LeBlanc staff construction progress: 03

Instead of letting the project sit for a few weeks like I sometimes tend to do, I actually was pretty productive this weekend, and got right to work with the next step of the construction of the LeBlanc staff.

This is what I thought was going to be the hardest part of the entire construction, since I would be essentially slicing the shapes that took a good deal of work in the first place, right in half. Once halved, I inserted a metal hoop rod into the shapes, to put them into arrangement.

In my best efforts to be as thorough as possible in explaining my build, there will be pictures as well as descriptions, after the jump.

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LeBlanc staff construction progress: 02

In an attempt to try and be a somewhat contributing member of the internet when it comes to sharing knowledge, I’m going to make a conscious effort to chronicle the construction of this LeBlanc staff I’m making with some actual descriptions, instead of simply taking pictures and posting up a blurb like I had done with the Mafia Graves gun throughout the time before Dragon*Con last year.

“02,” you say?  Where’s “01?”  Although this is the first post I’ll have made about the staff, the first progress photo would have been this here.  This was the staff’s initial pieces cut out, and nothing more.  The above picture is the second progress picture, also with a reference shot so that anyone viewing might have an idea of what the heck I’m making.

As for the process, I’ll spare the gory details for after a jump.

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Chinese being sore losers? Inconceivable!

(video set to play at sweet ending)

I know that I’m really critical when it comes to the topic of eSports and “professional” online gaming, but when I read on some LoL site about how the Koreans at a recent LoL tournament went all Hulkamania and annihilated all of the competition, I still felt that cultural pride, that even in something as silly as pro-gaming. Perhaps the old hat jokes about Koreans being the best at Starcraft and Counterstrike can take the backseat to something that I’m actually interested in like League.

Anyway, I came across more information about the tournament about how in the finals of this tournament, the Koreans not just beat the Chinese team, but absolutely owned them. 2-0 in a best of three, and it apparently wasn’t even close. Since I’m familiar enough with the game mechanics to understand what I’d be watching, I took some time to watch the deciding game just to see for myself just how badly Korea whooped up on the Chinese, because I’m sadistic and petty like that.

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Is commitment the key to greatness?

Generally, when I think about myself and what I’m doing with my life, I like to think of myself as a pretty versatile person.  My interests are pretty varied, and I like to think that having versatility in my knowledge, talents and things I like to do is a good thing, and I still do think such holds to be true.

But at the same time, I don’t particularly think I’m necessarily the greatest at any one thing I do on a fairly regularly basis.  I work out every day, but I’m not massively muscular, chiseled or have unlimited stamina.  I play League of Legends on a fairly regular basis, but I’m not going really reach a level where I could become a professional or anything.  I make stuff for a living, but aside from the attempts to be humble about it, I know I’m not the greatest graphic designer on the planet.  I’m a pretty involved baseball fan, and still do a decent bit of baseball-related writing on a regular basis, but I’m not really going to get to a point where I could brog about baseball for a living, or make my own publications.

Long story short, I’m involved with several things, dabble in many, but I don’t necessarily think I’m truly great at anything in particular.  And sometimes I wonder if I want to be great at something, I need to fully commit to it, and give it my primary and majority attention and effort.

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lol China

It’s no secret that China has absolutely zero respect or regards to copyright infringement, and as long as they stonewall themselves in their own country, they may as well be their own planet.  But I like League of Legends, so this is somewhat relevant to my interests.

A LoL-themed restaurant where the waitresses are dressed up as Caitlyns and whatever the dudes do are dressed up as guys like Twisted Fate and Ezreal.  The supposed menu consists of LoL-themed food items, and when gamers aren’t dining, they’re supposedly welcome to play LoL at their one desktop with classy wires sticking out all over the place!

Naturally, this is being done completely unauthorized by Riot Games or the Chinese company that owns Riot Games, but it’s not like anyone will do anything about it.  The Chinese rip Apple products off all while even using Apple’s logo and gets away with it, so something like this isn’t even going to be noticed.  Fortunately for Riot though, is that gimmicks like this ultimately get old very quickly, so it’s really only a matter of time until the LoL craze eventually wanes on its own, and then this place will wilt then, if it even makes it that far in the first place.

Welp, if this is our last night on Earth

No better way than ending it on a high note, slaughtering the crap out of a bunch of attempted pub-stompers, with the girl that started it all, my one first true LoL love, Miss Fortune.

Not that I believe for a second that it’s the end of the world, but if it were, I can’t say that I really have many substantial regrets.  Maybe that I didn’t accomplish my goal of visiting every single Major League Baseball ballpark, or visiting Astoria, Oregon, and when I didn’t have the sense to ask out the hot girl with the blue hair at Dragon*Con that one year.

Otherwise, I think I’ve lived my life pretty full and decently.

Photos: Candids from the LoL Photoshoot

We took our League of Legends costumes back from Dragon*Con, and drug them out to the woods the get some purty pictures taken of them in a setting that wasn’t a hotel.  Overall, it was a fun experience albeit a little surreal one, because one, I don’t really consider myself that much of a costumer these days other than something for Dragon*Con, and two, I’m hardly good at it, but typically I’m the one behind the camera.

Regardless, that part remained partially the same, because as I did at Dragon*Con, I busted out the crappy old Sony point-and-shoot that fit snugly in one of my many duster pockets to take some candid photos with.  I thought my Sony could still take decent daytime snapshots, but as you’ll see, that’s hardly the case anymore.  I hate to admit it, but I think I need to get a replacement backup point-and-shoot.

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