Don't get me wrong, we're almost as happy as the next man that Spider-Man is getting his long overdue day in the sun this year, but it's not enough. The Thanksgiving Day parade we'd want to be watching would have to include some of the following:

A Yoda Balloon
To be honest, we have no idea how this hasn't happened already. If ever there was a fictional character more suitable for translating into giant inflatable form that isn't named Pikachu or Snoopy, we'd like to meet them. It's not like Star Wars isn't popular enough, or that George Lucas doesn't have the Clone Wars TV show to promote. Why hasn't this happened yet?

A Partially-Deflated Superman Balloon
Because who doesn't want to see more of this?

A Brock Samson Balloon
Yeah, you heard us. And he can be pulled by lots of people dressed as the Monarch's henchmen. Admittedly, this may just be part of our Venture Bros-filled dream lives that would also include a Venture musical, complete with singing Hank and Dean and Nathan Lane as Phantom Limb. But until then, we can comfort ourselves with the dream of a giant, mulleted balloon of black t-shirt-wearing pain smoking and floating throughout the streets of a cold New York November morning, terrifying evildoers and NBC announcers alike.

Scenes From The Spider-Man Musical Being Performed In Front Of Macy's For An Unenthusiastic Audience
Just as every year's parade features special guests from the latest Broadway hit miming a song from their show while jumping about trying to desperately keep warm, why not give everyone a chance to see what U2 and Julie Taymor have cooked up for the perpetually-troubled Spider-Man musical Turn Off The Dark, thereby convincing everyone once and for all that Arena Rock and outsider superheroes really isn't a good fit after all. After all, given all the troubles the production has gone through already, this kind of performance may be the only time anyone will see anything from the show.

Stargate Universe Float
This is another no-brainer. What better way for the newest Stargate to win over new audiences than with a float filled with cast members to sum up what the series is all about? This is what I picture: The float itself looks like a scale version of the Destiny, with Scott and Chloe having sex on one side, Rush and Eli looking at computer screens and frowning, before Young walks up and shouts at them, leaving TJ to one side, looking on concerned. At the back of the float, Greer can look crazy and shoot his gun in the air, and somewhere, Camille can have multiple showers because that's what she seems to do if last Friday's two shower scenes are anything to go by. How could that not make everyone want to tune in on a regular basis?

Make those changes, and all it'd take would be the addition of Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell as replacement Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieiras (with Mark Sheppard taking the Al Roker wandering reporter role, of course; he has to be in everything, after all), and the show would be perfect. Well, for us, anyway. What changes would you need to make you have to tune in?

Vader's fellow Sith Lord, Darth Mojo, has been posting about the process of developing these ancient Cylons at his blog It's fascinating that the designers' first stabs at a 2000-year-old Cylon centurion wound up looking so Vader-esque. Actually, I've been seeing ads around San Francisco for a Samurai art show recently, and the Samurai helmets really do look like Vader's, especially when glimpsed from the corner of your eye.

Drolet ended up losing the side flaps, so the helmet looked more Cylon and less Sith:

It's well worth reading the full article, which includes more pics of the ancient Cylons and some Samurai reference art, plus more insights into the designers' creative process. [Darth Mojo]

Sure, sure you can argue that it's merely the traditional "coming of age" hero tale, but you can't deny some of the obvious similarities. While we're on the topic of brilliant internet videos, we'd be wrong not to mention Piano Cat vs. Spiderman....

This is why we love the internet. Where else can you see one terribly costumed Spiderman get played off by a fancy-jacketed piano-playing cat? I dare you not to laugh.
[ via Geekologie]

CAPRICA:
I still haven't watched it.
And by the way? I didn't want your stupid Zune anyways, my Sansa works just fine.



STAR TREK:
Lens flares, clever creative enhancement or blinding nuissance? Discuss.

Seriously though, I am really excited for this film. The ship looks awesome.

New Kirk, Old Kirk, Picard etc... Who's the best captain? Keep in mind, Janeway never put srtipper poles in the shuttlecraft.



THE ROAD:
Well, the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" finally got a more secure release date. It had been held up for some retooling after the test screenings decided that it was entirely way too dark and depressing to be released in its current form.
So the studio put their best minds behind it and problem solved! Now it's a story of a father and son in a post apocalyptic wasteland looking for salvation while on the run from cannibalistic marauders, but they're aided by a giant cartoon bear named Rhoadie who's as loveable as he is clumsy. Watch as they get into any number of crazy misadventures. From Rhoadie scaring off bad guys to the time when they all wake up in a fallout shelter and Rhoadie accidentally eats all the food while he's dreaming. UH OH! Here is a shot from the improved film where Rhoadie is trying to catch up to his buddies.


SUPERDORKS:
So it's decided. The unchecked goodie-goodieness of these pathetic fools wedged into bike shorts who call themselves "Superheroes" is about to be thrown back into their face! The police can handle muggers and bleeding heart liberals can feed homeless people. These sods want to be Superheroes?! How can one be a Superhero without a Super-Villain as their Arch-nemesis!!! I call on you io9ers.. join me and my organization as we reduce these comic-store rejects to whimpering piles of goo on their city streets and the basements of their mothers.

Join R.O.A.C.H. (thanks to NefariousNewt for the Acronym) to fulfill your villainous destiny! Plus, how can you say no to a logo like that, especially after you look at their website. The only thing super about that, is that it's super shitty.

DISASTER:
Oh guys... Wolverine has a confession.



Alright, have a good week, stay frosty.

GarrisonDean's real name is not GarrisonDean and he once went to college.

Countdown - plotted by the movie's Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and scripted by Tim Jones and Mike Johnson from Orci and Kurtzman's production company - doesn't just set up next month's JJ Abrams-led reboot in style (complete with great art by David Messina); it also offers what may be the final canonical Next Generation story, as well, and it's one that satisfies even without knowing that a movie was coming out to follow it.

The series is really an introduction to Nero, the Romulan who'll rewrite history in the movie. What Countdown gives us is the reason why he does that, as well as make you feel some sympathy and empathy for how he ended up the way we'll see him in theaters a month from now. It's not a small-scale origin, however; it takes the destruction of the planet Romulus - and the death of his wife and unborn son - to turn the good-willed miner into the tattooed villain we've seen in trailers and posters, and it's a destruction that may have been averted had things not been the way they were... leading to his desire to change the universe in grander - and, in a way, much smaller - ways than saving his planet.

His ally in trying to save the planet is Spock, at this point the Federation's ambassador to Romulus and - in a nice allusion to Superman's origin - a scientist who warns of the planet's destruction ahead of time, only to be ignored by the powers that be. When Spock and Nero try to take matters into their own hands to save the planet, they run into the Enterprise (now being commanded by Captain Data), as well as Jean-Luc Picard and Geordi La Forge, both living surprising new lives outside of ongoing starship missions. When Romulus is destroyed, midway through the story, we get to see Nero's transformation into the movie's big bad, as well as the way that brings him into conflict with another familar face, Worf, now fully a Klingon warrior.

Ignoring the movie tie-in altogether, this would still be an enjoyable series; the story feels appropriately epic, with characterization that's spot-on to the Enterprise crew(s) that we know and love and shout-outs to Trek past that aren't self-important or pull you out of the plot (The Romulans have retro-fitted Borg technology to create their ultimate battleship, for example). Even the ending, which very clearly sets up the movie, could be taken at face value as a conclusion complete in and of itself (Spock and Nero's ship disappear into a singularity and are presumed dead by the Enterprise crew who watched it happen). The series doesn't just make you want to see the Star Trek movie, it also makes you want to read more Star Trek comics if they'll be as good as this one.

Star Trek: Countdown's collection edition is released this Wednesday, and the individual issues are available in comic stores and at iTunes right now.

The upcoming movie industry tradeshow - during which, movie theater owners will see previews of this summer's blockbusters, courtesy of studios eager to impress and gain buzz - will recognize Pine as an upcoming star during its March 30th through April 2nd run in Las Vegas, according to the Hollywood Reporter. ShoWest co-managing director Mitch Neuhauser told the paper,

ShoWest has a history of recognizing major talents at the very earliest points in their rising careers... Pine's impressive skills on the screen and stage will be sure to be showcased with his performance as Captain Kirk.

The potentially ironic recognition for a man staking his career on a revival of a 40-year old franchise will come during a banquet on April 2nd. Star Trek will be released in theaters May 8th.

ShoWest to honor 'Star Trek's' Chris Pine [Hollywood Reporter]

To celebrate the final passing of SGA the Sci Fi Channel is running a week long marathon.

Monday:

The Stargate Atlantis marathon takes flight on Monday, beginning with Season 2 from 8 AM until 4 PM on the Sci Fi Channel.

Movies:
Fox FX has a great selection o' scifi tonight. Watch urinary tracts get healed with the mere wave of an inmate's hand in The Green Mile at 4:30 PM, followed with the rather unfortunate The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at 8 PM. To top it all off, there is an 11 PM showing of Spawn.

Tuesday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 2 and 3 Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 6 PM.

The Universe -

Find out your chances for getting crushed by a world-ending asteroid here on Earth, in this week's The Universe on The History Channel at 9 PM.

Movies:

A three-and-a-half-hour version of Superman Returns is on FX in HD, at 6:30 PM

Wednesday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 3 Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 6 PM

Thursday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 3 and 5 Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 8 PM.

Movies:

The sexiest video game vixen, Lara Croft, comes to life via Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life on TBS at 10 PM. How insanely hot would it be to have a Resident Evil Alice-versus-Lara Croft fight, and who would win? (It would have to be Alice from the first movie to keep it interesting.)

Friday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 5 is on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 6 PM.

Stargate Atlantis -
The final episode of Stargate Atlantis "Enemy At The Gate" brings a lot of old faces back to Atlantis to try and stop an invading Wraith Hive from getting into the Milky Way Galaxy and taking over Earth. Team up, SGA and make us proud, this is your last episode ever...until the made for TV movies sometime in the future.

Clips From The Final Episode Of Stargate Atlantis:














SGA Promo:





Batman The Brave And The Bold -
"Enter The Outsiders" pits Batman against a bunch of punk kids, and Wildcat comes along for the ride. The cartoon is on 8 PM on the Cartoon Network

Star Wars Clone Wars -
"The Gungan General" is a Jar Jar Binks-centric episode, mixed with a little chain gang runaway action. Hey, at least Obi-Wan is as unhappy about being around Jar Jar as I am. The next episode is on 9 PM on the Cartoon Network.

Clone Wars Promo





Sanctuary -

This week on the Amanda Tapping-and-monsters show, it's the second part of the "Revelations" two-parter, where Henry and Ashley are held captive by the evil Cabal. Find out if they make it out alive at 9 PM on the Sci Fi Channel.

Saturday:

Movies:

Adam Sandler in a gimmick movie — say what? Click the movie where Christopher Walken hands Sandler a remote control to his LIFE, which of course teaches us all a valuable lesson about something or another. Click is on Fox FX at 5:30 PM.

Here's A Trailer With Kate Beckinsale In Tiny Shorts:





But if that's not heartstringy enough for you. ABC family is showing Practical Magic at 8:30 PM. It's full of midnight all-girl margarita table dancing madness, and witch women Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. I think it's like a rule from the 90s that if you made a movie with a predominantly female cast, you had to have a scene where they all danced around a table.





Sunday:

Movies: Let Wesley Snipes show you how it's possible for vampires to walk in the daylight and get hideous hair cuts. Blade II and Blade Trinity is on TNT at 3:30 and 5:30 PM.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Leeloo from The 5th Element:

Milla Jovovich's character is the savior of the whole planet, and you can tell just from looking at her wrist. And of course, her dotted markings also match the markings on the movie's ever-important stones.

Tattoo From Elektra

Chris Ackerman's character's colorful belly buddies could come alive, off of his skin, and do a lot of damage. Obviously he's not the only tattoed man with powers. There's a Green Lantern villain, the Tattooed Man, who's a classic. We may actually be seeing Abel Tarrant the Tattooed Man in the Green Arrow's new flix Supermax

Fox from Wanted

Even though Angelina Jolie was pretty tatted up before playing the role of hottie assassin in Wanted, she added on even more wordy tattoos to her arms, hands and back. Guess which ones are real.

The vampire tat from Blade.

I think that if I ever saw someone with the familiar tattoo from the Blade movies we would become fast friends. While Wesley Snipes had some pretty serious shoulder markings around his upper half, nothing could beat the secret society "friends of the vampires" sign.

Enola from Waterworld

When the world is flooded and you spend your days on a boat drinking your own urine, look for the girl with the map on her back. The Japanese tattoo, that was NEVER explained, apparently held the key to dry land.

Scully from X Files

Scully gets a tattoo because she went through a thing, oh admit it Scully you're a bad girl at heart. Before finding out that her buddy's tattoo controlled his actions (photo above voiced by Jodie Foster no less) she got a Celtic Ouroboros slapped on her back. Here's video of Scully getting all inked up:

Lana Lang from Smallville

Lana's witchy tattoo connected her, not only to a bad lady with evil intentions, but to the Krypton Stones as well.

Jessica Sanders from Heroes

The symbol which plagues all the super humans is tattooed onto Jessica's back, and is half of the symbol of the evil company Pinehearst. Will the tattoo get its own plot line on Heroes?

Darth Maul from Star Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Before Darthy became an evil Sith he was just a red little fella, and then Sidious got his hands on him.

Chakotay from Star Trek Voyager

Noble Chakotay's face markings aren't explained until the "Tattoo" episode where you learn that others have the same style and design. Chakotay's tatts are to honor his father.

Rico Dizz And The Rest Of 'EmStarship Troopers

Because you're not really a bug killer unless you have a ridiculous tattoo, best part is during the futuristic laser branding scene they throw alcohol all over his freshly zapped skin, ha.

Denton Van Zan from Reign of Fire

Matthew McConaughey ridiculous dragon fighting attitudes were eclipsed only by his body armor of dragon tatts, he totally stole Clooney's look from Dusk Till Dawn.

Snake from Escape From New York

Fantastic character, terrible, horrible "snake in my pants" tattoo. How many times do you have to make the "do you want to see my trouser snake" joke, just for getting that tattoo?

Battlestar Galactica Love Tattoos

If I wasn't such a total wuss I would get Starbuck's and Anders' awesome "we're in love" tattoos tomorrow. Besides the fact that they are pretty beautiful, I love that they supposedly got them around the time of their wedding to represent love. The tattoo on the left however is from Gaeta! Who knew he had it in him.

The Doctor from Doctor Who

Jon Pertwee sported a cool tat in his first appearance as the Doctor — now do tattoos stay after you regenerate?

And no as much as I wanted to talk about Constantine, From Dusk Till Dawn and Harry Potter tattoos, they ain't scifi my friends. (Dusk Till Dawn's Clooney tattoo wins in that group btw). What's your favorite science fictional tattoo?

Produced by GITCorp, the DVD will include PDF versions of more than 500 different Star Trek comics from Gold Key's original 1967 series all the way through to DC/Wildstorm's early 21-century efforts (IDW and Tokyopop's more recent series won't be included, but are still in print for you to read the old-fashioned way):

Each issue is being scanned by the company, cover to cover, including all of the advertising, and stored in individual PDF archives. GITCorp is using an interface similar to their prior DVD comic collections to access the PDFs in the collection. The DVDs can be used on both Windows and Macintosh computers.

Putting together a collection spanning four decades has not been an easy task, especially due to the fact that Trek comics have been produced by so many different publishers over the years. According to Ray Pelosi from GITCorp, it has been a daunting to get all the comics and to sort out all the licensing issues required to bring it to market and he thanks CBS Products for all the help they provided to make it all happen.

As someone who still has a deep and abiding love for Peter David's run on the DC series in the early '90s, the idea of being able to re-read all of those issues (and try and get past by fear of Pablo Marcos' art on the Next Generation series of the same period) for $50 is more than a little tempting, I have to admit. Is it too late for me to start believing in Santa again?

TrekInk: First Look At Star Trek: The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD [TrekMovie]

From yesterday's Associated Press article, which described how NASA's Swift satellite caught the explosion on tape:

On Jan. 9, astronomers used a NASA X-ray satellite to spy on a star already well into its death throes, when another star in the same galaxy started to explode. The outburst was 100 billion times brighter than Earth's sun. The scientists were able to get several ground-based telescopes to join in the early viewing and the first results were published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

"A star exploded right before my eyes," lead author Alicia Soderberg, an astrophysics researcher at Princeton University, said Wednesday in a teleconference (emphasis ours).

She likened it to "winning the astronomy lottery. We caught the whole thing from start-to-finish on tape."