"She-Ra Review"

Some people I followed on Youtube talked a lot about the new She-Ra show and the public reception, so naturally I got this morbid curiosity to seek out the show to see it for myself. I'm a sucker for animated show and greatly enjoy studying the various techniques used and the imaginative yet silly stories. This is just some of my subjective opinions on She-Ra overall.

She-Ra is a decades old animated show that followed the adventures of said hero, as she fights the evil horde with a colorful team of misfits and comic relief characters, where almost all episodes returned to status quo at the end and nothing changed. And the titular character turned into a tall woman in a short skirt and high heels. Whom is very confident, quite clever and very strong, but at times a bit too perfect. The dialogue was very bad and the scene transitions awkward and jarring, but there was a lot of good ideas and interesting designs to go around. Shows from this period had a very morbid fascination with including cowardly and wacky sidekicks. Enjoyable but dang those sound effects and voices can be really terrible.

The new Netflix She-Ra show re imagines the old show with a bit more body type variation and a much more streamlined plot that follows a red thread. Where a magical sword turns the hero into a powerhouse. This time around She-Ra wears a much more modest costume, which still offers no proper protection, but sports a set of silly shoulder pads. A common common issue with almost all heroic characters, they never wear any sort of armor. One thing that really stood out to me is that the scenery looks fabulous most of the time. It’s very entertaining for the most part, but also painfully annoying at other parts.

Seems like most grownups have died due to a battle that went badly, thus the princesses are in power, even though they technically are queens at this point. The horde trains useless child soldiers and have no proper plans for anything and is very incompetent. The heroes are very good at doing the right thing in a very bad way and puts themselves in stupid situations. If not for the child friendly nature pf the plot, most of the cast would have been dead or dying at this point. Their interaction is lovely and all and brings a lot of life to the show and is less awkward than then the predecessor, it's also painfully cliche, in a way that hurts. Two childhood friends are trained to be soldiers in the hordes army, until Adora finds a magical sword in the forest, which turn her into She-Ra and learn how terrible and evil the horde actually is. Which causes a rift between her at Catra, due to some manipulation and poor communication skills. A major overarching theme is that the heroes suck at talking to other people. Which is a very common issue in much of animated media.

There has been a lot of noise on twitter about the show, various sites carping on fans and a lot of silly arguments to go around. To me it’s always amusing when someone calls the old show bad, but never saw an episode. Or how someone is impressed with the diversity of the new show, even if the old show had some elements of that as well. Even if most characters had that perfect super hero hourglass copy paste figure. I can at least admit that both shows while entertaining in its own right I’m not the target audience and that nostalgia is not a good quality indicator. The other thing I take away from the series is that the outrage mob is dangerously biased, absolutely hilarious and better written than these shows.

Recent Recap

lately I've been busy with a lot of things, among them a two day cleaning marathon within my humble abode. The new neighbors have been complaining about a supposedly bad smell. Something I can clearly confirm is a phantom smell. Then again my mother is an odd one and gets these weird ideas in her head, such as that the deep fryer is the source of evil odor. Thus it got thrown out the window. My American room mate adore the dang thing, I find it too greasy and it keeps leaving oil splatter all over the wall. So to me its a good thing that its gone.

https://www.raptus.no/

The dead can dance was a live action roleplaying game, based on the concept of calling upon the spirits of fallen ancestors from various ages. Witch eventually evolved into calling upon a very weird pantheon of fallen gods of old. I had the role of a noble man that lived after the French revolution, where the noble men got decapitated and good riddance for that. Nobility is a terrible thing and royalty doubly so. I simply signed on as spur of the moment decision, since I really need to get out more. Plus it took place in Bergen, even if I had to travel far and wide. That larp is the main reason behind my idea to make myself a red mage cosplay. A combination of noble man, traveler and magician. Plus I got an excuse to make a fancy hat and to wear a cape again.

Final Fantasy has always had a place in my hearth as a fun series of games, even if they have gone downhill in recent years. The last awesome one was nine I dare say and the various tactics ones. Seriously thirteen was a very weird and very boring entry, with the most annoying characters ever.

Then there was Raptus an annual comic expo here in Bergen that host a lot of stands and have great many known artist stop by. So that also distracted me greatly. I decided to sign up as a volunteer and I can with certainty say it was very fun. But that Dominos pizza is very boring and they all taste the same. Essentially a weekend of interesting people and taking care of guests, followed by a volunteer party a month later, where I won a copy of Daredevil Yellow. A fairly great hardcover comic book about the origin of said hero. But for some reason he started out with a yellow outfit, instead of a red one.

Next summer there will be a samurai larp in south Norway, guess what, I signed up for that one as well. Which gave me a great incentive to craft myself a samurai armor, which will soon be done. I just need smaller metal drill bit. Essentially its going to be made of several metal plates measured to the right size with many aligned holes through them. Naturally I stream and or make videos of the process I go through to make the darn thing.

On top of that I’ve been writing on two different short stories. Though at this point they are anything but short. However I will not spoil those yet. Until Next time, Zaceron signing out.

Sweet dreams

Most people think they have interesting dreams, but truth be told they don't and even the best of us is rubbish at retelling them. I've been fascinated by dreams for the longest of times. With a very good reason. Mine always plays out like a structured cinematic story. Unfortunately these are a fleeting events and easily forgotten figments of my imagination, that evaporates the moment I open my eyes. I have gained some control over them though and can force myself to wake up long enough to record pieces onto my phone. Even if they are very fragmented. The fun thing with dreams telling a story is that in never bored. Unfortunately it makes interpreting them rather difficult, even when keeping a dream journal. To put my point into perspective.

"Nuclear blast, badly survive turn into mutant, with cyber eye. We took out the gut with the rocket pack, whom was stopping the payload in the train. Got turned into a glowing at night one along with many others. We pretend to be normal when other people nearby. I get introduced to local leader in red. The other mutants knocks me out. Kill the leader and skins him. Then dress me up in his skin to become an imposter. This maze me a lot more durable and gave me a healing factor. Turning me into the post apocalyptic version of a socially awkward terminator. Whom the ex girlfriend of the rocket pack hero accidentally falls in love with. "

This is a shoddy, rough and mostly unedited draft of a dream I had recently. There is a cause and effect, a beginnig, a middle and an end. Though I did abruptly end the event. The interesting thing is that I could see more of I immediately went back to sleep. Regardless I plan to turn these snippets into plot elements in my stories one way or another. Too bad that most people will never listen and that I'm still quite bad at orally retelling a story, non the less I carry on with my plan.

As for the idea of analyzing the dream, I like a good story and lovely ladies and saw a cyanide and happiness sketch before bed. A hilariously awesome yet profoundly disturbing show, a true staple of internet entertainment.

On another note, October is coming and thusly it's time to prepare for inktober. Where I have a list with a word to draw every day.

Boxes with lootl

Boxes containing loot is a main stay in gaming, most adventures and in exploitation in general. I love loot, treasure and the chance I'd finding that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However loot boxes in expensive full price games is not a very good thing. Seriously, people defend the practice? It like complaining about the plague, then hug the victim. Or something along the line of that. Regardless, a box players pay for with real money that contains a set of random items is gambling, raffle is a slightly less negative word. After all you do get a product, even if it's worthless junk. Unlike the classical one armed bandit, which will in most cases just take the money. At least a machine with a spinning wheel has an enforceable age limit. A game such as Overwatch has none what so ever, since the computer screen offer a lot of anonymity and the system will assume it's whomever owns the card that performed the transaction.

Regardless loot boxes is gambling, especially when I can get duplicates, something Overwatch fixed at least. Essentially young people and children will be exploited by the companies. Which will gladly make me and everyone else an addict, after all we want that sweet, sweet booty. The brain does this funny thing where we simply want more and more, until we want, then keep going. Luckily for me I do not have the patience for gambling and luck based mechanics. Then again, I'll gleefully indulge a good story from start to finish.

Before I ramble on too much. If I pay money for a box with random reward it's gambling. In a product sold to children, whom might end doing anything to get money to gamble away on virtual goods. Which might be bottom barrel trash.

A usual EA screwed up the system by exploiting it too much and now ruins it for all of us inspiring game developers. Loot boxes is a brillant way to earn money on any product I might sell. Just change skin color and I can increase the chance of getting cheap duplicates. Probably a better idea then my sinister plan of putting up a vending machine by a mall,  claim it's for charity and watch people gamble all their hard earned cash untill they sell their house and have to file for bankruptcy. But then Norway had to make it complicated, increase age to 18 and make the old insert coin system illegal.

Zaceron

Game concept ideas

Three random game ideas I share for free, since I will never use them and most game developers simply scoff at these ideas, yet they have merits. One thing in quite capable of is to make a sensible setting. Enjoy.

Men turns into monsters and in the beginning everyone has cellular phones with power. Which keeps dying one by one, as the batteries runs dry. The protagonist has an app that tracks nearby signals as dots on a radar. Thus the difficulty ramps up every day, when a phone dies. Which also makes it an integral part of finding survivors, since they would quite much like to keep their phones charged. To throw players for a loop, include a monster that holds a charge, that shows up on the sensor.

A reality show that covers an apocalyptic scenario. Picture this; USA had a catastrophe of biblical proportions, one disaster so bad that most of the country behind its protective border wall is now a desolate wasteland. The clue however is that the rest of the world and the continent is just fine. The American survivors only think the world has ended. Thusly it was a joint Medici project that decided to keep them in the shadows, while capitalizing on their predicament. By having invisible drones and cameras all over. It's the one unscripted reality show, where anything can happen, as man struggle to survive in the world that's left behind. A glorious idea indeed.

Lastly a driving simulator to teach car handling and traffic scenario. It takes place in a tranquil street with an intersection and various scenarios. The clue however is that it uses as many realistic physics as possible. Such as deformation of the vehicle and rag doll reactions. I simply love how it feels to drive in Gran Turismo, but I hate the bumper car feel whenever I hit something. The idea is to teach responsibility, careful driving and consequences in a controlled scenario, whilst giving the player the ability to have fun.

Something most educational games fails to do. There are only two such game series I recall that ever succeeded at this venue. Typing of the dead, where each enemy has a word in front and when that word is typed correctly the zombie die.

The other game is Oregon Trail, where you to travel across America in a oxen pulled wagon, with the family along for the ride.

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Cosplay plans and so much more

Practical plans, probable plans, perfect plans being planned and practiced. I could probably put in more phrases that starts with p, but m I've had my fun.

Essentially I'm a man with a plan, several in fact, thus I feel that I must inform whom ever follows me about them. It feels ingenious to not to that.

https://youtu.be/Gu1piP2jE5U

Firstly I'm dabbling with archery, since I at long last got my replacement arrows. I have a fairly decent long bow, that's just about powerful enough to hit a target about 50 meters away, which depends entirely on my technique and strenght. So far I miss a lot and you're more than welcome to follow my process on YouTube. After all I do try to record every session. I also use it as a tool to practice editing, manual focus and setting up cinematic shots. If nothing else I can hit the broadside of a barn and fire one arrow roughly every three seconds it seems.
However my target leaves a lot to be desired, not to mention the arrow eating environment surrounding the straw bunt. Because that is exactly what it is, long grass I got from the other side of the  road, I wrapped in rope and twisted into a spiral.


My second plan is to craft a magic staff, the kind which is seen in the awesome game dragons dogma. This magical foci is a long gnarly staff, with a hand on top,  covered in red veins, with a shiny crystal in the palm. I will mostly be using foam for that.





Thirdly I will make myself a red mage costume. The most awesome looking and possible most iconic Final Fantasy archetype out there. Dressed in red, with a snazzy feathered hat, wielding both rapier and wand with ease. The style will also fit within the parameters set by a larp I'm participating in. Where I will be the ghost of a dead 1800 Swedish noble.



My forth plan is to finish Wu Kong, yes I'm still working on it and just finished the tail. Which I hand knitted from furry  brown yarn and forced a metal wire into.  As usual I find much of the minor materials online, since I live far from town and very few of any local business within Norway sells what I seek.


My fifth plan is to write a book that takes place within a game I've designed and one that covers the eventsn of a magical school. Instead of it being from the angle of a starry eyed students, it will be seen from a teachers perspective. Not even I know how the plot will go, but I have started to write it. Which is by far more healthy than skimming the internet all day. Plus it gives me a break from my enthusiastic way of absorbing games all day and is by far better than YouTube drama.

A sixth plan is taking shape as well. I will compose a song about a conspiracy. But that is all the details I will divulge.

As usual I have a perverted patron for more lewd works of art and if you need anything drawn, be it a fantasy, twitch panels, a logo or a thumb nail. Just give me a heads up, I'm a professional artist after all.

Sins of a father

Curses I got distracted again. There has just been so busy tearing my lot down, in order to build up a fantastic garden on behest of my new neighbors. My father is a good lesson in how a brilliant plan turns to carp, when you halfass it and then proceed to make excuses about time and money. If you have the time to start a building project, you have the time to finish it. Especially when it will generate the money needed. Then again that seems to be his modus operandi, go overboard and never pull trough. Which brings me to the sickeningly hot summer we've got here in land of the nords. I like Sun, I like bading, but it is a terrible temperature to work under. Blistering hot sun, with the sweat running down my face full time, lovely. The hot weather unfortunately make the environment into a fire hazard, where a tiny spark can cause a firestorm.
Regardless, I've been busy with tearing down an dingy old hut, plank by plank and dumping the content into a container. The structure was originally intended to be a chicken coup and for a while it was. We had at least fifteen of them, five ducks and nine noisy peacocks. Until a pesky mink got to them and all slaughtered the whole lot aside from the peacocks whom got released into the wild. Where they was free to annoy everyone with their nasal screams. I have no idea what bird shrieks are called, because it is not chirping. I was not a witness to the massacre though, I was still in China at that point in time. Then again it was interesting to hear what they had to say when I got back. Because I had a wonderful time, unlike my unfaithful father whom knocked up an ex druggie whilst being married. Ingesting times indeed. Anyhow, the building is going down and that takes time and energy I rather use on props and finishing my cosplay. After all, that is my plan. The structure was made of anything he could get his grubby hands on, any plank would do. Therefore I had to bring a sledgehammer, crowbar and a circular saw to the demolition party. I should record more of these things I suppose.

Zaceron

Better NERF it

Better NERF it, both kids and adults enjoy practically harmless foam darts. If not, it's because they've yet to try one. I have never paid a dine in my life for one and now I have an armory of at least thirty ones. Some consider them a waste of space and resources. I see it as a business adventure, two Mondays this summer I was hired to host a small NERF war for around fifteen trigger happy kids.

If you have no idea what a NERF gun is. Either do an internet search or read my short explanation. Because redundant, redundancy is how I roll.

Its a spring loaded or electronic plastic gun that fires small harmless foam darts at low speeds and at stupidly short ranges. They also comes with a slew of useless accessories. The guns ranges from revolvers to rifles and many, many weird ones in between. Its perfectly safe and simple to use and due to being brightly coloured, they will not trigger the police. Unless your neighbor is a total and utterly social reject. Every neighborhood has one of those pesky people, full of hate and spite. Whom gladly spoil everyone's fun, because they are anger and bitter.

I took over responsibility for a cosplay club known as black, because fun with acronyms. Anyhow, earlier this year we had to pack up and move to a new and improved location. Thusly I took over responsibility to store the armory at my place. The previous person who had the club used a big part of the budget to buy a big bulk of NERF guns. The company behind the product line has some very odd ones that's for sure.

NERF guns can be nodded to heck and back, painted, decorated and customized in any imaginable way. Usually it's possible to dismantle them also. I gleefully threw away the junk parts and the problematic extension pieces through. As an example, here is my Warhammer 40k bolt pistol. Which can still shoot and look snazzy at the same time.

Never the less, my plan is to host various events and rent my services to various arrangements. Such as bachelor parties. Hell even the county employees enjoy it every now and then, when they host an office party.

So yeah, two happy  hours of chaos. Split the children into two groups send them to each side of the map and watch the team death match unfold. To spice it up, when shot, you retreat and count to fifteen. Some would say this is a terrible idea. What I say is, it works and everyone gets behind it. After all two hours is a very, very short time and it's an easy rule to follow.
Ironically and annoyingly enough, there was one accident, a child shot another one by accident in the eye at close range when we were done. All fun and games until someone loses an eye.

Carrying a big bag of guns is an interesting experience for sure, have a good one.

Zaceron

Places to see in Bergen

Bring one, bring two and maybe three, because excitement awaits. Take a pleasant ride with Bergen bicycle tours. A most interesting way to see the city is to ride in bike with a sofa on the back. The rickshaw also got protection from bad weather and can take you all the way up to Fløyen. A most beautiful local mountain, with an unparalleled view. Why not take a ride over to Nordnes, where there is a fantastic park, an aquarium and a place to swim as well.

Old Bergen is also a must see, a place where an old cozy street is kept intact.
The fish market is distinctively Bergen as well, where a vibrant display of fish and food is sold.

Ulriken is the tallest mountain in Bergen, however that one is not part of the cycle tour, but it's worth mentioning. The fast and smooth way to reach the roof over Bergen is to ride the cable car. Trust me 380 meters is tricky when going straight on foot. The view is worth the hassle. Just avoid days with a lot of wind, the ride might just be closed.
I worked there once and a gale will rock the ride badly. Especially side winds. Foggy days is also something to look out for. People are known to get lost there.


A minor complications, do not worry they will eventually send a rescue party.
That being said, there is a magnificent
 food serving establishment on top and a souvenir kiosk. The view from the top is also breath taking.

Waking trough the neighbor hood residing in the hill side is also an unforgettable experience. Small cocked paths takes any traveler trough a piece of history and peace of mind. The white wooden houses has remained mostly untouched. It's one of the calm places in town.

Someone went against the white house norm and painted their house pink. Needless to say, they got roasted on an open fire.

Drage fjellet (dragon mountain.) Is less known amongst travelers, but the hill as a big bountiful park to the east. A small cathedral in the middle and a cloister like building to the west and more cozy houses. The botanical garden is up there as well. A big lot with plants from all over the world, next to a snazzy history museum with a fine facade. The houses on the hill has an unique style with lavish details not found elsewhere.

All in all Bergen is a brilliant, beautiful town with small charming buildings, broken up by modern architecture.

Njål Sand
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Visited by Vikings

We decided to host a small street party next to this lovely doll theater workshop. A cozy event inspired by  past events and pleasantries. We simply put out some tables and chairs, invited stone people over and had a great time. We also convinced some random people passing by.
The workshop is an old building with a colorful history, where many theatre props and plays have been made. Some other lovely people took it over and kept the workshop going.

I am totally going to use their theatrical knowledge to improve my performance as the Monkey King. After all I need to be. better. However the amount of cleaning going on around here has made things a bit busy and clearing out crap does take its tall.

In the beginning of June a viking festival is held at the outskirts of Bergen, near a farm high school. The area itself is a museum next to a beautiful bay by the sea. With lush green trees and historical buildings, next to a farm. Perfect for setting up white cloth tents and booths. Which also function as a popular bading spot in an affluent neighborhood.
 People from far and near travel there. It's an event where people can peddle products, enjoy merry music and other activities. Such as archery and dueling. There was also a  longboat there that took visitors for a ride. A thing of note is that the entrance fee is very low, the location is lovely and buses are plentiful. There is also a parking lot there.



On the bus ride over there I met two lovely ladies waking around barefoot, with a big backpack, while carrying both shield and sword. I suppose shield maidens is an appropriate term. They where a bit uncertain about were they where going. We also met several other viking dressed folks.

Food was also sold there, despite the burn ban, they brought an electrical grill instead. They sold meat boiled in beer, glazed with honey and served in a burger bun.
Unfortunately I also came across some gorgeous wooden cursive bows, is just too expensive. Ironically enough arrows are cheaper and more plentiful online, then the local stores. So much for supporting Norwegian stores.

Several events went on through the days. Viking wrestling known as glimar was a big draw. It's matches where bare chested people clinch, until one wins based on some quirky rules.




One thing that always irks me with reenactment and that is people too hung up on historical accuracy. So engrossed that they will make an scene if someone is wearing a digital watch. My pal went to the late night feast, where they all drank, ate meat and was merry. Aside from that one guy making a fuzz. His angry complaint was shut down by loud drinking buddies of my friend enjoying his company.

Random Town Hike

Hiking through town with Enok is an interesting experience. I decided to make a net series all about Bergen and elsewhere as well. Which I probably have mentioned before. He is a local celebrity from a viking themed reality show, an avid environmentalist and male fashion model. Quite eccentric in a good way though. Enok enjoy a lot of the things relating to Vikings and old architecture. The kind that has charm and a lot of workmanship put into them. Unlike the direction modern architects seem to enjoy a bit too much. Which is what the series is gonna be about. Anything that makes Bergen a charming and unique city.

One of the places we visited was a all natural produce store in a cellar in the middle of town. The store specialize in products that have been made through organic farming, with as few chemicals as possible. While being environmentally friendly and tasty to booth. The problem is price though. The boutique itself is a charming place, that looks much like a farmers market, with wooden shelves lining the walls and small stalls with fresh produce. Within the store I also got some nice fish footage of the interior, or at least that is what I hope I did. Wide angle manual focus objectives can be tricky to get just right. The way products are displayed looks a lot better than most grocery stores. It's quite charming indeed. Incidentally its also the perfect place to make a little video about in Bergen.

https://www.reindyrka.no/

The other place we visited was a small white house down by the docks. These old white wooden buildings was originally built for workers and are stupidly small in size. With three floors with a steep winding staircase. The man residing within the abode was also refurbishing the lot. The old wooden panels are practically ancient at this point. However it gave me a nice look into the way old buildings was cobbled together. On the way over there we came across a rickety wooden building held together by straps and physics. The poor old thing stood out like a sore thumb and had probably done so for ages. Weather had slowly peeled the paint of the wall, exposing wooden boards to the element and needn't collapsed the structure. It's an amusing sight, but the true reason for this obvious neglect I can not tell. But what I do know it's an interesting find and such abandoned places exist here and there. On that note though, it really clashes with the neighborhood, since all other buildings in the block looks well maintained b on a surface level.


While recording and talking about the town we went down a charming little cobble stone street of historical significance. A place where most of the buildings kept their original looks, there was at lest one exception. One one side there is a small flower store, with colorful plants on display, where several hangs from the railing outside the store. On the opposite side of the street the facade was made of glass and was obviously been designed by a modern architect for better or worse. These blocks really breaks down the aesthetic coherency of Bergen. Within this place, an eatery know ad Pastryworld. A British company that sell traditional English pie. Quite tasty, that's for sure and well worth a taste.


Next to this building is another one, where an old sign protrudes from the wall and several old paintings adorn the front of the old style ale house. While the place have style and a lot of charm. I have never been inside. Witch is definitely an adventure for the future. Pub visiting, everyone's major pastime. Around the corner is the place that takes care of less fortunate folks, whom have lived a terrible life and now pays the price. These weather logged fellows is also a staple of Bergen. Yes there is a collective of ragged people, whom may or may not have drunk themselves to oblivion, or consumed too many drugs. It's not my place to pry too much into people's past, but these persons often have a story to be told. Because once we stopped there to record, it was obvious that we made someones day, since we ended up talking city history. Interestingly enough there is a church next to the place as well. A tall grey worm out building with two small castle style towers. Another feature of Bergen is the insane amount of church buildings, but that is a tale for another time.
#Zaceron

Independence day 17 of May

Bergen on May 17 is a festive day of joyful celebration and spoiled brats spilling their ice. Independence, national pride and tradition dictate the local events, after all, we're celebrating our independence.
In Bergen and everywhere else  starts with a parade, where people walk in honor of the day and to be social. The one in town also has a commercial aspect to it, since various clubs, organizations and schools highlight their pride and existence. From reenactment, to cheerleaders, museums, larp and a slew of other ones. Those whom abstain from the human train usually watch as it walks by. Outside of Bergen people aslo do the walk. However those are a lot more traditional, with a lot of people scoffing at colorful deviations from their precious norm. Such as dressing up in cosplay, to promote a club or the hobby.


Both men and women dress up in nice clothes, be it traditional folk dress or a fancy suit. Since Norway is an old country, the various places ask over have their own version of the bunad. A mainly black outfit, with elements of wite and lavish decoration. Red floral patterns is common place, while some of the clothes have blue or green around the chest area. These tailor made clothes is often inherited, along with their silver studded decorations. Which also makes it a very expensive to acquire one, but when you look at the number of times it's used through a life time. It will last longer than the wearer.

The exception from the festive clothes includes high school graduates, whom dress up in various colored pants, depending on the course. Which we decorate with stickers, our name and the year, people also write various stuff on the pants as well. Most russ carry a card with a picture and some funny line. Kids loves to collect these colorful cards. Accompanying the work pants there is a long tailed cap. The idea is to complete challenges on a list. The range from relatively silly and simple, to dangerously stupid. Some focus on sex (a lot), whist some is about drinking and consuming some sort of food. There is an also a bit more combative side to this tradition. A good old fashioned red versus blue, the two most common russ colors. Green and black is pretty much non existent. Unfortunately this event has been commercialized to hades and back, with expensive apparel. Not to mention the horrendously expenses spent on rides. A lot of people insist on allocating a whole bus to this month long event. In essence its about sex, fooling around and celebrating the final year of high school.

The local schools host competitive events for children, people meet up and have  a merry time. Costuming cake, gallons of ice cream and a lot of hotdogs. When I grew up we usually held a very vicious water war. With a lot of water balloons being thrown around. Whilst dodging the crowd. Every now and then some collateral does occur, to the dismay of surrounding people.

This year the mayor held a speech, from top of a viking vessel shaped stage. Followed by the somber national anthem. A little bit later various parachute jumpers landed in the nearby fountain. A quite nifty commercial stunt I dare say. Eventually two tall poles with loot bags on top where raised up. The idea is that people can collect the swag on top, if they can climb up. It's an amusing spectacle, with few winners. It's only five meter tall. To be fair I can't do it at all, but the ones with most success did it barefoot.
All in all a good day, if you look away from the guy I lost in the crowd.
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Njål Sand

odd ones in Bergen and the bus

Bergen is a small cozy town with a colorful history, fascinating people and odd architecture. One day I was taking the bus, a man wobbled out of the ride, wearing a big winter jacket, with a huge hood. Where his phone was, which blasted rap at full volume, as he brandished a butterfly knife and a can of beer. He was quite drunk and rowdy to say the least. Knocking at the bus side with his knife, before he angry shambles away like a zombie.

Another oddball was a two meter tall man, a fellow with a unkempt beard, stained yellow with tobacco. He quietly shuffled through the town in his signature blue trench coat, smelling like piss and vinegar. He had a habit of sitting at various bus stops, asking for coin, with a stern voice. He usually spent money on ice cream or more tobacco. When he eventually passed away, there was a big news article about him.

The fact that Bergen has an institution for people with various mental issues and a selection of annoying drug addicts, combined with the relatively small size makes spotting then easy and encountering then just as easily.

Norway is also a very religious land, with a lot of Christians, some more devoted that other. I've seen several scarfed women caring big signs, while preaching abut Jenova or somesuch, the alleged name of god.

For the most part they squat in various parks, l like a collection of dried out corpses, devoid of life, lacking that spark of life. Mostly harmless though, even if they participate in a lot of petty thefts, especially bicycles gets stolen frequently.


Commuting is usually a simple process, unless you live far outside town, then you've got less alternatives and at lest an hour, if not more travel time. While we have a lot of regular buses, some of them will eventually break down at stupid moments, or develop odd quirks. The same holds true for the drivers. The other day I got a very impromptu call from a potential business partner in town. I do dislike on the same day appointments, anyhow the most remarkable thing happened during the ride. The bus started to wail like a bloody whale, flooding the airways with an ear piercing shriek, a series of high pitched noise vibrated through ventilation grid in the roof.


Another bus had water stuck between the double glass, which made for a fascinating effect as it sloshed back and forth along with the acceleration of the bus.

The most notable driver I've ever seen was an elderly man, whos head was spasming all over the plass while driving. He had a steady hand, but his head not so much. Which made everything a tad bit disturbing.

Bad for business bakery

Being a baker has some benefits, but I'm not one so that point is a bit moot. At highschool I went to a course revolving around waiters and cooks. It was an interesting and uplifting experience. But entity l sure why I thought it was a good idea. Probably because someone said that chicks love a good chef. That year was an interesting one, a bit of a train wreck to be honest. I'm truly bad at obsessive studying and performing well at tests. There are two things I really recall quite clearly. One was the very repugnant and pudgy science teacher. She strutted around in a smelly t-shirt, whilst talking in a high pitched voice. She knew her stuff and did her best I suppose. But her body odour and breath was bad. Imagine the smell of compost, mixed with coffee and smelly sweaty arm pits. Mind you this is bad enough, but imagine having her in close proximity as she is helping you with the course work.

As bad as she was, there was this bakery I was to work at for a week to get some practical experience. Next to Puddefjord bridge in Bergen there is a tall, tall industrial office block. A building where many companies resides, among them a bakery near the top floor. For the most part the company made confectionery and sub baguettes. The place had problems and I did something really stupid. Not that stupid, but my delivery could be better though.

The place was anything but pristine. Various baking machine was placed across the floor, with a reception desk by the entrance. The wall opposite of the one with the windows had several long shelves, containing various ingredients and several construction tools in between. Yes this place had seen better days. In the middle of the shelves was a wardrobe with a humongous stack of empty bottles. Every inch was coated in a thin layer of flour. A fine white powder, which also extended to the rest of the location as well. I could practically skid across the floor. In order to store and move great quantities of baked goods about, several practically ancient wheeled shelves where used. Each one was brown by rust and made a horrid screeching sound as the personnel struggled to push it across the floor. The sounds emitted is up there with nails on a blackboard. Several of the floor titles were broken as well, however it was especially bad next to the cargo elevator. Where a crummy old sink was attached to the wall. The floor tiles where practically strained black by an unknown substance and damage which had built up over time. From what I could guess it was a mix of water damage and possible dirt. The various mixing machines had old pieces of dough attached to various rolling pins. The whole place stood out to me as a mockery of good hygiene practices. Would it hurt them to scrape and wash the machinery? Clean up the flour dust? Its only a fire hazzard and I'm sure people love old pieces of dough in their buns.

The stupid thing I did was to write a report, which I left out in the open. Which a disgruntled employee decided to read. But as we all know, humans hate criticism, especially from the new guy.
This is unacceptable he said as he threw my carefully penned paper into the rubbish bin. I got fired on the third day and my teacher was anything but pleased. Maybe I should have waited a couple of days before dropping the bomb, never the less, there was practically no consequences for me. Not a bad outcome I'd say, since it makes for a slightly interesting story.

Zaceron

Monkey King Cosplay WIP

Warriors Orochi is an interesting odd ball of a game, its a crossover between Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. Two very distinctive series with the same mash buttons and hordes goes flying, with a colorful cast of character from history. 

The monkey king is a very well known character from Chinese mythology. An insanely strong monkey man with an extendable cudgel he usually hide in his ear. He shows up in several moba games, such as Dota2, League of Legends, smite and many, many more. The character also shows up in various anime series and stories across the world or derivatives. Despite how well known and loved Wukong is. A great deal of the cosplay community has very little knowledge of him. Then again a lot of cosplayers have very little knowledge of series outside the ones they know of and will be very, very biased. Then gain so am I. My idea for a cosplay this time around is the Sun Wukong, the Monkey king, the one Goku is based on. In fact the basis for  Dragonballs story is based on a Journey to the West. Ironically a whole series about the legend of Monkey was released on Netflix, the day before the competition.

Despite this most people I know is willfully ignorant of this wonderful and whimsy story revolving around the character. Yet another obscure cosplay I have a brilliant plan behind, where the choices I make will be unknown to most people. Aside from this very blog. last weekend there was a lan known as Hordalan, where they held a cosplay and an outfit competition. Where I promptly lost to a woman with two lit lighters and a waving Disney princess. My dignity hurts badly, so to make up for this I will use my spite to make an even more awesome display, worthy of Wukongs legend. In the end he is a wushu monkey and I'm a wushu practitioner. Otherwise known as Kungfu, often associated with Hong Kong cinema and Bruce Lee. After all I am a professional, which means I have to make a better costume that I will use more than a day to complete. Whilst practicing monkey staff wushu. The art of acting like a monkey, climbing the staff and beating the living snot out of people. Hopefully it will not lead to such monkey business.

Anyhow the idea is to combine my skills at making professional looking and quality cosplay, while retaining movement and being comfortable in a hot location. Plus I can use it for wushu competitions and practice. I have a staff, a waistcoat and a not so magical headband. I'm more or less done with the arm guards, that only leaves the red part on the pants, painting and the leg bracers. 

On a side tangent, every one and their brother loves Worbla, that mythological thermoplastic that can be molded with heath. However it comes at a price, its expensive and usually requires a basic foundation to build on top of. The sheets of material acts a lot like dough, but to get to that point, it will become finger scorching hot. Which is why I found a glass of water very useful to have nearby. Especially when smoothing out some of the Worbla, since it's very warm.

Today I embarked on the first step of my cosplay. Recreating the red arm guards with black lining and gold decorations on. For those whom wants to make their own version, I have posted the schematics.Crafting an arm guards is a simple affair, especially this one since it only has a slight curve. The tricky part is the piece that goes above the knuckles. The 3D model only require two places to attach it and that's purely visual fluff. An actual set of these requires at least three and a joint strap as well. For this build to even work I have to attach straps from the knuckle guard to the underside of my palm. The pattern was traced onto cardboard, so I had a guide to use on the craft foam, which I eventually put a layer of Worbla on top. Like I mention earlier its a very simple build, with few tricky parts. The issue is simply comfort and accuracy. 

As usual I live stream the process and do a token effort to make a youtube video.

https://www.twitch.tv/zaceron

Here is the the clip from the 5 minutes long competition. 

Enjoy, Zaceron out.

#warriorsOrochi #wukong #monkeyking #mydignity #zaceron #sandcos #lol #dota #smite #cosplay #monkeyBusiness 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-eN-B81_fk&feature=youtu.be

Beijing on a Bicycle part 2

The summer palace was another interesting journey I went on while riding a bike in a random direction for fun. Because that is a thing I just do, explore, take pictures and have a great time. There are two places to visit when going there, first is a red leisure building. With a big open lot right after the gate, where my bike was totally out of place but had the whole are to itself. Further inside the lot I came to a red temple like building with a lovely koi carp pound with hanging weeping willows touching the surface. In front of the pool they serve tea, at a very steep price. I dare say its the most expensive cup of chamomile tea I have ever had in my life. It tasted okay, but in the end it was a regular cup of tea with refill. The establishment also allowed tourist to pay to pay for carp food, to feed the inhabitants of the pool with. At one point or another a family dropped by and the kids got a bit rowdy with the fishes it seemed and the mother somehow caught one with her hand when the staff was distracted. 

The fish died, though and she just quietly slipped it back into the water belly up. Unfortunately they did not like the idea of taking pictures inside the leisure hall so I have none of that. From what I can gather it was intended as a tea and scenery location, where the lord could paint or write poetry. I did not inquire too deeply into the purpose of such a lavish building. Another notable construct nearby is the stone boat which probably don’t float. This one is a case of you can watch but not touch. Not that the gray worn out building gave the impression of safe place to be. Then again it seems like most traveling people in china does take a lot of stupid risks here and there. Such as the man regarding the stone fence. 

While cycling along rural roads I also encountered seemingly mundane and ultimately forgotten thing very few will ever notice. Such as the wild growing cucumber hanging from a branch, or a tiny cramped cart with poultry. At one point I even found a Venus from Milo knockoff sculpture in the middle of an overgrown intersection, next to a traffic mirror. I get the distinct impression that maintenance is not very high on the list and thing just happens here and there and no one cares. This is especially true with some of the broken houses I bypass. Where its obvious that people live, but the walls are missing and the fence is just stacked bricks.

Beijing on a bicycle part 1

Trough Beijing on a bicycle was a very unique experience indeed. Norway has fairly strict traffic laws regarding traffic and very expensive drivers license test. The ability to cause a traffic jam on a three line road is absolutely mind boggling . Then again the one next to the pavement work as a parking spot, bike lane and the place where dangerous bus drivers stop. First of all never get a bike with no gears, dirt cheap from a local dealer. Especially the one residing on the Beijing sports university campus. Not only are they worn, weather logged and crap. They are horrible at getting up slopes. Yet i brought the bugger all over the place, through most of Beijing, Probably why I screwed up my knee in the first place. Anyhow, further down the street there where several legit bike shops, with better products. As far as transportation goes, any kind of vehicle is recommended, el bikes is a popular pick. Most of the city is just a series of big squares with houses on them, big boring blocks, with little or no personality. The outskirts on the other hand got some really nice rural spots, ruins and various other  places to see.


One of the places I went by I got greeted by a guard dog, it was a nice dog doing its job. The most remarkable part of the lot was the giant fence, grid structure. Essentially the place looked like the owner was trying to recreate the thunder dome. Surrounding the lot was fencing composed of rusted metal plates, the type that goes onto roofs, topped by several meters of metal grids. I suppose its made of the metal scaffolding going inside concrete buildings. Amusing but I did not dare to overstay my welcome. Never mess with barking dogs and angry owners. By following the stone along the drainage canal, I also came across a overgrown grassy lot, littered with stone ornaments. Mostly those Chinese lucky lions, with the curly eyebrows resting their paw on a ball.

The path also took me to some sort of ornate temple, probably belonged to someone important at one point or another. The place itself was remarkable, there was a big pole with cloudy patterns on it reaching for the skies with a lion on top. Outside the place was also a big dried up and worn fountain. Next to the stairs was several of those concrete lions, the ones with bushy eyebrows, whom rest their paws on balls. The place was clearly being used by someone judging from the laundry hanging to dry outside, in between the two staircases. The car was also a telltale sign. However I still enjoyed the scenery and the novelty of the site. Further down the road was a bridge, where someone hid a bike and in all likely hood a mattress as well. Some people are poor and some just like to rest during the day. But staying next to the aqueduct during the evening I would not recommend. The mosquitoes are vicious big and very intrusive, I know this because they kept assaulting my at night, at the forth floor. Plus I tend to run into swarms of those when cycling forward and unlike a car I did not have a wind screen.


Despite the shallow water and the likely hood of pollution, some locals where actually fishing up fish from the river, I'm quite surprised that none of those had three eyes.

#beijing #journey #travel #zaceron #beijingpictures #china #bike #bicyclechina #

Something different

An absolutely fantastic day if I say so myself. It was a rough night getting over hunger induced headache. The trick is regular snacks and sleep. After watching some religious zealots getting thoroughly slammed with logic. I dragged myself from the bed and for dressed. Eventually I got to the bus stop, only to realize that I forgot the bag I was going to deliver. With only five minutes to go I ran like the wind back down the man murdering steep hill and up again. It's an interesting feeling to be gaping for air, while the spleen works overtime. The telltale sign of being in very bad shape. Half way to town, some shady fellows in thick coats entered the ride. One was dressed like a hacker, with a cap on his head. He plopped down into a a seat, taking a swig from a water bottle, before he started waking towards the back of the bus. It was a surprise ticke t control, good thing I had paid. The first goal was to deliver one half of the Mercy costume to my beautiful blonde apprentice, in the art of cosplay. After a solid hug, I went elsewhere to meet with a friend of mine known as Enok, a man that is a model, reality star and viking to the max. With long flowing hair and a long beard. He has that nordic air about him, always dressed like he's going somewhere, with a trusty dolk at his side. Together we have several plans in the making. Including a video series about Bergen, a bite sized Bergen. We got greeted by one of the true personalities of the town. A very loud and round man, sitting by a cafe enjoying coffee and smoke. He wore a green beret, with sine few tufts v of white hair poking out at the side. Around his neck he wore a shiny handkerchief with a lot of color. Under his jacket he wore a white crumpled shirt, with yellow edges around the neck. Apparently he does theater, doll theater and instruct people in the art of making theater puppets. The perfect hearthy personality I just need to catch on camera, while he's still around. After all what is a town withoutpeople?
Eventually we sauntered of to a store that specialize in ecological products. Expressive but tasty non the less. Visiting Kinsarvik was a fun experience, since he came for an ecological apple and left with twenty chocolate bars, witch had all conveniently expired. Still good though, especially at half price.
After a long and interesting conversation, we sat down at a hotel bar, with a very nice glass painting ceiling that kept changing color. There we talked about the logo design for his nordic themed album, from a small indie band known as Rafnborg. It's very melodic and makes for some interesting ambience. We even worked out a custom rune font. But thats it for now. Onwards to tacos.

Zaceron