stonewaresnake

 Hello former Wraith players
I'm moving soon and we were going to have a garage sale tomorrow from 10am-3pm at 508 South Lynn.
I have the Wraith larp prop box and I would like to give everybody an opportunity to let me know if they want any of the stuff. I'm not getting rid of the Oboli so if you want those I'm happy to give you a some but there is no rush. I think Seth has already spoken for the red devil mask but I think the rest of the stuff is up for grabs. Please let me know by tomorrow. I have pictures of everything that I tried to email everyone. I'm not sure how to email David though. David if you read this I've got Loren's mask. Do you want it?

 The basement flooded about 4 or 5 inches. Still getting the water out.

Hello,

I've restarted that neat animal and art update thing I was doing awhile ago. I felt weird about doing that on livejournal so I started it up on blogger. Here is a link. 

Art
-cast tiny aardvark and cheetah
-make second original for ankh soap
-sand boxes

Not much going on. I'm prepping for Duckon in June. I should probably also get some new stuff to Cinema pretty soon. Other then that I've been on a bit of a music kick lately. I got a couple of new cds the best of the which so far has been Sarabands by Corpus Delicti, though I'm not sure about the song where they sound like a parrot. They also shifted my schedule at work to 1pm-10pm, so I will get my nights back which is nice.

Art
Still working on the Dragon

There was a tiny earthquake this morning. It was very odd not something I expect in illinois, despite the fault line.
In other news I finally got a new computer, one of the new imacs. The cd drive unsettles me quite a bit you just shove cds in the side of the monitor. I decided to back up my music since I have lots of space. I really didn't want to put the Specimen cd into it, what if it never came back. It was one of the ones I really wanted to back up. I don't think I could get it out of there. It came back out but I still don't trust it. The keyboard is also unsettling. Otherwise it is nice to have a working computer.

Art
-sculpting dragon

Grace and Mare got home from Wisconsin very late last night. It sounds like the drive back did not go well.

Neat Animal of the Day

The glowlight tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus) is a small brightly colored schooling tetra from the Essequibo River in South America. They are reasonably popular as aquarium fish as they are brightly colored, hardy, unaggressive and breed readily in captivity. Interestingly they also have an alarm chemical in their body, so that when they are eaten by predatory fish the fish excudes this pheromones alerting other glowlight tetras. This was tested using small shoals of glow light tetras and exposing them to Jack Dempsey cichlids with different diets. They had a very different response to Jack dempseys that had not eaten the tetras. Glow light tetras that sense these pheromones being flicking their fins to alert the shoal of the predator. In some cases predators are also deterred by the fin flicking behavior as well.

glowlight tetras

Art
-still working on the dragon musculature
I have to finish the sculpt by the end of Sunday if I want to cast it for this con. I think it will take about 10 days to cast it. I ordered the nice high flexibility high tear strength silicone for this one as I feel it is going to be a pain in the ass to cast. I also got some ThinThix to be smart this time.

Stuart is going through the very high pressure part of his grant, I hope he will be ok.

Neat animal of the Day
When Stuart and I went to New Orleans I kept seeing a type of anole I was not familiar with, along with all the green and brown anoles and blue tailed skinks. It was brown and had a large back crest, and I was really curious as to what this thing was, you'd think I'd have seen it in a petstore somewhere with as many as there were. I speculated on what this odd anole with a crest's name might be, perhaps it had been named after the researcher that discovered it, or any number of other things. I hopefully did not annoy Stuart to much fixating on a strange lizard. We finally found a few in a tank at the aquarium and they were in fact the crested anole, so much for creative names. The crested anole (Anolis cristatellus) is not native to the U.S., actually being native to Puerto Rico, but have been fairly successful in establishing themselves. The males have crests bright orange dewlaps but the females do not.

male crested anole

male displaying

female crested anole

Art
-still working on the dragon it has a head now that's new

Neat Animal of the Day

The Dovekie (alle alle) is a robin sized bird that is one of the smallest members of the auk family. They are odd as they are specialized filter feeders that strain plankton through tink tooth-like structures in their beak. The live in the northern arctic, with greenland being their main stronghold they can range as far south as new Jersey in the winter. They breed in very large colonies numbering in the millions, and their plumage changes fairly dramatically during the breeding season. They are occasionally driven off course in very large numbers by storms in one case in 1930, 1000 dovekies were found in Sydney Australia.

some dovekies in breeding plumage

in it's normal plumage

Art
-sculpt dragon that hopefully will not fall over again

I've created sort of an overkill external armature for the dragon. I would like to start doing more dynamic difficult to balance poses so armatures are something I'm really going to have to work on. I found a source for 1 pound lead bricks. Now I just have to figure out what I will need to coat them in to make them extra safe, as I'm paranoid. I suppose I could copper plate it or coat it in plastic. They will also be in casting material so I don't think I will have issues with it leaching.

Neat Animal of the Day

One of the serious contenders for the cutest bat would be the common tent making bat (Uroderma bilobatum). Common tent making bats are omnivorous from Brazil that create their own shelter by cutting little holes parallel to the midrib in palm fronds causing them to droop and form a tent. In some case this particular species of tent making bats creates more complicated multiple leaf tents that resemble tepees. During the mating season the males may share their tents with as many as 15 females.

a group of common tent making bats

another small group

a head shot

Art
-assemble back iron armature see how it goes
-If it works-work on dragon

So if this dragon works the casts will need a really heavy base. Does anyone know of a convenient cheap form to get iron or lead in?

Neat Animal of the Day

Amargasaurus (Amargasaurus cazaui) was a sauropod from South America during the Early Cretaceous Period that had large strange spines or perhaps a sail off it's back. The presence skin between the spines is debated by paleontologists, they also debate what the back spines were useful for. It's name translates to bitter lizard whis is amusing. It had some of the smallest amount of neural tissue for it's body size among dinosaurs so it was likely not a bright creature. It has also been thought of as a possibility for Mokele Mbembe, this seems unlikely though.

Sculpture with skin flaps

drawing with spikes

a skeleton

Art
I've lost track just going to restart the count today
-work out an external armature to keep the top heavy dragon standing

I'm feeling a little better today. I still can't talk. They have been letting me work from home which is a good thing. I'm a little concerned about the Dragon I was working on after this week. I think how it goes this weekend will determine it's fate. Grace may wish to do more experimentation with materials for paint pigments and given the direction I'm intending with upcoming line of academicish art I'll probably be doing a lot more glazing. After many years with Ron Kovatch I know the best glazes involve systematic experimentation and chemicals that give chaotic affects, oh and pain. So, I suspect we will be getting some glaze and household chemicals and attempting some Science! in the basement. Stuart may be considering the possibility of getting some tiny quail, or not.

Neat Animal of the Day

The Hawaiian happy face spider (theridion grallator) is a kind of ironic animal, it has highly variable markings but often has a smiley face on it's abdomen. It is theorized that it's odd markings help to keep away birds and other predators, however they really are not sure about that. A really bizarre thing about it's marking is the pattern of inheritance varies depending upon which of the islands it is on. On Maui the spiders inherit there markings in a very predictable Mendelian way. On on other islands the patterns are sex limited. In some cases its color is altered by the food the spider is eating. They are also odd in that the female actually cares for her young, she guards the eggs until they hatch, then brings food to the newborn spiders.

a happy face spider

another one

Feeling really sick today. I stayed home from work. Looking at Meg's post today got me thinking. You know I could teach people how to fuse, slump, or cast glass. Is there anybody in town that would want to learn those things?

Neat Animal of the Day

The tripod fish (Bathypterois grallator) is a very strange fish with three long extentsions off it's pelvic fins and tail that allow it to stand on the ocean floor for extended periods of time. It also has extended pectoral fins that it holds out and waits for small crustaceans to bump into them, then uses to direct the small crustaceans into it's mouth. The fish itself is reasonably small under 14 inches long, but it's fins can span up to 3ft long. All tripod fish are hermaphrodites thus when two tripod fish meet both can spawn, also in extreme cases they can reproduce by themselves. They tend to be found 800-4000 meters on continental ridges.

a tripod fish standing on the bottom

maybe a bathypterois grallator swimming

a head shot

Art
5.5hrs behind
-still sculpting the Dragon


Neat animal of the Day

Cuvier's Dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) is the smallest of the crocodilians only reaching a length of about 3 feet. This make them quite popular as pets as unlike other crocodilians they stay a somewhat manageable but still quite dangerous size. They tend to be very aggressive even for crocodilians in captivity, but have bred and can live up to 40 years. They tend to live in rivers and streams in north eastern South America it is theorized that their small size helps them to navigate through faster running water. They have the most bony plates of any crocodilian and they have some of the strongest stomach acid found in any known vertebrate.

Cuvier's dwarf caiman

juvenile dwarf caimans

a dwarf caiman skeleton showing off all of those bony plates

enthusiastic long haired man fussing over baby dwarf caiman

Art
4.5 hours behind
-still sculpting the top heavy dragon

Still sick mostly annoying earaches. It was nice to have people over for Maidens. Long animal entry today as I was asked about them. I'd actually been considering doing an animal blog for some time but was going to do it as much longer entries once a week. I gave up on this as it takes me far to long to write them. This is one of the entries I had pre-written for that project but not used.

Neat Animal of the Day

The Kakapo

( Read more... )

Art
7hrs behind
-working on the dragon
-cleaning

Maidens is going on so we have a lot of people over. This is a good thing though I wish I were in better shape for visiting. I'm feeling kind of awful I'm pretty sure I've come down with something. On a kind of funny note I was cleaning the gecko tanks to today and ran out of paper towel to bed them on so I used part of an old car insurance mailing. This would be funnier if I had Day Geckos, although if I had a giant day gecko it also would have been on the ceiling before I'd have gotten the paper in the cage as they move a just under the speed of light horizontally and vertically and are sneaky little bastards.

Neat Animal of the Day

Remember the Yangtze river dolphin that went extinct and was in the papers not to long ago, it actually was not the only cetacean in that river there also still is the Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides). Locally they are far less appreciated then the Yangtze river dolphin and are referred to as river pigs. Fortunately they are found in other places as they are very rapidly declining in the Yangtze which just isn't very habitable for cetaceans at this point. A few of them were moved to the conservation area intended for the Yangtze river dolphin, which is good as they are quite endangered in China. There actually are no estimates as to how they are doing in other places, they just have never been counted. They are odd as they are found in both fresh and saltwater environments, they are some of the smallest cetaceans, and they lack a dorsal fin. In saltwater environments they tend to spend most of their time near the coast and they do reasonably well in captivity for ceteceans living up to 15 years and having bred. They also are adorable I'm not sure why they don't make the pretty dolphin calenders and what not.

a finless porpoise

a head shot

another head shot

Art
6hrs behind
-clean for maidens
-buy further supplies

Grace and I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and I'm happy to report that they carry stoneware should anyone need it. It is a little odd as it appears to have no grog in it, but I suppose you could add your own. Beth is here making garb. I have ordered a 5ft beach ball for the "castamari".

Neat animal of the Day

The Laughing Owl or scoundrel owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) once lived in new Zealand, it was plentiful when settlers first arrived on the island but went into sharp decline and was last spotted in the 1914, though there were unconfirmed sighting until the 1960's. They were believed to have been wiped out by a combination of factors habitat loss, invasive species, and being shot. It was known for it's odd call that sounded somewhat like laughing, hence the name. Anecdotal evidence claims they were attracted to accordion playing. So, the world has lost the only avian fan of polka.


Photo

taxidermied zoo animal

Art
5.25 hrs behind
-work on dragon musculature
-find a very very large beach ball or weather balloon
-buy taxidermy supplies

Stuart had a brilliant idea regarding rotational casting. Normally when I rotational cast I have to pick up the mold full of uncured material and spin it around. He pointed out what if I build essentially a giant hamster ball that molds fit in and roll it I could accomplish this without wearing myself out. This might work well for that plaster stuff that I found as it take about half an hour to cure. Half an hour of spinning a twenty to thirty pound mold by hand sounds like an unbelievable joy. So, I think I will try this thing for Science! Although If I do build a 4 or 5ft sphere to roll around the house with a mold in it, I think I may be obligated by law to paint it neon green with pink bumps like a katamari.

Neat Animal of the Day

The knobbed argonaut (Argonauta nodosa) is not a type of nautilus but a type of octopus that also builds a shell that the female swims around in. The paper thin shell is actually an egg case that only females of this species create. They display extreme sexual dimorphism males are under 1 inch long, while females can exceed 4 inches. They live in the open ocean in the southern hemisphere and occur most frequently around Australia. There shells are highly prized by collectors as they are rare and fragile.

a female knobbed argonaut in her egg case

a front shot of a female in her shell

a drawing of a male argonaut

Art
3.5 hours behind
-add muscle structure to the dragon

I think that I might just be nocturnal I slept late yesterday and was wide awake at 2am today. You would think it would take more than one day of adjustment.

Neat Animal of the Day

The elephant fish or ghost shark (Callorhinchus milii) is a strange cartilaginous fish from Australia and new Zealand. It has an long lobed sensory organ hanging off the front of it's face that it uses to detect crustaceans and mollusks on the ocean floor. They can grow to almost 5 ft in length and take 5 years to mature. The Maori were very fond of them as a food fish and called them Reperepe which means "drooping lips" or in some cases "buttocks".

An elephant fish

close up of it's head

Art
4 hrs behind
-work on dragon

I slept to late today.

Neat Animal of the Day

The McGregor Tree Viper (Trimeresurus mcgregori) is a lovely colorful snake with variable marking from two islands of the Philippines. It is a venomous snake with a very painful bite, but it is not deadly. It was discovered by a bird specialist Richard C.Mcgregor in 1907, and upon discovery the snake bit him, so he also learned about the potency of it's venom. Unlike many snakes, these snakes are actually very dependent on sight most snakes get most of their sensory input through smell and heat.

a yellow McGregor Tree Viper

yellow with purple markings

Black and white markings

Art
5hrs behind
-gather dragon referance (lizards and dinosaurs)
-make dragon armature
-coat in victory brown wax

I had a lazy day yesterday. Grace and I went on a walk and saw a lovely stump eating into a brick wall.

Neat Animal of the Day

The barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) is a striking black and white goose from Europe. It was once believed that they sprung from gooseneck barnicles (suborder Lepadomorpha) as the barnacles looked a bit like the geese and were believed to grow being found generally on drift wood. The barnacles were seen only in the summer while the geese were seen only in the winter and at that time it was unknown that birds migrate. The monk Giraldus Cambrensis claimed to witness geese springing from the barnacles. The pope also declared them fish because they sprang from barnacles, so they could be eaten on fish days. Actually, in the summer barnicle geese nest on cliffs in the artic. As the babies are not yet able to fly but must feed them selves, the first action a baby barnacle goose must take in life is to leap off a cliff and hope the fluff slows it's fall, quite a lot of them don't die.

a barnacle goose

proof of baby barnacle geese

With a canadian goose for scale

the barnacles people thought they came from

Drawing of them springing from Barnacles