Jelly Babies

Being a huge fan of Classic Doctor Who, I always wanted to try Jelly Babies. The problem was that - as far as I knew - they were only sold in the UK. It's been years now, and I finally came across some that were being sold at a Bulk Barn in Winnipeg. I was so excited that I could hardly wait until I got paid so that I could buy a bag.

I don't even like candy, generally. But I do like Doctor Who, and fandom can drive a person to do many things.

I finally got myself a bag today (only one because I didn't know if I would like them) and brought them home for a private unveiling. And then I became confused by the state of this popular British candy.

I had never actually seen a Jelly Baby close up. They feel really strange, and they are covered in some sort of powder which I read online was icing sugar.

I tentatively tried one, and was delightfully surprised by the texture - I didn't even know that it was possible for sweets to have a texture like these do. I kept eating them for the texture, and they taste was alright as well - but they are so sweet. Apparently they all have names, and also play instruments. They are strange in every sense - at least I think so. My favorites are the black ones, but there were only two in my package.

It's no wonder the Doctor is so fond of these - although did anybody else notice that when he offers a Jelly Baby in Image of the Fendahl that it is another candy entirely offered to the skull - I think a liquorice allsort? In the Sun Makers as well, to Cordo. I was so confused when I first saw it, but I suppose that could have been the point - a distraction to buy a second more of time. Cordo was human, so he would be more likely than a non-human to know what a Jelly Baby actually was.

(This post also exists at my personal blog.)

Pen Pals and Envelope Art by Marisha Goodman

I never realized how interesting having a pen pal could be - especially when they share some of the same interests. I got my first pen pal a while ago (since elementary school, at least), and she is really wonderful. For Christmas she sent me some Star Trek cards, a book, a pin, and a comic - all of which by some miracle I did not yet own, and I recently sent her a package as well. I look forward to reading her letters, but she often also adds something special which I admire when I pick up my mail and later when I pin it on my wall. She gave me permission to share these drawings.

On one of the envelope flaps she drew me a Dalek (which caused me to burst out laughing in the drugstore):

I'm not sure what it wanted me to obey, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with orders to wipe out the human race.

On the front of that same envelope was a beautiful drawing of myself in my Vulcan Priestess robes as I appeared at the 2013 Central Canada Comic Con. It is now one of my favorite drawings - everything about it looks so graceful and serene:

On another envelope she drew what I assume is her own Vulcan self, looking equally as beautiful and stoic:

I would like to sincerely thank everybody who has sent me a letter, package, or drawing. If you have sent me something and have not yet received a reply, I finally got to send out my letters the other day and they are on their way.

If you are interested in exchanging letters with me, please contact me at vibrant.oxymoron@gmail.com and I will give you my mailing address.

Star Trek, Vulcan Language, and Doctor Who Cookies

Today I finally got around to making some cookies, and decided to make them Star Trek and Doctor Who themed. 

First I decorated the Dalek cookie, and then brought it around to the members on my family squeaking "exterminate" in a cute little voice:

I then decorated my little Spock cookie. He is blushing because his body looks like a potato, and I even made the phaser hanging on his belt:

I also made a large square cookie and wrote "slor vel" (sweet thing) in traditional Vulcan calligraphy. Sarek approved:

Making cookies is fun.

C4 Comic Con Adventures Day Two and Three

Day One

For the last three days, I have been spending my days at C4 - Central Canada Comic Con 2012. It was - as usual - an amazing experience with beautiful people, intricate costumes, and great displays and exhibitions.

Day Two

I got up early in the morning to get my costume ready - Robes, ears, a headdress, six inch heels, my dress, tights, makeup... I decided to do my makeup and ears before I left the house, and to bring the rest of my costume with me on the bus. Luckily I had my amazing mother to accompany me, and she helped me carry my stuff when I was in costume later in the day.

After going through the same process as Friday in order to get my mother into the convention (with the additional steps of getting into costume and posing with people for pictures), we got in line for Nichelle Nichols' Q&A. The Q&A was absolutely amazing, and she ended up singing for us at the end. I got her singing on video and took pictures, which I will be posting later.

After that I got professional photos taken with Marina Sirtis and Sir Patrick Stewart (separately) and walked around the convention, having my photo taken and talking to people. One person came up to me and asked what Legend Of Zelda character I was.

A friend of mine dresses as a Klingon every year, and volunteers at the Con. We happened to both be dressed up at the same time for once, and I got a photo:

I also came across this wonderful young lady who came as the Borg Queen, and she agreed to have her picture taken with me. I neglected to ask her for her name, but she was wonderful:

Finally it was time for the Q&A session with Sir Patrick Stewart which I had gotten passes for the day before. He was absolutely amazing - intelligent, down to earth, and hilarious. I also got my photo taken with him professionally. I will be posting photos from the photo-op and Q&A in a later post.

Here is a photo of me waiting patiently in the conference room for Patrick Stewart to come on stage. Whenever I sat down, the layers of my costume separated and had to be reset:

On the way back upstairs, I saw the most amazingly adorable family. The father was the Eleventh Doctor, the mother was Amy Pond, and their three children were dressed as Daleks. One of the little girls was in a stroller, and instead of a Dalek skirt and hat they actually dressed the stroller.

Here is a closer look at the skirts:

Finally, it was time for the costume contest. After being in six inch heels for ten hours already, my feet were so sore that I never wanted to stand or walk again. Unfortunately, I had to stand in line for another few hours.

I had never entered any kind of costume contest before - I had worn a Vulcan Priestess costume before, but after fixing it up and adding embellishments (Ozhika in traditional vulcan script, red lined with black instead of plain holes in the chest, ribboned edges, etc.) I decided that this would be the year - I even brought along my hand-sculpted Vulcan meditation lamp. I entered Miss C4, which was a great experience, and the Sci-fi/Movies/Fantasy category  which I won. I honestly did not expect to win at all - when they called second place, I though I knew for sure that I would not win because her costume was so much better than mine, and so were others! As my prize, I received a trophy and 75 dollars in gift certificates for comic and costume stores.

I met a husband and wife who were dressed as a Klingon and Borg. Her husband had made her bat'leth with materials like aluminum foil and either duct or electrical tape (I can't remember which). He also had a mouth piece which made everything he said sound like it was actually being said by a borg drone. Their costumes were both amazing, and they were really nice people:

Oh, and remember I said there was a second place winner who I thought had a better costume than me?   Here we are after the contest (she is dressed as the Diva Plavalaguna from The Fifth Element, one of my favorite movies):

I also had my picture taken with the Best of Show Costume winner - by far the most impressive costume I had seen all day. I forget what character she was, if it was a character, but I do know that it was from World of Warcraft.

Finally, after more photos and waiting, I got to take off my hot costume and painful heels. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring anther pair of footwear so I had to put my heels back on to go home. I was so exhausted by that time that I kept falling asleep on the bus. It took an hour to get home on the bus, and so my mother and I were playing games on our phones and taking pictures.

I spent the rest of the night watching Canada's Worst Driver and taking photos of myself in my costume (because this was probably the last time I will ever wear it... probably) before collapsing into bed.

In this photo you can see the bulletin board in my room, and I am holding the trophy I received for my costume:

Day Three

I woke up today (Sunday), ready for the last day of Comic Con. I had to do a couple of things today - first the Marina Sirtis Q&A session (which was amazing and, once again, will be posted about with photos in a later post), and then a photo-op with Nichelle Nichols. I was supposed to have had my photo taken with her yesterday, but I was (along with hundreds of other people) kept downstairs because the main exhibition room was filled to capacity. Because of this, I missed her completely and they asked her to come in today. She is absolutely adorable, and I am so glad the photo-op ended up working out.

I didn't wear a costume today, just a sweater, jeans, and chucks (along with my new Tom Baker scarf). I also re-bleached my eyebrows this morning because the marker I used for my Vulcan brows dyed parts of them brown. I spent most of the day in the conference hall:

I had some extra time after the photos and Q&A, so I decided to walk around one last time to look over the merchandise. I'm glad I did, because I just so happened to find an Ambassador Sarek action figure:

I also ended up purchasing an Andorian action figure (wearing a fuzzy pink jacket for some reason), a small Spock in the environmental suit from The Tholian Web, the Star Trek Chronology, Star Trek TNG SkyBox Episode Collection Cards Seasons three and seven (the full sets), and the 200th issue of Starlog.

All in all, this year's Central Canada Comic Con was absolutely amazing. It was not organized very well, but that is a difficult job - I don't blame anybody for that. Everything worked out (for most people), I met some amazing people (and some of my heros), I entered my first costume contest, and I have added some amazing items to my collection.

If you have never attended a convention, I would highly recommend that you consider involving yourself in and upcoming con in your area. They can be a lot of work and running around, but I feel that it is all worth it in the end.

C4 Comic Con 2012 Adventures Day One

For the last three days, I have been spending my days at C4 - Central Canada Comic Con 2012. It was - as usual -  an amazing experience with beautiful people, intricate costumes, and great displays and exhibitions.

Day One

I didn't bother dressing up on the first day of the convention. I just wore some jeans, my IDIC shirt, a sweater and some comfortable boots. I met a friend on the bus to the convention center, and we kept each other company for the rest of the day.

After waiting in the long line-ups and running back and forth between different ticket booths buying passes, we finally made it to the final admission line. I met one of the local dealers on the side, and he informed me that he had just gotten in 12 inch Doctor Who scarves. I absolutely adore the First Doctor, so instead of going up to the main exhibition room, I handed in my ticket, got stamped, and ran back to the smaller room to get the scarf of my dreams. Only after purchasing and donning my new scarf did I go up to the main exhibition floor.

There weren't actually any Q&As or photo-ops that I were interested in on Friday, so I took the day to do some shopping, take some photos, and familiarise myself with the setup.

I almost got a bat'leth for 150 dollars, but I really don't have room on my walls to put it up - and I don't have any shelf space either. In fact, my shelves take up my walls. The exhibitor did let me hold it and have my picture taken with it, however:

There was also a large (small) TARDIS cutout which I had my picture taken with:

I picked up quite a few items, two of them being a Vintage Mego Spock Figure and Mego U.S.S. Enterprise Action Playset (with a spin action transporter) for him to sit inside! Surprisingly, I only spent 50 dollars for each of them.

I also purchased a Limited Edition Captain Kirk snapback cap from 1994 (with the words "Captain Kirk" in large letters on the back and "Star Trek" written on the side). From the few sources I have found on the internet about this cap, it is rare. I don't believe that unless I actually have proof, and I don't care. It cost me ten dollars, and I love it.

The next photo is not the greatest quality, but it shows my entire haul from the first day. Not already mentioned are my box of Star Trek TNG stardiscs, Empty TARDIS box of Jelly Babies, Triforce drawstring bag (to hold my rupies), Strangers in the sky (one of my favorite novels about Vulcans) read by Leonard Nimoy and George Takei on cassette, 1996 Beavis and Butthead TV Talker, Star Trek TOS Fotonovels, and a TOS comic lot.

I also got an amazing portrait drawn of myself as a Vulcan in Starfleet, which I will post at a later time.

I met an old friend on the bus ride home, whom I excitedly (and loudly) spoke with (spoke to) about my comics and action figures, and about Star Trek/Doctor Who in general (to the amusement of the passengers around me).

I spent the rest of the night at home, putting the final touches on my costume for the next day.

Day Two

Doctor Who Talking Soft Toy - Red Dalek

The other day, I went on a grand quest for fabric and materials for the Vulcan robes, necklace and headdress that I was going to create for Comic Con. Unfortunately, after hours of searching I found that the materials I would have needed came to more that 600 dollars. I walked home, defeated, drinking orange juice and singing Roses in the Hospital.

But then I decided to stop in at the mall to cool off. I walked in, and saw that the Hallmark shop had the new Star Trek ornaments in - my day got ten times better with that sight. Walking through the mall to get to the bus loop, I also decided to look inside HMV. My day then got 100 times better.

This talking Dalek plush is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. Not only does it look adorable, but it sounds adorable as well. When pressed upon, it says one of two things: "Exterminate! Exterminate!" or "You would make a good Dalek". There are only three sense globes in each row around the lower casing, but it makes up for this inaccuracy with it's clear sounding phrases and charm.

The next day, I brought the Dalek with me everywhere - to work, across the street for a Monster, and around the city in general. I also took pictures while we were out (see above) and made a video about it, with which I will conclude this post:

Product Enterprise Limited Edition Talking "Cybertrooper" Stealth Cyberman

Today I went to the comic shop for the first time in almost a year, and I came across this wonderful Product Enterprise Cyberman figure (I even took hundreds of photos as soon as I got home and photoshopped the following picture, which just shows how excited I was about it):

There were only two Cybermen figures in the shop, the other being all silver. These Cybermen are were featured in the 1985 serial "Attack of the Cybermen".

Scans of the back and sides of the box:

Honestly, when I first read the sticker that said "Limited Edition Cybertrooper", I was somewhat confused - it looked like a stealth Cyberman to me. It turns out that they are the same thing, but in searching the term "cybertrooper doctor who", I found references only to this particular figure.

These stealth Cybermen (as faced by the wonderful Sixth Doctor, who happens to be one of my favorites) always remind me of the borg more than any other. By looking at the photos above, I am sure one is able to deduce the reasons. (Here's a hint: to make it into a borg, merely replace the head.)

These Cyberman figures were sculpted by Gary Hilliard (who also sculpted a beautiful bust of Count Orlok [Nosferatu], my favorite Vampire) and Ian Crichton. Oh, and the amazing artwork on the box? That was done by the amazing Graham Humphreys (one of my favorite artists). With all of these amazing people working on the product, it's no wonder that I found myself immediately drawn to this Cyberman figure.

This figure stands about 9" tall, takes 2 LR44 batteries, and speaks four phrases when the chest unit is pressed upon: "eradicate the Time Lord", "emotion is a weakness", "destroy earth", and "excellent". Unfortunately, the sound is poor quality.

With this figure also comes a blaster gun, with a buckle strap.

The detailing on the surface of the figure is absolutely beautiful, and the weight and feel of the figure means that I will be carrying it with me for a long time. It's just such a nice figure to hold.

Tomorrow I will be eating cereal, and while the spoon will be in one hand, the stealth cyberman will be in the other. I will then take a shower, while sticking my right arm out through a hole in the shower curtain, clinging to the Cyberman. Etc.

Well, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit. But I will be carrying it around.

It also comes with a 1.5" Cybermat. I find it interesting, however, that they chose to include the cybermat from the 1968 serial "The Wheel in Space". Personally, I would have loved for them to have included the Cybermat from The Tomb of the Cybermen because well, I found them to be adorable with their antennae. 

I have always loved the Cybermen, but this is my first Cyberman figure. I am definitely going to be investing in a lot more, however, and this will always be the one figure that started it all.

T-Shirt: TardEx Express - When it absolutely, positively, has to be there before you ship it.

Looking through the T-Shirt section at Comic Con is always fun, for two reasons: firstly, I love nerdy T-shirts. And secondly, I love puns. A couple of years ago I found the most amazing Doctor Who shirt in the history of Doctor Who shirts:

I neglected to take a close-up photo of the shirt, so I borrowed an image taken by geospizafortis:

Oh, and if you feel like you really need this shirt (which you should), you can buy one HERE. Unfortunately, they will not be shipping using TardEx Express - you will have to wait for shipping.

Instant Interests

I is for Instant Interests!

Some interests develop over time - but there are some interests that develop instantly. For instance, I never wanted to watch Doctor Who when the rest of my family started watching it. I told everyone I thought it was stupid, when really I was just afraid I would become utterly obsessed. Eventually, my mother coaxed me into watching an Tennant episode when it was on TV - an almost audible click in my brain, and I was, indeed, obsessed.

When I get obsessed with something, it actually hurts not to think about and focus on it. When I try to focus on something else or miss a show, my head buzzes like it is vibrating, and my limbs feel like green and orange wire. I have been told that this may be and Asperger's related thing.

The same goes for Star Trek...

Have a picture of me hugging my Spock plushies.

When I was young, perhaps four years old, my parents used to watch Star Trek as it came on. I was always there, seemingly oblivious but watching and listening carefully. I remember around that time I would put a headband down over my eyes and walk around as Geordi La Forge. I also remember looking out my window and seeing a Klingon battle cruiser (which must have just been a plane) in the sky. I was so afraid I couldn't get to sleep - I would just sit there on the window ledge waiting for the Enterprise...

It wasn't until a couple of years ago, however, that I became obsessed. I sat down and watch a single TOS episode. Once again, I could actually hear a click in my head as my thoughts went to Star Trek, and Star Trek alone.

I would be interested in hearing whether or not others have these experiences, regarding obsessions.

Dif-tor heh smusma
- T'Laina