Sci Fi Jungle

Amazon has Firefly Complete Series DVDs on sale $16.99

Amazon is selling Firefly - The Complete Series for only $16.99 right now.  The regular price is is $49.98 so this is a great deal for this 4 disc set!  I am really contemplating getting this for Jin.  I bought him the collectors edition of the Serenity movie earlier this year.  The only thing that makes me mad about Firefly is knowing that they killed off so many characters in the movie that there is just no possibility of them doing anything more with the franchise. 

I got this deal from Slickdeals.net; I always have to keep up with my bargains and deals on slickdeals.

In preparation for Joss Whedon's new Doll's House to come out on TV, this could tide us fans over.  At this price Amazon is going to be moving boxes and boxes of Firefly out the door.

UFO Recession Tips

This is funniest frugal living blog EVAH.  Written by aliens whose spaceship was shot down by Bubba over Stephensville, Texas, and have had to learn how to live frugally, Earth-style, the "It's the Recession, Didiot"
blog is chock-full of tips for humans to help us during the recent hard economic times.

Featuring the Alien Zork and his family sharing their UFO Recession Tips, its not only informative, but also funny. They've even got a Green social site at http://www.zorkplanet.com/.  I like it. Where else can you see a segment called, Why Weatherstripping is Cool.  (A similar reminder from me - fix any leaky faucets. Leaky sink or shower faucets can waste a lot of water!)

5 Films that Glorify Mathematics

First of all, a confession:  I am not that great at math.  I used to get cold sweats in school before math tests and I used to cheat by writing the equations on really small pieces of paper that I would then copy on to my scratch notes, and then scrunch up and get rid of the evidence.  I think I once carved the quadratic formula on the side of a pencil.  Can the people at PHS take away my diploma at this late date?  I never cheated in any way that I consider immoral - I just could not memorize the equations.  I hear nowadays the kids are allowed to bring in notes and a calculator.  I think the important thing is to be able to understand what you are doing, not to be able to memorize a bunch of number.

I actually do use Math on a day to day basis.  I use it to analyze my investments, help my company's  management with Excel, find it very helpful when cooking, and lately as I am writing knitting patterns.  It turns out that knitting is a very mathematically intensive activity. 

1.  Revenge of the Nerds.  When I was in high school, this was the nerd anthem!

2.  Today's version - 21, in which the math genius gets to make mucho dollars whilst partying in fancy las vegas hotels. Winner winner chicken dinner!

3.  A Beautiful Mind.  Although I am not sure I want to suffer from shizophrenia in order to have that level of genius thrust upon me.  Russell Crowe has a beautiful "something" however, and as I have stated before, he can be my "Master and Commander" anytime he wants.

4.  Good Will Hunting.  Do you like apples? I just got her number, how do you like them apples?"

5.  Hackers.  Although completely unrealistic, it glamorized computers, and that was a good thing.

WALL-E Review

Today was a high water mark day in my experience as a parent - my two kids (Adam is 3 1/2 and Ben is turning 5 in July) sat all the way through their first feature film at the movie theater.  Since we have quite a history of seeing half of a movie (Kung Fu Panda, being the latest) this makes me really happy.

Ben was scared at the exciting chase scene, but he made it through, and I am really proud of him.

Now, onto the movie review.

WALL-E is a great movie; we all really enjoyed it.  Billed as the story of the "loneliest guy on Earth" it is a love story between two robots who have to save Earth all the while trying to just do their jobs.  The most amazing part of the movie is the first half an hour where there is no dialog and the only characters are are robot and his pet cockroach.  This kept an entire theater full of kids and parents mesmerized!  Full of sight gags and WALL-E's own totally cute "language" it is very well done.

The movie has a strong message about consumerism, human health, and reliance on virtual life over real living.  But, it never pushes the messages at you, it presents it as part of the story for you to internalize as in your own way.  I like the way they do that as no one likes to be moralized to, but I appreciated the message and also the hopeful viewpoint even though the Earth is full of garbage the movie does have a very uplifting ending.

I love the message that we are stewards of the Earth and that we need to take care of it.   I admit to having a tear in my eye as I walked out of the movie.  When I think about our beautiful natural wonders, like the Outer Banks it makes me want to make sure we conserve nature.

Paranoia Self Destroyer

My 5 Comments on Paranoia for the Day:

1.  You're not really paranoid if everyone really IS out to get you.

2.  If you see your spouse getting life insurance quotes but YOU are the insured party not the spouse, you might want to have a little discussion.

3.  Do you evern wonder if your next door neighbors are really space aliens investigating Earth in disguise?  (I may have watched a little too much Buckaroo Bonzai.)

4.  Do you ever worry about what the government could know about you if they compiled all the things you bought on your grocery store club card?  Could you get in trouble for eating too much junk food?

5.  You - stop stalking me on the Internet.

Oh No! More Frakin' Sci Fi Inspired Crafts!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, I have found another oh so cute Science Fiction inspired craft for your viewing pleasure.  Today I give you the Baby Trekkie Washcloth by Samantha of Wilderness Witch Knits.

photo from Samantha's blog.

If you liked this post, you might want to check out these:

Amigurumi Alien

Sci Fi Jungle: 5 Wonderfully Bizzare Sci Fi Inspired Crafts

25 Beautiful Fantasy Photoshop Tutorials

Via, Digg.com I found this great blog post listing 25 tutorials for fantasy effects using Photoshop.  It's neat to find these all together in one place, so I am going to pass the link along. 

25 Beautiful Fantasy Photoshop Tutorials

10 Sci Fi Inventions I wish were real to make life easier!

This is a take off from today's 10 on Tuesday from YanoWhatIMean.com.  It's supposed to be 10 Inventions That Have Made Life Easier but of course I have to give everything a Sci Fi spin so we are going to have a list of inventions from Science Fiction that I wish were real.

1.  The Food Replicator from Star Trek.  Tea, Earl Grey, hot.  What wouldn't I do to have such a wondrous invention that could whip me up a snack 24/7?  Does it do the dishes too?

2.  A Jetpack such as from The Rocketeer.  Just cause it would be cool to fly.

3.  Dr. Who's Sonic Screwdriver.  Can fix anything - just what I need to get my Dad for Hanukkah.

4.  The Jetsons Rosie the Robot Maid.  I could use some help up around the joint, and I don't think Roomba is going to cut it.

5.  We could solve all our energy problems with Nuclear fission, such as envisioned by so many including H.G. Wells in "The World Set Free", published in 1914.

6. Faster than Light Warp Drives (again, going to Star Trek for inspiration) are a necessary component for travelling across the galaxy to check out other Earth class planets.

7. The Orgasmatron from Woody Allen's film Sleeper, might be handy. No pun intended. 

8.  A Star Wars Lightsaber would be pretty cool.  Especially with the little flying training ball thingy that Luke uses to train with.

9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,  and a towel to go with it.

10.  And one last one from Star Trek to round it all off - The Tricorder. Wave it over the patient's body and diagnose any disease - sounds good to me.

Bonus - Check out Grown Up Wrong's "Awesome Sci Fi Invention that I Wish Was Real" page.

Also check out this automated random Pulp Sci Fi Invention Name Generator.

as well as 10 of the Best: of Science Fiction's Inventions from FindArticles.com or

Science fiction's goofiest gadgets and technology from Network World.

Stargate Atlantis Blooper Reel

SciFi posted a blooper reel from Stargate Atlantis up on YouTube.  Its pretty funny, so check it out.

Also, here is an interview with Paul McGillion, who plays Carson Beckett on the show. The interview is on PopCultureZoo.com.

And here is the SciFiWire article that talks about cast changes and such that will be going on in the new season and next season as well.

Now I am going to go buy some postage tape so I will catch you next time with some more Sci Fi updates.

Amigurumi Alien

For those who enjoyed my post about 5 Wonderfully Bizzare Sci Fi Inspired Crafts here is another to consider - crochet your own Japanese Style Amigurumi Alien.  Amigurumi is a very popular Japanese craft involving crocheting little wacky animals, aliens, and critters of various sorts.  Just as manga has taken the world of graphic novels by storm, amigurumi has recently taken the yarn craft world by storm. 

Yeah... before you go off into your craft induced coma - look how cute -

 

Here is where you can get the free pattern if you want to try your hand at creating a little bit of Sci Fi crafty-ness.

Amigurumi Alien - free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.