thew stew

Grover is by far the funkiest.

2011-07-20T01:17:00.001-06:00

Sesame Street breaks it down from Wonderful Creative on Vimeo.

Jalapeno infused tequila

2011-05-04T12:17:00.003-06:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make.

I like chili peppers.

I'm not one of these crazy people on a mad quest for ever more insane levels of heat in their spicy pepper dishes, but I enjoy a little burn. But more than just the heat, peppers are such a great sensory experience. They add complex flavors to dishes. They're beautiful to look at. I love the smell when one cuts into a fresh jalapeno. I love the assortment of colors in the pepper section of your local grocer.

I previously posted about trying chili beer at the great American Beer Fest in Denver. I was reluctant to try it, but it turned out that I really enjoyed it. Not an everyday beer, by any means, but so very delicious.

Well, I've had a similar reluctance to try any spicy or chili-infused liquors or cocktails. A bloody mary sounds disgusting to me, but mostly because of the tomato juice. I know Absolut makes a chili pepper flavored vodka called Absolut Peppar, but that also sounds nasty to me. And really, I don't do that much drinking anyway, so when I do drink I prefer my old standby, a Dark and Stormy. Or maybe a caipirinha. Anything from the mint/lime/ginger/rum/etc family.

But the other night I found myself at Poquito's in Seattle. The drink menu had something called a Jala-pina. If my memory serves me, it had jalapeno-infused tequilla, pineapple juice, and a lime squeeze. It was delicious. The jalapeno notes are just a bit spicy, but it's more about the flavors. The spicy notes of jalapeno go so well with the sweet pineapple. Actually, now that I think about it, a good pineapple-jalapeno salsa is one of my favorite things, too. Anyway, I could have downed these Jala-pinas endlessly, but restricted myself to just two.

A few days later I was at a big nerdy gaming event in Everett. The drink menu had something called a "Lord of the Pit", composed of whiskey, bitters, Thai chili-infused simple syrup, grenadine, and soda water. My friend V ordered one and I liked it so much I had to order one of my own.

Now I'm on a chili cocktail kick. I just purchased some fresh jalapenos and some Patron Silver so I can make my own jalapeno-infused tequila. I went with Silver because it has a cleaner, simpler flavor that I'm hoping will allow the jalapeno to shine through. It might be worth trying with a more oaky tequila to see how the flavors interact, but for my first try I wanted something simpler.

I plan to start the infusion tonight. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Endcap of awesome

2011-02-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

Endcap of awesome
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

So I was walking through Barnes and Noble the other day and stumbled on this endcap. Now, I was a bit surprised. I know that both "Calvin and Hobbes" and "The Far Side" are the best comics ever, but they've both been done with their runs for, what, more than a decade? According to wikipedia they both ended their runs in 1995, though at opposite ends of the year. So I was wondering if these titles were featured on an endcap because they're still selling really well, despite ending their runs 15 years ago, or if someone who works there is simply a fan of the good stuff? Either way, it was nice to see them displayed so prominently.

Why Surveying is Important

2011-02-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Oops.

Surveying mistakes are rare, and rarely so visible. Here a mistake of inches caused a ramp-in-progress to be torn down and the contractors to have to start over.

I hope they have one called Vault 13

2010-04-11T09:55:00.001-06:00

A Futuristic Bunker Meant To Survive The Future : NPR

The hardest working man in show business.

2010-03-12T18:28:00.002-07:00

James Brown Did Not Continue His World Tour | TMZ.com

Zombie James Brown would still be the funkiest thing in the world. At least, I'd pay money to go see the undead godfather of soul, and hear classics like "Say it loud, I'm a zombie and I'm proud", "I got your brains (I feel good), and "Get up (I feel like being) a brain-eating machine".

Signs I've been out of Colorado too long.

2010-03-12T17:38:00.001-07:00

Jambiani, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Originally uploaded by neiljs.

The level of Vitamin D in my blood tested really low. Gotta get back to the sweet mountain sunshine and make me some vitamin D. The air is just brighter there, I swear.

That, or go to Zanzibar for a couple weeks and soak up that spice island sunshine.

Good thing I already have a ticket to Zanzibar. Leaving in three days. Holy eff. Three days!!!

Lego Magazine ad from the year 1981.

2010-01-14T12:18:00.001-07:00

Lego Magazine ad from the year 1981.
Originally uploaded by Moose Greebles.

A post on Slate's Double-X blog led me to this. Compare this ad, ostensibly targeted at girls (or their parents), to how lego tries to appeal to girls now: http://belville.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx

Toys are even more gender segregated now than they were 30 years ago.

beardhead

2009-03-15T23:54:00.001-06:00

beardhead
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Check out my new beardhead from beardhead.com. I got "The Pirate", obviously.

Pet AT-AT

2009-03-12T15:55:00.001-06:00

AT-AT (Walkies)
Originally uploaded by NickIsConfused.

A flickr user posted a set of pictures showing his pet AT-AT. Pure genius.

Flickr stats

2009-02-26T17:12:00.001-07:00

Origami animals
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

One of the neat things about Flickr is that you can view all kinds of statistics on your photos. It'll show you which specific photos are getting the most views and what search terms people are using to find your photos.

Well, the one photo I have that is consistently getting the most hits is this one, a shot of some basic origami animals I made along with T and some other friends. It was a neat little origami pack we found at McGuckin's, with several copies of these three designs and instructions on how to fold them. It was a fun diversion for an afternoon, and a decent introduction to Origami.

Strangely enough, the search term people are using to find my photo is "origami animals".

Kinder Surprise - Disturbing 80s advert

2009-01-23T18:14:00.002-07:00

I love these little chocolate eggs with surprisingly clever toys inside. My family was addicted to them for a while, too, when they were available at a local import shop near my parent's house. I'm not sure, but I think I first encountered them while living in Budapest, where we all started calling them Kinder Eggs and the name stuck, instead of their actual name "Kinder Surprise".

But now I'll never look at them the same way again after seeing this creepy commercial.

ennui

2009-01-17T15:42:00.001-07:00

I only recently learned the correct pronunciation of this word. It's one of those words that you run across in writing enough that you can figure out what it means from context, and you kind of come up with your own way to say it in your head, and maybe you heard it spoken before, too, but the spoken pronunciation was so different than the one you made up in your head that you didn't file it under the same word in that vocabulary file in your head. Other words in this category for me would be things like "hegemony" and "basalt". Is it buh-SALT? BAY-salt? Hmm, Merriam Webster says either is valid, but they both sound wrong. And dammit, I still think "incongruous" should be pronounced with the accent on the third syllable, not the second.

What words do you have in your vocabulary but not necessarily with the correct pronunciation?

Obama Yo-yos

2009-01-17T12:56:00.004-07:00

Obama Yo-yos
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

I want one. If anyone can get me one they'd have my eternal gratitude. I bet they're already showing up on ebay...

UPDATE: Nope. No returns on ebay searching for "Obama yo-yo". And searching The Google for those terms is not very helpful, as Yo-Yo Ma is playing at one of Obama's inauguration events. Getting slightly more clever yields this yo-yo,but is sadly out of stock. I want a commemorative yo-yo from the district, anyway. I want a piece of kitsch with a story, not some stupid barely usable yo-yo ordered from the interwebs.

Good news, though. My agent in DC is keeping a sharp lookout for one for me. Said agent once borrowed one of my yo-yos and showed me a trick where the yo-yo ends up in the mint julep I'm holding. It's a good trick for whenever I happen to be holding a mint julep, which is not nearly often enough.

T in Tanzania

2009-01-08T16:12:00.003-07:00

T in Tanzania(Click for full set)

The Perfect Thew Device

2009-01-05T21:47:00.001-07:00

Such was the subject line on a missive that arrived in my inbox today from my long-time friend and illustrious creator of Big Trendy. Contained therein was a link: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/06/iyo-induction-iphone-charger/, with accompanying text "this is my submission for the perfect piece of Thew technology."

Ok. You win. This is almost enough to make me want to buy an apple product. I'm not a big fan of apple. Their closed DRM is worse than all the evils of Sony and Microsoft combined. But being able to charge my iphone with a yo-yo!? That would be the ultimate in geek awesomeness. Now if only someone would invent a yo-yo powered bicycle...

Thanksgiving

2009-01-02T15:51:00.001-07:00

Many, many years ago I visited my cousin Sea_Pea_Tea when he was still a student at Central Michigan University. I remember fondly him taking me on a tour of the greenhouse on campus where he was employed, I believe in an arrangement with the program in which he was studying, but I could be misremembering. I'm not sure if I had ever seen a banana tree before, but I was certainly wowed by the size of the leaves on the banana tree in that greenhouse. I also remember, in the style of two college students who were both into music, sharing a few cd's with each other at his place. One of the bands he introduced to me then was a group called Poi Dog Pondering, and their album "Wishing like a mountain and thinking like the sea". A collection of wistfully upbeat chamber rock songs, the album didn't immediately grab my attention. But through a few repeated listenings, the poetry of one particular song started to speak to me. The track is called "Thanksgiving", and while the words really deserve the music, and vice versa, I'd like to share the lyrics with you here. They exhibit a certain turn of phrase that I came to find quite beautful, and poignant.

Somehow I find myself far out of line
from the ones I had drawn
Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that,
but I'm keeping on.
Would our paths cross if every great loss
had turned out our gain?
Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us
was paid in vain?

There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow
lighting my way
But I will be true to the red, black and blues
that colored those days.

I owe my soul to each fork in the road,
each misleading sign.
'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude
can dissolve my sweetest find

Thanksgiving for every wrong move that made it right

As an aside, I later found out that the father of the lead singer worked as a solar physicist at the solar observatory in Hawaii. Thus the bands name involving Poi, the sometimes Hawaiian themed instrumentation, and a particular song on one album called "Circle round the sun". I found this out because my supervisor at the Naval Research Lab, when I worked there during an internship during college, worked with this particular solar physicist at one point previously. Would our paths cross, indeed.

Ok, Seattle is pretty awesome after all

2008-12-14T21:12:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Science Fiction Museum at Seattle Center. My friends had a birthday party to bring their six-year-old to at the Children's Museum there. So while the six-year-old was having a good time at the party, her father and I tried to get what we could out of the sci-fi museum before it closed in a little over an hour. This is the guy that goes by Centauri on message boards and stuff, so you know he's gonna be into it. The museum is not large, but it does have some pretty cool exhibits. One of my favorite items was the original paper manuscript of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. He writes his novels out by hand on paper using an old-fashioned pen that he dips in ink. Crazy-awesome, but still crazy. And each of the three volumes of the Baroque Cycle are approximately 900 pages, so writing that all out by hand is quite the stack of paper. Neal Stephenson was mentioned in several sections, including his novel Diamond Age in a small section on Nanotechnology. My other favorite piece there was old school Centurion from the original Battlestar Galactica. The museum needed more Firefly stuff, though. As in it needed something, anything, from Firefly.

After visiting the museum and killing some time by climbing a climbing wall at the arcade we picked up the six-year-old and the six-year-old's mom and the six-year-old's sister and walked around amongst the lights and the snow. Yes, snow. The trees were all decorated with christmas lights and there was a carousel and the snow was coming down pretty well. It was magical.

Denver is still cooler than Seattle

2008-12-14T21:02:00.001-07:00

About a year ago I went to a charity fund raiser for Child's Play called Funde Razor, but with rocknroll umlauts and stuff. I have a blog post about it and everything. It was awesome. Well, on wednesday I went to the Seattle version of basically the same thing, only here it's called Pinkapalooza. Maybe it was because when I went to the one in Denver I had with me such good comrades, but I have to say that Denver knows how to party better than Seattle does. The crowd in Denver was amazing. Lots of people all very enthusiastic about every band that went up. Huge line of people waiting to go on stage. The one here in Seattle was mellow by comparison. Not a big crowd. Mostly not interested. The people that got together to form bands were in general pretty awesome, though. Lots of them dressed up in themes or had various bits of rocknroll attire on. And you could tell they had been practicing "their song" for the show. But the energy of the place just wasn't the same. The highlight, for me, was when the boys from Harmonix got up on stage to jam joined by Wil Wheaton. That was awesome.

Current conditions:

2008-10-07T22:05:00.004-06:00

Current conditions:
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

The weather up here in Icy Bay turned into winter. Rain, sleet, snow, and ice. It's not bad here, though, because we're surrounded by mountains, so we're protected from the 30 knot winds blowing offshore. We've been surveying at 3 knots as we nose our way through ice, sometimes making the whole ship shudder as we glance off a growler or bergy bit (official sizes of icebergs). The weather lifted briefly for a bit today so we all went outside to take pictures of the pretty mountains and blue glaciers.

Glacier
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

The least crazy thing that happened to me on the 3rd was getting interviewed for NPR.

2008-07-05T14:59:00.001-06:00

NOAA begins process of updating Kachemak Bay nautical charts | APRN

Shortly after a death-defying deployment of Launch 1018, repairing a snafu'd gangway, and in the midst of fixing a sliced mooring line, a reporter from the local NPR station in Homer showed up to interview me about NOAA Ship FAIRWEATHER's role in the Kachemak bay project, also known as Hydropalooza. It's weird to hear one's own voice on the radio. You never sound how you think you sound. But overall I came off sounding ok, only stumbling over my own words a few times.

I'll write more when I get a chance. I promise.

Beach Party! (And Kayaking)

2008-07-01T00:07:00.001-06:00

Nagai Island Kayaking, AK
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Beach parties are fun. The other night, after many rumors were flying around, the command officially announced a beach party while we were anchored in Larsen Bay. Part of the bay had a nice sandy beach to play on, with dunes and ridges to climb on. The ship's kayaks found their way to the beach somehow, so one of the ensigns and I took them exploring up this inlet around the corner from the beach. It was a magical trip up a waterway I'm sure very few people have been. It started to get pretty shallow and we didn't know what the tide was gonna do, so we cut the trip a little shorter than we liked, having not discovered what was "just around the next bend." And we even made it back to the rest of the party for there to be one Coors Light left. Hey, at least it's colorado beer.

I don't get it.

2008-06-22T21:38:00.001-06:00

If the earth is flat, how come it's still light outside in Kodiak, AK when you're bar-hopping at 1:00 am?

Happy solstice everyone! I celebrated the longest day of the year with some Kodiak Island Brewery brews, some rockband, and some karaoke. Well, sorta on the karaoke. I helped Bonnie belt out some Joyride by Roxette, the song Rhapsody calls the best new wave hit of 1991, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Kodiak is pretty amazing. There's several thousand foot mountains rising right out of the sea. Said mountains are covered with snow and moss, giving a stunning contrast between emerald green and pure white. My colorado eyes aren't used to seeing mountains that are so green. The island here has a Coast Guard air station, with several amenities such as a little movie theater, a bowling alley, a commissary, an exchange, and gym with a pool and rock wall. The town is pretty small and generally non-touristy, with a few local eateries and bars. Like other small Alaskan towns I've been to so far, the locus of shopping appears to be the local Wal-Mart.

I'd love to spend a little more time here. A weekend doesn't do it justice; not with all the opportunities for hiking, biking, exploring, and relaxing. Being summer, the days are crazy long and the temperatures are generally mild. Maybe I oughta get a summer home here...

My girlfriend and I are in almost the longest possible long-distance relationship (Earth relative)

2008-06-20T17:31:00.001-06:00

According to this website it is 13,924 km between Anchorage and Dar es Salaam. The circumference of the earth is 40,000 km, to a first order approximation. This means that the farthest any human being could possibly be from another human being and still remain on the surface of this spheroid we call Earth is about 20,000 km. Since I am currently in Sitka, AK and she is in Tanzania, we rank a 7 out of a possible 10 on the scale of long-distance relationships. Let's make some comparisons, shall we? Let's say you live on the west coast in, say, San Diego and your honey lives on the East Coast in, say, New York City. That seems pretty far, right? Well that's a mere 3922 km, ranking only a 2 on the 10 point scale. I got you beat by 5! Take that!

Or how about if you live in Reykjavic, Iceland and your sweetie lives in Perth, Australia? That seems pretty far, too, right? (It also seems awesome!) Well, you're right! That is pretty far, and pretty awesome! That's a distance of 15,403 km, for a ranking of 7.7 on the 10 point scale, edging out my measly Alaska to Tanzania ranking of 7. So, for all you sleepless in Reykjavic and Perth couples out there; dude, I'm sorry.

This is all to say that my girlfriend is really far away, and that I miss her.

One of my ReallyTopDrawer friends is on tv!

2008-04-14T22:18:00.002-06:00

Swinging!

2008-03-30T22:15:00.002-06:00

Saturday I went to Carkeek Park with my favorite five-year-old. I also just got a fancy new cell phone so was eager to see how well it can capture video. Well, it does it about as well as one would expect out of a cell phone, but this video is still pretty fun.

Overheard at the Radisson Hotel just accross the street from SeaTac airport

2008-02-12T23:24:00.001-07:00

I was leaving the hotel earlier tonight and as I passed through the doors three men were meeting in front of the hotel. This is the snippet of conversation I heard as I walked out to my car:

Dude 1: What kind of strip club takes quarters!!?

Dude 2: No, dude. The bus takes exact change.

Dude 3: !

In other news, one may be inclined to notice that this is the first blog post I've written in a while. This is due to a number of factors. The first is that I've been traveling a bit, and often without consistent internet access. The second is that even when I have had consistent internet access said access was through a satellite connection at my work computer in a very public place on my ship. Bottom line is that it has been inconvenient at best to access the internet in a semi-private blogging fashion for some time now. This has all changed with today's acquisition of my new blogging implement; a Dell inspiron 1520 15.4 " Intel Centrino WinXP notebook computer. Huzzah!
Now, I've never owned a portable/laptop/notebook computer before. I've always been somewhat ambivalent about them. Specifically, why would I want to pay more, for less, simply so I can take my work with me? I don't. But now, due to the aforementioned situation re: internet and computer access, I decided that it made sense for me to own one. And now I do. Enough said about that.

So what's been going on since I posted last? I moved away from Boulder, for one. I am now Field Operations Officer on NOAA Ship FAIRWEATHER, currently at beautiful Federal Center South in lovely Seattle, Washington. All my stuff got packed up by elite government agents and shipped off to Ketchikan, AK, where it eagerly awaits my arrival and subsequent finding of a new home, or home away from home, if you will, as my more permanent home will be NOAA Ship FAIRWEATHER itself, or herself, or whatever. So far my job has been to attend lots of classes, interspersed by make-work admin stuff, occasionally hiatused by actual FAIWEATHER-mission inspired work. The leaving-of-Boulder part was hard, emotionally difficult, and realized by a 2.5-day drive to Seattle, so I could hop on a plane to Ketchikan, so I could get inside-passage experience bringing FAIRWEATHER down to Seattle, so I could attend the Seattle Dining-in (which was a riot), and then hop on a plane to San Diego so that I could attend a 6-day sonar training course. Upon my 3rd arrival back in Seattle in the span if two weeks I attended some more training, then the Field Procedures Workshop, and some more training. This week, I'm taking a Bridge Resource Management class with other FAIRWEATHER officers and some fellow NOAA officers from NOAA Ship OKEANOS EXPLORER.

I write this from the aforementioned Radisson Hotel just across the street from SeaTac airport. Due to some of the repairs being done on the ship as part of our alongside repair package, it has been declared uninhabitable. I suppose you could still live on the ship if you wanted to, but you would not have any running water or working toilets. Just like camping! But minus the fun! I was just starting to get comfortable in my new FOO room when we were kicked out and sent to the hotel, but I must admit I wasn't too fond of the fact that it was a bazillion degrees in my stateroom. I really can't honestly say how hot it was in my room as the thermometer on the thermostat only went up to 95 degrees. I can say that the chocolate bar with crystallized ginger and a love poem inside (thanks, T!) was completely liquefied by the ambient temperature. Not just soft, like from being in your pocket, I'm talking completely liquefied. Also, the water from my brita filter tasted like melted plastic. I've never experienced that before. I think the heat was actually melting the plastic.

So this is comparatively the lap of luxury. I can adjust the temperature in my room! There's running water! The toilets work! I have a sleep number bed! And wireless internet! Hopefully by the time we re-inhabit the ship, they'll have that heat thing figured out. Until then, happy valentine's day, ya'll!

Funde Razor

2007-12-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the awesomest thing ever. It was called Funde Razor, but not just Funde Razor, you have to set it in a heavy metal font and add a heavy metal umlaut over the U in Funde and... Oh, just look at it on their website.

The event was a fund raiser (get it? Funde Razor) for Child's Play, a charity that raises money for sick kids in children's hospitals all across the world. It was held in Denver in a place called The Walnut Room. It has a bar up front and a space with a stage for concerts in the back. Set up on stage was Rock Band, the latest incarnation of music video games featuring vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. So, just to be clear here, you're playing Rock Band, on a stage, with stage lighting and monitor speakers and a sound system and everything, at a bar/music venue, with a cheering audience. I had never played Rock Band before, but I had played its kin, Guitar Hero a couple of times at my friend Isaac's house. That's Isaac in the picture rocking out on the guitar on the right. Even though I had never played before, I took to the stage for three songs as drummer. I figured my actual drumming skills might come in handy. Alas, they did not, as it's not like sitting at a real drum set and laying down a groove. The game tells you to hit very specific drum pads in very specific rhythms, so if you can't sight-read its system on the spot then it's difficult to do exactly what it's telling you to do. But I somewhat successfully hacked my way through the three songs. Not bad for my first time ever playing, in addition to the pressure of playing in front of a live audience in a crowded bar. All the people there were amazing, too. Everyone would get on stage and attempt songs and would support each other, with rounds of cheering whenever someone pulled off a particularly challenging part or made it through a difficult song.

And all the money we raised (mostly the $10 cover to get in) went to help sick kids in hospitals, so double-plus awesome.

Nice Melon!

2007-09-20T10:31:00.001-06:00

Crazy Unidentified melon
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

My old college buddy Colin happened to be passing through town the other day and so I let him and his now-fiance Petra crash at my place. After spending a good week and a half in the Utah wilderness they came through Colorado again on their way back to Chicago. The gave me this melon, acquired in Green River, Utah, as thanks for my hospitality. Green River apparently has a huge melon festival about this time year celebrating the annual melon harvest. This melon, a Casaba Melon, looks awesome. It looks like something that should only exist in Dr. Suess land. I think tonight I shall cut it open and see how it tastes.

Talk like a Pirate

2007-09-19T13:44:00.001-06:00

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day again! This video will give you the essentials you need for this fine day.

Hard Corps

2007-09-10T14:37:00.001-06:00

Hard Corps
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Last week Andrew and I made an attempt on Longs peak. Longs Peak is the only 14'er in Rocky Mountain National Park, and is the peak featured on the Colorado quarter. It is both challenging and accessible. The standard route is about 15 miles round trip and and about 4000 feet of elevation gain. In order to make a serious attempt, one has to get started on the trailhead by about 3 or 4 in the morning. We started just minutes after 4:00 after a good breakfast of bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. We almost made it to the top before some weather moved in and forced us down so we wouldn't die on the class 3 part (slightly dangerous, especially when wet). We did, however, get this photo of us with the NOAA Corps flag at the keyhole.

Moveon.org should be ashamed of itself.

2007-09-10T13:50:00.001-06:00

I'm a liberal through and through. I wear the label with pride. I refuse to treat it as the pejorative term that certain talking heads try to make it out to be. Which is why it makes me so sad when a liberal organization like Moveon.org stoops to such new lows in an attempt to make a lousy argument. To coincide with General Petraeus' testimony today, Moveon.org took out a full page ad in the New York Times with a picture of said general over the text "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?". This personal mudslinging is the worst element of what has become of political dialog in this country. Please, let's discuss ideas and bring back accountability. Let's passionately argue about the direction this country is going. But please let us not make personal attacks against a man doing a difficult job in a poisonous political climate. A man who swore an oath to country and constitution. A man whose uniform should put him squarely outside of any idealogical debate or diatribe.

Moveon.org, you should be ashamed of yourselves. If this is the kind of activity you sponsor then I refuse to be any part of it.

Signs the world is coming to an end.

2007-08-15T18:16:00.001-06:00

As I was heading up into the mountains on my road bike today I saw one of those billboard trucks, the kind whose sole purpose is to drive around and be seen so that the advertisement it is literally trucking around can get some eyeballs on it. This particular billboard truck was carting around an ad for a wallmart that opened up way east of town. Am I the only one who sees the problem here? A truck was driving around Boulder for no other purpose than to advertise a wallmart that opened up that's not even in Boulder. I give up. Seriously.

p.s. Getting pelted with rain while descending a mountain on your bicycle at approximately 40 mph really hurts. Not my favorite thing in the whole world.

Alaska Part III

2007-08-14T10:17:00.000-06:00

I just received official notification of my next assignment:

LTJG Ringel,
I am pleased to inform you that the Director, NOAA Corps, has approved your assignment to the following billet:

Billet #0919, Operations Officer, OMAO, Marine Operations Center - Pacific, NOAA Ship FAIRWEATHER, MOP-FA, Seattle, WA.

You are expected to report to this assignment on January 1, 2008. You may expect to complete this assignment on January 1, 2010, if the needs of the service permit.

Permanent change of station orders will be prepared by CPC. Please complete a travel questionnaire (NOAA Form 56-26) and forward it to CPC through your supervisor no later than 120 days from your planned detachment date. A maximum of 30 days leave en route may be approved provided your current duty station is not adversely affected.

If you choose to decline this assignment and the Officer Assignment
Board is unable to identify a suitable replacement, your name shall be forwarded to the Officer Personnel Board for consideration for retirement or separation in accordance with 33 USC 3041.

LCDR John T. Caskey, NOAA
Chief, Assignment Branch

Promotion

2007-08-13T23:50:00.001-06:00

I found out today that I was officially selected for promotion. This means that as soon as a slot becomes available I'll be promoted and be able to pin on my Lieutenant bars. And we all know what that means! It means another wetting down party. I'm pretty sure I'm the number 2 guy on the lineal list of LTJG's, so my promotion should happen relatively quickly. Details on the party will be forthcoming when I actually do get promoted.

Wait wait...

2007-08-09T22:13:00.001-06:00

Don't tell me.

I just got back from seeing a live taping of Wait Wait. They came to Boulder and taped it at Chatauqua auditorium, and I scored tickets to it the day before the show on Craigslist. If you listen to it this weekend you can hear me cheering in the background. I wasn't doing much clapping because my wrist is sore from falling on my mountain bike yesterday. The panelists were the ever funny and sarcastic Paula Poundstone, he of the comforting voice Tom Bodett, and the lovely Kyrie O'Connor. Peter Sagal looks a lot like David Cross from a distance. And he's every bit as funny in person as he is over the radio. I was impressed by how much the show flows and feels more or less in person like it does when you listen to it on the radio. Going to a live taping of E-town was very different. There it was obvious that they were recording it in pieces and it would be totally repackaged and edited for the air. Here you could almost just record it in one take and air it as such. Almost. There were a few spots where they mispoke and had to start again, or wait until the show as a whole was over to get a clean take, but mostly it went smoothly from beginning to end. You can tell they've all been doing it for a while.

Alaska Ho!

2007-08-07T15:51:00.001-06:00

Well, my upcoming assignment in Alaska has crept one step closer to officialdom. The assignment board is meeting on Friday and is expected to approve my transfer to NOAA Ship FAIRWEATHER. I knew it was coming for a while, but now it all seems so sudden. The plan is still up in the air, but it will likely go something like this:

Late September or Early October: "Familiarization" cruise on Fairweather. This'll be fun as my sole job will be to learn the ship and the people and the systems aboard.

15 October - 9 November: Refresher Training (REFTRA) at King's Point, NY. This is required before a sea tour to renew licenses in things like RADAR and shipboard firefighting.

November - December: ? Might be in Alaska, might still be in Boulder. Vacation time with family and friends.

January - Febraury: Training at Pacific Hydrographic Branch in Seattle, WA. Also, Field Procedures Workshop.

Next two years: Sail around Alaskan waters as a salty sea dog.

It's good to see my 20-year plan is still working out.

Transformers! More than meets the eye!

2007-07-24T13:30:00.001-06:00

So, back on opening day of the new Transformers movie I was looking forward to seeing it with a couple friends after work. I bought tickets online and changed my Googlechat status message to "More than meets the eye!" in anticipation. My friend S.B. saw my status message and came back with

More than eats these pies!

So I replied

More than beats that guy!

And he countered with

Porn defeats the spies!

It went downhill from there.

me: Format 'lites despise!
S.B.: Foreign cheats must die!
me: Mormons greet their wives! (sorry)
S.B.: More phlegm in the fries!
me: Foreman feet belie!

All of which turned out to be way more entertaining than the movie.

Yay! 100%

2007-07-12T23:35:00.001-06:00

Fascinating Rhythm

Score: 100% (16 out of 16)

Patriotism follow-up

2007-06-28T16:18:00.001-06:00

As an aside to my last post I wanted to briefly touch on a related topic. I am a staunch believer in the rights granted to us by the Constitution. Nothing gets me going like a good free speech case such as the one the Supreme Court recently decided. This supreme court decision was a travesty, but I wanted to touch on a different topic; flag-burning.

As I mentioned before, the flag of the United States of America is an important symbol of our country, and even of the Constitution on which it was founded and which grants us rights such as free speech. This is why I feel it would be poetically wrong, a fiasco even, to ever ban flag burning.

See, when a flag is worn and no longer suitable for display, one proper way to dispose of it is to burn it. This is in the federal code dealing with proper display and care of the flag. So any law that forbids flag burning would have to differentiate between the proper, reverent type of flag burning used to dispose of worn flags, and any other type of flag burning, such as that done in protest of U.S. policy or actions.

The differentiating factor here is intent. Therefore, any law that bans flag-burning is outlawing intent, and is therefore a form of thought control.

Patriotism

2007-06-28T15:56:00.001-06:00

This news story made my blood boil. The article is rather short, so you can read it yourself, but the headline punned "U.S. Patriotism is Flagging" while the article leads thusly:

Fewer Americans are showing their colors these days.

A new survey finds 62 percent of Americans display the flag at home, in the office, or on their car. That's down from 75 percent in August 2002, a year after the 9/11 attacks.

It continues with statistics about percentages of republicans and democrats who respond to a survey as saying they are "very patriotic" and concludes with statistics of the percentage of different demographic groups who say they display the flag.

My question; since when has displaying the flag had anything to do with patriotism? Allow me to be disingenuous for a minute. My good friends Merriam and Webster define patriotism as "love for or devotion to one's country." Their definition says nothing of flags.

The flag of the United States of America is, by definition, an important symbol of our nation, and should be treated with respect. The mindless, jingoistic displaying of the flag, such as on an automobile or a lapel pin, only serves to demean the symbol. Likewise the many establishments that fly the flag from their business premises but then fail to properly illuminate it at night.

As I write this I have a copy of The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America in my breast pocket. I get it out every once in a while because it is, especially The Declaration, truly inspiring prose. I swore an oath to protect and defend this country and the constitution when I became a commissioned officer. I have a certificate on my wall from the President of the United States that reads "that reposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism, fidelity and abilities of Matthew R. Ringel I do appoint him, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Ensign...(emphasis added)". I considered it an honor when I was chosen to raise the flag on NOAA Ship THOMAS JEFFERSON during it's commissioning ceremony as an Ensign serving aboard. But I have never, personally, displayed the flag from my house or car, or any other property personally belonging to me.

So, according to this news article, I am unpatriotic.

A Little Tuesday Math Humor.

2007-06-26T14:22:00.001-06:00

Rhymes with Orange - Swearing in Math

Camping at Peaceful Valley

2007-06-19T11:04:00.001-06:00

Campfire after a long day and longer hike
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Last weekend I, along with a few others, went car camping at Peaceful Valley Campground, between Ward and Allenspark. We drove up Friday night and set up camp before dusk. Most of Saturday was spent in a marathon hike up the middle St. Vrain Creek, which was rushing and overflowing with snowmelt. We probably hiked close to 18 miles in a there-and-back. The original plan was to take a truck up a 4WD road to a trailhead to cut some of the miles off, but the road wasn't open, so we hiked the full distance.

It certainly is gorgeous up there. Click here to see the full set of pictures from the trip. Here's my favorite shot. Or maybe this one.

The picture at right was taken with my Nalgene Camera Mount. I set the Nalgene on top of a cooler and had the camera attached to the Nalgene to give me a stable platform with which to shoot such long exposures. This one is six seconds, with a rear fill flash. The trick was to get the flash setting just right so everything was lit well enough so everything was visible, but not overpowering so that it still looked like we were illuminated by the glow of the fire.

Goodbye Mr. Wizard

2007-06-13T13:48:00.001-06:00

Television's 'Mr. Wizard' dies at 89 - CNN.com

Don Herbert, who played Mr. Wizard in "Mr. Wizard's World" died today. I fondly remember watching the show with my sister in the 80's. In one episode, he showed viewers how to make a sort of green slime that seemed solid if struck, but would ooze through your fingers if interacted with in a more gentle fashion. It was simple to make, consisting mostly of corn starch if I remember correctly. My sister and I immediately decided that we shall make some, right then and there. We searched the kitchen for the corn starch and just as we fished it out of the cupboard there was a knock on the door. It turned out be our neighbor, about my sister's age, who had come over to borrow some corn starch so that she could make this cool slime stuff she had just seen on "Mr. Wizard's World."

Sesame Street - The National Association of W Lovers

2007-06-13T13:14:00.001-06:00

This song was on a mix tape that an old friend made for me many, many years ago. It just popped up in an Onion AV club best of list. Oh, the memories.

And I disagree. This should be the best one, not the runner up.

Look what I made!

2007-06-07T17:41:00.001-06:00

http://www.thepartybasket.co.uk/flipbook/flip.yoyoer.html

Did Pirates Really Say "Arrrr"?

2007-06-06T17:15:00.001-06:00

Did pirates really say "arrrr"? - By Christopher Bonanos - Slate Magazine

Turns out no. My favorite line of the article: "On the myth-confirming side, pirates were known to dress in loose clothing, guzzle rum and smash the empty bottles, and chase busty wenches through Caribbean ports."

Ahh, the life of a pirate.

Happy National Yo-Yo Day!

2007-06-06T09:04:00.001-06:00

Today, June 6th, is National Yo-Yo day, chosen to coincide with Donald Duncan Sr.'s Birthday. So everyone get out yer yo-yo and help me celebrate National Yo-Yo Day!

Roomba Philosophy, or what I learned from someone else's Roomba

2007-06-05T16:19:00.001-06:00

This is how my friend S. described his new Roomba:

i know there is a method to the madness, but it really looks like it is thinking: ok, just, like... GO. and then, like, if you hit something, like... go in SOME OTHER DIRECTION.
and then, when you run out of battery power, go home.

It then occurred to me that this is a pretty good philosophy to live one's life by.

I'm a super genius.

2007-05-24T15:07:00.001-06:00

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.

2007-05-23T16:15:00.001-06:00

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

2007-05-18T17:21:00.001-06:00

i am in ur dictionaries
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Bikin' Fool

2007-05-16T19:51:00.001-06:00

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...

2007-05-15T16:30:00.001-06:00

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

2007-05-14T15:12:00.001-06:00

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

2007-05-12T12:05:00.001-06:00

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

2007-05-11T14:31:00.001-06:00

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

2007-05-03T15:18:00.001-06:00

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!

Santa Fe Vacation, Day 1

2007-04-22T16:23:00.001-06:00

Ice build-up on all the leading edges

Recently T and I took a little vacation to Santa Fe. We couldn't decide which bikes to bring so we brought all of them, hoping to get a good road ride in together with our road bikes and the other two bikes for cruising around town and maybe a mountain bike ride when we got sick of each other. I went out and got two more bike carriers for my rooftop rack so we could bring the four bikes.

The drive down featured rain, freezing rain, sleet, and more rain. As we made our way out of Colorado the ice was building up so thick on the bikes that anytime we slowed down it sounded like the sky was falling as big chunks of ice broke off from the bikes and landed on the Jetta's roof. When we stopped for fuel (The Jetta doesn't take gas), I snapped this picture of all the ice that had built up on all the leading edges. Carrying four ice-covered bicycles on the roof absolutely slaughtered the Jetta's fuel economy. I'm used to getting well over 50 mpg highway, but with the fully loaded roof rack I got about 25 mpg on the trip down.

Upon Arrival in Santa Fe

The skies started to clear as we approached Santa Fe. Instead of the cloudy gray rain we had all day, Santa Fe was sunny, warm, and very inviting. In this picture you can see the bikes are now clear of ice but there's still big chunks of ice melting off the rack. On the windshield wiper is a huge chunk that was attached to my mountain bike tire.

Casita Chiquita

We unpacked the car under the waning light of the setting sun. Here you can see the casita we rented for the week; ours was named Casita Chiquita. More pictures of the casita are available in my Flickr account. After unpacking the car we walked downtown to find something to eat. We were hungry, tired, and cranky by the time we found a good eatery called Mucho Gusto. It had one of my favorite food innovations from the entire trip; refried beans made with black beans instead of the more traditional pinto beans! Hallelujah!! Black beans are so infinitely superior to pinto beans, and finally here was a restaurant that saw the light! The salsas were delicious, too! I love me that southwestern food!

How many words do the eskimos have for "hydrography"?

2007-04-16T20:52:00.001-06:00

Found out my next assignment is going to be in Alaska. More on this breaking development later.

Update: The title of this post is a nod to the original snowclone. I'm a big fan those wacky linguists over at Language Log and had to throw it in.

I finally talked to CDR Glang last friday after playing phone tag for a couple of weeks. He's the technical liaison officer to the assignment board for NOAA's National Ocean Service. I believe he was gearing up to sell me on the idea of going to Alaska to be FOO on NOAA Ship Fairweather when I politely interrupted him by saying that I want to go to Alaska. He said it could be a done deal but they're going to have me go through a newly formed official process in which I get vetted by a board of "Senior Hydrographers", in other words, the proverbial smoke-filled room.

NOAA Ship Fairweather is based in Ketchikan, Alaska, a city reachable only by sea or air. Or maybe doglsed. The ship conducts hydrographic surveys all throughout Alaskan waters.

I'm looking forward to my new adventure.

We're in the news!

2007-04-04T22:17:00.001-06:00

Space storm disrupted GPS, experts say - Yahoo! News

This news article, about how intense solar flares in December were observed to disrupt GPS service, briefly mentions NOAA with regard to our Space Environment Center. I'm now signing autographs.

Edit: The story is now on CNN here with a little more information.

Edit 2: And now listen to the podcast!

All the way, baby!

2007-04-03T14:27:00.001-06:00

I just got back from riding all the way up flagstaff. I hadn't gone all the way in a really long time. Georgia and I used to go all the way all the time, but this time I had to go all the way solo. It's sunny, but rather chilly outside, so the descent was freezing. My hands, arms, and legs were all numb from the cold. I got passed by five people on the way up, but two of those don't count because they stopped and turned around just after passing me at the turn-off for flagstaff summit road while I kept going all the way to the top. Wusses.

Here's a neat website that shows some of the views from flagstaff.

My kickball team suffered a demoralizing defeat last night. The final score was 18 to 17. The opposition went up by 11 runs in the first inning! We came back to tie it up at 15 each, but then they scored three runs in the top of the last inning and we could only muster two. We fought valiantly and it was an exciting game, but alas the kickball gods were not smiling upon us.

In other news, I might find out soon where I'm going for my next assignment. When I came into the office yesterday I had a message from the liaison officer who deals with hydro assignments. He said he had an assignment that may interest me. So now I'm going nuts wondering what it is. I tried calling him back yesterday but ended up leaving a message for him, and he hasn't called me back yet. I'm pretty sure I'll be going to Alaska on the Fairweather for my next assignment, which I'm honestly pretty excited about. I'm starting to get anxious to go back to sea, even though it means less road biking. When I find out anything I'll post it here.

Black20 Trailer Park: 300 - PG Version

2007-04-02T16:04:00.001-06:00

This is the trailer for the PG version of "300".

Monday

2007-04-02T16:03:00.001-06:00

Andrew I rode a portion of the way up Flagstaff today. As much as we could in our lunch hour, anyway. We prolly got about 3/4 of the way up, just before the insanely steep part, before turning around. It was good to get out on the bike again after working forecaster shift all weekend last weekend and the snow storm we had just before this weekend. I did try to ride up Sunshine on Sunday, but I only had an hour before Scotty was supposed to show up and I wasted half an hour of that hooking up my new bike computer, totally incorrectly, it turns out. And then when I finally did get out on the mountain it looked like some weather was moving in. So I cut the ride way short. But I did see an indeterminate number of deer on the way down. I was going too fast to count. I hit 47 mph on that descent.

So yeah, I'm an idiot. I installed the bike computer sensor in such a way that turning the handle bars put too much stress on the cord and I severed it on the way up. Then, like an idiot, I didn't really fix it properly for the descent, so I was cruising down a mountain with a wire potentially flopping around right next to my front spokes. I'm lucky I didn't catch it and get ejected down the side of the mountain.

In other news, my kickball team has another game at 9:00 tonight. So far we're 0-2, but we're a young, hungry team. Expect to see great things from us any time now. Yup, any second now we'll do something really cool...

More biking

2007-03-24T18:11:00.000-06:00

On thursday after work Andrew and I went up to Betasso Preserve and did a lap on our mountain bikes. We tried to do the same a couple of weeks back but it was less mountain biking and more hiking through snow while carrying said mountain bikes. Two weeks of glorious spring sunshine made all the difference in the world. There were a few small patches that had a vague memory of what moisture must have been like in the far distant past, but other than that the trail was in beautiful condition. Betasso is a great trail. It's mostly gentle up and down and not technical at all, so it's an insanely fast ride. Fast, and fun!

Yesterday I rode my new road bike up Sunshine again. It was in the afternoon and some clouds were rolling in after what had begun as a typical sunny Boulder day. I sure didn't want to be caught in the rain on a mountain with my roadbike, so I was ready to turn around at a moment's notice should I feel the first hint of a raindrop. I made it to the top as the clouds were getting darker and the temperature was noticably dropping. I could tell it was going to hail soon, or at least rain. I'd never seen as much hail come out of the sky as I did when I first moved to Boulder. It must hail at least 5 times a year here.

The one good thing about being in this position is that it can take an hour to ride up the mountain, but mere minutes to ride down. I took a couple seconds to catch my breath at the top so I wouldn't be shaky on the descent. Being fatigued can make you sloppy, and I sure didn't want to be sloppy on a steep, fast descent in potential rain on a new bike with which I'm not totally familiar.

Minutes later I was sitting at my dining room table talking to my roommate when the hail started outside. The power flickered off for a moment and I relaxed by taking a nice hot shower.

p.s. Sunshine Canyon animal tally '07-2: One deer who startled me by being about 2 feet away when I noticed it; two large brown eyes watching me impassivley as I peddled by.

MadTV - iRack

2007-03-22T12:46:00.001-06:00

My sister brought my attention to this brilliant piece of MadTV satire. I didn't even know this show was still on the air, but this skit is pure genius. By the way, I just now had to have my in-browser spell-checker correct my spelling of genius. I'm a super-genius.

Flagstaff

2007-03-20T15:17:00.001-06:00

Rode 3/4 of the way up flagstaff today on my lunch break. Wow what a difference having an actual road bike makes! Got passed by three people and passed two. Not bad for my first ride up flagstaff for the year. The road bike geometry is getting more comfortable, but it's still nerve-wracking going down mountains with road bike style brakes. I'm used to mountain bike style v-brakes that let you stop on a dime. I'm pretty sure I've gone down flagstaff faster on my old-school cannondale, but maybe that's because my cannondale weighs a metric ton compared to my scott. Current plan is to mountain bike betasso on thursday, but maybe I'll be too addicted to my shiny new road bike.

Oh, by the way, my new kickball team, which rules, unfortunately lost yesterday. We didn't completely make fools of ourselves, though. I think the final was something like 10 to 6. Um, go Thermo Fisher Scientific!

Sunshine Canyon Animal Tally '07-1

2007-03-18T18:31:00.001-06:00

Scott Speedster S40

So I just got a new road bike yesterday. I've been all talk and no action about getting a road bike for a couple years now. I finally decided to spend part of my federal tax refund on a shiny new road bike. I decided on a Scott Speedster S40. It has an aluminum frame with a carbon fork and Shimano Tiagra components.

I broke it in today with my first ride up Sunshine canyon for the year. Animals seen: 2 female deer shedding their winter coats. The ride kicked my ass since I got a little out of shape over the winter, but I made it up without stopping. My bike has the triple chain ring, which definitely came in handy, as I was in granny gear most of the way up. My goal, whenever I ride up sunshine, is to make it to the top without getting passed by some ironman type on an $8,000 bike, and sure enough I made it to the top without getting passed by anyone. Hopefully, riding up sunshine will be at least a weekly occurrence from here on out. Plus, I need to get in shape for my upcoming vacation to Santa Fe.

Jim Flora is my new Hero

2007-02-05T15:08:00.001-07:00

If anyone is looking for something to buy me I'd take this.

It would look sweet in my condo. I love this guy's art. I've always had a soft spot for visual art that captures music, and this does it gloriously well, being vibrant and alive. Maybe I should pounce on this before they're all gone. Get it? Pounce? I'm so funny.

Pirate Blogging Tools

2007-02-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

I'm gonna start blogging using my brand new pirate keyboard.

RRrrrrrrr!

Spoonerism

2007-01-30T15:43:00.001-07:00

Many months ago I was talking on the phone with my gf and I meant to say "I gotta go; I gotta go meet my kickball team." But what actually came out was "I gotta go kick my meatball team."

I thought of this because it's the middle of winter and I want it to be summer so I can jump in my pool with my cell phone in my pocket (again) and play kickball with my fabulous kickball team. Go away, winter.

Flatirons

2007-01-16T10:45:00.001-07:00

Flatirons
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

This is what the flatirons looked like from my office window after my workout this morning. I love Boulder.

Breaking News...

2007-01-11T12:02:00.001-07:00

It was announced this morning that Denver has been chosen to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention! Woot!

Helpful tip from your friendly neighborhood Thew

2007-01-10T15:11:00.001-07:00

Try to avoid sneezing when your mouth is full of partially chewed banana.

I'm just sayin'.

Snowshoeing!

2007-01-07T09:57:00.001-07:00

tongue-operated cell phone
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Yesterday a few of us went snowshoeing up flagstaff mountain. The trailhead is literally right outside my girlfriend's front door, so this photo was snapped mere minutes into the excursion. This shot is looking north from the base of flagstaff, so there's a bit of Boulder there in the background. And of course ScottyB being his usual self in the foreground.

new table

2007-01-07T09:54:00.001-07:00

new table
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

I finally got around to getting an end table for my fancy eco-glam sofa. I ended up going to a furniture refurbisher right next to my house. They had one that's a perfect fit and it hadn't even been painted yet so I got to customize what color I wanted. I was actually going for more of a deep blue and less purple, but I'm pleased with the result. When they were done with it I walked to the store and carried it back to my place. It felt very Boulder to have walked to the furniture recycler and carried my recycled furniture back to my house.

nice rack!

2007-01-07T09:49:00.001-07:00

nice rack!
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

This is the pot rack my awesome girlfriend got me. Isn't it spiffy? And I only drilled one unnecessary hole in my ceiling!

Notice the delicious home-made banana bread in the bottom of the frame. MMmmmmm.

Old Friends, New Adventures

2007-01-01T11:33:00.001-07:00

Ten years after my study abroad experience in Bupapest, there's only one fellow BSM'er with whom I've kept in sporadic contact. Rebecca and I travelled together after our program ended, and spent Christmas Day amidst the new-fallen snow in Dracula's Castle, and New Year's Eve dancing the macarena in Istanbul with French Canadians. The last time I saw her was a few years ago when my ship pulled into Boston Harbor and she lived in Cambridge. I was pleasantly surprised when, yesterday, I found an email in my inbox from her. I had been considering a trip to California and possibly visiting her at her relatively new job at Stanford. But, surprise! She's joined the Peace Corps! And is leaving for Guinea, Africa imminently!

I wish her the best in her adventures, work, and self-discovery. Fair winds and following seas, the sailor in me would say.

You can follow her adventures on the blog she has created to detail her experiences in the Peace Corps: www.rebeccahunt.com/peacecorps

Back to Michigan For Christmas

2006-12-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

I managed to make it safely out of the Colorado Blizzard and on to Michigan for Christmas without too much difficulty. I did miss my connection in Houston on the way out and ended up crashing on my sisters couch. It was good to see her, her husband, and her two kitties. Above is the result of me playing with my new digital camera that I got for christmas. Whee!

By popular request

2006-11-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

I got a comment requesting that I get around to posting a picture of the mercury transit. Here's one from Spaceweather.com. It was taken by Howard Eskildsen of Ocala, FL. The dark area in the top left of the picture is a rather large sunspot that produced several CME's when it was around the limb and almost nothing when it was on the disk. The small spot towards the bottom of the image is Mercury. Man, I need to get a solar filter for my telescope.

Update - Percussion thingy

2006-11-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Evelyn Glennie learning the coolest thing in the world.

Shortly after posting the last entry I found this picture of Evelyn Glennie learning the instrument I wrote about. I still don't know what it's called, but this is what it looks like. Oh man, I really must learn this.

Stoopid cold, Day 5.

2006-11-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

On my birthday I came down with a cold. Fortunately I wasn't scheduled to work that day or the next, so I could stay home and recover. But now it's day 5 of the cold and it's still not gone. Sure, I feel mostly better, but it's getting a little old not being able to breathe through my nose. And what a waste it was to have a couple perfectly nice days off and spend them in bed dreaming the feverish dreams of the ill. Grr. But now it is friday and I'm on the mend. Oh happy friday.

I was going a little stir crazy doing mostly nothing while fighting off the cold. I finished the book I was reading, "Pastwatch" by Orson Scott Card. I also finished watching all the netflix discs I had at home, Word Wars, a Deadwood season 2 disc, and "Touch the Sound", a biography of sorts of the deaf master-percussionist Evelyn Glennie. I can't honestly recommend "Touch the Sound" as it was quite slow paced and, at times, a little out there, but as a percussionist myself I enjoyed the footage of the music making. I had the good fortune to see Evelyn Glennie perform live and in person at Stetson Chapel back at good ol' Kalamazoo College in my school days. She really is amazing, but the movie, sadly, is not.

One thing about the movie I did find fascinating is a new percussion "instrument" I don't believe I've seen before. Imagine, if you will, a wooden ball, about the size of a softball, in this case painted red. Now imagine two specially designed wooden "sticks" such that you can balance the ball on the ends of the sticks in carved out shallow cups. The player holds the two sticks, one in each hand, and sort of juggles the ball in the air using various points on the sticks to make contact with the ball, thus creating different clickety-clack sounds. When done in rythm, this creates a percussion beat.

I must acquire this and learn to play it. If I knew what it was called maybe I could find it, but I don't even know where to start. Anyone have any ideas?

Transit of Mercury

2006-11-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

NASA - 2006 Transit of Mercury

I just got back from watching the mercury transit on the heliostat we have at the observatory at work. Mercury was still in the solar disk as the sun set behind the flatirons. It was awesome to see in real light coming from the sun, rather than in digital images on a computer screen. The transit is in progress as I write this, so I don't have an actual photograph to link, but perhaps I'll find one a bit later.

T-Bird and Balanced Rock.

2006-11-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

T-bird and Balanced Rock
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Just got back from a trip yesterday that included a couple days of Arches National Park. This is our obligatory "interacting with the crazy scenery" shot. Click on the picture to view more from the trip.

We also spent a couple of nights in Glenwood Springs enjoying the hot springs. The hot springs were fun, but made me miss the summer days when I can enjoy my own (unheated, non-natural spring) pool.

Me Picking Giant Reagan's Nose

2006-11-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

Me Picking Giant Reagan's Nose
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

When given the opportunity to pick the nose of Ronald Reagan's Giant White Head, I obviously jumped at the chance. I mean, who wouldn't?

Filmspotting

2006-10-23T16:00:00.000-06:00

Filmspotting.net

A few entries ago I talked about the brilliant and hilarious NPR show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me...", in which I mentioned that I like to listen to the podcast version of the show during my daily workout. Well, there's only one Wait Wait podcast per week and lots more days in which I like to do my workout, so I've been searching for other good podcasts. Here's my problem. One can go on a site like Podcast Alley and search for podcasts by genre, but that doesn't really work for me because really I'm looking for one that's interesting, not necessarily about a specific topic. My other requirement is that it be free. I'm interested in the Splendid Table podcast but in order to download it you have to pay for it. Dude. I'm a product of the internet revolution. Everything online is supposed to be free.

And so I finally found another worthy podcast, Filmspotting. Like Wait Wait, Filmspotting is based in Chicago, but I don't believe it's nationally syndicated. If you live in the greater chicago-land area you can hear it on Chicago Public Radio, or you can do what I do, and download their free weekly podcast. The show is great. The format features two film-nerd buddies who often dissagree about which films are instant classics and which are trash (For example, one absolutely adored The Illusionist, the other hated it). The typical show starts with a featured review of a recently released movie, ventures into some listener feedback, detours into a segment they call Massacre Theater in which they act out a scene from a movie and listeners are invited to figure which scene for prizes, and frequently finishes with their top five list. Each week's top five has a different theme. A recent favorite of mine had the following premise:

The Situation

Every film made between 1980 and 1989 is going to be wiped from the Earth. Your mission: save one.

The Request

Give us a call and leave a voice mail. The one film you'd save from the 80s and why.

The hosts, Adam Kempenaar and Sam Van Hallgren typically reveal their runners-up (numbers 6 through 10) before alternating between them as they reveal their top five. In this case, the five movies from the 80's they would save from destruction. Which five movies from the 80's would you save from destruction?

The discussion is often interesting and the analysis is often real and heartfelt. They tend not to clinically analyze the films but truthfully acknowledge how the film hit them at an emotional level. And it's always fascinating to listen to two intelligent people disagree on a film and hear why one of thinks it's a masterpiece and the other a piece of trash.

I will admit that the podcasts can tend to be long-winded, frequently going over an hour. But this is why I like them for my workouts, as it inspires me to keep going just a bit longer on the elliptical trainer.

Here's my list (off the top of my head, I might have forgotten some classics):

1. The Princess Bride
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Back to the Future
4. Ghostbusters
5. The Right Stuff

The Punch Bowl

2006-10-04T15:26:00.000-06:00

The Punch Bowl
Originally uploaded by areageek.

This picture has achieved legendary and classic status among my family. In the picture, I'm the cute one.

This was taken at my Grandparents' 40th wedding anniversary celebration. I remember a few things from the party, but I don't remember being around the punch bowl while this picture was being taken. I do remember eating some red grapes that I thought were disgusting because I wasn't expecting them to have seeds in them. And getting locked in the bathroom with my cousin Kim.

Hoo-ray!

2006-10-04T12:03:00.000-06:00

Hoo-ray!
Originally uploaded by thewbert.

Some of you may have noticed that my Flickr account was updated weeks ago with pictures from my vacation to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, but that I haven't blogged about it yet. Well here's the blog entry. Over on the right you can see a picture from the top of Mt. Washburn. We, being my parents and I, hiked up to the top on our first full day at Yellowstone. The veiw from the top, a mere 10,243 feet, was spectacular. There was a bit of haze in the air from all the nearby forest fires as it was forest fire season when we were there but the weather was perfect, warm and dry without being too hot. Click on the picture for more select pictures from our vacation.

Fun is awesome.

2006-10-02T13:17:00.000-06:00

On friday I attended the Great American Beer Festival in glorious Denver, Colorado. This festival is apparently in the Guinness Book of World Records as the event with the largest number of beers on tap.* Guinness was not in attendance. Here are some random observations.

Every damn brewery in the US thinks they're clever and unique. They're not. Seriously, every brewer had some clerverly punny-named IPA or Porter. They pretty much all tasted the same. I stopped sampling anything with a clever name after the first 10 minutes.
I want a pretzel necklace. I didn't get the memo on these. About half the people in attendance had a pretzel necklace. I guess so they could snack on pretzels between 1 oz. samples of beer.
Some brewery in Alaska makes a smoked beer. The rep said they actually smoke the barley used to make the beer the same way one smokes salmon. It was better than it sounds, but I can't imagine what one would pair this particular beer with. I certainly wouldn't want smoked beer with my smoked fish.
Surprisingly, my favorite new find came from a brewery in my own backyard, the Wynkoop in LoDo. I've been there a few times and always noticed the "Patty's Chili Beer" on the menu. Intrigued, I was thrown off a bit by the menu's promise of ancho and annaheim peppers. Don't get me wrong; I like peppers and peppery foods. But I wasn't so sure it would make a good addition to beer. Beer isn't supposed to be spicy, it's supposed to be what you drink when you're eating something spicy. Turns out, this beer is delicious. In the sample I had the pepper aspect wasn't spicy per se, it simply contributes an organic and earthy freshness to the beer. Drinking it was like the smell you get when you take a ripe, fresh pepper and make that first cut into it on the cutting board. The smell overwhelmes you, not in a spicy\hot way, but in a flavorful smell of nature itself way. This is what the beer tastes like.
Another favorite of mine was called "Orange Blossom" from Papago Brewing in Scottsdale, AZ. It pours a cloudy golden color and, as the name would imply, has a slight aroma of citrus. The taste is smooth and slightly sweet, the kind of beer you can quaff rather quickly without realizing it but has enough flavor to hold its own.
I'm apparently allergic to the Colorado Convention Center. About two hours into the tasting my nose started running like crazy and my eyes were itchy as hell. I didn't realize immediately that it was an allergic reaction (I thought I was getting a cold), but it must have been. Not long after leaving, my symptoms started going away and I awoke the next morning feeling fine.
Fun is awesome. So read a sticker handed to me by a guy manning some kind of "beer glove" booth. I'm inclined to agree with said sticker.
There was a booth there by the Mormon Drinking Team, also known as X-communicated. They had several hilarious t-shirts for sale, my favorite being the one with a picture of a happy jesus holding a glass of beer with the words "What Would Jesus Drink".

A fun time was had by all. Props to my beer-drinking cohort Lynne who came all the way from Atlanta to attend the beer fest with me. We got a couple of pictures of us at the fest on her camera. She left it on the bus when we came back to Boulder but rumor has it that she retrieved it from RTD's lost and found this morning. Huzzah! I'll post a picture if/when I get one.

*This is unverified. I personally have no idea whether or not this event is in the Guinnes Book of World Records.

The George Allen Insult Generator

2006-09-28T10:44:00.000-06:00

Slate's latest Low Concept column features The George Allen Insult Genertor. As the column says:

George Allen has spent all summer with his foot in his mouth. On Sunday, Salon reported that a handful of the Virginia senator's former football teammates claim he repeatedly used the word nigger. The New York Times wrote on Tuesday that two of Allen's former acquaintances recall that he said the word. Allen has denied the allegations. "The story and his comments and assertions in there are completely false," he told the Associated Press. "I don't remember ever using that word and it is absolutely false that that was ever part of my vocabulary."

Last week, Allen accused a reporter who asked about his mother's Jewish background of "making aspersions about people." He later remarked that his newfound Semitic heritage hadn't brought about any dramatic changes: "I still had a ham sandwich for lunch." Allen also drew attention over the summer when he referred to one of his opponents' campaign volunteers as a macaca—an ethnic slur in some North African countries. What was his excuse this time? "I don't know what it means."

We know what you're thinking: When's George Allen going to insult me? That's where Slate's George Allen Insult Generator comes in. Are you black? Fat? Allergic to wheat? Sen. Allen's got an insult—and a rationalization—waiting for you.

Wait wait...

2006-08-30T14:17:00.000-06:00

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me...(Image stolen from NPR.org)

don't tell me...

A while back I became addicted to the wonderful Word Nerds podcast. It's published by a teacher in Virginia along with his colleague from the same school and his brother, who teaches at a school in North Carolina. Each week's show has a theme where they discuss, for example, puns or the particular idiosyncrasies of locker room lingo. But this only sated my podcast thirst, which I usually listen to while working out on the elliptical trainer, once a week, so I went looking for another good weekly podcast or two.

People kept telling me about how good the NPR show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me..." was, so I went looking for a podcast version of the show. Sure enough, they publish the weekly show as a podcast which can be found here. Let me tell you that it is an absolute joy to listen to this show. And the podcast format is beautiful. It actually makes me look forward to my monday workout as it provides the best opportunity to listen to this brilliant show. I'm sure most of you have at least heard of it and many of you probably listen to it broadcast on your favorite NPR station, but if you're looking for something to make your workout routine a little less routine then download this podcast!

p.s. I'm looking for more good, entertaining podcasts to listen to during the remaining days of the week. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

This just in...

2006-08-30T13:57:00.000-06:00

After a kickball season of being co-captain, I willingly handed the reins over to the other co-captain, KA, to be the single captain for the fall kickball season. She took it upon herself to see if she could find a sponsor for the team -- and guess what? -- she succeded! The Chotchkies are officially sponsored by the Boulder Beer Company! This means that we get Hazed & Infused T-shirt uniforms and cheap beer at Boulder Beer Company! Hoo-ray!!!

By the way, we triumphantly finished the summer season with 5 wins and 2 losses, but becuase of the strength of our schedule we ended up in 5th place out of 8 teams. I'm sure we will kick much ass in fall league. Come cheer us on every Monday night at the Mapleton Ballfields behind Whole Foods (right by Boulder Rock Club).

Kickball last night

2006-07-25T11:31:00.000-06:00

We won.

Kickball last night.

2006-07-18T11:57:00.000-06:00

We lost.

Kickball!

2006-07-14T13:58:00.000-06:00

Me and Merica

Go Team!

A while ago I joined a kickball league as a co-captain of a team composed of a bunch of people who had never met each other. We just had our third game on monday, in which we dominated to the point of the game being called on mercy rule grounds. So now our record is 2 and 1. We won our first game in sudden death overtime, lost our second game in a mercy rule route, and, like I said, dominated our third game. We will not lose another game this season.

Before our game on friday we were pretty riled up by BBQing and drinking our teammate Michael's house. We took the field and were "warming up" when two of our players collided as they were both going for a fly-ball. One ended up with a very bloody nose. And we hadn't even started playing the actual game yet! We didn't let that stop us, though.

The games are pretty fun. Mostly nobody takes it too seriously, although it is pretty competitive in an all-in-good-fun kid of way. As you can see from the pictures, our team color is green. Our team name is Chotchkies, after the fictional restaurant in "Office Space", and so we wear aprons with flair as our team uniform.

The Diesel Dilemma

2006-06-26T14:22:00.000-06:00

The Diesel Dilemma

When I bought my first car about a year ago I honestly believed I was making a choice that at least partially minimized the impact of driving on the environment. I considered getting a hybrid, but for several reasons I chose a Jetta TDI. The TDI means it's a diesel. Diesel's have long had a reputation for being noisy, smelly, and polluting, but those opinions always seemed rather ill-informed. I knew, for example, that diesel passenger cars are far more popular in Europe than in the US, and Europe tends to have more progressive environmental laws. It's also a fact that diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline engines. This is an undisputed truth that comes as a result of the way diesel engines function; that is, by compression rather than spark ignition. Due to the diesel engine's popularity in Europe, car manufactures there have been modernizing and improving the design of the diesel engine for decades. Americans tend to associate diesel engines with industrial vehicles like busses and construction equipment, which spew out thick clouds of black smoke, but the modern European diesel passenger car emits almost no visible smoke whatsoever.

Being the proud owner of a new car I often found myself in a position to talk about it. I would mention that it's a 2005 model year (the redesigned Jetta was introduced partway through the 2005 model year, so my car really is officially a 2005.5) and that it's a diesel and therefore gets almost 50 mpg (also true). If I wanted to be even more of a tree-hugging environmentalist I could run it, without modification, on bio-diesel. When I tell people it's a diesel, I usually get one of three reactions. People either don't care that it's a diesel because it means nothing to them, think it's cool that it's a diesel and therefore efficient and environmentally friendly, or say something about how awful diesel emissions are. The fact that environmentalists would give me two conflicting responses says something about the misinformation out there concerning the environmental impacts of diesel exhaust. If given the third response I would usually try to defend it by saying that it emits far less greenhouse gasses but more of the smog causing compounds, and since I'm using less oil to run it, the net effect is slightly positive.

This friendly debate, plus the recent press around low-sulfur diesel fuel and "clean diesel" technology inspired me to try to get some facts so I'd know what I was talking about when it came to diesel emissions. The truth, whatever it is, is not easy to find. Do a web search for "diesel exhaust" or "diesel emissions" or "clean diesel" and all the results are organizations with agendas. Obviously the TDIclub.com site makes diesel engines out to be the earth's best friend. Obviously, hybridcars.com makes diesel out to be the biggest polluter this side of coal-fired power plants. So which one is correct? Like most things the answer seems to lie somewhere in between, but is still very unclear.

I finally found an article that mostly spelled it out like it is. I'm still curious about some of their claims. In an effort to find an unbiased opinion I turned to the website for the Union of Concerned Scientists. I often respect this organization for being unbiased and fair. They readily admit to having an agenda, which is sound environmental stewardship, but they back up their claims with hard, scientific fact. They published a paper in 2004 called "The Diesel Dilemma: Diesel's Role in the Race for Clean Cars." The paper's authors, Patricia Monahan and David Friedman, try to objectively analyze the best and cheapest technologies for achieving high-efficiency and low-emission vehicles. In their executive summary, linked to above, they basically say that gasoline-powered vehicles, gasoline-electric hybrids especially, are the technology worth investing in for a variety of reasons and that diesel will never be as clean or efficient as the best gasoline-powered cars. I think most of their points are valid, but I would like to offer some counter-arguments, not because I think I know better, but just to illustrate my questions and hopefully spark some more debate.

One of the paper's major arguments against diesel engines is that they are more expensive than gasoline engines, especially when emission controls are taken into account. They argue that the increased upfront costs of the diesel, combined with the emissions control technology necessary to make diesel exhaust as clean as gasoline exhaust make diesel impractical. They argue that there are more gains to be made investing this money on improvements to gasoline engines. Here's an excerpt from the paper:

Today’s diesel cars are just one
of many strategies available to increase fuel economy.
A variety of technologies—more efficient
engines, better transmissions, improved aerodynamics,
and high-strength materials—can
give today’s diesel a run for its money.
It should be noted that the fuel economy advantage
of diesel does not translate into equivalent
reductions in oil usage and heat-trapping gas emissions.
Differences in the production, energy content,
and formulation of low-sulfur diesel fuel
and federally reformulated gasoline come into
play. Relative to conventional gasoline vehicles,
the energy security and global warming benefits
from diesel are lower than gains in fuel economy,
even accounting for diesel’s higher energy density.

Here they list technologies that can be used to make gasoline-powered vehicles more efficient, and thus catch up to the inherent efficiency of diesel; more efficient engines, better transmissions, improved aerodynamics, and high-strength materials. Well, these are all technologies that can make the already more efficient diesel car even more efficient. Take two otherwise similar cars, one with a diesel engine, one with a gas engine. The diesel starts out with an efficiency advantage because it's diesel. Now, give them both a better transmission, improved aerodynamics, high-strength materials, and more efficient engines. The diesel is still way more efficient.

The second point, about the efficiency of diesel not translating into equivalent reductions in oil usage and heat-trapping gas emissions seems suspect. Later in the article they go into more detail about this point, normalizing a gallon of diesel to "gallon of gas equivalent". They do this by itemizing all the components and energy that go into making a gallon of gas vs. a gallon of diesel. They rightly take into account that a gallon of diesel takes less energy to refine than a gallon of gas, but also that it takes slightly more crude oil per gallon of diesel than gallon of gas, due to diesel's higher energy content. Where they go astray, I believe, is in accounting for the ethanol content of gasoline. In their tabulation of the energy requirements for formulating gasoline, the ethanol seems to suddenly appear magically, fully formed. No mention is made of the energy requirements of producing said ethanol, in the from of petroleum products needed to fertilize the corn, refining it into ethanol, or shipping it. Even after all this calculation, they still come to the conclusion that diesel engines use less oil and produce less greenhouse gasses than a gasoline engine, just that the difference isn't as extreme as simple comparing miles per gallon of the two vehicles might lead one to believe.

As an aside, I'd like to point out that part of the up front costs of a diesel engine translates into higher durability. Diesel engines last longer than gasoline engines because they are built more robustly to withstand the compression ignition cycle that defines a diesel engine. This translates directly into less waste; fewer cars need be built and fewer cars ending up in junkyards.

But what about emissions? So a diesel engine lasts longer and is more efficient than a gasoline engine, but everyone can see that gross, black smoke that come out of a diesel tailpipe. That must be bad, right? Well, the short answer is yes, it is. There seems to be plenty of information out there saying that diesel exhaust is bad. The sooty particulates that you can see are a known lung irritant, and diesel exhaust is known to contain NOx, a major producer of smog. But burried deep in the Union of Concerned Scientist's report is the following,

While the toxicity of diesel has been well
researched, there is relatively little information on
the toxicity of gasoline. New studies indicate that
today’s average gasoline and diesel vehicles have
the same toxicity per unit of mass (Seagrave et al.,
2002), but the exhaust from high-emitting gasoline
engines may be more toxic.

and,

Recent European measurements indicate
that gasoline spark-ignited engines running at high
speed and load may release as many or more nanoparticles
as typical diesel engines (Kittleson et al.,
2003). Unfortunately, because it is not yet clear
whether today’s technology can accurately measure
nanoparticles and there is no accepted testing
method to ensure consistent measurement, comparisons
between different studies are nearly impossible
(Andersson, 2001). Different transient
cycles, operating conditions, and exhaust temperatures
also affect nanoparticle generation.

So, what's the conclusion? Diesel exhaust is toxic, smog forming badness. But gasoline exhaust is toxic, lung irritating badness, too, which may be much worse than diesel exhaust. The jury is clearly out. A major theme running through the paper is that hybrids should be encouraged because the technology is a stepping stone to zero-emission vehicles that need no fossil fuel whatsoever. I completely agree. Like I said at the beginning of the article, I was close to getting a hybrid, but chose not to for a variety of reasons, one of which was their availability at the time. My only vehicle for several years prior to getting the Jetta was my bicycle, and when I decided to finally buy a car I didn't want to be on a waiting list for several months for a true hybrid. I wish I could have supported the development of cleaner, more efficient hybrid technology with my consumer dollars, but it just wasn't a good fit for me. Until then, I will continue to drive my Jetta TDI, which gets 50 mpg on the highway, produces fewer greenhouse gasses, and may or may not have more harmful emissions from a public health perspective. Purchasing the TDI in the first place might not have been as environmentally friendly as I thought it was at the time, but clearly there are worse choices I could have made.

If anyone knows of a good source of information concerning the harmfulness of diesel exhaust vs. gasoline exhaust I'd be very interested in hearing about it. As I mentioned earlier, almost all information available on the web has an agenda attached to it and any unbiased information is hard to come by. Thanks!

Carfree move in Boulder Colorado

2006-06-16T13:08:00.000-06:00

Carfree move in Boulder Colorado 1_7
Originally uploaded by richardmasoner.

A photostream on Flickr has pictures from a car-free move in Boulder.

I love Boulder.

Sailing.

2006-06-14T08:58:00.000-06:00

I'm addicted to it. I want to sail all the time. Last saturday was my first time sailing in the sense that I was doing the sailing rather than simply being a passenger on a sailboat. I took a basic sailing: sunfish class at the boulder reservoir. Sunfish are 14 foot one-man sailboats. They boil sailing down to it's pure essence, and are the classic boat used to teach sailing. They're also really fast for their size and are one of the most popular racing classes ever.

The sailing class consisted of me, the instructor, and three young children ranging in age from approximately 11 to 13. I helped the instructor launch the boats for the kids. They scrambled into the boats and took off like the salty skippers they were. I then got in my boat, took off, and instantly capsized.

Once I learned what not to do, I was able to open the boat up and see what she could do. We had our best winds of the class period right then in the beginning, so as I was learning how to handle the boat the wind was gradually shifting and lessening. But I was able to get the boat heeled way over so I could take advantage of the foot strap in the bottom of the boat, making the boat momentarily reach its top speed! Rah-hoo!

Sailing on the Boulder Reservoir is exhilarating. Being on the water, under the sunshine that Colorado is famous for, within view of the flatirons, foothills, and the snowy peaks beyond, is a thrill that I'll keep coming back to.

Updates from my Alaskan Correspondent

2006-06-14T08:40:00.000-06:00

My friend is in Alaska for the summer to be a mountain bike guide for tourists coming off cruise ships. I've been getting sporadic updates from her about getting to Alaska and settling in there. The most recent had this snippet in it.

There is a slow bike race here for 4th of July- it's 2 blocks long. Last person across the line without putting a foot down wins. I'm gonna enter and probably get creamed.

I love it. I so want to take her on in the slow bike race. She'd probably cream me.

Memorial Day Party Antics

2006-06-08T13:50:00.000-06:00

Whee!

I had an extravaganzathon of doom at my pad on memorial day. A good time was had by all. Especially me, as evidenced by this picture. We played the "How Many People Can We Fit on my Sofa" game. This was after we played drunken badminton and, my personal favorite, the "Jump in the Pool with my Phone in my Pocket" game.

I think of all the people in the picture, Fuentes is obviously having the best time.