Epic Interview of DOOM (circa ’98)

Welcome, nerds and geeks alike, to this historical, monumentous occasion, in which we all get to learn a bit more about our esteemed head commentator, The Lost Skeleton. Now, without further ado, on to this Epic Interview of DOOM!! (circa ’98).

Excellent. The Lost Skeleton is always ready to party like it’s 1998!

Skelly, welcome, and thank you for joining me today. How’s it feel to be on the other side of the interview table for once?
It feels like I am leading a Marine fire team against the Covenant horde to wreak epic, purple, squishy DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! (No, really. I like it here.)

So you’ve been a part of Nerd Wars since its inception. What drew you to the first tournament? Can you tell us a little about how this idea came about?
Heh. I would tell you how NW came about if I could – that’s a question for our beloved Gamemaster. I was recruited when eyeamelise first promoted the tournament in the GeekCraft group in the time leading up to that first battle. As for what drew me to it, pull up a chair and I’ll tell you a sob story. You see, The Lost Skeleton is in fact a Lost Glassmaker (blowing and casting) – that’s what I trained to do at college! But, for sundry and nefarious reasons, I am not currently working in that medium, but I still crave a creative outlet.

The reason Nerd Wars sucked me in and kept me here is because my training in both illustration and the glass studio (where I found a passion for functional art like lamps, dishes, etc.) put a high emphasis on problem solving. In order to make a good drawing, one must consider a surprisingly large set of variables in order to balance out the scene and make it all look right; obviously, lamps and dishes come with their own set of questions. I’m not a romantic artist. I’m not going to talk your ear off with platitudes about the definition of art, because for me as an artist the main appeal is having a challenge set before me, and then figuring out the best, most visually appealing, most practical way to solve it – and that is why I love Nerd Wars. Every month, we get six distinct challenges put before us, and within them lie whole other set of challenges. What physical item do I make? Why do I make it? How do I construct it? What will it look like? Where lies its connection to my team? What can I make that fits all these criteria and is still something I want to use or wear? Every single project I’ve made for Nerd Wars has been made specifically for a Nerd Wars challenge.

What challenge was your favorite/what is your favorite project you’ve ever submitted?

Oh crap. Just one of each? Okay, I can do this. The “Scientific Method” challenge (T2R2) was neat because I already plan and often sketch NW projects before knitting, but that challenge pushed me a few steps further and encouraged me to not get as frustrated with experimentation as I can sometimes get. It also gave me a reason to try something I’d been wondering about for some time, and in my unbiased, scientific opinion the result was a success.

My favourite project also came out of T2R2 – the “Alternate Yarnality” challenge. I’d never bothered knitting without yarn before, so that was neat. I’d also never asked my boss for a roll of industrial-style toilet paper before. I love my Cerberus Toilet Seat Cover. It’s so ridiculous, and it comes from something ridiculous (in a nutshell, an evil organization’s privately funded vessel is the first spaceship in a video game to have toilets on board, the lack of which has been a subject of discussion for gamers for many years), so it feeds my self-satisfied sense of humour…and it’s also a fully functional toilet seat cover! It’s been gracing our bathroom ever since its completion.

If you had to change teams, which would you pick? (and feel free to rank a few!)
Well, if I don’t put Shady Cels at the top of that list, optijoy will probably wreak some unspeakable vengeance upon me. I think she may be stalking me. She is very technologically savvy, and has probably already found me through my IP address as we speak. Seriously, though, Shady Cels and Stargate Command were my runner-up choices on this round’s registration form.

What is your favorite Mooseism?
Oh. Oh man. You are one with the tough questions – I have trained you too well, Padawan! “Flames are the new black” is a memorable piece of decorating advice that is also one of the few Mooseisms I can actually use in public , so I’ll call it my favourite….although “AHAHAHAHA I ALMOST PEED MYSELF!” (or some variation thereof) is definitely the most common Mooseism out there.

Okay, I was trying to be inspired for more questions, and I guess I’m just braindead today (hopefully it’ll keep the zombies away). Just one more question; the be-all-end-all (seriously, it’s the end), the James Lipton extraordinaire: Whatcha gonna craft for me?

Well, hypothetically speaking, my idea of a crafty gift is a felted tote or messenger bag. Possibly depicting the cover of my namesake film, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

Sweet, I’ll pm you my address…

Thank you, ladies and pachyderms, for joining us for the final blog post of R1! Now head on over to the Tournament Thread to check out those new challenges!