Being Geek Chic is a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds and people who enjoy the musings of a complete dork. Join us as we dream of driving the TARDIS, cuddle with our eBooks and test out an iPad sleeve. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi and a team of brilliant lady nerds. Meet the team.
Winter is here. The crows have three eyes. Arya’s wandering and apparently not all that good at sword fighting after all. Meanwhile in the real world, I’m working on some scary stuff. Put your heart out there and see if the world coddles or stomps it kind of stuff. And for some reason, this quote from Game of Thrones seems to capture that feeling best.
“Fear cuts deeper than swords.”
I’m not taking down King’s Landing anytime soon, but fear… that’s a dangerous thing. It warps the mind and changes intention. It makes people foolish and steals their confidence. Sure a sword can kill you physically, but fear will kill your art.
So I made this quote into into a poster to remind myself that fear is the real enemy. And I must be brave. Free link to download after the jump.
It was a big TV weekend at our house. Doctor Who and Game of Thrones are back. This calls for something delicious. Resident food expert Emma Carew Grovum whipped up the perfect treat inspired by the land of direwolves and frozen zombies. These Coconut Cake Snowballs may not scare away a White Walker, but they are delicious.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Cake:
1 white or yellow cake recipe (you can use a box, I used this recipe)
Vanilla frosting:
Instructions after the jump:
“Stop being a cartographer and become an explorer.” - Ray on GIRLS.
My head is all afloat with Doctor Who wibbly-wobbly, but last night’s GIRLS knocked me back into focus today because I realized that my favorite thing about GIRLS is the boys. And it needed to be said.
There is something quite wrong with that from a feminist perspective, but it’s a fact I’ve lived over and over that our most meaningful mentors and teachers don’t always have the same parts as we do. In GIRLS, these dudes are a necessary presence serving as storytelling devices to teach lessons to our protagonist 20-somethings on their listless journeys through love and sex and work and apartments. But while they teach, they are also acutely self-aware. Whenever they’re on screen it’s like a quick burst of air after suffocating on a balloon: Oh yes, there are a few people on this show that have a bit of self-awareness.
And while the cartographer line didn’t get a mention in most of the reviews I’ve read today, I’m walking around with it on repeat in my brainpod. Like some kind of karmic TV intervention I decided to revisit Doctor Who Series 6, Episode 10: Closing Time, in the same weekend as this GIRLS episode and it’s got me hooked on a new way of thinking…
I have a new favorite color combination. Mint and bronze. Mint and silver. Mint and gold.
Or to put it another way: mint and metallic, basically. It’s lovely combo and it’s taking my wardrobe by storm. For work, for play, it’s a hit with my brownie colored hair.
In addition, I’m quite a bit fan of my new bone necklace. At first, I was a little disappointed because the bones were much smaller than I thought they would be, but I’m OK with it now. I’ve decided that they kind of look like teeth, which is an interesting twist, because now they make me think of direwolf teeth.
This fact, of course, makes me realize that Game of Thrones needs to come back stat. Of course, HBO did me the favor of bringing back GIRLS, which means I’m temporarily distracted from the utter lack of Who, Sherlock and Thrones in my life, but you know.
Here’s the duds in the pics:
Could someone please point me to another good or service that we as consumers buy at the PRICE WE WANT, in the DELIVERY FORMAT WE PREFER, for our CONSUMPTION WHENEVER WE PLEASE?
This is essentially what we are asking HBO for with the new #takemymoneyhbo movement.
When it comes to the web, there are two things that really get under my skin: first, people who believe it’s OK to pirate content and second, people who believe that all content should be free and/or ridiculously cheap. The standard excuse: I don’t want to wait to see Game of Thrones Season 2!” isn’t good enough. Imagine if I said to a police officer: “I don’t want to wait to have enough money to buy this Chanel handbag, so I’m just going to take it.”
Stealing is stealing. Just because something exists doesn’t mean you have a right to it.
The HBO Go debate is now rocketing through the web thanks to #takemymoneyhbo and the myriad blog posts that have come out of it. I’ll proudly say that I fall solidly on the unpopular opinion side of this debate.
If HBO told you, dear internet masses, that HBO GO could be delivered to you for a monthly fee of $44.95 a month, would you pay it?
They won’t say this, because in fact you can get HBO GO with your cable subscription for roughly $75 a month. And here’s why: HBO is subsidized by the cable companies. The marketing, delivery, technical installation and support, etc. are on the books of the cable companies. They pay those bills. As a result, HBO can focus on what they do best: creating stellar content.
I’m a cable subscriber and I pay $60 a month for the standard channels. I then pay an additional $15.99 for HBO, which I watch 5 times per week. That’s a grand total of $75.99 per month (plus tax) divided by 27 episodes of my favorite shows (5 on HBO, one on HGTV, one on PBS) for a grand total of $2.81 per episode per month. (I won’t even factor in that my boyfriend watches all these shows with me PLUS several History Channel programs, so it effectively cuts our costs in half.) And you know what? I am happy to pay this premium because I know that these programs cost a ton to make. Why do I hand over my hard-earned money for my cable subscription each month? First, because I think it’s entirely fair that a person who is PAYING GOOD MONEY to watch something first should be able to watch it before people who don’t want to pay for it. Second, I can’t help but notice the similarities between the models many of you suggest and the destruction of the newspaper industry. For the sake of transparency, I started my career as a journalist.
The news industry has been destroyed by the proliferation of “free content” on the web. Remember that idea about subsidizing content? Before newspapers went to the web, advertising and classifieds essentially subsidized the business of making news content. Large publishing houses owned newspapers across the country and split the pot to support the content.
Then, the Internet demanded that the model change. Except, as it turns out, the model can’t be sustained by the current strategies utilized on the web. If you think the New York Times has the answer because of their paywall, you’re wrong there too, because sites like the Huffington Post (which is subsidized by advertising) can now win a Pulitzer for aggregating that content and offering it up for free.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the web. I WANT it to be easy and affordable to consume what I need. But we as a society have to understand that making GREAT SHIT COSTS a SHIT TON.
For years, people have said: “Oh, if I COULD pay for quality content online, I WOULD.” Take My Money HBO proves that this sentiment lives on. Unfortunately, it turns out that majority of you would pay on average just $12 a month for that content. The price you are willing to pay doesn’t actually add up.
Think about it: The first season of Game of Thrones has a production budget of $60 million. If you are all willing to pay $12 a month, it takes 5 million people just to pay for Game of Thrones. Never mind ALL the other programming, marketing, technical support, etc. that HBO would have to cough up to deliver it to your laptop. And I won’t even begin to address the fact that HBO currently airs no advertising. HBO would be losing the TV revenues generated by being tied to the cable companies.
I’m convinced that the American public would like to turn content production into the dollar menu at McDonald’s. We are addicted to cheap, cheap, cheap in this country and it’s simply unsustainable.
I’ll leave you with this: if you want HBO GO, you can get it. NO ONE is stopping you. It will probably cost $60-$80 a month, depending on where you live. But guess what? It’s worth it.
I have a thing for the Stark family. They’ve got good morals and have to endure some serious hardship in the Game of Thrones series. Plus, Jon Snow is a great addition, especially in the HBO Series. (Ahem, Kit Harrington, swoon.)
Of course, as usually happens when geek culture becomes pop culture, merch starts to pop up online. An unbelievable 3.9 million tuned into the premiere of the 2nd season on HBO last Sunday. That’s more than tune into most of the major network shows! If you need something to wear for the rest of the season, here are some of my favorites.
The Stark Family Collection from The Fencing and Archery Company:
The Stark family children names make a great list. The hoodie at top left is also available as a tank or tee in both men’s and women’s fits. Prices start at $25.
Do you support the king of the north? If you love the politics in Game of Thrones than Rachael Thomas’s design from Red Bubble is the perfect choice.
Remember The Hunger Games shirts I shared with you before the premiere of the movie? Those are also Rachael’s designs.
It comes in a wide range of styles for men and women, including hoodies and long sleeve tees. The designs start at $24.54 each.
Baratheon Crest by AnnaCas on Society 6:
Do you love to root for the bad guy? Are you on Team Joffrey? Well, personally, I can’t understand why you would side with such a wiener, but maybe deep down you still appreciate the Baratheon family. In that case, I present you with this cool Baratheon Crest by AnnaCas on Society 6.
If you aren’t family with Society 6, you can buy tees for both men and women for just $18.
