365 Days of Paint

I hope that everyone had a chance to decompress during the holidays and recharge your batteries for 2018.  My Christmas was full of family stuff and I was hoping to get some more board gaming in but alas I succumbed to a nasty flu virus and was knocked out for 4 days. Anyhow before any of that happened I managed to make some progress on the miniatures for Flashpoint.   When we left each other last you saw a preview of the HAZMAT Operator: Colour Diary When ever I am going create a painting diary post I am going to list the colours so that, if you at home someday are reading this blog you can follow along.  Citadel Paints are easily found in most Gaming Stores and if you are in a large city and have a Games Workshop they would carry the full line.  When I started painting I bought a lot of Citadel paints, but about 4 months in I switched over to Vallejo because it comes in a dropper bottle.  Let me tell you how much easier it is to work ...

Like watching "The Martian" but with less potatoes! Growing up in the 80s/90s had it's benefits.  Not the crazy hair, weird fashion; shoulder pads looking at you.  There was amazing music, and as a nerd who loves High fantasy/Sci-Fi/action films.  There was an arms race; all about the pump, between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.   It was the golden age of action films.  One of my favorite films from that time is Total Recall.  Loosely based off the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" Like in  the PKD story the main character of the film experiences a melding of a real and false memory and by the end of the movie has gone to Mars, reclaimed his real life, and started the Alien oxygen terraforming engine. Hey Benny!  SCREW YOU!!! As good as Total Recall is I'd like to think that Terraforming Mars takes place 50 years after the movie The Martian which is a more altruis...

Call up the Hammerheads! I have an idea! Yes folks, it's Star Wars season.  With the premiere of Star Wars the Last Jedi this past week, Star Wars hype/hate is through the roof.  I'll be getting ready to make my annual pilgrimage to the movie theatre; it's hard to get out when your child's age is counted in months.   Keeping with the theme of Star Wars I thought today's subject would be about something that is a bit of an obsession for me. Let's pause for a bit while I take you into the weeds about my personal experience with Star Wars.  Being that I was born in 1978 I wasn't around for the original Star Wars and I was obviously a little too young to watch the Empire Strikes Backs at Age 2.  Although, I fondly remember a Dukes of Hazzard Wrist watch car toy; growing up Asian in Alberta! YEEE HAW! So yes, Return of the Jedi was one of the first movies I saw in theatre.  In a sad bit of nostalgia the theatre at Southcentre Mall is gone.  Bu...

Before my stroke, my work used to involve a lot of travel. As you can imagine during my recovery I've been medically grounded and just been working from home and the local office. Part of my stroke recovery was to stop drinking alcohol; not that my beer a week was a huge amount to start with, and also stopped trying to eat food that I haven't prepared myself to limit the amount of sodium I intake per day. That also means that on any future business trip I'll not be hanging out with my team members at the pub for very long once we close out the day.   I had been thinking of what I can do now to occupy my time in the hotel room besides flipping through the TV. The hardest part about going away on trips is missing my family, and of course my bucket O'paints. I am leaving for a business trip tomorrow and wanted to continue to paint my KD:M starting survivors.  Tough to do from across the country.   I was thinking about how I could safely tr...

Stop Drop and Roll Last month, my son was invited to a good friends kids birthday party.  Not the usual crazy indoor playground or pool party or other similarly kid orientated party.  But in fact we went to have a tour of a local Fire Station. You got to meet your local firefighters(Anyone in a Calendar?), see their gear, check out the trucks, and get a refresher in your homes fire safety plan.   The highlight was getting to climb around the different fire engines and take a look up at the hose tower.  When you pass your firestation next time look for the tall tower thats in every fire hall.  After they go out to fight a fire the hoses are strung up there to drain and be cleaned before being rolled up and stored for next time. Finally, the funniest thing was probably the hazing of the rookie as he came down the pole and was greeted with a bucket full of cold water. To be very honest I don't know who had more fun, me or my son.  Not goi...

The Paris to Roubaix Spring Classic on your dinner table. mmmm flavour country! When it comes to the word Cyclist there are usually two kinds of people, you either get a knowing smile or you get a angry red face, spit on the ground as you leave and a toss of salt for good measure kinda person.  I'll be up front I am the kind of person who has a knowing smile. In fact my PS4 screen name is Souplesse which in the cycling world means perfect pedalling. Look, I get it.  It's the no shame spandex wearing, we own the road - are vehicles/not vehicles so we don't follow the road rules or pedestrian rules riders.  We ride 10 wide on a 2 lane highway and are a shining beacon of healthy living and green transport.   Here I am in my giant dually truck sucking down a Baconator. BOOM! GET OUT THE WAY! GET OUT THE WAY!  There seems to be stereotypes on both sides. The reason why I love cycling is because at it's purest it reminds me of my childho...