Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Home Remodel - Building a Bar

Note - This was originally published on my other site "The Geology P.A.G.E." but due to the content I have moved it here and backdated the post.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Building a Bar

I have been steadily working on the new house for some time and I wanted to publish some photos of my current project - the bar. Now the bar I built in my old house was far larger but I spent much less time on it. My hope is that this one will not only be functional, but it would also blend in well with the woodwork.



This first image is of the space that we are putting the bar into. It is next to stairs going up into the rest of the house. The only problem is that the bottom half is a false wall covering the entrance to the crawlspace. This meant that I had to make the bar completely removable if someone needs to get under there.



This is what the bar looks like that I added. I has some problem with the finish on the doors so that will need to be redone but I think it looks good so far. I tried to match the pattern of the walls with the doors but we wanted it darker so it would stand out a bit.



On the inside we wanted to use as a storage space for bar stuff (like cups and shot glasses) so I put in shelves. Not bad looking figuring the entire thing can be removed in under 5 minutes.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The 306 Greatest Books #79 - The BFG

Note - This review was originally published on my other site "The Geology P.A.G.E." but due to the content I have moved it here and backdated the post.

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is The BFG by Roald Dahl. This book can be found on the Observer and BBC Book Lists.



The BFG is a children's book about a little girl who discovers a Big Friendly Giant (AKA the BFG). Along with the BFG, there are other giants who are not so friendly, well, because they eat people. The plot of the story is that the little girl convinces the BFG to take the bad giants down. I found this to be a rather gruesome story for a child but ended up being a perfect children's book. My main gripe, and this is a general gripe with Dahl, was that the made-up words got to be a bit tiresome after a while. The story has clear cut morality issues and includes a heroine who is just your everyday kid. It is a good story for kids that parents do not need to be too worried about, despite the gruesomeness. Overall, the book was enjoyable, but it was just not my cup of tea.