Sheer Joy

You should go and view this short called "The Grandfather of Soul". I'm not going to tell you anything about it. It's short and very sweet. Pass the link on to your friends.

Oh yeah, this will end well...

Ok folks, its time for another installment of 'The Danger Show - with Grimm and Steve'. What are these two kooky kids up to today? Well, they've decided to built a ballista. That's right, these brain surgeons are going to use tools, to make a weapon. It's a danger trifecta!

We began with a well written set of directions and blueprints we obtained off the interweb. These plans were promptly ignored by Grimm, who has in typical fashion, completely redesigned the project in his brain.

Things got off to a good start when Grimm informed me that the prod (the bow shaped thing that makes the big arrows go zoom) did not look good enough, and would have to be cut down. Now, because of the spring like nature of this piece of steel, it cannot be subjected to heat. This would ruin the tempter. The solution? Hose down the prod as we use an electric circular saw to cut the prod.

I am not making this up. If you click HERE you will see the larger image, labelled accordingly:

1. The Hose
2. The Saw
3. The electric cord
4. Glasses. Subject to fogging and debris
5. Grimm's mind

I'll upload some video to youtube later. It was fun, if you consider getting soaked to the skin in ice water while risking electrocution fun. But somehow, we managed not to injure ourselves. We only got half the prod done before the cold forced us indoors for fresh socks. We began the body of the weapon, which looks pretty good. To be fair, Grimm did the lions share of the hard work work this first session. I alternated between flinching and trying not to pee myself. To feel productive I've started stripping a pair of Amish wheels Grimm 'obtained' which will be used to move the weapon once its done. I am fairly sure that using Amish wagon wheels as part of a Medieval siege weapons is a fairly straight path to Hell.

Shocking the Monkey

One could say that I eclectic tastes in music. My ipod is a strange mishmash of different artists from Beethoven to Jay-Z. Dead Can Dance, Jonny Cash, Devo and the most disturbing of artists Richard Cheese. I am willing to listen to just about any music but jangly jazz and twangy country. I'll give anything a try. You never know what you'll find. Most recently I discovered Nerdcore artist MC Frontalot, take a listen. If you are a geek or a nerd, you might like it.

Peter Gabriel has been a favorite of mine since high school. I remember with almost crystal clarity the day a guy who was an AV tech for the school handed me a cassette maked "Gabriel-Live". I put it in the player and was absolutely blown away by his live version of
'The Rhythem of the Heat'. It was so good that I simply played it over and over again, ignoring the rest of this great album for about a week. Remember, this is back before the Internets. No downloading MP3's or checking the artists blog. One of the first music purchases I ever made was Runny Window on cassette. My first CD purchase? Peter Gabriel Plays Live. I still own it, all scratched to hell. I lent it to a friend who went into the Army. It took three years of bugging him to get it back, but I got it.

Flash forward to today. Peter Gabriel releases the original source tracks for his famous 'Shock the Monkey' and asks people to remix it as part of a contest. People go crazy, coming up with all kinds of different versions. The winning version is pretty sweet. Take a listen. What are you listening to?

What I've been up to

My recent fascination with Steampunk has led me to dream of several outlandish projects. It is a genre ripe for the picking. Not limited by actual science but more by aesthetics and cool factor I have been gripped by a kind of artistic fever that is composed of rivets, gears and polished brass..

As such, I have created The Clockwork Rifle. It is based loosely on the classic Kentucky rifle with a few notable exceptions. There is no pan or striker. Also, I have added a sniper scope.

This is my first effort and is mostly just a prototype. I carved the rifle stock by hand using a draw knife and a lot of sanding. The barrel is grey PVC. Lots of clock bits. The brass flourishes on the side are cut down cabinet hinges, the brass bands are a thin art brass It was a time consuming process as I wanted the parts I used to look like they fit together. I'm not completely happy yet. I still need a trigger guard and possibly a flip out hand crank for winding the 'main spring' that would power such a weapon. This stock is two pieces but I intend to use a much nicer single piece of wood for the next one.

In doing research for this project I discovered that air rifles, that is, actual air powered rifles that could be used for hunting, were in limited production in the 1700's. Lewis and Clark brought one along, mostly to impress the natives.

Comments and criticisms of this project are eagerly sought.

Clockwork rifle

Why can't I use my powers for evil?

It should be ME who bought a 20 foot tall hydraulic dragon that belches smoke and six animatronic trees, not some embezzling hack. Sigh.

It will be mine...

I was doing some research on youtube when I came across a great video of a radio control pirate ship. I have been dreaming of such a thing ever since moving to Bag End. I mean, I have a big pond, and although my original plan of building a full scale pirate ship in said pond did not pan out I could still have 2 ships duke it out. If only such cool toys existed. A google search even a year ago yielded nothing, but thanks to this great little video I found a very cool site: iwantoneofthose.com
Their motto? "Stuff you don't need...but really, really want."

It's like they can read my mind, man.

Check the video and pop over to the site for the toys. These pirate ships are only about $60 delivered. And hey, isn't you birthday coming up Steve? Why yes, I think it is. What a coincidence.

Too cool for words

It always used to bother me when I watched some crime fighting show and they managed to do all kinds of image enhancement from a shitty low res security cam. Or took a single image and somehow extrapolated a full 3d image from it (which they would feed into a computer to make a lifelike mask ala Mission Impossible 3)

This kind of crap just isn't possible!

Or is it?

Check out this video and be freakin amazed what they can do with only 1 photo. I did a search with the googles and found the website of one of the researchers which has more examples. There are all kinds of applications for this, some of them actually scare me alittle. What do you think?

Winter at Bag End

The sky was so clear the other day that I completely forgot what I was supposed to do and went outside to take some pictures of the pristine snow and ice. Image links to the gallery.

Winter 07

Vikings vs. Indians

If this idea appeals to your bloodthirsty nature you may wish to point your Interweb browser of choise to the following linky.

Yes, yet the viking armor and swords are all wrong. That typically kills it for me. Sci-Fi recently did a version of Beowulf (oddly called Grendel) that was so visually painful I could stomach no more that 5 minutes of it. But this film is different. It may not be accurate, but it looks good. For this I will forgive much. Anyone remember the Gladiator helmet the viking wore in The 13th Warrior? I forgive this transgression because it still LOOKS right and certainly remained true to the spirit of the Vikings.
...

Okay, so maybe the Vikings are depicted as a bit bloodthirsty. The film does seem to be skewed to the "Spirit Warrior" crowd who have collectors plates depicting Palomino's and velvet paintings of hot Indian women next to wolves.

Sheer Evil Joy

I have been busy working on a few projects in the shop. Nothing to show yet as the first iteration is mostly a prototype (although the results are good so far).

Anyway in doing some research I came across the fantastic website of Doctor Steel, a mad scientist and musician. I highly encourage you to check out his Delicious site, which is filled with all kinds of evil World Domination Toys. You can view clips of his live shows, which don't just look cool, but sound cool. Poke around and you will find very funny animations in the lab, a web store (of course) Dr. Steel's personal computer (which works) and a lot more! I feel I will soon be purchasing some of his music through the tubes of the Interon.

Pardon me?

After reading the headline from thisUK article I was bit miffed, if not downright aggrivated:

Campaign to pardon Britain's last convicted witch

This is especially strange since she was convicted during WWII. Weren't we done with this nonsence by then? But it gets stranger once you dig a little deeper. Apparently the lady in question, seemed to have information about wartime ship sinkings that hadn't been made public. She was imprisioned for 9 months. Churchill did away with the laws after the war but the woman didn't get a pardon.

She seemed to know something. The Government, having no evidence she was a spy but fearfull D-day information might be leaked, silenced her. Of course it's pretty clear how we'd handle something like this today. Off to Gitmo for a good waterboarding.

Sony shoots self in foot.

Apparently Sony will not allow porn to be produced on the BluRay format. Wow. This is one of the reasons betamax didn't succeed. The porn industry was the first (and may be the most) profitable company on the Internet. They are a multi-billion dollar industry. To tell them to f*ck themselves (and not in the good way) is a sure way to make sure no one uses your technology. Way to go Sony. How's that minidisk tech working for you? And the PS3? Still sitting in warehouses? Nice.

I'm calling it for HD-DVD. Gentlemen, start your wallets.

Dammit dammit dammit!

I'm weak. I admit as much. I have a weakness for some technology. You might say I crave it. Oh sure, I may have backed the wrong technology now and then. Like VESA local bus, Betamax and minidisk. Sure, in hindsight those were bad choices.

But despite my missteps in the past, I still hold true to the idea of technology and THE FUTURE!

Bright, shiny. Chrome covered. Oh yes.

That doesn't mean I am some kind of fanboy. I don't heap praise on some company just because they make their interface lickable. You will note that I don't own a Mac. The idea of an overpriced white laptop with my lifestyle is beyond absurd. For a laptop to match my lifestyle it needs to be dirt colored, made of adamantium, weigh 1 pound, be solar powered and be able to get an internet connection from inside the Pyramid of Khufu. Show me that laptop, and I'll gladly shell out the dough that Apple asks for their gear.

But today I saw something that really blew me away. The iPhone. There's been all kinds of speculation among the drooling cult of the i-faithful. Rumors, fake photos, endless arguments and navel gazing. None of it really right. I knew there was some kind of phone coming down the pipe. It's innevitable. The phone and the mp3 player are destined to join as one.

But what Apple showed today was pretty frickin amaaaaaaazing. Look at the picture:



Oh sure it's pretty. So pretty. But it's the implementation that is so revolutionary. There are a lot of phones that look cool. The trouble is trying to get them to actually do shit. I own a Treo 650. It does quite a bit, but each application had its drawbacks. And the fact that it needs a keyboard means I've lost prescious screen space. Apple removed this problem by making the entire front of the phone a touch interface. Go check out the site and watch the demos. All of it works. Seamless integration. The interface is fantastic.

But this shiny piece of Nirvana will cost. Will I buy it? It's possible. I'll need to try it for myself first, run my fingers along its smooth curves. Caress its screen. Push its buttons. Oggle its huge screen.

If you'll excuse me, I need to take a cold shower.

232 Star Wars Lines Improved by Substituting the Word “Pants”

"I find your lack of pants distressing"

more here...

Putting my money where my mouth is...

Ok, it seems I will be voting for Barack Obama should he run for President in 2008.

"Uh, isn't that a little premature, Steve?"

No, not at all. There's a lot to like about Senator Obama. First, he's extremely well spoken. That counts for a lot with me. Our current President is a moron, but what's worse, he sounds like a moron. He may only be 'just stupid' but he comes off as far worse. Honestly, it hurts me to watch him attempt to speak. It causes me physical discomfort.

Yes, Obama is somewhat new to the political arena. But so was Bush. Obama has also worked with community groups helping the poor, as a civil rights attorney (graduated Harvard Law) as well as in the State legislature. Although he hasn't run a large business, all the ones Bush ran failed miserably, so it 's a zero sum game there.

He is a Christian, and is happy to talk about it. Normally that sets off some alarm sirens for me. But I read about his childhood and how his mother took him to several different churches when he was growing up. Muslim, Buddhist, Baptist & more. He was exposed to different faiths and I admire his mother for doing that. Eventually he became a Christian, but I can deal with that so long as he grasps the fundamental concept of separation of church and state.

But none of these facts is the reason I will vote for him. Some of you may have heard me wax political (rant) now and then and one oath I have sworn numerous times is that I would vote for the first Presidential candidate who freely admitted that he used drugs in his youth. Why do I place such importance on this seemingly trivial fact? Because it is a goddamn fact of life that young people these days (strike that throughout all recorded history) do some stupid things in their youth. You smoke, or binge drink or take too much of something. But eventually you wise up. You learn that there are consequences for doing stupid things. Hopefully you do it before the behavior becomes destructive to yourself or others around you.

But for some reason, we still cling to some strange Puritanical ideas. And because some poll says that the majority of Americans don't trust someone who's taken drugs, many politicians simply lie. Some will talk about their wild youth, but offer no specifics or will downplay their activities. Clinton pissed me off by copping out in a manner that was very lawyerly. "I tried it, but I didn't inhale. " Then why did you take the joint? C'mon! Go the distance. Even if you tried it and didn't like it, which is very possible. Just say, "I took a toke and coughed for the next 10 minutes, I nearly threw up I coughed so hard." That's what happened to me the first time I inhaled a joint. I damn near threw up. The truth shall set you free.

So when a young man like Obama comes out and freely admits he took drugs, that he did stupid things but learned from the experience and doesn't do them now he has proved to me that he has the strength of character to tell me the truth from the outset. He won't waste time and energy trying to cover up or 'spin' his actions. It's a small thing, but it counts for something to me.

So, would you trust a politician who admits to what many of us have done in our past? Comments welcome.

Welcome to 2007

Last night I eschewed the larger parties and instead attended a very small get together at a friends house. It was very pleasant. I ate some wonderful Tai chicken and saffron rice, and then began the ritual drinking. It started with a very sweet Pear mead, followed by a less sweet (but very tasty) Italian Muscat, Chocolate Mint Bailey's Irish cream, some more mead, a brief interruption for some Welsh Scotch and then something else I can't remember clearly.

Of course all this was consumed in very modest quantities and with lots of munchies and some Pepsi One. We watched THE most disturbed South Park episode on my hosts ginormous big screen tv. And when midnight approached, we fired up the Internet and watched Saddam drop.

You heard me. Everbody's seen the big ball. Nothing new, but the shaky camera footage of a dictator being hanged? That's different. Now I could go into the many implications of this event. It's significance with relation to the war, the Iraqi judicial system and in the broader context of our society. But I won't. We sat and watched it like it was a train wreak, knowing what was going to happen, but unable to look away. Each of us, I am sure, took away something different.

I am not sad to see this guy go.

And now, we're officially done with 2006. I'm not sorry to see it go either. It was a good year business wise. But the quality of a year cannot be judged solely on its financial merits. I'm looking forward to 2007 with some optimism and hope. To all of you, I bid you Peace of Earth, and good will towards all. Because the other thing we're doing? Not workin so well.