Days Off

Review: Breville Juice Fountain

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:26:00 GMT

The Breville Juice Fountain is to fruit what Godzilla is to Tokyo. The Juice Fountain is to juicers what that last sentence is to cliches.

But the Breville Juice Fountain has some hidden, unadvertised features that will make this appliance one of the most useful objects in your entire house.

Transformers: Just Say No

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:31:00 GMT

I don't know why the dialogue of this otherwise-palatable techno-fable of pending planetary doom and extraterrestrial friendship bugged me so darn much. It just seemed weirdly repetitive. It was like the screenwriter had a certain verbal tic that he fell back into whenever he placed the characters in a tough spot. But as always in the movies, the end is affirmative.

The Ferry

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:05:00 GMT

Driving on to the ferry is like the moment when your vacation really begins.

The Find

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 16:35:00 GMT

It seems no one wants to go to the Flea Market on Independence Day. Maybe the holiday makes us crave something NEW, as our forefathers yearned for a sparkling, untested form of government in which they could drive around and pick up those hot colonial chicks. We don't want someone else's old picked-over system of self-rule! We want our democracy with an an extended guarantee, lit with brief sodium explosions and sternum-bashing fusillades of canon fire, not dusty, chipped in the corners, and half-price with no returns.

So at the Flea Market today, the tables are empty, the castoff free marketeers away enjoying some well-earned air conditioning. Pickings are slim.

And then we see it.

How to Start a Worm Bin, part 3

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:40:00 GMT

Crisis comes to wormland when wet sludge starts to accumulate in the worm bin, and its normally earthy fragrance takes a turn for the poopy. It appears that poor ventilation is the culprit.

Will our interventions put the worms back on track to composting productivity, or will our wiggly companions perish in a stinky, damp, gooey mess?

Housecleaning

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:01:00 GMT

The new "<1m" tag is for short videos that, and I know this will shock you, are under one minute in length. Sometimes this is to create an artificial structure, a haiku-like form in which each moment must shine with truth. More likely, it's just because I have just a little bit of some primo footage, like the brief doggy cutefest of this video. Enjoy.

How to Start a Worm Bin, part 2

Tue, 20 May 2008 23:48:00 GMT

After two weeks, it's time to pop the hood on the worm bin and fiddle a bit with their world. Remember Biosphere 2? It was a sprawling structure built in the Arizona desert, designed to be an enclosed, artificial self-contained ecosystem for eight human inhabitants. Unfortunately, the complex miniature ecological zones inside it failed to establish a self-sustaining homeostasis, and oxygen levels fell below tolerable levels. Scientists monitoring the experiment were forced to inject fresh oxygen into the system periodically. That project cost millions of dollars, so we felt no shame in breaking open our worms' $25 biosphere for some godlike tinkering.

For some reason, every time we film anything about the worm bin, our dog gets ill.

How to Start a Worm Bin, part 1

Sun, 11 May 2008 18:26:00 GMT

What combines the responsibility of green living with the earthiness of composting, allows you to be the most inattentive and lazy pet owner since the days of Sea Monkeys, and fits under your kitchen sink?

Vermiculture, my friend. It's composting that squirms.

With nothing but some shredded newspaper, a cheap plastic storage container, and 25 bucks in worms we bought online, we're turning our kitchen scraps to organic soil in the comfort of our own home. We'll show you how in this video, from start to the point when our dog threw up.

Easter Bonnet Smackdown 2008

Mon, 5 May 2008 00:58:00 GMT

Every spring, grim combatants engage in furious competition for a cherished prize. At stake is nothing more than one's Pride - but if one doesn't have one's pride, what on earth does one have?

I am speaking, of course, about the annual Easter Bonnet Competition held by my girlfriend's family. Last year, my Giant Easter Basket Hat took the top prize, so this year I would have to bring something special to hang on to bragging rights. Thus was born the idea for the Easter Diorama, which I would document in a handy "How To Win Your Girlfriend's Family's Easter Bonnet Competition AGAIN" podcast.

As it turned out, I did something completely different. And the sound quality sucks at first. But watch for the charming dog antics!

Sick

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:36:00 GMT

My options for producing even mediocre-quality entertainment shrink like parents in a Disney movie when illness confines me to bed on my day off. Fortunately, a little good news from the outside world cheers me up a bit.

MORE How to Whistle Through Your Fingers

Thu, 6 Mar 2008 21:18:00 GMT

The world needs more people with the powerful ability to whistle through their fingers. When the disaster strikes, will you be one of those who stand proudly with your fingers in your mouth, issuing forth a shrill alarm, or will you be looking around in irritation with one hand fruitlessly shielding an ear? It's time to choose sides. If you had trouble mastering the technique in the last video, this might just change your life.

Monarch

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:01:00 GMT

From the Monarch ski area near Salida, Colorado comes this exciting moving picture with soundtastic synchronized musical effects! This footage, from a trip with my sister, bro-in-law, and nephew, unites the once-disparate genres of professional daredevil ski video, dance tune video, and home movie.

Moving Day

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:28:00 GMT

When Jen decided to move across the country, I fired up the InterTubes to get more information on this distant mysterious land known as "Oregon." Technology puts lots of information at our fingertips, but can it help answer the question of what will happen to your friendship after your friend packs up a van and heads off into the sunset?

How to Whistle Through Your Fingers

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:38:00 GMT

If you always thought it would be cool to hail a cab by whistling through your fingers, you were right - and you owe it to yourself to learn this essential life-skill before another unfulfilled whistle-less day passes. Fortunately, I can teach you how to do it in four easy steps, none of which involve providing information about your banking account.

Snow Legs

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:02:00 GMT

It's the first day of snowboarding season, and nothing, not even shirt-sleeve warm weather, a constant depressing drizzle of rain, near-zero visibility due to fog, and an unfortunate lack of snow can stop us from hitting the slopes. And by hitting, I mean literally hitting. Hard.

A Boy's Dream

Wed, 5 Dec 2007 12:42:00 GMT

In a last warm spell before winter chills the ocean, I pack up the camping gear and head back to the beach for one more surfing trip. Although I initially only fear the few remaining creepy campground people in my vicinity, a far more sinister development - no decent waves to ride - proves even more troubling.

Walking the Dog

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:45:00 GMT

A pleasant autumn walk around town takes a grim and ghoulish turn.

Stuff

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:37:00 GMT

My friend Jen is moving across the country soon, so in preparation, we hold a yard sale. She needs to divest herself of some of her dead mom's former possessions, and I'm trying to unload some items I just haven't used recently, like my adhesive glow-in-the-dark stars and my Avenging Unicorn Play Set. As the day gets longer, we grow increasingly desperate to get rid of every single item we can. Bonus: see if you can catch the math error.

Summer

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 22:53:00 GMT

With a new surfboard in tow, we set off for a last camping trip to the beach. But nothing, neither the season nor a short ride atop a breaking wave, lasts long.

Birthday

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:28:00 GMT

There's nothing like having your birthday fall on your day off. But when your day off falls on a weekday, there's also no one around to come out and play. The sludgy, fertile ribbon of oil-slicked green trickling through Our Nation's Capital beckons.

Surf Report

daysoff@deadlysins.com — Mon, 6 Aug 2007 19:05:00 GMT

A few mid-week days off afford the opportunity for a surfing getaway. Unfortunately, surfing and carrying a camera - or for that matter, carrying a camera and surfboard while trying to open a door - prove vexingly difficult.

Drive

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:29:00 GMT

It's 6 AM Sunday morning, and my 24-hour shift at the firehouse is at an end. Coffee cuts through the grogginess a bit, but what really gets me moving is knowing that in 48 hours I'll be back here and on duty again. Time is bleeding out of the world. First, the drive...

The Winner

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:11:00 GMT

It's a race to see who can start their vacation first... and beat the rest of the family to the best bedroom in the rented house.

Launch of the Joy

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:36:00 GMT

After hundreds hours of painstaking labor, Bob lowers his intricate remote-controlled sailboat into the ocean.