(YouTube Link)

This video shows a man dressed as Scorpion from Mortal Kombat playing theme music from that game series. He's quite good, and even managed to win the approval of the Ed Boon, one of the creators of the series.

via Geekosystem | Previously: Live-Action Mortal Kombat

Geek Twins is reporting that David Prowse, who played the body (but not the voice) of Darth Vader, has been banned from a set of upcoming Star Wars conventions. Allegedly, he's complained too much about not receiving residuals from the original trilogy and has gained the ire of George Lucas:

"It is with regret that I have been informed by my friends at C2 Ventures, Ben and Phillip, that I am not to be invited to C5 this year or any other Lucas Film associated events. After enquiring, the only thing I have been told is that I have 'burnt too many bridges between Lucas Film and myself' - no other reason given...I have also been advised by the promoter of Paris Manga in September that LFL (Lucas Film Limited) have requested no photo opportunities with the 501 Squadron, even though I am commander in chief of the 501"

Prowse was told by Lucas' representatives that the Star Wars films never made a profit, so he isn't owed a penny.

Link via reddit | Image: /Film

(YouTube Link)

TomTom is a GPS navigation system for cars that verbalizes directions for drivers. The company now offers Yoda, Darth Vader, and C-3P0 voices. The above video shows Yoda in the recording studio, giving the sound engineers a hard time. At the link, you can listen to Vader doing likewise.

http://starwars.tomtom.com/voices/index-starwars.php?Lid=1 via technabob

Wow! We've had more than seventy responses to our first caption contest. Let's see who won: http://www.neatorama.com/neatogeek/2010/07/07/caption-contest/.

Wolf Gnards has tacked his ninety-five theses -- well, five, anyway -- to the cathedral door. He addresses, at length, five problems that he says plague the comic book industry. Among them is the proliferation of parallel universes in DC:

I'm just not a fan, I guess I'm a one universe kind of guy. The multiverse to me is the ultimate example of covering bad writing with more bad writing. The overuse of the mulitverse is a big problem with DC Comics in particular. Just thinking about Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, Crisis Crisis, Crisis of the Stars, Crisis in the Crisis: The Final Infinitude, all make me want to tear my eyes out. The problem with DC is that they give their writers almost free reign over their titles (Marvel writers are kept on very short leash), the results are some great comics and many continuity errors. After a while so many continuity errors start to pile up that the DC universe becomes unmanageable, and time for a little spring cleaning, which brings us to the multiverse. Instead of correcting problems with good story telling, they choose a convenient magic wand approach. Basically, every comic book is part of some multiple DC universe, and after a nice convoluted miniseries, all these universes get parred down into one universe. Poof, story fixed. But, of course, a couple of years later they always have to wave the magic wand again.

Wolfie also objects to variant covers, the lingering effects of the Comics Code Authority, the resurrection of dead characters, and everyone imitating Alan Moore.

So what's your beef with comics? What, if anything, bothers you about the way modern comics are produced?

Link | Image: DC

deviantART user deankotz comes up with a great pairing. But given their temperaments, I see Batman and Donkey Kong as, ultimately, natural allies. Perhaps that'll come in a later issue.

Link via Albotas

(YouTube Link)

YouTube user io9er changed the opening credits to Firefly to look like the show had been made in the 1980s, complete with 2D black computer graphing and freeze-frames as each actor appears.

It reminds me of the intro to Airwolf.

via Sci Fi Wire

College Humor takes a look at what video games would be like if they had a really, really easy mode. It gets increasingly and deliciously absurd. The Wii Fitness bit is the best.

Kick-Ass is about a teenager who decides to become a superhero. So he makes a costume and goes out on the streets, looking for trouble. In Columbia, Tennessee, one college student took up the path and now calls himself The Viper:

In a town where they've engraved "justice" and "honor" on the public square, a new word, a new name is the talk of Columbia.

Bike shop owner A.C. Howell says "the Viper, I believe. Isn’t he the Masked Viper?"

Yes, the Viper. He's a man police found patrolling the public square with an arsenal of equipment, including plastic sticks and ninja throwing stars. His goal? Find crime and report it to police. Officers spotted him outside the wheel last week.

Video at the link. I recently saw Kick-Ass, and OMG it was awesome and terrible at the same time. I mean, I kind of have a problem with a movie that features a twelve-year old girl swearing so profusely. The character and social development of a child was warped in order to make a movie. But that serious misgiving aside, it was fantastic, especially the clever soundtracking (e.g. Elvis singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") and the amazing action scenes. Have you seen it? Did you like it?

Link via Nerd Bastards | Image: Fox 45

Last month, I posted at Neatorama about a company selling hand held lasers that looked a lot like a lightsaber. Wicked Lasers insisted that any resemblance between its product and that of the Star Wars weapon was purely coincidental:

Steve Liu, CEO of Wicked Lasers, said his 7-year-old company has been selling similar lasers for years and has never compared the product to the Jedi weapon wielded by Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and others in the "Star Wars" franchise.

"Most people feel it's kind of ridiculous ...," he said. "We would never use any comparison like that to 'Star Wars' or a lightsaber or anything like that."

Naturally, this aroused the anger of George Lucas:

Lucasfilm Ltd. has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hong Kong-based Wicked Lasers, threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series or stop selling it altogether.

"It is apparent from the design of the Pro Arctic Laser that it was intended to resemble the hilts of our lightsaber swords, which are protected by copyright ... ," said the letter, dated last month and provided to CNN by Wicked Lasers.

What do you think? Is it really modeled after a lightsaber?

Link via Geekosystem | Image: Wicked Lasers

(YouTube Link)

Patrick Biovin’s "AT-AT Day Afternoon", about an AT-AT that behaves like a dog, was a hit viral video. It even inspired someone to dress his real dog as an AT-AT and reenact the film.

The above video is a behind-the-scenes look at how Biovin did it. The opening scene is especially adorable: a toddler addresses the AT-AT as a dog and pets it.

via CrunchGrear

(YouTube Link)

This is the official video for "On and On", a song about Wolverine by geek rock band Kirby Krackle. Here's a selection from the lyrics, which you can read in the notes at the YouTube link.

A stack of lives I hardly know
Look in my mind a window pane blurry
These claws I have unmistakable
I always heal but I never stop hurting

I have no past, no sense of time
No safe place here and no finish line
I've put more loves in to the ground
Than any man can say he's found, here
And questioning everything inside
Has brought me now, to here, this is my life

via Great White Snark | Band Website

(YouTube Link)

In this great clip, clearly from a convention, Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner do a comedy routine about when Shatner stole Nimoy's bicycle. Several times. And then chained it to a fire hydrant. Nimoy's point? "This is not a nice guy."

via reddit

Of all toys that could be used to represent the TARDIS, the Rubik's Cube is a pretty choice, if you think about it. It was made by deviantART user Kesley Kopecky, who made it with custom stickers. She provides the images, so that you can make your own, too.

Link

(YouTube Link)

YouTube user sillof is remaking A New Hope using toys and impressive dioramas that he built. He took out the dialogue and left just John Williams' score and the sound effects. So think of it as something like an old silent movie that would be accompanied by a piano. He writes:

This a movie that I made featuring my custom figures and dioramas. It basically uses some rudimentary stop motion and "puppeteering".

It is meant to showcase my dioramas and custom figures. I basically shot it a little at a time after my family went to bed. I will be posting it over the coming weeks in small incriments.

I purposely left out the dialogue, it would have made the project too long. I felt by cutting the dialogue it allowed it to move at a quicker pace. I did use sound effects and music to capture the feeling.

via Geek Tyrant