Earlier this week, reports had it that Conan was planning a tour throughout North America. Well today all was confirmed and Conan is indeed hitting 30 cities, with second nights added for certain cities based on demand.

“It was either a massive 30-city tour or start helping out around the house” says O’Brien.

He also tweeted the following:

Here is the full list of dates. Tickets available via www.ticketmaster.com or www.teamcoco.com.

4/12/10 | Eugene, OR | Hult Center for the Performing Arts
4/13/10 | Vancouver, BC | Orpheum Theatre
4/16/10 | Spokane, WA | INB Performing Arts Center
4/17/10 | Enoch, AB, Canada | River Cree Resort & Casino
4/18/10 | Seattle, WA | Seattle Center – Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
4/22/10 | San Francisco, CA | Nob Hill Masonic Center
4/24/10 | Universal City, CA | Gibson Amphitheater
4/29/10 | San Diego, CA | San Diego Civic Theatre
4/30/10 | Phoenix, AZ | Dodge Theatre
5/1/10 | Las Vegas, NV | The Pearl Concert Theatre @ The Palms
5/4/10 | Reno, NV | Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
5/5/10 | San Jose, Ca | San Jose State University Events Center
5/6/10 | Sacramento, CA | Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
5/9/10 | Boulder, CO | Mackey Auditorium
5/10/10 | Denver, CO | Ellie Caulkins Opera House
5/13/10 | Dallas, TX | McFarlin Memorial Auditorium- SMU Campus
5/14/10 | Austin, TX | Austin Music Hall
5/15/10 | Tulsa, OK | Brady Theater
5/16/10 | Kansas City, MO | Midland Theatre
5/18/10 | Minneapolis, MN | Orpheum Theatre
5/19/10 | Chicago, IL | Chicago Theatre
5/22/10 | Toronto, ON, Canada | Massey Hall
5/30/10 | Atlantic City, NJ | Borgata Spa & Resort – Event Center
6/1/10 | New York, NY | Radio City Music Hall
6/4/10 | Boston, MA | Wang Theater
6/6/10 | Uncasville, CT | Mohegan Sun Arena
6/7/10 | Upper Darby, PA | Tower Theatre
6/8/10 | Washington, DC | Constitution Hall
6/11/10 | Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo Music Festival
6/14/10 | Atlanta, GA | Fox Theatre

Globally as a whole, we’re all aiming to be more green conscious when it comes to transportation.  In certain parts of Europe, bikes can be rented like zipcar renting out econo boxes to mid-sized cars by the hour.  But lets dwell on storage in an urban setting for a hot minute.  Major cities may have bike ports and bike garages.  But with the keyword urban setting, premium spacing should come to mind.  The video above shows how once again Japan one-ups everyone.  The bike storage system above is an underground cylinder that houses up to 144 bicycles in carousels like a vending machine.  Within minutes you can check your bike in or out.  I’m sure stateside bound cyclists would love to see something like this in their city.

Source: dannychoo.com

I love H&M. The clothes, the accessories, the affordable price and the collaborations with the fashion elites – both boys and girls of all ages can not get enough. Just stand at the entrance of any H&M store and I can guarantee that one of every three people walk out with at least one bag of goodies.

But what kinds of bags are found at the back door of the H&M store on 34th just east of Sixth Avenue in Manhattan? Not your typical garbage bag. But piles upon piles of garbage bags filled with perfectly new clothes purposely shredded with holes to ensure they are not worn or sold. What the hell is going on?

The New York Times investigate and find that this has been going on long enough that there are even people found waiting at the H&M backdoors for the next dump hoping that perhaps there will be a handful of items that luckily missed out on being slashed. One would think that the retail giant would be smart enough to look after its brand image, including social consciousness. As the New York Times note: “It is winter. A third of the city is poor. And unworn clothing is being destroyed nightly”. Even worse, “Directly around the corner from H & M is a big collection point for New York Cares, which conducts an annual coat drive”.

Why is there no standard procedure to delegate the situation better? Not one person at H&M looked into donating as an alternative? It did not have to end this way. No word from H&M headquarters yet. But they better think of something good… and fast.

Image and Source: The New York Times

**H&M have since released a statement:

“We donate garments that do not meet our quality requirements to organizations such as Gifts In Kind, UNHCR, Caritas, the Red Cross and Helping Hands,”

“However, we do not donate clothes that do not meet our safety requirements, chemical restrictions or are damaged…. We are currently looking into if we can further improve our routines.”

According to Pocket-lint, production of Technics dj grade turntables, the SL-1200 and SL-1210 models will discontinue after February 2010.  Although, its common practice these days to use cd-j’s and mp3 formatted music as the medium, the iconic tools of the trade are still an industry standard in the booth.  As quoted by Ian North, spokesperson for Panasonic:

“It is a sad day today but due to low sales globally in analogue turntables a decision to stop production has been made on Technics Turntables. For Australia this means we will receive our last shipment in March”.

Even with this bit of gloomy news, most beginners usually end up picking up someone’s used setup on craigslist.  But in the grand scheme of things, this is something to mourn about.

Image Source: Turntablelife.com

Just about anywhere you go, gas stations, grocery stores and even company cafeterias sell energy drinks.  I recently read an interesting article on DailyFinance in regards to “Anti-energy” beverages as the latest niche.  In contrast to Red Bull, Rock Star or Amp Energy Drink, our groceries and convenience stores may soon be stocked with Slow Cow, Vacation in a Bottle or Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda.  But the real question is, are we ready to slow down?  Personally, I’ve tried Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda and much like the first time I’ve downed a Red Bull, it was a little hard accepting the after taste.  But with valerian root, melatonin and chamomile being the dominant ingredients, I can’t help but think if its good for me, why not give it a try?  How many of you all have tried anti-energy drinks and what brands have you seen so far?

Image Source: Francis Bourgouin

Anti-global warming group 350.org has released a new video that raises awareness of global warming by getting models to strip down to their underwear. Models involved in the ad are Rachel Alexander, Shannon Click, Hanne Gaby, Olya Ivanisevic, Alla Kostromicheva, Heidi Mount, Crystal Renn amongst others.

The so-called “day of action” took place on the 24th of this month all around the world. To check out pictures and news clippings of the event check out www.350.org.

Perusing the Internets this weekend and just doing some catch up reading, I came across this hilarious article on Yahoo, that had a quote saying: “…according to a recent report, Chevys proudly proclaim of their owners, “I don’t use the Internet.”" HAHAHA. The article breaks down the numbers futher by saying “13% of Chevy owners don’t use the Web” and goes on to say only 35% of Chevy owners have a college degree or higher compared that to 70% for Honda owners. Other cars mentioned in this study are Honda, Ford, Mini, Bentley and Ferrari.

Check the article here.

It was recently announced that the Michael Jackson final performance documentary This Is It (directed by Kenny Ortega) will premier in only 25 cities world wide. Judging from the millions of fans around the globe and the massive turnouts MJ would get to any performance, it isn’t hard to assume that a ticket to one of these premiers will be rare for the average moonwalker. In a Sony press release they have announced that the main premier will take place at the Nokia Theater LA LIVE on October 27th which will kick off a series of screenings around the globe at the exact same time. Other cities include New York, Rio, Berlin, London, Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, Johannesburg and Seoul, but all of the initial screenings will comply with the West Coast LA time of 9PM meaning some countries will first screen the film in the early hours of the morning.

The premiers will launch a two-week event where audiences can see the film on the big screen. Tickets go on sale worldwide on September 27th and can be purchased through www.thisisit-movie.com.

By now this video has already been made several rounds on the internets.  But I can’t help watch over and over how quickly the thieves made out with all that Apple goodness.  In total, 23 MacBook Pro’s, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod Touch were lifted by a team of 5.  What I’m wondering is how the dudes will unload the stolen goods considering they don’t have power cables and boxes.

Source: Geekologie via Peggy Wang

Paul Reubens is attempting yet another return to the spotlight. The Pee Wee Herman Show is returning to its roots November 8th at The Music Box in Hollywood. Many will remember Reubens’ show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse from back in the 80’s. The experimental animation, costumes, design and humor was a major hit with a number of audiences. Many are now aware that Reubens had to stop the show after being convicted of public nudity…

But Pee Wee fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Reubens plans to bring his show back to the stage where it originally began. If you plan on being in the area, this is a show that CANNOT be missed.

Click here for ticket info.

In the meantime, check out this clip from the flick Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding some interesting news coming out of a recent script review of Darren Aronofsky’s latest flick Black Swan. According to a reviewer the script includes:

ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex

Interesting news not only for the perv in all of us, but also because the two actresses cast to play the leads in Black Swan are Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman. There really is nothing more to this other than the review which can be found here, but you have to admit, when this gets close to hitting theaters in 2010, people will want to see what all of the fuss is about. Black Swan is the story of two ballerinas – Portman plays the sweet, innocent lead in the ballet Swan Lake, while Kunis plays a much darker, younger ballerina. Alright, perv time is over kids, g’night.

Last week’s Get To Know Your Superhero: Kick-Ass has prompted me to look a little further into the production of the film and since then there has been quite a bit of news to come out of the rumor mill. First up, director and story adapter Matthew Vaughn really had nothing more than an idea and Mark Millar’s permission to go ahead and start planning a film. Vaughn was without financing, without a script and without a cast. Fast forward a few months to Comic-Con and Vaughn’s Kick-Ass scenes played to a packed house resulting in a resounding standing ovation. Apparently Vaughn had been pumping in his own money because the original pitch to bring the comic book to screen didn’t attract as much attention as he would have liked. Now that fans have spoken and studio execs have seen some of the footage, Kick-Ass is becoming one of this year’s biggest movie properties prompting studios like Lionsgate, Paramount and Universal to take more than a second look.

Vaughn and the Kick-Ass crew still haven’t officially decided on what studio will represent them in theaters, but judging from the buzz this is generating around the comic book world, you can bet that one of the big boys is going to jump on board.

Kick-Ass will be an origin story of sorts that tells the tale of an average NYC teen looking to become a superhero. Although the concept sounds a bit Disney at first, the way Vaughn has already shot some of the film and the panels in the original comic book will show that Kick-Ass is not for the faint of heart. Blood-lust and smack-talking aside, Kick-Ass will still be entertaining for most audiences, and Vaughn promises that the flick will stay as true to the original book as possible. The film stars Aaron Johnson as the lead character Dave Lizewski, Nick Cage as Big Daddy and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Red Mist (just to name a few). Be sure to keep tabs on this as filming concludes as we’re sure to get tons of images, viral videos and kick-ass web material to pass around.

Here’s the first as someone has posted some hand-cam footage of the Comic-Con trailer.

John Hughes, director of some of the most influential films of all time (possible bias…) has passed away due to a heart attack while visiting family in Manhattan. The 59 year old filmmaker will be remembered for his ability to convey timeless teenage angst on screen during a confusing modern era, the 80’s. If you need a refresher on how important Hughes films have been, here’s a short list of some of his work:

Sixteen Candles – Director

Breakfast Club – Director

Weird Science – Director

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Director

Home Alone – Writer

Pretty In Pink – Writer

After reading through all of these titles it is becoming clear that John Hughes played a major role in sculpting the way North American adults have turned out – and we thank you.

Heres an i-Solution to the traditional newspaper.  Sure people can always check the news electronically via their computer or smart phone, but this is a compromise for those that actually want to hold something in the hands in the morning.  Designed by Seon-Keun Park and Byung-Min Woo, the In Newspaper delivers real time news and is full customizable to its end user.  In terms of customization, readers can select from a variety of content from global sources.  Operation is easy as readers will place the iN flexible display in its cradle during the evening and set an alarm as to when they will wake up.  And upon waking up, their news is ready to read.  Not a bad idea for those that love cutting edge technology and want to stay green conscious.  On a side note, I love the usage of the Verve for background music in the Youtube clip.

Image Source: Yanko Design

Comic-Con was a huge success this year for a number of reasons and one of the biggest and best received panels came from the cast and crew of ABC’s Lost. As many of you are already aware of, Lost will be entering its final season this year and with a web of mysteries still surrounding the story of the show, fans are salivating for some news about the big reveals. Well, the Lost panel was a huge success for a few reasons. Of course it showed the world that the actors  behind a lot of the principle characters are real people with real personalities, but it also put show creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cruse in the spotlight when asked about the upcoming season. After a lot of hoo-hum back and forth with the fans that resolved basically nothing, the producers of the show revealed a sealed box containing what they claimed was the final script page of the final season of the final episode. Fans were ecstatic at the thought of being in the same room as a ending to one of pop-culture’ s greatest mysteries when suddenly Josh Holloway (Sawyer) stands up and decides to open the box himself. The cast and most of the crew usually don’t know what happens next on the show until they actually start shooting, so Holloway was as curious as everyone in the room. Check the video below to see Holloway struggle through the final page, then get help from Michael Emerson (Ben Linus).

Okay, apparently the producers of Lost decided to play a little joke on everyone in attendance as the final script page actually wasn’t from Lost at all. It turns out the producers did their homework and found out that the Heroes Panel would appear right after theirs in the same room. So instead of revealing what happens in the final episode of Lost, they wrote a mock ending to season 4 of Heroes! A classic moment is listening to Ben Linus muttering, “What the Fuck is this?” into the mic.

This past weekend marked one of the year’s biggest events in terms of pop culture and entertainment. Comic-Con 2009 closed the books yesterday evening and like so many years previous, people will be talking about it for a while. I posted a few interesting things to come out of the convention a few days ago, but now that the event is over I can point out some of the biggest news that people will be following.

First up, James Cameron’s Avatar. This was probably one of the most anticipated panels / talks of the year where Cameron would screen some footage of his upcoming IMAX release Avatar. Movie fans have been buzzing about this project for over a year and Cameron didn’t disappoint. It’s impossible to show footage of his presentation because the web could never do justice due to the sheer size of the project. Just know that Cameron’s Avatar will be making huge news throughout the next calendar year.

Next was the public screening of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. After a lot of talk, rumors, leaked photos and random forum news, Disney finally released the trailer for the upcoming Wonderland adventure. You can check the trailer below:

Fans camped out the night before to get a good seat and a glimpse of the next big thing to come out of the Twilight Saga. New Moon premiered the latest public footage. Check the clips below and please disregard the screaming camera woman.

John Favreau brought up the entire cast of Iron Man 2 and showed 5 minutes of footage. Unfortunately Marvel hasn’t released the footage to the web, but you can check out a clip of the panel here:

There was TONS of news that dropped throughout the 4 day event and trying to wrap all of it up in one post would be criminal. If you’re interested in something specific, leave a comment and I’ll post more.

Yesterday I posted some of the projected highlights for Thursday’s opening day events at Comic-Con and from the sounds of it, nobody disappointed.

I’ll start this wrap-up of the first day with the biggest news for a lot of James Cameron fans. As many of you already know, Cameron is taking over the 3D and IMAX world with his feature film Avatar. Comic-Con attendees were treated to 25 minutes of the film and an intimate chat with Cameron himself. A few highlights were when stars Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana graced the stage and spoke about the movement work they’ve done as well as the mythology that will surround the flick. From what fans can gather so far, Avatar follows the story of a paralyzed soldier in a distant world who volunteers himself and his body to become a hybrid of two species. The result is apparently astounding. Avatar is being pegged as an “experience,” more than a movie and after Cameron announced that August 21st will be “Avatar Day,” everyone is looking to check it out. Avatar Day will mark Cameron’s first big marketing push with his new film as he will be taking over IMAX screens all over the world and show 15 minutes of the move for free.

Onto the next big panel, New Moon. I won’t go into too much detail over what was said cause the nice folks over at ropeofsilicon.com have posted some video. Have a look if you can bare the noise of thousands of screaming fans.

The final bit of huge news that I’ll mention I actually posted yesterday, that being the trailer for Alice In Wonderland. Head on over to yesterday’s post to see it.

Today brings the following:

Warner Bros Presents: Where The Wild Things Are, The Book of Eli, Nightmare on Elm Street, Sherlock Holmes and Jonah Hex – Not sure who will be attending the panel, but with a lineup of flicks like that, I’m sure there will be a few big names.

24 – Kiefer Sutherland and newcomer Katee Sackhoff as well as other cast members will be previewing season 8 of the FOX hit

Focus Features Presents: 9 – Another highly anticipated animated feature will screen never-before-seen footage as well as a panel.

Sony Pictures Presents: Legion and District 9 – More footage from Sony’s upcoming projects as well as a panel including Paul Bettany and Peter Jackson

There are a ton of panels going on today so I’m sure we’ll be getting lots of new footage as the hours pass. I’ll be back tomorrow to wrap up today’s ongoings as well as preview what’s to come for Saturday.

As some followers might have already guessed, The Bloated Penguin is kind of the resident nerd here in the Killahbee-hive. I blog about most things geek from comics and movies to video games and TV shows so this weekend marks one of the biggest global events for someone like me. That event of course is the 2009 San Diego Comic-con. Although I am not physically attending this year’s event, I’ll do my best to update everyone on what’s coming out of San Diego this weekend.

First up, some highlights in the schedule of panel speakers and presentations for Thursday. If you’ve never been to a panel presentation then you’re surely missing out as you get to see producers, actors, creators and artists in their natural form without a camera in their face all of the time.

Summit Entertainment Presents: Astroboy – A sneak peak at the fully animated CG adventure feature film based on the popular cartoon from the early 80’s. Panel will include Kristen Bell, Freddie Highmore and David Bowers.

Disney: 3D Panel – Disney will be showing unseen footage from their upcoming flicks A Christmas Carol, Alice In Wonderland and Tron and live guests include Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton and moderator Patton Oswalt.

Spotlight on Kevin Eastman – Comic-con brings legendary comic creator Kevin Eastman to fans in a talk about his early works, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and some of his future projects.

Summit Entertainment Presents: New Moon – A sneak peak at the latest footage from the Twilight saga featuring some surprise cast members.

20th Century FOX and James Cameron Present: Avatar – Probably one of the most anticapted panels of the entire convention, James Cameron will reveal information and a few scenes from his upcoming project Avatar

Kick-Ass – Mark Millar’s popular comic Kick-Ass comes to screen with a sneak peak at early footage. Panel includes Matt Vaughn and Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Green Lantern: First Flight Premier – Fans get a fist look at the full screening of the Green Lantern animated feature from DC

That’s it for today, but check back tomorrow for a wrap-up and preview of the weekend’s ongoing.

The drama that follows Futurama just won’t go away. First they are canceled. Then They are brought back for syndication on multiple networks. Then FOX finances 4 direct-to-DVD movies. Then FOX orders another season of the show years after the cancellation. And now?

Contract disputes have resulted in most of the core cast members being… Recast.

Billy West (Fry), Katy Segal (Leela), and John Di Maggio (Bender) will not be returning with the show when they decide to kick it off. If you’re a fan of the show, or you’ve seen a few episodes, then you’ll know that this is going to be strange to say the least. In comparison, this is like someone going in and changing all of the voices of the Simpsons, then trying to call it The Simpsons. I’ll still watch the first few episodes to get a feel for the new show, but my hopes aren’t high.

Heard a little rumour this morning that Justin Timberlake is going in for a screen test to play the Green Lantern. Although completely unconfirmed (and please take with a rock of salt), Warner Brothers is currently running screen tests with a few select people to play Hal Jordan in the upcoming Green Lantern flick. Another name that has been floating around has been Chris Pine from Star Trek, but we can now throw the N’Sync alum into the big pool of possibilities. Even though the musician-to-movie-star road is never taken well, Timberlake has some chops. His regular appearances on SNL are always blog worthy and a little flick called Alpha Dog from a few years ago wasn’t half bad either. Don’t get me wrong, it’s probably a bad idea, but if you had to choose a musician to make the transition to the screen in a feature role, I think JT is one of the safer bets.

**UPDATE**

It is now being reported that the three finalists to play Hal Jordan are Timberlake, Bradley Cooper from The Hangover and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool).

**UPDATED AGAIN**

It is now officially confirmed that Green Lantern will be played by Ryan Reynolds.