…How does it do that?

Links to last week’s posts, and more, after the break.

• Tuesday was my first post with photos of people (that I can remember, and that weren’t of myself). It was from my friend’s wedding.
• Wednesday brought forth another batch of photos from my pal’s wedding.
• Thursday was the first installment in my Attraction Lost series–which are photos from abandoned tourist attractions.
• On Friday, I had a review of Geno’s Pizzeria for Examiner.com. Yummy.
• I also had a story about all of the fun food available at the Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing.
• Saturday was a brand new LansingNext podcast.

Other links

• My blog was approved for addition to the Cool Photo Blogs directory. Awesome.
• This has been making the rounds, but OkCupid had some data about photos, cameras and how they correlate to getting dates. Amusing stuff. (via Photojojo‘s Twitter)
• Epic Edits had a good list of 10 No-no’s for Online Photo portfolios.
• Check out this frog!
• And for my follow hockey fans, check out this photo a botched engraving job on a trophy on Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy blog. It was thought to be a hoax, but ended up being very, very real.

Tomorrow: Photos of fire!

But, the price was right (free) and being desperate for furniture at the time of moving into my apartment (and a being a cheapskate), I could not turn it down.

A couple months ago, I noticed that when I went to recline, the foot rest did not raise up as high as it used to, and that the chain tended to angle downward when I used it.

Last night I finally had enough.

I flipped the thing on its side and inspected the reclining mechanism. I promptly found a bolt, nut and spacer (I don’t care if I have the vernacular incorrect, deal with it) laying on the floor. Closer inspection showed me that the bolt had fallen out of the front end of the mechanism, and therefore it was no longer properly attached to the frame.

After a few tests of the lever on the side of the chair, I realized as well that the mechanism that rose the foot rest, had moved too far forward. It was on the other side of a bar running through the middle of the chair. This is what had caused the chair to angle downward when activating the foot rest (and also created the loud, odd creaking sounds when the chair was rocked).

The rear of the mechanism had also lost its bolt, which I could not find (this could have happened any number of years ago). The stress of not having both bolts likely worked the other loose–as well as pushing down on the foot rest instead of using the lever (kids, use the lever).

I had a plan of attack.

I took my great-grandfather’s hammer (circa early 1900s, built to last) and pounded the heck out of the mechanism until I got it back to where it was suppose to be. Then, I replaced the bolt on the front end. But I added some insurance. I used super glue all over it. Then, I packed putty around it (in hopes of minimizing its moving around). Lastly, I wrapped the whole section in Gorilla Tape (love that stuff). Sure, it didn’t look pretty, but it is the bottom of the chair, and it worked.

Then came the rear of the mechanism and my lack of a proper bolt. I thought about it and tried to think of something I could cannibalize.

Now, you’re probably thinking “Why didn’t you take the bolt from the front to the hardware store and buy one just like it?”

A. Shut up. It was late.
B. I was in the zone and I was going to solve this, by hook or crook.
B. Shut up. Seriously.

I improvised. <that’s what she said>I had a long screw  that would fit through the holes, but it wasn’t thick enough to hold everything together.</that’s what she said>

I came across one of those metal-ball-chain things they have for dog tags (the kind for soldiers, not for dogs) and used the screw to push the chain through the hole. I wrapped the thing around the frame a few times and latched the chain (with the screw in the hole as well). I essentially “tied” the pieces together with this metal chain. The screw at least kept something everything from sliding around too much.

Once again, I applied putty around both ends of the screw and covered the whole mess with Gorilla Tape.

After my MacGyver-ing was finished, I sprayed WD-40 on all of the mechanisms moving parts.

The chair back to its old self once again.

I like fixing things like this and the problem solving/thinking on my feet aspect. It is a good mental exercise. Keep in mind, because I do not live in/own a house, I don’t own a large amount of tools and/or supplies. I have to make due. My two main tools are the aforementioned hammer and my Gerber multi-tool (related story: I found out the knife is still sharp while clearing the super glue tube free of blockage. That was fun). I’m just doin’ what I can with what I got.

And I’m glad I fixed this sucker–the NHL playoffs start today.

Fair warning, this could get geeky.

My favorite part is the horrible clone brush job in the upper right hand corner

Ah yes. The Electric Challenge of the Powerslaves, a title that was not only a reference to the Go-Bots, but also Iron Maiden’s seminal 1984 album, Powerslave. Oh, here’s a live video of the title track. Better still, the entire background of the flier is the cover from Dio’s The Last in Line album. These fliers are a great time capsule of my Photoshop skills in college. I had probably only just learned the program at this point. Oy. I did this show with my buddy Erik.

The “premise” of this show, even if there was ever such a thing, was a combination of late night talk radio and music. All three of our listeners enjoyed it. In all seriousness, one of our friends commented that he enjoyed our varied musical tastes. Erik would play some Joy Division and I would follow it up with Iron Maiden. Hilarious.

Moving on.

This one was a bit better, look at all those images in the text!

Next up was Büllit Bëlt, my “old school” heavy metal show. This was a solo affair and a decent step in my Photoshop know-how. I had learned how to add images to text (and how to bevel/emboss said text). I seem to remember painstakingly cutting that flying V guitar and the ring of fire out of their respective original images. I also tracked down a Metallica font (called Pastor of Muppets, I believe) as well as an Iron Maiden font (Metal Lord?). For those curious, the images in the text are L to R: Eddie from Iron Maiden, the Motorhead logo, the cover of Dio’s Holy Diver and a Slayer album.

Next!

This is probably the best looking of the three, design wise.

Oh, Blades of Steel. My darling hockey talk show. Interestingly enough, it was a fairly landmark show at the time. WCKS was mainly music and a little bit of talk, but no one really did a sports show, let alone on hockey. They even did a story on me for the school paper. Obviously, this is just an ad for the Blades of Steel video game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. I didn’t have to do much, which was probably a good thing, but I did change “game” in “the hottest game on ice” to “show.” That took some creative Photoshop work. I got the S, H and O from “hottest” but I had to swipe and flip the M from “game” to complete show. I was pretty happy with that.

Ah, college radio. Good times, good conversation (well, not really, except when Erik was around). Doing LansingNext with Julielyn is bringing back some of those memories and that is part of the reason I am enjoying the show so much (and like a million times more people are listening).

You can buy that special someone(s) a copy of my novel, The Magic of Eyri, through Lulu, Amazon and Barnes & Noble (you can even go in any physical book store and give the ISBN 978-0615145280 and they should be able to order it for you).

A friend made my week by ordering ten copies to give out as gifts.  Any day I have to sign ten copies of my novel is a good day.

signing ten copies of the magic of eyri at once.

So don’t hesitate, g’head and order a few dozen copies of your own. And if you live in Lansing and want ‘em signed, let me know.

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In other Magic of Eyri news, episode 015 of the free podcast version, “Every Which Way but Uth,” is now online.  Download!

And remember that I’m not releasing any episodes in December (trying to build up a stockpile of episodes and to give myself a bit of a break).  Episodes will resume on the first Wednesday in January 2010 (the 6th).

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Here’s a digital digest of my other writings wandering aimlessly ’round the Internet:

• Save money by ordering a la carte at Los Tres Amigos, Examiner.com, 11.24.09
• Make the lunch buffet at Mumbai in East Lansing a regular stop, Examiner.com, 11.25.09
• And now for something completely different-breakfast at the Holiday Lanes bowling alley,
• This week’s High Noon Fantasy Hockey, IllegalCurve.com (11.23.09)

The month off from releasing episodes will help me built up a bit of a buffer so that I’m not worrying about releasing episodes week by week.  My goal is to have at least two episodes totally finished by the first of the year, if not more (or at least some more scripts finished). I’ve been going full throttle on my free podcast since last Spring, so I figured I’ve earned a break. The less stress around Christmas, the better. I am looking forward to giving myself a bit of a breather–in a way, it is a Christmas present to myself.  I may take that time to re-record episode 001 (“A Shameless Summer“) as well.  It could certainly benefit from it, as I’ve become much better at producing episodes since then (if I do that, I’ll still keep the original version online, so one can compare and contrast).

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And here’s your weekly round-up of my various writings running wild around the back alleys of the Internet:

• Divide and conquer your hunger with the soup and sandwich combo at Soup Spoon Cafe, Examiner.com (11.16.09)
• Hold the cow and grab a spicy black bean burger at Michigan Brewing Company, Examiner.com (11.18.09)
• Find a fast, spicy lunch at Bangkok House, Examiner.com (11.19.09)
• This week’s High Noon Fantasy Hockey, IllegalCurve.com (11.16.09)

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The big news of this past week is that the first draft of my next novel, working title Night of the Lonely Werewolf, is done. Yep, all 94,000+ words of it are finished.  I opted to print the dang thing out (all 499 pages of it, double-spaced at 12 point font) as I go through the editing process.  I’m glad I went this route, because I’ll at least have a hard copy of the first draft, and I like taking notes as I do that always important first read-through.  I may need to invest in more red pens.

I'm oldschool. Markin' up the paper with a bunch of red marks.

This is the novel I started for last year’s National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo).  Not happy that it took me almost a year to write the last 44,000 words after cranking out the first 50k in less than 30 days, but “thems the breaks.”

“Life happened” right after the holidays last year and I fell off the writing horse for a few months–but I dusted myself off and get right back on, spurs an’ all.  Getting that first draft finished is key, after that, things kind of fall in place.  But reaching that final goal of a workable first draft–no matter how good or bad it is–is super important.

I didn’t want to become a writer with a few half-finished novels lying around, so I’m happy that I soldiered on and finished this thing.  The interesting thing is that I got some of my better ideas after that six month dry spell, life’s funny that way.  I actually enjoy editing my novels and watching it change into something even better.

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And here’s your weekly round-up of my various writings infesting other parts of the Internet:

• Lansing’s International Flavor, Capital Gains (11.04.09)
• The Big O Mess at Grumpy’s Diner will put a smile on your face, Examiner.com (11.10.09)
• Photo tour of the Michigan Brewing Company Brewery, Examiner.com (11.11.09)
• Sip some apple cider at Decker’s Coffee Company, Examiner.com (11.12.09)
• This week’s High Noon Fantasy Hockey, IllegalCurve.com (11.09.09)

Some more great news: I am now doing a weekly column about fantasy hockey for the hockey blog IllegalCurve.com. My first column went online today. They pop up every Monday at noon (I turn them in Sunday night-ish).

I know what you’re thinking: where can I get an awesome hat like this dude? How the heck can he do all of these side things, along with his other freelance work, the podcast, his in-progress novel and his day job?

Answer: I’ll make it happen. There will be a bit of a learning curve as I get used to these added duties, but I think once I get in the habit things will get smoother. Also, as a person who works better under pressure and with deadlines, this will strengthen my time management skills.

I’m already getting better–I set up a Google doc today to act as a note pad for my hockey column during the week. I read about hockey daily anyway, and this way I’ll have a running tally of news and ideas–unlike last night when I had to spend a lot of time looking for stuff while working on my first column.

My second Examiner story went way smoother today as well.  I made the mistake of using the advanced publishing tool for the first story and it resulted in way more work than I needed to do. Heck, I wrote all of the Soup Spoon story and started a new story tonight while at the laundry mat. I’m confident I’ll do fine.

After surveying whom I got stuck with after the auto-pick draft, I started making a bunch of changes to the ol’ roster. As of today, I’ve made 11 moves (which I think counts both dropping and adding a player as separate counts). Here’s the list, the top being most recent and so forth.

I've been busy. I lead my league with transactions.

Yeah, I picked up some folks and then dropped then soon after. ::shrug:: It happens. You have to go with who is hot and cut ties with those that are bringing you down, or ain’t on a streak any longer. I was happy to get Steve Sullivan at first, as he’s a proven 60+ point scorer and has been Nashville’s best forward…hm…ever. However, Sully is off to a slow start, as is most of Nashville, so I had to move on.

Derek Morris was on my team for maybe 48 hours before I saw how great Matt Carle is doing while being paired with Chris “How Many Different Teams Can I Take to the Finals” Pronger. Samsonov–slow start and inconsistent. Gone. Kostitsyn, slow too.

Other cuts: Sykora, a slow start, groin problems and being placed on injured reserve. Bye. Hated to cut Lenio, but, Benn from Dallas has been doing a lot better. I think Lenio might pick it up eventually, as the Red Wings are now dealing with losing Franzen for several months, and having Datsyuk out against the Avalanche didn’t help matters at all. I’m keeping an eye on Lenio. If he starts to pick up, I’ll try and grab him again.

The free agent pick ups:

D-men – Johnson, 7 points, +4. Doughty, 6 points, +1. Carle, 8 points, +5. Doughty, 6 points, +1 is reaping the benefits of LA having a hot start. Carkner, 2 points, +6, is still on probation, as I just picked him up at the end of my first week. He’s on pace for over 200 PIMs this season, which is something I need–and better still, he’s eligible to play at RW or D, which is great. He’s getting around 19 minutes a night with an Ottawa squad that seems to be surviving losing Dany Heatley (5-2, at the top of the Northeast division).

Wingers – Justin Williams, 9 points, has been one of my better waiver wire steals so far this season. He is clicking with his linemates Smyth and Kopitar big time. He’s a much better RW option than what I started with. Benn, 7 points, has been tearing it up with follow Dallas rookie James Neal, 7 points–another pick-up of mine.

Neal is taking a bunch of shots, 27 so far, and is third behind Malkin on my team (36–who had 12 last night alone, yikes) and Vrbata (32 shots). Heatley, my goal leader with 6, only has 23 shots on goal so far. Brunette has been a great addition too–he’s second on my team with 5 goals (8 points total), but his +/- could be better (-5).

Goalies – If’in it ain’t one thang, it’s another. Two of my goalies, Gustavsson and Theodore, were injured early on. Thankfully, Theodore was only day to day (he should be back soon) and at least The Monster was put on IR, allowing me to snatch a new goalie without dumping someone. I picked up Atlanta’s Ondrej Pavelec (3-1, 2.37 GAA, .929 SV%) and I am glad I did. I might try and hang on to him after the Monster comes off IR. Carrying four goalies might be overkill, but with neither the Monster nor Theodore for sure starters, it probably ain’t a bad idea.

Bumps an’ Bruises: The big news this week is that my top D-man, Sergei Gonchar (8 points, 5 of which were on the powerplay) is injured and could miss 4 to 6 weeks. ARGH. I’m hoping he gets put on IR and that I can drop him down there at the same time Schneider comes off (which should be soon), meaning I wouldn’t have to cut someone or try to find a new d-man.

Aw, Man: Boston’s #1 center, Savard, is out–I don’t have him, but I have his wingman, Marco Strum. Savard is out 4 to 6 weeks and this means Strum’s value drops big time. Playing with a center who averages 80 assists a season makes Strum a decent LW, but without Savard’s playmaking, how good will he be? (case in point: Boston beat Nashville tonight 3-2 , Strum had zero points and one shot on goal)

The sting here is that I cut Lenio over Strum for the reason that Strum plays with Savard (and there is no guarantee that Lenio will play with Datsyuk or Zetterberg).

Standings after week one: 11th place (5-10-2) out of fourteen teams.

I got destroyed in week one, 10 to 5. Weak goaltending, aided by two goalies getting injured, and Heatley having a bad week, did me in.

Through Tuesday, I am leading in this week’s match-up, 9 to 6. I’d like to get above .500, and soon.

Marked for the Chop:
Marco Strum, LW. See above.

Scott Gomez, C, (4 points in 8 games) really needs to kick it up a notch (bam?). But then the same could be said of the rest of the Canadiens. I’d hate to cut Gomez, as he at least gets a bunch of face-offs won, but I’m center-heavy and would like to get rid of one eventually (ideally, via a trade for a winger).

Radim Vrbata, RW, 4 points in 7 games. Despite being second on my team with 32 shots, Vrbata is on a 5 game point slump–he hasn’t scored a point since the second game of the season. However, he gets special consideration (to a point), since decent RW’s are hard to come by. But he better get it going. If he got the token goal against the Red Wings on Thursday (and the Wings won) I’d be happy.

Tomas Kaberle, D, 4 points in 7 games, -4. OK, the Maple Leafs have yet to win a game this season, which is reason enough to cut someone. But, Gonchar going down this week will probably cause me to keep Kabbie around for a bit longer–and he’s a fairly consistent scorer over the years, averaging 0.58 points a game over his career. Not bad. And things could pick up if/when Kessel finally skates with his new team. (Yes, Ryan Whitney, another of my d-men, has the same amount of points in as many games–but Whitney is +3 and gets penalty minutes).

Escaped the Ax:
Derick Brassard, C, 5 points in 7 games–but he’s on a four game point streak, including two points in one game on the 20th. Nice. He plays with Rick Nash, how can he not rack up the points?

Thankfully, I’m in a league with at least a few people I know, unlike the league of strangers I was in last time (note: League of Strangers is a cool name for something, must remember that one…)

I’m in a head to head league–meaning, all of my players’ stats go up against my opponent’s players’ stats for the week, similar to the way most Fantasy Football leagues are run (ex: I have 10 goals at the end of the week, Player B has 7, I win that category). In the past, I’ve mainly done what are called rotisserie leagues–your points fluctuate based on your ranking regarding each stat, usually based on how many teams in your league (ex: if I’m leading in goals at the end of the day in a 14 team league, I earn 14 points. But, if I drop to third the next day, I only have 12 points in that category).

Each type of league has its advantages and disadvantages. It is easier to come from behind in a head to head league, as if you have a great couple of weeks you can jump to the lead. But in a rotisserie league, if you get in a rut from the start, you might never climb out.

We had an auto-pick draft for our league, forgoing a live draft due to our crazy schedules. However, I customized my pre-draft rankings and I think I did pretty well considering we had a fairly large league of 14 teams.

I drafted 2nd overall–which is good, but also bad. The draft order is serpentine, meaning that while I get to pick second in round one, I pick second to last in round two, 27th overall (the person picking 14th overall gets two picks in a row: 14 and 15). By the time I get my second pick, 26 other players have already been picked (assuming my math is correct).

My crew, in the order drafted:

The Yellow Scarfs

My team’s logo and patron Saint, Proto Man. Image © Capcom

(my team name, named after Proto Man, which in turn inspired the character Zeroth in my novel/podcast The Magic of Eyri.  Zeroth also wears a yellow scarf)

1. (2) Evgeni Malkin – MVP candidate last season, keeps getting better and better.

2. (27) Dany Heatley – Disgruntled sniper that demanded a trade to a new team. 50 goal scorer.

3. (30) Joe Thornton – Great set-up man, line mate of Dany Heatley. Wins lots of faceoffs.

4. (55) Steve Mason – Rookie of the year winner last season.  Goalie.  Getting a great goalie or two is key in fantasy hockey.

5. (58) Sergei Gonchar – Scoring defenseman.

6. (83) Scott Gomez – Capable center playing on a line with two sniper wingers, could be the center of one of the best lines in the league.

7. (86) Henrik Sedin – Another high scoring center.

8. (111) Tomas Kaberle – Decent scoring defenseman.

9. (114) Mikko Koivu – Developing scoring center, 60+ points last season, wins lots of faceoffs.

10. (139) Petr Sykora – New team, could be a sleeper winger. I’m hoping he is.

11. (142) Mathieu Schneider – Scoring d-man, hoping playing with the Sedin twins will help him rack up a bunch of points.

12. (167) Marco Sturm – So-so winger, but Boston has been playing really well as of late.

13. (170) Andrei Kostitsyn – Another so-so Left Wing. Sub-par season last year. Hoping he rebounds.

14. (195) Ryan Whitney – Scoring d-man, will get more minutes with Pronger not being on the team any more.

15. (198) Jose Theodore – An OK goalie, probably good for 30 wins. But, could lose his starting gig to a young upstart rookie goalie.

16. (223) Derick Brassard – Was in the running for Rookie of the Year until injury/surgery shortened his season.

17. (226) Mike Comrie – Meh. A prime example of someone I wouldn’t have drafted had I been running the draft live.

18. (251) Sergei Samsonov – Another possible sleeper winger.

19. (254) Ville Leino – One time scoring leader of the Finnish hockey league, now a rookie with the Red Wings.  After losing three wingers to free agency, it is looking like Lenio will have lots of chances to step up.

20. (279) Radim Vrbata – Back with Phoenix, had  a great season the last time he was there (27 goals).

21. (282) Jonas Gustavsson – The Monster.  Could steal the starting goalie gig on the Maple Leafs.

22. (307) Andrej Meszaros – Lame season last year with the Bolts. Will probably drop him.

23. (310) Andrej Sekera – Will be dropped ASAP.

I’m happy with the results for the most part, by my last two picks irked me a bit, as both are rather lackluster defensemen. The problem was that my list was based on us originally have 16 teams drafting, but then we dropped to 14 at the last minute, which changed things a bit.

The problem with the auto-draft is that while it follows your order, it also looks to fill what you need how it sees fit–and I don’t know how it decides. For example, there might be a great Right Wing available, but it sees that you need a Left Wing and skips down to that, avoiding the better player. I think this is why I have a bunch of Centers. The advantage of a live draft is that you can make calls like that on the fly “Oh, that guy’s still available…I really need a Right Wing, but this Defensemen is awesome…”

Where my strategy paid off was with picks two and three–Heatley was ranked lower this year because of a crappy season in Ottawa. He was recently traded to San Jose, and plays on the top line with Thornton. The good thing here is that I could be doubling my points on a given night–if Thornton assists on a Heatley goal, I get both of those points.

I also got some nice steals in the early and later rounds, mainly Brassard (a rookie of the year consideration last season until having season ending surgery: 25 points in 31 games, not bad) and Gustavsson (a goalie nicknamed The Monster because he is so big).

And I’m really happy I was able to get Leino from the Red Wings. After Heatley though, I’m fairly weak when it comes to wingers, but a few of my guys could be sleepers. Penalty Minutes is one of our categories, so I gotta pick up some goons.

…How the heck did my last two picks both end up being guys named Andrej?

And I leave you with this:

And I’m not just talking about the Finals, which featured the same teams as the previous year for the first time in 20+ years. The whole run was epic, East and West. Yes, the big story line is the Red Wings falling to the Penguins, the opponents they bested last summer, but every round was chuck full of some great hockey. And honestly, this year’s playoffs probably helped draw more fans in than playoffs in years past.

We got to see Washington and Pittsburgh duke it out in the second round, which was a gift for everyone. Detroit renewed their storied rivalry with division-mates Chicago. And then there was Montreal, celebrating its 100th season, imploding in the first round as they faced their fellow Original Six member, Boston. This was one of my favorite playoffs in recent memory.

As a Red Wings fan, the Finals were indeed heartbreaking–but Pittsburgh deserved to win, especially in the fabled Game 7. They just played better. The Red Wings looked sloppy and nervous in Game 7, a far cry from the well-tuned powerhouse that spanked the upstart Penguins in Game 5 last weekend at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. And every game was an epic battle (well, except for maybe Game 5). You saw some of the best hockey ever in this series–that’s why the final score of Game 7 was 2 to 1. The teams were that good, especially the goal tenders.

I was one who felt that if even the Red Wings had won the Cup, that Penguins forward “Geno” Malkin should have won the Playoff MVP. He was that good, and better than his highly touted team mate, Sidney Crosby. Malkin is the total package: he can skate, score and he has size. I like watching him play way more than Crosby.

Yes, I’m upset the Red Wings didn’t win–but I’ll live. The fact they even GOT to the Finals two seasons in a row is a staggering achievement. My one complaint, or even question, about the latter half of the series is why Red Wings coach Mike Babcock did not continue to play Red Wings rookie Justin Abdelkader. He had two goals in the first two games–and super star sniper, Marian Hossa had zero goals in the Finals. Abdelkader seemed to have the speed, along with Darren Helm, to keep up with the Penguins.

But next season is a chance to start again, and we’ll see what happens. That’s part of the fun. If anything, this loss–especially in a Game 7 at home–will fire up the Red Wings and inspire them to redeem themselves next season. I don’t hate that the Red Wings lost so much as I hate that Sidney Crosby won the Cup. Now, that’s all we’ll hear about forever, and ever. He’s already the NHL’s Golden Boy (for whatever reason), and this Cup win will make it even more so. Sigh.