It honestly is hard to believe that Shock Stock took place over a month ago now.. my how time flies! This also reminds me of how I need to drastically re-adjust my time schedules, and personal expectations. Between working more hours at Michaels, and my partner being out of school… I am not getting done as much as I would like. I am still getting a lot of progress done on the house, and we have been doing a lot of gardening together (post coming soon).
But, of course, this is my thrilling conclusion to one of the most exciting weekends I have had in my entire life: Shock Stock 2012.
Last we left off, my partner and I were crawling into bed waaaaay too late, with only a few hours until we were to be back at the best Horror expo around. After about an hour of sleep, we were off again for another exciting day. Luckily, we weren’t the only ones rubbing our eyes and giving slanty, groggy smiles on Sunday morning. But it made for a really relaxed and casual day. Also, half of the money made from ticket sales this day was donated to charity. I noticed a lot more kids roaming around this day too, and they were dressed to impress:
These two little girls both had horror themed patches sewn on their jackets. Too cute!
I got a lot of one of a time experiences on Sunday, including getting picked up by the neck by Kane Hodder (aka: Jason), getting to say the line “Yes sir, fuck you sir” to Joe Pilato (Day of the Dead) on camera with Kari, and possibly being molested by Sal Lizard (Vampire Santa).
Kane Hodder was a blast to be around!
Kari and I after our break out performance together.
Fred (the Hammer) Williamson!
We frequently went over to Sin Labs area to play with their zapper.
Me with Joanna Angel (and the cum flag).
I helped hang that flag up two out of three days, and found out Sunday night that the flag was used in multiple pornos, and the white stains all over it were real. Fun!
Paper lantern that was signed by every guest, was set off after Shock Stock ended.
Oh hello Joanna, say what you are short like me? Hell yeah.
After all the guests left, and the chairs were stacked (although not child proof), we helped Grim Brother Jake drag a whole lot of stuff back to his house where we were rewarded with pizza and freshly baked cookies (thanks Tina!). But really, this weekend was so amazing and I am so thankful that we were part of it. All of the pictures, from all three days are available exclusively on my facebook page here.
Shock Stock 2013… can’t wait!!
Thanks for reading, as this is the final Shock Stock 2012 post, you can look forward to my regular postings next!
xoxo
I am *insanely* busy this week.. partially due to my poor planning. How does the Holiday season always just jump onto my lap? Although it doesn’t really help that my family decided to have Christmas early this year, pushing a lot of deadlines weeks ahead. I have a very special commission to have finished for the weekend, plus a bunch of food and gifts. I will have more updates about my projects next week, in the mean time enjoy this fun photo I took of a Mini-Con a while ago:
He's a dance machine! (Pun totally intended)
By the way, do you remember that blog contest I posted a few weeks ago here? Well, I won! I am very excited to be receiving that beautiful art doll. It is going to motivate me to start my art wall gallery that I have prepped and sitting in a pile. I will make a full post about this once I get the doll in the mail! (and yeah, I know, I have great luck in draws)
xoxo
This past Tuesday, I had the joy of seeing one of my all-time-favourite bands, La Dispute (anyone who knows me, knows how hard I fell for this band as soon as I started listening to them). They played at the London Music Hall, and for only $12, there was no way I was going to miss this show.
the only picture I took that night
Despite being surrounded by high school girls (they surely do not fully appreciate the depth of La Dispute’s music and lyrical mastery I bitterly thought, but to be fair I once was a high school who also thought I understood love and loss too), but it was amazing. I only wish they had played Last Lost Continent, which the crowd pleaded for at the end of the set. They did come back for an encore, and apologized for not playing Last Lost Continent due to the fact that it frequently becomes a 45 minute long song live.. personally I would have loved for them to only play that song, the entire time. It is by far my favourite song by them (and clearly a song loved by many others in the crowd). I actually didn’t take any pictures during the show, I’m happy that my partner did get a couple. The crowd was fairly rough (although pretty tame in comparison to other shows we’ve been to), and since we weren’t right in the front, it made taking photos more work than it was worth. Plus, I think have a rather different view of the necessity of photographs to remember an event, and would rather enjoy shows in the moment, instead of worrying about breaking my camera/ getting a good shot.
photo taken by Korpolfr
photo taken by Korpolfr
photo taken by Korpolfr
One of the girls that was in front of me posted two videos from the night also (I assume it was the one girl in front of me, I saw that she had a camera throughout the show and the angle and view of the show makes perfect sense). I was happy that this was posted, because the Castle Builders was definitely a highlight of the show for me.
(although the audio quality is terrible, I love seeing and snippets of shows that I attended on youtube later).
I’m not going to lie, May was a difficult month for a wide variety of reasons. Updating was difficult, making art has been difficult and over all I have felt like I am in over my head. The two main issues of May:
E-Di, our beautiful black kitty needing a very expensive operation.
Attempting to re-organize the entire house.
I was also supposed to finish up my 365 day photography project, but at the end of the month I realized that I was a few days short. I’m not sure where I missed days, but I’m pretty sure that some of them were in May. To make up for this, I have decided to simply finish the remaining days into June and accept that I didn’t quite make it. Regardless, I learned a lot from the project and I will have a better update once I am actually finished.
This past Monday, E-Di had his operation to remove a tumour from the base of his tail. Anyone who says that having an animal child is less work than having a human child has obviously never dealt with a cat after an operation. Only, with animals it can be a lot more frustrating, they don’t understand what we’re saying, we don’t fully understand what they’re saying, oh and apparently poor medical work is also more acceptable.
When we got him home from the vets, he was very groggy and drugged up, and probably pretty confused as to why his behind was shaved. This made the first night rather easy.
Where he had his IV in during surugry.
His sutures, which he prompty ripped out as soon as possible (but I'll get to that soon).
Wearing his first Elizabethan collar.
The problems first arose partially in due to the E-Collar that we received from the vet.. as you can see, it was a hard plastic and not very big. In fact, it didn’t restrict his ability to access his incision at all, and he quickly learned that he could use the edge of the collar to scratch his itchy sutures. But, generally he was not interested in bothering the area and so we didn’t worry about it too much. Well.. big mistake. The next morning, he discovered that he had ripped out the lower half of the sutures, leaving his incision wide open and obviously very sore. I called the vet immediately (8am) and they told me I could bring him in for 9am. I had to get him into his carrier on my own, as my partner was at school, and that was quite the struggle. He did not want to get back in the carrier, and probably didn’t want to go back to the vet. Despite being early in the morning, it was already boiling hot outside. I can’t even imagine how uncomfortable he was in a carrier when I walked back and forth (the walk would normally take me about 10-15 minutes, but with a 13pound injured cat, it took more more like 25 minutes each way).
When I got the vet’s office, they took him into the back and then 10 minutes later informed that yes, he had ripped out some of his sutures (because.. I guess I didn’t already know that). But they said they could put some staples in instead for a rather nominal fee. I informed them about the E-Collar, and they gave me a different one for him, one that was not hard plastic, and that had a bigger cone (why they gave me that little one in the first place, I don’t know). When I got him home, he immediately hid under my computer table, so I just sat with him until he decided to come out (keeping a very close eye that he didn’t bother his sutures and staples). In the early afternoon he finally decided he wanted to lay in the sun, which gave me a good opportunity to look at his incision and new staples. I was horrified at what I saw, which was one staple, in sideways, and literally going into his fresh wound.
Here you can see the staple, that is poorly placed and overall poorly done.
I called the vet and told them about it, I was very upset at this point because it was clear that he was in pain and that the area was bothering him. They told me that they had the staples quick, and not to worry about it. At this point there wasn’t much I could do, I wasn’t willing to leave E-Di alone and it was obvious that the vet didn’t want to discuss the problem further. As soon as Jerry got home, I went back to the vet’s office, equipped with photos of the staples. I talked to the woman who was responsible for this stapling job, and was pretty much given the run around. I pointed out that it was kind of sideways, that his incision was still a bit open in the area because the staple wasn’t keeping it closed, that it was excessively gooey where that staple was, that he was incredibly lethargic and refused to walk, eat and drink water since the staples were put in… and I didn’t even receive an apology. Instead I was informed about cat’s great healing (which although I acknowledge is true, should not be a justification), and that “well, he wasn’t under while we did the staples and its easy for him to move around while we did it”. She said that I could bring him in for them to take the staple out and put a new one in, but I thought that it would ultimately cause him more stress and pain than it was worth. She promised that the incision would still heal properly and that I shouldn’t worry about it. I ended up purchasing pain medication for him while I was there, and left ensuring that they knew how unhappy I was with E-Di’s treatment.
That night was the hardest night to handle E-Di. He spent more than an hour constantly pacing, trying to reach the incision area and growling at us when we went near him. He was having a really hard time walking, and was generally in a terrible mood (not that I blame him at all). After the incident the first night, I decided that I would sleep downstairs in order to keep an eye on him, and try to keep him as happy as possible. We had to literally hold his food and water in front of him for the first few days because he wasn’t eating or drinking on his own free will. I’m not sure if this was caused by lack of appetite, lack of energy or because it was painful for him to move.. but either way he did eat and drink a little if we held it there long enough. He is already starting to act like his old self though, and he is walking a lot better now. We’re trying to keep him from going up the stairs, but every time he manages to he has such a look of pride that I can’t help but let him stay in the upstairs hallway for a bit.
So, over the past few days, I have had very little sleep, and am incredibly exhausted. I also have been unable to do any house organizing because he will try to follow me constantly. He is the most happy just sitting beside me during the day. He is certainly being pampered, which I’m sure he doesn’t mind either. He has another appointment in just over a week in order to remove the sutures and staples. I just can’t wait for him to be back to his old self, running around and playing. I’m sure he is so bored, and its probably driving him crazy.
I also wanted to thank everyone who helped us out by purchasing crafted items, or by giving donations. Every penny was appreciated. We are a little less stressed about the financial pitfall this caused which allows us to focus on making sure E-Di heals and is happy.
Sweater Eyes
This is a few weeks over due, but sometimes life runs away from me.
So, Sweater Eyes and Sunflower Skins had a booth at Shock Stock.. this was a significant event for both of us, as we were both launching our personal “brands” to the world, unafraid in our tutus and make-up and guarded by both dinosaurs and men (we were also guarding them so its okay). After three very exhausting, frustrating, and exciting days, I immediately got the flu for an entire week. But, with my HP restored, I finally give you a Shock Stock post. To see the entire set click here.
Shock Stock was great. The guests were all very friendly (well taking into account that they are still human beings of course), and the vendors were interesting. Guests included: BETSY BAKER, ELLEN SANDWEISS, THERESA TILLY, HAL DELRICH, DYANNE THORNE & HOWARD MAUER, LINNEA QUIGLEY, JON MIKL THOR, MOLLY DUNSWORTH, NICK BATEMAN, ROBERT “John” SKIPPER
I don’t know how those crazy guys at Vagrancy Films got so many fantastic names in horror, exploitation, and cult cinema, but holly crap their guests were amazing.
The highlight of the entire expo was the film screening of Evil Dead. Seeing as Vagrancy Films gained their infamy due to their throw back grind house screenings, it doesn’t surprise me that the event was memorable. But how could it not be? Not only did I get to see Evil Dead (one of my all time favourite movies since I was young) in a theatre, but I got to do so while literally sitting in front of four out of five of the cast members. While we giggled and made our usual hoots, it was thrilling to hear them giggle too, poking fun at themselves.
I already look forward to next year’s Shock Stock.
I will have a more detailed post soon about our table, how we did, and what to expect in the future.
official itinerary:
4:00 pm – TOP SECRET SLEAZE 16mm FEATURE FILM hosted by Oscar Duke, VS.D. ( Vinegar Syndrome Doctor)
5:30 pm – TREEVENGE w / Hobo Q and A ( hosted by Grimbrother Jake )
6:30 pm – DEAD GENESIS (95 mins) Dir. Reese Eveneshen
8:15 pm – Terry Levene Speaks w / trailers
8:45 pm – SHORT SHOCK FILM FESTIVAL FINALISTS WITH VOTING
11pm – GRINDHOUSE GUSHER @ Rainbow Cinemas
2am – Rocco’s Afterparty @ the 488
Dyanne Thorne posing with Rocko
SATURDAY APRIL 30th
official itinerary:
10:00 am – SATURDAY MORNING VINEGAR — presented by the top secret sleaze
11:00 am – IF A TREE FALLS (80 mins) Dir. Philip Carrer
12:30 pm – Linnea Quigely Q and A ( hosted by James Bilo of Vagrancy Films)
1:15 pm – Feature Film followed by DVD taping of Q and A with Bill Zebub
3:15 pm – GORE EMPORIUM CONFESSIONAL (feturing Cloven Path Ministries)
4:00 pm – THOR – THE ROCK OPERA w/ Q and A with JON MIKL THOR ( hosted by Grimbrother Jake)
9:00 pm – THE EVIL DEAD @ Rainbow Cinema (cast Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, and Hal Delrich in attendance)
10:00 pm – ROCKER SHOCKER @ The Brass performance by THOR w/ special guests THE SILVER SCREEMS. PRIZES, COSTUME CONTEST judged by LINNEA AND THOR
2:45 am- Rocco’s All Girl Slumber Party @ The Garage behind the 488 (weekend pass only)
James Bialkowski riles everyone up bright and early Saturday
from the screening of Evil Dead at Rainbow Cinema
SUNDAY MAY 1st
11:15 am – SON OF EL TOPO – Q and A with ROBERT SKIPPER (hosted by Bilo)
12:00 pm – AND THEN I HELPED (95 mins) Dir. Michael MagGot
1:45 pm – ILSA AUCTION
2:00 pm – CONFESSIONS OF A SHE WOLF Q and A with DYANNE THORNE and HOWARD MAURER (hosted by Fangoria’s Lianne Spiderbaby)
Thor
So, I admit, I have been terrible. It has already been more than a week since Shock Stock, and I have still failed to properly blog about it. Not only that, I have also not posted the full school of Catopi. I am currently finishing up the Shock Stock images, and should be up on the Facebook and Flickr later tonight. For now, I hope I can appease you with these promotional shots that Korpolfr took of me the day before Shock Stock with all my babies:
They just crawl EVERYWHERE.
So, I am pretty sure that I am now running on pure adrenaline. Sunflower Skins, Korpolfr, Thom Roland and I have literally been drinking energy drinks, coffee, tea, and eating a disgusting amount of chips, candy and chocolates in order to survive the week. Things are coming along quite well, products are finished, signs are being made, and glitter is being strewn. It is hectic, stressful and hilarious.
I am also very excited to officially announce the launch of my website (with my own domain name! eee!). I also thought it was a good time to revamp my Bulbasaur Eyes blog. I made a new background, changed the theme and moved around and added new widgets. Please check them out and let me know what you think. ^_^
Oh and happy belated bunny day everyone.
hand-drawn plastic charms
charms with vintage beads on key chains loops, each unique
This is Kye, he is a catopus, and he needs a loving home. {entire series images coming soon}
of course, we always have time to cuddle with kitties <3
xoxo
Sweater Eyes
{Spring was moving in the air above
And in the earth below and around him,
Penetrating even his small dark and lowly little house
With its spirit of divine discontent and longing.
It was small wonder, then,
That he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor
And said, “Bother!”
Something up above was calling him.}
-La Dispute Seven
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