I finally saw Iron Man 3.  Better late than never, right?

I’m actually not so sure.

The movie wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t good.  I really liked the original Iron Man, and felt that Robert Downey, Jr. had really nailed the character of Tony Stark.  Iron Man 2 was a bit of a disappointment, but Mickey Rourke’s performance was a redeeming factor.  Iron Man 3, however, had no comparable standout performances.

I don’t mean to detract from Ben Kingsley’s acting abilities; indeed, he did an admirable job.  Similarly, I cannot fault Guy Pearce in his portrayal of Aldrich Killian.

Rather, I place the blame on the characters themselves.

While I admittedly am not intimately familiar with the comic book series, I know enough about the franchise to have been very interested in seeing The Mandarin introduced as Tony Stark’s latest nemesis.

Nice shades!

The Mandarin, as depicted in Iron Man 3, is a total dud.   To say the character lacked depth is a massive understatement.  The buildup of mystery and menace the movie endeavors to enshroud him in is deliberately and intentionally sacrificed as a major plot device, yet the result of that sacrifice is the revelation of a far lesser menace.

It is clearly supposed to be a surprise twist (I am trying to avoid spoilers), yet the only surprise seems to be “hey, guess what?  The situation is not nearly as interesting as you thought it was. Bet you never saw that coming!”  Yay?

The other major character introduced is Aldrich Killian.  He’s intended to be a brilliant mind in his own right, and the very beginning of the movie clearly shows that the character is supposed to be a foil, and potential antagonist, to the flamboyant genius and showmanship of Tony Stark.  However, the character turns out to be remarkably one-dimensional, and his motivations and overall role turn out to be decidedly generic.

The titular character also lacks the depth seen in the previous titles.  Clearly there is intent to add depth, by highlighting Tony Stark’s insecurities and emotional sensitivities, yet it seems that either the true character-building elements were largely cut from the final production, or what exists was tacked on as an afterthought.

Within the first 20 minutes of the movie, it is established that Tony is having some residual problems from the events at the end of The Avengers.  These problems crop up a couple of times during the movie, yet are never actually resolved in a meaningful way.  Instead, it’s just “stuff he’s dealing with”, and doesn’t really accomplish anything towards adding depth to the character.

Indeed, it feels like it may be tacked on strictly to provide some links to The Avengers, which appears to be a common theme in Marvel Studios’ recent titles.  It seems like they are trying to bring the same breadth and depth to the Marvel Universe on screen that the comics enjoy.  However, instead of meaningful cross-over appearances and side stories that play integral parts of individual story arcs, as seen in many of the printed titles, they are peppering the movies with just enough references for someone who has seen the other films to say “oh, yeah… I know what they’re talking about.”

Unfortunately, this also means that those who have not seen the other films will just find the references confusing or uninteresting.

The movie itself does have some redeeming qualities.  In particular, we are treated to lots of explosions, and some eye-catching special effects.  The confrontation at the conclusion of the movie attempts to incorporate some of these special effects in a meaningful way into the plot, but it doesn’t really make up for a somewhat anticlimactic battle.

The basic plot, however, is somewhat interesting, and we do see some interesting characters along the way.    Harley Keener, played by Ty Simpkins, was perhaps the standout of the movie, and I found the scenes with him better than most of the dialogues with the more prominent characters.

The fight scenes were well-coordinated, and the abilities of the protagonists are both eye-catching and distinctive.

All in all, I found the movie to be a significant disappointment.  It failed to achieve the appeal of the preceding entries in the series, and certainly fell far short of the bar set by The Avengers.

Yeah, it’s that exciting.

Some of the popular questions (as suggested through meta):

Major Stackings asks How do the wand makers get the cores into the wands? One comment suggests that secret is in using molten wood.

sarge_smith noticed that troopers go in, but nobody comes out in his question: Where’d those guys on the Millenium Falcon go?

CL4PTR4P asked Why is Janeway an Admiral and not Picard?

Some of the popular answers:

How many crewmen/women die in the original series of Star Trek? answered by Thaddeus

Why did Boromir take so long to reach Rivendell? answered by Daniel Roseman

Lost Star Wars fan-made video answered by Solemnity

Just some interesting stats:

The most controversial question (asked by Sachin Shekhar) was: How big is the Matrix?

The most viewed question (asked by Matrim Cauthon) by a significant margin was: A Memory of Light Question on the Epilogue

The question which got the highest score (asked by KennyPeanuts) was: Why was Scrooge chosen for redemption?

The question which got the highest voted answer (asked by Kevin Howell) was: What are Gandalf’s powers?

Easter Monday was a rainy day in Canada. As a result my kids were suffering from boredom. So we checked the local theater schedule. They convinced me and my wife to take them to The Croods. As the kids chose the movie, I wasn’t expecting too much from it and I certainly wasn’t expecting to write a review about it. However, the movie ended up being a nice trip to an amazing fantasy world, so I thought I’d share my thoughts about it.

Some technical specifications that may have affected my viewing experience: My kids barely understand English so we watched version with the French translation. I will not review anything related to the voice acting. As my dear wife cannot support a 3D movie without being sick, we chose the 2D version of the movie. So I cannot say a word about the 3d effects in the movie.  Finally, I ended up eating quite a bit of popcorn on account of having had a light dinner earlier in the evening.

As far as the story goes, I was expecting some kind of hybrid between Brave and Ice Age. We have all seen this: a teenage girl gets rebellious in a prehistoric landscape, sprinkled with action and jokes, nothing new under the sun. But I was pleasantly surprised. This is mostly a story about fatherhood. Yeah, there’s a rebellious girl and a love story, but that is secondary. The main story is really about a father who would do anything to protect his family and has to let his big girl grow up. But enough about the plot, All you need to know is that it was interesting enough, fun enough, and touching enough to be a decent family movie. My kids liked it and I wasn’t bothered by it during the viewing.

What is interesting in this movie, from a fantasy stand point, is the world they created for it, especially the fauna. Most of the species you could see in the movie are some kind of hybrid between two or more modern day species. Mix an elephant with a mouse or an elephant with a giraffe.  Combine a leopard with a bear and an owl. That’s just a small sample of the incredible animals the caveman family encounters on their trip. It’s where this movie shines. Instead of dragging us into another world of silly talking dinosaurs; it creates an original and exotic world that stands on its own. It is what amazed my inner child and surprised me more than once. These inclusions give the movie a unique artistic signature and literally steal the show by the end.

Finally, I would recommend the The Croods as a family movie outing, kids will be happy and, what proud parent would not do this for his offspring? Especially if it involves eating popcorn.

I just attended the longest consecutive running LEGO convention in North America. Brickcon 2012 was the 10^th anniversary of North-West Brickcon. The link between LEGO and Science Fiction and Fantasy is undeniable. In fact, Brickcon is responsible for hooking me up with Stack Exchange in the first place. I became aware of LEGO Answers SE thanks to a Facebook post by Mellissa McConnell after last year’s convention. It was just a matter of time before I wandered over to the Science Fiction & Fantasy site.

This year’s event drew more than 470 convention attendees and over 12,100 visitors during the 12 hours of public viewing. Held in Seattle at the Exhibition Hall from Oct. 4-7, it brought together people from around the globe. Sweden, England, New Zealand, South America and Canada all sent representatives to rub shoulders with their American counterparts.

Superman and Wonder Woman’s family dynamic.

Venom defeats Spider-man.

The energy level when I walked into the Exhibition Hall was palpable. These people were stoked, and rightly so. They came to play, and they came to show you how well they play. But there is more to a Lego Convention than just showing your projects to the world. There is a camaraderie that exists between builders. Sure, they want to show you what they built, but they also want to see what you have come up with. They feed off each other a lot like we here at Scifi.StackExchange.com do. Someone gets inspired, and then everybody gets inspired.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy dispose of some unneeded personnel.

The themes were many and varied. They ranged from architecture to art. Castles and Superheroes. Microscale and macroscale creations abounded. The Best in Show model was a breathtaking version of Hogwarts Castle, but it could have easily been the 14 foot tall Space Needle, or the 20,000 piece Bat-Cave. Once you throw away the instructions that come with the sets, anything goes.

The Space Needle.

Thursday and Friday were spent checking in and setting up, though some MOCs weren’t actually completed until moments before the doors opened to the public on Saturday morning. But, like I said, Brickcon is more than just showing your model to the world. Seminars and contests for the attendees take place throughout the weekend. Each conventioneer gets a “goody” bag and an engraved Lego badge that allows them “back stage” access to a side of the convention the general public doesn’t get to see. In fact, some builders shy away from the press of the crowds during the public viewing portion of the event, choosing to take part in blind builds, bag and box builds and other assorted contests centered on building speed, agility and creative ability rather than bask in the glow of public attention. It’s enough for some to just be there with friends and other like minded individuals that soon become friends.

The micro-scale model of the Brickcon convention.

This year, my MOC was a microscale version of Brickcon. It consisted of Lego tables displaying microscale MOCs while being viewed by miniland scale Lego people. I put the idea out there and before the weekend was done, people from all around the country had added to it. Marianne brought an entire table from California and populated it with models she and her brother had made. Alaskans Breann and Ty pitched in too. Breann added a tiny Bionicle while Ty built an oilrig then added a nanoscale version of it and a miniland version of himself. Fellow Washingtonians Gus and his parents built a dead on Jeep CJ-5 and then whipped up a microscale version to place with the growing micro display. Shawn and Amanda, another couple of locals from Washington and Meg from Colorado also joined in by adding tiny replicas of their models and a risque miniland figure to place in the crowd. It was my first collaborative build, and it went over better than I had imagined. 

The Batcave.

The 20,000 piece Batcave was outstanding. It included interior lighting and all the bells and whistles you could imagine. Here is a link from another Batcave fan that just about says it all. (My photos did not do it justice) From the top to the bottom, Wayne and Carlyle created a masterpiece.  http://kotaku.com/5950767/you-have-to-see-this-incredible-lego-batcave-no-excuses

However, this year’s People’s Choice and Best in Show awards went to Alice’s mega Hogwarts Castle. She began building it for last years convention and hasn’t stopped. It is HUGE. It is eye catching, and she nailed it. If you look closely enough, you’ll find what you are looking for.

Best in Show Hogwarts Castle. Oh wait, that’s my micro-scale version.

Here are a couple of shots of Alice’s award winning creation:

Hogwarts Castle.

Hogwarts Castle.

You can find more photos from Brickcon 2012 at FLICKR.

So, to sum it up, if you’ve never been to a Lego convention, you are missing out. The energy levels are high, the entertainment value is well worth the $9 general admission and the experience can be likened to Comic-con. The only thing better than coming to the public display is joining the behind the scenes activities the convention attendees enjoy. It truly is eye candy for all ages. I’ll look for you next year. I’ll be the guy wearing the Major Stackings badge.

Chapter 1: The accident

Cara Miller stared out of her lifepod window into the vastness of space. For all she knew, she was the sole survivor of the ill-fated Astral Light, a rescue ship that ultimately would need its own rescue. It was all supposed to be routine. The Astral Light had been called out to assist a mining freighter which had suffered a major collision with a dislodged piece of asteroid. Systems were failing and the freighter sent out a general distress beacon.

When the freighter came into sight, Cara could hardly believe anyone was still alive. The ship was a mangled mess, with pieces of the hull splayed out in all directions. Clouds of gas, probably oxygen and fuel, were billowing out of the ship. It would be a miracle if anyone had survived. Still, they had to make sure, so the Astral Light glided up alongside and attempted to hook to the docking port.

Sometimes bad luck is all a question of timing, she thought. The first boarding crew had barely crossed the docking arm when a stray asteroid fragment crashed into the beleagured ship. This evidently was the final nail in the coffin. What little air remained in the ship was enough for a massive explosion. Tethered, the Astral Light took heavy damages. The evacuation siren went off and Cara raced to an escape pod. The last thing she remembered after diving into a pod was a violent explosion. She awoke some time later, drifting in space.

The lifepod had preprogrammed behavior depending on the circumstance. If near a planet it would attempt a landing, if in deep space it would power down nonessential systems, minimize life support, and wait for a pickup. The standard lifepod was designed to support life for up to one week. Cara peered at the controls, a small battery of indicator lights and the thruster controls. The pod was in pickup mode. So no one was near.  Originally the lifepods contained enough sensors, advanced communications, and propulsion to make them into their own little spacecraft.

However, people had a tendency to panic after a catastrophic event. They tended to make irrational decisions, and would constantly be turning on the sensors to see if anyone was coming, draining power from the life support system. They would broadcast message after message, pleading to be rescued, only to use up their oxygen faster. And sometimes they would point their lifepod in a direction they believed to be home and shoot off to some unknown place, making them very hard to find. Eventually the people in charge of such things decided it was better to give them virtually no options– a couple of maneuvering thrusts to keep them from crashing into something and an indicator if a ship responded to the distress beacon. This dramatically increased recovery rates of lifepods and their passengers, but for some made the experience more stressful.

There were lots of stories floating around about people’s experiences in lifepods. People told them like ghost stories. Being trapped for days in the tight space meant the likelihood of cabin fever or a nervous breakdown was high. To combat this some crewmen would stash a little nap sack in a lifepod, usually the one closest to their station or to their bunk. They’d toss in a few odds and ends, books, tablets, games, whatever they thought would help them get through a bad situation.

Cara had never bothered to do this, but as she looked around the pod she noticed someone else had. She reached down and pulled up an old cloth sack and pulled out the contents. A very old tablet computer, a few protein bars, and a yo-yo. Cara examined the tablet. Not surprisingly the battery was dead, no charge cable, and even if it was there, it wouldn’t be wise to use the lifepod’s power anyways. Next she examined the protein bars, the date on them was several years old. I guess this little sack has been here for awhile, she thought. Longer than she had served on the Astral Light. And finally, the yo-yo. Cara stared at the yo-yo. The lifepod was little more than a reclined chair in a cylinder, there was essentially no open space. She couldn’t even see her feet without a great amount of effort. She wondered at the rational of a crewmate who would place a completely useless toy in a cramped lifepod. Stupid yo-yo.

Frustrated, Cara powered up the thruster. She wouldn’t use too much power, just enough to turn the ship so that she could see the wreckage from the explosion. But no matter how the pod turned, all she saw was empty of space set to a background of stars. Strange. She wouldn’t have expected the lifepod to take her very far, but she saw neither the debris from the ruined ships nor the asteroid belt. Where am I?

After two unsuccessful attempts to attend it earlier this summer, I finally went to the Star Wars Identities Exhibition in Montreal.

This exposition is presented as a exploration of what forges a person’s identity and uses the different characters of Star Wars to represent this. It’s divided into sections that explore these factors, and in each section, you build your character by responding to questions relative to your character’s identity. The first choice you make is the species of your character. From there you choose genes, parents, a culture, mentors, friends, events, an occupation, a personality, and values. From these choices you build an identity, and this experience is meant to give visitors some insight into how identity is formed.  I was very skeptical about this part of the exposition. If it were about some historic figures, instead of the fictional Star Wars universe, it might have been more interesting to me. Maybe if George Lucas had a Ph.D in Psychology and had made sure his characters were built to reflect the latest scientific research on the subject of identity, I could have better understood the connection. So, while some others visitors around me seemed to enjoy the character identity building, I wasn’t really interested in that part of the exhibition. I did design my own hero and I watched most of the videos on the subjects which were scattered all over the exhibition, but I skipped some in the end. It was not that boring and I would probably have watched all of them if I had had more time. However, there were so many other things I wanted to see.  Anyway, it was a good decision, because after two hours of exhaustive examinations of the other areas the clerks had to kick me out of the showroom because they were closing.

So, the quest to identity yourself as a Star Wars character is not why you should visit this exposition. The real reason to go is to see the impressive collection of original artifacts. Being in the same room with all these objects is something a Star Wars fan should not miss.

First, you can see at least one costume for each of the main characters. The Jedi Knight outfits are a bit redundant, but  Amidala’s dress is beautiful. The real treasures are the Stormtroopers, Bobba Fett, C-3P0, and Darth Vader. All are worth a lengthy examination.  And Chewbacca! You have to stand in front of his fur costume how realize how tall and impressive he is!

I was also quite impressed by the various artworks. They are meant show the progression of the characters identity when they were designed. My favorite was one showing Han Solo as a bearded lightsaber wielder. How awesome it would have been if Han had sliced first!

Additionally, there are many other props, like the ominous Meson Taloscope (Midi-chlorian analyzer), a carbonite frozen Han Solo, and Anakin’s full size pod-racer. But the things I found the most impressive were the starships and the starfighter models. The details on those! I would still be staring at them and discovering new features, if I hadn’t eventually been kicked out.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Star Wars Identities Exhibition and recommend it to every Star Wars fan. I will probably forget about all the identities theories, but will forever remember leaning toward an incredibly detailed Imperial Star Destroyer.

You may check out some of the photos I took during my visit. bitmask also visited the exposition last April, and you can see his photos here. If you want to see the exhibition with your own eyes, the show will be in Montreal until September 16, 2012. It will be in Edmonton, Canada, from October 27, 2012, to April 1, 2013. Note that this exposition is quite popular and I had to buy my tickets a day in advance to finally see it.

Some of the regulars of the Scifi.StackExchange main chat room (Mos Eisley) got together to enjoy (and mock) some Star Trek. The first episode we watched was And The Children Shall Lead, which is considered one of the worst episodes from the original series.

Star Trek TOS – And The Children Shall Lead.

The USS Enterprise arrives at the planet Triacus. (Stardate 5029.5) TangoOversway: Oh! Cool! Remastered FX! OghmaOsiris: The Ship is with updated graphics, right? TangoOversway: Yes, all space shots are remastered. And cool 70s jumpsuits — before the 70s!	They arrive on the planet’s surface to discover the people are dead and dying. Jack B Nimble: I would have committed suicide if I’d been wearing those clothes too. Keen: Why doesn’t the Federation ever establish colonies on planets with plants? OghmaOsiris: I like that people of the future kept the cool Mod look Keen: Week in week out, rock planets.
Professor Starnes delivers several mad ravings before succombing to madness (of the space variety?). OghmaOsiris: WATCH OUT FOR THE GUY IN PINK Nurses of the future will kill ya Jack B Nimble: Kirk’s bad acting killed him. Keen: Do people serve in the Federation so they don’t have to wear those terrible jumpsuits? OghmaOsiris: They sign up and put their name in for a lottery. The ones with bad luck get the red shirts. Another clown school drop out	Spock attempts to take readings from the planet. Jack B Nimble: This planet gets terrible reception Keen: Hit the TV, that’ll fix it!
To the surprise of the crew, all of the children are alive and unaffected by whatever travesty occured here. OghmaOsiris: Play with us….forever and ever! Keen: Kirk is not amused by your playtime shenanigans Jack B Nimble: Some of those kids look a little old to be playing ring around the rosy Keen: Space children are stunted developmentally. TangoOversway: Kirk is upset because he feels the shenanigans are his privilege.	The opening credits. Jack B Nimble: Did I just hear a split infinitive? TangoOversway: Oh, remastered theme song, too! OghmaOsiris: HA! I actually laughed when I heard the theme music start to play lol What happened to the Theramin?
The Enterprise crew buries the dead. Jack B Nimble: Lining up the tomb stones with the mounds would have been too hard. Keen: Looks like they turned everyone into tiny piles of dirt. OghmaOsiris: Why wouldn’t they bury their people back on earth? Keen: Did they steal the dehydrating weapon from Batman?	The children continue to display no remorse for death of their parents. McCoy speculates they are suffering from amnesia due to the tramatic event. OghmaOsiris: Children these days No respect, I tells ya Keen: In the 2100′s, we kids respected our elders! OghmaOsiris: Damnit Jim! Keen: We also starved to death when our parents died and left us behind…. Jack B Nimble: I forget, is McCoy a medical doctor or a phychiatrist? OghmaOsiris: I like how a “Doctor” in the future meant an expert in every medical field ever Keen: Haha, what the hell kind of flag is that?!
Kirk starts to feel anxiety after entering the cave. OghmaOsiris: “Someone messed with my presets…” “MCCOY!!!” Keen: Kirk’s going to start dancing…. OghmaOsiris: The LSD is kicking in TangoOversway: I’m getting a feeling of anxiety from the writing in this place.	Spock continues to scan the cave to try and determine the source of the anxiety. OghmaOsiris: Silly humans. Jack B Nimble: It must have been convenient for the tv crew to have Spock carrying around a DAT tape during all the filming.
The children have been brought aboard the Enterprise. Nurse Chapel offers to give the children ice cream. Keen: Does that girl have flowers pinned to her dress? I guess the tailors were also high in the 60′s. TangoOversway: That wasn’t a computer lady. It’s Nurse Chapel. And she was married to Gene Roddenberry at the time. Keen: Exactly, she was the computer in later Treks. OghmaOsiris: You mean the voice of the computer? And Luxuiana Troi TangoOversway: Oh, the voice work. She was the computer in this series, too. Jack B Nimble: After serving with Captain Kirk she requested to be turned into a mindless computer. OghmaOsiris: Dr. Sung helped.	They (the children obviously) are treated to ice cream while the crew tries to figure out what happened. OghmaOsiris: So there WERE replicators in TOS Keen: And spanking them didn’t calm them down, Jim! OghmaOsiris: Now he’s a pediatrician… Jack B Nimble: The drugs seem to be working though. OghmaOsiris: “God I hate kids…” Kirk sleeps with her in 3…2… Keen: The computer lady made a terrible mistake when she fed all the kids only ice cream. Good luck keeping the kids calm now. OghmaOsiris: This episode is like a Benneton ad… Keen: On the other hand, being able to just eat ice cream for meals is another sign that the Federation is a utopia. Jack B Nimble: Without gaining any weight.
Kirk questions the oldest boy (Tommy) about the cave and death of his father. Tommy talks back to Captain Kirk. Keen: Kirk’s never going to get the truth out of this ginger. Jack B Nimble: Lousy redhead is a trouble maker. OghmaOsiris: Ginger on the loose	After the adults leave, the children gather in a circle and begin to chant. Jack B Nimble: Oh I see, they are a coven of witches. OghmaOsiris: Light as a feather stiff as a board….light as a feather stiff as a board…
Gorgon, a shimmering figure, appears as a result of the chanting. He tells the children no one will tell them where to go or what to do anymore. Keen: So the villain [of] this episode is Bloody Mary? Err, I guess it’s evil Pavarotti. OghmaOsiris: Chef Boyardee! Is he wearing a couch? Keen: “no one will tell us where to go” except me… Jack B Nimble: The writers were only able to come up with two descriptive nouns. Friends and enemies. Keen: Sounds like the kids joined a cult. Jack B Nimble: The friends of our enemies are not in fact friends but enemies of the friends which we think are our enemies while also not being friends.	On the bridge of the Enterprise. Sulu: “Maintaining standard orbit, Captain.” OghmaOsiris: Oh myyyyyyyy Keen: Finally we get to see the bridge crew! Chekov, say ‘nuclear wessels’! He didn’t associate it with that godawful purple jumpsuit? OghmaOsiris: I swear, when I watched the TOS movies, they made EVERY possible excuse to make Chekov say wessles
The bridge crew examines some of Professor Starnes’ tapes. “I’ve felt a certain growing feeling of uneasiness.” Keen: I think that’s a clear sign of a mentally imbalanced person. Jack B Nimble: He should be most uneasy about his outfit. TangoOversway: Glad I have the Writer’s Guide to show he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Is that pink, puse, or purple? (His outfit, that is.) OghmaOsiris: Muave Jack B Nimble: TangoOversway, The answer is “yes.” Keen: In all these videos he’s standing in front of the sky or rocks. Did they not have housing?	Tommy suddenly appears on the bridge. “Captain, after we leave here, can you take us to Marcos Twelve?” Jack B Nimble: Here comes fists of fury. OghmaOsiris: rock paper scissors, shoot! GINGER Keen: Did…did that ginger just [obscene gesture] away the scientist’s video… OghmaOsiris: So, what does Spock…do? Keen: Make Sulu say ‘Oh my’. OghmaOsiris: I know he’s science officer, but it seems that McCoy is doing all the science Jack B Nimble: As with every military vessel, children are allowed to roam around care free. Jack B Nimble: Even on the bridge. Keen: Worked for Wesley on the Enterprise D. Wait, no it didn’t. It proved to be a terrible idea.
More children appear on the bridge and through a series of hand gestures are able to hyponotize most of the crew. Sulu causes the Enterprise to break orbit. Jack B Nimble: Sulu is stoned at work again. Keen: That ginger’s making obscene gestures again. Jack B Nimble: These are the children of the corn. OghmaOsiris: And, all the other crew who are watching what the kids are doing just stand there, lol Jack B Nimble: Hopefully Spock will jetison them into space. Keen: It’s the only logical thing to do.	Down in Engineering another kid influences the crew. Mister Scott walks in and discovers the ship has left orbit. OghmaOsiris: Red shirts. OghmaOsiris: Death in 3….2…. Keen: Red shirt on red shirt violence! NO ONE WINS. Keen: Oh man, Scotty put the smack down on that red shirt. I was hoping for an insta-kill. OghmaOsiris: I like that hitting someone in the back knocks them out Keen: When you can do that, who needs a Vulcan Neck Pinch? TangoOversway: Because when they use a neck-pinch, it’s non-violent and Vulcans are pacifists.
In Kirk’s quarters Kirk, Spock, and McCoy continue to review the professor’s log. “I’m being influenced to do things that do not make sense.” OghmaOsiris: Was the music part of the record? Keen: Spock’s got quite the mancrush on that guy. TangoOversway: Whatever overwhelmed them was probably the bad writing. Keen: Spock was practically shaming Kirk into being a better scientist. Now McCoy’s an anthropologist. TangoOversway: It’s a slash thing. And McCoy leaves like a hurt puppy with his tail between his legs.	Kirk orders two red shirts to beam down to the planet, a planet to which the Enterprise is no longer in orbit. Keen: Yup, Kirk just offed two red shirts by spacing them. Jack B Nimble: Transport them into space! TangoOversway: What’s weird is the transporter room wasn’t always purple. Keen: TangoOversway, It’s another sign that everyone’s high. OghmaOsiris: Dead and they didn’t even get a moving part Jack B Nimble: Transporter operator “We don’t need to initiate a beam before energizing. Energize away!” TangoOversway: They’re not dead — they haven’t been in space even 25 seconds. Keen: I was hoping they’d show the two dead guys out in space when Spock turned on the viewscreen. TangoOversway: Quick, Spock! Beam them back aboard! OghmaOsiris: So… the computer didn’t tell them that there was no planet for them to beam down to? TangoOversway: The Angel kept them from seeing it. Keen: They’re red shirts, you can only allot so much time trying to save them.
Back on the bridge Gorgon appears to everyone. OghmaOsiris: Witches! TangoOversway: OghmaOsiris, don’t give them that much credit! Keen: Who you gonna call? OghmaOsiris: Couch Boyardee is back! Jack B Nimble: I say they self destruct the ship and call it a day. Keen: It’s the only way to be sure. OghmaOsiris: Make them take the Kobiashi Maru 8 year olds obviously know how to pilot a ship	Sulu (and others) are hypnotized and begin to see some of their fears. Keen: No, not the space swords! Noooooo Jack B Nimble: Our ship is no match for giant swords. OghmaOsiris: A fencer’s worst nightmare!
Ohura sees herself aging in a mirror. OghmaOsiris: MY hAir Keen: Where did that mirror come from?! Jack B Nimble: Ohura is so vain, to have a mirror right at her station OghmaOsiris: And they were worried about having a woman on the bridge… TangoOversway: And it could have been done so much better — no mirror until the kids do their stuff. Notice there’s no mirror in the shot where Kirk is there. Just in the close up. Keen: This entire episode could have ended in 5 minutes if Kirk had simply spanked the evil out of all the kids. OghmaOsiris: No belts in the future.	Kirk struggles with Sulu in an effort to return the ship to the planet. Keen: Why don’t they mind control Kirk? Jack B Nimble: Were those swords digitally remastered? OghmaOsiris: Seriously, why doesn’t Sulu figure out that flying swords in space isn’t that scary? Keen: He’s got a crippling case of space-swordphobia. TangoOversway: Because Kirk is just so awesome you can’t mind control him. Oh, wait.
Kirk attempts to confront Tommy. Jack B Nimble: Why doesn’t he punch the redhead in the face? Keen: Kirk, just backhand the ginger. OghmaOsiris: Right in the nads. Keen: Kirk’s really got to go to the bathroom. Excellent, this is Shatner’s time to AAAACCCCTTT!	KIRK “I’m losing command. I’m losing the Enterprise. The ship is sailing on and on. I’m alone. Alone. Alone. I’m losing command.” OghmaOsiris: I love you Spock. Jack B Nimble: Kirk’s mind and ego is so fragile. It’s just sad. Keen: He stops hugging Spock as he ‘regains command’. Jack B Nimble: Forever lost? In Space? That is the wrong TV show Scotty OghmaOsiris: Scotty looked better fat with a stache lol
Kirk attempts to reestablish control of the bridge. OghmaOsiris: Kill the children! Especially the ginger! Jack B Nimble: I was in favor of killing the children from the moment I saw them. Keen: YES, SPACE THE CHILDREN! OghmaOsiris: These boots are made for walking. Keen: It’s a shame this is a space ship and not a democracy. TangoOversway: Idiot ginger. Horizontal stripes make you look fat — oh, wait, he’s beanpole thin, he needs to look fat. Keen: Kirk, spin the chair around, make the ginger dizzy! I’d be afraid to be seen if I dressed like couch boyardee too.	Gorgon appears. Spock plays back another recording of the people on the planet. Keen: Evil always gets the cool clothes. Keen: It’s a good thing all Federation officers receive top-of-the-line hand to hand combat training, or that could have been ugly. OghmaOsiris: I’m glad Spock kept that recording on a flash drive. It really saved the situation Keen: Muumuus still don’t look good 200 years from now. Jack B Nimble: I guess we won’t use the giant view screen.
Life as it was on Triacus. Keen: What the, they have a space igloo! TangoOversway: See- there’s housing there, in the background! Keen: How do they all live in that tiny thing? TangoOversway: That dome, that’s barely taller than the kids, can house an entire family. Jack B Nimble: This is a very close community TangoOversway: They’ve used domes like that for sets in other episodes. I think they usually were above a stairway leading into the ground or something like that. Jack B Nimble: I’m disappointed only two redshirts have died so far. But I’m also elated they were killed by Kirk.	After being reminded of their lives with their parents the children breakdown into emotional wreaks. McCoy “They’re crying, Jim. I don’t know how it happened, but it’s good to see. “ Keen: Nothing makes McCoy’s day quite like children crying. Jack B Nimble: Thanks for your opinion “doctor.” OghmaOsiris: Now he’s a nanny

The other episode we watched that evening was Space Seed, which Netflix incorrectly classifies as a prequel to the Wrath of Khan. That is like saying Batman Begins is a prequel to The Dark Knight. Stay tuned (the correct frequency is 7) to your inter-webs to catch the transcript from that episode.

Here is a preview: “Khaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn!” (Not actually in that episode.)

All images pulled from TrekCore

Three representatives from Stack Exchange (Abby, Katey and myself (Brett)) traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend to participate in HeroesCon. HeroesCon has a reputation for being one of the friendliest and most fun comic conventions in the United States. We were pleased to find out that the reputation was an understatement! The creators in attendance were all super psyched to be there and the floor was gently packed with enthusiastic and outgoing fans of all ages and fandoms. Even Saturday, usually the biggest day of any convention, managed to feel vibrant, crowded and alive without approaching the mosh-pit levels of closeness that the bigger conventions lean towards.

People line up to spin the wheel at Spandex City

Stack Exchange’s adventure in Charlotte began on the Thursday night before the convention with a SciFi.SE-sponsored pre-party held at local comics shop, Spandex City. This event saw the debut of the now-infamous Stack Exchange Spinning Wheel. How infamous is it? I’ll be getting to that in a bit, but if you went to HeroesCon, odds are you saw (and probably spun) the wheel. While some of the store’s regulars enjoyed some righteous barbecue (from Charlotte’s own Lancaster’s BBQ), the Stack crew asked people questions from our site about their favorite science fiction and fantasy franchises. Game of Thrones? Harry Potter? Legend of Korra? Batman? Questions about all of these and many more were asked that night and throughout the weekend. An answer (note that we did not say right answer) allowed the participant to spin the wheel and win a prize. There was a healthy assortment of SciFi.SE bags, shirts and stickers there for all the winners; some lucky people even won 3-day passes to HeroesCon and comics. Spandex City was super generous with their time and space and we were incredibly thankful for that. The pre-party event went over well thanks to Spandex City’s great environment. If you’re in the Charlotte area, do yourself a favor and check them out! You can watch a video about the event here.

Katey watches the wheel spin

The big event itself started on Friday and lasted until Sunday. We expected that our table, located at the far end of the convention center floor on the edge of the artists’ space, would get some foot traffic. We really expected to spend the entire weekend shooting video content for our YouTube channel (StackHQ) with one person left behind to work the spinning wheel. That…didn’t exactly happen. Little did we know, but people love spinning wheels. And I don’t mean a passive love, I mean an all-consuming and incredibly active love. The kind of love that leads to repeat visits and waiting in long lines. Because we had long lines. For the better part of two days.

The line grows

HeroesCon was our test run into exhibiting at a convention, so we didn’t quite prepare for the massive crowds we received. We had to ration our t-shirts and bags so as to not run out on Friday, although by Sunday all the t-shirts were gone. The same was true for the stock of comics we brought to give out alongside our stickers. Three trips had to be made to the show floor to find more comics for the prize wheel. Thankfully that wasn’t a big problem, although getting receipts from vendors at a comic convention proved more entertaining than I could have predicted. We did learn a few things from working the wheel nonstop for two days:

• People love spinning wheels (this cannot be reiterated enough)
• Regardless of the answer given, the spinning wheel is a fun introduction to our site that leads to many smiles and much swag
• Give away most of the bags and shirts on Friday so that people will be using them all weekend long; by Sunday we became known as the “bag people” because of the high number of our bags on the show floor
• It takes 3 people to man the booth; 2 to ask questions and 1 to wrangle the wheel’s line
• People care way more about trivia than swag, although swag is super awesome too; people came back multiple times JUST to be asked more questions
• Ask kids softball questions and be super awesome to them; they have parents attached to them who will probably like the site if the site’s representatives make their kids happy
• We need some banners: one that clearly states that the table is a SciFi.SE jam, and another that features a call to action about the spinning wheel (“Can you answer our questions?!” or something)

Since we didn’t get a chance to leave the table for the first two days of the con, we decided to shut down the spinning wheel and make video content our main priority for Sunday. My main goal with HeroesCon was to create video content that could live on the internet forever and reach a wider audience due to having informative content with creators that people care about. The success of the spinning wheel got a bit in the way of that, and led us to learn a few facts about creating video content at a convention:

Best-Dressed

• Try to bring enough people to a convention so that 2-3 can work the table and another 2-3 can hit the floor to get video content. If only 2-3 people can go to a con, set up a spinning wheel schedule so that all 3 days are relatively equal parts table-sitting and video production.
• Schedule interviews ahead of time! I had gotten permission from a few comic creators before the con to interview them, but the fluidity of our agreed-upon time led us to spinning a wheel for two days straight. Approaching all your people on Sunday? Not the best idea.
• Don’t bank on Sunday. Creators are tired by the last day of the con!

• Joe Quinones & Maris Wicks: In this interview, we asked the interviewees what their favorite sci-fi or fantasy property was and then centered the interview around discussing that question.
• Question in Conference Room B with Dean Trippe: This is pretty much the same as what we did with Maris and Joe, except with all of the fun dressings of our web series. Plus the more conversational nature of QiCRB allows the conversation to go in different places. This isn’t just a question-answer interview, it’s a discussion.
• Kelly Sue DeConnick: This is the main type of interview I want to do. I want to find the writers and ask them questions about the work they have created. Kelly Sue DeConnick is about to take over writing Ms. Marvel (now Captain Marvel), so who better to ask the one Ms. Marvel question on the site? Stack Exchange prides itself on getting expert-level answers, and in sci-fi and fantasy it doesn’t get more expert than the writers themselves.

By the end of the show we made a lot of new friends, came up with a lot of ideas to improve our future con presence, gave a few hundred people hands-on, in-depth experience with SciFi.SE, and created internet content that can be shared and enjoyed until the internet cracks in half. It was a lot of fun! For more photos from HeroesCon, visit the SciFi.SE Facebook page, or keep an eye on our Flickr.

Thanks to Dean Trippe, The Nerdy Show and Flame On! podcasts, Scott C., Kelly Sue DeConnick, Joe Quinones, Maris Wicks, Spandex City, Whitney Cogar and HeroesCon for a great weekend. See you next year!

All the movies:

• Magically gifted children age at an extremely inconsistent rate. (They aged 6 magic years in 10 human years).
• All the students immediately outgrew their wizarding robes after the second year, the robes will rarely be seen again.
• Harry Potter is the only one who gets into trouble for using magic outside of Hogwarts.
• 16-year-old Voldemort looks nothing like 17-year-old Voldemort (or 11-year-old Voldemort for that matter). If George Lucas had been involved this would have been fixed by the third release of the DVDs.
• Most of Griffindor (a house based on bravery) is comprised of students too afraid of their own shadows to be of much use half of the time.
• The “good enough” mentality is just as strong in the magical community.

Yeah, these are all definitely the same person.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:

• The Sorting is not conducted in alphabetical order – what kind of system is that? Oh, and you’ll never see another Sorting.
• It is okay for teachers to play favorites, particularly Heads of Households.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:

• Children get injured constantly at Hogwarts and no one raises an eyebrow, but as soon as a few students get temporarily petrified, the future of this 1000-year-old institution is in jeopardy.
• Sometimes the students age in reverse order.
• Hagrid’s home (and really all of Hogwarts) is ridiculously overrun with spiders, at least until it no longer serves as a plot device.

Beginning of movie, middle of movie, end of movie.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

• I don’t know what Dumbledore was doing during Harry’s second summer break, but he must have been hitting the gym or something. He started the third year looking like an entirely new man.
• Malfoy is the only student to get injured for which there appears to be consequences to the staff and other involved parties.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:

• For some reason everyone decided that 70s long hair was cool. The girls, the guys, everyone.
• Harry only uses magic four times (in a movie about wizards).

You can tell Harry is the chosen one by the way his hair flows in the wind.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

• Despite the looming threat of Voldemort’s return, everyone managed to find a barber shop over the fourth year summer break.
• Harry is a rage-oholic who likes his rage-ohol shouted at, not stirred.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince:

• Harry has apparently become homeless and now lives in a dirty subway tunnel.
• All of Harry Potter’s problems from the previous movie would have been solved if they just looked in his memories.
• The Slug Club sounds even worse when spoken aloud.
• Any fool could look at 11-year-old Voldemort and know he was going to grow up to be a mass murderer.
• They should be brewing gallons of “Liquid Luck.”

That is the look of a well balanced kid.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 & 2:

• Harry doesn’t like other people taking risks for his sake. He’d rather let Voldemort just win already.
• Despite being free for 5 years, Dobby continues to wear the same tattered rags. His only addition is a pair of shoes. Yeah, that’s all you needed Dobby.
• The Weasley’s rebuilt The Burrow to look exactly like the old one did. That means their shabby house is by choice and not by circumstance.
• Every wizard’s house is apparently located in the middle of some huge empty field (except Snape’s).
• Even though people Disapparate together (holding hands) they rarely Apparate near each other.
• Harry is a wizard who never seems to think of magic as a solution to a problem. He’d rather jump into a freezing pool of ice water than cast a spell to warm the water first.
• Everyone is from Godric’s Hollow (which Harry didn’t know). It is apparently the source of all wizarding families.
• Gringott’s is probably not where you want to bank anymore, because they lost roughly 100% of their staff as a result of Harry’s break-in.
• Based on the number of people who died on that bridge, there can’t be all that many wizards left.

This post made possible by a grant from SciFi.StackExchange. That isn’t just a plug at the end of a PBS show, it’s the truth. Something like a ba-jillion years ago (Nov 15th 2011) I was one of the recipients of the Complete Collection of Harry Potter on DVD. I chose DVD because a) I didn’t have a BluRay, and b) I am not forward looking.  I received this grant on the promise to help promote Harry Potter questions and answers on the site.  Thanks to my contributions (and maybe others, I’m not keeping track) as of the writing of this post Harry Potter is the #1 tag on SciFi.StackExchange.

The dust hasn’t settled on Marvel’s Avengers vs. X-Men mini-series just yet (in fact, it’s just now getting kicked up; #2 came out on Wednesday), but the rumble hosted on Stack Exchange has come to a decisive end. After two weeks of competition, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange has declared the X-Men the winner of the AvX Stack Showdown. Now take it easy, Avengers fans; we’re not saying that Colossus could best the Hulk or that Cyclops is a better tactician than Captain America. The X-Men defeated the Avengers in a basic numbers game; the questions asked on our site in the past two weeks with the tag “x-men” simply got more views than those tagged “avengers.”

The Avengers were off to a strong start initially, with questions like Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die? getting attention from many users. But once the X-Men pulled ahead in the number of questions asked, there was no stopping them. More questions asked meant more views total, and with questions generating thousands of views on their own, the X-Men had no problem taking and keeping the lead. In the end, the X-Men trounced the Avengers in page views, coming in with 15,642 compared to the Avengers’ 5,315.

Users old and new created a lot of great content about these two teams, but only a few exemplary questions and answers can be awarded with prizes. They are:

• Top X-Men Question: DavRob60 for “How to kill Wolverine?” (score: 23)
• Top Avengers Question: Bridget Fitzgerald for “Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die?” (score: 25)
• Top X-Men Answer: Ian Pugsley for the answer to “How to kill Wolverine?” (score: 21)
• Top Avengers Answer: Thaddeus Howze for the answer to “Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die?” (score: 37)

And since the X-Men emerged as the victor, one user was drawn randomly from the pool of everyone who participated in that tag, and will be rewarded with their choice of one of three grand prizes.

• Grand Prize Winner: chcuk

Thanks to everyone who participated in the event. Marvel Comics’ Avengers vs. X-Men is in stores both physical and digital now. It’s an event years in the making and the comic book event of the summer. You cannot miss it! You can also check out all of the AvX videos we made for the event. They’re timeless classics. Just because our event is over doesn’t mean you should stop reading the series and asking questions. The battle still continues!