19 June 2006
30 May 2006
Amigo The Cat
Well, Folks, after the last two days of photo fare devoted to death and all that, I thought it'd be a good idea to celebrate a little bit of life here. So, without further ado, here are some pics of Amigo The Cat taken on Sunday night, while I was shooting the Baghdad city morgue pics.
He's an adorable little rascal, all right, but, I'm biased.
Enjoy.
He's an adorable little rascal, all right, but, I'm biased.
Enjoy.
29 May 2006
Memorial Day Pics, Part Two
Well, Gang, you didn't ask for 'em, but, I promised 'em yesterday, so, like 'em or not, here are the last pics in the set of Memorial Day inspired pics I started.
The one on the left depicts a combat fatigued Iraqi government soldier in the city of Ramadi after a fire-fight with Iraqi insurgents.
Its title??? "Iraqi Government Soldier, Ramadi Iraq, May 2006 4a". Not the world's greatest title, I know, but, sometimes, the pic can speak for itself better than its title can.
The one on the right's "Johnny And Haji, Iraq, 2006 1a", which is an allegorical pic depicting two dead combatants in the Iraq War, one American, the other an Iraqi insurgent.
The title's a play on the title of the old American folk ballad, "Frankie and Johnny", about a pair of star-crossed lovers, whose affair ends in one murdering the other.
In a way, war is kinda like a love affair between the combatants, in that the parties involved experience vivid emotions and stronger emotional bonds than they would ever have had in civilian life.
But, it's a murderously doomed one as well.
Those of us back home, as well as those people watching this war from the sidelines all around the world, will never really be able to entirely understand the psychological attraction and repulsion that binds the combatants in this war, like any other war or armed conflict, together.
At the same time, lest I wax too damned poetic about this issue, it's also a good idea to keep in mind that, in the end, the combatants in this war aren't engaged in a romantic, "chivalrous" sort of battle here.
They are engaged in, very often, a set of truly nasty skirimishes, fire-fights and other military pin-pricks, with the occasional set-piece battle thrown in here and there, the object of which, for those involved, is to kill as many of their opponents as possible.
That's what war is, a killing game to establish one set of ideology, policies, economics and social order over another, period.
There's bravery and comradeship in war, sure.
But, in the end, it's really a grand failure on the parts of political leaders and their allies on one side to work out their differences with those on the other in a relatively rational and peaceful manner.
It's a failure that a lot of people, combatants and non-combatants, on the sides end up paying for, quite often in blood.
Please, remember those who have died in wars, yes.
But, also remember that those deaths were preventable, and, in whatever way you can, strive not to make more messy, ugly mistakes that will end up in someone laying deader than a stump on the ground somewhere, because of whatever political and social differences our leadership had with that person's.
Be good to yourselves out there, take care, and thank whatever you worship or hold dear that you don't have to make the hard choices that people living in war zones often do.
28 May 2006
Memorial Day Pics
I know, Folks, I've still yet to up-date y'all on what's been going on 'round here. Well, that'll have to wait for another day.
The pics you see above this screed are my latest. They were taken this afternoon, and were done with the Memorial Day theme in mind.
The first's entitled "Memento Mori, France 1917", and shows the remains of an unfortunate poilu (that's the French equivalent of "GI" for those of you who don't speak Frog) killed somewhere on the Western Front during the First World War.
Lots of unfortunate poilus , landsern (their German equivalents), Tommies and Doughboys ended up more or less this way, dead, alone, forgotten and uncollected for months or years on some God-forsaken battlefield in northern France or Belgium.
Their remains are collected either only months or years after the battles that killed them, or, in some cases, they merged, along with the mud, slime, filth, corruption and trash left behind by those battles, with the soil of those places, into which they sank, either never to be found, or to be found many years and decades later.
The second pic's entitled "City Morgue, Baghdad Iraq, May 2006", and depicts, you got it, only an infintesimal portion of the bodies that flow through that morgue on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis.
Whether killed by American troops, Iraqi government soldiers or police, death squads in the service of the various political factions in the Iraqi government, factions outside of that government, the various Iraqi resistance factions, crooks, angry neighbours, what have you, the death toll wreaked on the Iraqi people by all of the above-named is obscene.
The next two pictures deal with wounded American soldiers after their return home.
The first of that lot's called "Le Repos De La Guerriere", which means "The Female Warrior's Rest" in Frog, and shows an American female soldier, whose left arm's been amputated due to a wound received in Iraq, at rest somewhere in the American West.
We've seen, and will continue to see until American forces finally leave Iraq, a small, but growing number of female soldiers and Marines coming home with missing arms, legs, and far worse injuries than those.
This is because of the integration of US armed forces female personnel into those services over the past thirty years or so, and because many non-combatant jobs in the military, like it or not, require those in 'em to work pretty close to the front lines.
But, in a war, like this one, where there are no front lines, rear areas, what have you, everyone and everything involved becomes fair game for the various sides of it.
Sad but true.
The last pic's entitled, "Walter Reed US Army Hospital, 29th May 2006", and features two patients, both amputee veterans of Iraq, having a conversation(about what, I don't know, and leave to your capable imaginations)on-guess which day, why don'cha????
Amputation of limbs has been a part of war ever since the institution began, and probably will be for as long as it continues.
However, in the past two centuries, so many new and different ways of hacking off limbs, killing people and the like have been developed, that it ain't funny, unless your sense of humour's TRULY dark, or just plain evil. Take your pick.
Will post more pics on this subject to-morrow.
In the meantime, thank whatever god, goddess or other deity you worship, or, if you're an agnostic or atheist type like me, just thank your lucky stars that you and your loved ones are someplace warm, dry and safe, and far away from any war zone. If you don't already know how lucky you are, you should, and that goes for me, too.
Stay safe, Gang, wherever you are.
05 April 2006
Filler Pic
Well, Folks, for those of you who read this blog, and that seems to be no-one thus far, here's a little bit of a filler pic based on a bit of action figure mythology.
The mythos is that of the '70's era Gi Joe Adventure Team, and in this case, the pic is of several pilots, plus a member of the team's para-military section, or Man of Action as his position was called, who worked for the Adventure Team's Canadian section, allegedly taken near Vancover, B.C. in 1977.
Not the greatest basis for a pic, nor the best pic I've ever done.
But, needed to break the silence here, which had gone on for far too long.
Will give a more substantive post explaining why in the next day or so.
In the meantime, enjoy the pic, for what it's worth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
18 November 2005
Las Vegas Indy Media Link
Added yet another link, my 20th thus far, to the Links list here.
It's to the Las Vegas Indy Media web-site, to which I was once a contributor of both stories and figure pics, as well as bein' an Editorial Collective member on two separate occasions.
The site, which is part of a network of left-wing Indy Media sites found 'round the globe, was an important part of my life here over the last two and a half years until early September of this year, when I very publicly resigned from its Editorial Collective and a local peace group over inter-personal disputes within the latter, with which I allowed myself to get too involved.
Without going into detail here, I resigned after giving one of the peace group's leaders a written hiding on Las Vegas Indy Media and in the group's Yahoo Group.
While it might have been therapeutic for me to do that at the time, it didn't exactly do me any honour or credit, just as what the leader said on Yahoo and on LVIMC didn't exactly do him any honour nor credit either.
So, why even bother putting a link to the site up????
Not sure, save to say that, as one of the few left sites in Las Vegas, and Nevada in general, and, as a member of the Nevadan Left, I'd be doin' folks a dis-service by NOT linking to it, so they can see the range of opinion and debate on the Southern Nevada Left for themselves.
Also, I have friends who still are, as far as I know, involved with LVIMC, so, why be un-fair to them because of something that I and another person did two months back????
I also did it, because I wanted to.
I may never know the precise reason why I linked to LVIMC again, much less posted a comment, on a story about an action figure play-set offered through the JC Penney Christmas Catalogue.
Actually, on the latter, I do know the reason I posted my comment, and that was because, being action figure-related, it was in my line of country, as far as that goes.
My commentary on the article, really on the comments following it, is far from immortal prose, and the reasoning probably sucks.
My thrust was that toys, like comic books and other cultural products, reflect the hopes and fears of the cultures that produce 'em, and that, rather than just sitting back and complaining about those products, the Left needs to organise, pool whatever time, talents, resources and money they have into creating enterprises that can create and distribute cultural products that will counter the ones put out by the powers that be, and distribute 'em to as wide a public as possible.
This has to be done along with the classic techniques of boycotts, demonstrations, etc, to pressure cultural producers into making products more beneficial to the general public as a whole.
Otherwise, the only other practicable alternative open to the Left is to sit back and complain, which really doesn't do anyone the least good.
My re-statement here of my opinion posted on LVIMC is actually more coherent and better organised, with slightly fewer words, than the original was.
Well, that's my opinion, anyway.
In a way, it was un-easy for me to go back there and post that opinion, especially after I'd said, in the local peace group's Yahoo Group, on LVIMC, and via e-mail that I was done with the group and LVIMC, given after my very public resignations and what-not.
I probably won't post on LVIMC ever again, but, I also reserve the right to change my mind about that, if need be.
Either way, don't let this affect your decision as to whether to go to LVIMC from here or not.
If anything, I would encourage you to, if you're interested in Left Politics, Culture, etc.
If you aren't, then I'd advise you not to go, simply because you aren't interested in those sorts of topics.
That's, in my opinion, the best, if not only good, reason for doing anything or nothing at all, because it's what you wish or don't wish to do.
Any other reason just doesn't quite cut it, I think.
It's to the Las Vegas Indy Media web-site, to which I was once a contributor of both stories and figure pics, as well as bein' an Editorial Collective member on two separate occasions.
The site, which is part of a network of left-wing Indy Media sites found 'round the globe, was an important part of my life here over the last two and a half years until early September of this year, when I very publicly resigned from its Editorial Collective and a local peace group over inter-personal disputes within the latter, with which I allowed myself to get too involved.
Without going into detail here, I resigned after giving one of the peace group's leaders a written hiding on Las Vegas Indy Media and in the group's Yahoo Group.
While it might have been therapeutic for me to do that at the time, it didn't exactly do me any honour or credit, just as what the leader said on Yahoo and on LVIMC didn't exactly do him any honour nor credit either.
So, why even bother putting a link to the site up????
Not sure, save to say that, as one of the few left sites in Las Vegas, and Nevada in general, and, as a member of the Nevadan Left, I'd be doin' folks a dis-service by NOT linking to it, so they can see the range of opinion and debate on the Southern Nevada Left for themselves.
Also, I have friends who still are, as far as I know, involved with LVIMC, so, why be un-fair to them because of something that I and another person did two months back????
I also did it, because I wanted to.
I may never know the precise reason why I linked to LVIMC again, much less posted a comment, on a story about an action figure play-set offered through the JC Penney Christmas Catalogue.
Actually, on the latter, I do know the reason I posted my comment, and that was because, being action figure-related, it was in my line of country, as far as that goes.
My commentary on the article, really on the comments following it, is far from immortal prose, and the reasoning probably sucks.
My thrust was that toys, like comic books and other cultural products, reflect the hopes and fears of the cultures that produce 'em, and that, rather than just sitting back and complaining about those products, the Left needs to organise, pool whatever time, talents, resources and money they have into creating enterprises that can create and distribute cultural products that will counter the ones put out by the powers that be, and distribute 'em to as wide a public as possible.
This has to be done along with the classic techniques of boycotts, demonstrations, etc, to pressure cultural producers into making products more beneficial to the general public as a whole.
Otherwise, the only other practicable alternative open to the Left is to sit back and complain, which really doesn't do anyone the least good.
My re-statement here of my opinion posted on LVIMC is actually more coherent and better organised, with slightly fewer words, than the original was.
Well, that's my opinion, anyway.
In a way, it was un-easy for me to go back there and post that opinion, especially after I'd said, in the local peace group's Yahoo Group, on LVIMC, and via e-mail that I was done with the group and LVIMC, given after my very public resignations and what-not.
I probably won't post on LVIMC ever again, but, I also reserve the right to change my mind about that, if need be.
Either way, don't let this affect your decision as to whether to go to LVIMC from here or not.
If anything, I would encourage you to, if you're interested in Left Politics, Culture, etc.
If you aren't, then I'd advise you not to go, simply because you aren't interested in those sorts of topics.
That's, in my opinion, the best, if not only good, reason for doing anything or nothing at all, because it's what you wish or don't wish to do.
Any other reason just doesn't quite cut it, I think.
17 November 2005
More Forging Links For The Chains
Yep, I did it again, got four new links up, for your delectation and amusement.
All four are action figure links, two of which are to an MSN action figures' group of which I'm a part, with the latter member of the duo being a link to my own figure pic folder there.
Doesn't have the greatest number of pics in it, but, it is accessible to the public without needin' to be an MSN Groups member or havin' to sign in, or any of that good nonsense.
Just click and enjoy, or gag, as you will.
The other two are action figure photo-stories by the one and only Miskatonic Nick, one of whose sites is the second from the top of the list, I think.
The first one, Toyvile 2: A Tale Too Far, is a sequel of sorts to an earlier story set in the mythical town of, you guessed it, Toyville, and features all sortsa gags about action figures, pop culture, the reasons behind the Iraq War, and all that good jazz.
Kinda like a Bulwinkle episode, if it'd be done with action figures instead of cartoons.
The other one is a short comic story called The Vengeance of Godzilla, and should have something of an appeal for all you kaiju(Japanese monster flicks and tv series)fans out there, and even for some of you non-fans, too.
It's very short, and rather sweet, really.
Have been reading news articles from a variety of sources on-line to-day, including the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Times and the Guardian, among others, about various topics, including the recent French riots, the Iraq War and all the machinations behind it, China's high-tech army within an army, and lots of other good garbage like that.
No wonder my brain's turned to mush right about now.
Will be postin' some of my views on these topics and more within the next few days, once a lot of this info's had a chance to lie fallow and act as intellectual humus(not to be confused with hummus, the delicious Middle Eastern chick-pea paste that goes so well with a squeeze of lemon juice and pita bread).
Then again, my brain may just wipe all of this from the ol' memory banks, and will be back to Square One on that.
Stay tuned, Kiddies, for more links, weird posts, and, of course, figure pics, when and if I finally get around to doin' 'em again.
Some people lead quite interestin' lives, but, I'm not one of 'em.
All four are action figure links, two of which are to an MSN action figures' group of which I'm a part, with the latter member of the duo being a link to my own figure pic folder there.
Doesn't have the greatest number of pics in it, but, it is accessible to the public without needin' to be an MSN Groups member or havin' to sign in, or any of that good nonsense.
Just click and enjoy, or gag, as you will.
The other two are action figure photo-stories by the one and only Miskatonic Nick, one of whose sites is the second from the top of the list, I think.
The first one, Toyvile 2: A Tale Too Far, is a sequel of sorts to an earlier story set in the mythical town of, you guessed it, Toyville, and features all sortsa gags about action figures, pop culture, the reasons behind the Iraq War, and all that good jazz.
Kinda like a Bulwinkle episode, if it'd be done with action figures instead of cartoons.
The other one is a short comic story called The Vengeance of Godzilla, and should have something of an appeal for all you kaiju(Japanese monster flicks and tv series)fans out there, and even for some of you non-fans, too.
It's very short, and rather sweet, really.
Have been reading news articles from a variety of sources on-line to-day, including the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Times and the Guardian, among others, about various topics, including the recent French riots, the Iraq War and all the machinations behind it, China's high-tech army within an army, and lots of other good garbage like that.
No wonder my brain's turned to mush right about now.
Will be postin' some of my views on these topics and more within the next few days, once a lot of this info's had a chance to lie fallow and act as intellectual humus(not to be confused with hummus, the delicious Middle Eastern chick-pea paste that goes so well with a squeeze of lemon juice and pita bread).
Then again, my brain may just wipe all of this from the ol' memory banks, and will be back to Square One on that.
Stay tuned, Kiddies, for more links, weird posts, and, of course, figure pics, when and if I finally get around to doin' 'em again.
Some people lead quite interestin' lives, but, I'm not one of 'em.
Filing Cabinet, My Eye!!!!!
Just checked the page, like promised in the last post, and it's to a science-fiction forum site called Ex Isle, which was originally created a few years back, by and for fans of the now-cancelled Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda tv series.
Well, one can discuss a lot more than Andromeda or SF in general in these forums, as there are forums devoted to the arts, science, culture, politics, and lots of lovely creative forums where one can find fan fiction for various series, original fiction, and visual artwork of all inspirations and sorts.
Am a member there, and find it well worth it, too.
G'wan over, check it out, and set a spell, iffen ya like it.
I think you will.
Well, one can discuss a lot more than Andromeda or SF in general in these forums, as there are forums devoted to the arts, science, culture, politics, and lots of lovely creative forums where one can find fan fiction for various series, original fiction, and visual artwork of all inspirations and sorts.
Am a member there, and find it well worth it, too.
G'wan over, check it out, and set a spell, iffen ya like it.
I think you will.
More Links For The Chain
Added five new links to the chain am creating for myself here.
The first of the new lot is to the Argentine Navy's official site, where, by clicking on the "Marchas"(Marches)link in the home page's upper right centre, you can go to the site's March music page, where you can down-load MP3s of Argentine naval marches and songs for nothin'.
The second's a Blogspot blog run by a US Army sergeant stationed in Iraq. Before you think that the guy's gonna give you nothin' but the usual Red-White and Blue rhetoric, think again.
The blogger's posts are thoughtful and humane, and far from the sort of over-heated super-patriotic thought and rhetoric common to right-wing Web Warriors based safely at home.
Two of the latter links are devoted to a talented, and, in my opinion, lovely, Canadian actress named Lexa Doig, whom many of you SF fans out there will know as the actress who played the title role in Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
The first of these is run by an on-line acquaintance of mine from Canada who's a lovely human being.
One of the bits I hate most about getting older is not being able to remember everything as quickly as I want, and this applies to the link I posted between the two categories I mentioned.
Will post this, then check the blog and see precisely what that link is, then put up another post telling you its nature.
The Filing-Cabinet Phenomenon in human memory's a Real Bitch.
The first of the new lot is to the Argentine Navy's official site, where, by clicking on the "Marchas"(Marches)link in the home page's upper right centre, you can go to the site's March music page, where you can down-load MP3s of Argentine naval marches and songs for nothin'.
The second's a Blogspot blog run by a US Army sergeant stationed in Iraq. Before you think that the guy's gonna give you nothin' but the usual Red-White and Blue rhetoric, think again.
The blogger's posts are thoughtful and humane, and far from the sort of over-heated super-patriotic thought and rhetoric common to right-wing Web Warriors based safely at home.
Two of the latter links are devoted to a talented, and, in my opinion, lovely, Canadian actress named Lexa Doig, whom many of you SF fans out there will know as the actress who played the title role in Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
The first of these is run by an on-line acquaintance of mine from Canada who's a lovely human being.
One of the bits I hate most about getting older is not being able to remember everything as quickly as I want, and this applies to the link I posted between the two categories I mentioned.
Will post this, then check the blog and see precisely what that link is, then put up another post telling you its nature.
The Filing-Cabinet Phenomenon in human memory's a Real Bitch.
16 November 2005
More Links In The Chain
Just givin' y'all a brief heads-up that I've posted two more links to this blog.
One is just above the link to my Yahoo Photos album link(second from the bottom of the Links list), and the other's just below it.
Both of these sites are left-wing in nature, with the first being a blog based out of Montreal Quebec, that I got the link to in an article about the Paris riots a week or so back.
Of course, Sketchy Thoughts' blogger deals with a lot more than just those riots, as he covers political and cultural bits of news and info from around the globe.
Well worth a look, I think.
The other's a site called SovMusic.ru, and, yes, Virginia, it's based out of Russia, and is devoted to old Soviet and other Communist songs of the 20th Century from over a very wide portion of the world.
You can down-load either song lyrics and sheet music or MP3 recordings of these tunes for nothin'.
You read me right-nothin', zip, zero, nada, bupkis.
So, whether you're an old nostalgic longing for some of the tunes of your youth, an up-and-comin' Commie looking to get in touch with the musical heritage of your movement, or simply a curious cat who'd maybe like to get a glimpse of what folks in the "Evil Empire" and so on were singin' about, this is the site for you.
Not to mention, you just can't beat the price of down-loadin' these tunes anywhere, period.
Three and a Half Stars. Joe Bob, if he were here, would tell ya to check it out.
Since he ain't, I'll tell ya to check it out.
One last bit: if you click on the Yahoo Photos link, all you have to do to access the sucker is enter in your Yahoo ID, if you're a Yahoo member.
If y'ain't, well, you can register with Yahoo, which is free to do, and go from there, or decline and exit.
Will soon post a link or two I have to some more of my figure pics in other on-line action figure groups, so you can see for yourselves, without havin' to register with any on-line service.
Sorry I didn't post this before, when I first put up the link. I should have, and have no excuses(none believeable)for not doin' so.
Be Seeing You, as they used say in The Prisoner.
One is just above the link to my Yahoo Photos album link(second from the bottom of the Links list), and the other's just below it.
Both of these sites are left-wing in nature, with the first being a blog based out of Montreal Quebec, that I got the link to in an article about the Paris riots a week or so back.
Of course, Sketchy Thoughts' blogger deals with a lot more than just those riots, as he covers political and cultural bits of news and info from around the globe.
Well worth a look, I think.
The other's a site called SovMusic.ru, and, yes, Virginia, it's based out of Russia, and is devoted to old Soviet and other Communist songs of the 20th Century from over a very wide portion of the world.
You can down-load either song lyrics and sheet music or MP3 recordings of these tunes for nothin'.
You read me right-nothin', zip, zero, nada, bupkis.
So, whether you're an old nostalgic longing for some of the tunes of your youth, an up-and-comin' Commie looking to get in touch with the musical heritage of your movement, or simply a curious cat who'd maybe like to get a glimpse of what folks in the "Evil Empire" and so on were singin' about, this is the site for you.
Not to mention, you just can't beat the price of down-loadin' these tunes anywhere, period.
Three and a Half Stars. Joe Bob, if he were here, would tell ya to check it out.
Since he ain't, I'll tell ya to check it out.
One last bit: if you click on the Yahoo Photos link, all you have to do to access the sucker is enter in your Yahoo ID, if you're a Yahoo member.
If y'ain't, well, you can register with Yahoo, which is free to do, and go from there, or decline and exit.
Will soon post a link or two I have to some more of my figure pics in other on-line action figure groups, so you can see for yourselves, without havin' to register with any on-line service.
Sorry I didn't post this before, when I first put up the link. I should have, and have no excuses(none believeable)for not doin' so.
Be Seeing You, as they used say in The Prisoner.
And Furthermore.....
Really, there's not much more to the "And Furthermore...." of this post's title than to point out something which's really glaringly obvious, except to dunderheads like me, and that's the blog's template's been changed.
Didn't set out to do so when I started adding links this mornin', but, because I'd screwed up the placement of some of the links, because am completely un-familiar with HTML code, well, had to do it just to get the blog's look better sorted out.
So, here it is, the new, and actually, however accidentally, improved look for the blog, which I think makes it much easier for anyone to read than the previous template.
Hope you like it.
Didn't set out to do so when I started adding links this mornin', but, because I'd screwed up the placement of some of the links, because am completely un-familiar with HTML code, well, had to do it just to get the blog's look better sorted out.
So, here it is, the new, and actually, however accidentally, improved look for the blog, which I think makes it much easier for anyone to read than the previous template.
Hope you like it.
Forging My Chains, Link By Link
Well, still yet to get off my lazy arse and re-do those Iraq War counter-recruitment flyer pics.
But, in the meantime, here're some links for you to play with.
The first is to one of the most remarkable action figure sites on the Web, in terms of story-lines and over-all creativity, while the second is just as remarkable in its own fashion.
The only real differences are the site owners' locations, political points of view, and their choices of figures to use in their photo-stories.
What those are, I won't tell you, as you'll be able to guess pretty bloody quickly what they are when you hit those sites.
The others belong to friends of mine(Terri Neish is a very long-standing and dear friend of mine from my university and theatre days up in Reno, from which I originally hail, and Layne Mathiesen(Mr Uncle Dad Is Mad) is an old and dear Vegas friend of mine), relatives(Allen Bramhall's site, which got me into blogging, even if by accident, is a great poetry site), acquaintances(Josh Ellis, whose Zenarchery.com is one of the best Vegas blogs), and complete strangers whose work interests me(Gennifer Hirano's Asian Princess Artifacts, with her own particular take on porn, sexuality, "Yellow Fever", and so much more).
So, check these suckers out, have fun, and stay tuned, Chilluns, 'cos there'll soon be more where THOSE came from.
In the meantime, take care, and, if you're a hard-core Bushite, ravin' Neo-Nutzi, what have ya, don't forget to go gargle with razor blades. It's GOOD for ya(Ha!!!!)!!!!!
But, in the meantime, here're some links for you to play with.
The first is to one of the most remarkable action figure sites on the Web, in terms of story-lines and over-all creativity, while the second is just as remarkable in its own fashion.
The only real differences are the site owners' locations, political points of view, and their choices of figures to use in their photo-stories.
What those are, I won't tell you, as you'll be able to guess pretty bloody quickly what they are when you hit those sites.
The others belong to friends of mine(Terri Neish is a very long-standing and dear friend of mine from my university and theatre days up in Reno, from which I originally hail, and Layne Mathiesen(Mr Uncle Dad Is Mad) is an old and dear Vegas friend of mine), relatives(Allen Bramhall's site, which got me into blogging, even if by accident, is a great poetry site), acquaintances(Josh Ellis, whose Zenarchery.com is one of the best Vegas blogs), and complete strangers whose work interests me(Gennifer Hirano's Asian Princess Artifacts, with her own particular take on porn, sexuality, "Yellow Fever", and so much more).
So, check these suckers out, have fun, and stay tuned, Chilluns, 'cos there'll soon be more where THOSE came from.
In the meantime, take care, and, if you're a hard-core Bushite, ravin' Neo-Nutzi, what have ya, don't forget to go gargle with razor blades. It's GOOD for ya(Ha!!!!)!!!!!
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