Maybe Miss South Carolina Could Get into UC Berkeley After All...

In the Study Lounge.

Me: "Hey guys, how's it going?"
Resident: "Oh, not bad. But man, this homework sucks."
Me: "Yeah, that's college for ya."
Resident: "Oh, yeah, this light's out. It's been out since we got here. I don't know what's wrong with it."
Me: "...(Looks at light switch and flips it. Light turns on.)...."
Resident: "Oh."
Me: "(Walking out) Yeah, that's college for ya..."

This Post Brought to You by Schwa Cola: Mmm, Cola!

Hey hey there!

Classes have started, and that means homework and early wake-up times. I'll be putting something up later about my initial thoughts.

In the meanwhile (since I don't have much time tonight [8am class tomorrow - blech]), I just wanted to share something that I thought was pretty interesting.

In case you hadn't heard, Robert Dynes, the corrupt and incompetent President of the UC, who essentially stole money from the system (through compensation scandals) as tuition prices were increasing, announced last week that he was "retiring". Good riddance, I say. Problem is, they're giving him a year of administrative leave with $405,000 pay. Not really the best way to fire someone, I think.

However, I'm not going to go into him (this is a good opinion piece, though). There was another retirement announced shortly after this one. It was the Dean of my new college (and former California Representative) Tom Campbell. Now, my feelings on this are a little different, because the man was not really corrupt or incompetent, and he actually seemed like a downright decent person.

One thing, though, that really stuck out to me was the press release for his retirement. Just read the first sentence:

Tom Campbell, the Bank of America Dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, will step down from his position next summer after completing his five-year appointment, he told faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the school on Monday, August 27.

Nevermind that it's a mouthful. Look at it one more time:

Tom Campbell, the Bank of America Dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley...

.............

Okay, I can accept having corporate sponsored stadiums...and I can accept having corporate sponsored events (barely)...but a corporate sponsored dean? Particularly at a public institution? Don't you think that's going just a wee bit overboard, fellas?

Comic-Con 2007!!! (Part 3 - Lotsa Cosplay)

Welcome back to the program! It's been a while since we've looked at Comic-Con pictures. In our last episode, I was getting beat up six ways from Sunday. There's considerably less violence in this particular post (at least towards me), but no shortage of people, both fit and fat, dressed up as a variety of characters. Let's get right to it, shall we?

So, here we have a Filipino Bat Girl, a shabby looking Riddler, a guy with a TV for a head, one of the weirder renditions of Mr. Freeze I've seen (yes, that blue guy is supposed to be Mr. Freeze; no, I don't know why he looks like some cheesy wrestler), some random robot characters, and a girl in a spiky purple mask. Do you remember where we are? That's right, we're back in San Diego.

This one turned out surprisingly well. Maybe its just their costumes, I don't know. What I do know is that I would have preferred if that emo dude in the center would have stepped aside and allowed me to take the center position.

Okay, this one turned out even better than that last one. In fact, I think you could turn this into some sort of TV Show poster. In fact, here's an example of of what one such poster would look like. I guess in that show, I would be the thick-headed but lovable tough guy who never gets the girl, 'cause they're all being taken by the shirtless guy behind me.

This could have been a great shot, recreating the most famous scene from 300 (well, sans the techno music present in that video). However...
Me: "In this picture, I'd like you to kick me."
Spartan: "I'm not going to kick you. I may hurt you."
Me: "I don't mean actually kicking me; I mean just posing."
Spartan: "I still may hurt you."
Me: ".....Whatever. Let's just do this."

And with that, you have the single greatest lost opportunity at the show.

Imagine, if you will, that this is not some guy in a costume, but a real, honest-to-goodness alien (er, excuse me, predator) walking amongst a bunch of workaday humans...holding the skull and spinal column of one of their brethren. What would you do? Well, if you're the guy on the right, then you try to play it cool and hope he thinks you're one of his home-boys. If you're the lady(?) on the left, however, you put on a completely creepy expression and hope that scares him away.

No idea who or what this guy is supposed to be. It says "The Red Star" right under him, so chances are he may be a dirty commie rat...one with really long eyebrows, at that. Lousy commies, think they own the place.

Ah, the LEGO booth, always good for a statue or two of some already popular character. Nevermind trying to come up with something original, LEGO. You haven't done that for five years. Now it's all Harry Potter and Spider-Man. Selling out! Selling out! You're whoring your products now! "Who's popular? They're popular! Let's make LEGO models of them and become rich." No creativity anymore! No creativi-

*Flit*

What's this, in my neck...some kind of...dart....hfur tgywatrg hgk.nnnnnnnnnn

LEGO® is good. LEGO® can do no wrong. The creators of LEGO® products consistently rate amongst the entertainment industry's most creative, attractive, and eligible bachelors. Purchase LEGO® products. End transmission.

Huh, what? Oh, sorry, I blacked out for a second there. But I'm cool; everything seems to be in order (although there's a rather conspicuous scar where my kidney should be). So, here we have what may look to be some guy in a costume. Or so you'd think. You were thinking that, weren't you? Well, if you were thinking that, you'd be wrong. This is actually a statue. A well-made statue, but a statue nonetheless. It's of some crazy British scientist-explorer-dude firing a pseudo-futuristic ray gun while smoking a pipe. Now, personally, I wouldn't have a pipe in my mouth while firing a gun (I may swallow it), but the British are some crazy people, donchaknow.

...And what's that on his leg?

Why it's a buxom female, wearing clothing that may be inspired by the 19th Century, but if she actually tried to wear it in public, she'd get hauled off by one of those beach fashion policemen.

...And why does it look like they're on the bottom of the ocean? I don't know, ask England.

Speaking of the bottom of the ocean, here we have a wonderful Davey Jones costume. Now, you'll notice that he doesn't have the peg leg that Davey Jones has, but since he was walking with a limp regardless, I'll forgive him for that small offense. He seemed to be quite popular with anyone who had a camera. Literally, he was being stopped for a picture every 10 feet. This almost makes me wonder how much enjoyment people can get when they're always being stopped from going where they want to go. I don't know, maybe there's a different mindset that cosplayers have. I only know that I'd be able to do it one day, and one day alone. The rest of the time, I want to be the one taking the pictures.
Ah, yes, the LEGO Batman. It looks exactly the same as it did last year. It almost makes me wonder if the designers never take apart these elaborate creations once their made. Put some glue betwixt the pieces, and it becomes an honest-to-goodness statue. A lot more efficient than rebuilding it every year, I can tell you that.

I realize this ain't a great shot. I think there's a better one later on...

Ah, nothing makes me happier about our future when the military force is a bunch of overweight dudes in vinyl costumes. The Future would be able to kick all of their asses, that's for sure. And he'd only use a knife and baseball bat.

Whoop, what'd I say about Stormtroopers being everywhere? Take a shot!

You know, with those goggles, I think that kid would have made a better Riddick than...whatever the hell he was supposed to be. And why are there suits in this picture? This is like some sort of mash-up of Final Fantasy and Law and Order here.

..........Damn, that's a lot of belts. Seriously, who needs that many belts. I wear one belt. Sometimes I have an onion on it (as is the style at the time), but still, just one. Most people where one belt. Maybe they wear a belt that looks like two belts, but that's still one belt. Not this girl. She wears one, two....eighteen belts, by my count! And none of them are even holding up her pants. Whatsamatter with this girl? There should be a law that you can't wear more belts than there are years in your life. No, there should be a law that you shouldn't wear more than one belt. Crazy kids, think they can wear anything they want nowadays.

[/Old Man Rant]

Normally, I would have just deleted this picture, but I wanted to put it here to demonstrate one thing that infuriates me about con-goers. Me, when I go to a convention, I make sure I don't step in the ways of people's cameras. They're pretty easy to spot. People holding camera's are usually standing still, facing something interesting, and have their arms awkwardly close to their chest or face. Oh, yeah, and they're holding a camera. So, when I see someone taking a picture, I stop moving, or I duck under, or go around. Something so as not to distract or ruin their picture.

But a lot of people, they're not as considerate as I am. No, they don't make any attempt to stop for the good of someone else's picture. "To hell with 'em," they say. This is a perfect example. The intended subject of this photograph was an attractive female (possibly one of the most attractive females at the convention) wearing some sort of costume. So, as I'm standing there, with a camera clearly in my hands, this fat nerd punk walks by and not only steps in my way, but bumps into my elbow with his backpack, knocking down the camera.

*FLASH!*

The camera took the picture. I looked down to see what I got, and it wasn't good. By the time I realized the situation, the female had walked away and out of sight. So this is what I was left with. A little torso (nice torso, regardless) and a lot of some jerk's backpack.

Let this be a lesson to the lot of you: when someone is taking a picture, be courteous. And if you're the one wearing this backpack, you've earned an enemy for life...your life!

This picture is kind of a complement to one that I took last year. Of course, this one isn't of me. Still, it shows the other side of conventions, what I poetically call "Tired Dude Syndrome." People affected by this syndrome tend to look for corners, far away from the hustle and bustle of people everywhere. Once the victims find these quiet spots, they sit down and get off their feet. Sometimes, they will even take off their shoes and wiggle their toes a bit. They will use this time to read one of the convention programs, or perhaps (as pictured) call a loved one, letting them know of their condition. While Tired Dude Syndrome can be a demoralizing condition, prognosis is usually fairly good, and most are cured within 10 minutes. Unless it's the end of the day. Then you're screwed.

Ah, and I almost forgot to mention, the old, useless actors who were present at the convention. Elvira and Lou Ferrigno, just to name a couple. They would stand sit at their booths, allowing people to take pictures with them for $20 to $50. No exceptions. And apparently, Lou Ferrigno was a real jerk about it (I didn't talk to him, but I talked to someone who talked to him).

I almost took a picture with LeVar Burton, until I realized that it would cost $50 and wouldn't be until the next day. "No way," I said, "I have better things to spend fifty bucks on!" I immediately went to the booth next door and spent $50 on practice swords. Maybe if it was Jonathan Frakes or Patrick Stewart, I would have spent the money, but LeVar's face just doesn't merit $50. $30, maybe, but not $50.

In any event, I got pictures of Elvira, and I didn't pay a cent. Why? Because I didn't step in line. How's that for a bargain? By the way, it's amazing how normal the woman looks without make-up, a wig, and breast implants.

Not sure what this guy was supposed to be, but my god does that apple look good!

I probably should have used the flash with this picture, because I really lost a lot of what was really a high-quality mask. This girl was going as a video game villain called Pyramid Head. It really did look well-made, despite the non-matching clothes.

Oh, and around this time (actually, shortly before, when I was buying nachos [the only good deal at the convention, as far as food went; $4 for nachos that took ten minutes to eat is much better than $3 for a hot dog that takes two minutes to eat]), someone put his hand on my shoulder to move me aside, saying "Pardon me, son," as he did. I moved aside and let the old man pass, only a second later realizing that there was a huge crowd following him. It was Stan Lee! I got ready to take a picture, but he and his entourage were already far enough away that it would just look weird. So, I didn't get his signature like I did last year, nor did I even get a picture, but I did get moved aside by him. And I was happy it was by him and not by one of his guard-escort cronies.

Bad photography, or Jedi mind tricks? You decide!

Ah, yes, another one of these. I told you, when you're on that escalator, there's not much else to take a picture of. But I still think this is the last one, so take a good, long look at it.

Ah, and here's Lord Sauron, saying "Good Day," to this particular batch of pictures. I hope you've enjoyed what them. At the moment, we're approximately halfway done with the pictures (only halfway? Good God!).

See you next time!

Stages: The Evolution of a New Room

Stage 0: "It looks like a hurricane mated with an earthquake in here."


Stage 1: "If nothing else gets done (and nothing else will), my computer system must be given a good home!"



Stage 2: "Oh God, how the hell am I going to fit everything inside this space?"


Stage 3: "Wow, it's actually starting to look livable in here..."

Stage 4: "This is no longer the room that Andrew Schnorr lives in. This is Andrew Schnorr's room."



At this point, my room has been described as "cool," "awesome," "hella tight," and "off tha hook." Good sign.

Coming soon - Stage 5: Getting rid of that Finnish Luggage in the Corner and Replacing it With a Mini-Fridge.

The State of the Union (By Which I Mean, 'How I'm Feelin')

My activity on this blog has declined...

My readership has plummeted...

My morale is low...

My eyes are droopy...

I've had to greet when I wanted to sleep...

I had only a 17-hour period without having residents, and most of that was spent preparing for residents...

I've been stacking and chaining, unchaining and unstacking carts to pass out to antsy, annoying parents. My hands bled a bit...

I have been overall sleep deprived for the last few weeks...

But tomorrow...

No alarm...

I can sleep in...

...

...That's a start.

:)

A Few Updates for the Week...

Hey hey there!

Sorry that this whole thing is taking so long, but I really am busy nowadays (even more than I anticipated), and finding the time to work on personal projects is proving difficult. I want to finish my Comic-Con series, but I also want to inform you of the goings-on. So! A list of different things that have happened since we last spoke.

-I had my final and my final presentation for my two business classes. And, thanks to the fact that I had to finish up a PowerPoint for the presentation, I only got 3.5 hours of sleep to work with. Regardless, I did pretty solid on both of them, garnering myself an A for the Presentation (well, an A/A-, as my professor said I sounded uncannily [and too much] like a commercial narrator), and probably an A in my Business Communications class. As far as my Business Ethics final, I'm sure I did solid A- work, which is pretty much the grade I'm expecting for the class. So, all in all, I'm satisfied with how the classes went. Good classes; I really enjoyed both them and the professors. Maybe I'll go into more depth at a later time...maybe.

-We started Fall Training. Yipee. However, I will say that it is at least more fun on the returning side, as we're doing the acting for the Virtual Reality Sessions (which, for the untrained, is just a form of authorized hazing). In one sessions, I was in a drunken party, and I played as I guy who was not only drunk, but had to be on a few different drugs. I had a jacket over my head, and was dancing in a way that I was rubbing up against the wall (or the RA). When they asked for my ID, I pulled a $20 bill out of my wallet and said, "My name is Andrew Jackson!" Brutal. In my other VR session, I was a depressed resident. And when the RA made the mistake of telling me that my problem was not unique, I became poetic and said, "You're right; I'm not unique. I'm just another grain of sand upon an endless beach, and if that grain were to be removed, it would never be missed." Poor guy didn't realize to ask me if I was suicidal. Anyhoo, the rest of training is, well...well, it's two weeks of things I've been through before.

-About half of my residents moved out. I am very sad about this, and I'm even sadder that the other half will move out this Friday. I don't think I could have asked for a nicer group of people, and I even told them this when we gathered for a group picture. I said, "You're some of the most wonderful people I've met, and I'm happy to have known you." And you know what? I truly meant it. And it made me feel so good when they said that I was the best RA at Unit 2, and they weren't "just saying that". And here's one of the pictures we took. It doesn't have everybody, but it has most of the core group of people, save for the Germans (with the exception of everybody's pal, Toby, who was subtly Photoshopped in).

One can only hope that all residents would be like these guys. Hell, one can only hope that all people would be like these guys. Fun, social, yet completely law-abiding. The best I could hope for, and I'll definitely miss them.

-I received a Mensa home (that is, unofficial) test. I'll be sure to take it when I get some free time.

-I moved most of my things out of my current room and into my new Towle room. It's a nice big room, but I'm still not sure if I'll have enough free space in it. Well, we'll see how it is after I actually try to organize everything. And right now, I'm living barebones in my Ehrman room, just some clothes and a computer. (Oh, I'll probably make an official announcement later, but if you want to send me some mail, it's the same address, but now its at TO-401A.)

Okay, then, that's your refresher. I'll try to get my next Comic-Con update up soon. Onward to more training!

Comic-Con 2007!!! (Part 2 - "Everyone Hates Andrew" - With a Special Appearance by This Wall)

Welcome back!

Last time we left off, I was just getting ready for my second day at Comic-Con (no, this isn't a 1-post-per-day thing; it just happened to work that way). So now we'll take a look at my next set of 25 pictures. Hooray!

Again, we're going with my little "Everyone Hates Andrew" theme. This time, the agressors are Blade (who must be mistaking me for a vampire) and Bishop (who must be mistaking me for some time traveling...guy...). Is it geekish that I'm able to identify these guys without even thinking about it?

Remember what I was saying last time about how annoying it is for a picture to be not completely blurry, but still a little blurry. Perfect example. That faux-Princess Leia and Jaba the Hutt look pretty good together, but you'll never know for sure, because there's just the tiniest blur in it. However, there's also the possibility that that woman was actually very ugly, and the blur is the only thing standing between you and complete revulsion.

Speaking of revulsion, there was another potential picture that I could have taken, but didn't. It was at the booth of...I'm not sure, maybe Dimension Films? Anyhoo, they had a woman posing at a pole, in order to promote one of their movies, a Quentin Tarintino "movie" called Grindhouse. In that movie, there's a character, a woman who had a machine gun as a prosthetic leg. Now, at this booth, there was a fairly young woman who had the same thing; a machine gun as a prosthetic leg. But this wasn't added in with CGI; this was real - she was actually missing her leg!

There were plenty of people taking pictures, and I was going to, mainly because she was placed there as a photo op. But I just...couldn't. I think it was the small scar on her midriff. It really made me think, "You know, this isn't some glamor model, this is just a girl, not much older than me, who's been in some sort of accident. And now she's being paid because she's missing her leg. And all these fat slobs around me, they're not concerned with what happened to her. They just want to take the picture. 'Gather round the freak show, people!' She's smiling, but it's a faint, almost forced smile, one she's had to wear for hours. Why am I taking this picture? If she had a leg, would I even be considering this? Am I taking a picture of what she has, or what she doesn't have?"

...Yes, that did all go through my mind. And in the end, I didn't take the picture. It just made me feel too uneasy with myself. Although I was later told by one of my residents that "it's the pictures that make you feel uncomfortable that you have to take," I'm comfortable with my choice.


......What? That's all I had from Day 2? Really? Okay, then, onto Day 3!

Now, Day 3 was Saturday, and I knew Saturday was going to be sold out (it was the only day sold out last year, and since three of the four days were sold out this year, it was a pretty good chance that this was one of them). And, following our experiences with parking the previous day, we didn't want a repeat. So, my cousin suggests that we drive down to the trolley station, and take that into the Convention Center. We did that, and it was a good idea...at the time. You see, later on that day, one of my companions was giving blood - a charitable venture, to be sure. However, she didn't take too kindly to having a good portion of her blood taken out. So, she was feeling really faint, and in no condition to travel on a very, very shaky train.

Hence, I had to go back on the trolley - by myself and without my iPod - to Chula Vista, and then drive for the first time in 7 months, after sundown and in unfamiliar territory. (You know what? I still drove better than Squall did!) I then had to pick them up, and we drove back. So, taking the trolley actually turned out to be a bad idea...but there was no way we could have known that unless I had precognitive powers (and if I did, why would I be wasting my time going to comic book conventions. I would be the superhero!)

...Where was I? Oh, yes! So, we took the trolley in, which brought us to the trolley station area, where we saw something we wouldn't have seen otherwise:

What's that? Some sort of drawing? Yes! I'm not sure if you've ever heard of those sidewalk-perspective-art things, but this is one of them (though I'm not sure if it's the same guy, as this one has a beard. If you don't know how this kind of art works, look at that link. It's really fascinating. Anyway, I'm guessing this guy was paid to do something related to Beowulf. And so we get this. Here, you can see a bunch of dead soldier dudes on the ground.

And above, we see a (non-chalk) stand-up of the monster Grendel, holding yet another dead soldeir dude (it looks like he's actually holding two, but look again). That's probably one of the odder depictions of Grendel that I've seen; most pictures portray him as some sort of werewolf (or other lycanthrope), not some weird zombie-thing.

Here's a full-on view. Notice the "CAUTION" tape. I guarantee, if that were not there, there would be people stepping on that poor dude's drawing. The attendees of this convention were incredibly dumb. More than once (much more than once), I saw people running across the rails right before a trolley, or even it's big brother, the real train, zoomed by. How there wasn't any deaths on those tracks, I'll never know.

Here you can get a better view of the dead soldier dudes. It looks like one of them could use a hand!



...I'm sorry. I'm really, truly sorry.

Okay, final shot of this, I promise. You may notice that there's some sort of glass-like reflection on this shot. That, my intrepid reader, is because this shot was taken behind a little glass thing that essentially tells you where to look through for the correct perspective. Now, you may be thinking, "Wait, that doesn't look too 3D to me!" Well, consider that the picture is still incomplete, and also that I'm actually not taking the picture from the exact right angle. In real life, it looks much better than this.

Heh. Remember how I said I got a few pictures of this thing each time I went up the escalator. This was the second one, and I must say, I think it turned out the best out of all of them. It's crisp, clear, and shows just how frickin' huge this place was. I think I should send it in to the Comic-Con powers-that-be, so that they can use it as one of their "official" pictures. Hell, they may even pay me. In fact, I'll make them pay me! They'll have no choice, what with my obvious photographic talent. *Hides every other picture.*

I have no idea what I was taking a picture of here, but I obviously moved the camera during a long exposure. Why did I keep it in, then, since it is obviously a shot that didn't come out right? I dunno, I kinda like it. Plus, if you stare at it for a long time while listening to this Cirque du Solei music, it makes you nostalgic for a time you were never a part of (or Protonostalgic). That merits an inclusion in my book!

This was a great idea that just didn't work. In order to give an idea of the sheer magnitude of this event, I wanted to take a picture of the row number signs going down the main aisle. However, there were three problems:
1. It turned out way too dark (wide open spaces, I suppose).
2. I'm just a bit too low.
3. There's a freakin' support pole in my way. That kind of ruined that idea. Still, the thing was huge. Three stories, about 500 yards each, all full.

I took a big picture by this guy last year (his name's Alphonse, by the way) at the same booth, but back then he was in a different pose, and had his brother there, also cast in some sort of plaster-plastic hybrid. As for me, I've grown more frowny and less gay-looking, though I still cock my head to the right (well, your left, my right).

So, although I was trying to get as many people to pose hurting me, not everyone was in for it. This rabbit-woman is a perfect example. I tell her to whack me with that staff, and she just says, "Oh, I'm not going to hit you." I should have responded with something to the affect of "Goddammit, you long-eared skank! When I tell you to hit me, hit me!" That would have sprang her into motion pretty quickly. However, the gentleman in me took precedence, and I just stood there, head cocked to the right, looking like some lame guy who takes unexciting pictures with rabbit-women.

And here's me with a cospayer of Megaman (though, judging by the size and shape of the body, I'd say this character was more of the female persuasion). Again, they didn't want to take a picture hurting me, and would rather take a picture thrusting forward the blue head of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Fed up, I decided to take my aggression out on someone. Though it looks like my fist is heading towards Mega(wo)man's head, i actually sucker-punched that kid in the light blue shirt. Several applauded.

This is me trading fingers with a guy dressed up as Phoenix Wright. Now, for those unaware, Phoenix Wright is the eponymous character in the Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney series for the Nintendo DS (a great, great series). Now, one of his main quirks (and they even joke about this in the game) is the fact that when he's shouting "OBJECTION", as he is wont to do, he always points his finger out. See here for reference. So, I decided to do a point-off, which is about as close as that kind of character can get to "hurting" me. In the end, I think I look better, despite his pillow. I mean, he's smiling. Smiling!

Apparently, there's a movie coming out this December called The Golden Compass. I've never heard of it before, but it apparently has Nicole Kidman (who I don't really like anyway). Anyhoo, they had quite a presence here, including taking pictures with a bluescreen (you'll see that later). And right here, they had a stature of a large bear-like creature, most likely a bear. It was so big that I had to take two pictures of it, one from the side and one from the front...

...But which is which? Even though this is where you see the bears face straight-on, but you only see the side of his body. So who's to say what's the front and what's the side? We're through the looking glass here people...

This is one of my favorite shots, particularly of the "Let's Kill Andrew" collection. It's like, it doesn't matter if they're white or black, Jedi or Sith, Twi'lek or human - everyone has it out for me. I'm particularly concerned with how close to my groin that guy lowered his lightsaber. I guess that's part of the movie that Lucas decided to take out in the final cut.

Now, as I've explained multiple times before, this thing was huge. 30,000 people a day. I explained to people that it was a lot of "walking, standing in line, and pushing through crowds." So, I walk by this wall on Saturday, and it's totally empty. This wall was an anomaly. This wall was special. Never before, nor ever again, did I see this wall empty, but for a brief, shining moment, I was able to see the full scope of this wall. It was a photo opportunity I was not willing to pass up. So, I took a picture of this wall, and it made my day.

Note: that little bug-like thing in the middle of this wall? Not a bug. It was just some random symbol sticker thing. So there.

Now, here's the Batmobile from the original 1960s Batman TV show. It was being displayed at the Hot Wheels booth and, if you think about it, is damn ugly. I don't really know why I took this picture of it, nor the several pictures I took the next day (well, I obviously had forgotten that I took this one).

Also, please not that this is somewhat of a tilted-camera shot, a homage to the horrid camera-work of that show.

Here's me standing by a large Bender costumed-guy. I didn't even bother asking the guy to attack me in any way; he could barely walk around, let alone move his arms in any significant way. One thing I noticed, though: the corners of my mouth are both turned down, but its still pretty obvious that I have some sort of smile going on. Ah, the wonders of human facial expressions.

Okay, this is me trying to make up for the botched shot earlier on. However, even though this one does go all the way to the end (and you can see that there are a lot of signs), going from 2300 to 0 just doesn't have the same Oomph! as going from 5000 to 0.

Wow, it looks like our relationship broke down pretty quickly. Strip a guy's arm of all but its robotic components and rip off his helmet, and his mood's suddenly turned sour. Now, some may question why someone would dress as such a specific character aspect (that's only in the movies for what, three minutes?), but he pulls it off pretty well. And, no, there's not some giant flying waffle in the air that's caught my attention; Darth Vader's strangling me with his Dark Side powers. And that jackass in the back is just getting a kick out of my death.

Another one I like (I think this post has my favorite pictures of me getting hurt). Political? Perhaps (read: no). Fun? Yes. Seriously, if you saw someone like Boba Fett, you're not going to be particularly brave. You're going to surrender before he has a chance to speak (well...if he spoke).

Funny note: I was messing around with this on Photoshop, and even though I look fairly frightened and subservient in this picture, I was able to make my face look very...what I can only call defiant. I decided to make something of it, and I actually submitted on my deviantART profile (by the way, I have a deviantART profile, where I'll probably be putting some of my pieces as I make them). It's actually called "Defiance". Have a gander. I actually have a comment on it (which is pretty good for a nobody like me), in which they say (and I quote), "Beautiful... it's merely beautiful"....which doesn't sound that great, unless you consider that they person probably speaks another language. Replace "merely" with "simply" and it sounds a lot more like what I'm hoping they were trying to say.

I have no idea what the heck these are, or what they were for. But they took the time to dress up, so I decided to take the time to take a picture. Sweet deal, no?

And, for our last piece of Part 2, we have yet another of my favorite shots. This one, though, I like for the opposite reason as the one with all the different Jedi attacking me. That one had a lot of people coming from a lot of different places, with all sorts of weapons threatening me in all sorts of ways. This one, though...this is simple. To the point. Clean, crisp, and effective. A good way to end this session, which probably has more of these self-destructive shots than any other.

This week's going to be hellish for me, what with a final and a group presentation and Fall Training, but I'll still be plugging away every night, type-type-typing until I get this behemoth completed, hopefully before the week is out. I'll see you next time!