Let's be educational

Theres a Gaelic word that doesn't really have a translation to english that describes how i'm feeling right now.

A Hiraedd isn't really depression per se. It's more of a longing for something that you know will really never happen. It's partly being realistic, and somehow comparable to homesickness more than anything. This is a term that was created by people of long, dark moorlands and daunting, craggy mountains. These people know what depression is.

Also, i would so totally wear a flaming scorpion t-shirt, wouldn't you?

Convulsion Enter! Special Style!

yarrr mateys, this post be long and has many a picture in it. if you have difficulty in reading pictures, consider yerself warned.

so, a couple of days ago i was wandering about the MHCC with some friends when i came across this box. what actually caught my eye, was what i thought was a dwarf from WoW ( you have to keep an aye on the kneebiters y'know). i was shocked, flabbergasted even, when i saw that the dwarf was wearing an eyepatch and a pirate hat.

what was this wonderful product? i wondered. has Blizzard made some new action figures with pirate dwarves? where was the horde set? i want my blood elf buccaneers! i quickly grabbed the box from the shelf and read the label.


that's right, Convulsions Enter, Special Style indeed. it might have been at that point when i realized that this maybe, just maybe, wasn't a licensed Warcraft product. in fact, this had nothing to do with warcraft at all, and someone had just photoshopped a pirate hat and eyepatch onna picture of a dwarf. i was saddened.

and then i read the back of the box.

the text is a bit blurry, but basically reads:
Convulsion enter, funny special style good luck. Completely new to come in to the market, collect of all kinds of pirates and vehicles to enjoy a wonderful pirates garden.

i don't know what a pirates garden would look like, but i bet it would be awesome.

the box also had an image of a lich from Warcraft 3 on it, and the Pirates of the Caribbean skull. Liches, to the extent of my knowledge of necromancy, are not nautical, and do not convulse in a special style.

i can't say i was tempted to buy it, but i do feel sorry for kids who get this stuff bought for them. you know, like when you get that spiderman action figure, where the designs and stuff are painted on funny, and fall apart after five minutes of play.

after scouring the internet (a grueling task) i managed to find the original image of the alledged pirate dwarf, and using my photoshop skills, arrange a comparison.
i don't know about you, but thats some photoshop skill right there. you know, pasting a pirate hat and eyepatch onto something isnt as easy as it may sound. to prove this, i decided to make a picture of a pirate kitten. it took me several hours of painstaking sketching, inking, re-inking, scanning and digital painting, to create this:

i can only imagine what the graphic artists at Pirates Legends went through.

Thanks to John for the use of his camera!

Postin' fer the sake of it?

well, i was going to post sommat, then i realised that i'd spent a bit of time updating the look of the blog ( new banner, some new art on the side panel), so consider it an update!

art at the top is kinda a new style approach i have been working on. i remember not being able to draw breasts very well when i was younger. i think it was because i was shy to study them properly, and basically guised them a lot when forced to draw women.

ironically, the fact that my masterpiece in primary school had a female protaganist didn't improve my mammary drawing abilities.

also, been missing the girlfriend a lot lately (and not just the sex!), and the disasters in China have not been helping my nerves.

Observe the face to fist technique!

my face hurts. this is mainly due to the fact that a guy hit me, although it could have been much worse.

but first! the Indiana Jones report!

i liked it, i'm sorry. the thing is, you might call me an Indiana Jones fanboy, so perhaps my opinion is biased, but it was what i wanted to see. i wanted to see Indy kicking ass, and making jokes and cracking his whip at baddies. And he did it, he kicked commie ass. i'm not too sure what the whole point of the chariots of the gods plotline was, but industrial light and magic got to show off their fancy special effects to great aplomb.

i also dressed up for the occasion, because if i didn't i couldn't call myself a fan.

the downside (or upside, depending on your opinion) is that Ronron didn't go with the gang, so i may still have a free movie there somewhere ^_^

so i went out on friday night. my sister had a party to attend at the Alliance Francaise, so the Griff, Arjay and i went as escorts. alright, mainly we went to drink their wine and eat apple pie, but we did do some escorting. Griff and I also won a free lunch due to our awesome rendition of Lifehouse's Hanging by a moment at the karaoke competition.

after the party, i dropped the sister off at home and then the boys and i went out. and sad-face.

have i told you about sad-face? it's a long story, lets just say this is the most depressed chick i know. she pervades an aura of depression, it's that bad.

so it's around one in the morning, Arjay, Griff, Sad-face and I step into a club (which shall remain unnamed) , and one of Sad-faces cousins decides to start some trouble. it was...my first bar room brawl.

basically, Sad-faces cousin, let's call him...Derrick, doesn't like Griff. so i think he decided to cause a little trouble when he saw us. it started with Derrick's friend tried to one-side Griff, who proceeded to slip the punch and flatten the guy out. Then Derrick and Griff start going at it, and Arjay tries to break them up, which got him a punch in the head from another of Derricks mates.

it was at that point i jumped in, all this time i had been holding sad-face back from the fight, when i should have been rooting people in the mouth (this was actual advice given to me by Greasemonkey, "if someone looks like they are even slightly considering throwing a punch, root them in the mouth first"). i pushed Arjay and the guy away from each other, which earned me a fist in the jaw. i am 90% sure at this point, that it was the guy who hit me.

luckily, i used my radio voice on him, which seemed to calm him down a bit. you may laugh, but my manly voice has stopped violence, true fact ^_^

things started to calm down at this point, mainly because the bouncers started dragging people outside. Arjay was the worst wounded though, he got kicked in the face and had a split lip :(

so yeah, excitement abounded this weekend.

also, i think i have a soft spot for alien civilization theories.

Let's pretend we're living in a fantasy world

you know how i was all, "hey! i have a job again!" yesterday? scratch that =_=

the gods have conspired to make life extremely difficult for me once again, and so i must find a way to put more bread on the table. for my children. which i don't have.

anyways, today i felt really lonely for some reason. so i wandered around the town at lunchtime, looking at random things and people. usually i get lunch with my mates, but they were busy...or in the west...or at their homes with family.

i have decided to look at the positive side of being slightly less employed again. i think it may give me more time to hone my artsy skills. that' s a pretty lame positive side, but work with me here people!

anyways, more aimless ramblings tomorrow. the cyborg chick at the top of the page was drawn at work ( and i wonder why they dont want to give me a full time contract :P)

But would he use a Ladder?

Yes, i live again. Been playing Final Fantasy one again, which explains the awesome mage on mage art.

Remember how i said i was unemployed? Didn't last too long, i got quite a few interviews and job offers quite suddenly. Which is awesome. The job i have now though, i got mainly by being on the tv. it's true, and a story for another day. Unless you want to hear it now.

This week Indiana Jones ( as opposed to Indian Jones) opens, and i am very excited. In anticipation i managed to wrangle Griffs copy of all three Indiana Jones ( on one dvd! piracy at its finest) and have watched them all. i may watch them again, they're that awesome.

i watched Raiders first, and then the Last Crusade, before watching the Temple of Doom, because the last one is a bit of an anomaly in the series. this is because

a) it's set in India ( while this is awesome, it prevents Indy from globetrotting)
b) there are no Nazi's.

watching it again though, i have to admit it's still an awesome flick, they all are. there's something about Indy that makes you want to cheer for him. He's not all powerful, he makes mistakes (sometimes big ones, like, i know! lets leave the girl in the tent so i can go and find the ark of the covenant) and he has a sense of humor.

so, here i am, not reading a thing about the new movie, in order to have a neutral outlook on it.

also, i get to watch it for free, since Ronron owes me a ticket ^_^