Monday, November 21, 2011

Halloween 2011 pumpkin carvings

this post by my John

Halloween in the D
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's devil's night in the D. and anyone who grew up in the Detroit area knows that up here, we take halloween very seriously. I thought I would share a couple of this year's jack-o-lanterns that I just finished carving. In typical fashion, it all starts with a plan.

First, you find a decent image and due a little photoshop magic to convert it into a posterized image with three levels of grey. I did this with the old glory caster back in the challenge, but used 5 levels of grey. Then, the paper image is taped to the gourd.



Using my handy dandy little roller pokey thingy, I trace all of the edges of the pattern transferring the image to the pumpkin.



Remove the pattern and take a peek. Make sure everything is traced because putting the pattern back on isn't an option.



Now, take a sharpie and darken the lines. A sharpie works great and doesn't wear away with all the pumpkin juice that accumulates.



Gut the pumpkin next. save the seeds. they are gold.



Now, with cheapo saw tools and a cheapo wood carving tool, cut out the voids where the lightest color is and remove the peel from the middle grey areas.



clean up the surfaces of the greys with a broader faced chisel.



Drop in a candle and shut off the lights. Heeeeeeere's Johnny!



Anyone know this guy? He was a Detroit TV icon in the 70's.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

I has a belated birfday post



Sunday was my birthday
Monday was my John's birthday

we went to the
Yankee Air Museum


www.yankeeairmuseum.org

our first visit
I bought him a B-24 Liberator cap
I got a shot glass that says
Some Landings Are Better Than Others

we ate dinner
at Mexican Fiesta
mexicanfiesta.net

we celebrated with
caramel apple cupcakes from
Nom Nom's Cupcake Factory & Sweets Shoppe
queennomnoms.com

it was a beautiful day Sunday
it rained Monday
but, that's alright
we share

Saturday, August 6, 2011

everything tastes great when...



hey y'all!
this is one
of my favorite
vintage commercials
do you remember
seeing it on
the tv?
do you like
Ritz crackers?
if so, what
do you like
to put on them?

I like Andy Griffith as "Matlock", too

Saturday, June 18, 2011

kitty family tree grows


Birdie Num Num ("The Party" 1968)
aka Biscuit
this is Tootsie's brother
this photo was taken last year
one Sunday morning
my John heard him mewing
he was inside a bush
John had to get a ladder
and rescue him

when I introduced Tootsie last April
I didn't know she was in the family way
on April 24, 2011
I fed and watered her
noticed she looked uncomfortable
next thing you know
a kitten's coming out!
she gave birth to 5 kittens
in our cat house outside


Devendra 'Dev' Alahan
named after my favorite character
on Coronation Street


what's a 'runt'?


bib on and ready to eat


no bib


Shemp
named after Alex Trebek's (JEOPARDY!) favorite 'Stooge'

if, you can't leave a comment
please, email it to me
salemslot9@aol.com

Thursday, May 12, 2011

my John took third place in guitar contest!


prize
Mustang™ II
Amplifier

here is a link to the Fender website.
http://www.fender.com/products/mustang/models.php?prodNo=230002

I'm sooo proud of him!
thank you
to everyone who voted for John
and
sent positive comments
he really appreciates your support

here is a link to the contest final tallies
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/274415-winners-2011-tdpri-build-challenge.html

Thursday, May 5, 2011

please, vote for my John's guitar!

2011 TDPRI Build Challenge
vote for motor_city_tele
voting starts today
check out John's thread
motor_city_tele
to see how he built this guitar





Here are the links to vote.
the polls will be open for 5 days

This first one is the link to register first – voting is only open to registered members.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/register.php


This is a link to the rules & pictures and videos of each entrant.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/


These are the individual polls themselves. No pictures or anything – just the list of names and the actual ballot.


http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/273507-vote-most-innovative-build-innovative-design-solution.html

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/273508-vote-most-beautiful-finished-guitar-looks-best-you.html

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/273505-vote-best-work-progress-thread.html

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/273503-vote-best-final-product-overall.html

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/273506-vote-best-choice-parts-overall-best-combination-parts.html

thank you!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

GO TIGERS! and Tootsie the kitten



the Detroit Tigers
play today at
4pm on fox

this is Tootsie
aka Toots, Tootsie Roll, Tootsie Pop Tart
one of two kittens
from Chowderhead's
second batch

lil smug face


pretty stripes
lil white bib and booties


Tootsie checking out
Cotton the squirrel




I'll show you
the other kitten
next time...

enjoy your weekend!

Monday, February 14, 2011

best valentine ever!



my Johnny sent
this to me
from work

I hope you
all share a
lil bit of
love today

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Shake Shack Squirrel

no, this isn't one of our squirrels
but, I wanted to share it with you anyroad
if you love burgers
visit a hamburger today
http://aht.seriouseats.com/


Some people might see the snowstorm that just hit much of the Northeast as a reason to stay bundled-up inside. Others—in this case, burger lovers in New York City—see it as an opportunity to go to Shake Shack in Madison Square Park without having to endure a long line. But as our Burger / Food Lab correspondent J. Kenji Lopez-Alt found out today at the first Polar Brrrger Club, you may have to endure ravenous squirrels picking at your leftovers. He said:

I've seen bold squirrels before, but this one set a new record. He ate a fallen tomato, stuck his head in Reverend Dave's (of Burger Conquest) beer, licked my almost-empty free hot chocolate cup clean (which, by the way, was fantastic—I think it's just heated up chocolate custard), and finally went away after I gave him a french fry, which he promptly ran up a tree and ate.

Sure beats acorns!







p.s.
our squirrels do "knock" at our door
and take peanuts out of our hands
lol