Leonard Nimoy

Sit back, wee hobbit fans, and let me tell you a tale. It's set a long time ago in the psychedelic '60s in a place called Hollywood, with a magical man named Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy was known at the time for entertaining young and old alike on TV as a half-human/half Vulcan called Spock, who safeguarded the galaxy aboard a ship named the Enterprise.

When off the set, Leonard created an album called the Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, on which he sang about our fabled J.R.R. Tolkien hero, Bilbo Baggins. A mod music video was even made for this ballad of Bilbo Baggins, complete with groovy dance moves, which we present here today. Prepare for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" with this vintage video.

Leonard Nimoy, science fiction fan favorite for his portrayal of Spock on Star Trek: The Original Series, attended his final Star Trek convention last weekend. He bid farewell to the convention circuit at a convention in suburban Chicago, which was also celebrating the 45th anniversary of Star Trek.

During the event, Leonard gave an hour-long presentation of his life and career, including his struggles to become an actor, which even included a gig as a cab driver who once had a very famous passenger — John F. Kennedy. Fellow Star Trek star Jonathan Frakes (Riker to fans), who was also on hand for the farewell, estimated Leonard has attended about 125 conventions, all to see and connect with the fans who made the space show popular.

Leonard concluded his speech by telling the audience "May each and every one of you live long and prosper" and flashing the Vulcan V sign. He'll continue to work on his other passions, including photography and the arts.

Were you lucky enough to meet Leonard at past fan conventions?

Source: Flickr User Gage Skidmore

Photos of the dwarf brothers Dori, Nori, and Ori from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were released today on the film's Facebook page. Due to hit theaters in 2012, the film describes the brothers:

Dori, Nori and Ori are intensely loyal to each other — and whilst they are perfectly happy fighting amongst themselves, woe-betide anyone who means harm to one of these brothers.

They're part of the 13 dwarf companions who accompany hobbit Bilbo Baggins on his quest to battle the dragon Smaug. Color us excited! In celebration of The Hobbit goodies (have you read the book yet?), we thought we'd take you on a special journey of our own just for fun. Follow the break for a blast from the past — Leonard Nimoy's 1967 music video tribute to Bilbo, complete with mod dance moves!

I've often heard Bruno Mars's song "Lazy" on the radio, but had no idea until recently that there's an alternate video for the song starring Leonard Nimoy. The original Spock seems to be a good sport about the whole thing — wandering around in his PJs, picking his nose, buying porn mags, and flipping the bird — all while taking time off from his real-life retirement to entertain geeks everywhere. It's pretty fantastic and a nice pick-me-up for your Wednesday. Check it out below!

Sci-fi legend Leonard Nimoy is making his final appearance on screen during the season finale of Fringe next week. Although he's really excited for fans to see the epic showdown between Walter Bishop and William Bell, he doesn't regret putting his acting career to rest. When asked during a phone conference if it would be hard to move into his retirement phase, Nimoy said:

It's not hard to say goodbye, I've had 60 years of working in films and television, and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've had. I had decided not to do any more acting and directing several years ago, but I was called back to do the Star Trek movie. And then J.J. Abrams asked me to play the William Bell character, and I thought I owed him that — and I'm very glad I did it, he's an exciting character — but I had decided long ago that I just didn't want to do this anymore. I did this last job as a favor to J.J. Abrams and I'm glad I did it.

To see what Mr. Nimoy had to say about his — as well as William Shatner's — appearance in the next Star Trek film, just read more.

• It's a sad day in geek history: Leonard Nimoy says he's retiring for good — io9
• Transformers and superheroes sculpted with balloons — Urlesque
• The Microsoft Surface reappears in the kitchen — Unplggd
• Google wants to get into the travel business — Gizmodo
• Nissan's geeky tribute — Crave
• AT&T finally arrives to the location-based party — Switched
• World's largest yacht has lasers. Yes, lasers — Dvice

• Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have renewed their contracts with Comedy Central through the 2012 presidential election — Pop Watch
• Matthew Morrison reveals what's really in Mr. Schuester's hair — Vulture
• Are these the most overrated shows on television? — TV.com
• The script for the 24 movie is already written — Zap2it
• Leonard Nimoy won't bring the Vulcan salute to Star Trek 2 — Cinematical
• Find out what Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane are doing now — Moviefone
• Get home decor tips from The Back-Up Plan — CasaSugar
• 10 reasons Iron Man 2 is hotter than an Icelandic volcano — Hit Fix

If you haven't been watching Fringe, you're missing out on a solid sci-fi thriller that will help fill a void where BSG left off. Sure, there's no space, but there are alternate universes . . . and Leonard Nimoy.

The original Spock made his appearance on the Fox series in last season's cliffhanger finale as William Bell, and will be gracing the screen again in tonight's episode. I can't tell you how excited I was to get an opportunity to talk to Leonard Nimoy himself in a conference call yesterday before his season two debut, but I'm sure you can imagine that I had to take a few deep breaths before dialing the number — come on, he's a geek legend!

Check out what Mr. Nimoy had to say about his sci-fi career, the state of the genre today, and what he's up to now when you read more