900 Days and The City of Thieves

Finished two books about the siege of Leningrad. Before I started reading about it I had no idea that there even was a siege, and didn't appreciate that Leningrad used to be called St. Petersburg (as it is now), or that the siege has no parallel in history, or what an epic idiot Stalin was, or how terrifically f'd up the Soviet government was. So much to learn! (Borrowed both books from Jeff. Well, I borrowed the second one. The other one I found on the floor in his garage and appropriated.)

The first book: The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad is great but it suffers from a huge cast of characters and an incredibly boring devotion to minutiae. And a tragic shortage of maps. Pictures would be nice, but if you don't have them, you don't have them. But no maps is shameful in a book of this type. The two(!!) maps that are included are poorly detailed, so it becomes difficult to follow along without backtracking. If you really want a feel from the miseries, top to bottom, this is the book to read. It took me almost a month to finish, which is a really long time. I had to take a break and finish a couple books along the way, just to lighten up a little.

For the casual reader, I recommend City of Thieves, which draws heavily on 900 Days. Indeed, the author uses dramatic events from 900 Days to create his fiction, so much of what he describes actually happened.

The individual miseries of the siege are available in either book, but the numbers are as follows: According to 900 Days, at least 1.1 MILLION people died of starvation or starvation-related causes in Leningrad from 1941-44, with another 300 or 400 thousand killed in the fighting. So, 1.5 million people in and around that one city. It's hard to get your head around. It's like San Francisco starving to death. Except San Francisco is only ~800,000 people. So add Boston (600,000), and you're juuuuust about there. I had a difficult time trying to process it.

Both books highly recommended.

Best. Interview. Lately.

For three bucks I'll buy this game on the strength of the interview alone.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/08/the-joystiq-indie-pitch-sequence/


Thank you for briefly illuminating the pit of abyssal despair I call existence.

You're welcome, friend.

That's why my mom doesn't know I ride a motorcycle

Reader Shannon (NMSNSS) says:

Oh my gosh, do all motorcycles just come apart like that on impact??! It looked like a plastic toy. The mom in me is having a panic attack for all motorcyclists right now.

Just to be clear, that wasn't me in the crash video posted below. I use the word 'crash' intentionally. Most people use the word 'accident', but that implies that nothing could have been done to prevent it. Almost all crashes are not accidental, they are caused by negligence or carelessness.

Motorcycles don't always disintegrate when you get rear-ended. Although they are mostly plastic toys. Consider the photo here, showing my first bike after a super cute co-ed named Chelsea Schwenn (I'll never forget her name) tried to run me over while pulling away from a red light. She was looking at her iphone when she hit me. Seriously.

Very lucky for me that I was physically unharmed; the bike (and her audi) were banged up. She was mortified, very kind, and almost as shaken as I was. The only negative thing I have to say about her is that she should have been paying better attention at the wheel. But who among us isn't guilty of that? Note that it wouldn't have happened if I had filtered between the lanes to the front of the row. Only got hit because I was in regular traffic.
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I spent this past Sunday trying to ride a supermoto bike around a track. It was scary and fun but safer than riding in traffic. I look forward to doing it again. This weekend I've got bigger plans: riding my own motorcycle around a track. It will be similarly scary and fun, but much faster. Average speed at the kart track was maybe 30 mph? Lots of super tight turns, and also I am slow. Average speed on the track this Sunday (for me) will likely be 60 MPH, with a top speed of well over 150 MPH. Here's some links:

R6 (600 cc bike) hauling ass, with engine noise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94DeHQZ1Tw

zx10 and R1 (1000cc):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EXbs6N7dj8

They claim they hit 170 on the straight, but unless it was proven by a transponder I am skeptical. Maybe an indicated 170 on the speedo, with a more likely actual of 155ish. The smaller bike (R6) was turning faster laps.
Anyway, that's what I'm doing Sunday. Palms are clammy thinking about it.

Lastly: Don't dare tell me to 'be careful'. DON'T DO IT. I'm sick of hearing it, and it has no impact on my riding. I am one of the most careful riders around. Besides, the track is the safest place to ride. Instead, encourage other drivers to 'be careful', since they represent the greatest risk to my safety.

How hard is it to PAY ATTENTION? Too hard.

How bad is it?
Umm, you're buying the guy a new motorcycle, and you're lucky not to be going to jail for being criminally negligent. Although you probably should get your license suspended for this kind of stupidity.

Note that rider is in jeans, boots, gloves, jacket, and helmet. Good job, rider.

Let's do this!

Coincidentally, this bike is similar to the one I will be riding (though I will be slower)

Getting ready for bed early on a Saturday night because I have to get up early tomorrow and go to the track in Riverside and ride supermoto. Ohhhhhh yeah.

How early? I'll be up at 615, meeting my friends in Lake Forest at 715, and then heading out to Riverside shortly thereafter to visit the Adams Motorsports Park. There I will do all I can not to embarrass myself and endanger myself or others. And also I will try and have some fun.

I'm renting time on a KX450 that has been converted to a full-time supermoto bike. It's not a beginner bike, and this was the actual conversation that took place today when I met with Ryan and Kevin over at Metric Method* to discuss the details of renting the bike and tomorrow's track day.

Me: What kind of bike is this?
Ryan: Kawasaki KX450
Me: Is this a race bike? I am a beginner.
[Full disclosure: I know this is a race bike, because some seriously fast racer sold it to Ryan a couple years ago and he's tried to sell it to me once or twice when my own bike was getting routine maintenance. Also, do you really think a guy that owns a motorcycle service shop would run a bike that wasn't fast? No you do not. So... ]
Ryan: Hey Kev, is this a good bike for a beginner?
Kevin: (long pause) Well, you have a literbike, so your careful throttle control will help you here.
Me: (smiles nervously) Great! ehhhh...
Ryan: Okay super!
Kevin: (laughs)

This is all a warm-up for next Sunday when I take the beast to her first trackday at the AMA course in Fontana.

Aaaaaaaand... bedtime.


* Best place in Orange County to get your bike serviced. No exceptions. It's possible you can find someone cheaper but if you want a full-service shop then this is the way to go. Highly recommended.

Darth Vader in training

Loved every part of this, even though I came at it from a different direction when I was little.

Food: it's what you eat!

Here's a 'food manifesto for the future', which is really a fancy way of saying 'here's some ideas about food'. I recommend it.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/a-food-manifesto-for-the-future/?src=me&ref=homepage

Lots to chew on in this article (pun intended), but my personal favorite is farm subsidies. As here:

End government subsidies to processed food. We grow more corn for livestock and cars than for humans, and it’s subsidized by more than $3 billion annually; most of it is processed beyond recognition. The story is similar for other crops, including soy: 98 percent of soybean meal becomes livestock feed, while most soybean oil is used in processed foods. Meanwhile, the marketers of the junk food made from these crops receive tax write-offs for the costs of promoting their wares. Total agricultural subsidies in 2009 were around $16 billion, which would pay for a great many of the ideas that follow.


True Story: I have a friend that works for the federal gov't; he's an economist, very bright guy, and he works to evaluate the (in)effectiveness of farm subsidies. Every year he recommends that the government take steps to reduce subsidies and improve the overall health of the economy, and every year the politicians ignore the recommendations. That's your government at work. At least they're managing defense spending. Wait... No, no they aren't.

That's... That's not exactly what we would have expected...

I dare you not to laugh.



Main red flag here is the way the big dog doesn't take eyes off the smaller dog. Also, she just got out of a cage so you know she's not well socialized. But still, that's not what we would have expected.

Not as good as seeing it in person, but it's a great start

This was all over the interwebs today:

http://www.googleartproject.com/

And I confess that I enjoyed it very much. The 'street view' effect gives you an idea what it's like to actually see the art installation, as opposed to just seeing the art. You can use the feature to navigate around the museum. Sweet.

The people have spoken - part 3 (4?)

hawt secks to my eyeballz: http://metricmotorbike.com/

I enjoy that people come to this space and share their comments. So I like to respond to the comments. Not in a timely manner, but still, we get to them eventually. So:

From the Art of making me cry in public spaces, Erin says:

I did the same thing. Got that book from someone and then cried like a baby on an airplane while reading it. Blair made fun of me.....

To which I respond:
Shame on Blair! He should read the book and try not to cry. It's tougher than you think. Upside: Rocky loves you more than anything in the world. So there. To be fair, B is one of the kindest people I've ever met, so it's likely that his making fun of you was funny instead of mean. If he did it to me I would just hug him until he couldn't stand it any more. Love FTW!


From Work got done, Shannon (NMSNSS) says in BOLD, and my comments in plain text:
I'm always amazed at how comfortable everyone gets discussing their most personal bodily functions on a mission trip.

Breakfast conversations often center around the consistency and frequency of last night's eliminations.

That's just fun.

Is it? It was something. I dunno about fun. :) But camping / working in Foreign Lands really brings that to your attention. I noticed that some people were clearly not comfortable with the discussion. I didn't mind it, but I didn't really participate. On the other hand, I am a guy, and I live with a guy, and we are total bros, so we talk about shit all the time. If the roommate has to dump out you better believe he tells me about it. Otherwise what would we talk about?

My husband and I have been on trips to Central America to drill water wells for villages without access to clean drinking water.

That is actually kind of awesome and bad ass. For real. I worked on a drill rig one summer in Fargo, North Dakota. I think that anyone with a terminal illness should move to Fargo, because every day there feels like forever. Working on a clean-water well rig would be awesome. And also miserable. Awesomely miserable? Miserably awesome? More awesome than miserable? Yes!

Check out Living Water International at http://www.water.cc. You would like what they do. You could get new blisters AND a lovely rash from being covered in drilling mud all day.

But...it's a good thing to do.

I will go if Blair goes. Seriously.
Buddy trip!

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Photo courtesy http://metricmotorbike.com/, which rebuilt this fantastic motorcycle and then sold it for the fantastically low price of $3200. Of all the other fantastic things about this motorcycle (and there are many), my favorite is that you OR your girl would look cool while riding it. And it's not too big, which means that your girl could actually ride it comfortably.

Let's evolve

Evolution vs. creationism is a recurring theme around here. I'm too lazy to look up the posts but the short version is that one is science and the other is religion and there shouldn't be any confusion or equivocation about this. Especially not in a science classroom. As it turns out that's easier said than done, courtesy this short brief from Scientific American: 
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High school students flunking biology might take some consolation in knowing that most of their teachers would be, too. So suggests a commentary in the January 28th issue of the journal Science by Michael B. Berkman and Eric Plutzer of Pennsylvania State University, who surveyed more than 900 U.S. high school teachers about how they taught evolution. ["Defeating Creationism in the Courtroom, But Not in the Classroom"]

Shockingly, they found that only 28 percent of teachers taught evolution effectively, and 13 percent actually advocated for creationism. The roughly 60 percent in the mushy middle steered around conflicts between evolution and creationism or taught both and let students draw their own conclusions. (Always such a good idea….)
------------

You can put me firmly in the camp of teaching students science, and letting them draw their own conclusions. I don't want to shock anyone, but creationism fails as science. There is no debate in the scientific community about this. If you disagree on scientific grounds then I encourage you to do more research, preferably in the sciences. If you disagree on religious grounds then I defer to your expertise.

In unrelated photos, here's me building a house for a needy family. It looks a lot like the photo from 2 years ago (see profile pic). Maybe because I wore the same clothes. I retired (read: threw away) the shirts AND the hat this year, so maybe next year we'll have a new look. Retained the jeans; Diesel keeps me looking sexy on the jobsite.

The art of making me cry in public places

Baby girl is a race car driver at heart

Finished The Art of Racing in the Rain this week. I had to travel and forgot my current read so I picked up TAoRitR in the airport and ended up reading the entire novel either waiting for, or sitting in, an airplane. This was problematic, because the story was prone to making me emotional. And by 'emotional' I mean 'cry'.

I loved this book.

It took me a while to get to it because it is being marketed as a dog story. (They tend to sell a lot better than racing stories.) But it has something for everyone: a dog, a love story, heartbreak, perseverance, and racing. The parts where the author describes racing are very authentic: he talks about real tracks, real drivers and real cars in such a way that he is either a racing enthusiast or he consulted one (or several) when he was working on the book.

Perhaps not coincidentally, I love dogs, and I love racing, and I love a good story. So this was right in my wheelhouse.

There are some who suggest that the theme and language in the book are too cheesy, too unsophisticated. To which I say: tosh!  Read it and enjoy it for what it is: a good story, well told. I think the style of the book suits the language and theme, but that's me.

The internet delivers, part X

Long-time readers will remember that one of my favorite web-authors/bloggers is named Matt Ufford. He and I are totally on a first name basis and if we got to meet and hang out I would buy him beers and steal his jokes and that would be cool because we're buddies like that. Right? No? Oh.

Matt used to write the sports blog 'with leather', back when it was funny. He left to write a blog about television, which is too bad, because television is stupid. He was never as funny after that, largely because I think he liked watching and blogging about sports better. I don't know, but you don't care. Anyway, he's funny as hell, and I've been 'borrowing' his jokes for years. He also unapologetically loves cat videos. And dogs. So he blogged about the puppy bowl lineup, and it brought some l0lz to my face.

For example:

Meh, Yorkie mix (pictured above). The only way I'd ever like a Yorkie is if I could cram it into an M203 grenade launcher and fire it into a crowd of hippies. Grade: two Corgi puppies.

He goes on in this vein at some length, and it is rad. See it for yourself here: http://warmingglow.uproxx.com/2011/01/corgi-snub-in-depth-analysis-of-the-puppy-bowl-lineup#page/1

1,024 posts; statins won't help but they might hurt; always pay your developers

Non-sequitur Motorcycle Photo

I am not much for anniversaries or milestones. I think they're pointless and arbitrary; celebrate every day and you don't have to make an effort every 365th day, or 10th year, or whatever. Also, we only celebrate the 5th and 10th of anything because we have 10 fingers, and that's silly. What's wrong with the 9th and 11th? Are they any less special? I'm saying no.

Still: 1,024 blog posts in the webspace. This thing might have legs. I'm adding about 1 reader per year, losing about one reader every other year. By the year 2312 I could 'monetize' this bitch and earn enough to maybe buy a cup of coffee. That is, if coffee didn't taste awful, make me jittery, upset my stomach, stain my teeth, and make me have to pee every 7 minutes.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I've got some posts that aren't motorcycle related, and also some posts that are, and some posts that aren't but will feature motorcycles in the photo, because all these words are tiresome. This is the latter type.

I found this article interesting: http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/01/20/bad-news-for-statins-is-good-news/
The author has some comically wrong views about nutrition (fat, not so bad; sugar, very bad; I'll have mine with a side of idiocy) but his assessment of the value of taking medication that MIGHT help prevent you from having a medical problem, but MIGHT also cause other medical problems, is very interesting.

In other news, always pay your web developer. Otherwise he might take your site offline, as here: http://utilitybidder.co.uk/

The funny thing about it is he embedded a message for future developers, which I reproduce here, in the event the site ever gets their act together and pays their bills:

You may wonder why this site is offline, if you are reading the source then you are most probably a web developer that has been paid to change this. I put this here as the company in question broke our contract and left payments outstanding, as a last resort I put their site offline, what else could I do. Make sure you are paid up front, even if you have a contract, they aint worth shit.

Why doesn't this have 3 million views?

For some inexplicable reason this only has about 60k views on the tube o' you. That bipolar dimwit with the rainbows has 24 million. Double-you tee eff, people.

These girls kick ass.
Have you tried jumping rope lately? Probably not, because it's effing hard.

37 is a prime number

Kept the headphones; retired the eurotrash haircut

One month (less one day) away from my 37th birthday. I start telling people I'm 'almost 37' a couple months before my actual birthday in an effort to make the transition easier.

It doesn't work.

Ze Newbs surprised me with this picture of yours truly staring out the window at the Andalusian countryside. I recall that I listened to Sigh No More the whole way. It's got to be one of the best staring-out-the-window-on-a-train-from-Seville-to-Madrid albums I've ever heard.

Not coincidentally, it was one of my favorite records of the year, eclipsed only by Girl Talk and Vampire Weekend. The VW record won out over Mumford & Sons because I thought it was better top to bottom.

But still:
Love it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

This from the internets: Daft Punk 'typographic portrait'

This from ze interweb.
That's a typographic portrait of Daft Punk, which I put here mostly because the Coachella lineup was announced and they aren't on it. SAD FACES.

But also because it's cool. And because the creator was kind enough to put the full size versions on the web for free:

http://fleuraime.deviantart.com/art/Technologic-Daft-Punk-176826497

Specifically:
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PRINT AVAILABLE
I keep getting requests for a print so here. It is a uncompressed CMYK TIFF @ 300DPI 11"x14" (~23MB): [link]

Here's the JPEG RBG version in case CMYK isnt working for you (JPEG @ 300DPI 11" x 14" 7MB): [link]
-----------

That's how you deliver the awesome. Well played, *fleuraime. Well played.

Why would you do that?

I love you THIS much

Between the camping and the impressively overequippped OC Lutheran high-school group (e.g.: 9 enormous vehicles for 33 people, not including trailers) singing Taylor Swift songs adjacent to my tent, I didn't get a whole lot of restful sleep over the weekend. Gave me plenty of time to ponder my daily gratitudes, and also evaluate my motivations for going on the build trip.

When people hear that I'm going to Mexico to build a house they often say, "Oh, that's so awesome/great/inspiring that you're doing that." Which always feels a bit odd to me, because I do not feel awesome, great, or inspired when I participate. Mostly what I feel is tired, filthy, and crabby. 

On reflection, I go on the trip because I enjoy spending time with my friends. I am glad to have a lasting positive impact on a persons life, and glad that my friend and his family make it relatively easy. The trip brings out the best in people: everyone contributes, they cooperate, they mostly don't complain, and they make the best of whatever happens. As a shared experience it's hard to beat. But without my awesome/great/inspiring friend Blair leading from the front I wouldn't do it.

Work got done

Rehydrating while the ladies get work done

Built a house in Tijuana this weekend with my friend that works for Amor Ministries. Amor specializes in building homes for needy families in impoverished areas, mostly in Mexico, but I checked their website and I guess they do work in other places too. I've only ever built a house in TJ.

We had a small group this year, but there were still enough people that the whole thing would have gotten done even if I weren't there. I know this because I've been on trips where the work wouldn't have gotten finished if I weren't there and it was miserable. This year was probably the easiest build I've ever done: super nice people on the crew, perfect weather, the arrangement of the house meant we had less work to do than on a typical build (one wall abutted an existing structure, so we didn't have to stucco it), and we had a work area in which to stage/build the pieces of the house. Special bonus: The smoldering piles of trash tended to cover up the smell of the feces. It's the little things.

Poop was a common theme on this (and other) trips. The banos onsite are an adventure (see below, re: Bruce), and the port a potties in the campsite, while adequate, are not anyone's idea of luxurious. So when and where you might have to "do the big one" is a subject of much speculation. Put simply: America > camp > local bano > roadside. Girls have it tougher, no doubt about that.

Some highlights:
- Bruce ALMOST falling into a cesspit. You really shouldn't stand on anything that's been in Mexico for more than one season, but you especially shouldn't stand on old plywood that borders the hole dug out for the crapper. No harm done, and Bruce got only a scare. Had he fallen in it would have been a very eventful day.

- My butter-soft hands blistering through my gloves. I'm such a sissy.

- Visiting with my friends, who make me laugh, and show me how to be a better person. This theme was important to me, so I'll cover it in a separate post.

- Finishing each day in time to take a rinse/shower when we got back to camp. It makes a difference.

- The patriarch / trip-sponsor handing me a piece of 2x4 and quietly asserting "If you call me Mr. Illingworth one more time I'm going to stick this up your ass. It's JDI to you." (He was kidding. Sort of.) The best part is it was two jokes in one, because while Mr. Illingworth was too formal, I still didn't get the more informal "Dave". I alternated back and forth between Mr. Illingworth and JDI from then on, depending on mood.

- Blair's campfire story about a particularly challenging dump he took at the Amor offices. It was so strenuous that he began to sweat profusely, and was forced to remove his shirt during the act. I laughed. 

- Improving the quality of life of the family for whom we built the house.

More pictures as they become available. Mine aren't very good so I'm waiting for the other shutterbugs to post theirs. 

aaaaaaand... we're back!

Big news is that the housebuild is complete. More on that in a bit, but first this design update from Aaron Draplin. Make sure you connect that 20 to the 11 properly. Otherwise it's ugly. Don't do that to people.

Handmade denim jeans from Roy Stapler

Roy's Jeans - Video by Self Edge from Self Edge on Vimeo.

Adam Smith (economist) famously posited that a person, working alone, could make some small number of pins in a single day. If you had an individual person working on each step, they could make quite a lot more. Upwards of 4800 times more, depending on how you crunch his made-up numbers.

This guy is that one person, making one pair of jeans at a time, because that's what he likes to do. (Yes he cuts the fabric en masse - but still.) You can buy a pair yourself for $275, which is a princely sum for a pair of jeans, but competitively priced for premium denim. And, made by hand. One at a time. As long as you don't outgrow them, it's likely that you could wear them for a decade or more. It's possible that you can get that kind of wear out of a pair of Levi's, but not likely. Maybe an old pair. The new pairs are cheap shit and wear out just as fast as anything else.

Plenty of people spend $275 or more on a pair of jeans and don't think twice about it. I'm not saying that's good or bad; instead I'm suggesting that if you do, you should consider buying them from Roy, because he cares more about your jeans than you ever will.

Mistakes were made

Thought I'd save a few bucks and buy the cheapo store brand granola bars. They make for a nice snack when I'm sitting at the desk, solving problems. Usually the Quaker brand is on some kind of (so-so) discount, so you're not paying the full rate. The full rate is $4 a box, which was a good bit more than the $2.50 that these 'albertson' branded jobbies were going for.

Note that Albertson's logo didn't make it onto the actual bar; they package these little sawdust bricks in any old box and voila!

Point is, these bargain bars were complete shit. It's one thing to skip buying the spendy ones. Quite another to spend money on garbage. I'm going to put the second box out in the work common area for the vultures office team. They'll eat anything.

Big weekend: build a house for a needy family in TJ. Something to do, anyway. I'll try and take pictures but they'll look pretty much the same as last time (see profile photo for example). That's because I wear the clothes to TJ, wash them when I get home, and then put them aside until I go back to TJ and need to wear them again. Could wear them for dirty jobs and projects, but I avoid those assiduously, so no need. You care.

Give Mark Twain the benefit of the doubt - leave his words alone

Someone thought it would be a good idea to change some of the offensive words in a new edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawywer and Huckleberry Finn. Specifically, they changed the word "injun" to "Indian" (close enough but still wrong) and, more significantly, the word "nigger" to "slave".

The n-word appears 219 times in the book.

Auburn University English professor Alan Gribben is the editor of the 'updated' text.

I have no doubt that Gribben has his reasons for creating this new edition. I also have no doubt that he is a joke of an English teacher, and anyone that buys his book should be ashamed of themselves.
-----------------------------
Two days to the build in TJ. The bad news is that my roommate decided to check his passport yesterday and it was expired. The good news is that it shouldn't be an issue, says people that know about this kind of thing.

When we're finished the place should look similar to Sagrada Familia cathedral (pictured). Or as similar as we can make it in 2.5 days of hard work. So, not similar at all then. But still nice.

REPOST: dancers, dancing (sort of)

I like that he took his coat and tie off to eat his snack

Loved this series of pictures from Jordan Matter Photography.

This one was also a particular favorite.

There are few things more captivating than watching a difficult thing made to look easy. This photo series is a lot of that, with the added bonus that the people tend to be very good looking. It's like gravy on your potatoes!





Image copyright Jordan Matter Photography.

sooooo.... that happened

Roommate loves cheese dip, and also bean dip

My roommate is a source of great inspiration to me. He's also the source of some superb anecdotes. Sometimes these two things are combined. This is not one of those times.

I summarized his most recent effort in a text message for my friend Skott. I could go into it in more detail but Skott says that the text covers all the important bits. He it is:

"Roommate tried to pick up the dogs massive dump but was too gross & he threw up. in the koi pond. FML"

---
Sooo... yeah. That happened. Fish are fine, if you're wondering. A koi is just a brightly colored carp, and carp eat pretty much anything.

It's good to have goals (again)

Full list of the top 10 'goals of the year' as selected by FIFA.

FIFA are generally a bunch of clowns (Qatar? seriously?) but they had my second favorite goal on the list.

My favorite is embedded below. You have probably seen it already, but you might like to watch it again. I know I did.

Scorpion kick? Diving back-heel? No idea.

Let's imagine for a moment that you're already up 2-0 against one of the big clubs in your elite league. Let's also imagine that you scored those two goals, so you're on a hat trick. What do you do when a player serves you a brilliant cross as you race towards goal?

1. Casually slot it home. (ho hum)
2. Score on a diving header. (yawn)
3. Dive under the ball and kick it in with your back heel / leg. Enh, I guess that'll work. 

Lost in this is the excellence of the two passes that lead to the goal. The two touches before the goal make this possible, and they were superb.

Get on the bike and ride; TJ housebuild

Above the clouds

Got a chance to get back on the bike this weekend. Finally.

Took it pretty easy on the run over Ortega. There was a lot of dirt in the road in spots, plus some standing water, new potholes (and gravel), and similar hazards. Overall it was a good riding day, if a bit cold. I was all bundled up but my Ducati-riding friend was really suffering. He was dressed for warm weather and the air was blowing right through his suit. I expect he'll wear an insulating, windproof layer under his suit next time.The funny thing about ventilated suits is that they aren't ventilated well enough to cool you when it's hot, but they do move plenty of air when it's cold and you want to be warm.

It was a fun day to take a picture, since the cloud layer on the east side of the hills started about 100 yards below the lookout point. I think my cellphone camera captured it really well. (hmm... maybe not)

My friend got a new camera and took some video, which  you can view here. 

Can't ride this weekend because it's the annual build-a-house-for-needy-family weekend in TJ. I skipped last year but I'm planning on being there this time. The work isn't very hard but you're in TJ and don't get to take a shower for 3 days and that's a drag. I don't mind the work, or camping, or getting up early, or the port-a-potty crappers, or the weather. No, I don't really mind any of that. What I hate is not being able to take a shower. On the other hand after only 3 days I get to go home and take all the showers I want. So there's that.

Not just better than you think, but better than you can imagine thinking

Hard-core NHL junkies tend not to like using penalty shots to decide games. I think it's okay in the regular season, because it adds some much-needed excitement to the end of a game, it gives you a chance to see players do things they wouldn't otherwise be in a position to do. Or you get to see them do something they SHOULD be doing, but maybe the game isn't coming to them at the NHL level.

For example, take Benoit Pouliot. That's him in the video, calmly finishing a penalty shot with sublime skating and puck handling. (Classic hockey: all you get in celebration is a short little hop as he skates his way back to the bench.) Guy was the fourth overall pick in the draft, but so far this season he's 144th in goals, 206th in assists, 183rd in points (!!) and 232nd in plus/minus (!!11!!). In other words, he's not producing like you'd expect the fourth overall pick to produce. In more other words, he's a bust, and you might wonder why he's even in the league. But you don't see him practice, don't know what he's like in the locker room, and, if you hadn't noticed, he's got skills to spare.

If you see this kind of skill from someone who can barely stuff the puck into the net, how good are the players that do it on a regular basis? Crazy good.

Get ready for some righteous indignation

Roommate celebrating xmas on the lake; ice keeps the beers cold, camo is slimming

I don't like baseball. It's boring, the games take too long, and it's boring. The Fox telecasts are unwatchably bad. They introduced the now en vogue quick-cut style, where they cut from crowd, to pitcher, to manager, to pitcher, to crowd, to batter, to crowd, to batter all in about 15 or 20 seconds, in between pitches. They do this to give you the illusion that something is happening. There are two things wrong with this: 1. Nothing is happening, and 2. The important part of what is happening is happening on the field, with the players, and they rarely show that. (I hate crowd shots.)

So, baseball is not my thing. Whatever. I don't hate it, and I'll turn the game on if Vin Scully is announcing or if the Giants are featured or similar. Whatever.

What I HATE about baseball is the judgy, sanctimonious nonsense surrounding the baseball hall of fame. Hate it. With a fervent passion. The character clause invites sportswriters (bitter because they're ugly and the pay sucks) to sit in judgment on players for more than their performance. It's bad enough that every sportswriter would sell his soul to be a major league ballplayer, and spends their entire career at their mercy. This is not the type of atmosphere that fosters good subjective judgment. So you get words thrown around like 'impact' and 'feeling' and etc.

There was a minor victory for rational argument over 'gut feeling' this year with the election of Bert Blyleven. The case against him was mostly based on the idea that Blyleven didn't 'feel' like a hall of famer (more on that in a moment). The case for him was based more on other stuff, like numbers and objective metrics and math and comparables and other shit that attempt to reduce or eliminate the 'gut feeling'.

Jon Heyman, never one to miss an opportunity to broadcast his idiocy, weighs in with an entire article on the subject. Heyman's main reason for not voting for Blyleven is that he doesn't 'feel' very good. Then he cites a bunch of stuff about how no one thought he was very good at the time, like Cy Young awards and All-star balloting. In essence, he says, "We didn't think he was great then, so he's not great now. Numbers? Piffle!" The good news is that a great percentage of the voters actually changed their minds about Blyleven after reconsidering his career. So, a small victory for open mindedness.

I was all set to break down Heyman's post but I don't have time and no one would read it. Joe Posnanski addressed it, which you can read here: http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/12/30/hall-of-fame-the-eight-definites/.

Apparently Blyleven was a bit of a touchstone, because it set off a wave of commentary from other clowns about how the hall should be reserved for only the 'great' players. Blyleven's greatness apparently doesn't rate with people like Bob Costas, whose primary qualification seems to be a willingness to gargle the balls of worshiping Mickey Mantle. Posnanski writes about that, too, and I'll leave it to him because presumably he gets paid to write 5000 word blog posts. I know I don't.

Backlog: photos

That thing to the left of my ear is actually a verrry tiny person.

Was tidying up and found this photo. It was tucked into a folder from Del Mar raceday last year and I had forgotten about it. I liked it so much I cropped it to make it my Google contact picture, but I'm posting the full size here.

I can't remember if I posted it before, but you don't care. I've got a few more to share, some old, some new. Get excited. Funneling them through Picasa now; Flickr is a pain in the ass, and Picasa has more free space.

Get your listen on; also, I put the 'tard' in custard pie

Been a busy couple days now that I'm back at work. Work / gym / read / pass out. Repeat.

On the wagon until February. I don't drink that much anyway, so it's not a huge challenge. 

I made a custard pie over the weekend and it was retarded (hence putting the 'tard in custard pie - get it? honk!). I took a picture but a bad picture of an ugly dessert isn't acceptable blog material. I decided.

Last time I made a custard pie the crust didn't turn out, but at least it looked okay (it stuck to the bottom of the pan). This time I didn't have the sticking issue, I had a debacle. The custard part was delicious but the crust leaked and buckled and the custard got all underneath and around it and that was all she wrote. Rumor is my mom is sending me a recipe for a better crust which, when combined with an improved technique, will prevent this type of issue in the future. We'll see. That process involves pie weights and cutting in cold butter and all sorts of shit. It's tough for me to build my own crust because I'm living in reduced circumstances and my cooking equipment is in boxes in the garage. Anyway, I already read through two cookbooks worth of pie crust explanation, so I know where I went awry. Upside: I don't really care about the crust anyway; it's the custard I crave. And it was divine.

In related news. I like to listen to music when I cook. Usually dance mixes, but occasionally something more moody. Depends. Anyway, latest jamz come courtesy Big Cheese, and they are awesome. And free. Guy is called Girl Talk, and the record is called All Day. Get it for your own, and rock the party: http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/.  

I recommend downloading the MP3s as separated tracks to simplify navigation. It's intended to be heard in order, but (just as an example) if you have an ipod and turn it off, then back on, you get reset to the beginning of the most recent song. That's a bust if you're 30 minutes into a 70 minute piece, so: separated tracks, people. Ya hearrrrd me!

Unzip them to wherever you keep music for itunes and then Add to library. And get your dance on.

Drop Knowledge: Douglas Adams

An hour is a long time. Or it's no time at all. Time is funny that way.

If you've got an hour, enjoy this from Douglas Adams, speaking at my alma mater. It looks a lot like my college experience, with fewer beers. It's not that my grades were bad, it's that they were so good given how infrequently I paid attention.

By the bye, the answer is 42.

If you'd rather read than watch, go here: http://navarroj.com/parrots/

Get on your bike and ride

Courtesy HFL and BMWs marketing group, here's a very good example of why BMW adventure bikes have a (deserved) reputation for being worth the money. The rider pictured (Tiffany Coates) is doing riding that is so different from the type of riding I do that they can hardly be called the same thing (hers is much, much more challenging), but it is still a fun example of why riding a motorcycle is awesome.

It needs to stop raining if I'm going to do this again

Gearing up for the big housebuilding trip to TJ in a couple weeks. By that I mean I am making sure my hiking boots are in good working order, because I don't want to get any TJ on my feet.

This is what motorcycles look like when it's not raining here in the OC. A rare sight, lately.

One / One / Eleven

Had an okay New Year's. It was tough to motivate for it because NYE is kinda lame if you don't have a date. Plus I had already had one big booze up during the week. (I'm on vacation, if you hadn't heard.) So I called it a night fairly early and made sure I got a workout in today. You care.

Highlight of the night was my friend's sister showing up with an enormous 'purse'. She was carrying this thing around like it was a handbag but it was really more like an overnight bag she brought to the club. So I said to my friend: "I don't think your sister's luggage is going to fit in the overhead compartment." And then we all laughed. Except for her. What?

This blog needs more pictures. Who's in charge of that? Me? Oh. I'll dig something out of the archives for next week. Get excited! I should have gotten a photo of that girls carry on. It was awesome.

Year in Review: Life is uncertain

Wanted to squeeze one last post in before the end of the year. Partly to finish strong (record number of posts this year, by a lot) and partly to wish you a happy new year. I would go through and choose some of my favorite posts if I had the time and inclination, but I don't. I may do it in January if I'm so moved. Or not.

I hope your 2011 is chock full of love and laughs. And hugs. And dessert*.

xox  -c-




* It's easy to remember how to spell 'desert' (no rainfall) and 'dessert' (yum) because there are two esses in dessert, and two servings of dessert are better than one. If you spelled 'dessert' with as many servings as I would eat then it would be spelled 'desssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssert'.

REPTILES

Forwarded by a friend: total domination in the palm of your hand. Title of the photo was 'pew pew!'
I laughed.

Happy F'n Birthday Jesus

Me and xmas, enh, we get along only so so. I prefer thanksgiving. The food is usually better and the gift exchange part can be a hassle. Anyway, a friend took this photo a couple weeks ago when we were out and about and I was maximizing my potential. Apparently all I need to get into the xmas spirit is 14 beers. Who knew?

Happy holidays!

You know I'm workin', nights!

I tried to embed this video but couldn't work it out. So you have to go to this portal site and watch it for yourself. My favorite part starts at 1:04.

http://www.wimp.com/animalvoiceovers/#

Motorcycles and also guns and other toys

Colin Edwards is a very good motorcycle racer. People tend to forget this because he hasn't won a race since he started in MotoGP, but still.

Anyway, he runs a 'boot camp' in Texas. I want to go. You learn to ride motorcycles, and in your free you learn to shoot guns. That's my kind of weekend.

Texas Tornado Bootcamp from Ryan King on Vimeo.

Busy today... I'll be brief

Lots going on today so here's a quick summary of awesome, as delivered by the intarnets. Image courtesy Olly Moss, who is that rare designer that makes art I actually want to buy.

Also loved this super hard:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Active-Duty-Army-Ranger-Named-3-Pastry-Chef-in-World-2789

I'm not at all surprised that someone who is good at being a soldier is also good at baking. Seriously. Bakers are infamous for being intense and detail-oriented. From what I'm told by my friends in the service, these are also favorable qualities in a soldier. (I'm not saying that I'm intense and detail-oriented, but I'm not not saying it.)

On vacation for the next two weeks - including today - but I promise to kick out some updates as I find the time. I may have to interrupt my gym/books/xbox schedule to do so, but you're worth it. Soooo worth it.

Get smarter

Had this one kicking around in the archives, forgot to post it.
Sooooo here you go.

The whole talk is much longer, but this part is a nice summary. The short version is: we need to change our education system. Easier said than done, but still.

I am an international financier, part the IX

Another in a series detailing my generous (micro)financing work in foreign lands.

I funded Arlene from the Philipines loan in July (?). I guess repayment happens at the end of the term, because the capital will be invested in the livestock until she can sell them. The update didn't make a lot of sense, but whatever. Here it is after I ran it through Google translate:

Arlene grateful to the financial eyang received from lenders, he added there eyang negosyo.medako investment income to give what he pangenahanglanon inadlaw-day that the eyang family.

So that's happening. Mostly I like the picture because it's got a pig.

Load-testing the speakers with Stars "Take me to the Riot"

Saturday nights in neon lights,
Sunday in the cell

Pills enough to make me feel ill,
Cash enough to make me well

Been load-testing the speakers to this for about a week. It's not a new song, but you don't care. There was some kind of music video on youtube but it was awful (40 seconds to start the song? seriously?) so instead you get this fan version. Special bonus: words! Or you can minimize it and get your listen on. (That's my move.)

It sounds a bit like Morrissey, except for the part with the female vocalist.

Song is Take me to the Riot, by Stars.

Backlog!

 I had some posts piled up because firefox v3.6.13 wouldn't let me post pictures for some reason. Upgraded to firefox 4 and it's working again. So here you go: the motorcycle, with some other motorcycles.

The big win!

Managed to eek out a victory against Shannon (NMSNSS) in words with friends. It took a lot of intellectual energy, so I enjoyed a spanking from both friend Skott and brother Scott in 2 other games. I should post those scores too, but they aren't as fun. I got a bit lucky with the letters, played first, and also she swapped tiles, which gave me a very small advantage in terms of letters played. I think her per-word average was better than mine, so she didn't lose as much as she just ran out of tiles. Also: note the hour. I was definitely trying to get this done and sorted before I went to sleep.

After a game I like to review the board and find my favorite words. I think my favorite word on this board is 'ecru', though I didn't play it. My favorite recent word is 'twee', which is actually one of my favorite words, ever, and fun to play if you have some extra e's laying around.

Also, this article is the worst thing I've seen written lately:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/788/8701/Motorcycle-Article/Spoken-Wheel--What-Racing-Needs.aspx

I know you don't much care about motorcycle racing, but you can't help but be impressed by its awfulness. Here's a sample:

SOME ANSWERS: We have a spending problem Houston. The extravagance and false economy that were the driving force until recently have withered. It is a realignment of the stars. The sport in all forms will survive, but a cold hard look at harsh reality is due. Fans will still turn out to see a great show, but they need to be embraced and attention must be paid to what they want to see. Rules have to be made from the perimeter fence inwards instead of pit lane outwards for the benefit of those anointed with that special pass!

To summarize: Four sentences of repetitive cliche, one useful sentence, and a nice run-on sentence to close it out. Here it is again, edited:

SOME ANSWERS: We have a spending problem Houston. The extravagance and false economy that were the driving force until recently have withered. It is a realignment of the stars. The sport in all forms will survive, but a cold hard look at harsh reality is due. Fans will still turn out to see a great show, but they need to be embraced and sponsors, organizers, and riders must pay attention to what they want to see. Rules have to be made from the perimeter fence inwards instead of pit lane outwards for the benefit of those anointed with that special pass!

 It's actually MORE work to write badly than it is to write well.

Buy American

Here's a list of "stylish and cool brands that make their goods in America". Most of the stuff is predictably expensive, but there's an economics lesson there: we have a high standard of living here in the United States, so it costs a lot to make stuff here.

On the other hand, you get what you pay for. Often when people use that cliche they mean quality, but you might also be paying for exclusivity, or a relationship with the vendor, or some combination of the above. If that's not your thing, go shop at wal-mart.

http://www.acontinuouslean.com/the-american-list/

Chad hits the weights like he means it

Friend Chad is a super nice guy. This is him at a powerlifting competition. I've been joshing around with him for years, usually when I see him at family gatherings and parties. I say stuff like, "Hey Chad! Great to see you! I notice your neck didn't make it this year, because you don't have one, but maybe next year? Super!" And then we hug.

I'm told that the "total lifted is 2nd in the world in his weight class and 8th in the world for all weight classes in 2010".

He squatted 800 lbs, benched 463 lbs, and deadlifted 700 lbs.

His name was Miles

The guy in this picture was killed by another motorcyclist on Sunday, 12 December 2010. He was 24.

A 60 year old off-duty LAPD officer was speeding on his motorcycle and veered into oncoming traffic on Sunday. He managed to crash into two motorcycles, seriously injuring the rider of the first, killing the rider of the second. The second bike was carrying a passenger, who was seriously injured.

The rider of the speeding bike that caused the crash was killed.

If you're keeping score, that's two people in the hospital and one dead person caused by a speeding off-duty cop.

Since cops don't give tickets to other cops, it's not a great surprise to me that he was speeding. If I could be assured of not getting a ticket I would speed too. Though I hope I wouldn't veer into oncoming traffic and take one life while I mangled two others. I hope.

There's been a lot of hot air blown around about how the deceased is 'in a better place'. He's not in a better place; he's fucking dead. Not to mention: what about the people broken into pieces? Are they in a better place? I think not.

Why does this bother me so much? Because I used to ride this road once a week, and still ride it now and again. I was planning on taking a friend for a ride there so we could cruise 2-up, probably on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Sort of like this past Sunday.

Chicken Strips, not from popeye's, and also xmas is just around the corner

Greetings from mostly-sunny southern CA. I got this fresh photo of ze motorbike from my friend Graham, who took it at the bottom of the hill while we prepped to make our way back over. He also had very nearly killed himself about 3 minutes before, so we're talking about that while he takes this picture.

Not sure if this image thing will work, because Flickr is a fickle bitch.

I think that's a Yamaha R1 on the far left, my bike in orange in the foreground, and a ZX-6R on the right (barely visible).

This photo is a couple weeks old. I have another, more recent photo taken from the same spot with some slightly different bikes. So I'll share that when I get a chance. Fun!

Post 989: the entire reason for this blog is captured in this one post

We're coming up on some milestone-type numbers for the blogspace, and I am planning a nice retrospective. Look forward to that.

In the interim, this video pretty well sums up what we're all about over here.

Video comes courtesy mrericsr, who also gives us this gem:

http://www.mrericsir.com/blog/local/my-life-is-my-home-is/

Residents of San Francisco will find it particularly insightful.

enduro motorcycling vs. downhill mountain biking

This is pretty close.
The coolest thing about the video is that both riders are absolutely flying, though not through the same sections. The cyclist tears through the technical sections where the heavier motorcycle gets a bit bogged down. When terrain opens up the moto has a huge advantage. For those that care about these kinds of things, the KTM enduro is just about the best dirtbike money can buy. The desert rats might argue that the CRF or YZ is better, but the KTM is much, much more reliable. Also: orange and black are cool.

Enjoy.

Time.com makes a list so I don't have to

Time.com made a list of top tens. It's a good time waster if you don't want to read one of my 1000 word blog posts. Har.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2035319,00.html

If I were making it up you wouldn't believe me: The breaks desk at BofA Securities in 1998

I have had some interesting work experiences. My first job was perhaps noteworthy for it's pronounced lack of weirdos. My second job at BofA Securities was so chock full of them that if I made up the characters and put them on television no one would believe that they were real.

I worked the breaks desk, first on the NASDAQ and then on the 'big board', or NYSE. A trade 'breaks' if both sides don't recognize the same price and quantity for the transaction. One side has to recognize (or 'know', in the parlance) buying, say, 5000 shares at $10, and the other side has to 'know' selling 5000 shares at $10. If both sides don't agree, the trade 'breaks', and it would land on my desk. Conversations would typically look like the trader on the NYSE floor saying, "I know this trade at such and such a quantity, and such and such a price", and then you would take the break out to the dipshit from Columbia that got his high-profile job because he was on the Columbia football team and explain how he screwed up. Fun. I shared the responsibility with 5 other guys, so there was ample opportunity for back and forth in between delivering bad news.

My job working for the breaks desk at 'Banc' of America Securities in the late 90's (in the Transamerica Pyramid office) included the following real people:

The Overweight Lover - A morbidly obese, effeminate gay man who did the balance sheets, and made shamelessly inappropriate comments to the 'boys' in the office whenever he noticed something particularly sassy about our outfits, such as "Love your suspenders! I loooove a shirtless man in suspenders! Do you wear them without a shirt? hehehehehe". I'm not sure if he got a kick out of it, or if he did it because it made us feel awkward, or both. Probably both. He was definitely good enough at his job that no one fucked with him. He wore a short-sleeved shirt to work every day because it was 'hot' in the office. He literally sweated over the figures. Ties were required, but he was over it so he kept a clip-on in his drawer; whenever someone asked where his tie was he would grab it out of his drawer, wave it at his jowls, and giggle. They generally only did this once.

Cheryl the New York Jew - A woman with a mouth so foul that it surprised even me, and I'm not shy about the f-word. Despite living in San Francisco for the better part of 20 years, her New York accent was as heavy as ever. To be fair, she did spend a lot of time talking to her friends and family 'back home' after she came in super early and finished doing my work and the work of 3 other people. The trading floor guys didn't want to work with her, maybe because they got tired of hearing her tell them they were stupid. Every day at 3 AM we would 'go through the breaks with Cheryl' and she would tell you what 'your fuckin' prawblehms ah'. Other important things I remember about Cheryl: she was very good at her job, and she smelled like perfume, coffee and cigarettes. On reflection, perhaps 'smelled' is too mild a word. Reeked of perfume, coffee, and cigarettes, then.

She gave us numerous expressions that live on to this day, not least of which is "take no answer", which is shorthand for "I have no answer to give you right now, and I don't want to talk to you, and I don't have time to explain all of this to you, so go away, right now, and don't bother me again until I'm ready". Cheryl liked to talk REALLY FUCKING LOUD so hers always sounded like 'TAKE NO ANSAH.' When Cheryl told you to TAKE NO ANSAH you literally took it, and took it nice.

George the Pilipino Playa - George favored garishly colored suits and ties, with matching ankle-length boots. It was not uncommon for him to rock a purple coat, green pants, and purple shoe-boots, with some kind of white or yellow shirt/tie combo to pull it all together. Believe me when I tell you that it was awesome beyond my powers of description. The boots alone required a level of sartorial commitment you find only in the colorblind, insane, or brilliant. Also, he had a heavy philipino accent, which led to some occasional confusion when asked me questions about audio/video equipment, such as:
"what ees dis ting, dis subwopper?"
Me: The shit what?
George: "What do you do dis ting, dis subwopper? Eet goes wit dee speakers??"
Me: the subWOOFer?
George: "Yeasss, dat's de one! Dee subwopper!"  [cue hilarity]

Or if he had questions about the web:
'heyyyy, how do you surp de web?'
me: The whatnow?
George: 'de web, how do you surp de web?
me: 'surf the web? like, the internet?
George: "yes! dat's de one! surp de web!"

Bit players:
Billy D. - The boss. He wasn't much of a character, and we all made fun of him for his pastel suits and wingtips left over from the go-go 80's, and also for his dead-end job. (Of course we were all moving on to Bigger Things.) In retrospect, we were right to make fun of him for his pastel suits (teal? seriously Billy?), wrong to mock him for his career. Live and learn.

Roland the Weed-Dealing Temp - I know it's cliche, but seriously, I can't make this stuff up. Since he was a temp worker he would come in and work part time. And by that I mean he would plan his weekends and make the interns do his work while he 'surped de web' and did his homework.

Bonus detail:

Coffee was provided, but for people who didn't care for caffeine there was also Sudafed in quantities sufficient to start your own meth lab. I suppose that some people had sinus congestion, but most took it to stay awake and alert in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing more calming than sudafed and large amounts of money moving around.

Get your read on

New list of 'best books of 2010' available, this time from Slate.
I don't think I read a single one, which is unusual. I remember picking up a few during the occasional book browse, but couldn't find anything I wanted to pay for. I know I can get them for free at the library if I wait, but it takes sooo loooong. I'm told that buying used on Amazon is the way to go. I guess I'll try that next.

Been feeling a touch under the weather the past couple days. Apparently the body doesn't appreciate it when you a) don't sleep, b) don't eat, and c) imbibe. Weird. 

Did you know that Hershey's kisses aren't really chocolate, but wax with a very small amount of chocolate flavor? That might explain this commentary. 

Was all set to post a picture and related commentary but the picture embed thing is acting up, so I can't. I would troubleshoot firefox and the blogger but I'm over it and you are too. Upside: I've got pictures to use in future posts! Hooray!

Life Lessons: "my room smells like beer and regret"

Not pictured: my dignity (I didn't bring it with me)

I'm in detox for a couple weeks. Need to give my liver and bank account an opportunity to recover from the beatdown supreme they got this weekend.

You learn all kinds of things when you binge-drink. For example, if you can't remember what day it is, you probably shouldn't use the telephone for calls or texts. Or email. Or anything. Take my word for it.

Spent Sunday at the Corona del Mar "Christmas Walk", which is really just an excuse for die-hards like my roommate to mix in a few beers on a Sunday. It should be more accurately titled "holiday booze up and stand around". Credit my roommate (pictured) for getting us there in time to commandeer a table in the 'beer garden'. Again, this is a case of misrepresentation, since they weren't growing beers there, they were growing hangovers. 

I'm surprised they let us in since we didn't have a labradoodle and/or $800 baby carriage for our progeny. It ended up being a good time, even with inclement weather. I was impressed with the turnout.

Blog post title comes from a text message I sent out after waking up Sunday morning (pre 'christmas walk'). It's a poor imitation of the original from last nights text "(my room smells like vodka and shame"), but you don't care.

Worthy of it's own post: Chart pr0n!

This from friend Ze Smitty, who, in addition to being annoyingly smart is also super nice. And well-traveled. (He's a hard person to like sometimes.) Anyway, he forwards this fantastic website:

http://chartporn.org/

There is so much good here I can hardly stand it. The world bank data visualizer was a particular favorite (recommended by Ze Smitty), but I also liked the F1 info.

It's easy to watch the world bank data and figure out that you don't want to be in Africa, ever. It's not trending positively, so to speak.

I don't know, is it?

 Ahhh, this never gets old:

http://isitfridayyet.org/

Rode the bike to work today. Hells yeah. I sometimes wonder if it would be more comfortable to commute on a bike that wasn't built for a racetrack. But not often.

Image courtesy someecards, who didn't give me permission, so get on over there, sign up, and start sending some funny cards. I already made my contribution. It's not award winning or anything but one of my friends some stranger was nice enough to give it a 5-star rating. I think it's more a 4-star card, but that's me.

what. the. f.

Qatar?
Qatar.
QATAR??
Qatar.

barf.

Yes it is possible to buy the opportunity to host a world cup, even if you have no soccer history, no stadiums capable of hosting the event, your country summer temperatures soar well past 110 degrees, and your country represents a security risk to any visitors that aren't muslim (read: most of them). In a legitimate contest, how does Qatar win out over the United States? It doesn't. The US didn't pay the voting countries enough money. I wouldn't mind FIFA's crookedness if they didn't pretend that it was legit. Ugh.

Qatar. Seriously. Qatar.