Ooh, Shiny!

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

ActionMovieKid’s Awesome Adventures

Eppu

ActionMovieKid is a terrific YouTube channel that I just discovered. It’s run by ActionMovieDad (also known as Hashi), who does the videos mostly with Adobe After Effects. He writes of how the channel came to be:

“My 4-year-old kid is awesome. He gets into some epic situations which remind me that life is an adventure. Now his sister’s getting into the action too. Buckle up.”

Below are my current favorites. They’re all really short, but there are many neat longer compilations, too.

Toy Lightsaber by ActionMovieKid

Get in the Boat! by Action Movie Kid

Scary Bridge by Action Movie Kid

3-Year-Old with a Real Portal Gun by Action Movie Kid

It’s so great when adults take kids seriously enough to immerse themselves into their adventures. And I especially love how well Hashi incorporates his kid’s expressions into the videos.

P.S. ActionMovieKid is also on Facebook and on Twitter.

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Computer Issues (SATW Style)

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I’ve been having computer issues on and off for a couple of months now, so my part of the posting here will continue to be lighter than normal until they’re resolved.

It’s not all bad, though: whenever my computer has been acting up really bad, I pretty reliably end up returning to one particularly brilliant Scandinavia and the World comic.

SATW Computer Technician Snippet

The character in the snippet above is Brother Finland. As a fellow Finn, I feel his pain (especially when Brother Sweden – of all people! – walks in and fixes the computer with a touch). And usually I then end up reading more SATW, which is a great stress relief.

Image: Computer Technician, detail of a Scandinavia and the World comic by Humon

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Two Star Wars Tributes in the Style of James Bond and Top Gun

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Serendipity delivers again: in today’s online reading there were links to two gorgeous and skillfully made Star Wars video tributes. One is made to Spectre by Radiohead in the style of James Bond opening credits.

Star Wars – Episode V “The Empire Strikes Back” Homage (Title Sequence) by KROFL

The Empire Strikes Back Homage is designed, directed, and produced by Kurt Rauffer. The other, by Weston Wong, mashes up SW with Kenny Loggin’s Danger Zone from the movie Top Gun.

Star Wars – Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins by Weston Wong

Uh oh, now I have 80s movie music in my head… 🙂

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Five Captain America: Civil War Clips

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Marvel UK’s YouTube selection includes these five Captain America: Civil War clips that I hadn’t seen before. The first includes snippets from interviews with the movie’s main actresses (Scarlett Johansson, Emily VanCamp, and Elizabeth Olsen).

Captain America: Civil War – In Good Company by Marvel UK

Yay, Sharon Carter / Agent 13!

The second has interview snippets with Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., and the Russo Brothers.

Captain America: Civil War – Brothers In Arms | HD by Marvel UK

Captain America: Civil War – Right To Choose | HD by Marvel UK

Captain America: Civil War – New Recruit | HD by Marvel UK

Captain America: Civil War – The Team Vs Bucky clip | HD UK by Marvel UK

We’ve been in blackout mode, avoiding anything spoilery like the plague. Alasdair Stuart’s Civil War review for Tor.com doesn’t include spoilers, so I did read that one. After tonight, I don’t have to hold back anymore. 🙂

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Unreal Elwynn Forest

Erik

Elwynn Forest is the starting zone for humans in World of Warcraft, a sun-dappled wood with little villages and outposts. Like a lot of other players, I have fond memories of leveling up some of my first characters through Elwynn. Here are a couple of screenshots from in game of what the area looks like.

160502inn160502farmNow, feast your eyes on Daniel L’s gorgeous and detailed reconstruction of the zone using the Unreal Engine 4:

Elwynn Forest in Unreal 4: Update 2 by Daniel L

Post edited for formatting

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Rogue One Trailer

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The first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is out!

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Official Teaser Trailer by Star Wars

I’m delighted to see Felicity Jones cast as a protagonist. I enjoyed her performances as The Unicorn in Doctor Who (season 4, episode 7, “The Unicorn and the Wasp”) and as Catherine Morland in the 2007 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. According to IMDB, also Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, and Mads Mikkelsen are among the cast. Mikkelsen seems to have been busy with genre roles lately – first Doctor Strange and now Rogue One.

Rogue One is the first in a series of spinoffs outside the episodic Star Wars core collectively known as the Star Wars Anthology Series. If this trailer is anything to go by, the series should be a lot of fun.

At this writing, the release date is set to December 16, 2016. Can’t wait!

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Hadrian’s Wall… In Legos!

Erik

Brick to the Past is a British Lego-building group that bases their creations on historical landscapes and architecture. One of their builds from last year was inspired by Hadrian’s Wall. The layout combines a stretch of wall, a Roman fortress and town, a milecastle (one of the fortified gateways placed at one-mile intervals), and a native village.

Hadrian's Wall by Brick to the Past
Hadrian’s Wall by Brick to the Past

The buildings are full of delightful details and clever Legosmithing, like the use of a cogwheel over the main door of the bathhouse to represent the wild-haired head that was often associated with springs and baths in Roman Britain, like this fine example from Aquae Sulis (present-day Bath).

The bathhouse by Brick to the Past
The bathhouse by Brick to the Past
Pediment from Aquae Sulis
Pediment from Aquae Sulis, detail of photograph by Velvet via Wikimedia (Bath; 1st c. CE; stone)

Hadrian would be proud. Here’s a picture of the original, from Milecastle 37. They do kind of look like Legos, don’t they?

Milecastle 37, photograph by Erik Jensen
Milecastle 37, photograph by Erik Jensen

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Love & Friendship Trailer

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A movie version of Jane Austen’s never-before-adapted epistolary novel Lady Susan is coming out in a few weeks (released on May 13), and the trailer is finally here.

Love & Friendship TRAILER 1 (2016) – Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel Movie HD via Movieclips Coming Soon

I’ve been waiting for it for a long time without any real idea of what it’ll be like, as I’ve never even heard of the writer / director Whit Stillman before. It looks absolutely hilarious! Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan seems perfect in every way; I’m also looking forward to seeing more of Jemma Redgrave, James Fleet, and Stephen Fry. Can’t wait! Fansquee!

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Native American Style Mainstream Genre Icons

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Jeffrey Veregge, an artist and member of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington state, makes positively fantastic versions of mainstream genre icons like superheroes, movie characters, Transformers, aliens, and the like.

Jeffrey Veregge Early-Bird
Early Bird by Jeffrey Veregge

Veregge himself says of his work:

“This site, the work that is seen on it is a reflection of a lifetime love affair with comic books, toys, TV and film. Taking my passions and blending them with my Native perspective, artistic background and the desire to simply be me. Basically I am just trying to have fun and get back to that kid that went to art school to begin with, wanting to create artwork that I want to see and make just for the hell of it.”

Jeffrey Veregge Shield-Logo
Shield by Jeffrey Veregge

Several of his designs would make fantastic fabric prints, like this Flash-inspired one, for example:

Jeffrey Veregge scarlet-blurr
Scarlet Blurr by Jeffrey Veregge (2012)

If there was a fabric Flash version, I’d use it for pencil cases, zipper travel pouches, or a table cloth. Or maybe tall, tall shades with a wide border on the bottom; that would look really striking.

Visit Veregge’s home page for more!

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Mariachi Cover of Star Wars: Episode IV Throne Room Theme

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Did you know there’s a band dedicated to making mariachi-style covers of video game and pop culture themes? I didn’t, until today. And, boy, Mariachi Entertainment System is brilliant! Here is just one of their recent productions: the throne room theme from the end of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope:

Star Wars – Mariachi Cover – The Throne Room by Mariachi Entertainment System

That really works! Visit their YouTube channel for more videos.

(Don’t you just love the Internet for finding new, cool stuff!?)

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.