WGGs Geeky Finds: Ian McKellen on Sesame Street, Star Wars Videos, Groot Swing Set, Middle-earth, and More

Welcome to We Geek Girls (WGGs) “Geeky Finds,” where we share all things geeky, from collectibles, geeky apparel, videos, and more.

The Office: Middle Earth (SNL Skit):

After saving Middle-earth, Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Bobby Moynihan), Gollum (Taran Killam), Legolas (Kyle Mooney) and Tauriel (Kate McKinnon) take up office jobs.

Groot Swing Set (Guardians of the Galaxy) – Super-Fan Builds (AWE me):

Library Bards – Gandalf! (Parody of Shake It Off Taylor Swift):

‘Star Wars’: Tie Fighter Accident on Highway

Awesome ‘Star Wars’ Christmas Light Show by Tom BetGeorge:

I sequenced the show using LOR, mixed the music/sound effects with Digital Performer, and filmed it using a 35′ lift 🙂 This is now my second year decorating. I built all the props using wood, metal, acrylic and corrugated plastic. I am a music/teacher director for a living (COVA Conservatory in Oakland and Centerville Presbyterian Church in Fremont), hence the massive instruments! If you look closely (especially during the Cantina song) the instruments are playing the real notes! The beams can be seen for miles but I went out of my way to avoid shining the beams on houses and flight paths. The neighbors are very supportive especially since I use the display to raise money for the poor and homeless through my church. The guitar is 17′, the piano is 19′ and the drums are standard. About 12,500 channels running around 100,000 lights. Also, Come by and see it in person on the corner of Lafayette and Ruschin in Newark most nights from 6-10pm. Because of the light beams on the roof, I turn off the display in heavy rain. Fair use for educational purposes. Merry Christmas everyone!

Sesame Street: Ian McKellen Teaches Cookie Monster to Resist:

NASA Sees Holiday Lights from Space:

It’s official — our holiday lights are so bright we can see them from space. Thanks to the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite, a joint mission between NASA and NOAA, scientists are presenting a new way of studying satellite data that can illustrate patterns in holiday lights, both during Christmas and the Holy Month of Ramadan. These new tools can provide new insights into how energy consumption behaviors vary across different cultural settings.

A note about the data: Because snow reflects so much light, the researchers could only analyze snow-free cities. They focused on the U.S. West Coast from San Francisco and Los Angeles, and cities south of a rough imaginary line from St. Louis to Washington, D.C.