Opposable Thumbs

Episode 98: Generative Art Maker Michelle Chandra is our guest! (re-post)

February 21st, 2021  |  43 mins 26 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

Michelle Chandra is our guest this episode! Welcome Michelle!

Michelle makes awesome artworks using a pen plotter! Rob and Taylor ask her a lot of questions about her process and history with programming, software, pens and the fun of converting the digital to the physical.

We also talk about waveform modulations, fractals and other cool stuff!

Taylor's Art Assignment: Pick a memory with a place that is very important to you. Then think of an album you associate with that place and then listen to the album and draw that place from memory.

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Jason Soliday is our awesome editor. He is friendly, conscientious and a master of the craft. Hit him up if you need an editor or soundwizard of any kind. http://www.jsoliday.com/about

Episode 96: Sidney Fernandez: a maker of many awesome things!

February 3rd, 2021  |  46 mins 24 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, cyberdeck, dogs, larp, los angeles, macuahuitl, making, sabre

Yes! Sidney Fernandez is our guest this episode!

Sid is a LARPer, fencing enthusiast, seamstress, cyberdeck builder and maker of many wonderful things.

We talk about Épée sabre, SCA and Amtgard battle gaming. Sidney shares her process of wire-brushing woodgrain into L200 EVA foam for her creation of a foam macuahuitl for a friend. We also learn about Sid's cyberdeck build.

A shout out to Frank, Stanley, Katie, Albee and Mr. Bojangles! (sorry for any misspellings).

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Jason Soliday is our awesome editor. He is friendly, conscientious and a master of the craft. Hit him up if you need an editor or soundwizard of any kind. http://www.jsoliday.com/about

Episode 95: Happy New Year and F Chords for Everybody! (recorded 12.28.2020 which was 500 years ago)

January 17th, 2021  |  25 mins 6 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

Happy New Year Everybody! No guest today! Just Taylor trying to play F chords and Rob getting weapons thrown in his yard.

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Jason Soliday is our awesome editor. He is friendly, conscientious and a master of the craft. Hit him up if you need an editor or soundwizard of any kind. http://www.jsoliday.com/about

Episode 94: Zine maker extraordinaire Liz Mason is our guest this episode!

December 23rd, 2020  |  47 mins 39 secs

art, challenge, chicago, collage, creativity, hacker noon, los angeles, making, martha quinn, most wanted and most unwanted, quimby's bookstore, reaktorplayer, reluctant capitalism, winston smith, zines

Woo! Liz Mason is our guest this episode! Liz has been self-publishing for over twenty years. Recent published works include Caboose #12 and Cul-de-sac #8, Awesome Things #3 and the wonderfully titled Prizes Zine: Things My Dad Has Had to Take Out of Animals and Dance Dance Party Party Zine Zine.

We talk about zines, the coolness of independent radio (shout out to WZRD!), Quimby's bookstore, collage, Martha Quinn's Group Hug, consentacle, Herman Li, reaktorplayer and Hacker Noon.

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Jason Soliday is our awesome editor. He is friendly, conscientious and a master of the craft. Hit him up if you need an editor or soundwizard of any kind. http://www.jsoliday.com/about

Episode 93: Judith and Rushali from the hotnew.tech podcast are our guests!

December 10th, 2020  |  51 mins 41 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

Judith and Rushali are our guests this episode! California and India in tha house!
You can check out their hotnew podcast over at http://hotnew.tech! (insert reggaeton airhorn blast here!)

We talk about weird work titles, resumes, match making, God, menstrual cups, olafur eliasson, and genuine laughter. And community is weird, hard and awesome.

You can check out our website at http://opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Jason Soliday is our awesome editor. He friendly, conscientious and a master of the craft. Hit him up if you need an editor or soundwizard of any kind. http://www.jsoliday.com/about

Episode 92: Emily Velasco is our guest!

November 24th, 2020  |  47 mins 6 secs

art, bone dildos, challenge, chicago, creativity, emily velasco, film strips, instagram, isotopes, los angeles, making, microphones, sarah petkus, twitter, youtube

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Jason Soliday is our awesome editor. He friendly, conscientious and a master of the craft. Hit him up if you need an editor or soundwizard of any kind. http://www.jsoliday.com/about

Episode 91: Please Vote That Fucking Asshat Out! (We're assuming you did and are decompressing with us for this episode.)

November 3rd, 2020  |  37 mins 53 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 90: Rob shares Liz Mason's wonderful zines

October 23rd, 2020  |  40 mins 52 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, liz mason zines, los angeles, making

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Thanks to Jason Soliday! Our new audio editor! If you're in need of an audio editor, hit him up! https://www.jsoliday.com/
Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 89: Awkwardistics

October 10th, 2020  |  27 mins 16 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

Rob and Taylor check out our brains and talk about how to deal with awkward situations. Is it good to feel awkward? Or is that just misplaced bro-weirdness? How does that affect our work as podcast-people?

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 88: Emily Velasco and Lydia Cambron

September 7th, 2020  |  34 mins 17 secs

2001, art, challenge, chicago, covid-19, creativity, emily velasco, kubrick, los angeles, magnets, making, mind mapping, resin

Rob and Taylor check out Emily Velasco's awesome projects. They also dig into Lydia Cambron's "2020: an isolation odyssey."

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 87: We check out creations by Mohit Bhoite and Emily Velasco

August 10th, 2020  |  28 mins 20 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

Taylor and Rob talk about their projects inspired by the amazing electronic constructions of Mohit Bhoite.

Check out Emily's work! And make something inspired by the cool things she's making!

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 86: New awesome format! (kinda like the old awesome format!)

July 27th, 2020  |  28 mins 5 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, electronics, eyeo, filmstrips, los angeles, making

Taylor and Rob talk about the new format.
This episode we're talking about the amazing electronic constructions of Mohit Bhoite, Peter Vogel and Jiří Praus. Check em out! And make something inspired by the cool things they're making!

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 85: Ventilators, felt sculptures, and making your body do strange things.

July 18th, 2020  |  44 mins 19 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, design, felt, jpl, los angeles, making, ui, ventilator

Rob dives into the a big chunk of his COVID-19 life. Taylor shares some amazing work by artists making really cool things with felt.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 84: 3D Printing, Truchet Tiles, Wire Tie Mounts, and More!

July 3rd, 2020  |  31 mins 9 secs

3d printing, art, challenge, chicago, creativity, led lighting, lightbulbs, los angeles, making, truchet tiles, vanity mirrors, wire tie mounts

Taylor and Rob talk about 3D Printing, Truchet Tiles, Wire Tie Mounts and a whole lot more! Rob is working on a vanity project and has entered the world of lightbulb sizes. Taylor is building a computer and needs to liquid cool his brain after researching all the processor SKUs.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 83: Inflatables with Gilles Mustar

June 19th, 2020  |  37 mins 15 secs

3d printing, art, challenge, chicago, creativity, gold leaf, grasshopper, inflatables, kangaroo, los angeles, making, patterns, rhino, sewing

Gilles Mustar is our guest this episode! Paris, France in the house!

Gilles Rob and Taylor talk about aesthetic surgery, blood, inflatables, patterning, Rhino, Grasshopper, Kangaroo, Eurorack, and atmospheric sensors.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 82: Chicago Storytelling, Sound, and Starting a Podcast

May 27th, 2020  |  32 mins 45 secs

art, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making

Ronnie Gonzalez is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house!
Ronnie is starting a podcast! Taylor tackles the sound challenge.

Rob's chore is finally hanging all the things you've been meaning to hang on the wall.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Wesley Ellis, Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs