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Episode 047: Star Wars Special Edition Today we prove that Lucas’ edits weren’t so bad after all... This Week in Geekdom Half Life 3 Announced. JarJar Abrams removed from Star Wars Lucas announces he’s converting the holiday special to BluRay for official release Winds of Winter released Issues in Geekdom Editing a work after it’s been released. Books have done it forever with new editions to make corrections. It’s all the rage in video games with beta releases. Sometimes in movies we’ll see a director’s cut. And probably the best example is the George Lucas Star Wars Special Editions Topic There’s no way we can cover all the amazing improvements Lucas made for the Special Editions so we are going to try and concentrate just on the major ones. First and probably the least important was saving the original film it was recorded on and improving the quality of the image. A New Hope Greedo shooting before Han. This shows that Han is a nice guy who is only defending himself and makes him a better character. Added Jabba the Hutt confrontation scene with Han. Also it’s the “first” appearance of Boba Fett! Everybody needs to see our favorite bounty hunter! Empire The Wampa ice monster can now been seen. It’s no longer left to our imagination, we know exactly what the threat is so it’s more coherent. In the 2004 release the Emperor was changed to be Ian McDiarmid rather than the monkey creature he was originally. Return of the Jedi Replaced puppets in Jabba’s band for CGI so they could move around. Darth Vader shouts “Nooooooo” when he tosses the Emperor down the conveniently placed gigantic chasm in the throne room. We now know what Vader is feeling in that scene. The OLD ghost Anakin was replaced by younger, hotter Hayden Christensen in the final scene with ghost!Obi and ghost!Yoda. Duh, Anakin Skywalker died tragically when he was young and good looking, which is why the old Anakin had to go. Celebration scenes from around the galaxy have been added (Tatooine, Coruscant, Naboo, etc.) Another shot of the most influential species in the galaxy had to be added to the series, which is why we can see the Gungas celebrating on Naboo. And the music was changed. Stump Cory Next weeks show topic Make sure to join us next time as we talk about Elder Scrolls Online with a special guest. Show Notes Half-Life 3 link

Episode 046: Captain America Your favorite superhero who goes from scrawny to brawny with SCIENCE! This Week in Geekdom Nooo! Facebook bought Oculus Rift :’( new trailer for Days of Future Past How about...Klingon Beer! Klingon Warnog to appear in US/CAN later this year A whole slew of geek birthdays this week: Shatner - 3/22/31 Nimoy - 3/26/31 Fillion - 3/27/71 Topic Captain America Steve Rodgers- no powers but enhanced to maximum human potential by Super Soldier Serum created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby One of the best hand to hand combatants in the Marvel Universe and very proficient with his nearly indestructible Shield. Also one of the very few people able to pick up Thor’s hammer. First appearance was in March 1941 and was Marvel’s (Timely) most popular hero through WWII popularity fell off after the war and the comic was canceled in 1950. The character was brought back in 1964 in Avengers after being found frozen in ice. In 2007 he was killed by Crossbones and Bucky Barnes took over as Captain America until it was revealed that he didn’t actually die. “No one in comics stays dead except for Bucky.” Red Skull was his top nemesis for a long time representing nazism but more currently he mostly fights against the AIM and Hydra terrorist groups. Bucky was one of the very few child sidekicks Marvel has had. His first appearance was Cpt. America issue One. The story goes that he was with Captain America when he became frozen but Bucky’s body was never recovered. When they did decided to bring him back they revealed that he was saved by the Soviets. He received a bionic arm and due to amnesia doesn’t remember his past. He is trained and deployed by the Soviets as The Winter Soldier. Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes out Friday 4/4/14 Stump Cory Announcements Thanks to Don from Warriors 3 Comics and Games Please Donate: link Next weeks show topic Next week we return to the Tamriel with a special guest to talk about Elder Scrolls Online. Show Notes x-men trailer link Warriors 3 link

Episode 045: The Muppets This week we find out why Fozzie doesn’t wear shoes. **DISCLAIMER** This Week in Geekdom Official: Episode VII will start filming in May, Steam’s documentary about Dota 2, Free To Play, is out. New Muppet Movie out Friday 3/21 Topic Muppets created by Jim Henson in 1955 portmanteau of marionette and puppet Jim Henson died in 1990 Geeky Factoid of the week: Most muppets are left handed since the muppeteer uses his or her right arm to control the mouth and the left hand to control the arm rods or arm Frank Oz - Muppeteer and then also puppeteer and voice of Yoda Shows Sam and Friends Sesame Street The Muppet Show Fraggle Rock Movies 8 films, the best of them is the very first one (The Muppet Movie, released in 1979) “random” selection of awesome muppets: Kermit - the first muppet. Only amphibian to address the Oxford Union, has been the grand marshal of two parades, has his own Star on the Walk of Fame Swedish Chef - bork Bork BORK! Animal - Animal Fozzie Bear - terrible stand up waka waka Statler and Waldorf - would sit in the balcony during The Muppet Show and heckle. All but one episodes of the show Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker - “scientists”, poor Beaker usually ends up hurt Gonzo- daredevil alien and his chicken (Camilla)! Disney acquired the brand in 2004 Second Geeky Factoid of the week: NOAA’s hurricane-studying planes are called Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo Stump Britt MailBag Announcements Next weeks show topic Tune in next week, kids, as we discuss Patriotism Man....er, I mean Captain America! Show Notes Star Wars announcement: link Free To Play documentary link Joan Rivers vs Ms Piggy link

Episode 044 Firefly Burn the land and boil the sea since they took this show from me. This Week in Geekdom Cosmos is Awesome (duh) Titanfall came out The Last of Us is to become a movie Geek History: 3/13/ 1781 Uranus is discovered by William Herschel Issues in Geekdom Is it better for a show to be canceled early or drag on forever? Topic So why are we talking about a decade old show that only has 14 episodes and a movie? Firefly set in 2517 Space Western 9 crew members, each with personal motivations Malcolm Reynolds- captain, fought against the alliance, smuggler Zoe- served under Mal, pretty much still does Wash- Pilot married to Zoe Jayne- Big guy with a bigger gun Kaylee- shiny engineer Inara- companion- rents one of the shuttles Shepherd Book - Man of God with a past Simon - doctor who stole his sister back from the alliance River - genius girl who has psychological issues stemming from her time in an alliance lab The Alliance, central government Reavers, monsters Ideas covered: civil war/rebellion, independence, technology vs nature, reluctant heroes Fans, Browncoats, Jayne hats, getting a movie Stump Cory Next weeks show topic It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to raise the curtain on our Muppet episode next week. Show Notes Last of Us Movie link ThinkGeek Jayne’s Hat link

Episode 043 Lovecraft/Cthulhu The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents This Week in Geekdom Bruce Wayne/Selena Kyle castings done for Fox’s Gotham tv series Geek History March 3, 1920 - Jimmy Doohan (Scotty) born This sunday (3/9) Cosmos with NDT on Fox 9/8c Topic H.P. Lovecraft had a pretty rough life. His father was confined to an asylum when he was three and his mother kept a close watch over him and often restricted him from leaving the house. He lived in Providence, Rhode Island until he was 36 and moved back after living with his wife in New York for two years. His work can be broken down to three periods, pre New York, New York and post New York. The last being the area where he generated the works he is best known for today. Note on pronouncing Lovecraftian names, they are meant to be unpronounceable Call of Cthulhu SciFi Horror gaining knowledge and fear of the unknown Cthulhu mania: Metallica, Munchkin, Arkham Horror, plushies, Call of Cthulhu RPG Stump Cory MailBag Announcements http://geekguides.org/donate Next weeks show topic You can’t take the sky from me, but you can join us next week when we discuss Firefly. Show Notes Batman Prequel Castings: link More on writings of HP Lovecraft - link The H.P. Lovecraft literary Podcast- link

Ep 042 Thief Joining us this is Adam from The Plot Thickens podcast. Update on what’s going on with The Plot Thickens Podcast for all of their fans. Our fans should go check out their back episodes so you know what’s up when they start back up. Cautionary tale about PS4s and it’s lack of backward compatibility. This Week in Geekdom NBC going to bring back Heroes in 2015 link Fantastic Four reboot actors announced, movie due in 2015 link Harold Ramis of Ghostbusters fame died at age 69 link Thief released in the US 2/25 coming to Europe in 2/28 link New Godzilla movie looks good coming May 16 link editor note: early on in the show there is a spot with an echo in the audio, it's very brief but couldn't be removed in editing. We hope this doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the episode. Issues in Geekdom no right way to enjoy something? Topic Thief takes place in The City 3 factions, the Keepers, the Hammerites and the Pagans man vs nature, organization vs chaos Garrett isn’t part of any faction but closest to keepers Stealth over confrontation non-linear level design Games in the series Thief:The Dark Project 1998 (Gold, 1999) Thief 2: The Metal Age 2000 Thief: Deadly Shadows 2004 Thief (4) 2014 Stump Cory Announcements Patreon campaign link Next weeks show topic Cthulhu Show Notes The Plot Thickens Podcast link Thief Gold on Good Old Games. link Zero Punctuation review of Thief: The Dark Project link Thief Wiki link The Wil Wheaton video that we referenced link

Episode 041: Death Note An apple a day won’t keep the shinigami away This Week in Geekdom Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy trailer Jada Pinkett Smith cast in Batman prequel as Fish Mooney Irrational Games (makers of bioshock) shut down In History: 2/18/1930 - Pluto discovered Optional: we missed Darwin Day last week! :’( Issues in Geekdom Subs. v. Dubs Topic Death Note - both a manga and anime written by Tsugumi Ohba Major characters - Light Yagami: Japanese high school student, on way to college. Protagonist - L: World-famous detective - Ryuk: a death god (shinigami) and the former owner of the Death Note that Light finds Spoiler-Free Plot Synopsis Light is an incredibly smart student who finds the Death Note at his school - Death Note rules: “The human whose name is written in this note shall die.” “This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.” “If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen. ” “If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.” 'After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds (400 seconds) - Light wants to use the Death Note to reshape the world, eliminating all who he deems unfit (criminals, etc.) - Opposed by the Japanese Task Force, L, and other characters Themes - Playing God - Power corrupts Stump Britt Next weeks show topic Thief Show Notes guardians of the galaxy trailer info on Pluto irrational games shutdown Gotham Jada Pinkett Smith Red Letter Media Star Wars prequel reviews:

Episode 040: Clerks NSFW edition I’m not even supposed to be here today. This Week in Geekdom Fox’s Batman prequel casts Ben McKenzie as Detective Gordon House helps German doctors save patient’s life The Lego Movie looks to be pretty good. Star Wars 7 Update: Looks like it will be filming May- Sept. this year Issues in Geekdom importance of Celebrities Topic Clerks follows a day in the lives of 2 retail employees in a not so typical day. Black and White Infamous moments 37 Hockey game Funeral Necrophilia Return of the Jedi contractors Major Themes: Malaise of 20 somethings who aren’t achieving their dreams Indecision standing up for yourself responsibility Realistic dialog, familiar setting Clerks III pushed back link Stump Cory Announcements Punishment for Cory Next weeks show topic Death Note Show Notes Batman Announcement: link

Episode 039: Frankenstein It’s aliiiiiive! This Week in Geekdom This HP news Batman/Superman: Jeremy Irons is Alfred & Jesse Eisenberg is Lex Luthor Feb. 4, 2000 - The Sims first released. Nimoy says he’s sick, everybody freaks out Issues in Geekdom Is podcasting illegal and copyright trolls Link to The EFF Topic Written by Mary Shelley in the early 1800s. While staying with Lord Byron, he challenged each of his house guests to write a ghost story. This is hers. Frankenstein is the guy who made the monster not the monster, if the monster has a name at all it’s Adam. The story is told in epistolary form b Victor Frankenstein creates a monster who he then finds repulsive The shunning from his creator leads to him not trusting people Killing a bunch of Frankenstein’s family Frankenstein dies when unable to continue pursuit and the monster promises self-immolation Victor may relate to Paradise Lost Modern day Prometheus If you like this check out H. P. Lovecraft’s, Herbert West- Reanimator, Dracula or any of the movies based on Frankenstein's monster. Stump Cory Next weeks show topic 42 may be the answer to life, the universe and everything, but 37 is the answer to a far more interesting question. Find out more as next week we discuss Clerks. Show Notes: Superman episode