Stylish!

No, I didn't just kill something in a fantastic way on Devil May Cry. The Stylish Blogger award is an honor from your fellow bloggers in appreciation for your work and your connection to the community. Thanks to Brian (MasterDarksol) from All Things 40k! It's kinda like a chain letter, so here's what you do:

-- Thank and link back to the person giving you the award (see above)

-- Share seven things about yourself

-- Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award

-- Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award 

Hmm... seven things, eh? 


1) I once met Stan Lee in an elevator. He's a great guy, and has a lot of fantastic stories to share if you have the time to listen. We had a seat and a coffee and must've talked for hours. One of the high points of my life, really. 


2) I used to work in the comic book industry. Yeah, you can Google it, too. I used to work for a company called Studio Ironcat back in the late '90's, and left to go back to animation school. There was a whole hubbub about them after I left, none of it to do with me. The work was long and the pay was shit, but I got to meet a lot of people at cons across the country and see a lot of things. One of the perks was:


3) A rich manga artist flew me to Japan just because he wanted to meet me. Really. Masaomi Kanzaki paid for my ticket and everything. When the day came to go meet him, his
accountant picked us up in his BMW (Kanzaki's) and drove us to the three houses he owned, which were side-by-side on the same Tokyo street. Kanzaki was (and is) insanely talented and a really, really cool guy. 


4) I'm a published author.  Back during the mid-90's I wrote Canadian gaming company Dream Pod 9. Source material for their Heavy Gear line that got spread across 5 or six books. Yes, they paid in Canadian money, so I was, at the time, being paid less than an author made in the US. 


5) I once ate a $500 meal for free. The creative director at my last job and I were walking around DC trying to find a restaurant to do my performance review in when we saw an Italian restaurant where an empty store had been the week before. Apparently they were doing a "soft launch" for their shareholders, and we blundered in thinking the place was open. We ended up ordering the best of the menu and not having to pay a nickel. We still tipped our waiter. 


6) I started blogging to keep myself sane and alive. Originally I wrote a lot as a hobby, generally short stories that no one else would ever see. I was going through a tough time in 2009, having lost a job and life that I was just carving out and, well, going crazy with depression. I figured I needed something to occupy my mind and energies whilst looking for a job, instead of dwelling on personal failures.  To make a long story short, I started photographing models and writing about them to stay busy, because you can't continue on like that, and it grew into this. The online community is amazing. See the best of it, and tune out the worst, because the sense of fellowship you get from other hobbyists, for me, is just like being back in school. So, when you see those sappy "thank you" posts from me, I mean it, because blogging, in part, saved me. 


7) I once served cocktails and hors d'ouevres to Colin Powell. Until recently, my father owned a catering business, and he catered a few dinners at Richard Armitage's home. Along with several other foreign dignitaries, including the Prime Minister of Jordan, and Caspar Weinberger, there was then-General Colin Powell. He's taller in person. 


So apparently the Stylish Award has  spread out through the community like wildfire, so I'm sure I've posted a lot of these after they have, in fact, already gotten one. In fact, it looks like Col. Corbane, Admiral Drax, Klaus Fischer and Dave Taylor are taken, icons that they are. Well anyway, here goes:




1) Propnomicon is a site focusing on Lovecraftian horror, specifically props inspired by, from around the blogosphere. Ever wanted to see an actual Necronomican or a sample of some edritch horror preserved in a jar? Take a look, because these things are amazing. 


2) Blight Wheel MIniatures: You may have known him as Big Daddy the Living Ancestor. He's responsible for the cool Knight Titan models that have been making their way around, as well as the Staghound-4 trucks and other vehicles you've see on Dave Taylor's site. He's getting ready to start his own miniatures company, and is turning out some beautiful kits for production. You're missing out if you don't stop by and look at his stuff. 


3) Ricalopia apparently has the same virus I do, because he can't stop converting things. I'm pretty sure his hands detach and work on models when he's asleep, too, because some of his work is just out there. 


4) Everybody knows Brian at A Gentleman's Ones, right? His Killzone tables are some if the best terrain I've ever seen, bar none. Besides being a fantastic modeler, Brian's a real stand-up guy who's done some really thoughtful and inspiring posts. 


5) Love him or hate him, Stelek at Yes the Truth Hurts is a straight shooter, and his advice will change the way you play 40k. If you're stuck on some point of the game or need to get your list working the way you want it, drop him a line and listen to what he has to say. 


6) Have you been over to Mordian 7th yet? He has loads of nice conversions, including more than a few Adeptus Mechanicus units, and really knows how to set up a gaming table. Check him out if you haven't yet. 


7) Tears of Envy's is a fascinating look into the alternative side of London and points beyond.   An extraordinarily talented designer in her own right, she's done work for John Blanche and Mantic Games, among others. Visit her site and plumb the depths of the archives; you won't be disappointed at the 


8) Nyhil over at Ten Inch Template burst onto the scene with some really nice Traitor Guard conversions, and segued into a wicked cool DE Skaven army without batting an eye. 


9) Oniakki has been doing some nice casting work over at Spirestone Wastes. His latest work involves some nice Space Hulk style starship corridors. 


10) Lokman Lam is an amazing artist that's done concept work for several miniatures companies, most notably Kingdom Death. 


Thanks again to MasterDarkSol Brian for the nomination, and my best to all the bloggers out there. A score of other people in my blogroll didn't make this list, but check them out just the same. There are a lot of gems out there on the interwebz, and the above listed really only scratch the surface. 


Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!