Random Ramblings

I haven't been sleeping well lately. This is due to a lethal combination of playing Final Fantasy XIII until late (working on all of those hunting side missions!), my brother's snoring, and his alarm. Unfortunately, I share a room with him, and he gets up for work early in the morning (commonly known as the "wait, there's a 4.30 AM now?!?" period). This, in itself, isn't a problem. I used to do the same thing. The problem lies in the alarm he has selected - he uses his iPhone for an alarm (which many people, myself included, do). THe iPhone allows a great many options for alarms and ringtones (though sadly, not for SMS tones), in fact, anything song you have saved on your phone you can use as an alarm.
So why in all the flaming circles of hell did he decide to use Apple's default siren as an alarm? This is a siren which makes it sound like the room is going to explode and we are all evacuating. As a wake up tone! Which almost always wakes me up along with it.

I swear I'll throw that phone out the window one morning...

I've been listening to a fair bit of music by the Black Mages lately. I know I'm late to the party, but for those who don't know, they are a band formed by Nobuo Uematsu to perform rock renditions of Final Fantasy music. They have subsequently broken up, and since then Nobuo has formed another group called Earthbound Papas.
One thing I find strange about this, is that they do a rendition of "To Zanarkand", the piano song from Final Fantasy X. All well and good, but its identical to begin with, until, two minutes in, it suddenly kicks in with guitars and drums etc. And lyrics.
I wasn't sure how I felt about it until I heard it a fair few times. I like it, oddly enough. I will take this as further proof that Nobuo can do no wrong (as if I needed proof!).

This is the song in question

Why do I get the feeling I've written the above paragraph before?

So, apparently the world is going to end tomorrow. I don't know where people get these ideas from, just because some old guy in America (where else) says so, and a bunch of people don't even bother looking at the facts. Facts such as him having claimed the same thing for years ago (and I think the world still exists today... well either that or we've been plugged into the Matrix and don't have a clue). Also, the fact that he claims that Gay Rights movements are a sign of "The End" makes things even more suspect, in my eyes (and in the eyes of most reasonable human beings, I would think).

Artist's rendition of the guy making said predictions

Tomorrow is work on the costume day again. It's starting to come together a bit more now, though I would be lying if I said I was completely confident in my (our? I do have a lot of help here...) ability to get it finished in time for Supanova. Also, the fact that I will be wearing what is, for the most part, a completely white suit worries me slighlty. Mainly because it likely means I will not be allowed to eat.
Which is probably fine, since how am I going to find gluten free food there? I might have to pack something for nomming on... >.<

Caaaaaaaape!

A good chunk of Saturday was spent on the beginnings of my cosplay costume - Suzaku Kururugi from Code Geass. The plan is to head to Supanova and SMASH! dressed as Suzaku, along with my girlfriend who will dressing as Euphemia. Aside from that, we have quite a large Code Geass group who will be there doing... well... anime convention-ey things I suppose.

So the first part of the costume that I was to work on (with Sarah and her mother's help) would be the cape. It is the most noticeable part of the outfit - as well as likely the simplest. Having spent some time a few weekends ago measuring and cutting the material, and Sarah having spent some time sorting out the yellow design to go over the blue, all I had to do was cut out the yellow design, sew the cape into its cape shape, and then pin the yellow designs to it - Sarah's mum will be handsewing the yellow onto the cape, although I will be doing at least some of it (I have to learn somehow, right?)

Ow, ow, ow, ow owowowowowow!

Sewing was weird... I kept having mental images of me managing to hurt myself in the process - but somehow I managed not to, and even did a fairly decent looking job!

I'm glad I wasn't made to do the ironing. The yellow parts needed the ends folded over (so that they don't look crap when sewn on), and so Sarah's mother did the ironing. An utter godsend, for multiple reasons. For starters, I've never ironed anything before, and so would likely start a fire. Let it be known that I do enjoy a good fire, but I would rather not burn their house down!

Also, Sarah's mother is in possession of the worst ironing board cover ever. As in, it is a dude (named Mark) wearing nothing but a towel. Apply heat, and the towel comes off. I am NOT MAKING THIS UP.

Why? Oh God why?

Avoiding that ironing board cover by concentrating on the sewing, I managed to come up with something fairly decent looking. All that's left for the cape is to actually get the yellow sewn on properly (all they are at the moment is pinned), sew the purple lining on the inside, and create and attach the awesome Elvis collar.

Not quite there yet, but you get the idea

Then comes the hard part - the suit.

Cosplay

This weekend, at some point, my girlfriend and I are going to plan how we're going to make our cosplay outfits for SMASH and Supanova - both being geek conventions that are held in Sydney (and in the case of Supanova, other cities too).

We have decided upon going as Suzaku and Euphemia from Code Geass. If you haven't seen Code Geass, stop reading, go watch all 50 or so episodes, and come back. I'm not going to make spoilers, its just that you're missing some awesome shit. Go on, get! Y'all come back when yer done, ye hear?

Now that you've spent the better part of three days marathoning anime (and what about that ending? Holy crap!), you know the extent of the outfit that is planned. Kinda.

I am going to be the second season version of Suzaku - which means I get to have an awesome cape. It also means I am doomed in terms of making an outfit.

Let's get one thing straight - I am artistically challenged. This extends to all form of creativity - drawing, painting, making the musics, and sewing. Well, my only real attempts at sewing were to alter an old grey trenchcoat I found to look vaguely like Anderson from Hellsing, and to put some finishing touches on a Maes Hughes outfit that my friend's mother did the bulk of the work on (for which I am eternally grateful). Also, don't read the text on that Hughes link if you haven't watched much of Full Metal Alchemist - spoilers abound.

The point is, this is the first time where I'll be hopefully doing the bulk of my own outfit. This means that it will likely look horrendous - due to a lack of skill and experience in this regard. I really hope it turns out, because we have a largish Code Geass group planned. Though, to be fair, 5 of the outfits are being made by one person. A single person who is actually talented at these things. Though I still feel this is cheating since I'm quite likely to fail, and the rest of the group will look so much better.

Hooray for optimism!