Science and PopSci released amazing news supporting a theory that’s been tossed around for years. The headlines? Ice Discovered on Asteroid, Suggests Earth’s Oceans Came From Space. “A thin film of water ice and organic materials coats the space rock named 24 Themis, according to a study  released today. That discovery marks the first-ever direct detection of water ice on an asteroid, and adds evidence to theories about how asteroids could have brought water and organic material to a primordial Earth.“ The summary only reinforces, in my mind, how –to paraphrase Stephen Hawking– we really are just some lucky, advanced apes on a planet near a very average star… trying to understand the universe.

• Um, speaking of space, Japan has so boldly declared that a bi-pedal Japanese robot will walk the moon by 2015. Now this is the type of future I grew up thinking about.  Next up, CYLONS.

• Even dino youth rebelled from Mom and Dad! This Wired Science article is about young, feathered dinosaurs changing their physical apperance, but really just made me sad. Also left me regretting wanting a scientifically-sound dino costume. That illustration leaves them lookin’ pretty creepy, and it’s nothing like Jurassic Park.

• Last but not least, an ancient city was discovered in India and potentially pre-dates the Harappan Civilzation –one of the world’s oldest– by 5,000 years. The site was discovered by chance. An interviewee in BBC notes, “There’s a huge chronological problem in this discovery. It means that the whole model of the origins of civilization with which archaeologists have been working will have to be remade from scratch…” Updates as they come! Thanks to Brian (@frankenlincoln) for the tip.

This post has been brought to you by The Letter B.

What do you buy the gamer girl in your life that has everything? Well this classic Gameboy hoodie is a great start. Produced by LowRez.de this great design is an awesome throwback to one of the greatest portable consoles of all time; and super cute on your girlfriend and/or wife.

For the low price $29.40 (I wonder if there is a significance with the price) you too can be the owner of this awesome hoodie. I think the only thing that would have made it just a bit more awesome is possibly putting a Tetris cartridge on the back of the hoodie, as if it was inserted in the Gameboy.  So get it while you can here.

Classic Gameboy Hoodie
http://bit.ly/bnQcu1

The summer movie season is just starting to kick into high gear, first up is the fifth collaboration between director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe; Robin Hood.  The film, which began development in 2007 with Crowe playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in a much different take on the tale, has since been rewritten, putting Crowe in the role of the famed bandit Robin Hood himself.

I have a feeling from the trailer (below) this will be a much more gritty, darker and realistic take on the story; with an emphasis on the origin of the legendary character.

In true Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott fashion this film looks larger than life, and completely void of the warm fuzzies you got from that Kevin Costner film. Robin Hood will hit screens May 14^th. But thanks to the great folk at Universal, we here at Geekadelphia have you covered with 40 tickets to an advance screening May 11^th at 7:30pm at the AMC Cherry Hill. Wanna a pass for two to attend this advance screening? Simply comment with your favorite Russell Crowe film and why by Wednesday May 5^th and I will send a pass your way. See ya there!

Writers of Geekadelphia and their families are not eligible for prizes.Limit one entry per person. No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating.(So show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

Oh Quirk Books. Why are you always up to something awesome? Publishing hilarious twists on classic literature, interviewing interesting authors, and just over a week ago, you went to C2E2.

Unfamiliar with C2E2? It’s the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, and boy, did us Geekadelphians want to go to that. Luckily, two of Quirk’s PR gals, Tiffany and Margaret, took a trip out to Chicago to sling books and talk with comic lovers. They’re letting us live vicariously through their adventures, by sharing this great photo gallery with us.

Have a look, and join us in jealousy. We’d also like to thank Quirk Books for donating such awesome prizes for the Black Dynamite event last night. You guys and gals rock.

Quirk Books
www.irreference.com

The first annual 3D Gaming Summit went down just last week. There is a convention for just about everything these days, even this. Joystiq’s Mike Schramm hosted a panel discussing the global 3D landscape, which “quickly spun off into a debate about whether 3D is really what we need as gamers.”

With Sony jumping the gun on 3D gaming tech (so much so that games can’t keep up with them), what makes the industry’s movers and shakers so sure that this is the next vista for gaming? More on this and a potentially practical application of 3D behind the cut. (more…)

Alright Suckers listen up, tonight is the night! Geekadelphia and Shmitten Kitten are presenting Black Dy-na-mite! First we show what maybe is one of the greatest films of all time, and follow it up with a 70s themed dance party that is not to be missed; all for the low price of $3.

The great folks at the Trocadero are presenting this event as part of their awesome Movie Monday series. The event will be 21+ and not only does that $3 go towards a beer, but get there before 7pm and get a free bag of popcorn as well.  In going with the spirit of Black Dynamite we will be giving away prizes and swag for those that come dressed in the best 70s garb. So be there, or we just might have to just send Crenshaw Pete after your ass.

When I was contacted about reviewing The Square, I did what I always did when asked to review a film I hadn’t heard of; I googled the film to check out the trailer.  While I enjoyed the trailer, I have to admit it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. It seemed like the same film, which had been done many times before. Man cheats on wife, man intends to leave wife with his mistress after a heist, and heist goes exceedingly wrong.

That’s the world we live in today, with film trailers. We are constantly inundated with the best parts of the film, before we even buy a ticket. As a personal rule, I really don’t like to watch trailers for films that I intend on seeing, or are looking forward to. I might check out a teaser, but anything over 2 minutes, which could possible give up too much of the story is off limits.

But here is where The Square is different. The trailer in my opinion doesn’t even get close to scratching the surface of what a great films this is.  While it does layout the basics of the plot and story, it leaves out the heart and soul of The Square; which is the style and writing of the film. I feel these two things are what really set this film apart, and seriously make it worth checking out.

In a rather unique bit of marketing, the film opens with a short by the same director Nash Edgerton called Spider. I challenge you to watch that instead of the trailer, and make your decision based on that. When I watched the short I was hooked. It was so dark, and for such a short film really resonated with me, and left a lasting impression. I will be embedding that short at the end of the review, please be aware it is pretty violent, and a bit disturbing as well. So check the cubicle next to you before hitting play.

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You might recall my rather favorable review of the Australian film The Square, a few weeks ago. Well, while the director Nash Edgerton was in town presenting his film to the Philadelphia Film Festival, he took some time out to sit and answer a few questions for our readers here on Geekadelphia. It was great chatting with the up and coming Director, and really getting a bit more perspective into the making of The Square.

1.So what inspired you to go from doing stunt work, to being a director?

Well, I guess I have been making short films for quite a while now. That kind of started out with me and my friend Tony trying to shoot an action sequence to put on our show reels; to try and get stunt jobs.

My brother at the time had just started out as an actor as well, and he said, “maybe the same thing could work for me.” So I got a friend to write a scene, and we were going to try and shoot that as well; so he could use that on his reel to get acting work.

So he and his friend Kiran, and my friend Tony and I went out and started making this thing, which basically became a short film. It was simply this dialog sequence followed by this action sequence. I think the four of us really enjoyed the process of making it so much that we kind of had a revelation, that we keep making films beyond like our sort of vocations as like stuntmen and actors.

2. So what was the inspiration behind The Square?

It was Joel’s idea; he is quite fascinated with the small stories in newspapers that are like 10 pages in. The articles are usually only like usually 1 or 2 paragraphs, and they talk about a strange crime very generally, and never really go into any background details of it.

He always reads those things and imagines how it got to that point. One day he read one about a guy who was digging up the foundations of a building, and he found a skeleton of a baby. This article had like nothing beyond the details of that skeleton being found, and he started thinking about ideas of things that could have led to the point of someone being found in the foundations of the building; and it kind of went from there.

3. Coming to such an established genre as the heist film, what do you think The Square brought to the table that was new and exciting?

Well we tried to base it in, and really play it as straight and as real as humanly possible; and not have it kind of  have a heightened or surreal quality to it. I think playing it that way really adds to the tension of it. Setting it in a real situation, with real characters gives it a certain gravity.

Take for instance Carla, who is not really a femme fatale or anything; its not like she is this really sexy girl trying to manipulate people. She is just like a regular girl. I just wanted to show that these kind of situations can really happen to ordinary people as well.

More after the jump!

(more…)

Think again.

A few months ago, John Freeborn and I chatted about a possible Geekadelphia flash game. His idea? A new take on his classic Sampla flash game, this time using video game music. Check it out here. Sampla: The Video Game Music Quiz.

The premise is simple. Sampla plays tracks from popular (and some incredibly obscure) video games. You have a couple seconds to guess the game by clicking on the appropriate box art. Easy enough, no?

Try it out. Let’s see what you got. And be sure to submit your high score!

Geekadelphia Sampla: The Video Game Music Quiz
www.johnfreeborn.com/games/geek_sampla

Stephanie Min, who blogs about her cross stitch creations over on Cross Stitch Tycoon, really knows how to win over my Geekadelphian heart… with classic LucasArts stitch projects.

Her recent piece, shows off Purple Tentacle from Day of the Tentacle, in his famous “I feel like I could… take over the world!” scene.

Best part about this stitching project, is that you too can create your own piece. Stephanie’s uploaded the pattern to her site. Just head over and “Save As” to download.

Day of the Tentacle Cross Stitch
http://bit.ly/cDfAKY

It’s Earth Day and James Cameron has decided to celebrate it by filling up the landfills, and the FYE bargain bins with his “Cash Grab” Edition of Avatar. Here are five simple reasons why you should just save your money and sit this edition out.

5. No Special Features

Nada. Nothing. I mean they didn’t even put some of the crappy featurettes they put on the web on this thing; which just seems lazy to me. I mean they could have at least snared some of the crazy Cameron completists like myself, by sticking a featurette on here that wouldn’t be on the much more elaborate edition. I can just see the back of the disc now “Special Features: Widescreen”.

4. A 4 Disc Set is coming in NOVEMBER

Didn’t we learn from the Watchmen debacle? A 4 Disc special edition will be hitting the shelves in time for Christmas and just like the Watchmen kick to the junk, included in this edition is a coupon and announcement for this upcoming 4 disc special edition. Yay!

3.If you’re buying it on Blu-ray you might not be able to play it

You heard me, there are warnings all over the stores and on Amazon, about incompatibility issues with Blu-ray players with out of date firmware. I think the average person who will be buying this at Best Buy wont have the slightest idea about firmware or how to update it on their Blu-ray player, the only thing they will notice is the disc won’t play. No Pandora for you.

2. It’s getting re-released in August with more footage

As if they didn’t make enough money the first time, James Cameron is releasing an even LONGER edition of Avatar this August in theaters, effectively making the edition of the film your buying today obsolete.

1. IT’S NOT EVEN IN 3D!

The main reason to see Avatar in the first place was not for the story, but for the immersive 3D experience; and you won’t find that here. I have seen the 2D version my friend and it’s like watching Toy Story on a 13 inch black and white television.  This to me is the biggest slap in the face of the consumer. I mean if you remember the 2D version wasn’t doing nearly as well as the 3D during the theatrical release, so they quietly pulled it from theaters. Because Avatar was made to be a 3D film and without that component the film, it just wasn’t nearly as compelling. So what do they release first but the 2D version, so they are basically selling us an inferior version of the film as far as I am concerned. Some how this double-dipping needs to end.