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.