Monday, October 09, 2006
More of The BangSpent some more time working on the sculpture. I guess the reason my instructors don't tell me important metallurgy things is because it is supposed to help in the development of art, or they are just lackadaisical towards the technics. Be that as it may, I learnt that you can only heat up a piece of metal until it becomes brittle and breaks. Then you are only left with one course of action, heat it up again, braze it together, and hope no one hits it very hard. I believe that there are no more then 3 joints like that on my sculpture so if you ever get to touch it, please, please don't touch it very hard.
In an other note, I finally broke down bought a pre-amp and got my father's record player working. It truly is the premier decision of my weekend owing to the fact that along with the record player came a large number of records. Most of which are from around the 60s and 70s. a large part of them falling in to the blue or blue/country genre.
In all probability this has made my hate for radio even more immense. As I sit here writing the blog i am listening to "The Butterfield Blues Band" which is a superb blue band that thanks to the 60s and 70s radio that I have listened to in the past, had no idea existed (excuse me while i flip it onto the "B" side). I am positive that many people before me have come out on the internet and declared their distaste for radio, and how it does not matter what station, genre, and even decade of music you are listing to it just that specific top 40.
I reckon that as long as the RIAA does not screw with out digital music anymore that the internet will make it far more effortless to discover new music (That is if the stuff I want to hear is in the digital format). And there are compilation CD swapping site out there. Lots of ways for people to get exposed. But for now I am going about it in a different way.
To quote Timothy Leary, I have now "turned on, tuned in, and dropped out." My new music is coming to me in the form of pressed plastics from my father and many other fathers' past (those record from the thrift stores). That is the way it is for now and I am enjoying it. Not to mention, the records do sound better.
Long live analog!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Brazing, Oh the Fun, and This year is looking upI mentioned before that I am working in the metal shop on my sculpture. But what I think I neglected to convey was that I am not using the conventional wedding instruments, and by this I mean I am not doing TIG, MIG, Arc, or what not. What I am doing is Brazing. Well I guess that is the conventional welding, I do believe that it did come first.
To process of brazing is a lot like soldering, yet on a bigger scale. What you do is heat up the pieces of metal that you want to join. Once you get it to the right temperature you take a brass rod and the heat from the metal should melt a bit of brass off and suck it up into the joint, thus forming a fairly strong join. Bicycles have been made this way for a very long time, from what I have been told.
To tell the truth I am really having a good time with this. There are little ins and outs that people seem to forget to tell you when they are teach it to you. For example it help to keep the brass rod close to the torch when you are heating up the metal. If you don't do this when you place the rod on the metal it take to long to melt the rod and you do not get a good joint.
Enough about the metal work believe it or not there is more to my life then that right now. I got things like "drinking" to do (surprise surprise (^_^). Not really, but for my third year in the International Student Association I am accually doing things. I have to say it good. I have already found a few new drinking partners, and more importantly people with house where we can drink. No more paying those big bar bills for me this year. Yeap i shout have fun this year, and maybe I will learn a bit, you never know.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Here He Comes AgainOk, I am back on the blogging band wagon. But something different this time. I am not in japan. That is correct you are reading this right. I am just in boring old Lethbridge. I'm a art student so that means strange and unexplained things go on in my head. Now I need to get them out there for you all to try to figure it out.
This semester The majour part of my time is being spent in the sculpture studio, that's what you see now. I have already started on my first project. I really hope that it works out. Brazing, believe it or not is not really as easy as it looks, but here hoping.