More About Me

AFOL

I grew up with Lego. As a kid, it was a regular birthday and Christmas present from my parents, and eventually something I spent my own pocket money on as well. I took a break during my late teens and into my twenties, and then got married.

Which is when I started collecting again. At first it was just medieval sets (which I picked up in the US for a lot cheaper than in Australia), and then Police. Police is now expanding into a growing City collection.

I consider it no more weird than my parents collecting jigsaw puzzles. They take them on holiday, solve them, and then dismantle them back into the box for another day. My hobby is the same, with the added bonus that I can create more than just the picture on the box! Lego is only limited by the user's imagination.

For the past couple of years, I've been involved with the Queensland Lego User Group and displayed large-scale dioramas at fan exhibitions across Queensland. For some of the things I've made, I have set up another blog. There's also a lot of Lego on my Instagram.

Cyclist

This is partly for the exercise and the saving on money and fuel. It's mainly because I don't own a car, or have a driver's licence yet. I do, however, have a forklift licence.

Guitarist

I'm a self-taught (books from the library helped) guitarist, and bought my first guitar while working overseas in Japan in 2003. I have recently purchased my newest instrument, a solid-top Takamine electric-acoustic. Recordings will follow. Eventually.

For more on this side of me, check out my Facebook artist page or partly-constructed website.

Handyman

This paragraph is under construction. Pun intended.

Husband

I am married (nine years as of 2016) to an American redhead. We originally met on the message boards of Third Day's fan club, and then met in person later in the US. We've lost two babies - one miscarried, and our son Evan had a pretty traumatic birth and only lived for 4 days.

Metalhead

I am a fan of many different genres, but metal in particular has a special place in my heart.

In 2013 I finally got to see one of my favourite metal bands, Demon Hunter, when they visited Australian shores for the first time ever.

Recommended albums:

Amaseffer, "Slaves For Life"
Amon Amarth, "Twilight Of The Thunder God"
Becoming The Archetype, "The Physics Of Fire" and "I AM"
Demon Hunter, "Summer Of Darkness" and "Extremist"
Dream Theater, "Systematic Chaos" and "Train Of Thought"
Lamb Of God, "Resolution" and "VII: Sturm und Drang"
Mastodon, "Crack The Skye" and "Leviathan"
Metallica, "Master Of Puppets"
Opeth, "Pale Communion", "Blackwater Park" and "Ghost Reveries"
Orphaned Land, "The Neverending Way Of OrWarrior"
Sepultura, "Roots" and "Chaos A.D."

MK

I'm Australian born, raised as a Missionary Kid in Ghana, West Africa. My parents worked there from 1986 to 1996. And twenty years later, my favourite food is still Ghanaian, and my favourite sports team is the Black Stars.

Movie buff

I like movies. A lot.

My favourite films tend to be science fiction, action, and comedy, or any combination of those. I have a soft spot for sci-fi films with a small cast who you just know are going to get killed off one by one before the ending (Alien, Predator, Sunshine). Sorry if I just spoiled the endings of any of those for you.

I have another soft spot for "big dumb action" movies (Commando, The Expendables) and "big dumb comedies" (Dumb and Dumber, The Hangover).

Selected favourites:

Across The Universe, Die Hard 1 & 3, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Moon, Star Wars trilogy, all Star Trek films (even the odd-numbered ones), The Terminator and its sequels, Yellow Submarine.

I own almost every film featuring Clint Eastwood - I don't have any from the 1950s. I do, however, own every film he directed. Kara calls him my man-crush.

10 films I could watch over and over:

The A-Team, The Cabin In The Woods, From Dusk Till Dawn, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Moon, Napoleon Dynamite, The Princess Bride, Serenity, Star Trek (2009), Sunshine.

Films I enjoyed in 2012:

Argo, The Avengers, The Cabin In The Woods, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Hugo, The Muppets, The Pirates: Band Of Misfits, Skyfall, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Films I enjoyed in 2013:

Django Unchained, Elysium, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, Les Misérables, Man Of Steel, Premium Rush, Searching For Sugar Man, Sound City, Star Trek Into Darkness, Wreck-It Ralph

Films I enjoyed in 2014:

American Sniper, Big Hero 6, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow, Fury, Godzilla, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Interstellar, Whiplash, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Films I enjoyed in 2015:

Ant-Man, The Big Short, Ex Machina, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Martian, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Spectre, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Straight Outta Compton

Films I enjoyed in 2016:

The Accountant, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, Doctor Strange, Hell or High Water, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, The Nice Guys, The Jungle Book, Star Trek Beyond, Sully

Music fan

I have eclectic taste. My collection includes:
Amon Amarth, Anberlin, Apocalyptica, ApologetiX, Audio Adrenaline, Beatles, Bee Gees, Biffy Clyro, The Black Angels, Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Cranberries, Dave Matthews Band, David Crowder Band, Demon Hunter, East West, Fleetwood Mac, Flyleaf, Further Seems Forever, Guns N Roses, Jars of Clay, Journey, Salif Keita, Kings Of Leon, Kutless, Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin, Leeland, Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Mastodon, Matisyahu, Kevin Max, Metallica, Midnight Oil, Youssou N'Dour, Newsboys, Opeth, Pantera, Paul Colman Trio, Pearl Jam, P.O.D., Powderfinger, Project 86, Rage Against The Machine, Red, Relient K, Silverchair, Sister Hazel, Switchfoot, System Of A Down, Tea Party, Third Day, Tigertown, Ali Farka Touré, Tree63, U2, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Weird Al Yankovic, Zao.

I love going to concerts and festivals (when I can afford it). Artists I've had the pleasure of seeing live include:
The Alaev Family, Alice In Chains, Anberlin, Apocalyptica, Article One, Ascend The Hill, Audio Adrenaline, Ben Folds Five, B-52s, The Black Angels, Blindside, Jimmy Cliff, Cranberries, Dave Matthews Band, David Crowder Band, Delirious, Demon Hunter, Disciple, Dream Theater, Earthsuit, Eskimo Joe, Goo Goo Dolls, In Flames, Iron Maiden, Ivoryline, Jars of Clay, Salif Keita, Femi Kuti, Lacuna Coil, Lamb of God, Lecrae, Mastodon, Midnight Oil, Mortification, Mutemath, MxPx, Newsboys, Newworldson, Opeth, Paul Colman Trio, Pillar, P.O.D., Powderfinger, Project 86, Relient K, Xavier Rudd, Silverchair, Silversun Pickups, Skillet, Snow Patrol, Switchfoot, System Of A Down, Tea Party, Third Day, 30 Seconds To Mars, Thousand Foot Krutch, Tigertown, Vieux Farka Touré, Tree63, Trivium, U2, Void If Removed, The Whitlams, Zeahorse.

Reader

I am an avid reader. I used to be a voracious one. This year I'm trying to keep track of what I read, under the label "Books". I'm not doing so well. Thrillers, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Graphic Novels are what usually grab my attention.

Favourite authors on my bookshelf:

Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, Ted Dekker, Philip K Dick, Raymond E Feist, Frank Herbert, Stephen R Lawhead, CS Lewis, Calvin Miller, James Patterson, Frank Peretti, JRR Tolkien, Harry Turtledove

Must-reads:

J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Lord Of The Rings"
Raymond E Feist, "Magician"
Stephen Lawhead, Song Of Albion trilogy
Frank Herbert, "Dune"
C.S. Lewis, Narnia series
Neil Gaiman, "Marvel: 1602" (graphic novel)
Alan Moore, "Watchmen" (graphic novel)

Sports fan

I live in Australia now, but I still cheer for the Black Stars over the Socceroos when they make it to a World Cup. (See "MK" above) Even when they play against each other, as happened in South Africa 2010.

Since coming back to Australia, I got interested in rugby league through watching the State of Origin competition each year. It wasn't until about 2011 that I started regularly watching any of the Friday Night Footy games from the regular club competition on TV. In 2012 Kara got us discounted season tickets to the Brisbane Broncos home games, and we renewed our membership again for the second year in a row.

When I remember to take my camera to games, I will probably post about the games, under the post label "Rugby league".

Trekkie

I'm a big fan of many science fiction novels, TV shows, and films, but "Star Trek" remains one of my all-time favourites. Mainly "The Original Series" and "The Next Generation", together with the feature films. I've never got around to watching much of either "DS9" or "Voyager".

Also pretty awesome:

Äkta Manniskor ("Real Humans"), Battlestar Galactica, Continuum, Defiance, Fringe, Game Of Thrones, Orphan Black, Red Dwarf, Stargate SG-1, Warehouse 13, The X-Files

Writer

My education background is a mix of home-schooled (using Australian curriculum via Distance Education) and "normal" classroom-type high school. I have a degree in Creative Writing from QUT, and stuck around for a fourth year to do Honours.

I don't do as much writing as I should, but hopefully that can/will change.

Current areas of interest: screenplays, and songwriting.