Bling: Impossible

This doesn't occur to me often. Sometimes I buy something just because I want it. Price doesn't matter. The last time this happened was when I passed by a store on Lexington Avenue and I saw a tie in the window. It was a hand-painted pastel stripe over a silk damask background. And that was over 15 years ago. When I got my Amex statement at the end of the month, my jaw dropped open. But damn, it was worth it.

This time it was cufflinks. And this time, I had them commissioned. Maybe it's been a delayed reaction to 9/11, but for a while, I've been thinking about the way timbers or metal beams fall when a building is razed. It appears to be chaotic, but I think there is some underlying organization to the fall and placement of the debris field itself.

Of course, there's no one else I'd trust with such an undertaking other than Russ. This definitely falls into the skill category of:

We decided early on this was another one of those projects that would need his 3D fabrication technology, so we started work with some conceptual designs in CAD.

The first ones looked mightily impressive. However, the images I saw on the screen were not exactly what I had pictured in my head. They were more regular - still chaotic, but everything with nice sharp corners and edges. I asked him if he could do a version somewhat more jumbled, which of course he obligingly did.

When I saw what I thought I wanted, I was disappointed. Leave to Russ to know me better than myself - his original design with the sharp edges appealed more to me. I gave him the go-ahead to start. We also discussed changing the stone from amethyst to a deep green topaz - the type of stone that everybody assumes what an emerald should look like.

Fast-forward four months later ...

I hold the objects of my obsession in my hands and they are jaw-droppingly amazing. I can't believe that they are real. I wasn't kidding when I said "Bling:Impossible" - these beauties are the result of a set of five artisans - jewelers, fabricators, CAD draftsmen and laser welding experts - coming together to produce something that is reminiscent of some of M.C. Escher's perspective art combined with the beauty and delicacy of European crown jewels (think of some of the Faberge masterpieces brought forward in time and with clean modern lines).

When Russ made the Mede-Killer pendant for my '300' outfit, I jokingly said he needed a new nom de guerre - the Choodler - since he was "chewing over some ideas and doodling." The name brought with it overtones of super-villainy combined with madly demented industriousness.

Another nickname is more than well-deserved in this case - because of the sheer volume of art, craft, magick and incredible workmanship put into these pieces. I think this passage from The Silmarillion suits him quite well:

For Feanor, being come to his full might, was filled with a new thought ... then he began a long and secret labour, and he summoned all his lore, and his power, and his subtle skill; and in the end of all he made the Silmarils...

As three great jewels they were in form ... Like the crystal of diamonds it appeared yet was more strong than adamant ... that crystal was ... the house of it's inner fire, that is within it and yet in all parts of it, and is its life ... the Silmarils of their own radiance shone like the stars of Varda; ... they rejoiced in light and received it and gave it back in hues more marvelous than before.

We also had decided that given the scope of this endeavor, we needed to do some "rock star" type of shots to showcase the cufflinks and the amazing detail put into them. Many thanks to Don West for modeling and Randy "Captain Smashy" Hearne for doing the photoshoot.

I'd like to speak more on the process and setup for these links, but I will let the master expound upon it on his site.

In closing, I can only think of one word to sum up this incredible, Feanorian work of art:

OMFG

Preparing for Glory ... Part IV: The Aspis

The what?

The aspis is actually the correct term for the shield carried by Leonidas and his soldiers, not a hoplon.

As I had mentioned, I had asked JJ to do the shield after I had originally commissioned the Spartan armor. Due to the fact that the vambraces needed a bit of back-and-forth alterations, the present weather was not conducive for me to take shots in nothing but a bit of metal, leather and a thin red cloak. I will just have to wait until spring when it's a bit warmer to take the outside shots.

I got a call from JJ sometime in mid-December telling me that the shield was nearly done. When it was done, he sent final shots before boxing it up and sending it to me. Again, JJ outdid himself in terms of the quality and sheer detail he puts into his work.

The front:


and the back:


I got the aspis on December 24th - what a wonderful Christmas present! It feels incredibly good and balanced in the hand - just like one of his swords.

JJ based the suspension closely on the movie shields, both from studying both the "behind the scenes" featurettes and also the Leonidas action figure. In the movie they used what appeared to be a canvas half-tube riveted to the back of the shield for the arm; the action figure uses what appears to be vinyl. He used stout leather for the half-tube and welded brackets to the inside of the shield, then bolted the half-tube to the brackets (avoiding having rivet heads showing on the front side of the shield). The bolts are covered by pieces of suede to make them look less obtrusive/old-fashioned, not modern. The handle appeared to be of metal (a rigid handle and not a strap) so he made one of steel that he welded to the inside of the shield.

And a movie factoid:

There's a part early in the '300' film that you might recall where young Leonidas is sitting with his father and they're looking at a spartan shield; the father knocks on the shield with his fist, and it makes a deep ringing metallic noise. During the commentary, one of the guys asks the director if that was a real shield because it made that noise, and the director says something like, "Oh, no the shield is plastic, we had to add the sound in post production." Well, MY shield really makes that cool sound without added sound effects, because it's metal.

Bring on those Persians!!!

Untucked

Old habits die hard.

I've finally decided to do something that would have a number of my former elementary and high school teachers spinning in their graves at a rate that could power the country for a few decades.

I'm going to wear my shirt untucked (at least on some casual occasions).

Yep - it's amazing what baggage gets picked up during eight long years of catholic elementary school and four years of catholic high school.

They would be APPALLED. Absolutely horrified. The fabric of the cosmos is being torn asunder as I write this entry.

It all began in second grade with Sister Jane (more like BDSM Mistress Jane - now looking back) in getting us little ones ready for first Holy Communion. The primary order barked at us was "Keep those fannies off the seat!", followed closely by "Tuck in that shirt!" (we also had to perform standing, sitting and kneeling based on the number of 'clicks' the evil woman demanded of us with her Holy Hand Clicker of Antioch).

The "Tuck!" command was not aimed at me - but the commandment insinuated itself deep into my subconscious - "Thou shalt never wear thy shirt outside of thy pants!"

Along with a number of changes this 2008, I decided to try the forbidden fruit ... during a friend's holiday party, I wore a white shirt and jeans with a hoodie and by God, it felt marvelous! The fact that those shirttails were peeking out beneath the hoodie not only looked great, but felt great too!

Decadent. Wickedly sinful. Depraved. I can see Mephistopheles rubbing his hands together in glee.

I wonder if this is what Eve felt when she took that first bite ...

So this adds yet another notch on the belt of iniquitous things I've done this year.

Poor Sister Jane. I've succumbed to temptation at last.

And my fanny is firmly on the seat when I kneel.

Geek Break IV: Symbolic Math to the Rescue ...

For those of you that have been following the blog, I wanted to dispel any possible notions that after becoming adept at swordwork and archery, AND slimming down, AND being mistaken for a male model AND reveling in the rather chilly Spartan costume (pics to come!), that my IQ has somehow dropped into the two digit range and is more in line with my waist measurements.

Consider:

which makes me think of a discourse involving Rene Descartes. Exasperated, he shouted at the offending oaf:

"X-squared + Y-squared equals one ... therefore, God exists. Refute That!"

'Nuff said.

The Anla'shok

It's done!

The last piece of the puzzle - a stylized belt buckle - was completed by Russ and was promptly shipped to Andrea for attachment to the belt/baldric.

Then I got it. Along with the rest of the outfit. Andrea performed her magic once more and I cannot believe how beautiful and comfortable the outfit is. Well, yes I can. After all, it is Andrea's work!

As to the details of the outfit:

The shirt - Andrea made a black twill body with the checked chevron lower sleeves and a brown/tan cowl. We were also able to find a dark brown, shimmery type of ribbon that edges the chevrons.

The tunic - an oatmeal-colored tunic with brown/tan striped inserts at the throat that highlight the cowl and serve as a base for the baldric. Again, we used the shimmery brown ribbon as highlights on this piece

The baldric/belt - one of the most incredible pieces of work Andrea has done to date. Dark brown material with the shimmery ribbon highlights, plus all the extra work she had done with attaching the belt buckle from Russ. I had asked him for something that incorporated some Minbari-ish sweeping curves with some Vorlon-ish organic elements. He did a beautiful job!

Here's a funny story - my buddy Tom and I are always talking that in modern society, it is extremely difficult to be decadent. Frivolous, self-indulgent or gauche, maybe, but not decadent. The ancient Romans had that perfected to an artform that we seem to have lost. Perhaps the last whiff of decadence was the Weimar Republic in the early twentieth century. My ring of Barahir was not considered decadent - that was an "investment". However, when he saw the custom sterling silver buckle (now remember, this buckle is about 5" square - it's HUGE!) with the mitsuro sculptured nebula and carved White Stars - and the price I paid for it - his eyes widened and he grinned. "You've done it - you've hit the low end of decadent." Woo-hoo!

The pants - are my leather swordmaster pants from Reg at Ravenswood Leather. I used these in my Aragorn costume. I liked the juxtaposition of lace-up leather pants in a twenty-third century Ranger, and to follow J. Michael Straczynski's homage to Lord of the Rings.

I love Russ' comment - "I have to say it. I really respect a man who can pull off leather pants."

The boots - my Han Solo boots from Caboots. These are wonderfully comfortable and go with so many periods and costumes.

The robe - again, going with canon, this is a long flowing robe with a black yoke and the patterned panels around the sides. It was a real pain to find the triangular fasteners, but we did! It turned out that combining two fasteners together was perfect! There was also a bit of "origami"-type folding work to get the back yoke properly placed.

And so, I have another wonderful outfit thanks to my material and metallic muses - Andrea and Russ!

Thanks guys!

Addendum:

I happened to go to a small con earlier this month as my Minbari Ranger. I received quite a number of compliments on the outfit. The best thing was, I had this one guy that kept staring at me from across the room. He finally came over and said, "I can't believe how f***ing incredible the badge and the belt look. That is what they should have been if we had had a bigger budget."

It was Dark Hoffman - one of the property masters who actually worked on the Babylon 5 series!!!

Wow! How's that for life imitating (and vastly outdoing) art!!!!