Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Campus Update

If you live in the area and haven’t driven through the Microsoft campus recently, take a little time to drive down 156th and prepare for a shock. An enormous chunk of the main campus is now a giant hole. There is a main project page that shows the overall project vision, but a few weeks ago, they also published an aerial time lapse showing the demolition. It’s hard to get a real sense of the progress from street level so it’s neat to see this from the sky.

It’s going to take years for this to complete but it’s not for lack of effort. There are a constant stream of trucks going in and out. Click that link above for the full story because it has some very interesting stats at the bottom. When we walk around campus, I like to see how many dump truck loads of dirt people think are being removed. That article says it was around 1 million cubic yards which comes out to something like 60,000 truck loads!

benmartens October 18, 2019 Commentary

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 6

The Seahawks find themselves at 5-1. They took a very interesting route to get there and it’s hard to argue that they should have won every game, but in the end, they are finding ways to win. Next they have the Ravens at home. We’ll see if the refs blatantly pick the winner for this game like they have so boldly been doing in other games. Monday Night Football was particularly atrocious this week.

In our league, Luke’s reign of terror was brought to an end by Dad. Nick put together his best game of the season but didn’t quite find that first win. Next week the top four teams all square off against each other in what might be a preview of some playoff matches. The rest of us will run around aimlessly at the bottom wondering why we can’t score more points.

I’d like to take a minute to point out that the New England defense is going wild this year. They are the 11th highest scoring “player” in the league behind 9 quarterbacks and Christian McCaffrey. Who would have guessed they would be outscoring Aaron Rodgers in Week 6? Kudos to Tyler for that waiver pickup.

Tim is doing really well to still be up there in second place. He’s had the most difficult schedule so far. The weekly power rankings still have Luke on top though.

1. Luke (Helmetheads)
2. Tim (Beer-me)
3. Logan (Goat Roapers) +1
4. Tyler (Krazy Kanuck) +1

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Dad had 159.00 Luke had 202.63 (Week 5) Luke had 202.63 (2019)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 79.13 Was: Nick had 83.87 (Week 4) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Logan beat Andy by 66 Was: Luke beat Andy by 61.07 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tim beat Nick by 4.66 Andy beat Tyler by 0.56 (Week 5) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Logan has a 2 game winning streak Luke has a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Nick has a 6 game losing streak Was: Nick has a 5 game losing streak (Week 5) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Stefon Digs had 40.00 points for Dad. Deshaun Watson had 51.74 for Tyler (Week 5) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
benmartens October 16, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 5

The pass from Wilson to Lockett will be one of those that you see for years to come. If you haven’t seen it, go watch it and then argue at the water cooler about whether or not Wilson was throwing the ball away. That wasn’t the last amazingly lucky thing that happened during the game though. There was the unbelievable fingertip interception by Thompson and the highly improbable Zuerlein miss to hand the game to the Seahawks. They probably didn’t deserve the win, or some of their other wins so far, but they’re 4-1!

In our league, Tim smashed his own season record for the most points in a week… only to get the bad end of the “biggest blowout” for the week! Luke smashed Tim’s all-time record with 202.63 points! If you want to be really amazed, check out the points on Luke’s bench. His optimal lineup was 251! Keep in mind that Luke has only made one roster move this season. That’s quite the autodraft team! Elsewhere, Andy and Tyler both put up big scores only to see Andy win by 0.56. This all means that Luke is alone in first place and he is two games ahead of Tim, Tyler, Andy and Logan who are all 3-2.

It goes without saying that Luke is at the top of our power rankings, but here’s how the rest of the top 4 shake out:

1. Luke (Helmetheads)
2. Tim (Beer-me) +2
3. Andy (RAAAWWWRRRRR!!!) +2
4. Logan (Goat Roapers) -1

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Luke had 202.63 Was: Tim had 150.29 (Week 1) Was: Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Nick had 96.67 Nick had 83.87 (Week 4) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Tim by 33.52 Luke beat Andy by 61.07 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Andy beat Tyler by 0.56 Was: Tim beat Logan by 1.35 (Week 4) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Luke has a 5 game winning streak Was: Luke has a 4 game winning streak (Week 4) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Nick has a 5 game losing streak Was: Nick has a 4 game losing streak (Week 4) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Deshaun Watson had 51.74 for Tyler. Was: Russell Wilson had 45.35 for Andy. (Week 3) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
benmartens October 9, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Bailey’s Pumpkin Patch

It’s pumpkin patch season and pumpkin patches are big business. The grandaddy of them all is Remlinger Farms where you’ll pay $25/person for the privilege of walking in. We’ve been going to Bob’s Corn for quite a while but it has gotten busier and busier until this year they jumped on the admission train and it’s $18/person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see them doing well and yay capitalism, but we decided it was time to move on to a place that wasn’t overwhelmed with mustachioed hipsters from Seattle.

So this year we headed a bit farther north to the Bailey Family Farm. They have a really nice (but small and not too crowded) set up with everything we were looking for. We met up with some other friends there and had a nice morning. I think we’ll be heading back again, and since it’s pretty close to the route that Tyla and Elijah drive every day for school, we might end up using their veggie stand in the future.

benmartens October 7, 2019 Family

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 4

The Seahawks got back on track this week against the hapless Cardinals. Pete Carroll’s nose was all patched up and Carson was holding onto the ball and staying on his feet. 3 and 1 is a great start to the season but they’ll have a tough test next week with the Rams at home.

In our league, Luke continued his undefeated streak and handed me a loss even though I had the second most points in the league. Yes, I’m bitter. Logan lost to Tim on Monday night even though he only needed 4.4 points from Juju to beat Tim. I assume Logan is bitter too. Tim gets the next crack at taking down his brother’s streak next week while I try to keep Nick from getting his first win.

With four weeks under our belts already, my pointless, inaccurate, custom power ranking algorithm is ready to go!

1. Luke (Helmetheads)
2. Ben (Kool Aid Kid)
3. Logan (Goat Roapers)
4. Tim (Beer-me)

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Luke had 145.94 Tim had 150.29 (Week 1) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Nick had 83.87 Was: Andy had 81.19 (Week 1) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Ben by 17.09 Luke beat Andy by 61.07 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tim beat Logan by 1.35 Was: Logan beat Ben by 2.87 (Week 3) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Luke has a 4 game winning streak Was: Luke has a 3 game winning streak (Week 3) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Nick has a 4 game losing streak Was: Nick has a 3 game losing streak. (Week 3) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Nick Chubb had 37.80 for Ben. Russell Wilson had 45.35 for Andy. (Week 3) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
benmartens October 2, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Wooden Spaceship

Back in June, Tyla and Elijah got me a copy of the Wooden Toy Spacecraft book. It was one I had my eye on for a while, but it took some time to finally dig into a project. A couple weekends back, I had some time with Elijah in the garage so we started building a spaceship. It turned into one of the best afternoons I’ve had with Elijah in the shop! He was engrossed with taking all my offcuts, telling me where to make additional cuts, and sanding until it fit the vision in his head. After a couple hours, his six year old nature got the best of him and he lost interest so his spaceship still isn’t quite finished, but mine is!

I built this completely out of wood in my scrap bin – walnut, padauk, sapele and pine dowels. If I was doing it from scratch, I think some woods with higher contrast might have looked better, but I still love the way this turned out. The only problem now is figuring out where to display it!

benmartens October 1, 2019 Woodworking

Name Toy

Last fall, one of the last projects I did before my CNC arrived was a name toy for Emelia. I really liked how that project came out so when it came time to make a gift for another child, I decided to do the same thing again but this time I used the CNC. That dramatically simplified the project and reduced a lot of errors but I did struggle with cleaning up the milling marks left by my slightly out of square CNC machine. I used the same paint colors because I still had a lot left in the can and I liked how the enamel paint created a nice coating on the letters. I used a piece of walnut for the backing and finished that with spray lacquer.

benmartens September 26, 2019 Woodworking

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 3

The Seahawks were a mess on Sunday. Chris Carson continued his league-leading fumble stat while also slipping all over the field. They stuck with the run despite limited success and bumbled their way to a loss in what should have been a game that was easier to win given the lack of Drew Brees. Meh.

In our league, Luke is now the sole owner of first place! I have the next chance to topple him from his perch. Elsewhere in the league, Dad got his first win over Tim who looked very strong the first two games and Andy broke out of his slump to win with the highest score this week.

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Andy had 145.47 Tim had 150.29 (Week 1) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Tim had 95.61 Andy had 81.19 (Week 1) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Dad beat Tim by 38.42 Luke beat Andy by 61.07 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Logan beat Ben by 2.87 Was: Luke beat Nick by 3.04 (Week 2) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Luke has a 3 game winning streak Was: Tim, Luke and Tyler have 2 game winning streaks. (Week 2) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Nick has a 3 game losing streak. Was: Nick, Andy and Dad have 2 game losing streaks. (Week 2) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Russell Wilson had 45.35 for Andy. Was: Lamar Jackson had 43.56 for Tim (Week 1) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
benmartens September 25, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Tub Drying Rack

We end up using the tub in our bathroom to dry stuff out fairly often, so when I was at Rockler the other day, I paused when I walked by the walnut dowels. I picked up three 5/8″ dowels and a small piece of figured walnut. It’s a little tricky to deal with figured woods with the tools that I have available, but eventually I got both ends cut to size and looking nice. Elijah used his favorite tool (the drill press) with a forstner bit to put six holes in the ends and then it was just a matter of a quick glue up with a few coats of spray lacquer to finish it off. It fits perfectly (phew!) and I love looking at that beautiful grain!

 

benmartens September 19, 2019 Commentary

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 2

Drew Brees and Ben Roethesliesilseilberger are both out for a long time. Yikes! Ben wasn’t owned in our league but Nick will be scrambling to replace Drew. As for the Seahawks, they are now 2-0 despite their offensive line getting run over in the early part of the game. Getting sacked is one thing, getting sacked on two consecutive plays is another… getting sacked on two consecutive plays by the same player? Come on! Thankfully they were able to make some changes to avoid having a pancake at quarterback.

In our league, Tim continued his hot streak by posting the highest score again. The Scherschel brothers are holding down the top two spots and Tyler rounds out the trio of undefeated managers. Tyler and Luke play each other next week so one of them will get their first lost. Nick and Andy play each other next week so one of them will get their first win.

On to the weekly awards… notice that the season record and all time record for biggest blowout are both Luke beating Andy. Hmm…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Tim had 141.92 Tim had 150.29 (Week 1) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Logan had 98.48 Andy had 81.19 (Week 1) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Tyler beat Logan by 30.14 Luke beat Andy by 61.07 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Luke beat Nick by 3.04 Was: Logan beat Nick by 10.13 (Week 1) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Tim, Luke and Tyler have 2 game winning streaks. Was: Tim, Luke, Tyler and Logan have 1 game winning streak (Week 1) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Nick, Andy and Dad have 2 game losing streaks. Was: Ben, Nick, Dad and Andy have a 4 game losing streak (Week 1) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Patrick Mahomes had 39.62 for Andy Lamar Jackson had 43.56 for Tim (Week 1) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
benmartens September 18, 2019 Fantasy Sports