Review

Jochem Myjer

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20151119_210006Showtime again 🙂 This time around it was Jochem Myjer performing his latest show at MartiniPlaza. Mom wanted to go to this so I agreed. I generally like Jochem Myjer, but sometimes it’s a bit too much for me. So I wasn’t sure what I’d think of a live show. Luckily, it turned out to be a great show. Too bad about the seats being so far away. The show sold out so fast that by the time I ordered these were one of the few still available.

The stage was empty except for this giant head. At first I was confused and thought it was former Queen Beatrix. But then the lights got better and I realised it was an oversized bust of Jochem himself. When the show started, he came out of the bust at the head.

The show itself was a mixture of his regular physical comedy but this time around interspersed with serious bits. The skeleton of the show was him reading from his hospital journal when he was being treated for a tumour in his back. From the journal he would side step to flashbacks of his youth and other bits where he could be more physical. He did imitations, sang songs, and ran around the stage.

All the while, the head was used as an almost living piece of decor. Visual effects were shown on the head and sometimes Jochem would disappear in and reappear from the head.

I really enjoyed the show. It was very nice to see him being serious occasionally, it allows a different peek into who he is.

Spectre

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20151111_123031Guess what day it was? Double feature movie day!

After work yesterday I had lunch at La Place and then took a stroll around the store before meeting up with Gert. We did some browsing in various stores.

We took a coffee and cake break at Hema before slowly heading towards the cinema. With one last stop at Zara where I found a gorgeous sweater. It wasn’t in the budget for this month. I hope it’ll still be there later.

The first movie we saw was Pan. It was a fun adventurous romp without substance. Hugh Jackman was fun, but I didn’t expect the Nirvana rendition.

20151111_143651We followed it with Spectre. Now this was good. I’m not well versed in the Bond universe. I’ve seen Bond movies, and I’ve seen the first two Daniel Craig ones. I’ve not seen Skyfall so I didn’t understand all of the bits that referred back to the events of that.

I don’t really have any judgement on if it was a good Bond story or all of that. I just know that from the moment it started with the whole Mexico City action sequence I was gonna have fun. It had all the things I expect from a Bond movie: action sequences, high speed car chase in expensive cars, many different countries, a pretty woman, and an interesting plot.

The only downside was that it got shown in the big theater and there weren’t many movie goers at that time of the evening. This results in a very, very cold room.

After Spectre was done, I had some time before my bus. We decided to warm up with a coffee at Subway. And sitting there, with the front door open, it was warmer than the movie theater…

Movie Music

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20151028_212437Yesterday was my Parent’s 44th anniversary. Yesterday was also the day Nienke and I had tickets to see the North Netherlands Orchestra perform movie music. To be able to celebrate the occasion and still go out with Nienke, we decided to order in food. We went with spare ribs and to make it easier on the delivery guy, I had it delivered at my place. When it came, Nienke and I went over to my Parent’s place to eat together. Then after dinner, Nienke and I went back home to get our things and head for the train.

The show was beautiful. They started with a medley of music from Frozen and I love that movie so much. I could see each scene in my head when they played the music and it gave me chills. The various pieces were introduced by Eric Corton, a radio DJ. He would tell us a bit about the movie, the music, the composer.

20151028_212424After Frozen, and before the break, they played some classical pieces from Beethoven and Chopin that were used in movies.

Then after the break they focused on well known composers Hans Zimmer and John Williams. I generally like Zimmer and Williams, and these pieces were no exception.

When the show ended and the orchestra had left the stage for the first time they came back for an encore. They played, in honour of the release of Spectre, the James Bond theme.

LootCrate: Time

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With the theme being Time, I couldn’t not get this box. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the expectation. There were only four items in this box, which is really not enough. Maybe these items are higher value, but the box as a whole feels like a lesser value to me with so few items.

I love the sonic spork, using the Eleventh Doctor’s sonic screwdriver for the handle. Also a hit is the Funko Pop of Dr. Emmet Brown from Back to the Future. I don’t know much about that franchise. I am pretty sure I’ve seen all of the first movie at some point, and parts of the other two, but most of my knowledge of it is from pop culture memes. So this Pop wasn’t on my wishlist or anything, but he looks awesome and I’ve been wanting another general scifi Pop to go with Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet).

Then there was a miniature replica hooverboard from Back to the Future. It looks nice, and comes in a pretty box, but that’s about it for me. This will be going in the gift box, as will probably the t-shirt. It’s from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Again one of those movies I think I’ve seen, but not sure. Plus the shirt is kinda tight compared to the one that was in the Fantasy Crate.

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LootCrate: September

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LootCrate’s theme this month is Summon. That on its own wasn’t really enough to interest me. But then they teased about there being Blizzard items in the box. So I caved and got one. First thing I saw when opening the box, was a Pikachu hat. I’m not a huge Pokémon fan, but I did watch the cartoon a lot when I was a kid. So the hat is a hit, and it’s nice and warm, too. The next item was a gold coloured Homer Simpson as Buddha thing. This was a major miss. I don’t particulary like The Simpsons, and find this thing really just tacky.

Then came the Blizzard items. The first was a Hearthstone shaped stress ball. It fits nicely in my hand and I’m very pleased to have a real-life Hearthstone to match my in-game one in World of Warcraft. The second item was a Hearthstone coin with a code for three free card packs in the Hearthstone game. I don’t play that a lot, but it is a nice time kill in quiet moments. So free card packs are much appreciated then. The coin is of a solid metal with a nice feel.

Another really good item was a miniature version of Baby, the card driven by the Winchester brothers in Supernatural. I’d gotten Nienke one of these for Christmas last year and I’m really happy I have one for myself now, too.

Lastly, they included two summoning themed games. The first one a mobile game, with the ability to unlock extra content by scanning the LootCrate box. The second a card game of sorts. They included a booklet of cards for one player. Which means I will never play it, as I would need to find someone else who also got this LootCrate. Of course, I could copy the cards, but that looks bad and is too much effort for a game I’m not that interested in playing.

Overall, the Blizzard items, the car and the hat are fantastic and make up for the okay games and the tacky Homer. I am pleased I bought this box.

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Nerd Block: September

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This month’s theme was Hyperspace. There were only five items in the box as opposed to the six or seven in previous months which was a little bit disappointing.

I love the little springy USS Enterprise, even if it feels somewhat cheap. The plushie BB-8 looks fantastic. I like it’s feel and design, but I don’t know yet if I’ll keep it. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, I’ve seen the older movies once, a long time ago. I will be seeing the new movie once it’s out, so I’m keeping the plushie at least until then. Depending on what I think of the movie, and BB-8’s part in it, I’ll keep it or put it in the gift bin.

The Jurassic Galaxy art print is fantastic! It mashes Guardians of the Galaxy with Jurassic World with cameo appearances of Terminator and Star Wars. Beyond this print and the Doctor Who one from a previous box I’ve acquired some more art print or small poster stuff that I want to display. I haven’t quite figured out how I want to do that, though. but I am really excited about it.

The shirt this month is a Battlestar Galactica one combining the two versions of Cylons in a mash-up resembling a Daft Punk album cover. The last item was a Funko mystery box with a random Supernatural mini. I got Castiel, which I absolutely love! I am a bit puzzled though how Supernatural fits the theme.

Overall, I’m impressed with the individual items, but it did feel less as a whole with only five items of which only four fit the theme.

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Nerd Block: August

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The third Nerd Block of my initial three month subscription. This one had an eighties summer mixtape theme and was a bit of a let down for me. I like the metal lunchbox kinda thing. Don’t know yet what to use it for, but it is useful for me. I’m not big into Ghostbusters so the exterior doesn’t really mean a lot to me. I do like the industrial look of it. The Ghostbusters plushie is okay, I’ll put it in the box for potential gifts.

The Game of Thrones coasters are very pretty, but not all that useful. They’re made of pretty flimsy pressed paper kind of stuff. If you were to spill on it, they’re ruined.

Of course an eighties box needs something Rubik. The choice here is a stress Rubik’s Cube. I’m pretty meh about it. I never have (or had) much use for stress balls and the like. Like the plushie, it’ll go in the gift box.

Then there’s a book of postcards. Normally this would be right up my alley. Except they are hideous. Now these are hideous on purpose, but that doesn’t really make it any better. I have no idea what to do with these. Maybe I can send some of these via PostCrossing at some point.

The one thing I did really love was the shirt. It’s a Ghostbusters shirt, so again, it doesn’t specifically mean anything to me. But I love the colours, the design and I am a big Bill Murray fan. It’s definitely a hit in a mostly miss box.

I have decided to stop the three month stuff and go month by month now. I’m also thinking of trying a LootCrate here or there in between, depending on theme of each.

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Nerd Block: July

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This month’s theme was Humanity’s Last Hope. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with that, but when I opened the Block today I found all kinds of goodies I really like.

There was, once again, a vinyl figure included in the box. Funko Pop Vinyls are very popular at the moment, I have about fifteen or so of them, but I really like these Titan Vinyls also. They are the same size as Funko’s but their defining characteristic is their overall slightly triangular shape. I like that their faces have more detail and that each comes with a prop. Last month’s Doctor came with a sonic screwdriver and Spike here came with a mug.

Then there was a surprise pack containing a dangly Transformer figure. I’m not well versed in Transformers so I have no idea which one this is supposed to be, but I do like it. Of similar size to the Transformer is the key chain Iron Man from Funko.

The next item I didn’t know what it was until I unwrapped it and then it turned out to be a Ghostbusters wallet. It’s made of thick sort of paper so I don’t think it’s really suited to actual use. It’s a nice gimmick, though. It’s an item to go in my box of potential gifts. This was followed by a Mad Max comic, which will be fun to read as I really enjoyed the movie.

This month’s shirt is a Karate Kid shirt. I had to look it up to be sure about what it was. I’ve seen the movie but it has been a while so I couldn’t quite remember. I like the shirt, even though it’s not one of my fandoms, and will enjoy wearing it.

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LootCrate: Fantasy Crate

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I currently have a three month subscription to Nerd Block and more than one subscription box at a time is too pricey for me. However, LootCrate was having a sale on some of their older boxes. And after going through the ones on offer I decided to buy the May LootCrate. This one had a fantasy theme and based on the image it had some good stuff in it. It came today, and I was not disappointed.

I haven’t played Dungeons & Dragons (yet), but I love this shirt! The bow tie is nice, also. I don’t know if I’ll ever really wear it, but it makes for a good addition to a geeky wardrobe.

The flashdrive looks awesome. Too bad it’s a bit on the low side (only 4GB) to be really useful. The Princess Bride playing cards have fantastic art and the luggage tag will come in handy. I’m aiming for a visit to the UK again next year 😀

Game of Thrones magnets look nice on the fridge accompanying the Monty Python magnetic poetry from my recent Nerd Block. The inflatable crown is awesome! It fits nicely and once I was done wearing it, it became the hat for the stuffed plush reindeer head on my wall.

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Nerd Block: June

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Nerd Block BoxI’ve been interested in subscription boxes lately. A subscription box is a system where you subscribe to receive a mystery box of stuff. There are many different boxes, many different themes. There are ones where you get a bag of make-up and related products every month, boxes with stuff for your dog or cat, an assortment of craft supplies and so on. There’s also a couple boxes that are geared toward geeks.

Once I decided I wanted to try out a box, I figured a geeky box would suit me best. Two of the more well-known ones in that genre are LootCrate and Nerd Block. After comparing previous boxes I went with Nerd Block. Nerd Block costs $19,99 which, with shipping, ends up to be about €30, which I think is a reasonable price for a box that always includes a t-shirt and several other pieces of merchandise.

Today, I received my first box. The theme was Britain, so I was hoping for some Doctor Who. I was not disappointed 😀 Besides a Doctor Who Vinyl figure there was also an very pretty art print.

The Mr. Bean bendable figure was okay. I used to watch Mr. Bean a lot as a kid but I’m not that interested in the show beyond that. The Bean Teddy Bear, though, is very cute.

Monty Python’s magnetic words are hilarious, they’ll be fun to play with on the fridge. And the Sherlock shirt was the icing on the cake!

Nerd Block Doctor Ten Nerd Block Art Print

Nerd Block Bean Nerd Block Bean Teddy

Nerd Block Fridge Poetry Nerd Block Shirt