MonkeyBiz

18 posts

The Hobbyist: Tools of the Trade

Michelangelo and da Vinci were true Renaissance Men; skilled sculptors, painters, architects, and engineers. However, their great works did not come into existence purely by the waving of hands. They, like every man before them, stretching back to the creation of fire and the wheel, relied on tools to bring their vision to reality. It is in that spirit that we move on to discuss the implements of creation, the tools of the trade.

Crack open your toolbox and get a hardware store on speed dial. I am… THE HOBBYIST. Continue reading →

It’s Time For Minority Superhero Movies

The current run of big screen adaptations of comic book characters can be traced directly back to Richard Donner’s 1978 film Superman. Since then, we’ve had five more Superman movies, seven Batman movies, a Green Lantern movie, four Spider-Man movies, two Fantastic Four movies, five X-Men movies, three Iron Man movies, a Thor movie, a Captain America movie, and a movie with Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. This week, Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to 2011’s Thor, hits theaters, and next summer we’re getting X-Men Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

What do all of these movies have in common, besides being big budget superhero movies? The titular characters are all white men. In the case of Superman, Thor, and Captain America, they’re the whitest and manliest of white men. Continue reading →

The Hobbyist: An Introduction

One of my earliest memories is staying up late with my mom in our dining room building a model of the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-A, in case you’re wondering). Well, to be precise, I was watching and she was building at my behest. Although I eventually grew out of building starships in favor of more social activities, about six years ago I found my way back into the hobbyist world. Now I do some things half-assed, but when it comes to making models, I’m serious business.

I’ve decided to share my knowledge, gained through grime, sweat, tears, and blood, in the hopes of inspiring others to take up this most noble of pursuits. This will be a multi-part series, covering tools, materials, techniques, and whatever else seems interesting.

Welcome to my world. I am… THE HOBBYIST. Continue reading →

A Musical Retrospective of the Mass Effect Trilogy

Mass_Effect_logo_smallI recently found myself with a great deal of free time and very little to fill it with, so I figured I’d take a crack at playing the entire Mass Effect trilogy back-to-back-to-back. I had played all three games when they released, and done multiple playthroughs, but never a complete playthrough from start to finish.

As I was working my way through the games, I began to pay more attention to the little things I missed working my way through playing them separately. Bits of conversation, foreshadowing, etc. that added to the experience in unexpected ways. After I was finished, I realized that, more than anything, what moved me the most was the music. Continue reading →