Mark Fixes the Beerpong Table…

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So I think we’ve fixed the problem that I caused the other night. Not that it was easy or anything, but it’s fixed. When I got home the plexi-glass pieces had been soaking in turpentine all day. Unfortunately, like Rainer Wolfcastle’s goggles… “They do no-sing”. So all the scrubbing in the world wasn’t going to get them clean. On to the next idea. Through some trial and error I discovered that by using the edge of another piece of plexi-glass I could scrape off the frosting without scratching the glass. It was 5:15. 4 1/2 hours later with my hand gnarled into some kind of claw and cuts on my knuckles, I finished. It was like some kind of punishment for screwing up. But it was worth it. While not perfect the inserts were looking pretty good. I told the boys that we’d have to abandon the frosting plan and just use them clear which I think looks better anyway A quick rubdown with the liquid sander and we were back in business. Now on to the next step… the clear coat…

I had a little experience with this when I was about 14, making paper weights and just general monk eying around. But it kind of scared me to be mixing epoxy and pouring it over the table that I’d worked so hard on. The instructions said to mix the two parts equally, which we did. The instructions also said that we didn’t have enough to fully cover the table… but what do they know… stupid instructions. We proved them wrong my making it last to cover the whole table. Nothing horrible happened, yet, so I’m hoping that this step is a success. It wasn’t quite dry this morning, which makes me a little worried about pouring on more tonight. Maybe we’ll just let this dry and pour the rest on after the party? I’ll have to consult with the team.

Pongfather Out!

Mark Screws up the Beerpong Table…

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So pretty much every project I’ve ever taken on has 4 distinct steps. Great start with much promise, Once I can see the end I start to loose steam, I screw something up, I stress and work hard to finish up on time. While the Pong Table was going on this path for a while, I thought that it would avoid some of the final steps. Most notably I haven’t screwed up yet. at least nothing that I couldn’t fix with paint That was until last night…

So we’d always planned to “frost” the plexi-glass so that the lights underneath would be diffused and the glow would be softer. I’d bought a can of “frosting spray” from Home Depot and tested it out on a scrap piece of plexi. It went alright, I thought that It would work better if I used more of it. But I wasn’t really worried about it. SO….

Last night I decided that it was about time I finished up that step. I get out the spray, get the pieces ready, but them flat on a box to spray. and then it happened… I strike again. The spraying was going good, then drip… drip… oops… let me just fix that… oops… shouldn’t have touched that…. oh god…. panic maybe I can… oops… PANIC…uh…

So if you didn’t catch that I kind of gummed up the beautiful plexi triangles with a semi-transparent mess. Right now they’re soaking in turpentine in hopes that I can scrub off the sprayed on finish. I really hope that I can get them looking good. I’ve told a lot of people that this beast will be ready for the party this weekend. And who knows this thing may be the start of a great business opportunity. Pongfather Out!

A Day With the Carnies…

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What did I do this weekend? I spent the day at the fair. Yes, the fair. The honest to goodness, root tootenest State Fair. Not just any State Fair, but the North Carolina state fair. I’m not sure what the difference is? But Susan and Ellen convinced me that it’s a big deal. It was definitely big. B. I. G. big

Picture in your mind what you think a state fair looks like… Got it? Yeah, that’s pretty much what it looks like. The thing about state fairs is that they don’t change much over the years. There’s only so large a potato can grow 12.6 lbs and only so much grooming a goat will take. The sate fair will always be there for you. It’s kind of comforting actually, kind of like the food they sell there. Which from what I gathered is pretty much the only reason that Susan and her sister go there.

You may be thinking that they go for the rhubarb pie or Mr. Smith’s award winning pecans. But there’s a much more nefarious plan afoot. Fried “Foods”. Not like French fries and onion rings… though they were there. I’m talking Deep fried Twinkies, Oreos, and oh dear god Candy Bars.

A Deep Fried Snickers is 900 calories… God Bless America. May our wealth grow as much as our asses.

Just let that sink in a little. while you imagine 2 healthy early 20’s girls stuffing themselves with every fried food in sight. It was glorious.

The people watching wasn’t bad either, there was quite an array of mullets and John Deere attire. Many examples of Ghetto Chic and of course personalized airbrushed hats. Damn I wish I would have bought one. Later in the night we saw a guy on the ground, he had just been knocked out “Deebo” style. I’m pretty sure he didn’t die, but there were 119,000 people there… just on Saturday. When NC rednecks get together, they do it big-time. We did miss the demolition Derby, but we saw Both pig and duck races… That’s right dual species racing action.

My recap on that one, Pigs race for cheese doodles, while the ducks race for the love of the sport.

Overall it was good to get out and do something new for the weekend. I haven’t been bloggin about my other adventures. I definitely should… they’re fun too.

via NC State Fair

Special edition Halloween Drinks…

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So in conjunction with my love of special edition candy and my love of Halloween stuff I decided to buy these little cans of Jones soda. Now you must understand that Jones Holiday sodas are the stuff of internet legends. Their infamous Thanksgiving sampler pack is one of the most disgustingly glorious ideas ever. In that light I was actually expecting to be grossed out by these. The flavors that they had were “Candy Corn” and “Caramel Apple”. The candy corn is the one that you see in the picture above. Now I don’t think they actually used food safe dyes in this drink because it was the most yellow that anything has ever been. School Busses? Yield Signs? Lemons? All pussies compared to this. Actually the only thing I could think of is Highlighter fluid. also because if you spill come on your hand… it dyes it yellow. Not sure if this is something that you should really be putting in your body… but oh well, too late now. The taste is not as horrible as you could imagine, not much flavor at all actually, just corn syrup. Probably one of the sweetest things that I’ve ever tasted. But isn’t that the real spirit of Halloween? come on people.. let’s all hold hands. The Caramel Apple soda was a little disappointing. I thought this would be the one, the gross one that is. But if you’ve ever had Jones Green Apple Soda then you’ve basically had this already. Just drop in a hint of caramel flavor.

so overall I would say that this was a success, but I would like something more substantial, like pumpkin soda. MmMmmMm seedy.

via Jones Soda

I hate LOST…

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So I’m a big LOST fan. We’ve watched every moment of every episode. With the season finale last year we were a little bit let down, but the premier was good enough to make me forget about that. Then something happened. The pace and method of the show changed. The understood formula last year was that nothing would really happen for the first 45-50 minutes of the show and then something shocking would happen at the end. Then the “next week on Lost” segment would be really interesting and draw you back for next week. But the last 3 episodes have been slightly different.

NOTHING EVER FUCKING HAPPENS ANYMORE

This show is moving slower than 24, but without all the ridiculous gunfights. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, things do happen on the show, it’s just that they aren’t as amazing and cool as they used to be. You used to be able to analyze every little thing and try to fit the numbers in somehow. Also is it just me or is everyone on the show starting to act a little crazy, just a little off?

Take the episode where they get into the hatch and watch the orientation video. That video was useless, I watched it twice and it doesn’t say that anything bad will happen if you don’t push the button. It says that there was an incident and that the compound on the island is for studying many things. But after they watch the video Locke is all excited about saving the world? The only one that said that is Desmond, and he’s obviously nuttier than a snickers. Then Jack starts freaking out on everybody because he thinks the button pushing is stupid (which I do also) Damn I hate love this show

You know what this show is starting to remind me of? The crappy soap opera “Passions” or Dragon Ball Z because both have the pacing of a retarded snail and are filled with all kinds of loony scenarios and magic.

but really there’s no point in arguing about it… we all know I’m going to watch next week and the week after that… cause it hurts so good.

via LOST