Makerr... Monday: Tin Can Planter

Photo from Apartment Therapy

[Charles] So I'm a day behind on Maker Monday. The good news is I found a super cool repurposed planter on Apartment Therapy that fit the bill today. They took an oversized vegetable oil can from a restaurant and fit a little tree in it. They had to do a little metal work to get the top off and roll the edges down, but all in all it's a pretty quick little project. Seems like the perfect thing for a miniature lemon or olive tree... Here's the link for the how to

Friday Forecast: Heatwave Heatwave Heatwave

Photo from triumphant cover of the Austin Chronicle when Bright Light Social Hour cleaned up the awards last year
[Charles] If you have talked to me in the last few weeks, I've probably mentioned Heatwave. I go on and on about it but it hasn't disappointed me yet. 50 plus bands, outside and inside, tons of people that really love music, awesome food, and just the best hang out vibe around. I love this festival! They have so many great bands this year and I always miss many more than I can see. One way to catch more is to pay attention to the surrounding dates and some of the bands play other shows the day before or after...

Friday night you can hopefully catch me checking in on Jubal's Kin up at Ella's Folk Art Cafe in Seminole Heights. This is a really awesome family folk band from Florida. Tons of buzz around this crew at Heatwave and if you see them Friday night you can see somebody else at Heatwave yeah!

Saturday is the main event. Get there at 4:30 and you can stay until something like 2 am. There are so many bands - Carolina Chocolate Drops and Cracker are the headliners. I am even more excited for bands like The Bright Light Social Hour, Two Man Gentleman Band, Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade, The Only Sons, Alias Punch, Those Darlins, Hymn For Her, and well I could go on and on. Get to the website wmnf.org/heatwave - download a schedule, and get a freakin ticket. You won't be disappointed and if you don't like a band or it gets too crowded just walk five steps and the entire thing changes. They bring in so many different types of music it will blow your mind - folk, rock, americana, bluegrass, big band, latin, african, soul, blues, and even zydeco. I'll definitely see you there... Oh yeah and The Lambasters have just been added to the schedule!!! See our favorite front man Ernie Locke in his new rawkin band!

St. Pete Times Guide

CL Tampa Guide

Sunday you can catch The Flat Earth Society from Belgium over at the Palladium. I've heard all sorts of cool things about this 15 piece improvisational jazz band. It might be worth checking them out at Heatwave and then maybe heading over to see them for the cooldown on Sunday.

Getting Ready for Heatwave : The Only Sons

Really digging this alt country band from Tennessee. Check em out this Saturday at Heatwave! Can you tell I'm excited?

Getting Ready for Heatwave

One band I'm excited about seeing at Tropical Heatwave this year is Bright Light Social Hour. Check em out if you get a chance. Get all the details at wmnf.org/heatwave

Maker Monday: DIY Antennas

Photo from Instructables
[Charles] So a couple of years ago when the economy really tanked and things got pretty financially tight at the house, we decided to cut all we could. Eventually that meant the cable. I know. The DVR. The movies. The constant flood of DIY shows and ideas. It all had to go. At $100 bucks a month or whatever, it just couldn't go on. So we got an antenna and luckily the digital channel conversion was underway so instantly we had some channels. The cheapie antennas we bought worked pretty well and got most of the channels because we apparently happen to live near a lot of channel towers.

However, eventually you will get to the point that the reception craps out in the middle of some critical point in a show that you are way too invested in because - if you don't watch much TV then apparently you get way more attached to the little bit you do watch (that's my theory anyway). So there you are watching the killer getting caught on Castle and it blips out right in the middle of the pithy comeback of our fantastic protagonist... ARRRGH!

Why am I telling you this? Because you too can cut the cable and join us and maybe you won't have to suffer like we have. I refuse to spring for a huge pole mounted antenna that can take down airplane traffic but I'd like a little better reception. Thank you internets! Doing a quick search for "DIY tv antenna" turned up all sorts of open source antenna plans and even a Make magazine video on how to do it. There was even an Instructable on how to add one to the Dish that you don't use anymore. Now if I can get this thing together and put in the attic without dying of heatstroke I might just get to see the end of Parenthood again without chucking my tv into the alley in a rage. It's not for the faint of heart folks but if you want to join us - it is awfully satisfying...

Friday Forecast: Will's Popsickle Injustice

[Charles] Looking for ways to spend your weekend on something other than Wii and Law and Order? Maybe you should peruse the short list. This just might get you out of the house...

I typically don't send folks on a road trip to kick off the weekend but if you are in the vicinity of Orlando or don't really care about the price of gas and all that then here's a good one. Tonight at Will's Pub in Orlando you can catch the CD release party that you missed last weekend at NWB. Sleepy Vikings are playing with The Pauses and Fever and it should be an awesome show. I really am digging the new tracks from the Vikings and the Pauses have a fresh new release as well.

Tomorrow night there is a couple of shows- The Popsickle show at CZAR with Hank and Cupcakes is gonna be a doozy. I saw them a few months ago at NWB and they definitely should do well in a more club and dance type atmosphere. That being said - they even got the hipsters at NWB shaking it a little bit. I'll be interested to see how they do with a little larger sound system and people that are ready to party. They have some fantastic pop stylings with this fresh aggressive pop mixed with the stark drum kit of of an 80's band.

Also tomorrow night is a house punk show for local faves New Bruises, Devout, Injustice System, Ink and Sweat. I only know Injustice System and all signs indicate this is gonna be a hard edged fast paced punk show knowing those guys. Its a house concert at what's called the Hold Tight House in the SH Hood. I have almost no details and so that means it could go either way but, well sometimes that's just what you need.

Have fun out there!

Maker Monday: Compost Bin with Style

Photo from Tiny Meat

[Charles} Saw this one last week on Re-Nest and knew it was gonna make the list. I have two - half -hearted composters for my leaves which are marginally ugly but also not totally functional. I built a three sided box for one that makes it easier to turn over the leaves but also they spill out and look pretty bad most of the time. The other one is a round piece of fencing that is chock full of leaves. It's prettier but also near impossible to turn the compost when it gets too full. So anyway, I like this idea. Way prettier and it should get a little more air circulating. The front boards are slats that can pulled out to access the compost. I wonder how to keep it from getting too dry? Maybe a solid bottom? Most of all, if I can make one like this, I should get a lot less weird looks from visitors about my strange composting attempts... Sounds like they got the plans for it here.

Friday Forecast: Ziggy Sleepy Baamo

[Charles] Friday is for kicking the weekend off so if you don't know what to do then why don't you do what I would do if I got to do all that I want to do. Huh? Just keep reading... here's three for the masses.

Friday Night - Ziggy Marley is at the Green Iguana?! Really?! You read that right. Ziggy Friggy Marley is playing at the Green Iguana on Dale Mabry across from the Stadium. Not even Ybor Green Iguana? I don't know how this happened but you better get yourself down there before he figures out what has happened and heads to the Mons. Of course the tickets are $27.50 so I gotta think that the Iguana has never charged that much for a show ever. So get out there and shake it people. This should be memorable - one way or the other.

On Saturday night - How about the Sleepy Vikings cd release party for starters? Over at the Crowbar in Ybor there will be some serious rock out while they kick off their world tour or at least their long tour through most of the US. We've had the luxury of getting to hear them often here in Tampa but don't mess around and miss this because they might just blow up and the last thing you want to do is try and catch some "southern shoegaze" at the Forum downtown. Plus - the awesome Florida Night Heat is opening and they are a super cool funky trio that always guarantees a good time. I haven't seen the other opener Guiltmaker yet but I hear nice things as they say...

While you're down there in sweaty old Ybor, sometimes it helps to take a stroll to another venue to cool off and text your buddies or to tweet about how awesome Saturday night is to your followers. So anyhow, if you do manage to peel yourself away from the show at Crowbar then I would suggest heading to New World for the BAAMO showcase of local artists and the release of their new compilation CD. This one is called Tales of Highways and Low Roads and features such artists as Alexander and the Grapes, Rebekah Pulley, Will Quinlan, The Woeful Ones, and The Human Condition. All of those folks and more are on the cd and the show starts at 5:00. What better way to start a long Saturday night than in support of local music?

Also, don't miss out on the Seed Swap Anniversary Party at the Independent on Sunday from 4-6. Its a potluck kind of a thing so bring a snack and have a beer -

From the invite -

"Join us for our 2nd Birthday Party and 1st Annual Seed Swap! Bring your seeds to share and come listen to some great music and enjoy the fare of The Independent, along with bringing in your own dish to share! Show us what you can cook!
We will also be holding an awards ceremony to thank everyone who has been an integral part of the garden being such a great thing to be a part of."

Maker Monday: Concrete Storage

Photos from Core77
[Charles] I did a little project with concrete resurfacing material last week and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd look for something even cooler. I was fixing the slope on a sill in our shower so the water runs back into the shower and doesn't puddle - pretty sexy right?! Well anyway it was well overdue, but I just happened to have some left over concrete resurfacer to use. I like this stuff because it is super strong even in thin layers without reinforcement wire. So lo and behold, today I'm looking for something to talk about and here is this cool thing over on Core77. I've seen tons of usb drive ideas, wood, plastic, star wars characters, old teeth whatever, but this is concrete. Concrete is cold and substantial and oh so modsexy. So see what you think of these little drives. I especially like that they carved little semiconductor board looking patterns in them. Now if only I had done that instead of just putting my handprint... Wait though - how cool would it be to put your thumbprint in the concrete as it sets up! Oh yeah, concrete project here we come.

Friday Forecast: Trashy Sun Earth

[Charles] Hey it's Earth Day! Snuck up on ya right?! No worries - here's your cribsheet for the weekend - plenty of green to go around.

Friday night you've got the Trashy Fashion show in Largo at the Largo Cultural Center. This is, I think, the third year in a row they've done this and it really looks like fun. Designers get challenged with making their clothes from at least 75% recycled and reused material. Maybe its a little kitschy but it also gets you thinking about what you could reuse for something else. Also, get there early because they invite great green vendors out to share with the community as well. They setup the vendors from 5-7 and the runway show starts at 7 pm.

After that, you'll be heading back over the bridge but it might be a little early to turn in. Hopefully if you stop by Ella's Folk Art Cafe you'll be able to catch most of the set from my favorite young local band The Sun Society! I don't think they've played Ella's yet but I mentioned them a while ago and finally they are here. They are a super talented group of young players and the two leads are sisters which make for some amazing harmonies. The music is modern indie pop sort along the lines of Regina Spektor and Feist but really good. Don't miss out on seeing them and pick up their album or just head over to Bandcamp and download it.

Saturday is the big Earth Day Tampa Bay event at USF. It is a co-sponsored event by the Office of Sustainability and the Sierra Club out at the Botanical Gardens on campus. For the last few years the Sierra Club event at Lowry Park has been a little of the same thing over so I'm really hoping by tying it with the university that can infuse it with some excitement. The event at USF was great and I think it makes a lot of sense to put them together. Also, the Botanical Gardens are easy so hopefully that will help push the attendance up. I checked out the vendor list and there are tons of new vendors I've never even heard of so I'm really excited to see what they get this year. It sounds like they are going to have bands out there too although I couldn't find the specific times and dates on their site. Check it out and see the beautiful Botanical Gardens and help support a new era for Greens in Tampa.

Have fun out there!