joe randel's art dump

I’m sitting here watching a bit of Saving Private Ryan with some family that is visiting.  I’ve only seen bits of the film but I’ve heard it’s fantastic.  I should probably watch all of it sometime, tonight won’t be the night though.  This is a good time though to share with you a Joe factoid.  I really like antiques, especially war memorabilia.  I don’t own any, I don’t feel the need to do so, but I do love seeing them in museums.  Helmets, bayonets, old photos (I love those), propaganda posters, tanks, newspapers… everything.  I find them all fascinating.  It’s amazing to think that these war antiques were used or carried by someone during times of war.  To me it’s a pair of boots, or a canteen, but to someone else, they where the boots they had on as they marched in far off lands.  Through the mud and the rain as they fought the enemy, those items carried them through it all.  Oh, the stories they must have.  I love going in military surplus stores and looking at the older items they have.  I even like the Nazi stuff.  No, not because I’m a sympathizer.  I see them as I see any other piece of war history.  Fascinating.

How do you feel about war memorabilia?

[Update] – We stayed up and watched the whole movie.  It was just as great as everyone said it was.  ^_^

What things have you tried to take on or learn but failed.  Well… maybe not failed.  That’s kind of harsh.  Quit!  Yeah, that’s it.  Name some of the things that you quit even though you had the best of intentions to finish.

Learning Japanese – Several years ago I signed up for online lessons speak and write Japanese.  I really wanted to make this happen because I wanted to have an easier time playing import games.  I also wanted to understand naughty Japanese manga.  Sadly this didn’t happen.  I found it hard to put aside the time to learn properly so I eventually stopped it all together.

Working Out – I used to work out all the time.  I had a schedule and everything and I quite enjoyed it.  But other things started to take priority and it just kept getting pushed to the side.  This is something I really want to get back in to.

Learning 3D – I learned basic 3D a long time ago.  I keep sort of relearning it ever now and again.  My problem is that I don’t do anything to keep it up.  Plus I’m known for my 2D at work so it makes no sense to give the 2D guy some 3D work.  I really should try to get back in to it and try to make something 3D.  Where to start is the question…

Flossing – This one sounds strange, but at the beginning of this year I decided to start flossing properly.  By the summer I had stopped all together.  It’s something I should be doing, it doesn’t take much time, but at the end of my day I’m usually so tired that I don’t care.  I really should though.  I think I’ll start this up again tonight.

What are some of the things you’ve stopped or walked away from for any number of reasons?

I’ve mentioned in the past about my Sailor Moon obsession.  She was pretty much a first anime crush and over the years I’ve collected over 500 naughty pics.  So when earlier this week I saw that two new Sailor Moon figures where on the way, my jaw nearly hit the floor.  These two were shown at Bandai’s Tamashii Nation 2012 show which showcases all their new figures and toys.  One is poseable and the other is a cute short version.

I like both, but I think I like the small one better.  I wish I knew when these where coming out and the cost.  Wonder if my coworkers would think I’m strange if I where to display one of these on my desk.

It’s Halloween!  Well, it might now be as I post this but by the time most read this it will be.  So let’s have one more spooky post.  Do you believe in ghosts?  Have you ever had a ghastly experience?  Laugh if you must, but I do believe in ghosts and spirits.  I have since I was a kid.  I remember reading lots of books about the paranormal in the school library.

Unfortunately, I have never seen or experienced a ghost.  I did have a strange moment about 9 years ago though.  We had to put down our beloved beagle Pheobe (Bernard’s Mum) only two to three days earlier.  I woke up in the night and listened to a dog get up off the dog pillow and walk out of the room.  Seconds later, the I could hear the noise of a sleeping dog still in the room.  Wife just happened to be awake too and I asked her if she heard a dog get up and leave the room.  She said that she did.  I then asked if Bernard was still on his pillow.  She leaned over and checked and confirmed that he was.  I then asked… so who left the room?  I’m sure others can say that I must have heard Bernard walk in to the room and lay down.  I can absolutely say that I 100% heard the paw steps of a dog exit the bedroom door that night.  I also never heard the sound enter the room again.

Do you have a ghost story to share?

With Hurricane Sandy looming over head, I hope everyone is safe somewhere.  I hear that the east coast is taking a pounding and ever us here in south-western Ontario are getting tons of rain and high winds.  They say that we should prepare for up to three days without power if things get really bad.  I hope not too many of you are in the path of the hurricane.

Take care and stay safe everyone!

I don’t care for them.  I know the Halloween season is the time to take in a good fright, but I’ve never been one for them.  I know others that just love them.  I just do see the draw to be honest.  Have seen some.  The first one I ever saw was Alien.  I know it’s not a scary flick.  It’s more of a sci-fi thriller, but it had the tense moments and gory scenes that put it in that sort of genera for me.  Later in to my teen years, I had to watch Nightmare on Elm st and Halloween for film studies class.  I didn’t really find them overly scary, but they where way past their prime when I finally watched them.  Oh, and I took in The Ring when it was in theaters too.  I wanted to see that because I really liked the concept and yeah… it scared me.  The difference between those three and Aliens, is that I eventually learned to love the Aliens series.  They’re probably some of my favorite movies.  With that being said, you still wouldn’t catch me watching slasher or horror movies today.  I get scared enough watching The Walking Dead.

Do you enjoy scary/horror movies?  What’s your favorite one?