I ask fwooshmembers questions
They answer them
NimNams " Build a robot. Teach it to cry."
Where do you live?
I live in a wintery wasteland known as Canada. It’s on the smallish side, but it’s great for high-end woolen socks.
I specifically live in Toronto, the capital of Canada. We have three subways and a water tower. Hooray!
Describe Toronto please.
Lots of beavers. Aw yeah.
What is living in Toronto like?
Other than the syph, it’s pretty good. The comic shops get everything (Take that, Mattel distribution system!); the beer flows like wine, and the women are generally willing to support me financially.
Which way do the streets run in Toronto? Is there a light rail system?
The streets all run one way – that way. *points*
There’s no light rail system, but we do have three rickshaws for every person. No, really.
You ever travel even more north? Is that even an option?
Well, I am pretty north. In fact, if I go any farther north, I’d actually be south. So no. But yes.
How long are the winters?
They’re just right.
Are the girls in Canada Hot?
The hot ones are. The ugly ones, not so much.
What do you collect?
Quality eroti – eh? Toys? Ah.
My main line is SOTA’s Street Fighter, but I have been known to dabble in MLs. I’m also a big fan of McFarlane and NECA, which makes me one of exactly three people on the Fwoosh who’re not terribly interested in articulation. I’m a big fan of dynamic sculpts, so I’m happy with the Big Three (head + shoulders) as long as it looks good on my shelf.
Is it difficult to find stuff for your collection?
On the whole, not so much. We have a big shop downtown, called The Silver Snail. They get stuff from all over the world, so their arrival schedule usually matches the States’. Even the smaller shops get a good range of stuff, including figures that are online exclusives. With a bit of patience, a Toronto collector can eventually find anything.
Except a Stealth Iron Man. That EDIT is NEVER coming back.
You know any fwooshers in real life?
There is one, though he’s a part-time Fwoosher at best. He goes by the handle of Skipperbecks, or Skips for short. TNI posters would probably be more familiar with him.
He and I actually met under some cool circumstances. Back in the day, I used to work at the local TRU. Also being a collector, I felt it my duty to help connect fellow collectors with their most dire wants. One random day, we get in a shipment of some He-Man snake figures, which is odd, since we hadn’t seen new He-Man in months. At that exact same time, I notice a guy browsing our ancient He-Man pegs, as if expecting to find something new. I casually mention our latest delivery, pull out the case for proof, and he almost has a conniption fit on the spot. Turns out, one of the He-Man figs was an ultra-rare Australian exclusive, and this was one of its first sightings in all of North America. He was appreciative, of course, and the two of us began talking about our coolest and rarest of finds. After that, he’d stop by every now and then, and we’d just shoot the breeze. He soon became my favourite customer, and also a very good friend. We’ve even gone to toy shows and conventions together.
What is in your avatar? Did you use "the night before Xmas" once in awhile too?
No, I’ve never pulled out the Pumpkin King, though I am a fan. For the last year and a half, I’ve alternated between three different pics of Dream, the man character in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. It started off with the current pic, which then moved to a different-but-equally-thrilling Dream shot, finally settling on Dream and his kid sister, Death. That stuck around for a time (mainly because I’m so very, very lazy). I tried changing it to something else, but then all the fan letters started rushing in, and then the ratings began to slip, so the suits upstairs had me switch back to the good old king o’ dreams. I like to call it my throwback avatar.
Your username?
You know those strange, random little nicknames that you get in college and never expect to carry on? Yeah, that was this. My real name is Nimy (dum dum dumm!!!!). At one point, in some random acting class, people decided it’d be fun to invent nicknames. Some that came about were Niminy Cricket, Nimbus 2000, Nimee Nee (say it like you’re Dr. Evil, and it’s suddenly hi-larious), and eventually NimNams. We thought it had a nice ring, and it’d be the perfect name for the brand of cat food I’ll eventually create and market.
Around the same time, I discovered the digital crack known as the Fwoosh. Since I’m so very, very lazy, I nicked my cat food name. I’ve been the ‘Nams ever since.
Who is in your family?
One mother, one father, one brother. There used to be a sister, but we drowned her. She was tiny.
Any pets?
I used to have two cats, a dog, and three goldfish named George. Now I have a growing taxidermy collection. It’s the circle of life.
Do you drink coffee?
I’m a tea man, myself. A good green is lovely, as is jasmine. The times I have had coffee, though, it’s black as midnight.
Where do you travel?
The only place I’ve traveled to lately has been Dominican Republic, and that’s because my father lives there. He owns a car rentalship that’s literally across the street from the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen.
Beyond that, I’m planning on an epic tour across Europe. I’m originally from Germany, so it’d be cool to go back and see the city I was born in Hamburg, located in the west. I’d also like to stop through Sweden and party it up with big-breasted blonde women.
Where would you like to travel after Hamburg and Sweden?
Honestly, I’d love to visit Japan. I’ve been interested in the culture for about as long as I can remember, so I’d love to just spend a month traveling around the entire island. I’d also like to see Hong Kong and visit my buddy, Skipperbecks. Beyond that…everywhere. There aren’t many places I’d turn down.
Do you customize?
I’ve done exactly one custom in my life, and it was a spectacular failure on all fronts. It was actually more of a custom attempt-turn-horrible abortion. I’d bought and ML1 Iron Man of eBay, planning to paint it blue and create my own uber-cheap Stealth variant. Easy peasy, right? I mean, if four year olds in sweatshops can paint toys, I should be a friggin’ Picasso.
Yeah…no. Painting? Not so easy. I applied layer after layer to a single, isolated boot. Instead of a rich, midnight blue, all’s I gots was an ugly, muted purplish brown. How blue paint turns that shade of ugly, I’ll never know. I’ve now learned my lesson and stay far away from paints, brushes, or anything customizerish.
Plus, there’s that whole “no artistic skill” thing.
Why so much love for Punisher MAX?
Y’know, I find this to be a tricky question. There’s a lot of things in that book that seem to resonate emotionally with me, but pinpointing any one of them makes it feel inadequate without the rest. A big element is definitely the Punisher, himself. For some strange reason, he was the first comic character I ever gravitated towards, long before I’d even read a Marvel comic book. Add to that the brilliance of Garth Ennis, who shows the utmost restraint when crafting these issues. Most see Ennis and think of his crass, offensive works like Preacher and The Boys, but the guy knows how to rein it in when he needs to. His characters show just enough personality to make you like them, while never stepping over that invisible line of “gross for gross’ sake.”
Then there’s the stories, which cut right to the heart of why the Punisher does what he does: a part of him enjoys it. It’s a sickening realization for both he and the reader, but it’s essentially what has fuelled him throughout his war on crime. It’s this constant conflict of emotions, this desire to seek atonement while, at the same time, giving into a carnal bloodlust, which drives all of Frank’s motivations. He suffers from his only solace. Is there anything so sad?
Where do you work? Advertising?
Yep, I work in the wonderful world of making people buy stuff they don’t really need. I work primarily on McDonald’s, which is incredibly ironic, since I haven’t eaten fast food in almost a decade. I also work on Bell Canada, which will instantly get groans from any Canadians familiar with their commercials (the Beavers aren’t my fault, I swear!). I primarily write radio and TV commercials, which is quite a trip, since I used to be on the other side of the biz as an actor. Advertising isn’t as glamorous or exciting as acting, but it does pay me money, which is a welcomed change. It also gives me a chance to cast all my actor friends, which builds up karma points quite nicely.
Are you immune to advertisements?
In some ways, yes. I’ve always been critical when it came to media messages, but the best advertising is effective in its subtlety. Everyone knows and sees beauty advertising for what it is. Models are photo shopped, the make-up is unrealistic, and everyone’s aware. Now compare that to something like the iPod spots with the dancing silhouettes. What are they showing? People enjoying music. That’s a much easier message to accept, since we all can relate in our own way. It’s not dependent on a certain gender or age group or even country of origin. We all can find escape in music, so we’re instantly made less critical. Then drop in the white headphones, and boom, you’ve got iPod branding. What I mean by that is, the product features are irrelevant. It’s iPod as a brand that you’re buying into, not the device itself. Just like that, escape in music becomes escape with your iPod. It’s understated, but painfully effective. We can’t help but fall for it.
I do believe, however, that advertising can’t make people buy things against their will. Yes, if you’re looking for an mp3 player, the iPod spots can sway you to their brand. But if you really don’t want one, you really don’t want one, no matter what the ads are like. Even the best advertising is only effective to willing consumers. Its just convenience that we live in a world of constant consumerism.
You are saying that; if I don’t want to buy something, say an action figure, no amount of pitch will make me change my mind.
Let me put it this way: How many Indie Spotlight figures do you have preordered?
Even if it’s on clearance?
…
You’ve won this round.
What are your plans?
Build a robot. Teach it to cry.
What do you listen to?
Anything with sound. This morning, I spent twenty minutes listening to my washing machine.
I don’t like MIA’s newest as much as her last one,
but she is sassy.
Oh yeah, she’s got spunk. She also seems to live in perpetual 1992 land, which is cool, if oddly clashing in the fashion dept. I saw her in concert recently, and she came out dressed like a shiny gold and silver Link from Zelda, only with more spandex and less sword. Still, the girl brings da funky freshness.
It’s too bad you’re not into Kala as much as Arular. I find Kala’s more mature. She showed off the fun beats and the slick attitude with the first go-around. This time, she’s bringing growth and experience to the table, and I think it makes the sounds more nuance and more eclectic. And hey, there’s a little kid rap trio. Who can beat that?
I have yet to hear Radiohead’s latest.
It’s good, though I find myself a tad disappointed with it as a whole. I feel like it stays on the same level for way too long. 15 Step is a hot start with that fun irregular beat, but then things mellow out and it never really perks again. I keep waiting to hear a big explosion of sound, something along the lines of Idioteque or even Myxomatosis. Instead, we get a solid mood album. Great when you want to be in ‘that place,’ but it probably won’t get as much regular rotation in my collection as, say, Thom Yorke’s solo disc.
Which emotions do you refuse to feel?
Because of my acting training, I was made to feel a whole bevy of emotions on a daily basis. We even have cute colours and vowels associated with key emotions. So, to answer your question, I refuse to feel the colour yellow…but I will if you pay high enough.
You celebrate Halloween?
I revel like the pig blood-loving pagan that I am.
Thanks Nimy!
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