Larwi B'nu

[Larwi B'nu]

My birthday was pretty nice, even though I had to work. I ended up w/ three - 3!!! - cakes b/c one person @ work made me one - she makes the best cakes in the world, not lying - another one bought me one from Wal-Mart - none too shabby, really - and, later that same night, my sister surprised me w/ one she made @ home. Everybody loved them - especially my sister's, which everyone commented on - and everyone had a piece of @ least one of them, yes, so it was a really cool b-day, all around. The only "gift" I received was a packet of socks from my aunt...I'm serious! Plain, white socks...that's it. But it was still really cool.

What I really want to say is that I finally took the plunge and bought my first 'saber! It's a Mace Windu style, and me, being Black and bald, it's all too fitting, right? I suppose b/c I'm a "confirmed bachelor" and due to my "alternative lifestyle," perhaps the purple blade is appropriate....

Anyway, today I get paid, so later on, I'm goin' ta Wal-Mart! Woo-hoo! I'm buying the material for my first Jedi tunic and undertunic, so, the prospects of me having this outfit complete by All Hallow's Eve are looking pretty good, but we'll see.

Thanx, all, and may the Force be w/ you always!

[Leda EmBorr]

Ah... happy belated birthday!

I see you changed your screen name to your Jedi name... very cool! I had to double check that it was you!

How's that costume coming along? Can't wait to see it.

I love the Mace saber... did you get the Master Replicas fx?

[Larwi B'nu]

Yes, I did some fiddling w/ my screen name once I realized I could edit it as it is displayed, as opposed to my logon name, which was very cool. I also modified my avatar as I was finally able to do a *safe* search via Google, as opposed to visiting random sites w/ gobs of pop-ups, spyware, banners, viruses, and the like. I'm still relatively new to the world of online avatars, etc....

Thanx for the birthday wishes, Leda!

As for my costume, it is scheduled to be completed by Halloween, so - *crosses fingers, shrugs* - we'll see. And, of course, as soon as it is completed, I'll immediately have pics taken so that I can become a full-fledged Jedi.

I did acquire the Master Replicas FX saber, but it was modified - nicely - by Ultrasabers. It has an orange blade that looks more yellow than anything else, which is still cool, but it has the cool sound FX, and a reinforced, detachable blade for hitting; yay!

I'll keep you updated as my costume nears completion...8 days, and counting....

[Kryy Jacobi]

Well, Happy Halloween, and I hope you got your costume finished in time! Welcome to the site!

[Larwi B'nu]

DISASTER!!! My costume was indeed completed in time for All Hallow's Eve, but it was an absolute MESS!!!

I know I'm going to sound like an ungrateful prat, truly, but I need to vent and explain the situation, otherwise no one will understand why I haven't submitted photos of myself in my costume any time soon....

So I found Simplicity 4450 pattern, which is absolutely perfect for the Jedi tunic and robe, etc, right? Clearly shown on the front - in full color - is a picture of a guy modeling the tunic as it is supposed to be done, right? Well, I finally picked up my costume...and it was inverted! The material that was supposed to be used for the tabbards, sash, and tunic were used for the tabbards, sash, and UNDERtunic! The dark brown, soft, T-shirt-esque material that was supposed to be used for the undertunic was, instead, used for the tunic itself!

DISASTER!!!

Also, no Velcro was used, so, of course, the tabbards were impossible to keep up, and the sash was too short, but that's not her fault; I never bothered to have my waist measured, though if she had simply asked, I could have told her, "Hey, by the way, I wear a 36 to 38 waist." Simple, right? Apparently not....

Surprisingly, I had had the foresight, when I was buying the material @ Wal-Mart, to also buy some Velcro for her to use, and when I showed them to her, she even knew right away what they were for...to keep the tabbards - she called it shoulder armor; no biggie, you say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to - from slipping off, but she never bothered to add it! GRRRRRR!!!

Just so you don't think I'm nothing but a whiny git, I should say that she made the most b-e-a-u-tiful Jedi cloak, hood and all. EVERYone went on and on about the robe, and I think a lot of it had to do w/ the material I managed to find, which, once again, props to Wal-Mart, was a really original color - greenish-brown? - and REALLY soft and nice to the touch! And in defense of my seamstress friend, she managed to put the robe together in four days time b/c I gave it to her late b/c I could have sworn I still had my old cloak roaming about the house somewhere, but, upon serious investigation, simply could not find it. She did an OUTSTANDING job, of course, and everyone who saw me complimented me on the outfit - they thought the whole thing was store-bought - and it was incredibly, incredibly comfortable to walk around in; I worked the whole 8 1/2 hours in it, and had no complaints...aside from the above mentioned. To hide the disaster area that my tabbards had become and the flimsy, bunched-up fallout that the sash had become, I had to keep the cloak on all night, but, like I said, it was so comfortable, it was no problem whatsoever...but STILL!

On the plus side, I had an original, unique alternating color scheme, and everything did come out to spec, but it's far - FAR!!! - cry from anything even remotely resembling "screen-accurate." GRRRRR!!! There was a picture of the dude ON THE PACKAGE!!! GRRRRRRR!!!

...anyway....

Oh, and the Karaoke DJ had a computer library that included - ta-daaaa! - "The Saga Begins" by Weird Al Yankovic, so, lightsaber in hand, dressed in full Jedi gear, I had the pleasure of getting up on stage and singing Weird Al's ode to both Don McLean's "American Pie" and "THe Phantom Menace!" YAAAAAAAYYY!!! So, the night was a big hit, and I had a lot - a LOT!!! - of fun.

Happy Halloween, and may the Force be with you!

[Leda EmBorr]

Inverted your costume??

That's one for the record!!

You should post the pics of in the Jedi Beginnings thread!!


Glad you had a good time... that's what counts, right? And the Karaoke sounds like an absolute blast!!

[Larwi B'nu]

Thanx! It was! I'll definitely be posting pics regardless.

[Solinbeb Newau]

Having colors reversed isn't a complete disasster...

I actually wanted mine reversed orignally.

[Kryy Jacobi]

And you know what else? Even if you hated your costume... which I know you don't ... each stage is a learning experience.

I modified my "Halloween Jedi" (which is mostly black -- see my profile) so there are a lot of alterations and trial and error stitching which I wouldn't want on a real costume. (I moved the waist dart in the tabards 3 times.) But it's black and you can't really see the stitches, it's night anyway, and I'm wearing my robe most of the time. (I love my robe too -- it's the most fun part of the costume after the lightsaber. ;D)

This year I really worked on my tabards and obi to get them to fit right and stay in place when moving around a lot -- 1000% improvement over last year, and it's something I wouldn't be able to really "diagnose" without actually wearing the costume for several hours, which it appears you discovered. (hmmm, my waist seam is too high, or this piece needs to be velcroed here, or this piece crawls and un-tucks and looks sloppy...)

Yes, I thought I'd be "done" by now too (impatient perfectionist), but once I realized I wouldn't be finished by Halloween, I decided to slow down and to enjoy the process, analyze everything to death (sort of kidding : and work toward a costume that I will enjoy wearing b/c it fits and I'm not tugging at it all the time.

Seriously, I think lots of people underestimate the potential problems with the obi/tabards -- (I did) they're supposed to be trouble-free straight pieces of cloth, right??? HA!!

But work on those, visit that section of the Temple and partake of the wisdom of the Archives, and you'll be set. (I think I need a visit over there myself....)

Glad your Halloween was fun in spite of the challenges.

[J'aii-Gun Jiinn]

Greetings Larwi
That was a cool short story I do drawlings though I've enjoyed all the jedi and Star Wars books but i mostly enjoy the jedi books
i hope we can see each other sometime Take care

[Larwi B'nu]

I had no idea the tabbards and sash would be so troublesome! I'll definitely have to post those pics of me in costume soon. I fear that even once I have the Velcro in place, they'll cause me all kinds of trouble.

J'aii-Gun Jiinn, thanx for the compliment; like I said, I'm a write, tried and true, so I just couldn't help myself, as long as the post was. I'm already looking forward to D*Con '07, so maybe we'll see each other then, yes? I'm really looking forward to meeting a lot of the Jedi Assembly.

[Larwi B'nu]

...okay, so I STILL haven't gotten around to posting my pics...from OCTOBER, nonetheless! It's on my To Do List, I swear!

Anyway, so, Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve was spent eating, drinking, and playing Spin the Bottle, which was REALLY cool, b/c I'd never played it before in my life. Of course, our version was bit different...and a lot more fun. Anyway, so even MORE fun was to be had on New Year's Day b/c we were all tired and feeling incredibly lazy, so I called out from work for the first time ever (boy, am I glad I had never abused THAT privilege, huh?!) and we sat around and watched the entire original trilogy on DVD, Special Edition for the whole day.

YAY!!!

It was truly a most awesome New Year's! I had forgotten how long it had been since I had seen the original trilogy! And it was the Special Edition, which I LOVE! Say what you will about the original film and Lucas' desire to fiddle w/ a bonafide classic, but something about me understand what he means about special FX being used as a storytelling tool. And I love and appreciate fully the original, uncut edition in all its outdated glory, but honestly, after a while, some of those FX start looking creepy and cheap, so if the technology is available - and it clearly is - I say, go ahead and use it. As long as Lucas is using his powers for good and not evil, then I applaud him.

Anyway, so I lounged around my friend's house while he made us pancakes and scrambled eggs, we all recovered, and we all enjoyed the original trilogy on DVD w/ stereo sound (They have an incredible sound system!). It was truly a most glorious New Year's celebration.

May the Force be with you in '07!

[admin]

How goes the costume?

[Larwi B'nu]

Ah, yes...the costume.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make any corrections or, really, do anything w/ it since I put it on for Halloween. It was like I spent all of that time, jittery as a kid @ Christmas, waiting to put it on for the first time ever, and then, after it was all said and done, I simply folded it up and put it away. Yes, immediately afterwards, I was still excited about correcting this and modifying that, but then bills started coming, winter crept along, and my everyday life started invading my thoughts and concerns, which is both rewarding and disappointing, if you know what I mean. Once again, it's on my To Do List. Of course, it would be so much easier if my mom was here in Arkansas w/ me; she'd be able to finish it up in a snap...or, I could just learn to sew...hmm...which do you think is more likely to happen? The Saints win the Super Bowl or I learn to sew?

Ha!

You might as well ask me to lift an X-wing out of swamp on Dagobah....

Anyway, I'm just trying to level off my finances after the first of the year...I'm sure you know how it is after Christmas; we're all in debt up to our eyeballs. But, hey, it's most DEFINITELY worth it, yes? So, once my financial situation has reached an even keel, then I'll start investigating some proper costume modifications and corrections. Until then, may the Force be with us all.

Tax Season '07! WOO-HOO!!!

[Leda EmBorr]

Tax season... oh lord... don't remind me! lol!

I have to file a sched. C for a business that I kept very lousy records for... I'm not a bookeeper! My records are all on sticky notes...