December 19, 2011
Things We Have Never Done
Heh, look, a comic. What? Somehow inspired by some dumb Tumblr post I saw somewhere.
October 11, 2011
Give a Damn - National Coming Out Day
(From the Facebook machine):
If any one ever questions why I post so much 'gay stuff,' read the attached link. It is my belief deep down in my heart that NO kid should be thrown or chased out of his or her home because of how s/he was born nor who s/he loves. I am vocally supportive of gay/bi/questioning people of ALL ages, because I want scared, confused, or for god's sake (ahem) HOMELESS people in my life to know that _I_ am not one of the people they should fear. I will NOT bully them. If I loved them before they came out (or were forced out, or even just SUSPECTED) as GLBT, they MUST know I will damned well loved them after. It should go without saying, but sadly it MUST be said.
Read this: Give a Damn - by Cyndi Lauper
And this.
August 08, 2011
Rockerbox 2011
Notes: My full set of photos is here on FLickr. My camera battery died about halfway through my walk around the show. Bummer/bad planning.
My old buddy Art (on my '08 WR250R) and I ('81 XJ750 Seca) departed Zion around 9:00, met up with Brady ('81 Kaw 750), Walter ('49 Indian Scout), and Nick ('7? Honda CB750) in Pleasant Prairie, then met Gabe ('91(?) Yamaha somethingorother) at Woodman's in Kenosha at 10:00. Yes, my WRR was the newest bike by about 17 years. Also, my Seca was the only shaftie. I notice odd things like this. It was quite the collection of bikes.
It was quite an honor to ride with a bike that's nearly as old as my dad (and has fewer aftermarket parts!).
After some brief BSing, we headed back east to the lake then north along Sheridan/The Circle Tour route/WI-32 and stopped for refreshment and photos at Wind Point Lighthouse.
From there, we rode through Grant Park in Cudahy and finally on to Rockerbox. I lead the ride with my Zumo GPS loaded with a portion of CanonShot's (advrider.com) Lake Michigan Circle Tour track.
I think the guys enjoyed the route itself, but I'm a lousy ride leader - I kept trying to ditch them at just about every traffic light. Luckily they never mutinied nor gave me a hard time and we always regrouped without incident. I intended to ride further up the lake and through the ravine by Lake Park, but decided to divert around the airshow traffic - I didn't know there was going to be an airshow!
It was cool to see part of the show from the bridge, though. We rolled in around 12:30 from the east end, and MAN was it mobbed! Given the ages of our rides, the fact that we made it up without any mechanical issues at all made the ride a success in my book.
The parade of odd and wonderful was a good as always. Art and I geeked out hard over a V-Max sidecar rig there.
His first motorcycle, the first I'd ever ridden, was a 1985 Yamaha V-Max. After nearly dropping it in the parking lot at my job, I was hooked and needed a bike of my own. A few weeks later, I bought my Seca from my next-door-neighbor. That was 1995, and that bike is 30 years old now.
Probably my favorite 'thing' there was something I dubbed "The Barnyard Kustom."
It had a steel tractor seat, oil filters for highway pegs, a crowbar suicide shifter, leaf springs, no hint of an air filter, a Miller High Life tray as a chain guard, and never mind the expired tag!
A close runner-up was this oddball: NOS, a bar stool, and a wheelie bar on a shorty kart frame - what could POSSIBLY go wrong?
This stupid bald man forgot his hat and wore a black shirt and, of course, jeans, so the heat chased us away perhaps a little sooner than we would have liked (2:45).
Before we left Milwaukee proper, though, we stopped in at A.J. Bombers for some tasty, if pricy, burgers. On the way out of town, the Thunderbirds were performing, and we tried not to crash due to the incredible distraction they provided. I paid the price for the day with a killer headache and perhaps some mild heat stroke by the time we clicked off 118 miles and pulled back into my driveway around 5:00 p.m. A half-gallon of Gatorade plus who knows how much water wasn't enough on a day like Saturday.
Oh, and since we were in Milwaukee, we each also had to have a brewski!
I only got to meet the 4 new-to-me guys I rode up with (a pleasure) and one MilVinMoto guy (2-Stroke Dan). I also ran into an 'internet friend' there, but otherwise, it was WAY too hot and crowded to worry about tracking people down. Not to complain about it getting 'too big,' but remember when you could see/do stuff like this (Rockerbox 2007)?
To the organizers, great show as always. Thanks for your hard work. I don't have any complaints/suggestions beyond what has already been addressed elsewhere. I'll be back next year if you'll have me. Despite the dehydration/heat issues, I'd happily do it all over again this weekend.
April 15, 2011
Alright for Now
Just about every night, I take my guitar up to Em's room after Mommy tucks her in and a play some songs for her (she requests I do this now). I play a couple different songs, but we just about always wrap up with Tom Petty's "Alight for Now." She knows most of the words and sings along.
Wednesday night, while I was playing "Running To Stand Still" (nothing puts a kid to bed like songs about heroin addiction), she sat up, reached over the neck of the guitar and stopped the strings. I kind of gave her a quizzical look as I kept playing, and she sunk back to her pillow. When I was done with the song, I said, "Don't you want me to play any more?" She said yeah, she wanted me to play. So I asked, "Why did you stop the guitar?" She said, "I was trying to play with you."
Now, when we end the night with Tom, I finger the chords, she does the strumming, and we both sing.
How awesome is that?
[Ed. Now that I think about it, I actually ahve a recording of this exchange. I'll try to remember to post it.]
February 25, 2011
Atlantis STS-132 Launch Audio II
Coincidentally a day after the launch of Discovery, STS-133, I found this recording of Atlantis, STS-132 from the NASA Tweetup I attended in May. Unlike the other audio I posted from my netbook left in the Twent, this is from a Sansa Clip recorder I had on me. I haven't edited the the audio except some dead air towards the beginning. If you want to go right to the money shot, jump to about 7:30 in. Watch your speaker/earphone volume.
Speaking of raw, there's some cussing - that's what happens when adults get jacked up on adrenaline. The banter is almost as good as the launch, in my opinion.
The other guy prominent in the recording is my buddy Richard Hay, WinObs on Twitter.
Enjoy.
