Tower Records Is Closing Down! Big Sale!

Fkkkking lamest sale ever! Don't waste your time. "Everything.....30% off!!". Except everything's been marked up 50%, so it's really the most expensive cd/dvd/etc you'll likely every see in your life. Just a heads up. I turned 24 over the weekend. I'm really reallllly not a U23 anymore. Ah well, these things happen. Oh, and I got raped and pillaged on Ebay today. Sold a bunch of stuff for a LOT less than I expected...which is terribly sad, as stuff almost always goes for a lot more than I expect on that thing. Am I losing my ebay touch? Did I ever have a touch to lose?

Back to the offseason game....It's been a while now, i've lost track...2 weeks on wednesday. This is generally the stage in my offseason where I no longer feel like an -pompous as this may sound- elite athlete. I get passed by decked-out lycra-clad weekend warriors going balls-out at the Park. I look down at my legs and they're hairy and without the definition and colour that they had in July. Then I glance back at the guy going full speed through the park, and cannot associate myself with that. At all. But then I laugh, 'cause i'm wearing my Rudys. Team edition bright-white gaudy-looking Rudys, and it's hilarious to me 'cause it's such a contrast to the rest of my outfit. Ahhhhh...introspection...so it goes. I'm going to post an old cycling foto...only because i'm a nostalgic narcissist that needs to be reminded of what he used to be good at only a couple months ago. Ahh...this is a good one:

(L-R, riders whose faces show) n/a, Chepe, n/a, Me (smiling), and
(with red sprint jersey) Jamiel Danesh...most wicked amateur in the land!

Okay, so that's the photo. I wish I could give proper credit, but I have no idea where it's from or who took it. Superweek...if only it was year-round...

Good Ol' October...

It's been a week and 2 days now, sin bicicletta. I'm enjoying it. Of course, the first couple days are weird, and coupling unemployment with a [sudden] complete lack of productivitiy makes for a real sullen and empty feeling. It's like being broke on the inside and out. To supplement my vague definition, I think there's a clinical term for it...something like "post-event/race/season athlete depression" Still though, I'm out of it. For the first time in a while I'm able to sleep 'till 9am (In-season I cannnnot sleep past 7:30), and I stay productice. Helping out at the shop, selling lots of crap on ebay, and most recently...playing tennis! Fun as hell, and there are courts right up the street. In cycling terms, I'd be category 6 tennis guy...on a good day. I'm improving, though, and in case you're wondering...endurance on the bike doesn't really transfer to other athletic endeavors. I'm beat after an hour.

Enough words! Fotos:

First hockey game I've attended this year. Kings v Minnesota Wild. The "5" Shant's holding up [approximately] signify the cost of the tickets. $4.10 per ticket. Can't turn that down, even if it isn't the Oil. The seats were terrible, at first, but for the 2nd and third periods, we casually strolled down and sat right behind the Minnesota Bench! Pictures to prove. Kings lost, and Minnesota (Oiler division rival) got more points. Eh. Oh, and I took the subway, so smooth and cheap and fast. And I've upped the efficiency of my metro usage: I use the schedule now, and hardly any time is spent waiting for the train.

And So...Hockey Begins...

...and I'm addicted, again, more than ever before. I even watch non-Oiler games from time to time. Who does that? Yesterday: Ryan Smyth...The Mullet sportin' heart and soul of the Oilers...scores THREE goals in 2 minutes to bring The Oil back from 4-1 down to win 6-4. I love it. Even though they narrowly missed winning the cup last year, most "experts" won't even pick them to make the playoffs....and the Oil know this, they read the papers, and I credit the wanks who wrote the Oilers off for last night's win.

Cycling cycling...blah bla la....

!!!

An overdue, late post, please forgive me.

First: I'm finally carrying out one of my lifelong ambitions....that of the fabled "Internet Cash" you've heard mentioned so often on this blog before. See the ads on right? Do you?! Well, friends, that's *Internet Cash* (asteriks, baby, no "" here) in its purest form. I make something like $0.000005 per click or page view or something, I'm not sure, honestly, but hey: The dream was to make Internet Cash. Not to make "lots" of it. Maybe that'll be the new dream? Honestly though, it isn't too bad or obtrusive, I don't think, so it'll stay there. Unless someone's real upset by it? At this rate, it'll provide an inflation-exempt quality burrito with every passing decade.

Again. I've got two new training tools I'd like to share with you all:

On the left, we have the new Ipod Nano. 2Gb. $150. I don't remember how I put together enough cash to get it, but it's good one, for sure. It's way more scratch resistant than the old one, more style points, wayyy more battery life (and the old one was already excessive...this one has "24 hours" though I think it's even more), newer softer headphones, and the best new feature: a recessed centre button! Great for riding.

On the right...the new Ben Kweller album! I've already mentioned it, but seriously! It's a nice piece of work. Perfect off-season music. I think the play-count has reached into the 40s. My love for it may be slightly skewed, 'cause the show was so much fun, but if ONE reader picks it up/borrows it/whichever, and sees what i'm talking about, i'd be psyched.

More music...less bikes. Saturday: This day will go down as one of the busiest of my life. But amazingly, every little task I had to complete, was completed. The stats from the night (sorta in chronological order, but not entirely):

# of Miles Ridden: 85
# of Bike Rides: 7 (1 for the sake of riding, 6 for transport)
# of Bikes Used: 2
# of Subways Taken: 4
# of Times I listened to the BK Album While In Transit: 3
# of Bands seen: 5
# of Psychadelicly Juiced Up Incredible Bands Seen: 1!!!
# of Conversations I had With John Frusciante: 1
# of Bass Players I Became Infatuated with: 1
# of Rehearsals Attended: 1
# of Photo Shoots Attended: 1
# of Burritos Consumed: sadly, nil

Okay. That's the list. I'm CERTAIN there are more stats, but I'm a bum, and didn't write this 'till 4 days passed. Based on the aforementioned stats and my penchant for writing agonizingly long and descriptive blog entries, you might fear that I'll write an entry of colossal proportions....fear not! It will be brief. A bit of a misunderstanding triggered all the [controlled] madness. This is where I was:


This is the bassist I fell for:



She plays with The Like. Crafty band name, I realize. She's not a world-class bassist, and the band's music is kinda rehashed Pixies stuff (though they played a terrific cover of the Sex Pistols' "Submission"). But what mad-cool style! Such presence! She wins! Gahh...i'll check 'em out again, they're from Los Angeles, and so am I, apparently.

So the reason for the misunderstanding is that !!! (chk chk chk), we thought, was going on at 6:30. No, they were going on at 9:35 (nice work, Mick). So, I had to leave the festival and come back, as I had comittments with my band (the photo shoot and rehearsal). That's the reason for all the madness. So I went, did the band stuff without a hitch. Got back right in time to see part of Beck's set, and most importantly, in time for !!! They were friggin charged and juiced up as hell. Had they been riding Le Tour, they might have been declared "unfit to start", but hey. Doesn't take away from the amazingness. They rocked out, I followed suit, and before long, it was over. I waited around for maybe an encore, but nothing. Then, while the lights were on, and the place was clearing out, I see John Frusciante...alone...just wandering about. I approach. "Hey John, didn't know you were a fan of !!!" "yeah dude, the things they do with the synched 2-guitars is amazing" We talked it up for a good bit, and then I said "I have to go" or something lame like that. I didn't want to hassle him too much. I've met him twice before. Awesome guy, and in my opinion, the best rock guitarist ever. ever ever.

And that's that. I've been checking out the map of Europe on google earth lately. It's a lot smaller than I thought. I used to think it's "as big as the US" but it's way smaller. Ah well, they didn't teach us these things in 5th grade geography.

And a photo...cause photos are better than words:

(L-R) Me with the best shirt ever (Thanks Cat!), DJ Janet, and Serk: Rising SoCal Cycling Star

Please

The cycling gods continued their full-scale war against me yesterday. I WILL NOT delve into the details (along the lines of "stranded" and "intersection of highway 39 and the 2"), but remember this...Please!...don't buy shite tires. For training, for your dirty town bike....get something above $20. I'm a huge fan of Michelin Carbons...usually $60/pair. I got 10,000 miles out of one on the front once, and have ridden the rears to the threads without a single flat.

Que pasa, readers? I'm almost at 5000 hits! A nice milestone.... though 4,500 of which are probably me. I should update the blog photo in the top right. It's a bit menacing, no? I need to find a decent photo of me in a kit. I'm listening to Ben Kweller's new album. Oddly self-titled: "Ben Kweller", but it's his third album (usually a group's 1st outing is self titled...). Terrific so far! I saw him at a show last week. Met him after the show, and the first thing he asked: "Hey, do you have scissors? I need to cut the filter off my cigarette". Can someone explain that one to me? Moving on....

My other amoeba purchase from today...
$8! Great deal huh? Just watched the first 5 stages (TTT, flat flat flat, ITT). Though I don't really care for Heras (maybe that's why it was so cheap??), but Petacchi cleans house in this one, I think, and Boonen and Valverde and Zabel ride their bikes pretty good, too...and honestly, Isidro Nozal. Watch that Time Trial (stage 5)....what's really troubling is that he hasn't had form ANYwhere near what he had during those opening weeks in Spain in '03. Ah well...side story/thought time:

Prior to the chaos that killed yesterday's ride, I was having a swell time. Up the Crest highway, farther than i'd gone in months. I reached the 6,000 ft mark, and just thought up this little hypothetical ditty...which was partly inspired by that cyclingnews bulletin about the "all vegan cycling team"...anyhow, I envisioned some sort of "all-vegetarian bike race" of sorts. You know, skinny malnourished bike racers vying for the prestigious [for the sake of this story] "top veggie bike racer" title. Comes down to a sprint, and some guy wins it handily. Nice. However, during the post-race "drug" test, the rider tests positive! For Meat! The entire cycling community is in turmoil, he vehemently (an adjective we've sadly become too familiar with) denies meat-usage/abuse. The second place guy issues a press conference announcing himself as the victor, all that. I'm telling you, it was funny at 6,000....doesn't transpose well at other elevations, maybe.

Yeah, thanks for allowing that. Tonight? Nothing going. I'll probably just read a bit, clean the bike, maybe ride tomorrow. October! From October 15th-31st....no bike, zero, none. I dream of getting a power meter...hopefully a good deal will come around sometime before base begins.