The Heavyside Lair II

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:35:53 GMT

Long time no update. Things have been just a wee bit busy here.

Going back a bit, the Halloween party at the dalles was a big success. I am not sure we will want to put that much effort into next years, at least not with the work concentrated as much as it was this year. We added a few things this year, but we wanted them to be a surprise so we didn't spread out the work as much as we could have. All in all it was a fun time however. Pictures are posted at geekslair.com/dalles09. I like to think there's no indication of success like popularity and dalles 2010 sold out two weeks after dalles 2009

Directly after that we prepped both for my works Halloween (Banfield takes Halloween very seriously) and our own Halloween house party and our nieces birthday party (all the next weekend). Whew. The weekend , while busy also was quite a success. The kids at work loved the pirate cave we built. Our house party was quite a success. We met new folks, played some rock band, got our drink on.

THEN the next weekend I headed to Vegas to work. Long long smokey days. I was happy when our convention was over and my wife flew out for the next weekend. We walked the strip and saw two cirque shows. "O" was astounding. Best show I have ever seen.

So I am back and do I take a break? Nope, we had the season two kick off for our bloood bowl league. Returning coaches from season one played in a special 'all stars' game. Game details at geekslayer.com/bloodbowl.

Whew

Making Uly-ade out of Lemons

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:47:49 GMT

So, sad day. Buell is done. Harley-Davidson has been hemorrhaging money and got rid of everything that isn't core business. Buell is not core business and closed down Thursday. Sad Day. However, there is an upside. Crazy deals and rebates on Buells in stock. Harley wants to get them off the floor ASAP.

When the Ulysses first came out, that was the bike I wanted. I was in love. Then I tried to sit on one and could just tippy-toe it. Then they made one that was shorter. Then they made one where the electrics were more reliable, then they made a touring model. Each year I'm waiting for the price on a used one to get into a range I could deal with, and each year _this_ years model is the one I want, so I have to wait until _it_ is used. That's fine, I am patient. Then this happens, and suddenly _this_ years model drops into a price rrange I can afford. Oh happy day.

So today, My darling wife and I headed to the Buell store, and bought MY NEW BIKE:

http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/2009/XB12XT/colors.asp

(the blue one).

Wheeeeee!

dragoncon pictures

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:03:55 GMT

Funny costumes

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:39:58 GMT

There have been a number that made me chuckle. My favorite thus far is spidermans spawn wearing big white gloves and Mickey mouse pants

B5

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:41:55 GMT

Claudia chistian is a cut up on a panel.
Bruce boxlightener is very vocal and outspoken. Not terrible concerened with being politically correct. He said the sort of things I did not expect to hear on a panel.
The surprise for me was Tracy scoggins she was smart, very diplomatic and a fan. She talked about how surreal it was to film her first scene with Walter koneig and the self control it took her to not pester himwith geeky Trekkie questions. She gained herself a fan today. :)

Stil moar

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:17:56 GMT

Steampunk r2d2

Gareth Lloyd and James Marsters give good panel. Gareth flirted, James sang and we got totally spoiled for the latest torchwood. Oh well, t'was worth it. :)

every time I've costumed well enough for people to stop us for pictures I feel like we have succeeded. Ego surfing dragoncon pictures will be a lot tougher than norwescon however.

Off for a bite, then try to see abbney park in concert.

Moar

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:08:50 GMT

Well just hangng out in the lobby there have already been at least a half dozen slave Lea s, a full size wookie, three stormtroopers, alien and predator several droids . . . Really just more than I can take in let alone photograph. I really appreciated the vault dweller with his fully functional pipboy.NMh darling wife is up in the room, overwhelmed. I figured I would at least try to get some pictures of the lobby.

Dragoncon

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:44:34 GMT

we are hanging out in our crazy hotel at dragoncon, going through the schedule. I am officially overwhelmed. I need about three of me to do everthing I want to do. Today is just checking in, finding our way around and getting registered. Good thing too. I am starting to feel like just going through the schedule is going to take all day. Back to my trusty highlighter. Grandma sweet would be proud.

Welcome to Serenshire

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:53:40 GMT

What have I been up to? Well, several things, like last weekend including two different groups of very cool people visiting from out of state. However, I’ve also been running a blood bowl league. For the uninitiated it’s like playing football, as a wargame, using fantasy races, who are allowed to kill each other. The easiest bit of it that I usually use to explain the flavour of the game is to say that there is a mechanic to determine if the Troll throwing the goblin with the ball into the end zone decides to eat him instead of throwing him.

I thought y’all might get a kick out of reading the game summaries I’ve been writing up. They’re posted to http://www.geekslayer.com/bloodbowl. My team is the Serenshire Stuffers, an Ent/Hobbit team.

Science is awesome

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:40:47 GMT

Richard Dawkins, quoting the Senior Editor of New Scientist magazine:

“Our philosophy at the New Scientist is this; science is interesting, and if you don’t agree, you can fuck off.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxff0k_TEzI&feature=related

David Hough is awesome

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:50:13 GMT

David Hough will be inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame this December at the Hard Rock in Vegas.

I can't think of someone more deserving.

quick updates

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:33:57 GMT

We sold the Sentra, and fast. After posting it on craigslist, there were 12 replies within a few hours, with varying degrees of seriousness. We responded to the only one that replied using complete sentences and punctuation. She picked up the car the next day, paid cash and the Sentra drove out of our lives.

My bike continues to be absent from my life. It's in the shop with a broken bolt, excess engine vibration continues to be an issue. These days, every time I'm driving and I see a motorcyclist riding in this beautiful weather I get a stab of resentment. I hope to get it back soon, by optimistic estimates it'll be back by this weekend. At least I have a spiffy new car to get used to in the mean time.

I shot a bunch of pictures two weekends ago, then spent this weekend sorting through them for the ones I liked. This one is by far my favorite. It's actually a crop from a much bigger picture. I took it from the 16 percent view I had been using up to a 100 percent view, which is basically what you see here. I then cropped everything else out.

I had the easiest Team Oregon class ever this last weekend. Due to a bunch of drop outs, we ended up with a grand total of seven students. The weather was nice, overcast, but not wet. The students were all great. One needed attention due to being brand new, one just plain needed attention. Everybody comfortably passed the test. It was as easy as these weekends get.

1995 Nissan Sentra, well loved, $500

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:12:25 GMT

Crossposted this to Craigslist :)

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/1213969061.html

----

Where by "well loved" we mean "beat up but still runs". We are the original owners. It has gotten all the recommended dealer services done at Beaverton Nissan. It passed the DEQ last month and the plates are good for two more years.

The odometer says 120080 miles. For a 15 year old car that’d be great, if it were true. However, the odometer stopped working 5 years ago. We figure the car knew its days were numbered when we got the motorcycles.

The engine runs fine; it has a minor coolant leak that we’ve not been able to track down. We just carry coolant with us, now you can too! We’ll throw in a gallon. We’ll also throw in a set of tire chains. They got some good use last winter. They’re the heavy-duty, easy-install-and-remove style. If we have another snowpocalypse you’ll be prepared.

The radio works, the tape deck does not. If you need the tape deck to work, I suspect you’ve got bigger problems than I am qualified to help with.

It is missing the passenger side mirror. My wife saw fit to remove it by means of our garage door to make room for mounting a targeting laser. Sadly we never got around to mounting the laser, but the car is extra fuel-efficient as it is missing that superfluous mirror.

It has never been in a collision while we were in it. However, there’s an old dent in the rear quarter panel courtesy of some jerk in a parking lot. Hence the inspiration for the targeting laser.

It comes with some bitchin’ purple fairy car seat covers. Nothing says badass like fairies.

The windshield is cracked. I can’t think of something funny to say about that, cracked windshields just suck.

There is a decorative “airbag” light. It blinks constantly. You can use it as a metronome if you like or just put some electric tape over it. I suppose if you are feeling saucy you could just get the airbag serviced instead.

It has a keyless entry system. That is to say, back when the car was worth something, someone tried to break in to the car, and now the passenger side door lock is loose. We’ll teach you the special trick you can use to open the door without a key. You’ll never lock your keys in the car again!

All that said it’s a running car for 500 bucks. What more do you want for 500 bucks?

Zen and the A.R.T. of motorcycle riding

Thu, 14 May 2009 20:52:19 GMT

The classroom portion was a little redundant for me. Most of it was covered either in the BRT classroom portion (which I teach) or at Team Oregon instructor meetings. I kept my mouth shut and concentrated on the instructors teaching style; trying to learn the teaching techniques instead of the content. I did find it interesting to see what content was considered critical, and what was dropped from the BRT classroom.

The weather was supposed to be rain, so we were sent out on the track next, instead of going to lunch. In the opening braking exercise I learned that I was using too much rear brake, and was given a technique to try to counter that. However, by the time the issue was diagnosed and a remedy presented, we were moving on to the next exercise. Something for me to keep in mind and practice on my own.

Then we started the first set of cornering exercises. The exercises were concentrating not just on correct cornering, but also on effectively linking one corner into the next. They were nice to us and labeled the correct apex for each turn with flags and cones. Like most riders I was turning to the apex to early but instead of just backing off and making a mid-turn adjustment I just dove further when I realized I was still a couple feet short of the correct apex. The lead instructor commented at lunch that I was diving into corners (0 30 40 50 40 20 0) instead of doing a nice linear lean (0 10, 20, 30, 40, 30, 20 10 0). I was also 'painting the corners', sweeping back and forth on the tarmac like many others. Early apexes were throwing me wide of the next turn.

Then we took lunch and enjoyed the unexpected sun. Contrary to the forecast, the sun continued through the afternoon. There is nothing much nicer than lying down on a grassy median at the track on a nice day.

In the afternoon we practiced swerving a bit and I was surprised to learn I wasn't as good as I thought I was. Sure I can swerve around the BRT course, and I can avoid potholes on the way to work, but as soon as I needed to move back and forth more than three feet things felt weird. One of the instructors pointed out that I was locking my arm. It seems that I am not leaning far enough over my tank to effectively swerve. I guess it is time for me to get some bar risers.

Then we re-did the cornering exercises, however, they reversed directions on the track and took away our apex guides. I was happy to discover I had learned that skill. Doing two consecutive turns finally felt like a single maneuver instead of two. The first time I pulled a good line and the person in front of me didn't I understood what the instructor was talking about when he said we were "painting back and forth". The rider in front of me was weaving left then right across my field of view, while we were negotiating the same set of turns.

I was pleased to get some praise from the instructor on my evaluation ride, acknowledging that I had indeed learned how to effectively link turns. Although he pointed out I wasn't turning my head enough (gah!). So there's still skills to work on, but it was a fabulous day and a ton of new information for me to fiddle with.

National Film Board of Canada

Thu, 14 May 2009 17:41:28 GMT

The National Film Board of Canada has brought some really great stuff to the world, and I'm really excited to see they've emerged int othe digital age. Do not click the link unless you have an hour or so to spend :)

biker weekend

Mon, 11 May 2009 01:08:06 GMT

It is a bike-themed weekend. Spent the weekend teaching, one of the better classes I've had. Everyone understood counter-steering (by the end of the swerve maneuver) and the slow speed corner went really well. They were really a good group. I suspect a few people didn't pass*, but that was mostly nerves. The skills that were required were learned, they just weren't solid enough to survive the stress of a test. Which is fine, if a test stresses a student out enough to forget fundamentals, they're not street-ready.

We also gifted some cycle gear to a new rider, sauciwench, earning ourselves some good biker karma. We're glad it could find a good home, and get her on her way easier.

Tomorrow cee_gee and I will be taking the ART class. Although it looks like we're going to be a little damp, I'm still excited. I've taken an abbreviated version of the course (a Team Oregon instructor perk) and am very excited to see what it is like in it's entirety. It's a morning of classroom instruction and an afternoon on this track.

Finally there was a biker on the wet-leather mailing list also taking the class, and we'll be hosting him for the evening. He's got a bit of a ride in and didn't want to do several hours of riding on either end of this class.

* I was the secondary instructor, and never got to look at the tallied scoresheet. Didn't care to either, that's not the point (for me).

TYSADTWD

Fri, 01 May 2009 17:02:59 GMT

We recently had "Take your sons and Daughters to work Day" here at work. I was engaged to take both candid shots throughout the day and to do portraits of any of the kids who their parents brought to our little "studio". Most of the kids were pretty good in front of the camera, although a good portion of that was posing with the dogs. The kids would give this big genuine smiles because they got to pose with their choice of the dogs that happened to be at work that day.

Hrm, I might need a photography icon.

Back in Black

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:40:16 GMT

It is really nice to be back on the bike. It is a little disconcerting too. As the bike had more and more obviously needed a trip to the shop, I had been babying it. I just got it back and it certainly doesn't need that anymore. I am reacquainting myself with 80 or so ft.lbs of torque.

I am also really glad our ART class is coming up to help me better understand how to effectively use that power. Watching the head of Team Oregon ride as part of the research I’m doing on the weekends has reinforced my need to learn more about riding. He makes it look so easy, so smooth.

When we were watching a rather exceptional subject practice the RSP course last weekend we were talking about people starting riding and learning to ride. He commented that riding was addictive. I made a minor correction and commented that riding well is addictive. He accepted that correction.

google ad weirdness

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:31:53 GMT

We're having a gmail discussion about gaming, trying to get as far into the session as we can, before we actually sit at the table. I just took a look at the context-sensitive ads on the side of my gmail page:

Spirit Entity Removal
100% Effective and Remote.Discreet. Internationally renowned expert.
www.spiritentityremoval.com

Voodoo by Papa Jorge
Specializing in love problems. Reuniting lovers. 1-800-958-6636
www.papajorgevoodoo.com

Free Magic Spells
Whatever you need, my powerful spells can help. All free.
www.sara-freder.com/

Venus Love Spells
Ancient rituals. Magic spells with Rapid results. Love, money, power!
www.venuslovespells.com

Extra Power Magic Spells
Guaranteed Faster Working Spells plus Free Psychic Reading today.
www.Wizards-Magic-Spells.com

Victoriana Theatre

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:30:16 GMT

cee_gee and julrosec and I are planning on visiting the theat-ah on May 2nd. We're going to see a local collective do their interpretation of "Alice in Wonderland". I am expecting a very loose interpretation, but some fun. We're also planning on wearing our victorian finest. Anyone else game?

Information and tickets are here:

http://www.bossanovaballroom.com/

Wanderlust Presents:

THE WONDERLAND CIRCUS
A mad tea-party spectacle relating the adventures of Alice
www.wanderlustcircus.com

Fridays and Saturdays
April 24th & 25th
May 1st & 2nd

at THE BOSSANOVA BALLROOM and SUPPER CLUB
722 E Burnside
Tickets and Info at www.bossanovaballroom.com

21 and over, please

To the Looking-Glass world it was Alice that said
‘I’ve a sceptre in hand, I’ve a crown on my head;
Let the Looking-Glass creatures, whatever they be,
Come and dine with the Red Queen, the White Queen, and me!’

You Are Cordially Invited To
THE WONDERLAND CIRCUS
A Tea Party and Theatrical Review
In Honor of The New Queen of Wonderland
Depicting Her Legendary Adventures

With a Cast of the Finest
Acrobats, Jugglers, Dancers, and Musicians
Any World Has Ever Known

with live musical score by
THE TRASHCAN JOE ORCHESTRA
Featuring SHOEHORN

And, Representing the Wanderlust Circus:

JESSICA HOAGE as Alice
http://web.mac.com/erunning/A-WOL/jess.html

KAZUM as The Card Army
http://www.kazum.org

The AWOL DANCE COLLECTIVE
http://www.a-woldance.org

LEAPIN' LOUIE LICHTENSTEIN as The White Rabbit
http://www.comedytricks.com

SID SIMPATICO , J'MIAH , & SCARLETT ROSE
of March Fourth Marching Band
http://www.marchfourthmarchingband.com

CHERRY as The Queen of Hearts
www.myspace.com/cherryisonfire

CHARLIE BROWN as The White Knight and The Walrus
http://www.amazama.com/charliebrown/

HENRIK BOTHE as The Red Knight and The Carpenter
http://www.bellinitwins.com

SADIE LaGUERRE as The Red Queen
www.myspace.com/sadielaguerre

TANA THE TATTOOED LADY as The White Queen
www.myspace.com/tanamiller

J LIEBER as The March Hare

TOMMY TWIMBLE as The Doormouse
http://www.tommytwimble.com

MR. CREATURE as The Caterpillar
http://www.myspace.com/nickthecreature

KEPH SHERIN as The Cheshire Cat
http://web.mac.com/erunning/A-WOL/keph.html

and
WILLIAM BATTY as The Mad Hatter
http://www.myspace.com/noahmickens

TICKET PRICES

Pre-sale tickets available online
at www.bossanovaballroom.com
and at all Tiny's Coffee locations

TEA PARTY TICKET: $65 by reservation only
The Tea Party Ticket guarantees a seat at The Mad Hatter's banquet
table, directly in front of the stage;
and comes with an array of fine teas and entrees
plus a complimentary glass of ABSINTHE From Le Tourment Vert

THEATER SEATING: $27 advance, $32 day of show
The Theater Seating Ticket guarantees a seat in the Grand Ballroom,
but does not come with food or beverages

THE PEANUT GALLERY: $15 advance, $20 day of show
A Peanut Gallery tickets allows full access to the balconies and the bar room,
but does not include a seat or food

VIP TABLE: $275 by reservation only
A VIP Table guarantees seating for 4 in one of our showbox balcony
booths, the best view in the house.
The VIP Table also comes with the full Tea Party service -
a series of gourmet entrees
a selection of fine teas
and a glass of absinthe from Le Tourment Vert -
out of range of The Mad Hatter's mayhem

Norwescon 32

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:19:32 GMT

Oh, Norwescon, how I love thee. Lemme count the ways:

The dances. My favorite part of Norwescon. This year, for the first time, I actually took some time and tried to get good pictures of the dancers. It was then I noticed why I like Norwescon dances so much. Everyone is having a really good time. I often have to hunt around to find pictures of people who are really smiling. Not posed, but actually smiling because they are genuinely happy. At the dance everyone seemed genuinely happy. With the lighting it was still hard to get good pictures, but I did manage this one: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/Pages/40.html

Playing dress up is fun. We had a few fun costumes. When people took the time to notice what I was carrying, they appreciated the wonderflonium security guard. Most people didn’t understand our group “Marsh refining company” costume: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/Pages/8.html . And finally, we had a steampunkish costume based on a gaslamp-era Torchwood: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/Pages/29.html . I think year was our year of the subtle costume, we didn’t get a lot of immediate recognition. Still, it was fun. I find it kinda ironic that the costume that took the least amount of effort or planning, the rock Band band, got the most recognition. There was a small but rabid crowd to be played for at the dance, and a special performance at one of the parties. Additionally it was fun to go play rock band, although I was extremely disappointed that I forgot to bring the connector cable for the light and smoke kit. Bad Roadie!

Generally we’re having fun looking into steampunk costuming. There’s just a lot of options and given the relative lack of source material, there’s few constraints on what you can do. Here’s a crowd of them: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/Pages/1.html

There were a number of great costumes, the best of which was a couple doing “Legend”: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/Pages/10.html. However, I’d want to give some sort of medal to the guy who did Wash: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/Pages/5.html

The Parties were a lot of fun. I enjoyed introducing my sister to vodka-infused cinnamon-cherries.

More pictures available at: http://www.geekslair.com/nor09/

I enjoyed the new panelists this year. As much as we enjoyed previous gaming tracks, this year had very new people going in very new directions. It was fun exploring these new places. I also got a fair amount out of the first half of the comics panel.

The endless setlist

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:10:52 GMT

Wow, what a day. The rocking started just after noon and continued well into the night. Those of you who were there know what was up, the rest . . . . well, you seriously missed out. There was drinking, screaming, lights, smoke, costumes, contests (with real prizes!) and RAWK! Web smallified pictures at:

http://www.geekslair.com/endlesssetlist

Symposium Pictures

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:25:45 GMT

As some of you know, I'm often sequestered away in the Portland Marriott, taking pictures for a conventions that Banfield throws three times a year. Most of the time I'm there I'm taking candid pictures. Here's some of the more interesting ones:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/banfieldsymposium/sets/72157613319293058/

. . . and my all time favorites:

got paintball? http://www.flickr.com/photos/banfieldsymposium/3011913298/sizes/o/
My boss, looking angelic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/banfieldsymposium/1473380462/sizes/o/

Let there be Blood . . .

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:30:51 GMT

. . . . BOWL!

http://www.bloodbowl-game.com/

I am so very excited. A game I loved in high-school/collage, turning into what looks to be a very polished video game. The players even look like the old games workshops figurines.

Ink and the Doctor

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:06:17 GMT

Spent the weekend watching Doctor Who and making geeky tee-shirts. It was time well spent. Our silk-screen process has 6, 45 minute mandatory breaks built in (most of them being drying time). That ends up being just about perfect for watching half a season of Doctor Who. Thanks to Jules for doing this with me, and thanks to everyone else who showed up, both for making it more fun, and for being patient while we stopped watching Tennant to actually do some of the tee-shirt making process.

Today I'm going to be spending the whole day doing photo processing on pictures of kids with Santa. It would seem that this has something to do with being part of the education tech team here. I have an odd job sometimes.