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# mprvmnts

thinking and making stuff

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://mprvmnts.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Good in 10 (2002 version)](https://mprvmnts.com/good-in-10-2002-version) - I created this ten-song playlist in 2002 to epitomize my idea of "good music."
- [19 from 2025](https://mprvmnts.com/19-from-2025) - Here are 19 of my favorite songs that I heard first in 2025. Folk, country, instrumentals, jazz, and a few other surprises.
- [LOCAL MUSIC](https://mprvmnts.com/local-music) - I recorded a few new songs this week and bundled them into aan EP called "LOCAL MUSIC." These songs are the product of porch sitting at night and in the early morning, and I hope you'll liste
- [Welcome To Your Future Happiness](https://mprvmnts.com/welcome-to-your-future-happiness) - Three songs I wrote during the lockdown days. I always planned on including in a larger release, but five years later I think they stand on their own.
- [Here](https://mprvmnts.com/song-here) - This song was written pretty much in two sittings. I am not a real banjo player, but the banjo was in my hands when the words came and I'm glad it was.
- [Zucchini skateboard](https://mprvmnts.com/zucchini-skateboard) - The Grocer made this baby zucchini skateboard art for a show in 2009. I just love painting zucchini flowers.
- [Ginger and Mushroom](https://mprvmnts.com/ginger-and-mushroom) - These two 24x24" panels was painted by The Grocer for his show at Foursided gallery. In the background of the ginger painting you can faintly see drawings of buildings that my son drew on the panel before I painted the background.
- [Orange and Apple on panel](https://mprvmnts.com/orange-and-apple-on-panel) - I made these two small paintings on panel for a show. I used a map of Indianapolis in the background for the apple painting and affectionately called it "Indianapplis."
- [Limes](https://mprvmnts.com/limes) - My friend TJ commissioned me to make these limes as a gift for his wife. I painted these directly on panel and then cut them out. I believe they are still hanging in their kitchen.
- [Buddha's Hand at the G40](https://mprvmnts.com/buddhas-hand-at-the-g40) - The Grocer made this giant, gorgeous buddha's hand for the G40 Art Summit in DC in 2011. I wasn't able to install at the show so they mounted the paste-up on a big piece of masonite for the show. I don't know what happened to it—I hope somebody hung it up somewhere.
- [Red Bull Cooler](https://mprvmnts.com/red-bull-cooler) - The Grocer got invited to paint a canvas wrapped cooler for a Red Bull event in 2014. It was a weird experience. Basically, every artist showed up and had one long day to finish their painting. I met some nice folks and the cooler turned out pretty nice. These kind of painting events are neat
- [Soup Fixins](https://mprvmnts.com/soup-fixins) - The Grocer created these two small paintings for a food themed show that Revise was putting together in 2008. I purchased all of these veggies from the Wicker Park farmer's market one day and photographed them in these exact arrangements. They were painted on paper and pasted on cutting boards. Both sold at the show.
- [Cut Watermelon](https://mprvmnts.com/cut-watermelon) - This big cut watermelon is last and largest street installation by The Grocer in Chicago. I put this up on that great spot near Milwaukee and Damen. I love watermelon and I love this piece.
- [Brooks Golden](https://mprvmnts.com/brooks-golden) - I had the great pleasure of sharing a studio space with Brooks for a year or so just west of downtown. It was a great space and I spent countless hours there. Brooks was a friend and inspiration, and a stern critic and lover of my work. Tragically, Brooks passed away from health issues in
- [HOTBOX show](https://mprvmnts.com/hotbox-show) - I got asked to make a few paintings for a mobile art gallery called the HOTBOX. The idea was that each month a different artist or group of artists would paint it, and then the inside would be a little gallery show/store or whatever. The theme was "Corner Store" and I made a big watermelon
- [For Thee Viking](https://mprvmnts.com/for-thee-viking) - I made this banana boat paste-up as a note of appreciation for the street artist The Viking. I really liked a lot of the weird stickers and pasters he was doing at the time. A few photos I have of The Viking's work. I met him once, and that was very nice. I think he
- [Plums at Pontiac](https://mprvmnts.com/plums-at-pontiac) - The Grocer put up this collection of plums on one of the blue planters at Pontiac Cafe on Milwaukee avenue. The last photo was taken by someone else and posted to the internet.
- [Lemon](https://mprvmnts.com/lemon) - This lemon went up on the glass of my favorite abandoned warehouse at the triangle corner of Milwaukee, Damen, & Division. I put up a cherry, a grapefruit, this lemon, and finally a watermelon at this spot.
- [Mutant Cucumber](https://mprvmnts.com/mutant-cucumber) - In 2008 I started looking for weirder source photos to work from, as I was wanting to branch out from all the normal fruit and veg. This painting came from a photo I found on the internet of a strangely grown cucumber. One of my all time favorite Grocer paintings. I believe this was on
- [Paintings from friends](https://mprvmnts.com/paintings-from-friends) - This is a photo of my office wall from 2008. At the top is a triptych of Peabe's. The blue bird stencil board is by Saro, and the lower right panel is by Revise. The white board was a work table that Vegan did a test spray on when he was over to tag a
- [The Grocer @ Foursided Gallery](https://mprvmnts.com/the-grocer-foursided-gallery) - I had my first and only solo show as The Grocer at Foursided Gallery in October, 2007. I created over 20 works on panel and sold almost all but two of them.
- [Stubbs Cafe - street art show flyer](https://mprvmnts.com/stubbs-cafe-street-art-show-flyer) - I put a couple of small paintings into this coffee house show - the first time any Grocer solo works on panel were displayed. I met a bunch of people that would become friends. Two who have passed (RIP Solve & Brooks), and one I still keep in touch with (Reana). I couldn't find any
- [Peabe collab (eggplant)](https://mprvmnts.com/peabe-collab-eggplant) - My buddy Peabe had an idea to do a collab for a show he was putting together. I painted the eggplant first and then he came in with the pinup character. The opening of this show was the first time I ever met folks as "The Grocer" and it was the beginning of the end
- [Grapefruit](https://mprvmnts.com/grapefruit-2) - At the time, this was the largest street installation by The Grocer, roughly 5 feet wide. I put this up on Milwaukee on one of the old bank windows, and it was quite a show stopper. Some tagger went over my piece (in blue) and I heard he got a lot of flack for it
- [Trio of apples](https://mprvmnts.com/trio-of-apples) - These three apples by The Grocer went up on some scaffolding right above state street. You couldn't miss them if you were walking north from Jackson.
- [Avocados](https://mprvmnts.com/avocados) - The Grocer's big avocados were made as two separate paintings, overlapped when pasted. I had this spot picked out on Halsted near 18th but i was afraid the paste-up wouldn't stick on the weathered wood, so a couple of nights prior to going up with the Avocados I went out with a roller and painted
- [Avocados, relocated](https://mprvmnts.com/avocados-relocated) - When I saw that a construction company had discarded the plywood that I put these Avocados up on originally, I grabbed the board and used a jigsaw to cut it out. After painting the edges, i took it up to Wicker park and screwed it up on a long wall near Uprise skate shop. In
- [Mushrooms up high](https://mprvmnts.com/mushrooms-up-high) - These two mushrooms by The Grocer went up on a dilapidated high-rise on State street near Jackson. I climbed the scaffolding and used a squeegee to paste it higher. There's a real fun story about my lookout not looking out, but in the end it was pasted and I got away clean.
- [Nipplettos (imaginary fruit)](https://mprvmnts.com/nipplettos-imaginary-fruit) - Played around for awhile making up fruits. These "Nipplettos" looked so dang great on this Halsted street bridge.
- [Horned Melon (Kiwano)](https://mprvmnts.com/horned-melon-kiwano) - This big old Kiwano was painted and pasted up by The Grocer in July 2007 on very corner of the iconic street art building at Grand and Milwaukee. I was always proud of this painting and its placement.
- [An apple for Big Horse](https://mprvmnts.com/an-apple-for-big-horse) - There used to be a bar on Milwaukee avenue called Big Horse, but it had long since closed by the time we decided to feed this lovely horse an apple. A collaboration with my future wife, who painted her arm and hand whilst The Grocer painted the apple.
- [Early watermelons](https://mprvmnts.com/early-watermelons) - I love watermelon—everything about it. I only wish the full watermelon pictured below would have stayed up longer, it was gone in less than 2 days. The cut watermelon was pasted high up on a scaffold board in a warehouse district on the near west side, and it was there till the construction was over.
- [Red Beet](https://mprvmnts.com/red-beet) - This gnarly beet painting by The Grocer always pleased me, and it's location was really nice for viewing while headed northwest on Milwaukee avenue toward Western.
- [Tomatoes on the vine](https://mprvmnts.com/tomatoes-on-the-vine) - The Grocer's punchy little bunch of tomatoes looked really lovely in the alley.
- [Kiwi](https://mprvmnts.com/kiwi) - This cut kiwi was one of the longest riding Grocer paintings, staying up here across from Sultan's market just off Division for over 3 years. I used a squeegee on a pole to paste it up at the top of this board-up arch, and i guess it was pretty enough and high enough that nobody
- [Rejoice and The Grocer collab](https://mprvmnts.com/rejoice-and-the-grocer-collab) - Rejoice and I decided we should do a collaborative piece up on the iconic Milwuakee & Grand building. He would first put up his faces in a form akin to scoops of ice cream, and then I'd come back the next day and paste the cherries on top. I love how it turned out.
- [Grocer stickers and small stuff](https://mprvmnts.com/grocer-stickers-and-small-stuff) - I would often use the remaining paint on my palette to make little imaginary fruit paintings to paste up around.
- [Cherry](https://mprvmnts.com/cherry) - I love cherries, so it seemed obvious for The Grocer to paste up a sweet cherry. This was painted in two parts (stem, fruit) and pasted on an old window on Milwaukee avenue in Wicker Park. I ended up revisiting this building a few times over the years. "Vegan" was a prolific tagger at that
- [Red Onions](https://mprvmnts.com/red-onions) - This bunch of red onions was the first painting and paste-up The Grocer ever made. It was pasted on the iconic impromptu street art gallery building at the corner of Milwaukee and Grand.
- [Radishes](https://mprvmnts.com/radishes) - The Grocer's little bunch of radishes went up on Damen avenue near a little cupcake bakery that I liked, i think it was called Sweet Cakes.
- [Grocer sketches](https://mprvmnts.com/grocer-sketches) - A collection of sketches that became the first Grocer paste-ups.
- [Eggplants](https://mprvmnts.com/eggplants) - One of The Grocer's earliest, and never one of my favorites. I pasted this near Chicago avenue next to a great Rejoice piece, but i think it would've been better on a different colored wall. I revisited the subject of eggplants in depth later on a large panel for a show.
- [Carrots](https://mprvmnts.com/carrots) - This bunch of carrots was painted and pasted up by The Grocer on Halsted near 18th in Pilsen in June 2007. This is one of my all-time favorite paintings in its street context. A few years later I created a version of this painting on panel for a friend.
- [Asparagus](https://mprvmnts.com/asparagus) - One of the first few Grocer paintings - a small and a large bunch of asparagus. The asparagus sketch shown below was what started the entire Grocer thing, but it wasn't my first painting. These were both pasted up somewhere near Milwaukee and Damen in Wicker Park. The small one I put up near a
- [Artichokes](https://mprvmnts.com/artichokes) - Process and final photos of a bunch of artichokes painted and pasted up by The Grocer. I believe this was up on Chicago avenue near Rotofugi.
- [Row of Apples](https://mprvmnts.com/row-of-apples) - Process and final images of a row of apples by The Grocer, painted and pasted at Pontiac Grill in Wicker Park, Chicago in June 2007.
- [Sharpie drawings](https://mprvmnts.com/sharpie-drawings) - Just a couple of random sharpie drawings from 2006.
- [Small abstract paintings](https://mprvmnts.com/small-abstract-paintings) - In the late 1990s my work was focused on small abstract paintings that were born out of the printmaking studio.
- [Grapefruit](https://mprvmnts.com/grapefruit) - A simple grapefruit drawing from 1997, ten years before the Grocer became a thing.
- [Joe's Chicken Shack](https://mprvmnts.com/joes-chicken-shack) - I always liked this simple drawing that I made in the shack back in 1995. So many good and strange memories in that place.
- [Gesture drawings](https://mprvmnts.com/gesture-drawings) - Gesture drawings from my time at MCAD, 1994-1995
- [Stern Dracula Pinball](https://mprvmnts.com/stern-dracula-pinball) - I'm putting feelers out to see if I can trade Dracula for another Stern of a similar year. Had to take a bunch of photos and remembered just how much work we put in on this machine. It plays and looks really nice.
- [19 from 2024](https://mprvmnts.com/19-from-2024) - Here are 19 of my favorite songs that I heard first in 2024. Lots of country, instrumentals, jazz, and a few pop tunes and other surprises.
- [16 from 2023](https://mprvmnts.com/16-from-2023) - Better late than never, here's a 70 minute mix of the best songs I heard first in 2023.
- [16 from 2022](https://mprvmnts.com/16-from-2022) - Here are 16 of my favorite songs that I heard first in 2022. Lots of jazz and ambient country with some other surprises.
- [Planning a pinball class](https://mprvmnts.com/planning-a-pinball-class) - I've been thinking a lot about putting together a pinball restoration class for 4-5 kids next school year. The other night I decided to just dictate a voice memo with all of my ideas about the class, and here are the results.
- [The Celebration](https://mprvmnts.com/poem-the-celebration) - Coyotes are celebrating a fresh kill on the hillside up from my bedroom window.
- [20 from 2018](https://mprvmnts.com/twenty-from-eighteen) - I've put together a mix of the twenty best songs I heard first in 2018. From hip hop to indie rock, folk, instrumental, and R&B—it's a diverse mix of tunes that resonated with me.
- [15 from 2019](https://mprvmnts.com/mix-15-from-2019) - I've put together another installment of my year-end favorite song mixes - this time it's "15 songs from 2019." There are a lot of really special songs that didn't make the mix this year. I listened far and wide in 2019, but ultimately spent most of my time with several AMAZING records that came out
- [I take it as a sign that I am truly living](https://mprvmnts.com/i-take-it-as-a-sign-that-i-am-truly-living) - I am standing at the top of a hill ready to roll down, and I am at the foot of another hill beginning to climb.
- [Giving Beyond Myself](https://mprvmnts.com/giving-beyond-myself) - The lump—that deep twist in my gut. I am holding too tight, even as I let go. Scooping out my melon of a belly, emptying it of everything, including hunger.
- [The Pilgrimage & The Presence](https://mprvmnts.com/the-pilgrimage-and-the-presence) - A family of three skunks showed me the way to the lake and the shore where sailboats, sparsely docked, stood swaying under mountain ranges of cloud.
- [Not now, but soon](https://mprvmnts.com/not-now-but-soon) - Four nights ago I heard the sweet call of fantastic vision. Hope of a life well-lived and uniquely played. And rest.
- [The Roller Coaster](https://mprvmnts.com/the-roller-coaster) - The Roller Coaster is the first song I've written in many years, and it's become one of my favorites to play and sing.
- [The Invitation](https://mprvmnts.com/the-invitation) - I came back to watch the glowing magenta lift off, hungover with grief and hungry to feel loved.
- [Swimming (in my mind)](https://mprvmnts.com/swimming-in-my-mind) - How to navigate the complex relationships between personal history and narratives, memory, and now? "Swimming," is a mindful acknowledgement of this conundrum.
- [Keeping Watch](https://mprvmnts.com/keeping-watch) - "Keeping Watch" is a short poem I wrote while observing two of my children making their art.
- [Cast Iron Skillet Pizza](https://mprvmnts.com/recipe-cast-iron-skillet-pizza) - I've been working on my home-cooked pizza game - Here I show you how to make a delicious, restaurant quality pizza from scratch in a cast iron skillet.
- [Can't Ignore](https://mprvmnts.com/song-cant-ignore) - Written over several days worth of yard work, a couple of nighttime scribbles, and three afternoons helping direct parking—singing into an empty parking lot.
- [Collard Greens with Ham Hocks & Beans](https://mprvmnts.com/recipe-collard-greens-with-ham-hocks-and-beans) - Pressure cooker and stovetop instructions included for this delicious and hearty meal that i've been improving since 2008.
- [Same Old Me](https://mprvmnts.com/same-old-me) - I think i've been writing this song in the back of my mind for a couple of years but it came together all in one afternoon.
- [Rusty parts](https://mprvmnts.com/rusty-parts) - More rusty pinball machine craps to clean. Once I disassemble the coin door I will have completely disassembled the entire pin. This has been an enormous project to take on in my spare time, I will be glad to get to the point when the job can only get smaller!
- [Shooter looking good](https://mprvmnts.com/shooter-looking-good) - Mirror polish because I can.
- [Coin door teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/coin-door-teardown) - Dismantled the coin door on Big Guns, finally hitting rock bottom on this rehab project. There’s nothing left to take apart!
- [My Space Mission begins](https://mprvmnts.com/my-space-mission-begins) - New project: Williams Space Mission, 1976. It was working when I picked it up but now it won’t start a game. Needs a full cleaning too. Was really hoping to play a bit tonight but it’s not gonna happen.
- [Big Guns stripdown](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-stripdown) - Stripped almost the entire playfield in one night. Work goes so fast on the rotisserie with easy access on all sides. Another hour this morning pulling the last few bits off and I'm ready for removing the Mylar and cleaning.
- [Swooning for Taxi](https://mprvmnts.com/swooning-for-taxi) - Unfortunately, Taxi is not playable just yet. Problems to fix :( For the record, what makes this not playable: Marilyn drop targets not resetting Slings machine-gunning Lots more tweaking to do aside from that but VERY exciting!
- [Taxi spinout kicker ain’t kicking](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-spinout-kicker-aint-kicking) - Thinking this is something mechanical like a broken solder joint. Definitely not a fuse. I didn’t want to get sucked into a repair tonight so I’m saving it for another day. When Soren sees this sign he’ll be bummed for sure.
- [Polishing stuff can be fun](https://mprvmnts.com/polishing-stuff-can-be-fun) - Actually i hate polishing most things, but metal shooter rods are really fun to polish. I just pop the rod into my drill and work it through scotch pads. In the end i’ll spin it on a rag with mother’s.
- [Pinball made this possible](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-made-this-possible) - I haven’t been doing much of any pinball maintenance lately. Work and family schedules have been intense, so I’ve been keeping things simple in the evenings. Recently I bought J a hobby grade RC car and he’s been having fun with it. Unfortunately some parts broke but we bought a couple of upgrades to make
- [Shiny pops](https://mprvmnts.com/shiny-pops) - Cleaned all the pop bumper parts, which were really really grimy. Thank goodness for my little ultrasonic cleaner. I need to find a replacement for the paper tubes that shade the lamps behind the drop targets. I don’t have all of mine. I tried looking online but I haven’t had luck. I’m going to look
- [Big Guns backbox stripes complete](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-backbox-stripes-complete) - Finished painting Big Guns backbox stripes. Three coats of semi gloss to go, then I will repopulate it. Also completed the remaining board/wiring repairs for everything that goes inside this. I should have it back on top of the cabinet and the machine powered up by Sunday! I also spent some more time evaluating the
- [Goodbye Taxi playfield art](https://mprvmnts.com/goodbye-taxi-playfield-art) - I didn’t expect to end up where i did, but after giving up on scraping the crap off the playfield, i thought i’d take a crack at sanding. Pretty quickly it became clear that there was no way to gingerly sand off selective areas, as adjacent areas would get worn down to the white undercoat
- [Taxi repairs and upgrades](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-repairs-and-upgrades) - New spinout. New traffic light plastic (finally found one!) Repaired the spinout indicator lights (resoldered a couple of broken wires). Repaired a post light that was damaged too. The only thing left to fix on this baby is a single flasher and the bell.
- [Backbox stripe sketch](https://mprvmnts.com/backbox-stripe-sketch) - I’m going to make the lines skinnier, and they will be green to match the cab stripes. Also going to move it up a bit to obscure a portion of the circle around the "W." I also masked the rest of the Space Mission playfield holes to prep for painting. I’m hoping to do that
- [The Grocer: first works](https://mprvmnts.com/the-grocer-first-works) - In the summer of 2007, I began making original fruit and veggie themed paste-ups and installing them on derelict walls in Chicago under the moniker "The Grocer." At the time, these acrylic paintings on paper gave me a cathartic outlet that the "serious" paintings I was doing at the time didn't provide. Below are some
- [The Grocer: summer 2007](https://mprvmnts.com/the-grocer-summer-2007) - More works by The Grocer from the summer of 2007.
- [The Grocer: more street work](https://mprvmnts.com/the-grocer-more-street-work) - More street installations from 2007 and 2008 by The Grocer.
- [The Grocer: early works on panel](https://mprvmnts.com/the-grocer-early-works-on-panel)
- [The Grocer: more works on panel](https://mprvmnts.com/the-grocer-more-works-on-panel)
- [Surf Champ - before & after photos](https://mprvmnts.com/surf-champ-before-after-photos) - A couple of months ago I bought a 1976 Gottlieb “Surf Champ” pinball machine out of a basement where it had been the last 20 or so years. I completely stripped down the top side of the playfield and cleaned all parts. Metal went in the tumbler. I replaced the plastics, cleaned the star posts,
- [Added some light feature mods to Blackout](https://mprvmnts.com/added-some-light-feature-mods-to-blackout) - Lighted flipper buttons: replaced the white buttons with transparent red flipper buttons and added red flex head LEDs tied into the coin door lights to make them glow. I used speaker wire to run it as cleanly as possible and I’m happy with how it turned out. Eject hole: also replaced the white eject hole
- [Tumbling the hardware from Space Mission](https://mprvmnts.com/tumbling-the-hardware-from-space-mission) - Sunday night I threw all of the hardware from the top side of Space Mission into the vibrating tumbler. Tonight it was time to pull them out. The results from this process always amaze me. Many of the posts were black with grime and metal filing dust when I put them in and after two
- [Broken spinner, faulty lamp, more wood filler](https://mprvmnts.com/broken-spinner-faulty-lamp-more-wood-filler) - Stepped up to Surf Champ to find that the spinner was broken, which probably happened when my littlest son was playing earlier today. I tried to reattach with epoxy, but I’m not hopeful. That spinner gets pounded. I’m going to look this up on Pinside tomorrow and see what my options are. While I had
- [Cleaning the Space Mission playfield](https://mprvmnts.com/cleaning-the-space-mission-playfield) - Tonight I thoroughly cleaned the Space Mission playfield with naphtha and a microfiber towel. This playfield has a lot of wear. Clearly the previous owner played with a pitted rusty ball for many years and there was very little wax to clean up so it has been unprotected for a long time. I’m not sure
- [Alcohol and magic eraser](https://mprvmnts.com/alcohol-and-magic-eraser) - With previous playfields I haven’t found much success with this method, but it sure worked on Space Mission. It pulled up tons of metal filing dust that was hanging out in the cracks where the board is planking. Very excited. As you can see, there is so much wear around the super bonus advance and
- [Touched up some red paint](https://mprvmnts.com/touched-up-some-red-paint) - Spent some time carefully touching up some of the worst wear spots on Space Mission. Red was standing out the worst so I started in some hidden spots and kept going. I should be using an airbrush but my experience as a painter helps me out. It’s not like I can make this playfield worse!
- [Cabinet repair and prime](https://mprvmnts.com/cabinet-repair-and-prime) - It’s not perfect, but I’m really pleased with the patch job I gave the Big Guns cabinet. Sanded the KwikWood out today and managed to get it primed. There are one or two places I need to fill some more, then I can finally start repainting it.
- [Final round of touch-ups](https://mprvmnts.com/final-round-of-touch-ups) - Touched up black and the darker turquoise in some if the worst areas, and black around all of the inserts. I attempted a few spots with yellow but it’s just too difficult to match the faded and weathered tone, so I decided to not press my luck.
- [Spinner woes and a stop gap solution](https://mprvmnts.com/spinner-woes-and-a-stop-gap-solution) - I used epoxy first, then super glue to try and fix the spinner, and I reinstalled it into the game but it took all of two balls to destroy it. I’m placing an order with PBR this week for a bunch of stuff including a generic spinner replacement. Surf Champ is one of my favorite
- [Yet more playfield prep](https://mprvmnts.com/yet-more-playfield-prep) - Yesterday I decided that with all the touch ups I did, I really need to seal the playfield. I figured out what my approach is going to be, but i needed to strip down the rest of the playfield so it is completely bare. So every switch and pin that protruded from the playfield was
- [Big Guns cabinet paint prep](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-cabinet-paint-prep) - I ended up spray priming the cabinet last night, but there were a couple places that I filled with putty and forgot to sand down, so I finished sanding those spots out and would have finished priming too if it weren’t for the heavy mist outside. I sanded out the coin door parts and nailed
- [Spraying!](https://mprvmnts.com/spraying) - Took advantage of the windless evening and sprayed paint for about three hours. 4 coats gloss black on the cab, gloss black on the transformer, and 3 coats textured black on the coin door. At the rate I’m progressing I should have the cabinet stencils painted and the cab reassembled in 2-3 weeks. Exciting!
- [A full day’s work](https://mprvmnts.com/a-full-days-work) - I took a day off today and mostly worked on the machines. It was fun and very productive. Painted lots and lots of stuff for Big Guns, mostly cabinet related. Regrained, buffed, and polished lots of metal for Space Mission, and some for Big Guns. Painted the blue metal arc for Space Mission and unfortunately
- [Power box resto](https://mprvmnts.com/power-box-resto) - I was able to find the proper fuse holder on Amazon and I got to finish up the power box reassembly. As of now, everything is ready to go back in the cabinet, aside from the coin door. Looking at the “before” photo I can’t help but have a sense of pride. I really am
- [Fixing the cabinet floor](https://mprvmnts.com/fixing-the-cabinet-floor) - Installed the bottom of the cabinet. Glued it in place and screwed in 6 places. I made a couple of mistakes when creating this new panel for the bottom but they are purely cosmetic. It isn’t perfect but it’s good and solid and the imperfections won’t be seen by anyone. Very exciting to get to
- [Flipper buttons cleaned, bushings replaced](https://mprvmnts.com/flipper-buttons-cleaned-bushings-replaced) - I had actually purchased replacement buttons for Surf Champ but I like the tone of red in the older ones better and they cleaned up nicely. It’s fun to have little one night projects like this to do every once in a while—a good break from the long timeline projects I have going like Big
- [Big Guns: tilt mech & coin door reassembled](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-tilt-mech-coin-door-reassembled) - The coin door took longer than expected. First I had to clean the wire harness and everything attached to it. I didn’t take very many pictures of the teardown (big mistake), mostly just the finished wiring. It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, but I’m confident it’s done correctly. I need to dig up
- [Wet sanding, cabinet grills, speaker](https://mprvmnts.com/wet-sanding-cabinet-grills-speaker) - Wet sanded and cleaned the outside of the Big Guns cabinet to prepare for spraying yellow. Sorted through the stencils and they look good. Decided to start installing lightweight basics back into the cabinet. I was just going to do the grills but decided to throw the speaker in too. It’s starting to look very
- [Big Guns yellow stencil](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-yellow-stencil) - It was a really quiet night so I decided to go ahead and lay down the stencils and paint yellow. I don’t think I did a very good job with it. I had quite a bit of difficulty getting the stencils on without wrinkles, and when I sprayed I definitely got it on too thick
- [Cabinet stencil disaster](https://mprvmnts.com/cabinet-stencil-disaster) - Turns out I was right to feel uneasy about my work last night. The adhesive stencil took up huge chunks of the paint job. It’s a complete disaster. When i saw how awful it was, I just got a paint scraper and started going at it to pull up all of the small vinyl stencil
- [A “Make it work” moment for Big Guns](https://mprvmnts.com/a-make-it-work-moment-for-big-guns) - I’m taking a drastically different approach with the cabinet. I don’t want to spend any more money or increase the rebuild timeline with this cabinet. Instead of trying to make it look like Big Guns (which is nearly impossible at this point and would require starting over from scratch) I’ve decided to treat it like
- [Big Guns odds & ends](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-odds-ends) - Refinished this part of the shooter assembly. I hadn’t planned to do this but when I looked at it next to the redone coin door it seemed necessary. I’ve been taking it easy the last couple days and sketching ideas for the cabinet while I wait for the spray paint to cure. Also ordered a
- [Custom Big Guns cab painting](https://mprvmnts.com/custom-big-guns-cab-painting) - This evening I sanded and scraped back into the cabinet to dull the paint areas and also to create more imperfections. This needed to be done before I could go back over it with more paint. After everybody went to bed I managed to get the first round of texture black on. The goal is
- [Masking for stripes](https://mprvmnts.com/masking-for-stripes) - Spent more time this afternoon attempting to get Surf Champ running based upon some suggestions I got from Pinsiders. Unfortunately none of those solved my problem but I was able to fix a long-standing issue with the player 2 scoring, so there is a bright side! Landed on a design for the Big Guns cabinet
- [Big Guns: cabinet stripes](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-cabinet-stripes) - Painted green stripes color matched to the playfield and translite. Unfortunately the middle stripe didn’t come out as light as I thought it would, so I’ll have to go back in to do that. Before I do anything else I’m going to touch up in a few spots where paint lifted once again, then hit
- [Removing mylar from around the pops](https://mprvmnts.com/removing-mylar-from-around-the-pops) - I’m trying to finish touching up the Space Mission playfield so I can level the inserts and clear the playfield. I’ve been doing little bits here and there. Tonight I had the hair dryer out to help dry the polycrylic for Big Guns so I decided it was time to finally remove the mylar circles
- [Black touch-ups](https://mprvmnts.com/black-touch-ups) - Removed the mylar adhesive using the flour method (pictured up top). Basically you soak the adhesive area with goo gone and then sprinkle it with flour. Wait a few minutes and it rolls up in the flour. Pretty simple. Compared to removing the full playfield mylar on Big Guns this was nothing. Then I cleaned
- [New legs for Big Guns!](https://mprvmnts.com/new-legs-for-big-guns) - Put brand new legs on with black plastic cabinet protectors and new leg bolt plates. New feet too. I’ve got it up on three wheel mini dollys so I can roll it around as I work. Everything should be pretty dang exciting from here on out. My goal was to have it done by Oct
- [Repopulating the Big Guns cabinet](https://mprvmnts.com/repopulating-the-big-guns-cabinet) - Started repopulating the cabinet and got most of it installed in short order. Shocking to see the before and after. Next step is to install the ground braid, then the harness and switches. This weekend I plan to clean and polish the side rails and lockdown bar. Ideally, the cabinet work will be 100% complete
- [Regraining side rails & more](https://mprvmnts.com/regraining-side-rails-more) - Spent the night sanding down the scratches I carelessly made when removing these rails from the Big Guns cab, then regraining the metal by wetsanding from 220 to 500 to 800 and finally 1000 grit. I didn’t bother to try and remove scratches from the lock down bar, but i did step it to 500
- [Big Guns cabinet complete](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-cabinet-complete) - It took quite a lot of work today but I finished the cabinet! Finished polishing metal rails, etc Installed rails Stapled in ground braid throughout Installed flipper and credit buttons Installed wire harness and all switches Assembled and installed the shooter Installed cable clips Laying the ground braid was tedious and I needed more than
- [Emptying the Big Guns backbox](https://mprvmnts.com/emptying-the-big-guns-backbox) - Removed everything out the backbox except for the ground braid. I discovered a few minor problems that will be easy to repair. It feels a little strange to have all the boards just lying in my garage, but I’m glad I took the plunge and decided to do this now. I will sand the box
- [Backboxing](https://mprvmnts.com/backboxing) - Ended up having to work from home today and not having a commute meant I was able to get the backbox sanded and make a trip to the hardware store for sandpaper and paint before the kids went to bed. The littles were great helpers at Menards. I did a round of wood filling with
- [Productive night](https://mprvmnts.com/productive-night) - My original plan was to empty the tumbler and touch up some more of the Space Mission playfield, but the weather was so great with very little breeze so I had to paint the black on the cabinet. It’ll need to cure for at least a week, and then I can do the yellow and
- [Backbox metal](https://mprvmnts.com/backbox-metal) - Cleaned and polished these metal pieces from the Big Guns backbox. I’m not going to paint this grille black, but I’m considering red or yellow.
- [King's Chamber](https://mprvmnts.com/kings-chamber) - Did some work on the Big Guns, restoring the King's Chamber. The peroxide method worked wonders on the plexiglass (thanks for the tip, Chris), so tonight I put this baby back together. Also put in all new LEDs in place of the 44/47 bulbs and new incandescent 89 bulbs. Aside from finishing the backbox paint
- [Space Mission touch ups: teal complete](https://mprvmnts.com/playfield-touch-ups-teal-complete) - Wasn’t planning on it but it was so nice outside so I decided to do a bit more painting. When I do it at night I have to shut the door because the spotlight attracts bugs. Turned out great, but there are two more colors left to touch up, and then probably black a bit.
- [Space Mission touch-ups: blue](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-touch-ups-blue) - Started touching up the blue tonight. Managed to get it matched almost exactly and got ¾ of the playfield done. In the picture above the left side isn’t done and the right is. I’m doing all the planking, pits, and wear so there’s a ton of ground to cover but holy crap it’s gonna be
- [Space Mission playfield touch-ups](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-playfield-touch-ups) - Progress over the last week has been slow, but i finished the blue touch ups for Space Mission and painted yellow stencils on the Big Guns backbox. Again the stencils peeled off a lot of paint but that’s ok because I expected it and plan to finish the same way I did the cab. For
- [Rolling over](https://mprvmnts.com/rolling-over) - I really love playing Surf Champ. It’s both fun and challenging. Always feels good to roll over the score :)
- [Finished painting Space Mission](https://mprvmnts.com/finished-painting-space-mission) - Finished all touch up restoration painting on the playfield. As you can see in the before and after, it’s a pretty dramatic change. It’s not perfect by any stretch but damn it’s good. Next up for this one is leveling the inserts and clear coating. Should be an adventure.
- [Filling cupped inserts](https://mprvmnts.com/filling-cupped-inserts) - Filled up all the Space Mission inserts with automotive clear. I think I pooled it up too much in some places and not enough in others. Next step is a full coat of clear.
- [Zizzle Pirates & Taxi](https://mprvmnts.com/zizzle-and-taxi) - Allison and i were talking yesterday and she asked about Taxi. It’s been folded up in the garage since I got Surf Champ, and it’s partially disassembled of course. But honestly compared to Big Guns or one of my other projects, there’s not that much to do. I hadn’t learned to solder last time it
- [Big Guns backbox painting progress](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-backbox-painting-progress) - Glad to (finally) be done spray painting.
- [Tearing down Shadow](https://mprvmnts.com/tearing-down-shadow) - Got started tearing down the topside tonight. Taking it very slow and snapping plenty of pics.
- [Backbox spray results](https://mprvmnts.com/backbox-spray-results) - I removed the red stencils Sunday morning but haven’t really looked at it until tonight. This will need to be sanded artfully before I paint black into it again with a rag for the depth an texture aura. Then the green stripes to tie it together with the cab. Still not sure about how to
- [Weekend Progress](https://mprvmnts.com/weekend-progress) - Managed to get quite a lot done over the weekend with varying degrees of success. On Sunday afternoon my two oldest boys helped out and that was awesome. Taxi: Z helped me clean and start putting back together Taxi. We switched out some star posts, vacuumed, cleaned, switched out bulbs, and put back all of the
- [Block sanding and stripe painting](https://mprvmnts.com/block-sanding-and-stripe-painting) - Block sanded the first coat of clear on Space Mission. It’s pretty nerve racking to sand away at the surface I have so meticulously touched up over the past weeks. I stopped several times to wipe down with naptha to make sure I wasn’t cutting into paint. I think I could have gone down further
- [Big Guns backbox stuff](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-backbox-stuff) - Cleaned both sides of this board in the backbox, removed all bulbs, cleaned bulb sockets, and gathered all the pieces of the King’s Chamber for reassembly. First I need to replace the plexiglass for that part, it’s super yellow and nasty. Took advantage of a dry and relatively calm night a couple of days ago
- [A big weekend for Big Guns](https://mprvmnts.com/a-big-weekend-for-big-guns) - A lot has happened since my last post. I’ll break it down by category. BackboxI finished my last coat of semi-gloss and completely repopulated the backbox. Reinstalled the boards and connectors, the speakers, trims, and translite. This thing is enormous and heavy, but i managed to get it installed on top of the cabinet by
- [Teardown diagram drawings](https://mprvmnts.com/teardown-diagram-drawings) - I like drawing diagrams. Here are some from my recent teardown. I found that drawing it out is easier than taking photos because it’s always difficult to see what’s going on in photos. This way i number every connection and tape labels on the playfield wires. Much nicer than photos.
- [Big Guns flipper rebuilds](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-flipper-rebuilds) - Top flippers rebuilt and installed, upgraded to fliptronics style thanks to Vid’s guide on Pinside. I’ve got the old flipper bats in upside down to keep everything in place for now. Two more flipper rebuilds to go! Unfortunately the next ones have more switches. I wish I was faster with these!
- [Troubleshooting](https://mprvmnts.com/troubleshootin) - Spent an hour or so looking through relays and switches in an attempt to fix Surf Champ. Had a moment where I thought I did it, then put the machine back in line and it stopped working. Now I got it going again but I am clearly not finished fixing it.
- [Slow and steady motion](https://mprvmnts.com/slow-and-steady-motion) - I haven’t had much time to work on pinball, but tonight i did a couple of things. I laid out all of the switches and parts for the front flippers so they are ready to wire up. I also sanded and deglossed all of the low spots on Space Mission. That was tedius work but
- [Soldering night](https://mprvmnts.com/soldering-night) - Did a bunch of soldering on Big Guns. Both front flippers rebuilt and reinstalled, top side mechs rebuilt and reinstalled. Resoldered some bad connections on the topside GI as well. It’s basically ready to be repopulated.
- [Big Guns board work](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-board-work) - Replaced the blown TIP102 on the board and also fixed the backbox GI. Everything tested out good. The GI fix was a bit of a hack but I can make it right later (it’s not dangerous). Waxed the playfield twice, replaced topside light sockets, and put the remaining bulbs in. Touched up the apron and
- [Repopulating is the fun part](https://mprvmnts.com/repopulating-is-the-fun-part) - Repopulating the playfield is very satisfying. It’s fun to see all the new and cleaned and polished parts go back on. I’ve got the entire first layer done with the exception of the back center. As usual, there were some difficulties here and there. The main issue was that I discovered a few playfield post
- [Big Guns even closer](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-even-closer) - At this point i have everything back on the playfield with the exception of the flipper bats, large wireforms that catch the cannon blasts, and the lighted panel that goes behind in the back. It’s crazy that at this point i can write a list of things remaining to do and it fits in a
- [Big Guns: assembly complete!](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-assembly-complete) - Joy of joys. It’s still not working, but it’s very very close - depends on how quickly I can get good advice from Pinside. I have problems with the kicker switches (which I must have gotten wrong) and the right canon switch (which appears to be missing a diode).
- [Rotisserie time for Taxi](https://mprvmnts.com/rotisserie-time-for-taxi) - Got Taxi mostly stripped down and up on the rotisserie. Encountered a ton of broken/stripped hardware that really slowed things down. This playfield is pretty horrible right now. Whoever put the yellow lacquer or varathane on it didn’t remove anything, so all the ball guides and posts are covered with it. I am not planning
- [Sad sad Taxi playfield](https://mprvmnts.com/sad-sad-taxi-playfield) - A few really terrible areas on the playfield. Not even sure what I’m going to do with this playfield. Clean first and reassess.
- [More Taxi teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/more-taxi-teardown-2) - This afternoon I removed the flippers, slingshots, slingshot switches, and both drop target mechs on Taxi. Labeled all wires using the system I developed working on Big Guns. Still need to remove all three pop bumper mechs. May end up removing all mechs as many have rust and tons of grime on them.
- [I’m still sanding](https://mprvmnts.com/im-still-sanding) - Spent about two hours block sanding this playfield after dropper filling valleys and a coat of clear. It’s NEARLY flat, but i managed to sand off a bit of paint in one area (damn!) but i think it’s mostly hidden during game play so i may just leave that. It’s really tough to get these
- [Playing pinball is fun!](https://mprvmnts.com/playing-pinball-is-fun) - Got some good time playing pinball with the kids this weekend. S is really getting quite good, if he understood the rules and goals he would be scoring quite well. J LOVES Surf Champ, it’s the machine he plays most. He kept saying “I don’t know why I just love this game.” I know what
- [Another roll](https://mprvmnts.com/another-roll) - Rolled another coat of clear on Space Mission. At this point I’m extremely confident that this is going to turn out well. I still have some valleys to fill, but i think one more dropper round and two more roll coats will do it. It’s already flatter and more perfect than most of the playfields
- [The valleys have all been filled](https://mprvmnts.com/the-valleys-have-all-been-filled) - I’ll knock down the overfill on Thursday night and then I’m thinking two more roller coats, cut and polish. It’s going to be great. At this point I’m obsessing about the smallest things, but the before and after on the playfield when it’s done is going to be DRAMATIC even though there will be imperfections.
- [Taxi: hardware sorting](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-hardware-sorting) - All the hardware from Taxi. The top set has been tumble polished and cleaned. The bottom set is organized so I can take an inventory and replace most of it. These kinds of tasks take quite a long time.
- [More block sanding on Space Mission](https://mprvmnts.com/more-block-sanding-on-space-mission) - Knocked down all the raised spots from overfilling valleys. It is hard work, and I’m thankful that I am not doing another round of fills. There are very small imperfections here and there, but in this case with my tools and novice skills I know that perfect will be the enemy of good. Two more
- [More Taxi teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/more-taxi-teardown) - Disconnected a bunch of switches, pulled the kicker and catapult arms, and removed light boards. Getting everything that pokes up above the playfield out of the way. Pop bumpers are the only things left.
- [Yet more Taxi teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/yet-more-taxi-teardown) - Removed the old pop bumper parts. Everything but the metal parts will be replaced. Now the topside is free of obstruction and I can start cleaning it in earnest.
- [Big Guns odds and ends](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-odds-and-ends) - Addressed a number of small issues on Big Guns. The right outlane has been KILLING me and i realized that i had a too-large rubber on the single post pictured above. Switched it to a smaller black one from Shadow and it makes the game so much better. Other things I did: Adjusted the gate
- [Schematics!](https://mprvmnts.com/schematics) - I jumped headlong in to learning how to read and use pinball schematics last night. I don’t have any schematics for Big Guns yet so i figured i’d take this opportunity to figure out my Surf Champ problems once and for all. Thanks again to the awesome community at Pinside, I got some good advice from Nicholas
- [Schematics to the rescue!](https://mprvmnts.com/schematics-to-the-rescue) - Got the new baby monitor for the little one's room, so i was finally able to get out in the garage and try and get un-depressed about pinball. I ended up having a marathon session out there with mixed results. Surf Champ is running 100%!!!!!The good news is that, thanks to Nick’s help and this great
- [Chicago Street Pinball Arcade](https://mprvmnts.com/chicago-street-pinball-arcade) - Took all the boys with me and Chris to Joliet to play pinball today. It was a pretty long drive, but the place was full of fun machines and we had a great couple of hours playing. It’s an interesting mix of games. I surprised myself by having a great time playing Game Show. Other
- [Clear coating Space Mission](https://mprvmnts.com/clear-coating-space-mission) - I haven’t been doing anything out in the garage but playing Surf Champ since I fixed it. Last week I broke that habit and put on my nitrile gloves and my respirator and rolled the second to last coat of clear on. Put the final coat on tonight. I know that it won’t be completely
- [Big Guns and Taxi work ](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-and-taxi-work) - Still troubleshooting Big Guns. Getting some good help from Pinside on that but it’s terribly slow going and I feel confused about everything. In the meantime I got some LED strips from Comet that I plan to place under the cannon plastics in Big Guns to help light that area and the upper part of
- [Space Mission playfield: wet sand, cut, and polish!](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-playfield-wet-sand-cut-and-polish) - Wet sanded clear coat at 600/800/1000/1200/1500/2000. Then a medium cut with a rotary buffer followed by swirl remover. Looks pretty remarkable, but I’ve got to wait for a couple weeks because it doesn’t appear to have fully cured yet. I am chomping at the bit to put this back together!
- [Parts from Marco](https://mprvmnts.com/parts-from-marco) - I now have the parts to make Big Guns work. New microswitches, diodes, fuses, board parts, wire for ball guides, new coils for the kickers because one was bad and the other not the right coil which I only realized when looking up the replacement part for the broken one that was not labeled. Excited
- [Big Guns: frustrations](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-frustrations) - More work with terrible results. I’m about ready to light this machine on fire and watch it burn. Made a new wire ball guide replacement for the top of the playfield (which turned out good). Replaced left side switches for the eject hole and cannon. Fixed a couple of broken solder joints for the guard
- [EM odds and ends](https://mprvmnts.com/em-odds-and-ends) - Got some time over the last couple of days to work on the pins. Finally got the Surf Champ spinner fixed by using an old off brand spinner and applying new decals. I wet sanded the spinner very smooth before putting on the stickers - hopefully these stay on nicely and last. As for Space
- [Good work day with E](https://mprvmnts.com/good-work-day) - Today some great pinball things happened. My oldest came out and worked on Big Guns with me for almost three hours. He enjoys soldering and has done a number of small electronics projects on his own, but this was the first time he’s worked with me on pinball. It was a blast. He is much
- [New pin: Spanish Eyes](https://mprvmnts.com/new-pin-spanish-eyes) - So happy to have this machine. Drove all the way to a town North of Milwaukee to get it and overpaid a bit, but it’s worth it to me. There is a lot of work to do to get this thing playing right, but i think it will probably only take a couple of weeks
- [Playing great pins and adding to my wishlist](https://mprvmnts.com/playing-great-pins-and-adding-to-my-wishlist) - I really enjoyed playing these games and more at Chris’ friend Rob’s house tonight. He has a huge collection of rare and delightful pins from woodrails to newish Sterns and 90s DMDs. Lots or rare stuff and everything in perfect condition. What a treat to play there tonight. I’ve decided my new holy grail of
- [Pinball Hall of Fame (part 1)](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-hall-of-fame-part-1) - A few of the fun machines I played on Tuesday at the Pinball Hall of Fame. I want a Black Hole so bad, and Grand Tour was fantastic.
- [Pinball Hall of Fame (part 2)](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-hall-of-fame-part-2) - Yet more awesome pinball machines from the Pinball Hall of Fame! I can’t even pick favorites from this batch - i absolutely loved playing each of them.
- [Pinball Hall of Fame (part 3)](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-hall-of-fame-part-3) - I enjoyed playing all of these EMs. Most were set up very nicely, though El Dorado’s flippers were mushy and weak. Standouts for me in this group were Strange World and Central Park, but i would be happy to own any of these machines!
- [Sticking 10s score unstuck, and other Spanish Eyes troubleshooting](https://mprvmnts.com/sticking-10s-score-unstuck-and-other-spanish-eyes-troubleshooting) - When I went out last night to show Allison the machine, it no longer started a game and when I got one started, as soon as a 10s score happened the match unit coil would lock on. Found the 10s relay and adjusted the leaf switches. Unfortunately one is very oddly bent from some prior
- [Testing out different colored star posts](https://mprvmnts.com/testing-out-different-colored-star-posts) - Decided to go with amber on most of the posts for Spanish Eyes. Clear between the top lanes, and yellow under the plastics by the flippers. I know that it’s unconventional but i’ll save the old posts and this way the machine will be much brighter.
- [Spanish Eyes teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/spanish-eyes-teardown) - Middle-oldest was looking for a way to earn some money over the weekend so I paid him to teardown Spanish Eyes. He removed everything that could be removed without messing with the underside of the playfield—including the apron and ball trough parts—and sorted out the pieces for me. He was a little grossed out by
- [Plugging away at Shadow](https://mprvmnts.com/plugging-away-at-shadow) - While Z worked on Spanish Eyes (see other post), E and I worked on tearing down Shadow. It’s really a crime how i’ve let this machine sit idly for so long. I had previously removed most everything from the lower playfield up to the diverter ramps, but this machine is complicated and daunting so i
- [Tumble time for Space Mission parts](https://mprvmnts.com/tumble-time-for-space-mission-parts) - Pulled the Space Mission rollover switch wires out of the tumbler and cleaned them up. They were super yucky before and now they are shiny. Then I put all of the Spanish Eyes metal into the tumbler to get that started. I also spent some time organizing Space Mission stuff to see what I have
- [Space Mission playfield restoration complete](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-playfield-restoration-complete) - Last night I finished buffing and polishing the Space Mission. It had been two months since sanding and doing a medium cut buff, which was more than a month after the last round of clear was applied. I was hoping that waiting longer for the clear to cure and using a better tool would give
- [EM work](https://mprvmnts.com/em-work) - Pushing hard to get Space Mission finished this weekend and organizing parts for Spanish Eyes. Working on EMs is fun.
- [Repopulating Space Mission](https://mprvmnts.com/repopulating-space-mission)
- [Space Mission, (mostly) complete!](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-mostly-complete) - I pulled a few marathon sessions out in the garage this weekend and got Space Mission all back together again. It is so freaking beautiful. I rebuilt the pop bumpers and flippers and cleaned and changed coil sleeves for all other mechs. I added lights to the eject holes and repopulated the playfield. There are
- [Shooter rebuild](https://mprvmnts.com/shooter-rebuild) - Space Mission shooter assembly cleaned and polished. New sleeve and springs too. Works great now.
- [Spanish Eyes: playfield touch ups](https://mprvmnts.com/spanish-eyes-touch-ups) - Made some progress cleaning up and doing touch ups. Still need to do some of the black lines.
- [Space Mission: Before and After Restoration](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-before-and-after-restoration) - I’ve been chomping at the bit to post a “before and after” series for this machine, but i wanted to wait till i had it completely finished. I worked on this restore for about 6 months (including cure time for the clear coat). Electro mechanical pinball purists will hate some of what i did, but
- [Tumbler bounty](https://mprvmnts.com/tumbler-bounty) - Always a treat to see gleaming metal come out of the tumbler when what i put it was very very very grimy and sad. Still waiting on some parts for the pop bumper rebuild but my plan is to rebuild the flippers and start repopulating the game over the weekend.
- [Rebuilding Spanish Eyes pops](https://mprvmnts.com/rebuilding-spanish-eyes-pops) - 2 of 4 pop bumpers rebuilt on Spanish Eyes. Thought I would finish all four tonight but no dice.
- [Repopulating and rebuilding Spanish Eyes](https://mprvmnts.com/repopulating-and-rebuilding-spanish-eyes) - Finished rebuilding pops, reinstalled all of the rollover switches and buttons, cleaned the underside of all inserts, and replaced all bulbs under the playfield. The main big thing left to do is replace the flipper coils and rebuild the flippers. I should finish this weekend or shortly after, it always takes longer than I think
- [Spanish Eyes complete and fun fun fun](https://mprvmnts.com/spanish-eyes-complete-and-fun-fun-fun) - Spent about 20 hours in the last week getting this thing back in working order. It plays like a dream, so happy I made the drive to go get this one.
- [Staying organized](https://mprvmnts.com/staying-organized) - A couple of folks have asked how i keep track of everything that needs to be done on these machines. When i started working on Big Guns last year I was so overwhelmed by the number of things i needed to do (tasks, purchases, learning, etc) that i started keeping a Google Drive spreadsheet for
- [Gottlieb chime unit for Spanish Eyes](https://mprvmnts.com/gottlieb-chime-unit-for-spanish-eyes) - New (used) Gottlieb chime unit that I’m going to put in Spanish Eyes. The easy part will be changing over the 100s and 1000s to this new chime. I’ll have to do some trickier work to get the 10s firing as this machine doesn’t already have a 10s sound. The reason for doing this is
- [Shadow cleaning and sanctum repair](https://mprvmnts.com/shadow-cleaning-and-sanctum-repair) - I finished tearing down Shadow as far as i was going to go. Vacuumed up the old dust and then cleaned with heavy duty citrus degreaser. Removed the mylar that was over the previous sanctum damage and then cleaned up the damage down to solid wood. Carefully sanded the damaged area to roughen it up
- [Sanctum repair and more](https://mprvmnts.com/sanctum-repair-and-more) - Little updates from work I did. Put another fill coat on the Shadow sanctum. Cleaned the used Gottlieb 3-bar chime unit I’m going to use on Spanish Eyes, and figured out how to wire it properly. Cleaned the score reels on Spanish Eyes while i had the backglass off. Fussed with the Space Mission flippers
- [Spanish Eyes Chime Unit Mod](https://mprvmnts.com/spanish-eyes-chime-unit-mod) - Spanish Eyes comes with a single crappy sounding chime that sounds for only 100s and 1000s scores. Once i got the machine up and running I was dead set on replacing that unit with a beautiful sounding 70s era Gottlieb 3-bar chime unit. It took a bit of doing, but I managed to put the
- [Blackout yellow drop target bank](https://mprvmnts.com/blackout-yellow-drop-target-bank) - Fixed the yellow drop target bank on Blackout, which hasn’t been scoring (for single targets) since I got it. Took it apart and cleaned the contacts, now it works great. Pretty much everything in pinball is taking something apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together. In other news, Chris dropped by and put a
- [Shadow ready to wax and reassemble](https://mprvmnts.com/shadow-ready-to-wax-and-reassemble) - LED’d under the playfield and in the backbox. Cleaned the entire playfield with naphtha, then cleaned with novus 2 and then wiped down with naphtha again and a dry towel. Playfield looks really good so now it’s time to wax. I’ll be putting some new mylar down in a couple of areas - the sanctum
- [Shadow sanctum repair](https://mprvmnts.com/shadow-sanctum-repair) - The Shadow "dot sticker" isn't the most elegant solution to hiding sanctum wear but I wasn’t ready to repaint and clear. Waxed 3 times then clear mylar over the entire area and green dot sticker over the wear. The important thing is the the wear is fixed and the area is flat. This machine is
- [Fun at Brixie's](https://mprvmnts.com/fun-at-brixies) - Had a real fun night playing over at Brixie's. Rob had some rarities on location that were a real treat.
- [Fun game on Spanish Eyes](https://mprvmnts.com/fun-game-on-spanish-eyes) - I couldn’t get into the "A" lane to save my life but I managed a few extra balls with the numbers and horseshoe. My reproduction backglass is on the way and I can’t wait. Love this machine.
- [Gottlieb Team One - new to me!](https://mprvmnts.com/gottlieb-team-one-new-to-me) - Picked this up on the way home from dropping my son off at camp. It’s very clean inside and should be easy to get working. Needs new rubber and a very thorough cleaning on the playfield and the outside of cabinet. The plan with this one is to do a complete re-theme with Allison. Not
- [Cleaning Shadow parts](https://mprvmnts.com/cleaning-shadow-parts) - Spent about 4 hours cleaning and organizing parts. Still need to polish metals, but screws, posts, plastics, and other various crap is clean and polished and ready to go.
- [HBD (neon) to me!](https://mprvmnts.com/hbd-to-me) - Well dammit all I just got the coolest birthday gift from A. My very own Williams Pinball neon sign. HOT DANG!
- [Metal metal metal](https://mprvmnts.com/metal-metal-metal) - Spent a good long time polishing these metal parts from Shadow. Very happy with how they came out. Now everything is ready to go back on the machine. Reassembly starts tonight.
- [More Shadow progress](https://mprvmnts.com/more-shadow-progress) - Got more done on Shadow tonight. Tomorrow the left diverter will go in and I’ll start putting the wireforms back on. Can’t believe I’m getting so close!
- [Almost almost almost (Shadow)](https://mprvmnts.com/almost-almost-almost-shadow) - Everything is done except putting back the brass wire forms. This thing is like a freaking puzzle. It’s probably going to take me another 2-3 hours but I should be playing by the end of the weekend! Did the rest of the plastics, the battlefield apron, slingshots, installed diverters, plugged all the wiring back in,
- [Shadow complete!](https://mprvmnts.com/shadow-complete) - Had to make a few adjustments after getting everything together but it is working, beautiful, and lightning fast. The Shadow multiball kickout needs adjusting a bit more but it doesn’t ruin game play. So stoked to have this machine running again!!!! Now to work on my score :)
- [Spotlights for Shadow and tidying up](https://mprvmnts.com/spotlights-for-shadow-and-tidying-up) - I installed spotlights on the slingshots to lighten up the playfield and they turned out great. Just ran some speaker wire from the GI up through the kicker hole and onto the sling post. I also installed a 3 LED light under the apron to lighten up the bottom of the field. It’s been a
- [Pinball planning thoughts](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-planning-thoughts) - I’ve been playing the crap out of Shadow, and it seems like the more i play it the more i suck. I am particularly bad at hitting the scene start shot. When i have trouble with a particular shot I will usually dedicate game after game to ONLY being focused on that shot. I’ve been
- [Shadow's Final Battle!](https://mprvmnts.com/shadows-final-battle) - Finally made it to the Final Battle on Shadow! It took a buy in ball to get there but it I couldn’t resist as I had just completed all the scenes, battlefield, and multiball modes when I drained ball number three. Final battle was just chaotic. I had no idea what I was doing. Crazy,
- [Sinbad teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-teardown) - Tore down everything topside on Sinbad today, except for the pop bumpers. It was a whole lot dirtier than I thought, and some areas were kind of sticky which reinforces an earlier guess I had about this machine, namely that there has been beer or soda spilled on/in it a few times (the left flipper
- [Sinbad progress recap](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-progress-recap) - Scrudge cleaned playfield Removed flipper and start buttons and housings and cleaned De-rusted and polished the area the lock down bar fits into Ultrasonic cleaned plastic posts, flipper bats, other plastic parts Replaced screws stock with new phillips heads for repopulating De-rusted last leg leveler that wouldn’t come out before and replaced with a good
- [Pinball posts from Sinbad](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-posts-from-sinbad)
- [Sinbad: cleaning, waxing, spraying, polishing](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-cleaning-waxing-spraying-polishing) - Spent a good deal of time cleaning and scrubbing these metal pieces. There were a number of small rust spots on most of these and a some general corrosion. I still need to polish and wax them but they are super shiny and wonderful already. Naptha cleaned the playfield, then waxed it four times. Also
- [Sinbad: underside](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-underside) - Working the underside. Started by removing old bulbs and cleaning the inserts.
- [Sinbad: four flipper breakdown and more](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-four-flipper-breakdown-and-more) - Pulled all the flipper mechs. They were sticky and dirty and disgusting. Definitely needing the treatment i’m giving them. Also pulled out most of the metal parts from inside the cabinet to derust and clean. I had cleaned the top of the lockdown bar receiver in place but it seemed prudent to give it a
- [Sinbad progress](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-progress) - Over the last couple of nights I have been working through lots of small tasks. Cleaned inserts under the playfield, rebulbed the underside. Put the cabinet buttons back in after cleaning the inside. Tumbled some more metal parts from flipper mechs and inside cab. Cleaned all the flipper parts in the ultrasonic. Cleaned the wood
- [First time rebuilding drop targets](https://mprvmnts.com/first-time-rebuilding-drop-targets) - Finally mustered up the courage to start rebuilding the drops on Sinbad. I started with the single bank of four. Disassembled most of it and then cleaned everything thoroughly. Replaced the targets with new ones and put everything back together. Made some mistakes along the way but in the end it seems good. Won’t be
- [Sinbad drops completed](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-drops-completed) - Completed the drop targets today, but the long one took forever because I didn’t take enough photos and spent an hour trying to figure out why it wasn’t going together right, only to realize I had the bottom pice of the cage upside down :( Also confirmed I had the springs wrong on the first
- [Sinbad: rebuilding flipper mechs](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-rebuilding-flipper-mechs) - Got most of the way through rebuilding these flippers but I pooped out. Realizing I still have quite a lot to do on the underside. I want to put new coil sleeves on the pop bumpers and I have to put back a bunch of switches and the rollover switch wires too. I don’t think
- [Sinbad: pop stuff](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-pop-stuff) - Cleaning and partially rebuilding the pop bumpers on Sinbad.
- [Sinbad: pops rebuilt, cab metal installed, playfield in](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-pops-rebuilt-cab-metal-installed-playfield-in) - Got the pops reassembled — they look great and will perform so much better with the new coil sleeves, clean switches, and all the gunky buildup removed. Hit all the cabinet metal with Mother’s and then a light waxing. The lockdown bar receiver is very much improved, all rust was removed with the exception of
- [Repopulating Sinbad (progress)](https://mprvmnts.com/repopulating-sinbad-progress) - Apron, top arc, and metal guides all in
- [Sinbad: underside completed](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-underside-completed) - Reinstalled all of the leaf switches and stand up targets that poke up through the playfield, including the ones that attach to the drop target mechs. Reinstalled the mech that kicks up a new ball. Put all of the rollover metal pieces back on and adjusted leaf switches. Reinstalled the metal trim pieces that meet
- [Repopulating Sinbad and getting aggressive with the Taxi playfield](https://mprvmnts.com/repopulating-sinbad-and-getting-aggressive-with-the-taxi-playfield) - Got everything but the flippers done on Sinbad over the weekend. My oldest helped a bit on Saturday and that was fun. Got the Taxi playfield back on the rotisserie and started messing with it. Got some good results from a green scrubby and citrus degreaser. I’m bound to remove some good paint too but
- [Making metal look great](https://mprvmnts.com/making-metal-look-great) - Pulled the metal parts out of the tumbler and wiped them all down to remove dust. Also cleaned a number of larger metal parts and hit them up with mother’s mag polish and they are looking good. Ordered some oddball replacement screws and new flipper bats and now I’ve got everything in order. Just need
- [Sinbad complete!](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-complete) - What i thought would be less than an hour’s work to adjust the flipper bats and start playing the game became a few hours of work. First, after adjusting the flippers and starting to tighten the bats in place, i realized that on two of the flipper mechs i accidentally got the bushings wrong, putting
- [Surf Champ drop target rebuild](https://mprvmnts.com/surf-champ-drop-target-rebuild) - Cleaned the whole mechanism and replaced the grimy old targets with new. Pretty awesome feeling to be able to knock it out so quickly. Gonna rebuild the pops on this machine next.
- [My Taxi playfield is a mess](https://mprvmnts.com/my-taxi-playfield-is-a-mess) - I am finally trying to make some headway with this playfield. It’s such a colossal mess. The short version is that some previous owner sprayed Varathane (or similar) clear coat all over the playfield but did so without removing much of anything. Posts, metal, leaf switches, etc all got sprayed. Not only is it grossly
- [Star Jet, Bally (1963)](https://mprvmnts.com/star-jet-bally-1963) - Played several games of Star Jet at a friend’s house last night. One of the most beautiful machines I’ve ever played. And fun, too!
- [Scraping ain't going to work](https://mprvmnts.com/scraping-aint-going-to-work) - Tried scraping the playfield but that isn't going to work. Will have to sand it down completely.
- [Taxi, wood repairs](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-wood-repairs) - This area of the shooter lane was totally ruined and was preventing good ball launches up to the spinout ramp, so here i have messed it up more removing all the soft flakey wood and putting in some holes to anchor the JB Wood that i’m going to use to rebuild it. In other news,
- [Sinbad spinner stickers](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-spinner-stickers) - My spinner art was gone and I set out to make a sticker to replace it. As i built out the art for the original sword it occurred to me how wrong it was to have a European fencing sword on this pin. The playfield, backglass, and cabinet art each depict scimitars of some kind,
- [Taxi playfield overlay arrives](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-playfield-overlay-arrives) - Very exciting things to come
- [Sanding wood patches](https://mprvmnts.com/sanding-wood-patches) - Block sanded the entire playfield again at 400 grit and worked the newly patched spots down. Shooter lane is great, but I’ll probably need to paint it fake woodgrain so it’s not obvious. Next step I’m gonna do a light poly coat.
- [My kids are getting really good at pinball](https://mprvmnts.com/my-kids-are-getting-really-good-at-pinball) - 5yr old boy has been focusing most of his limited playing time on Shadow and he’s getting pretty dang good. Just over this weekend he had 2 games over 200 Million (215, 225). He’s got pretty great control over his shots, but little working knowledge of how to advance the game and score (outside of
- [Playing pinball, not fixing](https://mprvmnts.com/playing-pinball-not-fixing) - Been playing a lot and not fixing anything. Due to this, there is a growing number of issues to attend to. I need a day or two off to just focus, the post-work, post-9pm time is hard for me right now since I’ve been trying to get up early. Going to bring Big Guns to
- [Space Mission troubles](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-troubles) - Pulled the switch board out of the bottom of the cab so that I can see better to fix whatever is wrong with this thing. I am 95% certain that it is a switch problem on the score motor. I am going to go through all of the relays on this and the backbox before
- [Taxi playfield overlay installed](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-playfield-overlay-installed) - I found someone to install the overlay and clear coat the Taxi playfield for me. Today i got this text from him and i am just TOO excited. He’ll clear and level over this and then I will get it home and start repopulating! So crazy that this machine will finally be playable soon.
- [Space Mission working, schematics FTW](https://mprvmnts.com/space-mission-working-schematics-ftw) - Spent about 5 hours going through the entire machine over the weekend. Inspected and (if needed) adjusted every relay and score reel in the game. Found quite a few problems on score reels, namely some loose connections or broken solder spots so I made all those repairs. After that the machine wouldn’t do anything upon
- [Rearranged the line-up](https://mprvmnts.com/rearranged-the-line-up) - Making room to work on Taxi and set up some art studio space so I can make paintings again. Will end up bringing big guns to the office but need to finish up some work on it. Planning to repaint the space mission cab this summer, then maybe that gets sold. I think the garage
- [Taxi playfield comes home and the garage is a disaster](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-playfield-comes-home-and-the-garage-is-a-disaster) - Picked up the freaking amazing looking taxi playfield. It’s just great. Not perfect, certainly not as awesome as a new reproduction playfield would be, but for the money it is ASTOUNDING. That said, i really fucked up. i totally fucked up. i forgot to mark out the location of all the screw holes. This machine
- [Battery fix on Funhouse](https://mprvmnts.com/battery-fix-on-funhouse) - Removed a corroded and broken battery holder and wired in a remote one. Feeling lucky that there wasn’t any board damage from the leaky batteries that were in the machine when I bought it. I used an old broken toy battery holder that I’ve been saving and it worked like a charm. Now I can
- [Funhouse: as ready as it's going to be](https://mprvmnts.com/funhouse-as-ready-as-its-going-to-be) - Hallway gate is fixed, which was a trick because i wanted to get the wire in without removing all the ramps. Took some ingenuity but i got it! This prevents the annoyance of making the shot only to have the ball bounce out. Replaced the rubbers throughout but not all the posts. Too bad the
- [Fun with Funhouse, Spanish Eyes musing](https://mprvmnts.com/fun-with-funhouse-spanish-eyes-musing) - Finally had a good game on Funhouse! Most of the points came on the final ball and it was so damn fun. Can’t wait to get better at this game. All the stuff I’ve done this week has greatly improved game play. Also posting elements from the Spanish Eyes backglass. I really love the game,
- [Workshop progess update](https://mprvmnts.com/workshop-progess-update) - Some photos from the shelving teardown and rebuild
- [Pinball workspace complete](https://mprvmnts.com/pinball-workspace-complete) - Tool cart organized, project space completely set up. I LOVE IT
- [Dirty parts need some love](https://mprvmnts.com/dirty-parts-need-some-love) - This week’s goal: clean this stuff and rebuild the flippers. Taking the slow and steady approach to rebuilding this Taxi.
- [Taxi flippers rebuilt](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-flippers-rebuilt) - These rebuilt flipper mechs get me so excited! Drop targets aren’t back together but all the parts are clean so I’ll finish those tonight.
- [Taxi drop targets done](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-drop-targets-done) - Drops done, slingshots are next. Unfortunately, I have to replace the sling switches because they are totally jacked up and covered with some kind of clear coat.
- [Taxi: Very clean mechs](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-very-clean-mechs) - I’ve been taking my time rebuilding most of the mechs on this machine. There are a few more kickers to do that are still under the playfield, and of course the pops, but the big ones are done. I figured out a solution for finding all the through holes in the playfield that were covered
- [Taxi: under playfield clean-up](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-under-playfield-clean-up) - I’ve basically cleaned everything under the playfield but the light sockets. Ordered some parts I needed to finish the pops, and in the meantime I’ve been cleaning metal from the cabinet (grills, etc). I’ll actually be repopulating by next week! Also, I love my space.
- [New Funhouse shooters](https://mprvmnts.com/new-funhouse-shooters) - Replaced everything but the plates on both Funhouse shooters - the existing stuff was super gummed up and the left rod looked like a soccer ball. Now both shooters are consistent and much better aligned.
- [Microswitch nightmares](https://mprvmnts.com/microswitch-nightmares) - Took me 45 minutes to reinstall two microswitches on Taxi tonight. Actually, it took me 40 minutes to install one microswitch and 5 for the other. Hopefully the other 6 go faster!
- [Taxi restore: It's all over under there](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-restore-its-all-over-under-there) - The underside of the playfield is 99% complete. All the mechs are in and wires soldered. Gonna clean and wax the playfield before completing the flipper installation. I’ve taken this machine further than any other restore so far, though I won’t be doing much to the outside of the cabinet even though it’s a bit
- [I don't enjoy polishing metal](https://mprvmnts.com/i-dont-enjoy-polishing-metal) - Something about polishing metal like this annoys me, but it sure looks good. These will still get hit with mother’s, then waxed. Waxed the playfield three times too while I was doing these. Lots more metal to go.
- [Nice looking grill](https://mprvmnts.com/nice-looking-grill) - Got a first coat of black on the metal grills and they look real nice. I feel angry about the dude who sprayed crappy clear coat all over this Taxi. Not only did it destroy the playfield but I’ve spent hours and hours cleaning it from metal, switches, coils, etc. Tonight I saw it all
- [Taxi metals, polished up](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-metals-polished-up) - Finished wet sanding all the steel guides for Taxi. Steps: 220 -> green scrubby -> 400 -> 600 -> 800. Some didn’t get all steps (only the worst got 220), but it’s still a lot of elbow grease. Will polish the most visible ones a bit further with Mother’s mag polish but I’m really happy
- ["just one more thing"](https://mprvmnts.com/just-one-more-thing) - Just one more. Just one more thing. Just this one last thing… 3am. The pins in the photo mark the through holes that were covered by the overlay. Normally i’d say i have about 5-10 hours left with a machine at this stage but in this case with the new clear coat and overlay obscuring
- [Taxi: working down the list](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-working-down-the-list) - Checking off Taxi tasks like crazy. All the metal going back into the cab was either polished and waxed or painted black. Got the new speaker installed re-bulbed the backbox insert and the entire playfield (aside from flashers) Re-wired and installed the bell, but i’m missing a capacitor for that assembly that i’ll need to
- [Weekend update](https://mprvmnts.com/weekend-update) - Shifting over to painting again, taking a break from Taxi. All the metal is polished and waxed, but there are some small pieces in the tumbler that I’ll leave running through tonight. I want to test the lighting before I go any further. There’s a GI problem I need to fix and probably some sockets
- [Taxi: speaker panel and interconnect board](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-speaker-panel-and-interconnect-board) - Disassembled the speaker panel to get it ready for replacement speakers on both sides. It’s worth it. Also pulled the interconnect board to fix the GI pins and found a really burnt area under the resistors. Going to fix that too now! Unfortunately this probably means another round of parts to buy but I’m in
- [Taxi speaker panel mod](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-speaker-panel-mod) - Speaker panel cut and t nuts back in the right place, everything painted black. I think I’m eventually going to go all the way with this one and put in a crossover and an 8" woofer for the cab and a separate volume for the backbox. For now just speaker replacement here.
- [Taxi: rails and holes](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-rails-and-holes) - I’ve drilled all the holes that go all the way through the playfield. It was anxious work. Also put on all the black rails. Another long task was fixing all the lamp sockets. Dude who cleared the playfield shot clear into them so many weren’t working. All clean now. I’m going to start populating the
- [Finding the screw holes](https://mprvmnts.com/finding-the-screw-holes) - I found all the through holes using a flashlight under the playfield, but now that I’m repopulating I’ve got to find all the screw holes that didn’t go through. Luckily, I’ve found that if I locate the approximate position and press that area with my thumb, I can see a slight dimple where the hole
- [Getting back into Taxi](https://mprvmnts.com/getting-back-into-taxi) - I’ve been traveling and painting for the last four weeks so it’s good to be back. My goal is to get this done in the next 3 weeks. It'll hinge on how long the board work and fixing GI wiring takes me. Tonight I finished drilling all the holes in the back half so it’s
- [Taxi: moving along](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-moving-along) - Got a bunch more installed tonight. Lane guides, two ball gates, and quite a few posts. I’m realizing that I need to replace broken screws and I probably don’t have everything I need. Hopefully it’s stuff I can get at the hardware store. Still, it’s looking amazing. Calling it a night cause my computer ran
- [7 more guides down](https://mprvmnts.com/7-more-guides-down) - Installed 7 more metal guides in no time today. This is getting fun. Still finding more holes to drill as I place everything.
- [Taxi interconnect board fixed, playfield progress](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-interconnect-board-fixed-playfield-progress) - Lots more in on the playfield and having tons of fun now that I have a boatload of new machine screws in different sizes and lengths. I paid my oldest son to do the board work. He replaced two resistors and made a molex connector from the GI wires that are soldered directly to the
- [Taxi posts puzzle, it's tricky](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-posts-puzzle-its-tricky) - It’s been mildly stressful finding and drilling holes in this playfield but I’ve got nearly all of the metal parts on now. What I have left is the tricky stuff. I have to figure out where all the long posts and hex posts go and there isn’t any documentation. I failed to get proper photos
- [Poking holes](https://mprvmnts.com/poking-holes) - So nerve racking. I think these are the last to drill out.
- [Taxi post puzzle: solved!](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-post-puzzle-solved) - Placed all the ramps to figure out where the posts needed to go, then installed all the posts. Screwed in the back board as well. There are a lot of plastic pieces to clean and polish. I am missing a few trim plastics and that bums me out. Unfortunately there isn’t a repro set out
- [More taxi playfield repop progress](https://mprvmnts.com/more-taxi-playfield-repop-progress) - Got all the metal and rubber parts on the playfield. If all goes well I could be playing this weekend, but I’m not counting on it! In other news, my workshop is a frickin mess.
- [BAM! (Taxi!)](https://mprvmnts.com/bam-taxi) - I now have all the plastics and plastic ramps installed. All I’ve got left now are 4 wireforms to polish, wax, and install. Then it’s putting the apron on, installing the flipper bats, then it’ll be playable. There is still a list of more cosmetic/mod type things i want to finish after that, but once
- [Cleaned Taxi flat plastics](https://mprvmnts.com/cleaned-taxi-flat-plastics) - Novus 2 and 1 on all the flat plastics. I need to assemble the connected plastics and the decorative mini posts and figure out where I am potentially missing posts. I was able to attach one of the small plastics and it was quite satisfying. Only plastic parts left to clean are the spinout ramp
- [Taxi, before & after pics](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-before-after-pics) - Before and after pics from the Taxi restoration. Night and day.
- [EM Stepper class](https://mprvmnts.com/em-stepper-class) - Learned a whole heck of a lot on Saturday in my time with Nic. We rebuilt this stepper, a few relays, and a score reel. Nic also found and fixed the mysterious issues with Space Mission. We didn’t get as far as I hoped with Team One, but now I feel 100% confident in doing
- [Tearing down Team One](https://mprvmnts.com/tearing-down-team-one) - Just quickly tearing down bits of the Team One playfield.
- [Tumbling](https://mprvmnts.com/tumbling) - Haven’t had much time to work on Team One this week, but i’ve been pulling stuff off the playfield and managed to get most all the metal pieces in the tumbler to clean/polish them. I’m planning on giving this the full EM PERFECTION treatment, so i’m looking ahead at many tens of hours rebuilding and
- [More Team One teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/more-team-one-teardown) - Getting everything ready for the tumbler, including all the rollover lane switches. ayayyyyy. Also put together my Pinball Resource shopping list. I need quite a few new parts for this machine, so much of the plastic is cracked, and pops need to be rebuilt.
- [Another rebuilt stepper](https://mprvmnts.com/another-rebuilt-stepper) - Used all the new techniques that Nic taught me and rebuilt the second stepper unit in Team One. It was pretty easy to do and took me a little over an hour. It’s really satisfying to get everything working 100% and all the contacts burnished and all the springs clean and perfectly adjusted. I’ve got
- [Team One tumbler bounty](https://mprvmnts.com/team-one-tumbler-bounty) - Pulled all this crap out of the tumbler after 3 days and it looks great. I am replacing all the screws so there really isn’t that much metal to fix up. I’ve got all the rollover switches running now with the pop bumper rod and rings. In a couple of days all the metal will
- [Broken rubber?](https://mprvmnts.com/broken-rubber) - Soren was playing by himself on Saturday and ran out to tell me that there was a problem with Funhouse - there sure was! Turns out the left sling rubber snapped. Very strange because I put these on only a few months ago. Luckily i had a spare so i was able to put a
- [Free Play arcade, Richardson TX](https://mprvmnts.com/free-play-arcade-richardson-tx) - Had a good time playing pins and arcade games at Free Play. S’s new favorite is Scared Stiff. I had a pretty fun time playing Baby Pac-Man. I feel like I’d like to own it for a year or so, interesting rules for how the pin play effects the video play. Location pinball is hit
- [Babysitting the Decepticons](https://mprvmnts.com/babysitting-the-decepticons) - My friend Paul needed a place to put his Decepticons LE for awhile so it’ll be in my arcade till he comes to take it back. Needs some very minor repairs and a clean. Will probably refresh the rubbers too. I’ve never played it before and I’m looking forward to getting to know the game.
- [Roll out!](https://mprvmnts.com/roll-out) - Transformers is working pretty nicely! Cleaned a lot, replaced rubbers and some bulbs, and fixed the right flipper by replacing the transistor on the board. I had some good fun playing but I’ve only put in a few games. Not quite sure how any of the rules and modes work at this point. It’s fast
- [Shadow Bling](https://mprvmnts.com/shadow-bling) - Switched all the star posts to purple and put purple post lights under the slings. Also replaced the old spotlight sockets with matrix since they were so ugly after repairing the solders. It was nice because the matrix posts lights and the spot light all tie in together now. Finally got around to installing the
- [Dang flipper bats](https://mprvmnts.com/dang-flipper-bats) - Replaced the flipper coils in space mission today because one was bad. Unfortunately the bats are so mangled that I couldn’t get them adjusted correctly afterward. Tried to use the sanding flap wheel on the dremmil to smooth it out but it’s just too far gone. After three failed attempts decided it is time to
- [Tracing Team One](https://mprvmnts.com/tracing-team-one) - Our retheme project stalled for a few months as I tried to figure out how to scan this playfield. I tried a few methods with less than stellar results and eventually decided that tracing, then scanning was the best idea. All I really need is a 1:1 digital file that contains the basic playfield layout–inserts,
- [Getting better at pinball](https://mprvmnts.com/getting-better-at-pinball) - I’m getting better at pinball. I suppose practicing 30min a day for a year will do that. Last night I got my highest score in Shadow, making it to the Final Battle before my final ball, and generally playing awesome.
- [Brixie's monthly tournament](https://mprvmnts.com/brixies-monthly-tournament) - Attended my first official pinball tournament at Brixie’s. In the past i’ve always arrived as the tourney was ending to play dollar games with the remnant. I’m not sure that I like tournaments. I was really nervous and there were a lot of people. On the plus side, I got to meet Krystle in real
- [Getting back into Team One](https://mprvmnts.com/getting-back-into-team-one) - Space in the garage has opened up a bit so i’m getting back into my Team One restore. It’s a bit slow going as I try to remember where i was with everything. I pulled out the Chime unit and tilt mechs. Rebuilding chimes with the Pinball Resource kit is absolutely worth it because… BELLS!
- [Logan Arcade](https://mprvmnts.com/logan-arcade) - Chris and I played about thirty games and he ended up two games ahead. I was up for a moment but he got 3 of three on T2 and I never recovered. I really like the new Star Wars pin, the more I play it the more I like it.
- [Total Nuclear Annihilation](https://mprvmnts.com/total-nuclear-annihilation) - TNA: I love it whether I fail or succeed. It is so frickin good it makes me want to cry. Had a great time with Eric, Rob, and Chris playing dollar games at Brixie’s tonight. We played a lot of TNA and a bit of each of the other machines. I won zero, but i
- [Getting tidy and organized](https://mprvmnts.com/getting-tidy-and-organized-2) - Long overdue clean-up of my space. I should have taken “before” photos! I’m going to clear coat the two main work tables as they badly need refinishing. Tonight I repainted the white table white and I’ll some water based poly on them over the course of the week. I fixed a minor issue on transformers
- [Taxi is back!](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-is-back) - Had Gavin come over to fix up Taxi and Big Guns. Best decision ever and money well spent. Everything is tip top now with the exception of the bell which needs a new coil. Played a few rounds and was reminded of just how much I love this dang game. Of course on my third game of
- [Scrub-a-dub](https://mprvmnts.com/scrub-a-dub) - Cleaning up all the Team One mechs. A few more hours and I will have cleaned all of it, including rebuilding the flippers.
- [Taxi bell woes](https://mprvmnts.com/taxi-bell-woes) - Got a new clapper and coil for the bell so I could hook it up. Unfortunately now as soon as the power is on the bell rings. Bad transistor? I don’t have it in me tonight to troubleshoot. I did manage to fix a couple other annoying issues on Taxi. The Dracula catapult now sends
- [Centerpoint Brewery, Indianapolis](https://mprvmnts.com/centerpoint-brewery-indianapolis) - Top notch beers, and immaculately maintained pins. This place is a treasure. I only had an hour so I played about half on Indiana Jones, half on Star Trek (managed to nab the 4th high score), and Spider-Man (which I suck at). I could have played here for hours.
- [Star Wars (pro) comes home](https://mprvmnts.com/star-wars-pro-comes-home) - Friday night after I put the kids to bed I drove over to Brixie’s to pick up this lovely machine (Rob has replaced it with an LE or Premium). What a crazy, beautiful, fun game this is. The more I play it, the more impressed I am. The use of the theatrical score is perfect,
- [Working on a Star Wars mod](https://mprvmnts.com/working-on-a-star-wars-mod) - Used the dremel to grind out the plastic on this millennium falcon toy (from the X-Wing game) where the blue lit propulsion area is. is that hyperdrive or rockets or engine or what? I have no idea but it will glow blue. I’m cutting some plexi to fit in perfectly there and it will serve
- [Baby steps (M.F. mod)](https://mprvmnts.com/baby-steps-m-f-mod) - Cut the makrolon for the “lens” with some newly acquired snips. Turns out metal snips are perfect for rough cutting materials in the plexi family. Random reading on Pinside often yields tips like these. I’ve still got to figure out the bracket solution. I ordered a cutting blade for my dremel (misplaced all my attachments!)
- [Millenium Falcon mod making progress](https://mprvmnts.com/millenium-falcon-mod-making-progress)
- [PinVault (Indianapolis)](https://mprvmnts.com/pinvault-indianapolis) - Thanks to some real lucky connections, we were able to get into the PinVault for a couple of hours on Tuesday. What a great space and collection! Thanks to Matt, Ben, and Jon, for making it possible. Special mention to some games i hadn’t played before and thoroughly enjoyed: Victory Hard Body Future Spa They
- [Millennium Falcon mod (final)](https://mprvmnts.com/millennium-falcon-mod-final) - Wanted to post the final version with properly sculpted lens (I sanded down the excess), including the vertical striations etched in with a dremel. It’s tied to some controlled lighting right now but after playing a premium on location that was lit the whole time I think I’ll end up moving it to a persistent
- [Putting in pinball work](https://mprvmnts.com/putting-in-pinball-work) - Fixed a GI issue with Taxi, got it cleaned and leveled Leveled, cleaned, and replaced bulbs on Sinbad Leveled, cleaned, and switched out flipper rubbers on Surf Champ Cleaned Shadow and replaced a few flashers Cleaned, leveled, and finally put the right shooter spring on Blackout Tomorrow I’ll go through Funhouse and that’ll mean I’ve
- [Team One, vector reconstruction from trace](https://mprvmnts.com/team-one-vector-reconstruction-from-trace) - After trying to find a place to scan my trace for a few months with no success, i finally decided to scan it in piecemeal and stitch it back together in Photoshop. After i got that done and tweaked the image so measurements were extremely close to 1:1 with the actual playfield, I started vector
- [More Team One vectors](https://mprvmnts.com/more-team-one-vectors) - Added the plastic posts, drop targets, and wood rails (just barely shown), and made the inserts the correct colors.
- [Vectorizing Team One fundamentals](https://mprvmnts.com/vectorizing-team-one-fundamentals) - I’ve built every element on the playfield into vectors, setting the stage for a document that will serve as a full scale design template. VERY close to handing off to my partner in crime who’ll be doing the playfield art for this project.
- [Updating Star Wars code](https://mprvmnts.com/updating-star-wars-code) - First time ever updating a modern pinball machine. Pretty neat stuff. I wish I had made note of some of the settings first, but i think I got it set back just fine.I gotta say, Stern really did a great job with all of the maintenance related stuff on this pin.
- [EM playfields are heavy](https://mprvmnts.com/populated-em-playfields-are-heavy) - Gearing up to do some work on Surf Champ. I’m going to switch out the flipper coils (back to original), and while I’m at it I’m going to fix a bunch of bulb sockets. May possibly do a pop bumper refresh but I’m not sure if I have the requisite parts on hand for that.
- [Hotwiring old flaky bulb sockets](https://mprvmnts.com/hotwiring-old-flaky-bulb-sockets) - A number of sockets on Surf Champ were flickering or not even working. Thanks again to pinside for the recommended fix that I used to do 16 sockets.
- [Repairing a flipper coil](https://mprvmnts.com/24-2) - Made some mistakes swapping out flipper coils on Surf Champ and learned something along the way.
- [Little robot painting](https://mprvmnts.com/little-robot-painting) - I made this little robot painting on wood for a family art project we were doing. Dang if i didn't forget the prompt, but i think it was probably "robots"
- [Fixing up the old Fernandes](https://mprvmnts.com/fixing-up-the-old-fernandes) - I picked up this guitar off craigslist some time ago, and then it sat in storage for awhile. As I am getting back into a regular practice, i thought it would be a good idea to re-string, fix, and polish up the axe. Got it hanging up in my room now and it looks pretty!
- [Tomatoes for Libby (process)](https://mprvmnts.com/tomatoes-for-libby-process) - Started up on this painting I'm making for my lovely (former) coworker, Libby. These will end up pasted on an old window from her house :)
- [Headboard/shelf for the loft](https://mprvmnts.com/headboard-shelf-for-the-loft) - I spent quite a few days in December, designing, building, and finishing a nice headboard for the custom loft i built for my son. He's a very avid reader and having all that space for books is going to be great. I wanted a simple design on poplar to match the loft style, so i
- [Three non-drug approaches for managing depression](https://mprvmnts.com/three-practical-approaches-to-boosting-yourself-out-of-depression) - How are you going to boost yourself out of depression when it seems like moving heaven and earth just to take a shower or make a sandwich? Here are three approaches I've had success with in my life.
- [Rethinking creative process](https://mprvmnts.com/rethinking-creative-process) - I've learned a lot about making things and harnessing my creativity in the last twenty years, and I'm excited to apply what i've learned to music writing for the first time.
- [Abstract playground](https://mprvmnts.com/abstract-playground) - Today i was getting inspired at the playground. The light was just right, and the kids were occupied. I hope these images become fodder for paintings.
- [Sinbad Baseball](https://mprvmnts.com/sinbad-baseball) - I've been playing around with games on top of games, adding different rules to pinball games for variation or to focus on a particular aspect of the game I want to practice.
- [Iceland painting](https://mprvmnts.com/iceland-painting) - I've been wanting to experiment with painting landscapes for a long time now, and i finally bit the bullet and picked a photo from our anniversary trip to Iceland in 2010 to paint from and present to my lovely bride for an anniversary gift. Painting with gouache is really different than acrylic in a number
- [Chopped the old tomato](https://mprvmnts.com/chopped-the-old-tomato) - The giant heirloom tomato painting that was hanging on the side of my garage for the past two years was getting ragged around the edges, so i finally took it down and chopped it up into these bits. Hopefully i can make use of them down the line. I'll miss that big cheery tomato when
- [Half Moon Bay (tiny landscape #1)](https://mprvmnts.com/tiny-landscape-1) - I'm going to try and do one very small (7cm x 7cm) gouache landscape painting each day for 100 days. The idea is to keep the process under 15 minutes or so, but i know it'll be tempting to extend. Today's entry is from a photo I took in Half Moon Bay, CA sometime in
- [Lake Myvatn, Iceland](https://mprvmnts.com/lake-myvatn-iceland) - Daily tiny landscape #2.
- [Sayre Park, Chicago](https://mprvmnts.com/sayre-park-chicago) - I just love the way this painting of a flooded field at Sayre Park turned out. This is my third daily painting.
- [New fruit for a friend](https://mprvmnts.com/new-fruit-for-a-friend) - Finally got around to finishing this painting that i started maybe two years ago. I first completed the painting on paper, then mounted it on MDF, cut it out, sanded and painted the edges, then varnished. Now i just need to make time to drive to Madison so it can meet its owner, my long-time
- [Palmquist Farm, Wisconsin](https://mprvmnts.com/palmquist-farm-wisconsin)
- [Badlands, South Dakota](https://mprvmnts.com/badlands-south-dakota)
- [Des Plaines river, after a storm](https://mprvmnts.com/des-plaines-river-after-a-storm)
- [Grand Marais, Michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/grand-marais-michigan) - This is one of my absolute favorite places in the world. There will be more paintings of this area.
- [Logan Square, Chicago](https://mprvmnts.com/logan-square-chicago) - This one is painted from a photo I took off of the back porch at a good friend's place in Logan Square. It was a beautiful night.
- [Strokkur Geysir, Iceland](https://mprvmnts.com/strokkur-geysir-iceland)
- [Sunrise at sea](https://mprvmnts.com/sunrise-at-sea)
- [Lake Michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/lake-michigan-wisconsin)
- [Gulfoss, Iceland](https://mprvmnts.com/gulfoss-iceland)
- [First 12 tiny paintings](https://mprvmnts.com/first-12-tiny-paintings) - The first twelve little landscape paintings are done. Just gotta set up the next paper and masks for the next ones. I really like how they look together.
- [Dune-top trees, Michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/dune-top-trees-michigan)
- [Half Moon Bay](https://mprvmnts.com/half-moon-bay)
- [Fog at dawn, Chicago](https://mprvmnts.com/fog-at-dawn-chicago) - I just love this painting. It really captures the moment, which happened after a downtown Grocer paste-up session before sunrise. I walked down to the harbor and along the lakeshore as the sun came up.
- [Indiana windmills](https://mprvmnts.com/indiana-windmills)
- [Red Rock Canyon, Nevada](https://mprvmnts.com/red-rock-canyon)
- [Sunset, Istanbul](https://mprvmnts.com/sunset-istanbul)
- [Tools of the trade](https://mprvmnts.com/tools-of-the-trade) - I'm making these little gouache paintings using a mega set of cheap gouache i purchased online. It's not the best paint to work with, but it's good enough for these experiments and where i'm at right now. If i keep going I'll definitely need to upgrade the paint (because I LOVE mixing quality pigments). As
- [Lake Superior shoreline](https://mprvmnts.com/lake-superior-shoreline)
- [Eight more paintings](https://mprvmnts.com/eight-more-paintings)
- [Lake Superior, sundown](https://mprvmnts.com/lake-superior-sundown)
- [Iceland](https://mprvmnts.com/iceland)
- [Interstate Falls, Wisconsin](https://mprvmnts.com/interstate-falls-wisconsin)
- [View from a hotel window](https://mprvmnts.com/view-from-a-hotel-window)
- [Palmquist Farm (2)](https://mprvmnts.com/palmquist-farm-2)
- [Ayasofya](https://mprvmnts.com/ayasofya)
- [Foggy morning, Grand Marais](https://mprvmnts.com/foggy-morning-grand-marais)
- [Reynisfjara, Iceland](https://mprvmnts.com/reynisfjara-iceland)
- [Chicago](https://mprvmnts.com/chicago)
- [Three sheets of paintings](https://mprvmnts.com/three-sheets-of-paintings)
- [Sorrento, Italy](https://mprvmnts.com/sorrento-italy)
- [Cala Ratjada, Islas Baleares](https://mprvmnts.com/cala-ratjada-islas-baleares) - This is the first tiny landscape in a series of 30 paintings based upon photos from friends. Today's source photo was provided by a different Ben from Germany who I've enjoyed following on instagram for a few years.
- [Wildcat Canyon](https://mprvmnts.com/wildcat-canyon) - The source photo for this was taken by my friend Clint Marsh. I met Clint at my friend Greg's 40th birthday party after hearing about him for years. Clint is a published author and creator of Fiddler's Green, a truly magical publication. Over the course of three days I fell in love with Clint's peaceful
- [Mount Kazbek, Georgia](https://mprvmnts.com/mount-kazbek-georgia) - This source photo came via my friend John, who I met at my first tech job nearly 20 years ago. He has always inspired me. I haven't seen him since he left for Seattle soon after we met, but I follow his world travels and mountain climbing adventures on Instagram. Someday i hope to reconnect
- [Indonesia](https://mprvmnts.com/indonesia) - This subject comes by way of my old friend Vineetha. When we met up last summer I asked her what the best place she ever traveled to was. Answer: Indonesia. After looking it up I was inspired to make a painting—I hope to go there some day.
- [Tree woes](https://mprvmnts.com/tree-woes) - One of the challenges in making this painting based upon the 7x7cm landscape I painted is that there are times when I need to use my imagination to add detail in service of the painting, rather than solely base my painting from the small source. I went into this tree with some measure of caution,
- [Setting aside "Balance" in favor of self-awareness](https://mprvmnts.com/setting-aside-balance) - I've decided that I'm going to blow up my freshly created 2020 goals, and tighten them up so that this year I strive for immersive/passionate focus into just a couple of things, rather than pushing a number of larger goals forward incrementally.
- [Another experiment](https://mprvmnts.com/another-experiment) - I found another small old painting in my studio and couldn't help but start going over it. I learned quite a bit while making this. (1) If i'm going over old paintings, i need to leave more of the old in tact (2) i need to stop using prussian blue hue. i will probably repaint
- [Honey Boy (Self exploration day, part 2)](https://mprvmnts.com/self-exploration-day-part-2-honey-boy) - After a really wonderful afternoon of relaxation, meditation, journaling, and art viewing, I found myself looking for some passive entertainment. I was sitting at the Art Institute thinking about how much I had enjoyed people watching and so, rather than go see some jazz as I had planned, I walked over to the Siskel Theatre
- [Recalibration](https://mprvmnts.com/recalibration) - I want more from myself. I want fewer compulsive behaviors and more mindful ones. I want wilder nights and more peaceful days. I want to be able to gain and keep momentum at will.
- [A big scale-up](https://mprvmnts.com/a-big-scale-up) - Put in time last night doing an underdrawing and putting some paint down on this 48x36" panel. Lately i've been trying to just work on whatever i'm drawn to in the moment, and last night I was feeling this big one. I lost a little momentum looking for the right source photo. to work from.
- [Loch Lake: session 2](https://mprvmnts.com/loch-lake-session-2) - Covered a lot of ground and had a really fun painting session last night. I blocked in more of the hills and mountains in the distance, and put in a couple of washes on the lake itself. I expect the final painting to not look much like this at all, but it's heading in the
- [On optimizing my evening commute for speed](https://mprvmnts.com/on-optimizing-my-evening-commute-for-speed) - Most evenings I walk from my office through downtown Chicago to catch a Metra train home. The walk is 1.1 miles, heading South and West from State and Hubbard to Union Station's Madison Street entrance. The direction I'm heading cuts diagonally across downtown, which creates a lot of flexibility when it comes to route choice.
- [Accidental Vampire](https://mprvmnts.com/accidental-vampire) - One night in early July, after banging my head against a different song project for a couple of hours without any success, i started flipping through my journal and found the opening line to this tune. A few hours later after a bit of guitar noodling and some inspired moments on a long walk, Accidental
- [Experiments](https://mprvmnts.com/experiments) - After doing some observation works, my energy changes and I am drawn to further and further abstraction.
- [Designing a disc golf course](https://mprvmnts.com/designing-a-disc-golf-course) - Decided to design and build out a short disc golf course on our property.
- [My 1940s detective style](https://mprvmnts.com/my-1940s-detective-style) - Got into costume recently to help A out with a photo project she was doing for class. Fun times.
- [Larger landscapes (process)](https://mprvmnts.com/larger-landscapes-process) - I've been planning to do larger, acrylic on wood versions of some of the smaller landscapes I did earlier last year. The idea is to use the small painting as the source rather than the original photograph. Below are the first three sittings. I like where it's headed.
- [The boy in the cactus](https://mprvmnts.com/boy-in-the-cactus) - Popped into the Oak Park Conservatory, which is a nice little place to lose yourself among the plants, say hello to the birds, and warm up from the cold in the winter. I really like how my sketch turned out.
- [Bring in the lights](https://mprvmnts.com/bring-in-the-lights)
- [Painting doodles](https://mprvmnts.com/painting-doodles)
- [Getting to the home stretch](https://mprvmnts.com/getting-to-the-home-stretch)
- [What am I trying to achieve?](https://mprvmnts.com/what-am-i-trying-to-achieve) - As I was reflecting on the work I'm doing right now and my painting plans for this year, I became very certain that my primary goal is this: I want to learn to make mid-scale acrylic landscape paintings with a process and outcome that represent my sensibility. The most important thing about framing the goal
- [Flood Reflections at Rutherford-Sayre Park, Chicago](https://mprvmnts.com/flood-reflections-at-rutherford-sayre-park-chicago) - I finished this painting and I'm feeling pretty good about it. The goal was to paint 2 foot square acrylic version of the very small gouache painting I made last year (below), using only the painting as a reference rather than the original photo reference.
- [Wisconsin Waterfall](https://mprvmnts.com/wisconsin-waterfall) - Last night I found a couple of old paintings from 2002, and I had the overwhelming urge to paint over one of them.
- [New Beginning](https://mprvmnts.com/new-beginning) - Started a new painting last night. I had intended to do the same scene again but after making that little waterfall painting the other night, I changed my mind. Gotta move on. I'll be painting more loosely and following my intuition.
- [Not so precious](https://mprvmnts.com/not-so-precious) - In my second sitting with this painting I brought in the sky and sea, and I have to say that it was thoroughly enjoyable and I like the outcome. In particular, I love this section of the shoreline. I'm making a conscious effort to evoke the essence of the scene without getting too precious.
- [Self exploration day part 1, Meditation, Ice Skating, Art Institute](https://mprvmnts.com/self-exploration-day-part-1) - No matter how much I fuss and fret, and renew my attempts to murder the Sovereign of the Centre by superimposing my human seven-holed features upon him, I can never succeed.
- [Future paintings](https://mprvmnts.com/future-paintings) - I spent some time last night priming new surfaces to paint on. I've got two 8" square and two 12" square panels. More importantly, I've got a nice 24x36" panel that I'm really excited to work with. I need to see what I can learn from making increasing the scale. Plus, i've got some other
- [Painting: River Through Mountains](https://mprvmnts.com/painting-river-through-mountains) - I decided to relieve myself of the impulse to make another tonal, semi-representative work by forcing myself to work with a non-representative palette. I painted this over three sessions and I feel pretty good about it.
- [Starting something new](https://mprvmnts.com/starting-something-new) - I was finishing up sanding a few freshly primed wood supports when I came across an old project I started about two years ago. I had cut up the solid wood top of an unused drawing table to use part of it for another project and was left with a 22x15 inch panel that seemed
- [A very good painting session](https://mprvmnts.com/a-very-good-session) - Everything about this roughly two hour painting session felt good. It had its ups and downs but more often than not I was experiencing a flow state. I succeeded in not overworking anything, and I now have a clear vision of where this painting will end. I am toying with a tone change in the
- [Wild Basin](https://mprvmnts.com/painting-wild-basin) - The scene is somewhere along the trail to Ouzel Falls from the Wild Basin trailhead in Estes Park. If memory serves, this spot is not far above Copeland Falls.
- [Above Sky Pond](https://mprvmnts.com/painting-above-sky-pond) - I am very pleased with how this painting turned out. There was a very real risk of overworking it and I managed to avoid that. I am still thinking about what i've learned with this painting, and I'll probably have to consolidate those thoughts into another post.
- [More painting experiments](https://mprvmnts.com/more-experiments) - I've had the Sayre Park painting hanging in the living room to observe for the past few weeks. It's been a great reminder of the kind of work i don't want to do.
- [Gestural landscape practice](https://mprvmnts.com/gestural-landscape-practice) - Working on freeing myself up a bit more, so I'm going to be making some low-risk, low-stakes landscapes on paper. This scene is inspired by a photograph I took on my hike to Chasm Lake, just after climbing above the treeline.
- [Dorian's](https://mprvmnts.com/dorians) - I made this blind contour drawing while waiting for Jeff Parker to play at Dorian's. It was my last night out, and the last live music I witnessed before the stay at home orders hit Chicago just a few days later. The show was exquisite. I can't wait to get out and see live jazz
- [Landscape sketches](https://mprvmnts.com/landscape-sketches) - Took a little dip into painting again today. The quarantine energy has been the opposite of what motivates me to paint, but today as i was setting up a painting station for my daughter, i decided to flip open the big pad and do some quick, monochromatic paintings.
- [Returning to painting](https://mprvmnts.com/returning) - Has it really been nearly four months since I started this painting? In this period of quarantine stress, lockdowns, social upheaval, and massive shifts in my daily life, I have been without the motivation to paint.
- [Differentiation of self](https://mprvmnts.com/differentiation-of-self) - A few years ago, I came to realize that I had a problem with self-differentiation. In my most important relationships I was being driven by a deep-seated fear of rejection and abandonment. My sense of self was WAY too tied up in others and outside forces.
- [Father's Days](https://mprvmnts.com/fathers-days) - Fatherhood has changed me, and continues to change me. It is the greatest privilege and deepest joy. It has also been heartbreaking and humbling. It is always changing, and I am so thankful for the love that remains constant between these beautiful people and me, and also the love between siblings that takes its own
- [Drawing from nature](https://mprvmnts.com/drawing-from-nature) - I've have been enjoying gardening and the specific wonders of nature this year. In the context of the confines of this pandemic, I am more aware of the small beauties in nature. There is more time, it seems, to look and notice and contemplate my surroundings. For even as the space I am living in doesn't change, the growing things inhabiting that space are constantly changing. I am drawn into this process.
- [May river, palmetto tree](https://mprvmnts.com/may-river-and-palmetto-tree) - This small painting of the May River and marshes at high tide captured the scene and the moment pretty well without overdoing it. It was my first time using the great new Holbein gouache paints that I received got as a gift last Christmas. They are really wonderful to use compared to the cheap-o stuff
- [Macro nature](https://mprvmnts.com/macro-nature) - I purchased a little clip-on macro lens for my phone and I've been having a lot of fun with it. It has caused me to look more closely at what's around me. Here are some highlights.
- [Obverstractions](https://mprvmnts.com/obverstractions) - I have just started exploring my way into a new painting concept I'm calling "Obverstractions." In this series I am attempting to marry my bent toward abstraction with my passion for nature and observationally driven works, balancing these few facts about myself as an artist: I feel most "at home" and connected to my work
- [Painting larger, process](https://mprvmnts.com/a-larger-journey-process-process-process) - Here are some progress images from a new 3x4 foot painting where I'm layering abstractions based loosely on photos from my walks in nature. I've been interested in how music influences the improvisational aspects of my mark making, and as such I am making this painting while listening to a single album on repeat -
- [Creek sketch](https://mprvmnts.com/creek-sketch) - Made this quick little drawing on the way back down from Wildcat Rock, near Fairview, NC. The midwestern winter had me yearning for a fresh walk through spring mountain air—i felt so fortunate to spend a week on the road with two of my older sons.
- [Big Guns, COMPLETE!](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-complete) - I finally finished restoring this Big Guns pinball machine after over a year of effort. When i started I knew very little about pinball restoration and maintenance, and now I know a whole lot more! I wish i had more representative “before” photos, but hopefully some of these give an idea about where this started
- [Discouraged](https://mprvmnts.com/discouraged) - Feeling pretty discouraged as of late. There are a number of issues on Big Guns that I can’t figure out, and so far I’m not getting any advice from the Pinside folks either. At this point the game is unplayable due to a fuse blowing when I power it on. I won’t go into all
- [Big Guns fixes](https://mprvmnts.com/big-guns-fixes) - Finally fixed a real stinker of a problem on Big Guns with the help of a friendly pinsider. Game is finally fun to play, but the left kicker doesn’t kick (still hunting that problem down). Spent some time playing and rescued the Queen for the first time and got to enter my name. Fun.
- [First repairs on Spanish Eyes](https://mprvmnts.com/first-repairs-on-spanish-eyes) - No pretty photos today but i got started with the most obvious problems. The lock relay power had come unsoldered so I reconnected it and adjusted the switches on that relay. They were totally jacked but working right now. Also examined and adjusted the score reels and relays. Resoldered a wire on the 100s and
- [Good times playin and fixin](https://mprvmnts.com/good-times-playin-and-fixin) - My personal goal for Sinbad was to clear all the drops twice in a single ball. I managed to do it last night and was actually just shy of clearing it three times. I scored 200k on that ball and got an extra ball too. Unfortunately I managed to play like crap on the other
- [Good in 10 (2023 version)](https://mprvmnts.com/good-in-10) - Good in 10 is A playlist of ten songs that together paint a picture of what “good music” is to me. Created on Nov 1, 2023.
- [Buyukada, Turkey](https://mprvmnts.com/buyukada-turkey) - The day i spent on Buyukada is among the best days ever. I hope to return to this beautiful island and once again enjoy its fullness!
- [Everything Is Waiting For You (David Whyte)](https://mprvmnts.com/david-whyte-speaks-to-me) - Like a fighter pilot who has been hunting down it’s target, circling and chasing, David’s words through the hour were the missile lock, the final poem he read flipped the safety cover off of the firing pin. Locked and loaded, ready to fire. Insight, ready for action.

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://mprvmnts.com/category/uncategorized)
- [music](https://mprvmnts.com/category/music)
- [pinball nights](https://mprvmnts.com/category/pinball) - Pinball restoration posts that used to be hosted at pinballnights.com
- [Art](https://mprvmnts.com/category/art)
- [landscape](https://mprvmnts.com/category/art/landscape)
- [The Grocer](https://mprvmnts.com/category/art/the-grocer)
- [poetry](https://mprvmnts.com/category/poetry)
- [obverstraction](https://mprvmnts.com/category/art/obverstraction)
- [cooking](https://mprvmnts.com/category/cooking)

## Tags

- [mixtape](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mixtape)
- [music](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/music)
- [best of](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/best-of)
- [compilation](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/compilation)
- [list](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/list)
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- [em](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/em)
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- [repair](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/repair)
- [sinbad](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sinbad)
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- [comet matrix](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/comet-matrix)
- [pro](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pro)
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- [workshop](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/workshop)
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- [painting](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/painting)
- [robot](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/robot)
- [art](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/art)
- [acrylic](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/acrylic)
- [wood](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wood)
- [fernandes](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/fernandes)
- [electric guitar](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/electric-guitar)
- [before and after](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/before-and-after)
- [the grocer](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/the-grocer)
- [paper](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/paper)
- [tomatoes](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tomatoes)
- [grocer](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/grocer)
- [wordwork](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wordwork)
- [poplar](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/poplar)
- [simple](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/simple)
- [landscape](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/landscape)
- [iceland](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/iceland)
- [river](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/river)
- [mountains](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mountains)
- [gouache](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gouache)
- [playground](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/playground)
- [photo](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/photo)
- [abstraction](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/abstraction)
- [color field](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/color-field)
- [color block](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/color-block)
- [fruit](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/fruit)
- [paste-up](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/paste-up)
- [tomato](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tomato)
- [G](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/g)
- [half moon bay](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/half-moon-bay)
- [tiny paintings](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tiny-paintings)
- [myvatn](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/myvatn)
- [sayre park](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sayre-park)
- [chicago](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/chicago)
- [urban](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/urban)
- [wisconsin](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wisconsin)
- [palmquist farm](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/palmquist-farm)
- [sunset](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sunset)
- [south dakota](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/south-dakota)
- [badlands](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/badlands)
- [turkey](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/turkey)
- [buyukada](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/buyukada)
- [coast](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/coast)
- [waves](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/waves)
- [storm](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/storm)
- [michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/michigan)
- [uppper michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/uppper-michigan)
- [UP](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/up)
- [up michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/up-michigan)
- [lake superior](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/lake-superior)
- [shore](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/shore)
- [ice](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ice)
- [grand marais](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/grand-marais)
- [logan square](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/logan-square)
- [tools](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tools)
- [work space](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/work-space)
- [studio](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/studio)
- [strokkur](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/strokkur)
- [geysir](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/geysir)
- [caribbean sea](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/caribbean-sea)
- [sunrise](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sunrise)
- [cloudscape](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cloudscape)
- [self](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/self)
- [lake michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/lake-michigan)
- [great lakes](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/great-lakes)
- [gulfoss](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gulfoss)
- [waterfall](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/waterfall)
- [gorge](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gorge)
- [upper michigan](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/upper-michigan)
- [trees](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/trees)
- [sky](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sky)
- [lakeshore](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/lakeshore)
- [fog](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/fog)
- [favorite](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/favorite)
- [windmills](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/windmills)
- [indiana](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/indiana)
- [farm](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/farm)
- [red rock](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/red-rock)
- [red rock canyon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/red-rock-canyon)
- [nevada](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/nevada)
- [desert](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/desert)
- [istanbul](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/istanbul)
- [sundown](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sundown)
- [reflections](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/reflections)
- [doom](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/doom)
- [interstate falls](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/interstate-falls)
- [peterson falls](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/peterson-falls)
- [florida](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/florida)
- [silo](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/silo)
- [mosque](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mosque)
- [church](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/church)
- [minarets](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/minarets)
- [basalt](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/basalt)
- [columns](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/columns)
- [black sand](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/black-sand)
- [rock](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rock)
- [beach](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/beach)
- [vik](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/vik)
- [reynisfjara](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/reynisfjara)
- [sorrento](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sorrento)
- [amalfi coast](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/amalfi-coast)
- [italy](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/italy)
- [friendscapes](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/friendscapes)
- [spain](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/spain)
- [island](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/island)
- [cala ratjada](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cala-ratjada)
- [isla baleares](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/isla-baleares)
- [california](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/california)
- [wildcat canyon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wildcat-canyon)
- [hills](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/hills)
- [mountain](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mountain)
- [mount kazbek](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mount-kazbek)
- [georgia](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/georgia)
- [georgian republic](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/georgian-republic)
- [indonesia](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/indonesia)
- [self portrait](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/self-portrait)
- [drawing](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/drawing)
- [pen](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pen)
- [cactus](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cactus)
- [conservatory](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/conservatory)
- [oak park](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/oak-park)
- [best of list](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/best-of-list)
- [songs](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/songs)
- [2019](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/2019)
- [mix](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mix)
- [goals](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/goals)
- [meditation](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/meditation)
- [plans](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/plans)
- [city](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/city)
- [reflection](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/reflection)
- [park](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/park)
- [small painting](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/small-painting)
- [street art](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/street-art)
- [vegetables](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/vegetables)
- [wip](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wip)
- [sea](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sea)
- [clouds](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/clouds)
- [experiment](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/experiment)
- [mindfulness](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mindfulness)
- [sensory deprivation tank](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sensory-deprivation-tank)
- [float-sixty](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/float-sixty)
- [walking](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/walking)
- [ice skating](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ice-skating)
- [on having no head](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/on-having-no-head)
- [headless](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/headless)
- [stream](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/stream)
- [panels](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/panels)
- [priming](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/priming)
- [colorado](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/colorado)
- [sky pond](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sky-pond)
- [view](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/view)
- [nature](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/nature)
- [estes park](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/estes-park)
- [wild basin](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wild-basin)
- [color palette](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/color-palette)
- [resin](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/resin)
- [discovery](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/discovery)
- [gesture](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gesture)
- [therapy](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/therapy)
- [rework](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rework)
- [underpainting](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/underpainting)
- [layers](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/layers)
- [inspiration](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/inspiration)
- [katie vernon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/katie-vernon)
- [dorians](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/dorians)
- [blind contour](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/blind-contour)
- [atmosphere](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/atmosphere)
- [black and white](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/black-and-white)
- [portrait](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/portrait)
- [monochromatic](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/monochromatic)
- [palette cleaner](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/palette-cleaner)
- [self-differentiation](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/self-differentiation)
- [water](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/water)
- [personal writing](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/personal-writing)
- [fatherhood](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/fatherhood)
- [photos](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/photos)
- [family](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/family)
- [david whyte](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/david-whyte)
- [poetry](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/poetry)
- [poem](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/poem)
- [clarity](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/clarity)
- [insight](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/insight)
- [changing](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/changing)
- [everything](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/everything)
- [peace](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/peace)
- [song](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/song)
- [songwriting](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/songwriting)
- [roller coaster](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/roller-coaster)
- [rollercoaster](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rollercoaster)
- [audio](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/audio)
- [ink](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ink)
- [flowers](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/flowers)
- [observational drawing](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/observational-drawing)
- [hibiscus](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/hibiscus)
- [rose](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rose)
- [day lily](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/day-lily)
- [south carolina](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/south-carolina)
- [may river](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/may-river)
- [palmetto tree](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/palmetto-tree)
- [palmetto](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/palmetto)
- [marsh](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/marsh)
- [salt marsh](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/salt-marsh)
- [abstract](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/abstract)
- [swimming](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/swimming)
- [macro](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/macro)
- [photography](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/photography)
- [milkweed bugs](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/milkweed-bugs)
- [weeds](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/weeds)
- [orb weaver](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/orb-weaver)
- [spider](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/spider)
- [mushroom](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mushroom)
- [bones](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/bones)
- [fungi](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/fungi)
- [bug](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/bug)
- [wonder](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wonder)
- [improvisation](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/improvisation)
- [color](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/color)
- [abstract art](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/abstract-art)
- [study](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/study)
- [tiny landscapes](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tiny-landscapes)
- [creek](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/creek)
- [woods](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/woods)
- [wildcat rock](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wildcat-rock)
- [hiking](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/hiking)
- [north carolina](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/north-carolina)
- [artist](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/artist)
- [recipe](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/recipe)
- [collard greens](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/collard-greens)
- [greens](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/greens)
- [pizza](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pizza)
- [cast iron skillet](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cast-iron-skillet)
- [cast iron](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cast-iron)
- [pizza dough](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pizza-dough)
- [pizza sauce](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pizza-sauce)
- [dreams](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/dreams)
- [design](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/design)
- [disc golf](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/disc-golf)
- [big guns](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/big-guns)
- [pinball restoration](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pinball-restoration)
- [transformers](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/transformers)
- [funhouse](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/funhouse)
- [tumbler](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tumbler)
- [stepper](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/stepper)
- [playfield](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/playfield)
- [plastics](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/plastics)
- [playfield repopulation](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/playfield-repopulation)
- [interconnect board](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/interconnect-board)
- [lamps](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/lamps)
- [speakers](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/speakers)
- [speaker panel](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/speaker-panel)
- [underside](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/underside)
- [metal polishing](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/metal-polishing)
- [metal](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/metal)
- [shooter rod](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/shooter-rod)
- [drop targets](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/drop-targets)
- [mechs](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mechs)
- [microswitch](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/microswitch)
- [flipper upgrade](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/flipper-upgrade)
- [spanish eyes](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/spanish-eyes)
- [battery](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/battery)
- [gameroom](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gameroom)
- [space mission](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/space-mission)
- [game room](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/game-room)
- [playfield overlay](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/playfield-overlay)
- [schematics](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/schematics)
- [electromechanical](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/electromechanical)
- [wood repair](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wood-repair)
- [playfield repair](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/playfield-repair)
- [sticker](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sticker)
- [spinner](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/spinner)
- [bally](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/bally)
- [retro](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/retro)
- [star jet](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/star-jet)
- [60s](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/60s)
- [drops](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/drops)
- [flipper rebuild](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/flipper-rebuild)
- [pop bumpers](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pop-bumpers)
- [pops](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pops)
- [posts](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/posts)
- [bally williams](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/bally-williams)
- [the shadow](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/the-shadow)
- [organization](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/organization)
- [parts](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/parts)
- [planning](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/planning)
- [teardown](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/teardown)
- [neon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/neon)
- [translite](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/translite)
- [sanctum](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sanctum)
- [sanctum wear](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sanctum-wear)
- [qbert](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/qbert)
- [stargazer](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/stargazer)
- [punk](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/punk)
- [ghostbusters](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ghostbusters)
- [center pop](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/center-pop)
- [wedge head](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/wedge-head)
- [chime box](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/chime-box)
- [chime mod](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/chime-mod)
- [chime unit](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/chime-unit)
- [playfield restoration](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/playfield-restoration)
- [project management](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/project-management)
- [middle pop](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/middle-pop)
- [star posts](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/star-posts)
- [shooter](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/shooter)
- [pinball hall of fame](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pinball-hall-of-fame)
- [las vegas](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/las-vegas)
- [phof](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/phof)
- [balls-a-poppin](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/balls-a-poppin)
- [clear coat](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/clear-coat)
- [troubleshooting](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/troubleshooting)
- [learning](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/learning)
- [chicago street pinball](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/chicago-street-pinball)
- [hardware](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/hardware)
- [complete](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/complete)
- [custom paint](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/custom-paint)
- [backbox](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/backbox)
- [custom painting](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/custom-painting)
- [diagram](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/diagram)
- [drawings](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/drawings)
- [soldering](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/soldering)
- [circuit board](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/circuit-board)
- [board work](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/board-work)
- [repop](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/repop)
- [zizzle](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/zizzle)
- [king's chamber](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/kings-chamber)
- [inserts](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/inserts)
- [cabinet](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cabinet)
- [side rails](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/side-rails)
- [coin door](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/coin-door)
- [mylar](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mylar)
- [flipper buttons](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/flipper-buttons)
- [tilt mech](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/tilt-mech)
- [speaker](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/speaker)
- [stencil](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/stencil)
- [cabinet restoration](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cabinet-restoration)
- [custom pain](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/custom-pain)
- [power box](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/power-box)
- [mods](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mods)
- [eject hole](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/eject-hole)
- [saucer](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/saucer)
- [health](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/health)
- [depression](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/depression)
- [out of order](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/out-of-order)
- [rc car](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rc-car)
- [polishing](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/polishing)
- [new pin](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/new-pin)
- [transformer](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/transformer)
- [rust](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rust)
- [2023](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/2023)
- [2002](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/2002)
- [class planning](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/class-planning)
- [class](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/class)
- [2022](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/2022)
- [2024](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/2024)
- [dracula](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/dracula)
- [gestures](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gestures)
- [figurative](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/figurative)
- [pastel](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pastel)
- [grapefruit](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/grapefruit)
- [printmaking](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/printmaking)
- [sharpie](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sharpie)
- [apple](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/apple)
- [asparagus](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/asparagus)
- [avocado](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/avocado)
- [carrot](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/carrot)
- [vegan](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/vegan)
- [cherry](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cherry)
- [eggplant](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/eggplant)
- [rejoice](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rejoice)
- [onion](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/onion)
- [red onion](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/red-onion)
- [street-art](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/street-art-2)
- [sketches](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sketches)
- [artichoke](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/artichoke)
- [pencil](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pencil)
- [radish](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/radish)
- [imaginary fruit](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/imaginary-fruit)
- [collaboration](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/collaboration)
- [collab](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/collab)
- [cherries](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cherries)
- [ice craem](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ice-craem)
- [ice cream](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ice-cream)
- [sundae](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sundae)
- [kiwi](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/kiwi)
- [beet](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/beet)
- [watermelon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/watermelon)
- [strawberry](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/strawberry)
- [big horse](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/big-horse)
- [contextual](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/contextual)
- [kiwano](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/kiwano)
- [horned melon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/horned-melon)
- [nippletto](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/nippletto)
- [shrooms](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/shrooms)
- [peabe](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/peabe)
- [rotofugi](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/rotofugi)
- [gallery](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/gallery)
- [flyer](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/flyer)
- [show](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/show)
- [pepper](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pepper)
- [foursided](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/foursided)
- [revise](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/revise)
- [saro](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/saro)
- [cucumber](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cucumber)
- [mutant](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mutant)
- [mutant cucumber](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/mutant-cucumber)
- [lemon](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/lemon)
- [plum](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/plum)
- [pontiac cafe](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/pontiac-cafe)
- [the viking](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/the-viking)
- [boat](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/boat)
- [ship](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ship)
- [stickers](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/stickers)
- [viking](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/viking)
- [hotbox](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/hotbox)
- [nice one](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/nice-one)
- [sidewalk chalk](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/sidewalk-chalk)
- [brooks golden](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/brooks-golden)
- [owls](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/owls)
- [soup fixins](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/soup-fixins)
- [panel](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/panel)
- [cooler](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/cooler)
- [red bull](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/red-bull)
- [bananas](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/bananas)
- [buddha's hand](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/buddhas-hand)
- [G40](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/g40)
- [lime](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/lime)
- [map](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/map)
- [orange](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/orange)
- [ginger](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/ginger)
- [zucchini](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/zucchini)
- [zucchini flower](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/zucchini-flower)
- [flower](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/flower)
- [skate](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/skate)
- [skateboard](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/skateboard)
- [2025](https://mprvmnts.com/tag/2025)