Last Minute Gift Shopping?

If you’re about as organized as I am, you’ve probably had your Christmas shopping done for months… yeah, that’s a lie, you probably haven’t started yet. So, going through ideas for friends, I’ve found a whole bunch of stuff any self-proclaimed geek/nerd would love to get. I’ve assembled them all into a nice list for your perusing pleasure.

Star Wars Flash Drives 

Come on, what person doesn’t want Yoda protecting their files? Or Darth Vader threatening all who dare touch it? Save your files, you will.

R2-D2 Peppermill

The deus ex machina droid that does all, has come up with a brand-new function no one saw coming: grinding up pepper for your dining pleasure. The perfect gift for any sci-fi fans who are also big fans of cooking. It’ll help brighten up any kitchen.

 

Star Wars Handbags

For any girl-nerds on your Christmas list, this is one of the most awesome things she could receive. Not only is it a handy purse for carrying all those necessary girl things in, it’s also a piece of art for carrying around on your arm.

Stars Wars Clock Lamp

 

These are something I’ve wanted for quite some time. I mean, this is truly something that puts the fun in functional.

World of Geekcraft Craft Projects book

This is for your craftier friends or children who happen to be on the nerdier side of the spectrum. From what I can tell it’s got 25 craft projects, perfect to keep you busy on your down-time or keep the kids busy during the holidays from school.

 

Star Trek Enterprise Bottle Opener

The holiday season is all about the parties, and what’s a party without great drinks? Why not open them up in true nerd style?

 

Spock Cookie Jar

What’s another staple of this time of year? Cookies of course! Why not keep them safe in the most logical way: a cookie jar, in the shape of the most logical being around, of course.

 

Spock Holiday Hat

Want to get right into the holiday cheer? Get everyone you know a hat with awesome ears to get everyone feeling jolly, illogically so.

Star Trek Nutcrackers

Keeping in the Christmastime tradition, why not gift someone with a nice collectible nutcracker in the shape of their favourite Star Trek characters?

 

Ride-in Dalek

Got any children who’ve followed in your noble nerdy footsteps? Looking to spoil them? Why not get them a fancy Dalek shell to ride around in on their quest for galactic domination? I know I wish I could have had one.

AdiposePlush

Got someone on your list who likes cute and cuddly things? Can’t afford to kidnap David Tennant for them? Why not get them a nice Adipose plush instead? Nothing says cuddly like “fat that just walks away”.

 

11^th Doctor Bow Tie

Got a distinguished fellow to buy for this year? Why not treat him to the coolest accessory of them all? If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that bow ties are cool.

Doctor Who Fobwatch

Any distinguished gentlemen who don’t think bow ties are cool? A delightful pocket watch might just be the thing for them. Available in both plastic and die cast, it’s perfect for the classy gents on any budget.

Captain Jack Harkness Coat

Who doesn’t love a 51^st Century man with charisma? Why not don his coat and some of that charisma for yourself? Perfect for a special someone you don’t mind spending a little extra on, or perfect for spending any gift money you may receive.

Bacon Wallet

Got any bacon lovers in your life? Why not get them a wallet they will truly love? Just make sure they don’t try to eat it!

Minecraft Confusion Tee

Got any Minecraft addicts to get a gift for? Why not make them laugh while giving them a fun shirt with which to express their love of OCD gaming.

Glow in the Dark Zombie Mug

Zombies have become quite popular lately, and I know they’re quite a few die-hard fans out there. If you know one, why not gift them with a nice fancy mug? That glows in the dark.

Firefly Inevitable Betrayal Tee

Any self-respecting Wash fans know that this is obviously one of his greatest lines ever, and movie fates notwithstanding, he will live forever in awesome tees like this one.

Firefly Serenity Keychain

Got any Kaylees in your life that simply love Serenity? Gift them this keychain and support their noble love.

Companion Cube Cookie Jar

This is a gift that’s no lie. Give any Portal fans you know a real companion to keep their goodies safe, they’ll thank you for sure.

Legend of Zelda Ocarina

Got any musical friends who love Zelda? Gift them with a melody, well a way to play a melody with a replica of Link’s trusty ocarina.

Nintendo Monopoly

This is something I actually did buy for a friend who loves Monopoly. Not being one for Monopoly myself, I’ve never played it, but she really enjoys it. So if you’re really into the game or your friends are, this is a fun thing for get-togethers.

Yeah, I did all my window-shopping on ThinkGeek, gimme a break, I’m a lazy internet shopper and they have great stuff from pretty much every fandom. And most of these things can be found in collector's shops and the like, since it's last-minute now, no time for shipping. I know I've seen most of it while out and about.

Better Cookies Made with Love and Glee

So, in my abundant free time, I often watch people's children, thus fulfilling my quota for social interactions until the next week. I get along pretty well with children, considering I have the maturity of a four-year-old most of the time, but sometimes there's a problem keeping them entertained in a way I never was a kid, meaning, let's not plop them in front of the TV for six hours and then we'll talk to them. This time, instead of running around in the freezing cold and possibly breaking some bones on the hazardous ice, I decided we should make gingerbread. The theme? Something all of us had in common, ie. the game I made them play and they turned out loving: Final Fantasy VI. (III in America, I believe.)

From top left: Edgar, Terra, Kefka, Sabin, Celes, Mog, Chocobo, Shadow
Aren't they precious?

So, I basically made the dough, the kids helped by turning on the mixer and such, seeing as they're young and I don't much fancy eggshells in my cookies. The gingerbread is the same recipe as the last batch of cookies, so we won't talk about that. If I'd had fondant they probably would have been a lot nicer, but it wouldn't have been as much fun for the kids, so we mixed up a couple colours of icing and I let them loose. They had a blast. They made a mess. I cleaned it up. Life is good when you're eight and six. They treated me as though I were Leonardo da Vinci himself as I taught them how to use a piping bag, although my skills (seeing as it's impossible to tell apart the ones I decorated from the ones they did) are lacking at best. Point being, we had a great time.

Cyan, Strago, Locke, Relm, Gau and Setzer

I had been planning on doing South Park cookies this year, but seeing as most eight-year-olds (myself excluded, apparently) aren't avid South Park fans, I figured I'd better switch the plan up a bit. So now I have a batch of FFVI gingerbreads, and life if pretty damn awesome.

Gogo and Umaro

Making these cookies was pretty straightforward. We mixed the dough and put it in the fridge for the necessary hour. During that time we looked up pictures of what we wanted to do and prepared icing and such. Time passed relatively quickly. I rolled out the dough and they went to town cutting out the people. Funnily enough, we had just enough dough to make all the characters and a chocobo, well, we'd had two chocobos but one was stolen by an evil passing adult. They cooked rather fast and while they cooled the kids wanted to play the game, so we did.

This one's my favourite. It's both cute and Setzer. ♥

After that, with the icing we prepared earlier, we decorated our cookies. These children are obviously prodigies. I am so proud.

This was the biggest pain in the ass since I had to move back in with my grandmother.

Well, my cookies are done, and I'm already feeling far more jolly than I normally would at this time of year. I think a victory fanfare is in order.

Cheers!

Hey Rick Perry, let's learn some history, huh?

I'm sure a lot of people have already seen Rick Perry's latest attempt at scrounging up any possible votes from any place he possibly can, seeing as, well, he's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. I'm not going to do him the favour of linking his video here, if you haven't already seen it, go ahead and go look for it on Youtube, but make certain you have no sharp objects on hand, you'll probably want to stick them in your head upon hearing him speak.

Let's start with his first claim about 'not being ashamed of admitting he's a Christian'. Alright, that's cool. There's nothing wrong with having your own religious views, knock yourself out, you live in a free country, believe what you want. I just want to take a minute to question your wording there: why are you saying it as though it's something most people are ashamed of, or as though it's something people might be shocked to hear you say? I mean, I don't have any statistics here, but I'm pretty confident in saying a LOT of Americans are some form of Christians, be it Catholic, Protestant, etc. I don't see how coming out and saying that Christianity is your thing is supposed to be shocking. Perhaps if he'd come on screen and said "I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a big supporter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster", people may have done a double take and questioned the man's sanity three seconds into the ad instead of only ten seconds into the ad. As it is, I really think religion should be left out of politics, but his announcing his Christianity is not all that shocking.

Next, I want to talk about the part of his ad that really hit a nerve with me; the part where he claimed that 'there's something wrong when gays can openly serve in the military...', ohh. Let's not open that can of worms with me, Mr. Perry. I, and many people I know, would have flayed you alive if we were in the room when you said that. I like to think that as a species, we've evolved over the years, past the point where we fear people who are different. We've pretty much gotten over the sexism thing, sure there's places in the world where apparently intellectual evolution has yet to reach, but we're doing rather well. I like to think the racism problem is going away in an absolutely swimming fashion, once again, exceptions and hiccups, time will tell. Is it not about time we get over the sexuality hump (yes that pun was intended, sue me why don'tcha... please don't, I have no money) and just get on with our lives? I will be the mature one here and not point out that Perry's jacket is shockingly similar to Heath Ledger's in Brokeback Mountain... oh wait, guess I'm not going to be the mature one then. But seriously, let's not even go there. People are FINALLY growing brains and starting to figure out that what you like to do behind closed doors is really not that big a deal. Unless you know, it's some screwed up stuff I may or may not know about growing up near Hicksville, Hickington; then that stuff is probably illegal. What I'm getting at is: get over it. Some people are straight, some are gay, some are asexual, some are bisexuel, the list just goes on. My point: let people be. You want to be allowed to celebrate Christmas openly? Let others be openly gay, regardless of what profession they desire to pursue. Point finale.

Now, to my main point: his strange idea about America having a "Christian heritage". Now, I'm not an American, but I am a history buff, especially when said history has to do with religion. I do seem to recall reading that the good ol' US of A happened to be a country founded on free religion, meaning it was founded with no particular religion in mind for the country's "main" religion. Seeing as the founders had varying religions themselves, they figured it would be best to found a country with no religion at all involved in the government. How did it come to be that religion, ie Christianity, has become so prominent in American politics? Emails were sent around about Obama being a devout Muslim, a false claim, seeing as Obama said himself he was not raised in a particularly religious household (and as an atheist, panromantic girl raised in a rather strictly Christian, pretty closed-minded household, I am VERY jealous), but my question for them was, who cares? Number one, the Muslim faith is not one of violence, it is a faith of peace, like Catholicism is supposed to be, yet extremists are capable of violence, and I would like to draw attention to something called the Crusades (if you don't know what that is, please look it up, it's seriously messed up and may change your mind about religion being a good thing in the world), but I will say nothing more about them, having exhausted my rant about them. (I was alone against a large grounp of people in a "debate", it was more a lynching, and I really don't want to start that again.) I can only hope that the world is beginning to produce people who aren't afraid to ask questions about the things they hear, and learn to think for themselves, and not do things simply because some ancient book (written by people, I'd like to point out, not faxed down from some dude on some astral plane) tells them to do them. Anyways, I seem to have strayed from my original point; my point is, Rick Perry, you're a closed-minded idiot. Please, stop. It appears you are so desperate for votes your clinging hopefully to religion in the hopes of grabbing the Evangelical vote. Who knows? It may work. I can only hope the rest of the country is completely stupid.


Here's one of those legitimately important topic I warned I might  talk about sometimes. This guy rubbed me the wrong way, and after several Facebook and Twitter debates, I felt a need to really rant about it.

Let's freak out some homophobic Matt and Trey fans, why don't we?

I'd like to say that BASEketball, like pretty much every awesome thing, belongs to Matt and Trey and all those other people who matter in the movie. They aren't gay... but man do they act it well sometimes. 

Cheers!

Best Cookies in Existence... Ever.

So, it's that awful time of year where I get depressed due to snow overload, decorations creating eyesores everywhere, terrible songs getting stuck in my head and the stress of finding a gift for everyone. (Don't call me a Grinch, dammit, this is one of the worst holidays ever, besides, I like mistletoe, that's a point in my favour.) To cheer myself up I like to make fun cookies, since apparently it's the time of the year gingerbread, the most delicious of all cookies, is really "in style". And of course, being me, I can't have them be just normal gingerbread men... no, they have to be characters from whatever currently holds my fancy. Last year's cookies were Star Trek: The Original Series-inspired (You'll be seeing those in a minute). This years theme has yet to be decided, but I do have a few things in mind. (If you've got a cool idea, you should drop me a line.)

Yeah, so they're not very detailed. Sue me. They were for fun.

Now to make awesome cookies like these, all you'll need is a basic gingerbread recipe. If you want mine, it can be found here, but it's in French. But they're really good, and the recipe even includes one for icing, if you need one. Seriously, this man is a kitchen god.

Guess which cookies got eaten first.

Make your cookies as directed, yaddy yaddy yadda. Make icing as direct, etc, etc. You have to leave gingerbread in the firdge for a good couple hours, so I suggest making these when you have a lot of free time or when you have something to do in between. When you take them out and roll them, you can use a basic cut-out like I did for my people out of laziness, or you can hand-sculpt, like I did for my Enterprise. Bake as directed, etc. Let them cool before you apply the icing. (Protip: To cool them faster, you can put them in the fridge, or outside if you live in the freaking arctic circle like I do.)

I was really amused that it was Spock-cookie's hand that got split down the middle whilst baking.

Now, depending on what kind of characters you're making, you're going to need a wide variety of colours. I used primarily red, blue and yellow, but had a sort of gold colour for insignias and rank braids, as well as a dark brownish-black for hair and faces. The Enterprise didn't really need icing. I was going to ice her, but I got lazy and was being kicked out of the kitchen. So she just got a label out the left-over gold.

Laziness at its finest.

After you've got all the colours you need, you just apply them in the places your characters' clothes should be. I recommend having reference pictures nearby, that way you don't have to run to find them if you need to have a quick look.

BEHOLD my *cough* amazing *cough* piping skills.

Voila! You have made your very own character cookies. Be proud.

Aww, look at the BFF cookies.

Cheers!

They should make villains less adorable/good-looking. Seriously.

It is totally not almost four in the morning and I am totally not still playing Zelda. Okay, now that we've gotten that blatant lie out of the way, I shall turn my attention to the pressing matter at hand: Villains, and why I don't feel like beating them up.


First and foremost, why do the dudes look like girls? Is it so I squeal and yell that he's totally my type OMGROLFWAFFLES? Cos I definitely will. Lord Ghirahim, resident Demon Lord of the newest installment of the Zelda franchise, is the most adorable little cross-dressing demon man I have ever seen. (Allow me my fangirl moment, damn you). With that very disturbing thought out there, let's get to the point. I honestly felt really bad about smashing his pretty little face repeatedly with my sword. Even being a woman, I felt like a savage woman beater... beating up a girly man.

I've made it my personal rule not to beat up men with makeup.

Except for him, he's fair game.

Now, don't get me wrong, female villains rock. But don't just give her magical powers while I've got massive Rambo muscles and a sword to cut her up good with. No, no no no no. She needs a kick-ass sword too. Maybe a cool bad-ass catch-phrase too. It's ingrained in all our heads not to go around beating women, so forgive for not wanting to go charging in with my sword while she shoots little sparkle dust at me, regardless of how powerful the spells actually are. At least give me the illusion she's fighting back by giving her a sword, or kick-ass club to hold.

Now THAT'S a woman after my own heart, right there.

Another thing I want to get out there is, stop giving them compelling backstories. Yes, I want to know more about them, where they've come from, why they're evil... but why do they always have to have such tragic pasts that make me feel sorry for them. The last thing I want when walking into a boss battle is to have sympathy or worse, even liking the villain I'm about the lay a smackdown on. (I'd like to refer to Loki right now, even though he's not a video game villain, just because the movie did just that, and it's the first thing I thought of.) The villain Count Bleck, from Super Paper Mario (oh god girliest game ever, but awesome still) is one of those. Of course, being the girly kid's game it is, he redeems himself in the end, so I guess this was a bad example.

After compelling backstories, the next problem is making the villains too likeable. If they're too funny, I won't want to kill them. If they're doing it for a lost love, I'll feel bad about it after vomiting at the cliché. If they're adorable, not going to want to hurt it.

 Look at that little loving-life grin. I feel bad every time. Sort of.

You want me to be itching to kick some villain ass? Make them annoying, but not so annoying as to stop me wanting to play the game.

Yeah, we all know we wanted to kill her instead of Ganondorf.

Or better yet, have the villain be as vindictive, sneering and condescending as possible. I think it's an instinct everyone's born with that they see a self-satisfied smirk on someone's face and they want to smack it off their face with their Master Sword. That's why Ganondorf was always such a good villain, he'd be condescending, making us go through round after round of light-ball ping-pong before considering you enough of a threat to let the fight get real. By that time, you're just itching to get your sword into him on even grounds to prove yourself. That's what you need in a villain. That self-confident, condescending asshole players can't wait to stick it to.

If all else fails, make all villains look like this.

Of course, you could go in another direction, with the emo, self-deprecating, why-won't-anyone-love-me-style villain. It gets to a point where they whine so much, you can't wait to just put them out of their misery.

You know who you are, pretty boy.

So what I think the world of video game villains needs, is a sort of mash-up. Someone who has a reason for being so evil, even if that reason is just being born that way, someone who's got story, but not so much that it takes over the game and makes me sympathize for the villain. Someone with flare, but not so much that players become attached. Someone who looks down on other characters with loathsome disdain. And best of all, someone so completely insane you couldn't imagine letting them live to see another day out of fear of what they might do. Well what do you know, Kefka's good for something after all, scaring you into wanting him dead. (Greatest villain of all time!)

He'll murder me in my sleep if I don't give him picture space.

So, to recap, what we need to do is stop making me like the villains I'm about to murder. Make them someone I enjoy killing. Not someone I enjoy watching and interacting with. That's what the whole point of games is, you get to the end, and kill the bad guy. I want to like doing it. Not feel bad about doing it. I want to look forward to the boss battle, I want to be so amped up about sticking my sword/photon/laser gun into his/her chest that I run in like a fool. THAT'S what video games seem to have lost in a sea of artsy graphics and story. I just want that feeling back.

Here's some fuel for nightmares before you go.

Cheers!

The Legend of Zelda: Most Addictive Game Yet

Okay so maybe the game's called Skyward Sword and not Most Addictive Game Yet, but seriously. If there's one thing that'll wake a Nintendo fangirl from the dream that is Skyrim (that's another addictive one, seriously, what is it with game developers?) it's a brand new Zelda adventure where you actually get to entertain the fantasy that you actually have some sword fighting skill.

You'll probably never be this good.

 

They brought back your favourite swordsman and that gorgeous princess, and left out all the crappy characters from past games that no one like (Navi, anyone?). Of course they DID replace one annoying little fairy with a bigger annoying fairy, but I'd rather hear Fi's weird Kanye voicebox voice over Nav's irritating squeak any day. Not only is she less of an annoyance, she doesn't hover around your head distracting you from the tasks at hand as you try to stab her down with your sword. (Everyone tried to do that, right?)

 Looks like the character design team put a bit more effort in this time.

Not only is she significantly better-looking than Navi, she also offers better advice. Since she's not really a person of sorts and more just a technology inside the Goddess Sword, she offers logical advice and precise calculations, as opposed to the crappy vague riddles we got from our lame-o fairy. Of course, Fi has her downsides, a lot of the information she gives on enemies is limited to whether or not you've defeated one yet. I ran into that slight problem when trying to defeat my first skulltula. But that aside, I'd rather a little companion that stays hidden most of the time than an annoying little floating fairy or having Midna skulking around in my shadow. (I really have nothing against Midna really, I just... I'd rather not have any companion really.)

This game is really very different from others before it, mostly in the way that it's all based on your Wii remote and how you move it. People I've spoken to are a little leery of fighting enemies and boss battles by swinging the swords themselves, but if you take the time to do the training exercises, it's really quite simple to get the hang of it.

In this game, practice makes perfect.

The favourite old tools are back: bombs, the slingshot, the bow and the hookshot in form of the clawshot. The ocarina is conspicuously absent, having been replaced by a Goddess' Harp. I haven't gotten the harp yet, so I can't say if it's anything like the ocarina. You can also obtain a whip, once again, not something I've done yet, having spent most of my time grinding for rupees. There are also mitts for digging to be found and a gust bellows with which you can blow dirt and small enemies around. The new addition that really has me excited is the Beetle. It's a small flying drone that cuts through ropes, and if you upgrade it enough, you can eventually have it carry bombs.

The one tool I've been using the most so far is the Bug Net. In this game, you can catch bugs to upgrade your potions. It's a bit difficult to get a handle on at first if you have shaky hands like I do, but eventually you get into the stride of following the bugs and swinging the net to catch it. You can also gather treasures to upgrade your equipment, a feature in this game that I really like.

Shields in this game have health bars. (Well all of them except for one, the Hylian Shield, one we're quite accustomed to seeing by now.) If you deplete the health bars completely, the shields break, so it's important to get the longest health bar possible for your shield. You do this by upgrading your shield at the scrap shop in Skyloft. Needless to say, the treasures you collect in this game come to be rather important you.

This is a game for people who don't mind grinding for items and rupees. You can get through the game just grabbing the treasures you get while doing yours quest, but you probably won't be able to upgrade all of Link's equipment that way. Therefore, you'll probably be spending some time catching bugs and picking up different relics and other treasures from around the world.

So far, I'm really loving the storyline. You're a boy from the knight academy in a floating town called Skyloft. You're BFFs with Zelda, and she's totally into you, if you know what I mean. I don't want to give any of the story away, so I won't say more, but it really is a lot of fun.

Did I mention the interesting riding that goes on in this game? No, you don't have Epona, which is sad, but it's still actually kind of cool. You have a giant red bird, a Loftwing, of your very own to fly around on. The coolest thing about it? You get to jump off into the air and whistle for your bird. I know I scared the crap out of a friend who came over to see the game when he first saw me dive off a ledge.

I didn't know Link had taken up skydiving.

Flying is one of the more awkward things in the game to catch onto, since it's actually quite sensitive to how you're holding the remote. But, you get a nice tutorial from Zelda, so it shouldn't be too difficult for anyone to pick up. I got it rather quickly and I'm not always so great with stuff like that.

All in all, I'm really loving this game so far. I haven't gotten too far into it yet, despite a 60 hour playing time (spent more time cutting grass than anything). When I get further in, I'll be able to comment further on it, but I doubt I'll do nothing but love it more. Until then!

Cheers!

I seriously have to share this

Here's a video of my cat being adorable. I really just had to share this, he's my crazy little baby.

This is me admitting to being a crazy cat-lady. No one judge me.

Hope cute things brighten up your day!

Cheers!

How to put together your very own Fourth Doctor costume

Well, Hallowe'en may be over, but I know for a fact that conventions go pretty much year round, seeing as I have one not to far from now. What a better place to show off your cosplay skills? And, if you're anything like me, you love the idea of going as one of the greatest people to ever bless the Doctor Who-niverse.

I wonder if he looks this shocked when he finds out he's so popular.

If the last con I went to was any indication, Doctor Who is making a massive resurgence, thanks greatly to Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat, bless them. But, amongst the cool bow-ties and the coats from Janice Joplin, I was seeing an awful lot of scarves, which to me, was amazing.

The greatest fashion accessory mankind will ever know.

So, if you're interested in becoming the embodiment of the greatest Doctor to ever be known (opinions may vary, depending on who you started with, it IS true that you never forget your first), you will need to do a variety of things before even getting started.

This is no time to get lazy.

First off, you have to come to the realization that Tom Baker's Doctor had one of the more diverse wardrobes in the series. Consisting of three very distinct coats, two noticeably different=coloured scarves, not counting the differing multi-coloured ones that appeared throughout the Fourth Doctor's long run.

You have to make a decision about which sort of Fourth Doctor you want to portray. Do you want to be the early Doctor, fumbling around in his short burgundy blazer? Do you want to be the Doctor in his dark brown coat, ready to plunge into a dark and mysterious plot? Or would you rather wear the light grey-brown frock, ready for a more light-hearted and action-packed adventure?

He can't make the decision for you.

Once you've made your decision, it's time to find out what kind of components you're dealing with. Personally, I preferred the lighter coat outfit, which is the one I chose, but they all have essentially the same parts, just in different colours. Keeping in mind that there are A LOT of things you'll need, which can rack up in a lot of money spent, this is what you'll need:

• Blazer or frock coat
  I got mine from CosplaySky, rather thank making my own, since making coats can actually get far pricier than simply buying one online. I was also pressed for time, so I just placed the order and focussed on other parts of the costume instead.
  CosplaySky is actually a really great place to get the coats, since they have both the grey-brown frock and the reddish blazer, and everything's made to your own specific measurements, which is pretty awesome. So whether you buy it online, or you make it yourself (there is a wide variety of patterns available online if you need one, simply search "Frock coat pattern" and you'll find one), this should be one of the first things you get done, since coats can be time-consuming to make and orders can take a few weeks for delivery, so don't do this one last-minute.
  
  
  
  
•  The Scarf
  
  
  The iconic scarf. This is the item that will make people recognize who you're cosplaying as. Most people, myself included, will say that this is the most important part of your costume, seeing as it IS his trademark accessory.
  Now the scarf is slightly more difficult. Frock coats are coming back into style with all the steampunk and popularity of Victorian-era clothing. Eighteen-foot scarves, however, have never really been in style, and considering the impracticality or them, I don't think you'll be finding those at your local stores.
  There are people online you can commission a scarf from, but in this case, that would probably be the more expensive route. If you know how to knit, or even if you don't (it's not really that hard, so why not give it a try?), it's time to get crafty. Wool, if you shop at stores like Wal-Mart, isn't that expensive and you can get rather large balls at a much cheaper price. If you're willing to put aside the time (and eighteen feet or so IS going to be time consuming) you can get the scarf for much cheaper than if you were to buy one online.
  My grandmother, an avid knitter (my own personal Madam Nostradamus), volunteered to make the scarf for me, and, knitting for hours a day (it's her hobby, I'm not a slave-driver, honest), she managed to make the entire scarf in a little under two weeks, but don't expect that sort of productivity if you have an actual life. Set aside some time to knit, but make sure you start enough in advance, I'd recommend a good couple months in advance, giving yourself some lee-way. If you want a good pattern to knit from, I'd recommend doctorwhoscarf.com, since they offer all four patterns of the scarf as it evolved.
  Either way you choose to go about obtaining the scarf, be assured that it's well worth it. You'll have a Doctor Who prop as recognizable as the Sonic Screwdriver... which, speaking of...
  
•  Sonic Screwdriver
  This is one of the accessories people often forgo if they need to save some money. I'm not against dropping the screwdriver if you're a little strapped for cash (I'm no stranger to being broke, but that cos I buy all sorts of Doctor Who stuff), but it is one of the cheaper items to put into your costume. I paid 19.99$ for my screwdriver at the last con I went to, and looking online, it's not too much more to order online. I've also seen the Fourth Doctor's screwdriver in comic book and collectible shops all over, so there are options with the Screwdriver. And, after you're done with it in your costume, it's fun to have around as a decoration, I keep mine with my DVDs, and people who visit are always playing with it because of the fun sound it makes.
  
• Hat
  The hat is another difficult one if you don't want to spend a lot of money. The only floppy fedoras I'd found outside of Hallowe'en time were in men's specialty shops for upwards of 80$ apiece. I suppose if you shop around online enough you may find one for cheaper, but I hadn't found one. So, with those shocking prices, I'd ended up going to a Hallowe'en costume shop, hoping to fins Victorian props, and came out with a Freddy Kreuger hat. It's not EXACTLY like the Doctor's hat, but it's really similar in some ways, and is providing me with a good template to make a better hat for future cons. So my advice for the hat is to shop around and don't be afraid to get something cheap and work to make it similar with a little scrap fabric.
  
  
• Waistcoat
  The Doctor is famous for his crazy pattern choices, and the waistcoat is no exception, sporting a cheerful brown tartan pattern along the front. Now, if you don't have a lot of time or money on your hands, this one doesn't have to be perfect the first time around, as your scarf does hide a lot. The first time I dressed as the doctor, I didn't have a waistcoat at all. No one noticed with the scarf in the way, but if you're a die-hard cosplayer like me, I know you'll want to get one eventually. I recomment going to men's shops that sell Victorian-inspired clothing, or to shop online in places that sell Victorian or steampunk clothing, as they're the most likely to have what you're looking for. I found that The Gentleman's Emporium had the best choices.
  
  In some earlier episodes, the Doctor was seen wearing an argyle cardigan under his blazer, which is probably easier to find than the waistcoat. I've never gone looking for a cardigan like his, so I have no real advice, other than to look in menswear stores.
  
•  Shirt
  The Doctor's shirt isn't often seen under everything he wears over it, but's mostly a baggy dress shirt, a more Victorian-styled shirt, but this is one place you can afford to be lazy and just use a normal shirt, as it will be covered. If you're going for authenticity, shop around in Victorian stores until you find something.
  
• Ascot
  The Doctor is definitely one for accessorizing! He's always seen with a colourful neckscarf (in red for later episodes, green for earlier ones). This is one of the things that will be visible if it's missing, but I didn't find red ascots too difficult to come by. They sell them in men's specialty stores and online everywhere that sells steampunk and Victorian clothing.
  
• Trousers
  The Fourth Doctor wears baggy wool trousers. They're a sort of grey-brown, and you can get them pretty much anywhere you can buy men's pants. I personally bought mine in a suit I got for the jacket that looks like the one Matt Smith's Doctor wore.
  
• Shoes/Boots
  The Doctor wears either brown loafers or knee-high buccaneer boots, depending on the episode. This is another decision that needs to be made in the costume process, keeping in mind that the loafers would probably be easier to find, as you can buy them in pretty much any shoe store. The boots would not be too difficult if you don't mind paying for it, as boots can get to be quite expensive. For boots, I'd recommend, once again, looking in places that sell older-fashioned and Victorian clothing, as you'll have the best amount of luck there.

These shoes scream sex.

However you go about getting the components of your costume, it will be well worth it once you start to see it coming together. The only thing left to do once you've gotten everything you'll need is to wear it with confidence. If you have crazy hair like mine, fashioning your own hair into an acceptable "fro" to rival Tom Baker's mess of curls. If you don't have insane hair, there are a variety of curly wigs to be found both online and in costume and party shops all over, so this will probably be the easiest part of the costume.

When you look this good, the ladies love you.

Once you've gotten your hair in order and all of your costume put together, rejoice! For you are now the Fourth Doctor. And that's certainly something to be proud of. Enjoy showing it off at your next party or convention!


Cheers!