Frostbeard Studio Candles: Coziness You Can Smell

My friends at work make fun of me all the time for my new-found love of candles. Well, maybe not that I just love candles, but my weird rules that I make up for using them. I like different candles for different seasons (usually just centered around Fall and Winter), but I also don’t put a candle away until it’s done–I must burn it all the way through! I had underestimated my winter candle’s length of burning time and I was two weeks late for my Spring candle I’ve been so excited about (weird, I know). I recently got into candles in the past year. I started out with normal candles you’d find at Marshall’s or whatnot, but I found a wealth of more fun-themed candles online. These include nerdy candles (duh, have you ever met me?!). I’ve found a particularly excellent collection over at Frostbeard Studio.

Mar312017

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Since Fantastic Beasts was released just a few days ago (Blu-Ray, DVD, etc.) and many people we know still haven’t seen it, we wanted to say a few words to help you decide whether you want to see it or not. The general idea is that, if you’re a Potter fan… like a TRUE fan of the HP Universe, you will enjoy this movie. You might not enjoy it as much as you wanted to, but it definitely adds to the cinematic universe that they created. It doesn’t (really) work against it in any significant way, so it does feel like Rogue One’s relationship to Star Wars, in that way.

Now, if you haven’t ever watched any of Screen Junkies Honest Trailers, and you appreciate some satirical comedy, we highly recommend you check out their YouTube page. They had the same idea about Fantastic Beasts this week, so they just released their own Honest Trailer, and while their job is to be hard on movies, we do think that this film deserves some credit. It does, after all, have a 73% on the Tomato Meter with an 81% from audience, as well as a 7.5/10 on IMDB.

Nov032016

Fit Cosplays (For the First Time) as Rey!

I’ve known what my Halloween costume was going to be for almost a year. As soon as I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I knew I wanted to be Rey. She was such a cool figure in the Star Wars universe, a different female role than in any previous Star Wars film–she inspired me! Beside that, I had a lot of people tell me that they were really reminded of me when they saw Rey in the new Star Wars. I knew I had to do it!

When does a costume become a cosplay? Perhaps when you create a costume based on a “real” character and put real effort into simulating that character. Then you really play that character (see what I did there). I’m not quite sure. But I do know for a fact that I have never put this much effort into a costume before! I’ve never really wanted to be a certain character very badly, but I was so drawn to Rey!

Jun142016

Warcraft: Movie Review

A Blizzard swept across the dry landscape of gaming in 1994 as a group of orcs from the land of Draenor entered the realm of Azeroth and went to war against the humans living there. While many won’t remember the plot of one of the first real-time strategy games (before the boom of the RTS launches in the 90s), it would be hard to forget the iconic birds-eye view. Nostalgic flashes come and go throughout the 123 minute, $160 million dollar pre-Summer blockbuster to capture the attention of fans to the series, but how does the movie fare without its relationship to the video game it’s based off of? Let’s discuss it all.

Image source

May042016

May the Fourth Be With You (Star Wars Day)!

May the Fourth Be With You! Or, more commonly known as Star Wars Day! One of the best days of the year where I get to celebrate one of my favorite universes. Star Wars is a huge part of me. I grew up with it. Almost like a figure instead of just a movie, it became an entire world! The imagination, adventure, and virtues from the movies (and beyond) definitely left an impression me that I carry today. I feel that it’s made me unique in a way that I like.

One of the best days ever–great moment with Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and I

Mar172016

Whole-Wheat Lemon “Cakes”

We’ve got another recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, A Feast of Ice and Fire. My last two (one from the Wall and one from the South) were great hits and this one brings us right to King’s Landing with a spin on Sansa’s favorite lemon cakes. However, my spin, as it usually is makes these a bit healthier. I used mostly whole-wheat flour to add some fiber and make it better for our blood sugar spiking as well as using a little less sugar and using mostly honey. These are delectable little bites of yum without all the guilt that normal lemon cakes would carry.

Jan062016

Why George Lucas Should Be Proud

Mr. Lucas gets a lot of hate ever since he created the subpar Star Wars prequels (in my humble opinion). Sometimes, I feel the same hatred when I see some of the writing and lack of direction and think about how they kind of tainted the backstory of the originals. Yet…we must remember that he is the Master of this universe, despite how some of us think he spun some of it into garbage. George Lucas has seen so much scorn it is said that he avoids the internet where trolls await. He has also turned somewhat bitter in the process, but can you blame him? However, at the end of the day, George Lucas should be proud.

Dec172015

Top Ten Manga of 2015

In 2014, we saw the end of Kenichi (12 years) and Claymore (13 years) with 2015 having a colossal ending with Naruto (15 years). With One Punch Man and Attack on Titan finally grabbing some attention in the United States after six years, the scene is certainly changing. With some very questionable anime adaptations of great manga, such as Toriko, I’ve become even more excited for my manga releases and less for most anime.

Dragon Ball Z is making a resurgence with some major motion picture releases, but nothing sets the scene like some good old-fashioned, black and white panels full of unique artwork and storylines. Here are the ten manga that I am currently enjoying the most, in no particular order. Of course, I realize Hunter x Hunter isn’t on my list. I’ve also neglected any one-shots released in 2015, or adaptations of series such as Star Wars, as well as spin-offs because Fairy Tail has too many to be counted right now.

Jul012015

The Greatest Games of All Time: The Master List

Dungeon Master. Game Master. Master Chief. Master Hand. Master Sword.

What is Link without the Master Sword? What is this group of games without the Master List?

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Jun182015

The #1 Greatest Video Game of All Time

This is it. The final entry in H&F’s Greatest Video Game of All Time series. This is big-time stuff. This is our ultimate FAVORITE game ever in the world. These games are important to us, tied to who we are, and in our hearts. We’ve finally arrived. If you missed the others on our countdown, please check them out: #25,#24,#23,#22,#21,#20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, #4, #3, and #2.

#1 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Kai – Morrowind – I struggled to decide which of my top 3 is my most favorite game, but in the end it had to be Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. No other piece of art has ever transported me to another world like Morrowind. The art, the lore, the music, and the quests all contribute to an amazing world that you can truly get lost in.

Like most Elder Scrolls games, you start out as a prisoner, this time exiled to the island of Vvardenfell, home of the dark elves or Dunmer. You wake up as your ship reaches the harbor, with vague memories of a strange dream. With only a vague instruction to meet with an Imperial agent named Caius, you’re dropped off into this strange world, with the freedom to take part in any of the hundreds of stories taking place throughout the land.

I’m not sure what it is that makes Morrowind so much better than the other Elder Scrolls games. Perhaps it’s the lack of guidance and hand-holding, causing the player to feel like they’re exploring a wide-open world, rather than the set of fairly linear narratives in Skyrim and Oblivion. There are great secrets hidden within the world and the game allows the player to find them rather than leading the player to them. Also a tremendous amount of work and care was put into the art and lore to really make the world feel real and it really shows. The graphics don’t quite hold up anymore (at the time they were amazing), but the game is still really engrossing.

If you want to see the best of what gaming has to offer, you have to try Morrowind.