1969 Impala Saga

I've been restoring a 1969 Chevy Impala, which has been in my family for 35+ years.

So far here is what I have done:

• Pulled the stock 350 engine and replaced it with another running 350, until I can rebuild the original (planning to convert it to a 383 stroker, but that's probably a year or two away, considering time and money.)

• Installed new upper and lower ball joints on the front.

• Installed new sway bar links and sway bar bushings

• Replaced front and rear drum brakes with a brand new disc brake kit from Right Stuff (purchased through Matt's Classic Bowties.)

• Replaced the stock spindles with new McGaughy's 2" drop spindles (in order for the disc brake kit to work.)

I'm still having trouble bleeding the brakes, but it's getting close.

I will add more pics of the car in my next post.

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Currently I'm working on fixing the windshield wipers.

I bought a new wiper motor and washer pump, and I'm ready to install it.

However, one of my wiper arms is stripped and needs to be replaced.

This is the driver side wiper arm, the one that is stripped. It's different from the passenger side arm (shown below) since the connecting "stub" sits lower.

Passenger side. I found matching arms on eBay for this side, but I can't find anything that matches the driver side style.

Disconnected driver side arm

Inside that round part is where it is stripped.

The teeth are worn down enough that it won't grab the stub anymore, so when I turn on the wipers, only the passenger side wiper moves.

Driver side stub. It looks worn down in this photo, but it's actually just caked with grime. When I clean it off, the teeth look to be in okay shape. So I *think* the stub will still grip fine. But if someone knows better than me, let me know.

If anyone knows where I can find a good replacement, let me know.

Yup, there's a baby in the house

Today we washed a quilt.
When my wife pulled it out of the washer she said "what is all this?"
The quilt was covered in linty white fuzz that looked like a disintegrated paper towel.
"It must have got washed with a baby wipe!" she said.
She then looked back inside the washing machine.
"Oh my gosh!"
Not a baby wipe.
A diaper.

No Line on the Horizon

U2's new record No Line on the Horizon was released today. I bought the deluxe box set, as well as the double-LP. We listened to it all the way through today. I really like it, and the artwork on this album is gorgeous. You can hear the full album streaming on u2.com here.

new iMacs

Apple's new line of updated iMacs came out today, and the specs really disappointed me. Granted they are faster and have better graphics, but I think Apple made a crazy decision with their selection of ports. I had hoped they would add an e-sata connection, but no such luck. And they actually had the nerve to remove one of the most depended-on ports for video editing-- the firewire400 port.
Considering the video/media producing crowd that so loves Apple's computers, this seems nuts to me. Firewire400 is the most established and depended-on port for transferring video from average camcorders. People with newer hard-drive-based or flash-based cameras will not have to worry, but for all the other typical camcorders, you will have to buy an adapter to convert the firewire800 port to a 400. Luckily those exist.

24 Hour Film Entry

Every year the LDS Film Festival does a 24-hour film contest. They assign a theme, an object, and a phrase. Then you have 24 hours to write, direct, edit, and turn in a completed film. 3 minutes or less.
Some friends and I made a film this year, and this is it:


The phrase was "Let me be your..."
The object was a Match
The theme was Sacrifice

Dear Diary,

Tonight I spilled a pot of boiling tortellini on my pants.
Sincerely,
Andy

Baby Boy

Our son was born on New Years Day. He is the coolest.
He was 9 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches

Light Before Christmas IMAX update

I just found out today that The Light Before Christmas has a website, with info and theater locations.
For those who don't know, I was one of the animators. I was also privileged to write and direct the featurette, which plays after the movie.

Website Idea

Today I had a great idea for a website.

I was driving around town, looking to buy a new Christmas tree stand. Wal-mart was out; Lowe's was out; Home Depot was a no-go...
And that's when I thought...
Wouldn't be great if there was a website, where I could type in an item and my zip code, and have a list of all the local stores that carry that item!
What a good idea. I think I would call it... shoplocal.com
And then I got home, and guess what happened...
Yup, it already exists and does exactly that.

The only problem is that it doesn't tell you if the items are in stock, so you still have to call around.

My Animaton Demo Reel

Go to www.randomwithandy.com to see it in higher quality.
Still working on the music...

New Insurance Benefits

My wife's work just changed insurance benefits, so they gave everyone a folder containing lots of paperwork. Below is a picture of the folder, which I scanned. She brought it home to show me.

She hands me the folder and says "Do you notice anything strange in this picture?"
I pick it up and begin thinking Oh look, happy insurance peop- "AAAHHH!!"



I hope the new insurance benefits cover "Man Hands."

And another thing...
"I like what you've done with the cover so far, Jim. But you know what it really needs... a pair of binoculars."

Christmas Song

I like this song.


Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel
by Joshua James
Buy the song
(requires iTunes for link to work.)
I am only posting the song here for sample purposes. If you want it, you should buy it. The entire album is $4
℗ 2007 Northplatte/Intelligent Noise Records

A Work in Progress

Testing it out.
I can now vouch that vinyl sounds better.

Music from a Record Player with No Electricity

Crib

I spent a couple hours building our new crib tonight. "Junior" will be sharing a room with us. We are still waiting for the UPS man to deliver the mattress.

Brief Butterflies Update

I posted a picture of me meeting Rogue Wave, on the Butterflies Blog. I met them back in May. And what the heck, I'll post one here, too. That's Gary, Liz, Rogue Wave, and Me. (Zach Rogue is holding a copy of Butterflies.)

Turntable Arrived

The fixer-upper turntable arrived in the mail today. Needs a power cord, so I couldn't really test it out... except for doing that thing, where you use a funneled paper and pin...

Amp hooked up

I now have my Marantz amp and Advent speakers connected to my iMac, and wow it sounds great. I am still waiting for my turntable, but in the meantime iTunes is sounding sweeter than ever.

It's not the prettiest setup (yet,) but the sound sure makes up for any lack of aethetics. I got the amp for really cheap, and it works perfectly well. It just needs a bit of cleaning on the volume pot.

The left speaker is over by the front door, next the fireplace.

Amplifier finally arrived

Got my amp today. Woohoo! I love the metal knobs. It will need a bit of a cleaning.

Finally Won a Decent Turntable on ebay

A while back I won a Dual 1219 on ebay, but it is not in great shape. Missing a cord, dirty... So I bought it for cheap, and I will hopefully be able to fix it up (still waiting for it to arrive.) In case it's not in fixable shape, I won another 1219 today. It's missing the dust cover, but it's in good working order. So I'll just get the best one running and re-sell the other.
I wish my amp would hurry up and get here.
Soooon... soooon....

My Vintage Sound System

You know a lot of the older stereo equipment from the 70s really rivals even today's systems, when it comes to quality of sound, especially if you compare a high quality system playing vinyl, compared to CDs.
So, I have been doing a bit of ebay shopping to acquire some equipment. One of the first things I ordered was an old amp, the Marantz 1060. What I would really love, eventually, is a sweet looking tube amp. I love the look of those things. And some audiophiles will tell you that a tube amp gives a slightly more pleasing, warmer sound than a normal amp. I've heard good things about the 1060. I am planning on replacing the current fake-wood case with a custom real-wood case, probably walnut or cherry.

I also bought some used Advent 5002 speakers from a local guy. They sound amazing. It looks like the tweeters have been replaced, so I can't be sure what exactly they sounded like originally. Probably sounds obvious, but it's incredible listening to music on good speakers. It makes you want to listen to music as an event in and of itself, rather than something to be in the background, while doing other activities. In a lot of ways, music has become background filler in our current way of life, as noted here.

And yet, vinyl is actually growing in popularity again. In fact, U2 has been issuing remasters of their albums recently, and they are releasing them on CD and 180 gram Vinyl. I have found myself on a vinyl "kick" lately, and I can't wait to get a turntable set up.

I have been trying to get one of two turntables: The Dual 1229 or Dual 1219. My dad owned a 1229 for 30 years and said it was the best turntable he ever owned. It's been challenging to get a decent one on ebay, as they are typically pushing $200. You can buy completely tuned refurbished ones from www.fixmydual.com, but they run closer to $400. Add a really nice cartridge and stylus on top that and it can be $150-200 more.

So I'm still working on that one.

How Vinyl Records are Made

For those who don't know, I am currently working on building myself a "vintage" sound system, complete with a Dual turntable from the 70s. I will post a separate entry to show a few of the components I am getting. In the mean time, I found a couple interesting videos that show how records are made.

How Vinyl Records are Made - Part 1 (from the Discovery Channel)

How Vinyl Records are Made - Part 2

Embassy Suites Commercial

This might be the funniest commercial I have ever seen.

Okay here is yet another entry

http://ronaldchevalier.com/

This a website for a character from the new Jared Hess movie coming out in 2009.
The video called The Art Inspiring Oneself is really funny.

Postal Service Music Video by Jared Hess

For those who don't know, Jared Hess directed Napoleon Dynamite. Today I stumbled upon a music video he directed for The Postal Service. I love it. If you're not familiar with The Postal Service, here's info from wikipedia:

The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, Headset and Figurine.
The band's name was chosen due to the way in which they produced its songs. Tamborello wrote and performed instrumental tracks and then sent the DATs to Gibbard, who edited the song as he saw fit (adding his vocals along the way), sending them back to Tamborello via the United States Postal Service.

Worm Store

This is a great little story I heard on NPR.

Jack-O-Lantern

Jack-O-Lantern is a very appropriate name for my pumpkin this year, as it is modeled after Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was nice to do a simple quick pumpkin this year. In years past I have done Knight Rider and Calvin & Hobbes. They were pretty awesome, but took some time.

Brief Music Review

Well I now have all three of the Polyphonic Spree CDs I ordered. I really like "The Fragile Army" album. Quite good. Their second album came with a DVD, and there is some pretty interesting video on that, talking about how the band came about, etc.
You can hear a couple tracks from "The Fragile Army" on their website.
I love the music, but I also can only take so much of it.
Kind of like milk... I love milk. But if I were to drink a quart of it, I'd be done for the day.
Oh, and I'm glad they've abandoned the robes.

On another music note (I'll claim that pun as intended,) I have been listening to Claire de Lune lately--particularly an orchestral version by the National Philharmonic Orchestra. I love it. I can play it over and over and I still want more.

New Music

I was introduced to a band today called The Polyphonic Spree. It only took one song for me to say "I like this music. I'm going to order it now." Then, in a hypnotic trance I logged on to half.com and ordered three of their CDs.

Now I'm blinking my eyes and wondering how in the world that happened. I'm going to have to check that song for subliminal hypnotic lyrics...

But in seriousness I really liked the sound I heard, and I liked it enough that I wanted to hear a lot more. They are a very... different band. There are 23 members, and they wear these weird hippie looking robes. I watched one of their performances on youtube and I felt like I was watching a musical cult that just stepped off a 1960s VW Bus. It was at that point that I laughed and wondered what I had done.

So I will have to give you my review of the albums when I get them. What I have heard so far is a pretty cool sound. Really big. Lots of instruments. It sounds very joyful for the most part.

This toilet wants to be on the honor roll.

We visited Hogle Zoo in August, and while there, I used the restroom. I went into a stall, only to be greeted by an all-too-eager flush sensor, which triggered before I could take a seat. A bit surprised, I stared as the little over-achieving toilet tried to prove itself the most thorough flusher in town. When the flushing just wouldn't quit, I eventually had to give up and move to an adjacent stall. I sat there listening as my new porcelain pal continued making a spectacle of itself. When it finally grew tired and stopped, I knew I had to document this super-flushing show-off.

Ghost Town

Laurie, Liz, Gary, and I just got back from Ghost Town. It was one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. It reminded me of Groundhog Day in some respects. Ricky Gervais is brilliantly funny.

Polling reliability

Well if the activity of my poll question is any indication of the readership I have with this blog, then I can proudly say that I have one reader. And it is myself.

That being said...
Laurie and I just finished watching the last episode of Lost Season 4. It was very interesting, intense and excellent. There was an extremely satisfying element to the story, which almost makes me feel that I could stop watching the show right now, and still be quite happy with where it went. But I am excited for Season 5 because there is some pretty crazy stuff going on. Some pretty amazing writing going on there.

Lars and the Real Girl

Watched Lars and the Real Girl this evening. Really liked it a lot. I loved the writing. It was subtle and had some amazing compassion and kindness. That's what I like.

Let's be honest shall we

Most of the time, your fast food cheeseburger looks like someone used it in a round of hacky sack before wadding it up in its paper wrapper. So it really should be no surprise when you bite into a crunchy taco and think to yourself "where is the taste?"
Well friends, it's Taco Bell to the rescue with their new "Big Taste Taco." (I'll allow you to pause and think about this for a moment.) That's right, now you can get a taco with lots of "taste."

"Let's see, what looks good on this menu... Ooh, I think I'll take that one with 'taste.' That looks good."

It's great to know that the fast food industry has decided to embrace their crappy food by making "taste" a luxury option which costs extra.
"I'll take combo #5."
"Would you like to add taste for 30 cents more?"

Venting Machine

I have, as of late, been in want of a forum where I can spout out my opinions, like bad onions--Or like a great tasting cobbler...
Either way, you get to look at it all chewed up.