First off, in a wonderful combination of Comic geekery and Kitchen geekery, there is the Wonder Woman Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Found via LaughingSquid

Next up we have a Star Wars/Macgyver mashup.

The editing on this is so well done. Seriously, if you haven’t seen the Macgyver opening in a while watch it after watching this. Prepare to be amazed.

Next up, the tastiest image in Science-Fiction history, Giant Dune Gummi Worm.

Found at CandyWarehouse on Flickr.

And last, but most definitely not least, Amanda Palmer’s Ukulele Anthem.

I don’t know what kind of magic Ms Palmer is made of, but I’ve noticed her songs come into my life at very key times. This song totally made my cry with happiness when I heard it for the first time. You can grab the song for free/donation if you can at her Bandcamp.

And that’s it! What awesome things have you seen lately?

For those that aren’t dedicated writers (like me, this blog has 15 posts in over 2 years… yeah) but still like the idea of the challenge of completing something in 1 month time there is now NaGaDeMon or National Game Design Month.

While game design has never been a huge interest for me personally, it is something I’ve been doing a lot more reading and researching for lately, as J eventually wants to become part of the gaming industry and I like being a helpful resource. So when I saw the blog post by Nathan Russel (linked above) describing NaGaDeMon, my first thought was “I should totally get J to do this, or we could do this together!”

Funny thing is, I’m way more excited about the idea than he is. This might be due to the fact that as a housewife with no children my free time is somewhat legendary and he’s currently in school full time. So I’m running with it.

I knew that I wanted to make a board or card game for sure. I know next to nothing about programming, so a video game was out. Flash animation is foreign to me as well currently, so no games there either. While I really LOVE RPGs, a month wouldn’t be enough time for me to feel OK about running a game with actual people.

At first I wanted to make a game that requires players to cooperate rather than compete with each other to win. Much like Arkham Horror, Last Night on Earth, or the Battlestar Galactica game. (Ok, BSG has some competition due to the Cylons, but still it requires a lot of team work to win.) But I couldn’t think of a setting/story to put into it to make the required team work make sense. While out for dinner last week I asked J what sort of geeky topic hasn’t been included in a game recently. I rambled on how ninjas, Cthulhu, zombies, pirates, and vampires all have games, and what else am I familiar enough with that I can make a game for? He looked up at me and said one word.

Ponies

“Yes!” I rather loudly exclaimed, and started bouncing in my chair with potential ideas for this piece of Brony madness.

Progress wise I don’t feel like I have too much accomplished, but it is only 1 week into November, so I don’t feel too bad. My Little Brony: Fandom Is Magic (working title) is a classic styled board game. Gameplay will consist of rolling a six sided die, moving forward that number of squares and then based on the color square you landed on, drawing a card to either answer a question or perform an activity to determine if you get to stay put or move back 1 to 2 spaces.

The board will be set up with a colorful track of spaces leading you through Equestria from Ponyville to Canterlot. There are six different card categories, one for each of the Mane 6 ponies. When you land on your color another player will read your card. If you attempt the card and get it wrong, move back 1 space, but if you refuse (like if it is a potentially embarrassing activity card and you just don’t want to try) move back 2 spaces. First player to make it to Canterlot wins.

The card content is going to be the hardest task for the game. Actual construction of the board and pieces will be less of a challenge, but that is because I really like being crafty. But making enough cards to get through the game is going to be tedious, very very tedious. I might have to change how many categories there are, just to make things easier, but then it won’t have the nice symmetry with the Pony content like the 6 does. I know Twilight Sparkle’s cards will be all trivia. Rarity’s cards I’d like to be artistic challenges drawing, singing and the like. Rainbow Dash’s cards will be speed and competitive challenges. Applejack’s cards will be more physical challenges, but silly stuff like balancing on one foot, holding your breath or patting your head while rubbing your belly. Pinkie Pie’s cards will be all over the place, just like Pinkie Pie! There will even be some Brony specific trivia in there, since Pinkie likes to break the 4th wall. I’m having trouble with Fluttershy though. I was thinking more trivia, but flora and fauna focused.

That is currently where I stand with NaGaDeMon. Once I start game construction I’ll be sure to post photos to continue to share my progress.

The Mystery Box Game Design Challenge

Last month my husband and I got to fly up to Seattle and attend GeekGirlCon. This seemed like a bit of a last minute miracle for us, since I had previously thought we weren’t going to be able to go and it was making me HELLA sad. (Shaddup, I’m Californian, I can say “hella”) But two weeks prior to the con we figured out we were gonna make it after all. So we scrambled to get everything together, flight, hotel, con passes and I think the most important thing, Whedonesque Burlesque tickets. What, geeky burlesque is extremely hot.

We actually didn’t get to do much of official convention activities. I was having some mobility issues and the distance between a lot of the events didn’t help. BUT, I had a lot of fun regardless.

The best thing about GeekGirlCon was the atmosphere. Everyone who was there was really excited about being there, even the guests. I vaguely remember being told that everyone who was part of the con paid their own way in, just like the attendees. Which if true, is totally awesome and just really shows that yes, everyone who was supposed to be there really did want to be there.

During that weekend the Seattle Center became this oasis of laid back fun geeky times. I remember on Saturday morning while walking to registration J and I ran into some other attendees and we cracked a D&D joke about gaining new party members that we all of a sudden totally trusted. We all shared a laugh over that then walked together to quest for our con badges.

At one point while trying to get lunch I’m sitting in the food court and people at the table next to me start singing the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic theme song. I join in, we brohoof, and everyone goes on their merry way. A random silly magical con moment.

We did participate in some official con activities. Mostly in the gaming room. J did the Mystery Box Game Design Challenge (pictured above) and I participated in some quickie 4th Ed D&D dungeon crawls. We both participated in a Fiasco game (I think, I’ve put this post off so long some details are hazy) by Story Games. I played “Mother of the Year” a June Cleaver meets Joan Crawford relic hunting super heroine. J played Zugo the Kid, Mother’s sidekick and son who’s father just happened to be Mother’s arch nemesis. It was random and wacky and a lot of fun.

Then there was the epic hotness that was Whedonesque Burlesque. ZOMG, the hotness. Awesome acts, a spectacular MC, I think I popped my burlesque cherry the right way. I’ve been a fan of burlesque through videos and suchlike, but hadn’t managed to see a live performance prior to GeekGirlCon. I hope to see many more performances before next year’s GeekGirlCon.

The con closed out with a bang with a sing-a-long viewing of Labryinth. Right before the movie there was a mini Q&A with Karen Prell (who was the Worm & the Junk Lady) who I had the pleasure of meeting earlier that day. (She was wandering the con with a mutual friend, enjoying it and being excited to be there. Awesome huh?) Things kicked off with a couple of fan videos, including the one made by Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman.

The sing-a-long was magical and fun, but a little sad at the same time because it meant the con was over. When I got home I ended up watching Labyrinth again to try to recapture some of that wonderful con feeling. It worked for a little bit, but in the meantime I’ll just have to wait until next year.

Because I’ll be back. Count on it.

The fate in the universe rests in their hands.... Not really.

If you follow me on Twitter it is no secret that BioWare totally owns my soul in the world of video games right now. Particularly with the Mass Effect series. Like many gamers I am eagerly awaiting the release of Mass Effect 3 so that I can take my badass FemShep and totally kick some Reaper butt. While some news of Shepard’s team made me happy, (Garrus! Tali! Liara!) not all of it was well received (Kaiden, Ashley, DudeBro McNewGuy.)

So I decided to assemble my own team, and they are FABULOUS.

Aria T’Loak: Did Omega’s stone cold matriarch grow a heart and decide to help Shepard save the universe? Who knows, but the Reapers better watch out, because we all know that NO ONE crosses Aria.

Feron: Not content to dwell in the Shadow Broker’s Lair while Liara rushes to Shepard’s aid, Feron decides to take matters into his own hands. After all, he owes Shepard his life, and he’ll never forget it.

Captain Bailey: Because everything is better with more Motherfrakking Michael Hogan. No seriously. Oh ok, FINE. Sick of C-SEC and not looking forward to his lonely life at his getaway retirement home, Bailey ditches the Citadel for adventure. And possibly getting his wife back, ’cause chicks totally dig heroes.

Conrad Verner: Depending on how you dealt with him in ME1 & ME2 Conrad is as eager as ever to blindly throw himself into danger, just ’cause it’s cool. His charity project was nice and all, but who are we kidding, it isn’t like SAVING THE UNIVERSE.

Khalisah al-Jilani: She possibly took one too many blows to the head to decide to team up with the Alliance news team and get front line coverage of the mysterious Reaper invasion. She’s going to get so up in your business, she could be working for TMZ.

The Rachni Queen: This one is glad you saved her race from extinction, and will make her children sing for you in battle. This one fits nicely into Normandy 3.0′s cargo hold and will piss off Udina, which is ALWAYS a good thing. If you didn’t save her in Noveria, for SHAME.

Now I know that BioWare has pretty much released all the squad info for Mass Effect 3, and I will miss some of the members of 2 that aren’t making it to the next round, I understand that they wanted to focus the story a bit more since this is the last chapter. I’ll still play, and if you’re lucky I will tell my FemShep’s story, complete with random yelling at characters and poorly drawn illustrations.

You need to hear about this con. If you are a geek girl, or if you love some geek girls, you need to support this con. This particular geek girl is saving her pennies so she can fly up to the magnificent Seattle and attend said Geek Girl Con.

Here is a handy video talking about this TOTALLY AWESOME CONVENTION:

Doesn’t that sound awesome? Don’t you totally want to go now too?

Check out their website at geekgirlcon.com

Lissie. OMG. There’s just something about her version of this song that is really resonating with me right now. I tried to listen to the original after I first heard this, but it just didn’t click.

I found this thanks to messybessy on Jezebel. I lurk on Jezebel a lot, I spend more time reading the comments than I do the actual articles though. Messybessy posted this video in response to an article about white girls covering hip hop artists.

This has been played countless times since the first listen on Monday, I have forced my roommates and my husband to listen to it as well. It went up on my personal facebook, and on twitter. Now I’m putting it here. I just can’t shut up about it.

I’m on a constant quest for new anthem songs. I’ve been in a bit of a rut regarding some personal choices and music has always been one of my “pull through” tools. It pulls me in, reassures me, heals me, gives me strength to go on. It tells me I’ll be fine once I get it. Another song that has done this for me recently is Amanda Palmer’s “Do you swear to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help your black ass.”

More awesome.

clicks replay a couple more times

I’m explaining this because there’s been a call to arms of sorts over twitter to create videos for these songs. I have an idea for one, but I lack the means to do it by myself. I would need someone with a digital video camera & editing software, a man and a woman willing to pretend to get in an emotional fight and wear two different outfits, and then a house with a front hallway and a dining room. Also a cheap photo frame (or two, depending on how many take we’ll need.)

^That’s the song. It is being sung by Damian, and in an OKGO fashion I want the video to be one long shot.

Anyone want to help? I’ll bake cupcakes

(This has been cross-posted to my personal Facebook and LiveJournal)

While questing for a new bookcase and another dresser today at Ikea (furniture for college kids and divorced men) I came across this treasure.

A Batman novel, in Swedish.

Totally awesome. Sadly, just an accessory in the showroom, but I love finding geek stuff in the most random places.

Edit: I believe it is actually the movie script, and not a novel. I don’t speak or read Swedish but “filmmanuskript” sounds awfully familiar…

As some of you know today the House of Representatives voted to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Should the Senate follow suit this would be a tragedy for millions of Americans.

Planned Parenthood is more than a family planning clinic, to some Americans it is the only form of basic health care they have access to. When I hit times of no health insurance Planned Parenthood was there to help me stay on top of my health with STD testing, contraceptives, and my annual cervical exams.

We can’t sit idly by and let our Government threaten to take away a service that is so inherently valuable to so many Americans. Please take the time sign the petition to the Senate to not vote to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

I stand with Planned Parenthood. Will you?

Because I can, that’s why.

The video for Britney Spears new single “Hold It Against Me” debuted last night and it set twitter and much of the blogosphere on fire.

This video had a ton of press leading up to it. From the hype of the single leak to the 15 day teaser clip countdown, Brit’s media machine was in full effect. Whoever you have on PR, give them bonuses.

However, as effective as the hype was, the video itself was kind of a let down. Where did the people who worked on the Circus videos go? Those were awesome and totally fit the songs. In comparison to almost any old Britney video HIAM falls flat. (The exceptions to this are “Do Something” and everything from Blackout.) The lack of a storyline or message really hurts the video. You want to be generic, “it’s about the media pressure” go watch Rhianna’s video for “S&M” and take some notes. That is how you use the celebrity/media dichotomy effectively in a video. The message still fits the song.

Dance wise… well, the really fast edits and lack of lighting really reinforce the rumor that Brit got a dance double. The only times we see her face during the dance scenes it is with a close up. Of course if I hadn’t heard the rumor about the dance double in the first place it wouldn’t have been so obvious. Reconsider those PR bonuses.

The song is fun and infectiously catchy and there is no doubt this album is going to be huge, I’m just disappointed with the video.