Pesky Magicians

So, David Copperfield shows up at my door yesterday. Luckily, I had one of those new Mr. Clean Magician Erasers handy!

Supreme Court, Part II

So, now that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination, you know what that means. That’s right, it’s time to get accustomed to referring to me as “Supreme Court Justice Greg Evans”. If our paths cross in person you may refer to me simply as “Your Honor”. Oh, and please, refrain from making eye contact.

Hilarious Animation

So, in the past I’ve mentioned how genuinely great I think 105 Tangents‘ CD “Songwriters Anonymous” is. Well, they’re working on a new CD, and to tide us over in the mean time, they’ve enlisted the assistance of graphics guru Eric Hullquist to create a series of animated webisodes.

The first one is up on their website, and I think it is some of the funniest web-animation I’ve seen. Don’t just take my word for it, check it out for yourself here. While you’re there, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of their CD. Hell, go ahead and email them some (richly deserved) words of praise while you’re at it; those artistic-types thrive on that sort of thing.

Chase, Joe, and Tony; (AKA 105 Tangents) and Eric Hullquist all earn a resounding “CGSOA”.

Bicycle Tubes (A review of sorts)

For quite some time, I’ve been using Torelli Extra-lite tubes (or Torelli Ultra-legere, if you prefer). Primarily because these were the only tubes at my preferred LBS which have smooth (unthreaded) stems, which I find to be a big plus. They slip into and out of my Silca Pista’s chuck much easier than their threaded counterparts, thereby lessening the frequency of the dreaded valve separation plus they don’t tear up the rubber washer inside said chuck. There were two problems with these tubes:

• They’re a bit on the pricey side (6 or 7 bucks, as I recall)
• They seem rather porous, needing to be topped off every day or two.

Anyway… I rode to the bike shop the other day to get some tubes (after my aforementioned Satanic tire debacle) only to discover that it was closed (apparently Roger was living it up in at Interbike in Las Vegas). So, I ordered some Michelin Ultralight tubes from Performance Bike. I must say, I’m pleased with these tubes. They have the smooth stems I value and they seem to hold air much better than the Torelli’s. They don’t come all nice and pre-talced like the Torelli’s, but that’s a minor point. All in all the “Michelin Road Ultralight Presta 700-18/23 Tubes” earn “Crazy Greg’s Seal of Approval”.

Unintentionally(?) Funny News Headline

SYDNEY, Australia - A chicken toy that squawks and flaps its wings when strangled is “grossly irresponsible” and sends the wrong message to young children, a spokesman for a leading animal welfare group said Tuesday. Full story here.

Just wait til they introduce the “Monkey Spanking” toy!

Devil Tires!

So, my Bianchi Pista came with 700×23 Continental Sport 1000 tires on it. Cheap, but they wore well and I never had any problems with them. Until I had to change one, that is. While airing them up, I managed to seperate the stem from the tube in my front tire, necessitating a tube swap. Normally this is a fairly quick process. Not with these tires, though, noooo… Nearly two hours of wrestling with it (and two more tubes with holes in them) later, I realized that it is impossible (for me) to change one of these tires without pinching the tube. They are just insanely tight on the Pista’s rims (I did not, nor shall I, try them on any other rims).

Disgusted, I finally gave up, snagged a spare wheel from the Fuji, and went for a ride. Then, at my earliest convenience, I swapped the sinister stock circles of Satanism for some new tires. 700×25 Continental Ultra 2000’s. I’ve had good luck with these in the past, I like mine with the kevlar bead; I find that in addition to the obvious benefit of making the tire foldable (and lighter), it seems to make them easier to mount and remove.

I wish I had made this swap earlier. I’ve never really ridden anything wider than a 23, but those 25’s really give the Pista a plush (for a track bike) ride. Not that you care, but here’s a photo of her wearing her new shoes.

Suburban Wildlife (Hawk vs. Squirrel)

So, this morning at work I happen to look out the back door and perched on the 3′ high chain-link fence at the edge of the yard is a young Cooper’s Hawk. Then I see the gray squirrel blithely going about his squirrel business right in front of me, just beyond the patio and think: “Uh-oh… That hawk is about to kill that squirrel, and I’ve got a front row seat.”

Sure enough, I wasn’t the only one watching the squirrel and Mr. Hawk swoops low across the yard and makes a grab for Mr. Squirrel who retreats under a nearby bush. Undeterred the hawk (now on foot) flares his wings and tries to flush the squirrel out. A couple of times the hawk does manage to drive the squirrel from under the bush and tries to pounce on him, but each time the squirrel dashes safely back under the bush. The hawk then flew back to his perch on the fence to re-evaluate the situation.

I watched, transfixed, as the squirrel casually strolled into the (very exposed) center of the yard, proudly carrying some sort of a nut. Again the hawk swoops across the yard and the squirrel runs for the trees and bushes at the rear fence line. The hawk cuts him off and again plunges down at him when the squirrel suddenly springs straight up about three feet into the air! Three or four times the hawk jumps back into the air and attempts to drop on the squirrel and each time the squirrel springs straight up, like some sort of spring-loaded cartoon character. Finally the squirrel jumps onto the top of the fence near the safety of some tall bushes and the hawk gives up, flying straight toward me and passing low over the house.

It was truly breathtaking watching this drama play out right in front of me (much of it within 10 feet of me). I can’t help but feel that Mr. Squirrel’s brash behavior won’t turn out as well if he’s faced with an older, savvier hawk. In the meantime, however, he has a heck of a tale to tell all of his squirrel buddies down at the squirrel hardware store (or wherever it is that they go to swap stories).

Life’s too Short…

…to drink cheap coffee! A while back I decided that I was going to invest in some premo coffee. Of the various coffees I’ve sampled through the years, Jamaican Blue Mountain is my favorite. So, I embarked on a quest to find JBM online at a (somewhat) reasonable price. I found bluemountaincoffee.com which has prices a bit lower than most.

“What the heck?” I thought, “even ‘cheap’ Jamaican Blue Mountain” is bound to be good.

So, I ordered myself a pound of their Blue Mountain Peaberry. It came a few days later, and as I expected, it wasn’t the best/freshest that I’ve had, but DAMN! It makes one fine cuppa joe!

Almost everytime I fix a pot, my mind replays the kitchen scene* from “Pulp Fiction”.

“Damn Jimmy! This is some serious gourmet shit!”

Thankfully, I never have to dispose of a bloody car and a headless corpse after I enjoy my cup of coffee!

* AKA: “The Bonnie Situation”, DVD fans.

Supreme Court

So, rumour has it that if President Bush’s current selection to fill the seat vacated by Sandra Day O’Connor - Harriet E. Miers, gets shot down by the Senate, his second choice will be… Me!

That’s right, yours truly could be the newest Supreme Court Justice. And why not? By Bushian standards I’m emminently qualified; I grew up in Midland, Texas (a big plus), I’ve been in court a number of times, I already spend quite a bit of time wearing a robe, I dig The Supremes… Hell I’ve even been to a horse show and numerous polo matches! Plus my current work with folks who have mental retardation has prepared me as nothing else could for work in Washington DC.

Wish me luck!

Oh, those wacky “inventors”

So, I came across this post on Gizmodo.

Evidently, a company called Renova is releasing all-black toilet paper. And yes, I am going to go there…

How can you tell when you’re done using it?

I know, I know, I’m terribly sorry.