Tales of Geek and Scene

Artistic souvenirs and fantastic framing

2012-02-05T01:48:00.000-08:00

Some time when I was younger I picked up an excellent habit of buying locally produced artworks and prints whenever I travelled. An unframed piece of artwork is easily protected with a plastic slip or manila folder and is light and easy to transport. This makes art a fantastic and unique souvenir and at this point in my life my collection has become quite large.

Unfortunately this has always left me with the problem of what to do about framing. Framing is frequently expensive and difficult to organise. Some items I had framed myself with varying results. Recently however I have discovered a fantastic local framer and so I shall be framing the rest of my collection over time. Good work deserves recognition so here's a hat tip to Song at Paddy Art Corner.

Web: Paddyartcorner.com
Phone: 0414 881 283
Email: Linxrsong@gmail.com
Address: Paddy's Market Stall 20-22, Haymarket Sydney
Map and directions: Google Places

These two pieces I bought in Kyoto and are full colour and gold/silver leaf woodblock reproductions (not prints but actual block presses) of two ukiyo-e pieces that I love. To be able to frame and hang both pieces in excellent condition for $80 is amazing.

Here you can see the quality of the framing, the staples are hefty and well balanced and the frame is sealed well with hefty quality framing tape. Both were chosen for custom size and matting with no additional cost.

Onna yu (Bathhouse Women), Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815) framed in wood with custom matting for $35 ~A4 size

Ukiyo-e were commonly drawn of salacious activities in the pleasure quarter. Here we see a number of yuna, who were employed by the bathhouses to scrub the backs of patrons but were frequently engaged in "happy ending" affairs similar to certain types of massage parlour today.

Genji Monogatari: Yadorigi (The Tale of Genji: Ivy [Chapter 49]), Masao Ebina (1913 - 1980) framed in wood with custom matting for $45 ~A3 size

Genji Monogatari is the ubiquitous court novel of mediaeval Japan, akin to the Arthurian legends and as much adapted. Ebina completed an illustration for each chapter of the saga, the full set can be seen online. This reproduction is beautiful including all the textures and embossing of the original.

Capturing a little piece of computing history

2012-01-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

As you should know I play WarCraft with my friends, and I love unique things, so when Blizzard announced they were going to sell off their old server blades for charity I simply had to get in on the action. The servers were all deprecated during the pre Cataclysm cluster upgrades but were in use between 2004/2005 and 2010 making the nerdy dreams of many a gamer come true.

Chops and Nat my two dearest boys both play, Nat religiously so I set out on a mission to secure them their own pieces of Azeroth.

From Feathermoon Server Blade

Nat is a long time somewhat obsessive Feathermoon player, I couldn't pass up the chance to present him with a physical piece of his own online life. This great portrait piece also shows the scale of the blade servers perfectly, while making Nat look a little bit rock'n'roll ;o)

I managed to keep the purchase of this Proudmoore blade super secret, leaving my partner Scott completely confused until he opened the box, I call that gift success. The size makes mounting a bit of a puzzle, we're pondering turning it into a coffee table. Either way I'm so happy to know that those I love have their own little piece of internet history secured and in their possession.

If this is Night City where's my heads up display?

2011-09-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

When I was a younger thing obsessed with roleplaying all I ever wanted to do was live life in a dark techno future as a bright young corper in a Cyberpunk world...

I don't like to disappoint myself.

So ironic as it is I bought Nat an eReader for his birthday, spending my megacorp Asia bucks on digital devices so that we could read Cyberpunk novels.

We kicked off his birthday weekend with A Scanner Darkly, Strange Days and The Matrix. We've continued this week with Sneakers and the Bridge series by Gibson.

Hey... at least we thought of wireless in the real cyberpunk future.

My first tattoos

2011-09-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

So tonight I got my first tattoos, a big deal in an alt girl's life!

So to answer the first and obvious question: Yes it hurt a bit, but no more than any number of other stupid things I've done to myself in the name of BDSM. My blood pressure dropped a bit and I had a few moments of heavy breathing and cold sweats but then the adrenaline kicked in and I perked up again. Sadly while the endorphins are there they don't rush like piercings, not the sort of thing you'd do for fun tiems.

The next question: Why wait till I'm 30, I have any number of piercings and am hardly afraid of looking weird. Well... Firstly tattoos are permanent, piercings are not and I had to be sure I knew what I wanted. I gave myself a policy that I had to want something for 2 years before I got it. When I decided on these a few years back, and stuck with it a barrage of people offered to buy me my tattoos for my birthday and failed 4 years in a row. Chops however is far more reliable than most ... and so here we are!

On the topic of you being an idiot and tattoos being permanent here's a PSA from Red Vs Blue:

Because I know you want to see it: here they are!

So what are they and why?

On the left hand wrist is the Lauburu or "Basque Cross" it's a symbol of the culture of my matriarchal family. Not a Christian cross it represents the 4 parts of man "spirit, life, consciousness, and form" and in the direction given is a symbol of prosperity and good luck. I wore one for most of my adult life around my neck and wanted it on myself permanently.

On the right hand wrist is the Mitsudomoe or 3 pointed Tomoe it's a symbol of my favourite culture Japan and represents the 3 parts of Shinto "Man, Earth, and Sky". It is commonly used in Japanese heraldic kamon.

To me this represents where I come from and where I choose to be, reflecting two cultures views of man and conveniently they're stylistically similar!

One last question: I had them done at Mischief Moon in Darlinghurst, recommended by a number of friends who'd had work done there. I had mine done by Gareth and was very happy with his treatment of the artwork and the advice he gave including discussing longevity, health and so on. A++ would buy again.

Drinking with Dinosaurs

2011-09-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

When you're a nerd like me museums are like the best thing ever. There's dinosaurs and robots and buttons you can push, it's heaven.

In a stroke of genius the Australian Museum has started Jurassic Lounge, a combined nightclub and performance space during the winter months. Ciders, documentaries about robots, burlesque and Dinosaurs... Jurassic lounge has it all.

I've never seen the museum so packed, it's a marvellous idea and unsurprisingly filled with nerds and social media folk that I know pottering around in small groups laughing and drinking.

One of the great sections they have is one of those "show and tell" areas that were always a hit when I was a kid. They have lizards and insects and stuffed animals to play with and plenty of museum staff to talk to you about it. I am a little surprised they let people near live animals after drinking though :P

Of course there's all the fun of the normal exhibits and the joy of the heritage building and beautiful surrounds. A++ would buy again.

Of course featured heavily in these pictures is my friend Nat who deserves a mention. You know those people you meet in your life that you just click with? This happened when I met Dustan, Curley and Vicki... Instant bonds that are strong and deep. The fact that I'm a narcissist and Nat and I share a personality, a hair style (and way too many allergies and skin conditions) my overbearing nature and his submissive squeefulness makes it the perfect nerd friendship.

<3 you little one, here's to many years of friendship.

My desk, my home

2011-08-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

So one of the great things about working at the Big G is being able to set up my work space exactly how I like it.

To give a run down here's my accessory setup:

Monitors: 2 x Dell UltraSharp U2311H 23-inch
Keyboard: Logitech G510
Mouse: Logitech M400
Webcam: Logitech HD Webcam Pro C910
Phone headset: Plantronics GN2100 Telecom
PC Headset: Plantronics .Audio 645

Please note many of these accessories are mine and do not necessarily indicate any kind of procument or brand deal by my organisation.

At the moment however we're having a "decorate your cubicle" competition. My team has chosen the them "work at home" and so my desk is currently all done up as if it were in my apartment. Those of you who know me well should find this amusing:

My secondary WarCraft Alt

2011-07-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

So today I hit level 85 on my second toon Illdriesta, so here's a little review in pictures.

She's a Destruction Warlock, though I've recently been trying out Affliction I think my heart will always belong to Destro.

Illdriesta at Level 14

Level 41 - Gosh I loved those Black Velvet Robes

Level 51 and all colour co-ordinated, the Whitemanes Chapeau was with me for a long time

Level 55 - These robes started off great, but when I couldn't replace them for 10 levels I learnt to hate them. Also the Guild tabard stopped matching my gear :o(

Level 70 and you can see here that the Blizzard Crew took some feedback about making gear sets match after WotLK

Level 77 and the gear looks just like a recoloured version of my Level 70 gear

Level 81 and I'm in guild provided craftables with questing accessories.

Level 83 - item level 303 which is mostly a Deathsilk Tailoring set, looking again like a dark version of the Level 81 gear. Note me cycling through tabards for Reputation.

And finally just after Level 85 (iLvl 326) everything changes! Intellect weapons replacing staves, Shadowflame Robes with mostly Fireweave accessories and a Ramkahen tabard.

2011: Half over but packed full!

2011-07-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

So I feel like I've been on the run all of 2011, but it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just time to pause. The year is half over but I feel like I've gotten many things done.

So far this year I've ...

Been instrumental in Google Sydney sponsoring Mardi Gras

Helped host a Girl Geek Dinner

Graduated from my Masters

Toured Grendel and Nachtmahr

Gone to Canada for 2 weeks

Gone to New York for a week

Went to Tasmania to visit Jen

Seen about 30 Industrial bands at the Kinetik festival

Eaten about 15 brunches with The Breakfast Club and Chops' best friends

Enjoyed having a car again

Been in love and actually happy for entire months at a time
Life could definitely be worse!

Level up!

2011-07-06T05:18:00.001-07:00

Recently I received my Masters in Commercial Software Engineering Management.

In 2012 I'm planning to go back for my Masters in IT, but I needed a little time off to rest and recuperate.

My WarCraft Main - A story in pictures

2011-02-26T03:27:00.000-08:00

One of the great ideas I've had has been to take screenshots of my World of Warcraft characters so that I can see them change over time

Here's a timeline of my Main - Illdrinn the Rogue

Level 62 - Rocking the hideous coloured Outland gear

Level 72 - In Northrend questing gear with Ankhanet weapons

Level 80 with Gearscore 3981 - Lots of Tier 9 gear

Level 82 - Cataclysm questing gear and Orgrimmar tabard

Level 85 with Gearscore 7847 - No new Justice Point items but good matching Cataclysm Blues, weapons are from Tol'Vir, tabard is for Bilgewater Cartel

Level 85 Gearscore 8765 iLvl 342 - Some Justice Point gear, Firelands cloak and craftables

Tranter Wedding

2011-02-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

Leon has always been one of those memorable but slightly quirky folk who's always been emotionally turbulent so to see him so happy and settled has been a marvelous thing. Recently he decided to make it permanent and proposed to his partner Nicole.

The wedding was a wonderful mix of friends and family from throughout their lives, held at the Australian Museum near Hyde Park in Sydney. This was easily one of the best wedding venues I've ever been to and was really special. Setting, views, food and uniqueness were all perfect. On top of this Leon and Nicole managed to get married on the hottest day on record for Sydney weather so the air conditioned comfort was more than welcome!

I love a good excuse for fancy wrapping paper, a friend of mine referred to my wrapping as "OCD in action" but I think it looks pretty.

Attempting a vintage classy goth look, thankfully they let us wear black to the wedding!

I'd have been disappointed if it were white roses!

Toast and Chops give me the crazy eyes (lucky I love them so!)

Blunt fringes and thin eyebrows are in this season... well with goth girls they're in every season lets face it.

The view was beautiful

Post ceremony drinks in the skeleton room were amazing and memorable.

The bride looked radiant.

Leon's taste in music was mentioned a good 5 times in the speeches leading to this conversation a few times

"So how do you know Leon"
"Oh you know, music things"
"Oh.... right..."

But I had the company of like minded fellows, so we spent a fair chunk of the reception talking about WGT and the Kinetik line up for the year.

Being swing dancers you had to know the first dance was going to be special!

This I think sums it all up though; Nicole handing Leon a sword to cut the croque en bouche. Perfect.

New Years Eve at Google Sydney

2011-02-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about having an office on the water in Sydney is being able to get up close to the action for New Years Eve.

In Sydney any piece of land with a decent view of the fireworks is worth a positive mint on New Years, more so if you can actually enjoy it with friends and a drink. When the company offered up our cafeteria for celebrations then I was in like a shot and truth be told it was a great night.

New Year's for me is traditionally shakey, I don't like big crowds or being disappointed and so the best nights have been where I've stayed in one place with good friends. Catching the light rail to the office meant low stress, seats all the way and no hassle.

The view before sundown of the bridge

The view of the city lights

Some of the early fireworks

The bridge lighting up

I love the outline of the buildings on the fireworks

New year, new blogging platform

2011-02-04T19:13:00.000-08:00

I'm in the midst of rearranging all of my online life into more centralised manageable chunks, and part of that is moving my blogs out of Livejournal.

I was one of the highest advocates of Livejournal for years, but after being sold, losing Brad Fitzpatrick and essentially becoming Russia's internet dumping ground I figured it was time to leave.

These days I spend a lot of time on Twitter, and my personal blog is no longer the stream of consciousness it was when I was younger... that's what Twitter and Facebook are for now.

Expect longer more content focussed posts less regularly on the new version of Tales of Geek and Scene. I am still in the process of manipulating the LJ to Blogger conversion tools so that I can export an archive of my old Livejournal, as I document the process you can find it on my Cyber Goth Geek Chick blog.