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Friday, December 25th, 2009
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the_axel
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Today is ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) the_siobhan and my 8th anniversary.
Unsurprisingly, I can readily remember the date. the_siobhan slightly less so.
We'd been seeing an awful lot of each other and went through a bunch of hemming & hawing about whether we were going to remain friends with benefits or become a couple.
As a result of an adventurous trip back from Saturnalia in Chicago via being stuck in Benton Harbor, MI with a broken down Prius, I'd been leaning to the couple side. the_siobhan had ran out of a restaurant to go hide in the car when I said as much in Sarnia on the way back.
So, we woke up side by side on Christmas morning, and after a bit of a discussion [1] I said something to the effect of "So, we're going to make a go of it?"
She said "I guess so" and the rest is history...
[1] Possibly including the fact that having Christmas Day as our anniversary was a great get out of family event obligation should the need arise,
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Comments: Read 29 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
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fudjo
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Close to this time of year 7 years ago, I took a trip to Europe and started this livejournal account so I could write of my travels. That trip took me to Munich, Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava. My friend ahaseurus recommended that I check out the dessert wines from the Tokaj region of Hungary. At the time, I didn't realize I could drink (I do still have beer and wine allergies), but I did bring back a sampler pack of the wines. I could have small tastes of things, and I tried the wines with arcanus and evildrgo. Much to my delight, I found that not only did I have no allergic reaction to these wines, they were also as extraordinary as ahaseurus described. I fell in love with them immediately.
Three years later, I visited Budapest again and stopped by the same wine shop - Présház - and bought a handful of bottles. Two of those bottles were from 1999, which is possibly the best year of Tokaj wines since the new renaissance of the wines began in 1990 (2000 may rival it, with 1993 being the first "vintage" year). However, for the higher grades of these wines, it's best to wait for them to be at least 10 years old. ahaseurus offered to cellar them for me, with the agreement that I share some with him when I open them. :)
In November of this year, the two bottles from 1999 became 10 years old, so it was about time to open one of them. I'd never tried a wine from the Szepsy estate - reputed to make the finest Tokaji wines and whose heritage dates back to the invention of the aszú style back in the 1600's - so that's the one I chose. I got in touch with ahaseurus and we got together for dinner and drinks:
Szepsy
Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos 1999
Color: dark topaz
Nose: faint cinnamon, honey, apple, sweet but deep and dark, dried apricot, tea, hint of saffron, hint of lemon
Palate: cinnamon at the very front, then what I first thought was green pepper but was actually a particular kind of tea my friend happened to have in a tin in his house (he'll look up the kind, as it was unlabeled - the resemblance was uncanny). sweet, crystallized honey, dried apricot, tea, faint saffron, stony, thick and coating, faintly lemony, slightly tart
Finish: dried apricot, apple skin, tea, semi-sweet, crisp, _very_ long
It didn't have as intense a sweetness as I've found in other 6 puttonyos aszús, but it was wonderfully balanced and complex. I was also thrilled that it had the tea notes I found in the wines from Monyók last year. Overall, it's unforgettable, and if by some stroke of luck I find it again, I'll buy another. I look forward to trying my 2003 in 2013!
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
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http://tsaleh.blogspot.com/2009/12/woke-up.html Got out of bed
Shoveled a couple of inches off the driveway while the coffee brewed.
Had some breakfast.
Hopped on the bike.
Rode in to work slowly.
Got covered in snow.
And completed 100% bike commuting days on the year.
I think the last time I drove to the office was april 2008.
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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silentq
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I'm getting spoiled by having indoor bike parking at work. Last night when I stopped at the grocery store and came back out again after about half an hour, my bike seat was frozen solid. I've been ignoring the outdoor rack that we have at work ever since I saw that the restraining bolts were bent, most likely the result of a vehicle plowing into the rack.
There's a brightly painted single speed bike parked outside my office, neon orange and yellow, and it's been engulfed by the snow bank.
Last night when I set my bike down at the bottom of the basement steps, a big chunk of dirty snow was knocked loose. I think I'm going to repurpose the slowly shredding face towel for slush duty.
I'm curious to see how the building management will react to the bike room here at work getting covered in dirty and salty slush. They've nixed any further ideas about a bike cage, so this is the best we've had it for a while.
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
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silentq
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So it turns out that Sunday was Do Nothing But Read Day. I read two books, in my pjs, on the couch (no shoes), with lots of tea, with occasional breaks to watch the snow fall outside. It was just what I needed. :)
The two books I read were ones from my library, that I'd already read twice. I've also re-read two new books this month, restarting them as soon as I reached the last pages. Part of it is having enjoyed the books so much that I didn't want to choose a new book to read next that wouldn't live up to them. Part of it was a draw to the familiar, finding new facets of a story instead of a whole new story. The last book I read is the first in a series, and I'm almost scared to go out and get the rest of it, I might not come up for air until I've finished them all twice too. :)
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
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the_siobhan
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Because all the cool kids are doing it.
Toronto, ON
Amsterdam, NL
Bury St Edmunds, UK
Cheltenham, UK
Brighton, UK
London, UK
Stratford, ON
Long Beach, CA
Albany, NY
Boston, MA
There may have been a trip to Detroit in there somewhere too, but I rather suspect that was last year.
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Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
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the_axel
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Apparently I got about a bit this year:
Toronto, ON
Seattle, WA
Long Beach, WA
Bury St Edmunds, UK
Glasgow, UK
Cheltenham, UK
Brighton, UK
London, UK
Long Beach, CA
Ferndale, MI
Chicago, IL
Grand Rapids, MI
New York, NY
Albany, NY
Boston, MA
Birch Run, MI
Saratoga Springs, NY
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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the_axel
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is going to be July 3rd, 2010. More details closer to the time.
As always, everyone's invited.
Just remember that there's a train line out back for douchebags.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
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Saturday, December 19th, 2009
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fudjo
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I finally ran out of excuses for not trying that rock climbing thing all the kids are into these days. ghostofantigone showed me the ropes on Thursday (thanks!). Ok, fine, it's really fun. My upper body needs a ton of work, and two days later my muscles have informed that, yes, they need a lot of work and they've all filed complaints.
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Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
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silentq
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From Magnolia's holiday tasting party (I didn't try everything, but these were the ones I liked best of what I did taste):
7. Tikal, Patriota, Bonarda/Malbec Blend, Argentina $28
16. Hugel, Gentil (white blend [no chardonnay]), Alsace France. $14 [bought one bottle already]
19. Coto de Imaz, Rioja Reserva $20
26. Catena Malbec, Argentina $25
Apparently I was in a red mood that day. I'm usually all about the whites, but I've been liking a lot of Malbecs lately, the Tikal tasted very plummy, though I can't quite recall why I liked the Catena.
They're doing a Scotch tasting today, I'm planning to go over at around 4pm to meet fudjo, buy some wine, and try not to buy any Scotch. :)
(I totally failed at going out last night, had a low fever from the shots and was in bed by 11pm)
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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the_siobhan
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I went to two different Irish pubs last weekend.
Toronto is lousy with pubs that claim to be Irish and English. Apparently the key to selling a lot of beer in this town is to hang a Guinness sign in front of your door and adopt a name like "The Pride of Cork" or the "The Ass and Sparrow". I have no idea why but places that market themselves as being fresh from the mothership see a lot of the pieces of coloured paper with pictures of the Queen on it. Maybe it's the connotation that they hail from places that know how to make decent beer, but I don't see a lot of pubs that claim to be German or Belgium in the city. So I dunno.
Anyway, the first one was one of the typical modern half-bar-half-restaurants that slaps an Irish name on themselves, makes the waitresses wear a green scarf, puts Guinness on the draught list and figure they're done. Here's a hint for you, if you think that Irish "poutine" is a dish made with potatoes, cheese and gravy you have no frickin' idea what you are talking about.
The second place was a completely different story. An actual Irish pub. As in a place full of Irish people, where Irish people go to hang out with other Irish people and listen to an Irish man singing Irish music written by other Irish people about stuff in Ireland. And where conversations take place about what part of a little tiny island they all come from.
And from the moment I walked in that door I was six years old.
See like a lot of newcomers my parents' first friends were people they met through the local immigrant community - pubs mostly. My dad's family lived in an area when he was young that was given the nickname Cabbagetown because of the Irish and Scottish immigrants, so most of his friends going to school were from the same background. When my family first arrived it's was those old buddies along with his family members that formed the initial ready-made social circle. Everybody in my little world had an accent. At parties they played music by bands that sang about the rebellion against British rule or made rude jokes in Gaelic. My mother would listen to the Irish programs on the multicultural radio station to get news and music from home.
After a few years of living here of course, they picked up new friends among neighbours and co-workers and their social circles became more mixed. Once I started school and making my own friends I started spending time around adults who came from different backgrounds. Because the change was so gradual and I was so young it never really occurred to me that a change had happened at all.
And then one day, 40-odd years later I walked into an Irish pub. And instantly I was six.
(Fortunately beer can cure that.)
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Comments: Read 19 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, December 18th, 2009
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the_siobhan
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Apparently I can send a coupon to 10 of my friends who have free accounts to upgrade to a paid account for half price.
Anybody who wants one, say the word.
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Comments: Read 8 or Add Your Own.
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silentq
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I was planning to head over to Occupational Health to get my seasonal flu shot today, and right before I was about to leave, I saw an email saying that they had H1N1 available as well. I managed to get in before the rush, and asked for H1N1 (I asked about the non-preservative version, but that's reserved for people with egg allergies). The RN ended up giving me both shots, after he assured me that they wouldn't interact. *crosses fingers*
For my reference, H1N1 in my left arm, seasonal in my right.
And while I have this tag going, my left knee has been painful and giving out every so often the past two days. I am not amused. I'm going to try doing some light cardio when I get home and then stretching it aggressively, I think something's pulling on the knee cap, it keeps feeling like it wants to shoot out the back of my leg. :/
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Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
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silentq
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A box arrived for me from Amazon, I think the contents have been gift wrapped (I haven't opened it yet, I'm waiting until next week), so if you sent it, it's arrived safe and sound and a personalised thank you will go out on Dec 25. :)
I solved my chilly ear problem from last night (my ears were red for an hour after getting home, kinda disturbing): fleece ear band under the fleece balaclava. The balaclava is fine if there's no wind, but it gaps just enough around my face to let the wind grab my ears and freeze them. This morning, my ears are fine, but I need to dig out my fleece socks, as my feet were a tiny bit chilly with just the wool ones. I think my winter boots really are giving up the ghost, they're rated down to -40C and it's only -10C or so. :/ Ski mittens for the win, though, I haven't even had to put the liner in yet.
The real test will be if I leave the house again tonight after getting home, I've got two potential parties on the schedule.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, December 17th, 2009
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nannyo
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I'm making up a knitting pattern...designing may be a strong word for it, as it's a boxy sweater for a baby. I'm knitting the 6-12 month size, does anyone out there want to test the 12-18 month size? Or the 3-6 month size? I don't really know how the sizing things work.
It's an ultrachunky, ultraquick fisherman's style jumper to be put on over other clothes to keep small folk warm in the wintertime, knit on 8mm needles. Anyone have any experience writing things up? Could I put it up as a Ravelry pattern do you think? Guess I had better finish it first...
We have put up our Christmas tree, and it looks ACE, super festive, and the house smells of tasty treats, and Gwen gets excited every time we open the door for the next advent calendar picture. All is well!
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
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http://tsaleh.blogspot.com/2009/12/vegas-trip-red-rock-loop-sort-of.html I have been doing a righteously crappy job in race and travel reporting this year. Maybe I will catch up a bit over Christmas break, or maybe I will just sleep in, but here is what I did the week after Thanksgiving. Business trip to Vegas. Here is the good part:
Ok, I hate Vegas. I have fond memories from the years 1998-2000 or so attending interbike and staying at a hotel on the strip, but boy is it kind of nasty when there is no interbike to distract me. I apologize to everyone who I have scoffed at when they complain about Vegas and interbike being in Vegas. It does suck. My bad. You were right. I think interbike anywhere for me would be fine, but I now agree that interbike anywhere but vegas is finer. Although, I might enjoy interbike in Vegas more than interbike in Anaheim (without a car). But I was not there for interbike, I was there for a work meeting, so Vegas, you suck.
My hotel was just one megablock from the strip, across the street from a golf course. I packed my bike friday and my running shoes with the plan to do some after meeting riding at night and also a big ride planned the day after the meeting, and perhaps some running on the golf course at night. Turns out the golf course was surrounded by, no joke, something like 20 foot fences. Probably to keep dinosaurs out. They successfully eliminated any chance of me running though. So the running shoes stayed packed.
It took about 20 minutes to walk the megablock from my hotel to the strip. It was not a pleasant walk. The good news is that there was a cool monorail going to the strip from just outside my hotel. The bad news is that the monorail costs 5 dollars PER RIDE. While probably more pleasant than walking in vegas, this fails the public transportation model. You can get from Fremont to San Francisco for 5 bucks on BART, no way less than a mile of walking is worth a 5 dollar trip. Unless it comes with a 42 ounce steak. I did go to the strip one night and got stuck in the worlds biggest most empty mall. Glargh. But anyway, lets talk about what i did do and what was fun.
As part of the meeting, I did get to ride in a very cool and very expensive restored landcruiser on a tour of yucca mountain. This was fun, but it takes forever to get there. Which is good. because that is probably where you want to store waste. Forever away.
Me and the really fun vehicle:
Me and the yucca mountain:
The next day I tried to get up really early and ride from my hotel to the Red Rock Canyon loop and back before my 12:45 flight back home. I splurged on a 6 am room service breakfast so I would be well fueled and ready to go by 6:30 at the absolute latest. I got up got ready to go, ate my expensive egg and coffee breakfast, checked the temperature outside and it was 28 degrees at 6:30 with a low sun. Crap. I am used to cold, but I was not packing my subfreezing kit with me, so I waited about twenty minutes. The sun was still barely up, but it was a balmy 30, so I hopped on the fixie friday and went on my merry way. I was staying near the convention center and to get to the main east west bike route (Alta) I pretty much needed to head the wrong way for a bit and then loop north around the strip through downtown and back west on Alta.
Fortunately I had had some email correspondence with Bob from Hawaii from the bike friday list and he gave me some heads up on the route and a link to his map-my-ride map of his route when he rode the loop a few weeks before I did. I also had the chance to stop by a bike shop an pick up a las vegas cycling map and plot out my route. Unfortunately the map considered this a bike route:
That is South Maryland Parkway, three lanes each way with no apparent shoulder due to the fact that they pretty much oil sealed every road in Vegas recently and there were no visible traffic lines anywhere. But hey, look at the photo bigger, see there on the right? Hawaiian food at the Walgreens! Bob would have been pleased. Probably...
Not a great route, but not a big deal at 7 AM. What was kind of a pain were all the traffic lights that take minutes to get through. It took a long time to get to downtown and across the highway and headed west. Alta pretty much starts on the west side of Highway 15 and has a bike lane all the way out to Red Rock Canyon. Just as Alta starts you pass by YAEGB (yet another excellent Gehry building), the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health:
Alta pretty much climbs steadily from downtown out to Red Rock Canyon, it was a slow cold grind on the way out there. It took about an hour for my fingers to warm up as the climbing kicked up a bit. There were at least 4 sections of road construction that required taking a lane amid Los Angeles quality SUV assholes. There were also a fair number of construction signs planted in the middle of the bike lane. Sometimes they were facing the other way. I assume your experiences may vary greatly, but I did not particularly enjoy the ride out on Alta. It is something like 11 miles of stop and go traffic with lots of construction. Feh. Probably would have been fine sans construction, but it was there. After an hour and a half of riding I finally felt like I was on the outskirts of the city:
But there are no outskirts in Vegas really, just varying densities of sprawl. If the economy ever kicks up again, I am pretty sure it will be sprawl right up to the Red Rock Canyon loop. There were lots of subdivisions sketched out in the desert awaiting houses. Anyhow, I think it took about 2 hours for me to get to the visitors center from my hotel via this route. Probably 22 miles or so. Once I got across 15 i was riding pretty hard to try to get to the loop and through it so I could get back to the hotel, pack the bike, shower and get to the airport. Alas. Reality kicked in. I had no time to do the route.
So enjoy pictures of me getting to the Red Rock sign:
Near Red Rocks:
Look mini-joshua trees, lower reaches of higher altitude mojave desert is soooo cute:
I stopped at the really nice new visitor center, got a post card, ate a bar, refilled my bottles and headed for home. My camera ran out of batteries so no pics of the visitors center, but it was nice. It took 1 hour and 15 minuted to get back to the hotel. All told it was 3 and a half hours elapsed time. It would have probably have been comfortable if I had 5 or 5.5 hours to spare for the round trip, but it was too darn cold and it took too long to get out there. Red Rock Canyon, you and I have unfinished business. In retrospect, if I had a rental car, it would have been wiser to drive out there, do the loop and bike some of the scenic highways outside of town, like this one heading away from town from the Canyon loop:
and then just pack up and drive to the airport and go home. Or just take a later flight. Or something. If you are planning to do this loop and you have a choice, I recommend staying at a hotel at the north end of the strip on the west side, or downtown, that will save you some very gratuitous lights and city riding. It was about 44 miles round trip as i did it. That was one of my longest rides of the year, so I am pretty happy I did what I did. I enjoyed it. I hope you learned something. I bet no one is still reading. Here are the rest of the photos from my trip.
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