Interim Advert: Evan Bremer

Okay so I know that I've pretty much been just posting a lot of advertisement-type stuff (for things I dosupport), but it's finals coming up so I've been super busy with all of my final projects and whatnot. I cannot wait for all this to be done with. *dies*

Then I can spend the next three months working (hopefully) two jobs and cleaning my room! Joy! Oh wait, Summerfest happens somewhere in there too. YES!!

So because I don't want to leave you hanging with just this, have another promo! This here is my friend Evan Bremer and he does some super nifty voice-over work!

He is the voice of Yuki Somah in the Fruits Baskets Radio adaptation done by That Guy With Glasses and he was hinting that there might be something else coming his way! 

Here are his demos!

If you could ask a voice over actor anything, what would it be?

I know that they aren't the same but...

Exhibit A: "Shot" by the Finnish rock band The Rasmus (2005)

Exhibit B: "Grenade" by American singer Bruno Mars (2010)

...for some reason, whenever I heard "Grenade" this year, I automatically started humming "Shot". I mean they both have a similar theme of risking one's life for their lover. The difference being that Bruno is singing to a love who tortured him, and Lauri doesn't seem to be so much tortured by the lover (in this song anyway...), so much as what's chasing them. So here's a bit of an idea: play them both at once. It's pretty interesting. There are parts that match up pretty well. Also, be sure to adjust the volume on the videos, so that one doesn't overpower the other.

(The idea for this is totally stolen from Matt's overlapping music blog post)

People's Exhibit 1: Proof of Lawlessness and General Jack-assery

Yes indeedy folks! Step right up! Get a good look now, 'cause it might not be around much longer! The one, the only, Kaaaaaay9! Yessir, this nerdy car owner named her Scion hatchback for the ever clever tin dog of Doctor Who renown. What a shame, folks. What. A. Shame. Almost a two full years together and can you believe it? Stolen right around the corner from the very carnival/concert that she was attending!

So, yes. My car was stolen the other night while I was at a concert venue. I reported it right away along with the loss of my car keys. Less than 12 hours later I received a call saying that my car had been found. I got to party in my mind for nigh three seconds before they finished the statement: "...has been in a collision with another vehicle. Would you like us to tow it to our impound or have your insurance company tow it there?" And then my heart sank right back through the floor.

So here's what we know: There were four males in the car at the time of the accident and they all fled after impact. The owner of the car that they hit is okay, her sister was injured. The insurance company has taken our car to an appraiser to assess the outer damage and see whether it is reparable or needs to be replaced. All of the fabric and sewing patterns, art supplies that was in the back, as well as what contents of my purse that was not on my physical person at the time of the theft, are all gone. The car was completely cleaned out. They didn't even leave the purse. All that was left was two patterns (under the passenger seat), my prescription glasses (which it looks like somebody stomped on), and the leather pouch that I use as a wallet (completely empty, of course).

Now I have a bunch of paperwork to fill out, several phone calls to make and finals to complete. Best semester ever.*

*implies exorbitant amounts of sarcasm 

Gearbox Fantastique II! (Updated!)

So guess where I was on April 14th!

Damn straight, I was at home having a quiet meal wishing that the day would end so that I could get some sleep, only... NOT!

I was at the freakin' GEARBOX FANTASTIQUE II  "A steampunk Circus Spectacle Extravaganza!"

Okay, honest truth, I was pretty much only there to hear V Is For Villains rock the crowds fucking socks off!

A small example of V.i.f.V's epicosity

But while I was there, I suppose that it wasn't so terrible to stick around for the Squidling Brothers and Dead Man's Carnival sideshow acts. Unless you have a weak stomach. Actually unless you can stand watching a man eat his own semen or attach weights to his scrotum (or watch and audience member staple a clowns scrotum to his own leg...) this might NOT be the carnival for you. I unabashedly admit that I spent half of the time with my back to the stage. By the end, myself and two of the other Villains fans had formed a dash (too short to be considered a "line") facing the bar on the back wall.

The ladys who faced the back of the room with me.

As far as I can tell (but don't hold me to it), if you want rat traps on tongues and such, Squidling Brothers is the place to be, if you want magic and gasp-worthy tricks without the flinching and sympathy clutching of certain body parts, may I suggest the Dead Man's Carnival.

Other than that, I really did enjoy the show. Some of the sideshow acts were really great. Betty Bloomers was a pleasure to watch both with blades and with fire, and Prof. Pinkerton Xyloma... well, who could resist that mustache!

All images courtesy of John Conner and Steampunk Chicago

In the middle of the show came Bluebeard's Pirate Comedy, which is always good for a laugh. V Is For Villains, and the other band, Hellblinki, each did two sets, with the sideshow acts laced between everything. It seemed a bit awkward, but certainly kept things going. There were also several vendors with some fantastic merchandise up on the second floor of the venue. Had I the money, I would have gone hog wild at the Highwind Steamworks booth!

Video from that night, courtesy of Steampunk Chicago

While the photography for the night was a bit scattered and I don't know where to find some of it, I believe that most of the pictures may be found in Wes Bolton's facebook album of the event (warning: pierced and stapled testicles ARE visible in some pictures, only less so because they removed the worst of it) and in the John Conner Photobooth album.

Miss DollFace and V.i.f.V's own Mr. Agitator

If you haven't ever heard of Reggies it's a great Chicago venue and the shows there are definitely worth checking out. A slight suggestion though: go with a friend. South Loop at night can get a tad shady. I was there until about 2:30am hanging with the crowd, being entertained, and talking to the performers, when I got out, I found that my car had been stolen. Not the most positive way to end the evening.

Allerleirauh

SurLaLunaFairyTales.com

Allerleirauh is German for All-Fur, or All-Kinds-Of-Fur, and is the name for a Grimm's fairy tale. There are many variations of the tale (The She-Bear, Bearskin, Catskin, Donkeyskin, etc.) and all of them involve a girl wearing some sort of fur disguise or coat, and passing herself off as a wild animal. A prince/king/lord captures her and she works in his palace until at some point he discovers her secret and marries her.

In the version recorded by The Brothers Grimm, It starts with the girls father being a king who is trying to marry her because she is as beautiful as her mother. In an attempt to waylay him, she asks for three impossible gowns and a cloak made from skin of every animal in the kingdom. Unfortunately he manages to complete each task and announces their marriage. That night she packs her three gowns in a nutshell, grabs three small gold objects and runs away wearing her all-fur cloak, with her face and hands blackened with soot.

Comic adaption by Gina Biggs and Elle Skinner

This is one of those rare tales that seems to have been made MORE gruesome by modern retellings. This is as opposed to Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and many others which have been thoroughly subdued over the years to be more "child friendly."


I was recently going through my book shelves and stumbled across a variation of the Allerleirauh story, Deerskin, by Robin McKinley. This is a book that I have been at war with since high school, but just haven't been able to shake. I read it some time during sophomore year and did not like it. It bothered me and itched under my skin.


Four years later, I was reading another book by McKinley, The Hero And The Crown, which is part of a two book set that I have enjoyed enough to read multiple times. Stupidly, I got to thinking, about Deerskin again. Had I judged it too harshly the first time? Yes the subject was rough, but she's a good writer so it couldn't have been so terrible. So off I toddled to Half-Price Books and managed to find a very cheap copy in their online store. It arrived. I read it. It sucked.
And now again, another year has passed, and I find myself face to face with this gruesome tale.

So now I suppose I should explain why I dislike it so much (WARNING: SPOILERS, seriously). Firstly, the writing bothers me. I don't even know half of why, but even if I start reading much later in the book and skip the nasty part, I still feel like I'm chewing a handfull of cherry pips. Also, the choices made with the story make me twitch. This is the meat and bones of my face off with this book. In McKinley's version of the tale, the princess does not get away from her father unscathed. Before their wedding, the King breaks into his daughter's room and rapes her, causing her to flee, with her dog. She runs into the woods where she pretty much loses it, and prematurely gives birth to a still born child. To save her from herself, the goddess of the moon comes to her and blesses her with memory loss, a silver dye job, and a deerskin dress that never wears or dirties. So yeah, she goes off and finds her prince, going under the name Deerskin, eventually regains her memory, and saves the prince's sister from marrying he father (Deerskin's father, not the prince's). In the end the prince proposes, but Deerskin is skittish and feels unclean, so he promises to wait as long as it takes.


It's a very disturbing and brutal story. I also feels that it kinda kills one of my favorite things about the original story, which is the independently strong and clever female protagonist. Deerskin's reaction to her trauma is very realistic, but in real life, we don't have a goddess to mold us in her image and erases our memories until we're ready to deal with them. Not only that, but why Deerskin? Why not all the other abused girls in the country? Why does this princess get special treatment? And why of all things, does her "time of the month" only last a single day each month? I know this is a fantastical land, and that means that we're supposed to let it stretch our imagination, but no female reader's imagination is going to stretch that much.


So here I am, looking at this book and trying to figure out weather I should keep it, as a sign of respect for the author, or just give it away and let it gnaw on somebody else's bones for a while.

Hello Batty

Isn't she cute?!

So I was searching "underbust apron" and the first link google throws at me takes me to this super easy tutorial in the How To/Maid Cafe sections of this overall blog.

Out of curiosity I start to take a look around. The Maid Cafe section is actually quite informative. I really with the kids who tried to make one at my own school had read this blog first.

In any case, if you are interested in Lolita fashion, cosplay, or maid cafe's you should definitely check out her Hello Batty blog. 

(all images belong to Hello Batty, not me)

Summerfest!

Who else is going to Summerfest?
What's Summerfest, you ask? It's a music festival up in Milwaukee, WI. 11 stages playing straight from 12pm to 12am for 11 days: June 27-July 1 and then continued July 3-July 8.

Does that interest you? If your answer is, "HELLZ YEAH!" Then you should also know that until June 8th Summerfest is offering an 11-Day-Pass for $45!! 

Yup, that's mine! It already arrived in the mail and I've been loath to let it out of my sight since!!

Des+Nate

Haha, I just watched my first DesandNate video, which was preeeeeetty random, but vaguely adorable.

So I guess thanks goes the MattG for linking them in a video!

(Not the one bellow, but I like it anyway)

By the way, I totally haven't slept yet...

Starting a Youtube.

So I've been saying for a while that I've been wanting to start up my own youtube channel. I've pretty much been running my mouth about it, but in case I didn't happen to run my mouth around you, I'll explain the "real quick":


You, the viewers, tell me what kind of people you want me to interview (actors, teachers, costumers, architects, you know, whatever) and let me know what you want me to ask them. I want equal amounts silly questions and serious questions. In the mean time, I will be interviewing whoever I can get ahold of. So, every video I will tell you who I will be interviewing next and when I will stop accepting questions by. Then you send me questions that you want me to ask my next interviewee! This is a chance for viewers to get their questions to people who are, or have been, places that the viewer might be interested in going, or are curious about.


Or, thats how I want it to go at least.
I'm pretty pleased with the idea. It's interactive and fun for both myself and the viewers. It would get me out talking to people, which is something that I desperately need experience with. Thing is, I need people to interview to get the show up and running! People like students of different mediums, and maybe a grad student who is teaching Writing & Rhetoric I... or something. Ahem. Anyway, not only that, but I need questions and ideas of who to interview. One of my friends has already agreed to let me grill her about how she found her significant-other through a dating website. Does anybody have any questions for her? Now, if ever, would be the time to leave a comment, folks!

Wrestling Mania

So I'm not sure if anybody noticed that in my entry No Such Thing As Superman I used three wrestlers as examples. Since the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) pay-per-view WrestleMania was this Sunday, the first of April, I thought that now might be a good time to talk about it a bit.

First let me get the fangirling out of the way and say that The Undertaker won his Hell In A Cell match against The Game (AKA: HHH, Triple H) which makes his WrestleMania streak 20-0. One of the best matches by far. Absolutely grueling.

Also CM Punk won his match against the Chris Jericho which means that the straight edge Chicagoan still holds the WWE championship. 

The other matches were good, but really these plots take ages to play out. It's kinda ridiculous leading up to the pay-per-view events, and even more ridiculous during the fallout after. The 'TakerxH match was really tailored to be the event of the evening. 

Sorry, this picture is a year old now.

Another moment that I appreciated, which was actually quite sweet, was the induction of Edge into the WWE hall of fame.

While most wrestlers aren't given that chance until they are much older, Edge was forced to stop wrestling due to a very serious injury. He had actually broken his neck, but still managed to wrestle for several more years before the doctors finally told him that if he continued, he would either suffer neck down paralysis or die.

The Diva's Championship match was shameful. Beth Phoenix, one of the few Divas who actually wrestled before coming to the WWE was "beaten" in a tag-team match by special guest Extra journalist, Maria Menounos.

Beth Phoenix

Maria M.

          Vs.

Really? You think that is at all likely?

Okay, where was I, again? Wrestling.

A lot of people snort derisively at the mention of WWE, TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling), ROH (Ring Of Honor), and that sort of wrestling. "It's not even real." They say. That is my first clue that these people are checked out. Okay so most of the fights are scripted, or at least the winner is always decided ahead of time. The stunts, however, are real. They do hurt. One small "botch" (mistake/mess-up) can end a wrestlers career or worse. Owen Hart actually died from a botched stunt in front of a live audience. The home viewers were watching a promo that was on the Titantron at the moment and only saw the aftermath. Edge and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had to end their careers early due to injuries gained from botched moves. What I am saying is that these people put their bodies on the line to entertain people because it is something that they are extremely passionate about. So please, don't scorn them. You couldn't do a quarter of what they put themselves through on a regular basis.

As to the drug problem, the WWE, though not so much TNA, has be seriously cracking down on their wrestlers. Drug tests are conducted regularly, and they have a very strict three-strike policy which is null if the wrestler in question refuses rehab. In that case the wrestler is out. No good-bye to the fans, no finishing a story-line or just one more match. OUT.

Chyna before

My pet peeve- female "wrestling" in the WWE:

Chyna after

The Divas. Oh the Divas. Where to even start? At some point the WWE decided that all of it's female wrestlers were going to be called "Divas" and that they all had to have super bosoms. This was probably not the smartest thought, especially when they, after much hemming and hawing, got one of the few remaining female wrestlers at the time to get breast implants. It may not come as a surprise, but putting an implant in a very muscular woman who engages in a high-impact sport was maybe not the best of ideas. Sure enough, during a match one of poor Chyna's implants broke. Lesson learned? Not quite. She was not the last to have a boob job rupture in the ring. The good news is that this forced the creation of a sturdier implant in the hope of minimizing repeats.

Kharma

 It's not that I don't think that these women work hard to do their jobs. I just notice that they are chosen and trained for the purpose of being eye-candy, not fighters. I feel like it's their job not to be taken as seriously or given as much credit. Chyna was the first woman to participate in a Royal Rumble match. Not only that, but she did so two years in a row. While these were truly momentous occasions, she was only permitted to stay in the ring for neigh 35-37 seconds each time. Ten years later Beth Phoenix was allowed in and she still holds the female record at one minute and thirty-seven seconds in the Royal Rumble. Last year's tolken female, Kharma stayed in for one minute flat. On a positive note, none of the women made the "shortest time spent in the Royal Rumble" list...