Monday, July 28, 2008

Tybee Island Pirate Festival Parade

The Black Bunny crew is officially walking in the Pirate Fest parade. All we have left to do is sign the Waiver forms and fax them back to the TybeeFest office - but we have a little time for that to get done.

So crew, check your calendars and see if you can make it October 9 - 12; especially a certain Quartermaster whose birthday falls on October 11th! I'll have the waivers with me at Dragon-Con.

The Captain!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Weekend!

Just a quick update. I sewed most of the weekend. I was at Jesse's but with no Jesse. It's strange (and oh so empowering at the same time) having the house all to myself (evil grin).

Primarily, I worked on the corset. I have the coutil cut and sewn together. Put in all 19 bone casing and have the lining cut and ready to sew. All I have left to do is sew the lining together, baste the lining and countil layers together and cut the leather. Then I hand it off to Darrell.

Here are the pattern pieces:
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I'll post more later.

OK, long story short. I don't do purses. I do wallets - the kind you carry in your back pocket. The problem is most of these wallets can be very boring. I don't like boring. So, I have figured out how to sew my own. The exterior will be black duck (the fabric) and I have been looking for a real bright, obnoxious plaid for the interior but cannot seem to find any. So, I was at Hobby Lobby Saturday morning and ran across these 2 fabrics for a possible interior.

Just for the Disney Wallet:
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But my FAVORITE is this one. I can get real creative with this one:
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Here are a couple of closer shots:
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Gotta go. It's Late. I'm tired.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Pirate Party at Dragon Con


If we can still stand after the Costume Contest......

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Olivia

Here is the picture of Olivia from the Ronald McDonald House yesterday...

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Stars Wars and Disney

Yesterday was a busy day. It started early (for a Saturday) at the Ronald McDonald House up near Emory. The 501st was doing a small 'Meet & Greet' at 11 am. It was a small turn out of troops and a smaller turn out of people.

Steve, Liz, Jesse and Chuck were there. That equates to a Biker Scout, Dark Jedi, and two TK's. Darrell was the photographer and I stuck to the background taking my own few pictures.

They met several people but I will always remember Olivia.

In the foyer, they met Olivia. I don't know how old Olivia was. I guess between 6 and 10. She was in a wheelchair with a mask over her face, had little hair and clung to her teddy bear. Her mom wheeled her in front of the crew and took her picture. The only thing she said was her name when her mother asked. I guess I was most touched by the fact her mother told us that we were the first people she had met outside the house. She was recovering from a transplant surgery. I didn't get a picture of Olivia. Her mother and Darrell were taking pictures and I decided that was enough camera flashes for her deal with. As soon as I can get one of Darrell's pictures, I'll post it. In the meantime, here are some of my pictures from the event.



The staff also gave us a tour of the entire House. It is a nice place but needs a few more things. When we were about to leave, they were kind enough to give each of us a luggage tag with the Ronald McDonald House logo. I know it sounds silly, but I really do treasure that tag.

Next, it was off to lunch as Jason's Deli with Darrell, Jesse, Steve and Liz. After lunch, Jesse headed home and the rest of us headed to Gail K's. The BEST fabric store in Atlanta. Darrell and I picked up linen for pirate costumes.

From there it was to Snellville to see WALL-E. It is an amazing movie on so many levels. The pre-cartoon was fantastic as well - of course, it had a bunny kicking a magician's butt! And I will have to agree with Liz. Moe is so much like Jesse, "Foreign Contaminant'.Jesse, you'll just have to see the movie :)

Friday, July 18, 2008

CREW ANNOUNCEMENT: Tybee Island Pirate Festival 2008

Finally, the Black Bunny Crew will be able to make it! This is the first year that our Halloween Disney trip didn't fall at the same time as the Pirate Festival!

With that being said, the really good news is, thanks to our Bo'sun, we have a (practically) free beach house on Butler Street (1 block from the beach and 3 blocks from the pier) for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. We would be responsible for the cleaning fee - $100.00. The house has 5 beds. I know 2 are kings and there are a couple of doubles and then there is the floor space.

So, now I need to know who is in and who is out. I want to make sure there is a good turnout for the Black Bunny so let me know as soon as possible if you can / want to make it!

The plan is to walk in the Pirate Parade and generally drink, wench and carouse the whole weekend. I'll let you know more about that as I find out.

Your Captain!
(Who is lovin' her Bo'sun right now!)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Birthday Dinner at Nicola's

Sorry for the delay in Posting but it was a busy weekend and I still haven't caught up on everything!

The dinner at Nicola's was great. There were 17 people there and the food was delicious as always. While most everybody had been to Nicola's before, there were a few newbies and I think we now have them hooked. That always seems to happen when you take people to Nicola's; they always want to go back!

It was a full house on Saturday. There was our group of 17, another group of 20 for a birthday, a group of 25 celebrating an upcoming marriage and the faithful few that wander in just for a good dinner.

I have posted some of the pictures but the video I have is better. I'll have to look into getting that out on the blog next....

Enjoy!


Friday, July 11, 2008

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

We all congregated at the Vortex on Peachtree Street last night at 9pm for dinner before going to see the 12:01am showing of HellBoy II: The Golden Army. Considering it was late (at least for me, for dinner), it was pretty crowded. I had called ahead to let them know a party of 10 would be there at 9pm but when it got down to the actual time, there were only 8 of us. They seated us pretty quickly. The meal was delicious as always! It was a little loud but it improved immensely when the excited, high-pitched yuppie and his female friends in the booth beside us left. Of course, true to form, I forgot to take my camera in the Vortex. Oh well, next time.

We left the Vortex around 10:30pm and headed over to the Regal Hollywood 24. We all just hung out in front of the theatre waiting for Darrell's brother and Mario. Darrell's brother showed just after we did but at 11:30p, Mario was no where to be seen.

Here is the motley crew (minus me and Mario) in front of the Theatre.

L-R: Meridith, Mick, Josh, Darrell, D-Tag, Neil, Liz and Steve.

D-Tag decided to wait outside for Mario while the rest of us headed inside. Neil and I grabbed a spot in line while everyone else was running around. When we got inside, we staked out 1/2 a row about mid-way up; really good seats.

They started playing low-key previews early while everyone was wandering in and out. Finally, our whole crew made it into the theatre. At midnight, the place was pretty crowded and people really had to search for seats. Then they darkened the theatre for the real previews. The ones I remember were for a movie called 'Blindness' and 'The Clone Wars'.


*****SPOILER ALERT!!!!******
It took me a few minutes to warm up to the movie. The child Hellboy looked odd to me, but it was good to see Father again. The bedtime story in this scene gave The Golden Army background. The visuals were interesting. I wasn't sure about them in the beginning but the more I think about it, the more it liked it.

The treatment of the Elves was done very well. They were very pale and had pointy ears but they were not shown frail in any way. Nor were they portrayed as having an ethereal quality. Their eyes were fantastic.

I loved the tooth-fairies. They were nasty, evil little buggers.

The entire design of the Angel of Death and that scene where Liz has to answer the question was fantastic. I believe it is a more pivotal scene that most people realized.

But my all time favorite, with no exception, it Abe and Red drinking beer and singing “Can’t Smile Without You” by Barry Manilow. By the end of the scene, Abe and Red are both completely trashed. It was hysterical.

I’ll stop now, even though I have told you some of the best parts.

*********SPOILER ALERT OVER!!!!************

It was a good time had by all. I was a little worried about Josh staying awake to get home – he had been up 21 hrs but he assured me everything was fine.

Today is recovery and whatever Darrell wants to do. Today is his actual birthday. Tomorrow night we eat and dance at Nicola’s and I won’t forget the camera!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Tonight starts Darrell's Birthday Celebration.


We are headed to the Votex on Peachtree for a late dinner.


Our next stop in the 12:01am showing of Hellboy II: The Golden Army at the Hollywood Regal 24 in Chamblee.

I cannot believe 8 crazy people are actually going to see a movie at 12:01am on a Friday morning. It should be a blast!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Dragon Con Map 2008

This is a Handy-Dandy Google Map of all things Dragon Con. The four major hotels are listed: Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and Sheraton, along with other points of interest.





View Larger Map


Things to take special note of:

(1) The Parade Route in Marked with a RED LINE.

(2) Trader Vic's (Thursday night dinner) is located at the HILTON.

(3) The best parking is marked with the PURPLE THUMBTACK. On the map, it is located just South of the Marriott Marquis. The entrance is off of Peachtree Center Ave NE. This is a one-way street heading NORTH. This is a deck that fills quickly. There is a walkway from the deck to the habi-trail Food Court, from there you can get to the Hyatt or Marriott without ever walking on the street.

There are lots of other good stuff too. Take a look and I hope it helps!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

OK, so this isn’t exactly piratey but I couldn’t help it! In my other life, when not pirating, I sew.

Many moons ago, I did lots of costuming. I was the Costume Director for the Georgia Renaissance Fair for several years; I costumed the Knights of Pendragon Joust, the Zucchini Brothers and costumed some plays at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern. As I said, that was many moons ago. After all that, I was burnt out. I had absolutely no desire to sew. Over the past few years, I’ve slowly gotten back into it.

On of the costumes I was asked (ok, I volunteered) to work on was what I affectionately call the Dominatrix Padme. So, I’ve been working with the corset pattern and I was able to put the boned mock-up on our Padme this past weekend.

Now, she won’t be laced up this tight for the costume but it was nice to see what a real corset can do. Before the corset went on, she has a 32” waist. After tightening several times, she was at a 28”.

What ‘cha think?


First lacing.....Last lacing.....