This picture is from my Brother’s blog. I keep it as inspiration when I am feeling lazy…

 It is one of the things that has changed my thinking this year!

 But this post is not just a re-blog. It’s to share a moment of clarity I had this weekend….

 There are a few people I know that are working on some pretty awesome stuff right now… Eric, Dave and Pete… just to name a few. But I have found that the more I LOVE what people are working on – the less likely they are to have a blog, web page, face book account… that is updated frequently. Conversely – there are plenty of people working on complete garbage that have no problem updating their web page four times a day.

 Well, I figured it out this weekend – because I was working on some pretty cool stuff… but didn’t get to mention it at all on my blog. Why? Because I was freeking busy working!

 So, this is an open apology to those of you I pester for information about your projects – I am sure you will share when you have time! And this is a letter of admiration for those of you like my Brother that seem to work their ass off – AND update the rest of us frequently!

 Lastly, this is explanation to you all that I will not be updating this blog unless I have something to say. It may be hourly, daily, monthly … whatever…. but don’t assume a deficiency in posts means I have lost interest in my project!

 I think I was misguided by my desire to get my hit, member, ranking (etc) numbers up. So I ended posting some crap no one cares about… “Hey, I cleaned my toilet today!”

 Have a great week everyone…  Expect lass quantity and more quality!

I’ve always had a vision as to what my haunted house would look like… what my annual home display would look like… what my next prop will look like… but I personally always felt out of place… I never had a vision of what I should look like!

 I was never into dressing up… I thought it would be odd to be giving a professional interview for television looking like I was ready for a part in “Friday the 13th”. On the other hand, I felt equally out of place performing an interview dressed in jeans and a Wilson’s Leather coat… I just didn’t fit!

 Well, recently when we went to the Haunter’s Convention – I discovered (actually re-discovered…) that there are a lot of people into the Victorian / Steampunk type of fashion.

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 This fits to me! I could feel (kind-of) normal in these clothes… but also give a vibe off that I am “touched” at the same time. I wouldn’t have to wear make-up… fake blood… or anything shocking. Plus, to me at least, there’s a certain class to these outfits.

 I think it was my brother Anthony pointing out the great lengths that Disney goes to in order to make everything “fit” that made me wait till now find a look for the “Master of the House”.

 So…. what do you all think? This is also the first test of my slideshow plug-in… so here goes nothing.

Oh, and while looking for examples – I found a lot of Johnny Depp pictures.. so  I had to throw on in there for Beth!

Yeah, it’s been a while since I posted…. So I figured I’d let everyone (all two of you reading this LOL!) know what I’ve been doing…

 First off, it’s been raining for a week. It’s difficult to finish the new workroom when I can’t move my equipment from one location to another.

 Secondly, I need to recharge. One of the things I used to do when I was a teenager was to go to Showbiz Pizza place and watch the show. (Often, I would daydream about seanking in a night an absconding with the robot show… Little did I know how much this crap weighs!) Watching the animatronic show would always inspire me to build my own stuff.

 Anyhow – I have a full show at my house in my back yard. It’s been more than a year since ny of the robots even moved…. but since it’s raining and the show is under shelter, I’ve been working on getting the show running again.

 So, while it’s been raining… Ive been under the shelter of the new metal roof I put on the show and have been fixing air leaks.

 My goal for this part of the project is to have a big party this year and invite a couple of people I know that own some “haunted house” sized buildings to let them see what kind of cool stuff I can build and maintain…

 I’ll be sure to post when I get closer to setting an actual date.

 Till then – there is much to do!

 I promise to post more this weekend!

This is a picture of a deceased Camien Crocodile. It’s a sad thing… not only because a pet has died, but along with it a project….

Before I tell you about the project – Let me tell you a story:

A few years ago, Beth and I built a pond in our back yard. It’s a rather large and VERY deep pond. And without explanation – things started appearing in the pond.

 Frogs, Fish, Plants… we’ve seen everything just “appear” without any idea of where it came from! The oddest by far was a mother crocodile. She stays at the bottom of the pond – and is quite shy… but not dangerous by any means.

 Last year, she crawled out of the pond and laid a few eggs. Only one hatched… and that was Snatchy.

 People never believe me about this story until I had them look into the pond. There, under the water was the mom crocodile, big as can be! When I would point her out to people, they would have to lean forward to see… just a bit… because the water was so murky.

 Then… without warning….

 Mom would jump out of the water and attempt to attack my helpless guest!

 Now – None of this is true. It’s a story. It’s a set-up.

 My brother once told me that Disney rides are so cool because there’s a “set-up story” that gets you in the mood before you even step into a ride car. There’s a back story to everything.

 Statchy was my back story for a prop I wanted to build.

 The “story” I told you above was going to be what I told guests that come over to my house. Yes, I can still tell the story… BUT imagine how much more believable the story would be if I had a real crocodile sitting on my porch in a fish tank! Once you saw the baby crocodile – then you would have to believe (just a little bit) that their WAS a real crocodile in the pond…

 Then, as I walked you over to see the mother…. I press a button and launch a huge animatronic crocodile out from under the water (al-la Jaws!) before you get a chance to even think about what is going on.

 The prop would have been great. The story was slightly plausible… and now, after three years of raising a baby crocodile just for a story, he’s dead.

 I’m sharing this so that next time I might remember to find an easier way to bait people into a story…. but to also share with you the distance I will go to entertain people… (and warn you of what I plan on doing to house guests!)