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United States Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger meets Felix Baumgartner

Do yourself a favor and watch this fullscreen:

In strange way I hope it helps people realize how hard we (The United States of America) worked to achieve space flight and how hard it really still is. We made it look easy after a while. I assure it is not easy and maybe will never be easy, at least in my life time. I know at the end of the day this is really just an add for an energy drink, but even so, maybe it will inspire the next Joe Kittinger or Felix Baumgartner.

godspeed Felix Baumgartner

Long time no post!

Well, much has happened since my last post, but I don’t live in the past. Well, sorta. Let’s re-cap the major changes since last may and move on to a more fruitful amount of blogging here.

After that Vegas trip I was told about a possible job opportunity and decided to give it a shot. After a less than stellar interview I wrote it off. Fast forward a month later I was given an offer I couldn’t refuse. So a major job change. Prior to this I moved to a new apartment which is awesome sauce! It’s been just over a year at this apartment and I’m still settling in. I did a bunch of cycling last year only to be thrown for a loop when the fires made the air virtually un-breathable, haven’t done much cycling since, need to get back on that. Other than that I haven’t done nearly enough fishing, but I have done a fair amount of shooting which has been fun. More on that in future blog posts.

The other big thing that kept off my wondertastic blog is fricken Facebook. For a while I posted there regularly, but have come to realize I’d rather post here. I’m sure Facebook has killed more than it’s fair share of personal blogs. Oh well.

On with 2010!!!

Weddings, winnings, and Penn & Teller

A couple weeks ago I visited good old Las Vegas for a wedding. No, not my wedding, but my friend Meg’s cousin’s wedding. Unfortunately for me I also had to try and get some studying in for a calculus exam. Luckily or maybe not so luckily I made plenty of time for fun.

First up on Friday night was some friendly wagering. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was in Columbus, OH and Vegas was taking bets on the 5 main card fights. Having followed the sport since the early days I decided to give my knowledge a test. Keep in mind the last time I did this it didn’t turn out too well. My picks: Jackson, Carwin, Hamill, Maynard, and Brown. $20 per fight for a total bet of $100.

After I placed my bets it was off to the wedding. One thing I love about Vegas weddings is that they are quick! This gets us to the good part fast, the reception. Everything was at the Flamingo and it all turned out great. The reception, more specifically, was at Voga. The food was excellent and a good time was had by all.

Saturday afternoon was spent recovering from Friday night. Meg and I eventually got out and had lunch at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris hotel. The food was great, but the service slow. After lunch was a quick nap before getting ready to see Penn & Teller at the Rio. We had dinner at Búzios Seafood Restaurant in the Rio where I had a fantastic seared Ahi Tuna.

Meg can hardly contain her excitement for Penn & Teller!

The Penn & Teller show was great and I got to see them perform some new tricks which was great since I’m a huge fan. I’ve seen them at least 7 times, but never took the opportunity get my photo taken with them after the show. This night I decided it was time.

Me and Teller.

Me and Penn.

Penn & Teller really are great with their fans. They come out after every show to sign autographs and take photos with anyone and everyone who wants one until all are taken care of. They have been doing this since the first time I saw them way back in the early 90’s and I’m sure before then.

So those bets I made? 5 for 5! Feel free to go back and look at the stubs and look up the results. What did that net me? I think it was $82.10. Not too bad I should have bet big on Carwin. Maybe next time.

Devon and Ben had a good idea, this is rare so I went along …

After Devon killed a can of Aqua Net on his fauxhawk we were finally on our way to meet the rest of the Wanksta crew at a local Sports Chalet. From there it was off to Ralphs for BBQing supplies then back to Sport Chalet for grill fuel which they were out of! Seriously, Sport Chalet, out of propane canisters for grills, it was a disgrace. After all that we were finally on out up to the Mill Creek Summit to watch about 10 minutes of 3 hour stage of the Tour of California.

Here are some of us getting set up at Mill Creek Summit.

The Wanksta crew minus our leader who is behind the lens. From left to right; Molly, Danielle, Craig, Brian (Ruben?), Sloan, and behind the camera Devon. Oh and that table … that the famous CRV table that used to come with Honda CRV’s, it’s FANTASTIC!

While we were waiting Molly got a little rambunctious and decided to stuff her mouth full of grapes. Click here for the video goodness.

This little girl put those MASH guys to shame. No brakes, no gears, no pedals, no cranks, and she bombed that hill. Seriously I’m a fan of getting kids on a Skuut as early as possible, I believe they will build balance faster and will be on a real pedal bike sooner with more ability, but that’s just my opinion.

After a CHP officer yelled at someone who was in the road Molly felt compelled to put it down in chalk. “THIS IS A STILL A ROAD”

Devon getting his wanksta on at Mill Creek Summit.

Up close to the signage. It was rubbed and washed away almost completely before the peloton got there.

Molly, Brian, and Sloan do their best to past the time as we wait and wait and wait. I know that sounds boring, but it was a blast!

CHP Charger, VROOM!

The breakaway! Finally, here they come, these guys broke away from the main peloton and were racing to the summit some 100 meters away for King Of the Mountain points (KOM).

The Mavic neutral support car.

The main peleton was several minutes behind the breakaway with Team Astana controlling the pace and protecting race leader Levi Leipheimer.

… there they go … these guys ride FAST UPHILL!!!! Like 20+ MPH … and this after riding for hours … UPHILL …

Here is Tyler Hamilton straggling behind the peloton, but not quick last.

Here is the last little pack at the very back of the field, these guys are essential running neck and neck for last … oh and there is the “Still Postal 4 Lance” guy running up with them.

And that’s all she wrote … about 15 minutes after the “End of Convoy” CHP SUV passed us we were packed up and ready to head home to watch the rest of the race on Versus.

After some problems I think this working.

I had to upgrade some stuff here and also mess around with some other junk to get the iPhone Wordpress App to work.

Now assuming all is well this should post and below you should see a photo of a failed hard drive. We’ll see.

Update: As you can see above it posts a thumbnail of the photo that is clickable to see a larger version. Doesn’t look the best, but it works in a pinch. This post update was done via the standard web interface and not on my iPhone.

I know I’m not the first, probably won’t be the last to have a problem with the Mighty Mouse.

Almost exactly 2 years ago my lovely sister bought me an Apple Mighty Mouse for my birthday. It was ha been good to me for almost that long. Unfortunately in the past 6 months it’s been acting up. In the past I would just turn upside down and rub it against the my mouse pad to help clean out the scrolling ball. Now that doesn’t work. The scrolling ball is the only thing on this mouse that ever has problems for me.

A quick Google search later I found a great how-to video on the repair:

It’s not too hard a repair except for the first part which is removing that plastic ring that hold the whole thing together.

Here is photo of my Apple Mighty Mouse after I took it apart. Not show in the photo is the trim ring that I had pry off in the first step.

I didn’t use the home made tool as in the video. I used my finger nail and a Swiss Army knife. My trim ring did not crack and can be reinstalled with glue as in the video. Honestly unless I were to sell it I don’t see the need to reinstall it since the mouse stays together and function without it. This also makes it easier to get back in there and clean it again in the future.

This is the opened housing for my little track ball. As you can see it’s filled with lint which was making it nearly non-functional.

A close up of the dirt and lint removed. Also there are little roller that needed to be cleaned with alcohol.

That’s about it, don’t be afraid to fix your own stuff! (or do be afraid if you are prone to injury)

French maids serving you lunch in a Japanese cos-play themed art gallery meets cafe meets retail store … what could be more fun!

The beautiful faux foliage exterior of Royal/T.

You might be asking yourself what would bring me here besides my love of art and all things Japanese, well it was my sister’s birthday! Technically it was the day after her birthday, but that’s okay. I hadn’t heard of the Royal/T, but luckily my sister shares my obsession for all things Japanese.

One of many good signs, an A from the LA Health Department!

Once in side the first thing we saw was this big blue phallic piece of art. It was made of welded sheet metal and you could sit on it! Nice touch!

Next up on the right was this installed art piece. I didn’t get the details, but you can pick up a free magazine with much of the featured art when *you* go visit the Royal/T. Because you are going to go … aren’t you?

This piece was right next to where we were seated for lunch. It’s a very cool optical illusion of an endless hole. I kinda want to duplicate it, seems like it’d be easy, but what do I know.

This was next to the cafe cashier, but there didn’t seem to be any way to get to it. Very pleasing to the eye none the less.

The birthday lunch party minus yours truly. Do you see our little French maid server?

I got a 3 course lunch set special for $16. Not too shabby! First was the quiche you see on the left. Next was the Wagyu beef burger with a small green salad. You’ll see dessert soon!

Ahhh dessert, a red velvet cupcake with a cup of coffee. Notice the coffee cup along with the cream & sugar vessels; all were Bodum, very nice.

Even the men’s room had a gothic-esqe chandelier along with black acutriments.

This wall had Harajuku girls wallpapered all along on both sides.

The gallery space was rather large and it extended past the cafe are where we found the Porta-Party. Greg couldn’t resist and hopped on in for some private party time.

There was a small room next to where we were eating that had a projector playing this digital tree, it was quite nice, but the projector would occasionally complain that it needed a new bulb.

This is a shot of part of the retail store where they sell all sorts of cool Japanese stuff including art and nick-nacks. They also sell some of the Bodum items they use in the Cafe. I bought a Bodum tea pot, I couldn’t resist!

Another shot of the retail store portion of Royal/T. I liked this Tetris-esque shelf, but I was too afraid to ask about it’s price.

Out stay had to end at some point, but I’ll be back. Definitely a really cool place to shop, stare, buy, and eat! Domo Arigato Royal/T!

… last but not least … HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBORAH!!!!

Thanks Alton Brown!

As a few of you might know I have a secret bromance with Alton Brown the host of Food TV’s Good Eats. There are currently 22 episodes on my DVR and they are mounting. The Steak au Poivre recipe comes from the “Tender is the Loin I” episode and it’s great!

I served mine with mashed potatoes and baby asparagus.

It came out awesome and the sauce was fun to make, nothing like a flaming pan to spice up the kitchen! I highly recommend Good Eats! Next up with be Alton Brown’s mac & cheese!

I live in in the past, so I still have a non HD 4:3 TV, and it works great!

Well it works great after I fixed it. I recently moved to a new apartment and after moving the TV in and hooking everything up all was well. A few days later I had been performing the couch potato dance (more sitting and eating than dancing) when after a an hour or so I heard a low volume high pitched constant buzz. Turned off the TV and it went away, turned it back on and it came back. Drats! Would I have to actually upgrade! Noooooooo!

Troubleshooting was simpler than I thought. I went to the back of the TV and pressed on the cables and found that when I pressed on and off the cables the pressure applied would make the buzz go away. I now knew the culprit was just inside of that panel.

Now a disclaimer, there are a few things inside tube TVs that can KILL YOU. So if you have no idea what you are doing, DON’T EVER OPEN YOUR TV! EVER! OR YOU WILL DIE!

Now that that’s out of the away. I removed a few screws and was starring at the guts of my TV. There were 2 circuit boards soldered to each other and then connected to the main board via a big connector. I removed them as an assembly from the main board and examined. I noticed what looked to me as 2 cold solder joints. I thought there was at least a chance that this was causing the problem and that if it wasn’t it was unlikely that I would further damage the part if touched up these solder joints.

Before touching up the solder joints I tried to see how much it would cost to buy the parts and fix the TV. I found www.partstore.com and they had the parts I needed here. The parts would have cost my around $90 shipped, cheaper that an new fancy schmancy TV.

After soldering and reassembling the TV it was time for a test. NO BUZZ! But, I had to wait a few hours to make sure it was fixed. Well, after a few weeks it’s still BUZZ FREE! It’s fixed. Special thanks to my father for teaching me as child about many things, including fixing just about anything!

PS – To my handful of readers, sorry for no photos, just didn’t think about it.

It’s true! I swear!

Well sorta, busy/lazy/facebook … whatever the cause of things have been for my lameness around my little corner of the blogosphere, feh. Like I often say when things get slow around here … “That’s gonna change soon!” But let’s face facts, it’s not gonna change all that much. I got big things on the horizon, not big for you, or for most people, but for me, if it all works out … for me.

With that said the holidays are upon us! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I’d like say a few thank-outs to all my peeps more commonly known as friends and family who help keep me from taking a long walk off a short pier. Thanks peeps! I’d also like to encourage everyone to smile at a stranger next week, none of us do it enough.

Okay that’s it for now. I tentatively promise to bring you a new post on Friday or Saturday after the Fat Friday ride Team Wankstas is putting together, but don’t hold your breath … with … gasp … photos! ttyl.

David Cross with the Co-Founder of Vice Magazine in China!

Seriously funny stuff.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

FANTASTIC!!!

Actor, racer, and philanthropist

Paul Newman passed today after a battle with cancer. Most know him best as an actor. Not me. While I knew he was an actor it was as race car driver and team owner that I became familiar with his work. Rest in peace Mr. Newman, you shall be missed.

My blog is turning in to an obituary page, hope this is the last I have to post for a while.