Excessively Graphic
I’m in a sodden corner of upstate rural New York at the moment, catching up on statistics and e-mails. You do not want current, believe me. You want flashbacks.
Here are a couple more shots from Pure Speculation last week. I won’t say the one on the left is an accurate picture, insofar as my asymmetrical bananafacedness is not quite so obvious as it is on my passport photo, but it is one of my more flattering likenesses in recent memory. Thanks to Justina Ackeral for making me look vaguely rugged. In contrast, the photo on the left (from Bill Hately , for those who didn’t catch Cath Jackel’s comment on my previous post) makes it painfully obvious that my nose and the rest of my face bend in opposite directions, but it does at least encapsulate The Dream.
But here’s something a bit cooler and a bit less egocentric. Che Gilson, an artist for Tokyopop, has rendered several of the crew of the Theseus as anime characters. Speaking as someone who actually knows the characters on whom these characters were based, she’s actually done a pretty good job (Rob Cunningham in particular is a good likeness, insofar as animé characters can capture the essence of any flesh and blood). The only character that doesn’t work for me is Sarasti— and interestingly, Sarasti is the only character of the lot whose physical description is not based on a real person.
Not single again we might hope? 😉
(speaking as a male I will refrain from commenting on your cuteness)
Asymmetrical abominations unite!
Down with the symmetrical!
Yeah that Jukka Sarasti (insofar as I have insight into how he would truly look rendered in real life) doesn’t really do it for me. The others are good though (I agree about Cunningham). I really wish I was artistic enough to actually draw how I see Sarasti in my mind, but he would probably just end up being a really pale stick figure (is that possible for a stick figure?)
Peter, just out of curiosity…is there any way you could give us any more specifics on how you envision Sarasti looking? Hair color, hair length, nose. I have no clue. Just throwing things out there.
These are kinda lame — I’m no artist — but here are a couple of sketches of something kind of approaching Sarasti if you squint, with and without visor. (This stupid blogger app doesn’t seem able to embed actual images into comments.) Body type is ectomorphic, limbs longer (proportionate to torso) than is the case in baseline humanity. Face pretty long and boney, mandible slightly prognathous, skin pigment pretty light (now that I think of it, Sarasti might as well be blond, although I never thought of him that way before.) He’s got fangs of a sort, but they’re filed so that they’re not especially noticeable.
Sarasti’s face is generally devoid of expression. He might as well be a mannequin most of the time, except when he’s hunting.
The Bates is my personal fave (Sarasti looks like an unused Death Note character.
Peter Watts said…
These are kinda lame — I’m no artist — but here are a couple of sketches of something kind of approaching Sarasti if you squint, with and without visor.
That link doesn’t seem to be working…
This should. (Although the other should as well — it’s obviously broken, but it’s the same damn address as far as I can tell).
Bill says thanks for the link, and he’s been playing with Photoshop again. To see a portrait of the author holding his very own souvenir Klingon, go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kintair/1643179183/in/set-72157602411712731/
In other news, I was making the “what I did on the weekend” chit-chat in the lunchroom last week, and mentioned going to Pure Spec. One of my managers said, “Oh, I used to read a lot of SF when I was younger, and really liked it. In fact, the next time it’s my turn for my book club, I’m going to bring this great novel I read about in the paper…I can’t remember the name…” She rummages in her purse, excavates a copy of the laudatory Edmonton Journal review of, yes indeed, Blindsight.
I am very curious to hear what this nice group of middle aged ladies, the rest of whom “don’t like SF” think of Blindsight. Will report back.
– Cath
Peter Watts said…
This should. (Although the other should as well — it’s obviously broken, but it’s the same damn address as far as I can tell).
My Right hemisphere simply accepted both of the links’ content without really caring, but my left hemisphere decided to step in and pattern match, which led me to the conclusion that you left one / out of your “http://” in the original post. I’m glad I noticed that, otherwise I would have had to make shit up and say it was some Internet diety that frowned upon your original post for some reason that is beyond our puny comprehension. Or just ignore it. But when you’re working Sat morning you take what you can get.
I wonder which hemisphere controls boredom. I’d assume the left since boredom is pretty much a search for something to engage that hemisphere’s need to have something ripe for parsing and interpretation (or misinterpretation).
Think of mine as th Hollywood versions were everyone is hot.
Che