Holiday Cheer PSA

Remember, keep that Holiday Cheer flowing.

Don't let the hustle and bustle get you down.

Focus on the great things about this season!

Partial Year End Music List

Stuff I've been digging this year...in no particular order:

Dan Auerbach--Keep It Hid
Dawes--North Hills
Son Volt--American Central Dust
Silversun Pickups--Swoon
The Avett Brothers--I & Love & You
The BPA--I Think We're Going to Need a Bigger Boat
Moby--Wait For Me
Gomez--A New Tide
Major Lazer--Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do
Nellie McKay - Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute To Doris Day


Stuff I want to listen to some more:

Metric--Fantasies
The XX--X
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros--Up From Below
Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears--Tell 'Em What Your Name Is
East Hundred--Slow Burning Crimes

By no means complete. Perhaps I'll add more a bit later.

What have you been digging this year?

It's been too long

Sunday night I fell asleep with the mental film of Sunday's ride replaying in my head.

That hasn't happened after a ride in months.

It was a beautiful thing.

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

I missed it by a day. Damn. Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day. He was arrested in 1605 for his part in the Gunpowder Plot, which was attempting to blow up Parliament, hopefully killing the anti-Catholic King James I and all his Protestant cronies. Catholics and Puritans were having a bad time of it under the staunchly Protestant government. Ah, the good ol' days.

The Authorities found him in the cellar under Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. Of course, he was vilified for his role. And tortured to extract a confession. And then sentenced to be hung and then drawn and quartered. They knew how to execute a motherfucker in those days. Supposedly, he jumped off the gallows and broke his own neck to bypass the rest of the gruesomeness. Depends what account you believe.

And, since this was a conspiracy, there of course is a conspiracy theory to paint him in a positive light. Like, he was set up by the Man, man. Most of the other people involved in the Gunpowder Plot were known to the authorities. Think someone would have noticed them amassing 36 barrels of gunpowder? And the letter was a fakery that was shown to the King. And it would've behooved the government to catch some so-called terrorist to better consolidate its own power, especially because there were a few other smaller plots uncovered prior to this one. Sound familiar, anyone?

If you want to see a recent big screen adaptation of a graphic novel that paints Guy Fawkes as a hero, check out V for Vendetta.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Feel free to interpret that either way.

Never forget the threat to the government and be ever vigilant?

Or never forget that tyranny and discrimination should always be struggled against, even if it's the government?

I prefer the latter.

Built Blackbuck

Built and ridden last weekend. Built as an SS because I was mechanically lazy. Seems pretty playful--short wheelbase, short chainstays. Easy to get up and over stuff.

The weak link was the pilot.

Need to swap the rear tire for a Mtn King to deal with the leaves and slickness of autumn and adjust the EBB to get the cranks higher and the chain tighter. And play with the air pressures everywhere, too. Back end was a bit bouncy due to erring on the side of caution, and the fork was bit soft for my taste due to following the recommended starting pressures.

After riding the geared squishy ever since July, the instantaneous engagement of the SS caught me off guard a couple times. Man, it's nice.

How will it last? I don't expect the world of it. However, Mark Slate said he does not know of any breaking yet. Bring on the Michaux torture lab.

A few more rides will tell the tale.

Oh yeah, a friend ran into the Kona rep I got my Hei Hei from and told him I broke the frame. The guy said I deserved some sort of reward? How about a new 2010 frame?

That would work.

Cross Post of the Day

I put some of this on the MBM blog, too.

The Buck Ridge II stumpage sale was awarded to Merritt Burdge from Spring Run, PA. He/they (?) placed the high bid of $14, 563.00 for 29 acres of saw timber and pulpwood.

The Wirt Road stumpage sale was awarded to Mohn's Lumber from Waynesboro, PA. They placed the high bid of 170,008.00 for 303 acres of saw timber and pulpwood.

These sales were posted down here previously.

How much are trails worth?

How much economic influx could a region see from being a recreation destination?

How much could/should the system change?

Different people want to see different things.

How are they balanced, prioritized, compromised?

There's no guarantee existing trail treads will be respected. Afterwards, they may be reopened, or they may not be salvageable. Guess we'll see.

The Next Contestant

The replacement for the Inbred arrived today at my office. Designed by Mark Slate of WTB fame, it's an Of Spirit Blackbuck. They make but one size, and it looked like it would fit me. So I took the chance.

Some neat design elements on this, like the curved seat stays and the disk brake tab inside the rear triangle. Tensioning is via an EBB with a split shell set up.

One thing I'm not sure about is the rear brake hose routing underneath the BB and chainstay. I fear a severed hydro line when caught between a rock and a hard place. I'll consider it further during the build.