Mild Musings II

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

How to build a backyard chicken coop

My friend Erik Knutzen of Homegrown Evolution wrote a short article on the important things to keep in mind when designing and building a henhouse and a chicken run. He knows what he's talking about and the information he provides is essential for backyard poultry keepers.

My four ladies sleep in a hen house that is a 4-foot by 4-foot foot waterproof wooden box with a tin roof. I use high quality (dust free) wood shavings on the floor which I clean out every week, depositing the litter into a compost pile. The hen house also contains a nesting box that I built myself out of plywood. Check out some nice plans for nesting boxes here. Mine is 12"x12"x12". Chickens like a tight space to lay their eggs, so don't make it any bigger than that. Plan on having one box for every four hens. The nesting box should be kept full of straw or wood shavings. Ideally the nesting box is inside the hen house--hens like a dark, secure place to lay their eggs. In cold climates you will need to insulate the hen house well and keep their water from freezing.

How To Build a Backyard Chicken Coop

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/YAGOBv2IirI/how-to-build-a-backy.html

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Rod Stewart doesn't play good Rod Stewart music anymore, but these guys do

Thanks Mark. Very happy to be here. Let's get started... I've lived in Massachusetts for 24 years, but in the first half of the '90s I spent a lot of time in Nashville. I worked as a reissue producer, compiling box sets of veteran country and blues performers. Some of the projects were fun, some were more challenging, but it was always great being in Music City.

One of the many musicians I met during my trip to Nashville was Bill Lloyd. You may know him as half of the popular country-rock duo Foster and Lloyd, but he's produced, recorded with, or written for dozens of acts you love, from Carl Perkins to Cheap Trick. (Disclosure: He contributed to my Sandinista Project a few years back.) One of Lloyd's more intriguing ongoing projects is The Long Players. When the spirit moves them, Lloyd and the Long Players, an ever-changing group of Nashville's finest, gallop through a classic rock'n'roll album. They've played through plenty of the usual suspects -- Blonde on Blonde, My Aim Is True, After the Gold Rush -- and they've stayed consistently true to the spirit of the originals but, at their best, just a bit wilder.

I wish I was going to be in Nashville on Saturday night because they'll be performing maybe my favorite-ever album, Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story. Yeah, I know: Rod hasn't made an interesting album since the Nixon Administration (and the first Nixon Administration at that), but he was once as good as rock'n'roll got.

Every Picture Tells a Story is Stewart's bid for rock-and-roll immortality, an ambitious record in a variety of senses (he wants Elvis's wallet as well as his gifts) and dwarfs other such attempts, even successful ones like Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced? Stewart's third solo album is an all-encompassing work: Stewart demands attention from everyone on every level. His imaginative songwriting is rife with telling detail: The hair-combing scene in "Every Picture Tells a Story," the morning-after madness in "Maggie May," and the weather report in "Mandolin Wind" are all the products of a man in love with the world and his ability to describe that world and reassure himself.

The performances exceed the writing, especially on the outside tunes, which thrive on Stewart's devotion to them. "(I Know) I'm Losing You" is a hard-rock version of the Temptations hit that Stewart recorded with his sometime band the Faces. Stewart knows not to mimic the Motown original: He accepts the Sun dictum that personal expression far outlasts attempts to copy, that copying is in itself not merely fruitless but intolerable. Stewart puts across Tim Hardin's "(Find a) Reason to Believe" as an organ-driven call for moxie in the face of resignation, and on the mostly acoustic take on Bob Dylan's aching "Tomorrow Is a Long Time," Stewart is even more determined. Much of the time, the characters in Every Picture Tells a Story find themselves in a desperate condition, and what upraises them is the confidence of the narrator.

Such endurance is most apparent on "Every Picture Tells a Story" and "Maggie May," a pair of shattering acoustic hard-rock numbers about young men (or old boys, your call) gaining experience in ways they never expected or intended. These two songs, among the most durable pop-music offerings of the century, are so bold, so honest about their doubts, so willing and able to transcend their immediate difficulties, that they fulfill the dreams Woody Guthrie gave life to in "Bound for Glory." On Every Picture Tells a Story, Rod Stewart is an undeniable, as welcome, as any singer will ever be.

Rod is long done with that now, of course, but the record is still very much alive. If you're in Nashville on March 6, go to The Mercy Lounge and witness The Long Ryders with special guests including Dan Baird, Warner Hodges, and Radney Foster as they keep this record alive.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/RUSPsA_ZtAM/rod-stewart-doesnt-p.html

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10 Writing Rules You Can’t Break…And How to Break Them

A guest post by Eric Cummings of On Violence

First, there was the "old school." A bunch of stubborn grammarians got together and decided what defined "proper English." Don't end sentences with prepositions, never begin a sentence with "and" or "but," and never split infinitives. They were strict, but they established the rules of modern English grammar.

Then came the "new school" in the sixties. And like the sixties, it was "craaaaaaazy." As language evolved, they evolved. Led by William Zissner and John Trimble, these writers thumbed their noses at tradition, preferring natural, conversational writing to old, formalized prose.

Well, as part of the millennial generation, I've got some criticisms for the "new school", "the old school" and other pieces of advice that I think hold writers back. (Feel free add your own rules you love to break in the comments section below.)

1. Be Clear and Concise . . . But Not Simple.

This advice is considered gospel for a reason: nothing is worse than confused, labyrinthine prose. This includes needlessly bureaucratic writing and writing stuffed with more adverbs and colorful adjectives than Kobayashi after a hot dog eating competition. More words do not equal better prose.

At the same time, clear writing is different than simple writing. Don't simplify your ideas to make your prose clearer. Write essays or blog posts that discuss about complex thoughts. Just present them clearly with the right amount of words needed. No more and no less.

Also, feel free to write long sentences and paragraphs. In fact, you need to or your prose will quickly become monotonous.

2. Be Confident . . . But Don't Be Arrogant.

I see this advice all the time: write with confidence. But it's a thin line between confident and arrogant. And I hate arrogant people. You probably do too.

This advice is intended to prevent writers from using wishy-washy verbs, adjectives or qualifiers. But let me ask you: do you want to come off as rude or arrogant? Perhaps you write a political blog. Write like Mark Shields or David Brooks than Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann. There is no reasons to call your political rivals the "worst person in the world" or a "pinhead." Some graciousness to the people who disagree with you goes along way.

3. Use Small, Every Day Words . . . But Use Big Words Too.

This has become the new school mantra. "Simplify your prose to make it more natural," they say. "Avoid big words." I disagree. To my taste, there is nothing better than a big word used well. They convey meaning and subtlety that small words simply can't. "Amber" is more evocative than "yellow"; "evocative" is more exciting than "descriptive."

That said, let big words come naturally. Never go hunting through a thesaurus for a big word, and don't over do it. If you read regularly, your vocabulary will expand naturally. I say let it.

4. Don't Use The Passive Voice . . . But What Is It?

Even amateur writers know not to use passive constructions like, "Jim was stung by a bee." But what is the passive voice? According to Geoffrey Pollum, even the writing sages Strunk and White misidentify the passive voice in the The Elements of Style. And as screenwriter John August found out, his readers don't know what the passive voice is, and instinctively strike out all to be verb + infinitive constructions.

So one, learn what the passive voice is. And two, as both of the above writers pointed out, in some cases passive constructions are superior to active constructions.

5. Don't Use Adverbs . . . But What Is An Adverb and Why Not?

Do you know what an adverb is? A word that ends in "-ly"? That's what I thought. Then I found out "later," "sideways," "downstairs" or any other word that modifies a verb's time, place, manner, or degree is an adverb. (Don't think I'm a genius, I first heard about this on the Grammar Grater podcast.)

But what about the dreaded "–ly" adverb? Use it, but don't abuse it. Inventive, creative "-ly" adverbs will make your writing better. Redundant, staid "-ly" adverbs will make your writing laborious and, well, staid.

6. Write Exciting Titles . . . But Don't Write Checks Your Butt Can't Cash.

I'll be honest, I'm sick of misleading "clever" titles. I hate getting excited to read an article and then getting taken right back down when I realize the writer hasn't delivered what they promised.

A real world example: I bought lasagna at the store today, and the lasagna was packed in a small box inside a larger box to make it look bigger. Make sure your post's "lasagna" matches up to the headline's "packaging."

7. Write Lists . . . But Seriously, They Are Over Done.

Lists have their place, and I'm not really in a position right now to disparage them. I just think they are over done. (When Time magazine does a whole issue dedicated to Top Ten lists, you know they have jumped the shark.) There is a whole world of blogging from film reviews to politics where lists have no place. Lists are great for some niches; just don't feel you have to turn every post into one. And definitely don't feel like you need to stick five pieces of additional advice at the bottom of every post.

Also, never write top ten lists. (Unless you have some ironic or humorous intent behind it.)

8. Post Regularly . . . But Don't Overwhelm Me.

I like your blog. Honestly, I do. But I don't want to read it four times a day. Please, you are overwhelming me.

I have friends who say my blog posts too often, and my blog only posts 3-4 times a week. Remember, not all of your readers are Internet junkies. Think about them too.

9. Ignore Those Stodgy Grammarians and "word police" . . . At Your Own Peril.

Every book on writing I've ever read has told me to ignore the conservative grammar police, and yet nothing is worse than having someone point out a mistake you didn't even know you made. Buy books on grammar and usage, listen to grammar podcasts, and learn the rules of grammar. Then feel free to flaunt them.

10. Break All the Rules . . . But Know The Rules Before You Break Them.

Eric Cummings writes for On Violence, a blog on military and foreign affairs, art, and violence, written by two brothers–one a soldier and the other a pacifist.

http://writetodone.com/2010/03/01/10-writing-rules-you-cant-break-and-how-to-break-them/

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John Cale Shoots Down Velvet Underground Reunion

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Pavement, Faith No More, Public Image Ltd., the Specials and Soundgarden are just a handful of artists returning to the stage after a long hiatus, but John Cale insists the Velvet Underground haven't caught reunion fever — or at least, he hasn't. Cale told BBC 6 Music that despite offers to play some major music festivals, he has no interest in reforming the iconic New York group with his former bandmates.

"It's not something that I can see happening on the basis of the past. Anyone who wants to reform the Velvet Underground for a series of concerts, to make some money, I understand that, but you can't do that," Cale told BBC 6 Music. While Cale says he's busy working on other projects — and setting dates to perform his solo classic Paris 1919 in its entirety — he cites the death of guitarist Sterling Morrison as the main reason why a VU reunion now wouldn't work.

The classic Velvet lineup of Lou Reed, Cale, Morrison and Maureen Tucker last reunited in 1992-93 for a tour of Europe before Cale and Reed had another falling out. Though Cale says he stills occasionally talks to Reed, it's strictly regarding business related to VU. Reed and Cale last performed together at the Velvet Underground's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, just one year after Morrison's death. As Rolling Stone reported last December, Reed, Tucker and Cale's The Velvet Underground replacement Doug Yule reassembled for a rare interview together at the New York Public Library, but Cale was not present. Of course, Reed, Tucker and Yule could simply decide to reunite without Cale and celebrate the Loaded era of VU.

"Whatever the Velvet Underground did they've done, and it's in the past. I respect that people admire what we did, that's gratifying, but I'm in such a different place with what I think songwriting is these days," Cale said. "If I said that was something I was intrigued by, people would think I was cynical."

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/01/john-cale-shoots-down-velvet-underground-reunion/

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LISTEN: Gorillaz Entire New Album!

Plastic Beach, the third album from electronic genre-benders Gorillaz, is under wraps no more. Hear it in its entirety here, a week prior to the its March 9 release date, courtesy of NPR!

For the newest Gorillaz album, head monkey Damon Albarn recruited a dream team of hip-hop, soul, and post-punk royalty including Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb, the Fall's Mark E. Smith, Bobby Womack and the Clash's Mick Jones and Paul Simonon.

While Albarn holds down the musical side, the characters designed by comic artist Jamie Hewlett have been extra busy, too, in promoting the album. Last week, the characters appeared in an interactive online video game on the official Gorillaz site. Animated Gorillaz member Murdoc Niccals landed on SPIN's weekly Twitter Trio column, thanks to his cynical, self-referential tweets.

Gorillaz are one of the headliners for this year's Coachella festival in Indio, California, topping the event's April 18 bill, which also features Spoon, Pavement, Thom Yorke, and dozens more.

LISTEN: Gorillaz, Plastic Beach

http://www.spin.com/articles/listen-gorillaz-entire-new-album

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Carly Simon Refutes Theory That “So Vain” Target Is David Geffen

Photo: Kohen/WireImage

Last week it seemed like the nearly four-decade-old mystery surrounding Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" was finally solved after the always-reliable (cough) U.K. press speculated that record exec David Geffen was the subject of Simon's 1972 hit. As Rolling Stone wrote last week, Simon had previously promised that in a newly recorded version of "You're So Vain," the name of vain man in question would be revealed when the song was played backwards. The reverse lyric sounded simply like "David," fueling rumors that Geffen, who allegedly favored Simon's musical rival Joni Mitchell, was the focus of her hit. However, Simon tells Showbiz 411 that Geffen is not the "David" in question.

"What a riot! Nothing to do with David Geffen! What a funny mistake! Someone got a clue mistaken for another mistake," Simon said in an e-mail to Showbiz 411. "How can this guessing game stop without a lie?" Simon adds that she never even knew Geffen in 1971 when the song was written, which if Simon has her timeline correct, means "You're So Vain" was penned prior to when Simon's label Elektra Records merged with Geffen's Asylum Records in 1972, the date Geffen assumed control of the combined companies.

The new version of "You're So Vain" is due on Simon's upcoming disc Never Been Gone. As Rolling Stone reported last year, Simon sued Starbucks following the tepid release of her last album, This Kind of Love, blaming the company for not providing the promised amount of album promotion due to the fact that Starbucks severed ties with Hear Music around the same time her album was released.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/01/carly-simon-refutes-theory-that-so-vain-target-is-david-geffen/

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Slash’s 1979 Love Letter to “My Michelle” Hits the Web

Photo: Hogan/Getty
A recently unearthed love letter written by a then-14-year-old Slash in 1979 proves that before the guitarist was providing riffs for Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver, he was a kid writing cheesy compliments and doodling pot leafs on looseleaf paper to impress girls. The blog Letters of Note, via Hard Rock Memorabilia, posted Slash's handwritten missive to Michelle Young last week, giving us a glimpse of Saul Hudson's teenage mind — he writes about how he regrets that his love of the guitar ruined his relationship with Young, who would later be the inspiration behind the Appetite For Destruction track "My Michelle."

In the letter, Slash ruminates on his weekend, telling Young that he went to the Los Angeles venue Starwood and "spent pretty much of my weekend on cloud 9 if you know what I mean." (Translation: He was stoned) "To get off the subject, you look really nice today, you get prettier & prettier every day," the young Casanova writes, adding, "The girls are pretty (I still think you cuter than any of the girls there)." Later, Slash brags about going to see an up-and-coming band called Quiet Riot the next weekend and predicts, "One of these days I'll play [Starwood]." While he never ended up playing the Starwood — it closed up shop just two years later — he ended up more than exceeding his own 14-year-old expectations.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/01/slashs-1979-love-letter-to-my-michelle-hits-the-web/

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Jim Morrison’s Lewd Show, Plus More Outrageous Rock Moments

It was exactly 41 years ago tonight that a very inebriated Jim Morrison took the stage at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium, mumbled his way through a couple songs by the Doors, and propositioned a frustrated audience of 13,000 with the infamous line, "Do you wanna see my cock?" What happened next is rock & roll history: Morrison, who boozed heavily prior to the incident at a pair of airports on his way to the show, allegedly flashed the audience for a fraction of a second — but it was a moment that continues to resonate four decades later.

The subsequent media outrage resulted in the Miami D.A. charging Morrison with a felony count of "lewd and lascivious" behavior, plus three misdemeanor counts including indecent exposure and being shit-faced onstage. It wasn't until a month later that Morrison finally surrendered to the charges. Over a year after the incident, Morrison was ultimately found guilty of two of the misdemeanors but escaped the felony charge, and was later sentenced to six months and 60 days of hard labor. After appealing the sentence, Morrison, on bail, went to Paris, where he passed away in July 1971, the charges against him never resolved. For more on the Lizard King's trial, which featured some in-depth testimony regarding Morrison's trousers, check out the Smoking Gun.

To pay tribute to one of the most outrageous onstage antics in rock, Rolling Stone looks back at some more infamous concert moments, from Ozzy's bat-biting to Jimi's legendary guitar-lighting ceremony. Also, be sure to check our gallery of great moments in the history of Crotch Rock.

Ozzy Osbourne decapitates a bat with his mouth.

L7 toss a tampon at Reading 1992

Jimi Hendrix lights his guitar on fire at Monterey Pop.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/01/jim-morrisons-lewd-show-plus-more-outrageous-rock-moments/

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Ben Stiller Confirms Zoolander Sequel Plans

Last week, it was reported that Ben Stiller is working together with Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2 writer Justin Theroux on a sequel to Zoolander at Paramount Pictures. Jonah Hill was said to be in negotiations to play the villain. Speaking to MTV , Stiller confirmed sequel plans. "We are in the process of getting a script written. It's in the early stages, but it's gonna happen." He added: "We have a new story idea that we feel excited about and we're going to try to go forward. The beginning of the movie is [set]... 10 years later, and Derek & Hansel are literally forgotten. Nobody even knows who they are, so they have to re-invent themselves." Stiller said that Will Ferrell's Mugatu would be back, if the actor is up for it. "If Will...

http://comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=63761

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James Cameron: Don't call it Avatar 2, here's the new title

Sort of. Director James Cameron says it makes no sense to call the follow-up to his megahit 3-D sci-fi movie Avatar 2 and offers up a few details about what he wants for the sequel. (Spoilers ahead!)

Not only would Avatar 2 be an unoriginal name, it wouldn't actually fit: The original movie ended with Jake (Sam Worthington) becoming an actual Na'vi, so he's no longer an avatar.

http://scifiwire.com/2010/03/james-cameron-dont-call-i.php

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Sex Dice

You roll for initiative, and ... [roll] ... wow, do you ever take it.

http://xkcd.com/708/

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Yellowstone Park Attempts To Increase Ranger Population With New Mating Program

JACKSON, WY—In an effort to revitalize its rapidly dwindling ranger population, officials at Yellowstone National Park unveiled a new mating...

http://feeds.theonion.com/~r/theonion/daily/~3/_4kBB_pZgQI/yellowstone_park_attempts

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Monday, March 1, 2010

Power line 1, tree branch 0

Video courtesy YouTuber BozkurtTekinTahsin.

In case you didn't believe Louie the Lightening Bug when he said "ya gotta stay away from power lines," consider the fate of this gentle tree branch, who apparently never got to watch Saturday morning PSAs, or at least wasn't paying attention if it did. It screams, literally, for about 14 seconds before bursting into flames like a vampire in a tanning booth.

[via Neatorama]

Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Electronics | Digg this!

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/03/power_line_1_tree_branch_0.html

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Introducing: DIY Movie Making Month

March is a time when spring is dawning and we (at least those of us in colder climates) can't wait to bust out of our cabins and break the fever of breathing our own exhaust all winter long. Spring offers newfound possibilities for making things, for being creative. Combine the desire to get out and circulate, with the itch to create, the fact that it's also the month of the Academy Awards and the world focusing its attention on movie making, and... well... we thought it was as good a time as any to launch DIY Movie Making Month here at MAKE.

There are so many incredible tools now available to consumers with even the most modest budgets to create shockingly sophisticated videos, from viral YouTube prank vids to animation/claymation/stopmotion wonders to satisfying sci-fi fan films to serious low-budget feature fare that give Hollywood a run for its money. Over the coming month, we'll be rounding up site content on various aspects of DIY movie production, recommending tools for movie making, talking to some of our favorite no-budget/low-budget filmmakers, showing you some of our video-making process here at Maker Media, and more.

And, we'd love to get you in on the action. If you have a cinematic masterpiece you'd like us to see, or have used some technique of animation, stop-motion, claymation, digital compositing, etc. that you'd like to share with us, please email me (gareth@makezine.com) or post to the Comments below. And please share some of your favorite no-budget wonders and movie making-related how-tos.

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http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/03/introducing_diy_movie_making_month_1.html

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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Maker haiku art print

If you haven't heard of 20x200, they're site that sells art prints in editions of 200 for 20 bucks each. One of their latest ones (oddly priced at $50 each with 500 printed... they should launch a sister site!) looks awesome and has a fun maker twist, created by Clifton Burt.

In April of 2007, John Maeda quietly posted a haiku he had written to his blog. It was entitled think-make-think, and to me it fulfilled the potential of Maeda's simplicity. Over the next few months, that haiku often found its way to the forefront of my mind. When our studio acquired the remnants of a discarded arrow sign, it was clear to me that think-make-think was a perfect fit, both in form and function.

Buy the print on 20x200.

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http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/maker_haiku_art_print.html

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Two feet of snow

Apparently, New York received two feet of snow during their latest storm. We were hit a little harder here in Pittsburgh, receiving just a nose more.

Puns aside, this is a pretty funny snow sculpture. My favorite for the season has been the fire-breathing snowman, but I have been too occupied with getting the stuff out of my way to take advantage of it as a building material. Have you built anything fun out of snow this year? [via neatorama]

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http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/snow_forecast_two_feet_and_maybe_a.html

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Book giveaway + project excerpt: 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer by Randy Sarafan

62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer by Randy Sarafan
Book site: deadcomputerbook.com
Buy on Amazon

We all have old, broken, or otherwise junk electronics stashed away in our closets. Randy Sarafan's 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer is just what it sounds like and much more, inspiring makers to repurpose mice, scanners, iPods, and yes, computers, to make high-tech housewares, newly-functioning gadgets, and accessories. The projects run the gamut of techniques, and with sections like fashion, pets, and music, there's something for everyone. Not only is the book full of DIY ideas, it also has excellent primers on electronics parts and the safety concerns regarding taking apart and repurposing tech-junk. Once you make your own upcycled projects, you can enter them in Instructables' Dead Computer Contest, where the deadline is March 7th.

Book Giveaway Time!

We're giving away 3 copies of 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer. Just leave a comment on this post, letting us know what kind of dead technology you have, just waiting to be transformed. We'll grab the winners' emails from your commenter account, so don't put your email address in the comment box! All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Monday, March 1st. The lucky winners will be announced next week on the MAKE Twitter feed. Good luck!

Sample Project: IR Camera

Over the years, I have collected a number of digital cameras that are not quite broken, but are definitely no longer quite working as they should. And as it turns out, a somewhat-broken camera is the perfect device for dabbling your feet in camera hacking. You already don't expect it to work exactly as it should, so if you make a mistake, there isn't the greatest loss. On the other hand, when you succeed in modifying it, the results are often phenomenal and result in experimental pictures that often far exceed all expectations.

Download the project PDF to make your own IR Camera!

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http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/book_giveaway_project_excerpt_62_pr.html

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Professor destroys laptop with liquid nitrogen

Physics professor Kieran Mullen of OU apparently has a hard-and-fast rule against laptops in class. To drive the point home, he staged a public execution of one by freezing it in liquid nitrogen and smashing it against the floor, where its broken remains were left as a warning to others. Of course the whole thing is staged and the laptop in question was old and worthless, but hey, any excuse to freeze stuff with LN₂...

[via Engadget]

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http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/02/professor_destroys_laptop_with_liqu.html

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