tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34811308847487073832024-03-05T08:34:55.722-05:00Capital Geek GirlsCGG is a fanclub for girls who love the geek world. Comic books, anime, RPG'S, cosplay, Magic The Gathering, SciFi, Doctor Who, Indie comics, and more!Jordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08556995407995220795noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-33320900103202506122017-09-30T16:34:00.001-04:002017-09-30T16:34:05.347-04:00WHERE ARE THE GEEK GIRLS?You'll likely notice that this blog-zine is dormant. We've headed back to <a href="http://facebook.com/capitalgeekgirls" target="_blank">using Facebook</a> as our primary communication method with geek women and their allies. Be sure to <a href="http://facebook.com/capitalgeekgirls" target="_blank">keep in touch there</a>, and remember that all our 2 years of articles remain up here for your reading!Jordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08556995407995220795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-29116783162657975162015-01-05T20:13:00.000-05:002015-01-05T20:13:16.911-05:00Mobilizing a Fan Base: The Campaign to Renew Forever<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">
MOBILIZING A FAN BASE: THE CAMPAIGN TO #RENEWFOREVER<br />
<i style="font-family: inherit;">By Courtney Lockhart</i></div>
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It’s an all too common tale these days: The unique, entertaining program that got cancelled before it’s time. Search “Best Cancelled TV Shows” and you will retrieve dozens of lists and comment sections full of fans still grieving. One fandom isn’t taking any chances. Even though their show is still currently in production they want to make sure things stay that way and so they are taking to social media with a single message #renewforever. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Cast L-R: Joel David Moore as Lucas, Judd Hirsch as Abe, Ioan Gruffudd as Henry, Alana De La Garza as Detective Jo Martinez, Donnie Keshawarz as Detective Hanson and Lorraine Touissant as Lt. Joanne Reece. (ABC/Bob D'Amico)</i></span></td></tr>
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<i>Forever</i> is a procedural crime drama with a twist. Dr Henry Morgan works in the New York City Medical Examiner’s office. He has an uncanny ability to read the bodies that come into his morgue and as such has struck up a partnership with Detective Jo Martinez of the 11th precinct homicide division. There is one mystery Henry can’t figure out however- his immortality. I <a href="http://capitalgeekgirls.blogspot.ca/2014/10/fall-frosh-forever-selfie-flash.html" target="_blank">reviewed </a>the first four episodes for this site back in October and since then, my enthusiasm has only grown. </span><br />
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However, despite a wonderful supporting cast, great writing and a People’s Choice Award nomination for Favourite New TV Drama, the show is a common target for cancel/renew scorecards and has been listed by sites such as TVLine as unlikely to reach the second season. </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Forever</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> regularly draws over 5 million viewers live. It has always increased, and occasionally doubled, those numbers by the time DVR figures are available. However, the critics believe that for a show on a major network those numbers aren't promising even though they surpass those </span>of other freshman hits. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is where our intrepid fans comes in. A group of Foreverists have decided to let the network know exactly how loud 5 million voices can be. An old fashioned letter writing campaign has been organized with the goal of flooding the ABC mailroom with notes and calendars telling the network it’s time to renew. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAF-WqeYE17jwQArnTtyVBB71oi_1TtuWAhhoxOZ25vMvwy8CwEsMtbKu-h33E5X3qN5l4kklCgUwlB0PbwKK4rraxaf5ZAppeMpSV84nZPpfLiRtRO_OIg_VrgOhzSz0RWOcYOFox9k/s1600/10885038_10152454358785870_9158172648883966733_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAF-WqeYE17jwQArnTtyVBB71oi_1TtuWAhhoxOZ25vMvwy8CwEsMtbKu-h33E5X3qN5l4kklCgUwlB0PbwKK4rraxaf5ZAppeMpSV84nZPpfLiRtRO_OIg_VrgOhzSz0RWOcYOFox9k/s1600/10885038_10152454358785870_9158172648883966733_n.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo Credit: Emma Reed</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Deb Survey and Lin Blank co-admin both </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/IoanGruffuddGroup/?fref=nf" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">The Official Ioan Gruffudd Group</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> on Facebook as well as a second group specifically dedicated to the show called </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForeveristsForeverFans/" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Foreverist Group for Forever Fans</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. “We’re doing our best to keep </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Forever </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">around for a long time,” they said. “We find the writing clever and spot on, and the characters are drawn in a rich and human way. Seeing the fans unite in support of this show is amazing.” </span></div>
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On top of the letter writing campaign the fan community around <i>Forever</i> is extremely active. There is a weekly live tweet event during the show’s Tuesday night airings where cast and crew have been known to pop in as schedules allow. Tumblr is full of fan art prompt games, discussions and gif builders highlighting some of the quintessential moments of the first half of the season. If you pop on the Facebook pages, you are greeted with reminders to vote for <i>Forever</i> in the People’s Choice Awards as well as lists of all the ways you can get in contact with ABC to show your support. They are a loyal and vocal team. Hopefully by showing exactly how much they love their show, they will be able to help secure it’s future and keep it off the “Best Cancelled Shows” list for… a very long time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Forever </i>airs Monday night at 9pm on CTV, Tuesdays at 10pm on ABC and is available to stream at <a href="http://ctv.ca/">ctv.ca</a> on Wednesdays. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H65yTGHp1OkfH91n4ydIwW6FTu_6XaqfNjs40ay-l8Ct5ZQjdR-1ysODJKfSsoXGp3vj0aiOgrcFCpkUohJziZc5vRFO0PFkb4EDQPPNtN8CmP1wiCBKM1my4ReE7dGkQSkp5KmedBE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H65yTGHp1OkfH91n4ydIwW6FTu_6XaqfNjs40ay-l8Ct5ZQjdR-1ysODJKfSsoXGp3vj0aiOgrcFCpkUohJziZc5vRFO0PFkb4EDQPPNtN8CmP1wiCBKM1my4ReE7dGkQSkp5KmedBE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" /></a></div>
<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"><span style="line-height: 15.179999351501465px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat. She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/corastacy" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@corastacy</a></span></span></i></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-58337580611532726682014-12-30T17:32:00.000-05:002014-12-30T17:36:06.518-05:00New Year's Party Food<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
EATING GEEKY ON NEW YEAR'S EVE</div>
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<i>By Sandi Moser</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73gFdCeEo_oCbVIoqCpqBjmNaQGCTPEVCG8otPIpB9emlp4FCO0PtkACzV6n__1Z8joUD8h-SXi39d5HDd4HgGGZYRIdMmXNkDuxwy2JLYM_p15BNripiWPw-3kmDcEIVqQmc68zNyk0/s1600/happy-new-year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73gFdCeEo_oCbVIoqCpqBjmNaQGCTPEVCG8otPIpB9emlp4FCO0PtkACzV6n__1Z8joUD8h-SXi39d5HDd4HgGGZYRIdMmXNkDuxwy2JLYM_p15BNripiWPw-3kmDcEIVqQmc68zNyk0/s1600/happy-new-year.jpg" height="197" width="320" /></a></div>
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New Year’s Eve is fast approaching. If you’re planning a party, you may be starting to think of the food and drinks you want to serve. If you’re like my husband and me, you’re also starting to plan how best to present those tasty treats to partygoers. Taste is certainly the most import consideration, but presentation comes in at a very close second.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Whether you’re planning a themed party or a mishmash of things you love, there is great inspiration to be found through a few quick internet searches. Here are a few ideas and recipes that may come in handy at your next party:</span></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>If you want your New Year’s Eve party to be “magical”, you could consider a few items with a Harry Potter theme. I started with a search for a butterbeer recipe and was surprised at how many were available. <a href="http://obedientingredients.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/homemade-harry-potter-butterbeer/" target="_blank">Obedient Ingredients </a>does a good job researching some of the recipes for you. To round out the theme, liquor bottles can be relabeled for potions class and veggie trays can be themed from herbology class. Of course, a Harry Potter theme is not complete without a big bowl of jelly beans.</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>One of my favourite video games growing up was the Legend of Zelda. If I could throw any kind of nostalgic themed party for myself, this would be it. Heart-shaped red cookies, punch bowls filled with red, green and blue potions, and bowls of deku nuts (pistachios) would be scattered through the house. If you sing me the right song, I may also be convinced to get you a carafe of milk.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmoVIA9JbvucqFgUZ4AsbhwNTCfTfXJKKQiA0AMiCsB0UV0lD9aPRB79AX9Rp5M4qjfl1pHITFYnoWBIC_BlUsqJvV5f8jbospxFx3A-MJt7vs6EL3RBTl5d1Rt1-6H5El5FjHy_kKYYc/s1600/New+Year's%2BParty%2BFood%2BDeku%2BNut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmoVIA9JbvucqFgUZ4AsbhwNTCfTfXJKKQiA0AMiCsB0UV0lD9aPRB79AX9Rp5M4qjfl1pHITFYnoWBIC_BlUsqJvV5f8jbospxFx3A-MJt7vs6EL3RBTl5d1Rt1-6H5El5FjHy_kKYYc/s1600/New+Year's%2BParty%2BFood%2BDeku%2BNut.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>Settlers of Catan fans can easily make a party setting simply by display foods in hexagonal shaped dishes. By artfully arranging said dishes and filling with a variety of foods (i.e., veggies, chips, pretzels and dips), it’s easy to recreate a Settlers board. Alternatively, for a sweet treat, a similar effect can be achieved with cupcakes (taking care to shape the icing as hexagonally as possible) or hexagonal cookies decorated with coloured icings. </li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>If you’ll have a lot of kids in attendance, Minecraft seems to offer some of the easiest ideas for food presentation. It takes a bit of imagination, but it can be fun thinking of food ideas that can be used to represent various resources: pretzels for sticks, red licorice for TNT, blueberries for diamonds, honeydew melon balls as slime balls. You can also use food colouring with rice cereal squares to make blocks of sand, dirt, coal, etc.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHYs8kInIDtbmIQ6Ttbhdv9tC2UsdGJhzMmQdwCQ-gqwBPxkuuxdltMuhwC-USfqlC_zjrhxaAc7_aGi2rDNkmDR6Bv1hc7tN3bokorMdqCbsYLfLLKMv64CgfSaTYAEHKebcLk-0flQ/s1600/New+Year's%2BParty%2BFood%2BMinecraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHYs8kInIDtbmIQ6Ttbhdv9tC2UsdGJhzMmQdwCQ-gqwBPxkuuxdltMuhwC-USfqlC_zjrhxaAc7_aGi2rDNkmDR6Bv1hc7tN3bokorMdqCbsYLfLLKMv64CgfSaTYAEHKebcLk-0flQ/s1600/New+Year's%2BParty%2BFood%2BMinecraft.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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In searching for your next party favour food, here are a few other websites beyond Pinterest you may find helpful:</div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span><a href="http://kitchenoverlord.com/" target="_blank">Kitchen Overlord</a> </li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span><a href="http://www.geekyhostess.com/" target="_blank">Geeky Hostess</a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><a href="http://www.geekychef.com/" target="_blank">Geeky Chef</a> </span></li>
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Wishing you and yours a safe and Happy New Year!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OZoHr4XzQmVEGCv0cBm3iW4Pm7UXgSq27OTlwydp84XVBumBcyRrKpSxmafOrNxqqoK1j5aqIJnvg6xb5RUGJBhxl_lCYqd_yzbCA3QfHXEqzGl3bBNjmH6sYW7Q7JUzVkeMgn6-iZY/s1600/Sandi+Bio+PIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OZoHr4XzQmVEGCv0cBm3iW4Pm7UXgSq27OTlwydp84XVBumBcyRrKpSxmafOrNxqqoK1j5aqIJnvg6xb5RUGJBhxl_lCYqd_yzbCA3QfHXEqzGl3bBNjmH6sYW7Q7JUzVkeMgn6-iZY/s1600/Sandi+Bio+PIC.jpg" height="200" width="181" /></a></div>
<i>Sandi is a 30-something environmental engineer and mother of two from the metropolis of Stittsville, Ontario. Writing for Capital Geek Girls is a new adventure for her, with previous writing experience limited to technical documents, briefing notes and Facebook updates. In her spare time, Sandi enjoys playing board games and video games, reading books, watching movies, and crocheting. She looks forward to sharing her geeky endeavours with you, as well as reporting on the next generation’s response to those endeavours.</i></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-68102340533205075722014-12-20T07:52:00.001-05:002014-12-20T07:52:21.671-05:00Geek Christmas Crafts<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS WITH A GEEKY FLAIR</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">by Sandi Mose<b>r</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For as much as I like to craft, my décor at home is not really conducive to showing it off 11 months of the year. At Christmas, however, decorating ideals go out the door and my house fills with a variety of homemade items. One of our pieces of modern art is replaced by a reindeer painting by my daughter. Our mantle is adorned with a snow globe featuring my son’s toddler fingers as snowmen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my favourite places for homemade crafts is the Christmas tree. My usual clean line, modern (but homey) living room features a tree adorned with handmade ornaments that go as far back as my own childhood. For as much as I like the look of a themed Christmas tree, nothing gets me more excited for the holidays as a popsicle stick snowman with an uneven smile (hanging near the back of the tree so the people outside can appreciate it). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In preparation for the season, and to find something to do with the kids leading into Christmas vacation, I went hunting for ideas to make a few new ornaments. Here are some of my favourite finds:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudumsp_WxMQvM-Bo-rXz_j-03PSrosZKPvmr8DQBIvhXrpRXD1N6Sup0-PTYsur8KFqiqwyqHEfpWYOC6Z-V24sS8cveeRNV2HIo17bmGLOHpcHAJx8ZUnPpJ29UJqhi4_2SfYDCy92k/s1600/Christmas+Ornament+Ninja+Turtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudumsp_WxMQvM-Bo-rXz_j-03PSrosZKPvmr8DQBIvhXrpRXD1N6Sup0-PTYsur8KFqiqwyqHEfpWYOC6Z-V24sS8cveeRNV2HIo17bmGLOHpcHAJx8ZUnPpJ29UJqhi4_2SfYDCy92k/s1600/Christmas+Ornament+Ninja+Turtle.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://athriftymom.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-christmas-ornament-diy-ornaments-crafts-kids/" target="_blank">Ninja Turtles</a>: This one is first, because it gave me the idea to write this article in the first place. In the kid-friendly (read: easy) version, glue an appropriately coloured ribbon around a green Christmas ball and add googly eyes. Voila, the ninja turtle of your choice. Those with more artistic flair can get out the paint and hand draw bandanas and eyes. Either way, you have a turtle for your tree.</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Minions: As a variation of the Ninja Turtle ornament, use a yellow Christmas ball with black ribbon and one or two eyeballs (again, googly eyes, or maybe felt). Feel free to add a mouth and hair with a black marker or paint.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dE7EBRbwhcFR2OOLw68B2nnGbltrWbhH49zCnIFwaxBs3xGJWmMbRDxpEkqf22i0d_S4bpwIRAWAMDPOJ9eslyHJKp5phgQH-N9g07Se5vO-0PGR90xtXf4-gGCWVphoAcEfY_Yrqz4/s1600/Christmas+Ornament+Golden+Snitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dE7EBRbwhcFR2OOLw68B2nnGbltrWbhH49zCnIFwaxBs3xGJWmMbRDxpEkqf22i0d_S4bpwIRAWAMDPOJ9eslyHJKp5phgQH-N9g07Se5vO-0PGR90xtXf4-gGCWVphoAcEfY_Yrqz4/s1600/Christmas+Ornament+Golden+Snitch.jpg" height="146" width="200" /></a></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2011/12/06/make-a-golden-snitch-ornament/" target="_blank">The Golden Snitch</a>: What I liked about this one is that it’s not overtly “geeky”. It’s actually quite a pretty ornament, using a gold Christmas ball and attaching some wings. Harry Potter fans may recognize it, but it could likely hide in a tree without much notice.</span></li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.chrismcveigh.com/cm/death_star_part_list.html" target="_blank">Lego Death Star</a>: With a 5-year-old in ‘da house, we have more than our share of Star Wars-themed Lego. What do I like most about this craft? We can put it together and take it apart every Christmas!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTh6HWvXXy2jJpo8cTU74ltDu7bLE3CW4PNSo0hoM5lLxLMZUZeme1fYW_oUt-YKAZyd-sR6fE4lUJjW7k_RuhC3IIcUo_vgZLhyphenhyphenVRY-jtdj08DwJrRk80dxBdEqmVAoWbidBEDpnGxPw/s1600/Christmas+Ornament+Dalek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTh6HWvXXy2jJpo8cTU74ltDu7bLE3CW4PNSo0hoM5lLxLMZUZeme1fYW_oUt-YKAZyd-sR6fE4lUJjW7k_RuhC3IIcUo_vgZLhyphenhyphenVRY-jtdj08DwJrRk80dxBdEqmVAoWbidBEDpnGxPw/s1600/Christmas+Ornament+Dalek.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Dalek-Ornament/" target="_blank">Dalek</a>: OK, here is where I have to admit my pop culture blind spot – Dr. Who. I’ve never watched an episode, but I know there are a lot of fans out there. I came across this ornament for the more advanced crafters. The instructions are pretty involved, but the result is pretty cool, even for someone who doesn’t know a Dalek from a cylon.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope you’ve found some inspiration for bringing a bit of homemade to your own Christmas tree. Happy Holidays!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OZoHr4XzQmVEGCv0cBm3iW4Pm7UXgSq27OTlwydp84XVBumBcyRrKpSxmafOrNxqqoK1j5aqIJnvg6xb5RUGJBhxl_lCYqd_yzbCA3QfHXEqzGl3bBNjmH6sYW7Q7JUzVkeMgn6-iZY/s1600/Sandi+Bio+PIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OZoHr4XzQmVEGCv0cBm3iW4Pm7UXgSq27OTlwydp84XVBumBcyRrKpSxmafOrNxqqoK1j5aqIJnvg6xb5RUGJBhxl_lCYqd_yzbCA3QfHXEqzGl3bBNjmH6sYW7Q7JUzVkeMgn6-iZY/s1600/Sandi+Bio+PIC.jpg" height="200" width="181" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandi is a 30-something environmental engineer and mother of two from the metropolis of Stittsville, Ontario. Writing for Capital Geek Girls is a new adventure for her, with previous writing experience limited to technical documents, briefing notes and Facebook updates. In her spare time, Sandi enjoys playing board games and video games, reading books, watching movies, and crocheting. She looks forward to sharing her geeky endeavours with you, as well as reporting on the next generation’s response to those endeavours.</span></i></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-80819798347110797092014-12-08T20:16:00.000-05:002014-12-08T20:16:18.029-05:00Five Webcomics from Female Creators You Should Totally Be Reading<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">FIVE WEBCOMICS FROM FEMALE CREATORS YOU SHOULD TOTALLY BE READING</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>By Marie Victoria Robertson</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I often sigh about how I wish I could draw. Thing is, I have an intense respect for comic artists, and webcomic artists in particular; using the versatility of a visual medium to tell a good story seems like a beautiful challenge to me. The comic book industry seems like a tough market to get into, particularly for female artists, and the big-name companies are often stuck catering to fanbases. On the flip side, webcomic artists strike out on their own, with the power to write, draw, and produce their own content on their terms. There is often little to no money involved in webcomics, meaning artists are putting their work out there, for free, for people to read and share and enjoy, purely for the love of their art. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, respect. Lots of it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some amazing and talented women are responsible for some of the best webcomics out there and they deserve all the attention they can get. Below is a short list of webcomics I love, and you probably will too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. <a href="http://harkavagrant.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Hark! A Vagrant</span></a> by Kate Beaton</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSPlYk9VxcBHzZbXi_BgThJbMphQ2HqQ2rcSUm9KwSKfJzMCdR3pAebQhcchp0XyQXoBLFTiPnW6gPnEN8XY7SckOsPzkGbM6t49WdQQZP9JsjhTlV1_9QEhkvOYGQlNyAMc1ayJQ5lY/s1600/Hark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSPlYk9VxcBHzZbXi_BgThJbMphQ2HqQ2rcSUm9KwSKfJzMCdR3pAebQhcchp0XyQXoBLFTiPnW6gPnEN8XY7SckOsPzkGbM6t49WdQQZP9JsjhTlV1_9QEhkvOYGQlNyAMc1ayJQ5lY/s1600/Hark.jpg" height="200" width="188" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chances are you’re already reading this one. If you’re not, I strongly advise you to sit down with a cup of tea and go through the archive. Kate Beaton is a master at crafting jokes based on history, literature, and occasionally pop culture. Her <a href="http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=311"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">“strong female characters”</span></a> are not to be missed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <a href="http://www.oglaf.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Oglaf</span></a> (WARNING: Not Safe For Work) by Trudy Cooper (co-authored by Doug Bayne)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LP3d5EvCSaDDffAKfNa_Fd20JCi6Bepgd_qlDec3lJ199PanajwIhFXr7DVK6CTtgZnXTQl6T-aK_bRjLdWyRNvpDFCBjMCUB9px4yHv71R-3cjLjBLldeMZZw0CdHX5W2iKOrvLUNM/s1600/Oglaf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LP3d5EvCSaDDffAKfNa_Fd20JCi6Bepgd_qlDec3lJ199PanajwIhFXr7DVK6CTtgZnXTQl6T-aK_bRjLdWyRNvpDFCBjMCUB9px4yHv71R-3cjLjBLldeMZZw0CdHX5W2iKOrvLUNM/s1600/Oglaf.png" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">DO NOT click on that link if you are at work. Or if dear old aunt Gertrude is reading over your shoulder. From the same author as <a href="http://www.platinumgrit.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Platinum Grit</span></a>, Oglaf tends to bounce between being a medieval fantasy-parody strip with liberal sex and nudity, and being an outright pornographic comic with token fantasy elements. It can be incredibly funny, however, and scathing in its deconstruction of fantasy tropes. Be warned that it can be VERY Not Safe For Work as sex is a huge element of this webcomic, though readers will enjoy seeing same-sex and interracial couplings, and women (of varying shapes and sizes) in interesting positions of power. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. <a href="http://lackadaisy.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Lackadaisy</span></a> by Tracy J. Butler</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0p_nsHb1mceY_UnjVcoiTP3RRlqHLKj4Hc42jyBGCAzDyK5aag1TPdfZohw2KKmELFGw6nVsc5BFIMChU467DVHGpCHAeXOoVHQJZf6x7CDP4GCClV2zEVOvxoVcoHP_hOeA8sKec7zk/s1600/Lackadaisy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0p_nsHb1mceY_UnjVcoiTP3RRlqHLKj4Hc42jyBGCAzDyK5aag1TPdfZohw2KKmELFGw6nVsc5BFIMChU467DVHGpCHAeXOoVHQJZf6x7CDP4GCClV2zEVOvxoVcoHP_hOeA8sKec7zk/s1600/Lackadaisy.jpg" height="292" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This comic is about the titular speakeasy struggling to stay in business in prohibition-era Missouri, amid shifting loyalties, secrets from the past, and rum-running adventures. The story is so intricately written and the art is so exquisite that you almost stop noticing how the entire cast is comprised of anthropomorphic cats. While updates are not frequent, it’s worth going through the archives and bonus gallery over and over again, especially for history geeks. To say that the artist has done her research on the 1920’s is an understatement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. <a href="http://www.girlswithslingshots.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">Girls with Slingshots</span></a> by Danielle Corsetto</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qlSQcHdp9uOIvkjK8KFmjeDhT03g5woVRbKEOW9SNUscSIrDWVLXtklU-wxUzUilB5OhyphenhyphenBtJJ3RIx7tOVrDh5QrDmxMdbd8smb6ZXiPbcc7LRo95ffh6Dxn5RPkFGW0lQOC2gFqddxU/s1600/GWS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qlSQcHdp9uOIvkjK8KFmjeDhT03g5woVRbKEOW9SNUscSIrDWVLXtklU-wxUzUilB5OhyphenhyphenBtJJ3RIx7tOVrDh5QrDmxMdbd8smb6ZXiPbcc7LRo95ffh6Dxn5RPkFGW0lQOC2gFqddxU/s1600/GWS.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">GWS is another strip you’re probably reading already, but I couldn’t create a list of my favourite webcomics without including this one, especially since I may or may not have a crush on the character Jamie. For the uninitiated, GWS is a long-running series about a group of friends dealing with life events such as relationships, unemployment, and sexuality. And there might be a talking cactus involved too. It’s been running since 2004 so if you’re new to GWS, there is a lot to catch up on, but it’s a wonderfully funny ride. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. <a href="http://www.jspowerhour.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255);">Junior Scientist Power Hour</span></a> by Abby Howard</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEnD1bh-m52HoZxqb6V_J-yTws03OBeUSXmWTLOQpry3Ce0uVI1sjf2qEGeXSGDaKfTgbxzyRFL7Qk1dPd2uCanHqveZvfBEcgrCZr7dOYnMSkgWwwkUAB7034QbG5usxyhHfztIn6Fo/s1600/jsph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEnD1bh-m52HoZxqb6V_J-yTws03OBeUSXmWTLOQpry3Ce0uVI1sjf2qEGeXSGDaKfTgbxzyRFL7Qk1dPd2uCanHqveZvfBEcgrCZr7dOYnMSkgWwwkUAB7034QbG5usxyhHfztIn6Fo/s1600/jsph.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first JSPH strip I read was <a href="http://www.jspowerhour.com/comics/120"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">this one</span></a> and I was hooked. The once-a-week gags cover everything from Abby’s personal life to elements of pop culture to (of course) cats, with a healthy and hilarious dose of surrealism and a cool art style likely inspired by Jhonen Vasquez. Also be sure to check out Abby’s ongoing story, “<a href="http://www.last-halloween.com/posts/first"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">The Last Halloween</span></a>”, a comedy-horror story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Which favourites would you have put on the list?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bpJejdWl_knao_r5w7YINol-Wi7w-bBCYtdAjGwjUf3NC40jT2wrREaBEJObFU4_cmMxrwMEJoXk0UMG0t3pQOC8jVXIuk_PAdhBrovmoy3KltcttNrsSKQ-raA8eMmOYjsSBRznH6Q/s1600/newprofilemarie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bpJejdWl_knao_r5w7YINol-Wi7w-bBCYtdAjGwjUf3NC40jT2wrREaBEJObFU4_cmMxrwMEJoXk0UMG0t3pQOC8jVXIuk_PAdhBrovmoy3KltcttNrsSKQ-raA8eMmOYjsSBRznH6Q/s1600/newprofilemarie.jpg" height="200" width="174" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and dressing up her kids like Ninja Turtles.</span></i></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-92066155929909112762014-11-27T19:56:00.000-05:002014-11-27T19:56:43.578-05:00Defining Age Appropriateness in Television and Films For Your Geekling<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">DEFINING AGE-APPROPRIATENESS IN TELEVISION AND FILMS FOR YOUR GEEKLINGS</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most people are familiar with the Canadian rating system of G, PG, 14A, 18A and R, if only from knowing which movie theatre rooms they’d be permitted to enter as teenagers. What kids watch on television though is for the most part only regulated by parental supervision. Being as how geeks deeply love their particular brand of pop culture, it’s natural to want to share everything with your geeklings. I’m here to tell you what you should and shouldn’t let your children watch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just kidding; to each their own. I would like to share some related experiences though, and also promote the bejesus out of an insightful website called Common Sense Media.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">WHAT DO BATMAN AND STACY HAMILTON HAVE IN COMMON?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tNPm8CBaJX9akpjFqfYnhJ0Znzh291VAV_jLW8v-wOo2QbfHrbnCfMMUci7DZB36Vl4AEY9JTQju9yH9uR8pTzWwrKwhHECR2iGxmn6xtkFeT8pS_mCufNhbrGI9fmZNDhoVfiLUig8/s1600/batman_and_the_joker_by_mrcrazydragonpenguin-d5ucdhs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tNPm8CBaJX9akpjFqfYnhJ0Znzh291VAV_jLW8v-wOo2QbfHrbnCfMMUci7DZB36Vl4AEY9JTQju9yH9uR8pTzWwrKwhHECR2iGxmn6xtkFeT8pS_mCufNhbrGI9fmZNDhoVfiLUig8/s1600/batman_and_the_joker_by_mrcrazydragonpenguin-d5ucdhs.jpg" height="200" width="161" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two instances as a kid that I knew I was watching something I shouldn’t be. The first was Tim Burton’s <i>Batman</i>, rated PG-13. I was six or seven and watched only parts of the film with some older cousins. The storyline was lost on me and, well, I ended up terrified of Batman, like afraid to fall asleep at night because Batman. Batman was sulky, serious, overpowering and hid behind a mask while Jack Nicholson as the Joker just looked goofy. Sometime afterwards YTV aired reruns of the 1960s Batman series and that was an instant cure the my Batmanaphobia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other time I knew I was watching something I shouldn’t be I was 11 or 12 and it was Amy Heckerling’s <i>Fast Times at Ridgemont High</i>, rated R. The location where I watched it and the sequence made the experience memorable. It was a Christmas party at my aunt’s house with my Portuguese family (comparable to Toula Portokalosk’s family in <i>My Big Fat Greek Wedding</i>). My Christmas wish list that year included <i>Fast Times</i> because I was eagerly awaiting the release of <i>Clueless</i> and thought to check out the only other film directed by Sterling in the meantime. My parents bought it for me and I brought it to watch at the gathering. I watched it in the living room side of an open concept dining area - I picked up on the mature subject matter and swearing but no one seemed to notice so I kept watching. The moment 15 year old Stacy’s breasts appeared on the screen in her devirginization scene I knew I was in trouble. I froze and watched as 20 Portuguese adults went from talking over each other at deafening volumes (their normal) and children running around playing with toys all fell into a stunned still silence all heads turned to the television set. My mom got up, nervously fidgeted with the VCR (the scene was over by then), yelled at me, and confiscated the movie for a few weeks while my dad reviewed it (in retrospect, yes, that is weird).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These experiences didn’t cause me to overly helicopter what my children watch. I still take max flexibility on the rating system when determining what I allow my kids to watch. They did however emphasize the importance of talking about storylines during or after a viewing, emphasize positive messages, and try to either watch or read up on films <i>before</i> the kids watch them. My main grievances as a parent usually relate to content that reinforces stereotypes and misogyny, and the inclusion of product placement, factors that amazingly are considered in ratings by Common Sense Media.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">COMMON SENSE MEDIA</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgffcEGKLBV_6ddgjLXXHSbYCZx7DN-iobygQzhOUgMwVzw39mQ1KbNUVJxss_RuZl2i5mPOoCCEtrf4a-otbnTCajJFOJb7bsq5f7tF_ZzH0526hFn-Mibai4UFUl0dwfZoFCh9B63k/s1600/logo_common_sense_media.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgffcEGKLBV_6ddgjLXXHSbYCZx7DN-iobygQzhOUgMwVzw39mQ1KbNUVJxss_RuZl2i5mPOoCCEtrf4a-otbnTCajJFOJb7bsq5f7tF_ZzH0526hFn-Mibai4UFUl0dwfZoFCh9B63k/s1600/logo_common_sense_media.png" height="131" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204); color: #1255cc; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Common Sense Media</a></span> is a non-profit organization that takes seemingly everything under consideration to review television shows (among other media). They individually rate a show’s educational value, positive messages, positive role models, violence/scariness, sexy stuff, language, consumerism, and drinking/drugs/smoking on a scale of one to five. Age appropriateness is colour coded, with green meaning age-appropriate, yellow meaning it depends on the kid, and red meaning there are serious issues to consider. The reviews themselves involve a one paragraph synopsis of the rating and elaboration of four straightforward categories: “what’s the story?”, “is it any good?”, “families can talk about…” and “movie details”. In addition, user reviews include a most appropriate age so everyone has a chance to make a pitch for a younger/older audience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s have a look at the high-level details of some geeky favourites to see how they fare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Kiki’s Delivery Service</i>, a Hayao Miyazaki classic that makes a great introduction to anime, gets a fairly positive review. Common Sense Media judges the minimum age for which the content is relevant as 5.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1sK7KLoQeQ0WPjhWdclVpP6glKshXbV6qMbJW0qpQeEmNmJ_s8QEe3otJO9C4oTKIzXZ4-UpR6pR04LJcldA1b8PP4J6njK6mcYATzNkUwHI0uHJ8TLF5tqqzjLhIw9NC12icxVEzZfs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-27+at+7.46.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1sK7KLoQeQ0WPjhWdclVpP6glKshXbV6qMbJW0qpQeEmNmJ_s8QEe3otJO9C4oTKIzXZ4-UpR6pR04LJcldA1b8PP4J6njK6mcYATzNkUwHI0uHJ8TLF5tqqzjLhIw9NC12icxVEzZfs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-27+at+7.46.48+PM.png" height="211" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The synopsis for the original <i>Ghostbusters</i> on the other hand may cause some parents to think twice, or at least click on the green factors for more information. A lot of popular 80s films score surprisingly high in sex, language, consumerism, and drinking/drugs/smoking (see also: <i>The Goonies</i>,<i> Indiana Jones</i>, and <i>Short Circuit</i>). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94nXUHp2ICzY7sL7P8JAE9owV3YGzDJdEwRmCNTcQZ_AE0GaH3M-dPsz8urn2H607YZiv6FCB38uz63HuIOb84mAqThlSIXKthmf_TD57xYkGe-LsXv32CDQbAvfvU4gPv1qOCrBc7yM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-27+at+7.46.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94nXUHp2ICzY7sL7P8JAE9owV3YGzDJdEwRmCNTcQZ_AE0GaH3M-dPsz8urn2H607YZiv6FCB38uz63HuIOb84mAqThlSIXKthmf_TD57xYkGe-LsXv32CDQbAvfvU4gPv1qOCrBc7yM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-27+at+7.46.58+PM.png" height="193" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I watched Michael Bay’s <i>Transformers</i> with my son when he was five and it was a great disappointment. I was excited to introduce him to the world of Autobots and Decepticons and while I expected violence I was caught off guard with the racism, stereotypes and explicit swearing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWN3RrWRBg55_N6MkQzSV9sqVWPrdEwOi1Th9zPOi8U6nJP7qS0Y6CwzqyJSueulJhl7ep_DZaByvZH6yTNCKrCCEmX_f8FMXT4hEt6xxtWliLYnFWfTKc7jEcPBuSKBju9oJRWn90EsI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-27+at+7.49.57+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWN3RrWRBg55_N6MkQzSV9sqVWPrdEwOi1Th9zPOi8U6nJP7qS0Y6CwzqyJSueulJhl7ep_DZaByvZH6yTNCKrCCEmX_f8FMXT4hEt6xxtWliLYnFWfTKc7jEcPBuSKBju9oJRWn90EsI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-27+at+7.49.57+PM.png" height="201" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I appreciate the insights provided by Common Sense Media but in the end think it comes down to knowing your kids and what value/harm viewing something will have on them. As part of that, we need to respect other parents’ decisions as well when their kids are over. We used to host an annual Halloween-themed night for my daughter’s entire class and as a part of it they watched <i>Arachnophobia</i> in grade 6 and <i>Poltergeist</i> in grade 7. The films were noted on the invitation and their rating and genre were mentioned to parents when they dropped off their kids. We piled the tweens in the basement for the viewing and the ensuing screams and hugs really were...<i>fun</i> (kids who didn’t want to watch hung around the snacks upstairs). They still talk about it to this day and to my knowledge no chronic nightmares ensued.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">WATCH BUFFY WITH YOUR TEENAGERS FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A HIGH FIVE FROM JAMES MARSTERS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last Sunday my 14 year old daughter and I rushed to Pop Expo to get James Marsters’ autograph, who to us is none other than Spike from <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, and to our fangirl delight he was pretty chatty with us (!). He talked about be genuinely angry during the photoshoot in which the photograph we were having signed was taken. Marsters recalled that the photographer had asked him to twirl in order to lift his cape, and he replied that if he’d heard of the character he was shooting he’d know that he sucks people’s blood and kills them, and wasn’t about to dance or twirl. Marsters planned to reject all photos taken that day, but when he saw his genuinely pissed off face in the proofs it turned out to be his all-time favourite Spike photo.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DiGr_UHdV_qp7b9e-rAMeJ4ywuqm4V1aMg3Wbt1PA2ZAk_u9770ojR1qTROj4h__JbvmYGp2ElJ5FQl0GsAjiH8sZk3cXLd1J2oVh52wOD7IR39_J_sh6IoNX9RgltxkAqhfz2i-fHA/s1600/Buffy_Season_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DiGr_UHdV_qp7b9e-rAMeJ4ywuqm4V1aMg3Wbt1PA2ZAk_u9770ojR1qTROj4h__JbvmYGp2ElJ5FQl0GsAjiH8sZk3cXLd1J2oVh52wOD7IR39_J_sh6IoNX9RgltxkAqhfz2i-fHA/s1600/Buffy_Season_(1).jpg" height="320" width="224" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">{TRIGGER WARNING} My daughter had been in Marsters’ Q&A the previous day and thanked him for the way he handled the bathroom scene question from the episode <i>Seeing Red</i> of season 6. The scene deals with attempted rape and at the time that it aired was the only episode in the series to have to air at a later time of night on YTV. This led into me sharing with Marsters having first watched <i>Buffy</i> starting in high school and the experience of watching it last year with my daughter, despite a few uneasy moments in the storyline like the bathroom scene, and really appreciating him having spoken to it. Marsters LOVED that I shared the show with her. He high fived me for it and told my kid that his parents have never watched a single episode of <i>Buffy</i> as it isn’t their genre (<i>gasp!</i>). He was all smiles and said <i>Buffy</i> makes a great show to grow up with because it conveys the message that you can do anything. He grew up watching <i>Planet of the Apes</i> which preached humanity being doomed and hopeless, and so how amazing it would be to grow up on such a positive message. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Marsters also told us about how he’s only ever met one person who confessed to not liking <i>Buffy</i>, and giving Sarah Michelle Gellar’s size as the reason, saying it just isn’t believable that a small framed girl would be that strong. Marsters said he put that guy in his place, stating he’s worked with similarly sized female stunt devils that are triple black belts and they can kick anyone’s butt. But also didn’t he catch the part about the Chosen One’s super strength?? We told him about how when we started kickboxing we pretended we were Slayers and that our instructor was our Watcher. We were quite giddy by this point at how personable he was being and as a result started talking too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall the conversation brought home to me how much series can change over time, and how this era of marathon series watching means kids don’t grow older at the same pace as the characters do. Season 1 of <i>Buffy</i> was okay for say, a 10 year old, but seasons 6 and 7 not so much, and that 10 year old isn’t 17 by the end of the series but still only 10. It’s just one more thing to consider when judging when to share our favourite fandoms with our geeklings. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56CxsHr6hpaVXfTzo3v2a96edIUuklCg8-8r384p95UNNEd0Auf1HunftzvP2eB7iEhcqxxZUDE3IMnYLv_lU3dkzzHgM72Z6cLHxNZIJThCXcBJ_PTRnOrU6Fqn7x8w09s1Xs1SdpDA/s1600/firefly.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56CxsHr6hpaVXfTzo3v2a96edIUuklCg8-8r384p95UNNEd0Auf1HunftzvP2eB7iEhcqxxZUDE3IMnYLv_lU3dkzzHgM72Z6cLHxNZIJThCXcBJ_PTRnOrU6Fqn7x8w09s1Xs1SdpDA/s1600/firefly.gif" height="320" width="244" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPJ3aAkoLj6dL0LsLZAqBlB7gCsu0Y6IM-TbEXMAB0jjhGqTG05geRfQIZVvCBSWHHrGaoAw9jgo6o6Ym32X9uWvyaITBIozawbgD-hS3mtVJtWkE2peoWzPNvpxnlmxlBvgM3WBGfHI/s1600/Bio+picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPJ3aAkoLj6dL0LsLZAqBlB7gCsu0Y6IM-TbEXMAB0jjhGqTG05geRfQIZVvCBSWHHrGaoAw9jgo6o6Ym32X9uWvyaITBIozawbgD-hS3mtVJtWkE2peoWzPNvpxnlmxlBvgM3WBGfHI/s1600/Bio+picture.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i>Angela is a 30-something year old mom of three kids - a baby, a school-aged kid and a teenager – and a furbaby, living in Orleans with her geek soul mate husband. She studied English Literature and Social Work but took an unexpected turn somewhere and ended up working as a policy analyst for the feds. Hobbies include reading, playing boardgames and Magic: the Gathering, cooking healthy foods, blogging, and discussing favourite tv shows and movies. She is the proud organizer of the Ottawa Geek Social Club, which strives to provide meetup opportunities that reflect the many facets of geekdom and beyond! www.ogsc.ca.</i></span></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-77189100875072260992014-11-25T20:52:00.000-05:002014-11-25T20:52:36.626-05:00John Barrowman Live at Ottawa Pop Expo<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">JOHN BARROWMAN LIVE AT OTTAWA POP EXPO</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Source: Ottawa Pop Expo facebook<br />Credit:<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">Petra Hudakova</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are three things you can expect from every John Barrowman panel: insanity, innuendo and inspiration. It was no different this past Saturday when he took the stage in Hall 4 at Ottawa Pop Expo as this year’s Guest of Honour. After shooing away the moderator and making sure he had plenty of room to wander around the stage, the Scottish-born actor best known as Captain Jack Harkness from <i>Doctor Who</i> and <i>Torchwood</i>, led the crowd in a Q&A that touched all aspects of his career on stage, screen and page. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Starting with his current role as principled villain Malcolm Merlyn on The CW’s Arrow, John expressed his gratitude for “whatever you put in the water up here” that resulted in Stephen Amell. While Amell has often stated that he asks Barrowman for advice on how to be the leading man on a popular TV show, he may be picking up some of John’s bad habits as well. During the previous week’s filming, he explained that Stephen began to use a comedic limp when the camera was strictly on John in an effort to make him crack up. He also explained that if you are in the make-up trailer when Amell is getting Oliver’s extensive scarring and tattoos applied, the special chair he has to sit in leaves little to the imagination- and he’s not complaining. </span></div>
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When asked about what he thought of both Captain Jack’s immortality and his future as The Face of Boe, Barrowman told a charming pair of stories that both involved John not reading his scripts soon or carefully enough. When he received the scripts for the end of series one of Doctor Who, he was so devastated at Jack’s death that he didn’t bother finishing reading the episode. It wasn’t until the table read that he finished the script and was elated to find out the good Captain didn’t stay dead. By series three, he left poor David Tennant practically bursting to tell him about the Face of Boe when the good Doctor finished reading the script two days ahead of John. Both stories were accompanied by impersonations and theatrics that had the audience howling with laughter. John said he loves that omni-sexual Jack had inspired people and made them comfortable in their own skin. He said he didn’t know if being open about his own sexuality had lost him any roles or garnered any negative feedback, and that if it had he really didn’t care. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Source: Ottawa Pop Expo facebook<br />Credit:<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">Petra Hudakova</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As for whether he would be back on <i>Doctor Who</i> anytime soon John answered that he honestly didn’t know. He would love to return but it was in the hands of the current show runners. In the meantime, on top of his work with <i>Arrow</i>, John and his sister Carole Barrowman have been commissioned to continue their popular children’s fantasy series <i>Hollow Earth. </i>The next series will take place several years after the end of <i>Book of Beasts</i> and be more grown up to accommodate the aged characters. </span></div>
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After running over time to make sure that several children who had patiently waited in line got to ask their questions, John thanked the crowd for not only their attention during the panel, but for their ongoing love and support which provides him with the life he always dreamed of. He then went back to his autographs booth for an impromptu signing session just because he was having too much fun. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H65yTGHp1OkfH91n4ydIwW6FTu_6XaqfNjs40ay-l8Ct5ZQjdR-1ysODJKfSsoXGp3vj0aiOgrcFCpkUohJziZc5vRFO0PFkb4EDQPPNtN8CmP1wiCBKM1my4ReE7dGkQSkp5KmedBE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H65yTGHp1OkfH91n4ydIwW6FTu_6XaqfNjs40ay-l8Ct5ZQjdR-1ysODJKfSsoXGp3vj0aiOgrcFCpkUohJziZc5vRFO0PFkb4EDQPPNtN8CmP1wiCBKM1my4ReE7dGkQSkp5KmedBE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"><span style="line-height: 15.179999351501465px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat. She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/corastacy" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@corastacy</a>.</span></span></i></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-84635892969831028792014-11-19T06:00:00.000-05:002014-11-19T06:00:04.389-05:00The Good, The Awesome and the Stress of NaNoWriMo<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">THE GOOD, THE AWESOME AND THE STRESS OF NANOWRIMO</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>By Marie Victoria Robertson</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hey look, we’re in the second half of November! Show of hands, who’s participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Are you cool as a cucumber because you’re in the home stretch of novel-writing, or are you frantically calculating how many words a day you need to write to finish on time?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Incidentally, it’s pronounced “Nah-no wry-moh”, and for the uninitiated, stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s that once-a-year kick in the arse a lot of aspiring writers (and some seasoned pros) need to finally get started on that novel that’s been percolating in their brains for all this time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So what’s the deal with NaNoWriMo? Founded in July 1999, the idea was to unite people through a common goal—writing 50,000 words (about the size of a small novel) in a month. NaNoWriMo has well over 200,000 participants now. You sign up through the <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">official NaNoWriMo website</span></a>, write your novel piece by piece in your own word processor, and update your word count on the site as you progress. You “win” by reaching the 50,000-word count before the end of the month. It’s open to anyone around the world writing in any language of their choosing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For a lot of aspiring writers, getting that first novel finished can be daunting. NaNoWriMo is the perfect motivation, keeping you encouraged and accountable for your writing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m personally not participating this year, though I have in the past. By the time of this article’s release, it will be too late to sign up for NaNoWriMo 2014, but here is some advice you can store away for next year, or hold on to for whatever writing project you’ve got on the go. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. OUTLINE</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGUUv5_UWydKKuBKyLe4ALVrjVCJJTlmEDs2vX_bL1hYEXO5GpLtaj600kzMAlUYzzeXBaYIjSE75j9oK1bfnmkyBYDi_0lHtMsgwp7593NB8qdTYb7zA6rZ7YV8a5wYbLNFhk_PRjnM/s1600/Keepcalm50k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGUUv5_UWydKKuBKyLe4ALVrjVCJJTlmEDs2vX_bL1hYEXO5GpLtaj600kzMAlUYzzeXBaYIjSE75j9oK1bfnmkyBYDi_0lHtMsgwp7593NB8qdTYb7zA6rZ7YV8a5wYbLNFhk_PRjnM/s1600/Keepcalm50k.jpg" height="200" width="171" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">You may not be allowed to type out a word of the novel itself before November 1<sup>st</sup>, but that doesn’t mean you can’t outline. Seriously, outline. The first piece of writing advice I always give my students is to lay out the plan for your novel. You’ve seen artists draw out a quick pencil sketch before they get to work, right? The same applies to writing. Write down your story arcs from start to finish, flesh out your characters, make sure you know exactly how your story’s going to end, even if it’s going to change later. You’ll feel much more inspired to write if you know exactly where you’re going. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. FIND SUPPORT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most wonderful part of NaNoWriMo is the community aspect. Participants help each other stay motivated thanks to <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/come-write-in"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">local write-ins</span></a>, support through<a href="http://nanowrimo.org/forums"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"> forums</span></a>, and <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">pep talks</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. IGNORE YOUR INNER EDITOR… FOR NOW</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisj2IZSIGx72YKbPNq7a5n-u9xhHcx7Y1X9gileDry88LLbmAH2MnLC4JY1rObKsxO4akRaqkKvm_zJYady0adZ1JO_9XTIbltIxOyKukqotx0Gsvkwr-LtSXpVKo6m6Ayt3B8d9VaoRA/s1600/novelistatwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisj2IZSIGx72YKbPNq7a5n-u9xhHcx7Y1X9gileDry88LLbmAH2MnLC4JY1rObKsxO4akRaqkKvm_zJYady0adZ1JO_9XTIbltIxOyKukqotx0Gsvkwr-LtSXpVKo6m6Ayt3B8d9VaoRA/s1600/novelistatwork.jpg" height="164" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">What you’re writing down now is not your final draft. It’s supposed to “suck”, to not make sense, to look like terrible writing. You’re going to edit this later, but you can’t edit anything unless you have a first draft, and since you’re on a time limit, you need to focus on getting to the finish line first. You’re much better off with 50,000 words to edit than 500 words of “perfect” writing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. EVEN IF YOU “LOSE” NANOWRIMO, YOU STILL WIN </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe you’re 1000 words away from the end on November 30<sup>th</sup>. Maybe you’re 25,000 words away. You know what? It doesn’t matter. Maybe you didn’t technically win, but you’ve got your novel started. Keep going into December. Keep going into January. Keep writing, and think about what you can do next year to make it to the end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You wrote, and that’s a hell of a lot more than other people can say. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5M25YpMJUhhZ5mBFWvj9fDkRy2yWdlXGVHeY-y_i9kSOZGF6P2Dh9edfBLffaghYfFiU4gEV48nPsyZ82XD01bQgTL2gqfKK85_yd89M-YNfKDEGkDXcw35Y7gF_bR8-Jn0sf7RujksE/s1600/newprofilemarie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5M25YpMJUhhZ5mBFWvj9fDkRy2yWdlXGVHeY-y_i9kSOZGF6P2Dh9edfBLffaghYfFiU4gEV48nPsyZ82XD01bQgTL2gqfKK85_yd89M-YNfKDEGkDXcw35Y7gF_bR8-Jn0sf7RujksE/s1600/newprofilemarie.jpg" height="200" width="174" /></a><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and dressing up her kids like Ninja Turtles.</span></i></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-69799405650804913642014-11-16T15:08:00.001-05:002014-11-16T15:08:24.712-05:00Games for Travelers<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">GAMES FOR TRAVELERS (IN TIME AND SPACE)</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So you have travelled to a far off country, or maybe just to next province, and you have some time to kill while waiting for your connecting flight. Maybe you are on a business trip with some colleagues, and need something fun, and light to do in the middle of conference meetings. Or maybe that darned weather man said it would be beautiful tropical sun, but instead you got two days of utter downpour. Well traditionally you would go to a local bar, or read a book (or five), that you packed along for just such an occasion, but those tried and true methods can sometimes get redundant. Well they are other geeky ways you can spend your time with some nice light travel games.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest thing about travelling, and bringing your own entertainment is packing light. You don’t want to be lugging around a bulky box, nor do you necessarily want a game that takes so long to set up you are just done unpacking it when the announcement for your flight boarding comes over the loudspeaker. Well don’t worry, there are quite a few games that travel well; from light hearted and speedy, to thematic, and slightly deeper strategy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">DICE GAMES</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dice Games are the most portable; there is no worry of pieces blowing in the wind. The other great thing about dice games is most of them play for two people, upwards to as many as you can fit in a room. The most well know would be <b>Zombie Dice</b>. You are a zombie trying to eat the most brains before being blown away by the humans escaping your clutches. <b>Martian Dice</b> is another where you are a Martian abducting various creatures: human, livestock, etc. and you are trying to beat other Martians (your opponents) to get the most points from your abductions. <b>Chupacabra</b> is another, sensing a theme here anyone? In this one you are the goat sucker, trying to suck the blood out of local livestock, and be the most successful chupacabra by stealing other chupies livestock.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">CARD GAMES</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4ha4eoYjJKjv_b3Gm149lZA1D05PgxoHMg_8iCfGQv1oIw8tc2N3TegU0Obl8HGg96DmCjgERAN5jF_ebzbALOxBd-r6Wu2R0zvh2uEF8u5ykz1TQYm7b0Wpnmn2bbssfIhdX9ZKrS8/s1600/gloom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4ha4eoYjJKjv_b3Gm149lZA1D05PgxoHMg_8iCfGQv1oIw8tc2N3TegU0Obl8HGg96DmCjgERAN5jF_ebzbALOxBd-r6Wu2R0zvh2uEF8u5ykz1TQYm7b0Wpnmn2bbssfIhdX9ZKrS8/s1600/gloom.jpg" height="162" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Card games have come a long way from the traditional Euchre, and 500. Those are still good fun games but if you are looking for something new, there is certainly lots to choose from. <b>Gloom</b> plays two people but gets a lot more interesting with more and can play up to four, more with expansions. You are in control of a family and you are trying to give them the worst life possible, and kill them off when they are down as far as they could be. Keeping in mind you opponents are trying to do the same with their family and thus may play cards on your guys to make them have a happy, and fulfilling life. <b>Hanabi</b> is a cooperative game that plays up to four people. You are trying to put on the most fantastic fireworks display. The trick is, you don’t get to see your cards but everyone else does; so you are trying to give the best information to your team mates before they play a card. Being careful not to set your display off too early and losing the game. <b>Munchkin</b>, plays 3-6; although I have played it just two people and works pretty good. There are more cards in this game but it travels light in its own skinny box. A very tongue in cheek game where you are all dungeon crawlers, trying to get to level ten by defeating monsters, all the while pilfering rooms, and amassing treasure you can use. Additionally this game has many expansions in almost every geeky theme, so you are sure to find something that you like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">BOARD-ISH GAMES </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is a board-ish game? Well something that doesn’t fit in the above categories exactly but isn’t weighed down by a big… well, board and tons of pieces. Starting us off is <b>Six</b>. Solely a two person game where you are trying to create one of the three distinct winning patterns by placing an individual hexagonal tile each turn against your opponent; a simple mechanic with loads of strategic fun. <b>Dungeon Roll</b>, comes in a box shaped like a small treasure chest. You are a character trying to get the most victory points after three rounds. You are dice rolling to defeat monster dice, with the number of monsters depending equaling to the level of the dungeon you are exploring. You can stop at any level to guarantee you don’t lose all your possible points but there are only three rounds to accumulate the most and win so sometimes you may have to press your luck. <b>Love Letter</b> comes in a small velvet bag so travels well. You are a member of the royal court trying to get your love letter to the princess before the other suitors. A game of deduction, and luck meant for two to four players that fits in your pocket. <b>The Resistance</b>, a bluffing game that is best suited for more and plays up to ten players. There is an Arthurian themed version, <b>Avalon</b> as well. You are the good guys, maybe. There are one or more traitors amongst your group, and you need to complete missions all the while finding the traitors in your midst; who are hell bent on foiling your missions and winning by making you lose. Last but not least, <b>King of Tokyo</b> is a fun game of monster on monster destruction, for two to six players. A dice game, but with a tiny board of Tokyo. Monster(s) in Tokyo attack monsters outside and vice versa. Be the last monster standing, or the first to twenty victory points wins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So when you are packing for that weekend conference, or looking at an extended stay in the Caribbean make sure to grab a game or two for a change of pace on your regular down time activities. Game on!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTJ_8Kg942X35VvmcIxv7e31bNd6pYyoGDZ4te0GDcHZSVrvKxHYa6Io7KxqNq14Ij3QCYcDmHrE2K0YqTO-sa2Qz4lRmXsQ1HHZL-RbJVvQFoMu6WKHjtkQuSRmFlQGF_3Vfr0SU5Pg/s1600/Bio+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTJ_8Kg942X35VvmcIxv7e31bNd6pYyoGDZ4te0GDcHZSVrvKxHYa6Io7KxqNq14Ij3QCYcDmHrE2K0YqTO-sa2Qz4lRmXsQ1HHZL-RbJVvQFoMu6WKHjtkQuSRmFlQGF_3Vfr0SU5Pg/s1600/Bio+pic.jpg" height="200" width="143" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;">Married, with four fur babies, Tracy has recently rediscovered her love of board games, and has acquired a wonderful collection. Being new to writing, it is just one more newly discovered world she is exploring. At the age of 37, Tracy now proudly shows off her geekiness, through her love of crafting and creating; well, at least until she defeats Ganon with the master sword, she finds the blue crystal staff, or the TARDIS shows up on her front doorstep.</span>Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-25273382403414080742014-11-06T19:22:00.000-05:002014-11-08T17:12:09.428-05:00Geeks are Sexy! Meet Three Nerdlesque Performers<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">
GEEKS ARE SEXY! MEET THREE NERDLESQUE PERFORMERS</div>
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<i>By Angela Hartwick</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Burlesque, as in the cabaret-style stripteases of the late 19th century, has made a revival in the last few decades. As opposed to common modern stripteasing, burlesque focuses on creativity, self-expression, it can be funny or political, and its audience is mostly female. Burlesque and geekdom have teamed up so many times that “nerdlesque” is now a subgenre and, Ottawa, being a geeky hub, is seeing it thrive. I only recently heard of nerdlesque and I’m fascinated at how it redresses the stereotype our community has of being socially-awkward basement-dwellers and instead brings us together in a glittery show of confidence, allure, artistry and winsome tassels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I wanted to learn more about it and these three local(ish) performers were lovely enough to virtually speak with me. Read on for their insights into the business.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">LADY GALLIFREYA </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">WITH BROWNCOATS BURLESQUE (OTTAWA)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credits: Victor S. DeVice</span></span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your geeky interests? </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sci-fi is definitely at the top of my geek list. I’m a big fan of Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Stargate and the Mass Effect series. I also enjoy a good dose of fantasy, which I watch and read. Oh, and I cosplay so hard (I won Best in Show at the Ottawa Comiccon Masquerade 2014)</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">How did you first discover burlesque? </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was less of a discovery and more of a crazy random happenstance. About a year and a half ago, I was complaining to one of the temps at work about how much I missed performing. She suggested I try burlesque (she herself moonlighted as local dancer Bibi Bourgeon), because it’s a fantastically inclusive community and a great way to perform.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">She also explained, after seeing my horrified expression at the idea of stripping, that you strip down to what’s comfortable, no more (or less?). That stuck in my brain, so when I stumbled across a documentary on TV about burlesque, and they mentioned “nerdlesque”, I raced to my computer to look it up. Lo and behold! Ottawa had a nerdlesque troupe! Now THAT was something I could get into! So I contacted Ottawa’s Browncoats Burlesque, created a routine, and ended up being accepted into their ranks. Now, I aim to misbehave! ;)</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do you enjoy most about performing? Are there any downsides? </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love the adrenaline rush of being on stage in front of an audience. I’ve never been one for excessive drinking, thrill sports, and I’ve never done drugs, but I can’t imagine them being any better than the high you feel when performing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And being able to fly my geek flag while performing is doubly pleasurable!! The downside is that creating a routine takes a lot of time, energy and money, which are not always easily available when you have a full-time job. Still...it’s worth it.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tell us about your favourite past geeky-themed performance. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My most recent act has become my favourite actually! I teamed up with Jasper Cox (a fellow Browncoat troupe member) to do Zydrate Anatomy from “Repo: The Genetic Opera.” I spent a whole day hot-gluing sequins to a black bra and corset to look like Amber Sweet’s getup from </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">that scene in the film, and added a black wig, high boots, and pasties in a bright Zydrate-blue. I even borrowed a black leather whip from a friend. It was part burlesque, part lip-sync re-enactment, and ALL sexy. I loved it! I still have a soft spot in my heart for my very first routine, though, which was a tribute to Zoe from Firefly to Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory” (the photo I sent is from this routine). I’m still proud of my Serenity pasties, ha ha!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>When are you performing next and where on social media can fans follow you?</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My next official performance is Browncoats Burlesque’s annual “GeeKISSexy” show in January 2015, but I will probably end up slipping into another show or two before then. Different troupe members frequently guest in other troupe’s shows because we love to mingle! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Interweb links:</i> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/LadyGallifreya"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204);">https://www.facebook.com/#!/LadyGallifreya</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter: @Lady_Gallifreya </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also by liking Browncoats Burlesque, you can learn about our upcoming shows (in which I frequently perform)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/BrowncoatsBurlesque"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204);">https://www.facebook.com/#!/BrowncoatsBurlesque</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter: @BrowncoatsBurly </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Website: <a href="http://www.browncoatsburlesque.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204);">http://www.browncoatsburlesque.com</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">RHAPSODY BLUE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">WITH ROCKALILY BURLESQUE (OTTAWA)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEZNOlxvRwhhabYkbrnHuFpJlLLjLWI2DNrEqOQ6ibTcWqYzkziXDpmQMOYh7izs2XH4RGcXzSlVHW39ujwvwrZ4iY5qzVWFEke8Yi24eSGEPrbAisr3arkaOnxWgx-B0AM3tiX0YF4g/s1600/Rhapsody+Blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEZNOlxvRwhhabYkbrnHuFpJlLLjLWI2DNrEqOQ6ibTcWqYzkziXDpmQMOYh7izs2XH4RGcXzSlVHW39ujwvwrZ4iY5qzVWFEke8Yi24eSGEPrbAisr3arkaOnxWgx-B0AM3tiX0YF4g/s1600/Rhapsody+Blue.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credits: Darren Boucher</span></span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your geeky interests?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am mostly interested in games and literature. I play tabletop RPGs with friends (our current campaign is about the Roman conquest of Britain) and occasionally GM as well. On the video game front I am fairly casual, preferring horror games and Twine games with a staunch enthusiasm for Guild Wars 2 on the side. I studied English Literature for my undergrad and I am an avid reader—mostly of mystery, horror and fantasy. Few places make me happier than a library. I enjoy webcomics a great deal, and have been following <i>Questionable Content</i> and <i>Gunnerkrigg Court</i> for so many years that I almost feel like the characters are personal friends of mine. I like conventional comics, but I only keep current with <i>Mouse Guard</i> and <i>Saga</i>. Anime is also a cherished guilty pleasure of mine. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">How did you first discover burlesque?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I attended my first burlesque show after reading about it in an Apartment 613 blog post in 2009, and began performing in early 2010. I got my start through Rockalily's Burlesque Idol in 2010, which was a fundraiser for breast cancer research that ended up jump-starting not only my own burlesque career but also those of Lana Lovecakes, Bessie Mae Mucho, Del Roba and Kicky Laroux. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do you enjoy most about performing? Are there any downsides?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I enjoy interacting with audiences and sharing my passion and physicality with appreciative observers. I'm also a fire artist and I love exploring the movement of flames. I like that burlesque can be funny, challenging and creative, which are not characteristics immediately associated with sexiness in mainstream culture. It's a very personal art form and every performer brings something different to the table; even within Ottawa there is an enormous breadth of style and skill, and no single show or artist could be representative of burlesque at large. There are downsides to every industry, but most problems in the burlesque industry are reflections of problems within our wider culture: racism, sexism, fatphobia, ableism, classism and other various oppressions. We also encounter the same challenges of all performing arts and live theatre, so it always means a lot to me that people spend their hard-earned cash to attend our shows. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tell us about your favourite past geeky-themed performance.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's hard to pick a favourite! I definitely have a soft spot for my interpretation of Amon from <i>Legend of Korra</i>, because it sort of brought my headcanon to life: at the start of the series, I had initially hoped that Amon would be revealed to be a woman. Obviously the mask is central to that costume, but my favourite element is actually the pasties; I made them from plaster and hand-painted the symbol of the Equalists on them, for a "revolutionary propaganda poster" look. For music, I used a custom mix of music and dialogue from the show with "Uprising" by Muse. I also really enjoy my Carnage number, and my portrayal of Shinobu from <i>Bakemonogatari</i> was a geeky thrill. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">When are you performing next and where on social media can fans follow you?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On December 5 I will be at the National Arts Centre, as part of a spectacular vaudeville variety show co-produced by Stanley Mansfield, Critical Miss and Retro Joad. I am particularly excited because I think I may be the first burlesque performer to grace an NAC stage, and I'm also performing to live accompaniment courtesy of my Rockalily sister Sorry Sinatra. There will be cabaret, opera, hula hooping, magic, comedy and more! Tickets are available at the Comic Book Shoppe. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Interweb links: </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 25, 35); color: #141923;">Facebook: </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rhapsodyblueburlesque"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 104, 207); color: #0068cf;">https://www.facebook.com/rhapsodyblueburlesque</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">Instagram:</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"> <a href="http://instagram.com/rhapsodyburlesque/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 104, 207); color: #0068cf;">http://instagram.com/rhapsodyburlesque/</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueBurlesque"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 104, 207);">https://twitter.com/BlueBurlesque</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 25, 35); color: #141923;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MySpace: <a href="https://myspace.com/rhapsody.blue"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204); color: #1255cc;">https://myspace.com/rhapsody.blue</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My food tumblr: <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/blueplatespecials"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 104, 207); color: #0068cf;">https://www.tumblr.com/blog/blueplatespecials</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My cats tumblr: <a href="http://kittumblr.tumblr.com/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 104, 207); color: #0068cf;">http://kittumblr.tumblr.com/</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">DELICIA PASTICHE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">WITH NERD GIRL BURLESQUE (TORONTO)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credits: Photolena</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>What are your geeky interests?</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have all sorts of geeky interests, I like to think of myself as a well-rounded, and nicely curved, nerd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I began playing Dungeons and Dragons when I was 12 and have kept up with role-playing games as much as I can as an adult. I generally get to play more board games now, but I still join campaigns that will have me! I've taken this love and merged it with burlesque by producing a monthly show with my troupe, Nerd Girl Burlesque, called <i>Tassels and Tabletop</i>, where the audience watches an hour-long burlesque show, then enjoys a board game social with the performers afterwards. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm very much into video games, with RPGs and FPSs being my favourite genres. I love most things made by Valve (I haven't even given up hope on Half-Life 3), as well as the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series. I also play more casually on my 3DSXL. My thesis work for my Masters centres around gender and sexuality as presented in modern North American video games. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a kid, I used to have to make my dad drive me to the comic book store, because we lived in Hamilton and there wasn't one within walking distance. Now, I live under a ten minute walk from that same store's newest Toronto location, and I can get my fix along with a tea latte! I read everything from indies to superhero books. My favourite titles are Fables, Chew,and Batwoman. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't want to bore you with too many details, so an abbreviated list of fandoms that have my heart includes Sherlock, Buffy, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Tolkien, and Hannibal. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">How did you first discover burlesque?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While it feels like burlesque has always been in my life, I know that isn't so! I saw my first show about seven years ago through some friends and was immediately hooked. I began attending shows, including the Toronto Burlesque Festival, and eventually began lessons with Coco Framboise. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do you enjoy most about performing? Are there any downsides?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I come from a performance background, and have always loved performing. Burlesque allows me creative control over nearly all aspects of my artistic expression. I get to choose the story I want to tell, the costume, the music, the choreography, and craft and explore my own vision, rather than conforming to someone else's. I can pick the characters I want to perform as, rather than waiting for the parts I desire to become available. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That said, I am only one person! My capabilities, and budget, only go so far. I may be able to dream up fantastical costumes and props, but ,without a team, I cannot build them. While many people imagine us to have teams of glamour minions at our service, most of the work of a burlesque dancer is done solo. I'm very lucky that I have a troupe and community around me to help me out when I'm in a costuming rut or at a loss for musical choice. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tell me about your favourite past geeky-themed performance.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Picking a favourite is incredibly difficult! One of them is my tribute to Sappho, the Ancient Greek lyrical poet. I was inspired by the call from local producer Scarlett LaFlamme for acts based on bad (or badass) women from history. As a queer history nerd, there was no one better I could think to base my act on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The act is set to an alternate version of <i>I Kissed a Girl. </i>I wear a (historically inaccurate) satin toga, a laurel leaf head piece, a blue underbust corset, and white rhinestoned g-string and bra. I also have a prop scroll with a bedazzled image of something very naughty and Sapphic on it and a very large ostrich feather quill pen, both of which are also used as costume pieces.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">When are you performing next and on where on social media can fans follow you?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fans in Toronto can next catch me at <i>The Night is Dark and Full of Tassels</i>, a <i>Game of Thrones</i> burlesque show on November 29 at the Great Hall, or the next day at a more intimate show at Cherry Cola's. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Interweb links:</span></i></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook:<a href="http://facebook.com/delicia.pastiche"><span style="color: black; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204);">facebook.com/delicia.pastiche</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter: @deliciapastiche</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Instagram: @heroofkvatch </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tumblr:<a href="http://deliciapastiche.tumblr.com/"><span style="color: black; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204);">deliciapastiche.tumblr.com</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Web: <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204);"><a href="http://www.nerdgirlburlesque.ca/">www.nerdgirlburlesque.ca</a></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPJ3aAkoLj6dL0LsLZAqBlB7gCsu0Y6IM-TbEXMAB0jjhGqTG05geRfQIZVvCBSWHHrGaoAw9jgo6o6Ym32X9uWvyaITBIozawbgD-hS3mtVJtWkE2peoWzPNvpxnlmxlBvgM3WBGfHI/s1600/Bio+picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPJ3aAkoLj6dL0LsLZAqBlB7gCsu0Y6IM-TbEXMAB0jjhGqTG05geRfQIZVvCBSWHHrGaoAw9jgo6o6Ym32X9uWvyaITBIozawbgD-hS3mtVJtWkE2peoWzPNvpxnlmxlBvgM3WBGfHI/s1600/Bio+picture.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Angela is a 30-something year old mom of three kids - a baby, a school-aged kid and a teenager – and a furbaby, living in Orleans with her geek soul mate husband. She studied English Literature and Social Work but took an unexpected turn somewhere and ended up working as a policy analyst for the feds. Hobbies include reading, playing boardgames and Magic: the Gathering, cooking healthy foods, blogging, and discussing favourite tv shows and movies. She is the proud organizer of the Ottawa Geek Social Club, which strives to provide meetup opportunities that reflect the many facets of geekdom and beyond! www.ogsc.ca.</span></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-82667212393355748122014-11-04T19:42:00.003-05:002014-11-04T19:42:55.079-05:00Board Game Lunch Club<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR COWORKERS THROUGH GAMING</div>
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<i>By Sandi Moser</i></div>
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Last winter, I overheard an animated discussion over a Friday lunch in a closed boardroom at work. Things don’t usually get animated in my neck of the woods, particularly over lunchtime, so my interest was piqued. When the boardroom opened at the end of lunch and a group of coworkers emerged with Settlers of Catan, I was shocked. Colleagues were playing a board game right beside me and I didn’t know about it!</div>
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That afternoon, after casually asking a colleague, I learned of the existence of a group of likeminded individuals who get together periodically to play board games over lunch. I personally don’t like Settlers, but if there’s a game to be had rather than eating at my desk, I want in! I quickly secured my invitation.</div>
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In the months since that first encounter, I've joined my coworkers every second Friday for a fun-filled board game lunch. Playing games has been a great opportunity to see my colleagues in a different light. It has provided a chance to bond with colleagues with whom I don't often get to interact.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJLzv22zbNVqLZ4VuNf307XjK9qhyphenhyphenCInbCG1eDkS6l3aoTOZHuPskFGsypWozKaSsfxBd8tJSwX2g1ouqqWDcMRQdgsCk-uWoo7O1T4-OntXkj0XiDHPUzygX8jlHD3A6AhMYirGRDPQ/s1600/Picture+-+Board+Game+Lunch+-+Carcassonne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJLzv22zbNVqLZ4VuNf307XjK9qhyphenhyphenCInbCG1eDkS6l3aoTOZHuPskFGsypWozKaSsfxBd8tJSwX2g1ouqqWDcMRQdgsCk-uWoo7O1T4-OntXkj0XiDHPUzygX8jlHD3A6AhMYirGRDPQ/s1600/Picture+-+Board+Game+Lunch+-+Carcassonne.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
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During those lunchtime game sessions, we've also inadvertently learned things about each other that help us work together professionally. For example, in teaching each other new games, we’ve learned some of our preferred learning methods. In playing the games, we’ve learned how we think strategically. I've been surprised to see just how competitive some coworkers can be, and who can trash talk with the best of them (which may come in handy professionally one day, you never know). I work in a bilingual environment, so it has also gives a fun opportunity to practice my second language on occasion.</div>
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A side bonus to our board game lunch crew is exposure to new games (thank you M for introducing me to Zeppelin Attack!). We take turns bringing in our favorite games, providing opportunities to test drive new games.</div>
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A couple of things to think about if you want to start your own board game lunch at work:</div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>Choose a location that will cause the least disturbance to other co-workers. In our case, we book a low-traffic boardroom.</li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>Be flexible with everyone's work schedules and the use of the boardroom if someone else needs it for business purposes - work should still come first.</li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>While it is a social activity, continue to be somewhat professional (ie, watch your language). Essentially, remember you are still at work and need to interact with your coworkers when the game is done.</li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>Focus on games that can be completed in 30-45 minutes, or that can be modified to be completed early. Carcasonne is a good choice, since it can be ended at any time.</li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"></span>As with any board game session, keep the ability of the group in mind when choosing a game. For example, working in a bilingual group, try not to choose games like Dominion that require players to be constantly reading English instructions on the cards as they're played.</li>
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If you’re looking for a new way to get to know your coworkers, consider starting your own Board Game Lunch. You may be surprised how much you learn about each other.</div>
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<i>Sandi is a 30-something environmental engineer and mother of two from the metropolis of Stittsville, Ontario. In her spare time, Sandi enjoys playing board and video games, reading books, watching movies, and crocheting. She looks forward to sharing her geeky endeavours with you, as well as reporting on the next generation’s response to those endeavours.</i></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-8761637497362777462014-10-28T19:52:00.000-04:002014-10-28T19:52:11.637-04:00Games For Two<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">GAMES FOR TWO</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Tracy Thillmann</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many people think that board games are for parties, or big groups, so often stay away from them when there are just two of you. Not so, in fact many games nowadays play well with two people, and some even have a single person option. So if you are a pair of roommates, a young duo, or a couple of empty nesters looking for something new and social to do together, well look no further than today’s modern board games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most games can play two people, but often they have a variant, or are ‘more optimal’ with 3-4 people. Rulebooks can sometimes be short novels so learning a new game, and then learning a variant as well is a bit daunting. So where do you begin, you ask? Look no further than right here; a compiled list of some of the games that work great for two players as well as when you have more company, and also how they work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">TICKET TO RIDE</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiryAFr9R8gDoHF7er2A2L0gYgMwcDld5vXoRPAT4nKM1qwEGNgtzujVyfSr27lbMrc_0XRlgbzDfRraQPNT5Z85pQpD0VSHjGi-JAS-ZU40fwRiBdLl2huuNo54RandF6VV0m51n3CqUg/s1600/61dDQUfhuvL._SX300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiryAFr9R8gDoHF7er2A2L0gYgMwcDld5vXoRPAT4nKM1qwEGNgtzujVyfSr27lbMrc_0XRlgbzDfRraQPNT5Z85pQpD0VSHjGi-JAS-ZU40fwRiBdLl2huuNo54RandF6VV0m51n3CqUg/s1600/61dDQUfhuvL._SX300_.jpg" height="199" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who doesn’t love trains? Well okay, maybe not to the point of Sheldon-esque proportions but most everyone understands the concept of trains. And admit it; you love trains just a little. Ticket to Ride is a beautiful game with easy to pick up rules.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The goal: To lay out your train tokens, and complete destination tickets. By collecting cards of certain colours, you play the cards to complete routes that help you finish your tickets. The game ends when a person gets down to two trains, then there is one last round for everyone to complete tickets. You can always collect more destination tickets to earn more points at the end of the game, but beware, any tickets you don’t complete count against your score.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The great thing about this game is the different maps you can buy, some are base games, and some are expansion maps that need the trains/cards from the base set, but play on their own. They all play well with two and some can play up to 5 so great when you do have company.</span></div>
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CARCASSONNE</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A tile based, worker placement game that has a nice, simple base set with many expansions to change up the strategy. You draw individual tiles and place them to build roads, towns, monasteries, and farms. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU5oZ2tzhXd5TWE1GTvXOzs-gzM-_cY0tFtW-InrEj7rN72gyc2_M07LVb885MhXg74Dm5aAUU6LvWf4leIVgotdhxFXmdU5HkP4GLe3iKr4cSQTzjf9XXU3syBdkyzt8K80SOVBsL0E/s1600/Carcassonne-meeple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU5oZ2tzhXd5TWE1GTvXOzs-gzM-_cY0tFtW-InrEj7rN72gyc2_M07LVb885MhXg74Dm5aAUU6LvWf4leIVgotdhxFXmdU5HkP4GLe3iKr4cSQTzjf9XXU3syBdkyzt8K80SOVBsL0E/s1600/Carcassonne-meeple.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Goal: You place tiles to fit the existing placed tiles on your turn, and then you can choose to place your Meeples (wooden workers) on that new tile to take control of one the four choices that may be on it. With exception of the farms, your Meeples return to you once the project is finished. You score points for the length of road, the size of the town, the monastery being surrounded by tiles. The farmers stay on the farms until the end of game scoring so the trick is to make sure you don’t place too many farmers down or you won’t have Meeples to place to score points throughout the game. The game ends when the last tile is placed, and final scoring begins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a fantastic, gateway game that is often one of the ones that people first play when getting into modern board games. It plays quite well with two, and can play up to five people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">VIVA JAVA: THE DICE GAME</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_l9-qo-CRBuu-4ldl84AzLJFxPADIbzE-KyGWUdDHNuiASk8HQzHJl9PNw4igKS2ylOpgcrGdpA1PeII4bwN2wkU_Rus19WzYaHvFwlJZNVqSIKC4g6LBHkBnqe47Co01CKrvDm5BDI/s1600/DSC_1118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_l9-qo-CRBuu-4ldl84AzLJFxPADIbzE-KyGWUdDHNuiASk8HQzHJl9PNw4igKS2ylOpgcrGdpA1PeII4bwN2wkU_Rus19WzYaHvFwlJZNVqSIKC4g6LBHkBnqe47Co01CKrvDm5BDI/s1600/DSC_1118.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A dice game about coffee; Yes coffee! A simpler, more compact version of the original board game, you roll dice to make blends with the various coffee beans on the dice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Goal: You can strategize to pool your dice and make blends of different types of beans. Some allow for quicker points, some are an investment which gives you points over a few rounds. Your blends will degrade but with the right combination you can maximize greater points. The game ends when someone is the first to get to twenty-one points.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is nice and compact, so travels well. It can even play one person but plays better with two or more. The dice game can play up to five players; if you are feeling like a more involved game, the board game can play up to eight people, but isn’t as good for just two because there is some collaborating that goes on, and thus works best with four or more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">RIVALS FOR CATAN</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This game only plays two players but it is a fantastic game but has lots of playability. It is a territory</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN87pqKvAFY22uBkrnQ7Xl5Ky9fXcQsPnEdS5pHq36QcXyEK6hL69s9TK5zBwwAhO6qXVvUsPEgibWdTXqU9OJyVfPFL8MD8yzTJhJBDev0_go82QwI__1dpVIJ83FDYf0wO3LirjOHt4/s1600/DSC_1115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN87pqKvAFY22uBkrnQ7Xl5Ky9fXcQsPnEdS5pHq36QcXyEK6hL69s9TK5zBwwAhO6qXVvUsPEgibWdTXqU9OJyVfPFL8MD8yzTJhJBDev0_go82QwI__1dpVIJ83FDYf0wO3LirjOHt4/s1600/DSC_1115.JPG" height="228" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> building game that uses cards to create your own villages; which have resources, trades, and people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Goal: Starting with one village, two roads leading horizontally out of the village, and starting with six resources spaced above and below, you gather points through the various trades, buildings, and people that you purchase with the resources gathered. More villages being built, and upgrading villages to towns also get you points. The game ends with the first person to reach a certain fixed amount of points, the base game is to seven victory points, with expansions increasing the difficulty and the total points to end the game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This isn’t a game for more than two people, but it adds a different feel to the traditional Settlers game, and the base game has two expansions, plus there are two more than you can get to add on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Other games that can play well with two players: <i>Helios, Pillars of the Earth, Agricola, Blueprints, Gloom Smash Up.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With the massive amount of games out there nowadays, there is so many that can play just two people. In some cases there are variants to allow for the lower number of players. This may make some shy away from trying them, but once you have the basics down of certain styles of games you can pick up the basic rules, and add the modifications in quite easily. So when you are at home with just two of you, two words: board games!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;">Married, with four fur babies, Tracy has recently rediscovered her love of board games, and has acquired a wonderful collection. Being new to writing, it is just one more newly discovered world she is exploring. At the age of 37, Tracy now proudly shows off her geekiness, through her love of crafting and creating; well, at least until she defeats Ganon with the master sword, she finds the blue crystal staff, or the TARDIS shows up on her front doorstep.</span></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-65422315742235782662014-10-19T20:32:00.000-04:002014-10-19T20:32:22.132-04:00Labyrinth Through My AgesLABYRINTH THROUGH MY AGES<br />
By Angela Hartwick<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The 80s were an iconic time for family-friendly geeky films. Fandoms arose from The NeverEnding Story, Willow, Princess Bride, Dark Crystal, E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, Ghostbusters and My Neighbour Totoro among others. My personal favourite of the era is Labyrinth. In this article I’d like to share how my understanding of the plot of Labyrinth has evolved (in a similar manner to a crazy staircase) in the course of the almost three decades since its release. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG GIRL WHOSE STEPMOTHER ALWAYS MADE HER STAY HOME WITH THE BABY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">An array of supercool people worked on Labyrinth: it is directed by Jim Henson, executively produced by George Lucas, the initial script was drafted by Monty Python’s Terry Jones, and it stars David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. The plot consists of a 15 year old girl (Connelly) that, upset at babysitting her fussy baby brother, wishes goblins would come take him away. The goblins take the baby to a castle in the middle of an enchanted Labyrinth that is ruled by Jareth (Bowie). Sarah immediately regrets what she wished for and is given a limited amount of time to get to her brother to save him before he becomes a goblin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM IN THIS PLACE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was three years old when Labyrinth was released. I watched it repeatedly throughout my childhood without really knowing what was happening. My earliest recollections are that I thought Sarah was a bad-tempered princess, the goblin puppets were terrifying, the songs were the best pieces of music ever recorded, I should also have a dog named Merlin, and sometimes I thought Jareth was the villain and at other times a prince. It was probably the feeling there was more to the film that was the lure for frequently rewatching it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">THAT’S NOT FAIR! BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT IS.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As an older kid I identified with and looked up to Sarah. Her angst seemed perfectly legit and she was right on to complain about life not being fair! I thought she was smart to use lipstick to trace her steps, that she had the right answer to which door to choose (though now it sounds like circular logic), and I admired the way she spoke up against Jareth. I started to grasp some of the life lessons of the film, such as the importance of using the right words, and not taking things for granted. I understood that Jareth was mean and manipulative because he, you know, stole babies, trapped people in oubliettes and sent cleaners to squash them, but the psychological evil he inflicts (mind games, torture, threats, drugs) took me longer to concept.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">WHAT’S THE MATTER, MY DEAR, DON’T YOU LIKE YOUR TOYS?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a teenager I picked up on how Sarah gave up material things throughout her journey (bracelet, ring, everything she used to cherish in the junkyard scene). I started to see the film as a coming of age story in which Sarah becomes less selfish, less materialistic, and more maternal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But most importantly as a teenager, I noticed what is referred to as the Bowie Bulge. I won’t elaborate too much on this since there are Tumblr and Pinterest pages devoted to the fandom of the bulge itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">THE WAY FORWARD IS SOMETIMES THE WAY BACK</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a young adult Sarah’s bedroom became worthy of attention instead of just the boring part preceding the action: the Hoggle bookend, stuffies of the fieries, Sir Dydimus and Ludo, a wooden labyrinth game, a print resembling the cleaners, the ballerina music box playing “As the World Falls Down”, a goblin king sculpture on the dresser, the crazy stairs poster (Escher’s “Relativity”). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The books in Sarah’s room that I’m familiar with mirror her journey. <i>Where the Wild Things Are</i>, for example, is the story of a boy who, angry at his mother, goes into his room and imagines being transported to land of beasts until he decides to return (Toby’s striped pyjamas may be an ode to the monsters in Max’ world). There’s <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>, in which a girl enters a fantasy world, makes three friends who help her get to the location of a powerful being and then finding out she had the power to return home all along. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are aspects of Labyrinth I definitely didn’t catch until adulthood - the age difference between Sarah and Jareth, for example. When the film was shot Connelly was 14 and Bowie was 37. It’s a disturbing sexual subtext.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">SHE TREATS ME LIKE A WICKED STEPMOTHER IN A FAIRY STORY, NO MATTER WHAT I SAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a parent, the age difference between Sarah and Jareth, which I had never paid attention to, has become a disturbing sexual subtext difficult to overlook. When the film was shot Connelly was 14 and Bowie was 37. This makes me think of Freud. - in fact, <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/lorelei/labyanalysis.html"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(18, 85, 204); color: #1255cc;">one article</span></a> called Labyrinth “the most blatantly Freudian film in the history of the world.” I don’t know that I agree with the purely Freudian analysis of Labyrinth, but it is difficult to ignore all of the phallic and fertility symbols: the many obelisks, a ball that turns into a snake, a peach infested by a worm, groping hands, dismembered heads, bubble balls, cannon balls, glass balls, rock balls. If we return to strange and wonderful things found in Sarah’s room, the most interesting is probably the open scrapbook featuring her birth mother, an actress, who is pictured in several photos with a man none other than David Bowie. So if the Labyrinth is Sarah’s fantasy, the face of the older man obsessed with her is that of...her step-father?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I CAN’T LIVE WITHIN YOU</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nowadays my interpretation of the film is as fluid as ever. I see the entire film as an allegory. Jareth lives within Sarah as her impulsive darker side that is dying out while Toby represents her maternal side that becomes more pronounced. To this day I’m unsure who Sarah is referring to when she says “You have no power over me.” Her mother? Her emotions? Jareth? Men? Manipulative people? The darkness within herself? Luckily, the film is as enjoyable to watch in a straightforward manner as it is to dissect it and I’m still able to appreciate it that way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">EVERY NOW AND AGAIN IN MY LIFE - FOR NO REASON AT ALL - I NEED YOU. ALL OF YOU. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Inspiration for this article came from reading about the documentary <i>David Bowie Is</i> premiering at the Mayfair this month so check that out if you’re a Bowie fan. By pure coincidence, Labyrinth was recently trending due to false rumours of a sequel. If the news of it being a hoax disappointed you, I strongly recommend the little known <i>Return to Labyrinth</i> manga four-part series. The story takes place 13 years after the timeline of the movie and centers around an adolescent Toby. It brings back the characters we know and love/fear and also introduces new interesting ones. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Angela is a 30-something year old mom of three kids - a baby, a school-aged kid and a teenager – and a furbaby, living in Orleans with her geek soul mate husband. She studied English Literature and Social Work but took an unexpected turn somewhere and ended up working as a policy analyst for the feds. Hobbies include reading, playing boardgames and Magic: the Gathering, cooking healthy foods, blogging, and discussing favourite tv shows and movies. She is the proud organizer of the Ottawa Geek Social Club, which strives to provide meetup opportunities that reflect the many facets of geekdom and beyond! www.ogsc.ca.</span></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-15090149640590502062014-10-16T20:21:00.002-04:002014-10-16T20:21:51.879-04:00Geek Girl Guide to Halloween in Ottawa<div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>By Marie Victoria Robertson</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If you’re like me, you think of Halloween as more of a lifestyle than a holiday. For one month out of the year, I subsist on candy corn, conversation about who’s dressing up as what, and feasting my eyes on <a href="http://www.geeksraisinggeeks.com/geeky-pumpkin-carving-ideas/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">amazing, geek-themed pumpkins</span></a> (I once carved a Jack Skellington but it feels like I shamed my pumpkin in comparison to those. Sorry, pumpkin). If you want to party or keep it low-key with only one outing or two, here’s a list of fun Halloween things to keep you busy in Ottawa this month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SPOOK YOUR KIDS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For those with little spawns this Halloween, you can enjoy a family-friendly scare at <a href="http://www.saundersfarm.com/haunting/landing"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Saunders Farm</span></a> with their pumpkin patch and wagon rides (and do check out their Fright Night selections for those minus kids), learn about the Day of Dead (and the story behind sugar skulls) with Dora and Diego at the <a href="http://www.historymuseum.ca/event/hola-halloween-with-dora-and-diego/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Children’s Museum</span></a>, or take them to see Pumpkinferno, the beautiful display of hand-carved pumpkins at <a href="http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/index.cfm/en/activities/pumpkinferno/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Upper Canada Village</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HEROES & VILLAINS: “MADNESS AT THE ASYLUM”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Halloween season for the geek community is nothing without a stop at the annual <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/264974536960115/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Heroes & Villains party</span></a>. Don your best hero costume (or villain, they’re more fun) and head over to the Ottawa Curling Club on November 1</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>st</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> at 8:30pm. Check the Facebook group to find out where you can buy you tickets. There will be prizes for most awesomest costume, so work extra hard!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">EVENTS AT BILLINGS ESTATE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For those who might want a calmer spook experience, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/billingsestate"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Billings Estate National Historic Site</span></a> is hosting a few Halloween events such as offerings by the Ottawa StoryTellers on October 16, 17 and 18, and an Edwardian séance on October 26 and 27. Contact the Facebook group for more information and to reserve your spot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THE HAUNTED CARNIVAL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the mood for a night of Halloween glitz and glamour on October 31st? To quote the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1558554601034415/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Haunted Carnival’s</span></a> Facebook event page: “</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The event blends the excitement and elegance of a Hollywood Halloween spectacle - with the mystique and decor of travelling carnivals from the 19th Century.” The admission is a bit steep at $50 for students and $70 regular, but it sounds like quite the show!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The always-reliable <a href="http://www.hauntedwalk.com/ottawahalloween.php"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Haunted Walk of Ottawa</span></a> has a few special Halloween-themed walks, but the icing on the cake is the “Incident at the Bunker” tour, which takes place at the Diefenbunker every weekend until November 1st. Did you know some wacky experiments took place there a couple of decades ago? Go back in time and find out what was so terrifying! (Hint—it’s zombies). I tried out the tour the first year it started and let me tell you, it’s bloody fun to run from zombies in the bunker cafeteria, or to shoot them before they can get too close to your group—yes, with Nerf guns, but does it really matter? Zombies! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">CATCH THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW AT THE MAYFAIR THEATRE</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHuRhletufg3gX8A3rM3e__pGntoKNkxBT0hNognR60mtou59TLggWvV4snpRniHJpHuh06xiDgCwdtLBrtW8ZWZQj2Y0M79e-GqcoHR52qgaOeW533gRqQ5jk2Xsjz1xog8eGImWPx4/s1600/Rocky+Horror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHuRhletufg3gX8A3rM3e__pGntoKNkxBT0hNognR60mtou59TLggWvV4snpRniHJpHuh06xiDgCwdtLBrtW8ZWZQj2Y0M79e-GqcoHR52qgaOeW533gRqQ5jk2Xsjz1xog8eGImWPx4/s1600/Rocky+Horror.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If parties and zombies aren’t your things, you can always sit back, relax, and do the Time Warp again at the Mayfair Theatre, which will be showing <a href="http://mayfairtheatre.ca/movies/Rocky-Horror-Picture-Show-The/"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Rocky Horror Picture Show</span></a> Fridays and Saturdays starting October 24</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. Bring your popcorn, party hats, newspapers and water guns, and enjoy a stellar shadow cast (a live cast acting out the movie all around you) that will make you shiver with antici…..</span></span>pation</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">KEEP IT MELLOW</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9OMxEWAoUD6TlTFYKO6U83Y2IRygWw4Ki-R5IBqd4PvAF6t3dONQYzPKphH4KNW8gCbX3JE3cJmnxE2jae_r0e530biZd69LMfIFRty68PyhOqa8-ycWs3W2nP8C3wVMbTFENscbxwY/s1600/Books+of+Blood+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9OMxEWAoUD6TlTFYKO6U83Y2IRygWw4Ki-R5IBqd4PvAF6t3dONQYzPKphH4KNW8gCbX3JE3cJmnxE2jae_r0e530biZd69LMfIFRty68PyhOqa8-ycWs3W2nP8C3wVMbTFENscbxwY/s1600/Books+of+Blood+cover.jpg" height="200" width="127" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For those looking for a quiet night at home once the trick-or-treaters are gone, you can’t go wrong with a good scary movie. You can stick to a classic like <i>The Exorcist</i> (until you don’t mind the backwards crab-walk at all) or <i>Hellraiser</i> (if you ask me, Pinhead beats all other classic horror villains) or revisit a childhood classic like <i>Beetlejuice</i> or <i>Hocus Pocus</i> (I think Billy Butcherson the zombie was one of my first creepy childhood crushes). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For an even mellower night, get yourself some <a href="http://www.lush.ca/on/demandware.store/Sites-LushCA-Site/en_CA/Page-View?cid=halloween-landingpage-2014"><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Halloween-themed bath goodies from Lush</span></a> and grab a good book. May I propose <i>The Halloween Tree</i> by Ray Bradbury, <i>The Helllbound Heart</i> and <i>The Books of Blood</i> by Clive Barker, an old creepy classic like <i>The Horla</i> by Guy de Maupassant or a modern horror like <i>John Dies at the End</i> by David Wong?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Just remember to sleep with the lights on. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioczUrenv2U0jYDYVp2-wVLQwGuyYJE0bJf8Y0sEAboD3PdfS8SNLr0-mxSclqwqcnNOSJdvu9NEmL_zrIBGsbyBbj87-YUQq6078AFFY5Sb-2kYQe9fROj_tSwNbNsjW89A8O-wBIBy8/s1600/MarieVictoriaRobertson-profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioczUrenv2U0jYDYVp2-wVLQwGuyYJE0bJf8Y0sEAboD3PdfS8SNLr0-mxSclqwqcnNOSJdvu9NEmL_zrIBGsbyBbj87-YUQq6078AFFY5Sb-2kYQe9fROj_tSwNbNsjW89A8O-wBIBy8/s1600/MarieVictoriaRobertson-profile.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.</i></span></div>
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-42384840686370980582014-10-09T21:57:00.000-04:002014-10-09T21:57:15.575-04:00Fall Frosh: Forever, Selfie, The Flash<br />
FALL FROSH<br />
<i>By Courtney Lockhart</i><br />
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We are a few weeks into the new TV season and I'm already behind. I haven't seen <i>Gotham</i> or caught up with old friends like <i>Bones</i> or <i>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D </i> but that's what long weekends and random mid season breaks are for. However, I have managed to check out three of this year's freshman class. One was a sure bet confirmed, another a pleasant surprise, the third has potential but I'm reserving judgement.<br />
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SURE BET: THE FLASH<br />
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Barry Allen is a nerdy, clumsy, awkward forensics expert. That is, until the day he is struck by lighting caused by the STAR labs particle accelerator blowing up. He wakes up from a coma nine months later with killer abs, fast healing and super speed. With these new abilities will he become the hero he wants to be? <br />
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I've been counting down to premiere day since the first trailers came out. As a spin off from <i>Arrow</i> this show had a lot to live up to and it did. The new cast featuring familiar faces like Grant Gustin, Jesse L Martin, and Tom Cavanaugh gels well right from the start. The origin story wasn't rushed passed for the new people, nor did it drag on for the well-versed. The pilot sets up the possibility of good old fashioned 'bad guy of the week' stories alongside the larger story arcs. With excellent writing and a last scene twist that had me talking back to the television, I'm looking forward to seeing if lightning will strike twice for executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisburg.<br />
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PLEASANT SURPRISE: FOREVER<br />
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I checked this one out purely on a whim, and I have to say it was a very good whim. <i>Forever</i> follows the new rulebook of network cop shows: sensible police officer plus off-beat but brilliant expert solve crimes while trying not to flirt with each other too much for the first few seasons. However, as with most storytelling it is the nuances that make it unique. Dr Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) works in the New York medical examiner's office and is very good at his job. He strikes up a working partnership with Detective Jo Martinez (<span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">Alana De La Garza) thanks to his Sherlock Holmes worthy deduction abilities. But Henry has a secret- he's been alive over 200 years and can't die. </span><br />
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<span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">This is another show that thrives on good writing. The cases presented are interesting but it is the dialogue between Henry, Jo and the rest of the cast that charms viewers to keep watching. The first four episodes offer glimpses into Henry's past, particularly a lost love named Abigail who left Henry and their adopted son Abe (portrayed in modern times by Judd Hirsch) for reasons that have yet to be explained. There is also the promise of a Big Bad in the form of a mysterious caller who not only knows Henry's secret, but claims to have the same condition. There is a lot of potential in this series and I truly hope that ABC gives it the chance it deserves. </span><br />
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UNDECIDED: SELFIE<br />
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There were two things that peaked my interest in checking out this modern manners sitcom. The first is my inner theatre geek was intrigued by the idea of a Pygmalion/ My Fair Lady modernisation. The second, I adore Karen Gillan and wanted to support her. Gillan plays Eliza Dooley, a successful sales rep who realises she has thousands of online followers, but no one to check on her when she gets food poisoning. She asks her company's new marketing and branding guru Henry, a delightfully bitter and grumpy John Cho, to help revamp her image and her life.<br />
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I'm not sure however that actor loyalty and a familiar premise will be enough for this show. The awkwardness and humour based on annoyance can be grating at times but on the plus side Cho and Gillan have great chemistry. If the show doesn't get on it's feet quickly it may not get a chance.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"><span style="line-height: 15.179999351501465px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat. She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/corastacy" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@corastacy</a>.</span></span></i><br />
<br />Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-43988931637159646952014-10-02T19:04:00.000-04:002014-10-02T19:04:11.337-04:00DC Comics, Sexism and Pyjamas: A Reflection<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">DC COMICS, SEXISM, AND PYJAMAS</span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>By Marie Victoria Robertson</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As some of you may know, one of my biggest frustrations related to the younger generation is gendered children’s toys. Every time I think that maybe we’ve done some progress, I walk through a toy store and overhear things like, “No son, those are girl toys. The boy section’s over here” and “I can’t like Transformers, I’m a girl”. I’ve nearly had to be physically restrained to keep from speaking up to the parents. I hate the idea of a baby doll somehow damaging a boy’s psyche just like I hate the idea of a Transformer being a sacred, boys-only thing. On the same note, I’m tired of finding little boys’ clothing with trucks and baseballs on them. When I tried to buy my son a pink shirt a while back, all I could find was frilled and bedazzled stuff I wouldn’t even let a hypothetical daughter wear. Enough already.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few days ago, the now-infamous “Score! Superman does it again!” and “Training to be Batman’s wife” DC T-shirts made the rounds. I saw them, I scoffed, and filed them under “Wow, comics disempowering its female characters and its female fans, big surprise.” And then I saw Target’s DC baby pajamas: a pink “I only date heroes” and a boyish-gray “Future man of steel”. Come on. I mean, <i>come on</i>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I get that a marketing department somewhere thought it was a cutesy idea for a girl’s outfit, and I’m willing to grant that maybe they weren’t thinking of the larger implications of this message, but that is exactly the problem. The idea that boys will grow up to the superheroes, and girls will grow up to hopefully marry a superhero, is so ingrained in our societal consciousness that no one gave it a second thought until the shirts and pyjamas hit the shelves. Never minding the fact that the grey pyjamas make no mention of boys in terms of relationships and sexuality, while the pink ones are doing nothing but that. Did I mention the baby pyjamas were meant for a three-month-old?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We need change in the comics industry, but take a look at what we’re doing. These pyjamas and shirts and toys are meant for the kids that are going to grow up to be the future creators, writers, artists, performers, etc. of superhero comics. We’re not even giving them the opportunity to make up their own minds about gender and society and how it all related to superheroes. We’re bombarding them, essentially from birth, with the message that girls are welcome in the comic book world, but only if they marry into it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why aren’t we telling our girls that they can totally grow up to be heroes? Why aren’t we telling our boys that power doesn’t equal masculinity, and that it’s okay to not be strong? If my son wants to grow up to marry Wonder Woman instead of being Superman, that’s just fine by me. Can we just let kids decide what they really like, and what they think is really important, instead of forcing them to repeat our mistakes? </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“But for goodness’ sake!” you might exclaim. “It’s just a kid’s outfit. Chill out. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.” Sure, and I won’t buy it, but the problem isn’t just with the pyjamas, or the T-shirts, or the next piece of clothing or toy or movie or advertisement that comes out with this same tired message—these are all the result of a mindset that still, in this day and age, encourages boys to grow up into men defined by their strength, and encourages girls to grow up into women defined by their relationships with these ever-so-strong men. A mindset that produces children’s clothing telling girls their value lies in their appearance and their ability to please men. A mindset that slaps pink pyjamas on a three-month-old girl that basically tells her, “You can’t be a hero, but at least you can date one.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The issue isn’t that the pink pyjamas exist. It’s that they exist as the only choice for girls. If you’re going to market a T-shirt or a pyjama that showcases who kids are going to grow up to date, at least have it go both ways. Give me Wonder Woman “scoring” Superman. Give me a powder-blue “Training to be Batwoman’s Husband” pyjama, ideally next to a pink “Training to be a superheroine” shirt. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And even better, put them next to “Training to be Batman’s Husband/Batwoman’s Wife.” </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioczUrenv2U0jYDYVp2-wVLQwGuyYJE0bJf8Y0sEAboD3PdfS8SNLr0-mxSclqwqcnNOSJdvu9NEmL_zrIBGsbyBbj87-YUQq6078AFFY5Sb-2kYQe9fROj_tSwNbNsjW89A8O-wBIBy8/s1600/MarieVictoriaRobertson-profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioczUrenv2U0jYDYVp2-wVLQwGuyYJE0bJf8Y0sEAboD3PdfS8SNLr0-mxSclqwqcnNOSJdvu9NEmL_zrIBGsbyBbj87-YUQq6078AFFY5Sb-2kYQe9fROj_tSwNbNsjW89A8O-wBIBy8/s1600/MarieVictoriaRobertson-profile.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.</span></i></span>Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-76958226380528816262014-09-28T20:22:00.003-04:002014-09-28T20:22:59.572-04:00Halloween Shopping Tips<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HALLOWEEN IS COMING: ARE YOU READY FOR THE FUN?</span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Toni Weri</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Halloween is just weeks away! Do you know what you are dressing up as?</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAG98txOfYjQRbUKd1dOWWjAEGmQW-iMCvIA78crlj3WlCxC_9l6RLRTPsp_5F2ONmjeEddxtsLvbTmJ-vDQb33I89RVRCqBZvX6rPNyXN3SXiHoyUZVY6k8hRN4D0evVP0GZXNGOWb9o/s1600/halloween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAG98txOfYjQRbUKd1dOWWjAEGmQW-iMCvIA78crlj3WlCxC_9l6RLRTPsp_5F2ONmjeEddxtsLvbTmJ-vDQb33I89RVRCqBZvX6rPNyXN3SXiHoyUZVY6k8hRN4D0evVP0GZXNGOWb9o/s1600/halloween.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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IN PERSON SHOPPING<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those of you that are looking for local stores, in Ottawa, <a href="http://www.1-800-costume.com/" target="_blank">Audrey’s Costume Castle</a> is my go-to for everything. They have various kinds of make-up, wigs, costumes and accessories all year round. They can even order pieces in for you as long as you give about 1-3 weeks for the order to come in. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcKJvzRoEK9jctCwMKi8jEfJ9IBG5fuQNafUy6g4X8_6uI-5TD0yKYy9luGNlIUWblYyKYFU-Ae8ZkJyq9xay5zffdYpeohxWTtSCTs3uoHCGTTbpmro5FAfjyHrDWpwVJ9DcbBYAvBE/s1600/halloween-craze-vancouver-masks.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcKJvzRoEK9jctCwMKi8jEfJ9IBG5fuQNafUy6g4X8_6uI-5TD0yKYy9luGNlIUWblYyKYFU-Ae8ZkJyq9xay5zffdYpeohxWTtSCTs3uoHCGTTbpmro5FAfjyHrDWpwVJ9DcbBYAvBE/s1600/halloween-craze-vancouver-masks.png" height="220" width="320" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For you do-it-yourself folks, <a href="http://www.valuevillage.com/" target="_blank">Value Village</a> is a great place to find pieces of clothing or fabric you can sew and alter. For example, I once used a vintage looking curtain to make a fun steampunk skirt. No one could tell it was once a curtain AND it only cost me $5.00 for the curtain panel.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.malabar.net/" target="_blank">Malabar</a> is another costume store in Ottawa (and Toronto). A bit pricey, but another stop to add to the list. I normally venture there to grab my makeup supplies and various accessories. The staff there are friendly and know their products well. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those of you that shop for wigs or corsets on eBay, my go-to stores are:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVF7bNyYtARUDBeDAd9tblH2-6Mrgl_EL9tDuXVD4T_Lvp0sT0GwPboqyGplPikyhO2sNv5bp4IbTKYnh_za1nq1l7CvaMgNYwI_a5ULKM7G7yNHAr5waiVQWy9tonRxzWL-8gJKY_tZM/s1600/$T2eC16d,!)0E9s37Hk7lBR3iOC%2Cdy!~~60_12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVF7bNyYtARUDBeDAd9tblH2-6Mrgl_EL9tDuXVD4T_Lvp0sT0GwPboqyGplPikyhO2sNv5bp4IbTKYnh_za1nq1l7CvaMgNYwI_a5ULKM7G7yNHAr5waiVQWy9tonRxzWL-8gJKY_tZM/s1600/$T2eC16d,!)0E9s37Hk7lBR3iOC%2Cdy!~~60_12.JPG" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://stores.ebay.ca/cosplayanimewigs/" target="_blank">Cosplay Anime Wigs</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://stores.ebay.ca/weddingchecklist/" target="_blank">Wedding Checklist</a> </span></span>(Please Note: These corsets will probably last about 5-6 wears, hence the price.)<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">In my experience, ordering a costume from<a href="http://www.spirithalloween.com/" target="_blank"> Spirit Halloween</a> has been troublesome. The site offers quite a few neat “online only” costumes, but I would be weary of the quality of the costume. Make sure you read the customer reviews and give about a month for the order to come in unless you pay the expedited shipping fee.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For some fun makeup tips and ideas, I found <a href="http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/news/beauty/2013/10/22/easy-halloween-makeup-tutorials-costume-ideas" target="_blank">this link</a> helpful and entertaining.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have a fun and geek-tacular Halloween!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXSNZXPvYpBBdldGVYZIrJBMD5DmCBzAQ9wYjiZ04tIZripqvNXFTZhEvKNZl8AKVdsgPTXdch4fy441uNNVe6gSyCNLGZwuLKblDtAXdAddrbQZlbxeHun90wgKT3TGqD3gcP2-iel0/s1600/biopic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXSNZXPvYpBBdldGVYZIrJBMD5DmCBzAQ9wYjiZ04tIZripqvNXFTZhEvKNZl8AKVdsgPTXdch4fy441uNNVe6gSyCNLGZwuLKblDtAXdAddrbQZlbxeHun90wgKT3TGqD3gcP2-iel0/s1600/biopic.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Toni Weri is a freelance artist and a proud member of the Rebel Legion. She is a geek of all trades, but her forte lies with anime, costuming, video games and Sci-Fi</span></i></span><br />
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<i>You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @ TONIGEEKGIRL</i></span></span><br />
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Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-48121806518190501812014-09-22T22:33:00.001-04:002014-09-22T22:33:23.008-04:00Why Youtube is Mad at Sam Pepper<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WHY YOUTUBE IS MAD AT SAM PEPPER<br /><i>
By Courtney Lockhart</i><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On an unsuspecting Sunday afternoon cruising Youtube and Tumblr, I saw something that bothered me. However, it was quickly followed by something that gave me hope.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3bhxXCkLdVIJMVvQy4nPVNbhJWNi0P0L062PHAaSxf6J9TT5xLbF4RoSdWTjsO_8df0_QyBoId5ZaY4qMryKeQHppDmTvioGxfhIkMZVeLfZ_U6cKkVosBV4DcldBVFjrM6L7abkna8/s1600/thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3bhxXCkLdVIJMVvQy4nPVNbhJWNi0P0L062PHAaSxf6J9TT5xLbF4RoSdWTjsO_8df0_QyBoId5ZaY4qMryKeQHppDmTvioGxfhIkMZVeLfZ_U6cKkVosBV4DcldBVFjrM6L7abkna8/s1600/thumb.jpg" height="166" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam Pepper</td></tr>
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Sam Pepper is a Youtube vlogger with over two million subscribers to his channel. He originally reached notoriety as a contestant on <i>Big Brother U.K</i>, however he is better known these days for his questionable prank videos. Past ‘pranks’ have included licking random strangers and trapping women with a lasso as a pick-up manoeuvre. This weekend Pepper uploaded a video where he proceeded to stuff his sweatshirt with a fake arm and pinch women’s bums with his real hand while they were distracted. People were quick to point out that this wasn’t a prank- this was assault. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">“We are really tired of people conflating 'offensive' with ‘edgy’." Julie Lalonde, director of <a href="http://ottawa.ihollaback.org/" target="_blank">Hollaback! Ottawa</a> lamented when asked about this particular brand of humour. “The idea that harassing women in public is somehow 'new' and 'cutting edge humour' is incredibly misguided. Harassment and sexual assault by strange men against women in public space is far too common for someone to make a profit from such ‘pranks.' It's not about needing to loosen up or not having a sense of humour. We love a good laugh and there is no shortage of amazing Youtube videos out there. Sam Pepper, and others like him, think they are performing edgy humour when in fact, they are perpetuating the same old tired tropes that make every women the punchline. It's tired, it's sexist and it's definitely not funny.”</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qZSrfuOvbNL-tWMScQym5AaX7W8es87gED_Z0fzVguXZO-cwVPMG-IQE1JcI8Z_bAnXd2E29BMdSKUj8Eu7KFCAvm38nEV62jcg3kxlRfu8_mZE-xhJKlezzXTb3aKLS9nrokB5rKeI/s1600/n-BUTT-GRABBING-JERK-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qZSrfuOvbNL-tWMScQym5AaX7W8es87gED_Z0fzVguXZO-cwVPMG-IQE1JcI8Z_bAnXd2E29BMdSKUj8Eu7KFCAvm38nEV62jcg3kxlRfu8_mZE-xhJKlezzXTb3aKLS9nrokB5rKeI/s1600/n-BUTT-GRABBING-JERK-large570.jpg" height="133" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Via Youtube</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Someone posting horrible things on the internet is nothing new. There is a whole section of the population that believes that is in fact the web’s primary purpose. What was different this time is that the protests and outrage on the video didn’t just come from the viewers, but from fellow Youtube creators. <br />
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Laci Green, host of <i>Sex +</i>, took to <a href="http://lacigreen.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> with an open letter demanding that Pepper take down the video. She asked Sam to “Please stop violating women and making them uncomfortable on the street <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GipdNSS2H1aiEDuDFx6l2ojiIbSD1QnXr3lePUiHyqoMQdb_9NODzIuDkd-P8MiI_DW9ISw6l_1iOce81KThvR-A3Jkgjb6et4PtR0jbtxjeZKe5TaGFq9TFyTsu0XNq0IDsxLU4_qU/s1600/o-LACI-GREEN-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GipdNSS2H1aiEDuDFx6l2ojiIbSD1QnXr3lePUiHyqoMQdb_9NODzIuDkd-P8MiI_DW9ISw6l_1iOce81KThvR-A3Jkgjb6et4PtR0jbtxjeZKe5TaGFq9TFyTsu0XNq0IDsxLU4_qU/s1600/o-LACI-GREEN-facebook.jpg" height="100" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laci Green</td></tr>
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for views. Please stop physically restraining them and pressuring them to be sexual when they are uncomfortable.” The letter was co-signed by over 60 prominent Youtubers including Wil Wheaton, John and Hank Green, Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig and Tyler Oakley. As a direct result of the video, Pepper’s planned appearance at Playlist Live! was cancelled. He’s will no longer appear on the Fine Brothers’ <i>Youtubers React</i> series, and has been banned from the two biggest Youtube gatherings on either side of the atlantic: Vidcon and Summer in the City. The video was eventually pulled after a massive campaign under the tag #reportsampepper</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ7Zmdu3Ay8ewUTq_BlmzIFbjfzSQVdEtxx3FT5cfiWAVYMOHcg5RLf8w_6q4CgMWWdU5pyzZHZ2FHSne2RpZlf8YWxBm2UnATW3xQkThJK_Rp0BMYipClsZqec7X98mdCCPcwV0kPF8/s1600/525.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ7Zmdu3Ay8ewUTq_BlmzIFbjfzSQVdEtxx3FT5cfiWAVYMOHcg5RLf8w_6q4CgMWWdU5pyzZHZ2FHSne2RpZlf8YWxBm2UnATW3xQkThJK_Rp0BMYipClsZqec7X98mdCCPcwV0kPF8/s1600/525.png" height="195" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Seeing the creative powers of YouTube take a stand made me incredibly happy. It proved that this serious issue is being given the consideration it deserves. It is one thing to see an audience up in arms about content but for his peers to do likewise elevates the whole discussion. The Youtube community prides itself on being safe and welcoming to everyone. Sam Pepper harassing and assaulting women put that in jeopardy. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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As for the man himself? This is his only statement so far: </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H65yTGHp1OkfH91n4ydIwW6FTu_6XaqfNjs40ay-l8Ct5ZQjdR-1ysODJKfSsoXGp3vj0aiOgrcFCpkUohJziZc5vRFO0PFkb4EDQPPNtN8CmP1wiCBKM1my4ReE7dGkQSkp5KmedBE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-H65yTGHp1OkfH91n4ydIwW6FTu_6XaqfNjs40ay-l8Ct5ZQjdR-1ysODJKfSsoXGp3vj0aiOgrcFCpkUohJziZc5vRFO0PFkb4EDQPPNtN8CmP1wiCBKM1my4ReE7dGkQSkp5KmedBE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" /></a><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"><span style="line-height: 15.179999351501465px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat. She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/corastacy" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@corastacy</a>.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-81607686350201112762014-09-21T21:46:00.000-04:002014-09-21T21:46:01.248-04:00Kill Shakespeare: A Geek Girl ReviewKILL SHAKESPEARE: A GEEK GIRL REVIEW<br />
<i>By Courtney Lockhart</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The weekend before last I attended Montreal Comiccon. While my main goal for the weekend was to </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: line-through;">stalk</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> meet Stephen Amell, I was also on the lookout for something new and exciting to recharge the nerd batteries. <br />
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While my primary goal was completed Saturday thanks to the Q&A, Photo Op and Meet and Greet opportunities, by Sunday afternoon I was starting to think my secondary goal was not going to be accomplished. There was tons of beautiful art and the vendors were well stocked with interesting wares, but I wasn’t getting that ‘zing’. I define the zing as that feeling where your radar has been pinged and you are now hyper-aware of the presence of something awesome. I was just about to turn to my con-buddy and tell him I was going to call it a day when I saw it:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4v01tdIvQsP5EsKYtAfGxAitULgLawSohyTelmbBkoFGkEA5i_q4kUuAqM9JPpparFt-qUPpl5ypLRUD6UEln0-qeRzGdgf0aWGX_CpO61-oob9DBrTUPUdJcPcsAERrPFj9ePQevMI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.28.51+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4v01tdIvQsP5EsKYtAfGxAitULgLawSohyTelmbBkoFGkEA5i_q4kUuAqM9JPpparFt-qUPpl5ypLRUD6UEln0-qeRzGdgf0aWGX_CpO61-oob9DBrTUPUdJcPcsAERrPFj9ePQevMI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.28.51+PM.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ZING!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This <a href="http://www.kt8merch.com/store/pages/15762" target="_blank">shirt</a> literally stopped me in my tracks. I’ve been a Shakespeare nut since I was about 12 years old. I spend more time at the movie theatre watching National Theatre Live performances than I do actual films and I was gifted a lovely Complete Works of Shakespeare from my aunt and uncle when I was in university. The shirt was so genius I didn’t even notice the rest of the table until the gentleman behind the table asked “Have you heard of Kill Shakespeare?” </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW8fEW_-SF932GXIA37WOb5IQ8q0iy3HS2WOhKSE_9wfuehqGhjolDjNb1lpto2kIYdsZRXXHxMryf90SGWuJE59mu1l-cS-_7WRXGAXTwLdzrB9_r2BK_QQ-BIKM32s4xTw2KaReYaQ/s1600/51LNmkhgSjL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW8fEW_-SF932GXIA37WOb5IQ8q0iy3HS2WOhKSE_9wfuehqGhjolDjNb1lpto2kIYdsZRXXHxMryf90SGWuJE59mu1l-cS-_7WRXGAXTwLdzrB9_r2BK_QQ-BIKM32s4xTw2KaReYaQ/s1600/51LNmkhgSjL.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That gentleman was Connor McCreery co-creator of the <a href="http://www.killshakespeare.com/index.html" target="_blank">Kill Shakespeare</a> comic series. He walked me through the basics: Hamlet is transported to a mythical land which is either cursed or protected, depending on what side of the argument you side with, by a wizard named Will Shakespeare. The lord of the land, Richard III wants Hamlet to find and kill the powerful wizard. However a rebellion, lead by Juliet Capulet, is calling Richard a tyrant and asking for Hamlet’s help to find Shakespeare and overthrow the king. The T-shirts were a tie-in and even more clever once you understood the context. I picked up the first volume of the graphic novel, <i>A Sea of Troubles, </i>and resolved to read it on the bus back to Ottawa. <br />
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You don’t have to be a Shakespeare fan to like this book. While there are winks, and references, the authors make sure that the uninitiated have enough information to not be lost. The story is epic in every sense of the word with twists and turns that keep the audiences guessing just as much as the characters. I honestly have no idea what will happen next and I love that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With great art by , well rounded characters and an excellent story I’m looking forward to picking up the next instalment. Of course by next instalment I mean everything that’s currently published. Once I pick it up I know I’m not going to want to put it down until it’s done. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OmWoBUXL3uf-GL1ziSvyZ-8HpiVvRKvJlaxrgHEWIKbSET6Bkb1FdpoWUCF-HhcdzJtqlGfdhOw6XyTj7dy377rAyFGLy3e2_F1bQN8Qnw9X8nNoMPsViyaQjknm1wVHqbbebj4Jq-I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OmWoBUXL3uf-GL1ziSvyZ-8HpiVvRKvJlaxrgHEWIKbSET6Bkb1FdpoWUCF-HhcdzJtqlGfdhOw6XyTj7dy377rAyFGLy3e2_F1bQN8Qnw9X8nNoMPsViyaQjknm1wVHqbbebj4Jq-I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-21+at+9.40.50+PM.png" /></a></div>
<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"><span style="line-height: 15.179999351501465px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Lockhart lives in the west end of Ottawa with her husband and step-cat. She is polishing her skills to pursue one of her dream careers as either a costume drama character, Torchwood operative or executive assistant to a billionaire vigilante. You can follow her daily mission to DFTBA on Twitter<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/corastacy" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@corastacy</a>.</span></span></i>Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-62220691733620028162014-09-18T11:40:00.000-04:002014-09-18T11:40:09.767-04:00Montreal Comiccon Highlights: 2014 <div class="MsoNormal">
<i>by Jordan Danger</i></div>
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<i>Photos by Chris Patten</i></div>
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<b>MONTREAL COMICCON 2014: HIGHLIGHTS</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stunning Bishop cosplay, and moi.</td></tr>
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This year I attended the <a href="http://www.montrealcomiccon.com/">Montreal ComicCon</a> once again. It’s
my third time at this con, and it shows no sign of slowing down. With
record-setting crowds this year, the con was packed—almost overwhelmingly so—and
the entire building was a-buzz with con goers. The Palais de Congres is such a
great venue because it offers extensive room to chill out, so the con floor
itself isn’t packed with people dragging their feet; indeed, the main mezzanine
is a great place to grab some amazing cosplay shots.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>COSPLAY FUN</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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And the cosplay was really the star of the show this con. I
estimate that 1 in 4 people seem to be dressed up in some fashion; certainly I
could turn in any direction at any point, and find somebody in a glorious
costume. I myself attended as Jet Girl (my cosplay that debuted at Ottawa
ComicCon this year) and enjoyed the thumbs-up and photo op requests from
attendees. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOakt5aFjaxMB3CUXOJrkF7f6TL9kPOo6vZCb6HhywrCtYxB3mivGSVc0_WLzHmRmyGgh21_aoYiaO_pRmiaRFs93J0dJ-06oUO4DF_jRobnIZ8GLFDkeKPwNcAuVSrwSi5EXPagkHH8/s1600/10670210_714981851922802_8013889656013857024_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOakt5aFjaxMB3CUXOJrkF7f6TL9kPOo6vZCb6HhywrCtYxB3mivGSVc0_WLzHmRmyGgh21_aoYiaO_pRmiaRFs93J0dJ-06oUO4DF_jRobnIZ8GLFDkeKPwNcAuVSrwSi5EXPagkHH8/s1600/10670210_714981851922802_8013889656013857024_n.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.714981115256209.1073741828.398077633613227&type=1" target="_blank">Click Here to see our full album of Montreal Comic Con Photos. </a></td></tr>
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Cosplay really is becoming a major part of conventions, and
I think this is wonderful. One can only attend so many cons before you’ve
bought all the merch you really need, attended all the panels you wanted to
hear, and gotten all the celebrity photos you can afford. After that, the cons
can get a little stale—take it from me, who has attended every con in the area
for a year straight. What doesn’t get old is the fans and the cosplay.</div>
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<b>HIDDEN GEMS IN ARTIST’S ALLEY</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Also infinitely enjoyable is Artist’s Alley. This
often-overlooked part of a con’s offerings was a busy place at MTL this year.
Many of the artists are repeats; for instance, I see <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/people/RonGuyatt" target="_blank">Ron + Indy </a>regularly, and
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/DoctorKyla" target="_blank">Dr Kyla’s Emporium</a> who makes the most wonderful crocheted characters, like my
Gorn who I glued to my hula girl legs on my dash and is now the famous
HulaGorn.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUS9U7c7AtjaKqQmSzJmVJ24mtznzsdMNPoD6ZUhOiOLFXj4EUUfCfYuuAGRQ7lnSfUmCWmw04N2WnDes2ay8LF7v8M8iMx4U4L5WXqfyPVNLWxe7NxBZJuhJJYKVIMawUPamSo9MAr7-k/s1600/hulagorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUS9U7c7AtjaKqQmSzJmVJ24mtznzsdMNPoD6ZUhOiOLFXj4EUUfCfYuuAGRQ7lnSfUmCWmw04N2WnDes2ay8LF7v8M8iMx4U4L5WXqfyPVNLWxe7NxBZJuhJJYKVIMawUPamSo9MAr7-k/s1600/hulagorn.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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What’s great about Artist’s Alley is that, even when you
chat with an artist you’ve already met, you get an update on their world and
their work. Of course, it’s also great fun to see people having custom sketches
done by industry giants like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-Geoffrey-Isherwood/113649502017281">Geof
Isherwood</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nick.bradshaw.39?fref=ts">Nick
Bradshaw</a>, two highly approachable and awesome comic book artist greats.
Over the course of many cons, Nick and I have become well acquainted (and I
have a sketch of Rogue on roller skates to prove it), and it can be a real
treat to chat with some of the men and women who bring our favourite characters
to life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me with Nick Bradshaw, Marvel's go-to guy</td></tr>
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It’s also great fun to discover younger talent and support
them with the purchase of a print or postcard. This year, <a href="http://amy-spaulding.tumblr.com/">Amy Spaulding</a> and <a href="http://www.deenaillustration.com/">Deena Pagliarello</a> get my vote for ‘best
in show’ with their very clever takes on iconic super women. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>A GOOD GEEKY TIME</b></div>
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We departed the con after a giant feast of sushi from the
Palais’ sushi place, then headed out, full of that bright happy geek energy you
can only find at a con. It’s such a joy to live in the ‘golden triangle’ and
have such easy access to everything Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto; if you haven’t
made the short trip down to Montreal for the con before, I heartily recommend
you hit it up next year!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Jordan Danger is a veteran blogger, writer, and marketing consultant based in Ottawa, Ontario. She is also President and Editor in Chief of CapitalGeekGirls.com. Jordan blogs at <a href="http://girlcrafted.com/" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;">GirlCrafted.com</a>, a lifestyle blog about crafting life both literally and figuratively. She loves DIY projects, her dog, and Oxford comma</i></div>
Jordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08556995407995220795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-60812875477941955572014-09-10T19:30:00.000-04:002014-09-10T19:30:00.846-04:00Montreal Comic-Con Preview<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MONTREAL COMIC-CON PREVIEW</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Angela Hartwick</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Welcome to the inner sanctum of my imaginary trip planning (coping mechanism for lack of spending money and free time). Today’s destination is Montreal ComicCon, taking place September 12-14 at Palais des congrès.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CELEBRITIES I MUST MEET</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3L-9NVMOA5NBAyPCBHN_31N-un8DZgxf01d9-_N2W_U45Uej5xjzmLNJ3d6JXkquJUUQgJkh5Lq-dqF1JassUvxIandLXjSNDs689MvSQYbF4_W2Am0dBkwOF1F50T4FsdQXYGDaXy0o/s1600/Billy_Boyd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3L-9NVMOA5NBAyPCBHN_31N-un8DZgxf01d9-_N2W_U45Uej5xjzmLNJ3d6JXkquJUUQgJkh5Lq-dqF1JassUvxIandLXjSNDs689MvSQYbF4_W2Am0dBkwOF1F50T4FsdQXYGDaXy0o/s1600/Billy_Boyd.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Only this year have I begun purchasing celebrity autographs in hopes to one day have an impressive Whedonverse collection (two down!). I like when conventions group celebrities from specific shows/films together. My main draws for Montreal would be to meet two actresses from my all-time favourite scifi series <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>:<i> </i>Katee Sackhoff (Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace) and Tricia Helfer (Cylon “Number Six”).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAj38hXFQL2yxV70C_XcGXVUwODP5D9UxFlEMKsLP51lPehsYDzqpskaeclY_L8SCGgcERGypJa7HJh8gd1N4lA-8WTZv8N_KcrCBCXvwnp5sslcuNQagW_mAww7yeCvyusHR8aDzEf4c/s1600/Karl-Urban-karl-urban-26304692-798-1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAj38hXFQL2yxV70C_XcGXVUwODP5D9UxFlEMKsLP51lPehsYDzqpskaeclY_L8SCGgcERGypJa7HJh8gd1N4lA-8WTZv8N_KcrCBCXvwnp5sslcuNQagW_mAww7yeCvyusHR8aDzEf4c/s1600/Karl-Urban-karl-urban-26304692-798-1200.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d also lineup to see the <i>Lord of the </i></span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Rings</i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> guys, Billy Boyd (Peregrin “Pippin” Took) and Karl Urban (Éomer). Karl was at the Ottawa ComicCon earlier this year didn’t interest me but Karl Urban and Billy Boyd is a different story. There’s something nostalgic about the release of </span><i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Lord of the Rings </i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">(can you believe it’s been 13 years?)…midnight showings were sold out, cinematics changed, and a new generation of Tolkienists were born.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Walking Dead</i> is my favourite on-air show and it’ll be represented by Guest of Honour Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon), along with as Emily Kinny (Beth Greene) and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (Bob Stookey).</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And finally, I’d see Daniel Glover (Sergeant Roger Murtaugh) from <i>Lethal Weapon</i>. I’d ask him to sign several copies of “I’m too old for this” - a frequently used catchphrase in my circle of friends - and turn them into birthday card crafts for loved ones.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CELEBRITIES YOU MUST MEET, MAYBE</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Star Trek: the New Generation</i> fans rejoice! Joining Guest of Honour Sir Patrick Stewart is: Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker), LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Worf), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Data), Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher), Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar), John DeLancie (Q). Too bad Wil Wheaton is skipping this one. See (almost) the whole gang together at <i>Star Trek: TNG - Engaged!</i> taking place Saturday, September 13th at 6pm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hulkamaniacs can attend <i>Hulk Hogan: Uncut, </i>where Guest of Honour Hulk Hogan will talk about his career and do a Q&A<i>.</i> Wrestling fans can also meet Trish Stratus, Amy Dumas, Jimmy Hart and Jake “the Snake” Roberts. I just finished reading Bret “Hitman” Hart’s autobiography which has caused mixed feelings regarding professional wrestling (especially in when linked to the McMahons)…but part of me wants to meet those formerly part of the WWF crew.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other Guests of Honour include Matt Smith from <i>Doctor Who</i> who will likely top my list in the future but at this time David Tennant is the most recent incarnation of the Doctor I’m familiar with. Whovians don’t forget tickets to <i>The Hour of the Doctor</i>, a 90-minute talk and Q&A by Matt Smith and a surprise guest.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Check out the full list of guests <a href="http://www.montrealcomiccon.com/en/our-guests/"><span style="color: #1255cc; letter-spacing: 0px;">here</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">OTHER ACTIVITIES</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition to the usual marvelous con features of celebrity Qs & As, autographs, photo ops, panels and workshops- all of which can be found in the guidebook smartphone app- exhibitors, artists, and cosplay, the weekend also boasts some extras.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There will be a Masquerade competition for cosplayers Saturday night and winner will be announced Sunday morning. Lovers of horror films and surprises can check out a double screening of <i>Night of the Living Dead</i> plus a surprise second film. <i>Serenity</i> and <i>Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog</i> will be screened for charity. There are no charity details on the con website, but the<a href="http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="color: #0433ff; letter-spacing: 0px;">official website</span></a> for <i>Can’t Stop Serenity</i>, the title of the screening, explains that the primary charitable recipient is <i>Equality Now</i> who advocate for international rights of girls and women.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Since in Quebec, check out the exclusive screening of a new <i>T</i></span><span style="color: #323333; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>ê</i></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>te A Claque</i> episode – a hit French-language comedy series composed of skits delivered by modelling clay characters – in which the human race needs protection from smartphones (farfetched concept, right?!).</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Best geeky wishes to all attending the convention. For the rest of us: t-10 weeks until Ottawa Pop Expo!</span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Angela is a 30-something year old mom of three kids - a baby, a school-aged kid and a teenager – and a furbaby, living in Orleans with her geek soul mate husband. She studied English Literature and Social Work but took an unexpected turn somewhere and ended up working as a policy analyst for the feds. Hobbies include reading, playing boardgames and Magic: the Gathering, cooking healthy foods, blogging, and discussing favourite tv shows and movies. She is the proud organizer of the Ottawa Geek Social Club, which strives to provide meetup opportunities that reflect the many facets of geekdom and beyond! www.ogsc.ca.</i></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-18104085280844426662014-09-09T19:30:00.000-04:002014-09-09T19:30:01.557-04:00Bikinis and Balancing Acts<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BIKINIS AND BALANCING ACTS<br /><i>
By Jordan Danger</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was a kid, I loved Hallowe’en. I grew up in a super geeky household, and costumes were a big deal. Mom made most of our costumes from scratch; later, when my brother and I got into specific genres, this task became a family effort. My brother was Mr Fantastic one year, complete with elongated arms that required an assistant for candy-carrying; I was Rogue one year, and hand-painted my own white streak into my wig; my favourite was probably the year I went as a Bjorn priestess, when my mom sewed my robes and Dad carefully constructed my nose ridges from theatre putty. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzaFhC5d7RQehi4ou6e8JSojiCSLU49kFv2JI2X_Ye7RRC8obkDXvJQicvoE18QIW64lTkjCTBM-K-bltKqIsci-ZrAtioHLy4HHoDRJ1FE50rGVy0OHCJeq_8V-FhuW0TJaDVjCPi_g/s1600/Nicole+Marie+Jean+credit+ottawa+comiccon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzaFhC5d7RQehi4ou6e8JSojiCSLU49kFv2JI2X_Ye7RRC8obkDXvJQicvoE18QIW64lTkjCTBM-K-bltKqIsci-ZrAtioHLy4HHoDRJ1FE50rGVy0OHCJeq_8V-FhuW0TJaDVjCPi_g/s1600/Nicole+Marie+Jean+credit+ottawa+comiccon.jpg" height="200" width="175" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What I’m saying is, back in my day, cosplay was about accuracy. It was about painstaking work. It was about authenticity. It wasn’t about skin and sucking on my fingers for the camera.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WHERE DO BIKINIS COME IN?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So when I look at a lineup of special guests for a comic convention, I feel really frustrated when I see some of the female cosplay guests of honour. I keep wondering how it is that a bikini with an Ark Reactor in the cleavage can be considered a cosplay—nay, a cosplay worthy of being featured as a guest speaker. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have friends who slave over their costumes. They spend hours and big money building a costume that is screen- or book-accurate. Yet somehow, these aren’t the girls featured as guests of honour at the cons. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s been a lot of talk in recent months about ‘booth babes’ at cons, and the general exploitation of women’s bodies as marketing tools for conventions. How can we be mad at con vendors for bringing hot ladies to their booths if we encourage and condone the organizers bringing in bikini-versions of Wolverine or Harley Quinn?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So one side of the equation is this: a lot of people have been up in arms about the way women are portrayed in comic books. The recent debacle with the <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/marvel-editor-chief-spider-woman-729245"><span style="color: #0463c1; letter-spacing: 0px;">Spiderwoman alternate cover</span></a> is a great example. Not only were people furious that this heroine was posed in a way that was perceived to be sexual, they also freaked out about anatomical impossibilities in the pose. If we hold a drawing to these incredibly high standards—“Don’t show me women being overly sexualized and be accurate with your proportions, too!”—then why do we not speak up more about the bikini cosplayers that convention organizers spotlight? Bikinis aside, even the posing that female cosplayers often do reflect the comic book drawings that are most offensive: arched backs, winking eyes, and very little fist-punching. It’s like the real-life ‘opposite day’ of the <a href="http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/"><span style="color: #0463c1; letter-spacing: 0px;">Hawkeye Initiative</span></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A FINE LINE: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATION</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After San Diego Comiccon, a post by the Associated Press really got my goat. The article ranted about women walking around in belly shirts, and demanded that some modicum of modesty be expected at cons. The thing about this article that really peeved me off was that it seemed to imply that the only place you’d see scantily-clad women was at a comiccon…as if the con culture itself promoted attendees wearing belly shirts. As a woman who has attended many cons, I can tell you that I personally have never <i>ever</i> felt like I was being pressured to dress ‘sexy’ for a day of lineups and impulse purchases. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But aside from this, there’s another issue here: a woman’s right to wear whatever the Hell she wants. Big or small, black or white, human or cylon, I have always supported a woman’s right to wear whatever insanely revealing clothing she desires—provided of course that she has made this choice consciously, for her own reasons, and with an awareness of the cultural context in which she lives. So I do support a girl’s right to wear a belly shirt, or an Iron Man bikini, or sweat pants and a Pokemon hoodie. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BRINGING THESE TWO SIDES TOGETHER?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is there any way to find a balance here? Can I love supporting a woman’s right to wear something skimpy, while also refusing to support the VIP’ing of female ‘cosplayers’ who just wear a colourful bikini? I don’t know. We want to hear your thoughts, though, in the comments below. Do you think there’s something intrinsically hypocritical about demanding less sexualized comic books while prioritizing skimpy versions of cosplay as con guests of honor? Where is the line between a woman’s right to wear what she likes, and a woman’s responsibility to stop feeding into the hyper-sexualization of the geek girl world?</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlgEXvYgxWWFaYHq3gfqET1BEsPq_jF9a78FlNj8VbIiZiIqo4fVivLhv6e3nEPypvda_oVs8t_ltvzdMGObgpAPyRvgm58FJTkWDsPetFylCUawAPGcxfTNd7-nMWKJzF8_IDMvOkjo/s1600/postgamelobby+dot+com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlgEXvYgxWWFaYHq3gfqET1BEsPq_jF9a78FlNj8VbIiZiIqo4fVivLhv6e3nEPypvda_oVs8t_ltvzdMGObgpAPyRvgm58FJTkWDsPetFylCUawAPGcxfTNd7-nMWKJzF8_IDMvOkjo/s1600/postgamelobby+dot+com.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve got no answers for you here. Maybe you’ve got some for me.</span></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;">Jordan Danger is a veteran blogger, writer, and marketing consultant based in Ottawa, Ontario. She is also President and Editor in Chief of CapitalGeekGirls.com. Jordan blogs at <a href="http://girlcrafted.com/" style="color: #4dc11b; text-decoration: none;">GirlCrafted.com</a>, a lifestyle blog about crafting life both literally and figuratively. She loves DIY projects, her dog, and Oxford comma</i>Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-33423699510932260142014-09-08T18:06:00.001-04:002014-09-08T18:06:59.428-04:00Resource Management Games: An IntroductionRESOURCE MANAGEMENT GAMES: AN INTRODUCTION<br />
<i>By Tracy Thillmann</i><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When you think back to your childhood, remembering all those fond moments of dice rattling in a cup, arguing with siblings over who wins because they have the most money, or puzzling out what your dad is drawing when all it looks like is a demented duck in a tutu.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa0VT0ntUN6AK83Giexizw19G7UOWApprgUkaetzqq6Vj8izKwWmujKumcTnkRgJR7XCrCa00fDdhshjRK0_WEb6rCeGfcQdfwqRMYqOMx5Orq5Q13hDoSQgl5EIBR1bHNelP0RVrjuQ/s1600/tabletop-day-games-303x208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa0VT0ntUN6AK83Giexizw19G7UOWApprgUkaetzqq6Vj8izKwWmujKumcTnkRgJR7XCrCa00fDdhshjRK0_WEb6rCeGfcQdfwqRMYqOMx5Orq5Q13hDoSQgl5EIBR1bHNelP0RVrjuQ/s1600/tabletop-day-games-303x208.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>So Many!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fast forward a decade or two; you have decided to try out board games again. So you walk into the local game store, and are dumbstruck by the sheer volume of choice. Dice, deck building, cooperative, zombies, dungeon crawls, and then most daunting of all… the worker placement/resource management (WP/RM) strategy games.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The WP/RM games are by far my favourite games, despite the fact that learning them sometimes make me feel like I have had a two hour brain freeze. Yet don’t let that stop you. From Settlers of Catan to The Village, or Lords of Waterdeep to Noblemen, there is a game for any level of play experience.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*hands of the audience snap up into the air*</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“What is a WP/RM game?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There are so many, where do I begin?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“How many…?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“What about…?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don’t worry; by the end of this article, you should be ready to tackle the, often daunting, WP/RM strategy genre.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So where to begin… </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">DEFINITION </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A WP/RM game is a strategic, competitive style game. They often involve Meeples (little wooden people, or even little wooden animals, food shapes, ships, and so many more), as well as cubes representing gems/elements/minerals/etc. And who doesn’t love Meeples.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wmrqU8BoUPRxLgUunJm_igZ9rmZPFWc9xHu8uIgBqt9xh_-GzO4GAZ_nDlDO2mtNf2iqYy_9-6wa_LUdaBT4ZYuH0-t_1eoeTFYWAPKNzPeEj63DmmmAWb9Kl7kErhDvhnkM5DddxOA/s1600/m2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wmrqU8BoUPRxLgUunJm_igZ9rmZPFWc9xHu8uIgBqt9xh_-GzO4GAZ_nDlDO2mtNf2iqYy_9-6wa_LUdaBT4ZYuH0-t_1eoeTFYWAPKNzPeEj63DmmmAWb9Kl7kErhDvhnkM5DddxOA/s1600/m2.jpg" height="133" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MEEPLES!</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Traditionally they are played over a defined number of rounds, or until a goal is met. In </span><i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Noblemen</i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> the game plays over three decades, </span><i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Lords of Waterdeep</i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> is over eight rounds, </span><i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Hermagor</i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> is when you have no more action tiles, and the list goes on.</span></div>
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PLAYERS</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So what if you are a couple who often have to play just the two of you, or you are a big family trying to find a game for everyone? Strategy WP/RM games are great for groups of most sizes. Most are traditionally designed for 2-5, where some play, with expansions, up to 6 players; and some even have solo options. Traditional age range is usually 12+ but some allow for younger players to catch on quickly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With so many fantastic games coming out every year, the hardest decision is where to begin. Even an experienced gamer can open up a new game that was thought to be a nice, easy strategy game and sees that the rule book is a small novella. The size of the box, the art, the description can all be deceiving. A hard game looks easy or vice versa. I have yet to find an easy way to tell one from another until I start to play; now to be fair I thrive on the heavy brain hurt games. As a teacher of games at a local lounge I have begun to compile a list of beginner, intermediate and advanced list; which I will post at the end of the article. When in doubt, just ask a friend who plays them, or an online group/page; and if by chance you pick a heavier than expected game, there are so many great walkthrough videos that I have used many times to help figure out those sometimes-not-so-clear rulebooks.</span></span></div>
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STRATEGY</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest strategy to a strategy game; don’t take on too much. Often there are more action/play options than there are action turns. You often want to try to do everything to try to gain more points. You usually spread yourself too thin, and actually make a lot less points than focusing on one or two parts in the game. This gives the games lots of playability, because next time around you can try a different strategy, and then a third, and so on. Mix it up; get out of your comfort zone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The WP/RM style of game has a sea of choices, and so many play mechanics that one article can’t do them justice. All I would say is don’t be daunted by them. Read the rule book, take your time to learn, and have snacks at hand.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoH9j4jtvOTqNjzItoSqolQ-X2xNgv0E20tK9W-Yh-brs8uokUadul1FTA6sutI9KkipVBAWewW1PVFvHVuU3v-OFKyp5-rgWWAs9bVEnNxJlttTjoWAIObKtGkOcb3SsrzzA0sEt2X9U/s1600/DSC_0126-660x324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoH9j4jtvOTqNjzItoSqolQ-X2xNgv0E20tK9W-Yh-brs8uokUadul1FTA6sutI9KkipVBAWewW1PVFvHVuU3v-OFKyp5-rgWWAs9bVEnNxJlttTjoWAIObKtGkOcb3SsrzzA0sEt2X9U/s1600/DSC_0126-660x324.jpg" height="157" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The artwork for these games is always so beautiful and unique to the theme.</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">AS PROMISED: THE LIST</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beginner Games: <i>Settlers of Catan</i> (a great gateway game; and most gamers have played it so you can probably find someone who has a copy), <i>Stone Age, Lords of Waterdeep</i> (D&D based), <i>Pillars of the Earth.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Intermediate: <i>Belfort</i> (made in Canada), <i>Helios, Agricola</i> (many would argue it is an advanced game but the base play is quite quick to catch onto), <i>Valdora</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Advanced: <i>Noblemen, Archipelago, T’Zolkin, Hermagor, Dungeon Lords</i> (you get to be evil dungeon lord fighting off the dungeon crawling adventurers), <i>Glass Road</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hurt your Brain Hard: <i>Keyflower, Troyes, De. Vulgari Eloquentia, Terra Mystica, Caverna</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">.. And my favourite you ask? Hands down, it is <i>The Village</i>. You use time as payment to kill off your people to gain more victory points. It is a strange mechanic, so technically makes it an advanced game, but the strategy itself is more intermediate in level.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No matter your likes, the WP/RM strategy game genre is so varied you will probably find something in a style/genre you enjoy. So go ahead, grab some Meeples and just have fun</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmazJIBeyorBG5lNEebx8DRm22yn8pBucklxg00J2FyqoS2lnbIfnPZB6ZB_TGIVdNkrpZriVEM9mSUys_NAv6HYEfAs_j6R_4KqyG7a_y6QnQgndRmRBUzGRglyj2TuPvEb8jHt3K7M/s1600/Bio+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmazJIBeyorBG5lNEebx8DRm22yn8pBucklxg00J2FyqoS2lnbIfnPZB6ZB_TGIVdNkrpZriVEM9mSUys_NAv6HYEfAs_j6R_4KqyG7a_y6QnQgndRmRBUzGRglyj2TuPvEb8jHt3K7M/s1600/Bio+pic.jpg" height="200" width="143" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Married, with four fur babies, Tracy has recently rediscovered her love of board games, and has acquired a wonderful collection. Being new to writing, it is just one more newly discovered world she is exploring. At the age of 37, Tracy now proudly shows off her geekiness, through her love of crafting and creating; well, at least until she defeats Ganon with the master sword, she finds the blue crystal staff, or the TARDIS shows up on her front doorstep.</i></span></span></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-74321933943568972952014-09-02T18:33:00.000-04:002014-09-02T18:33:00.925-04:00School Lunches for Geeky Kids<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MAKING LUNCH FUN – HOW TO PUT A LITTLE GEEK INTO KIDS LUNCHES</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span>By Sandi Moser</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s back-to-school time again. This year will be a bit different for our family – my youngest will finally be going to school full-time. He’s over-the-moon excited, which is catchy, but my husband and I can’t help but groan when thinking about the extra lunches and snacks we’ll have to start packing. We’ve had a bit of experience (my daughter is entering grade 3), but adding that extra lunch bag to the mix has put a bit of a drag on the upcoming return to school.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">In an effort to inject some excitement into the lunch-making tedium, I went on a mission to find some new, fun, and (because it’s me) geeky snack and lunch ideas.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Surprisingly, searching online for ideas wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it would be. Most searches brought me to links to articles about the importance of healthy school lunches, or to message boards asking questions about what geeks are eating these days while playing computer games (your typical Doritos and Fritos made those lists – I guess they’re not reading the previously-mentioned healthy-snack articles).</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">What finally did the trick for finding appropriate school ideas was searching for a particular theme. For example, searching for “Star Wars school lunch ideas” brought me to a blog by Wendy Copely, author of </span><i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches To Go</i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">, showcasing the different ways you can use Star Wars cookie cutters (to cut sandwiches, quesadillas, and even cheese slices) and lightsabre picks to infuse some fun into lunch: http://wendolonia.com/blog/2013/05/02/star-wars-lunch-ideas-for-your-little-jedi/.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel3ZBMvnStJP2yY7eIBa_s8bcPBWnKwO3JgL1V7B0opnNnE0h57SObFvNuQkkqKGaT0_-BBf5S1gVPY_MjAzkewyRgWLcT61EnKlU2wECF4jQlwo4ucec-cWpuZA0Lcw1zHgjfbDdPOw/s1600/Geek+Lunch+Princess+Leia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel3ZBMvnStJP2yY7eIBa_s8bcPBWnKwO3JgL1V7B0opnNnE0h57SObFvNuQkkqKGaT0_-BBf5S1gVPY_MjAzkewyRgWLcT61EnKlU2wECF4jQlwo4ucec-cWpuZA0Lcw1zHgjfbDdPOw/s1600/Geek+Lunch+Princess+Leia.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Wendolonia blog brought me to even more Star Wars ideas, including this awesome lunch, with a Princess Leia cheese sandwich with almond butter and jam sandwich hair “buns”: http://www.veggie-bento.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/may-the-fourth-lunch.jpg. While making Princess Leia sandwiches probably takes a bit more time than I’m willing to commit, turning pretzel sticks into lightsabres is definitely a possibility.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are a few of my favourite finds. With luck, they’ll help make us all excited for lunch-making time, and won’t result in too many Pinterest fails!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Superhero lunch (http://www.lifewiththecrustcutoff.com/back-school-superhero-lunch-box/) – I especially love the idea of using a toothpick to write into the peel of the banana, which will brown up by morning. I can think of many possibilities for that trick!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Minecraft lunch (http://www.bentonbetterlunches.com/2013/04/thriftee-gear-review-minecraft-lunch.html) – I have to admit, when my daughter talks to me about Minecraft, I feel like I have the same expression on my face as my parents did when I tried to explain how to program the timer of our VCR. But, the sandwich looks easy to make, and gives new life to simple squares of cheese.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynGq5j2bvoeHR5mrLeowN6ThotI4MU2GVHPbw8oIO5yc9naCaCFGT0qkGiBIyA80A9JY7VIJkUOW53b87nOaOuEUwHOKt7MEkJAQ4O8kSDKmpZYMdt39LYEo5WAVYjhD1Pmi79Pdiwyw/s1600/Geek+Lunch+Minecraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynGq5j2bvoeHR5mrLeowN6ThotI4MU2GVHPbw8oIO5yc9naCaCFGT0qkGiBIyA80A9JY7VIJkUOW53b87nOaOuEUwHOKt7MEkJAQ4O8kSDKmpZYMdt39LYEo5WAVYjhD1Pmi79Pdiwyw/s1600/Geek+Lunch+Minecraft.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dragon lunch (http://www.bentonbetterlunches.com/2013/09/how-to-train-your-dragon.html) – Most of the dragon-inspired things in this lunch come from rings that decorate cupcakes at the grocery store. The idea I really liked on this page, however, was the egg. I make hardboiled eggs every week for my own snacks, but it can be made so much more fun and kid-friendly by cracking it, then soaking it in water and food colouring. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don’t forget to get the kids involved in making lunch. With some of these ideas, lunch-making will become an enjoyable game instead of a chore!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OZoHr4XzQmVEGCv0cBm3iW4Pm7UXgSq27OTlwydp84XVBumBcyRrKpSxmafOrNxqqoK1j5aqIJnvg6xb5RUGJBhxl_lCYqd_yzbCA3QfHXEqzGl3bBNjmH6sYW7Q7JUzVkeMgn6-iZY/s1600/Sandi+Bio+PIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OZoHr4XzQmVEGCv0cBm3iW4Pm7UXgSq27OTlwydp84XVBumBcyRrKpSxmafOrNxqqoK1j5aqIJnvg6xb5RUGJBhxl_lCYqd_yzbCA3QfHXEqzGl3bBNjmH6sYW7Q7JUzVkeMgn6-iZY/s1600/Sandi+Bio+PIC.jpg" height="200" width="181" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sandi is a 30-something environmental engineer and mother of two from the metropolis of Stittsville, Ontario. Writing for Capital Geek Girls is a new adventure for her, with previous writing experience limited to technical documents, briefing notes and Facebook updates. In her spare time, Sandi enjoys playing board games and video games, reading books, watching movies, and crocheting. She looks forward to sharing her geeky endeavours with you, as well as reporting on the next generation’s response to those endeavours.</span></i></span></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3481130884748707383.post-27658528079198858562014-08-27T19:24:00.001-04:002014-08-27T19:24:21.714-04:00Geek Girl Travel: L'Anse Aux Meadows<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">THE NORSEMEN OF L’ANSE AUX MEADOWS</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>By Marie Victoria Robersto</i>n</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXeMdsjyuyUAuOa5DHvHc1Ta-aeXuwHKg6YaCyvkXD9zS3al2Mr2nTvsnK4OPZV3Nll7lgH9Ndbfe7bxDAFrnbD_fbjStgILf7gipksc0vF1mFeyrgRzDC742yxuax7arb0GQrMhlCLU/s1600/Vinland+Sagas+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXeMdsjyuyUAuOa5DHvHc1Ta-aeXuwHKg6YaCyvkXD9zS3al2Mr2nTvsnK4OPZV3Nll7lgH9Ndbfe7bxDAFrnbD_fbjStgILf7gipksc0vF1mFeyrgRzDC742yxuax7arb0GQrMhlCLU/s1600/Vinland+Sagas+cover.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did you know that “Vikings” are only called Vikings when they’re raiding and pillaging? Otherwise, the correct term is Norsemen and Norsewomen. If you drive up to northernmost Newfoundland, you will see the beautiful site of l’Anse aux Meadows—the historic, archeological site where Leif Eriksson and a group of Norsemen landed over a thousand years ago. L’Anse aux Meadows is especially significant since it is currently the only accepted site of a confirmed pre-Columbian expedition (take that, Christopher!) The site was explored in the 1960s by archeologists Anna Stine Ingstad and her husband, Helge. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Earlier this August, we packed up the car and drove, ferried, then drove some more to Newfoundland (about a 5000km round-trip, for the curious), intent on seeing the archeological site and Norstead, the nearby historical re-enactment village (think Upper Canada Village, but with Norsemen.) Having read <i>The Vinland Sagas</i>, we were curious to see this piece of history for ourselves. It was a heck of a journey, but you haven’t seen Canadian natural beauty until you’ve seen Newfoundland and Gros Morne national park.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1q_7VJ_lye2VJk_5oMVKdHKY0WIlBg7wXb4wuDRO3XSl2uhVWYfodJDze6A3zfINpEtefpNST_A_IgqaeFdAR8HMz3oEo6ughAf3UxI32Xl_IJ5VWgzy9OAaLkSOlaGZpaS1Acq23hI8/s1600/The+mounds+at+l'Anse%2Baux%2BMeadows.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1q_7VJ_lye2VJk_5oMVKdHKY0WIlBg7wXb4wuDRO3XSl2uhVWYfodJDze6A3zfINpEtefpNST_A_IgqaeFdAR8HMz3oEo6ughAf3UxI32Xl_IJ5VWgzy9OAaLkSOlaGZpaS1Acq23hI8/s1600/The+mounds+at+l'Anse%2Baux%2BMeadows.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The only remaining evidence of the Norsemen's visit to Canada</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The archeological site itself might be anticlimactic for those who don’t know what to expect. There are no walls, ruins, or foundations left; instead, we were invited to tour grass-covered mounds, the shapes of which suggest connecting houses and doors and fire pits. This is all that’s left of Leif Eriksson’s crew and their journey to a land they called Vinland-- possibly “Land of Wine”, though if they were hoping to find grapes growing in Newfoundland, they were out of luck. Historians seem to agree that the reason for the journey was partly to find Vinland, and partly to find lumber and ship it back home to Greenland. No one is quite sure why they left, though the leading theory suggests they encountered trouble with the aboriginal people who lived in the area. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1E714DSFLyAOjsCQdMC9r8k7VugjS8UbTUJQ_9ZhVJdKSgVr4ybghSZH1OxBMA71gqqqreLvF8o75X8NBAFdGoM76xhnJ4ODIacbK-UiTROLR4SbPbvQXAbrnAKtmV8e7uEvvoBIDE5c/s1600/Hut+at+l'Anse%2Baux%2BMeadows.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1E714DSFLyAOjsCQdMC9r8k7VugjS8UbTUJQ_9ZhVJdKSgVr4ybghSZH1OxBMA71gqqqreLvF8o75X8NBAFdGoM76xhnJ4ODIacbK-UiTROLR4SbPbvQXAbrnAKtmV8e7uEvvoBIDE5c/s1600/Hut+at+l'Anse%2Baux%2BMeadows.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">A re-created hut at l'Anse aux Meadows</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a bit surreal to stand on the unassuming mounds and picture how, 1000 years ago, twenty burly Norsemen were sitting and eating here. A visit to the nearby re-enactments might help one visualize the settlement. There are, in fact, two such places: the l’Anse aux Meadows site itself has recreations of the buildings suggested by the mounds a few dozen feet away, and there is Norstead Village a short drive away. Both villages are staffed by re-enactors who are as happy to tell you about ancient Norse life as they are to talk about growing up in l’Anse aux Meadows and nearby St Anthony. One of the coolest conversations we had was with the old Norse fisherman, who happily broke character to tell us about playing on the mounds as a child before anyone knew what they were (everyone in the area thought they were the remnants of an old “Indian” village), and how he helped with the archeological dig in the 70s before going to work as a re-enactor.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;">The </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;">Snorri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;">, a replica of the ship that brought Leif Eriksson and his crew from Greenland to Newfoundland</span></span></td></tr>
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Norstead is where you want to go if you really want to see characters and learn about old Norse culture. At the entrance, we were greeted by Bjorn Blue-Eyes, the chieftain, who showed us the <i style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Snorri</i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">, a recreation of the ship that brought Leif and his crew to Newfoundland. In one of the common huts, a Norsewoman demonstrated nålebinding, a technique older than knitting and crocheting. A cheery blacksmith showed us how to make iron tools, while breaking character to lament that the nearest McDonald’s was five hours away. Norstead is right by the water’s edge, and on the day we visited, it was grey and windy—epic weather for learning about this fascinating old culture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Norstead is where you want to go if you really want to see characters and learn about old Norse culture. At the entrance, we were greeted by Bjorn Blue-Eyes, the chieftain, who showed us the </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAFE7pNGCRUo7ArrAqZCJmCP7w9q1eqlqMnnu5gYZm5A1MSxDvdOBdUPdlOt-E8FDA_1zilnr2hhMfr-Gl3ROerJWV9Ayip2oZSF384FrtbBfG35QGOgdsu24VJ3ob9Q1NjClBJRotcc/s1600/Women's%2Bworkroom%2Bat%2BNorstead.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAFE7pNGCRUo7ArrAqZCJmCP7w9q1eqlqMnnu5gYZm5A1MSxDvdOBdUPdlOt-E8FDA_1zilnr2hhMfr-Gl3ROerJWV9Ayip2oZSF384FrtbBfG35QGOgdsu24VJ3ob9Q1NjClBJRotcc/s1600/Women's%2Bworkroom%2Bat%2BNorstead.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"> A women's workroom at Norstead Villag</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;">e</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d like to conclude with a neat piece of trivia. It was archeologist Anna Stine who led the archeological dig at l’Anse aux Meadows, and the artifact that alerted the team to the existence of a Norse settlement was a spindle-whorl, a weight that attaches to the bottom of a spindle used to spin wool. In other words, a woman’s tool. In other words, two women across the centuries were responsible for this hugely important archeological discovery. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioczUrenv2U0jYDYVp2-wVLQwGuyYJE0bJf8Y0sEAboD3PdfS8SNLr0-mxSclqwqcnNOSJdvu9NEmL_zrIBGsbyBbj87-YUQq6078AFFY5Sb-2kYQe9fROj_tSwNbNsjW89A8O-wBIBy8/s1600/MarieVictoriaRobertson-profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioczUrenv2U0jYDYVp2-wVLQwGuyYJE0bJf8Y0sEAboD3PdfS8SNLr0-mxSclqwqcnNOSJdvu9NEmL_zrIBGsbyBbj87-YUQq6078AFFY5Sb-2kYQe9fROj_tSwNbNsjW89A8O-wBIBy8/s1600/MarieVictoriaRobertson-profile.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.</span></i></span></div>
Capital Geek Girlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580302266233998838noreply@blogger.com0