Holy Weirdness

Sorry for letting other people talk so much lately, but they just say it better. Here's another one, from Church of the Beloved:

Holy Weirdness

A quote from Paul Sellers

"Someone once told me that I could never compete with Walmart and Ikea. I asked, “How so?” They answered that the prices were so low I could never produce my work as cheaply as theirs. “Well,” I said, “Surely competition depends on the rules of how you compete and the fact that before the race begins all competitors are fully appraised of and agree with the rules.” The man agreed. I went on. The assumption here is that I want to produce cheaper priced products so as to become a mass maker to supply cheap goods in a store like Walmart or Ikea. The reality of course is that I would never ever want to do such a thing, no matter how much money I might make. Further more, the truth is that Walmart and Ikea cannot compete with me. Neither of these companies could ever produce hand made furniture for the White House Permanent Collection, or have their designs in President Bush’s or Senator Phil Gramm’s home. They couldn’t make the first wall shelf I made for my mum and dad back in 1963 and neither could they make my son and daughter in law’s walnut bed and bedside tables as their wedding present. How could they ever compete with my making my daughter’s rocking chair and my five grandchildren’s dovetailed boxes with their names carved in the lids. I feel sorry for my competition. They never ever win. They just make money."

- from blog post "Competing with Walmart and Ikea" by Paul Sellers

Latest Project Completed

Here's a pic of my latest project, I'll have more info coming, for now please enjoy the picture:

"The Moral Implications of Craftsmanship"

"We tend to think of organized religions as the source of human morality, and yet, the crafting of an object is an expression of moral structure that likely predates any commandment or moral precept. Objects are made with care or they are not. Objects are made with an eye toward useful beauty, or they are not. Objects are made to last, or they are not. If we were truly concerned about building a society in which people care for each other, there is no better way than to engage our children in craftsmanship."

-Doug Stowe

This made me think.

New Toy

Well, after a fair bit of work, it's finally done! My newest toy:



This is my efforts reporducing an 1959 Fender Deluxe guitar amp. This amp is revered by many as being a "tone machine", and I would agree. My guitar has never sounded so good. I procured the amp in kit form from Trinity Amps along with a Tone Tubby 12" Alnico speaker. The circuit board needed to be populated, all the components soldered into place, and installed into the chassis. The kit was first rate, and that part went fairly fast. Then I needed to build the cabinet. That part was a little more involved because that was my own design. But it went reasonable well. The finish is one that I borrowed from Peter Galbert who writes the Chair Notes Blog.

Here's a few more pics: