This Wednesday, February 8th, Nerd Nite Philadelphia returns to Frankford Hall with (as always) a handful of awesome speakers. From a talk about using chemistry to “blow sh*t* up” (with demonstrations!) to a lecture on skydiving, this is easily the best line up I’ve seen Nerd Nite produce yet.

There are some great happy hour specials as well, including $5 half-liter drafts ($10 for a full liter), $6 for a beer and pretzel, or $8 to substitute that pretzel with a sausage. Nom!

Check out the list of the speakers and what they’re talking about, below.

Nerd Nite Philadelphia
Wednesday, February 8th, 7:30pm
philadelphia.nerdnite.com/updates

Robert Kurzban: Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind

Do you wonder why people are so inconsistent? Why people often seem to contradict themselves? Why they believe things they know aren’t true? Why they say “don’t do X” and then do that very thing? In this presentation, I’ll show how the fact that the human mind is made up of many different parts answers all these questions.

Mike Zdilla: Chemistry & Energy. From Alternative Fuel to Blowing Sh*t Up

Chemistry was once about mixing substances and changing them into other things, but this is not the case today. Perhaps with the exception of drug discovery, most every facet of chemistry today is concerned with energy. From food to fuel to batteries to bombs, chemists are concerned with storing and using energy. A talk highlighting usage and transformations of chemical energy will be presented, with a focus on the oft overlooked role of the inorganic elements. The talk will include chemical demonstrations, and a live musical performance.

Alex Mandel: Jumping Out of Planes, the Art & Sport of Skydiving

Skydiving is on the top of most people’s bucket list. It is one of the most exciting and exhilarating extreme sports around but there’s much more to it than strapping on a parachute and diving out of a plane. In this presentation, I’ll explore the techniques and finer points of skydiving.

BuyStarWarsCostumes.com has more officially-licensed Star Wars costumes for sale than any other site on the web. I was treated to a nice X-Wing Fighter Pilot costume. I’ll be wearing it to our Mustache Madness Halloween Bash with IndyHall on the 28th at Tattooed Mom.

Why?

Because I’m one mustache way from a Biggs Darklighter costume. Behold.

There’s no shortage of all sorts of Jedi and trooper costumes for men, women, children (even toddlers). Heck, ever have the urge to dress up like Plo Koon? They can get you started. You, with the deep pockets, could be evoke me with supreme envy. Pick up an Imperial Guard Costume. Or perhaps you could don this terrifyingly authentic Darth Vader costume? What’s the best SW costume? Not sure.

There could be an innumerable amount of things we could argue regarding the Star Wars Universe. Who shot first, Han or Greedo? How much do you hate Hayden Christensen, a little bit or a lot? Why does Lucas feel the need to make more updates to his films than an angsty teen did to their journal at the height of the Xanga days? Some of these things are dependent on film revision, extended universe or just subjective opinion.

There’s one SW-related thing you can’t dispute. What can I do on the website, “BuyStarWarsCostumes.com?” As their company name might indicate, you can buy Star Wars costumes. And we want to give two of you a $70 credit toward our new favorite website to do that, just in time for Halloween. Keep in mind, they have more than just costumes, like this Wampa Floor Rug.

Enter this contest. Comment below, with a valid email address and tell me who you’d most like to dress up as from the Star Wars Universe. Before end of [business] day tomorrow, I’ll pick two random winners and put you in direct contact with a rep from BuyStarWarsCostumes.com.

Alison Haislip is one of today’s coolest gamer chicks, and she happens to be locally grown… well, close to locally, anyway. I had a chance to ask this Attack of the Show! co-host some questions. Read on to find out about her experiences as the co-host for American Ninja Warrior, some interesting facts about the Japanese crepe trend, what her favorite games are, and how little I actually know about the geography of New Jersey.

I understand that you’ve just returned from Mount Midoriyama in Japan, where you were filming the second American Ninja Warrior. Can you tell me about that?

This past trip marks my 3rd trek to the Land of the Rising Sun, and every time I go back there, I’m more and more impressed by what I see at Mt. Midoriyama. I don’t think many people realize that the entire competition is run in one day! It starts around 9:30am and depending on how far competitors get, it could last until 4:00 or 5:00 IN THE MORNING. While I can’t say how our American Ninjas did this time around, I can say we had a late night. American Ninja Warrior starts airing December 8th, so you’ll have to tune in to see why! I promise our viewers won’t be disappointed.

How did you become the co-host of American Ninja Warrior?

G4 asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said ‘Hells yes!’ Last season, I hosted with G4’s very own Blair Herter, and this year, I’m hosting with Sports Soup’s Matt Iseman and MMA commentator for Bellator’s Jimmy Smith. All these guys have been a dream to work with, which makes the show that much better. But beyond the hosts, it’s really the competitors that make this show. It’s one of the few game shows out there where people come to compete not for any prize (although there’s a HUGE one of $250,000 being offered this season to anyone conquers Mt. Midoriyama), but for the shear opportunity to get to say you did it. To say you ran the actual Ninja Warrior course in Japan. And because of that, the athletes who turn up for this show are the most focused, ego-free people you’ll ever meet. And THAT is really the joy of hosting this show. Although the free trip to Japan doesn’t hurt either.

Did you get a chance to do anything fun in Japan? If so, please elaborate!

It was a super quick trip this time around, but I did get the chance to do some serious shopping and get a crepe. Many people ask me why on earth you would get a crepe in Japan. Well, much like we’re going through a ‘self-serve frozen yogurt’ craze here in the States, Japan is having a ‘crepe’ craze. There are crepe stands that offer over 80 different kinds of crepes. They’re wrapped up like large ice cream cones, so you can eat them while you walk, and you can get everything in them from ice cream, fruit, graham crackers, and even a piece of cheesecake to tuna and lettuce. They make them fresh on the spot and they are delicious, so people need to stop knocking my Japanese crepe cravings.

What else are you working on right now?

My new website, www.alisonhaislip.com, has just been launched, so I’m spending a lot of time with that. I want to get up more original content than I previously had on my old site, and I also want to interact with my fans more. The people who have been on my forum for the past few years have really grown into this awesome, supportive community and I want to give back to that. Beyond that, I’ve got ideas in the works with some friends about creating our own content and potentially even producing a film together. I’ve got my hands in a lot of pots right now.

How did you get your co-host spot on Attack of the Show?

I get asked this question so many times that I feel like I should start making the story up, but the actual tale is so cool, it would be a shame not to share it. I was bartending and this guy who worked in G4’s development department came in for a beer. We started talking and he found out that I played video games. After an hour or so of quizzing me on games to make sure I was legit, he told me I needed to be on the network. I went in for a meeting then a screen test, and then 2 weeks after that, I was hired for my first gig. I seriously had no idea what I was doing, but something about me and the network clicked, and here I am, 3 years later, traveling the world, shooting guns, and describing nut-shots. It’s been a dream.

What’s it like working with everyone at G4? Can you tell us any interesting or funny stories?

The great part about working at G4 is that almost everyone works there because they love the content. Chris Hardwick actually loves tech. Morgan Webb actually plays video games. Blair Herter actually enjoys dressing up in costumes and getting punched in the balls by Wee-Man.

These people have become my friends therefore every day has some sort of interesting or funny story. I’ve watched Blair Herter cry on another man’s shoulder when the Saints made it to the Super Bowl. Kevin Pereira was with me when I finally set up my Xbox and we have since eaten more Chinese food and played more Castle Crashers together than any 2 people should. Chris Hardwick has promised me an entire island of milkshakes. I’m still waiting to collect on that one.

What’s your favorite convention/expo that you’ve gotten to go to since you started working at G4? Did you go to any before you worked there?

Comic Con!!! I get so excited every year when the summer rolls around. I work my friggin’ ass off, but I never have as much fun at a convention as I do at Comic Con. I get to enjoy it as a fan, but I also get to meet a lot of my own fans there. It’s great interacting with our audience because they’re really the reason we do Attack of the Show every day. Comic Con is where we finally get to put a face on a lot of our loyal viewers. Plus, spending 5 days eating and drinking in San Diego is never a bad time.

I never got to go to any of the major conventions before working at G4. I think the biggest convention I went to was a Star Trek convention in the middle of New Jersey when I was 15 years old. G4 has definitely helped up my geek-cred since then.

What was it like presenting at the IndieCade Awards?

The IndieCade Awards were amazing. I was so honored to present the Sublime Experience Award and was really happy I got to be a part of an event that recognizes games that truly need to be recognized. Big blockbuster games are awesome and fun, but I feel like we really find our creativity within the video game design from indie games. From unique gameplay to gorgeous and creative layouts, it’s fantastic to see where gaming can go. You can only hope that these special game designers can move on to have successful careers without ‘The Man’ stifling their voices.

You’re from South Jersey – how much of a change was it for you to adapt to living in LA? (I’m from South Jersey, too – Haddon Township!) Do you ever miss Jersey?

It’s a very common misconception that I’m from South Jersey. I’m not. I went to Voorhees High School, and while Voorhees, NJ is indeed in South Jersey, Voorhees High School is almost 2 hours north of it in Hunterdon County. So technically, I’m from North-Central Jersey. We call the candy you put on top of ice cream ‘sprinkles’, not ‘jimmies’ like you crazy Southern Jersians!

The only difficult part adapting to LA was the lack of seasons. I have since forgotten what it’s like to be cold, so whenever I go back to Jersey for the holidays, I freeze! Plus, I definitely miss the people in Jersey…and the malls. I really miss the malls.

Let’s get into the real questions – what’s your favorite video game, and why? If you can’t pick just one, how about your top five favorite games?

Picking a favorite video game is like picking a favorite child: you love each of them for different reasons.

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Duck Tails and Contra on the NES. Street Fighter II and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were my favorite stand-up arcade games because I played them every other Friday night with my brother when our mother would take us to Pizza Hut. I’ve loved every single incarnation of Mario Kart. And most recently, my heart belongs to Left 4 Dead 2. Zombie killing FTW!!!

What games are you playing right now?

I know it’s a phone game, but Angry Birds!! I’m addicted!!! Plus I’m up to 164 out of 330 items on Alchemy. I’ve got to get them all! The other day, I combined Coca-cola and a geyser and got Mentos. This game cracks me up.

Last night, I spent the evening being wowed at XIX, the gorgeous and ritzy restaurant located on the 19th floor of the Hyatt at the Bellevue. I know, I’m just as surprised as you are. You’re looking at the same guy who tweets about wanting the McRib while passing the McDonald’s in Rittenhouse Square. XIX certainly isn’t my scene. But when offered up a chance to scope out thousand dollar Christmas trees… well, it’s hard to say no.

That’s right. Christmas trees starting at $1k.

The Bellevue was hosting a fundraiser for the Philadelphia Orchestra, auctioning off stunning, beautiful Christmas trees crafted by artisans all around the city. Beautiful Blooms, Papertini, Styled Creative... several florists, boutiques, and agencies donated their time and skill to creating one-of-kind Christmas creations for this charitable event. But let’s be honest. It’s hard to make a Christmas tree that isn’t beautiful. It isn’t like a Christmas sweater, where the result is inevitably awful. Throw some paper snowflakes up there, some popcorn, some white lights… bam. Done and done. Gorgeous tree.

Our friends at the Philadelphia based design firm and ad agency, Red Tettemer, clearly know this, and that it takes a little extra to create something truly unique and outstanding. Leave it to this insanely creative agency to think outside the box… and outside the tree.

Behold, the Lady Gaga Christmas tree.

Crafted with vinyl, steel, awesome steampunk-esque goggles, and multicolored lights, this ‘Monster’ of a tree (did you see that? did you see what I did there?) was absolutely stunning, and stood out in the gorgeous hotel restaurant. Hands down stole the show, and was absolutely worth highlighting in a blog post. Well done, Red T. Well done indeed.

I took several more photos of tree, as well as the other expertly crafted Christmas trees on exhibit. Have a look at them in the Flickr gallery below, and huge thank you to XIX for inviting me to the event. It was wonderful.

Excitement levels were high Thursday morning as Ted x Philly guests were milling around the Kimmel Center. The buzz continued until we were all secure in our seats, and ended in applause as the hosts, Roz Duffy and Chris Bartlett, came out for a brief welcome. They challenged us to take a break from technology for the day, to turn everything off and meet new people. “Instead of tweeting, turn to the person next to you and start a conversation,” Chris encouraged.

After a message from TED Curator Chris Anderson, we were thrown right into the day’s speakers, the first section of which was entitled “Systems & Society.” It started off with Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, a recovering cube worker who dreamt of becoming a writer and decided to make that dream a reality. Opening with some presidential trivia and a poem, she explained her discouragement: “Being a writer was as realistic as being a princess – I knew it could happen, but it didn’t happen to anyone I knew.” Aptowicz now works as the ArtsEdge Writer-in-Resident at the University of Pennsylvania and is working on a book about Thomas Dent Mutter, founder of the Mutter Museum.

Chris Lehmann, founder and principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, was up next. His great message was that our high school education system is set up like an assembly line in a factory – but it doesn’t have to be. The purpose of school should be to learn how to live, not how to work – if we train kids to be workers, that’s all they’ll be; the goal is to train them as citizens instead. His own students were in and around the crowd, videotaping and photographing guests and speakers all day.

The third speaker was urban farming activist Nic Esposito, the co-founder of Philly Rooted. Instead of scaring everyone with doomsday scenarios, he planted his ideas with enthusiasm, encouraging everyone to think pragmatically about sustainable solutions.

The final speaker from the first group was Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of a B Corporation entitled B Lab. He explained how B Corporations evolved from the idea that government and nonprofits are necessary but insufficient means to solve social and environmental issues, and that the answer lies with harnessing business power.

That was a lot for the first hour and a half. Emotions were already running high. A half an hour break was barely enough time to catch my breath and head back inside for more.

Round two was entitled “Culture & Meaning” and began with Tune Up Philly director Stanford Thompson. He showed a video of his students, first as they started using their instruments and later as they had progressed with their practice. He then came out on stage and talked about the poverty situation in Philadelphia – 1 in every 3 children are in poverty – and went on to discuss the idea that we need to capture them when they’re curious, when they’re 8 years old, before they’ve had a chance to be too beaten down by disappointment, or become distracted by drugs or sex. He then brought out a group of his students to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, to a standing ovation.

Anthony Mackie in Night Catches Us

Tanya Hamilton, director of the upcoming movie Night Catches Us, came out next, after a preview of her film was shown on the screen. Set in Philadelphia in the 1970s, Night Catches Us is about the Black Panther Movement in Philadelphia. Tanya discussed a figure from her childhood and her inspiration gained from “ordinary people changed by blips of extraordinariness.” After that was Zoe Strauss, local artist who dedicated the last ten years of her life to an art project that she showcased under I-95 in South Philly. She discussed the journey it has been, from the inception of the project, to the art shows spawned by it, to her upcoming inclusion in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to which her only words were, “Super dream come true, what’re you gonna say?”

The second group ended with a touching talk by Michael Solomonov, a local chef who is the co-owner of Israeli restaurant Zahav, Xochitl, and the recently opened Percy Street Barbecue. Michael’s story described his journey of discovering his calling in cooking, leading into the tragic death of his younger brother and how it changed his life. The second session ended with another TEDTalk video, this one on “How to start a movement” by Derek Sivers.

Lunch was a somber but necessary break from the intensity of the first two sessions. We had time to run out to Fado and eat a quick lunch while discussing what we’d seen and heard so far. Chris Bartlett had encouraged us to meet 5 new people that day, and I tried to fill my quota but fell short at just 3. We got back in time to listen to a little music by Cheap Dinosaurs, and then we headed back inside for the third session, entitled “Incredible Machines.”

West Philly’s Hybrid X Team

Simon Hauger lead the way with an incredible story about the job he has done with Philadelphia high school students. A graduate of Drexel University’s engineering program, Simon wanted to teach, but he wanted to do more than just teach math and science, so he started an after school program at West Philadelphia High School to work with students who wanted to do more. The team worked their way from first place in the Philadelphia Science Fair all the way up to placing in national and international competitions against universities and major corporations – in fact, in situations in which they were the only high school involved. The Hybrid X Team even got to meet President Obama a few months ago.

Robert Moore, creator of RJMetrics, came out to discuss today’s ever-increasing scope of data and information. With concepts like the trails of “data exhaust” we leave everywhere to the description of the 5 exabytes humans produce every 2 days, Robert himself was laying a lot of heavy information on us, discussing how as the cost of storage goes down, both our data density and bandwidth go up.

Evan Malone,co-creator of the FabHome Project, was up next. Evan discussed the kind of innovation that has been lost in America due to our stringent immigration laws, and how since 9-11, our student immigrants have gone up, but work visas have gone down, indicating that while students come here to learn, they don’t stay here to work, creating brain drain.

And then the crowd was cheering before Bill Covaleski, co-founder of Victory Brewing Company, was even out on the stage. This charismatic brewer took the audience through the timeline of American brewing companies, proving to us that craftbrew wasn’t just on the rise – it was here to stay. He gave us a great quote by brewmaster Garrett Oliver which also lead to cheering: “The fad was fake food and fake beer, and that fad is over.”

The third session ended prematurely due to some technical difficulties, bumping Billie Faircloth into the final session, entitled “Between the Ears.” Billie is in innovative architect, studying the question of why we do what we do. She walked us through a beautiful and existential description of where the 2×4 – in reality only 1.5×3.5 – comes from, and how trees and wood have influenced her life and her decisions.

Iyad Obeid was up next. Iyad works at Temple University in the Neural Instrumentation Lab, researching how people can control prosthetic devices with their brains. He described the brain, among other things, as a processor – like a computer but different in that it’s good at different kinds of things. For example, he explained how his 4-year-old son could find Waldo in a picture – but that a computer would need to be programmed to do so. But he has no doubt that what makes us human will always stay the same, even though technology may eventually improve us.

After that was Stephen Powers, graffiti artist and creator of Philadelphia’s “A Love Letter to You,” a series of murals in West Philadelphia that have garnered a lot of attention. Stephen discussed his experience as a graffiti artist and shared a project he recently did in Brazil that was very similar to “Love Letter,” bringing together a community and immortalizing them with his creative artwork.

The final guest of the night was the musician Ursula Rucker, who performed several songs from her upcoming album “She Said.” The deep and moving songs sent out powerful messages, with lines like “unpixilate your brain,” encouraging people to meet outside of the Internet and interact more in real life.

After a brief closing ceremony, the event moved to the University of the Arts, where a reception was held for the attendees. Live music was performed as guests nibbled on fruits, vegetables, and bread with a hot cheese sauce, and enjoyed various beverages ranging from soda to wine. The buzzing excitement from the morning was still there. I couldn’t believe an entire day had passed so quickly. While I can’t envision myself starting a garden tomorrow in my studio apartment, I was inspired by much of what I saw and heard at Ted x Philly, and I plan to turn these feelings into actions.

The director of Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich, was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions about his life, film, etc. Unlike a good bit of the staff at Pixar, Lee actually got his start in live action films and television as an editor/director in the early 90′s on such TV series as Renegade and Silk Stalkings. Remember those?

Lee joined Pixar in 1995 and he was first tasked with being an editor on Toy Story and after that, next time Woody and Buzz hit the silver screen he was co-directing on Toy Story 2.

It was working on Toy Story 2 that John Lasseter himself picked Lee to direct the next installment of a what has become one of the most beloved and successful film franchises in animation history.

So check out my Q&A where I ask the hard questions, like will this REALLY be the last Toy Story (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen both are contracted for one more film) and where is Andy’s dad anyway? Warning, there are some spoilers.

What lead you into directing?

I’ve always loved movies, and grew up watching lots of films. My mother is also a film fan, and she exposed me to many different kinds of films when I was growing up. When I was twelve, I saw Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining, and it ignited a passion for filmmaking that has never abated. I went to the USC School of Cinema to study film, and although I wanted to direct, I ended up specializing in film editing. It was my work in editing that brought me to Pixar, which ultimately gave me the opportunity to start directing again.

You were co-directing for a long time before having the chance to direct a film.  Can you tell us how new talent is trained at Pixar, so that they have the possibility one day to direct a feature film?

Pixar is an amazing place, filled with people from many different backgrounds. I originally came to Pixar from a live-action background, and was one of the few in the company who had worked in that field. I ended up bringing a vital live-action sensibility to the films we were creating and thus, became an indispensable part of the core team. John Lasseter made it clear to me that he wanted me to eventually direct at Pixar. After being given the opportunity to co-direct many films, he finally asked me to direct Toy Story 3 solo. That was my personal path, but the directors at the studio have each had their own individual path. I wouldn’t say folks are groomed to direct, but rather, their singular voices as filmmakers are recognized and nurtured.

Making a second sequel to Toy Story after all these years must have been a rather big decision. You must have felt some pressure, right? What convinced you to commit to directing Toy Story 3 in the end?

It was a HUGE amount of pressure, not only to be making a new Pixar film after an unbroken string of ten hits, but also to make a sequel to two of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed films of all time. However, we love Woody and Buzz and the rest of the gang, and we felt that there was more story to tell. We would never have made another sequel if we didn’t feel like we had a story worth telling. Once we came up with the idea of Andy being grown up, and the toys having to face, head-on, their own obsolescence, we knew we had to make the film. It just had too much rich, emotional potential to pass up.

Directing a sequel while the original director is looking over your shoulder can be daunting. How involved was John Lasseter during Toy Story 3‘s development?

It’s true, when John first asked me to direct Toy Story 3 I was simultaneously flattered and intimidated. Luckily though I’ve worked closely with John since the very first Toy Story. We very much made Toy Story and Toy Story 2 together. John trusted me to take the reins of Toy Story 3, and made it clear from the very beginning that he wanted this to be my film. That being said, John was involved in the film and contributed creatively throughout the four years of production.

More after the jump! Spoiler alerts… you’ve been warned!

How did you decide on which of Andy’s toys got broken or lost?

We decided that any of the toys that were not part of the core gang of toys (Woody, Buzz, Potato Heads, etc.) would be unfortunately left behind. Andy is now 17, and it just didn’t seem realistic that all the toys would still be around. It was hard for us to say goodbye to many of the characters, but we felt it was the right thing to do for the story that we were telling.

I noticed that Bo Beep was one that didn’t make it. Why?

That was a very difficult decision to make. We wanted to show that time had passed in Andy’s room, and that things had necessarily changed. We also wanted to create an environment of danger — that time was short for the remaining toys, and that any of them might be next to go. We also thought it would be powerful to have one of the central, beloved toys be gone, and to be emblematic of the fact that as we live our lives, change happens and we sometimes lose people in our lives that we love.

Bo Peep as a toy was actually part of a nursery lamp. We figured that lamp wouldn’t be around anymore, so we decided to make Bo Peep the main toy that was no longer around. We also felt her absence would give Woody a deep feeling of loss, since she was the love of his life.

Pixar films have added progressively darker elements over the past several years. Has this been a planned thing to push the boundaries of what you can get away with in an animated film?

I wouldn’t say that our films are getting darker, but I would say that we have been exploring more mature ideas. That’s not because of any grand plan. I think it’s because we are all growing up and living life and raising families and we have started to become interested in different things. We do strive, however to balance the heavier emotion with great comedy and entertainment. I think the best films are the films that allow us to feel a lot of different feelings, whether they be laughter or sadness or tension. We like the films to be very well rounded.

I have always wondered where is Andy’s dad? While his absence is never addressed in the Toy Story films?

You know, we never really explicitly answer that question. We think it’s better to leave it more vague. I know that each of us at Pixar has our own idea of why Andy’s Dad isn’t around, but we don’t think it’s important for there to be a concrete reason. I think it makes it more interesting to leave that answer to the audience’s imagination.

Tom Hanks has said, “Bring it on” when asked about a possible Toy Story 4, and Tim Allen is under contract for another sequel. Are you planning on making Toy Story 4?

We don’t currently have any plans to make a Toy Story 4. We tried really hard to bring the story of Andy and his toys to a really nice close. We take it as a great compliment that people are interested in another film, but for now, we’re going to focus on other stories.

Oh. My. God.

From the YouTube page:

Canadian couple Todd and Meaghan learned about the Mural Arts Program’s (MAP) Love Letter Tour and coordinated an extended layover in Philadelphia (while traveling to France) to experience this wildly popular tour.

Todd contacted the MAP tour office to let them know he wanted to propose to Meaghan on the tour and MAP offered a clever idea in making his marriage proposal extra special.

This video is a result of MAP’s partnership with The University of Pennsylvania — Penn Singers Light Opera Company and Penn Glee Club. We’re excited to share with you the biggest surprise of Meaghan’s life!

Amazing. Warmed my heart this chilly November afternoon.

At this point it’s pretty clear that location-based services aren’t going anywhere. Foursquare is huge in the city of Philadelphia, and thanks to visitPA there’s incentive statewide. Folks like Tommy Up of PYT will surely attest to the fact that it’s definitely been a great value for businesses like his. The state even recognizes this:

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming enthusiasm for our partnership with Foursquare,” said Mickey Rowley, Deputy Secretary for Tourism, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, “What was initially just one piece of our summer tourism campaign has become fodder for a case study in the mobile evolution of tourism and travel. It has transformed Pennsylvania into a game board for Foursquare fanatics.”

Feel like this is a game you’ve fallen behind on? Well, you’re slacking even worse than I was when it came to writing this post. However, you’re in luck. VisitPA’s partnership with Foursquare is continuing indefinitely.

Our friends over at Red Tettemer, whose fantastic work you might remember from VisitPhilly‘s With Love campaign, took tourism to a whole new level for visitPA. Those three badges (Shooflyer, 4 Score & 7 and Retail Polka) can be unlocked by visiting locations that stretch between every corner of the state. (Spoiler alert: it’s actually pretty feasible to unlock all of them in Philly.)

Linus Graybill, a senior developer at Red Tettemer built this wonderful data app utilizing Foursquare’s API and 100% all-natural unicorn blood. As of writing this, visitPA has over 15,000 followers on Foursquare checking into the 176 participating venues. The top of which are unsurprisingly Center City and Old City locations, with the addition of our favorite mega-colossal urban renewal project/super-plaza: The Piazza at Schmidt’s.

Red Tettemer has a live chart and graph on their website that details the numbers, from followers to participating venues. This screenshot above doesn’t do it justice.

Want to see those numbers? Check out Red Tettemer’s VisitPA Foursquare stats from its launch in May through to the end of the summer. Win.

Bradley Cooper’s new film, The Dark Fields, is currently filming here in Philadelphia… and earlier today, they transformed 19th and Market into 52nd and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Reader Erik B. emailed in some photos…

Walking along Market Street at 19th on my lunch break I somehow ended up at 52nd and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. After some investigation, I learned that I was still in fact in Philadelphia, but near the set of the movie The Dark Fields. They temporarily transformed our great City into the Big Apple.

Erik saw Philadelphia born Bradley Cooper being whisked off the set into a car immediately after snapping these pictures. Have a look!

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of interviewing Felicia Day at the Farpoint 2010 sci-fi convention in Timonium, Maryland.  I am a huge fan of Felicia’ s work and I am pretty sure most of you Geekadelphia readers are as well. I tried to ask a lot of questions that you don’t traditionally hear in interviews with her. We all know she was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starred in Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog and eventually solidified a name for herself as a creator/writer/star of her webseries The Guild.

Read on, as we talk about everything from comics, to video games, to what she thinks of female role models in new media. I’d apologize for this being such a long post, but I think it’s worth the read. Enjoy.

So, you attended college at age of 16 and graduated as valedictorian with a double major in mathematics and music performance. What inspired you to suddenly move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting?

The thing that inspired me to movie to LA to pursue acting was kind of a blind enthusiasm [laughs] in a sense. I had always been doing theater everywhere I went. Actually, the two running themes throughout my childhood were doing Community Theater and online gaming. Because I was moving around so much I never had a consistent friendship with anybody because I always just left.

So either I kept in touch with them on the computer through like Prodigy [laughs], like total old-school internet stuff, like total old-school; or I met new people through community theater. So it had always been like a family to me, and for some reason I just always had this idea I would really love to go be an actor in LA. So a little bit of not-good planning led me to LA shortly after I graduated college.

I heard that the genesis of The Guild was a WOW intervention where the result was you going cold turkey and quitting the game; can you tell us a bit about that dark time in your life and were the characters you eventually wrote in The Guild pilot based off of anyone you knew personally? They all seem very believable.

Yeah, so I wrote The Guild after I had been gaming like 30-hour weeks, I was definitely a hard-core raider at the time. I really enjoyed it (gaming) and I don’t think it was necessarily a bad thing. I am a little bit obsessive, so I tend to take things personally and seriously. So I definitely let it take over my life in a way, because I didn’t have anything else going on, to kind of combat it.  So I definitely don’t want my experience to be like a poster child for dysfunctional gamers. I just think that anything that I would have filled my time with would have probably taken over my life – just because I didn’t have a lot of fulfilling things going on at the time.

It’s hard to get a job [ in acting ] and it’s hard to face rejection everyday. That’s just kind of your job, and you have to face it. If you get an acting job it’s more like a reward, but it’s not the thing you are there to do. You’re there to audition, so it’s hard to get your mind around that as an actor cause you’re always emotionally available.

So I wrote The Guild because I wanted to write something to show a character, you know that optimal side of me, and that is how Codex came up. I love playing this sort of neurotic introverted character, which is something you don’t see on TV as a lead especially. So building those characters around Codex was the key to making it engaging and successful. To this day it’s still hard to write Codex because she is kind of a passive character and plays the role of a healer-in-life behind-the-scenes, so making her a little more outgoing is always a challenge.

The other characters were not based per se on people I knew. I had drawn some ideas, like people with screaming babies in the background, or like people who were being way too serious about the game. I wouldn’t say people directly inspired them, but they are sort of an amalgam of my experiences. The characters of Zaboo and Vork were based on those actors I tailor-made for them… because we do improv together. So in those cases it was tailored to the actors and the rest were impressions of people I played with online.

Much More After the Jump

I have heard writing is one the most difficult parts of the process for you in creating The Guild, can you shed any light on your writing  process for the upcoming season?

I am starting it, which means I might be starting from scratch again. As every season goes on there is more and more pressure on me as a performer, and creator of the show. It’s hard to get the time to and the tunnel vision it takes to really concentrate on creating something. I write the season as a movie, so it’s like reading a movie script, so it gets more complex because I introduce more and more characters into the plot.

It’s very complex [the writing process]; I have really good people whom I will turn to at a certain point to help me out, if I really get really stuck. But, part of my process is getting myself stuck and reevaluating, and going back and redoing until I get something I really feel is good. Also a consideration is the fact that I have a lot of non-gamer fans, so I always have to be constantly be not too “inside” but still stay “inside” for the gamers. It’s a fine line to walk.

That and people are constantly asking me, “When is Season 4 coming out?” That puts a lot of pressure on me as a person, so it’s kind of learning to ignore everything and satisfy myself because that is what worked for seasons 1 and 2. So I might have to go into a cave for a week, if it doesn’t come in the next couple of weeks. But it will get done, but we don’t have a release date or a contract yet so I am still formulating.

That has to be quite a bit of pressure, since you hold total creative control of The Guild, to consistently have to keep out doing yourself.

You really just have to do the best that you can do as a human. Whether your outdoing yourself or you’re not, you just constantly have to be checking back in, “is this really what I want to do with this, is this making me happy?”

It’s hard when people are pulling you in 50 different directions to creatively think about a story for the right reasons. I am positive I have some good ideas for  season 5.  There is somewhere I am aiming to go, so hopefully the journey is at least funny. We will see.

As a content creator you keep a tight reign on The Guild as an intellectual property, it’s great to see someone like yourself not only be successful, but doing so on your own terms and not having to dilute your ideas for mass consumption; first with the Web Series and now the comic. What inspired the move to comics for the property, and are you a comic book fan yourself?

The move to comics was kind of done because of Scott Allie at Dark Horse knew me through Doctor Horrible, and through Joss (Whedon). I had seen him at 2 Comicons in a row, and even 2 years ago he was like, “We should do The Guild as a comic.”  I was like, “I don’t know, I am just doing season 2 now, I don’t have time to do it immediately.” So I put it off, and this past year in July, he approached me again and was like, “It’s time to do it.” And I thought, “You know, it’s a good idea I think maybe I could do this, if I did it like this.” I didn’t want it to interfere with my webstory idea, so I had to do it more like, let’s backup and see how this character Codex got into the game because she is the heart of The Guild.

It’s a journey of her getting into gaming, as Scott said it’s kind of a love letter to video games – because it is this one girl’s journey. It really kind of forced me explore her character in a way I hadn’t before, because how did she get into this game? I really didn’t want to duplicate my process, so I had to create a lot of things from scratch. It gave me a really new perspective on comic book writing in a way that I did not have before.  I have a lot more respect for the parameters of working in a comic form. I mean really, it’s limitless in a way but there are so many parameters you have to work under.

It’s very much like a screenplay or webseries but the opposite. Because rather than having lots of dialog and few locations like we do in the webseries, I had to think of it in a opposite way. We could go to any location in the world, there was no money limit so far to crashes, explosions, and exteriors – but I couldn’t have a lot of dialog and I am very dialog heavy in The Guild.  Literally he would be like you have to cut this down to 12 words from 15 in this bubble, and I was like AHHHH! I can’t do it! So that was a big challenge and I wrote probably twice as much as what ended up in the comic, because you just have no room. So I had to cut out storylines here and there, take out back-stories, and I really narrowed it down to really what is this one thing that this is about. So in the end it took me three months to write those, in addition to all the distractions and post-production on season 3.

I think what I came up with was really good and I am really happy it and it is exactly what I want it to be. I think the artist Jim Rugg did an amazing job bringing the characters to life in an indie, not too characture-esque way. I really like his style he did Street Angel and Aphrodisiac he is really more indie than mainstream style wise. It really has been a journey getting panels sent back to me, knowing that I have to describe the panels, which I didn’t even know when I started.  I read comics but I am not like a graphic novel aficionado, I am a lot more now that I did a lot of research. I am more of a novel reader, so it was definitely a learning curve. But I tried to like reading other people’s stuff, and try to fit myself into their mold, because those were the rules and I couldn’t write. So I had to throw it all out and do what I want to do with this and by then I broke through. So I don’t know if I broke a lot of rules or not, I just hope people enjoy it.

What were some of the comic books you were reading while working on The Guild comic?

I was reading DMZ, was one of the ones I really loved. I read Walking Dead, Fray, Scott Pilgrim, Love and Rockets, and Strangers in Paradise, you know because it wasn’t in the vein of super hero comics, it was more the real based comics.  There is just some really amazing work out there that really introduced me to the breadth of comics that they weren’t just super heroes – there was a lot more out there than that.  I would love to do actually different stories maybe something more grandiose in scale, because I know I would never be able to do it in real life.  So if I ever come up with a webseries idea that is too expensive to shoot I can just do it as a comic.

Speaking of branching out The Guild, could there be a Guild video game in the future?

Microsoft already owns the rights, if it was the right time and the right kind of game I am sure they would be open to hearing my thoughts on it. I am not sure what that would look like. I would not be opposed to it, in fact I am kind of obsessed with video games. It’s the storytelling in video games lately. I played a little bit of Uncharted 2 and I have also been playing Mass Effect 2, Assassins Creed 2 and I feel video games are going more in a direction of story telling that really hasn’t been integrated into videogames until now. I am really excited about that because good acting and good storytelling in video games can totally supplant sometimes seeing a bad movie.

Who wants to see a formula of a movie when you can play a game a live some story but also be more interactive with it? For me I am really excited that video game are refining those parts, because they have obviously mastered the technical aspects and there is always going to be emphasis on that, but a good story can carry almost anything even with bad graphics through, and it can be compelling. So I am really interested to see where that goes, and if I was going to develop something it would have to be story based first and foremost.

You’re a big proponent and role model of the intelligent geek woman both online and in social media, you write your own blog and twitter filling them with content that is both intelligent and compelling.  Do you feel that the women who simply use their cute avatar pic to get hits and attention hurt your hard work in proving that a woman can be more than a smiling bubbly profile pic, and a cute tweet every now and again?

I mean I don’t want to condemn anyone else as far as that. I know what I am is what I represent myself as, I don’t have an image I am trying to present. I am just delighted that I found a venue to actually be myself in, versus trying to be that cute actress who has no cares in the world except for her intentions or whatever. If you try to do that you will actually realize it’s a lot of hard work. With the avatar video it was more work than I had ever done on my appearance and I was like, “wow, I have a new respect for superstars who really have to maintain their body like a shrine in a sense.” It’s a lot of work in a completely different sense. So I don’t want to denigrate, anyone’s actions like that.

I would like it if women were a little bit more intellectual in general. But really who am I to say? I think people should be themselves, and exploiting your sexuality is definitely a way to go for whatever it is your end result is. For me that is just something I have never put forward in a way, and I think it is not sustainable in the long run.  I would rather be known as a creator, so at least when I get to the point when I can’t put that forth, I have something else to do that will carry me through. I am just glad to be a voice for women of all kinds. Listen I am a girl – I like having my hair look pretty, I don’t like getting my nails done, but I like shopping and stuff.

Although I think there is an interesting argument with that, it came up on twitter that you kind of have to be “one or the other”. You have to be serious and taken seriously and not be sexual at all, and not be flirty and pretty, or you’re that – just a vapid piece of fluff. After that twitter thing a surprising number of women were like, “How dare you pose like that, in a trench coat!” [ Edt: Referring to her Vanity Fair photo shoot ] I thought it was kind of glamorous but some people thought it was over the line, completely relative. But I think it was interesting that from both sides defending that, but also condemning it in a way for even women doing that. That’s almost as bad as just saying it’s fluffy. I really don’t think you have to be one or the other, you can blend the two and be a complete person and encompass all the things femininity and glamor, and also be intelligent and grounded.

I think we live in a black and white world where it’s easier to consume things when you can pigeon hole people and for me I don’t enjoy being pigeon holed. I don’t feel as if I am a pigeon hole-able person and anyone who is proud of embracing all aspects of themselves, they show other people they can do that too. They don’t just have to be one thing.

Speaking of being who you really are, it brought to mind how you were accused of having your PR people do your book reviews, and how because you come off as such a genuine gamer, people somehow feel there is the possibility of there being some marketing involved in your various social media. That maybe Felicia Day is not writing this. But I think if people do their homework they will realize you are quite the reader and gamer and it is not just some cheap marketing ploy.

Well I think there are a couple aspects to that; I think some people don’t do their homework. Life is a little short to do homework, and I don’t blame someone for making a snap decision. I of course appreciate someone looking a little deeper. I make snap decisions on the way people look all the time, I might look like jerk but that’s not true. We kind of have to do that to operate. But, yeah at the same time I know a lot of prominent people in Hollywood and not in Hollywood who are not genuine, that(online presence) is not who they are. They may have an idea of who they want to be and they try to fit themselves into it. They actually have people talking for them on their blogs, and on twitter and that’s justifiable. That is what I like about the Internet, its kind of jaded and they are looking for things that are fresh, and they are willing to embrace things that are out of the box.

So I understand why someone would jump to that conclusion, that’s actually why I have a Google alert on myself so I can be like, “Yes I did read those books, I have read twice as many books.” So that is the Internet, and sometimes I have a tendency to chase down things, I really shouldn’t be spending my time doing; I should be writing. It gets irritating if someone makes assumptions about you that are not true. But I understand why they do that. Being jaded is always good, but I try not to do it.

I see you’ve started to getting into voice work in video games with Guild Wars 2. Is this something you have wanted to do for a while now? And what other roles do we have to look forward to?

Yeah so Guild Wars 2 approached me to do the voice of Zojja a little tiny alien creature who is sooo cute. I was like, this is amazing, because this is the first time someone approached me, and I was like “Yes please!” Subsequently when I twittered that all these video game developers started to Twitter me, saying, “Hey, do a voice in my game.” I was like wow, I am a better agent for myself than the people I pay. [laughs]

I am really excited about that and I have another video game coming out Rock of the Dead, where I do the voice it’s a Wii game. I am doing a voice and Neil Patrick Harris is doing a voice and you attack zombies with a guitar hero controller, much like typing of the dead, and it’s coming out in a couple of months.

I have a few other developers interested in me doing voices but I am not necessarily a voice over actor. But I had a lot of fun coming up with a new voice for Guild Wars 2, the other one I did was more myself. It’s definitely a different kind of acting; it requires a lot more expression than when you would normally talk and I have to slow it down a bit because I normally talk really fast. It’s definitely another skill set and I am really happy to have the opportunity. I love being a part of it and seeing myself as a character. Wow, it’s like the best thing ever.

Have you ever thought about doing anime voice work?

No one has really approached me to do stuff like that. So we’ll see, sometimes I have voice-over auditions. I did an episode of a cartoon that’s coming out in the fall for Cartoon Network. Just one, so a guest star. But voice acting like I said is a very unique beast and the people that are able to do that, many different voices well, its like God bless them it is an amazing skill set you have to admire it.

I know you’re a fan of the Amazon Kindle and an avid reader, any thoughts on the debacle over pulling the Macmillan titles off the Amazon store due to pricing?

Yeah, it’s really interesting I really don’t have a strong opinion on this, I mean I love the Kindle I love books so I didn’t think I would like my Kindle. I love because I can carry it around and no one can see what I am reading, I read a lot of bodice rippers but I am over them now. It’s very interesting to see that I don’t know if it was handled well. It seems like publishing is in an interesting bind. It’s the same in Hollywood, distribution is completely changing now, and the middlemen are really fighting to stay in the game in a sense. Publishers are basically middlemen, if I was a famous author and with everyone consuming everything electronically do you really need a middleman to release that for you? There are options out there that weren’t available to creators, I am not saying it’s the best option but for everybody or anybody, but I am saying it is an option. They are scared and rightly so because their distribution model is falling apart.

I think we are going to see a lot more of that with TV; music was already devastated from it, so I think publishing and TV is trying to learn from what happened to music. But they may not be able to move fast enough for that. My experience working with Amazon, XBOX, Microsoft, Google and all these big new media companies that they are hungry to transform the way we consume our media. The old-school kind of companies are not constructed to be as facile to adapt. So I think we are going to see a lot more fighting over content, over how people get their content. I don’t think this is the first or last time this is going to happen. For me its always like what is going to best for the consumer and these companies are gong to try and stake out ground wherever they can to try and make money.

Speaking of the mobile devices being a content creator what are your thoughts on the Apple iPad?  It really seems like the all in one content device bringing together books, Comics, music and video someone could go from watching a guild episode to reading a comic?

I think about the iPad in two different ways, it’s really exciting because it can transform the way we read books in a way it could create new media. You know for me, I am like why can’t we have animation in a book, or why cant you have a game in a book now? What is a movie/book/game? I mean you can do what ever you want to meld your media now. It’s something really cool, there is an opportunity for that and something I personally as a creator I am interested in doing.

But at the same time your looking at a device that is very closed off, a very closed system. We are moving to a place where I don’t know if that is good. We aggregate through our DVD distributor that is the only way we were able to get The Guild on iTunes. Which is great because they were a huge supporter of the show on iTunes, which is fantastic. But it is more of a closed system for independent content, because they tend to work more with big developers and big studios. So even though you have a browser in the device you’re catering to a more close system than the Internet.

So they are trying to create a situation where they are shrinking the Internet into bite size pieces. Which is great for the casual consumer in theory it’s going to be a lot more refined, but in the same vein are we losing the spirit of the Internet which is kind of like the Wild West; where anybody can be anything they want to be. Where you can have like crazy Tom Selleck sandwich memes (laughs). I would never want to lose that because that is what I love about the Internet. So I am of two thoughts: it could be a revolution, it could also be a closing of the system. I certainly want one, because I am a gadget freak. I have yet to figure out how I would use it. I just want to see one first.

Reader Questions:

What’s the last good movie you saw?

I haven’t seen a lot of good movies lately [laughs]. A Simple Man was good I enjoyed that. I mean I enjoyed Avatar for the technical aspects, but I knew what the story was going to be going in. So there was nothing surprising there, but the 3D was fantastic! I can’t wait to play a video game like that. I mean, I am really sad there are no movies I am really excited to see except for Alice in Wonderland. It seems like movies have shrunk in a sense. There are not a lot of great independent things being made with stories, the kind you just have to see this or that weekend. Maybe its just me, because I don’t watch a lot of TV and movies as I use to, but it feels like there are so few things being made that aren’t sequels or are just not exciting to me. So I am really eager for the summer films to come out.

What race and class do you prefer in World of Warcraft and why?

That is a hard question. I have only played a priest and a warlock; no, I also played a mage. Ideally I would be a mage, because I hate transit time so that is most irritating thing in the world. I can’t wait for Cataclysm so I can fly around the old continents. My guild pitched in and got me an epic-flying mount which was very sweet and it revolutionized my life, I can’t stand commuting in the game or out. I really need to level my mage.

I also really enjoy my priest because it is a much different role in kind in the back supporting everything. But if I were going to raid again I would enjoy my warlock because I really enjoy creating things and being like, wow. I know it’s kinda stupid but I really like having really big crit numbers.

If you could participate in bringing one video game or comic book property to the big screen, what would it be?

The George R. R. Martin books; they are already making those at HBO The Game of Thrones. I wasn’t British so I wasn’t allowed to audition for those, but that would be really fun.  I think a Fallout movie would be really awesome, because I love the mythology of that game. I think it would be really cinematically cool. I think they have done some apocalyptic things lately, but I don’t think they have been just like awesome, like I think a Fallout movie could be.  A lot of video games turn out to be really poop to be honest. But I think that kind of environment would lend itself to and could be really interesting. The deep roleplaying of that game could be really interesting in a movie form. I would love to play a dirty urchin character with a weird crew cut, if I could be a girl in that that would be awesome.