Lighting

Archive for the ‘Lighting’ Category

The Resurrection

October 29th, 2010 by platkat | 5,930 Comments | Filed in Events, Lighting, Maintenance, Seattle

Last night I was back at Haunted Nightmare in Bothell for more screamy mayhem. I had already been through the haunted house the week before, and it was really, really scary. It was so scary, in fact, that I’m okay with admitting that I couldn’t handle a second helping. It’s a true compliment to the actors, who all did a great job of freaking out a girl who drives a car that’s supposedly full of ghosts.

The outside activities with other vendors proved to be much tamer. I managed to snap a photo of two lovely vampires before they tried to suck my blood:

Then I popped in one of my new DVDs and enjoyed some quality time in the back of Barbie while greeting passersby. I also turned on the undercarriage lights. And the LED strips in the back. And I was charging my phone. And my headlights were on.

A couple of hours later, I got a call from a friend in town for ZomBcon, so I decided to head over to Seattle Center to say hey. I hung up the phone, made a big production of announcing my departure, put the key in the ignition, and—And then NOTHING! Because my car wouldn’t start!

Like a total rube, I had drained my battery. Knowing I’d be running a bunch of electronics at once, I bought an Optima deep-cycle battery, so I was surprised it ran out so quickly. As I watched several of the living dead hit it with the jumper cables, I made a mental note to run the engine at least every hour when I’m hanging out.

Jody, the organizer of Haunted Night, commented on how funny it was for a hearse to die on the premises. Still worried about my battery, I much later realized the haunted house is inside an unused room at Planet Jump, a mini-mecca of inflatable bouncy houses. There’s so much in a name… this time, too much!

A trip to Midas after my regular stop at the Seattle Center Elephant Car Wash confirmed the battery was low, but nearly charged since I’d been running the engine so diligently henceforth. Another happy Halloween ending to what I hope will be my scariest true story about this coming holiday weekend.

What’s Been Going On

May 21st, 2010 by platkat | 5,928 Comments | Filed in Events, Lighting, Website

As far as this site is concerned, I’ve been suffering from delusions of grandeur. I keep thinking I can still be the internet demon you know and love while my mobile dance card continues filling up. I’ve been having a great time driving Barbie this month, but you wouldn’t know it unless you’re like the folks in the Seattle area pinging me with random sightings on Facebook. (I enjoy reading those, by the way. Keep ‘em comin’!)

In addition to writing about good times and fun, I also want to add a bar of links to the top of my site for easier navigation and to have the homepage redirect to an intro about me and the car instead of this news feed. You wouldn’t believe how fucking hard that is to communicate to someone. If I sit down and mess with it myself, it’ll get done, but it’ll take me longer than someone who does this for a living. And yet, I don’t really feel like paying $400 for a single navbar addition to a stripped-down version of my current site.

So, quick info-seekers, I apologize. For now, you’re getting a blog… an infrequently updated blog these days. I apologize for that too.

Here’s some stuff that happened:

SEAF
I drove VIP guests to the Artists’ Reception of the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. To sum it up, being a sponsor was FUN, and it was even sweeter because I got to bring some friends along. I managed to post a few photos between dressing up to attend the event for the next two nights. On Saturday, I was interviewed by a thin black man in drag named Ronaldo for a SEAF compilation video. Stay tuned to see how that went. I’m on pins and needles… and the pain is turning me on, dammit!

Barbie Dream Bike
I used the tips I made from driving SEAF guests to buy a used pink and white Kula bike from Belltown Pull Apart. If you’d rather pedal than put your feet up, I highly recommend talking to these guys. They customized my bike, and I bet they’ll do it for you too! Tell ‘em Barbie sent ya!

Barbie Dream Condo
That’s right, I’m moving on up… the Hill. I came thisclose to moving to Capitol Hill, but First Hill is the devil I know. Fortunately, there’s more up there than the hell hole I survived in 2008, and I am happy to say my new place has everything, including an extra-long parking spot for Barbie! I don’t get three parking spasses like my old garage, but I’m also not paying through the nose to park in Belltown, so I’m pretty stoked about that.

Changing the Oil
Flushing out Barbie was long overdue, I’m embarrassed to admit. Thankfully, the guys at Zahntech Automotive were happy to help. I got the afterhours ringside special to see how it was all done. I hadn’t seen the underside of my car before and appreciated getting a rundown on the different parts I was looking at.

Visiting Vashon
One of the best things about living in Seattle is being able to drive onto a ferry and drive through one of its many neighboring islands in under an hour. Vashon is the home of the lead docent at SEAF, my initial cold contact that started the whole thing. She and I were in search of hearse curtains, but we ended up finding random stuff for my house and running into (figuratively!) a friend of hers who drives Vashon’s own version of the Barbie Dream Hearse. It’s a laid-back, no-frills ride home for the drunks, operated by a lady at least twice as cool as I am. That’s island life!

Auburn Wine and Caviar Company
I had a great time promoting my car at this diamond in the rough. The owner, Jim, is another friend made through SEAF, and I’d be happy to offer discounts to Seattlites wanting to visit his shop.

Chris Petty and Gramps Benefit Bash
Like I needed another excuse to hang my back end out of a tiny curbside space in front of the Comet! A bad car accident left Chris temporarily wheelchair-bound, so we got to test Barbie’s handicap accessibility. With a little help from my new pal Hilary, she passed with flying colors!

Here’s what’s coming up:

T-shirts
Mens and womens! Large and small! Goofy and serious! Please buy one! The womens shirts have the Barbie star logo featured on my Facebook fan page. The mens shirts are black with the regular logo (the banner on this site) and a catchy slogan that’s lewd if you’re lucky.

Flyers
Eli took a break from being an awesome new mom and was an awesome old friend for knocking this one out for me. They’re being printed now. I can’t wait to paper the town with these!

Lights
I’m getting an underbody kit and some rope lighting for the interior rear cabin thanks to Justin at Oznium.com. These will definitely brighten things up a little!

Corey’s Birthday
The new Evo in an old limo… that’s how we roll.

Fashion Show
I’ll be sponsoring the “Black” Rocker Diva Fashion Show and gracing the catwalk as a model. What could possibly go wrong? (I’m guessing they’ll supply the first two rows of the audience with raincoats, in case I get all Gallagher with it.)

Movie
The Barbie Dream Hearse has been asked to take part in the revelry of a group of marathon beer-drinkers, and I’m more than happy to come out and play. I’m not sure where we’re going or what we’re doing, but hey, neither are they.

Short Summary: The Suitcase Challenge is a documentary that follows five friends as they proceed to drink 24 beers EACH within 24 hours. While there can be only one winner, there can be millions of antics. This feature-length documentary features an array of Seattle icons including the Morphsuit Dancers and the Fremont Solstice Parade and Festival, not to mention a soon-to-be-named scooter gang.

Pictures
“Hey Kat, you know what you should do? You should take some pictures of yourself with the car.” This advice never stops being great. Please also advise a photographer to shoot me for free, the weather to be perfect, my skin to be flawless, my hair to be full and shiny, and my body to remain a size six. When those stars are aligned, you’ll be seeing quite a bit more of this star. (I’m talking about me.)

****

Okay, that’s a lot of stuff, and I know I forgot something. I also have some car pictures that need to be uploaded, sized, and shooped before they’re posted. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and here’s hoping June allots me a tad more time to break up my updates into more delectable, digestible morsels!

Sample Stars

June 6th, 2009 by platkat | 5,931 Comments | Filed in Lighting, Stereo

I spent last night writing an epic email to Stereo Masters, the place I visited while in search of a head unit. I talked on the phone with the same guy I saw a month and a half ago, and he actually remembered me, my car, and my head unit questions. He asked me to put everything that’s happened so far in writing. While it took some time to organize the information for him, it was all there thanks to my diligent blogging. (Who said these things were worthless?)

His response was quick and direct, which I appreciate. Unfortunately, he could only be as helpful as possible without actually helping me. Whoever works on this is going to want to start over. Since he knew I’m at a late enough stage not to want to cut my losses yet, he suggested I get a third party (i.e., a lawyer) to create a contract. So I spent some time thinking about how I want to approach that one.

Most lawyers give free consultations, and I want to be able to do it in person. This means I have to put my trip to Austin on hold and probably also spend some time figuring out a place to stay for at least a little longer while I straighten this out. Come hell or high water, I don’t not want to let this project make me ugly to the people who were just trying to help me.

I was surprised to find a message from Admir today, not too long after my morning run. He had samples ready for me to view. That was fast, considering how long I’ve been waiting for every other little thing he’s had to show me. I knew that this visit would be accompanied by an uncomfortable conversation, but I’m glad to have it out of the way.

He had changed his mind again and decided not to drill holes in the tinted glass. Instead, he put a layer of black, porous, heat-resistant hard foam between the light and the tinted glass and another layer of hard foam behind the cables. Each layer of foam is about three-fourths of an inch thick and surely cheaper than the piece of clear plexiglass that was supposed to go over the tinted piece, but that issue is minuscule compared to the other issues I have with him.

The sample headliner piece is two square feet. The left side as shown below had about 30 stars in blue and white scattered about an inch or two apart (cool). The right side had eight stars with a “shooting star” effect, which comprised of thin, wispy lines trailing the sparsely scattered points of light (shitty).

The picture I took has some glare from the window. But I think it’s quite obvious which side I expected to resemble the end result. He kind of tried to sell me on the shooting star idea, but I think it looks weak. And at this point, I don’t trust this guy to baby-sit my pet cockroach.

When he was done with his spiel, I told him why. I said I would consider buying another engine… online at one-fourth the price. He sat there dumbfounded. I told him that the product I found online was identical to the one he had purchased, and while I’m here, how about we count the cables coming out of this “custom built” engine he bought with my money?

Yep, there were five bundles of 30 cables, just like the one I found online. The person who sold Admir this part told him that he custom-made this thing with 250 cables. Again, as with everything else so far, why am I the one who has to point this stuff out?

I’m really annoyed that he even attempted for a second to make me take some of the responsibility for his mistake. He said something along the lines of “Well, I told you what it was going to be and you said you didn’t want spend a lot of time learning about this stuff.” First of all, I’m taking a much more active role in the customization of this car than almost any customer with my background has ever taken. Second, I shouldn’t have to learn anything. I should be able to rely on his expertise and trust that he’s going to make good decisions. Third, it’s now readily apparent that he is still learning about this stuff… ineffectively and at my expense.

This totally sucks, and I need to lawyer up. I explained that I would not give him any more money until I had a third party create a contract that will protect all of our interests (but given recent events, mostly mine). He made a flat-out poor decision that anyone with experience would have known not to make, and I can’t trust him with any more cash.

He had some more prices on the remaining items I need for my sound system. I wrote everything down so I can research the parts online myself. He had this semi-indignant attitude of “Well if you think you can do better, be my guest.” I had to briefly explain that I don’t want this kind of stuff to be up to me. I’m paying him to be able to get the parts he needs and put them in my car. He has shown me that he is not resourceful enough to do this on his own, so I have no choice.

He also told me about how much labor was going to be, which I am finding an almost laughable topic to broach at this point because I feel like I’ve been holding his hand the entire time. I have the money and don’t mind paying… if the work is done as expected. So yeah, the time to involve a lawyer is long overdue.

I would never say this to someone’s face, but he’s lucky I don’t sue his ass. This is negligence. But there’s not much I can do about it at this very moment, since it’s Saturday evening and most of the lawyers I know are getting ready to booze it up like professionals.

Timelines, Accountability, and a New Spot for the TV

May 29th, 2009 by platkat | 5,901 Comments | Filed in Interior, Lighting, Stereo, Uncategorized

Today was a somewhat of a D-Day. My car has been in Francisco’s lot for exactly eight weeks. I am sick of being asked when the car will be done, and consequently, he and Admir are sick of me asking them when the car will be done. So I called a meeting in attempt to answer this burning question.

I called Francisco this morning and asked him to have Pablo come pick me up, and would he mind if we stopped by Central Auto Sound to pick up my head unit? Pablo and I talked about our families on the way to Art’s shop. He told me about his daughters moving back to Mexico because they didn’t like it here.

Art was around and not busy, and I was surprised to find him so interested in the status of my car. He asked thoughtful, detailed questions that I would not expect (and haven’t gotten) from someone who hasn’t seen me in awhile. I explained to him my frustration with the lack of established timelines and accountability I was seeing. I didn’t think I was going to have to manage this project on the intimate level I was about to. Art said he’d “light a fire under Admir’s ass,” which is all well and good, but I made it clear that I didn’t go over there to tell on him. (I did not make clear, either, that I went over there to retrieve my head unit because no one was keeping an eye on it.) I left Art’s shop feeling slightly empowered, like I had a knowing party to practice on before I delivered my hammer-dropping speech.

I may look like I’m on vacation wearing my giant sunglasses and floral print tube top, but I don’t feel like it in the slightest. Every day, I wake up feeling frustrated and without recourse as time ticks by and I don’t have a car to drive. I told myself at the beginning of the Barbie Dream Hearse blog that I would write only about the car, the mechanics and perhaps the business. I didn’t want to get personal.

But after eight weeks with no clear end in sight, this project has gotten seriously personal. I can’t reasonably move anywhere and establish myself professionally and socially until this is done. I want a permanent home, job, and friend-base right now more than anyone can imagine. I have been staying at the apartment of a man with whom I am not romantically involved. I have been traveling to other cities periodically in attempt to stay out of his way. My friend did a really nice thing allowing me to stay at his place for so long, but eight weeks is an incredibly long time to spend with anyone. He didn’t sign up for this, and frankly neither did I.

I explained the situation to Francisco and Admir as best I could without sounding upset. I told them we needed to establish timelines and an order of operations to make sure that no more time is wasted. I’m sure plenty of cars have spent much longer in the shop to have much less work done on them than mine, but that’s not important now. If I had known it was going to take this long, I would have rented an apartment month-to-month, and perhaps bought a beater-car that I could ditch here when the project was done.

I’m not going to lie, at one point I almost lost it. Frank and Admir were being understanding and light with the excuses, which I appreciated. While it’s not their fault that I am homeless and not local, I told them this before I turned over the car. I tried to explain my living situation in such a way that it was strictly a list of facts and they could draw their own conclusion about how much it sucks, and for a brief moment I choked and couldn’t say anything. I concentrated on not breaking down into some weepy pile of shit that would gain me some short-term sympathy but no one could ever respect again. Then Admir politely attempted to finish my sentence and a strange wave of relief washed over me. And then I got the status and set a schedule.

The A/C tubing is in place:

And the wiring is 80 percent done:

There are a few more shots of the contents of my future amp rack in the photo album. In addition to all the wiring, you can see the A/C tubing going from the front and up into the car. Now for everything else.