Category: Geeky Pursuits

The Continuing Adventures of My Super-Boys

Computers, Geeky Pursuits, Internet, JSL, NHL, Superheroes

Last year, I sat my boys down on the HeroMachine website to let them make their own superheroes.  Since it’s been so long, I decided to let them back on to see how they would make their heroes this time.  As with the last time, I guided them through the setup.  I might have nudged them here or there but the general look and feel of the superheroes was up to them.  For example, I might push to make tops and bottoms match in color, but if they decided to change the color palette, I wouldn’t refuse their superheroic demands.

I also purposefully didn’t show them their superheroes from the previous year.  I didn’t want them to simply recreate their old heroes.  I wanted to see what more recent influences might being to their heroes.

Let’s start with JSL.  Last year, he made this hero:

  

He named his superhero “FireGuy.”  So what did he make this year?

Agent Super JSL Buzz Lightyear

Meet Super Agent JSL Buzz Lightyear.  Breaking down the name first, the “Super” part comes because, to JSL, a superhero must, obviously, be names super-something.  I’m not sure why he thinks that.  Most of the superheroes he knows don’t have names that begin with “Super.”  “Agent” comes from Agent P, from Phineas and Ferb.  We had recently watched the Phineas and Ferb movie so he wanted to be a secret agent.  Buzz Lightyear comes from his favorite Toy Story character.

The shield is based on the one that his favorite superhero, Captain America, has.  The color scheme incorporates his favorite colors.  I’m not sure if there was a particular rhyme or reason behind the rest of the outfit, though.

Next up, was NHL.  Last year, he made Disco Man, so named because he had “disco eyes.”

 

This year, NHL made Toolguy/Mathman/Cordman.  Yes, you read that right.  This superhero has three names.  I tried to get NHL to shorten it, but he was adamant that it needed to be all three and include the slashes.

Toolguy_Mathman_Cordman

The name is based off his love of building things, his love of math, and the fact that his superhero has a whip.  The head was based loosely on Hulk.  For the body, NHL insisted that his superhero was part-robot and so it needed to be grey.  In retrospect, I wonder if this comes from Perry the Platyborg from the Phineas and Ferb movie.  It was interesting that NHL picked out the same tail that he chose last year.  He also chose the same eyes at first, but then changed his mind.

Have your kids used HeroMachine?  If so, what kinds of superheroes have they made?

Review: Wookie The Chew – The House at Chew Corner

Books, Geeky Pursuits, NHL, Star Wars, Winnie the Pooh

I’ve long admired the work of James Hance.  He has a knack for taking classic fictional characters like Kermit the Frog, Darth Vader and He-Man and either crossing them with other fictional characters/situations or just displaying them differently.  (You can order prints of all of those images from James’ website.)  Wookie the Chew – The House at Chew Corner is no exception.

The story is a mash-up of two of my personal favorites: Star Wars and Winnie the Pooh.  Winnie the Pooh combines with Chewbacca to become Wookie the Chew.  Christopher Robin and Han Solo become Chrisolo Robin.  Piglet merges with R2D2 to become Droidlet.

The story unfolds as Wookie the Chew, having obviously inherited his appetite from Pooh, embarks on a mission to get something to eat.  Except, instead of honey, he’s looking for bobaberries.  (Tip: Don’t eat the cloneberries.  They all taste the same.)  Along the way there’s a hive of bees-crossed-with-tie-fighters, a balloon-crossed-with-the-Millennium-Falcon and a giant-tree-combined-with-the-Death-Star.

I’ll admit that the book wasn’t quite what I was expecting.  Having seen James Hance’s fabulous art, I thought it would be a picture book with few words.  Instead, it is mostly words with enough sketched artwork to see the story through.  While I was initially disappointed, that feeling changed upon reading the story to NHL.

At every turn there’s a saying or setting or character that calls back to both Star Wars and Winnie the Pooh.  The story was great and left us wanting more.  Indeed, Hance is working on a follow-up book titled “When We Were Very Jedi.”  Once the book is ready for ordering, you can bet I’ll be ordering a bunch.

In fact, the only downside to this book is the shipping cost.  The book itself is a steal at $5.  However, shipping costs $10!  The solution?  Get a bunch of family, friends and co-workers to order with you.  Shipping rises to $15 if you order 5 or more books, but it still winds up being cheaper per-book.  Place one order for five books and the cost per book (price + shipping) drops to $8.  Plus, each book comes signed by the author.  (Custom dedications are available as well.)

I’ll close with a few photos of the book and of NHL reading it.

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IMGP0298 IMGP0300

Disclaimer: I didn’t receive anything in compensation to review Wookie the Chew.  I purchased the book with my own money and liked it so much that I thought I’d share my thoughts on it.

Voldemort vs. Papa Smurf

Geeky Pursuits, Harry Potter, NHL, Smurfs, Television

Thanks to reruns of the old Smurfs cartoon and the new Smurfs movie (which they saw advertisements for when we went to see the Winnie the Pooh movie), my boys have suddenly found an interest in the Smurfs.  My oldest has already memorized when they’re on and will want to change the channel when the airing time approaches.

NHL has also formed an interest in Harry Potter.  We caught some of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on TV one day and was transfixed.  So we took Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone out of the library and watched it with him (and JSL too).  NHL loved it from the first moments of Harry discovering his talents to the ending battle.  We think he’s developed a crush on Hermione as he specifically begged us to get him the Lego Harry Potter set with her in it.

Anyway, while shopping this past weekend, NHL spotted a Smurfs activity/coloring book.  He looked through it quickly, spotted the evil wizard who tries to capture the Smurfs and commented to me that Voldemort was in the book.  After prompting from me and a bit of rethinking, he recalled that Gargamel, not Voldemort was actually the Smurfs’ foe.

Being the geek that I am, I began picturing what would happen if Voldemort happened upon the Smurfs.  At first, it might seem a slaughter fest as Voldemort Avada Kedavra’s Smurf after Smurf.  (Perhaps Cruciatus-ing a few for fun.)

Of course, in Harry Potter’s world, love seems to be a magic in and of itself.  Love prevents Voldemort from killing Harry when he was a mere infant.  Love protected Harry long after his mother’s death.  Love was the one magic that Voldemort couldn’t quite understand.  Given how lovey-dovey the Smurfs tend to be, maybe the battle wouldn’t be so cut and dried.

In a one-on-one duel, Papa Smurf would be toast, but, in a guerilla war against Voldemort, they might just stand a chance.  The Smurfs seem especially good at hiding and Papa Smurf knows his way around magic.  He would undoubtedly consult various magic texts and have his army of Smurfs help him assemble some potion to affect Voldemort.  Perhaps a pair of shoes that force Voldemort to dance forever while the Smurfs sing?  Truly a fate worse than death!

And yes, I’m aware that I’m a huge geek for even contemplating this whole scenario due to my son’s misstated name.

My Walmart Father’s Day Wishlist

Fatherhood, Geeky Pursuits, Holidays, Roku, Shopping, Technology

In case you haven’t heard, Father’s Day is coming.  Growing up, this meant buying my father a tie or similar piece of clothing.  (Techy gifts while I was growing up, either were beyond my monetary means or weren’t the kind of gift he was interested in.)  And while I appreciate a nice tie, my gift preferences usually skew towards the geeky side.  Sadly, though, we aren’t super wealthy.  I can’t afford to go out and buy every single piece of geeky

tech that makes me drool.  I need to prioritize and bargain shop and Walmart is always on my bargain shopping list.  Here, in no particular order, are some tech items that I’d love to get for Father’s Day.  All of these items were spotted during a recent stroll through our local Walmart.  They are also all available from Walmart’s Father’s Day electronics page or Walmart.com.

P1030310

Video Games:

Playing video games is fun.  Playing video games with my boys is extremely fun.  NHL, while not a master, has learned how to operate the controls nicely.  JSL wants to work it right, but just can’t figure it out yet.  I think he just needs more practice.  Which means I need to play more video games with him.  Oh the never-ending chores us dads must undertake!

P1030313Roku

Yes, we already have two Roku players.  One in our living room and one in our bedroom.  Why do we need a third, you ask?  Well, our upstairs room (used by the boys as a play room) doesn’t have one.  In fact, since it only has basic cable TV (and a DVD player but the DVDs are kept downstairs), that TV would benefit greatly from a Roku player.  Plus, the boys could rock out with Pandora in the larger play room space.

Apple iPad 2 with Wi-Fi iPad 2

Don’t ask me how we didn’t get a photo of this.  I drool over the thought of having an iPad to use.  Oh the web browsing I’d do.  The apps I’d download.  The Angry Birds I’d fling at green pigs.  Excuse me while I get my drool mop.

P1030319LCD Monitor

I recently inherited a desktop computer that my parents didn’t need anymore.  I want to set this up to be a print/file server, but I need a monitor.  I have two CRT monitors I could use but they are big, hulking affairs.  They work fine, but they take up so much desk space.  How much nicer would it be to have this slim number on the desk instead of the giant dinosaur?

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Walmart and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Aloha Friday: Superheroes

Aloha Friday, Comics, Geeky Pursuits, Superheroes

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day.  This is when comic book stores across North America give away select comic books for free.  We went last year and the boys had a blast collecting and then reading through the comic books.

This year, will be a bit more complicated.  B’s going to meet someone for lunch tomorrow.  This means she’ll be out for most of the time that Free Comic Book Day runs.  The complication is that I don’t usually drive on Saturdays for religious reasons.  My geekiness (“must take boys for free comic books”) is battling my religious side (“must observe Shabbat”).  Who will win?  To be honest, I still don’t know.

Meanwhile, I’ve been introducing my boys to various superheroes.  They love the Avengers (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Ant Man, Wasp, Thor, Black Panther and Hawkeye), Young Justice (Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian, Kid Flash and Aqualad) and Batman on the TV.  They have also been introduced to the Green Lantern.  My boys just love superheroes and would love to pour through new comic books.  Somehow I’ll have to make this work for them.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Who is your favorite superhero and why?

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 McLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #86

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