Hello everyone!

As many of you know, I am now taking classes at SCAD Atlanta. I changed my major to sculpture as the drawing and painting studios had none of the equipment my art requires. I LOVE it. As much as I learned at UGA, and as many excellent friends I made there, SCAD is very much more suited to my learning style. The quarter system is taking quite a bit of adjusting to, but all in all I feel like I am getting much more accomplished. It is quite nice to be back on track.

In the interest of presenting my work in a more professional manner, and to help facilitate our upcoming lines of accessories and period grooming supplies (Dapper Dantes Pomade, etc...), as well as to help me design all of the millions of thingies floating about in my head for our steampunk world, I have just purchased a new computer and monitor! Finally! Again, thanks to ryukumu for providing a host of helpful information and tips. I would have been lost otherwise.

I look forward, not only to playing FALLOUT 3

(AT LONG LAST, AFTER 7 YEARS OF WAITING)

but also being able to use Autodesk Inventor, and other such programs. I was lucky enough to be given a copy by a new friend from GA Tech.

In other news, costumes continue to be planned and created:

WIP Steampunk Boba Fett!

Although my scarce and untimely posts, in all likelihood, rarely inform any of you of any developments on the web of which you were not already aware (as I am generally behind the times), I've come across a few new things whose merit demands that I post about them.

LIST OF AWESOME THINGS (in no particular order) GO:

AWESOME THING #1:
"The Areas of My Expertise," by John Hodgman
This satirical almanac has captivated my attention for the past week since it came to our house from the library. I cannot express just how funny and original this book is. The full title is: "An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order by myself, John Hodgman, a Professional Writer, in The Areas of My Expertise, which Include: Matters Historical, Matters Literary, Matters Cryptozoological, Hobo Matters, Food, Drink & Cheese (a Kind of Food), Squirrels & Lobsters & Eels, Haircuts, Utopia, What Will Happen in the Future, and Most Other Subjects." If that isn't enough to convince you of this book's unparalleled awesomeness, consider the following review found on the inside cover: "In the olden days, all important knowledge was stored in the Library of Alexandria. In the modern era, all important knowledge was stored in the Internet. The Areas of My Expertise is upgrade to the Library of Alexandria and the Internet, offering significant improvements in security, accuracy, and awesomeness." -David Rees. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. AND WATCH THIS VIDEO TRAILER:


AWESOME THING #2:
Pandora.com
Pandora is free internet radio that only plays what you like. Now, that doesn't mean that you can type in any song and immediately hear it for free, due to licensing, but what it means is that you type in any artist, or song name, and it will create a radio station of music that is similar, and which will also contain songs by that artist. What is really amazing is the method it uses to choose what is similar to what you tell it you like. Pandora is operated by the Music Genome Project, which is a huge group of musicians who collaborated to analyze just about every band EVER (including all of the obscure ones I love) and describe tons of elements that make up each of them, which it them correlates to all other bands. It is sooo much more complicated than merely sorting them by genre, even if it included numerous sub genres. Needless to say, it is a fantastic way to discover new bands and listen to many of their songs. It is also so easy to use that it took me a bit to figure it out because my mind kept trying to find complications and "figure it out." But it's really as easy as sign up, type in things you like, listen, and then tell it if you do or do not like what is playing. The more you tell it, the better it is at playing things you like that you've never heard before. Give the thumbs down to two songs from an artist, and it won't ever play another song from them on that station. You can make as many as you want, and can add other songs or artists to the criteria for each of them. You can't rewind, or instantly replay a song, because of licensing, but you can skip a certain number of songs per hour for each station. The few limits that it does have due to it being free are far outweighed by its genius.

AWESOME THING #3:
3:10 to Yuma
Starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, and co starring Alan Tudyk (for whom I audibly cheered for upon his surprise appearance in the film) and with a very good cameo from Luke Wilson. EXCELLENT FILM. I previously hated Russell Crowe (intensely, though for admittedly no real reason), though that hate has been thoroughly erased by this movie. Master and Commander made me hate him LESS, but I still didn't really like him. UNTIL NOW. I also never would have thought that there could be a western movie that was as good as Clint Eastwood's films, but they did a far better job without him than I ever thought possible. Tombstone came pretty close, but this movie annihilates Tombstone, in my opinion, and Tombstone is one of my favorite movies. It had much more heart and soul then most dirt and bullet filled western flicks, and even though it was FILLED with action and intensity, it has a level of deep character development and excellent dialogue that is practically never seen in western movies, and is some of the best in film to date.

AWESOME THING #4:
Kuroshitsuji, aka Black Butler
The anime adaptation of this manga was released in October of this year. When we saw the Victorian character designs, we immediately knew that we had to do costumes from it and that I needed to be the 12 year old boy, Ciel Phantomhive who sells his sole for a demon butler/bodyguard who rivals Walter (of Hellsing) as coolest butler ever, a task I previously thought impossible. I just love how ridiculous his costumes are. He's like part Rei, part Integra, and part Little Lord Fauntleroy, with a heavy sprinkling of EGL on top. It sounds mad, but it comes off looking oddly cute and stylish at the same time. A top hat, knee breeches, a bustle, spats, granny boots, and sock garters? I never would have thought of THAT combination on a straight male, but he makes it work somehow. I must tap into this dark, androgynous power and add it to my own. In addition to that outfit, I really want to do this one, and this one. He even goes undercover in a huge pink dress on his mission to uncover Jack the Ripper. Much hilarity ensues. I think I have to do that one too, just for the sheer hysteria of it.

I don't post here very often, as you will no doubt be aware if you are on LJ with any regularity. This is generally because I rarely have things to say which I feel merit broadcasting to everyone I know on the internet. But recently I found myself wanting to talk about a few things and provide updates at to what is going on with me this year.

If you watch my deviantART then you will have heard about why we are not going to Otakon. If you don't watch it, then I will fill you in: ( Further explanation and rant about convention weapon policies behind cut )

On a more fun note, here are my costume plans for the rest of the year:

Dragon*Con:

~Steampunk: Vincent Dantes
-improved steamtank
-more guns
-steam powered arm armor
-new blue glowy aether capacitors
-new coat
-new spats
-aether charged cutlass
-piratey sash

~Doctor Who: Original Design 11th Doctor
-elements of 4th, 8th, and 10th Doctors
-black velvet pinstripe jacket
-black pinstripe Chuck Taylors
-gray striped pants
-extremely long dark and light gray striped scarf
-red cravat
-Victorian style shirt
-silver paisley brocade waist coat
-wallet with psychic paper
-original custom pocket watch
-original custom machined sonic screwdriver
-light weight, slightly less than full size, mobile TARDIS with lights and sounds

~Dr. Girlfriend
-pink dress version
-LOL

~Steampunk Cheshire Cat
-short top hat w/ ears and goggles
-purple crushed velvet pants and poet shirt
-claws, fangs, and contact lenses
-striped knee socks and pointy shoes
-tailcoat w/ striped cat tail
-brass tragedy and comedy mask shoulder armor

AWA:

~Same as D*C, but without Doctor Who

Nekocon:

~Same as AWA, but with Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Prospects for next year:
~Abel from Trinity Blood
~Ultimate Gambit
~Vlad the Impaler version Alucard
~Knights of the Old Republic (comic) Mandalorians?
~Fallout 3 Brotherhood of Steel?

I started working the build at Netherworld today, as well as working at the Ren Fest yesterday and the day before. I am quite sore from constant ax throwing and construction work, but am quite relieved to be working every day again. After quite a long dry spell I finally have tons of steady paying work! Yay for munnies and jobs that are really fun!

Also, Momocon was great! Our panel was a big hit and we met a bunch of amazing new friends!

And check out this AMAZING site I found the other day: Oobject.com "...like a Billboard Chart for Gadgets."

There is far to much to do and not near enough time in which to do it all. To compound the frustration, much of it can't be done alone and there is no one around who can help me, as Adam has classes and work, Craig has a new job, and Matt is looking for a job, and has no car.

This is further made worse by the fact that my job is screwing me in the hours department, resulting in no money. Oh, and I just got a speeding ticket, which couldn't have been more apropos. Big hill, picked up too much speed, got snagged by the fuzz. I've traveled that road nearly every day for years and not only have I never seen a cop there, that one little stretch just happens to drop down to 35mph, which was news to me.

~Yet Another List~

I've only really gotten into beer in the last year, as prior to that the only kinds I'd even enjoyed were Guinness, Heineken, Killian's, and New Castle. Those being good, they are just not the same here as they are in Europe. America doesn't seem to be able to make beer in mass quantities properly. I will concede that there are some micro-breweries that are decent, but I don't really have the patience or desire to hunt through them all as thy all look rather dull on the outside and I tend to chose my beer by how much the bottle attracts my aesthetic sensibilities, unless it is being given to me in which case that doesn't matter at all.

I'd been to Europe before, but I only ever had whiskey and wine when I was there, so our recent trip to Denmark really opened my tongue eyes to a world of deliciosity and since then I've come across quite a few amazing beers here in the states that seemed to have survived the import process with flavor and high alcohol content intact.

( This cut shields you from a world of awesome and intoxicating flavor )

~Of Which You May Not, But Should Be Aware~

Comanche Moon: a delightful televised miniseries.

Waking Life: a mind altering existentialist film.

The Mighty Boosh: a psychedelic world of British hilarity.

City of Lost Children: a French steampunk fantasy film starring Ron Perlman.

and most importantly:

Ron Paul: a soft spoken, straight shooting bad ass.

I am here compiling a list for my own reference of things I plan to get at some point in the future.


http://www.villagehatshop.com/john_bull_topper.html?SSAID=85332
A John Bull Topper. Not the best price, but the best photo I've found. I saw a guy wearing one of these in Borders the other day, and I was astounded at how casual it looked. I would wear it all the time.


Leather Top Hat, for when the weather is a bit rough, or for walking about on deck. For less formal, more rugged situations. I should just make one of these. Like Slash, but without the huge conchos on the band. lol


Pale Rider Hat, sometimes caller the Drifter Hat. Clint Eastwood style. Need I say more? I haven't seen any reasonably priced versions of this hat, and it is apparently called a bunch of different things. It's more or less a top hat with a fedora-like brim.


http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/store/001703.php
A light tan version of my top hat. Not a great range of particular applications for this, but it looks neat and it's always nice to have options.

This started out as a list of stuff and became a list of hats. I like hats.

Every album is a comeback album. Or post rather.

So much has happened! Went to Denmark and had a fantastic time. Zeitguyz wants us to do more cons with them, and we are all quite excited about that needless to say. Talking with them has spurred even more elaborate steampunk plans, the first being an online comic of our characters using photographs instead of drawings, which will eventually lead into short films, and then longer films. The comics and films will help to establish the world and once we've gotten that out there we are shooting to make our own video game.

What else is new...
I had planned on moving back to Athens to finish my degree, but after weighing my job and roommate options, I've decided to move to Atlanta late January and transfer to GSU, starting classes in the summer. I've also decided to just switch my major to Sculpture, rather than trying to do a Drawing and Painting/Sculpture major.

I worked at Netherworld in October and had more fun than a person should be allowed to have at their job. They've asked me to be a part of the build crew and help build the house starting in late April (one of the reasons I did not want to be all the way out in Athens) and I am very excited about that.

So lots of exciting stuff!

... As sound as a madman gets, anyway.

We had a spectacular time in L.A., and I only wish we would have had more time there. I didn't get to do as many photo shoots as I had hoped for, but I'm very excited about the ones we did do. Tas is going to do a bunch of cool digital effects to them, so it will be a while before he can send them to me.

Another unfortunate thing is that we didn't get very many pics of Gankutsuou, but I post up the ones we did get. I'll have to rectify this at Otakon.











I can't wait to see the pics that Tas took. After working with him, I am itching to do some more really nice shoots, but I need a few things. A photographer with some free time and a good camera, and a old style bathtub with feet. I want to fill it with "blood" and get some fun shots as Alucard. I also wanted to get some good shots of Girlycard, since the only pics I have of that are when I'm standing around in a hotel lobby at cons. We're making his coffin for Otakon, so there are a bunch of fun things we could do with that as well. I was hoping to do these in an old looking building, but I don't know of any off the top of my head.

I'm also having a bit of a conundrum. We're doing a big Hellsing group fro Otakon, but I can't decide which version of Alucard to do. I'm trying to decide between adding onto the standard red coat version: re-casting my big hell hound heads, adding some crazy eye covered black armor-like plates with bat wings coming out of them, getting a longer wig and have bats coming out of it on one side, and possibly adding a wing on my back OR doing the Vlad the Impaler version with the sword and medieval armor.

I really can't decide. The Vlad version is cool because it's totally unlike any version I've done so far, but there is the considerable drawback of the lack of guns. Maybe I could make some crazy flintlock versions of the Joshua and the Jackal. Hrm.... And I could certainly add the hell hound head to it... What do you guys think?

*EDIT*

Ok, after fully considering the prospect of making flintlock steampunk looking versions of Alucard's guns, I've realized that I don't have near enough time.

I DO, however, have enough time to make the sword crazy looking. I just so happen to have a well carved wooden broadsword blade of perfect size and shape, that I could very easily fix up and cover with swirling black red-eyed chaos. The image I have for it in my mind definitely makes up for the lack of guns.

When I do a new version with bat wings and eyes all over, I will want it to be the bondage version, and not just an add on to the red coat one.

Which means that I have to choose either the super insane bondage Alucard, with tons of eyes, centipedes, and bat wings, OR and the medieval Vlad the Impaler version with the armor and chaos sword.

Honestly, they would both be just as easy to do and equally time consuming, so the question is merely that of aesthetics. The only drawback I see with the Vlad version is that most people probably won't recognize it as Alucard yet.

Thank you all for the wonderful compliments!

I'm in LA right now and am having a blast. The first day, we went to see a show and some guy flipped out because he thought I was one of the guys in My Chemical Romance. He was all, "DUDE! ARE YOU PLAYING TONIGHT? WHY NOT?" I was amused. Later while we were walking back from the liquor store, Andy Samberg (The Lonely Island, Awesome Town, SNL) got out of a car right next to me, so that was pretty cool.

I should get my stuff back in order so we can head over to the convention. Talk to you guys later!

Current Mood: cheerful

The pants are nearly done and the wig is still a little damp, but I couldn't wait to put the rest of it on!



( More pics behind the cut. )

Current Mood: jubilant

Here are some shots of the cane I just made for my Gankutsuou costume. The top of the cane was cast from an original sculpture and the shaft was made from a pool cue. I sculpted the original by hand from sculpey which I then baked. After baking, I made a mold of it and cast it in friendly plastic.





In case you're unfamiliar with the series, here's a reference pic:

A week before the con, I was wrangled into going, and so I sprung into action to fix up my Alucard costume. I tried remaking the hell hounds, but the mold didn't work at all, and I ended up wasting the last night before the con producing nothing but failure. I had a few hours before we had to leave, and so I scrambled to figure out something to wear. My hat was nowhere to be seen and I didn't want to wear plain old Alucard, as I had to Anime Matsuri and Momocon.

I've gotten tired of people bitching when I wear Gambit to anime cons, and Gunslinger Spawn is even further from anime. As much fun as it is to wear Girlycard, I do enjoy people recognizing who I am dressed as. That leaves Dracula, and he isn't even animated.

Then I had a crazy idea: combine Alucard and Dracula. Kouta Hirano himself told me that he drew inspiration from the movie, so no one could argue. The big question was, would anyone be able to figure out what I was supposed to be? I threw on the Dracula suit, and added the Alucard holsters, the giant eye, the long black wig, and swapped the blue glasses for the red ones. It didn't look bad, but it wasn't really recognizable as either character. Alucard's bright red coat looked awful with the gray top hat, so that was out of the question. Rummaging around in the garage, I found the dark red cloak from Alex's Viking Spawn costume, and it turned out to be JUST what the costume needed. The addition of red brought out the Alucard, and the cut kept in the Victorian fashion of Dracula, and what's more, the inside of the cloak just happened to be the exact same shade of gray as the suit!

I was satisfied, but the question still remained, would OTHER people be able to figure what I was? My worries were needless, as far more people than I expected easily recognized me as Alucard. A several people caught the Gary Oldman refference, and a few people even assumed that it was actually from a part of the Manga! I LOLed. Good times.






~Anime Expo UPDATE~
Working away on my Gankutsuou costume. So far I have everything I need except the wig, the yellow contact, gold stud earrings, and the hat. I'm ordering the wig and the contact tonight, and I'm going to Eddie's Trick Shop on Friday to get the hat. I have some plain white gloves, but they are pretty shabby looking, so I need to get a new pair of those at Eddie's as well.

The cane is coming together nicely, I cast the sculpture I made last night, and it came out pretty good, just needs a bit of cleaning up before I paint it. I bought a pool cue for the shaft, and am pretty excited to see it coming together.

I revamped my workshop and took a bunch of pics, check them out on my devART:



Also, I had a great time at Animazement, I'll get some pics up this evening.

OK! So I finally got the pictures uploaded...

( Work in Progress: Evangellion Armored Plug Suit )

( As requested, my new hair... )

To quote my favorite President, George Washington, "Keep your lookin' balls locked on the picture radio, and prepare to get your nuts smashed."

BY THE AWESOME GLORY OF OUR REVAMPED WEBSITE!

Well, by what glory there is so far. We don't have much up right now; none of the links work and it has some display issues, but we've worked quite hard on it and want you guys to see what we've done so far. Think of it like a sneak peek.

Bear in mind that I really don't know how to use Photoshop and that what I do know, I taught myself. I just sort of fiddle around with it until my eyes stop bleeding as much. I apologize for my complete lack of any sort of digital art training.

OUTLANDARMOR.COM LIVES AGAIN!

On a side note, I found my camera the other day, so I took some pictures of my hair. Only to realize that the memory card is missing, so I have no way of transferring the pictures from the camera to my laptop. *sigh*

It's doubly sad because I just got the EVA plug suit armor prototype into good enough shape that I'd allow it to be seen. Soon... soon.

Ok ok, while George Washington may have never said "prepare to get your nuts smashed," Jack Black DID while he was wearing a George Washington costume and that's as good enough for me.

Current Mood: accomplished

So after an absurdly long delay, I got my hair cut and dyed it black. "Soft" black, rather. The blond was cute, but it just wasn't me. And the number of times I was confused for a woman tripled, which as amusing as it is, gets old after a point.

One thing that I did enjoy about the blond hair was the considerable number of times that people remarked that I looked like Tilda Swinton. And if someone tells you that, and you don't take it as a compliment, then you don't deserve to live. Sure, I might be the wrong gender to be Tilda Swinton, but she's fucking hot. Anyway, it gave me the idea to do a Gabriel costume from Constantine, so I guess that when I do it, I'll just get a wig.

I got my hair cut after my Alucard wig as many people had said that it looked pretty good on me. The barber cut it very well, though a good deal shorter than I would have initially liked. The serendipitous side effect of that is that my hair now looks like a cross between Link and Elvis. Early Elvis and Twilight Princess Link, to be more specific. I'm rather happy with the combination. It's good to be the King... of pixies. Wait...

Hrm...

Current Mood: sleepy

This is the hardest thing I've ever had to write. Spiderman 3 was fucking painful to watch. Parts of it are brilliant, but so much of it caused me to actually cringe. I often exclaimed, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST FUCKING HAPPENED!" But unfortunately that was more often because I couldn't believe that MANY adults thought that what I just saw was a good idea than because I just witnessed something mind numbingly awesome.

There were QUITE a few awesome moments in the film. Much of it was GREAT. Like about the first half of it. It starts off extremely cheesy, then it gets really gripping. And then... It's seriously like the writers became temporarily 8 years old off and on throughout the rest of the movie. There was genuine groaning and wincing on my part, and I am a TREMENDOUS DORK. I am a Spiderman fanboy. I expect a good amount of cheese in my comic book movies. But this was a goddamn cheese enema and bukkake fest.

If I could only recut the film to exclude all of the insipid and unnecessary shit, it would be an amazing movie. But the emotion was totally castrated by a metric ass load of jaw droppingly stupid lines. At one point, an amazing and pivotal action sequence is immediately followed by a shot of two onlooking children, one of whom ACTUALLY SHOUTS, "Wicked cool!" I wanted to die. There were so many moments like that in the film, where they literally told you how to feel. You can just show us something without blatantly stating it right after it happens.

I will say that Venom looks cool once you actually see him, but he was such a fucking mockery of the character that I honestly couldn't wait for the movie to end. He's just a petty bitch with no real motivation for being as evil as they try to make him out to be. If you like Venom, you'd best kill all hopes of seeing justice done to him right now. It's really deceptive too, because when you first see him it's fucking bad ass. It looks like it's going to redeem some of the cornier moments, but it doesn't. He doesn't call himself "we" nor is he ever referred to as Venom at any point in the entire movie. His tongue is on the action figure, but nowhere in the movie. No green saliva. He does not eat any brains, nor even make a reference to brain consumption. The suit only morphs to show Topher Grace's face. He sulks and whines. The symbiote shows up, literally for no reason whatsoever at the beginning of the movie and then does nothing for quite a while.

Ugh. I could go on, but it honestly hurts me to think about it.

Current Mood: disappointed

So for those of you who might not know, which I just realized is probably most of you, I recently started a new medication to combat my Crohn's disease. Previously I was taking an insane amount of pills (over thirty a day) just so that I could simply avoid the near constant excruciating pain. Even with the pills, I never felt good and had virtually no appetite, as merely the thought of food would get my digestive system cranking which equaled at the very least, moderate discomfort.

The new stuff is called Remicade and it is administered as an IV. I go into the outpatient center and they hook me up for two hours. I can bring my laptop in, and I get to sit in a huge deck-of-the-Enterprise chair. It's not uncomfortable at all. I've had the first three doses, which are given two weeks apart, and then after that every other month.

And I must say that after just those three, I feel fucking fantastic. I have energy I forgot I could even have. I didn't remember how awesome eating delicious food was. I haven't taken any of the pills in weeks and I feel great, better than I have in a long time. It's so nice to be able to look forward to eating again.

Current Mood: chipper