Hello readers!  After striking for a day in protest of the SOPA and PIPA Bills going through the US Government right now, we are back on line.  If you are in the US and you haven’t already made your feeling know about SOPA and PIPA I strongly suggest you contact your representatives and let them know how you feel, after all they work for us!

I know that I have been fairly quiet through the bustle of the holidays, but now that we are into cold, rainy winter nights I am back to blogging so expect to hear a lot more from me in the coming months.

Our Switch

About 1-1/2 years ago we realized that we were wasting money every month paying a cable bill just for fun.  The realization came on night when we looked around and discovered that no one had turned the cable on in a whole month.  What a waste of our money!

At that point we were already Netflix members as I had signed up when I took a Film and Politics class at Portland State University.  Since we were watching a movie a week and they had almost all the movies in their collection it was a good investment.  When we gave up cable we switched to Netflix for our TV viewing entertainment.

In all honesty we have not missed out cable at all.  I should share that we are not a sports watching family so there were no games for us to miss out on, and even for you sports people out there I hear that this year the Superbowl will be live streamed online so there are really no excuses anymore.

6 Benefits to Streaming

Since we gave up cable we have noted some benefits to our lives that had both been expected and unexpected.  Here is our list:

1) No more cable bill.  Even with the changes to subscriptions that Netflix has undergone the savings is considerable, especially as we dropped the DVD portion when they split them (we weren’t watching them anyways).

2) No more advertisements at Christmas time.  I have two school aged kids and while they hear about stuff from their friends they are shielded from the onslaught of commercials for the latest chunk of plastic or useless electronic that barrage our favorite shows come fall.

3) No more political ads.  For us this has been a great and unexpected benefit, especially heading into an election year like this one.  Right now we are having a special election for a new Senator and since we haven’t seen adds our decisions are based on what is on the ballot, their websites and our voter’s guide.  This allows us to make a decision without hating the idea of voting due to negative ads before out ballot even shows up.  For us this is a good thing.

4) No more missing the show.  This is great for all of us, if you doze off or have to run a kid to an event before the show is over there are no issues, just watch it later.  Sure you get this with DVR but then you probably have a higher bill than I do.

5) I know what the kids have been watching.  They have the chance to cruise the available shows and movies on Netflix and there are some that they are simply too young to watch.  Since everything you watch kicks over to a “Recently Watched” section we all know what each other is watching.  A much easier way to keep tabs on things, though my kids haven’t tried watching anything they shouldn’t.

6) Exposure to new shows.  I have found that documentaries that interest me are far easier to come by then they used to be with my cable provider.  This also means my kids have gotten into “How It’s Made” that they would have been unlikely to run across before our switch.

Do you stream?

While it is not the best answer for everyone, the switch to streaming TV has been great for us.  So tell me, have to switched to streaming and if you have what benefits have you seen, if not, why not?

What is a wand?

According to my recently purchased copy of The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols by Adele Nozedar, a wand is a symbol of power.  Adele writes “The wand is an essential tool for anyone who aspires to a position of authority and power: witches and wizards, druids, bishops, and the monarchy”.   I had always considered wands to be associated with wizards and fairies and the like, but had never carried that notion over to bishops and monarchs before.  What an interesting idea.  It made me wonder what modern day items would be considered wands based on this definition of a wand as a tool representing authority and power.

Modern day wands

Gavel by creationc

The first that comes to my mind is the gavel.  I can’t help but see this as a wand based on Nozedar’s description.  Considering the authority we consider a judge to have, and certainly the authority considering they can hold your life in their hands.  Though I must admit while I can easily tie a judge’s gavel to power and authority, I have trouble imagining it providing any sort of magical ability to the wielder in the way I typically visual a wand doing.

The next that comes to mind is a school teacher’s marker.  This, of course, has changed over time and depends on the circumstances.  In many cases today it is the dry erase marker or the greatly feared red pen.   While teachers are not the figures of authority to adults that they are to school children, there is still power in the red pen that marks your mistakes and your grades on each paper you turn in.  A small wand by most standards but perhaps a stronger level of magic due to that.

I am sure there are other great modern day wands out there, what can you think of?

Bring it to you RPG

So neat idea but how does it apply to your RPG game.  I can see this being a great tie in either in a ShadowRun or Champions game.  Any of your major NPC’s could be a closet magic user, implementing their wand as a focus item without letting on to the world their true nature or abilities.  It could be used as a surprise for the characters who may not see it coming.  Back in the day I played in a Champion campaign where many of the major politicians were magic users, they just used them to gain and keep their positions and only as much as needed so that it was not well known to the general population.  Just goes to show that magic users can wield their power in a low-key, yet highly effective way.

What creative ways have you used wands or focus items in your games?

by my daughter in Kindergarten

Creativity is essential

While not everyone will agree, I feel that one of the greatest gifts you can provide for your child is the ability to be creative.  Thinking with a creative mind allows a person to not only develop novel solutions to a problem they are faced with, but also imagine what might happen should a certain course of action take place.  In our world there is quickly developing a divide between those that can imagine novel solutions and those that are the sheep that follow.  While both are required in society, in my case I don’t follow all that well or happily.

Raising creative kids

So, if I think raising your child to be creative is so important how do you go about doing it?  To start I would like to say that I am not an expert on raising kids; this is just one mom’s opinion on the matter.  What I suggest and do myself may or may not work for your family, kids or yourself, all we can do is try.

That being said, I think the first and most important step to raising creative kids is to have creative parents.  It is far easier to approach things from new angles when you live in a setting where you see the adults doing so all the time.  This is why my kids are welcome to sit at our gaming table and listen to the group try to figure out how to solve the latest challenge the GM has thrown at them.  This is also why we discuss problems that we have at work or with school at the dinner table, trying to find the best way and share our different approaches we have tried in the past with each other.

I think that the best way to bring out the natural creativity in any child (or even adult for that matter) is to ask “what if” type questions.

a drawing by my son in 3rd grade

Such as “What if your rubber duck could swim on its own, what would it do?”, this gives a young child the chance to imagine a clear picture and respond with an answer.  Now comes the hard part, respect your child’s answer by either expressing approval or by asking a question to get more information.  It is critical that you allow them the freedom to answer with something that isn’t even logical, especially when they are younger then school-age.  If their rubber duck would turn upside-down and swim with its feet in the air using its wings to paddle, then respond with a “Neat”.  Don’t shut them down by pointing out that ducks can’t swim like that.  Creativity is about imagining those things that are, combined with those things that aren’t, to generate a newness.  We cannot be creative and endlessly bound by our current reality at the same time!

My creative kids

As a result of letting my children be free-thinkers they are often praised for their creativity.  Of course there are times, such as school assignments, where we have to reign in that creative thinking some so that they can conform enough to pass.  It is a fine line to walk, especially with my daughter who is very free thinking.  In the end though, I find that it is worth the struggle.

I find that because of their creativity my children are constantly looking for ways to rework the world into something new.  Our dining/game room has 2 bookshelves in it primarily dedicated to art supplies, our recycle bin is regularly scrounged through for the latest creative endeavor.  In fact, just yesterday my son looked at his old twin mattress we are getting rid of and since it is too worn for use, he asked if he could take two of the springs from it so he could attach them to his shoes.  As you can see I work to keep up with them as they surprise me with questions I am at best half prepared to hear.

Lego creation by my son

So what do you do with this?

Start asking your kid questions about “what if” with no wrong answer.  Buy them blocks and Lego sets and let any style of car or rocket ship they build be awesome, and join them at it even if you aren’t very good in your eyes – they will think you make cool things.  Watch clouds go by and decide what they look like, cats or elephants or flying monkeys.  If they create a new creature and draw you a picture, provide approval and reinforcement by asking them what its favorite food is.  Anything you do that allows them to make new things adds to their creative pool, giving them the means to move past how it has always been to how it could be.  That is, after all, how we turn our wishes into reality.  And while you are helping your child be creative, help yourself to be creative as well.

Welcome to another addition of Wacky Wednesday where I bring you one crazy item or article I have read online.

This week I wanted to share with you the perfect way to start the early training in ultimate destruction of, well, everyone for your young geekling.  I bring to you the Ride in Dalek toy available at Think Geek.  Just when you thought you had seen it all in the Dr. Who fandom items, they dig a little deeper, but why not kids can love Dr Who also, right?

Personally, I would rather have put my kids in a sound effect laden Tardis, but I bet that is available somewhere too.  Who knows maybe your little one won’t turn out evil after all even after riding around in this ride!

Hello everyone!!!!

Here at The Halfling we are shaking things up a bit with more content then before as well as a new look!!  There are still some refinements you will see in the coming month that will help to really bring this family, gamer blog back into shape and ready for my loyal readers as well as new fans to come.

If you have anything that you want to see adjusted or changed that you feel would really help my blog out, please let me know by commenting to this post.

Costumes galore…

One of the aspects of the Science Fiction convention we go to each year, Orycon in Portland Oregon, is that people dress in all sorts of great costumes.  And while most of them are more inclined to be grouped with a genre, such as Steam Punk or Pirates, there are others that pick a specific character from a movie or television series and dress as them.  Depending on the movie this could be either super simple or terribly challenging to manage.

Here I will cover a couple ideas that have struck me this weekend that I think would be fairly easy to accomplish, even on a tight budget.  And for some of them the reference is back in time about 20 years and will make people have to stop and ask you who you are supposed to be.

The Jetsons

So The Jetsons may be an animated cartoon, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use it for costume ideas.  Any of the family members, outside of Rosey the Robot, would be fairly easy to dress up.  You just need some clothing in the right styles which may be found at your local discount retail store or resale clothing store.  If it isn’t the right color don’t worry, just get it in the lightest version you can and use some RIT Dye to dye it the color you need.

George Jetson – White, long sleeved, high collared shirt with the collar up and added black cord for trim work; Blue pants that are tighter fitting, and a dark green, wide belt should do the trick.  Then just a matter of getting your hair the right color and a standard guys style.

Jane Jetson – A bit harder to manage, but a tighter fitting, flared skirt dress dyed purple and add a collar of starched white triangle.  Then a pair of purple tights and a center part medium hair do in light red and you are good to go.

Judy Jetson – A red sleeveless, short crop shirt with the added red, starched triangle collar and a pair of snugish red pants and you are good to go.  The hardest part of this one is the white, high ponytail hair – afraid I am not sure how to manage that one, but if anyone has any good ideas please share

Elroy Jetson – White t-shirt, and some green overalls complete with green shoe covers and you are almost there.  Add in a red, starched full-circle collar and the baseball hat adorned with the antennae and you are good to go.  Standard boy cut hair in yellow is the last touch.

Inspector Gadget

From www.mycomicsandstuff.com

Here is another cartoon from my childhood that crosses over to the sci-fi realm, guess it isn’t too much of a wonder how I got into this stuff huh?  Since the setting of Inspector Gadget was modern day, at least for the 1908′s when it was created, the costumes are pretty easy to manage.

Inspector Gadget – A gray double breasted shorter length trench coat, if you can’t find double breasted then get single and replace all the buttons with a matched set to make it look double breasted.  You will also need a gray belt, and may need to add belt loops for it if the coat didn’t come with some.  A blue pair of pants, and some gray shoes.  Oh and don’t forget the dray hat, brown gloves and black fly-away hair.  Since you obviously can’t do all the gadgets you could pair it down to jazzing up the gloves with the Gadget Phone look and that should do the trick.

Penny – A basic T-shirt in red and you can add the white stripe or get a shit shirt and figure out dyeing it red in top/bottom stripes.  Then green pants and some red shoes, which may require dyeing white shoes or making shoe covers.  Then some basic blond pigtails and you are good to go.  If you could locate something that could be her watch or her computer book that would help the costume along to make it obvious you are in costume, especially if you had the computer book worked out.

That’s a wrap…

So ends another costume idea blog post.  I hope you enjoyed this way-back, flash-back to my youth as much as I did and if you get a chance to work out any of these costumes for your next dress-up event send me a picture and let me see how it turned out!

For many of us our Library is an untapped resource for getting our geek on.  Today I started small and borrowed my first DVD’s from the library.  So, for the price of nothing beyond the taxes I pay anyways, I brought home 4 movies that we can watch for free.  Today’s focus for my movies was Disney as I am a huge Disney animated geek.  We watched some older Goofy shorts that my kids giggled at heartily and The Great Mouse Detective (Mystery in the Mist Edition) which I hadn’t seen in ages and my daughter hadn’t seen at all but rather enjoyed.

Next I am planning to cruise through the online catalog and find a video game or two that look interesting and put them on hold.  One of the down sides is that many of the more popular games are usually on a wait list, but on the upside I can easily place them on hold from the comfort of my home and get a friendly email when my name eventually makes it to the top.  This will allow me to play a variety of games without the expense of buying them.  If I find I really like the game I can go pick up my own copy, otherwise I can just play it until my time is up, then return it all for free!!!

In addition, I know a number of libraries in my area that are also are supporting Manga and anime clubs, in addition to board game nights for the teens, kids and families.  What a great, free resources us geek families have in our local libraries!!!

A Brief History of the Safety Pin

I have been gone from my site for a while as my attention has turned to costuming and prepping for our upcoming convention.

But tonight I felt that I needed to put into pictures why I love the safety pin as part of my standard kit of sewing supplies.  I can’t imagine an easier way to install elastic then with this wonderful little invention.

According to IdeaFinder.com, the safety pin was invented in 1849 by inventor Walter Hunt.  He is said to have sold the idea for $400, which allowed him to pay back a debt to a friend, but ended up missing out on the boat load of money he could have made.  But thanks to him we now have a super handy device that works great to add another set of hands to the equation of elastic installation.

How to use Safety Pins to Install Elastic through a Casing

Tonight I was working on the sleeves of my daughter’s Princess Jasmine inspired costume.  This requires elastic bands on both sides of the sleeves.  Here is a pictorial step-by-step of my process for installing the elastic bands.  It isn’t anything terrible earth-shattering, but once you know how to do it the process is so much easier.

Step 1

Put the safety pin through the end of one side of the elastic band, and secure closed.

Step 2

Insert the elastic into the casing.   Push the safety pin in while pulling the material further away from the pin.

Step 3

Keep working the elastic until the lose end lines up with the casing entrance you started with.

Step 4

Pin the lose end into place with a safety pin so that it will not accidentally slip into the casing and cause problems.

Step 5

Here I have worked the elastic from one of the casing to the other using the safety pin I attached in step 1 to give me the grip on the elastic I needed.  Once I have it to the other end I pin it in place to the fabric.  Now I know both ends will stay put until I can sew them into place as per the sewing instructions.

 Questions/Comments

I hope that this mini-tutorial has been informative and helps you with the struggle of getting elastic into and through a casing when sewing clothes or costuming.

If there are any other step-by-steps you would like to see please let me know.

I discovered Sheri S. Tepper as an author when I was in middle school.  My mom had taken me to the Downtown Portland Public Library and in the Young Adult section I found the book Jinian Star-Eye sitting on the display racks.  The cover intrigued me, and the Title and short synopsis cinched it and I took the book home.  I tore through it like crazy and completely fell in love with the character of Jinian as well as the world in which she lived.  I ended up checking out the book several more times during the years in Middle and High School.  Honestly I can’t even remember how many times I read the book before I discovered that it was really book 9 of a 9 book series.

So begin my love affair with all of Sheri S. Tepper’s Sci-Fi/Fantasy books.  I have virtually all of them, though some of her first works are harder to come by these days.  Due to my school schedule over the last couple years, as well as the rest of life, I have fallen behind on reading her latest works though I am starting to get caught up.  Right now I am reading The Fresco, which is proving to be yet another excellent book.  While I love her style of writing and how she tracks the story from several different angles by jumping between characters from chapter to chapter eventually bringing them together as the story unfolds, I also love her underlying themes.  Her themes resonate strongly with me especially those about how we treat each other, what it means to be a creature that is truly part of our world, and even what it means to be human as well as how we treat the planet we call home.  I find that her works really cause me to rethink how we as humans are managing, or not, ourselves and what could be done to fix many of the social ills we suffer from.

If you are looking for a new author to try out in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre then I highly recommend Sheri S. Tepper, My favorites are Beauty and Gate to Women’s Country, though The Fresco and The Family Tree might be an easier jump in for some people as they take place on Earth.  I know I am one of her biggest fans, I named my daughter Jinian after the book that started it all for me.