Advent Calendar, Day 22

Today's activity: Listen to Christmas music and wrap gifts.

We had quite a few things to wrap, because we're visiting my family on Christmas morning and Jason's family in the afternoon on Christmas day. 

There are a few tricks to wrapping gifts so they look neat. The first step is to measure how much paper you will need to fit around the box. Start by wrapping the whole roll over your gift, and cut it so it overlaps by an inch or two.

If you want to make sure you're cutting straight, it helps to have a wrapping paper with a checkerboard pattern, or one that has a grid on the underside. 

Measure the paper needed to fold down over the bottom. It should be about 2/3 of the height of the box, so the two ends overlap without causing too much bulk.

Once the gift is positioned, you can tape it along the long sides to form a tube. Next, fold in the corners along the bottom. Fold the top one down and the bottom one up. Tape them in place.

It is very hard to eyeball how much paper is needed to create the fold on top. If the ends are too short, there will be a gap in the package. If they are too long, the paper will get crumpled when you try to tape it. Here's how to get the perfect size every time. Stand the box up on its end. The extra paper will form a cone up into the air.

Now hold the paper right above the box and fold the cone outward. The edges of the paper will flatten outward:

Now cut straight across the top of the paper right after it flattens out.

Then fold in the ends on the top the same way as the bottom. Voila!

Of course, this only works if the package in question is a box. There is a secret to wrapping oddly-shaped packages, too:

Stick it in a gift bag. Done! Add some tissue paper to be fancy.

Jason and I wrapped our stocking stuffers for each other, most of which we bought at Dollar Tree. It turns out that strange minds think alike...

Yeah, we both picked out a set of cheapo plastic ninjas. Why did we get each other dollar-store Ninja Action Figures? Mostly because of this.

Ninja: The Mission Force was inspired by Godfrey Ho. His ninja movies seem to be written by a bunch of seven-year-olds who care more about making things look cool (without any budget) than little things like plot or continuity or sense. The "action" scenes are spliced together with footage from completely unrelated movies, to form one incoherent storyline. They are a wonder to behold.

Godfrey Ho Ho Ho says, "Merry Ninjamas!"

Advent Calendar, Day 1

Today's Christmas activity: Put up decorations!

We have a miniature tree, which is nice because we can keep it in the hall closet when it's out-of-season. Our apartment has two bedrooms, but we have so much other stuff we would have real trouble storing a larger tree. I have had the mini tree since I was a kid. It was originally from the American Girl catalog, along with a set of ornaments.

Now a close-up of what's under the tree:

I'll take a TARDIS under the tree this year, please! Amy stands guard over the police box while the Doctor sits in the driver's seat of my Mini-Mates DeLorean, which was signed by Christopher Lloyd at Wizard World in 2011.

Care Bears, Tom Servo, and Davros. And Reptile. Poor Reptile--someone tried to kill him with a forklift.

The Doctor attempts to work the nutcrackers with his sonic screwdriver. He must have forgotten that it doesn't do wood. Speaking of, Jason and I watched this version of The Nutcracker while we were decorating, to help us get in the Christmas spirit.

Our tree topper is a finger puppet! We also have a few other decorations. Without a chimney, we had to hang our stockings next to the closet with care:

I made the stockings a few years ago. They were my first attempt at intarsia colorwork, and I think they came out pretty well. I embroidered the names and details afterward, but the snowman and tree are knit right into the stocking.

My favorite decoration is something I found last year at a toy show for all of five dollars.

The snowman is held together with Velcro, and it came with a bunch of different accessories. The extras are sitting in the red tin on the right, to encourage people to play around with different ideas. I want to have a different snowman every day until Christmas.

Stuff I Find Exciting

1. An Adventure in Space and Time: Jason and I watched this docudrama about the creation of Doctor Who back in 1963. It's very well-written and acted, with lots of good information for old fans and new fans alike. It might even be a good way to introduce people to the show!

2. Chi-Fi: Chicago's getting a brand-new sci-fi convention! And you'll never guess who they got as special guests. Well, unless you click the link. Or I can tell you now: Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy, AKA Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo from MST3K. I am SO excited! I have been a fan of MST since high school and I would love to meet anyone connected with the show. Jason and I have been watching a lot of Mystery Science Theater lately, because their 25th anniversary was just one day after the Doctor Who 50th. 

Now, the question with Chi-Fi is, how do I pronounce it? Is it pronounced "shy-fi"? Or "chai-fi" like the tea?

3. Turkey Day marathon: Speaking of Mystery Science Theater, their annual Thanksgiving marathon is back! I never got to see the annual twelve hours of bad movies when it was on television, because by the time I started watching the VHS collections it had already been off the air for several years. Jason grew up with it, though, and he assures me they're great fun. I expect nothing less. This year it will be streaming online at MST3KTurkeyDay.com.

4. Leverage is back on Netflix! Now is a great time to check the show out if you haven't already. Think Robin Hood meets Mission: Impossible.

5. Christmas is coming! I love everything about Christmas: buying gifts, making cookies, singing Christmas songs, decorating, watching the snow fall...December is probably my favorite month of the year. Jason and I are starting a new tradition this year. I made an advent calendar garland, which I will be writing about soon. Check back on Friday! Speaking of, if you are going to brave the crowds on Friday, please be careful. Personally, I will be doing most of my Christmas shopping online.

In Defense of Casual Costuming

It's mid-September, which naturally means it's time to start planning for Halloween! I have this costume that I started working on a couple years ago. When I first started watching Doctor Who, one of the first episodes I saw was "Girl in the Fireplace." Aside from recognizing Sophia Myles (Reinette) from Moonlight, the most memorable part of the episode was the clockwork droids:

I've wanted to do a droid costume ever since. I got a plain mask from Michaels, which I decorated with Sharpie markers in a design similar to the ones seen in the show. I found a bridesmaid's dress at Goodwill which I thought would be good with some added lace at the neck and sleeves.

Yesterday I went looking for more pictures to figure out how I was going to modify the dress. Then I started looking for other people who had done cosplay droids, to see if they had any tutorials. In addition to some truly amazing costumes (see here and here and especially here) I kinda got the feeling that my idea wasn't good enough. It can be inspiring to look at other people's work, but it can be intimidating too.

There was one blog post in particular, which I will not link to, that left me feeling down. The guy who did the costume--which was honestly very good--was boasting about how his droid costume was better than all the others at the convention. He made a snide remark about someone else's costume, saying that her final mask was worse than his first attempt.

On the one hand, screw that guy.

On the other hand...well, screw that guy.

But at the same time, he's not the first person I've encountered to have that attitude, and he won't be the last. There are people in the cosplay community who feel a "casual attempt" at a costume is worse than no costume at all. "You think you can be the Eleventh Doctor with a just a suit jacket and a bowtie?" they sneer. "GTFO, noob. That's the wrong tweed fabric! Obviously! And your buttons are a quarter inch too small! And that shirt is all wrong! Don't know anything?" I won't even get into the problem of judging the person wearing the costume. That is another post for another day.

I have nothing against people who want to make their own costumes 100% screen-accurate. If that's what you want to do, more power to you. Just don't expect everyone to share your attitude. Most importantly, don't look down on those who take a different, more "casual" approach.

At its best, costuming is about showing off your talents and learning new ones along the way. The woman who decided to hide inside the dress and top it with a transparent head? Her costume is effing brilliant, and she deserves every bit of praise she gets for the hundreds of hours she put into it.

And the guy in the "wrong" jacket and bow tie? Maybe he's been too shy to cosplay before. Maybe this is his way of saying he's a fan of the show. Maybe he searched a dozen thrift stores to find that jacket because he can't afford the official replica.

Maybe he just wanted a costume he could put together in fifteen minutes. Is that so wrong? People cosplay for a million different reasons, and they're not always going to be the same as yours or mine.

In conclusion: If you can't say something nice about another person's costume, don't say anything at all.

I'll be posting progress pics soon on my own costume, so stay tuned!

Hat #7 (Hat-a-week): Epbot!

Here is my latest hat creation! Fellow readers of EPBOT will recognize this little guy instantly. Everyone else will think it's just a robot hat, but still pretty adorable.

Epbot is one of my favorite blogs. I started reading her other, more famous blog, Cake Wrecks, after I found the CW book and could not stop laughing. I think my favorite was the cake which said, in beautiful script, "Go Die In a Car Fire." Anyway, Jen has the most amazing projects on her blog. One of my goals in life is to make a penny desk...though that will undoubtedly need to wait until Jason and I have a house, rather than an apartment with carpeting that could get covered in bartop epoxy. Jen is one of my favorite friends-I've-never-met. I think that should be a thing now: someone you feel like you know, through blogs or YouTube videos or podcasts, but you've never met in person.

But I digress. Back to the hat! I find that designing a piece from scratch (rather than adding a picture to an otherwise plain hat) is easier with crochet than knitting. This is probably because it's easier to see my work as I go along--with knitting, all of the stitches are connected to the needle until it's all done.

Unlike knitting, which starts at the bottom, crocheted hats usually start at the top. I started with the plain silver yarn to make the basic hat. The embroidery was next: teal for the eyes (the same fuzzy stuff I used for the brim of my last hat) in satin stitch, and backstitch in black to make the seams. 

The little earpiece-thingies (I think?) on either side were made separately and sewn on. The little knobbly parts I worked with a smaller size crochet hook. Then I picked up 4 stitches with a knitting needle and worked a couple inches of I-cord. The antenna/orange light on top is made from pipe cleaners. I twisted the orange one around a yarn needle to get the right shape. I used the very end to make a little loop and put the end of the black pipe cleaner into it. Then I pulled the orange end down through the middle. It seems to be pretty secure. I stuck the other end of the black through the top of the hat and used the yarn ends to stitch it in place.

I had to work the ear flaps in black because I ran out of the silver, which was left over from the Dalek plush I knitted a couple years ago for my hubby. It's called Vanna's Glamour, and I used two strands held together throughout the whole project. The black is worsted-weight yarn.

If people want a more complete pattern I will try and post one later!

The ears tend to flop when I put the hat on. I may try to put some pipe cleaners in there as well, for stability. On the other hand, they do look kinda cute all floppy.

My next hat is going to be another hat with ear flaps, and another hat that sci-fi geeks will probably recognize instantly. Stay tuned!

Well, what do you think, sirs?

It stinks!

Who Review: Curse of the Black Spot

SPOILERS!

But only for this episode; no arc-wide shocking revelations this week.

Hands up if the title reminded you of "Curse of the Black Pearl." Probably intentional, because of the whole pirate ship thing. I loved the Doctor's first line: "Yo-ho-ho! Oh...does no one actually say that?"

I thought this was a pretty good episode, but there were a lot of twists and turns and not all of them were fully explained. I thought the Doctor shouted, "Completely forget my previous theories!" a couple times too often. Still a good episode, though. I think shows that only do 12 or 13 episodes a season (rather than the more common 22) have a higher percentage of good shows. The writers presumably have more time to work on them, and each episode has to count.

I did think it was clever that the Siren is summoned through reflections because she is from the mirror universe (hands up if you immediately thought of Spock with a goatee!). I like how the pirate crew all decided to stay there. I loved how the captain immediately knew what everything was on the TARDIS. Oh, and I figured out that they would find the TARDIS if they allowed the Siren to touch them, because I recognized the disappearing effect. Once they got there, though, the ending seemed...rushed? I guess that is the best way to explain it. The Doctor was able to immediately work out exactly what was going on. "Hold on! She's not evil! She's a computer! This is a hospital! Amy, stick your hand in the circle and then you can take Rory!" After all of the Doctor's incorrect theories, I would have been hesitant to trust him on that one.

I was convinced that Rory had actually died...for about two seconds. I was already wondering, "If he dies, how are they going to bring him back THIS time?" Of course, if he had died, it could have given the Doctor and Amy an excuse to shack up. In other news, the Doctor is still going to die in the future and Amy is still sort of pregnant.

Next week: Neil Gaiman's episode! He has trailers and minor spoilers up on his blog. I cannot wait!

Side note: Read this article that I found out about from EPBOT. If you are/were a geek in high school, congratulations! You are more likely to be successful than the popular kids. Geeks for the win!