Nerdity
ELF SABERS: Two elves enter, one elf leaves!
Last month I had lunch with my friend Teal Sherer and she said she wanted to make a lightsaber battle video. She asked if I was interested in doing it with her, and I said something along the lines of “HELL yes!!!” Thanks to the fight coordination and direction of America Young, the idea took shape very quickly… and I’m so happy that I can finally show you “ELF SABERS“!
Be sure to check out Comediva for other wonderfully funny videos, and some behind the scenes photos of our ELF SABERS shoot. And, happy holidays, everyone!!!
In case you missed me on Framerate…
I was a guest on TWiT‘s Framerate this week thanks to the suggestion of the show’s wonderful hosts Tom Merritt and Brian Brushwood! We discussed the online video industry, the future of television distribution, and the TV shows and movies we’ve been watching. Thanks to Tom, Brian, and producer Jason Howell for having me on!
Sci-Fi Movies for the Unsuspecting Non-Sci-Fi Fan
After seeing a few exceptional trailers (1, 2, 3) for Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, starring Kirsten Dunst, I started to think about all the sci-fi movies that mask themselves as a different genre altogether.
One of my favorite movies of all time is Repo Man. With taglines like “Let’s do some crimes!” and “…It’s 4 A.M., do you know where your car is?”, it’s hard for most people to even imagine that it’s a sci-fi movie. Yet, one of my favorite alien theories came from this film – see video below to hear Miller’s theory on time travel and aliens:
Another one of these unsuspecting sci-fi films is Dude, Where’s My Car? After seeing countless commercials portraying it as a stoner comedy, who would’ve known that it was actually a pretty decent sci-fi movie? I didn’t go see it in the movie theater, and was NOT the one who selected it as a rental, but was mind-blowingly surprised when it had more to it than mindless idiocy.
So there you go, two unsuspecting, but entertaining little sci-fi movies for you to add to your Netflix queue… because if you haven’t seen them yet, you need to. Well, at least Repo Man. ;)
Are there any other English language films that I should add to this list? Let me know in the comments… I’m genuinely interested.
My 1st Internet Pseudonym
I love hearing stories about how people came up with their first internet pseudonym. It tells a lot about a person, especially when the pseudonyms are really nerdy.
My first pseudonym came from watching a lot of Star Trek: Voyager. When I was living in Edinburgh between 1997-1999, I trained in a martial art called Kuk Sool Won. My instructor Master Don Mackenzie used popular TV and movie quotes to motivate us; with many of his references coming from Highlander, Star Trek, and various superhero movies. In Star Trek: Voyager episode Drone, a Borg drone is created after a transporter incident that fuses the Doctor’s mobile emitter with some of Seven of Nine’s nanoprobes. During the course of the episode the drone asks for a designation, but since Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway are encouraging him to embrace his individuality, he selects the name One. Soon after that episode aired, Master Don started teasing/motivating me by calling me “One of One.” I loved it.
When I finally went to register my first email address I tried to get oneofone, but someone had already taken it. As they do, Yahoo suggested I add a number to the username to make it unique. So what number did I add? 5618, the Borg designation for the human species. After that, oneofone5618 was born! :P
So what was your first internet pseudonym, and what was the story behind it?
Writing for Comics
I’m not a comic writer, but I might be someday. Recently I’ve been bookmarking sites and tutorials to learn script formatting for the medium, and I’ve noticed quite a few of my writer friends who are interested in branching out to comics, but are used to writing for TV and film. If you share this interest and want to learn more about writing for comics, here are the links I’ve been sharing amongst friends*:
- Book: Writers on Comics Scriptwriting, Vol. 1
- Blog post: How Do You Write A Comic Script?
- Example scripts: The Comic Book Script Archive
I also find Greg Rucka‘s latest webcomic Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether interesting and worth checking out. Beneath each new post, Rucka publishes the original script and provides a wonderful look behind the scenes at the process that goes into producing the comic.
If you have other resources or feedback that will help other aspiring comic writers, please share them in the comments below!
*Update: Some awesome people have tipped me on a couple of other helpful resources for learning how to format comic scripts – Final Draft template for comics (thanks Jason Bergman!), and Dark Horse’s script format guidelines (thanks Chris A. Bolton!).
Unintentional Tech-Hipster… :/
Every once in a while I post a photo of myself taken in the mirror using my iPhone… and every time I do it, someone new comments on one of two things:
- “Holy sh!t you got engaged?!” (No… the photo was obviously taken in a mirror, look again.)
- “Holy sh!t you’re still using a first-gen iPhone?!!!” (Yes… yes, I am.)
2007 was a big year for me; I got a first-generation iPhone (EDGE), a first-generation Apple TV, and an XBox 360 Pro. It felt like I was finally living in the future (minus the flying cars, of course).
The day I got my iPhone EDGE I knew I would never need another phone ever again… unless it broke. For years I stuck by my iPhone EDGE while the world around me upgraded three times, and on that third time Apple ceased to update my software. I was devastated because my phone still worked perfectly, but since Apple refused to update first-gen iPhones to the 4.0 software I suddenly lost the ability to use many apps and purchase new ones. At this point in time, I mostly just use Mail, Twitter, and Words With Friends (all of which are a bit wonky since I’m still using 3.0 software). Last year I considered upgrading to an iPhone 4, but decided to wait out of spite for Apple… but this year, as my software gets slower and slower, after dropping my iPhone on the ground (causing a leak that affects my screen), and after hearing rumors that the iPhone 5 will have kick ass photo capabilities, I’m first in line for it’s release.
As for my Apple TV, it’s mostly fazed out at this point. I rarely need to buy or rent shows on iTunes since I now have Netflix on my XBox 360. In fact, I’m so excited for Live TV to come to XBox so I can cancel my cable. I just hope my 4-year old XBox 360 lasts that long… especially since the new XBox is not expected until 2014.
*Sigh*
Oh well… hopefully I’ll be less of a tech-hipster by the time autumn rolls around. Hopefully.
More Klout, Less Significance
Earlier this year I was really interested in Klout, a site that measures your online influence by connecting with your social networks. Initially the site worked only with Twitter, but in early March Klout started connecting their profiles with Facebook as well. After liking how Klout measured Twitter influence, I gave their Facebook interface a try. Sadly, once I allowed the Klout app on Facebook, it turned out that they only measured influence on my personal profile (a place I don’t strive to be influential at all) and didn’t give me any choice to connect my Facebook Like page. Upon learning this I tweeted to them unsuccessfully and later sent them an email to ask when they would start measuring influence on Like pages. Their response:
Thanks for your feedback. Connecting Facebook Pages is something we’re already looking in to, but there is no definite timeline for that yet. However, I agree with you that Page integration is the next logical step especially when you think of it from a branding perspective!
This satisfied me for about a minute.
Now, almost five months later, they still haven’t managed to integrate Facebook Like pages and we’re seeing the site integrate more social networks like LinkedIn and FourSquare. [Facepalm] Really?! Hasn’t LinkedIn become spammy enough…? And FourSquare? What kind of clout does one get from posting their location?
“…it’s what you do that defines you.” – Batman Begins
Klout went from claiming to be the authority on online influence, to making their site into more of a social game about increasing your score. While self-acclaimed “social media gurus” work to increase their scores, there is no reason why actual celebrities would connect their personal Facebook profiles and FourSquare accounts… do you think they want the Paparazzi knowing where they are and what they’re doing at all times? Why, then, would they be active on FourSquare at all! Instead of increasing their online influence, adding these types of social networks to the site would only increase their creepy stalkers.
If I worked at Klout, I would be working on integrating Facebook Like pages, and Google+ profiles. If you’re listening, Klout employees, take note… and get to work.
The Haunted Broadsword returns to NSFW!
In case you missed it, I was on this week’s episode of NSFW on TWiT, where I represented the tiny percentage of ladies on Google+ (not to be confused with the percentage of tiny ladies on Google+ to which I am also a representative).
Check it out and spread the word… Fridays are now for inviting ladies to Google+! It shall be known as “Fem Friday” and we shall end the sausage fest! So say we all!!!
Come meet me at Comic-Con!
Good news, kids! It’s official… my ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining co-stars and I will be on a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. Be sure to add us to your Friday schedule and come say hi!
8:00-9:00 ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining from the Woods to the Web— Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining as they examine the changing landscape of fan fiction, social media, and the web. Moderator and cast member Taryn Southern (Battle: Los Angeles) chats with creators Paula Rhodes (A Good Knight’s Quest) and Stephanie Thorpe (Gold: Night of the Zombie King) about their initial Twitter inspiration, their crowdsourcing campaign, and the overwhelming fan response. Wendy and Richard Pini (ElfQuest creators) will be sharing exclusive, never-before-seen ElfQuest art and news from the eagerly anticipated Final Quest. Meet cast members Cathy Baron (In Time), Jamie Blair (What’s Trending), Traycee King (He’s Just Not That Into You), Casey McKinnon (A Comicbook Orange), Shannon Nelson (Drop Dead Gorgeous), Taryn O’Neill (Compulsions), Jessica Rose (Lonelygirl15), and Shanrah Wakefield (Oz Girl). One lucky audience member will win a pair of Pini-autographed elf ears from the production! Room 4
Hope to see you! Let me know in the comments if you can make it. :)
