Okay, I'm normally pretty skeptical of government employees, but I've got to hand it to the City of San Diego: creating street signs in Klingon was a thoughtful and prudent touch for Klingon-speaking tourists attending Comic-Con.

The lower sign, which is Klingon transliterated into the Latin alphabet, is probably for people who speak Klingon as a second language, but would like to hone their fluency.

via Geek Tyrant

San Bernadino-based artist das chupa made two images mashing up Star Wars and the Pixar film Up. Is that a good movie? I haven't seen it yet.

Link via Popped Culture | Artist's Blog

Rebel Scum user The Madman made a set of airbrushed miniblinds that show Darth Vader. They're 38 inches wide and 5 feet long when fully extended.

Link via GearFuse | Previously: Spock Window Blinds

We have a winner in our most recent caption contest! There were so many good entries, but I had to narrow it down to one great caption. Check it out.

Well, that's interesting.

One of the problems that I had with the later Stargate seasons was that it moved from difficult interstellar travel to difficult intergalactic travel to easy jaunts across the universe. And this was after the Asgard died and the humans were pretty much on their own. It was too fast, too much scientific information for people to absorb and put to use in a too short period of time. Science fiction writers don't help themselves out by easily eliminating technological challenges.

via reddit | Image credit: unknown

(Video Link)

This is a German-language commercial for Star Trek. You get bonus points if you can identify the singer and his significance to Star Trek.

via reddit

Term Life Insurance -- yes, this infographic was sponsored by the insurance industry -- put together a chart illustrating the relative difficulty, powers, and motivations of ten prominent evil bosses from video games. Pictured above is one selection of the larger infographic, which is available at the link.

I've noticed that a lot of pop culture infographics these days are sponsored by companies that you'd never think would have an interest in the subject. Perhaps it's successful advertising.

http://www.termlifeinsurance.org/videogame-bosses/ via Digg

Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church cult are protesting Comic-Con in San Diego. I guess that God Hates Geeks or something. Anyway, geeks in attendance have staged a large counter-protect. Urlesque has a roundup of some of the funniest signs and costumes used.

Link

(YouTube Link)

This bit of weirdness from Japan shows a group of vegetables bravely killing themselves in order to create a stew. The potato, to set a worthy example for the younger vegetables, peels himself first.

It's apparently from an anime production called Dai Mahou Touge.

via WTF, Japan, Seriously!?

Reg Turnill, with the assistance of the famous author's family, runs an annual short story writing competition in honor of H.G. Wells. This year, due to what Turnill saw as a slew of inferior submissions, he added strict requirements for participants. Submitted stories could not be about science fiction, and they had to be written in longhand. The result? No one entered the contest:

The 94-year-old said: “I wanted people to write the stories by hand as a condition of entry to address the low standard of literacy and handwriting these days.

“It’s an important art in itself and many of our most famous authors find that’s the best way to do creative writing.

“I also wanted the stories to reflect life in 2010 so they would interest readers in 2110, in the way that Wells’ stories do.

“My aim in offering the £1,000 prize was to get people to mimic what Wells did in the 1900s.”

Mr Turnill said last year’s HG Wells competition entries consisted mostly of sci-fi, so he wanted to be more specific in what this year’s should contain.

“Last year there were plenty of entries because the competition was open to writers of all ages and stories could include science fiction, depicting ghastly invasions of our everyday lives by all sorts of nameless horrors,” he said.

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/No-entries-for-%C2%A31,000-HG-Wells-story-competition-newsinkent37805.aspx via blastr | Photo: Yale University

Humorist Matthew Latkiewicz has devised an entire yoga exercise routine from Star Wars. He photographs a couple positions in each blog post, so just click on the link and keep scrolling to see the full program.

http://www.youwillnotbelieve.us/pursuits/category/star-wars-yoga via reddit | Photo: Matthew Latkiewicz

I've always thought that Princess Leia's hairbuns in Episode IV were adorable. But Jen Myers of Skepchick argues that this style and several others that Leia wears are physically impossible to duplicate:

There’s no visible means of support and considering this hairstyle lasts through being captured by Imperial forces, imprisoned, ineptly rescued (sorry, it’s the truth) and almost being crushed by a garbage compactor, we’re forced to conclude she could have only kept it in place with super glue. Which I hear is not all that great for hair.

Link via blastr | Image: Lucasfilm

(YouTube Link)

YouTube user BrianRimmer compiled every opening theme for Doctor Who in chronological order. At the video link, you can get the details.

I watched a little bit of the Fourth Doctor in the early 90s, but found the show very difficult to understand. Certainly after 43 years on air, it'd be hard to gain a familiarity with the series.

If a person who has never seen Doctor Who were to watch only one episode, which should it be?

via Nerdcore | Previously: A Song about That Secret Shame: "I Have Never Watched a Single Episode of Doctor Who in My Life"

(YouTube Link)

Eric Power, who previously brought us a papercraft version of The Legend of Zelda, is an Austin-based animator. He made this video of Mortal Combat fatalities.

Link via Kotaku

It's about time that someone took some legal action. Vader was taken into custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They always get their man.

Yes, this is real, not a photoshop.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/07/19/14760471.html via reddit