IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE | APRIL 18th, 2018

April 18, 2018April 17, 20185 Comments

Welcome back to another ‘If we were having coffee’ -post were we pretend to meet up for a coffee to catch up with each others lives.

It has been almost a year since our last virtual ‘coffee meet-up’ so I thought I’d give you a brief update of things.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m re-reading The Lord of the Rings again. In my last ‘If we were having coffee’ – post from June 2017, I’ve talked about how I’ve re-read The Silmarillion and The Hobbit, and were re-reading LOTR. Almost a year later, I’m planning to do (almost) the same. I’m currently half-way through reading The Two Towers and have read Beren and Luthien a few weeks ago. I plan on reading The Silmarillion next, but in order to switch things up, I think I’ll read The Children of Hurin instead of The Hobbit afterwards. Very exciting news, I know.

I’ve given up trying to stay up to date with geeky news. I’ve still haven’t watched many of the things I plan on watching for years and I’ve accepted that I’ll probably never will. I’m still very much in the mood to read and do nothing much but read. At some point I might start writing book reviews…. if I ever manage to get my nose out of a book long enough! In the meantime, the best book I’ve read this years so far is The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov.

I have, however, managed to catch up with one TV show though. During the Christmas break, I’ve managed to watch Westworld season one and OH EM GEE this show is soo good. This show has everything I love about the art form of Television all the way down to even a great intro song. My favourite characters? The Man in Black and Maeve, hands down. I have not seen the trailer for season two and I’m not planning to do it either. I want to surprised by whats to come.

I’ve simply walked into Mordor. A few months ago, Lord of the Rings Online released Mordor as a region, and my Hobbit hunter is finally strong enough to enter and quest in Mordor…well, kind of. Mordor is designed for levels 105 and higher and even though my Hobbit hunter is level 108 (of 115 in total) I’m still struggling to quest in Mordor. Sure, Mordor was designed to be difficult, it is Mordor after all, but still the struggle is very very real! I’m loving it though. Also, LOTRO recently released Laketown, Thranduil’s palace and the Lonely Mountain as Rergions and I’m soooo tempted to buy the region because I really want to quest there!

How about you, what have your geeky life has been like in the last ten months? Have you watched Westworld and if you did which was your favourite character? Leave a comment down below!

5 Fandom Friday: Five Fictional Foods We Want to Try

November 17, 2017November 25, 20171 Comment

It’s never a bad time to blog about good eats, but with autumn in full swing in the northern hemisphere and fall harvest festivals keeping food always on the brain, we thought it was the perfect time discuss the dishes that we can only fantasize about.

We’re keeping the spirit of Five Fandom Friday going strong by creating our own prompts. Join us this week as we share Five Fictional Foods We Want to Try! Do you see any of your favorites on our list?

#5 – Slurm

Futurama

Maria: I’m a big fan of Futurama and one of the thing that I’d love to try is the highly addictive Slurm soft drink. Yes, I know Slurm is made out of the secretion of a giant Slurm Worm, but it just looks like so delicious and fun that I’d still try it. I mean, honey is technically just Bee spit, right? Now, I’ve seen that you can order Slurm online, but with a price-tag of 20$ or more per can or bottle, buying one is out of the question.

#4 – Any food animated by Studio Ghibli

Maria: Whether it being Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, or Howl’s Movie Castle, Hayao Miyazaki’s animated food looks absolutely delicious. I know that you can just travel to Japan and eat the dishes over there. But I don’t want just any dish shown in Miyazaki’s movies, I want to eat those specifically animated ones!

#3 – Lembas

The Lord of the Rings

Lily: Being a hobbit at heart (and stomach), I’d love to try lembas bread from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The fellowship was gifted lembas provisions by Galadriel in Lothlorien to help them on the long trek into Mordor, and not only will “one keep a traveller on his feet for a day of long labour,” but as Merry says, “Lembas does put heart into you! A more wholesome sort of feeling, too.” Whether you’re running a marathon or simply don’t have time to stop in the middle of a busy day to eat a proper meal, lembas sounds like the perfect food to have on hand!

#2 – Three Course Dinner Chewing Gum

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Lily: No list of fictional foods could be complete without one item from Willy Wonka’s fantastical chocolate factory! Assuming that it had been perfected and wouldn’t turn me into a giant blueberry balloon, I’d happily enjoy a filling three-course meal in the form of chewing gum. In fact, I would hope there was an entire line of meal flavors so that I could try them all.

#1 – Wonderland’s SiZe Altering Foods

Alice’s Adventures in WOnderland

Lily: A few of these items have somewhat miraculously provided more nutrition than one might expect, but the resizing foods and drinks imagined by Lewis Carroll are pure magic. Starting from the premise that you at least knew the effect of any given “Eat Me” food or “Drink Me” vial, you could be a superhero able to fit into tiny spaces or save people dangling from scary heights. And hopefully they taste pretty good, too.

Can you think of any delicious-sounding fictional foods that would vie for a top spot on this list? Please share them in the comments!

You can check out all of our past 5 Fandom Friday posts here, and we’d love to know if you have any suggestions for future topics!

Merchandise Monday: Self-made LOTR Signpost & Jewelry Box

October 30, 2017October 30, 20172 Comments

You know what I love more than purchasing fandom related merchandise? Creating fandom related merchandise. Whether it being a seasonal greeting card, or a quick fanart, I love getting inspired by my fandoms. Most of the times, I use pen and paper to get creative, but occasionally, I want to get crafty. A while ago, I’ve done a miniature Lord of the Rings signpost for my bookshelf (with the help of my dad) and re-painted a wooden box I’ve got from a local arts & crafts store.

I’m afraid, I don’t have any real DIY for both items, but I’ll try to explain as best as I can how I did it down below.

While the LOTR signpost serves not function whatsoever, other than decorative purposes, the wooden box holds some of my smaller Tolkien collectibles. Now, neither of these two items were my original idea. If you’ve spend any time on Pinterest, you’ve probably stumbled upon similar DIYs before.

The desire to make a geeky miniature signpost has been on my mind for a while and with the help of my dad, I’ve finally made one. We used various, differently sized pieces of wood you can get from any department store, nails, wood varnish and white acrylic paint. Now, I could’ve cut the wood to the right size without the help of my dad, but he is a hobby carpenter and gets stuff like this done more accurately. We had no particular measurements in mind and just worked with the wooden pieces we found in his workshop. Then, I picked a varnish and acrylic paint of my liking, after everything was assembled. Just a tip for you: after you assembled the signpost, take some sandpaper and make sure every cm or inch of that signpost is smooth before you paint it. After the varnish and acrylic paint dried, I took some Mod Podge and covered everything with a thin layer.

The wooden box was a lot easier to do. I purchased an inexpensive wooden box from a local arts & crafts store and painted it with the same varnish as the signpost. Again, before painting it, I smoothed out the wood with some sandpaper. As for the decorative elements, I’ve looked through my Tolkien books and decided to copy some of Tolkien’s original design elements for The Hobbit. Once again, after the varnish and paint dried, I added a thin layer of Mod Podge as a protective layer to it.

As much as I love my other, bought merchandise items, there is something special about creating and receiving hand-made geeky stuff.

What was your most recent geeky DIY? Is there an unique DIY you’ve stumbled upon the internet that you’d like to share? Leave us a comment down below!

5 Fandom Friday: Five Villains We Secretly Love

October 27, 2017November 24, 20172 Comments

Whether they are physically alluring, compelling to watch, or simply misunderstood, we all secretly have villains that we actually root for.

We’re keeping up with the spirit of Five Fandom Friday with our own prompts, and this week, we are daring to admit to Five Villains We Secretly Love! Do you see any of your favorites on our list?

#1 – Lucius Malfoy

Harry Potter Series

Maria: Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t deny Lucius’ evil side, I’m also not sugarcoating his views. In our world, he’d be an arrogant racist, and I’m all against that. Having said that, I cannot deny that Movie Lucius is such a dandy that he is almost on parr with Gilderoy Lockhart. Everything about movie Lucius in the early films is just so extra, so over the top that I cannot help but love him and feel for his character in the last films as his life starts to unravel.

#2 – Eris

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Lily: I loved the movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas when it came out, but it wasn’t entirely because of the heroic deeds of the protagonists. Eris, the goddess discord, was so entrancing to watch that I was always excited to see her. This is largely due to the interesting effects used to create her smoky appearances and movements (Eris is a combination of a hand-drawn character with added 3D effects).

She just wants to add a little chaos into the world, and she happens to use mortals as her playthings. But if you use her own rules to beat her at her own game, she accepts it…rather gracefully.

#3 – Wilson Fisk

Daredevil

Lily: The first time we meet Wilson Fisk, he is about to put himself out on a limb to ask a woman out on a date. He’s nervous and vulnerable, and I instantly felt empathy for him. His backstory is revealed throughout the first season of Daredevil, and we learn that a catalyst for his violence was wanting to protect his mother, a noble motivation. In his mind, he is the hero — like Matthew Murdock, he sees himself as the caretaker of his city. He just turns into a scary, calculating rage monster to make his vision happen.

#4 – Bart Curlish

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Lily: She’s crazy. She’s erratic. She’s hilarious. She’s deadly. Bart Curlish is the opposite of Dirk Gently in that she’s a holistic assassin and is meant to kill whomever she kills. And she has killed a lot of people. But never the wrong person.

Just like Eris, I was always looking forward to when this character would show up, even if her motive (“Kill Dirk Gently”) runs counter to the rest of the show. Honestly, sometimes I really wished for her to fulfill her mission just because I wanted her to have that win.

#5 – Gollum/Sméagol

The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings

Lily: When we first meet Gollum in The Hobbit, he’s a menace and an obstacle to be overcome (though the riddle game between Gollum and Bilbo is my favorite scene in the whole Hobbit movie trilogy). It’s in The Lord of the Rings that we become sympathetic towards him, or at the very least, can find him pitiable. He is single-minded from the moment he sees the ring, but it is his moments of compassion for Frodo that hearken back to the simple creature he was before the One Ring corrupted him. However, without that corruption, he would not have been able to empathize with Frodo.

He’s a complicated character, to be sure, but when people ask me about my favorite characters in The Lord of the Rings, Gollum is always in the top ten.

Did we leave any of your favorite villains off of our list? Be sure to let us know in the comments who we missed!