The economic realities suck, of course, but this article on trucker hobbies makes me happy.

This is great, Adam Savage (Mythbusters) on his passion for objects, and his making of two replicas, a dodo skeleton and the Maltese Falcon.

Absolutely hang in there for the whole thing, because the bit about the Chinese newspaper at the end really hammers home his dedication (not that you wouldn’t be convinced of that earlier). I love watching people who love what they do.

Harrison Krix built an amazing replica of a laser rifle from a video game (Fallout 3):

So the guy goes down to his basement with some wood, sintra, styrene and paint and comes back up with that? May as well be magic. So impressive.

Marvel at the H.O. Studley Tool Chest. Studly, indeed:

Considering how many tools it holds, the famous chest is really quite small; when closed, it is just 9 in. deep, 39 in. high, and just more than 18 in. wide. Yet it houses so many tools — some 300 — so densely packed that three strong men strain to lift it.

For every tool, Studley fashioned a holder to keep it in place and to showcase it. Miniature wrenches, handmade saws, and some still unidentified piano-making tools each have intricate inlaid holders. Tiny clasps rotate out of the way so a tool can be removed. In places the clearances are so tight that the tools nearly touch. The chest, which hangs on ledgers secured to a wall, folds closed like a book. And as the chest is closed, tools protruding from the left side nestle into spaces between tools on the right side. Amazingly, despite being so densely packed, the tools are all easily accessible.

There’s a poster.

I may never look at disposable chopsticks the same way.