Art

Menorahs and clocks made out of crazy old junk

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Klockwerks Clock

I’ve posted several things recently about cool stuff made out of old junk, and here’s another… Roger Wood at Klockwerks has expanded from making super-cool clocks to making super-cool menorahs out of old stuff.

I LOVE stuff like this. I have several old parts of stuff that I bought at the salvage yard with this kind of thing in mind. I love clocks, compasses, windmills, weather vanes, thermometers, barometric pressure measures, and any antique science thingy or doo-dad. At one point I was scouring eBay for monocles, science beakers, and glass eyes. Unfortunately, glass eyes are expensive. If I were going to be a sculpture artist (and I’d like to be) this is the kind of thing I would make; something cool looking but also kinetic. I need a workshop.

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Funniest Fan Fiction Ever: The Daily Show with John Stewart Slash FanFic

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Okay, after laughing out loud about this site in my cube at work, I was then required to explain the concept of Slash Fan Fiction to one of my co-workers, a guy who’s worked in the technology field for 9+ years. Who the heck hasn’t heard of slash fiction? I know most people don’t READ it (most of it’s unreadable anyway!) but most web-saavy people at least know what it is.

Regardless, the site itself is the funniest idea for slash fiction I’ve ever seen. I ran across it because the political site Wonkette blogged about it.

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Memesville

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I haven’t been able to post lately, because I have been sicker than a dog. I’m still sick, but I’m at work anyway, because I have to get some stuff done. Anyway, courtesy of Lisa at Another Pink World, here’s a meme for you.

1. Total amount of music files on your computer?
0 files on computer. Files at home on my music server: 22,330 songs. 62.1 days, 97.53 GB.

2. The last CD you bought was…
on iTunes: Nina Simone: Anthology. On CD: Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose.

3. What was the last song you listened to before reading this message?
The Secret Machines /Pharoah’s Daughter

4. Write down five songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
1) I’d Like That/XTC
2) Good Things/Bodeans
3) Subterranean Homesick Blues/Bob Dylan
4) Bus Stop/The Hollies
5) Dream A Little Dream of Me/Mama Cass

5. What 3 people are you going to pass this baton to and why?
Eh, anyone who happens to read this and wants to answer. My friends don’t all have blogs.

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My Top 10 Favorite Love Songs

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Oh My HeartI realize I’m going to get torn to shreds by my fellow Indyscribers for the utter cheesy sappiness of this post, but I don’t care. It’s Valentine’s Day, I’m in love, and someone actually loves me back. The confluence of those three conditions is rare, so I choose to wallow in the spectacular sickening sweetness of it all, because, hey this never happens to me. Here are my top 10 favorite love songs.

10. Crimson and Clover – Joan Jett
Because that guitar rocks.

9. Set the Prairie On Fire – Shawn Colvin
A lush, scorching song about the intoxication of sex that never once mentions the word.

8. It’s Only A Paper Moon – Ella Fitzgerald with The Delta Rhythm Boys
A depression-era song about how the transforming power of love can make even the poorest folks rich.

7. Wonderful! Wonderful! – Johnny Mathis
The “heavenly choir” background chorus is so over the top that I couldn’t possibly leave it off my list.

6. On the Street Where You Live – Andy Williams
One of those songs you want to sing on a public street, when you feel like shouting how you feel to the entire planet, possibly while dancing around lightposts in the rain and making an complete spectacle of yourself.

5. Good Things – Bodeans
The lyrics may sound like the singer is pleading his case, but the delivery makes it clear he knows that they’ll be together.

4. Bus Stop – The Hollies
An unconventional, trippy sixties love tune that celebrates the spontaneity and unexpectedness of love.

3. A Kiss to Build a Dream On – Louis Armstrong
That low rumbling voice is classic.

2. Dream a Little Dream of Me – Mama Cass
“And now to sing this lovely ballad, here is Mama Cass.” A simple, quiet, haunting song that needs nothing extra to express the power of love.

1. Head Over Heels – The Go-Gos
Because it was featured in the sweet movie “13 Going on 30” where we went on our second first date. It’s light, fun and probably describes our relationship better than any other.

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How to Sing the Blues

A Primer For Beginners

Author Unknown

1. Most blues begin with "Woke up this morning."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line, such as "I got a good woman – with the meanest dog in town."

3. Blues are simple. After you have the first line right, repeat it. Then find something else that rhymes. Sort of. "Got me a good woman with the meanest dog in town. He got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and he weighs ’bout 500 pounds."

4. The blues are not about limitless choices.

5. Blues cars are Chevies and Cadillacs. Other acceptable blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Walkin’ plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin’ to die.

6. Teenagers can’t sing the blues. Only adults sing the blues. Blues adulthood means old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. You can have the blues in New York City, but not in Brooklyn or Queens. Hard times in Vermont or North Dakota are just a minor depression. Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City are still the best places to have the blues.

8. The following colors do not belong in the blues:
a. violet b. beige c. mauve d. taupe e. peach

9. You can’t have the blues in an office or a shopping mall; the lighting is all wrong.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. the highway b. the jail house c. an empty bed

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. K mart b. Gallery openings c. weekends in the Hamptons

12. No one will believe it’s the blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be an old black man.

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Review: The Settlers of Catan

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At first glance, you wouldn’t expect The Settlers of Catan game to be as addictive as everyone who’s played it claims that it is. For one thing, there are two thick, daunting rule books (“Game Rules” and “Almanac”) and the playing pieces themselves are fairly non-descript wooden block-like house structures and “little rectangles” that turn out to be roads. If you’re looking for a traditional board for this “board” game, you’ll be confused, because it’s made up of numerous hexagonal tiles that you lay out in a beehive pattern to play on.

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