Aufgefallen

Bike Song

2011-02-18T13:20:00.000-08:00

The weather is improving, time to do a bit of bike maint. and think about riding to work again.

Breaking the Silence

2010-12-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

I'm still alive, and still up to stuff. I just haven't been posting.
I do have a twitter account now, and I post stuff on that occasionally. It's aufgefallen as well

I went to the museum

Enjoyed some snow

A pre-thanksgiving feast

and a Thanksgiving feast

Ate part of an insanely large gummy bear

Tried my hand at curling with some friends

And cashed in a year's worth of Christmas Savings Account

Not a bad way to spend a Thursday

2010-09-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Cle Elum 2010-09-02

San Juan Island

2010-09-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

I want

2010-08-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Dromarti cycling shoes

Ghisalli wood fenders

Ghisalli wood rims

Rapha jersey

Rapha rain jacket

2010-08-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm one week into my new goal of riding to and from work every day. It's about 18 miles round trip on the shortest route, and takes about 50-60 minutes each way depending on traffic lights and how well I'm feeling. So far so good.

Seattle

2010-07-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was on the verge of grumbling to myself about how overcast it was as I pulled the windows closed. Then I acknowledged that I was closing the windows on the first day of August not because the air-conditioner was on (we don't own one) but because it was 1 in the afternoon and I was a bit chilly. I'll take that over a central valley august any day.

in the chaos, etiquette is lost

2010-07-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

One of the exciting moments I missed while I was hiking happened during the sprint finish in stage 11. HTC-Columbia rider Mark Renshaw was leading their sprinter Mark Cavendish to the line, while Garmin-Transitions rider Julian Dean was leading out sprinter Tyler Farrar. It looks as if Dean may be coming over into Renshaw's line, and he responds by headbutting him several times. Cavendish takes the opportunity to sprint, and Farrar had to swing around behind Renshaw and try to launch around him. Renshaw looks back at him and then swings directly in front of him.

Cavendish won the stage, but lost his lead out man who was disqualified and kicked out of the race. He defended his actions as fighting off Dean, but really had no sufficient explanation for cutting in front of Farrar.

Perhaps the punishment was a bit too severe, given that earlier in the race two riders went at it after crossing the line, one going so far as to pull the front wheel off his bike and hit the other rider with it. Those riders were disciplined, but not disqualified. The commentators have said they think it was unfair, but I think the officials must have been looking at the possibility of Renshaw's actions causing a massive high speed crash that could have taken out several riders. Had they simply put him down in the standings, he still would have been up at the front leading Cav to the line every stage after the mountains. It really wouldn't be much punishment at all.

Judge for yourself by watching what happens between the 30 and 50 second marks in the video above, and listen to the riders responses below

Peleton Etiquette

2010-07-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

For those following, there was a bit of controversy in stage 15 when Andy Shleck, in the Yellow Jersey, had a technical problem with his bike.Just as he was launching an attack his chain slipped off. Alberto Contador used the opportunity to leave him behind and win the Yellow Jersey at the end of the stage.

The question is, why is it an issue? It's a race, yes? Why should anyone wait for anyone?

The peleton has it's own etiquette, part of which is that you do not attack the tour leader when he has a technical issue like a puncture, or when he crashes. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but while the tour organizers won't punish offenders, the heads of state certainly will. One famous example is Bernard Hinualt chasing down and then chewing out Joel Pelier for attacking without permission.

A few other unwritten rules:

·Never attack near the feeding stations

·Never attack when a large number are having a toilet stop.

·Share cans of coke and bottles of mineral water.

·Never attack when the race leader crashes or punctures.

·Always contribute to an escape, then win the sprint.

·Slow up and let the race leader go where he wants if appropriate.

·Never poke your nose between a sprinter and a lead-out man.

·Never get mixed up in the sprint unless you are fully committed.

·If two of you escape, and you have the yellow jersey, let your fellow escapee win the stage.

·Never attack in a tunnel.

(From guardian.co.uk)

So should Contador have attacked? He says he didn't see what happened, but he issued an apology on YouTube. As Armstrong said in an interview, it's a race, and Shleck had launched the attack, so maybe it's time to stop talking about who should wait and who should attack. But Contador shouldn't pretend that he didn't know what happened...he was at least 50 meters behind Shleck when it happened. He also pointed out that Contador was only 30 seconds behind Shleck, and most people think that he will easily gain about 1.5 minutes in the time trial, so he didn't need to attack.

Personally, I don't think he should have. It confirms my dislike of Contador.

Tour

2010-07-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about the Tour is that you can miss a few days, but there is still plenty of tour.
One of the bad things about the Tour is that if you go away for the weekend, its really hard to catch up on 4 days of racing.

Head Butts? Abandonment? And of course Jersey Swaps!

Thanks for the comments, I'll try to catch up on the posts. The Tour is in the Pyrenees for the hundredth year, and Thursday should be an exciting day at the Col de Tourmalet

Olympic Penninsula

2010-07-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Lake Ozete-South Sand Point-Yellow Banks-Cape Alava-Ahlstroms Praiare

But why do they bother sprinting?

2010-07-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

One question that has come up several times is why riders are trying for the various competitions, stage wins, etc. if they don't have a chance of winning the General Classification. Of course there is the pride of winning a stage, sprint, climb, etc... but I'm sure the prize money doesn't hurt.

The winner of each days stage wins E8000 (I don't know how to make the Euro symbol)

The winner of each intermediate sprint gets E800, while the holder of the Green jersey at the end of each day gets E300 in addition. Whoever wins the Green jersey at the end of the tour gets E25,000.

The polka-dot is a bit more complicated because it had to do with the difficulty of the climb, anywhere from E200-800, with an additional E300 for the daily holder each day. The final winner gets E25,000.

The white jersey (best young rider) gets E500 each day, and E20,000 for winning the jersey at the end of the Tour.

There is also an award each day for the most aggressive rider, generally a rider that leads a breakaway or in other ways makes the race exciting. The award is E2000 each day. Apparently there is a super combative award, but I'm not sure if that is a cumulative thing, or if they vote at the end of the race. The award is E20,000.

This year there are two special prizes at the top of the Tourmalet (we'll talk more about that next week) in honor of the original race organizers. The prizes combine to E10,000 for teh first to summit the Tourmalet.

Finally the overall winner of the Tour, the overall yellow jersey, walks away with E450,000. Not a bad haul.

Keep in mind that cycling is a team sport. I'm sure the specifics differ with each team, but my understanding is that some percentage of prize money is shared with the team. And of course it isn't all about the money. The final individual prize money drops off pretty quickly past the top 3, and the majority of the riders will walk away with E500 as a reward for a grueling 3 weeks of pain and suffering. Not the sort of thing you do for the money.

Feed Stations

2010-07-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

About halfway through the race (sometimes twice depending on the length) the riders go through a feeding station. As they ride through they look for a support member of their team (soigneurs) who are holding out bags of drink and food called musettes. As they ride by they snatch at the bag, sometimes less successfully than others. Often there will be another team member a bit further down the road for another attempt.

Once they have the bag, they throw the drawstring around their neck and start pulling everything out to stuff into their pockets, water bottle cages, and in some cases just down the front of their jersey. When it's empty they chuck it and any empty bottles to the side of the road. they have to be careful to throw it clear of other riders, and are not allowed to just drop it straight onto the road where it may cause a crash.

There are a variety of other rules regarding when you can and cannot get food from the support cars, etc. One of the more interesting is that you are allowed to take food and drink from spectators on the sidelines, but you do so at your own risk. If a rider took a drink from someone on the side and later tested for a controlled substance, its their own fault.

A bit of history:

In 1959 Fedrico Bahmontes had outpaced the rest of the peleton on the climb up Pu-de-Dome, but broke a spoke half-way up. The support cars were stuck behind the peleton, so Bahmontes stopped at the top for some ice cream while he waited for the repairs to come to him.

Pave

2010-07-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Pave is the French term for the cobblestone that jarred the crap out of the Tour yesterday and played havoc with the the standings.

The cobblestones don't always feature so heavily in the Tour, and many riders never race on them. The big cobblestone races are Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. They are known for crazy crashes, and favor big dudes that can power through and have the weight to keep the bike from bouncing around.

This years winner of the Tour of Flanders was Fabian Cancellara, and I'd like to think that stage 2's sacrifice gave him a little karma to shoot back into the yellow jersey on the cobblestones. It was sad to see Ryder Hejadal get swept up at the end, he was so close to winning the stage.

Teamwork

2010-07-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

Can you think of another sport where the athletes compete as a team, but only one person wins? Last year had a demonstration of how you can sacrifice team mates for your own glory (why i don't like Contador.) This year Fabian Cancellara showed what happens when a rider sacrifices his own glory for the sake of the Team.

SaxoBank saw a couple riders go down, including their favorite for the GC, Andy Shleck. Cancellara was at the front of the pack, riding in Yellow, and could have used the chaos of all the crashes (dogs in the road, etc) to extend his lead. Instead he neutralized the pack, allowing not only his team but many others to catch up so that they would not be disqualified. In the process he lost the yellow jersey by several minutes to a breakaway rider.

He did his job and helped his team.

Tour Trivia

2010-07-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

This years tour is

3,642 kilometers / 2,263 miles.

Over 500,000 pedal rotations.

Riders will burn around 130,000 calories / 37 lbs over the course of the tour.

Moomin in the garden

2010-07-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

I didn't grow up reading Tove Jansson's Moomin books, but I fell in love with them when I visited Scandinavia.

Snork Maiden frolicking in the lettuce

And Moomintroll in the arugala.
(Actually Snork Maiden without the flower, bracelet, and some of the hair)

Thanks Liz!

Happy 4th

2010-07-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

I started celebrating with a proper British fry-up while watching the Tour de France.

Prologue explained

2010-07-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't really know that much about the prologue, since it hasn't been a part of the last couple tours. When wikipedia failed me, I turned to that great wealth of information for the uninformed, the ""Whatever" for Dummies" series.

"As a ceremonial prerace, Prologues provide a quick, exciting Tour start. Individual time trials less than 8 kilometers (5 miles) in length, Prologues comprise a few minutes of individual, high-speed pedaling for every cyclist in the field. the race's winner wears the leader's yellow jersey for the first official stage held the following day... Prologues also provide the first look at the condition of lack of condition of overall title favorites..."

So that explains a bit about the prologue. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the times from the prologue carry over, or if its just a psychological thing of coming out strong the first day and showing the competition what you brought to the party.

As for what was brought to the party this year... my Tour for Dummies book published in 2005 makes note of the fact that in 2004 "young Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara surprised the favorites, including Lance Armstrong...Cancellara claimed the Prologue in 6 minutes and 51 seconds- an average speed of 32.22 mph." This year Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank) tore it up once again, completing an 8.9 kilometer course through Rotterdam on wet streets in 10 minutes even, beating out poor Tony Martin by 10 seconds. There is a good chance he will hold on to the Maillot Jaune for the next couple days, particularly since he is the current champ on Pave (cobblestones) which will feature heavily in stage 3.

Tour Prologue

2010-07-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to feel a bit lazy sitting on my butt watching these cyclists push themselves around Rotterdam.
I was trying to figure out the purpose of the prologue, and made the mistake of doing a little internet searching...so although I have about 30 minutes left to watch, I now know who won. I'll need to be more careful over the next couple weeks.

Of course there is plenty of time left in the day, and its supposed to be partly sunny, so I'll get out on the bike this afternoon. First I need to do a little repair. Shortly after leaving work yesterday I heard that distinctive twang that meant I broke a spoke. Unfortunately it is behind the rear cassette, which means I need to take the wheel apart to fix it. I just replaced one around the same place last week! I think maybe I'm doing something wrong, maybe tightening them too much?

It's Tour Time!!!

2010-07-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not an ass-backwards soccer hater like Glenn Beck, but I have to admit that I'm not a fanatic. I've endured the blog posts, news reports, and tweets... now its my turn. Of course if last year is any indication, I'll get pretty distracted and not really post much. For a quick recap, see last years post here and a brief bicycle history here.

Expect me to cheer for Garmin Transistions, HTC, and the Shleck brothers (SaxoBank). Although Contandor will no doubt tear it up, and is possibly the top pick for the overall, expect nothing but boos from this corner of the blogosphere. I'll even root for Cavendish before Contador.

Freeway Park

2010-06-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

I love finding new gems at freeway park

Office Temp

2010-06-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dogsitting doesn't come free!
Herbie pulls his weight around the office by helping out with some
filing.

Back in Seattle

2010-06-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

At the parents house

2010-05-31T18:27:00.000-07:00

Golden Beach, OR

2010-05-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

View from the Motel 6

LiveBlogging the roadtrip

2010-05-29T15:02:00.001-07:00

Yukon bean and basil burger with fried asparagus and aioli dipping
sauce at Burgerville near the WA/OR border.

Fresno Bound

2010-05-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's official, I am headed home for the first week of June!

I haven't made all of my plans yet, but here is the outline:

Leave Seattle at some point, potentially as early as Saturday.
...if I leave early, I will spend a day with family then head up to the mountains for a couple days of quality camping and hiking alone time

Wednesday dinner with the parents, and Team Kliewer at Fresno Pub Quiz

Thursday in town for Art Hop and the after Hop show at Tokyo Garden. I am excited to finally see Rademacher and the Fay Wrays.

No plans for Friday

Saturday watch my adorable niece at her dance recital, then spend the evening with family.

Sunday pile my crap back in the car and drive drive drive.

In other cycling news...

2010-05-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sounds like Floyd Landis admitted that he was doping back when he had the Tour de France victory revoked, and he's naming a bevy of other American riders. Not just riders from the pack, he's pointing fingers at Armstrong, Hincapie, Zabriskie, and Leipheimer.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out as all four are riding in the Tour of California at the moment.

Tour of California

2010-05-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

I've been glued to the Tour of California this week. Sad to see that it isn't going through Fresno or Clovis this year, but tomorrow' stage starts in Visalia and ends in Bakos, so it's still giving me a taste of home.

Speaking of home, sounds like I'll be making a trip down in a couple weeks. Looking forward to hitting up the Fresno Pub Quiz and catching some First Thursday with friends. Hopefully there is a good show at Tokyo. I'm eager to hear some of these bands TVLGFHF keeps going on about.

(I might also add that I am still cheering on Garmin, as I did in last year's TdF. Zabriskie has the yellow jersey for the second day in a row)

How not to lock up a bike

2010-05-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

What would you do at a busy bike rack?
Of course, lock up your bike in a way that takes up at least 5 spaces!
jackass

Orcas Island

2010-05-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

Rented a Cabin

with a view

and friends

and a boat (to see some cool eroded limestone cliffs)

and purple starfish

Summer Project

2010-05-03T19:34:00.001-07:00

The last of my year end bonus was spent at the Seattle Bike Swap

All stripped down for cleaning, we'll see how it gets built back up. I'm thinking riser bar, single speed, with some black deep V wheels and a black Brooks saddle.

Parade of Species

2010-05-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Visiting Leah in Olympia
Old Skool Pizza and an Olympia

Got to meet Liam, he's a cutie.

Boston Marathon

2010-04-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

For those that know her, Elsa Gomes will be running in the 114th Annual Boston Marathon on Monday as part of the Tufts University Advancement Team. Maybe shoot her an email with a bit of encouragement.

Baseball

2010-04-17T17:06:00.001-07:00

Stadium Design 101: Lesson One- DO put the beer garden right down at field level. Good times can be had by all!
Stadium Design 101: Lesson Two- DO NOT put the sports channel announcers next to the beer garden.
Sports Announcing 101: Lesson One- When heckled by drunks in the beer garden, DO NOT respond! DO NOT make witty comments during breaks between filming! DO NOT smirk at same drunks! This will in no way deter the drunks. If they do stop heckling, it's only to catch their breath for your next on-air. Also it might help not to have such a dorky haircut and fake tan. Just a suggestion.

Nice Way to Spend a Wednesday

2010-04-16T11:50:00.001-07:00

Dirt Road

Salt Lick

Mt Stuart

Chipmunk

Barbed Wire meets Tree

Mini Golf and Beer?

2010-04-16T11:23:00.001-07:00

Yes Please!

TULIPS!!

2010-04-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung!

Of course I had been busy trying to study for tests, and was doing a pretty poor job of it, so I decided to relax a bit and enjoy the turning of the seasons. I rescheduled my third test so that I could spend some time out and about.

Hence, my second annual bike ride through the tulips. I went with a different group this year, and it was great to see some friends I don't see often, and make some new friends. Sadly the wacky weather has played havoc on this years crop, but we still had a nice time riding and picnicing. We also had a little history lesson on the Dutch in the the Pacific NW thanks to ride organizer Kat.

I've become a letter writer!

2010-04-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

I know I'm getting older, it happens. All the same, it's a little scary when you find yourself thinking, "I don't like (whatever the issue is), I'm going to write them a letter!" I haven't reached the point where I write letters to the editor, since I still think that's about as useful as lecturing a brick wall, but I have started firing off letters to my congress-woman, the state Attorney General, etc. This morning I actually wrote an email to my investment company, Mennonite Mutual Aid, to lament the name change to the rather generic Everence.

(for those interested, MMA is no longer calling itself Mennonite because it scares people off and confuses them. story here)

Is it just me? (not counting Adam, who just can't resist jumping into the fray)
Am I becoming a crotchety old man in my 30's!

UPDATE:
I will say this for "Everence", they were kind enough to respond to my email. It wasn't a generic response either, it was clear that the woman who wrote the email was responding directly to me. I am impressed. It's encouraging.

Bike Films

2010-03-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

Via Archop, I saw a couple videos on fresnobike.org the Fresno County Bike Coalition about biking in Seattle. My worlds are colliding!!! Even better than that, they not only feature the mayor (who I voted for and hope can do some big things) but also closely follow parts of the route I ride to and from work. When I ride. I am a fair weather biker, I admit. Maybe next year I will get some fenders and some gloves. Then again maybe not.

The mayor lives a bit north of me, so from the bridge on is similar to how I ride into downtown, except I then go a couple miles farther into West Seattle.

What a good major. He even stops at the stoplights. I wonder if he would get a ticket for running them? I got busted last summer, it's an expensive ticket.

The second video is along the waterfront, which I like to ride if I'm taking my time and don't need to get home in a hurry. The track crossing is between my neighborhood and Ballard. It is dangerous, and before all of the warning stuff went up I witnessed several crashes, including my room mate.

Both of the videos are from streetfilms.com

Blogging absence

2010-03-14T11:41:00.001-07:00

Why have I not posted in ages?
Why am I spending a lovely Sunday afternoon reading the Architects Handbook of Professional Practice?
These tests are killing me, and I've only taken one so far. 4 weeks from now I will gave taken 3 (hopefully passed at least 2) and it will be time for a break.

Vampire Weekend

2010-02-26T18:38:00.001-08:00

Just saw this new video over on Kitsune Noir.

Its uncanny how much the lead singer looks like Roger Federer, and I would swear that the race car drivers are a nod to the Stig, although I doubt it's Shumacher.

Early Spring

2010-02-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

It has been beautiful round these parts. The good news is that I was finally able to get out into the yard and start prepping for the coming garden season, which means killing more lawn.

I put down some compost nutrients, a couple bags of compost, some newspaper, a layer of cardboard, and topped it off with a layer of burlap coffee sacks. I should have done this before the start of winter so that the lawn completely broke down... but here we are at the end of Feb. Hopefully it will at least kill the lawn and start breaking down the root system so that I can pull it up in May. It will triple the size of the garden to about 120sf.

The bad news is that I spent a lot of time sitting on the porch reading, or walking around in the sunshine, and very little time studying for my upcoming exams. I'm definitely going to have a hard time come summer. I'm going to have to be pretty disciplined about studying during the week, because I know weekends will be hard to stay indoors.

Calendar Art

2010-02-13T14:39:00.001-08:00

I finally got around to putting all of my new calendars up on the wall. They make for a nice art installation. I got them all from Etsy. If I do it again next year I'll start looking earlier. I only bought hand pulled, limited run prints, so several of the ones I was looking at sold out.

January
February

Google Buzz

2010-02-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have turned off Google Buzz. I should not have had to do this, because I never turned it on in the first place. I turned it off because I don't approve of Google automatically setting me up in a new social networking system, and automatically setting me up to start following people.

I've read Google's statements about how they wanted to make it easy for everyone to get up and running with the Buzz, but it my mind that does not justify what they did. In effect, it's like if Facebook started sending out friend requests on your behalf. Not just suggestions mind you...I could care less if Google suggested people I could follow with Buzz. I would just ignore them. However it automatically started following them, and listing them as someone I follow, and showing everyone that looks at my page that I am following those other people.

Google being what it is, I'm sure that Buzz will eventually have all sorts of features and gadgets that will make life even more wonderful-augmented realityish, and perhaps at some point I will sign up again. I can just picture it, I'm walking downtown and my phone buzzes, telling me that I'm about to walk past a restaurant that my friend went to last week, and that my friend posted a positive review on yelp, and that I'm just in time for happy hour and it knows that I like happy hour based on the fact that it has cross referenced my movement over the last couple weeks with my debit card purchases.... Oh and by the way the friend that was at the restaurant last week was there with my girlfriend, at the same time that she emailed me to say she was working late. Oh Google, you are making my life so much more exciting!

(note: we all know that at least one bit of the above is not possible at present)

I know its naive to think that electronic communications are truly private, but I am offended that Google essentially started broadcasting my email address book. Stay out of my private shit Google.
You are beginning to worry me. I don't know if I can trust you anymore.

The Olympics are coming!

2010-01-30T23:09:00.000-08:00

It's On!

2010-01-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

The ARE studying has begun! I have sorted the exam study guides, arranged the flashcards, and decided on a test taking order. All that was needed was motivation.

I present motivation:
Jeff and I made a bet that whoever finishes first, gets a bottle of Jonnie Walker Blue Label. Now he pretends to be studying at every opportunity, so I need to get a move on. I had Friday off work, so I wandered down to a coffee shop to dive in. So far so good. Anticipated completion date is August 2, although ideally it will be sooner since that gives a full four weeks for each of the seven exams. My goal is to do three weeks per, with some time off between.

Pat Robertson needs to shut the fuck up!

2010-01-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

Breitbart.tv » ‘They Have Been Cursed’: Pat Robertson Says Haiti ‘Swore a Pact to the Devil’

Seriously, we all knew that Rush Limbaugh is a blowhard, I expect nothing more from him and I do not regret the image he creates for those he claims to represent. In the case of Pat Robertson however... he does more to damage the reputation of Christianity and the church than any other single person I can think of. He represents the worst aspects of the church and it is people like him that make me embarassed to say that I am Christian.

Of course I'm inspired to write this because of his most recent comments, suggesting that the entire country of Haiti is being punished by God because they made a pact with the devil to overthrow the French colonial government in the early 1800's. He surrounds this crap by talking about helping the earthquake victims, just as he wanted to help Katrina victims while at the same time suggesting that the devastation was God punishing the US for abortion. In the same way he talks about what a wonderful man Ariel Sharon is, while suggesting that his stroke is God punishing him because he was willing to consider a Palestinian state. His own website, as well as that of the 700 Club, state that he was simply repeating the claim that scholars have made about a particular slave revolt, and point out that if you watch the entire clip you see that he is filled with compassion and is trying to help the Haitian people. I would argue that this is no defense for his comments. Advocates of slavery and the colonization of African and South American countries believed that they were doing God's work in subjugating the savage heathen, that they were really helping.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Keith Olbermann sums up my feelings pretty well in this clip.

I also loved the response of the Haitian Ambassador on the Rachel Maddow show.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Basically he is say that if we believe Haiti is cursed because of the "pact with the devil" than we are painted by the same brush, that the entire Louisiana Purchase is a direct result of the slave rebellion.

Marimekko

2010-01-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

Behind the scenes at the Merimekko factory in Helsinki, via Design Klub.
More photos on their site. Now that I am figuring out the sewing machine better, I think it's time to look at making a duvet cover with some Marimekko fabric.
My top choices at the moment:

Vegas Highlight

2010-01-09T19:12:00.001-08:00

So I've given you the ups and downs of Vegas, but I left out my all important first meeting with the super cute and always smiling Evie. She drove out to Vegas the night before we left so that she could fly home with her parents. I got to hold her for a while, feed her, and get her to sleep for the morning nap.
I also got to see her again in the airport for a few minutes. Now if I could just get a chance to see those Johnson Twins and their precious/precocious big sister...

Vegas New Years

2010-01-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, Vegas for New Years. I think I may have been there when I was a kid, but this was the first time I've been able to experience Vegas. Sadly I was still fighting a bug that I caught while home, so I wasn't really able to enjoy the fact that Vegas has become a hub of fine dining in the US. We went to the Paris casino to a French steakhouse called Mon Ami Gabi. It was nice, but pointed out the foolishness of ordering a large steak when you can barely keep it down. oh well.
The real reason for going to Vegas was to spend time with my friends, and they didn't disappoint.
We had a great time hanging out, and I wish I could see them more often.
For New Years Eve we stuck around downtown, along Fremont street. We split our time between the casinos, the Griffin (hipster bar) and the light show at the Fremont Experience. As you can see Jay classed it up with a tux, but ruined the fantasy of sophistication with his street antics.

Overall I would say that Vegas isn't my kind of town. It was fun, and I would go back to hang out with friends, but I didn't fall in love with it. Thankfully I didn't loose too much money, and I can now say that I have been to Hooters (casino) although I can't understand why they would bother opening a Hooters in a town with free strip clubs where many of the blackjack dealers are wearing less than the average Hooters waitress.

Christmas Recap

2010-01-05T18:48:00.001-08:00

I got a new camera for Christmas (hooray!) so hopefully I will be better about taking and posting photos. First I need to figure out how to use it properly. In the meantime...
Christmas was spent mainly with the family. I got a chance to see my nephew on all of his loud and fast toys. Here he is on the quad...and my niece playing with the quad (she has her own, but doesn't ride much)
and his newest toy, the cart. This thing is LOUD and fast, but much safer than the quad or dirtbike, so I'm all for it. One of these days I will be able to watch him race, but this time I had to settle for watching him practice.
And a bit more of my niece...yes she's a darling little thing.

That's the extent of the photos. I was able to see a lot of friends and family, cooked a bit, ate and drank a bit, got sick, and went to Vegas.

Christmas listening

2009-12-19T16:26:00.001-08:00

For those of you who love Christmas music as much as I do (I'm looking at you sarahelenwatermellon) I highly recommend Kitsune Noir's latest mixcast. You have to put up with Bobby gabbing a bit, but I like hearing who the songs are by, so maybe you will too. Plus it has a nice live cover of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem by Belle and Sebastian, who are one of my all time favorite bands. I also love the Sufjan Stevens song "Get Behind Me, Santa" from Songs for Christmas v5

Baby It's Cold Outside

2009-12-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

thanks L

Vanilla Trike

2009-12-06T12:58:00.001-08:00

I'm not saying that I would kick down ten grand for my kids trike... but if I planned to, I would get on the waiting list at Vanilla Bikes for this little beauty. Of course I would probably want a Vanilla big boy bike for myself first, but from what I hear they have a 5 year waiting list!

(as seen on Elastika)

Lionel Hampster

2009-12-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

For Adam, I offer animal cuteness.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

For the first time in a couple years I did not play host to a big Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful. Instead, I went down to the Oregon coast with some friends for a couple days of relaxing and eating like royalty.

Because we had limited kitchen space and everyone had dishes to contribute, we decided to spread the courses out over the day.
The first course was Tam and Allison's Chioppino, beyond doubt the best I have ever had. It was a rich tomato base with clams, topped by a piece of grilled salmon and a jumbo prawn.
I had the second course, with the help of sou chef Charlie. I did duck confit over a bed of spicy greens with roasted beets, tart cherries, and spiced pumpkin seeds. I was really happy with the way it turned out.
The next course was Jeremy and Sally's Lamb braised with fresh hay,
accompanied by several sides by Nathan and Amy, including cream braised Brussels sprouts that I will be cooking again soon.
Nate and Amy also took on the dessert course. I never did get around to the apple pie, not being a big pie fan, but I was diggin on the pumpkin triffle with candied ginger.
the best part was that, because we spread the meal out over 8 hours (first course at 2pm) we didn't feel stuffed, or overly inebriated by the 8 or so bottle that gave their lives that evening.

The rest of the weekend was taken up with beach walks, games, and a continuing stream of delicious meals.
Thankfully the rain cleared up and there were patches of blue sky most of the weekend.
All in all it was a lovely way to spend the holiday.

Objectified

2009-11-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

I just read about an interesting film airing on PBS:Independent Lens called Objectified. It about contemporary industrial design. Looks interesting.

Check it out here.

There is a quiz to see what object you are here. I'm a Spork!

2009-11-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

I've been lax in posting, even though it is the daily post month. Oh well, I warned you it would happen. I've been busy hosting my friend Kara, and planning for the Thanksgiving weekend-long feast on the Oregon Coast.

In the meantime, here is an amazing paper art stop motion video:

Video

2009-11-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

Charlotte Gainsbourg "Heaven Can Wait" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

New Charlotte Gainsbourg video, featuring Beck. Pretty trippy video. I haven't heard of her before, but I might need to check out the new album.

archinect shirts

2009-11-21T00:38:00.000-08:00

These new shirts from Archinect probably only make sense to all the CAD monkeys out there, but I thought the idea was clever. They are like a secret handshake, if I saw someone wearing them I would instantly know that we were in the same club, albeit a sad, click click click on the screen sort of club.
I love the insulation and the concrete hatch.

Damn, my secret is out.

2009-11-21T00:30:00.001-08:00

marriedtothesea.com

Bacon Martini

2009-11-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

Add this to the list of things I will be enjoying in vegas, the Bacon Martini from the Double Down Saloon

Mr E-T

2009-11-19T19:48:00.001-08:00

ramen snacks

2009-11-18T23:33:00.000-08:00

For the record, I would like to state that I have a long history with eating ramen noodles straight from the packet. Sometimes I would sprinkle on the seasoning, but more often than not I would just crunch away on the uncooked brick o ramen. As the college years wore on, I discovered that ramen also had miraculous powers in avoiding (or at least minimizing) raging hangovers. The secret was, rather than collapsing into bed, you grab the biggest glass of water you can get your hands on, a packet or two of uncooked ramen, and you head into the great outdoors for a stroll around the block. My theory is that the water diluted the booze, both of which were then sucked up by the ramen, which slowed the absorption of alcohol into the body.

I'm no doctor, but I think I'm on to something.

What I never understood is that nobody shared my love of raw ramen. Come to find out, I've been in the wrong part of the world.

Thanks to the wonder that is Uwajimaya, I have come to realize that the Japanese have a rich appreciation for ramen based snack products. Sadly I can never remember my favorite brand, so I can't show you a picture. I can show the crazy new product that I tried tonight, the "everyone says GOOD GOOD EAT" ramen disks.
I want to go there

Twitter

2009-11-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

So here's the thing...I joined twitter about a month ago. I didn't really join to tweet anything, I figure blogging more than I can keep up with so why feel guilty about slacking on one more thing. I joined so that I can read other people's tweets, particularly some of the design and food aggregating websites I follow.

As a result I keep getting messages telling me that so and so is now following me, and it turns out that so and so is a company. Whats the deal here? Are people selling my info, or are other people watching the twitter accounts of some of these sites and then sending messages to people that join them? Is this a whole new area of marketing that I never knew about?

For those that are interested, I'm listed as aufgefallen. As I said, I don't really tweet things. I don't understand the codes that people use, and it makes me feel like an old man. Maybe I'll have @californiakara give me a lesson or two when she comes to visit.

If you know of any interesting people or sites I should follow let me know.

the bare essentials of chuck

2009-11-16T20:17:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure, but I think I love these shoes. They haven't been released yet, but Coolhunting posted about them today. They are a limited release designed by Terence Koh (asianpunkboy) for the Converse 1Hundred(red) line.
They have a striking, paired down simplicity, but I'm not sure if it works. I love the lack of eyelets on the shoelace holes, but why the white eyelets on the sides? I've always assumed that those are for ventilation, but let be honest with ourselves... nobody is going to throw these on to hit the court. These are for strollin, not for ballin. Maybe the vent holes were required, as they are a recognizable design element in all chucks. However, he was able to remove the contrasting stripe that usually runs around the top of the rubber sole, not to mention the diamond pattern in the rubber. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, possibly its a white on white thing, the fact that white leather and white metal are never going to match, and this shoe is all about simplicity. If you are stripping it down to the bare essentials, why leave the vents?
All that aside, I do love them. The real reason I won't be purchasing a pair is the $150 price tag. I love chucks (I bought a new pair this weekend) and maybe I'm being naive, but I think of chucks as a sort of "people's shoe" the shoe for the masses. I just can't bring myself to pay four times the cost of a normal pair.

Calendars

2009-11-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure what, if anything, I would post about tonight. Then I flipped over to Kitsune Noir (one of my absolute favorite websites) and he had a post about calendars.
He was focusing on one that I thought was pretty cool. Not only that, but all of the proceeds will go to World Relief.
After following the post I saw another by Blanca Cucha that I will probably purchase by the end of the week. There is something about her work that I really love.

I may have to get the first one as well.
Maybe it will be the year of calendar art for me. (Update, I just bought the first, now I have to justify the second)

(as a side note, he also posts a brief review of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go. It is a fantastic book. I highly recommend it.)

The zipper experiment- live blogged

2009-11-11T11:39:00.001-08:00

I know, how exciting is this?! Live blogging my first attempt at sewing in a zipper! Can you stand it?! Can you stand all of the exclamation points I intend to use throughout this post?!

Step one, obtain the requisite sewing machine, zipper, and zipper presser foot. It also helps to purloin a pair of pink shears and promise to use them only for cutting fabric as directed by the note written on the case. Really, how can you help yourself when they were at the top of a clear plastic bin full of sewing supplies stored in your basement? How I ask you?!

PART 2

Read instructions from zipper package. read again. read again while miming actions... toss instructions and dive in.

Roughly following the discarded instructions, I stitched the pocket opening closed, then working from the inside basted a loose stitch to hold the zipper in place. At this point I abandoned the instructions and just started sewing.
When I thought it was sewn in enough not to come apart (still my biggest fear about anything I do) I tore out the basting stitches. TA DA!!! A ZIPPER!!!
The end result is a scarf with a pocket, an idea I stole from this website I posted the other day. Next time I will try to sew in some sort of pocket lining. For now the pocket is open to the entire length of the scarf.

Kings of Convenience

2009-11-11T11:17:00.001-08:00

Kings of Convenience at Soiree de Poche

Give it time to get throught the warmup. They are one of my favorite bands. They have a new album out, and I think a couple of these songs are from that album. It has a little different sound than the previous albums, possibly as a result of their voices maturing. Maybe its not your cup of tea, well then you're just wrong. Please to enjoy...

Daft Punk iphone video

2009-11-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

Stick with it, at least though the game of pong.

Side Note:

2009-11-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

gwyeneth paltrow is amazingly beautiful when she steps off the greenline bus to pick up eli at the ship terminal in The Royal Tenenbaums. The hair...the heavy black eyeliner...

2009-11-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

how would you use the phrase "she's like wine from a mason jar"
what would you mean?

also, for those of you buying books for little kids this Christmas, the NY Times just released its 10 Best Illustrated Books of the year. the only one I'm familiar with is Tales from Outer Suburbia, by Shaun Tan. I am a big fan of his illustration style and mysterious, sparse tales.

Seattle noticed by MTTS

2009-11-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

marriedtothesea.com

Cold November day

2009-11-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

For the first time in a while, I have zero commitments/obligations this weekend. Combined with the fact that it was raining like mad this morning, I spent a good portion of the day in bed. I ventured downstairs for breakfast, but spent the rest of the time watching the Lord of the Rings. At least I watched the good parts, and skipped over Frodo and Sam's endless trudge through barren wastelands.

When I finally emerged into the world, it was with the sole intention of obtaining coffee and fabric for my next attempt at sewing. Anyone interested in a scarf?

As for the google/sesame street image- today was oscar the grouch. Still hoping for snuffalufagus.

Enjoy

2009-11-06T19:22:00.001-08:00

Inspiration for my future bandsaw

2009-11-06T19:02:00.001-08:00

Seen on Coolhunting, an artist and guitar maker in Vermont were collaborating, and her inspiration spread to his bandsaw. Add this to the panel truck for the future furniture studio.

Family Dinner

2009-11-05T22:55:00.000-08:00

I have to say, I almost didn't make it to the blogging today. To much food and wine... but I'm here.

Tonight we had a 'family' dinner, and we did it up right. It was a last minute idea Charlie and I decided on last night, but I think we pulled it off in style. Let me lay it out for you: We started with a full on classic cesear salad, made from the ground up including croutons, and dressing (with anchovies to keep it real) then moved on to the garlic bread with, wait for it, fresh butter made mere minutes beforehand. That's right, we make our own butter.

The main course was a duo of lasagna, one with italian sausage and one florentine (spinach) with bechamel. I have to admit that I bought the sausage, but everything else was made from scratch, including the pasta. We were like a bunch of old italian grandmothers slaving away in the kitchen, with the help of a bottle of red wine of course.
Here I am at the beginning, before the kitchen took on the look of a culinary train wreck.
Brendan on butter duty, with the help of modern technology.
The fruit of our labor...family dinner with good friends, tasty food, and plenty of conversation.

After dinner we adjourned to the family room to watch the latest episode of Project Runway. I don't know if anyone else as been watching, so I won't tell you who is in or out. I will say that tonight they went from 5 to the final 3 that will go on to fashion week. I think they made the right decisions for the most part, but the last of the three was a real toss-up.

FYI, today's Sesame Street character on Google was cookie monster. I'm waiting for Grover, and I'm hoping they find a way to do the Snuffaluffagus.

Google

2009-11-04T22:00:00.001-08:00

I don't usually go to the Goggle search home page, so I miss out on the various tweaks to the logo that celebrate cultural events. Somehow I came across this, so I thought I'd share in case you search from your toolbar as well.

Google will count down the 7 days leading up to the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street with a new character each day. Appropriately they started with Big Bird. Who will be next? Click over to find out.

Who was your favorite?

I want this

2009-11-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

What a great idea, too bad they sold out of the first production run. Maybe if I can figure out how to sew a zipper, I'll try my hand at making my own.

Olsenboye

2009-11-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

I don't think Heather has posted her Narcissists of the Week, so maybe I can scoop her on this- the Olson Train Wreck are launching a clothing line... at JC Penny's

NOVEMBER!

2009-11-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well October has finally left us, thank goodness for that. Now it's time for November to have it's way, and usher in the season of eating...

But November isn't a one trick month, it is also Novembeard and NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)

I am going to attempt to observe each in my own fashion, which is to say in a half-assed way that involves cheating. For starters I am too lazy to bust out the camera to document my clean shaven face at the beginning of the month, which is good because I'm not clean shaven. Still, I am going to use the month to avoid shaving more than necessary. As for the posting, well here I am. Doubtless I will miss a couple days, and there may be some days that I repost something from somewhere else created by someone else. meh.

Also, I don't plan on joining any official groups for either the beard or the posting, but I plan to monitor all of your blogs to make sure you are also posting. I'm also planning on watching the progress of Ed's beard.

And here's a little something extra.

marriedtothesea.com

From the Bureau of Lessons Learned

2009-11-01T01:59:00.001-07:00

Sometimes your friends disappoint you
and sometimes the first party is the party you should stay at

October

2009-10-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was pretty lax on the posting this month. I did compile some stuff for a couple non-personal posts, but I'm too lazy to get to those. Here is a quick glance at the last couple weeks in my world.

New computer at work, now with two screens. This may not sound that exciting, but it's much faster and the second screen helps a lot when I'm doing graphic work. Sadly work is a bit of a GO-STOP-GO-STOP at the moment. Hopefully we will sign a contract to continue work soon, but for now I'm taking Friday's off. (the desktop image is from the Kitsune Noir Desktop Wallpaper Project)

Corn maze! This one was 12 acres, and shaped like the state of Washington. All of the paths were labeled like the highway/freeway system. That makes it pretty easy to navigate if you know the roads. The challenge came in trying to complete the scavanger hunt that sends you to different cities. The photo is our group crossing the Tacoma Narrows bridge, nicknamed Galloping Gertie because of it' spectacular collapse.

We did a "best of the shitty beers" blind taste test. The contenders were Olympia, PBR, MGD, Coors Banquet, Budweiser, Kokanee, Ranier, and High Life. I know it's an incomplete list, but we could only do so many, and this represents the various backgrounds of the tasters. The winner was Kokanee.

I've been trying my hand at the sewing machine, left in my care when Liz ran off to Japan.

This was my first attempt at a bicycle hat. I like the shape, but it's a little small. Maybe someone might like it. It's brown tweed. Heather?
My second attempt is for Halloween. If I can get it together, I'm going as Sherlock Holmes. This is a bicycle hat version of a Deerstalker.
(a bit of trivia- Sherlock Holmes is never actually described wearing a deerstalker hat. In two or three stories he wears a traveling hat with flaps, but it isn't nessesarily a deerstalker. Most people think of it as part of his daily attire, but he is described as being very fashionable, and no fashionable gentleman would wear a hat like this in the city, only when in the country hunting. The illustrations from the original stories did occasionally depict him in a deerstalker. He was also a cocaine and heroin addict.)

Misc:
There is a tilt-shift app for the iphone now.
I signed up for Twitter. I don't actually tweet stuff, but several of the websites and blogs that I follow do, and there were a couple Seattle food twitterers (what is the plural) that I was interested in. If you know of any random interesting Twitter things, let me know. If you twitter, let me know.

Halloween

2009-10-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Onion, parents no longer have to worry about costumes for their swishy little boys.

"...be very careful not to choose one that's been co-opted by the gay comunity; like a fireman, a cop, a cowboy. Otherwise they'll just end up looking like a stripper."

How To Find A Masculine Halloween Costume For Your Effeminate Son

Unintentional Pledge Drive Humor

2009-10-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

On KUOW, they just thanked the volunteers answering the phones during Prairie Home Companion. If you are familiar with the show, you know that Norwegian Lutherans play a big part in the stories.

The volunteer group is the Seattle Atheist Society.

hilarious!

Damned Public Radio

2009-10-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

AHHH!!!

How is it that all three public radio stations I listen to (KUOW, KEXP, and KPLU) have their pledge drives on the same week?! You know those bastards plan it that way.

I plan to donate, honestly I do...but they almost lost me this morning. I had been waiting to hear the President's speech about the Nobel Prize, and I was interested to hear the commentary/analysis from the NPR live coverage. Instead, those asshats over at KUOW decide to start blabbering away about how nice it was of them not to talk over the President's speech, and then they ran some lame ass pledge commercial that some local family made... all the while I was cursing them for talking over the stuff I wanted to hear. (not to mention the commercial had loud alarms and horns and crap like that...not something I want to hear before my first cup of coffee) They prattled on for about 8 minutes, then tuned back in for 4 minutes of NPR (during which there was some lame story about the parliment in the Maldives scuba diving for a session or something like that) then they came back on and prattled for another 10 minutes or so. During that time they met the goal for that program, but did they stop yammering? Hell no, they decided to try for another 5 grand or something. In the end, I was able to listen to 4 minutes of news coverage during my commute to work, the rest was filled with those damned chipper hosts blabbering on and on and on and on and pissing me off. I was sorely tempted to fire off some sort of angry email when I got to work.

In the end I decided to complain here instead. Lucky you.

But seriously, do they think that people find there crappy pledge jokes funny? Do they not realize how pissed off pledge week makes people? Or is it just me?

Weekend getaway

2009-10-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

This Saturday was supposed to be crappy, so we decided to cancel the Vancouver trip and stay local. After hosting the Michigan game (apparently we have the Big 10 Network) we headed out to stay with Erin in North Bend (as seen in twin peaks.)
After a fancy pizza party at her house, we camped out in the fire lookout tower behind her house.
The next morning we had a great across to Mt Si.
(Sean takes in the view)

After breakfast (not at the pie place from Twin Peaks) we hiked out to Talapus and Olallie lakes.
I can't stop playing with the crazy camera features.

Vegas Baby!

2009-09-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today is the first post of several to come between now and New Years, when we roll into Vegas.

I'll keep it brief with a link for those that plan to venture away from the poker tables and maybe catch a sight, eat some food, etc.

Design*Sponge has a travel guide for Vegas worth taking a peak at. If you scroll down to the Downtown section it has links to some of the more interesting non-huge-ass-casino-resort-megaplex stuff. "Worlds largest" vintage clothing store?!

I've also been perusing the TimeOut Vegas website, and has anyone else noticed that this seasons Top Chef is located in Vegas? And have you noticed the heavy hitter chefs that have been opening restaurants in Vegas?

Coco Before Chanel

2009-09-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

I heard a story on NPR the other day about this movie, it sounds interesting. Beyond the fact that Audrey Tautou is dreamy... Coco Chanel had a fascinating life.

Honestly, I am surprised I didn't hear about it from Monty first... I will eagerly await her review

Combo

2009-09-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

A bitchin graffiti/mural animation. I think it repeats itself at the halfway point, but I didn't watch the repeat all the way through.

The Road, she is a Cruel Mistress

2009-09-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

If you bicycle long enough, its almost a given that you will learn the pain of road rash. I put some real miles on this summer, and I paid my dues this weekend.

Saturday started nice, with a ride out to the Red Hook Brewery on the other side of Lake Washington. It's a fun, easy ride, about 20 miles each way. We had a beer and split some appetizers, then headed home.
The ironic thing is, I had a crash not long after leaving the brewery that could have easily resulted in injury. The trail led through a park, and a little kid rode directly across the trail and t-boned me right behind my front wheel. I wasn't going very fast, but my feet were clipped in and I had already started turning away to avoid him. When he hit I came to a complete halt, and fell right on top of him. Fortunately neither of us was hurt...it could have been bad. (side note, Katie, seen above, crashed while trying to avoid us. She is scraped and bruised.)

It wasn't until I was almost home, at the bottom of Stone Way (leading up the hill to my house) that I crashed in earnest. Again I wasn't going very fast, and to be honest I'm not sure how it happened. That stretch of road has a lot of dirt and loose gravel, and I was crossing from the trail on the left to the right side of the street. I must have hit some loose gravel and started a slide. All I remember clearly is seeing the curb coming diagonally towards me, and not being able to do anything about it. I think I slid sideways into the curb...I know I did a face-plant into the sidewalk.
My chin took the brunt of the damage. You can't see it very well, but there is a dime sized chunk of skin at the bottom that is torn back. I also have scrapes and bruises on my shoulder, knee, and both hands...but the chin is definitely the beauty. Thankfully this picture doesn't do it justice, because in person it's pretty disgusting.
I went to the doctor this morning to have him check out the wounds. I was also concerned because I almost passed out in the shower Sunday morning. It wasn't because of the pain, nothing really hurts that much. I think I may have had a mild concussion. The doctor checked everything out, but wasn't too concerned. I got a tetanus shot as a precaution, and some antibacterial for the wounds. As for the bike, everything checks out except I need to re-tune the rear derailleur.

Oh well, it's my sacrifice to the road. Hopefully my account will be paid in full for some time to come.

Roommate wanted

2009-09-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

We are back in the market for a roommate. So far we our leads on friends of friends hasn't worked out, so today we turned to Craigslist, reposting the same add we used about this time last year. So far we've had 15 responses in 6 hours, and I expect more as the evening goes on.

The fun never ends

2009-09-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

Now that the weather is starting to turn, we have to grab as many of the nice weekends as possible.

This weekend started with a bike night. I met charlie under a freeway overpass to Future Tense, a once a month gathering where a bunch of fixie guys were doing tricks, racing etc. I didn't get any photos, but the tricks were pretty badass.
After that we headed over to the Bicycle Film Festival to catch the short film section. There were some great animated shorts, but I haven't been able to find them posted anywhere for sharing. I did find some of the footage that was used in a compilation of Lucas Brunelle's short films. He straps a camera on his helmet and rides alleycats, etc. The music starts at about 1:00, and after that it gets pretty intense.

NYC Drag Race- Lucas Brunelle from paddy conroy on Vimeo.

You can see some of his other videos here.

After the films we got our bikes out of valet (yeah, bike valet) and headed over to Flowers, a bar on the ave better known for the vegetarian buffet. It was pretty cool to see the outside of the bar surrounded by bikes. The picture isn't very clear, but they were stacked about 4 deep along each wall, plus every available post in the area. They were hosting the Goldsprints, roller racing that puts two competitors head to head on bikes hooked to monitoring equipment that projects their speed and time. The races are about 200 meters, and the fasted guy did it in about 23 seconds. At times these guys were averaging about 50 mph.
Saturday was a bit calmer, a solo ride that included a stop for coffee and some reading, then the Michigan-Notre Dame game at the house, then Wonka Poker (candy in place of money) for Matt's birthday.

Sunday was so beautiful we had to hit the water. Our captain Katie (in black) is checked out to rent sailboats from the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union.
The wind was come and go, so we didn't exactly tear around the lake. Still it was nice just being on the water, checking out the houseboats, etc.
Top of the day with a dinner party focused on chantrelles and wine, and you have what I'd call a great weekend.

Model Making

2009-09-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

When people see architectural models they often marvel at the detail, and claim that they could never do something like that. In truth it isn't that difficult, but it does involve a great deal of time and patience. After lunch I switched over to building the base for another existing building on the site we are studying.
I started by cutting out two copies of the ground floor footprint
Then I cut out two copies of the upper floor plans, because they differ from the ground floor
The next step is to cut spacers equal to the combined floor heights. In this case the footprint involves 2 levels of below ground parking and a ground floor of retail. Above this are 4 floors of condos, which are essentially carbon copies stacked on top of each other. Once these are all assembled, I have an armature on which I can begin building the exterior walls.

All told this took about 3 hours, and it barely resembles the actual building. This is what separates a well constructed model from a quick slap together job. Most people would probably start with the walls, throw them together and then wonder why the whole thing is wonky and nothing lines up.

The next step is to start building up the walls, at which point it will be at the same stage as the model I showed earlier. That is all I will do on these models for the time being, but eventually I will add another layer of wall, this time adding another layer of detail by cutting out the doors and windows.

Like i said, its a time consuming process. Honestly I think it is my favorite part of architectural practice, and if there is any aspect of my life that is pure OCD, this is it.

The telecommute will be live-blogged

2009-09-15T09:07:00.001-07:00

Step One: set up the workspace.

(note the Fresno coffee mug...a gift from bstigs i think. the sewing machine is an innocent bystander)

Today I'll be working on a site model from home. You can see the beginnings of an existing building. Over the course of the day I hope to cut out most of the topography and build another existing building... pics to follow.

2009-09-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Part two

after finishing the tricky part of the roof (which has led to obvious drainage/leaking issues) I moved on to the topo model

Step one, lay out the drawing on top of a full sheet of cardboard (e-flute = 1/16th inch)
and cut along the line. Pretty straightforward, not to exciting.Its only after several sheets are put together that it starts to make sense. Each sheet represents one foot of elevation gain...I have t cut out about 50 feet.

2009-09-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

stage c: interlude

The girl in the office next door told me that I should do something I couldn't normally do at work. Of course my first thought was to work in just my underwear, but I'm modest by nature and the dinning room has a large bank of windows. I decided to wear clothes and take advantage of the kitchen instead.
As the weather starts to turn, there has been a lot of talk about soup, and the basis for any great soup is a great stock. I keep a ziplock in the freezer to gather vegetable trimmings, and all I needed to do was throw it in a pot (with an extra onion) of water and check on it every once in a while. Tonight I think I'll make a black bean soup.

entertainment:

and what does one listen to while working alone at home. For things like model making, where it is important not to get too worked up, I try to avoid the type of music that I would like to listen to in the office but don't. For example, its hard not to start bumping the head while listening to Girl Talk (going to the show this weekend), which doesn't lend itself to cutting straight lines.

Instead I listen to such fascinating things as a recent interview with Fresno singer/songwriter Abigail Nolte, the latest episodes of This American Life, and an audiobook about Roald Dahl's time in the British Secret Service doing propaganda and spy work in Washington.

gloomy weather = homemaking ???

2009-09-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

I can't really think of any significant cooking, cleaning or building projects I've attempted over the course of the summer. Clearly the great outdoors have been too much of a draw. I guess it's a good thing that this holiday weekend has been pretty overcast, because it's gave me a chance to reacquaint myself with the house. It started in the basement (where I discovered the savaged saw blade) for some cleanup that involved setting up a bike maint. table for my upcoming bike build (more to come) and some picture framing.

Then it was up to the kitchen. Rainy weather just screams out for a hearty chili and cornbread, both of which are in the making for tonight's dinner. But why stop there... anyone can make chili. To up the ante and truly dive back into the kitchen, I decided to break out the Charcuterie cookbook. The result? Duck Prosciutto!
Usually I play pretty fast and loose with seasonings, etc., but for this I decided to keep it simple and follow the instructions. This is preserved meat after all, and it will end up hanging in the basement for a week or so and I don't want to do anything to screw up the taste.
The recipe starts with a salt cure, basically packing duck breasts in salt. The salt draws moisture out of the meat, as well as dehydrating the microbes within the cells, microbes that alloy decay and bacterial growth.
The breasts will cure in the salt pack (in the refrigerator) for 24 hours, and will then be wrapped in cheesecloth and hung in the basement for a week.

Admittedly, the idea for attempting this recipe didn't emerge this weekend. I've been planning on trying it ever since I saw it described on The Paupered Chef. Their blog has inspired several of my cooking adventures, and is well worth following if you have any interest in food.