Still can’t figure out what to do about the reflection that should be there. Does anyone besides me even notice?

It’s been a remarkably productive week for me. I’ve been full of that strange, relentless urge to do, and have tossed aside all those lame excuses that prevent us from fulfilling such urges.

One particular task I finally got around to was trying out Body Double for body casting. The energy surrounding the project idea got pretty high, and we ended up exceeding our supplies (I had enough to do about a face or two, and we tried to do a full body cast). Particularly frustrating was the fact that we could only find one roll of plaster bandages.

None the less, we did manage to get something out of the casting, and I learned quite a few things:

1) A working time of five minutes includes the time you spend stirring.
2) Using small cups of mixture at a time results in less waste, and better results
3) Always buy twice as much as you think you’ll need.

Working shots below the cut:

After trying to mix a giant pot of the casting agent, I realized that I had spent 3 of the 5 minutes of “working time” stirring. We quickly apply the casting agent to our nubile, barely-legal model.

Even without the poor choice for mixing, we still had far too little material for the surface area we wanted to work with — upper lip to mid-thigh, and 270 degrees around. Instead we barely covered from chest to groin, and only about 90 degrees around.

Pretty soon, we just had to tear chunks of congealing rubber out of the pot, and hastily shove it into the gaps we had left.

Even without the poor choice for mixing, we still had far too little material for the surface area we wanted to work with — upper lip to mid-thigh, and 270 degrees around. Instead we barely covered from chest to groin, and only about 90 degrees around.

Luckily, the one package of plaster bandages we found was enough to cover the surface area we had covered. The dowel rods create a flat plane to lay the inverted shell on later, when we create the postive, and the plaster shell is acting merely as a support structure for the negative mold.

Our plan had been to cast a cloudy, semi-translucent plastic into the mold, and wire it as a wall-hanging lamp. In this shot, I ruefully examine the inadequate shell to support the on/off pull chain I had planned.

Body Double’s layering method shows a stunning amount of detail in the hand, considering that the entire process took less than two hours, including set up. Compare this to the four hours I spent inside the alginate/plaster shell when I learned the technique (my instructor had admitted that the alginate had probably lost some of its chemical potency during it’s long period in storage, but I argue that it’s just another point in favor of a two-part chemical, which is completely inert until mixed.)

JAHWOBBLE.COM

What are the chances that I would check the website of one of my favorite english bands, ONE WEEK after they played Chicago!!?!!

Note to self: Image idea for Archetyped!: Solace, like a drug.

Church Property For Sale

Oh, dear gods, yes. This right here, this is the dream. i could covert the pews into stadium seating and show indie films above the altar. There’s a commercial kitchen, and plenty of space on the various levels for the coffeehouse, the art gallery, not to mention my shooting studio, darkroom, offices, living quarters…..and even plenty of room after that for a bunch of my friends to move in with me.

Never mind that it’s a historic building. Never mind how much fun I’d have wiring the sucker up and redecorating the interiors. It’s a fricking R-4-zoned church, fer crying out loud!

This is why hanging out with my family is a bad idea. I look at this stuff rather than do work.

Anyone want to loan me a few million dollars? You could move in with me.

Agents’ visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior: 12/ 17/ 2005

NEW BEDFORD — A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung’s tome on Communism called “The Little Red Book.” (….)
The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand’s class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents’ home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

Chicago Tribune | Conservatives miffed by Bush `holiday’ card
Christmas not named in White House mailing

This is total crap, and so unbelievably offensive to me that I am literally shaking with rage right now.

“This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture,” said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Yeah, because it’s not good enough that I have to suffer through their moral agenda creeping its way into every aspect of my life, they also need to make sure they have cultural superiority, too.

You know what? I’m not Christian. Nor am I a criminal or a miscreant. In fact, the statistics show that being religious affliation has no effect on criminal capacity.

I am so gods-damned sick of being treated like a second-class citizen. We founded this country to get away from this kind of persecution.

(article ganked from Pathogen.

I had to take Maggie into the shop. I initially had been making jokes about how Maggie and I were fighting over my smoking, because she only initially seemed to have problems when I’d been smoking. Last week, she stalled out for nearly an hour after I’d been out clubbing. I called it an argument, and said that she finally, petulantly agreed to let me go home when the gas engine finally turned over.

For those of you unfamiliar, I drive a Prius, so it’s got two engines – the gas one and an electric. Without the gas engine, the electric only goes about five miles at a top speed of 15mph. Push it up to 20mph and you’ll be lucky to get two miles. So it became very important that I knew how to optimally recharge the battery while driving.

The problem seems to be something to do with the engine temperature. Anyway, I finally managed to get her to limp over to the dealership. I had talked to Connor last week, who assured me that I would be extra-delighted that I had spent so much money on the extended care package, which pushed my warrenty to 100,000 miles and covered a great many more parts. The electric engine, I know, is normally covered for 80,000 miles.

Yesterday, though, I ended up talking to Antonio, who was anxious to make clear that the Extra Care package didn’t cover everything. He also told me that a few weeks ago, he’d been to some kind of Prius Certified Engineers Conference, and they’d brought up the kinds of mileage they were seeing. Maggie has, apparently, seen more miles than any other Prius in Chicago – she’s up to 55,000.

I told him a few stories about everywhere she’s been. The bull in the Ozarks, Mardi Gras, Philly and the heart of corn country. It was really gratifying to feel like I’d spent all those miles well.

Okay. I asked my computer to play music over 30 minutes ago. I did not ask to subcribe to a newsletter. I most specifically did not ask if the update to winamp that it’s told me about every four hours for the last three weeks was still there.

I quite emphatically did NOT ask to download that newer version of winamp.

I quite explicitly did not ask if my penis needed enlarging, or if there was someone who could help me maintain an erection. I did not ask if anyone needed help smuggling a billion dollars out of Uganda.

I ASKED FOR MUSIC. And what is more infuriating than all of those petty little irritations put together is this:

I did not, ever, expect to have to ASK my computer for ANYTHING. I should be able to DEMAND, dammit. It is not some exalted god, no nobleman from whom I must beg and borrow. It is not a superior to whom I must answer before I can go on with my work. It is supposed to be my fucking TOOL.

I don’t ASK my screwdriver to tell me about all the other sizes it comes in. When I want a bigger screwdriver, I go fucking look for one.

And NOW, as I type out my petty little complaint and go looking for a suggestion box to put it into, suddenly my internet connection dies. As if it knows, and wants to punish me for the insolence.

Frank Herbert had it right. I sit and await a Butlerian Jihad.

I Wrote:
Hello,

This morning you called my office twice with a pre-recorded advertisement. It was bad enough when you spam my inbox daily with your countless “special deals,” but now you’re using up my phone line.

You have just ensured that I will never, ever order from your company again. Please delete me from your records.

-Amul Kumar

—– They Wrote Back —–

Thank you for contacting VistaPrint, the online solution for Best Printing Best Price.
We have received your email inquiry and would be happy to respond to your question. We apologize that at this time we are not able to respond to this email.

For a more immediate response, we invite you to call us toll-free at 1-800-721-6216 in the US or Canada or toll-free at 0800-028-8251 in the UK. If you would like our VistaPrint Designers to create your design or you are interested in matching identity products, please call us toll-free at 1-888-316-7157 in the US or Canada or toll-free at 0800-028-8458 in the UK. A knowledgeable representative is available to assist you Monday – Friday, from 8 am to midnight EST.

If you prefer to communicate via email, please email your question to emailservices@vistaprint.com and we will respond as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment you may experience by having to email us again.
Thank you for your interest in VistaPrint. We appreciate your business and your patience. We look forward to being of service to you.

Sincerely,
Customer Care
VistaPrint

I was going to post a long thing about how I’m having difficulty installing this new anti-spam plugin I found earlier, but then I found someone who had already gone through the thing just as I was about to.

Talk about convoluted. It turns out the problem is that it’s free to anyone who has been invited on to WordPress.com, not wordpress.org and to make matters worse, the FAQ on this never makes that clear, merely links you to people who figured it out by going to the FAQ (link helpfully provided).

My solution? Look for a different plug in. Actually, now would be a good time to look for a semagic-style blogger tool.