Jams of the Week - 1/29/16

Howdy and welcome to jams of the week!

I LIVE for Beyonce collaborations, so I when I heard this one with another awesome band- Coldplay- I geeked out. I love song and the video is so great and colorful.

"Life is a drink, and love's a drug
Oh now I think I must be miles up
When I was a river dried up
You came to rain a flood"


Coldplay - Hymn for the Weekend Feat Beyonce

Lay By Me was a song I couldn't decide if I liked or not. My brain decided for me by constantly having it stuck in my head. 

Lay By Me - firekid

I could post a Frank Turner song every week right now and still want to post more. Currently obsessed with how he hits me right in the feels. This was my song of 2016.

Get Better - Frank Turner

Lastly, I saw Barcelona in Chicago a few years ago and fell in love. This song under the disco ball at Lincoln Hall was perfect.

Background - Barcelona

I hope you all have a baller weekend, and stay sane even when cabin fever sets in from any snow-apocalypses. 

Till next time,

Maggie

Book Club Review: The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

This past week for book club we read "The 5th Wave". If you watch TV, you've probably seen the ads for the movie coming out, and I have to admit they look pretty bad. Do you ever have actors or actresses you see and they just annoy you? For some reason Chloë Grace Moretz is that person so that adds to my list of why not to see the movie. HOWEVER if you haven't read it yet I urge you to ignore the movie trailers and quite possibly the movie and read the book.  Here's my review!

Unlike some end of the world survival books, we meet our main narrator Cassie after most of the population is gone. "The Others" as she calls them took out most of humanity in the following four waves:

"1st wave = EMP wave. (No more twitter!)
2nd wave = Tsunamis (Surf’s up, dudes?)
3rd wave = Plague spread by birds (Told you birds were evil)
4th wave = Silencers  – alien infested people who kill everyone
5th wave = Dun dun Duuuunnn"  
(Recaptains does a great job summarizing the Waves lol)

Cassie is on the move to try and get to her brother Sammy. Sammy and all the children were taken from the last refugee camp she was at with her Dad. After the children are taken by the military, the rest of the camp is killed, and Cassie narrowly escapes. While trying to get to her brother, she is shot by a Silencer (see 4th Wave). Instead of killing her, for some reason the Silencer shoots her in the leg and leaves. Cassie finds refuge in a SUV but is slowly dying. The next thing she knows she wakes up in an old pristine farmhouse with some hottie named Evan who saved her. Evan has been living alone since his family died in the third wave, but luckily for Cassie he's great at hunting, cooking, and everything else. Basically too good to be true...

While Cassie is rehabbing it, we get to meet Ben aka Zomie. Ben turns out to be Cassie's high school crush she was constantly talking about before the plague, which to me was a little bit like...OF COURSE it's her crush who also survived when millions didn't...anyways... Ben has been taken to the same military base we find out Sammy has been taken to nicknamed Camp Haven. Ben has survived the plague, been brainwashed by the camp, and worked his way up to be the captain of his squad. The squad is a rag-tag bunch of kids who have all been training to help fight the alien invaders. Sammy is (of course) assigned to Ben's squadron, and Ben takes him under his wing. Ben and his squad are assigned a mission to go out and kill alien infested humans, and on the trip Ringer, a girl from his squad finally helps Ben connect the dots that Camp Haven is a lie, and that the military is actually the aliens training humans to kill other humans - the 5th Wave! Dun Dun Dun! They come up with a plan, and Ben heads back to Camp while the others escape.

Back at the farmhouse after some rehab, hamburgers, and make-out sessions Cassie sets off with Evan to save her brother. Along the way they're attacked, and Evan has to spill the beans that it was him who shot Cassie in the leg. While patching him up he reveals that he is one of the Others (well duh). Cassie freaks out and runs away, but Evan follows her and confesses that he could never kill because he loves her. He also tells Cassie the truth about Camp Haven and that he can help her get in. She decides she has to go alone, and catches one of the buses that was rounding up the children before to get to the Camp, leaving Evan behind.





Will she find Sammy? Will she see Evan Again? Will she defeat the Alien with her crush Ben?


I don't want to get into the ending or spoil anything so here again I'll just say: read the book! I'm not huge on end of the world books, because the stress of survival stresses me out and I hate gore but overall I really liked this book. On the surface the book seems like a Hunger Games type want to be, but it is different enough that I wasn't thinking of Katniss at all.

One annoying thing: I hate starting a series if all the books aren't published. I am super impatient and I need to know what happens next. So the night I read "The 5th Wave" I immediately started "The Infinite Sea." The last book "The Last Star" was supposed to come out in August of '15, but it got pushed back to May I think so now I'm kind of stuck waiting. Blah. If you're like me, wait until May, then demolish this series.

via googlesearch

Till next time,

Maggie

Awesome Art Roundup: Harry Potter Round 4

Hi hi! Welcome to round 4 of the Awesome Art Roundup, HP edition!

So I found this wonderful set of "underrated harry potter characters" by BloodyHellHarry. Here's my faves:

A nice shot of the trio =)  via viria13

Tattoo inspiration! via RubisFirenos

Hello, my name is Luna and I'm adorable. via taryndraws

Harry at the Dursleys, via greestyart

and lastly, an epic time lapse of Harry through all the books by nastjastark

Till next time,

Maggie

Jams

Hi hi. Welcome to jams of the week. This week the three are a little random, but all awesome. First up a little Mumford featuring the wonderful Idris Elba.

Lover of the Light - Mumford and Sons

TwentyOnePilots are so awesome, if you have time check out the video of them singing this on Jimmy Fallon. It's amazing how two guys can take over a stage. 

heavydirtysoul - TwentyOnePilots

Lastly, "Bills" is so upbeat but it makes me depressed at the same time thinking about my bills I gotta pay. 

Bills - Lunchmoney Lewis

till next time,
Maggie

Awesome Art, Focus On: Eren Blanquet Unten

During my search for awesome artists for my roundups I found a Eren Blanquet Unten, and fell in love with all her work, so this week's Art Roundup is all about her! You can check out her art at

http://eblanquet.blogspot.com/

So first off, let's just talk about how much I love the fact that she can go from Bubble Guppies:

to Doctor Who. Look how adorable Clara and Eleven are!

Welcome to New New York!

She even makes Daleks adorable!

There's a bunch of awesome movies, like 

Sixteen Candles

                                       

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Goonies!

LoTR!

These are all so adorable it makes me wish I had kids to give these to....almost. 

Check out her website and all the other fun things she's created! You can also buy prints on her Etsy

Till next time,

Maggie

*all pictures and art via Eren's Website

Trying my hand at Holiday Gift Exchanges

The internet is a wonderful place full of crazy humans. I'm on a quest to find the crazy humans that are like me, so I decided to do some internet gift exchanges this year. I was kind of nervous about the whole process, because I've found people tend to not follow through on internet promises. When I was in college I signed up for Postcrossing, which is a site where you get and send postcards. I got back 6 out of 7 sent, which is pretty good, but it often takes months for you to get one back.

With that in mind I still signed up for three exchanges:


1.) Craftster Harry Potter Holiday - If you craft nerdy wonderful things and don't use craftster, I suggest you take a look-see. There is so much on there, and artists are normally very happy to share how to do things. I joined this one after seeing it last year and missing the sign up. To me it was the most nerve wracking because the group is small, and the other crafters have mostly all done the exchange before. I decided to make a little extra to make up for my inexperience and ended up sending some ornaments. These are the photos I got from the user I had as my recipient:

I was so relieved she liked them and I can't wait to do more exchanges. I got some wonderful ornaments back from my exchange:

2.) HRC Secret Santa - If you know me at all, you know I can't and won't run. It just can't happen. BUT, when you incentivize me to walk briskly for a Harry Potter themed medal I'll walk to Cali. So that's how I joined the Hogwarts Running Club (Check them out on Facebook). I asked if anyone wanted to do a Harry Potter swap and there was a lot of interest, and another Gryffindor set it all up. Super cool, and all I have to do is send someone some cool Harry Potter stuff.  I ended up sending this cool Wizarding world pin, because my match is a Gryffindor who collects pins! The ebay seller even wrapped and stamped it! So nice! (If you need any Universal things check out this ebay)

I got a gift back which made me so happy, and especially because it was something I was debating buying for myself. Check out this beautiful planner! Check it out on etsy here

3.) Reddit Secret Santa - The Reddit Secret Santa is kind of famous for the people that go above and beyond and send epic presents to those they're paired up with. The gift limit is $20 so I figured why not. I got kind of a weird person selected for me and I really didn't know what to send. The person listed their whole family and what they wanted to Christmas which kind of threw me off. For $20 what was I supposed to do? On Reddit you can also see if your Secret Santa has pulled your name and information yet, and mine never did. So knowing no one was going to send me something in exchange was kind of sad, but I decided I didn't want to be that person for someone else. I ended up sending a Haunted Oregon book because they said they're really into paranormal stuff, and some candy for the family and kids.

I'm glad they got it and seemed to like it.  If I get anything in exchange Ill be sure to update this post and show you all! I was "re-matched" and my re-matcher said it wouldn't be here for Christmas, but still no dice on any gift.

Does anyone else have any places they internet exchange? Did it work out for you?



Till next time,
- Maggie

BBC Doctor Who Fashion Line Review

I have pretty much zero self control when it comes to epic nerdy things. In Community terms, i'm “a level 7 susceptible." A few days before Christmas, I was feeling extra broke when Hot Topic sent me this:

and I may or not have freaked out in the middle of the mall. My mom totally did not understand. The last thing I ordered clothing wise was the HerUniverse Marvel collection, which left me with mixed feelings. That still only made me hesitate for a total of two minutes before clicking "Complete Purchase."

So, here's what I got!

First up, the Eleven outfit. Annoyingly the "capelet" was sold separate. So dress ($74.50) and cape ($58.50) total $133. Yipes.

 The dress fit well and has pockets and adjustable straps. It was a tiny bit big, but I think it will shrink a bit in the wash. I'm not 100% sold on the capelet. It's well made and the lining is a pretty red silk with bow ties patterned on it, but when I wear it, it moves around all over. So I went online and saw a Eleven womens jacket, and I bought that to wear when I want to wear the dress and have sleeves. Ignore how cheesy that stock image is. The jacket is a BBC product also so it still feels like it matches the dress. 

I also got this epic, epic TARDIS coat ($98.50) Yipes again at the price tag, but the coat is pretty cool, and it sold out very shortly after I purchased it. The "pandorica opens" is the lining and it's so beautiful I hate buttoning it up. 

Here's the dress with the coat, you can kind of see the patterning on the skirt which is TARDIS blueprints =)

I also got on a different order the Galaxy Dress ($58.50). It's a nice dress and I love the collar and flying TARDIS, but I eventually returned it because I didn't love it as much as the Eleven Dress or Coat. If you had to choose one item at a lower price point I would recommend this dress, especially because it's almost always on sale.

Lastly, you always need the perfect accessories to go with the outfit, so I found TARDIS earrings and a bow-tie/fez necklace at Hot Topic. Check out that sweet coat embroidery! 

I've had good and bad experiences with Hot Topic womens clothing, but I would say this line was really well done. The prices could have been lower, but at least the items are great quality. 

Two thumbs up, and I would recommend these to any Whovian =)

Did anyone else buy some of the collection? What did you buy!? Share below!

-Maggie

Time Lords Ball!

Hello Whovians!

So the 42 Lounge is a great nerdy bar in Milwaukee that has board games, video games, and geeky drinks. It's a great place to go to hang, and every year they host their annual Time Lords Ball. This is the first year I've gotten to go and it was really fun!

I went with my friend Rachel, and we both went in costume. The event is listed as fancy dress (like a ball) or costume. Rachel went as Amy after seeing a few of the Silence, and I went as Eleven in my new cosplay. I look like a goober in all the pics but here's one from the photo booth they had setup. Rachel and I had a hard time putting down the yummy Doctor Who drinks, as you can see ;)

The party was hosted at Turner Hall, a really great old venue in Milwaukee. They had two ticket options you could choose. We both chose the base ticket for $20, but you could also do a $50 bar option that included unlimited featured cocktails, tap beer, rail cocktails, and PBR from 8PM to Midnight. Parking was super easy ($11) at the lot next door. The venue was decorated really well, with different Who-verse character silhouettes covering the windows, a homemade TARDIS you could go in, and an awesome stage. The stage had it's own TARDIS, a screen showing the flying TARDIS DW intro and different screen grabs from DW shows, plus a DJ booth that looked like the classic TARDIS console.

The stage had two rotating DJ's. One played upbeat pop songs and the second played more techno beats. The DJs kept switching so it was never dull, and if you didn't like one you could grab a drink or use the photo opportunities. They had two specialty drinks that Rachel and I tried that were both yummy.  I tried the Sonic Screwdriver and Rach had the Impossible Girl ($7 ea). Sadly no food, but Rachel and I fixed that by sneaking behind Turner Hall to Maders to get yummy ruben rolls =)

 Now for some awesome cosplay! These photos are from the professional photographers that were running around and the photo booths, since my phone took the worst photos ever in the dark lighting.

 Nine and Four offering up some Jelly Babies

 This weeping angel was actually kind of scary when you caught them behind you

 This girl looks sooooo much like Rose from the 50th anniversary special!!!

 Mad props to Donna for wearing that dress all night.

 SUCH a pretty Weeping Angel dress, Even cooler in person.

So many villains in one photo.

Last one, me with 12! I loved his coat so much. I think my next DW cosplay will be 12.

I can't wait for next year! Till then, here's Matt Smith with Orbital, remixing the DW Theme Song =)