Hit the Ditch with Jeff, Sara, and Danny this afternoon. I haven’t been on the bike since the ride after I got back from Japan, so I was off the back. There have been few opportunities for after-work rides recently, with either rainy weather, early sunset, or general malaise getting in the way. Near noon, there were ominous dark clouds hanging over the windward side, but as ride time approached, skies became clear with bright sunshine. No sooner than we entered the trail, the clouds closed in again. There were no portents of rain though, just a canopy of white. We started as usual with the side loop. Danny high-sided off the trail at the first valley, his tire stopping on the boulder on the inside of the turn. It was a silent, ninja-crash. If he had laid still, I might have just passed him without noticing. At the switchbacks, I detoured onto the original line after Jeff said someone had been riding that way. My brakes were still cold, so I was going too fast at the bottom of the chute to make the transition onto the switchback line, so I lowsided in front of Danny and Sara. Weak. Continue reading ‘Slow Pokes’
Fighting schoolgirl in uniform, how can you go wrong? You figure with the decades that Japan has been producing them they’d have it down pat. Well, I’m sad to say that what is being titled as Mutant Girls Squad and screened at HIFF, it is not true. I thought the original Japanese title, roughly literally translated “Girl Warrior, Legend of the Bloody Iron Mask” was more cool, but perhaps this English title matches this movie better. It had the elements, not one, but three cute fighting girls, blood spatter fountains and guts, weapons sprouting from all manner of body parts, cheesy effects, and yet it didn’t come together. I found it very uneven, jerky pacing, abrupt editing which was intentional, humor often feeling too forced. Perhaps it having three directors had something to do with this. The movie makes obvious reference to others, the iron mask bit and line of dialogue lifted straight from Sukeban Deka, and other pop culture references, some which I got, which gets a chuckle when you get it, but not much more. Continue reading ‘Mutant’
The second exclusive flavor in the SA Harvest variety pack is this Harvest Pumpkin Ale. Pours a medium dark amber with medium head that quickly dissapates. Lingering carbonation is light. Mouth feel still fairly crisp, but a bit more weight. Unfortunately I can’t say much about aroma with my current hampered condition. Not a whole lot of bitterness, none of that lingering in the back of mouth and tongue. I can’t taste the pumpkin, but can detect the faintest hint of the spice. I don’t know if this is in combination with the earlier Hoegarten I had and busy day, but it seems to pack a little punch. Anyway, all in all I’d have to say I enjoy this beer, despite misgivings of thoughts of pumpkin in my beer. I’d give it a 3 out of four boogie woogie monkeys.
Another from the Harvest Collection variety pack is this the Black Lager. Pours a opaque and true to its name, pretty much black. Moderate head that dissapates quickly but the carbonation persits, which contributes to its crisp mouthfeel. I don’t get a strong aroma, but my sinuses prevent that. There is a strong bitter that persists throughout with a bit of roastyness lingering. I’m not sure what to say about this beer. I’m a fan of darks, but this one seems to lack any complexity. While not bad and I’d certainly drink it, it’s not one I savor and go out of my way to find. I guess I’d have to give it a 2 out of 4 dark roasted monkeys.
Ever since the demise of my Camelbak Better Bottle, I’ve been waiting expectantly for the release of Nalgene’s entry into the straw-bottle market. The prototype began appearing online on gear blogs at the end of last year and trade shows at the beginning of the year, with the production model supposedly hitting the shelves by mid-year. For a long time they were vaporware and didn’t even appear as line items on order sheets. Only now are they starting to trickle into retailers. The bottle itself doesn’t even appear on Nalgene’s site at the time of this post! McBike just got their first shipment in, so here’s a brief rundown from a cursory inspection. The bottle itself is 600ml (20-ounce), and is about the same height as the standard 1-liter bottle, but has a reduced diameter. The mouth is the standard Nalgene “wide mouthâ€. The BPA-free plastic bottle is made in The USA. Continue reading ‘Nalgene Outdoor Multi Drink Bottle’
WTF?! Pearl Highlands has their holiday decorations up already. I took this picture on the 6th of October!
You know, I thought they said cats can’t taste carbos and don’t care for it. When I put this empty bottle of Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale down, little shirokuro came over and started licking the bottle enthusiastically. I’m sure alcohol is not good for kitty so didn’t let her have any, but it was amusing to see.
BTW, the beer is actually pretty good. Fabio was dubious since an early experience with a Blue Moon pumpkin beer made him angry. I couldn’t actually taste any pumpkin, but could detect the faintest hint of the spice in the aftertaste.
So both posts of the MaxJax are leveled and bolted down. Proceeded to hook up the electric hydro pump and start filling the resivour for the called for 9 quarts. Somewhere past 7 it overflows and I have a little mini spill. Not too bad, but I realize the 9 quarts must account for the volume in the cylinders and lines too so I plug in the pump and hit the power button. There’s a reassuring whine from the electric pump, no movement, but I can hear gurgling of fluid when I stop the pump. Just needs to get that fluid through everything, and running the pump some more the platforms finally start moving, and do some boingy action. Must be the air in the system. The fluid in resivour indeed has gone down, so I add fluid to top things off. It’s moving slow so I figure I should add the extension arms for some added weight and load to aid in bleeding the air. So I hit the release lever. I’m intent on watching the platforms lower and neglect to notice the growing oil puddle that has formed on the floor around the base of the pump. What I didn’t realize was with the air was taking up volume so too much fluid was returning to the resivour and backing out the fill cap. Oops, doing my own little BP here! Run to frantically scatter newspaper around to soak it up. Continue reading ‘Root’s Speed Shop-We Have Lifto!’
After two evenings of one hour grinding each with a air die grinder, I finally got the second post bolted down. Have yet to fill up the oil and fire it up yet, but the mounts for both posts are in now!
Whoa! What do I see here?
On one of the several weekly stops I made to Lion Coffee’s ‘Iwilei cafe and factory, I spotted something different in the premium rack. The apparently managed to get their hands on some rare Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, and peaberries (single bean per berry) no less! The vast majority of this production goes straight to the Japanese market, so it is rare to see it outside of Jamaica or Japan. I’ve had Blue Mountain blends in Japan before, but being blends, they were unremarkable and indistinct. Here was some 100% stuff, so now was the chance to taste what the fuss was all about.
Grinding a serving and brewing up a cup, the flavor was fantastically smooth but still richly full-bodied with a clean finish that left a hint of a chocolatey taste from the abundant oils. Even simply handling the beans leaves a lingering dark chocolate aroma on your fingers.  The medium roast that was selected was perfect, bringing out the best flavor without any hint of bitterness or burnt taste. Wow. I’ll have to do a side-by-side with some Kona peaberry, but if my flavor memory serves me correctly, the Blue Mountain brings more flavor to the table while carrying less bitter baggage. They’re both good, but they are different. Now to find some Kopi Luwak… Continue reading ‘Lion Coffee 100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Peaberry’