Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve

The planned two hour hike at Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve took more than 3 hours, instead. There was a loop on the trail that showed that the parking lot was deceptively close. If it weren't for a hidden ravine, the hike would have been shorter.

The live oak trees spread out and grow to a large size.

This Platanus occidentalis is very similar to Platanus racemosa. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless someone pointed it out to me. I just had to go with the sign posted nearby.

The park is located just northwest of where the massive 2003 Ceder Fire took place. There is a mix of untouched and burned areas. This old pine tree left an interesting black tower.

Last Night's Neighborhood Halloween

There's usually a good turn-out for Halloween in the neighborhood, but I still have a lot of candy left over. The kids enjoyed the artificial fog, ghost illusions, papier mache props and...uh....actors. The Chicken Lady showed up with her chickens and promised to drop off some blue eggs for an omlette.

Click on the slide show if you'd like to view larger images.

Halloween

...gettin' ready for Halloween with a little gelatin and face make-up.

Bat

This bat was made with spare parts leftover from the previous projects. The wings turned out weak, so I supported them with fishing line. I should have put more "muscle" mass in its "arms". The weight of the paint has rendered it too heavy for the pulley system that I was going to use outside. So, it's back to the drawing board for now.

Meg Mugglebones

This project was inspired by the movie "Legend" in which a character called Meg Mucklebones appears. She's not entirely up to par, so she's renamed to Meg Mugglebones which is a name morphed with the dog from "Heroes".

The arms and hands became bigger than the sticks I used in the previous project. And, the lower jaws broke the rules from Dan Reeder's suggestions. I will pay the price when it comes time to apply paint inside the mouth. There's only two things to do with rules: follow them or break them.

A blackwash and highlighting is next. And, the arms need to match. I don't want to run out of paint!

Skull

The skull head and hands are finally finished. I draped another black cloth over it to see how it would look.

Balrog's Cousin

The gates of Hell have opened wide to deliver this fine specimen. It was supposed to be another skull, but the creative sparks flew when a piece of cardboard from a dry cleaner's hanger entered the equation. It became the support for those menacing jaws.

Here's a close-up of the paint job using red as a base, orange for highlights, a black wash and yellow highlights. The hands are attached to wooden posts.

Throw a black, torn cloth over it to create a full-bodied work.

The original skull plan is almost done.

MCAS Miramar Air Show

I went to the MCAS Miramar Air Show, yesterday. The car traffic was a mess as expected. Then, the security line took about an hour to check bags. Next time, I'll leave the camera behind so that I can skip the bag check.

Canadian Snowbirds

I guess security missed a few as several bombs went off during the show!

Several vintage aircraft were on display.

Walking (not flying) Blue Angels

Skull Project

The monster project inspired me to try out a few skulls to see how they'd perform on Halloween.

My Monster, Part 2

It's time to assemble the hands, feet, legs, arms and jaws. It's all being held together by a lot of tape. One mistake that I noticed is that I painted too much of the outside jaw section. This interfered with taping the jaw to the rest of the body. So, I brushed some glue over the paint and later taped over that section.

I added some horns to the back and the end of the tail. I was planning on adding twelve horns total, but this would make the project too complex. Its left foot is being held up by a glass bowl of marbles. Come the final step, I'll replace the glass bowl with something else.

I added a piece for the nose and placed another horn through it. Once the extra glue on the painted mouth area dries, I'll tape the nose down firmly. I tested out clay balls for the eye placement but, I'd prefer bigger eyes.

...more to come.

My Monster

Last weekend, I came across this book with "MONSTERS" in the title by Dan Reeder and just couldn't leave the bookstore without it. I tried out Papier-mâché once before, but this book had a lot of helpful hints. Plus, the dragon "trophy" was very impressive. It looked like something I could easily follow. So, first, I decided to try out the instructions for the sample monster.

I had a stack of newspapers ready to go, but had to hunt down some wire hangers around the house. Then, I bought a gallon of Elmer's glue, paint, tape, clay and other recommended supplies. The Papier-mâché recipe is just flour and water. And, part of the technique is to NOT DIP THE STRIPS! After the pieces hardened overnight, I added feet and hands to the limbs.

I went with the knarly hands method. This is just balled up newspaper for knuckles taped to the wire fingers.

This is a Papier-mâché ball that has been cut open for jaws and clay "teeth" glued to it using a glue gun. Along with the tongue, the instructions are copied straight from the book.

The jaws are prepared with strips of an old bed spread dipped in Elmer's glue. What a mess to work with hands covered in glue! The tongue is wrapped in one, long strip and allowed to sit in the lower jaw where it will bond. I made stands using old toilet paper rolls to make it easier for drying.

...more to come.

San Diego Zoo Orchid House

The San Diego Zoo Orchid House is open once a month and I happened to be there on Sunday. The variety of orchids never ceases to amaze me.

Oatman, AZ

From Laughlin, NV last weekend, it was easy to take a GPS-guided trip to Oatman, AZ. The small (ex?) gold mining village had shops, ice-cream, beer, etc.

There were a lot of old things to check out like this car and gas station.

Several wild donkeys, deserted from past gold miners, were allowed to roam the streets. They used to be fed by the locals, but now they're trying to cut down on that practice.

At high noon, the main road was closed off as a shoot out broke out. These three amigos were planning to rob one of the local stores.

But, they killed each other off as they got greedy with the loot!

Road Trip

We took a weekend trip to Laughlin, NV.
Here's the Prius resting in Oatman, AZ.
More pics will follow, later.

Cuyamaca State Park

I went hiking with some friends in Cuyamaca State Park this morning. The temperature was a few degrees cooler than what I've previously encountered. With not much cover on this particular hiking trail, a bottle of water was required if you wanted to avoid dehydration. There was a lot more dust on the trail due to the current drought conditions in Southern California.

Nevertheless, the hike was enjoyable and I found some interesting plants along the way. This plant was growing a curious stalk of flowers that fanned out on the top. The leaves were soft like the "lambs' ears" garden variety plant.

The thistle flowers had a lot of bee activity. I could see a wild "mini-honeybee" along with the two regular honeybees. I wondered where the mini-hive was located, and what would it look like?

The swirly seeds of San Diego mountain mahogany were out in full force. On some parts of the trails, these shrubs dominated the scene. With the sun shining behind them, the fluffy seeds' brightness lit up the branches.

The species living near my home is named Cercocarpus minutiflorus and it's most likely the same plant growing out east in the Cuyamaca State Park mountains.

CityFest 2009

The community of Hillcrest had its Cityfest street fair today. After Mahi tacos and a few Tecate beers at Baja Betty's, I walked over to the fair. For some reason there were linens to buy at several of the booths this year. I settled for a 600 count Egyptian cotton set for $20.

These wine bottle holders were so colorful. At a different crafts display someone was waving a "NO PHOTOS" sign at me, so I guess I won't be showing them here!

I don't know much about "The Fellowship of the Surf Monkey", but these figurines sure are cute!

The locals and the sun were out in full force as usual. I'm glad that I managed to steer clear of the funnel cake booths!