Mick's (UPDATED WITH APOLOGY)

Today I finished assembling and painting this Old West building. I decided to style it as a hole-in-the-wall bar, run by an Irish immigrant. 

EDIT: Sean rightfully points out below that "Mick" is often used as a slur against the Irish. I knew this, but had somehow completely forgotten it when I painted the building and blogged about it. I apologized for this embarrassing mistake in the comments, but I repeat it here for posterity: I'm genuinely sorry for my thoughtlessness. I'm leaving this post up as a reminder to myself to be smarter about this sort of thing. 

Tiefling Armed with Daggers

Not my best work. Oof. 
 

Encounter in Green Hell

 

Four Views of a Steel Brother

 

Three 7TV Trees

Final Fauna-tsy. 
 

Cave of Simple Mystery

3D printed in grey, underside primed in black, topside primed in dark grey, dry brushed with light grey. A very easy paint job, and I think it works for what it is. Thanks for printing this, Jeff! 
 

Teleportation Roulette

Imagine you're suddenly gifted with the ability to instantly teleport to random coordinates anywhere on Earth's surface. Just think; anytime you experience boredom, flex your will and you find yourself someplace else--faster than you can blink. This ability would be even handier whenever you find yourself in grave danger; with a thought, you could vanish instantly and appear somewhere else, leaving disaster behind. 

The drawback, though, is obvious; statistically, you're likely to wind up in a body of water 70% of the time--and even that might be better than blinking back into existence at the edge of a cliff, at the South Pole, or into the caldera of an active volcano. Of course, if you react quickly enough, you can teleport somewhere else, presumably someplace safer. 

Using this random generator of geographic coordinates, I ran ten trials of this power. Here's where I landed: 

1. Almost 12 km west of Tacuaritas, Argentina; a swamp

2. A little over 297 km west of Gambier, French Polynesia; the Pacific Ocean

3. 400 km south southwest of Ball’s Pyramid, New South Wales, Australia; the Pacific Ocean

4. 685 km south southeast of Christmas Island, Australia; the Indian Ocean

5. 301 km east of Woolgooolga, New South Wales, Australia; the Pacific Ocean

6. 126 km north of Cefalu, Sicily, Italy; the Tyrrhenian Sea

7. 1, 201 km north northwest of Cabo Verde; the Atlantic Ocean

8. 15 km north northwest of Avia Terai, Argentina; farmland

9. 81 km west of Oroek, Russia; tundra

10. 883 km south of St Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha; the Atlantic Ocean

In just one instance did I find myself anywhere at all pleasant; the farmland in northern Argentina. The Argentinian swamp, I suppose, is the second best result, and the Russian tundra in Siberia, the third. Predictably, I wound up in an ocean or sea seven out of ten times. Which tells me that to make this power at all useful, you should always teleport while wearing the best life jacket and wetsuit you can possibly afford. 

Do you dare wield this power for yourself? Try it on for size a few times and leave a comment to let me know where you end up. 

Bernadette

Here's Bernadette, a member of the French resistance during the dark days of World War II. I like her blue skirt and black turtleneck. I should have painted her beret white or red! 
 

Strange Way to Hold a Rifle

Love how the face turned out on this two-bit hood (as named by Pulp Figures). My basing technique, however, was clearly off this time around. 
 

Another Gyro Raider

"Hand over that gyro, prole!"

"Not one of you guys again," I sighed. I handed over my pita; it bulged with lamb, lettuce, onion, tomato, and tzatziki sauce. I gazed at my lunch longingly as the raider stuffed it into his mouth.

"Mffrr mgphm rmrugh miggh!" he said with his mouth full, fleeing into the distance. 

I vowed to start buying gyros at a different location. 
 

Dale Arden Takes Notes

Also makes a pretty good retro Lois Lane. 
 

Insectoid Coalition Monarch and Viceroys

 

Captain Challis' Choice

While watching the second season of Andor, a thought occurred to me: Colm Meany would be wonderful as Lynnic Challis, an Imperial officer with growing doubts about the Empire he serves. I can just see him starting out as a veteran officer of the Old Republic who gets taken in by the Emperor's propaganda, only to slowly realize his duties are becoming more and more onerous. You could do a whole season about one person's choice--to stay safe and support tyranny, or rebel and risk everything? 

I guess that's really just Andor all over again, but with a minor shift in point of view. 

Never mind. Just watch Andor. It's phenomenal. 

Super Mutant Swings a Sledgehammer

 

My Contribution to To the Journey

To the Journey--Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager was released to its backers a few days ago, and I watched it this morning. I didn't find this film nearly as strong as What We Left Behind--Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; it's a little too meandering, a little too unfocused, but To the Journey is well-intentioned and practically overflowing with empathy, though at the cost of glossing over some of the behind-the-scenes drama. I learned a few new things about the show's production, so I'm glad I backed it. 

Plus, for the second time, I get to see my name in the credits of a Star Trek-related production. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much that thrills me, even if all I did was tack on an extra $50 to my pledge. Hey, technically the money men are producers, right? 
 

Newton Place Knicknacks

I didn't live in Newton Place for long, but it's where I watched the last season or so of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I remember hardly anything about the layout of the apartment, and I have very few photos of my time there. This is one of them. 
 

Off to Vault 101

 

Doomsday Coins

 

Bubo

Clash of the Titans, Ray Harryhausen's last, great stop motion fantasy epic, featured a host of memorable animated creatures. Among them was Bubo, Athena's clockwork owl. I've done my best to replicate the colour scheme used in the film. 

Helmets Are for Chumps

This member of the Brotherhood of Steel has chosen to wear a suit of power armor without a helmet. Maybe he's not in combat or needs peripheral vision? 
 

Smug Raider

 

Flin Flon Bombers Hockey Puck

While Mom recovers from pneumonia, Sean and I have been helping around her place, cleaning up and so forth. I found this Flin Flon Bombers hockey puck in the basement; until I found it, I'd forgotten we had it. I imagine Mom and Dad got it sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. 
 

Heidi Reitsch

 

Della Dare

You can dance if you want to, you can leave your friends behind . . . 

 

A Fantastic Foe in the Palm of His Hand

 

Why I Watch the Intro

I can see why some people might not find much value in the opening credits of television shows. Once you've seen an opening title sequence once, why watch it again for every subsequent episode? 

I watch title sequences because they serve as a transition from everyday reality to the world of the show. The music and visuals evoke specific emotions meant not only to introduce us to the cast and other creators, but to put us in the right frame of mind for the drama or comedy to come. For genre or so-called "high concept" shows, title sequences often include a narrative thesis for new viewers, welcoming them to landscapes that might be difficult to grasp without some kind of introductory exposition. This was especially important in the days before the Internet made finding information as easy as typing a question onto a screen. 

Imagine, for example, watching a random episode of Gilligan's Island sometime during 1965 without its famous title sequence: 
 

The jaunty theme song tells us the who, what, when, where, and how of the show in a way that invokes lighthearted hijinks. The new viewer knows exactly what to expect: seven people with disparate backgrounds and personalities are castaways on an uncharted island, and they're hoping for rescue. 

Then there's the brilliant opener for each episode of The Rockford Files: 

Before we even see James Garner as Jim Rockford, the camera pans across his desk as someone (a different person each week) leaves a message on his answering machine, usually leaving some kind of bad news. Images of the titular private eye flash across the screen; Rockford usually looks pensive, pained, or puzzled, in keeping with the cheerfully fast-paced, liltingly ironic theme music. We also see images of Rockford's environment, the urban Los Angeles of the 1970s, along with a couple of shots of his father, a key supporting character. The fast-paced editing--which includes many shots of Rockford's signature vehicle, a gold Pontiac Firebird--suggests plenty of action and adventure, serving as a nice contrast to the music; subliminally, we expect some laughs to accompany the car chases and fistfights. 

Finally, consider The Waltons: 

Jerry Goldsmith's magnificent theme plays over images of a tranquil forested mountainscape and a cozy two-story home nestled in its valley. Here live The Waltons, a large extended family whose members clearly love and support each other, expressed without words as Pa brings home what is clearly the family's first radio. The fashions and technology on display, combined with the score, create a sweetly nostalgic sense of time and place; we imagine a time that perhaps included more struggle, but perhaps, too, more innocence. (We know it's an illusion, but a comforting one.) 

A carefully crafted introduction is crucial to our understanding not just of a show's plot or characters, but its ethos. Would Law & Order feel the same without "In the criminal justice system . . .?" Would Star Trek be a cultural touchstone without "Space, the Final Frontier?" 

I don't think so. And that's why I watch the intro. Every time. 

Some Things to Consider

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is one of my favourite films, and one of a select few movies I like to call "perfect." By that I mean I can find no flaws in performance, editing, sound, story, or any of the other qualities that create a masterpiece. 

The Thing needs no sequel. Therefore, I have concocted a list of possible titles for said unnecessary sequel: 

Things 2 Come
That Thing Is You 2
Some Enchanted Eve Thing
Kill the Right Thing
2 Things I H8 About U
Needless Things
People, Places, and Things

One-Eyed Gao

 

Warlords with Submachineguns!

They're warlords, and they're on the march! Luckily, our side has ray guns. And, one hopes, better-painted faces. 
 

Martian Week: Sol 5

 

Martian Week: Sol 4