Messages

I'll probably be in California from May 18th-25th.  I'm staying with my awesome retired uncle whose town I forget but I'm flying into Oakland so it'll probably be in that vicinity.  I won't have a car, partially because I think you need to be 25 to rent one and partially because I don't feel like paying money.  I have absolutely no plans for doing anything during that time other than arrive and depart from the airport.

Any suggestions for the area would be greatly appreciated.  Anyone in the area would be awesome to meet.  I'm up for anything.

I've never taken a vacation before.  As in taken the time from work, booked the flight, stayed somewhere, etc.  I'm assuming this is how one vacations and such.  Never been to CA either.  I think I might like to see the Pacific Ocean.

I'll be in Canada at that time.  I trust you will be available sometime between June 9-14th, when I am in Providence?

I believe I shall, Doktor (which you will learn is pronounced Dahk-tah).

I don't know if any of you are interested, but Penny Arcade has an annual penis cookie contest.

Dickerdoodles!  It's horrible what people do with frosting.  Horrible.

Yeah, I have about 5 solid years of work ahead of me, but URI is one of the only schools that offer the major, and their textiles department is better than RISD's. 

For a public school it has some impressive curriculi.

Some of the best advice I've ever heard is "become an expert in an obscure subject of which no one else has any expertise."

When I first graduated with Psych, people asked me if I would do it again if I had the chance.  I told them no, that I would BDIC in Muppets.  Jim Hensen studios would have to give me a job because, hey, none of them had a fucking degree in Muppets.

This is rather specific, but on Telegraph and Third in Oakland, there's a really good Ethiopian place. And then there's the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Asian art in the SF civic center, which are both pretty awesome.

Alright, cool.  I hope to get to San Francisco at least one day, hopefully for a few.

Also penis cookies.

Dunno about harder to service, my point of view about simplicity in fixed gear versus multi gear is that it simply has less cogs cables and other parts that can break. Less parts is less breakage in a hostile environment, such as my city.

My bike is broken, yet I can still ride it around as a two speed.

If more of it breaks, I can still ride it as a one speed.

This is all irrelevant though to the greatest bicycles on earth, which hark from the Netherlands and I'm aghast you have neglected to mention. None of this rear-attaching, shit-falling-off-and-you-don't-know-it-because-it's behind-you, Xtra-cycle, 90's-neo-hippie American crap.

The Dutch know how to MOVE SHIT ON A BIKE:



LOOK AT THAT SHIT! YOU COULD PUT A PERSON IN THAT BUCKET THAT IS TOO FAT TO RIDE A GODDAMN BIKE!

THE FRONT WHEEL IS TINY AS FUCK SO YOU CAN SEE OVER IT.

SEE THAT LONG THUNDERDICK OF A BAR THAT GOES TO THE FRONT WHEEL: THAT'S A MOTHERFUCKING STEERING APPARATUS THAT WOULD RAPE A GIRAFFE WITH YOUR MOM MERELY BY LOOKING AT IT.

THE MOTHERFUCKING DRIVETRAIN IS COVERED WITH PLASTIC SHIT SO YOUR FUCKING PANTIES WONT GET ZALGOED TO A FINE, BLACK PULP OF SUPERNATURAL EXCREMENT.

AND FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE DOUBLE-FUCKING-SIDED KICKSTAND. YOU CAN GO FROM FULLY ERECT, TO THRUSTING YOUR WAY THROUGH TRAFFIC IN A SINGLE GODDAMN GESTURE.

WHEN YOUR NUTS SWELL OUT OF YOUR PANTS FROM RIDING THIS BITCH YOU CAN JUST PARK THAT SHIT ON THE BACK MOTHERFUCKING CARRIER AND FEEL THE COOL BREEZE RIPPLE THROUGH YOUR SCROTE. UNLESS YOUR SWOLLEN-ASS NUTS WEIGH MORE THAN 35 KILOS. THAT'S 77 POUNDS OF BUILT-IN BRA FOR YOUR NUTS IN THE BACKSEAT ALONE.

My sister has a mysterious habit where she will drink precisely half of whatever drink she has, no matter the size.  So if she orders a large coffee she'll drink half, a small coffee she'll drink half, in spite of the former being about twice as much liquid.  She didn't realize she did this until my brother-in-law and I started making fun of her for it.  However, it means I usually get a free half beer at times at bars.

I knew of four bike shops in this area when I was a kid.  At least two of those have closed down, and if the third didn't it moved to a location that I can't find and I can't remember its name.  The final one is a good bunch of guys, but they overcharge like crazy.  They do get props for posting awful jokes in their sign though.

Dunno about harder to service, my point of view about simplicity in fixed gear versus multi gear is that it simply has less cogs cables and other parts that can break. Less parts is less breakage in a hostile environment, such as my city.

My bike is broken, yet I can still ride it around as a two speed.

If more of it breaks, I can still ride it as a one speed.

This is all irrelevant though to the greatest bicycles on earth, which hark from the Netherlands and I'm aghast you have neglected to mention. None of this rear-attaching, shit-falling-off-and-you-don't-know-it-because-it's behind-you, Xtra-cycle, 90's-neo-hippie American crap.

The Dutch know how to MOVE SHIT ON A BIKE:



LOOK AT THAT SHIT! YOU COULD PUT A PERSON IN THAT BUCKET THAT IS TOO FAT TO RIDE A GODDAMN BIKE!

THE FRONT WHEEL IS TINY AS FUCK SO YOU CAN SEE OVER IT.

SEE THAT LONG THUNDERDICK OF A BAR THAT GOES TO THE FRONT WHEEL: THAT'S A MOTHERFUCKING STEERING APPARATUS THAT WOULD RAPE A GIRAFFE WITH YOUR MOM MERELY BY LOOKING AT IT.

THE MOTHERFUCKING DRIVETRAIN IS COVERED WITH PLASTIC SHIT SO YOUR FUCKING PANTIES WONT GET ZALGOED TO A FINE, BLACK PULP OF SUPERNATURAL EXCREMENT.

AND FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE DOUBLE-FUCKING-SIDED KICKSTAND. YOU CAN GO FROM FULLY ERECT, TO THRUSTING YOUR WAY THROUGH TRAFFIC IN A SINGLE GODDAMN GESTURE.

WHEN YOUR NUTS SWELL OUT OF YOUR PANTS FROM RIDING THIS BITCH YOU CAN JUST PARK THAT SHIT ON THE BACK MOTHERFUCKING CARRIER AND FEEL THE COOL BREEZE RIPPLE THROUGH YOUR SCROTE. UNLESS YOUR SWOLLEN-ASS NUTS WEIGH MORE THAN 35 KILOS. THAT'S 77 POUNDS OF BUILT-IN BRA FOR YOUR NUTS IN THE BACKSEAT ALONE.

OHAI!


Perhaps I'll pester you as I'm only about 45mins-1hr away from there depending on how fast I drivetraffic.

Sounds good.  You bring horses, I bring torches with which to raze villages.

Have fun.  I was down there up until late last year, but if you can get in touch with her St. Mae is the bay area Discordian to meet. 

Maybe she is - UNTIL I GET THERE.  Seriously though it's unfortunate you aren't in the area.

I rode a single speed with coaster brakes every day for about two years in Portland, which has lots of hills. I really appreciated the simplicity of it- I'm not big on fixing things, and this was very low-maintenance. I commuted ten miles every day, in all weather, and never had any real problems. I would often blow past people with thousand-dollar bikes who were click-click-clicking their gears looking for the sweet spot, while I knew all I had to do was muscle down.

As the first bike I commuted on, it was excellent for building up strong legs very fast, and it gave me the confidence in my own strength to climb hills and the like. I could count maybe twice that I had to get off and push, and those were a matter of something killing my momentum halfway up.

I have a 3-speed now, and I think for my next bike I might go up to as many as 7 or 8. I like using third gear to fly down hills where I couldn't pedal fast enough before, but I almost never use first to climb- that's what muscle is for. I like being able to switch when I want to, though- I'm not out to prove anything.

That single-speed is still sitting in my living room, awaiting its eventual conversion to a chopper.

(Single speed does not equal fixie in this case, by the way. Fixies are specialized bikes that you'll probably never need to think about unless you're more concerned with fashion than riding.)

That Sheldon Brown guy in the link makes some pretty compelling arguments for single speeds as well.  I'm tempted to go for the whole different riding experience, and I imagine it'd be easier to build than a geared bike, but even on a geared bike it sucks to hit a bad hill.  It's the long sloping ones I hate the most.  The steep ones are at least over relatively quickly.  Then again I guess I haven't hit a truly awful steep one yet.

I'll probably be in California from May 18th-25th.  I'm staying with my awesome retired uncle whose town I forget but I'm flying into Oakland so it'll probably be in that vicinity.  I won't have a car, partially because I think you need to be 25 to rent one and partially because I don't feel like paying money.  I have absolutely no plans for doing anything during that time other than arrive and depart from the airport.

Any suggestions for the area would be greatly appreciated.  Anyone in the area would be awesome to meet.  I'm up for anything.

I've never taken a vacation before.  As in taken the time from work, booked the flight, stayed somewhere, etc.  I'm assuming this is how one vacations and such.  Never been to CA either.  I think I might like to see the Pacific Ocean.

Is there anything good coming out this year?

Iron Man 2, if you liked the first one.

I liked robert downey jr mincing about, the action and villain were utterly forgettable. If the second one is fun I'll go see it.
As much as I'd like to see Fing Fang Fume make an appearance, I know its never going to happen.

Well Mickey Rourke is Whiplash.  He's usually pretty interesting to watch (though so is Jeff Bridges from the first).  And Don Cheadle as War Machine.  Maybe not memorable, but I think it'll be fun.

Is there anything good coming out this year?

Iron Man 2, if you liked the first one.

Cain, if I ever meet you I'm so going to kill you for pointing out ITG.

The issue I would take with that classification is nobody is directly threatening someone, which is key ITG syndrome.  This seems more like a "if I had a million dollars" except with a greater degree of acid ball burning.  Point well taken that saying one would do something is a far cry from actually doing it, and knowing what one would do is not likely without being confronted by the situation.

So there's unanimous agreement in this thread that child molestation is wrong.  No big surprise there (btw watch Little Children for a decent movie on the subject, with the guy who played Rorschach as a pedophile).  Khara and a few others described emotionally how they think their reactions would be, which is fine, but I think the key is that a few people said they would be willing to pay for what they'd done.  So in the situation where one exacts justice, gets caught, would anyone here really expect to walk?  I sure as hell wouldn't, and I don't think this guy should either.  Setting precedent for justifiable murder and vigilantism is asinine, no matter how much the pedo deserved what he got.

Hey, congrats Suu!