Poe Boy

I don't know who drew the sketch down below, but thank you for involving the raven. I am a fan of birds.

Critters and Lego Figures

Another Lego joy I had to share. RedBubble artist Powerpig has a fun Lego calendar called "Backyard Adventures" for $26. Each month holds a captured moment of a squirrel collecting peanuts in the middle of a Lego scene. I don't know how the photos were managed, but are some of my favorites:

The artist has more Lego calendars available for $23 such as this one:

"Never a Dull Moment II"

Lego TMNT

TMNT Lego figures are coming out in January! Here is a video with a sneak peek of the Lego sets and details on designing them.

Part 1: The figures

Part 2: The environments

(I laughed at the exploding wall)

Like any other fan, I want to get at least the turtle and Shredder figures. I enjoyed hearing about the design process. What do you think?

Balloon Hats

A few changes can be enough for a story.

The expressions didn't changed, but the silence is enough to express the moment. I hope you got a chuckle from this comic. :)

Selfish, but Cute, Hedgehog

As a fan of wordplay, I had to share this tee design:

"Hedgehogs Can't Share" tee for $19.95

Cute little guy with a small speech bubble.

Rape Myths & Stats

3 of the last 4 movies for my family's movie night had a rape--Woody Allen's movie was the exception. Most of the rapists were not a stranger to the girl. Stats show that this is often the case, but it is still surprising.

Some years ago, I spoke to two high school reluctant readers for my English Education class. Once again to my surprise, most of the books on their recommended reading list had racism, violence, and rape. 

A friend recently shared an article that proved rape advice in "Through a Rapist's Eyes" as wrong information that leads a girl's suspicion away from the most common locations and perpetrators of rape. The fact is, "70-80% of rapists are well known to their victim." The article is worth sharing. Thank you to my friend for sharing it.

The article also argues that victims of rape are usually blamed and have the hardest time proving the crime than with other crimes.

Published in 1975.

And finally, I researched some fairy tales this last semester. For "Little Red Hiding Hood," I came across Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. The author, Susan Brownmiller, helped organized conferences on rape in the 1970's. As a journalist, she investigated rape in newspapers, media, and crime stats. On her book, Newsweek stated:

The most comprehensive study of rape ever offered to the public...It forces readers to take a fresh look at their own attitudes toward this devastating crime.

One aspect Brownmiller brought to light was that rape is an act of power that "[keeps] all women in a state of fear." One argument against the book is that men can fight in the cause too.

I will share other aspects of my fairy tale research as well. Thanks for reading this blog post.

More Hunger Games Goodies

I've been a bit restless this week, partly because I not getting out of work late anymore. Therefore, I started reading Mockingjay, the third book of The Hunger Games. I have less than 30 pages left. I will discuss after I finish it, but right off the bat I enjoyed how dystopic this one is.

Meanwhile, here are some related goodies to share. =)

At first I thought Peeta was a Butcher. My favorite are Katniss, Cinna, and Effie. haha. 

This mix makes me love the people who create memes. Hahaha. Effie has popped up a lot in them. Here's a similar one:

Whoever did better not answer because he/she was selected.

The boys from the musical parody "Bake You Pies" worked again for a more serious video, "The Arena". Some events from the movie are depicted.

Impact on a Child

I thought the following chinese proverb from my daily planner was worth sharing.
"A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark."

There are humorous villains who cry about the toy he didn't get or not being hugged enough.  However, the quote applies to everyone as the influence and as the one influenced.


Here are three villain examples with an impacting childhood moment anyway:

Gru from Despicable Me,

Ego the critic from Ratatouille (Spoliler),

And Megamind.

Megamind at the top.
Metroman at the bottom.

The last two are cast into the roles of villain and hero according to looks and homes.

Can you think of an example? It does not have to be a villain or from a movie.

2 Hunger Game Shirts And More

Have you seen The Hunger Games movie? I may do so this weekend. I'll wear my mockingjay pin from SD Comic Con. =)

Meanwhile, I saw these two The Hunger Games shirts among others. Click on shirt titles for links:

"Hunger-lympics" for $25.56 at  redbubble

I think "Hunger-lympics" is my favorite shirt for the book. Some of the actor/character shirts at Hot Topic are cool (I'd get Haymitch or Rue), but I like more than a face. This shirt shows some of the plot without spoiling the story. The Wasp Relay makes me laugh. I am excited to see that part in the movie.

I also like that the artist, WinterArtwork, came up with his own rendition of the mockingjay.

If I hadn't already bought a shirt that week, then I would gotten "Hunger-lympics." My sister bought it though, which is appropriate because she is the bigger The Hunger Games fan. The third book is her favorite.

"Paintballers" for $25.56 at  redbubble

WinterArtwork came up with this Community shirt on the left as well. It parodies the best season finales as the Ghostbusters. The artist wrote, "When there's something strange in your community college...who ya gonna Chang?"

This shirt is on my list to get next. =)

"Hungry Hungry Games" for $15 at shirt.woot!
(free standard shipping)

On  shirt.woot!,  the shirt on the right, "Hungry Hungry Games," has been one of the top 20 tees for a week so far. The Hunger Games is parodied as the children's game Hungry Hungry Hippo. No spoilers in the design. Just a laugh.

 Shirt.woot! is a new shirt site for me. Everyday a new shirt is released like TeeFury, but shirt.woot! keeps the shirt as long it sells.






Here are four more top 20 tees from shirt.woot! with more meaning behind the images:

"Family Portrait"

This shirt is a clever and funny depiction of the sad truth. That is Pluto off to the side.

Today the shirt is #19.

"Curiosity"

Those cat outlines spell out Curiosity. I thought the shirt was cute until I saw the numbered signs for dead bodies. :o Despite the shirt being morbid, I can't help still appreciating the artist's work like other people. The shirt is #9.

Speaking of 9, did you notice that there are nine cat outlines? That was one very curious cat.

"Wet | | Slippery When"

Here's a shirt for gamers! The odd title actually follows a mathematical formula, which makes the shirt more geeky.

This shirt is currently #6.

"Read"

The last shirt I'm sharing is at #3. I like that the depicted tales are diverse in genre, audience age, and time of publication.

Threadless for $9.99

Threadless is the first shirt site I found thanks to a friend. I've been buying from TeeFury lately though.

Right now, Threadless has awesome shirts for $9.99 until 3/21 10:00am CT. I recommend checking them out.

Here's the shirt I bought:

"Poker Face"

For that design, the regular tee shape is sold out for girls. Just the "boat neck tee" is left. Click on the titled caption for that shirt. I prefer not to get white shirts, but I could not resist with the use of cards and the pun.

Here are a few more designs that I liked:

"Love the Bomb"
Have you dodged these guys on the Wii?

"Mr. Tee" with the use of tees.
I pity the foo' who doesn't laugh.

"Lion Fumes" reminds me of Aslan from
The Chronicles of Narnia.

"Geek Chic" by my favorite shirt artist, Megan Lara.

There are shirt categories other than Pop Culture and Gaming.

Peeta Bread Humor

There's a meme (Internet running joke) for perspectives of college majors and career fields such as this one:

The two in the middle are my favorites.

Then this "What people think I do" meme spread to interests including literature. Here's one for Peeta from The Hunger Games:

Once again I like the mom one. haha.

I found another meme with Peeta and burnt bread:

The movie is coming out in March. Read the book beforehand. The rating is PG-13 so teenagers can enjoy it. Thus, some scenes will not make it to the screen including most likely the last death in the game which I am grateful it is not. I had no problem with that scene in the book, but I am fine not facing it again through another medium.

If you find funny The Hunger Games images, then I'd like to see them. They do not have to be Peeta. I just feel that I know that character better than Gale from the first two books.

Gamer's Valentine

Here's a Valentine I thought was cute and worth sharing:

The first two lines refer to iconic game characters.

Troy & Abed Shirt

I have a lot to blog about including Johnny Cupcakes! But for this post, I'm going to return to Megan Lara who has done Art Nouveau style T-shirts.

"Dope Adventures" T-shirt

Today on TeeFury.com, Megan Lara has a T-shirt of Troy and Abed from Community in the styled of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes."
At first I was a little disappointed that they don't look much like Troy and Abed. But then I thought about their relationship. Troy is the boyish innocent one while Abed is the rational one. So Megan Lara matched up the personalities well.

And then I looked at the details. If you know Troy and Abed, then you will appreciate the comic title "Kick-Puncher." =) They have also like blanket forts, and they now room in one in at the end of season 3. The little mug says "Special drink,"  which I think refers to Abed's chocolate milk recipe. So Megan Lara has succeeded in putting Troy and Abed elements in the "Calvin and Hobbes" setting.

You can get the shirt HERE for $10, but only for 8.5 more hours of today. The web page has a countdown for the duration of the shirt sale. Afterwards the shirt will no longer be sold at TeeFury. You will have to find the shirt on another website, which will sell the shirt for at least $20.

Here's a picture of "Calvin and Hobbes" for those of you who need an introduction to them:

Calvin and Hobbes

You can read the comic strips in book volumes now. Some adventures, including the great ones, last more than one strip. The names were chosen from philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes the tiger is actually a stuffed animal that Calvin imagines as a real tiger and his best friend.

There's no fooling myself now that I'm nostalgic and sentimental. I will get the shirt!

Umbrellas

It rained yesterday and I saw some pretty umbrellas. One umbrella that caught my eye was for its practicality:

The bubble clear umbrella

I have bumped regular umbrellas into branches. The bubble shape allows you to lower the umbrella for more cover without blocking your vision. Here's another clear umbrella approach for practicality:

I like the handle, but I worry about the strap around her neck.  What if you FELL?

The sight of umbrellas reminded of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, one of my favorite Fantasies, because the hero has an umbrella with a map of London Underground that he used as he walked. So as soon as I got on a computer, I searched to see if these umbrellas existed. They do. =)

London Underground map umbrella

There is also one for the Metro in Paris and a clear umbrella for the subway in New York:

New York subway map umbrella

Then I searched just clear umbrellas and saw some with designs like this one.

Fun in the rain!

My favorite is the one with fish, but three websites list it as unavailable.

Then I saw a blogger's cute umbrella that she decorated herself:

It's raining casts and dogs!

If I get a clear umbrella, I will follow this blogger's instructions. =)

I will end with one more umbrella:

Goggles Umbrella. Hahaha. Look at the top too.

Geeky in the Shower

I found an item that I must share with you gamers. ;)

That's made of SOAP!

Under the section "Geekry" on Etsy.com, I found a shop called Digital Soaps, which sells game cartridges and controllers in the form of soap.

Yes, soap.

There are items from the games as well including the Portal cube:

Have some laughs and nostalgic moments at the games selected for the shower. One funny line in the descriptions is "Lather up, level up."

However, I must inform you that the scents are sodas such as Mountain Dew. That factor will stop some of you from actually washing with the soap. If you are just collecting the soaps, then I suggest a case for them to at least to block the fragrance from ants. A case will keep the soap in good condition anyway.

Incredible Paper Art

You see simple-looking paper art, and you think, "I'd like to try that." =)

But then you see that the artist that made the bird made an image that you cannot accomplish in pencil or paint. 0_0

Yesss, each one of those lines is a strip of paper! 

The amount of detail and its rendering in these following pieces are mind-blowing as well:

Still paper...

Lay-erss of paper.

Do not be discouraged to try a new art medium though. Let works like these inspire you. The artists invested their time and effort to their work so at least dedicate yourself to the interest you first had. Let the works of others still be enjoyable to you. =)

For more paper work, check out this article, which leads you to the artists' websites when you click an image.

When You Eat With Others

Hello. A few weeks ago I visited some of my college friends and remembered a literary observation in high school.  My senior English teacher said that characters who ate together are connected with harmony or communication. Think of scenes such as the political dinner in The King and I where food is used in attempt to create harmony. Also think of fictional meals with disconnected characters which is shown by a character not touching his food or a disruptive, early departure from the table. Interesting demonstration of the relationship between characters.

Because I can get cranky without food, I try to include it in get-togethers or at least eat beforehand. In addition, people are usually comfortable talking at meals. One reason could be that your attention is divided from eating, listening, and talking so you are not concern only with the impression you make.

During my visit, I met some girlfriends over sushi because it was fun last time and the place has excellent deals. Afterwards, I continued talking to one of my friends over yogurt (more food). In our long talk, I remembered about connected characters eating together and my persistence to include food in a meeting with a different friend the next day.

Then I realized that when you eat with others, food is more than an activity you share. Because food is a need, you are sharing a satisfied need. If you're comfortable sharing a personal aspect such as a need, then you are more comfortable sharing about yourself as well. I think the yogurt helped opened up the conversation more between my friend and me. =)

With characters that eat together, you can also see the passion between them. My teacher had mentioned sexual tension portrayed through two characters gorging themselves at a dinner. One unsatisfied need is shown through the satisfaction of another one, but at the same level of intensity.

If you are interested in more metaphorical interpretations, then I recommend How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster.

SD Comic Con

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted for a while. This summer has been busy (such as working at Legoland), but great.  I want to share some photos and panel news from the San Diego Comic Con this past July.

I love how even the attendees are a part of the experience. In the photo below, I stand next to a cosplayer from The Green Hornet (2011):

Me with a Kato (Green Hornet) cosplayer!

Cosplaying is dressing up as a fictional character. I have cosplayed before, but now I just dress-up somehow. On the second day, I wore my Super Maio Bro's mushroom hat along with a blue vest and blue pinstripe pants. Next year I'll wear my new Luigi hat. ;)

More cosplayers:

Kiki and Tombo from Kiki's Delivery Service

Luna and Artemis from Sailor Moon

On the right: Frank the 6-foot bunny in Donnie Darko

Planet of the Apes

Angry Birds the game

Katniss from The Hunger Games

I appreciate the cosplayers who depict small details. The Katniss cosplayer is not only carrying her bow, but also the bright, orange pack used in the game!

Speaking of The Hunger Games, I stopped by their booth and got THE golden mockingjay pin as a freebie!

Movie posters as big as a door were also handed out.

Some Panel News

There were at least two panels that discussed fandom and cosplayers. I had hoped to attend one of the panels but I volunteered and had other panels as a higher priority. I also did not have a chance to stop by David Malki's booth to say I submitted to the Machine of Death anthology. Accepted entries are announced in October.

Anyway, here are some lines from the two panel descriptions:

Comics Arts Conference Session #1: Fan Studies

Scott Daniel Boras (Arizona State University) relates his experiences as "Ethnography Man," researching the world of cosplay at Comic-Con and investigating how cosplay both subverts and reinforces codes of conduct, and in the end is more about transcendence than escape. Beverly Taylor (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) presents her research into how the culture of physique athletes -- body builders, figure, and fitness athletes -- is influenced and inspired by superheroes, even to the point of considering their lives outside the gym to be their secret identities. ...

Obsession: How TV and Movies Go from Fascination to Phenomenon

 ...what does it take to turn a series or movie into something special that we can't live without? This panel from BuddyTV.com examines that topic from all points of view: the writers and producers who create the projects, the actors who star in them, and the fans who consume them. ...

Hopefully, the discussions can be found online or in print.

The IDW panel mentioned its program "Sparkles for Blood." You can trade a Twilight book for their comic "30 Days of Night" to learn what a real vampire is.

 The IDW staff even gave away traded Twilight hardback novels which can be traded back for the vampire comic.

Last bit of news I'm sharing is that even Football players co-write comics.

Lance Briggs at Top Cow panel

Lance Briggs joined the panel of comic-distributor Top Cow to discuss his comic idea, Seraph, which combines his Christian faith with his passion for comics. The comic is about of a man who committed suicide, and then he is given a second chance as a warrior for Heaven. He must follow God's guidelines in his battles.

Lance Briggs' comic pilot Seraph

Lance Briggs is a co-writer of the story and competing with other new comics in Top Cow's Pilot Season. More may  be stated Brigg's social network of comics at Lance's Comic World.

And Legos!

Because I'm working the summer season at Legoland, I had to check out the booth for Lego. I saw smiling, engaged children like I do at work plus Scrappy!

Scrappy cosplayer crawls over legos to his father dressed as Scooby-doo.

 Iconic figures made from legos were found in the whole exhibit hall.

Batman made from legos

Well, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of my visit at SD Comic Con. If you are interested in going, then I have to warn you that this past year, tickets sold out on the first day of registration. So start checking for the day of registration in Feburary at www.Comic-Con.org. There you can also find out about a few other comic cons such as APE and Wonder Con.