The oldest 'Ferrell kid' gets MARRIED!

 

 Once AGAIN, here at the 'ol bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang, I'm taking a break from the usual deep-dive off into geeky / nerdy stuff! This time to throw the spot-light on the recent 'kind-of-a-BIG-DEAL' event of my daughter Shelby's marriage---on October 16th-- to her most favorite fella-in-the-world, Mr. Trenton Willbanks! The ceremony took place in the 'Conservatory' at the BEAUTIFUL Will Rogers Gardens, in Oklahoma City.

 Compared to the 'life styles of the rich and famous'-type folks, I guess you could say that my daughter's wedding (as well as the reception a week later!) wasn't in the 'epic' category! But, it did INDEED take a hefty amount of planning and hard work! MOSTLY on the part of the TWO most important ladies in my life---- my BEAUTIFUL wife, Mrs. Debbie, and of course, Shelby herself! 

Oh, they had help! A BIG shout-out here, to Trent's folks, Mrs. Kim and Charles! They've pretty much  adopted Shelby into their family already, and they're also just about the nicest / most welcoming folks you could ask for as your kid's in-laws! Thanks for just being who you are, guys! (AND-- your MUCH-appreciated help in the set-up of 'the BIG event', of course!) 

Kim and Charles Willbanks---some VERY nifty in-laws INDEED!

                                                                                  

Trent's Paternal Grandparents, Charles Sr. and Mrs. Cynthia. Some more VERY nifty folks!

                                           

Another hearty and high-volume SHOUT-OUT, to the GREAT gal, Mrs. Shannon (AND of course her hubby, Matt!--- they provided the NEAT-O venue for the reception, AND the GREAT food, thanks a TON guys!)--- their teaming up with us REALLY made the 'ol 'wedding-engine' hum along on ALL it's cylinders!

Nope, the wedding wasn't an 'over-sized epic'! BUT--- it WAS very real, genuine, and--- as my daughter said in her vows to Trent: 'I know it sounds CHEESY....'  it was SWEET! Yes, I'm also a SHAMELESS sentimental 'ol softy! So, indulge a proud Loydster, and check out some pics (as well as comments & remarks, of COURSE!) of this LANDMARK event within the 'Ferrell-clan' (well, the Willbanks brood too, no doubt!)-----        

The 'PROUD parents', and (QUITE handsome, if I don't say so myself!) brother Wade (who, along with his sweetie, Ms. Chloe, helped with some of the set-up and decorating! Thanks guys!)---with the beautiful Bride! The fanciest we've been dressed-up since..... well, let's just say it's been a good CHUNK of time!

'Bride and her Bro'!

The Bride with Grandma, Sandy (Deb's mama!)--- and that swanky-looking brother of hers again!

Son Wade escorting MY still-BEAUTIFUL bride, Mrs. Debbie, to her 'front-row' seat!

The 'BIG moment'! ---For 'ol Loydster anyway! Walking my 'baby girl' down the aisle! I was SO proud, I nearly popped the buttons off of my shirt!

                         

The customary 'BIG-smooch', after the vows!

                  

                         

'Ladies and Gentlemen, we proudly present to you, Mr. Trenton and Mrs. Shelby Willbanks'!

The Bride with the wedding cake! 

Cutting into that cake! It was almost a work of art! BUT-- hey, cakes are made to be eaten!

Even MORE cake-slicing! By the way, the groom's folks provided a TERRIFIC dinner (at 'The Peperoni Grill'--- in Edmond, Oklahoma---where all the above 'cake-slicing-and dicing' took place!), for the whole wedding party and families! Thanks once again to Charles and Kim! Like I said above, they TRULY are just about the BEST we could hope for, when it comes to mama-and-daddy-in-laws!

Now, not only the 'big day', but the reception (as well as the couple's Honeymoon in Colorado!), is in the history books! But this is one little bit of history that I'll be VERY proud to look back on, and yes even revisit--- regularly and often!

Congrats to the happy young couple! May your life together be a LONG, HAPPY and BLESSED one!

NOT the happy couple! Just a little something to leave you all giggling!

Just so all of you know, the 'wedding bells' will also be ringing for our son, Mr. Wade (and his sweetie, Ms. Chloe!)--- in slightly less than a year--- early September, 2023 in fact! SO--- be prepared for even MORE wedding pics around this time NEXT year! (You've been WARNED!---And--- In PLENTY of time!!!)

Kevin Conroy--- R.I.P.

 

Kevin Conroy: November 30th,1955 - November 10th 2022

 

I'd planned on putting up a post with TOTALLY different content for this time-frame, gang! BUT-- I simply couldn't let the news I heard (from my 'ol buddy, Jeff--- COMPLETELY appropriate enough!) earlier today, of the passing of this actor!  Being a LONG-time 'caped-crusader' fan, I simply felt I had to put up SOME kind of comment / tribute!

Like other stuff I've referred to and rattled on about on this here bloggy-thingy-thang--- there's no doubt more info and more 'in-depth' background about Mr. Conroy and his career elsewhere out there on the web, than my little teeny-tiny corner here can possibly provide! Thus, I can only relate (like ALWAYS!) my personal-point-of-view! (Again---like ALWAYS!)

To hundreds of thousands of 'Bat-fanatics' out there, Mr. Conroy became-- (and in this particular fan's opinion TOO!)--- THE voice of Batman! Starting his LONG career as the voice of the Dark Knight in the original '92 WB animated series, this guy simply, completely, totally--- NAILED IT!

Like I remarked in my pod-cast about my life-long love of 'ol Bats--- (since the CLASSIC '92 series onward, anyway!) whenever I read a Batman comic book / graphic novel / comic strip, or even an earlier reprint collection of 'Bat-sagas' from the '40s and '50s--- it'll be Kevin Conroy's voice I'll hear in my mind as the Gotham Guardian! I can think of NO better tribute-- as a LONG-time 'Bat-geek-a-zoid'--- than that!

Rest well, Mr. Conroy! This 'Bat-fan' will ALWAYS hear--- in his imagination, as he reads Batman's adventures-- YOUR unique voice! 

Of course too, my prayers and thoughts are with Mr. Conroy's family and friends!

Join us NEXT time around folks to FINALLY find out-------

ATTACK of the RETURN of the GHOST of 'DR. Franken-Loyd' (Part TWO!)!!

 

 

Last time around, here at my teensy-weensy corner of the world-wide-web, that I lovingly refer to as the blog-a-wog-a-thingy-thang (among other nick-names for it!)---- I shared some images of my most recent couple of mad-scientist-type-customizations of  'Batman-related' play-things! This post, I'm focusing on a couple of other items, that I've been pretty heavy into 'personalizing' over the years! That would be t-shirts and caps.

Before 'the BIG move', in the early part of last year--- 'ol Loydster had nearly a closet-full of  t-shirts! The last count, not long before our packing-up things and moving out of the former abode---- was well OVER 40 'T's!! Yes, I now will freely admit that's a pretty CRAZY-HUGE amount of 'casual-wear' for just ONE guy to have!

So, some 'thinning-out' of the 'T' population had to be done! I knew that, except for a relatively small number---around 15 or so, tops---MOST of the rest of the 'T's in my collection would have to either go into storage, or just go away! Yes, even some of the one's I'd customized or 'personalized'! Even though they were (and are!) a small percentage of the 'T' -collection, it was STILL tough, deciding which ones had to go, and which ones I just could NOT part with!

So.... some of the 'T's in the pics below, are no longer around. BUT--- I still have photographic proof, of all of the loud-and-proud geekiness!------

A more recent addition! I added some simple iron-on lettering to this one (as well as the one below!), to make it a bit more 'personalized'! 

NO guessing as to what I'm a BIG fan of, right???

This one was actually inspired by a rather plain / generic-looking version, that I'd seen for sale on Amazon once! The 'be yourself....' lettering was there, but NO images relating to the 'Caped Crusader' himself! This got the 'ol wheels & gears starting to turn in the 'Ferrell-noggin'!

I did some tinkering with a couple of REALLY simple letter-fonts, and the 'paint' program on my lap-top, as well as an image from the opening credits from the classic '66 TV show!--- It then was all put onto (2 separate sheets, of course!) transfer paper....and 'WHAM'! a one-of-a-kind 'T' was born!

The 'Elvis' image, is originally from a shirt that was accidentally washed & shrunk-down WAY too small for me to wear anymore! I simply cut out the image, and glued it onto another shirt! Likewise with the 'chrome-looking' Bat-symbol on the shirt in the middle (the black, blue & silver-metallic-flames were put onto the shirt, after I'd glued on the Bat-symbol, with fabric-paint!).

The classic '70s / '80s Bat-logo shirt on the far right, was actually made up from fragments of TWO other older shirts that had either worn-out, or had somehow otherwise been messed-up!

This is a pretty simple black & white image, that I put onto transfer paper, then after ironing it onto the shirt, went over the lettering (and a bit of the image), with some 'gun-metal-gray' acrylic paint! No, it can't ever be put into a washing machine (most of the 'customized' shirts I've worked on over the years can't, because of this kind of tinkering!), but these shirts aren't gonna be 'heavy-work' shirts anyway! They're pretty much 'occasionally-worn' shirts (family get-togethers, running around-town here and there, etc...)!

                

Much the same as with the 'T' collection, a great number of the caps you'll see in the pics below are either in 'deep-cold-storage', or have been given away. Some have even been 'parted-out' and bits and pieces of them survive on other caps!

The ONLY caps in this group, that started out with a patch / image already on them--- are the 'Stooges cap and the Bugs Bunny cap.(though they WERE customized too-- with extra painted trim, stripes, etc....) The rest were put together from images I found elsewhere (old calendars, pages from magazines, etc....) and glued onto the caps. I then painted the trim, flames, scallops, etc... onto them with either fabric paint or simple acrylic paints! 

Also, like the 'T's above, the caps never were meant for heavy-sweating or to be 'work-hats'! these are 'occasional-wear' items too!----

I sure hope you've enjoyed this little journey into another aspect of my little crazy-geeky-nerdy-habit of 'personalizing' / 'customizing' stuff! This time, with some of my items of clothing!

I simply believe, if you REALLY enjoy SO MUCH of all of the WAY-COOL classic pop-culture that's out there, why NOT be as loud-and-proud as you can be about your love for it! Nobody's EVER had to even guess about what the 'ol Loydster's the most into, and that's for definite and for SURE!

Stay safe, sane, and HAPPY everybody! See you next month!

ATTACK of the RETURN of the GHOST of 'Dr. Franken-Loyd' (Part ONE!)!!

 

 

I know I KNOW--- it's been a fair chunk of time, here at the 'ol blog-a-wog-a-wing-ding-thingy-thang--- since I last focused on the 'mad scientist / toy & model-customizing-freak'- side of my personality! (nearly TWO YEARS, in fact!) The post of mid-September though---(where I showed-off some of my 'personalized' work-gear and former work-areas!) kind-of inspired me-- to present to you, oh gentle reader, not only a couple of fairly recent projects (what THIS post is about!), but--- to also make it a 2-part 'EPIC' / 'extravaganza'! 

Next month, I'll be slapping-up images (as well as rattling on a bit about it, natch!) of a fair-sized sampling of customized t-shirts and caps I've tinkered on over the years! First though, let's have a look-see at a couple of toys that---- once I saw them in their 'original' form--- I just KNEW needed some 'Loydster-type' -tinkering, to help them get to the place where they would have that 'JUST-RIGHT' amount of  COOLNESS / crunchy-GEEKY-goodness that I felt they were missing!

First up, a 12-inch Batman (who else?!?) figure, from the recent 'Spin Master' series of figures. I stumbled across this one at a local 'Wally-world' for around 9 bucks!----

Now--- the sculpt on this figure is pretty NIFTY, so---that wasn't where I saw any problems! Nope, in this poor guy's case..... it was the unfortunate choice of colors on his 'Bat-Tech' armor. Not that there's anything wrong with 'black & gold' for a Bat-suit (hey, it worked in SEVERAL 'Batman' movies after all!)! It was just kinda clunky in how it was done!

Like in the 'Bat-flicks', small touches of gold or bronze, (like, say-- on his symbol or utility-belt!) makes for a REALLY-wicked-looking Bat-suit! BUT--- too much of either of those colors (gold, especially!), and all you've got is something that looks like (with THIS figure, anyway!) some kind of weird 'gladiator'-armor! Also, all those LARGE areas of gold--- make him look like he's trying to 'copy-cat' Iron Man or something!

So---- out came the trusty bottle of 'gun-metal-gray' acrylic paint! I repainted most of the gold-covered areas with it, as well as hit some other areas on the suit! Oh, and I replaced the fairly-GOOFY-looking, SUPER-skinny cape---with a wider, more realistic-looking heavy-fabric-cape. I think the results speak for themselves!----

Next up, another teeny-tiny customized 'Bat-ride', in 1/64th scale! This one's the 4th, in what's turning out to be pretty much a 'series' for me, I suppose!  

I just saw this particular Hot Wheels car---yet AGAIN, at a nearby Walmart--- and it seemed to be SCREAMING out to me: 'I NEED to be converted into a Batmobile!' Here's what it looked like in it's original form. (oddly, it's from the 'Marvel character cars' line!)---- 

The 'swoopy' body-lines, and EXTRA-large fins / wings--- at the rear of the body, nearly had this thing ready to park in the Bat cave already! It just needed some 'custom-tinkering-and-tweaking' (along with the trusty 'E-6000' glue, some carefully applied bits of sheet-plastic here & there--- oh, and some black / gun-metal-gray / red paint!)! Within just over a day (enough time for both glue and the paints to dry!), this little bruiser was ready to PROUDLY display on my desk-top! ANOTHER time I think the results will speak for themselves!----

Join me back here sometime around the middle of next month gang, to check out all the 'customized-Loydster-NERD-wear' on display!

'Til then----Stay safe, sane, and HAPPY everybody!!!!

'Loydster's Ramblings' ---- Episode 10!!!

 

Another month ZIPS on past! AND--- what-do-you-know?--- here at the end of it.... ANOTHER episode of the pod-cast!!! This, as promised / threatened-- will be the last of the series, at least for now! 

Along with pretty much having said MOST of what I've wanted to say--- or blab about--- in these pod-cast episodes,  I've also found it's getting ever-increasingly TOUGH to carve out a chunk of time to put these episodes together! I have a daughter getting herself hitched next month, remember? That upcoming event's been gobbling-up more & more of whatever spare time I have! AND-- as the 'big day' (and it's related events: reception, etc...) draws closer, the so-called 'spare time' just keeps getting more and more TEENY-TINY!!!

So---- anyway-yay, for the LAST time (for NOW at least!).... here's 'ol Loydster, blabbin' away about something he's all GEEK-TASTIC over! This time its-----

SO---- just what the heck are you waiting for??? Scroll down yonder, point-and-click--- and get yourself the LAST (at least for the time-being!) of some 'Loydster-yakkin'!!!!-----

                                                                             ONE more Loydster-blab-session!

      

(for the POD-CAST, that is!--- I'll be BACK, sometime next month gang----with a 'regular' post!---consider yourselves warned!)

A long history of 'personalizing' stuff!

 

A 'Loyd-logo' from one of my old tool-boxes. Still have the 'box, though the logo's not in all that great a shape anymore! (see more images of when it was 'fresh', below!)

You can thank my 'significant other'--- the Lovely  Mrs. Debbie, for helping to inspire the subject of this here post! It all started, while I was tinkering around recently, with a 'tool-bag'. One I'd decided to convert to a 'gadget-bag', for carrying a tablet and other items, that I use on my breaks at work.

Like I sometimes do--- I got kinda carried away--- with all of the little doo-dads and gee-gaws, that I ended up attaching to this thing! That's when the wifey, witnessing all the above mentioned 'tinkering' (using our printer / scanner, to come up with some of the more unique images... breaking out the 'ol trusty E-6000 glue to attach most of the stuff to the bag, etc...)--- muttered, in that somewhat irritated way she does with me sometimes: 'you and these obsessions of yours!'

'Hey', I responded--- like the 'over-grown kid' that I (quite PROUDLY) am--- 'I'm just doing what I ALWAYS do.... 'personalizing' stuff! So EVERYONE doesn't have to guess who this belongs to--- or just what kind of things I'm all GEEKY about!' Anyway-yay, here's how the newly-christened 'gadget-bag' turned out!----

Any guesses as to just exactly WHAT things 'ol Loydster's GEEKED-OUT about? The stuff on this bag let's it be known pretty well, I think!

After that little conversation --- I started thinking back to other times I've added the 'Loydster-personal-touch' to stuff! Things like not ONLY tool-bags (AND tool-boxes!)--- but, putting my 'personal stamp' on whole areas where I've  worked, at various jobs over the years! Fortunately, I've snapped-off some pics at a couple of former places of employment---if nothing else, just to prove what a completely SHAMELESS-SUPER-GEEK that I've been!----

This tool-box, which I had to purchase, and bring into an aerospace-related company I worked for, back in 2008---- was one of the first times I tried to put most EVERYTHING on a work-related item, that I'd been all NERDY about over the years! Some of the images were 'home-made-magnets', some were simply glued-on to the box!

'Gee, I wonder just WHO this tool-box belongs too???'

From 2014 to just this past January, I worked as a painter at a vending company in Tulsa-- painting & refurbishing their vending machines and other equipment. After a fairly short time, THIS is what the paint-booth area & my tool-box looked like! This company furnished the tool-box, by the way! Good thing my bosses were pretty laid-back! OR--- they at least maybe understood my GEEKY-NESS!

The top of that same 'Painter's tool-box'!

A little closer look at the front of the 'box.

Just a little 'subtle reminder' to folks at the vending company--- whenever they'd feel like wanting to 'push' me to go faster, and 'produce more'! Doing a quality paint-job, is a 'time-intensive' process! This is a 'custom'-sticker ---I put on a shelf next to the paint-booth. It saved me from having to REPEAT this phrase over-and-over! (Though I STILL ended up saying it an AWFUL LOT!)

This 'tissue-box-cover', came about just because I was bored from looking at the same old 'generic-looking' tissue-boxes day-in and day-out! Blue masking tape, and black & silver paint-pens-- took all the boredom out of blowing my nose!

Some portable speakers I used, toward the end of my time at the vending company. The blue tape with flames was used again, this time to cover a nasty scratch on the 'bass' speaker!

So..... like anybody that's been following along with me here (for ANY length of time!) would NEED any more proof  that I'm the 'over-grown kiddo' that I'm ALWAYS gonna be--- well.... here's some more proof anyway!

Just because one has to work for a living, doesn't mean one can't at least make SOME of the work-environment a little more 'friendly'! It's ALWAYS helped me, over all the years I've been an 'ol 'working stiff'--- to have something near me that I can look at, that brings a smile to my face! 

I've also been blessed / fortunate, to have been able to work at places where they've let me express myself like I have--- SEVERAL times over the years! My little bit of SANITY that I've been able to hold onto---- is I'm SURE, thanks to that!

                                                   Stay safe, sane and HAPPY 'til next time gang!