A Properly Stocked Craft Beer Fridge

Now that I've purged the last of the corporate, soul-less, profit-above-all-else swill from my beer & wine fridge, the bottom of it is finally presentable.

Stouts, Porters, and ciders, are heavily favored.   [note:  I was hoping to be able to REMOVE the shadowed / double exposure in the above image with iPhoto, as I blog this from the Mission Viejo Apple Store "Open Training" session, but I played with iPhoto for a good 5 minutes and the image above is The Best I could get it adjusted to 'sharpen' and 'contrast'.  I am sure with a much better photo-shop tool I could have reduced it further, but this is the limit that iPhoto can achieve, when in the optimal environment, working with a somewhat double-exposed image].

Come on over and have a beer with me sometime.  If you're looking for a hoppy IPA, I won't have much to offer, but I'm working my way through many of the local Southern Californian craft brewed beers.  Imperial Stouts, are by far, running way to the front of the pack.

Thirsty Marco

Regardless of content, "rising star" Marco Rubio's (Marco Blonde, in translation) State of the Union Republican rebuttal speech last Tuesday night will be immortalized by his unquenchable thirst.   The Daily Show on Wednesday spoofed him.   Colbert lampooned Rubio's 'stare into the camera regardless of circumstances' And SNL did a great bit as well, with Marco REEEACHHHHING far out of frame to quench his thirst.

Bill Maher pointed out succinctly that Rubio's speech was full of old ideas from 5 years ago, as if President Obama's first term had never happened.  It sounded like the party of whiners, claiming how the Democrats are destroying their great nation, instead of a speech from a up-and-coming-new-party-star who is supposed to be visionary and forward thinking.   Rather sad, but not at all surprising.  

United States of Drone Strikes

If you're not comfortable with being a country who reigns death from above onto not just jihadists planning on killing Americans, but on everyone else around them, , check out the Bureau for Investigative Journalism:

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/01/03/obama-2013-pakistan-drone-strikes/

They've been keeping track of all the drone strikes the US has been doing around the world.  In 2013, we've gotten better, killing just 3 children (and a 153 terrorists).  I don't think any child should die from a drone strike - or killer robot in the sky strike - and probably most of the 153 terrorists who've been killed had 1 or 2 or more kids themselves, who will each grow up to try and avenge their fathers by strapping on a bomb, or trying to learn to fly a plane into a building, or blowing up a ship in the gulf of Adan, or driving a truck into an embassy laden with explosives, or something more heinous.  

I never was comfortable with W's targeted robot killings.  I am still not comfortable with the Obama administration's (the CIA's mostly) targeted killings.   If Venezuela, Iran or Cuba had these, and they were flying over the US or Canada or any of our allies, think we'd be pissed off about it?  Do you think we'd be "at war" with that country (not just the organization piloting the drone, but the who country who harboured them?).

I don't know what a good ratio of "terrorists : children" kills are.   I would think "zero" would be the best number.  Yes, there's not been a successful terrorist attack on the US since Obama took office - the underwear bomber blowing his own genitals off doesn't count.  But if it was President Palin, or President Romney, and they were blowing up Yemenis, Pakistani, Sudanese, Malian, Somalian, or any other country's citizen, even if those citizens were really really evil people who wanted to kill Americans but who had not done anything against America yet...  do you think the nation would be OK with it?

Feline Genetic Humor

Sword Forms

I found this graphic very interesting, and thought I'd share.

Creative Bike Responses

I saw this creative graphic today, and it made me laugh.   I've done several of these myself, when walking, biking, or driving and some other driver obscenely gestures, yells, honks, or threatens me.  Though I have never flashed anyone, yet.  =)

Get The Smaller Raw Honey Bear

I adore raw honey.  The micronutrients within it, and the full rich flavor, make it a tasty addition to Greek Yogurt, recipes, occasionally tea, and other things.  Honey is still heavily laden with sugar of course, so one cannot coat your food in it if you are watching your sugar intake, but a little dab here and there is great.

The Absolutely Delightful local Phoenix honey I purchased nearly 4 years ago in Phoenix took a long time to finish.  And I used a butter knife to get some of the final dabs out of the bottom of the bear, but couldn't get to the contoured recesses.   So this morning, lacking any fresh berries to put on my yogurt, I cut the head off the bear with an old serrated steak knife.  After the partial decapitation, I was able to scoop out the final 1/4 teaspoon dabs of golden deliciousness.

I doubt I will ever get another BIG BEAR of raw honey again.  The honey separates over time, slowly, precipitating the waxy solids to the bottom, which are too viscous to flow out of the head-mounted spout.  The little bear can be consumed in a reasonable amount of time (less than 4 years me thinks) and  if any solids precipitate out, they'll be able to be reached and extracted without resorting to decapitation.

(and yes, that is my new Mac, which  carry around the house (weighing less than 2 pounds as it does, and no thinker than 2 or 3 issues of Science magazine) as I prepare food during my work day - very convenient, since FM radio doesn't carry very well in mountainous Orange County CA)

USAir and American Airlines to Merge

San Diego public radio KPBS just announced that the AP is running a story that USAirways and American Airlines will merge to form a single airline, one of the largest in the world.

For my friends who fly American Airlines, you have my sympathies.  At least American won't go out of business, but you're merging with USAir, AKA, US-Scare.  As a former Phoenix resident, I was forced to fly USAir more than I liked for business and for personal travel, and I cannot say I had a pleasant flight on USAir, even once.  I know people who were platinum level frequent fliers, or "President's Club" preferred travelers on USAir, and (of course) they always received excellent service... but I was not one of them.  "Sit down and shut up", "be happy I didn't run out of peanuts", "the next step will be coin-operated plane bath rooms" seemed to be the genre of air travel on USAir.

I've never taken a USAir transatlantic flight, but my (2) American airlines transatlantic flights, and my (2) US transcontinental flights were four of the most unpleasant business class flights in my 15 years of business travel.  I know a sample size of n=4 is not statistically significant, unless you work at a private cancer test research development firm near Phoenix (then the sample size is probably twice as big as normally would be), but I did not enjoy my few AA flights.  My NorthWest, KLM, Delta, Lufthansa, British Air, Dragon Air, Singapore Air, Air China, China Southeastern, Thai Air, EVA, Continental, New Zealand Air, Emirates, Alitalia, Swiss Air, Austrian Air, and Air France flights have been significantly better than American and USAir.  United has not been much better, but at least United is partnered with Lufthansa, and with German airlines, there's a disciplined process.

Two Inexpensive French White Wines

Dr Desert Flower prefers white wines, si I try to keep a stock of drinkable, good quality, inexpensive white wines in the house.  Domaine De Pouy - Vin De Pays Cotes De Gascogne 2011, and Blason de Bourgogne 2009 Saint-Veran, Applelation Saint-Veran Controlee Burgundy are two such wines.

The Domaine De Pouy we picked up at Total Wine for less than $10 a bottle, and it was smooth, drinkable, with subtle fruit flavors or apricot and pear.  The Blason de Bourgogne is a $8 Trader Joe's wine, that tastes like a $20 Burgundy.  Yes, $8.  I picked up two more the last time I was at Trader Joe's.   Highly recommended.

Two More West Coast Quality Craft Beers

Available at Ralphs, are Dead Guy Ale by Rogue Brewery, Newport Oregon, and Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter, Paso Robels California.  I drank the Firestone more than a week ago, and can't recall specific details, but it was a good quality porter.  Not overly smokey.  It was full flavored, smooth, and satisfying.  And the label - with a lion and a bear (who has toned abs) ready to box - amused me, as an added bonus.

Rogue's Dead Guy Ale "It Glows!" had a label that made me smile in the store.  It did indeed glow-in-the-dark, when I drank it last week, after dusk.  "Deep honey in color with a malty aroma. Rich hearty flavor and a well balanced finished" - Rogue's back side label states succinctly, and accurately.

These won't be my last two bottles of either of these fine Craft Brewed beers.

Nature's Subtle Signs

One day last week, I got my work done before 2pm, and saw what a lovely day it was outside.   I packed up my yoga mat, hopped on my bike, and headed South to the beach to go do yoga at my favorite sea side studio.

As I left my neighborhood and descended towards the coast, leaving Laguna Niguel and approaching the city of Dana Point, I saw an ominous cloud bank.  Big, thick, low elevation white clouds, were rolling over the North-Westerly hills, with the wind blowing towards the South-South-East.  It was such a pretty day in my drive way, that my short sleeves and bike shorts were quickly becoming inadequate to keep me warm.  How cold could it get?   I intrepidly (and in hindsight, foolishly) continued to head South and downhill, through the Monarch Beach golf course adjacent to the Ritz and St.Regis resorts.

When I finally made it to the beach, it looked more like D-Day (or the Battlefield D-Day simulations I have played electronically), with an angry sea, cold mist, gray over cast, and harsh crashing waves.  Three life guard SUVs were huddled close together, watching the 1/2 a dozen surfers who were attempting to negotiate the pummeling waves.  I stayed just long enough to snap the two photos below, before heading back uphill and towards Laguna Niguel.

I biked back up North to a park in our neighborhood that had a Southern Overlook, elevation about 390 feet above sea level - where on a clear day, one can see the ocean - and did yoga as a small murder of crows cawed around me.  Next time, I will not ignore nature's subtle signs, and now I know how rapidly a micro-climate can change here near the coast.  Yeah, it's rough here in Southern California. =)

My Preferred Yoga Studio

This is my preferred yoga studio.   Dr Desert Flower and I have enjoyed it together (link here).  I've enjoyed this location 1/2 a dozen times.   It is a 15 minute walk from the parking lot, or a 5 minute bike ride down hill, and a strenuous 200 foot vertical climb back up in 2nd or 3rd gear.  Whenever it is over 65F, and not raining, I try to get down to this preferred studio in the afternoon.

Good Bye & Good Riddance Jan

When I listen to San Diego public radio (KPBS) and they have a story about Arizona, I feel so very relieved to no longer live in Arizona.   Today, aged Scottsdale blond, turned governor, Jan Brewer toured the Arizona / Mexico border in a helicopter and held a press conference afterwords where she scolded the Nation's President, telling him that he needs to come down here and see the border for himself.  She was disappointed that she couldn't stick her bony finger disrespectfully in his face again, so she used her grating accent and narrow perspective to do so instead. Yes Jan, the Obama administration deported over 400,000 illegal immigrants last year, a new record.   And the net immigration flow is now negative, with more latin Americans leaving the USA and heading back south and leaving US crops unpicked to rot in the fields, lawns un-groomed, chickens un-butchered, and floors un-scrubbed.

Yes, California is heavily regulated, more-so than other states on some issues, but at least there are elected state leaders who are more reasonable and who actually represent most of their constituents, as opposed to just angry white seniors who vote out of fear, in droves, during Arizona primaries.  Each day I live here, I am liking it more and more.

Trader Joe's Vintage Ale

Trader Joe's contracts Unibroue in Quebec to brew a "Vintage Ale" for them.  The bottle is the same size and shape as the La Fin du Monde that I enjoyed and mentioned at the beginning of this month.  It tastes similar, but I like it more.   It has a slightly smoother flavor, and it is a dollar cheaper than the Unibroue flagship brand.  It appears I am averaging about one a week.

My thanks to my buddy Ryan for introducing me to the concept of Golden Ales.  Though I scoffed at them initially, I've grown to really appreciate them.

Two Awesome Californian Imperial Stouts

I've taken to drinking Imperial Stout craft beers.  I find them to be satisfying and delicious.  Karl Strauss  Brewing, San Diego California makes a wonderful Wreck Alley Imperial Stout.  I picked it up at my local Ralph's supermarket the day before the Superbowl, and drank it just after kickoff the next day.  Lagunitas Imperial Stout, brewed in Petalum California ("Doggone Good!") was a tasty craft beer as well.  I Think I picked it up at Total Wine last month, but I am not sure.   I know Trader Joes doesn't have it, as they looked at me as if I was speaking Greek when I asked them if they had any last week.  It might have been Albertsons.... ?  I enjoy asking waitresses at new restaurants that Dr Desert Flower and I visit "do you have any local beers?" "Yes, we have a XYZ IPA" they sometimes reply.  "Any Imperial Stouts?"  .. and they look at me as if I have just inquired if they have any Burmese Pythons, very confused. "A glass of water will be fine for now, as I look over your wine list".

See, the nice thing about local craft beers here in California, is that it is much easier to find them in multiple retail outlets than it was in Arizona or South Carolina.  They're made locally, distributed widely, and in high demand by discerning Californian beer drinkers.  So there is no shortage of supply or demand.

Both Karl Strauss and Lagunitas make IPAs, but I am honestly not a fan of IPAs.  Too heavy on the hops for shock value and impressive bitterness.  Similar to how many Californian red wines are too heavy on the oak.  Don't blast my taste buds with hops, oak, tabasco, or hot chilies (as Chengdu China Sichuan food does).  No, instead, give my taste buds a complex mix of subtle and nuanced flavors that delight the senses, instead of over-whelming them.

I will be sure to note further Imperial Stouts here, as I find and enjoy them.  Stay tuned.

Working With Turbines...

Working with Turbines, I was drawn to this image.

Menaced by Denis

I've been Menaced by Denis.  Lemme explain.  I needed to get my first Californian haircut.  It's been almost 3 months now, and I was getting a bit shaggy.  So I go to the place Dr Desert Flower gets her hairs cut, but it was Monday, and they had some kind of hair demonstration, CEU, training session going on, so everyone (about 20 women) ignored me as I stood by the front door and receptionist podium.

No problem, I had a Target run to do - Rainex for the cars' windshields, bike gloves to replace the ratty ones my son left, new socks to replace the holey-ed ones.  Went to Target, cruised a couple of strip malls looking for another possible hair salon - found 2 closed salons, one Vietnamese nail salon/hair combo place whose acetone vapors hit me before I got out of my Mazda, and one "one chair" salon that had just one stylist doing a color job, and 9 or 10 empty chairs.  No thanks.

So I head back to DDF's preferred salon, and the training class is STILL going on.  I stand at the door, ignored.  So I leave, and walk across the vast parking lot to Supercuts.  I don't normally go for the corporate express hair cut...  but I was getting frustrated.   I walk in, there's 5 or 6 people waiting.  "How long will it be?"  (there's 2 stylists working) "About 30 or 40 minutes" was the polite receptionist's reply.
"Can I make an appointment for later?"
"We don't take appointments more than 30 minutes in advance"
Ugh!
"That's okay, I'll come back another day".
In my car, I realize, it is 3 days before Valentine's Day, and likely everyone who wants a hair cut to impress their beau or belle is getting one...  so I drive home, and google "stylists" in my zip code.   A 20 stylist salon pops up, just a mile south.  I've biked past this place...  I know where it is.. and they'll take walk in's at 4:15.   Kewl.  I'm there.

I walk in... and I am introduced "This is Denis, he'll be your stylist".  Ok.   That's fine.   I haven't had a guy cut my hair since the Barber in Highland cut it when I was a teenager, 2 blocks from my parents' home.  But that's fine.   I show Denis print outs of options 1, 2, and 3, and ask if he can do "Option 1" (the Affleck).  "No problem" he reassures me.  And starts shampooing me.   Why do hair stylists try to talk to you when your head is in a bowl, and they are squirting water into your hair?

Dried off, I get in the chair.  Denis then precedes to tell me (non stop, without me able to get a word in edge-wise) all about
- his world travels
- his hatred of Chicago and fans of Chicago sports teams
- his love of the German language
- his hatred of the French, and how America is "the opposite of France"
- his love of curry and Indian food
- how much he loved visiting China
(I mentioned how Sheldon Addleson, Gingrich and Romney's financial backer, gets more than 1/2 his income from Macao casinos, as Denis waxed on and on about taking his mother to Macao and how much he loved it)
- how this has become a nation of takers who expect to be given everything "I've WORKED for my living!", Denis exclaimed "for anyone to expect their employer to Give Them Anything, ughhh!!!"

As Denis trimmed my side burns, he remarked how most people's ears are not the same height or shape.   I commented on how Colbert's ears are disproportionate, and he said 'I watched him for the first time last week, but I CAN'T STAND that Jon Stewart!"

I remarked how The Daily Show is an equal opportunity satirist show, lampooning BOTH Republican and Democrats, as they each warrant it... and he dismissed my comment summarily.  "if you're not a liberal when you're young, you don't have a heart, and if you're not conservative when you're older, you don't have a brain"  ... ok Denis, your tip is shrinking, exponentially now.

I asked him not to put product in my hair, and he slathered "bed Head" through my short blond and gray.   He then put The Rest of the bed head In His Own Hair...  ew!   I don't want his hair stuff in mine!   (or mine in his, cross pollinated!)

All the while, as Denis was cutting my hair, he would (about every 15 seconds) GRIP my head in his fingers, and RE-TILT it to the position of his choosing, forcefully.  He'd grip my hair, yank it tight, before shearing it.   Not really painfully...  but not pleasantly, and at the strangest angles.   Had I come in with any cervical vertebrae issues, he would have severely injured me.   I've never had any hair stylist ever do that to me before, ever.

When we were all done, he talcum powdered my neck with a horse hair brush, making me EXTREMELY itchy.  I waited until DDF came home to show her my Affleck cut, before I ran upstairs to go shower to get the talc and product out of my hair.  "So you don't want to go to Monday trivia tonight?" - No.   I just want to wash Denis's menacing out of my hair.

DDF does like the hair cut, as my buddy Ron recommended in the comments section...  so that's good.  But I won't be back to have Denis harangue me about the evils of liberals, his love of curry, or have his unlicensed chiropractic services applied to my upper spine.

Now...  off to dinner!  =)

Cat Nuts Roasting

For all of my friends in the snowy North East

It was a cool 49F here today... we had to leave the top up on the convertible on our way to Trader Joe's and Wholefoods.  It's supposed to be 58F here tomorrow, and in the 70s by Thursday.  I hope your power remains on and your families can stay warm.

Dumping the Koppel Hair Cut

Since the early 80s, I've had pretty much the same hair cut.  I call it the "Ted Koppel" (link here).  The Sr year college resumes I sent out had a little wallet sized of a 20 year old JoeP with the Koppel cut.  6 years after that when I changed jobs for the first time, again, another variation on the Koppel cut.  So now I am in Southern California, and the Koppel cut is rather antiquated.  Ted's a great journalist, I just need to divorce myself from his hair cut.

So the two variations I am considering are here:
link 1
and here:
link 2
I can't decide which one will work better... but either will be better than the perennial Koppel cut.

JustJoeP visitors and followers are encouraged to comment here... and voice their opinions.

4 to 1

The superbowl ended with a score of 4 to 1.. Baltimore over San Francisco.   This did not make me mad or sad.  This made me temporally rich.  See, I bought 15 squares- at $2 a square - at the neigbor's superbowl party.   I not only won the 3rd quarter...   but I won the end of the game and emptied the kitty.   We (DDF and I) netted over $120 in friendly neighborhood wagering (after putting out $30).   Wow.  I am amazing, and delighted.   =)

Meow. Grrrrrr...

I am glad I have no canine DNA within me.  =)

4 Delicious Craft Beers

So I have stopped drinking corporate beers, made in soul-less factories, without any flavor, taste, or meaning.    I've recently enjoyed the Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout (which my son said to me was the BEST beer he's ever tasted), The Mission Street Brown Ale, Boatswain Chocolate Stout, and the Epic Brewing Smoked Porter.      The Rogue, upon first taste, was not pleasant, BUT, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tastes were delicious, and it had a smooth finish.    Very smooth.   The Mission Street Brown Ale was good.   The Boast swain Chocolate Stout was flavorful, delicious, and highly recommended.   The smoked porter was a little bit too hoppy for me. but not a bad beer.  Mission Street and Boatswain are available at Trader Joes.  The other two were Total Wine purchases.

I photographed all 4 of these on the top of my drum set hard cases, which rest in my office, right next to my set up 5 piece Ludwig drum set  =)    ....I thought this was very appropriate.

I highly recommend that you try these beers.  They're delicious.   They're made by real people who love beer and beer making.   Yes, they are 2X to 4X more expensive than the swill that Inbev, Miller-Coors, and others crank out, but they are worth the price.    Enjoy.

Little Husky

I got this from my Godfather.   It made me laugh.  =)

15F In Niskayuna

I finished up my work day today with a conference call with Niskayuna New York.  Schenectady / Niskayuna was 15F - or as my researcher colleague put it "a brutal 15F here today".    I told him it was a pleasant 19 here...  Celsius  =)

So yes indeed, I did yoga at the beach.   As I write this, I am sitting in my backyard, watching the Rufous hummingbird male - who has claimed my yard and its 4 nectar feeders as his - chase away intruders and sing at the top of his tiny lungs, while I drink a La Fin Du Monde triple golden ale... mmmmm   delicious stuff.  [Brewed by Unibroue, Chambly (Quebec) Canada).  Yes, California suits me.

And using the handy pre-loaded program "Photo Booth" I will now share with you my very first "Photo Booth" photo, taken on my MacBook Air, here in my back yard, so that you can indeed see what La Fin Du Monde looks like, and buy one locally (at Trader Joes as I did, or elsewhere) for yourself, and enjoy this goodness.

Yes, that IS a map of Quebec on the 750ml bottle... (1 pint, 9.4 fl oz) though it is mirror imaged, since "Photo Booth" does not have an image editor to flip mirror images on photos.  =)

Patient Joan's Intuitive Instruction

I had my 3rd One to One Apple course today, and the second one with my instructor Joan Vasconcellos at the Mission Viejo Apple store, and indeed it was a productive training session.  After my stumping of Genius Paul on several fronts at the beginning of this month, I dubiously went back for a 2nd class the day before my birthday, and had the luck to get Joan as my instructor.

Joan patiently listened to my Microsoft-centric paradigm and practices, and showed me better ways to do things on my new MacBook Air.  It was an hour long session 2 weeks ago, and a learned a great deal - and she corrected some of Paul's previous points, which impressed me as well.  Today's session was inspired when I took a bunch of pictures over the weekend of wine and beer bottles (to be posted soon) and wanted to water mark them, crop them, and post them without taking 20 or 30 minutes per picture to manipulate them in iPhoto.  So I set up a 30 minute session on Monday for today after work.  I got there 5 minutes early, and created my wish list:

iPhoto Notes

• Importing Just the pics I want, Not EVERYTHING from my camera memory card
• Saving in a name I want, not DEFAULT name
• easily cropping 
• easily changing to Black and white 
• how to Blur / make fuzzy localized areas (like a face or an address) (or ANTI re-touch)
• easily changing border size 
• easily saving to PICs Folder (not an album, not a card, not a folder or smart album or library…  just "SAVE AS")

Note:  I used to use MSPhotoEditor, and I was very good with MSPhotoeditor.  I could "import as new image", crop, rotate, touch up, change color to gray scale, and SAVE AS in less than 2 minutes (or 90 seconds) per image.

Well, as Joan showed me, iPhoto LOVES drag-and-drop.  To and from iPhoto to the desk top, to a folder, etc.  The retouch feature is about 10X better than MSPhotoeditor.  The "rotate" and crop feature is easy and seamless.  Color modification is simple.  Not needing to use MSPowerpoint is liberating.  There is some kind of bug in Mountain Lion that doesn't want to save to a new named file, but that's fine, I can 'rename' very easily.

I very productive and fun training session it was.  I used JustJoeP for material from which to copy, modify, and start to reblog.   Joan encouraged me to come to the Apple Store and blog from there, in the group learning area, so that if I ran into more issues I would be able to seek instructor assistance easily... but I had other stops to make after the training session in the Mission Viejo area.   Thanks Joan!

Fun fact about the Mission Viejo Apple store:  Bill Gates stood outside of it, for 3 hours, watching everyone go in and out, leaning against the outside wall of the Banana Republic across the mall from the Apple Store, before he opened up the very first Windows Store about 4 doors down from the Mission Viejo Apple store.  As smart of a guy as Bill is, and as nice as his Windows stores look, the ones I've walked past typically have more employees in them than customers, and the few customers who are in them (in Glendale AZ & Mission Viejo CA) are often working by themselves on a computer without any Microsoft employee standing nearby.  It is sort of the inverse of what you see in any Apple store.

Claude Chatelier VS - Affordable Heaven

In California, Trader Joes sells not just beer and wine, but liquor as well!  I picked up a bottle of Claude Chatelier VS Cognac there back around Christmas for a whole $19.99, with the contingency plan that "if this doesn't taste good, we'll cook with it, it'll be better than cooking brandy".  I normally drink VSOP Cognac (Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martel, or Courvoisier... which typically is the $22 Hennessy from Costco).  Total Wine's Cognac is usually (in Greenville SC, Glendale AZ, Goodyear AZ, and Phoenix AZ) locked up in a glass case, and you have to get a store attendant to come over and unlock it for you (1st world problems, yeah, I know).  So it was nice to try a new brand that was not kept under lock & key.

Claude Chatelier Did Not disappoint.  It is smooth, delicious, and full of eau de vie, just as every Cognac (by law) must have.  And I am additionally delighted to know that this delicious, healthy, high quality French spirit is also wonderfully inexpensive - cheaper even than Jameson, Bushmills, Maker's Mark, or Woodford Reserve, and better for you too!  Thanks Trader Joes!

Argo, Good Flick

Dr Desert Flower and I saw Argo this evening - in a theater full of 40, 50, and 60 somethings - and it was pretty good.  Yes, it was a little over-dramatic and exaggerated beyond what really happened, but it was a good film.   There were no cars chasing them down the run way, and Iran didn't figure it out the DAY OF the escape, in reality, they figured it out the Next Day.  The Americans got out, the Canadian Ambassador & his wife got out, and everyone was safe and fine... but Ben Affleck is a good story teller.  I think Ben Affleck is a better story teller than Clint (the Chair) Eastwood, and Clint's already won Oscars for that.

After the movie, we went out and ate Persian food in Laguna Niguel - very appropriate.  =)  .. and delicious.

Brightest Comet In 300+ Years, Q4 2013?

If the ISON comet (link here) survives its elliptical orbit close to the sun this year, it should be visible from October 2013 to January 2014.  One can track the progress of ISON at earthsky (link here).

It is interesting to me in this age of models and projection, that we can't get something as huge as a comet's elliptical orbit predicted with absolute precision, when Kepler and other scientists 400 years ago used to do it with hand calculations fairly predictably.  Yes, there's all sorts of variables to consider, that's true, but it strengthens my paradigm that complex models (financial, climate change, ocean rise, political election predictions) are often subject to unexpected forces that will skew the models.  Kudos to NASA for not stating the ISON will Absolutely be Brilliant in 2013 Q4... especially if it burns up as it gets to within a million miles of the sun.

So many moving parts...

Spot The International Spacestation

NASA has set up this handy link:  http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/index.cfm
(link here) ... that lets anyone with an email address or text-message equipped phone get an email or text message to alert them when the international space station will be within view of their city.

I signed up today, for both morning and evening alerts.  =)

AirPort Extreme's Excellence

Back in December, the weekend before Christmas, my 5 year old Cisco Linksys 2.4GHz 802.11g router decided it was time to stop transferring electrons efficiently, and to act intermittently as the sole device through which data was entering and leaving my home.   Our son was visiting, I'd just gotten a new MacBook Air, Dr Desert Flower had just gotten her new corporate iPhone 5, and our son brought his Visio PC and iPhone 4 so there were no shortage of devices wanting to connect to a router that kept saying "internet connection cannot be found"  (yes, first world problems, I know).

So I jumped in the car at 830pm that Sunday night, drove to BestBuy, found the router aisle, and perused the wide selection.  They had routers from $49 to $300, and a chart that showed number-of-users on one axis, with a "grade" on the other axis, and all the different makes and models in columns.  Cisco Linksys were conspicuously absent from the BestBuy offerings.   (the $300 was a 20 connection business hub, more than what I needed).

A mom and dad were about to buy the lowest, or 2nd lowest end router, and a blue shirted BestBuy drone was telling them about their selection, as I looked over the routers that BestBuy claimed could handle 7+ connections.  The failing Cisco router had 4 hardwired LAN ports out, and I was using them all (work computer, work fax/printer/copier, personal desktop, and DirectTV uplink [yes, sad that DirectTV needs/wants a LAN connection when it's supposed to be a satellite device. What's that DirectTV, you have problems with data quality, and are subject to the weather?  hmm? Sure, Cox Cable and your customer's bandwidth can bail you out]).

After helping the mom & dad, the blue shirted drone saw that I was not pleased with the "just 3 wired LAN outputs" on two of the higher end routers, and asked how many connections I needed.   I rapid fired off the hard wired and wifi connections I needed, and the drone instantly picked up the AirPort Extreme 802.11n WiFi box "this is what you need" he told me with confidence.  I was still skeptical.  The  AirPort's $179 price tag made me balk, when the Cisco Linksys (Netgear & Asus) were $99 each, and I was still uncomfortable with most-things-Mac. Not being a good poker player, it clearly showed on my face, and the drone countered "Your new Mac Book, and the iPhones, will connect instantly to the AirPort. Mac devices always get along".

His words were true.  I recalled the problems my work laptop had in finding the 95% dead Cisco router initially, and how my son's laptop PC couldn't find or connect without painstakingly reconfiguring, compared to  the seamless inherent fluidity that DDF's Mac Power Book from her former job, or the iPad, iPhones, and my AirBook had in easily finding whatever router is within range.  I grabbed the expensive AirPort Extreme box, made a beeline to the cash register rat maze, and begrudgingly forked out nearly $200 (with 8% tax), dashed back the 4 miles home, and opened the elegant Apple packaging.

No CDs, no configuration disks, a simple pictogram instruction manual explaining which cables to plug in first, 2nd, and third.  Powered up, my AirBook instantly found it, asked me what password I wanted to install upon it (good thing I was at home, without any neighbor squatters coincidentally logging on at the same time, as would happen in a large city like NYC, London, or other densely packed population centers), and the data stream was restored.  Everyone's device connected, readily, and the intermittent disconnection activity was vanquished from our happy home.  Merry Christmas, chez nous.

The Cisco Linksys gave me 5 solid years of service before POOF, giving up.  It had a bank of lights on the front, indicating data in and out, displaying which of the 4 LAN connections were active, and 2 unwieldily antennae sticking out the back, in a complex geometry black and blue plastic injection molded case.  The AirPort Extreme on the other hand has one big glowing green light, appears to be a large white plastic coaster for a 2 liter pitcher, and "just works", efficiently.  I am impressed with the beauty, simplicity, form, function, and quality of the AirPort Extreme.  As with most things in life, for the ones that are quality purchases, you do get what you pay for.

Wine, Puscifer & Blogging

Thank you to my buddy Ryan for this gem. (link here)   I never would have found it without his head's up.

If you speak German fluently, it is not that funny.  But if you have only a working knowledge of the Germanic language (as I do), it is hilarious and the subtitles don't match anything at all about Hitler or Stalin of WWII campaigns.  But it is intensely funny.  =)  I laughed so hard I cried,

"Donkey Punch the Night" - LMAO!

Inertia Creeps

And after listening to Daybehavior, I am in a Massive Attack mood.  Inertia Creeps is an awesome tune to have in one's head when slowly, slowly, slowly do yoga.

Ciao!   I am outta here!

Daybehavior - Train To Moscow

JustJoeP visitor Paulinda emailed links to me to Daybehavior's song "Train to Moscow" (from the 2012  album "Follow That Car!") that reminds me alot of Berlin (the band, not the city), Massive Attack, Moby, Erasure, Communards, and a little sprinkling of Mazzy Star.  The singer  - Paulinda - has a lovely voice.   It's light euro-techno-synth rock from Sweden, and not bad.



If it REALLY is Paulinda who emailed me (and not Daybehavior's publicist, manager, or some PR firm), then it is the nicest birthday present I've ever gotten from Sweden, and such a pleasant surprise!   Thank you Paulinda  =)  Your voice has an ethereal beauty about it, and Daybehavior's music is very easy to listen to and soak-in as one's work day finishes and you're getting ready to go practice yoga, oceanside.

Other songs - Silent Dawn, Hello, CityLights, It's a game, and Godspeed.  are similar in genre to Train To Moscow.  Have a listen, and enjoy.

Delicious Monkey Balls And No Pig Rectum

So I made it down the 1500 descent about 10X faster than it took to climb it.   Posted "speed limits" are 15 mph.   I tried my best to keep it under 20 mph, but my disk brakes experienced massive brake fade, and I think I need new rear brake shoes.  I know at times I was doing 30 mph, and on several straight aways perhaps 40 mph.   The rough, bumpy pavement made for a bone jarring, up-on-the-petals, downhill run.

The killjoy ladies at the Conservancy office who sold me my bike pass of course showed big, 8-1/2 x 11 laminated pictures of smashed windshields where caress bikers had crashed through bus and truck windshields when they came around a blind curve.  Yes ladies, I am not 21 years old, and I am Well Aware of my own mortality.  I didn't need to see broken glass images.  I know I am not invincible.

I found the Lobster Trap in tiny little Avalon, and the bike rack that is 2 shops away.   I was able to loop my cable lock through helmet, front tire, rear tire, frame and seat, all in one easy loop, and then staggered into the bar.

Deon the bar keep let me try a small shot of Lost Coast Downtown Brown.  It was delicious, so I got a double pint for $4, and ordered some Monkey Balls.  Monkey Balls are portabello mushrooms stuffed with ahi tuna, and then deep fried.  So delicious!  We'd first tried them when DDF, our son and I sojourned to Catalina in December.  They were even better yesterday!

Lobster Tail Ambiance

Then, since I was still hungry & thirsty, I ordered a Lost Coast Porter, and thought about some calamari.  I asked Deon if there was any chance that the calamari was actually pig rectum masquerading as squid, and he assured me "I've watched the cook slice it, pound it, and fry it. It's really squid".  10 minutes later when he served me the plate, he joked "enjoy your pig rectums".  By this time I was 1/2 way through the porter, and feeling no aches or pain whatsoever, so laughter ensued.

Lost Coast from Eureka California is a small craft beer producer (48th largest brewery in the US, at 60K barrels), started by Barbara Groom and Wendy Pound, who have a fascination with English Beer. I will be looking for more Lost Coast beers in the future!

At the end of the second double pint (or my first 1/2 gallon of beer), Deon asked if I wanted anything else, so I asked him what his favorite shot was?  He made me an anchor baby.  What's an "anchor baby"?  Cinnamon spiced Fireball whiskey, Tres Leche, and a cream rum that was similar to malibu.  It was creamy, and tasty.  Finishing with A coffee with Kahlua, I headed to the dock with 10 minutes to spare for the ferry ride back, enjoying nearly the entire 2 to 4pm happy hour at the Lobster Trap to the fullest.

A nearly empty return ferry, on a Wednesday night

A Murderous Ascent

One of the multiple murders I witnessed on Catalina Island; most were about a dozen birds each.

 After paying the $35 tourist extraction fee (extracting money form tourists) at the Catalina Island Conservancy, I began the Murderous Ascent up the airport road.  It's "paved" but think about the worst, hundred year old, poorly maintained, eroded, mountain road, with blind turns, rock slides, and a 1500 foot climb in just under 2 miles, and you can get an idea of how steep it is.  I call it "Murderous" because I saw (and heard) at least 3, but possibly 4 different murders as I climbed the road.


These were not little, cute, starling or black bird flocks.  These were Edgar Allen Poe's Raven sized creatures who CAWED, CAWED, CAWED, chirped, whistled, and even growled at me when I paused to take pictures, drink some water, and look over the scenery.  Each of them could have easily taken a chihuahua into the air with little difficulty.  They were eyeing me to see if I was going to drop any food, or wrappers, or anything they could scavenge, and when I only quaffed water they turned their territorial rivalries against other murders who were coming by to see what was happening.

Hey, you American Foxes!

It was a very good thing that I paid the $35 extraction fee.  It turns out that the road from Avalon to the Airport is NOT a "public road".  It is owned, entirely, by the Catalina Island Conservancy, gifted to the Conservancy by the Wrigley family, who used to own the entire island.  There's a gate at the upper north end of Avalon before the roughest ascent begins, and if you don't have a $35 bike pass, you're supposed to turn back.  I'd read on-line of other bicyclers who "didn't get a pass and never saw a ranger all day".  Well, lucky me, at the top of the ascent the Conservancy was sealing the bumpy road with some kind of sticky white, soapy sealant, and I saw at least 8 ranger pick-up trucks during my ride.

The first ranger who saw me cordially asked to see my permit.  I showed him the little wallet card the Conservancy ladies in Avalon gave to me, and he went on to press for my green tag bike tag.  I told him it kept falling off so I put it in my backpack (as I tried to catch my breath).  The friendly ranger smiled, and said "please put it on your handle bars, and I'll stop getting calls about the cyclist without a permit. I've already gotten 3 calls on you this morning".  I acquiesced, and put the tag on my bike.

Once up on the crest of the mountain, the road generally followed the crest line towards the airport.  It was 8 miles more to get to the airport.  I made it mostly there - to within a mile and a 1/2 of the airport before I turned around to head back into town and not miss $2 craft beers at The Lobster Trap's happy hour.

Yes, there's Buffalo on Catalina Island

Another Murder at the reservoir

Camera pointing east - those are the San Bernadino Mountains in the distance.

6 Miles In 20 Minutes, to Dana Point

It's 6 miles from our California homestead to the Catalina Express Harbor dock at Dana Point.  Ferry leaves at 9:30 and they recommend you get there at least 15 minutes in advance.  I figured it might take me 30 or 40 minutes to do those 6 miles, even though the elevation change is about 800 feet downhill, to sea level.  The ambient temperature at 830am was about 45F, so I dressed warmly, but also knew that it would be closer to 70F when I'd be on Catalina Island, so "layering" is was the right strategy.

I rolled into the Dana Point Harbour 20 minutes after I left the house.  That's an 18 mph average speed, but keep in mind, there were 5 large hills (about 100 ~ 200 feet each) that I had to climb in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears (of the 21-speed) after I lost my downhill momentum, and 8 stop-light intersections (3 of which were red when I got there).  I felt more like I just turned 74 years old, as winded as I became from this downhill jaunt.  Getting to the dock early I had a solid 20 extra minutes to catch my breath,  wrap my bike's crank, brake discs, and seat in plastic shopping bags, to keep them dry.  Catalina Express puts the bikes (and tool chests, oxygen tanks, and other heavy roll-on items) on the stern, and some salt water spray can get on the items.

During the ferry ride out to the island (which takes about 80 minutes) I saw several seals, a few human paddle boarders, 3 pods of dolphins including 3 individual dolphins who jumped out of the water in parallel with the ferry, and hundreds of sea birds.  So-far, so good for the day's trip.

A Large Carnival Cruise ship anchored off of Avalon's harbour.

Starting Off With A Flat

What greeted me yesterday in the garage at 630am.

I had a plan to go on a bike ride on Catalina Island for my birthday.  Catalina Express ferry service gives you a free round trip ticket on your birthday if you register online, saving the traveller $75 (not an insignificant amount).  Bringing a bike is an extra $3.50 each way (as opposed to renting one, pot-luck quality, on the island, for $50), so I registered online, told them I was bringing a bike, prepared my Camelback, water bottles, almonds, fresh organic plums and apples, sun screen, helmet and bike gloves the night before my trip.  Lacking complete foresight, I neglected to check the garage to make sure that my bike was in full working order.  Duh.

I last rode it 2 weeks ago with Dr Desert Flower in Aliso Canyon, and incorrectly assumed it would be fine.   The flat tire on the rear axel almost threw a wrench in my day's plans.   I scrambled to find the patch kits that my son had recommended, and inhaled some breakfast rapidly, before Dr Desert Flower suggested the obvious "didn't you buy spare inner tubes?"  Indeed I did!  Thorn resistant, 29 x 1.75 Arvenir tubes with Presta vales!

So I removed my first-ever Presta valve nut, drew the tread out of the rim, extracted the flat inner tube, and inserted the replacement.   Then, I tried, in complete futility to inflate the new tube.  I didn't play close enough attention to how my son had changed a flat on DDF's bike in December, and had a Schrader vale mentality, which is completely counter-productive to inflating a Presta valve.  BUt being an engineer, I figured it out after a little trial and error (I should have googled it here, but my hands were dirty and I didn't want to trash this brushed silver anodized aluminum Airbook's elegance).


Without too much trouble I found a very small but very tough small gauge wire that had penetrated the tread and punctured the OEM tube.  Pliers were required to extract the little wire.  I wanted to make sure to not just install a new tube that would immediately puncture from any lodged in debris.  I remounted the tire tread, double checked the Presta valve, and my confidence grew that the bike would be in good shape again soon.

Tube inflated, then I deflated it (as my dad always taught me as a kid, to 'get the kicks out first') then re-inflated it again.  Remounted the wheel back into the frame with surprising ease.  The Shimano de-railer  had good slack, the axle quick releases tightened back up without any issue.  I tested the brakes, all was well.  The 8:30am departure time from the house would not be missed!

Such Terrible Weather

It was a hard decision today as to whether to do yoga in the sunny backyard, or to do yoga at the Salt Creek Beach up on the grassy knoll.   I went with the back yard, as DDF and I are going to go out to dinner tonight, and I didn't want to have to Rush Back Home in the late afternoon to get all cleaned up for dinner.

This was the local weather forecast that was shown on the Catalina Island Ferry last night on my return voyage.

Yeah, it's rough to live in Southern California.  =)

And I wonder, how many different adjectives can be put in front of, or behind the word "Doppler".  Here we have "megadoppler".  In SC there was "superdoppler".  I've seen "accu-doppler", "doppler now", and "local doppler" in other TV markets.  Sad that most Americans couldn't explain even the most basic principles of the Doppler Effect.... =\