The Symphony Of Science

The Symphony of Science has actually been around for a while now, and I've known about it for some time. I sincerely apologize for not posting about this long ago. I have been seriously slacking in my duties as a nerd blogger, and I apologize profusely for that.

With that said, if you haven't yet had the chance to see any of the Symphony of Science music videos on Youtube yet, you really are missing out on something truly wonderful. The project was originally created by composer John Boswell, whose stated goal is "to bring scientific knowledge and philosophy to the public, in a novel way, through the medium of music". The very first video from the series is embedded above. It's titled "A Glorious Dawn", and it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

The song combines video and audio clips of the late Carl Sagan run through autotune software and mixed with original music from Boswell. The clips come from Sagan's groundbreaking 1980's science series Cosmos. Even Stephen Hawking gets in on the act a little bit into the song. That's right, Stephen Hawking . . . singing.

The end result is something powerful, intelligent, moving and beautiful at the same time. Please, take a few minutes and actually watch this video. Don't just put it on in the background and tune it out. Watch it. Pay attention to it. Leave yourself open to think about it. It's worth it, trust me.

If you like this song, you can find others at Symphony of Science's youtube channel. You can also download MP3's of the songs and find more information on the project at their official website.

On a related note, if you've never seen Carl Sagan's Cosmos, you just lost some major nerd points. I'm not kidding. But don't worry, you can easily regain them. Cosmos just so happens to be available on Netflix's Instant Play feature, so there's no excuse for you to have not seen it by now. Get to watching it. That's an order.

Joss Whedon To Direct The Avengers Movie?

Right now, the nerd blogosphere is practically exploding with the news that Joss Whedon looks to be all but confirmed to be the man Marvel/Disney (or is it Disney/Marvel) is tapping to direct the upcoming mega-blockbuster Avengers movie. You know, the film that will have the stars of Iron man, Captain America, Thor and the Incredible Hulk all in the same film? Yeah, that Avengers movie.

I think the internets are currently experiencing a collective nerdgasm. It's getting pretty messy out there.

This news really is spreading like wildfire. In the last 10 minutes alone, I've seen this bit of news pop up on just about every nerd blog I read (which is many). As a wannabe nerd blogger myself, it is my legal duty to report on this as well. Seriously, it's in the nerd blogging bylaws. Look it up. Anything regarding any combination of Joss Whedon and/or comic books must be blogged within a 24 hour period, otherwise one's nerd blogging credentials can be revoked for lack of fanboyism.

So is this a good thing or a bad thing? Admittedly, there are Joss lovers and Joss haters out there who will be respecively thrilled or horrified at this news. Personally, I was sort of hoping that Jon Favreau would accept the directing job since he's done such an amazing job with Iron Man, but I can't really knock Joss' ability as a story teller. Sure, he's known more for his TV work than his film work, but the man has logged many hours behind the camera directing some of the best Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse episodes himself. And as for his feature film directing experience, I have only one word for all of the Joss doubters out there.

Serenity.

Yes, it's the only feature film he has directed so far. It also happens to be one of the greatest sci-fi/space operas ever made. The man can direct, and he can direct well. He's also worked with Marvel before and anyone who has read his run on Astonishing X-Men knows that he can tell a kickass superhero story. Am I biased here a bit? Of course I am. I'm a fan of a lot of Joss' work. I'm not a total Joss fanboy (I didn't really care for Dollhouse), but I definitely respect the man's body of work and admire his storytelling abilities.

The real question will be who is writing the script for this thing? Will Joss be writing it? Will other's be writing it? As important as the director of a film is, it's really all about the script at the end of the day. I'm going to reserve making a full judgement on Joss' involvement in the Avengers until more details about the script come out, but I will admit that I'm certainly not unhappy about his involvement with this project.

Pics From Wonder Con 2010

Hey Everyone. It took a few days and some tinkering, but I've finally managed to get the photos from Wonder Con off of my now dead laptop. Thank the gods too. I was really worried that they would be lost for good. Luckily though, that's not the case.

The photos have been posted up to flickr. You can find the set here.

Lebowskifest L.A. 2010

By Gabriel Madrigal

Not a fan of The Big Lebowski? Watch it again… In fact, by the third viewing you will not only be quoting the movie, you will be completely in love with this cinematic masterpiece. Ok, it’s far from being a masterpiece but it is easily the most quotable movie ever. In fact, I dare say that there is a Lebowski quote for just about any pickle you find yourself in.

This past weekend, a celebration of all things Lebowski took place over two days in Los Angeles. The first day at the Wiltern Theater, consisted of a screening of the film with special guests. The second day, easily the most interactive, was held at Cal Bowl in Lakewood. Great cosplay, white Russians, bowling, special guests and 8-year olds, no not really (that’s from the movie, if you haven’t seen it yet), were aplenty.

This was the first event I've covered for Geek-tastic and I truly picked a great one. Let's hope these photos really tie the room together. The full set can be found HERE.

Technical Problems

Hey everyone,

A quick update about the status of the Wonder Con pics. I had just finished uploading them from my camera to my laptop last night and had begun organizing them so I could post them up to flickr when my laptop totally died on me. I'm not sure what is wrong with it, but it's no longer booting up.

To make matters worse, right after I had transferred the pics, I deleted them from my camera's SD card. Now, my dead laptop is the only thing that has copies of all of the pics I took at the con. I'm really hoping I can recover everything and that the laptop can be fixed, but right now I can't say for certain that will happen. It's is quite possible that all of my pics from the con may be gone forever.

That possibility saddens me to no end.

I will keep you guys up to date on the status of the pics as soon as I find out what's wrong with my laptop and whether it can be saved or not. Cross your fingers and let's hope for the best.

On the plus side, I hadn't transferred over any of the audio clips I took at the con, so I will still have those for podcasting purposes. Of course, all of my podcast editing software was on the laptop so it may be a while before I can get another podcast up.

What's Better Than Milla Jovovich Killing Zombies?

How about multiple Milla Jovovich's killing zombies . . . . in 3D!

This weekend at Wonder Con up in San Francisco, the first official trailer for the fourth Resident Evil film (Resident Evil: Afterlife) was released.  Sadly, due to flight delays I didn't get a chance to see the trailer presented in 3D, but I did get to see it in 2D at the panel on Saturday. 

If you're a fan of the Resident Evil films, or even just a fan of zombie films in general, then this may be something you want to check out.  It was shot using the same cameras and technology that James Cameron used to make Avatar.  Unlike most of the 3D films that you've been seeing lately which were shot in 2D and then converted to 3D, Resident Evil 4 was made from day one with the full intention of it being a 3D film. 

Zombie killing and Milla Jovovich beheading dudes with swords in 3D.  Can we ask for anything more?  I think not.

Oh, and speaking of that Resident Evil panel I attended last weekend, I was able to get some sweet audio recordings of director Paul W.S. Anderson and stars Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter discussing the making of the film and what we can expect when we go see it.  I'll be including those in an upcoming podcast, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

The Bounty Hunters Return To Star Wars: Clone Wars

Aside from Resident Evil: Afterlife, the other really cool panel I hit at Wonder Con over the weekend was the Star Wars: Clone Wars panel.  If you've been keeping up with the show at all this season, you already know that they've been consistently putting out some amazing Star Wars material.  I'd even go so far as to say that the Clone Wars series has been the single greatest thing to come out of the Prequel Trilogy.

During the panel, they showed us the above trailer for the three-part season finale.  It involves the return of Boba Fett and his quest for vengence against the jedi for the death of his father at the hands of Mace "Badass Mofo" Windu.  I will admit it, when I first heard they were bringing a teenage Boba Fett into the show, I was a little worried.  Ok, a lot worried.

I tend to hate kid characters in TV and Film.  They usually are rather boring, are badly acted, and almost always fall into what I call the "Anakin Syndrome" from Episode I where their cuteness is expected to make up for the fact that they ruin every scene they are in.  Seeing a young Boba Fett in Episode II wasn't exactly the greatest thing ever, and I was worried that we'd be forced to put up with more of the same with his return.

After attending the panel though, at least some of those fears have been put to rest.  Boba's still a kid, this is true.  He's not a little kid anymore though.  He's a teenager, and a pissed off one at that.  He's been taken in by Jango's old Bounty Hunter friends, and it looks like they're using his hatred of the Jedi to meet their own ends.  They're warping and corrupting him and shaping him into the Badass we all know that he will become.  Hearing some of the cast and crew discuss their goals with this story helped to settle a lot of my nervousness about Boba's return, but it was really the trailer that made me feel ok with it.

The trailer is dark and brooding.  There's some serious action going on in it, and it looks like the Jedi are getting their asses kicked around a lot.  Seeing Slave One is always awesome, but what really sold me was Mace Windu's little speech about Boba watching him as he killed his father.  Am I the only one that got chills listening to that?

While I do still have a few worries about Boba Fett's return, I must say that I'm now much more open to seeing what they do with him.  The crew behind the Clone Wars series have been delivering us top notch Star Wars greatness all season long.  I have no reason to believe they'll let us down now.

Also.  Bossk? Hell Yeah!  Now all we need is Dengar and this party can really get started.