Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

One of the things the Venture Brothers is known for is its diverse cast of characters. Just seeing the logo or mentioning it by name automatically brings images of Doc, Brock, Hank, Dean, The Monarch and his henchmen to mind. One of the characters who is often overlooked is Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture’s own father, Jonas.

Jonas is an obvious parody of Hanna Barbera’s Benton Quest (Johnny Quest’s father) and other “Adventurer” characters from the late 60’s and 70’s. Jonas’ voice (provided by voice actor Paul Boocock) and physical appearance are a definite nod to characters of that era. Unlike most Hanna Barbera action-dads, he is much colder towards his son and generally has a somewhat of a disregard for his feelings and general well being. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll probably know all of this, but if not be warned, there are plenty of spoilers after the break.
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This was too funny not to repost.

[Via: PoeGhostal]

So I rented the movie Get Him to the Greek from Netflix. I was a big fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but missed this quasi-sequel in its theatrical run. I think renting a movie before purchasing is a perfectly acceptable and legal way of watching a movie, and allows me to make an informed decision before deciding if I like a movie enough to re-watch it often enough to warrant owning it.

Netflix is often times presented with bare-bones discs, which is fine if you just want the movie. After the movie was over, the DVD returned specifically to the special features menu. Seeing a slate of deleted scenes, I thought I’d continue the laughs and opted to “play all.” I was presented with a message: “This disc is intended for rental purposes and only includes the feature film. Own it on Blu-Ray or DVD to view these bonus features and complete your movie watching experience.”

Universal Pictures, it seems, was content to load only the movie on the disc, but not change the menus so that selecting ANY option other than the movie will show the above message. This is really obnoxious and annoying and I’m wondering how many movies I’ve rented from Netflix with similar messages I never accessed.

I’d like to mention that I’m not really against a bare-bones DVD release for renters, but to keep all the menus in tact and waive this “PLEASE BUY THE MOVIE” message up front is fairly strange, and almost abusive to the viewer. Why do I feel like a criminal when I pay my Netflix bill? You guys sold them the DVD! I could’ve downloaded a pirate copy and seen no such message!

Sadly, the tactic worked, as the movie was hilarious and I’ll probably buy it to watch any expanded features. Still, there is a nice way to do things and I’m not sure Universal did it.

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Shia LaBeouf, the greatest actor of our time, has done many amazing things, yet is constantly the butt of fanboy’s jokes as they accuse him of having raped their childhood. Let’s take a look at the life of this amazing man!

Shia LaBeouf eating a banana

Shia was born in a Jewish hippy household in 1986. His family name “LaBeouf” is a spelling nightmare of the French “Le Boeuf” or “The Bull”. With parents that were free spirited performers it’s no surprise he made the career choices that he did. LaBeouf, who has a natural comedic talent which is often overlooked, began performing at comedy clubs as young as the age of 10, and pursued various shitty roles in TV shows until his big break.

Young Shia LaBeouf in the Even Stevens pilot

In 1999 Shia landed the lead role in the Disney Channel comedy series Even Stevens. This was a hilarious show which to this day is the only thing to fully exploit his vast array of comedic ability. Even at 13 years old right from the first season this show featured some hilarious episodes like “Battle of the Bands” and “Movie Madness” which are full of top notch performances by Shia.

Shia LaBeouf in the Even Stevens episode 'Battle of the Bands'

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Last week Ted Leo suggested a “paradigm shift” would be coming today, and sure enough here it is.
“The Brutalist Bricks” as a Broadway musical, with Paul F Tompkins and John Hodgman also appearing. The video is directed by WMFU’s Tom Scharpling.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Top 40 radio lately, and this is at least as good if not better.

A little background on this video, which is already going viral like mad… Its the creation of Stand up comedian Rachel Bloom, who doesn’t exactly have a lot of credits yet. I have a feeling in about 2 months, she’ll be on TV.

In the mean time, she’s got a twitter and a facebook page.

Stalk away, men of the internet.

(Thanks BZ3!)

The fourth season of The Venture Bros has been split into two 8 episode arcs. The first 8 have already aired and the series will continue with “The Diving Bell VS. The Butterglider” on September 12. As with last year, we have a teaser for whats in store this fall.

See Sgt Hatred in the Optimus Prime Voice Changer Helmet, Brock as Cobra Commander, White and Billy on a motorcycle, Shore Leave talk about his ass, and more clones than we can count.

The Venture Bros is still the most amazing show on TV and its only getting crazier.

Another fun little Easter Egg from the Disney TV show “Wizards of Waverly Place”. In episode 23 of season 2, “Paint by Committee”, Alex Russo, played by Selena Gomez, paints a giant letter A on a wall in an abandoned train tunnel. When asked about it’s meaning she says “It’s my initial in a circle representing … my initial in a circle.” but the symbol bears a striking resemblance to an anarchy symbol.

Alex Russo paints an Anarchy Symbol in Wizards of Waverly Place

What could be the symbolism behind this logo? Alex Russo is a pretty free spirited girl, often opposing authority and rules, so the anarchy symbol certainly applies on a fairly superficial level, but I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest the art department be insinuating we all be better off in a world without Government.

Later in the episode as Alex paints her mural “New York Above and Below” we can once again see the iconic “initial in a circle” shown in the below portion referred to as the “gritty grimy New York, filled with barf”.

Another Anarchy Symbol Appears on the Bottom Right of 'New York Above and Below'

Wizards of Waverly Place is known for hiding such symbols. Alex Russo can be seen wearing peace symbols as part of various outfits throughout the show. These occur so frequently that an effort is made to include at least one peace symbol in Selena Gomez’s outfits in every episode of season 2. As opposed to the anarchy symbolism, the crew have made clear that they have strong feelings about putting forth a positive message of peace. Earlier this month Powet reported on Selena wearing an I love hoe bags t-shirt. Though in that case it may have been a mere coincidence, this painting’s resemblance to an anarchy symbol seems to be more than chance.