Monthly Archives: February 2012

How To Make A Glass Bottle

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Today in 1895: Michael Joseph Owens patented an automatic glass blowing machine that could make multiple bottles at the same time. A represented a huge advance in bottle making, spurring the mass sale of beer, alcohol, and sodas.

I learned the above from a post on a great food blog I recently found, Foodimentary, whose author recently found my blog.

Intrigued by all machinery, I simply had to find details about automatic glass blowing. I found the following video and it is absolutely fascinating. The cinematography and soundtrack truly make the video outstanding. The real action begins at 1:30.

I’ll never look at glass bottles the same…

Burning Man’s Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP) Policy Change

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Burning Man’s Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP) Policy Change

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Photo by Gina Hansen

Last week we announced (in “Rebuilding Black Rock City 2012”) changes to the sales process for Burning Man 2012 tickets, including adjustments to the Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP). At that time we announced a policy of allowing people to purchase only one (1) non-transferable ticket per person through STEP.

However, after further consideration and much feedback from you, we’ve decided that this policy is unfair to people who originally registered for two tickets in the Main Sale, one for themselves and one for their significant other, family member, friend, or campmate.

We hear you, and we’re listening. That’s why we’re adjusting this policy to allow people who originally registered for two tickets in the Main Sale to request a maximum of two tickets per person through STEP. (If our records show that you originally registered for only one ticket in the Main Sale, you can only request one ticket through STEP.) All tickets purchased through STEP are non-transferable, and will be held at Will Call only. These tickets should be for you (or you and an identified guest).

Also, it’s important to note that STEP will have only as many tickets available as there are people who sell their tickets into it. We believe that people will also be selling/giving tickets within their immediate circle of friends and local community- and we aren’t trying to change that. It’s likely that few will find themselves holding “extra” tickets without already having a friend or camp mate in need, so we don’t anticipate STEP will have a high, regular flow of tickets; we anticipate an early influx and then a trickle as people’s plans develop, though we’d be happy to be proven wrong on this. We also know that in any typical year, there is a fair amount of summertime turnover as the event gets closer and life events cause Burners’ plans to change. We encourage you to first seek out tickets from your immediate community of friends and cohorts, as well as any other avenues for acquiring face-value, legitimate tickets as you can find, without patronizing scalpers.

If you are eligible to participate in STEP, you’ll be receiving an email at the end of February with information about how to sign up. For more information about Burning Man tickets and STEP, please see our ticket page.

[UPDATED: 2/23/12] Burning Man will be staffing up the on-playa Box Office to accommodate however many tickets are being held at Will Call in order to keep wait times to a minimum.

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Children are amaaazing…..

TheLittleDesignStall

I found this amazing, unique, but brilliant installation online. It´s installed at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Ar, artist Yayoi Kusama. The installation, entitled The Obliteration Room, is part of Kusama’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition that runs through March 12.  I was inspired by: ThisisColossal

“The first four images courtesy Queensland Art Gallery and photographer Mark Sherwood. Additional images from Stuart Addelsee and hey bubbles.”

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Hello! My name is Dan Brown…

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Helena, of Project Vitriol, has a great post this morning.

She’s found an interesting website that analyzes your writing. You simply cut and paste text from your, or someone else’s, writing and it will tell you who you, or they, write like.

I pasted the text of my infamous epic tale of sushi betrayal into the text box and…

The expert analytical engine concluded that I am Dan Brown.

I suppose, in a way, that it might have a point. That seared albacore roll truly did engage in a rather complicated conspiracy against my taste buds and blew me away with a complex deception that I never would have foreseen. Who would have thought that a simple sushi roll could have participated in such treachery? Not I…

That entry left the mother of all legacies to fester within these pages. It is responsible for directing well over 700 people to my blog with the search terms “mouth shitting” and “shitting in mouth”. Yep. You heard me right. I want to know who the hell searches using this search string and what the hell they are hoping to find with it. I rather doubt that they are looking for my tale after hearing of it from a friend. Perhaps I should include a link to a German porn site here. Or not.

I will have to dig deeper in the future. As the next Dan Brown, heh heh, I owe conspiracy fans a compelling tale of intrigue and betrayal. I am staying in Portland this weekend, home to many enigmatic epicurean establishments. I shall sally forth in search of a dysphoric dining experience to be spun into a horrendous fable of facial food fornication.

26 Days of Freedom!

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I had my last cigarette on January 15th at 8:30 in the morning.
My absolute favorite part about quitting is that I smell great! The odd thing is that I don’t smell it on other smokers. I went camping last week with a friend who smokes. Whether she smoked at her house, in the truck, or out in the open, it didn’t bother me in the least. I’m glad of this as I don’t want to become a smoking nazi. Secondhand smoke? Please… It is infinitely better than firsthand and is of no concern to me whatsoever as a health risk. If I had to spend the day in a refrigerator box with a smoker, my biggest concern would be that of odor.

My e-juice flavor library is ever expanding. As of today it includes:

EsmokerOnline.com:
Virginia Tobacco 24mg
Jolly Melon 24mg

GoodProphets.com:
Vanilla Cupcake 0mg & 24mg
Caramel Apple 24mg
Lemonade 24mg
Lemon-Lime 12mg

Johnson Creek:
Original 24mg
Bacon 18mg

MadVapes.com:
Cola 36mg
Root Beer 36mg
Black Licorice 24 & 36mg
Honeydew 36mg
Cantaloupe 36mg
Watermelon 36mg
Melon Explosion 24 &36mg
Unflavored PG 36mg
Unflavored VG 36mg
Strawberry 36mg
Dekang Tobacco 36mg
Butter Rum 36mg
Coffee 36mg
Hangseng RY4 36mg (Tobacco, vanilla, caramel blend)

The milligram rating indicates the concentration of nicotine per milliliter. 36mg = 36mg/ml or 3.6% nicotine. 36mg is pretty much the top end in the spectrum. Not many people vape at 36mg but some of us like our nic-fix a bit stiff. All flavors from most vendors are available in multiple concentrations. Typically, these are 0mg, 6-8mg, 10-12mg, 18mg, 24mg, and 36mg. A few vendors have 48mg blends which seems like rocket fuel to me…

Amongst some of my favorites so far are:

Honeydew. A mildly sweet melony flavor that’s a dead ringer for a slice of honeydew right from the fridge. Amazing.

Lemon-Lime. More 7-Uppity than Spritely. Actually, it is very reminiscent of 7-Up from the 1970’s before they started replacing sugar with corn syrup.

Lemonade. Very similar in tast to homemade lemonade. A genuine lemony flavor that includes a little bit of sour and even gives you a teensy bit of pucker. Sweet and sour in just the right proportions.

Vanilla cupcake. It really does taste like a yummy cupcake with a hint of spice similar to gingerbread.

Hangseng RY4. Tastes like a fine cigarette with a cup of earl grey tea with honey. The slight citrus note is very pleasant and enhances the overall taste of it.

A note about RY4 blends. Almost every vendor makes an RY4 flavor. The flavor is characterized by a blend of tobacco, of which there are at least 100 flavors industry wide, with vanilla and caramel flavors added. The base tobacco flavor accounts for 50% or more of the blend with vanilla and caramel rounding out the balance in varying amounts. Not all flavorings are identical from maker to maker. One’s caramel will focus on the burnt sugar while another will focus on the buttery part of the flavor.

The juices cost from $1.89 per 5ml bottle to $13.99 per 50ml bottle from Madvapes. Goodprophets juices are $4 per 10ml bottle.

If you’ve ever wanted to quit smoking, this is the way. Consider trying e-cigarettes. I would highly recommend the CIG2O for a small cigarette look alike or a tank-fed model like the eGo-C for extended battery life and the ability to refill. Seriously think about getting the eGo-C as that’s what most folks discover they prefer. Some folks prefer other styles which I’ll go over in another post.

I love not smoking as much as I used to love somking.
Yay!

I’m buying my e-cigarette supplies from Northwest Vapors. If you choose to shop at Northwest Vapors be sure to use the redemption code FOXFUR and receive a 10% discount on your entire order. You can use this on your first and every order after that. I told them I blog about E-Cigs (it is the most frequently accessed topic on this blog) and would like to be able to offer my readers a discount. They immediately created the Foxfur code. I am not paid or compensated by them for traffic directed over there. I simply want y’all to save some money and your health.