Back in April, Girl Gone Geek put together a bucket list of characters, she'd like to cosplay in the future. (Check it out!)
I was inspired to do the same thing! Below are a few characters I'd like to cosplay!
Poison Ivy & Harley Quinn (The New Batman Adventures)
I love this dynamic duo! Not only are they beautiful, they are the epitome of supervillainesses. They're resourceful, intelligent, independent, charming, and fun! Personally, they remind me of myself and my partner-in-crime, Sandy. She's not particularly geeky, but I'm sure I could put her in a Harley Quinn costume and drag her to Dragon-Con.
Revy (Black Lagoon)
Is it obvious now that I have a thing for bad girls? Revy is as bad as they come! With a loud, foul mouth, short shorts, and a gun in her hand, Revy is my number one reason for watching Black Lagoon.
This is a pretty simple cosplay outfit, too. Most of it I could buy at the mall.
A Bleach Captain
None of these specifically. I would like to cosplay as the captain of my own squad - maybe an imagined Squad 14 or the successor to one of the above captains. Of course, I'll need a cool zanpakutÅ!
Launch (Dragonball)
Another great best friend cosplay that could work alone as well. Since I prefer the "bad girl" look, I would probably be blonde Launch and carry a gun. For those unfamiliar with this #throwback character...
The most dangerous sneeze in the world.
Rule 63 Tomoe (Kamisama Hajimemashita)
I read some fanfiction about Tomoe having a little sister that looked just like him. This intrigued me. I imagined her looking a lot like this:
Regardless of whether the Kamisama Hajimemashita reference sticks, fox spirits are throughout anime and their usually really cool characters.
In a Facebook group, a question arose about the accuracy of cosplay. Is the goal to be most like the actual character or is it okay to put your own spin on it? What qualities do you look for in a character when choosing who to cosplay as? Is it only about the costume or does personality fit into it?
Summer is sadly coming to an end. On a lighter note, along with Autumn comes... New Television Shows!!!
Hulu put up a few previews of this Fall's new television premieres. If you're a TV-buff, you're going to want to check it out. Let me know what you think on the Very Geeky Girl Facebook Page.
In the meantime, I'll be the judge! This is my - connoisseur of television - first impression of some of this Fall's lineup.
I think it's brave that Michael J. Fox is returning to television in this way. The Family Ties star has been fairly absent from television for many years while coping with his real-life Parkinson's disease. The Michael J. Fox Show is reminiscent of the Dick Van Dyke Show whereas it seems to be a lighthearted approach to telling the story of the title actor.
My only concern with TMJFS is whether the public will be able to handle the mobility problems associated with Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease. At times during the preview, I felt uncomfortable. I sympathized with Mike Henry's (Fox) inability to be still, and it was quite distracting.
Now that we've come to the realization that there are superheroes, we've got to get them organized. In the Avengers-Justice League-Teen Titan-X-Men fashion, S.H.I.E.L.D looks to bring together all the people with powers in the Avengers universe to do good for... the government? That wasn't made entirely clear in the preview.
I feel my fellow geeks getting excited about this show, but I'm not entirely certain how long it will last. Smallville was on television for a decade, but Heroes only lasted 3 seasons. It's hard to tell how well these superhero-sci-fi shows will do. (Or how well they will last...)
After only two seasons, Once Upon A Time has gotten a spin-off. Unlike The Jeffersons, The Simpsons, andFrasier, many modern spin-offs don't go very far. However...
The special effects, the mystical merged with reality, the reintroduction to familiar characters! Once Upon A Time in Wonderland has the same charm that made us fall in love with the original Once Upon A Time. Unlike the original series, though, Wonderland focuses on one story instead of colliding multiple stories.
Warning: The preview might as well be the pilot. That aside, the Wonder Years style of this show paired with the modern comedy complemented by the awesome cast has me on the edge of my seat.
It looks like a period piece done right! I wasn't hyper-aware looking for timeline continuity errors (e.g. a Miley Cyrus poster in the 80s) because I was too busy laughing. I trusted this show to have done its homework. That says a lot.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
This show is one big SNL sketch (circa 2010). It's pretty funny, albeit corny at times, and it's a refreshing look at the typical cop drama.
Historically, this series has a few key elements that make me think it will last beyond the first season: the odd couple vibe between Samberg and Braugher, SNL alums typically make awesome television stars (30 Rock & Parks and Recreation), Fred Armisen's appearance hopefully foreshadows a series of hilarious guest stars. Must give this show a try!
This Fall's lineup seems good so far. I'm anticipating lots of geek-friendly programming and plenty of laughs.
On Pinterest, I decided to take a look at JayBird53's Crazy For Barbie board. The little girl in me kicked in, and I began daydreaming - playing with the dolls in my head! And what I thought was quite entertaining.
[Note: If you're expecting to learn anything, this isn't that kind of post. Sure, if you're not well-versed in Barbie, you'll learn a little something. But overall, this is more of an entertainment post. That being said...]
The thought I had was about a 80s-/90s-style drama, like Dynasty...
Fun Fact: I (indirectly) got my name from the bad-ass main character Alexis Carrington-Colby (far right).
...about a mother and daughter.
As we know, Barbie Millicent Roberts was "born" in the late 1950s. If you look at her then and now, you'll notice she's changed quite a bit.
I like to think of the older, more stern Barbie as actually being Barbie's mother, Margaret Millicent "Millie" Roberts. Millie's the queen-bee, wealthy socialite responsible for the family's image. She met her husband, George (the first Ken), when she was in her late teens and together they built the Roberts Family Empire.
Millie was much more agreeable in her youth. But she became an iron lady as she grew older.
By her late-20s, Millie Roberts was a fashion icon and a mother. Though she had features from both her parents, Barbra "Barbie" Roberts shined as brightly as her mother.
However, as the young heiress grew older and her relationship with her mother became strained. Barbie wasn't satisfied with her mother's fashion-oriented lifestyle; she used her weather and family name to achieve different goals...
Among several other careers before the job market crash...
Disappointed, Millie tries to talk Barbie into returning to the fashion world claiming "women don't belong in careers like law and medicine". Her efforts fail, though, and Barbie and her mother stop speaking to each other. Barbie meets Ken, and they have an on-and-off relationship.
I could go on, but where's the fun in that? Let your imagination run wild for a moment about your favorite childhood doll/action figure.
(Barbie goes all "Amanda Bynes" in the later seasons of this imaginary television series.)
LOL! Don't worry. She eventually gets her act together.
Google - in it's quest for media domination - may have finally conquered television by releasing Chromecast yesterday.
This USB-looking device is expected to revolutionize online streaming through television.
This is not Google's first attempt at online streaming through television. Most notably, Google TV was the companies latest & greatest failure at this.
Did you see that remote?!
I think it's awesome that the same team that developed Google TV learned from their mistakes and created a far-better improvement: Chromecast! From what I've seen, Chromecast is very easy to use - the major selling point.
Pros
Price - It's $35! The Apple TV is $99; these things can cost upwards of $100! $35 is a steal!
Minimal Hardware - Chromecast is the size of a Flashdrive! No boxes, wires, etc. No finding a place for it in your entertainment center. It just plugs into your television!
Minimal Software - One simple button press and voila!
Cons
Still kind of new - Sure, it's compatible with YouTube, Hulu, Pandora... But I'm sure that the Chromecast is still lacking when it comes to apps. But give it a few months, and it will be up to speed! However, who knows what glitches users will find once Chromecast gains more popularity...
Unsure how multiple devices work - What if you tried to stream video from both your phone and tablet? What would happen?
I don't typically write about new technology. (It's just so much to keep up with!) But this little gem caught my eye yesterday, and I had to share! Gizmodo highly recommends buying the Chromecast, and, for $35, you'd HAVE to be crazy not to get one.
I know it's been a while (and I should have posted something sooner), but I am still mourning G4's Attack of the Show and X-Play. As a young geek, these shows have been a great source of information and entertainment.
The entire channel will be undergoing a re-branding in September. On September 23, 2013, G4 will become the Esquire Network.
The Esquire Network is the channel's way of "growing up". G4 is apparently television for older boys, whereas Esquire Network is for young men. Along with games and technology, the Esquire Network will consist of programming about food, travel, fashion, and other things.
I'm too old for shows about video games... I like other things, too, now... but, yes, I still like games though.
Reading through the list of upcoming shows, I instantly thought it sounded familiar...
Cooking: Knife Fight / Top Chef
Fashion: How I Rock It / Project Runway
Real Estate: Risky Listing / Million-Dollar Listing
It all sounds like manly versions of shows on Bravo!
Add a hot guy & a few explosions, and rename it Knife Fight.
Television for men, television for women... Sure it's a little sexist to assume "men like this whereas women like that", but it's always interesting to see what network producers put together for these broad target audiences.
G4 was one of my favorite networks. I hope the new Esquire Network measures up to its glory - and is hopefully different than the Bravo network!
With online streaming and DVRs, a time will likely come where you're able to make a television channel that caters to your personal interests. What would your daily line-up be?
The article goes into the various reasons why Superstar Beyonce Knowles should not be considered an inspiration for today's young women based on the way she puts herself out there. I'm sure Beyonce fans - who oddly don't have a name like Little Monsters or Beliebers - were outraged by the article, but I can see where the author's head is.
Honestly, although I've been a Beyonce fan once or twice in my life, I've never considered her an inspiration. Here's a list (in no particular order) of 10 people/characters that inspire me!
Paul Lynde
In a previous post, I mentioned how much I love game shows. One game show I simply had to watch growing up was (the original) Hollywood Squares because of its center square: Paul Lynde.
At a time when being homosexual was controversial (even in Hollywood), Paul Lynde made no secret of his sexuality in a humorous way then even the biggest homophobe could laugh at. Although, he never officially came out, he still had the courage to at least address the issue. Furthermore, the media had enough respect and admiration for Paul Lynde that they avoided outing him in order to preserve his career.
His courage and wit make him an inspiration in my life. His death in 1982 was a true loss in Hollywood.
Fun Fact: American Dad's Roger the Alien was based on Paul Lynde.
Conan O'brien
From Saturday Night Live to late night television, Conan O'brien has been a funny man for decades now. Not only is his career admirable, but the personality that gave him such success is something to be admired.
First, one of the reasons I find Conan O'brien so funny is that he acknowledges his hits and misses. He knows that all of his jokes aren't going to land - at least not the way he wants them to - and he's not afraid to point it out. In fact, he's very transparent with his audience.
Second, the way he handled the Tonight Show incident with NBC & Jay Leno was very admirable. Not only did he stand his ground on not moving the show back an hour, but when he left NBC his fan rallied around him (myself included), pledged our allegiance to #TeamCoco, and he didn't let us down.
Thanks to TBS, Conan was back on late night television, funnier than ever, within months of leaving NBC.
His humor and tenacity makes him one of my most inspirational people!
Bethenny Frankel (of The Real Housewives of New York)
It's a bit of a guilty pleasure, but who doesn't love The Real Housewives? The Real Housewives of New York was the first one I ever saw and it had me absorbed in the drama. The cattiness of wealthy/powerful women can be appalling! However, there always seem to be one woman on those shows who rises above the immaturity and tells it how it is. On RHNY, that housewife was Bethenny Frankel.
Along with seeing through the mess the other women made all the time, Bethenny is also a self-made success. She comes from a hostile family environment and continues to be a lovely, classy, sane successful woman.
Overcoming obstacles and remaining her wonderful self makes her an inspiration to me!
L (of Death Note)
Aside from being one of the greatest anime characters of all time, L is an individual whose mere description is something to model yourself after!
He's world-renowned, brilliant, and not self-righteous. It took a lot for the protagonist, Light, to gain L's trust (for good reason, as his eventual trust was misplaced), and no one ever learned his real name.
His intrigue and logical talent makes him inspirational!
Vegeta (of Dragonball Z)
At first glance, this one is a stretch. How could that foolishly prideful prince be inspirational? Beneath his hard exterior, Vegeta has a heart and beneath his pride is a lot of will.
Vegeta taught me at a young age to always give everything my best and always think highly of myself regardless of the accomplishments of those around me. He "takes orders from no one" and acts for what he deems important.
"You may have invaded my mind & my body. But there's one thing a saiyin always keeps: his PRIDE!"
Oscar Wilde
Much like Paul Lynde, Oscar Wilde was gay when being gay wasn't the most popular thing to be. (In fact, it was illegal in his day.) Oscar Wilde was a skilled writer, a man who made his way through the world exploring many different things, and maintained an enviable level of style!
When a homosexual relationship he'd been having came to light and he was facing prosecution, he never denied being gay. Instead he made the argument that it shouldn't matter who he loved and brought humor to the courtroom.
Aside from being courageous, Oscar Wilde also has an interesting world view as you can tell from the many quotes we see from him today.
"Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them."
Tupac Shakur
I once wrote a five-page paper about how misunderstood Tupac Shakur is, so forgive me for being brief here. Unlike 99.99% of the rappers today, Tupac tried to make statements through his rhymes. He grew up living a hard life and watched those around him live just as hard; he hoped to inspire change as well as entertainment through his lyrics.
Growing up listening to his music & over time realizing how educated he really was, inspired me to examine the content of the music I was listening to. So often people are more concerned with a dance-able beat than a world-changing rhyme when it comes to rap. While his contemporaries rapped about shootings and riches, Tupac spoke the way he felt about serious issues facing the African-American community at the time.
(Confession: I seriously cannot listen to Brenda's Got A Baby. It makes me uncomfortably sad.)
Olivia Munn
I know Olivia Munn wasn't the first woman to trailblaze her way into the Geek world, but she was my inspiration when I began to embrace the geek in me. Before any bimbo in glasses called herself a geek, geeks were typically young men who were interested in science, technology, comic books, etc. As you can imagine with any male-dominated group, women were not exactly welcomed with open arms.
Women like Olivia Munn and Morgan Web actually made female geeks look right. It was okay - even a little sexy - to be interested in things boys were interested in. In short: We don't all have to be Barbies to be cool or attractive!
Plus, she often pointed out the juxtaposition of her being a hot chick, a geeky boy's holy grail, who was geeky herself.
Whitney Cummings
Whitney Cummings is one of my favorite comediennes! She's relatable, beautiful, and out-spoken. I love the way she blurts out the truest things unapologetically. She's also the creative mind behind two hilarious shows: Whitney (which I'm almost certain is based on my life somehow) & Two Broke Girls.
I love her style and her sense of humor. I also admire the way she's put her creativity out there for the world to see. That's what makes her an inspiration!
After I read the Beyonce Is Not A Role Model article, I immediately went to Facebook to find out who my inspirational people are. (Sadly, I couldn't think of them all instantly.) These are the ten people I chose to call inspirational. I hope by sharing they can be of inspiration to you, too!
Confession: I LOVE game shows!!! Below the surface, game shows can be quite thought-provoking. There are shows like Jeopardy that test your trivial knowledge, shows like Friend or Foe that act as human experiments, and shows like Deal or No Deal that are just simply entertaining. Here are some of my favorites:
Jeopardy
Wheel of Fortune
Press Your Luck/Whammy
The Newlywed Game
Hollywood Squares
Friend or Foe
The Weakest Link
Lingo
A must-have when choosing a television provider
After years of watching game shows (especially during my huge GSN phase), I'd thought I'd seen it all! But today, I came across something so bizarre I had to blog about it.
Three's A Crowd was short-lived game show of late '70s/early '80s (oddly reappearing in the early 2000s) created by Chuck Barris, father of The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game. Like its greatly more successful predecessors, Three's A Crowd was all about relationships...
The contestants were trios consisting of a man, his wife, and HIS SECRETARY being asked awful questions Newlywed Game style. Do you realize how bad an idea this is?
"Join us next week on Three's A Crowd - if we're still here!"
In a way, combined with The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, Three's A Crowd is the ending of a terrible love story...
Girl meets Boy
Girl marries Boy
Boy cheats on Girl with Secretary.
I can't imagine how so many people thought this was a good idea that this actually lasted on television for five months, was syndicated, and revived years later. But the part that freaks me out is the people who are actually playing the game like this is normal!!! Wives, if you're husbands' secretaries can answer any of these questions, you need a divorce.
This show was so bad that due to the feminist, conservative, and religious groups protesting it and "the sometimes-evident lack of fun the contestants were having" caused Creator Chuck Barris to step away from television production all together.
And I thought The Newlywed Game was tough on marriages...
I read somewhere: "If you grew up in the 90s, you know Batman the Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures is the truest form of Batman." I'm not sure if everyone agrees with that, but I do! From the art to the dialogue, even if this isn't the truest form of Batman, there is just a certain allure to this show that has yet to be surpassed.
Though, there is one thing in particular that I love most about this childhood favorite: strong female characters!
Every time I watch something action-packed, I look for the strong female character. Whether they're heroes or villains, I admire strong women who challenge the "delicate flower" stereotype. However, the creation of strong female characters isn't always done the best way...
But the villianesses of Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures are more than men in drag. They hold their own as criminals while maintaining both their femininity and individuality. The following ladies of crime are far from stock characters...
First, prior to becoming a villain, Pamela Isley, was a botanist. (Yay! Women in science!) As one of Gotham City's Most Wanted, Poison Ivy fights to protect the environment and often experiments with natural ingredients to use as toxins. Saving the environment; one less Batman at a time.
Harleen Quinzel was another successful woman - a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum - turned bad girl. Granted, she's not a solo act, but what other woman could hold her own in The Joker's freak show? Harley is a fantastic character because her relentless infatuation/love for "Mr. J." (regardless of how he treats her) gives her character relatable and depth.
Selina Kyle is a socialite with a thirst for adventure by day. But by night, she gets her thrills stealing from vaults and museums. Personally, I like that her entire reason for being a criminal is boredom. Aside from that, what sets Catwoman apart from the other women of this series is her relationship with Batman. He's head-over-heels for her, so each encounter is an inner struggle between his fight for justice and his heart.
Is there a television show you watch solely for the characters?
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