Days 2 & 3

Barricade: Wow, you did a good job on these windows Ghoulie!
Glow-in-the-Dark Ghoul: Thanks! It took forever man!!!


GG: Why exactly did you color in the floor support pieces?
B: Because, I'll know that it's there, even if I don't see it.
GG: Will you remember that you had to use two different markers, since the first one got you stoned so quickly?
B: Shut up.


B: Help me move this roof into position
GG: Damn, it's heavy!


GG: Looks great, let's move on!
B: Ummm... Something doesn't look right.
GG: Aww man....


B: See, we're supposed to cut out these dormers and put them onto the roof!


B: This doesn't look too bad! Get to cutting! I've got to go make sure that these things fit...
GG: Fuck!


B: Behold! The power of the dormer!!!
GG: I think I like the power of cheese better...
B: Do you want to be put back on window duty?
GG: Yipes! BEHOLD THE POWER!!!


GG: The roof is on, everything is glued down. I'd say we're done here!


B: Are you sure we're done? Have you seen it from this side yet?
GG: Nah, but it should be the same, right???


GG: Double fuck!


There hasn't been a lot of visible progress on the mansion these past two days, but believe me there has been a lot of work going on! Between the tiny detail cuts for the windows, the exacting folds of the roof, and the mind-bending (not to mention wrist bending) glue points for the roof and the support floor, this place is going up quick! How much more work is left? Well... a lot. Fuck.

Dr S

Day 1

Barricade: Ok, just stand on the ruler so I can cut a straight line
Glow-in-the-dark Ghoul: Are you sure I weigh enough for this?


GG: Gotta color the back of certain pieces black, since it won't be covered by anything...
B: Ummm, how are you gonna get the marker lid off? Your arms are attached to your body...


B: Gluing the pieces together. Woohoo!


GG: Ok, I'll push this side, you push that side, and we'll wait for the glue to dry.
B: I hope you remembered to get quick drying glue...
GG: Ummmm.... yeah.... about that....
B: Shit, you mean we've got to hold this together for hours until it dries?


B: As punishment, you've got to cut and glue all the windows, while I cut out the openings.
GG: How bad can that be?


GG: Fuck.


GG: This is gonna take forever!!!


GG: 2 down, 6 to go... :(


B: Umm. Are you sure you're doing this right? These instructions look different from our piece...
GG: Will you quit screwing around and get back here to help????


So, 1 day in, and I haven't hit any major problems yet! If you look closely at the photo of Barricade cutting the windows, you'll see that I'm trying to keep the cross-beams intact, to add a bit to the 3D feel of the building. I couldn't do this on the other versions, as the paper was too thin to support that small of a cut. It seems to be working pretty well, as long as I pay close attention while I cut...

Hopefully I'll have more progress for you all in the near future!

Dr S

:)

Glow-in-the-Dark Ghoul: Hey Barricade, whatcha doin?
Barricade: Oh, just layin' some explosive charges to destroy this old house...


GG: You can't do that! Dr Sketch spent a lot of time and effort to build that haunted mansion!
B: You obviously haven't seen what he has sitting on the kitchen table yet...


B: All the required tools to build a new, IMPROVED haunted mansion!
GG: Oooooh, he even had it printed at Kinkos!

B: Fire in the hole!

GG: One blast tore the turret off? Wow, what lame construction....

B: Fire in the hole!

GG: Damn! The whole conservatory went with one blast too!!!

B: You are a bung hole!

GG: I think the building is starting to implode... Hey wait a second, what did you say!!!


GG: Now what are we doing?
B: Well, to truly finish this off, we're gonna have to bar-b-que it!


GG: Ooooooh!!!


B: Fire: The Untamed Element, Oldest of Man's Mysteries


B: Giver of warmth, Destroyer of forests, right now *this* building is on fire.


B: Yes! The building is on fire!


B: Leave the building! Enact the Age Old drama of Self-Preservation!


GG: Barricade, I didn't know you liked Gremlins 2.
B: Shut up.

That's right folks! I decided to sacrifice my first model of the Liberty Square Haunted Mansion to the fire gods, so that I would have room to display the nice new version I'm building! Watch this space for construction photos, tips and tricks, and maybe even more from those two goofs. Maybe....

Dr S

Wow, I suck

Sorry I haven't written in so long, but I've been BUSYBUSYBUSY with other fun stuff. Some things I've done...
I have been watching a ton of movies/tv series on DVD lately, thanks to Netflix. I've gotten quite a few discs of Scrubs, the entire SportsNight, starting into MST3K, and more. Even worse, I have fallen in love with Hollywood Video, where I can get previously viewed movies for dirt cheap. Even better, they always carry the harder to find movies, and I lovelovelove cult movies. Last night I went (it was my birthday, so I felt OK about it), spent $60 and got 9 movies. Some of mygreater scores: Snakes On A Plane (this movie RULES), The Omen, and (my best score) Doll Graveyard.
My best birthday present: realizing how much my girlfriend really "gets" me. SHE'S the one who found Doll Graveyard, and while a normal person wouldn't even notice it, she saw it as a movie that a wierdo like me would like. So cool! A close second would be the amazing new Zippo she got me. My new favorite lighter (and I have 10 or so different Zippos). She rocks!
Something else I've been working on.... Turning this:

Into this:


Yeah, I get really bored sometimes, but I really needed something to justify that expensive Wacom tablet, right? :)

Hope all is going well for you (whoever you may be), and just know that winter is almost over. WOOT!

Tea Reviews

It snowed last night. A lot. I have spent almost an hour scooping my driveway, and there is still quite a lot left to do! Tonight it is supposed to be 1F, with a windchill of -20F. Have I mentioned how much I hate winter?

On the plus side, I think this is the typical Nebraska "last storm", which ALWAYS sucks badly. Next week it should be in the 40s and above, so we just have to wait it out. Have I mentioned how much I hate waiting? :)

Not much else is going on here right now. I'm still having fun with my wacom tablet. I have completely removed my mouse, and do everything with my pen now! My drawings are getting better, I'll put one up soon...

On to tea. I've had quite a few different teas since my last post, so I'm going to give "quick" reviews of them. I use the X-Play rating system: 1 is horrible, 2 is good but still has issues, 3 is average, 4 is really good with a few issues, and 5 is perfect or nearly perfect. And yes, I DO have all of these written out in a spreadsheet, because I'm a nerd.

Valentines: This one is a flavored tea, combining black tea with chocolate covered strawberries. I don't know how they did it, but it really works. Delicious! 3/5, but it lost a point because it's seasonal only.

Darjeeling #22: Black tea. Very tasty. It had a little bit of bitterness, but it was definitely good. This will probably become my default "black" tea. 5/5

Mango Melange: Herbal tea. This tastes a lot like Blood Orange, but it isn't quite as good, and I can't place my finger on why. 3/5, mainly because knock-offs suck.

White Monkey: Green tea. This is the best of the green teas I've had so far (only tried half of them). Very smooth, maybe just a little too subtle. 4/5

Ceylon Sonata: Black tea. Pretty weak flavored. This would probably be useful to mix with other, stronger teas, but by itself it isn't that good. 2/5

Assam Melody: Black tea. All I said in my notes was "pretty good", so who knows what I thought of it at the time? 3/5, because I can't even remember it.

Li Zi Nutcracker: Green tea. Eeew. It was... bitter isn't the right word, it just tasted... off. Almost meaty? 2/5 out of sympathy.

That's it for now! I'll have more reviews sooner or later.

More Tea and Fun With Wacom

Well, I got a new shipment of tea in today. I got quite the haul this time, lots and lots of samplers!!! I'll let you know how they all are over the next few weeks, but for now here is what I got:

Herbal Sampler:
Rooibos Jasmin
Lemon Grass
Mango Melange
Berry Blues
Peppermint
Sour Apple

Black Tea Sampler:
Golden Monkey
Keemun Concerto
Pu Erh Dante
Ceylon Sonata
Assam Melody
Darjeeling #22

Green Tea Sampler:
Gunpowder
White Monkey
Li Zi Nutcracker
Sencha Overture
Spiced Green
Kukicha

All those were "prebuilt" samples, no thinking involved! I also bought an 8 oz tin of blood orange (the little sample I had before got me hooked!), and they were nice enough to throw in a sample tin of the Valentines tea for free. According to their site, it is a combination of Ceylon black and chocolate-covered strawberries... Well, we'll just wait and see about that.

So, my first tea review of the new batch: gunpowder. First off, I should admit my prejudice. I love green tea. It could be the nastiest tasting tea in the world, and I'd still like it. I don't know why, don't ask. Maybe it's because I remember drinking it at fake-Chinese restaurants when I was a kid... So with that in mind, I should tell you about gunpowder green tea. It's not bad. Definitely not the best green tea I've ever tasted, and the price reflects it: it's the cheapest of all green teas on Adagio. However, it really is not unpleasant, maybe a bit astringent, and it's much better than nothing!

It does a cool little trick in the teapot too! When you first see it, it kinda looks like a bunch of pebbles, but after sitting in water for 7 minutes it gets all fluffy! I love it when my food/beverages do tricks like this!

Ok, enough tea chat for tonight. I'm brewing a cup of Darjeeling right now, but you'll have to wait for my review. See? I can build suspense too!!!

I finally broke down this weekend and bought my geeky wet dream: a Wacom tablet. If you've never seen one, they are kinda hard to explain/describe. It is a drawing surface that translates your pen strokes into computer code. That's not the best explanation, but just go with it... It makes my digital image editing (bet you didn't know I did THAT, didja?) a lot easier than trying to use a mouse. On the other hand, it's fun to use as a REPLACEMENT to my mouse as well, since moving the pen moves my pointer onscreen. So cool!

Well, I have to go draw horns on the foreheads of some super models... Have a good night!

Dr S

More about tea

Hey, finally tried the rooibos tea, so I thought I'd complete my review. It smelled and tasted vaguely like chewing tobacco. I didn't like it at all, it is definitely my least favorite "tea" out of the sample set I received. I won't be purchasing this one again, but I will be buying both chamomile and blood orange in bulk. Still on the fence with spearmint.

I was looking around the site a bit more today, and found out that I can send gift certificates to new members, so if you decide you want to try some tea from them let me know & I will hook you up with $5 off! I'll be completely upfront here: I get points for everything I buy from there, and also get 10 points for every gift certificate redeemed because of me. After 100 points, I get a $10 gift certificate, so buy purchasing with my help, you're not only saving money yourself, you're helping me save money too. Not trying to push you into buying, but if you were planning on it anyway this is a great win-win situation. :)

Well, I'm back to enjoying my chamomile.

Dr S