Later, I'm hoping to do a separate vid on making the glue.
And...I still have yet to actually do something to the sketchbook. =_= I have ideas, just haven't gotten to them yet.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Acid tests, dude!
Ok. Not that kind of acid. Hydrochloric acid to be exact....I used it to test for zinc in bird toys and metal for potential use for bird toys....Urgh. Sleepiness. Watch the vids and you'll see. I also have more detailed blurbs in the comments. Included in this batch is a rough vid on making tube toys with non-toxic glue, and a short discussion on macaw food.
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Sketchbook Project 2011
So for any artists out there who don't yet know about the Sketchbook Project, pop over to the Art House Co-op and check it out. You have till Oct. 31 2010 to order your sketchbook and it needs to be sent in by Jan. 15 2011.
Quoted from the site: "It's like a concert tour but with sketchbooks.
Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the country."
I put in my order on July 23rd, was notified that it was sent on the 27th and today, the 30th, my package showed up in the mail!
The package contained a barcoded and themed (I chose nighttime stories. There's a whole list of them at the time I ordered mine) sketchbook with fresh cream coloured pages, a hardcopy of the info for the Sketchbook Project and a participating artist's library card for the Brooklyn Art Library. The library card's front, has a clip of the Sketchbook Project banner and is marked with 2011 Participating Artist.
Ok! Now, to make stuff!
And for anyone on Deviant Art, I will also be posting my documentation of the project to my account there as well.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Did I mention that I like plants, too?
Oh dear. I've found new ways to continue an old obsession of mine: collecting plants. Usually these are uncommon and exotic varieties such as my crown of thorns Euphorbia and Stapelia carrion flower plant, or just plainly interesting specimens like the creeping nightshade now crawling around the yard or the moss I sporadically (no pun intended) plopped into otherwise empty looking pots that were left around the yard.
Anyhow, I just discovered The Fern and Mossery, a blog on terrariums and moss. Found it while seeking inspirations for making my rather sad looking orchid terrarium look better (I have a bad habit of browsing the sad reject orchids on the clearance shelf at hardware stores for the challenge of reviving them). Mostly it's set up to just for function, but doesn't look all that nice. It's a 12"w x 24"l x 17"d glass tank that was the former home to my long deceased rats (it wasn't a terrarium then. Really!) so it has a lot of potential. I just haven't done anything inspiring with it.
I did come across some nice inspirations though, while browsing The Fern and the Mossery.
12 terrific terrariums (and oh, are they!)
hanging bubble terrarium with air plants (pic below is from here)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The joy of setting up
Topics:
-updates
-parrot related tutorial videos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Presently, I have a sculpture that should be done soon that will be making its first appearance on my Deviant Art page. Also, I've been planning out some more tutorial videos (I have all of one, so far on my tutorial playlist, linked in the side bar on the right).
Upcoming topics:
-answering two questions from a viewer (how I set up my parrot's cage and what sort of cheap parrot food is out there)
-more toy making videos
-addressing proper perches
-potentially toxic materials and options
-I'm considering one on grooming basics, but only if my baby can get comfortable with the camera at close range.
These couple days I've been prepping for some of the vids. Mostly this includes gathering notes and materials together so I'm not hunting for stuff while I'm recording. I've also been trying to plan out the videos a little better. I realized after a few test shots that I consistently exclude some points that I'd wanted to make for the sake of trying to keep the videos short. So, what's going to happen now, is that I'll mention some key topics in a general vid and then link over to more detailed discussions. I'm hoping this will maximize the viewer's time so that they can get the overview, but at the same time, I'm not having to bore some folks by making them sit or fish through the detailed blurbs.
"Boneshaker" review
Another review duplicated from the Seattle Steamrats mailing list, originally posted March 1, 2010.
Just finished Cherie Priest's Boneshaker the other night.
It's interesting. Starts out a tad slow when the story is still
backtracking and up past the introductory portion through the
Outskirts of walled Seattle. Once inside the city though, the pace
picks up, so keep at it! It also becomes much more fascinating when
you have the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack on repeat while
reading the bits after the story moves into the walled city. ^.^
Going to tell a bit of the story....it's first couple chapter stuff so
no yammerings on me tossing spoilers.
Story is centered mostly on Briar and Ezekiel (Zeke) Wilkes, mother
and son. They live on the Outskirts of the now walled-in downtown
Seattle which consist of the Pike, Denny Hill, Pioneer Square to
waterfront areas (the Smith Tower is an airship dock. ^.^), where most
remaining inhabitants now live due to the Blight that's made the
downtown area uninhabitable. Zeke has known all his life from the
accusations and teasing of other kids, that his father, Leviticus Blue
was at fault for causing the Blight gas after driving the Boneshaker
machine under a good portion of Seattle. However, his mother refuses
to tell him, her co-workers or neighbors the truth one way or the
other, so he goes to find his own answers. And there begins the
journey. :)
And for those who've never cracked open the book before, here's an
interesting detail....ALL the text is brown. I quite like it. Easier
on the eyes. :)
Just finished Cherie Priest's Boneshaker the other night.
It's interesting. Starts out a tad slow when the story is still
backtracking and up past the introductory portion through the
Outskirts of walled Seattle. Once inside the city though, the pace
picks up, so keep at it! It also becomes much more fascinating when
you have the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack on repeat while
reading the bits after the story moves into the walled city. ^.^
Going to tell a bit of the story....it's first couple chapter stuff so
no yammerings on me tossing spoilers.
Story is centered mostly on Briar and Ezekiel (Zeke) Wilkes, mother
and son. They live on the Outskirts of the now walled-in downtown
Seattle which consist of the Pike, Denny Hill, Pioneer Square to
waterfront areas (the Smith Tower is an airship dock. ^.^), where most
remaining inhabitants now live due to the Blight that's made the
downtown area uninhabitable. Zeke has known all his life from the
accusations and teasing of other kids, that his father, Leviticus Blue
was at fault for causing the Blight gas after driving the Boneshaker
machine under a good portion of Seattle. However, his mother refuses
to tell him, her co-workers or neighbors the truth one way or the
other, so he goes to find his own answers. And there begins the
journey. :)
And for those who've never cracked open the book before, here's an
interesting detail....ALL the text is brown. I quite like it. Easier
on the eyes. :)
"The Somnambulist" book review
This has been transferred from the Seattle Steamrats mailing list where I originally posted this on March 6, 2010, so if someone comes across that, this post isn't plagiarized. To date, I have posted only two copies of this review. Just a heads up, there are steampunk references as the Steamrats list caters to the subculture, to which this review was originally directed at.
So...The Somnambulist. The title is a tad misleading. Do not even
begin to think of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which is what I did,
when I took interest and started this book. The interpretation is
poetic at best, as the character known as The Somnambulist, does not
sleepwalk AT ALL and nor is the content of the story surreal enough to
evoke a sleepwalking-like state of thinking. Simply put, while it
wound up on the Library Journal's "steampunk" list, it really isn't
when you compare it to other works in the genre. It's a modern
Victorian mystery/fantasy. The only steampunk element is a device
towards the last few chapters of the book that is mentioned a few
times before the story ends.
As for the rest of the book, it's a slower read, but an interesting
story. The author, Jonathan Barnes, has a very distinct love (no pun
intended, for those who've read it and get it) for large and uncommon
vocabulary to the point where most characters loose any individual
distinction and development as they all sound very educated regardless
of their apparent class. I don't know how much of this single voice is
due to him writing from the perspective of a third party narrator or
that he just wants to show off his vocabulary. This is great if you'd
like to expand your vocabulary, but not so much if you want some
mindless reading before bed (though I did read it as such).
There are some loose ends in the story such as why certain characters
were chosen to do certain tasks before falling off the edge of the
pages, though again, this might have something to do with how heavily
driven the story is by the narrator. The narrator talks to the reader
at the beginning and then sort of disappears and you forget about them
through the story until the end and it makes for an interesting detail
particularly when you get to the end.
So, read the book if you'd like. Read it for the modern Victorian tale
that it is, for it's vague Gothic horror elements, it's Sherlock
Holmes-ish mystery. But whatever you do, don't read it thinking it's
steampunk. You will be sorely disappointed.
So...The Somnambulist. The title is a tad misleading. Do not even
begin to think of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which is what I did,
when I took interest and started this book. The interpretation is
poetic at best, as the character known as The Somnambulist, does not
sleepwalk AT ALL and nor is the content of the story surreal enough to
evoke a sleepwalking-like state of thinking. Simply put, while it
wound up on the Library Journal's "steampunk" list, it really isn't
when you compare it to other works in the genre. It's a modern
Victorian mystery/fantasy. The only steampunk element is a device
towards the last few chapters of the book that is mentioned a few
times before the story ends.
As for the rest of the book, it's a slower read, but an interesting
story. The author, Jonathan Barnes, has a very distinct love (no pun
intended, for those who've read it and get it) for large and uncommon
vocabulary to the point where most characters loose any individual
distinction and development as they all sound very educated regardless
of their apparent class. I don't know how much of this single voice is
due to him writing from the perspective of a third party narrator or
that he just wants to show off his vocabulary. This is great if you'd
like to expand your vocabulary, but not so much if you want some
mindless reading before bed (though I did read it as such).
There are some loose ends in the story such as why certain characters
were chosen to do certain tasks before falling off the edge of the
pages, though again, this might have something to do with how heavily
driven the story is by the narrator. The narrator talks to the reader
at the beginning and then sort of disappears and you forget about them
through the story until the end and it makes for an interesting detail
particularly when you get to the end.
So, read the book if you'd like. Read it for the modern Victorian tale
that it is, for it's vague Gothic horror elements, it's Sherlock
Holmes-ish mystery. But whatever you do, don't read it thinking it's
steampunk. You will be sorely disappointed.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Where to Settle?
Originally started one LJ, then I came here, forgot about here and have sort of set up here:
http://profile.typepad.com/cheshiredragon
Now, I'm playing around with the two sites to see which one I will ultimately stick with.
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