Bored Not Bored

Boredom is impossible. I've overwhelmed myself. The last thing I should be doing right now is blogging but here I am. Monday is my birthday and with no effort on my part, my week is absolutely FILLED. Tomorrow I'm going to a VHS Swap hosted by a friend, another really good friend I haven't seen in a while will be there so it's a must. I'm not really looking forward to the swap part. I don't have much I want to part with that isn't totally embarrassing. Anyone want my copy of Cruel Intentions? No? GOOD, I'm not bringing it anyway. I'll be sure to post pictures or at least the results. I have a feeling I'll be coming home with nothing but what I came with.

Monday, all kinds of stuff is going on. I have an all day outing and then having company. Which means I have to clean. I have to do that anyway because my Mom will be here in less than two weeks but I'm also on a dead line with this silent horror project. Of course, as these things go, I'm suddenly over-flowing with ideas and inspiration for various projects. Like seriously, I'm coming up with great ideas for jewelry, suddenly caught a whim to paint, my journal keeps speaking to me, all of this editing for the project makes me want to do something more personal, like a new "Tender Moments", I've been wanting to actively take pictures; meaning go out WITH photography in mind not just instagram filler. Weirdest of all I've suddenly got this itch to mess with audio in some kind of DJ-like capacity. I took music lessons for years but abandoned it in my mid-teens, it always seemed like a headache to pick it back up but I don't know, it must be because it's October, my most productive month of the year but I have ideas and it's frustrating that I can't spend time obsessing over each and every one. Amidst all of this I must CLEAN for company. AG-OH-NEE. I don't want to do that. What a waste of time. My place is a wreck. The other day I was hot so I literally plopped myself down on the floor with front door open, sat right in the doorway to make jewelry in the breeze. It was nice but of course I left all that crap there in front of the door because I suck.

All of this is going on and I keep forgetting that at some point I have to eat and then THAT becomes a big ordeal. Last night I was like "omg I want octopus rice", so I made octopus rice but I had to gut and clean them, I busted the ink sack and got it EVERYWHERE. I can't just have a sandwich I have to have Octopus because I am the Queen of Spain or some shit. Eating is a problem. SO many unfinished projects I just want to finish a THING. If I can get the kitchen and closet cleaned AND scan 2 more silent movies tonight I will be so fucking thrilled. I have watched a non-silent movie for days and I'm severely neglecting Atomic Caravan, both my movie blog and Jewelry business.


I moved some stuff around here. I don't know if it's clear to my like, one reader, whoever you are. I was sick of the old layout. Added some links to my other locations, I have an obnoxiously overstated web presence. I also added a last.fm widget so you can see what I'm listening to AS I'M LISTENING, YOU CREEP.

Well I'm going to get back to all the haaaaard work. I might open my last bottle of two buck chuck to make things more interesting, or at least a little more barfy.

Spriggets

I'm working on a media project for a friend's pop-up Speak Easy. I'm making a mash-up of various silent horror movies. I used to make movie highlight videos using my dvd recorder and vcr but this is my first time actually attempting this digitally. It's going pretty well but I can tell it's going to be pretty time consuming so I have to be disciplined on working on it every day.

Yesterday my one big goal was to paint my animal head pendents but I got an email that ACTS (local thrift store) was having a 40% off sale for three hours so I dropped everything and drove over. I already had a $10 off coupon so I was excited to comb through it and get some stuff. My favorite part about acts is that they bundle random art and craft supplies in bags for .79-$3 depending on what all is in it. I always end up with weird partially used supplies that I would normally never buy, but that's what makes them more interesting.

I had a dream last week that I was at this weird cheap grocery store, Not cheap in a questionable way, cheap in a totally unrealistic dreamworld kind of way. Everything in the store cost mere pennies. I bought a giant brownie from the baker for a few cents and she gave me a complimentary watercolor set, exactly like the one at the bottom of the picture. I've been wanting a dry palette like that, all my water colors are in tubes and I feel like I often misjudge how much I need and waste them. In that same dream I saw my Aunt. She was dressed kind of funny and wearing really shiny shoes. She was on her way to work so I went with her, which in my dreams was this place where Swedish inventions are tested called "Spriggets". It's like a stumbled into a Roald Dahl universe. It was nice, I'd like to go back.

Anyway, I got a whole bunch of stuff and wasted a huge chunk of the day shopping, which is the last thing I should be doing. So today my to-do list is massive. Starting with these bad boys...

Will post pictures upon completion.

Why do thrift store candles always smell like Chantilly Ass? Why do I buy thrift store candles. All the time actually. I usually have one nice ass target candle going in the kitchen and forty miscellaneous old person candles in the bathroom.

Anyway, better "Start" my "day".

All the food I eat.

Remember when this was briefly a foreign candy review blog? That lasted like two entries. I'm reminded because I just devoured my current favorite Japanese junk food snack and it made me want to talk food.

Is this healthy? No. Is it helping me maintain my weight? No way. But it's my new favorite potato chip. Has to happen once a month or so. Great with greek yogurt dip. Dying.

The other day I went to my local Mexican market. I needed a few things and ended up getting a light snack at the deli...

Just a panela stuffed jalepeno, No frills. Not as hot as I was expecting, probably the tasiest thing I've eaten all week.

Washed it back with Spinach Cucumber juice. Not really the expensive juiced Whole Food variety. Mexican market kind that's obviously been sweetened with refined white sugar in a big plastic plastic tub. I think they literally just mix it all together in a blender. I can feel little pieces of spinach when I drink it. Not all places have it but it's my favorite classic mexican drink, I always get it when I see it.

Baja Ranch Market isn't my first choice having lived in Montebello for my first half a year in California, but I've grown to like it. Especially that deli! 

I was browsing a Gelatin magazine (for real) in line and snapped this magical photo of these gelatin treats.

Pickled carrot mix has been a favorite around here lately. Yry putting some IN a quesodilla next time you make one.

Now I'm just starving. On my way home I thought about making Chicken Kiev but since the chicken is totally frozen I guess it's not possible. I'm gonna go whip something up and partake in my favorite malted rice beverage...

KOREAN GRAPEFRUIT SAKE

This post is boring. Going to start consuming things now.

I'm Backula

That sounds like a confession that I'm actually Scott Bakula.

I came here just to reminisce, so many weird memories are encapsulized in this blog. That strange transition moving from Florida to California, dealing with getting a crappy job, finding an apartment, it's all here. I gotta say, I coped really well. I forgot certain details like having no tv, internet or smartphone. It's like the transition from being a normal well adjusted person to a millennial dick nose. Not that I'm an dick nose but let's face it, we're all dick noses. After reading back a few posts I decided to pick things up where I left off. 

Let's see, what's changed...

• I no longer work in a retail inferno. I abandoned that almost two years ago and started pursuing jewelry making full time. About a year ago I started doing wardrobe on web series, commercials and music videos. It's freelance so it's not always steady, but it's been hella awesome and is related to my background in design. Whenever work is slow I still have jewelry!

• I drive a mini-cooper, high five.

• I lost a ton of weight last year! More high fives.

What HASN'T changed...

• Still living in a too-small apartment in Pasadena

• Still making jewelry and watching movies EVERY DAY.

• Still not blogging about either as often as I should.

• Still cook A LOT. More than ever actually.

• Still have 1 husband + 2 cats. (that's barely worth noting, of course I do)

• Still obsessed with Asian markets and Lisa Frank...why would that ever change?

My thumb prints are still all over the net. You find me at all of these places...

http://wizardboobs.tumblr.com/

http://letterboxd.com/scumbalina/

http://atomiccaravan.blogspot.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/atomiccaravan

I have some errands to run but I just wanted to re-introduce myself. I have much to say. I shall return.

drop a deuce

Watched Jean Rollin's Night of the Hunted and developed a new boner for Brigette Lahaie...

She's gorge.


I've been drinking this herbal crack...

Tastes like green algae poop but I feel like Dumbledore after drinking it.


Wow. That's it. Two uninteresting things. Well, enjoy this photo dump at least...

<3 <3

Microchips, Microwaves, Faxes, Airphones...

Wake up and smell the 90's!

IT'S THE 90S! from Everything Is Terrible! on Vimeo.

Unicorn Destroyer

I want a rainbow cheetah.

I want a pizza.

I want Rosie from the Jetsons to clean my headquarters.

I want to roll around in a field of enchanted flowers.

I want to climb a crystal mountain.

I want to tug Zeus' beard.

I want a big diamond to descend from the sky and give me a kiss.




Today was almost magickal.

Radical Raynebeaux!!!

XENOMORPHING!

YAY! I miss my darling Lisa Franklien!

I fart hearts.

records are round

We went to the Pasadena City College Flea Market/Record Swap the day before yesterday. It was really pretty mind blowing. I started out perusing the outer area which was mostly antique collectibles. It's the kinda place you gotta be careful or you could easily spend all your money in one spot. I could have probably found stuff I wanted at any random booth but I'm glad I held off, after walking around for a while I came across a booth of Japanese antiques and ephemera. They had these amazing movie posters, they were so cool I knew I had to get one even though I had no clue what I was looking at. There were several that were under consideration, one with Toshiro Mifune, but I didn't really like the design of that one. Another was obviously a Roman Porno, I was able to get the Japanese lady who worked there to translate the title as "Sex Document". It was pink and had women in bondage on it. That was a serious contender but after much consideration and pacing back and forth, I ended up going with this one...

"Tiger Mask"...sure, I've never seen it. All I know is that it's a late 60's Toei production and that's good enough for me. Plus it goes more with what I'm trying to do with the apartment. I also went ahead and picked these up...

Lovely! Must frame!

And this for $1...

The Avon bottle, not the Egbert.

After that I moved on to the massive parking structure that housed the records. It was more than overwhelming, it was kind of a dream come true. We only focused on a few vendors and ended up with the following...

This was really the find of the day. The cd goes for about $60, I'd much rather have this $25 LP. The two issues are the the only place you can get most of these themes.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this one at first. Side A is like melodramatic opera, but side B is much more upbeat beginning with a twist song and keeping a steady rhythm throughout the rest of the record. Definitely worth it and now we own another Riz Ortolani score, Score!

Ever since hearing the "Shock" album, I've always had a fascination with the Creed Taylor Orchestra. This one is even better, it's spy jazz! My favorite. I had completely forgotten that the Nervous Beat is a song I'm already familiar with and kind of love. Kind of a lot.

Tangerine Dream keeps popping up in my life lately. First I bought that silent film L'Inferno in which TD has redone the score for contemporary release. Then a facebook friend posted a bunch of TD youtube videos, including the theme to Sorcerer, which peaked my interest in the score and the film. Because of both, TD has just been coming up in conversation more than usual lately. This was a cheapy so I decided to jump on it. Every once in a while you need some nice ethereal Tangerine Dreaminess.

This was my husband's big find of the day. He's been wanting it for a while and if you're a fan of experimental jazz, you can understand why. It was written by Bob Graettinger. Anytime you see a Stan Kenton record with Graettinger's name on the credits, it's going to be awesome. Think Ornette Coleman or even Naked City. I was very please with this one too &lt;3

This one's a given. One of my favorite compiled soundtracks. The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Lords of the New Church, Concrete Blonde. Such a fun movie and a fun soundtrack.

I love me some Matt Helm! This is basically just any old Dean Martin record only you get to hear his rendition of the theme to the Silencers, which is awesome! One of my favorite 60's spy themes!

This was kind of an impulse buy. It was cheap and I'd never heard the Roxy cast recording...plus, can't beat that cover. Well, the truth is I'm a little embarrassed of this one. Not sure why. To top it off it's not even as good as the movie cast recording, behhhh...oh well!

Gotta go! Good morning to you Sir!

and Ma'am'zzz!

I have a confession...

I need this...

Patina Love

I think I figured out a patina solution from household products that doesn't suck. I've tried sooo many different things, with little to no avail. The only patina that remotely worked for me was an expensive store bought chemical treatment from Michaels. It's about $7 for a small bottle. Sure, it works pretty well, but goes super fast. I knew I could save a shitload of money if I could just learn this magical alchemy that so many crafters have conquered.

What HASN'T worked for me? Vinegar. I dont get it. I've tried a dozen different vinegar methods without so much as a tint. If anything it made my brass look brighter and shinier since it's a natural cleaner. Woo hoo, so there you go. If you want to do the OPPOSITE of patina, try vinegar.

The first thing you need to do is clean your pieces. I use dish soap and a toothbrush (or vinegar, whatevs). You gotta get all the oils and factory dirt off. Rinse, pat them dry with a paper towel and set them aside. In a well venhilated area set up your ammonia station. Take a container with a lid (Tupperware is fine but don't use it for storing food after doing this, duh!) and fill it a couple of inches with household ammonia, I used clear but as far as I know it doesn't matter what kind you use. Cut a piece of wire and string your findings so they're hanging ABOVE the ammonia, not touching it. If it touches it, the affected area will turn black. You may decide later that you want that but if you want an even color make sure it doesn't touch.

Snap the lid on so the wire is sticking out on both ends holding the pieces in place. I haven't taken pictures of myself doing this but I did a search and found someone elses (beadfx.blogspot.com) to give you a visual.

The original article I read on this said that leaving it overnight was plenty of time. For good measure I gave it a full 24 hours. I noticed definite oxidation. The brass had a greenish white film over it and the copper was significantly darker. Come to find out it can take up to 10 days to get the full effect of "ammonia fuming", so I was misinformed and jumped the gun a bit.

I decided to mix up a few other tricks and methods on those same pieces while I waited on the next batch (since I have such a long wait)...

First, give them an ammonia/salt water bath. Heat water up just before the boiling point and pour it in a small bowl with 3 or 4 tablespoons of salt. With craft tweezers alternate the pieces between the ammonia and the hot salt water. Back and Forth (forever, jk) I did this about 5 times. The heat, then the chemical is supposed to make the metal more willing to accept color. With the ammonia being the last one, lay the pieces out on a paper towel. Before they dry sprinkle salt, dried cilantro and the secret ingredient, a drop of Mrs. Stewart's Liquid Bluing on the pieces. Let them sit for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Lightly brush of the excess and you'll have a beautiful rustic patinaed piece. Spray it with a clear matte coating to ensure the durability of the colors.

All of these ingredients I bought at the dollar store with the exception of Mrs. Stewarts Liquid Bluing. I got that at the grocery store for a few bucks. I had no luck finding it when I lived in Florida so if you have this same problem try using blue food coloring. I haven't tried it myself but based on the consistancy of Mrs. Stewarts (basically just a blue dye) I have a feeling it would work. Now I'm curious about other dyes and colors that may work as a substitute. Maybe using yellow Rite dye would make the object a brighter green? Also, why stick to just cilantro? Any dried green herb spice should work. I wonder what metal would look like with pepper sprinkled on it along with salt? Experiment is the mother of invention so once you master the oxidation part, play around with the colorization aspects. The possibilities are limitless!

and just to brag, here's my newest toy I got at the Pasadena Bead and Design show...

Gilders Paste! The amazing wax based product that covers metal, glass, plastic, wood, leather even upholtrsy! It's the funnest stuff ever, I got this color....

Doesn't have the charm of natural patina but it's still a lovely green and I know I'm going to have a blast with it!



~ ~ ~ EDIT! EDIT! EDIT! ~ ~ ~

Ok, so after putting this technique to practice for a more substancial period of time I decide to report back on the results. After four days of fuming multiple pieces of both brass and copper, here are the results...

They turned out more of a blue than green! I'm happy about this because I always thought blue patina would be hard to achieve. I'm wondering if the fact that I put so many pieces in one container effected the color. One clue to let you know that the pieces are about ready is the color of the ammonia. If you start with clear ammonia then after the 3rd day it should start to have a bluish tint. This is an indication that it might be ready.

have fun!

Candy Time

One of the best things about living in a culturally diverse area is the variety of things I shouldn't be eating. Every time I walk into a grocery store I'm tempted by something I've never seen before. I especially love Japanese chocolate, but really anything is better than American chocolate. So then I started thinking about all of these different things I've tried and how much I love talking about stuff. It makes to combine the two and start doing candy reviews. Not just candy but beverages, snacks and anything else that might stand out at these awesome Oriental grocery stores. So for today I'm going to start with the three most recent entries to my confectious conquisition.



Meiji Apollo Chocolate Lolipos

You've probably seen these or something like them. Usually they're small, like the size of a chocolate chip, and come in a box. They're rich and creamy but are also pretty mild. The bottom half is milk chocolate and the top half is a soft strawberry. This is the Lolipop version (or "Lolipo" according to other sites I've found it on). It's the same concept only larger and on a plastic stick. Maybe I should have started with the original. Apollo chocolates have been a long time favorite of mine. But I just tried this one so I figured it was a good place to start. Over all, I like them slightly less than the small version. It seemed a little chalkier than the original which is perfectly smooth. Although I did look at the back and realize that the expiration date is this month so it's probably been sitting on the shelf for the better part of the year. They still run circles around any American chocolate treat. Verdict? Cute concept, but I think I'll stick to the original. I think you get more chocolate for around the same price anyway.

I bought them at the Tozai Japanese Market,  Monterey Park, CA.

Price: $1.69

Rating: 6/10



Meiji Chelsea Yogurt Scotch

Yogurt flavored things seem to be really popular in Japan. I saw these sitting next to the same brand's regular butterscotch candies so I assumed it was some butterscotch/yogurt hybrid. I also assumed they were soft chews, which was totally wrong. They're hard candies. I'm usually not crazy about hard candies. I tend to get bored with them and end up spitting them out. These were different though. It did have a slightly creamy/tangy taste like yogurt does. The texture was like a butterscotch candy, but nothing else was similar. It was really smooth and disolved pretty fast, which is good for me.I probably wouldn't buy them again but I by no means regret getting them. They'll be a nice treat while I'm at work when I need a little pick me up. Maybe next time I'll try the regular butterscotch flavor. I love the packaging too. So pretty!

Tozai Japanese Market, Monterey Park, CA

$1.69

7/10


Calpico (original flavor)

Something about this milky white drink looked so refreshing to me. According to the website it's non-carbonated soft drink made from milk and lactobacilli. Apparently lactobacilli is a natural acid found in yogurt. It's hard to describe the taste. Definitely tangy but also smooth. It's also very much yogurt flavored, but not at all thick. It's watery like any juice beverages would be. The tartness has a bite, almost like citrus but the aftertaste is really smooth and creamy. It's very pleasant and enjoyable, but the tangy sweetness is a bit much for me. Like a kids drink. I also don't know how I feel about the flavor being so unidentifiable. It's kind of it's own thing. Next time I think I'll try the strawberry or mango.

bought at Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle in Monterey Park, CA


$2.25

6/10