« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
October 2006 Archives
October 1, 2006
October 2, 2006
Tobby In Danger
This silly Flash game seems to be from Japan, and you play an Indiana Jones doggie looking for relics:
The X-Men in the 1960s
A great rant on the lack of quality in the old 1960's X-Men comic books:
"When I learned that it is possible to read every X-Men comic ever made*, I had a bright idea. I was going to read each comic starting from the very beginning. It was going to be epic, it was going to be awesome, it was going to be the nerdiest thing I could possibly do. And then I read Uncanny X-Men #1. And that sh*t was bad."
A good bit is about the artwork below:
"3) Overt sexism. Don't give me the "it was a different era" bullcrap. The treatment of Jean was absolutely ridiculous! Take a look at this panel, shortly after she was introduced to the rest of the team."
One Small Step for...
The correct quote is much more powerful:
Armstrong 'got Moon quote right'
For nearly 40 years Neil Armstrong has been accused of fluffing his lines during his first steps on the Moon. On tapes of the Moon landings, he appears to drop the "a" from the famous quote: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." But new analysis of the tapes has proved Mr Armstrong right after all. Computer programmer Peter Shann Ford used audio analysis software to show that the missing "a" was blotted out by transmission static.
...but reading about this reminds me that it's been a long time since we've been on the moon. As a child I would have expected to see a Mars landing by 2006.
October 3, 2006
The Lostpedia
The CGI Backlash Begins
Calls For Cthulhu
It's the show that answers the question "What would it be like if Cthulu hosted a cable-access talk show?"
Edit Your Own Anime Contest
October 4, 2006
Flushed Away Trailer
Push For Season 5 of Enterprise
I always rather liked Enterprise, and I wouldn't mind seeing another season of the show, or at least a special or two. I think Enterprise suffered from "Voyager fatigue" it seemed like they just wanted to run the franchise into the ground. I think once people see the series solo that it may gain some fans:
Push For Season 5 of “Enterprise” Continues With SCi FI Channel
"The folks over at Trek United have never given up on the idea of a season five for Star Trek: Enterprise and now that the show has been picked up for syndication on The SCI FI Channel, the organizers of the Save Enterprise campaign are focussing their attention there for a possible fifth season. In a surprise announcement, one of the leaders of the campaign who goes by the screen name AussieTrek released this call to all members of the Trek United website and to anyone interested in helping with the 5th Season Campaign:
This week, the fans of Star Trek are encouraged to participate in the preparation of the postcard campaign to Sci Fi Channel. The organizers are hoping to persuade the Sci Fi Channel (the new home of syndicated Star Trek: Enterprise reruns), to negotiate with CBS Corporation for the continued production of new episodes of Enterprise. We are asking everyone to choose their favorite ‘slogans’ for use on the postcards to kick off the mailing phase of the resurgent campaign."
October 5, 2006
He discovered 'Lost', and then lost his job...
Lloyd Braun gave the go ahead for 'Lost' and then lost his job:
The man who discovered 'Lost' - and found himself out of a job
"The discovery could not have come at a better time. ABC had dropped to fourth in the ratings after NBC, CBS and Fox, and had not posted a profit for seven years. There was just one stumbling block. Braun's bosses were unconvinced. While he, swept along on a tidal wave of enthusiasm, commissioned JJ Abrams, the award-winning scriptwriter of the hit series Alias, to write an initial episode and lavished £7 million on what was to become the most expensive television pilot in history, his bosses at Walt Disney, which owns ABC, looked on in horror.
"A crazy project that's never going to work'' was how Michael Eisner, the chairman and chief executive of Disney, described it. "This is a waste of time,'' said Bob Iger, his deputy. They could not have been more wrong."
RayRay Parade
Bendito Machine
Clone Wars
Can't Lucas do anything new? I get the bad feeling that they are about to 'Star Trek' Star Wars into the ground:
'Star Wars' Creator Readies 'Clone Wars'
"The wars aren't over for "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. Lucas said Wednesday he's making an animated TV series of "Clone Wars" that could air next year, although he hasn't sold the show to a network yet. The series is set during the time when the Republic is fighting a civil war against separatists led by Count Dooku.
The mythic period hasn't been dealt with too much in the popular "Star Wars" movies, so "it's a fun place to go," Lucas said. "It basically has all the main characters" such as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lucas said, but the stars who played them in the movies won't voice them for the TV show."
October 6, 2006
Cruise & Kidman Ruined Eyes Wide Shut
It seems an interview has come out which claims that Kubrick thought that Cruise and Kidman ruined 'Eyes Wide Shut', and I have to say that I agree! Cruise gave a a great performance in 'Magnolia' and Kidman was fantastic in 'the Hours', but they two together just didn't work on screen:
Cruise and Kidman ruined Eyes Wide Shut - Kubrick interview
"Director Stanley Kubrick thought his last movie Eyes Wide Shut was a "piece of s**t" that was ruined by interference from its stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, according to actor R Lee Ermey. Ermey starred in Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and remained in contact with the legendary film-maker up until his death in 1999.
When the pair spoke shortly after Kubrick had completed work on Eyes Wide Shut, Ermey recalls the legendary director expressing his disappointment with the movie. He says: "Stanley called me about two weeks before he died, as a matter of fact. We had a long conversation about Eyes Wide Shut. He told me it was a piece of s**t and that he was disgusted with it and that the critics were going to have him for lunch."
...however I;d have to note that Sydney Pollack gave a great performance:
Star Wars meets the Muppet Show
"It seems we've landed on some sort of comedy variety show planet":
Wookieepedia
I was pretty impressed by the level of detail and scale (over 38,000 articles) that I found in this Star Wars wiki:
Wookieepedia
A Star Wars encyclopedia that anyone can edit
Below: "The Wookiees, although primitive compared to us, are surprisingly capable editors. They're pretty strong, and pick up wiki techniques pretty quickly."
October 7, 2006
Mars Rover Photos
Sundance goes Sci Fi
I'm always down on the Sci Fi channel for nottaking chances, well this time I'm wrong! It seems they are doing something quite cool and joining up with the Sundance channel to have a contest for science fiction films:
SCI FI, Sundance Launch Exposure
"SCI FI Channel announced that it will join forces with Sundance Channel to launch Exposure, an eight-week short-film competition to find the best science fiction, horror or fantasy films to post on SCIFI.COM and SundanceChannel.com, with a grand prize of the chance to pitch a project to SCI FI Channel's Pictures Group. Both sites are now accepting submissions from up-and-coming filmmakers of two-to-eight-minute movies in the genre.
The short films will be judged by a committee of SCI FI Channel and Sundance Channel experts, who will review the submissions and post the best ones online each week. Viewers will cast their votes on either Web site to determine a weekly winner, ultimately determining the eight finalists. The eight shorts will be featured in an on-air special, to be broadcast on SCI FI Channel (airdate to be announced) preceding the online voting to determine the grand prize winner. That winner will be awarded a trip to New York to pitch his or her project."
Comic Book DS
October 8, 2006
New Class of Planets
This is amazing to think about, imagine a planet the size of Jupiter that goes around the sun in a single day:
'Bulge' yields new planet class
"Astronomers have discovered a new class of planets that take less than a day to whiz round their parent stars. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the existence of the planets, which orbit closer to their stars than any previously known. Dr Kailash Sahu and colleagues report finding the planets in a faint, crowded star field in a region of the Milky Way known as the galactic bulge.
The team has published its findings in the scientific journal Nature. It uncovered the existence of 16 planets in the category of close orbiters, taking between 0.4 and 3.2 days to go around their respective stars. Many of the planets are the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System. Two of the 16 have orbits of less than a day, creating a new category of "ultra-short" orbit exoplanets."
Ultraman is out on DVD
October 9, 2006
Space Invader Skateboards
For the 8bit skateboaring fanboy:
Invader x Mekanism Skateboards
"Paris-based skateboard company Mekanism invited Space Invader—the French graffiti artist known for his mosaics—once again to have his way with their decks. Expanding on the limited edition turquoise and red mosaic print that Invader came up with on their first collaboration (back in '05), there's only one per edition and they're made with actual tiles."
Alien Loves Predator
October 10, 2006
MTV George Lucas Interview
This is cool, it looks like Lucas may do a live action TV show:
"In 2007, Lucas will begin work on a live-action "Star Wars" show set during the 18-year gap between Episodes III and IV. "We haven't started yet; I start that next year," the filmmaker said, adding that he's determined to write an entire first season before shooting begins on the show that will star "background" characters from that time period.
None of the Skywalker story, none of that stuff is in there," he explained, shooting down any depiction of a young Han Solo acquiring the Millennium Falcon or running with Lando Calrissian. "It's completely different. The animated series has got all the characters in it. The one that comes after, the live-action one, is with people who were in 'Star Wars,' but they're not the main characters." Lucas said the plot will be steered by characters such as Tie-Fighter or Rebel pilots, most only briefly glimpsed in the six "Star Wars" films."
Lego Chewbacca
October 11, 2006
The Bionic Woman Returns: Why?
A remake of a spinoff? Is there a law in Hollywood against doing something new? And I bet those bastards don't even let poor Lindsay Wagner get a cameo role, thus forcing her to do more matress commercials:
"David Eick, executive producer of SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica, will reinvent another 1970s SF show: The Bionic Woman, which he will executive-produce with film writer Laeta Kalogridis for SCI FI's parent TV network, NBC, Variety reported. The original spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man starred Lindsay Wagner as tennis-pro-turned-superwoman Jamie Sommers; it aired for two seasons on ABC before shifting to NBC in 1977 for its final year."
We found the above Bionic Woman lunchbox photo at Eric Neely's website.
An Inside Look at Pixar
October 12, 2006
Grind House Trailer Released
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarrantino are back with Grind House! The following trailer is very graphic and features all sorts of zombie gore:
The Cult of Khan: Director Nicholas Meyer
Wrath of Khan was perhaps Star Trek at it's very best. This is a great interview with writer and director Nicholas Meyer who discusses the making of the film, Spock's death, Khan's chest, the movie's connection to the Horatio Hornblower novels:
'The Cult of Khan': One on One with Star Trek director Nicholas Meyer
"It wasn't even my idea to bring him back (Kahn), it was just one of the things we all agreed on that we liked. They showed me the episode. At the very beginning, when I first went in, I didn't know anything about Star Trek. They showed me the Robert Wise movie, and they showed me four or five episodes from the original series; I sat and watched, and said: "Ah! Hornblower...in outer space"."
October 13, 2006
Star Wars USB Flashdrives
Mimoco is created a limited run Darth Vadar USB flash drive! They're quite cute too:
Spiderman's Giant Robot
I had no idea that Spiderman owned a Japanese giant robot! Here's a vintage commercial from Japan selling a toy version of the robot:
October 14, 2006
See You in the Funny Papers
A great review of “Masters of American Comics” which runs through Jan. 28 at the Newark Museum in NJ and the Jewish Museum in NYC:
"The show tracks a century of formal comics invention (in Newark, mostly early strips; at the Jewish Museum, different comic book incarnations) through what are meant to be mini-retrospectives. This means Elzie Crisler Segar’s “Thimble Theater,” which introduced Popeye (he was far, far darker than the spinach-addled television cartoon), and Milton Caniff’s superstylish “Terry and the Pirates.” It means Frank King’s languid “Gasoline Alley” and Chester Gould’s “Dick Tracy,” which set the standard for hard-boiled grit and packed a visceral punch that came from tightly organized colors and shapes (Mr. Spiegelman calls it “blueprint Expressionism”) until Mr. Gould went kind of gaga and launched Tracy into outer space to fight bad guys on the moon in a rocket-powered garbage can."
C-3PO's Cereal
A crunch new "force" at breakfast:
October 15, 2006
China to Enter Space Tourism Biz?
Being a fanboy I for one wouldn't mind seeing a new space tourism race:
China may enter space tourism race
"China may one day offer trips into space for tourists, a senior official said on Thursday, outlining the country's plans to launch more rockets, explore the moon and even help farmers by using satellite transmissions.
Sun Laiyan, head of the China National Space Administration, also defended the cost of the space program, saying Beijing spent far less than the United States, it benefited ordinary people and was anyway a matter of national pride."
The Son of the Anime Master
Tideland Trailer
A trailer for the new Terry Gilliam film is out! It looks a bit dark:
"Jeliza-Rose is a young girl in a very unusual situation both of her parents are junkies and she is usually left to her own devices for entertainment. When her mother dies, her father takes her to a remote farm in the country, she escapes the vast loneliness of her new home by retreating into a world that exists only in her mind. Here, fireflies have names, bog-men awaken at dusk, and squirrels talk. And the heads of her four dolls Mystique, Baby Blonde, Glitter Gal, and Sateen Lips long since separated from their bodies, keep her company."
Also check out this great interview with Gilliam at avclub.com.
October 16, 2006
Horror Halloween Icons
Planeta Pluton
This is a Japanese astronomy themed game! It's more fun to play if you don't quite understand what's going on:
The Hunt for Shatner
One fanboy sets out to attempt to interview William Shatner:
October 17, 2006
World War I Sketchbook
This is an amazing online exhibition of sketches, many of which have an editorial cartoon look to them. It's amazing first hand look at the "war to end all wars":
JM's World War One Sketchbook
1917-1918
"The images presented on this website are from a set of two World War One sketchbooks archived in the University of Victoria's Special Collections Library. They contain approximately 130 water-colour and pen and ink images which were produced by a British soldier based in France and Belgium between 1917 and 1918."
Spiderman 3 Trailer
October 18, 2006
A Fake Star Blazers from Korea?
Virtual Apple ][
This is an old-school gamers dream come true! Some folks have created an online emulation of the Apple ][ and the Apple ][ GS. The only catch is that you have to have Windows and use Internet Explorer for your browser, but if you can get past that they have dozens of great old school games online:
![Virtual Apple ][](http://www.fanboy.com/images/virtual-apple-2.jpg)
October 19, 2006
Fight Club as Re-Enacted by Bunnies
Cover Browser
If you're a comic book loving fanboy I think you're going to like this website:
Cover Browser: Explore Comic Book Covers
"Created in 2006, Cover Browser displays galleries of comic book covers for comic book fans like myself to explore & enjoy (there's also links to find out more about individual comics or to buy them). At the moment, there are 6,541 covers available."
Steampunk Laptop
October 20, 2006
Stargate Lego
This is amazing, it even has motors in it:
"This rotating Stargate is 19 inches tall with light-up chevrons. An RCX drives a treadmill, which spins the inner ring randomly for x seconds, then reverses direction, seven times. Won best medium space award and best brick mod at BrickFest 2005."
At the Mountains of Madness
"Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy" Director Guillermo del Toro says one of his future projects will be to bring horror master H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of existential Antarctic dread, "At the Mountains of Madness", to the screen:
Del Toro to do Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness
Pacman Undies
Because deep-down-inside every fanboy wants Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde on their undies:
Nintendo Pacman - Usual Suspects
...and of course you can