I've dressed up before to go to conventions or nerdy gatherings: I wore my best Browncoatesque Western/Chinese hodgepodge to the premiere of Serenity, with the Chinese character for Serenity painted on my cheek. I threw together a pretty impressive closet Steampunk for a trip to Gen Con last summer that I didn't think would happen. I even went to SDCC in a costume for one of the days... though it wasn't one I was particularly proud of or would have picked for myself.
But this is my first time actually picking a fandom I am passionate about and constructing a costume that replicates it's source material to the best of my ability.
I am not a total n00b when it comes to fabrication and costume work. I have a pretty extensive background in theatre (though I haven't been in that world for many years now) and have a fairly wide variety of experience in arts and crafts. Still, I've never faked armor. Or prop weapons. Or done any work with wonderflex, friendly plastic, or many of the other materials that cosplay costumers use.
Also, I'm generally pretty strapped for cash.
This will be a journey into frugal cosplay. I have a passion for fabrication and look forward to pushing myself into recreating as much of this costume as possible while also pinching my pennies. I don't have a workshop or a garage that's cleared of stuff. I don't have a workbench or many tools (unless I dig through the spider-and-dust-coated-pit that is my basement). But I do have creativity and an intense level of satisfaction when I can macgyver something together rather than purchase it pre-made.
This leaves me with a slight problem... Most of the things I would post here, I would also post there.
But tumblr gives me a little more flexibility in the layout, appearance and variety of my content...
So, yeah.
I'm not abandoning this blog, but I think it would be wise for anyone who enjoys me here to follow me there - because I may decide to transition to one venue-of-posting, rather than generating a series of reposts between the two sites - and my brain is currently fighting over two viable options.
I honestly don't know how I feel about this video.
Many times when I'm recording something, I jot down some thoughts ahead of time and I start to record as if it were a performance - the words are mine, the thoughts are mine, and I'm not stiffly reading from a script, but I try to stay brief and concise and animated. It makes it easier to edit and creates a better end product. To watch the raw footage, you'd often see me repeating myself frequently, going back to do another take of whatever point I'd last said, because I want to make sure it looked and sounded right.
This is not one of those videos.
Recording this kind of got away from me. I was not really in control. I started out with a vague sense that I wanted to talk about my feelings - that I needed to get something off of my chest. I had been looking back through footage of a deceased friend and was overcome with emotion while talking about it. I stopped thinking about the fact that I was making a video. I just started talking.
This is probably one of the most honest and intimate moments I've ever recorded... and that scares me a little.
I edited it, thinking I would cut a lot of it out. When the final cut was made, I wondered if I'd even post it. I posted it, not sure if I was going to promote it at all - maybe it could sit in obscurity in my Youtube channel and only the occasional stranger would notice it.
I've obviously changed my mind and decided to share it.
In honor of Thanksgiving, here's a heaping helping of blogness.
No way in Hell could I have finished that off...
Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. While my mom obviously did her part, Josh and I were able to kind of take over and give her a chance to relax. Between the two of us, we got everything timed perfectly. Go Team Venture! This year, we brined the turkey in a solution made of apple cider, vermouth and some leftover Riesling. Yum. It's easy to brine meats when it's so damn cold - we could just stick it in a container out in the garage without worrying about having room in the fridge. The meat ended up so juicy - I'm not a white meat kind of girl most of the time, but it was moist and full of deliciousness. One of the best turkey's I've ever had.
I'm currently nibbling on some of my homemade pie, now that I'm finished packing away tons of leftovers and cleaning the carcass for some turkey soup that's now wafting from the kitchen. I had a hell of a time making the crust last night - that dough just didn't want to be made and my mother's cuisinart died halfway through the process. Happy to say, it turned out deliciously.
I have defeated you, fail crust demon!
I've been a bit delayed in my posting, mostly because life is just coasting at the moment. Work, work, work, day off, play Skyrim, play Saints Row, rinse, repeat.
Productivity black hole, I love you so much.
I'm getting a good chunk of hours at work, which is refreshing and soothes me a bit, considering that I'm going to be forced into getting my hours cut soon. At least it's recognized that my performance is good, but that is a very small comfort considering that I'm on the hunt for a second job (not counting the freelance work I'm also doing in my downtime.)
I'm making an effort to produce more content for YouTube. I have an audience there that I still can't explain... I wasn't producing with a particular audience in mind. But it makes sense to entertain them as best I can... Otherwise, I feel like someone peeking through the curtains while a crowd stands on their doorstep, waiting for something to happen.
A little while back, I decided to weigh in on something that's been bugging me about the media coverage of the Occupy movement. I understand that it is hard to know quite what to do to quell an expression of social unrest, especially when there are not any clear solutions... but you know, typing more on it would just be repeating myself. Check out the video.
Goodnight all. I must leave you now, to lull myself to sleep with Skyrim and naked bears.
There was a huge convention in town this week catering exclusively to teenagers. As I've previously mentioned, my workplace is directly connected to our convention center downtown. So, when they weren't doing whatever it was they were there to do at the exhibition, they lived in the mall. A mall swarming with restless teens in a party mood for what felt like days on end. It really makes me wonder: could I have been that obnoxious when I was that age?
Yeah, probably.
At times, it was hellish- one kid broke their leg after climbing on crap
he shouldn't have, fistfights nearly breaking out, used condoms being
found in places that are more skeevy than the average grossness of
finding post-sex evidence out in public. (No evidence that any out of town teens were the ones who left those little gems, but they definitely contributed to the aura of chaos in which that sort of thing can happen without anyone noticing). The food court was a no man's
land for the most part. To be fair, and in defense of the kids who were there, most of them were incredibly polite on an individual basis (It's weird being called Ma'am by kids who are only roughly 7 years younger than me.) and the city definitely appreciates the business they bring with them - but when they start screaming call and response games from one end of the mall to the other... let's just say, my nerves were completely shot when I was hearing kids yelling "Aaaaaayyy!" at the top of their lungs every 5-10 minutes.
This was the soundtrack to my week. Let that sink in.
I won't get into the other things stressing me out over this week, because I don't want this turning into Bitching Soapbox Hour, but suffice it to say I felt like I had a lot on my plate, which means that I feel totally devoid of creativity, clarity of mind, or mirth.
Thus, I present to you, a quick rundown of the corners of the internet I've been heading to in order to alleviate my tension and maybe get down with some giggles. Today, I'm looking specifically at you, Youtube:
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Watercooler Films is an awesome channel that I've been following for a while now. It all started with his series "Worst Movie Scenes of All Time" in which he finds some real gems and posts them in their pure form for your entertainment. It's like getting the best parts out of a so-bad-it's-good movie without actually having to sit through the tedious crap. I thank him for his sacrifice in doing that for me. He hasn't been posting new clips for Worst Movie Scenes all that frequently, but it's definitely worth checking out the archive. Right now, I'm enjoying his yearly 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days series in which he dedicates the month of October to short-but-sweet reviews of horror movies. While most of the films he picks out are atrocious, adding to the humor of the resulting review, I really appreciate that he doesn't simply tear each movie apart just for the sake of a funnier video. If there are positive qualities to a film, he'll tell you about it. And if it was like having his teeth pulled out, he'll definitely let you know.
These two ladies get listed together because I find them at their funniest when they combine forces. They are such a fascinating mix of hot + nerd + genuinely weird that makes me jealous. If my Youtube page could be half as interesting as some of the random things they post, I'd be much more satisfied with myself. I'm kind of in love with this video starring both of them: it captures some of the hottest faces ever put to film (said with and without sarcasm). I've watched it an embarrassing number of times since it was posted earlier this month, probably because it reminds me of things I would have made with my friends in high school if we'd had the camera skills and the patience.
I'm the kind of geek who seeks out intellectual stimulation, even if I don't necessarily agree with the points being made in one's persuasive argument. RSA Animate combines my love of somewhat high-brow philosophical and intellectual discussions on topics that effect our society and my love of doodling. Some may find the subject matter dry or hard to swallow, but I find this kind of thing fascinating and it makes me feel more alive - it inspires me to think more about the big picture when I'm getting too bogged down into the tiny passing details of my life that won't hold much weight in my future but seem so stressful in the moment.
Epic Rap Battles of History is just plain silly and I love it. (Video NSFW due to language, btw.) They make some of the most random pairings for their rap battles. Some of them are logical in a way- Einstein and Hawking, Napoleon vs Napoleon Dynamite, Dumbledore vs Gandalf. But what would put Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers? What universe would put Genghis Kahn against the Easter Bunny? It is random, the raps are usually very well crafted, and the impersonations, while not always spot on, always amuse me.
Thus ends my brief look into some of the things I use to amuse myself. I'm sure the list will be expanded over time, as this only scratches the surface of my internet haunts (seriously, there's a reason I hardly watch TV anymore).
Some movies you turn on really anticipating a positive experience. I went into The Perfect Host completely blind - having seen no trailers or hype for it and read no reviews. I turned on this Netflix listing simply because I like David Hyde Pierce.
Pierce: The Face of Horror.
And seriously, a horror film with David Hyde Pierce? The man I would cast to play Food Network's Alton Brown? I've always had an inkling that his acting ability far outweighed the parts I had seen him play, but I was understandably skeptical about seeing him in a horror movie role.
To be fair, The Perfect Host is much more of a thriller than a horror movie - and it is one of the best thrillers I've seen in recent years. It's subtle when it needs to be and does a wonderful job of slowly peeling back the layers of the story, providing a great number of twists and turns without giving you much in the way of exposition.
It's hard to summarize the plot without giving anything away. A fugitive, having just completed an armed robbery, is on the run when his identity is splashed all over the local media. Injured and needing a place to hide, he cons his way into a man's home (played by Pierce) as he prepares for a dinner party. Not all is as it seems, though, and he quickly finds himself regretting his choice of hide outs.
There is so much more going on in this plot. Wanting to avoid spoilers, I can't really elaborate further, but this film does a lot of "turning the tables" on it's characters. Unlike a lot of Hollywood twists, these aren't unbelievable events that come out of nowhere and really don't mesh with the plot. Instead, newcomer writer-director Nick Tomnay does a brilliant job in the planning and execution of this plot. You can tell that he carefully deconstructed his overall story and sprinkled those plot points like bread crumbs for the audience to pick up on. There is very little flat-out exposition. Instead, the audience is given all of the pieces they need to understand what is going on without anyone having to spell it out for them.
I definitely recommend this film. It's strange and mysterious as you learn more about Pierce's character, whom he plays perfectly. They leave a lot of questions unanswered in the end, but in a good way.
