Dayton's Blog: A pimple on the ass of the Internet.

Saw this on SciFiWire.com:



I guess even Jack Bauer has limits.

30 years old today!

The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning....

It doesn't seem all that long ago that I, as a wide-eyed 12-year old lad, ventured to the theater to see the all-new adventure featuring my favorite heroes from the reruns on my black-and-white television. Other than the odd comic and Bantam novel or Fotonovel, all that I had back in the days before the film to feed my Trek addiction were the adventures I created with my Mego action figures and the AMT models I built. But, here we were in 1979, carrying our overpriced movie snacks into the theater to see the buffed-up, tricked-out, super-duper refit U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew, getting set to go where they really hadn't gone before.

Despite its flaws (which are numerous, in spite of the attempts to "fix" it), it remains a special part of my childhood Trek fandom. Not "I'm willing to get in a fistfight like that kid in Free Enterprise" special, but you get the idea.

(Besides, it does contain what I still consider to be the finest Trek film score to date.)

And in honor of this momentous event, I offer you this "special edition" from a point somewhere in the insomnia-curing mass that is the middle of the film....


(WARNING: AUDIO NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!)

Aw, yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Okay, this is pretty cool. What do you get when you mix equal parts original series Star Trek and a certain horror film from 1979 directed by Ridley Scott? Well, you get something like this:



A little talky (for TOS) in places, and some of the dialogue didn't ring true to my fanboy ears, but otherwise this is a top-shelf fan effort. The music and sound FX cues are spot-on, and the overall look is just awesome. The trailer for "the next episode" had me laughing out loud in a couple of places.

A confession: I'd never seen The Guild before tonight.

I only heard about it for the first time at this past Comic-Con, with all the hooplah surrounding the web series' forthcoming 3rd season. Only from reading Wil Wheaton's blog did I learn what the deal was: the trials and tribulations facing a group of online fantasy gamers (ala World of Warcraft), and the hilarity which ensues from there. I also read that Wheaton would be doing a turn on the show, as the leader of a group of rival gamers, who have dubbed themselves the "Axis of Anarchy."

My curiosity was piqued, but not enough for me to switch gears from whatever it was I was doing and go seek out more intel. Then I moved on to other things, and forgot about the whole thing.

Now, of course, everybody and their mother is posting this new YouTube music video, featuring the series cast. Curious once again, I clicked on a link, and was treated to this:



(I defy you to listen to this song and not have it rattling around in your head hours later. Go on. I double-dawg dare you.)

I knew Felicia Day from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (which I got and still get a kick out of), but didn't really know much about her beyond that. Still, this was fun enough that now I'm wondering what the hell else I've been missing out on.

So, I go looking.

Okay, from what I've watched so far, I think I'm in for the rest of the ride. Call me a convert.

You can watch the episodes on their site, as well as via various sources like iTunes, Zune, and so on. You can purchase DVDs of the show from the site, or from Amazon.com. The cast and crew accept donations to offset the costs of production, and I'm thinking I may be buying the DVDs to help support that. More Felicia Day can't be a bad thing, right?

This apparently has been around for a while, but I only just saw it tonight. Thanks to Kevin for the heads up:

Brought to my attention by the incomparable faustfatale:



Now I want to see the whole flick done up this way....

Thanks to infinitydog for bringing this to my attention. Two guilty pleasures, the Muppets and Ocean's Eleven, come together in this rather amusing mash-up video:



Yeah, I dig it.

Thanks to od0_ital. Boo-yah.



Is it the same Star Trek I grew up with? Probably not, at least in a handful of minor or even cosmetic things about which I ultimately don't care.

Does it still feel like Star Trek?

Yeah, I think it does.

Forwarded to me by my friend and co-writer, Kevin Dilmore. A clever mashup of the audio from the new Star Trek movie trailer with visuals from the old Trek animated series:




Sweet :D

Passed on to me from friend Ken Gagne, he of ShowBits.net, among other venues:

This is why you don't wear red:

Offered without comment.

Read about this today on TrekBBS, and had to share. Apparently, it's a Kentucky Fried Chicken commerical for Australian TV from several years ago:



I'm kinda hungry now....

Well, the game on Thursday night was a nice prelude, but today we get underway for real. In that spirit, I went digging and found this little gem from seasons past. Just for popfiend and all the other football-luvin' friends on my list:



Oh, and in case you've somehow forgotten my allegiance:

Found this on TrekMovie.com; it's a pretty amusing parody of the intro to the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series:



By the way, is it too nerdy of me to know that Scotty was actually recovered in 2369, rather than 2368?

I thought so.

Okay, so maybe you've seen the trailer for the forthcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins with Christian Bale reprising the title role and the late Heath Ledger in (I believe) his final performance.

If not, here it is:



Now, have you seen the trailer's dialogue, music, and sound FX mixed with footage from the 1990s animated Batman series?



Or, perhaps a version with Batman Legos?



Or, what about my favorite, the 1960s TV series with Adam West?



Glad to be of service.

I just read about this a few minutes ago. It's apparently just being reported today.

Alexander Courage, Star Trek Composer and Emmy Winner, Dies at 88


Alexander Courage
December 10, 1919 - May 15, 2008 
 
A composer and orchestrator of numerous films and television episodes, Courage is of course best known for the theme to the original Star Trek series, including the famous fanfare which long ago became the musical signature for the entire Star Trek franchise. Thank you, good sir, for leaving your indelible mark on the world of 
music and film:



Jeff Bond, author of The Music of Star Trek, has written a wonderful retrospective of Mr. Courage over at TrekMovie.com. Click here to read that piece.

From the March 10th edition of The Daily Show. The situation with Code Pink vs. the Marines in Berkeley is skewered in fine TDS fashion:

Watch it at The Daily Show's website!

I'm still laughing at the "I kind of felt probably like the Iraqis felt...like we were being occupied here in Berkeley" comment. Reality, folks...you should check it out once in a while.

This one's going out to all the moms out there, particularly my own as well as the mother of my kid (soon to be plural):

Check this out. The guy responsible for the Space: 1969 trailer has also done a side-by-side comparison, showing the original Space: 1999 opening sequence alongside his parody version, and how he made his scene selection. It's funny as all hell, even if it makes you wonder just how much time and effort this dude invested in making the clip.