Flat Club, this time its done

by Patrick on January 23, 2012

in Bicycle stuff,Everything

trophyfinal

Hope these classes are well attended.
I’ve only bought 2 new complete bicycles from shops in my life. One was a TREK mountain bike from Bustleton Bikes 19 years ago. The second was a Brompton from Trophy that I bought 1 year ago. They do a great job, If you can’t fix your own flat get over there and learn already.

Flat Club

by Patrick on January 17, 2012

in Bicycle stuff,Everything

fixyour

Most of this is hitting the cutting room floor.
Made for:
Trophy bikes.

Phoenix

by Patrick on January 12, 2012

in Everything,Mummers

Not River Phoenix in front of the Dragonfly or the city that I don’t ever plan on going to.. This post is a celebration of a new computer. The old iMac is dead, sadly, and it’ll be a minute before things are normalized, but this, my first posting in several months, is the first step.

PC300218

That’s Satin Slipper and the incomplete dragon during practice.

PC300225

Interior scene for the Avenuers (big finish).

PC300206

I learned a lot with this image. We spent a solid 2 weeks with extra labor on this one. It barely looks it. My favorite is the india ink sign.. and the guy on the human powered thingiedoo.

PC300216-1

There’s 127 guys that I painted. Steve painted the bodies for 8 of em and Drew obsessed over the terrain. Too much detail for a “20 yard stare”.

PC300210

The Taj M’hawl. I wish I could say this just flew together, but I struggled with the colors in the Taj for a while (it’s white of course). Drew painted the sky. He’s really good at skies (even though I disapprove of his color choices). We fought about the shape of the bushes. Nobody saw them. There was a huge prop in front of this scene. You can’t even see William Penn on top of the main dome.
I didn’t get pictures of anything. Drew took these but he missed a couple of things. Oh well.
This year I plan on recording my process better.
It sure is nice having a new computer.

Dead

by Patrick on November 21, 2011

in Mummers

downsized_1117110139

The fella at the computer repair place said that my computer is dead. That is why I haven’t posted anything in a month. My room-mate was nice enough to let me use hers, but I can’t make a habit of this, so… It looks like this blog is going on a temporary hiatus. That is until I get a new computer.
More time for the mummers then.

Mummers getting started

by Patrick on October 20, 2011

in Mummers

avesscene1tophalf

I don’t know why I allow this unfinished shtuff up here, because it consists mostly of excuses.
Here is the top half of “Marketplace” scene one, Avenuers.
There are still concerns as to why an “arabian nights” looking theme reads as the supposed “Bollywood” theme that the Avenuers are attempting.
Have to redo the scene two/two.5 sketch that was previously posted. It is definitely better to iron out the details before going sixty feet wide.

Mummers back in effect

by Patrick on October 8, 2011

in Mummers

greatwall1

This tiny image will soon be 20 by 60 feet. It will be scene 2 for a new club (for me anyway). The center section will do some wacky crazy motion revealing a “dragon” in place of the great wall. I don’t get to design the dragon head, so the alternate scene probably won’t make it up here.
Tomorrow we go back to the garage and get to mix it up with the Mums.

Dogs

by Patrick on September 19, 2011

in Everything,Garments

sneakers

Ran a half marathon yesterday and the decision of which shoe to wear was difficult. Obviously I wound up wearing the cushy sofa shoe even though all of my “training” was with the “barefoot” or even more “barefoot” variety.
All of the anxiety I built up looking toward this stupidly long run was for naught. Thirteen miles, though quite a distance wasn’t all that bad. Walking it would take less than 4 hours, you just have to ask yourself if walking/jogging for multiple hours is any fun or is worth doing.
I missed Brett Michaels play at the finish, crap..

Best Shorts Ever

by Patrick on August 26, 2011

in Bicycle stuff,Garments

modrobesshorts

In Philly we had an earthquake and this weekend we are going to be smacked by a monster hurricane.. Irene.
Anyway, it got me thinking of the last apocalypse we somehow averted:
May 21 2011.
On that day me and most of the roomies went to Great Adventure, but before that I went to Bicycle Revolutions and bought a new pair of cargo like shorts (see illustration).
I figured hey, if the rapture happens, I’ll at least have clean shorts.
These puppies are made by Modrobes, made in Canada (close to local), the material was woven from recycled plastic bottles, and they are designed for bicycle riding. A little long for shorts, and too short for knickers, these shickers walk a precarious tightrope between useful and annoying. Maybe if I tried a Large they’d be more like knickers, but the Mediums felt so good I didn’t care. It’s a good thing they are made of that stretchy plastic bottle material because the length never matters. Tug and wiggle all you want these shorts never get in the way. I’ve worn this pair for three months straight and aside from all the crap I’ve spilled on them, they show little sign of wear. The diagonal cargo pockets are genius. Nothing falls out when you’re sitting in a chair or on a bike.
If you want them go to where I went or go to your local bike shop and beg them to carry this stuff.

{ 0 comments }

Ground Cherries

by Patrick on August 11, 2011

in Everything,Food

groundcherrya

groundcherryb

Found this weird fruit at the Fair Food Stand at Reading Terminal Market. The fella at the register said these were related somehow to the tomatillo, the tell tale marker being the loose paper hull (not sure if I captured it exactly right) surrounding each berry. He claimed they were “tart with a strange pineapple like sweetness”. That’s pretty spot on.
Strange, It just occurred to me that “bottom” implies that the cherry sits on that part, but there is clearly a stem and it probably dangles from that, so it should read “top”. Since I have never seen the plant from which it comes just assume “bottom” is wrong, or at least not exactly correct.

Scissored folks

by Patrick on August 10, 2011

in Everything,Silhouettes

7-31silhouettes
More silhouettes. These are all from the 2nd Street Festival July 31.
The feeling in my cutting thumb is finally starting to come back.
IMG_7064
This nice lady took a picture of the magic.