Robin Shantz

@bloginhood

Blogger and podcaster babbling about science fiction, fantasy, and all points in between. High school teacher. Former reporter. Occasional volunteer Santa Claus. bloginhood.com

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Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir bloginhood.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· 18d

Halifax harbour waves goodbye with waves of fog around Georges Island. Will post photos from our trip to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and PEI when we get home.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· 19d

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, or Alice in Chains.

The cover for the Big Sugar album "Heated", featuring the face of lead singer Gordie Johnson.

The cover of the Crash Test Dummies album "The Ghosts that Haunt Me", featuring a pair of ghosts on a wrecked ship.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· 24d

Tonight's sunset outside Port aux Basques, Newfoundland staring out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 16

I'm just gonna leave this here and let you folks sort-out the jokes.

A storefront in St. John's, Newfoundland bearing a bright yellow sign saying "Dildo Brewing Co."

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 15

Flying into Newfoundland very late last night/very early this morning, we flew past a thunderstorm just as we were nearing the western shore of the Rock. Very cool to see one from the air.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 11

Count Binface reminds me a lot of Canada's Rhino party for delightful political irreverence, but he's operating at a higher level.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 11

An Orange Crush sunset over Langley.

Tall pine trees are silhouetted against orange clouds in the sunset.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 10

A quiet afternoon in Campbell Valley Regional Park.

A salmonberry blossom glows pink in the sunlight amidst green leaves.

A duck crosses a lazy brown river, the banks a tangle of green water plants, the wide shores lined with tall fir trees, under a blue sky laced with white clouds.

A duck naps upon a tuft of grass in the middle of a slow brown river near a wooden bridge.

A brown river meanders towards a low bridge, flanked by green water plants, with tall fir trees lining the shore, mountains fuzzy in the distance, and a blue sky streaked with clouds.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 7

It's Group of Seven Day. All of the artists were brilliant, but the works of Tom Thomson are my favourites.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 7

Animal's supposed to grow, not Kermit!

The head of Animal, now grown to giant size, looms over a ghost town's rooftops as bad guys flee at the end of The Muppet Movie.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 4

This t-shirt from @brittlestar.com just arrived on Friday - perfect timing to wear today as an absolutely necessary reminder.

A bearded man in shorts points at the chest of a red t-shirt he's wearing that bears a maple leaf and the words: "Canada - It's not America!"
Nearby, a Canadian flag hangs from a deck railing.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 4

A beautiful Aurora Borealis display tonight in the skies above Langley. Not too many clouds, and the moon was just starting to rise, so it didn't outshine things. Lots of beautiful green waves with purple ribbons now and again.

Green aurora waves topped with a purple haze colour the skies above a cell tower and tall fir trees as the Dipper rides above.

A green aurora wave above some trees has a faint green face in it.

Green aurora waves with purple ribbons above a dark forest.

A zigzagging green aurora wave with a purple ribbon on its bow undulates across the sky behind a cell tower and tall fir trees.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 2

Chester takes-in the evening air before the boom of the fireworks begins.

A grey tabby cat sits on a blue-cushioned stool on a deck overlooking a pond, half-lit by the golden glow of an Edison light lantern hanging beside a rosemary bush.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 2

I've been having fun working away at painting this troll from RPG Guild. It's what I imagined as a kid when my uncle warned us kids to stay out of the coal cellar in my grandparents's basement or a troll would eat us. It was probably so we'd stay away from his hunting rifles, but it worked.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jul 1

Happy Canada Day, everyone! 159 years old and still going strong!

A Canadian flag flutters on a mast as the sun, shining from between clouds, sets golden over Vancouver's West End and turns the waters of Vancouver Harbour into hammered gold.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jun 29

A nice way to end the afternoon, watching the seaplanes land on the Fraser River while enjoying dinner at The Flying Beaver.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jun 18

And the kids are gone !!! 🎼 School's out for summer! 🎼

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jun 18

post the best picture you've ever taken of your pet (if you feel like it)

A grey cat and a black cat stare into the flames of three candles in a darkened room.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jun 18

I've spent the last few weeks noodling away painting some more D&D figures from RPG Guild: a cyclops, a dryder (I wanted a more natural skin tone ratger than the usual Drow colouring), and a cat (chunky little Tabaxi?). Still got more to learn to improve my technique, but I'm happy with the results.

A large cyclops D&D figure, wearing a horned helmet, metal armour on his arms, with red and green clothes, a spiked wooden club, and a left foot with a bloody stump where one toe is missing.

A dryder D&D figure, with the spider lower body painted black with red stripes at the joints, and the elf upper body painted light brown with golden waist and shoulder armour and crown, red chest wrappings, and bearing a flaming sword.

A D&D figure of a chubby, long-haired black cat with green eyes, wearing a dark green hood, and a brown backpack and chest pouch, with a red blanket roll and blue water bottle on the pack.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Jun 1

I've been painting this ogre from RPG Guild for the past couple of days and my feelings about it have changed over time: At first I was disappointed the pinkish-grey skin tone I was trying to mix went immediately and obstinately to purple...

A chubby ogre with purplish-grey skin wearing ragged leather and hoisting a huge, spiked hammer.

An ogre, as seen from behind, wearing improvised armour made from a broken wine cask pierced with spears.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 31

My workplace for today: Brookswood Secondary's annual classic car show. On a sunny spring weekend, jalopies blossom on the streets (and high school fields!) of Langley more thickly than flowers on the trees.

A school football field crowded with colourful classic cars under a clear blue sky.

A table collecting donations for the Langley Food Bank, under a blue tent.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 31

I saw two crows attack a bald eagle at Crescent Beach this evening. The eagle had just perched atop a big pine tree. My guess is the crows were nesting nearby. Crows get hyper protective during nesting season. The tree attack lasted 5 minutes, then the crows chased the eagle out over Boundary Bay.

A crow charges a bald eagle that's perched at the top of a pine tree.

A crow dive-bombs a bald eagle perched in a pine tree.

A bald eagle soars off of a pine tree, chased by a relentlessly aggressive crow.

Two crows chase an eagle away across a clear blue sky.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 30

This week I've been working away at painting this headless horsemen D&D fig from RPG Guild. I've never painted fire before, so the twist of flame jumping up from the neck hole is certainly rough, but I'm satisfied with it for a first-time effort.

A head-on view of a black-armoured headless horseman astride a black steed. The horseman has copper skulls adorning the center of his chest and his right shoulder, his raised left hand holds a black helmet with red eye slit, his right hand holds a red sword with copper hilt, his cape is black on the back with a res liner inside, and from his neck stump a column of flame rises.

The headless horseman, as seen from the left side. His black horse has spiked copper armour on its forehead, rump, and shins, and a net of human skulls hanging from the saddle near the rider's knee.

The headless horseman and his infernal steed, as seen from the right.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 30

Coming out of a restaurant last night, I grabbed this shot of Mt. Baker looming over the mall across the street in the twilight.

The white cone of a volcano stands above the glass face and glowing red "Willowbrook" sign of a shopping mall in the midground in the grey twilight, with the shot framed by two trees spreading their branches in the foreground.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 26

I've been continuing to try to learn how to paint D&D figures, and for the past couple of weekends I was working on this beholder. I also tried a minotaur (using historic descriptions of aurochs colouring) while I was at it. I'm having fun, but I wish I had steadier hands and better eyes.

A purple beholder variant from Dungeons and Dragons, with red eyes, and blood-soaked fangs in a spider-like mouth, floating atop a pile of rocks and skulls.

A purple D&D beholder variant as seen from behind, with thick. black spines erupting from its carapace.

A black minotaur wearing an orange kilt and wielding a huge, double-headed axe.

A minotaur, as seen from behind, carrying a huge, double-headed axe, his shoulder and bicep pierced by arrows.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 14

Smrgol

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 14

Today, one of my grade 9s decided to draw a portrait of me as a worm. Reminds me of the cover of Frank Herbert's novel God Emperor of Dune featuring the sand worm hybrid Emperor Leto Atreides. Although the title here would be: Rob, Emperor of Dune.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 9

Give me a favourite non-Star Trek performance from a Star Trek actor This is a three-way tie for me: Leonard Nimoy as the voice of Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud in The Halloween Tree, Alexander Siddig in Kingdom of Heaven, and Seth Macfarlane in The Orville.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· May 4

A 27-degree summer's day on the White Rock beach, promenade and pier... Except it's only May 3, not summer, and shouldn't be anywhere near this hot. This year's going to be a scorcher.

The sun shines above Boundary Bay and the White Rock pier in the distance, while a man and boy play in the waves along the strand of sand.

A life-sized granite statue of a seated grizzly bear stares down White Rock's East Beach towards the pier under a hot sun as crowds play in the waves.

White Rock's huge namesake squatting on the West Beach near the pier with the volcano Mount Baker looming white in the distance with other Coastal range peaks.

A faded pink Hawaiian shirt hangs abandoned on a driftwood log amidst rocks on White Rock's East Beach.

Robin Shantz@bloginhood· Apr 27

Another beautiful afternoon in Campbell Valley Regional Park.