Andrew's Blog

Crash Land Blog: Stop Motion Blue Screen Test - Before and After

2012-01-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

Crash Land Official Production Blog: Stop Motion Blue Screen Test - Before and After: This is a test David and I did this afternoon using a blue pillow case for a blue screen and then keying it in Adobe After Effects:

Extreme Sledding at Bartlett Farm

2012-01-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

Extreme Sledding at Bartlett Farm from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
Hang on! (BTW, that's me in the sled) Copyright 2012 Bartlett Productions

The Bartlett Productions Update: 3 - BTS of the BF Prok Commercial

2012-01-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

On the night of the 27th of December, Jonathan came up with the concept for the Bartlett Farm Pork commercial. (Now keep in mind, our deadline was the 30th.) The next morning Jonathan, Peter and I scripted and storyboarded the ad. At about 2:00 p.m. Peter and I headed out to start filming. (everybody else was busy butchering chickens) We got done right at 5:00, just in time for Peter to get ready to milk.

It must be a Bartlett Productions thing to either have it snowing, or raining during a shoot. But, in both cases, it made the scenes more interesting. Another example of God's provision was that the battery on my camera (the only one that would hold it charge) ran out right after as we took the last shot. Don't tell me that's "chance" or "luck" because I won't believe you!

I downloaded the footage to the computer that night and did a tid bit of editing.

The next day, (the 29th) I worked pretty much all day editing and also animating the titles in After Effects. This was my second project using the Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop. Then came the narration. We wanted to have someone with a British accent do the narration, kind of like Planet Earth (the BBC version) but we didn't really have time to contact anybody so that evening we had Peter do it faking a British accent. (if there is any real British out there, you could probably tell!) By about 12:45 a.m. that night, we had the picture-lock uploading to Vimeo for Benjamin Dawson to compose a score.

Bartlett Farm Pork Ad by benjamindawson

On the 30th, while Benjamin was working on the music, I worked on color correction, the "Approved for all Audiences" intro, and the credits. Benjamin got us the music before supper and I added it into my project file. I also made a few other tweaks, and uploaded it to the web!

Don't Wait! from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
Watch this humorous short video to find out why! Share it with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Blogger. http://www.bartlettfarm.us/ Copyright © 2012 Bartlett Farm

Andrew Bartlett

Crash Land | Official Production Blog: Moving Forward!

2012-01-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

Crash Land Official Production Blog: Moving Forward!: The Crash Land project being dormant over the summer, has now revived and is moving forward! When I first started working on Crash Land ,...

Bartlett Productions Update 2

2012-01-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

I was excited on the 13th of December, to receive the Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium package in the mail! I've always wanted After Effects, and it looked like Photoshop would really boost my graphics capability.
It's going to take me a while to learn all the programs that came with the package, but I'm sure it will be fun!

On the 27th, I completed my first project in After Effects straight out of a tutorial using the files that came with. It's not real good, but it taught me the fundamentals:

Adobe After Effects learning log -1 from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
I’m new to Adobe After Effects (got it in December 2011) so I’ve got a lot to learn. This is just straight out of this tutorial: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/classroom-after-effects-cs5/episode-1/
It is rather “green” for my liking, but it was a good learning project.

Andrew Bartlett

Bartlett Productions Update: Part 1

2012-01-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

[Note: I was going to do one long post, but it's taking me a while so I'm going to be posting it in parts.]

Hello there!

It's been a while since I last updated, there's so much I could write about. Here's the highlights:

In November-December, I made the NDHSA's Christian Home Educators Conference logo, and also their booklet. It was a learning experience as usual, but it was fun! It is always hard to work with lots of writing and only black and white.

One other interesting thing while making the booklet, just when I was almost done the computer got a virus and Macromedia Fireworks (the program I used that is basically like Photoshop) wouldn't work!
Last year I had a similar problem, although that time the Windows OS had an error of some kind and we lost the whole computer. We had tried a few things to fix it, and somehow deleted everything on the computer. It was an old one, but still inconvenient to have it crash like that. I ended up finishing up the name tags using Windows Paint!

I'm thankful I wasn't reduced to such a low estate this time! ;-) Dad was able to get it working again after a while and I was able to finish it up, and is now available on the web here: http://www.convention.ndhsa.org/ It has also been printed, and should be in your mailbox soon.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! - Psalm 107: 8

Andrew Bartlett

Ice Skating

2011-11-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Andrew

The Music of Excelsior

2011-11-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder to check out the Excelsior Blog to see a clip from the Behind The Scenes Featurette, and also hear a few music tracks from the film.

Andrew

Jubilee the Jersey Heifer

2011-11-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Andrew

Doughnuts

2011-11-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Andrew

The Bales are hauled!

2011-10-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, we hauled the last load of bales in and unloaded about 15 min. ago.... Jonathan, David and I hauled 51 today. (CLICK HERE to see the video of how we do it)

Andrew

Busy Getting Ready For Snow

2011-10-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

We've just about got all the bales hauled home now, that's good, but we still need to work on the woodpile!

Andrew

Web Design Project

2011-10-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

One of the projects I've been working on lately is the website for the North Dakota Home School Association. http://www.ndhsa.org/

Andrew

Making the Excelsior Logo

2011-10-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Making the Excelsior Logo from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
In this video, Andrew Bartlett explains how he made the Excelsior logo. www.ExcelsiorTheMovie.com

Andrew

Navigating History: Egypt

2011-10-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

I thought the cover for Navigating History: Egypt was really well done! It makes me realise how much I still have to learn about graphic design....

Watch the trailer:

Navigating History: Egypt from Navigating History on Vimeo.
The new full length trailer for Season One of Navigating History from the Western Conservatory.

Andrew

Pain Of Death Poster

2011-10-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

I recently made this poster for a short film called "Pain Of Death." You can check out their website here: http://www.painofdeathmovie.blogspot.com/

-Andrew

Another Project

2011-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what this is going to be?

Andrew

Free 8 Minutes of Behind The Scenes of Excelsior!

2011-10-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

We've decided to give everybody a little more. :-)

-Andrew

NEW: Any person who posts the Excelsior trailer at least once (even if you've posted it somewhere already) will receive exclusive password-protected online access to the first 8 minutes of Excelsior's Behind the Scenes (BTS) Featurette! Just send an email to info@excelsiorthemovie.com after posting your link on the Giveaway blog post.

Enjoy!

-The Excelsior Team

The All New Excelsior Special Edition DVD and a Giveaway!

2011-10-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

More informaton on the Excelsior website: http://www.excelsiorthemovie.com/

Also, check out the new trailer!

Andrew

An Update on Excelsior

2011-09-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been busy working on editing the Behind the scenes for the Special Edition Excelsior DVD.

Me working late...

A screenshot.

Filming Peter's interview.

Right now, I'm in the "Cutting" stage. It is about an hour long right now, but we are going for a half hour. So that means something has to go!

Andrew

Excelsior: Ever Higher - Official Trailer!

2011-08-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Go to http://www.excelsiorthemovie.blogspot.com/

Needles to say, I got my computer parts....

Andrew

Excelsior The Movie

2011-08-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

Things are pretty busy around here right now. We're in the middle of raspberry season as well as harvesting different things from the garden. We are also, as you probably already know, working hard on our new movie EXCELSIOR: Ever Higher. We are trying to make the August 15th SAICFF deadline for the early-bird entry. Right now we are working on ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement), as well as sound effects, etc. Our composer Benjamin Dawson is going to start scoring the film here pretty soon. I can't wait until the music is done! it adds so much to the movie!

I've also been working on the Excelsior trailer.... But I've been having computer trouble when using my new video editor. I ordered some new parts for the computer, so we'll see if that helps.

[Note: this is just a test render I did of the Excelsior logo. It's not necessarily going to look like that.]

Don't forget to check out the Excelsior Blog to see some behind the scenes videos and other updates!

Andrew

Raspberry Season

2011-07-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Turkeys

2011-07-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Playing around with bricks in Blender

2011-07-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

It still could use some work....

Andrew

Milcah and Jubilee

2011-07-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Milcah

Jubilee

Cat and Turtle....

2011-07-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Watch Divided the Movie – Free Online!

2011-07-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

"If you have been concerned about the effects of youth group ministry on your family or are wondering what a family-integrated church is all about, then watching “Divided” may be helpful to you. It is very common for home school families to notice issues with their church experiences. I think this is because they are taking Biblical duty seriously and as a result, the Lord is showing them where church experiences differ from the Bible." NDHSA blog

CLICK HERE For more information.

Andrew

A Quote From Spurgeon

2011-07-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

I read this quote today in a book called: Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism, and Arminianism

"I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel ... unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace ... unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called."

Spurgeon: Autobiography, Vol. I, pg. 172.

Shot Breakdown - The Nature Academy

2011-07-12T05:39:00.001-07:00

The Nature Academy

2011-07-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

This is made with Blender!

Making Volumetric Clouds in Blender

2011-07-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

Andrew

An Interesting Sunset....

2011-06-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Andrew

New! Excelsior Banner

2011-06-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.excelsiorthemovie.blogspot.com/ The Excelsior blog is still under construction.

Andrew

My New Purchase

2011-06-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Adobe Premiere Elements 9!

I'm looking forward to using it for editing our movies!

Andrew

Cows...

2011-06-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

...On grass.

Andrew

Turkey Chicks

2011-06-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

Turkeys 2011 from Bartlett Farm on Vimeo.

Andrew

EXCELSIOR part 2

2011-06-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Our producer posted about EXCELSIOR again. See HERE.

Andrew

Making grass in Blender...

2011-06-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Andrew

EXCELSIOR - Coming soon!

2011-06-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

EXCELSIOR - The new film by Bartlett Productions and Daystar Productions.

I saw that our producer just posted a more detailed post about the film, HERE.

David running the marker, Peter filming.

Two of our "Grips"

Director Andrew Bartlett. (Me)

The marker.

The camera dolly.

A road scene.

It was interesting filming in the rain.

The team, soaked.

The catering crew.

Looking over the storyboard.

Mud.

Stunt coordinator and lead actor, Caleb Kenney. (Peter in the background)

Me again.

Producer, Hannah Kenney.

We're looking forward to getting the first edit of it done!

Andrew

It's Greening Up!

2011-05-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Andrew

A Blender Ball

2011-05-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

A Blender Ball from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
This is my first try at rigging a ball...

Another camera mount....

2011-05-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures of another one of the camera mounts that I made.

I used it for filming "Just for Now".

Just For Now from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
Practicing for a fight scene. Music: http://www.soundjay.com/

Andrew

D-Day and the Providence of God

2011-05-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Faith of Our Fathers Project Presents: D-Day and the Providence of God: The Virtual Tour and Online Study Course from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.
Now Christian families and students can study the most important battle of the most important war of the 21st century from a distinctively Christian perspective with D-Day and the Providence of God. Sign up today to get broadcasts and field reports from Rome, France and Normandy, as you prepare for seven rich episodes that tell the story of the great efforts of our heroic fathers to save Western Christian civilization from the tyranny of Nazism, Fascism and despotism.

Visit http://www.afinalfarewell.org/ for more information.

A Blender Lego guy... Made by me.

2011-05-18T07:31:00.001-07:00

A New Camera Mount

2011-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Camera Mount Test from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.

The suction cup on the bottom is made for pulling dents out of cars.

Andrew

Just For Now - A practice fight scene

2011-05-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Just For Now from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
Practicing for a fight scene. Music: www.soundjay.com

Henry

2011-05-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Coming Soon...

2011-04-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Andrew

IN THE GRIP

2011-04-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

IN THE GRIP from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
This is a short thing Peter and I put together with my camera dolly.

The point is the dolly shot, not Dewalt.

Road Closed

2011-04-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

We'll have to go around the sign now to get out.

It doesn't look as bad in the picture as it really is. The culvert is just about washed out. There's another like that too. The whole road is in pretty tough shape, actually.

Andrew

Bartlett Farm Spring Reminder...And a new video.

2011-04-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

Dear friends of Bartlett Farm,

We hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are! The farm has seen quite a population growth, having already hosted the birth of 13 baby pigs, five goat kids, a milk cow heifer calf, and the brooding of 100 layer chicks. More of everything is on the way…

In this email we are reminding everyone that the best time to order meat is in the spring. Many people buy their meat in bulk at this time to save money and to stock up enough food to feed their family for an entire year.

If you order with a deposit before May 1st, 2011, we can ensure that prices stay at the current rate when picking up the meat this fall. The reason we can do this is because we would purchase more feed and supplies early in the year before costs increase.

Call us for more detail at 701-263-4574 or simply send in your order using the form at: http://bartlettfarm.us/documents/BFOrderFormPDF.pdf

Please forward this email to any of your friends that might have an interest in our products.

Thank you for your business!

Sincerely,

The Bartlett Family (Jim, Lynn, Jonathan, Peter, Andrew & David)

The 2011 farm video.

P.S. Our new farm video will give you a glimpse into our farm activities. It is embedded on the website at http://bartlettfarm.us/.

____________________________________

IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED

1. There is a pdf copy of the spring “order meat now” 2011 reminder handout on our website at: http://bartlettfarm.us/spring2011reminder.pdf

2. If you are wondering what is different about our home grown pastured meats and the value of these farming processes, here is a quick review:

WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF RAISING MEAT ANIMALS?

To produce the highest quality, pure, healthy, and tasty food it is necessary to: (1) maintain the highest degree of animal sanitation, (2) ensure an adequate supply of green pasture, sunshine and fresh air, (3) use small natural animal group sizes, (3) minimize animal stress, (4) process the food in the cleanest, most efficient way, (5) avoid vaccinations, antibiotics and growth hormones, and (6) use organic hay and grains.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH HOMEGROWN PASTURED MEATS?

Meat, eggs, and dairy products from home grown pastured animals, compared to commercial products: (1) are more tender, juicier and taste better, (2) contain more “good” fats, and fewer “bad” fats, (3) are richer in antioxidants; (4) contain more vitamin E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C, and (5) do not contain hormones, antibiotics or other drugs.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

More nutritious and safer food, well cared for animals and environment biodiversity, pleasant family farm working conditions, and local economic development.

Gourmet restaurants buy pastured meats because these differences and benefits are proven!

As Shannon Hayes writes in her 2004 “Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook,” “Your decision to purchase grass-fed foods is an important one. The production of grass-fed meats and dairy products helps heal our environment, it ensures the welfare of the livestock…And grass-fed meats are healthier. But the benefits don’t stop there. Grass-fed meats and dairy products taste better than their conventionally raised counterparts. Grass-fed pork and lamb have a particularly rich and savory flavor. Grass-fed beef tends to be lean and juicy, with a rich, robust flavor. Pasture-raised chickens have a firm texture and the type of flavor that older generations remember from their youth. Once you’ve experienced these superior foods, you’ll never want to purchase conventionally raised meat or dairy products again.”

“Those who do what is right take good care of their animals.”

Proverbs 12:10

Music Video

2011-04-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Peter posted a short clip I took of him playing his new guitar on his blog.

Andrew

The Little Pigs...

2011-04-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a short clip I took of what the little pigs do after we let the sow out.

Andrew

Normandy: A Final Farewell to WWII's Last Living Heroes

2011-04-06T18:37:00.001-07:00

The Camera Equipment Pictures

2011-04-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Explosion in Blender 2.5 - My First Try

2011-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Explosion - First Try from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.
This is my first try at making an explosion in Blender 2.5

Pictures of the new camera equipment coming soon.

Andrew

New Camera Equipment

2011-04-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

I've got two new things, first, a camera dolly, and second, a camera crane. I don't have any good pictures of them to post, but here's a short film David, Jonathan, and I made yesterday using the new equipment.

Mud, Spring 2011. from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.

I'm still a little rusty on the movements but I'll get better.

Andrew

It's Here

2011-03-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Feels like spring!

2011-03-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

Andrew

Asteroid Storm...Made by me

2011-03-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

This is my first time using the particle system and displacement modifier on Blender.

I learned how to make it from a tutorial by BlenderGruru.com

I hadn't used the compositor much before but it sure makes a big difference on the final result.

In the 3D view.

Andrew

More Animals!

2011-03-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

Peter's new heifer calf Milcah.

Bub the pig.

Andrew

Barley Grass

2011-03-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Home Educators Conference Welcome Video

2011-03-08T04:48:00.000-08:00

As most of you probably already know, we made the welcome video for the 2011 convention.

<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>NDHSA Flag from NDHSA Webmaster on Vimeo.
The North Dakota Home School Association flag.
This flag I made on Blender was played while people where coming in and getting seated.
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>
2011 Convention Welcome Video from NDHSA Webmaster on Vimeo.
2011 NDHSA Home School Convention Welcome Video
Here's the welcome video playing at the convention. Watch it in HD!

<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>
2011 Convention Welcome Video - On the Screen from NDHSA Webmaster on Vimeo.The 2011 Convention Welcome Video playing at the Christian Home Educators Conference at Jamestown ND.Regretfully I wasn't at the convention this year, but Lord willing I'll be there next year.
Andrew

Blender BF Milk Bottles

2011-03-07T03:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a Bartlett Farm milk bottle that I made on Blender.

Shift + D (Duplicate)

Screenshot.

Andrew

Cal...

2011-03-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

...The cow.

Andrew

The Blender fluid simulator

2011-03-05T07:21:00.000-08:00

This is one of my first tries.

Andrew

Into The Amazon Trailer

2011-03-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

<p$1><p$1>
INTO THE AMAZON from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

Winter Camera Dolly

2011-03-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple pictures and a video clip of the "Snow Dolly" I put together.

(that's the snowboard again)

You can watch the video in full HD.

Andrew

The NDHSA Christian Home Educators Conference 2011!

2011-03-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Starts tomorrow!

Andrew

Minot Appleseed

2011-02-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

Jonathan and Peter just got back from the Appleseed in Minot. It was held at the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club in their nice (heated) indoor shooting area.

Jonathan will probably be posting more about it sometime soon.

Andrew

Keep'n Warm

2011-02-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

Don't forget, the 2011 HS bill is scheduled to be on the house floor some time after 9:00 am today. (Tuesday the 22)

Yesterday it was quite could outside.

Andrew

Catch Up

2011-02-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't been very consistent about blogging lately so I'll try to catch up on what's been happening here.

On the 15th, Dad and David went to Bismarck for the committee work on the 2011 home school bill HB 1211. I posted the audio of it on the NDHSA blog. The House Education Committee voted unanimously in favor of Rep. Rust's motion to delete 80% of HB 1211, leaving only removal of the sunset clause.

The house education committee.

After it was over, Dad and David went to this place and David bought a Morgan horse.

Her name is Darla.

David and the new horse Darla.

I've been messing around with different settings on my camera and found out some new things I didn't know about before. It's always nice to find out some new things that help.

The moon.

The Shop window.

The moon again.

The shop again.

This is one of my best pictures. Its outside at night, as you can tell. What's nice about it is that its all black, just a nice dark black. It might make a good desktop picture or something.

Sun rise.

Editing the house ed committee audio.

Until next time,

Andrew

Sun Rise

2011-02-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

Andrew

Chairs and a Table

2011-02-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

Made by me on Blender.

Andrew

HS Day at the Capitol - Pictures

2011-02-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

Legislative News Episode 2!

2011-01-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

Watch it HERE!

Andrew

The Mystery of the Plants of the Amazon

2011-01-26T19:16:00.000-08:00

Watch the Trailer for Tonight's Episode: "The Mystery of the Plants of the Amazon" from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

Sledding...2011.

2011-01-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

Check out our new movie "Sledding...2011" on David's blog.

Andrew

LN2011- episode 1

2011-01-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

I just Posted: Legislative News 2011- episode 1 on the NDHSA blog Check it out!

I filmed it on the 15th of the month. It has some of my Blender animation in the intro. A special thanks to Adam H. for taking the filler shots for me.

I took these moon pictures this morning.

Peter took these two pictures from the roof of the house.

Andrew

Another Blender Project

2011-01-16T19:20:00.000-08:00

Andrew

Some Deer Pictures

2011-01-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

Andrew

The News Intro

2011-01-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm rendering The NDHSA Legislative News 2011 intro. I'm rendering it in full HD so its taking a while. Time:04:44.70 (per frame)

Andrew

NDHSA News Intro

2011-01-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today I worked on making a intro for the NDHSA Legislative News 2011.

I still have some work to do on the lighting.

Andrew

Another cow.

2011-01-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

Check out Peter's Blog for more information about the new addition to the dairy herd.

Andrew

A few pictures.

2011-01-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

The chicken coop.

The house.

The snow in the yard.

looking South.

A storm is coming...

2010-12-31T18:55:00.000-08:00

I won't be blogging again until next year.

Andrew

Sheep Shearing

2010-12-26T07:06:00.000-08:00

On the 24th Peter, David and I went over to help our neighbor shear his sheep.

David and I.

The sheep shearer guy.

Before...

After.

The bag stuffer thing.

Peter picking up the wool.

Andrew

Angelina Baker

2010-12-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a music video that Peter, David and I made yesterday.We downsized the quality so it would upload faster.

Andrew

Our New Family Picture.

2010-12-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

Andrew

Lego Movie 2...

2010-12-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

...Back from my beginning days of stop motion Lego movies. (2008/09 not sure)

I just used Windows Movie Maker to make it.

Got to go. Andrew

NDHSA 2011 Convention Booklets...

2010-12-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

Peter and I did the graphics for the NDHSA 2011 convention booklet.

Here's what they look like. When it was printed, all the transparent backgrounds on the pictures turned dark gray, but oh well. It still looks okay.

Actually CLICK HERE instead to see a PDF of the booklet. (4.89 MB)

Andrew

The spark plug adventure...

2010-12-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

It all started one cold day, the 30th of November. Dad had to go get the Azure order and was going to take the pickup because the grader hadn't come in yet and the snow was too deep for the car. But it didn't start very well. Peter said that it sounded like the engine was skipping. Dad ran it for a while but it didn't clear up so Dad and Peter took out four of six plugs to clean them, but the fifth one broke because it was rusted in so hard. They managed to get it out though.

So that meant we couldn't get the Azure order. A friend of ours picked it up for us.

After the grader came in Dad went to town and got all new spark plugs and I replaced 5 out of 6. But we couldn't get the last one out. We tried putting a pipe on the end of the ratchet so we could put more force on it but we ended up breaking the nut part off. --See-Picture-->>

We tried using the torch to heat up the broken piece but that didn't work. We tried some other thing too, I can't remember what exactly but it didn't work either. So Dad and I went to town and got an "Easy Out".

The next day Dad and I went out and tried the new tool. We pounded it in and put a ratchet on it and got the broken piece to move a little. But that was it. We couldn't get it to turn at all. Finally we resorted to the pipe again and guess what? We broke the Easy Out.

Now the broken piece is in the way. Dad went back to the torch and tried lots of different things. Finally he cut through the side of the spark plug piece enough that some penetrating oil could get in and was able to use a screw
driver and a hammer to turn it. And that's how we got that part of it out.

Our outdoor shop. (We had to go into the house every half hour to warm up)

The pieces.

Then came the process of getting the broken pieces of metal and ceramic out of the cylinder.

Dad went to town again and got some magnets. First Dad used the smaller of the two but it broke off inside the cylinder because he had to try to bend it at an angle to get in.

The stick part of it is aluminum so we couldn't get it out with the bigger magnet, and it was too far in to grab with pliers. Peter had an idea to glue a piece of wire to the end of it and see if we could pull it out that way.

So we bent a piece of copper wire into a loop that would slide over the end of the broken magnet. Dad put some Gorilla epoxy on the end, and then I slid it on and rested the other end in a spot where it wouldn't get bumped. Since it is cold out the glue might not dry very well so we wired up a heater so that it blew down the spark plug hole and into the cylinder. We let it sit for 90 minutes and then it was a piece of cake.

The next step was to vacuum out the ceramic pieces. We duct taped a smaller hose on to the end of our shopvac and got what we could that way. We also tried a little bit bigger one and got a few more pieces. Then Dad turned the engine over with a wrench a bunch of times and it didn't hit any thing and we look in the cylinder with a flashlight and brought the piston to the top and it didn't look like there was any pieces left. Next we unconnected the coil so the engine wouldn't start, and bumped it with the starter a little, and then a little more, it didn't sound like it hit any thing so we hooked up the coil again and started it with the one plug out so that if anything was left it would hopefully blow out the hole. (we didn't run it very long) Then we put the last plug back in, started it up again and... It sounded like normal.

Andrew

A quick note...

2010-12-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say that we finally got the truck running... After a long process. I'm still going to write about it sometime.

Andrew

Update and some new things.

2010-12-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

Hello again, today we did a whole assortment of things so I'll just cover a few.

Jonathan David and I shoveled out a skating area on the lake and went skating for a while.

Now for the "new things" (I got the book and the DVDs from Vision Forum via UPS.)

Looks like lots of good information!

Coming next time: a story about... Spark plugs.

Until then, Andrew

Sunset...

2010-12-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

Andrew

An explanation, and the doings of today.

2010-12-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

First I'll explain the WE-Ding thing. Try saying it fast... What word does it sound like? Answer: Weeding. Thus, it is an agrarian pastime. One other way to look at it is, for some people (not us), Facebook is a pastime. WE-Ding would be a substitute for Facebook (If it was real) so it to could be a pastime.

Today we worked on cutting/splitting wood.

Dad, Peter and I split this pile today.

Peter cutting wood.

Jonathan worked on making a shelf for in the house.

Until next time.
Andrew

WE-Ding An Agrarian Pastime...

2010-12-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

Sun set...

2010-11-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

Dad's Birthday!

2010-11-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

Dad's birthday was actually on the 27th but here's the pictures.

Jonathan and I where in Minot so we missed out on the desert. (I didn't take the pictures)

We got Dad a gift at Menards and gave it to him when we got back, but I don't have any pictures of it so you'll have to wait until I take some to find out what it was.

Andrew