Scars from The Cancer Grenade

My Robotic Surgery
I made the accompanying USA Today style illustration to show the location of my scars without grossing anyone out, and to tell the story of how I decided to let a surgeon and his robot use tiny little surgical tools inside of my body.

In the fall of 2008 I went to my new primary care doctor for a physical. My PSA levels were high so we ran a round of antibiotics to see if it was an infection of some sort. After two weeks we re-tested and the levels were just as high so I went to see a urologist, who suggested that everything pointed toward the need for a biopsy. I opted to wait until after the holidays.

On January 27th of 2009 I went into the hospital for a surgical biopsy. Three days later the doctor was on the phone telling me that I had prostate cancer. Somehow I knew that I was going to get that call, but it still shocked me to my core. On the way home that night I called an old friend to tell him the news, still trying to make sense of it myself. Later, I wrote a letter to a friend living out of state as I didn’t want to Continue reading Scars from The Cancer Grenade

Robocop the Cosmonaut

This afternoon I began porting old video from a cache of VHS-C tapes sequestered deep in the bowels of the Drewcave. One of the first tapes I wanted to “take digital” was footage we captured from the 1991 production of the movie “Robocop 3”, a lackluster sequel to the original blockbuster. This footage is from actor Robert Burke being sealed into the Continue reading Robocop the Cosmonaut

Chewboxxa

A Fierce BooxieeI’m undeniably proud of the Cardboard Craze that I started at Dragon*Con back in 2005, especially of the guys who have been such dedicated cardboard costumers along with me since that time! After our great success as cardboard troopers last year, a lot of people have expressed their desire to join us in at the upcoming convention in September. Several folks have expressed that, while they have the desire, they just don’t have any good ideas on exactly how to build a good costume out of cardboard. So, as a service to those people, I’m going to begin a series of posts that will continue up until September, designed to provide you some design ideas and construction techniques. First out of the blocks is my design for Chewboxxa, a “Booxiee” from the planet BoxxaHarveyKorman.
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Box Robots 2 : The Floppy 503rd

Box Robot Troopers
Note: Due to schedule problems several of us have already built our box robots. Also Note that there has been a change from Sunday to Saturday.
It’s nearly that time again kids, Dragon*Con is only a fortnight away! If you’re planning to be in attendance at this year’s convention and you want to do something that’s indescribably fun then pay attention: I am hereby issuing my 2nd Annual Box Robot Flashmob Challenge, this time with a twist. This year I am challenging people to meet me on Sunday, September 3rd, strike that, on Saturday, September 2nd, at 1:30pm, on or near the exterior balcony of the Hyatt’s lobby bar, to build robot suits from cardboard boxes. To participate in this event you must provide your own cardboard boxes (if possible try to collect white boxes), enough of them to make a suit that will cover your torso, your head, your arms and legs. You are also going to need to bring a cardboard tube.
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Box Robot Flashmob Challenge

Robot CupWikipedia defines a Flash Mob as: a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual or notable, and then disperse. They are usually organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communications networks. This is the first and only issuance of my 2005 Dragon*Con Flashmob Challenge, so pay attention and synchronize your watches….
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