weekend linkage

A few days ago I read an interesting article in the Times about how a Dutch company is trying to bring polaroid film back. They touched on how, in this era of digital photography speed doesn't matter anymore and the advantage of polaroid is the physical photo becomes art. With a built in frame and it's own color saturation and a certain realness. Anyway that wasn't interesting enough to blog about but today the Times ran their photo editor's 426 favorite reader submissions. Mace, you should check it out.

I guess this link is also for Mace, a long article about the NBA and the evolution of the game and referees. I don't usually link the Sports Guy's stuff, but this was interesting to me. His podcast has gotten better also, good interviews with Jeff VanGundy, Mark Cuban and David Stern recently.


But pro-hugging students say it is not a romantic or sexual gesture, simply the “hello” of their generation. “We like to get cozy,” said Katie Dea, an eighth grader at Claire Lilienthal Alternative School in San Francisco. “The high-five is, like, boring.”
Once again, I'm ahead of the curve.


Just so we're all on the same page, it would be totally insane to spend $400 on a plastic chair and leave it out in the woods, right?
Even if its " a cult product", a "revisited baroque ideatype", "the most daring example in the world of polycarbonate injection in a single mould" and would look so cool in a certain clearing, surrounded by mossy logs and dappled in afternoon sun.

Also, I finally put a deposit down on a hot tub. Not like this one pictured though, mine is being custom built out of reclaimed cedar and the wood stove will be inside the tub. It won't be ready in time for the Open but look for a series of hot tub themed parties this fall.

Westside Invite 9 part 4

I found a few more photos from the Westside weekend...


Esra and her "crazy" face.

Timmy hydrating.

It's a good sign if you can flash the horns at the last stop of an alleycat. By this point I would be drooling and talking to myself.

Guy claims he got this tattoo in Portland after Team Wreck beat Team Skirt at the first Westside tournament.

She had a good sprint.

I heard Keo killed it in the freestyle. I opted to miss it in favor of deep fried calamari, fish tacos, Stella Artois and good company.

Timmy won the trackstand again. Good to see him get a little glory, the main race sounded brutal.

Celebration time. Mt. Ranier looked a lot bigger in person. Anarchy point was an awesome venue for the afternoon but I always feel a little nervous hanging out at a superfund site for an extended period. I don't think the hill we were sitting on was made of dirt.


I spotted this signed Cannibal jersey at the warehouse space shared by Moebius Cycles.

Someone's quiver. Heavy on the Colnago, Masi and trials. One road bike was buried and I hope it was intended as a joke, a really old bonded Vitus with really old Spinergys. Unsafe at any speed.

Skillz.

Puzzling out the manifest at Hat and Boot park.

Kickstands are the new tarck bikes.

Watch out for this one.

She will scalp you.

a walk around

I remember my mom ordering some semi-illicit poppy seeds from Amsterdam. I like to think these are an example but I'm not sure.


Disaster in the lettuce bed! The day before these were orderly rows of heirloom lettuce and spinach.

At first I thought of deer but they could have reached all the lettuce without trampling in the bed.
Then I noticed a few holes, so it's an invader from below but not a mole or gopher as there were no mounds at all. Any guesses?
I think the solution is to dig all the dirt out, reline the bottom and sides with heavy steel mesh and refill with new dirt.

Big and little.

I've let a few parts of the Annex go without mowing to see what would happen. The result is (predictably) a mixture of the last crops grown in the field plus weeds.
The majority is this stuff. It seems like a perennial rye grass. I think it might have been grown in the field some years ago but I'm not sure.

There are a few patches of wheat from last year.

This looks like oats to me.

There are a few patches of this thin grass with feathery seeds. I'm pretty sure it's never been planted here. Maybe it's a native or just opportunistic.

This looks like fescue, which was growing here for several years. I expected more of it to come back.

The pit version 2.

In the interest of evening out the twin berms I scooped out the inside track and added a kicker into the right side of the s-curve leading into the harsh berm. Still not even but closer.

Sunnyside Environmental School 7th grade field trip

My vehicle group. We had a great time once some ground rules were accepted.
A main topic of conversation was my Ipod and why it sucked.
Left to right leaving Jaden out,
Adam : not enough metal, limited Sabbath and Maiden, need more Priest etc.
Brody : Somewhat more reserved, Brody proffered his own CD which was all mid-80s schlock, heavy on the Bon Jovi. I often felt Brody was making fun of me in subtle ways. He may be cooler than me already. Shit.
Isaac : not enough funk, no disco, quotes : "That's all the Stevie Wonder you have?" "Are you racist?"
The only common ground was, surpisingly, "1234" by Feist. After the first time it became traditional to cue it up full volume before every longish bridge, roll down all the windows and scream along with the lyrics. Good times.

My cabin group. Somehow I got stuck with the cool kids. Nearly every second of our "cabin time" was a jam session. Two guitars, a bass, garbage cans and brooms for percussion and Lee's vocal stylings. He had the campfire in stitches but saved his best material for the cabin. I recorded one song in garage band if I can figure out an easy way to post it here I will.

At the Columbia Maritime Museum. Way better than I expected. I'd love to go back and spend a whole afternoon there. A few of the old guys acting as docents seemed super interesting and I'd love to ask them a million questions.

Real or statue?



This figurehead, which may or may not be Lord Admiral Nelson, was found washed up on a nearby beach.

Mmmm, sushi.
The whale skeleton at Long Beach.



Beach sculpture by Junior

The kids at Waikiki Beach.

At the North Head Lighthouse. Another interesting volunteer that I wanted more time with. I did learn that the light had only been extinguished twice, Dec. 7, 1941 and one other earlier time when they were concerned about a British attack. Also I learned the horizon was 20 miles away at the top of the lighthouse. I've always heard from boat level (sea level I guess) the horizon is 7 miles away. Is there an easy formula that correlates height above sea level in feet to visual horizon in miles?


Self portrait with wind.

WSI 9 pt. 3 : Scenes from Polo

Messman and baby Messman Vivianna. I hear she already has 3 bikes. Queen of the Core at Westside Invite 33, book it.

Disc wheels and drilled out mallets seem to be the rage in contemporary polo.

Wheelie's bike, spare bike and parts of his exoskeleton.

One of my favorite people.

Two thirds of The Three Malletiers. We may have finished 0-2 but we scored goals against two tough teams and no one got seriously injured. Success!


While lurking for the last of the burgers I got a few compliments on my condiment design so I figured it might be photo worthy.

Todd D. Danger, Timbers Superfan.


My slow travel camera missed the high speed crash but I caught the immediate hug and remount.

This guy was doing some cool tarck tricks but every time I tried to take his picture he crashed out.

The Ringer tapping out. Team Haus played a few beautiful games but couldn't make it out of the semifinals.

Irving is pure style. I wish I had gotten a photo of the slinky little number he was wearing Friday night.

Team Pink lost a closely contested 2 out of 3 finals but this guy Nano would get my vote for MVP. He was quick like a snake, playing balls in the air.

After a hard faught finals Soren, Seabass and Drew hang onto their belts for another year.