Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Elijah’s Favorite Shows

I wrote about Elijah’s favorite songs back in December and that list is still pretty accurate. I thought it might also be interesting to record the shows that he likes to watch the most:

  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Fox and the Hound 2
  • Cars – He’ll specifically tell you “Cars 1, not Cars 2”. I agree.
  • Thomas the Tank Engine
  • Curious George
  • Bob the Builder
  • Clifford the Big Red Dog

The top two are the only ones he’s asked to watch for the last month or so, but the others have had their time in the spotlight of obsession too.

It’s pretty cute how much he loves Winnie the Pooh right now. One of my favorite games is when he pretends that he’s Roo and I’m a Heffalump. He leads me around the house and explains things too me. Usually when I ask him to tell me about his day, he says, “I didn’t do anything. I just laid on the floor. All day.” But when he’s Roo, he goes into great detail. I love it!

benmartens April 25, 2017 Family

Dad and Mom Visit

My parents came to stay with us over Easter. They are so good with Elijah, and Tyla and I were happy to have a break. In fact, we even went out for a date night while they were here.

We didn’t have anything huge planned while they were here but our days were nicely filled. The biggest trip was probably a leisurely ferry ride for lunch. I put Dad to work and we knocked a bunch of things off my todo list both at our house and the church property.

We’ve had a record shattering wet winter and spring, but somehow the weather was pretty nice while they were here.

We all look forward to their visits and it’s hard to say goodbye, but we’re looking forward to seeing them again this summer.

benmartens April 24, 2017 Family

Easter Videos

This year I forgot to do my traditional Easter blog post, so instead I’ll share the videos that I recorded during the Easter service. In order, the videos are: preservice music, the sermon, a choir song and postservice music. I also included the first verse of I Know That My Redeemer Lives at the end of the sermon video.

benmartens April 21, 2017 Video

Classic Mac Games

One of my earliest experiences with a computer was the Macintosh Classic (or Classic II?) that Dad would bring home from work. I spent a lot of hours on that machine and one of our favorite games was Airborne. Gameplay was pretty simple. You had two different times of guns to shoot from the lower left of the screen. Planes and helicopters flew in from the right and sometimes they would drop parachuting infantry. Once there were enough troops on the ground, you would lose.

It turns out that archive.org not only has some of the old Mac games, but there’s a built-in emulator so you can easily play them from your browser! Airborne is on the list and you can play it right now.

Now if only I could find a few other favorites from that computer. I remember an air traffic control game, a “3D” maze game with monsters, and an elevator/frogger game. I wasn’t able to find any of those on the archive.org list but maybe they’ll show up eventually.

 

benmartens April 20, 2017 Geek

Piano Book Shelves

We’ve lived in this house for 6.5 years. For that entire time, our piano books have sat on the floor in the box that they were packed in (or scattered messily around the box.)

I decided this would be a good wood working project to tackle so I flipped through a bunch of plans and settled on the tower bookshelves from Wood Magazine, partially because I previously purchased the digital back catalog of the magazine so the plans were “free.” The plans recommend oak or maple but I thought I’d go for cherry.

The project began with a trip to Crosscut Hardwoods to buy the most expensive piece of plywood that I’ve ever purchased (though it can get much more expensive than this!) I got a 3/4″ piece of cherry plywood that was nice on both sides, a 1/4″ piece that was nice on only one side, and a 1″ thick board.

I was pretty nervous about cutting into the plywood, but I was also excited to use my new table saw with a big sheet of plywood. My old saw was too wimpy and too unsafe to do big pieces. I cut about 25″ off one end and then ran the rest through the saw. The saw ran like a champ, and combined with the assembly/outfeed table, it never felt unsafe.

After cutting some strips of hardwood and using it as edge banding on the plywood, the main joinery is done using biscuits. I’ve done a little bit of work with the biscuit joiner before but never this much. It really is simple and makes quick work of some of these bigger glue ups.

Next up was the base and the top trim pieces. Those were a little tricky as the plans recommended biscuit joints on the mitered angles to hold the joints together. That worked but I think I’d probably choose a different method next time because it took forever to get my cheapo biscuit joiner dialed in for that fancy cut. In the photo below you see a scrap piece filling in the empty back so that the band clamp can squeeze evenly all the way around.

The final construction step was to build the drawer, install the drawer slides, and then cut/attach the drawer front.

For a finish, I chose to keep it simple and went with a wipe on polyurethane. It does give a bit of a plasticy finish but that build-up is also extra protection for the books that will be sliding in and out fairly regularly. After the coats of finish were done, I put on the 1/4″ back and reinstalled the drawer.

Once we figured out where to place it in the room, I took the time to attach the top to a stud with a strap. It’s very easy to tip over and with a three year old running around, it wouldn’t take long for it to topple over.

This project was a nice way to dabble in some nicer furniture. This was about the biggest thing I can comfortably handle in my shop so I won’t be tackling a dining table anytime soon, but I’m happy I did this one.

It’s pretty easy to see the different colors of cherry woods, but I’m hopeful that as time goes on, the cherry will all darken up to the same color. But even as it is now, I’m very happy with it and admit to walking into that room just to check out the bookshelves. It’s a nice step up from the cardboard box mess on the floor.

 

benmartens April 19, 2017 Woodworking

Childhood Memories

I’m thankful to have a couple dozen good pictures from most years of my life. Elijah? He’s going to have thousands per year. What will that do to his memory of these early years? Will those pictures trigger memories earlier than what used to be normal?

I don’t remember what my “earliest” memory is, but here are some that I know happened fairly young (around 3-4 years old?). I’ll leave the psychoanalysis about why I remember these specific things up to you.

  • I walked up the stairs of our house in Michigan, and said, “Hi Mom!” Mom turned around and said, “Why Mom and not Mommy?”
  • Dad took me bowling. It was just the two of us. I don’t remember bowling but I remember driving to the bowling alley with him.
  • I pooped or peed in my underwear sufficiently long after I had given up diapers and my parents made me dip it in the toilet and clean it out. It was so gross that I never wanted to do it again.
  • I remember two neighbors from our house in Michigan. The one next door had a pool WITH STEPS IN IT! Wow. And a neighbor down the street bought a Corvette. I remember thinking, “Why did you buy such a cool car and pick a color that looks like poop?” It was that classic brown color from the 70s.

So there we go. Those are my earliest childhood memories. I wonder what Elijah’s will be? Hopefully not the motorcycle race.

benmartens April 18, 2017 Family

Best Of YouTube

Destin over at Smarter Every Day posted a great video with a guy who can talk backwards. They test him to see how different activities affect his ability to talk backwards. Destin is also the co-host of a good new podcast called No Dumb Questions.

This next recommendation is really an entire channel: The Q. These videos show how to make some fun machines with common household items. His main materials are cardboard and hot glue. For example, here’s a robotic arm made from simple syringes and cardboard.

How many do think are in Australia herding cattle with a HELICOPTER? 10? Well, according to this article, 10 of them die every year. This looks very effective… and completely crazy.

benmartens April 17, 2017 Links

Easy Shepherd’s Pie

I love shepherd’s pie, but mostly I love the idea of it because I rarely make it. The other weekend, I finally decided to look up an easy version of the recipe and I found this one from Food.com. I cheated and used packaged mashed potatoes and it worked fine. Real would be better but that’s a lot of work.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 cups mashed potatoes, hot (packaged will work if time is tight)
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
  • 1 cup beef gravy

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F Brown meat in skillet and drain.
  2. Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and the garlic until well blended.
  3. Stir vegetables and gravy into meat.
  4. Spoon into 9-inch square baking dish.
  5. Cover with potato mixture. Don’t worry about it being perfectly even, the more rustic it looks, the better.
  6. Sprinkle with remain 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.
benmartens April 14, 2017 Food

Bacon Cheese Topped Chicken

You had me at “bacon”. (Via Taste Of Home)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 4-1/2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • Dash paprika
  • 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
  • 8 strips of cooked bacon
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

  • In a small bowl, combine the mustard, honey, 1-1/2 teaspoons oil and lemon juice. Pour 1/2 cup into a large resealable plastic bag; add the chicken. Seal the bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate the remaining marinade
  • Drain and discard marinade from chicken. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in remaining oil on all sides. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Transfer to a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish.
  • In the same skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender. Spoon reserved marinade over chicken. Top with cheeses and mushrooms. Place bacon strips in a crisscross pattern over chicken.
  • Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Sprinkle with parsley.
benmartens April 13, 2017 Food

Cheesy Gnocci with Ham and Peas

We have been making some new recipes lately so for the next three days, I’ll share some of the best ones with you.

The first is a great, quick weeknight recipe and it would be a good way to use up some of those ham leftovers after Easter. (via Food Network)

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • One 8-ounce piece deli ham, diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • One 17.5-ounce package potato gnocchi
  • 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Directions

  • Preheat the broiler to high heat.
  • Melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the ham and thyme and continue to cook until the ham is lightly browned.
  • Add the chicken broth and 3/4 cup water and bring to a simmer. Add the gnocchi, stir well, cover and cook until the gnocchi is slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Uncover and stir in the peas, cream, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and broil until golden and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Serve.
benmartens April 12, 2017 Food