This is what happens when you cross a nerd with too much time on his hands with a warped sense of humor (pun intended). The ever-talented (and ever-warped) Daren Dochterman decided that my urinal puck and Nintendo remote from recent posts were begging to make the leap from pseudo Star Trek wannabe to iron-clad canon. So, ladies and gentleman, we present to you the USS WiiWee. Look for the resin kit in first quarter 2010.
… the USS Enterprise just keeps showing up no matter where you look. First it’s in a urinal, now it’s a fishing rod controller for the Nintendo Wii. What’s next? The Jefferies Tube in a salami? A Phaser in a beard trimmer? Is it us or is the whole world actually trying to look like Star Trek? [special thanks to reader BobaTrek for sending this one in. Send yours to DarthMojo4u at AOL]. At the risk of straying off topic for a moment, I just ran across this Photoshop image of Obama as a Vulcan. Am I the last guy on Earth to see this?
Citizens of the Federation, it’s time to do your civic duty and vote for your favorite image in our “XXL Captain Kirk” Photoshop contest (review the last two posts if you’re in need of a briefing). Staying true to the spirit of Star Trek, our hailing frequencies certainly reached out to the furthest star, as entries have come in from across the globe to create a truly international contest (just the way Gene would have liked it). You’ll find the ballot after the jump, where we’ll show you the “final five” images and tell you a little bit about the evil geniuses behind them…
11/12 update: While it seems like “Khaaaaan!!” is the front runner, it’s still important for everyone to vote – as of now, the race for second place is VERY close, so, to keep things interesting, I will also offer a special prize (to be announced) for the second place contestant. The runner-up spot is totally up for grabs at this point, so I suggest those of you in the running get out there and do some campaigning!
Continue reading ‘vote: you choose the winner of “XXL Kirk” Photoshop contest! (updated)’
How would the world be different if the guy from our favorite Halloween costume (as discussed in the previous post) had actually been the one to land the classic role of James T. Kirk? What if there was no Shatner? Help the world visualize this with your mad Photoshop skills and send your best effort to DarthMojo4U at AOL (Click here for a clean image of “big Kirk” to help get you started). The winner will receive the ultimate prize – the thrill of victory! I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with. Spread the word! And remember to check back with this post often – I’ll keep updating as new images are submitted!
Continue reading ‘photoshop “xxl kirk costume” contest (final entries are in!)’
Friday I was assembling a few odds and ends for my last minute costume when I encountered the above abomination at the Halloween store. Generally speaking, they choose a model for the packaging that at least bears some vague physical similarity to the person or character they’re trying to market – but in this case, WTF?! Obviously they weren’t even trying to go for a Chris Pine lookalike, and he’s fatter than Shatner ever was, so, all I can come up with is they wanted a model that made men say “hell, I’d be a better looking Captain Kirk than this guy!” Unless the costume is supposed to be bloated Kirk after McCoy injected him with the comedy virus. What was my costume, you ask?
… you stare at a urinal puck and you see the primary hull of the USS Enterprise.
They say that the secret to success is to simply please yourself. Since it’s impossible to predict what people are going to love or hate, people are often told “make the movie you want to see, or invent the thing you want to buy.” Recently, I was approached to come up with an idea for a new Star Trek product; as part of the process, I found myself wondering, “what would I be interested in?” Sadly, the programmable Orion Slave Girl Clone didn’t quite pan out, but I came up with something else that I think is even sexier…
There’s been so much attention focused on Star Trek this summer, people have barely taken notice of the other popular sci-fi television franchise that has been rebooted into a big-budget feature film: Land of the Lost. Despite the disparity in popularity, these shows sit pretty much right next to each other on the “memory lane” shelf for a lot of folks. Anyone in their late thirties to early forties probably grew up watching both simultaneously, since Land of the Lost aired at around the same time that Star Trek was reaching its apex of initial popularity.* It makes sense that sci-fi fans would enjoy both, since, while on the surface, the shows appear to be entirely different, they have a lot more in common than you might think…
Continue reading ‘movie review: land of the lost (vs star trek)’
What happens when you make a movie within a studio system that’s not run by accountants or marketing people, but run by film makers? You get “Up,” the latest CGI-animated feature from 3D juggernaut Pixar. “Up” isn’t simply the best Pixar film to date – it’s a great movie, period. I don’t care if you think “cartoons” aren’t for you or if you tend to steer clear of “kids movies,” this is something everyone who likes movies will love.
As we get closer and closer to the rebirth of our beloved Star Trek (two weeks and counting), I can detect the early stages of an illness, slowly brewing inside me. But this particular viral strain does not manifest itself through elevated temperature, cold sweats or even a mild cough; no, the symptoms of this pesky bug can be far worse – in the past week alone, I’ve found myself dusting off a Phaser, replacing the batteries in an old Communicator toy and, believe it or not, actually watching episodes of Enterprise (just to see if there were any good ones). Try as I might, calls to 911 have proved fruitless – even the most skilled EMT on earth can’t do a thing for a patient exhibiting the signs of Star Trek Fever…
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Many thanks to all of you happy-go-lucky, loyal Darth Mojo readers. I really do enjoy sharing all this neat stuff with you, and it truly makes me smile when someone tells me they learned something from a post. I hope all of you have at least a few moments worth remembering from 2008 (aside from the day you discovered this blog) and let’s all work together to make sure 2009 kicks some serious ass. For me, finding a project – and a crew – that tops Battlestar Galactica sounds like wishful thinking but, then again, having BSG come back and finding myself working on it was a dream come true itself, so it just proves that we never know what’s hiding around that corner.
Speaking of boldy going into the future, the image you see above is just a small section of a poster I recently did for a friend’s Star Trek-related project. If you click on it, you’ll be treated to a hi-res picture that seems fitting for our charge ahead into the new year…
A fistfull of years ago, I did a few covers for Star Trek: The Magazine. Sadly, this slickly-produced, lovingly written periodical folded in 2003, but as I was digging through my archives (in other words, as I was finally looking to see what was on a bunch of old CD-ROMS entitled “label me”), I ran across the original, hi-res renders created for the publication. Knowing how bad I am with technology, it’s entirely possible that I put the CD in my drive and accidentally uploaded them to my blog, where anyone can download and enjoy them…
Way, way back in the footloose and fancy-free year of 2001, fellow Star Trek visual effects alum Rob Bonchune and I created renderings for a book called “Starship Spotter,” a guidebook to the magnificent flying machines of the Trek universe. We were both CG Supervisors on Voyager at the time and used the actual computer models from the various Trek series to liven up the book with all sort of tasty imagery.
Darth Mojo 
