The specific details in this painting by deviantART user gamefan84 were actually commissioned. Which is awesome!

Link via Popped Culture

Finnish photographer Marko Saari made a set of pictures depicting the characters from Super Mario Bros. as zombies. His Flickr photostream is filled with all manner of elaborate cosplay works.

Link via Nerdcore | Photo: (c) Marko Saari, used with permission.

This motorcycle is a functional -- well, drivable -- replica of the Batpod from The Dark Knight. Pankaj Shah commissioned Chopper City USA to build it:

Obviously none of the weaponry is functional, and the seating position was also altered. Instead of lying face down like on the Batpod, the PS-Pod's rider sits in a manner more similar to a chopper bike rider - far more practical and you won't look like an idiot when stopped at the traffic lights.

The PS-Pod was constructed using all metal bodywork, no fiberglass was used at all. Mounted within the custom made frame is the drivetrain from an Aprilia Mana 850. The bikes builder, Dave Welch, bought the Aprillia brand-new, and then proceeded to strip it down for its parts.

The massive 18"x13" wheels of the PS-Pod were custom made for the bike. The rims were specially machined, and each has five Batman logos cut into their center.

Link via technabob | Photo: Diseno-art

Like I've said before, if companies would just cater to Klingon tourists, they could make a lot of money.

The Jenolan Caves near the Blue Mountains west of Sydney is about to become possibly the first tourist attraction in the world to launch tours in the fictional Star Trek language of Klingon.

The link between the world's oldest dated limestone cave system and the fictional Star Trek language is through a spaceship, the USS Jenolan, which featured in an episode of the Next Generation series.

Earlier this month two Klingon scholars from the United States flew to Australia to tour the caves and finalise the translation of a self-guided tour.

The headline of the article, unfortunately, refers to Star Trek fans as "Trekkers". The correct term is "Trekkies".

Link via reddit | USS Jenolan at Memory Alpha | Image: Paramount

Max Fisher of The Atlantic rounded up three perspectives identifying Jedi as generally libertarian, socialist, or centrist. Here's the latter position from Daniel Drenzer:

Are the Jedi big government advocates? That's unclear. I think it would be more accurate to describe them as cartelistic -- they refuse to permit a free market in learning the ways of the Force. After all, the Jedi Council's initial inclination is not to train Anakin Skywalker despite his obvious talents, using some BS about fear as a cover. Only when Qui-Gon threatens to go rogue do they relent. The Council does not inform the Senate that their ability to detect the force has been compromised. They're reluctant to expand their assigned tasks -- they're keepers of the peace, not soldiers. Just as clearly, their anti-competitive policies weakened their own productivity, given the fact that they were unable to detect a Sith Lord walking around right under their noses for over a decade.

So, were the Jedi perfect agents of liberty? No, probably not. But neither were they handmaidens to the greatest concentration of state power in galactic history.

What do you think? Do the Jedi display a general political ideology? If so, what is it?

Link via Digg | Image: Lucasfilm

It's an empty blister packet. Get it? These exclusive, imaginary toys are on sale at Comic-Con for $5.

via OhGizmo! | Photo: Lindsey Chen

deviantART user Andrew Hillman made this hoodie for his brother that creates an impromptu Hellboy costume. He's quite a versatile artist who uses various media to create many works in mostly -- sorry, Vonskippy -- steampunk themes.

Link via Comics Alliance

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