It's a Lord of the Rings Christmas!

I saw the Hobbit on Saturday and I loved it!  Today, Christmas, I am watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy- the extended version.  I'm also drinking beer from a brilliant clay pint mug.  If I still wasn't suffering from this mystery respiratory thing, I'd be smoking one of my churchwardens too...  Oh well, at least I sleep under these every night!

Why am I the only person that has that dream?

I saw Real Genius when it came out.  I was in high school and just getting ready to head to college, so it had a pretty big impact on me.  I've had a poster of the film hanging in every place I've lived since.  When I turned 19, my roommate and friends- knowing how much I loved the film- turned my dorm room into a beach, ala The Tanning Invitational.  Ok, they put a 'No Life Guard on Duty' sign on the door, a kiddie pool in the middle of the room, a bucket of beer in a floaty ring in the pool, some fake palms and leis around, and beach towels on the floor.  It was brilliant!  One of the cool details in the film was a water cooler fish tank in Chris and Mitch's room.  I have wanted one of those since I first saw the film.  And now... 

And yes, one of the fish is called Albert.  Actually... they are all called Albert.  

I now have a new greatest concert of all time.

Another non-house post.  I just saw Dead Can Dance.  It is now the greatest show I've ever seen.  HUGE thanks to my friend Alisha for berating me to get a ticket.  I remember liberating my roommate Russel's tape of Dead Can Dance self titled and Cocteau Twins 'Treasure' in my second year of university, back in 1987.  Things have never been the same.  I've been thinking of getting this as a tattoo for a long time, and tonight the decision was made.  Yes.

Sunset on the British Empire

My friend and DJ comrade Scott Damnit took this brilliant picture of my house last weekend.  I just noticed it today, though...

The flag was flying for the Olympics.  I love flags... hence the home-made flagpole.  I swap them out every few weeks, but usually fly Edward Teach's flag for soirees.

The music room is pretty much done, too!

I've been so obsessed with Bot building that I sort of left the rest of the house to itself.  I finished the music room some time ago.  Then it was used for some recording and it got all messed up.  Well, I've finally gotten off my butt and cleaned it up.  I give you... the music room.

Here's the view from the door way- looking onto the record collection, Devo collection and my decks.

Here's the AVs corner.  Thought using a couple of hockey stick I found in the trash to make the shelves was pretty darn clever.  I hope to get a frame for the Sakic sweater, but I think this works pretty well.

These two cases hold the pucks from the AV's two Stanley Cup runs in 1995/96 and 2000/2001.  The 95/96 season case has the Pacific Division champions puck, the Western Conference champions puck and the Stanley Cup champions puck.  The 00/01 season case has the President's Trophy winners puck, the Northwest Division champions puck, the Western Conference champions puck and the Stanley Cup champions puck.  I also have the VHS tapes for each run and the caps that the teams wore after they won. 

And finally- I buy a puck at every game I go to.  There are a bunch behind that wall 'o pucks as well.  If you're wondering about the Red Wings cap, it is actually a prototype cap from Zephyr cap that has the six original team logos on the individual panels.  I'd rather see Montreal and Toronto up front, but... 

CROOOOOOOOW

Crow T Robot is finished!  Okay, when I say finished, I mean abandoned for a little while.  The beak is still causing me no end of problems, and more paint has flaked off.  I'm going to call him done, though, until I get his new head finished.  Crow was definitely more work than Tom, and f you are an aspiring Bot Builder, I suggest you start with Mr. Servo.

And here are the boys together, on their best behavior, for a photo on the couch.

...and then this happened

I had to leave work early to get my drains dealt with- long story- so I decided to work on Crow.  I thought for sure that I'd be posting pictures of him, all finished, by tonight, ...  yeah...  Crow is a bitch to work with, let me tell you.

Here are the arms, completed and waiting for a couple of coats of final paint.  No problem there.

Crow's eyes, painted and just waiting for their electrical tape pupils.  No problem there.

Competed torso!  Absolutely no problem there!  All together and 'battened' down!  I don't mean to brag, but this came out great.

And then... and then...  the problem...

I masked off the edge of Crow's beak to give the inside a quick swipe of flat black and when I took off the tape, all hell broke loose.  That orange bit is where a whole section of paint and primer came loose, and the side is where... well, let's just say...  crap.  I need to let him cure for a day or so, sand him down, and give him another couple of coats.  Any bleed through on the inside of his beak will have to be dealt with by hand painting.  I'm annoyed, but I've decide that this beak is a trial run, because I got this!

Yup!  An Empire 'e' pin!  It's the one they used for the screen used Crow's, probably because it's much more sturdy than the 'crown' pins.  I'm going to take my time with this baby.

So, Crow T Robot will probably be making his public premiere early next week, but I'm nearly there!

Crow's final paint begins

I started on Crow T. Robot's final paint today.  He's going to be much more difficult to do than Servo.  The lime gold metallic is harder to work with, and has these weird pockets of black in it.  It's also lighter, so imperfections show up a lot more easily.  I've done three base coats and I've used the two cans of paint I thought it would take to finish him.  I knew I'd need more, since Servo took one a half cans.  I'm going to let these coats cure for a week, and then I'm going to have to do some sanding, and give him at least two more coats.  I've not even started on the arms.  Crow's going to take a few weeks to finish up, me thinks.

UPDATE:  I've started on the arms.  This base gold sucks ass- but since the arms are mostly covered in foam, it should be ok. 

Ladies and gentlemen... Mr. TOM SERVO!!!

I pretty much finished up Tom Servo this weekend.  To be honest I think I went a little overboard with the multiple coats.  He looks great- the color is deep and smooth with a really nice sheen- he shines even- but he is a little on the maroon side.  I know the screen used Servos did change, but they tended to a more true ruby tint.  Maybe instead of 4 base coats and 3 finish coats, next time I'll go with 3 base, 2 finish.  The paint was a lot more forgiving than I'd anticipated though.  He could use another coat of silver on the beak and the engine block, and I have to do the inside of his beak (black), but he's pretty much done.  To display him, I have to take the head control rod off, and use a small tube, because the control rod extends past the hover skirt- I think I may do a mod on that.  He is fully functional though!  Also, the dome is held on by upside down cap that sits on top of the lower head piece and gravity.  I think if I ever take him out and about, I'll throw a couple of small dabs of hot glue down there to hold it down better.  All and all though, I am PSYCHED!

Here's the final paint, before silver.  See.. just a skosh over the line.

And there he is!  I'm going back into the front room and have another look!

Denver Comic Con and more Bot stuff

I've sort of wanted to keep this blog about my house and geek projects and what not.  But...  I had the best time at the Denver Comic Con this last weekend- June 16th and 17th.  It's the first one and I signed up to volunteer.  I was assigned to registration on Saturday, but ended up watching a line in the afternoon.  I saw a lot of the con in the morning, but wasn't able to get to any of the panels.  Sunday, I was assigned to the Kids Corral- the area for crafts and things- with my friend Alisha.  We were there for about 30 minutes when Beth, the volunteer poobah, asked for a couple of people to work crowd control.  Beh, we said, whatever...  and ended up in the celebrity autograph area!  Alisha worked the VIP line, next to Billy West- the voice of Ren and Fry, while I ended up working the line for... wait for it... Aaron Douglas!  I love Battlestar Galatica, and of all the guests at the con, Aaron Douglas is the only one I really knew much about and was at all interested in seeing. Add to that, he is just damn cool.  I would have also liked to see Wil Wheaton, but he had to cancel- hope he makes an appearance in Denver soonish.  He talked at length to everyone who came up, he took pictures and was really patient for a couple of people I'd have had less patience for.  His line wasn't terribly busy, so we got to chat a bit- mainly about politics and beer.  I also met his wife Jenny, and she was great as well.  So, at the end of the con, I got this taken.  Just loads of fun.  Oh- and when Mr Douglas was doing his panel I sat at his booth watching his stuff, between Bruce Boxleitner and Kristin Bauer.

On to the Bots!  I got the base coats finished on pretty much everything!  The metallic gold I used for Crow is a bitch, and I'm going to have to do a little spot sanding before I get to the final paint.  I am afraid to death of laying down the final paint.  I've heard it's thick and tends to run.  I'm going to give these a week or two to cure before I sand and do touch ups.  I began Crow's arms as well, but there are a lot of little pieces and they take a lot of space.  I'm going to tackle them separately- once final paint is finished on the other pieces. 

At least I got started...

I got the paint I needed to start on the Bots.  Primer for both the Bots- although I need to get some more- Satin Colonial Red for Tom's base coats, and a cheap gold for Crow's base coats.  I thought I'd be clever and use a thin coat of Fusion on Crow's beak to help adhesion... yeah, that didn't go to well.  I did get 3 primer coats and 1 base coat on Tom, and 2 primer coats on the top half of Crow- before the sky's opened up and the rain started falling like arrows from the gods.  Crap.  I was so pleased I was motivated to get started and everything.  Oh well, it'll give everything a chance to dry.

Ready for paint!

Tom Servo and Crow T Robot are ready for paint!  I got the Crow arm kits after I took these photos, but you'll see those when I get some pics as I start the paint.  I'm pleased as hell with the results so far, but am a little worried about painting these guys, since it's my worst subject.

Finally feeling at home upstairs...

Here are a few shots of the new and improved upstairs.

I finally got the work room or whatever set up- and I started on Tom Servo.  Enjoy this pictorial journey, won't you?

The workbenches

Tom Servo!

Hoverskirt train deals trimmed

Geometry

This hole is to big- I screwed up

Completed Hoverskirt

Pink eye

Bottom

Sans bottom

Preparing for the chop

Chopped

Removed the beak handle

That it a very small hole- exciting- I know.

Eye bolt to make puppet magic

The infamous T part in the head

Another screw up- that hole is also to big

Shoulders trimmed

Shoulders and arms, meet body

Creepy doll hands

Trying on a couple of heads