Code Name: Project Geek (Part 1)

This is the tutorial your're looking for (waves hand discretely).

In this series of tutorials, which I hope will be 3 parts, spread out over a couple weeks I'm going to embrace my inner geek and do a few Star Wars related tutorials. So check back often to ensure that you dont miss one.

Part 1

Simple Lightsaber Hilt

This was extremely easy to do, and if I do say so myself, turned out really good and looks a lot like an actual lightsaber. All the parts required for this project can be found at Home Depot in the plumbing section and are fairly inexpensive to pick up.

  

What You Will Need

1 - 1 1/4 Sink Drain (~ $8)

1 - 1 1/2 slip joint extension that's 6 inches long (~ $7)

A couple packs of #17 0-Rings, I used 4 packs (~ $2 each)

    OPTIONAL

Hack Saw

Misc Hardware

Wooden Dowel

1. First things first, You will want to remove the drain plug from the top of the drain. After you do that slid a few of your O-Rings onto the bottom of the drain like I have done in the picture above.

2. Once you have the O-Rings in place you need to wrap quite a bit of tape around the bottom of the pipe (this thicken the pipe so if will fit snugly into the 6 inch slip joint extension.

3. Before you slid the 2 parts together you will want to slid some O-Rings onto the slip joint extension. You can decorate this part however you want, just make sure it looks good to you. After you have your O-Rings on the extension slid the sink drain into the extension.

4. This is an optional step. I did not like how the T-Joint area stuck out so far, so using a hack saw I cut it down to a length that felt more comfortable to me.

5. On my lightsaber this step is yet to be completed. Here is where you want to glue or screw on all the decorative pieces such as your on/off button and/or adjustment knobs. This can be done with miscellaneous hardware (bolts and screws) or pretty much anything you find laying around that you think will work. This part isn't completed on mine yet because I have yet to find the pieces that look just right, but when I do I will update this with the completely finished product.

I haven't tried this yet, but when I was surfing the internet trying to find inspiration for this project some people said that you can slid a wooden dowel down into your saber (make sure its a tight fit) and have mock duels. If you do want to try this part, the standard lightsaber blade is 3 feet long so be sure to get a dowel that is long enough to slide into your saber and still have 3 feet of it showing.

May the force be with you.
Dylan

Funny Golf Commercials

This video is a compilation of 10 of the funniest golf commercials around. You'll definitely get a good laugh out of these; and if your a Star Wars fan be sure to watch the second clip to see Darth Vader golfing.




May the force be with you.
Dylan

Movie Trailers 2012

These are what I think will be some of the coolest movies of the year and/or the movies I'm looking forward to seeing the most.


John Carter - March 9



This Movie Looks very interesting and reminded me a bit of Dune when I first saw the trailer.

The Avengers - May 4



I know this movie is going to be good and as a huge Marvel fan I have waiting for this ever since they started hinting at it in some of the most recent Marvel movies.

The Hobbit - December 14




To me this looks like a very good movie and i really can't wait to see it. If its anything like the Lord of the Rings movies (which it should be) it will definitely  be worth going to the theater for.


May the force be with you.
Dylan

Quote of the Week

I think this is a great quote and something that a lot of people need to think about before they decide to open their mouths.

Real Steel Review

Summary (by Amazon.com)


Sometime in the not-too-distant future, boxing has been outlawed and replaced by fighting matches with robots. Big robots. Hulking, rock 'em, sock 'em mechanical robots. But if those machines are cutting edge, Real Steel sticks to an old-fashioned style of storytelling, with a tale of a down-and-out fight manager (Hugh Jackman) looking for a good 'bot to get back in the game, and get back out of debt. Hearts are further tugged by the arrival of this guy's 11-year-old son (Dakota Goyo), who hasn't seen his dad in many years but now needs tending. There's something endearing about the way nobody ever pauses to remark on the fact that they are in the presence of giant remote-controlled prizefighting robots; it's taken for granted in this cockeyed universe. Loosely inspired by a Richard Matheson-penned episode of The Twilight Zone, Shawn Levy's film is lavishly mounted and fairly ridiculous--although in this case, the human interactions are more preposterous and formulaic than the fun robot action.



What I Thought

I know this movie has been out for a while but I didn’t get a chance to see it in theaters and I finally got around to renting it the other day. After repeatedly being told that this was a really good movie, I was looking forward to watching it. This movie was a lot better than I expected and I’m glad that there’s finally a movie out that breaks away from the standard clichés constantly coming out now. I’m sure I’m not the only who thinks this but when I watch this movie I think of Rock’em Sock’em Robots. But anyway back to the point. Two of my favorite parts in this movie are, of course, boxing scenes but they are very cool none-the-less. The first scene was the fight between Atom and Twin Cities. I don’t want to give too much away but I thought this was a very cool scene where the underdog is on his way to the top. Though this may be a cliché in itself, my other favorite scene was the last part of the movie which was the fight between Atom and Zeus. I thought it was very interesting to see Hugh Jackman’s character Charlie Kenton shadow box Zeus. I was a little disappointed with how it ended but overall it was still a very good movie. I would recommend that you take the time to rent and watch this movie assuming you haven’t already…and if you have already seen it just watch it again. 

Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics: Review

I want to start this off by saying that I am not a huge fan of the Wii. I used to own one myself and was extremely disappointed with the game selection and how most games made use of the motion sense technology. In my opinion two of the best games for this counsel were Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. These games were amazing to  play and made pretty good use of the motion sense technology.  Though I sold my Wii (I replaced it with the much better Xbox 360 Slim) my grandparents still have one because they enjoy playing Mario games and Mario based games like Mario Kart. While I was at my grandparents this last weekend my Aunt Dee and I decided to rent the Mario and Sonic Olympics game from Redbox. After playing the game for 30-45 minutes we were both extremely disappointed with it.

Now For the Review

I should mention that I'm not writing an extremely comprehensive review here like you might find on ign.com, just my basic opinion of the game and how I felt about it overall.

Mario and Sonic at the 2012 London Olympics is a game made up of a ton of mini games. As you might expect these mini games are all based of events that will be taking place during the 2012 London Olympics. In addition to the standard events there is also Dream Events. The Dream Events are mostly based off of real events but they have a Sega spin to them. By this I just mean they look like they belong in a Mario or Sonic game. The graphics on this game are decent and have the expected cartoon-like graphics that you might find on games such as Mario Kart or Mario Party. Though there is a very wide variety of mini games on this game, most of my disappointment with it came from the motion based controls. A bunch of the mini games had the exact same control scheme: To start the event: shake the remote, to do the event: shake the remote, During the home stretch: shake the remote faster. After 2 or 3 mini games you can see how this would become very boring. I will give the game some credit, a couple of the mini games mixed up the controls by making you time when you flicked the remote. Sounds fun right? Not really. Now if you have younger children they may find this game enjoyable but I would strongly recommend that you rent it for as cheap as humanly possible (Redbox) before you make the decision to buy this game.

May the force be with you.
Dylan

Photo Transfer Project

This is another project that is pretty easy to do, it does require a little more time to complete just because you need to let things set for a while and wait for things to dry.

What you will need
An image of your own or one found on the internet like mine. It will need to be printed on standard printer paper.
1-Bottle of Gel Medium
1-Bottle of Mod Podge
1-Piece of wood cut to the size of your image
1-Foam Brushes

1. The first thing you want to do is brush a few layers of the gel medium onto your board. You need to be fairly quick with this part and you want to ensure the the gel medium is applied evenly across the board.

2. After you've applied the gel medium you will want to center your image on the board. I should mention that this is another project where you need to reverse the image before printing it out and doing this step.

3. Once you have your image centered on the board, starting in the middle, firmly press down on the image working your ways towards the edges. Then you will want to let this set overnight (I would recommend leaving it for at least 12 hours).

4. If you look online at projects similar to this one there are a few different methods for doing this step, but I found it easier to just run the board under very hot water to peel the paper off. You will need to rub some of the paper off with your fingers in this step as well but you want to be careful when doing this because if you rub to hard it will smear some of your image off. I had that problem on my first attempt which is why this picture doesn't fit my board. After I messed up the first one I had to flip it over and use a different image. If you have the same problem you can just re-cut the board to fit your new image or just paint a border around the image.

5. After you get the paper washed off let it dry, then apply an even layer of mod podge, and then leave that to dry. Once its dried your finished.


Side Notes
I've noticed that the images seem faded compared to the original image, but my sister did this project and accidentally used a thicker paper to print her image off and the transferred image was just as crisp as the original one. I'm not sure if that is actually the reason for the image being crisp but feel free to experiment with it. The only problem she had with that paper was that it was a lot harder to get it off the wood.

May the force be with you.
Dylan

Glass Etching Tutorial

This is an extremely easy project that can be done in less than an hour (assuming you already have a stencil or know what you plan on using).

What You Will Need:
1-Glass object (this works on mirrors as well)
A bottle of Armour Etch Etching Cream
1-Foam Brush
Contact Paper (if you are making your own stencil) or you can by pre-made stencils at hobby stores such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby
1-Roll of masking tape
Latex or Vinyl gloves (if you don't want to live dangerously on the edge.lol)
  

1. Trace the image for your stencil onto the contact paper and cut it out with an x-acto knife. You will want to reverse the image before tracing or cutting it out otherwise your etching will turn out backwards.

2. Once your stencil has been cut out you'll want to trim it down. Make sure you leave a bit of an edge so the tape can overlap onto the stencil.

3. Peel the backing off of the contact paper a place it on your glass object.

4. Put tape around the stencil being sure to have a slight overlap with the stencil so the etching cream won't leak out onto the other areas of the glass. You will then want to tape off a large enough portion of the glass so if the cream runs off the designated area it wont start etching other parts of the glass.

6. Apply the etching cream. Using the foam brush apply a thin layer of etching cream and then go back and blob it on so there is an even layer covering your stencil.

7. Wait. The bottle says that you only have to wait 60 seconds for the image to be etched into the glass but this leaves a very poor image. It will look much better if you let it set for 30 minutes.

8. After the 30 minutes have passed you will want to wash of the cream using hot water, then peel off the tape and the stencil and your done.



Side Notes:
-If you are cutting out a detailed stencil it might be easier to put the stencil on the glass before you start cutting it out.
-It is recommended on the etching cream bottle that you wear gloves when using the cream to prevent getting it on your skin (it claims that this is very dangerous). Now I'm not the best at following directions so I never wear gloves when doing this. I have gotten the cream on my hands a few times and after immediately wiping and washing them off I have noticed no problems.

Monday's Funnies

I have decided that in light of Monday being the most hated, feared, and generally depressing day of the week that I am going to post a few funny things (or what I find funny) on Monday's to help start your week off on the right foot. So without further ado here are today's funnies.

Saving Benjamin

Okay, I realize this is something that gets posted on a lot of blogs and websites but I’m deciding to share it again because I think there are some very helpful tips in here. And lets face it we all are trying to save up for certain things; in my case, to list a few things, a new laptop, and a trip overseas. Though your goals probably are not the same as mine and might not be as expensive as mine, it's always nice to have that little bit of money set aside for whatever it is your trying to save up for.

Since this isn't a new topic there are plenty of websites where you can find money saving tips, but the one i liked can be found here www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/06/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started. This website contains 100 simple money saving techniques. Of course not all of them are gold and not all of them will apply to everyone so just read through the list and see which ones apply to your life and which ones you feel like trying.

These are just a couple of the ones that I liked from this article.

1. Make your own gifts instead of buying them.

2. The 30 Day Rule - If you are thinking about getting something rather expensive write it down, then wait 30 days and ask yourself if you still want it (obviously you shouldn't do this with really important things like car or house repairs).

3. Always make a list before shopping and stick to it. This is usually down when shopping for food but could be useful for shopping in general.

4. Don't eat out as much or at all.

5. Don't be afraid to buy generic. All of us have certain things that we prefer to buy the brand name version of, but in reality generic is almost always cheaper and the quality is usually comparable to the name brand. You do have to be careful when buying generic, because as my mom always says "You get what you pay for." So if you see a product that is ridiculously under priced you may want to think twice before you get.

Since I've started to be more mindful of my spending I've noticed that you can't expect to be perfect at it at first. It takes a little time to gain control of your spending but you just need to remember your goals and work towards saving for them. I should add that you don't want to become frugal with your money; you just want to cut back some unnecessary spending so you can afford the things you really want.

May the force be with you.

Dylan 

Quote of the Week

This is one of my favorite quotes from the Harry Potter movies. It is spoken by Albus Dumbledore after the sorting ceremony in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 
 

A Little Bit of Randomness

In addition to all the other things I like and try to do, I also enjoy photography (i.e taking random photos and messing with them in Photoshop or Lightroom). Unfortunately for the longest time the only cameras I've had have been the ones on my Ipod Touch and my Iphone. Though these are decent cameras and can take some nice pictures it's just not the same as having an actually camera that has the potential to take some amazing photos. So i was visiting my parents this last weekend and asked my mom (justshortofcrazy.com),  who is a professional photographer, if I could borrow one of her spare cameras for a while. And just so you all know what the pictures I take are coming from the camera i'm using is a Canon EOS 30D. So now that I finally had a real camera to use I decided to go for a walk around Depot Town to try and get some cool photos. As it turns out there's not a whole lot of photo opportunities in the town itself so my walk was rather unsuccessful, but I did get a photo of, what i thought was, some interesting graffiti. I should point out that this is not what the graffiti actually looked like. After taking the picture I decided to play with it in Lightroom a little bit and really liked how it turned so I thought i would share it with all of you.

May the force be with you.

Dylan

What Can You Do

I thought for today's post I would talk about what I am currently doing for a living. As I briefly mention in the about me section I am a cook and, for the time being, the Assistant Kitchen Manager at Cafe Ollie in Ypsilanti, Mi. Cafe Ollie is a small coffee shop located in Depot Town, which is a small neighborhood of Ypsilanti. The menu is made up mostly of sandwiches and salad for meals and miscellaneous baked goods, coffee drinks, and ice cream desserts for all your other needs. I was offered a position at Cafe Ollie almost 1 year ago. When I took the job it was to start off as a dishwasher and since then I have been working my way up to where I am now. Before I started working at Cafe Ollie the extent of my cooking knowledge was Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and scrambled eggs, but since then I have learned quite a bit about cooking and have gained a passion for it as well. Of course no one really likes their 9 to 5 jobs so there are times during my day when i'm thinking to myself  "are you serious, another freaking order", but I really do enjoy cooking especially on my own time when i'm free to take however long I want and am able to cook (or try to cook) whatever I want. I probably should point out that I am not a great cook but I enjoy working towards becoming a better cook by trying new ideas for the Cafe or by learning what I can from my family.

Since i'm talking about the Cafe at which I cook I thought it would only be fair to show you all some of my handywork, so here you go.
 

This is one of our most popular sandwich's, The Dusty Spectacle.

Sounds fun and exciting right? All it really is, is cheddar cheese and chicken salad topped with balsamic onions, lettuce and tomatoes (or in the case of my lunch, pictured above, avocados) served on toasted ciabatta.

So If you are ever in the Ypsi/Ann Arbor area feel free to stop in for a late lunch or dinner and experience some of my awesome cooking.

May the force be with you.

Dylan 

Internet On Strike!

If you haven't noticed yet the internet has gone on strike. Websites like Wikipedia have shut down for the day and others are opening petition forms when you first access their website. They are doing this in protest to the SOPA and PIPA acts which claim they are to prevent copyright infringement  but may eventually be used to block what we see and what we can do on the internet. If you would like to sign a petition that will go before congress before they vote on these bills and show how many people are against these bills just go to google.com and click on their image of the day which will take you to the petition.

If you would like to read more about SOPA and PIPA go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

Please contact your State Representatives to further encourage them to Vote No one these bills.
For more information on how to contact your State Representatives go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page and enter your zip code.

May the force be with you!
Dylan

Wine Bottle Lamps Tutorial {DIY}

Making wine bottle lamps is a pretty easy process is you have the right tools.

Here's what you'll need:

1-empty wine or liquor bottle
1-35 or 50 strand of white christmas tree lights
some modeling clay
1-1/2" diamond tip drill bit
1-drill press or hand drill
sandpaper
An unfolded coat hanger with the end folded to have a hook


Here's what you'll need to do:

1. Drink the wine/liquor ;) or find empty bottles like I do

2. Take your modeling clay and form a ring near the bottom of the bottle where you want the hole to be (usually on the back side).
 

3. Fill the ring with water.
 

4. Align the drill with where you want the hole to be before you begin the drilling process. Once you have it aligned, using a high speed, begin drilling the hole. If you are using a hand drill you need to begin drilling at a 45 degree angle then once the hole is started change to a 90 degree angle. Also you may need another person to help you out with this step so they can hold the bottle still why you are doing the drilling. Don't forget to wear protective gear (gloves and safety glasses).
 

5. Once you drill the hole, tip the bottle upside down to get the water and the glass slug out of the bottle. After you drain the bottle you will want to take a piece of sandpaper and carefully sand the edge of the hole. Then rinse the bottle off, but be very careful when doing this if you wish to save the label. If any water does get on the label dry it off immediately to prevent it from bubbling or falling off.

6. Taking your strand of lights feed the first light through the hole and hook onto it with the unfolded coat hanger which you have inserted from the top of the bottle, you will use this to pull the lights through the top of the bottle.

7. Feed the remaining lights into the bottle and continue to pull them through the top. Once all the lights have been strung through the bottle push them back into the bottle you may need a small blunt object to help with this part (i.e the eraser end of a pencil). Once all the lights have been pushed back into the bottle reinsert the cork, plug it in and enjoy.



A few side notes:

1. If your strands of lights have a plug on each end you need to remove the female plug using wire cutters. Keeping the two wires separate tape each end off and then tape the wires together.

2. If you are using a strand of 50 lights the bottle will become very hot with extended use so be careful when handling. However, this does not seem to be a problem with strands of 35.

3. The color of the strands of lights does not matter too much and really just comes down to personal preference. Though, if you are using a clear bottle you may want to use lights that have a white strand. I used green strands in this clear bottle because it had a green/lime theme to it.

May the force be with you!
Dylan

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

Hey! How does this blogging thing work?