Video Game Pulp Novel Covers

Reading is awesome. I especially love when artists pull together 2 things that I love, reading and pop culture. These following video games have been transformed into pulp covers, gorgeous enough that not only do I want to read them, but I'd also like to have them framed and on my wall.

Ástor Alexander is the artist of these 4 amazing classic covers

 

The Metroid one is my favorite! I'd really like to have it framed on my wall. It took me a bit of searching, but I managed to find his Society 6 page where you can purchase them! (well, the Nintendo ones anyway)

These next few are pretty fun as well. Shutterstock got the idea to make these fun romance covers and asked Echo Chernik to use their stock footage as a reference to create these delightful re-imagined romances

The Pac-man one cracks me up and I absolutely ship Ryu & Ken. I didn't realize that anyone could ever make me feel sorry for that  damned Duck Hunt dog, but I stand corrected.

Thanks to GeekXGirls who knows what geeky girls want to read

Ryu Vs. Darth Vader: How Fandom Works In Our House

Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the object(s) of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom); this is what differentiates "fannish" (fandom-affiliated) fans from those with only a casual interest.

A fandom can grow up centered around any area of human interest or activity. The subject of fan interest can be narrowly defined, focused on something like an individual celebrity, or more widely defined, encompassing entire hobbies, genres or fashions. While it is now used to apply to groups of people fascinated with any subject, the term has its roots in those with an enthusiastic appreciation for sports. Merriam-Webster's dictionary traces the usage of the term back as far as 1903. - Wikipedia

Ron and I are both geeks. Yes, geeky love is wonderful, and you probably think that mutual fandom is what brought us together; this is not the case. Yes, we do have a few similar geek choices, but mostly we geek about very different things.

I, on one hand, love all things Star Wars; as I'm sure you already know. My Star Wars collectables take up most of a geek shelf that we share in our new house. You may not know this, but I'm also a doll collector, as in Barbie, Monster High, Sailor Moon, and of course, Star Wars dolls. These take up an entire shelving unit in my craft room and I am very proud of this collection. I also have a lot of geeky art that I have either gotten at comic conventions or that my Dad has drawn for me. This consist of Sailor Moon, Maleficent, Kermit the Frog, Cloud from FFVII, Edea from FVIII, Wheel of Time maps, and my all time personal favorite, my Lord Of The Rings picture from my Dad.

Now Ron on the other hand, is into totally different things. He is a huge computer/gadget geek. Over the years we've been together, he has shown me he loves me through gadgets. He once built me computer! I wish I understood everything that went into it, so I could truly appreciate it, but the fact that he built me a computer because he loves me, is pretty f*ing amazing. Ron's computer room in our new house is filled with gadgety goodness. Every gaming system pretty much ever made resides in this room, as well a his own memorabilia. But unlike my haphazard collection, pretty much everything he's collected is still pristine in the box. He goes more for Street Fighter and anime characters, most of whom I only have a vague idea who they are. He has boxes of pristine comics and anime art scrolls.

It's not that our fandoms don't mix, it's just that they're very different. He thinks that when I take my collectables out of the box, I'm ruining their value and I believe that by leaving them in the box I'm not appreciating them as much as if I can hold them and pose them and get a real sense of them. He looks at the the lessening value of mine and scoffs and my fingers are itchy to tear those toys out of their packages. So far, everything is still intact and we laugh about it a lot.

But when we pin our fandoms up against each other, this is what we get.

RYU VS. DARTH VADER

Ok, so it's more like Princess Leai vs. Chun Li, but I still think this is a great analogy.

In the end, love always wins over fandom and our differences are part of the reason we love each other.

Thanks to Distracted by Star Wars and the Student Pocket Guide for the video and YamaO for the great Street Fighter art. And of course to Ron, for loving me despite my love of Star Wars :P

Living My Geeky Life

Hello all!

Yes, it's me Braeby! That's right, I'm still alive, despite what you all must think.

I know it's been a long time, and I'm quite sorry for that. It's not that I forgot you, that could never happen, it's just... well.... life got in the way for a bit.

Let me summarize:

1. I lost my job, which is good and bad. Good, because it didn't make me happy and Bad, because I'm just not making any money right now.

2. My computer decided that it didn't like me anymore. It started crashing so often that I couldn't get through a blog post without it crashing and having to reboot my system about 6 or 7 times if I was lucky. It makes blogging hard when you don't have a computer. I was gifted an iPad 1 by my boyfriend when the iPad 2 came out and he bought the new one, but I could only blog using HTML and well... I'm just not that type of geek. Now I'm using a MAC laptop, but with no MAC experience, it's taken me a little while to get use to using it.

3. Ron and I just bought a house! YAY! I never realized just how much work goes into this process. Since he's the bread winner right now, I took care of everything. So between the legal stuff, the packing, cleaning, sanding, painting, moving, middle of the night emergency room trip, being sick and unpacking, it's been a stressful few months.

It hasn't all been bad though. There have been some fun things too.

Wishful Drinking

Never heard of Wishful Drinking? You should be ashamed of yourself!

Finally, after four hit novels, Carrie Fisher comes clean (well, sort of ) with the crazy truth that is her life in her first-ever memoir. In Wishful Drinking, adapted from her one-woman stage show, Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of "Hollywood in-breeding," come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen.

Intimate, hilarious, and sobering, Wishful Drinking is Fisher, looking at her life as she best remembers it (what do you expect after electroshock therapy?). It's an incredible tale: the child of Hollywood royalty -- Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher -- homewrecked by Elizabeth Taylor, marrying (then divorcing, then dating) Paul Simon, having her likeness merchandized on everything from Princess Leia shampoo to PEZ dispensers, learning the father of her daughter forgot to tell her he was gay, and ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed.

Wishful Drinking, the show, has been a runaway success. Entertainment Weekly declared it "drolly hysterical" and the Los Angeles Times called it a "Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes." This is Carrie Fisher at her best -- revealing her worst. She tells her true and outrageous story of her bizarre reality with her inimitable wit, unabashed self-deprecation, and buoyant, infectious humor. 

Before I found out that it was a show, I discovered the book and instantly fell in love with Carrie Fisher's writing. I mean, not only is she Princess Leia, but she's a writer, like me!

So, when I found out that Wishful Drinking was in Toronto I was thrilled and had to go. Ron was sweet enough to buy me a ticket in row D for a Wednesday matinee.

The show, like her book, was fantastic! She's had such a hard life, but her wit is so amazing that you find yourself laughing at things that really shouldn't be funny.

The show was over much too soon, as I could have sat there forever and listened to her talk.

Before the show started, I asked one of the ushers whether Carrie signed autographs after the show and she scoffed and said no. I felt rather dejected that I wouldn't get to meet her or that she wouldn't take the time for her fans.

After the show was over though, I cut through the parking lot next to the theatre on a whim and sure enough, there was a red velvet rope and a few people with books hanging around. 

Turns out the usher was wrong!

After about 10 minutes, Carrie Fisher herself walked out the door!

 She was extremely gracious and took the time to find out every one's name and sign a personalized autograph. 

 

I go her to sign my copy of Wishful Drinking. She told me that I was sweet, beautiful and had a great name.

 She also granted my wish of having my picture taken with her!

 Isn't this a fantastic picture? She snuggled right into me and said "isn't this nice?"

Yes, Carrie, it was more than nice; it was a dream come true!

Geek Sewing

My awesome, Wonder Woman/Martha Stuart-esque friend Jocey (who you may have heard of numerous times on Bake Star Wars For Me) is teaching me how to sew! It's a very exciting process for me because it's something I've always wanted to do and once I get better, I can start sewing my own cosplay costumes. (Thrown Room Queen Amidala here I come!) But for now I'm starting much smaller. So far I've made a few pairs of pajamas, 

a Superman purse

 

a corn dress (don't ask), a Batman/JLA t-shirt dress

and I've started working on a t-shirt quilt.

Pretty awesome, huh?

Fan Expo 2011

So, this weekend was Fan Expo. I didn't think that I would have the time or the money to go this year, with the move and all, but I had been working so hard that I needed a break. Fan Expo seemed like the perfect escape. Since I'm not online much these days, I felt like I needed to reconnect with my geek roots. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to wear one of my awesome geek shirts where people wouldn't look at me like I was strange.

It turned out to be the first Expo where I not only didn't dress up, but where I went all by myself. It was nice to set my own pace and focus my energy on looking at cool stuff and not for the other people I'm with. The downside of that is not being able to share my thoughts about things with people that would appreciate it.

I always think this guy makes an awesome Luke

I'm pretty sure this is my facebook friend Roy, but it's hard to know with the mask on.

These women are truly Wondrous

 

Not only are these great costumes, but something about The Flash's peircings, makes it that much more awesome!

 

April O'Neil cosplay!!

Michael Shanks (aka Daniel Jackson from Stargate-SG1)

He was so super nice! I didn't have any money left to buy a picture to be autographed, but he did chat with me and let me have my picture taken with him. I told him he was our favorite part of SG1 and he told me we had good taste :p
For sure one of the highlights of Fan Expo since I started going.

Is there a Doctor in the house?

Amazing Rouge and Scarlet Witch cosplay!
 

Axel and Kairi try out the new dancing game by Ubisoft

Remember this guy from Green Lantern? What an awesome prop!

Another Velma? Better or worse than my version from last year? You decide.

He has a PHD in Horribleness!

It's not every day you see Nick Fury cosplay! I was impressed!

Ok Hawkeye... don't do anything rash... I'm backing away slowly!

 HADOUKEN!
Wait... what?

I almost left this picture of Steampunk Han Solo and Slave Leia out because these two were in a hurry and were quite rude to me when I asked them to stop for a picture.

This was an awesome painting outside  of Batman scaling the side of  cavern wall. It was really had to get a picture of becauswe people kept walking across it.

Now, on to the good stuff. Here is my swag!

New Supergirl, Princess Leia and Samantha Carter t-shirts for my collection!
I love kick-ass women!

An amazing Sailor Jupiter and Venus postcard

 Of course a trip to Fan Expo wouldn't be complete without art from Laurie B!
As well as these, I'm having a commission done by her that will be coming my way soon!

This one will go perfectly in my kitchen alongside my Snap, Crackle, Pop!

 Check out my Fantastic Phoenix!

Chun-Li

I am totally enamoured with my pictures of Prince Darien and Princess Serena!

 

I'm not a huge Hello Kitty fan, but these were too cute to pass up!

More cups for my collection!

I finally found Luke and Leia vintage figures that I could afford! Now all I need is Han Solo with his body intact!

Random Geekery

I was out and about the other day and I came across this hanging from a cross walk sign.
I don't know who put it there or how long it's been up but I had the sudden urge to punch the bottom of it...

Also, while unpacking, Ron and I discovered that we have way too many collectables for one shelf!

This isn't even all of it!

So, that's what I've been up to the last few months. How about you?