scott's ravings

First Sign of Spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:16:00 PST

After a long, COLD winter, here is the first sign of spring!

Luke's Band Contract

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:45:00 PST

I have seen a few contracts in my day, but this one by Luke is my favorite! He and Andrew decided that if their friend, Grant, wanted to be in the band, there would have to be some terms and conditions.

I think this is very professionally done! (And totally hilarious!) Perhaps a future lawyer in the house?

Luke thinks being a lawyer might actually be pretty fun. I think he would enjoy saying "I OBJECT!" all the time.

A Chip Off the Ol' Block

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:57:00 PST

Yesterday evening, as we were wrapping up dinner, Becky was instructing Luke to go upstairs and get into the tub. She wanted him, though, not to fill the tub to the brim (as is his and Eddie's habit), trying to get the boys to conserve water.

She told him, "Only fill it four or five inches. That's all you need."

But the concept of four or five inches wasn't coming through to Luke. She demonstrated with her hand, "Like one hand deep. That's all the water you need for a tub," holding her hand up to Luke, holding it sideways, upright, sideways again... the poor kid was getting even more confused.

So I stepped in. "As a man, let me suggest that you need to fill the water enough to cover 'the business.' It is not comfortable to be in a tub if 'the business' is not covered." Luke and I made eye contact on this, with instant recognition coming between us.

Becky conceded, "OK, enough water to cover your 'business'. That is fine."

At which Luke asked, "So, about two feet then?"

That's my boy!

Loudoun District Chorus

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PST

Here is Eddie's performance in the Loudoun District Chorus. The kids did spectacularly... just amazing. We really enjoyed this concert, and especially seeing them have so much fun with it too.

Eddie's Excellence Award

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:37:00 PST

Eddie brought home a little surprise tonight. His language arts teacher gave him an award for "Most Improved" during the marking period.

Eddie seemed genuinely pleased by this award. He is not accustomed to getting awards for his schoolwork, so this was a real treat for him. He was beaming tonight as he showed me!

What's funniest, though, in typical Eddie fashion, is when asked if he got the award today, he said, "No. I've had it in my backpack for a few weeks now. I just forgot to show you."

Photoshopping Whisky in GIMP

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:51:00 PST

My father suggested that my recent photo shoot of "whisky in the creek" might have been easier had I opted to skip the ice cold creek, and simply Photoshop the bottles into a creek scene.

This comment pleased me greatly, because it meant that he didn't realize that the original photo was indeed quite a heavy Photoshop!

Here is the finished photo, as it appears on our web site:

But this came about as much from Photoshop as it did from the lens of my camera. And when I say "Photoshop", I actually mean "Gimp". (Gimp is the free version of Photoshop.)

The first thing we (Luke and I) did was make the gin bottle cap green. I don't have any green closures yet, so this was an easy change.

The second thing was that all the bottles were crooked sitting on the rocks. You can imagine how hard it would be to level the bottles on the rocks. So we had to actually "erase" the bottles from the photo by cloning various background images over the bottles, and then reinsert the bottles as layers into the picture, but straightening each one as we did it. The benefit of doing it this way is that the lighting, focal length, placement, shadows, etc. of the bottles is still consistent with the overall picture. (In other words, it doesn't look fake.)

Remember too, that the bottles are clear, so the images in the glass are important for consistency of the shot. This is really hard to fake convincingly in Photoshop.

Finally, the contrast, saturation and white balance were adjusted, and a vignette was added around the photo to draw people into the scene.

Here is the original photo. Still, nothing like getting your feet wet to get the basic good shot.

Shot in RAW on a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTI, 35 mm fixed telephoto lens, AV mode, 1/3200 sec, F/1.4, ISO 200. Post processed in UFRaw and GIMP.

New Bottle Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:33:00 PST

Looking at all this snow, I figured, I'd better make use of it before it melts away. We may not have snow like this again until 2015.

So, Luke and I put on our tall boots and trudged down to the creek. We walked through 24 inch snowdrifts to get there. Then we had to stand in the water up to our shins, balancing carefully atop the slippery slimy rocks. Each of us had bottles in hand, and I had a camera around my neck. It was pretty precarious!

But I think the effort was worth it. I'm really happy with how these photos turned out.

Day at Ski Liberty

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:14:00 PST

Since we worked so hard yesterday, getting lots of work done on Friday, we took a snow day and headed up to Ski Liberty. Becky and Eddie enjoyed the bunny slope, as they perfectly enjoy going slowly down the hill and not getting their pulses up too much.

Luke and I soon tired of this, and headed over to the longer, little bit more challenging, but still very much green trails on the other side of the mountain. Luke got a good workout on his snowboard, and he was glad especially this time to take a helmet, as he had a couple big falls. But I figure, if he's falling, he's pushing the limits, so I give him props for that.

Roundstone at Two Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:56:00 PST

Roundstone Rye has been in the barrel for only two weeks, and it is already pulling out nice color. The taste is still a little harsh--clearly, the spirit is not ready for prime time--but I do like the color thus far. There's actually a rosiness that doesn't come through in the photo above, just a slightest hint of pink.

Valentine's Dinner at Magnolia's

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:42:00 PST

We had a lovely dinner at Magnolia's with Dad and the boys. I'm so glad I remembered to bring my camera--the food was exceptional (to eat, and to photo). I only wish Mom could have joined us; she would have loved the restaurant.

We also enjoyed a nice Corcoran Vineyards Malbec, a delicious wine with our dinner.

Luke on the Bass Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:47:00 PST

Luke plays bass guitar for Grandpa Warren.

After the Storm Has Passed

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:33:00 PST

Our Blizzard of 2010 has passed. Yesterday, it brought us 10-12 more inches of snow, but it was a horizontal 45 mph snow. Nasty stuff.

This morning, we have large drifts blown up against the huge snow piles from the previous snow, but the places that were cleared are mostly blown dry. It is still bitterly cold out there, and Frank wasted no time taking care of his business this morning.

On Friday, Mom and Dad come to visit. We've rolled out the "white carpet" for them! Dad can handle this snow, but Mom abhors the stuff with every fiber in her bones. Luckily, the forecasts call for sunny skies this weekend, so we'll keep Mom indoors and full of tequila and she'll be fine.

Whisky in the Barrel

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:50:00 PST

Today, the boys played in the snow, building snow forts, while Becky and I loaded whisky into our new barrels.

It looks like water... but it's not water!

Snowpocalypse!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:59:00 PST

Snowpocalypse! That's what the news stations are all calling it. That moniker may be a little dramatic, but we did get probably 30 inches of snow here. Last night, we shoveled off five to six inches, which made the tiniest dent in the 24+ inches we shoveled off this morning. And the snow keeps coming down! We've probably got another 5-6 inches before I have to go back out there and shovel some more.

Our streets haven't seen a plow since suppertime last night, so the entire cul-de-sac is probably 25-30 inches deep as well. We're not going anywhere for a while, even if our driveway is cleared!

I'm really glad we got all our work done yesterday at the distillery, because there's no way we're getting out of the house anytime soon.

More photos after the snow plow came:

More Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:31:00 PST

This is our third big snow of the year! It seems that in Virginia, we have a really big snowy winter about once every six years. Our last big snow was the President's Day snow of 2003. At that time, we had snow up to 40 inches! And in between, we have dry, warm winters.

This year, we've had the big 24 inch snow just before Christmas, plus the six inches we got last week, and now the six inches we got last night. What's more, they're calling for another big snow this weekend.

Frankly, I love the stuff! I don't mind at all shoveling it, and a good solid blanketing (or three, or four!) like this is really good for recharging our ground water.

Distillation

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:45:00 PST

Pinewood Derby

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:35:00 PST

This morning was our Pack Pinewood Derby, the grand event for all cub scouting. Luke fared pretty well with his car, coming in fourth place in his division. His fastest time was a scale 187.5 miles per hour.

Winners in the Tiger dens:

Winners in the Wolf dens:

Winners in the Bear dens:

Winners in the Webelos I patrols:

Winners in the Webelos II patrol:

Winners in the Open (parents and siblings) division:

Overall Pack winners:

Pinewood Derby Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:26:00 PST

Tomorrow morning is Luke's pinewood derby. This year, being a Webelos scout, he's worked on his car almost completely by himself. His design is a basic wedge, but he wanted it to look like someone was unwrapping a piece of bubblegum from a foil wrapper.

Because the wedge is so thin, adding weight to it was a real challenge--that is, until Luke thought of using his toy soldiers metal. Brilliant! We carved a channel using a chisel, and then poured the molten metal into the channel until the car registered 5.0 ounces! What's more, the metal fused into the wood, so it is really solid.

Luke and I have high hopes for this car!

Burns Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:00:00 PST

Another lovely time at our fourth annual Burns dinner. Lots of good food, good spirits, and good friends.

Toast to the Lassies, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:14:00 PST

She's as Irish as Guinness, potatoes and lambe.
Hae ne'r been a fibber, nor liar, by damne:
Amazing at IMs which clock one o' nine;
Really enjoys good food, good friends, and good wine.
Of this one thing, sure, she's as good as good gets,
Nae, all here adore her, and e'er will yet.

Lest we forget our fine lady from Sterlingshire town,
E'er one of us acknowledges her poetic renown.
She hails from Te-has, that's how they say it down there,
Lo! Now she begraces our Commonwealth fair.
If any should doubt, her dog's name is Tucker,
Even, as Luke knows, this dog's quite a ... FFfunnydog.

Perhaps our sweet neighbor, an award should win,
An award about patience and waiting for HIM.
Many corners are mitred, many walls could be painted,
Each only takes ten months, and by then she's been sainted.
Lest anyone say that her home isn't warme;
An abundance of creatures abide on her farme.

Just wait for our Judy and her Indian faire,
Urdu, and Paki, and Hindu to share!
Delight in her curries, and amaze in her chutney.
You need only bring Rolaids; the next day will be ag'ny.

But my heart, it belongs to one lass at this table,
Each day, she proves she's both loving and able.
Can knit, can sew, can run things at the church
Kvetch if you want, but she even makes hooch.
You can have all the others, the others by far,
but I've got me my lady and she'll ere by my star.

Production Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:32:00 PST

We finally got everything in place and hooked up--not without a few glitches. The mash tank works perfectly. But on the still, we have a motor that was fried when it got here--that will have to be replaced. There's a tiny leak on one of the sensor probes, and the thermocouple is either faulty or not wired properly, so we had to manually control the heating elements.

Regardless, we were able to produce two batches of rye mash last night and several gallons of pear brandy from a pear wine produced by Doug Fabbioli at Fabbioli Vineyards.

Video says it all:

Kothe Equipment Installation

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:46:00 PST

Here are some nice photos of the Kothe equipment being installed. Most of the work involved assembly of the still and electrical hookup. The plumbing is dead simple. We should be distilling spirits tomorrow.

Hoisting the column onto the still kettle was quite the challenge. First, we had only about two inches of clearance at the ceiling when we were in the proper position, and there was a tricky gasket to get in place before we could set the column onto the still. This was by far the hardest part of the install.

Once the column was mostly into place, we could slacken the hoist straps and Robert could tighten down the five million bolts.

Luke provided ample help for Robert in assembling the mash tank agitator.

These little babies are our Mercury contactors. They act as electrically fired switches by the digital controller box at the right. The digital control box senses the water temperature in the still, and cuts on and off the contactors, feeding electricity to the heating elements.

A couple of our electricians, hard at work.

Mike Gittings, the owner of Purcellville Electric, oversees the work of his electrician wiring in the elements on the mash tank.

Ah, the finished equipment. All ready for primetime!

Burns Night Draws Nigh

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:57:00 PST

We celebrate Burns Night this Saturday, a celebration of the birthday of our beloved Scottish bard (on the 25th).

In our house, we'll celebrate with our fourth annual Burns Dinner, complete with wine, whisky, lamb, neaps and tatties, and of course, a lovely haggis. (This year, in fact, I aim to get a fresh-made haggis from a local butcher!)

The Burns Dinner is my personal highlight in January. I simply cannot wait!!

Wi' merry sangs, an' friendly cracks,
I wat they did na weary;
And unco tales, an' funnie jokes,
Their sports were cheap an' cheary:
Till buttr'd So'ns, wi' fragrant lunt,
Set a' their gabs a steerin;
Syne, wi' a social glass o' strunt,
They parted aff careerin
Fu' blythe that night.

Translation:

With merry songs, and friendly cracks,
I wonder they did not weary;
And uncommon tales, and funny jokes,
Their sports were cheap and cheery:
Til buttered scones with fragrant steam,
Set all their talk a steering;
Since, with a social glass of spirits,
They partied off careering
Full of vigor that night.

Luke Goes Bowling

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:54:00 PST

Luke is in a new bowling league with Andrew, Gabi, Zach and Michael.

Swim Times Today

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:41:00 PST

I pulled out my micro racing Speedo and was pretty pleased with these times. My 100 BR time was a good six seconds faster than last time! That's huge! (And, no, I'm not talking about what's in my Speedo.)

Event	Time
200 Free	2:36.72
50 Free	0:30.79
100 Breast	1:22.81
100 Free	1:10.56
50 Fly	0:38.84

I continue to reach for a 1:05 100 Free and a sub :30 50 Free. Those would be nice times for me.