Father Of The Millenium.

I came across this article and it absolutely melted my heart. I think because I have such a great father, reading stuff like this just makes me that much more excited. A father of two, took his children to the Sequoia National Park on a vacation. Both he and his children are avid Star Wars fans, and he told them that this is where Ewoks lived. After they spent some time exploring and searching for Ewoks, they returned home, and he quickly got to work Photoshopping some Ewok friends into the pictures. Some would argue that this is perpetuating a lie he told his children, or that it’s no different from lying to the kids about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. How is it any different from leaving presents under a tree, or eggs around the yard? Whats wrong with letting kids be kids and letting hem exercise their imaginations. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this, and think this dad is doing a fantastic job and keeping his kids excited and happy. I .can imagine, that If I were his kids, I would look back on all this years from now and just hug the shit out of my dad immediately. Here is what he had to say about it:

“A year ago we took a trip to Sequoia National Park. I wanted to excite my daughter while being in such amazing surroundings. Being the Star Wars geek that I am (so is she), I told her that this is where the Ewoks live. She spent a good chunk of our time hiking keeping a lookout for any Ewoks. Coming home I can’t say that she wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t find any. I had to explain that they are extremely shy and hardly ever let anyone see them. After we got home, and after I had a little time alone with the photos, I told her I thought I saw something strange in a few pictures. We viewed them on the TV to get a larger image. You can imagine how surprised and excited she was when we discovered that we didn’t see any Ewoks, but they saw us, and had certainly taken an interest in her and her little brother. Maybe I’m a little wrong for lying to her and falsifying the pictures, but I don’t care. She’ll never forget the time she spent in the big woods with Ewoks.”

Role Initiative.

I came across this video, which is actually an entry in the Windy City 2011 72 hour film competition. If my use of context clues are right – then im assuming they had 72 hours to film and edit this video. Which is pretty impressive, honestly. They must of been rolling some serious saving throws during the entire process. So, great job, guys.

Moral of the story: Guys prefer Elven archers.

Science Makes Me Feel Good.

During my Internet travels, I came across a video that was extremely relevant to my interests. It was a culmination of history, two of my favorite scientists, and rap battles. I’ve only watched it about 24 times. Please, do yourself the favor and watch their other videos.

On a slightly more serious, but more magical note, I came across this other science video, that samples from several different well-known scientists and their shows. It’s auto-tuned which makes it a sort of cosmic science-song lecture. It’s hard to explain, it’s ethereal and leaves me feeling rejuvenated about the world. Also, Carl Sagan is a science babe.

Saying Goodbye: The Space-Age

These sorts of entries are hard to start. So I usually just give up, and start them with a sort of apathetic clumsiness. Once I get going, it’s sort of hard to stop talking about issues that hit closer to home than normal. I will try not to turn this into a biased rant, but as a Floridian, American, Science-lover and Space enthusiast, I knew I had to write something about the ending of the NASA Space Travel program. It’s therapeutic, at the very least. When I first heard from a friend while out at a club one night, that they were considering cutting the funding for the Space program – I dismissed it entirely because it just seemed so crazy to me. I went home and did some research and my heart sank into my stomach. It was true – they didn’t have the funding to continue the program anymore, and my very first thought was “Oh, so we have the money to fund a fake war, cost people their lives needlessly,  but something as entirely American as the Space Program, something that incites hope and awe, we can just pull the plug and walk away from?” It’s no big surprise that this nation doesn’t have its priorities competitively straight, but this just took me entirely by surprise. It kills me to think that when I was a child, I wanted to be an Astronaut – among other things, and that now kids can no longer say that. It’s just become an archaic profession. That just hasn’t sunk in yet, really. The fact that no other Americans will go into space in the foreseeable future honestly disturbs me. We are Earthbound. Frank Bruni, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times said it best: “The programs end carries the force of a cruel metaphor, coming at a time where limits are all we talk about – we have no stars in our eyes.”.

It feels as if Americas sense of discovery is over.

Cruel metaphor, indeed.

The problem is that acceptable reasons alone — national security, economic benefit, scientific discovery —  don’t fully explain why we should launch ourselves into space. Rather, the true justification for space exploration is that such enterprises speak abundantly to our sense of human curiosity, of wonder and awe, and because they lift up human hearts everywhere when we do them.

A melancholy message scribbled on the board by a now ex-astronaut in their meeting room.

I can only hope that this break will allow bigger and better things to come to fruition, although I can’t say I’m crossing any fingers or holding my breath. This whole decision to me has me so completely faithless in humanity. Without a sense of wonder or adventure, something for people to look up or believe in, we wont be able to get by day-by-day. I firmly believe in that. I don’t want to look up at the sky every night, and think to myself “Remember that time we put men on the moon? Those were the good ole’ days.” No. I want to look up, and know that we are going to do more, that there is so much to know outside of what Telescopes can show us. Space may be the “Final Frontier” – but not exploring it at all is way to “final” for me. Every time I see a Florida state quarter, with the Space ship emblazoned on the back, it kills me to know that is no longer a part of our adventure as a state and nation. I can’t imagine something that was so tangible, becoming literal science-fiction. How have we got so far off course.

A father and son at the first and last shuttle launch.

I cant help but feel that we are taking steps backwards with decisions like funding these bullshit wars, cutting iconic and inspiring programs, and caring less about people and trying to pass everything off as a sort of utilitarianism. I could complain all the time, move to a different country, or give up all hope – but I wont do any of that. I wont let the decisions of idiots in power compromise my sense of adventure and discovery. Ever. As far as I’m concerned, I still want to be an Astronaut when I grow up.

Nerd Porn

Who cares if its a trap.

 

I’m guessing she is somewhere on Hoth. She looks cold.

Time Machine: 90’s Summer Toys

Summer Vacation. No two words can incite a bigger riot within the hearts of kids anywhere. Ever. I remember in 4th grade, the bell rang on the last day of school and hundreds of tiny bodies flipped furniture and threw paper like confetti. One kid even knocked a fish-tank over. Not cool, kid. Whatever – this was the age in which Summer felt most magical, at least to me. I have lots of great Summer Vacation memories as a child. Now Summer Vacation consists of working, sweating, and complaining. Growing up in the 90’s, I had the pleasure of being able to indulge in a time where toys were still cool. That could be the nostalgia talking.

The Super Soaker 300! Or, Super Soaker With The Back-Pack Thing!

Lethal Weapon.

This majestic piece of plastic equipment struck fear into neighborhood kids far and wide. My dad loved me enough to get me one of these, thankfully. Unfortunately, during times of water warfare around the neighborhood, the fear factor of having a tank of water strapped to my back wasn’t enough. It would take me 15 minutes just to fill it, I’d have to pump roughly 214 times just to get enough pressure to make it count and, oh, I couldn’t run with this thing on. I was like Robocop. Moving like a stop-motion animation idiot because this thing literally probably weighed more than me at the time. If I got over-zealous and tried to run, I would just tip over. Granted, I was the only one on my block with this bad boy, so the cool points alone made it worth it. If I had one today, I’d fill it with Champagne.

Skip It! ( A Deadly Weapon )

Raise your hand if you’ve ever severely injured yourself, or someone else, while innocently playing outside on your Skip-It. If you’re not raising your hand you’re a fucking liar and get off my blog. The original Skip-It was actually released in the 70’s at some point, then re-released several years late with a counter on the ball. ( the very best thing. of all. ) The counter was integral to impressing your friends, counting your calories, and scaring the fat kid. Whoever invented this thing must of been into medevil weaponry because this thing was basically no different than a Morning Star. You wind it up then unleash it in the general direction of the kid that stole your SNES games, or just inch close to that girls ankle who told on you that time you were “borrowing” items from peoples backyards to build a tree-fort. Anyone who just stood outside in their drive-way to Skip-It for a few hours — actually, no. No one did that. Regardless, I still love the shit out of this thing.

Slip n’ Slides!

Check out the look of pure judgement on that one kids face.

Slip and slides are a summer staple. Even still for me, at 26. If it’s summer, and you aren’t slipping and sliding at some point – that is a problem. A huge problem. I don’t even care if you don’t have any friends, go to Home Depot and buy yourself some plastic sheeting and butter yourself up and Slide’ around and listen to The Beach Boys. You’re an adult now, drink a wine cooler while you do it too. When I was young, some kids had some boxed Slip n’ Slides, like Crocodile Mile. These were the worst. You get them out of the box, expecting to unfurl an endless amount of fun, and it’s 2feet of thin plastic sheeting with a blow up splash pool at the end, that would undoubtedly be devastated within the first few uses. You better have some flawless grass to lay that bad boy down on, too, or it’s going to be ripped to shreds in minutes, along with your body. You’re better off getting a tarp, and finding a grassy knoll to lay that shit down on. Grab a few Capri Suns and you’re set.

Queen of the Universe.

If I was Queen of the Universe, I would make it so that all traffic lights were Space Invader themed. So – you all just wait. I put my application in for Queen of the Universe the other day, im just waiting to hear back. Sooo, until then, I’m just making a list of all the things im planning to do.

I had a few people send me questions on Formspring about how they would like me to post more about my life and myself on some of my posts here, so even though im boring I will try to keep you all up to date. Recently I got a job at a pretty neat concert venue, and Im excited to start this week. Other than ending my job search, I’ve been spending time with my friends and trying to fill myself up with love and dancing a lot. I’ve been working on several photoshoot projects with a really talented South Florida photographer named Emilee Rose. We are currently shooting for some flyers, magazines and a website, and next we are shooting for a makeup company.  She is still editing a lot of the photos, but here is one of the finished ones for now.

Clark, the spider, was too scared to get his feet wet.

 This photo was taken at night in a really creepy canal near the entrance to a sewer tunnel. It was thundering and we had a lot of interesting wild-life visitors for the few hours that we shot. I absolutely adore the results and got a sweet arm workout from holding that heavy ass lantern. I am excited to post more images as Emilee edits and sends them to me. Please go like her facebook page, and if you are in Florida, get at her for shoots!

So, other than all that, i’ve just been trying to get more into World of Warcraft until the new Star Wars MMO comes out. Then that will basically take over my life, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Here is a little preview of some in-game play!

Robin Williams keeps Zelda in the Family.

When I first watched this, It gave me goosebumps. Same thing happened when I watched it 5 more times. Most don’t know this about Robin Williams, but he is a huge Legend of Zelda fan, so much so that he named his daughter after the princess herself! In the video below, Robin is helping promote the new re-work of Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 3DS. Also, can we talk about how gorgeous his daughter, Zelda, is? Geez!

Be Still My Heart: E3 Nintendo Press Conference!

I feel like Edgar Allan Poe writing about his beautiful Annabel Lee when it comes down to writing about Nintendo. It basically overwhelms me. We’ve had a romance for about 20 years now – and thankfully, Nintendo didn’t end up contracting Tuberculosis and dying on me. Nintendo never disappoints me. Ever. Year after year, I wait in anticipation for the Nintendo Press Conference held during E3. I used to work the Expo as a “booth babe” and promoter – I haven’t been able to make it the last couple years, and it breaks my heart. I watch the coverage from behind my computer while tears well up in my eyes. Not really. But maybe. E3 is basically like – Disneyland for nerds. If you haven’t been, it is just indescribable.

This year Nintendo truly delivered. Their press conference ( per usual ) was entertaining, informative and playful. It’s The Legend of Zelda’s 25th anniversary, and Nintendo celebrated by opening their conference with a full Orchestra playing iconic songs from the game, while a large protector took us on a trip down memory lane as we revisited all of the games. Really, really beautiful stuff.  Then, Shigeru Miyamoto came on stage to speak. His excitement and love for Zelda is so pure and genuine, that seeing him so excited to speak about The Legend of Zelda just melted my heart. He would jump, bow, and throw his fist in the air – smiling the whole time. I got goosebumps when he talked more about the new Zelda game: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Other than Zelda, a lot of amazing things were previewed during the conference. I am personally excited for the new Starfox and Kid Icarus. They also announced a free download of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords! This game is a great, and the fact Nintendo is giving it to us as a free download is proof about how much they really do love us. It feels like a long, warm hug. Thanks Nintendo! They are also giving us another free download – a new revamp of the retro classic – Excitebike! I can’t imagine how fun that’s going to be on the 3DS! They talked a little bit about a re-work on the Super Nintendo title, Luigi’s Mansion. I hated this game as a kid! I remember finding it so difficult as a child and throwing the cartridge at my little brother at one point. I’m going to try to avoid that this time around. No promises.

They ended the conference with the unveiling of the “Wii-U” which is not a new console – but an addition to the Wii itself. It’s technically a controller, but can act as a peripheral, a drawing tablet, ( !!! ), and a hand-held gaming system among other things. It’s honestly to me, pretty interesting and innovative. I’m most excited about the drawing tablet feature – I can see that being used in a lot of really interesting ways. Please, though – do yourself a favor and watch the conference if you have not seen it yet. It’s very exciting and entertaining, take my freakin’ word for it!

A Love Letter To: Nerd Girls

To a lot of guys, nerdy girls are the holy grail. I know growing up my friends always called me a “unicorn” because to them I was such a rarity; an attractive girl with a brain and obscure, geeky interests. I obviously didn’t think anything of it because I was just being myself. I didn’t understand the reverie. Now it seems that lately, with the progress of video games and the prevalence of comic book movies, being into “nerdy” things is more allowable and mainstream, and with this I have noticed an influx of “faux-nerdy” girls. Girls who want to impress guys by pretending to be nerdy, because they played Tetris once on a road-trip, or tried to play Halo once with their brother, but don’t know the difference between Ps3 or Xbox. I don’t care if you think Peter Parker is “dreamy”, bitch, I saw him first – you know, when I was saving up my lunch money to buy comic books as a kid, not because my boyfriend took me to see Spiderman 3.

Whether you’re a Dungeon Master, a Marvel Girl, a Computer Engineer or the best Warlock in your guild, being a true-blue Nerd Girl will always have its appeal within society – and you will always be a unicorn within the Geek sub-culture, and that to me is just a wonderful thing. I put together a little compilation of song tributes to our kind.

While these girls voices pierce my ears, and their over-acting makes me want to stab my eyes with my light-saber chopsticks, Seth Green’s rap at the end makes it totally worth it.

“Farscape
Sailor Moon
Hogwarts boys all make them swoon
Aragorn, Legolas
These are the boys they love the best
I mean they’re good to go
Love Scifi, yo’
Marvel
DC
Vertigo
The girls are sweet
They can’t be beat”

This little number is from one of my absolute favorite shows, “The Guild”, with one of my favorite geek icons, Felicia Day. Definitely legit, and definitely a babe.

“Hang with me in my MMO
So many places we can go
I’m better than a real world quest
You’ll touch my plus five to dexterity vest.”

Oh, I think if you’re familiar with nerd related music at all, you know who MC Chris is. He’s classic. While I love the song, I don’t love the video so much – but I cant say I didn’t resemble the lead girl a little bit when I was much younger. Ah, memories.

“There’s a special kind of girl that goes to my shows
And I don’t mean the groupie hos
All along the front row
She’s more like a wallflower
Like the one that Stryker sniped
I’m like elixir when I’m with her
‘Cause I think I like her type.”

This song is by Chester French. I love a lot of the music he does, so you should probably get to know him. He is a Nerd Girls biggest fan – hands down.

“Most guys don’t enlighten me
But I’m intrigued by you
I’m your nerd girl writing sci-fi
But now I’m riding you
You’re my nerd girl
An extraordinary mind
Brain is of a kind so unknown.”

Well, on that note, I’ll be in Azeroth if you need me.