AmpTrooper
Proud Member
Hey everyone! Been a while since I have been on here and seen everyone. Been gone because of 2 reasons. First is we bought a house. Really didn't mean too. Hows that you say?! Well, we were going to rent and we told my Mom where the house was that we were looking at and she said that was funny because 2 doors down from that house was one that she saw for sale online. She said it was a HUD home and they were asking 38,000 $ for it. We decided to check it out. It is really big but needed a lot of work. Mostly cosmetic work. I have rebuilt 3 houses before this one and use to work for a company that did water and fire restoration on homes. So I know how to get the job done.
Well anyways, I decided to shhot them a crazy low ball offer that I knew for sure they would turn down. So we put in an offer of 28,000$. they called back within 2 hours and said they would take it. They only had the house for sale for 3 months so it isn't like it has been for sale for years or something. SO, we bought it and I have been fixing it up. It is looking really nice! The kitchen we are doing like a 1950's kitchen with black and white tile floors formica counter tops with chrome trim we even have a working 1950's fridge and a stove from 1946. My wife LOVES the stove even though you have to light it every time you use it. We have one of those fireplace long lighters. She says the stove cooks better then any modern one she has ever had. The living room we are doing in a move theater theme. Our colors are light grey, red and black. We are putting framed movie posters on the walls. Mostly our favorite movies which are old 1920's and 30's horror movies. My favorite actor in the whole world is Bela Lugosi (the original Dracula and the star of the first Zombie movie "White Zombie"). We will have a few others as well like Labyrinth, the Muppets and Star Wars and Captain EO. I even finally have a music room where I have my drum set and guitars and my amplifiers, turntables and my Boom Box from 1883 (I have been wanting that Boom Box since I was 10! SO happy to finally have it. Been a few years waiting for it though, lol!).
The other reason it has been so long is because all of my online time has gone to the Imperial Royal Arms.com, my Star Wars custom lightsaber forum. We are growing fast and are really busy! We have added new members to our custom lightsaber builders consortium.
It sure does take a lot to run a busy forum! We are looking to advance our forum soon and remodel it a lot to give it a whole new updated look. Going to look really nice! We have been blessed with some really talented people in the consortium to help with this. 2 of them went to school for graphic design and one of the 2 is working part time for a collage teaching animation! So they have been and will be a giant help for designing a new logo and background etc. We also have a member that works for one of the top web design firms in the world. His know how is really going to pull things together. We all at the IRA (Imperial Royal Arms not Irish Republic
) are very excited. If your into Star Wars feel free to check it out and say hi! You will be amazed at how cool custom lightsabers are! So, now I am trying to balance things a bit and make time to come here and to the Lincolns Of Distinction forum (a car club for Lincoln's) and the 501st Star Wars Costume Club forum. Lot of forums to keep up with! Going to try to hit each one 2 times a week and of course the IRA every day as I have to work there.
Anywho, I missed being here and was happy to find time to come here and catch up. Was on here reading for a while before I posted. Lots has gone one here. I think it has been more then 2 months since I have been here. Well, it was before the BAD 25 release.
Oh, on that: so, we live in a rather small city. It's called Lafayette, IN. There is a large collage (Purdue University) here though and I am sure that has something to do with it. But, when the single was released it sold out the first night. I went the next day and they were restocking the shelf for the second time that day and they only had 4 to put on the shelf. I got 3 as there was someone behind me looking for it as well. I had to do the right thing and let them have it. I went first thing in the morning to Walmart to pick up BAD 25. They had 3 left. Well, not really. What they had was one Box set with out the shirt. One with the shirt but it was a Med shirt and one movie only DVD. So, I got the box set without the shirt. The next day we went there to get groceries and there was only one MJ CD in the whole building and it was a Jackson 5 $5 "best of" CD. They had sold everything even cds that were not BAD 25. We were there just the other day to get groceries. The had a lot of the DVD and only 2 box sets with the shirt and one regular 2 disc CD pack and only a few MJ cd at all. They had Invincible, Immortal and a few best of cheap ones. It wasn't like they are not stocking it as you can tell it has been rummaged through. We have also spotted a few MJ stickers in back windows of some cars around here. The one was from "This Is It". At first my kids and I thought maybe it was a ballet sticker as they are very much alike. It was an MJ sticker though. When we went to the State Fair and they had an MJ Tribute band it was packed! There were a lot of kids fully dressed in MJ gear and dancing MJ moves and everyone was singing. Indiana is a live and well with MJ fans! I have been telling people that I meet about this forum. Hope some of them have made it here.
I showed my kids the DVD from the box set. They were completely mesmerized. They have seen MJ concerts on DVD before. Not sure why this one caught them so much. Maybe it was the rawness of it. It was more real and not so overly edited that it could pass for an MTV or VH1 video. It was pretty true (for most of it) to the actual concert. But, they were so into it that they didn't even sing along as they normally do. They were just staring at the TV and had that glimmer in their eyes and when he would pop some of their favorite moves or songs they would smile. It was really cool to watch. I wish I could take them to see MJ. That is why I am in full support of the "Hologram" style MJ concert. Remember, it is not really a hologram. There is no such thing. It is just a video played on a clear screen so you can see what is behind the figure. Not a real Hologram!!! They would be tickled pink to see that. It is worth it to bring MJ and his amazing concerts to the new generation and i know MJ would love it as he loved the use of technology in his concerts. It's not about money but about the kids. I know if something like that came to Indianapolis it would be completely sold out!
Anywho, it was nice to see the kids so caught up in MJ's concert.
Today is my daughters birthday! She is having a sleep over with 3 other 9 year old girls. Seemed like a good idea at the time! Now, I have one of the biggest headaches of my life! But, she has had a great B-day. I was even able to get a custom made cake decoration. Check it out!
She was shocked to see an MJ cake and with her name on it! She also got a gold necklace with an MJ glove on it with sparkles. It is original from 1987 as it is stamped on the back. She got her own copy of BAD 25 and we had to give a few of her presents early so that she could use them for Halloween. She got some MJ loafer shoes, Billie Jean pants and the best fedora we could fine for now. Going to get the offical one online for Christmas for her. So, she went as MJ Billie Jean for Halloween. She had her Mom do her hair kind of like the girl from the "Going Hollywood" video. She said that everyone recognized her when she was trick or treating. Not only the adults recognized her but some kids too. She thought that was really cool!
Here she is in her Billie Jean duds!
Here she is showing her white socks. We are going to get her some sequin sock for Christmas too. We had to have her put on a white sweater under her jacket because it was cold out.
Sorry for such a long post. Just have a lot to share! LOL! I will stop boring you soon. I promise! LOL! :bored2:
So, most of y'all know about my bad Ebay purchase of a fake MJ signed poster. Well, now that I know what to look for I took my time and waited and finally got a real MJ autograph! I took it to a high class pawn shop (brokers as they call it). They have experts in many feilds and one of them specializes in autographs. He looked it over really good and said this is the real deal. I got a certificate and a numbered card and a hologram sticker with matching number. The sticker has a backing so I put it loose in the back of the fame so if I ever put it in a new frame I have the hologram to go with it. This is my favorite piece in of all the things I have. My kids thought it was amazing that we have something in the house that MJ actually held in his own hands. There is even a thumb print close to the signature and it has a little bit of Sharpie residue as if from someone who has been using a Sharpie. The autograph guy said that he can't certify that it is MJ's print but, his personal feeling is that it is. So that is really cool to think that it may actually be an MJ finger print!
Check it out!
Finally, we have started last year to collect life masks from our favorite performers and actors. They are made of some sort of plastic. It is sandable and you can carve in it. They come bald and kind of rough. So, I have to fix the details and skin without taking away from their actual facial details and imperfections as those things are part of who they are. Then I paint them. That takes a long time as I use may layers and colors to match the human skin and try to get the tones of that person during that particular time in their life. I also add hair and open the eyes if I want the eyes open. They come closed. Life masks are used fro making prosthetics for the movies or even concerts. That way they do not have to have the actor there all the time. They can use his cast to make them. So far I have my favorite actor Bela Lugosi and my favorite singer, Michael Jackson. The one for MJ was from Thriller. They used it to make the Zombie prosthetic and the wolf. I opened his eyes by using a lot of pictures and looking at his eyes from every angle as his eyes are actually two different sizes and shapes.
It I used a dremel tool and razor knifes to carve the eyes in. I also put hair on him. That was hard too. The official MJ wig was not good. Tired it and it was just a cheap Halloween bad wig. So, I ended up finding a pretty good one from the 70's. I don't think it is real hair but, I had to glue it on with hot glue and then cut it so that it matched (luckily my Mom owned a beauty salon most of my life) and then I had to style it. I used pictures from BAD and a few from in between Bad and Dangerous. I think it came out really nice. It is nice to have hair on him. He really didn't look right bald! LOL! ;D The definition in the color tones on him don't show really well in the pictures. His skin has much more tone to it when you see it in person.
Here is MJ:
Here he is with Bela! I did his hair a little more before putting him on the wall too so that it looked even better. I noticed his lips look purple like he has been swimming in the pictures. They are not purple.
Thanks for reading my book worth of babbling! Missed everyone and it's cool to be back. Now off to catch up on things some more.
God bless you and be with you!
Well anyways, I decided to shhot them a crazy low ball offer that I knew for sure they would turn down. So we put in an offer of 28,000$. they called back within 2 hours and said they would take it. They only had the house for sale for 3 months so it isn't like it has been for sale for years or something. SO, we bought it and I have been fixing it up. It is looking really nice! The kitchen we are doing like a 1950's kitchen with black and white tile floors formica counter tops with chrome trim we even have a working 1950's fridge and a stove from 1946. My wife LOVES the stove even though you have to light it every time you use it. We have one of those fireplace long lighters. She says the stove cooks better then any modern one she has ever had. The living room we are doing in a move theater theme. Our colors are light grey, red and black. We are putting framed movie posters on the walls. Mostly our favorite movies which are old 1920's and 30's horror movies. My favorite actor in the whole world is Bela Lugosi (the original Dracula and the star of the first Zombie movie "White Zombie"). We will have a few others as well like Labyrinth, the Muppets and Star Wars and Captain EO. I even finally have a music room where I have my drum set and guitars and my amplifiers, turntables and my Boom Box from 1883 (I have been wanting that Boom Box since I was 10! SO happy to finally have it. Been a few years waiting for it though, lol!).
The other reason it has been so long is because all of my online time has gone to the Imperial Royal Arms.com, my Star Wars custom lightsaber forum. We are growing fast and are really busy! We have added new members to our custom lightsaber builders consortium.
It sure does take a lot to run a busy forum! We are looking to advance our forum soon and remodel it a lot to give it a whole new updated look. Going to look really nice! We have been blessed with some really talented people in the consortium to help with this. 2 of them went to school for graphic design and one of the 2 is working part time for a collage teaching animation! So they have been and will be a giant help for designing a new logo and background etc. We also have a member that works for one of the top web design firms in the world. His know how is really going to pull things together. We all at the IRA (Imperial Royal Arms not Irish Republic
) are very excited. If your into Star Wars feel free to check it out and say hi! You will be amazed at how cool custom lightsabers are! So, now I am trying to balance things a bit and make time to come here and to the Lincolns Of Distinction forum (a car club for Lincoln's) and the 501st Star Wars Costume Club forum. Lot of forums to keep up with! Going to try to hit each one 2 times a week and of course the IRA every day as I have to work there. Anywho, I missed being here and was happy to find time to come here and catch up. Was on here reading for a while before I posted. Lots has gone one here. I think it has been more then 2 months since I have been here. Well, it was before the BAD 25 release.
Oh, on that: so, we live in a rather small city. It's called Lafayette, IN. There is a large collage (Purdue University) here though and I am sure that has something to do with it. But, when the single was released it sold out the first night. I went the next day and they were restocking the shelf for the second time that day and they only had 4 to put on the shelf. I got 3 as there was someone behind me looking for it as well. I had to do the right thing and let them have it. I went first thing in the morning to Walmart to pick up BAD 25. They had 3 left. Well, not really. What they had was one Box set with out the shirt. One with the shirt but it was a Med shirt and one movie only DVD. So, I got the box set without the shirt. The next day we went there to get groceries and there was only one MJ CD in the whole building and it was a Jackson 5 $5 "best of" CD. They had sold everything even cds that were not BAD 25. We were there just the other day to get groceries. The had a lot of the DVD and only 2 box sets with the shirt and one regular 2 disc CD pack and only a few MJ cd at all. They had Invincible, Immortal and a few best of cheap ones. It wasn't like they are not stocking it as you can tell it has been rummaged through. We have also spotted a few MJ stickers in back windows of some cars around here. The one was from "This Is It". At first my kids and I thought maybe it was a ballet sticker as they are very much alike. It was an MJ sticker though. When we went to the State Fair and they had an MJ Tribute band it was packed! There were a lot of kids fully dressed in MJ gear and dancing MJ moves and everyone was singing. Indiana is a live and well with MJ fans! I have been telling people that I meet about this forum. Hope some of them have made it here.
I showed my kids the DVD from the box set. They were completely mesmerized. They have seen MJ concerts on DVD before. Not sure why this one caught them so much. Maybe it was the rawness of it. It was more real and not so overly edited that it could pass for an MTV or VH1 video. It was pretty true (for most of it) to the actual concert. But, they were so into it that they didn't even sing along as they normally do. They were just staring at the TV and had that glimmer in their eyes and when he would pop some of their favorite moves or songs they would smile. It was really cool to watch. I wish I could take them to see MJ. That is why I am in full support of the "Hologram" style MJ concert. Remember, it is not really a hologram. There is no such thing. It is just a video played on a clear screen so you can see what is behind the figure. Not a real Hologram!!!
They would be tickled pink to see that. It is worth it to bring MJ and his amazing concerts to the new generation and i know MJ would love it as he loved the use of technology in his concerts. It's not about money but about the kids. I know if something like that came to Indianapolis it would be completely sold out! Anywho, it was nice to see the kids so caught up in MJ's concert.
Today is my daughters birthday! She is having a sleep over with 3 other 9 year old girls. Seemed like a good idea at the time! Now, I have one of the biggest headaches of my life!
But, she has had a great B-day. I was even able to get a custom made cake decoration. Check it out!
She was shocked to see an MJ cake and with her name on it! She also got a gold necklace with an MJ glove on it with sparkles. It is original from 1987 as it is stamped on the back. She got her own copy of BAD 25 and we had to give a few of her presents early so that she could use them for Halloween. She got some MJ loafer shoes, Billie Jean pants and the best fedora we could fine for now. Going to get the offical one online for Christmas for her. So, she went as MJ Billie Jean for Halloween. She had her Mom do her hair kind of like the girl from the "Going Hollywood" video. She said that everyone recognized her when she was trick or treating. Not only the adults recognized her but some kids too. She thought that was really cool!
Here she is in her Billie Jean duds!
Here she is showing her white socks. We are going to get her some sequin sock for Christmas too. We had to have her put on a white sweater under her jacket because it was cold out.
Sorry for such a long post. Just have a lot to share! LOL! I will stop boring you soon. I promise! LOL! :bored2:
So, most of y'all know about my bad Ebay purchase of a fake MJ signed poster. Well, now that I know what to look for I took my time and waited and finally got a real MJ autograph! I took it to a high class pawn shop (brokers as they call it). They have experts in many feilds and one of them specializes in autographs. He looked it over really good and said this is the real deal. I got a certificate and a numbered card and a hologram sticker with matching number. The sticker has a backing so I put it loose in the back of the fame so if I ever put it in a new frame I have the hologram to go with it. This is my favorite piece in of all the things I have. My kids thought it was amazing that we have something in the house that MJ actually held in his own hands. There is even a thumb print close to the signature and it has a little bit of Sharpie residue as if from someone who has been using a Sharpie. The autograph guy said that he can't certify that it is MJ's print but, his personal feeling is that it is. So that is really cool to think that it may actually be an MJ finger print!
Check it out!
Finally, we have started last year to collect life masks from our favorite performers and actors. They are made of some sort of plastic. It is sandable and you can carve in it. They come bald and kind of rough. So, I have to fix the details and skin without taking away from their actual facial details and imperfections as those things are part of who they are. Then I paint them. That takes a long time as I use may layers and colors to match the human skin and try to get the tones of that person during that particular time in their life. I also add hair and open the eyes if I want the eyes open. They come closed. Life masks are used fro making prosthetics for the movies or even concerts. That way they do not have to have the actor there all the time. They can use his cast to make them. So far I have my favorite actor Bela Lugosi and my favorite singer, Michael Jackson. The one for MJ was from Thriller. They used it to make the Zombie prosthetic and the wolf. I opened his eyes by using a lot of pictures and looking at his eyes from every angle as his eyes are actually two different sizes and shapes.
It I used a dremel tool and razor knifes to carve the eyes in. I also put hair on him. That was hard too. The official MJ wig was not good. Tired it and it was just a cheap Halloween bad wig. So, I ended up finding a pretty good one from the 70's. I don't think it is real hair but, I had to glue it on with hot glue and then cut it so that it matched (luckily my Mom owned a beauty salon most of my life) and then I had to style it. I used pictures from BAD and a few from in between Bad and Dangerous. I think it came out really nice. It is nice to have hair on him. He really didn't look right bald! LOL! ;D The definition in the color tones on him don't show really well in the pictures. His skin has much more tone to it when you see it in person.
Here is MJ:
Here he is with Bela! I did his hair a little more before putting him on the wall too so that it looked even better. I noticed his lips look purple like he has been swimming in the pictures. They are not purple.
Thanks for reading my book worth of babbling! Missed everyone and it's cool to be back. Now off to catch up on things some more.
God bless you and be with you!