It's Almost Time for Christmas...Again

Well, Halloween is over. And so is the 2012 election cycle that felt like it would never end. And now we're on full throttle to the holidays.

Just in time for Christmas shopping is this awesome gem for the Trekkie/Trekker (won't debate that *hot* topic here!) from ThinkGeek -- a Spock LLAP oven mitt:

The Spock mitt would go fantastically with the Enterprise Pizza Cutter and bottle opener.

Wait, wait! One more! What nerdly friend doesn't want some delicious Trek Christmas cookies too? Cool and delicious!!

Whedon for Zomney

Well, it's been a few months since I've had 5 minutes to post anything. That's how this mommy-hood thing goes, I hear. But, we're deep into Fall, time is about to change, so I should have more time in the house and perhaps 5 more minutes to post fun, geeky things. Like this.

Joss Whedon (one of my favs) created a parody pro-Romney commercial, noting the Governor's ability to lead us right into a zombie apocalypse. Good times. Only thing that would've made this better if it was set in a slightly futuristic, post-apocalyptic future (a la Walking Dead or Revolution) with a few "shamblers" wandering in the windows behind him.

Enjoy. And Happy Halloween.

New Geekling = Limited Blogging Time

Wow, so yeah, having a new geekling really rocks your world. I knew it would, but couldn't have imagined just how much! Add in a move back to California, and you have total chaos. But 11 weeks later, we're starting to get into a bit of a groove, and I've found myself missing this little corner of the interwebs.

While we aren't making it to all the big summer blockbusters right now, I did catch "The Avengers" before Baby O's arrival. What a fun way to kick off the summer! Joss Whedon really delivered a big super hero tale that appeared to do justice to the larger-than-life team. I'm not a big Avengers comic book fan, but I liked how the characters come together in this movie, especially Hulk. Didn't really love the two Hulk movies, but Mark Ruffalo finally got it right. The one character I didn't really understand was Hawkeye; I didn't mind him being part of the team, but it didn't seem like his superpower quite compared to the rest of the team. This is what I get for not being much of a Marvel reader, I suppose.

Mostly, it was great to catch one of the big geek movies of summer, since we missed Spiderman, Batman, MiB, etc. Say what you will, but thank God for Netflix/Amazon Instant/iTunes.

Speaking of Netflix, one thing you do have with a new baby (besides diapers and crying) is time at home. And with a summer baby, you also get very little new TV to watch. So, Netflix it is! In the first 4 weeks of Baby O's life, we watched the first 4 seasons of "Breaking Bad." The Better Half is a HUGE fan of the show, and has been nagging me to watch it for months, especially before Season 5's premiere. I don't typically like intense dramas because the heavy nature of the story can bum me out and stay with me for days/weeks (see: Six Feet Under, The Sopranos), but I really do like Breaking Bad. Well-crafted storylines, great character development, and some amazing direction and cinematography. Bryan Cranston is role-of-a-lifetime fantastic.

And Bob Odenkirk's "Saul" is one of my new favorite TV characters. I read a recent interview with show creator Vince Gilligan (which I can't seem to find again, or I would link to here...sigh) that there could be a Saul spin-off, to which I say, "Bring it!!"

Season 5 just started, and I look forward to how the final season unfolds. I can hardly believe Walt's transformation over 1 year's time. Whew.

Alright, at least I've started to catch up here. Just realized I didn't get to Game of Thrones (S2), podcasts, SD Comic Con, and all the awesome web TV happening (Geek & Sundry and Nerdist Channel programming!), so more to come soon! Plus, I'll have new eyes for things for the geeklings since I have a n00b of my own now. I feel like it's my duty to raise the next generation of geek, and can't wait to show her so much! Is 11 weeks too early for Star Wars or Star Trek??

(One of my favorite shower gifts was the Star Trek Book of Opposites. Awesome. Totally awesome.)

Dreary Portland Weather = Many Movies Watched

Well, it may be Spring in other parts of the country, but Portland isn't quite ready to let go of Winter. After a few nice weeks in Jan/Feb, the weather has turned cold, dreary and even snowy here in mid-March. A perfect time to catch up on some movies!

First up was "Attack the Block" a British movie from 2011. I first heard buzz about this movie at Comic-Con last year, and have heard generally positive reviews from other geeks.

IMDB plot summary is pretty succinct: "A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion."

Certainly not the most ground-breaking movie, but it was a fun, entertaining, rainy day sort of feature. The accents are magnificently difficult to understand at times (reminded me of the first time I saw "Trainspotting" and loved that English could be a totally different language from what we Americans are used to). You might recognize actor Nick Frost from similar genre movies "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." He's a secondary character, but I think one of my favorites.

The aliens are appropriately creepy, and it has some decent special effects (given that this isn't a Michael Bay movie or something).

Movie #2, streamed via Netflix, was "Tucker and Dale vs Evil." Wow, this movie was really fun and funny. Comedy/horror is tough to pull off well, but this one worked for me! You might recognize the two male leads: Tucker (Alan Tudyk from Firefly and now on Suburgatory) and Dale (Tyler Labine from Reaper). Or maybe the female lead Katrina Bowden (of 30 Rock).

The story is one of prejudice (toward hillbillies) combined with a complete misunderstanding that creates a ridiculous series of events. Not since Army of Darkness have I laughed so much at a "horror" movie.

Watch the trailer:

Finally, movie #3 required a trip to an actual theater. "21 Jump Street" with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum was actually better than I expected. It's hardly a contender for an Oscar, but it was (again) ridiculous and funny, and pretty perfect for a hormonal, pregnant woman's fragile mood. Sometimes, all you want out of a movie is a good laugh. This movie definitely delivered a few of those! And, I like Jonah Hill. I heard a recent interview with him about his long involvement writing the script, etc.

Added bonus is list of guest stars including Rob Riggle (Daily Show), Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson!) and Ice Cube.

Side note: if high school is really like this now, it's too bad I am 20 years too late to be "cool."

Latest Avengers Trailer

We went to see the ridiculous, but fun, "21 Jump Street" over the weekend. I was super excited about the latest trailer for "The Avengers." I'm reallllly hoping to see it before BabyO arrives.

I'm a total sucker, I know, but it looks like a great summer romp! Explosions! Superhero team up! Joss Whedon! The only thing I'm still not sure about is Hulk, but I'm not a big fan of the CGI Hulks...

Anyway, fingers crossed that BabyO can stay put at least past May 4th.

CW's New Green Arrow TV Show

I may have heard that this was happening a few months ago, but having missed WonderCon this weekend and being a bit out of the superhero loop, I wasn't aware that the new CW pilot focused on Green Arrow (titled "Arrow" at least for now) is already in production.

Not a lot of details about the storyline/plot or other supporting characters yet, but one press photo was released. It's so dark, I'm not sure how to feel about the costume. At least superficially, it appears to be a departure from Smallville.

Thoughts?

Owls in Space!

After deciding on a space nursery, I realized it would be tricky to find pre-made decor at someplace like Babies R' Us or Target. Thankfully, in this age of the Internet, there are lots of other options. One of my favorites for interesting, unique items is Etsy. Etsy is great for all kinds of things and somehow less overwhelming than eBay. Added bonus: I don't have to deal with bidding (which I hate).

Two of my first Etsy orders arrived yesterday, and I have to say, I'm thrilled! Yay for creativity and customization combined with Internet commerce!

First up is this print that marries our space theme with my "pre-occupation" with owls. I'm trying not to dominate BabyO's room with owls, since that is my thing, but I couldn't resist this one from Nancy Lee's shop.

I ordered mine in a larger size than the 6x6 listing, no problem. And it's gorgeous! I can't wait to get it matted and framed. Even when BabyO's moved on from her space theme, I will gladly pull this print into another room of the house.

The second print is this "I love you from here to Cassiopeia" one from HopSkipJumpPaper:

There are a lot of options for paper color, and in keeping with our color scheme I got this one in aqua. It looks great! There are also ones from here to Jupiter or to Andromeda. It was a tough call to choose just one.

This space theme seems to be coming all swimmingly so far!

Welcome to 2012, Only One Month Late.

As they say, the road to hell is laid with good intentions.

Back in November, I had every intention of giving my little blog more regular attention, even if just small posts, but totally fell off the bandwagon. Well, I got pregnant last fall and have to say, didn't feel like being on a computer beyond working hours until just recently. Actually, I didn't feel like doing much beyond lying on the couch and watching Dr. Who all winter. Apparently the 2nd trimester is the "good" window and my energy is certainly better, so I'm trying to take advantage of it while I can. (I've been assured I'll be back to mid-afternoon naps in another month or so.)

During the 20 week ultrasound, we found out BabyO is a girl. I was absolutely certain it was a boy, so there go my powers of perception. Somehow, getting past that pregnancy mid-way point without complication made everything very "real." I'm not sure what other women go through, but everything felt kind of theoretical (or I was in denial) before that point. In the last 6 weeks, I've found myself laser-focused on critical issues like nursery colors and themes. Who has time to find a doula or schedule maternity classes when looking for the perfect glider and choosing a color scheme? Priorities, people.

Well, I'm happy to say, we've got our "theme!" (We've narrowed names down to 5-7, but again, priorities people.) I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but the Better Half works in aerospace and we are both big Sci Fi geeks, so naturally our nursery theme is: SPACE.

Baby Geek in development

Now, some people might think this is an unusual theme for a baby's room, let alone a baby girl's room, and to those people I say, Suck it. After spending more time than is reasonable looking at nursery ideas, I really got overwhelmed by many of the typical "girl" themes: lots of pink, lavender and white; fluffy pom poms; bunting (what is this??); birds/trees (actually, I like these, but kinda overdone based on a Google Image search); butterflies/ladybugs; and princessy decor.

Maybe a little much?

These are all fine in general, but I'm just not a girly girl. And I'm sure as soon as BabyO can make her own preferences known, we'll be inundated with Barbies, Disney princesses, etc. That's fine, but I just can't start there.

So, space it is! It's a bit of a challenge because a) not a lot of mass-produced space-themed baby stuff out there, and b) if it exists, it is very "boyish." Over the next few weeks/months, I hope to share some of the cool stuff I've found or made for BabyO's Space Room (TM). Given my personality (read: a little obsessive), it will be all I can do to limit myself to a few key pieces, even though my inclination is to get everything cool I can find.

My first project for BabyO's room is this wall plaque with the Star Trek: The Next Generation intro. It also includes glow-in-the-dark paint on the stars, sun, planet, and key text.

The second project is this little rocket. Technically I think it's a birdhouse, but I think we'll put a little alien friend peeking out instead.

More to come soon!