Here is the Fred, as well as some better pics of the others. The pics above I was using little LED lights to light them, these pics are with a real candle major improvment.

It's all part of the plan....

So I couldn't leave well enough alone and decided to carve the third in the series of four pumpkins tonight. So here he is.

Let's put a smile on that face.

Return of the pumpkins...

So after the epic fail that was my last damn pumpkin carving attempt I just had to try again. Well Cory showed me a link to a new place that made carving patterns that didn't require shaving the pumpkins just cutting holes. I found a bunch of them that I wanted to do but couldn't decide on one. So I went over to Target and found they had pumpkins on sale for $3.50 each! That was an awesome deal so I picked up a couple...four. So far I have carved two of them, I am planning on doing the other two tomorrow. So with out much more adue here are the two I have done. The two I haven't done yet are Heath Ledger as the Joker and Freddy Krueger.

First up is Jason from Friday the 13th.

Next up is King Leonidas from 300.

Epic fail...

So being in the Halloween spirt I was watching a pumpkin carving contest on the food network. After watching it I thought, wow those people have way too much time on their hands. But I also thought hey maybe I should carve some bad ass pumpkin for my self. Keep in mind I have never carved a pumpkin in my life, and have only watched my mom do it a handful of times. Never the less I was on a mission. I went online and found a place that makes really cool patterns to carve all sorts of cool shit into pumpkins, I of course decided on doing a Boba Fett one. I mentioned to Cory my plans and she said Publix had big pumpkins for cheap (like six bucks!). So I ran over to the store, and sure enough she was right. They also had all their halloween stuff on super sale so I managed to get some carving tools and some little LED fake candles to put inside the pumpkin for super cheap. I got back home and was ready to rock. Well as it turns out carving a pumpkin in the way my pattern was designed to be carved is really, really hard. I doubt it helped that I picked a complicated pattern but regardless hard as hell! Keep in mind this pattern isn't one of those ones were you just cut out a bunch of holes and call it a day, this one was one of those that had shading and what not. Some of the holes you cut all the way through the pumpkin and others you only like shave the skin off. Yea well aparently I don't have the skills to do all that, at least not this complicated. So what follows are pictures of how it should have looked, and then hw mine turned out.

Keep in mind this was just a sample mock up from the site, everything that is black actually would have been the pumpkin's skin color and the lighter colors would have been holes.

Now you can't relly see it in these pics but there is actually a large crack in the top left of the pumpkin...from where I dropped it. Yea right before I took the pics the carving looked a lot different, the helmet had a T-visor in it and some other peices, but as I tried to move it to take the pics it slipped out of my hand and fell to the tile floor. So as the title of this post said...Epic Fail!

I think I am going to give it another shot, not with the same pattern as I have learned that is beyond my skill level. But I am going to get another pumpkin and try something much more simple.

Burned...

So since Wednesday the Paintball World Cup has been at Disney's Wide World of Sports. Originally I had planned to only go one day since I had to work all the rest of the days. So I went on Wednesday and watched the games and wondered around the dealer's booths. I had a pretty good time. I wanted to go back sometime this weekend to pick up some new pants and possibly some random other stuff. So after working the rest of the week I went back on Friday. I didn't watch any of the games because I had to be at work earlier then usual and I didn't wake up super early. So instead of watching any of the games, I walked around the dealers booths shopping for pants. Originally I planned on getting a pair of Redz pants as one of the booths had them for like fourty bucks, but after really looking at them and feeling them I just didn't like them much at all. So I debated for a while about buying last years Dye pants for like seventy five dollars or buying the brand new 09 Angel pants. After debating for quite a while I decided on the new Angel pants, I ended up paying full retail price for them but they are really nice pants and I am one of the first people to have some. While there I looked at some new hoppers for Greg. Dye had a new one they came out with at Cup and Empire was pimping their new one. I looked at the Dye hopper first, and well that was the only one I looked at. This thing is super nice, it has all sorts of cool features and is super fast. I liked it so much I ended up wanting one for my self.

So after working Friday night and Saturday all day I went back Sunday morning with the plans to get one of these hoppers. Well I had read online that the hoppers were all sold out as of like nine AM Saturday morning. It was my understanding that they were rationing the hoppers and selling only a small amount each day so they had some to sell all weekend. Well Sunday came around and I was at the tournament a little before ten (the first game was starting at ten). I went straight to the Dye booth to get a hopper, only to find out they were totally sold out of them. The guy said he was going to build some from parts as the day went on, about one hopper an hour or less. After checking back about three times with him (and him refusing to pre-sell me one of them) he mentioned that at the end of the day they were going to sell the display hoppers from the tables with new shells to make them brand new again. So I was told to stop back between three and five to try to get one. Well at three I had to go and see if I won a new gun in a raffle (I didn't, nor did I win the other raffle for a gun I entered though I did win a hat) right after the raffle I went to the Dye booth and the guy (same one all day) told me that it would be after five, when the final game finished. So I went and watched lots more paintball as I wasted time (I also bought a new Dye pack somewhere along the lines but I would have loved to get my hands on the new Angel pack but they wouldn't sell it to me). I watched the finals for all four divisions of paintball from the amatures all the way up to the big show. Right as the last point was being played of the pros I went down the stairs of the bleachers, stood and watched the last ball fly and rushed out the door to beat the crowd, I hurried accross the street back to the Dye booth. When I arrived there I didn't see the dude I had seen all day, and all of the display hoppers looked to be gone. I asked one of the girls behind the counter and she said they were all gone, I mentioned that I was told they would sell me the displays and she said to go look and ask the tech guys. I found one, and he had no idea... but he found the guy who did, the same guy I had talked to all freaking day! Well it turned out he had one left, and it was red (which is the color I wanted since all my paintball gear is red)! I was super excited, I bought it and now own it. It's pretty cool to know that I got the very last hopper that was sold at the entire tournament. I got it home and it is really a great hopper, stupid fast, looks cool, lighter then my old one and much simpler, and I think that is the best thing about it, it is so simple of a design.

Oh by now you must wonder what all of this has to do with today's title, well sitting out in the sun all day watching paintball I managed to get a pretty nasty little sun burn all over my arms, neck, and half of my face. Yes only have since the way the bleachers were set up the sun was to my left all day. My left arm was way more burned the my right too but I covered it and let the right set out so they look even now.

Oh and last but not least, I want to give a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PETE! Enjoy it my friend.

Plans...

So I think I might actually come up with the beginings of a plan for what I am going to next year with moving and what not. I think I am going to plan to move out to Califorina around July. I am going to use the extra money I ususally get from Star Wars Weekends tickets to fund the big move. Since it is usually over a grand it should be enough to cover things like moving expenses and maybe even first month's rent. Now all I need to do is figure out what I am going to do from January until July. I am going to talk to Greg and see if I can talk him into staying here until then since our apartment will let us sign a six month lease. I have no idea if he is going to be up to that but that is as far as I have thought it through so far...we will see.

That is all for now.

So what now....

Ok so Greg tells me today that he isn't planning on renewing out lease in January. So now I need to figure out what on earth I am going to do about a place to live. I can't really afford to live on my own I don't think, but I also don't know anyone in town that I could see my self moving in with. So now I am kinda torn as to what to do. I could find some random roommate, or a cheap apartment and probably a second job, or I could do something rash. The rash idea's I am tossing around are moving out of Orlando, and maybe even out of Florida. I am thinking about California, despite saying that I would never go back to LA I am thinking about moving there. I just think that it might be a good idea, as I could really try to get into the film industry and that would of course be the place to do it. I could put together a portfolio and put it out to all of the special effects shops that do practical props and costumes (think Stan Winston studios, etc). I can always get a real job out there to pay the bills while I try to get into the industry. I also have some friends who know people who work in the industry that might be able to help me.

I don't know I just fell like I am going no where here, and don't see any real future here. I just know I don't want to be thirty five and a waiter or some stupid shit like that. Maybe I am crazy I don't know, but I think it would be good to make some major change.

P90X baby...

So some of you might know what P90X is and some of you might not. Well I am finally ready to start it! P90X is a workout system, you might have accidentally seen the infomerical on tv if you wen't paying attention or thought it was something else (this happened to Dave, he thought it was about the p90 pistol). But it is basically twelve dvds and a diet program that you spend three monthly payments of $39.95 for. Well I don't really have an extra $39.95 a month right now no have I for the last several months so I wasn't able to start it. The big deal about it is this "as seen on tv" product actually works! I know a bunch of people who have used it with great results (no not the people in the comerical). The thing about it is you just have to follow the instuctions with the diet and exercise plan. This is not an easy plan, in fact you have to be in decent shape to begin with just to start it (there is actually a test, and if you pass you shouldn't do P90X).

I have been trying to get a set of the dvds with out actually paying for them for quite a while now to no avail (I know I am a cheap bastard, save it). Jose had some a while ago but I still had to shell out the fourty or fifty bucks to him for them, again didn't have the spare money. Pete had some but between his school schedule and my work schedule we couldn't ever really get a chance to meet up (neither of our faults). So on a whim I decided to try my luck online and see if I could actually find them on Limewire, and sure enough I did! I now have all tweleve dvds (or rather the video content from said dvds) on my computer thanks to illegal downloading "Thanks internet!". Someone on the 300dc boards posted a link to download all the books you need for the program a while ago so I have all those as well. All I need is to get some printer paper, print out the books, and I am ready to go. Oh I need to get some resistance bands as well but those are easy to get. So I think I am going to take the rest of the week off from the gym since my back has still been bothering me a tiny bit (I want it to get fully better before I start) and I am going to start it on Monday. I am excited.

(I might give the Ab Ripper X dvd a whirl before Monday just because it looks aweful painful in the good way!)

Mark out...

Check out the big brains on Brad...

Ok ladies and gents, time to flex that big brain of yours. A bit of a brain bender for you, I might make this a regular thing here and on my myspace if it goes well.

You have two water jugs, one three gallon and one five gallon. You need to put four gallons exactally on a scale (you have an unlimeted amount of water). You only have five minutes to figure this one out, don't cheat. The amount needs to be exact, not one ounce over or short.

Other then that, things are going even better with the lady friend. We have gotten to the stage where we are calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. I am really into her and I really like spending time with her. She is coming over tomorrow to watch movies and have some dinner. I am making sloppy joes and mac n cheese.


I guess that is all for now. Really try the brain teaser.

Spider fun...

So I finally decided to sell my old sandtrooper backpack. I have had this thing since like twothousandone or so. It was the second prop I ever bought and I actually had it before I even had my stormtrooper armor. But ever since I sold my sandtrooper armor several years ago I have not worn or used it. It has been collecting dust in my apartment and more recentally my closet for quite some time now. So I sold it! I managed to get a handsome price for it too, which was nice. So tonight I sent part of that money to the guy who is making the spiderman suits as a deposit on my Scarlet Spider costume. I am really excited about this one, I don't know why I am so excited since it was just a random spur of the moment costume that I came up with but I think it's going to be cool. Maybe I'm just excited because I actually have a body that I can wear a spandex costume and not feel ashamed anymore! It might just be that I am exicted to be getting a new costume...and that is very possible. What ever the reason I am excited.

Also with some of that money I bought a present for my lady friend, it wasn't expensive but I think she will like it. I got it for her because it apparently will take something along the lines of sixty days to get here and I wanted to get it here before too long. She will like it, and will be suprised, (even if she is reading this...since I didn't say what it was or why I am getting it!)

That is all minons back to work.

Pinchy...

AHHHHHH! So much pain! I went to the gym today and was doing shoulder presses. When I finished I noticed that I was in quite a bit of pain. I went over to do some upright rows, got one done and nearly screamed in pain. I had pinched a nerve in my back between the bottom of my shoulder blade and my spine. I instantly stopped working out as I could barley even breath in with it cringing in pain. The gym has massage chairs that I hoped would help. I used it, it didn't really help. I had a terrible time driving home as I was having a hard time turning my head to look for traffic. I took a bunch of Advil in hopes it would help and it seems to have helped a little. And before you ask I didn't do anything stupid or new at the gym, I didn't try lifting more weight then I am able to. It seems to just be one of those freak accidents.

I am still going out with the woman tonight since we are just going to see a movie and I think my back will be as good as it's going to get for that.

I am hopeing this will fix it's self in the next day or two.

Great Succcess...

So as the crazy make believe foreigner said "Great success!" So me and my new lady friend have been going out now for about a week. On Tuesday we went to Epcot for the food and wine fest as date. We had a great time, enjoyed some interesting foods and what not (just no wine). I have found out that I like ahi tuna if prepared right. Of course we got rained on, but I knew that was going to happen as the gods have deemed that I am not allowed to set foot in the "World showcase" of Epcot with out it pouring rain on me. I can walk around future world all I want just not the part with all the countries. After we finished all that we went back to my house and I made some dinner of my own. She seemed to really enjoy it. I made chicken Marsala and some pasta. After dinner we watched a movie on dvd. I then took her home. We kissed when I dropped her off at her house, it was quite nice. I saw her again today, she came over to my house and we just hung out and watched some movies. I really like that she and I can just lay around and hang out, we don't have to go out all the time. She is a really cool girl and I am really into her. We are going out again tomorrow night.

So this weekend I was supposed to go up to Oklahoma to visit my friend Scott when he comes back from serving in the middle east. Last weekend I was trying to make enough money to afford plane tickets to go. Well that didn't happen. I sent Scott a PM over on the 300 boards and told him that I just couldn't afford to come up there. He replied late Sunday that it was ok because he wasn't going to be back in time for the big party anyway. So I thought great, I couldn't afford to go, and now he isn't going to be there anyway, problem solved. Well my wonderful (not sarcastic) mother decided on Monday to surprise me and buy me plane tickets to go up there! How awesome is that?!? Well it would have been awesome if there was still going to be a party up there... but there isn't! Mom of course managed to get plane tickets that are non-refundable. So she is out two hundred and seventy some odd dollars! I feel so bad! I called and thanked her like a dozen times for getting them but I just can't use them. I of course called the airlines and priceline.com and neither of them will let me change them or get a refund for them. So all that money is totally wasted. Again I feel so bad for my mom.

So it looks like for Megacon and FX I might have a couple of other random costumes as well, to go along with the little lady's costumes but I am not going to mention what they are, we are going to keep them as a surprise.

I guess that is all for now so Mark out!

A big day...

So yesterday (Tuesday for those of you keeping track) was quite a big day for me. I still had the day off but I found some things to do. I made plans with a friend to hang out, originally it was just to go see a movie, then it was dinner and a movie, then dinner, movie, and theme park. We met over at Universal went into the park rode a couple of rides and then went to eat over at my work. Afterwords we went to see that new flick "Eagle Eye". All in all it was a very nice day. I really enjoyed spending time with the person I went with. It sort of felt like a date but we didn't make it offical. I spoke with her today and she wants to make the next time we go out offically a date, so that is good news. For now I am going to keep who it is to my self, we will see down the road how things go before I let the cat out of the bag.

On some other news, I have decided on a new costume. I am going to do Scarlet Spider. He is a clone of Peter Parker (spiderman) who has all of Peter's super powers and becomes a hero as well. His costume is just a little differnt then Peter's and I really like it. It looks like it's a pretty straight forward build also, it could be pretty cheap but anyone who knows me knows that I won't do anything just beacuse it's cheap or easy. So I am going to do a much better looking costume that will cost quite a bit more but I think the end result will look a thousand times better then if I did it cheap. Here is a pic of what the comic looks like.

I have already tracked down a source for the webshooters that he wears on the wrists and his utility belt. The hardest thing to find a good source for is the blue hoodie with the spider on it. It just seems that every place that will do custom screen printing requires at least six or more things to be printed and they run about fourty dollars each. While I have no problem paying fourty for it I doubt I could find five other people who would want one (not to mention that I like to have things other people don't!). The other big problem is every hoodie I can find has that stupid pocket on the stomach of it, and the costume version doesn't. I am sure I will figure something out. Dave suggested I make a spider stencil and then paint it on with like a sponge brush and fabric paints. I might end up at least trying that to see how it comes out.

Also since I mentioned I saw "Eagle Eye" I might as well review it. It was quite a decent movie. It was just one of those pop corn action flicks. Not too deep of a plot, not hard to follow, but entertaining enough to keep my attention. It was a bit predictable from time to time but the main supprise I didn't see coming. All in all I enjoyed the movie quite a bit and I would reccomend it to anyone wanting a couple hours out of the house. All in all A-

That's it for now. Back to doing a whole lot of nothing.