Sunday, December 31, 2006

adios 2006


Well, here we are at the end of another year. One thing for sure it has been an interesting one, but then I guess they all are when you look back on them. I hope it was good to you and I hope '07 is a fine one. I know personally it's going to be a huge change for my wife and I since we are expecting our first child around the end of July.
Well, not much else to say, so I will leave off with some random tracks to enjoy on your New Years Eve, or tomorrow on hangover day if you like. Cheers!

First some super 70's old school funk The Natural Band- There was

and a little something by Leonard Nimoy- Music to Watch Space Girls By

and just cuz I love them Os Mutantes- Top Top

Have a safe and Happy New Years Eve. Keep it between the ditches. Later

bonus track- here's a little calypso for tomorrow Duke Harris- Bloodshot Eyes

Friday, December 29, 2006

Winter

I love winter. Unless it's -20 for several weeks solid, that is. One thing I really like and look forward to every year is the frost that appears on my bedroom window. I took some pictures of it a few weeks ago. It makes a cool desktop by the way, so feel free...







...later

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Engraving

Today I just want to do a quick little post regarding glass engraving. Surprisingly this is something which most people I encounter (outside of vanning circles) have never seen, especially on a vehicle, but is actually pretty common amongst custom vans. It's a bit like giving it a tattoo, as it is permanent. It's a pretty cool way to dress up a window, or any other piece of glass. My first attempt at this was to do the vent windows in my van. First I had to decide what I wanted to put on, and to me the choice was obvious. Mermaids. I love them, ever since I was a kid. What can I say, it's a naked woman with a fish tail? ...anyway. There are several ways to go about doing this. You can sandblast the glass, which can be a messy job, and really requires a booth or to be outdoors, or use one of two types of engravers.
There is the 'hammer style' which works a lot like a tattoo gun and has a sharp tip on it which marks the surface of what you are engraving. To me those are a little harder to control and I can't make as straight a line with it.
The other type is the 'rotary' type of tool, which is just your standard Dremel tool. I use diamond tip bits to do the engraving.
Once you have decided what you want, and what you are going to use, the next step (for me) is finding a design that 'fits' the window. I used a design by Olivia, and changed it around a bit. The original was shorter haired, bare breasted, and had no scales. (not that I objected to any of that, I just wanted it a little different) So I changed the hair, added starfish (which I like better than the typical scallop shells or what have you) and added scales.
After it was the way I liked it, I engraved it on the window. The result is what you see here.


here's a detail


I was really happy with the result, so I reversed the image and did an identical one on the other door. (sorry the picture quality sucks. I only had my phone to take the picture then)


The cool thing about glass engraving is the effect it has under different light. Normaly it just looks like white lines, but if you look at it against a lighter back ground than the line (say the sky for instance) it looks like a pencil drawing.

It can be done on any type of glass too. This christmas we gave pint glasses to people with different engravings on them. Here is an example of one of the ones we gave the breeders we got Finnegan from. This is a picutre of his mother.


I still have a lot to learn about this, but I am having fun doing it so far. I am picking away at a large piece (which if I keep going at the rate I am I'll be 90 when it's done) of the Fellowship of the Ring depicting the entrance to Moria.
Thanks for looking.
Kirk Out!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

R.I.P James Brown

Ok, so by now it's all over the place, I'm sure you have heard of the passing of James Brown early Christmas morning, but did you know he recorded a holiday tune...called "Christmas in Heaven"? That's too weird not to post the song, so without further ado, for your listening pleasure, may I now present

Christmas In Heaven- James Brown



...later gator.

Monday, December 25, 2006

A couple of my recent drawings

One of the things I draw is cartoon style vans for my vanner friends. Here are a few recent ones I did on commission for Christmas gifts.
These were both done for my friend "Snotty", who is President of 'Moon Lite Vans' from Reading, PA. The Orange Chevy was done for his son, who owns the actual van.


The other was a gift to his brother 'Yux' of his 2nd generation Chevy. Again, here is a picture of the actual van.

I'll post more of these 'vantoons' in the future as well as pictures of my paintings, and some glass engraving. Stay tuned...

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Ok. I lied...

I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite Christmas videos...

Actually I'm still trying to get the hang of this whole thing. Now if I could just get them in the same post.


Merry Christmas!

I know it's early, but I probably won't post again until after the holiday. I hope you have a good Christmas. I'm going to leave you with a short little track from "The Simpsons". Here's Robert Goulet (with Bart, Smithers, Mr. Burns, and Nelson) singing 'Jingle Bells' from the episode $pringfield.

Robert Goulet- Jingle Bells
(my Boston Terrier Finnegan waiting patiently for Christmas)

Friday, December 22, 2006

Happy Winter Solstice!

I thought I'd take this time to tell a little bit about what it is I intend to do here. My main goal for this blog (by the way I hate the word 'blog') is to have a place to show my artwork, and I will do that as soon real soon. I also intend to put up some tunes occasionally and links to things that I find interesting. I also have a few other ideas in mind, so it should be fun. For now I am going to leave off with two very different Christmas tunes. The Ramones "Merry Christmas (I don't want to fight tonight), and Dr. John's "Silent Night" from his album "Dr. John plays Mac Rebennack".

Ramones- Merry Christmas (I don't want to fight tonight)

Dr. John- Silent Night

later...

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Post #1


Hi, this being my first post I thought I'd share a little holiday goodness. Enjoy.
It might take me a little bit to fine tune this, so bear with me.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" as narrated by Boris Karloff
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1ajxed