Archive
Take THAT English Majors!
By tom Gauld
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Thanks!
Ryan
Marty McFly’s Self Lacing Shoes Up For Auction
Nike is auctioning off 1500 pairs of Marty McFly’s futuristic shoes from Back to the Future Part II in order to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research.
Bill Hader and Christopher Llyod star in the promo video:
If you want to bid on the shoes, you can go to http://nikemag.ebay.com/
But be forewarned, the shoes are going for $3000 – $4000. But hey, it’s for research right?
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REMINDER: This blog is moving! The new location is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/
Remember to update your subscriptions! This site will go dead on September 30, 2011.
Thanks!
Ryan
Star Trek: 45 Years of Awesome!
It was 45 years ago today that we were first introduced to Star Trek (not counting “The Cage”; superfans know what I’m talking about).
The cultural and even scientific implications of Star Trek are incalculable. The first interracial kiss on television was shown on an episode of The Original Series between Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura. Current devices like the tablet computer and catchphrases like “Beam me up, Scotty” all permeate our lives today. (Although, Kirk never actually said “Beam me up, Scotty”, but I digress.)
The Original Series, as well as the later incarnations, have been sources of inspriation and wonder for scientists, engineers, inventors, writers and countless others.
- The Space Shuttle “Enterprise” was named after the Starship “Enterprise”
I’m certain that my minor obsession with Star Trek led to my 6 (almost 7) years of studying physics at the University of Western Ontario. Science has always been a passion of mine, and my life is now better for it, and I owe part of that to Star Trek.
Personally, my favourite series was The Next Generation, and I think I am in good company. TNG benefited from seeing what worked for The Original Series, and giving it a good modernization.
I also quite enjoyed Deep Space Nine. Opinions are quite divided on this series, but I felt the main story arc was a fresh detraction from tradional Trek that it was well worth watching.
Recently, I had a rousing game of “Star Trek: Scene It?” with some fellow nerd friends. When my team did not answer the final questions correctly (did you know that Lt. Reginald Barclay was on an episode of The A-Team?) we moved on to a discussion of what each of our favourite episodes were.
For me, the episode that sticks out the most is The Next Generation episode “Cause and Effect”. The plot involves the crew of the Enterprise-D getting caught in a time loop and attempting to send messages to their “past selves” in order to break out of loop. The intensity of the episode is kept pretty high as the time loop always ended with the destruction of the Enterprise. (The episode also has a nice little cameo by Kelsey Grammar!)
So, what is YOUR favourite Trek episode? Any series, any season, lemme know!
Now, I think I will go celebrate the rest of this day by watching a few of my favourite episodes and enjoying a nice cup of tea.
Earl Grey.
Hot.
______________________________________________________________________
REMINDER: This blog is moving! The new location is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/
Remember to update your subscriptions! This site will go dead on September 30, 2011.
Thanks!
Ryan
So Close, Yet So Far Away…
Anyone else anxiously awaiting “A Memory of Light”, the final book of the “Wheel of Time” series?
Brandon Sanderson (who took over the series when Robert Jordan passed) has a progress bar on his website.
Which, while I very much appreciate seeing the progress, only builds my anticipation. It’s like online parcel tracking…
The book is supposed to be done in March 2012. I guess I’ll just have to tough it out :(
______________________________________________________________________
REMINDER: This blog is moving! The new location is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/
Remember to update your subscriptions! This site will go dead on September 30, 2011.
Thanks!
Ryan
Muppets as Doctor Who Characters
Seriously…the awesome. It’s just…too much…
Muppet Doctor Who
Bowie’s “Space Oddity” Now a Children’s Book
One of the greatest songs of all time, David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity‘ is, for some reason, being turned into a children’s book!
One page from Andrew Kolb's 'Space Oddity'.
The book is currently available as a free download on the website of the illustrator, Andrew Kolb.
I love the song, and as an adult I think the illustrations are kinda cool. But the whole story might be a little traumatic as a kid.
Then again, so is “The Land Before Time“. (seriously, who DIDN’T cry when Littlefoot’s mom got killed by the T-Rex?)
The song, of course, is awesome. So give it a listen if you’ve never heard it. And if you have heard it…well, still give it a listen!
Talk To Your Kids…About Star Wars
Thanks to all my dedicated readers who have stuck with me through this dry-spell of posts.
I’m going to start ramping back up to roughly a post per day. Where better to start than a Star Wars-related YouTube video?
I know its a comedy, but it’s an important issue. Jar Jar Binks is NOT cool!
‘The Amazing Spiderman’ Trailer!
Omigod, omigod omigod!
My Adventures at the Calgary Comic Expo
Despite being a lifetime nerd, I have never been to a sci-fi or comic book convention!
I know, I know. The lack of nerd cred on my part is somewhat disheartening.
But don’t worry, because my Comic expo virginity has now been taken by the Calgary Comic Expo.
I had a really great time. I got to meet some great people, saw some live StarCraft action, and even got a chance to hear William Shatner speak and take some questions from the audience.
What blew me away most though were the costumes. The amount of work that must go into some of them was astounding. Here are a few samples:
Wolverine and...someone I recognize but can't remember the name.
The contact lenses show a nice level of dedication to the costume.
X-Men. And woman. X-People I suppose.
Bob from ReBoot. I was impressed at the number of ReBoot fans.
Classic
Dude behind him is checking out his ass, I think.
The hands look a little big to me.
Thundercats! Awesome!
Elektra, some dude, and Poison Ivy.
The one on the right is a different shade of green. Maybe she was sick?
Creepy. Creepy/Awesome.
William Shatner also gave a talk to a crowd of about 4000. He was made an honorary Calgarian by the Mayor of Calgary, and took some audience questions.
One such question went like this:
Girl: This question is from my Dad. What was it like being on ‘Star Trek’?
Shatner: Tell your dad that I was cleaning green paint off myself every night!
Crowd: *Applause*
He was actually a very funny guy and very entertaining.
I also found out that DC comics is rebooting all of its stories, so maybe I can start reading comic books and actually know whats going on!
All in all, a great time and lots of great people. I’ll be back again next year!
A Quantum of Knowledge 