International Cosplay Day Part Three - Abducting McCoy

Part One - Vulcan Priestess
Part Two - Whovian Chalk Art

On the way to the park for International Cosplay Day, I picked up a McCoy figure for fifteen dollars. It had been in the same cabinet for an entire year- I don't know why I didn't get him before.

We brought McCoy everywhere with us, so that he could observe the culture of the giant beings that had abducted him and kept him in a cage in so long. In this parallel earth, many dangers awaited him - we were his only protection.

My friend "Gnomes" providing transportation for Bones.

Unfortunately (for him), we did subject him to caterpillars. This one took quite a liking to his face, and was named "Tribble". You can see the distress in his face.

All did not go as planned on the planet's surface...

We brought him along with us to watch "Conan the Barbarian", a typical cultural occurrence. The movie basically consisted of people holding things over their head and yelling. It also included holding a naked baby up in the middle of a battle to be pierced with an arrow. Inspired by the movie, and weary of large predators, McCoy stole my ring and proceeded to use it as armor.

Self defense comes first. Prepared for battle, Barbarian style.

As soon as the movie ended, we were told by a young couple to go and get a coffee (in a very profane way). None of us were quite sure why, but we decided it would be nice to go to Tim Horton's anyways. As McCoy, in his current state and position, was unable to find appropriate sustenance - we provided it for him. Unaccustomed to such large utensils, we felt obligated to help him out.

Being spoon fed soup - Doctor's do, however, make difficult patients.

McCoy asked specifically for a mint julep, but was told that they did not sell them in coffee and doughnut shops. He settled on sharing a fruit smoothie with us. We had to lift him up to the straw.

But nothing beats a mint julep.

Eventually we all made our way back, and McCoy now resides on a shelf with the others whom I had abducted in the past - Kirk, Sulu, and Spock.

Thus concludes my tales of International Cosplay Day. Please do not be concerned about Doctor Leonard McCoy, for he tells me he has settled and is content in his new home. He was retiring anyways - It has been about 45 years, after all.

International Cosplay Day Part Two - Whovian Chalk Art

This post is a continuation of Part One - Vulcan Priestess.

While the cosplay crew and I were leaving the park, we crossed a walking-bridge that was perfect for drawing on. Luckily, we had some chalk with us. Only two of us ended up drawing on the bridge, because the others got embaressed when we wrote "Let's Kill Hitler" on the railing and entrance in celebration of the new Doctor Who season.

I drew a Dalek (very badly):

While I was drawing the Dalek (and trying not to drag my robes through the chalk), my friend was busy drawing the TARDIS and a chibi Eleventh Doctor and Amy (which she is known for):

I forget exactly how I got started, I believe we were talking about cracks in walls when I began up running up and down the bridge yelling "Prisoner Zero has escaped!". I wrote the phrase on the bridge right before some children showed up and asked if they could draw a dog. It ended up turning into a kangaroo/dinosaur, but it was incredibly cute.

We hope that there were at least a few Whovians who walked over the bridge that day - because we know that if we found this on a bridge, we would be ecstatic.

Next segment: International Cosplay Day - McCoy's adventures. McCoy is captured by a giant race on a parallel earth.

International Cosplay Day Part One - Vulcan Priestess

Yesterday, as many of you know, was International Cosplay Day. To celebrate, I made my way over to the park where I was to meet other cosplayers from the city. My boyfriend and I (after getting distracted by comic book stores) finally arrived at the designated spot, but there were no other cosplayers to be seen - yet.

We started walking, and noticed a small crowd coming towards us. One of the girls contorted her face in awe as she came face to face with a Vulcan Priestess.

To create my costume, I used fabric that I got at the thrift stores around my house - curtains, table cloths, etc. I used my fez (I miss my fez) to create the shape for the headdress. A lot of measuring, cutting and sewing later - I had my first ever costume.

Down the back (deviating from the norm - this script would normally appear on the chest)read "Rata Tafar Tapan". This outfit/costume was inspired by T'Lar.

It was really great meeting other trekkies and whovians my age in the city - I was beginning to think that they didn't exist. We spent our time talking about comics, trek/who episodes, sci-fi novels, and other cool stuff that I could hardly ever talk to anybody about before. Well, I do talk about it, they just end up telling me they don't care.

I found people who care.

A few people came up to me and asked what the occasion was, and while on our way to get some food some boys yelled "neeeeerrrrdddsss!" from their car. I spent the entire day in costume (on a hot summer day) doing everything from banking, to shopping, to eating.

We did so many things that day, that I am going to have to cover it in a few posts.

The girl I am pictured melding with above is absolutely amazing. I met her for the first time yesterday and we got along immediately - we are alike in almost every way. She also has a really cute blog, and wrote a post on our adventures on the Beach-Blog.

More on our adventures to come! Sochya eh dif.

The Fires of Pompeii - Sybilline Sisterhood Inspiration

I was playing around with make-up and eyeliner the other day, when inspiration struck: the Sybilline Sisterhood from the Doctor Who episode, The Fires of Pompeii. The Fires of Pompeii is one of my favorite new episodes, mainly because of the Sisterhood and their arcane demeanor.

Karen Gillan, shown above, now plays Amy Pond.

As many of you know, I love photography. Most of my photography and art does not end up on here - the only things that do are directly related to Trek/Who. I did, however, take some self portraits that were inspired by, and not a recreation of, those of the Sybilline Sisterhood.

It's me! Oh, the excitement!

You can't tell from the picture, but underneath those fingers I have pointy eyebrows - I was doing a make-up test for tomorrow. What is happening tomorrow? International Cosplay Day! I will be dressing as a Vulcan High Priestess, because cosplay doesn't have to be about anime.

I was just minding my own buisness when the Supreme Dalek came and destroyed the city.

I was sitting on the couch watching Star Trek (Deep Space 9) when my mother came in with news of a fire. Immediately intrigued, I grabbed my camera and went to investigate (wearing X-men pajamas and big black rubber boots, like a boss).

It took about fifteen minutes to get there, and the frame of the building had fallen. Standing beside the charred remains, I watched the smoke and small fires that remained - taking pictures the entire time.

Dramatic realization time: upon further investigation, I got a strange sense that I had seen this before... somewhere. Suddenly from behind the road I was approached by a destructive force unmatched on this planet - this was the work of the Supreme Dalek.

The supreme Dalek had destroyed a large section of land, a vehicle, and a building before being lured away by The Doctor and his TARDIS. I cannot tell you what happened next, as I was on earth.

Finally, satisfied with my pyro-photo-taking-adventure and coming face to face with a Dalek (I guess it didn't see me as a threat, for I remained unscathed), I returned home to watch more Star Trek. Such is my exciting life.

Captain Kirk Watches Out For Danger

Captain kirk guards the door to my room. Using advanced technology, he and Spock devised a way to shrink him to the size of a doorknob and make him two-dimensional. Posted behind the doorknob and disguised as paper, he is ready to report danger to me at any time.

That is all.

Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual - History

I have posted scans from the Star Fleet Medical Reference manual before, focusing mainly on Vulcan physiology. Lately, however, I have noticed an expanding interest in the manual around the internet. So here I am, revisiting the reference manual - studying the history of medicine.

I had posted the cover of the reference manual here, but it also came with a loose cover within the protective case:

Inside, we find that the Medical Advisor for this manual is none other than Leonard McCoy, M.D.  That automatically makes this the best book in the entire world. It makes me glad that I found it before my friend did, who was right beside me looking on the same dusty shelf.

Below are some pages with the history of medicine, not limited to Earth. It is very interesting to see the different planets' timelines - how advanced Vulcan was, for instance, when Earth was still in the middle ages. Some of the highlights (in Earth years - click images to enlarge):

4200 BC - Great Plague on Vulcan, thousands die of the skag maug.

2750 BC - Kohl, Klingon god - patron of medicine.

1900 BC - Sikar, founder of the Vulcan School of Medicine.

Around 480 AD - Kassaba fever destroys entire populations of Rigel IV

Around 1000 AD - Zora experiments with body chemistry of tribes on Tiburon

1348-1350 AD - "Black Death", bubonic plague kills one-third of Europe.

Around 1530 AD - T'Laan of Vulcan discovers an artificial blood plasma. (It wasn't even until 1628 that William Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood on Earth)

According to this timeline, Louis Pasteur developed "pasteurizer and rabies vaccine" in around 1820. He was only born in 1822, and the first pasteurization tests took place in 1962.  He started working on a rabies vaccination in the 1880s...

Around 1960 AD - Birth of Stavos Keniculus, first cloned human. (Also spelled Stavos Keniclius. Dr McCoy had mentioned in TAS that the scientist would be around 250 years old, which means he would have been born in around 2019, as the episode took place in 2268.)

1992 AD - Eugenic "supermen" revealed to public. (Eugenics wars begin)

Around 2000 AD - "Green Death", Vegan choriomeningitis ravages Vega IX.

2002 AD - Nomad Probe launched to search for extraterrestrial life.

2005 AD - Cygnian Plague Vaccine developed by Zilzu of Tellar.

Around 2020 AD - Cancer-inhibiting plant compound discovered on Ganymede.

Around 2015 AD - Life on Lavinius V is destroyed by the flying parasites. (Other sources say 2060 and 2067)

2042 AD - Ka'hat plague spreads throughout the Klingonii worlds.

2046 AD - Sessek of Vulcan studies alien physiologies.

Around 2175 AD - Radioactive pollutants on scalos cause drastic mutation.

Around 2190 AD - Life on Theta Cygni is destroyed by the flying parasites. (Theta Cygni XII)

Around 2550 AD - Life on Ingraham B is destroyed by the flying parasites.

2267 AD - Silicon-base life discovered on Janus VI. (Horta!)

They should teach these things in school - if a Canadian can get a Master's degree in the Beatles, then I should be able to get one in Star Trek.

I Can Build the Enterprise - I Can Build it Nine Times!

Some of the best things I have found were found in a dusty room behind badly cared for comics and 1980's newspapers. I haven't been to that particular antique shop lately, though - I ended up spending hundreds of dollars every time I went there.

One of the last things I got at that shop was a Star Trek "The Original Series" Make Your Own Starship Kit - the USS Enterprise NC-1701.

When I started to put it together I realized that I needed some kind of glue. Being the inexperienced paper-model-thingy-maker I am, I used white glue. That was not a good idea, I found - the paper got all wiggly, it took forever to dry, and for some reason it kept getting really grimy.

Fortunately, it didn't turn out too badly - I was actually quite surprised when I held the finished product in my hands and it actually looked like the Enterprise. I don't know what I expected it to look like, maybe a mutant cat-blob.

I used the kit's cover for a folder to hold random papers when all of the pieces were punched out. It is still my very favorite.

I had a camera with me while I was working on this model, so I was taking pictures of my progress the entire time (it took my clumsy fingers and I about six hours to complete). Below are (in order) the photos I took, for anyone who is interested.

Just look at that fancy photography. (Sarcasm!)

I would like to eventually get some model kits for the original Warbird and Bird of Prey. Hopefully I can find some around here - if not, I might order some.

PS. anyone who got the Homestar Runner reference is my hero.