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Colossus took a whuppin' in that cryptography challenge, as the code was broken (in about 45 seconds) by some guy in Germany. So remember kids:

 

#!/bin/perl -sp0777i<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<j]dsj
$/=unpack('H*',$_);$_=`echo 16dio\U$k"SK$/SM$n\EsN0p[lN*1
lK[d2%Sa2/d0$^Ixp"|dc`;s/\W//g;$_=pack('H*',/((..)*)$/)

 

Because when cryptography is outlawed, only outlaws will xcraso buvflp tryhz kmmiqw. Or something like that...

 

Ghostwriter In The Sky

Morning weigh-in: 167.5#, 7.5% BF

 

Gym, chili prep, then Which Brew for dinner, followed by a visit to Porters. A bit of a late night actually...

 

More Starrrrrr-Gazing: Uh-oh, I wonder what the Zookeeper has to say about this ?

Colossus Redux

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 10.5% BF (Wow those were some heavy heavy tacos...)

 

Chain Gang meeting last night, and we have a new administration. My two terms as President are up, and I was voted in as club secretary  -- nominated myself, ran unopposed. I'm Prez through the end of the year, but the next meeting is January so I'm basically done! The meeting itself was very pleasant, beef taco dinner at Joe & Dawn's.

 

Tonight is the gym, after a late night here, then the start of my chili prep. I have to pick up some cheap-ass tequila on the way home, to marinade the meat -- I have beef chuck and pork butt for this recipe. (I also still need Coke and some chocolate, but that's not as exciting as tequila.)

 

Meanwhile, Out At Bletchley: Looks like they have Colossus Mark II up and running , and breaking WW2 codes once again, competing against amateur crypto buffs and their fancy-pants modern PC's. Anyone up for a challenge?

 

Pompeii

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 9.5% BF

 

So, there was an earthquake in Chile just a few minutes ago, and yesterday was the anniversary of the destruction of the town of Armero... By the way, if the Yellowstone supercaldera blows (and it is bulging rather ominously), there will be nothing left of North America.

 

Good gym workout yesterday, then I hit Which Brew for a bowl of chili before shopping for my own chili ingredients. Tonight is the Chain Gang meeting, pretty much the last one of my administration, and tomorrow I make chili for the weekend.

 

Heartsong Consumer Galvanic Reaction

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 10.5% BF

 

Advent, or A Silent Extinction Beyond The Zero: I noticed the other day that Christmas decorations were going up downtown, though there weren't any on Sand Island Friday night (all lights were off down there). I really like that city/town feel in winter, and especially that Christmas excitement, but then again I usually avoid the malls and places like that, see no TV advertisements, don't listen to the bullshit radio stations etc... The standard joke is that Xmas Season starts the day after Columbus Day, but there's more than a grain of truth in there. The less people care about the hype, the more desperate and strident the hype becomes, chasing a response that has long since faded away. Transmarginal, ultraparadoxical, it's like beating a dead horse, or maybe just shocking the frog's legs for one last twitch... Anyway, and maybe it's my own conditioning, I still like the Christmas lights.

 

Reloaded: Yeah I guess everything's beginning to look like Gravity's Rainbow, again.

 

RIP Norman Mailer: Take it away, Roy.

 

Yoga last night, and tonight is the gym (after working late here). I need to make my entry for Saturday's chili contest, so tonight is shopping.

 

"Our hearts were singing, it felt like Christmas Time." -- The Pretenders

Weekend Update: Stupid Singing Swans

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 10% BF

 

"I said, 'Kiss me you're beautiful -- these are truly the last days.'
You grabbed my hand and we fell into it, like a daydream, or a fever..."

-- Godspeed You Black Emperor

 

Another great weekend. I keep thinking "this is it, the swan song for the summer/partytime/whatever, better make the most of it." So, I do make the most of it, and the very next weekend it's yet one more last chance, this is it, better make the most of it...

 

Friday: Towpath ride, followed by dinner at Which Brew. It was a mite cold out, and just a little breezy so I broke out my new jacket as well as the winter-weight gloves and tights. Verdict? The ride felt great: the ground was frozen so things felt fast, and though I wasn't actually going very fast I was pumping enough calories that the cold breeze felt refreshing. It was really a pleasant ride, totally a boost to the old mental health, and I think it set the tone for the whole weekend.

 

The band that was playing at Which Brew is called Wrong, and is part of that younger Bethlehem crowd -- WB bartender Andrea's boyfriend Steve plays drums, and Johnny (ex-bartender Tara's boyfriend, and the drummer for the Insidious Rays)  was playing sax Friday. I've seen them before and knew they rocked out, but Friday's show really grabbed me for some reason. I was totally enjoying myself, and you could tell they were having fun with it too. It must have been kind of a generation gap thing though, since Gary and Perry, both about 10 years older than me -- well, they both hated it.

 

Despite all that, it was an early night.

 

Saturday was early morning yoga, then errands, then breakfast at the coffee shop, then the gym with Dawn. Home, chores, laundry, bike prep, and I was out the door for the First Annual Allentown Brew Fest. I think this is basically the same brew fest that used to be in Easton, which was great at the State Theater two years ago but horrible & crowded last year in that tent along the river. Allentown Brew Works has enough room that they dedicated medium-sized banquet halls on two floors to the event. It was agreeably crowded, plenty of buzz and activity but also a little elbow room if you needed it. I went with Joe G and Sue, and we had dinner afterward at O'Malley's -- Sue was the manager there in a previous life, and still maintained some connections.

 

Bedtime after that: I was a bit tired, and that show at Zoellner was not going to happen even if Eric had the date correct...

 

Sunday: I'd say I consider this day seized, maybe even throttled. Leisurely wakeup, a little surfing before I rode downtown for breakfast, then I rode the towpath to Sals. I ran into Pete H and we bopped around on the trails for a few hours, running into Doug & Lori hiking (their weekend was not going as well as mine, I guess they just had to get out of the house for a bit), then heading back.

 

Home, shower, haircut, then out to Porters for dinner as the laundry dried -- I'm working on another mug over there, and I wanted to catch at least part of some game, but the TV was off, and in the end I was happier that way. As per usual though, the nuts rolled my way -- one nut anyway, but that was enough. It was that wingnut guy, Colonel (yes that's really his name). I kept it friendly, kept up the verbal judo until he started talking politics... luckily, the girls from across the street were there, and I made my escape by going over to say hi, then I took off.

 

Yoga tonight, active rest. By the way, the photos from last weekend are posted, check them out.

 

Celebrity Bear Stories

Morning weigh-in: 168.5#, 6.5% BF (uh oh)

 

I sent this news article to my friend Dawn to pass on to her sister Heather, who is a bear control officer in New Jersey. Heather sent me back an email: yup, she was involved, and was one of the ones investigating this. She was a little irate at the "lookit the cute bears" tone of the article, thinks that kind of attitude will eventually get someone hurt -- and she's right.

 

Anyway, the VMB meeting at Allentown Brew Works was pretty nice last night. To cap it off, I bought a pair of skis off one of my friends, picked them up after the meeting. Rudy and I went back inside after that, had a beer with Matt who showed up after he got out of class. Like I said, the place is pretty nice -- not as nice as good old Which Brew, and definitely too far away for regular visits, but hey, they are smoke-free... I'll be back there with Joe and Sue tomorrow for the Brew Fest.

 

Tonight is Wrong at Which Brew, after a towpath ride. Early night, since I have a lot to do tomorrow, starting with 8:00 AM yoga and finishing with an 8:00 PM show at Zoellner.

Logo-Pepto Bismal

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, I forget the percentage

 

Passing through, not much to say. My logorrhea seems to be drying up...

 

Tonight is VMB meeting at Allentown Brew Works, where I may end up buying skis from a fellow member. (I'd still have to get boots though, and they'll probably need to be custom. Must investigate.)

The Name Of The New Rose: How Can I Resist?

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 9.5% BF

 

Worked late, then hit the gym: full workout except that I skipped the final ab stuff (it was getting late). Dinner was a plate of black beans and a bag o'salad. Tonight is yoga. Not sure what dinner will be, but probably a turkey sub of some kind -- I'm here late again, the money is too good. I'll be buying new skis/boots for this winter, ditto new XC skis.

 

One More For The Wishlist: I saw this the other day, Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail, and thought "this must be a joke, right?" Nope, it's actually a non-fiction buddy/travel/mystery story about a dude whose neighbor, once the drummer for The Damned and now all into that DaVinci Code stuff, drags him along on his quest. Looks very good, in that British, A Walk In The Woods kind of way.

Just An Experiment

Trying something, uploading a photo from an email post. This is a shot of me on Saturday's ride, taken by my friend "Allamuchy Joe." If this doesn't work out I'll fix the post tonight.

UPDATE: It worked (sort of, except for formating) at first, but then crapped out later -- stupid yahoo images! This ought to do it.

Waving Scallions Gradually Laughing Into Seahorses

Morning weigh-in: 167#, 11.5% BF (Stupid cheeseburger...)

 

Yoga last night, different kind of class, since we did a lot things with chairs as props. The teacher also announced that she was pregnant, which I'd sort of suspected for a while, but I sure wasn't going to ask -- as the old joke goes, what if you're wrong?

 

After that was Mug Club Night at Which Brew, hanging with Brian. He's been kind of scarce lately, and a bit pissy when he was around, but last night I was able to remember how good a friend he is -- he lent a sympathetic ear as I did a little venting.

 

Cloudy night, no stargazing, after WB I went home. Brian said he's been watching this event thru the telescope all week, and it's been pretty cool, though not nearly as cool as back when Hale-Bopp came by.

 

Tonight will be the gym, after another late night here. By the way, we now have coyotes here, or rather "coyotes," as they're actually super-realistic statues, meant to keep geese out of the pond.

Remember, Remember

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 10.5% BF (not great, but not bad for weekend damage control)

 

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! -- though they say the Gunpowder Plot imploded on Nov 5 in the Julian Calendar, so the actual anniversary would be a little later. Go blow something up anyway, or build a bonfire, or whatever it is you do...

 

Working late tonight, then "active rest" with a beginner yoga class, followed by the Mug Club dinner. Finally, I'll just kick back and  astronomize. 

 

Meantime, this is pretty funny. Mmm, I reckon... (Even better !)

We Like Birdland

Great weekend, but now I'm afraid to get on teh scale...

Friday night was Karen singing with Philly Funk Authority. A different context and a totally different view of her: you know someone for years and you suddenly see a side of them you never even suspected. By the way, she was great -- she mostly did backup, but was the main singer for a few songs. The place (Stanhope House) was cool too, I'd definitely go back there.

I crashed that night at Joe and Dawn's, and in the morning we hit Allamuchy for Joe's "40th Birthday ride." There were probably 17 people on the ride, including Bob & Karen on a tandem, and Doug & Lori on one as well. Good riding, but short for the amount of time we were out -- not everyone there was a rocket, but we had fun. Birthday party afterward back at their place, but I only stayed for a bit, had to do the Brew Ha Ha.

That party was another blast. Kathleen and Lisa (some of my sisters in the PPRAC brotherhood) live in the Poconos, and have this party every year but I could never go before now. Everyone had to bring a different beer, something in one of four categories; there were about six beers (or ciders) in each category on average, for about 24 beers total. Even just taking small "sampler" sips, everyone was pretty loopy by the end. Plenty of great peeps I didn't know but there was also Joe & Cindy, Greg & Judy, and Eric & Kris. Plenty of appetizers and other food, great fun, prizes (I didn't win anything) and most of us stayed over.

I left this morning after watching "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." Got home, did what I called a "hangover ride" even though I actually felt fine, towpath/sals at a nice easy pace.

It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: Actually, yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the death of Wilhelm Reich, pioneering psychoanalyst and inventor of the Orgone Box. One of my favorite songs is a semi-spoken-word thing by Patti Smith called "Birdland," which is based on a memoir of Reich written by his son, who was a teenager at the time of his father's death -- in it he slowly comes to grips with all the crazy things his father told him as he drifted into eccentricity, which naturally the young boy believed absolutely. Anyway, the book is now on my wish list...

Hey Hey Sparky Everyman

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 4.5% BF (dehydration?)

 

"The best part of the emergence of blogs is when you can match up John Updike with Roy Edroso and they play to a tie. Both brilliant." -- Tbogg

 

I guess I wasn't the only one to notice, Alicublog does rock... I checked out that John Updike thing by the way, a review of the new Charles Schulz biography. That was brilliant, and now I might have to get that book.

 

The Money Pit: Anyway, wrenching last night, put on the new handlebar and also new tires. The WeirWolfs just don't look as aggressive as my (apparently now defunct) all-time favorites, the MotoRaptors, but some friends swear by them. We'll see tonight on the shakedown cruise, and tomorrow at Allamuchy, and so on, and so on. (Actually, I think they sent me the wrong ones -- the downhill rather than race version.) Well, if I don't like it I'll just get another one... Meantime, I think I'm going to need a new front derailleur real soon.

 

Oedipus With a Twist: Hit Which Brew for dinner last night while the laundry dried, hanging for a bit with the bartender and her (relatively new) boyfriend, who has a young, say toddler age, son; I'm guessing he has partial custody from the general drift of the conversation. At one point she said something along the lines of "he hates me." Well, I would run with with "just feels threatened," but that still must be a tough situation.

 

Tonight is Philly Funk Authority, tomorrow is the Allamuchy birthday ride, and tomorrow night is the Brew Ha Ha -- and I cannot find the beer I want to bring.

Ima Think Out Loud Here

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 10% BF

 

Yoga last night, felt kind of inept, not quite the "be here now" that I would have liked. Oh well, always start with where you are and move forward... Dinner afterward was pasta & tuna with wilted greens. Haven't made that in a while. Tasty, I made it super-extra-garlicky, and I have enough left over for dinner Friday, which may or may not be a good thing:

 

My friend Karen (better half of "Bob & Karen") is a singer, mostly studio work and wedding bands. I've heard some session tapes, and one time on vacation she banged out some tunes on an old honky-tonk piano (at the only saloon in Downieville, California: locals were tipping her with gold nuggets), but in the fourteen years I've known her I have never seen her perform for real. That will change Saturday, because she's singing with the Philadelphia Funk Authority at the Stanhope House, and a bunch of us are going to check it out. I'll be crashing at Joe & Dawn's new place, which is nearby and also right up the road from Tranquility Farm, because we're doing a 40th birthday ride out of Tranquility for Joe on Saturday morning. (My bike parts arrived yesterday, and I'm blowing off the gym to slap them on tonight.)

 

I can usually get away with a bit of garlic on the breath -- with a little help from gum, or hoppy beer, or whatever -- at Which Brew, since garlic is pretty popular there, and I'm normally not the only offender by a long shot. Friday night's crew will be a bit on the conservative side though, not quite white-bread-and-mayo, but close enough that my food choices will make it harder to blend in.

 

Saturday night I'm going to Kathleen & Lisa's "Brew-Ha-Ha" beer tasting. I'll be bringing the Weyerbacher Winter Ale if I can get it, otherwise it'll be Autumn Fest. Probably stop at WB tonight, grab dinner and pick up a six pack of whichever one they have. My routine is gone: I am back into the rocks, water will flow disturbed for a few days or a few weeks more.

Errata Stigmata, Yadda Yadda

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 7.5% BF

 

Car: Finally it was finished, and I picked it up around 1:00; I was at work by 2:00. Worked late to make up for some of it.

 

Bodywork: Hit the gym on the way home, did my long workout. Cruised through it, like a hot knife through butter, even added some stuff.

 

Loose Ends: Took care of laundry, and stopped in at Which Brew for dinner. I was under the impression that I might have left without paying on Saturday, thought I'd better take care of that ASAP. Felt some trepidation, didn't know what kind of reception I'd get, but everything was cool, probably would have been cool regardless but in fact I had paid -- good! I can still walk in there with my head held high... I think I'll be cutting back on the nightlife anyway though, since it doesn't fit in with my other plans, and I've had my party.

 

Pass The Popcorn, part 2547: We-heh-hell, another one bites the dust... I saw something once that compared "the closet" with "the patriarchy," the same self-loathing, denial, the same enforcement of its norms even by its victims. Granted, the only gay people I know -- that I know are gay -- are of necessity out of the closet, but they seem like nice, grounded, ordinary people, maybe even a little boring at times. (Also granted, I know them as people, not as some bizarre Other.) These guys however -- the current Republican Freakshow crowd --  seem driven and tormented by personal demons, too bad we all have to suffer along with them.

 

Roy On The Arts: Yet another great post. It's funny, speaking of "new cartoon paradigms," I first heard about Achewood from Alicublog.

 

Parting Shot: One from the Doghouse.

 

Tonight is yoga, though that means I'll be missing Trick Or Treat. Oh well.

Downtime

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 11% BF

At home right now, just got back from my 2nd trip to the garage (they're just around the block from me). I thought I'd be able to pick my car up first thing this morning, but nothing seems to be happening...

Got A Car I Got, Car Trouble

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 9.5% BF (whoops! good weekend I guess)

Rode the Giant in to work today; the car is in the shop. I'm guessing that the battery got run down a little bit, since apparently I didn't shut the door totally when I got home Saturday night -- the door is a bit tricky since the car got hit last year. I saw the door somewhat ajar on Sunday morning, and then the car wouldn't start, so I figured that the interior light must have been on and drained the battery. I walked downtown for breakfast -- my original plan, except for the "walk" part -- and on the way I stopped in at the garage, asked the guy to give me a jump, and then decided I wanted an oil change, also new belts and hoses, and my wish list kind of snowballed from there. They picked up the car in the afternoon, and I figure I'll be car-free for a few days.

Bike Trouble: The commuting actually fits in with my current agenda, I can call this the start of "Phase 1." It was supposed to start Friday night but...

There's a saying, "I've forgotten more about [area of expertise] than you'll ever know;" it seems that I'm in that boat right now with cycling. It was raining Friday but hey no problem, I've got the gear so I went to do the towpath. It was coming down pretty hard, and my glasses were wet and all fogged up... anyway, the towpath is wide, and flat, and easy to stay on even with limited visibility, but every so often they have anti-vehicle poles to keep cars off, and I rode right into one, at speed. Didn't flinch, never even saw it until -- WHAM!

I was rattled but stayed upright, and I thought I was none the worse for wear until I noticed that I'd broken my handlebar. I finished out a very abbreviated ride after that, but was still suffering from visibility issues the whole rest of the way. I used to have a whole set of infrastructure for dealing with this, anti-fog products etc, but don't have any right now, and went out unprepared and not even thinking about the issue. I guess there will be many moments like that in the next few weeks, where I realize once again why I used to roll this way and not that.

After that was dinner at Which Brew, then over to Porters where I discovered that the nuts still all roll towards me -- I swear, they must smell that I'm an easy victim or something. Some woman buttonholed me at the bar, and over the music (Post Junction, or why I wanted to be there in the first place) I learned that:

1. Her dog can kill me!

2. Her husband is hooked on crack, that's why they live in Easton now.

3. None of my friends would rescue me.

I left right after that, didn't feel like waiting around for the UFO-abduction stories to start...

Saturday was the gym, then the Which Brew Halloween Party, which was lovely -- I think it was their best party ever. By the way, you can see my pictures here . Sunday was the car, and breakfast, and then I just worked on the bikes, and played with the computer (uploading pictures, buying bike parts) until bedtime. And now it's Monday!

UPDATE: Edited for clarity.

Another Late Night

No morning weigh-in: overslept, forgot, dammit don't get complacent...

 

Good upper-body workout last night at the gym. Didn't do legs, and hit the core and upper body with non-standard exercises; weights were high but not ridiculous. I felt good. (Before the gym I did some Halloween shopping, looking in vain for some necessary accessories for my costume -- I'm not getting a good feeling about this.)

 

After that I hit Which Brew for dinner, where I got into a few really good conversations. I was talking bikes with Gary early on, and then it turns out that the girl sitting next to him knows Lars Tribus -- small world, though he does live somewhere in NJ, like near Holland Twp or something.

 

Later in the evening some of us let our geek flags fly: talking with two guys (Ed's roommate Mike, and a buddy of his wearing a GNU teeshirt), turns out they do network stuff for Lafayette College, working on some major project, and they are big into Open Source. Some dude on the other side of the room joined in, and poor Ed got stuck in the middle...

 

The girls were cool, letting us hang out & BS for a while after last call while they cleaned up. Since last call there is 11:00, it was once again a late-but-not-too-late evening, at least not until I got home. Some thought struck me, and I wanted to look up something or other... computer, internet, Google, Wikipedia, saw a whole bunch of other shiny things to go ADD over and completely forgot what I was originally looking for. Ended up at like 1:45 AM reading the Anabasis online.