Various websites have released exclusive photos of the upcoming Star Trek movie prequel. Above you can see (from left to right) young Checkov, Kirk, Scotty, Dr. McCoy, Sulu and Uhura.

And here’s young Spock, played by Zachary Quinto, from the popular TV show Heroes. He looks a lot like Leonard Nimoy!

To compare, here’s a photo of these same characters from the Original Series:

So what do you think of the new uniforms? Personally, I think they look… pretty good. The texture of the material makes them look a bit like thermal underwear. But it’s not too bad.

I’m pleased with most of the casting, especially Simon Pegg as Scotty. As a long-time Trek fan, I’m a little concerned that this might become Trek 90210. But I have faith in J.J. Abrams and I will certainly be at the theater on opening weekend.

Here are a few more photos. I’m glad they kept the miniskirt, it keeps things consistent with the Original Series.

[via UGO, JustJared, IGN, AICN, MTV]

The famous Forbidden City in China gets tens of thousands of visitors each day. But now anyone in the world can visit this cultural landmark for free through a new 3-D Virtual recreation of the palace.

When you enter the Forbidden City, you choose one of nine historical costumes! Virtual visitors can partake of activities such as guided tours, Wei Qi, the game of Go, and archery. You can also watch Qing dynasty emperor feast at dinner, surrounded by his imperial servants.

The museum teamed up with IBM to develop this project, which took three years and three million dollars. You can enter the Forbidden City by visiting www.beyondspaceandtime.com and downloading the free program.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has converted the world’s largest collection of historical clothing and accessories, The Costume Institute, into a searchable database which is now available to view online.

This project begin back in 2000, and for eight years they’ve worked on formatting and digitizing their 31,000-piece collection. Amazing!

Harold Koda, the museum curator, reports, “Once we got the information together, we thought it would be ideal if the general public could log in and, for instance, find all of our Christian Diors.”

Wow, a person could spend countless hours on their website, and still not see everything. It’s so great that the museum is digitizing and preserving this information for countless generations to come.

Okay, what is it with cow costumes and troublemakers? Just last week I wrote about another bad cow.

This woman got drunk, blocked traffic and chased terrified children through an Ohio town dressed as a cow. Since she had nothing else on underneath, she was forced to stay in jail and appear in court dressed in her cow costume. Yesterday, she was sentenced to 30 days in jail for disudderly conduct. [via itv.com]

Is this the beginning of a new trend of cow crimes? Cow costume gangs? Soon the world will cry out for a hero.

This sounds like a job for…

This story is pretty bizarre:

If you live in Japan, for $25 you can hire a sexy girl in a maid costume to play Wii Fit with you.

According to the owner of Akihabara’s Refresh Club, “Playing Wii Fit by yourself is lonely. But here, playing along with a maid makes exercising enjoyable.”

Okay…. I’m a little speechless. That’s just so very funny and weird.
[via Gizmodo.com]

What if there was a place where monsters, unimaginable creatures and un-human humans could find sanctuary?

Now there is. On Friday, October 3rd the season premiere of Sanctuary begins with a full thirteen-episode first season on the Sci-fi channel.

Sanctuary, a fantasy video series about a safehouse for abnormal creatures, originally premiered in May of 2007 as a webisode. The series follows the exploits of Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping of Stargate SG-1) as she studies and helps terrifying and monstrous creatures with her reluctant protégé Will Zimmerman and her reckless daughter Ashley. Together they will seek out and protect frightening and mysterious beings that defy explanation.

Did I mention that Dr. Magnus is 157 years old? Through some sort of accident, she was infused with longevity, so she cannot age or die of natural causes. Who better to sympathize with other abnormal creatures?

Unlike most shows, 90% of Sanctuary’s sets will be computer-generated imaging, blending and bending reality with computer animation.

Here’s the first webisode and you can check out other webisodes on You Tube. Also, head over to the official Sanctuary site to watch promos, trailers and interviews with the cast.

If you have cable, plant yourself in front of the TV next Friday for a frightful dose of creepy Sci-Fi monster-y goodness. Don’t be scared…it’s a Sanctuary, remember?

This is some extremely cool comic book news. Marvel just announced that “Spider-Man and acclaimed television personality Stephen Colbert will join forces in an all new eight-page story featured in the extra-sized AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #573!”

How totally bizarre, but I love it. We’ve blogged about Colbert before when he wore a Neil Young costume and sang with Crosby, Stills and Nash. I didn’t think that could be topped, but… swinging around with Spidey is about as good as it gets.

Marvel appears to be quite the fan of Colbert. In the Marvel Universe, Colbert is still a popular presidential candidate, even though in real life he was voted off the Democratic ballot last November.

Here’s a clip of the Colbert talking with Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics:

“You are polling incredibly high among super-humans and mutants.”
- Joe Quesada

Congratulations, Stephen Colbert. You are truly a hero among men. I hope Marvel ends up giving you a super power.

The Colbert/Spider-Man #573 will be released in October. In the meantime you can keep track of Stephen Colbert’s presidential campaign in the Marvel Universe HERE.

In closing, I just want to say that DC Comics seems to be missing the Colbert Boat. If they knew what was good for them, they’d be rushing to sign Colbert for a live-action Plastic Man movie. I think he’d be perfect. In the meantime, Colbert’s presidency in the Marvel Universe will just have to do.

UNION, N.J. — A high school student has been suspended for wearing a cow costume at his school pep rally. It’s a pretty severe punishment, and his fellow students are having a cow.

The school’s mascot is the “Fighting Farmers” and every year students dress in farmer and animal themes for the annual pep rally.

The school claims the issue was not the cow costume, but the offensive jokes involving the prosthetic udders “that continued throughout the day.”

Okay, hmm, it’s probably best that we don’t know the details. Looking at that cow costume, I can see how inappropriate jokes could be made.

[via WABC]

And now for something completely random…

Last week, as a local live TV newscast covered Hurricane Ike in Texas, someone decided to put on a bear costume and walk into the background.

What is it about live news that makes people act crazy?

It would seem that the fashion industry has sunk to a new low. These models are under water! Last week, the first ever under water fashion show was organized in Australia as part of a 30-day fashion and beauty event.

The event took place in the Circular Quay, which is a leisure and recreational center in Sydney. The models held their breath and posed underwater to the amazement of both tourists and fashion experts.

Too bad no one was dressed as Aquaman, or we could have called this cosplay.

[via Reuters]

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Dr. Horrible’s lab coat has been found!

It seems everyone has been searching high and low for the perfect Dr. Horrible Costume. The hardest thing for people to find has been a replica of Dr. Horrible’s Lab Coat. There are all kinds of lab coats available, but nothing that looks exactly right.

Fortunately, Irongate Gallery has produced an exact replica, available for sale on their website. For around $100, you can order a custom lab coat that includes the goggles and the caduceus (logo) sewn into the front pocket. Check it out!

Irongate Gallery is a costume shop that specializes in hand-tailored reproductions and original costumes for all occasions. Very cool!

I’ve edited our original post on “How to Make a Dr. Horrible Costume” as well. That post gets a ton of hits as the world searches for the perfect Dr. Horrible costume.

It’s so great to finally be able to get an authentic Dr. Horrible lab coat. Thanks, Irongate Gallery!

Edit 11/05/08: Shadow Dale Creations now also offers an authentic Dr. Horrible lab coat for $200. Available in white or red.

This Trekkie just found out:

“Star Trek Experience is over?!!”

Trekkies everywhere are mourning the loss of the Star Trek Experience, the only live Star Trek attraction in the world. Today marks the end of its ten-year run at the Hilton in Las Vegas.

Over the weekend, thousands of Trekkies beamed into Las Vegas for a final encounter with the Borg and to drown their sorrows in strong Klingon drinks served at Quark’s Bar and Restaurant.

It doesn’t help that there’s as strong online rumor that the exhibit will become a theater for pop star Michael Jackson. Ouch, that’s harsh. Couldn’t they have just made Michael part of the attraction? Oh well.

Someone put together a touching tribute on YouTube:

Operations Manager Chad Boutte left a final transmission from the Enterprise bridge:

“Hailing frequencies open. We’d like to thank all the fans and friends of Star Trek, whose constant and amazing support we’ve enjoyed throughout our tenure at the Las Vegas Hilton. As we boldly go into the futures that await, know that we take your love of Star Trek: The Experience with us. We share the memories of time spent in the most unique place in the Galaxy, and we carry those memories into our futures with us.

Live long, and prosper. Hailing frequencies closed.”

[Via StarTrekExp.com]

Perhaps all is not lost, Star Trek fans. All of the props will be returned to Paramount, and with a new Trek movie debuting next summer, it’s likely the franchise will reboot into a future with many more Experiences to come.