Dwemer Construct 2

Construct 1 - the original setup

45+ parts including extras stored inside the puzzle

Construct 2

Another view - so much more packed into this one

And one more view

Sequence Logic

An inside look at the Sequence Logic Box by Jesse Born - the mechanism and logic bars revealed to demonstrate the craftsmanship and ingenuity.  Click away if you don't want to know.  

Sliders bars on front manipulate the locks

The locks released and the top removed

Inside, a clever locking pin can be removed to allow access to the external logic bars

The sliders removed. You can see the stops as well on the front of the box.

Logic bars can be rearranged to create a completely new sequence.

The Shoomaker

I've gotten a few requests about how I create my whimsical cocktail garnishes from citrus peels, so here is a glimpse into the process.  This garnish is meant to recall a cobbler, or shoe maker, and decorated a Gin Rickey, which was created and made famous in the late 1800's at Shoomaker's bar in Washington DC.

Fresh citrus informs the color palette

For large areas I cut a swath of peel and scrape off the pith

All designs start with a drawing.  A fine scissor is my secret weapon.

Meyer lemon peel is incredibly soft and pliable 

Design taking shape

Adding movement with separate pieces works well

For smaller pieces a Y-peeler does the trick

Little details add a lot

And the cherry on top!

Securing everything on a bamboo skewer helps stabilize the design for the final presentation

And viola! Cheers!

For the Gin Rickey history and soothing "Roll Box" which accompanies it see the full article at:

Boxes and Booze: Roll with it!

Messing with Time

A few photos of the Gates of Time in various stages of discovery

The Gate is open

It's always 5 o'clock somewhere ...

The maker's mark

The gears have been stripped ...

Some bits and pieces from the solve - 36 moves to the treasure

Ahoy Mateys - The Pirate Translator

Bung your eye – drink a dram until your eye is bunged up

Death’s head upon a mop stick – to look awful

Dowse on the chops – punch in the face

Eternity box – coffin

Flummery – mush of oatmeal, or useless compliments

Flush in the pocket – full of money

Frummagemmed - Choked, strangled, suffocated, or hanged

Guzzle guts – drunkard

Heart’s ease – gin

Higgledy piggledy – mixed up, confused

Hobbledygee - A pace between a walk and a run, a dog-trot

Hood-winked

Huckle My Buff - Beer, egg, and brandy, made hot. (like flip)

Jackanapes – ugly apish fellow

Keelhauled – dragged under the keel (punished)

Odd-come-shortlys - I’ll do it one of these odd-come-shortly’s; I will do it some time or another.

Oliver’s scull – a chamber pot

Owl in an ivy bush – frazzled hair (wig), insult

Picaroon – scoundrel

Prittle-prattle – insignificant talk

Quick and nimble – insult of the opposite

Quirks and Quillets – tricks and devices

Ragamuffin - A ragged fellow, one all in tatters, a tatterdemalion

Ribaldry – vulgar talk

Rum – fine, good

Rum bluffer – jolly host

Scragged – hanged

Sluice your gob – take a hearty drink

Sly boots – a cunning fellow

Bamboozle – to fool, to trick

To feather one’s nest – to enrich oneself

Spiflicate – confound

Wry Neck Day – hanging day

Carouser, rapscallion, scallywag, Admiral of the Black, scourge of the seven seas – insulting terms

Hearties – endearing term

Kill devil, Nelson’s folly  - rum

Give no quarter – never yield

Hang the jib – act sad, frown

Loaded to the gunwalls – drunk

Motherload – booty

Run a rig – play a trick

Scuttlebutt – gossip

Splice the main brace – have a drink or few

Squiffy – drunk

Weigh anchor – leave port, set sail

All definitions taken from The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose circa 1811 and compiled and edited on the official Talk Like a Pirate site:

http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Grose-VulgarTongue/

http://talklikeapirate.com/wordpress/

Lovely Lotus

The Lotus Box by Kagen Sound - Solution Patterns

How? Box Locks!

The impressive, massive lock inside the How? Box is hard to fathom from the wooden exterior.  How? in the world do you unlock it?