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She loves playing Dungeons & Dragons, but she wants more. Can true love drag a nerd out of the basement long enough for a dinner date? The animation by Brad Jonas accompanies a song by the Doubleclicks. -Thanks, A Seventy!
Did you know that March is National Craft Month? In order to get your revved up and ready for the holiday, I’ve gone ahead and rounded up some of the best videogame cross stitch designs I could find. Cross stitching is a perfect medium for old school videogames because the pixels can easily be transformed into geeky stitching patterns. So sit back, relax and get ready to get crafty.
Special thanks to Sprite Stitch, a wonderful website dedicated to video-game-themed crafts.
This great design by Flickr user CrystalPowell combines four of the greatest Nintendo classics in one.
For those that like their videogames really old school, this Commodore 64 cross stitch by Craftster Forum user Maltririel is just the ticket.
The classic Space Invaders cross stitch by Flickr user Cross-stitch ninja is fun, but I must admit that I prefer the Space Invaders/Futurama cross over piece featured on Let’s Get Radical.
Personally, I was never very good at Space Invaders, but Arkanoid was a serious addiction for me for a while. That’s why I’m in love with this design by Eunice of Mondo Pixel.
Flickr user Sewsew-a-go-go stitched this massive 12” x 28” screen from the NES classic Punch Out Game.
If you liked Street Fighter more than Punch Out, then this character select menu by Etsy user StitchPleaseMD might belong on your wall. For an action shot of the game, look no further than this excellent piece by Sprite Stitch forum user Celes_Lionheart.
As someone who grew up playing Sega, I tend to think the Genesis doesn’t get nearly enough love. That’s why this Sonic title screen cross stitch by the wife of Reddit user Maggoty makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.
Becky Schaefer’s pieces featuring Lara Croft are an elegant bridge between classic floral cross stitch patterns and modern video game designs.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I thought I’d share this oldie but goodie Geeky Science Valentines, first published on Neatorama back in 2008.
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One of the great things about the internet is that designers and manufacturers can find a specialized clientele, and consumers can find specialized items that locals stores cannot afford to stock. Case in point: jewelry that reflects your interest in the geeky worlds of technology, video games, science fiction, and other hobbies. Check out some awesome jewelry items in this list at Oddee, like these circuit board earrings. Link
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These are ten-sided fuzzy dice for geeks to hang in their car. Each is a decahedron known as a pentagonal trapezohedron. And you can make them yourself, with instructions from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. Link
Still looking for the perfect Halloween costume that really expresses your interests? Well, if you’re looking for something nerdy, geeky or dorky, we’ve got you covered with this ultimate guide to geeky Halloween costumes.
If you thought wheelchair-bound people couldn’t have any fun on Halloween, think again. This tie fighter costume takes advantage of the chair and incorporates it into an undeniably cool Star Wars costume.
The Darth Vader with his Death Star costume might not be the most elaborate Star Wars costume, but it makes up for lack of complexity with comfort and the use of the baby bump to fill in the Death Star is just brilliant.
We’ve all seen our share of hokey, horse-riding costumes, but using expansion foam to construct an incredibly realistic looking tauntaun with Luke Skywalker on top is a whole different story.
Video link
There are tons of Transformers costumes out there and while most of them are pretty cool, few of them look so convincing when transformed into a car.
Yes, this Star Trek dog costume is geeky, and yes the dog does look cute in a sad way. But no, this costume isn’t a good idea. And no, he won’t like having cardboard and beer cans taped to his back.
Sure you could be Kingpin, Two-Face or Mystique, but none of those characters have awesome arms growing out of their back like Doctor Octopus. It’s a way cooler look to carry around your enemy on your back.
Sure he might need to change his name to Copper Man in this Jules Verne-inspired take on the classic Marvel hero, but it doesn’t make the character any less cool.
Video link
This Big Daddy costume is amazing in that it not only looks exactly like the characters in the videogame, but the left arm drill actually spins thanks to the help of a hidden electric drill inside the costume.
It takes one dedicated dad to put something like this together for his three year old, but if you have the dedication and technical proficiency, you can follow The Aging Gamer’s instructions on how to put together a Mega Man costume for your little one.
Video link
This Gameboy costume has a working monitor on it displaying Tetris, even better, the game can be controlled with the buttons on the costume.
The best thing about this weird meme costume is that the original cat in the video looked so fake and awkward, just like this woman.
I think the best thing about these two costumes is the intricate background details behind the “actors,” which really gives a 3D feeling to the video area of the page.
Most kids who dress as animals choose dog or cat costumes, but this webbegong shark costume is not only unique, but incredibly accurate as well. The little two year-old was obsessed with the sharks and his seamstress mother was more than happy to indulge in his interests.
What was your favorite costume ever? Do you know what you’ll be this year?
No matter how much effort you put into a costume, it goes south when you find you are one of ten Batmen at a party -or even worse, a costume contest. Geeks Are Sexy has some ideas for costumes taken from movies, games, and literature that will be recognized by other geeks, but you’re almost guaranteed to have the only one of its kind. Pictured is an appropriate literary costume most of you will recognize right off. Link
Photo: Francis Storr [Flickr]
Our pal Geeks Are Sexy blog has a nifty compilation of geeky tattoos. I particularly like the one Francis Storr photographed @media 2006 conference shown above. There’s no need to close the tag on love, of course, because love is foreeeeveeerrr!!
Photo: Dawn Endico [Flickr]
I’ve got a serious case of plate envy just looking at this neat collection of geeky license plates over at our pal Geeks Are Sexy: Link
I can picture it: Kirk screaming in rage after being stuck in traffic.
Some occasions call for a special love song that one or both involved parties can personally relate to. John Farrier at NeatoGeek has a collection of a half-dozen videos of love songs that speak to the feelings a true geek has for his/her significant other. Whether you are into comic books, role-playing games, video games, or other geeky pursuits, there’s a songwriter who understands your emotions. And if you’re not a geek in love, you’ll get a laugh out of them! Link
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This picture shows what hydrogen atoms might look like if we could see them.
The chart above shows the appearance of a single hydrogen atom in a few of its lowest excited states. In each of those states, the electron is found in a different orbital, some of which have unfamiliar shapes. But even the term “shape” is a little funny for something that you can’t hold in your hand. These are actually probability density plots, which show the likelihood of observing the electron in any one position at a given time– and more correctly, 2D projections of 3D probability densities.
So even the humble hydrogen atom can be a bit complex. Fortunately, we have advanced technology that can help us cut though the quantum mechanical haze: Cookies!
What we can see (and taste) are cookies made to resemble the shapes of the hydrogen atoms in the chart. The folks at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories made these cookies and will show you how you can make them, too! Link
Take cakes that are so bad they're good, mix in a great sense of humor and what do you get? A madly popular blog phenomenon, and now, a book as well! Jen Yates, the founder of Cake Wrecks, one of my all time favorite blogs, has graciously agreed to do an interview about cakes, the universe and everything.
But first: the book. As I'm sure you all probably already know or can
guess, Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong
But there's something very subtle about the book that made me appreciate
Jen and Cake Wrecks even more. This is something I came to realize only
after I read the advance copy of the book (I know, I know, the perks of
being a famous blogger). Cake Wrecks is actually the celebration
of having a bad cake. It's an homage to Murphy's Law asserting itself
over flour, sugar, egg and shortening mixed together
and popped in the oven.
Think about it: how many birthday parties have you gone to and not remember a whit of what happened? Now, if you had one where the cake was horribly wrong (but still very yummy) - wouldn't that stick in your memory forever? (I can imagine the conversation - Q: "Hey, remember that party with the foot cake?" A: "Yeah ... good times!")
'Nuff said. Let's get on with the interview:
Neatorama: Before we talk about cakes, I'm curious about what you wrote for the "About the Author" portion of Cake Wrecks, and I quote "Jen has been a clown, a cash office accountant, a Jungle Cruise skipper, a business owner, a children's book inventory expeditor, and a house painter."
Now, if you don't mind - a clown? Really? What's that like? Did you come up with your own Jungle Cruise skipper jokes? And just what the heck is a children's book inventory expeditor? Sounds like a smuggling ops.
Jen Yates: Hah! Yes, I do have some interesting "work" experience. Ok, let's see...being a clown? That can be surprisingly difficult, on account of your not being allowed to retaliate while being kicked in the shins by a horde of candy-seeking 9-year-olds. Heheh. Other than that it was a blast, though. I learned to juggle, make balloon animals, and perform funny skits. This was during my teens, so that's also where I first learned public speaking skills, believe it or not. We visited hospitals, shelters, expos, churches, you name it.
Jungle Cruise was also fabulous, and yes, we got to ad lib a bit. That's where my love of puns truly blossomed. There's this crashed plane on the ride, and I made a game of fitting as many plane puns as possible into the few seconds we had before it passed out of sight. (I think I got up to 8 or 9.) I wasn't happy until the whole boat was groaning in agony.
My other jobs were less glamorous. The expeditor gig? That was me in a cubicle calling various national warehouses to see if their shipment had arrived yet. Lots of spreadsheets. :)
Neatorama: What's the very first cake that got you thinking of creating Cake Wrecks - the cake that started it all?
Jen: Yes, that cake really and truly DID start it all. My friend Abby e-mailed it to me, and the idea for Cake Wrecks just hit me. I think I started the blog that very night, just for fun.
Neatorama: What's your favorite cake wrecks?
Jen: My favorites are usually the ones with the communication breakdowns. The literal stuff like the Under Neat that cake, and then the garbled phone order ones.
Cake submitted by Elizabeth R.
Remember the flash drive cake? That's the one where the customer wanted a photo cake, and so brought in the picture they wanted on a portable thumb drive for the bakery to print out. Instead, the bakery drew an exact replica of the flash drive on the cake! Heh, I LOVE stories like that.
Neatorama: Let's see some geek cred - what are the geekiest cake wrecks you've ever gotten?
Jen: Game console cakes are really popular, especially for grooms cakes, and I've seen some doosies:
Cake submitted by Monique B.
Cake submitted by Diane B.
Here are a few more geeky Wrecks:
Cake submitted by Maggie G.
Cake submitted by Kelly J.
Cake
submitted by Gretchen W. (That's supposed to be Luigi, believe it or not)
And this one's not a Wreck, but I thought it was funny:
Cake submitted by Amy L.
I *think* that says happy birthday in binary. Am I right?
__________
Jen has kind enough to offer a free copy of the book for a giveaway - got any question for Jen? A lucky commenter with the most interesting question will win the book (I'll post Jen's reply as an update).
More wrecktastic blogger interviews with Jen Yates about her new book:
Links: Cake Wrecks | The
Book at Amazon: Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong
Update 10/3/09 – Jen has picked the question to answer. Find out more here: Link
Lenore over at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories blog created this bra-ket bookends perfect for your quantum mechanics textbooks. Dirac would’ve been proud though Heisenberg would’ve warned about the uncertainty of having objects heavier than books that may fall out of the shelf.
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