Sci-fi love

Working, as I do, for an accounting firm, I sometimes feel like I’m the odd ball. I’m no accountant, I do the admin work so when they talk about audits and such, my eyes start to glaze over. I did once find a couple of fellow Harry Potter fans. Of course, they weren’t accountants either. Not to mention they didn’t seem as… enthusiastic* about the series as me. Then they went and left the company. Well, first they moved to other departments, then they left. So, here I am feeling like the oddball again.

Last week while skimming through the feed from our company's social network, I noticed that someone had made a… wait for it… science-fiction fans group! Honestly, I would have squealed in joy if I wasn't so self-conscious of the imaginary stares. Now, I am mostly fantasy, but there’s a good dash of sci-fi in me so I was thrilled that there are semi like-minded souls in our company. Most of them seem to be from Melbourne, but I don’t care!

I experienced double ecstasy as a couple of days before I had purchased the SFX Doctor Who fanzine. Now I was able to share that with others! (And of course my daughter could have some relief from her crazy mother).

What are some of the unlikely places that you’ve found fellow lovers of {Harry Potter, sci-fi, gaming, cheese}?

* enthusiastic being the nicest possible way I can describe my obsession 

Besotted Wednesdays 14 Mar 2011

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

What would you do if you hit a midlife crisis? I know they say that people generally try to recapture their youth, but I still don’t feel like I’ve lost it. I suppose each would ‘deal’ with it in their own way. Motorbikes, convertibles, you name it. What about gadgets though?

I’m not one for fashion. Especially fashion shows. I never understand how they can think it’s ‘fashion’. The models are far too thin and the things they dress them in look strange to me, but this is one fashion show I can get behind.

I’ve seen lots of different fitness applications. Never used them myself though. From what I’ve seen though, there’s ones to keep track of what you do either by you entering the information or by means of GPS/pedometer. I’m not sure what they offer in the way of motivation though. I’m sure this one would offer quite a lot of motivation though.

Polaroids seem like such a timeless classic when it comes to photography. Even with the advent of digital cameras, they’ve never lost their appeal. Whether it’s the classic Polaroid border, the instant photo, people never seem to stop loving the Polaroid cameras.

People seem to be really bored with regular ice cube... well, cubes. I’ve seen some good ones out there. Bored Panda have come up with a list of the best ones.

Know a graphic designer friend? Have you ever asked a favour from them? How’d it turn out? This guy learnt the hard way not to ask for freebies.

While I’m not a fan of the books – never having read them – I thought this was an absolutely brilliant idea. It’s a fan made interactive map for A Song of Fire and Ice.

Besotted by Wednesdays 29-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

Everyone knows about the Google cars roaming around trying to get shots of our streets for their street view. Does anyone think about just what kind of things are recorded though? From the mundane store front to the totally weird events that can happen anytime. Jon Rafman is collecting the ones he finds in his project called ‘Nine eyes of Google’.

I’d say most kids grew up playing Monopoly. You probably started with the original version before finding other editions. There’s been quite a lot of different versions through the years, including artistic interpretations of them. Like this Web Lovers Edition.

James Hance has done some absolutely adorable Winne the Pooh & Star Wars mashup drawings, but this latest drawings takes the cake. It’s an ‘Up’ and Star Wars mashup and it’s so stinking heartwarming!

Need a project for the weekend? Do you also need a handy little carryall for your gadgets and cords? I’ve found the perfect thing for me! I mean, you... us... you know what I mean. Now to scour second-hand bookstores for the perfect cover...

One the mashup topic again, they’re releasing a Doctor Who and Star Trek mashup comic. Not really sure how I feel about this. While I am familiar with many things that are Star Trek, I’ve never really been that big of a fan of the franchise. I am though a fan of Patrick Stewart, so maybe it’ll balance out.

I loved playing pinball in my childhood and even though I never knew what to do with the end result, there was a special appeal about gumballs. So when I spotted this, it was a major flashback and it looks like it’d be so much more fun that just sticking 20¢ into a machine and having the gumball plop into my hand.

I know that there are lots of different styles of game controllers out there. Some function well, others don’t. Some feel comfortable in your hand, other’s seem like pure torture. Then there are the ones you look at and think, ‘What in the seven hells were they thinking??’.

Although, as unwieldly as it seems, the chainsaw would be awesome.

Besotted by Wednesdays 15-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

With tech trends changing so fast, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with them all. GeekSugar have put together a slideshow of what the best trends were for 2011.

Who doesn’t love playing Fruit ninja? Well, this won’t interest you then. For the rest that love testing their reflexes on random pieces of fruit, you can now buy Fruit Ninja plushies! Great for testing your abilities in your lounge room.

I came across the most wonderful sketch pad. It’s browser sketch pad so you can draft up your webpages! One of the best ideas ever in my book. There’s even a stencil you can buy to use on the sketch pad.

Do you ever think much about the future? What’s going to happen, how things are going to change. Well Michael realised that we only need to look to movies to see what’s supposed to be happening.

NY’s School of Visual Arts students come up with some amazing work and for those that are interested in seeing what’s they’re producing, they’ve created a free online magazine for us to flip through.

I love a broad range of music. On my MP3 player, you can find Aaliyah next to ZZ Top. Britney singing about ‘til the world ends’ right after Metallica tell me ‘blackened is the end’. It’s not just the mainstream songs that I listen to, you’ll also find parodies and wizrock. And now I’ve found another genre to listen to. GeeksAreSexy introduce us to bands who use or base their music on video games.

A simple reminder, that reading is not such a bad thing after all. Whatever format you may choose.

Besotted by Wednesdays 01-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

This article places a large amount of blame on Google for not recognising geeky women, but it’s only because of the data they are getting. Follow the simple steps to state proudly, that you are a geeky woman!

If websites were superheroes, who would they be? College Humour have come up with a few ideas.

OK, this is a little late, but I was on holidays. Besides, don’t they say ‘It’s better late than never.’? A bunch of random trivia for National Trivia Day. I found this list to be a lot more random than others. Usually I’ve already heard of the so-called ‘things you didn’t know’. This time I’d be lucky if there are 10 I’ve already heard.

Another one from Mental Floss. I love them. This one brings back a lot of nostalgic feelings. Sounds that (mostly likely) your children have never heard.

Who doesn’t love typography? Well then, you can probably skip this one. For everyone else, RedBubble have found ten places where you can increase your typography skills.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of cooking lately. I mean, more than the usual steak & veges for dinner. Something about being in a new, slightly more organised kitchen I think. I usually like to make my own variation of a recipe I’ve come across, or something completely different like these two for an ‘Impossible Pie’.

(edit: link no longer works. Thankfully I saved the recipe)

Sending you back in time again is the ‘Restart Page’. How many do you recognise? Prefect for those times you miss the old Apple IIe starting up... or something like that.

Besotted Wednesdays 07 Dec 2011

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

I can’t quite place my finger on it, but there’s something about typewriters that I just love. Sure, I used to use my dad’s one pretending that I knew how to type while filling up paper with enormous amounts of gibberish. Sure, I can type way faster on a computer, but I still like them. Apparently so does this guy. Although, he’s decided to see if he can paint with his by coming up with what he calls a Chromatic Typewriter.

OK, you’ve got the presents sorted, but what about the cards? GeekSugar have come across some awesome handmade geekified cards for us.

Presents, cards, what about the cookies?? I’ve seen Star Wars themed cookie cutters, but what if you want to make them, but don’t have the cutters? Well, as long as you do have holiday cookie cutters, you should be fine. SweetSugarBelle shows us how to make Star Wars cookies out of regular cutters.

I knew there was a reason I ditched the mini’s and midriff tops. Apparently we’re more attractive when we cover up. I thought it was just my age showing when I tut-tutted girls in revealing clothes!

I love the style of the propaganda posters and apparently so does someone else! He’s taken that style and created social media propaganda posters.

Do you fake it? Or keep it real? These guys love to fake it.

They take popular media and create some awesome imagery.

One of my favourite places to keep up-to-date with technological news. GeeksAreSexy not only keeps me informed, but also amused (and reminds me that I am sexy !)

Besotted Wednesdays 30 Nov 2011

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

I love pictures from space. Every now and then I check out NASA’s website to see what they’ve come up with recently. Then there are the amateur shots that are impressive in their own right. Like this one who managed to capture a whole other solar system.

Still panicking over Christmas presents? I know I am! Geeks are Sexy have kindly provided us with another geek gift guide. 4 awesome ideas and one very disturbing one!

Hands up who still likes paper? Writing down notes, not having a screen glaring at you. Now, who likes itty bitty things? (Me!) Introducing, Little Printer. Wirelessly connecting with your smartphone, you can print out little ‘newspapers’.

We’ve been promised a lot of things that were supposed to happen ‘in the future’. Who else is wondering if we’ll have hoverboards in 2015? Wired gives us a list of a few things that we were supposed to have already compared to what we actually got.

Need a kids activity for the weekend? How about making some good old fashioned paper snowflakes? And introduce them to some Star Wars characters while you’re at it...

Looking for an alternative to the iPad? ASUS have brought out the Eee Pad Transformer Prime. GeekSugar give a rundown on some of its finer points.

Think you know your movies? Love puzzles? How confident are you that you can crack the code on these movie mashup posters?