Month: March 2015

Project week 4: Glue, bugs everywhere!

bladlus

I didn’t get the drone promo video done yet, but I did glue another 20 packages, so if you’re feeling to order a whole bunch of drone pins I’m ready for you! Apart from that, it’s time to get seedling started for the growing season, and while Sara was looking over the tomatoes which are poking out through the dirt she also found some aphids among our other plants and went on to exterminate them. But before doing that, she thought to identify the species and so we set the microscope up and had a peek. We’re no closer to identifying it than we were before, but we saw that it had wings and to Saras horror they didn’t die quickly in the acetone we used to wet mount them, but rather squirmed and wiggled their poor little legs pityingly.

So Monday evening ends with a fascination for how complex and diverse life is all around us, and a silent prayer of thanks that we most likely won’t be killed by acetone poisoning. As always, remember that it can always get worse.

Fucking Werewolf Asso at Musikens Hus, March 2015

The video above is last weeks project – an edited version of the video I shot at Fucking Werewolf Asso’s gig at Musikens Hus a couple of weeks ago. It’s not my tightest edit, and the audio quality is so-so considering I used the built in microphones, but I figure one has to support good local bands so there you go.

FWA has changed their sound a bit lately. They’ve gone from being a drummy 8bit screamfest, to a more mainstream hardcore band. As far as hardcore music goes they’re quite good, and the keyboard blipblop is still there (albeit drown out by a constant guitar) so it’s still fun to listen to, but some of the more playful stuff is missing. I might be damaged from listening to the earlier stuff too much, but I do hope that they continue to experiment and get the audience and recognition they deserve.

Project week 3: A gift

Audience at a gig of Fucking Werewolf Asso in March 2015, at Musikens hus Göteborg

I’m rediscovering the joys and perils of video editing. At work, I did en edit of the woodwork course I participated in last weekend (Take a look here: https://vimeo.com/122758580) and shot a promo for Drawing with a chainsaw, a course I’m offering with Eric Saline where we still need to rustle up more participants. (That edit isn’t done yet)

Privately, I went to a gig with Fucking Werewolf Asso and tried out my new Nikon P7800 and was reminded of the value of external microphones; I used only the built in ones, and it’s inadvisable to stand in front of PA speakers if you can’t set levels manually. I’d hoped that I’d have a video done by tonights deadline, but alas. Ought to be done this week though, so although delayed I’m still doing something else for next Monday.

I’ve never been one for good timing when it comes to my projects, but I really should get the drone promo done before the discussion about the Swedish-Saudi weapon deals dies down completely. Not that the deals with Saudi Arabia are much more offensive than the ones we have with other dictatorships, but still. So although timing has never been my forte I should give it a shot – after all, mine is a project about the democratic control over technology, and it’s rather fitting that I slot that into the tail-end of the discussion of selling surveillance equipment and clandestine weapon factory projects.

PROJECT WEEK 2: Head of wood

bird_invisible_bw

The past week past in a blur; Friday through Sunday i spend in the KKV woodshop, taking a course in how to use all the tools without losing any fingers. We were six people who all made boxes of some sort, and I decided on making a small box for microscope glass slides. Of course, being a smartarse I wanted to make my box with parallelogram sides, which quickly had me revisiting grade school math in order to calculate angles and such. It’s surprising how difficult it is to hold more than one number or idea in ones head when you’re at the same time learning new machinery!

At the end of each day I was exhausted and had probably gained weight from all the dust I’d inhaled. I’m pretty sure that if I’d dried and flatten all mucus and snot, I’d have a respectable piece of veneer. Sort of like those goats who eat and shit whole coffee beans, or the guy who brewed beer from yeast cultured from his own beard: Nasal veneer.

The finished box came out crooked and is unusable – most likely I hadn’t used the planer correctly on the first day, but it wasn’t apparent until I started gluing the parts together. It felt reminiscent of when I brought my mom a 2kg turned coffee cup from “clay day” at school – look ma, I made this all by my selfs! But more practically, I now at least know how to use most of the machines in the woodshop, so feel slightly more comfortable in taking on building projects.

A couple of years ago, when I got a largish grant and had more money than sense, I considered subscribing to wood. You’d get samples sent to you a couple of times a year, and you were also encouraged to exchange wood with other members so that you’d get a feel for different qualities from all around the world. I didn’t go through with it then, and probably won’t do it now, but I’m definitely eager to learn more about it now. So you shouldn’t be surprised if you see me fondling wood with a joyful expression.

Project week 1: Weak

The first weeks ambition was to glue together 50 more packages for the drone project and do a marketing video. The packages got done, but the video has to wait as I’ve spend most of the week either sleeping or blowing my nose in a delirium – whatever bug is going around jumped onto my face and wouldn’t let go, so it’s not until today that I’m able to walk more or less in a straight line. But I did get some filming done, so there’s that at least.

So the last weeks task continues this week as well. We’ll see how that goes, since Friday through Sunday I’m taking a woodworking course at KKV which I’ve been looking forwards to. I’ll finally learn to use more than the bandsaw and belt sander, and seeing as we’re still not completely unpacked since our move around Christmas, we could really use some shelving and tables and such – which I ought to be able to build with no problems whatsoever once I’ve finished the course.

As a side note, I’ve started up another ongoing project which is continuing in a brisk-ish pace: Read All The Books! I have way too many books which have served no purpose other than to line my walls, so I’m foreswearing any new book purchases until I’ve thinned out the current stock. The goal is to read three books I already own before reading something new. I read somewhere that a proficient reader will have read 5000 books in their lifetime, and if I include my digital collection I’ve amassed way past that number already. It’s time to start reading instead of just skimming, and it’s time to realise that some of the books I’ve been puttin off might not deserve my attention but ought to be discarded. So any book I don’t believe I’ll want to keep for reference or a future re-read, I’ll give away or toss. I started in on the third book in as many weeks today – a speed reading manual – and will post a short summery of the other two shortly. Anytime now. Really soon.