Sir Duke

Another four day weekend. Yes! (pump fist)

Off to the symphony tonight to see them play with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Lately, I feel like I'm part of some culture club.

No, not this Culture Club...

PB and J

My favorite wrench interview of 2009 was with Garmin mechanic Daimeon Shanksat at PezCylingNews.com.

And my favorite excerpt:

PEZ: Do you own a Campy peanut butter wrench?
DS: F$#@. Hipsters annoy the hell outta me. Ooooh good job, riding a fixed gear in traffic! What do they want, a medal for choosing the wrong tool for the job?? It's like using telemark skis on the bunny hill. No one likes you. I have a French Mallard (sic) cassette tool for a key chain that doubles as a bottle opener. I AM the one that's cool.

Dixie

Alison and I saw Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz band at the Paramount earlier this evening. It was fun - mostly because it's not music I'd normally go hear. Woody Allen kind of looks like a Muppet when he's seated and playing his clarinet. Not so much when he's standing up.


Well, maybe... Dr. Bunsen Honeydew...

Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future

Courtesy of Scott Adams. More words of wisdom can be found here.

Having a really nice holiday in Houston. The whole family was together for Christmas eve this year, including my brother-in-laws, John and Joe. My parents even stayed up to open presents together with us - which took a couple of hours - what with 8 people and all.

Saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday with my mom, dad and brother. The Houston Chronicle gave it a scathing review. I love the quote:

"Guy Ritchie is the worst screenwriter in the world, but, to be fair, he is not the worst director. He is only the worst director of the people who actually get to make movies."



Actually, I thought it was a pretty fun film. Over 2 hours long, but it went by quickly. We saw it a the the Studio Movie Grill at CityCentre (née Town and Country Mall). To put things in perspective, SMG is like an Alamo Drafthouse - but with conference room chairs. And CityCentre is Houston's version of the Domain in Austin - with shops, places to eat and million dollar condos. And you thought $400K condos with Town Lake views were a hard sell right now...

Say hello to my little friend

Eloise is spending some time with me while Alison is visiting family for the holidays. She's very social - unlike my previous guests.


In case you're wondering, this is what I've been putting in 10 and 12 hour days to complete. So far reviews have been very good. Keeping 4 bosses (WSJ, Sony, Barnes and Noble, LD) happy was/is an interesting challenge.


Hope everyone has a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or whatever you choose to celebrate.

Oh, btw, look what came in the mail this week. It's really nice. Yes, I paid extra for the plastic pedals.

Levi

More pro gear for sale. This time only a spare frame and only for a smaller rider. But it is for a good cause (if you call supporting your own charity ride a good cause). So as they say, bid high and bid often.


Nice house.

Pretty boy

Anyone looking for a slightly used bike or two? Apparently, the 2nd one is THAT bike.


Ah... if only the yellow booties were included in the 10K price. Now, that would be something.

Coco

I can't wait until the street vendors in NYC start selling knock-offs of this:

Marathon

Got an email from a photographer recently. Seems the pics he took in Marathon are ready for viewing. They aren't bad. Here are the wedding ones. And here are pics of the area.

Bing cashback

If you shop on eBay, Microsoft will pay you up to $200 per item to use their search engine as a portal into eBay. More details can be found here. The amount of your rebate is based on the search string you submit to Bing. To keep track of the best discounts, use this website.

Here are step by step instructions for those who want it.

Btw, Precious is a great movie. Mariah Carey looks better without makeup.

Serendipity

...is a horribly contrived film.



Spent a nice chunk of the afternoon trying to create symbolic links to remote drives with Windows XP. Yeah, I know; it can't be done. Looks like there's a good reason to upgrade to Windows 7 after all. MKLINK...sheesh.

Ridiculous

This is what I saw on my way to work this morning. Yes, a late model Saab convertible with a big-ass wing on the back. This unsightly prosthetic no doubt helps the driver keep his rear wheels firmly planted on the tarmac while making repeated attempts to reach escape velocity. Or maybe the driver just watched too many hours of Tour de France coverage on Versus. "Born from Jets." - really, it's just a saying. Btw, did you notice the driver installed the wing a bit off center - very wabi sabi.



Worse yet, on my drive home this evening, I heard my first Xmas song on the radio - "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by the shameless John (Cougar) Mellencamp.

Who knows what surprises await me tomorrow. I'm hoping for a pink Ferrari with curb-feelers blasting "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses.

Thanks

Feast or famine

Was informed earlier this afternoon that they need me to work this Friday. This results in my shortest Thanksgiving visit to Houston yet. Oh well, happy turkey (or tofurkey) day to you all.

Speaking of Black Friday, have you seen these? Crazy, huh? Not sure why I'm on the email distro for these (well, you can probably guess). However, the idea of a Schrader valve stem in a carbon rim makes my smile. I'm pretty sure that bent spoke won't hold much weight, so you best leave your winter coat draped over a chair.


For the more pedestrian types out there, aluminum versions are also available.

Vocabulary lesson

Learned a new phrase from my Latin teacher sister tonight. "Asian fail" - it's what her magnet student kids call any grade below a 95.

Btw, here's a better pic from last night's Lyle Lovett show, courtesy of austin360.com. Yes, it's the obligatory LA guest appearance. When in Austin...

Texas wants you anyway

A friend had an extra ticket to see Lyle Lovett tonight at the Bass concert hall, so she invited me along. He had his large band with him and just put on an awesome show . The acoustics in the Bass hall are amazing. And I think it's the first time I've seen him perform indoors. I remember his shows at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell in the Woodlands, at the pier in Seattle, and at the Backyard in Austin. So yeah, first time to see him indoors. Joining Lyle on stage were a couple of guest performers - Lance Armstrong and Kat Edmonson. Lance should stick to cycling, but Kat has a pretty unique voice.


Apologies for the fuzzy pic. It was taken with the Motorola Droid phone I upgraded to recently. Jury's still out on the phone, but I'm starting to get used to it.

Zappa cubed

My sister sent me this picture recently. Zappa backstage with Zappa who was in town to play Zappa. I understand it was a pretty good show.


I've been divesting a few bikes lately. Sold this week were my IF Ti Crown Jewel, Calfee Bamboo Road, and Specialized Boston Langster. I haven't ridden the CJ ever since my replacement Speedvagen arrived. The Calfee and Langster were meant to be sold. It's freed up some room in the house, but I still have quite a few more to go.




It doesn't help that my DeSalvo will be arriving soon. I bought it so long ago that I had forgotten about it until Mike emailed me last week to say I was next in the build queue. I asked for a fast touring, Randonneur-esque bike. Something I could put fenders, racks and 32c tires on. After a few email exchanges, this is the design he came up with (ah, BikeCad Pro, the big hammer in every framebuilder's toolbox):


Hmmm... Paris-Brest-Paris (or PBP for those in the know) would be fun. Closer to home, if you're interested in randonneuring, there's a Hill Country chapter you should check out. Their ride schedule also links to Bikely maps.

Back in the saddle

Started a contract job at Libre Digital this morning. I'm on a team that takes in news feeds and converts them into ePub format for display on digital readers like the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Sony Reader. Java programming with a lot of XML/XSLT. Fast paced. Should be an interesting gig.

While in Houston last weekend, I checked out a Japanese dollar store. Actually, it's a two dollar store. They sell stuff that would normally be sold at 100 yen shops in Japan, but since they have to import the goods to the states, they double the price. Still, it's pretty cool stuff - and much nicer packaging than the stuff you find at dollar stores here. Check it out - they have 3 aisles of office supplies (all neatly arranged), which may not sound cool, but trust me, it is.

70 is the new 60

Happy birthday mom!

Not the Wurst

My high school buddy Ron came up for a visit this weekend. I talked him into doing the Wurst Ride with Pete and me. Ron hadn't been on a bike since May, but he still managed to kick our collective asses. It really didn't matter, as it was a great day for a ride. Didn't start out that way, though. We rode from Hyde Park to the start in East Austin in a humid fog (duh - all fog is humid). It should have been an easy 7 miles, but somehow the group we rode with stretched it out to 10. And in a really roundabout way also - with a mile of that on some dirt path. With all the twists and turns, I was completely lost - but that's not surprising.




After the ride we celebrated with brats and beer (naturally). Alison was nice enough to come pick us up in New Braunfels for the return home. Dustin even made a guest appearance. I'm not sure I'm a Wurstfest kind of guy. An hour and a half was all I really needed to check the place out. The polka dancers in the main dance hall were my favorite takeaways.

Oh, hey - and speaking of East Austin, we tried out a new restaurant there recently - Justine's Brasserie. It reminded me of a French bistro. Very nice atmosphere, and the food wasn't bad either. It's a bit in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by industrial warehouses, but the place was packed on a Wednesday night. That's always a good sign.

Reunions

It's been a crazy week of catching up with old friends. Thursday, Talen flew in from Hawaii for a conference in town, which gave us an opportunity to catch up over drinks. We went to high school in Houston and through the Mech E program together at UT. We kind of lost touch after we graduated. He ended up going to med school, had a private practice in Tyler for 10 years, and finally moved his family to Maui about 5 years ago where he now works.

Friday through Sunday, I was in West Texas for a wedding in Marathon. Alison and I showed up late for the star gazing party, so when I met the groom, it was pretty dark outside. He was introduced to me as Robert, but as I walked away, I thought his voice sounded very familiar. Then I asked what Robert's last name was. Well, it turns out I lived across from him my sophomore year at UT. We were both at the Castilian. There were a few other people in town for the wedding from my Castilian days also. So it turned from an event where I thought I didn't know anyone to an event where I knew a number of people. Pretty cool.

Tthe Gage Hotel in Marathon

The happy couple

Castilian reunion circa 1983

The wedding was Saturday night, so we had a chance to bum around Marfa during the day. Alison caught up with friends in town, while I enjoyed the laid back surroundings. Marfa continues to be hip, trendy, and expensive. But I hear it's a good place to move to if you have a plan and penchant for hard work.





Leaving Marathon Sunday, we drove through Fort Davis and the McDonald observatory - on the highest road in Texas. As expected, the views were spectacular.

Orange who?

Orange you glad I didn't say banana...

Just got back from another 24 hour trip to Houston. Had some business I had to take care of, but I also had time to visit the folks. Their orange tree is fully loaded with fruit right now. Fruiting fruit trees always make me smile.



What also makes me smile is the passage of the 3 feet ordinance by Austin city council earlier today. Pamela LeBlanc of the Statesman has a positive take on the whole thing.

Call to action

Today was a beautiful day to bike downtown. The Austin city council votes on the 3 feet passing ordinance this coming Thursday. You can register your support for the measure using the electronic kiosks in the lobby of Austin City Hall between now and the vote.

It's not a perfect solution, but I think anything that heightens motorists' attention to cyclists and peds is a good thing.

The real me

In case you missed Pearl Jam at ACL a couple of weeks ago, this weekend the band released the show as part of their authorized bootlegs series. It's only $9.99 for the mp3 download version. Definitely worth it if only for their cover of the Who's "The Real Me."


This weekend was also Megan and Chris' wedding and Sean's birthday. Congrats all!

Waiting on a train

Cap Metro was test running their new commuter trains again today. They look great to me - so let's get them on-line already.


The 80's continue to haunt me. Hold me.







You ask, "What is Alannah Currie doing these days?" She's making furniture. Freaky furniture. Very freaky.

Transitions - I

Stopped by BSS today to pick up a bike they packed for me. Was helped by my favorite tattooed wrench in their repair department. She asked if I had a brother that looked nothing like me. "Why, yes, I do" - I replied. She went on to say that she hadn't seen him in a while and that he used to come in all the time. I thought it was nice that she remembered and asked about him. My takeaway is - bro, you should come up and say hi back to her.

Anyway, I've been moving a lot of bikes these past few weeks. BSS packed up my Ti Racer X, which went out today. But I've also sold my Vicious Cycles Cross and DeSalvo custom lugged frames recently.




Next up are my Serotta CDA and Titus Motolite.



Hey, here's a pic of my ducks checking out the basil I'm trying to root. The adage about a watched pot never boiling holds for cut herbs also.