Time Flies...

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It's been awhile since I've written. Too long, really. I'm not sure where I left off or where I should start.

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The remodel finished up on the 21st! It looks wonderful. I took before and after pics of that day as well as some fun, long video. It's so clean and new and there's still the odor of the paint/glue in there. I moved stuff in right away that day.

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X-mas has come and gone. I received NFS:Carbon and Comic Book Creator; both things I've wanted very badly. I'm learning how to use it now. But when will I have time??? Currently, we are getting the boys bedrooms all fixed up. Kody's new bedroom was done yesterday; tho it was pretty late at nite. We worked till midnite getting things set up and it's still not finished. Kody had a lot of stuff to move over. The plan for the day is to keep moving Kody's stuff and then prime Thomas's new bedroom. He finally gets out of the living room!

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Until Next Time

Annoyances
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I released Ep5 of the S6 dio last nite. Unfortunately, there are some glitches with it that can be easily resolved. I admit, I didn't quite understand how zipped files work and it was brought to my attention that stuff was out of order. Which seemed wrong to me cuz the original folder it's in, everything's numbered right. But alas, any photo labeled 100+ gets shoved after #9! Literally, these damn computers read it as 8, 9, 100, 101, 102, 103+ and THEN back to 10, 11, 12... Dumb. But I fixed both Episodes 1 & 5 since they go over the 100 mark!

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While on the subject of Ep5, I couldn't quite do everything I would have liked. I won't spoil y'all with what I had planned, tho a few people I talk to regularly on MSN KNOW what I've been bitching about. For those in the know, I skipped it. Had to do with lack of patience and my own storytelling w/ fotos ability.

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Episode 5 introduces Shadow Walker. There's probably some confusion over just what the HELL he is doing. He IS a clone of Snake Eyes, that much is obvious. But when did this happen? I'll reveal that later on. Shadow Walker was sent in to succeed where Zartan failed. If you remember, Zartan handed the data on the Sigma suits, the energy source for them and the access codes to the Seattle outpost to Storm Shadow. In Ep4, Storm Shadow is defeated by Snake Eyes and SE 'steals' the data back.
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I'll admit it. I skipped the sequence of SW downloading the data to his wrist unit. Sure, it would have made more sense but the lack of flow in the story wouldn't have made it any smoother. I guess I just ask people to assume that SW is running around the installation and only certain times are highlited. Particularly the SW vs Tunnel Rat, SW vs Stone and SW vs Spirit.

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And onto real life... The remodel should be done in a couple weeks. Great Floors will be installing the Marmoleum on the 11th. It will go in the bathroom and the office space. Art has asked us to give him a week before having the carpet installed. According to Great Floors, it could be a 1-day turn around. So on the 12th or so, I'll go in and order the carpet. Then it should pretty much be done. After Emi and I move ourselves in, it's time to start taking care of the boys' bedrooms.
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Until Next Time

I’m just gonna babble on here about my S6 universe. It’s obvious that my 3.75” and my 8” universes aren’t very Hasbro-canon-like. Or comic. Or cartoon. Or filecard. Let’s face it, Hasbro is doing a great job w/ S6 but at the same time, it also leaves the small base of fans wanting more. It’s more than just characters, but other elements. Anyway, for those who have been reading the dio, allow me to clue you in on some things that might leave ‘you’ wondering about things.
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If you wonder why some of the ‘descriptions’ are short, I haven’t done much with the characters yet. Which is also why they don’t have a prominent role in the dios.
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1. Storm Shadow is a Cobra. He isn’t a brainwashed duder who goes from team to team and he sure as hell isn’t anything like his 3.75” counter part. He was hired as Cobra Commander’s bodyguard but also serves as assassin and saboteur. Storm Shadow also is the head of the Arashikage, a clan of ninja that he trains. The average warrior can be promoted to Nite Creeper.
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2. Nite Creepers are genetically and artificially enhanced. They have intense surgery on their brains and are “wet-wired” so info (missions, training, etc) can be directly downloaded into them. They have heightened strength, better eyesight, better reflexes and are impervious to weather conditions. However, all the work on their brain leaves their heads w/ a corpse-like complexion and glowing green eyes. Their primary weapons are the claws on their fists and the long blades on their forearms.
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3. Snake Eyes was adopted by Storm Shadow’s parents at a young age. Snake Eyes’ parents died in a horrific car crash on a mountain. Having no other family and a target of becoming of spending a troubled life as an orphan, the Arashikage adopted him. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow would later move back to Japan. SE returned to the US for college but ended up in the military and eventually, GI Joe.
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4. Destro is the “mad scientist” of Cobra. He creates the weapons and armor that Cobra uses. He is a not a battlefield technician, preferring to stay in the background. He’s also content being nowhere near the battlefield. Destro is always working on something and trying to perfect his technology. He came up with the cybernetic systems for the Nite Creepers as well as the ‘brains’ for the 2 Ninja BATs. His next step is to create suits for a team of Cobra that can counter GI Joe’s every move.
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5. Cobra Commander is better at barking out commands and orders than he is fighting on the battleground. He prefers to stay far behind his forces and lets the BATs do his work for him. He is evil and ruthless. He believes that technology will defeat the Joes and that he will rule the world. Cobra Commander believes that cloning the Sigma6 members will hand him an assured victory.
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6. Firefly is a GI Joe and quite hardcore. Firefly has had to make some complex decisions in his life. Not one to reflect on his life (past & present), he hides his anxiety and stress behind off-color remarks. He has become a superstar on the Joe team, much to the others disgust.
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7. Long Range is a long-time Joe who can never seem to get the limelight.
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8. Tunnel Rat, the youngest of the team, is the best at what he does. He tends to be the most competent on the field, enjoys the heat of battle and is the most optimistic. However, he isn’t like Firefly who hides behind snide remarks and comments.
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9. Kamakura is a ninja trained by Snake Eyes. He has trained heavily in an array of weapons and can use just about anything to his advantage. Kamakura steps up when needed, but doesn’t prefer the role of leadership. He is Firefly’s best friend, despite them butting heads over issues. Kamakura trained Firefly in the martial arts.
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10. Hi-Tech is the technology and weapons guy. He is Destro’s counterpart and perhaps, just as weird.
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11. Duke is the leader of the Sigma6 team.
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12. Spirit is the tracker of the Sigma6 team.
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13. Heavy Duty is the heavy weapons expert of the Sigma6 team. He’s fairly laid back but his anger can often get the best of him. The kinetic plasma gloves he wears give him incredible power. Heavy Duty is an expert of all weapons and can cook quite well.
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14. Lt. Stone is Duke’s right hand man. Stone primary role is as a spy but he’s adept at flying the Dragonhawk transport aircraft.
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15. Zartan is the master of disguise for Cobra. He is also adept at espionage and likes to play mind games with the Joes. He has a sick sense of humor and is a fair fighter.
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16. Aleph is the Nite Creeper leader. Brother Shane was promoted and given the name Aleph after capturing Firefly.
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17. BurnOut is a clone of Heavy Duty. He specializes in energy flame weapons. He sees life as one big game. He would like to take the Joes on himself but knows that he needs someone to watch his back. Powerfully built, he has all the technology that the Nite Creepers have.
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18. Sonneilon & Asmodeus are two unique Ninja BATs. They are too expensive to reproduce. They are Destro’s creations and can fight as well as any human. Their ‘soft’ brains are ‘wet-wired’ so data can be downloaded directly. They are constantly learning and they consider themselves “Alive”.
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19. This currently nameless character is a clone of (left blank intentionally). He will play a large role in Ep5.

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Until Next Time...

Episode 2 is wrapped up!
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I'm having a lot of fun with the Sigma6 dio. It's episodic so the story will be longer and more involved than the other dios I've done. The 3.75" dios come off more like a movie to me. The S6 stuff would be like a cable-only tv show or movie. Certainly, there's more swearing with the S6 characters. It's hard to explain why, I think it's just the mix of characters. I don't exactly equate a character like Firefly being quiet and reserved liked the Transformer, Prowl, y'know?

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The 1st 3 episodes flow quickly and are probably a tad hard to follow. It's just the way I'm visioning it. Everything is in small vignettes that somehow flow together. The 1st episode was very large; the folder was 11mb! Episode2 is 8mb but it's not like there are that many LESS pictures.

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Anyway, the 3 episodes were pretty much shot all together. I'd get the idea, shoot and figure out where it should fit. I had to fix the ending to Episode 2 because it moved too far into the future. Errrrr, timeline. So by adding a section and making the dates different, it works out. It's hard not to give everything away, I have to admit that. I have constant ideas. Episode 3 will be coming, hopefully, in less than a month.

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Then it's on to Episode4 which is still being mapped out.

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Until Next Time

Dio Sets

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I gotta admit, doing that 3.75" dio (Transformations and War For Territory) took a lot of time, thinking, effort and probably some blood. It took a lot of money too. Maybe not as much as some people or the pros who do sets for a living, but I do what I can with what I have. But after doing set after set, I'm finally in a position where I can reuse the stuff. That's what I really wanted in the end. I'm not George Lucas. I don't create a set from scratch every time I need it. I'm more like the guys from Star Trek who reuse the same set over and over w/ small changes. Like Star Trek II and Star Trek III. At the same time, Luke Ellison may be the George Lucas of GI Joe dios, but I am the self-proclaimed Paul Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Soldier, Alien vs Predator)!!! It's ok, laugh and roll your eyes.

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So for the Sigma6 dio, it wasn't going to be wild, gnarly, eye popping sets. It's about story. And this time 'round, I'm doing it in episodes as opposed to chapters. It's hard to say why. It seems like things are better told in episodes. The way I do things, you have an overal story. Then it's broken down into episodes which is again broken down into chapters (then parts/sequences). With the S6 story, I'm thinking bigger in terms of the story so it is easier to write it as an episode and shoot in specific sequences. Of course, Ep2 and Ep3 are being shot at the same time because honestly, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just doing.

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In fact, Episode 2 is incredibly close to being done. I need to finish a set for a sequence, shoot it, do all the work, shoot a cover and it's ready to be emailed out to friends and fans. Ep3 won't be too far behind, hopefully.

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So the point of today's rambling is that I am chopping up and reusing what I have. Sure, the scale is slightly larger (ok, a LOT larger) but I'm using the walls from the last set (the power room set from the 3.75" dio) which is saving me time and $$$. Does it all look the same? Probably but I do make slight changes and hopefully the S6 base and the Cobra base look different enough for people to remember where they are.

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Until Next Time

WOW
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As most people know, the garage was scheduled to be turned into a master bedroom. It would be complete w/ bath, a small office and a sitting area. Terpsma Construction began 10/12 and while a few days, things seemed to be slow, we are seeing real movement. After the walls of the garage had come down (they were unfinished) and the new studs were put in for walls, it looked like we were getting somewhere. The last few days, Phil and Brent have been building the frame of the floor! Next Monday, an inspector should come out to check the plumbing to make sure things look kosher.

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Tomorrow, I'm 32. I didn't think much about turning 30, it was no big deal. 31, never even thought about it. But turning 32, I've been more reflective. I'm appreciating what I have; from my loving relationship with my wife to Kody to Thomas the toddler. I consider myself extremely lucky in all ways possible. Well, give or take the goofy head scratching tick I seem to have.

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Until Next Time.

FUTUREAL

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For anyone keeping score, it has to be noticed that the end of my 3.75" dio and the emergence of the Sigma6 dio were ultra close to each other. How is that possible when the 3.75" dio was taking months and the S6 popped up in a week?
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Easy. I was shooting the S6 dio last summer when I had no cash to build the sets for the 3.75". Originally, I was going to wait but decided to go ahead with shooting. In fact, ALL the flashback scenes (the grayscale missions where Firefly is the man), were done MONTHS before Ch 3 of the 3.75"! Interesting too is the fact that many of the sequences were already shot. The last things I had to do was chop 'em up, add dialogue and well, the VERY last thing was shoot a cover. Principal fotography was actually finished the same time as the 3.75" shooting.

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What else... I have a few pages of notes and this Sigma6 universe is one I'm building myself. There might be some things mirrored from the cartoon, but as I have not WATCHED the cartoon, I don't really know what's going on over there. I AM making some very pointed differences between my S6 and Hasbro's. The main point in question would be the fact that MY Firefly is a Joe operative. Period. He is NOT a Cobra agent infiltrating. I like the idea of a man falling from grace far more than an infiltration story. Well, at least for the beginning. Yeah, go ahead. Think Star Wars. Think Anakin Skywalker.

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But copying SW is not my plan. I'm pulling from other movies too. I think it has a good story and it will only get gnarlier as it goes on. By Episode 2, some HUGE things happen and Episode 3, well...
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Until next time...

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The Beginning!
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The remodel on our garage started on 10/12! We've been waiting many months for this. Art came over w/ his 2-man crew and started hacking away at the concrete. He needs to cut a hole to set up the water pipes for the bathroom and then create a ditch to pour a new footing. It was loud, messy and way loud.

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As well, the parking regulations are rather nutty and we will be redoing just about the whole backyard to accomodate the city's 18'x18' parking area. Emi is down with my parents today helping with yardwork while I'm sick at home with the sick baby. She will discuss ideas of how to make things better int he backyard. The parking also has to be 10' off the sidewalk which shoves it, technically, in the middle of our backyard. I started moving my plants into the bed out front as well as a few into Emi's part of the yard.

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This also means that I can't build any dio sets. Good thing I did a lot of shots for the S6 dio before this all started.

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I have to admit, the end fight sequence of my dio feels pretty half-assed. The limited articulation of 3.75" Joes drives me batty and I can't achieve what I really want. Yes, I can try and manipulate the shots as much as I can, but there is a point where it won't work. A Star Wars like fight scene, I was NOT going to get. But that's ok cuz the S6 dio should work out better in that regards.

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Until Next Time

QUIET ON THE SET!!!

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This is what the set ended up looking like. I had to stand on a ladder for most of the shots. During the last part of the fight sequence, I was taking the set apart and sitting IN it to get what I needed. I know, the pic is fuzzy.

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Until Next Time...

These Colors Don't Run

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Looks like it has been a while since I've been here! I'll make this fast or at least, try to.

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As most people know, Emi and I will be having our garage remodeled into a master bedroom w/ bath. The house will become a 3 bed/2 bath which will help it a ton. There will also be a small sitting area and an office space for me as well. What that also means is I'll lose space to build my dios.

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By the by, I got promoted to Administrator on JoeDios.com and I've been putting my foot down lately. Not sure what the malfunction is, but people seem to think that it's a free place to post pics of whatever they want. No... This is a GI Joe fansite; a hub for those who love to take pictures of their stuff.

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Principal fotography has been finished for both the 3rd chapter of War For Territory and the 1st Chapter of the S6 dio, When Darkness Falls. Actually, the S6 dio doesn't have a name yet but When Darkness Falls will probably be the story title while the chapter title will be something else. Hard to say which band's tunes I'll use. Slayer? Fear Factory?

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I am neck deep in post-production for the 3rd chapter. It's a very fx heavy chapter, more than I've ever done. The last 2 chapters, I didn't have to crop all that much but I've been slimming the fotos down hella. On top of that, I had my man Chuck make an energy beam which I've been using religiously. Also, the amount of layers and erasing is nutty. I'm using the eraser tool 3-4x per shot cuz there's THAT much added on top! Totally crazy and hopefully, it'll look decent when it's all said and done.

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Got the new Maiden album. It's been something like, 4 years since Dance of Death. Hard to believe it's been that long. The album is taking me longer to get into; A Matter of Life and Death. It's like a culimination of all their work BUT it also sounds like an extension of the albums done with Blaze Bailey. Not sure if that's a good thing yet.

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That should be about it. Until next time.

Underground Power Plant
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I don't know what they call it in Star Wars Episode 1, but the end of Chapter 3, Episode 2 will take place in the equivalent. Generator Room. Power Room. Whatever it's called, it's big.
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I started w/ these long cork/particle boards from Lowes. I had them cut 'em in half, painted them up and well, the base is 4'x4'. Then I started cutting out the walkways, in which there'll be 2 levels of 'em. I have other pics including test shots.

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Until Next Time...

Coming along...

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I finally came into some money and have been able to work on one of the dio sets for the 3rd chapter of Episode 2. It's coming together but I'm having to think quite a bit on how I want the set to work. It's big. The base is around 4'x4' and will stand at least 3.5' tall. We'll see. There'll be two floors involved but don't think that this is a building. I cut out a bunch of walkways and decks (or whatever they're called) last nite. I can safely say I'm out of saline cans (for contacts) because I use them to hold everything up.

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I took some very pathetic test shots last nite to see how things will look. Should be pretty cool!

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UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Moof Moof Potato

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Kody has entered the 6th grade and has survived the 1st 3 days. Emi and I relayed stories about our days in middle school and well, from the reports Kody has given us, they are quite different. First off, he DOES have 6 periods but for at least 4 of them, they are in the same classroom! There is no running around every 50 minutes or whatever. As well, his 1st classes of the day have team teachers! Science and math are combined. In the end, we made Kody quite anxious about it all (I suppose information can make people stressed out. Maybe the more you know isn't better???). But he was fine once he started school. To help out, Robert Knickerherm (sp) is his math teacher for the first 2-3 hrs of each day. Robert used to live next door to us and their child Shao Long (sp) played w/ Kody quite a bit. In any case, things aren't too bad but Kody's already bored by some of the subject matter in school. That's not such a good thing.

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Thomas has been cute the past week, as usual. He's such a nutty boy. He's smart too. Thomas may not have much to say (he doesn't speak yet, he speaks Thomasnese) but he sure studies people! We hit Elizabeth Park and while he had fun, he gets into these funny jags of just watching people. I think if I walked away and was gone, he wouldn't notice until loooong minutes later!

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As for GI Joe... I took upwards of 100 shots for the Sigma 6 dio which will be released next summer. I've been working on it as of late and man, that 1st chapter is really long. I'm around 40 shots so far! That's crazy cuz some of my chapters for Chronicles were that long. For the 3.75", I've started work on the set. The base of the set is 4'x4' and most likely, it'll be about 3.5' tall! I showed some pics to friends (around the world). It's gonna be huge and gonna be utterly gnarly!!!

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Until Next Time...

ON WITH THE IRONS!

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We sent Kody down to stay with my parents for a week and then he was sent to Emi's mom's for a week. He did all sorts of things as well as make some money. And with that money, he could get the fabled GI Joe Dragonhawk. At the end of his 2 weeks, the rest of us picked him up and we headed down to Long Beach, Wa for the International Kite Festival. It was, also, a vacation for us before Kody returns to school.

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Day 1. It's a 6 hr drive from B'ham to Long Beach. We cruised right along until I got motion sickness. We stayed at a dinky lil motel and we had a great time. There were 100s of kites and we ended up buying a few ourselves to add to our collection. The weather was so-so. We arrived Thursday late afternoon and immediately I put thomas to play out in the motel's lil play yard for kiddies. It was one of the first times for Thomas to play in sand. (Last time, he didn't quite enjoy it)

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Day 2. Time to explore! We were only a couple blocks from the beach. We went down vendor's row and well... There was food, food and more food! Give or take fun shops. We watched the kites, flew our own (well, Emi's stunt kite), ate a huge Mexican lunch and chilled the rest of the day. We also walked around town to check things out. LOTS of fun shops and things to do for all ages. It was a fairly relaxing day, but energetic too becuase we wanted to see everything and do everything.

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Day 3. This day, we really got to chill. We ran around a bit in the morning and then spent around 6 hrs down on the beach. Kody and I both got stunt kites while Emi hooked up with a fighter kite. Kody also got a skimboard and played on that both on day 2 and day 3. He got pretty good whereas I pitched my head into the salt water a few times. It was a good day to have fun!

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Day 4. Time to pack up and go home! We checked out the end of the penninsula then returned back to Long Beach to fly kites. Emi ran around w/ Thomas and got us some gnarly ribs for lunch. Then it was our long drive home. It was so cool down there that when the sun was out, we got used to 70F weather. Imagine our surprise to find out that the sun could also mean that it's 80+F!!! Pretty funny that we acclimated so quickly.

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Until Next Time

A Whole Lotta Stuff To Cover

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1. Kody finished summer school on the 10th. He didn't do so hot on the writing portion of the WASL (standardized testing) so it was suggested that he do summer school to tighten and polish his skills. Can he write? Yes he can, when he wants. He probably just learned real quick that if he doesn't put effort and time into 'things', it can come around and bite him. It was just small stuff too. Like most kids (and boys in particular), we like to rush things and be minimalist. And so did Kody. But it's done, his writing is tight and he's a happy cat.

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2. Emi and I are past our 1 year annivesary of marriage. We exchanged gifts on the 6th tho we really didn't celebrate it. We went out and had a lil dinner picnic at the park, which was very fun. It was also a chance for me to eat in public and well, I ended up eating 1.5 steak fajita burritos instead of just 1! Kody and Thomas played in the sprinkler park AND Thomas was a social butterfly meeting and greeting other people chilling there. It was fun.
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3. Everything relates to each other. Kody was done with summer school the 10th. The plan was for Kody to spend some time down at my parents. Well, as things work out, we all went down on the 11th, Friday. The plan was for Emi and I to have Saturday to ourself (and a good part of sunday) and that we would be celebrating our 1 Yr tho it was a week late. It's all about time, right?
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Friday, we arrived at my parents around noon. The plan was for Emi and I to go on a bike ride that we had been talking about doing for a couple years. But alas, Emi was tired and instead, Kody and I went to the river to take pictures. That nite, my parents gave us our 1 Yr gift from them. It was the photo album of our wedding! And it is an incredibly beautiful and jaw-dropping wedding album! It's nothing that I expected in terms of albums. Absolutely wonderful.

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The next day, Emi and I didn't really plan anything. I had ideas because I need to have some sort of gameplan, but Emi is the open-minded one and NOT on Paxol. We took off before noon and hit the EMP in Seattle. We've been to the Sci-Fi Museum a few times and we always say, "Gee, we should check out the EMP too!" Well, we finally made the plunge and well... The EMP was alright. I wish it encompassed more.
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Afterwords, we walked around Seattle Center, got lunch and chilled at the big fountain. I have video of the fountain erupting and kids running and music... And the weather was great! Then it was off to Pike Place.
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We always go to Pike Place when we are in Seattle. We checked out the sites and flowers and everything else. But what was really fun, other than buying a couple of shirts, was that I had my palms read and my astrology reading. Emi had a lil bit of the astrology but there were time constraints. In any case, the woman was pretty amazing because w/o telling her anything about me, she was quick to figure me out AND what my interests were. Totally weird and cool!

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That nite, we stayed at the Silver Cloud Inn by the University Village. We went to my fave restaurant for take-out; China Village. We chilled in the room the rest of the nite. Watched a bit of Seahawks exhibition game and ordered Da Da Vince Code. The next day, we wandered around University Village (Emi had never been there) and then ran all the way to Factoria to see THE DESCENT.

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And to keep this GI Joe oriented. I got the Dragonhawk today from the Target in Factoria. And I got the v1 Snake Eyes and Jungle Snake Eyes Friday morning. All I need is HALO DUKE and I'm good for GI Joe for at least 2 months!

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UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Rain at the Zoo

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This last weekend, the last weekend in July, is notorious for being the weekend of no rain. Weddings are scheduled for this time because of this reason. BBQs, parties, concerts, etc. But alas, things didn't quite work out that way because on Sunday, it rained.

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Saturday was my family's potluck. We got up and ran down there. The boys got to float down the Snoqualmie River w/ my dad in the inflatable boat while the women talked about stuff at home. I spent some time down at the river taking pictures of my Sigma6 figures. We had a fun time. It was also the last chance for many of us to see my aunt & uncle (and 2 boys) before they move to Virginia for a couple of years.

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Sunday, we got up late and then went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. As soon as we got there, it started raining. We still had fun and by the end of the day, the rain had stopped and the sun was breaking thru. I always enjoy the zoo but it's fun to see how Thomas reacts to things. By the end of the adventure, Thomas began to understand there were animals in these cages and was enjoying looking at the odd creatures.

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Today is Wednesday. After taking over a hundred Sigma6 pictures, I started hitting the 2nd chapter of my dio. It was time to get off my butt and get it done. There was a lot of new territory for me. Not so much in story terms, but the technology of it. I had ideas that didn't quite work out. But my man Chuck helped me thru some of it and it really gives it a boost. If the red lighting and claustrophobic corridors were cool to you, then the effects used in Chapter2 should be equally as gnarly. I procrastinated almost 3 weeks about it because I didn't know how to go about working stuff in. Alas, it all worked out and I did it all this morning.
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That's about it for now. Until next time!

The Slugs Are Eating My Dahlia!

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I only have 1 in the backyard. I had two, but one of them didn't want to grow. So I chucked it. I planted it a new one but it has yet to wake up. And the one that IS growing, it's getting eaten! Annoying. I moved a couple of small items to my bed; a black pansey and another seedum. Raar.

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Kody's birthday was the 16th, Sunday. We went out to Orcas Island to go skating. I had fun, but the park just isn't quite as fun as when I first went there. I suppose that is because there weren't quite as many skateparks yet. But with Carnation and Arlington, Orcas starts to feel slightly archaic. Yet at the same time, it pushes you to be all you can be. My back started hurting right off the bat. I managed to skate hard and then chilled most of the day.

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Trying to get home wasn't as easy as planned. We made a detour to Mt. Constitution to take in the breathtaking view. We figured that we had plenty of time to catch the 4:20 ferry. When we got there, we were in the overflow line. We missed it by 3 cars. So we waited till the 7:00 ferry, which was fine. We just wandered about, had ice cream, let the baby run around, etc.

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Dio work on Chapters 2 and 3 are in progress. Chapter2 is taking form nicely. I was having a bit of a block but in the end, it's working out better than I hoped. As for Chapter3, the work being done there is set work. I have BIG plans and it's gonna take some real creativity on my side to make things work. On the other hand, I'm shooting Chapter2 as it is. I've shot 2 sections/sequences/parts of Chapter2. Both are utterly violent. (hee hee) I'm prepping to shoot another sequence tonite and if it works right, should be weirdly cool.

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That about it for now. Until next time.

And There It Is!

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The Anality of Things

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Kody has come back from his week-long camp at the Firs. It was a religious camp but we aren't religious. He had fun and that is all that matters. It's nice to have him back. Not because he would take care of chores and whatnot, it's just nice to have a house full of life.

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I finished up my garden bed. It has been a long time since it was 1st started. I don't even remember when it started. In the end, it's 3 stonebrick high, 1.5 yds of dirt and I started transplanting flowers from the back. Sure, I bought some stuff at Haggen and then Emi bought MORE stuff at Haggen to help fill it up. The Black Mondo Grasses are where they need to be. The bed isn't finished yet. The only thing that is considered 'finished' would be the mondo grasses. I just planted a couple of SnapDragons tonite; hopefully they'll grow and bloom. I have a Liberia (sp), 2 Salvias, 2 Blood grasses (need more), and a few other fun items. When in proper bloom, it should look tight.

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As well, I finished up the 1st chapter of episode 2 of my dio. The 1st Episode, Transformations, wrapped up a month or so ago. Episode 2, already working in my mind, was actually shot when doing the ending of the 1st episode! So as things work...

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G.I. Joe Chronicles
Episode 2 War For Territory

Chapter 1

Where Eagles Dare

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I have to admit, this 1st chapter is very military feeling. Much moreso than the 3rd and 4th chapters of Episode 1. Like a Simpsons' episode, it digresses. I have big plans for it. I just hope I can make it work.

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Until Next Time...

STUFF

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I went down to my parents for the 4th of July. The main reason was for them to see Thomas. 4th of July used to be really fun down there but that was probably because it was new to me. The whole town is 1 big party. Parade, food booths, old car show and of course, Remlingers. But for me, I was content to take pictures of my Sigma6 figures in the backyard. Emi joined us the nite before and drove back before the fireworks were lit. I got to watch some of the World Cup too. That was pretty fantastic. Thomas enjoyed himself and that's all that really mattered.

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I finished up Chapter 1 of Episode 2 last week. It just needs a home. Come tomorrow, I'll finally be able to finish my flower bed in the front yard!
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Until next time.

Summer Heat!

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It's been really hot out the past few days. Sunday, Emi and I finally took care of the yard! 2 yards of pea gravel was shoveled, wheel-barrled, dumped and distributed all afternoon. I took care of the shoveling and wheel barrel duties while Emi smoothed it all w/ a rake. After hours of sweating, we finished it up. And it looks absolutely wonderful. For 2-3 yrs, it's been dirt. Ugly dirt. Muddy dirt. Dirt w/ mass weeds. Dirt w/ rock mixed in. Gross.

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As well, I shot more of the dio out there plus some singles of Scrap Iron to post on Joedios.com. The 85+ heat made my figures pretty rubbery. The Blueshirts were effected most while the NeoVipers were pretty stiff. The difference? In 2002, Hasbro used a harder plastic. By 2006, well, they went cheap. Even my HISS tanks were suffering out there. Now imagine if these guys were real in those heavy suits in that heat. OOF DA!

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That's about it for now.

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Until Next Time!

UP AND DOWN
AND ALL THE WAY AROUND...

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The last few weeks have been fairly busy.

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I went to my 1st appt w/ a new therapist to try to get my head straightened out. I am a very stressful and anxietal kitty kat. The first meeting went well and it led me to seeing the regular doctor to find a routine drug to take. Paxol. I took my 1st yesterday and well, it wasn't bad. (I have to tell myself that over and over.) I mean, the side effects. So that's that. I have an appt monday to see the therapist and I should have almost a week of pills in my system!

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On the dio front, JoeDebriefed has hit another snag and my stuff isn't posted. This bugs me greatly simply because I NEED a place to have it shown. As it stands, I am an underground dio artist!

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Which brings up Episode 2's Chapter 1. It's still being worked on and all but THIS time I have an ending to the whole shebang. Which is different than Episode1 where I spent months sleeping on it. Yes, literally sleeping on it (which means, I wasn't thinking about it at all, right?). But I came up with some ideas (via Final Fantasy : Advent Children) and it should be pretty dope.

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Thomas is a happy lil critter these days. Kody just got out of school. Other than he will be attending summer school to get his writing under control, he had a wonderful last report card and this year was quite a step for him. Next year, it's middle school! That's 6th-8th grade for those who have Jr Highs instead.

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Until Next Time...

UP THE IRONS!!!

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I'll admit it. I'm a Maiden fan. And for some strange reason, all the chapters involved in my dio, "Transformations" have Maiden song titles. Just a lil fun and Episode 2 won't be any different. And with that in mind, Episode 1 is officially wrapped up! I shot the last section of the dio and originally, it was to be in Chapter3. Ch3 would have been a long chapter and when going thru it all, I found it to be too long. So I chopped it in half and created Chapters 3 and 4. A few slight tweaks and 2 new covers and I was good to go.

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So let's talk a lil about what's going on. I look at it as a cans of Doom, a bit of Aliens and a shot of Stephen King. I thought it would be fun to mess around with things. Originally, the monsters were going to come from the Venomized Troops (aka V-troops) but I departed that idea. Just how would a Snow Wolf or Desert Scorpion turn into an 8 foot lizard OR a f'n red monster with 4 legs and gnarly claws??? Sure, I could have written it that Overkill really messed around with the dna splicing but I decided to go a different route. A more horrific route. Besides, I never liked the idea of humans becoming monsters. I like monsters as monsters, y'know?

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The main influence was the movie Doom. Say what you will about it. I loved the dark, creepy, blue-lit tunnels. I loved the air of suspense and the fact you never really see the monsters. I was going to try the same effect but man, it is so difficult. So in Chapter2, you don't actually see the monsters full on. You see parts of them which lends to more suspense. By Chapter3, you get both creatures and see what they are really fighting. And I'll admit it, I was too lazy to figure out a different light scheme for the Retreat sequence. (that would be the last Lobby sequence) In any case, I was toying around with endings and finally found one that worked for me.

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This is not the GI Joe you grew up with. It sure isn't Hasbro's GI Joe. It's not the cartoon. Not the comic. And certainly, not anything Devils Due has been doing. I have a lot of pretty anal ideas regarding my Joeverse so my verse doesn't equal YOUR verse. And that's ok because in theory, the dio is my story. And like fanfiction, it goes where it wants. BUT I wasn't going to make it so weird and outlandish that it's not remotely believable. Certainly, the cartoon had more weird ideas, yesh???

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In any case, I HOPE a lot of questions come up because Episode 2 will reveal a lot but it will also show that... Well... The author feeds the reader what they want. And don't think for a moment that I don't have it planned that the viewer is misinformed. ;) In any case, Episode 2 is coming together. The 1st 10 frames are ready to go. Chapter1 will be pretty long and if Ep1's Chapters 1 and 2 were like totally different stories, hopefully the same will happen w/ Episode2.

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I'm having to do a lot of thinking how Ep2 will play out. It's gotta be bigger and better but added things can't take away from the story. I have a lot of ideas that need to be fleshed out. It will also be a further look into my Joeverse. Just for kicks, I'm providing the link that gets you to the Chapter page.

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Until Next Time...

Almost there...

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Doing a dio is a lot like film work, I figure. I bet a lot of the same terms are thrown around. "Sequence", "Principal Photography", "Crap, NOT AGAIN!!!", etc. In my case, Principal Photography is done for Episode1. The next step is to review the shots, see if it fits with the story (or vice versa) and then start adding the dialogue as well as any effects. I've sorted thru everything and made some changes.

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The 3rd chapter will be cut in half. The 2nd half becomes Chapter4 because it was getting too long. That means, Chapter 3 is ready to be posted. In theory. I have to come up with a cover for Chapter3 now. :( Chapter 4 shouldn't be too far behind it. I do, however, need to head back into the garage and take a few more pics to fill in a few blanks. So close!

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Until Next Time...

The Analistic Approach

or

George Lucas Style in Effect!

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For awhile now, I've been kinda bugged about how the titles were working out for my 'big' dio. I say 'big' because it's the 1st dio that I've put a lot of thought, effort, sweat and tears into since "The Ultimate Weapon". That 1st dio was all trial and error and I used a pretty piss poor program to make it. I can't even look at it and it is currently not posted anywhere. It's VERY long and nobody has an afternoon or nite to get thru the whole thing.

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In any case, when starting work on the sequel to "Transformation(s)", things just weren't jiving. I was thinking in Star Wars terms, maybe too much. The original title was simply; "Transformation". And then each chapter would have it's own title, like a book, right? Well, the way I had created the poster for "Transformation", ain't nothing felt right. So I went back to the drawing board, looked at what I had, discussed things with a couple of people and in the end, I revamped them.

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I decided, if Star Wars is the generic overall series title, then what's MINE gonna be called? "Transformation"? No, that was what the story was called, but not the overall series. So I set out on Friday to fix the problems. I also decided to call the sequel "Episode 2" as opposed to "Sequel" cuz well, "Episode 2" just sounds better.

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First off, I came up with what I was doing. I looked at Luke's title pages and got some ideas from that. G.I. JOE had to be part of the title to show that this was a GI Joe dio. It'd be obvious to anyone who looks at it, but I just wanted the clarification. But it was NOT going to be GI JOE : Transformations. I was thinking of doing many stories under the same sort of name and Transformations was 1 very particular story. I came up with "Chronicles".

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G.I. JOE : Chronicles.

Episode 1

Transformations

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I actually changed the name of the dio, made new covers and had to repost the 1st chapter over on JoeDebriefed.com. The way it was originally posted drove me up the wall. I like the idea of having the 2 covers and THEN the story on the next page. Not cover then story.

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Ok, so I got the "Transformations" title for Episode1 because frankly, it IS about Transformations. That'll be explored a little bit more in-depth in Episode2 which does NOT have a title. (Chapter1 of Ep2 however, does.) Each episode is made up of chapters, right? Each book is made up of chapters, right? And usually, the author comes up with neat lil titles for each chapter. I tend to be REALLY bad about figuring out titles so I started using Iron Maiden song titles. :D

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It became:

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G.I. JOE : Chronicles
Episode 1

Transformations

Chapter 1 : Quest For Fire

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Chapter1, originally, didn't even have a title! In fact, the original chapter was supposed to be a stand alone dio but I started getting all these ideas and blam, "Transformations" became more than just a 1 shot dio w/ an open ending. Check out the covers!

In terms of Chapter 2, titled "Fear of the Dark", what the reader sees for the cover is the Chronicles cover again and then the Chapter 2 cover underneath. Chapter 3, Here to Eternity will follow the same formula. In fact, it's a standard I made for my dios. I could've tried to jam EVERYTHING on the same page, but it made no sense. In dvd terms, it's like a box set. You have the box cover, then the individual dvd covers each with it's own episodes (errrr, thinking SW here).

Anyway, I got it all fixed up and am quite happy with how things turned out.

Until next time...

The Making of "Transformation"

Chapter 2

Fear of the Dark

Part5

The Story

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I hate hindsight. I hate how it's 20/20. When I did the 1st chapter of "Transformation", it was going to be a stand alone story. It was supposed to end like a lot of my other dios. It was open-ended. But for some reason, I decided to expand on the idea. The original story was kind of a jab at how Hasbro actually makes their GI Joe figures. It's the only way to explain why we get some pretty darn swell figures and some pretty darn pathetic ones.

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There are little things in the 1st chapter that bug me. As it stands now, this whole thing of "Transformation" is considered Ep1. I don't have a nifty title for Ep1 yet, other than "Transformation" which is kinda lame. Someday, I'll reshoot the cover and call it something entirely different. It's a Star Wars thing. Remember, Lucas eventually called our beloved 1977 SW Episode 4, A New Hope. That was a trip for those of us who don't pay that much attention.

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Anyway, the plot thickens and starts to really get into the meat of what the story of "Transformation" is about. The 2nd chapter is aptly labeled Fear of the Dark. Tho I used my best attempts on a limited budget, I did my best to make the 2nd chapter seem like it was in the dark. Unfortunately, it's not dark enough. I was aiming for a Doom/Aliens look and well, you see what I got. *chuckle*

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Chapter2 opens w/ the 1st RRTS (which has, unfortunately, no cool nickname). Comprised of Lt. Graydon, Stalker, Beach Head, Snake Eyes, Bombstrike, Gung Ho and Footloose, the team (sans SE) are sent in to retrieve a missing Snake Eyes. On their approach and from an earlier report, things don't quite sound right. There are no Cobra sentries posted outside nor is there any sign of Cobra equipment. When the RRTS land and enter the lobby of the installation (which doesn't have a name at this time either), they find it void of Cobra activity. What would cause Cobra to up and leave a perfectly working operation?

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After hacking into the computer, Stalker is able to get the security cameras on-line and the Joes witness a squad of NeoVipers in a firefight. They can't see the enemy, but the NeoVipers are terrified. The Joes go investigate only to find a room full of bodies. The plot thickens as Graydon and Stalker hack into the video logs of Overkill's Lab. Cobra's been messing w/ humans and animal DNA again. The chapter ends w/ Graydon pushing the squad to find Snake Eyes and to leave the installation. They ARE on a rescue mission, afterall.

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Chapter3 has yet to be published but in my mind, it all makes sense. Unfortunately for the reader, I had almost NO action in the 2nd chapter. I don't exactly show what the Joes will face. Everyone is hanging on! The main point of Ch2 was to set up the atmosphere and look of the story. I think it worked. Chapter3 will be mainly action AND it will wrap up the story. 3 chapters seem awfully short especially when the 1st chapter has a totally different feel. But Chapter3 should feel full despite the entire 1st Episode being short.

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Now apparently, my Joeverse is different than everyone else's. I use what works, make up a lot of my own stuff and disregard a ton of things. If my main 2 teams are comprised of 7 chars each, what about the other 100-some Joes running around? How come we don't see Duke and Hawk and well, the 'normal' Joes everyone wants to see and EXPECTS to see. It's because my Joeverse doesn't revolve around the ninja aspect. Or Duke. This is my GI Joe as I see it. It's not melee action on the battlefield, tho that's what the cartoon portrayed quite often. This isn't SW Battlefront (the video game) but hey, maybe in the future I'll have a big old melee. I'm into small, specialized teams that can kick booty. Ahhhhh, the things Doom and Aliens have done to me...

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Until Next Time

Ski To Sea

Big Bellingham Event

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Last week, Bellingham hosted the Jr Ski to Sea race. Grade schoolers, middle schoolers and high schoolers each compete in respective races. There's soccer dribbling, biking around Lake Whatcom, a tiny bit of running and an obstacle course!

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A week later, always on Memorial Day weekend, the adult Ski to Sea kicks it into full gear. 82.5 miles of physical goodness. It starts off with 4 miles of cross-country skiing, about 3 miles of 'downhill' skiing, running, canoing, 2 types of biking and the last leg, sea kayaking. It's a HUGE event for Bellingham and probably the event of the year. It's bigger than 4th of July!

3 years ago, I made the trip to B'ham for the 1st time since college (well, not really, but THIS was a special time) to meet my-now wife, Emi Onozawa-Hughes. At that time, she lived on Grant Street but moved about a year later. Anyway, it was our first date and Kody even came along too! So in a way, it's a special event for us because we got to properly meet each other.

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We got up and I made vanilla pancakes. It would have been vanilla blueberry pancakes but the blueberries were used up the morning before in smoothies! After that, we chilled until Thomas got up from his usual morning nap. Then we drove down to the Boundary Bay area, parked and walked our way in to where all the action was (in Fairhaven). But I have to digress here and talk about something else kinda special.

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Our next door neighbor, Mike, was on a team. He was taking care of the downhill skiing portion. Last nite, they had a party. We were invited but with my parents here, we didn't bother coming over. When they left, I ran over there to say HI and to wish Mike g'luck. It turns out that one of the team members I've known since I was, oh, 8, was there! Tim Snyder.

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We swam together on the View Ridge Swim Team (a summer swim league at the local, member-only pool). Tim's got about 4 yrs on me but while we swam each summer, I was able to swim on the Roosevelt team with him. (he was a senior, i was a freshmen) After HS, he went to Western where I visited when I was a senior because I was planning on going there. I'm sure there were other people I could have visited and they could have showed me around, but Tim was a friend of the family. So I hooked up with him for a day; visited his classes and checked out his apt. We (as in the family) knew he was majoring in Poli-Sci and had even done an internship in DC. After he graduated, I never knew what happened to him.

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So last nite, I ran into him. Being the socially-inept doof I am, I didn't ask what he was doing now and the usual questions. He WAS just leaving the party and I was able to find out that he was living in Seattle. Tim's always been a nice guy and very sociable and well, he was a role model for me. HE asked how my parents were doing, y'know? The next day, I was able to get it out of Mike that Tim got a masters degree in PoliSci and a teaching degree at Seattle University. Wow. And the kicker? He's teaching at Eckstein middle school.

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I managed 2 years there, while he went thru the usual public school system. It's a trip to know he's working there because a gal named Emily Stone (her father was Mr. Stone, the 6th grade science teacher) also works there. Emily was on the View Ridge Swim Team AND lifguarded with Tim (but not me, 4 yrs later). As a sidenote, one of my old bosses at Trader Joes, Gertz, his wife works at Eckstein too. The world becomes smaller, yes?

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Back to Ski To Sea. We thought we left late and that a majority of the fastest kayakers must have already come in. It was 1pm or a tad after (race starts at 0830) and walking along the trail which has an open view of the bay, we saw no kayakers.

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One of the highlights for me is the old car show at Boulevard Park. That 1st year we went, I thought it was so cool. But now, it doesn't seem as if there are as many sweet cars. Yeah, there were a few that really stood out, but I question if the rain didn't stop MORE from coming out. I took a few pics. After smelling the hot dogs and taking pics, we moved on into Fairhaven. It's about 2 miles from downtown B'ham to Fairhaven. Now... Bellingham was dead. Empty. Void of life. Fairhaven was alive! Thousands of people checking out the booths and heading down to the finish line. We milled around for a short time, talked to Brenna (co-worker of Emi's) at her charity booth, and then walked down to the park where the sea kayakers finish.

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It was only a few minutes later when the 1st place kayaker showed up. From what I hear, he had about 2 minutes on the 2nd/3rd place competitors but it seemed longer. We stayed around for the top10 before heading out. Poor Thomas baby was getting tired. So we packed up with smiles on our faces, checked out the booths (but not the beer garden or the food booths in which the greek food's aroma was drifting our way...) in Fairhaven and then came back home. We left around 12pm and ended up back home around 5pm. It was a nice day, no rain and I signed up to try and win a... a... Some sort of car from the local classic rock station, KISM. It would be REALLY nice if I won, but I'm sure 100s of people signed up too. :(

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As for yesterday, my parents came up. Father and I rented a bunch of power tools to take care of some metal posts (that were used originally for cyclone fencing and then later on a shed) that were in the backyard (I had since taken down the shed). Father cut the posts down and then grinded the stubs. Father also edged our yard for us since we dont' have a proper edge. And this was ALL after Saturday's Ski To Sea parade! 2 hrs of local goodness, tho groups as far south as Marysville were in it! That nite, we had lovely Copper River Salmon. $20/lb salmon, known for its richness and flavor. (Course, King Salmon goes for more but that'll be later...)

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Until Next Time...

The Making-of "Transformation"
Chapter2
FEAR OF THE DARK
Part4


Part1 - Corridor construction
Part2 - The GI Joe RRTS
Part3 - Lobby construction

Today, part4, is about deleted scenes. Any dioist out there knows that even the shortest dio can end up with 2-3x as many shots as planned. Sometimes it's about getting the correct angle. Other times, it's trying to get the macro to work properly. Maybe the lighting is off. Maybe, just maybe, something isn't consistent (which is usually my problem along with the macro focus).

The first dio I ever did probably had over 1000 shots. The 5th chapter alone was broken into 2 parts and comprised over 150 shots. Back then, I was snapping them off faster, not having a clue how the camera actually worked! If the dio was around 1000 shots big, then imagine how many pics I actually took!

I've done several dios between "The Ultimate Weapon" and "Transformation". In a way, I am treat "Transformation" as my 1st dio. I finally have the resources to actually do a proper one. I have to use 2 photo programs to make it work. Arcsoft's Photostudio isn't too bad a program. It will freeze and then shut down if you ask too much of it. What do you expect from a product made back in '98? I resize there, change the original pics to grayscale, add film grain, etc. The 2 things it does NOT have are the abilities to insert shapes and word balloons. I had been making my own word balloons from the line tool (which often caused it to shut down before saving). We also have MS's PhotoIt. I only use it for printing and word balloons. I have yet to really figure out EVERYTHING in both programs. I use what I need and I learn what I need, y'know?

The 1st chapter of "Transformation" was very easy to shoot. The set wasn't that big. But in relation to sets that other people work on, it could be considered big. It could be 'built' on a desk or counter top if need be. It's portable and easy to break down. (HA! Finally found the pic that was supposed to be Part1 of Making-of.)

Chapter1 was fun. It was a sarcastic (maybe satirical) look at how Hasbro makes their GI Joe figures. Pop in an old figure into the Transformation Chamber, give it a whirl and out pops the next version! It worked on Snake Eyes, y'know? It worked on Rollbar too, but he came out as Hellfire, the Saw Viper. Being the mook I am, I left the end open-ended and decided I should continue on. I had all these wild ideas after Luke Ellison released his masterpiece of a dio.

Chapter2 was frustrating. It had MORE to do with the slowness to build the sets than shooting the pics or even getting the story straight in my head. I break every part into folders. If you read Fear of the Dark closely enough, everytime the black bars show up, it's a change in scene. In my case, it's another part/folder.

I think the corridor scene was the most involved of all the scenes. The lack of lighting made it incredibly difficult to get that 'right' shot. I had to throw away a lot of shots. Be it lack of focus, or inconsistency of story. I actually had to get rid of maybe 5 shots where the characters were in different places from scene to scene. That just didn't make sense. But there were a few scenes cut from the video sequences too.

I admit, there is a lot of jabber in my dio. More than I like, but it's helping get the story across. A lot of the scenes cut would have been ones with them jabbering. The scene below was cut. When I shoot the scenes, I'm usually winging it because the story is in my head. This would have been a scene of the crew getting ready to enter the body of the Cobra installation. Thing is, there would have been about 5-6 consistent frames of babbling.

So what it comes down to is this. Do I want several shots of the guys carrying on the conversation or do I shove the conversation into 1 frame and make it really wordy? Either way, it's a ton of dialogue and honestly, who wants to read a ton of it? The dio is supposed to be fast paced. *snaps fingers - snap/snap/snap/snap* There are places where it is supposed to slow down a tiny bit.

Chapter1 was practically a prologue. Chapter2 was supposed to set up the atmosphere and mood of the whole story. What were the Joes facing? What did they miss on the monitor? Some of the deleted scenes are thrown away simply because it doesn't mesh with the story, which can be different than scenes being inconsistent.

This particular shot, the Joes are out of order. When the sequence starts Footloose is point, not Bombstrike. It doesn't matter WHERE this shot would go, it is inconsistent. Of course, part of the problem might lie in the story itself. There are actually 2 sequences. 1 is the corridor that goes from the lobby to the body of the installation. The 2nd sequence is the from the door to the installation to Overkill's Lab. The whole lighting thing was testing my patience and I rushed thru it. In DOOM terms, there's a scene of the RRTS leaving the safety of the lobby, going thru a connecting corridor and then into the installation. The idea was supposed to be the same. If I had been smarter, I would have used different lighting for the 1st corridor and then the emergency red lighting for the 2nd. Oh well...

That should wrap it up for today.

Until Next Time...

The Making of "Transformation" Chapter 2
FEAR OF THE DARK
Part 3


Part1 discussed corridor construction. Part2 discussed the GI Joe team that went in. Today is part3 and I will discuss the construction of The Lobby.

I won't BS anyone here. The Lobby was an absolute headache. I had high hopes for it, but because of my lack of carpentry skills, I can only do so much. Plus, money was tight and I really had to work with what I had. Way back when, our friend Brenna was having a fence built. We ended up with all the 2x4s that were used as guides for the fence posts. So I had a ton of 2x4s sitting around. Plus, my father came up and installed a couple of shelves in a closet. The old shelves, made w/ what seems to be a really lame particle board, were discarded and kept by me.

The Lobby is made 90% of wood. This is actually in a pretty early stage. 2x4s make up the support pillars and part of the floor. You can't quite see it, but the 2nd level is sitting on a couple of 2x4s. I drilled 2 2x4s into the back of the support pillars (T-construction).
For the flooring, I used those discarded shelves. I used a dremel and cut a square U shape. Would I like to have done a rounded lobby? Yes, I would have. But like I mentioned, I don't know how. This whole process didn't come all out of my mind. I used the lobby from the movie Doom as my inspiration.

I know, I know, NOT quite the same thing. But I used it for reference. It would be during this particular phase that I started taking test shots to see how things would look when the occupied with figures. It was pretty cool but not finished enough to get a good idea. There was one little element that kept on bothering me. Would it be BIG enough? I would find it months later the answer to that.

Now, if you look hard enough, you can see that Beach Head is standing on something. That was the early stages of the steps/stairs. I bought 2 sets of steps so the Joes could walk right up to the raised floor. You can also see the basswood 'beams' I used for just about everything. Easy to cute, fairly inexpensive and it just adds little details here and there. They would also be used for guard rails. I used the figures to figure out the scale of things. The height of the guard rails, how tall the structure should be, distance between 1st and 2nd floors, etc.

So this is a shot where things are closer to being finished. Beams were added to the pillars to hide the screws. It also added a lil texture and color to an otherwise GRAY set. The stairs are finished with a tiny bit of dry brush to make the steps look a lil worn. I also built (out of basswood) 2 computer consoles. Unfortunately, they aren't working consoles. It would have been really cool to have light coming from them to help illuminate the area. The console downstairs would act as a... Errrrrr... whatever consoles do when you see them in movies.

Ok, so other than adding details and stuff, the last things to do were the walls and in theory, a ceiling. Because I wanted to just get Chapter2 done, I skipped the ceiling and skipped on 1 wall panel.

When I was doing the next test shots, I found that the set wasn't big enough. :( I added two more floor sections to make the set longer. If I took a pic of the 'small' set, the viewer could see the edges. Look closely and you can see the guard rail on the right side ends right at the wall, which also is the end of the set. Didn't quite work the way I wanted so using the trusty 2x4s, I created 2 more floor pieces. Foamboard was glued on top then painted gray like the rest of the set. As for the floor, it's the same idea as Overkill's Lab. 2 painted boards.

As for the walls, those were pretty easy, but time-consuming. The longest part of doing this was waiting for the paint to dry. Like the corridors, it's: measure, cut, paint, wait-to-dry, and add detail. Those too warped so there was a lot of bending of the foamboard to try and keep the straight. I added a 2nd door (it's red) just to make the set more interesting. For the most part, the walls are taped on. The backside of the lobby was set up so it's not 1 big wall piece, but several. Masking tape is everywhere, keeping the stuff standing. The left wall is taped on. You can't see a piece of tape that goes from the wall to the left pillar. As for the right side, it's not taped at all. I have 2 water bottles holding it up. The green towel is there to help keep out the light because where the walls meet were NOT cut straight. :(

Just for the record, I'm not into flash photography for the dios. So I try to use natural light when possible or a good old lamp. In this case, ALL that is illuminating the lobby is an overhead halogen clip-on desk lamp. Due to a bit of warping of the actual 2x4s, I had to tape a section to the table! Despite all the lil inaccuracies of the set, most of it can be fixed w/ a lil photo editing.

The final look of the set as seen in the dio? Take a look. Not once do you get to see the whole thing at once. Part of it is director's choice. Part of it has to do with what can be pictured properly w/o seeing all of the set's faults. Hope you enjoyed it!

Until next time...

The Making of "Transformation" Chapter2
FEAR OF THE DARK

Part 2

Yesterday, I discussed how the corridors were created. Today, I discuss the team that I used, how they were created (well, not how the figures were created, that's actually done in the 1st chapter of the dio), WHY they were created and the influence of the team.

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After watching the ultra cool movie DOOM, it totally changed my idea of how GI Joe should be set up. I've never been a big believer of GI Joe being the type of force that would just melee across the battlefield, tho that's what the cartoon tends to portray. I figure that smaller, specialized teams make more sense. As a kid, I didn't know better. But there was a point in the comic where I questioned just WHY certain characters were used for missions. Barefoot Quick Kick running around really didn't do much for me, y'know?

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I took a look at my Joe collection and formed a 7-man team that could work in any situation. The original 13-man GI Joe crew was great like that. They were trained for just about any situation. Series 2 brought in some speciality guys but it also departed from the uniform look that really sucked a lot of us kids into the toy. At the same time, the more distinctive outfits the characters wore, well, they weren't as outlandish as what would come 10 yrs later.

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I'm not the biggest customs guy. There's a whole community out there who likes to create their own characters and revamp established ones. I got into the whole frankensteining bug and came up with some decent stuff. Some good, some incredibly poor that they ended up in the garbage can. Out of the several I've done, 2 are most memorable. (but more importantly, I can 'play' with them. not all customs can be played with due to the paint applications)

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Lt. Graydon was created and since he had no role in my 'verse, I quickly came up with one. He became the leader of the RRTS (Rapid Response Tactical Squad). He hasn't found a decent codename yet. I figured if General Rey from the comic book doesn't have one, then Graydon doesn't either. In any case, I love the figure because he is incredibly usuable and he looks cool.

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In my JoeVerse, Hawk is the commander, Duke is the Field Commander, Flint is part of Rescue Ops, and Falcon is off doing his own thing. I would love to use Falcon but he is a part of the Jungle Strike Force. Graydon was the one officer who didn't have an actual command or role.

Stalker gets a spot for a few reasons. He's got a cool JvC figure, he's an eod guy, he can give advice to Graydon and he carries a big gun. That's right. I changed his specialty to heavy weapons. He carries a grenade launcher much like Poncho in Predator.

Gung Ho gets a shift in heavy weapons specialty too. Everyone probably remembers GH carrying a grenade launcher. That duty's been given to Stalker. GH gets the chaingun. And believe me, he doesn't mind!

Bombstrike. She's the newest of the crew in terms of both GI Joe and RRTS. She acts as the sniper of the team. Her best friend on the team is Gung Ho who she looks to for advice.

Snake Eyes is a commando w/ martial art and bladed weapon skills. His focus is infiltration and acting as scout.

Beach Head is the cheerleader of the team. That doesn't mean he's jumping up and down and doing cheers. He's the old war dog who pushes the crew forward when they want to turn and run. He also brings in a sense of reasoning and a kick-ass attitude.

Footloose provides a bit of light-heartedness to the team. He's a soldier and he knows it. His job is to follow orders and shoot bad guys. He adds extra firepower when needed.

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The other Joes on the team act as back-up or support for the RRTS. Any member can be replaced if one is already on assignment. ie; Snake Eyes can be replaced by another member if he's active in another team.

Until next time...