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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.