LED Life

 BY THE POWER! The kickstarter santa came today and left a wonderful package full of LED's. This is the fruits of Powered Play Gaming kickstarter. It shipped close to on time and did not hit the common snag of being months late.

I picked up the Alpha kit which included 4 boards, 4 on-off switches, and 4 9V battery connectors. As well as 16 light cables with 2 lights per connector.

 My previous attempts into the world of model electronics involved tea lights at the basic level and the more advanced model railroad transformer set-ups. That was fun figuring out useful tips to how actual lights and wires work but a pain in the butt for small modeling situations.

This product is AMAZING. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to add lights to the table top. It runs on a 9V regular batter or as seen in the first photo, a mini 9V battery they just finished.

Currently in post production is the light effects board for strobe, pulse, fire, and many more options, those will be shipping later in the fall.

Summer progress and plot lines are going according to plan; so the triumphed return of Dol Guldor, Fubad, and the LEDs will hit the project table again on September 1st.

So now that I have the wires and lights, check out some previews of what will be coming down the assembly line...

P.S. check out the daily puppy pic at the bottom of the page, moving up in the world!

80s Rock & Roll

GO JOE!


I might be late to the party and I do not usually do movie reviews but this is the exception.



Before I jump into the amazing movie that this was, we must first pay our respects.

A good friend was lost today. Close to 5 years of service I retired my primary Winsor and Newton. It was time as the side by side of a new brush can attest.

And we are back to GI Joe Retaliation!

Starting off, this review is close to half a year late. I don't get out much.... 2nd spoilers ahead, and 3rd, I grew up playing with the 3/4 inch toys so this is totally my jam.

If you saw the first movie, forget about it. It was good for a laugh or two, but took itself too seriously and when it tried to be campy or cheesy, just forced it. Retaliation throws it all out the window. Opening scene kills off Channing Tatum's Duke and somehow he still gets top billing... but enough of that, THE ROCK is in this movie. He is all you need. Big fan of the rock and he sells the part.

All the vehicles, costumes, and plot is just ripped from the classic TV show. Throw in modern fight scenes with cliche fight music and slow motion explosions and works on all levels.

They do not even spend a single moment explaining how Storm Shadow comes back to life after being left in pieces at the bottom of the ocean Darth Maul style; and it did not matter, no one cared, it was a reboot without a reboot. I hope the new X-men movie can take note and just not mention how Xaviar will come back to life, just accept it.

Yes there are plot holes, yes there are cheesy lines and the acting is bad, and yes things seem unbelievable (London has been an unfortunate victim since the Fantastic Four sequel targeted it), but it is exactly what a GI-Joe movie should be. At one point The Rock picks up a .50 cal machine gun and fires it with no recoil to his body, just cause he can. The Rock's main antagonist is Ray Stevenson from the most recent Punisher movie, so you know a lot of ass was kicked. 

Two thumbs up for a nostalgic wild ride, cause knowing is half the battle!