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Monthly Archives: February 2013

OMFGCO apron.

February 27, 2013
fun

I like to do stuff. Call it tinkering or making or puttering, I like to goof around in the shop room at home. This apron from OMFGCO is exactly the kind of thing I think I should have on while I’m doing it.

ApronFront ApronBack

I like it’s lined. I have a decent denim apron that I like but it’s raw denim and could use a lining (backing?) to help stay structured. The edges roll up on it a bit. I love that this OMFGCO apron has shoulder straps instead of a neck loop. Unless I’m rocking a collar, and I don’t very often, spending a lot of time in my apron gives me a pain in my neck. I’m definitely not in the market for this OMFGCO apron since it’s probably $200. Artisanal clothing isn’t something I have a lot of room for in my budget. I do like the ideas that I can borrow from it and maybe apply to my own apron with a needle and thread.

Pedal Power 2013

February 27, 2013
bicycles

Pedal Power 2013 was a couple of weeks ago. I sit on the board of this nonprofit and this is the annual event where we set up a competition for pairs of cyclists to generate the most watts of electricity per kg. We have modified bicycle trainers that turn the pedaling effort into electricity (that we run into an inverter and then into batteries and from there out to whatever needs powering). Our goal is to illustrate just how tough it is to make electricity in an effort for people to consider being less wasteful with electricity in their homes. One of the features of the event is that we use the power generated that morning to make breakfast to feed the riders. This year we powered a couple of waffle irons. It was tasty.

This year I entered with my oldest daughter. You can see us there in the foreground. I was born to wear spandex. Maybe not as anything more than a base layer, though….

pedalpower2013

Center of the Universe Brewery

February 26, 2013
beers

Took some time this weekend to travel north to Ashland, Virginia and have a couple of beers from Center of the Universe Brewery. I had one each of their Main St. Virginia Ale and Monkey’s Uncle Lemongrass Tripel. Michelle had the Kölsch, too. I like the Va. Ale a lot. It’s a nice, easy ale with a little hoppiness. I’m not a fan of Belgian-style beers but I can usually get happy with a tripel or a quad. This was not a good tripel for me. It was too much toward the farmhouse end of the Belgian scale. The Kölsch was tasty like it should be.

It’s great that there are good local breweries in my town. I likely won’t make the half-hour drive up to COTU often because Hardywood is so close but I’m glad to have the option.

The Making of Pulp Fiction

February 26, 2013
Movies

Decent read about the making of one of my favorite movies. There wasn’t a ton of new stuff in there but this was something that made me laugh”

When the presenter, Anthony Hopkins, said the winners were Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, television screens went black for a moment, which Avary says was payback for pranks Tarantino had played on him in the past. “I paid off a cameraman 500 bucks to have the camera turned off on Quentin when they announced the award,” claims Avary. “So if you watch it online, you’ll see it cuts to black briefly, and then they cut to me. Gotcha.” The two former video clerks hugged onstage as Pulp Fiction’s opening-credit music boomed through the Shrine Auditorium.

And you can see it here:

RPG’d!

February 25, 2013
13in13, RPG

That was fun. I got there early for some of Adam’s patented Teaching at the Table for an overview of the turn mechanics. Listening to the talk around the table reinforced the “gotta know your lore” principle and I while I was out of my depth on that front I still had fun and I think the night came off okay. The guys didn’t hold my rookie status against me and were patient and supportive of my n00b ass. Plus there was beer and snacks.

Adam put together a fun series of episodes complete with multi-level maps. The boats were especially cool. It’s fun to just hang out around the table. The “poker night” vibe is a big part of the appeal for me. I’ll do it again. I mean, I bought my own dice and everything so it would be silly to just play once.

sheetanddice boats

RPG-ing

February 22, 2013
13in13

I haven’t played a tabletop RPG in probably 25 years. Maybe more, I forget. I know we played a lot of Marvel Super Heroes and some TMNT, but that was really it for me on the table top stuff. I had a good year-and-change playing WoW which I enjoyed but eventually moved on from.
Tonight I’m heading back to the table for a D’n’D game that Adam runs. It’s one of the things on my list of hobbies for 2013 so I’m going in with an eye to have some fun. I will be totally lost mechanics-wise but Adam assures me he can “teach at the table”. Wish him luck. I’m also planning to roll low on the ABV scale with my beverage of choice so I don’t become total dead weight for the group.
My preparation so far has been around getting a miniature painted. I figure that if I’m going to be a crap player my avatar should at least be cool. I went with Friar Stone, Traveling Monk. The beard and the bald head made the choice easy for me. I like painting the miniatures. His name is Karl Wythers.

PrimeAndShadow Browns LeftSideIncomplete
FinishedFront BacksideComplete LeftSideComplete

I’ve made some good progress since I started painting the little dudes (and I recognize that I have a ways to go). These are some NXTLVL versions of the same model. Ridiculous, right? This was the first time I did any highlighting. Even with my sloppy application it made a positive difference. I’ll tighten up on the next one.

Tonight should be fun. I’ll let you know how it goes.

3A x Marvel

February 22, 2013
art, toys

This is something I will keep an eye on.

They don’t have any preview images or anything, but “classic Marvel characters re-imagined by artist Ashley Wood in the ThreeA style” leads me to think that it will be cool. My initial thought was hoping that they would make a Colossus but I don’t think I would like a “3A treatment” on him. The rust and wear that the 3A robots and figures are known for are not what I’d want to see. If nothing else, the sculpts and articulation will be Top Class because 3A is fantastic for that stuff.

Wallpapered

February 22, 2013
photos

Scraping the content barrel, yes.

LockScreen HomePage

That Bill Murray portrait is old but it makes me laugh a lot. I had a great background image for the app pages but it was formatted for the iPhone4 only. Losing that is on a long list if thing I don’t like about the iPhone5.