The summer months in Minnesota are a precious thing. No, it's not quite like northern Alaska with 6 months of night or anything, it's just that when the weather gets above freezing, we tend to get outside and enjoy it. This winter has been a long one, which has been good on the modeling/painting side, but hard on the psyche. The calendar say June but it feels like we've barely made it into April.

Soooo, with the warmer weather finally getting here the hobby stuff gets pushed aside in favor of things like sunlight, grilling, swimming (outdoors) and yardwork. So far we've installed a stone firepit and a large storage shed so we can reclaim the extra stall in the garage. New flowers and trees have been planted to replace the ones that didn't survive the winter (much like some people I know...) We've got a full slate of projects left - a patio, a grad party for our newest graduate, and a family vacation, a couple more trees...
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Well, our local trivia marathon is over and I'm feeling very much like a burnt out husk of a human being. Our team did alright at 18 out of 78 teams and we edged out our friendly rivals by one place, again (cool).

The game itself has changed over the years since the birth of the internet and the question writers have gone to great lengths to "Google-proof" the questions. They become riddles of sorts that must be decoded, then you can start looking for the answer they REALLY want. Do this 9 times and hour for 50 hours. Whew!...

Things have been quiet here on the modeling front as of late due to the impending storm that is Trivia. I know we're not the only ones who do this across hte US (as a trivia freak, I'd better know!) but it's one of the larger, and longer ones, and fun none the less.

Our local state college student run radio station - 88.1 KVSC - runs a 50 hour Trivia Marathon every February. Yes, 50 hours straight, from 5pm Friday evening all the way through Sunday evening 7pm - non stop. They ask 9 questions an hour (18 during the "Speed Rounds") over the air and we call in answers, hoping we can get them right before the questions are closed. The point values and time we have available to answer them are based on how hard the question is.
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I know, I know. Not a mini, but it is my latest work - that I've had done anyway. I've been saving up for this for about two years and the time has finally come. my new tattoo! This is about 2 1/2 hours in the chair. Outline and a little over half the shading is done. That's about when my adrenaline wore out. I'll go back in about three weeks after this has healed to get the rest of teh shading and the color put in.

The red tribal swirl and the black bats with it are a previous work. The color is being refreshed to match the rest of the new work. ...

Well, we're in the middle of the holiday season and been away from the net for a while. here's the lowdown on giftage, which seems to be the topic these days.

Box of Ork Boys
A cool toy truck to loot for the orks
Enough money to buy the codex, 3 Biker Boxes, two Trukks and the Shokk Attack Big Mek, when they're released.

Robot Chicken - Season Two
(More) Trivial Pursuit 80's, 90's, Pop Culture (our favorite family game)

Enough money to finally do my haunted house, creepy halloween scene half-sleeve tattoo (cool). The dragon (left calf) and Fallen, Red-Haired Angel (my wife, right calf) will have to wait until next year....

It's that time of year again. Vampires start waking from their coffins, werewolves get the itch and zombies burst forth from the ground looking for brains. Halloween is almost here so that means I spend half a day going up and down ladders getting tombstones and containers of decorations unpacked for the haunting season.

My whole family is into Halloween and it's no surprise (to anyone who knows us) that we go all out for the occasion. Everyone dresses for work/school and the house is decorated to the nines (as much as we can afford, anyway) both inside and out.
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I've been a bit remiss in my modeling updates, heck, I've been remiss in my modeling - period. My compulsive behavior has shifted from WH40K and modeling to D&D recently.

I run a homegrown campaign with my kids and their friends. I have a general outline of the overall story arc but nothing written too far out. This is good since I can build things that  happen to the characters into future events, makes them feel like they're really part of another world and their actions mean something. ...