I Hate Being Sick

No Happy Halloween for me.. I've been sick several days and I'm not feeling any better... well that's not true, I'm feeling better then I did a few days ago but not by much. I hate being sick and this is the kind of sick that's not horrible so I'm not knocked out on my butt. It's the kind of sick where you just don't have the energy to do anything. You just feel blah... That's not good when I have so much stuff to do around the house. I actually try and do stuff but then start to get really dizzy and realize that I'm pushing myself to hard. So I opted to just sit in my recliner and catch up on some TV.

I watched Downton Abbey season one a few days ago and I have been dying to watch season two.. so that's what I did. It's set a few years after season 1 and WWI has begun. A very different feel to the show for season two. Lots of growth for the characters and of course tons of drama. But that's what I love about this show. It's not your over the top (soap operey) drama, it's true, real and so emotional drama.

(Spoilers) My favorites Anna and Mr. Bates are finally together if only for a short time before he's arrested. The ass Thomas is back, and yeah he's still an ass but everything isn't coming up roses for him. He purposely gets shot in the hand to get out of the army. They do show a softer side of him in the hospital but then he goes to Downton and the old evil Thomas re-appears. Poor William dies and causes conflict with Daisy, who is just so adorable. They continue the whole Mary and Matthew, will they won't they get together until the end where Matthew tells Mary they are both cursed and will never be together. So much good stuff.. I can't wait to see where the stories go.

Disney Buys Lucasfilm

Today was not a good to be traveling and visiting family.. While I was having lunch with my Dad my phone started to go berserk with tweets and facebook postings. First one I read was Breaking News tweet.. "Disney Buys Lucasfilm"... I was pretty shocked. I told my dad and he said.. oh that explains your phone going crazy. As I read through the tweets and facebook posts I started to see comments about Disney making Star Wars Episode VII and my heart soared.

I was six/seven when the first Star Wars came out. I remember seeing it many times in the drive in with my family. It made me the geek that I am today. It's the reason I love science fiction and fantasy. I remember having to wait a few years for Empire Strikes Back and then a few more years for Revenge, I mean Return of the Jedi.

I remember when George said this was the middle trilogy and that he'd be making the first three and then the last three for a total of nine movies to complete the Star Wars Story... I was super excited. Time passed and nothing was being made.. I figured that these three movies were going to be it and I was cool with that as I totally love these movies.

Then in the 90's we got word that George was making episodes I, II and III and I was super excited. We were getting more Star Wars. The down side was that he mentioned that he would not be making the final three movies episodes VII, VIII, IX. So what was going to be an nine part story arch turned into a six part story arch and I was cool with that.

Then the three movies came out and fans either loved or hated the prequels. I loved them.. all of them and I enjoyed all the new characters, yes even Jar Jar.

Now when the news broke about Disney buying Lucasfilm and making more Star Wars movie, some of my online "friends" freaked out and were appalled and said this is the death of Star Wars... Kind of got the same reaction when the prequels came out and folks kept saying "Lucas rapped their childhood".  I say.. WHATEVER to them. I hate when people say they hate something and nothing has been seen or done yet. The mere fact that Disney owns Star Wars they feel it's going to be bad. How stupid do you have to be.

First of all I love Disney and everything they do. Disney purchased The Muppets and brought them back into the limelight and made them successful again. Disney purchased Marvel and we got all the cool super heroes movies that escalated into the best movie of the summer The Avengers. Disney folks are not stupid, they are not going to change Star Wars. Disney knows what the fans like and won't change things if they are working.

I love the idea of Disney taking over, I think this is the best thing that could have happened to Lucasfilms and Star Wars. They are going to be using treatments that Lucas wrote for episodes VII, VIII, and IX many years ago. Lucas is still staying on as an consultant, I mean it is his world.

I really liked this tweet from Kevin Smith  "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I was told there'd be nine STAR WARS movies. 35 years later, the last 3 are finally happening!"

Honestly I didn't think we'd see this within the lifetime of Lucas.. glad I was wrong. I can't wait until 2015 when we get Star Wars Episode VII. I know I'll be in line hours, if not days before it starts. And I already know I'm going to love it because it's Star Wars.

Visting Family & Friends

Today I was up early and off to visit my family. I try and visit them every two weeks but with crazy gas prices, them living 80+ miles away and my jeep getting horrible gas mileage I have changed it to every 3 weeks.

I left my house at 10:30am and got there around 12:15pm. My sister-in-law, niece and nephew had just left to run an errand. So Dad and I headed out for some lunch. I had planned to go to my favorite Chinese place but as I was driving I remembered that it was Tuesday and the restaurant was closed on Tuesdays.. so we stopped off at El Pollo Loco instead.

Had a nice lunch with Dad then took him to Stater Bros so he could go grocery shopping. Once we got back to his place Lora and the kids were back so I spent some time playing with Kenobi. This was also the first time that Molly didn't scream bloody murder at the sight of me.. so I'm making progress. I mean she still didn't want anything to do with me but it's a start. Brother came home so I got to spend an hour or so hanging with him as well. It was a good family visit.

I left around 4pm to drive a bit north to my buddies Josh's place. I haven't seen Josh in over a month and normally when I visit family I like to visit him as well since he lives out this way. Got to Josh's around 4:45pm, we hung out and talked for a few hours, caught up on each others lives.

We then headed out to dinner at a place we went to a few months ago that both of us really enjoyed, Carino's Italian Restaurant. It was a nice dinner. Once back at his place we watched the first episode of Downton Abbey (yes I intrigued him with all my tweets a few days ago). He was instantly hooked and I knew if I started watching more I wouldn't leave for hours. We moved on to an episode of Spaced, we are almost through season 2. Around 10pm we said goodbyes and I headed home and was in bed by 11:45pm. It was a great day spent with family and friends.

Oh and the big news that broke... well I'll cover that in a separate blog post :)

Bulmers Poster Advert no.2

Riiiight... I think I'm starting to understand the Bulmer Adverts now... This second poster was released about 2 to 3 weeks ago and I've been meaning to get a close up of it but I've had no time to find one to picture! There are loads of them posted at bus stops in Croydon :P

'In the beginning there was Percy and Fred Bulmer'

Anyway, this one makes sense to me!! 'In the beginning there was Percy & Fred Bulmer' who were the ones who produced and manufactured Bulmers Cider... And 125 years later it's still going on!

I think I will soon get the gist of it once it's Christmas, heheheh... Maybe I should drink more Bulmers. ^_^

Here's some background reading (which I should have read beforehand) :P 
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/08/23/bulmers-celebrate-125th-anniversary-beginning-campaign

See previous post of Bulmers first poster: 
http://asimplegeekylife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/bulmers-poster-advert.html

First Viewing of Downton Abbey

Woke up not feeling so great, but knew I had to continue to push myself to get some stuff done. I did manage to get an hour and  45 minutes of painting done before grabbing some lunch and watching some TV. I recently acquired a few seasons of a show that has been getting alot of buzz the past year or so, Downton Abbey.

I really don't know much about it but alot of my friends on and off line love it so I figured I'd give it a go.  All I have to say is WOW!!!

Here are my tweets as I was watching:

Geekyfanboy Oct 29, 2:35pm via Twitter for iPhone

Watching my first episode of Downton Abbey. S1 Ep 1 Let's see what all this hype is about :)

Geekyfanboy Oct 29, 2:48pm via Twitter for iPhone

Ten minutes in and I'm already loving it. #DowntonAbbey

Geekyfanboy Oct 29, 3:42pm via Twitter for iPhone

Downtown Abbey is FANTASTIC.. Moving on to episode 2 of season 1

Geekyfanboy Oct 29, 4:31pm via Twitter for iPhone

Downton Abbey is so good and I'm only on Episode 2, not getting anything else done today.. I'm addicted. #DowntonAbbey

Geekyfanboy Oct 29, 6:16pm via Twitter for iPhone

Moving on to episode 5 of season 1, yeah this day is lost :) #DowntonAbbey

Geekyfanboy Oct 29, 8:33pm via Twitter for iPhone

Now time for the season one finale of Downton Abbey. Watched all 7 episodes in one sitting.. So good

Thus the day was over. It was only 9:30pm when I finished and it took all my strength to not start watching season two as I knew I wouldn't stop and would be up for another 8 hours. So I'm saving that season for another day.

Downton Abbey lived up to and exceeded the hype in my opinion. It's pure drama, no elements of science fiction or fantasy. It's a history piece, the acting is superb, the characters are so well defined right off the bat. I never hated characters such as I did with O'Brian and Thomas. I loved Bates and Anna. There are so many characters and they are all fantastic and interesting. I would say it's a British soap opera but that seems to do it dis justice. It's not an over the top melodrama. It's just incredible... There was never a dull moment. It was fascinating to see the two different dichotomies in the house (upper class and lower class) and how they intermingled. 

British royalty has always interested me and I love this period in time for it's architecture and clothing, men were always so dashing and ladies so beautiful. 

This series truly is a masterpiece and I can't wait to watch Season 2 and see where these peoples lives are taken.

The Generator Hostel Dublin

With all the hotels (and one hostel) I have stayed in, this one must have been the rowdiest... Ok, look, Miss Pinky and I were on a budget. So I had to pick the cheapest but also near to the City Centre... The Generator Hostel was in our price range and it wasn't too far from the City Centre (about a 15 minute walk). I can't remember the price per night as I booked it as a package deal with www.travelrepublic.co.uk (but they do mention how much the flight is when pre-booking).

From the airport you can either take a local bus 16 but you will need to change or walk along River Liffey to Smithfield Square. If you can't be bothered to walk or get another local bus then take the 747 airlink coach. It's the 11th stop you need to get off. Once you get off, cross the river (mind you the traffic is a little weird because the traffic lights and crossings are not at both ends (if that makes sense)... Anyway, you need to turn right (don't go straight) and it's the second alleyway / side street that you need to enter. You will see Smithfield Square right in front of you. It's a magnificent scene. And you can see that the hostel used to be a factory from it's massive chimney. :D

Re-using this picture - I cropped it this time ^^

Generator Dublin flag

The Generator Hostel at night

Once we checked in at reception who I thought were helpful but not really that friendly. I've been to a lot hotels and they always have a welcoming face, politely spoken and you can easily ask questions. But at this hostel, I didn't feel welcomed at all. Sour faces. They seem to be tired and under pressure. (There was only one guy during the evening shift who seemed very friendly and bubbly!)... With a big hostel like this, they should have more reception staff!

When we got to our room the reception staff had given us a room with 2 bunk beds. I had booked a twin en-suite room! Reception never said we would be having bunk beds!! We even checked the bathroom which had no towels... *SHOCK*. I was expecting towels, so I hadn't brought one with me :( ... On their website it says twin rooms and private rooms will have towels... Well, anyone staying here, and will be sharing with other people make sure you bring a towel. At reception you can hire a towel for €2 or purchase one for €6... Obviously we hired one each!

Our bunk beds... sorry for the mess, we slept in them before I took pictures :P

The only good thing about the room was the artwork. The bunk beds were ok since they had their own lights and plugs at one end of the bed... Ah, there's also something different about this hostel... you need to make your own bed! i.e. put the bed linen on the mattress :P

I like the artwork!! ^^

If you plan to have a drink at the bar check out the chandeliers. They are so pretty. Also the bar serves the cheapest drinks around Dublin!!

I also like the chandliers made of Jameson bottles! Cool!

If you plan to use the free wi-fi  the best signal you can get is in the lounge area, the worse is in the rooms... You'll get one bar if you're lucky!

Lounge area

There isn't much shopping you can do around the area, but there are restaurants/ cafes, a few pubs and a local supermarket... and a Chinese gift store. You cannot bring any alcohol into the rooms by the way...

The one bad thing about the rooms as well is that you can hear your neighbours. So just be aware of how much noise they'll be! Plus the thump, thump thump sound of the music from the bar if you want an early night in!

The hostel is suitable for all types of travellers but are probably best suited for young teenagers / adults (I'm young, but not that young)... Plus if you need a good nights sleep, don't go here...

My geeky rating: 2.5/5

Good points:
- Very easy to get to
- Cheap drinks
- Suitable for the younger generation
- Cheap to stay in

Bad points:
- Unfriendly staff
- Bad wi-fi signal in rooms (you will need to ask reception for the password)
- No towels (as I booked a twin room and wasn't aware!!)
- Nowhere to hang clothing (a shelf would have been sufficient with a couple of hangers - like in Travelodge) Miss Pinky and I used the back of the bunk beds to hang my coat and towel!
- Noisy nights and mornings 

Other points:
- Be aware of having to share with other people - well it is a hostel!
- Your swipe card lets you enter the building so you don't have to keep buzzing for reception all the time

Website: www.generatorhostels.com/en/dublin

View Larger Map

p.s. The receptionist marked on her survey form that I was Japanese under the nationality section!! How impolite for not even asking... I'm British!!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower review

When a project to turn a successful book into a film gets the green-light, there is usually one overwhelming feeling that grips readers: concern. Will it be any good? Who will they cast as my favourite character? How will they direct this scene? Are they making it for fans like me or are they going to sell out the books ideals and morals for a bigger profit? And when you consider the disasters that were the 'Twilight' series or 'The Da Vinci Code', can you really blame readers for being on edge when their favourite book gets the Hollywood treatment?

I'm glad to inform fans of the book that the film is fantastic and I'm certain that it won't let you down.

For those not familiar with the story, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' centres on Charlie, an introvert, aspiring writer who is trying to cope with his mental illness as he starts high-school. His best friend committed suicide months before the start of the film, leaving Charlie completely alone. Patrick, resident class clown and the only senior in his shop class, takes him under his wing, as does his step-sister Sam. These two eccentric individuals introduce Charlie to a world of friendship, love and above all, belonging.

Logan Lerman was fantastic as protagonist Charlie. He portrayed a very likeable, but deeply troubled character with a sense of vulnerability that sustained throughout the duration of the film. I feel as though most viewers could identify with the loner in some shape or form, whether it was with his unpopularity or the way he puts everyone else's well-being above his own, it's hard not to feel somewhat connected to Charlie. Emma Watson's acting was on top form, although her accent wasn't quite as flawless. It proved distracting for the first couple of scenes that she was in, but you slowly get used to hearing Sam's voice coming out of Hermione's body. For me, Watson's stand out scene was when Sam learned that Charlie's best friend had shot himself, and all she could do was stare at him in complete shock, looking completely heartbroken for this isolated boy. The scene that followed in which Patrick (played by the wonderful Ezra Miller) is informed about Charlie's best friend's death and asks the room to toast Charlie, initiating him into the group. It was such a beautiful scene, its emotion only amplified by the clueless expression on Charlie's face as to why they were being so nice to him. 

We have Stephen Chbosky to thank for not only this film, but this novel too. Both the book and film were written by him, and he also directed it too. The intimate way in which Chbosky must know these characters by now really does shine throughout the film, with his informed direction impacting on the individual performances as well as the production as a whole. It's the little things, such as the creative choice to introduce the film with abstract shots of a tunnel, the same tunnel in which Charlie first proclaims that he feels "infinite", that makes the film such a pleasure to watch.

The plot makes for, hands down, the most heartfelt film of 2012. It had a great mix of moments of hilarity, and scenes of intimacy. It was a teen movie, but without any of the generic, two-dimensional characters that we are used to enduring within them. Many teenagers face issues, quite similar to the ones in which the characters in the film have to face, but have these dismissed by society, who see only what they allow them to see. To finally have someone paint a realistic picture of what it's like to be teenager in such a beautifully heartfelt way is an absolute blessing.

It's hard not to watch 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' and not to feel somewhat nostalgic. The odd thing is, I came out of the cinema feeling nostalgic for music I wasn't around to appreciate, for things that I've yet to experience and people that I've yet to meet. The music was a big part of creating this sense of nostalgia, and without it, I don't know if the film would have worked on the same level. I recommend that you check out the soundtrack and if you like what you see, do the characters of the film proud and buy it on vinyl.

All in all, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' is a heartwarming film that is as well written as it is acted, and anyone who writes it off as 'chick-flick' is missing out on what is potentially one of the best films of the year.

IKRPG: Grim Ulthas

As a group we have decided that we were going to jump into and start playing the new IKRPG.  Our lovely Happy Panda has issued a challenge to the members of the GG.

I gladly accept your challenge sir!  En Garde!!

I started with character creation.

In the new IKRPG the first step to character creation is to choose your race.  My choice: Dwarf! (anyone suprised by my choice?) Step Two is to choose an archetype: I picked MIGHTY... I mean he's a Dwarf for crying out loud, didn't think there was another choice. :)

Next you choose your careers:  Decided on a Military Officer/Bounty Hunter.

Then you name your character and start picking up equipment and the like:

Name- Grim Ulthas
Tailored Plate armor
Mace
Warhammer
Knuckledusters

So with the character creation out of the way I went about picturing in my head how I wanted my character to look on the table top.  I began by scribbling out some concept art:



The Ulthas brothers are ex-Rhulic military that have fled to North Eastern Khador to start up a Mechanik's shop.

As they are located in the cold north, I figured it only fitting to make my dwarf look a tid bit like a Rooskie.

So here is my concept.

Now on to figure selection: As a military officer I thought that the best base for a Dwarven military officer would have to be the new General Ossrum fig. I picked him up and began looking for options to match my characters load out.

So starting with Ossrums body I grabbed the right arm off of my recently acquired Gorten Grundback fig... (going to be ordering another right arm from the PP bits order to replace it :) ) clipped the head off his axe and added a mace head, filed his warcaster back pack down to look like a normal back pack and clipped off his pipe... end result:

I really wasn't sure how I felt about the mace.  I bounced the idea off of my good buddy and blog contributor Scotty.  I felt the mace looked a bit too much like a stick grenade.  He thought if fit the IK pretty well, but also agreed it had some stick grenade feel to it as well.  So after a bit of deliberation I decided to switch it up and this was the result:

I also forgot to note that I have added a few bits and pieces to the Ossrum fig as well.  Three pouches on his back, and two rolled up scrolls.

As a Military officer you start with Battle Plan: Call to Action and have access to several more Battle Plan abilities.  I figured to represent these Battle Plans I would add maps and intel-type scrolls to my figure.

Step 1

So with the bits all attached and the figure nearing completion there was only one thing left to do...  Yup you guessed it... Give him a right Dwarf-worthy beard.  And so it began, my first stop in the beard building process:

Step 2

  
I then thought to my self that maybe this beard was a bit to rough... might be hard to paint... So I moved on to step number 2:

Step 3

I decided to run this by Scotty as well... his thoughts were that it may have looked a little bit better a scruffy and unkempt... then he threw in a bit of a challenge to test my Green Stuffing abilities... told me to throw a ring of some sort on his beard to break up all the scruffy beardliness.  So I moved to step 3:







I did a bit more tweaking here and there... until the green stuff was essentially no longer workable.  And ended up with this as a final product:

Well thats it for the conversion part!  Next step:  Basing and Painting!

Thanks for Watching!!

-Grim

Searching for Motivation

Once again my "out of work" funk is beginning to rear it's ugly head. I hate feeling this way, as it's not like I have nothing to do while I am out of work. On the contrary I have so much do between prepping the house to be sold, podcasts and catching up on TV that should keep me busy 24/7.

But instead of getting stuff done I'm finding that I'm having to motivate myself to get little things done and it's tough. What is crazy is I know that the funk is coming, I know the laziness is coming and I know that I'll regret not getting all this stuff done while I had the time off (as I will be getting a job again hopefully soon).  It's the same pattern that I've fallen into the past few years. So you think that would be motivation enough to get things done.. but it's not. :(

Now I haven't been feeling 100% for a few weeks (physically) so that could be playing a part is my laziness and over all frump. I have a chronic condition that I don't talk about here, it causes some major pain and uncomfortableness everyday. The past 10 years it's been particularly bad and flairs up from time to time and it's hard to be motivated and get things done when your in pain.

Yesterday on Saturday I painted for 2 1/2 hours, which I'm very happy about. I took a break to eat some lunch and while on my lunch I like to try and catch up on a TV show. My intent was to go back out and do a few more hours of painting but that never happened. I pretty much stayed inside and worked on my websites and various other things on the net and watched a bit of TV. I assured myself that I would get more painting done tomorrow (Sunday).

Well Sunday happened and once again I went outside and painted for about 1 1/2 hours before coming inside to rest and once again I didn't go back outside to paint more. Instead I worked on the next Knights of the Guild podcast. I missed a month last month (which I hate doing) and October is almost over and I didn't want to miss another month so I took the time today to record, edit and post Knights of the guild episode #44.

And to end Sunday I had my online bro-date with my bestie Chris for our Once Upon a Time viewing. And as always it was fun watching this new episode with Chris and Once Upon a Time continues to be my favorite TV series on right now.

In the end the weekend wasn't a complete waste.. I did manage to get 4 hours of painting done and released a podcast... could have been worse. I really need to stop this funk before it takes hold fully.

Knights of the Guild Ep 44

Download from itunes - http://bit.ly/KotGCast or listen, get direct download at http://bit.ly/2CrYxk

Show Notes:

 

I talk Season 6 and CompanionCasts
Tink Comic Book Review by Eric Hargus
On set of "I'm The One That's Cool" music video, I interview Sandeep, Robin, Vince and lead make up artist Kim Graczyk

 

Enjoy, ~Kenny~

Dublin - Day 4 The Worse Journey Home

Monday 22nd October - Our final day in Dublin!!

Miss Pinky and I woke up on time and left the hostel before 10am... We saw the Norwegians who were drinking the night before, and they looked hangover! ^^ As we were early we walked all the way into the city centre, and at one point I spotted this lovely piece of streetart!

'Labelz are for jars not for people'. I like that phrase. It seems whoever designed this was labeled as something that he / she did not like. I don't blame them!

'Labelz are for jars not for people'

Trying to find breakfast wasn't hard, but we went along Temple Bar Street to see what was to offer and remembering that we were on a budget... We ended up in a newsagents / cafe (can't remember the name of it, but it's near Quays Bar). It was an awful breakfast for €5. The baked beans were sweet. The toast was tough. Bacon looked burnt. Mushrooms looked like mush... The only good stuff were the half-warm scrambled eggs and the sausages... It's probably my first worse breakfast in decades!! So my geeky rating is 1 out of 5 (1/5).

Horrible breakfast!! >.<

So, straight after breakfast we went to the bus stop to the airport. There was an airlink coach we could have taken, but Miss Pinky spotted a local bus (no. 16) that goes directly to the airport (well done Miss Pinky). It was cheaper to use but took longer to get there (about 45 minutes to an hour) compared to the airlink coach...

Once we got to the airport, it was a little difficult finding departures but we got there in the end. We queued. But once we got to the desk, they said OUR FLIGHT IS CANCELLED! What is going on? The lady at the desk didn't tell us... I only found out from a friend online that London was full of fog and that flights were being delayed or cancelled... WHAT?! This all angered me... but it fizzled out quite quickly, although Miss Pinky's anger seemed to have flared up because the airline didn't say anything and didn't like the fact that we were sitting ducks waiting for a flight to appear...

A new flight suddenly appeared. Unfortunately there was going to be a delay - about an hours delay from our original flight... So we went pass security (which was frigging long), they even have the cheek of getting you to pay for plastic bags for your liquids... what kind of airport is this? ... Well, duty free didn't help either... they were doing offers on whiskeys, 2 for €22. The only problem was, was that you had to pay a certain amount of VAT on top! That's a cheeky marketing scheme, and shouldn't be allowed at airports... And so it was time for me to have a whiskey and pepsi (no coke available)...

Whiskey and Pepsi at Dublin Airport

Well, an hour had passed by. Miss Pinky was on her laptop looking at her work emails and I was bored, so I went to the loo and took some pictures of the airfield...

Dublin Airport

The Airfield

Our two hours of waiting were up, but we were again delayed with getting onto the craft. Once we got onto the plane the captain then explained that there was a possibility that we will be grounded on the aircraft for either 15 minutes or 55 minutes before flying... OMG, this return flight wasn't going well... :( But we left in 15 minutes. Miss Pinky felt sorry for the people who were connecting flights from London... that was a shame...

Finally we arrived at Heathrow, and I think we were in Terminal 3 instead of Terminal 1... I thought we were supposed to go through passport control, but that never happened (when did that change?)!! Instead we ended up at the luggage area... It was a long wait. A very long wait. All the passengers were not happy. We were all an hour and a half behind schedule as well... Not flying with BA for another decade! My BA experiences is always a bad one. Other flying experiences always seem to be a good one! 

Where's our luggage?

It was time to go home. It was a long trip via the Tube and I had to work the next morning... (I almost fell asleep in my Tuesday meeting... -_-zzzzz)

Next holiday = April 2013. Watch out for more holiday adventures with Miss Pinky! I must remember to buy myself a tablet or bring my netbook with me in case I get bored when Miss Pinky decides not to do anything too!! ^^

p.s. Sorry Mrs Hen, I bought you these shamrock chocolates (it was 3 boxes for €10) and I started eating one of the boxes... So no present for you I guess ¬_¬""".

Shamrock chocolates - yummy!!! ^_^

Top tips for going to Dublin:

- Bring enough spending money (I would say €100 per day - depending on your eating and drinking habits)

- Take the local buses

- Walk to the city centre

- Observe some of the streetart

- Go to a pub with live music!!

- And ENJOY! ^^

Iron Kingdoms RPG Challenge!

The second Geek Garage Challenge is upon us! Several of us have expressed interest in the newly revamped Iron Kingdoms Role Playing Game. To go with that, as a personal challenge we are converting and painting up some custom figs for our in game characters!

This inaugural article will give a brief overview of our characters and what their background is.  After this each of us will post up our progress as we go along.



First contestant up is me!

I have a little obsession with Llael. I've picked up Ashlynn twice and never got around to finish the army but I'm slowly working on it. Here I'm going to make my homage to the Llaellese duelists.

Warcaster Jaque DuGaul

My basic background is he is a Warcaster of Llaellese decent who was part of a training exchange between the nations of Llael and Cygnar. Essentially he was sent to Cygnar for his initial training. This was obviously before the war broke out. He was stuck finishing up his initial training in Cygnar before the war was over. Now he has to build up his abilities and resources in order to bring a needed resources to Field Marshal D'Elyse.

Figure conceptualization: Base figure will be Lord Jester from the Reaper Mini line. Already looks like a duelist and I just need to add bits to create Warcaster armor and a pistol for initial weapon load out. Since he was sent to initial training in Cygnar I figured he potentially could have gotten some experimental fancy storm tech like eStryker so I'm going to steal his backpack and GS some tubes to power his light armor. Hopefully this works out.

Wild Chevy's Contribution:

Vasily
Human, Khador, Arcane Mechanik/Man-at-Arms

"Former member of the Khadorian Special Recon group, a squad designed to learn the enemy forces' rune magics so to better protect the motherland. Trained in the arcane and close quarters combat these individuals were sent behind enemy lines to gather intel. After a ambush in a old Orgoth ruin he was left for dead by his squad after falling into a crypt during their retreat. Surviving by his will Vasily sets out to continue his quest to learn new runes and avenge his fallen brothers."

 Grimwolf's Entry:

Grim Ulthas (real original with the name I know ;) )

Military Officer/Bounty Hunter
Initial load out: Warhammer, Mace, Knuckledusters, Tailored Plate

I hunt down the shmucks who don't pay off the debts at Ulthas Bros



Character's defining characteristics:
Loud Mouthed, Quick to Fight, Won't Back Down from a Challenge, Fiercely Loyal and Protective, with a Disdain for Ranged Combat.

I used General Ossrum's fig as the base for my conversion. Used Gorten's right arm with Forge Father to represent the Warhammer.  Then I clipped the head off of the axe on Ossrums left arm and slapped a Warrior of Chaor mace head on top.  (This mace I hope will have a story all its own...)  I clipped and filed off the smoke stacks and vents from the back pack and tried to make it look more like a regular old back pack.  I added a few bundles of scrolls... (these would be the maps etc... that would represent the Battle plans carried by all military officers).  Also added some pouches from an old GW sprue to his back.  I used Ossrums head but have clipped the pipe off and will be green stuffing a right and proper gnarly ol' Dwarf beard.  Pics forthcoming.

Scotty Khan:

Tagrin Ulthas
Dwarf: Arcane Mechanik/Ranger

Initial loadout:
Arcane Crossbow (Blast runeplate)... Hopefully he will be jumping on to give us a bit more info on his dude.






Journeyman:

I'm playing a Nyss Sorcerer/Ranger, and here's some background.

She's the daughter of refugees from the exodus. Her family settled in the Thornwood, and her father began work as a ranger, leading hunting expeditions in to the forest. Fatima (my character), often went with her father, and learned the trade. When her father died while on an expedition, she decided to take his place. When the war started, she moved south, into Central Cygnar.

Dublin - Day 3

Nothing much happened on Day 3... :( I had the whole morning doing nothing because Miss Pinky decided to have a lie in (although she was awake). I tried everything in my powers to wake her up and go out... And she also needed to do her assignment too (she's studying Housing ¬_¬). I ate crisps, drank orangeade, did my Mandarin homework (Level 4 Mandarin) and started re-packing... Nothing worked... Ugh!

So when she did wake up we finally went out for a walk... A very short walk...

Ireland's version of the Barclay Bikes

Dublin is really big on streetart!! ^^

As we were on budget, we both wanted a cheap breakfast / lunch... Guess what that was...?

My Texas Beef Roll Meal

Yep Burger King!! ¬_¬"

We did a bit more walking around afterwards looking for a place i.e. cafe or pub where Miss Pinky could do her assignment on her laptop... But that didn't happen, so we walked back to the hostel and I took a few more pictures...

Post Office of Ireland - Gosh it's big!

More streetart!

Went back into the Quays Bar for more live music!

High Court of Dublin - there are a lot of solicitors around the area!

Once back at the hostel, we settled ourselves in the lounge area, where the wi-fi signal is the best! And then I sat there bored to death... I Instagrammed, I checked out my block and helped Miss Pinky a little bit... I even redid my Mandarin homework... Bored, bored, bored...

My half pint Guinness

Even had a coffee :P

Finally Miss Pinky finished! We went out for some fresh air... 

This is for memory's sake... Never went into the
Jameson Distillery and I really want to try this drink out!

But that lasted 10 minutes and we ended up in the hostel's bar. We met a bunch of Norwegian boys who were sitting at the bar for a while and the barmaid was babysitting them. One of the Norwegians was a ladies man... He started chatting to us (and then some other women later)... Apparently he's a Chemical Process Engineer... ¬_¬ what the heck is that??!! Miss Pinky and I were amused by his efforts of chatting to all the women at the bar... Hahahahahaha...! He made my evening whilst watching the X-Factor results show!

We were late to order any food from the Reception area (and again on a budget), so I got two dry chicken sandwiches and ate one with my Guinness n' Blackcurrant... 

Dry sandwich and a pint of Guinness... ¬_¬

That was it for Day 3... I wish we could have done more!! :( Next day is the last day.