A Year in a Review

Hello fellow Geeks, and Geekettes,

I hope everyone had wonderful Christmas/Wednesday.    I spent the day with my parents, sister and aunt, after they left I waited for Doctor Who special Please. Stay tune to the end as CaptShinyPants and I have some announcements.

As you read this, I will be surrounded with bunch of family members that I haven’t seen since I was a baby.(Joys) The year has come to an end and my how time has flown by!  I wanted to  do some highlights of things that happen to me and with  this blog.

                I started working for Trek Radio on and around Jan 7^th 2013. I would never even come to find out about  Trek Radio, it wasn't because some Random Klingon * cough* Deyvid* cough* started following my on twitter, would I never know about Trek Radio. So blessed I have found them. I also went to   many different cons and ended up doing an Interview with Adam Bladwin at Dallas Comic Con.  Captshinypants also got to do an Interview with Manu Intraymi for our blog. We have met many new people and became friends with  those people.
In this past year, ya’ll have learned how to make many geeky items, read some interesting stories of our daily lives, and learn more about us a geeky girls.  

I know this a short post, with Shinypants and I working retail  during the holiday, we been so busy or too tired to write out an awesome post, But we have some awesome news! We will be posting a contest to celebrate our 1 year  mark of the blog. The Contest will a scavenger hunt , all the rules and detail will be post Sunday morning. 

In other news, Jan 3-5 I will be at Space city Con, yes I will be live tweeting of course. So make sure to follow me on Twitter.

Stay Geeky

DalekChick 

Merry Geekmas!

With Christmas only four days away now, I thought it might be fun to see how other geeks have decorated their trees this year (we have two in my house: a plain-jane "normal" one in the living room, and a black one in the Geek Lair with Trek ornaments).

Poor Sean Bean . . .

...

Soda can Flowers

Hello Fellow geeks!

The Holiday season is coming up fast, and let me guess you don't have a lot of money and your not sure what to get for  a female?  If that's the case, you are in luck! Today I will be showing you an quick , easy, and cheap way to recycle   a soda can. We are going to be making flowers.



 What you will need.

• 2 Soda cans
• Glue gun
• buttons, beads ( middle of the flower)
• scissors 
• Tape 
• optional Straw, pipe cleaner, or stick ( stem of the flower) 
• Flower Pattern ( I suggest one with long pedals )  Big one and a small one 

                                      1. Cut the off the end of the soda can carefully and then cut down the side.

2.Lay the can down and tape it down. 

3. Trace the the flower patternd you have pick out. 

Note: you will need two different sizes. 

4. Carefully cut out the flower that you just traced. 

5. Take a maker and curl the tips up. Note: Make u you decide what side u want to use before curling.

6..Hot glue the two pieces together. 

7. Add  to the flower use a bead or a button to the middle of the flower. 

Voila! You now have a soda can flower. These are great to have floating water, or attacking  s straw to them and putting in a vase to looks like flowers, Whatever you decide am sure the person you are giving to will enjoy it too.

 Please send us photos of any of the projects you decide to do. Either on our Facebook, or Twitter 

Stay Geeky,

DalekChick 

Snow Day Activities

Just outside my window as of 9:40 am CST on 12/6.

 
I'm a bit of a frozen Shiny-sicle this weekend! So, since a lot of people are also likely snowed-in this weekend, here's a few ideas to fight boredom while you keep toasty:

Coloring/Drawing When was the last time you picked up some crayons or markers or colored pencils and just doodled? If you said "when I was in elementary/primary school", then that's been far too long, my friend. You can also open your computer's paint program (if you have one) or even find sites online to color and/or download coloring pages, like this one: On Coloring - free coloring pages. And it doesn't matter if you're not great at drawing because you're doing it for YOUR amusement.

Make a Song Parody One of my favorite pastimes: making a completely ridiculous Weird Al-style song out of your favorites. All you need is to think of a topic, change a few words and BAM! If you need help rhyming lines together, check out Rhyme Zone. Also, using the thesaurus will help in finding just the right word(s).

Snowball Fight Don't let it go to waste! Get out there and lob some snowballs around with your friends and family. You could even make a snowman or some snow angels. Bonus: find a big hill (away from major roads and highways) and go sledding.

Write a Story It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, but write a short story. The thesaurus mentioned previously can help with that a lot. This can be especially fun if you have children: let them help you come up with the characters and the settings and their adventures.

Read a Book You're a big reader like me, then you probably have a stack of books (either physically or digitally) that you haven't gotten through yet. If you can't get out, try making a dent in that stack. Personally, my current read is Christine by Stephen King, and I have a stack of classics (Frankenstein, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc.) I have yet to read.

Make a Short Film All you need is a simple story and either a camcorder or a phone capable of recording video (and also a YouTube account only if you want to share your creation). Again, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece because this is for you, and you don't need to feel obligated to put anything on YouTube if you don't want to.

Play a Game You don't have to play video games to be a gamer - board games and card games (tabletop gaming) count, too! So bust out the Monopoly/Checkers/Uno/dominoes and have at it. There are even free games available online: try Addicting Games or Kongregate to start.


What activities are you doing to stave off boredom this weekend? Did you do something I may have forgotten to mention? Let me know in the comments section below!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Reminder: House fires tend to happen more frequently in the winter, so use caution when keeping warm:

• Make sure space heaters are not against flammable objects (ditto for fireplaces - move flammable objects away).
• Don't leave your stoves/ovens on for extended periods of time for warmth - unless your oven has a self-clean feature, they aren't made to warm houses anymore and can't take being on for so long.
• Always check electric blankets for faulty cords or exposed heating coils.

Stay warm and safe, guys!

Whofest DFW

So last weekend I went to Whofest DFW  to celebrate 50 yrs of Doctor Who . I couldn't make it Friday but I went Saturday and Sunday. It  was very small only 700  out of 1,100 people attend. The weather didn't help either,other then that I had so much fun!  I want to share some photos and things that happen.

 When I first arrived after getting my badge and wristband, I turn to the left and bam! There was Tardis and 3 Daleks staring us down, but don't worried I was in my Dalek Cosplay so they didn't brother me. To the right of them was the very small dealers room , which I got myself a really pretty scarf and a red Dalek Christomas Ornament.

 I went to many different  panels, everything from Doctor Who crafting to a game show. As I walk around I ran into this wonderful looking weeping angel . She was so pretty scary when she move  to a different pose. She was awesome.

Yes , this was Doctor Who Family feud, It was  great because I could actually play along,  

In all I really enjoy Whofest DFW and can't wait until 2015 when they will do another one to celebrate 10 yrs of the reboot. They even say they are working on getting actress to the con in 2015

Here are my photos from the con. Yes, I do understand some of them are slightly  blurry , sorry about that. 

The NEXT Next Generation in Console Gaming

A holodeck, as seen on Star Trek (Next Generation - Voyager)

With the Xbox One release on November 22nd and the PlayStation 4 release on November 15th, social media is buzzing with both praise and disappointment over the new next generation consoles. As this generation is ushered in, it's no big secret that the next one is likely already in development and game developers probably have some rough idea of what's in store for the future. With so many ways to connect various accounts and share gaming experiences with friends and the whole world, as well as having the ability to give consoles (namely the previous gen. Xbox 360 plus Kinect) verbal commands, it's a little difficult to ponder what the next step could be, especially since the technology exists for a gamer to use his or her body as the control for certain games.

This is a prime example of the potential for science fiction to become factual reality: the next generation in console gaming could very well be the gateway into "holodecks" similar to the various interactive rooms seen in Star Trek, Spy Kids, Ray Bradbury's short story The Veldt, and many other science fiction shows and literature. Just imagine being able to be fully submersed in a video game and simply be in an empty room with only a console and a projector generating the scenes around you, being able to track your moves and provide an entirely hands-free gaming experience.

In 2010 Sony's PlayStation Move hit the scene, rivaling the Nintendo Wii's usage of the player's body as an extension of the console control. In January 2013, Microsoft unveiled IllumiRoom, a holodeck-like technology that turns your room into an interactive gaming environment. The idea is to utilize the Kinect camera in tandem with a projector to expand gaming beyond the confines of a television screen.

What are your thoughts and ideas of what we might possibly see in the next iteration of console gaming? Do you see a different future ahead? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below, but be warned: NO FLAMING.

Dalek Chick Wish List

Hello fellow geeks and Geekettes!1

It’s that time again, the holiday seasons begins. Captshinypants and I it has already started (we both work in retail).   So today I will share with you what I want for Christmas in the terms of Geeky items.

·      Star Trek TNG: Uniform Hoodie

·       Star Trek Transporter room bath set

·         Doctor Who TARDIS Lights

·         Doctor Who PJs

·         Doctor Who logo shirt with words

·         Doctor Who TARDIS rug

·         Doctor Who TARDIS Snow globe

·         Star Trek Craft Book

·         Star Flux

These are such a few things I would love to get as a gift but remember it isn’t what is given it about being with your family and friends during the holiday seasons.

Stay Geeky,

DalekChick 

Geeky Tats

Personally, I have no ink. Needles and I have never quite gotten along, never quite seen eye-to-eye. However, that doesn't mean I don't have a fascination and appreciation for the skills of a really good tattoo artist.

Recently my buddy Gettysburg7, co-host of The G&T Show, got his first ink - followed closely by his second:

Did I mention he's Rihannsu (Romulan)?

Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman

So if you're in Maryland and looking for a good tattoo artist, visit American Tattoo Studio.

Here are some more great geek tats I've come across:

Table Top Games

  Helllo Geeks and Geekettes!

Today post will be about Table Top Games.  I’ve always been a good table top gamer, and when Wil Wheaton  youtube  series( Table top) came about I was then introduce to a lot more interesting and fun games! My group of friend tends to play at least once a month but in the summer we were playing once or even twice a week!  Here are some of my Top Favorites of my group of friends.   This list will be  of non common board games. (Etc Monopoly, Checkers, Trouble)

·         Settlers of Catan - Players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources. Players are rewarded points as their settlements grow; the first to reach a set number of points is the winner. At no point in the game is any player eliminated. 

·         Castle Panic- Players must work together to defend their castle, in the center of the board, from monsters that attack out of the forest, at the edges of the board. Players trade cards, hit and slay monsters, and plan strategies together to keep their castle towers intact. The players either win or lose together, but only the player with the most victory points is declared the Master Slayer. Players must balance the survival of the group with their own desire to win.

·         Once Upon a time- Players create a story together, using cards that show typical elements from fairy tales. One player is the Storyteller and creates a story using the ingredients on her cards. She tries to guide the plot towards her own ending. The other players try to use cards to interrupt her and become the new Storyteller. The winner is the first player to play out all her cards and end with her Happy Ever After card.

·         Dixit- One player is the storyteller for the turn and looks at the images on the 6 cards in her hand. From one of these, she makes up a sentence and says it out loud (without showing the card to the other players) .Each other player selects the card in their hands which best matches the sentence and gives the selected card to the storyteller, without showing it to the others. The storyteller shuffles her card with all the received cards. All pictures are shown face up and every player has to bet upon which picture was the storyteller's. If nobody or everybody finds the correct card, the storyteller scores 0, and each of the other players scores 2. Otherwise the storyteller and whoever found the correct answer score 3. Players score 1 point for every vote for their own card 

·         Risk - Players are given tons of little army units to place onto the map of the world. When it's your turn, you use your units to attack other players' positions, hopefully with superior numbers. Combat is a simple dice rolling affair that stresses attrition, and reinforcements are given to players who collect sets of cards.

·        Star Fluxx- Game of ever changing rules. It starts out as Draw 1, Play 1, but even that can change. When a Goal card is played, you can win by meeting the Goal, usually by having the correct Keeper cards in front of you. Action and Surprise cards help you to meet the Goal, or stop your opponent. Creeper cards usually prevent you from winning, but are sometimes necessary to meet the Goal.

I    

     I want to give shout out to http://boardgamegeek.com/.  I use them to get you all the descriptions to each game.  They have all these games on their site for you to buy!

Stay Geeky,

Dalek Chick 

Holiday Blockbusters 2013

We all enjoyed a decent run with the summer blockbusters, but now it's coming up on the holiday movie season. Here's what I'm looking forward to seeing this winter:

November 8:

Thor: The Dark World

December 6:

Out of the Furnace

December 13:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

December 20:

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Not a whole lot for me, though I may catch a few others that may, in turn, catch me by surprise. What holiday blockbusters are you looking forward to seeing? Comment below with your must-see titles.

DCC "Fan Days"

About 2 weekends ago I went to Dallas Comic Con "Fan Days". Fan Days  tends to be their medium size cons.There was more people at the convention then the pass.

 I got to see and listen John Borrowman. This guy  freaking hilarious!

 This family   was awesome! I was in my Dalek cosplay when I ran into them.

I got to play with the worlds largest PinBall machine! I also got to play with the newly Star Trek pinball machine also. 

I think it so awesome that people are cosplaying Daft punk! 

 In all the con was smaller and more relax. It was nice for once to to have a calm  convention. 

Stay Shiny

Dalekchick

PS If you got an hour and willing to laugh your head off. watch John Borrowmans Panel from Fan days 

Costumes: DIY or store-bought?

Until I was about 12, all of my Halloween costumes had been store-bought. It had never occurred to me to try to make one myself until about then, and even then (looking back) it was such a bizarre one: around the time those Call ATT commercials were out with Carrot Top, so I decided to dress up as Carrot Top.Yeah, you read that right: I was Carrot Top for Halloween. I wore jeans, borrowed my mom's tie-dye shirt, bought a red curly wig . . . and everyone thought I was a clown (which, I guess in some aspect, they were right). But that was my first attempt at a DIY costume and I had a lot of fun with it, so I kept going.

Growing up, my family attended church and there was a guy who played guitar who always picked on me (no pun intended) and for the Halloween party at church one year (I was 17) to get him for all the picking and jokes and pranks, I dressed as him. And I didn't come in costume, I changed in the bathroom upstairs so I could come downstairs and get a good reaction from everyone. The result: immense laughter, especially from his wife and son. Now, let me describe my costume to you for the full effect (I wish I had the picture handy, but it's elsewhere at the moment and unattainable): boot-cut jeans, western shirt, bolo tie, western boots, stick-on mustache, mullet wig, and for good measure, one of my dad's friends owned a guitar shop and he let me borrow an old beat-up acoustic on the promise I would provide a picture. While it wasn't a well-known superhero or movie character, I have to say that was probably my best costume ever just because it got EXACTLY the reaction I was hoping to get and everyone loved it.

One year, I even attempted a Charlie Brown cosplay with a cheap white sheet with holes cut out everywhere and a paper bag full of rocks. Unfortunately, most people just thought I was a weird ghost. I wanted to have them all sit down and watch (or re-watch) The Great Pumpkin.

Last year at work, I was Soft Kitty. So many people smiled and giggled because they got it, a few even sang the song.

Sing 'Soft Kitty' to me.

I intend to do another DIY this year, but it's a matter of being able to get all the pieces, so I've only told a few people what I plan to do. I did a test-run at work on Thursday for the hair since I'll be working on Halloween; it held up alright, I just need to make a couple of tweaks.

So I want to know from you guys: do you make your own, whether it's putting pieces together or actually sewing your own costume, or do you buy a ready-made costume from the store or online? Do you have a favorite (include a pic if possible, please)? Let me know in the comments below; you don't even need an account to comment and you can even comment anonymously, but please keep it SFW.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Also: THE WALKING DEAD STARTS TOMORROW! YAY! http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead

Fan Days

Hello all!!

Am currently at Dallas Comic Con "Fan Days"  having a blast . I will for sure give full details of the event in two weeks! 

Follow me on twitter for more live updates!!

Stay Geek 

Dalek Chick 

Twitter Virus: Kill it with fire

On both Wednesday and Thursday this week, I discovered I had unwittingly and unwillingly spammed roughly 10-15 people with a DM saying I recommended a site to them - complete with virus-laden link. One of the unfortunate souls to receive this message: David Della Rocco. [cue facepalm]

He may just call in a favor from some friends.

What Happened

 This virus finds its way into your account via your apps. No, not the apps on your phone, but the apps you give access to - the ones you use to link your Twitter account to other accounts and/or pages.

How to tell if you've been hit:

When you try to login, you'll get a message asking you to verify either your email address or your username. From there, you will be prompted to change your password.

As you enter characters, it will tell you just to the right of the top box how strong your password is. When you verify in the bottom box, it tells you the password doesn't match until you've completed inputting all the correct characters. You're then prompted to check your apps.

If you have apps authorized to access your account, it will look something like this:

From an old acct. I haven't had a Blackberry in a looonnng time.

Since there's no way of telling which app(s) are compromised (unless you only have one authorized, as pictured above), your best bet is to revoke access to all.

If you have not been hit, but would like to take preventive measures, go into your Settings.

From there, you'll need to select Apps, then revoke access on either all (best possible option) or just the ones you haven't used in a while or don't recognize (that's what I did Wed. & it happened again Thurs.).

That should take care of the problem and prevent any further issues until this thing is better wrangled in.

Geeky Tags part 2

Howdy!

I've been so busy with work and   getting ready for Fan Days I haven’t gotten a chance to do much of a blog, So I decided to do yet another Geek tag.  Here we go

1. Warrior, thief or wizard?  Wizard

2. What would your patronus be? I honestly don’t know what this is.

3. Who is your favorite superhero? Captain America

4. Marvel or DC?  Marvel, totally a Marvel girl. I do like some DC characters too.  

5. What is your favorite video game? I am not a big Gamer but currently addicted to Civ5

6. PS3, Xbox or Wii?  Only one I have is a Wii, Again not a big Gamer

7. What is the biggest word you know?  Antidisestablishmentarianism 

8. Old bit game or 3D graphics? Both, all depends on the game

9. What is the nerdiest piece of clothing you own? Cosplays

10. Do you have a random useless talent? I can twist my right hand all the way around.


11. If you could have any super power what would it be? To have all the super powers.

Stay Geeky

~DalekChick 

My Top 5 Favorite Couples' Cosplay Ideas

Con-hopping: the favorite pastime for many geeks all over the world. But sometimes it's dangerous to go alone! These are my top 5 picks for cosplaying couples:


5. Han Solo & Leia Organa

This cosplay has been done so many times, yet it never really gets old. This is possibly the most iconic geek couple of all-time, so why wouldn't you cosplay Han and Leia at some point?


4. Harley Quinn & The Joker

The couple who slays together, stays together, right? Well, at least for these two it's true. There have been many variations on this particular idea, and it seems like people have a lot of fun with it.


3. Link & Zelda

 
I've come across more Link and Zelda cosplays than Mario and Peach, so they win out for me as a top couples' cosplay idea. Everybody who's anybody who's ever played a video game EVER knows who Link and Zelda are.


2. Peter Venkman & Dana (Zuul)

I Googled this one and I've seen a very small handful, but I don't understand why this one isn't more popular! Every geek knows the quote: "There is no Dana. Only Zuul." Now go start your sewing machines, you know you want to do this one now.


1. Buttercup & Westley

There have seen many decent attempts, but I have yet to come across a spot-on couple cosplaying as Buttercup and Westley. And I don't just mean getting hair and mannerisms just right; I'd love to see a Buttercup with an elaborate haute couture gown that could almost pass for being the original, or even lowly peasant Buttercup and Westley.


What are some of your favorite couple cosplays? Share your faves in the comments below!

Doctor Who library event

Hello Fellow geeks and Geekettes!

Last Saturday I went to a local library for a Doctor Who day, they are trying to promote kids into reading.   Well it was fun the kids had little paper crafts and made Tardis, and K-9. While the kids did the dean from A&M Commerce did a little lecture on the Doctors.  He did a wonder job and even shows us this “TimeCrash” He was in his dean robe and thought the lecture he took items off and reveals him in 11th doctor cosplay.  My sci-fi was there with our Tardis and I was there in my Dalek dress of course!  It was great to interact with kids and get them interest in books.  

In other notes, I’ve been super busy with Trek Radio stuff and work of course. I do have some exciting news, I will be become a DJ on Trek Radio soon and so to prepared one of the listener  on Trek Radio  help me create this.

  I want to thank you Sketch for the logo. 

Stay Geeky

Dalek Chick 

Kick Writer's Block in the nads: using writing prompts

Writer's block unfortunately happens to all of us writers at some point;  I was originally going to write on another topic, but I got a little stuck and decided to scrap it for later.  Then I needed to figure out another topic to write instead, so I searched through various writing prompts for something that stood out to me as being interesting and fun to try. Finally, on http://creativewritingprompts.com, I found prompt number 75:

Flip through a magazine and create a story around the first image you see.

I didn’t have a magazine handy, so I headed on over to Flickr, moused over Explore, and from the drop-down menu I clicked Galleries (each time you do this, you’re shown a new picture so if you'd like to try this prompt, you likely won't get the same picture).

This is the picture I got:

She walked through her garden as best she could; these days arthritis made it difficult for her to attempt even the simplest of tasks, but she wholeheartedly refused to let it keep her from her garden. It was her sanctuary, the place she came to remember her first date with George, who had later become her husband and, eventually, the father of her three children. In her garden, George was still alive and she was still a young and slender 18 year old woman in a long white dress slowly walking up the aisle of a little country church. She was the frightened young woman in a hospital bed clinging tightly to George's hand as their first child, a girl, made her grand entrance into the world. She was even the anxious mother sitting in the waiting room clinging tightly to George's hand as that same daughter transformed her into a doting grandmother. She had many happy memories of her life, most of them taking place with George at her side, and she relived each one here among her collection of various flowers and plants every day, even the day she closed her eyes to follow George into Heaven. She pruned her favorite rose bush, the same roses she'd carried in her bouquet all those years ago, and tenderly held some to her nose and inhaled their sweet aroma. Her knees bothered her particularly badly that day, so she shuffled over to the little bench she had placed near the roses only a few months earlier. She sat cradling the pruned roses in her hand; a single tear rolled down her wrinkled and careworn face and dropped softly onto the petals as she whispered his name, the last thing that would ever pass through her lips. She closed her eyes as her broken heart stopped beating, her breath leaving in a soft exhale, and she was whole once more.

Not a particularly "geeky" piece of writing, but I am a full-fledged writing geek. I love writing and learning new words and creating pictures through writing, and I like that I get to share this talent with all of you. If you've always wanted to try your hand at writing or maybe haven't written in a while and would like to jump back in, writing prompts are the best way to start if you're drawing a blank or are unsure of where to start. Using prompts allows you to write freely and discover your own personal writing style. I'd like to challenge all of our readers to try out this prompt and share your creations in the comments down below. I look forward to seeing what you guys create!

~ Capt. Shinypants