Merlins Tower

DIY: Auto To-Go Tissue Holder and Picture Frame

Posted on February 14th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Art, Craft, DIY, Health, Office, Weird Stuff.

I just finished making of these tissue holders. No more needing to purchase the small boxes or the really rough tissue that rips your nose a new hole. I really wanted an easy way to have tissues in the car that I didn't have to toss on the back seat or just was just some lousy quality nose tissues (Ahh I love Puffs and Kleenex Brand with Lotion). Sorry I like comfort when I have to blow my nose. 

First, This project didn't take that long to do and it was not that expensive and can easily be refilled. And don't forget these are pretty cool looking. You can even decorate the cup if you are really feeling creative. I didn't but I know a few people that would take their kids image and print it out on their printer and glue it to the cup to have another photo of their kid to talk about. :-)  Well actually you can put what ever you want on the cup and make it happy as if you need a tissue you probably are not feeling too well.

For Complete directions Check out:
Curbly: How to Make a Coffee Cup Tissue Holder

Images for decorating the cup Just a few Samples From Google Images:

A photo of some Germs or a photo of a nice Vacation Spot - Hmm - I could use a nice Cruise Ship or a nice sunny spot on a beach in Florida - Hey I have some friends in Fort Meyers - Hmmm I wonder if they have some room for me and my cat until Pennsylvania Thaws. Did I ever mention I hate  -ok- Despise Winter and the Freezing Rain - Snow - and all the salt all over the car. Yet alone getting sick. YUCK.

Technorati Tags: Coffee, Cup, Tissue, Holder, DIY, Craft, germ, warfare, vacation, cup, cheap, inexpensive, easy, fun, decoration, office, auto, car, van

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The Blue Man Group: Music Art

Posted on February 11th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Communication, Movies, Pipe, Video, Weird Stuff, YouTube.

Tonight I got to talking to some friends about one of my absolute favorite music groups - The Blue Man Group. I have seen then Three Different times here in Pittsburgh (Once at The Coke a Cola Starlake Amphitheater - Once at the AJ Palumbo Center @ Duquesne University and Then Once at the Mellon (Civic Arena).  Besides seeing them here in Pittsburgh, I have also seen then when I was in Boston, MA and Have seen then Twice in Las Vegas. (But I can't Talk about that Remember what Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas {wink} {Wink}. So if you ever get a chance to see them do yourself a favor and go. You will not be disappointed. Just one word of warning. Don't show up late. They like to make fun of the people by putting them in the spot lite as they come in. It is alot of fun. Plus If you show up late you get to miss the famous LED signs that get the audience participating in the show before the show even starts. Plus now you can even text message the signs with your cell phone and have your messages appear and get some good laughs.

I have to say the Las Vegas shows were fun and the theater was built for them so it really is a great place to see them - But the Show in Boston was FANTASTIC the theater is quite small compared to the other theaters but I got some fantastic close up seats. I almost got some paint on me.

If you can't get to Vegas I would recommend getting a copy of the Blue Men Group DVD @ Amazon  Or you can get a Blue Man Group CD From Amazon As Well.

But now for your Enjoyment from You Tube - The Blue Man Group - Playing a Pipe and not smoking a pipe.

Technorati Tags: Blue+Man+Group, Blue, man, Men, Group, Music, Electronica, classica, drum, rock, video, new+age, Pittsburgh, Las+Vegas, Vegas, Boston, Mass, Vacation, Concert, Concerts

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Guide to Writing in Elvish - Free Online Tutorial

Posted on January 29th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Art, Communication, Drawing, Freeware, Hack, Journaling, Movies, Sketching, Tutorial, Weird Stuff.

Had a long hard week and for some fun I learned a new language - well only learned how to write in Elvish. Ever see those fancy scrolls in Lord of the Rings or any of the other movies / books / games that have Elvish Language written on them? Well This web page has a quick and easy guide on how to convert any english writing in very artistic and fancy elvish writing. Well To the left is my first time trying to write Merlins Tower in Elvish. It really is pretty easy to follow along and accomplish. I can see doing this with a nice broad nibbed fountain pen or a wide italic cut nib. I didn't have any of my wide nibs with me so I had to make due with what I had at hand. This was accomplished with my art book using a find sharpie marker to get the nice broad strokes. (I filled in the lines I drew) I really want to try this out with some of my calligraphy pens when I have a free moment. This guide can be printed out for ease of use. This would be pretty good for making your own scrolls and Mystical Books. Or if you just want to hide what you are writing.

Well thats all for today - Enjoy - Stay Warm and enjoy some nice tobacco in your pipe - You know I am. 8 :-?  <– Merlin Smoking a Pipe  

Technorati Tags: calligraphy, handwriting, fountain, pen, fountain+pen, ink, art, elvish, lord, of, the, rings, scroll, writing

4 comments.

KDice - FREE Multiplayer Stragegy Game

Posted on January 5th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Freeware, Game, Weird Stuff.

Yes, Even with a busy schedule you need to set some time aside to have some fun. Well, Today I was introduced to a very addictive AJAX Web 2.0 Game that has it all - Strategy, Easy to Learn Rules, Luck, Probability, Interactive, Multiplayer, and FUN!!! I am talking about KDICE - a very simple game to play - Object take over the map and conquer the world. This game is a combination RISK and Dice Game. Below is an excerpt from JayIsGames.com Talking about the rules, and strategy.

the game is so simple you can hop right in and play. Each of the seven players has a color and corresponding territory. Stacked on each territory are a number of dice. When your turn comes up, attack another player by clicking one of your territories followed by an adjacent piece of land. The game rolls the dice and the higher number wins. The goal is to take over and continue to occupy as much of the map as you can. At the end of your turn you get a set number of dice added to your stacks (at random) based on the largest number of contiguous territories that you control. The more areas you control, the bigger your dice army, but remember not to spread yourself too thin.

Yes that sums up the game - my only words of wisdom on this it to just try a few games out to get the hang of it and if you want to add me to your buddy list (DigitalAlan) on the game who knows we may end up playing against each other sometimes.

Official Rules and Strategy Guide: KDice on Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: Kdice, Multiplayer, Online, Free, Strategy, Game, AJAX, Web+2.0, Web, Flash, Time, Waster, Adult+Entertainment, Adult, Entertainment

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Lego Move Over - We Now have PixelBlocks

Posted on January 4th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Craft, Gadgets, Web Service, Weird Stuff.

I enjoy looking at catalogs, and I love the Gadget sites (ie. Levengers, Hammacher Schlemmer, Think Geek, CompGeek, Cyberguys etc…) While I was drinking my morning coffee and just finished my morning run thru of my email - I took a look at FireBox.com - And their PixelBlocks Caught my eye. This really is a cool toy - I can see it almost replacing Lego's well for at least in the art department. Vision, Dream, and Fantasy - Those are the names of the sets of PixelBlocks available (550, 870 and 2000 Pieces) With any of these sets you can really make some impressive looking deisgns. Such at this nice looking Dog done all in Pixel Blocks.

But you wonder how are you going to make your own design to play with all of these different Pixel Blocks - Don't Fear - PixelBlock.com is here to the rescue. On their Website you can upload your own photo and have it converted into your own pattern that you can follow This Free service is called Digital Stained Glass. Besides just making pictures with this interesting toy you can also build some interesting designs because these blocks allow you to connect them three different ways (Slide, Half Slide and Peg Connect) and comes in a wide array of colors. I think this would be a great mind expanding toy to play with or to at least play with your kid?

TAGS:PixelBlocks Pixel+Blocks Lego Bricks Pixel Art Stained Glass Stained+Glass 2d 3d

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How Well do you Know your Google Search

Posted on December 12th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Game, Web Service, Weird Stuff.

I like to use Google for most of my searches and I think I am pretty good at preforming a good search. But how well do you know from a group of 20 photos what term was searched for on Google - That is where Guess the Google comes in to play. I played today and got into the Top 10 Top Scorers. What really makes this game hard is you have a time limit and get better scores the faster you can type in the word. Each round there was at least one that I could not identify.  

So what is your best score - Post it here for all to see.

Merlin

TAGS: Google game search top score adult

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Free Printable Rulers

Posted on December 4th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Craft, GTD, Gadgets, Hack, Journaling, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Toy, Web Service, Weird Stuff.

How many times have you been out and don't have a Ruler to measure something you saw at the store or to see if it will fit an application you are working on at home.

Well I have found an easy solution for you. What you need to do is to keep with you is a paper ruler in your wallet/organizer. And Mitchell Charity's Site he has placed several different versions that you can print out on your printer (as long as you don't allow the printer software to resize it) that you can cut out and keep with you in your organizer.

I printed out the Metric and Inch Ruler. Hey you really never know when you need an exact measurement (well a pretty darn close measurement). I put these up against my nice metal ruler that I keep on my desk and these are really close.

This is a nice cheap  inexpensive way to add a measurement device to your organizer.

TAGS: Analog paper ruler organizer hack gtd

15 comments.

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