Busy scoping out possible markets for Chantelle to market her Cookies & Cakes venture at, we headed out to Hathersage Farm Market on what turned out to be the most perfect of days in terms of weather.
And of course on sunny days like these, what’s better than a grassy spot under a big shady tree!
The cute magic-wielding, flying, pantless army girls of Strikes Witches are highlighted in this week’s cosplay outing, this time around featuring one Francesca Lucchini, brought to life by cosplayer Lenfried.
In celebration of Ryan’s 29th birthday, he invited the Lotter Clan out to join him on a picnic in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. As it turned out, he couldn’t have asked for a better day – or prepared a better outing! :)
In 2008 Virgin Comics (before the name change to Liquid Comics) pushed out the four issue mini-series Jenna Jameson’s Shadow Hunter as part of their Voices imprint, basically designed to let celebrities dream up their own comic book story lines. Plotted in conjunction with Jenna Jameson herself, Christina Z handled the typewriter on this particular outing, backed up with interior art from Makesh Singh.
As expected, issue 1 shipped with numerous variant edition covers, one of them being this particular piece of art from controversial comic book artist, Greg Land, best known for his work on X-Men, Birds of Prey and Fantastic Four… and of course for his unapologetic heavy use of nude photo references and models.
Still, this one turned out pretty well.
Walking into the bar, Mike says to Charlie the bartender, “Pour me a stiff one – just had another fight with the little woman.”
“Oh yeah?” says Charlie, “And how did this one end?”
“Well, when it was over,” Mike replied, “She came to me on her hands and knees!”
“Really? Now that’s a switch! What did she say?” asks an incredulous Charles.
“She said, ‘Come out from under the bed, you little chicken!’”
Wow, what an impressive animated show, through and through. Fantastic story, fantastic characters and fantastic animation. Seriously, there is no way that any boy or comic book fan can not love Young Justice!
Taking place in the Earth-16 timeline of the DC multiverse, Young Justice tells the story of a group of young sidekicks who decide to go off on their own, after failing to get the necessary respect from their older peers in the Justice League. The group includes Robin (Dick Grayson), Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis and Aqualad.
Under the direction of Batman, the inexperienced team is sent out on a number of covert missions, at the same time strengthening the bonds between them in order to grow both personally and as a team.
Because of the different timeline, the characters are all slightly different from what you are used to from mainstream continuity. Powers and attitudes are slightly different, but in the end there is enough familiarity to keep fanboys happy. The episodes are all linked to one another by means of an overarching storyline, and the continuity of the episodes helps to cement the tone of Young Justice, which is very much serious super hero fare. The writing is fast paced, the characters are getting loads of development time, and there is plenty of action, intrigue, and even a little romance to take in!
(And let’s not forget the loads of cameo appearances which will delight almost every comic book fan under the sun!)
In terms of animation quality, Young Justice is probably the best looking animated television show to hit the screen in quite some time. Gorgeous character designs and details, beautiful backgrounds and fluid, well choreographed animation is what this show simply oozes.
And then there are the voice actors, all fantastic choices and a good fit for their respective characters, with the entire package finally wrapped up by a great music score, completing what is a well and truly polished package.
Highly, highly recommended, especially if you are already a comic book fan, both young and old!
(Incomplete Viewing)
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Justice_%28TV_series%29
So, we are now into our second week of Jessica back at Baby Steps day care, after having enjoyed a straight two week stay with Oupa and Ouma back in Bellville while Chantelle and I returned to work. Pleasingly enough, Jessica gave us no problems with going back to the creche and settling back into her routine, and outside of some niggles and half slept nights thanks to all the teeth that came through in the early stages of this month, our little girl is proving to be quite the darling.
Seriously, Chantelle and I are lucky to have it so, so easy with her, especially when we hear all the horror stories from the other mommies around us!
Anyway, I realise I have been a bit slack on keeping you updated on the progress of Jessica, both in terms of news as well as multimedia footage, and whilst I have no new photos or videos to show you at all, I guess you’ll have to just be happy with my written report then.
So let’s get to it then, shall we?
Jessie continues to grow with each and every passing day, both in terms of physical and mental development. Her hair is getting nice and long now, and she still has the biggest eyes, cutest button nose, and toothy smile in the whole wide world. She loves for some reason to cross her fingers at the moment, never mind the fact that she is now pulling herself up into standing position whenever she can, using whatever bit of leverage she can find at the time, be it the bath taps, a television cabinet or even the side of the couch! (Not that the last one always works out so well, mind you.)
She can clap hands, pull funny faces, give a high-5 (well I’m counting it anyway), and is able to pick up quite a turn of speed with her modified worm method of crawling, nevermind the fact that she’s now quite the dab hand at dashing from spot to spot in her walking ring, much to the horror of our poor shins and toes! Oh, and she has a habit of shooting straight towards the edge of any raised object she finds herself placed down on, determined to mission down to the ground even if it is head first! (Even a fall of the bed hasn’t been enough to deter her.)
And she loves cats. Seriously, seriously loves cats. We know because she tells us so with the variety of cute noises she now makes when “talking” to us.
She is happily munching on Weet-Bix in the morning for cereal, yoghurt for lunch, mommy’s home made food for supper, as well as a combination of Purity Stage 3 and Hipp bottled foods for a bit of variety. So far no allergic reactions to anything, and so far nothing she doesn’t really like.
Again, lucky us! :)
She’s also started feeding herself things like vienna sausages, Flings chips, and Tuk biscuits, though that said, usually it is a case of more of the snack ends up on the ground around her, than in her actual mouth! Oh, and she can drink juice out of this awesome plastic cup with a straw thingie that Chantelle got for her!
But with all the good stuff laid out above, it must also be noted that this little madam of ours is definitely a tantrum thrower, and I can see now already that we are going to be in for a rough terrible twos and threes stage, unless we somehow cure her of it now at this early stage! However, that seems very much easier said than done!
Nevertheless, our little girl is properly in the process of forming her own little personality now, making it even more fun to have her around! So now you know, and I promise to break out the video recorder some time soon… :)
I had to laugh on Friday, thanks to this tale of forgotten lunches.
Simon walked into the office and then remembered that he had left his lunch behind in the car. That’s okay though, the car is parked just outside the door.
Tristan walked into the office and then remembered that he had left his lunch behind in the car. Not quite so okay, because Tristan’s car is parked in the communal parking space outside of the Westlake Business Park – a good ten to fifteen minute walk away!
On hearing about Tristan’s forgotten lunch, I suddenly remembered that I too had forgotten my lunch – but the difference was that I didn’t even pack it in when I left that morning, meaning that my lunch was currently sitting – 50+ kilometers away in Gordon’s Bay!
Sigh, not exactly a competition I enjoyed winning.
Craig Lotter is a web developer based in Gordon's Bay, South Africa, who seems completely incapable of shaking off that pesky inner child within, the one that forces him to love all things animated or hand drawn.
The Rugged Rock of Craig contains snippets of his life, popular culture and all the important things like anime, manga, games and comic books. The CodeUnit of Craig on the other hand contains the more serious stuff like code snippets and tutorials, while the House of C chronicles his foray into the world of web comics.
For which it never seems he has enough time anyway.
The Rugged Rock of Craig The CodeUnit of Craig The House of C
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