When Shia LaBeouf got into a car accident last year, the world stopped moving. The actor was rushed into surgery to repair a hand crushed so badly that one finger no longer had any bone left. The second thing out of everyone's mind was, "How will this affect the Transformers 2 movie?"

Shia was in the middle of filming the epic sequel to the insane original (that made squeal like the little geeky girl I am in the theatre) when his truck got smashed by a moron driver who ran a red. Fast forward a couple of months and where are we? Shia's hand will be undergoing a third surgery within days (if it hasn't already happened) that the actor says should restore about 80% of its normal function.

Scary stuff. Here's the full text of the EW interview with Shia LaBeouf. Some highlights:

How is the hand now?
My middle finger is still crooked as a f---ing noodle, so they've gotta straighten it out and put a screw in it.

What do you remember of the initial surgical procedure?
The first voice I heard when I came out of surgery was Harrison's. Harrison [Ford] called me on the phone and said, "Hey, are you okay?" I said, "Yeah, I'm good." He said, "Well, then you need to get back to work." I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "That's the way this cookie crumbles." So I went back to work. The show doesn't stop for anybody.

In October, there was a report that you got hit with a prop just above one eye and needed stitches.
I basically stuck a f---ing sharp object through my eyelid.

Michael Bay, your director, says it was a large prop of some kind that caught you, which he didn't want to identify or describe because it's a plot spoiler. He also says he dropped to his knees as soon as he heard someone on the set say, "There's blood."
They stitched me up in a military hospital. The doctor looks at me and he holds his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart from one another. I said, "What is that?" He said, "Blindness." This is the most insane s--- I've ever been a part of.

In other entertainment news...

Have you seen the YouTube clip of Britain's Got Talent competitor Susan Boyle? I caught it on the Evening News with Charles Gibson last night when I was picking up milk at my friendly neighborhood corner store, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every person in the store had stopped to watch her performance. It's so good it looks fake.

The best part of the Britain's Got Talent story for me is that this isn't the first time something this unreal has happened: If you don't know Susan Boyle, certainly you've heard of Paul Potts. Here's the clip of his first audition -- it's eerily similar and equally amazing. Plot spoiler: He went on to win the talent show and release a record of his own. Seriously, he's the new Luciano Pavarotti ... only he's better. You don't have to be trained to appreciate talent when you see it.

And what would our Entertainment Report for Geeks be without a mention of Stephen Colbert?

A few weeks back, I asked all of you Firefly fanatics (welcome to the club) to go online to NASA.org and vote to name a node on the International Space Station 'Serenity' after the show's iconic spaceship.

Well, you listened -- but Colbert still rules the stage when asking fans for favors. He caught wind of the contest and 230,000 fans later, the name 'Colbert' was the leading write-in vote for the contest.

Last night, NASA went on 'The Colbert Report' to announce the winning entry of the Name a NASA Node contest (my own name, not theirs), and instead of announcing the lead vote getter -- SERENITY -- or write-in winner COLBERT as the winner, the chosen voicebox for NASA said the new node would be named TRANQUILITY -- another write-in vote.

I am totally irritated by this!

Why bother having a voting contest if you aren't going to pick the top-vote-getting entry in either the suggested or write-in categories? Grrrr ... I'm definitely more angry about this than I should be. It's just a stupid, bureaucratic PR bull---- to hold a public voting contest then just give the award to the entry you like best.

Seriously... see if I promote any more of those stupid voting polls from NASA again. Yeah, and congrats on your exercise machine, Colbert. That's an OK consolation prize.

See you all Friday!

Labels: Britain's Got Talent, Firefly, NASA Stephen Colbert, Serenity, Shia Labeouf, Susan Boyle, Tranquility, YouTube

We're just going to have a short entry today -- not too much going on in the world of tech. But first...

Exciting news! This coming Monday (March 9) we will be kicking off our Byte-Sized Spring Cleaning Giveaway, featuring some fantastic, work-friendly, cubicle-must-haves from our friends over at Dream Cheeky! My fellow editors and I have personally tested some of its awesome USB-powered devices and will be featuring the reviews during the giveaway. Trust me, you're not going to want to miss this!

Now, on to some top headlines in the tech world ...

Cool auction alert: Ever wonder what's on a celebrity's iPod? Well, this auction gets you one better -- for pretty fair prices (at the moment), you can bid to buy a real star's iPod, including those from Scarlett Johanssen, Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, Marc Jacobs (currently highest) and Bill Clinton. The auction site, Tonic.com, even has a preview list of the songs loaded on the players -- though I'm not sure most fanboys care about the songs so much as it was actually touched by ScarJo. But I can't guarantee that -- damn the digital age :)

OK, Firefly fans -- I know you are out there. And, if you don't know what Firefly is ... well then you either just aren't a true geek (sorry) or you must go buy the entire Firefly series now. Anyways, for you fans, NASA is looking to name Node 3 on the International Space Station and it looking for *your* input: one of the choices? Serenity. Srsly. Go vote now! The answer will be revealed in April. I'll be sure to keep you updated!

Lastly, for the biggest news of the day, Amazon.com has announced it will be releasing an iPod Touch and iPhone version of its Kindle software. So, you're in luck if you have one of those geeky gadgets -- in one free download, you're also getting a smaller-screened version of the oh-so-popular Kindle 2!

OK, that's all for me today -- see you all on Friday!

Labels: Amazon.com's Kindle 2, Byte-Sized Spring Cleaning Giveaway, Firefly, iPhone, iPod touch, NASA

Never doubt the power of blogs -- they can make or break reputations, can be an unlimited source of entertainment and are the ultimate passive-aggressive method of confrontation.

Thus I present to you, my 'net loving geeks, two very separate examples:

1.) Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a delicious, fictitious web-film creation from every pop-cultist's favorite writer/director Joss Whedon -- among others, his much-too-short-lived, space-western series Firefly is one of my favorites. Also under his belt: Buffy, Angel and upcoming series Dollhouse.

Anyway, this incredibly popular blog, which stars Neil Patrick Harris (a surprisingly brilliant singer) and Nathan Fillion (mmmm) as warring goofball villains/heroes who occasionally break into song with dialog so funny you don't need to hear it in context to laugh ("It's curtains for you, Dr. Horrible. Lacy, gently wafting curtains..."), was so bombarded with hits in the hours since its official launch that it crashed several times and is currently averaging 1,000 page views a minute.

Word to the wise: If you are interested at all -- and please, I know you are -- you only have until this Saturday (July 19) to watch all three 15-minute installments of this classic web series before it will be available for a fee from iTunes. A DVD of the series chock full of of extras is forthcoming -- but indulge yourself and watch it during your lunch break.

2.) This story comes from the Washington Post and drips with caffeinated goodness: A guy walks into Murky's, a tiny, pretentious espresso bar in D.C., and orders a triple-shot over ice. The barista refuses. The guy modifies the order to a triple shot with a separate glass of ice. The barista begrudgingly complies, then approaches the guy at his table minutes later and reprimands him for ruining the integrity of the drink, all but ordering him to leave the establishment immediately.

So, what's an embarrassed caffeine junkie (because you SO are if you can down three shots of espresso like it is a simple cup of coffee) to do? Why, go home and blog about it! Quicker than a double-click, the situation escalates into a bitter Internet debate over whether coffee bar's owner, who defended his barista and *willingly* posted a list of his shop's absurd coffee policies in response, or the disgruntled customer was in the right.

I'm not sure where I fall in this one. Having happily worked at Starbucks for 3 years, I totally get that there are certain standards when making coffee that need to be met. It's totally a valid claim by the owner that espresso gets bitter when added to water. But -- and I hate cliches -- try a half-and-half instead of shooting red-eyes, Mr.Murky. In other words, calm the f*** down. The afore-mentioned blogger just wanted a drink, and it's not up to you to decide how the customer spends his money in your shop.

SO, anyway... enjoy your net-browsing for the day, and don't forget to hit up Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I guarantee it'll brighten your day :)



UPDATE 7-21: Dr. Horrible was fantastic -- hope you all got a chance to watch for free! It's been taken offline and is now available for download from iTunes. Go find a quiet corner and laugh a little :)

Labels: blogs, coffee, Dr. Horrible, espresso, Firefly, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, Starbucks