So I'm finally back from battling death. Was couch ridden for the past two days. Congested, coughing, puking, sweating. All the fun stuff. My lady helped take care of me yesterday. Slept a lot. Ate very little. Drank lots of liquid. Looking forward to spending time with her tomorrow for the new year. Hope that all of you have a good new years celebration as well.
Peace
December 30, 2004
December 28, 2004
December 20, 2004
December 16, 2004
New Photos
Here are a few new photos that I've had time to scan and tweak:
I dig the way the warm tone makes this look.
A rarely captured 'tweaked Bungle'.
Went up to Okemo with the lady today. Amazing day for sure. Epic. Sunshine all day long with little to no wind. Soft snow. Poaching powder under the ropes. Midweek riding. No people. Epic.
I dig the way the warm tone makes this look.
A rarely captured 'tweaked Bungle'.
Went up to Okemo with the lady today. Amazing day for sure. Epic. Sunshine all day long with little to no wind. Soft snow. Poaching powder under the ropes. Midweek riding. No people. Epic.
December 13, 2004
New Adventures!
Been busy lately....lots of stuff to cover so let's get down to it!
Went to an artsy fartsy art show @ UConn on Sat night with G-Rock and her boyfriend B-Money. Got to see some DJ's and some shitty hardcore bands. Shot some photos of stuff. I did see one great band though. For as young as they were they rocked! They call themselves White Mountain and rock instrumental stuff. A trio composed of 2 guitarists, and a drummer. Kinda had elements of Hot Water Music and Fugazi with a lot of originality. Crazy time changes and really, really good tempo shifts along with a great sense of dynamics too. In short, they rocked the fuckin hizouse!!! And they were so damn young too! If you ever get the chance to check these dudes out, please do. You won't be disappointed!
Enter Sunday. My first day out snowboarding this season. Decided to go with a couple of bros from work. Joe, Pat and Clark were in for the day as well. I was threatened by Joe and Pat that they would show up at my apartment @ 3AM totally hammered and cause a ruckus. I didn't really take it seriously but was kinda afraid. I went to the friendly neighborhood supermarket and purchased 30 eggos, eggs, and juice to tame a couple of druken snowboarders half hoping they weren't really serious. The other half really wanted to see what would happen.
....the clock ticks to 1AM.....
My cel phone rings and I groggily answer. "Thank you for calling, this is Matt speaking", comes from the other end. I pause for a second recognizing Joe's voice. But sounding strangely sober. "Dude, which one are you in? I've been knocking on your neighbor's windows but I can't find your apartment!" I bolt up to the door and let them in as they laugh hysterically at the circumstances. After loudly discussing why they weren't drunk and sorting out the sleeping arrangements, everyone falls asleep. I get up at 3:30AM and start making everyone breakfast. I decide that @ 4AM they've slept long enough. Disco lights and screaming is an awesome way to wake up. After eggos, facon, and eggs, Joe proclaims that I've won Den Mother of the year award, we split to the local 7-11 for coffee, scare the cashier, and meet up with Clark. Props to Pat for driving and putting up with all of us acting like 6 year-olds singing the whole way.
We get up to Slo-kemo, unload, and unleash. Riding highlights include the guest services guy saying to me 'You have work with those guys everyday?', all of us acting 7 for the entire day, me falling off the chair while unloading for the first run, Clark stabbing Joe's board and foot EVERY time he got off a lift, Pat and I getting yelled at for 'jumping' (ollies) in 'no-jumping zones' by ski patrol, Clarking taking me out from behind, lunchtime baffoonary, me holding onto Pat for dear life while unloading to keep from getting dropped again, burying my nose at least 5x, Clark and Pat doing their 'antler approach', me clearing a 3-4 foot mud gap to icy face plant right under the lift and bleeding from the nose and lip last run. All in all it was a great day. We drove home listening to some old-school hip-hop that I hadn't heard in ages. Stopped in Amherst [sp?] at Newbury Comics to do a bit of rummaging. If you don't have Nighthawks At The Diner by Tom Waits I highly suggest that you pick it up. Got some burritos @ the Cha's in Northhampton. I think that's the last time that I dine there. It used to be super cool but every since they sold out the quality and atmosphere has gone down. Jacked their prices up again (I think). Then headed home. Good times. Can't wait to ride with my lady on Thursday. Hoping to commute to work tomorrow even though I need to get up early.
Stumbled upon a great website this morning. Check it: gobybicycle.com. That's it! Should have some new photos up in the next couple of days as soon as I get some of the negatives scanned and prep'd. Let me know what you're all up to. Peace!
Went to an artsy fartsy art show @ UConn on Sat night with G-Rock and her boyfriend B-Money. Got to see some DJ's and some shitty hardcore bands. Shot some photos of stuff. I did see one great band though. For as young as they were they rocked! They call themselves White Mountain and rock instrumental stuff. A trio composed of 2 guitarists, and a drummer. Kinda had elements of Hot Water Music and Fugazi with a lot of originality. Crazy time changes and really, really good tempo shifts along with a great sense of dynamics too. In short, they rocked the fuckin hizouse!!! And they were so damn young too! If you ever get the chance to check these dudes out, please do. You won't be disappointed!
Enter Sunday. My first day out snowboarding this season. Decided to go with a couple of bros from work. Joe, Pat and Clark were in for the day as well. I was threatened by Joe and Pat that they would show up at my apartment @ 3AM totally hammered and cause a ruckus. I didn't really take it seriously but was kinda afraid. I went to the friendly neighborhood supermarket and purchased 30 eggos, eggs, and juice to tame a couple of druken snowboarders half hoping they weren't really serious. The other half really wanted to see what would happen.
....the clock ticks to 1AM.....
My cel phone rings and I groggily answer. "Thank you for calling, this is Matt speaking", comes from the other end. I pause for a second recognizing Joe's voice. But sounding strangely sober. "Dude, which one are you in? I've been knocking on your neighbor's windows but I can't find your apartment!" I bolt up to the door and let them in as they laugh hysterically at the circumstances. After loudly discussing why they weren't drunk and sorting out the sleeping arrangements, everyone falls asleep. I get up at 3:30AM and start making everyone breakfast. I decide that @ 4AM they've slept long enough. Disco lights and screaming is an awesome way to wake up. After eggos, facon, and eggs, Joe proclaims that I've won Den Mother of the year award, we split to the local 7-11 for coffee, scare the cashier, and meet up with Clark. Props to Pat for driving and putting up with all of us acting like 6 year-olds singing the whole way.
We get up to Slo-kemo, unload, and unleash. Riding highlights include the guest services guy saying to me 'You have work with those guys everyday?', all of us acting 7 for the entire day, me falling off the chair while unloading for the first run, Clark stabbing Joe's board and foot EVERY time he got off a lift, Pat and I getting yelled at for 'jumping' (ollies) in 'no-jumping zones' by ski patrol, Clarking taking me out from behind, lunchtime baffoonary, me holding onto Pat for dear life while unloading to keep from getting dropped again, burying my nose at least 5x, Clark and Pat doing their 'antler approach', me clearing a 3-4 foot mud gap to icy face plant right under the lift and bleeding from the nose and lip last run. All in all it was a great day. We drove home listening to some old-school hip-hop that I hadn't heard in ages. Stopped in Amherst [sp?] at Newbury Comics to do a bit of rummaging. If you don't have Nighthawks At The Diner by Tom Waits I highly suggest that you pick it up. Got some burritos @ the Cha's in Northhampton. I think that's the last time that I dine there. It used to be super cool but every since they sold out the quality and atmosphere has gone down. Jacked their prices up again (I think). Then headed home. Good times. Can't wait to ride with my lady on Thursday. Hoping to commute to work tomorrow even though I need to get up early.
Stumbled upon a great website this morning. Check it: gobybicycle.com. That's it! Should have some new photos up in the next couple of days as soon as I get some of the negatives scanned and prep'd. Let me know what you're all up to. Peace!
December 10, 2004
Humor....
Read a great joke:
Juan comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He's got two large bags over his shoulders. The guard stops him and says, "What's in the bags?" "Sand," answered Juan. The guard says, "We'll just see about that - get off the bike!" The guard takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Juan overnight and has the sand analysed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags. The guard releases Juan, puts the sand into new bags, hefts them onto the man's shoulders, and lets him cross the border.
The next day, the same thing happens. The guard asks, "What have you got?" "Sand," says Juan. The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan crosses the border on his bicycle.
This sequence of events is repeated every day for a year. Finally, Juan doesn't show up one day and the guard runs into him in a Cantina in Mexico.
"Hey, Buddy," says the guard, "I know you are smuggling something. It's driving me crazy. It's all I think about... I can't sleep. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?" Juan sips his beer and says, "Bicycles."
Discovered how cool puddle water sounds when it's running through fenders....keep riding!
Juan comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He's got two large bags over his shoulders. The guard stops him and says, "What's in the bags?" "Sand," answered Juan. The guard says, "We'll just see about that - get off the bike!" The guard takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Juan overnight and has the sand analysed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags. The guard releases Juan, puts the sand into new bags, hefts them onto the man's shoulders, and lets him cross the border.
The next day, the same thing happens. The guard asks, "What have you got?" "Sand," says Juan. The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan crosses the border on his bicycle.
This sequence of events is repeated every day for a year. Finally, Juan doesn't show up one day and the guard runs into him in a Cantina in Mexico.
"Hey, Buddy," says the guard, "I know you are smuggling something. It's driving me crazy. It's all I think about... I can't sleep. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?" Juan sips his beer and says, "Bicycles."
Discovered how cool puddle water sounds when it's running through fenders....keep riding!
December 09, 2004
WTF!!!!!!!!!
Dave sent me this:
Dimebag Darrell's murder last night.
This is no joke. I'm not fucking around. Check this out too: another news article
Play some fuckin Pantera today. We love you Dime!
Dimebag Darrell's murder last night.
This is no joke. I'm not fucking around. Check this out too: another news article
Play some fuckin Pantera today. We love you Dime!
December 06, 2004
Behold! I Am The Human Icicle!!!
It started with yesterday's forecast. Just like that. Nothing complicated. Snow. I got super excited at the thought of riding through, and with all of the gently falling snowflakes on the way home from work. So I strapped my non-working fenders to my bag and pedaled into work in a chilly haze. I never thought that I'd be stopped in traffic while commuting by bicycle. But I was. There was a huge flatbed trailer delivering steel girders to a job site. It wound up blocking both lanes of traffic while they tried to maneuver the beast to its drop off destination. There was no way that I was going to sneak past this truck and risk getting squashed. So I waited patiently....and waited.....waited. I observed an irrate motorist almost mow down several of the construction workers who were handling traffic just because where ever he had to be was way more important than the safety of others around him. Nice. They unsuccessfully backed the trailer into the construction area twice, and I saw my opening as they schlepped around trying to position everything for the third go. I sprinted up to the sidewalk, passed the trailer, and headed into work.
Now the forecast called for snow. Approx two inches. Then it was supposed to change over to freezing rain and sleet around midnight. 'SUPPOSED'. It wound up doing this earlier, of course. So I got the rear fender to work with a bit of zip-tie ingenuity and got the front to work with some creative thinking and a dremel tool. Everyone who found out that I was riding said the same thing 'You're riding your bike?! Home? In that! [the bad weather]' Haasenstuffins had the best response. 'Lolli, you're a madman.' My lady almost begged me to catch a ride home with someone. At that point I reconsidered for a second.
So I start my ride home. It's not too bad to begin with. It's only a seven mile ride one way. Pretty short. But there are a few good sized hills on the way. They were the things that I was most concerned about. I was only running slicks. I found only one place online that carries 27" tires with knobs and haven't had a chance to order yet. I went easy and took my time to keep from washing out all over the place. Found it eaiser to stay waaay inside the shoulder where there were no tire tracks. I found that any tracks that had been made wound up freezing after a period of time and were difficult to navigate. The only other thing that made the ride difficult was that the rain kept freezing on my glasses making things difficult to see. I pocketed them eventually and sight was returned. I found myself riding on sidewalks at certain points so I could relax and not have to worry about cars passing too close to me. And that brings me to my last point.
Autos. They suck in general but suck even more when there's any kind of precipitation. People freak the fuck out and do stupid shit anytime there's water on the ground in any state. I have a theory that as precipitation increases, people's IQ decreases proportionally. I have no idea why there were so many cars out tonight. I never see that many around on any other Monday night commute. Especially taking the poor weather into account. I was worried that people were going to do dumb stuff to put me in danger and that kept me from completely relaxing. But I made it home alright. Stayed dry, warm, etc. I'm just not sure that I would want to commute in the same situation again. The slick tires made it a definite exercise in bike handling. I feel like I'm a bit of a better rider than I was before, because I know how to ride around in the stuff now but knobbies would have been preferable. The amount of cars that were out bothered me as well. If there were less, it would have been a much better experience.
What I've learned: Slush is actually better to ride through, waterproof socks and NikWax'ing my shoes the night before make a HUGE difference, weathermen lie (I'll be using my magic eight ball to forecast my weather needs for the future). The highlight of the commute?....finally acknowledging my body's requests for hydration, going to take a swig from my bottle only to find that the spout had frozen in the cold.
Now the forecast called for snow. Approx two inches. Then it was supposed to change over to freezing rain and sleet around midnight. 'SUPPOSED'. It wound up doing this earlier, of course. So I got the rear fender to work with a bit of zip-tie ingenuity and got the front to work with some creative thinking and a dremel tool. Everyone who found out that I was riding said the same thing 'You're riding your bike?! Home? In that! [the bad weather]' Haasenstuffins had the best response. 'Lolli, you're a madman.' My lady almost begged me to catch a ride home with someone. At that point I reconsidered for a second.
So I start my ride home. It's not too bad to begin with. It's only a seven mile ride one way. Pretty short. But there are a few good sized hills on the way. They were the things that I was most concerned about. I was only running slicks. I found only one place online that carries 27" tires with knobs and haven't had a chance to order yet. I went easy and took my time to keep from washing out all over the place. Found it eaiser to stay waaay inside the shoulder where there were no tire tracks. I found that any tracks that had been made wound up freezing after a period of time and were difficult to navigate. The only other thing that made the ride difficult was that the rain kept freezing on my glasses making things difficult to see. I pocketed them eventually and sight was returned. I found myself riding on sidewalks at certain points so I could relax and not have to worry about cars passing too close to me. And that brings me to my last point.
Autos. They suck in general but suck even more when there's any kind of precipitation. People freak the fuck out and do stupid shit anytime there's water on the ground in any state. I have a theory that as precipitation increases, people's IQ decreases proportionally. I have no idea why there were so many cars out tonight. I never see that many around on any other Monday night commute. Especially taking the poor weather into account. I was worried that people were going to do dumb stuff to put me in danger and that kept me from completely relaxing. But I made it home alright. Stayed dry, warm, etc. I'm just not sure that I would want to commute in the same situation again. The slick tires made it a definite exercise in bike handling. I feel like I'm a bit of a better rider than I was before, because I know how to ride around in the stuff now but knobbies would have been preferable. The amount of cars that were out bothered me as well. If there were less, it would have been a much better experience.
What I've learned: Slush is actually better to ride through, waterproof socks and NikWax'ing my shoes the night before make a HUGE difference, weathermen lie (I'll be using my magic eight ball to forecast my weather needs for the future). The highlight of the commute?....finally acknowledging my body's requests for hydration, going to take a swig from my bottle only to find that the spout had frozen in the cold.
Creativity Time
So I'm thinking of repainting my fixed.....The 'Mega-Miyata'....the '27-Inches of Fury'....I'm thinking of sticking with the black and red theme that I've kinda got goin' on.....or maybe all flat-black? What do you think?....Looking forward to commuting home in some softly falling snow tomorrow night.
Ahhhhhh.
Ahhhhhh.
December 04, 2004
Hessians Galore
I love people watching. People are weird and do the craziest shit when they aren't making a conscious [sp?] effort to pay attention to what's going on around them. Went to the Shadow's Fall show this past Friday and the hessians were out in FORCE! Concerts (particularly metal and punk) are interesting because there is a section of the population that you only see at shows. So I wound up taking in much heavy music, long hair, and more than a few mullets during the evening's festivities. Ran into a friend that I hadn't seen since he moved out of my buddy's house about a year ago. Hung out with Metal Steve and my old roommate Eric. I forgot what a good time I have hanging with those two and quickly realized that I don't do it nearly enough. It seems like the only times I see them are at shows that come through here and there a couple of times a year.
So the show....yeah. It rocked! I missed The Haunted so I was a bit pissed. It's my own damn fault for not leaving my house early enough. Damage Plan was pretty good. I never had a chance to see Pantera when they were together so seeing Vinne Paul and Dimebag was cool. Dime is a RIDICULOUS guitar player. SOOOO many good chops. I'm amazed that his liver has lasted as long as it has the way those guys party. I had never heard Shadow's Fall so seeing them for the first time was pretty damn cool. The singer has these unbelievably long dreads. Like, to his knees. Insane. If he whipped em' around any faster I swear that he would have taken off the stage and been able to float around the place. Amazing stage presence! Super technical metal riffs traded between the two guitarists. I was pretty impressed.
My one complaint was the audience. So damn lame. When the singer has to tell you to start a pit or has to ask you multiple times to move around, or even threatens to leave the stage, you know that audience is just super lame. Too many young kids that don't know what goes on at shows or how to show their love.
I heard a great show story from Eric about one of our old roommates. They went to see Madball back in the day and the dude ends up in the pit for a part of the show. Someone elbows him in the face and breaks his glasses into pieces. So for the rest of the show, he watches from the bar while using one lens as a monocle [sp?]. Turns out his funds were so low that he couldn't get his glasses fixed right away so he had to wait for two weeks til he could afford the repairs. Wound up using the monocle during classes and when he took notes. If you ever talk to Eric, have him tell you the story. Between him acting out the physical parts, and the way he gets into it, it's damn funny. I was laughing so hard that I was tearing at the bar.
Headed to my ladies' after the show and relaxed for a bit while watching the tube.
Woke up today and think that I bruised my heel while I was leaning on the bar from the show the previous night. Not sure how that happened. Picked up some water-proof socks for commuting and built up a bike for a customer @ work. Hopefully we'll start seeing some snow soon or it looks like the snowboard season might suck. Hope everyone's weekends are going well. Peace!
So the show....yeah. It rocked! I missed The Haunted so I was a bit pissed. It's my own damn fault for not leaving my house early enough. Damage Plan was pretty good. I never had a chance to see Pantera when they were together so seeing Vinne Paul and Dimebag was cool. Dime is a RIDICULOUS guitar player. SOOOO many good chops. I'm amazed that his liver has lasted as long as it has the way those guys party. I had never heard Shadow's Fall so seeing them for the first time was pretty damn cool. The singer has these unbelievably long dreads. Like, to his knees. Insane. If he whipped em' around any faster I swear that he would have taken off the stage and been able to float around the place. Amazing stage presence! Super technical metal riffs traded between the two guitarists. I was pretty impressed.
My one complaint was the audience. So damn lame. When the singer has to tell you to start a pit or has to ask you multiple times to move around, or even threatens to leave the stage, you know that audience is just super lame. Too many young kids that don't know what goes on at shows or how to show their love.
I heard a great show story from Eric about one of our old roommates. They went to see Madball back in the day and the dude ends up in the pit for a part of the show. Someone elbows him in the face and breaks his glasses into pieces. So for the rest of the show, he watches from the bar while using one lens as a monocle [sp?]. Turns out his funds were so low that he couldn't get his glasses fixed right away so he had to wait for two weeks til he could afford the repairs. Wound up using the monocle during classes and when he took notes. If you ever talk to Eric, have him tell you the story. Between him acting out the physical parts, and the way he gets into it, it's damn funny. I was laughing so hard that I was tearing at the bar.
Headed to my ladies' after the show and relaxed for a bit while watching the tube.
Woke up today and think that I bruised my heel while I was leaning on the bar from the show the previous night. Not sure how that happened. Picked up some water-proof socks for commuting and built up a bike for a customer @ work. Hopefully we'll start seeing some snow soon or it looks like the snowboard season might suck. Hope everyone's weekends are going well. Peace!
December 02, 2004
December 01, 2004
Ancient Mysticism?
I love it when my friends speak in tongues:
'blue skies and pumpkin pies. sorry about the pictures but they only lie any way, hey play on brother sing on drummer. bummer or no bummer bout half way to summer half in a house and an ancient dividend, quid pro sports and Egyptian ports, don't forget to turn off the solar shift, I want to get off this ride and fly.
-Elijah'
'blue skies and pumpkin pies. sorry about the pictures but they only lie any way, hey play on brother sing on drummer. bummer or no bummer bout half way to summer half in a house and an ancient dividend, quid pro sports and Egyptian ports, don't forget to turn off the solar shift, I want to get off this ride and fly.
-Elijah'
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