23:19 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/lkyfwr #
13:19 Blog: Cookies are better than waterboarding tinyurl.com/lq4l2a #
13:19 Blog: The unsurprising face of the BNP tinyurl.com/lvenbg #
13:26 We shall be barbecuing at Damian’s house from 7ish . Bring meat products and drinks. #
15:21 Only two bikes recovered on today’s fishing trip- a Sarecen and a Razesa road bike. #
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BNP candidates for the European and local elections are racist idiots. This is not a revelation is it. But it’s something that needs to be repeated regularly because some people haven’t figured it out yet.
24 wouldn’t be as much fun if Jack Bauer made suspects a nice cup of tea and sat down for a chat with them, but in the real world torture is worse than useless. Interrogation works better if you can build up a rapport with the subject, gaining their respect or disproving their prejudices. Even something as simple as providing the right type of biscuits can work incredibly well.
23:20 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/ko3tnh #
09:18 I just dug out my Strand Books shoulder bag and it’s still got Central Park acorns in it. #
10:14 I forgot to bring naked bike ride flyers to the Cyclist Touring Club convention. Nudity fail. #
11:38 109 more cyclists would save the country £1million in Health/fuel/congestion costs. #
11:44 Manchester wants to cut road safety budget to pay for more road building. #
12:58 Give all drivers a one year ban. Many of them won’t get back in their cars afterwards. #
13:25 I’m never good at the mingling part of meetings #
16:19 Blog: Lots of Bromptons at the CTC conference tinyurl.com/mpb6kx #
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23:18 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/lvlp99 #
13:55 Scale: Hot Rods and Custom Stuff tinyurl.com/ndmrkb #
17:41 Back on my tourer after nearly 2 months riding other bikes. It feels odd, almost like I’ve returned after a string of affairs. #
18:02 I’m not just giving naked bike ride flyers to hot chicks. Occasionally I’ll hand one to a bloke. #
18:47 Got a flat tyre, so I’ve dropped out of critical mass. Arse! #
18:50 Tyre inflated. Have rejoined mass. #
19:11 My slow puncture and I are heading home. #
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This professional customising shop has build photos of many of its projects online. If you know how it’s done in real life you can better replicate it in scale.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
00:20 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/pk5px9 #
08:05 Scale: The Jalopy Journal tinyurl.com/qvkbcx #
11:20 Blog: Dead Snow tinyurl.com/pcnejn #
12:21 Blog: Transforminators tinyurl.com/rx8u7c #
12:50 @Loupie That depends on what you dreamt Twitter was doing to you. #
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09:21 Blog: Bacon Manhattan? tinyurl.com/qe58xf #
11:46 Shitty weather + I’m a lightweight = no trip to the studio today. Doing Venn stuff instead. #
14:08 Scale: The Ferrari 2CV tinyurl.com/q9tgmu #
15:20 @pablowapsi I’d carry on doing what I’m doing now but make a living from it :-S #
15:25 On Two Wheels- Rat Rod Bikes tinyurl.com/qcbu5g #
15:25 @pablowapsi Here’s hopin’ #
17:13 Save the World: Dick Strawbridge on how it’s easy to be green tinyurl.com/rat7o3 #
17:13 Save the World: Feed in tariffs for microgeneration start next year tinyurl.com/p3ys92 #
22:20 Blog: Bizarre Ships- American River Steamers tinyurl.com/ok3bn3 #
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From the Steam Geek archives-
I’m not sure what etiquette, if any, covers the scanning of pages from out of print books to post on the internet for the edification of others. So for this chapter I’m just going to sample a few pages. Admittedly, they are the ones with pictures on them.
We all know what an American river steamer looks like from Westerns and musicals. What I never knew was that they were incredibly shallow draught craft, to navigate up the rivers. Because Iron was at a premium at the time, they utilised wood for as much as possible, including the drive shaft.
There were two distinct styles of river boat, the Easter and Western. Eastern boats ran up the Hudson and in the Long Island Sound, Western boats in the Mississippi- Missouri- Arkansas- Ohio- Red River basin. Various quirks of design made them unstable and the Western boats were intentionally built for a short life because they were likely to rip their hulls apart on concealed tree trunks or be otherwise disabled within five years. (A “Sawyer” was a floating tree entangled by its roots and alternately raised and depressed by the force of the current; it usually gave warning of its presence. Presumably where Mark Twain got the name for his character as well.)
More information about modern steamboats at Steamboats.org
When Andy died I was given his rather large collection of Transformers and GI Joes and told to find something creative to do with them. Since then around 200 of them have found new homes all around the world through bot-crossing, but that still leaves a very big pile of them sitting in my studio.
The Transformed and GI Blues pictures are images of the jumbled robots and soldiers inspired by a shot I took whilst emptying Andy’s flat. They’re available to buy as prints.
Half of any profit I make will be going to Manchester Rag, an organisation Andy was closely involved with and if anybody who knew him would like a print I’ll try to get them one at cost price.
American readers can get prints through devintart- Transformed collection, GI Blues collection.
British and European readers can get prints through Photobox- Transformed album, GI Blues album. If you want to have a canvas print, or any number of other interesting things, click on the Create Product button and it will tell you if the resolution’s good enough and let you crop the image to fit if necessary.
The Jalopy Journal is an online car magazine specialising in more traditional rods and customs. It also has a busy forum for you to dive into, so you shouldn’t be lacking inspiration.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
I missed this when it was announced, but from next April homeowners with microgeneration systems will be guaranteed a payment for electricity they generate and feed into the grid. Exact details haven’t been released, and this article in the Guardian has some suggestions on that front.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
4) Most eco-renovation take decades to pay back the cost
Every time we decide to make an investment in an eco-project, the subject of payback comes up. It is possible to do the sums, and before we spend any hard earned cash I like to make sure that it’s a good investment. For example, loft insulation can pay for itself in two winters, and with the 2010 feed-in tariff I would expect solar PV to pay for itself in about seven or eight years, and a DIY solar thermal system to heat your hot water should have paid for itself in four or five years. But surely this is missing the point: when it comes to environmentally friendly projects we seem unable to accept the fact that it can be an investment and will add to the value of the house. What is the payback time for a new bathroom or kitchen? If you install solar photovoltaic panels you can reasonably expect them to easily last 25 to 30 years. Everyone knows a new kitchen makes a house more saleable, but in the current economic climate, how much more saleable is a house that will cost the new owners very little to run or may even generate an income?
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
A Ferrari F355 chassis with 2CV body. Mad, but the sort of thing you could model.
via Jalopnik
Technorati tag: Scale Models
23:21 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/op75y6 #
08:25 Banoffee for breakfast! #
08:30 RT @Danacea: Buffy movie – but no Joss, and nothing to do with the TV series! bit.ly/wVfk0 #
09:56 Not inspired by this week’s films. If anyone wants to see Night at the Museum 2 or 12 Rounds then I’ll look up times. #
11:44 What ever possessed me to fill the trees with cross hatching? #
11:46 @timdifford I’d recommend a single speed bit.ly/NVPJ5 #
12:07 @timdifford I’d say simplicity, there are fewer components to break. And riding a single speed is relaxing. #
13:24 @timdifford If I didn’t already own two bikes I’d be tempted. #
13:51 Save the World: Car free Times Square tinyurl.com/od5z44 #
15:20 On Two Wheels- Boris Johnson’s near miss tinyurl.com/quuhbz #
15:20 The modern idiot is here and plain to see. #
17:20 Blog: How gay marriage causes earthquakes tinyurl.com/owz3tq #
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