May 4th, 2012, 6pm. Gasworks Park in Seattle Wa.

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I put the parts together for my flame rifle. There are two needle valves that need to be added for safety.  One on the pilot light gas line.  The other between the safety valve and rear propane tank.  These will allow the pilot light to stay at a low flame, and allow the propane to fill the accumulator tank slower.

One thing I like to see is a prop that actually does something. It can be as simple as putting a make up mirror on it, or a fan to cool you off.

What I really like though is to make flames shoot out of something.
I thought I’d take a design for a flame poofer, and adapt it to a rifle.

I spent time talking to my friends at the hardware store and they pointed me to the right parts I needed to do this. This is the result after it was pressure tested.

The day after Thanksgiving I started fermenting a half gallon of apple juice. I wanted to see what apple cider would taste like without bubbles and without added sugar.

It tastes very bitter, but is full of alcohol. Next I will be freezing it into Apple Jack. My experiment was to see how long it would take to ferment on just it’s own sugars. My next batch will have added sugar for sweetness and to make it sparkly.

I lost my internet and cable connection for a week. Suddenly I was thrust back to 1980. I listened to a lot of radio, read a book, and used my word processor (laptop) to write a lot.

Now that I’m back online I found that I really didn’t miss anything.

I was discussing with some folks that use OpenSim and SecondLife about the possibility of interfacing the Virtual World with the real world. I thought it would be cool to have a virtual solar panel and when your avatar is near it a USB charger would activate on your PC to charge your electronic device. We couldn’t think of a way to make it happen.

Then I was playing with a friends Xbox and his controller had a rumble pack inside it. Why couldn’t you use something like this? If your avatar was near an object, it would activate your game controller/black box and depending on what signal is sent to it various things would happen.

For instance you could have a little motor in your virtual world that only operated when the sun was up. When it is daylight in your game a signal would be sent to your black box and it could operate a motor. If you turned on a light in a dark virtual room, a USB lamp could turn on.

I wonder if the virtual world software is able to send feedback like this, and if not what could be done to make it happen?

Craig Ferguson stated in an interview that this about Punk. “It was a small subculture. It’s not what it is now. It was reviled. To be a punk was to be an outcast. It wasn’t “I shop at Hot Topic. I’m a punk.” There was no Hot Topic.”

I think that’s what bugs me about Steampunk. While I like how the genre has taken off and more people are aware of how wonderful it is, its also painful to see people buying their way into it.

It’s the same feeling I got when I saw people buying a Harley, putting all their leathers, helmets and other gear on their loan and calling themselves Bikers. They are Bikers the same way most people are Steampunks. Buying a leather tidbit and pinning it to your blouse doesn’t make you a steampunk. Hanging out with fashion designers, makers, and crafters who create steampunk items doesn’t make you a steampunk. Get a handle on WHERE steampunk came from, and WHY you think you want to be a part of this sub-culture before you dare call yourself a steampunk.

But feel free to keep buying wonderful items from my friends. Just stop calling yourself a steampunk, or I’ll have the faux bikers try and beat you up with their wimpy gloved hands…because they’d hate to get their hands dirty.

I’m working on making myself better though.

I found this CDC site showing how obesity has increased since 1990. US Obesity Trends That was when broadband internet and super sized fast food meals were just being offered. Any connection you may wonder.

The maps tell a lot, but I made this image which pretty much defines what they are saying.

The the last post it was discussed how Time Travel effects the clothing of the time traveler.  More research has been done and a connection was found between the Latitude of the time traveler and the amount of clothing they lose.

As can be seen in this photo, the young lady has only lost the very bottom of her skirt. This is due to her close proximity to the equator.

This young lady has lost almost all of her lower garments, along with her blouse and jacket.  This is due to her Time Travels taking her extremely close to the poles of the Earth.  A few degrees closer to the pole and we would have to place an adult rating on this photo.

It amazes me that very few people know about the old express way between Mount Rainier and Mount Shasta. All the volcanic activity up and down the coast caused a lava tube to be created that stretched across three states from Washington to California. The change in atmospheric pressure forced a powerful wind to flow South at over 70 miles her hour. A vehicle properly constructed for the voyage through the tube could achieve a speed of up to 200 mph, allowing a trip from Washington to California in a matter of hours.

The last time it was used was during World War II when it was used to ship lumber and other supplies to California to be used in the San Diego shipyards. It was a vital part in helping the United States stop the Pacific Island aggression.

The atomic tests after the war unfortunately collapsed part of the tunnel. Plans were underway to clear out the rubble when suddenly the tunnel was flooded.

In the first photo you can still see where the train rails were lain.  The second image shows where the opening of the tunnel flows beneath the Cowlitz river.  The third photo shows the another tube leading to this one, it was used by workers to access the main shaft.