psy_redtails

Being that it was a model of vulpix (based on the N64 rendition), I could not turn down the opportunity to have such an adorable fire fox gracing my desktop and overlooking my workspace <3 However, this was the most difficult paper craft I have attempted thus far ^^;

There were a LOT of folds @_@ Creating the six tails are the things nightmares are made of... It should be noted that everything is sealed and enclosed on this figure. Starting at the head, then working your way down the bottom with nimble fingers and remarkably tight structures took a lot of patience ^^; (god dammit, that was no way meant to be suggestive btw)

I learned a great deal of things from assembling this tricky vixen, most of which I will use in practice the next time I feel like taking another go at it. Such as a different paper stock, and a alternate source for affixing the pieces. Still tho, I am quite pleased with having her around ^__^




I just remembered... Summer is coming up! You know what that means?
Kuromi swimsuit themed wallpaper can be my monitor background again.

Fuck YES

G4 made a surprisingly good spoof of the documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters", tho some of the gags might translate better if you have actually watched the movie ^^



"Potential Donkey Kong Kill Screen coming up in a few minutes... Kill Screen coming up"
That bit made my whole day

It's cool that they actually got Steve to play his own role ^^

The Brothers Bloom was an excellent film, it far exceeded my expectations! o.o The cast of characters were fantastically entertaining, each of the actors did a great job of carrying their personality throughout the story. The plot is a mixture of both humor (which was surprisingly well done) and drama, focusing mostly on the conflicting feelings of the youngest sibling, but the events that transpire are quite moving. Everything from the clothing, to the locations they visited just worked so well, I enjoyed every drop <3

Then the latest Pixar film UP was equally as entertaining! The flick was rather endearing and had a wonderful setup in the very beginning, showing the viewer happier years of the main character, Karl. Pixar created a great adventure story, full of colorful characters and silliness abound, it was a joy to watch ^_^

Best 20 bucks I spent all weekend! <3

Another attempt at making a darker form of germgerm7, this time 20% more sinister!

Incoming game blabbering about Henry Hatsworth:
(oh crap! time to skip down to the bottom of this entry! Bail out!)

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Who knew that creating a hybrid platformer/puzzle based game would prove to be incredibly entertaining, which Henry Hatsworth for the DS managed to pull off splendidly, Bowler Hat and all! At a glance, the formula seems like it might be rather taxing on your senses, but in reality, it is rather easy to switch between the two genres on the fly. Its time like these that I wish I could create a video showcasing my thoughts visually with spoken dialog.

The cast of characters is remarkably charming, I absolutely fell in love with their garbled vocal noises whenever they would talk ^__^ Something about this style of gameplay also kept me coming back for more, I always had this feeling of "...just one more level", it was rather addicting. Plus, the OST for it seriously kicks ass! EA was kind enough to offer it to users for free, so even you can take advantage of their generosity!
Just click the Downloads section

However, this game becomes incredibly challenging in later stages @_@ Things go smoothly in the first 3 maps, but as soon as you hit the 3rd boss, its like a swift kick in the balls, and only becomes more demanding till the final levels. Part of this is due to some sinister level design (especially secret levels), but more importantly, enemy placement. There are numerous occasions where a enemy near a ledge might get the opportunity to strike you, and our hero suffers from "Belmont Syndrome", flinging him backwards into the empty void below.

Enemies can become relentless too, this is displayed heavily when you enter an arena type portion of the stage, where the only way you can escape is by defeating all the baddies on the screen. Fighting five thugs at once might not seem like much, but given how many hits it takes to actually defeat the bastards, and the fact you can die pretty much after 3 hits doesn't help.

Another frustrating thing is that you feel insanely underpowered as you near the final stages. Granted, you have the ability to "level up" your attacks and firepower, but it doesn't seem to do jack! There are some enemies that take the same amount of physical hits to defeat with your sword, even if you are maxed out. This becomes really apparent when going against the Final Boss, as you are taking away slivers of health, making it seem like a 2D version of DMC @_@ He also has two instant-KO attacks which are grumble worthy. Needless to say, you need to bring your A game to the table when going against him...

There is so much more I could describe about the game, but I feel it would take quite a bit of text ^^; Overall, if you are up for the challenge, Henry Hatsworth can be a entertaining title to explore, especially for its creative gameplay and characters ^_^ Just don't snap your DS in half.
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Because HD DVD's lost, they have become neglected media, only to be bulldozed into a collective bin of bargain prices. Shuffling through the assorted discs of failure, my hand unearthed a copy of "Dead Silence" for 4 bucks! It was a duo disc, one side being HD the other being DVD, so it was totally watchable, not to mention even cheaper than a standard dvd copy of "Dead Silence" ($10)

Some parts didn't really tie together well, but overall the experience was rather enjoyable ^^ Dolls themselves can be rather creepy, especially those in the Ventriloquist realm. It was a neat idea to have the evil antagonist collectively assimilate the tongues she collected into a chain of organs she kept in her mouth... it was freaky seeing them all linked together and stretched outward in the air. I rather enjoyed the outcome of the ending too, something I didn't expect ^w^

Daytime Television... Buuuh-loooows

Which is a good thing, otherwise I might become too distracted by it while working on projects. However, on occasion it is nice to have a little background noise once in a while.

I had no idea during the week that regular cable channels don't even start their line up until 9 AM, which does me little good if I wake up at 7 AM. So I get 2 hours of this...




Did you know that the Oxygen channel, a female orientated network encouraging its viewers to "Live out Loud!", has a marathon of "America's Next Top Model" hosted by Tyra Banks for what seems to be 8 hours long? There are over a dozen seasons created so far, and I have seen atleast 4 of those seasons in their entirety over the past two weeks. I must admit, the photo shoots that some of the models have to take can be rather exotic and challenging, it is interesting to see how much body mannerisms plays a part and how the angle of your structure can truly enhance a photograph.

Then Bravo likes to show reruns of "Make Me A Supermodel", which I catch on occasion if I am eating breakfast or lunch for that matter. Then scanning a bit around you can also see "Project Runway" which...

Dear god... Pretty soon I'll be dropping the kids off at school, taking the clothes to the dry cleaners and figuring out a way for that Man of mine to help out with chores around the house! Perhaps if I bake him a delicious chocolate cake... hhmmm... being a house wife wouldn't be too bad!

It has been a few months since I have had that craving for some Super Smash Bros. Brawl action, so tonight I decided to give the disc a whirl and start the throw down on the COMS for some warm up routines. After 2 matches, I realized how annoying the AI actually is on the much higher settings. With 3 NPC characters on the screen in Brawl mode, each one of them will go after you no matter what. It is just by accident that they may injure the other computer opponents if they happen to get in the way of trying to attack you. You can literally not attack any of the players, and jump around the screen and watch the other NPC's walk-not-run to your locations, in a goddamn group. So much for a free for all.

Discouraged, I decided to give the Online features ago again. And what do you know! It is exactly where I last left it, having difficultly connecting with other players. But wait! After multiple attempts of connecting, I manage to get a group of 3 people to play, Huzzah! That excitement was quickly deflated as the moment the characters graced the screen, everyone started shouting their taunts, multiple times in a row. ("You're too sssllooo-ooow!""You're too sssllooo-ooow!""You're too sssllooo-ooow!") I was actually wanting to have like, a battle, not just dick around doing silly things on screen, like making yourself bust your shield on purpose, or do suggestive positions with other players ^^;

So I spent about 20 minutes jumping off the heads of characters, making Wario go "Wah! Wah! Wah!", mirroring a fellow Pikachu's movements, and making my player dance to Young Link's Baton.

I still need my Brawl fix o_o Perhaps tomorrow I will connect with some players who want to like, uh, Brawl? ^^;




Drew this in a OC session a while ago, the world needs more Tat ^_^

Ack! With all this free time on my hands, you would think I would update this spot with entries! I suppose I get so swept up in viewing other things late at night, and seeing what everyone else is up to, that I neglect to talk for myself ^^;

Today, there was a circus that arrived "around" our area, so we felt it fitting to at least attend it, seeing as how the last one I went to was... gosh, YEARS ago o.o I don't remember how old I was as a kid, but I still have the light up plastic sword I bought from one of the concession stands because it was tight. Of course, that was from a big name circus known as Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey. The one that we attended today was called Circus Vargas, which is noticeably smaller in size, but still rather enjoyable, if not for some silly reasons ^_^;

One thing should be noted, people love carny food o_o Dear god, you would have thought they were lacing the edible condiments with pure crack, as patrons flocked in droves to get trays of nachos, hotdogs, and shaved ice drinks. One visit wasn't enough for these people, as I noticed them licking their lips after consuming their magical treat, going back for seconds. It was the most bizarre thing... naturally that stuff wasn't cheap either!

Oh yeah, and their light up plastic swords were dinky compared to my original o_o Although it was extremely tempting due to one variety flashing beams of hot pink... but the 12 dollar price tag told me otherwise.

The show itself had some nice acts ^_^ They had a steel cage shaped like a ball, called the "Sphere of Fear", that some dude on a motorcross bike drove on the inside of it, running all around the sides and doing loops. Then two guys on bikes were driving inside the thing, crossing each others paths and doing crazy tricks. Then a chick was standing inside the center of the cage as the guys were driving all over the walls and doing crazy stunts around her.

Although the setup for the particular stunt was far too outlandish, as some guy came out on top of the cage with a "Cyclops" type visor from the X-men, waving his head around from side to side so you could physically see the beams of red shoot from his eyes(?), but he was doing this reaaaally gay shouting of "Wooooooaaaaaaaahhh~!"

The Equestrian part of the show made me feel a bit sympathy for the horses ^^; They were essentially just made to run little laps around the ring, stopping once in a while to do little 360's in place, more running around in the ring, being told to stand up on their hindlegs, being told to kneel down on their front legs, all by command of whip! Cuz you know, those creatures will bite your head off if you're not careful! Oh, one of them was a male horse btw... yeah, his junk decided to make a surprise appearance.

Overall, I had a nice time, it was fun to get back in that theme of the midway, a bit inspirational too ^_^ I totally want to go back to a bigger circus production now, hopefully sometime this summer!

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those that offered encouragement or advice at the wake of my job termination. It is really wonderful to know people with such kindness, and I am very thankful ^_^ I won't forget it! <3

My sister seems quite excited that I am finally going to start rolling out a website soon ^^ She has been prodding me for months on getting it up, but I was always either too busy with work or just not in the mood to get the ground work finalized. We may even collaborate on a few projects, whether it is videos or possible flash animations. You can expect silliness to run abound!

Something I don't understand about Nintendo's Virtual Console newsletters, is that they talk about new releases that happened Monday, on Friday! It's like, "Did you forget about our updates? Here they are! Go buy them!" Here's an idea, why not tell me what the new titles are the day they are released. This is also true to announcements about Wii games! Like, three weeks later after the street date you get an email saying "THIS GAME IS OUT"

I did find this announcement in their own email rather amusing:

Granted, the game is called Mixed Messages, and I believe they intended to use such a play-on-words, but it doesn't give any positive thoughts ^^;;

At 10:17 AM, I punched out for the final time at my workplace.

My supervisor pulled me aside about 2 hours into my shift, placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled softly saying, "I have to escort you to Personnel... and I think you know what that means..." I looked back at him, nodding but still smiling back, "I knew this day would come...it was bound to happen" Once we both sat down in her office, I was served my Separation Notice from the corporation. Not because of poor work ethics, but even greater downsizing lead to even deep cuts, so I was layed off from my services. He was quite pissed that this happened, because it wasn't his choice to let me go, even tho I work with him.

I honestly loved my supervisor, I felt completely comfortable talking with him about random things, and he was never overbearing on our department at all. We would swap stories, have a laugh or two... plus, the times when things got nutty around the office, he would be the first to stand up for anything that would launched at us, poised for defense. I made sure to tell him that as we said our final goodbyes.

Apparently, I handled the situation exceptionally well. They told me stories of people getting extremely angry, or sobbing uncontrollably, but I didn't feel any such emotion coursing through my head. I was pretty much accepting the fact that these things happened, even smiled and laughed about some parts of it.

After we left the office, I asked him if he would like for me to help out with the remainder of the day, even tho I was just let go. He smiled, saying that he doesn't believe in the practice of waiting till the end of a workshift to terminate someone, just so the company can get a full days work out of them. He then asked me if I had any idea where I might go, or what I'd do. Thinking for a moment, I told him perhaps this is the spring board I need to motivate myself it something different... explore possibilities.



This is a big deal, that is slowly coming into light in my mind.
What do I do? Should I go take some courses in college to broaden my art techniques? Jump start my comic? Do I pursue the option of working in a gaming environment? Stick with what I already know (printing) and find another job in a similar field? These thoughts course through my head now.

For now tho, I sit here simply being me, wondering if the realization of this whole experience will hit me tomorrow morning, when I don't hafta wake up at 5:30 AM for work.



Perhaps that emotion I get from inhaling the open air outside that building will finally come true and stay with me.

I made this graphic using Adobe Illustrator as vector based artwork, during some downtime at my workplace ^^; The image and pose is based off actual artwork of Vault Boy from the Fallout series, I just made him into a scalable object of crispness <3 Recreating him was a tad difficult, as there were not many high resolution images I could find of him on the web, so some guess work had to be made regarding certain curves o_o Zooming in at 1600% while trying to observe a 72dpi arc of pixelated blocks is no fun.

"Shouldn't you be like, doing real work, Psy?"
Why yes, yes I should. However, things are alarmingly slow at the job site, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they decided to close the practice and send us off on our way in the future. Our department even kids about that sort of thing, even tho in our minds we very well think it to be true ^^; But perhaps, if it does become a realization, this will motivate me to experience some new possibilities. Which I find rather welcoming, to be perfectly honest.

Oh, and I wasn't selected for Jury Duty :(
They even sent me home early because there were not any cases going on that needed Jurors! The only thing that could soothe such disappointment was a cup of frozen yogurt with three flavors, topped with Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, and some crumbled cake blocks <3

Sometimes, when I have a free moment from my work place, I often take a stroll outside of the building into the loading bay of the warehouse. Essentially an abandoned alley way, filled with large metal canisters for storing supplies, along with discarded but neatly stacked wooden pallets that tower into the sky. It is here that I leisurely pace and pause for a few minutes, simply to breathe the fresh gusts of air...

Somehow, I am able to transport my mind to a long desired feeling by simply inhaling the open breeze... it triggers an emotion that seems so familiar, yet unattainable. I know in my head, that I crave this feeling, yet the moment I stop experiencing the sensation, the heightened sense of awareness fades. Often times I ask myself, perhaps it is a mental barrier in my head, a roadblock that shuts the sensation out as if letting me know that I will never be able to have this satisfaction unless I change my routine in life. But what exactly? Perhaps my job? Do I have too many things on my plate? Am I missing something special?

Staring out across the grass blades on the adjacent lawn, I take a final deep breath, savoring its captivating effects before heading back inside the building again.

Yar yar... I get so tired at night, that even tho I have the desire to actually conjure up some thoughts, I end up putting it off till days later and then I don't feel like it is relevant anymore to write about ^^; Ah well, here's hoping I can change that habit in the coming time.

Went to a history museum over the weekend, partly in due to a certain requirement that my sister had to fulfill in a college course, but it proved to be thought provoking anyhow. The main exhibit halls were filled with various artifacts from the Chinese culture, which included wonderments as carved ivory tusks, Terracotta horses and soldiers, elaborate handwoven gowns and headpieces, just to name a few. However, the exhibit I found rather intriguing had to deal with an assortment of tribes dwelling in Africa. "Fantasy Coffins" as they are referred to, which are essentially giant handmade caskets created in the shape of animals, rather than the traditional rectangular box format. Colorful fishes, an Eagle with it's wings spread in flight, they even had one on display shaped as a Brontosaurs which was supposedly "on loan" for the museums' display purposes ^^; Extremely colorful in design, they were visually striking!

Speaking of Africa (hows this for a thought transition?), Resident Evil 5 was rather enjoyable ^_^

Granted there were some gripes I had with it...
By todays standards, it feels completely awkward to not be able to move and SHOOT at the same time. Now, I understand the theory that you have a much better chance of hitting something accurately while remaining stationary, rather than running and trying to nail your target. But for an action fueled setup like RE5 has created unto itself, the constant sprinting a few feet, 180 spin, fire formula gets a little problematic at times. This is really bizarre when seeing yourself wielding a knife and not being able to like, step a few paces forward and swing the blade at once o_o

Even tho the game encourages you to play co-op, the AI for Sheva in single player does just fine and dandy. She will actually rush to your aid when you are dying or in the need of medical assistance, give you ammo she finds and can hold her ground in a fight. She does however, have an annoying habit of resorting to her handgun, instead of using any more powerful weapons you might give her. Of course, having the com play means you hafta delegate a bit more between sharing items and stuff, but luckily that is as easy as a single button press.

The graphics are deliciously detailed, especially on the Boss fights, which reek gore-geous at times. There are moments in the game where you actually feel like there is a swarm of blood thirsty villagers from all around ya, wanting a piece of that fleshy pie. Oddly enough, there really is no "spooky" factor, sure.. you got your monstrosities, but the atmosphere feels more like chaos then an underlying dread.

Right now I am replaying the game on the harder difficulties and looking for miscellaneous goodies and unlockables for fun ^^



In upcoming news:

I have Jury Duty this Thursday! (Good God, that tag actually still works... o_o)

Visiting Little Tokyo in LA always produces delicious results, and my recent excursion solidified that long standing theory ^_^ Of course, my main reason for making the trek out there is for food related items, more specifically sweets and pastries that I can't find anywhere around here -@_@- There is one marketplace that has these adorable mini waffles served cold, about the size of a small round drink coaster, that are folded in half with a dollop of thick vanilla cream in the center... almost mimicking a tiny sweet taco ^^ Each bite seemingly melts in your mouth by the smooth texture... oh so good <3

As far as trinkets go, check out these cute plush cakes I discovered!



Measuring in about 1 inch a piece, there are 8 to choose from, so naturally I selected the strawberry versions ^^ Each pastry came with its own mini box you can store the felt key chain in for safe keeping.

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Oh! Found some new Stella the Cat stationary! o.o Two entirely different notepads, with ruled pages and a picture of the small bird as an inset. I figure I can use the smaller one for thoughts on the go or when I need to jot down some sketches or ideas for later, since it is pocket sized ^_^

Her story continues! I was treated to another small blurb, written exactly as shown:
"Stella is a precocious cat girl. Owner's Marie loves her very much."
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However, the real highlight was finding this poster, which I immediately made grabby motions with my hands @_@



This sucker is about 4 feet tall! I wasn't even aware this display even existed, so I was quite happy to discover such lovely artwork ^^ Speaking of which, I am still waiting for Capcom to make a new edition of Darkstalkers o___o The cast of characters is awesome, such a shame they are not being utilized again...

Yesterday evening I happened to have the opportunity to partake in a mini OC session with MysteriousOctopus ^_^ Although I wasn't able to doodle a whole lot of things due to some time constraints (and trying to get the application to run properly ^^;;), it was still fun to do!



For some reason, I was like, really shaking when we were starting @_@ It took me a while to get over my quivers, but by then he had to leave ^^;






He requested a very particular character to be drawn in my style from Golden Axe II, the 1st boss you encounter in the game, which I was happy to oblige ^_^

Even more amazing is that I managed to stay awake till 2 am without the aid of any sort of energy drink! However, I am paying the price for it as I sit here now X_X

I thought I should share this handy bit of work...




This was actually created by my Mom as a b-day surprise, using nothing but colored construction paper! If you notice the thick outlines of black around the body and arms, that is just black paper cut in the shape, then a smaller white shape glued on top to give off the illusion of strokes ^_^ And yes, it is free standing! Her pose was taken from a scene in the anime, tho I don't recall the episode ^^ Those strawberries next to her are fake btw, made of plastic!

Even two days later, I still have wonderful thoughts of my birthday ^_^

Went out to see the flick Watchmen, which was surprisingly well done ^_^ Despite the obvious change in a pivotal scene towards the end (which doesn't really screw up the story, just a different..erm, setup), it followed the comic book, or as close as it could. They did their best to keep it faithful to the original, and you would swear some scenes look like the exact pictures from book. However, I would strongly recommend reading the comic before viewing the film, because it gives a greater overlook of each characters personalities, as well as some elements that were removed from the movie. The moments they spoke about the "Minutemen" were all too brief o_o But I am sure if you were to go anyways, it would still be enjoyable watching it ^^

Rorschach was the coolest character, followed by the guy who played the Comedian ^^ It should also be noted that this movie was rather graphic in terms of violence! Yes, you see heads getting blown to pieces, arms getting busted with bones poking out, various gashes and the like... good times.

Art wise, I got to sit in on a OC session with SDB and Panzer as they doodled away their mad skillz, complete with a "Z" at the end! I find it fascinating to watch such artwork take form and shape before your eyes, something appearing from nothing. I personally am not too confident with my abilities in OC, I still need more practice, especially if I ever decide to color something o_o; I typically just scribble around with black when I participate ^^;

Also checked out the musical "Guys and Dolls" at a college campus ^^ It was very impressive in terms of production values and cast of people, I didn't expect them to pull off such a sweet performance. The set pieces themselves were rather elaborate, really colorful and big. I suppose what truly made it more unique is that it was constructed by the students as part of their course. That aspect alone shows that when you have a passion for what you do, it will show in your work ^^

The only lame thing is this silly time change nonsense o_o I want my hour of sleep back!

My mom insisted that I watch this, because it was finger lick'n geeeewd



Next week is shaping up to be rather eventful! Two games I have been anticipating have release dates days after one another, which is both awesome and lame @_@ Mad World for the Wii, then 3 moons later Resident Evil 5 rears its head out of the darkness! My birthday is next week as well, so something must be covered in strawberries and crowned with whip cream ^^ Annnd, we got ourselves another Friday the 13th on our hands, how cool is that?

I keep dozing off in my chair, so it seems like a good time to sleep ^^;

Perhaps you faintly recall me taking screen captures from a skit called "Midnight Cooking" from the Japanese show Vermilion Pleasure Nights?

Behold, moving picture edition!

How to Eat a Girl