What's more fun than polishing off a bottle of whiskey? Using the empty bottle to make your own server or PC!What's more fun than polishing off a bottle of whiskey? Using the empty bottle to make... more
The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) trend is all the rage these days and apparently has been for some time. Nowhere is it more evident than in prison where inmates with so little are capable of making so much and hiding it well. German photographer Marc Steinmetz has photographed some clever creations by desperate German prisoners over the last century. Many of these cobbled together pieces were camouflaged to look like a relatively harmless object – escape ladders appear as chess sets, grappling hooks as deceptive candelabras.
Tuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on CURRENT TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats.
In today's show :
YOU CAN NOW SUBSCRIBE TO THE VIDEO VERSION ONCE AGAIN ON ITUNES.UNITED KINGDOM TALK VIDEO.
It's on the other side of the kitchen.
Pub food.
The wires too short.
Product placement.
Things are getting desperate.
Jobs that are not done properly.
Read the instructions.
Still not bought the ticket.
What sort of product should I allow ?
Ding dong.
Recycle the plug.
Why is the video so long ?
Do I need bolts inserted ?
A stupid question.
Susan's roof.
I can't part with the money.
The washing machine story.
Five stars.
Tell me your DIY disasters.
TEXT the show : UK - 078... Int - +44... chris@unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk
WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UKTuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on CURRENT TV... more
Arin Crumley's new project to set up a cutting edge film self distribution website has succeeded in getting it's initial round of funding through Kickstarter (http://bit.ly/3jvU0).
A lot of filmmakers spend a lot of money entering festivals in hopes of finding distribution. But the reality is that their chances are very slim. Even at Sundance where a few hundred films are selected from about 6000 entries, only one or two are typically funded for distribution. OpenIndie is designed as an alternative to that crap shoot. One thing you do need though is an audience. If your film has an audience of a few thousand, you'll have a good shot at making out with something like OpenIndie. The idea is that you sign people up on a mailing list and they are notified when enough people in their area create the demand for a screening at a theater.But there's a lot more to it (http://blog.openindie.com/).
The website will have the following up and running by March:
# Import emails/zipcodes of their fans so those people can be messaged about near by screenings
# Have a URL for their film where people that they can spread around allowing people to "request" a screening of their film.
# Allow members of OpenIndie to create screenings of any each film complete with RSVP functionality for each film
# Host of a screening can collect donations at the screening and then transfer online to the filmmaker.
# A URL where films can receive donations from audience directly.
# Information about which cities have the most requests for a given film.
Phase two is now in gear which will raise additional funds for the following objectives:
# Filmmakers can adjust the maximum percentage that hosts are able to withhold as their cut.
# Filmmakers will be able to enable certain regions or provide access for screenings to be booked in any region.
# Filmmaker gains ability to auto approve each screening or chose to manually approve.
# A calculation built into the license that describes what an academic or institutional environment must pay the filmmaker based on an assessment of what that institution is charging.
# Filmmaker will be able to list public speakers available to be booked and adjust the fee each person must be paid by the host as well as provide a percentage split of donations collected at the screening that go to the guest speakers.
# Filmmaker will be able to assign percentages that must be shared by the Host on the selling of digitally reproducible physical goods at screenings. For example the host being able to print posters to sell, burn DVDs to sell, screen print the films logo at screenings or sell a USB drive that contains the film.
Got a film project you want to self distribute? Check it out.Arin Crumley's new project to set up a cutting edge film self distribution website has... more
Your children (brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, etc.) worked long and hard to accumulate all of that Halloween candy, so instead of relegating it to the landfill, please be a good green citizen by trying out a few of these ideas instead :)
Please pass this along to anyone who's tempted to ditch the goodies when the kiddies aren't looking -- there's always a better way to use resources ... even diabolical, cavity-causing candy!!
Have a legal situation but are on the fence on whether or not to hire a lawyer? Then try out these top 20 sites for do-it-yourself law to see if you really do. They can help you with everything from a common legal issue to a rare law.
The Insurance Information Institute estimates a car is stolen every 24 minutes. To help keep your car from ending up like these top ten, we have also included the top ten DIY ways to keep them safe and protected from thieves.The Insurance Information Institute estimates a car is stolen every 24 minutes. To... more
A fun, simple, and easy way to turn turn ping-pong balls and Christmas lights into diffused party lights for your next event.A fun, simple, and easy way to turn turn ping-pong balls and Christmas lights into... more
Unemployment can be quite a predicament. Chances are, you’ll need all the help you can get. Make use of these lifehacks to make your unemployed life just a bit easier.Unemployment can be quite a predicament. Chances are, you’ll need all the help you... more
Not for the kiddies, hehehe. No really if you're a kid get an adult to help you with this. Then YOU TOO can be a Jedi!!! It's so much fun being a geek!Not for the kiddies, hehehe. No really if you're a kid get an adult to help you with... more
According to the FBI, a house, apartment, or condominium is burglarized once every 15 seconds. Don’t be part of the statistics by following these top ten DIY cheap and easy ways to protect your home.According to the FBI, a house, apartment, or condominium is burglarized once every 15... more
From the story: In collaboration with Sonicbids the licensing company is setting up an opportunity with the popular Boston based indie music haven, giving over 200,000 registered bands and any new member opportunities to open up new doors for their careers.
With over 30 years of experience in the music industry, Noteborn Music is an international company that hand picks quality music for use in feature films, indie films, TV shows and advertising campaigns. Aiming to publish, promote, and develop artists professionally and intelligently, the company works with award winning music producers and engineers. To date, Noteborn Music has successfully placed songs with Spike TV, On Demand cable, MTV, ABC, CBS, Lifetime, HBO, USA Networks, feature films and national advertising campaigns.
Mike's comments: So here we go from one extreme to the other. In the last story I posted the writer was essentially accusing unsigned acts of "selling out" if they tried to make a living off of their music. In this story we see another example of the many service companies that are springing up like babies in a rabbit's nest all offering to make artists some money (for a fee).
To me, "selling out" is when a band allows a record label to control their sound, their look, their personality in order to make them more salable. Becoming successful at what you do because people like your music isn't selling out. Making money from what you do isn't selling out. In fact, DIY music success is really how it should have been all along, it is just not what we are used to.From the story: In collaboration with Sonicbids the licensing company is setting up an... more
Celebrating a green halloween isn't as challenging as you might think, especially if you rediscover the fine art of "doing it yourself." Don't sweat it -- this article offers 22 different inspired ideas to get your fingers (and imagination) pumped. You'll have fun and laugh your head off when you realize just how much money you can save, too.Celebrating a green halloween isn't as challenging as you might think, especially if... more
Some of the best sexy and sultry Halloween costumes for women...and you can make them yourself!Some of the best sexy and sultry Halloween costumes for women...and you can make them... more
James Dyson may be the man when it comes to British inventing but if you can't aford the latest Dyson vacuum then it seems there's a DIY version:
"James Dyson may have built eleventy billion prototypes to perfect his famous cyclonic vacuum, but sometimes just one will do the trick.
A cyclonic separator is used in workshops to keep larger cruft out of the dust collection system. The airflow inside a separator creates a vortex that flings heavier bits and particles to the periphery of the chamber, where they settle out the bottom, while relatively clean air escapes the vacuum port at the top. This makes for fewer filter changes and a more consistent pull from the vacuum.
You can go buy a fancy professionally-made separator, but [neorazz] shows how to create one from an assemblage of PVC fittings and a five gallon bucket. The design may lack the power and slick design of the big units, but for garage hack use this may be all you ever need. They demonstrate it to be about 95% effective, and it’s very simple to make. A prior cyclonic separator hack appeared a bit more work-intensive, but the principle is all the same. It all comes down to what skills you possess and what parts you have on hand."James Dyson may be the man when it comes to British inventing but if you can't aford... more
3 amazing DIY Halloween costumes that you can make from things you already have at home and that you'd never guess were homemade!3 amazing DIY Halloween costumes that you can make from things you already have at... more
The abundance and affordability of digital video have turned everyone into a potential Spielberg, and zero-budget films are the talk of festivals across the globe.
In 1977 the fanzine Sniffin’ Glue published pictures of three chords: having mastered those, it famously told its readers they could all go out and form their own bands. For film-makers, the punk aesthetic was less affordable; even a shoestring could cost a king’s ransom. Today, though, thanks to digital video, everyone is doing low-budget films. Movie-mad teenagers, ambitious first-timers, seasoned directors crunched by credit or seeking to recharge their creative batteries – all are eager to investigate how low you can go.
The Raindance Film Festival has a low-budget competition whose cut-off point is 50,000 in sterling, US dollars or euros. Bottom – or top – of the pile, is a British movie called Colin, which officially cost £45.
Though it is by no means without merit, Colin’s measly budget is its main selling point. The director, Marc Price, 30, enthuses how he pressed an elderly camcorder into service to shoot this epic of a suburban everyman bitten by a zombie.
Genre films like Colin are relatively saleable. Roger Corman built his empire on them, Robert Rodriguez made his name with the £7,000 Mexican comedy-thriller El Mariachi, while The Blair Witch Project remains the unholy grail for all low-rent wannabes. A recent subset has been the fad for cheap and cheeky remakes of blockbusters, where the joke is the mismatch between their peanut production values and the films that inspired them. Earlier this year, an “adaptation” of Raiders of the Lost Ark shot by three schoolboys achieved a cinema release, with Steven Spielberg’s blessing.
Among the six micro-budget films competing at Raindance is Paul Cotter’s Bomber, a dramedy about a young man who accompanies his elderly parents on a cathartic trip to Germany. The budget, £24,000, came from the director, his friends and his family, and it was edited on an iMac (another technology that has smoothed the way for low-cost film-making).
Cotter is British but worked for seven years in the United States, where he believes the independent film-making scene is far livelier. “There’s much more of a gung-ho, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude,” he says. Films are marginally easier to sell there, he thinks, though Bomber has yet to find a buyer on either side of the Atlantic.
Shane Meadows’s Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee, shot in five days for £48,000, is the latest example. A mock-rockumentary, it’s semi-improvised by Meadows with his long-time muse, Paddy Considine, who plays Le Donk, a vainglorious roadie. Meadows appears as a version of himself, a documentary director chronicling Le Donk’s efforts to team up with and exploit a shy, tubby rapper and infiltrate a stadium gig by the Arctic Monkeys.
The names of Meadows and Considine will help sell audiences on this genially ambling, lo-fi comedy, which Meadows acknowledges it would have been near-impossible for an unknown director to get funded.The abundance and affordability of digital video have turned everyone into a potential... more
Reinforced Concrete Sculpture of smoke breathing Blaze the Dragon, 9 ft tall 7 ft wide 18 ft long 3 tons 4 months to complete. Now lives in front of Bartow Arena at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. www.tjneil.comReinforced Concrete Sculpture of smoke breathing Blaze the Dragon, 9 ft tall 7 ft wide... more
Thursday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch or listen to the show on Tues, Thurs & Sats here at WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UK
In today's show :
Katie in the shed.
Not feeling too well.
No music in Aldi.
Dinner out with Ron.
A man and his 5 dogs.
The watching doorman.
Posh Islington.
Ron pays a man to kick him around.
Damaged wheel.
What's happened to this body.
Money for grief.
Something internally attacks me.
Trouble sleeping.
Be careful when using the "hole in the wall".
Window cleaning.
Suko moans.
Nial - you must get out a bit more.
DIY - Phone on the wall.
I'm concerned about your health.
Supermarkets in Japan.
Gwen thanks you for the audio emails.
These 50 games can help you apply the skills you learn in class to realistic situations and challenges. Keep reading for fun opportunities to become a better manager, small business owner, corporate player, real estate developer, and more.These 50 games can help you apply the skills you learn in class to realistic... more
