mandag 13. oktober 2008

Playing with razors

Mitt navn er Erman, og jeg liker å leke med skarpe kniver på huden...
Jeg liker lyden redskapet lager idet det glir over huden, samt den foreløpig ubeskrivelige følelsen av renhet idet bladet forlater huden. Det er som om bladet synger en sang.
Alt skjer på badet, i kontrollerte omgivelser, bak lukkede dører. Av og til hender det at jeg kutter meg. Blodet renner nedover huden... først en forsiktig pipling av rent blod... deretter mørke striper av skittent blod på vei til hjertet. Blodet er kroppens transportnett. Rent blod går fra hjertet til alle organene, og på runden har den med seg oksygen og næring til vitale organer, samt avfallsstoffer til kroppens renseanlegg. Hjernen, hjertet, lungene, leveren... de legger alle igjen sitt preg i blodet. På mange måter kan man si at blodet er vår sjel. Jeg fryder av tanken på at mitt legeme kvitter seg med urenheter på denne måten.
Det er viktig å blø. Blodet som forlater kroppen er veteraner som nå går av med pensjon, og blodet som forblir i kroppen er nye, friske rekrutter. Full av iver etter å gjøre sin jobb best mulig. Kuttene jeg har er godt synlige. Hvorfor skulle de ikke være det? Jeg har ett kutt rett under leppene, ett på halsen som går parallelt med kjeven, og flere nupper på halsen som blør når kniven glir over dem.


For snart to uker siden kjøpe jeg en Dovo Shavette med utskiftbare høvelblader. Den er laget av aluminium, og har en rød innsats for å holde små barberblader. To andre bladlengder er tilgjengelig, men jeg forholder meg til den korte da den utvilsomt er best for å håndtere kurver. Lengre blader har større kontaktflate med huden, noe som kan føre til irritasjon og flere kutt.
Jeg kjøpte kniven av to grunner. For det første er jeg lei av barberingshysteriet vi er utsatt for til det daglige. For det andre har jeg hjemlengsel. Hos barbereren i hjemlandet, blir man barbert utelukkende med kniv.
Jeg har aldri vært mer fornøyd med barberingen. Kniven sitter perfekt mellom tommelen og pekefingeren. Langfingeren og ringfingeren hviler lett på skaftet, mens lillefingeren tres gjennom fingergarden. Trikset er å bruke håndleddet, slik at man isolerer kroppens unødvendige vibrasjoner. Nå gjenstår det bare å bli hendig nok til at jeg kan barbere andre.

Mennesker har medfødt forståelse av at barberingsmetoder utenom det flertallet driver med er gammeldags eller eksentrisk. Slik sett er jeg glad for å bryte grenser...
Mitt navn er Ustura Erman

tirsdag 2. september 2008

Here is a recent creation of mine. I saw pictures of the new Ferrari California 2009 last monday, and I just had to make a version of it with LEGO bricks. I've tried to incorporate as much as I can from the real car into the LEGO model; the front scoop (black line intersecting the red), front bumper (detailed with color elements), quad exhaust... oh, I forgot to mention that it's a convertible. You heard me, a working LEGO convertible.
Enjoy the pictures.

3/4 front right

3/4 front left




3/4 rear

side elevated 30 degrees


Roof on stage 1


roof on stage 2

roof on stage 3


roof on stage 4


Roof on stage 5


Roof on stage 6

Roof on stage 7

onsdag 20. august 2008

Svar fra Pål ang. Manowars paltecover

Pål har svart, og jeg plastrer det like godt her, etterfulgt av mitt svar.

Hei
Du kan hilse eventuelle andre Manowar-fans med at i min platesamling
står
alle Manowars plater godt plassert, og de er også på min spilleliste
”på vei til
jobben.” Manowar er en av de gruppene jeg synes er kulest,
og de har
faktisk også en del skikkelig gode cover.
:)
Pål


Takk for det, hilsning på vei!
Vi oppgraderer deg herved til
fullverdig fan.
Besøk oss gjerne på [manowarforum.proboards29 . com]
Flere andre journalister "lurker" der ;)

Mvh
Erman



English translation:

Pål just replied. I'll just as well paste it here, followed by my reply.

Hey
Tell other fans of Manowar I said "HI". Manowar's albums are well
represented in my album collection. They're also represented on my playlist "on
the way to work". Manowar is one of the bands that I consider cool, and they do
have a lot of cool covers. :)
Pål


Thank you. Your greeting is underway!
We hereby upgrade you to full fledged fan. Come visit us
at [manowarforum.proboards29 . com] Several other journalists "lurk" there
;)

Sincerely
Erman

Åpent brev til Pål-Nisja Wilhelmsen

Nok en gang har Manowar kommet i kåringen av tidenes verste platecover, denne gang på 82. og 10. plass. Hva har skjedd? De pleide å toppe slike lister. Jeg må si jeg er temmelig fornøyd med at de er beæret med hele TO plasseringer denne gang. Jeg vil driste meg til å mene at Pål
er en skapfan som bare venter på å komme ut og utfordrer enhver som mener noe annet til å legge igjen en liten kommentar.
Her er et åpent brev til deg, Pål. Den vil du også finne i din innboks:

Hei Pål!

Vi blant Manowar-fansen har lenge humret og moret oss over at journalister aldri klarer å legge bak seg dette coveret. Det har blitt en klisjé for oss. Men klarte du ærlig talt ikke finne på en bedre billedtekst enn "Manowar skal være tøffe, men seriøst - hvis du skal vise deg fram i bar overkropp på et metalalbum bør du kanskje være litt trent?" ?
10. plassen med "Into Glory Ride" gidder jeg ikke engang kommentere, annet enn at denne plassen vanligvis bruker å gå til "Anthology". Agurktida er over Pål, det er på tide å SE på artiklene og medfølgende bilder man publiserer.
Gutta er topptrente på det coveret, de viser til og med muskler som vanlige menn ikke har!
Med denne artikkelen føyer du deg inn i listen over journalister som Wolfram fra Rock Hard, som ikke engang gidder å høre på et album eller se en konsert/festival før han uttaler seg. Lykke til videre med karrieren.

Heavy
Hilsen, HAIL&KILL
Erman Bora Atabay
Moderator, Manowars forum
English translation:
Once more, Manowar is on a list of worst album covers. This time on 82nd and 10th place. What has happened? They used to top lists like these. I have to admit, I'm pretty satisfied with their acquired placing with TWO listings. I dare say Pål is a closet fan just waiting to get out, and I challenge anyone who thinks otherwise to leave a comment.
Here is an open letter to you Pål. You will also find it in your inbox:
Hello Pål!
We among the Manowar fans have long
laughed at and amused us over the fact that journalists never seem to be able to
put this cover behind them. It has become a clichée to us. But,
honestly, was this the best caption you could come up with?:
"Manowar are supposed to be tough, but seriously;
if you're gonna show up barechested on metal album cover, it's a good idea to
look muscular." ?
"Into Glory Ride" 's 10th placement is something
I don't even wanna discuss, other than the fact that this placing
usually goes to "Anthology".
The time of vacation news is over,
Pål, it's time to actually LOOK at the articles and pistures before you publish
them. The band looks fit on level with olympic athletes on that cover - even
showing muscles that ordinary men don't posess!
With this article, you join the ranks with the likes of Wolfram from Rock Hard, who won't even bother to listen to an album or watch a concet/festival before reviewing it. Good luck with your career.
Heavy salutes, HAIL&KILL
Erman Bora Atabay
Moderator, Manowar's forum

onsdag 13. august 2008

More pictures from the building process

I just thought I'd upload some more pictures of how my LEGO PC was built. This time emphasizing the power and keyboard buttons...

The power-on button is made entirely of LEGO Technic pieces. The cables are fastened by squeezing them between the parts.


Here you can see the keyboard stripped of its shell.


And here it is placed into the frame made of LEGO bricks and plates.


The finished keyboard. Some areas were not covered as it didn't fit into the LEGO measures. This goes for the keyboard LEDs and some of the mouse buttons.

Here is another picture, showing the scale in relation to an LG 19" flat screen monitor.

The dimensions of the PC are: 27,5cm wide, 33,5cm deep, 23,4cmtall.

The dimensions of the keyboard are: 29,5cm wide, 16,1cm deep, 4,8cm tall.



The LEGO keyboard

This is a Deltaco mini PS2 keyboard/trackball. I've stripped it of it's former shell and built it into a LEGO-shell. I tried to keep the color scheme to black and red, but at this point, I've run out of 1x3 bricks, 1x1 bricks, and 1x1 plates in both red and black.

On the right, you can see the trackball. I've noticed that the ball is so smooth that it slips on the trackers inside, resulting in poor performance and accuracy. So I've developed a tapping technique which involves tapping the ball in the direction you want the pointer to move and then correcting back until you hit the spot. For a coming version, I will buy a mini keyboard and trackball separately and build these into the LEGO-frame. On the left, I've placed the mouse buttons. A 6b axle is suspended above the buttons, and a few technic pieces are added for ease of use.

The LEGO PC at dusk

Here is the preliminary final version of the PC case. I've decided to call the project Speed Racer LEGO PC for now, but the exterior will be modified with a more custom LEGO theme soon.

Underneath the red car, you can see the DVD-writer (laptop size), and the 120mm fan in front. I decided to use differen building techniques on the sides, front and back, so that it doesn't look boring over time. I know you're thinking "it's LEGO, it can't get boring", but have you tried staring into your girlfriends face for more than 5 minutes? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

More pictures of the building process to be published later...


torsdag 7. august 2008

Kingdom of Steel offers free shipping

For a limited time only, Manowar's merchandise department offers free shipping.

Here is a small order I placed last week. Contents are, Manowar Logo Girlie, WotW Shorts, Manowar Local Crew shirt, and of course - not one - but TWO packs of Warrior's Shield in all its glory. Packed in a decorative black see-through pouch.




Here's a quick update:

I've taken the previous model apart, and started anew. The previous cage was not nearly as stable as I wanted it to be. This one will be better. As you can see, The MB has been rotated 90 degrees to fit the 120mm fan. This, as well as the area between the GPU and cage wall, will hopefully make room for all the cables that are connected to the PSU.
The GPU has to be supported, and that is what the black and grey column does. The little red brick has a 1x1 round red "brake" brick to hold the GPU firmly in place and 90 deg. to the MB. I've used arches to go up in height, and a cage has been constructed around the CPU to elevate the PSU and secure it, where it will suck the air out of the CPU cooler. The HDD is laid flat upside down in between the CPU and the 120mm fan to keep cool. I'll use rubber "feet" from the Mindstorms set to secure the HDD and minimize noise from vibration.

This is what the CPU cage looks like. I've removed the HDD to fit the IDE cable. I had to remove the slave connector pins on the IDE cable to make it more flexible. It now bends and runs below the GPU. The cage is cleverly connected to the main LEGO structure and forms the "bed" for the HDD along with the beams used to secure the 120mm fan.

More updates to follow tomorrow.

onsdag 6. august 2008

RATTATAY's LEGO PC CASE

The time has come for me to do something that I've wanted to do for a long time - build a pc case of LEGO bricks. I had been planning to do this with left over parts after building a new pc this summer, but that plan fell through. Instead, I opted for a budget pc, which strangely enough could theoretically score better on a benchmark than my 3 year old semi-highend pc. Here's what I ordered for a total of NOK 1815:

From Netshop.no . Thanks for the candy ;)

Gigabyte GA-M68SM-S2L nForce630a

Athlon 64 X2 4600+

OCZ DDR2 2GB 4-4-4-15

WDC 80GB SATA


Nvidia 8600GTX with Zalman Cu cooler


Samsung DVD SN-S082H Slim

Once all the parts were unpacked, examined and properly photodocumented, I found that the slim DVD did not have an IDE interface. A crossover from 50-pin to IDE is ordered and will hopefully arrive soon. Below is a test setup to see if everything works.

I had to make a power-on switch using an old 2-pin socket and copper wire. I'll get a proper switch later, but for now this one does the job. Everything works well, and the best part is that there really isn't alot of noise. Once the case is complete, there will be 4 fans, the HDD, and the DVD making noise. The fans aren't tested to tangible levels, but I estimate somewhere between 20 and 25 dB. I'll make a proper sound test later, it's time to fit the parts into the cage:

1. adjustment. The MB fits well inside the cage, with lots of free space in all directions. It's a little cramped towards the back, but I opted to solve this by extending the front by 4 studs.

2. adjustment; I had to change the fan from a 120mm to an 80mm fan because of the GPUs power connector. Both the GPU and the 80mm fan now draws power from the same 3-pin connector labelled "sys_fan". The 80mm fan fits well underneath the power connector of the GPU.

3. adjustment; The rear of the case will have a gridlike centre, and plates to channel the air out from the PSU. At this stage, I realized that the vertical design of the rear didn't go well with the way the cables will be connected. Furthermore, once the PSU is in, there are alot of cables in the way of airflow. This will be dealt with on the next revision

onsdag 16. juli 2008

Magic Circle Festival 2008

We're finally back in Oslo after the Magnificience of Manowar at the MCF08.

All your camps are belong to Norway

(Greek guy makes it look easy, it wasn't)

We arrive at Bad Arolsen

The HoD party! Great food, and the drinks were flowing free. How can a man say no?

Matthew's marguaritas made quite the impression on the girls.

HoD party. I think I met you guys first... Kinda blurry from this point on.

Erman the German and Spiros the Malaka

Norway and Finland


Four riders of doom


Small gathering of HoD. Nice tits by the way!


Matthew was seen doing this alot. Must be his wife keeping a leash, hehehe


Me and Katja outside the Forum tent

The House of Death Forum all in one piece

(Yeah, some are missing, but we'll photoshop them in later)

Signing session on Friday

Eric and me at the signing on Friday. Eric, you're the man!
Eric: "There's something familiar with you"
Me: "Yeah, I'm one of the moderators on HoD"

With Karl and Rhino

Here is the blurry picture Neil took of me and Maria.

Man, next time set the camera on auto, she does not deserve to look blurry on camera.

The shows

The MCF main stage, with Jack Starr.

It's gargantuan, and looks like it's taken right out of a sci-fi movie set.

Hi-5, we like!

Me and Matt are backed by England and Norway

Alice Cooper


Kobus


Doro

Photos of Manowar are not posted. Wait for the DVD...

It was impossible to take pictures whilst banging inside the frontstage crowd.

Ready for the battle on Saturday

Me, Todd, and Matthew

Xóan being harassed


Metal brother from Italy


Nima gets his punishment


Both Steve and I survived the show on Saturday.

I'm listening to your CD now, brother! Cool stuff!

"Yeah, bro. It really says MVP on my shirt."

Matthew proudly sports his "Manowar Vintage Product"
I met some truly amazing people at this years festival.
Many of whom are very recent friends. But it felt like we had known each other for ages.
On second thought, maybe it was the alcohol?.... Heheheh