Arcade Cabinet: Day Three & Four
The project is now complete!
Day three of the Arcade Cabinet Project consisted of drilling a couple more ventilation holes and painting the cabinet.
Day four, today, I started out by fitting a piece of plexiglass over the monitor. Using blue painters tape I tapped off and completely covered the plexiglass where the monitor’s screen would be. After taping off the center of the glass I used black spray paint on the back of the plexiglass to create the monitor bezel.
While the plexiglass bezel was drying I rewired the power button from the computer’s case to an external power switch on the side of the cabinet. After the monitor bezel was dry it was attached to the cabinet along with the front door.
Once all the pieces were installed it was time to hook up the PC and play!
Arcade Cabinet: Day Two
After making a trip to the local hardware store to purchase some paint and some material to fix the piping to my sink I continued working on the arcade cabinet around 1pm.
Having a new box of screws I began attaching the left over leads to the left side. After the rest of the leads were attached it was time to move the project from the garage to the basement for final assembly.
Knowing that the completed cabinet would be to heavy to carry into the basement bar, my workout room was transformed into a work room where the two sides were connected with the front and rear braces.
After putting the braces in I added the floor, monitor shelf, and back panel. Around 3pm my father showed up with his reciprocating saw so that I could cut the nasty old galvanized pipe and replace it with a new pvc pipe… a whole other project. Once the plumbing project was complete my father stuck around cutting out the rest of the panels.
While my father cut all of the other pieces, I attached them and made the keyboard drawer completing the project shown above (minus the bottom door, it is not attached for painting purposes).
At about 8pm I added the casters and rolled it into the bar where I could add a coat of primer and clean up the workout room.
I removed the keyboard drawer and finished up this evening with a nice coat of primer. I did notice that I forgot to drill some more ventilation holes on the back panel, these along with the speaker and controller holes will be drilled before the final paint job.
Now I just need a cool marquee and side art to add after I paint the final black coat…
Arcade Cabinet: Day One
Today around 1pm I began building the arcade cabinet that will house a computer dedicated to playing arcade games.
At 10am my father who is a retired engineer and I went over the plans that I designed and headed out to the hardware store. At 1pm we returned to my house and started to lay out the side design on one of the boards.
This process took longer than I expected because we had to readjust some of the measurements and dimensions once seeing them in real life size. After playing around with the measurements we finished drawing the design on the board and began to cut out the side around 2pm.
Numerous precautions were taken and with careful alignment of the straight edge we began to cut out the side of the cabinet with my circular saw. The cuts were horrible and the blade was smoking and burning the wood. My dad thought that the wood was just too dense so we tried numerous methods only to end up back at the hardware store to purchase newer sharper blades.
After shrinking the measurements down from the original size, because of the bad cuts, we finally cut out the first side around 6pm.
I stopped working around 9pm this evening after cutting out both sides and attaching the leads for the front and back.
Tomorrow I will cut out the front and back boards, assemble the whole cabinet, and primer a completed arcade cabinet…
FnF: Clobberin’
Bahlactus is Clobbering The Classics!
Friday Night Fights CLASSIC EDITION! Round 1!
Fantastic Four #49
(from the Essential Fantastic Four vol. 3)
Stan Lee- Writer
Jack Kirby - Pencils
Last Week In Comics: We Can’t Help Being Who We Are
SpaceBooger’s weekly review of last weeks comics is back giving a fresh take on 5-day-old comics:
Above is a scene from Titans #1and as ridiculous as grasping a razor sharp object to slow down a body falling at maximum velocity may seem, it may have been the most enjoyable moment. I have to start off by being different from everyone else’s reviews by stating that I don’t mind Ian Churchil’s artwork, his detail on the costumes make up for the “T&A” stylized characters everyone complains about.
Even though I did not mind the art, the story was a little lackluster… I don’t know if I should blame the writer or the editor. The story of a major villain from the past exacting revenge on the Titans is not a bad concept, but the little details in the editing distracted from the story. In a scene showing the current Teen Titans Supergirl, Blue Beetle, and Kid Devil are shown all being on the team. This is the first fault I found with the editing. I am not a huge continuity buff, but when characters like Kid Devil is playing a large role in the Teen Titans self titled book by being captured and tortured, seeing him in this book is just plain annoying. The same can be said for Donna Troy joining up with her Middle Age Titans… last I checked wasn’t she off fighting Darkseid and Marry Marvel in Countdown to Final Crisis?
I will give this series a chance for at least two storylines…
Booster Gold #8 was not as spectacular as the previous issues, but a great issue none the less. The banter between Hawkman and Green Arrow was spot on and the ragtag team of incompitatnt resistance fighters fit this series perfectly. Wild Dog and the whole team were portrayed as idiots, yet Booster and the Blue Beetle have to act like more idiots to keep their time traveling cover… great stuff.
Countdown to Final Crisis #3 finally looked as if it was counting down to something big. A “no holds barred” battle between Superman and Darkseid is what I have expected this whole series to be. If we are counting down to a Final Crisis that ties into the death of the New Gods shouldn’t huge world changing battles be taking place every other issue?
Green Arrow & Black Canary #7 ended last issue by revealing that the ship that put Connor in a coma was piloted by aliens. After the Scooby-Do gag involving the “aliens” was over the fun continued. The best part was where our married heroes convince their captured “aliens” to confess the true owner of the attack ship. After the humorous interaction revolving around a naked clown, and older lady in a “playboy” bunny outfit, a sheep, and a video camera the archer family heads to London and makes a new friend and the story continues into the next month.
Green Lantern Corps #23 did not feature the creepy Alpha Lanterns… so I enjoyed the space cop story.
Tiny Titans #3 was not as entertaining as the previous two, but seeing Robin in a car seat proves that this series is fun.
Wonder Woman #19 and #18 were two of the best Wonder Woman comics I have read in a while… and all it took was the elimination of the human element. I picked up the last issue on a whim because Gail Simone was writing it and stuck with it for the storyline… I am not sure if I will pick up the next issue. The best part of these past two issues was the side story about Diana and Nemesis courting. If the next issue deals more with that subplot then I will pick it up…
and…
THE BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK:
Amazing Spider-Man #556
and
Batman Confidential #16
Amazing Spider-Man #556 was full of ridiculously story elements involving ancient Mayan hieroglyphics as the key to communicating and understanding the universe. I jumped back on the Spidey-train with “Bran New Day,” and since then I have enjoyed it for the most part. Some of the “bran new” story elements are wearing thin, like the never having web-fluid in any of the four arcs, but this extremely unexpected supernatural storyline and classic dialog makes this an easy TIE for the BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK.
Batman Confidential #16 ends a Batman story that feels like it was written in the late eighties/early nineties before the grumpy Dark Knight era. As a continuation from 1984’s Batman Special #1 we see the protégé of Batman’s evil twin defeated by Batman, Nightwing, and all those fancy Bat-Gimmics I remember from my youth. The ending was also straight out of the eighties with an “After School Special” type of moement where Batman makes the point that even though he and the Wraith were born from the same situation (parents murdered) the Wraith was a killer because “we can’t help being who we are.”
WebComic: Capture
Today’s webcomic continues the invasion of our character’s privacy by Spammers.
The motivation towards the handeling of the captured Spammer comes from this comic related video game:
Check out the webcomic here: www.spacebooger.com/index.php?comicID=47
Say “Hi” To Our Baby Boy
Now all I need is a stuffed tiger and he will be all set!
My Stress Relief Project
With grad school done and yard work still still a couple weeks away, I have a small window to complete my next project: an arcade cabinet for my gaming computer.
Today while my students worked on a project, I designed my next project:
I will probably spend more time and feel better making this than playing the games it will hold, but after all that has happened in the last couple weeks I need a project like this to bring balance back to my life.
Last Week In Comics: Hit With A Stick!
SpaceBooger’s weekly review of last weeks comics is back giving a fresh take on 5-day-old comics:
Yesterday afternoon my biological father passed away. This made Green Lantern #29 a little harder to read. Not many people are lucky enough to have two fathers growing up, but I was one of the lucky. After my parents divorced, my mother married my stepfather who later adopted me. My biological father, Big Fred, played a large role in my early childhood by igniting my imagination and encouraging me, like Hal’s dad, “to be whatever I wanted to be.” Big Fred and I were not as close as I would have liked to have been during my high school and college years. It was not until after college that we became close again. During this time we talked a lot, we spent hours sharing stories and learning about life through each other.
Sunday March 30th 2008 at 2:15pm my biological father passed away… and on that day part of who made me the person I am also passed away…
Green Lantern #29 was a great retelling of Hal Jordan’s origin prior to working at Ferris Aircraft in Emerald Dawn. The part of Abin Sur seemed a little off from the character I remember, but it seems to fit in with the new Green Lantern mythos that Johns has been creating.
Batman Confidential #15 continues the story about Batman’s “evil twin” the Wraith and his quest to kill Jim Gordon. It looks like I was exactly right after reading the last issue:
The best part about this issue was the exact telling of the Wraith’s (the original Wraith’s) origin from both Jim Gordon’s and the assassin’s point of view. I am looking forward to the conclusion in next issue… when DC releases this as a trade if it included the original story from Batman Special #1, I will have to pick it up.
Countdown to Final Crisis #5 was awesome! It had humanoid animals taking over the Earth… until nuclear bombs destroy everything… except one boy. I liked the two issue story of the alternate Earth’s Buddy Blank and his grandson who will become: Kamandi the Last Boy on Earth, but…
As awesome as Countdown #5 was, it did nothing for the big picture. I liked the story and how the virus that Karate Kid has been carrying through the whole series created this world for Kamandi, but again I have to ask what does all this have to do with the Final Crisis?
Legion of Super-Heroes #40 was great ride and the more I read Jim Shooter’s LOSH the more it grows on me. The characterization is dead on and I am looking forward to next months issue… Braniac was awesome and all the side quirks are great.
and…
THE BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK:
Blue Beetle #25
I am sad that Johns Rogers will be leaving the Blue Beetle after this issue, but at least he went out with a mother effin champ.
Since day one Jaime Reyes has been trying to figure out the “magical” scarab that fused itself onto his spine just before Infinite Crisis. Since that quest began back in issue one, Jaime has found out that the scarab is not magical, but instead alien technology. An alien race known as the Reach has been plotting to take over the Earth, and many other planets, using the same technology fused to our hero’s spine. After 22 issues of “bonding” with the alien scarab Jaime decides to take out the Reach before they can take over the Earth. Blue Beetle #25 is the culmination of Jaime’s efforts of the last three issues. Recap can be found here.
Jaime successfully takes out the Reach’s Armada.
This newest version of the Blue Beetle would not be as awesome if not for the great and well used supporting cast, who were taking care of business back on Earth.
This sums it all up… Mr. Rogers the story, the name, and the hero will continue… hopefully following the path that you paved.
Other Comics
All Star Superman #10: WOW… This is Superman the way I remember him from my youth… Wow… if you have not read this yet - do it now!
Countdown to Adventure #8: In 52 I loved the space saga… as its own min-series… not so much. The characters in this mini have to be written a certain way to keep them from crossing over to the plain, or bleh, side. In 52 they were exciting and the story was fun, not so much in this mini. I am glad that I did not drop it before its conclusion, even if it was lackluster.
Countdown Special Eclipso: I scanned this cover expecting to read this… but with everything that has happened recently I did not get to it… sorry.
Teen Titans #57: I am a fan of Ravager. Rose Wilson has the same appeal that Casandra Cain had as Batgirl early in her solo series. Did anyone other than me wonder why there were so many “master assassins” and martial arts experts running around the DCU? I did, and I was getting tired of the cookie cutter template for characters. I used to think that without her distinct personality Ravager would just be another of these carbon copy comic characters, but in Teen Titans #57 we get a little insight on why she is so deadly… and I like the concept.
Be Careful on March 17th the Leprechauns Are Already Drunk
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
With tomorrow being St. Patrick’s Day I give you 3 reasons not to trust Leprechauns:
1. They are drunk prank playing old men.
“These apparently aged, diminutive men are frequently to be found in an intoxicated state, caused by home-brew poteen. By nature, leprechauns are said to be ill-natured and mischievous, with a mind for cunning.”
2. They are greedy little cheapskates.
“The Leprechauns are said to be very rich, having many treasure crocks buried during war-time. Therefore, Leprechauns are not only professionals but thrifty. This may be one reason why leprechauns tend to avoid contact with humans whom they regard as foolish, flighty (and greedy?) creatures.”
3. They are dirty little liars.
“According to legend, if anyone keeps an eye fixed upon one, he cannot escape, but the moment the gaze is withdrawn, he vanishes. If one captures a Leprechaun he must be truthful and honest and tell you where he has hidden his treasure.”
Examples:
- “If caught by a mortal, he will promise great wealth if allowed to go free…This coin usually turns to leaves or ashes once the leprechaun has parted with it.”
- “A farmer or young lad captures a leprechaun and forces him to reveal the location of his buried treasure. The leprechaun assures him that the treasure is buried in an open field beneath a particular ragwort plant. The farmer ties a red ribbon to the plant, first extracting a promise from the leprechaun not to remove the ribbon. Releasing the leprechaun, he leaves to get a shovel. Upon his return he finds that every weed in the field has been tied with an identical red ribbon, thus making it impossible to find the treasure.”
Information about Leprechauns from Wikipeida and Ireland’s Eye
Image From:
Batman: The Long Halloween #6
Jeph Loeb - Writer
Tim Sale - Pencils
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