Cruising Right into Haunt Season
It's been a while since August 12th, so let's start catching up on the weeks following Pennsic and leading up to Haunt Season. As I said in my last post, I was kind of in a holding pattern until I got the call from Pennhurst, which came about a week after I updated. Deb, Bryan, Leaper, Nick, Jen, Nate, and I all made the cut for the 2014 season; this past weekend was our 4th, 5th, and 6th shows so far. More on that later.
Following Pennsic, I spent a few days reading some books that I had been meaning to finish over the Summer, including Zero to Maker, author David Lang's personal journey into the Maker Movement. It was a very inspirational read, being that my own adventure into making has become a part of my identity over the past few years.
The week of August 23rd was Lansdale's Festival of the Arts and Founder's Day fireworks. I helped Deb and Eea show their art. Despite the early morning rain, they both managed to sell a few pieces, and Deb even took in a commission or two that weekend. We had our traditional dinner out following the festival, and then went over to Bryan's for a small party that night.
The Arteeest.
We took care of Deb's parents' lawn while they were away in Alaska. I got to use the riding mower (a first for me).
The next weekend, Labor Day, was moving weekend for both Eea and my brother-in-law, John and his family. Deb and I divided the labor, with her helping John and I with Eea. We managed to get her set up in her fancy new apartment up in Catasaqua by the early afternoon, giving me enough time to come down to Barto and help complete John's move with the remaining daylight hours. Needless to say, we spent the next day stretched out. That Sunday evening, I had a Ann, Eric, Scott, and Eea over to my place for a test run of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, it has been at least 15 or more years since I last run an adventure, but I was chomping at the bit to try out 5th. I ended up prepping and running the introductory adventure for 1st level characters. Everything ran smoothly and everybody had a good time with me as the Dungeon Master. Deb even played an impressive Halfling Rogue, sneaking around and getting in the cheap shots.
Roll for initiative!
My 3D printing for the past month shifted from things I designed to commission work for things other people had designed and wanted me to print, ranging from Bulbasaur planters to Tardises (Tardii?). Each commission helps pay for the printer, which hit its 500th hour on September 5th. Even though I have yet to hear back from MAGFest about whether or not my vendor application was approved, I started working on another 8-bit figure. As I'm laying out the .SVG paths for extrusion on Autodesk 123D Design, I came to the realization that my aging laptop just cannot keep up with the demand. Ultimately, I decided on going back to a desktop unit that could be upgraded, but had enough processing power that it would be a long time before I did so. Bryan helped me find a nice Dell XPS8700 with an i7 processor, 16GB Ram, 1TB HDD, and a discrete 2GB graphics card. Waiting for it to arrive was painful, but I was happy with everything once it was all set up..and I even enjoyed a day off from work to celebrate the occasion.
I did get a chance to practice swapping filaments midrun in order to generate multicolor prints.
I also designed some custom tool holders to mount to the side of the printer.
One of the first things I tested with my new PC was the framerate on the Kinect scanner. Again, I was very pleased.
The weekend of September 7th was safety/actor training at Pennhurst in anticipation of the upcoming haunt season. I have to admit that the training session was actually very helpful. After several months of grumbling about auditions, it helped get me in the right mindset to start the season, which at that point was only 2 weeks away. We all got our assignments that afternoon - Deb and I would be working the line again, Bryan was given front room of the Dungeon, Leaper was to join 2 others in the Asylum main hall, Nick the boiler room in the Dungeon, Jen as the Asylum cell nurse, and Nate as the finale in the Tunnels.
The following weekend was Markland's War of the Seven Heads, which was hosted by Klonakillity down at Page's Farm. It was the first and only event Deb and I (as well as our other haunter friends) were going to make for Fall season. Turnout for POTLC was amazing. Nate and Leaper introduced their new GFs to the group, Cliffy introduced a coworker, the self-appointed Dragon Wizard to Markland, Kutz made a rare appearance, and even Eric and Scott came down to camp with us. Camp was packed. Deb and I had loaded a bunch of old gear into the truck for the blanket sale, and despite a steady rain, we both managed to get out on the field with our archery gear to shoot some frat as well as sell off a bunch of stuff. That evening was the Potaco feast - baked potatoes with taco salad toppings - followed by the unbardic competition. Unbardic is exactly as it sounds; performers were expected to bring their worst. Naturally, POTLC had 3 entries. Eric recited the Old Dun Cow as William Shatner. Cliff sang What Would You Do With a Drunken Sailor with no other lyrics, allthewhile splashing the contents of his tankard all over the place. He then proceed would interrupt the emcee every once in a while with that line for the remainder of the competition. Bed and the Sailors (Deb, with backup from the crew) sang the Oscar Mayer Weiner song, punctuating the Rs in the spelling with hearty pirate "ARRRRS" instead. Ultimately the winners were two ladies who improvised a port-o-potty version of Let it Go (I'll leave the lyrics to your imagination). The winners were awarded..wait for it..a ball gag. This is how Markland bardic should be. Speaking of port-o-potty, the one behind the castle was converted to a disco for the weekend..of course. So yeah, war was kickass. Glad I didn't miss it.
Red and Black was doing a fine job holding its own on the field.
Bed and the Sailors
Work. I have plenty of it. We have been working on a series of related cases that have pretty much been dominating the queue since June. I think I mentioned it in my previous post, so I won't get too far into details. On top of that, I have been working closely with Bill on managing our laboratory instrument calibration and maintenance program, which basically means that my ancillary work consists of reviewing lots of paperwork. I'm told we have a new hire on the way, a bench chemist that I will be training into the anti-counterfeiting program. It'll be nice to have an extra set of brains. Oh, and I do get to gush about another news story that came out of our test purchase initiative. I worked with the evidence a couple years ago, but the arrests only happened last month:
4 Family Members Accused Of Running Fake Online Pharmacy Network Operating In Florida, Canada And India
Speaking of work..Pennhurst Asylum, job #2. The week leading up to the 19th was dress rehearsals followed by a soft opening for friends and family on Thursday. Nate, Deb, and I didn't have to attend dress rehearsal, but we did anyway. We ended up in adjoining rooms in the Dungeon that night, Deb running around with a sheet over her head and a bottle of bleach, Nate and I in drop panels, bickering like a demented Statler and Waldorf (look it up, kids). We were in place for soft opening night, back as patient Jane Doe and her doctor, Malefactus Somethinstan, performing line/outdoor entertainment. A few of our friends from Coffee Night came by for the sneak preview, and we chatted about their experience at the diner after the show. Friday was opening night, and away we go..
Oh, great. Here we go again.
Posing for photos is part of the job, and we love it.
It's not often you get paid to be a creep.
Despite Pennhurst being open, Deb and I took off Saturday the 20th in order to attend Maker Faire NYC. We were at the gate when it opened, and the whole 9 hours wasn't nearly enough to take everything in. We looked at 3D printers, science projects, a Coke and Mentos show, life sized Mousetrap, a lecture from a guy who developed a Kinect 3D scanning rig and is printing a scale model recreation of Coney Island's Luna Park. There were Burning Man art pieces; a giant pedal-powered crocodile that played disco and a robotic giraffe that played techno. There were all sorts of new filaments and attachments for my printers. I looked into electroplating my prints. We saw the Maker documentary. We watched a cannon puff macaroni and cereal. I got to see the Ben Franklin head that I helped print. Deb played a robot violin. There was a car covered in animatronic fish and lobsters, all synced up and singing. There was a minivan converted into a mobile hacking/fabrication workshop. We had a demo of a Shopbot CNC router. We looked at solar prominences with a specialized telescope. I learned how pinball machine actuators worked. Deb learned felting. There. Was. So. Much. To. See. Period.
It's hard to find just one picture to summarize Maker Faire, so here's a link to the ones I took.
Deb plays a robotic violin.
We the Founders Project - a crowdsourced 3D printed bust of Benjamin Franklin. Naturally, I had to sign up when I heard about this project. I printed his left eye (the green one).
And that was the past 6?! weeks. The next 5 weekends are all about Pennhurst. I'm also back in the workshop, soldering relays and hacking a smoke machine for my Halloween yard display. I'll be 36 years old in three weeks (still a man-child). Oh, I guess we should get around to planning for our post-haunt vacation. Needless to say, it's a busy month.
Till next time!
Warranty voided.
Following Pennsic, I spent a few days reading some books that I had been meaning to finish over the Summer, including Zero to Maker, author David Lang's personal journey into the Maker Movement. It was a very inspirational read, being that my own adventure into making has become a part of my identity over the past few years.
The week of August 23rd was Lansdale's Festival of the Arts and Founder's Day fireworks. I helped Deb and Eea show their art. Despite the early morning rain, they both managed to sell a few pieces, and Deb even took in a commission or two that weekend. We had our traditional dinner out following the festival, and then went over to Bryan's for a small party that night.
The Arteeest.
We took care of Deb's parents' lawn while they were away in Alaska. I got to use the riding mower (a first for me).
The next weekend, Labor Day, was moving weekend for both Eea and my brother-in-law, John and his family. Deb and I divided the labor, with her helping John and I with Eea. We managed to get her set up in her fancy new apartment up in Catasaqua by the early afternoon, giving me enough time to come down to Barto and help complete John's move with the remaining daylight hours. Needless to say, we spent the next day stretched out. That Sunday evening, I had a Ann, Eric, Scott, and Eea over to my place for a test run of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, it has been at least 15 or more years since I last run an adventure, but I was chomping at the bit to try out 5th. I ended up prepping and running the introductory adventure for 1st level characters. Everything ran smoothly and everybody had a good time with me as the Dungeon Master. Deb even played an impressive Halfling Rogue, sneaking around and getting in the cheap shots.
Roll for initiative!
My 3D printing for the past month shifted from things I designed to commission work for things other people had designed and wanted me to print, ranging from Bulbasaur planters to Tardises (Tardii?). Each commission helps pay for the printer, which hit its 500th hour on September 5th. Even though I have yet to hear back from MAGFest about whether or not my vendor application was approved, I started working on another 8-bit figure. As I'm laying out the .SVG paths for extrusion on Autodesk 123D Design, I came to the realization that my aging laptop just cannot keep up with the demand. Ultimately, I decided on going back to a desktop unit that could be upgraded, but had enough processing power that it would be a long time before I did so. Bryan helped me find a nice Dell XPS8700 with an i7 processor, 16GB Ram, 1TB HDD, and a discrete 2GB graphics card. Waiting for it to arrive was painful, but I was happy with everything once it was all set up..and I even enjoyed a day off from work to celebrate the occasion.
I did get a chance to practice swapping filaments midrun in order to generate multicolor prints.
I also designed some custom tool holders to mount to the side of the printer.
One of the first things I tested with my new PC was the framerate on the Kinect scanner. Again, I was very pleased.
The weekend of September 7th was safety/actor training at Pennhurst in anticipation of the upcoming haunt season. I have to admit that the training session was actually very helpful. After several months of grumbling about auditions, it helped get me in the right mindset to start the season, which at that point was only 2 weeks away. We all got our assignments that afternoon - Deb and I would be working the line again, Bryan was given front room of the Dungeon, Leaper was to join 2 others in the Asylum main hall, Nick the boiler room in the Dungeon, Jen as the Asylum cell nurse, and Nate as the finale in the Tunnels.
The following weekend was Markland's War of the Seven Heads, which was hosted by Klonakillity down at Page's Farm. It was the first and only event Deb and I (as well as our other haunter friends) were going to make for Fall season. Turnout for POTLC was amazing. Nate and Leaper introduced their new GFs to the group, Cliffy introduced a coworker, the self-appointed Dragon Wizard to Markland, Kutz made a rare appearance, and even Eric and Scott came down to camp with us. Camp was packed. Deb and I had loaded a bunch of old gear into the truck for the blanket sale, and despite a steady rain, we both managed to get out on the field with our archery gear to shoot some frat as well as sell off a bunch of stuff. That evening was the Potaco feast - baked potatoes with taco salad toppings - followed by the unbardic competition. Unbardic is exactly as it sounds; performers were expected to bring their worst. Naturally, POTLC had 3 entries. Eric recited the Old Dun Cow as William Shatner. Cliff sang What Would You Do With a Drunken Sailor with no other lyrics, allthewhile splashing the contents of his tankard all over the place. He then proceed would interrupt the emcee every once in a while with that line for the remainder of the competition. Bed and the Sailors (Deb, with backup from the crew) sang the Oscar Mayer Weiner song, punctuating the Rs in the spelling with hearty pirate "ARRRRS" instead. Ultimately the winners were two ladies who improvised a port-o-potty version of Let it Go (I'll leave the lyrics to your imagination). The winners were awarded..wait for it..a ball gag. This is how Markland bardic should be. Speaking of port-o-potty, the one behind the castle was converted to a disco for the weekend..of course. So yeah, war was kickass. Glad I didn't miss it.
Red and Black was doing a fine job holding its own on the field.
Bed and the Sailors
Work. I have plenty of it. We have been working on a series of related cases that have pretty much been dominating the queue since June. I think I mentioned it in my previous post, so I won't get too far into details. On top of that, I have been working closely with Bill on managing our laboratory instrument calibration and maintenance program, which basically means that my ancillary work consists of reviewing lots of paperwork. I'm told we have a new hire on the way, a bench chemist that I will be training into the anti-counterfeiting program. It'll be nice to have an extra set of brains. Oh, and I do get to gush about another news story that came out of our test purchase initiative. I worked with the evidence a couple years ago, but the arrests only happened last month:
4 Family Members Accused Of Running Fake Online Pharmacy Network Operating In Florida, Canada And India
Speaking of work..Pennhurst Asylum, job #2. The week leading up to the 19th was dress rehearsals followed by a soft opening for friends and family on Thursday. Nate, Deb, and I didn't have to attend dress rehearsal, but we did anyway. We ended up in adjoining rooms in the Dungeon that night, Deb running around with a sheet over her head and a bottle of bleach, Nate and I in drop panels, bickering like a demented Statler and Waldorf (look it up, kids). We were in place for soft opening night, back as patient Jane Doe and her doctor, Malefactus Somethinstan, performing line/outdoor entertainment. A few of our friends from Coffee Night came by for the sneak preview, and we chatted about their experience at the diner after the show. Friday was opening night, and away we go..
Oh, great. Here we go again.
Posing for photos is part of the job, and we love it.
It's not often you get paid to be a creep.
Despite Pennhurst being open, Deb and I took off Saturday the 20th in order to attend Maker Faire NYC. We were at the gate when it opened, and the whole 9 hours wasn't nearly enough to take everything in. We looked at 3D printers, science projects, a Coke and Mentos show, life sized Mousetrap, a lecture from a guy who developed a Kinect 3D scanning rig and is printing a scale model recreation of Coney Island's Luna Park. There were Burning Man art pieces; a giant pedal-powered crocodile that played disco and a robotic giraffe that played techno. There were all sorts of new filaments and attachments for my printers. I looked into electroplating my prints. We saw the Maker documentary. We watched a cannon puff macaroni and cereal. I got to see the Ben Franklin head that I helped print. Deb played a robot violin. There was a car covered in animatronic fish and lobsters, all synced up and singing. There was a minivan converted into a mobile hacking/fabrication workshop. We had a demo of a Shopbot CNC router. We looked at solar prominences with a specialized telescope. I learned how pinball machine actuators worked. Deb learned felting. There. Was. So. Much. To. See. Period.
It's hard to find just one picture to summarize Maker Faire, so here's a link to the ones I took.
Deb plays a robotic violin.
We the Founders Project - a crowdsourced 3D printed bust of Benjamin Franklin. Naturally, I had to sign up when I heard about this project. I printed his left eye (the green one).
And that was the past 6?! weeks. The next 5 weekends are all about Pennhurst. I'm also back in the workshop, soldering relays and hacking a smoke machine for my Halloween yard display. I'll be 36 years old in three weeks (still a man-child). Oh, I guess we should get around to planning for our post-haunt vacation. Needless to say, it's a busy month.
Till next time!
Warranty voided.
