Halloween Goodies

The Halloween links and pictures are flying fast and furious across the interwebs today! Here are a few of my favorite finds.

Via @ThinkGeek, John DeLancie (Q from Star Trek:TNG) reads Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven":

In related news: John DeLancie rocks. He was one of the first Trek actors I ever saw in person, & I have a photo of my 16-year-old self standing awkwardly next to him to prove it. :D

Craftzine provides today's dose of adorable:

Mini Robocop!

I love this next picture:

There are lots more pics at Sweet Juniper, where Robocop's super dad explains how he made the suit from bits of junk lying around his basement. Crafty parents ftw!


And for one of the coolest costumes in the history of robots, check out this clip:


Via One Cool Thing a Day

I wish there was a slow-motion version of him when he stands up; I STILL can't wrap my brain around how it did that. Really, really cool.

Speaking of costumes, some of you expressed a little exasperation with the whole "sexy" costume phenomenon during my Stay Puft post - which I totally get, and actually tend to agree with. That said, I find it more hilarious than offensive when I see things like this:

Yes, that's a "sexy" Chewbacca costume. Really.

For nine more ridiculously horrific, "sexy" geek costumes, go here. (The "Brian" from Family Guy has got to be the worst. Am I right?)

I think the worst part of these travesties (other than the whole pornification of beloved characters thing) is that they don't even look like the characters they're supposed to be! I mean, c'mon, who would ever look at that girl and think, "Hey, a Wookiee!" [eye roll]

That said, I'm still waiting to see a "sexy" costume more ridiculous than this:

Sexy Big Bird.

In stripper heels.

Does anyone *not* feel the need for therapy after seeing this?

And to end on a fun note, have you heard about the steampunk haunted house in New York? I'm a scaredy cat to end all scaredy cats, so I could never go, but this thing sounds amazing. It relies on psychological thrills instead of blood and gore, and has a beautiful steampunked aesthetic. Photos are hard to come by, so this is the best video clip I could find:

Note: the end of the vid may be a little intense for kids or wussy wimps like me. :)

Go here for more videos reviewing the house and going behind the scenes of its creation.
Also, Kat wrote a beautiful description of her own experience touring the house here. If any of you find more photos of it, be sure to let me know!

Have any fun Halloween finds or links? Share them in the comments!

Playing With Food

Wednesday was my friend Julianne's birthday, which gave me an excellent excuse to ditch work for the afternoon and bake a cake instead.


I know, I know, I promised I'd never talk about cake here...but I hadn't made a cake in forever, and this was really fun! It's butterscotch pecan with ganache filling, homemade caramel frosting (my first time making it, and YUM. That is all.), and then another thin layer of ganache and toffee bits on the outside because the caramel frosting looked ugly as sin. Heh.

And before you go thinking I'm some kind of "baker," I should tell you I use The Cake Mix Doctor religiously, and *always* start with a box mix. Judge away. I'm lazy.


That night we had a small pumpkin carving party. Julianne and her husband Ray are the parents of Ninja Baby (remember the Ninja Nursery?), and they kept to the theme by carving these two mini pumpkins:

I'm actually getting a Ninja Turtles vibe here.

Which only makes it better, of course.

And this is their last name:

Man, why can't my last name look that cool? Maybe I can get Ray to write out Yates in Chinese...

Our friend Mary is a home decor diva, and despite the fact that she and her hubby Jordan had never carved a pumpkin in their entire lives, they still managed to make this:

Sickening. Just...sickening.


I meant to carve that cute Harry Potter design for my own pumpkin, but as I was printing it out I found something else that I knew would make John very, very happy. So instead of Harry Potter, I carved this:

Yep, it's Puss n' Boots, from Shrek. This scene where he goes all big-eyed and cute is one of John's favorites - the only thing that made him laugh harder was the hairball scene, but that would have made for a pretty gross pumpkin. :)

(You can get the Puss n' Boots stencil for free here.)

John, meanwhile, spent this time cleaning and roasting pumpkin seeds, taking embarrassing pictures of the rest of us, and mocking Ray for having such tiny pumpkins:

John [in his Ah-nold voice]: "Ok, now hold up your ridiculous pansy pumpkin and look sad. Ya."

So in other words, John was being John.

So, now all we have to do is buy more Halloween candy (and promise ourselves that this time we won't eat it all) and wait for Sunday! We'll be watching Ghostbusters here with friends while doling out candy to the neighborhood kids. How 'bout you guys?

-------------------------------------

UPDATE: By popular demand, here's the recipe for the caramel frosting:

- In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick butter with 1/2 c of dark brown sugar & 1/2 c light brown sugar. Bring to a boil.

- add 1/4 c whole milk and return to a boil

- remove from heat

- add 1 tsp vanilla & 2 cups of confectioner's sugar

- beat with a wooden spoon until smooth, & use immediately. (If the icing hardens too quickly, you can put it back on the heat to soften it.)

Why I Love John (Reason #157)

John and I have recently succumbed to a slight obsession with Cracker Barrel breakfasts.

Proceed judging.

No, wait: first try their thick-cut slabs of extra crispy bacon, and *then* judge us. IF YOU DARE.

Anyhoo, being "professional" bloggers we're rarely awake during traditional breakfast hours, (I'm writing this at 3AM. What.) so we often partake in what Scrubs so delightfully termed "Brinner" - aka, breakfast for dinner.

Mmmm....brinner.

Ok. So. The other week we mosied in to our local Cracker Barrel for a late night Brinner. After being seated by a rail-thin emo guy (is Tijuana Flats no longer hiring?) our server came over to introduce himself. I'm ashamed to say I don't recall his name, but it was something fairly common. Joe? Frank? Bill? Not sure. Let's call him Bill.

Bill had the slightly distracted air of someone with a million things to do, and not enough time to do them. When we ordered, his brow furrowed in concentration, and he repeated a few things back with great care. He wasn't overly friendly - he didn't smile - but he wasn't rude, either. I chalked it up to an off night, and thought nothing of it.

While John and I were in the midst of scarfing down way too many homestyle biscuits (apple butter, you sweet nectar of the heavens, you...) a kindly-looking elderly couple was seated directly behind me. As they sat down, they called out to Bill by name, greeting him with smiles and laughter and a sense of long familiarity. Again, our waiter did not effuse much by way of emotion, but as he talked with them, it dawned on me that his standoffishness wasn't the result of an off night; it was, in fact, the nature he was born with.

Some minutes later, a large group of diners made a mass exodus across the room. A well-dressed man broke off from the group and approached our waiter. "You did good, Bill" the man said warmly, pressing something into his hand. "You did good," he said again, clapped Bill on the shoulder, and left.

At this point John excused himself to the restroom, which is my excuse for the following chronicle of blatant eavesdropping: it was quiet, and I couldn't help overhearing. Honest. [Bambi eyes]

Anyway, what I heard went something like this:

Bill (quietly, to the elderly couple): "You guys, look at this. This man came up to me just now and he said, 'you did good, Bill,' and he shook my hand and then look, he gave me a twenty. A twenty. Can you believe it? I'm doing so good tonight." He said it with a child-like enthusiasm, in a tone of genuine surprise and gratitude.

The couple made happy noises of congratulations, but I didn't quite make them out because I needed my napkin just then to get something out of my eyes.

Bill delivered our check in the same manner he'd begun: efficiently, and with an air of distraction. Only now I think I understood him just a tiny bit better. He hadn't changed, but I'm happy to say that I had.

As we stood in line to pay the check, I told John what I'd heard. Will it show you what saps we are if I tell you that we *both* teared up when I got to the part about Bill's reaction to the tip? Yes? Well, we did. And then John sniffed, and laughed, and said, "Did he really say that? Really? Aw, well, now you know I *have* to beat that twenty."

And he did. Anonymously, and grinning like a fool.

A lovely, gorgeous fool.

Prepare To Be Dazzled...

...by my "beadazzled" pumpkin!!

Ta-da!

Here it is in the sunlight:

And here it is lit up inside:

Now, wanna see how I did it??

Oooof course you do.

:D

First, I printed out my pattern and taped it to the foam pumpkin (no, it's not real. Sorry.):


Next I used a nail to poke holes through the paper to transfer the pattern. (You can also use a thumb tack or needle.)


It's hard to see, but here's the transferred pattern:


Next is the messy part: using the Dremel. Using the smallest engraving bit they sell, I carved out the lines of my pattern.

I did this in the garage, because that dust gets *everywhere* and sticks fast. Which also means you need an immediate shower afterward. Hellooo, itchy!

My main issue when carving with the Dremel was the depth: I didn't carve the lines deep enough at first, and so had to keep going back over them. I recommend keeping a flashlight on hand to check your line depth as you go.

Also, because the Dremel is incredibly high speed, it has a tendency to grab and spin out in directions you don't want it to go. My hand soon became a clawed death grip from hanging on to it: I had to take frequent breaks to shake my numb fingers out. (Usually while intoning, "Ooooo, the claaAAaaaaw!!" 'cuz I'm a geek.)

Here you can see how my bit is buried a good quarter inch into the foam while I carve. These Funkins are thick, so don't be afraid to carve your lines deep.

For the rivets on the bot's body and feet, I used a tiny bit to drill all the way through the pumpkin. (My holes are so small you can't see them very well, though; I may have to re-do them.) I also carved out larger holes for his buttons and antenna.

Once I finished the bot, I took a few days to brainstorm ways to jazz up the rest of the pumpkin. I knew I wanted to embed colored beads in it somehow, to give it an old-school Lite Brite feel. Eventually I settled on a fireworks-style spiral, and enlisted John's help in drawing the pattern for me.

I transferred John's pinwheel pattern using a nail to mark only the spots I wanted to drill through. Then, using a drill bit the exact size of the beads, John bored through the first few tricky spots where the holes were especially close together:

Once he finished the center holes, I used a cordless drill to finish the rest. (You could do them all by hand with the drill bit, but it would take a while.) This was also tricky: our big drill is heavy, and holding it and the pumpkin steady was hard work. John could have done it perfectly in no time, of course, but I'm stubborn and wanted to do it myself.

Not perfect by a long shot, but dang it, I did 'em myself!


And finally, the fun part: sticking the beads in!

If you make your holes exactly the right size, then your beads should fit snugly, no glue needed. Each of my fireworks uses three colors: light blue, blue, and green, and yellow, orange, red. The mid tones don't show up well in this photo, but they look bright and beautiful in person:

Here's a better shot of the red spiral lit up:


I also inserted beads in the bot's buttons, antennae, and eyes, to make them sparkle:

The eye beads are clear tri-head beads, inserted sideways.

And finally, here's our first test pumpkin:


Which actually looks better in the light, I think:


The eyes are blue glass gems inserted sideways, and the antenna is another gem glued to the inside. Don't they look great against the orange?

If you'd like to try any of this yourself, here are the beads and gems I used:

The beads (in the glass jar) are plastic 6mm ones from JoAnn's. That bag of nearly 500 cost less than $2. The gems are the glass drops usually used to fill vases for flower arrangements, which you can find almost anywhere.

I still have more beads and larger gems that I want to experiment with, plus a *real* pumpkin to carve this week, so you may be getting more pumpkin pictures soon. (My favorite idea so far? Constellations. Wouldn't it be cool to make a pumpkin planetarium?!?)

In the meantime, can you guys help me find some great Lite Brite style designs for inspiration? I'd love to do a geometric pattern or simple shapes using lots of color, but I'm at a loss for a great pattern. (Although I did see a nice Pac Man design somewhere...) If you have any ideas, please share them in the comments. If I don't get to it this week, at least I'll have some ideas lined up for next year!

We're Almost OUTATIME!

I'm having a rough and rushed week this week, guys, but I had to drop in with these geekalicious Back to the Future goodies.

You, uh, DO know that this weekend is the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future, right? RIGHT?

And you also know it's going to be shown in select AMC theaters across the U.S. both this Saturday afternoon and Monday night, right?

John and I are hoping to make the Saturday matinee. Or perhaps I should say: we're hoping I'll be able to sit through the whole movie without any problems. I haven't been in a theater since the last Star Trek movie due to some pesky health issues, but by golly, I'm chancing it for this!

Not to mention it'll be a great time for John to wear the new Woot shirt I got him:

Aw yeeah.

(You can get it here for $15.)

If you're a fellow BttF fan, you'll also want to see the original props and wardrobe currently being auctioned off by Profiles in History. There's no way any of us plebeians could afford so much as a matchbook, of course, but it's fabulous fun to gawk at:

This shoe (that's singular, mind you) is estimated to go for $12,000 - $15,000.

And compared with how it looked on screen, it looks terrible. Heh. Funny how props are like that. I saw a screen-used Storm Trooper helmet from the original trilogy once, and it had peeling stickers on it. Seriously.


Here's the real jackpot, though:


Marty's jacket here is expected to go for up to $50,000 at auction. Unlike the shoes there was only one ever made, though, so I can see why - and the money goes to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is awesome.

Oh, and did you ever wonder how Marty's re-sizing jacket worked?

Prepare to be amazed.

Or at least to laugh:

Yep, the movie magic was achieved with lots of tubes and cables operated by guys lying at Fox's feet. Ha! Love it.

For more affordable souvenirs, I found replica Hoverboards, OUTATIME license plates, and of course those ridiculous color-changing hats all on Ebay:

They sold these hats (or ones just like them) at Universal for the longest time, back when the BttF ride was still there. Man, I miss that ride. [sob] Curse you, Simpsons!!

Ahem.

I'm sure you've probably seen this by now, but in case you haven't, here are some clips of the original Marty, Eric Stolz:

It's surreal seeing someone else in those scenes, isn't it? And you can see what people mean when they say it was a much darker look for the film; Fox really was the perfect choice.

UPDATE: Oh! Almost forgot! Spike TV teamed up with Michael J. Fox to recreate a BttF teaser trailer, frame-for-frame. Which is cool. You can see both vids (for comparison) here on GeekDad.

And finally, for the real BttF geeks, here's a great post discussing the alternate drafts for Back to the Future 2 (plus a truly bizarre clip of Cripin Glover losing it on Letterman.) Fascinating stuff.

So, guys, do you have any favorite Back to the Future merchandise or memories? Or are you throwing any BttF parties this weekend? Tell me in the comments!

Resistance is Futile

Geektacular goodies to make you drool, squee, and generally geek out.

Neuron Rebellion is the brainchild (zing!) of an artist named Pat whose sudden neurological disorder left her bedridden for some time. While in bed, she started making little guys like these:

...and Neuron Rebellion was born. The cuddly little monsters are all $25 each, and you should definitely check out the available gallery to pick your favorite. (Sadly, this guy is already sold. Want!)


You may have heard that Build-A-Bear now has a line of Star Wars bears. Which is excellent. And if by chance you don't have any kids at home to ostensibly buy the bears *for*, Shanan P. offers this display suggestion:

Because even life-sized Vader statues need a teddy bear. (Yes, it's a statue.)


And speaking of Star Wars: do you crochet? And do you like Star Wars?

Then for Sith's sake, why haven't you purchased the pattern to make these?!?

Squee!

Patterns available at lucyravenscar's Etsy shop (and thanks to Julie B. for the link!)


Whitney found this great shirt while searching for Dalek salt and pepper shakers:

Heh. Nice. Available here on Zazzle. ('Course, we still need actual Dalek salt and pepper shakers, oh-mighty-people-who-make-these-things.)

[Update: A-ha! There are some here. Pricey, though.]

And lastly, look how cute this bracelet is:

Now, guess what it's made of.

I'll wait.

[whistling]

Did you guess LEGO? Yes? Ah, see, I knew you were all smarty-pants genius types. Artist Emiko Oye's *e*oware line features tons of fun, high-style jewelry made entirely of the colorful plastic bits. Check the link for lots more. (And thanks to Christina for the tip!)

So, guys, what's your favorite geeky find this week? Share your links in the comments!

Quick Crafts

With most of my larger projects on hold due to various logistical reasons, I turned to some instant-gratification craftery this week.

First, I made a deliciously orange, red, & yellow-y wreath for our front door:

I'm not much of a silk flower wiz, so I usually buy pre-made wreaths at JoAnn's. Over the weekend they were running all kinds of Columbus Day sales, though, so all the good stuff was cleaned out by the time I got there. The best I could find was a sparse little thing which, even at half off, was $20. So instead, I found this plain twig wreath ($3), a silk swag garland thingy ($9 at 60% off) and some yellow ribbon ($3).

Attach the garland to the wreath with floral wire, tie a bow, and BAM! El cheap-o wreath-o!

I really like the way it looks on our blue door, too.

Next, I *finally* got around to making some Epbot thank you cards using Kaaren's fabulous hand-carved 'bot stamp:

It turns out I'm not much of a stamp wiz, either; after less than a dozen cards I was covered in teal and orange ink. Heh. It was fun digging through my craft stash to find the bits and pieces to make the cards, though; the only thing I had to buy were the metal "Thank You" stickers. (Which I just found online for a lot less, dang it. Too bad shipping is another $6.)

Oh, and here's a quick tip to turn any grommet into a flat, paper grommet: use snips to cut vertical slices all the way around the back tube, and then bend the tabs flat after you've inserted the grommet through your paper, like so:

As an added bonus, it kind of looks like a little gear from the backside.

Oh, and if you ever want to adhere a mesh ribbon to paper, I have two words for you: spray adhesive. Everything else leaks through and makes a big ol' mess. (I only had to try three other glues before figuring that out.)

So, what crafts do you guys turn to for instant gratification?

Doo Doo Doot Da Doot DOO!

OooOoooh, look at this updated Mario design I found via Likecool!

It's by MaroBot, who also did this larger version of Mario himself:

I love it! But now I want to play it. Curse you, MaroBot!

Actually, this week John discovered a site where you can play classic Mario Brothers online, using your keyboard. Yeah. That's been greeeeat for his productivity. Although I must admit there are worse things to listen to while you're working. Classic Mario soundtrack = instant nostalgia. Ahh, memories. Of uncomfortable square-edged controllers. Being thrown across the room.


What was your favorite video game growing up, guys? (Keeping in mind that your answers will *totally* tell the rest of us how old you are. Hehehe.)

Low Brow Humor

I'd like to talk to you about my eyebrows.

See, I feel like we have this understanding, you and I. We can share things. We can tell each other our geeky dreams, our goofy nightmares, and our girly homicidal urgings. Right?

Right?

So, here's the thing: I have these eyebrows. And they're, well, opinionated. They like to be seen. They're also stubborn and pretty kinky, but maybe I shouldn't get into that just yet. Besides, the main problem is the astonishing rate at which my opinionated eyebrows reproduce.

At least, I'm assuming they reproduce. You know, in some bizarre mitosis manner, where when one is plucked out two more spring up to take their fallen comrade's place. Then they scream "death to Jen's forehead!!" in their scritchy little voices and march all night towards ear and nose country.


What, you think I'm exaggerating? Well, maybe just a little. About the scritchy voices. The fact remains, however, that I'm the only person I know whose eyebrows get a 5 o'clock shadow. Seriously! And I don't shave them! I pluck! Let's throw another exclamation mark in here!

So back in my twenties, I declared war. And, ok, I may have gotten a little overzealous. I may have spent too much time watching YouTube makeup tutorials by pretty girls who draw their eyebrows in. I may have thought I could "pull this look off."

I'll spare you the suspense: I can't.

In fact, I spent that phase looking both perpetually surprised and angry. Not a good combo. John looks back on photos of that time and calls it my "witchy-face stage." Also not good.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson, but occasionally I still fall prey to the just-one-more-to-even-it-up madness. Then I survey the damage and vow that this time I'm growing out some perfect Jennifer Connelly eyebrows.

Is it wrong that I still base by beauty ideal on Sarah from Labyrinth? 'Cuz if so, then I don't wanna be right.

About a week or two later I remember: I look nothing like Jennifer Connelly. (Dang it.)

Not to mention her brow hairs don't curl around to form perfect circles. Yep, that's right: I have Shirley Temples. So in addition to plucking twice a day, I also have to trim my eyebrows. (That, or find the world's smallest flat iron.)

Enough griping, though. That solves nothing.

Instead, let's focus on who to blame.

Personally, I'm gonna have to go with my Jewish roots. My big, thick, dark Jewish roots. Sure, ok, I don't need mascara. But at what price, people? AT WHAT PRICE? (And don't get me started on shaving my legs: I'm basically an ambulatory cactus by the time I towel off.)

Well, I suppose I could wave the white flag. Give up. Go "au natural."

Naaah.

Ok, girls, give: am I the only one with these issues? If not, then tell me your best eyebrow story in the comments; this misery would looove some company.

Pumpkin Fun

Project "Acquire a Real Pumpkin" was a critical success, thanks to John's quick thinking in detouring to a Winn Dixie (because Publix was closed) to find a certain cider (which they didn't have) and overall tolerance of my squealing like a toddler and insisting we get "this one, 'cuz it speaks to me." (I meant metaphorically.)

And now... [rubbing hands together] ...I'll just surf the 'net for a while to figure out what I'm going to carve.

Care to join me? :D

See, I have all these great links and photos that you guys have been sending in, and naturally I can't choose what I'm going to do until I explore ALL of them.

First, I should mention that Pumpkin Wizard has a great tutorial on how to turn a photograph into a pumpkin template. Although I don't really have a photo I want to carve, so... Next!

I can't remember who the first person was to send me the link to 100+ Creative Pumpkin Carving Ideas, but naturally this was the one that caught my eye:

Although he's not technically carved. Heh.

Puft Daddy

Thanks to Proton Charging, a Ghostbusters fan site I've recently begun
stalking
following, I discovered the best blog post of the weekend, which you simply MUST go and read - once you're done with this one, of course.

It's by Gordon Holmes of More Whatnot, and he presents some...interesting...options for "sassy" (aka sexy) Ghostbusters costumes. Yes, there are pictures. Yes, they are hilarious.

Actually, the one that is most believable is his Stay Puft design. Check it out:


Kinda cute, right? Frankly, I'm surprised this isn't already in stores. Although, it turns out, Gordan isn't the first to think of this. Check out this photo I took at Dragon*Con in 2009:

I saw her at D*C last year, too. Apparently great GB fans think alike!

Then, when I was looking for the new StayPuft backpack that was just released (Google it; it's über ugly), I found this:

via Reddit

Ha! I agree with Gordon; a Stay Puft costume should definitely come with little police cars.

Then I found this:

via
Then things got really out of hand, as I spent another hour gawking at StayPuft papercraft and cakes and toys and art and more costumes and...yeah. I have to stop now.

Ok, now go read Gordan's post.

And if you ever see something cute and Stay Puft-y, let me know.