Thursday, March 28, 2013

My Little White Truck


I've had this little Lego truck for a very, very long time. It has travelled decades and continents, and still bears red dirt from Brazil. I'm sure I added lasers and stuff at some point, but I removed them pretty quickly. Even at a young age, I thought it was perfect as-is. The only modification that remained is the backrest I added for the driver.

That driver is the pilot from an airplane I used to have, but upgraded with a helmet and air tank from one of my later space sets after the pilot hat got lost—probably in a heat vent somewhere.

I keep this guy in my office. It's my favorite thing ever.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Cheap, easy guitar hangers from a hardware store


I didn't want to spend $30 on guitar hangers for my three guitars, so I sought a solution on a recent trip to Lowe's to buy miscellaneous home improvement junk with my fiancee. I figured I'd find something suitable among the bike hooks, and I did. I got these hooks for $10/ pair. I'm sure you could find cheaper ones if you look a bit. They install as easily as a dedicated guitar hook: just two screws and you're done. If you don't like how long these are, you can get ambitious and pull off the rubber sleeve, cut down the arms with a hacksaw to the length you want, bend them into shape with pliers and a vise, and reinstall the sleeves.
I installed these guys with 1-inch drywall screws, which fit correctly into the holes and match the hook's color. For my headless Hohner (essentially a Steinberger with different pickups), I hung the hook lower on the wall. Finding a stud shouldn't really be necessary unless your guitar is exceptionally heavy.