Slouching Towards Bedlam

*clunk* The rotating tin cylinder within the phonograph vibrates slightly as a brass needle scrapes against it. The sound of a throat being cleared emerges from the machine’s hornshell speaker, followed by a thin, haunting voice. “March the 16th.” A deep, shaky breath. “I dread to say it, but I believe I am going mad.…

Gingerbread Tie Fighter

—Gingerbread Tie Fighter (Flickr) The Icing is what gives the ginjedi his power. It’s an energy field created by egg whites and sugar. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the ginjedibread together. Via BoingBoing. Similar:A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting WorseDoctor Bashir, I Presume #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode…

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor believed lost in space

NASA scientists conceded on Tuesday that the 10-year-old Mars Global Surveyor is probably lost in space after the U.S. agency tried unsuccessfully for two weeks to contact the probe. —NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor believed lost in space (Reuters) This link will probably expire soon, so here’s Wikipedia’s Mars Global Surveyor page. Similar:Washington Post Cartoonist Who Quit…

Best. Costume. Ever.

—Best. Costume. Ever. If your geek quotient isn’t high enough to recognize it, this is a mock-up of the power loader from Aliens. Similar:A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting WorseDoctor Bashir, I Presume #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 16) Smarmy hologram des…Pater Noster Passenger ElevatorsBy Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch…

Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin

—Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories) Via boingboing. Similar:Washington Post Cartoonist Who Quit Over Bezos Cartoon Wins Pulitzer PrizeDoctor Bashir, I Presume #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 16) Smarmy hologram des…AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its jou…By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5,…

My Love Affair With Star Trek

There was no separating the two Treks, the vacuous and the visionary. It’s no coincidence that one of the most legendary episodes — “The Trouble with Tribbles” — was essentially a comic take on the show’s established themes. Given some distance from the moment, I realize this is actually an entirely healthy attitude. It’s the…

Extreme Makeover: Star Trek Edition

Battle sequences, ship exteriors, galaxy shots and landscapes (which previously came courtesy of matte paintings) will be given more shading, depth and computer-generated believability. The original Alexander Courage-composed score has been rerecorded in stereo and, perhaps best of all, William Shatner’s opening monologue has been remastered, so that “Space, the final frontier…” will sound better…

Wired News: Star Trek Submissions

—Wired News: Star Trek Submissions (Flickr) What a cool idea! Wired News has created a Flikr account, and invited readers to sumit their Star Trek memorabilia photos, in preparation for Star Trek’s 40th anniversary. Similar:Washington Post Cartoonist Who Quit Over Bezos Cartoon Wins Pulitzer PrizeA.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting WorseDoctor Bashir,…

Star Trek's a thesis

Among the dark corners where Dr Baker’s thesis – titled Broadcast Space: TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek – shines light is the changing link between the starship Enterprise’s intergalactic adventures and the real world’s space race. Shatner’s monologues were inspired by the visionary speeches of JFK, advocating greater exploration. Thirty years on, the roles…

Knights of the Round Table — Star Trek TOS

—Knights of the Round Table — Star Trek TOS (YouTube) Amusing. Not side-splittingly funny, like that Bush/Blair mashup that was circulating last year. But still amusing. Thanks for the suggestion, Rosemary. Similar:Doctor Bashir, I Presume #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 16) Smarmy hologram des…Had a great time with AmLit students at the August Wilson block…

Maize: the final frontier

—Maize: the final frontier (ABCnet.au) A Star Trek cornfield maze. I’ll spare you the fanboy analysis, which would hinge on the fact that it looks like that’s the original series Enterprise, firing what looks like a phaser from the secondary hull (should be coming from the base of the saucer) at a Borg cube, but the…

Christie's to hold "Star Trek" garage sale

Trekkies will be setting their phasers to “bid” this fall when Christie’s holds the first official studio auction of memorabilia from all five “Star Trek” television series and 10 movie spin-offs. —Christie’s to hold “Star Trek” garage sale (Reuters) I’m proud — or, more accurately, nerdy enough — to say I recognized every one of the…

Half-Life 2 Mod: Week 10 — Why Hammer Isn't Good for Fiddly Details or, The Mystery Room Revealed

Half-Life 2 Mod: Week 10 — Why Hammer Isn’t Good for Fiddly Details or, The Mystery Room Revealed (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) These last few weeks were a bit crazy, so I fell a bit behind in my Half Life 2 modding. Instead, I spent some time working on two different conference proposals that deal with interactive…

R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots): A Futurist Folk Opera

This world premiere will blend Rock, Tango, Jazz and Punk music with contemporary dance to re-imagine Karel Čapek’s original 1921 classic, R.U.R (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Čapek’s play that started it all, introducing the word ROBOT into the world’s lexicon and into our fantasies, is reexamined for the 21st Century. —R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Futurist…