The Fourth Doctor is particularly famous for his ridiculously long scarf, which resulted from a miscommunication between costume designer James Acheson and the knitter hired to produce it; Acheson never specified a length, and bought far too much yarn, so the knitter just kept going until it was all used up.

After seeing this great Star Wars version of Marcel Duchamp’s mechanically abstracted Nude Descending a Staircase, Irene Gallo wanted to see what other geek interpretations of classic artworks have been put out there. The resulting round up is quite enjoyable.

Link Via Geeks Are Sexy

I haven’t yet checked out Settlers of Catan, but it seems like a blast and those that play it certainly enjoy it. That being said, I can’t help but feel like maybe I’ll continue to wait to play the game until March, when the Star Trek version of the game is going to be released. After all, two great things can only be better when combined right? On the downside, it’s only going to be released in Germany.

Catan players, are you interested in trying out the new version?

Link Via Geekosystem

I don’t know about you guys, but I sure wouldn’t spend this gorgeous artwork on just anything. No, it would have to be on something awesome like a wookie cookie.

Link Via The Daily What

Sure, you may not realize it when they’re in battle, but AT-AT’s are actually the ultimate party mobile. That’s why having one as your liquor cabinet makes so much sense.

Link Via BuzzFeed

Super Heroes

They may not be the most artistic gingerbread creations, but these super hero designs by Sugar Swings are certainly adorable and they look absolutely delicious as well.

Russian Literary Greats

For those who like their gingerbread men to be a little less chipper and lot more serious, these figureheads of Russian culture by Craftster forum user Woolylogic are a good choice. Choose between Turgenev, Dostoyevsky (above), Tolstoy and Gogol.

Architectural Masterpieces

Sure anyone can make a one-room gingerbread shack, but turning a unique architectural design into a gingerbread creation takes a heck of a lot more skill. That’s why these great designs by real architecture firms went for so much money when they were auctioned off for charity. In fact, the one above, by Nick Milkovich Architects, Inc., sold for $610.

The Weasley Family Burrow

While this architectural marvel may not look familiar to everyone, Harry Potter fans will instantly recognize it as The Burrow, the adorably charming home of the Weasley clan. Creator mezcraft from the Craftster forums even added the special monogrammed sweaters Mrs. Weasley makes for each of her children at Christmas.

Hogwarts

Of course, the most iconic Harry Potter building is Hogwarts and Britta’s incredibly detailed gingerbread version is an impressive tribute to the majesty of the world-famous wizarding school. Best of all, she’s even got pictures of the entire arduous process so you could attempt to make your own at home…with a whole lot of time and dedication.

Up House

While the home in Pixar’s Up may not be as elaborate as Hogwarts, it is still certainly memorable enough to deserve its own gingerbread tribute, and this one, by Craftster forum user LawrenceKSRealEstate, is perfect, complete with its own set of giant balloons.

AT-AT

Have you ever wondered what would happen if an AT-At took a little off time to go walking through a winter wonderland? Rachel Klemek from the Black Market Bakery did and here’s the delightfully fun and disastrous results as photographed by Instagram user mommy_pants.

AT-AT

This is the only gingerbread creation with two incarnations here, but just look at this adorable design by Flickr user Chez 282 and you’ll realize why they both deserve to be on this list. While this one might not have the elaborate setting to go with it, it does feature far more decoration on the AT-AT itself.

Millennium Falcon

While this time lapse video by YouTube user FresoSweden doesn’t show you enough t instruct you to make your own fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, it does show you just how much effort went in to making this gingerbread masterpiece.

Ewok Village

Yes, one last Star Wars gingerbread creation (there are a lot to choose from). Here’s an Ewok village complete with a Death Star sitting on the sky above. The Infinate Yums has detailed photos showing the entire time-consuming process.

Starship Enterprise

Don’t worry Star Trek fans, while we may not have as many gingerbread creations from this side of the sci fi spectrum, you can at least enjoy this great Starship Enterprise by Reddit user nem8.

Tardis

Of course, we also have a gingerbread creation from the favorite sci fi series on the other side of the pond. This gingerbread Tardis by LiveJournal user theruu is not only bigger on the inside, but it also comes with detailed instructions to make your own, including a recipe for the gingerbread and frosting.

Serenity

For those that prefer their sci-fi to be a little less mainstream, this Serenity gingerbread model is certain to impress the fans of the cult-favorite Firefly. If you want to make your own, there are plenty of how to pictures on the FaceBook page of its creator, Kristoffer Gressli.

Teracotta Army

History buffs need not be too jealous of sci fi fans. While you may not have as many gingerbread options, you can always content yourself with your own gingerbread version of China’s famous Terracotta army. These lovely little warriors were created by The Pastry Case bakery as part of the 2007 Nantwich Food and Drink Festival.

Ninjabread Men

In the long-standing war between pirates and ninjas, the sneaky assassins have one distinct advantage: they also come in butt-kicking gingerbread form. Sure you could probably style some regular gingerbread men to look like pirates, but they just aren’t going to be as cool as these ones that were specifically designed with ninja moves in mind. Alternatively, you can always get one of these great gingerbread zombies from the Neatoshop knowing they’ll never go bad.

Of course, if all of these gingerbread delights aren’t enough to satiate you, then feel free to go back and enjoy Stacy’s look at gingerbread masterpieces from 2008. As for you guys, have any of you ever made a geeky gingerbread creation or are you planning to try one out this year? If so, what was your gingerbread design?

(Video Link)

Great comics and Star Wars teaming up to fight cancer? That’s certainly something we can all get behind. For more information on how you can help, be sure to check out the Stand Up To Cancer website.

Via The Mary Sue

Inspired by circuit boards, science fiction and the finest graphic artists of the 1980s, illustrator Kilian Eng creates space-age art with a psychedelic edge. See how beautiful man-machine synergy can truly be, in glorious colors full of electric life.

Link –via Flavorwire

Link

While there are no instructions to make your own, most of it seems pretty easy to make. The hands look like they would take a little work though.

Link Via BoingBoing

If there’s anything cooler than a hidden door, it’s a hidden door that features Han Solo in carbonite on the inside. For more awesome tributes to the rebel hero, be sure to check out this great Oddee article.

Link

Game of Thrones

This fantasy epic is filled with so many delicious food and drink ideas that there is already more than one blog out there dedicated to creating the tasty treats in real life. Inn At The Crossroads is the best known of these blogs and the site even has a cookbook coming out soon.

For those looking to spice up their Thanksgiving with some kingly delights, may I recommend the Rack of Lamb in a Crust of Garlic and Herbs served with a cup of Salladhor Saans Hot Wine. If you’d like something a little more exotic for your main course though, the Grilled Snake, served with a spicy mustard sauce, looks rather delightful.

Dune

If you’re familiar with Dune, then you know that it is all about the spices. That being said, the two best recipes from this story are both beverages. Whether you prefer Spice Beer or Spice Coffee, I’m sure either one would make a great contribution to your Thanksgiving menu. Grumpy Frenchman suggests adding cinnamon to your beer for Spice Beer, but he also warns that that makes the foam go crazy, so pour accordingly. Meanwhile, GeekChill has a fantastic recipe for Spice Coffee that blends Chai tea, coffee and cinnamon –yum!

Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit

Middle Earth is awash with great food and drink, but because most of Tolkien’s stories take place on the road, we tend to hear about the ones that are good for travel…which are not necessarily the most delicious treats around. That being said, while the hobbits seem to tire of Lembas bread, it is certainly the most delicious travel-friendly bread around and The Geeky Chef has a great recipe to make your own.

As for The Hobbit, the many mentions of seed cake seem to indicate that it is certainly one of Bilbo’s favorite foods and Historical Foods has an excellent recipe based on the time period for which Tolkien based the setting for his classic tales. That means, this seed cake is about as close to what Bilbo would eat as possible.

Harry Potter

Between the butterbeer, chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes, wizards and witches have quite a selection of tasty treats for any time of year. Of course, if there are any geek recipes that would actually go great with an otherwise traditional Thanksgiving feast, they would most certainly be Pumpkin Juice or Pumpkin Pasties. HarryPotterRecipes.Net has an absolutely delightful recipe for making your own Pumpkin Juice, sweetened with pineapple juice and spiced with a touch of nutmeg and allspice.

For your Pumpkin Pasties fix, stop by The Geeky Chef and try out this delicious recipe that imagines them as a sort of pumpkin-filled pastry…like pumpkin pie turnovers.

Star Wars

These films contain very few references to food. Even when the characters eat or drink, they never really seem to bring attention to what, exactly, they are putting in their mouths. That being said, Wookiee-Ookies are specifically mentioned in the Star Wars Holiday Special. Although they are best known for being a Christmas treat, they can undoubtedly still be served for Thanksgiving, just like eggnog.

You can find the recipe for these treats over on the website dedicated exclusively to the special, inventively called The Star Wars Holiday Special, and culled from The Star Wars Cookbook.

Firefly

Like Star Wars, while the characters on Firefly do eat and drink on screen, they rarely explain what it is they are actually eating. We know they get most of their vitamins through nutrient bars that can provide a month’s worth of nutrition to someone although they still need to drink water and ingest  calories, but aside from that, few foods are actually mentioned. A few exceptions are Mudder’s Milk, which is enjoyed in large quantities on Higgin’s Moon in the episode “Jaynestown,” and Ice Planets, which River Tam has difficulty eating in the episode “The Message.”

You can find a non-alcoholic version of Mudder’s Milk on the Firefly Wikia and learn how to make your own Ice Planet (essentially ice cream on a string) over on Tasty Planner.

Star Trek

Of course, geek Thanksgivings don’t have to ignore the turkey entirely. After all, in the Star Trek episode “Charlie X,” Captain Kirk is upset because he wants to celebrate Thanksgiving properly with a turkey, but there were none on board. Instead, the crew was going to have to eat meatloaf.

Strangely, while the meatloaf was cooking in the ovens, it suddenly transformed into turkey. It turns out that this was caused by Charles Evans, a young boy the crew recently brought on board, who has incredible powers. On the downside, he later uses those powers against everyone on board and tries to take over the ship, but hey, at least they got a nice Thanksgiving meal out of the ordeal. (For the record, yes, I know that is Picard and the Next Generation crew in the image, it was just the most holiday appropriate shot available.)

While you can always serve turkey as your main course and just reference this episode, you can also try blending the storyline in a little more and serve turkey meatloaf that has been cooked in a turkey-shaped baking pan.

What are your guy’s plans for Thanksgiving dinner? Are you planning to go traditional or do you guys like to mix things up a little more? Do any of you want to actually incorporate something from this article into your meal?

There are tons of fun Monopoly editions, but this Doctor Who version game might be the best one yet. After all, if anything can alleviate the boredom of Monopoly, it’s the ability to travel through space and time.

Link – Via BuzzFeed

(Video Link)

I don’t know about you guys, but I desperately miss seeing David Tennant, Catherine Tate and John Borrowman on Doctor Who. That being said, I’ll watch any video with the three of them these days. Particularly when they involve the three singing songs and wearing goofy outfits.

Via The Mary Sue

I don’t know about you guys, but I would certainly want to go see this. For more funny Star Wars mash up posters, check out the Geeks Are Sexy article at the link.

Link

Have you ever wished you could write a letter using your favorite Star Wars characters? Well, thanks to the artwork of Fabian Gonzalez you can. Now if only someone could make this a font that could be used on your computer.

Link Via Laughing Squid

Now here’s a meadow I’d love to get a chance to visit. Where is this magical land of the AT-AT? I want to go there.

Link Via The Mary Sue

If you’re interested, you can sign the petition at the link. If not, well, it probably won’t happen anyway, so don’t do anything.

Link

Who knew that Grant from Mythbusters is actually a Doctor Who nut? Hopefully this means fans of the Time Lord can hope for a Doctor Who Mythbusters episode at some point.

Link Via The Mary Sue

I don’t know about you guys, but I love getting to see the behind the scenes footage from some of my favorite movies, even if it ruins a bit of the magic. That’s why this great collection of images from the Star Wars set is so darn delightful.

Link

This My Little Ood by DeviantArt user EatToast is a perfect My Little Pony art project in that it represents nothing the original toy seems to demonstrate. Instead of being a magical, adorable pony, it is a creepy space alien that uses a ball to communicate. He has more in his DeviantArt page, but this one is definitely my favorite.

Link

If you aren’t familiar with the show, none of this really matters -but if that’s the case, you should go rent the DVDs from Netflix and then return here promptly after viewing.

Via Geekosystem

I just posted about a sexy TARDIS corset, but for those geek girls who aren’t into Doctor Who and instead prefer Tron, Etsy seller Artifice Clothing has you covered with these vinyl, glowing cosplay outfits.

Link Via Geeks Are Sexy

This graphic makes you think, but how true is it? When I watch TV, it’s usually crime shows, in which successful, independent woman are over-represented as cops, lawyers, scientists, politicians, and criminals. Maybe it all depends on the shows you choose to watch. Link -via @John Farrier

A Little Background On Lucy

Lucy’s first foray into the acting world occurred when she was only twelve and her Shriner step father encouraged her to participate in the chorus line of the group’s next show. Shortly after, her mother enrolled her into the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts in New York City, where she studied alongside Bette Davis. While Davis excelled in the program, Ball didn’t and she was sent home only a few weeks later when one of her drama coaches told her she “had no future at all as a performer.”

Determined to prove her instructors wrong, Ball returned to New York when she turned 18 and started working as a fashion model. Eventually, she decided to move to Los Angeles and start working in the movie industry. She appeared in a number of small movies throughout the 30s and 40s, eventually garnering the title “Queen B,” referencing her exceeding number of appearances in B movies.

Launching A Media Empire

In 1940, Lucy met Desi Arnaz while filming Too Many Girls. At their first introduction, Desi was not impressed, but when they met again later the same day, he quickly became smitten. The two eloped later that year.

Unfortunately, while the two were passionately in love, there was always turbulence in their relationship. Only four years after the couple married, Lucy filed for divorce. Before things were finalized though, the couple reconciled.

Aside from working on B films, Lucy kept herself busy by performing on radio shows. In 1948, she was cast as Liz Cugat in the program My Favorite Husband for CBS Radio. The program was a hit and it wasn’t long before CBS approached her about reworking the show for television.  While Lucy agreed, she insisted that the station cast Arnaz as her husband. Desi and Lucy quickly started their own production company, Desilu Productions, and produced a pilot episode for CBS.

CBS wasn’t sure the public was ready for a white woman and Cuban man to portray a married couple on television and after filming the pilot episode, they declined to pick up the show. Undeterred, Lucy and Desi took the act on the road, performing a vaudeville act starring Lucy as a zany housewife who wanted to work in her husband’s entertainment show. The tour was a hit and CBS quickly agreed to put I Love Lucy on their television lineup.

During their negotiations with the station, Lucy and Desi agreed to take pay cuts as long as their production company retained the rights to the show once it was aired. At the time, reruns were practically unheard of, so CBS gladly agreed, thinking the concession was no big deal. To protect their investment, Desilu filmed all of the episodes on actual film instead of kinescopes, which allowed for long-term storage of the episodes. As a result, the show is one of the only ones of the era to not have any missing episodes.

It wasn’t long before I Love Lucy became one of the most popular shows on television, dominating the ratings throughout its run. Once the show started airing, it practically never went out of syndication again and Desilu netted a fortune rather quickly.

Where No (Wo)Man Has Gone Before

Lucy and Desi divorced in 1960, just two months after taping the final episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. While the couple remained friends all the way up until Desi’s death, Lucy had already started working on her next show, The Lucy Show, and since Arnaz wasn’t involved with the project, everyone agreed that he should sell his shares to his ex-wife. This left Lucy as the first woman to be the head of a television production company. And the company’s show lineup was often just as revolutionary.

When you consider the fact that I Love Lucy always used more expensive film studio techniques that were completely unorthodox for TV shows to use, it’s not entirely surprising that the studio was also willing to take on a few shows that would require much higher budgets than other studios would be willing to deal with. That’s why the company’s list of productions included such high-value classics as The Untouchables, Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. Their studios were so nice that many other notable shows, produced by other companies, were filmed there, including My Three Sons, The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Andy Griffith Show.

While the shows produced by the studio cost more to make, Lucy had an excellent eye for finding ideas that would have high syndication and re-run values, ensuring the company would always recover a profit on their high production costs.

Fighting For Intergalactic Peace

To some extent, it’s kind of amazing that we even have Star Trek at all. When ex-cop-turned-writer Gene Roddenberry came up with an idea for a show about an interstellar spaceship in the 23^rd century, he called it Star Trek to himself. But when he went to studios to sell the idea, he pitched it as “Wagon Train to the Stars,” because he knew his experience writing for Old West shows was one of the only things that would help get the series approved. If the studios actually pushed for this idea, the show might have ended up a lot more in the style of Firefly than the classic sci-fi standby we all know.

Fortunately, one of the studios Roddenberry pitched his idea to happened to be Desilu. Herb Solow of Desilu approved the idea and sold the idea to NBC, who paid for the first pilot, “The Cage.”

NBC rejected the pilot, complaining that it was “too cerebral,” but they took the highly unusual decision to pay for an additional pilot to be shot. While there is some speculation as to why the station would make this call, most people agree it had a lot to do with Lucy pushing them into it. She was, after all, one of the most powerful women in television at this time.

The second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” scrapped all of the characters from the first, with the exception of Mr. Spock. The new characters introduced in this episode included Captain Kirk, Lt. Commander Scott and Lt. Sulu. NBC approved of this second pilot and added the show to their 1966 fall line up. By the time they show the first official episode, Lt. Uhura was added to the crew, marking the first time an African-American woman was given such an important role in an American TV show.

The first episode of Star Trek was premiered as part of a “sneak peek” block of television. The show had great ratings during that premiere, playing against mostly reruns. Reviews were mixed, but some of them were exceptionally negative, like the Variety review that said the show “won’t work” because it was “an incredible and dreary mess of confusion and complexities.”

When the show started playing against other new programs, its ratings quickly started to drop and by only a month or so, it was ranked 51^st in the ratings out of 94 programs. If the show premiered a few years earlier, this would have been an immediate death sentence. Fortunately, the network had just started to work on recording viewers’ demographic profiles and Star Trek scored remarkably high when it came to reaching young, educated males –one of the most highly sought after demographics of the time. Viewers of this group were particularly excited about the show’s serious discussions of controversial and contemporary social issues –one of the things Roddenberry and Lucy were most interested in exploring throughout the course of the show.

Around this time, Lucy decided to sell her network. According to her daughter, before negotiations began, one of her studio chiefs advised that she get rid of Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Ball insisted they stayed, saying, “No, I like them.” Soon enough though, Lucy would no longer go to bat for the sci-fi series. She decided to sell the rights to her studio to Paramount Pictures. As a result, Paramount Television now owned the show and to them, it was nothing worth sticking their necks out for.

While the network decided to keep the show due to its great demographic ratings, they decided to move the second season to 8:30-9:30 PM on a Friday. This made it particularly difficult for those young, educated men to tune in. Unsurprisingly, this made their ratings drop even more.

By the end of the second season, the show was doing so badly in the ratings that William Shatner was already preparing for work on other projects. Luckily, the news of the show’s ratings caused speculation that it would be canceled  and inspired fans to organize together in an unprecedented effort to keep the show alive.

The show’s viewers were already so passionate that in the first season, it received more fan letters than any other show besides The Monkees. When news came that the show might be canceled, this number skyrocketed. While the first season ended up driving 29,000 fan letters, the fan’s letter writing campaign resulted in the station receiving 116,000 letters between December 1967 and March 1968. Many of the letters came from such respected supporters as the Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller.

As if letter writing weren’t enough, over 200 Caltech students marched to NBC’s headquarters in January of 1968, urging the network to keep the show on the air. Berkley and MIT students led similar protests in their respective locales. The Smithsonian even contacted the network during this time, requesting a print of the show for their archives, and the only show honored with such a request at that time.

Unsurprisingly, NBC decided to keep the show around, but their announcement of the show’s continuation was particularly unusual. After one of the show’s episodes, they announced on television that they were renewing the show and requested viewers stop writing. Funny enough, this resulted in thousands and thousands of thank you letters in return.

Images via esthereggy and Coneee [Flickr], and The LA Times

The End of The Beginning

Despite the fact that the anti-cancellation campaign was an unheard of success, NBC seemed determined that Star Trek shouldn’t survive its third season. They moved the show to the Friday night “death slot” of 10 PM, when practically none of the younger audience would be around to watch it. In addition, 29 of the network’s affiliates stopped carrying the show altogether. As if all that weren’t enough, the station also reduced the show’s budget by 10%. As a result, the show had fewer outdoor shots, fewer guest stars and fewer writers. Despite the fan’s attempt to launch another letter writing campaign on behalf of the show, NBC cancelled Star Trek on January 9, 1969.

Fortunately, Desilu’s foresight for shows with a high syndication value once again paid off. With three seasons under its belt, Star Trek had just enough episodes for syndication and the rights for the first season had already been purchased by Kaiser Broadcasting.

Syndication saved the memory of the ill-fated show, offering it better time slots and a much larger audience then it ever had on NBC. By 1970, Paramount Television was advertising that the show managed to significantly increase the ratings of stations that picked it up and the Los Angeles Times said the show had the most enviable ratings of any syndicated show.

Image via Atomic Q [Flickr]

In 1972, fans got together for the first Star Trek convention in New York. The show’s syndication ratings continued to increase rerun after rerun, unlike any other show because fans liked to rewatch episodes dozens of times. By 1987, when The Next Generation started airing, Paramount Television was making over $1 million from each episode in syndication. The Chicago Tribune quipped, “Since that dark day in 1969 when NBC brought the programming hammer down on Star Trek, there probably hasn’t been a 24-hour period when the original program, one of the original episodes, wasn’t being aired somewhere. ”

And to think, none of it would have been possible if it weren’t for a pushy redhead who happened to like the idea of a sci-fi series that explored cultural issues of today. Consider that next time you see another rerun of the sixty year-old sitcom staring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, Associate Content and Memory Alpha

Now that you’ve probably seen your good share of Comic Con costumes, I’m sure you’ve seen this great Death Star dress. If you want to make your own, the creator can give you some tips over on the Official Star Wars Blog.

Link Via Craftzine

Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers was the most popular couples costume this year, but what set these two apart was their great accessories.

Perhaps the biggest (and in my opinion, the coolest) trend this year was turning male characters into adorable female versions. I can’t think of anyone that better epitomized this trend than this adorable Toy Story pairing.

Here’s another delightful gender-bending costume, this time a female Doctor Who. Of course, those familiar with the show know that he just might become a female during his next incarnation.

While this isn’t quite what I was talking about when I mentioned turning traditionally male costumes into adorable female versions, I doubt any of you have ever seen a more girly Master Chief.

Sucker Punch was another popular subject for costumes this year, but hers was just detailed enough to make her the best Babydoll at the convention.

While there may have been more authentic looking Wonder Woman costumes, this woman’s confidence made her the most impressive of the bunch.

Personally, I think this might be my favorite costume at the convention. She took a gorgeous Victorian-styled silk dress and managed to be the most regal and feminine of all the TARDIS costumes I’ve ever seen.

Of course, these three showed just how much variety you can have when designing a TARDIS dress. I’m thinking we should throw a Neatorama Dress Like the TARDIS contest one of these days to see what you guys would come up with. What do you think?

Although I generally try to avoid adding images of kids to these galleries, this mother-daughter steampunk pair were just too cute to resist. And of course, I did still get her mother’s permission before posting her up here.

As a huge fan of Roy Lichtenstein’s artwork and the fact that she incorporated one of his trademark speech bubbles into her costume made her the ultimate living incarnation of his work.

This woman was spotted waiting for the Family Guy panel. While there are a lot of people who won’t recognize Consuela from the show, I think most of us who do can’t help but giggle when we see her.

I think steampunk peaked in popularity last year, but there were still plenty of people sporting the vintage-futurist style. This was my favorite of the bunch though.

Although these two ladies also had extraordinary dresses with a perfect balance of brass accessories.

And these two chaps did an excellent job with their costumes, which look like an explorer and a mad scientist, respectively.

This Red Queen costume was simply perfect with the amount of detail she incorporated and when paired off with some pink flamingos, I can easily say it was the best Red Queen costume I’ve ever seen at the convention.

One of my favorite sights of Comic Con has always been the delightful costume mash ups, the majority of which involve Star Wars characters. Whether it’s an Elvis Stormtrooper, a Sherlock Jedi or Darth Mario, these costumes are always fun.

This little one is most certainly the most cute and lovable version of Darth Vader I’ve ever seen. If this is how the Dark Side represented itself, how could anyone resist?

Here’s another great Star Wars mash up, showing exactly what happened to the veteran stormtroopers of Endor. What a sad, sad tale.

If you’re one of those people who thinks geeks and sports don’t mix, then I’d like you to meet Darth Marino of the Miami Dark-phins. Yes, it is a terrible pun, but it is an awesome costume.

By the way, if you like the “That’s How I Roll” shirt the girl in the left of the photo (me) is wearing, you can get your own in the Neatoshop. Yes, now you too can dress like a Neatorama author. Lucky.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a costume that’s 100% authentic to the series… particularly if that means being a victim to one of the show’s many deadly monsters.

As I said, there’s nothing wrong with the classics. Especially when you get the whole crew covered in your cosplay group.

This Power Ranger was running (literally) around the whole convention with his giant knife and a smaller blade in the other hand the entire weekend. If you went to Comic Con and didn’t see him, you must have been doing something wrong.

My apologies for how risque this picture is, but I know that anyone who loves The Venture Brothers will most certainly enjoying what the sexy couple of Brock Samson and Molotov Cocktease look like in real life.

On a less risque, but equally fun note, here’s how young Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy would look like if they weren’t cartoons.

Howl’s Moving Castle

As much as everyone loves The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, you almost never see hobbit costumes. If you want to know why, consider the fact that this guy has to walk around in dress shoes covered in prosthetics all day.

On the other hand, the relative comfort of Harry Potter costumes mean there are always ample eager Gryffindor students running about the convention. It was this Sirius Black costume that really got my attention though.

Similarly, there are always plenty of women adorned in skintight vinyl Catwoman costumes, but the fact that this one decided to go for the newest incarnation of Catwoman in Arkham City is what made her stand out.

I’ll be honest, on their own, I don’t know that I would have really noticed any of these costumes, but where else but Comic Con will you see Superman, Wonder Woman and Princess Leia hanging out together?

If there’s anything creepier than The Observer character from Fringe, it has to be having three of them next to each other.

I always thought Waldo was a little too classy to hang out with Charlie’s Green Man from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but I guess I was wrong.

The only thing that could have made this Jack costume even more accurate would have been if he were giving away free cheeseburgers all day.

Here’s the part where I start getting in some murky water. The rest of the costumes are ones I don’t recognize, so if you know what they’re from, leave a note in the comments and I’ll add it in the article.

I believe she’s just a fancy Victorian lady, but if you recognize her from something, leave a comment.

He seems like a video game character, but I’m not sure which one. Help me out here people.

To be fair, I do recognize the three people on the left, Hit Girl, Kick Ass and Sailor Moon, but I don’t know who the girl in blue is supposed to be. Do you?

Again, I think she’s a video game character, but I have no idea what game or what character.

This gorgeous girl looks like an anime character, but she might be from a video game. I don’t know, do you? Thank you Niño nerd for pointing out that she is Lightning from final fantasy XIII-2.

I love this girl’s facial expression, but I don’t know who she’s dressed as. Any tips are appreciated. This gorgeous girl is Alice from American McGee’s Alice video game. Thanks OTB!

Either this guy is a generic military character or he’s from a video game. Let me know if you know. Niño nerd was right again, explaining that he was from Resident Evil Mercenaries. Anyone know the character’s name? Does he even have one?

If you just can’t get enough of these galleries, you can always check out over 200 more costumes from this year’s Comic Con over at my blog, Rue The Day. Also, Geeks Are Sexy posted four galleries of costumes, for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Four of the con.

Also, you can enjoy pictures from the 2009 and 2010 conventions here at Neatorama or check out Rue The Day’s 2008, 2009 and 2010 costume galleries, along with great pictures of hot cosplay girls from the 2008, 2010 and 2011 conventions. And this year, there’s even a gallery of hot gents for the ladies out there.

And, if you have your own galleries from the convention, feel free to include links to them in the comments.

I just got back from Comic Con today and while there were tons of people dressed as Darth Vader and a few artistically painted Vader helmets, there was nothing like this wonderful disco ball or the Darth Vader gas mask featured on this great Oddee article. If there was, I might have ended up spending even more money on things I don’t need.

Link

These dorky comics by Adam McCauley are great for anyone who loves puns, particularly those that involve classic sci fi jokes. There are more at the link, including a few Star Wars ones as well.

Link

If you’ve ever had a hard time keeping track of the companions on Doctor Who, then this handy infographic should be able to help. To view the full graphic, be sure to click on the link.

Link

When you think about it, Bill & Ted and the Doctor both travel through time in some sort of public phone booth and they both have sexy babes travel with them at times. You can buy this most excellent shirt for only $22 on RedBubble.

Link

Update 6/30/11 by Alex: We’ve also got a lot of neat Doctor Who stuff in the NeatoShop!

DeviantArt user Ferret42′s Speedking of Angmar is a seamless blend of two of the greatest movie epics to ever grace the silver screen. Fantasy and sci-fi have never gone so well together.

Link

Dan Meth created this handy chart comparing the sizes of various sandworms. The next time you encounter one, it may help you to identify what type it is. Link -via Laughing Squid

A sequence from the Bollywood sci-fi movie Robot. Just when you think it can’t get any more bizarre, it does just that. Overdubbed in Russian (I think), but knowing the language won’t help. -via Laughing Squid

Cthulhu Wacky Wobbler - $12.95

In his house at R'lyeh, wacky Cthulhu wobbler waits dreaming ... to be given as cool Christmas gift. If you've got a sci-fi lover in your family, look no further than this Gift Guide for Sci-Fi Lovers from the NeatoShop:

Darth Vader Cookie Jar	TARDIS Ice Bucket	Zombie Brain Gelatin Mold
I Want To Believe, the Alien Version	Stormtrooper Zombie Bobblehead	Matt Busch's Zombie Posters

I Heart Sci-Fi T-Shirt - $11.95 (also available as sweatshirt & hoodie)

Link: Gift Guide for Sci-Fi Lovers

The film Iron Sky has been in development for years. It’s a Finnish-German-Australian sci-fi parody involving Nazis -a premise that cannot fail!

Towards the end of World War II the Nazi scientists made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right.

Now it’s 2018, and it’s the time for the first American Moon landing since the 70’s. Meanwhile the Nazi invasion, that has been over 70 years in the making, is on its way, and the world is goose-stepping towards its doom.

Filming is going on now in Germany and the process is documented for you to follow.

Link to website | Blog | Flickr stream -Thanks, Janos!

Etsy seller merrypranxster sells handmade wrapping paper in lovely Doctor Who designs like these daleks or a floating TARDIS. But that’s not all! You’ll find gift wrap featuring the Vulcan salute, the Rebel Alliance symbol, and Cthulhu in her shop too, for an extra-geeky Christmas. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy

I’m not going to say anything that’ll give away the ending of this 21-second long ad for the German Sci-Fi Channel, but I’ll say this one word: fascinating. Link [embedded YouTube clip]

But I digress.

Our pal Super Punch has a neat post about art inspired by China Mieville’s books – this one to the left is a re-imagined cover art for his third novel The Scar, by Jason Chalker.

Link – Thanks John!

LEGO enthusiast Alex Eylar created his own version of M.C. Escher’s Relativity with a neat twist: it’s the sci-fi version!

The full layout:

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by cardsmith.

Previously on Neatorama: M.C. Escher in LEGO

Logan’s Run, the fantastic science fiction film that debuted in 1976, is getting a reboot in 3D. If you’ve seen the film The Island, you’ve basically seen Logan’s Run with a slightly different twist and in a much toned down iteration.

The plot involved a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources is managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing everyone who reaches the age of thirty (21 in the book), thus neatly (and inhumanely) avoiding the issue of overpopulation which was of growing concern at the time. Those who try to escape their destiny are known as a “Runners”, and is hunted down by operatives known as Sandmen.

Check out the trailer for the original film here.

Image and story via /Film

The 80s were much coller when they were THE FUTURE! The TV show "UFO" was broadcast in Britain in the 1970s. The show was set in the early 1980s, when space aliens were kidnapping Earthlings and a secret military organization called SHADO was set up below a London film studio to stop them. Back then, spaceships had flashing colored lights, women had purple hair and IBM Selectric typewriters automatically spat out the latest UFO warnings. Opening sequence created by Gerry Anderson.

– via lileks

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Goals are scored by chucking a smaller ball (the Quaffle) through one of the opponents three goals without being knocked off your broom by a defense whose job it is to hit a large iron ball (the Bludger) into your body at bone-breaking speeds. The game only ends when a tiny, winged ball with a mind of its own (the Snitch) is captured by a member of either team. Catching the snitch is worth 150 points, regular goals are worth 10. Whoever has more points when the snitch is caught, wins.

Link -via Fark

You may have seen the Star Wars Arrested Development parody, now it’s Seinfeld’s chance thanks to artist Julie Bell. The best part is George just sitting on an R2D2 trash can.

Link via Laughing Squid

Jacob Hall writes about one of his picks: Minority Report.

The film is an engrossing look at a startlingly realistic future where psychics are used to predict murders and “Pre-Crime” units arrest would-be killers in advance. It is also a rousing, muscular action film in the vein of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the only film in recent memory to have a jet-pack chase. A jet-pack chase. It raises fascinating questions about choice and destiny and how even the best intentions can be abused and corrupted. It features oddness not seen from Spielberg since the ’80s, including a cackling Peter Stormare and Cruise pursuing his own rogue eyeball down a hallway.

They did leave some very good titles off their alphabetical list.  I’d have gone ahead and put Avatar on there for how it looks alone.

Link.  (Photo: Dreamworks Entertainment)

Pet Sematary: Any dead creature buried in the ancient Micmac burial ground comes back to life, just not quite the way you put it in. After losing his young son Gage, Louis buries his son in the graveyard. Sure enough, Gage comes back — and promptly murders his mother.

That’s only one of ten reasons not to resurrect dead bodies. Link -via Gorilla Mask

It’s been ten years (ten years!) since Jake Lloyd played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace. He spoke with SCI FI PI – The SCI FI Channel Australia Blog, backstage at Supanova Sydney. He has obviously had a tough time at school, but has a wry attitude on what’s been – and what’s ahead. 

– via scifitv

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by BR260454.

This one to the left is V.I.N.CENT, from the 1979 sci-fi movie The Black Hole:

4. V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B.
Okay, I’ll admit it. When The Black Hole came out in 1979, I was all over it. I even had the board game. This was mostly due to the effect Star Wars had on my embracing any & all space travel movies to the fullest. But as anyone who’s seen it will probably tell you, this movie SUCKED. These two whirligigs didn’t even impress my young sci-fi starved mind at the time, with their precious laser guns taking out countless other worthless sentry droids. They look like they were designed by a six-year-old with a serious head trauma. Also: Roddy McDowell and Slim Pickens do the voices. Waste.

See if you can add anything to the list: Link

Why? Because "Sci Fi" is too limiting, apparently:

The principal reason the idea kept coming up, Mr. Howe said, was a belief “the Sci Fi name is limiting.”

“If you ask people their default perceptions of Sci Fi, they list space, aliens and the future,” he added. “That didn’t
capture the full landscape of fantasy entertainment: the paranormal, the supernatural, action and adventure, superheroes.”

Now, if they only have a fat man as a logo .. Link – via io9