American Slang - Fixed it for You!!!

One of my current favorite bands is The Gaslight Anthem. One of the many tracks that I like is the acoustic version of American Slang.

HOWEVER!!! One of the lines always seems like it should go just a bit different is in the chorus:

And they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive

I got your name tattooed inside of my arm

See, I always feel like it should be something besides ending with "arm". In the song I could almost hear it going "heart" there. Uncontent to let it go, one afternoon at work I handwrote the lyric out with that part left blank, and circulated it among some of my co-workers to garner a consensus.

The picture I took came out a bit blurry, but I think you get the idea. I put for choices what I thought should go there, the actual lyric, or "other - put what you think goes better".

As you can see, my lyric beat out the actual lyric 2:1. The fill ins were pretty good, too. One of the first few I gave it to came up with putting the word "Thigh" in there, and from a rhyming standpoint, I think it works even better!!! Don't know if people were influenced by actually seeing that, or came up with it on their own, but it also came away with around a 2:1 vote tally. Also two for "Mind" one for "Hide" and one undecided. One that I added in was voiced but not written (I suspect because it was at the very end of the day) was the total edit of "I've got a barcode tattooed inside of my arm".

All in all, an enjoyable little diversion for myself and all involved, I like to think. A couple people asked me some days later how it came out.

Look what you started,

I seem to be coming out of my skin

Look what you've forgotten here

The bandages just don't keep me in

And when it was over, I woke up alone

And they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive

I got your name tattooed inside of my arm

I called for my father but my father had died

While you told me fortunes, in American Slang

Look at the damage,

The fortunes came for the richer men.

While we're left with gallows,

Waiting for us liars to come down and hang.

And when it was over, I woke up alone

And they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive

I got your name tattooed inside of my arm

I called for my father but my father had died

While you told me fortunes, in American Slang

And here's where we died that time last year,

And here's where the angels and devils meet.

And you can dance with the queen if you need,

And she will always keep your cards

Close to her heart ooh

So close to her heart before they tear you apart

When they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive

I got your name tattooed inside of my arm

And I called for my father but my father had died

I called for my father but my father had died

While you told me fortunes, in American Slang

You told me fortunes, in American Slang

I read after I'd done the survey that Brian Fallon has a caricature of Joe Strummer of the Clash on the inside of his arm. In that context, the line makes a lot more sense!!!

If I get another tattoo, now I've got a location to get it, and it's not inside of my arm!!!

I Like Turtles

As mentioned back in the elephant post, another supervisor had made a request for a label creation. She's from Hawaii, and turtles are quite prominent there. That's what she wanted, if I could, a turtle.

For an interesting construction, I started out by making the shell and belly plate, then I made a separate body.

The whole time I was doing the body, I was picturing the cartoons where a turtle is stripped of it's shell, and covers up it's nether regions.

Of course, once I finished it off, I had to make a GIF of it swimming!!!

The Viral Elephant

I've gotten a small degree of fame about the workplace for my various creations of labels. Since the label killing goes on in the last couple hours of the work day, this is primarily limited to the second and third shift crews.

Having done nothing great since my construction of the Firefly, I was up for any fresh ideas. I was just making up squares one night while killing labels, and several people were inquiring what I was making now. Didn't really know what, so I was open for suggestions.

One of the girls suggested an elephant. Hmmm, I could probably do that!!! Started off just making an oblong into a body. Actually it looked quite a bit like a peanut while it was being done, proving the old adage "you are what you eat". At one point I was going up a level after one of the supervisors and dropped it. He asked what it was, and I told him "It's an elephant!!! See all the wrinkles???" Then onto a pair of ears, a head, and the legs, tail, and of course a trunk. then put it all together. Came out pretty good.

I showed it to the supervisor previously cited. He was amazed, and took a couple pictures. I gave it to the girl who'd suggested it. She was thrilled, said how cute it was. She tells me the next day I see her that her dog wanted to get his paws on it. Seems like he thinks there's something delicious on the inside!!!

Here's where it goes viral. She posts a few shots of it to her instagram, cites me as a genius. The next day a bunch of people are going on about it when they see me!!! Several from the early shift, who I'd never really though about not having seen my creations. The next time I was killing labels, the latest department head comes up to me and tells me she saw the elephant, asks me how I did it (a question I get asked a lot) and if I ever take requests (hint hint). How can I turn her down???

Done The Impossible

It's been a while since I've done a completed bar code sculpture. Not for the reason that I haven't been doing anything in this vein, but because I'd undertaken what so far has been my most ambitious undertaking!!!

Another of those things where I wondered to myself if it could actually be done. I set out to make a spaceship (what I primarily told my co-workers when they'd ask what I was making this time).

More specifically, I set out to make a mid-bulk transport ship, classcode 03-K64 Firefly!!! Being as it was done almost entirely from memory, I think it came out pretty good!!!

I made it all in parts to be assembled at the completion. The part I started with was the main engine. I tried three times before I came up with a satisfactory result. The first two came out as cones instead of bulbous. Next I made the side engines, then cargo hold (in flat form, to be folded up at the end).

Next I did the front deck and finally the main deck. The final day, yesterday, I peeled the labels & stuck them down to wax paper to bring the whole rig home for assembly!!! It was coming out way too big to store in my locker. One of the failed main engine cones found a new home in the cargo hold, keeping the top from caving in!!!

I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly’s a good design. People don’t appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what’s solid.

They're having the design contest at my work again this year. I was considering seeing if I could put this and the dodecahedron in as non-judged entries, just to show them off!!! If I do, my son was saying I should get a couple dinosaurs to put in the cargo hold!!!

Dodecahedron!!!

It's been a LONG time since I've posted any bar code artwork. There's something of a reason for that, back when I'd been doing those, eventually one of the supervisors came up to me and made mention about people making balls and "other shapes", and put an end to all my fun. At the time I'd been working on a boat. One of the other fillers had said I should try and make a ship, I think he was thinking of a three masted clipper, but what I was coming up with looked a bit more like an America's Cup racer. All I had at the time was the hull, which I brought home and considered making a post entitled, "They Sunk my Battleship!!!" Also at that time I made up a red circle with the slash logo over the word "FUN" and had that on the back of my tray. It resides there to this day, along with my Mystery Spot bumper sticker & a catalog headline for the Apocalypse Super Sale.

Fast forward a few years. All but one of the supervisors from that era are now gone, and that one has always been cool. I started in with balls again, only doing one a day. Next I started in on a rectangle to amaze all the new hires. After that I tried a pyramid again, once again to less than stellar results. Whilst I was doing that, one of the new guys throws out, "Make a dodecahedron!!!"

I had heard the line before, "One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains it's original dimensions". One hit attributes it Ralph Waldo Emerson, but most have it as Oliver Wendell Holmes. Well, I guess that's what happened!!! I had to see exactly how it went, and for some reason had it in my head that it had 20 faces, probably when I saw that it had 20 vertices. So here's what I figured to do, I made up 20 pentagons and laminated them kind of thick, like I'd done with the sword. It took a bit of doing before I came up with the proper 72 angle perfect pentagon. Had to stop by the area where we have protractors to check, and only one of my first 5 points was right, so I duplicated that one. Got up to the 20, & was assembling them in my head when I realized that 20 probably won't fit... looked it up again, and discovered the error of my ways. Actually putting it together was the easier part, and it came out fairly awesome!!! Everyone who saw it was amazed. Ironically, the guy who'd suggested this wasn't around while I was finishing it off, so he never got to see it.

The wrap up for all this??? I've got eight extra pentagons in my locker... As I'm walking out that evening, and I'm passing by the manager for warehouse, she asks, "Is that a ball of bar codes???" "No, it's actually a dodecahedron!!!" She asks how I did it, what's inside ("It's full of stars!!!") (actually a question I was asked several times after it was buttoned up) She was very impressed, and asked me if I could make one up for her. This will be made easier by the fact that I've got eight extra pentagons. Tell me something now, supervisors, I've been commissioned by the department head!!!

The Dyson Sphere

A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output. I was going to put those first two introductory sentences in my own words, but Wikipedia did such a fine and succinct job that I thought I could do no better.

After the completion of my last creation while I was killing labels, I was at a loss for what to make next. My older boy told me I should make a Dyson sphere. I responded, "everyone makes a sphere while they're killing labels." He counters with, "A hollow sphere???" Hmmm... once again, I was presented with a challenge. Could it be done??? Well, why not??? It started out looking like a chip bowl, then it started looking like a big 'ole dinosaur egg. (this didn't happen all in one day, so I was punching a hole in the edge and hanging it from the hook in my locker. That is what caused the distortion visible in the second picture.)



It came out WAY huger than I'd intended, but yes, that is a hollow shell of labels!!! It has that odd taper to the one end, but it's still pretty cool.



Looks a little bit like a giant pear, huh??? Second shot my boy is pantomiming that he's eating it.

In other somewhat related news, here's a picture of my son's MP3 player. He went on a weekend with one of his friends, and their dog got a hold of it for just a few seconds, ate the part where the headphones plug in off of it!!! I believe that you can still plug it in and access the files, so it can be used as a storage device. Terrible picture, I used my old camera for the shot. If I'd been using my new one, I'd have been sorely disappointed by the results.



Today we made a return trip to Leo Carrillo beach. It was cloudy down there, where it was nice and sunny at our house on both ends of our trip. Didn't get started as early as I'd wanted to, but did get there sooner and left home sooner, so the drive wasn't quite as bad as last time. Once again, I kinda wished I'd brought my camera with me. Saw porpoises by the dozens, and cool pelicans and even ducks. My younger boy chased a duck into the water, and it went submarine on him. He thought that was cheating. We dug a tunnel through a little cliff of sand, probably around four feet of digging through sand. The coolest thing, though, was we found the lid to a baby grand piano. Used it as a skim board, it was incredibly effective!!!

More Fun with Labels

Since the last time I made mention of killing labels, I haven't made a single ball of bar codes since!!! The next thing I made was a pyramid. It came out kind of irregular, not a single side the same as the other. It was too strange, so I didn't do any pictures of it. The next time, I started out trying to make a cylinder. It was coming out very oval. I joked that I could go to the bank and get a $100 and wrap it around the outside. At any rate, I wasn't terribly pleased with the way it was coming out.

Then I remembered something my younger boy had made mention of a few weeks before. He'd been saying he would like a sword made of wood to play medieval hero or something. Hmmm, could this be done??? Why not??? I started adding length to it, folding the labels around the edges much like the artisans of old crafting Samurai swords. It gained length, and I got several admiring comments from my co-workers.



Brought it home and gave it to the boy. He was impressed.

Oh, and that shirt he's wearing is another one I got him from Woot! I think he'd wear it every day if he had his way!!! Check out here for the fairly amusing write up on the shirt!!!

Just today I finished the latest creation. Came out pretty nice, perhaps it will make an appearance here later!!!

The Code Companion Cube

Bar codes. They're incredibly resilient. They can be torn in two, or faded to where you can hardly see them, or all dirty, and they are still scannible!!! One of the occasional duties that I end up doing at work is retiring (or as everyone calls it, killing) labels on the containers that get used up. The actual retiring is pretty easy, the time consuming part is peeling the label off afterward.



One of the guys started making his labels into a ball, kept working on it every time it was his turn. Got near to the size of a bowling ball. Said he was going to urethane it and drill it with finger holes when it got to the right size. I said he should get a chain and shackle it to his leg and go around dragging it behind him, see how long that lasts!!! Anyway, many others of us did the same, although none of us got to such a grand scale. I just did one day's worth that came out about the size of a tennis ball. Brought it home and called my younger boy. When he looked my way, I pegged him with it and shouted, "Bar code ball!!!" Well, he fell in love with it!!! He'd get upset when his brother would take it, took it to school, ect. The week before Sammy and I went to the hockey game, I made a puck of labels. I did a few days worth of labels, the last day being a couple days before Christmas, and when one of my friends was admiring it, I replied "Yeah, at least now my kid will have something to play with on Christmas morning!!!" I did it, too, wrapped it up in a box and gave it to my younger boy. My wife was manning my old point and shoot camera while I was shooting video with my SLR, and she got this picture a split second after he'd tossed it in the air and caught it.




So, a few weeks ago I'm killing labels again, and starting another ball. It was kind of lumpy, with a couple flat spots. One of the guys sees it and says, "Everyone does a ball, you ought to make a cube!!!" Challenge accepted. Could this be done??? The flat spots were already close to 90° , so I started on from there. I filled low spots as best I could, and would fold them along the middle and stick it to 2 sides. The corners were pretty soft to begin with, but eventually it came together. Not a perfect cube, but everyone who saw it was quite impressed. The last day I was working on it, this Wednesday, I took some blank labels and colored them red and cut them into hearts on my last break. When I wrapped up for the evening, I applied them to the sides for my own bar code companion cube!!!

It's now on display in the boys' room...