You really don’t have to read this post… Continue reading ‘I am the Spam Magnet’
Author Archive for risu
Page 58 of 95
Where the heck did the vast throngs of roadies from last week go? Did the event they were training for pass already? There were maybe half-a-dozen other cyclists out today when Chris joined Scat, Root, Ckucke, and me for a Thursday afternoon grind up Tantalus. This time up, Tantalus Drive had been repaved all the way down to the junction with Makiki Heights Drive. This made the tough part of the climb up to Euco much nicer, but the new pavement was already littered with twigs, leaves, and other junk along the edges. JT, Ckucke, and Chris dropped me just after the last house, and were out of sight by the top of Euco. My back hurt as usual, but I was feeling pretty good, and my legs were able to push a little harder. I did a lot more standing climbing in the steeper sections. I made the top a little over a minute faster. JT had apparently even dropped Chris and Ckucke! Chris had ridden up on Wednesday, so we let him choose the way down. He had backtracked down yesterday, so we chose to drop down Roundtop Drive. This was a slightly longer route, but the long straights allowed for a higher top speed, so we made the circuit in exactly the same time as last week. Continue reading ‘Post-Apocalypse Road Ride’
Saw a bone-stock base-model Mitsubishi Cedia/Mirage/Lancer with “Haleiwa Drifter†written on the boot lid. Wonder what the owner means by this? Since this is a front-wheel-drive economy car, he can’t be talking about the “sliding the rear tires around a turn under power†kind of drift. Maybe he’s the “wandering indigent†kind of drifter…
(0)Chinatown Boardroom will be hosting a group art show by local artists featuring various turns on the traditional ‘ukulele  opening at 18:00 tonight. Fabio and I will head down after work to check it out. Included will be artists Cade Roster, Jason Teraoka, Tracy Gunn (Mrs. JT), Kris Higa, Kandi Everett, and many more! Hope to see y’all down there. The show will run from tonight through the 25th. Gallery hours are normally Thursday through Saturday, 11:00-16:00.
Here are some pictures from opening night
If you’ve ever wondered where all the Mitsubishis on the island are, I have your answer – they’re all in Kalihi, and they’re all driving really slow. Between HMC East and Lion Coffee, I was stuck behind 4 various Mitses consecutively (really!), one specific car twice, since he took a different set of streets and ended up in front of me on two different occasions! WTF?!
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Monday was warm, dry and sunny, unlike last week. Chris arrived back in Honolulu after a trip to the Pacific Northwest around noon and joined us for a St. Louis ride after doing a couple loads of laundry. There was not a cloud in the sky, contrary to the National Weather Service forecast that called for a 70% chance of rain. The winds were blowing strongly, though. We had loads of fun – even after Chris’ dumb-side crank came off. The climb back up to the parking lot was heinous as usual, but since there was no weekend ride, I was able to make most of the ascent pedaling rather than pushing. Continue reading ‘Spring Sun’
JeffW saw this place on the Channel 8 “Cheap Eats” segment earlier in the week, so we went there for lunch on Friday. I didn’t make the adventure down to the old Hamada Store location on Queen Street just a little ‘Ewa from Ward Avenue on the makai side. Apparently, even with the phoned-in order, my coworkers still had a half-hour wait for the food.  The interior layout was apparently not set up for efficient customer or workflow, and the staff level was insufficient for the level of work subsequent to the TV spot publicity. We couldn’t even get a phone call in on Thursday! Continue reading ‘Queen Street Cafe’
Got these a while back from Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK (that was a story unto itself!) and put them on the Chase back in December of last year. The winter rains and switchover to snowboarding mode kept me off the bike until recently, but now with the lengthening days and drier weather, it’s two-wheel time again. Outwardly, these are similar to the XTR SL-M970 shifters, with blocky pods, long, awkward looking finger levers, and skinny perches. Shimano has purposely gone with a more “prototype†or “werks†appearance on their newer MTB parts instead of the fluid, beautifully sculpted look of their earlier parts. Unlike the XTR’s, these are provided with optical gear displays. The release levers are dual-release (push or pull) like the XTR’s, but aren’t multi-release (only one shift per pull). The pods are adjustable laterally on the perches, but only two positions are available, instead of the stepless slide. Continue reading ‘Shimano Deore XT SL-M770 Shifters’
Hooray! It’s finally out! I picked it up on release day so I could catch up on those episodes I missed on TV and rewatch those where I came away with, “huh? what?”. All 13 episodes of season three are presented in letterbox high-definition (the first two seasons were produced in standard definition, so don’t expect a BRD re-release of those). The extras are limited to deleted scenes (which basically amount to the recorded dialogue with storyboard art), and commentary tracks. It’s all so gloriously wrong! It’s the only US-produced animation that I watch regularly – maybe religiously. The quality hasn’t degraded over the seasons, probably because the creative team has remained intact, and the network hasn’t gone all Nazi on them like Nickelodeon did on Ren and Stimpy. Continue reading ‘The Venture Bros. Season 3 BRD’
Met Ckucke and JT for a climb up Tantalus. Root got busy at work at the last minute, so he didn’t make the start. I was rolling some new slicks to take some of the resistance off. It was indeed easier and the control was better, but the comfort level decreased by an amount inversely proportional to the increase in performance. Being Kuhio Day, the bottom of Makiki Heights Drive was heavily infested with road bikers, so we parked down on Makiki Street, lengthening the ride a little. With the lower rolling resistance and some new pavement above Euco, I was able to push a couple gears higher than with the 1.85 Hutchinson Scorpions. As usual, my legs burnt, my lungs exploded, my heart pounded, and my lower back knotted up. The swarm or roadies were sessioning the circuit between the one-lane bridge and the top parking area. We rested briefly after reaching the top, paid our respects to hopping rooster, then descended backtracking down Tantalus Drive instead of dropping Roundtop Drive. Continue reading ‘Buk, Buk, Buk’