Giant Freakin Robot

Let’s face facts: Most women just aren’t as in to Star Trek as men are. So maybe the generally awesome ones that are sometimes feel like they have to make up for the general disinterest of their sisters by going just a little too far? At least that’s the only explanation I can come up with, to explain one Star Trek fangirl’s decision to ruin an otherwise lovely pair of breasts by covering them with Spock heads.

Take a look…

We need a new space race, damn it. With budgets for scientific research being slashed by ridiculous amounts and most of the world busy either yelling at each other, going bankrupt, or both, space exploration isn’t a priority for most governments right now. It makes me pine for an era I’m not even old enough to have seen, when exploring the final frontier was a national priority, if only to beat the Russians to whatever arbitrary goal we had set at the moment. If only there was some uniting reason for us as a species to turn our attentions back to outer space. Something like, I dunno, a planetary invasion by Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon for 70 years. That outlandish premise is at the heart of the Finnish science fiction/comedy Iron Sky, which is opening in Finland and the U.K. this April. It will presumably find its way stateside at some point, because goodness knows there’s a market over here for Space Nazis.

Set in 2018, Iron Sky envisions a world where a secret Nazi space program escaped destruction in the latter days of WWII by retreating to a base on the dark side of the moon. They’ve hidden there, biding their time and building a massive army of flying saucers, for the ensuing decades. Their existence is discovered accidentally by an American astronaut who lands near their base. The Moon Fuhrer (I just had a little joy-shiver just typing that) decides the time has come to take vengeance for their WWII defeat, launching a massive attack on the unsuspecting Earth. Also, it looks like Sarah Palin is president of the United States, which may just be the most terrifying part of this entire scenario.

The man responsible for an unforgettable part of many people’s childhoods has passed beyond the Rim this week. John Christopher, the British science fiction writer who penned the “Tripods” series, has passed away at the age of 89, owing to complications of bladder cancer.

Christopher was probably best known for the aforementioned “Tripods” trilogy, which encompassed The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire. The series has been a staple of many a young science fiction fan, and was turned into a BBC TV series back in the ’80s. The Tripods books were hardly Christopher’s only work, however. The prolific writer’s bibliography also includes two other young-adult trilogies and 13 novels. Unbeknownst to many (including me until just now), Christopher was actually a pen name for Christopher Youd, and it wasn’t the only time he wrote under an assumed name. Over the course of his career he also wrote as Stanley Winchester, Hilary Ford, William Godfrey, William Vine, Peter Graaf, Peter Nichols and Anthony Rye.

Despite having torn through a closetful of my dad’s old science fiction novels over the course of my adolescence, I somehow never got around to reading the “Tripods” books. I remember first hearing about them, in junior high I believe, and thinking, “Wow, that sounds like my kind of thing.” But for whatever reason, they slipped back below my radar. I know they’re beloved to tons of people, several of my friends included, so I’m sure Christopher’s passing will sadden many. As for me, I’m making a vow to finally read the “Tripods” books in a few years…once my sons are old enough to enjoy them.

You can read an excellent and thorough obituary of Christopher in the New York Times.

Stormtroopers are supposed to be the most feared warriors in the galaxy, but it’s a little difficult to take them seriously at this point. They have terrible aim and die in droves throughout the films. These days you’ll find them raising money for charities at every convention and major tourist spot. And, of course, fan vids have made them do everything from dance to argue politics with their gay partner while the Death Star was demolished by the Rebels. Why not just take it all the way, then, and reconfigure Stormtroopers as adorable, completely nonthreatening families?

Set aside your knowledge that Stormtroopers are cloned, not born, and check out these photos by Kristina Alexanderson. Anderson takes Stormtroopers of different sizes from different Lego lines and arranges them in a variety of tableaus recalling parents and children.