Bat-narrator, Pinky, R2DWalken, and Bubbles Vader
This is absolute brilliance. Recently, at Emerald City Comic Con, a cast of famous voice actors performed a reading of Star Wars as their various characters and impersonations. Make sure to clear an hour from your schedule to be able to watch the whole thing.
This was definitely a lot of fun. The cast is made of Billy West (Stimpy, Fry from Futurama), Joe DiMaggio (Bender, Adam Fenix), Tara Strong (Bubbles, Timmy Turner), Maurice LaMarche (Brain, Wakko’s burping), Kevin Conroy (Batman, ’nuff said), Rob Paulsen (Pinky, Raphael from 80s TMNT) and Jess Harnell (Wakko, Captain Hero). So many characters I know and love acting the film that has defined my childhood. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Neil Gaiman says “Make Good Art”
Hey, Adam Savage isn’t the only one able to make incredibly inspirational speeches. Neil Gaiman is an amazing author whose creativity has astounded me since I first read Sandman. I went on to read his other amazing including American Gods, Marvel 1602, Stardust, Good Omens, and Coraline. He inspired me to stick to my dreams of writing and illustration. Neil Gaiman was at the University of the Arts 2012 graduation ceremony and this is what he said.
Now he’s making me question my return to school (don’t worry I’m staying in school this time), but just like my brother, words like these inspired me to create Call Yourself a Nerd. Whatever you want to do, just do it. Make something. Make good art. Be inspired. And don’t give up.
Adam Savage’s Why We Make Speech
Last weekend, Adam Savage (best known from Mythbusters) gave a speech from Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. The great people over at Tested posted it online for those not able to make it. Let’s listen in…
I have heard Adam Savage give speeches a few times, each time it is a real treat. In this speech, he talks about how he began building things and why we should be more inclined to make things as well. I hope you listened and enjoyed, because that is what I am personally aiming to do with Call Yourself A Nerd; creating content and ideas that will hopefully change the world for myself and maybe others. And just maybe eventually I can find the gem that allows me to produce something original for the world.
DVR Weekly: 5-21-12
Life can get pretty busy, so the invention of the Digital Video Recorder, aka DVR, has been a godsend for those of us who love television programming. Well, I’m one of those people. In this weekly article, I’m going to talk about some of the shows I am keeping up with on my DVR. Pretty straight forward, right? Well let’s get started.
Sorry about the lateness of this post. The Sherlock special post will be coming up this weekend.
Community – Eps. 3.20-22 “Digital Estate Planning”, “The First Chang Dynasty”, “Introduction to Finality”
These were some amazing episodes. An 8-bit episode where we get “Troy and Abed spitting lava!” “The First Chang Dynasty” rounds out the over-arcing story of Chang’s takeover. It was a great homage to Heist movies specifically Ocean’s Eleven. And finally “Introduction to Finality” wraps up the season nicely. We get some resolution on the Evil Abed thread and Troy’s destiny in the Air Conditioning School. This episode definitely had an interesting sense of “finality”. On one hand, the question of cancellation loomed over head while writing this episode, but on the other, the fact that Dan Harmon will be leaving raises the question of how well the show can do without him.
Young Justice – Ep. 2.04 “Salvage”
In this episode, we find out where the other three missing members from five years ago have gone. Wally/Kid Flash has retired to settle down with Artemis. I thought it interesting that Wally is benched at a time that he is missing in the DCnU. We also found out that Roy is on the hunt for the original Speedy. There is an intervention of sorts featuring Wally, Dick, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the Guardian. The parallels between Roy’s unwavering focus and Speedy’s drug addiction in the comics are apparent, but very well done. We also learn that Cheshire and Roy have had Lian. If this show doesn’t make you nostalgic for the old DCU, you haven’t been reading comics long.
Short list this week so I can focus on Sherlock.
I’ll see you all next week… same DVR channel… same DVR time…
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote many marvelous stories and a couple of the favorites have been successfully adapted for the big screen: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Great Gatsby. This year it is Baz Luhrmann who is directing this latest adaptation and I must say I am excited. The jazz age was all about liquor and music and the story does a great job of incorporating this environment into the lives of these characters.
Quick Story Detail:
Nick Carraway is the narrator who moves to Rhode Island to start his career. His second cousin Daisy lives nearby with her husband Tom Buchanan. Carraway’s other neighbor is the millionaire and titular character Jay Gatsby. Gatsby and Daisy used to be lovers during WWI, but were separated. Gatsby remained obsessed with Daisy and procured a fortune to try to win her back. When he finds out she has married he uses his newly acquired fortune to move into the neighborhood and throw lavish parties to get her attention, but she never attends. Gatsby befriends her cousin Nick and convinces him to arrange a clandestine meeting for him and Daisy. Their love affair begins again and sets the rest of the plot in motion.
Do not be fooled, this is not a love story people! This story has deceit, booze, women, secret pasts, money, and car crashes. All while delving into characters and examining selfishness at its core. Insight and action rolled up into one. That is just the book. Now you take this exciting plot and add Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan as seen through the lens of Baz Luhrmann and you have a promising movie. So dust off your copies of this amazing book and brush up before its release this Christmas. Perhaps also re-watch Leonardo DiCaprio in Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet.
Cheap Date: May 23rd
This is Cheap Date, where I will tell you my opinion on how to spend under $30 for your week’s geek entertainment.
Another light week, but I was able to salvage it and find you some entertainment. Hopefully you can enjoy this week just the same.
Games – $15
ArmA II: Combined Operations is on sale from Amazon for $15 until the 28th. It contains Arma II as well as the expansion Operation Arrowhead. While the game itself is mediocre, there had been a mod that is going around that everyone is talking about called Day Z. What is Day Z? Down to its bare bones, it is a zombie shooter. While that is simple enough, the game is so much more than that. Everything in the game is as realistic as possible (granted there is a zombie apocalypse). You need food, you can bleed out and you can not trust anyone for shit. Other players sometimes play the role of bandits, as players can kill each other. Instead of venturing into a zombie infested town, you can scavenge resources from other players. Like other great zombie fiction, the zombies are just dressing. How people interact with each other is the best part of the game. I am beyond fascinated in playing this game.
Be warned though that this is a PC game and it is very intensive, some hardware may not be up to the challenge. If you past that hurdle, the game is a challenge itself as average life time for players runs about four hours.
Comics – $11
For comics, this week I have three books to recommend.
The first one isBatman Incorporated #1from DC Comics. it is written by Grant Morrison with art by Chris Burnham. This will be the first time Batman, Inc. will be showcased in the new DC 52. While I have not always been a fan of Morrison’s writing, I cannot deny that his run before the DC relaunch was one of the better books out there. Plus, it is fun learning about all the different “Batmen” from around the world.
Dan Slott’s run onAmazing Spider-Mancontinues in issued #686 from Marvel Comics. The “Ends of the Earth” story line is rising to a climax soon, so you should hop on board now. All you need to know is the Earth is in peril and only Spider-Man can save the day. Not to mention Slott has promised some seismic changes to the Spider-Man universe by issue #700.
Finally, there’s Cobra #13 from IDW. Seriously, if you are even remotely a fan of G.I. Joe as a kid then you should read the three series that IDW puts out and Cobra is by far the best one of the group. The next chapter of the G.I. Joe story line starts here as the Joes are being backed into a corner. Now we get to see who will get their hands truly dirty.
That will do it for this week’s Cheap Date and hopefully you enjoyed yourself.
Skyfall Trailer
Bleeding Cool has released the new trailer for the new 007 film, Skyfall. Check it out:
Not too much on details. We definitely get to see a lot of the modern Bond action sequences that I enjoy. I really hope the meaning behind Skyfall is kept a mystery, but the words I would have said in response to Skyfall: “Anticipation”.
Episode 4: Do It
Hello! In this week’s episode we talk about George Lucas’ retaliation for the Grady Ranch, emo haircuts, Community, comic book news and much more. Hope you are still enjoying us a month in!
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Harley Quinn’s Revenge DLC Trailer
We talked about it for a little bit in last week’s podcast, but here’s the trailer for Harley Quinn’s Revenge DLC for Batman: Arkham City. Take a look.
Sets up the story and shows what is going to be happening. It looks like the majority of the game takes place in Arkham City’s Industrial District where Joker set up camp in the main story. The game will be split as you spend time playing as both Batman and Robin. I’m looking forward to see exactly how much more Batman lore we’ll get from this story. Will there also be more hints to future games (Arkham World?). We’ve only got a few weeks to find out.
Call Yourself A Nerd 