Friday Happy Hour

Tonight I'm finally getting around to seeing Cowboys & Aliens (a review will be up next week sometime). In honor of this, today's edition of Friday Happy Hour is dedicated to Daniel Craig. I looked around online and couldn't really find any Cowboy or Alien related shots that I thought were nerdy enough, so I decided to go with Daniel Craig's other famous nerd-loved character . . . James Bond!

So, without further ado, I present to you the James Bond Martini.

James Bond Martini

Ingredients

• 3 oz gin
• 1 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc wine

Instructions

Pour the gin, vodka and Lillet blanc into a cocktail shaker half-filled with cracked ice. Shake well, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon, and serve.

(Via Drinksmixer)

Random Awesomeness

Wow, even Admiral Ackbar is getting into this whole Steampunk thing. It really has become mainstream, hasn't it?

My thanks go to Geek-tastic contributor Johann Joseph for sending this one my way.

It's Time To Play Where's Wall-E?

Finding Wall-E in the above tiny picture will be just about impossible. To see the embiggened (yes, embiggened is totally a word) version, click HERE.

The above image was created by artist Richard Sargent, and I think it has just about every major pop culture robot all the way from the silent film Metropolis to Atlus and P-Body from Portal 2. Seriously, they're all in there. I challenge someone to point out a famous robot who isn't included in this image.

Aside from Wall-E, here are some other great robots to look out for:

• Tom Servo
• Evil Bill & Ted
• Both classic and modern Cylons
• K-9
• Gir
• Conky
• Bender "Bending" Rodriguez
• Nomad (from classic Star Trek)
• Plex (from Yo Gabba Gabba)

Wanna Watch Ghost Rider Pee Fire?

Yeah, me neither? But you totally can if you watch this trailer for the upcoming sequel to the first Ghost Rider film (that I'm still trying to drive the memories of from my brain) and see it for yourself. There he is, Ghost Rider . . . peeing fire.

And this will make people want to go see this film why exactly?

How a sequel to the giant crapfest that was the first Ghost Rider film got greenlit is beyond me. It's not like the first film was a boon at the box office. It had a budget of $110 Million, and only raked in $115 Million in the US (according to BoxOfficeMojo.com). Yeah, it made $228 Million total worldwide so I guess that qualifies as enough money to warrant a sequel, but has anyone thought of the emotional cost of making another Ghost Rider film starring Nic Cage? Those have to be high enough to stop another film from being made, right?

The first film was so, so bad. It was painful to watch. While I will admit that some of the stuff in this trailer does look pretty cool, I don't think it's enough to make me remember the 2 hours of mental anguish I went through sitting through the first one. Maybe one night when I'm drunk and really bored I'll put this on if Netflix has it available on it's instant play feature. That'll be about it though.

Indiana Jones And The Map Of Sweet Loot

In more kickass art news today, artist Matt Busch has created what may be the coolest world map I've ever seen. It's a map detailing the locations of every artifact and piece of treasure that was ever uncovered by Dr. Henry Jones Jr. You can see a slightly bigger picture of the map by going here.

The map doesn't just include the stuff Indy found in the movies though, Matt Busch spent 3 years researching every officially licensed Indiana Jones book, comic book, computer game and video game and included artifacts found in them as well. Unfortunately, that does mean that the stuff from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is on there too, but I think the fact that it also includes everything from the Young Indiana Jones Adventures TV series more than makes up for it. You can watch a fun video of what went into the making of the map here.

There are 36 different archeological artifacts displayed, each illustrated where Indy discovered it, and numbered chronologically. 3 Legend sections list info on the artifacts, including name, city and country, year, title of the story the artifact was discovered in, followed by symbols. The Key chart lets you decipher those symbols for each artifact to see how the story was presented, be it film, novel, TV Episode, etc.

My personal favorite bit? The inclusion of the statue from the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis video game (aka, the best point & click computer game ever created). It's the funky looking little statue that is seen on the map in the middle of the Atlantic ocean

You can buy a 24" x 36" print of the map from Matt's website for $44.95. When it comes to purchasing maps of the world to hang on your walls, I certainly can't think of any better way to spend your money.

In A Dapper Galaxy Far, Far Away

Artist Greg Peltz has released a gorgeous series of prints recently in which he depicts Star Wars characters in Victorian/Steampunk attire. I must say, seeing Boba Fett all done up in a suit and top hat adds an element of pure class to him he was missing before. Personally, I wouldn't mind being chased around the galaxy by such a sharp dressed fellow.

Click on the links below to see Greg's version of the following characters:

• C-3P0
• Chewbacca
• Luke & Leia
• Darth Vader
• And my personal favorite . . . Jabba The Hutt

I can't help but notice one glaring omission so far in this set though. No Han Solo? What? That's just so, so wrong. I want to see Han looking pimp as hell in a pinstrip suit and bowler cap, and I want to see it now!

Thanks go to the ever awesome Geek-tastic contributor Mike Noyes for the tip about these.

Aw Crap! Ridley Scott Is Making Another Blade Runner Film

Can't Hollywood leave well enough alone? Why is it that aging directors keep returning to their former glories just to mess them up and make us hate them. Ridley Scott is already filming a new Alien film, and now word has come down that he's signed on to make a new Blade Runner film.

Scott has signed on to direct and produce the film for Alcon Entertainment, though it's unclear at this point if the movie will be a prequel or a sequel, or if Harrison Ford will be dragged out of his carpentry workshop to star in it. There's also no script yet in place, and given how Damon Lindelof managed to alter the direction of Prometheus when he signed on to it, there's probably room for change here.

Now, I love Blade Runner as much as the next guy. That doesn't mean I want to see a new one though. Not every classic, beloved film needs a sequel you know. Sometimes, things should just be left alone. Blade Runner is one of those films. It's perfect. Any sequel or prequel you make to it will just pale in comparison to the awesomeness that is the original.

Did George Lucas teach us nothing when he went back and made new Star Wars Films?

That's it, I'm calling it. Ridley Scott's career - Time of Death: August 18th, 2011 at 10:48am.

Thanks go to my friend Melanie for tipping me off on this one.

(Quote via Cinema Blend)