Live long and prosper

by the crafty veteran

You probably don’t know this, but I’m a budding Trekkie.

Budding, yes, because I am very new to this business. My very first Star Trek experience was the new movie. I won’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it, except that it’s more than three and less than five.

Anyway, amidst these viewings a couple friends and I decided to watch the entire original tv series. We have already managed to watch the first 16 episodes.

Already there has been repetition of plotlines, recycling of characters, spectacularly bad sets/props, and laughable dialogue. And a few truly terrible episodes (picture if you will, a spinning cube…..OF DEATH!!!!).

But really, it doesn’t matter, because we love Spock. Ahem. And…

TREKFEST IS TOMORROW!

It’s in Riverside, the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, and there will be a parade, costume contest, scavenger hunt, lots of dumb hick things (cow chip bingo????), and Cast members from the original show! Sulu! Uhura! Chekov (who we haven’t actually met yet because he’s not in the first season)!

But though we will see them on their parade float, you have to buy expensive tickets to go to their Q & A session and pay even more to take a picture with them or have them sign something. Lame.

Except… they are judging the costume contest! Yes! A chance to see them up close and maybe even talk to them!

Which brings me to why I, the Crafster, am posting about Star Trek and Trekfest:

MAKE YOUR OWN STAR TREK DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!! A TWO DAY PROJECT (glue needs to dry)
Total estimated time spent: 1 1/2 hours

I tried to convince my friend to be one of these green girls, because she would win the contest (and cash prize, and the notice of the castmembers!) for sure, but the predicted unpleasantness of green paint dripping down her face all day overcame her competitive nature. Girl has no guts.

So our inspiration is taking a more traditional form, a la Enterprise crew. Mainly I just love this picture:

Star Trek uniforms come in three colors: red, blue, or super awesome green/yellow like Kirk’s shirt above. Finding a suitable dress to Star Trek-ify will probably be the hardest part of the whole job. I found a hideous one just the right shade of green/yellow at the 2nd Act:

Besides the dress, you will need:

sewing machine + thread, fabric shears, cheap white fabric, gold rick rack (squigly sparkly ribbon), fabric glue, silver glitter glue

1. Smear some glitter glue in the general shape of the Star Trek insignia onto some cheap-o white fabric you find lying around.

It doesn’t have to be precise at all, you’ll cut it out later.

2. Hem the dress. A lot. Very important tip: ladies, your Star Trek dress absolutely must be scandalously short. Take a cue from Uhura:

I took mine up 7 inches!

3. Glue rick rack along the hem. VIT: stuff the dress with extra fabric or paper to prevent glue from soaking through to the other side. In the show the ornamentation actually along the sleeves and signifies rank, but here it’s just sweet looking:

4. That’s all for Day 1. Go to bed and let all that glue dry.

5. Wake up! Cut out the insignia (don’t forget to cut out a star) and glue over your heart (awwww), again stuffing the dress.

6. BAM!

Now you’re ready to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!

Go to Trekfest! Wear a costume! Meet the stars!

ICPL Teen Podcast the eighth

by the crafty veteran

It’s been too long! I’m sure you all have been drooling to hear your own voices ranting and raving again.

In this episode we discuss Twitter, Google conspiracy theories (not really, but we do talk about Google), what we’re reading, and MORE! I messed around with the clips in Audacity in the TEEN TECH LAB and added some techno flair, i.e. added some weird effects to varying degrees of success. Listen. You’ll know what I mean.

Also, superstar TAGgers Carly, Emma, Kim + Tillie did the heavy-lifting editing with Rachel, so kudos to them and enjoy the fruits of our labor!

 
icon for podpress  ICTeenCast Episode 8 [9:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (180)

Real-Live Library Ghost Busters

by Rachel

Big library news, guys!  Last week, the New England Society of Paranormal Investigators (NESPI) released the results from their investigation of the Taunton Public Library in Massachusetts.  For three months they surveyed the building using a digital infrared high-definition camera, a K-Z meter, which picks up electro-magnetic fields, a digital microphone and an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) recorder.  Verdict:  Not Haunted.

OK, so maybe that’s not very exciting.  But this little news blurb got me curious about OTHER library spooks.  Apparently there are quite a few:

  • Old Bernardsville Public Library, New Jersey.  Phyllis the library ghost was so active at one time that the staff issued her a library card. The ghost is said to be that of Phyllis Parker, the innkeeper’s daughter, who suffered a nervous breakdown when her boyfriend, a British spy during the Revolutionary War, was hung in 1777 and delivered to the local tavern in a coffin.
  • Peoria Public Library, Illinois. Mary Stevenson Grey, who owned the land where the library now stands, uttered a curse in 1847 that allegedly resulted in the untimely deaths of three library directors in the early 20th century. E. S. Willcox was killed in a streetcar accident in 1915; Samuel Patterson Prowse died from a heart attack suffered at a library board meeting in 1921; and Dr. Edwin Wiley committed suicide by swallowing arsenic in 1924. Library employees report seeing their ghostly faces in the basement.
  • Doris and Harry Vise Library, Cumberland University, Tennessee.  Former Director John Boniol says that the library has a ghost cat. On March 5, 2001, he saw a “cat come floating across my office floor and disappear among the boxes stored under the table behind my desk. I did not see any legs or paws and no motion like a normal cat walking on a floor. The apparition was near the floor, about the right height for a cat, but it appeared to be gliding smoothly through the air instead of touching the floor.”

For more fun times, check out George Eberhart’s series on Library Ghosts, or swing by the interactive Ghost Cam set up by the Willard Public Library so all you little ghost-busters can go a-ghost-hunting day and night.

In the meantime, here’s a spooky preview from YouTube:

Author Jack Gantos @ ICPL tomorrow!

by jason

Tomorrow we’ll be hosting the bestselling author Jack Gantos (Remember Rotten Ralph from when you were very little?  How about Joey Pigza from when you were slightly older?  Or maybe Hole In My Life his memoir about getting caught selling drugs and ending up in prison?).  Anyway, he’s written a bunch of stuff and will be here to talk about his writing, journaling (he’s an obsessive journal person), and even YOUR writing.  So join us from 4-5 p.m. Wednesday the 17th in Room A for a discussion of Hole In My Life and 7-8 p.m. in the same room for a discussion of how to get started with journal writing!  Yep, free!

If you’d like to know if this guy is interesting, check him out…skip the opening! (answer: yes, he is)

Tennessee Schools Finally Unblock GLBT Websites

by Rachel

In May, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee filed suit against the Knox County and Metro Nashville school district for blocking gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender websites.  Two weeks later, on June 3rd, the school districts announced that they would stop filtering the websites of gay-friendly advocacy groups such as the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.  You can read the full article here.

A lot of schools and libraries filter their Internet to block explicit sexual or violent stuff.  In fact, some public libraries are required to filter their Internet for “minors” — you guys who are under 18 — if they want to get money from the federal E-Rate program (Iowa City Public Library does not filter our Internet; we have opted out of federal E-Rate money).

You can argue that filtering the Internet helps protect the young and innocent.  But filtering can also be used to block important information that the public has a right to access.  If the word “breast” was filtered at the library, you guys wouldn’t be able to get important health information on breast cancer.  Likewise, a lot of libraries have chosen to filter information on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues.  What do you guys think about that — should GLBT information be freely accessible to the public, or should libraries have a right to block it?

Make your own lunchbag!

by the crafty veteran

Hello all, it is I, the Craftster. Finally, finally school has let out and I have time for life, which of course includes DIY, or as I like to call it DIM (did-it-myself) – makes a lovely acronym, eh?

Today’s tutorial is how to make something as useful as it is adorable. I know, right? Anyway, I shouldn’t try to build up the suspense because I titled this post “Make your own lunchbag!”

A few of the lunchbags I've made

A few of the lunchbags I've made

Okay, so first you need to procure some oilcloth, which is fabric covered with some plastic-y stuff. You can buy it online or at the loveliest store in town, Home Ec. Workshop.

Next, cut out the pieces. There are only two:

See, plenty of room!

Before you start sewing you need A) a sewing machine, and B) to clear off space to work:

Okay, now with the wrong sides out, sew up the 12.5″ sides and across the 7″ top. Then you have to fold in sewn sides like this and sew this folded part flat.

When you do that on both sides the bottom should look like this:

Next, flip right side out and sew down the edges like so:

Sew on some velcro:

I made this one today, probably altogether 2 hrs. work

And you’re done!

If these steps are confusing, leave a comment and I’ll clarify. Happy crafting!

Sharing. . . Or Stealing?

by Rachel

Hey, have you heard the brand new Animal Collective album?  Next question: did you pay for a legit copy, or did you find a digital copy somewhere for free?

We’re still wrestling with this dilemma, and I for one think we should talk about it.  People who make stuff — authors, directors, musicians, artists, producers, publishers — want to get paid for the stuff they make.  But the Internet makes it so easy to share digital media for free.  So what do you think — should we keep trying to restrict access to movies, books, artwork, etc so that people who make art can still earn a living?  Or should we just try to come up with a new (legal) way to share artwork that won’t be at odds with the nature of the internet?

I’m not going to pretend to have an answer.  But there is a pretty high-profile case in the works that you might want to check out.  Four guys in Sweden were just found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison and massive fines for ‘assisting in making copyright content available’ via their popular torrent-sharing website, The Pirate Bay.  However, the charges were then partly dropped when it was discovered that at least two of the judges had ties to the Swedish Copyright Association.  What do you think — is The Pirate Bay helping people steal, or just share?

Summer of the Arts!

by Erin

Hey y’all! Well this week downtown is the Arts Fest! Filled with art and fun. Yesterday was children’s day and there was face painting, henna, art, crafts, music, ect. Very fun. There is also art (as in paintings, sculptures, clocks made from cds, ect.) from local and non-local artists that you may purchase. And yesterday, Nolte Academy of Dance danced in a parking lot in front of the Englert. Yes, it was awesome. So come on down to the Arts Festival! (And while you are downtown go to the library.)

Teen SRP – Critical Hit Games: D&D and more!

by Brian

Hey-o!  B-Vis here, rockin’ the mic.  Wednesday is my day to post, but I forgot (don’t tell Rachel).  Anyway, our first summer program is coming up and it’s a geeky one.  On Tuesday, June 9th from 2-4, the guys from Critical Hit Games are going to come and give an introduction to the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.  Now I know what you’re thinking: “Oh my God, that’s so geeky.”  To which I reply–hold up!  I played D&D in high school, and I wasn’t a huge nerd.  Ok, so maybe I was…the point is it’s going to be a lot of fun.  Vin Diesel plays D&D.  He’s cool, right? Critical Hit Games is also going to bring some other games for everyone to try out.  Come! Vin Diesel commands you.  Also, we’ll have soda and snacks.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (sung, Beatles fashion.)

by Kim

Did you totally not get that? It’s like…”Lucy in the Sky with Diaaaaamonds.” You know how the Beatles sang that? So put Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in those lyrics instead, and it totally works!!! Can you hear it in your mind now?!?!

Anyways, the trailer is out! :)  http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/03/18/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-movie-trailer/

Apple trailers has the Toy Story THREE movie trailer as well…It’s not quite a trailer, but it’s still good! The three alien toys are back!!! They’re my favorites! Well, some of them.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/toystory3/

Also UP, which I really want to see!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/up/

Anyways, there are way more trailers on Apple…

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

Post more in the comments if you can come up with any!

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