Stan’s Obligatory Blog

I noticed this in my web server logs. I was linked from a French cycling site. They have a link to a picture of me sitting on the side of the road fixing a flat tire. Not knowing French, I used The Fish:

(As promised the week spent, we speak today about the tire). One can affirm without fear to be mistaken that the tire is an essential part of the bicycle. With proof this image: the tire is abolished by a puncture, therefore the bicycle is sagging unusable on the ground. Stan, Cathy, and Lucinda

A bit clumsy, but it’s understandable. The tire is an essential part of the bicycle. Dunno how they found that particular picture, but it’s still amusing.

Update: I asked a woman in my office who reads French, and this is her translation:

“(as promised last week, today we’ll talk about the tire)
One can say that the tire is a key piece for the bike. This picture proves it: a puncture puts the tire out of order, so the bike is lying on the ground, useless.”

It’s September, which means it’s time for the Inkslingers’ Ball. This is easily the best tattoo convention in Los Angeles, and it’s my sentimental favorite. We’ve been going to it since ’95, and it’s always great fun.

I went on Friday night and also on Saturday. Cathy joined me for Saturday night. I have a whole circle of friends that I know from these events that I never see anywhere else, so it’s always a fun time to see them and catch up.

When Cathy got there, we went and had dinner at Fabioulus Cafe, which is just down the street from The Palladium where the convention is held. After that, we went back and wandered around, visiting with our friends there. We saw Erica, who has a whole tattoo sleeve of My Little Pony. We also ran into our old friend Lisa, who has lots of nice tattoos and is also a very interesting intellectual. We got to visit with Roberta and Hurley, who we’ve known for almost 20 years now. Also, we did some shopping there. We bought a set of ‘Vacation in Hell’ refrigerator magnets, and Cathy bought a couple of new shirts.

Overall, it was a very fun time. The pictures are here.

Route map and photo locations

Today’s ride was the ‘Greek Theater’ route through Griffith Park, but today we did it in the opposite way. We rode through the park from north to south so as to do the uphill part on the rough part of the road.

We started out going through Eagle Rock and Highland Park. On Figueroa St. we saw what may have been a bit of a student film. There was a guy with a camera filming a car pulling away from the curb. I snapped a picture of him.

When we got to the railroad crossing, there was a train coming. As the train came across the road, it blew its horn. I have a duck call that’s louder than that train horn. I’ve read that the train horns are toned down due to complaints from people in South Pasadena, but I don’t know how the horn is supposed to warn people that a train is coming if it’s not loud enough to hear.

When we got down by the L.A. River we had to take a short detour, but we made it back onto the proper bridge to cross the river and get on Riverside Drive. And that was where I noticed that my tire was going flat. I was hoping it would hold out long enough to make it to the park, but that didn’t happen. I had to stop and fix it, and this makes my fourth appearance in the Flat Tire Gallery.

After the tire repair, we continued on, entering Griffith Park. We rode through the park and up Crystal Springs Road, past the golf course. Then we turned and went up the road to Mt. Hollywood. This road through the park has been closed to cars for years, and it’s not been maintained well. It’s got lots of holes and bumps and is generally not that good to ride on. But there are no cars. So it is Good. We headed up the hill. It’s actually a pretty nice climb. You’d never guess that you’re in the middle of the Los Angeles megalopolis when you’re riding up that road.

After we crested the hill, we started down the Hollywood side of the hill. There was a little sign on the side of the road warning us of filming ahead, and of possible delays. When we got there, we saw the camera trucks and dressing room trucks, but I guess they weren’t working on Sunday morning. We also saw a sign that I guess was a prop for the movie. It said something about a ferry, and we know that there aren’t any ferries anywhere near Griffith Park.

Coming down the hill, we went through the short tunnel, and then down the hill past the Greek Theater. Then we took Hillhurst down to Sunset, turning left and taking Sunset all the way into Downtown. That was where we passed the art-project van parked on the side of the road.

When we got downtown, we stopped for a snack at Philippe’s, which is just north of Downtown, on the edge of Chinatown.

After the snack stop, we continued north on Main Street, passing by the corn field in the old rail yard. Then we took a short detour to see the winery. Most people are surprised to learn that there is a winery in the industrial district right outside downtown Los Angeles.

Crossing the river again, we continued on Main Street, passing S&M Liquor. Of course this was a photo opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. After that, we got on Mission Road, which later merged into Huntington Drive. We took Huntington all the way back to San Marino. Then we turned left on Sierra Madre Blvd to get back to Pasadena.

44 miles
cycling

Today I got my car out of the garage. This weekend is the Inkslingers’ Ball in Hollywood, so I’m going to use the car to get there. I determined that I need to buy gas. This will be the fourth time this year I’ve have to do that. And then I noticed an actual cobweb on the dashboard. I can’t even begin to describe how happy that made me. I’m just so glad that I use my car so infrequently that not only do spiders build webs in it, but the webs turn into old, dusty cobwebs. It’s great.

Years ago, I read about Varla Jean Merman, who is a drag queen, singer, and ostensibly the love-child of Ernest Borgnine and Ethel Merman. Then I read about her act that involves singing while eating a can of Cheez-Wiz. And I was hooked. We’ve been to see her show three times over the past few years, and she’s always great.

My friend Nick has also become a Varla fan, and he brought over her new CD “The White Swallow and Other Delights“. It’s great.

Sadly, we have to wait until next May to see her show again, but it’s already on my calendar. If you ever get a chance to see Varla, go.

Lucinda had a sleepover at Aunt Maggi’s house this weekend. We took her down there on Saturday afternoon. On the way back, we stopped off in Long Beach to have dinner at El Torito and look at some desks for Cathy.

On Saturday night, Cathy and I had one of those rare nights out as a couple. It was fun, and we didn’t get home and in bed until close to 1:00. Then on Sunday morning, we both got up early. I went for my regular Sunday morning bike ride, and Cathy went to the gym.

Lucinda and Aunt Maggi went out for a while on Saturday night. On Sunday they went to the pool near her house in Irvine with another family. Lucinda had a couple of other kids to play with, which worked out well.

Sunday afternoon, it was time to pick up Lucinda. On the way down there we saw a car lose its wheel on the 405 freeway. The left front wheel came off, and the hub fell down onto the pavement in a shower of sparks. It would have been spectacular at night. At the same time, the wheel rolled away across all five lanes of traffic. When it hit the center divider, it bounced up in the air and landed on the other side of the freeway in the oncoming lanes. We watched it bounce three times on its way across the lanes before it went off the other side of the freeway. It was probably the single most spectacular incident that either of us had actually witnessed on the freeway.

Today’s ride was a new route out to Glendora and back, with a stop for a bagel in Arcadia. I took a few pictures on the ride, but for some odd reason, they didn’t come out. The camera did something weird, and the pictures all looked like pointillist paintings. When I discovered this, I took a few test shots around the house, and they all came out fine. I don’t know what happened.

Anway, the ride was very pleasant. We went east through Arcadia by a new route, which was nice. Then we went south a bit and then back up to the Santa Fe Dam bike path and on to Sierra Madre Ave in Glendora.

When we turned south in Glendora, we stopped for a minute to regroup. I noticed a real estate sign, so I picked up a flyer. It was a nice house, but nothing spectacular, but they were asking $1.1 million for it. I’m so glad we bought our house back in ’95. If we were trying to buy a house now… Yikes.

From Glendora, we went south to Covina and then back through West Covina and Baldwin Park. It was a basically flat route, and we went pretty fast. When we got to the snack stop at Goldstein’s Bagels in Arcadia, we were all marveling that our average speed was somthing like 17.3 mph, which is fast for our group. Normal is about 16, which includes stopping for red lights and such. When we were moving, we were going pretty fast. And it was fun.

The last part of the ride was back up Orange Grove and Sierra Madre Blvd back to the park. The ride came in at 40 miles even, and I decided that that was enough for today.

40 miles.
cycling

Today I went down to the park to meet Gene for a ride. When we got there, Newton, Matt, and Philippe were getting ready for a ride. We had originally thought we would ride out to Upland to Dr. Bob’s Ice Cream, but I’d called and found out that they don’t open until 11:00, so they would still be closed when we got there. So we decided to just tag along on Newton’s ride.

We rode out through Arcadia and Monrovia to the Santa Fe Dam bike path. Then we went up to the ranger station at the mouth of San Gabriel Canyon. Having read The Control of Nature, I want to know whose bright idea it was to build houses right at the mouth of the canyon.

Continuing on through Glendora and San Dimas, we passed Daily Donuts. That’s part of the Lord’s Prayer, isn’t it?

When we got to Bonelli Park, we passed a church group out riding. I snapped a picture of the guy on the recumbent.

Later on, Matt got a flat when we were passing by Brackett Field in La Verne. This is Matt’s second appearance in the Flat Tire Gallery. He patched the tube, but when we started riding it went flat again almost immediately. We all decided that this didn’t constitute a ‘second flat’, so I didn’t take another picture. Gene had two spare tubes, so he gave one to Matt, and we were soon back on the road.

Continuing on, we passed the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, and then headed up the hill through the trailer park there. Then we took Via Verde across Picnic Valley and over the 57 freeway. After that, the road had a nice downhill where I hit 40 mph, which is easily the fastest I’ve ridden in 25 years. When I was younger, I regarded those “Watch Downhill Speed” signs as a challenge, but now I’m a bit more cautious.

Coming down out of the hills, we rode home through Covina and Baldwin Park

52 miles.
cycling

Today’s ride was the ‘Toluca Lake Inverse’ route. It was actually kind of chilly this morning, and I actually had to put a Hoover blanket under my jersey to keep warm.

We started out going south to San Marino, and then west through South Pasadena and Eagle Rock to get to the L.A. River. Then we got on the bike path going north along the river. For some unknown reason, we always end up going really fast on this stretch of the ride, and today was no exception.

We rode the bike path north all the way to Riverside Drive. Then, after regrouping, we took Zoo Drive and Forest Lawn Drive west into Burbank. We turned on Barham Blvd there, passing by Warner Bros, and then we stopped for a snack at Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake.

I had my usual bagel and orange juice there, and then we were treated to the sight of Brian struggling to stuff ice cubes into his water pack. For some reason, they didn’t seem to want to go in, and they kept slipping away.

On the way back, we went through the equestrian neighborhood and then past the Bette Davis Picnic Area.

From there, we took Sonora into Glendale and then onto Glenoaks Blvd. We took Glenoaks all the way up to where it turns into Ethel St, and then up to Mountain. Then we crossed the Verdugo Wash and got on Verdugo Blvd for the trip up the hill.

After the long gradual climb up Verdugo, we took the right turn and went up Hospital Hill. At the top, we stopped for a few minutes to regroup, and then headed down the hill into La Cañada. That was where Tommy got a flat, making his second appearance in the Flat Tire Gallery.

The last part of the ride was across Pasadena back to the park. When we got there, I had 45 miles, so Tommy and I rode out to Sierra Madre and back just to pad it out a bit.

50 miles
cycling

I’ve not had anything to say about hurricane Katrina, but this came across my desk today and it’s interesting. I don’t talk about work here usually, but I work in the earthquake business. Today a message came through about how we had lost the data feed from one of the LIGO seismic stations in Louisiana. Then there was some more talk about this and a pointer here:

http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/katrina

It’s interesting to see that the seismic instruments could pick up the approaching storm, and looking at the graphs pretty much answered our question about why the data feed stopped.