Lonely Echoes ...

Hey folks,

I know that you're reading the blog and I'm more than happy to continue documenting all the adventures I'm having ...

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Mae Govannen!

Herion

Preparing For Glory .... Part I: The Helmet

I got an email from JJ last night - my helmet is DONE!

I didn't get the Leonidas helmet since I'm not of royal blood ... (ducal, but not royal). Then again, I don't think the ancient Spartans had as big a noble hierarchy - king, queen, prince, princess and everyone else.

Being the masochist I am, I had told JJ to hold all the Spartiate items until he was done (helmet, greaves, sandals, and bracers) and then send them in one fell swoop. Depending on when the items are actually done and shipped, the pictures I could take are going to have to be indoor shots - it's gotten a bit too cold for outside shots. The shield itself is on another time track - along with the Boromir shield. I just wish I could give JJ the credit he deserves for making this stuff - he is a true artisan!!

Here are the shots - AMAZING!

Ethan Hawke? Me?

I did it. The cat's finally out of the bag. You're going to see my face. By some fortuitous turn of events, I was off this Halloween from work and also had plans to attend a rather expensive party that night and another on Saturday. I decided to go as Boromir in my full LOTR regalia. I didn't know if there was going to be any photographers present and I decided "What the hell. Let me take some pictures beforehand."

I must say, they were amazing. I think what really nailed it was the wig and facial hair. I'm not the tow-headed Sean Bean, but nevertheless, there was no doubt that I was the Captain of the White Tower. It blended in perfectly. I've posted a few on a Yahoo group and brought some into work. As I had said in my last entry, I've been getting compliments all of a sudden. I seem to be in a classic psychological feedback loop - the more compliments I get, the umm ... "friskier" I feel and act, which encourages more compliments, and so on. The responses to these pictures were definitely more emphatic:

• "Damn, is that YOU?"
• "You look so HOT in that outfit?"
• "I love a sexy man in armor!"
• "Do you know how f***ing sexy you are?"

I had one person tell me, "You look just like Ethan Hawke!" - that was a new one. I never thought of myself as movie-star handsome, but obviously I do bear a more than passing resemblance to the actor.

Here is a side-by-side:


and here are some shots of the two costumes: