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Got a leg on this dude! Making progress! I need to put on at least two more legs, maybe three. Getting there!
Copper continuation
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Band night
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Obvious things you never knew
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Read that subtitle. That’s right, Peter Green “founder of Fleetwood Mac.” Lots of people don’t know about this guy. I didn’t know about him for years. Sure, I’d heard about every single cut off of “Rumors.” I’d heard “Black Magic Woman,” and “Oh Well,” but I’d never heard about this guy. Funny how things go in the world. This is the guy who started it all, and this is the guy who B.B. King said, was the only guy “who ever made me sweat.” He was good. He was damn good. He was a colossus, and comparatively few people have heard of him.
Fleetwood Mac started out as a stone blues band, and they were outstanding. There are plenty of recordings of the original lineup. You can Youtube them, read this book, buy one of the first four CDs, whatever. It’s out there, though, and it’s fantastic. Green was outstanding on “Man of the World, Lazy Poker Blues, Stop Messin’ Round,” and “Jumpin’ at Shadows,” aside from the previously mentioned tracks that actually receive radio airplay on occasion. (No, Carlos Santana did not write “Black Magic Woman,” though that is a great take on the tune.) This is not so much a plea or campaign for converts, but if that sort of thing interests you, check into it. It could be an introduction to some incredible music.
Cake!
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All lit up
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Indiana in the month of May…
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I forget that, outside of Indiana, you don’t generally start seeing race driver’s faces popping up on billboards when May rolls around. Regardless of my general feelings about all things mechanical, I do think it’s particularly fab that we have a tradition inherent to our state which is a national phenomenon. There’s a lot of corn around here, no doubt about it, but come the 5th month of the year, the asphalt in Speedway plays host to something truly amazing, and nowhere else on earth can claim that particular history.
Blooming
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I have a bunch of peony plants in my yard. Right now they are all starting to bloom, and I caught this one just about 24 hours away from opening fully. There are several that have already bloomed, but I love how this one looks like it’s on the verge of bursting. I think this is the point where a flower could be considered “yearning.” It’s petals look like they’re absolutely aching to lay wide to the sun and take it all in, inviting bees and ants to come and partake of its pollen.
Rolling through, and being okay with it
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Here you can see the roll out, the exit for the sculpture. It turned out nicely, but there was plenty of tweaking involved in the area immediately below the final spiral. I spent a good long time getting that to work properly. This was another one of those details that ended up absorbing far more hours than you’d think it would or should. This is exactly the sort of thing that keeps people from building these doohickeys. It’s the little stuff that’s most challenging for the simple fact that it’s nit-picky and slow. Fortunately, I thrive on that sort of attention to detail. The real challenge for me is to be okay with it not being 100% perfect, something which no human is capable of, but which I, for some reason, think I should be able to do. This thing is working well, and I’m going to be happy with that. Onward! Completion awaits!
Electric banana
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Or maybe a squash. I dunno, you decide. Obviously, it’s really neither, but for some reason the words “electric banana” come into my head when I look at this thing. Let’s just go with that, shall we?
Legs and stuff
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The main part of the run is all finished. Now it’s time to put the supporting structure in place. The big looping piece that’s describing an arc and being held in place with all sorts of clippy things, that’s what I’m attaching. The lower part that shoots out of the picture will be cut short once I decide the final shape. It will probably have a slight scroll to it. I think. Maybe. Lots of times I don’t know exactly how this stuff will turn out until it’s done. You probably don’t want me building a bridge for you, at least not one that, you know, has to carry anything important. Tacoma Narrows, here I come!