The Return.

Real life sort of got in the way there for a while.  I'm aiming to write a blog entry at least once a week, and this blog will contain more than just rants about geeky things.  I'm a geek, yes, and that's a huge part of who I am. Like all of you, I have a wide range of interests, and I also have a sense of adventure. 



So, back in the saddle.  Ready, set, blog.

JP

Geek Vacation

This weekend, I'll be on vacation, doing some geeky things.  Just a quickie trip, but cram packed with some seriously fun stuff!

The itinerary:
Star Wars:  Where Science Meets Imagination - A Touring exhibit which just happens to be in the area while we are. Arguably the most geeky thing we will be doing this weekend. The Museum also promises to deliver quite an interesting array of other exhibits which speak to the science nerd in me.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter (in Islands of Adventure) - When I found out that I could add on an admission to this park to my HHN ticket for only $20 I was sold. This will be my second visit, and I'm hoping it's less crowded than my initial visit in August of 2011. 
Halloween Horror Nights- As a Florida Resident, I got a deep discount on the tickets, and I've been aching to go for ages.  Once they announced a Walking Dead House, I was not missing this year. There will be other themed houses, including Alice Cooper, Penn and Teller, Gothic, Silent Hill, and Classic Monsters.  Along with the houses select rides are open, including the new Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem.  Loved that movie, and can't wait to experience some of the less "scary" aspects of the evening.

As you can see, I'm completely excited about all of this, and I'll have some write ups on them all when I return.....if I don't fall to the walkers!


JP

Set Phasers to Stunning.



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It's pretty obvious that I'm a huge Wil Wheaton fan.  He's so awesome, that I include him on my list of 5 people living or dead I'd invite over to dinner, provided he brings a board game and some of his home-brew.

I digress. He'll be appearing in an episode of Big Bang Theory on CBS.  I'm thrilled to hear that he'll be returning to my favorite CBS sitcom, and I can't wait to see the episode.

According to Wil, the show will air on November 8th.  In the meantime, enjoy the picture that Wil posted on his blog earlier today!

Bazinga!

JP

Happy Birthday Cartoon Network!

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Can you believe that Cartoon Network is 20 years old?  They brought us The Power Puff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, and Adventure Time.  Adult Swim brought back Futurama.

When I was a youngling, I faked sick to watch Hanna Barbera cartoons.  It's changed a lot in the last 2 decades, but it's always been one of my favorite places on basic cable.

They're even doing some fun things for their big milestone birthday!  Vote for your favorites!

Cartoon Network, you've come a long way baby.  I'm glad to say I've been there from the start!

JP

Ben Folds Five + Fraggle Rock

Oh, my dear. A favorite from my childhood and a favorite from my late teens just collided in awesome.  

Ben Folds, you're my freaking hero.

JP

Theeeeeeey're Back!

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Yes, parents, your worst nightmare has returned, that creepy creature that won't stop talking, the Furby. 

Some of you may wax nostalgic for these minions of your childhood, however, when the Furby came along 14 years ago,  I was 17. If I'd had Furby Fever, that would have been social suicide. 

It's not to say I was free from the annoying toys of childhood. Growing up I had something called a Chubble.  I like to think of it as a primitive Furby.  It was light reactive, and the ONLY way to turn it off was to yank the 9-volt battery from it's butt. 

I'll be honest, when Furby was introduced, the only thing I wanted to do was dissect it.  I swore that they were minions of the devil, because, let's face it, they looked like furry demons, and they lack an off switch. Tell me that's not downright diabolical. 

Fast forward to the reinvented Furby.   Unlike the original Furby which just wobbled, blinked, and spoke in a nearly unintelligible robotic voice, this thing moves, speaks more clearly, and it can show emotion because of the LCD eyes.  It is way more interactive, and it's also way more creepy.  I like to call this the Skynet Furby because of the way it can interact with the Apple iOS (and eventually Android). 

Engadget has a pretty neat hands-on review, complete with 2 videos that will show you just what you're getting yourself into if you invite one of them into your home.  I'm thoroughly convinced that you could program this version to be an evil minion.  I wonder if my engineer brother wants to try that out. No? Was worth a shot.

Rumor has it that this is going to be a pretty popular toy this year.  So, parents, brush up on your Furbish, and for heaven's sake, don't get it wet, and don't feed it after midnight.

JP

Revolution has arrived.

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My Facebook is on fire with commentary about Revolution.  Most of it from my friends who consider themselves experts in science, survivalism, and science fiction/fantasy.  They're the continuity freaks, the ones who tuned out of Lost when the Polar Bear showed up.  They're the ones who assume that all of this world's rules apply in fantasy/science fiction. It's not meant to be taken literally, it's J.J. Abrams for cryin' out loud!  Going into it, I know I can expect certain rules of reality not to apply, and so I settled in.

This show has been on my radar since I saw the first teasers earlier this summer.  The premise is intriguing, and I admit, I took the bait.  Ignoring my nay saying friends who already have a hate on for the show, I kept an open mind. My honest opinion? I quite enjoyed it.  It's something different in a sea of Procedural Crime Drama XYZ, and Unrelatable-Not Funny Sitcoms. Consider Revolution penciled into my Monday Nights.


It deserves a chance to be taken for what it is.  A dystopial fantastical joyride in a world that we couldn't possibly understand after a one hour episode.  NBC has it available for viewing right now. 

All you haters can go watch Football.

 JP

Star Stuff

Growing up, one of my favorite subjects was science  I even had a play house in the back yard which I called my "Mad Scientist Laboratory."  I was not the typical little girl.  I wanted to be either an equine veterinarian or a marine biologist when I grew up.  I didn't end up doing either of those things, but I still have a love and appreciation for science to this day.  I think it's led me to my most recent sort of obsession. Carl Sagan's Cosmos. He sort of looks like a creepy cult leader in those turtlenecks, don't you think?

I was having a pretty rough week,  I wanted something to drown out the static in my head, so I headed over to youtube and started sidebar surfing.  While doing this, I found the Symphony of Science videos.  If you haven't checked those out, I totally recommend them. They are fantastic, but I wanted more. So I googled it, like any child of the internet generation would, and I stumbled across the Cosmos series on Hulu.   Oh, and it's free.

I decided to turn it on as late afternoon background noise. I am incredibly impressed with this.  Sagan is very well spoken, almost poetic in his description of the Cosmos. Despite the fact that it was created in the late 70s, very little of the scientific facts have changed.  It's fascinating.  If you're interested in space, the universe, life on earth, and the possibility of life elsewhere, it's definitely worth checking out. I have learned so much, and gained so much perspective from this series.  

It has reignited my passion for science.  My love for deductive reasoning.  My hope that one day we can put aside all of our differences, and come together as the Human Species, to take care of this, our home.

Never stop learning. Never stop searching for answers.

JP

Geeks in Love.

 After 20 years together, two acquaintances of mine have pulled off the most awesome wedding ever!  They decided to recreate the cover of Astonishing  X-Men #51 where Northstar marries boyfriend Kyle Jindau.  They celebrated their union at Atlanta's Dragon*Con. I wish these two fantastic gentlemen all the best.

Congratulations Brian and George!  I wish you all the best!

JP

Instacube!

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I was just about to head to bed, when I made the most amazing discovery on Pinterest. Instacube!

Another really awesome project funded through kickstarter.  If I haven't already said it, I love that program.  It allows creative, intuitive minds to bring their products and inventions to the market through the support of all kinds of people.  From corporations to individuals.  Amazing.  Okay, back on topic.

What is Instacube?  Basically, it's a gadget that streams instagram. I would buy it.  Why?  Because I'm obsessed with Instagram.  Don't believe me?  You obviously don't follow me on Facebook. 

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It looks like it has the financial backing, so there's a good chance we could see this available soon!  I'm probably a little too excited about this, but, I can't help it.  Seriously, sign me up. 

I know there are digital photo frames that can pull photos from a memory card. Don't get me wrong, they're great.  Love them.  My grandfather has one.   I do have one small issue with them.  You have to switch out memory cards and constantly update your photos.

With Instacube, you get new photos when your Instagram account does.  You can scroll through your library, your feed, all kinds of hashtags.  Want to see pics of the beach?  It can do that!

If you want to see more, their kickstarter page has a great video.  I tend to get really geeky excited about the weirdest stuff.  Sure, this will probably be a fad item, and when  Instagram goes the way of Myspace, well, I suppose I'll have to figure out a new use for this cool little box.

Now, you can have photos of your friends' lunch on your desk!  Imagine the possiblities!

JP