Edwin Wise

Halloween

18 weekends to Halloween!

Less than two months to Haunted Trails build start!

I need to meet the new director of fund raising and see if we can actually start on the scheduled date, and what our limitations will be this year.

Rubber and Silicon

Remember way back when I did a silicon mold of Marla's hand and forearm?

That mold was thing, but seemed okay. The plaster shell on it was very nice, though.

Yesterday I poured two pounds of Evergreen polyurethane rubber into it. This is a thin rubber, with good flow, and a light fruity odour. Hardens up to Shore-A 40, firm yet still flexible.

It seems that I filled the arm up beyond a split in the mold silicon, so a fair amount of rubber leaked into the plaster shell.

Did I mention that polyurethane rubber has intense adhesive properties when applied to anything except silicon? No? Well, it does.

After destroying the plaster shell (sob!) I proceeded to peel the silicon off the rubber. It release very nicely.

However, rolling the wrist back off of the hand proved troublesome. Ultimately, the silicon mold broke taking it off the poly hand...

Further experiments show that the body double silicon has maybe 50% to 75% useful stretch, but needs probably 100% to open the wrist up around the hand.

This strain was further exacerbated by the spotty mold itself. It had many thin spots. It turns out that there were also flaws in the silicon, following two trends.

One is the everpresent bubble, which I can get rid of by more careful application of the silicon.

The other was wet/dry seams. Adding new silicon to a section that has already cured created a number of seams, where the blending was imperfect. To fix this, I'll need to take more care in my application pattern, and to be SURE to have someone manage the material gun so I can focus on application.

The detail, on the non-bubbly or seamed parts, is excellent in both the silicon mold and the poly hand. My next step in this lengthy experiment is to make a solid plaster negative in two parts, a clamshell mold for the hand.

Once I have this, the final, ultimate goal is to cast a silicon Dragon Skin hand/forearm around a set of modified Bucky bones.

This will reproduce last year's experiments with this technique, using these new, better materials and methods.

I'm not getting perfect results yet, but I hope to get at least excellent results on the second pass through... when I make the final props.

Rain, Snake

Not, not a "rain snake"! Silly...

We have rain to day... thunder, lightning, power outages, the works. Of course, our spring and summer rain ALWAYS comes with all of the special effects. There seems to be more of it this year, though.

We have the dumbest snake in the world. It's some flavor of kingsnake, supposedly a great hunter and mighty in the snake world. Though it is smallish in diameter (thumb) it is quite long (about five or six feet? You ever try to measue a snake?).

We feed it dead, frozen, re-warmed mice with vitamins on them. Magical mice from the sky.

When he's hungry, he looks to the roof of his cage for dinner. He probably also performs some snakey good-luck ritual, a slithery version of a cargo cult.

Sometimes he gets a bit over-eager and misses the mouse on the first strike. Once he does get it, though, he thoroughly squeezes the life out of it (hah!) and swallows it whole. It's all quite interesting.

Once he missed and instead hit the edge of a small square of green covering... a kind of stiff felt. Then he proceeded to try and squeeze his carpet to death so he could swallow it. We figured he would figure out his mistake (mouse... carpet... mouse... carpet... how hard can it be?). But no. We had to pry him off.

He has done that twice. We no longer feed him a mouse on a platform.

Yesterday he one-upped this event. He had the mouse and was valiantly squeezing the life out of it, when he lost track of where it was. He does that a lot. Sometimes we have to re-dangle the mouse to re-orient him.

THIS time, searching for the mouse, he pretty much tied himself into a knot and then... get this... started to eat his own midsection. You know. Chewing on his abdomen.

Ummmm.

And he didn't stop on his own.

It turns out that if you squirt a snake with water, they let go of whatever they are doing and try to run away. So we saved him from himself, quite literaly.

He eventually un-knotted and ate the mouse.

We have a really dumb snake.

Values

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. There seem to be two distinct sets of values that people ascribe too, and have honored in the past.

On the one hand, there is the warrior value of power and glory -- our mighty leader will enter your city wading through rivers of the blood of your sons, accompanied by the wailing of your women. Yeah! That's the ticket!

You see a lot of this in, for example, the old testament. And there is a lot of commentary in the new testament reflecting this type of strong-arm mentality by commentators who, apparently, are stupid and missed the whole point.

On the other hand, there is the way of peace and serenity. Be good to your neighbor, treat people with the respect and honor you would like to receive. This would appear to be the message of Jesus, though goodness knows you have to pick through the writings to find it. It is also the message of many other spiritual leaders.

So, does your culture honor Jesus, Buddha, or one of the other peacemakers? Or are your heroes bloody heroes, whose honor comes through violence?

There is a third way, of course, of justice and balance. This is like the way of peace, but allows for defense of life and some other warrior attributes... the peaceful warrior. I wonder if this way has been properly explored? I'm sure it must have been...

Space

Burt Rutan's Spaceship One made it to the edge of space today.

Damn.

Sure, it's not orbital (has to go higher and much much faster to make it to orbit), but it's the first step.

Sure, NASA did this forty years ago with the Mercury capsule.

But this is a guy, with $40,000,000, making a revolutionary craft to go to the edge of space. Private business. A business that will sell tickets. To space.

Anyone have $10,000 to spare for a ticket?

And it's a first step. NASA followed this same progression. Sub-orbital, orbital, moon.

If private business makes it to the moon, that would be the most amazing thing ever.

I grew up on Heinlein. Heinlein was all about colonizing space... all using believable technology (not this warp drive crap).

I lived and breathed space as a kid, and it looked like we were making great progress.

And then the space program essentially stalled for thirty years or so.

My whole damn life, it seems. Stuck. What progress they made, and they did make progress, just wasn't inspirational, wasn't the "right stuff".

I hope private industry is able to drive the space efforts forward into new territory. I have some dreams I want fulfilled before I die.

Short Weekend

The weekend, as usual, was way too short! But I got about 3/4 of the stuff planned done.

Editing the book now, I'm up to chapter 6 of 18 working on the paper. I'll put the edits into the computer once I'm done.

The first chapters are pretty darn good, though one of them (introduction to physical forces and stuff) still makes me a bit nervous. Oh well.

I have detailed reviews up through chapter 8 so far. I'm pretty sure my later chapters, since I started at National, are not so good. Hopefully I'm wrong, or can fix them up during this pass. I have a couple more weekends to make them good.

I didn't pour the rubber arm this weekend, so I'll do that tonight or something. It shouldn't take too long. I've been nervous about each new task with the new, and horribly expensive, materials. But it's going pretty good.

I'll be taking pictures of the processes when I go through them "for real" for the rest of the Trails props. Then, of course, they go online under the Halloween section. Ultimately, I want to do a sequel to the animatronics book

Maybe it would be nice to turn this blog into a project journal again... like Boris was. Dunno. I was also thinking of writing the UnDead story under a different topic here, but that might make it un-publishable due to the electronic distribution.

Speaking of which, I need to pester the publisher of Applied Robotics. That book has errors in it, and we really should fix them.

I'm excited about having Nik come to visit, just a couple weeks out now.

Other than that, I'm sleepy. Hard to sleep in on the weekends when the cats are fighting over the bed... and of course, we get to sleep late most weekend nights.

Red Sash

Hey, I passed the test yesterday. Really, the tests seem to be more a formality than anything -- if you have studied, at least.

I'm to be competing at the Tai Chi Legacy in Dallas at the end of July/early August... I thought for some reason that it was mid or end-august, not July! I have a schedule conflict... Nikolas gets shipped back home on August 1st.

I haven't started editing yet on the book -- I fear going back to its depths. But I must. It calls to me, a haunting cry across the moor... "Eeeeddwiiiiinn..... edit meeeeeee....".

I used some body-safe silicon to make a hand mold of Marla on Wednesday (was it Wednesday? It must have been). Neat stuff! Gets hard in 90 seconds... yow! You don't mix this stuff by hand, but pump it through a static mixing tube and it mixes like magic.

The mold is too thin for my taste; we used about 60% of the tube and should have used all of it. But the plaster support mold worked well.

I'm going to make a rubber hand, using the final material in my sample pack, to see how that works and feels. Then I can make a solid plaster negative off of that, which I can *then* use to cast the silicon version with bones in it.

I could do the silicon directly on this, I think, if I used a lot of mold release. But the silicon hand negative has walls too thin to keep their shape if split open, so I can't do the two-part casting needed to get the bones in place.

I'm really liking these new materials, the rubbers and silicons, by the way.

Braaiiinnssss...

I want to eat your brain. Please go here:

Zombie

Sleepy

Man, I usually get sleep around 2:00 or so, for an hour or so.

Today, I've been sleepy for the last three hours! Ugh.

Tonight, Pat should be calling with questions about Nesting, Jay may come by and drop off junk for Haunted Trails, ummm, I need to contact Teresa to tell her my big trailer guy isn't very available, I want to cast Marla's hand in the new silicon so I can test casting bones in it... ummm... and I need to print off all of the chapters in the book so I can start editing.

Did I mention I FINISHED the damn thing? I think I must have ... several times.

Of course, now I have extensive editing and polishing to do. But that's okay, 'cause I'm ALMOST DONE!

Nik, my son, visits in just a couple of weeks. That will be cool. And having him around will keep Marla from getting too bored during summer vacation.

Big Week!

Lots happening this week...

By the end of the week, I should have nailed down THREE, count 'em, THREE afternoons of acting lessons for the haunted trails core. That's THREE more lessons than we have had scheduled in the last, oh, five or ten years or so.

I finished the main writing on the book, of course, so now I get to print it all out and do the heavy-duty editing pass. Lots to do this time.

Today is pre-test for my red sash, Thursday is the test. Lot's of form and knowledge at my fingertips for that. I dare ya, just ask me... the five elements and their associated forms, the eight energies and their significance, the ten principles of Tai Chi or the eight principles of Nei Kung (annoying, that)... yup, it's all coming together.

I've made a face and a heart so far, using silicon and polyeurethane rubber. Still things I'm learning to use. Next up, the body-safe silicon to make an arm mold.. and then figuring out how to cast bones into it.

Yup, a busy week.

Owie

My head hurts today, which is really slowing me down on Chapter 18, Advanced Control.

This is more an AI chapter than a control chapter, but whatever. I am also merging chapters 18 and 19 here, so this is the LAST damned chapter I have to write. Bugger it all, I'm tired of writing. The NI job has sucked more of the life out of me than I had anticipated... not that I'm complaining, the people there continue to surprise me on how supportive they are and they also continue to pay me. So it's mostly good.

Finishing the writing early will give me MORE TIME to edit and improve it, time I really need. I'm pretty dissapointed in the depth of detail I was able to go into on the control aspects of the subject. Robotic control is the interesting stuff, but I only get to skip along the surface.

I just hope the book fulfills its purpose. And doesn't expose me to too much ridicule in the market.

BTW, if any of you have read my AI in Java book, please go to Amazon.com and give me a review. It doesn't have to be an awesome review, just four stars would be nice... heck, three isn't bad, really, but four and five make me happier (needless to say).

I really should be writing now. But my head still hurts.

And yes, I took Advil. And coffee. And a nice peach smoothie for nutrition. Soon to have more coffee, since extra coffee will either drive it away or make me sick enough to need to lie down -- either action will help in the long run.

Friday!

I wonder how many entries labelled "Friday!" I can rack up in one year?

Well, this week I've written a bunch of code ... now I have to figure out how to test it! My current compile is giving me an internal compiler error, which is never good.

I'm testing up to Red Sash next week... so I'll be spending this weekend making sure I have the knowledge bits down. Tom keeps adapting and adjusting his curriculum, so we tend to get tested on things that we actually haven't learned. Keeps us on our toes!

More people should keep journals like this... for the (very) few postings that Marla has made, I found them interesting reading. It doesn't matter that the log is full of banal daily life. Its a way to keep in touch, to know that the person is still alive.

I have some friends who keep "Live Journal" accounts. I suppose I should visit those!

Lots of journals or blogs try to be political or artsy or guides to the 'web... and actually, I don't like those. Mostly it is interesting to read about people you know, see what they are up to.

Strangers reading this would probably be bored to tears (and heck, for all I know, so is my family!)... sometimes I wonder why even do this?

I've tried off and on over my whole life to keep some kind of journal... I don't know why, maybe just to have a record of my thoughts and what has happened to me over my life. You know, so my heirs can sit down and have a good chuckle over what an idiot I was...

During the Boris project, the Journal was there to keep me on track, and to make the project public enough so that I would have external pressure to finish it. And it worked!

Hmmm... actually, I'm ending this book and will be ramping up my work for Haunted Trails. Maybe I should hook up pictures and discussion of the job of creating the special effects and directing trails this year. That could be fun.

I also need to update my Halloween pages, to put last year's trail into them! I'm way behind on my web page content.

I'm _also_ going to be working on my Zombie story this fall (does the excitement never end?)... and I've been thinking about developing it online, so I could poke at it from work or as I travel, or whatever. But fiction never reads right until it has gone through a few passes of editing, so I'm not sure about that.

I *am* working on some book ideas with my father, online, about religion. I've had the sense that religions, damned near all of the organized ones and certainly all of the visible churches, are doing it wrong. Seriously wrong, with serious and dangerous results for the path of humanity. But this project stays under wraps, because it is so rough, and I really don't want random people poking through it.

Of course, how can any book change the course of humanity? Even really good books, with really good ideas, with websites and communities to back them up -- like Ishmael, for example -- seem to barely make a dent.

And people aren't going to want to hear that their beloved rituals are useless. That it's not what you do or what you eat or don't eat that count, it's who you are, how you interact with the world and the people around you. It's not the many rules of conduct, followed under threat of punishment, but who you choose to be in life on the inside, where it counts.

Reading the Cahill books, the story of Christianity (which is really just a continuation of Judaism, which itself is...well, whatever) is a story of humanity changing and adapting, growing up even.

At first, people were in a loop. Everything that was, was always, and anything that was to be had already been. The great cycle of life, a circle. Isn't this like the perception of infants and the young child? Everything has always been this way, and it always will!

But that passes. Then the child grows up some, but doesn't know how to behave in the world. They have wild instincts and lots of energy... and need firm, definite rules. Mom's usual response -- Because I Said So. No explanation.

As the child grows up they are able to understand more. Then the rules relax and you get that explanation... in the hopes that , once you have the reasons, you can extrapolate the rules to new situations. That the youth will be able to guide their own life better, with flexibility. But still, the parent is there for advice and to help.

But one day the parent dies. The youth is an adult, and must make their own way in the world, take responsibility for their actions.

It seems to me that people are still trying to be the youth, following the rules and guidance of the parent. But the parent has died! Two thousand years ago, we were supposed to have graduated to adulthood... but for the most part haven't.

The churches try to be the parent, the people still want to be children. But the child doesn't take responsibility, doesn't guide himself, is not _free_. And Jesus' message was about freedom. But freedom is scary, it is freedom to fail, to make mistakes. It is safer, less scary to follow the simple rules, to be guided by the parent. But is that what we really want to be? Is that how we want to live our lives?

More Better

Okay, what I'm doing this week does feel more like programming.

Last weekend I wrote Chapter whatever the heck it was (17?), Intelligent Behavior. I like that chapter! Mmmm... it has enough pages and enough figures. And it was more fun to write than the last couple.

I got a critique of Chapter 8 from one of my reviewers... he's only nine chapters behind! Still, I appreciate the effort he puts into his work. Detailed. I won't implement all of his ideas, but most of them are in fact very good.

It does feel weird to have the feedback, criticism if you will, during the writing process. While writing I need something of a sense of "greatness" -- that I have something worthwhile to say, and that I am able to say it well. Otherwise, hell, why bother?

I know that I'm not the best... and that some of my chapters are weak and rushed, though others are strong and good. But actual feedback on where I may have done an iffy job, while good for the book, can set me back mentally.

So, for the most part, I'm ignoring it for now. I'll spend some quality time incorporating it during editing (not entirely true; I integrated several chapters of feedback into my notes for the first few chapters).

Until next time.... Me!

Which Illuminati am I?

Servants of Cthulhu:

Victory is Destruction.

Fnord.


Which Illuminati are you?
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Programming

What we do at work isn't programming... it's archaeology.

Jeez.

Have a Heart

Okay, I have the rubber mold of the heart (made with Brush-On shore 40 and 60) in its nice plastic shell (made with Plasti-Paste).

I love this stuff! Sure it's expensive, but it's easy to work with, very mild in odor and nastiness, quick hardening, and generally it does exactly what the company (Smooth-On) says it will. Woo!

I don't like the way I cut the heart mold open to get the heart out; I think I'll make another one. Maybe the next one will be a poured mold, without a shell.

Anyway, tonight or tomorrow I'll whip up a batch of silicon (Dragon-Skin) and make a heart. I bet it will be wonderful!

Then, I'll make some silicon paints (thinning GE silicon caulk with D-Limonene and adding silicon pigments) and try to make it realistic.

Oh, D-Limonene is concentrated orange oil... an excellent replacement for Naphtha (which is essentially lighter fluid) and other solvents. And it's effective, none of this wimpy "green" bullshit. It leaks through wax-coated paper cups, it EATS through plastic cups. Powerful stuff. And it smells good, too.

What more can you ask for?

Bah

Bah! Humbug!

Bleh!

I dunno, I just feel out of sync today... the stupid code is taking forever to compile right... ugh.

And the odd thing is that things are going well. I made the rubber mold of the heart on Monday and then put a plastic mother mold on last night. If I can get everything to release correctly, I will try for a silicon heart tonight.

I'm meeting with Georganne tonight to talk Haunted Trails budget.

I paid rent.

My education plan is looking good, and will almost certainly get paid for 100%.

Hmmm... maybe the problem is that there is nothing to struggle against right now.

There is a very interesting movie that my father told me about last night, talking about the molecules of emotion (which is a book). It explores how our chemistry affects how we feel, and that we act the way we do in order to feed our addiction to our familiar chemistry... or something. I haven't seen the move or even explored the website. Check it out:

http://www.whatthebleep.com/

Marla is gone yesterday and today, drifing in sometime tomorrow, so it's odd being in the house alone. She is a bit sick right now, or was this morning. Hope she feels better!

Monday! No! Tuesday!

The Tuesday after a three-day weekend is like Monday, only 50% more so. Bleh.

I've been writing code at work these days, and it's much more satisfying then not writing code. And even better, the dang stuff is working! I see the little wiggles on the oscilloscope and it makes me happy.

I glooped four layers of polyurethane rubber over a model of a heart yesterday. Today, I'll figure out how I want to get the darn mold OFF the heart! And then I'll make a plastic "mother mold" to wrap around it. The plastic shell is using new stuff, and I'm looking forward to it. Traditionally, I've used plaster.

Yesterday, after the molding experiments, I wandered off to a pool party / grill party at Michelle's. Sat around in the sun, occasionally dipped my feet in the pool to cool off. It was nice.

Though, relaxing for that much time in a row does addle me a bit... I think I'm addicted to working.

Is that even possible?