There are quite a few pieces of geeky culture that I have shared with NHL. I’ve introduced him to superheroes, to video games, Star Wars, and even to the Internet. However, there are still many more things to show him. Some will need to wait until he is older, but this weekend I showed him yet another element: Back To The Future.
Back To The Future is, of course, the classic time travel tale featuring Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd. NHL was pretty excited when we took it out of the library. When the movie began, however, he changed his mind. It was just going too slow for his taste and he wanted to turn something else on. I kept reassuring him that this was all setup and that things would pick up once they went back in time.
Then, Marty got himself stuck in 1955. From that point on, NHL was hooked. He was on the edge of his seat as Marty’s siblings started to disappear. He cheered when Marty triumphed over Biff. He kept hoping against hope that Doc and Marty could pull off their plan and get Marty home.
Then, Doc showed up at the end and whisked Marty and Jennifer off to the future. Though we didn’t have time, he kept trying to guess what happened next. He is definitely a Back To The Future fan and can’t wait until we have time to watch parts 2 and 3.
What geeky movies have you and your kids watched recently?
Today is my birthday. I’m thirty-seven today. It seems like just yesterday that I was feeling depressed over leaving my 20’s behind and turning 30. Now, I’m dreading the rapidly approaching big Four Zero.
Lately, I’ve been feeling quite old. The eighties, my formative years, started over thirty years ago. The nineties, when I went to high school and college, began over twenty years ago. Songs that I grew up listening to have begun playing on the oldies station. I’ve even caught myself referring to teenagers and college students as "kids nowadays." There are times when I feel like I should just grab a cane to shake at `kids as I yell at them to get off my lawn.
I’ll be honest. I think I feel a midlife crisis coming on. No, I’m not going to buy a convertible sportscar. I regard cars solely as tools to get from one place to another. I’m much too frugal to buy one that isn’t practical. I’m thinking of a bit of a geekier midlife crisis. Perhaps I’ll set up a home video network so we can stream all of our videos, music, and photos to any TV in the house. Maybe I’ll try my hand at making something out of duct tape. I might even buy a Dremel and some supplies and see if I can replicate an Epbot-inspired project.
First, though, I’m going to buy a few of these:
Ok, that particular tie clip was from The Lovely Teaspoon. I love that one and the USB tie clip that I also bought from her, but it has got me itching to try making a few of my own. Not to sell, mind you. For my own use. (If you want to buy a tie clip, or earrings or cufflinks, check out The Lovely Teaspoon’s Etsy shop. She’s got lots of cool stuff.) I wear a tie five times a week and it would be cool if I could alternate out geeky tie clips to go with my geeky ties.
I’m thinking Lego bricks (facing up so I can attach different minifigs) on some and perhaps a USB thumb drive on another (situated so you can plug it in). I was even thinking of taking a Disney Vinylmation pin, removing the "pin" part (Dremel?) and attaching it to the clip. I *am* a Disney Geek, after all.
My Aloha Friday question for today is: What geeky item would you attach to a tie clip?
P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.
Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
By now, you’ve likely heard the Carley Rae Japsen song, Call Me Maybe.
Ok, maybe you’re more like me and didn’t know about the song until a certain cookie loving blue monster made a parody video.
Or, maybe you’ve seen the Olympic swim team singing the song.
Then again, perhaps you heard the "Call Me Lochte" parody.
Yes, it’s been done and parodied multiple times. After I first saw the Cookie Monster version, though, I got an idea. You see, I happened to be reading The Hobbit at the time. Not just that, but I was at a critical juncture in the story. Bilbo Baggins had found a certain magical ring and won a riddle game against the creature known as Gollum.
Now, my brain has mashed two completely unrelated things before with… um, "interesting" results. Specifically, Elmer Fudd combined with Cee Lo Green. So it didn’t take long for the idea to click of having Gollum singing the song "to" Bilbo. Of course, he wouldn’t be simply asking Bilbo to "call him, maybe." No, he would be singing for Bilbo to give him the ring.
Unfortunately, like before, I don’t have the skills to produce the video myself. Even if I could get hold of the instrumental version of Call Me Maybe, I don’t have a Gollum costume handy and my Gollum impersonation is horrid at best. So, I’ll just have to be satisfied with posting the lyrics. If anyone wants to turn this into an actual video, please just link up here and let me know. I’d love to see this come to life.
And so, here’s "Give It To Me" by Gollum.
I have but one wish to tell, My precious in a cave fell Your pockets’ contents compel, Me to now sound your death knell
Traded my soul for one thing, My precious small golden ring Now you ask for the way out, You have Precious no doubt
The riddle contest, You won, I could not guess What was in your pockets Where you think you’re taking Precious?
Hey, I just met you, I might be crazy, But you have Precious, So give it to me!
You cannot be seen, While you wear it, You have my Precious, So give it to me!
Hey, since I met you, I’m going crazy, I need my Precious, So give it to me!
Without it cave goblins, See and chase me, Must have my Precious, So give it to me!
You slipped the ring and then I could not bash your head in. I did not see where you went Must get in your way
I run down tunnels left right, With my heart full of spite I have a plan in my mind now To stay in your way
You said, you weren’t knowin’ The exit which way was goin’ I think lies you’re throwin’ Where you think you’re going, Baggins?
Hey, I just met you, I might be crazy, But you have Precious, So give it to me!
You cannot be seen, While you wear it, You have my Precious, So give it to me!
Hey, since I met you, I’m going crazy, I need my Precious, So give it to me!
Without it cave goblins, See and chase me, Must have my Precious, So give it to me!
I need my Precious in my life I need it so bad I want it so bad My Precious so, so bad
I need my Precious in my life I need it so bad Baggins should know that I want my Precious back
You cannot be seen, While you wear it, You have my Precious, So give it to me!
Hey, since I met you, I’m going crazy, I need my Precious, So give it to me!
Without it cave goblins, See and chase me, Must have my Precious, So give it to me!
I need my Precious in my life I need it so bad I want it so bad My Precious so, so bad
I need my Precious in my life I need it so bad Baggins should know that
NHL is a budding geek. I’m sure of it. He loves superheroes and playing video games. He also likes reading. Although sometimes the prospect of starting a new book seems to overwhelm him, once he’s into a book, he will pour through it until he’s finished with it.
I decided that he was old enough to be introduced to some of the science fiction that I loved growing up. So I found my old copy of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. I figured this would be good since it is just a collection of short stories. We could read them together and go story by story. NHL liked it, but didn’t want to continue after the second story. I think they were too slow and cerebral for his taste. So I’m on the search for other science fiction and/or fantasy books that would be more his speed.
Meanwhile, I’ve also been thinking about some of the classic movies that I grew up on that he would enjoy. Back To The Future is definitely on the list. I think he’d get a kick out of Marty McFly’s adventures through time. I told him about the trilogy and semi-spoiled it by saying they go to the Old West in the third movie. He suddenly got very interested. (He did ask if they went back to the time of the Dinosaurs. He seemed disappointed that Back To The Jurassic wasn’t one of the movies.)
Beetlejuice was on TV the other night and I loved seeing the Maitland’s try to cope with being dead, the new family in their house and "the ghost with the most" living in their model’s graveyard. Part of me thought that NHL would like this movie, but then I saw the "gory/scary" parts. They aren’t really bad. Nothing approaching "horror movie" level, but just gory enough to scare NHL. (He has this thing about blood.) Perhaps in a few years, he’ll be able to handle it, but not now.
Of course, given his love of video games, I’m definitely going to take NHL to see the video game movie: Wreck-It Ralph. He might not get all of the cameos (like Q-Bert), but this movie definitely looks like it has the right level of geekiness and age appropriateness.
What age appropriate geeky books/movies would you introduce to your child?
NHL is a budding geek. I’m sure of it. He loves superheroes and playing video games. He also likes reading. Although sometimes the prospect of starting a new book seems to overwhelm him, once he’s into a book, he will pour through it until he’s finished with it.
I decided that he was old enough to be introduced to some of the science fiction that I loved growing up. So I found my old copy of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. I figured this would be good since it is just a collection of short stories. We could read them together and go story by story. NHL liked it, but didn’t want to continue after the second story. I think they were too slow and cerebral for his taste. So I’m on the search for other science fiction and/or fantasy books that would be more his speed.
Meanwhile, I’ve also been thinking about some of the classic movies that I grew up on that he would enjoy. Back To The Future is definitely on the list. I think he’d get a kick out of Marty McFly’s adventures through time. I told him about the trilogy and semi-spoiled it by saying they go to the Old West in the third movie. He suddenly got very interested. (He did ask if they went back to the time of the Dinosaurs. He seemed disappointed that Back To The Jurassic wasn’t one of the movies.)
Beetlejuice was on TV the other night and I loved seeing the Maitland’s try to cope with being dead, the new family in their house and "the ghost with the most" living in their model’s graveyard. Part of me thought that NHL would like this movie, but then I saw the "gory/scary" parts. They aren’t really bad. Nothing approaching "horror movie" level, but just gory enough to scare NHL. (He has this thing about blood.) Perhaps in a few years, he’ll be able to handle it, but not now.
Of course, given his love of video games, I’m definitely going to take NHL to see the video game movie: Wreck-It Ralph. He might not get all of the cameos (like Q-Bert), but this movie definitely looks like it has the right level of geekiness and age appropriateness.
What age appropriate geeky books/movies would you introduce to your child?
