Archive for August, 2012

iPad roulette

Thursday, August 30th, 2012

Here’s the latest crap APPS I’ve recently loaded:

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The latest screen shot

There are a few “Nerd APPS” that include some video editors, spreadsheets and notebooks. For local apps I have CSU Mobile, BoNi 2012 and the State Farm Pocket Agent (Apparently if I get into an accident and I have my iPad with me, I can take pictures of the damage and send it directly to  my insurance agent in real time). Cool.

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Some Detail of choice APPS

Top Left: “The Act” is a high quality animated cartoon that you can modify by swiping the screen at the proper moment to cause hilarious results.  Originally developed as an arcade style game by a company that went under, it has now been revamped for the iPad. Loads o’ fun. I think I’ll keep this one.

Top Right: “Spy vs Spy”. We’ve reviewed some of Peter Kuper’s works here and so this copy of Mad Magazine’s “Spy vs Spy” APP seemed appropriate.  The animation is old style game-like and it’s a bit hard to figure out how to 1) pick up various weapons and 2) use them effectively on the other “evil” spy. This APP my be short lived.

Bottom Left: From Morfo, a morphing APP that lets you do weird things to pictures of faces (like that of actor Kal Penn). It has some real possibilities as the animated output is easily ported to video editors and such to make special effects easy as pie. I’ll keep this one for a while.

Bottom Right: A screen shot from “Notabillity”, a note taking APP that I’m using as an experiment while I audit Brian Jone’s Physics 121 class at CSU this semester. It’s taking some time learning how to take notes with my finger, but it’s still early in the semester. With practice, it might be just the thing to replace paper based notebooks.

Forward @ CSU

Monday, August 27th, 2012

NEW! First time a sitting president visits Fort Collins. It makes history. Also, the updated WordPress APP is used here for the first time in the history of my iPAD:

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Here at the rally we found CAM the RAM

CAM was first found hiding in the doorway of Shepardson Hall. Not sure if this Ag Sci building was named after CSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame member Charles N. “Shep” Shepardson or not. Could be? Not sure what CAM was doing in the doorway either.

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The Monfort Quadrangle

The Mo’ Quad is only one-fifth the size of the CSU Oval so it was crowded with CSU students, but we lucked out by visiting the campus later than most people. We were able to park on campus, we were met by President Obama from his motorcade before he was dropped off at the rally, and we didn’t have to wait in line to get into the rally.  As late as we were, we didn’t miss the introductions  and we didn’t die from heat exhaustion. Yes, we were lucky.

Finding Harold and Kumar

Saturday, August 25th, 2012

It took some time to find these two:

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Maybe on the CSU Oval, or maybe in the sculpture garden, then no, neither of those.

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Yep, I found ’em. Strangely there were very few people on campus who even knew that John Cho and Kal Penn were coming to CSU. The information desk at Lory Student Center didn’t know about it, and the Coloradoan (the last place to look for breaking news) gave the address for Ammons Hall near the CSU Oval. The woman at the front desk at Ammons didn’t know about it either. At last I found the ASAP group by chance on the Lory Student Center mall and it appeared as though they actually had something to do with the Harold and Kumar visit: They told me where to go!

OPAA! Time Again at the Taverna

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

It could be spelled Oooopa! or Opaa!, or just plain Opa! Wiki Answers says it means to party, or get down and dance. It’s an expression of joy that we scream out when the waiter ignites a pan of Saganaki in front of us, or in front of other people– whatever. It is a tradition that dates back to, what, maybe 1968 at the Parthenon restaurant in Chicago. Not the same as this Parthenon: they didn’t have flaming cheese there. Lucky for us we have a little place in Fort Collins that follows that same tradition and it’s close enough that we can bike there and back.

Conga drums and banjo on the cart with the Black Sheep

We had an invite for drummers and dancers at the Taverna so I thought it might be possible to attach a set of conga drums to the cart and just for fun I added the “Bouzouki Banjo” on the back of the cart.  The pair of conga drums were a bit top-heavy for the modified dog cart and they shifted a bit while in transit but they made the trip unharmed. I was glad I brought the bouzouki banjo; it added to the evening’s music.

Black Sheep parked at the Taverna

The Taverna Greek Grill opened less than a year ago on College Avenue near the Target store. We liked it immediately because the owners like to serve flaming cheese (Parthenon style) and they especially like to break dinner plates (on purpose). On the first month of opening the Taverna, the owners also performed a number of fire breathing tricks inside the restaurant. They no longer do this and I would assume that its because  the fire marshal put a stop to it. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Satori Dancers

I’m not sure how this was supposed to work. Were we a private party or something the restaurant owners were using to attract more business? I’ll say private party for now because it looked like the restaurant was full. They (somebody) wants to do it again next month.

Bohemian Caravan

The Caravan has been around since 2006. They call themselves a “motley crew” of dancers who like to improvise their dance routines at the spur of the moment anytime, anywhere. And any drum beat.

New Sign: Spring Creek Flood

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

From the RM blog archives is this picture taken in February of 2009:

The  old sign

It was just a pole with a blue wavy level indicator to let you know that that was one hell of a flood some 15 years ago.

Duncan Madog and the Black Sheep resting on the new sculpture

The grade school style water sign has been replaced with a more artistic and pleasing version (although I though it was a flying goose at first) and the pole  is now a buffed stainless steel pyramidal spire with teardrops punched into the steel at regular intervals.  And there is more: In addition to the top most water level are three more for comparison. The first level (right under the bike saddle) indicates a 10 year flood. The other two represent a 50 and 100 year flood. You gotta go up another 7 feet to see the top:

Gamelan a ding dong

Monday, August 13th, 2012

On an afternoon in Old Town:

It’s a Gamelan orchestra

Indonesian culture and music right here in Fort Collins! It was a real treat to see and hear this group playing outside. They are like the African Drum and Dance group but from Indonesia. Located in Loveland, the Arts and Culture of Indonesia (ARCINDA) offers presentations, lectures, performances and workshops on Indonesian culture.

Ragbrai redux

Friday, August 10th, 2012

This just has to be the LAST RAGBRAI POST:

Sitting around reading the Des Moines Register

You might be able to see on the front page of the Metro Edition an article about the 40th run of the great feast of the RAGBRAI, also known as the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. A detail of the pictures is shown below:

On the front page of the Register

On the left is a picture of John Karras – the co-founder of RAGBRAI with eight other riders who have been on every RAGBRAI ride for the last 40 years. On the lower right is a picture of some guy eating a melon and then on the upper right is a left-handed banjo player wearing a CSU cap and a Chicago Urban Bicycle Society jersey. Thank you, Mr. Purdy– That’s one hell of a good shot!

Anyhow, here’s what I remember from each day:

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The Team called “Flygirl and Tag-a-longs” out of Denver ready for the adventure of Iowa. We have Keven, Ken, Jim, Rachel and Chris

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As in past drives through Wyoming and Nebraska, it seems something gets loose on the top of the van. This day was no different: Here Ken is someplace on the side of the road in Nebraska trying to make sure everything is fastened down tight. We took 2 days to drive to Iowa, staying at the Cozad Nb. Roadway Inn before leaving the next morning for Sioux Center, Iowa.

The first night in Sioux Center at the Fedder’s Farm

The Fedder’s family included four little boys, some cows, goats, cats, dogs, rabbits, pigs, chickens and probably some other animals I didn’t see. The boys tried to convince their mom that they could spend the night in the tree house, but the lightning storm that night made them change their mind rather quickly. I slept in a hammock on the porch. The cool breeze at night made me forget that the weather forecast for the next day was a high of 103.  No tent camping on the first night- might we be lucky again?

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On the way to Doreen’s house in Cherokee, Iowa

Of course there was Mister Pork Chop’s bus. It was very hot that day, and there was very little shade. This year was no Peanut Butter Jam so finding a place to jam was not easy. I hope the P-B Jam can return next year; it’s not the same without them. Doreen let us sleep in her air conditioned living room: YES!!!!

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Jamming at Twilight Acres Nursing Home in Wall Lake, Iowa

OK, so this day was maybe only 101 degrees and 80% humidity. Still, why should we sit out in the sun when we can play in an air conditioned room?  I met up with John and Teressa Condon of the Buck Hollow Band and we played a few songs for the residents. That night we slept in the air conditioned basement of Lloyd and Avis’ house in Lake View.  Another night without pitching a tent!

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The crematorium at Foster Funeral Center

OK, not the best place to spend the night, but it was air conditioned. The place was crowded with several clubs including the C.U.B.S. who were nice enough to let us squeeze into the funeral home with them. Thank you! If not for you, we would have had to stay in our hot and humid tents in the main campgrounds with the riffraff!

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Just another Ice Cream stop, this time in Story City

Story City was a pass-through town and meeting place. It was an optimum location to get some pictures of team buses as the organizers lead them to a large parking lot on the outside of town.  Someone from Story City noticed that the person in the Register’s article (top of this post) was from Fort Collins so they mailed a copy of the paper to  a relative who lived in Fort Collins. This relative tracked me down, so this is how I got a copy.

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The “Roadside Boys”at the Farmers Insurance Agency’s Conference Room in Marshallton, Iowa.

This was strange how it happened, but the folks at the insurance agency were real nice and let us use their conference room to tune up and rehearse some songs for our big “Gig” in Monticello, Iowa. There was a large picture window to the right that allowed us a perfect view of the riders coming into town. I think the high temps for that day were round 105. I don’t know how long we were there, but they didn’t kick us out– We finally left after a few hours because we thought they forgot about us and locked us in.

That night I found a little coffee house across the street from the wireless internet van so I could entertain customers and update my blog (all of this in air conditioned comfort). It was a perfect day and perfect evening.

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Speaking of Coffee houses, here we are again in Anamosa

Tom of the “Roadside Boys”and I were a big hit with the Register’s reporters. There is a little video reported HERE.

The “Grounds and Goodies” was of course air conditioned and they had these nice couches to sit on. There’s some youtube video of Von Ketelson who stopped in for a latté HERE.

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A Funny Sign

It’s about pie. Rachel took this picture and it reminded me that I found another fine place with A/C in the town of Lehigh, Iowa. The Methodist Church was serving pie and ice cream so I spent some time there getting free pie and ice cream and meeting some riders like Ron from Chicago (a great guitarist) who, like me, really missed the Peanut Butter Jam this year.

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At Jim’s Place in Liscomb

In Marshalltown, Iowa our camp ground was to be near the soccer field at the Grandview Heights Nursing Home. I played a few tunes for the residents and the staff  fed us dinner. Later that evening we decided to go to “Jim’s Place” in Liscomb to hear Mike McAbee, a regular ragbrai route entertainer. As we were leaving, the storms came, and as we were leaving, I watched as my tent collapsed under the heavy rain (I think I paid maybe $29 for that tent?).

The storms caused some power outages in the bar in Liscomb, but finally Mike got his power back up to his loaded bicycle (amps, mixers, wireless mikes, guitar, speakers, etc) and the show was on.  It was an excellent show!

By 12:30 am we were back to find our tent ravaged by the storm. he nursing home let us sleep in the cafeteria for the night. (A/C wins again!)

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The KYBOs took a hit

That morning we assessed the storm damage. Most of our stuff was sealed in plastic bags, so we didn’t have a lot of wet clothes. My tent suffered a bruised rib, but it was still fine once I lifted it out of the  puddle. My old sleeping bag was wet, and since it was old and I really didn’t need it in the heat I threw it out. My bike helmet blew about 100 yards in the direction pointed to by the KYBOs.

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Steam Tractor Show

On the way to Cedar Rapids I stopped in at this steam tractor show. There were at least a dozen fully operational steam powered tractors at this show and since the temps were starting to get down to the high 90’s, it seamed like a fine place to play a little old time banjo.  The locals really appreciated it.

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Finally we are tent camping!

Here are the tents at Teri’s house in Cedar Rapids. It’s proof that my tent (orange one) was not damaged by the storm. This night was actually cool enough that we didn’t need air conditioning.

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Izzy in Anamosa

This was little Izzy, the Basset Hound from hell. We were camping on Deb’s front yard in Anamosa and her dog Izzy would come out and greet the campers. There were a number of clubs camping on the yards, so Izzy had her choice of may items, but she especially favored laundry bags containing sweaty bike jerseys. As we were leaving that morning, Izzy got a hold of Ken’s wallet! If I hadn’t seen her swipe it, she may have gotten away with his cash and credit cards. What a dog!

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Camp Courageous in Monticello, Iowa

Tom and I doing a little show for the C.U.B.S. and board members of the camp after the appreciation dinner.

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Tire Dip in Clinton

Thus ends another RAGBRAI.  At the end, I hung out with a group of neighbors about a half mile from the dipping point until the rest of the crew came in.

Falé in the Park

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

At the Harmony Library:

African Drum and Dance

I heard the beat of drumming from my kitchen window and followed the sound to this grassy area near the library to find the group called Falé. The group of drummers and dancers are dedicated to learning, teaching, performing and promoting traditional West African culture.