Boston Brooks

  Fraser Island Many years ago when the world was young, my father would take myself and some of his honours students on water sampling expeditions to Fraser Island. We would hike into the forest and find lakes, where we would test the water and go for a swim. We did lots of four wheel driving and we would stop at the beach, sample the ground water, and do some beach fishing. Leptospermums Leptospermum is the genus of flowering plants that bees collect nectar from to produce bioactive manuka honey. There is a bit of a legal contest over whether the honey has to specifically come from the manuka plant in New Zealand. Manuka honey contains an active compound called Methylglyoxal, that has good antibacterial properties. Manuka honey has seen great success in wound care and is a value-added brand of honey. Micropipeting A micropipetter is a tool for sucking up a small amount of liquid and depositing it in a separate container. With nectar sampling you use a micropipetter to inject a si...

 I've been a fan of catapults since I first played Age Of Empires 2. Here is a picture of a model trebuchet I purchased.  I made a few catapults and giant sling shots with my mate. The biggest catapult I made was a big rubber O ring meant for sealing storm drain pipes slung up along a set of monkey bars, with the in between bars working as a backfire arrester. I didn't record the amount of hangtime those golf balls got, but it was a good few seconds. It was a good thing no-one got their brain smashed in. One time we were using a rope made of elastic band, and he wasn't ready when I yanked him backwards so when he released the slingshot it came back at him. He got a black eye from being hit in the face with a passion fruit. Good times, Boston

Here is a painting of Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the few anime I can actually watch.   Rei is very smart but only speaks when absolutely necessary, a bit like me in high school. I'm thinking of painting or sculpting Rei Ayanami sitting back with half a bottle of scotch and a cigarette. Also thinking of making a Rei Ayanami costume, starting from a morphsuit.   Update 21/02/2022 I had to post this image with the caption: The face that Rei Ayanami makes, when her boss thinks that he is a drill-sergeant. Copyright: https://www.redbubble.com/i/poster/Rei-Ayanami-Smile-by-16TonPress/27999726.LVTDI

 A microcontroller is a little computer chip that can be found in devices such as tv remotes and washing machines, forming the brain of the device. My sister bought me a microcontroller development board called an Arduino. Arduinos are good because there are several modules you can plug in to the board and all the hard work is done for you because they have the application programming interface (api) tied down and you don't have to trawl through the documentation to write your own drivers.  The kit I was given came with a bunch of modules and a book of tutorial activities. I have been gradually working through these activities. I just build the electronic circuit indicated, plug it in to the Arduino, type up the code on my computer and upload it to the device and run the thing.

 I am in the process of commissioning a 3d model of the demonic cows from the secret cow level in Diablo II.  See image: I have been researching 3D printing and moulding processes. I have ordered the guts of an mp3 player that comes with a motion sensor to play sounds when someone walks past. I plan to make a cow statue that moos at you. That's all for now, Boss Update 5/1/2022 I asked for a model that was fat and cartoonish with stubby legs, as true to the original (pictured above). Here is an example of what I said I didn't want: Here is what I received: I will work with this for now. All for now, Boston. Update 28/1/2022 If I'm going to produce statues and figurines I'd better learn how to make and use moulds. I decided to start off easy with a simple frog design using paraffin wax. Simple frog design: Frog design with pour spout: Frog in situ.     Pouring the mould.   The mould is now set: Extracting the model: Mould ready to use: Melting wax: Mould in use: ...

 Here is where I will post details of my various projects.