I've been enjoying a series of YouTube videos dedicated to Carl Sagan's memory. His poetic yet rational world view appeals deeply to me. I read "Demon Haunted World" while I was rediscovering my love of science and I still feel like it has a wide appeal and his writing style is easily accessible to less analytical minds. I'd love to get some of his works on audio-book.
Here are a few of my favorite videos featuring Carl Sagan:
Cheers
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, July 02, 2010
Empathetic Egotists? What's that?
I consume a staggering amount of internet media. I subscribe to dozens of Podcasts. I read a dozens of blogs. I spend several hours a day scouring the web for the weird, funny, and interesting. All of this has done little to fulfill that deep-seated need to create something. In an attempt to fill that creative void I've turned yet again to blogging, but now I'm no longer alone. I've joined forces with some close friends and we've created "Empathetic Egotists", a place for us to share with you all what we think you should know about.
I'm excited, and I encourage you to check it out and leave some comments about what you'd like to see there.
Cheers.
What's Jeff been up to for the last 3 months?
Wow, our trip to Cancun seems like forever ago. Kat and I have pretty much been doing nothing but wedding planning since we've been back. Kat found some sub jobs until Summer set in and now she's working on the wedding full-time. It's getting close now, just a few weeks away and then we'll be heading to London for two weeks. I'm really excited for that. Hopefully I can find time to blog about our experiences while we are there.
Cancun was good and relaxing. We spent the bulk of our time just how we wanted to, reading by the pool or the ocean with a drink in hand. We got out of our resort long enough to tour the ruins of Tulum, snorkel a bit at a lagoon, and hit La Isla mall for a nice meal out. Pictures of those trips are up on my flickr.
Probably the best story coming out of the trip was getting ambushed by timeshare sellers right out of the plane. I took some convincing, but finally agreed to take a morning and sit through one of their sales presentations in exchange for transportation to and from the airport, a free buffet breakfast, and $100 US compensation. Kat and I fended off their hard sell techniques long enough to claim our reward and get out of there. Bonus.
Cancun was good and relaxing. We spent the bulk of our time just how we wanted to, reading by the pool or the ocean with a drink in hand. We got out of our resort long enough to tour the ruins of Tulum, snorkel a bit at a lagoon, and hit La Isla mall for a nice meal out. Pictures of those trips are up on my flickr.
Probably the best story coming out of the trip was getting ambushed by timeshare sellers right out of the plane. I took some convincing, but finally agreed to take a morning and sit through one of their sales presentations in exchange for transportation to and from the airport, a free buffet breakfast, and $100 US compensation. Kat and I fended off their hard sell techniques long enough to claim our reward and get out of there. Bonus.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Return to Cancun, 2010
Kat & I are heading back to Cancun for a week's vacation soon. We don't know exactly what we'll be doing this time, but we're looking forward to just relaxing and taking a break. It's only been about a year and a half since we were there last. The weather will be nice this time of year.
I've added a gadget to the blog that tracks my shared items on google reader. These are things I've been reading on the net lately.
I've added a gadget to the blog that tracks my shared items on google reader. These are things I've been reading on the net lately.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Penny Arcade Reality TV
So, PAX 2009 is long over, but the guys over at Penny Arcade just released a couple of cool videos with footage from the event. I thought I'd share the link with anyone out there who was curious about it. I don't think I'm in any of the shots but I was there for the big panel discussion where Jerry walked in to announce his new baby. Good times, good times.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Halloween Party 2009, Success
Halloween 2009 was a great success. Kat, Mom, & Dad all chipped in during the last hours on Saturday to help finish all the party prep and decorations. Kat and I went as Starbuck and Anders from the new BSG series. Mike, Jen, Dave, and Eric all brought their Rock Band stuff which made for great entertainment for everyone. "Flock of Potatoes" & "The Whoopsies" battled it out in the finals for prizes. "The Whoopsies" won. with their inspiring rendition of "The Greatest Song in the World, Tribute". I've uploaded pictures at my flickr site so be sure to check out everyone's costumes and my final decorations.
Cheers
Cheers
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Pneumatic Coffin Lid, Phase 1
No work on the fence today, but I did work on my coffin lid opener. I made yet another trip to the hardware store and picked up a set of metal files. I needed a file to file down the clevis mount FrightProps sent me. They eventually decided to send me the right one but I didn't want to wait for it so I went ahead and filed down the wrong one to the right size.
The old plywood coffin is a bit heavy and poorly constructed. Once I put the cylinder kit together it took me awhile to figure out where attach it for the effect I wanted. Finally I decided to mount it at the foot of the coffin, but the sides were too thin for the screws. I had to measure and cut a piece of 2x4 to glue and screw to the foot of the coffin so that the cylinder mount would have something to screw into. Everything was going well until I tried to screw in the mount. That 2x4 was a tough SOB and I nearly stripped all the screws. I gave myself a blood-blister at one point when the screw slipped and I started to screw my forefinger.
I did the same thing to the top of the lid, measured and cut a shorter piece of 2x4 for the clevis mount to screw into. I was lucky that the 2 pieces of 2x4 didn't hit each other when the lid closed all the way. I determined the placement of the clevis mount, marked the place, and the had to drill pilot holes for the 2 screws that go into the mount. I still had trouble with it. Those 2x4s are tough bastards or my drill bits are weak, I don't know which.
Once the cylinder mechanism was in place I took a break and went to run errands with Kat for the rest of the afternoon. We picked up the rest of our costume supplies. When we got back I drilled access holes in the back of the coffin for air tubes and cables, and cut some supports for the back so it won't rest directly on the ground.
Next I gave the inside a quick once over the the black spray paint to hide the plywood and the new 2x4s I'd added. I touched up some of the outside of the coffin where there was light paint from last year and then redid the lid. Last year I'd painted a rough white cross on the lid, but that looked bad so this year I painted R.I.P in white. It's only slightly better than nothing.
When I tried to hook up the air compressor and give it all a test I determined that I didn't have the right sized hookup for the air hose. I'll have to make yet another run to the hardware store tomorrow.
The old plywood coffin is a bit heavy and poorly constructed. Once I put the cylinder kit together it took me awhile to figure out where attach it for the effect I wanted. Finally I decided to mount it at the foot of the coffin, but the sides were too thin for the screws. I had to measure and cut a piece of 2x4 to glue and screw to the foot of the coffin so that the cylinder mount would have something to screw into. Everything was going well until I tried to screw in the mount. That 2x4 was a tough SOB and I nearly stripped all the screws. I gave myself a blood-blister at one point when the screw slipped and I started to screw my forefinger.
I did the same thing to the top of the lid, measured and cut a shorter piece of 2x4 for the clevis mount to screw into. I was lucky that the 2 pieces of 2x4 didn't hit each other when the lid closed all the way. I determined the placement of the clevis mount, marked the place, and the had to drill pilot holes for the 2 screws that go into the mount. I still had trouble with it. Those 2x4s are tough bastards or my drill bits are weak, I don't know which.
Once the cylinder mechanism was in place I took a break and went to run errands with Kat for the rest of the afternoon. We picked up the rest of our costume supplies. When we got back I drilled access holes in the back of the coffin for air tubes and cables, and cut some supports for the back so it won't rest directly on the ground.
Next I gave the inside a quick once over the the black spray paint to hide the plywood and the new 2x4s I'd added. I touched up some of the outside of the coffin where there was light paint from last year and then redid the lid. Last year I'd painted a rough white cross on the lid, but that looked bad so this year I painted R.I.P in white. It's only slightly better than nothing.
When I tried to hook up the air compressor and give it all a test I determined that I didn't have the right sized hookup for the air hose. I'll have to make yet another run to the hardware store tomorrow.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Pillar Project Phase 4
Almost done with the cemetery fence. I spent today shortening my old fence sections to match the new pillars. I thought it would take much longer than it did. I'm glad Jared mentioned the unscrew, move, rescrew, and cut method, otherwise I would have hacked out a foot from the middle of the posts and that wouldn't have worked too well.
Once I got the fence sections cut down I went about setting up the fence in the yard. Pictures are here. Tomorrow I'll go about lighting them and covering them with webbing.
I discovered that my pillars are a bit wobbly and very light-weight so they will probably blow over with a stiff wind. I'll have to devise some way to hold them in place. I hope they hold up in the weather until next Saturday.
Once I got the fence sections cut down I went about setting up the fence in the yard. Pictures are here. Tomorrow I'll go about lighting them and covering them with webbing.
I discovered that my pillars are a bit wobbly and very light-weight so they will probably blow over with a stiff wind. I'll have to devise some way to hold them in place. I hope they hold up in the weather until next Saturday.
Pillar project phase 3
Over the last few days I finished painting the pillars and attached the skull toppers. Pictures are here. I had to sand and cut down the foam before painting them. I used gray latex primer, 2 coats, and once that dried I use black acrylic spray paint to give them a weathered look. It didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped. I should have used black primer and then dry-brushed gray over top.
The skulls gave me a bit a of a problem. I decided not to put the lights inside the pillars. Instead I'll have the lights attached on the outside and through the back of the skulls. I cut holes in the skulls and then attached them to the tops of the pillars with hot glue. I had to pick the "best" side of each pillar for the front and top. They were all a bit lop-sided and uneven. Today I might chop off a few inches of my fence sections and then set it all up in the yard.
The skulls gave me a bit a of a problem. I decided not to put the lights inside the pillars. Instead I'll have the lights attached on the outside and through the back of the skulls. I cut holes in the skulls and then attached them to the tops of the pillars with hot glue. I had to pick the "best" side of each pillar for the front and top. They were all a bit lop-sided and uneven. Today I might chop off a few inches of my fence sections and then set it all up in the yard.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Pillar project, phase 2
The next phase of the pillars is finished, cutting and gluing the foam insulation around the frames. I've put more pictures up here.
I severely under estimated the amount of glue it would take to get everything mounted. I ended up using 7 tubes of foamboard project glue. I preferred the stuff I found at Home Depot over the Liquid Nails I picked up at Jerry's. It's called "PL300 Foamboard Adhesive" and comes in a blue labeled tube. The glue is light blue when it comes out. It had a more tacky consistency which helped keep the foam attached to the PVC.
I had to keep weight on the pillars while the glue dried. I came up with a way of distributing the weight across all 5 pillars at the same time by using some boards I had laying around in the garage. This meant I could do 5 sides at a time. It took about 8 hours for a side to completely dry so after about 2 days I had all of the sides done.
After the sides were done I cut small 1 foot by 3 inch strips of foam to surround the tops and bottoms of the pillars, giving them some weight and depth. This process used a bunch of glue. The strips stuck much more readily to other foam and plywood than to the PVC pipes so I didn't have to weight them down before doing the next strip. As I did this it became painfully obvious that my plywood "squares" were far from square and that the PVC frame had not been centered correctly on them. I will have some very irregularly shaped pillars. Maybe it will increase their charm.
I used a coarse sandpaper to shave down any corners of the foam where the sides joined and to smooth out the beady nature of the foam. Cutting the foam with a utility knife left many jagged edges and my garage floor was covered in foam shrapnel by the end of the process.
Tomorrow after all the glue has dried I will start painting them.
I severely under estimated the amount of glue it would take to get everything mounted. I ended up using 7 tubes of foamboard project glue. I preferred the stuff I found at Home Depot over the Liquid Nails I picked up at Jerry's. It's called "PL300 Foamboard Adhesive" and comes in a blue labeled tube. The glue is light blue when it comes out. It had a more tacky consistency which helped keep the foam attached to the PVC.
I had to keep weight on the pillars while the glue dried. I came up with a way of distributing the weight across all 5 pillars at the same time by using some boards I had laying around in the garage. This meant I could do 5 sides at a time. It took about 8 hours for a side to completely dry so after about 2 days I had all of the sides done.
After the sides were done I cut small 1 foot by 3 inch strips of foam to surround the tops and bottoms of the pillars, giving them some weight and depth. This process used a bunch of glue. The strips stuck much more readily to other foam and plywood than to the PVC pipes so I didn't have to weight them down before doing the next strip. As I did this it became painfully obvious that my plywood "squares" were far from square and that the PVC frame had not been centered correctly on them. I will have some very irregularly shaped pillars. Maybe it will increase their charm.
I used a coarse sandpaper to shave down any corners of the foam where the sides joined and to smooth out the beady nature of the foam. Cutting the foam with a utility knife left many jagged edges and my garage floor was covered in foam shrapnel by the end of the process.
Tomorrow after all the glue has dried I will start painting them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)