For those who wish to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations in pop culture and science fiction, the Star Trek universe can be intimidating. Yes, there are plenty of people who haven’t watched Star Trek for one reason or another, but might if they knew where to start.

Star Trek is more than pop culture; it’s 20th century mythology with its own complicated mythos. “Beam me up” and “live long and prosper” may have invaded the cultural lexicon, but Star Trek is particularly intimidating for the uninitiated. Where to start and what to skip are up for debate even among the most hardcore Trekkies and Trekkers (the fandom can’t even decide on a name for itself). One thing is clear: It all begins with Gene Roddenberry, the visionary who created the original show in the 1960s and presided over the franchise until his death in 1991. The WWII fighter pilot turned TV writer would have turned 93 this August. He’s survived by a franchise that encompasses five live action TV shows, one animated series, and 12 films. Given that Star Trek will celebrate its 50th anniversary in just two short years, this the perfect time for new fans to jump on Roddenberry’s “Wagon Train to the stars.”

The A.V. Club has stepped up to the plate with a guide for Star Trek newbies, which includes a brief history and description of each series and recommends standout episodes to introduce the viewer. There are also recaps of the movies and miscellaneous information to make tackling Star Trek both easy and fun for a beginner. Baby steps. For the established Star Trek fan, it’s a walk down memory lane (or more likely, Memory Alpha), with plenty to argue about, which you’d expect.

The new Ninja Turtles movie fell kinda flat with many viewers, and fans who loved all things TMNT as a kid simply couldn’t stomach the redesigned look of the turtles, but as it turns out those heroes in a half shell could have looked even more disturbing. 

This rejected pitch artwork for the latest TMNT movie was created by Anthony Francisco, who has done some amazing work on features such as Guardians of the Galaxy and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

His far more extraterrestrial looking Ninja Turtle designs were ultimately rejected in favor of the large nostriled versions that made it onto the big screen, but which version is the best of the worst?

Anthony’s revamped version of the Turtles look a bit too froggy to me, with long legs that would be better for hopping than kicking shell, and a blocky head only an alien turtle mother could love.

-Via Nerd Approved

Jennifer Marshall made this fantastic portrait of Captain Jean-Luc Picard by using ketchup, mustard, blue cheese sauce, and hoisin sauce. She writes that "Starfleet needs a better arts budget." Yes, but let's first rebuild the fleet after the losses of the Dominion War.

The shading on the face is just astounding. I wonder how Marshall did it.

-via Geek Crafts

Despite the various CGI enhancements used during the creation of Game of Thrones the creators tries to stay true to the source material by maintaining the show's classical aesthetic, but sometimes two classic flavors taste kinda strange together.

(Video Link)

Critic and pixel enthusiast Ozzy Man replaced all the sound effects and voices found in clips from season 4 of Game of Thrones with old school video game sounds, creating an 8-bit homage to everyone's favorite fantasy bloodbath.

When asked why he created such a silly video, Ozzy stated simply "This video is for the progression of pure silliness and absurdity on Earth!" Well, that's good enough for me!

-Via Laughing Squid

Cholas have a unique fashion sense all their own, and even people who don’t really understand their subculture know the basics of their style- eyebrows that look like they were drawn on with a Sharpie, heavy eyelashes, facial tattoos, lined lips with dark colored lipstick.

It’s a very unusual look, kinda like goth meets gangster, and to digital artist Michael Jason Enriquez it’s a style that reminds him of growing up in LA during the 1990s. 

Here's what Michael has to say about this hilarious image series:

It’s a throwback to the Chola gangster style: “Sharpied” eyebrows, dark lipliner, and the fumes from a can of Aqua Net.

It’s a product of LA where subculture, celebrity obsession, street art, and stupidity are rolled up together like one of those bacon wraped hot dogs sold on Hollywood Blvd.

-Via Dangerous Minds

Laika is (arguably) the most innovative animation studio in the world, and not just because they’re one of the only companies that specialize in stop motion feature filmmaking.

They’ve come up with cutting edge ways to seamlessly integrate CGI, 3D printing, and other digital techniques, into the stop motion workflow during the making of their upcoming film The Boxtrolls.

Stop motion animation often involves sculpting, molding and casting hundreds of different faces for each puppet actor, part of a process known as replacement animation, but Laika now uses a five color 3D printer to create these faces, which helps streamline the process quite a bit.

The purists at Laika have managed to integrate this cutting edge technology into their workflow without sacrificing any of the traditional stop motion aesthetic that makes their films so enjoyable to watch, and their innovative hybrid techniques are sure to become the industry norm.

Read more about Laika's cutting edge stop motion animation techniques over at Cartoon Brew

For most people, the thought of living in some small compartment on the ocean floor for two weeks is nothing short of horrifying. From the idea of the cramped space (you are forced to share with others), to the simple idea that you are so deep that if something goes wrong, there is probably little you can do to save yourself.

But you present the same opportunity to an oceanographer and it is like offering them a two week vacation in Cancun. The reason being, decompression and the bends keep divers from being able to stay under that deep for more than an hour at a time, and while living down there, they can get 2 years of work done in two weeks. Liz Bentley Magee is one of those people, and this is the story of her two weeks at the bottom of the ocean.

(YouTube Link)

So we may stop for a moment and commend these brave and brilliant people for doing this, but I still believe it is only a matter of time before some archaic sea creature decides to try and eat them. But as long as it is in the name of science, and we learn something from it, so be it.

Via Wimp

Image Via

We all know the feeling. We see a great trailer and get ourselves all amped up for a movie. We wait months until it comes out, we rush out to see it, and it just does not live up to the hype. It is a crappy feeling, but it happens. Trailers seem to be better than most movies lately, and they ruin so much of the movie it is like you don't even need to see it if you've seen and enjoyed the trailer. But the fact of the matter is, even the movies that seem like they are going to turn out awesome can sometimes be duds. Thankfully, some websites know this and see these films and then assemble a list of said films to warn us.

Though I am fully aware some of the movies they name on this list may anger some people (as some of these films have big fan bases), that seemed an even better reason to post it. Sometimes, the most interesting internet articles are the ones that you don't always agree with. Anyway, check out the list here and see if you agree with the choices on it. It may be a little old, and it may be a little instigatory, but isn't that half the fun of the web?

We think so.

Shadowlocked

(Image Via Getty / Astrid Stawiarz)

It appears we've all been wrongly assuming that a character that looks like a cat, and has Kitty in her name, is actually a cat, because Sanrio recently revealed that their beloved character Hello Kitty is actually a human girl.

Christine Yano is an anthropologist from the University of Hawaii who is currently curating an exhibit about Hello Kitty at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, accepting the job never knowing it would change her geeky life forever.

She received a rather stern correction from Sanrio after submitting her texts for proofreading, a correction that contained the mind-blowing revelation that Hello Kitty isn't a cat.

Here's what Sanrio had to say:

Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She’s never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it’s called Charmmy Kitty.

So, do average people in Sanrio-land walk around with big, swollen heads and animalian features? Sounds like paradise for Furries!

You can read more about this bizarre correction over at BuzzFeed

Star Trek actor LeVar Burton tweeted out this fantastic image showing himself and several actors from both The Next Generation and the original series. Behind Burton (Geordi La Forge) are Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), William Shatner (Jim Kirk), Brent Spiner (Data), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), and someone who I will assume played a heavily costumed non-humanoid character at some point.

The crew reunited to make an appearance together at the Wizard World convention in Chicago.

-via The Mary Sue

It's hard to believe that 2014 marks the 75^th anniversary of the release of The Wizard of Oz, because people are just as fascinated with the film today as they were when it came out. 

There's something rather remarkable about a film that so easily spans across the generation gap, beloved by both children and adults, and yet even with such a large fanbase there are lots of facts about the film that aren't common knowledge.

Did you know the Cowardly Lion's costume was made from a real lion's skin, or that the costume weighed around 100 pounds?

Have you heard that Toto earned two and a half times what a munchkin earned while filming, or that the snow used in the poppy scene was made of asbestos?

Parade is celebrating the diamond anniversary of this beloved film by sharing 75 Weird, Wonderful Facts About The Wizard of Oz, and fans will be delighted to discover many facts about the film they didn't already know, even if some of those facts are a bit dark.

When the TARDIS arrives, with its signature whirring sound and flashing light, those who have traveled with the Doctor know they're about to be whisked off on another fantastic adventure, but a recent TARDIS sighting may change the way we think about that blue police box.

(Image Via BathChronicle)

This TARDIS shaped toilet is called the Who Loo, and it recently opened for business on the bike path between Bristol and Bath, the brainchild of Whovian Justin Hoggans, who owns the Warmley Waiting Room Cafe. 

It features a light on top that lets everyone know when the toilet is occupied, a switch inside the cafe to trigger that famous whirring sound when people pose for a picture, and looks just like the Time Lord approved time machine.

One thing it's lacking is privacy, and I'd hate to be seated at that nearby table when the Doctor adjourns to his study!

-Via BBC

(YouTube link)

The Brotherhood Workshop brings us a Harry Potter LEGO short, with an awesome way to destroy a dementor.

Dementors feed on the happiness of others. So what happens when they find a creature with limitless happiness?

Who could that be? Watch and find out! -via Laughing Squid

Image via

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has swept the internet over the last few weeks. From friends and family to celebrities, everyone seems to be joining the cause and covering themselves in cold water to make a point. Just when you think you have seen it all, the above happens over at Kotaku.

Seems Minecraft creator Notch challenged one of his gamers to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in-game, and that is just what he did. The funny thing is, it involved a lot more than just making this scene happen. There was coding involved, and it ended up being a rather difficult process which you can check out in detail here.

Just shows you, when the whole world gets behind a cause, even video game characters are not immune to having pixellated buckets of ice poured over their heads.

Kotaku

Image Via

Any of you fans of the brilliant Donald Glover (of Community and Childish Gambino fame) out there know he has pleaded and tried on a few occasions to land the Spiderman part, but it never worked out for him. There have even been a few running jokes on Community about it. Well, looks like Donald Glover is finally getting his chance to play the web slinging, joke slinging superhero he always wanted to. Just not quite in the way he imagined.

Donald Glover will be providing the voice of Miles Morales, who becomes Ultimate Spiderman in that universe when the real Spiderman meets and untimely end. Glover, who has quite a cult following, seems pretty syked about the whole thing. It may not be quite the way he envisioned himself donning the suit, but at least he gets a chance to play finally play the web head, even if only in voice.

Maybe if it is well recieved, he will get the Spiderman role he really wants. Well, a THIRD reboot? Maybe not yet, but at least the man dreams large. Catch Donald Glover as Spiderman on the season premiere of Web Warriors airing this Sunday on Disney XD.

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