Archive | reference

I have had this idea in my head for a while…back when i had many more dvds than i do now. I am interested in the actual original release date for a film… it’s as good a date as any to rewatch a film. NOTE: I shelve my movies chronologically to begin with. but pushing that extra step amuses me. IF available you CAN find the original release dates on IMDB and Wikipedia.com, but as both sites offer you movies by the year of release neither offers any finer filtering. I think IMDB USED to but manages to obfuscate it, so that you can see who was born and died on any given date but not which films came out on that date. Wikipedia does some really interesting stuff with their ‘Events On this Date‘ listings but not alas the movies released.

I was having an off day and needed something mindless to work on so after all those years of wishing it existed I spent a few hours throwing stuff at a google calendar to make them stick. Movie Premiere Google Calendar is now public even though it only has a tiny number of films on it. Basically it will send me a message everyday telling me what films came out and if i get stuck for something to watch I can call up one of them on either a streaming site or more than likely from the discs i still own. I think i have sold off as many as I feel comfortable parting with. Streaming is nice and lazy but they don’t have any bonus features or alt commentaries and well i have a lot of stuff that won’t be streaming any time soon.

The basic premise of the Google Calendar is useful even if you aren’t using it for stupid shit like this. I have a calendar set up for each non profit I am involved with and they send me emails and text message reminders. I really do love the one i set up with all the journal entries from the IFTTT.com triggers. I no longer have to remember when i posted something and to where, anything posted to twitter, facebook, flickr, or tumbler ends up there including stuff i flag from Google Reader. one stop shopping for my forgetful mind..did you remember you can search through your calendars? and everyone elses..that’s why i know that no one else has set up a movie premiere calendar yet.

SO this is what i do on my mindless days.

I have been fiddling with a couple of winter projects that will have more obvious need in the future.

i adore tools and kits..big surprise huh? i already put together a graffiti removal kit in a bucket for those odd occasions when i spy something in town that is pissing me off. I have used it a couple of times on graffiti on granite blocks and stickers on street signs. I do expect it to be in constant use along the rail trail once it gets more popular.

As a side project I am making a few panniers for my bike that are more practical and much much less expensive than the store bought kind. if you cruise through Instructables site you will find dozens of pannier hacks and at least 8 or 10 of those are variations on the CAT LITTER BUCKET, which seems to be the only real world product that is sold in square buckets. That can’t possibly be true since these buckets are available in a wide color range. I stumbled on AffordableBuckets.com which vends square as well as round buckets in a rainbow of colors.

Taking my obsessive compulsiveness a little further.. you can see that the graffiti bucket is green…(walmart $3) I have a trash removal bucket which is black and a  blue one I use for boating tools like ropes and anchors…etc… I had already been planning a bucket for my emergency items, flash light, batteries etc… but i had yet to find a red bucket available anywhere.   So you can imagine the temptation of COLORED BUCKETS would have on me.   yeah….i’m going there….or i will once i figure out the perfect pannier adapter method.

 My first attempt at a pannier hack of a cat litter bucket…the guy upstairs uses this brand which i like because the lid is hinged already. This one is to carry tools and trashbags and such, however i still need to work on the bungee hack. it needs to be firmly hooked to the bottom and not rattle when being ridden. very important not to rattle. I used rope hooks and neoprene washers and some cap nuts on the inside but i think i will swap out the skinny bungees for a tie down strap and wrap the crown bolt with rubber hose. but this is on the first one I managed to do.

I have my eye on a green bucket from Affordable, so that i can have one pannier with graffiti removal tools and the other pannier holding trash bags. Mind you they also vend Red square buckets..i may yet get my emergency response kit in a bucket..yeah i know you can buy a ready MADE kit…but where is the fun in that?

BTW if you have ever wondered how to get the labelling off one of these buckets without dissolving the plastic?  Try MEK, Methyl Ethyl Ketone..lovely nasty stuff from the harware store.

still playing with my new toy  IFTTT.com ….  if i can keep track of all the connections i have linked up…i am sending facebook posts to twitter and twitter posts and flickr pictures to tumbler. All of those and  foursquare check ins to Google Calendar, where if you format it right you can print the lot of them out as a journal entry. Not that i have many reasons to track the nonsense i do on a day like today, but on other days when i am trying to track my work product so i can parse my day into billable portions. i like gadgets and widgets…you never know what you cn do with them.