The Holiday Yule Log: Everything You [i.e., Tech-Oriented Geeks] Need to Enjoy Home, Hearth, and Family for the Holidays
Nothing brings the winter holiday season to life like a festive fire crackling in the hearth. It’s the perfect complement to stockings hung by the chimney with care, and the sound of Christmas carols echoing in the chilly air… but what about those who live in apartments, college dorms, or hot southern climates — the fireplaceless among us? Now they too can bask in the cozy glow of a seasonal blaze with this clever book-plus-DVD set. Any computer screen is transformed into the holiday hearth, while the 50 page book provides such read-aloud favorites as The Night Before Christmas and the O. Henry classic The Gift of the Magi. Four sing-along lyric sheets for popular Christmas carols, and a great fruitcake recipe, complete this fun gift package.
New York City-based company Dante Beatrix is the caretaker of the Maakun Forest, a land populated by a diverse group of animals in the idealistic-yet-scientifically-improbable style of The Swiss Family Robinson (with the addition of a few dinosaurs). This forest evidently borders on the ocean, as well, since one of the residents is a shark. Despite being a natural predator, Nigel the Shark appears to live harmoniously with all his fellow Maakunans and, as his biography reveals, he is quite the culturally refined creature:
Nigel has a taste for the finer things. He’s a connoisseur of all things floating in the ocean. He can talk for hours about the wonderful chewiness of a North Atlantic fisherman’s boot, or the foamy crunch of an Australian surfboard. Nigel is also a devoted fan of opera and considers himself to be quite an exceptional singer. Fortunately for the other animals in the forest, Nigel does most of his singing underwater.
Fans of web series Ask the Sharky, starring a friendly shark from the coast of California who answers viewer questions and sometimes breaks into song, will leap at the chance to snap up merchandise of near-twin Nigel. Nigel appears, so far, on Dante Beatrix’s fashionable little kid backpacks, big kid backpacks, and lunch boxes.
The Nigel Lunch Box has a sturdy woven nylon handle and is made from a heavy canvas material that ensures that this tote will be your lunchtime companion for many years. It’s easy to wipe the entire lunch box down after every use, too, thanks to the canvas’ waxy laminate coating and a durable plastic lining on the bag’s interior. An overall layer of thick padding insulates food while protecting your apple from getting bruised, and since Dante Beatrix products are PVC, phthalate, and lead free, your snackables will be completely safe from any contamination. Nigel’s image, simple and minimalistic as all Dante Beatrix designs, is appliquéd and embroidered to the front of the light-blue lunch box and, in a cute touch, the metal zipper pulls are shaped like little shark fins. On the back of the lunch box is a small zippered pocket that’s just the right size to hold lunch money or a note, and below it is a cloth tag that provides space to write the lunch box owner’s name. The tag also advises you to “Eat your vegetables!” Hmm… it seems that Nigel may have a preference for vegetarian sushi!
Curious to meet Nigel’s friends? The other Maakun Forest inhabitants, featured on little kid backpacks, big kid backpacks, kid’s t’s, lunch boxes, and wheelie bags, are: Percival the Dinosaur, Juju the Ladybug, Rory the Lion, Yuka the Bee, Fei-Fei the Panda, Esther the Bunny, Señor Gomez the Penguin, Dieter the Monkey, Anastasia the Pig, and Alister the Stegosaurus. Until December 7, you have the chance to name the newest character, a brontosaurus, on Dante Beatrix’s Facebook Page. The prize is a wheelie bag of your choice!
The Dante Beatrix holiday sale has started, so use code HOLIDAY15 for 15% off your purchase of a Nigel Lunch Box and more through December 11.
The “$100,000 Challenge for the Oceans” is the San Diego Oceans Foundation’s (SDOF) holiday fundraiser, initiated by major donor Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, Jr. Roddenberry is motivating his neighbors to support this local charity during this difficult economic climate with a donation matching system. By the end of the year, he is seeking 500 people to contribute $20 each, which he will match dollar for dollar, resulting in a $10,000 contribution. He is also challenging environmentally conscious companies to show their support by matching this $10,000 donation. With the commitment of nine corporations and 500 residents, the San Diego Oceans Foundation can succeed in reaching their $100,000 Challenge.
Son of Gene Roddenberry, who created the Star Trek television and film series, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, Jr. is a passionate advocate for the oceans. Roddenberry has even started his own Roddenberry Dive Team (roddenberrydiveteam.com) in an effort to share his appreciation of our oceans with others. “The Roddenberry Dive Team takes the optimism inspired by my father’s philosophy and brings it to a very real and actionable place,” says Roddenberry. Roddenberry Dive Team members explore the underwater universe and attend innovative educational events aimed at understanding ocean life. Roddenberry’s love of the oceans began in college, and his philanthropy extends beyond financial contributions. He also volunteers his time with the San Diego Oceans Foundation as an Ocean in Motion Marine Science Education and Snorkeling Program volunteer.
San Diego Oceans Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was founded in 1984 and has built a legacy of grassroots volunteer programs that increase the understanding of marine animals, protect ecosystems, and provide solutions to environmental challenges. Through their programs, they encourage community members of all ages and backgrounds to engage in meaningful, hands-on volunteer work and help spread their message of ocean stewardship. For more information on San Diego Oceans Foundation visit sdoceans.org.
The Save the Murlocs Foundation aims to preserve and protect these majestic creatures. Through numerous awareness and outreach programs, we work to outlaw Murloc cruelty, help rebuild villages, protest part harvesting, and find homes for poor orphaned baby Murlocs.
StarWarsShop’s Dark Side Days event is seducing shoppers with 25% off ALL in-stock merchandise for two days only — that’s just two days to get that $25 Force Action Lightsaber for under $20, that $60 Koto Commander Rex maquette for $45, or that $130 LEGO AT-AT for under $100! And that’s just for starters — remember, ALL in-stock merchandise is 25% off — there are NO exclusions — but you have to act FAST!
Discover the power of Dark Side Days at StarWarsShop Friday and Saturday for some of the best holiday deals you’ll find anywhere on Star Wars merchandise — you WILL be turned.
The fan-funded film is set shortly after the events of Serenity, when the Alliance’s power and standing in the ‘verse has been shaken by the announcement of what took place on Miranda. Browncoats: Redemption expands the lore of the ‘verse by following the crew of the ship Redemption, self-professed Browncoats who’ve “kept their noses clean” — until now.
Planned for a 2010 release, with its unveiling at next year’s DragonCon in Atlanta, the Browncoats: Redemption team hopes to not only fuel interest in the Firefly ‘verse but raise funds for charities. 100% of the film’s proceeds (after production costs) will be split between the charities Equality Now, Kids Need to Read, The Dyslexia Foundation, The Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center and Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. Early projections based on previous Firefly/Serenity related DVD sales have the filmmakers hoping to donate upwards of $80,000 to each charity (based on a $15 DVD price tag).
The team has been posting behind-the-scenes videos on their YouTube Channel, and now you can get a first look at the Redemption crew in the newly released Browncoats: Redemption teaser trailer.
Oceanography is given a playful spin with Message in a Bottle, a kit that will appeal to science geeks who still appreciate the art of sending and receiving handwritten letters on fancy stationary via snail mail.
The kit’s recycled glass bottle can be tracked by registering it at the official Message in a Bottle website. Mark your location on the enclosed laminated map with the included waterproof pen, then turn the map over and fill in the logbook with your bottle’s registered name and launch data. A greeting message, saying hello in several languages, is printed on this page along with an URL, so when someone discovers your bottle they can look it up at wheresmybottle.com and let you know where it washed to shore. The finder then adds their location to your map and updates the logbook before sending the bottle on its way again.
Part of the fun of sending a message in a bottle is personalizing the contents. A small memento representing your hometown makes your bottled message more meaningful to its recipients, as will something that reflects your personality and interests. Write your message in the form of a poem, paste a photobooth picture of yourself to the inside of the bottle or, if you’re a sci-fi fan, incorporate the Vulcan IDIC symbol to spread some universal peace. You’ll have a greater chance of a response if your bottle is easy to spot in the water, so decorate with lots of bright colours. Filling the bottle with neon pink and orange pom-pons, or shiny items that reflect the sun, is sure to attract attention. Once you’re done, pop the cork into the bottle, seal it with wax, and toss it into a current that will carry it out to sea.
While waiting for a reply, learn more about the conditions your bottle will be experiencing by reading the kit’s accompanying Message in a Bottle book. This 71-page pocket guide details the history of how people have used and studied water over the ages, shares real-life stories of message bottles, and offers a few other water experiments to try. Philip Richardson, a leading oceanographer from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, contributes explanations of currents, tides, and water-related weather in understandable scientific terms, and offers tips for a successful bottle launch. He also suggests ways to help raise environmental issues and conserve the world’s watery ecosystems. If the aliens of V are willing to travel across the universe to try to steal Earth’s water supply, then it’s surely a resource worth protecting.
If you prefer a little more paranormal in your science, then a close encounter with the My Crop Circle kit will really set off your PKE meter.
Create Your Own Natural Phenomenons
Plant It. Water It. Witness It.
My Crop Circle works much like a Chia Pet. You just moisten the dirt-free mat of “alien growing matter”, place it in the desktop growing tray, and evenly sprinkle the packet of grass seed over the surface. Wait a few days for the grass to sprout (while remembering to keep watering daily), then press one of the five included crop circle templates onto the growth. In addition to providing entertaining information on the history, science, and pop culture relevance of crop circles, the 64-page Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Crop Circles guide book has several photos that you can copy patterns from instead, or you can get creative and design your own extraterrestrial templates. Let the grass grow up around the template’s edges, then remove the stencil to reveal your very own miniature crop circle. “…You can be first in your office to cause a controversy, garner widespread curiosity, and freak out your colleagues just a little bit.”
We’re pleased to announce that Effinfunny and The Legend of Neil won the Streamingmedia.com’s Readers’ Choice Award for “Best Online Video Startup Company — Content.” To prove that we’re not lying check out the link here. Unfortunately we weren’t able to attend the event, but we’d like to thank streamingmedia.com and its readers, our web-Mom and Dad, our web-God and-(cue music) HEY DON’T PLAY US OFF OUR OWN BLOG! Well, thanks to all for making Effinfunny and The Legend of Neil a success!
