I claimed my 1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame kit yesterday and promptly went about building it. It's a pretty cool model once finished---very, very articulated for a non-MG kit, yet also very light because it's not an MG (no internal structures, strictly speaking---check the picture) so it's more posable. The build, with cleanup, took me around 5 hours.

Would be nice to paint this baby, especially as the scabbard for its katana is in plain white, but I'm happy with it as it is.
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Lately I've been catching that big '80s favorite, "The A-Team," on Star World in the mornings when I wake up. I used to watch this when I was a kid and it's unbelievable that the show's actually as old as I am.

"In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team."

All the characters are zany and memorable, especially Mr. T as Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus who raised the flag for African-Americans on '80s TV next to a primarily white cast. Despite his grumpy demeanor, B.A. was smart, brave and capable with all things mechanical (except airplanes---he hated flying), and I gotta say he probably started the whole "bling" phenomenon on black hip-hop artists with all the rings and jewelry he wore on the show. I checked his Wikipedia page, and Mr. T says all the (heavy) bling he carries is his way of sympathizing with his ancestors---Negro slaves. Pretty cool!

The other cast members are still alive, save for George Peppard (who played lead character Col. John "Hannibal" Smith"), who died in 1994 from pneumonia. Apparently the guy had a sad life.

The A-Team lives on: Some guy in the UK made a fantastic shrine on them. Click here for more on this fantastic five-season TV show.