New Favorite Sport:
I think that possibly Cheese Rolling tops my previous favorite of Mangold Hurling as top crazy British sport.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I had forgotten how peaceful the Midwest is, especially when compared with Philly. I spent a really nice 4 day weekend in Minneapolis and Saint Paul for my youngest sister's graduation. Leah graduated Cum Laude from Mac, besting both of her brothers in grades and equalling them in the quality of drunken incident stories. Good stuff. The Dark Goat is happy.
The rest of the family was up too, and it's an unusual occasion to have all 7 of us in one spot anymore. Christmas is about the only time it happens these days. We had a good time, hanging out, cooking food, shooting the shit, telling stories about all the dumb stuff that we (mostly I) did as kids.
The ever popular stories included: Aaron shot himself with the BB gun, Aaron fell out of the tree while repelling off of the garden hose, Aaron cut his finger with the butcher knife, Aaron made gunpowder, Aaron nearly burned the house down etc.
It's nearly miraculous that I survived childhood.
Speaking of childhood, I spent two nights at the ever hospitable home of my friends Ben and Marye where I was able to meet an amazingly cute baby, thier son Levi. Check out the pictures for your self, the kid is a pure photogenic genius.
The rest of the family was up too, and it's an unusual occasion to have all 7 of us in one spot anymore. Christmas is about the only time it happens these days. We had a good time, hanging out, cooking food, shooting the shit, telling stories about all the dumb stuff that we (mostly I) did as kids.
The ever popular stories included: Aaron shot himself with the BB gun, Aaron fell out of the tree while repelling off of the garden hose, Aaron cut his finger with the butcher knife, Aaron made gunpowder, Aaron nearly burned the house down etc.
It's nearly miraculous that I survived childhood.
Speaking of childhood, I spent two nights at the ever hospitable home of my friends Ben and Marye where I was able to meet an amazingly cute baby, thier son Levi. Check out the pictures for your self, the kid is a pure photogenic genius.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
I went out for our weekly shop ride this morning on the Daruma Cycles Mark II frame. It's approximately my size and is set up as a cyclocross/touring commuter. I put it together last week with all of the parts from my cyclocross bike in order to do a test run before sending it off to its eventual home. My impressions are overall quite positive. The bike rides great, looks good and attracts stares. My friend Cliff put it as, "Like riding a bicycle made of puppies," in that everyone wants to stop and talk to you about it. I even got a double take from this woman in business attire, stilletto heels, and legs that went all the way to the ground. Had she been looking at me, it would have been a first, but lots of people have asked me about the bike, so I chose not to be too flattered.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Last Friday I had people over for a birthday pizza bash. Great fun and great food was had by all. I bought enough dough for about 25 pizzas and we ate probably 22 all told. The pizza stone is one of my kitchen favorites: nothing tastes better than pizza popped straight out of the oven, except for maybe pizza that has been pulled straight from the oven 4 minutes ago, after the cheese loses its ability to peel the skin off your mouth.
I was also happy to debut my first ever home-made sausage. The picture should say it all, but 8 pounds of sausage is a lot! I need to tweak the recipe or my technique a bit, I have not quite mastered the interior texture, these were a bit too grainy and not quite as unified as I'd like.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Just in time for racing season: a benediction for the fleet of wheel!
http://www.theblessingofthebikes.com/
http://www.theblessingofthebikes.com/
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Due to the regrettably inexorable march of time, I am rapidly approaching my 30th birthday. Heck of a deal.
No new news on the job front, but that's to be expected, I think. I have however purchased all the necessaries for making my first batch of home-made sausages. A nice fat pork butt, some casings, some spices and away we go! This will hopefully complement the home-made bacon, homebrewed beer and some nice home-fired pizza that we're going to be making this Friday. Thirty shouldn't be so bad afterall.
No new news on the job front, but that's to be expected, I think. I have however purchased all the necessaries for making my first batch of home-made sausages. A nice fat pork butt, some casings, some spices and away we go! This will hopefully complement the home-made bacon, homebrewed beer and some nice home-fired pizza that we're going to be making this Friday. Thirty shouldn't be so bad afterall.
Monday, March 30, 2009
My third batch of bacon is now ready to be eaten, and I must say that it's the best of the lot! Jennifer and I ordered a bunch of supplies from Butcher Packer Supply: pink salt (Sodium Nitrate), wet casings and also some dry casings for making sopresata. This, combined with the cookbook that Jean gave me for my birthday, will put us well on our way to making our own fresh and cured sausages! I just have to make sure not to kill myself with botulism.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Alrightie! The presentation is up on the Darumacycles Blog. I had a really good time meeting people and talking about Jennifer's bike. As it turned out, a lot of the other presenters didn't really have a good feel for the format (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide) and so didn't present the information in a very interesting way. I think (perhaps because I have little else going on right now) that I was able to put a bit more into the presentation, and it turned out quite well. In my dream world it would have been something like, "Aaron, great presentation! I loved the bikes, but have you considered working for a city planning/design/architecture firm? Here's my card..."
No dice.
I was able to chat up the Philadelphia City Planning Director, but he's got a smaller budget than I do right now, so I guess I'll hit the pavement.
No dice.
I was able to chat up the Philadelphia City Planning Director, but he's got a smaller budget than I do right now, so I guess I'll hit the pavement.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Ok, I've had some requests for a report on the presentation I gave last week and it is forthcoming, but check out these shirts first!
I have never been happier to be an Iowan!
I have never been happier to be an Iowan!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I've started a new blog as I am figuring out what the hell to do with my bamboo bicycle concept. I dearly love building these bikes, and am already in the process of building one for my brother Ian's boss at Willy Bikes in Madison. The new blog is called Daruma Cycles, with a link over on the sidebar of this blog. Daruma is a Japanese god/good luck charm. He's known for perseverance and good will and I think that I'm going to need both of those if this venture is going to succeed. The Japanese buy little Daruma dolls at temples around new years, and then make a wish while coloring in the pupil of one of his eyes. When the wish comes true, you color in the other eye, and then burn the daruma to send your thanks heavenward.
I'll be much happier once I get done with the presentation I'm giving this Friday at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architectural firm. One of my teammates from the bike club is an architect there and recommended me for the session. The format is 20 slides, 20 seconds each. It'll be a fast and furious presentation and I hope I'm up to it. I'm a bit rusty after several months of non-academic work.
I'll be much happier once I get done with the presentation I'm giving this Friday at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architectural firm. One of my teammates from the bike club is an architect there and recommended me for the session. The format is 20 slides, 20 seconds each. It'll be a fast and furious presentation and I hope I'm up to it. I'm a bit rusty after several months of non-academic work.
Monday, February 09, 2009
It is time to get back on the horse again. Winter be dammed, it is approaching cycling season. As much as my bike Pinky loves the snow, after crashing once or twice, I think that I'll stick to a different bike for slippery conditions. I eventually put the snow tires on my cyclocross bike. That was a good idea for sure. I always love the invincible feeling of studded tires as they click across the ice, saving my ass from certain flattening.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bicycle construction remains a-pace. I've been working on building a new frame jig, this time more easily customizable and much more sturdy. I've also begun the process of curing the next round of bamboo, should be interesting as I've decided to put it into the smoker!
In other news, my first recipe from the Alaska Bootlegger's Bible turned out not to be the smashing success that I'd hoped. Milk wine, as it turns out, tastes pretty gross. When the ingredients are powdered milk,sugar, Lactaid and yeast,one can't really hope for much, but at the same time, I had some high expectations for something at least drinkable. Nope. Not for human consumption, though I might try to set the stuff outside to see if the cats get drunk off of it.
In other news, my first recipe from the Alaska Bootlegger's Bible turned out not to be the smashing success that I'd hoped. Milk wine, as it turns out, tastes pretty gross. When the ingredients are powdered milk,sugar, Lactaid and yeast,one can't really hope for much, but at the same time, I had some high expectations for something at least drinkable. Nope. Not for human consumption, though I might try to set the stuff outside to see if the cats get drunk off of it.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I've been a bit delayed, but I thought I'd post some pics from my newest diversion, SURFING. I got a call from our friend Matt who happens to own two surfboards and two wetsuits and we headed out about 10:00 on December 2 to Ocean City to foray into the wild world of surf. I spent most of my time trying to get out past the breakers, and had maybe 3 chances where I could maybe have stood up on the board. I didn't really stand a chance. I emerged about 2 hours later, exhausted but strangely exhilirated.
A couple of observations: Wrestling your way into a wetsuit on a 40 degree day is not exactly fun, but is in no way as bad as wrestling your way out of one, wet, on a 40 degree day.
Secondly, Waves, while they may not look crazy from the shore, are much bigger when your head is only inches from the surface of the water.
Monday, December 08, 2008
I had so much success making a bike at home that I thought I might diversify... TO BACON!!
After reading several accounts on how inferior store bought bacon was, and how easy it is to make your own, I decided that I had to try it for myself.
Step one is to get a pork belly. I happen to have a butcher at hand who not only sells pork belly, looks like he has a little one of his own! You take the pork belly and slather it with a dry rub of about 50% salt 50% brown sugar and stick it in a ziploc bag in the fridge for about a week. I thought that I would be creative and I took some pineapple and blended it up with the salt/sugar mix and pasted it all over the little porkbellies. Bad idea. Pineapple apparently has some sort of chemical in it which essentially digests meat protein. After about a week in the fridge, I looked in the bags and found that instead of drying out the juices and curing the bacon, the exterior of the pork belly had turned to salty pig slime. No matter, I simply washed off most of the slime and re-salted the little bastards, left it in for another 3 days and proceeded with the process.
The picture here shows the cured pork belly with the salt brine washed off. The most disconcerting part of the whole affair was the fact that pork bellies come with skin and in this case, a nipple, still attached.
Next step was to wait over night while the surface dried out into a "pellicule" and then smoke the bacon. I decided to turn our chimanea into a smoker by placing a plank over the top and front, and then suspending a piece of wood with spikes and a thermometer from the top. This would be my pork holder. I stoked the fires, and then quenched them a bit by covering the bed of coals with a double layer of tin foil. This kept the heat in the chimney at about 200-250 degrees, ideal for smoking. To create flavor, I put some water-soaked apple wood chips that my dad had mailed to me (think I'm crazy? Meet Ronn Ritz)on top of the foil layer. The water keeps them from bursting into flame and produces more smoke. Then I sat back and waited for about an hour and a half while the bacon smoked and reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees.
After smoking, the bacon was essentially done. All that remains is to slice,
and enjoy!!
Tastes pretty damn good. Next time I skip the pineapple, add some sage and some sodium nitrate!
After reading several accounts on how inferior store bought bacon was, and how easy it is to make your own, I decided that I had to try it for myself.
Step one is to get a pork belly. I happen to have a butcher at hand who not only sells pork belly, looks like he has a little one of his own! You take the pork belly and slather it with a dry rub of about 50% salt 50% brown sugar and stick it in a ziploc bag in the fridge for about a week. I thought that I would be creative and I took some pineapple and blended it up with the salt/sugar mix and pasted it all over the little porkbellies. Bad idea. Pineapple apparently has some sort of chemical in it which essentially digests meat protein. After about a week in the fridge, I looked in the bags and found that instead of drying out the juices and curing the bacon, the exterior of the pork belly had turned to salty pig slime. No matter, I simply washed off most of the slime and re-salted the little bastards, left it in for another 3 days and proceeded with the process.
The picture here shows the cured pork belly with the salt brine washed off. The most disconcerting part of the whole affair was the fact that pork bellies come with skin and in this case, a nipple, still attached.
Next step was to wait over night while the surface dried out into a "pellicule" and then smoke the bacon. I decided to turn our chimanea into a smoker by placing a plank over the top and front, and then suspending a piece of wood with spikes and a thermometer from the top. This would be my pork holder. I stoked the fires, and then quenched them a bit by covering the bed of coals with a double layer of tin foil. This kept the heat in the chimney at about 200-250 degrees, ideal for smoking. To create flavor, I put some water-soaked apple wood chips that my dad had mailed to me (think I'm crazy? Meet Ronn Ritz)on top of the foil layer. The water keeps them from bursting into flame and produces more smoke. Then I sat back and waited for about an hour and a half while the bacon smoked and reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees.
After smoking, the bacon was essentially done. All that remains is to slice,
and enjoy!!
Tastes pretty damn good. Next time I skip the pineapple, add some sage and some sodium nitrate!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
If you're still curious about the bamboo bike project, I've posted more pictures on my flickr page.
There is some descriptive text next to each. The basic gist is that it wasn't honestly all that difficult if you have a sense for how bikes are put together. The total cost for frame materials was somewhere in the range of $200, and that includes the MDF and bolts used to make the jig. I'm hoping to put together a cyclocross bike for myself this winter some time--I think that the vibration damping qualities of the bamboo would be nice for that application. I've harvested some more bamboo and while waiting for that to dry, am contemplating my next frame jig, hopefully something more adjustable that will work for different frame dimensions. I'll post more on that process as it goes along.
There is some descriptive text next to each. The basic gist is that it wasn't honestly all that difficult if you have a sense for how bikes are put together. The total cost for frame materials was somewhere in the range of $200, and that includes the MDF and bolts used to make the jig. I'm hoping to put together a cyclocross bike for myself this winter some time--I think that the vibration damping qualities of the bamboo would be nice for that application. I've harvested some more bamboo and while waiting for that to dry, am contemplating my next frame jig, hopefully something more adjustable that will work for different frame dimensions. I'll post more on that process as it goes along.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wow, thanks to everyone who has complimented me on the bike, you boosted my ego just like I had hoped. I've received numerous inquiries about the project and a bunch of "You should sell that!" comments. No plans for such things yet, but talk to me in a couple of months and I may have a different opinion depending on how the job market treats me. I'm kinda not too optimistic about that; too many people are way to freaked out about their financial future to offer me a job. Kinda sucks, but I'm more or less resigned to it, and I've been able to find some alternate employment for the time being. My new gig is guinea-pigging for the NIH. I'm going to be a part of a cholesterol study in which they starve me, feed me heavy cream and then take a core sample of the fatty tissue of my ass. ALL HAIL SCIENCE! At least it pays well, $1200. I would imagine that it will be at least moderately unpleasant because the pay is so good. No one would pay you that much for something easy.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tonight I finished Jennifer's Bamboo road bike. I have but two words to describe how I feel about the thing: Supreme Satisfaction.
The project has been ongoing much of the summer, I started in late May by harvesting some bamboo growing north of here along the Schuylkill River. I then dried the bamboo for about a month and a half out in the back. By the time the bamboo was bleached a pleasant tan, I was ready to begin the bike.
Stage one involved plotting out the geometry, along with about 6 hours of relearning trigonometry as well as drafting on the kitchen table to get things right. Then I built the jig, mitered the bamboo tubes and glued them together with epoxy.
Next I began the process of laying up carbon fiber sheets around the joints. I've got no pictures of this because my hands tended to be covered with epoxy at that time
After probably close to 100 hours off and on over the course of the summer, I finally finished the frame and then began the lengthy process of acquiring parts. I opted for Campagnolo, because really, it's the best. That, and I had a number of spare parts floating around from my various Campy bikes.
The project has been ongoing much of the summer, I started in late May by harvesting some bamboo growing north of here along the Schuylkill River. I then dried the bamboo for about a month and a half out in the back. By the time the bamboo was bleached a pleasant tan, I was ready to begin the bike.
Stage one involved plotting out the geometry, along with about 6 hours of relearning trigonometry as well as drafting on the kitchen table to get things right. Then I built the jig, mitered the bamboo tubes and glued them together with epoxy.
Next I began the process of laying up carbon fiber sheets around the joints. I've got no pictures of this because my hands tended to be covered with epoxy at that time
After probably close to 100 hours off and on over the course of the summer, I finally finished the frame and then began the lengthy process of acquiring parts. I opted for Campagnolo, because really, it's the best. That, and I had a number of spare parts floating around from my various Campy bikes.
And here is the finished ride. The kanji on the down tube and seat tube read, Ichi go, Ichi e, which is a Japanese saying that translates roughly into, "you have one chance in life, so make it your best," or alternately, "every instance is unique and valuable." Honestly, it sounds a lot less corny in Japanese. I first heard this term on a sake brewery tour when we were in Nagano in which our host's actions truly exemplified the idea of ichi go ichi e.
As for the bike, I put it together at Trophy Bikes and took it for a quick test ride earlier today. The ride quality is TOTALLY SWEET! I realize that I have a bit of a bias, but truthfully I have ridden very few bikes that felt nicer. The bike seems to float over bumpy road surfaces, almost as if it were on giant baloon tires, but nope, they are just 700x23 clinchers pumped hard as rocks. My big worry was that I had not gotten the frame alignment right, but that seems dead on too; riding no-handed is no problem. Oh yeah, and it corners like a fricking roller coaster and it accelerates as fast as anything I've ever ridden. Maybe that's due to the fact that it weighs only 16.5 pounds! I had no idea that it was going to be so light and honestly did a full on "YESSSS!" complete with double fist pump when I hung it on the scale.
Despite my bias, I think that my claims are somewhat well founded. I had as many people as I could test ride it earlier today, mostly to show off, but everyone was suitably impressed, and I don't think that they were just doing it to be nice. I am SUPER PSYCHED, as was Jennifer. She insisted that I take pictures of the bike and post them as soon as I could, and then proceeded to put the bike in the bedroom so that she could take pictures of it. I think that she likes it.
Here are some shots:
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