Cosmic Robot

On the training train again

2011-08-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

I was getting tired of being tired more than I should and feeling that bulge when bending over to put my shoes on so I decided it was time to commit to eating healthy again and to start exercising regularly. I did this once before but somehow, slowly, fell out of the habits that helped me lose 20 pounds a few years ago. It is pretty basic stuff that we all know, nothing magical or unexpected. 1) Eat healthy food like vegetables and lean meat - shocking! - and stay away from fat / carbs 2) Eat 5 times a day 3) Don't eat 3 hours before bed 4) Portion control / stop eating when satisfied 5) Excercise 3 to 5 times a week. That's it.

I'm not sure why I've always been heavier than it seems I should be, around 175, when my height and build say I should be 150-ish. I feel thick. Anyway, weight started creeping on and I decided to kick start my metabolism with a carb. negative diet and 30 minutes of cardio that kept my heart around 110 to 140. Again, nothing tricky but I was hungry for the 6 days of the diet. I lost about a pound a day so down 7 pounds in 6 days. Nice. I was at 177.5 and my target was to get to 170. I made it to 170.5 so I guess I already hit my goal. That was easy.

We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks now that I've reset things and remember the simple rules.

Practice Flight

2010-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Not sure what to make of it yet but today was very interesting. I've been tossing the idea around of getting my pilot license and decided to do something about it today. I met a friend for lunch at the local airport in San Carlos so we could talk about why he flies, costs, strategy, etc.. I explained that it seems like an ideal way to see more of the country and not have to deal with the traffic and general hustle and bustle of driving everywhere. I was imagining flying to Sacramento from San Carlos in 45 minutes to see family, or heading to the foothills for a nice weekend of camping without sitting on the bridge for 3 hours or taking friends on a nice Sonoma afternoon wine tasting and getting there in 20 minutes. How about taking out of town guests on a site seeing tour of the Golden Gate and Yosemite by air!

So I decided to go for the intro / 1 day training to see what it is like. I was expecting to sit back and have someone go over the general concepts, maybe take the flight yoke for a minute or so... but what I ended up with was basically doing a solo take off and landing, working the trim and heading I'm not sure how far out to sea. Holy crap was it terrifying and exciting. It all seems like a blur now but pulling back on the stick and throttling up on the run way, clearing the buildings and pulling away from the ground... amazing.

Will I continue? I'm not sure. There are some serious costs and time involved in pursuing this but it could be life changing. Here are some shots I took while out near Half Moon Bay and flying over Highway 92 on the way back, looking at all the suckers stuck down there in traffic.

Kitchen Finished

2010-09-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Well, It's not 100% but all the big stuff is done. My punch list is: painting the door, base board trim, spot lighting, window trim, wainscoting, sink bezel, cutting board counter top, pulls / knobs and upper cabinet resizing / mounting. Probably more to do items but you have to draw the line somewhere. Here are a couple of photos of the final work and a link to the entire photo spread:

Kitchen Remodel Photo Album

Epic Ride 2010: Arrival in Boulder

2010-08-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well here is an out of order, late post about a ride Ken and I took this Spring. The story is that I bought a motorcycle in Boulder a year-ish ago thinking that I would be out there to take it to Kansas, weekend trips... etc. Well I never made it back there to do any riding and figured I should just bring it home. The bike was a low mileage 1983 BMW r100s. These things go for 200k to 300k miles so with only 8k on the odometer, it was barely broken in. It has been outside for some time and had some oxidation on the aluminum engine and pits here and there but in general was in good shape and tight.

So as it turns out Ken was itching to do some riding on his R100 GS as well and we agreed to meet before it got too far into the hot summer. Ken arrived in Boulder a few days before me and went with Ben to pick me up at the Denver airport. That was Friday night, June 11th. The flight was delayed and the bags were somewhere else. Ben had some nasty food working it's way through his system and we really couldn't wait around past 2 am. We notified the airline that we wanted the bags delivered and headed home for a beer and the rack.

It rained for the next few days but we used the time to tinker with the bikes and put up some plywood in Ben's garage.

How come I always end up working on things when I go visit him? Ben had also rented a bike, a Yamaha FJR1300. A great ride but the bars, pegs, wind shield situation just felt weird. It went like stink. The idea was that we would all head out Sunday morning and at some point Ben would head back. Ken and I would head to Yellowstone and then the West Coast. Sunday it was still raining but kind of clearing so we only took a short ride up near Estes Park.

Turns out these side trips really helped sort our gear out for all the rain ahead but we didn't know that, yet.

5 Burners, No Waiting

2010-07-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

Step by step, getting closer. Ran about 50 feet of 3/4 conduit and 8 gauge wire to the 40 amp 240 volt fuse today. Not as hard as I thought but I am done for the day for sure.

Counter Tops Are Installed

2010-06-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

Finally got the counter tops in. The color and design is great but the managed to chip the front corner on the left side of the sink. It looks like a white smudge in the photo (but bigger in person). What do you think?

Maker Faire 2010

2010-05-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Jodie, Elke and I went to San Mateo today for the Maker Faire. I've been meaning to go to this for a bit now and finally had the time, money, etc... The Maker Faire is kind of a invention, mad scientist, Burning Man, yuppie fest. It is amazing how much time people have to really dig into this crazy, useless nonsense. And it is really cool to check out. Like the giant burning metal tree below. It is an an art piece called Soma from the Flaming Lotus Girls.

or the giant motor driven metal snails with flaming antennas

or the giant custom tricycles

or this poor SOB that volunteered to be in the metal box in-between the Tesla coils. The bolts were tied to the live music. It was pretty impressive and cool to see electricity in some type of physical form.

and this just seemed like it would be fun to screw around on. It's a hydraulic powered giant mechanical spider. I can imagine doing some all terrain stuff or urban exploration / parking scofflaw vigilante.

Time to Order the Counter Tops

2010-05-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Put the plywood on top of the cabinets, bunch of electrical and plumbing, cabinet cutting for vents, faucet... here are the photos:

Here comes the sink!

2010-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I posted any photos of the sink yet but it's been sitting on the floor for some time now. Here it is, almost ready to install. A little trimming on the edges of the cabinets and cutting some holes in the plywood pedestal I built. Yeah, it only weighs 125 pounds and is about an inch and 1/2 thick! It is an awesome fireclay sink by Shaw's / Rolh)

the appliances have arrived

2010-04-06T22:26:00.001-07:00

they're here..... after a false alarm on Friday, they showed up today. I was a bit worried how they were going to get through the kitchen door entrance (29 inches wide) but we only had to remove the handles. Nice and easy. Now some electrical and gas work and we'll be (mostly) back in business.

Here is the link to the official site to see them in their native habitat:

http://www.geappliances.com/products/cafe/

Sink Enclosure

2010-03-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

Getting closer. I'm having to fab up the base of the sink cabinet and the pedestal of the sink because they don't make anything that fits the sink I got. It has been slow going but I think I've got it sorted out. Essentially, this is the last cabinet left to install because to the left of the sink is the dishwasher. I'll just need to figure out how to mount the cabinet wall (leaning against the sink base in the photo). I'm thinking L brackets to the floor and rear wall and calling it done. Spent part of the weekend install the permanent pocket door and painting it a few times. Now to pick out a faucet and put on the plywood counter top all the way around.

again with the cabinets

2010-03-14T21:30:00.001-07:00

So these went in fairly easily but I realized how out of plumb the wall on the left of this photo is. The top leans out about 1 inch from the top of the 42 inch cabinet to the bottom. Nice. I guess this is why people moan about working on old houses. I need to fab up some shims and then put the final screws in. Also, it looks like I'll be running trim on the sides since I don't want to be looking at the gaps, etc... The good news is that all the measurements came in correct so the filler pieces all fit.

Next up is to figure out what is going on with the cabinet that is set in place now with all the drawers (how far it will sit from the pocket door wall), how I'll fab up the cabinet base and such for the sink (the sink cabinet is on top of the other cabinet in the photo but it looks way to small to me), and then how to put the dishwasher wall panels together.

and I think we are going to go with this counter top: Cesar Stone Lagos Blue. I think the brownish color and the yellow flecks will work well with everything. What do you think?

Ovehead cabinets

2010-03-11T00:09:00.001-08:00

Put two of the uppers in tonight. Like the cinder blocks holding up the cabinets? Worked great.

Corner Cabinet In!

2010-03-07T22:58:00.000-08:00

It was a bit or work, but sorted out the heating vent behind the corner cabinet by routing a duct under it and making a new bottom for it. The figured out how to level them out, etc... and screwed them in the wall Check it out:

Stinson Beach Valentine's Day Weekend

2010-02-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick post. Planned on getting a romantic bungalow for Jodie and I but the property management company double booked it. I made a bit of a stink and we got upgraded to a sweet 3 bedroom place right on the beach. Wanting to share the wealth a bit, I invited Philip up for a night as well. So Saturday was some hiking, hot tubbing, general goofing off for the three of us. Sunday was a romantic dinner for Jodie and I, sunset walks on the beach and Champagne. Very excellent weekend:

Photo Gallery

Kitchen Reboot

2010-01-20T00:09:00.000-08:00

Seems like everyone is saying reboot lately; movies, careers, computers... so I figure I can say that I'm rebooting my kitchen, getting back to it and all. Jodie and I have been painting and are beat. I reorganized some photos and added some new ones. Check out what my kitchen looks like after a year of "work"

Kitchen Photos

Barcelona: Finally!

2009-12-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

Finally, only months later, here are the photos from our last stop in our tour of Spain. We took the overnight train from Granada to Barcelona and met my old friend Sylvia early in the morning at her flat dead center in the heart of things. An amazing apartment near the central hospital with a wonderful view and tiny balcony that was exactly what an apartment in Spain should be.

We set out for a tour near the Museo Catalan and to the Gothic Quarter to see the Merce Festival and have dinner at Taller de Tapas. We bumped into the amazing Cathedral Santa Maria de Mar as well, which turned out to be my favorite cathedral of the many we saw during the trip, and there were many.

Next it was off to explore the amazing Modernisme architecture everywhere in the city. Seriously, it was like the entire city was an art exhibit. I kept taking pictures of everything; Gaudi's Parc Guell, Casa Mila, La Sagrada Familia, the lamp posts, sidewalk tiles, floor tiles, door knobs... amazing stuff.

I can't tell you how amazing La Sagrada Familia is. It is right up there with Machu Picchu but maybe even more. I think it is one of the must sees on the planet and even that is not doing it justice.

We tried to take in as many tapas as we could. The custom and style was a bit different than the rest of Spain, they were more of a meal rather than a bar snack. I think one of our favorites was Tapas 24 and their fried fish. A close second was El Xampanyet with it's tasty Cava or La Llesca and it's authentic Catalan menu.

We took a wander down las Ramblas which was too over the top touristy to stand but we bumped into the fantastic Mercat de la Boqueria and spent a bit more time in the Barri Gotic. We also spent some time admiring the amazing views from Parc de Montjuic and just for a minute, literally, dipped our feet in the water at Barceloneta (which made our must see when we go back list).

And then there was the Catalan language, ugggh. I never realized how different it is than the Castillian Spanish I'm used to. It sounds very similar but is written differently so that was weird.

It was so great to hang out with Sylvia as well. I got to have a real Argentine Mate again after so many years!

Here are the photos!

Granada: 4th Stop

2009-11-09T16:32:00.001-08:00

After a (way too) early morning train ride, we arrived in Granada to a surly cab driver swearing and dodging pedestrians at 8 am. We had hastily picked out a hotel the day before based mostly on availibility, well, it wasn't the worst place I've ever stayed but Las Nieves isn't a place I would recommend. Don't get me wrong, it was clean enough and everything worked but the place had no character and in a town that is SOAKED with charm and quaintness, this place just doesn't cut it. My first time in Granada I stayed at Hotel Lisboa, which was marginally better. So we left the front desk our passports as we checked in as they said they needed them for some reason. Weird. We did get them back but WTF?

We set out for some churros and to orient ourselves a bit. After the jolting cab ride through the 'transitional' neighborhoods, things seemed better. We got a picnic lunch and headed up to the Alhambra. We were SO glad we had our tickets reserved because the day was sold out as I think the following day was as well. It was a mess. We sat just out front of the Alhambra lunching, listening in every language, the swearing of not being able to buy entrance tickets. My last trip to Spain, this was by far the highlight and it didn't disappoint this time either. But I have to say that after seeing the Alcazar, I couldn't help but compare the two. The Alcazar was in better condition but the location, surrounding hills and small town feel of the Alhambra still impressed.

After spending the day checking out every nook and cranny of the Alhambra, we took the Cuesta de los Chinos trail out the back way at dusk and ended up at the Paseo de los Tristes. What an amazing view up at the Alhambra at dusk. Feeling beat, we stumbled off to for some tapas at Bodega Castanedas. Not the best of the trip but really good. Then back to the 'hotel' for a nap before the planned evening wander around Plaza Carmen and the little side streets, etc... well that turned into passing out till dawn the following day. I guess we had been pushing ourselves too hard and it showed up for sure.

So Cafe Futbol for breakfast churros, wandering around the Albaycin with it's amazing views, the Cathedral and Taberna Salinas for one of the top three tapas of the trip. I wanted to go in initially for the cider but they had these little slider burgers and fries. Ah, and we found a place that made homemade Agentine style Alfajores. I haven't had any this good in 15 years. Then the 10 PM overnight train to Barcelona.

Check out the photo spread here

Seville: 3rd Stop

2009-11-01T14:22:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that I was very reluctant to make a second trip to Seville. I had been there once before and was decidedly unimpressed. In fact, I pretty much couldn't wait to leave. But I wanted to be fair and had heard good things about the city so we booked a couple of nights there at a upscale-ish place, Hotel Murillo, located just off Plaza Santa Cruz. Due to delays getting out of Toledo, we didn't arrive until 8PM-ish but we were determined to make the most of our time and to take Mike and Angie's advice about a great little tapas place with a Mom and Pop flamenco bar near by. The action didn't start until midnight anyway so we actually had plenty of time. The tapas bar, Las Golondrinas, didn't disappoint and almost was the best tapa of the trip. It was a simple was a thin pork cutlet on a slice of baguette, called a Punta de Solomillo. With a glass of red wine; fantastic. The link to the bar has some great photos so check it out.

We hung out there till just before the doors opened at midnight at Casa Anselma (the flamenco bar). The link pretty much explains the situation. A small bar that is run by the Patrona, it gets totally packed to the point you are trapped in your seat. Throughout the night various guests come up to sing or dance with the house musicians. The show started with some standards by the house band. Then a couple of young ladies from the audience did a great little dance number (video below).

Finally, what must have been a professional singer in the audience, came up to sing and close the place down to the shouts and cheering from everyone (video below):

The next day we hit the tourist hot spots starting at the Alcazar, which I had somehow missed the first time around. In fact I think I was too cheap pony up the entrance fee. Lesson learned. The palace was beyond description and one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The detail, beauty and opulence were amazing. The way they used light and water was spectacular. I couldn't imagine the decadence that this must have been when built over 500 years ago.

Then a little bit of a wander around to try out a few of the recommended tapas joints, where at La Flor de Toranzo, we found the best tapa of the trip, the Lomo con Manzana. It's a little ciabatta type roll with a thin slice of ham, apple and a bit of creamy white cheese. Wash that down with a glass of Tinto de Verano. Awesome-ness

Then to the Giralda Tower, Cathedral and off to the oldest tapas bar in Sevilla, El Rinconcillo, founded in 1670. Yeah, it's that old. You must go to this place if you are in Seville. The character was so cool and rich. Also try the amazing spinach and garbanzo bean tapa. We would have stayed longer but had an appointment at the Arabic baths for an hour of soaking before turning in a bit early because we had to catch the 6 am train to Granada. Ugghh.

Check out all the photos here

Toledo: 2nd Stop

2009-10-18T22:10:00.001-07:00

After Madrid; the late late night tapas, amazing museos and LOTS of churros, we thought it would be a nice change to go to the small nearby town of Toledo. Both Ben and my Dad highly recommended it as a sleepy romantic diversion. So a short 30 minute train ride from Atocha station and we were in the outskirts of Toledo. The train station had some amazing Moorish tiles and woodwork as well. We ended up at a great, central, cheap hotel; Carlos the V. After some exploring and watching the sunset from the Puente Alcantara, we had a nice dinner at Kumera. It got mixed reviews from us but was situated in the wonderful little Plaza Marron and it was a warm clear night. I had an interesting (what seemed like) pot roast ravioli with a Dijon mustard sauce. Jodie had the prix fixe menu with calamari and egg plant (interesting). The rest of the evening we wandered around the town which had basically shut down around 10 pm. A big change from Madrid. The next day we visited the amazing Cathedral, the Puente de San Martin and plazas. Lunch in Plaza Zocodover and then off to Sevilla. Short and sweet.

Check out the photos here

Madrid: 1st Stop

2009-10-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Two weeks in Spain! First stop, Madrid. Jodie and I landed and met up with a couple of old friends from San Francisco that just happen to be there as well. We took their lead and booked a room in the same hotel, Hotel Analina, for a couple of nights. The place was cheap, central, clean and we got a free churro y chocolate breakfast every morning at the Maestro Churrero. There was a very noticeable hangover over the entire town as the previous night was Noche en Blanca, where the whole place goes nuts with music, art, dance.... Turns out Michael and Angie missed the whole thing as she took a header down some steps and they spent the whole time sorting that out. She was fine, disappointed, but fine.

We spent a day each at the Reina Sofia and then the Thyssen and the nights dining on amazing tapas like those at Taberna Tempernillo, Lolina Cafe and the Taberna at the Plaza de Guardia de Corps. Awesome! Great food, wine, museums and friends. Seriously, the best museums I've ever seen. Too much in fact. We both got art burnout so badly that we passed on free tickets to the Prado (from a previous visit, one of the most complete museums I've ever seen).

Check Out the Madrid Photos

Spain Bound

2009-09-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

It's late and Jodie and are are just finishing all the packing and prep for our two week trip to Spain tomorrow morning. We are flying into Madrid, then to Toledo, Sevilla, Granada and then a meet up with Sylvia for a week in Barcelona. This is going to be great!

It also got me to thinking about a post I never published when I was in Istanbul last year, about what it is to be a traveler versus a tourist. Here it is:

Being in this town, with the throngs of tourists such as myself rummaging around, I've been thinking about what that means, to be a tourist.

I guess on the most basic level it involves you dragging yourself somewhere you don't live and experiencing 'stuff' (monuments, trees or what have you). Maybe learning the history and context of the 'stuff'. Why and how it got there... etc.

But what does it mean to say, 'I did -insert historical place here-' It makes me think of someone ticking things off of a list and that, in a way, it's like an unspoken competition to 'do things'.

Is it fair to say there is a difference between a traveler and a tourist? Or is that just creating more of a us versus them dichotomy? Well I'm going to say there is a difference and shades of gray and all that.

When I travel the thing that always comes to my mind is that quote, 'traveling isn't about going to new places but seeing with different eyes'. It's about going somewhere and being open to trying to understand what and why and not judge and just experience something.

But I think it's also a process of getting to know and learn about yourself, of appreciation and being present. And I can't tell you how many times I've felt like trying to get that just right photo is really separating you from being there, always looking for that perfect photo so you can remember that moment forever shot. Why not just be present? Just take a moment and look around, take a deep breath, smell the air, feel the heat or cold or whatever... and be there for that moment and remember it forever that way.

and then I read this (and ripped it off and pasted it in here without permission) from the new magazine that Jodie is working for, Afar, and I thought it really fit how I'm trying to think about this trip tomorrow. I also thought that I should at least put the whole thing in here to be fair to them:

Founder’s Note: The Real Experience of Travel

PEOPLE USED TO JUST WANT STUFF. The more, the better. And not only more stuff, but fancier stuff. Many of us took the same approach in our travels. We went to the most glamorous places, stayed in the trendiest spots. We took pictures so we could show that we had “acquired” these places just as we had acquired stuff along the way. We came, we saw, we acquired.

But something has changed.

Many of us have realized that life is about more than how much we consume. Instead, we now search for meaning wherever we can find it.

So when we travel, we go beneath the surface of a place and look for experiences that enrich and stretch us. We try to connect with people. We embrace what makes each culture distinct, even as we recognize that we have more in common with our world neighbors than we may have thought. We discover insights about others—and ourselves.
My business partner, Joe Diaz, and I have traveled this way for years. Sometimes we have a specific purpose in mind: I’ve volunteered in Johannesburg and Borneo; Joe has returned to his roots in Spain. Sometimes we’re more spontaneous— we decide where to start a trip and where to end it, but we let chance determine what happens in between and whom we meet.

We have learned that it is not the physical surroundings or the iconic sights that give a place meaning. Rather, the people and their stories are what make a trip memorable: the heated political debate in an Irish pub, the conversation with an Argentine about communicating with his teenage daughter, the breakfast with a swami at his academy near Mumbai. As Joe says, “I may forget what I ate and where I stayed. But I’ll remember those experiences all my life.”

In January 2007, Joe and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to India. Sitting on a beach in Goa, we realized there are many people who travel with this mindset but few resources to guide and inspire them. That’s why we decided to start Afar.
Afar is for readers who are curious about everything the planet and its people have to offer. That’s what the magazine delivers: fascinating individuals, intriguing neighborhoods, cultural discoveries, unusual and local places to stay and eat, and reports on the world’s arts, languages, products, and music. And for every issue, we send a writer off on one of those unplanned, spontaneous journeys that Joe and I like to take. We think you’ll enjoy the results in Spin the Globe, page 30.
The magazine is only the beginning. In early 2010, we’ll launch a Web site that will connect you with like-minded global citizens. We hope to create partnerships in television and on radio to bring you the sights and sounds of the world’s cultures. We are planning a series of books and events. And because we strongly believe that travel benefits both the individual and society, we have created the Afar Foundation, which will sponsor cultural education and immersion travel for students who cannot otherwise afford to experience another part of the world.

Joe and I invite you to take part in any or all of these endeavors. We have met many travelers like you on our journeys, and we believe you share both our passion and our values. Tell us what you think of Afar and our plans for the company. And be sure to tell us where travel takes you.

Kansas 2009

2009-09-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a few years since I've been to the Kansas homestead so Cheryl and I spent the Labor Day weekend visiting. We got to see how a tornado 'remodeled' one of the barns, the new black lab Snickers, the latest batch of kittens (Cali Jr. and Ivan) and the hinny. We spent Sunday at the Freeport church and took a tour of the one building 'downtown'. We even got treated to some fantastic thunder and lighting the night before we left. Check out a few of the photos at the link below:

Here is the photo gallery

She Said Yes

2009-09-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

I had been planning on asking Jodie to move in for a few weeks now but the timing was just wrong. So I plotted and schemed. I picked out a special bouquet for her and made two very different cards, numbering them as to the order they should be opened. One was a mock up of me as a real estate agent selling her on the virtues of the house on Folsom street and the other one was the real thing.

I had them delivered Friday morning, August 21st, and kept waiting to hear that she got them... but nothing. Then I got a call from the front desk saying that something had shown up for me. I figured that flowers showed up at my work somehow. When I got downstairs, I saw this box waiting for me with photo of moving trucks and our two places:

with this inside! So Jodie is moving in this weekend. Not that we aren't in the middle of our trips to New York, Kansas and Spain. Busy month.

Final note, my other 3rd floor workmates all saw Jodie and I in the parking lot 'congratulating' each other and left me a funny voice mail about getting a hotel room or something...

Pig Ice Cream

2009-08-20T21:52:00.001-07:00

If you live in San Francisco then you know there has been a decent number of restaurant openings in my neighborhood over the last few months. To name a few:

Haus

Flour and Water

Dynamo Donuts and Coffee

Schmidts

I've been meaning to go to the new ice cream joint 2 blocks from me, Humphry Slocombe, and tonight was it. I've heard about the experimental flavors; Secret Breakfast (bourbon and corn flakes), Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, 8 Ball Stout, Jesus Juice (coke and red wine)....

That's all fine and good but I had to go for it and try the Boccalone Prosciutto. Tasted just like prosciutto ice cream. Weird. Got the Jesus Juice instead.

The Post Office is Closed

2009-06-18T16:04:00.001-07:00

I grabbed this photo while visiting my dentist the other day. I thought it was a perfect example of what happens to old technology. This is one of the old mail chutes that people would drop 'letters' in. I know, how quaint. Taking crushed up and dried trees, writing on them and then loading them into trucks and shipping them around the planet. I like how the old mail conduit now has networking cable run in it. Seems ironic.

Weekend Getaway to Carmel

2009-06-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

It was Jodie's birthday weekend so I surprised her and rented her favorite car, the new Mini Cooper Convertible, and we headed down to a B and B in Carmel. A nice drive down Highway 1, dinner in Capitola and lots of stops along the way to enjoy the scenery. Some notes; the white sand beach (even though imported) was amazing, Carmel is full of old people and it closes too early, 17 Mile Drive in a convertible is a must for every person and those weird 'sea dragons' at the Monterey Aquarium freak me out. We had some great food but the one that really stands out is the breakfast at Carmel Belle's (see photo). Rightious! Katy's Place and Casanova were good as well but we are really spoiled in SF.

Check out the photos

Still Fixing Mowers

2009-05-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

Long time readers will remember the story of me taking my old mower apart on the garage floor Well that old thing has been getting harder and harder to start so when I saw a lightly used electric mower at a garage sale for $35 I jumped on it. Seemed like a good deal for what usually goes for about $250. I used it twice and then neglected the lawn until last weekend when the foot tall weeds embarrassed me into action.

I learned a few things about electric mowers that day. They don't have the torque of a gas one and they can blow out your breakers and then melt down. I took the thing apart, of course, and there really are only three pieces to the thing 1) the switch on the handle 2) a small bridge capacitor and 3) the electric motor. So the switch was fine and the engine seemed OK when I threw some juice at it on the work bench so I ordered a $2.50 capacitor on the internet and I'm back in business.

I feel so 21st century

Floor Show

2009-04-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Vegas Photo Spread

2009-04-20T20:15:00.001-07:00

Las Vegas Getaway

2009-04-14T21:35:00.001-07:00

This is exactly the view that I was looking forward to. I had been busting my hump on the house and need some R and R and so J and I headed to Las Vegas for some time by the Mandalay Bay pools. We got back this afternoon and I headed right to work so this is just a teaser of the photos coming up. I'll post more after a good night's rest, to recover from the vacation.

Rockin!

2009-04-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a bunch of work to rip out the old plaster, lathe, crappy wiring just to stick new stuff in and nail up some new dry wall. Whew. Anyway, here are a few shots of it going up. No mud and tape yet but that is happening this week.

Leftover Photos from this Week

2009-04-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the magnetic cat flap that is going in. It isn't deep enough (4 inch exterior walls) so I framed a space in and will recess the flap. Hope the cats don't get any bigger or they won't fit through it!

and the first take at moving the attic entrance. I put some 2 x 6 framing in place but need to fab up a hatch cover so all the blow in insulation stays up there. Yuck that stuff tastes terrible.

Hope I don't get any bigger or I won't fit through the opening!

Here Comes the Drywall!

2009-04-02T23:53:00.000-07:00

This has been a long week for sure. My camera broke first off, so these two photos are from my Black Berry. The Casio z100 (don't ever buy a Casio BTW) seems to turn off every minute or so and doesn't want to turn back on.

Anyway, I committed to the dry wall guy to be ready the morning of April 4th and it has been a long week of sometimes till midnight work:

1) making a new attic hatch and framing it in
2) running the wiring for the ceiling lights
3) finishing the trim around the pocket door
4) building a new cat door
5) pulling all the random nails out
6) installing the 240 volt / 40 amp surface mount plug (thank god for 3/4 inch flex conduit!!!!)
7) finishing the wiring around the sink
8) stapling the insulation in

and tomorrow night's mission is to generally clean up and have the 24 sheets of 5/8 inch dry wall ready for a 9 am Saturday start.

This Part Makes Me Nervous

2009-03-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

All this talk about dual fuel or not, Ben I'm blaming all this on you, finally made me go with the range I wanted all along but the electric oven / gas burner option instead of the all gas one. All the rage now I hear. I began really thinking about this when I started finding out how many circuits normally get pulled in for a kitchen remodel, which is totally over kill I think, but none the less, I succumbed and decided to pull more power in. And if I was going to do that, then I should just go for the dual fuel range (as it's the same price anyway). OK long story to show you tonight's work:

I've got the 40 amp breaker in and now my electrical panel is full. I had to move things around a bit to get two slots next to each other and now I'll really have to think about a gas dryer when I redo the bathroom as I have no space for another 220 / 40 amp breaker. I'll be pulling wire and bending pipe this week to wrap this up for sheet rock on April 4th. Damn I can't wait.

Roller Derby Saturday Night

2009-03-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Jodie and I caught the Saturday night bout between the SF Bombers and the LA Firebirds at Kezar Pavilion last night. Elke and MB had mentioned that they got ring side tickets and invited us to check it out with them. I've been meaning to check out a match since they have been around more and more lately so this was a great opportunity.

I really had no idea what to expect or what the rules are etc... I figured it would be a bunch of drunk idiots (me included) screaming to 'tear the bums head off'. And it was a good mix of folks to be sure. I loved this guys outfit below, I think it's a Louis Vuitton sweat suit and a florescent orange cowboy hat. That pimp styling!

I spent some time after the matches to look through the news to see if any of the pile driver punches and the opposing manager, the ICEBOX, clothes-lining people made the news, sadly, no. I guess all the brawling and skates in the face were all staged. sigh. It did take me a bit to figure out the rules, beyond the tripping and punching. Check it out

Pocket Door Finished

2009-03-18T20:26:00.001-07:00

Not the best photos but there you go. I stuck the old back door in to do some testing. What a pain to get the framing all square and plumb. Normally you just carve out a hole that is close and stick the door / window in and shim it up right till everything works. Also, the floor has a bit of a slope so I had to work around that as well. Next is to get a good solid wood door in place and a few trim pieces. You can see a bit of the copper for the sink in the photos as well (under the window)

Exterior Shots

2009-03-17T23:22:00.001-07:00

So this is what it looks like on the outside right now. When it stops raining I'll be pulling off all the shingles and re-siding the place with the standard SF stuff that you see on the house on the left of the photo below. Kind of looks rustic and woods.. not for long.

Pocket Door Part 2

2009-03-16T23:43:00.001-07:00

Well I almost got it done tonight but ran out of nails and screwed up a cut on one of the header beams. Oh well. I'm better off as I lost track of time and shut it down tonight at 11:30 anyway. I'll be back at it tomorrow night to shim the door framing in (you can see it next to the washer). Never done one of these before so it is interesting for sure. So far so good. Also some touch up on the sub-floor that I had to cut into to pull out the dimensional lumber stuff. And the back door is gone as well. I needed to take out part of the frame so I screwed in a sheet of plywood and cut the cat door in.

Taking Out the Trash

2009-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

OK, a very short post but spent Saturday making runs to the dump, three in all, for a total of 2900 pounds. How can that much crap have been in my kitchen and just what does that mean in terms of capacity etc... that my old house can support. That is 1 and a half tons! To think that I ripped all that out and tossed it in the yard for a month and then spent a day dragging it somewhere so it can be buried for a few eons. Weird

Has anyone seen my kitchen?

2009-03-08T12:48:00.001-07:00

It seems to be missing and I can't find it anywhere. Oh wait, there it is in the backyard....

Looks like a couple of runs to the dump are in order

Pocket Door

2009-03-03T00:06:00.001-08:00

It might not look like much has happened but the final bits of plaster are gone and I'm ready to cut the pocket door in. Also finishing up on the electrical under the sink, which will be under the window, FYI

Door and window installed, check

2009-02-24T22:08:00.000-08:00

Insert Door and Window Here

2009-02-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

The framing is done. Since it is an older house, all the framing is really 2 x 4 , not 1.5 x 3.5 like today's lumber. So that has been fun cutting down 2 x 6s to fit. But everything is ready. Tomorrow is the big day!

and by the way, that center area is where the chimney used to be, and the marks on the wall, mortar. The rest of the thing is still under the floor boards. Might make a nice floor safe?

Before the Door

2009-02-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

OK folks, here is the big last chance to see the rotten kitchen window and rear wall of the house intact. Work starts on the French door and new over the sink window tomorrow. So I chickened out and am paying someone to put them in but finished the demo leaving the water and gas intact (those go out next week). I'll be putting in the power for the dishwasher and disposal on the rear wall, putting the pocket door in (instead of the open door you see) and the overhead lighting wiring and switches over the next week.

Here are some before shots with the counter intact and then most of the plaster down

Power Work

2009-02-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here are some shots of the recent work. I've been mapping all the electrical circuits out and figuring out which ones make sense to run to what gear. Basically took two un-used 20 amp ones and put one to the stove and one to fridge / counter. The spray paint is to mark the counter height and spacing of the fridge, stove, overhead micro. Next up is to put the lights and switches in.

Kitchen Planning

2009-01-31T18:57:00.000-08:00

This might help you guys understand what I'm up to overall. Not much work happened in the room itself today but Jodie and I spent the day mapping out all the circuits from the main box to the rooms / lights. I have to have a better idea of what goes where and what I'll need to shift around to free up dedicated power for the kitchen. It turns out that there are three circuits going there now and are barely being used so I'm in good shape.

Below is the heads-up view of the plan with some notes. Above is the view walking into the kitchen from the just finished dining room. Almost forgot, had the hook handed dry wall guy in today to get an estimate for sheetrocking the entire room (ceiling included). Also picked out a nice ceiling fan.

Day 2 and 3

2009-01-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

Funny to think of it but we usually don't see past the walls, this is the stuff that is holding the roof up. It's made of lumber, plaster, nails... and it's always there but we usually don't see it and so forget it. There you go. Day 2 and 3 in the bag. Doing some homework on the electrical and I just realized I didn't understand how pocket doors work. I'm guessing I'll have to special order the one I want so it might be a bit of a delay.

Kitchen Kickoff

2009-01-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

OK, here comes the big one. I'm guessing this will be done in 2 months at the latest. But here is the crappy blue / green / teal / white 70's mess I've been living with since I got the place.

Where the window is, there will be French doors to the deck, door to laundry room will remain but eventually be an entrance to the bath and not open outside, door to the bedroom goes away, all the cabinets / sink / stove replaced and moved to the other side of the room, window over sink installed, new sheetrock all around... stay tuned

Dining Room Remodel

2009-01-21T20:54:00.001-08:00

OK, so these photos make it a bit hard to get the exact idea of what happened, but I think since the last post I've finished with the paint, wiring, electrical, ceiling fixture, installed the bookcases (and had fun with the table saw modifying them) and setup a cat perch. So the big work is done and at some point I need to get nice chairs and floor lamps to make it into a sitting room. Until then, it's become the new kitchen (as I start the demo in there) and I've moved the fridge, food, pots, pans and plates in.

and if you are wondering what the black electrical things are on the top shelves of the bookcases, it's my strobe and disco lights. Along with the fog machine, it should make for some fun evenings fiestas.

Here are more photos if it helps

Bagger?

2008-12-28T00:45:00.000-08:00

I've been wondering about getting a bagger (big touring motorcycle) for several years now. The Goldwing was supposed to be the solution but it was just too old, clunky and just plain dangerous. I don't think I'm really going to buy anything but have narrowed it down to a Harley Road King, a big BMW GS (see photo), a Honda Valkyrie or maybe an old Motoguzzi Eldorado (or the new Guzzi touring bike)

Then I ran into a few articles about people touring on Maxi-Scooters like the Honda Silverwing and the Suzuki Burgman. These things are like riding your couch around. I've always said I would never own an automatic anything but I have to admit that I'm intrigued and have been scanning Craigslist. And that is always how it starts:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/mcy/969644636.html

Jodie (spelled with an I and E)

2008-12-23T17:51:00.001-08:00

OK, so the public outcry is overwhelming, "Post some Jodie photos!" So here you go everyone. Have at them: photo album link

Washington DC

2008-11-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog. Did you miss me?

Work sent me out to Washington DC last month to support our the panel discussion with the FDA reps to get our drug approved. Theravance has been working on this thing for, what, 10 years now? How much does that cost. Sheesh. I was glad to be there and see everything work out well. The advisory panel voted 21 to 6 to approve. Nice. Now maybe the stock will go up and I can retire.

In the mean time, I got to spend some time in a city I've heard alot about but never visited. Jodie came out for a long weekend so we got to checked things out together. Awwww...

I've always heard about the great places to eat, the history, museums and monuments. Well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

It was great to see the changing of the seasons / leaves, something most East Coasters moan about ad nauseum in San Francisco. It actually does happen here on the west coast BTW. It is subtle and doesn't hit you over the head. You actually have to pay attention.

Some of the highlights were the Air and Space Museum where I was blown away by the two huge nuclear missiles in the lobby and the Mercury space capsule. Looking at the 2 ICBMs, first I was thinking that right here, this is what kept the world terrified, the potential annihilation of the human race and all that. Wow. Then the Mercury capsule. What a set anyone would have to have to climb into this tiny little box and and orbit the earth, traveling how many miles per hour, coming back through the atmosphere, in something that looked just a bit better than an homemade Airstream. Totally nuts.

The museums, 5 Guys burgers, Firefly restaurant, Eastern market, Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington monuments, bricks!, Calder.... check out the photos

Photo Album

Istanbul Wrap Up

2008-09-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

So it's been a bit of time and I've shaken off the jet lag and am back at work. Things seem normal but there are those little things that you soak in that change the way you see the world. I went into my favorite little Gyro joint Friday night before the awesome Porchlight Litquake show and finally noticed the posters of Turkey on the walls; the Ataturk bridge, Ephesus... and began thinking that I had been coming here for years and never seen them, never had any reference point.

The guy behind the register had that Turkish B.O. smell that seemed to be the national odor, and I asked him where he was from. "I am Kurdish" he says, "but was born in Turkey" Not sure what that means. Can I say, "I'm English but was born in the U.S."? No, I didn't think so.

Then there was the cobble stone street last night and my mind flashed back to all those amazing little back alleys and those humid afternoons tromping over 1000 year old streets. So much history and culture and conflict. Who hasn't tried to own that place.

I was wondering if two weeks was a good amount of time to visit one city, too much or too little, but it seemed like a good relaxing clip to see not only the big stuff but to enjoy the small sites and hang out with old friends. It was just right. What a great trip. If you are headed that way let me know and I'll give you the low down on where to go and what to see.

(BTW, the photo above was from the amazing Cemberlitas Turkish Bath / Hamam, a must see that I visited on my last day)

Istanbul Photo Gallery

Los Cubanos en Istanbul

2008-09-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

Look what happens after only a few days outside the US. Here I am kissing the beautiful Cuba flag. Damn you Yanquis!

But seriously, you guys know that I'm staying with my friend Claire and her Cuban husband, Ry. Well on this night he invited some fellow expats over and William (above) cooked up an amazing Cuban style calimari for us. From left to right below, Reinel (Ry's Dad visiting for the month from Havana), William, Denis and yours truly

Dinner!

Istanbul Photo Preview

2008-09-12T05:13:00.000-07:00

OK, just a link but here are a few photos from the past amazing week of my time here. More, better, later...

photo album: week 1

Fınally in Istanbul: Rumeli Fortress

2008-09-11T04:30:00.000-07:00

What perfect weather. It hit mid 70s today with a nice breeze. It's a nice change from, what I guess most people would call pleasant, the humid 80s of the rest of the week, sweat pouring out of everywhere till it wasn't even a salty thick sweat but a slowly running faucet of clear, tasteless liquid. I can only imagine what it would be like here in the dead of summer.

I'm trying to take it a little slower as the 8 plus hours of walking are killing my feet and there really is no need, I've got the time. I headed out on a short ferry ride to Uskudar this afternoon, lunch in a sea side park and then back and a bus to Rumeli Fortress, at the mouth of Istanbul. The Fortress is by far the best deal here so far, 3 Lira. The history is that in order to conquer Constantinople, after so many tries, the invading army built this place to cut off supplies and finished it in 4 months. Amazing. And it worked.

Today I climbed up and down the handrail-less ramparts exploring all the towers and buttresses. I guess they didn't have so many safety codes back then when they were pouring molten lead on people or chucking fireballs across the moats. I'm scared of heights and the tiny crumbly staircases really did me in. Needless to say, once on top, I took my time to relax and soak it in.

In fact it was at this spot, over looking two of the fortress towers, cargo ship entering the straights, that I snapped a photo. It hit me right at that moment and really sunk in that I'm somewhere completely different and not at all in San Francisco anymore. Welcome to Turkey!

Istanbul

2008-09-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

It seems so surreal really. To think that I get on a plane, watch a movie, take a nap and wake up on the other side of the planet. I think it is just now setting in now, day 3. Dramatically different culture, styles, architecture, food.. Dark complected, dark hair, some dark eyes, surprising, to me at least, light green and yellow eyes. Tiny cobble stone and brick streets smelly little diesels cars and trucks driving too fast, reminds me of Argentina, and more Kebab places than I ever imagined.

So much history. The new mosque from Sunday's Bosphorus boat tour is ONLY 500 years old. The Grand Bazaar, the aqueducts, the city has been built around them, and evolved with them. The mosques are tourist destinations but this month is Ramadan and they are functioning mosques after all, listening to the calls to prayer while on the bridge between the new old old towns. My feet hurt, too much walking.

First Impressions

2008-09-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Not really sure where to start so I'll just post about what I'm doing right now. Here's a short vıdeo of yesterday's wandering around. I was in the old section of the city, a bıt later in the day and decided to take a short break.

Turns out it's Ramazan here in Turkey this month, their version of Ramadan, and I decided to hang out at the Blue Mosque for some of the afternoon to experience the Call to Prayer I was amazed and transfixed by the sounds and intensity. I tried to capture a bıt of this in the video from my camera. Not sure how well it turned out but you get the idea.

Turkey Bound!

2008-09-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

OK, this is gonna be nuts! I'm headed to Turkey / Istanbul this Friday for 2 weeks and can barely sleep thinking about how much there is to see and do there. Not looking forward to the 18 hours of seat time but if you have an easier way to get there, let me know.

I'll be staying with a friend of mine that lives there with her family. She is right in central Istanbul. She is part of the British Consulate and usually ends up in amazing places like this so it is great to get invited to see the new digs.

So far the agenda look like this:

1) see some the the hundreds of cool Mosques: the Hagia Sophia, the Sehzade and the Faith Mosques

2) the under ground ruins - cities upon cities!

3) bad ass sultan's palaces - can't see that in the US (except maybe in D.C.)

4) Byzantium walls

5) amazing aqueducts

6) the underground cities of Cappadocia

Got to do:
Turkish coffee
Turkish bath
Hookah
FOOD!

Hanger One Tour

2008-08-26T22:11:00.001-07:00

It's finally summer here in San Francisco, damn it hit 80 this weekend! Luckily I was headed to the East Bay for a nice breezy afternoon of Vodka tasting over at the Hanger One plant. Ed and I showed up for a tasting and found a that the San Jose Thunderbird club was there for the afternoon as well (see above photo). I've never been a huge fan of the original T-Bird but the 55 and 56 (no tail fins) don't hurt the eye. But give me a 1961 or 62 any day. Or maybe a hulking 67 to 69 with the suicide doors...

Anyway, Ed had suggested a we join his social group for a tour of Hanger One and i had no idea how small of an operation it is. 11 full timers work there! The place is set up on the old Navy Base on Alameda Island and takes up a fraction of the hanger 1 that they occupy.

They are a small batch distiller and use some tasty organics to infuse the vodka. I had never heard of a Buddha Hand Lemon before, kind of looks like a freaky alien embryo floating in the science jar. And the Lime was tasty as well. Then a nice catered lunch with the view of the Bay and the cars. A nice way to spend a sunny day in the bay.

Home Remodel Epic

2008-08-24T18:26:00.001-07:00

The long awaited official photo journal of the painstakingly slow progress of my home remodel is here! Check it out

Baby O.G. Mat

2008-08-06T14:59:00.001-07:00

Poking around some old slides and found this one. An old friend of my Dad's from the Air Force, Marvin Lam, and his wife. Not sure who I'm mackin' wit. Once a player, always a player I suppose.

Jetpack Future

2008-07-29T17:42:00.001-07:00

OK, this just about had me falling out of my chair. I'm reading this article about an inventor who was demonstrating his jetpack at the Oshkosh Experimental Airshow and got to this line:

“People come up and go, ‘Is it safe?’ ” Mr. Martin said. “Safety is a relative thing. We think we have done a lot to make this by far the safest jetpack ever built.” But, he acknowledged, “It’s not a high bar.”

I'll be sure to note that as I am picking up pieces of Mr. Martin around the neighborhood. Safety is a relative thing. I guess I don't have much room to talk when I think of some of the stupider things I've done on a motorcycle. But it was funny watching the video and the turbines of his pack got too close to a tree.

Happy Birthday (Ben, me and Gramps)!

2008-07-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

So this week I turned 41 and did some thinking about birthdays. I was thinking about my Grandfather, his birthday is the day after mine. At first I was thinking about the big stuff; where he was born, his family, his final years with Parkinson's, when he died... But it seemed what really made him the character that he was, were the little things. Like this photo of him and my grandmother, Mary Jane. Looking at his crazy black painted toe nails and the love in his eye. That cockeyed smile of his and dashing good looks. They looked like a couple of movie stars.

I think the thing that will always stand out the most is his crazy sense of humor. I never got the jokes as a little kid and only later did I appreciate his quite demeanor and brevity. He would sit, silently watching TV, for hours and then make an amazing one liner. I always wondered later as his Parkinson's took over, what was going on in his head. All those crazy thoughts and one liners in there, waiting to get out. The happiest I can remember seeing him was during one of our summer vacations when he took my brother and I fishing off the pier in Kenosha and he caught a German Brown Trout. That glow of a successful fish slaying as he skinned and gutted it outside the retirement home, telling us how he was going to cook it up that night. Or the time when I was living with the grandparents in Wisconsin and my first girlfriend and I were making out on HIS bed. He caught us, turned an amazing shade of purple and screamed as he stomped off. Not sure why I made it out of there alive. What the hell was I thinking? I guess you really don't think too far ahead when you are 16 and discovering the opposite sex.

I recently came across these photos that I think Rick scanned and sent to the AZ Kreidermans. I had never seen this one of him at his old factory job before. This is the guy I remember. Full of childish energy and mischief. Happy Birthday Gramps!

I posted the photos here if you want to see them all

Shadowlight Show

2008-07-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Amazing stuff, late in posting but totally worth it. Philip and I headed over to see the pre-production Shadowlight show at the Mission Cultural Center called Ghosts On the River. Shadowlight Performance is a modern shadow theater that combines amazing techniques of light and shadow in real time with performers, sounds, music... that combine for powerful storytelling. I was really impressed with the effects that could be created like the transposing of images, perceptions of depths, size and movement and how they could be used to help tell the story. I'm not doing it justice but check out some of the Youtube.com videos to get an idea of the amazingness. I have to say that the Ghosts On the River stories seemed a bit weak to me and I couldn't whole heartedly recommend that show.

The Five Stairsteps

2008-06-22T23:21:00.001-07:00

We all get songs stuck in our heads. Today this is mine. The Five Stairsteps singing 'Ooh Child'. It has been on repeat for about most of an hour now. Twice.

Something about the 70s sound, the woman's deep sultry voice on lead vocals, the tight strong backup vocals and I guess the general 'up with people' vibe:

Dining Room Remodel

2008-06-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

OK, so I never posted any photos of the work on the living room. Well there is still time I suppose but this seems more relevant. I've put some serious time in this weekend doing a final sanding, touch up plastering and installing some outlets into the dining room. I've tried to stitch together a mosaic to show some of the work.

1) the doorway into the bedroom is now gone (raw sheet rock in center of photo)
2) new ceilings (gone are the acoustic tiles!)
3) new power outlet on the far left floor of photo (run from under the house)
4) new data drop far left floor (OK, I'm a geek alright)
5) removed the light switch in the middle of the room (still need to plaster over hole)
6) roughed in the new light switch location on the right (need to run cables and install box)
7) SO much plaster (over 2 gallons) and sanding, by far the worst room in the house
8) FYI, all those boxes in my storage room (formally the living room) are my new kitchen cabinets

So that leaves a few things that I'm going to try to finish up in the next two weeks:

1) wash all the walls and ceilings with Pinesol / water to get rid of dust
2) 3 coats of primer paint on the raw sheet rock
3) primer paint the entire room in general
4) install new overhead light and electrical box
5) paint the entire room
6) install bookcases (fabricate heating vent and intake)
7) breath and then dive into the kitchen work!

So far, so good.

Cardboard Tube Fighting League

2008-06-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm just starting to catch up on my old posts but here was a fun one. I ended up taking the dog up to Corona Heights dog run and watched as people started to show up in these odd outfits. That isn't that uncommon in SF but it seemed as if something was up. Turns out it was a meeting of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League. Silly, playful fun.

Cardboard Tube Fighting League

Tucson Wedding Trip: The Day and Misc.

2008-06-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

Ben and Lisa's Wedding Day Photo Gallery

Tucson Wedding Trip: Damn You Red Worm!

2008-06-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

The morning started out with a nice swim and breakfast at Hacienda del Sol. All very pleasant really. I had no idea of the Mezcal insanity to come. Damn you Red Worm (Gusano Rojo)!

We all showed up at the wedding rehearsal at 11 AM, the hot sun pounding us into submission, a pretentious wedding planner pushing us around in her awful faux Channel get up and our group slowly melting into the courtyard's astro turf. OK, maybe I'm more sensitive to the heat than most. We had a good time and a taste of the excitement to come the following day. I just couldn't believe that the time had gone by so quickly, from engagement to wedding day.

Then off to the wonderful Poca Cosa for an excellent lunch sampler. I heard the most comments about the Tamale and the Chocolate Mousse with Mexican Chocolate. Among other things, I enjoyed the Bistec with Chipotle smoky salsa. But the gifts from Ben and Lisa were fantastic. Each one very carefully selected for that person. Obliviously alot of time & thought & money went into each one and it really showed. Thank you!

After lunch, part of the group then went off to a day spa and some went to play golf. I had never tried golfing before and was looking for a great opportunity to give it a shot and this was it. I teamed up with Bob and Betty, both experienced golfers. We were playing in teams of four and playing best ball. So the best shot out of the group each turn would be played by everyone in the group. It made it go much faster. Something I was worried about being the new guy, slowing everyone down. I think out of the 9 holes, 5 shots per hole, I made 5 really good ones. Not bad for a first timer. The last one was one of the best when I had to tee off and clear a dry river bed. It almost landed on the green. Nice.

So the insanity. That started as the group reconverged at Blanco: Tacos and Tequila.
I was shuttling some folks around so I came in on things as they were already in motion, and by motion I mean bottles of Tequila an pitchers of Sangria. I was rehydrating from spending the day in the sun but the guys were pell mell into the madness. Rev. Bryan was 'discussing' how our server needed to be this tall to ride the ride... etc. Needless to say he was cut off from his last round of Mindbenders. It soon became apparent that I was going to have to sort this out as Ben was staggering around crying and telling folks he loved them.

It was touching actually. I just get worried about whatever it is in Tequila that makes you go insane. You'll be fine up to a point and then, BAM, insane. So things got sloppy drunk and I kidnapped Ben and brought him back to the farm for containment, thinking the rest would follow. Most did and Bryan K. showed up with two 30 packs of Miller. Then Cheryl brought out the liquor cabinet and the real descent began. I looked over at one point and Rev B. had the bottle totally upside down and was chugging like it was a 2 liter of Sprite. Serious. I thought he was gonna have an aneurysm or something so I kept an eye on him. But to be honest, he seemed fine. Ken had slipped into a delirium and passed out on his face behind the shed at some point. Then Ben gave in to the evil, vomit squirting out his nose, and called it a night.

Seeing that things were winding down, I headed back up the hill to the always lovely hot tub with two bottles of wine intending to forget some of the night as well.

Tucson Wedding Trip: BBQ and Beer

2008-06-11T07:52:00.001-07:00

The guests began to trickle in Friday morning. We were in good shape; stocked with beer, meat and beer. We had the tent, tables and chairs in place. The sun was beating down on us like an angry nun but as the gathering hour of 6 PM showed up, things settled into a nice simmer. Ben man'd the Alaskan sized Q,

Mark had the bar and the Rev. Block (yes it's official, check out the card issued from the Universal Life Church below) and countless others made side trips for supplies.

Everything went off as planned. Lots of beer, brats and conversation. Kids frolicking about, cupcakes, strangers meeting and of course beer drinking contests. No one was hurt and we all managed to get to bed at a decent hour. Well, I think so at least because at that point I was slumming in the hot tub at my well appointed retreat; the Hacienda del Sol (for photo reference see Beefcake posting)

Tuscon Wedding Trip: Hot and Smokin'

2008-06-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Seems like only yesterday that Ben and Lisa announced their June 8th wedding date but here it is right around the corner. I'm playing the part of the Best Man and have been doing my best-est job. I arrived in Tucson Wednesday night with a bit of a dilemma. I had wanted to treat myself a bit on this trip and toyed with the idea of getting a bad ass convertible Shelby GTH Mustang but it would have meant changing my flight to fly into Phoenix, the 1.5 hour drive to Tucson... OK, no Shelby but at the VERY minimum at nice Mustang convertible to enjoy the warm desert nights. Please no Chrysler Sebring... I rolled the dice and booked a car through Hotwire. $300 out the door for what would normally cost about $8xx. OK, so guess what I ended up getting?

Yeah, what a total piece. I took me 10 minutes to figure out that I had to set (and break) the lame trunk divider up to allow the top to retract. Ughhhh.... So Ken says he's headed to Phoenix the next morning to pick his brother up at 9 am. OK, I'll drive us and swap this thing out. We leave at 6 am and will be back at noon. No one the wiser. Got it. We'll it didn't exactly go as planned but I got the Shelby GTH. Just a little sob story but no more $$. Nice. Day 2 and I have a bad ass ride.

This thing is a monster. I took it for a spin at questionable speeds, let's just call it 100+, and it's like driving a slot car. Ben and I took it out last night, racing up Mount Lemon on some tight switchbacks and long straight aways, hanging it out all the way, skittering across the road as the tires gripped and hooked up. It just sticks and goes like hell. The feeling as the rear wheels would begin to slip out from behind you at about 60 in a tight corner, gently ease off the accelerator and feel it tighten up and pull into line again... just breath taking. Dropping your foot hard on the gas, having it down shift into passing gear as you are approach a hill, then the suspension slamming down hard as you hit it and finally the strain of the seat belt holding you in as you crest over the top, the front end of the car getting light and less responsive... not knowing if it's a blind corner ahead or a stalled car. I'd love to have one of these but there is no way I should. I guess I'm in that spot in life where I still like to have stupid, reckless fun but know better. Weird.

BTW, here is the history on the original Shelby GT350 H and the new Shelby GT-H model I was stress testing

Getting ready for tomorrow's BIG BBQ Meet and Greet. Hot sweaty fun!

Enjoy the Beefcake. The First One's Free

2008-05-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

So I’ve debated weather to do post this for awhile now and figured that I should just go for it. We are all friends here, right? OK, whatever.

So the masses of you that read this blog regularly have probably been wondering, maybe even aloud and daily, “Mat just isn’t posting as often as he used to. I hope he’s OK. Maybe he’s busy doing something?” Yes, the truth is that I have been keeping myself very busy with two rather large projects.

One is an ongoing big, big project of remodeling the house. I’ve finished the living room and am now in the dining room prepping, painting, re-sheetrocking and replastering. This is gonna go on for awhile but I have just about finished the first Living Room post and photos. Stay tuned and curious.

The other big project is something that I’ve been putting off for sometime as well, like for 20 + years. I still remember the days of chugging a Coke and having a Butterfinger Big Bar for breakfast, thinking, “Someday I’m going to exercise and eat right… but not today. Later.” Well later finally hit me as I got so sick and tired of looking at my saggy white ass and being tired all the time. I realized it wasn’t going to fix itself so I needed to do something about it.
That was the hard part, what to do. I half assed a plan and gave it a good shot about five years ago. I told myself that I would give it 3 months of working out and eating well and see what happened. It went OK but I stopped seeing results after about a month and gave it up after three. In retrospect it was clear that I had plateau’d and needed some help to get past it. Anyway, frustrated I lapsed back into a not horrible diet and no exercise (this is supposed to be a before photo but I'm too embarrassed to post the real one).

Flash forward to almost three months ago. Starting the new job recently gave me a fresh start on things and I figured I’d throw getting healthy into the mix as long as I was changing everything else I was doing anyway. I was talking to a co-worker about it and he said, guardedly, that he had felt the same way a few years ago and bought into this infomercial DVD work out plan. He warned me it seemed TOTALLY cheesy but I had to trust him. He repeated this several times so I knew it must be really bad. Well, it did, in fact the kind of thing that I, and most of you, spend our entire life laughing at and avoiding. It’s called Power 90. I decided to go for it anyway. Not much to lose.

OK, all that said, I feel like I need to post some photos cause it actually did work. It isn’t anything really unique or groundbreaking but it gave me the structure that I needed to get moving. Basically work out for 90 days, 6 days a week, for 30 to 50 minutes a day (alternating cardio and lifting). Also eat good food 5 times a day (no white anything – bread, sugar, cream…) lots of vegetables, no processed fast food and lean meats. The results are that I’m down to 165 from 182.5 in 73 days. I missed 2 days and had a couple of meals I shouldn’t have but in general stuck with the plan about 98% of the time (total guess). I’ve got tons of energy and am in the best shape of my life. It feels great but kind of weird when I look at myself because it has been so dramatic and so quick. I’ve still got 2 weeks to go and am having trouble sticking with it cause I feel like I’m where I want to be. So it makes me realize that I’ve got to figure out a new life that incorporates a way of living that supports this lifestyle to make it really stick. Old habits die hard for sure. I’ve got 40 years of them to work through but this was the first and maybe the hardest step. Enjoy the beefcake!

S.F. Heat

2008-05-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

It's this hot in San Francisco!!

Some kind of heat wave is here in S.F. for the week and the cats are just melting. I actually had to turn the bedroom fan on and have been sleeping with the windows open.

Favorite new old song / were they serious?

2008-04-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

So between coats of paint on the living room walls and ceiling (I know, I know, I'm working on the posting), I had a few minutes to search the web and found my favorite new old song. Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra signing "Some Velvet Morning". I had to do a few things to pull it out of Youtube.com but here it is in all it's 70s, sideburned and mustachioed glory. It makes me wonder if they were really serious when they did this or did they know that it was over the top hokum? Wearing all black, riding a black horse across the beach and staring pensively off camera. Anyone?

It's a Mystery! (or Grace's 7th Birthday)

2008-04-01T21:43:00.001-07:00

March brought me down to LA for Easter and Grace's 7th birthday. As usual, Mandy had planned out an excellent party. The theme was Mysteries, you know like Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes. So treasure hunts, pin the tail on the (?) convict and Mersham pipes were the order of the day.

The following day we enjoyed a nice Sunday Easter brunch and the Haute Dog Easter parade in Long Beach. Check out the photo gallery here

Birthday and Easter photo gallery

Sunday in the Park

2008-03-18T00:06:00.001-07:00

San Francisco usually gets the rap of being cold all the time. Drizzly fog and greyness. And generally this has some truth to it but last Sunday was the exception. Warm breezes, spring fragrances, naked people playing in the park and non-stop techno beats. What I'm getting at is that we get so few days of luxurious warm weather that when one comes along, Dolores Park explodes with activity. Usually along the top edge, there is an ocean of thong wearing Castro-ians, down towards the middle reaches, picnics and dogs and then some Frisbee and soccer in the plains. Everyone is smoking weed and drinking beer and dancing to some booming system near the playground. It was so good that I headed over to the new boutique ice cream shop to pick up a snack. Check out the dark chocolate and coconut macaroon ice cream sandwich. Damn straight!

Spring in SF

2008-03-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

I guess technicaly it might not be spring but both of my plum trees in my yard are lighting up with blooms of tiny white petals. An explosion really. and damn I had to post something cause I'm sick of looking at that crazy haircut situation, which has grown in quite a bit BTW

Hair Fun

2008-02-10T16:59:00.001-08:00

So I have this thing that I do when I jump into the pool. I always take a quick leap and while in mid air I try to stop for a split second and think, 'What the hell am I doing?" I don't know how cold the water is? Am I ready for the shock? Then realize that I'm pretty committed at that point and here it comes. Well, I've never really liked my hair, ever. I've done a few things with it over the years and it basically always sucks. Thin, flat and stringy. So if it's not going to cooperate, screw it. It's gone. Here is the before shot. I hadn't had a haircut in about 7 months. It was about 8 to 10 inches long I guess. I decided to just start cutting before I thought about it too much. You know, just jumping in. Oh, also, enjoy the nudity.

Here is the part where I've committed to cutting it. I actually took a second here and realized what I was doing. Trying to think if I could pull off leaving it like this. It is San Francisco after all.

and at this point I realized the comb over wasn't going to work. I've always thought that the comb over was wasted on the old. Any reason why the youngsters don't try it? Basically shave the center part out of a perfectly full head of hair and comb baby. Anyway, it seems kind of stinky and I decided to finish the job.

So here it is, my scalp. It's OK I suppose. Easy to take care of but it doesn't leave you with many hair options. And it seems like cheating a bit. Not much imagination required for that 'concentration camp' look.

8th Annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel Event

2008-02-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm getting all viral and shit but could anything be more San Francisco: childish, pointless, (most likely) drunken mayhem. An annual event of careening idiots in banana costumes, riding Big Wheels down Lombard Street. All set to the thrashing beauty of Motorhead's Ace of Spades. Check out the video and let's check it out Easter Sunday. Good timing too, after those skull cracking bricks, we will rise from the dead like zombies, like Jesus... oh wait, that blasphemous, like San Francisco. Enjoy (PS - Ben - bachelor party idea?)

Old Wallpaper

2008-01-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

Not much more exciting than the old wall paper I found lurking under a million coats of old paint. Hard to believe this stuff ever went out of style. Hold on, hold on... ahhhh

House Finds

2008-01-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

Have you ever taken you house apart and found old stuff? Stuff people forgot in the walls or things that just stood out as old. Taking apart the closet area of the house, I found an old SF Datebook / Pink Section in the wall dated March 1 1959. So what was going on in March 1959 in SF?

Looks like there is a interesting double feature, Hoodlum Girls "Thrill Mad, Without Shame, Wanton and Dangerous " or Teen Age Jungle "Violence and Vice". Haven't heard of those movies but amazingly you can get them still and on DVD even.

Or maybe a dark, philosophic movie like Ingmar Bergman's, "The Seventh Seal". I saw this recently at the Castro Theater so it caught my eye. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to see this when it first came out back in the day. It got a "jumping out of the seat" review. But if you actually read the review, it does review anything. Just a very short description.

It looks like the always popular Jack Benny is in town. Wouldn't want to miss that. And then there is that Disney cartoon. It's in Technarama 70! Who knows, it might take off.

Deferred Maintenance

2008-01-12T16:08:00.001-08:00

So when I got the house appraised a couple of years ago, generally things were good but there were several "deferred maintenance" issues. I thought that was the best way I could remember of someone calling me lazy. It's like saying, you know there is work to do (plaster falling off the walls, rotten floor boards, etc... ) but that you are just too busy (football season, sleeping in, drinking beer... ) to get to it today: deferred maintenance.

Anyway, I realized that if left up to me actually doing the work, it was likely that the maintenance would be deferred another decade or so, so I asked around and, hopefully, found the right guy. He's the brother in law of a co-worker and is a construction foreman by day. Weekends and night he does side jobs like -

1) replacing the buckling plaster and nasty sconce cans in my living room by hanging new dry wall. I know some of you out there like sconces, but tough. They're gone.

2) framing and hanging dry wall on that ridiculous 4th door leading into the master bedroom. Can anyone really NEED four doors in the bedroom. If you need to get out of that room that fast then there are probably much more serious issues.

3) actually making a real closet out of the "window" closet I've been living with since I bought this place. Why would anyone have a closet that didn't go all the way to the floor or left about two feet of ceiling space inside that was inaccessible. Weird. Oh, and it turns out that the closet used to be a door. So FIVE doors into this room. Seriously, why?

OK, now this isn't gonna sound PC but I was hesitant on hiring the guy to hang dry wall because he, well, he's got a hook where one of his hands used to be. I know, I know, bad Mat... but have you ever wrestled with dry wall? The stuff is brittle, heavy and just plain a pain in the ass. I asked my friend and yes, it is weird but he's really good so just do it. So Salvador shows up with all the gear and promptly starts kicking ass. So far so good. He is busy taping up the dry wall joints in the living room and it all looks good. But I have to wonder, there are a few small holes in the middle of the panels that he has taped over that look suspiciously hook sized.

Making Macho Candles

2008-01-06T22:40:00.001-08:00

OK, not sure how to write this one. I guess let me start out with some semi truths and work my way to lies.

Well, I was doing some Xmas shopping as I am likely to do sometimes. Looking through some boutique soap and foo foo candle shop, I was shocked by how much they charge for this crap. Yes I wanted some of it but damn if I was gonna pay $4 for a crappy candle that burns up in an afternoon. It can't be that hard to make this stuff, right? I remember that my Uncle had some candle making things that I messed with as a kid. I would heat up the double boiler with the wax in it and then turn it off and watch it cool. As the top turned a fuzzy white from the clear melted wax I would dunk my fingers in it. Ouch! Then again and again until I had a little mold of my hand. Then, carefully, I pulled my fingers out. Wonder if I still have any of those around?

Anyway, refusing to pay the $4, I looked up how to make candles on the internet. Dead easy. OK, now I just needed supplies. A quick search on Craigslist under "free stuff", and I had a classic candle making setup with all the supplies needed. Now the only hard part is how to admit to my friends that I spent the weekend making smelly candles cause I'm so cheap. But I guess I just did.

So here I am melting the wax in my stove top double boiler and then below is the finished product. About 20 votive candles scented with 'clean cotton'. The odd thing is trying to pick the color to match the scent. I guess it is what those marketing types do when making the fake banana or orange flavor. Everyone knows it isn't like the real thing. But what should it look like. Is 'clean cotton' blue? or yellow? Confused I looked it up on the manufactures website where they actually list a suggested color: white or pastel. Interesting. I also used two different types of molds. The pour from the top and then the upside down pour from the bottom. How exciting. Guess I know what everyone is getting for Xmas next year.

New Years 2008

2008-01-06T22:39:00.000-08:00

Another year older and all that... decided to head over to Jesse's for another of his New Year parties. Always seems to be a good time and you can't beat the 6 block walk especially on the stumbly way back. Jesse made a great Chocolate Porter and had a lighter beer on tap so we had black and tans for most of the night. It was his usual group of misfits but a bit more debauchery this year. Oh and his two brothers showed up. Poor young Ari, scared of that nice tattooed girl looking at him like a little furry Jewish pork chop.

New Years 2008 Photo Gallery

The Reinforcements Have Arrived

2007-12-18T23:32:00.001-08:00

So instead of renting an engine puller for $50 a day I've been looking around for a used one to do the job and then sell it for what I paid. This beauty showed up today on Craig's List and then in my garage tonight. It's a Summit 8 ton hoist. I could life both damn Mustangs with the thing. Then there's the 1250 lb. capacity engine stand where I'll be bolting up the small block to sort out the water pump, headers and detailing things. The whole mess cost me a couple of hours in the company truck (using their gas) and $125. Merry Christmas to me!

Happy Chanukah

2007-12-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

Damn, I feel so ethnic. Jesse invited me over last Friday for a Chanukah dinner with his friends. Can't say that my diverse Sacramento upbringing prepared me in anyway for this so it was a real treat. Homemade Latkas and Jelly Filled donuts (I'm sure there must be a Hebrew name for donut). Jesse broke out his latest batch of "Chanukah Ale" and we had some kind of drinking game with Dradles. ...and then there was the 10 pounds of brisket. Nice going you guys. Keep it up.

SOOO Much Gin

2007-12-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

What could be better than drinking the night away at "the best new bar in America", Bourbon and Branch, located in my little hometown of San Francisco. I managed to find the place and get in, even though there is no sign out front and I forgot the Speakeasy style password for them to let me in. My good friend (he hates when I call him old) Ed Rose and I went to one of their Beverage Academy sessions tonight and it was really amazing. Tonights class was on Gin. I've really never been fond of the spirits but I tell you, I have a whole new appreciation. The class was help in the "secret library" room. Really done up well with a shinny tin ceiling, vintage books on rustic shelves with the whole place wrapped in red velvety walls and brick. Well done

We started the night with a little warm up drink, a Pimm's Cup. Never had one but really tasty with a little slice of English Cucumber. The dozen of us chatted a bit and got to know each other before our blind tasting of 3 Gins. I was amazed at the variation of the flavours (but again I really have no idea what I'm talking about). My notes read:

#1 lots of organics on the initial taste; juniper and citrus (can I use wine tasting terms here?), mellow, nice. My favorite. Turned out to be a local Gin made just near the ballpark here in town, Distillery 209.

#2 Kind of mild at first but with a hot finish. Mostly Juniper berry flavours. OK. Turns out to be Tanqueray 10.

#3 Rubbing alcohol? Did someone slip battery acid in my glass? Beefeater. You guys can keep this one over on your tiny little island. Yuck. This is the rot gut I'm used to drinking.

Next up was the mixing. We used the B and B recipes for our drinks and started with a classic Gin and Tonic while we heard about the history of the drink and Gin. Then to a 30s era Rolls Royce, Aviation and then samples of the house specialty, Afternoon Tea and Cucumber Gin (some recipes on their blog). In addition to the London Dry style Gins we tasted 2 other styles: Dutch / Genever and Plymouth. The Dutch style was unusual cause it was aged and had a much sweeter, flavorful taste if you can imagine that. The Plymouth Gin was supposed to be more sweet and fruity but I honestly couldn't tell. Plus by that time I was getting pretty loaded and had lost my finely honed tasting skills.

We ended the night with some perfectly acceptable Chinese food and a Bart ride home for me. Ah, life in the big city is grand.

How to Get Fired

2007-11-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

How many times do you think of the perfect comeback line too late? For me, all the time but not this day. I was driving to work and some total jackhole was weaving in and out of rush hour traffic in a flatbed and caused one guy to go off on to the shoulder and another to slam on his brakes (not to mention cutting me off as well). So what do you do? Thinking fast, I pulled out my cell phone to take a photo of the ID number on the truck, you know one of those "how am I driving" things. I trailed him for a bit and he seemed to get REALLY annoyed. Then as I pulled along side him and took the photo, this was so perfect, he flipped me off! You should have seen his face as I waved my cell phone at him as he sped away.

So when I got to work, it was easy enough to look up the company that he was driving for and email the photo to their custom service department. Hopefully he's out of a job by now or at least not driving for hem anymore.

You mess with the bull, you get the horns baby

Mustang Project: It's So On!

2007-11-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

What was once a modern day phenomenon when it was first launched back in the 60s is now a rusty piece of garbage in my garage. Many of you know I love old junk and tend to stuff alot of it into my tiny-ish house. Well, as it turns out, I finally got sick of looking at all this crap and decided to do something about it. With some inspiration from a friend, I've dug into dismantling the old 1965 Mustang parts car that I picked up not long after moving into the Folsom Street Shagpad 5 years ago.

I've stripped off most of the useful ornamental pieces and am just about ready to do the heavy lifting. The next step is to get a engine hoist and pull the T5 manual transmission, 302 V8 (with Edelbrock 650cfm carb, mid rise intake, electronic fuel pump and deep sump Molino oil pan), disk brakes and suspension and 9" Ford rear end. PS - Check out the photo above and see my badass 1966 Fastback in the background that is soon to be the recipient of all this bolt in love.

As you can tell the rest of the car is a rusty mess. I was hoping to salvage something from it but honestly the more stuff I try to take off, the more the thing crumbles. I hope to sell off the husk to some poor shlub but we'll see. The rear window and quarter windows are still good along with most of the body above the rusting floor pan. What was the guy thinking when he was pouring money into the awesome drive train of this hopeless P.O.S.?

Porchlight Storytelling Night

2007-10-24T20:59:00.001-07:00

How many of you listen to This American Life? Or watch it now as well I guess. Well in SF they run a similar thing. It’s a themed story telling night every month at the local hipster Jazz club. It’s called Porchlight. Check it out here. The idea is that each speaker gets to tell a 10 minute story following that night’s theme that is not memorized and they can’t use notes. They also pull a name out of a hat for volunteers from the audience to tell a 3 minute story. It ends up kind of like a cross between stand up comedy and a poetry jam. I was going to write a bit about the 7 different speakers but realized that they have a really good description on their website so that seemed kind of futile. The above photo was one I ripped off from Flickr. It's just as bad as one I would have taken with my fancy new phone so it seem like it's OK.

I Love My Dog

2007-10-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

Went to the SPCA to pickup some cat traps to capture those feral kittens and bring them to the adoption center. That should keep me busy this weekend. Anybody want to lend a hand to do some cat herding? I couldn't help but go through and check out the available pups. Sigh, I'm lucky I didn't come home with a herd of dogs. So no cat photos today but here are a few of Mancha

Roomba = Cat Terror

2007-09-30T21:16:00.001-07:00

OK, another cat post. You've got to work with what you've got.

You ever hear of the Roomba? It's the robotic vacuum that looks like a really thick Frisbee. It wanders around your house, running into walls and vacuuming the place. It is supposed to be smart enough to map the place out and sense dirt and make sure the whole place gets all cleaned up. I've always been skeptical, shocking I know, but I've got to say it works really well. I keep my place really clean and thought I would let the monstrosity loose and see if it could find any dirt. Turns out there WAS tons of it and it got promptly sucked up. My Mom is out of town for a few weeks so she dropped it off on the way to the airport so I have more time to mess with. I'm debating buying a costume for it. Hell, it already freaks the cats out enough as it is but honestly that is part of the fun.

Fixing the ol Gal

2007-09-17T20:06:00.001-07:00

Looks like it is time to pull the front end apart on the old Suzuki. The fork seals are leaking so much that I can’t stand it anymore. Hopefully will have it back on the road this weekend.

Not sure how many of you know the story of this old bike. I bought it wrecked back in 1987 and slowly found the parts that I needed to get it back on the road. And by slowly I’m talking years. Not having much money but time to spare, I searched the junkyards and called the parts hotlines (no Internet back then kids). I put it together over the course of about 5 years and about the time I finished it I left to San Jose for college. In retrospect, not sure why I didn't bring it down there with me. How knows. I was riding at the time, my first bike, and worst bike, the notorious crap pile of a 1984 Suzuki GS550ES.

So I stored it at my Mom's house, didn’t drain the gas or oil and basically let it rot. Well college ended in 1992 and I left to South America for a couple years, then to work in Alaska and travel the world for a few more years. I finally settled in SF in 1997-ish and picked up the rotting hulk from Sacramento and put it in my apartment parking space.

Well another year or so later and I finally got inspired to do get it running again. What finally did it was that I went to the Guggenheim in Las Vegas to see the Art of the Motorcycle show and saw my bike, the rotting hulk, displayed as an exhibit in the museum. I waited so long that it was now an antique. So I tried to start it and it did run, like crap. Pouring black smoke out the back, no power… so I finally, finally realized I was never going to take the time or energy to sort it out. It only took me 15 years!

I made some calls and turns out a friend of a friend specializes in these bikes so I brought it to his shop and paid $1500 to have the cylinder head replaced and carbs rebuilt. $1500 to fix a bike that I had hauled around for 15 years. $1500 and I could have been riding it for over a decade. Morale of the story is don’t be cheap.

Welcome to My Life

2007-09-13T23:33:00.002-07:00

Just thought people would want to know what I see every night before I go to bed and what I see every morning when I wake up. Two cats curled up on my feet or head or whatever. I've never had two cats that were so into each other as these two. They are always together playing or fighting or cleaning each other. I imagine that they are best friends and hang out all day playing cards and telling each other these wild stories while I'm gone at work. Getting into trouble with the neighbors and then scampering back home and rolling around on their backs laughing. I guess the truth is that when I leave to work they are sleeping on the deck and in the same spot when I come home 9 hours later. Could they really sleep that much?

Burning Man Wrap Up: Default Reality

2007-09-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't expect to go through any adjustment returning to "default reality" as it's called on the Playa. But here it is. As I wander around San Francisco, even as strange as the City is, I find myself wondering where the art cars have gone or the men with push up bras and dresses. It is the energy that is missing as well. The open accepting attitude, easy approachability and playfulness. It's not that I miss it so much as that it just seems weird that it's gone. Hard to believe that I could become so acclimated so quickly.

First let me say that I brought my film camera not a digital and, yeah, I still have one and remembered how to use it. I just had all the film scanned and have uploaded some of the photos.

My Photo Gallery of Burning Man 2007

Some of the highlights of the trip.

Crude Awakenings: Check out this edited down version of "Crude Awakenings" fireworks, explosion and burn. It was amazing. The biggest explosion I've ever seen. The fireball was at least as big as a city block.

The Temple: An amazing Temple is constructed for participants to mourn loved ones or ask for forgiveness etc... and at the end of the week the Temple is burned and we let go of those feelings. The burn itself is a ritual that was the most serious thing I saw all week. Lots of moving moments and crying from everyone. Check out the other photos on the web gallery.

Homouroboros: This was amazing and I don't think I can explain it exactly so read and check out the video (which doesn't do the piece justice) Basically, it is a series of monkeys in sequential positions as if they are swinging from branch to branch. People must bike at stationary cycles around the piece and play drums in a certain rhythm and that will trigger it to spin and strobe lights to flash in time making it seem like the monkeys are swinging. It's amazing when it works, which is about every 5 minutes.

My Photo Gallery of Burning Man 2007

There were lots of other favorites besides my photos so do a quick search on Youtube for some videos or Flickr for some photos.

So will I go next year? Who knows. I'm not planning on it but I am really glad that I experienced it and encourage everyone to go at least once. I think that as this grows every year, we'll see how it influences mainstream society as well. It think this could really be culturally significant. We'll see.

Burning Man: Google Bikes

2007-09-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Burning Man

I felt bad writing the last entry cause by the time I had wrote it I had already begun to acclimate to part of what was going on here but felt like I needed to blog about my initial experiences. So there you go.

Day 2: I have to say two things directly shifted my cynicism on Friday. First, I was so beaten up by the non-stop blasting Techno parties till about 4 or 5 AM that I was destroyed from lack of sleep. I headed over to Center Camp to get some coffee, grabbed the daily rag, Pee Clear, and as it turns out last edition ever of it. So I plopped my tired ass down on one of the many couches and listened to some singer songwriter stuff and chilled.

Shortly afterwards Heather, a BM veteran - well are there any other types really. Sorry, sorry I’m getting negative again but let me diverge for a moment. I realized that that is how you know when something is “over”. When, and I’m not exaggerating here, SO many conversations are about how it used to be different, how commercial it is now “BUT WHEN I first started coming to the burn back in 1830 blah blah….”

So Heather was very nice and we chatted a bit about things. Having recently realized (not sure why it took this damn long) that I don’t like dealing with jam-packed crowds, I asked her for her advice about the more chill places to go and things to see. Got some great tips and had a nice conversation about the world and things.

First realization: I realized then that everyone here is nice and just so damn pleasant and helpful. In fact this affirmed something I’ve thought for some time, that this is inherently how people want to act. In San Francisco, I know I’ve had the urge driven out of me by the constant small time street swindlers and I imagine living has done that to most of the rest of us as well. So here people collectively decide to be nice. That is a good thing. A bit weird at first but very refreshing. In fact it makes it so much easier to strike up a conversation with someone, not worrying about ulterior motives. It goes across sex, race and age.

So I spent the rest of the day walking deep out into the Playa to visit the various art installations and just kind of poke around. That’s when I discovered the Google bikes. What I heard was one of the Google trillionares buys a pile of bikes for folks here to share. The deal is that you can’t modify them, lock them, hide them or sit on them naked.

Let me tell you about being naked here, I’m so sick of seeing man junk that I can barely drop trou to pee. I’ve seen more dick in these past few days than a Catholic Priest at the boys orphanage. The final straw was the nasty Santa naked from the waist down except for his ass-less red leather chaps. Check out shirtcocking on the interweb.

Anyway, I grabbed one of the bikes and blasted around the entire place! What was taking me literally hours to walk around in the blazing sun now was a few breezy minutes. I could see everything and barley notice the stifling heat. It was really great and the second thing that transformed the experience of being here.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to get some photos together cause it was at this point that I think I got to see, what for me, was Burning Man.

Burning Man First Day: Bobo Shanty Town

2007-09-02T00:02:00.001-07:00

So I'm borrowing one of the editing stations from Current TV / TV Free Burning Man (as it's being branded here in Black Rock) so I'll make this quick-ish and unfortunately no photos yet.

Caught the red eye out of SF Wednesday night to Reno to catch up with the Current TV folks. They are letting me mooch off of them a bit and sleep in their RVs, use their showers and gave me a pass to the Burning Man commissary. Sounds like a great deal. Haven't had to do any work yet but we'll see by the time this is over what happens.

We all took the rented van from the Peppermill Hotel (where I mooched a room from Current TV - I just have to keep pointing that out I guess) in Reno out to Black Rock City. Middle of nowhere and I guess that's the point. Got caught up in the howling dust storms on the way in. Total white out. We eventually made our way to camp, right in the damn center of this whole thing. For those of you in the know, right on the Esplanade at 6:30. I tell you it was a bit weird and I hadn't thought of it at the time but I had just said goodbye to all these folks and here I am again. I just keep showing up.

So two things struck me right away. Oddly that I brought the perfect book with me. “Bobos in Paradise” and the how decadent it is here. The book perfectly captured what at first glance seems to be the crowd here. Bourgeois Bohemians, aka "bobos". The new wave of yuppies that have the resources to build an entire city for 45,000 people in one week (miles of RVs, trailers, tons of food, water, booze….) coupled with the Bohemian counter culture values. The book puts it rather snarky and I don't mean it that way exactly. I just think of the opportunity and resources that all these people must have to be able to do this. It is NOT cheap to come here. You are spending some considerable amount of time, money and personal energy to drag a city into the dry lake bed in the middle of Nevada. This doesn’t happen by accident. I keep thinking that this is a Bobo Shanty Town

All that said, it is an amazing place. Phenomenal and surreal.

Filler Post

2007-09-01T00:55:00.001-07:00

OK guys, I'm working on the Burning Man post but thought this would keep you entertained for a bit. Nothing like a good old fashioned cat fight. Look at those tails go. Enjoy!