I'm a super genius.

Nalgene Camera Mount
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Recently I made this. It's a camera mount made into a nalgene cap.

Pause for this to sink in.

Yes, I know I'm a super genius.

I got the idea to make this when I wanted to build something that would let me attach a camera to my bicycle handlebars. I searched DIY sites, but mostly turned up ideas for DIY camera mounts that did not involve bicycles. One such design that turned up was making a camera mount out of a bottle-cap, like one would find on a two-liter bottle. I thought this seemed mildly clever, but mostly useless. When would one need to use a two-liter as a tripod? This would only be useful, I thought, when one was traveling or hiking and needed a clever tripod. But two-liter bottles aren't prevalent when hiking, at least not in my hiking circles. So thus the nalgene camera mount idea was born. It's very simple to make. Here's what you do.

Materials:

1 1/4 inch x 20 stainless steel bolt, about 1 1/2 inch long
2 1/4 inch stainless steel washers
1 1/4 inch stainless steel locking nut

Drill a quarter inch hole through the nalgene cap. This works perfectly in the small-cap bottles that I prefer. I have not tried this with the wide mouth style cap, but there should presumably be no difficulty with this. Put a washer on each side of the cap and put the screw through the washers and cap. I used a slightly bigger washer on the inside for stability. Then screw down the locking nut on the outside.

Viola!

I'm reasonably confident I would beat Ken Jennings in these Jeopardy! categories.

McSweeney's Internet Tendency: I'm Reasonably Confident I Would Beat Ken Jennings in These Jeopardy! Categories.

Inspired by this McSweeny's list, here's my version.

I'm Reasonably confident I would beat Ken Jennings in these Jeopardy! categories.

Yo-yos and yo-yo tricks

Good Mexican restaurants in Boulder, Colorado

East Coast Hydrography

Rudiments of drumming

Real-time strategy games for the PC

Space Weather

Band names that begin with "Ozo" and end with "matli"

i am in ur dictionaries

i am in ur dictionaries
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Bikin' Fool

I've been riding a bunch on my new road bike, which I adore. I did super flag (flagstaff, all the way to the top, past flagstaff proper) on Thursday, Sunshine on Saturday, and I just got back from riding Sunshine again. Didn't see any deer, which is strange. I thought they'd all be out around dusk. But they weren't. Oh yeah, I also got run over by an SUV on my way to the canyon. It was turning right but didn't have it's turn signal on so I went to pass it in the bike lane when it turned and ran into me. But I am a skilled and agile biker, and didn't even get knocked over.

Stupid SUV. I wish I had my stupid-stick with me. I have a fantasy of carrying around a stupid-stick when I ride my bike so I can smash cars that do stupid things like turn right and run me over without turning their turn signal on.

Stupid Rain...

Team Picture
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

And lightning, and hail.

Our kickball game got canceled last night due to weather. We were winning 6-1 when it finally got bad enough to call. We were actually winning! By a hefty margin! Stupid rain.

The ump had brought an official "World Kickball Association of the World" regulation-sized adult kickball. It was much larger than the normal kickball we've been using. Isaac suggested that we were winning because the large ball suited our style of play, i.e. Slow and Sloppy. Thus a potential new team name was born.

I think I have such a pained look in this photo because, other than the fact that we were getting hailed on, after I handed my camera to the photographer I wiped out in the mud as I ran to go join the picture. I got completely slimed all up and down my "activity pants" and even my underwear had mud on them.

Stupid rain.

Santa Fe, Day 4

Outside the Georgia O'keeffe Museum
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

On day 4 we visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Here's a picture of T just outside the museum in front of a banner advertising the exhibit currently displaying in their rotating gallery. Georgia O'Keeffe lived near Santa Fe during the summers starting in 1929 and later moved there permanently after falling in love with the natural beauty of the place.

We would have been out enjoying the natural beauty of the place as well, if it hadn't started off as another rainy day. Oh well, the museum has some pretty fantastic works, and we enjoyed the short film they were showing about her life.

p.s. Regarding the temporary exhibit. One of the pieces was called "Antelope Skulls" and consisted of bronze casts of the skull you can see in the photo at right, duplicated about ten times and mounted on the wall. According to one of the security guards there, the artist was at the gallery for the opening and somebody asks her what the meaning was of calling the piece antelope skulls when they were clearly deer skulls. Her reply? "What do I know? I'm from New York."

Santa Fe Day 3: Yeah Hot Tub

In the hot tub
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

We were warned ahead of time that despite being a funky artsy community with many nearby places of natural awesomeness, Santa Fe itself is not very bicycle friendly. I was actually surprised to see how true it was. No bike lanes in existence. Dilapidated narrow sidewalks. Huge curb height. When we tooled around Santa Fe on our bikes on Day 3, I was fine on my mountain bike but T was using her 70's vintage peugeot.

We also did some hot tubbin, as evidenced by the picture at right.

Later in the evening we went to a crazy artsy theatrical/dance production called "A Cabaret of Metamorphosis" at this theater space called the Wise Fool. It was super sold-out, but they were letting people pay five bucks for standing room. It had it's moments, but was mostly pretty amateurish. Still, I love traveling to towns and discovering their little underground scene.

Santa Fe, Day 2

Casita Chiquita
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

We unfortunately had some inclement weather on day two. We did manage to meander around "The Plaza", where all the shops and art galleries are. It was but a short walk from our casita.

It was also our first time experience at the much-heralded Trader Joe's. Anyone who's ever lived by a Trader Joe's talks about it in the hushed tones normally reserved for epic, life-altering experiences. We weren't overly impressed. Sure, I might shop at one if it was close to my house, but it's nothing to get all excited about. The basic idea is that it's a grocery discounter akin to a Sam's club, except that everything they carry is all-natural or organic or recycled or locally-sourced. And they're famous for they're "two-buck chuck", a two-dollar bottle of wine that, if rumors are true, is somewhat quaffable.

Goodbye Outdoor Cinema

Summer cinema bidding farewell : County News : Boulder Daily Camera

The Daily Camera is running a news story today that this will be the last year for Boulder's Outdoor Cinema. The gist of the article is that the outdoor cinema is no longer financially self-sustaining, and the guy who's been doing it out of his own goodwill is throwing in the towel. A big thanks for running it as long as he has.

I have a feeling it will be back, but "under new management" so to speak.

Long live the Boulder Outdoor Cinema!