For wifebot's birthday, we left wee Z int he hands of her Oma and headed into the city for reservations at NOPA, a restaurant on Divisadero (apparently undergoing a name facelift as 'north of panhandle' as opposed to 'Hayes valley/Western Addition' as it was when we lived here 12 years ago) that she had been hankering to try. It was a fun, nostalgic evening, eating in our oldest SF neighborhood, thinking about how much has changed since those days.

The space is right up our alley, frankly. Two-story vaulted ceiling, exposed raw wood trusses, a healthy bar and seating service, a big common viking style long table in front for bar dining, and a mezzanine with a few tables on it, one of which was ours, in the front corner, so we could people watch and enjoy the space. It got loud towards the end but was totally packed. My pet peeves in restaurant atmosphere are crowding and heat, and we were spared from BOTH, so that was a huge plus for me.



We had some cocktails, wifebot having a champagne and me the above pico sour, in a very TRDL/ R3 branded manner. Delicious. I was intrigued by some selections available, prepared with a limited stock of quinquina, which is basically a grape-based aparatif with some bitter notes. That's the best i can describe it. I was curioous, so my waiter brought me a sample of the french (Bonal) and the italian (cocchi) and we really liked both, enough so that we planned to order some straight, but never got to it. I'm kind of hoping to find some at a specialty spirits purveyor in the city later int he month. VERY interesting.

We started with baked giant white beans with tomato, feta, oregano and breadcrumbs. This was a highlight of the meal. I'm a fan of white beans served in a baked dish like this, and this was easily the best presentation of it.

My wifebot ordered a country pork chop with grilled peaches, green beans (pronounced 'grenBEEENS!') and a mustard seed vinaigrette. I had a wood-grilled leg of lamb, with mission figs and polenta. We both like the addition of fruit to meals, so that was an obvious selection component. I was sold on the lamb because it was off the bone, which is a plus for this bot, and I was turned off by the thought of wifebot's pork chop, just from my childhood pork chop experiences (little medallion of overcooked pork on a bone.) Well, in a surprising plot twist, her chop killed my lamb hands down. My figs were amazing, and the polenta was delicious (and as a corn lover, I've actually never really liked polenta, until now) but man. MAN! This 'country pork chop' was like a LEG from a county faor pig, as my wifebot described it. It was almost cured in flavor. Soft, grilled, crispy, salty. EXCELLENT. My figs, I think, trumped her peaches, but it was probably a tie. Since she generally orders best and I crave what SHE had, this meal was no exception. Fortunately, her chop was approximately the size of her HEAD, so i still had half of HERS. HA

Dessert was the same for both of us, disappointing our waiter who hoped, i think, we'd try different things: we had brown butter cake with miniature plums and anolive oil ice cream i wasn't sure about, but was VERY intrigued and delighted by once it came. I don't have much experience with savory ice creams, but it was really something else. It had rock salt here and there to kick the flavor, and was complimenting a very sweet cake, so it worked well.

I should mention NOPA is one of a shortlist of restaurants we enjoy that use only locally-grown/obtained, grass-fed produce and local greens. Like one of our faves, Serpentine, the menu is based on in-season, locally-obtained food, and we really value that. Fresh, simple, amazing stuff.

Highly recommended!

http://nopasf.com/

9/10 Clicks

Related posts:

1. Farmer Brown – First-ever TRDL restaurant review!
2. new sf restaurant number 931,682 – spork
3. Town Hall Lunch BBQ

So, macro and/or wide-angle micro-lenses for smartphones are popping up on various coolhunter and gadget sites at $40 or so. I did a little research with some of the Taiwanese importers I've used int he past and voila. TEN bucks.

So, how does it work?
This is a Wide-Angle AND Macro lens kit for any smartphone. I'm using it with the iPhone. It uses magnets, so if you have a ferrous metal phone or case, you can just pop em on there. If not, little magnetized rings with adhesive do the trick. And no, not enough magnetism to eff with your sensitive shiite. Now, the Wide-Angle is screwed onto the Macro, which then can mount onto the phone. Or, remove the Wide-Angle and just use Macro. You have a lens cap and a key fob as well...

Results of research, performed by a legion of robots at my command, all painted yellow/orange:

Test 1: Mini MINI


About an inch away. No macro.


Far closer, WITH Macro...


Again. With Macro.

Pretty great results! Given that you can't even get this close with the camera normally, it's a nice option. Auto-focus can get a little jangy. I found it easier to just physically move my own self instead.

Test 2: Wide-Angle Lens as seen with Macro


I don't know about you, but I can't see anything this close. Maybe it's the martini.


With the Macro, we're in good shape.

Test 3: Wide-Angle Lens


Here the results were murkier. To make good use of this one, you're shooting landscapes or panoramics, really wide shots, and these don't reflect that. But they do show the fisheye curvature at the peripheral and the generally expanded cone of vision.


With Wide-Angle (more awning, little blurry)


No Wide-Angle

Not bad. But I just wanted the Macro, really.



I am somewhat concerned about this 'reliability paste' however.

For $10 it's a no-brainer.
On the iPhone, the ring mount of the magnet CAN interfere with the close flash module, so you have to be judicious in the application precision. But it was fine.
You can get yours here, cheap:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14953

Related posts:

1. cameraphone external lenses
2. Canon T1i: Initial Review [Plus Lenses] Part 2
3. clarifi 3g iphone case brings clarity to your pix

When one observes a flash drive for review purposes, it's kind of a laughable affair. Quality, ease of use, aesthetics, reliability, sure. But you look on Amazon or Buy or Newegg and yep, there are people banging out comprehensive reviews that read like five-paragraph essays, and others who write 'this suxxx!' and call it a day. But you know I'm dedicated to the cause.

I periodically have to order flash drives because my office associate steals or loses them. Well, he doesn't steal them since he owns all the tangible property in the office, but he uses them and they never return. So, most of the time, I'm restocking based on price more than anything. The guts are largely the same on these things, and it's just about the cases anyway. So I go for either multi-packs, or cheap prices on per-unit packaging and get three or four at a time (well, three at a time, to be consistent). Now, my personal use is limited to the ones I actually like. Sometimes it's aesthetics (I have a metal and wrongrobot orange/yellow translucent one, for example, from Kingston.) Sometimes it's function (does it seem to get bashed up? Is it fat or does it play nice with others in a USB hub? Sometimes it's brand loyalty based on reliability.

With the Lacie iamakey, I was angling for all three.



The iamakey is one of three or four designs by Lacie, each pretty much just different shapes. This is brilliant, and I only just realized why. These are clean metal shapes, so you could have more than one on a key chain and identify them by form. Anyway, mine is a pretty standard 'key' shape. It's the size of a key. Little bit heavier. Very thin. Tiny little clear protector for the circuit point, but that's not really necessary and will be lost in 3 hours anyway. But it fits on my keychain, looks fly, and it's Lacie, who I buy hard drives from exclusively.

So, I'm going to give it a 10/10 Clicks! Even though I have only had it for about 3 minutes. I'm being optimistic. But I have to tell you, flash drives are only as valuable as their access, and having one on your key chain means you generally will have it with you, while being shaped like a durable key and not a dangling participle tenuously chained TO your chain means you're less likely to ditch or lose it. And best of all, it's fly.

PS 4Gb of online cloud storage for 2 years as part of this package. Unneeded by self, but could be a factor for someone else...

Related posts:

1. lacie does it again
2. Lacie Blu-Ray Burner
3. most creative flash drives

Wifebot(tm) and I love Town Hall, a restaurant in SoMA that offers delicious food, a nice atmosphere, and a few amazing dishes that bring us back each time:



Those are the BBQ shrimp appetizer and the ham and cheese appetizer. Both appetizers. Both have your daily calories taken care of. Each.

Anyway...


She discovered a few months back that they also do a lunchtime BBQ cookout in the alley behind them. We decided to go the other day and give it a shot, or rather I did, as she already tested it with great results.



You basically just line up, order, he YELLS the order to the cooks, and then they give it to you off the grill. Then you go sit down on a standpipe or what have you and chow down.



We got their infamous BBQ Pulled Pork sammich, as well as a fried chicken sammich. The pork is as amazing as you imagine. I was actually quite impressed with the chicken. At first we thought it was underwhelming, basically a piece of battered chicken breast on a bun with slaw. But man it grows on you with every bite. I don't eat fried chicken often at all, and the flavors, cold specifically (which we initially thought was a weak point), actually are very harmonious and refreshing somehow. It was the standout for me in the end.

We finished with a serving of pot de creme. I didn't need that. I was stuffed.

Great food, very fast if you time it right, and such a simple execution.

8/10 Clicks!

Related posts:

1. new sf restaurant number 931,682 – spork
2. Wrong- Product Review: Japanese Pork Cutlet Bar Sauce-Dipped
3. Review: NOPA Restaurant – San Francisco

I had some time to source a case for the iPad while waiting for it's arrival from pre-sale. I tend to enjoy these devices naked (the devices, generally more than my own self) but the reality is, things get effed up when dropped. And having seen my wee Z beating the hell out of my iPhone, I knew the same would happen with the iPad. So I looked around. My favorite, by a mile, was the Dodo Case. Based out of San Francisco, this local operation builds each case by hand. The outside mimics a classic moleskine notebook, with a lush inside red wrap. A hand-carved bamboo perimeter holds the iPad snugly while keeping allports and speaker unobstructed. The flap flips over and becomes a stand. An elastic strap holds it closed. It's almost perfect.



The only real issues with the case are that it's not a durable good in the way a fabric or hard plastic case might be. It's just like your other moleskines: the surface will wear over time and use. I happen to LIKE a weathered moleskine. But know it's going to happen. I'd love to see the red inside wrap be felt and not paper but it still looks great. The rubber bumpers that hold the iPad in place and vibration isolate it sometimes loose adhesion a bit, but what can you do.



It's a great case. I love the look and feel. It's great under the arm or on the way to the cafe. I carry it frequently with my sketchbook. And it hides on the shelf easily when I'm away from home or whatever, kind of stealth in that regard. And dig the 'thank you' card above, fashioned after an old library checkout tab!

Supe impressive, and the most lux case I've seen.
Highly recommended.

9/10 Clicks

Related posts:

1. Best Worst iPad Case: the 3P0h-u-Dint
2. Thoughts 3: iPad
3. iPad

By now everyone outside of those rendition prisons has seen the iPads, learned generally what they are and what they aren't, and have probably seen them in use. In fact, some of you may have collected staph infections from messing around with them at an Apple store.

I went through so much discussion about the iPad in the weeks leading up to it's imminent arrival that I'm pretty much over trying to explain to anyone in particular why it is or isn't good based on their particular interests: everyone had and has specific expectations, and no jesus device will accommodate them all. I fully do believe that the device has a target market, in fact several of them. The interest part comes in how it can or can't replace other devices in one's regular use. For example, can it completely replace a laptop or desktop?

It depends on what you use those for. The fact is, many, many computer users have a need that is limited to content absorption and distribution on a fairly basic level: email, web, social networking, photo sharing, audio and video playback, and TV/film rental. For those people, the functions of the device could easily obviate the need for a traditional computer. So then it becomes a question of physical use: does the portability and touch interface become a worthwhile compromise over the issues with longterm holding or typing on the iPad? Again, it depends. If I were WANTING to make it my sole computing device, and wanted to make it work, even for long document writing, I could do so by adding the external keyboard via bluetooth and using a stand. But that makes it a desktop! People cry. But not really. I've always said the best laptop would be one where the clamshell's top lid, containing the screen, could be removed and taken as an ultraportable. Need more robust typing setup? Back to the laptop configuration. In practice though, while I've done all of these things listed above on the iPad, and though I have a bluetooth keyboard designed specifically for it's use, I never do. I type what I have the energy for directly on the device, making full use of the touch interface, and beyond that, I usually wait until Im back at a computer.

However, if you use a computer, as many of us do, to run apps like Photoshop, do CAD, manage files in a conventional file manager, etc. it will NOT be your only machine, and trying to find workaraounds are just that: exercises in problem-solving.

I'll speak for myself only, from here on out. I was given the opportunity to use an iPad for free, so my choice was easy. Would i BUY one? At the time of pre-sale, I declined. I am a robust computer user and gadget haver. I already use a laptop and an iPhone. I had, and have, no NEED for an iPad. I doubt anyone would classify this (or really, most devices) as a NEED. However, after a few months of use, vetting what I wanted to use it for vs what it did well and didn't, I'd have to say now, I'd probably buy it. The caveat, of course, being having discretionary funds available. It's always a desire management calculus, right? I suspect some bike stuff or baby toys would be higher on the priority list. However, it HAS had a purpose and I've enjoyed it regularly.

Some have argued that the iPad is a giant iPod Touch. It's not accurate, though in very simple terms it's a reasonable starting point. It IS a giant iPod Touch. But the interface is better, the OS is more refined, the processor is blazing fast, and, Steve's hyperbole about magic and such aside, it IS the best web experience yet. I actually wait to do some web browsing each night ON the device, relaxing at the end of the night. The touch aspect is the thing. You quickly forget about the device itself, and just focus on the content and your physical interaction with the interface. In some ways, the device being the size it is, and being as fluid in terms of OS, it's greatest aspect is it's invisibility. Even the iPhone demands your attention: the form and design of it, the size requiring more effort to wield, that sort of thing. Holding an iPad as you would a folded-over magazine becomes so comfortable you simply forget about it.

The Mail app is handy, if a bit slow. I liked it more than my desktop mail apps, though now that the new Mail.app in iOS4 has been released on the iPhone, I'd say I like that one even more. But the way the app responds to touch is very nice. It's only weakness is a perplexing slowness in IMAP retrieval. I found gmail webmail to be faster and more efficient. Google wisely tweaked their webmail interface to take advantage of both the screen real estate and the touch capability of the iPad, and I used it for weeks before bothering to switch to mail.app, and only did so to save a tab in Safari Mobile.

The iPod, Video, and several other stock iProduct apps work very similarly to their smaller counterparts, just faster. Again, with every operation, I can't overstate the efficiency and comfort of the value add of touch, though. It's easier than on the small iPhone/Touch screen, and I routinely switch to my laptop and find myself tapping the display in annoyance, same as I do, especially as i do, with my Cintiq display. I fear there's no turning back from touch interface.

Many apps available through the App store have been rejiggered for the iPad, not only being faster, but higher rez, and taking advantage of the real estate. As Mail uses a two-pane view in landscape mode, many other apps use that space to add content available to you. Those apps not specifically designed for the iPad still run in their normal size, or can be doubled-up to fill the screen.

My baby, wee Z, LOVES the iPad. I don't know which she loves more: the iPad or the iPhone. I carry the same kid-apps on each, so they're kind of interchangeable. But while the iPhone she picks up and spins in her hands and tries to eat before throwing it, the iPad is more of an interactive surface plane for her. She climbs onto it. She LOVES apps like Talking Carl, Pocket God, God Finger, and Spongebob. It's been amazing to watch her grow to parse the device. She now knows the mini/maxi zoom button, and unfortunately, the HOME button, so she pops out of the app she wants to be in. However, for the most part, she pushes and prods the character on screen, to make him laugh or growl or repeat her squeals. This is, to recap, a device a one year old enjoys without a care in the world.

Some of the nuances of using this device not as a replacement but as a compliment to your other devices, require some finesse in terms of determining your own best workflow. For me, I saw an opportunity to access web and manipulate apps on a larger screen I could see from farther away, for the frequent times when I have a baby asleep on me in some awkward fashion, and accessing the iPhone is more difficult. It also has proven to be a GREAT device for watching shows or movies in bed, after my wife and baby are asleep, in a way one might on the iPhone or even on a laptop, but with the advantage of just having more screen to see, easily propped up (especially with the case, to be described next) and comfortable to access. I keep it behind a side couch cushion. When something comes up that I want to research while watching something, it's easier to access and see this than the iPhone. If I want to take notes for a film review, it's almost effortless on this, and I'm no longer burning through notepads. I can access video from my server, but through the use of a third party app (my preference is AirVideo)... it's an interesting deficiency that the iPad can't ping your server and access files in iTunes like other Apple hardware can. But you can use Netflix's VOD through their own app very comfortably, and access video online that meets Apple's famous content delivery requirements.

Note everything I described is in house. One major appeal to me for this device's use in my day to day was as a replacement for the laptop where it would be taken on a day trip, and not for computing purposes. This happens to me almost every month. I take a trip to LA, or i'm in the city for meetings and then killing time before my wife is ready to leave for the day. I previously just used the iphone, or brought the laptop. But the iPad is VERY good at these things. Our friends at TSA don't require you to unpack the iPad when being screened. That's HUGE. It's easy to bring on the plane (even if your baby commandeers it)... and thanks to the mail, web access, and my use of remote desktop software Logmein Ignition, I can do my work on it easily enough as well. Do note, I held out for the 3G version. Activating the data plan is it's own political and logistical discussion, but my attitude has always been, better to have access to the data network just in case wi-fi is unavailable. Until Aids Lifecycle I never did so, and just used it from wi-fi to wi-fi. But on the ride, I activated it to access some work stuff and then used it for web and mail (and a viewing of Zombieland) and it worked wonderfully. Any issues I had were AT&T coverage problems, which no hardware is going to help. Did I mention the 10 hour battery life? I never charged it that week.

One BIG feature of a portable screen-tablet-color-reader device in general, in concept, and the iPad in specific, is the comic reading thing. I hate reading digital comics on regular computers. The reading experienced is divorced from the viewing experience for me. I like to feel like I'm reading a comic. And this is coming from a digital comic publisher! But the iPad's comic reading promise is incredibly realized. You can upload to is PDFs or CBR files, and read them in a number of applications, my favorite being ComicZeal, review forthcoming. Each app has a different way of handling the experience, but in general, you can hide the menus and just flick flick flick the pages. Have pages fit screen (the iPad's aspect ratio is designed to be optimized for books, not comics or films, so you have some adjustment at play) sometimes zoom to panels, depending on the app, and access your archive of digital comics in an intuitive way. This makes the most use of the iPad's color screen and it's vibrancy, as well as the organic feel of swiping pages. It's a wonderful experience, second only to the real thing. It's good enough that I actually source digital comics to use on the device, for the first time, and I'm certainly working on an iPad port for the Finit-e comic, you can bet on that. I'm a user most interested in accessing my OWN content, but many prefer the buy-as-you-go apps, and marvel, DC, Comixology, iVerse and others are offering digital comic downloads in-app. My only criticism is that they all have abandoned the subscription model, which is a sad direction in the ongoing question over how to make revenue on digital distribution and pay for the production of these books. I supported the model Marvel uses online: monthly fee, access to everything. But they abandoned this for the iPhone/iPad. The book costs are equal to or a little less than the printed cost, and the printed costs have gotten exorbitant supposedly due to printing and distribution costs. There's no rationale for digital comics being so expensive, and it doesn't do this new industry any favors to gouge early while you can. So that's weak.

A few final details: I developed the means to completely manage my content delivery for the forum and blogs using the iPad, long before the iPad arrived, using the iPhone as a test bed. This involves browser for content discovery and write-up ( I prefer Atomic Web as a browser) a photo resizer app and Photoshop mobile to tweak and format images saved for posting, iFTP for opening FTP connections to my server, and then post via web as normal, or even use the Wordpress app on occasion. It's totally doable. I still prefer the laptop for any posting of more than a few posts in a sitting. And thanks to Instapaper, my process is further refined: I save all my posts in the queue using Instapaper, and finish them later on the laptop. Easy!

Anyway, it has strengths and weaknesses. It's a testament to the device that I prefer to use it over the iPhone when I can. It's no perfect thing. It's not yet the touch Macbook Pro we covet. But I've found it, day to day, to be enjoyable. As has my wifebot(tm) who always camps out on it to play our 20 concurrent instances of Scrabble. Ask wee Z, she'll give it a thumbs-up and a 'boh!'.

Will it be a 'boh!' for you? Not sure. But it's become a regular fixture around here. Because it's fun to use.

Your mileage may vary.

8/10 Clicks

Related posts:

1. Thoughts 3: iPad
2. iPad App: AirVideo
3. We Don’t Need No Stinking Touch Pad!

Five things about...


MAGIKUS
by Lego
2-4 players, 10-20 minutes per game




1 - Lego just recently released this line of board games featuring their pieces. This is awesome for many different reasons, but I only have room for five. The most important of which is that this is a buildable board game from Lego! How cool is that? Even the dice is buildable. You can put different panels on it, different colors, anything!


2 - At first, Magikus seems like an overly simple game. You select a row with the owl, roll the dice and collect a magical ingredient for your spell that matches the color that shows. Once you have all four, you can cast your spell and win the game!


3 - It seems simple, but then the magic of Legos enter the picture. They actively encourage you to change up the game! Add the bat into play and block your opponent. Steal their ingredients. Choose your own mix of ingredients before the game starts. The options really become almost endless once you start playing around.

4 - I love it because it's a pretty quick little game. You can play a round in ten minutes or so, change the rules, and play another. It isn't one of those games that you have to set aside 4 hours to play. (And that's a short game for Risk and Monopoly...)

5 - A couple of little things - I have an incredibly hard time remembering to move the stupid owl before I roll. The die, which is pretty cool has rubbery corners and will go everywhere, often becoming a kind of Lego wrecking ball for your carefully placed magical ingredients. It doesn't come with any minifigs. I was hoping for the Witch and Wizard on the cover of the box.

5/5

This game was great. Simple enough for my new roommate, Orbie, but complex enough to keep us entertained too! I can't wait to try out some of their other games.

Related posts:

1. LEGO Architectural Awesomeness
2. Wrong: Scary Russian Board Games
3. LEGO lightcycle sculpture

the title of THIS book is way too long to put in the header bar. it's called "bike snob - mercilessly and systematically realigning the world of cycling," and it's fucking gold. literally, gold...



i've been reading the snob's SITE for a few years now, and as anyone who's ever read it knows, it's brilliant. probably one of the most, if not THE most bookmarked site in all of the cycling world, for it's brutally honest outlook on all aspects of the cycling world. in equal parts, he rags on or supports all the different aspects of cyclists, bikes, and cycling disciplines. there cannot be a week that goes by that he doesn't ping YOU for something you do, and you love him for it.

now the book, on the other hand, is far more of a guide. it reads like something written with the new cyclist in mind. it's very savvy that way. here's a guy who's been riding for his entire life, and he's disseminating what new cyclists easily mistake for something complicated into what it really is -- a bunch of dorks over-complicating an object and an experience that is sublimely simple.

starting with the bike itself, the snob peppers the book with his trademark snark and wit, but rather than responding to things as he does on his blog, he's kind of reviewing and describing things here. it's a VERY different read, and it's fascinating. he describes the components and the piecesParts, and he boils the object down to such a basic thing that other snobs like myself are immediately taken back to when we first became interested in this gorgeous machine.

once he's laid out what the bike itself is ("there's a simple litmus test you can use to tell a truly great invention from a regular invention. and that litmus test is the amish"), he moves on to "the basics." "the history of the bicycle" is a thorough exploration of where and when bicycles were born, and all the changes (and LACK of changes) that they've gone through. "what is a cyclist" is one of the best parts of the book, where he separates cyclists from bicycle fetishists. totally worth the cost of the book, right there. "the various subsets of cyclist" is where you see the most of the BS:NYC that you know from his blog. here he tears into every single subset of the cycling world, and you can't escape unscathed. (interesting personal note, i discovered that i'm an amalgam of "righteous cyclist," "urban cyclist," and "lone wolf." i'm pretty proud of that actually, considering i could've fallen squarely into "urban cyclist," but the snob really specs that rider out very differently than i ever have.) "how cycling changed my life" rounds out this first part of the book, and it's here that i found a lot of similarities between myself and the snob (such as growing up racing BMX) -- similarities that would be expanded upon later. but that's just my personal experience with the book -- this section appeals to all, so don't let me turn you off of it just cause of the 20-inch connection.

the book's second part further encourages the novice to get out there and just do it by simplifying "why is everybody trying to kill me," "cycling and the city," and "the myth of a bike culture." that last one, "the myth of a bike culture," is something that i never understood the snob's stand on until i read this book, and it's amazing. essentially, he describes one list of things (bike culture, tattoo culture, iphone culture) as things you HAVE, where true culture (polynesian culture, buddhist culture, hopi culture) as things you ARE. his honest outlook on how americans define as "culture" what is really "style" is a brilliant observation. even moreso is the following observation that style is actually the opposite of culture. he lays into object fetishists with an unbridled disdain, and i loved it. MANY will find themselves pinged by him in that chapter. it was a great section of the book, and revealed even more of the snob's personal worldview -- another thing i find myself having in common with him, and which other people will, too. this entire section seems to be trying (as the book on a whole is) to strip the fear out of entering the cycling world. fear of getting hurt, fear of urban cycling, and fear of being rejected by a set of uber-cliques that reject anything that's not like them. and yes, we, as cyclists, tend to do that. a lot.

in part three of the book, he moves on to advice such as accepting that your bike will get stolen, encouragement such as how cycling will help you streamline other aspects of your life, and perhaps my VERY favorite section, rules vs. fashion. finally, before finishing with an epilogue, he touches on some rules of etiquette for the non-cyclist.

by the time i was done with this book, i'd been insulted, encouraged, and finally, justified. even though this book attempts to simplify cycling for the uninitiated (which it does AMAZINGLY), it is as relevant to an accomplished cyclist as it is to a newbie. and the reason is that it forces us to remember that we're not special (aside from being in generally better shape and better touch with our surroundings), and we're not doing anything that's all that complicated. just like the title suggests, he realigns the world of cycling, as much for newbies as for old heads.

it's also much more of an insight into the man himself. i've talked in this review about how it reveals a lot about his worldview, but it's also much less of a rant than it is a really honest explanation of what it is about cycling that fulfills him so much, and how it's changed his life on so many levels. i found myself reading the words not so much of a guy who's embittered by cycling, but one who truly respects and loves it. that was a nice treat, i have to say.

a final note ... i have a lot of respect and admiration for the illustrations herein. chrostopher koelle's brilliantly ragged hand accentuates the pages just as steadman's tripped-out freakshow did to hunter s. thompson's tomes. very cool stuff.

i'm really looking forward to hearing how a casual cyclist feels about it. see, on bike to work day here in the city, i was my company's "bicycle ambassador, " meaning i sat out back and let non-daily cyclists into the garage, showed the the racks, and gave them a muffin and some coffee. as part of that, i suggested that we raffle off a prize to anyone who rode to work that day -- this book. the HR department was stoked, and the winner was a friend of mine who's just a casual cyclist. so i'm very, VERY interested in his take and will likely pop back in here to expand the review when i get his feedback.

in the end, this is a 10/10 CLANKS! read. i imagine this will be as funny, engaging, and most importantly ENCOURAGING to newbies as it was to this old head.

viva la snob!

Related posts:

1. NYCDOT PSAs – impactful, but necessary?
2. happy bike to work day!
3. Book Review – Touched By The Gods by Lawrence Watt-Evans

you know, i've seen a lot of obscure things in my time -- a spoken word event where participants read from their childhood diaries, a game of capture the flag played between superheroes and bruce lees, a schoolbus demolition derby -- but i think this may have topped them all.

i took a new friend of mine out to see the san francisco bay bombers play the orlando thunder in a game of knock-down, drag-out fisticuffs on wheels -- ROLLER DERBY.

the event was at san francisco's kezar pavilion, a small, indoor gymnasium that's adjacent to kezar stadium -- san francisco's former football stadium, which savvy readers will remember as the stadium in which the scorpio killer worked in the classic film "dirty harry." the stadium's been demolished and rebuilt since then, and is now much smaller, but with a better track and blah blah blah, the event was in the pavilion, so you don't need to know all that shit.

this was a date, so i made sure and pony up the whopping $20/ticket for VIP seats, cause i'm just that kind of a guy...



going in, the knowledge i had about roller derby was limited to the movie "whip it," and a long conversation i had about 2 weeks beforehand with a sexy tattooed rockabilly bartendress who used to play. apparently, there are two types of tracks one can use for roller derby. the "flat track" is just that. a flat oval of hardwood which is much harder to stay upright on because centrifugal force is working against you instead of for you, as it is on the other type of track -- banked track...



the point of the game is for the "jammers" (1 on each team) to lap the "blockers" (4 on each team). they score a point each time they do so. however, at speed, and with elbows thrown, this is a lot harder than it may sound. and here's where another shocking element of roller derby was revealed to my naive self -- with the exception of the skill it takes to mash on roller skates in a tumble of hair and tattoos, it's pro-wrestling fake. i noticed that about 3 minutes into the derby, there was a fight. but something was off about it. the punches were being pulled. there was no stung red flesh on the recipients of the blows. the hair wasn't being pulled so much as it was being held. now don't get me wrong, the theatrics are totally believable. that is unless you came up in the days of the WWF and you can clearly see when someone's play-fighting. and while at first i was disappointed by this fact, i quickly latched on to that shit and started yelling and hollering right along with the rest of the fans, just enjoying the spectacle.

oh, there was another aspect i wasn't prepared for. did you know that each team is made up of a grrls contingent AND a guys contingent? so each of the 8 periods is split into 2 parts -- period 1, grrls, then period 1 guys. period 2, grrls, then period 2, guys. it was very odd, because of course the idealization of the event is that it's all grrls. and while i was strangely and inexplicably wierded out by that for like a half a second, i found in the end that the guys time on the track was maybe even MORE exciting than the grrls'! they're faster and they hit a lot harder when they go down or over the rail or whatever.

now, the theatrics of roller derby are really out there. the fucking coaches even get in there and start bashing fools with chairs, throwing blows, getting fucked up by the skaters. it's AMAZING. people are flying over the rails into the crowd, there's elbows and flying kicks and even a fucking high-speed SUPLEX at one point. i was out of my mind with joy. the pittsburgh boy in me rose to the surface and just had the time of my life.

my date and i were laughing at the insanity of this shit the whole time. the funniest thing to us collectively was the medic. oh man. so there's a guy down there and it says "medic" on his shirt. but apparently the medic's job is to kneel next to someone for a second and then tell them they're ok. so you have a fucking chick who just flew backwards off the rails on the receiving end of a flying double-drop kick with fucking ROLLER SKATES, and the medic kneels down for 3 seconds and then everyone's ok. so rad. oh, and the medic is also the janitor. this was our favorite detail. at halftime, he was mopping the floors. WITH his medic shirt on. cracking up.

the crowd is really great. this is very much one of those wholesome kind of family events. the kind of thing where mom and dad bring the kids or where the young teens go out for one of their earliest nights out away from home, or where bitter hipsters go to do something different, or where old folks just go to stay in touch with the neighborhood. it's VERY local -- damn near everyone in there was old SF heads. there's no booze served, but you can get a churro and a hot dog for a few bucks.

in the end, the bombers won...



...and i have to think that this is where the whole harlem globetrotters aspect of it comes in, too. the points and back-and-forth scoring was a little too perfectly laid out. the bombers came out strong and went up. then some key players got "hurt" or "penalized" and the thunder got way ahead! oh noes! then the bombers fought back and fought back and in the final heat -- they won! you know what i mean?

but hey man, i'm NOT complaining. this was one of the best dates i've been on in a long time. way better than that time i took a first date to a drag show. what was i thinking?

10/10 CLANKS! entertaining, fun, inexpensive, wholesome, and not overkill.

Related posts:

1. tropic thunder
2. whip it
3. review : date night

I ordered these earbuds as a replacement for the last pair, which, while being innovative in how they connected with my ears and stayed there, were absolute space madness with regards to tangles. Then, well, I gifted them to the ether on a recent ride, and was left with my iPhone earbuds which have a blown cone. So, time for new buds. Unlike previous go-rounds where I spent a ton of money for musical fidelity or extreme portability (witness my still-awesome Etymotic wireless bluetooth earbuds) this time I was after something different: a black earbud set (for some degree of attempted stealth) with full iPhone compatible remote capability, a feature I miss whenever I don't use the iPhone's stock buds. I may not like to talk on the phone, but when wifebot(tm) calls me and I'm on the road, it's nice to click the remote and take the call while riding and not have a hassle.

I settled on these Scosche buds primarily based on comments following reviews of more expensive, competing products, which basically said that these were the sound quality and remote features of the more expensive stuff (like the Voda Vibe Duos I had once) but at a better price. Since Scosche uses the actual mic/remote profile from Apple, you don't run into the problem you get with some other brands, where the remote controls some, but not all, features.

Anyway, I've yet to ride with them, but so far my thoughts:

- These use the braided cord sleeve that reduces tangles and insulates sound transfer somewhat which I really like, considering how much tangles drive me into a rage.
- The remote is located at the Y-intersection of right/left cords, which I think is brilliant. Always in reach, not lost under helmet straps as side-right-cord mounted remotes do on the stock iPhone and similar design buds. The mic remains up there, close to your face, and the remote is below.
- Abandoning Apple's subtle and admittedly sleek rocker remote design, this actually has a housing with three distinct buttons on it. I find it actually LESS prone to mis-selection as my iPhone buds' remote lends itself to pause instead of volume adjustment, depending on your exact finger position. While riding, this is nice. Anything that makes it easier to work blind is good.
- The sound fidelity is quite good. This model uses the larger 11mm driver and a slightly greater frequency range than their cheaper models. As an in-ear design, you get some more bass and clarity than traditional buds. But UNLIKE all other in-ear design buds I've tried, these actually FIT me. That's pretty HUGE.
- Unfortunately, all in-ear design buds transmit sound from the cord to the ear in the form of muffled thumping, like physical interference on a microphone. In order to mitigate this, you always want these to be tucked under and out of the wind and moving fabric. This will inevitably pose some challenges with regards to remote access, but I'll give it a go. Less an issue when music is played, but still.

So far, based on sound quality, fitment, remote location and design, and features, I'm quite pleased. Comes with a sheepskin mini-satchel and tons of earpiece cones of different sizes, per the usual. Also, it's great to have the double-tap next track, triple-tap previous track thing again too.

I bought mine through Buy.com via Amazon for cheap:
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-IDR655M-I ... 644&sr=8-1
$40 instead of $99. It's currently showing up as NOT YET RELEASED so I assume they're bringing a new model out or something, but some third-party Amazon market sellers have it. Note also there's a cheaper version with slightly smaller drivers and range, for about $26...


8/10 Clicks

Related posts:

1. Etymotic’s Cistom Molded Earbuds
2. Whither the Sennheiser MX-85s?
3. Technology Success: Bluetooth Stereo on iPhone

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