Brisbane

December 28th, 2016

After travel that included a flight cancellation, rerouting, delays and near luggage loss, we managed to both get on the same plane in LA as planned, and make it here at the same time.

Here is Brisbane!

The weather is beautiful and Brisbane is full of people. We’re staying in a lovely old hotel right next to the CBD and spent most of yesterday just wandering around.

And of course eating, since neither of us ate on the plane.

It’s a beautiful downtown, wrapped around the river as it does. On the other side from our hotel is a waterfront park and all sorts of attractions. We rode the Ferris wheel, but even though it was early afternoon I was pretty ruined by then and fading fast; it’d been over 40 hours since I had slept!

I went to bed at some ridiculous hour (it was still sunny out) and here I am at 3 am wide awake and hungry as a beast. I wonder if anything is open…?

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Coasting

December 25th, 2016

Tomorrow, for the 26th time, I fly across the Pacific for another annual migration south for the winter.

This time the trip will be a bit longer, and a lot more adventurous. For starters it’ll be me and B. For seconders check out our route:

We’ll land in Brisbane, spend a few days in Surfers, drive south over a few days staying in coastal towns until Newcastle, and then about two weeks later head to Sydney.

The sights we’ll see! The things we’ll do! The food we’ll eat! Read all about it here during the usual blog extravaganza 🙂

Oh, and Happy Christmas!

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The Year In Postcards

December 23rd, 2016

I started the year in Australia, where I had all sorts of fun times. You can go back if you like and read all about it on the blog. I sent loads and loads of cards, at about US$2.50 each, and I’m sure you got some. On this trip I started drawing full-colour illustrations on the cards (mostly portraits), most of which were remarkable. I wonder who got this Stonehenge card (that I had purchased in an antique shop) and what I had written on it?

In March we went to Funspot in NH and played video games and it was great. Again, I sent postcards while I was there, but this photo was taken on the way back. I had decided to send cards from every state we passed through and I can now exclusively reveal that finding the cards in Vermont was much easier than finding a post box! I believe we eventually saw one in the carpark of a library as we were running out of state.

In May we went to RI to visit Lovecraft’s grave and I was moved enough to create this masterpiece. I hope I sent it to myself because I love it, but maybe it’s yours? If so, please treasure it…

Then came Vegas and California, and a bevy of funny and – dare I say – notable cards. I think this one (sent to KLS) sums up my feelings about Santa Barbara well. The sticker (of a band member from Slipknot) came free with a Metal Hammer magazine I had purchased just for the Baby Metal lenticular cover 🙂

And then came England, in which my postcarding reached – I think – a new peak. In particularly I am proud of the ‘postcard magic’ series that I sent Bernard. It’s a crime he hasn’t shared them on his blog yet…

In three days I’m off again, for 24 days in the sun, sea and sand. I’m filled with postcarding spirit, so watch your mailboxes keenly and look forward to the occasional masterpiece or two from distant shores!

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Welcome To Robot Claw!

December 21st, 2016

Here we are at the brand new blog! If it all looks suspiciously familiar that’s because it is, since this is a copy of the old blog. All the posts, all the pictures, all the comments. It’s all here.

The difference – aside from the new URL – is that the blog now runs on Amazons cloud servers and not on a PC in Bernard’s house. Thanks to ‘Agent B’ for setting this all up for us 🙂

The old blog will remain for a while just to point people here. But it’s not a mirror of this, which is to say no new posts will appear on it. So update your bookmarks to this version and never look back!

Oh, and leave a comment please. That’s the only feature I didn’t test myself 🙂

Posted in Blog, Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

More Crafting

December 10th, 2016

It’s time for a craft update. While KLS was in Ireland I occupied myself with a bit of making. Three different miniature kits to be precise, and all turned out quite well.

The first was a tiny cardboard dinosaur skeleton that I had picked up in CA earlier this year. I bough a kit by the same maker in Japan years ago but ruined it during assembly so I was very careful this time and it went together without issue.

As you can see it’s very detailed for its size (about 1.5 inches high) if a little flimsy. A tiny bit of glue would perfect this, but I’m too nervous to do it so it shall sit on the shelf forever!

The next kit was a gift from Florence, who has since admitted she chose it because it looked difficult. She wasn’t wrong!

I’d made one like this before and that was hard enough, but look at the micro-folds required here! The level of precision is incredible, and this one also requires glue to assemble. Im not sure I had the correct tools for this, but then I don’t know even what the correct tools would be!

Almost all the pieces in the first photo go into making the tiny three-windowed piece in the lower right of the second!

Anyway I was careful and meticulous and patient and believe I ended up doing quite a good job:

It came with a little display case (which also needed assembly) but I like it better out.

Lastly it was time for (yet!) another Metal Earth kits, this time from their new Doctor Who license.

This was another trial of my patience to be honest, and definitely amongst their more difficult kits. But once made, it’s amazing:

Next on my list: a Gundam. Whether or not that happens before Oz remains to be seen…

Posted in Blog, Crafts, Miscellaneous, Otaku, Puzzles | 1 Comment »

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