Tomfhaines

A small selection of temari made by NanaAkua’s grandmother. Photo by NanaAkua.

A friend of mine pointed me to this gorgeous collection of temari on Flickr taken by NanaAkua. According to the notes on the photo set, these were taken in 2009 when the photographer’s grandmother was 88. She started learning the craft in her 60s and at the time was also teaching classes. An update says she is still making temari now, though no longer teaching.

I actually started learning to make temari myself in 2009. It’s a Japanese embroidery craft that involves wrapping thread tightly around a ball and then embroidering on the surface. Usually the embroidery follows certain patterns and creates geometric and starburst shapes. My right brain loved the craftiness, and my left brain loved the mathematics of it. And, because I’m a geek, I put my own geeky spin on some of them:

Three of my geeky temari: Settlers of Catan, Death Star, and Xbox. Photos: Jonathan H. Liu

But the temari in NanaAkua’s photos are something else. You can tell that some of these are really enormous. Most of mine are about the size of tennis balls or a little smaller; I’ve made two larger ones, about the size of softballs. But the sheer amount of thread and needlework involved in these (like the one below to the left) is incredible. I also liked the egg-shaped one pictured on the right, because getting a regular starburst is harder when you don’t have a perfect sphere.

Three more temari. Photo: NanaAkua

Visit the Flickr page for hundreds of other temari, or click here for my own humble collection. I haven’t made any in a while, but these photos are inspiring! Maybe in another twenty years I’ll be turning out creations like these!

[via Colossal]

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dilettantiquity posted a photo:

This week I stumbled across a boardgaming Twitter hashtag that I didn’t recognize: #10x10in2014. A few clicks later, and I arrived at a post on BoardGameGeek by Sarah “SilvaShado” Reed, titled “2014 Challenge: Play 10 Games 10 Times Each.” Reed lamented that, although she managed to play a lot more of her unplayed games in 2013, she often played games only once or twice and didn’t feel like she really got into the meat of the games. So for 2014 she’s challenging herself—and the rest of us tabletop geeks—to play the same games more often.

The idea is to pick a list of 10 games that you will try to play at least 10 times each (and submit it before the end of 2013). The aim is to get more people playing games in depth, and not just skipping on to the next thing.

Now, if you know me you know that this is a real challenge. Partly it’s my personality type—I tend to sample a little bit of everything, rather than digging deep in one subject. The problem is also exacerbated by being a reviewer, because I’m constantly being asked to try something new so I can write it up.

I went back and looked at my BoardGameGeek records. In 2006, when I first started tracking my games on the site, I played 47 games of Fluxx, and had a total of 40 different games played. Compare that to this year, when I played 141 different games—over 100 of those only once or twice, and only one more than 10 times. (In case you’re curious, it was the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, at 18 plays.) For me, it was more like a year of #100x1in2013.

In the intervening years I’ve had several games in the teens—mostly shorter games like Incan Gold and Fluxx—but that number has been decreasing, and the overall length of the list has been increasing. Add to that the growing number of Kickstarter games, and my pile of “Games I Haven’t Even Played Once” is getting out of hand.

So maybe it’s a good idea for me to give this a shot. I can’t even begin to guess which games will be my top 10 next year, though it’s a safe bet that Pathfinder ACG will get at least 10 plays since I’m planning on finishing the adventure path. If I count Carcassonne on the iPad (I forget to log digital games) then that would definitely hit the teens, too. But what else? Should I pick games I already own, or ones that I’m expecting to get in 2014?

How about you: do you find yourself playing a few games a lot, or many games a little? What were your most-played games in 2013, and what do you expect to be playing next year?

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Whovian Holiday Wish List

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Ape Lad posted a photo:

Did your Thanksgiving table include any references to Cthulhu? No? Luckily, TableTop has you covered. Will and friends Troy Baker, Erin Gray, and Felicia Day play the Cthulhu-themed, letter-spelling card game Unspeakable Words. Check it out!

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Created and Directed by Charlie Todd / Produced by: Deverge / Music by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission, we recreated the famous “triple dog dare” scene from A Christmas Story on an NYC subway car. Instead of licking a flagpole, our character licked a subway pole. Using a prosthetic tongue with a magnet inside, we were able to get his tongue to appear stuck to the pole, much to the surprise of New Yorkers on the train.

This project is the last installment in our 10-part fall series, Movies in Real Life. We hope to make more in the future!

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at how we put this project together, including interviews with the kids:

Enjoy the videos first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos below.

CREDITS
Created and Directed by: Charlie Todd
Produced by: Deverge
Music: Tyler Walker
Producers: Alan Aisenberg, Andrew Soltys
Director of Photography: Ilya Smelansky
Editor: Deverge
Camera: Denis Cardineau, Ilya Smelansky, Chloe Smolkin, Spencer Thielmann
Sound: Ken Barbera
Photography: David Bledsoe (photo credit for all photos on this page.)
Costumes: Maggie Jung
Tongue Creation: Ilya Smelansky
Production Assistants: Maneet Chawla, Cody Lindquist, Michael Tannenbaum
Cast: Josh Caggiano (Flick), Milo Delaney (Ralphie), Sebastian Thomas (Schwartz), and Jarrett Kotarski (The Fireman)

It was fun to stage a mission with such a young cast. Of course you’ll remember Agent Sebastian Thomas from our recent Harry Potter In Real Life mission as well as our Mall Santa Musical a couple of years back.

Agent Ilya Smelansky custom designed prosthetic tongues for the mission, placing a magnet inside.

After some rehearsing, we headed over to the 1 train. We usually avoid the 1 train for Improv Everywhere missions because the lighting is poor, but it’s one of the few trains that has magnetic poles! The poles in the newer trains are stainless steel and not magnetic.

Once we had our hidden cameras set up, the kids entered the train car and began their scene.

Agent Caggiano hid his prosthetic tongue in his hand and swapped it out for his real tongue at the last second.

It was fun watching the reactions of the random people on the train, especially when the doors would open at a new stop and new people would enter the car.

Most people realized it was a scene and that it was supposed to be funny. The actual licking was often met with shock and surprise, but once people realized the tongue was stuck, it was clear that something fun was going on.

At the end of the scene we had Agent Jarrett Kotarski enter the car in full fireman gear. Jarrett is an actual New York City Fireman as well as an improviser in the New York improv scene. He was able to get the tongue unstuck and save the day. We staged this several times over the course of the evening and the finale always got a nice round of applause. A fun Christmas moment!

Thanks for watching our Movies In Real Life series and stay tuned for more Improv Everywhere projects in the new year. Happy Holidays everyone!

Mission Accomplished

Watch the full series– all 10 episodes in one playlist:

- Episode 1: Rocky In Real Life
- Episode 2: Indiana Jones In Real Life
- Episode 3: Lord of the Rings In Real Life
- Episode 4: The Matrix In Real Life
- Episode 5: Back to the Future In Real Life
- Episode 6: Jurassic Park In Real Life
- Episode 7: When Harry Met Sally In Real Life
- Episode 8: Harry Potter In Real Life
- Episode 9: Spartacus In Real Life
- Episode 10: A Christmas Story In Real Life

Photos:

Full set of photos from photographer David Bledsoe.

Music:

Listen to the track by Tyler Walker:

If this is your first time here:
-our over 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
-sign up for our RSS feed and Newsletter
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1. Will my kids like it?

Yes! The odds are your kids will be able to relate to Anna, the chief protagonist, in her struggle to save the two things she loves most in the world — her home of Arendelle and her sister Elsa — from each other. That she’s quirky and a bit awkward will no doubt help. Kids can’t fail to enjoy Kristoff (the chief male character) in his interactions with Sven, his trusty reindeer companion, as they’re among the funniest parts of the film. The snowman character Olaf, whom I’m sure you and your kids have seen in the unavoidable merchandising for the film, doesn’t really appear (he sort of does, but he doesn’t really — you’ll understand when you see it) until well into the story, which might frustrate some kids if they were particularly looking forward to seeing him, but there’s enough entertainment until that point that I doubt many will care much.

2. Will I like it?

I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t. The characters all have some depth to them — even Olaf the snowman, who could easily have just been goofy comic relief. You will actually care about what happens to them, and likely be pleasantly surprised by an ending that feels more like an actual resolution than that of most Disney animated films. You’ll probably see the major plot twist coming, while your kids probably won’t, but that won’t detract from your appreciation of the way it’s handled.

3. It’s rated PG, not G. Anything I should be concerned about?

There are perhaps a few more moments of peril in Frozen than in many Disney films, but nothing beyond what most kids can handle. And the classic Disney formula of killing off at least one parent of the protagonist rears its head again as Anna and Elsa’s loving parents — the king and queen of Arendelle — die pretty early in the film (which is why this doesn’t count as a spoiler). Some kids may be frightened (or may possibly identify with, or both) Elsa’s inability to keep a hold on her freezing powers, but since I very much doubt any of them will turn into Snow Queens themselves, you’re probably all right.

4. Is it worth paying more for 3D?

I haven’t seen it in 2D for comparison, but I’d have to say “Yes.” The rendering of the ice palace was just breathtaking in 3D, and it definitely added useful depth to other scenery. There’s also a fair bit of humor involving Olaf that would probably not be as funny in 2D. More significantly, the new (and truly excellent) Mickey Mouse short that precedes the film would pretty much completely fail to work at all in 2D.

5. When’s the best time for a bathroom break?

It’s not a terribly long film — 108 minutes — but if your kids (or you) simply can’t wait, I’d suggest that going when the folks back in Arendelle decide to try to rescue Anna would be a good plan, as you’ll be able to pick up the action quickly when you get back.

6. How’s the voice talent?

In a word, terrific. Idina Menzel is amazing as Elsa, which seems all the more appropriate as the relationship between Elsa and Anna bears more than a little resemblance to that between Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked. Kristen Bell makes Anna seem very friendly and very capable, and does an excellent job considering that she’s in virtually every scene in the film. Jonathan Groff makes a fine Kristoff, and Josh Gad of Book of Mormon does a terrific job as Olaf — who could easily have been really annoying to adults, but honestly isn’t at all. The only other really standout voice is that of the Duke, done by the awesome Alan Tudyk, who seems to be able to do wonderful voices that are different enough from his normal one that you’d never know it was him without the credits.

7. Do I need to sit through the credits for a bonus scene at the end?

Yes, there’s a very funny quick scene at the end that you should definitely stay for. Also, pay attention to the disclaimers towards the end of the credits — trust me.

8. Will I want to see it again?

Very likely, yes. It was funny, touching, and beautiful, with several excellent songs. I have every confidence that it will, as it deserves to, join the list of classic Disney animated films for years to come. The addition of Anna to the list of official Disney Princesses should help with that. (It’s a curious coincidence that Disney is getting its twelfth Princess just as Doctor Who gets its twelfth Doctor… or is it a coincidence?)

Disclosure: I received free tickets to a preview screening of Frozen. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Images: The Walt Disney Co.

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Danny Trejo, in a Muppets movie? #machetemahnamahna

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If you are excited about the Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor 50th anniversary but need a bit of a refresher, CableTV.com is throwing you a timeline. The Doctor Who Timeline Infographic is an overview of The Doctor’s travels from his origin and early years, through the Tom Baker golden age, past the dark time of the forgettable Fox movie, and finally into the reboot and modern era and recently updated for the 12th Doctor and the mysterious “War Doctor.”

The timeline is broken down by terrestrial time since the beginning of the show (starting in 1963), adventure numbers (currently sitting at 238 individual adventures), and Doctors (12+1 although the 12th and the “War Doctor” don’t have any adventures yet). This is then used to show the companions assisting the Doctor and the major foes he has encountered and then finally major events.

This thing is chock full of great information, like the fact that the first Doctor faced the Daleks more times than any other Doctor, The Fourth Doctor was in more adventures, and (not surprisingly) female companions outnumber male companions by more than 2:1.

The chart is colorful and easy to follow, although the color choices are not always entirely consistent. Donna Noble’s line is purple in the time line, but her call-out is green.

Here’s hoping they print this as a full sized wall poster!

Via: CableTV.com

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A while ago, TableTop associate producer, Boyan Radakovich, sat a box down in front of the show’s co-creator and host, Wil Wheaton. Gaming’s ambassador wasn’t impressed. The box had a cute panda on it and was decorated with pretty pastel colors. Surely, this wasn’t a serious game.

But the two sat down to play and Wheaton was beaten soundly. Wheaton, in his first try, had missed an integral piece of the strategy required to win. So Radakovich pointed out what Wil had overlooked and the two sat down again. Wheaton cruised to victory.

The game, of course, is Takenoko and it quickly became a favorite for Wheaton and Radakovich. During the filming of season two, the TableTop crew would film two episodes a day — one before lunch and one after. In the kitchen during lunchtime, Wheaton and Radakovich would break out the bamboo forest, panda, and gardner and play Takenoko.

The lunchtime duels became a hot attraction with the TableTop crew and staff rushing in to watch the games. The break room atmosphere took on the feeling of Neo and Morpheus pushing their limits as they battled each other in a sparring program, with everyone looking on, predicting turns, and cheering good moves. Like The Matrix, the student bested the teacher; Wheaton destroyed Radakovich.

But Wheaton’s dominance didn’t end there. This summer, at GenCon, Wheaton took on the game’s creator, Antoine Bauza, and beat him handily as well. By Radakovich’s estimation, Takenoko is one of a handful of games that Wheaton has mastered and can win almost every time he plays.

However, Takenoko still involves a good deal of luck. That, combined with its elements of strategy, gorgeous visuals and its ability to be easily followed make it “almost the perfect TableTop game”, according to Radakovich.

It’s also the game featured on this week’s episode, featuring guests Harley Morenstein, Rosanna Pansino, and Drew Roy. Knowing how well Wheaton plays Takenoko, you might think you know the outcome, too. But there’s always a chance that luck comes into play,   which is why we play games … and why we watch TableTop.

Note: Mark your calendars and cook your turkeys early. TableTop returns on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, with the holiday favorite (wait, what?) and Cthulhu-themed card game, Unspeakable Words.

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Sir Terry Pratchett gave a great interview on NPR yesterday. Despite being diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s that has taken his ability to read, Pratchett continues to write with the aid of dictation software. I find great encouragement and motivation in his responses. Check it out on NPR: With Fading Memory, Terry Pratchett Revisits The Carpet People

The new version of his book, The Carpet Book will be released tomorrow. It is available on Amazon for preorder now at $10 for the Kindle version. This isn’t the first time Pratchett has revisited the story. If you look around you’ll find a revised edition form 1992. Enough had transpired in the time that the author’s notes quipped that this book has 2 authors, and they are both the same person. I imagine now that the final revision has three authors. It will be interesting to revisit this story and see the evolution of his writing style.

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Created and Directed by Charlie Todd / Produced by: Deverge / Music by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission we sent Neo from the Matrix into Macy’s in New York City to shop for a new “man dress.” As Neo talked to a confused sales associate in the mens suits department, over 30 “Agent Smith” clones suddenly appeared, pouring out of elevators and escalators surrounding the area. An entirely unauthorized slow motion battle ensued, similar to the famous fight scene in The Matrix Reloaded. It’s the Matrix sequel you’ve always wanted: Macy’s Reloaded.

This project is part of our new series, Movies in Real Life. Every Tuesday, we’re releasing a new video that brings an iconic movie moment to life in the real world.

Here’s some behind-the-scenes footage of our rehearsal:

Enjoy the videos first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos below.

CREDITS
Created and Directed by: Charlie Todd
Produced by: Deverge
Music:: Tyler Walker
Producers: Alan Aisenberg, Andrew Soltys
Editor: Denis Cardineau
Director of Photography: Ilya Smelansky
Camera: Myo Campbell, Denis Cardineau, Caleb Heller, Kris Knight, Taylor Pow
Sound: Ken Barbera
Photography: Ari Scott (photo credit for all photos on this page.)
Props and Costumes: Aleks Arcabascio
Production Assistants: Cody Lindquist, Michael Tannenbaum
Cast: Winston Noel as Neo
Equipment Provided by: MatrixEyewear.com

This was a difficult project to cast. Well, Neo was easy. We cast our friend and longtime Improv Everywhere participant Winston Noel, who had actually played Neo already in a CollegeHumor video. The Agent Smiths on the other hand, were tricky. While we know quite a few twins, we don’t know any clones. We sent out a casting notice on our mailing list looking for guys who resembled Agent Smith. Of the 30 who turned out, a few were a little tall or a little short or had a few too many grey hairs, but overall as a group they looked fantastic. 30 ended up being a really ideal number for the size of the store as well. I’m not sure if we would have had room for too many more.

It was really fun walking down the street with Neo. The guy in the photo above couldn’t stop laughing at him. Others shouted things like, “Hey Neo! Take the red pill!”

We met up with the Agent Smiths on the steps of the post office on 8th Avenue. I went over the gameplan with everyone, and we divided them into 3 teams. The mens suits department is on the 3rd floor of Macy’s, so we had one team start on the 3rd floor, one on the 2nd, and one on the 4th. This enabled them to take the escalators and elevators to the playing space, arriving in waves similar to the entrances in the film. We talked through the fight scene and did a very brief rehearsal, but decided it made the most sense to have the fight be improvised.

For some reason pigeons go crazy at the sight of Agent Smiths.

Agent Smiths Abbey Roading it on the way to Macy’s.

Neo waits in the shoe department as our hidden camera crew gets set up.

Neo walked around by himself through the store and interacted with several different sales associates. “I’m looking for a ‘man dress’ similar to what I have on, but more formal.” The employees took him seriously (though one did say, “I feel like I’m in the Matrix right now.”) but no one was able to offer much help. The woman pictured above said, “Maybe try Bloomingdale’s?”

The final employee he chatted with was in the main area right in front of the escalators and a big open space that was just begging for a performance.

We cued the Agent Smiths and the slow motion fight began as the first wave showed up. We chose to do the whole scene in slow motion for two reasons. One, it’s a nice reference to the scene which has quite a bit of slow motion. Two, it was much safer and much less likely to alarm the employees. No one is calling the cops on a slow motion fight.

Customers and an employee reacting to the scene.

Wave two of Agent Smiths arrived from the escalator from the fourth floor.

Crowds started to gather and watch the ridiculousness.

Wave three arrived and then it was finally down to just one Agent Smith standing.

Neo surveys the wreckage and then announces that he’s going to go shop for a “man dress” down on the 2nd floor. He awkwardly makes his was to the escalator through the bodies.

More people laughing and taking photos of the mob of men in suits on the ground.

One customer walks through the bodies to get to the escalator.

The Agent Smiths eventually got up simultaneously, cracked their necks, and exited the store. I stayed behind to chat with employees, all of whom seemed to have really enjoyed the spectacle. Many of the associates who had talked with Neo about the “man dress” ended up being present for the fight as well. It was fun to hear the story from their perspective. There were rumors of managers and security guards figuring out how to deal with the situation, but we were in and out so fast that nothing came of it. I also think it became clear very quickly that we were both harmless and ridiculous.

Come back next Tuesday for the next installment of Movies in Real Life. Sign up for our email list or subscribe on YouTube to be notified when the next one is posted!

Mission Accomplished

Watch the full series– all 10 episodes in one playlist:

- Episode 1: Rocky In Real Life
- Episode 2: Indiana Jones In Real Life
- Episode 3: Lord of the Rings In Real Life
- Episode 4: The Matrix In Real Life
- Episode 5: Back to the Future In Real Life
- Episode 6: Jurassic Park In Real Life
- Episode 7: When Harry Met Sally In Real Life
- Episode 8: Harry Potter In Real Life
- Episode 9: Spartacus In Real Life
- Episode 10: A Christmas Story In Real Life

Photos:

Full set of photos from photographer Ari Scott.

Music:

Listen to the track by Tyler Walker:

If this is your first time here:
-our over 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
-sign up for our RSS feed and Newsletter
-Subscribe to our YouTube channel, twitter, and Facebook page.
-We have merch for sale!

Most people talk of love as though it were as strong as girders, this hurricane-like force that can lift you high into the sky.  If a relationship fails, it’s because we puny humans failed Love by not believing in it hard enough: Love can rescue everyone, knit the world together, even surpass death.

And, I think, people are continually surprised when they plummet through the paper-thin lacing of Love and fall hard onto the rocks below.

Love is fragile.  Love is weak.

Love, to me, is like an emaciated refugee that shows up at your door in the middle of the night during a storm.  You’re not sure how she had the strength to get here, but here she is regardless, her thumb on your doorbell until you let her in.

You take her inside, give her a bed and a bowl of soup.  She’s thankful, but can’t contribute to the house much.  She stays in bed and is absolutely wonderful company, but having Love in the house doesn’t pay the bills, doesn’t sweep the floors, doesn’t feed the cat.  She just sits there tucked into the covers, not complaining.

All these other things in life seem far more pressing than Love, who doesn’t ask much, if anything.  Money certainly makes demands of you, showing up at your door and shaking you down.  Chores arrives and he kicks dust around the house.  Old Habits has been living in your house all your life, and he’s quite insistent that things must be done his way.

And  if you’re not careful to feed her, you spend so much time dealing with Money and Chores and Habits that poor Love starves to death in the corner, so kind she never says a word before she expires.

Love can be strong.  If you feed her good things, get her up and out of bed, take her for walks and get her exercise in, she can do some things that put Money and Chores and Habits to shame.  Given the proper treatment, she can grow to be stronger than all of them put together.  But she’s a delicate flower who requires a lot of attention to thrive, and she doesn’t like causing a fuss.

(Not like Sex.  Sex shrieks in the night, and causes a lot of fuss, and looks much like Love when they’re both in bed together.  I wouldn’t confuse them, though.)

You have to tend to Love constantly.  She’s a tough old bird and will stick around through a lot of neglect, but eventually she will pass on.  The trick is to realize that this mysterious and unannounced visitor needs your care, and God forbid you assume that she’s just naturally stronger than Money and Chores and Habits and you just throw her in to fight with them before you’ve given her a good set of boxing gloves and a training montage.

Love is weak, and delicate, and all the more special because of that.  She’s injured daily by the smallest of things: a uncapped tube of toothpaste, a sneer when you’re in a bad mood, the forgetting of a special day.  Enough nicks and bumps, and one day she’ll pass on, so quiet you may not even hear her die.  You may not even notice with all the other visitors jostling for your attention.

Love is weak as an orchid, and powerful as an oak tree.  In both cases, you’d better get to watering.

Cross-posted from Ferrett's Real Blog.

Simply amazing set of costumes created and shared by Redditor Deconstructress.
[As seen on Laughing Squid]

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Wearing their costume hoodies, Spiderman and Ironman team up to fight evil on a chilly fall afternoon. Photo by Ryan Carlson 2013

As a geek parent I’m pretty envious that my kids have so many cool durable costume options for everyday play (as well as special events like Halloween). We recently discovered the existence of costume hoodies and they are a new family favorite. In addition to having an increase in fun superhero imaginary play, my kids haven’t fought me a single time these past few weeks about having to put on something weather appropriate for a chilly afternoon.

Captain America and Captain America Kid go on an adventure (and in public) quite often.

My daughter and I often wear matching Captain America hoodies and have received a lot of compliments while out in public. We received a selection of hoodies for both the adults and the kids in my household courtesy of 80sTees.com. The folks over at 80sTees.com have been working at acquiring the merchandising rights to create an entire line of shirts, costumes, and now costume hoodies for the masses. Most of their best sellers are directly out of my childhood like original Transformers, Voltron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars (Episode IV, V, and VI), and a wide range of super hero characters. About every nostalgic heart string has been pulled, so just take my money already, ok?

When I grew up, our costumes for trick-or-treating in the ’80s came in three varieties. You had the homemade costume that mom helped make with varying results. On the other end of the spectrum was the costume that involved little to no effort because it used stuff we already owned or had around the house (e.g. sheet ghost, ski-mask robber, cowboy, hobo, or the classic sports-uniform wearing kid).

One of my Halloween costumes from the early ’80s as your friendly neighborhood SPIDER (boy). Photo by Deb Mull 1982

The vast majority of kids like myself had settled on the crappy flammable plastic body suit and the uncomfortable ridged plastic mask with holes too small to safely see out of. As an adult I think the worst part about the all-plastic body suit and elastic-band mask was that the costume was typically a pretty poor representation of whatever character you were dressing up as. Just in case people didn’t recognize who you were dressed up as there was a large picture of the character on the chest. Just below the picture of the character you were dressed up as was the name of the character or the television show it was from. I remember the year my costume brazenly advertised that I was SPIDER-MAN. I still remember cutting my tongue when I stuck it out of the mask’s mouth slit to make a funny face at my sister.

My wife is very fond of the Wonder Woman hoodie. Although my daughters are really bummed it does not come in kid sizes. – Image Ryan Carlson 2013

Now that I am a father I am re-experiencing Halloween and costume play all over again with my three kids. My kids may not have the plastic body suits that my sister and I grew up with that lasted a single evening of trick-or-treating. What we do have is a collection of cheap polyester superhero and princess costumes complete with flimsy boot covers and crappy foam belts and tiaras. I remember when my nephew wore his Batman costume every day for a month and my daughter wore her Supergirl costume over any outfit we would dress her in. I had to remind myself that every healthy well-adjusted child goes through a phase in which dressing up as a dinosaur or a superhero for every occasion is non-negotiable. As a parent or understanding uncle I was able to realize it was just not worth the fight. Although constantly washing the sweat-soaked costume didn’t help the lifespan of the garment. It’s nice to feel that we just might be turning a corner in this chapter of our lives.

Magneto isn’t evil, he’s just misunderstood. Try and explain mutant rights to my kids. Ryan Carlson 2013

The Magneto hoodie is incredibly cool and has those really nice thumb holes to keep your sleeves down. – Ryan Carlson 2013

With the addition of costume hoodies to our wardrobes I’ve now found the ultimate compromise that is fun for the kids and a parent approved chilly-weather outer layer. My kids dress me and my wife up in our adult sized hoodies and typically I’m teaming up with them as either Captain America or Iron Man when we run errands around town. Although, when all the kids get together they request that I play the supervillain Magneto by changing hoodies. Did I mention that it’s old-school classic X-Men Magneto? Not the silly business suit that Ian McKellan wore in the movies. The Magneto costume-hoodie is a classy red and purple zip-up complete with Magneto’s signature mind-shielding helmet. I’ve found that if you keep the hood down any of the costume hoodies works quite well for every day use. The only question left to answer is which hoodie do I wear for Trick-or-Treating with my kids? If I took a vote today I’m pretty sure the kids will vote for the Captain and his shield.

Calling the wookiee short is liable to get your arms torn off. – Image Ryan Carlson 2013

If there was a single complaint to be had about the costume hoodies is that the kid-sized options for young girls are slim to none. Want to be Princess Leia? Wonder Woman? Rainbow Dash? Sorry, girls, they start at size small, no Junior sizes. As a result my daughter has opted to wear a ridiculously cool Chewbacca hoodie to keep Princess Leia safe on a trip to the grocery store.

Be safe this Halloween, my fellow geek parents. My the force be with you.

Overall Quality: Adult hoodies are incredibly comfortable, strong zippers, soft interior. Women hoodies could have been a little bit longer according to my wife. The kids hoodies were the same materials, although the zippers on the juvy Spider-man and Iron Man require adult assistance to get started (all plastic hardware). The Chewbacca hoodie is absolutely fantastic, very well constructed. The hoodies are warm enough for cool weather and stand up to roughhousing rather well.

Safety: I’m really happy with how well my kids can both see and breath with the hoods up. The manufacturers paid close attention to the kid-friendly design by preventing airways from being blocked. The mesh that goes over the face and eyes is the same as the adult Iron Man and Boba Fett hoodies that I was able to review. I wouldn’t drive with the mask on, but had no issues running around the neighborhood. Believe it or not, the darker it is the easier it is to see out through the mesh.

Conclusion: I’d recommend these hoodies as a gift idea for a geeky spouse, as a costume for kids that enjoy dress-up, and for geeky parents looking for a warm and durable Halloween costume that has a great replay value for themselves.

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What is Disney Infinity, anyway?

No doubt there are many baffled parents who have been asked by their kids to buy Disney Infinity for Christmas, but don't really understand ...

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Created and Directed by Charlie Todd / Produced by: Deverge / Music by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission we recreated the famous boulder chase scene from Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark in New York’s Central Park. A man dressed as Indiana Jones ran through the park with the golden idol as he was chased by a man in an enormous custom-built boulder costume. The chase started in Central Park’s Ramble, a wooded area that resembles the location from the film. The chase continued through more populated parts of the park, surprising tourists and sun-bathing New Yorkers alike. The project ended with Indy attempting to return the idol to the American Museum of Natural History.

This project is part of our new series, Movies in Real Life. Every Tuesday, we’re releasing a new video that brings an iconic movie moment to life in the real world.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes video showing how we built the giant boulder:

Enjoy the videos first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos below.

CREDITS
Created and Directed by: Charlie Todd
Produced by: Deverge
Music:: Tyler Walker
Producers: Alan Aisenberg, Andrew Soltys
Editor: Denis Cardineau
Camera: Myo Campbell, Denis Cardineau, Kris Knight, Taylor Pow, Chloe Smolkin
Sound: Harris Karlin
Photography: Arin Sang-urai (photo credit for all photos on this page.)
Boulder Design and Operation: Ilya Smelansky, Dave Szarejko
Props and Costumes: Aleks Arcabascio
Production Assistants: Juan Cocuy, Ryan Creamer, Spencer Lindenman, Cody Lindquist, Michael Tannenbaum
Cast: Jeff Miller as Indiana Jones

The biggest challenge for this mission was figuring out how the hell we were going to build a boulder. We went through several concepts, including getting a giant inflatable ball, painting it, and putting a remote controlled car inside. We finally decided that for both control and safety, it was best to have it human-operated. Agents Ilya Smelansky and Dave Szarejko built the boulder from scratch using a light weight wood frame, chicken wire, paper mâché, foam, and paint. The boulder had a backpack inside that the operator wore to stabilize himself. They inserted two GoPro cameras into the side of the boulder: one to record for our video and one to transmit a live feed to the boulder operator so he could see where he was going.

The GoPro video fed directly into video glasses, which gave the operator a first person view of where he was running.

Agents Smelansky and Szarejko took turns operating the boulder. Fortunately it was a relatively mild day, but it was still steaming hot inside.

Agent Andrew Soltys found an exact replica of the idol from the film. We placed it deep in the Central Park Ramble and Agent Jeff Miller as Indiana Jones reenacted the classic switch with a bag of sand.

The chase begins in the Central Park Ramble!

Central Park can be very tourist heavy, and it was super fun watching families and tourists react to our ridiculous chase.

The Ramble has lots of fun bridges and archways, which made it a great place to stage this. Indy seemed right at home.

The chase goes over the famous Bow Bridge.

Tourists blocking the path of the boulder.

The boulder chases Indy around Bethesda Fountain.

The chase moves down The Mall.

The boulder was VERY popular and made many friends throughout the day.

My favorite part of the day was an epic chase through Central Park’s Sheep’s Meadow. The boulder weaved through frisbee-throwers and sunbathers.

The chase ended back in The Ramble. The boulder was just too big to make it through the Ramble Arch, and Indy made it out alive. He then proceeded directly to the American Museum of Natural History.

Indy entered the museum with the idol and the loudly proclaimed in the lobby, “This belongs here!” While he got many laughs, unfortunately no museum employees were willing to accept the idol.

Come back next Tuesday for the next installment of Movies in Real Life. Sign up for our email list or subscribe on YouTube to be notified when the next one is posted!

Mission Accomplished

Related Videos:

Episode One: Rocky In Real Life

Star Wars Subway Car

Who You Gonna Call?

Photos:

Full set of photos from photographer Arin Sang-urai: Photo Gallery

Music:

Listen to the track by Tyler Walker:

If this is your first time here:
-our over 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
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-Subscribe to our YouTube channel, twitter, and Facebook page.
-We have merch for sale!

Today’s Ript Apparel tee by artist tonynichols is a must-buy for Browncoats and fans of classic animated kitsch-fest Challenge of the Super Friends. His Shiny Friends design is a delightful mash-up of two great properties, and it’s available today only.

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