by A.J. Focht
The weekend came and went with no signs of raptors or the rapture (except this). In fact, no apocalypse of any kind occurred, much to the disappointment of Harold Camping’s followers, and the delight and derision of most of the nerd population. That’s not to say that the CDC didn’t already have it – and you – covered, as they explained with the release of America’s official Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness 101 outline this last week. While there was no immediate need to put it to use, it’s very existence grants a bit of extra hope for the American citizen (except for those of us who can make out that massive gaping holes in the plan).
The world might not have ended, but it did lose a classic geek idol, Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Savage died Friday, May 22 after losing control of his car. As an early ‘90s wrestling super star, he made his way into the hearts of many. Nerd culture heads however, will remember him for his voiceovers in shows like Dexter’s Lab and Family Guy, and of course as Bonesaw McGraw, the wrestler Spider-Man humiliatingly defeated in a cage match during the first movie.
One of the many upsides to the world not ending is that we can all look forward to the premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day on STARZ (as well as the BBC) this July 8. Joining the cast alumni are new headliners Alexa Havins, Mekhi Phifer, and Bill Pullman. An exceptional list of guest stars has also signed on for the ten episode series, including Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) and Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Jurassic Park).
The principal photography started last week for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. At the same time, the first viral marketing campaign for the movie snuck onto the interwebz. The website TheDarkkNightRises.com was opened as a blank black page with chanting in the background. Fans followed an audio hint to the @thefirerises Twitter account and were awarded with a fuzzy mosaic image of Bane. The image was later cleaned up and released as the first official photo of Bane.
Meanwhile in Middle Earth, Peter Jackson has announced that Stephen Fry will be joining the cast of The Hobbit as The Master of Lake Town. There is also word that two as of now unidentified cast members were injured in an explosion on set. The report is calling it an industrial explosion and the injured parties were hospitalized ‘as a precaution.’
Back in the stone age, it looks like there is going to be a revival in Bedrock. Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show, has received the rights to revive the prehistoric classic, The Flintstones. Production is set to begin this fall for a 2013 launch. The big question now is if MacFarlane will take The Flintstones the same direction as his other adult oriented comedies.
Gears of War lovers will now be able to reenact some of their favorite moments from the first two games from anywhere. At least that’s the general idea behind the upcoming Gears of War: The Board Game, which contains seven missions and a random map generator to help keep the killing fresh.
Finally, Sony’s PlayStation Network has been back up for a little over a week now. But just because the network is up, it doesn’t mean the attacks have stopped. Sony has been troubled by several smaller hack attempts. Early on in the PSN reboot, Sony found a vulnerability being exploited in their new password reset system, and only days later they found a phishing scam running out of their Thailand servers. The estimated cost of the damage so far is at $171 million, but if Sony doesn’t pull their game together, their monetary losses will only climb as customers defect to other, more reliable and secure gaming systems.
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