Oh, Donny. I know things are rough for you right now. The American Dream is vomiting up all over itself, and so are you. Alcoholism, blackouts, prostitutes. Dying loved ones. Things may seem like they suck, but hold on tight to the beauty in the world! It’s there! Underneath your cigarette butts and empty vodka bottles. And in the sky, too! Double rainbow, Donny! Double rainbow!

The above galaxy is NGC 300. Yeah man, what a drag of a name, no? NGC 300 just happens to be one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky, and as such it deserves a better nomenclature then it has been given. How about Sexy Pink Things? It’ll conjure up beauty, then sexiness, and then perhaps a perfect way to segue into some sexy-time whilst gazing at the cosmos. I’m reaching, but that’s what I do. What’s remarkable about NGC 300 are the fluffy pink clouds that adorn the gorgeous son of a bitch. What are they? I’ll tell ya! Well, actually, io9 will.

io9:

Located in the Sculptor Group of galaxies just six million light-years from Earth – barely any distance at all in intergalactic terms – NGC 300 is one of the brightest galaxies in the southern skies, and any amateur astronomer in the southern hemisphere should be able to spot it without much difficulty. Of course, a pair of binoculars won’t reveal the amazing detail that we can see in this photo taken by the Wide Field Imager at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

The pink spots, which almost make it look as though the galaxy has come down with a case of galactic chicken pox or measles, are energetic star-forming regions. These bright nebulae are so packed with new stars that they’re easily distinguishable from the fainter, wispier parts of the rest of the galaxy. You can click on the image up top for a closer look at NGC 300.

On NGC 300. You’re so cute, with your star-forming regions. Seriously though, it’s a pretty sexy galaxy, and its a bit of a mind-warp to consider how many stars must be there in the nebulae to light up so much brighter than the rest of the galaxy.

There’s your space porn for the day.

Here’s the thing about taking set pictures: they always look retarded and out of context. I try and keep that in mind while taking a gander. Sometimes though? Sometimes though it gets hard. Take for example, this latest batch of Captain America pictures leaked from the set.

Slashfilm:

These shots are different. They don’t show Chris Evans in costume as Cap, but they do have his stunt double in full gear, right down to the wings painted on his helmet. If you didn’t see the Comic Con costume test teaser and the concept art wasn’t enough to communicate how the costume would look, these photos should do the trick.

Hit the jump to see the pictures yourself, and let me know what you think in the comments box.

So what we have here are set pictures of Chris Evans’ stunt double, completely out of context. My thoughts? The outfit itself looks clunky as hell. Too much shit going on. But as I also said, there’s the good possibility that when we see the garb within the movie itself, it’ll look dope. Basically, I’m going a lot of equivocating.

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[Views From The Space-Ship, aka Desktop Tuesdays, aka Desktop Thursdays  is a (theoretically) weekly column where show you my worlds. Both real and virtual. Then, I invite you to share your own worlds in the comments!]

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According to both his Twitter and his forum, Mike Portnoy is leaving Dream Theater.

Wait, huh? Yeah, that’s right – Mike Portnoy is leaving the most respected progressive-metal group on the planet, the very band he helped found twenty-five years ago and launched him to the status of music-nerd-legend. As the group’s most vocal member, the drummer has basically become synonymous with the Dream Theater franchise. This move is like James Hetfield leaving Metallica, Dave Mustaine leaving Megadeth, or maybe even Bruce Dickinson leaving Iron Maiden…Hey…wait a second…

So why did he leave? His reasoning:

We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here & there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a “hiatus” to recharge our batteries and “save me from ourselves”…

Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather…I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be…

My Interpretation: Portnoy has been sullied by playing with Avenged Sevenfold. He’s probably enjoying a level of recognition and luxury that Dream Theater could never afford him. While this is understandable, DT’s other members don’t have the same opportunities and probably don’t feel like waiting for him to finish living the life to start making music again. I’m sort of troubled by Portnoy’s offering to “do some occasional work” for the band.

Seems like priorities are shifting; he originally made it seem as though it was Avenged Sevenfold he’d be doing some occasional work for, not his own band.

My Prediction: This is going to create a huge riff in the Dream Theater fan community – I’m talking some David Lee Roth/Van Halen type of shit. But just like that classic rock feud, I can’t imagine this will last.

Hit the jump to see some Portnoy/Dream Theater highlights!
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[Search Engine Terms come from an app in the Word Press dashboard. It tells you the terms that people are using in google to lead to your site. Most of ours are ultra depraved and horrible. And amusing to sick people like me.]

Is this shit anything like the Supermanfuck? If so, I want in.

Source: Super Punch

Behold! A fucking dog worthy of your nightmares. Nothing says Fear and Trembling like a gamma-irradiated Godzilla-Puppy.

A good afternoon to you all. Fellow geeks, innocent bystanders, lost internet wanderers wondering how they found themselves in such a fresh Hell as this. The following batch of word-vomit is Variant Covers, your weekly look at the comic books dropping this week. As I am wont to do, every column comes with the following caveat; I am primarily a man of Capes and Latex, when it comes to comic books. My tastes are suspect at best, and if you have a different set list of comics stowed in your pull list for this week, I’m all ears. Amongst other things, I can be fairly accused of being comically curious.

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Batman and Robin #14
The god damn Batman can’t catch a break. It doesn’t matter who is donning the mantle, that guy is more than likely in line for a serious ass-whupping. Couple that with a can of Angst Like Fuck, and his existence is guaranteed to be rough at best.

So despite the fact that Dick Grayson is currently our favorite Flying Rodent, he is still dealing with serious shit. Namely, the purportedly back from the dead Thomas Wayne. I don’t know where Morrison is taking the Bat-mythos by resurrecting Thomas, but it’s fun to watch. Wayne is back from the dead, and being spun as a man who despised his wife, loathed his son, and really likes wearing creepy Eyes Wide Shut masks. Where is this shit going?

As Grayson lies in a rubble of flaming Bat-jet, Damian is confronting the Joker in a Gotham City police station. Seriously, isn’t this a situation for epic and enjoyable fail? Back in issue thirteen, Damian spoke my mind when he called the Joker out for what I’ve always felt was his bullshit rhetoric. The Joker isn’t an agent of chaos. In fact, the dude is beyond meticulous in his orchestration of far-reaching schemes. Dismiss the veneer of anarchy, and you see the Joker for the mastermind he is beyond the bullshit.

So Brucey’s kid is face to face with the Joker, whilst his protege Dick is being confronted by his father? Good god damn. Paging Freud or some shit, we have some serious daddy issues being mulled through in this title. Where is all of this going? I have no damn idea. But? But I’m enjoying the ride.

It’s worth mentioning that Batman and Robin is currently worth reading for the artwork alone. I mean, I’m a Morrison fanboy, I’m not fronting. But Frazier Irving is beyond gorgeous in his work on the title. I could read the comic sans dialogue or narrative boxes, and I would be just as happy. Irving seems beyond adept at creating a horror is that equally gorgeous.

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I’ve made a grand dent in my reading backlog lately. After a summer of staring in horror at the volume of comics I had amassed, unread, and covered in dust, I threw off my trepidation and started reading. And reading. And reading. It currently stands at something like five or six comic books, but they can wait. It’s a good run of Demo by Brian Wood, which I have been assured by Pepsibones is quite excellent. Then there’s the quirky supernatural western Sixth Gun. Aside from that?

Finito.

Progress is a hell of a thing.

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That sexy spiral in the cosmos is hiding behind it a nascent star. While I can’t do math, and I don’t know the powers of gravity, I can’t help but marvel at the sexosity of the universe and nature. Yeah I know, totally played out common trope here at Omega Level. Alas, alack. What can you do? Let’s kick it over to io9 for an explanation of what we’re looking at.

Hubble via io9:

The striking picture shows what appears to be a thin spiral pattern of astonishingly regularity winding around the star, which is itself hidden behind thick dust. The spiral pattern suggests a regular periodic origin for the nebula’s shape. The material forming the spiral is moving outwards a speed of about 50,000 km/hour and, by combining this speed with the distance between layers, astronomers calculate that the shells are each separated by about 800 years.

The spiral is thought to arise because LL Pegasi is a binary system, with the star that is losing material and a companion star orbiting each other. The spacing between layers in the spiral is expected to directly reflect the orbital period of the binary, which is indeed estimated to be also about 800 years.

Gorgeous. While my fat brain can’t process the specifics, I know enough to appreciate this symmetry. The fabric of the universe is weaved with spaceporn.

Came across these sons a bitches today over at the illustrious Mad Gear Solid. New Bioshock Infinite screens. Jesus Christ am I looking forward to this game. Especially after finishing the exercise in mediocrity, Bioshock 2. Aiight boys, now that Levine and company are delivering the goods, let’s get this shit done.

We get a first look at the Handyman, who looks god damn gorgeous/terrifying, as well as some looks at the City in the Sky. Hit the jump and check out the bonery.

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