One of these is [ Scam School ], of which I am a HUGE fan. Scam School star [ Brian Brushwood ] who was recently interviewed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Scam School teaches its viewers how they can do really cool bar tricks in an effort to get free beer, or break the ice with people you want to meet.  Brian really makes the show, he is very lively, fun and just an all around kick ass guy.

A couple of weeks ago, March 28, 2009, we met up with [ Tom Merritt ] from another of our favorite podcasts [ "Buzz Out Loud" ].  Tom’s wife Eileen does the video editing for Scam School, and is probably the coolest lady you will ever meet online.  While we were talking she asked us to come up and do a shoot with Brian.  Well, as you can imagine, I about freaked out right then and there, but was able to keep my composure and say “Uh.. sure, that would be awesome”.

So the next Friday, we road tripped our way up to San Francisco and found ourselves at the [ SF Brewery ].  Aside from having one of the best micro brewed Porter’s I have had in awhile, the atmosphere was awesome. Eileen stopped by and told us to just chill out for awhile while they set up, and we got to meet to Brian which was WAY cool, and of course it was instantly on twitter, and much to my surprise about 5 minutes later this tweet came back from @shwood :

Well, of course, we’re geeks.  We don’t put socks on in the morning without putting it on twitter.  About an hour later, and 3 beers (to calm me down) we were sitting at a table with bright lights and cameras, and Brian with a deck of cards.  I specifically requested no fire, but kind of regret that now, although they said that was never in the plan. It was a fantastic experience though and I can not stress enough, not only how cool Brian was, but all the Revision 3 people were so awesome.  They knew we were fans, so they did more then just the normal shoot and we got to see a few super cool card tricks that Brian does.

Of course after wards I had to have my picture taken with Brian and Eileen :

I can’t thank Revision 3, Eileen and Brian enough, for giving this geek an experience that I will remember forever.

Our show will be released tomorrow… so make sure you download it www.revision3.com/scamschool/ , and let us know what you think in the comments.

Also , follow these people on Twitter :

Brian : twitter.com/shwood
Eileen: twitter.com/bigepaz
Tom : twitter.com/acedtect

Us

Stephen : twitter.com/darthweef
Allen : twitter.com/allen099
Aric : twitter.com/phatemokid

What you are looking at is a 5 foot by 10 foot lego recreation of the battle at Hoth, from Empire Strikes Back. Created by the extremely taleneted  [ Mark Borlase’s ], the entire display consists of nearly 60,000 pieces and has cool features such as 50 real lights and a remote controlled mechanism that deploys troops from the AT-ATs. The entire creation took over 4 years in the making and consumed about $3000 (that’s a lot of white bricks!). This creation won the recent Star Wars building challenge and was featured in the official LEGO Magazine.  Mark, you are AMAZING, and seeing this makes me teary..

Here are a couple of pics from the Mark’s flickr page, but there are a ton of SUPER cool pics, so go look at them : [ Mark's Flickr Page ]

The interior of the hoth base, complete with the Millenium Falcon, and X-Wing hanger.

The seriously awesome outside of this includes a snow speeder that is in process of taking out an AT-AT.

Another amazing aspect of this creation is the side view of the mountain that has windows into the medical bay, the command center, and even the hallway that Han strolls down…

Any lego creation is pretty cool, and something of this magnitude is especially amazing, BUT, what makes this truly awesome is the amount of detail all the way down to the footprints in the snow that Luke leaves in the snow running toward the base.  (seen in the first pic).

Mark, you are AWESOME!

Unfortunately my two favorite videos have embedding disabled, but it is worth the click :
Metallica One – Lego
Tenacious D – The Metal

Then if you are a Guitar Hero player you likely know this song, otherwise probably not, but it is a cool guitar song: Through Fire and Flame:

Chop Suey from System of a Down :

Yep .. awesome … awesome in pants!

The movie starts with a bang and keeps rolling almost non-stop for the entire 2 and a half hour runtime. The best part of this movie is the choice in casting.

Heath Ledger provides a portrayal of The Joker that is simply amazing. You truly get the sense of how insane he really is, as he executes his crime without an agenda beyond the sheer joy of chaos, and watching the city burn. There is already rumor that Ledger will be nominated for the Oscar, posthumously, for this role and frankly he deserves it. So many comparisons are being made between Ledger’s Joker and Nicholson’s Joker, and personally I am not sure you can do that. Nicholson’s Joker was certainly more based on the TV series Joker which was more camp then insanity, while Ledger’s was much darker and chilling.

This movie makes us miss Heath all the more, and the movie is dedicated to the memory of Heath Ledger which was awesome, and I would love to see him win the Oscar because had he lived, he certainly would have.

Christian Bale, once again, proves that there is no other person who can adequately play the dark knight. He shows us a convincing depiction of a man who struggles with his place in Gotham. Watching him come to the realization that Harvey Dent is the true hero that Gotham needs, and recognizing that his time has come to an end works in this movie. Seeing the disappointment of the transition of Harvey Dent into Two-Face, and the near pleading case he makes to Harvey to come back from the brink was chilling. Finally, his acceptance that the city needs a scapegoat, someone that they can focus their frustrations on while at the same time he provides the kind of protection that no one else can. Bale is amazing actor, and in this film, he brings all his skill to the screen to dazzle us.

Aaron Eckhart, who until know has had little in the way of memorable roles, skillfully creates a Harvey Dent that we love, trust and eventually fear and pity. Throughout the movie, The Joker creates situations that force Dent to make impossibly difficult moral decisions, and we, as the audience, learn to trust his moral sense and are able to buy into his motto “I believe in Harvey Dent”. As fate transforms Dent into Two-Face, a bitter monster who seeks revenge for the death of Rachel Dawes, we fear and pity him at the same time.

The supporting cast, [ Morgan Freeman ] and [ Michael Caine ], also give a flawless characterization of the only two people that Bruce Wayne is willing to trust. Throughout the movie, both provide a role model for Bruce to latch onto, and keep is moral center true.

The special effects are also amazing for this movie. While providing spectacular eye-candy, they are not so pervasive that they overshadow the human element of the movie. Most amazing, perhaps, is the facial construction of Two-Face. Disturbing, disgusting, emotionally heart wrenching, and certainly not suitable for children.

The Dark Knight, is certainly the best superhero movie ever made, but beyond that, it is also one of the best crime dramas I have ever seen. In this “Comic Book” movie, you forget that is comes from a comic book. It slips past the normal distance that comic movies keep from the audience and engages us from the first scene and doesn’t let go until the end.

The Dark Knight is not a just a simple tale of good and evil. Batman poses a more complex puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City struggle with despising Batman, calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen and others, while at the same time realizing that without him the city would fall into even more chaos. And the Joker is more than just a villain. He’s a master manipulator who has no agenda other then chaos and the creation of moral dilemmas for his enemies.

This movie clearly defines what potential the comic genre of movies has and creates a model for all other comic movies to follow.

Run, don’t walk, to see this movie.

This is the episode of love, confessions, betrayal, murder, attempted murder, regret and homecomings… throw in some kick ass space fighting scenes… and OMG, this is easily the best episode of the series …

Spoilers after the jump “JUMP!”

The episode begins two day previous to where we were when Adama jumped in his Raptor to wait for his reason for living.

The Hybrid, as it turns out, is jumping around because of Natalie being killed, it has disrupted her, agitated her, and well she kind of pissed… so jump .. jump .. jump around …

During the jumps (yes, during the jumps – in between disappearing and reappearing) Roslin has visions, and in her visions we see Elosha again …

Once the jump completes, the hybrid prattles on about filters, and the sublime elevation of victors and someone else, but since no one would shut up and listen to her, I couldn’t make it out.

New Jump, and a new vision for Roslin … back to Elosha . I liked Elosha, because she kept Roslin true to her path, and it seems that she is back in vision form to do the same again. She takes Roslin through the empty halls of a deserted Galactica to show her on her Death bed. Roslin looks like craaaapp.. One wonders if the Galactica is empty because they are currently in orbit of Earth, and every one has gone down to the surface..

Back to the base star … this episode made me a little motion sick. The Hybrid now goes on about “the six who went among the makers is no more… end of line.” This is where we discover that she is jumping due to the fact that she is peeved about the humans whacking Natalie .. too bad she can’t sense that it was actually Athena who did it …

Baltar thinks the Hybrid is his long lost kindergarten pupil, and tries to coax something coherent from much like a creepy pedophile might try and coax you into his white van.. The effect are similar .. the Hybrid jumps the ship again ..

Roslin is back with Elosha and is now joined by the cast of mourners by her death bed. Today mourners include, Starbuck, Apollo, Adama, and Doc Coddel. Starbuck seems pretty broken up over her dying, especially given the fact that Roslin tried to kill her just a few episodes ago… hmmm.. if we are too assume this is the future, maybe something happens to make them bond.

Maybe they jump into the boxing ring back on Galactica

Well, probably not, but something must happen to bring them together.

Meanwhile, Elosha is pretty much laying all the horrible things that have happened to the human race at Roslin’s feet.. or at least the breakdown of the fleets morality. I would agree with that, I mean it is kind of hard to argue with a dead woman in your vision…

Back in the real world, Helo and the Eight are planning the mission, since they have realized that the Hybrid is heading to the resurrection hub. It’s now that Eight decides to act very inappropriately and creeps Helo out, by giving him an “Athena special” message… Helo is a little curious how she knows how to do that since Athena learned that skill after she got back to Galactica…

Well, are you ready for this … this particular eight went all Jennifer Jason Leigh from [ Single White Female ] and decided to download all of Athena’s memories and “become the same as her”… So much for Athena being unique, and does that mean that it is not really cheating if Helo gets a little action before the mission … I mean a guy has to cut the tension somehow. Eight acknowledges that is creepy and wrong, but doesn’t want things to be strange… hmmm. too late.

Helo bolts off to the raptor for a little heart to heart with the president, and Roslin let’s him in on her master plan of betrayal where she will screw the Cylons out of talking to DeAnna.. Obviously Helo is not cool with that, and we are all left thinking that since they are on a cylon base star can she really just start making all the rules… hmm.. I don’t think so.

Now we head over to the resurrection hub, where Cavil has just brought DeAnna back … Here is where you can insert a quippy Amazon “UnBoxed” joke…. Cavil fills her in on all the civil war fun that she has missed out on, and then lets her know that, oh yeah, it’s all your fault.

The ones (Cavil), four’s (Doral), and the fives (Simon), are going against the two2 (Leobon’s), Sixes, and Eights…

Then comes one of my favorite lines …

Cavil: “She is my pet eight, and an eight can be a formidable ally
DeAnna: “Until they see something shiny”

Awesome, but it surprised me that Eight didn’t react to it at all…

Back on the rebel base star the human pilots and the cylon pilots are having some trust issues with the plan. Apparently the cylon ships will tug the vipers in so they are not detected then cut them loose and let them tear up the resurrection hub … The human pilots are concerned about the trusting the cylons and the cylons are pissed that no ones trusts them … sheesh, wipe out one civilization and no one ever believes you again…

Back at the hybrid goo station, Roslin and Baltar prove that they should NEVER work with autistic children, and apparently not with hybrids either. They both try to get the hybrid to tell them about the opera house, but instead they find out that DeAnna is back in the flesh. Then the hybrid jumps ..

Roslin heads back to vision land to find Elosha and we get to see a touching scene of Adama reading to the dying Roslin. It really was great. I know a lot of people get all bent out of shape with the reading scenes, but I really like sensitive Adama

Baltar decides to go a preachin’ and finds himself a centurion to convert. Not sure what he plans to do once the centurion praised the one true god, but I have a feeling he was thinking personal security guard…

All the jumping around is draining Roslin, and Helo wants to make sure that Roslin is going to be honest with the Cylons. This is why we love Helo, because he won’t sacrifice his morality for his survival. He believes in the eights now, but of course Roslin ONCE AGAIN proves she has lost all sense of right and wrong and is in no way shape or form to ever be trusted.

FINALLY we get to the hub, at this point I feel like the kid in the back of the car … “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

The attack begins, and Pet eight on the hub seems to think that they are shooting the re-imagined Star Wars and says to Cavil “It’s the rebel base ship” I was thinking they should have had a probe droid from Empire Strikes Back float across the room chirping “Rebel’s in the system”.

Cavil realizes that if the hub is destroyed they will all be dead permanently to which DeAnna says “Permanent Death? Then that makes this all the more meaningful…” and then snaps his neck and throws him across the room … while still sitting naked in a tub of goo… have I ever been more attracted to a woman in my entire life???

No.. I have not.

Back to Baltar who apparently has decided he is a Mormon and needs to convert anyone or anything he sees, and seems to be making some head way … or at least head tilting … the centurions seems genuinely interested and is looking like he may accept a copy of the re-imagined book of Mormon starring Gaius Baltar.

Back to the battle, which is where we all want to be anyway … and Pike is wigging out, he decides he is heading home. I have to wonder if jumping away during the battle would be considered desertion … but it doesn’t really matter since last episode we saw him floating around dead… He gets shot, and with his last moment jumps his ship … Goodbye Pike .. we miss you already, be we can always chat with you online over at the [ Galactica Watercooler ].

Just when we think that Baltar will be getting himself a shiny new balcubine, an explosion rocks the ship and blows apart his new centurion friend and give Baltar a nice new hole in his gut… looks serious too ..

With the base stars moving into range we get some really cool base star on bas estar action, and Baltar gets carried in to the bridge for Roslin to fix him up … Wow, President, Dying Leader, Spiritual visionary, prophet… and now field nurse. Of course, she is not very good at it…

In the pain of the situation, and probably thinking he might die, Baltar decides to hit on, and try to convert Roslin … Maybe he wants to go out with a bang? (sorry bad joke)

Roslin appears to be getting into the one god thing.. until Baltar goes ahead and confesses that he was in fact responsible for all of humanity being wiped out… hmm. Roslin thinks, “instead of saving, and maybe screwing you, I am going to go ahead and take the bandage off and let you bleed out.” Finally a presidental decision I get behind.

Don’t get me wrong, I love James Callis, great actor … but Baltar needs to die. I think it would be cool to kill him here, and have Roslin get a head Baltar…

At this point, Eight gets a lesson in why you NEVER trust a human as Helo, very apologetically, lets her know that they are going to screw the cylons and keep DeAnna to themselves… Again, I have to ask, do you not realize that you are on THEIR ship … who says you get to make any rules… ugh .

DeAnna runs to Giaus and looks genuinely worried.. Roslin orders Helo to keep everyone out , no matter what … He looks at her, like yeah, ok. you know that they have centurions here right?

DeAnna does a major head job on Roslin and convinces her that she is one of the final five, but then says PSYCH!!! LOL great great scene. She then goes ahead and again shows us why she is just a big plate of awesome with awesomesauce on the side. She tells Roslin that she won’t say anything until they are back at the fleet. DeAnna is all ghetto, and she don’t trust nobody.

They jump back to the waiting arms of Adama and his little raptor, and Roslin FINALLY says I love you …

Adama is SOOOO getting laid in the next episode, which thankfully will be next week.

Here is a pic …

Here is a video of it running.

I think this may be the next line of eco-freindly vehicles made completely out of legos… Imagine getting into a car accident and just being able to put your car back together and go home..

*UPDATE*

One of our readers brought the following our attention :

TheQ Says:July 18th, 2008 at 8:09 am

I am sorry but the design is not Phillip Torrone’s. Alex from Nicjasno.com made the engine. The picture even has Nicjasno.com’s watermark on it.

One guy, Ivan, from the Nicjasno.com’s forum has made a motor that runs 3500 RPMs