After much time spent taking new pictures (with the new Casio Exilim Z-55), I have put up a series of photos from the last eight months. Check them all out, as they include many familiar and new faces, but here are some details, since the albums already cover two pages:

• February 18th, 2005 - Mad Arf exhibit at Mad Art gallery - Friends, art and dogs at an art deco former-police-station art gallery and Lohr’s return to STL.
• February 20th-21st, 2005 - Dennis visits St. Louis - Dennis comes to visit – and we have fun at the SLSC, getting Boba and making "twins" of ourselves.
• March 9th, 2005 - Poi-making workshop for an afterschool group in Florissant - Nita’s connections lead Pandora’s Matchbox to do a poi-making and spinning workshop on a cold day in March. The kids had a lot of fun, WE had a lot of fun, and we all created a lot of streamer poi.
• Spring and Summer fire performance and gatherings
  • Firespinning at Artica - Some excellent shots of Brendan, Sam, Pickle, Lohr and Jim spinning crazy shapes down at Artica in April.
  • 3rd Friday @ 3rd Degree - 3rd Degree put up a large outdoor sculpture consisting of glass bubbles placed at different heights on rebar across an entire field. Playing in it was half the fun, taking the pictures was the other half.
  • Zoofari 2005 - Pandora’s performs at the zoo for a charity event – all in black, and feasting on great food, drink, and music in between performing.
  • September 9-10th, 2005 - Schlafly Art Outside - Quickly becoming a well-liked gig, Pandora’s performed with some great drummers at Schlafly’s Bottleworks. Some neat pictures of Amanda, Carolyn, Pickle, Sam, Jim, and Barb.
  • Miscellaneous Gatherings of Friends - A hodge-podge gallery with pictures of Webster U friends, Berg’s last Hurrah at the Eat Rite diner (fun, but I can’t bring myself to say yum), drinking at the Cabin, Sam’s fun Black-Out-Birthday party, and a couple shots from this year’s Moonlit Ramble with our friends Jon and Jenny.
• April 22nd, 2005 – Laura T.’s and My Birthday Party! - Laura and I share a birthday, and we celebrated together with a big party at her new place. Together with a lot of vodka, matching birthday cups (hers was blue, mine was red!), friends, and more cheesecake than we could consider eating, we had a fabulous birthday.
• May 1st, 2005 – STL Biodiesel Club at Forest Park Earth Day celebration - The St. Louis Biodiesel Club attends Earth Day 2005, bringing demonstrations, vehicles, and soap for sale.
• May 14th-15th, 2005 – Interfuse 2005 - Interfuse, the Midwest Burner regional burn held at beautiful Ozark Avalon in mid-Missouri was made more fun this year by having each group traveling to the event bring an "appendage" or more to add to the "Frankenmann" to be burned on Saturday night. Despite the bizarre appendages the STL crew chose to bring, we were welcomed with open arms, and had a great time all weekend.
• July 4th-7th, 2005 – Dustin’s visit to STL - One Sunday night in July, our friend Dustin buzzed our buzzer, having driven all the way from Boston, on his way to Colorado. It was a surprise visit, but luckily there was much going on, and we got to show him our garden, the SLSC, take him to a big 4th of July gathering outside of St. Louis, and play with fire eating and tall bikes before he went on his way to Fort Collins.
• July 30th, 2005 – Artica Vessel Awards held at Urbis Orbis Gallery - Artica is celebrated again, by recognizing the special contributions of many people to it in a ceremony marked with vessels given as awards. Pandora’s also performed, making it a great way to reconnect with Artica and Pandora’s friends alike.

I haven’t even put up the pictures from Burning Man from this year, or our trip to see Mike and Marcia get married in Colorado. Those will come soon, but I wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to check out the great pictures from the last few months. You can post comments, download pictures, send them to a service that will print them on photo paper and mail them to you for a fee, or post a comment here if you want higher resolution copies of anything. (There’s only so much space for pictures here). Feel free to share the links if you think of people who don’t usually check this website but would be interested.

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Damn them! The Mercedes was an easy fix, but the scooter required that I purchase some additional tools. One of my new tools was not functioning well (a vacuum pump), and I ended up spending several hours trying to get the cursed air out of the brake system. Fortunately, I eventually found success. As it was getting dark, I managed to finish up the coolant flush, which wasn't nearly as difficult (though I did have to dremel a non-removable hose clamp off a hose).

I'm now greasy and tired, and still have more to do tommorow. Its ok, babies, daddy is here for you...

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In February of 2004 they ran the following article from Gillette's CEO: Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades

One year and five months later, boring old CNN reports the following: Gillette Unveils 5-bladed Razor With Two Lubricating Strips

The Onion editors are psychic I tell you. From now on, no news besides The Onion!

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It's been about two years since that happened, and I still have not replaced the bag. I use a cheap Swiss Army laptop bag for my regular bag duties, and it functions, but pretty badly. It does not have the cross-wise stability strap necessary for a true cycling bag, and its internal compartments are terribly laid out. Not only that, its falling apart, wretched thing.

After comparing brands endlessly I found myself in a rut. I wanted a nice new bag, but I didn't know who to buy from.. I could have it custom made from the ground up by Bagaboo in Hungary (nice bags), I could buy it off the shelf from Chrome, I could patronize Canada and get a PAC. The above are all great bags, but not exactly what I wanted, and not for what I wanted to pay.

Then I had a revelation, I decided to make my own!

I hit up a fabric store and found, in the remnant pile, several yards of black, grey and white camo vinyl, of the type used to upholster furniture. Its incredibly heavy duty waterproof material, and because no one in their right mind would upholster a couch with camoflauge, it was incredibly cheap.

The vinyl would be the liner, but I needed an outer layer. I did not feel like paying 12.00$ a yard for Cordura, which would have been the fabric of choice. I decided to go 'old school' and use some unbleached heavy canvas I had lying around. For color I 'crystal wash' dyed it with Procyon MX cotton dye.

I got some strap material and a few buckles at REI. Then I discovered that the company that makes most of these buckles, ITW-Nexus has a free sample program, and if you say you are a company, they will actually send you 15 free samples of their buckles, you pick what you want! I got most of my buckles free this way. They are very high quality buckles.

I designed my pattern in CAD, and then printed out a life-size copy using Adobe Illustrator. I taped together the many 11×17 sheets that came forth from the printer, and cut out my stencil. I cut out the pattern from the vinyl, and then from the canvas.

It is key to note that at this point I made a mistake. I dyed my canvas after cutting it, and during the washing process, it shrunk a bit. This messed up my pattern a bit, and caused me some trouble down the road. I should have dyed the whole piece of canvas, and then cut my pattern out afterwards.

I took my two pieces, and glued them together with 3M spray adhesive. I left the main flap unglued, however. I started by sewing the 2" D-rings into place. I reinforced the joints with the least graceful of all seamstering equipment, the pop riveter.

Then I began the process of sewing the main bag stitches. I was using a heavy duty upholstery thread, and a big fat needle meant for sewing leather. My friend's mid-size Bernina had no trouble getting through the vinyl and canvas. I double stitched where I could. I began to suffer from the first of my shrunken canvas problems, as well. It was hard to get the canvas into all the seams, and so there are places where only the vinyl is sewn, and little loose flaps of canvas can pop out. It isn't bad, but its unfortunate.

On one corner of the bag I looped a small piece of webbing with a 1" D-ring on it through the seam. This D-Ring would secure the cross strap that makes a crappy bag into a cyclist's bag.

Once I had the main stitches in place, I began to add hardware. I was using 1" webbing for the auxilliary hardware, and so added two side release buckles, and ladder-locs for compression straps. The compression straps have been secured in place with more rivets. Because I had not yet glued down the main flap canvas, I was able to peel it back, and do all this sewing on the flap blind. That is, the items are sewn only to the vinyl, and the stitches disappear under the outer canvas layer when pulled down.

I added two large strips of velcro to the flap and the front of the bag. It is very beefy stuff, and had to be securely sewed in place, despite its adhesive backing.

I added a few more rivets here and there for good measure, and attacked the cosmetics. I used bias tape to sew a border onto the edges of the main pouch. Then I glued the main flap to its liner, and then ran a seam of bias tape along that edge as well.

To top it off, I took a 25 tooth cog from an unused cassette, polished it up, and riveted it to the flap of the bag with three pop rivets.

What is left to do? I'm going to fashion a set of interior pockets for holding pens and keys and stuff, and I need to get some more webbing for the cross strap, though all the hardware is in place. The main strap currently consists of 2" seatbelt style webbing with a cam buckle. The cross strap hardware slides up and down the main strap for easy adjustment, and comes with its own side release buckle. However, this strap is subject to lots of change. The strap is in many ways the most intricate part of this type of bag, and it warrants experimentation. This is why I didn't sew the strap directly to the bag, opting instead to use D-Rings and snap hooks for easy strap interchangability. I'll probably be stealing a cue from Chrome and using an old seatbelt buckle, once I can get myself down to the junk yard.

I need to find a suitable seam sealer for the interior seams to waterproof it, and I need to find a good cotton waterproofing compound for the outer layer.

Once I find a suitable carabeiner, I'll be attaching it to the flap for a top handle.

What did I do wrong, or what would I do differently next time? I made the bag way too big. It's huge. Giant. Bigger than I need, for sure. But it has good fit, so its OK. The next iteration will probably be much smaller. I'll dye my canvas before cutting it next time. I'll probably sew on more of my hardware before sewing the main stitches. It is awkward to move that whole big bag shape around while trying to stitch on a buckle.

However, I'm very happy with myself. See below for some photos, as well as an image of the pattern I used. You can emulate it if you desire.

The overall bag is about 23" × 13" × 9", and I'm estimating practical capacity at 2700 cubic inches, or 44 liters. That is a big dang bag. When using the pattern, simple scale it until the bag is the size you want. You'll need to adjust the size of the seam allowances and strap attachments if you vary the size too much.

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Here is the entire bag, in all its glory. As you can see, it's pretty darn big. Dig on the crystal wash dye job, and the shiny cog.

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A closer image of the strap mechanism. This is subject to change as I figure out what I do and do not want in a strap. The snap hooks are a point of potential weakness, but they can be replaced with beefy metal ones once I settle on a strap design.

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The bag open, displaying the camo liner, and the velcro.

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This shows the compression straps on the bottom of the bag. They are riveted into place, and the Ladder-loc buckle for the compression strap is held in place by the bottom of the side release buckle strap for the main flap buckles. Clever, huh?

Compression straps are my favorite feature of bags, but are incredibly rare. Timbuk2 used to offer them as an option, but no longer does (that is actually the thing that caused me to reject purchasing another Timbuk2).

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This is where the cross strap connects to the bottom corner of the bag. The loop is sewn right into the seam, and there is a D-Ring and a snap hook for easy disassembly (like for flying).

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Here is the bag holding my helmet, to illustrate its size. I haven't yet performed the customary "How Much Beer Does It Hold" test that all new messenger bags must be subjected to, because its lack of cross strap may affect my ability to carry that much beer. I'm guessing two 30-packs, plus a few extra bottles. It's that big.

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Here is my skinny ass wearing the bag. Looks sharp, no? Actually, it dwarfs me. I think someone called that the "Turtle Effect". Oh well, it'll carry a lot of goodies.

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Here is the pattern for the bag. Just scale it up on the program of your choice, and print out on multiple sheets of paper to make a pattern stencil. Adobe Illustrator makes this easy, but I think other programs can do it as well. Remember to adjust the size of the buckle attachment points to keep them 2" and 1" wide, respectively.

I'll update with more pictures once I get some interior pockets installed, and the top handle and cross strap.

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xoxodork wrote on Jul 18, 2005 1:24 AM:
Thanks for posting this up, the info about ITW-Nexus is great news for the aspiring bag maker! I'm having trouble figuring out what the two large circles, as well as the thin strips adjacent to them are on the pattern. Honestly, and perhaps obviously, I'm not very familiar with sewing patters, so if this is a silly question please forgive me! Overall though, a great writeup and a cool looking bag!!

barb wrote on Jul 19, 2005 12:05 AM:
hey there! looks great. nice dye job. i am sorry about the OTHER bag that was stolen...i miss my nice wallet too! havent found a replacement for that. im glad you are being productive. maybe i should leave more often so i dont distract you with lounging around and drinking beer or worse yet new projects! well this is just a miss you guys comment. CO is beaut and so is the Biglejuice...he says i love your fine ass Sam!!! WOOOO

sam wrote on Jul 19, 2005 5:46 PM:
Thanks for the good words. :) The circles on the pattern you can ignore, I just drew them into the pattern as I was making it so I could get the curves on the flap right, and I didn't bother to delete the rest of the circle. Ignore them. :) The strips that come off the flap and off the sides are for attaching your buckles or D-Rings. I cut that shape out of the vinyl, and then attached the buckles and D-rings by slipping them over the strips, folding the strips over, and sewing them down. If you have another way of putting your buckles on, you can ignore the strips too.

sam wrote on Jul 20, 2005 2:13 PM:
Good tip, and a great link, seuss! I'll have to give the sil-cotton thing a try. :) I'll test it out on some scrap pieces to see how it works, and if it does the job, I'll go ahead and silicon all the seams. Thanks!

matt wrote on Jul 27, 2005 12:03 PM:
I like that the outside is so bright and the inside is camoflauged. That way no one will be able to find it to steal it so long as they're inside the bag. Also, I would totally upholster my couch with camoflauge. So evidently your "no one in their right mind" comment was dead on.

mom wrote on Jul 27, 2005 6:25 PM:
Wow, son, I didn't know you were so artsy, but since you are, you got it from my side of the family. Looks like you did a great job! To quote an old hippy cartoon dude, you're "uptight, out o' sight, and in a bag, man". Actually, I guess it's Matt that's in the bag.

m. wrote on Jul 28, 2005 7:36 PM:
"Also, I would totally upholster my couch with camoflauge. So evidently your "no one in their right mind" comment was dead on." Matt, you would get NO play on a couch like that. Seriously. I am making my own bag. Sort of. I got a small shoulder bag from goodwill, and I am going to put scenes on it under clear vinyl. Anyone got a source for cheap clear vinyl? I'm thinking ponchos or shower curtains.

Serves 5-ish.

Tools

• Large, flat-bottomed pan or pot with lid or electric griddle
• V-slicer or mandolin (not necessary, but handy)
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Wisk
• Oven-safe soup crocks

Ingredients

• 10 medium sized onions, vidalias work nicely
• 4 T. butter
• Kosher salt (table salt OK)
• 2 c. dry champagne
• 32 oz. vegetable stock, low salt version if available
• 10 oz. apple cider, unfiltered
• 1/4 t. Marmite or Vegemite
• Thyme
• Bay
• Parsley
• 1 loaf Country-style bread
• Black pepper
• Cognac or VSOP Brandy
• 8 oz. Gruyere, Emmenthaler or other swiss-style cheese

Procedure

To begin, we prepare the onions, the heart and soul of the soup. Slice each onion in half, and cut off the root end and the stem end. Slice in a longitude fashion (north/south, if the onion were the earth), which produces little 'crescent moons'. This slicing style is called Lyonnaise, for some reason, probably relating to the French city of Lyons.

If you have a V-slicer or mandolin (no, not the instrument, the cooking tool), you can just blast the onions into tiny slices like a machine, and be done in a few minutes. This is my preferred method.

Once you have sliced all the onions, wipe the tears from your eyes, and begin heating your pot. The pot or pan should be large enough to hold all the onions, have a large bottom, and be equipped with some sort of lid. A large electric griddle would actually work nicely. Set the stove to medium/low, or your griddle to 300 degrees.

Toss the butter into the pan, and allow it to melt and bubble for a minute. When it smells like nuts, it's ready. Add the onions to the pan in layers. Each time you add a half inch layer, sprinkle a pinch of salt over the onions, and lay down another layer. When all the onions are added, cover the pan, and wait.

It is key to note that we are not sauteing these onions, we are sweating them. The salt will pull moisture from them, and they will begin to stew in their own juices. If you here active 'sizzling' you should lower the heat. You just want a gentle bubbling sound.

Wait at least 20-30 minutes, and then give the onions a bit of a stir. Don't touch them before then! If you notice they are beginning to burn, then rejoice, because that is what you want! Let them burn, let them turn a rich mahogany color. You are caramelizing the sugars in a series of chemical reactions known as Malliard reactions that convert a few simple sugars into literally hundreds of flavorful compounds.

Stir every 5 to 10 minutes until your onions are a good mahogany color. They should smell fantastic. Once the onions are sitting in a pool of their own liquid, feel free to remove the lid, and bring the heat up a bit. This will allow some of the water to boil off, and get that delicious burning action going.

When your onions are a good dark color, after perhaps an hour, it is time to deglaze the pan. You'll notice that a bunch of gunk is stuck to the bottom of the pan. This gunk is precious. Crank the heat up to maximum, and add 2 cups of the driest white wine or champagne you've got. Let it cook down until it takes on a syrupy consistency. Pour yourself a glass of said wine. One thing a chef never does is let wine go to waste.

At this point, add the 32 oz. of vegetable stock, the 10 oz. of unfiltered apple juice, and the 1/4 teaspoon of Marmite or Vegemite (we'll get into the why later).

Return to a simmer, and lower heat to medium/low. Tie the thyme, bay and parsley together with a piece of string (a bouquet garni), and toss it in. These herbs are delicious, but tough to eat, so we’ll remove them later.

Simmer the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes. In the meantime, cut your crusty bread into rounds that will fit into your oven safe soup bowls. I like to use the bowls as big cookie cutters to help shape the bread. Fire up the broiler in your oven to maximum broil, and toast the pieces of bread on both sides, until golden brown and delicious (GB & D). This is also a good time to grate up some of your swiss cheese, enough to cover the surface of each piece of bread with a full layer.

When the soup has simmered for 15-20 minutes, give it a taste. It will probably need a little salt, and a few good cranks of black pepper. Then, with a flourish, toss in a good splash of Cognac or VSOP Brandy. Don't measure it out, just splash some out of the bottle, like the saucy chef you are. Stir it in, and let it cook for another moment, to burn off a little of the alcohol. However, realize that the claim that the alcohol 'cooks out' is a lie. Some of the alcohol will indeed cook out, but it is actually impossible to remove it all. If that bothers you, skip the Cognac, it'll still be good. You could also use a little sparkling grape juice for the wine in the beginning, though it'll be a bit on the sweet side.

Ladle the soup into your bowls, avoiding the bouquet of herbs, and place a crouton (that's the now French word for those toasts you made) onto each bowl, floating gently on the soup. Cover with a modest layer of cheese, and then back into the hot broiler with them! It will only take a moment for the cheese to become bubbly and melted. Pull them out (carefully, they are freakishly hot), add spoons, and then enjoy! The goal, when eating them, is to get a little piece of cheese and crouton in with every bite. If you get to the end and have too much soup, or too much crouton, prepare yourself another bowl, and get it right this time!

I recommend more of that dry wine or champagne you used for cooking. Open another bottle if you must.

Notes

Here are some notes on ingredients that I find helpful. First, the onions. 10 onions is a lot, and variation in size can make a big difference. I urge you to not worry about it that much. Unless your onions seem oddly tiny, 10 is a good number. When in doubt, add another onion! I've used some real monsters before that only took 6. Vidalia onions are best, because they come from a region of Georgia that has a very specific soil chemistry with very little sulfur, meaning the onions have as much as twice the sugar content of other onions, and less 'heat' because of the decreased sulfur content. Sometimes I mix things up a bit and use a few red onions in the mix.

Butter can be exchanged for olive oil if you are vegan, but if you eat dairy, I urge you to use the butter, it really does help a lot, and even though it looks like a lot, spread over an entire batch, it's not much at all.

The wine you use should be dry. Too sweet and your dish will taste like maple syrup. Good, but a bit oppressive for an entire meal.

The quality of your vegetable stock will play a huge role on the quality of your soup. Get the best you can! Many canned stocks are very salty, so either get the low-salt variety, or the kind in the cartons, which is often less salty. I like Trader Joe's brand. If you make your own stock, or know someone who does, get that, it'll rock.

The Vegemite/Marmite is an odd ingredient, but its one of the linchpins of this whole recipe! French Onion soup traditionally uses beef consomme, which is a beef stock that is so thick and rich that it actually will solidify at room temperature. It takes a long time to make, and is very concentrated. Unfortunately, its flavor is nearly impossible to replicate.

However, if we understand the recipe, we can understand how to replace it. The onions have sweetness, the wine tartness, the herbs and cognac add bitterness, and the salt adds saltiness. However, those are not the only four tastes! The fifth, and least understood taste, is known as Umami, or Savory. It is technically the flavor of free amino acids, but you know it as that distinctive 'goodness' associated with mushrooms, meats, aged sauces like soy sauce, and aged cheeses like parmesan. It is also the flavor that MSG aims to add to food. Beef consomme is a rich and powerful source of Umami, and simply leaving it out will damage your recipe's balance. To replace it, we must find another source.

Vegemite and Marmite are two brands of a hydrolyzed yeast product derived from the sludge of dead yeast left at the bottom of beer brewing containers. Through some odd sorcery and technologies, this sludge is concentrated into a dark, vile smelling paste. This paste is spread incredibly thinly on pieces of toast, and enjoyed by the British and Australians. They love it because hydrolyzed yeast product is nearly pure amino acid, the very Umami we seek!

The addition of this Umami to our soup will complete the delicate balance that is the dish, and allow us a vegetarian recipe that doesn’t emulate beef consomme, per say, but holds its own against it as a unique, but balanced creation.

Oh, and just to dispel a common misconception, yeast is not an animal, it is a fungus (like mushrooms), hence it is acceptable for all vegan and vegetarian diets.

As a final note, your cheese matters a lot as well. Store Brand swiss will not serve you well. I recommend a good Gruyere, or Emmenthaler cheese, both available in your finer grocer-mart's cheese case. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's both have good cheese counters. Again, if you are vegan, leave out the cheese. You could sample some of the better soy based cheeses, but I'm not very familiar with them, so it would be an experiment on your part.

Enjoy!

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In the world of televisions and computers, you expect rampant advancement, but in other fields, you might assume that thousands of years of success with a product design would last a few more years. But that would be foolish of you to assume, because why would you buy new products if it weren't for new features, even if said features were completely useless?

Today I searched for grill skewers, of the metal variety. I was hoping for a 12-18" long piece of thin metal, with a pointy end. A loop on one end and a few twists in the metal for easy gripping were features that I would have appreciated, but didn't require.

However, after checking no fewer than eight stores, all of which claiming to have a 'BBQ' department, I was only barely successful in my search. The stores ranged from low end department stores to home stores to import shops to kitchen supply stores, and quite a number of things in between.

It isn't that no one had skewers. Oh, they had skewers. Some were long elegant curves, meant to fit on special plates sold for the purpose. Others had huge handles with rotating finger knobs for easy turning. One was a skewer basket with a long thin basket attachment that would probably be very handy for cooking krill. If size was important, there were mighty 5 pronged skewers that looked more like the devil's backscratcher than a cooking implement. Others still were equipped with spring-loaded attachments that served to 'launch' the food off the skewer upon completion of cooking, an attractive idea that would probably result in more airborne mushrooms than anything else. They came in all sorts of exotic materials and finishes, and some included their own carrying case. They were all quite expensive.

In a basket by the floor one could also find the traditional, but useless, bamboo skewers.

What was not to be found was a simple metal skewer that didn't include some ridiculous feature! I had no idea that in the span of a few years we had completely reinvented the skewer. I was unaware of just how much I lacked by not being on the cutting edge of the skewer.

On a broader note, I think things like this are a sign of our countries disappearing middle class. When you buy a skewer, you show your class, everyone who sees you walk from the store now knows to which group you belong. Will you timidly pay cash and slink from the store clutching your little sack of pathetic bamboo skewers? Or do you proudly pay with your Titanium Credit Card, and march to your automobile brandishing your new Stainless Steel Bolt-Action Spring Loaded Ergo-Grip Skewers?

There is no room for the humble working man, who desires a simple but durable skewer for preparing his family's hearty meals over their charcoal grill? Why must we relegate our citizens to pitiful bamboo skewers, clearly meant to be used over a coffee can full of burning animal feces, or glittering titanium skewers to be used over a Grill-Master 3000 grilling station? Is there no middle ground? Why all the extremes?!?

Anyway, in the end I finally found my skewers, but I had to look a lot harder than any reasonable person should have to look for skewers. Life is hard for the proletariat.

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Karen wrote on Jun 4, 2005 10:47 PM:
"There is no room for the humble working man, who desires a simple but durable skewer for preparing his family's hearty meals over their charcoal grill? Why must we relegate our citizens to pitiful bamboo skewers, clearly meant to be used over a coffee can full of burning animal feces, or glittering titanium skewers to be used over a Grill-Master 3000 grilling station? Is there no middle ground? Why all the extremes?!?" Perhaps it is a problem of planned obselesence? the functional lifespan of a simple length of stainless steel with a loop on the end.. can be measured in decades. Perhaps the problem in the skewer market was.. that no one was buying them. The marketing departments mistook this "lack of sales" for a "lack of interest" and set about re-designing "easier" and "cooler" skewers.. when the real reason for the drop in sales might just have been that they had successfully supplied the needs of the skewering consumer base years ago. I mean, if my mother's skewers will work for me, and her mother's for her.. why would we need new ones? Bent skewers can simply be unbent. It is only the lost or broken ones that need replacing. So, the market designs a "cool skewer" with handles that will burn, and spring actiions that will fail in time. So a purchase today will likely result in another purchase a few years down the line. Or.. perhaps you should just hit a thrift store and buy some used "classic" skewers... or, look at This Auction on eBay?

Jim wrote on Jun 7, 2005 1:57 AM:
Hey Sam, you should try the following: Lelu Metalcraft & Patio Shop Inc (314) 966-6195 13200 Manchester Rd Saint Louis, MO 63131 If anyone is going to have them, they will...if you go, let me know what you find.

Dad wrote on Jun 8, 2005 11:20 PM:
Son, I must rise to the defense of the humble, recyclable, cool-to-the-touch, and all-natural bamboo skewer. As you no doubt recall from your recent childhood here in Colorado, I often BBQ'd skewers of meat and veggies on bamboo sticks. They do require a brief soaking prior to use to prevent being consumed by the flames, but they serve quite well. I have found that metal skewers don't "grab" the food stuffs as firmly as natural woody-grass materials, so with metal the food rotates in situ on the grill instead of turning over with the skewer --- very frustrating! Metal is likewise always HOT, even after a minute or two off the flame, while bamboo, as a naturally low-density material sheds what little heat it absorbs within seconds -- a delight to tiny fingers. I will grant one advantage to metal --- on occasion I have been pierced by a bamboo splinter from the skewer, a painful experience with a lot of torturous over tones. Nevertheless, I'm a committed fan of bamboo and just thought I should speak up in defense of this humble material. Yours for grilled food, Dad

billy wrote on Jun 14, 2005 3:46 PM:
I happen to agree with your father sam, but also when looking for anything....let me know...I have lots of silly stuff living in my house(no..I didn't get a new girlfriend). A skewer set was just donated to me a few weeks ago...along with a rotisserie(b/c ya never know when you'll come across a large carcass) hope things are going well with you guys

Friday afternoon Madalene and I jumped into the bio-wagon and headed north. My allergies had flared up, so I was a drippy mess, but the drive was pleasant, and the weather was nice. About 8 hours later, we were in Lansing, MI, staying with our friend Sima, who kindly allowed us to pull into her place at about 2:00am.

The next day we headed into Detroit, which was about another hour and a half away. Detroit is an interesting city, in that, like St. Louis, it experienced an industrial boom around 50 years ago, which shortly thereafter, completely evaporated. What remains is a hulking shell of a city, each block containing as many abandoned buildings as it does inhabited ones, and every other window lies boarded up, or broken out. The difference is that St. Louis has made great strides in the last 10 years to revitalize its neighborhoods, and while there is still a lot of work to be done, the difference in progress between Detroit and St. Louis is very noticable.

While in Detroit I purchased a pair of nice black jeans, since they were on sale at a place we stopped to browse.

Then we headed into Canada. The interesting thing about Windsor is that it is right on the other side of the river that connects Lake Erie with Lake St. Clair, and that because of how the river flows, Windsor is actually south of Detroit. Don't believe me? Check out the map!

You can take either a bridge or a tunnel into Windsor, and we opted for the tunnel, since it would spit us out incredibly close to our hotel. On our way in the customs agent asked us what our country of origin was, whether we had anything to declare, what our purpose was in Canada, etc. Then, seeing the biodiesel sticker on my car, we chatted for a minute about biodiesel. He never even asked for an ID or passport. Then we headed through the short tunnel into Canada.

The first thing that struck me was just how peaceful the streets looked. Since the country allows for lesbian and gay weddings, I had assumed that the moral fiber of the country would have been ripped in twain, and that visible evidence of the decay of civilization would be evident. However, we were unable to find any evidence of such decay. I'll have to ask some of my socially conservative aquaintences about that.

It was also apparent just how different Windsor and Detroit are. Just a few hundred feet away, and the entire feeling of the city had changed. Instead of scary looking folks eyeing you from the street corner, we saw many people riding bicycles, street vendors selling falafel and all sorts of other middle eastern goodies, and calm traffic. Very different indeed.

We got to our hotel without difficulty, and got ourselves ready for the wedding, which was located several blocks away. Since there was an open bar at the wedding we planned to walk to the wedding location, to eliminate the complication of driving later on.

The wedding itself was located at the Willistead Manor, which is an idealic old manor, with nice dinner rooms, a library, and a wonderful garden in the courtyard, which is where the actual ceremony was held.

The ceremony was very nice, and the officiant, a nice Canadian woman, was excellent. There were a few short readings by friends, an adorable flower girl, and the exchange of rings. The weather report had continued to call for rain, but for the ceremony the clouds retreated, and the sun came out.

Dinner was nice, and we got to meet family and friends who we hadn't met before. One of the bride's family came out in force, and dominated the family aspect of the wedding. The other bride, unfortunately, was not well supported by her family. Most of them did not believe in gay marriage (despite the fact that many of them were divorced themselves, showing just how much they understood the sanctity of marriage), and would not come. Fortunately her mother came, and her enthusiasm helping set up the wedding, and her support of the couple made up for the rest of the family's lack. If there was a prize to be given to the "Best Wedding Guest", she would have received it.

After the wedding came much dancing and cavorting about, finally resolving to most of us hanging around in the brides' suite drinking before wandering back to our hotel rooms to sleep.

The next day we all ate breakfast together at what must have been the largest single table I'd ever eaten at, and people began their various trips home. We wandered about Windsor for a while, and picked up a few trinkets and whatnot that aren't easily available in the US, and then headed back. The border guard entering the US was much more thorough than the one leaving the US, but was still friendly, and didn't search our vehicle or anything.

We stopped in Lansing again to spend another night with Sima, and then made the rest of the drive the next day. Memorial Day traffic was bad in areas, but we had planned ahead with an alternate route, and were able to largely avoid congestion.

On the way back I had two pleasant surprises. We found B20 (20% biodiesel/80% petroleum diesel) being pumped in Charlotte, MI, and were able to fill up with biodiesel, instead of the petroleum diesel our fuel supplies were forcing us to use. We also found, quite by accident, the Michigan Brewing Company, which is a small craft brewery with an eclectic selection. I picked up a growler of their Grand Cru, and happily stowed it in the car along with all the duty-free alcohol we had picked up as we left Canada.

All in all, the trip was great, and I plan to go back to Canada later. It was a nice place, everyone we met was very pleasant, and there seems to be a lot to see and do.

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Snow monkeys!

Yes, those delightful little apes that live in the mountains of Japan, enduring long winters by swimming about in the natural hot springs. They are very clever little beasts, even going so far as to bring tubers into the hottest parts of the pools to cook them. After a few hours, they retrieve the tubers, and enjoy their boiled potatoes in the same way we would, except without silverware or napkins or anything.

The image is also very high quality, with a true SVGA size, and a good crisp camera, this is no Logitech crapola.

The monkeys aren't always visible, but at night (which is daytime in Japan) you can often see monkeys sitting around lounging in the hot spring, with excited tourists peering at them from the bank. Earlier today the camera was off kilter for a few frames before being righted, which leads me to believe that a monkey threw a tuber at it.

Enjoy the Snow Monkey Webcam!

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Phantom Poet Graffito wrote on May 10, 2005 4:17 PM:
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Then we went to the City Museum and spun fire some more, and had a few beers.

Then, after dozens of spins, several fire breathing and fire eating sessions, and tantalizingly dangerous stilt-walking ended with no trouble at all, I come home and burn myself making a pizza bagel. How cruel you are, Fate, to keep me from making it through the night unscathed.

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mom wrote on Apr 10, 2005 10:57 AM:
at least you didn't burn the pizza bagel...or did you?

m. wrote on Apr 10, 2005 1:49 PM:
Unfortunately, yes. I said, "Is something burning?" and he rushed to the oven, confirming our fears. But, it's OK, I pick up fresh bagels at least once a week. He won't be without garlic bagels for too long. Hey Jana, how's the new job? :-)

mom wrote on Apr 10, 2005 4:35 PM:
new job is WONDERFUL! How did you know i even had a new one? Creekside is calm, customers are smiley, owners know me (sam used to walk under the greenhouse benches when i watered at Fossil Creek Nursery when he was just a little tyke), i know them, potting plants is theraputic, selling plants is fun, watering and weeding and stuff is great, i can't believe I'm getting paid to do the fun stuff again. I'd do it year round if i got an offer.

Groundhog Day is a popular festival where people consult the behavior of giant rodents to determine if spring is really here. Likewise, many people look in their yards, seeking the first robin of spring, foraging for its nest.

However, in my culture, we have another herald of spring, Germans. Yes, that's right, German people. It is said that when you see Germans, spring must be truly here. And last night we were fortunate enough to have three Germans come to visit us.

One of them had been doing research work for his schooling here in the US, and his brother and father had come from Germany to visit him before the three of them returned to Germany. Not wanting the 'canned' experience of a motel, they contacted me through the CouchSurfing website, and requested to sleep on our couch. Three is a bit more than we can normally handle, but they understood the space we had, and had brought a camping mattress and plenty of sleeping bags, so the space was sufficient for them.

We went out and tried some American/Midwestern food, and sampled some local beers, which gained their approval. We talked about the similarities and differences between Germany and the US, and other such pleasant discussion.

Today they are touring the city, seeing the sights in St. Louis, before heading up to Chicago to continue their tour. They were very nice and interesting people, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to host them.

And better yet, this, the day after their arrival, is a full-on spring day, with a high of 77F. I suppose the old adage really is true, "See ye some Germans three, and spring-time is upon thee."

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m. wrote on Mar 30, 2005 10:06 AM:
Worry not, dear readers - I tickled Sam thoroughly for his silly phrase.

barb wrote on Mar 30, 2005 2:02 PM:
well, i suppose that is appropriate considering his incredibly lame attempt at humor...

We ate at the Tap Room which offers some delicious beers on cask, and high quality pub-eats. I must say that portabella mushrooms and oatmeal stout are a match made in heaven.

Lyle and I discussed the state of things in St. Louis, both good and bad. St. Louis has a lot of opportunity in terms of industrial space just waiting to be utilized, but it is also a market unfamiliar with the concept of renewable energy. Hopefully that is something we can work to change.

One thing that struck me, through all of our conversation, is the differences between areas that are trying to make transitions into renewable energy, and how that shapes the organizations that form. It hit me how things in Pittsboro, NC are much different than they are in St. Louis, MO when we were getting into my '82 Mercedes wagon. I activated the door locks, which are vacuum actuated and automatically unlock all the doors. When he got in, he said, "Wow, does this car have power locks??" The question struck me as strange, because Lyle owns an early '80s Mercedes that is very similar to mine, and identically equipped. "Huh, I guess I've just never locked the doors..." he mused. Things must be very different out in rural North Carolina...

We also discussed the problem of having vast stores of raw building materials. I joked about having to bring home 55 gallon drums and scoot the couch a few feet over in order to have a place to put them, and he mentioned his "Summer Shop", which is an expansive building stretching out into the woods that consists of huge piles of scrap metal, pipes, giant chess sets, steel drums, and apparently nearly anything else that you could imagine. If you need another 100 feet, he said, you just extend the makeshift structure farther into the woods. This is in stark contrast to St. Louis, where if you want to build anything at all, something else has to be demolished, and there is no way of hiding anything you do. In rural country you can put unsightly things off into the woods for the moment, but in the city, everything you do is open for all to see. A certain amount of ugliness is acceptable in the city, but go to far, and people will begin to notice. Here in the city, we don't have the freedom of expansion. We are crammed into tiny basements and garages, and that restricts our choices on many levels.

We talked a lot about 'grassroots' biodiesel, and what it means to work on the small holistic community level. I'm beginning to think that in highly urban environments like ours, the grassroots movement is going to look very different.

Lyle is a great guy, due in part to his boundless enthusiasm and optimism about the future of biodiesel. He has taken a lot of risks in his community, and always seems to come out a little bit ahead of where he was before. There is a lot of caution in the world of biodiesel right now, and everyone seems to have a story about a coop that failed, but I'm glad there are people showing that it can be done. I had a good time eating with him, and look forward to what fruits the seeds we plant will bear.

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Will wrote on Mar 18, 2005 11:06 AM:
Speaking of lack of building codes and the woods, I was just up in Idaho visiting and doing some real eastate work. Do you know how much dino diesel is up there? Well, I'll tell you, its between $2.60 and $2.70/gal. If biodiesel couldn't make it there, I would be surprised. Part of the problem, I suppose is the relative steadiness of biodiesel feedstocks. Sometimes it will make bio a lot cheaper, sometimes more expensive. I hate to say it, but as far as commercial bio goes, I don't think the coop model will work very well until one important thing happens. In colorado at least, there is an environmental assesment fee imposed on all vehicle fuels. I think a strong case could be made for exempting biodiesel, but so far it hasn't happened to the best of my knowledge. If we could get that fee removed from the price of the pump, biodiesel will be more certain of making a mainstream dispersion by sheer fact that it will be cheaper. In fact, even if it is only cheaper some of the time, I am willing to bet that distributors would be willing to "hedge" their dino fuel costs by buying in on a contract basis. That would be ideal. Thoughts?

billy wrote on Mar 18, 2005 3:33 PM:
you're alive! hope all is well with you guys have a nice weekend!

b wrote on Mar 20, 2005 1:16 PM:
hope you enjoyed your shroom and stout...did m make you sleep on the couch? glad you made the connection.

This year the main celebrations are being held on May 1st, the week after Earth Day's official date (April 22nd). The weekend of the actual day is busy with other events around town, at places like the Botanical Gardens and the City Museum.

This year for the first time the St. Louis Biodiesel Club will have a booth at the festivities. We'll be making small batches of fuel at the booth for demonstration purposes, have samples available for people to handle, answer questions about biodiesel in general, and biodiesel homebrewing. We may also get some space to bring a biodiesel car or two down, as well as a portable processor that we are building for full-size fuel making demonstrations.

The event is fun to attend, and should be even more fun to participate in. Education comes naturally to me, and I'm excited about the possibility of getting ourselves out there on a more active basis.

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POR-15 is a product designed specifically to help fix rusting metal. Unlike most paints, POR-15 is a moisture curing epoxy that, when painted directly onto rust, will suck the moisture out of the rust and seal it up, preventing further growth. Traditional paints just trap the moisture, letting the rust continue unhindered and out of sight.

Continue reading for a picture-heavy description of the process.

Continued reading Rust Control With POR-15...

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mom wrote on Feb 10, 2005 8:38 AM:
Aahhh, a man after my own heart...'shrooms and rust. I love mushrooms to look at and/or eat and my vehicles have an abundance of rust. What a guy you are!

tim wrote on Feb 13, 2005 5:43 PM:
por-15 is *awesome*. i used it to refurb the gas tank in my 54 chevy. photos here.

Ernie wrote on Feb 20, 2005 7:39 PM:
Yes, they say rust never sleeps...but it does die when you use por15!! http://www.por15store.com

Ben wrote on Feb 21, 2005 10:51 AM:
POR-15 really works. These guys at -- http://por15store.com -- really know their stuff. They ship fast and offer free shipping offers. http://por15store.com

This creature does not sleep, and is not bound by the rising and setting of the sun. All day and all night it sends its tentacles forth, seeking food.

What would you do if such a terrible freak of evolution were to lay its slimy tentacles on your own home? How would you react to such a thing??? Why, you would eat it. Because our freakish friend is no foe, but fungus. Specifically Pleurotus pulmonarius AKA, the Oyster Mushroom.

Despite being tasty and nutritious, this particular fungus is well known for its virulent behaviors. It will colonize nearly anything, and consume a surprising range of foods, including used motor oil and diesel fuel. Paul Stamets and friends at Fungi Perfecti have been working on using mycoremediation to cleanse areas affected by oil spills and other toxic contamination.

The particular oyster mushrooms that are growing in my house began their life as a jar of spawn (mycelium, the true body of the fungus, growing on birdseed or other grains) given to me by Will. A suitable substrate was found (dry, tall, ornamental grasses from our garden), which I pasteurized in the microwave. The grain spawn was broken up, and used to colonize two bags of moist straw. In less than two weeks the straw was completely colonized.

Click for larger image

One bag of colonized straw was placed in the fridge to 'rest' for a while, while the other bag was immediately fruited. I stabbed a bunch of slits in the surface of the bag, and began to illuminate the fruiting chamber for a few hours a day. The fresh air combined with the light indicated to the fungus that it was time to fruit. Pins (tiny immature mushrooms) are beginning to reach out of the bag and develop.

Click for larger image

This first bag will be fruited normally, and the fruits enjoyed as food. However, the second bag will be part of an experiment. The glycerol byproducts from biodiesel production are technically fermentable by fungus. However, what concentration will they accept, and will the methanol or catalyst be a problem for the fungus? I'll be 'feeding' the mycelium some byproduct soon to see how it reacts. I may or may not eat those mushrooms.

Next on the list is a jar of Reishi mushroom spawn, a woody mushroom commonly grown for medicinal use. What wonders lie beneath its wispy white surface?

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Sam wrote on Feb 10, 2005 1:14 PM:
This photograph was taken yesterday, and today when I work up the mushroom was significantly larger, almost double in size. Pretty freakish.

WIll wrote on Feb 11, 2005 5:46 PM:
That is awesome. You are actually having better results with this strain than I am. I have had a problem with contamination that arises when I went to fruiting. Be on the lookout for the dreaded green mold that can attack oyster. But yours looks good and healthy. Good job. And let me know if you want any other spawn jars. We have expanded our culture library significantly.

m. wrote on Feb 12, 2005 7:03 PM:
Hey Will! Happy V Day - just for you, I uploaded a picture from my new camera :-D of the mushroom today, three days later. They grow like friggin weeds. :-) http://www.flexistentialist.org/gallery/random/CIMG0169

will wrote on Feb 13, 2005 7:55 PM:
Looks good. I had an idea for an oyster "lamp" of sorts. I think if there is a way to wick oil up into a cotton or synthetic rope or cloth connected to their substrate, I think it could work. On the other hand, maybe you could just put a mycelium cake in a pan of oil. It might accomplist the same thing, although it probably wouldn't fruit until it exhausted all the oil or received a cold shock. Happy valentine's day to all, and to all a good night ;) P.S. it is technically pleurotis Pulmonarius as opposed to p. ostreatus, FWIW

Sam wrote on Feb 14, 2005 2:30 PM:
Ooops, thanks for the species clarification! I'll edit that right away. Its hard to tell with these crazy fungi, and I don't have the label on that jar you gave me anymore, so its basically 'random fungus' as far as I know. Wicking in the nutrients would be an interesting idea.. I wonder if the mycelium would just climb up or down the rope though. Not that doing that would make it not work, i suppose.. I cooked up that big mushroom last night and ate it. I cut it into strips, dry sauted it over medium high heat with a little bit of salt to bring out some of the moisture. When they were reduced in size and getting lightly browned I moved them aside in the pan, put down a small amount of olive oil, some minced garlic, and a few crumbled up sage leaves. Once those cooked for a few moments in the oil and became aromatic I moved the mushrooms into the oil and mixed it all together. After sauteing for another minute or so to get everything well coated, I removed them from the pan, and ate them. They were delicious!

There was a gentleman from the Czech Republic who studies vehicle emissions not by putting the vehicle in a lab, but by installing a lab on the vehicle, testing its real world performance and emissions. There were researchers working on strains of algae for oil production that would grow in the desert. There were members of a University of Colorado program creating teaching materials for K-12 students on the topic of alternative fuels. The audience was diverse and far reaching, and everyone had come to meet others, and learn more.

I met quite a few amazing people, and a few valuable contacts. We also got a lot of work done. Maud, Girl Mark and I facilitated a discussion session about our Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial project we are developing. It hopes to be a complete guide to learning about, and developing skills for using and making biodiesel. Much information has been gathered, but little has been done to organize the project, and make conceptual determinations as to what the audience wants. Our session was attended by experts like Lyle, down to people who were just learning about biodiesel. They let us know what they found valuable about existing resources, what they found problematic about existing resources, and what they felt the community needed in terms of educational materials. Our goals are more closely defined now, and more progress is ready to be made.

Much discussion was had in various sessions about how to start small businesses around biodiesel. Many cooperative biodiesel organizations have failed, but those that have survived discussed what they did to make it work, and keep it working. The major barrier is regulatory, selling biodiesel requires a tremendous amount of paperwork, and test results. The National Biodiesel Board makes much of this easier, but because they do not publicly release the results of their health effects testing (which the EPA requires from fuel producers), small producers are cut out of the loop. If you don't make enough money to join the NBB, you can't sell your fuel, but you can't join the NBB until you are making money (by selling fuel). The catch-22 is being discussed right now at the National NBB conference in Florida, which is being attended by a large consortium of individuals from the grassroots movement to make the situation known, and seek solutions.

Here in St. Louis new ideas are starting to brew. We are discussing the possibilities of creating a business of some sort, and expanding our reach in the community. Teaching a course at the community college would be a natural activity, and is something we are pursuing. Making and selling biodiesel equipment would be another possibility, as is the distribution of another producer's fuel. There are options, and we now know a lot more about them. Education is a natural direction, based on my experience, and will probably be our first move.

Stay tuned!

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barb wrote on Jan 31, 2005 8:13 PM:
glad you are back. tell me all about it soon!

Hanuvatra (topher) wrote on Feb 5, 2005 2:06 PM:
Greetings from Riverside, CA! i'll be stayin out here a bit, taking an EMT course. So I thought there already was a biodiesel business in ST louis. You talking about making your own, or expanding the current operation? -toph