August 18, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Extended Play

It's decided.

Aside from the cash, the consolation prize includes a free domain and hosting account for a year. Of course, I'll be keeping the money, the costume I made got me drained and almost brought me to the brink of being broke, but I'm awarding the domain freebie to the individual who wore, for me, the Best Costume last Saturday.

I'm giving it to...

Yes, it's you Kim.

Omedetou! You make use of it and have fun ;)

Ciao.

August 16, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 12: Final Episode

Our General Assembly and Cosplay Contest just concluded this evening and I must say that it was a total blast. We all enjoyed the theme of the program and jammed to the beat of our very own Sticky Bandits who played popular tunes from animes Bleach and Naruto.

I congratulate my friend Raffy M., who played V for Vendetta, for bagging the Best Costume Award.

But the recognition should go to everybody, for pouring their hearts out into this event, for sewing and gluing their way to attain the appearance of their favorite anime, cartoon, and silver screen characters, and most importantly, for showcasing the designers and artists in them.

I didn't go home empty-handed, for I'm one of the three finalists who were given consolation prizes.

Not bad.

Next in line for me? Probably rest, play video games, rest, play video games, rest, play video games, and rest while watching the coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

I deserve it. Having exhausted almost PHP 900.00 for my cosplay costume and spent 6 hours in the morning and 2 hours when I get home after work in the evening for 11 1/2 days, not even my birthday got spared, so there's no one in this world right now who deserves a rest more than I do.


And as for my costume, I'll preserve the helmet and the wrist blades in a glass encasement as testament of my hardwork and my love for art.


This is it, I am now ending this series of posts. I thank everyone who followed it, who curiously and persistently asked me what I'm going to wear, who lauded my costume, and who rooted for me.

Thank you guys and...

August 15, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 11: The Dreaded Dreadlocks

I am now in panic mode. With only one day left before the big event, fate seems to be having fun in giving me a hard time to find a suitable alternative to my character's hairdo.

Darn.

August 14, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 10: An Alphabet of Plans


Not all things will go your way.

Last night, this humbling fact smacked me again right in the head after my plan of using certain materials for my hair and suit looked too complicated to pull off. Good thing my impromptu back-up plans saved my arse and my costume.

Another problem bugged me this morning, when my costume malfunctioned while fitting it. I anticipated it before, however, I forgot to mention it to my mom. Gladly, she obliged after kindly asking her to fix it up.

I have evaded disaster after disaster, thanks to letters A to Z and M-O-M.

2 days more to go. I can't wait to see Fred Flintstone and his wife, Wilma in their flesh this coming Saturday. It'll be fun.

Ciao!

August 13, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 9 : It's a Family Affair

3 more days before our company General Assembly and Cosplay Contest.

3 more golds for Michael Phelps to surpass Mark Spitz's Olympic record of 7.

As headstart, I got up at 5:30 am to continue on my costume. I immediately jumped on the working table then did detail painting on my "upper body suit" while watching the live Beijing 2008 coverage. Keeping me entertained while I go on the tiring feat of finishing my costume before Saturday were the basketball match between China and Spain and the much-awaited finals of the Men's 200 meter Butterfly and the 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay, both featured the American swimming sensation, Michael Phelps. His quest for history energized me and amazingly, did the same to my mom and my brothers for they helped me make my costume. My mom already lent her hand yesterday after asking her to do the sewing (I don't have the patience for it) then this morning, two of my brothers gave assistance in making the props. It's a great relief, thus easing my burden as crunch time nears.

My decision not to disclose my costume prior to the event is intended to dissent from the usual for most of my colleagues already revealed the characters they are portraying and some preferred confusion by giving different answers when asked. For a change, I chose to make it top secret as possible...ei, surprises are always fun.

What I can offer are teasers, which are featured below:

August 12, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 7 and 8 : Happy Birthday and My Return To Duty and Blogging

I took a leave from work yesterday as well as a breather from blogging. I went to church then picked-up some groceries for our small gathering and raw materials for what else, my cos(mic) play costume (according to Amidalea, haha that gets me everytime...thanks for the comment).

I celebrated my 2__th birthday yesterday with my family and relatives, got stuffed (as special request, my mom cooked Chicken Afritada for me hmmm yummie) and watched the coverage of the Beijing Olympics beside my beloved Tatay Carding (my grandpa). It was simple but sharing it with the people closest to your heart never fails to make the simplest birthday parties wondrous.

That's my Tatay Carding, the best grandpa in the whole world

My cute niece A.M. doing the popular Angelina pose from Bubble Gang

After they left, I continued working on my costume. Almost all of the vital components had their paint jobs done yesterday morning so I only applied the finishing touches and the necessary details to give them this realistic look...


Oh, I forgot to tell you that I won't reveal my costume yet :P

For my dearest friends and SMSI colleagues, thank you for the heartwarming greetings. Ichi, I thank you for greeting me at exactly 12:00:01 of August 11 (you're the first one, I appreciate the thought and the effort), Ann, thank you for the Durian Pastillas, and Leo James aka Tambaliyok, thanks a lot for giving me a copy of the classic Dune 2 game, man you never cease to amaze me of your sheer resourcefulness. My fellow Stickymedians, I will top the ice cream treat next year, I promise you that.

Again,
Domo arigato gozaimasu!

August 10, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 6: Six More Days

Frankly, I just can't find the groove to update my blog right now. It's been a looong day, did maintenance check-ups on my PC this morning then had our weekly family gathering on my grandpa's house. Thankfully, my costume's head gear, breast plate, and weapon now only need their finishing touches. I feel fulfilled for such accomplishment, however, beneath me is this void, this feeling of incompleteness.

Maybe I'm just tired, spending most of the day making my costume's vital components drained me out plus the fact that I went to countless stores yesterday to purchase some raw materials for the costume or maybe because.........(sigh) I rather not discuss it here.

Tomorrow is my day. I will enjoy my one-day leave, I will celebrate with my family, I will thank the Almighty One for giving me a myriad of blessings, and I will have fun, yeah, I will.

August 9, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 5: 08-08-08, 0 and 8

It's the morning of day 5.

Last night, I hurriedly went home to watch the Beijing 2008 opening rites. The work shift that I'm in made me miss much of the program's best highlights, but replays are common especially for events like the Olympics so it's not the end of the world for me yet. Also, I was so anxious to check the condition of my costume's head gear, which I made yesterday morning. I left it for the glued tissue paper to dry and using this unfamiliar art technique gave me the uneasy feeling that it might turn out into a failure.

It was not.

I carefully poked the balloon's underside where the knot is located...pppfffffttttttt...the whole thing shriveled as the cracking sound of the hardened adhesive filled my room. It was a depressing sight, minutes tick then suddenly it stopped...amazingly, the balloon detached from the toughened layers of tissue and voila, in front of me is my costume's head gear.

In case you're wondering why I entitled my post 08-08-08, 0 & 8...

08-08-08 - the start of the Summer Games in Beijing.


0 - the shape of my cosplay costume's head gear (below is its appearance after the balloon was removed).


8 - Kobe Bryant, my favorite NBA player's old jersey number (now he wears 24). I share to you a short feature on how he was received by the crowd inside the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.

This was the oddity of the night. Behind the Chinese president and the entire national team, the one athlete who appeared to get the loudest ovation was none other than Kobe Bean Bryant. The moment was so odd that even U.S. journalists were looking at each other in puzzlement. The Russian, Chinese and American presidents were here, but Kobe was the head of state tonight.
There you have it. I will now return to the uphill task of finishing my head gear. It is certainly the hardest component to make but if I could pull it off, everything will be A-ok onwards our General Assembly and Cosplay Contest a week from now.

August 8, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 4: Huffin', Puffin' and Makin' the Head Gear

It's Day 4.

The laziness is gone and now I'm fueled with the fixation of getting this thing started with. I got up early, my alarm was set to 5:30 am (it woke me up, thankfully). Still a bit dozy, I turned on my PC to check my towns in Ikariam and greet someone a wonderful morning and a co-worker a happy birthday. After having a taste of my perpetual addiction (spelled as c-o-f-f-e-e), I took a shot of our cute bunch of Japanese Spitzes, who gave me the privilege of capturing them sleeping together then prepared the things I need for making the first piece of my costume, the Head Gear.

(from L-R) baby Ilaga, big bro Fulgoso & hot mama Akang

This is no cooking show.

I saw this on Disney's Art Attack (I should get my own TV show entitled, Ant Attack...funny...ho ho...)

I let the tissue-caked balloon dry after four coatings. I used paintbrush and glue mixed with water (they use PVA glue on Art Attack but it's not available here unfortunately).

I hope it works. (crossin' my fingers)

August 7, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 3 (cont.): The Master of Santōryū

As my favorite of favorite anime characters, the master of the three-sword style is automatically one of my top choices for the cosplay. I present you the green-haired, sense of direction-lacking, and hypersomniac swordsman of the Strawhat Crew...

3. Roronoa Zoro


Pros:

  • It is an honor to don the get-up of my favorite anime character, Roronoa Zoro, for the cosplay.
  • The costume is awesomely kick-a_s.
  • Zoro's clothing and the props to use (swords and goggle) are easy to find.
Cons:
  • The green hair.
  • Talking with a sword in my mouth.
The Challenge:
  • The green hair posed a problem but it could be covered with a black bandanna as part of Zoro's trademark costume of white T-Shirt, black pants, and a green obi (above was his gear during the Skypiea Arc, which is cooler).
  • Learning ventriloquism. (hahaha)
The Verdict:
  • My best substitute if the going gets tough. Sadly, though he's one of the most popular One Piece characters around, only few of my colleagues would recognize him for majority are Naruto fanatics, even the girls. If only they could find in their hearts that my One Piece has the best story, moral lesson, animation, and fighting sequences (pweaceeeee...).
I'll continue with the list next time, probably a day or two after this or whenever I feel lazy again.

On my future posts (clues) will be a giant robot dreaded by the former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and a murderous, cunning clown who loves to toy with flying rodents. As bonus, I will also feature the recipients of honorable mention awards, from the downright hilarious to the more expensive concepts of cosplay costumes. Till then, ciao!

My Cosplay Costume - Day 3 (cont.): Japan's First Ever Cartoon Ambassador

I came to the office a bit early so having few minutes to spare, I'll continue on the list of my costume runner-ups.

Next is none other than everyone's favorite cat...

2. Doraemon

Pros:

  • The idea is a sure click since everyone knows Doraemon.
  • The costume could come handy as a source of income since I can entertain kids on birthday parties. (hahaha)
Cons:
  • I don't know where to find the fabric to use for the costume.
  • I'm no expert in sewing and hiring a tailor is a financial catastrophe.
  • Looking like this guy...
The Challenge:
  • Making the humongous round head will be very difficult.
  • Having the guts of pulling-off a Doraemon cosplay costume.
  • People will be asking where Nobita is. (lolz)
The Verdict:
  • Failed. I think it is just too complicated, well the idea of using it as a source of income by acting as a mascot is fun and tempting but based on experience, I don't wanna get sucker-punched by brats on my jewels.
It is just now that I knew this furry robo-cat from the future is Japan's first ever anime ambassador. Who would have thought that the mischievous robot feline, the brain child of cartoonist Fujiko F. Fujio, will be representing the Land of the Rising Sun's world of animation, amazing isn't it?

Congratulations, Doraemon!

My Cosplay Costume - Day 3: One Laaazzyyy Thursday Morning and The Space Sheriff

"It's why I'm easy...easy like Thursday mornin'..."

(yawn) The sloth disease hit me after waking up, all my muscles are unwilling to do anything except for my usual hygiene rituals, drink a cup of coffee while having a chit-chat with my folks, and sit infront of my PC. The only significant thing I did was making a call to a very special person (wink). Supposedly, I'll be making the "head gear" for my costume but I feel so laaazzzyyy plus I have a cough, which I just noticed this morning and I'm a bit feverish, probably caused by the messed up weather in our city.

Well, the good thing is, despite my condition, I feel like writing so I'll just talk for the meantime about my previous ideas for the event's costume. Well, they somehow failed to make it as my final choice but still, they are worthy of discussion and like pageants, there is a sole winner and there are runner-ups, which will be presented shortly.

Here is the first one that came across my mind:

1. Shaider

Pros:
  • Shaider looks cool.
  • If worn, the tokusatsu and metal hero legend would easily be recognized by some of my colleagues who caught the airing of the show.
Cons:
  • The laser blade-wielding space sheriff is not an anime character (it was not stated before that costumes shouldn't be necessarily anime characters, which is the main theme for the cosplay)
  • If worn, those who haven't seen his adventures on TV might mistake me for Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan, the lame Philippine spin-off of the series (toinkz). That would be embarrassing.
  • Get sucked by the Time Space Warp. (lolz)
The Challenge:
  • The suit is obviously a great challenge plus to make it more convincing, my plan was to use LEDs for the armor.
  • Too many colors (paint is expensive).
  • It would be great to have someone dress up as Annie, the space sheriff's sidekick (in her miniskirts, of course weee).
  • Imitating his pre-battle poses.
The Verdict:
  • Failed. Not entirely due to the difficulty of making the armor but it's more on the fear of being ridiculed as Zaido that sealed the fate of the popular tokusatsu superhero.
I still don't have the juice of getting my hands on the project but well, I think I'm ahead of schedule so I have all the time to feature the rest of the runner-ups. Stay tuned. (yawn)

August 6, 2008

My Cosplay Costume - Day 2: Secret...just check out my blog

I went this afternoon to a local store that sells a varied array of products that include floormats, materials for sandals and shoes, ropes, adhesive materials, screens, and plasticware to buy chipboards for my costume. My blog won't be complete without photos so I took a picture of the establishment but unfortunately, my shot was a total disaster. Afraid that I might alarm the guard and could not think of a valid reason why I took a picture of their building (It's for our science project err I lurve your store soooo much uh not convinced eh, honestly it's for my blog...oh, you don't know what a blog is...geez I guess I'm busted) , my trembling nerves got me this...

My futile effort as an investigative show correspondent

Here are the materials I bought from the store and an office supplies shop:

Thank you chipboards! You made the curious increase the traffic for this blog.

2 chipboards (14.50) = 29.00
2 all-purpose glue (18.75) = 37.50
PREVIOUS EXPENSES = 29.50
TOTAL = PHP 96.00

Tomorrow morning, I'll start making my "head gear" as what I've mentioned. Till then, ciao!


My Cosplay Costume - Day 1: Hello Again Blogosphere, Goodbye P29.50

Last night, I had this radical idea of documenting how I'm going to come up with my cosplay costume for our upcoming company general assembly 10 days from now. I don't know but it just struck me, maybe I just missed my days as a student where I got to make art projects for myself and also for my classmates...and crushes (eyes rolling) to impress them (ahhh the good old days) or maybe I'm writing it down because this project is for my first ever cosplay event and for it to become memorable, I decided to make a reality tv-like approach on the steps I'll take on making my gear for the event. Also, this probably would bring my mojo back for blogging, it left me three months ago, making a day-to-day account of something I lurve to do, which is art, surely is a great way of reigniting my passion of writing for the blogosphere.

First off, let me talk about our company's general assembly. Prior to this one, it is held monthly on the rooftop of the building where our office is located, now it's scheduled as a quarterly event wherein all employees gather to hear updates from all departments, know the company's present state and future projects, witness the hidden talents of colleagues, and devour, of course on the food, whether it's the monotonous bread with meat stuffing from the nearby bakeshop or the always inviting merienda treats (afternoon snack) as what we call it here in our humble country. The only difference right now is that aside from the fact that some are eager on showcasing their talents (calling out my colleagues, who wants to participate in a dance number?), it will now be held on a prestigious hotel in the city, unless there are changes on the program proper. Most of all, we are looking forward on what costumes to flaunt for the event, simple or daring, cheap or pricey, we are excited for this is certainly new to us, that's why we are pumped up, so pumped up that there is already a Google search spree in the office for costumes of anime and cartoon characters, superheroes, and hopefully, scantily-clad femmes and hopefully not, topless green creatures (Sor, I'm talking about you). The rewarding thing is there's a grand prize for the best costume as well as consolation for runner-ups but there's a catch, they were not disclosed - Everyone, scream "WE WANT 5 DIGITS!!!". Sir Jeeds, I hope you're reading this hehehe.

I demand a date with Tanduay's calendar girl Ehra Madrigal for the advertisement.

I will now start writing about my costume. See that image on my monitor, that's what I'm going to make - uh uh uh...of course I won't reveal the costume I'll be wearing, much more show to you in full detail the "character" I picked for the event. There will be hints along the way, I can't avoid that but I assure that you're going to have a hard time figuring it out, I don't want to kill the suspense you know. I will also record the items I will use and their prices as well so I could keep track of my expenses. Yesterday I bought:

It's not what you think it is

2 balloons (7.50 each) = 15.00
1 pack 2-ply bathroom tissue = 14.50
DAY 1 TOTAL EXPENSES = PHP 29.50

That's it for now. I'll be leaving in a short while to avail additional raw materials. Supposedly, I should have been busy making the "head gear" but I did not notice that I ran out of glue, bummer...so I guess it has to wait for another day. Thanks a lot to Nana for keeping me company. Till then, ciao!