One of my life-long dreams came true this weekend. No, I didn’t get to meet Tom Selleck and no, I was not cast in an episode of It’s Always Sunny. My dream of finding a suitcase record player in “working” condition at a Goodwill, however, was totally fulfilled.
It’s a Magnavox Micromatic and it’s probably from [...]

I work on bikes a lot. My bike, Christina’s bike, friends’ bikes, friends’ girlfriends’ bikes, lots and lots of bikes. I can do some basic to intermediate work, however I’ve never actually built up a wheel.
I was always told wheel building was easy to start on, but I just never did it. I never had [...]

A rather rare occurrence came by this weekend. Normally when in Salem, Christina and I are working at the winery or playing with horses in the country. However, this Saturday we had little to do before noon and were able to hit up the Salem Farmer’s Market.
Being connoisseurs of farmer’s markets (PSU saturdays, Alberta sundays, [...]

At the end of last October (2008), I blogged about the begginings of some home-brew wine. Christina’s father gave her a row from the vineyard to try her hand at some wine making. Pinot Noir to be specific. Christina (sort of) followed the guidelines she read online and got from the local winemaker supply store: [...]

…And win my admiration. And maybe a beer or two.
Christina and I were unable to identify with lettuce we grew. Sadly it was in a mix of many hearty lettuce starts and we did not save the cards. Anybody? Seriously, what kind is this? Is it a weed that infiltrated our other lettuces? It was [...]

Link: http://maxisnow.com/photos/planting-09/
Spent the weekend doing some really fun gardening. Christina and I dug, soiled, and planted. (Dan also pitched in a lot.) It was fun and tiring and back-breaking; I’m feeling it today.
Hopefully in a couple months we’ll be enjoying some fresh veggies prepared with fresh herbs.
Hooray for nice weather….and wonderful girlfriends.

I recently obtain an Obtlieb Messenger Bag Classic backpack by way of Christina. It was too tall for her to ride with on her back and I couldn’t resist giving it a try. As my friends know I have a small collection of backpacks and messenger bags along with a continuing desire to find [...]

As a gift for my birthday, Christina surprised me with a Wine Blending class at Urban Wine Works. The Urban Wine Works tasting room in NW Portland is very laid back yet classy. It was really educational and fun. Not to mention that we got to drink the entire length of it.
Our instructor, Annie of [...]

Ever think your legs could use a little comfort, class, and sporty flavour?
Well, look no further.
These wool cycling knickers were created from a former pair of J Crew wool slacks I found at a local Buffalo Exchange. At the cost of $12 I knew that even if unsuccessful, it would be some good practice on [...]

Threat To Creativity is released for general use!
This is a small project I worked on between work hours. Work has me pumping at Wordpress MU depolyed themes all day and this theme is a sample of the types of PHP and CSS I’ve been using with those deployed themes. It’s also an homage to my [...]

There comes a time in every persons life, where the length of your handlebars extends greatly beyond your needs. The reasons to require a slimmer profile on your bars are many.  You may be a gram-concerned nerd, the fragrantly fashion-committed, or perhaps even just a bored bike buff (me). Any which way you read it, [...]

More photos.
Send love.

Oh lord, I’m a wonderful, genius strongman.
EDIT! – If you want to make your own strongman label/poster/whatever, I have posted some PSD sources here.

DIGI CAMO
Camo sucks. It always has. I like it once in my life. When I was 14. I also smoked more pot that year then most people will in their lives.
Coincidence? I think not.

Digi Camo (Digital Camouflage) was a welcomed replacement of the military issued fashion. It made something that was totally unattractive into something [...]

Link: http://www.maxisnow.com/hiphugger
I love it. I made it. Sort of. Well, I assembled and decorated.
Special thanks to the US Military.

Okay, so although I’ve only played bike polo once before, it has become a rather frequent topic around recently. I look forward to playing many rounds this summer and decided today that I should fabricate a mallet. As explained on Hardcourt Bike Polo’s site ( http://www.hardcourtbikepolo.com/?page_id=6 ) these is a very practical method of constructing [...]

Giving my most recent findings in the pursuit of the perfect messenger bag (now the perfect backpack), I felt the need to enlist an active backpack for service.
Introducing FRANKY (short for Frankenstein), my first manifestation of backpackness.

(see slideshow below & please note my friggin sweet new Mark “The Gonz” Gonzales kicks.)

FRANKY is a mash-up [...]

LARGE VERSION – link

I’ve been trying to draw up a pattern for a while now based on my most recent findings. This isn’t necessarily the best version, but it includes the features I’m looking for in my next run. It looks like a big project.
Maybe the pattern can help out any other would-be bag makers [...]

Sorry Genevieve, but you knew it would happen one day. It’s just sad that today is that day.
Below is my new love, my soul mate, the Singer 348……

The Casper bag has proven it’s worth so far. However it needed a proper weight and load test.
Experiment:
Test the load capabilities of Casper bag and impress girlfriend with a harvest of Trader Joe’s goods.
Results:

Purchase goods and load bag.
Bike to girlfriends domicile with loaded bag.

Present loaded bag to girlfriend. Endure ridicule.

Watch gleeful surprise of girlfriend [...]

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Notes:
A little something I put together for my messenger bag making. I actually just got the idea from the photos Jon shot of me earlier today. It’s bits and pieces from video I had taken months ago, photos of me by Jon, and photos I shot of the new bag today.
Thanks to: JonnyPockets (photos) and [...]

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Notes:
This “Casper” bag is the product of some hard research and a bit of practicing making other bags. Although this bag is truly featureless (no pcokets or anything like that), it is a real sign of progress and hope for me.
“Casper” is a turning point in my bag design and production. Even if I [...]

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This is a basic bag that I put together in about an hour last week. Althouh the design is simplistic, the fabrics are flavorful and quite nice. The exterior is a common cotton stripe (off-white/forrest), and the liner is a super-sturdy soft wool (grey). As I said, this is a simple construction bag really used [...]

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This bag is not yet completed. I didn’t have the correct web strapping handy, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. The features on this bag definatley surpass any of my previous creations. And although some of the bag I am not happy with, it is a step onto a whole new realm. More [...]

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This bag was a lot of fun to create. It was a gift for JonnyPockets on his birthday, Jan 29th. I actually was working on a wholly different messenger bag for him, but after its tremendous failure (having to deal with binding two types of fabric for a shell and liner), I had to move [...]

Bag Beta….SUCCESS!
This bag was a huge step for me. But first, things first. Photo dump….then see detail below.
-bag itself-

-bag on hot model-

As I said, the production of this big was a big step for me. I did it in about the same time as the first bag, but with planning and being less rusty [...]

UPDATED PICS – Jan 27th
-bag itself-

-bag on hot model-

This is the progress as of 8:30pm PST tonight. Although the bag is a success for testing the general pattern and materials, there are many changes in order for the next run.

It need to be much taller. I made this model on the short side to conserve [...]

My messenger bag is about to give way finally. It’s been with me for a solid two years, and is long overdue for a replacement. Not to mention that this current bag has hardly enough room for a city rider like myself. My first intuition was to go out and buy a Chrome bag. However [...]

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I really liked making these.If you cannot tell yet, I prefer working with my hands and brain, rather than just my brain. I put these pieces together from some parts I found. The black painted one was also weathered by me. They are both gone now. I believe the three-mirror piece was last given to [...]

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These are some flowers I made a few years ago for friends. It was something one of my friends had commissioned, but as the others saw her little fabric flower, proudly displayed on her chest, the others asked if I could make more. I tried to produce very over-simplified version of real flowers. Things that [...]

I used to fancy myself a chef of sorts. Although I still cannot make a casserole to save my life, I learned to master the art of “mash-up” entrees. These mainly consist of whatever you can find, prepared in some classic method and served in a standard venue. I think everyone has done the noodle [...]

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Comments:
Just some things I made this evening. I have said it before and I will reiterate it, Sharpies are my love. If I was caught in a time warp and sent back in time to redo the world’s greatest art works, I would have only ask to have a chisel tip, fine tip, and super [...]

PLEASE SEE PREIVOUS “PART 1″ BEFORE READING ON. -CLICK HERE-
Clever, Missouri – December 27th – 1700 hours
It has been two days since the original idea and creation of my plane that can carry and launch the bottle rocket payload. Although I promised myself to try launching yesterday, I was overcome by videos games, thrift stores, [...]

Clever, Missouri – Christmas Day – 1300 hours
My father is in the backyard, lighting “parachuter” fireworks for the kids. They run and catch the produced parachute as it descends to the earth. He then brags about the large volume of fireworks he has stored in the “safe room” (it’s for tornados, not money and jewels).
My [...]

Me, cause they’re full of awesome shit. For instance, this last Saturday.
Let’s start with the essential materials:
Smokes, Amelia, a Pile of Boxes, and one very nice Razor Blade.

Most people think you need to go to bars or clubs… but leave it to the master and I won’t steer you wrong. So, Amelia and I eat [...]