Landchark

Finally got some more done on the k2 lounge.

Part 1: Neon

Added 4 neon tubes going down the stairs to give more of a Vegas feel to the entrance.

I had the opportunity to make these myself, and it was quite a neat experience. I have a friend in the local university’s art glass program, and he gave me a demo on how to make the them and then I proceeded to make 3 more. The tubes themselves are pre-made, and you have to melt the glass ends to attach the ‘nodes’ or whatever they are called that you attach the electricity to, then pump them full of neon gas. Hook them up to a transformer and there you have it, instant Vegas.

Now I just have to practice the bending of the tubes to make a giant flamingo or something.

Part 2: Kegerator with Wall Beer Tap

The next big addition was the adding of a beer tap behind the bar.

When my grandmother passed this summer, I claimed her old Philco refrigerator that was down in her basement. It amazes me how well things were made back in the day. This thing has about 3 inches of insulation on every side and is the quietest refrigerator compressor I have ever heard. It maintaining a steady 34 degrees (Fahrenheit) on the mid setting, which I couldn’t believe.

Worried that it would be a huge electricity drain, we hooked up a watt meter to it and it only takes the same amount of electricity as my mini-fridge under the bar. So no worries there.

I got the shank, faucet and coupler from the bar I used to work at, and ordered the drip tray from Perfect Brewing Supply. Picked up a 20 pound CO2 tank and regulator from a local gas supply company. Some hose, hose clamps, and a couple hole saw bits and I was all set to start.

Drilled the hole in the side of the fridge and put the 2 hoses through. I wrapped them in duct tape first to prevent them from being cut by the sharp metal edges on the hole. I drilled a pilot hole then did one side at a time to so I could look inside the wall of the fridge and make sure that I wasn’t going to hit a coolant line.

After shoving the hoses through the hole, I filled in the hole with Great Stuff expanding foam. That stuff really is Great. sealed the hole and hardened to hold the tubes in place.

Drilled a hole in the wall and mounted the faucet & shank with the drip tray hanging off it.

Drilled another hole below that and pushed the drain tube through and ran that down to the floor drain. Someday, when I get around to finishing the bath/laundry room, I’ll hard pipe that drain, but for now, this will work.

Hooked up all the rest of the tubing and then tapped my first beer.

Let me tell you, nothing tastes better than a beer out of your own wall.

Tags: , bar, basement bar, beer, kegerator, neon, philco, tap // 7 Comments »

Man Land alumni unite!

I have been contacted by some other people that have also been filmed for the HGTV show “Man Land” so I decided to put together a directory of sorts of all the Man Rooms that were filmed.

:: posted in order of original filming date ::

• The Man Cave
  Filmed: Feb 6 2007         

  (It’s not just a garage) Where Women are not only welcome, they are strongly encouraged (they just don’t have decorating authority)

• The Man Room
  Filmed: Mar 26 2007         

  A sanctuary from the excessive levels of estrogen in the rest of the house. Xbox arena, home theater, climbing wall, home office, etc.

• K2 Lounge
  Filmed: May 2 2007
  My own little bit of Vegas in my basement. Craps table, poker table, bar, blackjack table, home theater, and more added all the time.
   
• Jeff Smith
  Filmed : Jun 07 2007
  Self proclaimed theme of  ” Jeremiah Johnson goes to a flea market” with over 55 taxidermy animals, a fireplace, a 110 gal aquarium, 1,000 chilly pepper lights, 800 hats, and more horns, hides, heads, fins, feathers, and fur that you can count.
   
• The Blue Pig
  Filmed : Jun 21 2007         

  The Blue Pig includes a stage for his band “the Other White Meat”, bar, pool table, tiki bar. Now THAT is an impressive guitar collection.

• If you or someone you know was filmed for the HGTV show “Man Land”, send them this way and I will include them in this listing.

Tags: , Dumb TV, hgtv, man land // 3 Comments »

So I somehow got myself to this site:

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

and the moment the page loaded, I threw up a little bit.

I mean, geez, this is just not funny:

Then, before I left the site I noticed that there is a counter saying that there was over 1000 people on that site. Are you kidding me? There are that many people that not only find that crap funny, but had to have been searching for it? I mean, how many people actually live in Branson, MO?

What do they search for? “Stupid cat poses with moronic captions” must be a big google search keyword. The end is near, folks. When “wuz dat noisez? I wetted mah bedz againz” becomes the popular form of humor, it is time to load up on the bottled water and head to the hills, because civilization is at an end.

If this is how things are going, is Yakov Smirnoff going to make a huge comeback next?
“In mother Russia, cats make funny sayings about YOU!”

I’m just waiting for the “O RLY” owl to swoop out of the sky and feast upon these cats.

I can see the caption now:
“O HALP! A HUNGRIZ OWLZ0R IZ SNRFING MY STUPIDZ HED!”

Tags: , Dumb Interweb, lolcatz, yakov smirnoff // 1 Comment »

It is finished. At least, as finished as it is going to be since it still needs chip rails made and attached.

Where did I leave off. In our last episode, we left our hero with a craps table with no trim, no inside finishing done, things not painted and only one rail padded. A dire predicament indeed.

I made the second padded rail and painted all the exposed wood (see part 8 on the making of the rail). Then moved it down to the K2 lounge (basement) to put it into use.

It sat like that as I worked on various other projects until I found out I was going to be filmed for a new HGTV show called “Man Land”. That lit the fire under my butt to get this thing finished.

So here’s what I did:

Added some side trim pieces to cover the staples in the upholstered outside of the tub. Just some simple pine trim half round, painted gloss black, and attached with finishing nails.

After my previous experiences, I gave up on the idea of having a curved mirror and just cut a cheap ($2.50 on sale) full length mirror to fit. Glued it in place, done and done. I surrounded the mirror with the self stick vinyl tile I used on the other side of the inside of the tub. Looks pretty slick. In these photos, the flash really reflects off the white edges of the tile, but in person, you can hardly see the edges after i went over them with a black Sharpie.

The biggest dilemma was how to trim the curved top of the sides of the tub. I debated using everything from rubber door seal to vacuum cleaner hose, but nothing seemed to work. Either it didn’t fit right or it didn’t look right. Ended up slapping on some more of that self stick vinyl tile and it actually turned out pretty good. Gives it a good finish and shows off the curve nicely.

All in all, it was a fun project. Took way too long, but that’s how it goes. I’m happy with the result, even without the chip rail. Plus it’s been a lot of fun to play on.

Now if I could just find the perfect betting system…

Tags: , build, craps, craps table // 37 Comments »

Well, I finally did it. I finally realized my life long dream of being on a segment of a reality design show on HGTV.

Alright, I admit it, my real life long dream was to own an ice machine, but now I can say that I have been on TV. Well, not actually been on TV yet, but filmed for a show that will be on TV.

Let’s start from the beginning. There is going to be a new show premiering next fall on HGTV called Man Land. A researcher from the show saw photos on this site and contacted me. Long story short, they decided to come out and shoot my basement for a segment on the show.

They showed up and we did the shoot. It was quite an experience. A little glimpse into the magic of Hollywood. From what I can tell this magic is mostly created by doing things repeatedly, but from different camera angles.

They filmed for about 10 hours or so, and they said that all gets edited down to 7 minutes of TV time. So we’ll see how many of my witty comments get left in and don’t end up on the cutting room floor. They did a shot of my dogs, a stafford and a bulldog, playing poker with the host, so now there is a pool going as to who gets more airtime, me or my dogs.

We didn’t get paid or get any prizes for doing the show. The thrill of being on television and bringing entertainment and joy to millions of home viewers was payment enough for me. They did get me to promise on camera that I will next start to remodel the bathroom, so in a sense, my wife won a prize.

I did get a framed picture of the Man Land logo that I got to hang on my wall. The only way to get one of these things is to be on the show and be inducted into the “Man Land Nation”. That, or wait a few months when they start showing up on eBay. I think I’ll hold on to mine.

Tags: , Dumb TV, hgtv, man land // 3 Comments »