Monthly Archives: December 2010
Don’t be forlorn – Enter to win Canned Unicorn!
The Christmas holidays are almost upon us and it’s that time when people start to panic and race for the grocery and Honeybaked Ham stores to secure the perfect main dish for Christmas Eve/Day dinner.
Then there are those of us who dream of slightly more unconventional dinners. Yes, there will still be mashed potatoes. Yes, there will still be rolls. But as I’m not a big fan of ham I happen to look for alternatives. This year, one presented itself….
(photo via ThinkGeek.com)
Unicorn.
The other OTHER white meat.
The folks at ThinkGeek originally rolled out “Canned Unicorn Meat†as an April Fool’s Day joke product. Now you can actually buy a can of stuffed unicorn parts (obviously not meant for eating….at least…I’d like to think that’s obvious).
In the spirit of the holidays and for all of us who have sick and twisted senses of humor I’m holding a contest. From now until 11:59pm Central, Thursday the 16th you can submit your favorite Unicorn Meat Recipes (with a brief description) via email. After that I’ll list them in a new post and open up voting until 11:59pm central on Sunday the 19th. The recipe that gets the most votes will win their own Canned Unicorn Meat courtesy of the most awesome peeps at ThinkGeek!!
What are you waiting for? Click here to submit your sick, twisted and totally rad Unicorn recipe ideas!
“I Dreamed a Dream” – Thoughts on Les Misérables
There are many things that people often don’t admit to enjoying. Showtunes is one of those things.
I, on the other hand, believe in flaunting that particular geeky love. Loudly. In public. As often as possible.
Just a few moments ago I had to stop what I was doing at work and listen to a song that came over the speakers. It’s one of my coworker’s radio days and I brought in a cord to hook her ipod to the system. Well, she’s a woman after my own heart and has a ton of Broadway on her playlist. This particular song was from Les Misérables and is called “Drink with Meâ€. If you’ve ever sat with me and gotten me talking about musicals you’ll know that Les Mis is one of my absolute favorites. From the moment I first listened to it after learning we’d be doing a marching band show to it my sophomore year of high school I was in love with the story and the music.
Now, like many musicals Les Mis has several different versions out on CD based on what cast is recording them. I own the Broadway, French, London, 10th Anniversary (Dream Cast) and Complete Symphonic Recording albums. Each one has cast members that I like and dislike and some even have different songs though they mostly have the same version of the music.
For example:
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Music for snowy mornings – “Edward Scissorhands”
As you already know, I have a love affair with Danny Elfman’s music.
This morning I deviated from my current obsession with Beetlejuice and instead of listening to that soundtrack during my morning commute I was inspired by the snow flurries to put in the music from Edward Scissorhands. A coworker had reminded me about the beauty of it when I was talking about my love of the Beetlejuice soundtrack. She mentioned that she often played it when laying her grandson down to sleep. Just after that conversation I went and found my copy of the soundtrack and set it out where I’d be able to just grab it and go but continued on with my unexplainable Beetlejuice fascination.
Nexus S Introduced with Gingerbread
As many of you might know from the podcast or a few articles I’ve written I am a total Android fanboy. I don’t deny it and I try to keep in touch of all the latests android news. Well google has released details along with a video about their newest phone. The video shows the Nexus S and features of the new firmware 2.3 or Gingerbread. I know I am interested at this tease of what Gingerbread offers as well as the Nexus S. Full Tech Specs of the Nexus S can be found by Clicking Here. Below is the video for that Google released with the Official Introduction of the Nexus S. I know I am very interested in this phone and might pick one up after its release on Dec 16 unlocked or by independent carriers at Best Buy. I know I’m looking forward to seeing more about the Nexus S and Gingerbread.
Halo Reach: Noble Map pack Review
Even though the Halo Reach popularity has had a slight drop off, the first map pack for Halo Reach has given the Halo community a shot in the arm well needed. Apologies for the late review I had planned on just giving impressions, but I found myself loving them and sinking more time into these maps than I anticipated. I also wanted to play multiple sessions, with multiple game-types to really test the balance of game play for each map, so with out further adieu here’s the review.
“The Eyre Affair” – The first of the Thursday Next novels
Recently (when not knitting Jayne hats like crazy) I’ve been sucked into a new book series. They’re called the “Thursday Next†series by Jasper Fforde. The first three were loaned to me by my friend, Jessica, and I was hooked from the start of the first one, “The Eyre Affairâ€. The books fall cleanly into the mystery genre but with a twist.
The main character is a woman named Thursday Next who works as a Literary Detective. The world is an alternate version of the mid 1980’s where cloning extinct species is normal, ducks don’t exist, time travel is quite real and books are a source of extreme joy and crime. Imagine a world where so many folks want to change their name to their favorite author that they end up having to be numbered. (Like Edgar Allen Poe 897) Imagine a world where fictional characters can jump out of their books for a short time and into the real world. Imagine a world where you might find yourself part of a special literary police force that trains you to jump in and out of books to keep the plots on track and arrest those who try to disrupt the narrative flow.
Sound interesting?
It sounds like my kind of world. As a bookworm myself, this series highlights so many things that I’ve dreamed of being able to do.
I’m currently on the third book in the first series, “The Well of Lost Plots†and I’m already looking forward to the fourth book. After that there is a second series that already has a first novel with a second one in the works. It looks like this is another series I’ll have to start collecting!
If you’ve never read them, go ahead and snag the first book “The Eyre Affairâ€. You don’t have to be well versed in other literature to enjoy these novels (though it adds a fun dimension to the reading). Once you’re done with it, drop me a line and let me know what you thought!
Get Rewarded with Xbox Live
Some may or may not remember before the Xbox 360 launched Microsoft announced that the achievement system and your gamer score would work as a platform for gaining points, games, or content from xbox live. Well, 5 years, a test pilot (about one year ago) and a $10 price increase later we have the Xbox live Rewards Program.
A Galactic Collective Unconscious in Star Trek?
Romulus & Remus
Every now and then I end up in an incredibly geeky conversation at work. This week I was mentioning having shown Star Trek: Nemesis to my friend Amanda. As I was writing about the things that I like about the movie (even though it’s not my favorite) I mentioned the Remans and how it was interesting to have a movie focused on them. That immediately led to me wondering about the naming of the Romulan homeworld and how they ended up with names from Earth mythology. (Romulus and Remus)
As I was typing all this out, because of course I had to lay out my train of thought for my fellow geek, I speculated on the possibility of a galactic collective unconscious in the Star Trek universe. Carl Jung talks about it a great deal and uses it to explain how things like ancient civilizations on Earth developed similar myths, legends and stories without being able to communicate with each other. He says that we all have access to this collective unconscious that is universal to our species and we draw from the archetypes already in there when we create many of our stories and legends.
What if that could be applied on a galactic scale to many races in the Star Trek universe?
Think about it.
“And then they fled from the roof on flamingos.” – Syfy’s “Alice”
Last night I got to introduce a couple of friends to the Syfy miniseries “Alice†at our weekly Stitch n Bitch. I know I’ve mentioned this show in passing a few months ago but I wanted to go into a bit more detail on it and see if I can entice you guys to give it a chance.
The setting of this version of the story puts us in modern times but in Wonderland approximately 150 years have passed since the Alice of Legend was there. The main character of this retelling, Alice Hamilton, is often asked if she is The Alice but she continues to deny giving the story a plot that doesn’t feel like a reincarnation story or a sequel. It was presented on Syfy as a 2-part series but if you nab the dvd be prepared for a full three hours of awesome visuals and story. There is no break in the middle so you may find that it’s later than you realize when you finally make it to the end credits.
The cast is a mix of actors and actresses that I know well (Kathy Bates, Colm Meaney, Tim Curry) and some that I hadn’t seen, or at least I hadn’t been aware of, before watching the movie (Caterina Scorsone, Andrew Lee Potts). For me, such a mix tends to make me sit up and take more notice of a movie. I can now claim to have a bit of a crush on Andrew Lee Potts as Hatter. If you’re interested in sets, costuming and other visuals you won’t be disappointed. Wonderland is presented as someplace that looks real enough to believe it might exist.
The storyline is different enough from other retellings and reimaginings that I actually found myself caught up in the story. Last night the girls were watching and making guesses about how certain things would turn out and were pleasantly surprised to be wrong. This version of the story brings the characters to life as more “human†and at the same time with less “humanity†in many cases. There are many elements that have an “American McGee’s Alice†feel to them, name the dark tone of Wonderland and many of the characters. Yet at the same time we’re given a heroine who is believable. We’re not even asked to believe that she’s related to the original Alice in any way.
Heck, she’s even a Judo instructor and uses that to kick butt in Wonderland when push comes to shove. Who wouldn’t love that?
There are some awesome and memorable characters and moments in the series. The Hatter in general is awesome (because when is the Hatter not awesome?), the White Knight is so loveable that you’ll want to hug him, squeeze him and call him George, and Alice manages to not always be a damsel in distress. Wait until you meet the Walrus and the Carpenter and discover the “Oystersâ€. Those and the Tweedles reach some serious levels of creepy.
If you’re a fan of any of the Alice in Wonderland incarnations but haven’t seen this one (even I put off watching it for months), go ahead and give it a try. Then come back and let me know what you think.
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