Building pedals

I want to build my own effects pedal as well as a guitar. I think it would be awesome to have something I completely build on my own, and apparently they sound worlds better than pedals like Boss and Digitech. I think I'm going to try to buy a kit and build it after Christmas. I love how you can put your own style on the graphics and such, and change the sound around. I think I'm gonna have a blast with it.

I'm also back to playing guitar more often too. It's good to start playing and building my skill up a little. I'm nowhere near where I used to be, but I'm better than I was a month ago. I'm amazed at how much I will always suck, but at least I'm getting better.

ZZ Top

One of the coolest bands of all time is ZZ Top. La Grange is quite possibly one of the greatest rock songs ever produced. I think Billy Gibbons is sounding even better in his old age. I would kill to go to a live concert of theirs. I really really really really want to. Claire, you wanna go see some rock gods? Even John Mayer digs these guys!








By the way, the more I see that pussy J. Mayer play, the more I like him. Nice job holding your own with the big boys, Mayer!

Black Ops Revisited

Well, I ended getting Black Ops from Claire. Its a good game, but not nearly on the same level as Modern Warfare I and II. The end was a little hokey and the story didn't grip me like the last two. Ah well, can't make a killer every time I suppose. Perhaps the next one. In a year. Hopefully...

Santa's Tramp

The song "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt has to be one of the sluttiest songs written in the 50's. At work it comes on about 6 to 8 times a day, and every day I hear another lyric that confirms she's a gold digger looking to get bling for sexual favors from Santa. And she wants a ring. She doesn't mean on the phone.

But hey, what do you expect from Catwoman?

Telecaster

I want to build a guitar. I want a simple telecaster that is beat up and minimal. I want a Snakehead style head stock, single pick up, and thin finish. Maybe a La Cabronita pick up set up. I want a nice easy player. And I want to build it from the little pieces up.

Ghost

New Kick

So a few days ago I realized I haven't really been playing guitar much. Now, the fact that I haven't been playing isn't news, but the reason why I've been latent on playing is. I haven't really enjoyed playing metal in a while. I still enjoy the music, but I'm not having as much fun playing it like I used to. I was listening to music and thought "Hey, I wanna learn to play that!" I want to learn how to blues, rockabilly, and the like. I want a Gretsch guitar with a nice old tube amp. I don't need loud, I need smooth.

I found a beautiful Gretsch today in a shop, but its out of my price range. Someday.... I also found a really nice little amp, again, out of my price range...

Oh well, until then, here is something to sink in.

Bye Bye, Subaru

After 10 years of perfect behavior, I've had to say goodbye to my little roo. Due to a rear ending from a porche, my scuby was totalled yesterday and sent off. I don't know what I'm going to get next, I'm just trying to find a good deal on something that will last me as long as my subaru would have.

So fair well, my Subaru. I will miss the days in the snow, the rain, and packing you full of stuff to haul from state to state. You were a great little car....

The Duke's Tub

Took a bath in john Wayne's bathtub in Roche Harbor. Wah-hah.

New Vegas

Yes please. I can't wait. Seriously.



I really wanted to get the new Call of Duty game, but that's just not going to happen. I tried playing Cod MW2 the other day and Claire and my sister both pretty much lost it. The time needed to play CoD BO would pretty much mean I will be single. Oh well, I will miss you, Call of Duty...

FUCK OFF MICROSOFT

Windows XP has a problem with Service Pack 3 and AMD processors playing together. I just downloaded SP3 and low and behold the computer is in an endless loop. Microsoft's solution? NOTHING. SP3 came out almost 3 years ago and they still haven't fixed it. Thanks MS, you bunch of window-lickers.

Chains

I messed up. Not really, I did things as I've always done, but this time things went wrong. I was cleaning the chain of my 636 and the rag caught and pulled my hand in. It fell on me and when I picked it up, I noticed my thumb hurt. Now, I've had the feeling that this bike was beginning to spiritually hate me. Ever since I pulled it off the track I have had problems with it. About 5 minutes after I put street plastics back on it fell over off the kickstand somehow and smashed all bodywork. Later the battery went completely dead without warning and it sat for a few years. Some friends asked to pull it out and fix it up to ride, a situation that ended in us no longer being friends. The battery that they replaced died completely after only 3 months, and had to be replaced again. Corey took the bike for a few months and it treated him well. I rode it once to work and the next day went to clean the chain as it had be very neglected. That was the last straw. I need to get rid of the bike, it no longer wants to be a part of me, and I need to respect that.

Claire has been taking care of me. She took me to the hospital and put up with me bossing her around while getting there. She held my good hand while they patched me up and has been tending to me since we've been back. I don't know what I would do without her anymore. I love you, Claire...

Now, I'm a little bit shorter in the thumb. I'm waiting for it to heal up so I can start learning how to use it again. I'm not going to let it slow me down at all or keep me from doing anything.

Firecracker 5000

I'm feeling this today, after two nights of sleep. Fun little run.

My sister's truck

My parents bought this truck with the intent to make it my first truck and we never got around to that. So, 13 years later, my little sister picks up the ball and decides she's going to build it. Awesome! She's gonna love it!

Trying to get it on the trailer, it ended up coming down the hard way. There weren't any brakes on the truck. Anywhere.


The girl is happy

Lanyard

Figured I'd try to carry a different way today. Put a little lanyard on a Spyderco I have and flipped the clip K-corner to where I normally have them to carry in my pocket. We'll see how it works out, it might switch it all over if it works.

Gonna start looking at new paracord stuff for kicks.

Food

I consider myself a fairly decent cook. I enjoy most of the things I make, and most of the people I've cooked for seem to enjoy what I've made as well. However, when it comes to my girlfriend, there has yet to be anything she has enjoyed without some complaint. Most things she will eat, scrunch her nose a bit, and then say "it's not bad", and then proceed to tell me whats wrong with something as she puts it in her mouth. "The potatoes are too hard; the meat isn't cooked enough; its too dry; it was cooked too long; something is just missing; you like stuff too plain." Even if something is "pretty good" (in the falling tone, no exclamation point at the end of that phrase) I get a list of things she would have done differently to make it better. Then to top it all off, I then get to hear about how awesome of a cook her mom was, and how she (my girlfriend) is capable of being a little Suzie Homemaker that could make anything and it will be the most wonderful thing you've ever had.

If that wasn't bad enough, I have to deal with her kids that don't want to eat anything you can't find on a drive through menu. Steak and potatoes? Nonsense, tacos and refried beans! Grilled fish with fruits and veggies? Hell no, spaghetti and chicken nuggets! Seriously, I know kids are picky, but can I make anything halfway healthy without getting the third degree? I'm not even trying to make salads steamed veggies, just something that isn't out of a can or heavily processed.

Tonight, the kids are gone and I was going to grill up some mahi mahi (I got a beautiful cut that looked delicious) with some pineapple and rice with veggies. I was looking up recipes and called her to ask if she liked pineapple, then threw a couple of thoughts out for maybe butter with lemon or peppers. I got a quick snap about cooking the fish enough and how those flavors don't mix (duh, I was asking if there was something specifically she liked to build on). By the end of the convo the situation ended with me putting the fish in the freezer and we're gonna go grab something quick and easy on the beach because she just "isn't that hungry right now". So much for another healthy meal.

I'm about done cooking for her and the kids. They wanna live off of crap, fantastic. I'm not going to expend much more energy when the best of compliments I hear is a slow and moaning "it's okay."

Good note, I got some frozen ahi steaks today while getting the mahi mahi. My fat ass is gonna eat well without them.

Muscle Cars

Jesus I need one. I want a 65, 66, or 67 GTO badly!



I'd definitely settle for a Fury III though...

AAAAAAAaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha!!

Just a note

The situation with the off shore oil station that broke and is dumping 4,000,000 gallons (100,000 barrels) of crude oil per day is something that is breaking my heart. I know that the planet is basically run off oil and its a much needed evil, but my god, how could we let something like this happen? It's not just a leak that let off some oil but was fixed. This is a leak that has been going on for close to a month and no one has any idea how to stop it. How did we mess up that bad?

This spill even in its current state is going to have ecological effects (to the point of mass damage and destruction) on the Gulf of Mexico for multiple decades. It will probably cause major issues for the rest of the world soon if the oil gets into the gulf stream and begins to travel in the currents.

Again, it breaks my heart. I don't have any solutions, I don't know how to help, and I don't feel that blaming corporations is going to be any consolation. I just hope someone finds a way soon and stops this. Quite literally, the ocean is currently being destroyed.

Cherenkov Radiation

I didn't go on a trip to the Reed College Reactor in Portland. I didn't originally want to go, but now I'm bummed because I would have liked to have seen this light in real life. Cherenkov radiation is beautiful.

Cherenkov radiation is electromagnetic radiation created from a charged particle (flying off an atom during a nuclear reaction, usually an electron) moving through a medium (water in this case) faster than the speed that light would travel through it, causing this blue glow. I want to see it in real life so bad...

Hollis

I do want....

Coming along

Tried to get it started today but that just didn't happen. I need to put the headlight back together because I think a few of those wires are part of the ignition system. Also, the #3 carb is leaking, which means I'm rebuilding all the carbs. Oh well, got the valves and points adjusted, the petcock sorted out, and the exhaust put on (although I need to still make hangers). Not a bad days work. Got some gas in my eye though...

Post Plague

Remember that really hot girl from Winds of Plague that quit? She's still around apparently, just not doing music. Looks like vintage bikes are more her thing...

Mini Trail 50

One of the boys from Tri Cities just built this guy. I think its awesome and would love to build something like this.

Time and Money...


This is how he brought it home:



And this is how it is currently. He has a few more things to do on it, but damn...




And here is the thread on it
PNW

The Most Interesting Man in the World

I know its old, but I still love these commercials.

I love you, Octopus

Octopi love cameras. I think its the hard flat lens or something. This 8 leggie got one!

octopus steals my video camera and swims off with it (while it's Recording) from Victor Huang on Vimeo.

New Dive Knife

Well, it isn't really new. Claire found it the last time we went diving. I swam right over the top of it and never noticed, good thing Claire was there to save the day! Okay, maybe not save, but definitely made better of the situation.

I was too stupid to take a before picture, which is a shame. The knife was pretty much part of the landscape, completely covered in barnacles and seaweed. I almost tossed it back down in the water as I didn't think much of it at the time, but once I started cleaning it up I was able to look it up online. Come to find out, its a really nice titanium Ocean Master. Supposedly they come with a locking sheath that is suppose to never lose the knife. Guess the sheath didn't get the memo. I cleaned it up really well and the blade looked like it had a lot of use: lots of nicks and gouges in the edge. So I spent about an hour and change sharpening the blade and smoothing out the edges. Got it pretty sharp, I cut myself!

Now I just have to make a sheath for it. I'm thinking of making a neoprene leg wrap style, we'll see.

Supermoto AGAIN!!

This is an old video (note Biaggi still rolling MotoGP and Nicki pushing Repsol) but it is a fun video!



Another

Well you're build like a car

You got a hub cap diamond star halo.

You're dirty sweet and you're my girl.

Vostok Amphibia

Oh yes, one day you will be mine...

Team Zissou

Every so often I run across one of my favorite movies: The Life Aquatic. Its a movie that is kind of poking fun at the Cousteau Society directed by Wes Anderson with Bill Murray as the lead. It has Willem Dafoe as the crazy German teammate, Owen Wilson as Bill Murray's son, Cate Blanchett as a reporter, and a ton of other people from weird movies. The humor is incredibly dry and has me rolling on the floor almost every time I see it. I want a Belafonte boat of my own to explore the oceans and albino scouts!



Bill Murray reminds me of my dad in this movie, I can't help but laugh and miss my Pops every time I see Bill doing this.




Dad?

Out Cold

Did injections in the back of the hand today. I was the patient and the girl poked my hand which I expected to burn like hell but really didn't feel much of anything. However, after a little digging for the vein and then finally deciding to quit, I watched the needle get pulled out and soon was looking at the ceiling. Apparently I was out for about 15 seconds. My bitch ass passed out and from a poke in the hand. I remember having a dream and in the middle of it thinking "Why am I asleep? I have things to do". When I came to I had people shaking me calling my name and I asked "Why am I on the floor?".

Fun day.

Atomic

I've come to the realization that I'm in love with the word ATOMIC. I'm in school for nuclear medicine and hear "nuke" this "radioactive" that all day long. But once in a while we get to use the word atomic which for some reason makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Perhaps because its not as foreboding as the other words. I think of how the word was probably taken 50+ years ago when an "atomic bomb" was dropped on Japan, and the cold war probably had lots of of uses for the word, "atomic" probably wasn't as happy of a word. Heck, even the Atomic Energy Commission is defunct dude to bad press and being accused of being to lax and was replaced by the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). However, here in the 21st its much simpler and fun. I did a google search and these pictures come up. Some are fun, some aren't, but even the ones that are dismal still aren't as harsh as the nuclear equivalent.