For those of you in Boulder, I have a small feature on the Gore Range in this week's Boulder Weekly that is a good primer for this incredible chain of mountains! Check it out if you get a chance.
And speaking of writing, I realize that each article I freelance can buy me approximately 1 tire for my truck. The tires I want are roughly 200 bucks (!) a piece (each tire is more valuable than my Honda). Apparently there was a spike in the price of rubber/tire manufacturing so SUV tires are through the roof. Excellent.
If you need me, I'll be selling my blood in as many cities as I can.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Awwww... yeah! I'm still basking in the afterglow of the sweet, sweet mountain biking of Fruita and Grand Junction in western Colorado. Paul R, Eric, Jody and I hit up the best trails on our short visit from the classic book cliff rides (fast, zippy singletrack with huge hills and narrow ridges), the technically challenging Kokopelli trail area (big step ups, exposed off-camber technical sections close to canyon rims) and my favorite ride of the adventure, the Ribbon outside of Grand Junction (more on that in a minute).
By the way, this video isn't from our trip but it's one of the sections we rode on the Zippity trail!
Back to the Ribbon--this was the only trail that was new to me in the area and I'd say it's my favorite. It's a 6 hour epic that starts in the rolling benonite hills and drops into swirling slot canyons. The eponymous ribbon begins as a 6 foot wide swath of slickrock that gradually climbs and grows into an enormous mesa of slickrock high above the city of Grand Junction. Here's a huge video if you have a few minutes and want to check out the Ribbon in all its glory. Good times...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
One of the big obstacles in my NES completion project was replaying through Battletoads, a notorious platformer that is often cited as the most difficult NES game. In the process I was hoping to polish my old Battletoads FAQ, written in 2001 (written without the benefit of an emulator and save states). Though oddly enough, for this run I didn't use an emulator either. After about a week of practice, I was able to defeat the game without using any extra life codes or any warps (for Marc's benefit, my "final" run through took 47 minutes). I was regularly able to get to the Dark Queen but was forced to continue there in my official run, though opening up the game on an emulator after the fact let me figure out a good pattern to finish her without too much trouble. Just getting to her without continuing isn't too difficult but it requires a ton of memorization.
So is Battletoads as difficult as some say it is? It's certainly has a great mix of reflex oriented stages along with a lot of memorization, but I'd say the challenge is fair. There are lots of opportunities to earn free lives and the level designs almost always put a 1-UP in sections where you may have to repeat tricky spots. The first time you reach certain stages, you'll be wiped out for certain but with enough practice, it becomes almost second nature to clear them. It's tough but I think there are harder games out there, such as Rad Racer and TMNT (though Battletoads is considerably more difficult than its partner in NES difficulty lore, Ghosts N' Goblins).
Here's my final thoughts and some stats:
1 - On normal games, I can regularly get through the first 4 stages without losing a life. And in most cases, I can clear stages 5 and 6 without dying as well but in my run through I somehow got pounded by Blarg, the giant mutant rat mid-boss of level 5. It was the first time in my practice it had happened but that's where I lost the most lives in any stage.
2 - In my opinion the hardest stage is Volkmyre's Inferno, since you'll die quite a bit figuring out the electrical patterns of the fences. The "keystone" stage is stage 9, Terra Tubes. If you get everything lined up right, a no-death run is a regular occurrence. However, the orange fish and ducks are the most unpredictable enemies in the game and can make for some real headaches.
3 - Most bosses are pretty easy, notably Robomanus and General Steerhorns, who both have simple patterns. The one exception is the Hypo-Orb, who I still have no idea how it administers or receives damage (the same is sort of true for the Dark Queen too). And man, is the ending lame!
Overall, it's still an exceptional game--one might believe the later stages and ending were added as an afterthought. And since Marc is probably the only person who will appreciate this post, I'll just say that Battletoads is a fine NES game that is amongst the elite platformers for the humble 8-bit system.
Monday, September 15, 2008
I love my mountain bike, but I love it even more when I can actually ride it. This weekend I got to experience the highs and lows of mountain bike maintenance, including a potential act of sabotage, if you're into conspiracy theories...
First the bad: I can't trumpet this one loud enough--stay away from Sports Garage in Boulder. It's gotta be the worst bike shop in town. Sports Garage gets a big, fat thumbs down from me. I've dealt with them before on the recommendations of friends and rumors they had solid mechanics. After two separate incidents where they really blew it on customer service, I'm done with 'em.
Basically, they rooked me on a broken front brake. I brought it in and was told I could either have it warrantied (takes 10 days, is free except shipping) or they could fix it the next day for about 30 bucks + parts. Since I ride quite a bit, I agreed to have them fix it and they told me they'd call me the next day when it was ready to go. A day passed.
Then two.
Finally I called the shop and they explained that they had to order parts and it would take 10 days for them to come in (!) So in other words, I was now forced to pay what would have been a free warranty and I was still without a brake for close to two weeks. After politely complaining, they gave me a loaner brake which seemed like a nice move expect 1-the brake had no pressure in the line, which I had to bring back to the shop to get fixed (and they even initially tried to charge me even though it is their brake!) 2-It had brake pads that were worn down to the metal, which can potentially ruin the rotor on my wheel.
I discovered the pad issue after I had driven all the way down to Golden to ride so I had to drive 45 minutes BACK to Boulder, where suddenly surprise, my brake is magically repaired. As I turned in the loaner with bad brakes, the condescending mechanic implied I put on my old pads in place of their loaners (100% not true) and didn't give them all the hardware the brake comes with (I never touched the hardware). This is not someone you want fixing your bike. After grudgingly putting my brake on and trying to charge me for other stuff that they didn't do, I had my bike back.
In the next two days I got a strange slow-leak flat tire and more damagingly a bent rear rim because of bad spoke tension. I'm not saying there's a connection but my bike has been solid all summer...
The bent rear rim was a big deal. It happened on Hall Ranch and when it got bent into my frame I took a fairly hard spill onto rocks (luckily just bumps and bruises). I had a long walk back to the car, which also stunk. But:
The good: I brought my bike to a new shop, Boulder Cycle Sport where the whole vibe is much better. They examined my rim and noted the weird tension in the spokes (that wasn't the case with the front tire). The rim was shot, but after a few calls they were able to find out FSA, the rim maker, will warranty the rim! They didn't try to sell me anything else or give me bad info, which was a nice change in Boulder. I even asked about other wheel systems and they gave me the skinny on what was available. Nice. I'll be without a bike for a few days but that's cool... there's plenty to do in Boulder in the meanwhile.
First the bad: I can't trumpet this one loud enough--stay away from Sports Garage in Boulder. It's gotta be the worst bike shop in town. Sports Garage gets a big, fat thumbs down from me. I've dealt with them before on the recommendations of friends and rumors they had solid mechanics. After two separate incidents where they really blew it on customer service, I'm done with 'em.
Basically, they rooked me on a broken front brake. I brought it in and was told I could either have it warrantied (takes 10 days, is free except shipping) or they could fix it the next day for about 30 bucks + parts. Since I ride quite a bit, I agreed to have them fix it and they told me they'd call me the next day when it was ready to go. A day passed.
Then two.
Finally I called the shop and they explained that they had to order parts and it would take 10 days for them to come in (!) So in other words, I was now forced to pay what would have been a free warranty and I was still without a brake for close to two weeks. After politely complaining, they gave me a loaner brake which seemed like a nice move expect 1-the brake had no pressure in the line, which I had to bring back to the shop to get fixed (and they even initially tried to charge me even though it is their brake!) 2-It had brake pads that were worn down to the metal, which can potentially ruin the rotor on my wheel.
I discovered the pad issue after I had driven all the way down to Golden to ride so I had to drive 45 minutes BACK to Boulder, where suddenly surprise, my brake is magically repaired. As I turned in the loaner with bad brakes, the condescending mechanic implied I put on my old pads in place of their loaners (100% not true) and didn't give them all the hardware the brake comes with (I never touched the hardware). This is not someone you want fixing your bike. After grudgingly putting my brake on and trying to charge me for other stuff that they didn't do, I had my bike back.
In the next two days I got a strange slow-leak flat tire and more damagingly a bent rear rim because of bad spoke tension. I'm not saying there's a connection but my bike has been solid all summer...
The bent rear rim was a big deal. It happened on Hall Ranch and when it got bent into my frame I took a fairly hard spill onto rocks (luckily just bumps and bruises). I had a long walk back to the car, which also stunk. But:
The good: I brought my bike to a new shop, Boulder Cycle Sport where the whole vibe is much better. They examined my rim and noted the weird tension in the spokes (that wasn't the case with the front tire). The rim was shot, but after a few calls they were able to find out FSA, the rim maker, will warranty the rim! They didn't try to sell me anything else or give me bad info, which was a nice change in Boulder. I even asked about other wheel systems and they gave me the skinny on what was available. Nice. I'll be without a bike for a few days but that's cool... there's plenty to do in Boulder in the meanwhile.
Friday, September 12, 2008
I would highly doubt anyone who reads this blog has any leanings towards voting republican this fall, but watching all the hateful rhetoric from the RNC is scary and hopefully people are noticing an elephant can't change its spots. Sarah Palin is a nightmare for Alaska as any of my readers of Good Nature website probably already know. And I had heard about this story regarding censorship and downright unethical behavior in the library (of all places). Regardless of the spin put on it, if librarians are fearful of their jobs because of petty censorship, its a pretty bad sign.
I mention this mainly because I'm an author; writing is livelihood. While my first offering is a rather non-political guidebook, my future projects aim to be much more opinionated and one thing I can tell you is that I don't believe the world is only 6,000 years old like some people (though I have no qualms with someone else believing that). And even if I never amount to a stack of beans, it's evident that censorship of books and ideas a trademark of cowardly leaders. One thing is true-- the GOP is certainly good at scaring the crap out of uneducated Americans.
Blah. Anyhow...
So the debate here (non-political) is should I move my main website into a CMS (content management system) like Wordpress or Drupal. I'll be keeping my blog on blogger--it's easy to use, has strong SEO ties and I like the design control. It's the rest of mountainouswords that I want to develop and admittedly, a CMS would make my life so much easier. Manually updating the pages takes time and even then, there are some design changes a CMS would likely help out. But there are pros and cons:
Wordpress
Pros: looks good, auto-xml sitemaps, nice plugins, well supported platform, easy to import HTML, plus I know a few folks who use it
Cons: Seems very difficult to design if you go outside of WP's template system, especially with individual pages, limited photo gallery options, never used the interface
Drupal
Pros: I use it here at work so I'm familiar with it, nice navigation blocks and design set-up, very easy to customize individual pages, quick to get up and running
Cons: Tricky back end and plugin support, no auto-sitemap features, no auto-backups
I keep going back and forth but I KNOW just using Dreamweaver isn't cutting it for me. Any suggestions would be helpful--unlike the elections this fall, I can still go either way on this one.
I'm not a Browns fan, heck I don't even care much for Cleveland in general but this guy's three-headed Cerberus get up is pretty awesome. I'm one of those people who are constantly stumped for a costume come Halloween so I have the utmost respect for dudes who do this every freakin' Sunday. Plus, I like the subtle accoutrement of the dog bones, a little less over the top than the bizarre, Madmax inspired outfits of die hard Raiders fans. Sadly, all the costumes in the world can't help the fact both of these teams absolutely stink. Unlike a lot of Broncos fans, I don't particularly hate the Raiders--I think the Chargers are a more hatable rival in the AFC west. But I digress--the triple dog head is awesome and I have to give props to both the Dog Pound in Cleveland and the Black Hole in Oakland for passionate (translation: drunk) fans.
In other news, I wrote two 1,500 word articles in the last 24 hours so I don't expect much out of the blog the next few days. One more long day at work today and then "normal" days until the weekend. Ahhh....weekend....
Well, there she is! I snapped a quick photo before biking off to work this morning; eagle-eyed viewers will notice the Pac-Man dice have already been transplanted from the black beauty. I've got a busy day ahead of me with assorted Good Nature updates so not too much babbling afoot for now.
I mention this mainly because I'm an author; writing is livelihood. While my first offering is a rather non-political guidebook, my future projects aim to be much more opinionated and one thing I can tell you is that I don't believe the world is only 6,000 years old like some people (though I have no qualms with someone else believing that). And even if I never amount to a stack of beans, it's evident that censorship of books and ideas a trademark of cowardly leaders. One thing is true-- the GOP is certainly good at scaring the crap out of uneducated Americans.
Blah. Anyhow...
So the debate here (non-political) is should I move my main website into a CMS (content management system) like Wordpress or Drupal. I'll be keeping my blog on blogger--it's easy to use, has strong SEO ties and I like the design control. It's the rest of mountainouswords that I want to develop and admittedly, a CMS would make my life so much easier. Manually updating the pages takes time and even then, there are some design changes a CMS would likely help out. But there are pros and cons:
Wordpress
Pros: looks good, auto-xml sitemaps, nice plugins, well supported platform, easy to import HTML, plus I know a few folks who use it
Cons: Seems very difficult to design if you go outside of WP's template system, especially with individual pages, limited photo gallery options, never used the interface
Drupal
Pros: I use it here at work so I'm familiar with it, nice navigation blocks and design set-up, very easy to customize individual pages, quick to get up and running
Cons: Tricky back end and plugin support, no auto-sitemap features, no auto-backups
I keep going back and forth but I KNOW just using Dreamweaver isn't cutting it for me. Any suggestions would be helpful--unlike the elections this fall, I can still go either way on this one.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I'm not a Browns fan, heck I don't even care much for Cleveland in general but this guy's three-headed Cerberus get up is pretty awesome. I'm one of those people who are constantly stumped for a costume come Halloween so I have the utmost respect for dudes who do this every freakin' Sunday. Plus, I like the subtle accoutrement of the dog bones, a little less over the top than the bizarre, Madmax inspired outfits of die hard Raiders fans. Sadly, all the costumes in the world can't help the fact both of these teams absolutely stink. Unlike a lot of Broncos fans, I don't particularly hate the Raiders--I think the Chargers are a more hatable rival in the AFC west. But I digress--the triple dog head is awesome and I have to give props to both the Dog Pound in Cleveland and the Black Hole in Oakland for passionate (translation: drunk) fans. In other news, I wrote two 1,500 word articles in the last 24 hours so I don't expect much out of the blog the next few days. One more long day at work today and then "normal" days until the weekend. Ahhh....weekend....
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Well, there she is! I snapped a quick photo before biking off to work this morning; eagle-eyed viewers will notice the Pac-Man dice have already been transplanted from the black beauty. I've got a busy day ahead of me with assorted Good Nature updates so not too much babbling afoot for now.
Monday, September 08, 2008
It's a momentous day out here in Colorado-- alas, the Dziezynski fleet of vehicles now includes a new (to me) 1998 Toyota 4-Runner! This is the first vehicle I've owned that has such ground-breaking features as:
*-Functioning air conditioning
*-A "compact-disc" player (at least it's MP3/WMA compatible too)
*-A crack free windshield
And that's not even touching the fact it runs like a dream, provided your sleep is dominated with relatively boring visions of a Toyota 4-Runner. You probably need more excitement in your life if this is case. But I digress; my new ride is everything I was looking for: a good price, manual transmission, relatively low miles, strong true 4x4 and enough room to sleep in the back for adventures. It also comes in sweet powder blue (I was going to post pictures but it's raining and gloomy today, bad light for digital pics). I guess I'm just following Candice's lead with getting some new wheels (though her new car gets waaaay better gas mileage and can probably fit in my truck).
For those of you wondering the fate of the Accord, it's still in service for now. It's gone above and beyond the call of duty and it feels kind of weird to retire it from mountain service but, after losing the exhaust system multiple times on 4x4 roads and straining it's humble 4-cylinder engine on mountain passes, it's earned the right to be put out to pasture. That car has some major heart and so now it's used exclusively for around town errands, the commute to work and other shortish jaunts. I'm thinking of putting it into my "gear hall of fame" for its hard work in making my book a reality. Heck, at only 225,000 miles it probably has another 200,000 in its metallic bones.
So that's the scoop for now--more news to come, but that's been the big deal of the past week or so. I am prepping my classic 2001 Battletoads FAQ for revisions, something that should get me back in the groove of writing again (outside of work stuff). Oh and football season is underway-- woo hoo!!! Ah and one more bit of news. If you get a chance, check out our new, revised work site that I've been working on that is all about the Galapagos Islands! We put the site up a while ago but we're prettying it up (and what's more beautiful than a blue-footed booby?) If you get a spare sec, check it out!
*-Functioning air conditioning
*-A "compact-disc" player (at least it's MP3/WMA compatible too)
*-A crack free windshield
And that's not even touching the fact it runs like a dream, provided your sleep is dominated with relatively boring visions of a Toyota 4-Runner. You probably need more excitement in your life if this is case. But I digress; my new ride is everything I was looking for: a good price, manual transmission, relatively low miles, strong true 4x4 and enough room to sleep in the back for adventures. It also comes in sweet powder blue (I was going to post pictures but it's raining and gloomy today, bad light for digital pics). I guess I'm just following Candice's lead with getting some new wheels (though her new car gets waaaay better gas mileage and can probably fit in my truck).
For those of you wondering the fate of the Accord, it's still in service for now. It's gone above and beyond the call of duty and it feels kind of weird to retire it from mountain service but, after losing the exhaust system multiple times on 4x4 roads and straining it's humble 4-cylinder engine on mountain passes, it's earned the right to be put out to pasture. That car has some major heart and so now it's used exclusively for around town errands, the commute to work and other shortish jaunts. I'm thinking of putting it into my "gear hall of fame" for its hard work in making my book a reality. Heck, at only 225,000 miles it probably has another 200,000 in its metallic bones.
So that's the scoop for now--more news to come, but that's been the big deal of the past week or so. I am prepping my classic 2001 Battletoads FAQ for revisions, something that should get me back in the groove of writing again (outside of work stuff). Oh and football season is underway-- woo hoo!!! Ah and one more bit of news. If you get a chance, check out our new, revised work site that I've been working on that is all about the Galapagos Islands! We put the site up a while ago but we're prettying it up (and what's more beautiful than a blue-footed booby?) If you get a spare sec, check it out!
Friday, September 05, 2008
Ahh... doublethink. I'm not a huge fan of the Daily Show but I HAVE made a point of trying to eventually become a much more respectable alumnus of Marist College than Bill O'Reilly. Well strike that, I'm already more respectable (who isn't).
My video has been erased! Big brother IS watching!!
As a note, I also went to the college that produced Rik "the dunkin' dutchman" Smits, who is now a mnoto cross racer.
My video has been erased! Big brother IS watching!!
As a note, I also went to the college that produced Rik "the dunkin' dutchman" Smits, who is now a mnoto cross racer.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
