5 Fandom Friday: Characters I Would Name My Pets After

Today's geeky prompt from The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick is actually "Characters I Would Name My Kids After". I don't have kids and I do not want any, but I love animals.

My dogs are Legolas (as in LOTR) and Arthur (as in King). Kristy was named after a character from The Baby Sitter's Club books and Juliet is from Shakespeare. When Juliet had kittens I named them all after Shakespeare characters including our Lear.

So for today's fandom friday I'm going with a list of characters I would name my pets after.

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One of my absolute favorites in The Game of Thrones. She is a survivor. Sassy, adaptable and strong willed. You don't mess with an Ayra because she will cut you ; )

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 This one comes from the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Julie Newmar (aka Catwoman) plays Dorcas in this musical film. I will admit I call my cat, Juliet, Dorcas sometimes when she is being really weird.
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I love Farscape. Criton is the lost in space hero with a wicked sense of humor. I would love to have a puppy I could call out to as "Criton". Pity I cannot do a Rygel impression when saying his name.

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If I do get new puppies I want two, Criton and Chiana. I may be one of the few people that shipped Criton and Chiana. Sure they had a big brother/little sister thing going on, but the fandom wants what the fandom wants.

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After reading the entire Mortal Instruments series the name Jace stuck with me. I know not that many people were thrilled with this YA series but I actually loved it. I have yet to find a YA series where I like the characters and the story as much as this one. Hunger Games is the other YA series I really liked.

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Are any of your fur babies named after favorite characters?

February Wrap Up

I am ready for this month to be over. It has been so cold and I have felt "blah" for most of the month. And since I live in Oklahoma, one of the places that does not adhere to seasons, it has been icy or snowy every weekend. It was in the seventies early this month and now it is 12 degrees. Pick a season!

Here are some of the things that have kept me from going full "The Shining" while being trapped in the house.

Movies and TV

My First Mister

I remember watching this a few years ago and really liking it. Usually when I find a movie I used to like it doesn't hold up to how I remember it years later. This movie on the other hand is still pretty good. A little funny, a little sad and a little odd. It is like the Odd Couple meets a coming of age dramedy. On Netflix.

Skins UK

I have watched to first generation (series 1&2) a few times. They will always be a favorites. Right now I am halfway through series 4 with the second generation. Its okay, but the first two seasons are so much better. 

Growing up in suburbia America I do wonder if this is anyway an actual portrayal of life for teenagers in the UK. My teenage years were dull in comparison.

Goodies

In December I won one of the Seven Nights of Celebration prize packs from Nerdophiles .

The theme of the box I won was DC. It included Batman and Wonder Woman comics, Joker and Harley Quinn posters, DC hero pins, A Jay and Silent Bob as Batman and Robin shirt and the greatest of the great...a plushie of the 1960s series Robin!

I have mentioned I loved Robin when I was a kid, he was my imaginary friend for years. TRUE NERD FOR LIFE.

Nail Art

One of my fun New Years resolutions included trying more nail art. Since I have been stranded here I made a few attempts. Some of them are laughably bad.

Also, I don't know how some beauty bloggers get such great nail photos. Must be magic.

Iggles and Books

IggleBookWorms

I didn't participate much with the IGGPPC this month but I did manage to read Eleanor and Park for the Iggle Book Worms and forced myself to read Shiver for the challenge. 

Melissa's bookshelf: read

Melissa (eris_discord42)'s favorite books »

5 Fandom Friday: Things I've Bought But Haven't Read/Watched/Played Yet

Happy Friday!

For today's 5 Fandom Friday The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick have made us dig through our books, movies and games to find out what we have forgotten about as soon as we bought it.

I really didn't think I would have enough things to fill out this list. I thought I had seen, read or played everything I own at some point. 

I was wrong

1. Dorian Blues

I don't remember buying this DVD. It stars Michael McMillian aka Steve Newlin from TrueBlood. I don't think anyone gave it to me, so I must have bought it but for the life of me I can't remember.

2. Fable II

I don't have a lot of Xbox games so you would think I would have played all the ones I do have. Not really. I may have put this game in and watched the beginning but that is it. Honestly I still have gotten back to playing Alice: Madness Returns. I need to do that soon.

3. Inglorious Basterds 

Black Friday impulse buy. It had Michael Fassbender in it and it cost less than $5. Unfortunately my dislike of Brad Pitt has kept me from watching it.

4. How to Survive a Sharknado

A strange book I got in a LootCrate. Not my kind of book. I do not know anyone to give it to. So it just sits on my bookshelf forgotten. 

5. The Entire Stargate SG1 DVDs

I have watched maybe the first 3 seasons. I bought these bulky dvd box sets years ago when some store in the mall was closing down. I like this show but I just got busy with school or life in general and forgot about them.

February Birchbox and Ipsy

 February's Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions are here. I really enjoy getting these every month. At $10 a month each, including shipping, these subscription boxes are inexpensive treats. I share these with my mom so anything in RED are the products she took.

Birchbox  

• amika Nourishing Mask- A hair mask with sea buckthorn berry. It has been too cold lately to do anything other than jump in and out of the shower so I have not used this yet. It does smell wonderful.
• BeeKind Body Lotion- This lotion smells so good, I mean really good. Honey and chamomile. It isn't that creamy when compared to other lotions. This is not a good winter lotion, it doesn't really moisturize that well.
• Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant- A leave-on exfoliant. I tried it this morning after washing my face. If you are not used to using a product with salicylic acid you might notice a slight tingling feeling. I've used products like this before so it doesn't bother me anymore.
• theBalm cosmetics Read My Lips Lip Gloss BAM!- The packaging is cute. A not too thick lip gloss in a mauve color. 
• English Laundry- A perfume sample my mom really liked. She always grabs the perfumes out of these boxes. This has been her favorite perfume sample so far.   

Ipsy

Ipsy's Glam Bag comes with a make up bag every month.

• City Color Cosmetics Creamy Lip Stain- A pinkish mauve lip stain. It goes on smooth and stays put. Everything you want from a lip stain. Really like the full size product. At least I think it is full sized, if not, it is a giant sample.
• Eva NYC Up All Night Volumizing Spray- A rice derived hair spray. Not used this yet. Decent sized sample
• Emite Make Up Eye Lash Curler- I love getting make up tools in these bags. This eye lash curler also came with three replacement pads (the red thing in between). The only draw back is that this curler is black which makes it hard to see if your lashes are actually in the curler when you use it.
• Mitchell and Peach Fine Radiance Face Oil- It has natural anti-oxidants and vitamins. It is supposed to leave your skin feeling "plumper, firmer and glowing". Not been used yet.
• Modelco BLUSH cheek powder- What appears to be a full sized blush. Nice color but it works better on my mom's slightly darker complexion.

This month's boxes have had a really great assortment of products. My favorite from Birchbox: BeeKind lotion and from Ipsy: the City Color Cosmetics lip stain.

Do you get either of these boxes? What are you favorites this month?

I Wanna Be At Mardi Gras: Beignets

I am trying out a new graphic for my "I Wanna Be" food series. I am not the best a graphic designing. Can you tell : )

Next Tuesday is Fat Tuesday otherwise know as Mardi Gras. I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. I guess Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles introduce me to the allure of this city. MTV in the 90's introduced the wildness of Mardi Gras. Since I cannot go to New Orleans anytime soon and I got a deep fryer for Christmas...Beignets! 

I used a recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. Taking into account copyright, I won't write out the recipe here. There are many beignets recipes online. The one in the Joy of Cooking uses yeast, which I believe most of the other recipes do too.

Blending the dough together was a feat of strength. The recipe called for it to be blended together with a large spoon which I took to mean "no electric mixer". This took some time. Then the dough has to rest 12 to 24 hours covered in the refrigerator. 

After more than 12 hours it didn't seem to rise much. This had me worried.

Then the fun part.

Rolling the dough 1/8 inch think and cutting it into small squares. At this point it started to remind me of making sopapillas, which I love.

After that the frying begins.

I use peanut oil in my fryer after having a bit of a disaster with another oil. I foolishly used vegetable oil when I first got the deep fryer without realizing how bad that is. The first clue: if you are anywhere in your house when the oil is heating up and your eyes burn, not good. Just some fyi from my own errors. I'll probably find out peanut oil is bad too : P

Back to the beignets.

These doughnut/fritter/sopapilla creations swell up in the fryer and turn a delightful golden brown. After they have been cooked on both sides, remove from the fryer and cover in powered sugar.

Served warm they are so good. Basically sugar covered fried dough. So bad yet so good. 

5 Fandom Friday: Favorite Funko Pop Figures

I must admit I am becoming addicted to Funko figures. Last March I won a Walking Dead prize pack from Nerd Fu that had two large walker figures and three mystery minis. Now, much in the same way I was hoarding beanie babies and pogs as a kid, I am wanting these vinyl figures. I haven't gone full blown obsession mainly because I am an adult now and have to buy these for myself. Although I have a nice collection of the mystery minis.

This week The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick have asked us to list our favorite Funko figures. I am splitting this into two lists of 5. Top 5 ones I have and ones I want.

Top 5 Funko Pops I Own

Starting at the top left:

1. The Bride of Frankenstein- The Hot Topic exclusive that glows in the dark. This was a Christmas present from my cousin. That fact that she went to Hot Topic and faced down their wall of Funkos is what really makes my love this one. 

2. Catwoman- The 1960's Julie Newmar version. I absolutely love the old Batman series and Newmar's Catwoman was my favorite villain. I had to have this.

3. Cheshire Cat- The half invisible Hot Topic exclusive. My obsession with all things Alice meant that I went on a search for this pop as soon as it was announced to be at stores. 

4. Harley Quinn- The Arkham Asylum version. The first video game that I ever completely finished was Batman: Arkham Asylum. I loved Harley in the game. I actually would love to get the entire Arkham Asylum set.

5. Mystery Mini Arya- My favorite character from Game of Thrones is Arya. I shook many mystery mini boxes to try and find her. I succeeded. Of course I want all of these too.

Funko Pops I Want 

Pictures from Funko.com

1. Alice- Of course want the Alice Funko Pop but I haven't seen it in stores. If they also made an American McGee version I would be so happy.

2. Robin- 1960's TV Series Robin has been on my want list for awhile. Again I cannot find this one in any stores around here. Robin was my imaginary friend as a small only child. I was always a nerd.

3. Loki- The best villain ever. Tom Hiddleston has made this character one of my favorites. Evil yet fun and sexy. 

4. More Harleys- I do not have the tradition Harley Quinn like the one pictured above. I also want the newest Derby version.

5. ALL THE POPS- Okay maybe not all of them but there are so many I want. Including some upcoming ones that have been announced. Attack on Titan mystery minis and The Fifth Element Pops. Oh and I want Beetlejuice and Slimer. : )

Slightly Obscure Movies for Valentine's Day

I watch the occasional romantic comedy or epic love story like anyone else, but they are not usually my go to romantic films. I have a tendency to watch movies that fall off the beaten track. 

Since Valentine's Day is coming up I made a short list of some of the odd romantic-esque films I have watched on Netflix. I am limiting this list to films currently available to stream on Netflix US. 

1. The Serpent's Kiss

The love story is secondary to the main plot, but it weaves it way throughout the film. Honestly if you like Ewan McGregor you will like this film. McGregor plays a garden architect hired to create an outlandish garden however there are other motives at play. His love interest is the daughter of his employer who is thought to be mentally unstable. The cast includes Richard E. Grant, Pete Postlethwaite and Carmen Chaplin. 

2. TiMER

This was the first film I watched when I got Netflix.

I think of this as an alternate reality sci-fi film. Imagine our world with one small difference: An optional implantable clock that tells you, to the day, when you will meet your soul-mate. Basically an app that tells your future.

Emma Caulfield plays Oona, a woman whose TiMER has yet to sync up with her future soul-mate. The question of free will and fate play a big part in the movie. 

3. B. Monkey

Asia Argento and Jared Harris star as unlikely lovers in this romantic thriller. Harris plays a rather boring school teacher and part time radio jockey. Argento plays the sexy B. Monkey, a thief who is ready to get out of the life of crime.

Rupret Everett and Jonathan Rhys Meyers play important secondary characters from B's criminal life.

4. Barefoot

I really like Scott Speedman (Felicity and Underworld hottie) which is the only reason I initially paid any attention to this film. I thought that Evan Rachel Wood's baby voice was going to be too much for me. As the film continues the baby voice makes sense, she is essentially just an innocent who has never interacted with anyone but her mother. Hence the childlike voice.

Speedman's character starts off as a bit of a jerk but it's Scott Speedman so who cares.

In the end this is a really sweet film about two messed up people that help each other grow up.

5. Free Fall

The wild card choice.

A German film about a married police officer that is seduced by a fellow police officer.

Not your typical Valentine's Day fare, but an interesting story. Max Riemelt, who is also in my favorite vampire film We Are The Night, plays Kay who seduces Hanno Koffler's Marc.