Unfortunate Bug

Jeff 3D-printed a dragon skull for me a few days ago. While I was priming the model, this insect flew into the acrylic spray and, well . . . suffocated. Macabre. 
 

Boardwalk Bandit

Bang
Bang
Ugh, argh
Ya got me
Ya yella bastard
Back-shootin' bandit, go to---ack

 

Krypto

Soil Sphere

Soil
Sphere
Contains
Infinite
Mysteries within
Orange boundless borderless wall
 

Atom Smasher

ATOM SMASHER is poised to SMASH the ATOMS of criminals! 

Forever Canadian: Signed

Thanks to a couple of volunteers from our very own condo complex, Sylvia and I signed the Forever Canadian petition today. If the petition collects slightly less than 300,000 signatures, the question "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?" will be on a referendum ballot for all Albertans to vote on, beating the competing separatist referendum tacitly supported by Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP provincial government to the punch. 

And on Saturday, August 16, the Forever Canadian organization is opening a permanent petition signing location at the Kingsway Legion, which is located at 14339 50th Street, Edmonton. You can sign in the front lobby between noon and 8PM Thursday to Saturday and from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM on Sundays. 

No online signatures are accepted for this petition, so if you want to support Alberta remaining within Confederation, please find the time to sign as soon as possible. Canada isn't perfect, but Alberta alone would most likely be quickly absorbed the United States, with all the downsides that entails--from widespread gun violence to private health care to the very real threat of fascism completely taking over that nation in the imminent future. 

I don't want any part of that, and I imagine most people reading this blog agree with me. 

Dice Prison

When you're deeply involved in a game and the dice just won't roll the way you need them to, toss them into the dice prison. PUNISH THEM! Jeff printed this for me--poor Jeff, who has notoriously bad luck with dice. He needs this more than I do, really . . . 

Doom Patrol Donkey

Is it a donkey, or a portal to other universes? Why not both? 
 

Anniversary Fib

I
Love
My wee
Bad monkey
Eighteen years today
Happy Anniversary, Babe!

Fire Misfire

I thought this miniature was supposed to represent Beatriz Bonilla Da Costa, AKA Fire, formerly known as Green Flame and Green fury, member of Justice League International. Beatriz has the ability to turn herself into a living green flame, capable of flight and setting things on fire. 

Only after priming, painting, and setting the miniature on its stand did I take this photo and realize the figure isn't supposed to be Fire; it's Starfire, a completely different superheroine and member of the New Teen Titans. I know this because seeing her costume details close up reveals Starfire's notoriously skimpy costume. (Not that Fire's is that much more modest, to be sure...) 

Anyway, rather than repaint the model in Starfire's orange skin and purple costume, I've decided this figure is going to stay Fire--she's merely taking some fashion inspiration from her fellow heroine. 
 

Fib Strategy

Pump
Down
Volume
Whenever
Commercials play
Preserving our sanity

Save Ripley!

I picked up a new Star Schlock accessory set that included a cat and cat carrier, along with rules for a "save the cat" objective. Sean challenged me to paint the cat like his cat, Ripley. I don't think I really did Ripley justice, but at this scale it's not too bad for an Earl-painted cat. The teeny-tiny eyes have a bit of character, I think. 

Here's Ripley with her cat carrier and some space-y cargo crates from a higher angle. 

Swamp Thing

 

Mom's Smile

Here's another photo from David--a great shot of Mom, while I look like a dork, particularly with my eyes closed. This would have been sometime in the 80s. 
 

Kathy and Me

While we were preparing Mom's celebration of life, my cousin David was kind enough to send me a bunch of photographs, which I used in the event's slideshow. I didn't use this one, since Mom isn't in it, but I'm still quite happy to have this photo of my cousin Kathy and me in Devon, Alberta, from around 1988. Shockingly, this may be the last time I saw Kathy in person. 

Fib Pop Myth

Red
Sun
Krypton
Last gamble
Two kindly Kansans
Raise the star child and save a world

Don't Fib in Church

Bell,
Book,
Candle:
Accursing 
Officially,
Excommunication assured. 

Apocalypse Fib

Fear:
Dread
Toxin
Infecting
Civilization
Unravels the social fabric

Alley Invader

 

Earl Am Canadian, Am You?

Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party government, clearly in the thrall of their Maple MAGA behind-the-scenes leaders, have long been planning to ask Albertans, via referendum, if the province should leave Confederation. Leaving aside the question if doing so would even be constitutional, this unnecessary and divisive proposition should be fiercely rejected. 

Fortunately, former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister and MLA Thomas Lukaszuk has more sense than Smith and the UCP and has beat the provincial government to the punch with his own referendum question: 

Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada? 

Yes I do, and if you do too, please support the referendum here. You can donate to defray expenses, volunteer, canvas for signatures, or simply pledge to sign the petition--it needs roughly 300,000 signatures to proceed to official referendum stage, while Smith's "Let's separate!" petition will require only 177,000--because of course they changed the rules. 

Why does my title sound like Bizarro wrote it? Because we're clearly living in Bizarro World these days. Let's try to round off the corners of our square earth, bit by bit. It can start here. 

Mark Lenard: The Lost Conversation

Today Sylvia and I went to Leduc to check on Mom's house and take care of some estate matters. On the way home, perhaps because my mind was already occupied by loss and regret, I told Sylvia the story of my conversation with Mark Lenard, a well-regarded character actor best known for playing Sarek, father of Spock, in one episode of Star Trek, two of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and three of the feature films. 

Except there is no story--at least, no story I remember. 

In the late 80s and early 90s, I attended a number of science fiction conventions in Edmonton and Calgary. On one such occasion, Mark Lenard was a guest. I definitely attended one of his panels, but it was in between convention events that I had a laid-back conversation with the man. 

The conversation took place in a niche with a couple of tables and chairs on one of the middle floors of Edmonton's Chateau Lacombe--or so I believe. The conversation took place in the late afternoon; the niche was dimly lit, but the sun shot beams of radiance through the windows, casting stark shadows. 

Mr. Lenard and I weren't the only ones present; I believe there were at least one or two acquaintances from the Edmonton Star Trek Society (now known as the Edmonton Speculative Fiction Society). 
 
Mr. Lenard was charming, soft-spoken, and self-effacing, and the conversation wasn't about Star Trek or acting, but friends, family, work, and the like. 

And that's all I remember. As a student of film and television and a huge fan of Star Trek, you'd think I'd have that day fixed in my head with all the clarity of an IMAX film, but . . . 

Mark Lenard is gone now, like Mom. And now I wonder how many things I'll forget about her, and curse myself for it. 

Dread Avatar

 

Figurehead

 

King of the Park

I tried to paint this guy by closely following the example on the box:

 

Not really that close, but I think I did better than I would have without the reference. 

The Dark One