JamesIDoo's Blog o' Skillz

Unicycles, Cholesterol and Contractions Oh My!!

2010-04-14T19:10:00.002-06:00

Well, I just finished riding 3 miles down a trail (75% paved) with my unicycle. I was almost too tired to get back on near the end. I rode down a couple trails I was surprised I could ride down, and failed to ride down a few stretches even though I tried a few times (my unicycle came inches from landing in the (Bear?) creek a few times. At one point a bunch of kids (they were probably 25 and I'm thinking of them as kids) yelled that it was a dead end... but I kept going. Eventually the trail had too many low branches and brush and I had to push my ATU (All Terrain Unicycle) an eighth mile or so... but I now have a goal of making it down the whole dead end until the trail really resumes.

I got my Cholesterol Numbers from the second Cholesterol test I had in two weeks.

Total: 141
HDL: 40
LDL: 84
Chol/HDL: 3.5!!

Who says you can't manipulate your Cholesterol numbers? (Ate almost no sugar or carbs for two weeks... ran/unicycled enough to burn more calories than I ate in Saturated Fat... lots of flax and fish oil etc.)

And Dawn is 4 cm dilated... and the doctor does not expect her to make it a week before Rocket Xerxes Day is born... She does not think I should go to my dad's retirement if I want to be there for the birth of little Rocket Xerxes. My guess is tghat by not going I will force Dawn to stay pregnant the whole 15 days until she is due. Oh well, guess we will see what happens!

Other random numbers: Serum:Glucos, 74, BUN:12, Creatinine:1.1, Alkaline Phosphatase:47, Bilirubin:1.2, AST(SGOT):22, AST(SGPT):26, GGT:16, Total Protein:7.4, Albumin:4.4, Globulin:3.0, Fructosamine:1.7; Urine:Glucose:<2, pH:6.7Leukocyte Esterase:negative, Blood:Negative (???? I don't have blood?), Protein Quantitative: <3, Creatinine:46, Cotinine:Negative

Time to clean... having a baby tomorrow?

Stampede and Summit

2010-03-29T12:21:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure this takes a lot of Skillz to drive like I drive right now... but I'm having a lot of fun driving a couple new Traxxas trucks lately. I started out jumping a "little" Stampede over a small bike track near my house... the same one I was trying to ride my unicycle around last year. Then some jerk came in with a Bobcat and tore it up and put in 3' and 5' jumps in the place of 1', 2'and 3' jumps. I guess it might be more interesting on a bike, but they are now a bit too bumpy for my little stampede...

... so I got a Summit 4x4 for my birthday. The picture above was taken after driving around my back yard on a track I made out of snow.

Here is a video taken towards the end of my second set of batteries. Lots of fun!

Cholesterol 2010

2010-03-22T17:07:00.002-06:00

Yes, my blog is so exciting, you can find out all about my Cholesterol!!!

Well, according to my doctor,in March 2010:

HDL = 36 (up 4)
LDL = 92 (up 14)
Triglycerides = 53 (down 14)

I guess that is good considering I'm not really doing any special exercise or diet! But I have been unicycling to work.

Review: Tales of Earthsea

2009-09-17T20:49:00.002-06:00

Laputa on the left... Tales of Earthsea on the right.

I just finished watching Laputa: Castle in the Sky for the Xteenth time, and I will start off my review of Earthsea by saying this:
If you are considering watching Earthsea, instead rewatch the first 5 minutes of Laputa instead. It is far better. Laputa represents everything that is missing from Earthsea!

For starters Laputa was animeted/directed by Hayao Miyazaki... a director so amazing that people go out of their way to watch the episodes of Lupin he was involved in. A story writer so impressive that even a story of a girl and a panda aimed at 3 year olds blows away most of what Hollywood has to offer. Earthsea was directed by Goro Miyazaki. I can never say too many good things about Goro Miyazaki, but I will promise you this: I will never show another of his works site unseen at an anime party again. Where Hayao Miyazaki's work has magic and charm, Goro felt like a low budget old school TV show. (Hayao directed a low budget old school TV show, Future Boy Conan... that felt more like a 12 hour movie than a TV show. The artwork is probably of similar quality, but the character designs were all better in Conan.)

Laputa has a little girl with magical powers, Sheeta... Earthsea has a little girl with mysterious magical powers, Theruu... but while Sheeta is being pursued because she has magical powers, Theruu just sort of happens to fall into the plot, twice. Okay, I'll buy that Arren just happens to bump into the magical girl at the square, but what are the odds that he will run into the same street rat miles and miles away in the country. Small world I guess.

Laputa has really cool pirates, with pink hair!! Earthsea has Gandalf, er Sparowhawk. Sadly, Sparrowhawk was the only character in the movie I really felt any connection with, but he really did feel like a Gandalf ripoff and did not seem that interesting, and he really never did any impressive magic.

Laputa has SS agents running all over the place... I hated them, especially the way they destroy everything. Hating the bad guy is a good thing! In Earthsea, the bad guy (girl?) was a bit too wimpy to really take seriously.

Both stories are told from the point of view of a male protagonist... Laputa has Pazu, who is only slightly less awesome than Porco Rosso and Conan, a good strong kid with an amazing work ethic, amazing drive and energy, and he really does save the girl instead of the other way around. I wish I could be more like Pazu! Earthsea starts out with Theruu... who is a cowardly rich prince boy who never really does anything for any reason that makes any sense. I am assured by my friend Stefan who has read the Earthsea Novels that the Theruu in Miyazaki's Earthsea is not representative of the novels.

The best thing I can say about Earthsea is the music is decent, and the dragons and "horses" look pretty cool.

My Rating: 1 out of 10 ... this was the most disappointing anime movie I have ever seen. Not the worst, but not worth watching. I recommend downloading a high resolution scan of the poster for the movie and watching anything else Miyazaki instead Laputa, Nausicaa, or even Panda Ko Panda...

Things I Hate

2009-08-18T20:39:00.004-06:00

This post is rather negative. Someone asked me a question I don't know the answer to, so I decided to try to order my list of things I hate... then if anyone asks me a similar question in the future, I can just point them here and they will know how to torture me best:

Things I hate, organized from least annoying to dai Dai DAI KARAI! (really Really REALLY HATE):

+ Asking the neighbor to leave the dog at their house. Not sure why I hate this so much, maybe just that I feel that I'm building up a debt I will one day have to repay by watching her 3 giant dogs one day...
+ Walking the dog at a rest area/restaurant. Traveling with a crazy dog is hard work.
+ Installing Car Seats. Latch connectors why are you not in my car?
+ Packing for trips... I guess I hate to leave home.
+ Eating at a bad restaurant. (Especially if I'm paying and the occasion prevents me from telling the Waitress she is a Sloth and the Cook he is an imbecile.)
+ Getting my Teeth Filled.
+ Packing light for an airplane trip.
+ Getting a Root Canal.
+ Getting a Crown.
+ Driving Long Distances. Say more than 3 hours.
+ Shopping in towns/malls that offer very little (if anything) that I couldn't buy easier and for less money on the internet.
+ Driving At Night. I feel like I'm about to run into a Moose.
+ Driving Through the Night. Afraid I'm going to fall asleep and kill everyone.
+ Wasting 2 vacation days traveling on a trip.
+ Sleeping At a Hotel/Condo. I just like being at my house.
+ Sleeping At Someone Else's House (say an aunt or parents). Slightly better than a hotel. But still weird.
+ Sleeping at the wrong house/hotel with children. The only reason I drive through the night is I dread moving into a hotel for the night!
+ Flying on an Airplane.
+ Flying on an Airplane with children.
+ Wasting 4 vacation days traveling on a trip.
+ Surgery.
+ Recovery after Surgery.
+ Dying because I did not have the surgery. (Not sure about the order of these last two.)

To summarize. 旅と比較されて、私は根管をベスト愛する。 Compared to traveling, I love root canals the best.

Anyway, that concludes my whining for the day.

Here are some things I like to balance out the list above:
+ Walking/running where I am going.
+ Unicycling where I am going.
+ Yoyoing/juggling whereever I am at.
+ Playing with Jonah and Zachy.
+ Playing board games or computer games with Dawn.
+ Playing computer games online with friends.
+ Watching Anime.
+ Traveling a short distance to a friend's house... especially if they have kids who will distract my kids for a while.
+ Eating Great Food. (El Tepehuan has the best food in Denver...)
+ Camping.
+ Taking a Vacation Day at home in my house.
+ Taking a Vacation Day at home in my house with the kids at school/with Dawn...

Tekkon Kinkreet

2009-06-11T16:00:00.007-06:00

Plaid "Tekkon Kinkreet" OST

(Click on the Playlist link above to hear the full versions of each song.)

Well, anyone who is an anime/manga fan may be expecting an anime review at this point... but while I am tempted to wait until I've seen the movie to do this review, this is just a music review!

Those of you who know me well (all 3 of you who read this blog) know that Orbital is may favorite "band", but Plaid is my favorite band that still makes music. They are kind of Jazz Fusion crossed with Techno. I love Plaid. Every album, almost every song. Just warning you so you there will be no unbiased review here. I listen to Plaid at work, driving in my car, driving on long trips. I think Rest Proof Clockwork is the greatest non-orbital album ever! My sister hates plaid, she said of Restproof Clockwork something along the lines of: this is the most boring music ever.

I may actually like the "Where?" song on Tekkon Kinkreet album more than New Bass Hippo. I'll have to listen to it another 100 times to know for sure. I have not dropped the $40-$60 it costs to import it currently, but I have had it playing from imeem since I discovered it trying to buy Plaids other new album.

The opening track "This City" is amazing, in a style similar to "not for threes". It starts and ends with fairly minimalistic synth, with layers and layers and layers of haunting melodies and bass with constantly changing drums... dragging you forward deeper and deeper into its spell as the music swirls away back into minimalistic synth/guitar.

Brothers Chase reminds me a bit of Rob Dougan's Chateau from The Matrix Reloaded. Nice orchestra staccatos with a driving drum and base foundation. Helps me keep moving.

Where? This is the best song in the album. Driving beat, layered samples and melodies, organ, and amazing bass make my coworkers think I'm some weird freak twitching and spinning around in my chair. (Yes, I'm a freak and I love organ, real or synthesized. Don't worry, there is not much here.)

White's Dream: Starts out slow, but one of the more fun songs on the album. Rolling Piano layered with music box melodies and lively drum and bass.

Bottom Line: I like the album enough I bought the Blu-Ray from amazon knowing nothing more about it than that Dawn had previously put it on our Queue and it costs 1/3rd the price of the soundtrack. If I like it maybe I'll pick up the manga and read that while I listen to imeep. I wonder if the Japanese version has furigana?

Unicycle Ho!

2009-06-10T09:26:00.003-06:00

I have almost mastered the art of going around 90 degree corners by flailing my arms all over the place. Yesterday I made it 90% of the way around the block, through 3 corners and most of the street. I actually fell off due to being tired more than anything. Yes, sadly I am tired after riding around the block once.

I managed to ride down the curve without falling, but I think I will need to learn to hop a bit to go up the curve. To get ready to learn hopping, and to improve balance, I rode around the block again holding onto the saddle with one hand most of the way. I can't quite go in a straight line without waving both hands occasionally, but I'm getting close.

New DNA

2009-04-04T16:06:00.003-06:00

Well, I've been wanting another yoyo for some time. I have been tempted to buy a few of the YoYoFactory yoyos I've seen since I got my Higby 888, but I really have not been able to justify the cost. But when I saw the nice orange 888s, I had a hard time not picking one up. Then I saw that they had an even bigger 888, the DNA, and that it came in Orange, and I couldn't resist the temptation any more. Plus my parents just gave me enough for my birthday to cover the cost!

So I have a nice orange yoyo that is a lot like my 888s. I find it is even easier to learn most tricks on the bigger yoyo, and tricks like Kamikaze and And What seem easier to do on the bigger yoyo also. Plus it just spins and spins and spins. I thought the gap was huge on my 888, but it is even wider on the DNA, which is probably why Kamikaze is easier, more room for the yoyo to be crooked without the string touching the edge and causing it to start going crooked!

Anyway, the DNA is lots of fun to throw. There is just enough gap between the hub and the rim of the yoyo that I can catch it on my thumb and do a grind transfer. While I'm sure it was possible on an 888, I never had much luck with either. (Both are trivial on a Pyro) Also, when I put my T-Stacks on the DNA, it is stable enough to play with! My 888 would wobble and vibrate like crazy with a hard throw with the T-Stacks, but the DNA is just a bit more noisy. When you grab it after doing a trick, the stacks continue to spin for 20 or 30 seconds. (Note: I replaced the stock white ones with transparent yellow... but I'm sure the same is true of the stock hubs.)

I have been learning some slack tricks with it that always gave me trouble on the 888 (since it was small) and my Dark Magic (because it was too responsive) or any of my other yoyos. Most amazingly, after practicing a few whips, I can do them with my other yoyos now too.

If you are considering spending $120 on a yoyo, I would definitely consider getting a DNA over an 888.

Here is a review from someone who takes their yoyoing a bit more seriously than me:
http://www.yoyoskills.com/?p=275

Out of Shape!

2009-03-29T16:39:00.002-06:00

Well, it appears that sitting around playing Wii, XBox and PS3 for 2 months does NOT improve your endurance or physical strength, even if you do lots of running in the game running from wolves, terrorists, giant bugs and aliens.

I managed to make it 750 feet today on my unicycle, and then stopped because I couldn't pedal any more. There is a fence that is right next to the path at about 300 feet I've been using to remount and ride back the other way. I am not having any difficulty getting back and forth between the bridge and that fence today. A few times I made it past 500 feet. At least two times I rode from the bridge, down the 3" drop to the path and kept going without touching the fence or the pole-to-keep-cars-off-the-bridge.

So since it seems to be an endurance thing, I decided to start running. My hernia operation was 9 weeks ago (I think). I ran around the block today, I had some sharp pain the first block and considered stopping, but it became less and less and was gone by the end of the block. I'll see how I feel tomorrow and consider getting in shape for the Bolder Boulder... that will hopefully be good enough shape to unicycle up much steeper hills than the path I'm practicing on!

On a yoyo related note: I got my DNA yesterday. It seems more stable than the 888, I can even put T stacks on and throw it hard without it going crazy! I'll try to post some pictures and my impressions of it later this week. I definitely think I like it more than my Pyro... but I'm wondering if I shouldn't have got a Superstar or Peak just to have something a bit more different than my 888. I really was starting to not like it, but then I took off the green highlight string it came with and put on a lemonade gString and I successfully did white budda for the first time on my first try. (Except the weird magic trapeze bind thing at the end, which I'm not convinced is possible with a DNA or 888 because of their wide gap.)

Unicycling

2009-03-28T22:20:00.002-06:00

Dawn gave me a unicycle for Christmas, but I have not really commented on it here yet. Basically I spent the first week I had it learning to not fall on my head while getting on, then I found out I had a hernia (probably not from unicycling, but I did have one nasty fall before I learned to fall off). While waiting for my surgery, I learned to go along a wall or fence and not fall on my head. Then I took a couple months off and I did not ride again until a week ago.

I have been practicing on a small 60 foot bridge over the emergency drainage ditch about 2 blocks from my house. The fence is maybe 4 feet high, perfect for holding onto while learning to mount and pedal. A week ago I managed to go 3 full rotations of the wheel without touching the fence. Then 4 rotations. Then Monday I managed to make it a full 8 rotations, which is about 40 feet. Since then I've been busy and we had lots of snow.

Today I went out again and managed to go 8 rotations several times, then 12 a few times, then I started running out of room on the bridge. At one end of the bridge is a steep drop off, and the other end has a pole to keep cars off and I'm afraid I'll fall off and impale my head on it like in some B movie. Plus there is about a 3" drop on either end, which wasn't really noticeable on a bike or walking... Anyway I made it the full 60 feet of the bridge a few times and even had a few PDs (Planned Dismounts) once I gave up trying to go down the hill.

Then I started at the bridge just past the 3" drop and started riding down a path that runs about 1500 feet along an easement between two rows of houses. I've been doing that all along, I just usually only made it about 2 rotations before falling off. The tricky thing was I immediately had to turn right to not run out of path, and then left again... oh and it was down hill... oh and there is still melting snow all over. Anyway today I made it 240 feet down the path, a ways past where it starts going back up and past lots of little pockets of ice where the snow that melted was refreezing.

My next goal is the end of the path... then I need to learn to free mount. I'll try to post some newer pictures soon.

What makes a good video game?

2009-01-26T11:19:00.005-07:00

I have had lots of time to play video games the last few days, and I've gotten to wondering why I like some games so much, and really disliked other similar games. Obviously what makes a good video game is rather subjective, but I will compare two games to maybe find out more about what I am looking for in video games.

I'll consider three games that I finished in the last day: Fallout 3, Gears of War, and Braid.

I loved Fallout 3. It was just the right mix of humor, gravity, role playing, first person shooter. It required no reflexes... maybe I'm getting old, but I thought VATS was amazing. Even when I had The Drifter's sniper Rifle, I was using VATS to target super mutants and Talon assassins alike. It felt a lot like Fallout 2, which I also loved. The game was a bit too easy, I had it turned up to the hardest setting at the end, and the only time I really came close to dying was when 4 or 5 Enclave solders would flank me when I was out in the open and I would fail to get a critical on one in VATS mode on the first couple. But then again, I focused on all good Perks, no silly ones like "Here and Now" or "Daddy's Girl". Maybe I would have been less overpowered if I didn't have like 75 points in VATS with Grim Reaper Sprint? It was fun playing as a good person in a wasteland of evil. It was awesome that I could do whatever I wanted and could ignore the storyline for a good 40 hours before I decided to go looking for my dad.

I love love loved Braid. That game was amazing. I don't want to say too much about it, but it was the best $15 I've ever spent on a game. I beat the game (no speed runs yet) in probably 4 hours with no hints or help from the web. I had to sleep on one of the puzzles, but came back in the morning and instantly saw how to do the puzzle. The last level was just twisted an was a better ending than 90% of games out there. (Bioshock, *cough* *cough*) Why did I like Braid? It was not stressful, you can rewind most things away. It was unique, it felt totally fresh and I don't think I've liked a puzzle game that much since The Adventures of Lola. (I bought that new.) The controls were spot on. At first it is weird not being able to run faster or jump higher, but once I got used to rewinding time, it was second nature.

I hated Gears of War. I'm not sure why, I really wanted to like Gears of War. It is not that I hate first person shooters... I thought CoD4 was the best game last year, and Halo 3 was lots of fun too (but maybe only multiplayer). Was Gears of War was maybe just too hard for me? The last game I hated this much was Code Veronica... I have never met a Resident Evil game I liked. I borrowed Gears of War from my cousin Adam, and his brother Brody has been trying to get me to buy Gears of War 2 to play multiplayer with them online... but the first game was just so frustrating and tedious that I can't see myself plunking down $60 for more frustration. I hear the sequel is better in multiplayer.

But what exactly do I dislike?

The controls are irritating. This can be said for Halo 3 and CoD4 too, but it is really annoying when a monster runs past me, and I just want to turn and shoot him with my Shotgun but I turn so slow that I can watch him take 4 bites out of my back before I die. Okay, so it is a console and you can't turn on a dime like you can with a mouse... well why can the monsters turn around and eat my head faster than I can turn and shoot them in the head?

I don't like cover systems? I actually like cover, that was a neat part of the game. But every so often you would get flanked and instead of diving for appropriate cover, you are stuck moving from cover to similar cover until the new enemy blows you up because you are not hiding from threats in his direction. This is probably the main reason I hated Metal Gear Solid 4... bad control. But GoW controls are easily 10 times better than MGS4, so I'm not sure that is it. And 95% of the time Fenix picked the correct cover.

The weapons are hard to manage. I really only liked a couple of the weapons in the game, but I had to keep putting them down to pick up a Hammer of Dawn or a Torque Bow for certain tasks... and I wouldn't get the weapon I like back afterward. I got stuck going through an entire chapter with no chain saw on my gun since I accidentally swapped out my main gun for a stupid Shot Gun just before a checkpoint. I would have loved a torque bow against the last boss, but I dropped it to pick up a hammer of Dawn and never thought to get another.

The bosses are random and not fun. I love good boss battles. Lately most games have wimpy bosses that fall over dead if you sneeze at them wrong (Zelda, I'm looking at you)... but the final boss in GoW was just silly. He had these bat things all over him so you can't hurt him, and he randomly sent them to attack you, and only then could you hurt him. But they could not hurt you if you were in the light. So you have to stay in the light. But the boss will walk towards you and eventually blow your head off with a Torque Bow or something point blank if you don't run away for cover... but if he releases the bat things while you are running for different corner you just die, they eat you. Oh, and there are other things randomly flying by that will occasionally kill you if you don't take cover from them too. It felt like when I finally won, I just got lucky and had him send his bats at me more than usual. No sense of accomplishment.

Why was CoD4 fun on Veteran while GoW was tedious on Casual (I beat half the game on Hardcore, then decided I didn't care)? I'm not sure. Maybe CoD4 just looked and felt happy while GoW feels ugly and sad? I seriously disliked my Black and Yellow Lynn Fury yoyo... but I love my Yellow and Green Lynn Fury Yoyo, and 50% of it is exactly the same yoyo!

Maybe I would have liked GoW if I could have saved like in Fallout 3 or had twice as many checkpoints like in CoD4? I think I'm just getting too old and slow to play newfangled first person shooters that require reflexes?

Oh well, at least I still have games like Fallout 3 expansions and the next drug induced game like Braid or Space Giraffe to look forward to.

Cholesterol 2009

2009-01-14T11:09:00.003-07:00

Had my checkup Monday! My cholesterol levels are even better than last year (well, really almost 2 years ago, May 2007 was my last checkup).

Total Cholesterol = 123 (down 14)
Triglycerides = 67 (Down 24)
HDL = 32 (down 2... but I have not been running)
LDL = 78 (Down 8)

A couple years ago I was running to raise my HDL, but I have only run 3 or 4 times in the last 3 months, so I was expecting to have considerably worse cholesterol than I did. I was on a strict Candida Cleanse until Thanksgiving, and the Candida Diet except for some sugar from Jelly, Pamela's bread and Cheerios since Thanksgiving. So I guess having very little sugar is more helpful to my cholesterol than running like crazy!

Early Christmas Toys!

2008-12-04T15:34:00.002-07:00

Our family had early Christmas this year since we won't be able to be together for Christmas. It was lots of fun. My parents got me a set of 7 Tossaball Hybrids, and my sister got me 7 of Nord's Juggling Thingies.

I'm not sure what I think about the Tossaballs... (the 7 bright balls in the lower left) I definitely seem to be doing better on 4 ball tennis with them than any of my other balls, but I am having trouble even getting to 40 of a 5 ball cascade with them. Maybe just because they are slightly larger than my other balls? Maybe because they weight slightly more so I get tired faster? They make a nice muted "fphoomph" sound when you catch them.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Ultraleather Thingies! (Middle Right) They are amazing to juggle. I set a new record (68) of 5 ball cascade Tuesday. They are easy to hold, throw and catch. They seem a little slick sometimes, but as soon as my palms get even the slightest bit sweaty, they grip just fine. I would have to say these are my favorites. Not too surprising as the Ultrasuede Thingies were my favorites before I had them (the fluorescent yellow balls).

I like the new Dirt Bag Hybrid footbag (the yellow/blue/purple one) more than my old Mr. Sandbags... but not as much as my Abshire footbag. I'm not afraid to let people toe-up with a $8 bag though... and it is MUCH easier to stall.

Anyway, I would say I have enough juggling balls. For now.

Junior High: Id Ra Ha Je 2008!

2008-11-21T11:48:00.003-07:00

We spent the last weekend up at Camp Id Ra Ha Je in Bailey Colorado. It was a lot of fun! We played lots of games, sang crazy songs, did High/Low Ropes, and learned a lot about trusting Jesus!

(Above image links to ALL images on my Flickr.)

After supper, the guys set up Heroscape... I've seen people play Heroscape before, but Aaron has a seriously large collection of Heroscape sets. I think Andrew knew every hero by name. Matthew, Rocket, Cristo, Sam and I just picked whatever looked powerful or fun. This strategy worked for Sam and Rocket and they managed to wipe out most of Cristo, Matthew and Andrew's forces with few problems!

After setting up Heroscape, Zach and Esther led us did some worship where we learned some cool Czech songs like "Anchor for My Soul" and "He's Alive". Then Allison led us in our first lesson on Trusting God.

Aaron and Zach led us all in interesting prayers for breakfast, dinner and supper. I've never prayed quite like this before, but it was fun and interesting!

We played a lot of really fun games! We ate Pretzels, tossed balls, ate Alka-Seltzer, tossed rings, played Egg/Chicken/Eagle/Bear/Mongoose (Rock/Paper/Scissors), Mafia, Super Munchkin, Heroscape, Truth or Dare, and lots more! Here are a couple videos:

I think the most fun part was the High Ropes course! Unfortunately I did not think to make a video of everyone on my team like Aaron did (I actually didn't get any pictures of Matthew, Andrew or Kassie at all as they went before I had my camera out) But here is a video of Sam going down the Zip Line at the end!

If you were with us at Id Ra Ha Je and you want to see all the pictures of yourself, do a search on Flickr for 'SmilingCowboy "Id Ra Ha Je" '! All of the pictures are here.

Juggling Record!

2008-11-10T14:38:00.002-07:00

Yey! I'm 2/3rds of the way to my goal of 100 catches of a 5 ball cascade this year! I just spent 40 minutes focused on 5 balls (the longest I've spent probably this year) and my arms sure are tired! I had several runs up around 50, but my arms kept getting tired and my left arm would randomly throw a ball 5 feet in front of me. Finally I managed to slow myself down enough and made it to about 67 catches!

People ask me this all the time... how do I count so fast? I always count by 4s, starting with 1 on the first ball I catch, it is subconcious really, when I'm out joggling I find myself counting by 2s or 4s. When juggling 4 I count the same ball as hit hits each time. With 5 I just kind of count every other right without thinking about it much. Anyway, lets say my total count is C (18 today). Then if I finish with 5 balls in my hand, I caught C*4+1. If I have less than 5, I just assume (C-1)*4-1. If I had caught the last two it would have been 73, so I just subtract 5 off since I'm not sure which of the 5 balls I dropped. Note: In reality it should be (C-1)*4+1, but I figure I'm less likely to overstate my count with (C-1)*4-1.

Anyway, if I make it to 100 throws this year, I guess my goal for next year will be a full minute of 5 and a full minute of 53444 (4 ball tennis)...

Sansa e260

2008-08-01T12:06:00.003-06:00

I just got my new "SanDisk REFURB 4GB" from woot... wow 2 day shipping! It has the V1 Firmware, so as soon as it finishes charging, I will have my own RockBox for running!

Nothing was really WRONG with my old iRiver, I love it's 20Gb Harddrive. But when I run, it would stop playing 2 minutes into every song... It does not seem to read the harddrive unless I stop and walk. I think it used to do better than it does now at reading while moving...

... anyway, I'm now ready to make myself deaf while I run!

Now I just need something to let me play Travian when I'm not at home!

I Am A Lawful Good Human Monk (5th Level)

2008-03-05T16:03:00.003-07:00

I Am A: Lawful Good Human Monk (5th Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-17

Dexterity-17

Constitution-12

Intelligence-18

Wisdom-18

Charisma-16

Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Monks are versatile warriors skilled at fighting without weapons or armor. Good-aligned monks serve as protectors of the people, while evil monks make ideal spies and assassins. Though they don't cast spells, monks channel a subtle energy, called ki. This energy allows them to perform amazing feats, such as healing themselves, catching arrows in flight, and dodging blows with lightning speed. Their mundane and ki-based abilities grow with experience, granting them more power over themselves and their environment. Monks suffer unique penalties to their abilities if they wear armor, as doing so violates their rigid oath. A monk wearing armor loses their Wisdom and level based armor class bonuses, their movement speed, and their additional unarmed attacks per round.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Dilbert Widget with ClearSpring

2008-02-27T09:06:00.001-07:00

Seems to be a mostly default implementation of a flash widget with clearspring for distribution.

clearspring widget

2008-01-25T14:14:00.001-07:00

Not sure what this will do. I don't see a way to customize a user id here. Maybe that does not matter.

Five Ball Cascade

2008-01-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my five ball cascade again. I realized in December that I was about 971 throws short of my 2007 goal of 1000 catches of 5. I think I did not realize how hard that was when I decided to do that. In December I advanced from 29 to 36 throws.

I found this post yesterday and tried that for my lunch workout (I skipped the 55500 steps). I made it 100 catches of 552, and then on my first try of 5 ball cascade, I beat my record of 42 with 45 catches!

So I guess I'll try that again. I had not done 552 all of 2007 since I felt it was messing up my 55550 and 44453. (I can do 44552, or something like that, but want to learn 4 ball tennis).

Yoyo Side note: I love my Lyn Fury now that it is Lime and Yellow instead of Yellow and Black. I have a matching gString on it currently, one o-ring and on silicon half. I've managed to learn Wrist Whip, and now I'm trying to learn Whip to Triangle (I've succeeded once) and I'm finding it is slightly too responsive... so I may throw a spacer in.

Free Coupons by ShopAtHome.com QA

2008-01-25T10:43:00.003-07:00

Script:

Flash (allowScriptAccess: never, allowNetworking: default):

Free Coupons by ShopAtHome.com

2008-01-24T17:26:00.001-07:00

Google is your friend!

2008-01-04T11:15:00.001-07:00

Not sure why the "+Google" button here links to a syndicated iGoogle page... that does not make sense.

Anyway, feel free to add our widget and then enjoy editing user 0's settings until you reload your google homepage the proper way so it can set up a new user for you.

Table Cell 1

Add your Free Coupons to your iGoogle homepage:

Free Coupons! Test of a Gadget.

2007-12-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

Diablo Trick A Day Until Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have succeeded in my quest! I got two diabolo's on October 30th, and I have learned a trick a day until Thanksgiving! What is significant about Thanksgiving? That is when I next see my dad who taught me how to diabolo originally. Last Thanksgiving (his birthday is right around Thanksgiving each year) I gave him a newfangled Mr. Barbache Finesse G2 Diabolo. Dad (Grandpa Tom) has a bunch of old wooden Diabolos from when he was in high school and college, so I thought he would like it. He seems to like it a bit, but has had trouble translating his tricks with little diabolos to a big 5" diabolo.

So, the last 3 weeks I have learned a trick a day, and hopefully I can learn some tricks from him, and then I can show him how to do a whip or two at least to make his life easier with the Finesse.

Here is a list of the tricks I've learned:
Day 1: Roll Start, Tilt correction. (October 30)
Day 2: Toss/Catch and orbit. (October 31)
Day 3: Foot Hop. Rotation corrections. (November 1)
Day 4: Wrap Acceleration, CCW Sun and CCW Sun acceleration. Toss Start. (See Day 11) (November 2)
Day 5: Horizontal Whips. (November 3)
Day 6: Right Handed under the leg (W/ Toss and catch/Right Backside) (November 4)
Day 7: Leg Orbits (Around right leg) (November 5)
Day 8: Half Sun (over the shoulder sun). Front to Back Sun. Forced Sun (November 6)
Day 9: Left Handed under the leg. (W/ Unwrapp and Wrap) (November 7)
Day 10: Acceleration Orbits! (November 8)
Day 11: Sun Power Thrusts! -> Climb the string! (November 9)
Day 12: (Day off in the mountains: Climb the string from yesterday) (November 10)
Day 13: Power Burners (Right Hand Wrap whip, similar to Power Thrusts) (November 11)
Day 14: Quick Start, Stop And Go (catch, Toss Start).(November 12)
Day 15: (Sun) Quick Start -> Sun Power Thrusts Quick Start -> Power Burners(November 13)
Day 16: Right Stick Grind, Cat's Cradle (Right Backside) (November 14)
Day 17: Combos: Right/Left Backside, sun, under the leg. Right/Left Backside, sun, cat's cradle Climbed string with left back wrap.(November 15)
Day 18: Trapese to Cat's Cradle (right and left kind of) (Chinese Whipped once LOTS of speed)(November 16)
Day 19: Neck Trampoline, Double Sun over Arm(November 17)
Day 20: Chinese Whip! Double Sun Over Arm and Under Leg. (November 18)
Day 21: Spaghetti (Knot) Throw -> Neck Trampoline(November 19)
Day 22: Pass the Spaghetti Quick Start -> Chinese Whip (November 20)
Day 23: Over the Arm Bounces (November 21)
Day 24: Thanksgiving Day (November 22)
November 19th: Spaghetti
November 20th: Pass the Spaghetti
November 21st: Over Arm String Bounces. -> Cross Arm Toss (Pretty much the same as Double Sun over Arm from a few days ago)

Links: http://diabolotricks.com - LOTS of tricks. Good Flash animations
http://thediabolo.com - Great videos.
http://www.diarhythm.com/e/index.html - Simple to very Advanced trick movies

Me and Jesus

2007-11-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Me and Jesus (by Sonny Hood)

Me and Jesus,
We're the best of friends.
From the time I see the sunrise,
until the long day ends.
He's my savior,
I can count on him.
Me and Jesus,
We're the best of friends.

Sometimes I start my day,
things don't go right.
It's an uphill battle
it's a constant fight.
I just look to Jesus,
in Him I can depend.
I know he'll always be there.
He's my faithful friend.

You take one step forward,
then you slide back two.
You know what I mean,
It's happened to you.
You can look to Jesus,
He'll lend a helping hand.
You know He'll always be there,
He's your faithful friend.

We all have our good days.
Sometimes they turn bad.
Sometimes we feel lonely.
Sometimes we feel sad.
Don't be discouraged,
say a prayer AMEN!
You know He'll always be there,
He's our faithful friend.

Lyrics and Song Copywrite Sonny Hood. Lyrics and video used by permission of Sonny Hood.

Performance was at the Men's Summit 2007 at Hermit Basin Lodge on November 11, 2007.

Leadership Starts Here: Summit 2007

2007-11-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

Slideshow of the Bethany Men's Summit 2007 (Images)

The theme for Men's Summit 2007 was Leadership Starts Here! The seminars were lead by Eric Anderson, and were on being a Soldier, Ambassedor, man of Integrity, and a Leader (SAIL).

The first night at Hermit Basin Lodge, after a time of worship, Eric Anderson gave a lesson on being an Ambassador for Christ to our families and to our world.

Saturday we opened the day with ham and eggs and a lesson on integrity. Then there was fishing, hiking, skeet shooting, 4 wheelin', Hermit Basin Aerobics, juggling, meditating, and fellowship. We wound down the day with a performance of "Me and Jesus" by Sonny and Greg Hood, followed by a lesson on being a Soldier for Christ.

Lyrics: Me and Jesus

The Sunday morning lesson was on being a Leader in our families, church and the rest of the world. After our final breakout session, Warren lead us in communion and Sonny bid us farewell with another round of "Me and Jesus".

("Me and Jesus" used with the permission of Sonny Hood. If you see a picture that should be removed from the set, please send me an email or leave a comment. If you have pictures you would like added to the set, either send me a link, email or bring a CD to church.)

Sun, Half Sun and Leg Orbits Oh My!

2007-11-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to learn a trick a day for the next two weeks. Not sure I learned a trick today, but I managed to add speed to the diabolo by doing something that somewhat resembled an acceleration orbit...

At the request of my silly cousin who lacks imagination from too many video games and not enough radio and books... here is a video of my trick from the last three days: front back sun, half sun, and leg orbits.

Diabolo

2007-11-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I finally broke down and got a pair of Finesse G3 Diabolos... I had my gall bladder out a month ago, and I couldn't do much for a week, and I decided I should order a set of Juggling Skarfs. But shipping was too much, ...

Yada yada yada... I have a yellow and orange G3!

I'm learning fast, I got them last Tuesday I think, and I can pass it under my leg either way, and do orbits around my leg. Yesterday I worked on a double clockwise sun (front then back). Today I worked on a half sun from a shoulder catch today at lunch.

Got out my Mini Motu waiting for the microwave after practice, and the thing feels really weird and small. Managed to do a spirit bomb and some shockwaves, but I was having trouble with just landing a trapeze. Very odd. Front throw tricks like Nanda Kanda and Boingy Boingy did not seem weird though, just the breakaway throw tricks.

I actually am much better left handed now since it hurt less to throw left handed after my surgery...

Super Kickside

2007-10-05T20:25:00.000-06:00

I love this yoyo. Not sure why. It was my first "real" yoyo (or my first cheat yoyo if you are Richard). I just like the shape and the hybrid response (siliconed). I think it just feels more like I remember a Duncan Butterfly feeling than the other Yoyojams. Oh, this picture is already out of date. I've completely burned through this string, another green string and now I have an Orange Soda G-String on it. The gString is nice since it is about 8 inches longer than the green highlight strings. The mechanics of tricks are a bit different with the longer string, I'm still having trouble catching the bouncy on 720s; however, I find every 10 tries or so I can do a 1080 followed by really cool yoyo/bouncy interactions that don't result in a knot. The other 9 tries I get a knot when the bouncy catches on the ball.

Oh, the bouncy is nice, but maybe not heavy enough? I find I can do Atomic Bomb much easier with the bouncy than with the die, but tricks like butterfly and windmill it just feels like the wieght is not quite heavy enough. But when I try a nunchuck combo and the counterweight catches on the yoyo and slams into my hand... it does not hurt as much.

I've been working on left hand a lot. I guess you ARE supposed to do 5A ambidextrously... I can do simple tricks like barrel rolls and dizzy baby left hand. I'm working on nunchucks. My breakaway is really inconsistent... but I find I can do 360s easy and 720s occationally. Nothing fancy like a wrist mount or kwijibo.

Thomas Dietz Alert!

2007-09-13T11:27:00.000-06:00

I know I have been mostly blogging about 5A yoyoing... but I saw this and just have to say WOW! I think this might be better than Thomas Dietz 6... During the 4th scene, the one with 4 clubs (after 3 ring pancakes) I was thinking: Hey, I can do that! Then quickly that changed to, whoa... I guess I'll never be able to do that!

I would totally dress up as Thomas Dietz for Halloween, except I was Thomas Dietz last year.

OW OW OUCH!

2007-09-05T15:30:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I am definitely switching to one of these rubber bouncies tonight. I moved my die from Lyn Fury to my Kick Side. I really prefer the Kickside, plus I'm getting smoother in my 5A yoyoing with a responsive yoyo. A few times now it has snagged and come back unexpectedly. Okay, nothing new there, BUT a few times it was because the counterweight string went into the yoyo and caused it to bind and my hand ended up smashed between a yoyo and counterweight at insane speeds. My right index finger and middle finger are still smarting from a nasty snag earlier when I was practicing this Nunchuck Combo. I can make it thru the combo about 10% of the time now, but no where near as smooth as the video, and he is kind of slow.

I learned to bind poorly left handed. It is easier to bind on a left hand throw since I'm more used to the motion, but on a right hand throw I bind from a left handed trapeze as long as Lyn Fury is spinning fast enough. (Lyn is very unresponsive.) Now that I swapped to my Kick Side, I'm learning much faster left handed since I don't have to wind so much since I don't have to bind most of the time, and can bind it when it is going quite slowly.

Unless it snags. Ouch! My fingers still hurt.

Definitely need to switch to a bouncy ball, the sparkly one in this picture should match my orange kickside.

Recommend A Proyo?

2007-08-07T09:04:00.000-06:00

So I was given this fabulous Proyo by John Higby. We already had 2 proyos, and I had written them off as worthless hunks of plastic. Yesterday I played with the Higby yoyo a bit, and found I could do loops better than with my raiders, and almost as good as with my NXGs. So I pulled out the old blue $2 proyo and messed with the string a bit. It was double wrapped and I single wrapped it. It still was not happy. So I unscrewed and rescrewed it a couple times to get the wooden spindle spinning more uniformly, and pow, it is 50 times better than it was. I almost managed to do warp drive a few times.

I still think the Yodel 2007 outperforms it by miles, but I might start recommending these to kids who ask what they should buy.

Pluses:
+ REALLY CHEAP. (In both senses of the word)
+ Unscrews to get out knots.
+ Wooden Spindle gives better sleep times than fixed axel.
+ Returns without binding.
+ Easy to sleep (if not over tight string tension).

Cons:
+ Narrow Gap.
+ Cheaply made and feels too light.
+ More sensitive to string tension than a bearing yoyo, which is bad for newbies who always wind the rong way.

Here is my preference for looping:
NXG >>>> Proyo > Raider > Modded Raider.

Note: I think my modded raider is cracked and was overcranked, but Pat claims he tests every Raider before he ships, so I'll just assume that Modded Raiders need some kind of expert godlike skill to use and leave mine on my shelf until it rusts.

Juggling in Wisconsin

2007-08-02T09:52:00.000-06:00

We travelled last week to Wisconsin for my Grandma's funeral. We determined that Grandma and Grandpa have a total of 87 kids, grandkids, great grand kids and great grand kids.

Here is are my cousins Adam and Brody. Brody can juggle 3 balls reasonably well. Adam is better at yoyos. Hopefully we will get to visit them again soon under better circumstances.

I'll post some pictures of us yoyoing if I can find them. Brody has resisted learning to bind, but Adam can do a normal and reverse bind and a few simple tricks. I quickly taught him atom smasher (I thought it was funny to teach Adam Atom Smasher), barrel rolls, and a few picture tricks. It was weird how much different his Hitman feels than mine. It just feels heavier and slower. Not sure why... it doesn't seem like dual silicon would make that much of a difference.

We tried to teach our 4 year old cousin (2nd cousin?) Tristan to yoyo, but he was more interested in dragging the yoyo all over the place. He almost managed to get a NXG back to his hand a few times, but lost interest before we could perfect his technique!

Spirit Bomb!!

2007-07-19T15:27:00.000-06:00

These are our Flaming Freehand Zeros, painted by John Higby. They are crazy responsive with the Duncan friction stickers. I find I can still do most of my tricks, but I have trouble with Boomerang and Poppin' Fresh. Oddly, I can almost do Kwijibo, but no boomerang, which should be way easier. Lots of fun, but now I want a Takeshi Modded Flaming Higby Painted Zero!

I've landed two spirit bombs in a row! (And I just messed up the dismount on the 0th and 3rd, so almost 4 in a row.) The secret to landing the second hop seems to be passing your right thumb past the top string (with your hands crossed) and grabbing the lower string to open up the triangle nice and big. Then point your forearm up more than is comfortable to get the middle string (was the top string) centered between the two top ones making the triangle. This was on my Milk, so now I need to learn it on my Kos which is more responsive.

Wrist Dismount

2007-07-17T09:29:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of my 888 and Milk! I really like the 888 a LOT. I came very very close to buying a Higby edition, but somehow managed to control myself. It spins forever, and is totally smooth.

Yes, I am allergic to milk... but the yoyo does not seem to be bothering me:

Gaaaa! I spent 30 minutes yesterday remembering how to do the dismount from Spirit Bomb. I managed to do a Spirit Bomb at lunch, but before bed I managed to land the second hop twice, but both times got a knot for a dismount. So I failed to do just the dismount like 153 times in a row. Finally lying in bed I remembered it is a dunk, not an orbit... and jumped out of bed (Dawn now knows I'm crazy) and did it 3 times in a row. Yey!

I managed to do a full, if not very impressive, freehand Atom Smasher today. I did it right first, caught the counterweight in my left and did it left handed, and managed to smash the counter weight around and nailed the bind at the end. I doubt I will ever be as impressive as the great Steve Brown, but if I do it 500 more times I will maybe at least look like I know what I'm doing.

Atom Smasher

2007-07-14T18:01:00.000-06:00

Not sure what I think of these caps. They are kind of cool, but I wasn't there. Obviously I'm not one of the "Best Players". (Especially since in 2004 I couldn't even do Brain Twister.)

Atom Smasher seems more interesting free hand. I've done it succesfully about 4 times in a row, then failed to do it since. I can almost do left handed windmills. I can do a right handed windmill to trapeze, then left handed windmill, but usually fail to give enough momentum for the trapeze. But, I'm landing the trapezes 40% of the way along the string now, instead of the 15-20% of the way along like I was before. It looks a lot better, and I'm getting better at aiming left handed. I think I usually land (Old Man and his) Brother closer to 25%, so maybe I'll get better at that trick too? (Maybe not, the sister string, or double extra string for Double Brother get in the way.)

I practiced Spirit Bomb for a while last night and this morning. I figured out what I was doing wrong, but I keep landing the final pop on the inside of the triangle. I was doing something funky with my left hand to get the strings out of the way to allow me to land it, guess I need more practice. I honestly don't know if my last successful attempt (first time I tried on my KOS a month ago) was before or after I started doing the funky thing, hopefully before.

I have bad slack on Boomerang, so it snags with the stock Free Hand Zeros. I can feel the slack on my responsive Hitman, but it is not responsive enough to care. Need to be smoother!

Freehand Day 2

2007-07-12T09:11:00.000-06:00

I have gotten a lot better at trapezes, and I have started practicing Windmill. I have managed to do a few consecutive windmills, but usually I have trouble just doing one. For some reason I want to throw the counterweight around too soon. Seems pretty easy though, easier than learning to juggle the windmill. I practiced Aerials for a bit, but I can't manage to do one after anything but a pinwheel or around the world. I still can't bind left handed, but I practiced a normal bind for a while, and I get cleaner binds with that than I used to. Half the time it just slips, but I remember when I got a knot 50% of the time, so that is an improvement!

After managing to knock the cap out of this pretty yoyo, I threw a blue Duncan die on my Lyn Fury. The Lyn Fury is my least favorite yoyo. I used to think it was the color (yellow and black), but I love my KOS and it is the same color. Still I might throw a half Lime Green Lyn Fury into my cart next time I order from yoyonation. I'm not worried about dropping my Lyn Fury. Currently it has no shims and is double recessed silicon. I'm tempted to add some thin lube, but I like that it is easy to bind right now.

John Higby e-mailed me back, the fabulous string on Dawn's FH0 is gString. I just e-mailed an order off for some Regular Lemon Aid and Orange Soda and SSE Aquamarina (figure it will match my 888).

Learning Freehand

2007-07-11T09:35:00.000-06:00

Here is the auction picture of my new John Higby painted Takeshi Modded Freehand2. I will get a few better images once I have time to upload some images to flickr. This yoyo looks Zsweet when spinning. The red and yellow mix into the perfect yellow/orange blur. The yoyo feels much more solid than my takeshi mod FHZ. The side caps look kind of silly, but they feel much nicer than the paper caps normally on a FH2.

I decided to document my Freehand en devours more than I did (re)learning to yoyo the last four months. My entire documentation of my yoyo progress is a note made in early March that I finally learned to do Atom Smasher, and I can do Split the Atom every time.

I just got 6 shiny new John Higby painted yoyos. Three of them came with cool bouncy ball counterweights. Since I now have 6 counterweights (three came with my Takeshi modded FH0 I got a couple months ago), I thought I would give 5A yoyoing (Freehand) a try.

Today I learned to hold the yoyo in each hand. And I am able to do alternating trapezes a few times each time I throw. I can't really throw straight with my left hand, or bind the yoyo back left handed. I also tried a few tosses of the yoyo and counterweight, and managed to catch the string a few times, but end the end I did a run away dog down the hall. Once I got home, I practiced a while more, and found that grass is great since it both cushions the fall, and keeps the yoyo from running away.

I find that I feel like I have a club left hand, much like trying to juggle 3 balls in my left hand. I'm wondering if I should learn some more basic 1A tricks left handed to help with 5A? I've been planning to learn some 2A, so maybe that will help. I actually can get my first loop right on my left hand more often than my right; however, I can loop dozens of times right handed, but the yoyo quickly goes out of control left handed.

Not sure what this has to do with chilis, but obviously I'm not blogging about food so maybe this will motivate me more. ^_^

Cholesterol 2007

2007-05-30T14:59:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm not using this blog for anything else... so I might as well put SOMETHING here...

I got my cholesterol results back from May 22, 2007. I've been eating pretty badly of late, I have been eating lots of chicken wings and oatmeal cookies. BUT, I've been juggling, yoyoing, footbagging, and joggling enough to cancel it all out I guess:

Total Cholesterol=137
Triglycerides=91
HDL=34
LDL=85

Two years ago my Triglycerides were up over 300, so that's a good improvement.

Must be all the chilies and Oatmeal I'm eating.

Hot Hatch Chili Stew

2006-10-18T17:31:00.000-06:00

Well, it is Hatch Chili Peeling Time again! First thing we (Hatch Chili Mommy actually) did was whip up a batch of Green Chili Stew!

Yummy! It is really good! Hatch Chili Mommy didn't eat more than a bite, because the Chilies we got this year are really hot!!!

Flavor: 7 I really do prefer the less healthy chili items... at least for flavor. This is really good, but it just tasted a bit too healthy! Needs Lard!

Hotness: 11 I can admit it. The chilies are too hot this year. Still, not much too hot. ^_^

Saltiness: 3 See Flavor.

Hatchness: 10 These are pure hatch chilies here! No jalepenos or Pueblo chilies hear!

Dawn's Chili Pizzaroo

2006-06-11T21:41:00.000-06:00

This is yummy pizza. It is made using a secret crust (Hee Hee) topped with Newman's Own Spegetti Sause, Tofu Pepper Jack cheese, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, dead animal flesh (I think turkey this time around), and several hatch chilis.

This was really tasty, and I am not sure when I've had Pizza better. Realizing I have an alergy to cow's milk may lend some credibility to the previous sentence...

Anyway, this was a darn good pizza:

Flavor: 7 This may be the best pizza I've had in a long time, but I would prefer something a bit less fatty. If this had had a few more veggies instead of the turkey... it might have scored higher (or maybe not, I'm not a big Pizza fan).

Hotness: 3 Come on, there are like 3 hot hatch chilis on my half. Had the seeds been mixed in the sause...

Saltiness: 5 I think this is fairly low in sodium... but it still could raise your blood pressure a few points.

Hatchness: 5. See Hotness. Replace red peppers with fresh hatch chilis and mix in some hatch chili powder into Newman's Own for a perfect 10.

Chili Trees

2006-06-11T21:39:00.000-06:00

I bought 3 pepper plants at the farmer's market last week. They seemed to be doing rather poorly inside (UV tinted glass?) so I put them outside on the porch and they seem happier today.

2 are Big Jim and 1 is a from hatch NM, but it really isn't a hatch chili unless it is grown in hatch soil and sun.

Maybe I'll get some dirt this year or next time I'm at the Chili Festival.

Mare's Yummy Kosher Chili

2006-04-26T18:17:00.000-06:00

Mare from Northfield gave me this recipe. It isn't so much a meal as a condiment. Here I have put it on some otherwise mediocre tamales and spicy spinach(whatever that is, KS had a sale).

I'm not convinced this chili is actually kosher... but I remember a conversation with my friend DJ once about how you could make pork kosher if you prepared it once... and Chili Mommy used a boat load of Kosher salt making this chili! So if pork based chili can be kosher, then this chili definitely is! At least before I put it on pork tamales.

Flavor: 8 This is one of my favorite chilies. I'm not sure why, but it is just perfect
Hotness: 9 I really can't eat it separately, but it makes a good snack watching TV or with chips.
Saltiness: 10 We rinsed more than the first time we made it, but all that kosher salt...
Hatchness: 5 There are jalapenoes, and "kosher pork"... so I doubt you would find this in Hatch!