Year: 2006

Philco 40-180

My latest project. I'm restoring an old Philco console radio that I won on Ebay. I've always loved the look of 40's era console radios, and loved the idea of the family gathering around the radio each night to listen to serials, sports, and news from around the world. I've decided to restore the wooden cabinet of an old radio, and put a computer inside so we can use it to play back our collection of music, old-time radio adventure and sci-fi stories, and audiobooks. The cabinet I won is in rough shape, but is structurally sound - so it's a great candidate for restoration. The old tube radio inside is no longer functional. I'll start by stripping the finish, repairing the dents and scratches, and gutting the old electronics. I'm planning to post pictures here of the project as it progresses. These first shots are the "before" pics.


Baby Face

What a cutie! Now that she is looking less - let us say, 'squished' - I would have to say that she looks more like me, or at least more like a Lord. Of course, she looked like Lori for the first few weeks, while she was bullet-headed and wrinkly. Heh heh.



Scenes from Space #36

As much as I love seeing pictures of the International Space Station (ISS), I've got mixed feelings about the station itself. Has anyone ever seen the Tom Hanks movie "The Money Pit"? That's what the ISS is becoming. More and more of NASA's budget is being gobbled up by the station, leaving less and less for research satellites and robotic interplanetary missions. And the biggest problem is that with the budget crunches and shuttle problems of the last several years, we can never afford to put enough people on the ISS to actually do any science, which is the stated purpose for building the station in the first place. Instead, we can only afford to keep people on the station just to maintain it. Which means that it has really just become an example of our technological prowess in space, but does not serve any useful purpose. Which is why I'm torn. I'd love to see us do some science with it, or stop sinking money into it.

Shopping Cart Art

Yet more cool sculptures created from junk. These were created by Ptolemy Elrington for a project called RiverCare. I can't seem to find out exactly where they are, but they're near a river in the UK, if that narrows it down at all. heh. The sculptures are created from shopping carts pulled from the river, as part of an awareness campaign to encourage volunteers to adopt sections of the river.

Mommy and Me

Lori finally feels 'back to normal' - or at least normal enough to appear in pictures. She's a few nights of solid sleep, and isn't looking so dog-tired lately. What a cute pair of ladies!


Eyes Wide Open

Finally, a picture with her eyes open! So far, she scrunches her eyes closed every time a flash goes off. This time I managed to catch her unprepared.


Nap Time

The first of this pair was taken last night at 2AM. I went to wake her up for a feeding, and she just looked so cute. Lori took the second one this afternoon. She went out to run a few errands, and when she came back I was asleep on the couch, and Carter was asleep on my chest. We napped that way for at least an hour. It was so nice, we did it again later that night. Sometimes when she gets upset, and she isn't wet or hungry and the binky isn't helping, I'll lay down with her on my chest and it will mellow her right out. She just needs a little cuddle-time with her pops!


Edouard Martinet

I seem to have a real knack for coming across these types of artists lately. Edouard Martinet is a French scupltor who has been creating animals from scrap metal for the last ten years. Even more amazing, his pieces are created without welding. Take a lot at his work, it is simply amazing.

42 Words of Wisdom: #06

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."

- Douglas Adams

This one for the benefit of Katie Couric, who recently made some foolish remarks on her CBS news show. How can a woman with so little understanding of science be paid to voice her commentary in such a public forum? Does CBS have so little respect for its viewers to not even bother to fact-check the ridiculous things she planned to say? Astronomer Phil Plait (of the Bad Astronomy Blog) gave her a solid reaming for her ignorance, if you'd like to know more about it. My biggest concern is that lots of people with no science background will treat her words as "news", and the population will be become that tiny bit more confused about what NASA is actually for.