Padawan Dad

I think that this guy is a pretty talented impressionist. The first video is 200 impressions squeezed into approximately 16 minutes. It features impressions from Family Guy, Simpsons, celebrities and even some politicians. Really great stuff.

The second video is for all of us that got a kick out of “Pee Wee’s Play House” in the mid-eighties. This guy does a flawless improvisation of Pee Wee. I thought that both clips were quite entertaining. Enjoy!

We have been meaning to buy outdoor patio furniture since the beginning of spring. About a month ago I bought a new grill, but we still didn’t have anywhere to enjoy the food cooked on the grill outdoors. Well, this weekend we took advantage of all the summer clearance sales and purchased a new patio dining set, and a double swing for the yard.

So, to celebrate, and break-in the new furniture, we had our first BBQ of the year in OUR yard. We really never got a chance to use the yard at our new place, so the kids were very excited to eat, and just be outdoors.

Luke and Mary both loved the double swing! For dinner, we ate steak, chick’n nuggets, mac n’ cheese, pineapple, and an assortment of baby food. We played ball, chase, and even had a few lightsaber duels. Mary also enjoyed playing in the dirt, collecting leaves and rocks. She managed to get dirt on every inch of herself. But everyone knows that getting dirty is pretty fun when you are two.

After all the rain and hot, humid sticky weather we had a week ago it was nice to see the sun, along with drier air, and have the opportunity to enjoy a weekend summer day with the family at home, outdoors.

Ok, this is definitely toilet humor, but considering that it is real footage, I found it pretty laughable. You’ll never stand behind an elephant again after watching this video.

One of the things that I enjoy capturing the most with my camera, is people in their home environment. People are just more comfortable being in their surroundings. They let loose, and just seem more natural in front on the camera.

Today I came across photographer, Steve Schofield’s website. His work really interested me from so many different aspects. I love his concept and really kind of felt like, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Here is an excerpt from his website describing his work:

“My practice is concerned with exploring the fascination that the British public has with American popular culture and the sub-cultural world of fandom. In the images, I have shown people in their own homes and environments wearing costumes that they would be dressed in to attend events with other like-minded individuals. It seeks to offer a glimpse into seemingly ordinary lives of my subjects and allows the private to become public. The work hints at the depth of people’s fantasies and the methods they employ to adopt this culture as part of their own lifestyle as a means of escapism.”

To check out Steve’s work, click here to go directly to his website. It really is a must see for Star Wars fans. Who knows, maybe I’ll be adding this service to my photography business as well. I’ll keep you posted.

“You Wascally Wabbit!”

I use to work as a facilities manager for a local Church, and my hours always began early around 6:30am. During the spring of 2006, I established a friendship with this little rodent. We would always meet at the same time, and at the same place, as if we arranged it. I always knew it was the same rabbit, because he had a distinct tear in his left ear that made him easy to pick out from the other rabbits that grazed the grounds.

He would always jump towards me every time we crossed paths, but he never seemed to trust me enough to come within reach. I think he knew that I was friendly enough… perhaps he just wasn’t a close talker, which was a relief to me, because I can’t stand close talkers.

However, one day he stopped showing up at our typical meeting place, and I was a little concerned. You see, we also had a hawk that made his home in the area, and I feared that maybe the two may have met. I like to think that my rabbit friend just moved on. Perhaps he found a misses and started his own little rabbit family.

At any rate, I decided to capture him on film one day when we were having our little meet. He seemed to work the camera rather well, and I was able to get this shot of him.

“Stormtroopers, here? I must warn the others…”

Continuing with the Star Wars theme, this Random Pixel was captured back on April 28, 2006.

My wife Judy, daughter Mary and I, went to see the “Science of Star Wars” exhibit (currently in Minnesota) at the Museum of Science in Boston, MA. It was like being a kid in a candy shop for me! The nostalgia that surrounded us brought me back to to the happy moments of my childhood. Star Wars always seems to be one of those things that never fails to bring me to my “happy place.”

The exhibit displayed many pieces used in the filming of all six films. This photo is of an actual Stormtrooper costume that was used for the filming of episodes 4, 5 and 6. I tried to utilize the natural light in the exhibition hall, so to bring out a dramatic lighting effect.

“Order 66”

Being a collector of Star Wars statues and busts, and combining that love with my photography passion, I came across this photo on my hard drive.

I do enjoy photographing my collection from time to time, so you will probably see a lot more of it in my blog. Here is a piece that I actually ended up selling, but certainly felt that it was still photographically worthy.

This, in a sense, is a follow up to my “Quality ‘Out of’ Control” post, from just yesterday, where I wrote:

“I recently purchased an almost $200.00 piece to add to my Star Wars collection, and believe it or not, I am currently awaiting for the third attempt of this piece to show up at my door via UPS. The previous two both had factory defects, and both, somehow, had passed quality control inspection. I am hoping that three times will be a charm.”

Well, I guess three times really is a charm. This one was perfect! This piece is artistically stunning to view in person. Count Dooku’s likeness is pretty much screen accurate, and yoda is superb. I do think that the Episode II Yoda bust, that was produced by Gentle Giant Ltd. had a more natural paint scheme, but make no mistake, the Sideshow Yoda is beautiful.

This piece, along with Sideshow’s “Duel of the Fates” diorama, are the first pieces that I ever owned by Sideshow Collectibles. I think that Gentle Giant has Sideshow beat in the sculpting dept., but Sideshow is a tad bit more admirable, in my eyes, due to the fact that their sculpts are 100% sculpted by artists, where Gentle Giant Ltd. utilizes a computer scanning process to aid in their sculpting. Of late, Gentle Giants paint applications have not been consistent, and Sideshow seems to be very accurate and consistent with all of their diorama paint applications.

Sideshow has some exciting and very dynamic pieces in this fairly new diorama line. I love the action portrayed in these pieces! The next one, that I have my eye on, is the “Ambush on Hoth” diorama, due out at the end of the year.

But as for this piece (Yoda vs. Dooku,) I must highly recommend this one to anyone who is on the fence about it. It probably won’t be around too much longer, and it certainly won’t disappoint.

I found this stop motion animated video on the official Star Wars Blog. It was created by Patrick Boivin of Montreal. If you love Star Wars, or Flash Dance, you’re sure to get a chuckle out of it. I thought it was a riot and very creative.

Being a collector of high-end Star Wars collectibles, and an average consumer of general products, I can’t help but notice, at least in my circles, how accepting of poor craftsmanship we have become.

I recently purchased an almost $200.00 piece to add to my Star Wars collection, and believe it or not, I am currently awaiting for the third attempt of this piece to show up at my door via UPS. The previous two both had factory defects, and both, somehow, had passed quality control inspection. I am hoping that three times will be a charm.

If that wasn’t bad enough, only three weeks before ordering the above mentioned piece, I had bought another entirely different piece, from a different manufacturer, that had a major factory defect that turned out to be an engineering flaw with it’s design. This was very evident in numerous comments found in this thread on a Star Wars collectibles forum. I called the manufacturer and to my dismay they would not issue a refund, so I currently have a second defective piece on the way. However, after numerous complaints, it seems they are now telling people to hold on to the piece and they are going to try to repair the issue. But before receiving numerous calls, they were content to stick it to those of us who called.

With all this said, you can probably tell that I demand quality. Then again, maybe you think that my expectations are ridiculous. This is what really tears me up. I think there are far too many people accepting inferior products. I can’t tell you how many times I have read in collectible forums, “It’s fine, I just touched it up with a little paint,” or “The peg was missing, so I just glued it into place.” What?!?! Are we just getting too lazy to walk out the door and face the miserable attitudes of the return department clerks, or make an effort to ship something back? Is money so valueless that we can afford to hold onto defective merchandise? Is product quality so poor these days that we just expect it to arrive broken, and then pay it no mind? Have we been brain washed?

My opinion on the matter is that quality is vastly diminishing because we don’t hold manufacturers accountable for the multitude of damaged products sold to consumers day in and day out. I for one am tired of it, and tired of explaining to people why, at least in the Star Wars collectibles world, I question the integrity of manufacturers products instead of just zipping my lip and giving my damaged items a quick fix. There is almost a feeling of sympathy aimed toward manufacturers, instead of consumers. It just seems so backwards to me.

This has to be a team effort. One can’t go this route alone. You need to encourage people to call manufacturers and vocalize the issues. Is this just a dying art form?

Well, I have to run down to the hardware store to buy some missing bolts to our new outdoor patio set, but let me know your thoughts on this matter.