I am so excited to return to Chicago in September for the NACCC. I'm sure the event will be fun and it will be great to see old friends and of course cousin Ella and her family but really I'm excited for the food.
La Pasadita, Mr. Beef on Orleans, Gold Coast for Chicago dogs and a bunch of new places I've been reading about including :
Kuma's Korner and
Hot Doug's, The Encased Meat Emporium and Sausage Superstore
This particular special has me paralyzed with indecision. I love both horseradish and chimichurri...maybe I would get two.
Ribeye Steak Sausage with Crispy Fried Onions and your choice of Horseradish Cream Sauce or Chimichurri
$7.50

underwear outside

Bikes Inside!
Rev. Phil writes in with news of a fun bike event in Vancouver, BC next weekend. To enter the polo tournament you must have your underwear showing in some way.

viva la hamburguesa!

Wow, I forget to visit portland hamburgers for a few days and I am now besieged with content. That hamburger dress is hott plus all kinds of insightful reviews including this intriguing breakfast burger from Sam's Billiards in Hollywood :

You wouldn't think it, but this place gets abstract with their burger. There is the "Sam's Burger" that is breakfast in a sandwich with swiss, cheddar, ham, egg, and hashbrowns all on the burger.

That Mushroom Cloud? They’re Just Svejking Around

This article caused me to add the Czech Republic to my list of places to visit in the next 10 years. I like their attitude over there, and the beer. If only the language wasn't so hard to learn...jokes don't always translate well.

“When people make fun of something, they are making themselves free of it,”

“No art was present” in that action, he went on. “It meant a change in the everyday life of everyday people. It didn’t take place in a gallery or museum, it just happened. Like love. You don’t reason why. It just is.”

“It’s more nebulous: important and unimportant at once, not aggressive, light, distant, not black humored. Czechs don’t start revolutions in the streets. We settle things over beer in pubs.”

Thank you Google image search.

NAHBS

The 4th Annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show is at the convention center February 8-10. Though not an official team activity I've heard several alumni might be in town, including some aspects of the Republic of Doom and possibly our long lost brother Brue. So I'm hereby announcing the unofficial Team WRECK trail ride of the NAHBS. Unless it's raining cats and dogs we'll meet at the Polo Haus Sunday, Feb. 10th at 9am and head to Scappoose or Brown's Camp for some mud bogging fun. Leave a comment if you want to reserve a spot. I've got several loaner bikes for this season, including a 15 inch Klein and a 17.5 inch DBR titanium.

Also, how the hell did we miss out on this?

“Will cellphone novels kill ‘the author’?”

Another possible sign of the apocalypse : cellphone novels


“It’s not that they had a desire to write and that the cellphone happened to be there,” said Chiaki Ishihara, an expert in Japanese literature at Waseda University who has studied cellphone novels. “Instead, in the course of exchanging e-mail, this tool called the cellphone instilled in them a desire to write.”

Need for Sheed

Rasheed Wallace : future NBA horse champion?

Bike messengers, you rule.

Greetings from Flagstaff

I was in "Flag", as the locals call it, last week visiting my old friend Mary Jane.
Lucky, perhaps the most aptly named dog I've met.



It snowed two feet one night.


There's something about this little stone shack that I found very appealing.


View from the living room. The dome in the distance is on the NAU campus. We went there one night to watch the women's team play the PSU Vikings. I didn't even know they were in the same conference. It was a super fun game, we sat right behind the home bench and could hear much of what the coaches and players were saying. NAU looked good early, they seemed taller and more athletic, but PSU played a swarming zone defense and shut them down in the second half.

On the way to the Grand Canyon.

We stopped for Navajo Tacos, a local specialty. The fry bread was delicious.


Me, Lucky and some German dudes at the Grand Canyon.


Visibility was not so good but it was still dramatic.

As you well know I'm a connoisseur of Paul Bunyan statuary. This is by far the most menacing I've seen.
I was confused by all the Paul Bunyan stuff around town, I'd always thought of PB as a Northwest thing. Then I remembered that PB created the Grand Canyon by dragging his axe behind him while he walked.


We stopped in at Montezuma Castle. I wanted to climb up but was overruled.

Knee Update

So as you may have read I sprained my knee on the Deathmarch. This is what it looks like on day 3. Pretty gross, huh? It's maybe 85% stable and I can walk short distances with only low level pain. I would rate it as the 5th worst injury to my right knee:
1. The initial injury when I fell during bike polo and Billdozer fell on the knee when it was hyperextended. 2 weeks on crutches.
2. The apple kicking incident.
3. The cyclocross incident. 3 1/2 laps into my first race on my new bike I dismounted in a sand pit and my knee went sideways. Ouch.
4. The other polo incident.

Nice throw, Knoblauch

Strangely enough I was a big fan of Chuck Knoblauch when he broke in with the Twins. When he went to the Yankees and helped them win the Series I was happy for him. Then all of a sudden he forgot how to throw and his career was over.

"The problem began in his second season with the Yankees, in 1999, and grew worse. In 2000, a Knoblauch throw sailed into the first-base stands at Yankee Stadium and struck the mother of broadcaster Keith Olbermann in the face. One of the simpler things in baseball — a throw many fans could pull off — had become a nightmare for Knoblauch.

I was surprised when I saw his name in the Mitchell report. He wasn't exactly a power hitter. The NYT tracked him down and got this quote :

“Mad about it? No,” he said. “You know what? One of my strongest characteristics is not really caring what people think. I’m living my life. It’s not going to change my life one way or the other. You know, I’m not trying to get in the Hall of Fame. I got one vote though.” Knoblauch did have one request. “Don’t tell anybody where I live,” he said.

Malcom Gladwell also had an interesting take on the steroid scandal.

Beefa's Death March '08

My camera batteries died after the first hour so I didn't get very many photos. Here are a few.
Oh, and I'd like to take this moment to welcome Bjorn Warloe and Mark Evans to Team WRECK. This was their first official event and they both performed admirably.

We had a great turnout, especially for a cold, rainy morning. 10 people and one dog.
I got to Beefa's at 8:59am to find most of the crew there already. The last one arrived at 9:06 and we were on the road shortly after. Phenomenal punctuality and I attribute it wholly to a healthy fear of Beefa.

The hike in was only 4 miles but there were a lot of trees down. It was a challenging hike. I sprained my knee 1/4 mile from the campsite and had to gimp out the short way in the morning.

I couldn't believe the extent of the storm damage. We saw a few hillsides where every tree was snapped off halfway up.


Beefa, the architect of another mostly successful Deathmarch.

Mark emerging from a deadfall.

Mace was in high spirits.

Big Silver, RIP

I had a feeling it was time to sell that truck, I guess I was right.

1986 toyota landcruiser - $1000

---

Reply to: sale-533734118@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-01-09, 12:38PM PST


1986 land cruiser 186000 miles has blown head gasket 1000$ obo

• This item has been posted by-owner.
• Location: ne
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

NBA Update

I was going to write a long essay on my love for the Trailblazers but I lack the wherewithal. Instead I'll follow C. Murder's lead and post some amusing video.



Here's Chris Bosh (PF, Toronto Raptors) lobbying for a spot on the all star team. This cracks me up for some reason, I may be simple.



Here's my man G. Od. in the midst of rehab. That dark little pool looks depressing but I'm glad he's working hard. If he comes back strong the Blazers will be unstoppable.



Here are a few of my favorite sporting links.
Blazers Edge
True Hoop
The Sports Guy
Free Darko
Agent Zero
Oregonian
I used to be anti-podcast but I've changed my tune.
The Basketball Jones
When C. Murder told me I had to listen to a Canadian NBA podcast I resisted. Eventually he wore me down and I gave it a try. It's perfect. Quick, snappy, with a solid format, interesting music during the breaks and sometimes witty repartee. Plus their canuck accents are precious.
The Shuttlecoque Sporting Hour
podcast of a KPSU radio show, often very funny.

Beefa's Death March '08

This is either the 2nd or the 5th BDM depending on how you count them. They've all been fun in their own way and this one seems promising. Spence has chosen the destination, somewhere in the coast range. It entails an 8 mile hike uphill to some sort of hut. Details are fuzzy but it looks like a good crew. So far we've had verbal commitments from me, Beefa, Spence, Disco, Mace, Timmy, Sweet T., Magnum, Bjorn, Mark Evans and probably a few others I forgot. If you want to go RSVP with Beefa and meet at his house Saturday by 9am. Beefa swears that we are leaving at 9 sharp and anyone arriving at 9:01 will be left behind...we'll see.

Mud Bowl '08

Good mud this year.

Sweet T. shoots on PattyPusher.


The Corvallis Hell's Satans brought a sweet frankenstein stereo setup. Thanks guys!


Some people might just get a frame that accepts v-brakes....others might break out the hose clamps and drill.


The ultimate polo bike?