Spring is here and it’s time to get busy!? I’ve got to find a more efficient way of handling the anime aspect of my blog.? I’ve got an overflowing must-do home improvement job jar this season.?? I’ve got to get cracking on a tonne of art work since I’ve become very rusty.
On top of all that,? I’ve got to lose 10 lbs to get my body mass index back into the healthy zone.?
On the collection front, I do have a few items coming in… 
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More after the jump…
Anime Blogging?
I haven’t posted anything anime-related in a while due to the fact there’s just so much stuff I’ve been watching lately that blogging it all would take a huge amount of time.??
I’ve also been wondering how to approach blogging what I do watch.? I’ve noticed that a lot of anime bloggers re-tread every episode of every series they watch.? Writing a good synopsis with screen captures is quite time consuming and I have to wonder what’s the point of it when you’ve got a hundred or so other people blogging the same series in a similar, in-depth?fashion.? So I’m looking for another approach which is not as time consuming but still interesting and useful to the casual reader.
Move Over Bob Villa
Spring is here and with it comes a tonne of home improvement projects that must be done.? Let’s see…
- Replace garage side entrance door
- Patch and re-condition front entrance steps
- Clean out basement
- Re-paint kitchen
- Get rid of all the old wood left over from a tree that fell just before winter
- Feed a large pile of twigs and small branches to the chipper shredder
- Install solar powered security light for the backyard
- Fix leaky faucets in the bathroom and kitchen
- Exterior trim and surfaces of the house need re-painting
…and somewhere in between all that, I’ve got to get cracking on my artwork and CG studies.? No rest for the wicked!
Incoming Figures
I’ve got a few items on pre-order coming in a couple of months.? This week I’m expecting Epoch’s Takoko On Commuter Train.? As far as I know, Takoko is an original character that was made popular by a series of ecchi figure kits sold at conventions in Japan.? So far, we’ve seen Takoko in a bikini?with an overly friendly octopus, Takoko in the kitchen in an apron and not much else, Takoko doing an impression of the Venus de Milo and now the poor girl’s smushed up against the window of an overcrowded commuter train.? What’s next?
A friend of mine had an interesting take on the figure.??Unaware of the?context of the figure, he said Takoko looked like she was lusting after something in a window.? I said, “Oxygen.” :-P?? I was going to build up a small section of a commuter train to frame the figure, but his interpretation could be just as interesting.? I could put her in front of a bakery window with a dieting Takoko lusting after pasteries…? or I could put Takoko in?front of a store window, drooling after the latest style of shoes…? Lots of possibilities!? :-)?
Due in is my 4″ Takaya Noriko figure from the anime classic OVA series?Gunbuster.?? GAINAX BOUNCE!? :-D? A friend of mine bought me the Gunbuster mecha action figure in February and I’ve been itching to create a Gunbuster shadow box display.? Now if only I could get the other girls in the series…? I haven’t been able to find them individually, only in sets which cost in upwards of about $60. 
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Also due in is my 4″ KOS-MOS figure from the hit game Xenosaga. Never played the game myself but I did watch the TV series.? Unfortunately, I found the TV series to be lacklustre.? I think in order to fully appreciate the characters and story and understand it’s popularity, you really have to play the game.
I love that triple-stacked three-barrelled chaingun she carries!? Knowing how trading figures are packed, I think I’m probably going to have to replace those crooked barrels with aluminum tubing.? I’m also planning to add customized articulation to this static figure which should be a fun project— if I can squeeze it into my schedule.
Photos and reviews of the following figures will follow once they arrive.
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Nice post!
I agree about the anime blogging bit. It’s hard with people like Random Curiousity bringng huge numbers of images, it’s rough to compete that way. I’d honestly never try. >.>
Also, you’ve inspired me to do a piece about my upcoming figures on my personal blog! Haha. It’s a good idea, especially with my stuff on the way. I’ll drop a link back in this direction.
Oh, and good luck with the home improvement. Sadly, my boss is too cheap for that to be a possibility for me. I barely make it month to month as it is. OH WELL! Got enough for some figures! I always hated home improvements. I plan to live in a house that never needs fixing one day.
Yeah, no use trying to compete with those blogs that put up a tonne of media. It takes me a couple of hours to watch an episode, extract relevant screen shots, then write up a synopsis plus review. Unless I’m going to put a commercial spin on my blog, spending a couple of hours is just way too much time to spend on an entry in my opinion— especially in light of my other more pressing responsibilities.
I’m not a particularly good writer so it’s going to be a challenge to keep things succinct yet still interesting and informative.
What I’m ultimately trying to do is to find a balance to keep blogging a labour of love instead of just plain old labour. When it becomes “work”, that’s an indicator it may be time to stop.
What I’m hoping to do soon is punch up the collectibles content of my site. I’m going to concentrate on adding a “figure lab” which details my customization work (or my attempts at it anyway. :)) and provides how-to articles and reviews as well.
We own an older home, so developing home improvement skills was a bit of a necessity and I’ve grown to like it. But I’d get more work done if I wasn’t such a lazy git. ;D Though our house is older and needs some work done, thanfully it’s in relatively good shape.
Optimally, we’d like to hire trades people to do some of the work but the labour costs would be astronomical, so we’re going to call them in only for the major jobs.