Name that Dude....

That's all I'm going to say..

















What's it been? 17-18 years?

-Scott

Digital Imaging...

Gotta love the digital age. MS Digital Imaging isn't PhotoShop, but you can have some fun with it if you're patient...













-Scott

What carbon imprint???

Bit the bullet and picked up the Ezip Mountain Trailz electric assist bicycle this week. It's dirt cheap considering some of the brushless hub motor alternatives out there. I needed something to get me to work and back with out breaking the bank or a sweat. My office is air conditioned but who wants to sit there cool but stinky all day. This should fit the bill nicely. The E chart on the Currie website figured it will pay for itself in fuel savings in roughly 12 weeks. I won't miss the pump at Shell or Mobil one little bit. 6-8 hour trickle charge on the battery pack should cost between 2 and 3 cents per charge. That's right .02-.03




In the box...

Haven't tested the range yet but it's advertised as getting between 15 and 22 miles per charge. The variables of course are the riders weight and how you ride the thing. It has 3 modes of operation. Standard pedal power, That's not going to happen as it weighs about 75 lbs. fully loaded. Pedal Assist mode where the rider pedals but the throttle is kissed to assist on hills and such, and TAG mode. TwistAndGo.. No pedal at all. Just crank the throttle and cruise around town. This mode will of course drain the battery in short order.

Really looking forward to seeing how this unit holds up. My work commute is about 5 miles each way so I don't forsee any problems in the range dept. I hope not anyway. I'll have to call a tow truck if it runs out of juice.


Seems to handle well for being so heavy. The weight is an accumulation of the battery and hardware. It's made with a steel frame and steel = heavy. It also = inexpensive. There were quite a few other offerings in lighter weight units but they ranged in price from 900 to 2000 bucks and more.. This unit was a Wally World purchase at $ 299.00. Just couldn't pass it up..

Here are some assembly shots for you. Took about an hour to put together and read up on the charging system. Basic hand tools were included so it was a snap.



Well, I think everything's there...


Charging up the battery pack...



Rollin' down the street smokin' Endo, Riding on Drive and Juice...




Throttle, Mode button and LED charge indicator lights...




Fully assembled and ready to roll...


Just have to source a headlight and a blinking red taillight for the dawn and dusk rides. Already have a sreaming neon windbreaker for visibility. Should also get a cheap cycle computer to track the mileage. I have about 2200 miles on my real bike. The 2003 GT I-drive 1.0 pictured below. Man I wish the ezip had the GT's weight and handling carachteristics... Oh well, if it did I'm sure they'd want 3K or more for one.



My baby a couple of Summers back...


That's about it for now. I'll update the blog if there is a major catastrophic failure somewhere along the way and/or update it with mileage/performance info as it comes in...

Be well all..

-Scott

Sausage Fest III - 2009

Wild good time Saturday at the 3rd annual Woodie Johnson Sausage Fest at the Fender Center for the Performing Arts in Corona. A long lost friend and human metronome, Mike Dauer from back in the day invited me and I decided to take him up on it. It’s a fund raiser/Party/ really cool event that’s been growing in scope for well you guessed it, 3 years now. Carnival like atmosphere with of course tons of music. Six bands in all yesterday. The Fender Center provides FREE music education for kids in the area in light of budget cuts for the same in the public school system. It’s a really classy operation. There’s also a great little museum on site with exhibits covering the history of Fender and it’s relationships with a number of artists. Most impressive. You can find out more about the center HERE where you can check out the profiles for Mark and John Cruz.

The only downside of the day was the traffic that had to be dealt with in getting there. Reminded me immediately why I rarely venture from South County. This trip was well worth it. Friends Glenn and Lisa had just returned from 5 days in Vegas and stopped by the festivities even before heading home. I bet they’re wiped out! Glenn has been playing for while now and I made sure he was invited as I knew he would get a kick out of the place. He was not disappointed. He was especially impressed with the opening act which consisted of students at the center. It’s kind of embarrassing at our advanced ages to see youngsters play so well. It also gives us hope that it’s never too late to learn.

Had to mack on a sausage sandwich from one of the event sponsors and namesake Jody Maroni’ Sausage Kingdom. Yummy!!! This could become a staple in my diet very easily. Toured the warehouse and recital room. Tons of guitars on display just about everywhere you go and the recital room is very casual with a lounge type atmosphere. Pretty cool. You can find a clip of the Igniters playing with supporter Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Co., The Firm, Queen, etc.) yes,…. That Paul Rodgers in that very room HERE. Takes awhile to load so be patient.

Very family and friends oriented event with tons of kids in attendance. It’s all about their exposure to the arts. Mike’s longtime friend and guitarist Mark Kendrick handled the MC’s duties flawlessly between sets and had the kids really into things with the sack race, musical chairs, raffle’s and other games. Good times for sure. The ensemble the Woodie Johnson Band opened things up with 3 tunes before passing off the musical chores to a score of guest artists.
At least two of the band members, Mark, and Cruz are employed at the Fender Custom Shop in Corona. They’ve spent quite a bit of time over the years building and tweaking guitars and consequently are quite accomplished at the playing them. Mark nailed the vocals on the CCR classic Born on the Bayou.

There’s really too much to explain in a blog post so I’m going to throw up some pictures and perhaps a link to the photos once I sort through them… Here’s a few for starters…

Enjoy..


The Showcase Lounge


John "Shreddy" Cruz


Mike "The Clock" Dauer



The Woodie Johnson Band


Mark and Ralph


Axes Galore in the Lobby


Storytelling...


The Killer, Carl Perkins, The Man in Black and The King at the piano


Lenny, SRV Tribute Strat


Poster of EC with Strat Mark built for him


Mark MC'ing with Debbie, Administrative Director of the Center and all around nice gal..


"Ready For Vegas"


Gnarly Stand Up


Very Cool Tex Mex Band

The Tex-Mex band was pretty cool. That guy's stand up bass was painted metalflake gold just like a 60 something Chevy Impala. I love the license plate mounted on it.. Awesome!

Good times for sure !!!!

I'd post some video clips but with this weak butt internet connection up here on the hill

Be well all,

-Scott

10 Megapixels...

Hi all. Been really busy with work and life in general and as such don't get a chance to post much anymore. Dealing with a wee bout of insomnia so here I am... No really big news as of late but I did pick up a new camera recently. Again haven't had too much time to play around with it but did get to experiment with the Macro setting the other morning. June gloom and all there was plenty of dew on the backyard foilage. I still have the 2 megapixel unit with the underwater case for goofing around but with the advances in the digital arena and the prices of cameras and memory being very reasonable I went for an upgrade. So I thought I'd post a couple of shots.. Here you go..

As always, click on the pick for the full size version..



Noisy bird at work monitoring the nest nearby.. Check out the yellow feathers on his or her belly...


Some shrubbery on the hill in the backyard...


The morning mist resulted in this shot...

On the whole I'm pretty happy with this camera. I can't see using the 10MP setting unless I was planning on having a poster made but it's nice having the option. The cam shoots video as well, the coolest part is you can be shooting a viddy and take a still at the same time.. What will they come up with next? Oh yeah, in case you were wondering it's a Canon SX10 IS..

That's it for now. Gotta catch a few winks before work...

Cheers,

-Scott

Catch of the Day...

Pop hit the Jack Pot last week at Irvine Lake and was the proud recipient of a write up not only on the Lake’s website but the site at FishRapNews.com. The first picture I received of it was of the beast laying on the floor of his bass boat. Probably taken with a camera phone and it didn’t really give you the perspective to understand how large this fish actually was. The picture of him standing in front of the lake signage is much more impressive and removes all doubt… Moby Trout weighed in at 16 lbs .08 ounces.. I think we’ll dub him Troutzilla!


Here's a screenshot from FishRap.com...


And the full size shot...


Congrats to Pops..

-Scott

Good Night Goliath...

Lost my favorite pup Saturday... Poor little guy had quite a bit of fluid build up in his little lungs... We all knew he wouldn't live forever but we surely wanted him to.. Goliath (Go-Go for short) was a part of the Mikkelsen Herd for the last 13-14 years I believe... I will miss him..


Goliath in his natural state...

RIP little guy...

-Scott

Long Weekend...

Nothing to exciting to report for the holiday weekend. Business as usual with the exception of half day fishing expedition on the S.S. Woody... Actually his skiff is named "Paddywhack". Not sure about the spelling on that one. I got up about 3am and grabbed the camera and some sunscreen and headed over to Jason's place. From there we hit his Pop's house to pick up the boat. Nice 24footer with lots of deckspace. Then to fuel and off to pick up my Dad. My Pop lives about a mile from the launching ramp at Sunset Aquatic Park in Huntington Beach. We hit the ramp at about 5:15 and were underway by 5:30 or so. Took the long cruise out of Huntington Harbor and then hit the bait station. 3 scoops of chovies and some sardines. Jason had his charts with and of course all of the electronics necessary to find his way about the Pacific and we hit about 4 or 5 areas that he had visited before with success. It was a little slow with the casting at the first spot but Jason rigged a pole with a fat sinker and 4 hooks and let me mind it after he dropped it to about 600 feet. Did that twice and let me tell you it takes a while to reel in 600 feet of line that's running to the ocean floor. Nabbed a Red Grouper both drops! Big bug eyed screaming red fish. Jason got a juvenile halibut too. Cruised through a pod of dolphins on the wayout as well. Those things are hard to time with your camera. I need to upgrade...

Off to the second spot where things were a little slow. Then the 3rd and fourth. Things started to pick up at that point and by the time we had his the last location on his charts everyone was getting hit pretty regular. Pop was really slow until this point. Must have been casting on the wrong side of the boat. The Calico Bass were very active and every so often a mackerel would grad the bait fish. Jason even got a really ugly Sculpin at one point. I wasn't grabbing that thing for anything. Spines all over the damn thing. Mostly Calico throughout the day. They put up a pretty good fight.

Small scare when the boat wouldn't start whilst we were waaaaay out at sea. Turned out the battery cables just needed a little cleaning so it was all good. Put to shore a little after Noon and I was ready for a nap. Good times for sure.

Here are some more snappies of the days excursion...




Leaned alot about knots and hook configurations too. Probably take a little longer to learn to navigate...

-Scott

Finally some time to post...

Okay, so it’s been awhile since I posted last. I’ve been busy!! Work is somewhat hectic with Customs paperwork and all but I’m settling in and did manage to have some fun the last few months.
Back on the 22nd of October Jason, Melissa and myself attended Walking with Dinosaurs the Live Experience at the Honda Center. It was pretty cool stuff. The Production company drew from the BBC documentary series and then spent 6 years and 20 million dollars putting the road show together. Kinda like attending the opera or a musical but just a little different in that the entire arena floor is the stage. An actor portrays a Paleontologist and narrates the show and describes the dinosaurs, their diet and lives as we would imagine them to have been. The kicker is while he’s doing this some of the most amazingly lifelike puppets and animatronic creatures are roaming the stage and playing out hunting methods and confrontations with other species. Visually stunning. The Brachiosaurus was something like 3 stories high and 57 feet in length. The show was very impressive to say the least. There was a little levity mixed in as well. For instance just before the show began the PA announcer asked that all cell phones be turned off as there wouldn’t be any reception for another 165 million years… Good stuff and I highly recommend attendance should the show hit your area. More info about the show and tour dates can be found at www.dinosaurlive.com ... Here’s a few shots from the show. You can take stills but no video…


Mama T.Rex making her entrance...


And her exit after protecting her offspring from some bully Allosaurus...


Livin' Large...

-Scott

The Office...

Well, Accounts Receivable is happy. And it's not because a pile of checks just came in!!! Those wicked, wicked Wings!!!


Hardcore Hockey Accountant!!!


Sup Y'all

-Scott

New Digs...

Busy, busy, busy... Haven't posted in some time now... New job and residence has been keeping me on the move.. Just thought I'd throw up a few shots of the new place. I'm liking it very much and summer is right around the corner.. Still trying to sort through some of the stuff from the move and get somewhat organized. My room isn't ready for pictures just yet but here's the rest of the place..



Sunken family room and the fireplace are great...



As is the formal living room...



How to beat the summer heat!!!



Courtyard in the back...



Shaded area if things get a little too hot...



I shagged some of the old pallets from some of the freight deliveries at work. Broke out the Ryobi 18V Cordless toys I own, snapped in some freshly charged batteries and starting ripping...



The resulting fire that evening kept my toes nice and toasty...


That's about all to report for now. Hopefully I'll find the time for more frequent entries...

Be well all,

-Scott

Nice Day on the Lake...

Hit Irvine Lake this morning with the Dad. Gets a little bit cold out there in the morning so I bundled up with the waffle knit, a fleece vest and a top coat. Nice and toasty. Not to mention the skullcap to keep my ears from freezing. We zig zagged all over the lake trolling for a Trout or two but came up empty. Got about 4 hits throughout the day but nothing ever hooked up. Daybreak was kinda nice though and I snapped off some pics... Thanks to the Dad for the breakfast burrito and a fun day on the pond. Better luck next time!!!


Sunrise over the transom...


Saving the ears...




Other lake dwellers...


Prepping for takeoff...


Good seat up front...

We'll have to try this again in the near future...

-Scott