I ask fwooshmembers questions
They answer them.
BaldMonk "Smiles are awesome "
Is BaldMonk a comic?
Haha… Nope. The 1st message board I went to was a Dragonball one. And the username for my favourite character, Krillin/Kuririn, was already taken, so I had to think of something else. Thus BaldMonk was born. I didn’t intend to use it forever, but it seems like it stuck. It’s all one word; mainly due to the fact the board didn’t allow spaces.
Where do you live?
I live in "The Garden City"… Er, Christchurch… In the Land of the Long White Cloud… Er, I mean Aotearoa, no wait, New Zealand. Quite a few names for the same place over this side of the world .
Where do you work?
At the moment I’m doing Freelance Multimedia Design, so I’m working from home. I do basically everything under the sun. From animation (both 3D and 2D) to video editing, from illustration to CD-Rom creation. Well, I’m sure you get the idea. Right now I’m doing stuff for the biggest kids show in NZ. I would much prefer working fulltime though… Just for security.
You do line art?
Sure do. I’m certainly not the best, and have no problems admitting it, but I have been able to make a reasonable living out of it. I haven’t really done much lately though. I really need to get my ass in gear and practice more and so fourth. I have noticed something funny on deviantart.com lately however, draw a sexy lady and the hits come knocking… FAST. Haha. Think I might draw some more ladies. I don’t often draw lineart in the traditional sense. I usually just sketch something out on my Wacom tablet and keep it entirely digital. I think I need to change that process though.
What do you do your art on? What software?
My 2D and photo stuff is done in Adobe Photoshop and Freehand. My 3D work is done in Newtek Lightwave 3D and Alias Maya. My video stuff is done in Adobe After Effects… There are a lot of other programs I use for things, but that would be a 5000 word essay.
What exactly is WETA?
WETA is the driving force behind the special effects industry in New Zealand. They are broken into 2 main areas of expertise… Digital takes care of all the digital stuff, such as special effects and 3D animation… Which you can see in the likes of Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Workshop takes care of things like props, makeup sculpting etc. They do a lot of collectibles and work on lots of movies from around the world, including the new Indiana Jones flick.
Who is in you family?
Hmmmm. My "personal family" is just me and my dog… I got out of a serious relationship YEARS ago, and am still enjoying being single faaaar too much these days to settle down. As for the rest of my family, I have a mum, dad, twin sisters a brother and 2 nieces and a nephew. In NZ that is, I have countless other relatives in Egypt and Scotland… Yeah… I’m a weird mix…
Any pets?
Nope… No, hang on… I just said I had a dog… So yes… My little dog Jess. I found her beaten and starved in a park and decided to take her home. Man, she was so screwed up from her past life. She’s turned into the most loyal dog I’ve ever had though, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything. She’s part Border Collie (malts EVERYWHERE) and we think the other part is lab. Even the vet ain’t sure.
What type of music do you enjoy?
I’m very eclectic. I love almost everything from Hard Rock to Cat Stevens. I’m not a fan of today’s Rap though. Bring back the old days when it was actually good.
Do you cook?
I used to love cooking. Sometimes if I can be arsed I’ll cook up something brilliant. I find it pretty easy to cook anything. Obviously the 1st time I’ll need recipe, but I’ve never blown a single thing I’ve cooked… It’s always wound up being edible… Sometimes it just might not LOOK edible But I’m still here!!!! Haha.
What is in your diet?
That I follow? I usually try to eat a large variety of things in the week. Meat, poultry, fish, veggies, fruit etc. But in the weekend, there’s no point trying to stick to anything… I drink and eat what’s given to me. Haha. So long as I do SOME kind of exercise, I’ll stay healthy.
Do you customize?
Afraid not. I’ve always wanted to, but the cost and lack of decent figures (especially decent ‘on sale’ figures) have prevented me. It’s also hard to find all those fancy clays and putties here that you other guys use.
What is in your collection?
Hmmm. What isn’t? I used to collect ONLY MOSC/MISB etc, and have quite a collection of 80’s and 90’s figures. I used to be strictly 1 figure from each line, and in the case of a line being remade (eg TMNT) I’ll have one old and one new MOSC… Looked neat next to each other when I had them on the walls. My biggest pride is my MISB Thundercats Tygra from Brazil. The box still has its damn plastic wrap. I do kinda regret missing out on a MISB Dinosaucers figure in order to get it. Seeing as Brazil is the only country they actually made it to production. Live and learn I guess.
Where do you vacation? Where would you like to vacation?
My last 2 international vacations have been to Melbourne, Australia. The 2nd one wasn’t really a vacation until I turned it into one. I went there to look after my sick dad and get him well enough to fly back to NZ with me. Damn doctors never take care of themselves, and wind up on Death’s door.
The place I want to go MOST is to Japan.
What other sites do you visit?
My main stop is transformersnewzealand.com
It’s a great local site for ALL toys and collectibles. If only because I nagged the great admin. to add a section for other toys and such. I’m not a HUGE fan of the Transformers… Well, not compared to things like Thundercats, TMNT etc. ..
What do you spend your money?
At the moment it’s DVDs. In the past I was quite happy to rent something and copy it, or download it etc… But I realized there’s nothing quite like owning the REAL thing… I wish I’d realised sooner, because now I can’t find some sought after DVDs for a decent price… Damn you Disney… Re-release Lion King and Aladdin… Gah.
What is wrong with you?
Personally, I imagine I’m pretty sarcastic all the time, and perhaps kinda annoying. In saying that, I think I’m the only one that notices… My friends always want to spend time with me, so maybe it’s my imagination.
As for REAL things… Well, I’m a tad colour blind… Strange for a designer eh? Haha. I’ve also got a mild form of epilepsy. It only rears its head when I’ve had no sleep for weeks or even months, and I’ll wind up having a seizure. I’ve only had like 3 or 4 in my 26-year life span though, so it’s all good.
What do you do for activities?
For fun?
Hmmm. These days I don’t have too much free time… Usually spend it with mates, drinking and BBQing. It’s still Summery over here at the moment, so I try to make the most of it. I used to do boxing and a lot of athletic related stuff. I’m also hard into my weight training at the moment
Have you met any fwooshers?
I’m good pals with G9Productions. Though he’s only posted a few times I think… Lives about 10 minutes away from me.
How many friends do you have? and what do they think
of your toy collection?
Hmmmm. I’m not sure… Quite a lot. There is of course some that I hang out with more than others, but I’m never hard up for something to do on the weekends. Very few people dislike me, and if they do it’s usually for some stupid reason, like I’m friends with their Mrs. etc. Some guys are a little too insecure.
As for what they think of my collection… Most of them want something from it And if I’m given a gift, it’s usually toy related. I guess they don’t want to burn me at the stake… Yet.
Your collection is in boxes..? Not all of it. Most of it though.. I do have some figures on display. Some Anime PVC statues, MP Convoy and Voltron, Xmen, Street Fighter and a few LCBHs etc… All the fun ones to play with
Which of the revoltech figures you own?
I only own one. It’s Rei from Evangelion… It’s awesome
What is the best part about them?
Well, the newer ones seem to have Revoltech joints at every joint, which makes them amazingly posable… And even more impressive, is if you bend them too far, instead of breaking, the limb will pop off… They do feel fragile, but they don’t seem to be at all.
What size are they?
The Rei one that I have is about the height of Brown Wolverine… So she’s perfect for 6"… So awesome.
What size are the insects found near you?
Insects here are usually pretty small. We can get some unusually large (For NZ) spiders and moths, but nothing really too huge, scary or dangerous.
Do a lot of foreigners come to NZ with expectations to backpack
across the country?
Heaps of foreigners come the world over just to do that. The sad thing is, most of us FROM New Zealand haven’t even done that, Including me. I think we just take the beauty of this place totally for granted. And well, we see it all around us. A beach is only 30 mins drive from almost anywhere… Takes about an hour to drive to the mountains for a ski or snowboard. Everything is just a stones throw away.. Part of the allure to the foreigners I guess. So many things they can’t do at home, and a good chance they’ll be able to do it all when they come here.
Do you get to go in the water?
At the beach? Of course. Though, any season but summer is at your own risk. There are no marked areas with flags to swim between and no lifeguards except for in the summer. Damn… I want to go to the beach now.
Why is "new" Zealand? How much longer till they drop the "new"
and what is a "Zealand"?
Haha… There’s actually a country just called "Zealand"… I guess we’re the new and improved model… With better looking people? Haha.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealand
Do you ever get to the northern island?
How do you get across? is there a toll?
It’s actually called the North Island !
There are 2 ways… You can fly… Or you can drive. However, driving means you’ll need to pay to get your car on the ferry. No idea how much that costs though… I’ve only flown over there. There’s no real toll though, which is always nice.
I do love to drive down south though… So much fun.
Are you Maori?
Nope, but my best friend is. She’s always on my a$s about pronouncing Maori words properly. Haha.
( post a picture of her in the thread please!)
Do you like people who smile?
Love ’em. It’s funny, you can be having a bad day, and then a stranger will smile or want to talk to you and it totally changes the course of the day. I don’t often have bad days, but I always smile at strangers. We even have an advertising campaign on TV here about when you smile at someone, it’ll always come back to you… Maybe not by the same person, but sometime in the day. Smiles are awesome
That’s what I didn’t like about Aussie. Most places have a "Big City Mentality"… No one smiles or says "Hello" on the street… And when they did I was like "So, you’re a tourist too eh?"… And was always right. Haha.
Smiles just light people up. Especially little old ladies. They often just look miserable, walking down the street or in the supermarket. Walk past and smile and they just light up. And the smile stays on their face for aaaages. Brilliant.
Thanks BaldMonk!
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