tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12616472576954432382009-11-27T11:38:21.272-08:00Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-54732068500373642652009-11-27T11:33:00.000-08:002009-11-27T11:38:21.303-08:00

A few months back I decided to make a lifestyle change and commit to a year of fitness. I set my sights on getting into shape by mid summer so that I can ride in the annual Seattle to Portland bike ride. As will all things I do, I jumped in head first and immersed myself. To prepare, I signed up with a multi club membership to 24hr Fitness, so I can workout without an excuse to my physical

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-28036197756880041132009-07-22T13:02:00.001-07:002009-07-22T13:04:47.622-07:00

This past weekend I attended Cub World 2009 with my son and his Cub Scout troop. The camp offers three separate “sleeping villages” for the boys: Tee Pee Village, Box Cars, and The Fort. We were assigned to the fort, which was my son’s preference. We had an enjoyable weekend participating in many activities: archery, BB guns, slingshots, whittling, logging, blacksmithing, leather working, animal

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-60942551954760173692009-07-08T14:17:00.000-07:002009-07-08T14:19:37.179-07:00

About a month back I decided it was finally time to reorganize my clutter mp3 collection. Since I’ve pulled this data from multiple machines and data sources, there was a big mess to be dealt with. Taking some tips from my friends at Life Hacker, I followed many of the steps outlined in their “Whip you MP3 library into shape” articles (I, II, III).Here's the process I went through step by step:

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-77698547888534058132009-06-07T16:03:00.000-07:002009-06-08T18:10:54.478-07:00

After adding the new mash tun to my brewing equipment arsenal, I was finally ready to break it all in with a brewing session. I chose to brew an all grain version of the partial extract Full Sail Ale Clone I brewed recently. This will give me a good basis of comparison.For this batch I decided I would make yeast starter for each of my five gallon batches. However 90% through the process I

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-10841243443536854652009-06-03T12:13:00.001-07:002009-06-05T11:24:44.716-07:00

Upgrading my brewing setup from 5gal to 10gal batches requires that I also create a 10gal mash tun. Following the advice of one of my fellow home brewers, I followed these instructions to build mine. The project was very simple, requiring a quick trip to Home Depot and 10 minutes of assembly time. Can't wait to put this to good use on my next batch of homebrew!

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-86424325640191959722009-04-16T17:12:00.000-07:002009-04-16T17:38:44.754-07:00

I found a video of the burner in action, pretty impressive!I purchased another vital piece of my all grain brew system this week, a high output propane burner. Brewing friends of mine have complained about the low output of their standard off the shelf propane burners. Cheap models designed for boiling 5 gallons or less. This just isn't functional for all grain systems needing 15+ gallons. On

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-64988246889121515592009-04-07T12:22:00.000-07:002009-04-07T12:28:04.397-07:00

After a couple years of pushing, I finally talked my buddy into selling me all of his home brew gear. I now have the beginnings of a very respectable home brewery operation. The crème de la crème of which consists of: 5 lb. Co2 tank 2 x 20 lb Co2 tanks 2 x 5 gallon cornelius kegs 15.5 gallon keg brew pot w/integrated spigot & thermometer 15.5 gallon keg ready for brew pot conversion Dual gauge

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-63817843220669430802009-04-01T16:30:00.000-07:002009-06-08T18:01:49.107-07:00

After four months of hard work I've finally finished restoring/converting my Pac-Man cocktail arcade cabinet to full glory. This cabinet has been locked away from the world for more then a decade, maybe even two decades. It was hidden away in my buddies garage forever, and then a few more years in mine, until I had the time to invest in restoring it. The cabinet was empty other then the original

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-71403267921988945342009-03-17T22:27:00.000-07:002009-03-17T23:14:26.836-07:00

Due to being oncall for work this past weekend, I spent a lot of time confined to the house waiting for my work cell to blow up. I found a local homebrew shop close to my house so I decided to drop in and see what they had to offer. I was pleased to find a few avid friendly helpful homebrewers working the place, much better then some other stores that staff a bunch of beer snobs. After talking

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-60931759661500855212009-03-09T23:18:00.000-07:002009-03-17T23:13:31.714-07:00

I finally had some free time in my schedule so I went to brew some beer with my friends this weekend. We brewed a partial mash IPA, and my all grain America Hefeweizen. I decided to bring my video camera equipment along and do some video work as well. We had a great time and I'm very excited to start brewing more regularly. We'll see how much time I can devote to it between all my other

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-84984639323944780652009-03-04T11:29:00.001-08:002009-03-04T11:53:17.381-08:00

I'm back in full project mode again and have been planning to work on my filmmaking. There is still a lot of gear that I need to collect, purchase, and/or build before I dive into the deep end. I've been wanting to add an external field monitor to my equipment, due to the lack of (or maybe to the benefit of?) a flip out LCD viewfinder on my camera. This helps show exactly what the camera sees,

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-19539951215058025842009-02-23T15:10:00.000-08:002009-02-25T17:17:27.161-08:00

We made an impromptu trip out to our family property this last weekend. The route was covered in snow 2ft+ deep, and was far too soft to drive on top of. My cousin quickly figured that out after getting his truck buried after only 100ft. However the ATVs we brought were light enough and we used them to haul the majority of our gear. The rest of our gear we hiked down on our frame

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-73592779585921284452009-02-19T12:12:00.001-08:002009-02-19T12:44:53.033-08:00

We made a trip out to Cle Elum, WA this last weekend with friends to have some fun in the snow. A friend of mine has family there that generously let us all stay with them and ride their snow mobiles.The fun began as soon as we arrived. We were treated to an evening snow mobile ride over the ridge to the Starlite Resort for drinks and food. Riding sleds at night with a bright moon lighting up the

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-56483961066599497402009-01-26T13:05:00.000-08:002009-01-26T13:41:35.488-08:00

This past weekend my son and I had the chance to build and race our first pinewood derby car. This was a great opportunity for me to continue to instill my philosophy of "if we can think it up, we can build it". In the past I've included my son on various phases of my own projects. Showing him that we can build anything. However he's never really caught on or gotten excited about any of it (

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-74886206840573357952009-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:002009-01-19T16:08:36.937-08:00

We celebrated my son's 8th birthday this last weekend with all his friends even though his actual birth date is around Christmas. We do a family celebration on his birthday, but find it hard to get his friends involved due to the holidays. So we generally postpone a formal party till January. This year Logan chose a LEGO theme and we held his party at JJ Jump. A friend of mine is a pastry chef,

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-53067867682006393462009-01-19T12:25:00.000-08:002009-01-19T13:46:44.160-08:00

I shopped around local retail and web based billiard supply shops for a hanging lamp for my pool table. However I was disappointed with the quality and pricing of many lamps. So as a hobbyist I decided to build my own. After shopping around for components I ended up with:3 x Portfolio hanging antique brass pendant1 x Expanding aluminum drapery rod (2" x 72-144")2 x Decorative aluminum/glass

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-12403592713908788332009-01-02T12:43:00.000-08:002009-01-02T12:52:41.897-08:00

I've been an avid pool player for many years and consider my abilities to be modestly above average. I have to give credit to "Auntie Ann" for coaching my abilities early on, and my cousin for spending so much time playing against me. I've had a few cheap pool tables over the years, but nothing worth mentioning. Although bumper pool is always a fun alternative.I've wanted a professional

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-78413324334048666602008-12-21T17:44:00.001-08:002008-12-22T12:17:31.156-08:00

The media has been having fun hyping this "Arctic Blast", but for once the weather has delivered on that hype. As of this morning I've got over a foot of snow around my property. Our family has been loving the snow, especially my dog. I've glad I spent time a few weeks back winterizing my home. So far we've had no issues. I've even been able to enjoy my hot tub. Pretty awesome to kick back in the

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-28328301813262735522008-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:002008-12-08T15:33:15.119-08:00

I hope you all had a good turkey day, and that you have lots to be thankful for this year. We managed to combine festivities this year and host a great dinner at our new house for all our family. It was an excellent time, and I have lots of leftovers to enjoy!

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-54386916158636721402008-08-26T13:12:00.001-07:002008-08-26T13:13:52.474-07:00

I’ve been waiting in the shadows ready to pounce on the housing market for the last couple years. However I’ve been taking my time due to the declining housing prices and the flood of available properties on the market. I started to get serious about shopping a few months ago as the market seems to be close to bottoming out, and I can buy twice the house for the price compared to last year. After

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-87273135583823790802008-08-05T17:47:00.000-07:002008-08-05T17:56:29.513-07:00

Went outside at lunch time and saw this "inventive" motorcycle parked out front with the rest of the employee's bikes. This thing has a keg for a gas tank, and combination ammo box / rusty farm tractor seat. Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to hear this thing fired up. This guy should hookup a deal to include it in a viral marketing campaign for the next Mad Max movie!

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-89079079993118758562008-06-20T13:15:00.000-07:002008-07-23T17:20:57.992-07:00

My son decided to start his extreme sports career last night by riding my friend’s daughter’s scooter down a steep driveway, only to crash at the bottom and impale the handlebar into his chin. Fortunately the daughter was nearby and did the right thing by walking him out of the road and running to get me. When I heard, I initially thought ok, no big deal, small scraps and tears. However walking

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-46583005382498364982008-06-17T23:10:00.001-07:002009-06-05T12:58:14.152-07:00

We attended my cousin's wedding the other weekend at the Portland Scottish Rite (Interior Pano Pics: 1, 2). I served as best man, my girlfriend was the maid of honor, and my son was the ring bearer. As you can imagine we were very busy helping them prepare for the wedding, and more importantly the bachelor party. The groomsmen rented Tuxes from A Formal Affair, and unfortunately we didn't get

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-68092816228873114712008-05-20T13:56:00.000-07:002008-05-28T08:32:55.682-07:00

My cousin bought me and the rest of his wedding party BT-4: Combat paintball markers as groomsmen presents. We plan to take them out camping this next weekend for some RL FPS frag action, w00t! (Am I show my geek colors enough?)I haven't had the chance to do any paintball'ing yet, only the occasional laser tag event. So I decided to stock up on supplies and talk to some people who know their

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261647257695443238.post-69052638106480983942008-05-19T17:23:00.000-07:002008-05-19T17:47:04.712-07:00

Finally had an excuse to create another panoramic image. This time I utilized an application called Autostitch. Pretty cool application. Saved me a lot of time. In the past I've manually stitched my panoramic images together. That took forever. This does it quick and painlessly. I'll definitely start creating more. (Note: All pictures taken with my iPhone, pretty sweet huh?)

Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03784838842401656512noreply@blogger.com0