Forever Geek |
- The Life of an Old Superhero
- On the Death Worm Series
- New ‘Hunger Games’ Site Assigns You To a District
- The NASA MMO
- 20 Calvin and Hobbes Mashups
- Today’s The Day
| Posted: 01 Sep 2011 03:51 AM PDT We’ve seen the real-life grandma who posed as a superhero in order to combat the blues. We’ve seen what Spock (aka Leonard Nimoy) does now that there is no Star Trek. (Okay, he is not a superhero, but still!) But what about superheroes – or one superhero in particular – grow old? What do they do? Artist Andreas Englund has put into visuals the life of an old superhero. Born in Falun, Sweden in 1974, Englund succinctly shares his story:
Indeed, looking at this “storyboard” of his work, you will see that statement showcased.  Old Superhero Flying Old he may be, but he can still fly. I don’t know about the fit of the costume, though. Maybe it’s time to pay the seamstress a visit!  Old Superhero Eating And yes, superheroes do eat. They even get their share of bad fruit every now and then.  Old Superhero Choking This old superhero doesn’t seem to be a stranger to choking. In the literal sense. What do you do when you see a superhero in this state? You better hope you know how to do the Heimlich Manuever!  Old Superhero with a Bad Back When superheroes get old, it seems that they are not immune to bad backs! Poor guy – he just got done beating up the bad guys, but he seems to be in pain because of all the effort. I wonder if he likes getting back massages?  Old Superhero with Groceries This is my favorite of the lot. Awesome car in the background, yes. What got me, though, is the portrayal of a superhero doing ordinary human stuff like going grocery shopping. And having his bag fall on the ground.  Old Superhero Sitting And my last pick: the old superhero looking all regal and relaxed on his chair. For more of these pictures, visit Englund’s web site.
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| Posted: 01 Sep 2011 03:00 AM PDT
Always loved the movie Tremors when I was a kid. I’d borrow the Betamax every so often when my family would visit the rentals. Giant worms burrowing underground, hunting their prey through vibrations. In fact, gigantic worms have always been part of my childhood — from the movie Tremors, to the huge sand worms of Frank Herbert’s Dune series (yes, the book and the movie) to the 1984 manga-movie Nausicaä: Valley of the Wind. I believe the armored worms were called Ohmu. A year ago, a friend made me try out Super Mega Worm by Deceased Pixel, a game which he had described as “the movement back to 8 bit graphics with amazing gameplay.” Super Mega Worm was my first foray into the “Worm” series. Many months later, a more colorful and polished Death Worm was released by Play Creek on iOS and was then later ported to Android earlier this year. There was a free version which had a built in timer which stopped the game after a certain point and the paid version (it really didn’t cost too much — about USD $2.99) which let you unlock the entire game. Between this there were other ‘Worm’ clones not really worth mentioning. Apart from graphics, Super Mega Worm had some form of platformer element where you could double jump if your worm landed on the roof of a vehicle — which let you jump on a plane, which led you up to outer space. This game was less sparing when it came to power ups as Death Worm made you collect three of a kind power ups in the form of fireball blasts and nitro for speed. The latter made you work for special power ups, making you rely more on your acrobatic feats of crashing into tanks, jeeps and helicopters more hard-earned. Pulling the nitro enabled you to do long jumps from the ground to reach the higher soaring vehicles such as bi-planes and commercial aircraft (which oddly reminds me of the trailer from Sharktopus). Net of it all, the ‘Worm’ series of games are must haves with Death Worm looking more polished but it doesn’t necessary mean it’s better as the strategies for high scores are very different (the platform jumping on Super Mega Worm is the kicker). Download Death Worm [iOS] Download Super Mega Worm [iOS]
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| New ‘Hunger Games’ Site Assigns You To a District Posted: 31 Aug 2011 04:58 PM PDT
I’ll come right out and admit it: I’m hopelessly obsessed with The Hunger Games. I started reading Suzanne Collins’ masterful trilogy this year, and found myself unable to stop. Yeah, there’s a love triangle, but it’s the anti-Twilight. Because these teenagers don’t have time for long, emo talks about their feelings. They’re too busy being forced to kill each other for sport.
Hunger Games is set in the futuristic, post-apocalyptic world of Panem, an area situated on what used to be North America, and divided into 12 Districts. The Districts are subservient to a totalitarian Capitol that forces them to send two “Tributes” — a male and female teenager — into these brutal, televised games once a year, as a reminder of a rebellion long ago that went bad.  thecapitol.pn website You probably already know that a movie version of The Hunger Games is currently being filmed (right here in my home state of North Carolina!), with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role and Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) directing. A teaser trailer for the movie just debuted at the Video Music Awards on MTV over the weekend, but didn’t really show much. Lionsgate, which is funding the future blockbuster, has launched a viral campaign for the film at thecapitol.pn, and it’s pretty darn cool. It’s a website as created by the Capitol as a place for Panem residents to get information. Fans of the books can go there and login using Twitter or Facebook, and be assigned a District. (Each District is home to a different industry — like textiles, electronics, or mining.) The more people that login to your assigned District, the sooner you will all receive your District passes. It’s not clear what these passes will get you, though it seems likely it will be deeper access to the Capitol website. (I got assigned to District 3 — Electronics — which I suppose is fitting.) Can’t wait to see what else Lionsgate comes up with to promote the new movie!
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| Posted: 31 Aug 2011 04:20 PM PDT There have been plenty of video games set in space, and a not-small portion of MMOs are set in space, too. But you’ve never played one where space exploration and travel are simulated with absolute realism, in the shoes of a NASA astronaut. Until now.
Now that NASA’s funding has been cut and the Space Shuttle program ended — with no replacement program planned for American space exploration — what’s a government science agency to do? Crowdsource, that’s what. The project was recently put on Kickstarter to raise the needed funds for a proper beta, and it warms my heart to say that to date, the project has received 132% of its minimum required funding. So it’s happening, baby.  Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond for iPad Originally titled Moonbase Alpha, the MMO has been renamed Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond. Under development at studio Project Whitecard in special cooperation with NASA Learning Technology, the idea is to create a fun, exciting, creative game that’s themed around realistic space exploration and colonization. Set in the year 2035, the game starts when you’re taken to the Arthur C. Clarke Astronaut Academy Station, which Project Whitecard describes as “a sort of Hogwarts in space.” That got your attention, didn’t it? Once you graduate, you’ll be sent off on episodic, “fanciful” NASA missions in accurate depictions of the Moon, Mars, the asteroid belt, and more of our solar system. Game modes will include team vs. team and player vs. environment challenges. For the first time ever, there will be an authentic recreation of our solar system, using NASA resources, allowing players to have fun while learning more about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond is being made for PC, iOS devices, and undisclosed home consoles, with a planned debut sometime in 2012.
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| Posted: 31 Aug 2011 12:38 PM PDT I can think of no other modern comic strip that inspires such fiercely passionate fandom as Calvin and Hobbes. Bill Watterson’s masterful work has also inspired some fans to mix up the titular duo with other pop culture figures.
On a side note… A sizable chunk of Calvin and Hobbes fan art depicts the sadness of Calvin growing too old to play with Hobbes. As someone deeply passionate about Calvin and Hobbes, I find this disheartening. The whole point of C&H is the wonders of childhood imagination. A teenage Calvin would never exist in the comic strip, because it’s completely antithetical to what Calvin and Hobbes is about. Now that that’s off my chest, we can begin. Adventure Time Adventure Time meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Back to the Future Back to the Future meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Batman & Robin Batman and Robin meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Cthulhu Cthulhu meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Doctor Who Doctor Who meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Dragonball Dragonball meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Fight Club Fight Club meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Firefly Firefly meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Game of Thrones Game of Thrones meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Harry Potter Harry Potter meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] John Calvin & Thomas Hobbes Philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes [Source] The Lion King The Lion King meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Lost Lost meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Masters of the Universe Masters of the Universe meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] The Muppets Fozzie Bear of the Muppets meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] NES NES meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Spider-Man Spider-Man meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Thundercats Thundercats meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] Watchmen Watchmen meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source] X-Men X-Men meets Calvin and Hobbes [Source]
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| Posted: 31 Aug 2011 05:40 AM PDT  Justice League #1 Wildstorm style Well, today’s the day that the New Fifty Two (hardly the catchiest of slogans) bursts out into existence, and the first sight of it is in Justice League #1. I can’t determine whether I like it or not. Well, that’s a total lie. I do like it, I like it a lot so far, on the strength of one issue. Heck, I wasn’t that bothered about how Flashpoint ended, I just leapt straight into reading the League. It seems quite the schizophrenic experience. As a first issue, the offering Geoff Johns puts before us seems to have a lot more in common with a Wildstorm first issue than what one expects from DC, and this is not only due to the admittedly excellent Jim Lee art, but to the confrontational tone. Not only are the Gotham PD after the Bat, but the Bat and Green Lantern very nearly come to blows (highlighting the immaturity of Hal Jordan from the very onset. No surprise there then). Yet here we are, faced with Batman, Green Lantern and the remarkable healthy and human looking Victor Stone who we just know something really nasty is going to happen to. Familiar icons that we know inside and out, but acting like they are, well, in a Wildstorm book. I have to ask, if the Wildstorm formula was so successful, why did they cancel the line in the first place? As much as I enjoyed it, another part of me screams to the heavens about the sheer blasphemy. And I like all of those feelings. No JSA? Sacrilege. Too many guns and no public love of the spandex? Wrong, wrong, wrong, but deliciously so. The unseen spectre of Silas Stone hovering over all the metahumans (assuming he is still Cyborg’s father of course), a promising harbinger of treats to come. They never did use Silas to his greatest advantage. Of course, this being the League, there is no small beginning either. The villain of the piece (aside from human nature) is some creation of Darkseid. Yes, you heard it right, Darkseid. So DC has decided to throw a bone to all of us long-time fans, by use of the name which the mere mention of sends shivers through our spines. And there we were, waiting for some barely in continuity Earth-51 drama to return the New Gods, while the big bad himself had died, destroying reality along with it. How can you have the New Gods without Darkseid? The answer if that you can’t. So in one foul swoop, the critics of Final Crisis have been muted, and the entire new timeline is justified. In time, our other questions will no doubt be answered. Earth 2 will return, (although I have to feel sorry for ‘our’ Power Girl, she always seemed to get the raw end of the stick), and the JSA and Infinity Inc will fly again. Writers will escape the control of their editors and make reference to the pre-Flashpoint stories, confusion will return as the core fan base rejoice at such out of policy tales, and the whole mess will continue on, and rightly so. All of my previous worries about the DCnU have been wiped away, with two simple words. DARKSEID IS!* (Not a direct quote, but what do you hear in the cry ‘For Darkseid’?)
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