It's That Dude

Body Double on the PVC Frame

2010-02-27T07:25:00.001-08:00

IMG_5294
Originally uploaded by itsthatdude_com

Here is the body double mounted on the PVC frame.. I added some clothing and accessories to get an idea of what I am working with.... forgive my messy garage! I have added the leg extensions also to get a look at the height of the costume.

The crutches on the arms are what I used on the old Beast costume.

Creating a taped body double.

2010-02-27T07:19:00.001-08:00

IMG_5237
Originally uploaded by itsthatdude_com

To add a more accurate representation over the PVC framework I used a body double technique using water activated paper based packing tape. Many people have used duct tape, and while it works it is much harder to work with than the paper packaging tape plus more expensive.

I was able to pick up a roll at Staples for under $8! With the help from my brother and a trash bag to prevent the tape from sticking I was able to get my torso done, beer gut and all. Once the paper side was done, we covered it with some left over clear packing tape I had left over from a move. The form keeps its shape much better than my old attempt at a duct tape double years ago and I highly recommend this technique to anyone.

Thanks to threadbanger.com! Here is their tutorial.

Wecome MyWampa.com fans!

2010-02-27T07:05:00.001-08:00

I am now forwarding MyWampa.com here to the ItsThatDude blog. Once the suit is finished I will likely spin it off into it's own blog but for now I want to keep both in the same spot. Keep checking in on the progress of the new costume and hopefully big things come with it. Be prepared to run into the big guy at Star Wars Celebration 5 in orlando!

Making a PVC Mannequin - Part 1, Measuring and Re-Measuring

2010-01-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Before I start any part of this costume The most important thing is I need to see it upright. In order to do that I will need a sturdy platform to make my costume on. Sure a real mannequin would help but there are a few problems.

They are rarely symmetrical
They are not my height, I am 5'4"
they also are not the height of the costume 7'6"

They cost way too damn much!

Now that I got that off my chest, I had to find a solution. So I began searching the web for everything ranging from Duct Tape Dummies, to the 2x4 version that I made to display the Beast, I finally I came across http://www.dagobahswamp.com/projects/mannequin/index.asp. Using a combination of PVC and metal hinges, I thought with some slight modifications this would work great for me. Oh, don't forget the cardinal rule of any project MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE! After measuring myself ad estimating what I thought would be right, I was 9 inches off... that would really of sucked in the real deal. I would have been fine because it was 9 inches too long but its worth making a mock-up like below. If you don't have graphic programs draw it on paper, and make sure you are accounting for any overlap from the PVC and the curves of the tubes (that was my mistake). The mock up, although shrunk for the sake of the web is to scale to my body. The outline of me is from a photograph, and for every 10 points it equals one inch. So it was easy for me to double check all the measurements. Behind #2 you can see the outline of the Wampa, this is the desired size of the costume. The dimensions were from a photo of an early costume that was full size made for Empire Strikes Back. (photo at bottom of post)

I know with a costume as large as mine, the feet would have to go. In exchange I will be using some steel mounts found at harbor freight, that are attached to a 3'x3' plywood & 2x4 base. With those steel mounts, I can slide the PVC tube on and off of them, which also gives me the ability to add 2' extensions to represent the stilts (light blue, diagram 2). These will give me the ability to work on the two halves of the costume. As mentioned before I plan on splitting the costume in two. With the leg extensions on I can work on the bottom overalls. Without, I can work on the top.

Below is the updated mock-up showing some more details. I will add some more mock-ups side by side photos of the progress. Now the mock up stage is done, it is time to start cutting and get this thing started! The photo above is an early version of the Empire Strikes Back Wampa (notice the head). This early version had the head way too high (see action pic in the inset) so I modified it, removing the actors head, and brought it down closer to the version seen on screen. Click on photo for details

DEAL! BuckyBalls Buy 2 Get 3rd FREE

2009-12-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

Lets go with the trifecta today with the DEALS! Here is an offer from Think Geek, get the Toy of the Year according to Rolling Stone Magazine, buy 2 get the 3rd FREE!

BuckyBalls Magnetic Building Spheres are just what you need to help you brave the boredom of the office. And really, when else will you get to play with your BuckyBalls at work and not get in trouble?

DEAL! 20% OFF Gaming this Christmas with GameFly

2009-12-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

Why choose one game for your family or friends when you can give a whole catalog of them, of their choice. With 20% OFF Gamefly Gift Certificates, you can rent out games just like NetFlix through the mail without the hassle of going to the stores.

DEAL! $40 OFF Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8

2009-12-14T09:07:00.001-08:00

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac is only $69.99 PLUS free shipping! That's a savings of $30 after the $10 instant discount and $20 mail-in rebate. And, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Premiere Elements 8 Bundle is only $109.99 PLUS free shipping! That's a savings of $40 after the $10 instant discount and $30 mail-in rebate.
Offer ends December 21, 2009.

And for a bonus DEAL, Adobe is offering free shipping for the Holidays

Movie Trailer: Clash of the Titans

2009-12-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

Call me late on this one, but Clash of the Titans has been a movie that I wished would be remade for a long time. The Ray Harryhausen classic was one of my childhood favorite movies. The old school stop motion really sparked a kids imagination, but looking back, it almost looks campy. But come on, that was method of it's day. Now that computer graphics have finally overcome that barrier where in the past we would see an effect and say, well that's obviously CGI (just watch the first Power Rangers Movie), to now having the realism to blend into the action. This movie should be a fun roller coaster ride just like I remember as a kid.

A new costume is on the way! The Wampa from ESB

2009-12-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Finally, an event has come up that is worthy of making another BIG costume. 2 years ago I retired the beast because it was too big to keep around, while living in a small apartment with little ones, toys took over the place. Now with a new house and a garage to use as a workshop, I have the perfect place to make a new suit.

With the beast there was many flaws. The proportions were wrong because the original design had it hunched over like the Landstriders from Dark Crystal. Second of all the head was replaced, because the first was too small, while the second head, a store bought mask, was big, loose and difficult to see out of. Third and most importantly the body was made of solid foam. So as you can already figure out, it got hot, very quickly inside.

I have been pondering making a bigfoot costume for years, a modification of the beast, but in proportion. And if I did it right where I could build a muscle shell, that I could then make removable fur cover, like the Chewbacca costume, I could then double the usage of the body. With some brown fur and a mask I can use it as Bigfoot, with some white fur and another mask, I could use it as the Wampa from Empire Strikes Back.

I actually started to work on it soon after retiring the beast. I tried a hollow foam form, but it didn't work. Up until a couple weeks ago I have shelved the project until I could figure out the right method. Then I ran across a post on the official Star Wars blog of Scott Holden's Tauntaun Costume and the lightbulb turned on. It re-ignited the fire and his method of using PVC in strips was the perfect solution to my dilema. Where his was a full PVC cage to form the body of the TaunTaun, mine will be a skeleton of sorts, with some PVC to fill out the girth, and removable "bones" to support the weight of the arms, something that was another problem with the original costume. I had to carry the hands, now they will be clipped to the shoulders and I can take a break while inside. Also the hollow PVC frame for the body should give some breathing room inside, make it more flexible and lighter. The original costume weighed 45 lbs including the stilts!

But just a week later, more news came. Star Wars Celebration will be held in Orlando, right here in Central Florida and an hours drive from the Dude's homebase of Tampa Bay. And now with the house, and nine months to work on it, I will be making that Wampa! Be prepared for many updates on the progress.

Who the hell will buy this... The $1510 Ralph Lauren flask

2009-12-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

Check out this flask, Does it look like its worth over $1500? I ran into some $5 flasks at Walmart yesterday.. but take a product that will be out of site for 95% of it's usage time cover it in Sterling Silver and stamp it with the Ralph Lauren logo and you got yourself one of those "I am a hell of a lot better than you because I'm rich" items. Now this flask actually sells for $1495 but for an extra $15 they will include the monogramming as seen above.

Now here is my biggest gripe. We all know women have been doing this for ages with their Louis Vuitton and their Tiffany & Co. Jewelry. But that stuff is out in the open to be seen. This flask goes in your damn pocket, what is the point of being fancy? I am going to stick with my belt buckle flask for now!

Movie Review: Twilight Saga - New Moon

2009-11-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

Yeah I am man enough to say it, I went to go see New Moon with my wife! On top of that I have listened to all 4 books on audiobook. Audiobooks help on the iPod while at work. So what does a guy who likes to pound his chest and make animal sounds to prove his manhood think about the latest installment of the Twilight series....

It was a pretty damn good movie!

The twilight series if you haven't heard enough about it yet, is about Bella, a neurotic, self loathing, average looking teenager that some how by miracle attracts the fancy of a 100+ year old, sexy and not to mention (Spoiler) VIRGIN vampire... But it is not her that goes after him, it is Edward that can't stay away from her. OK, already you guys out there are already crying bullshit. But that sums up the first movie.

For our second installment Belle and Edward are still a couple until a mishap with a paper cut at her birthday party has another vampire in Edward's family, Jasper, goes into a rage trying to lunge for her to get a taste of blood.

Soon after Edward comes to the conclusion that Bella will be better off and safer without him around. Being the neurotic type that she does what every scorned woman does, fall into the arms of her best friend Jacob. But as soon as they get close Jacob disappears too. So here is poor Bella wallowing in her self pity for months. When she finally has the cahones to confront Jacob she finds out his absence is due to him becoming a werewolf. Yep, the arch enemy of the vampires. The presence of two new vampires in the region on a killing spree has the tribe beginning to transform. So here comes the conflict. She is now falling in love with a werewolf while she is still in love with this vampire dope that took off with no way to contact her.

Now many of the women I have talked to hated this part of the book, because they fell in love with Edward, and now Jacob is getting all the attention from Bella. But as a guy, this story line seems much more realistic. Edward to me seemed like nothing but a fictional female wet dream for the perfect man, a guy that will do anything possible for his woman, and not to mention when you are 100 years old, you tend to rack up a nice bank account and able to woo her with all the luxuries. But us guys out there will relate much more to Jacob, the Quileute 16yo that deals with real world issues and understands having Bella, a mortal, living with a bunch of vampires is probably not the best idea.

All this comes to a boiling point when Bella decides to pull a boneheaded move of jump off of a cliff and there is confusion if she is alive or dead. And Edward being Edward decides he can't live without her and decides to commit suicide. I won't give up any more than that but you can see how women are gaga over this guy. And as a guy you just have to laugh at it at times because no real guy would ever do half of the stuff that happens in this series. But we are not the target market, and that is why this movie has already made over $300 million worldwide. All and all this is a good movie, I really liked the interaction between Jacob and the other members of the Sam's Wolfpack. The fight scenes were decent and for you guys that want this in a move, the next movie will be full of action and will continue to rack in the big bucks!

The Farting Turkey

2009-11-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

It's a day late, but was worth the wait, here is the farting turkey.

Bill O'Reilly vs Spill O'Reilly

2009-11-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

After PBS reruns a 2yo episode of Sesame Street, the Conservative bunch gets their panties in a wad, thinking that they are bashing Fox News calling it "Pox News" and that it is a "Trashy News Show". Some people just don't get parodies. In return Sesame Street introduces one of their funniest grouches ever, Spill O'Reilly!

Graphics Tutorial - Using Blending Modes: Part 1 - Multiply Layer

2009-11-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a great tutorial on How to Render Concept Art from an old friend of mine over at FreshDesigner.com part 2 coming soon.

Black Friday... what a crock!

2009-11-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Another year passes and I am sitting home for Black Friday. I have done this once in 34 years, and boy was that a waste of time. Sure there are a few deals out there, but buyer beware. What might seem like a good price on a TV or Blu-Ray player is not really that great of a deal. What you are getting in return is the lowest quality product for a couple bucks less. We were also looking at Toys R Us' flyer they were trying to unload all their Hulk toys that weren't selling since last summer. Funny how even the stuff on clearance that isn't moving now becomes a great deal on Black Friday?

We are looking for a Blu-Ray player this year, and at first glance you are wowed by the $50 OFF prices, until you do some homework. Best Buys 3 available players all had issues. The Insignia player is selling for $50! Well that model is the "house brand" that has a reputation of breaking down in a year, and is very bare bones. The Sony for $129 is bare bones too, no extra features like Netflix or Wifi or Pandora. The Samsung for $150 is Wifi ready(for an additoinal $90, you don't even get the wifi card, you have to buy it seperatly) and although it has the Netflix and Pandora, it only has 2.1 stereo, useless if you want to hook it up to a surround sound system, which now with Blu-Ray is 7.1.

Besides part of me is very leary of picking up a Blu-Ray player anyways after hearing a report on how disc based media will be outdated as soon as 3-5 years with the rate of development of downloadable and streaming content. That is why it looks smart to pick up any of these players with the streaming capabilities. That is the future folks.

Don't get fooled by the silly sales, do your homework first!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

In return I give you this classic Thanksgiving commercial with Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal

Gadget Review - Motorola Droid

2009-11-25T09:36:00.001-08:00

The Motorola DROID is Verizon's shot at taking down AT&T's iPhone, but is it worth getting?

I purchased my DROID two weeks ago and love 85% of it. It has many great features but does have its flaws.

Pros:

The network is great, I have many friends with iPhones that complain A LOT about their service.
A nice rubberized metal body, easy to grip and feels sturdy
FREE Google maps and navigation. No need to pay for this service like on other phones, it is included!
Exchangeable media and batteries. The DROID comes with a 16g micro SD card and if your battery dies, you can replace it.
Fun FREE Google apps like Sky Map, able to identify stars and planets just by pointing your phone towards them. Also the droid automatically syncs with your Google account to Gmail and Facebook.
Possibly the best thing about the DROID is Verizon has finally allowed a phone to be a smart phone. Previously Verizon would nickle and dime you on monthly subscriptions, such as Internet, navigation, video, news feeds. You still have to buy into the data plan, but after that you are unlimited to what you want to do with your phone.

Cons:

After using the LG enV series QWERTY keyboards for years, the DROID's keyboard is tough to get used to. For one the keys are flat, and hardly any definition between the keys. Also they are lined up straight, rather than staggered like your computer keyboard.
The backspace key is also right next to the return key. While sending tweets, it is easy to send an incomplete message when your fat thumb hits the return on accident because you made a mistake typing.
The battery cover is a little bit loose. The first week I had it this came off in my pocket multiple times.
Lack of apps, while the boast about their 10,000 different apps that is still only 10% of iPhone apps. And many of the ones that I would find useful are not available... YET.
Not the best for Audio Media. I own two iPods, I have become spoiled by the ease of use to access music, podcasts and audiobooks. The Droid lumps them all in as MP3s with no separation between these 3 different kinds of audio. You have to make them into playlists, where an iPod and iPhone can separate these automatically.
Does not Sync well, With external software you can get iTunes clones like Double Twist, but it just isn't the same. You have to manually dock the phone, then it works like a USB storage device.

OK, 6 of each, and I am sure there will be a part two down the road. I do not regret getting this phone, and in some ways I think it is superior to the iPhone, in some ways not.

If you are considering switching carriers and not with Verizon or AT&T, I would highly recommend checking this phone out also before drinking the Kool-Aid and going straight for the iPhone!

Exotic Pet Sitting - Dirty Jobs Spoof

2009-11-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

Here is our video we made for the Discovery Channels "You Spoof Discovery", It was chosen to air on both episodes.. Although they edited it, here is the original Directors Cut.

The costume was a homemade creation, that I used many times in costume contests, winning over $3000 in cash and prizes. We retired it, but I am tempted to make another more recognizable caracter... possibly the Wampa from Star Wars or Gossamer from Loony Tunes, comment and help me decide.

Billy Mays.. we will miss you!

2009-11-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

Possibly the greatest pitchman in the last 20 years, We lost Billy Mays this weekend also. Lately he really became a local hero in the Tampa Bay area. Billy knew how to sell, and myself being in the advertising industry, he was a real hero of mine. I have always been facinated by the business side of informercials and these as seen on tv type products, and Billy was the master of selling these. He had the intensity, the signature catch phrases, and the hand motions that could sell anything. Many people may have seen him only as the bearded guy in the blue shirt that yelled alot, but those of us who know advertising knew that Billy was a master of promoting his image and was very respected.

Once his show with Anthony Sullivan came on, Pitchmen, I was hooked. I watched every episode of Pitchmen and countless of his 2 minute shows over the years. The show’s best premise was not only Billy and Sully, but showing the stories of the inventors themselves. You got to see how these products came to air, and the behind the scenes struggles it took to shoot 2 minutes worth of commerical. Great for us industry guys. After hearing that it was coming back for a second season, I was very excited, unfortunatly we lost Billy and those future antics between Sully and Little Billy have been silenced.

Billy left behind a legacy both with his commercials but also his family. Seeing the past few episodes of Pitchmen we really got to his family, his son Billy Mays III and his 3 yo Daughter Elizabeth. I loved watching the interaction with his son “Little Billy”. I got into the direct marketing business right around his age and I really related to him a lot. I wish the best for his kids and condolences go out to the entire family and his business partner Anthony Sullivan.

Although Billy hit his head in an airline accident, the autopsy results (according to Little Billy’s twitter) are now showing signs of heart disease. I have the early signs of heart disease and have been ignoring it like an idiot. This news has really got me second guessing that. Especially knowing Billy left behind a young daughter around the same age as my two boys, this has me wanting to reschedule that doctors appointment. Wow, Billy Mays might of just saved my life!

Thank You Billy Mays you have brought entertainment and inspiration to both myself and millions around the world.

that horrible wait till closing.

2009-11-25T08:27:00.001-08:00

It almost been a month since we made an offer on a house, and there is still a month to go until closing. This is so damn frustrating when you have to wait 45-60 until you can finally pick up the keys to your house and start to get it ready to move in.

Now is that time when in the back of your mind that you know that house is yours, but it sits there vacant. There is no one going in there any more checking up on the property, the pool is turning a lovely shade of green because they turned off the pump and the only time you can check up on it is during the inspections.

Ahh the inspections, those lovely report that tell you that that dream house you thought you were getting is filled with little problems, our favorite so far. RODENTS AND FUNGUS! Come to find out there is a small opening in the roof where it looks like rodents were getting in, and while up in the attic during the inspection we found some lovely little souvenirs. Also there is that nice report of wood eating fungus on the outside garage door.

Damn I want to get in there now and be able to fix up some shit. But alas we still have 28 days and counting.. This lovely wait, I can’t wait till it is over!

Buying a House in this economy - Part 2

2009-11-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

Fixer-Upper vs. Remodel
Today we looked at 5 more properties only to find out 2 were already under contract, one looked like it was a former swinger party den, one was by high voltage power lines and one was over priced and too far north.

Although it sounds like a motley crew of locations one did shine so bright that we we actually placed a bid on it and would you believe it was the one that was overpriced? This house had nine out of ten of our things we were looking for in a house. It had real hardwood floors, it had a 2 car garage, it had a fenced in back yard (vinyl fence too!), it had a pool, it had an wide open floor plan. The one thing it didn’t have was a big open kitchen but as the song says you can’t always get what you want.

The house was set as a short sale, and is not guaranteed because we did have slightly lower bid than asking but we think we may be in luck. And as in the previous article mentions there are vultures out there just waiting to pick these things off. The house also has a mortgage that is $70,000 more than the asking price, so that alone shows you how good of a deal it is.

But why not just buy a house that is a much lower price that is a “Fixer Upper”? If you have the time on your hands and not the 2 small boys like we have then this may be your cup of tea, but many of the ones that we evaluated it seemed like many of these fell in neighborhoods where the lack of home pride was apparent. And when you think of it in a long run, that 20,000-40,000 more you are spending on a house that is already remodeled is going to let you start your life the day you move in. How many of these jobs that you had high hopes of “down the road” never happen? There are many of those unfinished honey-do lists out there, and you just look at that old carpet and wonder when you can replace it.

Yeah you will probably pay double or triple the price of the actual repairs over the life of your loan when you consider interest, but the piece of mind that it is already done and don’t need to bring outside workers or bust a knuckle or cut off a finger (ask my dad!) on a DIY job may be worth every penny.

Buying a house in this Economy - Part 1

2009-11-25T08:25:00.001-08:00

Hey folks, all 2 of you watching this blog, I want a place to vent when buying a house, and in this economy people are saying it is the best time to buy. I beg to differ in many ways but here I go!

First before we even attempted to buy a house, I have been tracking the Median and Average house prices for the past 100 years. If anyone looked at this chart you would see that the housing bubble that many mentioned on TV was absolutely true. Starting around the late ninetys houses began to inflate to almost double their value (see chart below), it was almost a matter of time before stuff blew up andthe market attempted to correct itself and prices came back down.

Click below to read the rest!

A major part of this came from the leniency of new laws allowing people that really couldn’t afford a house at that time to get adjustable rate mortgages. Predator lenders came out and preyed upon these people. Now this brings us to today, many houses are being foreclosed on and being sold short sale.

We are seeing houses in our price range that are steals, and some are laughable because those poor saps who are backwards in their mortgages now who owe more than the house is worth are trying to still think they can get what they bought it for, and not realizing the people right down the street are selling their house for 25k-50k less.

Today we ran into a fun yet disturbing after effect. 2 houses we went to see had tenants that did not want to cooperate. One was from an owner that was renting out the house on a monthly basis. The owner is being about to be foreclosed upon and they want to sell the house now before they lose it. The problem is the renter does not want to move and is doing anything in their power to not cooperate with the company hired to show the property, so there goes one house we were in love with and unable to see and possibly put in an offer. Now we have to wait until the tenant is kicked out at the end of the month, and maybe we can look inside.

The other case is a lender owned house. On paper we saw, it was vacant and ready to be shown anytime, again with lockbox on the door. Come to find out, since they wrote that, they have rented out the house. Once again, a tenant did not want to cooperate and decided to HIDE the box while she went out of town. So out of 4 houses, 2 were blocked by renters, almost a complete waste of our time today. A 3rd house had a renter also, and was completely cooperative, but we were really not that interested in the house and it was a family with 2 young girls, they had the rooms all decorated and would feel a bit guilty kicking them out of their home.

2 other houses we really liked were also pre-short sale houses but had been snagged up by “investors”, isn’t that part of this whole problem with the flipper types? Both were beautiful and big especially for the asking price, we knew these would go fast, appearantly in under a week.

Which brings me back to the begining of the blog, the last house we saw they were originally asking $225,000 and have “reduced the price” to $179,000 for 2 stories and a screened in pool, sounds like a steal right? Well when the value of the rest of the houses in the direct neighborhood have fallen to about $150,000 (some houses in the $90,000’s!) it still seems to be they still have wishful thinking, especially when the house has no garage or attic for storing goodies like holiday stuff.

So the hunt is still on, we have till the end of the month before we can see the house we really like (maybe) and till the end of august till our lease ends. Feel free to check back as I vent some more, I still have much more to say about how we became financally capable of looking at the house and the run around when it comes to applying to become pre-approved for a mortgage. And more than likely I will post more about the run around with closing costs, redecorating and all those goodies that come along with houses.