While Geekadelphia blogger Corey Hulse was registering a new Google Account, this was the Word Verification.

Really, not much else to say. Awesome.

Today marks the closing of the National Constitution Center’s latest acclaimed exhibit, Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon. The exhibit, which ran all Summer, gave visitors a fresh look at our country’s first president. Not just as a leader, but as a family man, farmer, and entrepreneur.

To wrap up his stay in Philadelphia, the NCC sent George around town, snapping pictures at historic landmarks, posing with statues, and treating himself to a cheesesteak and beer.

The folks at the museum were kind enough to share these hilarious pictures with us. So scope them out after the jump, and stay tuned for the next great exhibit at the National Constitution Center. I can’t wait.

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Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with Shawn Smith, former video game journalist for EGM Magazine, and creator of the character design studio Shawnimals.

In the world of Shawnimals lies Ninjatown, featuring a wide selection of ninjas with their own unique story and design. Ninjatown has been everything from toys to videogames. You can even read about Ninjatown on your various Apple devices thanks to the Ninjatown: Adventures of Wee Ninja comic book App available in the iOS store.

I had the chance to talk to Shawn about his background, how Ninjatown came to be, and some of his favorite games from the past year.

For those not familiar with the world of Shawnimals or Ninjatown, could you tell me a little about its creation, as well as a little background information about yourself?

Shawn: Sure thing, Shawnimals is a character design studio that believes in the power of unbridled, astonishing, ridiculous joy. Each Shawnimal comes with its own story that starts in the Shawnimaland universe, but is then given over to you to continue each unique creature’s adventure in your own universe.

Our huggable friends appear as designer toys, lifestyle accessories, apparel, comic books, video games, and as anything that fosters companionship. We believe that the best artistic experiences are participatory and affordable, and that – with an open heart – friendship can happen between you and just about anything. Even facial hair.

We have a staff of four: Myself, my wife and biz partner Jen, Monte and Eric. And two rotating intern positions.

As for me: I’m the creative force behind Shawnimals, and started the company before I even knew it by watching cartoons, drawing pictures and playing video games as a kid.

Fast forward to my job at EGM magazine as a game reviewer (1996 – 2000), I made the difficult decision to leave and focus on my first love: Art and design. I had the opportunity to explore my various characters and the countless sketchbooks on my shelf filled with hundreds of unused characters. In a way, Shawnimals were born shortly after. Without a doubt I have pop culturally-inspired aesthetic: Simple, compelling character designs, strong narratives, and a healthy dose of humor. All of the stuff that makes great pop culture great.

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What can I say? Here on Geekadelphia, we like our cars.

Last year we were part of the Fiesta Movement. You might have seen us, driving around town in a super fancy decked out Ford Fiesta, throwing parties, giving away iPads to Sean Blanda our loyal readers at events, hosting movie screenings, etc… all in the name of an automobile we liked. And just last month, Mikey Il took a spin in the brand new Chevy Volt, thanks to their PR team reaching out to us.

Well, our love affair with Chevy continued, blossoming into a week-long loan of a brand new Chevy Camaro. Equipped with all the fancy gadgets you could want (XM Radio, Bluetooth everything, heated leather seats, a HUD display), it was one hell of a nice car, and we were thrilled to have it for a few days. And by we, I mean Mikey.

Mikey was fortunate enough to zip around town in the car for a week. He took some photos, Tweeted about his experiences, and perhaps, most importantly, drove us to White Castle.

There aren’t any White Castles in the Philadelphia area, so a long drive was required to score those tasty little morsels known as Sliders. We shot a video of the fun. You can see the inside of the car, watch how it handles, and at the end, experience the thrill of watching my girlfriend pretend to steal the car, leaving us abandoned in New Jersey.

Big thank you to Chevy for unofficially sponsoring our trip to White Castle. Those burgers were delicious.

As the year draws to a close, I realize that a lot of my time was spent in Brave New Worlds buying a ton of comics, or just standing around talking to Brian and/or Rob. Before we ring in the new year I wanted to take a look back at some of my favorite comics throughout the year.  Some of which have been completed and collected into trades while others continue to roll out monthly, or if your Mark Millar or Grant Morrison, whenever you get it finished. So let’s get started!

1. Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour – Bryan Lee O’Malley’s awesome series concludes with Vol.6 and is without a doubt the best in the series.  After five books of Scott being hilarious and often at times an idiot, he evolves into a, dare I say it, mature adult. Looking back on his past interactions with his friends and family, Scott faces the reality of his actions. Not all of which were that heroic in fact. What may have been my favorite moments of the book were moments that happened off the page when Scott was so busy with his own problems, and failed to see what his closest friends were going through.

2. Batman and Robin – Bruce Wayne is lost in time, many people thinking he’s dead. In the wake of his absence, former boy wonder Dick Grayson takes the mantle of the bat, while Bruce’s son Damien, becomes the newest Robin. I really didn’t know what to expect from this book, but I got some of the best Batman and Robin stories I could have imagined. Not to mention the revolving door of artists such as Frank Quitely, Cameron Stewart, Andy Clarke, and Frazer Irving. Each bringing their own unique style to the story but never sacrificing story to show off their talent.

While the series is ongoing, I’d say you can’t get any better than the first 16 issues, which dealt with Bruce’s absence and the new dynamic duo working out their own personal issues to accept their new roles in protecting Gotham City.

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Last Saturday The Trocadero theater in center city hosted Kaiju Big Battel, which was an official after party event for the Wizard World Philly 2010 convention. Truthfully, the awesomeness of Kaiju Big Battel is a bit difficult to describe with mere words, but I’m going to give it a try.

Remember all those incredibly bad Japanese monster movies from eons ago? You know, the ones where it is clearly a guy in a rubber monster suit stepping on little cardboard miniature cities? Okay, so take that and make it a live event, add a wrestling cage, throw in some music and clever scripted dialogue, and you have an inkling as to what witnessing Kaiju Big Battel is like.

As one of my good friends put it: “It makes no sense. I love it.”

More after the jump!

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Illustrator Rosemary Trevale is currently asking for submissions for Picard Day, starting June 16th and running through June 23rd. Sure it’s a weeklong  celebration instead of one day, but whatever, it’s Jean Luc Picard.

For those of you who have never heard of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jean Luc Picard is captain of the Enterprise and is played by Professor X from the X-Men films. He’s awesome of course, and that’s why you should go to Rosemary’s Picard Day Blog and send over your illustrations, comics, or any other Picard celebrating items you may create. Head over to Rosemary’s Picard site here, and submit your work.

Illustration by Rosemary Trevale / Picard Day Blog

The folks over at Titan Books were kind enough to send me a copy of their book Yipee Ki-Yay Moviegoer!: Writings on Bruce Willis, Badass Cinema, And Other Important Topics written by Vern. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Vern is well known for writing reviews on the Aintitcool, one of the most popular movie sites out there.  The book is a collection of reviews and essays, many of them have been published online. But instead of digging around the internet, the best of the best have been collected for your reading pleasure.

Review continues after the jump.

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Black Widow hates Spoilers too!

A few years ago, I used to enjoy spoilers of shows and movies. It wasn’t out of a need to be the first person to know the ending to a film, or the last five minutes of a tv shows finale. I just liked having the information. It’s not like I went around blurting out crucial plot points that some fans may be patiently waiting for. I just enjoyed them every now and then.

Nowadays it’s a whole different ballgame. Spoiling a films ending, such as the after credits sequence to Iron Man 2 (Don’t worry, no spoiler in the article), or revealing the final crucial minutes of a television show has gotten to the point of being silly. There’s no fun in it. Nobody wins anything, except maybe the satisfaction of being the first person outside of the creators of the show/film to know what’s going to happen next. I think our growing impatience with either waiting for a film’s release, or waiting for a tv show to end its season is ultimately ruining the initial impact of going into a film or show with as little information about it as possible.

More after the jump.

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A Night of 140 Tweets is probably the most interesting things I’ve stumbled upon in quite a while. It boasts one of the most impressive and unusual collection of celebrities I’ve ever seen. There’s comedians, actors, musicians and even porn stars. Notables include Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Bob Saget, Will Ferrell, Dane Cook, Justin Long, Nathan Fillion, Ben Stiller and even some of our favorites from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Each performer took the stage on the evening of March 2th at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles to read one of their signature Tweets. Said tweets range from bizarre or inappropriate to absolutely hysterical. One of my favorites came from Rainn Wilson, delivered in a way only Rainn Wilson can, “Every morning when I poop, I quote Liam Neeson from the trailer of Clash of the Titans and say, ‘Release the Kraken!’”

They even show TwitPics on a projection screen. All in all, when put together they made for a truly enjoyable half hour.

The show is available on Amazon or iTunes [opens iTunes store] for only $2.99, a small price to pay. Why? 100% of the proceeds go to Artists For Peace and Justice to benefit the Haitian School Initiative. There’s also a DVD being released on March 30th for $10.99 which you can pre-order on Amazon. Check out the trailer. (NSFW language in the immediate beginning.)

Our good friends Johnny Zito and Tony Trov, creators of the online Zuda comic  Black Cherry Bombshells and quite possibly the hardest working duo in the universe, are at it again.  Starting April 5th, The BCB universe will become a bit more crowded when it is revealed that Sheldon Vella’s comic SUPERTRON exists within the same established continuity. While that is awesome enough, the fun doesn’t stop there as Vella will also illustrate five Black Cherry Bombshells stories. Below is a bit more on this exciting endeavor:

“We’re really excited to finally team up with Shelly.  For the longest time we’ve thought of the Bombshells as the prequel to SuperTron,” says Tony Trov [BLACK CHERRY BOMBSHELLS' Co-creator].

“We’ve been dropping hints in both strips for a while.  Last year The Bombshells appeared in SuperTron’s dream and recently connections between the King and MOM Bot were discovered.”  Johnny Zito [BLACK CHERRY BOMBSHELLS' Co-creator] elaborates.

Black Cherry Bombshells is about ultra-violent girl gangs fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas where every man is a Zombie.  The King, a cross-dressing kung-fu warlord, rules the land with mysterious, evil powers.  SuperTron is about a distant future where robots struggle to find their humanity in a world devoid of life.  MOM Bot, the first sentient robot, enslaves her mechanical offspring in a meaningless existence.

Sheldon’s stint at guest penciler will connect the Armageddon events between both series and catapult the web comics into their final chapters, beginning this year.

If you haven’t read either of these series yet, please take some time out of your twittering  schedule and give them both a look. You won’t be disappointed.

Image by Sheldon Vella

Alright. I love the Internet. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I even remotely understand it. Internet memes are always bring forth the chuckles, and this new one is no difference.

Ah, the Tom Sellect Waterfall Sandwich meme. I first spotted this over on Unbreaded. It’s all in the title, really. Tom Selleck. A Waterfall. A Sandwich. It’s hilarious and makes absolutely no sense.

But you know what does make sense?

The inevitable inclusion of the Philadelphia cheesesteak, wearing a Phillies hat.

Bravo, Tom Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. Bravo.