Hey all!  Wow can't believe I haven't updated this blog since February, that's pretty sad on my part!  I have been active here and there, but mostly I have been involved in renovations and off-site related activities that have me completely removed from the front of a computer and my inbox.  Now I know most of you know that at the beginning of the year I was separating from my wife, looking for a new house and trying to figure out what to do with P2L, my professional life and everything else in between.  Well, I am happy to report that things have been going VERY well and I am happier now than ever.

In terms of the housing situation, I was able to sell off a vast amount of my collection and pay off all my dept and get a downpayment for a new house, which I bought and moved in to February 12th or so.  The house is located in Montreal near Corina's school and it's quite a bit of a fixer-upper.  I couldn't hope to afford a decent sized place that was in fantastic condition, so I was looking for something with a great floorplan and could be renovated like I wanted over the next year or two.  The place I found was exactly that, but good Lord there's a TON of work to be done.  I posted a bit on the teardown of the nasty coldroom back in March on the P2L forums, you can read that by clicking HERE!

Later in that same month I took on a condo renovation project that lasted about a month… this was a near complete rebuild of a 2 bedroom condo, I actually stripped the bathroom right down to the wall studs!  This was actually a great opportunity for me to learn a few things that ill be later applied to my house, so it was a fun project.  My girlfriend Maibbeth would come by to check up on me, bring me lunch and/or cheer me on.  One time I got busted working.. well… not very hard:

A couple of weeks ago it started getting pretty crazy and I was burning out… it was definitely time for a vacation so I could get my head back in the game and unwind a bit.  I had been going several months nonstop on a rollercoaster ride so a break with my baby was definitely in order.  I will say this right now… Maibbeth is the only reason I didn't lose my mind with all this.  She has been the most amazing, supportive and loving person I could have ever hoped for, and I will never forget everything she's helped be through.  Love you baby!  So, we booked a last minute vacay down south… to Varadero, Cuba!

I've been back for a couple of weeks now and been struggling to catch up and get back at it… still finishing a few details at the condo project, then I will be back at it at my place fixing up the coldroom and then attacking the bathroom upstairs, but I will be back online as well balancing my online life and work with personal stuff.  I just wanted to let you guys know that I am in very good shape mentally and physically and things are going well beyond my expectations.  I want to thank everyone again for their amazing support at the beginning of the year and thanks to all of you that continue to show your friendship.  You've all been AMAZING and I owe you all so much.  So here's to you *raises glass* and I look forward to bringing you more content, reviews and laughs in the near future!

My sincerest thanks and best wishes,
Dan

Why hello everyone!  As I prepare to move and I tidy up my office, I was reminded of something rather nasty that occurred a couple of months ago…  while happily munching away on a box of Social Tea cookies from Dare Foods Ltd (huge brand in Canada) I found this…

Yes, that is indeed a wasp's head…. embedded in a cookie.  MY cookie, that I was about to eat.  Needless to say, I will never eat one of these cookies ever again, nor will I ever buy anything with the Dare logo on the box.  Check out the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aTSqwmpPVE&fmt=22

I should probably warn you NOT to watch that unless you don't mind inspecting every cookie you eat for the rest of you life lol!

Dan

Posted my final write up on Spooktacular 2009, which was a complete BLAST!  If you want to give it a read, click here to check it out!

Laters,
Dan

Hi all!  I think it's time I started paying attention to my blog again, what do you guys think?  I actually have a lot of people contact me through this site when they are trying to find me, so I think it's time for some TLC on my blog and get back in the habit.  I've been very busy in all my personal projects, but this past week and a half was the AMAZING Sideshow Spooktacular event, an online extravaganza that is very close to my heart.

For those of you that have no idea what Sideshow is or my little hobby (aka vice), let me explain Spooktacular for you a little bit… What is Spooktacular? It's Sideshow's annual Halloween and Horror online extravaganza of rotating discounts, spot giveaways, new product announcements, contests, and community interaction, plus much more!  Basically it's a week and a half of Sideshow Collectibles partying with their customers and fans in a MASSIVE online event that runs 24 hours a day for 10 entire days.  During those 10 days, they give away tens of thousands of dollars worth of prizes, announce awesome new products and we all have a blast.  The highlight of the event for me is the 10 day chat room they open up, where hundreds of fellow collectors and Sideshow enthusiasts can interact each other and compete for chat prizes via trivia contests and scavenger hunts.  It's a time for no sleep, minimal food and very little social interaction outside of the computer.  You eat, sleep and breath Sideshow, and hope that when it's over you're still alive and your wife hasn't filed divorce papers.

Some of you are probably wondering who the hell Sideshow is at this point.  For anyone that doesn't know, I collect science fiction movie collectibles, like statues and props and stuff like that from various favorite movies… I specialize in Predator related collectibles, but I also dig Terminator, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings etc.  Sideshow is probably the biggest company in the world that creates museum quality statue replicas and full size prop replicas and they are HUGELY popular for collectors like me.  So when a huge event like this comes around, you can rest assured that we go all out and try to take in as much as we can of the event.  Spooktacular is always held right before Halloween and ends on Halloween day… so the first week of November is always a brutal week for me lol!

I also do extended Spooktacular coverage on my other site, Predatorstuff.com and it's VERY busy for me while I try to post the latest Spookfest news AND keep an eye on chat and new contests etc.  It's stressing, but a lot of fun!  If you want to get a taste of what my work looks like, you can check out the Spookfest article category by clicking HERE!  You can also check out the main portal page on Sideshow's site for Spooktacular 2009 by clicking HERE.

And with Spooktacular all finished, I always put together a little written review of the event to talk about my thoughts on the event, but mostly just to thank Sideshow for spoiling us rotten and as a thank you to all my friends who hung out with me in chat over MANY long hours.  I'll be posting my review later this week, but I did toss up a quick thank you and shoutout video tonight if you're interested.

The video is available on YouTube in HD, check it out by clicking HERE!  Most of it you probably won't really understand what the heck I'm talking about, but it gives you an idea of the fun I had.

So yeah, that's where I've been for the last couple of weeks, hope everyone had a GREAT Halloween and hauled some serious candy!  I'll see you next post…

Take care,
Dan

Hey guys… for those of you keeping track (lol!) Rosebud graduated from Obedience School today, completing obedience levels 1, 2 and 3 at 7 months old. We’re very proud of our little pup, she’s turned out to be a gorgeous and extremely intelligent animal and we love her to bits! Here we are on our last day:

That’s about all I have right now… Halloween has been very busy for me in the prop and costume stuff so I’m finally starting to catch up a bit on other stuff. Going to draw the winner of the iPod Shuffle tonight for our Halloween costume contest… looks like most of P2L fail at Halloween though… only a few people posted their pumpkin carvings and/or costumes. Boooooooo!

Until next time!
Dan