A derby made of pinewood, you say?
So it's Pinewood Derby season again, and I'll be helping (if you can call it 'help') a nephew with his entry. I found some nifty templates and ideas in this PDF from Pack 4900 (I put a copy of the PDF on my local servers to prevent any bandwith expenses on their part. Update: At the author's request, I have removed the local copy and the link now goes to Pack 4900's hosted file). I like the mix of 'go fast' and 'look cool' ideas they have. Anyway, my expertise is pretty much limited to making sure the axles and tires don't have any rough spots and then adding some old coins as weight to bring it up to the regulation maximum. I believe we're shooting for a "flame" motif this year, as everyone knows that flames painted on cars makes them go faster. :) Were I still doing this as a participant, I'd probably make a TARDIS-mobile or a "Back to the Future" DeLorean homage. As I understand it, a lot of the parents can now make their own cars that "break" a lot of the rules (or use ones they've agreed upon) to try and make the vehicles go even faster using wheels, weights, and other things that would disqualify cars from the standard races. I also figure it helps to cut down a little bit on giving the scouts a little too much edge over their competitors who might not have access to digital imaging and 3D sculpting equipment or what have you.
I've got a little more to go on for that new webcomic I mentioned last posting. It's looking like a return to fantasy RPG subjects for me (yay!) on this one. I think it's required to be stand-alone, so don't look for any Nodwick cameos. I've got a slate of characters in mind that I'll run past the Powers What Is tomorrow. The challenge is going to be that it's a twice-a-week feature, so plot and arc become problematic; they need to be short or simple to follow so the feature doesn't get bogged down in detail so heavy that even constant readers have to click back to see what just happened. I believe I can manage that, have fun, and give fans of tabletop RPGs something that they'll want to see more of. If my idea for a "Mook Army" for the villain goes through, I'd like to apologize in advance to the French; due to a spelling of what I'm calling them, it made sense they'd speak French (at least to me), and the only translator I can afford is Google, assisted by two years of High School French which I'm pretty sure my brain overwrote with TV show theme songs by now. But the best thing of all is that it'll be free to read, so you won't have to subscribe to anything. More soon!
For that project, I'll need caffeine: Starbucks is now offering drums of coffee, which seems to be causing some concern. To which I say, "obviously anyone who is horrified hasn't been to a 7-11 or other convenience store in the past decade or so." And I don't mean just Big Gulps. They've been offering 64oz (and even larger) insulated mugs, originally for their soda fountain. And they work wonderfully, especially if you nurse a soda or any other beverage over a day or more (yep, they stay cold and fizzy that long in the right weather). A year or so after I bought my first one (I have two, as originally I thought the various franchises would frown upon someone using another chain's cup, but they've ceased to care) I started getting asked what I thought was an odd question: "Is that a fountain drink or coffee?" Coffee? 64 ounces of it? But then I realized it could work: It probably stays hot for hours, and assuming the purchaser doesn't consume it all themselves, it'd be an easy way to send one person to the Stop-N-Rob to get a Thermos of coffee for several people. I'd almost be tempted to add a spigot to the bottom of the mug for easier pouring. And really, unless you're going to down Starbuck's new drink in short order, it's probably a bad value; their cup doesn't look insulated, so even if it's iced (and I don't know what percentage of their iced drinks is ice), it's going to be tepid pretty quickly, and I'm betting the price will start your heart faster than the caffeine.
City of Heroes has extended its winter event through the end of January, which works out well for anyone wanting to collect the candycanes needed to buy all the goodies (costume bits, auras, etc.). They're also having a Double XP weekend coming up, so if you've got someone stuck in the grind somewhere, or you just want to level the cookies out of a new toon, that'll be the time to do it. I have to admire the game for all the updates and content they keep adding to it; a friend of mine got the DC Universe game over the holidays, and he says "it's good, but it's no City of Heroes." Though there's one thing CoH might want to consider updating someday. It's a small thing, and maybe it only bugs me, but... It's really starting to seem odd to see all of those old, clunky CRT monitors everywhere. Sure, the newer areas have LCD panels, but you still fight crime in offices that apparently have a service contract a decade long with some guy who has a warehouse full of the things. :)
More snow is on tap for us, and that kind of messed up a project Cristi wanted to do with her class (she probably won't have school on Thursday, and the project was supposed to 'cure' outside for only one day). So I suggested something I remembered reading about in a short story somewhere: Chocolate lace. You basically drizzle chocolate on snow and get these lattice-treats that add a touch of elegance (which means they don't count towards making you fat. True fact). You can also do the same with heated maple syrup. Now we just have to incorporate bacon somehow...
While I head off to the food lab, here's some other things to do while the drifts pile up around the windows other than wonder if George Lucas really thinks the world is going to end in 2012:
- This next link goes to a blog with two embedded trailers for In The Dark, starring the "Mirror, Mirror" version of Wil Wheaton.
- Until I find the next one, this is my favorite geek-crochet project of all time.
- ThinkGeek once again rolls a natural 20 and gives us the d20 of Destiny.
- Goblin War Machine is a side-scrolling medieval monster truck upgrade game where you can crush or cannonball your victims into valuable skulls that let you buy better parts for your battle wagon.
- So there's no J. Jonah Jameson in the new Spider-Man reboot (the link also has some new set photos). I guess that means the story will stay firmly in high school, where Peter is a photographer for his school paper or something.
- A few posts ago, we had a camera mounded on the end of a swinging sword. Continuing this concept, here's a Smurf's-eye view of being strapped to a flying arrow.
- Dungeon Dice is a simple 6-sider combat game with "spells" that can modify your rolling abilities. A good time-waster if you have your laptop at the gaming table and the DM is still in the bathroom.
- If you have the cash and can get in before the January 20th deadline, you could own some NASA beef pot roast from the Apollo era. I see a lot of gross stuff on the 'net, but for some reason, this one makes me a little queasy.
- Until the mid-80's, Northwest Airlines used to have a division called Northwest Orient Airlines (NOW). They had custom cutlery made for their in-flight food service that will probably soon become a novelty collectible, if I know my internet.
- Back to weaponry for a bit. In case you were wondering what an arc-welder powered sword fight would look like, you may now stare into the biggest violation of safety guidelines ever... this week.
- And we wrap up with Rebuild. It's a zombie game, but a zombie-aftermath rebuilding game. Designate resources and people to reclaim and rebuild while fending off more of the walking dead. Strategy with braaaaiiinssss.