30 December 2005

An After-Thought

When I posted the various new figure pics earlier last evening, I had a brain fart(very common with me)and forgot to post a couple of samples from my penultimate figure pic set, "Outdoor Concert".

Ain't nothin' huge nor excitin' 'bout any aspect of the pics, but, I think they're a lovely little way of endin' out 2005's batch of figure pics, and I hope you'll think so too.

Anyhow, Happy New Year to You and Yours out there, and may you have many more so for many more years to come.

Outdoor Concert 8.

Outdoor Concert 5.

29 December 2005

Late Season's Greetings and Pics

Well, even though the holidays, or Hell-O-Days as I like to refer to 'em as, are nearly over, thought I'd post some of the figure pics I've been working on over the past two weeks.

The ones you'll see as going from the top of the page downwards are Hell-O-Day related, with some, like Christmas Greetings Pic 5, more in the traditional sense of holiday pics, while others, like Ho, Ho, No 2 and There's No Place Like Hell For The Holidays 10, take a more irreverent, or nastier, aspect on the subject.

Below those, are three pics from an espionage thriller series that came about quite by accident, called Scarlet Angel.

The reason I say it came about by accident is because I was initially going to do another erotically-themed shoot using the same figure as I had for the "Red Dreamer" series of pics, only in a scarlet body-suit, rather than the silver sparkling cat-suit she wore in the former set.

However, and the reasoning process behind this was murky at best, I can assure you, I decided to change the set into a sort of spoof of Bond-style spy pictures and the like, with, I think, mixed results visually.

Had wanted to get a kind of high-keyed lighting, and, especially, colour effect in the pics that would really bring out the colours of the figures' uniforms, etc, and especially of the main character's clothing and hair.

Am afraid that the lighting didn't really come off very well in the "Raiding The Secret Lair"(the first set of "Scarlet Angel" pics I shot), nor the "Jerks All Laid Out" set, either, but I think I got my best results with the "Nearly There" set(a sample of which you'll see just above "Raiding The Secret Lair 3" pic), in which the editing treatment I gave it really brings out those features, as well as the character's really well-done face sculpt.

But, I could be wrong on that score.

Incidentally, the order of the pics is slightly messed-up, with "Nearly There 4" actually being supposed to come AFTER "Raiding The Secret Lair 3", but, I had a brain-fart and reversed the order.

At least, you'll know that the order IS screwed-up.

The last sets of pics are from my "Ignorant Armies" set, for which the Lebanese za'im and his body-guards pic of two weeks back was a precursor, and which inspired me to do a set devoted to paramilitaries of all sorts, including, though they'd by no means fit into the dictionary definition of a paramilitary organisation, various criminal outfits, such as the Mafia, or, as seen in the two pics below "Raiding The Secret Lair 3", the assorted Chinese Triad organisations.

Also did three more figure shoots besides these over the holidays, one of which was a birthday present for an old and dear friend whose birthday fell on 20th December, and two for a Christmas card that another friend was going to send out.

However, as those, especially the last two sets, are of a private nature, I won't be posting any of those onto the 'Net, without the express permission of those friends.

More of a respect bit than anything else on my part.

Anyway, just want to wish all of you out there Happy Holidays(whichever ones you choose to celebrate), and especially the Happiest of New Years to you and your loved ones, whoever and wherever they happen to be from Annabelle Lee and Amigo the Cats, and, of course, from myself.

Be Seeing You in the New Year, and hope your hang-overs on New Year's Day ain't too painful.

Ho, Ho, No 2.

Christmas Greetings Pic 5.

There's No Place Like Hell For The Holidays 10.

Jerks All Laid Out 1.

Nearly There 4

Raiding The Secret Lair 3.

Triad Members, Vancouver BC, Canada, 5.

Triad Members, Vancouver BC, Canada, 2005 3

Michigan Militia Members, Michigan USA, 1994 14

Michigan Militia Members, Michigan USA, 1994 9

Michigan Militia Members, Michigan USA 1994 7

15 December 2005


Here's another version, only in black-and-white. The zuama(Arabic plural form of za'im)dominated Lebanese politics from the French Mandate period(1920-43), until the 1980s, when, due to death, exile and general irrelevance during the Lebanese Civil War(1975-90), they were shoved aside by other Lebanese and foreign political forces.

From yet another new photo set taken to-day, comes this little bit depicting a Lebanese za'im(a kind of cross between a feudal lord and political boss)and his bodyguards in Beirut Lebanon circa 1978.

14 December 2005

New Stuff and All That

If anyone out there actually reads this blog, then you may've noticed that I haven't posted very much in the last month or so.

In fact, I've posted nothing until the last few days.

Part of it is due to the ending of a friendship that was entirely my fault, due to my putting my hand on the friend's throat in a surge of ill-temper.

Not to worry, he's OK. But, the friendship is definitely over, as I haven't heard anything from him since then.

Without going into details, which I'm still pretty loath to talk about right now, I grossly over-reacted to my perception of him getting pushy with me(not physically. Verbally pushy, that is), which is why I put my hand on him.

Haven't dropped off the 'Net, after that. Far from it. But, have been very reluctant to discuss this with anyone, though I have with a very few people.

Also, hadn't taken any new figure pics in nearly two months until Sunday last, and am glad I have, as it's helpin' me to get out of procrastinatin' mode, which I so often tend to be in.

There are several more such batches I really haveta get 'round to doin' before the Christmas holiday strikes upon us, so I need to get crackin' here.

In the meantime, please check out and enjoy, or not, if you will, the new pics taken and edited on Sunday last and to-day.

An old and very dear friend of mine's moved back to town with his life and two kitties, all the way from Ol' Kaintuck'(Kentucky), after a two-year hiatus from this silly Sin City.

Heard from him via the phone(Yep, there are still some people out there who use it)yesterday, and, while I don't know when and if I'll get to see 'im and his wife(whom I haven't yet met)in the flesh, I hope it will be relatively soon, once they get settled in and all that.

A friend of a dear friend of mine, Terri, that is, died on Sunday last, and it's got her and her long-time lover very upset indeed, as he was both a dear friend of theirs, and this is the second death of an old friend of Terri's within the past three months.

This year really has been a bastard for a lotta people out there, and am sorry that it's been one for you, Terr.

My sympathies are with you, Dino and your Kitty-Boys right now, and my love is with you always.

Well, had a great Thanksgivin' courtesy of Tom and Ana Maria, a wonderful First Friday(For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a once-monthly arts gathering in the Arts District of Down-Town Vegas), and, just 'round Thanksgivin', got the good news from Social Security that am still disabled under their rules, so that means my disablity benefit continues.

Gave myself tonnes of Plumber's Nightmares and the like about what could happen if that hadn't been the case for the past three months prior, and just about drove myself three-quarters crazy with worry.

Really need to stop doin' that.

Not too much else happenin' here right now, so that'll 'bout do for this entry.

However, will probably post a rant about the recent race riots(Talk about alliteration gone mad!!!)in Sydney, Australia over the week-end, and maybe throw in a couple of other bits as well in the next entry.

Of course, there'll be more piccies to come, too, so, stay tuned, Bat-Fans.

'Til then, Be Seeing You, as they used to say, with a very ironic tone of voice, in The Prisoner.

Last shot in the set. Not bad, except for the actor behind the director on the pic's centre-right being obscured.

Third verse, this time in colour. Check out the Hawaiian shirt worn by the director!!!!!

Another shot of the same bunch, only closer and a little more personal.

The first pic from a set devoted to a Japanese film cast and crew setting up for the next shot of their project in Tokyo, circa 1970.

Innocence, Experience and Sexuality: who says they can't be combined, eh???

Red reminds me a little of Gina Lollobrigida in this one. See for yourself if you can discern a resemblance between her and Ms. Lollobrigida.

Red in the Black-and-White World again.

Red again, this time, in sepia, for your vintage-style delectation.

Our little Red, in black-and-white!!!!

The first pic in a new erotically-themed set called "Red Dreamer". The "Red" in the title refers to her hair colour, not her politics, whatever sort of politics an action figure has, that is. Personally, that's none of my business, nor is it any of yours.

More Junky Money.

Money For Junk-in Colour!!!!!

Yet more idiocy, up close and personal this time!!!!

More idiocy, in black-and-white,from our Moron in Havana.

11 December 2005


This is part of a series of new figure pics shot and edited to-day, called "Our Idiot In Havana, 1961 1", all of which depict, from various angles, a CIA agent in Havana, Cuba, circa 1961, probably a few weeks or months prior to the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of that year. Other versions of this will follow in the next day or so, so stay tuned, Kiddies.

This is the first pic in the other new set of figure pics I've done in nearly two months. It's entitled "Money For Junk", and depicts the kind of nasty small-time drug buy found just about anywhere in the world these days.

This is the second pic in the Money For Junk set I did to-day. Just played a little with the contrast, brightness, and, of course, converted it to black-and-white.