Star Wars: Retold (By Someone Who Hasn’t Seen It)

Thanks to my friends at Schadenfreude for introducing me to this gem. So funny!

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Star Wars Figures that Didn't Make the Cut

"The Force." A box of nothing. A ha ha ha!

From McMorran.

Another ChUC Podcast: Nerd Passion Becomes Rage

From Tuesday night. This is also up on Vocalo, and I spent enough time editing out all the f*bombs that it should be eligible for radio play.

"Post-comedy show chatter is a always a mishmash, but at Chicago Underground Comedy, there are always a lot of passionate nerdy discussions. In this segment: "Lost" theories -- the little-explored "WWII doom scientists" backstory, the "accelerated psychic abilities" theory, who cares who kisses Kate? Jared Logan, Ricky Carmona, and Elizabeth McQuern love Star Trek, but Dan Telfer thinks the hot Borg chick is called "7, 8, 9," and can't get into things his parents were nerds about -- but was still scared by Dr. Who "garbage bags with lizard masks." Jared thinks Star Trek beats Star Wars by a mile. All agree that the final three Star Wars movies ruined the first three. Jared describes George Lucas as a "P.T. Barnum, Henry Ford, anti-semitic piece of crap." And no, the recording isn't skipping, there were lots of f*bombs that needed to be edited out. These are comedians, people."
(6 minutes, 43 seconds - click here to listen.)

Pondering Referrals

Haven't done this in awhile. Let's look at my most recent search engine match referrals, and scratch our collective head in amused puzzlement. In chronological order, starting with the most recent:

quark's mother moogie - Yay. A Star Trek reference. So much for all my cool points.

picture of a man picking his nose - So highbrow.

swaziland reed dance pictures - Have I been there? I don't think so.

Elizabeth McQuern - Hi!

pterodactyl farm comedy - Did I write about this? Someone should. That sounds like comedy gold.

coffee made from lemurs - Don't let Starbucks know about this.

recently-disgraced Harvard - This reminds me. One of my life goals is to someday see my name in newsprint, preceded by the phrase "recently disgraced."

rustbelt memorabilia - that one's for you, Prego!

indoor rocketship playground - I don't know what this is, but I want one.

"You've Got to Jump Off Cliffs and Build Your Wings on the Way Down."

Some of my older brothers were big science fiction fans, and classics from Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Douglas Adams, and, of course, Ray Bradbury were a part of my reading environment since before I can remember. One day last week I finally got my Illinois driver's license and Chicago Public Library card. Of course one of the first books I nabbed off the shelves was sci-fi related - Sam Weller's biography of Ray Bradbury.

(I had the book with me the next day when I met a friend at a cafe. He picked it up and said "Hey, do you know Sam Weller? He's a nice guy!" Boy, is the world getting smaller.)

A lot of opportunities to do new things are coming my way these days*. It's so easy to immediately think: "I've never done this before. What makes me think I can do this?"

I conducted my first video interview with a local up-and-coming stand-up comedian this week. (When it's edited, it will be here.) Afterwards we had a drink and chatted more about his creative experiences. He talked about making a snap decision to move temporarily to New York earlier this year, where his career and art took a quantum leap. "I didn't even know where I was going to stay until I got there," he said.

"If you waited until you had every detail taken care of, you'd never go," I said, speaking to both him and myself.

I thought about the Bradbury book again. "You've got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down."

(Interview with Weller here. Collection of Bradbury quotes here. And more here.)

*I'm working on some stuff that will be published in Jargon Chicago. Neat-o.