New fabric store

We did some fabric shopping last night. We popped into Marshall / Northwest Fabrics at 575 Berry St. I have found my new fabric place! When Fanny’s Fabrics closed years ago, I have had to make due with the meager selection at Walmart and Fabricland.

I hate Fabricland. Not only are the aisles tight and the selection poor, but they stand their fabrics up to display – which makes them very tippy. Plus they change out their fabrics seasonally - which makes it hard to spandex or fleece year-round.

Marshall had a nice big selection, with good signage. They have a policy of minimum cut of 1 meter – which is a bit annoying when you only need a bit of material – but all-in-all I was quite pleased. Plus, they are open late on Wednesdays and Thursdays - until 8pm (Monday - Tuesday and Friday - Saturday until 6pm).


We bought 3 ½ meters of purple vinyl (for costume), 1 meter of a pink vinyl (for pouches), 1 meter of red felt (for fez). We also bought some zippers.

Langenburg - Goliath

While on our road trip to Saskatchewan, we pulled over in Langenburg to take a ride on the Goliath. We had seen it on the way down and decided to stop in on the way back.



You can get some good height on this swing.

Skate or Die!

Some of the video games from my youth were 720 and Marble Madness. "Skate or die"! Considering that skateboarding has become even more common than back then, you would think it would resurface. Perhaps the Tony Hawk skate games have replaced it – I haven’t tried it so I don’t know how it compares to 720.

I did find myself recently thinking about Marble Madness and why no-one has made a version of it recently. Then, in Dollarama, for $2 we found a copy of Hamster Ball by Brighter Minds Media. It is very similar in look and play to what I remember from Marble Madness. Of course, I’m using my Trackman Marble on my computer so it plays quite well.

Now to find a Missile Command game.

View-master

My mom brought over the old view-masters we used to have when we young. Since they have been fair game for the kids for the last two decades, they are in somewhat rough shape. They are the old red and white square models.

We had mentioned that Shan liked the old travelogue reels. We didn’t have any of those but we had a bunch of the old cartoon ones. My uncle Pete used to have one of the brown viewer and he had a bunch of the travelogues. We used to look at them when we would visit as kids.

I’m going to have to see if I can fix them. Besides the old-school 3D memories involved, they are also useful as props. A red model goes with the Tick props. It would look nice sitting next to a little wooden boy. I have to find out which reel he uses.

I also picked up a newer rounder model at Value Village. The kids can use it for now – but I’ll probably end up using it for the eyes on a Joe Crow from Mystery Science Theatre.

Pre-halloween

Gee’s Hit-Girl costume is coming together. We got a belt and a wig to use. We found a pattern for the pants and jacket and found dye. We still need to find fabric for the pants and jacket, find gloves, dye the skirt, make a mask, cape, and weapons. Time is getting close but I still feel we are in a good spot.

We had been toying with plans for a family costume for Valleycon but didn’t get around to working on them. Unless everything falls into place over the next few weeks, we will have to put them off until next year.

D3 has decided to be the new Doctor. We’ve got a close suit jacket and found suspenders. We need pants, shirt, bow tie, a fez (Fezes are cool!), and maybe a sonic screwdriver. He is sure that none of his friends watch the show, but at least he decided. He had been thinking of wearing one of the family costumes but, since that probably won't happen, he'll go as the Doctor.

Unless, of course, they change their minds at the last minute. Gee is already torn between being the Hitgirl costume we are working on, or a cowgirl, or maybe a vampire. Part of the reason I delay getting started on these if because they have a tendency to change their minds at the last minute.

dejarik - pieces acquired

Dejarik is the name of the holo-chess played on the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars (New Hope). With their last set of miniature figures, before dropping the license, Wizards of the Coast put out the figures in their final set - Masters of the Force.

I picked up a set of the figures. They are a nice size and weight. I don't know if I'll ever get around to making a Dejarik set, but at least I have the option now that I have the figures. With a set of fan-made rules online, it may be worth a try.

Road Trip - Saskatchewan

This summer we did a bunch of travelling starting with a trip to Yorkton Saskatchewan. Since we haven’t really had any road trip pictures with the kids, we decided to take a few shots at some of the big statues and tourist attractions.
This is the Welcome to Saskatchewan sign at the border.

From the other side.


This is the Welcome to Manitoba. Considering we’re known as ‘friendly’ Manitoba, you would think they would make it easier to get closer to the sign.