tzor

My real name is Christopher Beattie. I am 45 years old which according to my theory of the association of vinyl record speeds and man is a very important year. (According to Tzor’s theory the ages of man can be divided based on the ancient vinyl record speeds. They are 17 ½ , 33 1/3, 45 and 78.) I started playing AD&D in college in 1980 and as a result started to collect and paint minis. I didn’t photograph them at this stage, but I did have some fun with them in a holography lab. Actually they were called figures or figs back in 1980. Anyway all of this ended after college, even though I returned to role playing back in 1990. So let’s fast forward to a few years ago when S.K. Reynolds had an angel mini painting contest online. “Why not,” I asked and so I did. With that mini, armed with a web camera I started the process to where I am today. And where am I today? I live on Long Island, New York, United States, Earth, Sol, etc. I am a computer programmer by trade, a barbershop harmony singer by hobby, and a Knight of Columbus. I’ve recently been on a business trip to Bangalore India. I just came back from Gen Con in Indy.

Remember that F Stop is in one way a relic of manual photography, (where basically the photograph was controlled by focus, aperature opening, and shutter speed. You can find a number of good articles on CMON. http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/411 http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/130 This talks about an elph and uses "exposure" settings.

Remember a good camera helps, but then you need to learn how to use it because most cameras are not designed to automatically take detailed close up shots of very small items. You need a camera with a macro mode and manual settings to adjust the virtual f stops so that you get the entire mini in focus. A tripod is a must. A way to diffuse the light source is also a good thing to do, as well as having multiple ones. When you have that, you discover, as I did, that your "friend" the camera becomes your bigest critic. "You missed a spot." "You call that detail?" "Did you make her crosseyed on purpose?" Yes, owning a good camera is a lesson in forgiveness.

The ice cubes, aka the glass brick wall didn't come out very well. In theory it was designed to add an abstract transparent stone / stained glass effect and I was planning on having lights behind the walls add to the effect of the colors. Didn't work. The story is supposed to be a typical service in what is apparently a private chapel devoted to the living saint. The priestess, reads from the podium, the cantor sings while balancing two candles ... yes I know it's odd ... and the server is holding a brazier as the "statues" of the men, realistically painted, as is the pillar of good and the risiform of the Living Saint. Not much of a story really, but there is a whole lot of highly interesting and mixed metaphores in it.

The Temple of the Living Saint: This diorama was originally designed as an idea that I was going to bring to Gen Con for the contest. I was attempting a few new ideas here and I quickly realized that this wasn’t going to be competition quality. I learned a whole lot about how slowly glass paint takes to dry, for example. The diorama uses mostly figures from mega miniatures but the pillar of good from Reaper, St. Celestine the Living Saint from GW and a priestess from Freebooter add to the scene. Two of the minis were recently in a Wyrd miniature contest; the priestess in the bikini from Femme Fatale and the lone naked man with the brassier from Total Testosterone II. http://www.coolminiornot.com/126248

Yes I think it's the whip that causes suspension of disbelief for me. It's not just he size it's the lack of detail that makes it look more like rubber than rope. Of course you could always paint it up to be a tentacle with a handle at the end.

I am reminded of an old line in the original (what we now call 1st edition or 1E) AD&D DMG that recommend only using genuine TSR figures because only TSR figures were guarenteed to be of the correct scale for gaming. We didn't follow that advice back then and we shouldn't follow it now.

I definitely want one! Still 34mm is still too small for me. I want her 1:1 scale and single. :vb_tongue

I'm planning on being there. Got the general pass and the hotel room. Only the complications of a new job (which I don't have yet) might prevent me. I'm going to probably concentrate a little more on the painting side of the con, last year the only real painting thing I got involved in was attending a discussion on making money painting minis.

March is upon us. It is time to put down the black pen of the writer and take up the vile evil RED pen of the editor. It's http://www.nanoedmo.org/ National Novel Editing Month. Having succeeded in Natonal Novel Writer's Month last November I know what I'm going to be doing this month. Editing.

Pictures? I suppose I have a few. Normally I'm not a big "Met" fan. But here I am at home before an important game that they ... er lost. I sing. Here is a picture of me in 2004 for a Messiah concert. (I love my black folder, it has two straps, one that keeps the folder open at a 90 degree handle, and the other so I can hold it in one hand.)

The hotest thing I ever had was in a Korean resturant in Manhatten. My coworker ordered for us because the menu was in Korean. He said it was "hot soup" and boy was it ever. I didn't have any insides to my mouth afterwards. Had an orange for dessert ... RELIEF. (But it was good.) They say Eskimos have a plethora of words for snow. I really wish there were the same for "hot." Diffent things cause different kinds of burns. The burn caused by chilli for example is completely different from the burn caused by hot paprika for example. Likewise curries tend to have a different burn as well ... although some curries are heavy on chillies for their heat. Foods made hot by a lot of black pepper also have a different heat. You have front of the mouth burns, back of the tongue burns, and "where is the roof of my mouth" burns.

OK I give up. Right girl's left hand. What's she holding? Looks nice. Would be an interesting set next to my set of Nubian warriors.

Sometimes you don't even need a cookbook. Wild salmon fillet ... just cook it. Top with sasa you get from the store ... just heat it. Serve with black beans (got the ones with spices) ... just head it. And yellow rice ... add water and heat it. And Lima Beans ... another heat it ... got the frozen ones in butter sauce. Reminds me of my old Key West days, only substitute dolphin (aka Maui Maui ... not the mammal) for the salmon.

Were we supposed to post crossdressing pictures in the PYP forum? I've only got one, but if there is a popular demand ... I won't post it either.

My one solitary boast. When I was a kid (perhaps 10 at the most) and I went to a resturant I actually stunned my parents by asking for the frogs legs. Why? Because! (My parents had one simple rule, I had to taste it. Even if I had it a month ago and didn't like it. "Tastes change when you are young." As a result I developed a hearty sense of taste spoiled only by an allergy to nuts.) Tongue isn't really French as much as it is Jewish Deli. At least in my experience. "Coq au vin" always sounded like heresy to me; chicken and red wine. But I love it none the less. I've never had "cassoulet" but anything with duck must be heavenly. My favorite "french" resturant was (and still is when I go back) a little resturant with a lovely couple and about a half dozen tables in Key West Florida. They cooked a lot of provincial french meals as well as the classics you expect in a french resturant as well as a few things from local custom (like Key Lime pie which they actually inverted making the filling a key lime moose where it is normally the marange on top which is the light and fluffy part ... and the juice was from a tree growing on their property). The name, by the way is called "Moe's." (They close in the summer, but are open during the tourist season.) Their mascot is a gigant garlic clove man. Many years ago, I worked for a small family business. The boss, son and daughter had to go to Paris on business. I had to remain behind. They hated it. They described in American detail their entire culinary experience. Unfortunately, I knew exactly what they were talking about and translating their words I could hardly prevent myself from drooling as they described the French "horrors." The kicker was their final statement, "The only thing I could recognize was chicken, but it was in jello!"

One thing to remember when thinking of cheese (especially human cheese) is why cheese was invented in the first place. Cows and also goats are bread to lactate non stop from the day they give birth. Cows especially have to be milked every day. With the various fasting regulations in both eastern and western Christianity, there were extended periods of time when milk could not be consumed. (Besides it's not healthy for you anyway. Beer and Coffee was considered the "safe" drinks of the Middle ages.) You had to milk the cow (or goat) anyway, so cheese was the best way to preserve milk over the fast periods. Not only does it last longer it tastes great too! Another fine product made possible by SALT. Another piece of useless trivia learned by reading the Hstory of Salt. Since generally speaking humans stop lactation quickly after breast feeding stops, infants are not generally beholden to fasting regulations, and the supply was always less than demand (because wet nurse was still an important occupation to serve the well to do) it seems unlikely that any serious attempts to make human cheese would take place. --- Meanwhile, cows tongue is good eating. There was a nice deli near where I lived that had something they called a "tastemaster." It had a ton (well not a ton but a lot) of different meats including tongue. It came "dressed" or "undressed" or with or without Russian dressing.

I don't see what the problem is with the goat cheese. Cheese comes from milk, and in theory you can get it from any of the mammals. You can make a wide variety of cheese from goat's milk. Not only that, my current shaving soap is made from goat's milk. (Personally I have mixed feelings about feta however. I think it is because it mostly appears in a greek salad. On the other hand, I've had mixed feelings about a number of cheeses in my salad, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work as well.) You know what the difference is between "good food" and McDonalds? Good food often costs less. And it tastes better. And you know what's in it.

I thought the fifth element was a fantastic movie from the moment I saw it. It was one of those rare movies where even the people you don't like (and that in your face entertainment star was clearly someone I didn't like) was in their own way enjoyable. Lots of fast action, a lot of exceptionally deep humor, a lot of great combat scenes, and of course a operatic score that most human devas wouldn't be able to touch with a ten foot pole proving that there is a strange connection between punk rock and classic opera! All to set up for a most perfect cliche ending. Of course that does not mean you should dress up as the Fifth Element at Gen Con.