YouTube Partnership Program Rule Change Rant

So, I am going to rant for just a bit, bear with me…

-Mounts Soapbox –

“Ahem… I set a goal to be a better filmmaker, content provider, and maker five months ago.  Part of that goal was to reach the 10,000 view threshold to monetize my YouTube account.  I did not plan to quit my J-O-B, or be internet famous, I just wanted to use it as a milestone for progress toward the goal and I nailed it on January 4th!  10,000 views!!  I was so stoked that I woke my wife up way too late one night to tell her.  My account was under review for 2 weeks and I was finally officially monetized for two days – two WHOLE days – before BAM!!  I was demonetized with a huge group of small and smaller content providers.  Son of a…

While this was a while in coming, it looks like the process/decision was sped up when a guy with 15+ million subscribers named Logan Paul posted a video of a suicide victim. 1st, what a fucking privileged asshat.  WTF is wrong with people?!  He should be forever ashamed, and spend a great deal of his YouTube revenue on suicide prevention and advocacy.  What should’ve happened following the public and advertiser outrage was YouTube suspending or deleting his channel, but that dude generates SERIOUS ad revenue, so… What happened instead was that YouTube took him off the top-tier ad group and YouTube punished the SHIT out of the small folks by demonetizing channels with less than 4000 hours of watch-time AND less than1000 subscribers to ‘protect their core values’? Makes zero sense and this guy will continue to post and earn $$$ even at the lower tier.

OK, fine, fuck’em.  I was not doing this for some mythical pot of gold.  This setback is just going to make me dig deeper.  I am 10% to the new threshold and I will keep slogging on. Keep making and doing. Post better and better content.  This will make me leaner, stronger, bigger, better, more… A better speaker, better filmmaker, I will get lighting and sound for my videos dialed, have awesome content, and be a better person from it all. Success doesn’t teach half as much as adversity.

To all effected by the YouTube demonetization BS: Don’t quit! Keep slogging on. Keep making and doing. You too will be all the better for it. Send me your channel and I will follow you and help with the watch hour threshold. As I said, I had just hit the monetization before all of this and we will get there again.  It will take some hard work but, we can all help each other out.”

– Dismount Soapbox –

 

Film Friday – Double Feature

I had a found (fly-away issue) DJI Phantom 3Pro sent to me as a gift by an awesome buddy – a SERIOUSLY awesome friend! I took a look and decided to rebuild the thing and see if I could get it back in the air. Here is that process:

From my second You Tube Channel – the one I use to share vacation videos and miscellaneous stuff – I present for your viewing pleasure: Snowboarding at Loveland and Winterpark in Colorado with great friends on MLK weekend 2018

As always, PLEASE hit the subscribe button if you like my content on YouTube. Thank you!

2018 News Year’s Resolutions:

A year ago, to the day, I said that I would do a bunch of stuff in 2017.  I did OK, but not great. I could blame it on my old man hip, the surgery, or the recovery time, but mostly not getting stuff on the list done was all me. All my own laziness, stuborness, or my A+ skill level of procrastination. These are the promises I made to myself that I kept:

Take a pottery class
Take a Blacksmithing class at the Pratt
Read 1 book every 2 weeks – minimum
Play my uke, banjo, and guitar with others
Give lots of $$ to Heifer and MFS
Make movies and post: Adventure, craftsmanship, and family.
Make Stuff!!
Ride my skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
Road trip in WA more
Take my wife on vacation
Plant a spring garden
Fix up the front and back yards

The following is what I am committing myself to do in 2018:

  1. Organize my chaos in the shop and basement.
  2. Sell, donate, recycle, or throw away shit that I do not use.
  3. Use my planner and notebooks as tools not as something that I “have” to use.
  4. Eat my veggies.  Seriously.  Salads in my future.
  5. Take my desk at home back and make it a conducive writing space.
  6. Cut WAY back on sugar and carb intake!
  7. Lose weight – back to 175! and put on 5-7lbs of muscle
  8. Go to the gym 3-4 time a week – minimum.
  9. Box more at the gym and at home
  10. Write more: Blog posts, REAL letters, Thank you notes, fiction, and non-fiction
  11. Take more great pictures
  12. Fly my drones more
  13. Take at least a 45 minute lunch at least 4 days a week at work
  14. Show up to yoga at least once a week
  15. Take another pottery class
  16. Finish my CJ-7 Jeep restoration
  17. Look into getting back into the judo dojo
  18. Sign up and compete in the Gambler 500 car race
  19. Sign up for a letterpress class at SVC Downtown
  20. Take another blacksmithing class at The Pratt
  21. Read 1 book every 2 weeks!
  22. Learn how to play the mandolin and banjo better!
  23. Play my uke, banjo, and guitar with others
  24. Build a skin-on-frame canoe for two
  25. Road and mountain bike
  26. Take the puppies to Lincoln Park for a walk at least once a week
  27. Ride the living shit out of my Single -Speed
  28. Bike to work at least 5 times this year (12 miles each way)
  29. Volunteer more at the Center for Wooden Boats
  30. Pay off all credit cards
  31. Go sailing in Puget Sound
  32. Turn some amazing and useful stuff on my lathe
  33. Give lots of $$ to Heifer and MFS
  34. Make at least 1 movie a week for YouTube and post: Adventure and craftsmanship
  35. Monetize my YouTube account and increase my presence and standing in that community
  36. Lessen my Twitter and social media activity…
  37. See my kids and grandchildren more
  38. Be involved in politics more: financally and with a time commitment
  39. Work on my Genealogy database and organize all my info.
  40. Finish the house remodel –  even if I have to pay a contractor to do it (…shudder…)
  41. Finish the garage/shop/GROP build
  42. Make.More.Stuff!!
  43. Ride my snowboard and skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
  44. Road trip in WA and on West Coast more
  45. Have two hives of healthy, happy bees
  46. Kayak lots!
  47. See my friends more
  48. Take my wife on vacation
  49. Plant a spring garden and have a really bountiful fall harvest
  50. Have an awesome Griswald-like Christmas light display!

I am printing this list out and pasting copies in my notebook, work planner, in the shop, at my desk at work, on the fridge, and in the basement above my warranty voiding workbench.

Garage, lawn, and house work this weekend

Worked in the basement a bit to make Stamps-With-Foot’s sewing room/project space usable.
Made two trips to the dump.
Built screw clamp holder.
Did a little Amazon shopping for a gift and a part that I needed.
Went shooting at the range – shot like a blind squirrel.
Cleaned pistol, muttering disappointment in self whole time.
Hip super-hurt all weekend.
Went to see Atomic Blond for date night. Great movie.
Bought two bookshelf cabinets for garage at Second Use – got a super good deal (hard to do these days at Second Use)
Picked up 2 cases of oil at discount from NAPA
Put down a little 1/4 round trim in dining room.
Washed Stamps-With-Foot’s car.
Filled the washer fluid.
Worked on a couple of films.
Cleaned lighting contacts on the trailer light harness.
Took a load of recycling to the dump.
Organized shop a little and hung the two cabinets.
My shop now has all the storage I will ever need – until I fill it all up 🙂
Consumed some rosé while sitting in sunshine in back yard.
Snuggled wife and puppies.
Installed my welding cabinet and filled it with helms, jacket, gloves, sticks, and welding tools.
Made a happy face.
Did not mow lawn…
Ran two lighting circuits and one 220VAC circuit in garage.
Need to install the 4 florescent lights.
One 220VAC circuit to run and all shop wiring will be complete!
Flew drone a bit to work out new firmware update.
Took a few macro photos with camera
Spent too long on Instagram and Twitter.
Ignored the grass some more.
Changed oil in my father-in-law’s truck.
Picked-up/was given wrong oil filter!
Said dirty words…
Made it to parts store 3 minutes before they closed for new filter.
41 more oil changes and the lift pays for itself!

Flying the Drone

I have had a remote controlled camera mounted drone for about a year. I got it specifically for an airborne camera platform for taking stills and video of cool scenery and of me doing awesome stuff on my bikes, boards, boats, and jeep. The house remodel and garage build have gotten in the way of life and I haven’t filmed as much as I have wanted to. I have 7.5 total flight hours on the drone and am using it and thinking of novel ways to employ it a little more now that I am limited in my mobility with the hip rehab. I took it out last weekend, filming at the beach and this weekend, I got it in the air over my neighborhood on the first REALLY nice spring day.

I am a good little pilot and have my required FAA license, my aircraft is marked with my license number, I only fly where I am supposed to, stay under the 500’ ceiling, don’t go near airports, no flying over peoples’ homes, etc. I have had a few “concerned citizens” and tiger moms at the park get cranky about a drone over their heads, but I point to my prominently FAA license displayed on my case inner lid – printed at 300% larger than the original, cite the FAA and WA state statues calmly in an almost blasé manner without taking my eye off the drone. I have a bright yellow round “H” landing target, an airport flight-line safety-yellow parka, and a couple of small orange cones. I look legit, so I am left alone except for kids who linger hoping to see me crash it into the ground.

I plan to do a more and more filming with it this year, including a stint as the Team Zero FTG videographer for the 2017 Sea to Ski Race. I was originally going to compete in the kayak leg, but the hip said “NO!, not this year…” I also really want to get it out on a few hiking trails around Rainier, make an aerial film about West Seattle, use it to work on a mockumentary film I am piecing together about our dogs lives and how we are the ones that have been trained.

A couple of short snips of video that I have done recently:

A Little Trip to China and the Phillipines

My body clock is finally back to normal after a recent 11- day trip to China and Hong Kong,  with a stop in the Philippines on my way back to Seattle – just in time for Daylight Savings Time (insert grumpy face…).

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_map-1

It was a trip for my J-O-B and not a vacation, but I did have a chance to get out one day in Hong Kong and an afternoon and one evening in the Manila.  I took my GoPro with me and I carried it around as I walked the streets of Hong Kong and during my entire Junk ride.  I am working on putting together a small film about the ride and the boat.

I spent 7 days in the southern city of Dongguan.  It is a vast web of medium to heavy industrial firms that build all manner of parts.  My employer manufactures aircraft and medical cable assemblies there, but there are hudres of machine shops, PCB board houses, mold makers, and the Apple production site is in the area as well.   The trip to the factory every morning was eye-opening:  traffic hazards, Grade-A people watching, construction, etc…  I rolled up to an intersection on my last day there just as the motocart got t-boned by a mini van. Red lights are really just suggestions in China.

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_map-2

When I arrived in Hong Kong, my hotel room that had been reserved had been given away to another party.  before I could even ask, I was swiftly upgraded and put in a “Tower Suite” with 3 rooms and a view of the harbor that was sunning.  Probably the 2nd or 3rd nicest room I have ever stayed in my entire live – my suite a few years ago in Shanghai was stunning (no view though) and huge the suite in the Riad l’Aziza in Marrakesh is #1.  The only thing that would have made it better is if Stamps-With-Foot could have been there to enjoy the room and view with me.  Below are a few shots of the harbor view from my window.

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-2 matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-3

 

 

 

 

The one day that I had off, I had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out early in a light drizzling rain through Kowloon Park to the Metro and on to a tourist market and a street on Kowloon Island that deals in very high priced antiques – window shopping for me, thank you very much.

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-7 matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-4 matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-8

 

 

 

 

After a little market stall bargaining, I made my way to the docks to get a few shots of the harbor and tour the maritime center.  I happened to be taking pictures when a Chinese Junk boat glided into the frame and docked 50 feet from where I was posted up.  Luck would have it that it was a tour boat and I signed right up and paid the nice lady standing by the gang plank my money as I hopped on board.

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-duk-ling

The boat is called the Duk Ling and is that last surviving original sailing junk left in Hong Kong. There used to be 1000’s of them.  They were ubiquitous and feature prominently in 70s era Kung Fu movies shot around HK.  I am told that they were casualites of the 1999 hand over and modernization of the harbor.

Built in the 1950, and rescued from a watery grave after a monsoon in 2004, The Duk Ling sails Victoria harbor as a floating time capsule. I took a harbor tour aboard from Kowloon Island to Kowloon and I smiled the whole way.

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-9 matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-10 matt-talley_china-trip_2017_-12

 

 

 

 

My room in Manila, where I spent three nights, was not as swanky as the Honk Kong suite, but the view was just as sweet.

matt-talley_manila_2017_-14 matt-talley_manila_2017_

 

 

 

 

I was in the Conrad – Pasay , which is connected to The SM Mall of Asia.  I was told proudly by the hotel staff that it is the 11th largest mall in the world, but that is, to date, an unverified claim.  Regardless, it was huge and had a whole section that was grouped with music and instrument shops.  I may have bought another ukulele… IF that happened, that would make three. There were two stores here that only had ukes and uke related items for sale. OK, I admit it…  I picked up a little pineapple shaped mahogany Kala. I couldn’t help myself. Iit was retail and even in Manila it wasn’t a great deal, but it was about 10% cheaper than I can find online in the US AND I have a cool souvenir from the Philippines.

The Jeepney bus is still everywhere in Manila.  As an owner/caretaker of a 1986 CJ7, it makes my heart happy to see the pride that some of the owners take in keeping their vehicles in immaculate shape.  It sounds as if they too will soon be a victim of the modern world: while I was there, it was announced that there was going to be a government crack down and all the old Jeepneys would have to be retired – pollution and safety issues.  The owners got super pissed and held a protest and a day long strike.  I hope that they remain a fixture of the city in some way or form..

matt-talley_manila_-jeepney_2017-1 matt-talley_manila_-jeepney_2017-2

 

 

 

 

When I made it home from Asia, it was really nice to see/know that my sweet wife and Truffle missed me. Truffle demanded my time and attention for hours after I walked in the door.  I spent a little time in the sunshine, serenading her with a little ukulele while she napped on my lap – we were both happy.

matt-talley_china-trip_2017_map-3

 

Film Friday – Closing Out 2016 with a Snowboard Trip with My Son

For Christmas break this year my son, The Ruminator, wanted to do a little Snowboarding. I figured it would be a nice positive cap to a so-so year personally, physically, politically, etc…

Note:  This is the fist film edited and made since my switch from GoPro Studio to iMovie and since my conversion from a Windows 10 computer to my Mini Mac for video and Audio editing.  It was so much better to use and just worked!  See this post for more detail.

2017 New Year’s Resolutions:

Stuff I will do in 2017:

Eat my veggies
Lose weight – back to 175!
Go to the gym regularly
Box more
Write more: Blog, letters, notes, fiction, non-fiction
Take a lunch at least 4 days a week at work
Show up to yoga at least once a week
Take a pottery class
Take a Blacksmithing class at the Pratt
Read 1 book every 2 weeks – minimum
Play my uke, banjo, and guitar with others
build a skin-on-frame canoe
Run and bike
Start a guitar building class
Pay off all credit cards
Go Sailing
Give lots of $$ to Heifer and MFS
Make movies and post: Adventure, craftsmanship, and family.
Lessen my Social Media presence (Blog doesn’t count)
See my kids and granddaughter more
Be involved in popitics more: financally and time wise
Work on my Genealogy database a little
Finish the house remodel
Finish the garage/shop/GROP build
Make Stuff!!
Ride my skateboard because I am not too old or too fat
Road trip in WA more
Have two hives of healthy, happy bees
Kayak lots!
See my friends more
Take my wife on vacation
Plant a spring garden
Fix up the front and back yards
Climb more inside and outside
Have an awesome Griswald-like Christmas light display!

The Bees in Our Back Garden – 2015

The lavender is in full bloom in our backyard.  Last year I counted five different types of bees that visited it during the late summer.  So far, I have counted seven different types, but I think one might be a type of yellow jacket.  I looked online, but it is inconclusive.  I went full-nerd and ordered a couple of books: Bees of the World by Mitchner and Bees of N. America (Princeton Guide).  I will take some more pictures and see how many types I can find every couple of weeks.  As a side note:  I often wonder given my nerdiness how I have both managed to procreate with the female of our species and how I have a wife that is so damn adorable…

Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (36) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (34) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (30) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (21) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (15) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (13) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (10) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (7) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (5) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (4) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (2) Bees in the yard_France June_ 2015_ (1)

Road Trip through Provence – June 2015

Our time in France is not forever and we are more than halfway through our stay here and have begun the logistics discussion for our return to the US: What goes and what stays, where we will live, timing, etc…

Since we are on the downhill slope, my wife and I have decided to get busy seeing the parts of France that we have put off visiting thus far. So, this past weekend we went on a “must see” tour of Provence: Arles, Avignon, wineries, food, ruins, castles, sights, sounds, sunshine, oh my…

Below is a short list of accomplishments and pictures from the weekend:

Toured the coliseum in Arles (20th largest in all of the Roman Empire)
Visit to the Arles amphitheater
Walked in the footsteps of Van Gogh
5 museums
4 churches
A fantastic Air B&B in Avignon
Tour of the Pope’s Palace in Avignon
Pictures galore
Drive to the wine region and village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Winery tours
Wine consumed and purchased
I may have taken some rocks from the fields…
Visit to the Point du Gard (tallest aqueduct in the Roman world)
4-hour mad dash home and restful sleep.

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 26

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 25

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 24

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 23

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 21

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 30

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 28

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 29

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 22

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 02

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 01

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 03

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 35

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 04

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 06

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 07

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 16

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 20

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 08

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 18

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 09

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 17

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 14

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 31

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 15

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 10

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 11

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 12

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 13

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 19

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 33

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 32

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 34

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 05

Matt Talley _  Porvence TRip _ SM _ June 2005_ 27

Film Friday – Shoe Repair Shops: Part 1

I am a sucker for a fine pair of shoes or boots. I love to go into a shoe shop to watch the cobblers work and smell the leather & dye. I have a pair of Justin Roppers ™ that have been with me since I was 17. I have had them half soled more than 5 times and full soled twice. I have had cuts stiched up and new heels nailed on. They fit my feet like a pair of bespoke calf-skin gloves. I wish all my shoes fit and felt like they do. I have Al’s Attire in San Francisco building my dress shoes and boots now and I hope to have that sort of relationship with their products as well someday.

First Rate Shoe and boot repair in the Great State of Texas:

Austin Shoe Hospital:Craftsmanship from Mosaic Media Films on Vimeo.

A part-time cobbler making shoes in his garage:

The Shoemaker from Pete Stone on Vimeo.

Western boot builder:

Lisa Sorrell from Tiana Jade on Vimeo.

Apartment Therapy didn’t want what we got…

We sort of have a Wood-Craft/Bohemian/Bookworm thing going for our living room, den, and dining room decor at our place in France.  Stamps-With-Foot just sort of let me go and only said no to the anvil for a sofa table idea.  She hasn’t just sat on the chaise lounge and popping bon-bons in her mouth – all the curtains in the whole house are here doing and the flowers that seem to be magically refreshed every few days is all her as well. Everyone that we have had over loves it and one guest said: “It is so lovely that your company provides you with a professionally decorated home…”  I was a little taken aback; embarrassed and proud at the same time.

The wooden extension ladder bookshelf was my first project after we moved here and I have sort of built around that, adding a few pieces: a workbench turned into a buffet/TV table, the lathe book shelf, an assortment of Moroccan and Turkish rugs, an antique or two, a few unique bits & bobbles, some paintings, a chest or two, a small bench, etc…

The rest of the place isn’t too shabby either with a dedicated sewing room for my wife, a 1000+ lending library that we house and run, a great shop space, my office that is plywood-modern, a guest room out of the 1930’s with all sorts of girly pretty things (also my wife’s touch). Our bedroom is all dark wood, yellow curtains with sage green accents, and my son’s room/other guest room is bright and happy. The quiet and secluded backyard has an outdoor dining area and grill, fluffy green grass, lots of flowers, and a shady spot for my hammock – the puppies are in heaven out there!

My ego got the best of me and I snapped off a couple of shots and sent them into Apartment Therapy, knowing that the site admin would go nuts for our place…  nope, no response.  Fine, I get it.  I don’t NEED their validation, but I wouldn’t have kicked it out of bed either…  Instead, I will post my non-professional, non-posed (except the one of us and the puppies), snapshots of our house near Toulouse here as a tincture for my ego.   In the end, my wife loves it, which matters the most and one needs a happy wife if one wants a happy life.

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 10

French House 2014-2015 (4)

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 02

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 03

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 01

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 08

IMG_3957

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 07

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 04

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 06

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 13

French House 2014-2015 (1)

French house 2014-15 (1)

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 16

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 12

Matt Talley _ House in France _ SM - 2005_ 14

tumblr_njamwq5v7x1sk0b4eo1_500

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (29)_sm - Copy

Matt Talley _ Messy Shop in France _ 2015

My workbench is DONE!!

I am about a month late in posting this – life and my J-O-B got in the way – but the Cornebarrieu Bench is done. Completely done! All bells and whistles added. It seems like it took me forever, but it fits perfectly in the shop and I started using the bench even before it was finished. I am very happy with the outcome and am currently working on projects that have been piling up all winter. Just in case you haven’t been following along for the past year and a half or so:

My GROP (garage and shop combo) in Seattle was too small for a proper joiner’s bench. I made due with a slim, high, wall-mounted work counter, a bolted on machinist-vise, Quick Clamps, and the top of my table saw. It worked – mostly/sort of – but was a pain in the ass a good bit of the time: I never once planed a board on a stable, solid surface. My GROP here in France is roughly the same size as the one in Seattle, but is absent the huge cast iron machines and saws. I have some room to move and finally have the space for a big, heavy, proper work bench as well as some time to build one – or so I thought.

It is an amalgamation of benches by M. Roubo, Roy Underhill, Chris Schwartz, and Bill Schenher. I am calling it the “Cornebarrieu Bench” after the small village in southern France where we live, where the lumber has been sourced, and where the bench was made and first used.

For anyone interested, here is a documented build process, build notes, and step by step guide – 115 steps – to build this beast.

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (30)_sm - Copy

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (31)_sm

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (29)_sm - Copy

To the Land of My People – Talley, Wales

I was in Bristol, England for my J-O-B last month and I wanted to get out into the countryside after working 12+ hours and flying the day before. My meeting that day went really well and ended at 2:00, so I hopped in the rental car and headed across the “border” into Wales. There is a little village in the River Cothi valley called Talyllychau in Welsh or TALLEY in English. It is purportedly the origin of my surname. Talley is in Carmarthenshire, Wales which is six miles north of the small town of Llandeilo and an hour north west from Cardiff.

The day was beautiful with warm sunshine, blue skies, and fresh green spring grass growing in the valley. Thick woods cover the steep hills on each side of the valley and there are twin lakes at the bottom that had geese and swans paddling about. The setting was idyllic and surpassed any hope that I had in my brain about the beauty of the place before visiting. I walked the former naive and walls of the ruined Talley Abby (founded in 1185 and destroyed during the reign of Henry VIII), explored the grounds of St. Michael’s Church (built from the Abby stone) and the surrounding cemetery. It was a very pleasant afternoon and I spent the time in quiet thought about those who have come before me and those that will live after.

I would like to tell you about the amazing pint of stout and piping hot beef stew that I had in the local public house after my exploration, since that was my plan, but sadly the pub in the small village closed last year so it was not to be. I ended up eating that evening in Llandeilo in a nice little pub, listening to an elderly couple speak welsh to one-another and English to the barman.

In a different life, I could see buying a small home in the village and re-opening the pub. Living the rest of my days in that little valley, walking the hills, woods, and fields in tweed and Wellies, flat cap slightly askew. Evenings spent pulling pints, making furniture, loving my wife and family. In the end, being placed in the pretty graveyard beside the white church walls, under an ancient oak, or down my the lake shore. The thought/day dream is somehow comforting.

Talley Wales 2015 (8)

Talley Wales 2015 (7)

Talley Wales 2015 (6)

Talley Wales 2015 (5)

Talley Wales 2015 (4)

Talley Wales 2015 (3)

Talley Wales 2015 (2)

Talley Wales 2015 (1)

Talley Wales 2015 (15)

Talley Wales 2015 (14)

Talley Wales 2015 (12)

Talley Wales 2015 (11)

Talley Wales 2015 (10)

The Grand Bazaar – Istanbul 2015

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is purportedly the largest tourist attraction in all the world. Maybe. We were there in the winter – snow on the ground – and it was still packed. After an accidental trip to the Egyptian Bazaar (cabby issues are the bane of every traveler’s visit to the city), we decided on the full Grand Bazaar experience: walking all the lanes, seeing the sites, listening to all the languages and the sellers hawking their wares. My wife, who is an expert haggler, attempted to buy all the scarves in Turkey. We bought a few little souvenirs for people we love (my mother’s and my father-in-law’s birthdays were coming up). I ate a significant amount of pistachio Baklava and honeycomb. We also had lunch and coffee at a kebab place hidden in the bowels of the market that was serving the market sellers when we arrived – a sure sign of authentic yumminess.

Stamps-With-Foot had a “No Pestering” policy and when one of the sellers started harassing her to buy or to come in his shop, she would move on. It seemed to work and she was left alone to browse and shop and got a couple of bargains. I was the designated pack mule and carried all the bags. I also assisted in the negotiations for some of the goods – playing the tired husband who’s wife is on a spending spree – they had no idea that the bags were filled with $1-10 dollar items. It worked great and she got a gift for her dad at 1/3 the original asking price as well as a couple silk scarves for a ridiculously low price. The scarf seller looked at me with knowing eyes and brought me apple tea while she tore through his stacks looking for “the right one… or five…”

Words fail me in describing all that we saw and did, but the images below should give you an idea.

20150222_115249

20150222_165535

20150222_171921

20150223_123444

20150223_123454

20150223_133402

20150223_133812

20150223_133817

20150223_133851

20150223_135605

20150223_171216

20150223_184622

spices istanbul 2015

Tea  istanbul 2015

In Paris For Valentines Day – 2015

We had to go to Paris the week of Valentine’s Day for the final meeting to renew my French Work Visa. It was a bit of a Keystone Cops affair, but in the end we are all good and get to live and work (just me for that one. Stamps-With-Foot no get to worky…) in France for another year. Since we we in the city of Love & Light, we stayed over an extra night to celebrate the occasion like champs. We made a last minute reservation for dinner, tried to see a show at the The Folies Bergère (nope), and spent the day storming to and from museums around the city: The Rodin, The newly re-opend Picasso, The Orsay and the amazing History of Paris Museum, which we showed up to 20 minutes before they closed and made a mad dash for the Mucha designed Jewelry store exibit.

It was fantastic. We got to tour some beautiful sites together, view amazing art and furniture, buy some postcards, do a little shopping, make some memories, and hold hands while walking across the Seine at night with Notra Dame lit behind us. Very Romantic. Not many people can say that they ‘Spent Valentine’s day in Paris…’ We both feel really blessed!

A few pictures from the trip:

Paris 2-2015 (5)

Paris 2-2015 (4)

Paris 2-2015 (3)

Matt Paris Feb 2015

Paris 2-2015 (1)

Paris 2-2015 (2)

IMG_2673

IMG_2672

IMG_1475

Home From Morocco

As mentioned in a previous post, my J-O-B sent me to Casablanca, Morocco recently for a few days. I had a free afternoon the day I flew in, so I headed right to the “New” Medina Market (the Old Medina is where the locals shop for fruit, fish, scarves, socks, underwear, etc…). I picked up a few things for gifts and spent almost 4 hours with a carpet merchant bargaining for two carpets and drinking glass after glass of hot, sweet, Moroccan mint tea. I can say that after haggling with carpet sellers in Marrakesh, that the carpet soul in Casablanca seemed almost laid back. The were no histrionics and the opening price did not equal the price of my first vehicle. I was pleasantly surprised.

Things turned out really well and I got a decent price for the carpets – 1/5 of what they go for in the US and half of the European mainland retail price. In addition to bringing back a horrendous cold, I also brought back a large red leather pouf and 1 square meter of Zellige tile for my sweet wife – she danced a little when I pulled them out of my bag. I got the tile at a giant outdoor bizarre that was full of used and new plumbing fixtures, tile, lumber, tools, doors, etc… It was like 2 Home Depots , a Lowes, and 10 architectural salvage places set up all their wares under tents in a football stadium parking lot. It was vast and cramped and noisy and awesome. I wanted to spend hours there, but it was getting dark and this pale gent doesn’t plan to get caught in a dark ally in the middle of a foreign bizarre after sundown, no sir. I got my tile and zipped away on the back of a borrowed scooter, piloted by a Moroccan carpet seller with a who had a schedule to keep – which is a whole other tale in-itself!

On the day before I left town, I had had a couple of hours and I went back to the Medina and bargained for a few cushions and pillow covers for my wife. Same thing – very laid back. There was nowhere near the selection, but it was worth it not to be constantly harassed and pawed at by sellers trying to drag me into the shop for a “special price just for me…”

Morocco_Casa 2014 (3)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (15)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (11)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (7)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (9)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (12)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (10)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (13)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (8)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (14)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (17)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (16)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (18)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (4)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (5)

Morocco_Casa 2014 (6)

Weekend Update – the gods of lawn maintenance are displeased

We had a national holiday in France on Friday and I made the most of my 3-day weekend.

Instead of the stuff I needed to do I did this:

1. Got up at 7:30 on a holiday
2. Went up into the mountains with a group of Expats for a hike and a picnic – got some great pictures and had fine food
3. Worked on a design for wooden wine box/kitchen cabinets
4. Completely filled my Leuctterm1917 design sketch notebook – took 2 years
5. Watched a girlie movie with my sweet wife
6. Started a new notebook – a Rhodia Webbie this time (I like the paper better)
7. Spent too much time on the interwebs
8. Started formal permit process for garage shop and apartment above at our place in Seattle
9. Sanded, sealed and painted the “T” supports for the workbench/buffet table
10. Rough turned 4 oak bowls from a piece of tree blown down in a storm
11. Sent some e-mails out that I had let sit too long
12. Coated the bowls in wax and will let them cure for a year.
13. Cleaned and organized GROP – oak shavings were EVERY where
14. Composted the shavings with some grass and kitchen scraps
15. Sharpened all my lathe chisels
16. Brained myself on a low hanging bike – said f-word more than once
17. Went to a run along the river
18. Called my Mom and talked for a bit
19. Checked on the kids
20. Cut first 5” top sections for Cornebarrieu Workbench
21. Need a proper circle saw… the 18v battery saw is out of it league on 1.5” beech
22. Worked on the small cabinet rosettes for our neighbor – he also asked me to install a shelf while I was at it…
23. Played with the puppies – while Stamps-With-Foot had a girls night
24. Got sucked into Pinterest
25. Updated website a little (here and Tumblr)
26. Watched a little too much TV/YouTube
27. Took puppies for a walk around neighborhood a couple of times
28. Rode my bike about 10 miles – muddy
29. Cleaned and tuned single-speed bike
30. Played with puppies
31. Did some grilling with beer in hand 
32. Got up Sunday morning and worked for a few hours, – because I thought it was Monday. Damn it!
33. Closed office door and did not return for 24 hours
34. Told wife her hair was very pretty
35. Went for a walk with wife and puppies
36. Made a small parts organizer out of a broken wood bowl
37. Got glue on my favorite shorts
38. Wrote some snail-mail
39. Surfed the interwebs until I fell asleep with the iPad on my chest…
40. I did not mow the yard again. The gods of lawn maintenance are displeased with me.

Hiking august 2014 (3)

Hiking august 2014 (1)

Hiking august 2014 (5)

Hiking august 2014 (2)

Hiking august 2014 (4)

Rosettes for neighbor

Oak Bowls Aug 2014 (5)

Oak Bowls Aug 2014 (7)

Lathe clean aug 2014

Oak Bowls Aug 2014 (1)

IMG_3121

IMG_3122

Last page of notebook Aug 2014

yard not mowed this weekend 2014

T-beams for bench-buffet table aug 2014

found trivet 2014

making shavings aug 2014

Art in Paris – July 2014

Regardless of what your personal belief structure might look like, it is hard to see some things that were created by the hands of men and women and not wonder if there is something greater than ourselves out there. The Musee d’Orsay is full of those objects: from sculpture to paintings to carvings to furniture. It is not just the Orsay though – it is the entire city of Paris. Buildings, museums, subway stations, churches, stained glass, public art, gravestones in Père Lachaise, even the trash cans on the street corners.

Below are pictures from a recent visit to The Orsay, The Cluny (see previouse Carving post), St. Eustice Church, and Notre Dame, with shots from various walks through the city.

IMG_2672

IMG_2673

IMG_2682

IMG_2722

IMG_2736

IMG_2737

IMG_2739

IMG_2740

IMG_2741

IMG_2742

IMG_2751

IMG_2752

IMG_2753

IMG_2756

IMG_2757

IMG_2759

IMG_2760

IMG_2767

IMG_2774

IMG_2775

IMG_2787

IMG_2833

IMG_2849

IMG_2854

IMG_2856

IMG_2656

IMG_2654

IMG_2731

Wood Carvings at the Cluny in Paris

We spent 3 hours at Musée de Cluny (Musée national du Moyen Âge) in Paris on a recent trip. I highly recommend the little museum and the adjacent garden. While I enjoyed the tapestry and armor and paintings, it was the wood carvings that really stood out. The detail… Braids, carved folds in the dresses, miniature figures and scenes in a triptych that were beyond belief, fingernails, pages of a book… All carved in 400+ year old oak. Astonishing.

IMG_2745

IMG_2800

IMG_2801

IMG_2802

IMG_2803

IMG_2810

IMG_2812

IMG_2814

IMG_2815

IMG_2817

IMG_2818

IMG_2828

IMG_2829

IMG_2831

IMG_2832

IMG_2834

IMG_2836

IMG_2837

IMG_2839

IMG_2848

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side note: the plums in The Unicorn Forest (forêt de la Licorne) section on the garden were ripe and falling. I tried one ant it was delicious – upper sweet and deep blood red. They will make terrific jam. I may have brought 10-15 plums home with me and extracted the seeds. I plan to plant a few in a local forest and I have a sneaking suspicion that a very similar tree will grow in our yard in Seattle and in a friend of ours yard in Portland…

Before Electricity – French machine tools that were/are human powered

As we have traveled a bit here in France, I have drug my wife, son, in-laws, and friends to dusty museums and shops to see some amazing examples of traditional French woodworking tools and machines. These bits of pre-electric woodworking gems have been covered in beasage, wabi-sabi and love. Some were almost pristine, looking like there were used the day before and a few are shadows of their former-selves, but beautiful none the less. There are lathes, marqueterie saws, Saw-tooth sets, sharpening stones, carts, presses, saws, etc…

One of the most prominent things I noticed were all the different mechanisms for making the different lathes go ’round: peddles, treadles, hand operated flywheels, waterwheels, and bows.

Enjoy

French Lathes 2014 (2)

French Lathes 2014 (3)

French Lathe 2014 (4)

French Lathe 2014 (5)

French Lathe 2014 (6)

French Lathe 2014 (7)

French Lathe 2014 (8)

French Lathe 2014 (9)

French Lathe 2014 (10)

French Lathe 2014 (11)

French Lathe 2014 (12)

French Lathe 2014 (13)

French Lathe 2014 (14)

IMG_2017

IMG_2019

IMG_2021

IMG_2023

IMG_2063

IMG_2067

IMG_2110

IMG_2112

IMG_2226

IMG_2227

IMG_2318

IMG_2320

IMG_2319

French Lathe 2014 (4)

French Lathe 2014 (1)

French Lathe 2014 (2)

French Lathe 2014 (6)

French Lathe wheel 2014

Historic French Work Benches

In the 7 months I have lived in France, I have seen some amazing examples of traditional French carpenters’ work benches. They are full of tool marks, tool trays, attachments, vices, dog-holes, studded plane stops, nicks gouges patches, etc… Some are almost pristine, some covered in 100+ years of marqueterie glue, and some rotted – full of worm holes.  One some you will see the standard “French” leg vice and others have a parallel top vise – also don’t know what to call it – is a southern French/Basque sort of thing.  I asked a local “old guy” here and he said was a “thing” here.  That is the direct translation 🙂

Almost all the benches I see here are slab benches and a number are slab benched with a thick dadoed plank bolted to the front edge to provide square dog holes.

As a man who appreciates such things, as a joiner in the process of building my own bench, and as a tourist in a foreign land I have been busy with my camera. 🙂 Below is a data-dump of some of the better benches and details that I have seen so far.  I will update as I see more in the “wild.”

 

Side note: I bought a couple and am having the gassed (wood worms are serious here!) and will be bringing them back to the US when we rotate back in a couple of years – one for the house and one for the shop (tall oak slab for dovetail cutting) and IF there is any room in the container I may bring back a couple more – just because my wife hasn’t said no :-).

 

French Work Benches 2014 (5)

French Work-Bench 2014 (3)

French Work-Bench 2014 (1)

frenchmarketbench2014 (1)

IMG_0344

French Work Benches 2014 (21)

French Work Benches 2014 (1)

French Work Benches 2014 (2)

French Work Benches 2014 (3)

French Work Benches 2014 (4)

French Work Benches 2014 (6)

French Work Benches 2014 (7)

French Work Benches 2014 (8)

French Work Benches 2014 (9)

French Work Benches 2014 (10)

French Work Benches 2014 (13)

French Work Benches 2014 (12)

French Work Benches 2014 (11)

frenchmarketbench2014 (2)

IMG_2071

French Work Benches 2014 (14)

French Work Benches 2014 (15)

French Work Benches 2014 (16)

Work Bench france 2014

French Work Benches 2014 (17)

French Work Benches 2014 (18)

French Work Benches 2014 (19)

French Work-Bench 2014 (2)

French Work-Bench 2014 (3)

IMG_1504

IMG_1505

IMG_0697

IMG_0698