Where else would you see Rose and Four together but at Comic Con? I think that Rose would have been an interesting companion for Tom Baker’s Doctor.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral – Part 2
“I’m sure they’ve forgotten all about that by now.” The two women gave me identical looks. I don’t think I’d ever told them what happened, but they apparently knew me well enough to know it was dramatic. I like dramatic; it’s fun.
Looking that the two women and giving my best dramatic sigh, I told them the story, “When I first discovered I was slowly dying, I didn’t take it well and decided to take a vacation. What better place than Callisto. It had soft sand, endless beaches and the grandest casinos in the system.
“While I was winning at the poker tables, I swear I wasn’t using any telepathic or prophetic powers, I started chatting with the other players and discovered that the casinos were run by a syndicate of the organized crime variety. That got me exploring the less touristy areas and discovering that while the syndicate was making lot of money with the casinos and resorts, that money wasn’t coming anywhere near the locals.”
We walked towards the bridge and they both smiled knowing me enough to know I’d meddle. What can I say? I’m a meddler.
“Before I had much of a chance to snoop, they found me, stripped me and dumped me in less than mint condition on top of a landfill. As I lay naked on some really uncomfortable garbage, Sol decided to give me some extra information. I couldn’t do anything to incite a revolution and I couldn’t do anything to attack the syndicate directly. Doing that would end with them being stronger, or one of the empires claiming the planet.
“Obviously, I couldn’t leave things the way they were. Sol works in mysterious ways and that’s when I met Adric.
“Besides helping me out of the garbage pile and helping me find some decent quality if not smelly, clothing, he built me a mini computer to contact my ship. I was travelling alone at the time. I took the brilliant eight year old onto my ship, fed him and had a brilliant idea. What if the casinos and resorts belonged to the people of Callisto and not the Syndicate?
“From there, it was just a matter of hacking the Syndicate, the banks, the Inter-Solar monetary fund, and the Jupiter Alliance Protectorate.”
We all sat down at our designated posts. Me in the pilot chair, Janet on sensors, and Suzie on weapons.
“In one brilliant coup, Adric managed to make the syndicate broke and the people of Callisto rich. I made sure they were protected with heavy bribes to the Jupiter Protectorate and the Solar-Monetary fund.
“The next day’s stock market showed a marked increase in business to Callisto and they’ve been living happily, and profitably, ever since. The planet was filled with the well off and every tourist they encouraged to visit made them more money.
“After a long talk, Adric decided he’d rather stay on the planet and attend school. I may have helped him along by paying for a private education,” I finished.
“So why is there a warrant for your arrest on the planet then?” asked Suzie.
“People are afraid of power, and I had just rearranged a planets financial and political landscape in one brilliant move…” I drifted off knowing the women would figure it out.
“They were afraid that you’d do it again.” Janet shook her head.
“And they didn’t trust my benevolence. Isn’t this face trustworthy?”
“I’ve learned one thing in my long life, it’s that men as handsome as you are never trustworthy.” Janet said it with a gravitas that only fools and those who’ve lived long enough to gather true wisdom could pull off. It made me almost giggle. Bartenders on most worlds wouldn’t serve her anything with alcohol in it.
“Don’t tell him he’s handsome,” Suzie said, misinterpreting my smirk. “How he’ll be insufferable for days.”
As I had told them my story I had also calculated the jump that would put us in close orbit with Callisto. Sol had shown me that Adric needed help and I needed a mechanic, there was only so much I could do to keep this boat flying.
The ship’s panels started making panicked noises. “What did you do?” asked both women at the same time. Suzie sat down.
“It’s just three Jupiter Protectorate battleships. I’ll deal with it.”
What is Blush?
The goal of the game ‘Blush’ is to open high-quality communication about sex between parents and their adolescents. It has been found that when there is such communication present in families, the likelihood of the adolescent delaying vaginal intercourse and using contraceptives increases dramatically, as found by Karofsky, Zeng and Kosorok (2001) and Bersamin et al. (2008). A big problem with communication is the awkwardness and embarrassment that comes with talking about sex, according to Jaccard, Dittus and Gordon (2000). It is considered a stigmatized subject in most societies, and is therefore not often discussed.
‘Blush’ is designed to stimulate conversation in families. It has been proven that board games assist with promoting communication skills in families, according to Yeager (2001) and Smith and Renter (1997). The game will help parents to talk to their teenagers about sex in a non-confrontational way and make sure that they have absorbed the information. It will help adolescents to ask their parents questions, ones that they may not even know that they had.
Kirby and Miller (2002) designed programmes to promote communication about sex between parents and their teenagers. They said that a good program will have four outcomes:
(a) increase parents’ knowledge about sexual issues and also about the sexual behaviours of young people; (b) help parents understand that talking about sex to teenagers is likely to have beneficial effects, and unlikely to increase the chances that their teenagers will engage in sex; (c) help parents clarify their own values about sex and express these in ways that do not ‘turn off’ the teenager, and thus foreclose further discussion possibilities; and (d) improve parents’ skills in talking about sexuality, through increasing their comfort with the material, their listening skills and their skills in initiating discussions. (cited in Moore and Rosenthal, 2006, p 98)
‘Blush’ will achieve all four outcomes. The trivia questions will expand the knowledge background of all participants, and help open communication on various levels for both generations.
It is very important for adolescents to be able to communicate with their parents about sexuality, and this game will stimulate conversation on various topics in sexuality. Adolescents who are unaware or think they are aware of all the risks involved have a chance of getting hurt, an STI, or pregnant. Most learning programs and websites are set up for adolescents to discover the answers to their questions on their own. But if the teenager is unaware of some aspect of sexuality, they may not know what question to ask.
This game is comprised of all the topics required to give the curious mind a well-rounded description of all the topics necessary to ensure that the adolescent is well prepared for anything and everything. From the body, birth control and safety to pleasure, myths and alternate lifestyles, this game covers all the topics that parents want their children to know, and children want to know the answers to, but were too afraid to ask. The idea of coming out and asking your parents a question about sex, lubes and things like rush poppers Amazon can be intimidating, especially if your parents don’t seem to have an open mind about sex.
‘Blush’ is set up so that teenagers can get the answers to the questions they want to hear, and parents can be sure that their teen knows of all the dangers and how to be safe. As parents, they can also clearly define their values and goals for their adolescent. Not everyone feels the same way about sex before marriage, or homosexuality, and this game is not made to enforce the creator’s beliefs, but to educate. Playing this game can create a more relaxed atmosphere while talking about sex, as opposed to the dreaded ‘sex-talk’ that happens between teenagers and their parents. Parents will feel much comfortable and will be willing to teach children about effective contraceptives and sites like www.gshs.org, which explain in detail their reviews. This will help not just be a conversation starter for a comfortable environment but will also be a major help for the upcoming future.
Websites and books can provide most of the information given in this game, but they are geared towards one person accessing them at a time. The whole family can participate when you play this game, or teenagers can play with their friends. This provides a unique opportunity for parents or peers to provide additional information and clarification, as they see fit. Websites can also have the wrong information, and sometimes it is difficult to search through the falsities to find the truth. The questions in this game have been researched thoroughly from reliable sources such as books, journal articles and professional websites. All the information is now in one place, with easy access, for a fun experience with the whole family.
This you can buy here at https://spiceupyournight.co.uk/.
You can ask any questions you like in our anonymous ask box:
I will occasionally answer questions on the blog, if I feel like they will promote a good discussion.
I am incredibly excited to be working with Renaissance Press on this project! My dream of making this game a reality has finally come true, after seven years. I can’t wait!
References
Bersamin, M., et al. (2008). Parenting Practices and Adolescent Sexual Behaviour: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(1), 97-112.
Jaccard, J., Dittus, P. J., & Gordon, V. V. (2000). Parent-teen communication about premarital sex: Factors associated with the extent of communication. Journal of Adolescent Research, 15(2), 187-208.
Karofsky, P. S., Zeng, L., & Kosorok, M. R. (2001). Relationship between adolescent-parental communication and initiation of first intercourse by adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 28(1), 41-45.
Moore, S., & Rosenthal, D. (2006). Sexuality in adolescence: Current trends. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Smith, C. W., & Renter, S. G. (1997). The play is the thing: Using self-constructed board games in family therapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 8(3), 67-72.
Yeager, M. F. (2001). Treasure time: A journey in communication and understanding. In H. G. Kaduson & C. E. Schaefer (Eds.), 101 more favorite play therapy techniques (pp. 386-389) Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral – Part 1
Hello,
I am currently on blog vacation either at Disney or Editing my books. Here’s a fun little story following Hal the Sun Speaker. It’s the third in a series but completely stand alone.
If you’d like you can read Hal the Sun Speaker, or The Assassin. If not continue after the cut.
Thank you for reading!
Best Friends
I think the relationship between Clint and Natasha is one of my favourites. He trusts her so much that she knows his family, as we find out in the second Avengers movie.
Strong Women
I love these two! Captain Marvel and Rosie the Riveter stopped by to say hi and show off their costumes.
New Flavours, Contests, and Vacation
Hello,
Lots of exciting things going, my wife is officially a game designer and has signed a contract for a sex-ed game. It’ll be a card game called Blush. If you have any sex questions she will answer some on the blog and use them as research for the game. Go ask anonymously here.
Coffee
I’ve been hard at work testing new flavours. Our first seasonal flavour available at all our fall events will be:
The Great Pumpkin
And the newest flavour in our continuous roster will be:
Jack CoCo’Neill
Coffee Poll
If you haven’t voted in our poll to decide what past flavours are going to be available at our three fall events, vote now! The poll closes September 2nd.
What flavours would you like us to sell at the fall conventions? (Pick 3)
- Spiked Coffee: Butter Rum Light Roast (22%, 13 Votes)
- Davroast: Chocolate Medium Roast (20%, 12 Votes)
- Raktajino: Cinnamon Dark Roast (17%, 10 Votes)
- Elvis: Peanut Butter Banana Mixed Roast (12%, 7 Votes)
- Jabba the Peanut: Peanut Butter Medium Roast (10%, 6 Votes)
- Minion Coffee: Banana Cream Light Roast (8%, 5 Votes)
- Red Pill: Raspberry Medium Roast (8%, 5 Votes)
- Key Lime PI: Key Lime Dark Roast (3%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 21
Loading ...Contest
We are still holding the contest to win a credit of $10 to anything in our store. All you have to do is like our Facebook page and enter the contest below.
[contesthopper contest=”2886″]
Vacation
My wife is a travel agent (Check out her blog), which means she’s travelled a little and the TARDIS travels a lot, but me, I haven’t travelled for anything but weddings in around four years. So we’re going to Disney World! Yay! I’m really excited.
Between my trip to Disney and needing to do a huge amount of editing on my books (A Study in Aether and Parasomnia), I’m going to take the next three weeks off from blogging.
Don’t worry; I’ll have a special treat for you while I’m away. Tune in next Tuesday for a brand new story.
See you around,
Éric
Italy
Inspired by The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which I saw on Saturday with friends and family, I would like to talk about Italy and the numerous fandom possibilities to be found in this beautiful country.
I’ve noticed, while doing research for these Wednesday posts, that Viator tours pop up more often than not. I have to say, I’m impressed that they are putting the effort into catering to the geek community. In Italy, they have three tours: Angels and Demons half-day tour in Rome, and The Godfather and Inspector Montalbano full day tours in Taormina.
Rome
Love-Rome also has tours for Angels and Demons, as well as Roman Holiday and The Great Beauty, all of which take place on an electric golf cart.
If you love any and all movies made in Rome, another tour company has a tour that encompasses many. I think if I were to take one of these tours, this would be the one.
You could, of course, plan your own tour of Rome, following this helpful guide. Honestly, though, Rome has been the setting for so many movies, that you could wander the streets aimlessly and still find a movie location.
Venice
Venice has a tour that will take you to many film locations, such as the Venetian Library, St Mark’s square, the Doge’s palace, La Fenice theatre, St Barnaba church square, and, of course, the canals. Movies filmed there include Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Tourist, Othello, Casanova, and Merchant of Venice.
Florence
Florence has the Museo Galileo, which combines scientific instruments and research into one facility. One of the best things about this museum is it has disability access!
There is tons more to do and see in Italy!
Fall 2015 CONTEST!
Hello Everyone!
It’s that time again, and with a lot of fall conventions coming up, it’s time to have a contest.
The winner of the contest will get a $10 credit towards anything we sell, either at an event or in our online store.
It’s really simple: like us on Facebook, and enter below:
[contesthopper contest=”2886″]
If we pass the 500 likes mark on Facebook, we’ll give out two $10 prizes.
Good Luck!
Her First Name is Agent
I had a hard time telling whether this was Natasha Romanoff or Maria Hill, tbh. But if you look at her belt buckle, it looks like Black Widow’s symbol, so I’m going to go with Natasha. Do you disagree? Discuss in the comments!