Author Archive for risu

Page 77 of 95

Faeries, Ghosts, and Geisha Girls

Published on June 16, 2008 in bike by risu. Closed

I pushed the mountain today, and the mountain pushed back. On the loose descent from the concrete block hill, I met the Earth on a deep, personal basis.

StartI met Root, JT, and Ckucke out at Ditch for an afternoon spin. The air was still and the skies overcast. The humidity was almost unbearable. We duplicated the now normal Government Road, side loop, Ditch, upper trail, cardiac climb, concrete block, shoulder knocker, big tree, fat guy, inner loop, and out circuit that has been the standard for the past several rides. This week felt good. The heat was oppressive, but I didn’t feel worked like last week. Must be an “every other” ride thing – I felt fine two rides ago. Continue reading ‘Faeries, Ghosts, and Geisha Girls’

Skinny

Published on June 16, 2008 in bike by risu. Closed

Friday afternoon was sunny, so I went out for a spin on the Bridgestone. Getting out on a lightweight fully rigid bike felt good for a change. All pedal input immediately manifested as a surge of forward momentum, and, for better or worse, all the subtle and not so subtle nuances of the riding surface were transmitted directly up through the pedals, seat, and bars. The drop position for some reason made me automatically ride fast. “Mellow” had no place when the hands gripped the curves of the drops and the body was forced forward into a racing position. The skinny high-pressure tires spun up to speed immediately and I was quickly out of gears. The bike was put together with leftover parts – It really deserved something bigger than the 42t outer chainring and a cassette with an 11t in it. The climbs felt the most natural standing while gripping the handlebar ends. The heat quickly made me deplete my one bottle, so I did one last lap and headed home through the park. The perimeter running trail that was so smooth on the Ellsworth was a jarring tooth-rattler on the MB-1. Shaking around with my neck craned all the way out probably did no good for the sore neck that has been bothering me for a while.

D = 15.67 km (9.74-miles), Vavr = 20.6 km/h (12.8 mph), Vmax = 41.8 km/h (26.0 mph), T = 46-minutes

Published on June 12, 2008 in SUAR by risu. Closed

It’s just as well nobody rode on Kam Day – it rained heavily about 16:00. Got to make all kinds of new pictures for the top of the blog though…

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Published on June 10, 2008 in SUAR by risu. Closed

Yay! I have Kamehameha Day off tomorrow!
Boo! Nobody can go riding with me!

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Natsu no Tomodachi

Published on June 10, 2008 in bike by risu. Closed

Mizutamari heiki jitensha de ikou yo
Natsu ga isoideru ano niji no masshita he…

Unconcerned by puddles, let’s ride our bikes
Summer’s hurrying by right below this rainbow…

As I reversed out of the driveway, the stereo finished indexing the USB drive and resumed playing CoCo’s “Natsu on Tomodachi”. I didn’t really pay attention to the lyrics before, but they caught my ear this time around. The weather report on Thursday was ominous with heavy showers predicted for the weekend, but they never fully materialized. There was a brief heavy downpour on Friday night, but Saturday morning was sunny and clear. If it did rain out at the trail, maybe there would be a few damp spots here and there, but I was unconcerned. Continue reading ‘Natsu no Tomodachi’

Published on June 9, 2008 in SUAR by risu. Closed

Cotton candy is fairy floss in Australia.  WTF!?

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Loco Moko

Published on June 6, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Don’t look at me: I didn’t do it! That’s how they spell it at Cooke Street Diner. It’s the regulation rice, hamburger patty, cooked egg and gravy, but you can opt in for brown rice instead of white, and get tossed greens on the side instead of macaroni salad. It’s as healthy as a Loco Moco can possibly be.  The salad greens and dressing were good as usual, and the rice was rice. The hamburger meat was a little on the dry, overcooked side, but was still flavorful. There was a good chunk of mystery gristle or vein that got wedged between two of my teeth that took a while for me to wiggle/scrape/pry out (no floss at work). The egg is cooked how you like it, in my case “over easy”. The egg was nicely cooked – still white on both sides, still runny inside: It was not all brown and crispy/burnt around the edges from being fried in too much oil at too high a temperature (ala Zippy’s). The gravy was familiar from some of their other dishes like the meatloaf. I give it a B- overall. Slightly better ground beef in the hamburger patty and maybe more careful preparation of the patty (not overcooked) would have raised the score, but it was well within spec for the $5.50 USD including tax. Continue reading ‘Loco Moko’

Bizarre Bazaar

Published on June 5, 2008 in Art by risu. Closed

Stopped by Chinatown Boardroom yesterday on the way home for the opening of the group art show “Bizarre Bazaar”. Jackie and Eric greeted me and invited me to take a look at the pieces. I haven’t been around in a while, so it was nice that they still recognized me. There were some interesting works, notably Kris Higa’s cute yet disturbing comic art piece, Kandi Everett’s wonderful watercolor, and Maile Yawata’s ceramic pieces. Otto had a framed 3D multimedia piece, and Hal Lum had a smaller, dark work set in a deep frame – a lot different than the pieces he had shown at the downtown TCMHI gallery last year. My cousin John Koga was present with a gilded plaster piece, and a framed, fleshtoned foray into the booby theme that has haunted some of his past works. There were some interesting ink-line on painted background pieces toward the back right of the shop, but I can’t recall who did them. Continue reading ‘Bizarre Bazaar’

Published on June 5, 2008 in SUAR by risu. Closed

F@#k!  I dropped my laptop this morning!

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Once Again a Winner

Published on June 4, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Pork adoboHad lunch again at Cooke Street Diner. This time it was Pork Adobo. If you don’t happen to know what adobo is, it is a Filipino-style dish consisting of meat (usually chicken or pork) that is deboned and cubed, then browned in a skillet then stewed in vinegar and soy sauce. It is generally spiced with black pepper and bay leaves (laurel). Like the meat loaf I had several weeks back, the adobo was very good. The brown rice was fine. This time there was a creamy vinaigrette dressing on the salad greens. My co-workers had picked up my plate while I was out of the office, so by the time I returned, the greens had wilted a bit and browned from being trapped in the hot, vinegary atmosphere of the closed plate lunch tray. Since I wasn’t there this time, I don’t know how the customer service aspect went on this occasion. Same $6.23 USD including tax as the meat loaf.

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Three and a half out of four grinning monkeys