How To Grow Your Geek: Parenting and More! » Shows

HTGYG Show #79: “Despicable Me” and some voicemails!

susiethegeek — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:54:15 +0000

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*SPOILER ALERT*

The kids and I present a review/summary of the movie “Despicable Me,” and encourage you all to go see it! It was a thoroughly enjoyable movie for kids and adults, and well worth a visit to the theater – which is saying a lot, considering our family usually waits for everything on Netflix!

Then, we have a few voicemails from Lizzie, Tim and Wyatt, and then I urge everyone to visit the Parsec Awards site to check our our newly posted list of finalists! These are some of the best offerings out there in speculative fiction podcasting!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek-at-gmail-dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309 and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: Parsec Finalists: Variant Frequencies and The Babylon Podcast

HTGYG Show #78: Summer of SciFi – Susie reviews the original Battlestar Galactica movie!

susiethegeek — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:30:17 +0000

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This week, I join the celebration of the Summer of SciFi at Slice of SciFi with my review of the 1978 original theatrical release of Battlestar Galactica. You can find my review of the movie over there, and listen to my casual commentary of the movie, the series, my comparison of it and Star Wars, and other general bits of me babbling here! I also remind you all to be looking for the finalists of the Parsec Awards to be announced here soon – as we are finishing up semifinalist judging right now!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Photos from the Battlestar Wiki

Promos: Slice of SciFi and The Dragon Page: Cover to Cover

HTGYG Show #77: Voicemails – Recycling and Gaming

susiethegeek — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:39:19 +0000

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Happy Independence Day to the U.S.! I hope folks had a great holiday weekend! We have a number of great voicemails from Tim, highlighting Darcy’s awesome reviews here on the blog, and reinforcing my discussion on recycling and reusing stuff! Then Lizzie calls in to tell us about her babysitting gig and how the parents are cool Brits who let their kids watch old Dr. Who! Then Tim gets me going again on role-playing online, so I gush about DDO again. Finally, I pipe up about our love of Steam for downloading PC games, and Wyatt calls in about GameStop for console games. I hope you guys love the mailbag stuff! I’ll be back next week with another topic after my week at my folks’ home down on the farm.

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Jesus Geeks (Now Twisted Geeks!)and What The Cast

HTGYG Show #76: What can we do about the Gulf Oil Spill?

susiethegeek — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:35:28 +0000

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This episode, I try to tackle the complicated subject of how to talk to our kids about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Doug from Alaska calls in at the beginning – I thought his voicemail spoke for itself. This subject is pretty hard, so I mostly discuss what we can do to help our kids learn how not to make the same mistakes in the future. Please let me know your comments and suggestions!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: Dragon Page Cover-to-Cover and The Chronic Rift

HTGYG Show #75: Wyatt tackles new games, Xbox Live, and what game franchises need to take a flying leap!

susiethegeek — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:18:09 +0000

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Due to a busy week at our house, and good timing from him with a couple of great long voicemails, I’m going to let Wyatt have a special long version of his Xbox Live and gaming reviews on the show, this week. He discusses a lot of new games and releases, gives his opinions on some great Vietnam-era gameplay, and then gives a great rant on which game franchises need to take a break or just die. Feel free to share your opinions on this – you may love these games and hate others! Please send Wyatt some feedback, and look him up on Xbox Live – his gamertag is Astrozombie1222 – see the pics below! Then we have a voicemail from Doug in Alaska about a great indie game!

Next week, I am going to tackle how to discuss the BP oil spill in the Gulf with your kids, and what things that we all can do to help a little bit. Send me your recommendations, advice or questions please, because this isn’t an easy subject to tackle!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek – at-gmail -dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309 and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Geek Spin and The Signal

HTGYG Show #74: Soapy Goodness!

susiethegeek — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:23:32 +0000

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In this episode, we tell you our soap-making adventure, inspired by Geeky Clean, and recommend this as a great easy craft! Here are some pictures of our starting kit and our lovely results! The kids had a blast, and can’t wait to do it again!

Next, we have a voicemail from Mark with the Tickle Me Plant Company, presenting his great product for kids and plant lovers of all ages. I am familiar with these plants, and think that they are very cool and interesting, especially for kids! Then, Doug from Alaska calls in to tell us what he thinks kids are good for, and I agree!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: Dragon Page Cover to Cover and Podculture

HTGYG Show #72: What Are Kids Good For, Anyway?

susiethegeek — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:58:54 +0000

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So, what are kids good for, anyway? This week, I attempt to answer that question in snarky, serious, and funny ways. It is getting a little hectic around here with the end of the school year, so I am both venting a little and reminding us all that kids are really great. Gary helps with several voicemails adding what he thinks as well. Then Wyatt has a little rant of his own, discussing the less-than-good quality of most little kid games and movie-tie-in games.

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Parsec Awards and What The Cast?

HTGYG Show #70: Nova, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and The Pluto Files

susiethegeek — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:24:52 +0000

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In this episode, I review the classic PBS series “Nova,” and discuss some of my favorite episodes, which leads me to talk about GalaxyZoo, the Astronomy Cast, the 365 Days of Astronomy and Pluto. Which then leads me to discuss the book “The Pluto Files” by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and the Nova episode based on it. Also, you can follow Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Pamela Gay and Mike Brown on Twitter!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Parsec Awards and Podculture

HTGYG Show#67: Cheap Vacation Ideas -Small Museums and IKEA?!?

susiethegeek — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:36:14 +0000

In thinking about educational activities for you and the kids this spring, I present a couple of unusual options. The first, the Tellus Museum, is a small museum with a lot of fun stuff to offer for kids. The second is the IKEA store in Atlanta. Both places were interesting, educational, and best of all – FUN!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: Technorama and Slice of SciFi

HTGYG Show #65: Percy Jackson, Ear Piercing and Old-School Games – Voicemail!

susiethegeek — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:59:24 +0000

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This week, we catch up on all of your voicemail comments! We have a comment on the Percy Jackson books and movie, a new podcaster friend, a question about ear-piercing for Gary’s daughter, and Wyatt goes old-school while he can’t get on XBox Live!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Signal Podcast

HTGYG Show #64: Part 2 of “The Lightening Thief” – the Movie Review (Spoilers!)

susiethegeek — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:05:44 +0000

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Spoiler Alert!

This episode, we focus first on the movie of the first book in the Percy Jackson series,Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief, by Rick Riordan. Amanda helps me review the movie just released, and we go over the similarities and differences from the book version. Then Gary calls in with a great overall review of the movie’s watchability and general quality as a movie itself. Thanks Gary! We think that this movie is definitely watchable for kids, and the books are a must-get!

Don’t forget – Feb. 27 is The BOOM EFFECT Auction! For details visit the website here! Come with your heart and wallet open!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Boom Effect Auction and The Chronic Rift

HTGYG Snoring Promo! Brand New!

susiethegeek — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:12:27 +0000

Hi guys!

I was up last night, having trouble sleeping, and was inspired to make a new promo. You’ll hear why if you listen! If you are a podcaster, please consider playing this, and even if you aren’t, share it with your friends!

Thanks,

Susie and the kids

Check us out at How to Grow Your Geek!

Music by Jonathan Coulton

HTGYG Show #63: Part 1 of “The Lightening Thief” – the Book Review (Spoilers!)

susiethegeek — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:25:09 +0000

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Spoiler Alert!

This episode, we focus first on the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Lightening Thief, by Rick Riordan. Amanda helps me review the book in preparation for us seeing the movie just released, and we even tackle the inevitable comparison to Harry Potter.

Then Wyatt calls in to tell us about the Alien vs. Predator demo, which is suitable for teens. And finally Kevin reviews the original Halo game, as he is now catching up with the series very slowly. I did edit this a little, and you can hear some of Kevin uncut in an upcoming new promo for HTGYG!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Boom Effect Auction

HTGYG Show #62: Games Roundup – PS3(Uncharted 2), DS, and more!

susiethegeek — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:13:38 +0000

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It’s time for some fun! This episode, I discuss the cool tech gizmos we got for Christmas – our PS3 and Blu-Ray players, and how that is making our streaming content to the tvs easier! We also have a game review of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on the PS3, and my cousin Wyatt joins our team as a reviewer for all things console and XBox Live! Then I get Amanda to give us a review of her Nintendo DS Lite and the games Scribblenauts, Club Penguin, Cake Mania 3 and the Hardy Boys:Treasure on the Tracks . Please let us know other games you would like reviewed, so we can keep Wyatt busy on the team!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Casting Game

HTGYG Show #61: Helping Captain Oblivious and others!

susiethegeek — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:29:37 +0000

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This week I discuss some attention issues we are having with my son Kevin (we call him Captain Oblivious) at school, in the hopes it might help some of you. I’d love to hear your suggestions and comments! I also encourage you all to visit The Boom Effect auction to help Tee Morris and his daughter, and the Elf Princess Defense Fund to help SVAllie and her daughter with their custody battle bills! We are all family, and if we don’t stick together, who will?
Thanks!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Dollhouse Podcast and What the Cast?