Yet another dubious milestone ...
As of today, I have ridden my bicycle 2,522.03 miles! (with 2500 being the dubious milestone)

Stats:
  Today's ride == 38.27 miles (my second longest) with the unique portions shown on this map
  Daily average == 18.41 and still climbing
  Amount of rain that fell on me and my bicycle on Friday == 0.23 inches (but it felt like a lot more)

Graphy goodness:
 
- posted by Richard @ 5:00 PM 2 comments

 
YAPOAS
 

 

 
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YAPOAS
 
- posted by Richard @ 6:30 PM 0 comments

 
Three views of the ...
same rock I found alongside Wyman Creek Road.

 

 


 
- posted by Richard @ 1:00 PM 1 comments

 
Parking Anarchy #62
Unmarked KGO-TV aka channel 7 van #5:

- posted by Richard @ 11:00 AM 0 comments

 
Road Trip 2009 - Day 6
Breakfast at Shellie & Jeff's apartment in Beatty
Lunch at Socorro's Burger Hut‎ in Mina, NV
Dinner by Sally in Alta aka Moody Ridge

A small sample of the relatively small number of pictures I took are posted HERE.

The final version of the route we took - totaling just over a thousand miles - can be seen HERE.
- posted by Richard @ 7:00 PM 0 comments

 
Road Trip 2009 - Day 5
Breakfast at Shellie & Jeff's apartment in Beatty
Lunch was peanut butter & jelly sandwiches in a shady spot just below Leadfield (on Titus Canyon Road)
Dinner at the first annual hoe down at KC's Outpost Saloon and Sandwich Shop in Beatty

We took about 4-1/2 hours to travel the 26 miles of Titus Canyon Road.

I took 235 pictures, a small sample is posted HERE.
- posted by Richard @ 4:00 PM 0 comments

 
Road Trip 2009 - Day 4
Breakfast at Shellie & Jeff's apartment in Beatty
Lunch at Rita's Cafe (inside the Stagecoach Hotel & Casino) in Beatty
Dinner at Rita's Cafe (inside the Stagecoach Hotel & Casino) in Beatty

Pictures posted HERE

0 miles driven, ~2.5 miles walking to and climbing Mt Richard with an elevation gain of ~600 feet. Shellie took pictures and blogged about me HERE
- posted by Richard @ 9:00 PM 0 comments

 
Road Trip 2009 - Day 3
Breakfast at the Best Western Creekside Inn
Lunch at the Toll Road Restaurant in Stovepipe Wells
Dinner at the Ensenada Grill in Beatty

Pictures posted HERE
- posted by Richard @ 9:00 PM 0 comments

 
Road Trip 2009 - Day 2
Breakfast at the Best Western Creekside Inn
Cheapest gas in town at the Vons in Bishop
Lunch on the go (sandwiches from Vons)
Dinner at ... Denny's in Bishop

Pictures posted HERE

Reached ~10,800 feet.
Route changed from original plans. Took a loooooooong detour on Wyman Creek Road taking 3-1/2 hours to travel ~16 miles.
- posted by Richard @ 7:00 PM 0 comments

 
Road Trip 2009 - Day 1
We left Alta this morning around 9am.
Had a late breakfast at the Wild Flower Cafe in Incline Village.
Stopped for coffee at the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining.
Checked in to the Best Western Creekside Inn in Bishop
Had a wonderful dinner at Whiskey Creek in Bishop

A small sample of the numerous pictures I took today can be seen HERE - now with COWS!!!

We are roughly following this path HERE
- posted by Richard @ 8:00 PM 2 comments

 
Pictures from the 2009 ...
Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII (PIQF).

All pictures taken by Chris.

I only uploaded the pictures that I liked.

They can be seen on my web album HERE.

A sample (ending my purple fixation):

- posted by Richard @ 8:00 PM 2 comments

 
Mostly flowers, except for the ...
Pelicans!

All pictures were taken moments before the rain started falling on Monday evening.

They can be seen on my web album HERE.


A sample (continuing my purple fixation):

- posted by Richard @ 6:00 PM 0 comments

 
Less then optimal enjoyment was had at the ...
unexpected Quilt show we stumbled upon on the grounds of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum.

Greg's favorite:
 

Chris's favorite:
 


I had no favorite!
- posted by Richard @ 5:00 PM 1 comments

 
Seventeen pictures from the hitherto unknown to Greg ...
Santa Cruz Arboretum can be seen on my web album HERE.

A sample:

- posted by Richard @ 1:00 PM 1 comments

 
Two games of ...
Scrabble.

Game one:
1st = Richard
2nd = Greg
3rd = Chris



Game two:
1st = Greg (by a landslide)
2nd = Chris
3rd = Richard

Favorite words = croakier and soapier
Leftover letters = etinis

 
- posted by Richard @ 10:00 PM 0 comments

 
We are going with Greg to see ...
American Idiot (the musical) again tomorrow/Saturday at 2pm.

All thanks to Greg's gregishness in 'losing' his ticket and to Chris's excellence in finding tickets at the last minute to a sold out show!

We will be in the Orchestra section, row "H", seats 113, 114 & 115.

Roda Theatre seating chart.

Woohoo!
- posted by Richard @ 12:00 PM 1 comments

 
YAPOAS
 

 

 
- posted by Richard @ 7:00 PM 0 comments

 
Reverse-vandalism, ...
ala American Idiot (the musical).

Read (and see) all about it here: A photo essay with anti-graffiti from outside 924 Gilman Street.
- posted by Richard @ 7:45 PM 0 comments

 
Random wowness found while ...
surfin' the Internet:

The combined cover art from a few thousand science fiction magazines.

Wow!
- posted by Richard @ 12:00 PM 0 comments

 
September recap: Bicycle graphy goodness and ...
more random stats for the month of September via bicycle.

Total miles so far = 2203.81
Work days commuted via bicycle = 15
Miles this month = 388.24 (probably a new record)
Average miles per day, this month = 24.27 (a new record)
Overall average miles per day = 17.77 (a never ending new record that I really need to stop obsessing over)
Number of attempted muggings/bicycle jacking/stealing my panniers filled with dirty clothes while bicycling thru West Oakland = 1 (a new record)


 
- posted by Richard @ 8:45 PM 0 comments

 
Idiot ...
American aka "American Idiot - the musical" has been extended thru November 15th at the Berkeley Rep in ... (no surprise) Berkeley.

I already got tix for myself and Chris - fourth row center.

Yes - it was that good that we want to see it again.

Maybe we'll go to Shen Hua for dinner before the show?
- posted by Richard @ 3:30 PM 0 comments

 
I went for a crazily inefficient ...
ride on my bicycle this morning.

Click HERE to see the route. Total miles == 28.21
- posted by Richard @ 8:00 PM 1 comments

 
YAPotM
Taken at ~10:15pm on a hot and smoggy night.

 

 

Taken without a tripod or other mechanical convenience (other than a plastic chair).
- posted by Richard @ 10:15 PM 0 comments

 
YAPOAS - special edition just for ...
Chris!

As in Chris who is always telling me that the street light isn't that noticable.

Yuck!
 
- posted by Richard @ 7:00 PM 0 comments

 
Four wild things spotted in ...
Woodland.

Birdies:
 

Birdy:
 

Tomatoes:
 

Insanity Claus:
 
- posted by Richard @ 7:30 PM 1 comments

 
YAPotM
Taken without a tripod or other mechanical convenience.

 

 



*YAPOTM == Yet Another Picture of the Moon
- posted by Richard @ 7:45 PM 1 comments

 
YAPOAS ...
MEHH.

And ... I got another flat tire on my bicycle today during a short test ride - the walk (of shame) back home was only three miles or so.


 
- posted by Richard @ 7:00 PM 1 comments

 
I did some long overdue ...
bicycle maintenance today.

I now have new tires, new tubes and new brake pads:
  Jagwire Switchback V-brake pad insert
  Pedro's Chainj - chain lube
  Avenir regular Schrader valve tube (700 x 35-45)
  Park Tool CG-2 Chain Gang chain cleaning system
  Michelin Pilot City bicycle tire w/Protek Max reflective sidewalls (700 x 40)

Everything is installed and working - I just need to adjust the yaw angle ("toe in") of one brake pad.
- posted by Richard @ 8:00 PM 0 comments

 
YAPOAS
Hurrah for fog!

 
- posted by Richard @ 7:00 PM 0 comments

 
American Idiot!
Chris and I got a chance to go and see the stage adaptation of American Idiot. It's a "rock opera" -- meaning that all the songs together tell a story -- hence the whole stage-adaption choice, which would be a weird thing to do to a normal album. And as some of the actors said in the "discussion" after the show, it was really strange to try to picture an album as angsty, offensive, and punk-y as American Idiot being made into a MUSICAL. When I think of musicals, I think of Pirates of Penzance and My Fair Lady, and although I adore both punk music and musicals, I didn't really see much of a chance for the two spheres to overlap successfully. But I was very pleasantly surprised!

It was in the Berkeley Rep theater, which I'd never been to before. The set was just epic! A steel stairway, a la fire escape, wound up the back-right corner of the stage to relatively extreme heights. Half of a car and a shopping cart hung suspended over the left-hand side of the stage. And the walls were completely PLASTERED with advertisements, posters, graffiti, you name it... and set into them were 40 or 50 plasma-screen televisions of various shapes and sizes. For most of the show, the stage floor was covered with discarded bits of newspaper, and furnished with a bed and a couch.

The representation of the music was very faithful -- much more so than I expected -- and the music was blaring loud. The singing was usually great, although I felt a little iffy toward the main character Johnny's rendition of American Idiot. I was so impressed by how IN SHAPE all the actors were, because everyone was constantly swirling, stomping, jumping and gesturing... and two of them even had to dance around up in the air, suspended by wires ... I was so impressed by the way everything swept along. The story had been expanded beyond what was technically implied by the album's original lyrics -- there were a few extra characters, with complete plot arcs of their own, but it was done gracefully and their interpretation definitely didn't seem invalid. Saint Jimmy was creepy! Whatshername was fierce!

After the show had ended and some of the audience chose to stay behind for a discussion with the actors, I spotted my niece Janet and her boyfriend Eli in the crowd! It was so strange, and very coincidental, as Janet said, for us to have been there on the same night! We got to talk to them for a while -- it was very fun to see them!

What an awesome day!


ps - I sure hope no one plagiarizes from this blog post. I'm glad that I'll have my timestamp on the post (somewhere below) as verification of my original writings.
- posted by Richard @ 12:16 AM 5 comments

 
My late summer ...
reading (in no particular order):



For the graphically challenged:
The Informant
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)
Patient Zero
The Unit
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Galileo's Daughter
I Am Legend
- posted by Richard @ 4:00 PM 4 comments

 
Nothing special, just some ...
clouds. Sadly, about as stormy looking as we ever get here.

 

 


And, Chris and I saw the movie "9" today. We thought it was OKish verging on good. Better than "District 9" and way better than "Inglourious Basterds".
- posted by Richard @ 3:30 PM 0 comments

 
More random stats after another ...
week of commuting via bicycle.

Total miles so far = 2003.07
Work days commuted via bicycle = 4
Miles this week (workdays) = 91.23
Average miles per day, this week = 22.8075
Overall average miles per day = 17.27
Number of flat tires found just as I was getting to leave work in the afternoon/evening = 2 (a record for me)
- posted by Richard @ 7:45 PM 1 comments

 
Scores from card games of long ago ...
without any need for the ellipsiseseses.

Awful (aka Progressive) Rummy with Rich, Chris, Greg and Janet. Greg wins!
 


Hearts with Tor, Chris, Janet and Greg. Tor wins!
 


Hearts with Tor, Chris, Janet and Greg. Tor wins again! I don't remember the back story of how Janet "cheated" but whatever cheating she did failed as she finished with the highest score and in last place.
 
- posted by Richard @ 1:00 PM 1 comments

 
More random stats after a ...
week of commuting via bicycle.

Total miles so far = 1911.84
Work days commuted via bicycle = 5 (a record for me)
Miles this week (workdays) = 125.04 (a record for me)
Average miles per day, this week = 25.008 (a record for me)
Overall average miles per day = 17.07

Woohoo for me!
- posted by Richard @ 5:00 PM 2 comments

 
YAPOAS
 

 

 
- posted by Richard @ 8:00 PM 2 comments