Planet B Concept Image

Here is a concept image for new game project, Planet B.  I drew the characters, based off pixel art from Legend of Zelda from NES.  The scenery tiles are a modified version of Lanea Zimmerman's Basic 16bit tile set from opengameart.org.

All I can say about the game at this point is that its an action game for Android devices based around 1 touch play. 

Thriftin it up in Harrow

Harrow, Ontario is a thrift store Mecca and a great place for a penny pincher to live.  It has 5 thrift stores, population 2,935.  Got shoes, toys, clothes, books and puzzles for all the kids.  Total of $18.50.

Qpaukl Kimmerly's Killer Koleslaw

Thanks for the recipe Qpaukl!

Ingredients:

Red Cabbage

Green Cabbage

A Carrot

Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Garlic, salt and pepper

plus a Cheese Grater

Step 1

Procure a variety of vegetables. I used a carrot, red cabbage and a green cabbage.  You can use other vegetables like onions, broccoli, cauliflower or whatever you have lying at the bottom of your fridge.

Step 2

Cut a third of the cabbages off.  Begin shredding you cabbage chunks into a bowl.

Step 3

Grate the entire carrot. I know it is a degrating job but we are talking about delicious homemade coleslaw here.  

Step 4

Your Killer Koleslaw is now prepared but you might like to add some dressing. I use some Balsamic Vinegar and Sunflower Oil. Plus I add in some garlic salt and pepper. You don't need a lot. Mix it thoroughly.

Step 5

This recipe would serve a family of 4 - 6 as a side dish. Now go and eat your Killer Koleslaw before the zombies show up and eat you. Remember this coleslaw didn't come in a bag. It was freshly made and you saw what ingredient were used to make it.

Sleeping With The Enemy: Why I'm Sleeping on a Straw Mattress

Your industrial mattress is disgusting.  Years of dead skin, dirt, dust mites and other nasties accompany you to bed every night.  When was the last time your mattress had a thorough washing?  Ok, you vacuum it sometimes, I hope that makes you feel better, really.

A new mattress costs several hundred dollars, some cost thousands.  You probably couldn't afford one so you bought it on your credit card or some retailer credit plan.  Or you got one second hand, now you snuggle up with someone else's years of accumulated body sweat.

Industrial mattresses are very carcinogenic.  "The place where you spend one-third of your life is chock-full of synthetic materials, some potentially toxic. Since the mid- to late '60s, most mattresses have been made of polyurethane foam, a petroleum-based material that emits volatile organic compounds that can cause respiratory problems and skin irritation. Formaldehyde, which is used to make one of the adhesives that hold mattresses together, has been linked to asthma, allergies, and lung, nose, and throat cancers." [1]

Industrial mattresses are extremely wasteful.  There isn't much to do with one that fell out of use other than putting it in a landfill.  These massive sleeping pads are such a pain to move most people opt to just leave them behind.  Take a look around the parts of your neighborhood where litterbugs like to dump stuff, chances are you will see many mattresses (some burnt), poisoning the ground and providing a perennial eyesore.

Ok, so I convinced you to hate your industrial mattress.  Now you understand why I chose to sleep on a straw mattress.  I needed a new bed and I needed something that fit this criteria

• Affordable
• Washable
• Biodegradable
• Non-toxic
• Local and hand made
• Movable

How many of these criteria does your mattress fit?  None.

I would love to report that I made my own straw mattress by hand.  However I'm not that good with sewing, and I needed something right away. I didn't want this to become another abandoned project due to lack of skills/motivation.  I contracted the services of Tamara Kimmerly,  a local sewing extraordinaire.  I purchased these supplies

• 5 meters of cotton canvas
• 1 meter of zipper
• 1 spool of thick cotton thread
•  An old wool blanket was added as an extra cover

Tamara did a great job putting it together.  Now its time to get stuffed!


It took two bails of straw to fill the mattress.

The important part about this step is evenly distributing the straw.  You need to really break up the bail or else you'll get lumpy spots.  I use a broom handle to push the straw all the way to the back of the mattress.
 

The mattress is almost fully stuffed.  I take care to make sure the corners get filled in nicely.

 Now the mattress is fully stuffed.  The straw is quite loose now and the whole things is quite puffy.  I need to tamp the hell out of it, compressing the straw to get it closer to its final density.  Many nights of sleeping will compress it even more.  I cover my nose and mouth for protection from all the dust in the air.

 

All done, here is the finished result!!

Now its time to put the sheets on and go to bed!  Its not memory foam, but the straw mattress has charm that cannot be mimicked with an industrial mattress!  In 6 months I will take out all the straw, compost it, throw the mattress in the washing machine, and start out with a totally clean mattress.  

The straw mattress is very comfortable and cozy.  If you don't believe me, just ask my girlfriend!

[1] http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/should-you-ditch-your-chemical-mattress

A DIY Floor Mop!

I know I could have gotten a cheap sweatshop mop at Walmart, but I'd be jealous if my mop had done more traveling in life than I had.  My floors need a mop, so here is a plan for a quick, easy DIY floor mop.

I snip my old cutoff shorts and tshirts into strips.  I take three of the strips, tie it off at the top and braid it all the way down.  I  then tie then end off.  The ties are just strips of the clothing.  Note to self: brighten your wardrobe.

After I'm done all of the braids, I find an old broom handle in parent's garage.  I staple gun the loose ends of the braids evenly to the end of the broom stick.  This will keep them anchored against twisting forces (ringing out the mop).  I tie a big heavy elastic band around all the braids.  Then I take some thick guage steel wire and tie it around, twisting with plyers to for a tight band around the braids.  

The mop is ugly, but ready for action!

To wring it out, I stabbed a bunch of wholes in the bottom of a coffee can.  A crude but effect approach!

3 Movies on Netflix That Explore Anti-Authoritarian Themes

The Experiment

This movie tells a story that is based on the Stanford prison experiment, where random people are paid to participate in a behavioral research experiment concerning prison guards and inmates.  This movie does a very good job of portraying the process of the inmates becoming increasingly dehumanized.  The guards start out as easy going but quickly grow into their roles as violent oppressors.  This movie is so great because it is very believable.  The experiment prison cultivates the same atrocities found in modern prisons like institutionalized rape, gruesome and sardonic meals, solitary isolation and medical negligence. The rules of the experiment substitute for the laws that justify our prisons.  The movie has a great ending as well.  There is one scene that makes an Aryan Brotherhood guy look like a hero, that wasn't too cool.  Perhaps they were trying to show him renouncing his racism and fighting along side the other prisoners.

Transfer

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi2342296857/

 

This is a German sci-fi flick with subtitles.  Its a story in the future of a conservative, rich, old white couple who take part in a new medical procedure that transfers their consciousnesses into younger bodies.  The donor bodies are migrant workers from impoverished Africa and Asia.  The donors families are supposed to receive large sums of money for the young donor.  The donors do not die however, they become awake for 4 hours a day, where they find themselves imprisoned in someone else's mansion and are not allowed contact with the outside world.  The movie deals themes such as the rich exploiting the poor, closet racism, and accepting your own limitations and being at peace with age. 

Shadow (2009)

 

WARNING: IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GORE AND HORROR MOVIES, DO NOT WATCH THIS!!  This movie is f'd up, and I mean SERIOUSLY f'd up!  It makes movies like Friday 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like Teletubbies.  I can't go into too much detail without spoiling the movie but I included it in here for two reasons, because surprisingly it has a very strong anti-war message and the torturer mimics techniques pioneered by states like Nazi Germany and North Korea.  If your stomach can handle the imagery long enough to interpret the meaning behind it the movie becomes a powerful symbol of military atrocities specifically the Iraq War.

Megaman portraits of Lynden

We spent part of the afternoon drawing a Megaman inspired portrait of Lynden.  At least, this is how he pictures himself.

Also threw in a pixel frog animation I made.  I think the take off needs some more work.