Summary: It has been a somewhat non-productive day, but I have done a number of things. I sit back, catch up and discuss sundries: run-ins with Amazon's Cloud Drive, moonbuggy races, visiting the Flying Monkey, and getting geeked about geek things.
Haven't you heard, bird is the word...Crash: Moonbuggy edition, CSI: Lowe Mill, and other ways my day has went absolutely alright
BLOT: (02 Apr 2011 - 11:40:28 PM)
Haven't you heard, bird is the word...Crash: Moonbuggy edition, CSI: Lowe Mill, and other ways my day has went absolutely alright
The title refers, amongst other things, to this Family Guy clip referencing The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird". I found it, somehow, in that way that I find a lot of things on YouTube. Six degrees of separation. Oh, look, a video of a man teaching a ickle wolf to howl (warning: Awwwwww), and that leads to me something, which leads me to something, which reminds me of something and I search for that, and then I find something. And, well, haven't you heard, bird is the word!
If you clicked on that, I am sorry, because it might be stuck in your head, I'll make it up to you in a moment [if you didn't click on that wolf-pup (cub?) howling one, you are missing out on some cute]. As for songs stuck in my head, I currently have Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" (here's the video, and I warn you, it's catchy and weird and upbeat and you might twee boogie). Specifically the "Let's pretend we don't exist, let's pretend we are in An AR Tee Ca" bit. I was trying to chill out to Negura Bunget's relatively new
Started off the day going to the Space and Rocket Center to see the Moonbuggy Races with Sarah and Raymond. I watched the live feed on Friday but it was a treat to get to see it live in person. Basically, highschool and college teams build a "buggy". It has to fit certain requirements (the one-male, one-female team has to be able to carry the human powered buggy and assemble it on site, it has to fit a certain volume constraint, has to have certain safety and design features) and then the team gets on it, and races [race against a common time, not simultaneous races] around a track with pot-holes, gravel chunks, curves, and a similar obstacles. The gravel obstacles often have a mix of high bumps and low dips, so the buggy has to be able to both take a beating and be mobile enough to get out of various situations. The biggest treat was watching the high school geeks become something like athletes, and compete until they were red in the face. If their buggy broke down (or straight up broke), the would often get out and push/carry it as far as they could before their time gave up. Next year I think I will see about volunteering to be one of the judges/track-repairmen because anything that gives 16 year old geeks a chance to work with design from start to competition finish is ok in my book. My kind of sport.
Now, that site above is just for info, but if you go directly to the UStream Feed page, you can see some highlight footage and some archives. I haven't really looked through it much, but surely something there is worth seeing.
Oh, and today I got to see one of the bigger wrecks. A pair of high-schoolers came around one curve too fast and their back tire essentially buckled. It flipped the girl over unto her shoulder, and then she had the whole buggy (and these things are often about 120-150 pounds) come down on top her, and that whole thing smashed into a hay-bail. She jumped up, ready to keep racing, but the tire took them out. Damn. I love the spirit, though.
After that, we three went over to the Flying Monkey [the CSI in the title refers to a CSI exhibit going on back at Marshall] and ate at the Happy Tummy. My first time. Hell, my first time being in Lowe Mill since it renovation has really kicked in. I'm talking about 2003. I went with Amy Walker and there was some sort of small library and poetry reading center up on the third floor. Hung out there for a couple of hours and it was a creepy place back then. Now it is substantially more built up. Sarah goes kind of often but I never have. I'll have to go back. Plus, Raymond says the burgers at Happy Tummy are amazing. I had a spicy pork sandwich with extra peppers and "kim chi" slaw on the side. Then I went upstairs to visit Katie, who was taking part in the Saturday artist sale, and visited Yuri's shop (she was out, though) on the second floor and Mandi's on the first. Both have art I would love to get, but where the hell am I going to put it?
Back to the apartment where I rested up while Sarah got ready. She had a performance out in Decatur except this time she wasn't a dancer, but a drummer. That's right, I'm married to a drummer who is traveling to other cities to perform with a troupe of women. Trouble surely beckons. I was a geek and stayed home. Ate Totino's pizza with some peppers on top (man, my pepper habit might need to be curbed before my stomach decides I have declared war) and watched
Now, about to gather my Elmore Leonard novel, my iPod with numerous radioplays on it, and head to bed for the night. It is not quite midnight but I'll call it a day. Tomorrow, back to the class grind, I suppose.
Oh, and back to the "making it up to you" bit, I nearly forgot to link this. This is the trailer for the upcoming
Si Vales, Valeo
OTHER BLOTS THIS MONTH: April 2011
dickens of a blog
Written by Doug Bolden
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