Well for this week’s installment of what’s going on outside of hobbying, I can share that I closed on the condo finally! It was stressful up until the end but thankfully, I have the keys to the new place and can start to make arrangements to move. A couple of things like switching over utilities and potentially hire a painter will determine when I move. So we’ll see when I have to put the brushes away and start the packing but I’d imagine it will be within 2-3 weeks.
Even with all of the craziness, the holiday weekend helped me make some decent painting progress. I wasn’t sure exactly how much I liked the gold parts that I started last week but I played around with them a bit more and I think I’ve got them looking quite nice. The scale mail might need a bit of touching up but I’ve never painted any in NMM and pretty happy with the results. The main thing that I need to do now are the gold “fins” and the big jewel and I’ll have about a quarter of the elk done. Surprisingly, I’m not at all tired of painting this mini yet and so I guess I’ll keep painting it until it is time to move.
Other than that, I did watch all of WandaVision on Disney+ and it is interesting enough of a show, I thought I’d share my thoughts on it. First, I should disclose that I will watch anything Marvel that I hear is good or better. Very few Marvel things have been disappointing to me as a result. WandaVision truthfully did not excite me when I first heard about it. A sitcom with two Avengers that were not that interesting in the movies? That seemed like a strange and kind of unappealing choice. Once positive reviews started come out for it, I did become more interested and decided to check it out.
First off, the show is not really a sitcom. Each episode models its look and style from a particular famous sitcom and each one is different. So there is one that is inspired by I Love Lucy and one is definitely influenced by Bewitched and then there are more modern sitcoms all the way up until now. While there are some jokes in the show, they aren’t laugh out loud funny and are more endearing than anything else. As the show goes on, all is not what it seems and the tone of the show becomes a bit darker and more serious. The mystery of what is going on carries a fair bit of the show and if you like things where suburbia and the appearance of a perfect life often mask something else, then you’ll like this. I think of things like Virgin Suicides, American Beauty, and Revolutionary Road, although this is with superheroes of course. Since the mystery is a big part of the plot, I won’t say a lot more about that and let you discover it for yourself. Surprisingly, there is very little fighting in the whole series though what is here is pretty satisfying. The ending is emotional and I thought that part of the show delivered. Well that and the actor who plays Vision is just really great in this show. He plays the role so well which is impressive considering the type of character that Vision is in the previous Avengers movies.
Is the show perfect? No, it has some flaws. There are some big clichés that comic book stories rely on too much. I wish I could say more on that but I don’t want to give anything away. Kat Dennings’ character, Darcy, makes an appearance and I find her to be one of the more annoying personalities in the Marvel cinematic universe. She is supposed to be a scientist but is clearly there just to make us laugh but I don’t think she is actually funny or believable as a scientist so seeing her show up in WandaVision made me cringe a bit. The show does slow down a bit around the halfway point and I found myself hoping that it would pick up and get more interesting. It did thankfully in the last few episodes but I would say the show doesn’t really keep you at the edge of your seat even with some suspenseful elements. As a result, I would say anybody who is a fan of Scarlet Witch and/or Vision should watch. If you want to see an exploration of loss and grief and/or like the suburban theme I described above, I think you’ll probably like this as well. WandaVision was a creative leap of faith by Marvel and Disney and I’m glad they made something so innovative. It isn’t the greatest show ever but its hard not to be impressed by its audacity and creativity. Upper Deck is going to make some cards for the show in the future and I think I’d be a buyer of those. Hopefully they’ll be creative just like the show. If so, I wouldn’t be surprised if I share some here on this very website.
Kuribo's Painting 
Lovely work on the Elk, looking awesome. We’ll done on the house and good luck with the move. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks mate! With any luck, I’ll be settled into the new space soon.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful work on the elk. Your patience is paying dividends.
Mrs. GG and I are at the halfway point with Wandavision. I like it more than she does but then I enjoy all the tv show nostalgia that is largely lost on her given that she rarely saw the tv shows it reflects. Darcy is indeed annoying. Overall I can not see this ending well but I am curious to see what happens next. It is a joy to read your thoughts on it.
Congrats for closing on the condo!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Nostalgia is a big part of WandaVision I think and truthfully, I only felt nostalgia in the earlier episodes because I Love Lucy and Bewitched are timeless and I remember when I was young watching them as my parents and grandparents could pass them down to me. I was glad I watched the entire series even if I wavered a bit near where you are now. Happy to share my thoughts and I will look forward to yours once you finish it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations on the closing of the Condo Jeff, and I hope the move goes smoothly.
The Elk is looking great, and great work on the NMM, can be very tricky and your pulling it off seamlessly.
Enjoyed WandaVision, and can see why they released that one first, with all the development of characters that will be influential in the phase 4 movies, sorry to say your likely to see more of Darcy !
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks, Dave! I’ve been practicing NMM for a while now and starting to get more confident and comfortable with it. Each mini is a different challenge with it too so it keeps things interesting 🙂 Glad to hear you also liked WandaVision and unfortunately, I agree. Somebody clearly likes Darcy even if it isn’t me! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Looking so good man. I’ve been meaning to give WandaVision a go. I have three very close mates (we are like brothers) and they all love anything Marvel. I’m a lot more selective so it’ll be interesting to see if I’ll enjoy it.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Cheers, mate! I didn’t know much of anything about Scarlet Witch or Vision and still enjoyed it but I don’t think it has as broad of appeal as other Marvel content so it will be interesting to see how you get on with it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do enjoy most of the Marvel Universe, even if it is tainted by the unclean Disney virus, but I couldn’t make it through the first episode of Wandavision. Those old Lucy and bewitched and alike never appealed to me. I don’t think I’ll miss the show, as my comic book days never strayed far from FF, Spidey and X-men.
Good luck with the move and such, our house hunting adventure begins at the end of this month with the close on our old house!
LikeLiked by 4 people
I can understand that. The first episode of WandaVision stays fairly close to sitcoms and then each episode afterwards gets further away from it. I think that is the problem with how ambitious/unconventional it is too. Some people will like it and others will not.
Thank you and good luck with your move as well. I already look forward to getting it over with as I’m sure you do too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice to hear good progress all round! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks as always, John! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s looking great so far. I’m glad your not tired of painting it yet when it’s only one fourth complete. Think you’ll be able to finish before the move? I imagine it might be hard to pick up where you left off if you had to pack it all away.
You make me feel old. No idea what WandaVision is or who those characters are. I used to be cool. Most of my Disney Plus viewing is a show called Bluey with the kids. That is until the Mandolorian comes out again. 😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks and unfortunately, there is zero chance that I will get it done before the move. I can’t even get the elk done in that time, let alone the rider. This project has probably two months worth of painting left in it, if I had to guess. I will definitely take a break or two on this one just to make sure I don’t get sick of it.
I figure that my 30’s is the last decade where I can stay hip (relatively speaking) so I do what I can. To be fair, Scarlet Witch and Vision are B or maybe C-list Marvel characters so you’re in good company there!
LikeLiked by 2 people
That NMM is looking smooth! So much visual interest in such small surface!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, mate! Pretty soon I’ll have to focus on “grinding” out the other parts of the elk but its encouraging to hear its looking good so far.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That metalwork is absolutely exquisite mate! Can’t wait to see the rest of the elk. Good luck with the move. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Cheers, mate! It will take me a while so you’ll be seeing a lot more of the elk in the coming months, I imagine. Everyone might even get sick of seeing this project but only time will tell on that 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Enjoying your progress on the elk, seems to be coming together very well. Watched the first two episodes of Wandavision but since I’m not really a Marvel person I felt there were too many references to things I weren’t familiar with to keep watching.
Good luck on your move!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I can totally understand that. WandaVision is definitely not a “mass market” show like most Marvel content is and I think people will have very different reactions to it. I wanted to share my thoughts on it for that reason. Thanks for the kind words and with any luck, I’ll be settled in the new place soon!
LikeLiked by 2 people
The Elk is looking goooood!
I watched WandaVision all the way through, but I had to force myself.
I didn’t enjoy it at all really. It was very much aimed at an American audience and I didn’t get the references or the humour.
I found it very predictable and, well, boring. Even the last episode was a bit of an anticlimax and it was the only one with any action!
Falcon and Winter Soldier was much, much better, and really kept in with style of the MCU… Looking forward to Loki now.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you! Yeah, its a bloody shame when the colonists force their culture on others, innit? 😉 In all seriousness, the show isn’t that funny even to Americans so don’t worry about that. The other points you raise are all weaknesses of the show. The larger plot is a bit too predictable and I think the way it ends isn’t going to be satisfactory for everyone too. WandaVision certainly is not what most people will probably expect it to be and I think there will be quite a few people who feel let down by it but I’m glad to not be one of them. I think I will start Falcon and Winter Soldier tonight so we’ll see how I get on with it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL!!! Nice opener😂
F&WS is much more in the vein of MCU so hope you enjoy it.
LikeLiked by 1 person