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.

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