Update: "End of June update; Part 1"

Well dear reader the month of June has passed, and I am once again giving an update.

This one is pretty photo heavy, so you might want to get a drink and relax before going on.

Of Trips...

The last four weeks have been a whirlwind for me; essentially being on the road all four weeks travelling between Indianapolis, Columbus, and Kenosha  for work related issues.

However it has given me some interesting travel ideas.

Downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin is slowly growing on me like a foot fungus that won't be treated. There's a certain "Weird charm" to the city, that I really can't put my finger on.  A good portion of the town is just crying "Pulp Adventure".

One of these is "Yees Oriental Inn", aka "The Chop Suey Palace".

Yeps...that's an electric/neon sign that shines in the darkness of night, advertising "Chop Suey"...

And another "sign"...Could this just be a sign for Tsingtao beer, or could it be a symbol for something much more "sinister"?....

 I'll admit, this place fascinates the hell outta me.

It's a longtime establishment down near the waterfront, (go figure), and it's one of those places that lots of locals say "Oh yeah, I know the place, and no I've never been there."

I had driven by it a few times and one afternoon was just curious and hungry, so, "adventure (and chop suey), here I come!"

Walking into the place, it's like a setup from the 1950's. There's a bar to the immediate left. (I need to get pics of this), and then you walk around the divider on the right and into the restaurant.

They are always, ALWAYS advertising "Help Wanted" for a dishwasher.

But the menu is pleasant...

  

I find it interesting that he continues with the name "Oriental", as today it's considered pretty "UN-PC", and to some folks, is actually "offensive". But hey...to each their own.

One of the more fascinating things in this place is the retro-ish, (but probably original), plastic "glass" beads and gems style divider hanging from the ceiling., (and yes ou can see part of the bar in the back)...

You can see part of the bar in the background...

It's a nice joint to get a drink, a quick meal, or to get shanghaied in....

What's a pseudo-Chinese joint without screen dividers?...

Or illuminated by genuine 110-120 Volt  "Chinese Lanterns"? 

Needless to say I ordered their special for lunch; The Beef Chop Suey with Eggroll; and they brought out this:

Being the hungry cad that I was I dived into it. But I also decided on a special treat.  Being a pulpy sort of place, I wanted a "Pulpy Style" sort of drink, so I looked through the small (and dated), cocktail menu and made the decision on a Singapore Sling:

Choices any good fella should like. No modern day froo-froo stuff here. This is good old fashioned froo-froo.

Mmmm....tasty!

I'll admit, the chop suey was very tasty and it didn't last long around me...

So yeah,. Yee's was a good place to delve into some Chinese chow, (and I don't mean the dog!). I've noticed also that there is a back counter towards the rear in which "Mrs. Yee" also sells "jewelry".  

But while in Kenosha, the hotels were full, so I ended up in Milwaukee at the Crown Plaza and of all things...sharing a hotel with a psychic  um..."Evidential Spiritual Medium"...(whatever the hell that really is, other than scam).

Funny, with a name like Morning Star, I am not sure if she is going with the new agey stuff, the "pseudo Native American" angle, or just happens to be named after a piece of Medieval Weaponry. That picture makes her look like she is more ready to do a morning aerobics class than contacting the spirits of the dead....but hey...Who am I to judge?

Even though I wanted to check it out, I didn't have time.

But sitting at the bar, I did some reading...

Yes, a recent copy of "Toy Soldier Porn"...

And of course I bought some more figures. Mostly Fantasy this time...

 

 

 

 

     

As you can see I made a big purchase on Reaper stuff.

So it seems that I am okay on the "Female" gender and class stuff for RPGS. Now I just have to get some more cannon fodd...errr...I mean "males".

But while perusing I did pick up some of the LOTR stuff also:

Kings of Men...always need some type of "Royalty" figure to cause issues....

And of course, this...

Yeah...this thing is trouble with a capital "T"....

And finally I ended up picking up the rest of the Tamaya clears (thanks to the suggestion of Wyatt D. Odd), and with that, I got ready to get home and paint, (IF I got home)....

More to come...including painting figures and other projects!!!

Update!: Of figures and paint, and things of this hobby....

June is upon us already and moving into the second week!

Egads!

Okay dear readers this post is a little long and pic heavy, so you might want to get yourself a drink and relax before going on.

OF WORK and FIGURES.... (Part 1)

So there I was...

In the last two weeks, I have been doing quick dash about roundabout trips to my other two sites to coordinate shipping out some equipment and making things happen.

This has given me a chance to do some brainstorming while driving, and while up at each site, to hit a  local game store and see what it is that they have on their shelves.

And that usually means making purchases.

The first one was "The Soldiery" up in Columbus.

I'll admit it right here and now, I really, really, want to like this store, as it has so much of that "80's game store feel to it; (all the way down to the Index Card taped to the counter where it states in BIG, BOLD, BLACK LETTERS: "Do NOT lean on the glass, it will break."

Obviously someone has done this while trying to impress whatever counter-chickie that was there at the time with tales about their "40th Level Character" and probably trying to sneak a look down her low cut shirt at the time.), but in reality, I don't think I can. Trying to get to the minis is hard. It's up a set of awkward stairs on a rickety balcony-style second level, and my knees just don't seem to like those stairs. 

And well, in true typical fashion, the service almost always hovers between "Sucks" and "Non-existant".  I walk in, counter monkey suddenly darts off to ""Arrange old Magic Cards". I'm looking for something, (obvious that I am searching), and counter monkey heads off to the little back room behind the counter where they can still see the shop but be out of visible range to actually make contact and assist the customer.

Plus there is the usual fanboy contingent that just is "there", as it is their "hangout". I'll get more into this in another post as I am starting to derail onto this subject.

*ahem*

So I swallowed my pride and checked it out. While there I picked up an AD&D 5th Edition Adventure book, and an accessory.

(I'll get more into the AD&D 5th Edition Book later on but needless to say, I posted a review of the first 30 pages on a Facebook site and I stirred up "The Wrath of The Fanboys").

While there I also picked up two Reaper BONES figures:

A female pirate?...Arrrr.....

And a Water Weird...

I have a few of the translucent BONES figures in my possession right  now, and have been reading on how to "light them up" using LEDs, and this one might be my first attempt as it already has a nice hollow base in which an LED can be inserted. This is a project though "For the future".

Oh and while there, I maintained the tradition and bought a set of Chessex Dice for my wonderful wife:

I'll admit...these are nice and her collection is coming along very well....

Coming home later that week, I did some painting and some sealing and actually accomplished a lot of smaller things that had been waiting for a while to be finished up. At long last I was actually "FINISHING THINGS", and clearing out my "Completed" queue and making space on my work area where the finished projects set.

The weekend was absolutely beautiful with good temps, a nice, steady, easy breeze, and made everything just right for sealing.

So I did...

But first....breakfast!

Served to me by my wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!), Melodie Murphy.

Yum...

And after some watermelon....

It was off to the table....

SEALING and "Git 'Er Done!"....

So I wandered into the work area, and got a nice idea of what needed to be done.

So for sealing I took a hodge-podge of stuff just needing to be done and sealed.

Sealing results for this batch:

15MM:

2 M48 Tanks

3 M41 Tanks

1 M42 "Duster" AA Vehicle

1 M577 Command Vehicle

28MM:

1 Stack of Barrels

2 Candelabras

1 Stack of Gold Bars

3 Wooden Coffins (courtesy of Knuckleduster)

6 Giant Rats

2 Coca Cola Machines 

Hey..even 28mm figures can get hot and thirsty after a hard day of gaming!

I was pleased with the result...

And with this, all of the hard armor assets from Bongolesia's "Mysterious Neighbor To The South; The Fandango Republic"; is done.

Yeps, they are ready for action, and I sense some "border dispute issues" coming up real soon...

OF WORK and FIGURES (Part 2)...

So the next week saw me off to another site for a few days, and while it was kind of a frustrating week, I was able to do some purchases, (in fact waaaaay too many I do believe, but let's just consider it an "insurance policy against dying" for now), of stuff.

While the majority were Reaper BONES figures, I also got a Chronoscope Figure as well as some of the older Reaper "Dark Heaven" figures and one of the "Legendary Encounters" figures.

So here is what I picked up during Week #2:

Thou cannot ever have enough witches for ye olde Witchhunters to pursue...

A Geisha..I am actually looking forward to the challenge of painting this figure. I can see all sorts of uses for her in games.

And Mouselings!  (Don't ask...)

Oddly enough, no slave girls, dancers, wenches, or "damsels in distress"...

How odd...

And then some more....

A future project I shall do for my wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!) since she loves Buckbeak from The Harry Potter movies...

A nice healthy piece of cannon fodder right here. Just a generic dungeon crawling goober that is trying to kill monsters, get treasure, and go up in levels.....I sense a violent, horrible, bloody death in this ones future....

One of the rarer Reaper P-65 minis. A fighter and his wolf companion. Yes I will need to fix the bent sword but I liked this pack and it needed an owner since it had been sitting on the shops racks since 2003....  .

But no slave girls, dancers, wenches, or "damsels in distress"...

How odd.

And yet, I DID get females...

Female Elf fighter type. Maybe she is out to try to assist the male fighter posted previously....or perhaps trying to save his bacon...

A female vampire... Perhaps she is dealing with the male fighter, (that shouldn't be too hard for her really...)

And a female assassin...

And another female fighter...(Are we noticing a pattern here?)

And a female bard, who will play some nice lovely tunes to help drown out the hideous screaming of characters being torn asunder by evil creatures...

And a female dwarf fighter, (with no beard)...

And a female paladin. To be honest, I like this figure and may get another one to make it into a worn graveyard statue...

But no slave girls, dancers, wenches, or "damsels in distress"...

How odd.

But I DID get this fellow: 

He actually looks pretty good for a pre-paint. I'll probably touch him up some, maybe put a sparkly gem in his staff, base and flock, and seal and be done with it.

So I didn't get any slave girls, dancers, hookers, wenches, or "Damsels in Distress" this time, but with the last picture right above, I think that putting him on the table with change that situation reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaallll  easily...

Oh and I also go some paints and a copy of a recent WI, (but that is coming up in another post as this on has gotten way too long), for reading and discussion.

So that is part of what came home with me. More to come!

Thanks for reading!