Christmas was good. We didn’t go too crazy with gifts. We looked at finally getting me a Waacom tablet but I figure that I would need one at least 5x8 and that pushes the price from about $100 to about $200. I know I would find it useful for drawing and graphics but am not sure if I would use it enough to justify the higher cost.
Other reoccurring items that remain unfulfilled on my gift list are the next set of Cerebus tradebacks. I have the first four and keep meaning to get the rest of them. With Dave Sim fading into the woodwork, I should probably put more effort into getting these while I still can.
I also keep putting on the Young Indy dvd sets as well as season 3 of Kung Fu. The Indys are too expensive and the Kung Fu was in the bins for $10 but I haven’t seen it since. I finally was able to snag a season 2 of Kung Fu at Walmart as well as a used copy of most of the first set of Young Indy at the library sale.
The key problem with giving someone a gift list is that you cannot buy anything on it while that list is in effect. So the items have to be things that you want enough to get but not enough that you must go and and get them - at least not until the list expires.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Figure painting total - 2013
It looks like I had also picked up a Mantis Assassin/Hunter Bug for StarShip Troopers in October that didn't make an update.
So that brings my total to a reasonable number of bought vs painted for the year.
40K – Dark Vengeance boxed set - 48
Walking Dead horde – 14
SST Mantis Assassin - 1
Running total 2013 – figures bought 63, figures painted 0
I remain ever hopeful of putting a figure in the painted column - perhaps this year will be the one to do so.
So that brings my total to a reasonable number of bought vs painted for the year.
40K – Dark Vengeance boxed set - 48
Walking Dead horde – 14
SST Mantis Assassin - 1
Running total 2013 – figures bought 63, figures painted 0
I remain ever hopeful of putting a figure in the painted column - perhaps this year will be the one to do so.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Books Read September to December 2013
Sept
Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” by Neil Gaiman and Chip Kidd
1000 Incredible Costume & Cosplay Ideas by Yaya Han, Allison DeBlasio, & Joey Marsocci aka Dr. Grym
Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card Marvel Comics – the Untold Story by Sean Howe
The Winston Effect: The Art and History of the Stan Winston Studio by Jody Duncan
Oct
Home Upgrades Under $600 by Better Homes and Gardens
Watchmen – The Film Companion by Peter Aperlo
101 Top Tips from Professional manga Artists by Sonia Leong
Matther Mead’s Halloween Spooktacular by Matthew Mead
The Art of Colored Pencil Drawing by Pat Averill, Cynthia Knox, Eileen Sorg, and Debra Kauffman Yaun
Warhammer Armies Dwarfs (6th edition) by Gav Thorpe & Alessio Cavatore
Nov
Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, 1963 – 1972 by David West Reynolds
Bead Bugs by Amy Kopperude
Dec
Understanding Architecture by Robert McCarter, Juhani Pallasmaa
Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank with Bob Andelman
Amazon.com: Get Big Fast by Robert Spector
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Townsmen by Keith Wheeler
Period Costume for Stage & Screen: Patterns for Outer Garments, Book I: Cloaks, Capes, Stoles and Wadded Mantles by Jean Hannisett
Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” by Neil Gaiman and Chip Kidd
1000 Incredible Costume & Cosplay Ideas by Yaya Han, Allison DeBlasio, & Joey Marsocci aka Dr. Grym
Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card Marvel Comics – the Untold Story by Sean Howe
The Winston Effect: The Art and History of the Stan Winston Studio by Jody Duncan
Oct
Home Upgrades Under $600 by Better Homes and Gardens
Watchmen – The Film Companion by Peter Aperlo
101 Top Tips from Professional manga Artists by Sonia Leong
Matther Mead’s Halloween Spooktacular by Matthew Mead
The Art of Colored Pencil Drawing by Pat Averill, Cynthia Knox, Eileen Sorg, and Debra Kauffman Yaun
Warhammer Armies Dwarfs (6th edition) by Gav Thorpe & Alessio Cavatore
Nov
Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, 1963 – 1972 by David West Reynolds
Bead Bugs by Amy Kopperude
Dec
Understanding Architecture by Robert McCarter, Juhani Pallasmaa
Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank with Bob Andelman
Amazon.com: Get Big Fast by Robert Spector
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Townsmen by Keith Wheeler
Period Costume for Stage & Screen: Patterns for Outer Garments, Book I: Cloaks, Capes, Stoles and Wadded Mantles by Jean Hannisett
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Wide screen - in 3D
We don’t really have the same kind of Black Friday sales up here (since we like to spread out our turkey dinners and have Thanksgiving in October) but they are starting to pick it up to keep people from shopping across the border. We managed to pop out and picked up a 50” LG 3D smart TV at Best Buy. Or so we thought.
We didn’t set it up right away as we didn’t have room for it on the old wall unit. Due to the size of the TV compared to the space plus the size of the base, I had to cobble together a piece to sit on top of the old space but jutting out a few inches farther to allow the base something on which to rest.
When I finally did have time to set it up, we noticed that it was the wrong model – without the 3D. A quick call to Best Buy, followed by a quick trip to exchange boxes, and we got the new one set up. Aside from the mix-up originally, Best Buy was pretty good about the exchange and fixing their mistake.
So it all worked out in the end. The wife really likes the new TV. Now we can finally get a blu-ray player to make the dvds look better. Plus we'll need to get a new unit or mount it on the wall later once we get rid of the old wall unit - but that's future David's problem.
We didn’t set it up right away as we didn’t have room for it on the old wall unit. Due to the size of the TV compared to the space plus the size of the base, I had to cobble together a piece to sit on top of the old space but jutting out a few inches farther to allow the base something on which to rest.
When I finally did have time to set it up, we noticed that it was the wrong model – without the 3D. A quick call to Best Buy, followed by a quick trip to exchange boxes, and we got the new one set up. Aside from the mix-up originally, Best Buy was pretty good about the exchange and fixing their mistake.
So it all worked out in the end. The wife really likes the new TV. Now we can finally get a blu-ray player to make the dvds look better. Plus we'll need to get a new unit or mount it on the wall later once we get rid of the old wall unit - but that's future David's problem.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Desk top achieved
I’ve been needing to work at my desk for a while. When we moved my stuff out of the spare room and the boy in, time was more of a crucial factor so I didn’t have the time to properly sift through things. With the extra space in the storage unit, I needed to go through the boxes already on it as well as the extra 6 months of stuff that has been piled up on top of that.
With the holidays coming up, I’ve had a bit more impetus to get it done. I have taken everything off my desk and have been working at sifting it and putting some of it back. Some of it will go back on and in the desk, some will go in storage in the back room, and some will go in deep storage in the storage unit.
For a first pass, I've gotten it back to a reasonable mess. The wife may disagree.
With the holidays coming up, I’ve had a bit more impetus to get it done. I have taken everything off my desk and have been working at sifting it and putting some of it back. Some of it will go back on and in the desk, some will go in storage in the back room, and some will go in deep storage in the storage unit.
For a first pass, I've gotten it back to a reasonable mess. The wife may disagree.
Monday, November 25, 2013
My Ogre has landed
My Ogre has arrived. It came on Friday, November 15. I got the email notice that it had been shipped and the notice that it had hit the local sorting facility. I was going to call them about picking it up but when I checked it was already out for delivery. I had a bit of concern as no one was home to receive but it sounds like he tried again later and was able to deliver to the kids – who were able to cover the $28 duty charge. I was glad to pay that to ensure that it did not get stuck out in the weather.
We took it to Jimcon – a local gaming convention – that weekend on the Sunday. They cleared some space for us on the newer tables so we were able to spread it out. We had a few people come by to check it out – some had heard of the Kickstarter and some had never heard of Ogre at all.
My first thoughts? It’s very nice. And big. So very big.
The pieces are nicely die cut – they popped out without any trouble and stayed in until worked on. I still haven’t had time to remove and sort them all. I wish they had been better packaged with the basic sheets together. The over-abundance of the Kickstarter extras made it tricky to find the pieces needed for the classic game. The insert trays are a thing of beauty – nice and solid and look to have enough room to hold everything once done.
I really like the classic Ogre game included – although this one has dice cut counters unlike the original cut-your-own ones. I will need to buy a bunch of them when they become available to give to friends to indoctrinate them. I expect I will also end up playing that version more often as it will be easier to find the space needed.
I played the classic game with my son. I was a bit out of practice, and busy popping out more counters while we played, but still lost. He player the mark III Ogre and was able to pull off a complete Ogre victory. It was his first game with a classic CRT (combat results table) and he was able to figure it out pretty well. The basic map isn’t too huge and will fit on most tables. This will allow it to get more use than the size of the box would imply.
My only negative about this is the sheer size of it. It should really have been made into two boxes. This would allow one to carry and store it much easier and allow you to take only part of it out as needed for most games. It would also have been easier to sell later – with a more “stripped-down” version and a massive extras set. It seems to have done well enough for more support – maybe the supplement box will be able to double as a travel box as needed. If not, I will have to make a box to hold the basic components. At least until I get some of the rereleased miniatures.
We took it to Jimcon – a local gaming convention – that weekend on the Sunday. They cleared some space for us on the newer tables so we were able to spread it out. We had a few people come by to check it out – some had heard of the Kickstarter and some had never heard of Ogre at all.
My first thoughts? It’s very nice. And big. So very big.
The pieces are nicely die cut – they popped out without any trouble and stayed in until worked on. I still haven’t had time to remove and sort them all. I wish they had been better packaged with the basic sheets together. The over-abundance of the Kickstarter extras made it tricky to find the pieces needed for the classic game. The insert trays are a thing of beauty – nice and solid and look to have enough room to hold everything once done.
I really like the classic Ogre game included – although this one has dice cut counters unlike the original cut-your-own ones. I will need to buy a bunch of them when they become available to give to friends to indoctrinate them. I expect I will also end up playing that version more often as it will be easier to find the space needed.
I played the classic game with my son. I was a bit out of practice, and busy popping out more counters while we played, but still lost. He player the mark III Ogre and was able to pull off a complete Ogre victory. It was his first game with a classic CRT (combat results table) and he was able to figure it out pretty well. The basic map isn’t too huge and will fit on most tables. This will allow it to get more use than the size of the box would imply.
My only negative about this is the sheer size of it. It should really have been made into two boxes. This would allow one to carry and store it much easier and allow you to take only part of it out as needed for most games. It would also have been easier to sell later – with a more “stripped-down” version and a massive extras set. It seems to have done well enough for more support – maybe the supplement box will be able to double as a travel box as needed. If not, I will have to make a box to hold the basic components. At least until I get some of the rereleased miniatures.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
bubble suits - Zoltan!
For Halloween parties we made costumes again. This year went as followers of Zoltan from Dude, Where’s My Car? A version of this was available at Spirit of Hallowen but there are a few differences from the movie – the biggest being a top and pants instead of a jumpsuit as well as Velcro closures compared to snaps.
Ours are a bit incorrect as well – we grabbed the small bubbles instead of the more accurate larger bubbles. The other concern was the sizing – making our bubble suits allowed us to make sure the fit our various sizes. There still is a bit of tailoring to make them fit a bit closer, but easy to fix.
We laid out the bubble wrap over a pair of pants to measure them for size. The seams were joined with medium weight packing tape. A double layer of packing tape along the middle seam gave enough of a solid material to allow the pop snaps to grab without pulling through the plastic. We measured the top part against a long sleeve shirt
We wore a black tshirt instead of the muscle shirt as well as the black shorts. The plastic doesn't really breath so it keeps warm enough for inside wear. I brought along some extra packing tape for seam repair but didn't need it.
Ours are a bit incorrect as well – we grabbed the small bubbles instead of the more accurate larger bubbles. The other concern was the sizing – making our bubble suits allowed us to make sure the fit our various sizes. There still is a bit of tailoring to make them fit a bit closer, but easy to fix.
We laid out the bubble wrap over a pair of pants to measure them for size. The seams were joined with medium weight packing tape. A double layer of packing tape along the middle seam gave enough of a solid material to allow the pop snaps to grab without pulling through the plastic. We measured the top part against a long sleeve shirt
We wore a black tshirt instead of the muscle shirt as well as the black shorts. The plastic doesn't really breath so it keeps warm enough for inside wear. I brought along some extra packing tape for seam repair but didn't need it.
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