Ahhh, Lazy Sunday. A day to rest and recharge for the week. Unless, that is, you happen to be on the Dragon*Con MMORPG track staff. If you are and your name just happens to be Michael C. McGreevy (which mine is), Sunday is a day for digging up a bunch of [...]]]>

Image via bark on flickr

Ahhh, Lazy Sunday. A day to rest and recharge for the week. Unless, that is, you happen to be on the Dragon*Con MMORPG track staff. If you are and your name just happens to be Michael C. McGreevy (which mine is), Sunday is a day for digging up a bunch of links about geek stuff and making a post with snarky comments about them.

Which, I suppose, isn’t all that bad in the grand scheme of things. He could have asked me to comb his back hair or something. Yeech.

Anyway, here’s your Monday Geek Roundup you lucky dogs! I tried to collect news throughout the entire week instead of just gathering stuff that popped up over the weekend this time, so you may have already caught some of this.

• I’ve always had a bit of a crush on Seattle, but a recent news item out of the state really cemented in my adoration for the city. The Make-A-Wish Foundation teamed up with the city to grant the wish of a young man who always wanted to be a super hero. Fair warning on this one, folks. If you’re the least bit sentimental it’s going to bring a tear to your eye. [Source]
• Rumor has it that yet another super hero franchise is getting ready to undergo the re-boot treatment. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appear to be poised to take on the big screen again, this time with a slightly more serious tone. Anyone who read the original comics knows that the series really wasn’t started as a kids book (at the end of the first story arc Raphael ran Shredder through with his katana and then they blew his ass up). The mask in the link that follows is supposedly going to be in the new film, and it’s definitely a less “goofy” look for the heroes. [Source]
• In light of rapidly declining sales, Sony announced last week that as of next year they will no longer be making floppy disks. This really isn’t much of a surprise, considering that I’m one of the few people I know that still has a floppy drive in his computer. Really, they only thing they are good for these days is flashing the BIOS anyway, and most (if not all) motherboards will allow you to do that with a flash drive now. Still, I have to admit that this news fills me with a wee bit of sadness. Yet another computer staple from my youth is just so much landfill now. YOU KIDS GET OFF OF MY LAWN!! [Source]
• File this under “why the hell haven’t we done this at Dragon*Con?!?!” G4TV got a group of ladies together dressed up as Slave Leia and held a charity car wash. I realize that for some folks the whole Slave Leia obsession is probably tired, but as someone who was going through puberty when Return of the Jedi came out I, for one, welcome our new metal bikini clad overlords. [Source]
• Oh, you internet. You are so full of clever people. Like the guy who made a really awesome trailer for all of the big movies due out this summer. [Source]
• Looks like the new (and improved?) version of Clash of the Titans is going to get a sequel. I haven’t seen it yet myself, but most reports I’ve heard so far have been pretty solidly in the “meh” category. I suppose it has done well enough, though. Me, personally? I can’t get behind a Perseus that despised his clockwork owl. I’m 100% Team Bubo, ya’ll. [Source]
• Comicsalliance.com has a great little series of “comics that never happened.” While the original was great in and of itself, the recent addition of Aliens vs. Predators vs. Ted Nugent is a move I’d give up some precious anatomy to see. [Source]
• Turns out that Gene Roddenberry’s son is not, in fact, a Trekkie. I guess that makes sense. Children tend to rebel against the things their parents love in order to find their own identity. Hell, I once scolded my son for not playing World of Warcraft enough (no, I’m not kidding…I got over it). In an effort to try and understand why, exactly, so many people loved his Father young Master Roddenberry has put together a documentary called Final Frontier. While Trek documentaries are nothing new, if the trailer is any indicator this could turn out to be a very touching tribute to Gene. [Source]
• The upcoming Jonah Hex movie has a trailer, and while I have to admit that I’ve never read the comic myself this one looks to be pretty interesting. Even with Megan Fox in it. Yeah, yeah. I get it. She’s a hottie and she does geek movies and a lot of you love her. Sorry, my fellow nerds. While I admit she’s decent eye candy I prefer my “geek chicks” to actually have a brain and, I don’t know, some acting talent. I’m sure you have no idea who I could possibly be referring to. [Source]
• Speaking of my favorite red head – Felicia Day is going to be appearing in a SyFy original movie called Red. It’s a modern-day retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” in which the namesake of the story is a werewolf hunter. The movie is scheduled to premier sometime in 2011. [Source]
• Batman 3 has a release date! Christopher Nolan is going to be bringing the Dark Knight back to the silver screen in July of 2012. From what I’ve heard, Nolan had a three movie story arc in mind when he took on the original project, so this film should be the end of the hero cycle that he set up for the character. It will definitely be interesting to see whether or not The Joker makes an appearance in the next film. Heath Ledger pretty well changed the definition of the character and stepping in to the role after he did so would be intimidating (to say the least). That said, The Joker is, well, insane. Many of his personality shifts (from goofy clown to homicidal maniac) have been explained away as different manifestations of his demented mind. Perhaps the best way to take over the role would be to make him completely different? Details about the film are scant at this point, but we’ll definitely keep in on our radar. [Source]
• Ron Howard (“Opie Cunningham! Opie Cunningham!”) is getting his hands on Stephen King. Well, Stephen King’s work, anyway. Howard’s production company has just gotten the rights to the Dark Tower series, and apparently they are planning a big screen film that will be followed up with a television series to end the story. [Source]
• Marvel has released the first image of Chris Hemsworth as Thor from the upcoming Kenneth Branagh film. I have two words for you, true believers. Odin’s Beard! [Source]
• Apparently someone has optioned the rights to make a movie based on the Magic 8 Ball. You know, that thing you would whisper a question to and then turn over for an enigmatic answer like “Reply hazy. Try again later”? Yeah, that Magic 8 Ball. You know what Magic 8 Ball has to say about this new film idea? “Outlook Not So Good.” [Source]
• Remember the Diva song from The Fifth Element? Apparently if you listen to the commentary the director mentions that he created it by mixing together a whole bunch of different clips from various opera singers and then performing some computer wizardry on it. He goes on to make the claim that it was impossible for someone to sing. Welllll, turns out “impossible” isn’t a word that disneydiva7 is familiar with. She posted a video of herself singing the last part of the song, and she completely nails it (admittedly, the faces she has to make to do so aren’t exactly…normal). [Source]

That’s it for this week, gang! If you see anything newsworthy you think I should include in the Geek Roundup please feel free to shoot me an email!

We WTFPWNED! the old Thriller Dance [...]]]> Thanks so much to all of the fans who came out to see us at Dragon*Con this year.  We are still in the process of braindumping and writing “after action reports” so that we retain all of the information and lessons that we have learned at this year’s convention.  Some highlights.

We WTFPWNED! the old Thriller Dance record set at William & Mary (Bill and Buffy) University.  They had just over 200 people dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  Dragon*Con had over 900.

Comic-Con took the record for largest charity blood drive from us…briefly.  We retook the record with over 1900 units of blood donated.  DC*MMO’s own “Horde vs. Alliance” blood drive saw 250 donors step up and bleed for a good cause.  My most sincere thanks to everyone who gave. (even if it did make you a cheap drunk for the rest of the weekend… Don’t think we didn’t notice.)

50 panels and events on the MMO track this year, and hardly a “bomb scare” in the bunch.   Thank you to our guests and panelists for making this year’s DC*MMO track such a success.

Felicia Day is amazingly cool, and apparently had a really good time at Dragon*Con.  Thank you Felicia, and thank you fans for showing her a good time this year.  Felicia screened all of seasons 1 and 2 as well as the first episode of season 3 which debuted last week just before the convention started.

Thank you Funcom for throwing a killer party on Friday night!

Thank you Sony Online Entertainment for throwing a killer… well… all day Sunday!

Thank you CCP, Cartoon Network, Wardog Studios, Artix Entertainment, Hi-Rez Studios, Massively.com, and WoW.com for hosting excellent panels and events for us.  We look forward to working with you again next year.

Thank you, WoWTCGLoot.com, NCSoft, iZ3D,  and Turbine for donating prizes for us to give away this year.

Most of all, thank you to my staff of unpaid volunteers who busted their humps for me all year long in order to pull this weekend off.

My assistant directors, Trevor Legg and Krystalle Voecks.  I could not have done this without you two by my side to keep me sane and remind me of all of the things that could have slipped through the cracks.  Trevor’s ideas and ability to think creatively (I hate the term “outside the box”) and Krystalle’s organizational skills and industry knowledge were both absolutely essential to our success.  I thank you both.

To the rest of the gang, Michael McGreevy, Rafe Brox, Ian Wickenkamp (I didn’t forget you this year!!!), Jonna Crane, Doug Keller, Scott Blanks, Jay & Sheryl Sturrock, Sam Levine (Happy Birthday!) and all of the folks who stuck around and chipped in to help us even though they didn’t have to… You have my thanks, and that doesn’t even begin to cover it.  I put you guys through a pretty brutal wringer this year, and you all came through shining brightly.  Rest well, you have earned it.

Planning for Dragon*Con 2010 starts next week.

-Grim

You just never know who might be our special guest referee at the WoW Party…

It might even be…

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!!!

(Seriously, while we would be thrilled to have them there, we do not have plans to involve Felicia Day or William Shatner in the WoW party [...]]]> It’s true folks.  William Shatner is coming to Dragon*Con!

You just never know who might be our special guest referee at the WoW Party…

It might even be…

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!!!

(Seriously, while we would be thrilled to have them there, we do not have plans to involve Felicia Day or William Shatner in the WoW party on Saturday. If they turn up, we’ll be just as surprised as you are.)

I am certainly not shameless enough to encourage people to visit this site by posting gratuitous pictures of Ms. Day all over the front page… Why are [...]]]> Don’t get me wrong, we’re thrilled to have Felicia Day as a guest on our track this year, but surely you didn’t think that we had stopped there, did you?

I am certainly not shameless enough to encourage people to visit this site by posting gratuitous pictures of Ms. Day all over the front page… Why are you looking at me that way?

Ok, maybe I am that shameless.

Or maybe, just maybe, we hear a rumor that Felicia will be participating in our Machinima panels in addition to participating in our Q&A panels on “The Guild” this year.  And yes, before you snark away, we had Machinima panels last year, but made the rather foolish mistake of scheduling them late at night.  As a general rule,  folks don’t seem to be interested in panels late at night, they want to party.  Lesson learned.

But this is “Not another Felicia Day post“, right?

And so it is…

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed a while back that we were working on getting a couple of authors to sit down for a “Lore of Warcraft” panel with us.

We are pleased to announce that Richard Knaak and Keith R.A. DeCandido are both confirmed as guests for Dragon*Con this year and that they are scheduled to talk with us about the “Lore of Warcraft”

Mr. DeCandido is the author of Cycle of Hatred of which he summarizes

At the end of Warcraft 3 and Warcraft 3X, humans and orcs were allies on the continent of Kalimdor. But in World of Warcraft, the two sides are enemies again. My task with the novel Cycle of Hatred, was to help explain that change. It takes place during the four-year gap between the two games, and involves the humans on Kalimdor lead by Lady Jaina Proudmoore and the orcs on the same continent lead by Thrall. Of all the characters in the Warcraft universe, I found Jaina and Thrall to be two of the three most compelling characters. Jaina is a powerful female wizard, who is put in a position of leading a small group of humans in a hostile land in the wake of a brutal war against a demon horde. Thrall is an orc raised by humans as a slave, who leads a rebellion of orcs against human bondage, and inspires the orcs to return to their old ways before they were cursed by demons. Both leaders are trying to forge a new future, moving past the old hatreds. Unfortunately, the old hatreds don’t die easily. If you’re wondering who the third character is, you’ll have to read the book to find out — the character is also in the book, but who it is is a surprise.

Mr. Knaak has written several novels set in the World of Warcraft universe including

• Day of the Dragon (2001)
• War of the Ancients Archive
  • The Well of Eternity (2004)
  • The Demon Soul (2004)
  • The Sundering (2005)
• The Sunwell Trilogy Ultimate Edition
  • Dragon Hunt (2005)
  • Shadows of Ice (2006)
  • Ghostlands (2007)
• Warcraft: Legends
  • Fallen (2008)
  • Fear (2008)
  • Fiend (2009)
  • Fate (2009)
• Night of the Dragon (2008)
• Dragons of Outland Trilogy
  • Shadow Wing (2009)
  • Volume 2 (TBA)
  • Volume 3 (TBA)
• Stormrage (2009)
• Mage (2010)

We have yet another best selling author who will be joining us for an MMO-related Q&A session.  Rather than give you a list of Timothy Zahn‘s bonafides (because there are too many), I’ll just leave you with a visual image that should explain everything, unless, of course, you live under a rock.

(If you do not know who this is, turn in your geek card and sell your Dragon*Con ticket on EBay or something.)

But wait!  There’s more!

Aaron de Orive is joining us at Dragon*Con this year.  His writing credits include

• Anarchy Online
• Star Wars Galaxies
• Tabula Rasa
• Ultima Worlds Online (UO2)
• and the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic (see trailer)

And while this may sound like a macro at this point… We’re not done yet.  We’ll bring you the latest additions to our track this year as soon as we get them scheduled.

So we’re asking you.

You can also get [...]]]> So we’re trying to decide if/when/where/why/how to show The Guild at Dragon*Con this year because it just doesn’t seem right to have Felicia Day do a Q&A on the show and not make it available for her fans (or the curious among us) to see and enjoy at the convention.

So we’re asking you.

You can also get to this survey (and all of our other surveys) by clicking the link at the top of our main page.  Thanks for your input!