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Author, Media Producer, Beekeeper, Gardener, Builder of Stuff…
We want to hear from you. Give us your comments, questions, or suggestions using the form below.
Andrew, would you like to post a link to my site, and I will do the same for you? http://www.filmmakingstuff.com
Thanks.
Jason
Jason@filmmakingstuff.com
Jason,
You’ve got a nice site going there and I appreciate you checking out mine.
I haven’t worked out a strategy for general links yet, but the one above and the one on your other comment are both active. I hope that builds a little traffic for you.
Andrew
Hi Andrew!
This is Lauren, an intern from Soft Skull Press. I was checking out your film blog, and I realized that Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press has a few books coming out around now that might be of interest to you. If you’d be interested in receiving free review copies, please let me know (email publicity [at] softskull [dot] com), and I can hook you up! The three books that come to mind are Naked Lens by Jack Sargeant, which is about the cinema of the beats, True Fiction Pictures & Possible Films, a conversation between indie film director Hal Hartley and professor/film writer Kenneth Kaleta, and X-Films by filmmaker Alex Cox. (Though there might be others – you can access our Winter ’09 catalog at: http://www.softskull.com/files/SoftSkullCNPT_w09.pdf and our Spring ’09 catalog at: http://www.softskull.com/files/SoftSkull_Cnpt_Spr09.pdf — we’d be happy to receive requests.)
Let me know! Thanks.
Lauren
Hi Andrew,
I have a cockroach phobia…I read your blog posts and want your book, but I’m afraid to click on it if there are graphic pictures of roaches in or on the book (totally irrational fear, I know)… I desperately want the information…please let me know…thanks!
Jennifer,
If you read the online book (http://www.cockroachassassin.com) there are no images of cockroaches at all beyond the stylized image in the logo. The only images in the text show the tools and materials I recommend using to combat an infestation. I do not have any ‘gross-out’ images on the entire site. I do recommend you skip the page about how I became the Cockroach Assassin. There aren’t any pictures, but that’s where I tell the story of my personal experience and there is no need to relive that to benefit from the rest of the book.
There are 2 advertising spots on the page (one through Google and one through Amazon – the revenue from those helps offset some of the costs of running the site.) I don’t have control over what gets shown there, but have never encountered anything objectionable being displayed. Most ads are either for specific products or pest control services. This blog uses the same ad services, so you have probably already seen the types of ads that will show up on the book pages.
I hope you check out the book. Tens of thousands of folks have found it very help when dealing with their own pest problems.
Andrew
Dear Andrew:
I have a significant roach problem and have had one for about a year. I have used powdered boric acid (with powdered sugar) with not a lot of success but would you please explain the difference between boric acid and diatomaceous earth — which works better? I know the boric acid works by desiccation — what is the action of diatomaceous earth? Do you recommend the “bellows” device to spread the powder more thinly? I have been using a turkey baster, which spits out too much of the product.
which is better to exterminate roaches: diatomaceous earth or boric acid? and also do you also think the “bellows†device to spread the product more thinly is a good purchase?
Thanks!
Anne
Anne,
The boric acid works internally and the diatomaceous earth works externally. A study reported on in 1995 suggests that boric acid damages the stomachs of roaches and causes them to starve. Diatomaceous earth works by abrading the exoskeleton of the roaches and causing them to dehydrate. Both work slower than poisons but have the benefit of not losing potency over time.
I prefer diatomaceous earth because it is not poisonous to humans (make sure the brand you use does not have any additives) and easy to spread. That said, when I dealt with the roaches in my New York apartment, I used both – specially inside the walls of my kitchen. I highly recommend a bellows-type duster. One trick is to make sure you keep the tip pointed sideways when puffing out the dust. If you aim it down and let the dust settle into the nozzle, it will come out too heavily. Allowing the air to blow across the top of some powder inside the duster will produce a better mix of air and powder that disperses in the outside air and settles in a thin layer on surfaces. Just make sure to wear a mask so you don’t breath it in.
~Andrew
Andrew,
Thank you so much for the info on painting a green screen. We are in the beginning stages of setting up a studio for our church ministry. There has been so much to learn and are feasting off the many valuable resources such as yours! I have found the Rosco paint about $75 a gallon, can it be found anywhere cheaper?
Thanks again, superb information!
Gabe
Gabe,
I’m glad the green screen information was helpful. If you decide to use the Rosco paint for the screen you are going to end up paying about $75/gallon. You might be able to find it a few dollars cheaper if you shop around, but you won’t find big discounts (unless you come across somebody who bought too much and is unloading a gallon or two they don’t need.)
The reason this paint is so expensive is because it has such a large amount of pigment in it and the pigment is precisely graded to provide the right shade of green. Rosco does not blend different colors together to make green (like in typical house paint.) They use a single color of pigment. This gives a very precise color accuracy and excellent paint coverage.
You might be able to economize a little by using one of the house paint color options I mentioned in the article for your base coat and save the Rosco paint for the top coat. This should allow you to get a little more coverage out of the Rosco paint.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I would like to be able to use your blueprint with a grid background on a business card and website front page. Can I obtain a license or permission for that?
Hello Andrew,
I watched your video on type of glue for perfect binding. Have you tried carpenter glue, or wood glue?
Thank you,
Mazloum
Mazloum,
Since paper is made from wood fibers I imagine that wood glue would bond just fine. If you are referring to common wood glue (the yellow-tinted stuff) it performs similarly to PVA glue with a few exceptions. It will dry with a color tint and it won’t be as flexible as PVA. It does dry a little faster compared to PVA and is usually a bit thicker in consistency.
I haven’t personally used wood glue on a book project, so I can’t speak to it’s long term performance. But, it is worth experimenting with.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I came across your site cockroach assassin. I’ve been in vicious circles with cockroaches!!! I live in an apt. They bait monthly. It’s not helped. They tell us not to spray ourselves cause it would make their treatment ineffective. Didn’t know how bad they were until I put out glue boards. OMG! I’ve spent a small fortune on sprays. Ortho home defense indoor doesn’t work. Raid ant and roach works a little. Raid max ant and roach works good but is expensive due to the amt I am having to use. Yesterday I bought diatamaceous earth but can’t tell if it’s food grade. The Lowe’s doesn’t carry anything to dispurse it with. Thought about using essential oils but I read on internet those, esp peppermint oil is highly toxic to dogs and I have one that is an indoor dog. The very worst thing is the roaches are crawling in bed with me and Ive already lost count of the nights I’ve just stayed up all night not sleeping fighting them. My bed mattress is in my living room and sits on the floor, I have no frame. I’ve sprayed all around bed and even soaked the mattress with bug spray. I’ve tucked in all the covers to stop them having a way up but they still are getting to the top. I’m so freaked out that when I do pass out from exhaustion I bought a pair of earplugs so they won’t be tempted to crawl in there, as I have read they will. The apts said they could do nothing except a clean out which involves emptying all cabinets and drawers, emptying out everything in my closet including clothes, removing anything on the walls, removing everything from the counters etc etc, and me and the dog have to leave for 4 hours! I don’t have a car or someplace to go with her. I have absolutely no place to move my stuff to. And to top it off, they tell me there is NOTHING I can use or do that will be effective. I’ve sealed all food in ziplocks. The dang things are even getting inside the fridge! I’m loosing my mind and feeling I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown, no joke. Fighting them in the apt is one thing but keeping them out of my bed just has to be mandatory. I’m sleep deprived, stressed out, and depressed horribly. I’ve had a recent death on my family so I’m already deep in grief. I am a single senior citizen on an extremely limited income and moving is not an option or possible.
Sincerely desperate,
Kay
Hey Andrew
I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to put together all of the information that you did on the cockroach assassin website. I have lived in a 4-plex in Los Angeles for 7 years now and I love living here. Let me preface this by saying I am terrified of cockroaches, spiders and any type of large flying insect. A little less than a year ago we had new neighbors move in and they brought a cockroach problem with them. To put it nicely they live very messy and have food and trash laying around everywhere. So our biggest problem was that no matter how clean we kept our apartment the were still coming over from their side (we share one wall the cockroaches would come through). I don’t know if it was the diatomaceous earth or the IGR that worked so well but boy oh BOY did they solve our problems. By dusting the areas in and around and behind the cabinets and drilling small holes in the walls just like you said we created an impassable barrier and I haven’t seen a roach in two weeks. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I was to the point I was considering moving but I really love the life we have built and the community here. Thank you for your time and effort coming up with a solution that works and even more so for sharing it with the rest of us.
Ray,
I’m so glad that my experience was helpful to you in dealing with your own roach problem. The process of documenting my experience and research was cathartic. It was a very unpleasant experience, but knowing that I could turn it into something helpful to others took the edge off.
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Are your parchment pictures free to use for commercial use on, say, a blog, an online shopfront, etc?
Thank you!
Aki
Free to use for commercial projects but may not be resold or included in templates or stock media meant for resale or mass distribution.
Hello, I received an email from you regarding your green screen guide. I don’t remember signing up to your website or requesting the guide, but I have a bad memory so I may have. In any case, the guide seems interesting, so thank you. As for your website resource page, every time I go to it I get a pop up about the green screen guide, and it will not allow me to look at the resource web page, and there is no way to close the pop up, so the page is useless if I can’t access it.
Geoff, Thank you for letting me know about the pop-up issue. It’s only supposed to appear once with a clear x button to close it. Seems the design I selected made the button for closing very hard to see. I updated to a design that places the x button in a much more visible location.
Would EVA hot glue be the best way to repair a perfect bound paperback, assuming it is likely how the original was put together commercially.
Based on your DIY glue options webpage, I also thought contact cement might work, and be easier than hot glue. Contact cement is used for EVA Foam joining, which perhaps suggests that contact cement would adhere well to the dried residual EVA Glue on the spine and paper edges of my book for repair. What do you think?
Hot glue does work well. The main issue is working time. If you have a cheap crafting gun and a cool working environment, the glue sets up very fast. High temp guns give you longer working times and the prospect of customized tips that can apply the glue in different patterns. A wide flat applicator can lay down a ribbon of glue which is good for book spines.
Hot glues become even more workable if you have access to a mini-crafting iron. This lets you re-melt and work the glue after it has set up already. So, if you don’t quite work fast enough, you can go back and fix things.
Contact cement works well, and has the benefit of longer working times. The smell, on the other hand, can be an issue.