What-What?! Week of May 25th

My car is in the shop.  I was sick.  Children exploded at work.  Other things happened.  This week, if it could go wrong, it probably did (in the most stressful way possible).

This week's post is quite short.  I apologize.

TV:  'And the Sky's the Limit': The Writers of the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Series Finale Look Back, 20 Years Later via Yahoo! TV

This is a great interview article with Ronald Moore and Brannon Braga, the two Star Trek writers that worked on the show's final episode, as well as the film, Star Trek: Generations.  It is a bit long, but includes a lot of great memories for those of us who are just that geeky.

Art:  Stained Glass Watercolor

This was inspired by a project from the website, Mrs. Brown's Art Class, which I've been referring to often for ideas and activities to use at work.

I did this project both at work and home, and it went over well with both the 4th graders and my little ones.  We used crayons to create a wax resist for the lines, then painted with the watercolors.

What-What?! Week of April 6th

This week has been crazy.  Thursday was my boss's last day with the YMCA, which is pretty sad for those of us staying.  She will be missed (actually, she all ready is).  The new site coordinator was previously our onsite tutor, so it's nice that she knows the staff, kids, and routine all ready.  Things will be different for sure, but I don't think it will necessarily be good or bad.  Just different.

Poetry: Skeltonic Verse

I decided to do a poetry exercise at work a few weeks ago, using skeltonic verse structure (AABB rhyming); this activity had mixed success.  I did have some kids who were actually interested, and some of their poems were pretty amusing ("what rhymes with pokemon?" was a real question).
A few days ago, I happened to find my example poem:

Salami sandwich, you are so nice,
Salami sandwich, I'll take a slice,
Bread, mayo, salami, and cheese,
I'll take two, if you please.

Because salami sandwiches are the best, hands down.  Where most people had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as their childhood staple, my family had salami sandwiches.  At one point, my older brother wrote an entire essay about them.  Nom, nom. :D

Fashion:  KNAPP The Post-War Collection

I saw this collection first on Fashion It So (the Star Trek: The Next Generation fashion blog), then followed the link to this much more substantial collection of photographs.  Some of these pieces are really captivating, while other are sort of hoo-hum, or even a bit dorky (hello, giant protruding pants pockets?).  I like the futuristic military Renaissance faire look, with the heavy fabrics and jewel tones.  Not to mention that all the princess seams are very flattering (even though I think the model has too long a torso for some of the fashions).

I particularly like this asymmetrical hip pocket thing that appears in several of the designs.  I have a few pairs of pants that are lacking in the pocket department, so this is something that I might really wear.

This one has a great 1960s feel to it.

Probably my favorite piece.  This design would look brilliant on a battlemech, too, I bet. :P

I love this neckline.

Really great texture on this top, and those sleeves are so romantic!

 

Check out the rest of the pieces by following the link above.  You'd be surprised at how many more there are in addition to the ones I've posted here.

What-What?! Week of January 5th

It's January!  That means I've been doing this blog for a nearly a whole year.

We were all sick again this week, so that's been somewhat miserable.  The rest of us just have colds, but the baby has a double ear infection AND acute bronchitis.  We woke up in the middle of the night, and he was having trouble breathing, so it made for another trip to the ER.  Luckily, at 3:30 in the morning, no one is at the ER that doesn't really want to be there, so at least we didn't wait long.  Less than 8 hours before, and all he had was a mildly runny nose.  Blah.

Oh!  I had an article published -- 4 Ways Sears Gets It Wrong via Yahoo! Voices.  I'm also working on another children's book collection post which I'll publish sometime this next week.

Horrific SG-1 "Lego" Toy Found at Target

Growing up, I watched the original Stargate film, as well as the TV shows, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis (Stargate Universe does not exist in my world).  So when I saw this monstrosity of a toy at the local Target, I was both intrigued and disgusted.  When you first look at this Best Lock Jack on Abydos set, it doesn't seem so bad; the Stargate and DHD look true to the films, but then... then you get a look at Jack:

What's up with his face?  What happened?  Did the designer truly step back and say "that's exactly as I Intended"?  Had the designer ever actually seen a human before?  I have to wonder who on Earth gave Best Lock the license to make these toys, considering that the brand itself is third-tier knockoff Lego, with extremely poor reviews on Amazon.com.  Don't be looking for this too hard in your local Target, though, because the reports I've seen say that it was part of the Christmas seasonal section.

(When I was organizing images for this section, I could not stop laughing at the juxtaposition between Jack and his Best Lock counterpart.  What the what, indeed!)

Fashion: Victorian Star Trek:  The Next Generation Dresses

This is totally nerdy.  These ladies made themselves Victorian-era costumes of Kathryn Janeway and Data for seeing a sneak preview of Into Darkness, and possibly also for the WGT convention in Leipzig.  I like the cut of the top on the Janeway cosplayer a bit better, though the slightly-puffed shoulders on the other one is very cute.

I found this via Fashion It So, which is a Star Trek: The Next Generation fashion blog.  It's worth a read if you have lots of time to kill. ;)

(imgs via ebay, needlessessentialsonline.com, truhe-der-genovefa.blogspot.ca)