The "N" Word: A Nerdy Night of Theatre

So, as some of you might know, I am a substitute teacher, I am a Fight Director, I am a writer, and I am a HUGE nerd. SO what does one do with this. He has high schoolers perform his works in a geeky variety show.

https://www.facebook.com/events/228582910626680/

That's right, Sept, friday & saturday 6th & 7th, at Leigh High School, San Jose. 7pm preshow, there will be live gaming until start @ 8pm, and it is a fantastically quick show even with almost a dozen "peices" total.

We hope to have special guest fan groups attend, as well as some world renowned cosplayers. Oh yeah, This is a cosplay friendly event as there will be a cosplay contest!
So come in costume and get your nerd on!

Ab Sense

Was prepping for & just got back from San Diego.
Will post when I have some time, should be . . . I don't know as I still need to buy a new car (WHOO!!), junk the old car (meh), find time to take the CBEST (meh) and find time to acquire over half a dozen lightsabres while working and rehearsing (woo-ack!) all while trying to catch up on a weeks worth of feeds (woo!)
So, hang in there with me H47ites. Updates soon, I promise.

Dense Post

Heavy wood! Oh yes, keeping the innuendos classy.
Thank you all for hanging in with my erratic update schedule the last couple weeks but I think I will have time next week to catch up and get us back on track.

First! Shameless Plug!!!!

Real

"IS IT REAL?"

Not Real

A blade info Panel to be presented at FANIME this weekend, Saturday at Noon and Sunday at 5 pm in The Dojo (Hilton side)
Come down, check it out, we got special offers for my shop and some prizes as well.


Next: If you like FPS's, Epic Meal Time, Shows about strange High Schools and crazy weaponized special effects . . . Then I just described:
Video Game High School
 Freddie Wong, Matt Arnold, Brandon Laatsch, & Desmond Dolly (yes, I can look at an "about" page WOO!) gather some of the world wide webs, webbest faces and do amazing nerdy things GO WATCH! ROCKET JUMP IS THE SIGHT CAUSE THEY MAKE OTHER THINGS TOO I MIGHT WATCH THEM!! HERE IS EPISODE 1 IF YOU WANT O WATCH IT BEFORE OR AFTER THE TRAILER BELOW! GO!


AAANNNDDD
I had a
STANDARD ACTION SEASON 1 REVIEW!!
but I felt it deserved its own post, so that's why it's above this post. Boo YA!

OVER 9000!! LIGHTSABRES!!!

Oh Yeah, I'm close to ordering a HALF A DOZEN LIGHTSABERS for my show later this summer, if you wish to purchase one and want a discount in exchange for letting me bash it about EMAIL ME ASAP! If we snap the blade it will be returned with a replacement and if the hilt is damaged I will offer you one of mine in recompense if the manufacturer doesn't warranty it. This is a tentative offer. email me for details.

Grasp The Force

As some of you may know I have been given the the great opportunity to Fight Direct "Pericles," in a space opera/sci-fi homage setting, for Shady Shakespeare this summer. *Spoilers* There may be some swords with energy beams for blades. Also, there may be anywhere from 3-9 of these weapons on stage. Now, anyone who's played with the licensed "light sabers" from a certain franchise know that the $130 dollar types are nice and solid but can still break down with heavy repeated use, say . . . once a night 2-3 days a week for an entire month, ALSO, not to mention those are someone else's intellectual property and even though this would be a parody, I would like to bring some more unique and original designs to this production.

That being said, many of the places to get these crazy future swords will cost approx $200 on average (there are a few who go as low as $50 and some who go as high as $6-800 or more [GAWD I WANT! SO HARD] but 2-3 seems to be the dominant going price for most) and although a couple bills for one, maybe even two for someone who REALLY wants one seems like an okay, one-time purchase, I'm looking at upward of 3 thousand dollars. Without being specific about what my armory budget is, let me just say that I am not familiar with ANY production house that allows for that much of a budget for one single show, let alone 1 of 3 shows for the season with only one fight in it. Plus, I share the budget with props and there are some things in the show that I feel will be MUCH more pivotal to the performance than my one tussle and the raw materials alone for them will take a well deserved chunk of the allocated funds.

Yes, one solid piece of wood, a "laser sword bokken"

The reason I bring all this up, is one, my blog post for today is just a smattering of the research I've done looking at different production houses and shopping for props. And two, I'm blatantly going to ask you, my friends, family and assorted readers to either donate, purchase and contact me about acquiring lightsabres for this show. I am currently working on some ideas for fundraisers, I have fiddled with the idea for a Kickstarter/indie-gogo, but the magic idea would either be a straight donation (paypal button to the right ----> please feel free to put "for theatre lightsabres only" in the message, or even in person if you've ever met me) Or even purchase a lightsabre from any of the sources I provide and contact me to allow me and several other full grown adults (physically, not mentally) to bash it repeatedly for a few moths straight. Or even should you have one or a few already, any help would be appreciated. Please, if you are even the least bit inclined, email me at t3h (dot) h4773r (at) gmail (dot) com  and we can chat about ideas and needs of the production.

For those of you who came for the shineys, thank you for listening to my spiel, and just reading my blog is doing more than I'd ever expect, so on to the goodies!

Advanced-Light Weaponry

AWL. Main site, high-mid price
http://www.advanced-light.com/index.asp
Ebay store. Damn they're divers
 http://stores.ebay.com/ADVANCED-LIGHT-WEAPONRY
These are cool. Huge collection, I believe every blade is a custom item. Apparently there's a Texas troupe that has tried other sabers in the past and only his stand up to their abuse. I've talked to him over email, very swift to respond, sounds professional.

Ultra Sabers, low-mid price
http://www.ultrasabers.com/default.asp
I know a bunch of kids who got their sabers from here. They've been at it for some time and have a large selection as well as the most competitive prices I've seen. I attempted to contact them once or twice, but I believe I saw they had a booth at Wondercon around that time so I understand if they were a bit swamped, hope to hear from them soon.

Park Sabers, mid-high price
http://www.parksabers.com/
An old school "forge." The phase blades they use are SRZ BZNS and MAKE the eye see the blade trail. as well as using internal lamps so that the blade will "ignite" properly. I really like their double blader. I have only recently attempted to contact them, no word back yet, but they have one of those "on the site, enter your email & message" add ons and I'm not sure if my large message went through or even coded correctly, I guess I'll see.

Custom Saber Shop, low-high price.
 http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Default.aspx
Another "old school forge" no single hilts & blades for sale BUT they have a custom builder interface I have played with a bit. I have not contacted them yet, and will try to in the near future.

FX Sabers  
http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php
More a resource hub & community than a one stop shop. A very active culture with a lot of info.

Saber Forge, price mid
http://saberforge.com/index.php
A newer guy to the field, met him at Anime Expo last year. He was quick to contact and nice enough. Many unique items there. My current favorite, mostly because of the items below . . .

Yes, Light-tonfa. Ah hahahaha!

Need some reach, how bout a pole-arm saber?

JQ sabers, High price
http://www.jqsabers.com/
Crazy High end, awesome sabers. clean pro site. UK crew. they do offer stunt sabers for about $200U.S. with a few customizable features.


Legacy Weaponry, mid-high price (
http://www.legacyweaponry.com/index.html
A student of AWL, started making his own when he moved. Not sure if he's still cracking them out, have not contacted. REALLY cool stuff though, You can definitely see the attention and, well, legacy, from the work with AWL.

I'm know I have missed/left out a few different lightsaber houses and maybe I will post on them later or even find a few more. I have even attempted to sift through numerous dead sites and un-informed reviews to try and gauge how "good" each company is and quite honestly I can't find enough to make a reliable assumption about any of them. Although, I think anyone who has time and energy to honestly crack these things out is a step above any sort of massed produced thing, so, I'd start with kudos to all of them and then go from there.

And, just to jazz you up, here's Ray Park being awesome, apparently something he does A LOT!

Zelda Lightsabres Potter Caine

First and foremost, early last week I saw this and it made me cry. I think my jaded has grown back since then, but its really cool. It's like 10 minutes, watch it, it restores nerd soul points. At least it did for everyone I know, don't be a soulless dick, this isn't PvP combat.


   

"Okay H47 but why is your post 3 days late!?" Well, I'm working with some potential interns for the light sabre fight I'm Directing later this summer. Stay tuned for details. I was at the high school I teach Stage Combat at annually, interviewing and talking with the kids to see who was interested, had the schedule, who's folks said it was okay, waiting for their teacher (my friend) to deal with the 300 other things he has to daily till he got around to pointing me to the specific kids.

The OTHER reason is because I have started playing Ocarina of Time again and am exhibiting SERIOUS force of will just sitting down to write this filler+ amount of a post. BUT!, to not leave you hanging, it has inspired me to attempt to run a Pathfinder game(s) set in Ocarina/Majora Hyrule and build playable races and all that good sh-t. Stay tuned, I will most assuredly post anything I build, or I will  . . . LINK . . . through, oh ho, I know, if I find anything already made out on the intarwebs.

GAH I WANT THESE SO HARD!!! AHAHAHAHhahah!!!

And the OTHER OTHER reason it's taken me so long, is because I have really nerdy friends who keep tweeting about their Pottermore experience. As well as T1nk was poking around on it too. So I'm hearing about my male AND female friends "wands" and what house they got sorted into, so my brain goes "I like Facebook quizzes even though I hate allowing the applications access to my account, this could be cool and quick." NO! I spend like, 2-3 hours on it because I'm reading everything EXCEPT the bit about how your supposed to find your shopping list, I finally find that and then it's all "choose wisely as you can not change what is chosen for you based on your answers which feed into our previously determined algorithms." So I sit there and belabor over some silly not-psych profile test that will probably never effect anything in my life ever, but it was fun. Just look at my tweets from that evening . . .

"CHESTNUT WITH DRAGON CORE, TWELVE INCHES, HARD! 7g" I'm all on that. p.s. Vineblood, crimsonblood, silverpurple, chose Patronusquest2090
— tony elfson (@h47) April 19, 2012

There are many "winners" for your potential user name. The idea is there but the execution is a little left wanting.

"I like it. textured grip, small hilt, bowie clip." "oh. you." "Yes I just described my wand using knife terminology, what!?"
— tony elfson (@h47) April 19, 2012

As a note, the pic for the wand is the same across the board, I'm a little dissapointed, I don't think that would be that hard. Especially considering you geta few options for your avatar, even IF only owls, cats and toads are "approved." WTB other obscure PETS/FAMILIARS PLZ!

WTFBLARGH BLARHG Hufflepuff!?!?!?!? REALLY? Is it cause I felt bad for the thing in the box instead of going for the sexy silver one?
— tony elfson (@h47) April 19, 2012

And then this happened. And my fiancee was like "what? Youve never considered what house youd be in?" And I was like, absolutely, I'm an RPer and actor, this shit haunts me, but I was always like . . . I could be in Gryff cause I' think I'm such a strong personality, but then I could also go slytherin for the same reasons plus being a jerk sometimes, or back to Gryff for same reasons. Ravenclaw cause I pride myself on my smarts and think I'm better than everyone else, but then of course I could go Badger cause, well, I'm just weird enough. Well, fine. Funny enough, T1nk thought she would claim to be a Ravenclaw, but end up in Puff, but GOT SLYTHERIN! I think they're doing something clever on this part, and I'm okay with that. As a matter of fact, I tried creating a couple more accounts just to shiggle my way through and see what I got. Well, I only managed to do it once because I actually made an account that claimed I was 11 (if my new character is attending Hogwarts he would be 11 right? But I guess they have a different protocol for emails to younger players, which is fine.) but the other one I did . . . gave me a cool wand, not as awesome as my first one, but then . . . different sorting hat questions, and HUFFLEPUFF AGAIN! I think someone is watching my IP and trolling me. Either way. Entertained. And I think the site is cool as there are quite a few gems from Rowlings "not for the books" content and I think this is a great way to share it if you read through the books again. I'm not sure if I will, but, with this setup, I might.

Gary Oldman is a BEAST, Sirius Black is a PIMP. SO pissed when he died. Word up to the black sheep of the Black Fam.

Blogging My Con

Quick Update, I will not have the regularly scheduled Tuesday update today because I will be posting a Blog about S.G.I.S.Con IV!! And I have not yet finished recuperating, transporting, nor detoxing from the weekend. I will also try and find some pics from T1nk and give a breakdown of events. Stay tuned, I hope to have it up by the end of the week. thanks for sticking around . . all 8 of you.

S.G.I.S.Con 4 Spoiler

A friendly reminder to those in the know. SAME BAD PLACE SAME BAD TIME!

I anticipate both trilogies being played the entire weekend, with special screenings of SW-centric movies. I'm hoping for FANBOYS , SPACEBALLS , and maybe even the terrible X-MAS SPECIAL !!!!

I also really want to do a Lightsabre building workshop, and I'm sure we can dig out numerous SW-themed games to play.

More itinerary as we get closer to the event.

An old R4n7 (4/16/09)

R4n7 4-16-09

Damn, I want a childhood. maybe just for a year would be nice. Have someone else pay the bills and not feel guilty about it. Maybe have an allowance, or even just keep my paychecks for myself. Then I could buy all these goodies I want so I could be sub-culturally awesome, such as nerdcore albums, ACTUALLY support music I want to support instead of pirating from musicians I want to give money to, as well as buying equipment and clothes, for everyday as well as construction on various costumes, and . . ah yes, a lightsabre.. It would give me time to work on several projects I've neglected for almost a decade now, not to mention the ones more recently to find a home in my skull. Do some shows without having to worry about when I'm getting up for class or whether or not I will be able to do homework during rehearsal.
I don't often sit back and realize, that I am a full time student with two part time jobs trying to live on my own. and yet, I still live with SOMEONES parents, and am barely able to keep my bills in check. High school needs to teach how to survive, or something. My fiance is as smart as any person i know, but shes had a seven year head start on me and shes in even deeper than I am. Quite frankly, this is bullshit and i want a cheat code, or a reset button, or something.
Alas. this real world stuff is crap, but its something we all share in common. some-odd billion people do it everyday, why does it feel so difficult to me?
It's also a challenge to try and pull yourself half way through your social circle. I never considered it when i was in high school even, but ever since college, it hit me that I was lower-middle class at best, eating weenie soup and thinking it a grand event any time we took recycling in because that meant MickeyD's for lunch. Now I'm very good friends with people who have no idea what it's like to live with your grandma, your aunt, your mother all in a two bedroom apartment on the shady side of town, with your grandma sleeping in the living room on the coach even though she's the one paying the rent, having her pain pills wear off at 530 AM so she takes two more, gets up and goes to work, where she deals with other KIDS problems, inner city misfits worse off than me, and attempts to put them on career paths. Seeing your mothers face drop into blanch shock as you blab "what about grandma? she lives with us?" when the social worker asks her if anyone lives with the two of you because answering "no" would mean more food stamps to feed you. Than not understanding why there wont be a treat of The Golden Arches or even the hot dog cart out front, because you told the lady something wrong. taught me children were to be seen and not heard, not that i had screwed myself and my mother for the next year. ah well, when you're young, you learn differently.
Oh damn, i rambled. anyway, i guess that's why its a rant, well. Geoshities is going down soon, so this will most likely go up on . . i dunno, *shudder* maybe myspace, hopefully a REAL site, ty to epyon avenger.
-H4773r done . . . for now