For Christmas this year my wife got us tickets to see Kodo, the amazing taiko drumming group from the island of Sado, Japan.  The show was last night and it was amazing!!  The Kodo drummers perform at the highest level of mastery and provide both an audio and visual experience like no other.  About a year and a half ago we saw Jigu! - Thunder Drums of China but it’s hard to say which was better.  Both groups boggle the mind!

If you read my last post you know that my brother and I ride off-road motorcycles. Shortly into our last ride together I pulled over on the trail and told my brother “I have no rear brakes!” with a smile. That got me thinking so I looked over the bike pretty closely after getting home. Wow! There were no rear brake pads left at all so it had just started rubbing metal against the rear brake disk. Well no wonder there were no brakes heh. Not good! That made me wonder what else might be shot on it? After all, the bike is a decade old, a 1998, and though never abused she has seen quite a bit of use on the highly technical terrain that you find in the mountains of Western Washington. Hundreds of miles traveled through single-track forest trails with all of the slippery tree roots that crisscross the ground like old bony fingers afflicted with arthritis, the zillions of rocks and boulders whose soul sadistic purpose is to try to make you crash and burn, and the thousands of murky puddles that hide all of their hazards from sight to keep you guessing. For ten years, through all of this, my trusty steed had never complained, never failed to get up and go, and never asked for anything of me other than routine oil changes and air filter cleanings and a good wash before being put away after a fun day in the woods. That is, until now.

Further examination revealed that many of the things that tend to wear out on dirt bikes were wearing out or were worn out on mine. A jiggle of the rear wheel told the tail of a wheel bearing that needed to be replaced, not to mention the tire which was past due. One of the grips had been torn apart pretty badly from the hand-guard on my brother’s bike rubbing on it during transportation in the truck. The bit of smoke and goo coming out of the front of the pipe meant and pipe seal was toast and the pipe was also dented pretty badly which tends to happen on two-stoke dirt bikes that get ridden over things like fallen trees when it doesn’t have a pipe guard.  All of this was general wear and tear but it was obvious that it needed to get rectified.  Before taking it in to the shop I had to decide if repair expenses were going to make sense given the age of the bike but a new ride costs about eight grand so given that my old bike still runs as strong as it did the day that I bought it and is in excellent condition overall, fixing up the things that had worn out was going to be WAY cheaper than a new one so that idea went out with the trash that week.  I loaded it up in the truck and dropped it off at Seattle Cycle Center to have them do the work.  After a slight mishap where their distributor sent them the wrong pipe for my bike, I got it back a few days later complete with new grips, new brakes front and rear, a new Dunlop 756 intermediate to soft terrain rear tire, a new FMF Racing “Gnarly” pipe, and a Moose Racing aluminum pipe guard to protect from future cratering.  Mucho bedda!  But…

Part of the motivation to get the bike all fixed up is this crazy 100-mile race in April that we are planning on doing in Eastern Washington called “The Desert 100” (check it out on Youtube).  The suspension on my bike was originally setup for a 200-pound dude and I’m a mere 165 so it has always been too stiff for me.  The thought of riding a hundred miles on a bike sprung too stiff didn’t sound like fun so I decided to also get the suspension re-sprung, re-valved, and re-built as well.  It was long overdue for suspension service anyway so I decided that I might as well get it setup right for me if I was going to have the forks and shock torn apart.  After getting the bike back from Seattle Cycle Center I took it to John at Moto-Pro for the suspension work and last night “The Great Pumpkin” was once again back at home and ready to rock-and-roll.

Did I say home?  That’s no good so I packed it up in the truck this morning and headed out to one of the more treacherous places to ride, Walker Valley, to put it through its paces despite a bit of drizzle coming down.  Here’s a picture of how she looked in all her glory before hitting the trails this morning.  Yep, the bike looked good-as-new but how did it ride?

First of all, having brakes again made things much more enjoyable.  Go figure.  Secondly, the switch from the stock pipe to the new FMF did exactly what the “Gnarly” pipe was designed to do.  The bike has even more bottom-end grunt which is exactly what you are looking for in a woods bike so I was pleased about that.  The new pipe didn’t cause any jetting issues or anything and it ran like a top all day as usual. The biggest improvement which was of no surprise was the new suspension setup which was much more plush, especially noticeable when riding over seriously bumpy terrain at higher speeds or when hitting large roots, rocks, and bumps.  Again, exactly what I was looking for.  The bike also now feels more stable in the front when blazing down open logging roads which was an unexpected bonus.  The biggest surprise however from the “new bike” was how much more rear-end traction it now has!  The fresh tire combined with the softer suspension meant a ton more traction, even in the wet and very slippery conditions today.  The wear and tear has been fixed and she is an even better woods machine now so I couldn’t be happier with the results.

p.s. - big thanks to the two nice youngsters I met in the parking lot after my ride who were kind enough to offer me an ice-cold “Busch” beer. It tasted mighty fine!

No, I wasn’t abducted by El Chapo’s Mexican drug cartel and held for ransom and, unfortunately, I didn’t win the lottery and take a ride into space with Richard Garriott aboard the Soyuz TMA-13.   So what have I been up to over the summer and into this fall you ask?  Let’s see here…where to begin?

We took our trip to Glacier, Montana this summer and it was fabulous.  Such an amazing place!  The hotel that we stayed in, the Belton Chalet built in 1910, was great and their restaurant was really spectacular which we didn’t expect at all. Seriously, their food was equal to fine dining here in Seattle. We did a bunch of hiking, went river rafting, and even got some relaxation in. Seeing a moose was a bonus. All in all, I don’t think we could have had a better time! Speaking of trips, Heather went to South Korea for a few weeks this summer for her work at UW. The pictures she brought back were amazing and she even got to visit the D.M.Z. Crazy…

The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series which made me happy (as a kid I would go to Phillies games with my family) despite the Mariners having a pathetic season. The Seattle Storm made the playoffs again (we go to a few games a year) but for the rest of Seattle sports the year has been dismal. The Washington Huskies have yet to get a win this year after nine games and the Seahawks aren’t doing much better. And oh yeah, the Seattle Supersonics are gone. Yep, I remember when they won the championship in ‘79 and it’s weird to think that after all of these years as “our team” they just packed it up and moved elsewhere. Gee thanks… I guess this is all the more reason to quit giving a crap about professional and instead follow college sports. At least you know that the college teams you waste your time watching are still going to be around next year.

But for the most part we were glued to the TV for months watching all of the coverage leading up to the big election.  Obama’s decisive win has us breathing much easier now. Woohoo!! I for one will be very glad to see Bush and his pack of crooks go packing and the new era of Barack ushered in.  After serious politics television overload we’ve been watching Curb Your Enthusiasm as of late. Hilarious!

More recently my brother and I blew the dust off of our dirt bikes which had been sitting in our garages for about four years, changed the oil, filled ‘em up with fresh gas and with a few kicks we got both his and mine up and running again. We went riding at a place north of Seattle called Walker Valley and had a blast. Here is a picture from that outing.  We are actually going riding again tomorrow at an excellent place called Tahuya Forest and the dry fall conditions should be perfect (UPDATE: here’s a quick video of me ridin’ from our trip to Tahuya).  Speaking of riding, I bought a 1994 Mazda B2300 pickup truck from my longtime friend Dre which makes toting motorcycles around a lot easier. It is in great shape and having a truck sure does come in handy.  It has actually become my daily driver to work and back now that the weather has generally turned to crap. I don’t think the ‘Stanger will be seeing much action again until spring comes. BTW, this is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long, long while.

After eight years the mighty AC/DC, one of my favorite bands of all time, finally put out a new record (and I thought I was a slacker hehe). All the reports are that it is pretty damn good not to mention that it has already sold well over a million copies and sits as the #1 album on the charts. But I don’t have it yet because the band made an exclusive deal with Walmart which is the only place you can buy it other than ordering it directly from the band’s website. You see, I hate Walmart with a passion and refuse to ever buy a single thing there. Sure, the record industry is a mess and more and more of these exclusive deals are being made out of necessity, but…Walmart?  Nah sorry, I can’t do it.  I guess I’ll have to give Highway to Hell another spin again instead while I wait for the new record to get shipped to me via snail-mail.

Things are crankin’ along at work at Surreal and the game I’ve been working on, This Is Vegas, is really starting to come together which is pretty exciting to see. This is the time in the project life-cycle where all the different pieces start to gel and the “big picture” of what we’ve been working for the last few years is getting clearer and clearer every day. A lot more information about the game will be available in the months to come so hang tight.

I don’t know about you but I’m actually getting kind of excited for ski-season to come around this year. I think I’m going to try to get up snowboarding a bit more than I have been in recent years. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Welp, that’s about it.  I’ll post again in like another six months.

Wow, it has been a while since my last post. Yep, I’ve been a slacker. The reason for the long dry spell is because I’ve been “heads down” in work for the last couple of weeks. We’ve got a big press event coming up where we will be showing This is Vegas as part of Midway’s “Gamer’s Day” shin-dig. The content we will be featuring is looking awesome and has really come together so we are all excited about showing it.

In other news, we got a new car! It’s a 2008 Ford Mustang GT California Special convertible lovingly named “Crazy Horse”. It has a 300 horsepower V8 that does 0-60 in 5.1 seconds with a top speed of 143 m.p.h. Mean! Here are some pics with info: 1, 2, 3, 4.

So things are good…very good.

Now, back to work…

This video of a game pitch meeting in 1979 from Cracked is hilarious.

After reaching into the fridge and pulling out a PBR tonight my wife informed that I was about to drink a stolen beer.  Apparently the woman at the checkout stand forgot to charge her for the case which my wife hadn’t realized until after leaving the store.  Now, since I know you are probably wondering and thinking about going out and stealing your own case of PBR, I’ll save you the potential trip downtown with officer friendly; a non-stolen PBR tastes as good, if not better, than a stolen PBR.

The fine folks at Game Informer have put up a cool preview and GDC interview article.  Rawk!

It was 1990 give or take, I don’t remember, when the news of revolution hit the air. The girls hadn’t even started taking down our posters when the boys started cutting off their hair. The radio stations all decided angst was finally old enough it ought to have a proper home. Dead, fat or rich nobody’s left to bitch about the goings’ on in self destructive zones. The night the practice room caught fire there were rumors of a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals. “Stoner tries to save an amplifier” and it’s like the dragon’s side of the story is never told. When the dream and the man and the girls hang around long enough to make you think it’s coming true, it’s easier to let it all die a fairy tale than admit that something bigger is passing through. The hippies rode a wave putting smiles on faces that the devil wouldn’t even put a shoe. Caught between a generation dying from its habits and another thinking rock and roll was new till the pawn shops were packed like a backstage party hanging full of pointy ugly cheap guitars, and the young’uns all turned to karaoke, hanging all their wishes upon disregarded stars. My Grandaddy’s shotgun is locked in a closet and it never shot a thing that could have lived. An old man decided that you couldn’t choose your poison till you’re nearly old enough to vote for him. They turned what was into something so disgusting even wild dogs would disregard the bones. Dead, fat or rich nobody’s left to bitch about the goings’ on in self destructive zones.

Woop! My wife and I booked a week-long road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana this summer. This will be her first time but I drove out there a number of years ago with my brother and met up with my mother and step-father.  We’ll be taking our little two-seat convertible and so we won’t be camping for most of the trip except for one night when we meet up with some friends in Idaho on the way.  Once we get to Glacier we will be staying in a little-ol’-lodge kind of place for most of the trip which should be a cool experience and then we’ll be spending a night in Missoula to check it out.  Neither my wife nor I eat fish but I’d like to give fly fishin’ a try while we’re there.  At any rate, I’m excited.

I’ve been wearing the same belt most of the time for a couple of years now and it was time for a change.  I had looked around in some stores and stuff but they weren’t really at all what I wanted so this morning I went down to Seattle’s Pike Place Market to poke around.  I had seen people selling belt buckles of all sorts there and I felt my chances were pretty good that I would come home with a new one.  It turns out there were a few different vendors with tons of them and after hemming and hawing over what to get I ended up buying two.  It was pretty cool to be able to pick out the buckle and the belt you wanted and then have them make it to order.  I had also been wearing generally the same Smith wrap-style sunglasses for like a decade and decided that with the weather starting to turn for the better it was time to finally switch it up.  I ended up getting the new Maui Jim “Akoni” aviator-style shades in a bronze frame with mirrored, rose-colored lenses.  I wanted something that looked like what a redneck cop might wear or something heh and after trying a few different brands the Akoni’s tuned out to be the perfect fit.

Here are some pics: Crab Guys, Crab, Sometimes I feel like a…, Belt Girl, Two New Belts, New Shades