In the second part of this series, I interview my dad, Chuck Pettis. Chuck explains the intentions behind the Cottonwood Stone Circle and the exciting new developments at the stone circle. Chuck also gives advice on making your own sacred space and explains why he used Columbia River Basalt Columns in this stone circle. The Cottonwood Stone Circle is changing a lot from what it looked like before and in part three in this series, you’ll get a chance to see some heavy machinery in action.

This is a picture of my Aunt Lydia. She’s gotten bitten by the ham radio bug and has been going out and participating in fox hunts during the weekends in Ithaca, New York. She’s been getting really into it and her enthusiasm is contagious, thus inspiring both my dad and I to work on getting our technician licences. Here in Seattle, a disaster like a tsunami or volcano eruption could happen at any time and if it does, all the cell networks and phones will go out. It will be important to have alternative means to communicate.

I’ve been studying the powerpoint questions for the exam over at microhams and just took a practice test over at QRZ. I’m proud to say that with just about a weeks worth of hard study, I took my first practice test and got an 87%, which is a passing grade. I grew up with a short wave reciever and actually read a few study books in my teen years, but I’ve never really gotten serious about it until now. I’m on the lookout for a morse code study program for the mac so that I can get a Technician “Extra” license!

My dad is a brand-marketer by day and builds megalithic monuments on the weekends at Earth Sanctuary, a meditation parkland and wildlife preserve.

In the past few weeks, he’s been expanding the cottonwood stone circle and this video is the first of several videos on the construction of the new and improved Cottonwood Stone Circle. The Cottonwood Stone Circle is now the tallest stone circle in the world!

This is my first video podcast for the make blog. Peter Zdebski makes things. He’s working on an imdb aimbot. It will make querying the imdb database for ratings go a lot faster on his sidekick. He also showed me the night vision illuminator he made from a mish-mash of parts he got at Frye’s.



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My Volvo 544

Originally uploaded by brex.

I’ve had this car for almost two years and I need something with 4 doors that I can load gear into and out of. It’s a great car with a freshish engine, dual weber carbs, isky cam, sway bars, custom exhaust and more. It’s been my daily driver and it’s a good car. If you’re interested, drop me a note at pettisb@yahoo.com and come on over and check it out. Asking price is $5000 .

Word BubblesI’m teaching my 6th graders how to make comic books. On Monday we started exploring the archetypes of hero/heroine, sidekick, villian, henchmen, victim, and innocent bystander. Tuesday we talked about the events that happen in a comic book. In the first issue of most comic books, comic book authors give some back story or set the stage. Today I talked about word bubbles, the conceptual reasoning behind big frames and small frames on the page, and how to layout your page in thumbnails and then trace grid paper to make nice rectangles that will fill up your page.

It was interesting to explore the conceptual differences between a page that has just one drawing and a page that has multiple drawings in lots of frames. A page with one drawing can be used by comic book artist to get a lot detail in a picture or establish the setting or focus on an important moment in the story. Having a lot of frames on a page allows the comic book artist to show events in time and get a lot of action on the page.

I really enjoyed a lot of the ideas that my students and I brainstormed about archetypes. Here are some of them for your perusal and for my archive:

Heros and heroines get to wear the best costumes and they sometimes have to have a secret identity to protect the ones they love. If a hero or heroine doesn’t have super powers, they better have some snazzy gadgets. Heros and heroines are ambitious. Even the greatest hero or heroine can have a vulnerability.

Sidekicks are usually younger, shorter, and not as experienced as the hero. Sidekicks can be the backup plan when the hero or heroine gets captured. Sidekicks will often have a corny catchphrase. Sidekicks have to work hard to avoid being labeled a poser or wannabe.

Villians have a distinctive laugh and may have scars on their face. Often they have a plan for destruction or revenge. If the villian isn’t psychotic, there is usually a reason for destruction or revenge. Villians have a better chance of being bald and often have eyes of a disturbing color.

Henchmen and minions can really hinder a villian. They can mess up the most evil plans.

Innocent bystanders aren’t the main focus of the action. They get flabbergasted easily and are often tempted to say “gasp!”

Victims are sometimes friends or family of the superhero and are generally caught off guard in their pajamas. Victims might know too much.

Hideouts are for heros and heroines. If a villian has a hideout, it’s called a lair and could be in a volcano.

I’ve set up a website just for Magic Monkey Bob. Go check it out! Bob has just made requests for people to “Ask Bob” and then he’ll respond to them.

In this video I teach you how to make a Magic Monkey Bob finger puppet. You need felt, needle and thread, googly eyes and a pair of fabric cutting scissors! Watch the video and then go make your own finger puppets!

I’m on the lookout for people who make things! I’ve done a lot of different kinds of videos on this website and now it’s time to focus on video interviews with people who make things.

If you make things and live in the Seattle area, please drop me a note at pettisb@yahoo.com and We’ll arrange a time for me to bring all my video gear out and I’ll interview you about what you do.

Don’t live in Seattle? I’ve got a few ways of doing remote interviews, drop me a note and we’ll work it out!

I saw this band playing downtown at artwalk this last summer and posted this video then. They are “Wallpaper” and after they played I asked them if I could post their video on my website. They responded with, “Make it go viral man!” Watching them, I could just feel the potential for superstardom. They are really good. If anyone can find them on the internet. Let me know so I can post a link and buy everything they put out!

Update: Go check out their myspace page with upcoming performance dates!