Kristina

5 Fandom Friday: My Very Nerdy Christmas Wishlist!

So my super awesome friend ( and co-SherlockeDCC host) Megan runs The Nerdy Girlie, and a number of weeks ago she started 5 Fandom Friday, where geek blogs all over would post weekly about a pre-determined topic and share their thoughts on said topic. It’s a great idea and I’ve been meaning to jump on board for awhile, but I’ve finally gotten my act together! Call it the holiday spirit ;)

So! This week is all about what nerdy Christmas gifts we want and here are my deepest geekiest desires this holiday season. My mom just bought a house, so Christmas this year is a bit different (we’re doing a family Secret Santa), so none of this is going to happen, but it’s still fun to “window shop” as it were.

1. Hey Buddy tote bag (RedBubble). God I love tote bags. My friend Cara McGee has created an entire line of dumb sharks and they’re just hilarious. I really do need to pick one of these up!

2. ALL THE DRAGON AGE BOOKS (Amazon)! I picked up the Dragon Age Inquisition art book and it’s GORGEOUS. It’s just phenomenal to look at the depth of detail BioWare put into the world building and careful considerations of every single character. I am a recent and hard-hit Dragon Age convert and I tend to submerse myself in new found obsessions. Bring it on.

3. TARDIS bathrobe (ThinkGeek). Because who DOESN’T want to travel all of time in space in a fuzzy bathrobe? Sadly it doesn’t come with a Peter Capaldi.

4. Wake Up Light Alarm Clock (Philips). I live in the basement where it is dark and cozy and no matter what I do, my phone’s multiple alarms just aren’t getting me out of bed. The bright light suddenly blinds me and I cocoon back up. I’ve heard a lot of great things about these natural light alarm clock that gradually lighten up the room to wake you up easier. I think it’d really work for me and for the other night owls out there.

5. Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR (Canon) Ah. The biggie. I could be even more ridiculous and ask for the $1500 model, but let’s be a LITTLE realistic, eh? My manual SLR was stole a few years ago when my flat was broken into and ever since I’ve been without a real camera. I’ve got a point and shoot, but it’s from my time in Japan (five years ago now) and the focus has been gone for about a year and it doesn’t really… work. I love the Canon line of cameras and my SLR was an EOS Rebel. Some form of DSLR has been on my wishlist for years. One day.

Well, that’s my list for today! You can read Megan’s here and learn all about 5 Fandom Friday! Join on in! What’s your nerdy Christmas list?

Review: The Librarians & King Arthur’s Crown & The Sword in the Stone

The two hour premiere of The Librarians was last night and I don’t know about you, but I had a grand old time. Having long been a fan of the films, my roommates in college and I would make sure never to miss them, I am more than delighted to jump back into this world ten years in the making. Yes, ten years! Gosh that makes me feel old.

The two part opener started off with The Librarians & the Crown of King Arthur where we are introduced to the new cast. Colonel Eve Baird, played by Rebecca Romijn, is recruited by The Library after she shows some skill at protecting Flynn Carsen as they simultaneously diffuse a bomb and an acient demon summoning box… thing. Anywho, she arrives at The Library and despite initially objecting to needing a guardian, Flynn finds her useful as they realize the other candidates for the role of the Librarian are being killed off by The Serpent Brotherhood (the big baddies in The Librarian films). So they know what they’ve got to do, they’ve got to rescue the last three alive.

So meet The Librarians.

Continue reading Review: The Librarians & King Arthur’s Crown & The Sword in the Stone

The Librarians Premiere TONIGHT!

You guys know I’ve been pretty gung-ho about The Librarians, what with the multiple articles and podcast and all. But tonight is finally the night it’s on our screens! So make sure you’re tuned in to TNT at 8/7c here in the USA.

Early reviews (be wary of spoilers) [1][2] are looking good and my fingers are crossed that audiences are going to fall in love with this show. You could say it’s dangerous to have such high hopes, and generally that’s true, but having seen a bit of the first episode at NYCC, I have no worries.

Continue reading The Librarians Premiere TONIGHT!

Literary Temporary Tattoos? Yes, please!

S logo_letter_square o a long time ago I backed a Kickstarter campaign for the awesome people at Litographs who were doing the crazy thing of printing an ENTIRE book onto a t-shirt. I thought it was amazing and fabulous and frankly it was a no-brainer to throw my support behind them. It’s been awhile since then and Litographs has boomed. They’re still doing the t-shirts, but have now added posters and tote bags to their store. I own a few things from them and I treasure them greatly, so when I got an email from the fine people at Litographs this afternoon, I was wondering what else they were going to make me spend money on.

Tattoos.

I audibly gasped.

Temporary literary based tattoos? Please take all my money.

Continue reading Literary Temporary Tattoos? Yes, please!

Sherlock Holmes Charity Ball in NYC!

One of the greatest joys of being part of The Baker Street Babes are the events that we put on. There’s two big ones, SherlockeDCC at SDCC of course, but more importantly, The Daintiest Thing Charity Ball, now in it’s third year. Every year we put on this ball to raise money for The Wounded Warrior Project during the illustrious Baker Street Irregulars Wekeend. Tickets are now on sale and go fast every year, so I wanted to give you all a heads up!

Tickets to the charity ball during BSI Weekend are now on sale. You can purchase them [HERE]. They are $45 and 100% of profits go to The Wounded Warrior Project. This year we are returning to The Players Club in Manhattan for an evening of frivolity, auctions, toasts, and shenanigans.

The Players Club

16 Gramercy Park South

8:00 pm, Thursday January 8th

The Ball will feature live music, a raffle, goodie bags, a credit card-only bar, a buffet, a quiz, a costume competition, and as ever, the live auction to benefit wounded veterans.

I hope to see a bunch of you there! Meanwhile, The BSB are still actively soliciting fanworks to auction. If you would like to be featured in the goodie bags, or donate arts or crafts for a great cause and some killer publicity for your work, please contact Lyndsay Faye at lyndsay@bakerstreetbabes.com. The cause could not be more important, and we’ve been lucky enough to raise $8,000 in the past two years for our wounded war heroes through the amazing Wounded Warrior Project, and that effort depends on your generosity and the generosity of folk who might hear about this drive from you!

New Trailer & Episode Synopses for The Librarians

December 7th is looming closer and my excitement is only growing. The first five episode synopses for The Librarians have been released, and it’s everything from King Arthur to dragons to saving Santa Claus!

Also, because I fail, I was only recently informed by the man himself, that my friend Jeremy Bernstein is writing for The Librarians! Least to say, when he let me know, I flipped out. There’s a twitter conversation to prove it. Good old @fajitas. His episode is the third in the series and if I’m not mistaken, this may be John Kim’s favorite.

So get excited because Bruce Campbell is playing Santa, there’s adventures abound, and it’s going to be great. So check out the new trailer above and the episode synopses below!

Continue reading New Trailer & Episode Synopses for The Librarians

My Brief Stint on Japanese TV

My work with The Baker Street Babes has afforded me a lot of amazing opportunities. I’ve been on red carpets at award shows, I’ve interviewed actors and authors, I’ve gotten special passes… tons of stuff. It’s insane and I’m always so very thankful and humbled by everything we’ve been able to do. A few weeks ago we at the BSB and some friends filmed a bit for Japanese television about their new Sherlock Holmes puppet show. Just found out it aired.

Continue reading My Brief Stint on Japanese TV

On My Inability To Stay Still

I am 27 and I have traveled to 29 countries. I’ve lived abroad in three. I’ve traveled by car, by bus, by rickety airplane, by ferry, and by foot. I’ve been places I loved and yearn for every day and places that I have no interest in going to again. Since I graduated college in 2009, I haven’t lived in a single place for more than a year.

It’s been a very exciting and fulfilling few years. I’ve seen so much and have had some of the most amazing experiences. But I’ve had to deal with a lot, and I’ve had a lot of setbacks. All in all, it’s been truly amazing and I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to see so much in a relatively short period of time, but it has also been exhausting. Picking up your life into suitcases and boxes and shipping them all over the world, finding a flat, getting a job. It wears away at you. But really, I wouldn’t trade it for the world because the pros so outweighed the cons at the end of the day.

Part of why I loved London so much was that I could run off to Europe for a weekend. I was my own travel agent, my own boss, and I was independent and curious. The US isn’t a great jumping off point for travel. It’s expensive to get anywhere by plane and takes about five thousand years if you want to drive.

Having lost my battle with trying to get a job in London, I came back to the United States telling myself it was time to settle down. I’m 27, that’s what I should do, right? I should be a proper adult. I needed to be grounded, to start a career, put down some roots finally. And the whole time I told myself this, a part of my heart ached, really ached, at the loss of being able to jump around the world.

Continue reading On My Inability To Stay Still

Rebranding Drama for Harvest Moon Series

By Kristina Manente

If you follow me on twitter, you’ll have noticed I’ve been tweeting a lot about Harvest Moon as of late. It’s a series of games that my sister and I have been addicted to for years, and it’s easy to see why. They’re farm simulations, and before you go BORING, let me tell you something, these games are like crack. Beautiful farm raised shining crack. You’re typically given a arm that you have to revive, as well as the town around it. Along the way you can get married, have kids, have the best farm ever. Let me tell you, there are few things more rewarding then having the best damn farm ever and making thousands and thousands of gold. Also it’s been going on for eighteen years. EIGHTEEN!

Trust me, it’s ridiculously fun. If you’re a simulation fan, be it The Sims, Halflife, etc, you will loooove these games. Chances are if you’re reading this I’m preaching to the choir anyways.

So like any addict, I was looking for my next hit and was seeing what the newest Harvest Moon title as going to be… and then I found… two? Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley and Story of Seasons. Now, two at once isn’t unheard of for the series, but they were just so… different looking. Lost Valley looked more like Minecraft than the anime-styled art the series is typical of while Story of Seasons followed the normal pattern as of late. So I did a bit of research [1][2] and oh boy I didn’t know what I was in for. There’s drama in the Harvest Moon world and the biggest part of it?

It’s not called Harvest Moon anymore! Nope. There is a rebranding fiasco happening, so allow me to explain so you’re not caught out buying the wrong game.

Continue reading Rebranding Drama for Harvest Moon Series

Episode 3: Meet the Cast of The Libarians

Following my article on what to expect from TNT’s The Librarians, I chat with the cast to get a look at each of their characters. Everyone was just so great and enthusiastic about the show, their characters, and the journey we’re all about to go on.

The Librarians is a television series based off The Librarian trilogy starring Noah Wyle as quite possible the smartest man int he world who is charged with rescuing and preserving ancient and mystical artifacts around the world. The television series picks up seven years after the final Librarian movie and presents us with Flynn Carsen, Noah Wyle’s character, that has gone a bit mad in his quest and solitude. And thus, he gets a team, whether he wants it or not.

I’ve got interviews with that team, aka John Kim, Lindy Booth, Christian Kane, and Rebecca Romijn. The new recruits chat about their characters, genre television, and what to expect in the first season of The Librarians.

So who are they? The Librarians are a group of genius and gifted misfits including a math and science prodigy with synesthesia played by Lindy Booth , a lumberjack art historian played by Christian Kane, John Kim as a rascally thief, and Rebecca Romijn as a counter-terrorism expert. The cast also includes John Larroquette as Jenkins, Mathew Frewer as the big baddie, and welcomes back Noah Wyle as lovable dork-in-chief, Flynn Carsen.

The Librarians premieres on TNT on December 7th.

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