Maker Faire low down, lego jeep delivery adventure

What ever day you go, get there as early as possible, or park one or 2 caltrain stops away to park. The area is expected to be gridlocked with 35 k a day.

Or park somewhat close and bike in.

The LEGO JEEP delivery schedule has been a bit off the past few days.

But those things happen and one build its into the schedule right?

Well....

So The plan:
Mon work on jeep

Monday Reality:
Work on acquiring LEGO from LEGO corp as backup, since Maker Faire may not be able to come through ( Maker did come through on Tues with 6000 pieces)
Run up to Richmond to help Kent Cates finish installing the new service panel

Tues plan Work on LEGOJeep
TUES Reality: spend time giving emotional support and time to pal who just lost job and had very recent negative run-in's with old-ex's. Gotta support ones pals when they need it

Wed start working at 7 am on LEGOJeep
Start off by making house and bathroom presentable for any helpers
OK finally working on the LEGOJeep fulltime
All day, plates are purchased and scraping of old sheets begins. Many many more old sheets then expected need to be hand chiseled off. Stressed pal helps out in the afternoon. Much appreciative to her for her help.
Wed night drive up to Richmond to pick up other required tools and stuff for makers faire

Thurs plan: work on LEGOJeep, plus go to Maker Faire for Maker Day
Thurs Reality:
Start working on LEGOJeep at 8 am
Discover Subaru has flat tire at noon via pizza delivery guy
This is not in the schedule
This requires costco run and since Jeep not yet registered, insured, or ready to move ( transmission and engine oil change and new battery required) this possess an issue
Getting this fixed kills three hours
Work on Jeep til 10 pm with dinner break
Have not so fun disagreement with stressed pal ( being stressed myself no surprise)
Plan to work late into the night
Take a break
11:30 pm neighbors wake me from my nap
"Call 911, call 911"

I leap from bed, run out front. I don't have my glasses on but can discern what fuzzily looks like a firework's stand worth of fireworks going off behind their house. Kind of reminds me of Dismals black rock Burnin' Bush show.

I call 911. Get glasses on, get back to the front to see what I can do
End up loaning jackets to neighbors ( as well as offering the living room) til all is safe and clear.
The power line behind their house is what is throwing off big electric sparks and balls
Fire dept and cops show
Neighborhood power is cut off for safety
My plans for late night gluing and cutting are curtailed, but too wired to go back to sleep for hours.
I just mull in the dark.

Did not go to Maker Day, too busy to recall I was suppose to

Friday plan:
Deliver finished LEGOjeep to Maker Faire

Friday reality:
Apply for insurance for jeep, discover that its not on Dad's car insurance. Nor am I with his VW that I drive on occasion. Deal with those issues with AAA and Geico.
Clean up the driveway wreckage of LEGOJeep work. Mostly.
Call around for trailer and truck to tow jeep. $160 its way much money for the RT
Apparently even if I buy a hitch for my Subaru, its not rated to tow the jeep. The Subaru is too lite.
Change oil for motor. Have issues with new filter and wrench ( filter is basically too long) so have to hand tighten as much as possible
Remove the 14 bolts on the transmission.
Scrape off old gasket, change filter, put on new gasket, and bolts. Add oil, No leaks. I'm happy so far.
Old Jeep battery not charging
Go to DMV get in and out within 90 minutes with new papers and up to date registration
Go to Costco get a 1000 cold cranking amp battery, wish I could have done this on tire change trip
Get hair cut cause Dad needs one today.Can't begrudge him the trip, but the timing is bad.
Start driving back to house. Have to turn around to pick up 2 gallon of gas for Jeep cause I forgot earlier.
Get to house. Its 330 pm.
Install new battery
Load up jeep with stuff for Maker Faire
make small prayer.
Jeep starts after adding a bit of gas direct to carb
God I love the simplicity of this old car.

Let jeep run for 30 minutes as a safety and warm up. No obvious issues.

I call around to see if I can grab a pal as a chase vehicle in case anything goes wrong on way to San Mateo. No dice.

The Jeep has not been driven for a year.
Gather warm clothes to work in the eve when adding sheets to Jeep at the Faire, plus work table, materials etc.
Plus googles and earmuffs for drive over to San Mateo since the jeep has no doors and its kinda windy and noisy at freeway speeds

530 pm I take off!

Get 2 blocks . 1st stop sign the trunk bike rack sitting on roof falls off. Stop jeep. Retrieve rack.

It had just been sitting on roof. I had totally forgotten I had stored it there.Ooops.

Return to house and drop off the rack.

Check tire inflation. They are OK. Think about checking water levels in radiator. Decide don't have time.
Take 2 . Drive off.

Traffic time on the freeway. Not bad I'm doing 30 mph.

Car starts to spurt and slow down around Menlo Park.

I think there could be something wrong. Maybe bad gas? Maybe something else?

Pull off. Realize the hood is steaming a bit.

Fuck.

Less then 2 hours of light in the day.

Stop at gas station.
Turn off engine.
Fill her up with gas. Then grab a pack of matches from gas clerk. I feel like I could use a smoke.

Notice on return to jeep that fuel is leaking from rear.
Double fuck.

Move jeep to parking area.
Spend 30 minutes unloading jeep for tools and seeing how I can mcgivvier a solution with stuff on hand.

One of the rubber fuel lines has a solid drip where it enters a metal tube.

Two inches from tail pipe.
Not a good spot.

Dispoable nitrate gloves and electrical tape are not a valid solution.

Start thinking about who to call. Already know no ones about.

A miracle happens.

June "Doc" Thompson pulls up to make a pay phone call. Doc is a long time IT client with a great student led non-profit called CASC . www.casc.net .

She notes I am under my jeep wrestling with the fuel tube. She offers help. I ask for a ride to a fairly nearby autoparts place and back.

We roll.

Auto parts place is a bit busy but I'm out within 20 minutes with 2 diameters of tubing and 8 clamps.

We get back to the gas station. I thank her and jump out. I can't believe my luck.

I jumped out to get to work.

Replaced the hose. A random chatty guy interrupts me as I have fuel pouring down my arm to tell me his pal has a bunch of postal jeeps. I tell him I can chat in a minute. I'm always on the look out for parts. We swap numbers, and I pass directions to costco to his pal for a tire repair.

10 minutes later, a couple young latin guys borrow my tool to cut something for their over heating car. I'm cool with that, but focused on my own repair. I feel I am starting to chase the light as the photographers say.

Its a regular party of repairs at this gas station.

The latin kids drive off. Then I realize "shit" I still need add water but have to move the jeep 20 feet to get to it.
I call out to them, they stop. They come back and kindly help me roll the jeep over to the water. Then they take off.

Another piece of luck.

I add water to a very very low radiator.

Then I realize my laptop, jacket, and goggles were in Doc's car. Who had no cell phone.

Luckily she had used my phone to call her friend in Palo Alto.

I rang her pal. Doc said she could drop off the jacket laptop etc at my Dad's. So happy I still have my car keys with me.

That was a huge relief.

But it would be a cold drive up, and without the googles and earmuffs ( no doors on the jeep) a less comfy drive. And so it was.

So I drove up to San Mateo with fierce concentration, had fire extinguisher handy just in case.
Pre-leak discovery it had been buried under maker faire related stuff.

Drove into the gate. Ran across Dale of Make Magazine. He showed me a couple options for spots.

I started setting up, the grass lit by the pallid orange street lamps. The natural light is now gone. It is 830 pm.

The LEGOJEep is now on the grass area to the right of the main entrance. Between the buildings.

Jeep in place, I walked over to Cyclecides area and Flaming Lotus Girls in the parking lot ( South West edge of the event). Lucked out nearly immediately with David of FLG for a ride back to PA. And left soon after.

We got to PA, my laptop was waiting for me at home. I took a shower to wash off the fuel. Still feel kinda tingly from the fuel. I guess my built up junkyard tolerance has evaporated.

Now I'm going back to San Mateo with stuff for the area setup and to add a few sheets. If they let me in.

Come on by Sat or Sunday to add a few LEGO bricks. The new hood pattern looks super.

A big shout out to MK for helping with the install. And ditto for all my other random helpers today, known and unknown. As well as the universe for letting this all happen.

kevin

LEGOJeep work party today til 8 pm and Thursday til 7 pm

Yep, its that annual time of the year to fire up the BBQ, scrape off the old LEGO's and roast them with organic meats and vegetables.

Then eat them.

Next we dance in a pagan ritual counter clockwise ( sound provided by KFJC) and carefully reskin the jeep in its new skin of LEGO sheets and LEGO bricks.

This annual ritual in Palo Alto is what keeps the yuppies away from my Dad's casa, and just by coincidence may have something to do with the Maker Faire this weekend.

OK so the scraping part, adding new sheets, and adding LEGO bricks is real.
And I'll fire up the BBQ and we will have organic hamburgers and links for lunch and dinner.

If anyone attempts a pagan dance around the jeep they get tossed from the premises.

So come on by post sili-valley work, or if not working come on down. I'll pick you up at Caltrain if you want.

What could be more entertaining then this feel good project?

Ring me for more dets and directions 415 640 3569.

thx all,
-kevin

Missile Dick Chicks Away ( Spot the typo), get the t-shirt or sticker

Had fun last night with Hadeen and Tom Kennedy playing fill in the colors.

They are off to Texas in a week or so with the New Missile Dick Chicks Missile truck for the Orange Art Car Parade in Houston. Such a grand adventure. I want to go!

The Missile Dick Chicks do great street theater with a political bent and plan to appear at the Orange Parade in Houston, the National Democratic Convention as well as the National Republican Convention.

Hadeen made a great illustration in black and white ( pictured above) of the Missile Dick Chicks. Tom did the lettering on the missile.

I got to be the color monkey, so I added colors at her direction. This was a great experiment for me on a new feature in Adobe Illustrator cs3 called Live Paint.

This little feature in CS3 pretty good.

Doing a bit of political art work felt really good.

Course this AM, I realize that the text we added on top is slightly misspelled.

Turns out that there will be a limited edition of 500 stickers with the special spelling (they were ordered before I caught the typo, oopsie), but the T-shirts will follow english norms of spelling.

More info on the Missile Dick Chicks at www.missiledickchicks.net or check out more on the Missile Dick Chicks Rocket Truck via Tom Kennedy's blog www.tomkennedyart.com/blog

So support the cause and contact Tom Kennedy for your sticker or t-shirt

A super fun Brunch show with Crank Ensemble ( and me) this Sunday

On Sunday April 20th is the Crank Ensemble brunch in Oakland.
I just know this will be a fun and unique event.

I'm in the band that Larnie Fox created ( the Crank Ensemble), and the
location has a uniquely gorgeous view of the east bay on high at Dutch
Boy Studios.

short descriptor:
Larnie Fox's Crank Ensemble creates rhythmic and repetitive patterns
using handmade crank-operated machines.

A good video link is www.vimeo.com/crankensemble ( but crank up
your computers' volume to 10 since there is a levels issue with the
current video release)

The gallery is worth coming to just for the spectacular view. Really.

A big Kudos to Polly for hosting this.

Waffles will be served, and we have a sound group led by the
internationally recognized Cheryl Leonard opening.

The Cranks and Larnie Fox will be profiled this Saturday in the
Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, and possibly the SJ mercury in an
article by Laura Casey.

So there may be a pretty good sized turn out.

Do get there early to get a good seat.

And ring me if you have any issues getting in: 415 640 3569

The cranks new site is up sorta (www.crankensemble.com), but you will
find more info about the band at www.myspace.com/cranksensemble

Our next show will be at Maker Fair on Sunday May 5th. After that
we have a show with Paul Cesewski on May 24th at the SF Dump.

I've been on the low key as of late and have not seen many people out
and about for the past 6 months. Nearly totally focused on remodeling
what was my Grandma's house in Richmond. So this is sorta my first
East Bay party, you could say. I still have at least month to go
before I'm done, but I am starting to see the light of day, I think.


show info:

At the Sometime Gallery

thesometimegallery.blogspot.com/


4/20: La Grande Jatte Crank

Polly Harrold's Sometime Gallery hosts an afternoon of musical
performance art and waffles on April 20th. Come hear Crank Ensemble
and Cheryl Leonard in the glass-lined sun-shined aerie. Popping,
plinking, clacking, clicking, Larnie Fox's Crank Ensemble creates
rhythmic and repetitive patterns using handmade crank-operated
machines. Cheryl E. Leonard, with A.L. Dentel and Karen Stackpole,
will perform new compositions and improvisations inspired by ocean
tides. Instruments will include shells, kelp, salt, sand, water and
stones.
The Waffletime is 1:00; Musical Performances start at 2:00. $10.
Tickets are available at the door, or through the performer's
webpages. Come early and enjoy conceptual waffle performance by the
Proprietor and Assistants; donations to benefit a friend. Park on the
street | stroll to the rear | step up three flights. Look for a sign.
In the Big Green Building at the Dutch Boy: 4701 San Leandro Street,
Oakland, 94601. (510) 536-6970 www.thesometimegallery.com

Wow my videos have wasted a lot of people time. 375 plus hours of time

I just discovered that videos I made have been seen by a lot of folk. Well at least it seems so to me.

I'm shocked I just discovered one of my videos has had over 7000 view, and 7 of them have more then 1000 views. I had no idea. I've wasted a lot of peoples time with my videos, and 15 more then 400 views. I suddenly feel like a videographer. I've not looked at youtube ( much less uploaded) in months. Or paid any attention to it.

At rough count thats 375 hours of peoples time. If they all just watched 1 minutes of these videos (With the rough minimum's I just listed) with the above account. Thats nearly 10 work weeks down the drain to me!

Single handely destroying productivity and bringing entertainment to the common folk.

Not that any of my videos are at the 100 k mark. I wonder how many actually are?

But still I guess I am doing my part to add to the distraction. Without any plan or intent to.

Ditto for not uploading on flickr. Course I think a broken camera has been a big factor. That and my all consuming focus on remodeling the Richmond house for my Dad so it can rent again. Big Daddy ( of Cyclecide) has been a massive help in getting stuff moving in the past few weeks.

The one that really shocks me inviewing numbers abnd feels like a compliment is the 2200 or so views on the yottub.
www.youtube.com/watch
and that was with me walking around the yottub with my laptop. Very geeky.

But it is the only video that I shot the video, edited it, added a sound bed, and wrote a script to read. This was not a planned shoot either. I just felt like doing it on the spur of the moment.

Need to create more moments like that. Must get camera replaced.

The rest are all just documentation of events that I've been lucky enough to be part of / at.

Crazy.

kevin

Poster for Brunch show April 20th

Don't miss this show. Too bad the rainbow waffleicious logo just did not fit. But you will love the waffles when you smell and munch them.

A poster for the upcoming show on pirate cat

Dig it .

kevin

Crank show Sunday April 13 at Pirate Cat Cafe in the Mission

The band I'm in ( the Crank Ensemble) has four upcoming shows in the near future.
Two shows in SF, a brunch show in East Bay, and one on the peninsula.

With one of the shows broadcast for real on the FM dial as well as streamed over the net.

So you can catch us just about anywhere you are.

So you don't have an excuse not to catch us in the Bay Area.

Crank Ensembles first live radio performance this Sunday at 6 PM April 13th.

@ the new Pirate Cat Radio cafe

Its a live Crank Ensemble show in all its improv percussive glory as directed by Larnie Fox.

I'll be performing with the rest of the "crankers". New instruments, new sets.

Right here in San Francisco this Sunday.

Catch it live in person and kick back with an excellent hand pressed coffee, or on the air waves in your car at 87.9 FM ( yes even in the East Bay) , or if really Sunday slacking catch the show at home streaming worldwide right to your computer.

www.piratecatradio.com/listen.php

The Cafe is at 21st and Florida in San Francisco's Mission district

Stop by and check out the new Pirate Cat Radio Studio and cafe. Come in, get on the air and watch live performers daily and nightly!
Pirate Cat Cafe is located at 2781 21st street in San Francisco. Open 7am - noon and 6pm to Midnight every day.

Donations at the door happily accepted. No one turned away.

More dets on the Crank Ensemble at www.myspace.com/crankensemble


Other upcoming shows include:

April 20th Le Grand Jatte Crank ( a Sunday Brunch show) at Sometimes Gallery in Oakland, at Dutch Boy Studios on with Cheryl E. Leonard, and Waffleicious ( waffelicious.org/ ) serving waffles. door opens at 1 pm, show starts at 2pm
thesometimegallery.blogspot.com/20...tml

Poster : www.infoflow.com/crankpost...allery.pdf

May 4th Sunday , Makers Faire San Mateo Fair Grounds
makerfaire.com/

May 23rd 8 pm Friday, San Francisco Dump with Paul Cesewski, current Artist in Residence at the SF Dump.
www.sunsetscavenger.com/AIR/nextshow.php

Jun 29 2008 Theater Yugen in San Francisco
www.theatreofyugen.org/