The Lego version of the classic Nebulon-B Class rebel frigate Redemption is 4 feet and 6 inches long. That's 172 studs long, and I'm not talking about The Hoff. It's big enough to dock one mini-Millennium Falcon and three X-Wings. [MOC via Brothers Brick]

I don't know how I haven't heard of Mark or his work before, but I'm stunned now that I have. Like I said, the man is outrageously talented and able to use little more than paint, a few accessories, and the human body to create costume-like appearances. He's done work on many conventions, been published various times, and has worked with companies such as World Wrestling Entertainment, Maxim, Playboy, and Heineken.

You can check out his portfolio, but I've gone ahead and gathered up images from my favorite sets here, including the very first one that caught my eye, Mark's gorgeous Star Wars-themed art:

You might notice that a majority of his canvases are female, and of course those are the first to call to our attention, but Mark has in fact painted a few fellows as well, including some of the superheroes in this mix:

Amazing. Follow the link for more of Mark's work. [Mark Greenawalt]

All images from Mark Greenawalt

Geeeeeenius. [Star Wars Blog]

Wonder if that long awkward silence is because everyone's trying to think of a non-obvious joke about this whole thing. [Thanks, OMG! Ponies!]

I live in the northeast. All I really need to know for the next few months is that it'll be like Hoth outside. Once it starts turning to Endor, I'll be in the clear.

See? Simple. [Star Wars Weather via Neatorama]

Seriously, just start watching the first one if you don't believe me. And really, are you going to argue with Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, who discovered this and said "Your life is about to change. This is astounding film making. Watch ALL of it."? I didn't think so. [YouTube via Damon Lindelof]

The official name for the Empire Strikes back spoof is Something Something Something Dark Side, and it'll be on DVD & Blu-ray 12/22.

In his own words:

There's been some questions about how I do the snowshots. I've given some verbal information about the technique, but I guess, a photograph about my setup is needed. So, I made the photos above and below (in the gallery) just for the occasion.

The setup is simple really: All I use is an old transparent CD storage box, some water and my trusty old A4 lightbox for lighting. For the bottom of the box I have a piece of gray Lego baseplate cut in form and hotglued on a piece of acrylic sheet to give it some weight. Legos float because of all the air trapped inside individual pieces.

Anything I want to shoot is then easily mounted on the baseplate and inserted inside the CD box.

Photographing "snow" in this scale is difficult, and to amp up the challenge I wanted it to fly around. The answer was not to use faster shutterspeed but to slow the snow down.

I had a wacky idea to submerge everything in water, it slows down everything that moves. The water also causes light to reflect from solid surfaces in a way that sometimes helps hiding the miniature scale. This is an old concept I've been toying with for ages. For the snow I use ground plaster of Paris—reacted, not unused gypsum powder! It is a passive material that doesn't stick to anything.

Lighting is done with the lightbox freehand as you can see from the photo below.

I shoot a lot of frames because the "snow" is impossible to control exactly. And then some Photoshopping is in order, but not always, sometimes none is needed.

Simply amazing. Check the rest of his awesome work in his Flickr page. [Avanaut in Flickr and Lego on Hoth]

Considering it's hand-painted and limited edition, it's not actually that expensive at $158 on pre-order. Or maybe I've become de-sensitized to Star Wars prices after searching eBay for months for the perfect vintage AT-AT (original box included, please). [Entertainment Earth via Technabob via Nerd Approved via Geeky Gadgets]

Still, what I really want are the original Zissou Adidas. Head to Kicks on Fire for the full Adidas Star Wars 2010 collection. [Adidas and Kicks on Fire]

Designer Kayla Kromer strikes a pose.

Leia lookalike not included.

Perfect for lighting up the insides of a massive asteroid tube worm.

Comm dish throw pillow!

Jar Jar, as ever, is like a virus that won't go away. Hopefully he's the only virus this bed sees. Bah dun dun. [Facebook via Geekologie]

Man in a Chicken suit plays "What is Love" on Pianica from Ring Mod on Vimeo.

Man in a Chicken Suit Plays "What Is Love" on Melodica

If that headline isn't enough to make you watch this video, I'm really not sure if the internet is your cup of tea. Because this is exactly what the internet should be used for. [Boing Boing]

A Very Muppet Christmas YouTube Video

I am so, so glad that a lot of the first 1080p YouTube clips are Muppet-related. I am a Muppet freak. I can't count how many times I've seen The Muppet Movie and (my personal favorite) The Great Muppet Caper, and I've even seen Jim Henson's MuppetVision 3D, which is a real thing, believe it or not. So as my menorah's candles slowly burn down, marking the first night of Chanukah, I am watching this Christmas-themed YouTube video and giggling, over and over again. Enjoy. [YouTube]

Nao Robot Performs Star Wars Impersonations

Nao, a pint-sized robot from Aldebaran Robotics, does a pretty good impersonation of various Star Wars characters—Darth Vader, R2D2, and more. It's pretty adorable and physically it's actually one of the more nimble robots I've seen, although nobody can seem to think of anything to do with it other than make 50-second YouTube clips like this one. Still: Cute. [Engadget]

Evil Empire Google Wants Your Email

Okay, so maybe it's not so evil—Google just wants users of its Google Voice service to allow access to both original voicemails and the transcriptions Voice supplies. Right now, there's a rating system to measure how accurate the transcriptions are, but that doesn't help Google improve the system that much. With a healthy supply of voicemails, Google could figure out how to work around tricky roadblocks like external noise and accents. So, not as evil as it sounds. [Neowin]

iTunes App Pages Redesigned

Not that much to say, really—iTunes redesigned the app pages in the Store, and, well, they look better. Bigger pictures, shorter descriptions, slicker layout. Looks nice! [Twitter]

Severed Pancake Hand Grasps Waffle With Last Delicious Ounce of Strength

You guys, HELP. There is a man made of pancakes running around without a hand, bleeding jam, and he's probably hungry since he left his waffle with the hand. Why did this amazing work of art end up in Remainders? Because despite what noted breakfast-eater Rosa Golijan thinks, Gizmodo is not typically a pancake-themed site. Disappointing, I know, but true. [Serious Eats]

Disguised as a bookcase holding the owner's Star Wars collectibles and knick-knacks, the shelving can be pushed to reveal a hidden home cinema. On the other side of that door lays the best part—Han Solo himself. Whatever this guy does for a living should be given up pronto, as I'd be willing to fling him a few dollars to build me a secret room. [Instructables via TechEblog]

Still, I have to admit that Nao delivers a powerful performance—especially when it comes to his R2-D2 impression. Of course, that's kind of like Gary Busey playing a lunatic, but still...kudos. Outside of his skills as a thespian, Nao is also quite capable of learning and performing useful tasks for his owners. Nao has been in development for years now, but a commercial version is expected sometime next year. [Impress via Plastic Pals]

This has all come about because of the latest Clone Wars episode, titled 'Brain Invaders,' which sees several key characters becoming zombies.

Of course, now we're all crying out for zombified parodies of the original films to be uploaded to YouTube. Can we somehow convince Simon Pegg to take part, maybe decapitate a few with some vinyl? [CorePlanets via Geekologie]

For those of you who are dragging your feet about decorating this year, this list might provide you with some "good" last minute ideas. And look, I've started the conversation off with a few gems of my own.

Yes, definitely Chewbacca, although R2-D2 is not too shabby either. Whatever you choose, this is a perfect over-priced holiday present for Star Wars fans or people you really hate. [High Snobiety via The Jailbreak]