10 (Geeky) Things on my Wish List

I don't know about you, but when I'm stressed, tired, and in need of some excitement, sometimes the only thing that comforts me is some good, old-fashioned shopping therapy. Of course, I don't always get to buy everything I want (okay, I never get to buy everything I want, because I could bankrupt Bill Gates in an hour) but the act of picking things out and thinking about owning them is usually enough for me. This is why the "wish list" function on any given website is my go-to on a rainy day. I have a wish list on almost every website I've signed up for. It's so much fun for me to just sit on my laptop, browse through all the new arrivals, and click that delightful little "add to wish list" button so conveniently located on the product's information page.

I also like to think I'm a very good shopper, with a keen eye for great deals on unique, quality products. I'd love to share some of my great (and geeky!) finds with my fellow ABOGS; maybe you'll find something in this list that is an absolute must-have for your collection!

10. Doctor Who Yahtzee (From ThinkGeek, $24.99)

Everything you love about classic Yahtzee, plus time traveling in the Tardis? Yes, please! Featuring the Doctor's worst enemies as the dice and the Tardis as the dice cup, you're sure to have a Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey game night with your friends and family!

9. iDuck (From ThinkGeek, $29.99)

I found this in the "Geek Kids" section, but I want it for my adult self! Having to touch my iPhone while I'm in the bath or shower is not relaxing; I am constantly paranoid I'm going to cause water damage. This convenient little ducky will solve all those first-world woes! Just hook your iPhone up to the egg, and set it somewhere safe and dry. Then just toss ducky into the tub and let him swim around while blasting your favorite band!

8. Li'l Wil Wheaton Plushie (Hijinks Ensue, $19.95)

Every once in a while, we all need a reminder not to be a dick. That's when you'll be glad you have your Wil Wheaton plushie handy. This cute little guy will go with you anywhere, and happily remind you to embrace your inner geek, do nice things for people just because, and always be awesome.

7. Mass Effect Omni Blade (Unicocustoms via Etsy, $180)

Listen, if you're a fan of Mass Effect, and you DON'T want to buy this Omni Blade, go get your head checked. This is one of the most amazing cosplay pieces I've ever laid eyes on. These beauties are made of plexiglass and attach to the user's arm with velcro. They appear to glow under normal lights and have a definite glow under black light (watch a video of the product's details here). This is a must have for anyone's Shepard cosplay.

6.Dr. Who Adipose Zipper Pouch (DisturbinglyAdorable via Etsy, $14.99)

Partners in Crime is one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes, and the adorable little Adipose children are partially responsible. They are the cutest darn things to ever come from love handles and they look even cuter on this zipper pouch. Use this pouch to collect one dollar for every pound that you lose on your diet, and then buy yourself something nice to wear when you've hit your goal weight! But please, do it without the assistance of alien technology.

5. POW! Comic Book Hair Barette (JanineBasil, via Etsy, $18.68)

I love me some old-fashioned comic book pop art, so when I found this Etsy shop I was in heaven. This POW! barette is sure to grab some attention at the next convention you attend, and looks as though it will match almost any outfit! Be sure to visit JanineBasil's shop to check out her other geek-inspired accessories.


4. Art of the Mass Effect Universe Hardcover book (Bioware, $40.00)

The world of Mass Effect is visually spectacular. From planet terrain to character details to spaceships, this trilogy will have you holding your breath through gorgeous cinematics, honing your sniper skills during firefights, and crushing on hot aliens for hours on end. Take a deeper look into all that Mass Effect has to offer by picking up this Art of the Mass Effect Universe Hardcover (it's the perfect addition to your coffee table).

3. Skyrim 8-Bit Dovahkiin (Animenace, via RedBubble)

Now, when it comes to RedBubble, my wishlist is never-ending. It was very difficult for me to choose one thing to include in this list, so I just picked one of my absolute favorites. This design features our favorite dragon-slayer as an 8-bit sprite, available to purchase on t-shirts, hoodies, and stickers. Now open an account on RedBubble and see if you ever get up from your computer again.

2. Serenity Independents Flag (Tfaw, $19.99)

You can't take the sky from us, especially when we've got our Independents Flag flying high! Be a Browncoat year-round or raise it at half-mast on the anniversary of the Battle for Serenity Valley to show the Alliance that we aim to misbehave.

1. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset (Amazon, $46.73)

A must-have for every geek collection! Read along as Scott Pilgrim battles seven of Ramona Flowers' evil ex-boyfriends in order to win her heart, despite the interruptions of his slew of ex-girlfriends. Bryan Lee O'Malley's awesome illustration and hilarious pop-culture references make this a really fun read, even for those who don't normally take part in the world of graphic novels. (Bonus: This box set comes with a poster!)

-Rachel

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Technological Disappointments.

Or, how my Christmas morning plans were foiled by PC only titles.

My mother listened to my constant woes and complaints over the past few months regarding my ancient macbook, and ended up getting me a new macbook pro (with retina display!) for Christmas. Sadly(?) I knew about this marvelous gift because my mother lacks sufficient knowledge on what makes a good computer, but also because she didn't know my specific needs. Somewhat indifferent to the lack of a surprise, I ordered it and then sat with my hands in my lap waiting patiently for Christmas morning.

Pictured above: one of the many things that eventually fell into my lap.

I had grand plans for holiday gaming, you see. Until last year I was never much for computer gaming, just Minecraft really, but then I started Fallout 3 and Skyrim files on a friend's computer and, well, I've decided that I like the keyboard and mouse setup quite a bit.

My sister and her family weren't set to arrive until around noon or one o'clock Christmas Day, which left my mother and me with plenty of time to drink mimosas while watching the Doctor Who Christmas special (me, not her), and setting up my new macbook. I decided that the first order of business would be grabbing Steam and installing Fallout 3. Because nothing screams 'Christmas' like a post apocalyptic United States of America.

Something unrelated that screams 'Christmas': a ten week old springer spaniel mutt 

who wants to get his sleep on in your lap. You just say yes.

For some reason I had it in my head that Fallout 3 was PC/Mac, but all signs online point to it being PC only. Color me devastated. I sat melancholy on the couch, sipping my mimosa and watching the snow fall (all the while quite paranoid of sentient snowmen).

I have come to really enjoy the functionality of the macbook, and I have zero desire to switch to a Windows based machine in the near future. Why must companies punish me so? I've considered a Windows desktop to accompany my macbook for the sake of increased ease of access in software scenarios such as this, but no. I don't imagine that will happen.

Perhaps a dual boot is in my future.

In the meantime, I'll cry quietly while clutching my new Dalek plushie to my chest. Isn't that what you'd do with yours?

-MJ

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200 posts! *party horn*

Hello and a very happy Wednesday to you all! Today marks my 200th post here at A Bit of Geek, and I am just so pleased about that.

I love this website. I am dedicated to it, I think about it a lot, and I'm regularly pondering over ways to improve it. I'm always so happy when a post that I've written has struck a chord with readers; to see comments and views on an article that I've put a lot of effort into is such an immense payoff.

It's a pleasure to cruise the internet and find things that interest not only me, but things that I believe will interest you and the masses at large (if they choose to wander my way!). It's becoming increasingly important to me to provide more original content as well. The largest implementation of this, so far, has been my A Bit of Geek videos. I also showcased the Spriggan Mask, and I'm looking to do a lot more of that.

I hope that you all will stick around for another 200 posts and beyond, because there is a lot of exciting stuff in the works. I wish I could share it all, but that would spoil the surprise! You can know this much: expect more videos, more reviews, and a lot of fan dedication.

If there's anything you'd like to see here, please let me know! My ears, eyes, and mailbox are always open.

Also, if I may make a small request in honor of this most momentous occasion: if you like the content that I'm posting, then feel free to give it a +1 on Google, or a 'like' on Facebook, or a honk on ClownGeeks (I made that last one up. I think...)

My point is, in addition to it meaning a lot to me, those little 'likes', +1s, etc. really help me to stand out on the great, wide internet.

Your support means the world to me!

-MJ

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Spriggan Mask - amazing art!

Today's post is something positively amazing.

Andrew, of Drawing with Andrew, whipped up this fantastically detailed sculpture based off of the Spriggans from Skyrim. It was a gift to his (very lucky!) garden loving aunt.

It is made entirely of Sculpey, and I kick myself for not having any "in progress" photos.

 He used references from in-game, as well as live models to achieve the final look.

The mask is beautifully crafted and looks astonishingly like wood thanks to his sculpting and painting skills.

It's large enough to almost fit on a human face!

So of course a photo shoot was in order.

And there is the master worker himself!

He says he'll be making another one to keep, and I hope he does! I would have had a hard time letting that piece go.

-MJ

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Amazing Spider-man trailer and Skyrim creation kit!

Big exciting news day!! Who has been on the edge of their seat awaiting the release of this Amazing Spider-man trailer?!

Looks awesome, right? July can't come soon enough!

Also, the official website!

I have also popped in to share the news of the Skyrim creation kit! It was released today, and Bethesda added a special bonus in the form of a high res texture pack. Now you can see those Draugrs in even more horrifying clarity!

Everything you need to know about the creation kit is right here. So what are you waiting for?

-MJ

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A Bit of Geek vlog Episode 2 is here!

Give it a watch! :D

-MJ, Duchess of Cheese

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Most Popular Posts of 2011

Kissy faces from Dark Link and Link is definitely the highlight.

Today is the last new year's wrap up post, I promise! The rest of this week will be amazing.

I flipped through my analytics data to provide you all with a fun list of my most popular posts from 2011! Some of them seem like total givens to me, such as the PAX wrap up post. Others, such as the Zelda wedding post, were a bit of a surprise.

Either way, I think the list is pretty fun and demonstrates a fairly wide variety of content. I'm proud of it! See you all tomorrow :D

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10. When I say "I Do" I don't want it to be a secret to anyone

9. Following a blog, never miss another post!

8. The Incomparable Wil Wheaton

7. Potential danger to your Skyward Sword file!

6. It is fantasy journey time

5. How do I become special enough to get invited?

4. Minecraft and the wolves within

3. It's finally here!

2. Interrupting my troll slaying to bring you this post

1. PAX 2011: Best ever? Part 2

-MJ

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Favorite Posts of 2011

Nothing quite like Link with a party hat and a horn.

Welcome to 2012! I am really pumped about the coming year, I know a lot of fantastic things are in store. But last year was good too! So, with that in mind, I'd like to share with you all my favorite posts from 2011.

They could be favorites because of the subject matter, because of the photos involved, or because I remember the mood I was in when I originally wrote the posts.

Either way, I hope you'll take a look through some of these.

Happy New Year!

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Minecraft and the wolves within - so popular with the wolves, I have about fifteen

Exerting great power at work - wherein I brag about my computer skills

The story that lives - my heartfelt and emotional entry about the end of an era with Harry Potter

D&D, classic gaming and Lord of the Rings: a brief moment of sharing - brief and full of fun things, including photos of Legolas

The incomparable Wil Wheaton - my amazing experience meeting Wil Wheaton at PAX Prime 2011

It is fantasy journey time - adventures in Dungeons and Dragons, magic wand photos and a free downloadable background

Real life versus Fallout: What would I do? - ponderings on moral decisions in the Wastelands

Harvest Moon: Another chance (?) - loving ramblings about my favorite iterations of the Harvest Moon series

It's finally here! - my first ever vlog

Interrupting my troll slaying to bring you this blog - admitting that Skyrim had taken over my life

How do I become special enough to get invited? - the amazing Zelda room at Nintendo in Redwood City, CA

Skyrim internet roundup! - a small collection of my favorite Skyrim related internet creations

I sometimes long for simpler technology - mourning my inability to play with my NES zappers

Retro gaming will be current gaming if I have any sway at all - plans for my future children to start with the NES, just like I did

Hop in that elevator and be sure to put on a belt! - essentially a love letter to Toejam & Earl, the game my sister and I loved the most when we were younger

-MJ

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Skyrim beat Skyward Sword and I'm not surprised.

Apparently the VGAs were were a few days ago. All of my TV watching happens after the fact via Hulu or something similar, so I've been reading recaps for what happened and watching a few videos. I don't feel that I missed very much; it doesn't sound like a lot of people are particularly happy with how the award show goes anyway. I don't believe that I've ever watched them before, but I sure would have liked to see Felicia Day on the stage! She's so great! She also looked super wonderful in her fancy dress.

My only real curiosity rested in how well Skyward Sword was going to fare! It didn't walk away with the Game of the Year award, but I'm not particularly surprised. Zelda is my favorite, the gaming love of my life. But I knew it wouldn't stand a chance against Skyrim (which did win, by the way). I've been playing both for the past few weeks and they are worlds apart. Skyward Sword did win Best Motion Game though!

I'm glad they included some log training, because the specific

angles take some serious getting used to! [Source]

While Skyward Sword has many amazing qualities and features (and I am enjoying it immensely) it is not the immersive, expansive, ever-unfolding experience that Skyrim presents to the player. I expect Game of the Year to go to a more mature title. And let me be clear that when I say mature, I do not mean violent. The Game of the Year has to be all encompassing. Skyward Sword is a highly accessible game for all ages, and while Skyrim is a mature rated title, it still has so much to offer to an incredibly wide range of gamers.

I feel myself becoming fearful of typing with complete honesty, so I'm just going to plunge on in.

I truly believe that Skyrim is the better game. I wish I could fully put my finger on why. They both have something to offer everyone, but they're simply in different classes!

As much as I love Zelda, the games have never presented me with

something quite this epic, awesome and challenging. Dragons rock..

Something tells me I'm going to begin talking myself in circles before too long, so I'm going to stop right now. I love Skyward Sword and you should all play it. I also love Skyrim and you should all play it! Congratulations to The Legend of Zelda for being inducted into the VGA Hall of Fame, and for Skyrim winning Game of the Year!

Miyamoto's grin is so superb! [Source]

The general opinion of award shows does little to sway how I feel about games or movies that are close to my heart anyway. In whatever surreal universe out there that would have any Zelda game at the bottom of the gaming list and everyone else hated it, that wouldn't affect how I feel. It's a lovely place to be. My sister and I really enjoy the movie The Pest, and it is one of the lowest rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes.

I am aware that it's nothing spectacular, but I still absolutely enjoy it and it makes me laugh everytime. My enjoyment is what matters!

-MJ

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Skyrim internet round-up! (updated. hold off on 1.2 patch?)

I know I already did a Skyrim post, but the internet overfloweth with exceedingly entertaining content! Andrew keeps sharing it with me and I've been keeping the tabs open in my browser, for some reason not bringing myself to close them.

It occurred to me suddenly that I should share these things on my blog! Perhaps you've already seen them, perhaps not, but I have nothing to lose by making sure to feed entertainment back into the world!

**EDIT**

Maybe consider holding off on the 1.2 patch. It's apparently causing more problems than it's worth.

****

::: First up is this amazing video. When watching I went from ? to :O to :D!

::: Second is this incredible photo. So. many. weapons.

I don't know the original source, sorry!

::: Thirdly is this awesome and beautiful story, The Life and Death of Skyrim's Lydia. The writer so eloquently and hilariously describes his relationship with one of the many in-game companions. Here's a brief excerpt:

"She’d turn up. I wandered about, looked in the area for exciting discoveries, waiting to hear that familiar clatter of things being knocked over and traps being sprung. But none came. So I turned to fast travel – the ingenious technique that sees horses and companions magically appear next to you. But there was no Lydia.

I went back to Whiterun, to my house and to her room, but there was no Lydia. I went back to Dragonsreach, to the dining hall, where she’d often have sat before I could afford a home. But there was no Lydia. An empty seat. It was looking bad." - John Walker, November 21, 2011

Truly, you must go and read the article.

:::Finally, this spot-on (as usual) Zero Punctuation video. Anyone familiar with his work will not be disappointed!

The Escapist : Zero Punctuation : The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Who else is playing Skyrim? I know a lot of you are! What's everyone playing as?

-MJ

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Interrupting my Troll slaying to bring you this blog.

Andrew and I cannot get enough of Skyrim.

(Image found here.)

This massively open-ended, free roaming, personal-choice-driven-horse-riding-dragon-slaying-magic-learning RPG was released on 11-11-11 and has taken the masses by storm. We began our file on Sunday the 13th and haven't stopped since. I mean that, too. A minimum of twelve hours each day, generally more than that though. We play for hours taking turns on the same file, stopping only when necessary to keep ourselves alive. It's just that good.

::: Us for the past five days. No joke. The graphics are just so delicious that it's hard to tear ourselves away.

Many years ago I had people tell me that I would enjoy Morrowind, the third iteration in the Elder Scrolls series. I gave it a go on my computer but wasn't able to get into it. It has been long enough now (roughly seven years. yeesh) that I don't recall what I didn't enjoy, I just know that it didn't click with me. I do recall not liking the idea of a game so extremely open ended though. Constant side quests? The ability to steal from NPCs? Playing for hours upon hours and not actually progressing the main story line? No thank you, I said.

My feelings for these types of games stayed strong until Fallout 3 was released, and even then it took me until this summer to finally start a file. I am happy to say that I now quite like the open-ended questing. At heart I'm still a linear gamer, but it's good to spread my wings and explore from time to time!

We have a cozy and fully decorated home in Whiterun, as well as friends far and wide. Only now have we begun to progress the story line up to High Hrothgar to learn the second two parts of our Unrelenting Power Thu'um. We've just been having too much fun on side quests and smithing it up. We can make glass armor now, and it is bad. ass. 

::: I sent this picture to Jacki right after Andrew and I finished decking out in all Elven armor. She can expect another one once we're head to toe in glass armor, too.

The social networking world has been set ablaze by talk of Skyrim, and it's fun to encounter "inside jokes" for the game wherever I turn. These are the kinds of experiences that I miss out on because I have no taste for shooters or other heavily-violent games (which are the most widely popular). To my delight, Skyrim has an amazing mix (and I would even say balance) of violent to non-violent activities.

When it's my turn to play, I clear out Keeps and bring down bandits with our Flawless Elven bow. But along the way I'll ride leisurely on horseback, stopping whenever I find a patch of Blue Mountain Flowers, and "ooh"-ing in delight if I happen across a Nirnroot. I'll positively yell if I find a pool of water humming with low-flying dragonflies, and we have a rather hearty stock of Luna Moth wings.

Andrew's turns consist of hunting down Giants for sport, but he's been kind enough to stop for flowers while he runs across the landscape. He'll even grab a few bugs for me if he's not in a hurry toward some new thief infested holding area.

::: This comic is insanely accurate

Linked from Penny Arcade, with love and affection.

I could go on and on about Skyrim. And I will at a later date. For now, I'm going to hurriedly stuff my face with food so I can hop onto the machine and get my turn in. I have some potions to make.

-MJ 

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