This morning I watched a brief story about a British cruise ship attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia. These attacks have been going on for over a year, and based on previous successes their number is increasing. Watching this I had an idea for a new vacation concept.
Gun boat cruises. Take a large cruise ship, put a few dozen .50 cal machine guns along the deck and give passengers a change to get their own confirmed kill. Talk about family fun -- and making the world safe for democracy.
I think I could also work in a whole guns/bikinis angle -- which seems to be popular with many preospective customers. Maybe hire a couple of bikini models and have them strut around between attacks.
So, if anyone knows where to pick up low-cost criuse ships, used .50 cal machine guns or discounts on .50 cal ammunition let me know.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
New York City Espresso
What a spectacular place. I made the mile-plus cross town walk from the hotel to Everyman Espresso. The windchill made it feel like all of 15 and I considered buying earmuffs at each sidewalk vendor until I realized I'd have to stop walking and risk instant hypothermia to do so.
The espresso made every frigid step worth it. Oh glory, what a shot. I had two and wanted 10. This is a shot that grabs you by the balls and twists -- hard. A good amount of Ethiopian lends the signature dirty flavor that is perfectly balanced with nice residual sweetness. When it was over I positively floated back to the hotel -- I don't even remember it being cold.
I'm beginning to suspect there is a unidirectional correlation between Tattoos and Good Espresso. That is: Every good barrista seems to have visible tattoos, but not every barrista with tattoos is good. The guy at Everyman is good (and tattooed).
Everyman Espresso
136 East 13th Street (Union Square)
The espresso made every frigid step worth it. Oh glory, what a shot. I had two and wanted 10. This is a shot that grabs you by the balls and twists -- hard. A good amount of Ethiopian lends the signature dirty flavor that is perfectly balanced with nice residual sweetness. When it was over I positively floated back to the hotel -- I don't even remember it being cold.
I'm beginning to suspect there is a unidirectional correlation between Tattoos and Good Espresso. That is: Every good barrista seems to have visible tattoos, but not every barrista with tattoos is good. The guy at Everyman is good (and tattooed).
Everyman Espresso
136 East 13th Street (Union Square)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
iTunes Managment
Here are a couple of very hard earned tips when managing large iTunes libraries:
- NEVER, EVER, Under any circumstances, start iTunes without the music library mounted. This can cause many hours of work to re-connect iTunes to the missing files.
- The only way to merge libraries is at the file system level, dragging whole libraries into iTunes causes more trouble than it's worth.
- External NAS-based iTunes servers suck. I have a 2TB ReadyNAS NV+ from NetGear and it's a piece of shit. Performance is poor, the UI sucks, and it takes 20 minutes to start-up.
- Anything over 25k songs really hurts iTunes performance.
- Lots of people talk about managing large libraries. Lots of people think that 10 Gigs is a large library. Things that work with 10 Gigs, struggle at 100 and fail at 250GB. Make sure you research any new technique.
- Over USB2, 250GB (50k+ files) take 6-8 hours to copy. Try not to do it twice.
- I could not have gotten everything under control without a number of scripts from Doug
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Celebration Ale
Today, while shopping for same basic beer for Kathy's anual cookie party this evening, I found a real gem hidden among the more pedestrian beverages -- thre six-packs of Sierra Nevada Brewing's Celebration Ale.
A relatively light carmel-colored beer, with a hop aroma that is like rubbing your face in a pine tree. A mix of Challenger and Centennial hops contribute as much flavor as aroma so the taste is a green as the smell.
I once drove 150 miles to the Sierra Nevada brewery to buy this beer, so finding it was a real surprise. Chico is a long way from Denver.
A relatively light carmel-colored beer, with a hop aroma that is like rubbing your face in a pine tree. A mix of Challenger and Centennial hops contribute as much flavor as aroma so the taste is a green as the smell.
I once drove 150 miles to the Sierra Nevada brewery to buy this beer, so finding it was a real surprise. Chico is a long way from Denver.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Rae - Philly
Rae, Dan Stern's restaurant in Philly and one of my favorite places to eat here is moving. They are still open for lunch but don't do dinner there anymore. I guess I now have an excuse to go to his other restaurant, Gayle, which I have wanted to get to for quite some time.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Time Warp the TV show
Just did a segment on tattoo machines. Time Warp is a show that uses a super-high speed video camera to capture everyday events and then plays them back in super slow motion.
It's really cool to see a tattoo machine captured at 2500 or 5000 frames/second played back at 30 frames/second.
Skin looks just like water, with tiny little concentric ripples every time the needle punches into the skin. It looks just like dropping a stone into still water. Cool.
It's really cool to see a tattoo machine captured at 2500 or 5000 frames/second played back at 30 frames/second.
Skin looks just like water, with tiny little concentric ripples every time the needle punches into the skin. It looks just like dropping a stone into still water. Cool.
The End
Tattoo Session #23
December 6, 2008
So, it’s over. My 16-month odyssey into pain, suffering, and tattoo shop culture has run its course. Only a single touch-up session remains, and that won’t happen until spring so that the ink has really settled into the skin properly.
The end itself was a little anti-climactic. I expected at least one more session, but Joel just laid down the tattoo machine and said: ”That’s it, we’re done.” “Done, done?” I asked. “Done, done.” he answered.
These sessions have become fully integrated into the rhythm of my life. Every 3-4 weeks, usually on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon we had a convenient excuse to drive up to Boulder. They have also become part of Kathy’s life as she came to every single session. So, after 23 appointments, and almost 55 hours of needle time, we need to find a new reason to go to Boulder.
One upside of the experience is that my ability to meditate has radically improved. I could never reach nothingness during a tattoo session but I was readily able to detach physically for 20-30 minutes at a time. Now I find traditional meditation much easier.
I write this as though someone has died and in some way it's how I feel. But at the same time I know that this really isn’t the end. Does something like this really end? Does anything ever really end? Or, like the great cosmic continuum, is the beginning of the next thing? The start of the start? I like to think if it this way more that it just being over.
Maybe it’s still too soon to write about this; the lessons will only begin appear with time. I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time I will celebrate the fact that I can now choose, or choose not, to get more work done.
Tattoo FAQ:
Does it hurt?
A: Yes, of course it hurts.
How much dies it hurt?
A: More than a really bad sunburn, less than a 25 M.P.H. bicycle crash. (These are the only relevant points of reference I can give.)
Why did you do it?
A: Because I wanted a big tattoo.
How much did it cost?
A: Labor and tip total a little more than $6k.
Did you pick the design?
A: No, I picked a general theme – Initially just the Dragon, and later the Japanese Myth of the Koi and the Dragon. I also picked the color of some of the larger things – the Blue Dragon, the Black/Yellow and White/Blue Koi. Beyond that it was really the artist’s call although he frequently asked if a particular color was OK.
How could you trust him so much?
A: I did my research; I looked for the right artist for well over a year before finding Joel. I was prepared to fly to either Miami or Austin to get this level of quality. I was lucky enough to find someone locally who had the chops to do the work I wanted.
December 6, 2008
So, it’s over. My 16-month odyssey into pain, suffering, and tattoo shop culture has run its course. Only a single touch-up session remains, and that won’t happen until spring so that the ink has really settled into the skin properly.
The end itself was a little anti-climactic. I expected at least one more session, but Joel just laid down the tattoo machine and said: ”That’s it, we’re done.” “Done, done?” I asked. “Done, done.” he answered.
These sessions have become fully integrated into the rhythm of my life. Every 3-4 weeks, usually on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon we had a convenient excuse to drive up to Boulder. They have also become part of Kathy’s life as she came to every single session. So, after 23 appointments, and almost 55 hours of needle time, we need to find a new reason to go to Boulder.
One upside of the experience is that my ability to meditate has radically improved. I could never reach nothingness during a tattoo session but I was readily able to detach physically for 20-30 minutes at a time. Now I find traditional meditation much easier.
I write this as though someone has died and in some way it's how I feel. But at the same time I know that this really isn’t the end. Does something like this really end? Does anything ever really end? Or, like the great cosmic continuum, is the beginning of the next thing? The start of the start? I like to think if it this way more that it just being over.
Maybe it’s still too soon to write about this; the lessons will only begin appear with time. I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time I will celebrate the fact that I can now choose, or choose not, to get more work done.
Tattoo FAQ:
Does it hurt?
A: Yes, of course it hurts.
How much dies it hurt?
A: More than a really bad sunburn, less than a 25 M.P.H. bicycle crash. (These are the only relevant points of reference I can give.)
Why did you do it?
A: Because I wanted a big tattoo.
How much did it cost?
A: Labor and tip total a little more than $6k.
Did you pick the design?
A: No, I picked a general theme – Initially just the Dragon, and later the Japanese Myth of the Koi and the Dragon. I also picked the color of some of the larger things – the Blue Dragon, the Black/Yellow and White/Blue Koi. Beyond that it was really the artist’s call although he frequently asked if a particular color was OK.
How could you trust him so much?
A: I did my research; I looked for the right artist for well over a year before finding Joel. I was prepared to fly to either Miami or Austin to get this level of quality. I was lucky enough to find someone locally who had the chops to do the work I wanted.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
The "C" Word
I got a call from my dermatologist this morning to tell me the the pencil-eraser-sized bump I had removed from my forehead last week is -- as expected -- skin cancer.
Squamous cell carcinoma to be specific. Seems pretty common and is readily curable -- although not without a little cut and some digging in my skin.
So tomorrow afternoon, with little fan-fair, I'm going to have a little cancer surgery. I guess that will make me a cancer survivor, in my own little pencil-eraser sized way.
Squamous cell carcinoma to be specific. Seems pretty common and is readily curable -- although not without a little cut and some digging in my skin.
So tomorrow afternoon, with little fan-fair, I'm going to have a little cancer surgery. I guess that will make me a cancer survivor, in my own little pencil-eraser sized way.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tattoo Update
Joel is featured in an extensive article in the current issue (#13) of Tattoo Artist Magazine. The article include a picture of my dragon sleeve along with a very complete catalog of his work.
My Koi sleeve is done except for coloring the Koi themselves. All the background and all the maple leaves are done and really look good. I've been doing three-hour sessions recently which speeds things up considerably. I've only got a couple of sessions left and I'm done. It's weird to think it's coming to an end so quickly. The end has always been some intangable, far-away thing. Now I'm probably done by Christmas.
Here are photos from the last few sessions.
My Koi sleeve is done except for coloring the Koi themselves. All the background and all the maple leaves are done and really look good. I've been doing three-hour sessions recently which speeds things up considerably. I've only got a couple of sessions left and I'm done. It's weird to think it's coming to an end so quickly. The end has always been some intangable, far-away thing. Now I'm probably done by Christmas.
Here are photos from the last few sessions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)