Mike is Bored

Homemade ginger ale recipe. Syrup method for SodaStream.

2012-01-09T00:44:00.003-05:00

Ingredients for ginger ale syrup:
1 quart water
ginger root
1 lime
1 lemon
1c white sugar
1.5c brown sugar
0.5 cup honey

You will also need to buy soda water or make your own soda water.

Zest the lemon and lime. I did this with my new hand held citrus zester
Juice the lemon and lime.
Peel and then grate the ginger.
Mix the juice and zest with the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pain and simmer for 30 min.
Allow to cool.
Strain with a tea filter.

Finally mix the syrup 1:5 or to taste with soda water.

Take it one step further and make your own soda water. Or carbonate with fermentation. My previous recipe for self carbonated spicy ginger ale .

Alico summit backpacking boots review

2012-01-04T00:18:00.004-05:00

Review in progress.....Took these sweet new boots out for 4 hours in the hills in moderate terrain. Legit old school boots. No doubt more heavy than a more modern style/material boot. I appreciate the real full grain leather. Seem to be very durable. Comfortable, but stiff out of the box. Updates to follow. I got mine at Sierra Trading Post. They often have the best prices, but availability is sporatic.

The best prices on this and all outdoor gear at Sierra Trading Post (when available)

still life with octopus wallpaper (in progress)

2012-01-02T21:14:00.005-05:00

Help me make the wallpaper look more real? more texture? a seam? peeling? any other tricks?

How to hang a picture on a brick or concrete wall

2011-12-18T04:02:00.014-05:00

This is a DIY guide to hanging photos and pictures on a brick or concrete wall the cheap and easy way.

Lightweight (5lbs or less) such as photos, records are easily hung with stick on hooks

Your lightest items can be hung without screws, nails or any tools at all.
You will need: stick on hooks
How to : Simply clean and dry the surface well before applying the adhesive sticker.
Removal: These can be pulled off. They may require some cleaning to get of residual bits of adhesive.

Medium sized items (~30lbs or less) such as pictures, paintings can easily and quickly be hung with concrete and hardwall plastic hooks.
This is by far the easiest and best way to hang picture or most anything on a brick wall.
You will need: a hammer, concrete and hardwall plastic hooks
How to: Carefully measure where you want to place these as they can be only placed once. Hammer the four pins part way in then check positioning again. If you are satisfied with the placement hammer them the rest of the way in.

Demonstrated holding up a larger framed piece: Liza Jones- Optimist

To hang heavy items such as mirrors, large framed paintings, photos or posters masonry anchors are needed.
You will need: powerdrill at the minimum but preferably a hammerdrill is needed. You will also need a screwdriver, and a masonry bit (the size is determined by the size of masonry anchor used). It is easiest to get a set of masonry anchors that come with screws and the drill bit.

Drill the appropriate size hole with a hammer drill
.

Hammer in the plastic anchor.

Screw in the screw most of the way and hang your piece.

For very heavy objects such as construction projects require a lag bolt and shield
Similar to my recommendation for heavy items this will require a hammerdrill, socket wrench as well as the forfeiture of your damage deposit. The process is the same as above but with a 1/2" hole.

Lophocereus schottii monstrose; the real christmas cactus

2011-12-11T17:09:00.003-05:00

futurama bender christmas tree ornament

2011-12-09T23:22:00.002-05:00

Bite my shiny metal x-mas

This is simply a modified Kidrobot Bender

Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) DIY grafting experiment

2011-12-02T19:48:00.001-05:00

This was a quick experiment to see if I could graft a chirstmas cactus (Schlumbergera) to an Epiphyllum. No idea if this will work or if these are compatible plants. Of note I am doing this in December while I have read it is better done in spring.

I did this with a very sharp knife and a piece of scotch tape. I found it easier to cut the scion (the top part of the final product) first then trace it to get the exact matching shape on the stock (the bottom part of the final product). I them matched them up as well as i could and taped them in place.

space invader (artist) mosaic in Amsterdam

2011-11-23T23:36:00.000-05:00

Help me out the internet. Is this one of Invaders pieces?

bird of paradise flower painting

2011-11-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

Squid on woodblock with pencil and stain.

2011-08-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

Flour tortillas from scratch recipe

2011-08-04T20:20:00.013-04:00

Mix:
1.5 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
Add 3 tbsp canola oil and stir. Will have chunks of oil.
Add 1/2 cup warm water slowly while stirring.

Allow it to sit briefly until cool. Then roll it into a ball and cut into 8 pieces.
Coat each 8th with flour roll thin.
Fry on high heat quickly flip one time

simple skirt stake marinade for tacos.

2011-07-30T23:40:00.001-04:00

This was so good i had to make a note to myself:
cumin (lots)
tapatio (some)
lime juice (lots)
salt.

how to fix a broken macbook or macbook pro charger

2011-07-28T23:56:00.006-04:00

caveat: I know nothing about electricity, wires or anything. This may be dangerous. Fires/electrocution/whathaveyou.

Here is the broken charger. The cord consists of an copper inner wire with a plastic sheath and a silver wire that wraps around the middle cable. In this case the outer plastic is severed. the silver wire is discontinuous and the inner copper wire is exposed.

I cut off the outer plastic with a razor blade and then peeled the silver wire back. you can see the damage inner wire.

I repaired the inner layer with electrical tape. I also cut a portion of speaker cable to bridge the gap in the outer silver wire.

I intertwined the speaker wire with the outer wire. finally taping up the remaining exposed wire.

SAT Vocab Review with Calvin and Hobbes: Atrophy

2011-05-28T10:37:00.001-04:00

Atrophy:
Gradually decline in effectiveness or vigor due to underuse or neglect
- her artistic skills atrophied from lack of use

Thanks for the link

2011-05-24T21:21:00.000-04:00

Comedy central insider!

See all of their links to futurama fan art by clicking here

See all my futurama content here

including

what to do with artichoke hearts?

2011-05-04T10:20:00.001-04:00

I am doing battle against a giant jar of artichoke hearts. Help! I move in a few weeks and this is not coming with me.

So far:
mmmm super greasy artichoke, salami and cheese sandwich on the foreman grill

Best google searches that have brought people to mike is bored.

2011-05-02T14:58:00.006-04:00

I think every blogger likes to see what searches end at their blog. I chuckle about one of these every once and a while but today I already have two good ones.
"sculptor whom makes thingys out of crayons"
"sexy body paint costumes"

Older but equally awesome:
Зойдберг has led people to my blog four times this is apparently some language for zoidberg.
venus of willendorf costume

The Animals

2011-04-30T17:30:00.009-04:00

American Flag Jello Recipe

2011-04-27T21:00:00.015-04:00

This in the new standard for fourth of july jello.

The tricks to this sweet and patriotic (For Americans) dessert are layers, throwing out perfectly good food (USA!), Patience (BOO!), and top secret white jello (recipe below). The rest is obvious.

This way is the tricky way. But it is the only way to let everyone have their own flag (socialism). If this looks too tough (or too equitable) there is a more simple method that is also quite attractive here

If both of these methods look tough may I suggest making a Libyan flag (all green) or just eating the tasty jello right out of the packet.

as a last resort American flag jello molds can be purchased on the web:

ON TO THE RECIPE

Needed is:
3oz packet red jello
3oz packet blue jello
plain gelatin
sweetend condensed milk

Advanced jello makers:
coconut or marshmallow

3oz pack of blue jello as directed in a 6cup rectangular Pyrex dish! Optional is to add some cut up marshmallows, coconut or other white thing for the stars.

Cut the blue jello in half and discard one side. Make a 3oz container of red jello and pour up to ~1/5 of the height of the blue. This will form much quicker then the full time listed on the packet because the container is already cool and the stripe is so thin.

How to make white jello: Mix one half cup of cool water with two packets of plain gelatin. wait 5 min. Add one half cup hot water and stir till uniform. Then add a small can of sweetened condensed milk and stir. This is how you make the white jello stripes. Add this to make another stripe and refrigerate.

Alternate between the red and white (duh). If you leave the red out at room temp it will stay liquid until needed (so nice of it). The white will congeal to a tasty but sticky mess. You gonna microwave and stir the white before you pour each time, but not too hot as you don't want to melt the existing stuff.

Keep going! When done it can be flipped on to a cutting board. Might need to run some warm water or run a knife around to get it out in one piece (desired outcome).

slice and serve.

NEXT.... American flag cake recipe.
Also can you believe that there is a webpage called my jello americans? amazing name.

Ignore this post if you don't live in pittsburgh (garage sale)

2011-04-25T13:56:00.011-04:00

Crate 4x10 bass cabinet. Loud. Good clear sound. $80.(not till sunday as it has a gig)

Third year Cascade Hops plants transplanted to pots as well as some new plants sprouted from rhizomes this year. Prices based on size $5-25

Jamis Ranger Mountain Bike 17"

Schwinn Bike Pump $7.

Over-sized armchair with ottoman ($75)

shelf thing $20

Espresso/coffee maker ($10)

File cabinet ($30)

Dresser thing $20

TV stand/media cabinet ($20)

Table ($35)

DVD player $10
Carvin PB200 bass amp with 10" speaker. Head is not working well. I use only the speaker at this time as a practice amp. Offer?

big white dresser. drawers work very smoothly and well. $75

19" fuji odessa mtn bike $80

Mansion flats installation art gallery (is this real?)

2011-04-24T22:53:00.001-04:00

Saw this sign in Thomas WV. Door was open. Went inside to see scary run down building. Some weird stuff. Mostly notable was room with lots of writing on wall. No people. Can you tell me more?

Art all night 2011 My favorites

2011-04-17T13:17:00.010-04:00

Gatoropolis by Ian Olson. This 13yo has a lot of nerve posting it as NFS as it was the one painting I was most interested in purchasing this year.

Arivals by Heidi Tucker was super sweet

My own entry elephant

Hops third year/ what do they look like underground

2011-04-14T09:02:00.001-04:00

Here is a photo of my third year hops plant that I dug up because i am moving.

Best pizza dough recipe

2011-03-07T20:57:00.005-05:00

How do you know when you have made a good search engine? When the number one hit for "pizza dough recipe" is the best one. So after many pizzas I am sure this pizza dough and #1 google hit is the way to go. While this nonsense and #1 Bing hit is not (Adding sugar, too short a raise time are two of its most obvious sins. If being on allrecipes was not enough).

The good one (with some slight modification that I will elaborate on in the future) is pictured here with pesto, red bell peppers, and artichoke hearts.

So as long as Bing is using Google to determine its search rankings why not add this one to the list.

How to get rid of weather from calender from android

2011-02-27T23:33:00.001-05:00

Ok. So is this has to be the dumbest thing ever. Why on god's earth would you want weather to pop up as if was an important event and have your actual entries to appear as +1. crazy. poor design.

click the squares to get the menu
->more button
->My calenders
-> uncheck the weather button

how to build a cheap frame for a painting

2011-01-30T22:48:00.002-05:00

So I start buy buying molding from the hardware store

measure (on the inside of the inner rim) and cut 45deg angles with a Mitre Box
After cutting I tape the inside, and open the outside and put in woodglue.

Then clamp while the glue dries.

wow. done. that was quick.

squid painting

2011-01-30T21:08:00.008-05:00

Quezalteca Especial recipes/rectas

2011-01-08T22:27:00.005-05:00

Quezaltecapirna
1oz quezalteca especial
Juice of one lime ~1oz
1tbsp sugar
Briskly stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour over ice.

30ml quezalteca especial
Jugo de un limón (30ml)
un cucharada azúcar
Agita y mezcla con hielo.

I have a dremel tool, now what should I do with it.

2010-12-31T00:22:00.014-05:00

I feel that this is a common question. Help me make a list. For many projects especially where tight control is needed a flex shaftis helpful.

1. Cut wine bottles using diamond cutting wheels

2. Dremelcopter!

3.Wood carving with dremel

4. etch glass with a dremel with diamond bits

Calvin and Hobbes final strip ran 15 years ago.

2010-12-30T23:58:00.013-05:00

Got the The Complete Calvin and Hobbes just a few days ago and noticed that it had been almost 15 years since the final strip ran! crazy. Today we hit exactly 15 years since the last strip ran on 12/31/1995. Nothing as been as good since as far as i can tell. I pretty much just read the one with the rat and the zebras anymore.
The collection is great. Beautifully printed copies of every strip. Unlike the old printings each page is heavy paper and printed in glossy ink. Also included is a nice new introduction (though I wish it were longer) that includes this oil painting (right). Makes you want to see more of what Mr Watterson can do. Not sure when or if that will happen but here is hoping. I think I would put just behind the The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book that has a lot of good notes about the strips, and The Lazy Sunday Book book as the best Calvin and Hobbes purchases.

This might be super old news to some but I was just shown this terrible alternative reality final strip of Calvin and Hobbes. Probably one of the more depressing things ever written. I can't believe someone felt the need to kill off Hobbes.

And one more thing. Here is my photo print of a painting done by a friend of mine of one of the best Calvin and Hobbes strips ever. Here is the link to his blog.

Mike Is Bored 2011 New Years Resolutions

2010-12-28T17:40:00.001-05:00

I am taking suggestions.....

So far:
1. Use up all my remaining zinc before my lease is up.
2. Improve the aesthetics of the page.
3. 200 followers on facebook.
4. Find people to trade pieces with.
5. Weld something cool.

delta online check in is broken.....

2010-12-28T09:01:00.002-05:00

Waterballoon Homemade Ice Candle holders

2010-12-21T22:28:00.005-05:00

Check it out on my brothers blog.
This is a great way to make nice round candle holders out of ice. Any mold in that shape would be pretty hard to manage but the balloon makes it look really good.

Also check out the garbage can method of making an ice candle holder

Rothko/threepixel minimalism inspired Zoidberg painting

2010-12-14T00:33:00.006-05:00

Looking at and thinking about these:

Made me make this:

explaination of the sources
On the left is #10 by Mark Rothko at the Seattle Art Museum, The middle one is a three pixel minimalist rendition of Dr. Zoidberg. more info on that here, the right side is the subject of the piece.

More posts about Zoidberg and Futurama.

Any thoughts on how to improve this? Change any colors? add eyes? cut down the detail? Tell me in the comment section.

Klingon Christmas Carol Review (Saint Paul)

2010-12-04T18:50:00.006-05:00

Ok, I don't review plays, I was bluffing in the title. I don't go to plays for the most part so I am without a point of reference. What I can say is if you think you would like to see a Klingon version of a Christmas Carol you would enjoy seeing this play. If you think you would not enjoy a Klingon version of a Christmas Carol you would not. Pictured on the right is tiny Klingon tim or should I say TimHom. You have 'till the 12th to do this at the Landmark.

How to print a label for USPS flat rate box if i don't know the weight

2010-12-04T13:46:00.003-05:00

This drove me crazy this morning so I had to post this. I thought it would be convient to skip the line and print postage online. Wrong. Even if you don't know the weight and are using a flat rate box you need to put in a weight to get through this screen. I was so sure I was on the wrong page for 10 min until i figured out it is just a dumb form. You must enter a made up weight if you don't know the weight. Stupid. I have done the post office a favor and fixed the form below. Go here to have fun with this form.

Ilium, Ischium, Pubis hip bone painting

2010-12-01T21:45:00.006-05:00

Oil on bristol. Posterior view. I use this great atlas Rohen's Color Atlas of Anatomy and Anatomy For The Artist.

This was done with Holbein Duo Aqua Oil paints on Bristol.

Rotometals sale code

2010-11-24T08:20:00.001-05:00

Rotometals.com
Thanksgiving sale
11/23-11/28
10% with code "stuffed"

No malls, no long lines, just visit us online at www.Rotometals.com
I think this quote is hilarious as if the webpage saves me from going to the mall to buy pewter ingots and casting thermometers.

Douwe Egberts really bad coffee how is it made?

2010-11-23T22:44:00.002-05:00

For those of you who are curious how this terrible stuff is made I had the chance to take apart one of the cartridges. It is sort of like a toner cartridge for a printer with a little tube at the end and a chip that is read by the machine.

Above is the box. The box is open only on one end so water is not provided from the top to flow through. It seems that this little tube injects the sludge (i would guess simply coffee concentrate) into the hot water provided by the water input.

lost wax hand bottle opener.

2010-11-16T16:54:00.000-05:00

Have wanted to cast my own bottle opener for quite some time. I don't really trust zinc because of how brittle it is to make the mechanical aspect of the opener so I have decided to coat an existing bottle opener with the casting.

Built this around a free moosehead bottle opener with wax. Sprued and vented as shown to the left. coated in plaster and burned out in a wood fire. I poured zinc heated in the same fire in a soup can into the mold. this is the first time I have had gotten good wax burnout and pour. Cut sprues with dremel metal cutting blades. May or may not go on to patina it.

right femur anterior painting

2010-11-14T16:46:00.004-05:00

Right femur anterior view oil on bristol.

cardamom cookies two different recpies

2010-11-14T14:31:00.006-05:00

In front are the crumbly buttery cardamom cookies that i prefer. In back are the more sugar cookie like shown here with lemon butter frosting. For both these recipes I broke them into two batches and added rosemary and sage to one batch.
Crumbly Buttery Cardamon Cookie with Sage and Rosemary Option:
1/2 cup flour mixed with 1tsp cardamom. (Optional 1/4 tsp powdered sage and rosemary)
Mixed vigorously with
1 stick warm butter
then add
1/4 cup each of powdered sugar and cornstarch.
Freezer for one hour then fridge for 3 hours.
Make half circles of dough with Cookie Scoop then press down with fork on cookie sheet as shown on above and on the right. Bake at 325 for 20min.

Cardamon Cookie with Lemon Butter Frosting:
Recipe here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1910,149181-235192,00.html
after baking mix 2 tablespoons warm butter with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Add powdered sugar until a pleasing consistency and frost the cookies.

trees

2010-11-13T15:24:00.002-05:00

Here is another painting based on a photo of a piece in the kaufmann medical building.

Dextromethorphan abuse "robotripping" photoshop images.

2010-11-09T21:41:00.002-05:00

In case anyone else need images of robots robotripping for a powerpoint like I did here are the ones I made.

bender robotripping

r2d2 robotripping

wall-e robotripping

Ice Sculpture Beer Mug, big pour four.

2010-11-09T21:23:00.001-05:00

This amazing thing was made by an ice sculptor at big pour. If you are from/in pittsburgh and don't know what big pour is and like beer or construction click this link: big pour four.

Thunderstorm at the shore inspired painting

2010-11-02T22:39:00.003-04:00

Instead of getting done the things i need to get done this week I decided to stop by the Carnegie, photograph my favorites and try to do my own version of them. Here is my painting from looking at Thunderstorm at the shore Martin Johnson Heade. This was done with Holbein Duo Aqua Oil paints on Bristol. I am a big fan of this type of paint that is both water and oil soluble.

Painting from Van Gogh's Wheat Fields After the Rains

2010-11-02T16:40:00.004-04:00

Instead of getting done the things i need to get done this week I decided to stop by the Carnegie, photograph my favorites and try to do my own version of them. Here is my painting from looking at van gogh's wheat fields after the rain.This was done with Holbein Duo Aqua Oil paints on canvas. I am a big fan of this type of paint that is both water and oil soluble.

Evaline 2010 halloween party

2010-11-02T00:52:00.007-04:00

Slide between floors. Bubble wrap room. Giant Warhol. 3d twister. Pittsburgh Halloween. no live bands or roller coaster though.

Realistic Skeleton costume

Hypnotoad costume

duct tape batman costume

2010-11-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

DIY batman duct tape construction

Hypnotoad costume spotted at evaline

2010-11-01T15:38:00.014-04:00

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD COSTUME

This amazing hypnotoad costume was made by my buddy and rocked at the evaline party (giant amazing house party in Pittsburgh). Check out how to make this sweet costume on his blog:

DIY HYPNOTOAD COSTUME

skeleton face paint diy

2010-10-31T21:02:00.007-04:00

After making the skeleton costume here is an attempt at making an accurate skull with face paint to line up with the hat. This was the best photo i had but it was before a little bit of detail was added.

I used the Rainbow Face Painting Kit from amazon. Pretty happy with the kit. You might want to have a few more brushes then the one it comes with. I mostly used a 1/2" brush to do the large spaces. Then used a fine brush to make the sutures and blended them into the white.

The tips I have are:
The best way to go is to take a look at a real skull image while painting.
Start with the white and add the black after.
Feel the cheekbone, jaw and eyes to correctly make the shapes.

Accurate Skeleton Costume

2010-10-17T11:42:00.022-04:00

This is my best attempt at making a realistic skeleton costume.

I am painting on with speedball screen printing ink overlay the correct anatomical landmarks. In this photo you see the sternum and clavicles painted with the bottom of the ribs marked in chalk. All that I really bought is a pair of small black gloves and a white hat.

Close up of hands and chest for accurate and scary skeleton costume.

Oh man I wish I had thought of buying the glow in the dark ink instead

skeleton face paint

The best medical student Halloween costumes.

Images of tearing down pittsburgh children's hospital in oakland

2010-10-08T19:06:00.002-04:00

for some reason santa's head is on a post.

Framed Twins Homer Hanky

2010-10-04T22:03:00.001-04:00

This is not a twins blog but as the playoffs approach I need to show off how I am displaying my 1987 Homer Hanky.

Laptop lightbox... good idea or great idea?

2010-09-19T23:34:00.005-04:00

Breaking out the oil paint again. This painting of a large mouth bass on bristol will have the correct proportions! The painting will be of this sweet bass I caught ice fishing.

Do you like fish???? You might like this belt buckle.

How do you clean your earplugs?

2010-09-19T23:29:00.001-04:00

I just put them in the pocket of my jeans and wash them in laundry.... you? A serendipitous discovery that I doubt I am the only one to have made.

Installing a new plug. Green=ground, black=brass, white=silver

2010-09-16T22:58:00.002-04:00

I was going crazy trying to figure out which color is which in an electrical cord.

This was surprisingly hard to google. just wanted to contribute that one fact. This is the cord from our old dishwasher (no idea how old but I found a repair slip from 1981 in it). Finally broke the plug.

Little wax animals

2010-09-13T17:10:00.001-04:00

Got a confidence boost from the successful casting of the lost wax hand bottle opener and I want to do mere with wax even though I have had trouble with burn out in the past. Here are a few quick sketches of a wax bull and horse.

Cutting a beer bottle with a dremel tool

2010-09-12T15:26:00.009-04:00

Started by taping a circle to guide us. Cut the bottle with a diamond cutting wheel for the Dremel tool. You don't see it but I am wearing Safety Goggles and A dust mask I make no promises that that is enough to preform this task safely.

Cut open aluminum Iron City Bottle for big pour 100 bottles of beer on the wall.

2010-09-12T14:44:00.004-04:00

Here are some photos of the bottle for anyone who did not make it to construction junction's Big Pour this year. We cut the bottle with a diamond cutting wheel for the Dremel tool. Amelia made a painting job in process scene inside.

Bitters from hops

2010-09-03T16:44:00.015-04:00

Making my own bitters starting with Hops as the bittering agent. homegrown herbs. I started with four jars one with dried homegrown hops, one with the peel of a grapfruit, one with rosemary and cloes and one with slices of prunes. I left all four soak for two weeks before mixing them to taste. I found that it was best to use mostly the hops and grapefruit jars.

Here are the completed bitters.
The bottle is labeled using armor etch and chalk as shown in this post.

Sun dry hops

2010-08-16T00:41:00.005-04:00

Previously i have dried hops in the oven but this time around it was a very very hot day... well 90f and quite sunny. Left the hops on a cookie tray with a cookie cooling rack holding them down. One day in full hot sun made them quite dry. Did not do a weight before so hard to say how this competes with the oven hops drying method.
Here is the total yeild from one wimpy plant dried and bagged. This is the potted hops plant that had its two main bines broken mid season and nothing new really came up and replaced them.

On a similar note I have added a few more images to my classic hops illustrations post.

Carving the Tip of a Pencil.

2010-08-14T01:42:00.003-04:00

What Dalton Ghetti does makes carving crayons seem crude... which makes me feel stupid. So I thought I would try to imitate/flatter/plagiarizer what he does. Here is my first attempt at carving a tip of a pencil to make a small abstract sculpture. I call it figure looking over its shoulder. I am also open to suggestions on the best way to photograph things this small.

PAPA token scan.

2010-08-13T18:53:00.004-04:00

This weekend is one of Pittburgh's greatest events. About 1million pinball machines open to the public only once a year. There is a tournament going on as well that I don't know much about. Also sweet tokens:

I don't have them all though some are more rare. At least two more I think. one has a clow.

Best machines IMHO:
1. Big Hurt. You always get about 3 or four extra balls. Sweet ramp to hit homeruns.
2. Midevil Madness.
3. Family guy. Mini pinball game inside the game.

4. Pang Pang Paradise. Some sort of amazing ?Korean? game where you throw balls at a touch screen.

hops cones cross section scan.

2010-08-13T18:04:00.003-04:00

these dudes are almost ready to harvest! This is a flower from my second year cascade plant.

How Crayons are made Mr Rogers' Neighborhood (video).

2010-08-02T22:34:00.003-04:00

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood Crayon Factory Segment

So Happy to have rediscovered this thanks to the internet.

Now please also post:
1) tonsillectomy. One of George Romeros firsts.
2) The national aviary.

Thank You PBS.

Sites that spam this blog.

2010-08-01T23:10:00.002-04:00

Internet robots please address Spam to:
clobo@ice.co.cr

mike is stupid

2010-07-29T23:45:00.006-04:00

I admit this text is hard to read. What makes it harder to read is I cut the linoleum block backwards.

dumb dumb dumb......
THERE IS NOTHING HUMERUS ABOUT IT

Homegrown Pizza

2010-07-26T00:23:00.001-04:00

Made the cheese from milk using these instructions. Basil, tomato, garlic homegrown. Details to follow.

Femur, patella, proximal tibia and fibula crayon sculpture

2010-07-25T23:56:00.005-04:00

Many other crayons I have carved.
Posterior

Femur patella proximal tibia and fibula crayon sculpture

spiral crayon carving

2010-07-24T23:54:00.001-04:00

new crayon sculpture. venus de milo

2010-07-22T19:40:00.002-04:00

All of my crayon sculptures

2010-07-19T11:13:00.002-04:00

free amazon prime one year.

2010-07-13T15:49:00.000-04:00

stoked. never went through the trouble for a free month but I think a year is worth it. all you need is a .edu address.
free prime for students.

zoidberg crayon sculpture

2010-07-11T11:44:00.007-04:00

All of my crayon sculptures

Still needs some finishing but I like to photograph and share before i break them. Also shown is the kif crayon just getting started.

The Baumer

2010-07-09T10:18:00.004-04:00

Now that I am a famous blogger i feel the need to support others. Here is Mark Baumer's blog of his walk across America. He is a writing student and good at sports so you could assume his blog would be interesting. It is. The Baumer

My favorite quote at the moment. "This object was less than 100 yards from where I slept last night. Its synthetic nature leads me to believe that it does not have a mother."

Dora hall. Bare footin/sneek'in up on you. cozy records.

2010-07-08T19:08:00.003-04:00

Another fun thing from the basement of my apartment. Apparently this woman was married to the owner of Solo cups and had her records distributed in some association with the cups. This one had the cooler cover of the two I found but This Old Earth/Hows My Baby tonight was the better record of the two.

SNAP IN... POUR...POP OUT

1965 pontiac catalog

2010-07-08T16:45:00.004-04:00

another amazing find in my appartments basement was a catalog of 1965 pontiacs

If you would like to see any other images from this post which model you would like to see in the comment section. Click the image to big it.

Also...
old cigarette coupons from the basement

My review of John and Molly Get Along.

2010-07-07T15:39:00.009-04:00

John and Molly Get Along is funny.
More Video of the Dubuque Duo

Another important review

USA DIY T shirt printing. Sticker Stencil.

2010-07-04T15:01:00.017-04:00

Started by printing this image on Full-Sheet Labels for Inkjet Printers After printing I cut out the stencil letters and affixed the label to an ironed t-shirt. I rolled on some Speedball screenprinting ink using my block printing roller. Once dry I removed the paper and Ironed the area on both sides to fix the ink. the shirt is wet and still has some paper stuck to it not all came off well at first and a washed it off. will post a better photo later.

Rotometals sale code

2010-07-02T20:11:00.002-04:00

10% forth of july sale
"bang" this weekend
Rotometals.com

oh to be young again and also a spiderplant

2010-06-21T20:02:00.002-04:00

All my scans are posted on the facebook album

the folded straw shrimp

2010-06-21T19:17:00.007-04:00

Made by Amelia. I made one two but not nearly as nice... and by two i mean too. or is it to. damn. she is also better at grammer. and spelling
how to make the shrimp out of a straw

Bing gives blogger sites lower search ranks.

2010-06-19T09:04:00.004-04:00

I wonder about this since blogger is google. Does google prop it up? or does bing push it down for competitive reasons? I get such a absurdly different amount of traffic from it and have much worse search ratings. Is there something that I can do to get more Bing traffic. I guess one other explaination is bing is a much smaller market share but it is 1/28th the size and this is not sufficient to explain the difference.

From my google analytics page for this month:

1. google / organic 1,742
2. youtube.com / referral 739
3. (direct) / (none) 380
.....
14. yahoo / organic 27
.....
20. bing / organic 14

barley seed scan

2010-06-07T21:33:00.005-04:00

All my scans are posted on the facebook album.

check this out

2010-06-02T17:18:00.003-04:00

we all love dinos fighting the empire add US steel and is perfect.
the magic parade

two row barley scan

2010-05-31T13:40:00.005-04:00

Click the image for full quality

Lost Dharma Initiative Beer Cans DIY

2010-05-22T19:02:00.015-04:00

The most important ingredient for a lost finale party. Make your own dharma initiative cans! Just printed them from this site. For the soda and lemon lime click on the images below.

We taped them on with white vinyl tape. The vinyl tape is the best for covering any existing label and going on the curved surface smoothly. DO NOT CUT TO THE GUIDE LINES ON HIS PAGE. they are for bottles not cans. just wrap the can and see where it makes sense.

Good (in the sense of white on top) beer: Budweiser
Good soda: diet 7up, diet caffeine free pepsi.

Here are some soda cans mixed in. The page above only had the one liter size so some photoshoping was needed.

The images. click to make big.

The Hold Steady referencing other bands.

2010-05-17T22:06:00.015-04:00

Just was listening to a track from the new album on the radio and heard them reference. Husker Du's- makes no sense. What other songs? especially from the cities.

Almost killed me.
Certain Songs-
"from the meatloafs to the Billy Joels" "only the good die young."Billy Joel- Only The Good Die Young
"D4 is for lovers" (referencing Dillinger four but no specific song)
"Ellen Foley gives 'em hope" "Paradise by the dashboard light" Meatloaf with Ellen Foley Paradise By The Dashboard Light
b1? c-9?

Separation Sunday
Charlemagne in sweetpants. "tramps like us, and we like tramps"- is this a reference to Born to run? "tramps like us. baby we were born to run." you tell me?

Boys and girls in America

Stay positive
constructive summer- "me and my friends are like double whiskey coke no ice" Dillinger Four-Doublewhiskeycokenoice

Heaven is whenever
somewhere in here is reference to Husker Du's Makes No Sense At All

The list is far from finished help me out in the comment section.

Jonny's select seeds. $10 off coupon code.

2010-05-12T19:09:00.002-04:00

To make it easier for you to pick up some last-minute items, please accept $10.00 off on you next order of $15 or more through June 14, 2010.

To receive $10 savings on any order of $15 or more, use offer code #10-1080 at checkout.

This is where I got my two row barley seeds for brewing.
Organic Two Row Malting Barley

Growing two row barley for brewing

2010-05-09T13:07:00.011-04:00

Let me start with the anticipated questions:
Where can I buy Barley seed for growing beer?
Organic Two Row Malting Barley
Is a 5gallon bucket enough space to grow barley?
doesn't look like it.
Does this really work?
TBD
How do you malt the barely you grow?
TBA

Here is the barley that i started indoors under the led grow lamp now going to seed. The amount of seeds on the stalks are pretty comparable to if not less then the amount i planted in the bucket in the first place. This was grown in normal potting soil.

Planted another batch in a small test area in the back yard. mixed in about two inches of compost with the old soil. Hard to describe the seed density other then by showing this photo.

About 1 month later.

where do we come from? what are we? where are we going? Calvin and Gauguin

2010-05-08T11:38:00.004-04:00

Saw this piece at the MFA and thought "Gauguin... why do I know that name." I guess the memory stuck from reading this strip when I was ten. One more strip i get the reference for. The great thing is that it was funny before and is funny now. Just switching from looking at it from Calvins perspective to his mothers.

I spent more time in the dictionary reading calvin and hobbes then any school work I did and I would love to know the difference it made on my SAT.

Example of cupric sulfate zinc patina matte and gloss. Master and Margarita.

2010-05-03T07:54:00.008-04:00

Master and Margarita by Brodie Parent before and after patina.
This is a one sided mold made of a clay positive cast in zinc. The casting was wire brushed quickly and unevenly to give the rustic look before applying the patina. No polishing or brushing was done after

Compare the matte appearance of the above to the much more polished color in the piece below. The only real difference is a light wire brushing after the patina has been applied and a coat of clear coat.

Cupric sulfate

Here is what the zinc looks like raw.

stokes tower cleveland venus

2010-05-02T22:52:00.008-04:00

After a trip to cleveland or "the cleve" (don't get attached lemon). Saw this giant bronze. Very jealous. Took a little while google imageing for "giant f-ing woman in cleveland" and related image searches (would recommend safe search on) to find out that this piece is called the Cleveland Venus, at lease according to wikipedia, and is a 37' bronze. I love the scale.. caught my eye from blocks away.

Makes me think I need to do something like this but in zinc, but smaller, and with arms... I guess I just like figure.

Also reminds me to recommend the sculptures of the Louvre episode on the The Venus de Milo for those of you with netflix's instant. The way the narrator pronounces louvre it might as well be an onomonopia for emesis. Language of love my ass.

More importantly got to go on to watch the twins beat up the tribe.

Cigar box DIY poker chip case

2010-04-28T19:05:00.008-04:00

Had an old cigar box that I did not want to toss so I had to think of something else to do with it. Bought some trim from Lowes and cut it to fit the box.

some of my favorites from art all night 2010

2010-04-25T00:40:00.008-04:00

Click to see them big.
Squid sculpture
Its (almost) never lupus

Art All Night 2010

2010-04-24T14:03:00.009-04:00

Brodie and I just dropped off our art for Pittsburgh's amazing Art All Night Show.
ART ALL NIGHT
This year has a sweet location at the old iron city brewery.

Here are some photos of our two pieces.

This is a lost foam foam zinc casting. Click here for how I make lost foam with packing peanuts.

And Brodie's

This is a clay positive plaster investment zinc casting. Pretty much the same process as this belt buckle. A better photo post patina will be coming as soon as I get down to the show and take it.

Some other pieces I wanted to bring but could only bring one:
My crayon sculptures.
Lost wax jesus
The infamous tapsticles
the first lost foam bull

Lost Foam Bull #4

2010-04-16T19:34:00.011-04:00

Here is the original in foam. Glued together with hot glue

I add a pour spout to get a mass of metal to fill the mold.

here it is coated in plaster. Note the straw. Any "high" points need to be vented in order to fill. In this case the important point is the tip of the nose. I then drill holes through the plaster. This allows the steam created when the hot metal hits the plaster to escape.

I heat the mold in a fire to burn out the foam in advance. (not the standard method for lost foam) Then I bury the mold in regular play sand.

The metal is heated with this simple diy home casting furnace using regular charcoal and a normal can that food comes in. Zinc can be scraps or from Rotometals.com.

I then pour in the molten zinc into the mold. A video of another pour back when I used a regular fire.

Here it is after pouring the metal. The little spikes are where the mold was drilled

After this the bull is cleaned with a wire brush and given a coat of clearcoat.

lost foam bull #3

2010-04-15T19:34:00.001-04:00

Lost wax bull with packaging peanuts

2010-04-14T14:59:00.000-04:00

This was another failure where the mold blew out. Just wanted to post the image in wax so you can see what it would have looked like. This was done but making a silicon mold of a few packaging peanuts. making a ton of copies and then assembling. An aside to the whole lost foam bull fiasco.