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We had a DFW area Blythe meet yesterday at my house!
These little guys won first place in our costume contest-the pac man group from our Austin/L.A. contingent of Tu Sabes Blythe, Kogepanic, and FiddybobiddyFiddy! Thanks for coming, you guys! And congratulations on these funny and adorable costumes.
I should have gotten a back view - they had little eyeholes so the girls could look out and put their arms out (to hold treat bags! :D) and they color coordinated everyone's tights AND stand to match the costume! So cute!
To get a sense of what makeup can do, here's my "before and after" picture, which should pretty much kill any remaining chance of me ever holding a public office. I have to admit, this freaked me out every time I walked by a mirror!
For the benefit of your sanity (and my last shred of dignity), I'll spare you the "in progress" pictures from when I was trying out parts the costume and (God help me) trying to get the makeup right. However, I'll make a few observations here:
- In answer to the most common question from last year, the cleavage was done with tape and some socks for padding. (Simple but effective!)
- Ye gods but corsets are uncomfortable, but I have to admit they do the trick.
- Makeup boggles my mind. It's really tricky to do well, but the results can be mind-blowing. (A used copy of "Making Faces" by Kevyn Aucoin was a great investment for a how-to guide.) I spent more evenings than I care to admit learning this stuff...
The shoulder kitten I actually found at a local Renaissance Festival. (The makers also have a web site at www.fantasypuppet.com.) It's actually quite cool (if a bit pricy), and it even has a wire where you can control the movement of the head...it's actually a bit spooky. Personally I've never been a big fan of shoulder kittens in-game, but when I saw the little purple bat-winged cat, I knew that Ravenna would have her witches' familiar. (Although in my villain's description, I couldn't resist noting Avonlea's deep loathing for the cat.)
Here's the first picture of Ravenna I submitted for the contest, which we took at the Maryland Rennaisance Festival. It was the last day of the Ren Fest and the weather was perfect, so it was *packed*. There were hundreds and hundreds of people around, so it took us several tries to get shots without people in the background. (It's kind of a shame we didn't a picture or two with all the big crowds, actually.)
Walking around the festival was amusing, since I think a lot of people figured I was a woman in costume. As a result, the shoulder kitten tended to get more attention than I did! A few people asked about it, and kids were especially fascinated with it. At one point a woman suggested the kitten might be good for a Halloween costume...when I told her that's what I was wearing, she said, "Oh, that's a great costume." Meanwhile I'm thinking, "actually, it may be even better than you think..." :-)
Also, as part of the contest, we had to include a description of the archvillain of 250 words or less. I figured most everyone would just do one dense paragraph of text, so I figured a little narrative might be a more fun read for the judges. This was what I submitted (249 words!):
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Bloody and shackled in irons, Avonlea awoke on the cold ground of Moth Cemetery, enveloped within the perpetual gloom of Dark Astoria. Far off, she heard voices chanting...the witches' dance had already begun!
Forcing herself to her feet, she was greeted by a familiar and most unwelcome voice. "Merry meet, sister!"
"Ravenna...?"
A grinning woman in witches' garb stepped from the shadows, a small purple cat with batlike wings perched on her shoulder. It hissed when it saw Avonlea.
Gods, how Avonlea hated that cat.
Ravenna smiled as the chanting intensified, and the gloom was suddenly replaced with the warm glow of the afternoon sun.
Avonlea's eyes widened. "Ravenna, what have you DONE? The balance--"
"--is SHIFTING, sister. In our favor, because of me. The promise of Croatoa, fulfilled here as the faerie realm bursts forth into the mortal world."
"You're insane! Humanity won't survive--"
"Humanity! How many WITCHES have died already, Avonlea? How many friends? This will end our war with the faerie folk! Let humanity suffer for a change."
"Witch," Avonlea snarled.
"How nice! I'd assumed you'd forgotten what that meant." Ravenna stepped closer. "You can't stop me. Your time among humanity has made you weak."
"Actually," Avonlea replied, her shackles falling to the ground, "I've learned a few new tricks." Bathed in healing light, her wounds disappeared.
"Tricks won't save you."
"Perhaps." An explosion sounded, and the witches' chants dissolved into frantic shouting. "But then, that's why I also brought some new friends."
We found the spot where we took the picture with the Jefferson Memorial mostly by dumb luck, and from the exact same spot, we were able to get a pretty nice view of the Washington Monument. Bonus! (We took this right after the Jefferson Memorial picture, so I think the goofy little grin I'm making is the "I-still-can't-believe-I'm-doing-this-but-oh-my-God-I-think-I-might-actually-have-a-shot-at-winning-this-stupid-thing" smile.)
It's funny that whenever I show people these photos, the men always ask about the cleavage (cloth tape and rolled-up socks for the win!), but women ask, "how did you walk in those heels?" ("Carefully.")
On that same topic, I'd like to draw your attention to the utter lack of a guardrail as I'm standing riiight next to the water on that wet, wet pavement. The water wasn't *that* deep--we could see the bottom--but I told my friend with the camera that if I went in, he'd better be diving in after me! :-)
It's a little-known fact that empathy defenders have a keen "sixth sense" when it comes to detecting danger. However, in practice it's really not all that useful since it's going off ALL THE TIME.
Here you can also see a better view of the wings on the headdress, which were kind of a pain to make. You can also see what I think is a fairly impressive view of some of the...other...carefully-constructed elements of the costume. (It's really amazing what you can do with cloth tape and rolled-up socks...) It was *unbelievably* uncomfortable, but my mantra when making the costume was, "cleavage equals daring," figuring the more I could, um, "show off the goods," so to speak, the better shot I had at winning Most Daring. (But hey, it worked!) :-)
While the rest of the costume was kind of a pain, I have to admit wearing the cape was seriously fun. We definitely need to push for capes to make a fashion comeback.
On the way to the Ren Fest, Mike suggested a couple of places that might be good to take photos. This shot looks pretty good, but it's funny since it's adjacent to a parking lot, and here I'm basically standing alongside a moderately busy side-street. We had to wait for cars to pass to take the photos, so I found myself waving quite a bit to passers-by! :-)
Even with the hat, I wanted the costume to have some more visual "hooks" from CoH, and to complement Avonlea's costume from the previous year. The magic runes seemed like a good place to start.
I had the idea to put the runes on the skirt, but I first wanted to see what it might look like. So, I took a bunch of screen shots from the game, printed them out large-size on paper and then taped them to the costume to get a sense of how it would look (which is what you're seeing here). I liked it, but I didn't know how to do it and make it look right. (Last year I'd used fabric paint to put the magic runes on the Avonlea costume but that turned out to be a huge pain. This needed more precision work than I was capable of doing that way.) Off to JoAnn Fabrics, where a very patient salesperson introduced me to "HeatNBond," an iron-on adhesive. After tracing the magic symbols onto the transfer paper, I ironed them on to silver fabric, cut out the symbols, and then ironed them on to the witch's dress. That took an evening or two, as I recall.
It's finally happening. Dox is turning the Big 40, IRL. A turning point in many people's lives, and for Dox this is no exception, so he wants to celebrate it real big with a bang by spinning his own fun mix of epic party tunes and having a contest where people just come as they are, in their best usual styling they wear, and can enter the contest for a chance to win $2000L just for being the best them that they can be. Contest will open at 1pm and voting will start at 2:45pm, with voting closing and being tallied up by 3pm.
Come join Dox and let loose with him on the dancefloor at Soundproof from 1-3pm on Friday, April 15th the day of his birthday.
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Space/84/108/3001
Before we tried to get a shot at the Jefferson Memorial, my friend suggested we take some pictures at an outdoor sculpture called "The Awakening" at Hains Point. Essentially it's a 100-foot statue of a giant coming up out of the earth. WAY cool, and a great backdrop for a superheroine!
The weather was cloudy and rainy but the good news was that meant that we were pretty much the only ones there. However, there was a small access road nearby, so cars would occasionally drive by as we were taking pictures. The guys in the pickup truck hooting as they drove past were particularly memorable... :-)
This is basically just like the second photo that I submitted, but minus the people in the background. It really was a perfect autumn day, and the leaves and colors made for a perfect backdrop for the pictures!
And here's Ravenna, all put together and ready for some archvillainy!
The next stop was to take the photos on-location. I'd agonized over where to shoot the pictures, and ultimately decided on a spot I'd seen at the local Maryland Renaissance Festival. My friend Mike very gamely agreed to be my photographer and in fact suggested a couple other places we could shoot some pictures. We decided to go on October 23rd, the last day of the Festival. However, I should point out I never told Mike exactly what my costume was going to *be*...I basically just showed up on his doorstep dressed like this! :-) (His wife Gigi was pretty funny, too...she looked me over and said, "That's a great costume! It kind of suits you, actually..." "Haha, thanks, I think?") :-)
Here's another shot by the head of the sculpture. That winged headdress was constantly trying to fall off! My makeup in this shot isn't as good as I'd like (you can see a lot of Rob in there!), but I learned from that and corrected that in the Ravenna costume the following year. Sure got the cleavage right, though! :-)
We were allowed to submit two pictures, so this was the second picuture I submitted. I figured that while the first might have a shot at "Most Daring," this might have a chance at "Most Humorous." (Well, *I* think it's funny...)
A skilled empathy defender is schooled in all the healing arts, including good dental hygiene.
The "standing on tiptoe" pose as I recall also came from the annoyance of the heels constantly sinking into the wet ground. (For weeks afterward, I marveled when I saw Avonlea in the game running in heels!) :-)
We were allowed to submit two photos for the contest, and this was the other one I sent in. They were pretty clear that they wanted these pictures taken in a public location, so I sent this in since it had people in the background. (I really doubted there would be any question from the other picture that I was out in public, but I wasn't taking any chances!)
This is one of my favorite pictures from the shoot since it just screams archvillainy. The pose is great and the shot is framed just perfectly.
I desperately wanted to submit this for the contest, but the category I was targeting was "Best Costume / Public Location Combo" and there just wasn't anything I could think to use in the game that would match this shot. (I ended up winning that category so it was probably a good decision but it was a shame to let this go!)
Here's another shot at The Awakening sculpture. This was *such* a fun location for a costume shoot! :-)
How Mike knew about this place is a mystery to me, but on the way to the Ren Fest, we stopped by this abandoned seminary nearby which had a full-size pagoda. (I swear I'm not making this up!) I think the place has since been torn down, but this was sensational!
Sadly, Paragon City doesn't have any pagodas so this didn't help with the contest (I was trying to match the background as well), but we couldn't resist taking a few pictures here.
Some cool Corgi's seen at Corgi Faire 2009, Dixon, California.
This was a quick spin around the perimeter of the show ring. part 2
On Saturday, June 17th Soundproof club is having a grand reopening! But this won't just be any reopening, it's gonna be a pool party celebrating Pride Month, complete with fun and wild water slides to go down (they really work!). DJ Dox will be playing a set from 1-3pm SLT featuring just openly LGBTQ+ musical artists, spanning different musical genres and styles. A very special set indeed, to help inspire feelings of pride and love in everyone. Best of all, there's a costume contest too! You can win $L2000 for best in Rainbow colours. So come make a splash and party on with us at Soundproof this weekend.
Date and time: Saturday June 17th 1-3pm SLT
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Space/103/121/...
Soundproof is having a big pool party in celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month!
Thursday, June 30th
1-3pm SLT
DJ Dox will play a special set of tunes by openly LGBTQ artists. There will be several big water slides (8 in total) and a pool and a contest for Best in Rainbow attire, where you can win $2000L.
This party should be super epic so come and join the fun on June 30th at Soundproof!
This is my first entry for the Halloween Hydrant Costume Contest. (The other one is old, not shot specifically for the contest, so it almost doesn't count.)
BTW, if you have any interest in being a part of our spooky silliness, you'll need to be a member of The Birdsill Holly Society. [Flickr-Mail me w/ any questions.]
Let's see, I grabbed this sucker sort of on the fly. It will hopefully not be my finest, but I had to start somewhere... ^_^
Join us for a “Hell of a Party” with the fabulous DJ Stormy Somerton to celebrate the closing of All Eyes on You, the amazing, creepy and fun Art Game Installation at E.V.E Studio, by Noke Yuitza.
PARTY DETAILS:
~ When? Saturday, June 9th, 2:00 to 4:00 pm SLT
~ Where? SLurl: E.V.E Studio Main Store (click the "Teleport to Hell" Display to TP to the Party)
~ Dress Code:
Red or Black Attire or...
Or Come in Costume to Participate for Fabulous Prizes!
Uno de los luchadores más machos en el contesto Howl-O-Ween 2006 para los perros pequeñitos y muy adorables en Alameda.
Más de: Victoria Klum, Lane Hartwell, Sarah Kim, Brian Bennett.
[blogged]
[boinged]
[and painted on shoes!]
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blakefield/188/147/3002
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It's that time of year again, time for the 6th annual Halloween Hellraiser event at Soundproof underground music club! The event will take place on Wednesday, October 27th from 1-7pm SLT.
This year is an especially frightful treat, featuring 3 DJs, a shopping area with Halloween-inspired exclusives from 7 fantastic SL designers and *3* separate costume contests with a prize of 2000L to win each time.
Here's how it works: There are 3 DJ sets from 1pm to 7pm. During every 2 hour DJ set there will be a costume contest and public voting. At the end of that 2 hour period voting is tallied and a winner of the contest is announced. So you get 3 chances to win!
So come in your best creepy looks or just come as you are and dance to the ghoulish and spooky Halloween music mixes by our 3 great DJs:
1-3pm SLT DJ Dox
3-5pm SLT DJ Ruy Gloom
5-7pm SLT DJ Angie Coeur
And in the shopping area, find exclusives from these designers: Alpha Tribe, CIRCA, BYRNE, Mondo, Simply Saddii, The Stringer Mausoleum, and Ballade.
Don't miss Soundproof's Halloween Hellraiser on October 27th. It'll be truly epic!
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We came across this great carving at the ren fest and just had to take a picture!
Not long after we took this picture we were walking through a big crowd and someone stopped me and asked if I played City of Heroes! (He recognized the hat!) We chatted for a couple minutes but apparently played on different servers. I told him we were here for to take pictures for the Halloween contest, and I was jazzed that the hat was recognizable as a CoH witch hat after all the work I'd put into it!
It feels like Halloween is over. Janice and I enjoyed both a "boo at the zoo" event and a trunk-or-treat program at our church. In reality, tonight's the night! So, here are a few left-over Halloween pictures that really apply to today.
Yes, the heels were that high. This shot started off mostly as an excuse for me to get off my feet for a couple minutes. :-)
I changed into these boots once we got to Foamhenge, but they were an adventure. Not only could I barely walk in the silly things, but the heels frequently wanted to sink into the ground! I think every other picture we took was of me nearly pitching over and losing my balance. :-)