Spock's Pickled Brain

When traveling to other planets it helps to have a few gadgets on hand. And for a few places lacking breathable atmosphere, a life support pack can be pretty useful. For the raypunk aesthetic there is a fair amount of creative license taken to create spacesuits, rocketpacks, and other "space" gear. So I decided to make life-support breathing apparatus using a cheap backpack-mounted water pistol, irrigation parts, air fresheners, and some tubing. With a few modifications and additions you can easily make it into more of a rocket-pack or similar. Materials -Backpack water gun -Two 1/2 inch barbed x 1/2 inch MNPT irrigation swing pipe elbows -Two 1/2 inch barb x 1/2 inch male pipe thread irrigation swing pipe couplings -One 1/2 inch barbed irrigation swing pipe tee -2 car-mountable air fresheners -Fuel line vinyl tubing -Gold spray paint -Black spray paint -Clear coat sealer -Coaxial cable clips Tools -Dremel tool -Scissors -Superglue -Hot glue gun 1. G...

Whether you're a scientist in hermitage on a far-flung world or a ship captain nurturing the remnants of some sort of sentient botanicals, it certainly helps to have an interesting way to display some strange vegetative companions. Alternately us poor Earth-bound souls can create a container garden that reminds us to dream of distant planets and zany space adventures. Turns out all it takes is a few curious-looking succulents, a container of a sleek, modern design, and a few well-chosen decorative details. Materials -Small modern planter -3 4-oz succulents -Potting soil for dry-loving plants -Lavender decorative sand -Oddities 1. Gather the materials Most of this was from the hardware store. For the succulents I chose a Jade plant variety "Ogre ears", Blue chalk sticks, and Crassula variegata. These little 4-oz size succulents were about $4 each. The pot was pretty nice already, modern yet naturalistic. It was about $10 but worth it for the quality. The laven...

Fifth Element (1997) On the edge of the galaxy, an ancient evil awakens. And though a primitive Earth once kept the keys to defeating it, for hundreds of years the alien Mondoshawans have safeguarded the Elements and the Supreme Being. Since then Earth had changed considerably, an interplanetary player among the universe many sentients. When something goes wrong with the journey to Earth, all that prevents the destruction of life are two obscure priests, a cantankerous ex-soldier, and a woman engineered to be the perfect being. In this race against time, how will the heroes prevail against the forces of evil? Raypunk? Maybe not. Space opera? Yes. I mean come on there's an actual scene in which a fancy blue alien sings opera with a planetscape behind her. In this decade it pretty much came down to this and the original Stargate movie, but I think this one checks more of my ever-shifting criteria boxes. Interstellar travel, nifty aliens, classic good/evil struggles, and a mixt...

Want to confuse fans of DC's The Flash ? And also celebrate one of the most ridiculous and enduring heroes of Earth? Then here's an incredibly simple shirt you can make for everyday saving the universe from psychopathic dictators. Front: Back: Materials -White t-shirt -Red t-shirt material -Red sport-flex iron-on Tools -Needle/thread -Scissors -Hobby knife -Iron Reference Image 1. Gather the materials The materials and tools are pretty simple. I found the T-shirts for very cheap at a thrift store, and the roll of red iron-on material I had left over from making the Red Hood's shirt. I'm using the sportflex iron-on, but a standard vinyl iron-on should work just as well (tip: for the more standard iron-on colors you can buy these rolls very cheap at Walmart). To get a more precise cut they make Cricut machines that will do the stencil and cutting work for you, but that's a big investment beyond my immediate interest. Instead I relied o...