Convos With My 2-year Old is one of my favorite YouTube series. This episode is the beginning of season 3 but I highly recommend that everyone go back to the beginning and watch the entire series. I promise it won't take very long. And you will definitely thank me for it.
Video Cameras!
As you may have noticed, I've started doing video posts. I know they are not super awesome yet but I am working on it. One of the things I'd like to do is get a better video camera. I'm not sure exactly which camera I am using currently. I think it's a really old Canon Powershot or something. Well, OK, I know it's old. (It is at least 5 or 6 years old, probably more.) I'm just not sure if it's a Powershot. So I've been looking at getting a camcorder. The only camcorder I have ever owned is a Flip. I still have my Flip but it takes a lot of time to convert the files to a format that YouTube will accept. I've been looking at the Samsung F90BN. It is well within my price range and it has received some fairly decent reviews. Hopefully, this will make the quality of my videos a bit better.
I'm currently looking at camcorders under $200. Let me know if you have any suggestions or reviews. I'd love to hear some more opinions on what I should buy.
Why I think the new Godzilla movie is BS
OK?
1. Cutting away from the fights
So, this is a Godzilla movie, right? I get that the movie can't be 100% Godzilla. You need some characters that can actually speak. However, except for the final battle, none of the other battles are shown on-screen. Godzilla starts fighting with one of the creatures (stupidly called MUTO) and the director just cuts away to one of the humans.
"Godzilla's gonna fight....Godzilla's gonna fight...." *a door slides shut and we cut to the Olsen sister that isn't a twin*
Annoying.
2. The Brian Cranston connection.
In the trailers, it looked like Brian Cranston, who is currently a hot commodity in Hollywood, would be the human star of the movie. Nope. He dies in the first act, before any of the monsters are actually shown. (Well, I think we might have seen a foot of the MUTO...that doesn't count.)
I get that his name is hot right now. There are people that went to see this movie for him. Won't they be disappointed when he dies a third of the way into the 2-hour film.
3. The "bad" monsters should have real names.
Godzilla gets a name. There's a Mothra cameo. Yet the two big bad monsters of the movie are both called MUTO, which stands for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. What? Give Ken Watanabe a use. Let him give those baddies some names.
4. They made Ken Watanabe useless.
His entire purpose in this movie was to stand around and watch other people do things. He is supposed to be a scientist. What scientist just stands by and lets everyone else do the work? Even the Japanese scientists in the old Godzilla movies were all "Screw this! I'm going to help Godzilla myself!"
5. Kick-Ass specialized in everything.
Brian Cranston's son, Kick-Ass, is an explosives specialist in the Navy. Yet he manages to get himself hitched onto an Army Special Force team, which gets him from Hawaii to California. Then he talks his way onto a Navy squad that is setting up an explosive to kill the MUTO. Then he parachutes into the scene of the Godzilla battle to disarm the explosive the MUTO stole from them.
Something tells me that his ass would still be stuck on Hawaii. The military isn't in the business of giving people, even other military people, rides home.
This movie was bullshit. For serious. I won't say it wasn't any fun. The end of that big battle was awesome. But I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that one awesome scene from one fight scene is going to redeem the entire film. If even half of these issues were fixed, I wouldn't be so hard on the movie. If they made the Godzilla movie about Godzilla instead of about The Other Olsen and Kick-Ass, I might have liked it more. As it stands, it is just plain bullshit.
Favorite Friday - May 23
I am trying to bring back the Favorite Friday feature. There are a LOT of YouTube channels that I follow and I would love to share them with you. Mental Floss is one of my favorites. Usually hosted by John Green, the channel does trivia lists about everything and anything. This week's list was 47 Charming Things About Children's Books (though most of the facts were about the authors and not the books themselves). Enjoy!
Bulu Box - May
Before I get into the review, I'd like to make a bit of an announcement. From this point forward, subscription box reviews will be done in video form instead of written posts. At least for now. If I decide that the videos aren't working, I'll go back to writing the reviews. That means that The Geek Within will have a YouTube channel. The Geek also has a new Facebook page. Like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Then you'll know you're getting the full Geek!
OK! Onto the review. Bulu box is a health, nutrition, and weight loss subscription box. You get 4 or 5 samples in each box. If you review your products on their website, you can get reward points that give you a discount on your next order.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the box. You can see the bright orange box on the Bulu box website. I'm not sure if every box is themed but it looks like this one is A Feel-Good Discovery.
One of the first things I pulled out was a small packet of Ridgecrest Herbals Migraine Relief. There are 6 homeopathic capsules in the packet. I do get migraines occasionally but I don't know that I get then often enough to actually try this out. I forgot to look for an expiration date on the packet. I'll keep them on hand, just in case.
My daughter pulled out the Smarty Pants for Kids gummy vitamins. She absolutely loves gummy vitamins. One of the things I didn't like, though, was that the child takes 4 gummies each day. That is an awful lot. Every other brand we have tried was 2 per day. My daughter was the first to try it. She didn't like it very much. Neither did I. The gummy tastes fine at first, but it has a terrible aftertaste. I couldn't find a flavor listed on the packet so I don't know if we just got a bad flavor or if they all taste like that. Either way, it's a no-go in our house.
There is also an adult vitamin in the box. This one is Vivioptal Women. There are 5 capsules in this pack and you take 1 per day. I haven't tried it yet. Mostly because it kinda scares me. The capsules are blood red and it says "German Formula" across the front of the box. I don't mind taking chances but I don't want to make myself sick either.
A Skratch Labs Hydration Stick came out next. This is a lemon-lime flavored powder that, when mixed with water, is supposed to replace electrolytes after exercising. Sort of like Gatoraid. My daughter had just finished two dance classes so she was ready to try the stuff. It was yet another product that she didn't like. I took of a sip after she made the Yuck face. It tasted a bit like flat Sprite. Maybe we should have added the powder to carbonated water.
The AdvanceMint Happy Hour isn't something I will ever use. It is a hangover prevention supplement. I don't drink alcohol, which is its own hangover prevention. Maybe I can give it to someone else to try.
Another little packet contained NutraWise Youtheory Collagen Advanced Formula. This is supposed to promote active joints, hydrate skin, and reduce wrinkles. It is yet another product that intrigues and scares me at the same time. I should get up the nerve to try it. I don't think this one will kill me.
Finally, BioXGenic Nature's Desire. It is a female "mood enhancer." Supposedly, it increases the female libido using natural ingredients. Hm. I'm sure my husband would like me to take it. But...ehhh....I don't know. Maybe.
I didn't have any expectations when I ordered the 3-month subscription to this box. Based on this one box, I am not impressed. Of the 7 samples we received, 2 of them tasted awful, 2 of them I am unlikely to ever use, and the other 3 scare me slightly. I hope that the products in next month's box are a little more normal.
A lot of pain
I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything in awhile. Unfortunately, due to some tooth issues, I ended up having a last minute root canal performed yesterday. As a result, I am in a lot of pain. It feels like my teeth are going to explode out of my mouth at any minute. Please forgive me for burying my head in the sand until this all blows over. On the plus side, when I am finally well enough to put words together, I have a bunch of new subscription boxes to review. Bulu Box and Nerd Crate are the two latest ones, plus this month's Loot Crate showed up yesterday.
C'mon, mouth, let me get back to work!
MaskerAide facial mask
A couple of days ago, I told you that my Beauty Box 5 arrived on Monday. I also said that I really wanted to try the facial mask that was in said box. After spending my evening at a 6th grade band and chorus concert, I decided to relax a bit and try the mask.
The mask I received was the Detox Diva. It is supposed to help minimize pores, absorb impurities, and exfoliate. Hm. OK. The instructions told me to cleanse and tone my face. I don't use a toner so I just washed my face as I usually do with Lush's Ultrabland, which is already a moisturizing cleanser. After I washed, I opened the packaged, unfolded the mask, and slapped it on my face. I adjusted all the parts to make sure my face was mostly covered and I even rubbed the serum into my neck, since the instructions said to do that too. Then I was supposed to relax for 10 - 20 minutes.
Even though I know this picture makes it look like I have a thousand chins, here I am relaxing on my couch:
After about 15 minutes, I was really bored so I removed the mask. This is really where it gets kinda weird. The instructions say, after discarding the used mask, to pat the moisture into the skin. I tried that. It didn't seem to work very well. So I took option two: give a quick rinse and pat dry. That was much better.
Let me start off by saying that I am used to slop on/wash off masks, not paper masks, for facials. So this felt very weird to me. However, once you get past the fact that you look like a mummy, it isn't too bad. The mask is very moisturizing. You could feel the serum stuff seeping into your skin. I don't know how exfoliating it was though. While my skin felt a lot softer afterwards, I can't say that it ever felt like it was removing dead skin or gunk. Despite that, I did really like the mask. I think I'd like to try some of the other masks, especially the All Nighter. That one claims to de-puff your eyes. My eyes could really use that!
What day is it?
I am having a very difficult time remembering what day it is this week. For some reason, I keep thinking it is Tuesday when it is, in fact, Wednesday. Yesterday, I kept thinking it was Wednesday. Maybe tomorrow I'll realize that it is Thursday and I'll stop screwing up my schedule. Since it is Wednesday, tonight is the first of my daughter's band and chorus concerts. This is when the two 6th grade bands, the jazz band, and the 6th grade chorus play. Next Wednesday is actually the 7th and 8th grade concert but since the jazz band is also playing that night, she will need to attend that concert as well.
I really hope June will be better for my schedule. Every day seems to be booked from now until the end of the month. Craziness!
Beauty Box 5 - May
My Beauty Box 5 box showed up in my mailbox yesterday! I always love when a subscription box shows up. I think I might have an addiction now. That would explain why I am always looking for new ones to subscribe to.
OK. OK. Let's take a look at this month's box. The theme for May is Fresh and Focused. It's all about getting yourself back in the zone instead of daydreaming about the beach. What did they give me to accomplish that?
The first thing I pulled out was a perfume sample. It is Hello by Harvey Prince. It is a very floral scent with a bit of a citrus undertone. Very pretty. I don't usually wear a lot of perfume but I might give this a try.
Next up is the Ban Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths. The package looks like they are regular wipes. However, it sounds like there is some sort of cooling effect from them. Like, if it is super hot out and you feel gross, wipe yourself down with these and you'll not only feel cleaner, you'll also feel cooler? I'm not sure really. I'll have to figure out a way to try them out.
The next item out of the box was the H20 Plus Aqualibrium Marine Cleansing Gel. My daughter recently got a Clarisonic Mia. It looks like this cleansing gel has sea salt in it to make it exfoliating, which would mean she couldn't use it with the Clarisonic without tearing up her face. I will definitely give this a try though to see how it works. I'm always looking for new cleansers that will clear the gunk out of my pores.
The Cattiva Presicione Eye Liner came out next. Mine came in black. I don't wear makeup on a day-to-day basis. But, much like the cleanser, I'm always on the lookout for eyeliner that doesn't smudge or make me look like a raccoon. I will have to give this a try too!
The final item is one I have been dying to try for awhile. It is a MaskerAid Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask. I love face masks. A lot. I have never had the chance to try out a sheet mask though. I'm always too nervous to spend the money to buy them. What if I hate it? Now I get to try it! Yay!
I am happy with this box. There are a lot of things that I never would have purchased for myself and there isn't anything I wouldn't use at least once. I will try to post some product reviews of the stuff I do try. Keep an eye out!
Kids React to Hello Kitty
It has been a hard couple of days. Instead of a post, I'm going to give you a Kids React video. Enjoy!