Concerts, Cosplay and Crossing Platforms

The word of the week is immediacy.

July 30 - They built a 1:1 Noah's Ark?

Okay, okay… there's a lot of people out there who think the world's going to end in 2012. I'm not one of them, but I can understand the human need for reassurance in the face of the unknown.

One man and a team of five friends decided to make what was until now fiction a reality: Noah's Ark. In the Netherlands, no less. It took them five years and used a base of metal barges, but they've built a full-sized replica of the legendary Ark, complete with two fake animals of( almost )every kind. It's massive and looks very impressive sitting in the water, but for those who are worried about 2012's dire predictions, bad news: it's a museum, not a safe place to ride out the end of the world.

Too bad. Those plastic flamingos look like they'd be fun to party with as the waves crashed outside.

July 31 – ComiCon 2012 Cosplay

Being rather budgetarily constrained as I have been for a decade now, I've regretted( there's that word again )not being able to go to very many conventions over the years, like ComicCon. But here's the thing: one of the best parts of a con, the costumes, are very well-documented online! Sure, you can spend a lot of money in person on swag and( possibly )meet some cool people and celebrities, but when it comes to costumes there's a TON of great photographers at cons who post their work online.

Batgirl - The WebSeries!

This gallery in particular is impressive, as it looks to document EVERY costume that was present at the 2012 ComicCon in San Diego. Given that there were over 130,000 attendees this year, that's a LOT of costumes and the gallery reflects it. There's quite a few good costumes in there that represent a whole lot of hard work by cosplayers; besides the many lovely ladies showing off how in-shape they were, my favorite costumes were the pair of old-school Cylons and this woman-bird from the Cinema Makeup school - wow!

Oh and Galactus was there, but he wasn't hungry.

Aug 1 - 6 months

It's been six months since I voluntarily unemployed myself; this is the only time I'll mention it as I don't want to mark milestones for escaping my previous job. As I've said before, this is the first time in my life I've been unemployed and for it to last half a year is astonishing… and it's not all sleeping in late and lounging around. Between problems with my wrists / forearms, job searching, moving and writing my novel, it's been a very full half-year for me so far.

Thankfully I've been able to complete HALF my novel as of today; huzzah! I've set an ambitious goal to complete the other half by the end of August to motivate myself with a deadline, which again doesn't lead to long lazy days. I give a LOT of thought every day to my novel and plug that into my notes, which have evolved a lot in the last year. Once I get the first draft done, I can really concentrate on my job search, which has until now been rather fruitless given the unknown state of my arms; I can barely hold a glass of water for very long and writing is an exercise in frustration when trying to type for more than five minutes.

But I'm better for having left my old job, as I'd probably be dead from stress by now. I kid you not. I'd rather be unemployed and have my arms crippled than have continued the way things were. Indeed.

Aug 2 – Good news about my wrists!

Today I came back from the sports injury doctor with some not-terrible news: my wrists should return to normal usage and heal themselves if I manage them carefully.

In about 18-24 months, give or take. :-/

Which is good, as I now know I'm likely NOT crippled for life, as I've worried about for the last 6 months. But it's still making life difficult for what I want to do.

So that makes finishing my novel, writing the next one and having a day job somewhat challenging. I'll learn to write more easily with my voice, find some voice-over work and consider a job as a door greeter. Or a walking tour guide...

But all in all, I am relieved. For months it's been worrying me 24/7 that I may NEVER be able to return to the things I love to do: write, play video games and lift objects heavier than a glass of water. In that order. When you think about it, there's a whole lot we take for granted having two functional arms and if nothing else, this experience has taught me to be thankful to be able to lead a normal daily life.

Aug 3 - One-way trip to MARS??

Being a lover of science fiction( and fantasy too ), I'm not alone in having dreamed of walking the surface of other planets. Like a lot of people, Mars is our closest true planetary neighbour and it's red surface has been in our imaginations for centuries; the popularity of Burrough's John Carter Of Mars series for over a hundred years is proof that this is an enduring dream for many.

How badly would you want to go, though? Enough to make it a one-way trip? If so, then I've news for you: applications are starting for a colonization mission to Mars… without a return ticket. Yes indeed, there are people who want to get to Mars so badly that they're willing to bet their lives on it to the point where they've eschewed a ride home; literally, it's do or die. I have to admire their tenacity and spirit, as it's the same as all those space pioneers who have strapped themselves to piles of explosive rockets to be launched into space. But to step into a rocket knowing that you'll likely never be setting foot on earth again if things go as planned, well… I'd be hoping that I could survive long enough for the next rocket to arrive.

Aug 4 - Go for the eyes, Boo!

Hard to believe, but it's true: I've never really played any of the Baldur's Gate RPG game series.

There. I've said it. Heck, until this year, I've never owned a copy. Why, you ask? Simple: I wasn't able to plug hundreds of hours into gaming at the time, as I was in university at the time and things didn't go well from that point for many years following. I suppose I could have dug into the series around 2005 or so, but by then there were new things on my plate such as NWN… so it languished as a minor regret in the back of my mind. Even now, I haven't touched the $9.99 all-in-one super copy I purchased earlier this year.

But now there's news: Baldur's Gate is being re-released asa multi-player edition, cross-platform! That means that you can log in from your PC, iPad or Android phone and game with your friends from anywhere, at any time! Given the nature of the game, it should be simple to pop in an hour or two of gaming a week with your friends, something that I'm currently regretting( see? )the lack of. It's especially appealing as I won't be using my damaged arms with a game controller but instead can use my touch-screen tablet or the PC with a trackball… MUCH better, I think! I'm very excited, as I really want to finally experience the magic of Baldur's Gate and hear Minsk's famous line for the first time!

Aug 5 - Symphony Splash Day!

Ugh... after a midnight curtain call, I was wakened at 5:45am by numerous thuds above my head( kids knocking over things? )and couldn't get back to sleep. So I spent a bleary morning working on my blog and then hammering out a few scenes for my novel before noon, once my head had defuzzed slightly. I was still woozy on and off until well past lunch, when I finally caught a second wind.

In the early afternoon, I went to see the Victoria Symphony Splash, along with 40,000 other friends. It's an annual outdoor concert event held in the Inner Harbor area of downtown Victoria and the weather today was HOT, around 33 degrees with humidity so it really felt like summer. The sky was cloudless and the crowd's mood was fantastic: over 45,000 classical music lovers gathered together meant a minimum of fuss and drama, anywhere I looked. Everyone was smiling and happy to be there. I had a root beer ice-cream float, sat on a patio with some tea and generally people-watched all day long. Even watching the concert itself was wonderful, as I'd found a found spot along a walkway close to the floating stage where thousands of people passed by me. The sudden evening chill was a bit much and I called it a day during the intermission, also to avoid the mass exodus of the crowd... and to be quite honest, I was really feeling my lack of sleep.

It was definitely a good way to spend most of a Long Weekend Sunday!

For the last few weeks, I've been listening to podcasts on my phone( when it's not busy crashing ). In the main they've been The Nerdist Podcast, which I just love as I can relate to so MUCH of the content, especially the cultural references I grew up with. Cooler than that are the guests, who have included Felicia Day, and even author R.A. Salvatore, creator of Drizzt D'Ourden! It's been lovely and I'm sure the  silly grin on my face has drawn a few odd looks as I'm walking along, but I'm too busy enjoying the podcast to notice. And exercising, too; I'm averaging a 4km walk / day and aiming for more!