More Fenders

With some anticipation of a thaw before April, and in the continuing evolution of the minor threat bike, there are now shiny new SKS fenders above the city tires.

A Couple of Weekend Things

Came across an article of "America's Most Bizarre Restaurants". What piqued my interest was mention of a childhood favorite, the Casa Bonita in Denver, Colorado. Here's a link

Also came across an ad in a weekend edition news paper flyer. I'm fairly certain this is quite funny.

And finally my own "Fail". Or rather that of the auto correct feature on my smart phone.

This apparently happens quite often. But before you think it's a great idea for a website and this may be your ticket to internet riches, someone has already beat you to it: http://wwww.http://damnyouautocorrect.com/

15 Stories In 6 Days

Certainly the design process took a bit longer on this project than on others. But with the savings in time, material and labor for construction it is hard to imagine it wasn't well worth the upfront cost.

Not Politics

Someone Told Me To Take A Hike

Drive a few hours in the right direction from the flatland that is Northern Indiana and find canyons? Apparently. We took a trip to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois for a day hike. And while there were no waterfalls, the sights were impressive. The trail system is easy close to the lodge that is located inside the park. It gets a little more rugged the further away you venture, but isn't anything too challenging. I'll update more later. See the show below.

Delaying Yard Work

Quick slide show of the South Bend Reggae Fest and the August Critical Mass in Chicago.

Fox Is Either Stupid Or Evil

Fox's twenty-four hour pretend news programing station funds terrorism. How outlandish! It's absurd! It's...quite funny and true.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Parent Company Trap
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Long Time

Where has the time gone? The summer slips by fast.

Thursday has become the unofficial Biking for Beers night. I set out for a 7 mile ride into Goshen via the Pumpkin Vine Trail and end up at Constant Spring. As luck would have it, I've found a hipster who enjoys doing the same. Just don't tell her I called her a hipster. Below shows us stopped along the trail, around midnight, with the glow of happiness that comes from night biking. (Truth be told- there's a bit of beer and sweat coming through. We did just leave a bar with microbrews and it is a typical humid summer in Indiana)



There have only been two incidents with the Biking for Beers night. One involved a 30 minute ride lasting 2 hours. The other involved me picking asphalt out of a toe abrasion. The latter incident confirms what we already suspected: I'd be a great surgeon.

More bike related plaque- A friend invited me up to Michigan for some mountain biking at a place called Fort Custer . I have read about this place but this was my first go at it. Being of moderate ability proved no match for the trail system. I was beat up one side and down the other. But it was also the best dayum trail system I have ever been on.



Now I'd like to present you with the funniest Craigslist ad ever: 2001 Ford Taurus Check it soon, it will not be listed for long.

Hot enough for ya? Some Chillwave in the form of Onra "The One"

I'm out.

I Write Like...

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Bike the Drive

A couple of nice days in the city- one day biking to and from watering holes and a few favorite spots, the other spent riding the Bike the Drive event which closes Lake Shore Drive to all motorized traffic. I was the only brave soul (or moronic individual) out of about 20,000 riding in the 30 mile BTD event with a fixed gear. Below images are from along the way. None of which are my sore parts, so it's safe for work.

Something New

Trying out this audio script. Let's see how goes....

Little alt/bluegrass/indie itch? You might have a Deer Tick: Easy

How's 'bout some Million Young outta Florida for a summery and loungey house track: Cynthia (Letting Up Despite Great Faults Rmx)

Noise! Noise! Noise! Yeah, that's some Deep Shit: Hector

Local News

75% oppose? Holy cow. Shooting in the streets by Wednesday? Maybe.


From a local report of the Health Care debate:

Sunday Congressional candidate Jackie Walorski held a viewing party for Michiana republicans. Walorski says the current health care bill is the wrong choice for Hoosiers.

"This bill is catastrophic for Indiana's economy it's catastrophic for the nation. I believe that's why 75% of people don't want it. We're probably looking at 20 years to repel this bill it'll never happen in one session when you have a president who will never support it," said Congressional Candidate Jackie Walorski.

Walorski is running against incumbent Congressman Joe Donnelly.

"If this does pass there's a good chance there might be shooting in the streets on Wednesday. The overreaching nature of this bill are going to drive a lot of people over their tipping points," said Republican Myer Blatt. (From the scene of viewing party for Michiana republicans)



Source: WSJV Fox 28 03/21/2010 http://www.fox28.com/global/story.asp?s=12179689

Stylo

Been diggin on this for a while now.

Heya Bruce, that's some Die Hard ish, there.

Gorillaz - Stylo from mario ucci on Vimeo.

Moon (and other things) Over (and under, in, around, etc.) Miami

Seeing as the trip to Miami ended a couple of week ago, one might think I would have written about it sooner. Alas, much can happen in short time. Currently there is a kitchen being remodeled. So yeah, there's that little bit of distraction. Anyway, Miami...

Critical Mass, say I. Since these bike rides take place in many major cities throughout the world, it should be no surprise Miami holds one in their fair city. What a great way to take it all in- from Little Havana to Coral Gables and several points in between, we rode for about sixteen miles under an almost full moon.



Along the ride I made two new friends (Dave and Gerry) who were kind enough to allow my Midwestern ignorance of the surrounding area fall by the wayside and indulge my questions about where in the heck we were from time to time.

It rains everyday in Miami.



Dammit. It was like this the majority of the time.

On a previous visit, JP and I hit this place called Elbo Room in Ft. Lauderdale. It's a small bar with a pulse. There was only one day that it actually rained for a long time and this was the day. Then, a couple hours before sunset, the rain stopped and made everyone gay.



On our last day we set out for Key West. The scene is worth a visit if you like walking around town with a beer in your hand. I do. Don't forget to catch a sunset off the pier side. It gives everyone a reason to cheer and hoist a Mojito, if you like that kind of thing. I do.

Something, Something, Huh?

Go compare car rentals online. Use Travelocity or Expedia or any of the company's websites, it makes no difference. A friendly warning- you will quickly become stupid and fail to realize the goo between your ears was once your brain.

The variations between insurance and contractual formatting are bad enough but they also have to throw in costs listed as "...less than $24.99/day" with no real basis for determining how much a "less than" cost will be. With little exception, it appears they really don't want you to know what the cost will be upfront. So, you know what I did, right? Yup, a spreadsheet! It took well over two hours, eliminated or minimized variation and accurately compares the car rental costs of five major car rental companies. And that's how I spent my Friday night.

The following day JP "Jammin" Preston sent me a link for car rental discount codes. The rental rates are reduced by varying degrees and those variations differ from rental company to rental company. He is not yet aware of the beating that will commence if there is even a hint this new data should be included on the spreadsheet. To quote Charles Napier- "You're going to look pretty funny trying to eat corn on the cob with no fuckin' teeth!"

The weekend was not all about spreadsheets, variables and data though. I learned there was an earthquake around Chicago that no one really cared much about and I was able to find this undisturbed area when hiking off the groomed trail at a state park.



This also came to me- Terminator 2, as remixed by Pogo. The idea here, if I understand correctly, which often is not the case, was to take only sounds from the movie and manipulate them into a song.



Bet making that was more fun than the spreadsheet.

Time for Review

You might say my free time is not well spent. You might be right. But enough with that, let's get to it.


Make yer own here.

The Red Cross didn't go over this technique. But I'm a results kind of guy. And you can't argue with these results.


Admittedly, I may have been sleeping on this one since the song was released last year. Nevertheless, this is tight.


In keeping with the music theme: Received this this from Matt. Indulge the elctro/dance supastar DJ in yourself. Just remember I like to go on tour as much as the next guy. So if ya make it big, well, ya know...

Sometime within the last couple of weeks I was looking for spatial dimensions of people in some kind of a public space for a room I was designing. I came across this image which has been sitting in a book for years waiting to be rediscovered. I'd like to buy the person who got away with it a beer.


While working on the same project I came across the circular logic of some well intentioned notes for construction of a bar.


Can someone tell winter to get a move on? I want to go riding, dammit!

Keep It Down

Hey look--->Biz

Gnew Year

I survived a weekend of festivities, yeah. Met some fun new people, had a great time with some old friends. Suffice to say, the new year has been kicked off in a positive way. Also, suffice to say, things will probably go downhill from here on out. But, hey, here's to hoping they don't- Cheers!


Wring out the wind-screen, Jack.