Projects – Page 9 – ROBOHEMIAN

Idea Bouquet

Light Bouquet

October 13, 2013spetku3 Comments

Back in 2010 I made a series of illustrations featuring incandescent bulbs. Since the light bulb is the symbol for the birth of an idea, I played on this visually for a while, using them in place of blades of grass, flowers, and the like. Like my delta robot army, this project was inspired by these ‘idea’ illustrations from the past. I have always wanted to make a bouquet of light bulbs that was portable, and finally with the right materials and a little push from my friend… I sat down this week and made it happen. A couple of months ago my collaborator Mark picked up a plastic transparent Christmas ornament from the craft store and suggested I use something like it as an alternative to actual glass. I agreed with him, but the Christmas bulbs weren’t the quirky up-side-down pear shape incandescent bulbs are, and the plastic had…

Lick

The Lower Half of Lick

September 2, 2013spetku2 Comments

It all started with a male torso Mark picked up from the dumpster at Blue Man. Figuring we’d use it for something eventually, we stored it on top of the vending machine at SYN Shop this spring. In time, everyone started taking a liking to our torso. He obtained nipples, a cod piece, beach cover, and above all else, acceptance. Mark and I then named this torso Tiberius, our first child. During the weeks we spent imaging what freaky things we’d like to do with a plastic limbless body, we developed Project “L”. It started with the idea to create a machine that tested how many licks it took to get to the center of a tootsie pop. At first our visions were purely dry and practical, but as our chattered progressed, the project evolved much like our friendship into this raw theatrical display of absurdity. So we went back…

DefCon Projects

Defcon 21 : Down to the Wire

July 31, 2013spetku0 Comments

So it’s Wednesday now. I’m sipping my coffee while admiring last nights war zone, which is still strewn across the dining room table. Red dixie cups filled with components, plastic bins of surface mount parts, discarded chunks of tape, lap tops, empty margarita glasses and more are all stacked on top of one another like the abandoned scene of a rape. The brutal part is that we aren’t even half way done and the gigs up tomorrow. The wild card was drawn this past Sunday. Jeff and I went out for a nice breakfast so that we could fill out tummies before starting down our long check list of things to do for the day. When we arrived home, about an hour and a half later, upon walking through the front door I heard something no one should hear inside their house. Rain. I ran through the kitchen and into…

DefCon Projects

The Road to DefCon 21

July 28, 2013spetku2 Comments

I have been so busy this past month in preparation for Defcon that my deltas have gathered a thin layer of dust and my mannequin torso, Tiberius has started sneaking off at night in search for what I’ve been neglecting to give him. It seems like we all put too much on our plates these past couple months, but I’m glad I was given the chance to help out as I have and can’t wait to experience the fruits of our labor (in less than a week!!). So here’s what Jeff and I have been up to… Crash and Compile This year, Jeff (Krux) is in charge of the infamous drinking while coding game that I’ve been hearing stories about since last summer… that’d be Crash and Compile. Jeff has spent pretty much every night at his computer working in preparation for this event, from overseeing registration to welding together…

Pony Mods

Defcon Pony

July 3, 2013spetku0 Comments

What two things could possibly fit together more uncomfortably? For a long time I had little comprehension of what Defcon was actually like. Anyone I met who had gone to the conference seemed bent on preserving this allure about it that only added to my aw and curiosity towards the hacker community. It wasn’t until I met a true seasoned Defcon veteran, Jeff (Krux), that the veil started to lift. Though I have a better idea what Defcon itself is all about, my perception of its attendees is still unclear. Now that I am reading Daemon, the quintessential hacker novel, my imagination is struggling between accepting the somewhat raw and sexy “hacker” identity the book promotes which is cloaked in secrets and at it’s very core, an homage to intelligence…. and my previous impression of the few unapproachable neck-bearded douchebags I’ve met in the past : Regardless, the idea of…

SM Taco Time

SM Taco Time : E2

July 2, 2013spetku0 Comments

We learned a lot this time around (by making a gross amount of mistakes). Among those things : 1. -how close we need to be sitting to one another for the sound to pick up well. Even with the snowball… it was like we filmed next to a jet engine. Should have tested that first! 2. -not to film the entire segment 3 times… because that gives you more to review and no one wants to look at their own face that much… except for maybe Mark. 3. We learned that improving our topic list is ok because the conversation flows more organically. 4. -adding in support footage after the fact usually works out better anyhow… and again, you have less clips to watch and sort through when editing. 5. We also learned that baking after drinking and filming a podcast is a horrible idea… you’ll ruin Mark’s kitchen and…

Pony Mods

Pony Modding

June 15, 2013spetku12 Comments

I would like to say that the whole blasé brony podcast didn’t have a lasting effect on either myself or Mark, however it has. It’s an illness that we are both suffering through together now that we’ve both accepted that we have it. Though the symptoms are embarrassing and there is no prognosis, I have faith that in time we’ll make a full recovery with some shred of our dignity left in tact. It all began with Buttercup (or Butterscotch), the white plastic figure that I gifted Mark during the shoot of our first podcast. I little realized what I had set in motion, but once it was done the effects were swift and hugely contagious. Mark started sending me horrible photos of his new plaything; the type of images that you’d unfriend someone on facebook for. Yeah, they were messed up in that way… but this is the langue…

General Stuff

Pudding and 2” PVC

June 6, 2013spetku3 Comments

What is an army of robots if they are all a heap of sleeping catatons? Sure they look dazzling, especially if we’re talking about my shiny yellow deltas…. but they aren’t impressive by any means. A robot is meant to move, and to tell you the truth, I’m tired of carrying a bread board and whole stinken arduino around just to demo how my show horse works. So I sucked it up this weekend and designed the board that will control each individual in my army. It will be the first board ever that I send away to be fabricated professionally; which I am excited about! OSH Park will be getting some business from me at last. As such… I am getting better at designing boards. However seeing this in the beginning still scares the crap out of me : And Mark is laughing because this isn’t even hard mode….

SM Taco Time

SM Taco Time : Pick a Pony

May 26, 2013spetku0 Comments

It has to start somewhere… Two weeks ago Mark and I met on a Friday, drank a case of beer, and filmed four hours of footage involving cartoon horses. It was exciting, revealing, and everything a talk about bronies shouldn’t be. After editing it down we came up with this… a rant that captures our inner child at its most immature and perverted state. On our agenda of topics we had some good points to make regarding the brony movement, that acknowledged the more sensitive and often ignored part of the male soul… as well as a debate about whether or not most bronies really like MLP, or are just leaping onto a new and irreverent fad. Most of these segments ended up getting cut (for the moment) because of how long they were. As a result we are releasing something that lacks any true intellectual content, however we plan…

SM Taco Time

Mark & Sarah’s TACO Time

May 13, 2013spetku0 Comments

“Between the two of us we are one functioning psychopath.” Making our very own podcast will either be me and Mark’s best idea… or just something that we do on Fridays to contribute to our extra weight. Either way, it’s been a hoot. While filming and editing this weekend, I’ve laughed hard enough to make the muscles in my face sore. So hopefully we’re as funny as we think we are, not just hyped and drunk. We decided to start filming our dialogues because when we hatch ideas for new projects… the exchange is pretty amusing. Though our talks will be mainly about our collaborations and future projects, we’ll occasionally cover a topic of interest like the one for our pilot episode; quite the laugh. What’s so funny? Why, the topic for our first episode is none other than a study on why and how perfectly sane men fall from…