I'm...I'm not drunk, but typing is hard for my fingers. Haha. I'm so going to be the one taken advantage of at a pawty. XD

Anyway, I hope you all accomplish all your goals and such for the new year! I really hope that I get closer to all of you, my friends, and we have lots of awesome happy funtimes together ^_^
I usually make resolutions and never keep them, but this year, I made the resolutions long before tonight.
-As almost every girlie wants, lose weight.
How much? I don't know. 30 lbs at least would be lovely. I say that I'll do something about it every year but...I'm
more fed up then ever with myself. That, and I want to look pretty on stage dancing and in cosplay at MTAC.
-Stop messing with my legs.
Many of you have probably noticed the odd dark spot on my arm. I have many similar spots on my legs that
appeared about a year ago for whatever reason, and they itch like hell. Because of said itching, my legs don't
look too pretty. I need to stop >.<
-Talk more to my friends~
Even if they don't talk back, don't reply to my posts or whatever, don't invite me where they go...I still care.
They're my friends. I love you all.
-Do the stuff I say that I'll do.
If I say I feel like para, I'll do para. If I say I need to write, I'll write. If I say my dA is looking abandoned, I'll
draw something.

Umm, that's all for now? Umm. Anyways~

A week or so ago, I went over to Ashley's house and saw her new kitten...and we (we being her, Savannah, and John and I) worked on cosplays. I honestly used to be annoyed by John, but I love him now <3

Annd...today, it was just me and my parents and Shaun...poppers.

And! FusionFall is now free! Really free!!! <3

Hmmhmm. Had something else to say...what was it? I don't recall. Oh well. I'm going to start on ym resolutions right now and teach myself some para that I've been meaning to learn!

Danielle, Jeff, Panzer, Rasputin, and Illyana in no particular order (also Panzer's shy friend from down the road):





Danielle lives on Siam Ave, which is among a collection of Asia-themed streets. This is Japan Street. Siam is not brick and is traversable by car.



The Tombstone Tavern is located at the end of Siam Ave, and across the street from Willet Street Cemetery. Danielle can't wait to be old enough to go in.



We're pretty sure that Willet Street Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery on account of the names and the Stars of David. (Star of Davids?) I took these photos through the fence while walking Panzer. Aren't old cemeteries just gorgeous?







Jeanette the building. I wanted to get a good picture for Jeanette the person, but this is the best I got, which was taken from a moving car. When I tried to find it by foot, I got lost.


This was a pink gas station with a mauve car displayed out front. (It never moves.) Isn't Cleveland awesome?


A cool church. Cleveland has LOADS of cool old buildings. I can't wait to go back and take more reference shots.



The Christmas Story house. We didn't realize it was a museum, so we showed up after hours and took photos of the outside. That's all we really wanted anyway.





So, we went looking for the creepy cancer memorial and couldn't find it and no one knew what we were talking about, but we found something even better instead. These nightmare statues were located outside of a mental health clinic of all things. We figure that either they were given to the clinic by a patient or the clinic uses them to make people crazy so they'll have more customers.





The World's Largest Rubber Stamp is actually the World's Largest Metal Replica of a Rubber Stamp. Also, it is right next to the Cleveland FBI building. Whoever said it was next to a library can't read signs.



This dude is called "The Politician." He was donated to the city. His eyes have TVs, but they weren't on on account of it being daylight. He also used to make horrible, unending squawking noise, but it became a public nuisance, so they turned that off a few years back. We wanted to go back at night to see the TVs and lights on, but Jeff said that would be too creepy. The mouth bits move, as do the wheels and pencils.


This Church of Christ Scientist building was constructed in the '20s and abandoned around twenty or thirty years later. It changed hands a few times, but none of its owners have shown any interest in renovating it. It is an historical site, so they can't tear it down. So it remains boarded up and decaying. I think it's beautiful and intend to use it as reference for one of the Hunter temples (they're crazy people too, so it fits). GLADYS, Jeff's GPS, thinks it is a Giant Eagle, which is how we found it in the first place. I had a hard time keeping the camera steady because wind was blowing coldness down my coat.





I took like a hundred-odd zoo pictures, so those will be a separate post. The Cleveland Zoo is pretty awesome but they need to do something about the reflection of the glass in the wolf enclosure. It was driving one of them nuts, and we felt really bad for him.

So at the con we saw a vendor selling these neat heavy metal tankards with leather decorations on them, along with a good amount of other leathery-type stuff. My friend thinks it was Griffin Works, but unfortunately their site is totally down. I'd like to get one of their mugs for a late xmas present for a friend -- is this the right vendor and if so, does anybody know a contact email and/or when their site will be back up?

Thanks!

I was on the Dragon Con website today ordering tickets (memberships) for my fiance and myself when I ran into a question.

By the time the con happens next year, my fiance will be my husband, and we'll be living together in a new house. We're 95% sure where we'll be, but stuff happens, you know? What address do we need to give them for our badges? Our current addresses or our future address?

Also, is it smarter to ship the tickets to some place like my mother's, where we know she'll be, or do they send them instantly and it would be okay to ship them to our current address now?

Click here. Scroll down.

Podcast is back. I'm also going back to my original format of blogging with the comic about my personal life. :) Fun!

I has too many blogz.

Eartha Scott avoids her friends rather than explaining Ivy Greene's sudden absence.

http://bloodqueen.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/in-which-nothing-can-be-said/

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So Krystalle and I have been a bit lax in our regularly scheduled SnarkCasts, but we managed to crank one out before the end of the year.  If you're looking for something to listen to that is a little Dragon*Con, a little MMORPG, and a little "WTF?!?", give us a listen.

You can find us over on the Dragon*Con MMO website,  or on iTunes.

Happy New Year!

-Grim

I kid, of course. New Zealand native Rose McIver (Summer, Power Rangers RPM) has made her rounds on the promotional tour for her new film by director Peter Jackson, "The Lovely Bones." It's fun to finally hear her speak in her natural accent. Watching the last few seasons of Power Rangers, one might forget (or not even realize) that many of the key actors are attempting to conceal an accent during filming.


"The Lovely Bones" is out now in limited release.

The latest from JabroniePictures. Two and a half minutes of random fun with special effects.
 

As the trailer is so eager to let you know, in case you weren't already aware, Christopher Nolan directed the ridiculously popular film "The Dark Knight." His latest film is a trippy sci-fi thriller with a premise that has remind some of the 1999 actioner "The Matrix." I'd say the only thing the two films have in common, based on this trailer, is that they both deal with alternative worlds created by the mind. I'm certainly not expecting Joseph Gordon-Levitt to start dodging bullets in slow-motion while Ellen Page dropkicks a guy in the background. However, it does look like a sufficient mindfuck of a movie to keep me interested. Plus, "The Dark Knight's" director made it. That automatically means it's going to blow you away, right? -_-;

The Spandex Report
End of an Era
December 28, 2009

Next Episode Airtimes

- MMPR S1 - Day of the Dumpster (ABC Kids - Jan. 2, 2009 at 12:00pm)
- MMPR S1 - High Five (ABC Kids - Jan. 2, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - Teamwork (ABC Kids - Jan. 9, 2009 at 12:00pm)
- MMPR S1 - A Pressing Engagement (ABC Kids - Jan. 9, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - Different Drum (ABC Kids - Jan. 16, 2009 at 12:00pm)
- MMPR S1 - Food Fight (ABC Kids - Jan. 16, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - Big Sisters (ABC Kids - Jan. 23, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - Switching Places (ABC Kids - Jan. 30, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - I, Eye Guy (ABC Kids - Feb. 6, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - Foul Play in the Sky (ABC Kids - Feb. 13, 2009 at 12:30pm)
- MMPR S1 - For Whom the Bell Trolls (ABC Kids - Feb. 20, 2009 at 12:30pm)

Podcasts

- No Pink Spandex Episode 93 "Summer Eubulon" - Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Episodes 36-40, Power Rangers R.P.M. Episode 29 "If Venjix Won" and Episode 30 "End Game", and more!
- Rangercast Episode 144 "Knight and Day" - Discussion on Power Rangers R.P.M. Episode 29 "If Venjix Won" and Episode 30 "End Game"R.P.M.
- Rangercast Episode 145 "Venting Our Frustrations" - Discussion on the Kamen Rider Dragon Knight finale, as well as MMPRv2 news.

Blogs, RPGs, and Communities

- In pr_ficfinders, someone's looking for any Chip or Dustin fics.

Fanfiction

- Darkness Overwhelming prompts 34 and 53 by wild_force71 (MF, Dark Wish AU, PG-15)
- Broken Hearts, Broken Dreams by purplestripe66 (LG, Karone, PG-13)
- Hairy Scary by madkrazyghetto (DT, G)
- When We Go Shopping by madkrazyghetto (RPM, Flynn/Gemma, G)
- Red With Envy by madkrazyghetto (DT, Conner/Kira, PG)
- 12 Days of Christmas: Five Golden Rings by arytra (DT, Conner/Kira/Ethan/Trent, PG)
- Zen: ch 18 by JDPhoenix (RPM, Ziggy/Tenaya 7, PG-13)
- 14: ch 8 by JDPhoenix (TF, PG)
- Where the Wind and Grass Dance by M14Mouse (JF, Casey/Theo, PG-13)
- Who Heals the Healers: ch 33 by Guardian of Hope (Multi-season, PG)

Artwork

Note: Special thanks to silvercaladan for searching DeviantArt when it wouldn't let me. - angel_negra

- Ya Mystic Red by SketchHead (MF)
- black ranger morph by ajt636 (RPM)
- White Rangers by gurszkens (MMPR)
- Red Power Ranger by zzeeee (MMPR)
- Ransik by oo-kai-oo (TF)
- Goldar by oo-kai-oo (MMPR)
- Go go Power Rangers by kristele (MMPR)
- Christmas Colors by xjapanrox (MMPR)

Multimedia

- Music Video: I Will Not Bow by 1aurien (RPM, various other Toku)
- Music Video: Would It Matter? by WHITEPOWER365 (DT)
- Music Video: My Worst Enemy by jenndubya (Multi-season)
- Music Video: Let My Love Open the Door by BLS0817 (Turbo/iS, TJ/Cassie)
- Music Video: Until We Bleed by Catt001 (RPM, K/Ziggy)
- Fanmade Promo: The Last Stand by mizgreedy (RPM)
- Music Video: A Perfect Match by BLS0817 (SPD, Syd/Bridge)
- Music Video: One More by BLS0817 (iS/LG, Karone)

Notable Discussion

( Under the cut )

Editor's Note
Some people in our fandom consider August 28, 1993 to be some sort of watershed day. For me, it was the day some 10 year old stole his TV away from mom's soap operas to watch some random show about teenagers and dinosaurs; we would have epic conflicts over who got to watch what at that 4pm block for years to come. It may not have been watershed, but I suppose in the end, it did pretty much change my life in that it shaped who I am now.

There were, of course, some ups and downs. But oddly, I wouldn't want to have changed a thing. I know a lot of fans would, but there's always good and bad, and you need to have experienced the latter to be able to truly appreciate the former. Thanks to that, the quality years were just that much better.

In the end, it's depressing to see it go, considering I spent over two-thirds of my life on it. At the same time, I'm left with a sense of pride: how many shows can beat the claim that they aired 700 episodes over the course of 17 years? (about 120, but who cares) It went out with a bang, and we're still getting reruns for the forseeable future, including episodes that haven't been shown on TV in almost a decade themselves. It's nice to know that even as the franchise is winding down, it's not actually vanishing, and that the power will still be protecting us for some time to come.

As this is a newsletter, we don't usually do much internal discussion, but hey! This is a blog, and I want to see all of you speak up. How do you feel about PR's "end"? It's upcoming revival? How has it changed your own lives?

- itsbuttery

-------

You know. One of the first memories I have of interacting with other PR fans is back when MMPR season 1 was airing and some kids in the playground asked me, who was taller and older than they were, to hold up Zordon, as played by a chunk of snow, on the fence so they could get their marching orders from him. Their Red was rather more flowery in speech than Jason ever was though...

Power Rangers is a fandom I've never left, even when I have. It's everywhere. It's in off-hand comments in Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, it's in random webcomics, it's in those ten cent toys you find sitting alone and well-loved on garage sale tables, it's remembered with each alumni that gets in the news for good or bad things. I'm reminded especially every time I go to collect fanart from DeviantArt. People who suddenly feel nostalgic and start drawing MMPR Rangers, usually Tommy or Jason (or Rocky, depending on their age.)

This is a fandom unlike any before it and I doubt anything will come close to matching us in the future. Our relationships to the cast and crew. Our relationships to each other. Power Rangers is a show that likes to tell us that anything is possible. That anyone can make a difference. And we prove that, from the fiction, to the art, to the vids, to the discussion, to our cons, to our show, to our fans. It's amazing. YOU are all amazing.

We are at the end of a great era. And yet, we're beginning again. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers starts airing on January 2, 2010. And I have no doubts that some chunk of snow somewhere is going to have to stand in for Zordon once more.

Once a Power Rangers fan, always a Power Rangers fan. May the power protect you all.

- angel_negra

Did we miss anything? Got news for next Sunday's report? Send it to spandexreport@gmail.com.

cowboyfromheck did something like this this, and then mokun17 did something like this, so I does something like this too :3 This is how my year was....how boring.

Relationship
I was with Shaun all year and we're still all lovey and stuff. There were (and are) a few periods of time where we get pretty frustrated with one another pretty quickly, but it goes away quick enough. Nothing exciting~

Friends
I got to be closer with my parapara friends this year, and met a few new people at MTAC, like Phil and Greg and Ahmed. At the start of the new school year, I slowly became friends with Moriah and suddenly became friends with John (and what I mean by this is, in animu club, they annoyed me because they talked way too much, but out of club alone they're much more calmer). I didn't really meet new people at AWA (I did, but no one that became a super close friend). Seem to be losing a lot of older friends. Meh.

Travel
In...um, I forget (March!). Sometime this year I went to Michigan, and I went to Atlanta in September for AWA and JapanFest! My first out-of-state cons :D


Work
Hahahaha. Actually, around...October or November I was commissioned to make a logo for Sylo and Paolo's upcoming project. That's something.


School
Made As and Bs in my classes last spring semester and this past fall semester. I started taking not-basic graphic design classes, so hopefully I can lean stuff! Also, started taking Japanese classes, working towards a double minor.

Health
Again, hahahaha. I actually did go to a doctor for my allergies, but she gave me the wrong pills after I told her "those don't work," I got "those." But at least I got an inhaler. My leg problem is still there.



~Month by Month~

January: Started taking spring semester classes, (3D design which was hell, Japanese I which I never missed a day of, Speech which was just boring, World History I which was freakishly boring, and Philosophy, also boring and which I never spoke a word in) and officially became a sophomore (I think.) I also declared my major. Officially joined P2M and Started working on MTAC SP, as well as signed up to be a model in the fashion show. Hung out with a best friend I hadn't seen in quite some time and haven't hung out with since (except a bit at MTAC), much to my dismay. Obama.

February: Stress month. Too many projects at once, though 3D always made it seem like so. Just an unhappy month, sickness and stress all around. Except for the fun day in February with a lot of the P2M people. That day really made me happy like I can't explain, I've never really felt so close with people like that, even though all we did was eat, play around in the mall, and play card games. *hugs!*

March: Spring break! Chelsea's birthday party, where I met some of her tiny friends and say Josh and Megan, who I haven't seen for so long. Fangasmed over Watchmen. Went to Michigan in March and didn't have a terrible time for once. First time I spent the night with Shaun <3. Did Para in my speech class for a bunch of stereotypical preps and jocks.

April: MTAC! Though things didn't go as smoothly and as well as they should have and I was cold and crying on the floor on Saturday night, it was pretty fun but a lot of work. Got to perform onstage, entered para tournament (though I didn't place, but I know I chose a terrible song for the open choice), stayed up super late...had a not so fun fashion show experience, but I can say that I did it, had good drinks and went to my first rave which didn't suck, cosplayed...and yeah. Met some awesome people there and saw old friends, as well as seeing asshole who thought it was okay to talk to me. But, meh. He actually started popping up everywhere this month. End of semester stress happened.

May: Exams! Nothing happened this month. Got pissed at my mom more then usual for her erratic-ness. Turned 19...I feel old XD

June:Got obsessed with Sims 3. My mom left for 10 days for California. That day, one of the pipes under the sink burst. A friend came to me in need and I was so afraid that I would say the wrong thing and he would kill himself. Won a contest sponsored by Sims 3 and got a free copy of the game, a gaming keyboard, and mouse.

July: Started rewriting old fanfiction. Went to the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with Chelsea. Laptop got the incurable mystery virus. Decided I was going to cosplay Bellatrix. but as of now that's on the back burner. I guess we started planning the JapanFest SP around now?

August: Restarted laptop. Got obsessed with Sera Myu. Moved my stuff into my dorm. Lazed about.

September: Started the fall semester. Actually had classes with my best friend! Didn't make too many new friends, but I did make friendyfriends with Moriah, Katie (though I met her before through the fashion show), and the gay crew who gravitate around Josh XD. Got my first ~real~ loli clothes. Went to AWA and JapanFest! SP, buying too much stuff there, had funtimes, hall para and not hall para, saw Greg again, and stoof. Got kind of fed up with the animu club for various reasons, though I have a Touhou obsession because of it.

October: Got Kingdom Hearts 39076099/55587j and Persona 3, neither of which I have finished (but I'm so close in KH, I'm stuck >.>). My roommate, who had never spent the night there before, broke up with her boyfriend, so awesome dorm time was ruined. Had fun sushi time with Laurelyn and Moriah. Really bad Halloween party.

November: Started, middled, and finished NaNoWriMo though the novel itself isn't done. Started working on the logo. Started procrastinating on the logo. Got Obsessed with Vocaloid. Had a real Para club meeting. Had a tea pawty with Katie. Decided on cosplaying Gakuko Kamui and Sailor Pluto for MTAC.

December: Stress~ Started obsessing over YouTube videos with tiny masked Japanese girls dancing to otaku songs as well as Haruhi. Started sewing cosplays and made fast friends with John. Went to Christmas party at Shaun's workplace. Played Rockband for the first time. (will actually post about the past few days later tonight.)

And there we go :3 My year was pretty fun ^o^ I'm still working on some Christmas presents for some peopel...you may get one, who knows! ;3

Seeing as New Years is just around the corner, I thought I'd throw together a video showcasing some of the tokusatsu titles that ran primarily in 2009. It is, after all, The Year of Toku. Not only did we have an amazing season of Power Rangers this year, but we got the added bonus of a new American Kamen Rider adaptation. Shinkenger held it down as this year's sentai series, while we got two japanese Kamen Rider shows. One of them being the massive crossover event that was Decade. The other being the "half-boiled" detective story that is Double. Regardless of what we think of each of these titles, I think it's been a pretty epic year overall.




My only regret is that I didn't fit a few other titles from this year into the vid, but... yeah, I'm at a disadvantage being American and not being a fan of certain things. >_>;;

Gonna try again to talk mom into letting me go visit beautifultwist and her mother for New Year's.

I need out of this house for a few days.

I will be staying at the Wyndham Garden across from the Sheraton. Has anyone stayed there before. Sorry if this is a repeat. Thanks for any comments about this hotel

Now that Christmas is been and gone, just a reminder on the price increase on 02/15/10!  Get it now or it'll be $80 each!  Getting ours next week!

Saw this while I was poking through a recipe site looking for ideas on repurposing five thousand pounds of holiday cookies.

http://www.chow.com/stories/11925

It is adorably simple advice.

Well, that's it. Power Rangers just aired its last new episodes for the foreseeable future. 

These episodes were not only the conclusion to a year-long arc, which many fans had felt was one of the better seasons we've ever had, but it also brings the entire franchise to a close, effectively ending a 17-year saga. That's more than half my life!

Expectations were understandably high for the series finale, but how much did it live up to the hype that was generated in the gulf between the show's recent hiatus and now? Ultimately, the finale remains true to what made the show what it was this season, though the execution of its major story elements may have fallen short in some areas.

"Danger and Destiny" begins immediately after the events of the previous episode. Dillon looks as though the virus has overtaken him, but he quickly remarks that he can feel the virus running inside him as he resists it. I found this a cool idea- that he might be dealing with the internal struggle for the duration of the finale. Little did I know how quickly he was going to defeat the virus altogether and move on to something else. I can't say I loved this choice. After he found Doctor K's antidote and injected himself, I kept thinking the virus would come back somehow and they would have to deal with Evil Dillon until he finally managed to do the rest of the antidote's work on his own. At least he kept getting knocked around so it wasn't just amazingly easy for him, I guess.  ( Read more... )