Quality over Quantity

It's been a busy week if you like shopping.  I hope everyone found the deals you all were after.  Anyway, I wasn't able to hit up as many people during this year's Black Friday week as I did last year.  I think it's a combination of me being pickier and the rainy weather.  Nonetheless, here is a preview of the shoes I will post photosets for, so stay tuned...

 

Some of my shoe posers think it's easy for me to post these pics just like that and perhaps I could but I'm just a fuss-ass by nature.  I appreciate the patience.  Damn, those shoes rock!!

No New Layers for NBA 2k18

If you have a platinum Edge card from EB Games, you can try out a used or new game for 6 days from the day of purchase before the game is yours for good.  If you aren't happy with the game for any reason, you can exchange it for another game equal or greater than the value of what you've paid for for the game you're bringing back.  You just have to pay the difference owing.

I wasn't going to commit to NBA 2K18 financially unless I was able to get full value for the game back or if the Shoe Creator program had some new layers.  Sadly, it didn't so I exchanged it for a game in which I believe will hold its value for a longer period of time and a game that I would actually play!!

However, it does appear a couple of my suggestions have been heard about the Shoe Creator program.  The game's HDR function actually works so the shoe colours don't appear "too dark".  The other thing they've added is the zoom feature, which addresses the small-shoe problem.  Read this post from last year to see what I mean.

I went ahead and designed a pair of shoes just for the heck of acknowledging the arrival of the fall season here on the west coast.  

I named these the Anta "Autumn Mashups".

London Drugs Exclusive Skechers

During this recent long weekend, London Drugs started a shoe promo as part of their flyer event.  There is a whole batch of Skechers brought exclusively to London Drugs.  That means you can't get these styles anywhere else - not even off of Skechers own website.

Here are the shoe displays from both Nanaimo stores.  Whatever the tag prices are, it's 50% off right now!!

I don't know how much more of these shoes there are, but if you've missed out on your favourite style, I was told London Drugs will be getting a second batch of Skechers, most likely to be of different styles.  Happy shopping!!

Filler Images

Please ignore this post.

P*ss Adds Flavour to my Blog (final edit)

This might sound rude, but I can't help, to know this is true.  People react to negativity more strongly than they do to pleasantries.  I don't know about you, but when I have doubts of what I'm about to invest in, I look to the negative write-ups first.  Everyone seems to say the same old good things when things work out well.  However, people seem to be more specific about their displeasures when things don't go as planned.  In my case, my negative experience with some people is an example of just that.  Newegg.com or newegg.ca has a glutton of feedback that will help demonstrate my point.

So what does p*ss have to do with the point I'm trying to make here?  Well, my main focus is still to showcase the elegance of how a shoe uniquely fits on each person and the artistry and the colours that go into the aesthetics of the shoes' design.  However, when dealing with people, there will always be a chance of conflict because everyone thinks and reacts differently.  This includes those who act stupidly.  Therefore, you can say:  "That p*sses me off!!"

P*ss is a form of emotion - not the straw-coloured bodily fluids our desperate full bladders anxiously await to discharge...at least not in this blog.  My followers want to see me through my struggles.  They just can't wait to see what unfolds and how I go about overcoming those obstacles.  If this blog had no substance of p*ss, then no matter how much eye candy my viewers are fed, the taste to this blog would eventually become bland, and thus wouldn't be as much of a standout from the unsalted sea of other shoe sites out there.

Yes, p*ss!!  It might be a hard thing to swallow and I might not like its jet-stream of heat shot right towards my way, but when I have to defend myself from its toxins, I'm able to divert its attack and use it as fertilizer to nourish my blog's content.  So go ahead, my nay-sayers.  Keep p*ssing me off!  I'll just use that energy to my benefit at the expense of people's acts of stupidity, more often than not.  Liquid is supposed to douse these flaming annoyances and though, hot p*ss might spread them all over,  it also fuels my fire.

Oh, and that reminds me...I've spent so much time on this blog post, I almost forgot - I have to take a p*ss...aaahh!  Only my nay-sayers need to worry about my name change to Dick when it comes to the emotion of p*ss.  Pardon my p*ssy pun throughout this article.  I hope no one p*ssed their pants laughing today.

I Am Who I Am

When I first started this hobby, I only wanted to photograph shoes.  I was shy, embarrassed, and unsure about myself because I didn't know how people would react and I cared too much about people watching me.  Also, I couldn't have anticipated how important it is to be able to show strangers what I was up to when making such requests, and not just tell them that I liked shoes.  In the early going, I seemed to be a little tense.  That was the reason why, and not because I was trying to hide a negative ulterior motive from anyone.

Now that I've been shoe photographing for 3+ years and have discovered the truth to the C.K. brainwash, I'm doing a much better job projecting belief and confidence in what I do.  Don't get me wrong though.  I can't just be reckless.  I still have to respect people's personality, mood, and situation.  Now from experience, I know not to ask people with the N.F. persona, even if she might say "yes" the first time.  If I didn't know her, I wouldn't have asked her period!!

Because I write with my heart, you can get to know a lot about me through my blog.  There was an immediate connection with my friend's wife as a result.  However, the point I'm trying to make here is that once you get to know me, the main reason you wouldn't help me out again is shoe posing gets monotonous - not because you think I'm seeking a 2nd chance to capitalize on a missed opportunity to be mischievous.  I think that's why N.F. got skeptical when I asked her a 2nd time.  So N.F.!!  Have you read my blog yet?  DO  YOU uh-UN-DER-STAAAAAND NOoww???

What you read on here is who you'll meet in real life (IRL)!!  Read about my thoughts first.  Meet me later.  Frontrunners' C.K. did the opposite.  She thought she had a good read on my personality on Arthur, the customer (and my skin colour).  I was quiet, accommodating, and easily brainwashed.  Well surprise, surprise!!  We all know how that turned out.

The Positive Feedback I've Received...

We all know there's no way of telling for sure about the validity of testimonials.  The positive testimonials that Frontrunners gets is good and all but by the way their staff members conduct themselves, you can safely say the feedback they've posted is biased.  If any of you have taken a statistics course, that's called a sampling error - a sample of feedback that is not a proper representation of the entire population of people who have shopped there.  

I can't see how they can do a sudden change in gear shift to go from cold and arrogant to warm, caring, and loving from one customer to the next without completely supressing their negative demeanor.  Unless the customer(s) are oblivious to what their personalities really are, there always visible signs of egoism & arrogance that seeps through their body language that echo to your gut feel.  Listen to your gut.

Now that I've raised awareness about my treatment there, I'm sure you will be able to see through them too.  In other words, they are who they are and they can't change that.

Now I don't have any testimonials about my blog to post from fan mail.  However, I'm counting on the perceived credibility that I've established with my readers to take me at my word without any grains of salt, that there has been direct positive feedback given to me about my work.

Some of the positive feedback I've received include:

1. Handshakes from several of my shoe posers immediately after the photo shoot.  Yes, they initiated the handshakes.
2. "You take damn good photos," praised by a coffee store clerk.
3. "I didn't realize my shoes looked that good!" or "My shoes really do look good!" in reaction to the showing of my photos immediately after the photo shoot.
4. "When I saw your writing, it took my breath away!" one person said in awe, and:  "You write well...People believe you because you write with your heart."

Now if you still think I'm making this positive feedback up because I'm typing this up on a whim instead of something to copy and paste from, then all you have to do is sift through my blog again and re-absorb my hard work.  I'll let you be the judge of the validity of my claims here.

P*ss Adds Flavour to My Blog

Please refer to the edited version.

Why a Declined Request Bothers Me

**Scroll right to the bottom of this post for a direct answer to this article's heading**

Just to make sure people understand, I never oblige people to take on my request for shoe photos.  Either they feel like helping me out or they don't.  I get the best results when people are open and willing.  Therefore, they don't have to worry about being forced into posing for me against their own will.  If I sense an uneasy vibe when I ask, I remove myself away from that person right away to give them as little ammunition to slander me and to misportray my character.

**I want to get this article up as soon as I can but I'm appending more to this posting as we speak.  This is addressed to a specific person I've come in contact today.  I want her to see this...**

First of all, thank you N.F. for helping me out almost a year ago.  Until I find a quicker way to ©-stamp my photos, it will always take me a while to post everyone's shoe pics.  N.F. and others, I would like you to feast your eyes on this:

Even a simple composition like this takes 2 hours to complete.  Quite frankly, I'd be more than happy to help a "stranger" who can show me this level of creativity in the same way as I have to MY strangers!!

This is the complete thumbnail set of the shoe photos you've allowed me to take.  Tell me there isn't something in these photos that contain more than you've bargained for in a negative way.  In fact, I think you should take my request as a compliment - a compliment to your taste in style and the fact you look good in them.

Now, I want you folks to take a look at these shoes:

These are the Mizuno Wave Creation 15's - yellow/pink colourway that is rarely seen for sale, let alone being worn.  Now you tell me!  If you were a shoe photographer, would you let these shoes walk away without asking?  You know I run a shoe blog.  I've given you my business card quite a while ago and yet, you say you don't understand why I'm asking (again)??  Oh wait.  You must've not even looked at my blog at all and your reaction today signifies that you were skeptical even after the first photo shoot.  If you're that worried, why not browse through my blog right away.  I've worked very hard on the content of my website to legitimize such requests and not even once, did you bother to glance through it?  You're busy with your baby girl.  I get that, but you can't even spare 1 minute to open up your browser and it's taken me 3 hours to compose this article, let alone almost 2 years to compose everything up to this point.

Anyways, my point is, I don't expect everyone to help me out and that's okay.  I can always find someone else with something different on their feet.  What offended me was you imagined an ulterior motive to my request that wasn't even there.  You have zero excuses to be skeptical and zero excuses to not understand what my project entails!!  If you are that unreasonably defensive in nature, then the next time I see you, I won't even say hi to you, even though we're acquaintances well before the first photo request.  Angela, the Ladysmith thrift store shopper knows all about how I feel about her.  She tried to exchange pleasantries with me several times since then, but I would have none of it.  She knows she f*cked up but she's already permanently burnt the bridge b/n us.

Now, I had other plans tonight but it's good to see that my followers benefited from my agitated mood.  From now on, anyone who agrees to pose for me, why don't you just browse through my damn blog right away so we don't have to come to this point (the next time I ask you).

**Btw...did I do a good job letting it be known that I was agitated??  If not, I'm just going decide to ignore her from now on, let alone ask her for shoe pics.  Problem skeptic solved!!**

Bouchard Will Compete in French Open Tourney

Despite tearing her ankle ligament during a recent practice session, Eugenie says her competitive spirit is pushing her on to compete in the upcoming grand slam.  It was a cluster of clay that was clumpier than usual on the practice court that inhibited her slide and as a result, caused her ankle to roll over, leading to the injury.

Courtesy of TSN, here is a sneak peak at some of the cool shoes players of clay will be sporting.  I will be posting as I come across shoe close-ups I see on TV.

Here are some more pre-French Open shoes - these ones worn at the Nurnberger WTA tourney.


Barbora Krejcikova

Sorana Cirstea

Saucony Tangle

You know a collage is a good one when you can view it multiple times and you still can't wrap your mind around it.  To me, I think achieved that with this composition.

Caption:  Move over!  My shoes are the newest.

Carmen, you know which shoes are yours...

"You Actually Like These Shoes??"

That's what the gal of these Saucony Grid Escape TR's said to me when I asked if I could take pictures of her shoes.  She proceeded to say:  "They're just black!  Well if you want, I guess you could take some pictures of my shoes."

Oh ho ho!!  How wrong you are.  They're not just black.  Let me say this first.  I've seen shoes that use more vibrant colours and yet, I can tell there's just something blah about them.  If you look closely at these shoes, you will notice that these shoes are more than just "black".

 Note:  The yellow Saucony logo was overexposed from the lens.

If the lighting is poor or if you look at them farther away, these shoes will appear black.  However, a well-designed shoe will incorporate colour separation and colours that jive.  There doesn't appear to be a lot of colours on the body of the shoe to use for colour separation so different types of materials are used to break the monotony of one continuous shell.

The leather and the honeycombed netting is black but the fabric underneath is of navy blue.  The navy blue serves as an afterglow effect that emanates from the light blue trim coming from the laces and the outsole.

On top of using different materials, they used an assortment of patterns and layering to make these shoes look more than some knock-off brand.  The fins on the heel, the zig zag stitching, and the honeycomb webbing are all factors that make these otherwise boring dark shoes, worthy of a Wongous Works blog posting.  One person might see them as just another black pair of shoes.  I see an opportunity for my mind to wander and to yet again, dazzle my readers once more.

By the way, she also told me that she bought these shoes from Sears and that they were having their Sears Day sale on all footwear.  Having some spare time on my hand, I decided to check it out for myself.  Surely enough, I can see why she was raving about her shoes.  Not only did she find the pair of the shoes that fit her like no other but pay only C$60 for something that is normally worth $150.00 is a bargain.  The $100 label is an old-stock price.  The selection is very small for a shoe department so she was very fortunate to find what she was looking for.

Super Enthusiastic Fan #2

I was somewhat surprised when she was curious as to why I wanted pictures of these shoes.  Whenever someone, especially a woman wears something this fancy, would understand what a shoe fanatic is all about.

However, she saw my camera work, she was instantly taken aback.  She never realized how cool her shoes really were all along...but I did.  I guarantee she will start paying attention to what cool shoe people are wearing from now on.

C. K. & T-Mac Would "Kill" for This!!

Those who have been following my blog know how envious of people they can be when they aren't getting the attention they think they deserve.  When that attention gets taken away from them, they would go as far as breaking the law to regain their prized possession (their need for drama in their lives to be heard).  I believe they are also envious because they are very unattractive women and will never have the form of a prototypical feminine body type - affecting how they look in shoes as well.  Cindy is short and stocky and has a masculine-like body type.  Tracy's upper body type is boney, shouldering a head that etches a very poor facial complexion, so poor that her smile looks more like a combination of a grimace and a smirk.  When she doesn't smile, her facial expression perfectly resembles what her personality actually is - a very close-minded, miserable person.

Anyways, I was being served by a waitress a few days ago, who was wearing some very nicely designed Clarks flats.  They fit her feet so well that they could serve as an inner leather lining for a pair of heavier-weighted shoes.  Yet, they look solid enough to serve as the actual shoe and not as ballet flats.  It also doesn't hurt that she's a natural shoe poser.  Have a look and you will see what I mean.

If she wasn't comfortable with my photo request, then she would let me know, especially when I've made it very clear what I was all about.  I just don't buy into C.K.'s claims of people changing their minds and then wanting to call the cops on me.  That's what C.K. wants me to believe.

Update:  Jan. 31, 2017 - I asked Kelsey again today for more shoe poses and she was really reluctant to do so.  This just goes to show people will say "no" if they don't want me to take pictures of their poses.  The manager of a retail store said that people were only curious why I needed pictures of shoes before I built this website.

C.K., you have very Asian-like calves - quite bulky like mine.  You're pretty short - shorter than me, quite frankly.  That makes you a short little Asian calf.  You are Asian in the calves to me and a pain in the ass to everyone you involved in this whole mess!!  Pfff - call me a short little Asian guy with racial implications, eh?

Thanks, Kelsey.  You are a very good waitress.  You were fast and the food portion and quality were unwavering.  I wish I could've gotten this post up sooner but these picture comps were not easy to execute, at least not with the graphics program I'm using.

Australian Open 2017

Here are some cool shots of some shoes worn by the players at this tournament.  The camera work is courtesy of TSN, ESPN, and The Tennis Channel.  Keep checking back as I will update this post as more shoe shots become available.

Mischa Zverev

Novak Djokovic

Serena Williams

Venus Williams

Suspected T-Mac's Involvement 1.5 Years Ago

Before you read this, I've appended some new info at the end of this post.  Very interesting...

I remember running on the paved bike trail at the waterfront between 7 & 8 a.m. in the morning July 2015, over 7 months removed from C.K.'s death threat plot .  This was at the bottom of the hill between Townsite Road and Mt. Benson Street, where I saw T-Mac and her friend running towards and past me.  As we converged, I glanced down at her Asics GEL-Kayano 21's.  She responded by saying to her running partner:  "Notices..." in a snobby tone that she would only dare behave in when she feels empowered in the presence of a companion.  We both diverged after that, as we proceeded to run in opposite directions.  Here is a simple collage to help you readers form a mental image of our interaction that day.

Because I haven't counteracted to the death threat plot, she figured that I was some pushover and that C.K.'s plan really did discourage my ambitions for good.  That attitude by T-Mac that day was a huge indicator for me to suspect her involvement in the crime.  She just didn't know it yet, especially considering the fact I haven't resumed my hobby.

I want you to make reference to the following post:

Since My Suspension from Work - Part 2

I suspect there is a 3rd member from the Frontrunners store who was also involved.  In that old posting, I've mentioned that the timing of the 2nd framing attempt was too impeccable for it to be considered a coincidence.  There was also one other behaviour that I picked up from her that made me suspicious of her involvement very shortly after my suspension.  I will elaborate on that in a later posting so stay tuned.

Message to C.K.

The fact that you thought it was funny to drop the initial hammer on me was a pretty delusional thought.  You thought you could brainwash me into thinking there was something wrong with me to put an end to my hobby once and for all.  Well, I'm glad to say, you've made me mentally tougher and smarter.  I find it a lot easier to approach and ask people to help me out today because you forced me to defend myself by building this website.  I was really just content with the shoe photography portion of my hobby.  Had you left me alone, I wouldn't have been able to approach as many people for this favour and to share with them what you did to me!!  Please don't sign up for a gym membership other than at the Nanaimo Athletic Club so that you don't contaminate other people's experience elsewhere, let alone mine, with your criminal tendencies.