Thursday, December 21, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Trek News/Rumors
One way or another, there's new Trek on the horizon.
Animated Web Series?
Trek XI to be released in 2008?
I think I could really dig this animated idea. Look what Clone Wars Animated did for Star Wars.
Animated Web Series?
Trek XI to be released in 2008?
I think I could really dig this animated idea. Look what Clone Wars Animated did for Star Wars.
VIPER Jokes
For the uninitiated, VIPER is the premier villain organization in the Champions universe. If there's arms smuggling, international theft, harassment of superheroes, or a world takeover plot in the works, you can bet VIPER's got their hands in it.
VIPER is more effective than the comic book organization it's based on (Marvel's HYDRA). There's no shortage of mad scientists, cunning but cowardly Nest Leaders, and supervillains on the payroll, but VIPER is best known for its agents. And that's the problem. VIPER agents have a (not entirely undeserved) reputation for underachievement. Think of Imperial Stormtroopers, but with green uniforms.
Q: How many VIPER Agent does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Five—one to change the bulb, while the rest of his team stands around looking useless.
Q: What do VIPER agents and eggs have in common?
A: They both crack under pressure, and they're both worth about $1.19 a dozen.
Q: Why did VIPER stop using eight-second hand grenades?
A: Most VIPER agents couldn't count past five without using both hands.
Q: What's the difference between a VIPER agent and an automatic transmission?
A: It's hard to replace a transmission.
Q: Why did the Frenchman win the pistol duel?
A: The VIPER agent surrendered first.
Q: What's the difference between a VIPER Agent and a baseball?
A: If a baseball gets knocked over the fence, somebody's going to want to get it back.
Q: How do you get a VIPER Agent out of a tree?
A: Wave to him.
Q: How many VIPER Agent does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two—one to change the bulb, and one to stab him in the back when he's finished.
Q: Why don't VIPER Agents eat omelettes?
A: The average VIPER Agent can't beat an egg.
Q: What do a VIPER Agent and a high school color guard girl have in common?
A: They both carry a rifle for no apparent reason.
VIPER Agents are so lazy they only date pregnant women.
Q: What's the difference between a VIPER Agent and Bigfoot?
A: One's an ugly, hulking, uncultured, foul-smelling brute, and the other has big feet.
I tried to join VIPER once, but I passed my I.Q. test.
I tried to join VIPER once, but they found out my parents were married.
And finally,
Q: How many VIPER Agent does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Just one to change the bulb, after which he'll be shot by his Nest Leader because that's not the way he wanted it done. So none, really.
VIPER is more effective than the comic book organization it's based on (Marvel's HYDRA). There's no shortage of mad scientists, cunning but cowardly Nest Leaders, and supervillains on the payroll, but VIPER is best known for its agents. And that's the problem. VIPER agents have a (not entirely undeserved) reputation for underachievement. Think of Imperial Stormtroopers, but with green uniforms.
Q: How many VIPER Agent does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Five—one to change the bulb, while the rest of his team stands around looking useless.
Q: What do VIPER agents and eggs have in common?
A: They both crack under pressure, and they're both worth about $1.19 a dozen.
Q: Why did VIPER stop using eight-second hand grenades?
A: Most VIPER agents couldn't count past five without using both hands.
Q: What's the difference between a VIPER agent and an automatic transmission?
A: It's hard to replace a transmission.
Q: Why did the Frenchman win the pistol duel?
A: The VIPER agent surrendered first.
Q: What's the difference between a VIPER Agent and a baseball?
A: If a baseball gets knocked over the fence, somebody's going to want to get it back.
Q: How do you get a VIPER Agent out of a tree?
A: Wave to him.
Q: How many VIPER Agent does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two—one to change the bulb, and one to stab him in the back when he's finished.
Q: Why don't VIPER Agents eat omelettes?
A: The average VIPER Agent can't beat an egg.
Q: What do a VIPER Agent and a high school color guard girl have in common?
A: They both carry a rifle for no apparent reason.
VIPER Agents are so lazy they only date pregnant women.
Q: What's the difference between a VIPER Agent and Bigfoot?
A: One's an ugly, hulking, uncultured, foul-smelling brute, and the other has big feet.
I tried to join VIPER once, but I passed my I.Q. test.
I tried to join VIPER once, but they found out my parents were married.
And finally,
Q: How many VIPER Agent does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Just one to change the bulb, after which he'll be shot by his Nest Leader because that's not the way he wanted it done. So none, really.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Superhero Physics!
In my wanderings around the web this morning, I happened to come across an article by Torsten Ove:
'Physics for Superheroes': perfect for science-challenged dads
Ove starts his article with this rumination:
Here are the other tidbits mentioned by the article:
» The Flash would have to eat 150 million hamburgers to run as fast as he does. If he stopped running, he'd have to eat another 150 million just to get started again.
» But Flash really could run on water. At such high speeds the water would act like a solid because its molecules can't move out from under his feet fast enough for him to sink before he's gone.
» Superman could leap tall buildings in a single bound. But he couldn't lift up a building or a ship. Oh, he's strong enough, but buildings and ships aren't -- they would crumble under their own weight.
» So would Henry Pym, aka Giant-Man. Even if he could grow to huge heights, he couldn't do much, because his spine would snap under the strain of his weight.
» Angel, the X-Man with big wings on his back, couldn't fly unless he had freakishly huge chest muscles. The guy in the movies and comic books is way too skinny.
» And Spider-Man? Could he jump prodigious distances because of his "proportional strength of a spider?" No....But he could swing from buildings on a thread, and his webbing would be strong enough to stop a jet fighter landing on an aircraft carrier.
But lest we conclude that all comic book science is junk science, consider the following statement from the back of the book in question:
"Surprisingly enough, according to Kakalios, comic books get their physics right more often than you’d think." —The Boston Globe
I've definitely got to read that book.
'Physics for Superheroes': perfect for science-challenged dads
Ove starts his article with this rumination:
Being a sober, serious-minded journalist interested in the critical issues of the day, I've long wondered: How the heck does Cyclops of the X-Men fire those eye beams of his without snapping his neck like a matchstick?The article is a book review for The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios. Being both a comic book fan and an honest-to-goodness college-educated science geek, I had to take a look. And it looks good. One more for my holiday wish list.
Now I've got my answer -- he can't.
Here are the other tidbits mentioned by the article:
» The Flash would have to eat 150 million hamburgers to run as fast as he does. If he stopped running, he'd have to eat another 150 million just to get started again.
» But Flash really could run on water. At such high speeds the water would act like a solid because its molecules can't move out from under his feet fast enough for him to sink before he's gone.
» Superman could leap tall buildings in a single bound. But he couldn't lift up a building or a ship. Oh, he's strong enough, but buildings and ships aren't -- they would crumble under their own weight.
» So would Henry Pym, aka Giant-Man. Even if he could grow to huge heights, he couldn't do much, because his spine would snap under the strain of his weight.
» Angel, the X-Man with big wings on his back, couldn't fly unless he had freakishly huge chest muscles. The guy in the movies and comic books is way too skinny.
» And Spider-Man? Could he jump prodigious distances because of his "proportional strength of a spider?" No....But he could swing from buildings on a thread, and his webbing would be strong enough to stop a jet fighter landing on an aircraft carrier.
But lest we conclude that all comic book science is junk science, consider the following statement from the back of the book in question:
"Surprisingly enough, according to Kakalios, comic books get their physics right more often than you’d think." —The Boston Globe
I've definitely got to read that book.
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