Thoughts on InHuman's TV Show

I just completed binge watching "Marvel's Inhumans" right after watching "Thor: Ragnok" the day before. I probably shouldn't have watched them so close together but the movie inspired me to do so. The connection, if you were wondering, is that each set of characters were created by Jack "King" Kirby. The movie had exciting visuals, loads of action, beautiful scenery, snappy dialog, and a rather complicated plot. The TV show was terribly lackluster and made on the cheap.

I have been a fan of Jack Kirby's comic art since I was a teenager. I grew up with his inspirational drawings, bold lines, action oriented characters and kinetic energy of two-dimensional characters. He's called "King" for good reason: he created so many Marvel and some DC characters whose legacy lives on in today's movies. X-men, Thor, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, just to name a few.

Comic book movies are huge now because these characters are larger than life and tap into many archetypes of ancient storytellers. Since the Marvel movies are using the comics as creative content, Kirby's visuals spilled out, all over "Thor: Ragnok." There were many, specific references to the comics in the movie which had me very excited, on the edge of my seat. It was obvious that "Thor: Ragnok" spent a lot of research and money on the film. It was truly spectacular.

Now for contrast, "Marvel's Inhumans" screamed low budget TV show with little to connect it to the Kirby legacy. To start, the costumes were all wrong. Oh yeah, they were nice but not "fantastical" like Jack drew them, just ordinary. The TV characters looked like a "wanna-be" group of Kirby's characters. Black Bolt should have looked like the iron jawed, strong character as drawn in the comics. Instead, he looked and acted like a whimpering, weak, two-dimensional character. Medusa, who in the comics is big-boned, built athletically, is undernourished in the movie (but stern looking-oh my). Not only that but THEY CUT HER TRADEMARK HAIR after two episodes! WHAT? It was obvious to me that animating her hair throughout the series would have cost to much so they simply eliminated it as part of the plot. DAMN. How could you violate a character like that? The other characters were not very memorable.

The overall plot for this eight episodes series was weak. Take a group of characters, seperate them in a strange land, and spend the next few episodes trying in vain to regroup... oh, and all the while, a villain is trying to kill the leader of the group to appease another villain. Is that a simplistic plot or what? The writing was on a 4th grade level, like a Saturday morning serial? The dialog was full of inconsistencies as well, showing how fast this show was thrust together and how little the show producers cared.

I
f the "Inhumans" are to survive, the producers need to step it up a notch or two. Give them the plotlines they deserve, costumes that are accurate and dialog that is adult, not childish. As of April 16, 2018, the series has not been cancelled but I am not holding out on this one.

Adding More Abrasive Entry Points Inside Your Sandblasting Pressure Pot to Avoid Clogging of Abrasive

by David Damico

One of my projects this summer is to install sandblasting equipment in our garage. I've got the air compressor, pressure pot and blasting cabinet and hope to complete the project soon. This delay has given me time to do more research on the entire process.

The project described below is a result of watching Thomas Kuhn's YouTube video on using a pressure pot.

The basics of sandblasting are illustrated here. The air compressor pushes air to the pressure pot, mixing with the abrasive material, which then is projected to the blasting cabinet. Some details have been left out to simplify the explanation.

There are many possibilities for the glandular abrasive to clog at the base of the pressure pot because the opening is only 3/8" wide. Moisture or the speed of the airflow can cause clumping, stopping the airflow to the nozzle. The pictures below illustrate my effort to eliminate clogging based on Thomas Kuhn's YouTube video
suggesting adding an elongated flute with holes into the bottom of the pressure pot. The multiple holes allow abrasive to get into the line without clogging rather than a single, open hole.

To make a trough for the pipe to lie down in while drilling, I clamped two pieces of scrap wood together and drilled down the middle using a drill bit slightly smaller that the outer dimension (OD) of the pipe.

The image on the right shows the 7" brass flute held onto the trough by Screw Bolt Hose Clamps and a drill press vice. The holes were drilled 1/2" apart, through both walls of the pipe. The pipe was then rotated 90º and alternating holes drilled between the holes already existing. I used a 1/8 bit and cutting oil to cool down the heated metal while drilling. The tip of the bit sometimes slid sideways on the flute so my holes didn't line up perfectly... although they will still work.

When the drill bit comes out the opposing side of the brass flute, there will be some flashing or protrusion of the metal. I used a medium, hand held file to smooth out the flash.

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Enlarging the Threaded Pipe Hole

I then clamped another pair of scrap wood pieces and drilled a hole using a spade bit slightly smaller than the diameter of the threaded pipe. I am using wood as a clamp because it is strong enough to hold the threaded pipe needing reaming yet soft enough to not damage the pipe threads.

The threaded pipe has an inner dimension (ID) of almost 3/8" but the brass flute OD is precisely 3/8" so I must ream the threaded pipe. Placing the threaded pipe in the homemade wooden holder, I was easily able to ream an exact 3/8" hole with plenty of cutting oil to keep the metal cool.

To the right is a close up of the reamer in case you've never used one. The Reamer is an easy way of making a precise, smooth walled hole. You must start with a hole that is almost to size. The reamer does not make holes, only enlarges them. 

This picture shows the finished project. The brass flue now fits snuggly into the threaded pipe. The thread nearest the flute will screw into the bottom of the pressure pot. I hope this tutorial helps eliminate any abrasive clogging in your pressure pot. Cost was minimal-$13 for the 24", thick walled brass tube and $7 for the reamer, both from Amazon. My pressure pot is a 20 gal. from Harbor Freight.

David Damico

David's Other Blog

Additional posts are located at my other blog site, http://www.ddamico.net/wordpress/.

FaceBook Lamentation

There once was a member of Facebook

who's privates were desired to look.

The friend ignored the plea

"My privates are not free,

and you my friend, are a shnook."

Opinion on X-Men.Origins.Wolverine, no spoilers

Just wanted to share my opinion on X-Men.Origins.Wolverine. I think it is the best of the X movies so far. What makes it so is that it is long on plot and story, not just action. I am not familiar with the origins of any of the X characters although I do have reprints of the first 12 Kirby issues from early 70's. I am almost always disappointed when SF movies sacrifice story for action. The most common action plot is ultimate bad guy against noble good guys. This is what the recent Trek movie centered around and in my opinion, made it weak.

I asked one young guy had he seen the X movie and he said, "no, but I heard it was boring." Well, yeah, if you don't like to think as the plot reveals itself, it would be boring. Not so here.

Movies like the Bond ones capitalize on use of a formula and it works for them. What makes it interesting (much like the X movie) is the slow revelation of facts as Bond travels all over and meets characters that later play an important part of the plot's resolution. The best TV show I can think of for this is Secret Agent with Patrick McGoohan. They were tightly written and always strategically plotted. Oh, and he used no weapons other than his mind.

I will likely see this one again because it is refreshingly sequenced to tell a story and not just exploit CGI work (although there is plenty of CGI to keep us bug eyed).

My opinion. Hope it convinces you to go see the movie.

Girth

I love limericks

A man walk all o'er the earth
seeking his missing self worth.
So big was his waist he couldn't be chased
cause the planet was equal in girth.

Popularity of 3d illustrations

Those of us who shoot 3 dimensional, stereo photos always talk about the stereo effect approximating how our eyes naturally see. Since the reproduced stereo (3D) effect is an approximation, it is an abstraction of reality...but the success of 3D images to the general public is not because of pictures of the world around us, it's going in the direction of fabricated, CGI imagery, which in itself, is an abstraction of the abstraction of how we normally see. Many skeptics still call 3D viewing a "gimmick," as if movies themselves are not also a gimmick (a flat approximation of reality). I guess seeing the real world on the silver screen in three dimensions when we are surrounded by actuality is just too much for many movie audiences. They need drawn illustrations of reality to accept the 3D process. Cross eyed view below...