Thanksgiving

My parents drove down from Ohio and my sister and her boyfriend drove up from Raleigh on Wednesday afternoon. We walked to Il Radicchio for dinner and everyone enjoyed it. Beth, Matt, and I took off afterwards to see the Hackensaw Boys at the State Theatre. They really threw down. The guys on stage were having a good time and were pickin' up a storm. The acoustic encores were quite the jam as well.

Hackensaw Boys pics and videos

The big event on Thursday went well and wasn't quite as big as last year. For the second time in my living history Thanksgiving as at Scott's house. We had about 16 last year and two turkeys, this year there were 10 of us and one lone fried turkey. I handled the beer. To start things off we opened a bottle or two of the Allagash Victor and Victoria Ale. The Victor is brewed with red chancellor grapes and the Victoria Ale contains chardonnay grapes. Oh quite tasty! During the turkey dinner we had Ommegang Abbey Ale. Nothing too hoppy or dark for these non-beer connoisseurs and this spice/fruit belgium beer did the trick. Sticking with the Belgium theme we finished the evening off with some Lindemans Framboise. Apparently I thought it tasted pretty good.

After dinner Beth, Matt, and I took off to Kirby's house. Lisa and Gramoz were there after their big "dinner celebration". Gramoz was feeling as good as the three of us and got friendly with Beth. We all headed to the Red Room and had a good time. Lisa was hooking us up with free beers from her friend behind the bar. A fight broke out and the 5' female bouncer escorted the guy right out. We closed the bar down and got home a bit late. It would be accurate to say I had a measurable alcohol content at the end of the night.

Thanksgiving pics and videos

On Friday we attempted to go to the American History Museum. It reopened the week before after a two year renovation. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea because the line was 100 yards out the door. After passing the line at the National Archives we decided to go to the American Indian Museum. The group felt the same way I did in that it isn't centrally organized or laid out so well. Some interesting stuff though.

After the tourist trip to the mall we headed to the Kennedy Center for the Millennium Stage performance where Kirby joined us. There is a Jazz in DC program going on and there were performances all week dedicated to DC's influence on jazz. At the performance we went to they talked about the jazz clubs around U Street. It was interesting and the band laid down some good grooves as well. Then on to dinner at Faccia Luna.

On Sunday we all relaxed and did a little shopping before dinner at Sawatdee. Until next year...

snow sighted

Rumor has it that snow was spotted in DC last week. Today I spied snow for the first time this year. DC is such a disappointment when it comes to snow. Cancelling school on the forecast of an inch or two and raiding the grocery store for TP and milk is crazy nuts.

Snowshoe opens today with 42.5 inches including 3 new inches last night.  The lift ticket is $29 because there are all of 6 trials open. Check out their pics from today in the gallery.

If I have to deal with this cold I'm looking forward to playing in snow.

Rock Bottom beer dinner

Rock Bottom Arlington had a beer dinner last night that Sarah and I checked out. This is their second beer dinner and it sounds like they may have 4-6 a year. Overall it was pretty good. Sarah and I are spoiled after a Dogfish Head dinner at McCormick & Schmick's that was the best palate experience ever!

They started us off with a choice of their beer line-up as we chatted with the brewer and chef waiting for everyone to arrive.  Sarah and I sat with an older couple.  The Irish gentleman got on a bagpipes kick and we learned everything there is to know about the instrument.  Did you know it was invented in the middle east?  

The best part of the meal was the buttermilk squash soup. That was most excellent. The Cinnamon Spiced Ballston Brown was a great complement. Chris, the brewer, said they just threw a bunch of cinnamon sticks in during the brewing process. Not something I'd drink alone but great with the soup.

Sarah is a great beer tasting partner.  She chats it up with everyone at the table and I end up finishing all her samples.

menu...

1st Course: Heirloom Tomato Salad drizzled with a Balsamic Cabernet Vinigerette.  Paired with Liquid Sun White Ale. 

2nd Course: Buttermilk Squash Soup served with rustic bread.  Paired with Cinnamon Spiced Ballston Brown 

3rd Course: Fresh herb rubbed Quail served with a pumpkin risotto and grilled seasonal vegetables.  Paired with “Harvest Hopped” Radio Towers  Red. 

4th Course: Cinnamon Apple Bread Pudding topped with a Brandy Butterscotch sauce.  Paired with “100 Acre” Braggot. 

Verizon finally sends update notice

Verizon just sent me a notice in the mail about a "FREE software upgrade" for my phone. It updates the operating system from Windows Mobile 6.0 to 6.1 and gives you Rev A data speeds. It also enables the Verizon Navigator application if you wish to pay $10 a month for GPS navigation. And because Verizon is a bitch once you update to this "FREE software upgrade" they lock the GPS functionality for all applications that are not digitally signed by Verizon Wireless. That means the only GPS capability you have is with their $10 a month Verizon Navigator service. This update was available back in August. I received my undated snail mail notice yesterday.

Thankfully I updated back in March to a hacked version of WM6.1 that included fixes of the 6.1 memory leaks, unrestricted GPS capability, and the super fast Rev A wireless data speeds. 

In fact I wrote the first post to this blog while waiting on Verizon to reauthenticate my phone after doing the above hack.

Google Earth graffiti

I work with a guy out in Montana who does R&D for the Forest Service putting together technology for wildland firefighters in the mountains. This is the same guy who lived next to the National X-mas Tree. He does things such as put cameras and wireless networks on UAVs. He has been a long time proponent of using Google Earth for work and has ties back to the Keyhole guys. When high resolution satellite imagery of Missoula became available he made a phone call and an update appeared in the public version of Google Earth. 

So he decided to leave his own mark. He owns some land in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana and mowed "AFF" in his backyard. AFF is an application that provides real-time geospatial information to dispatchers, aviation managers, and incident commanders. It uses Google Earth to display the geospatial information. 

The picture below is from a private satellite. Once the image is publicly available he'll have Google update the quad in Google Earth. Then when you zoom to Bob's backyard while using AFF you can see his AFF lawn sculpture.

You could paint your roof but without connections it might take a few years to appear in Google Earth. Google recently released the Google Maps street view for DC. I checked my walking routes and they didn't capture me. It appears the Google spy car drove around DC two winters ago.

GT3 RS spotted today

I saw this Porsche GT3 RS parked on the street in DC today. It weighs 3,031lbs and tops out at 193 mph. It is my favorite car ever. Well not really but it's in the top 5. As mentioned I don't need a $500,000 car. This $125,000 one would do fine. It's not exactly my ideal choice for the streets of DC but I understand why one would not want to compromise. 

Ratdog

Last night I went to the Ratdog show with Kari and Lee. Lee had gone the night before and the setlist looked pretty sweet. Our seats were in the same row as our Widespread seats which are quite nice being the first row in the main balcony. The price was outrageous at $45 ($55 after taxes and fees). Neither night sold out. I haven't seen Ragdog in many many years so I thought I'd give it another go. 

Lee drove and we parked in the garage under the venue which was convenient and allowed us to avoid the front line. It was a good jam but playing so many Grateful Dead songs it just made me miss the Dead. Mark Karan on guitar played some good lead here and there but on some songs I didn't think he was all that. And Bob's guitar had some high pitched feed-back sounding loud tone to it that bothered me. It didn't sound right. And to top it off they ran out of their one decent beer and I had to drink a Miller Lite. That tasted like crap in the end. The hippies have gotten old because unlike most shows I was on the younger side. Overall it wasn't that bad; just over-priced and of course nothing near what the Dead used to be.

Warner Theatre setlists...

Wednesday which I didn't attend:

I: Jam > Dancin in the Street > Shakedown Street > Maggie's Farm > She Belongs to Me > Money for Gasoline, She Says > Liberty, Foolish Heart

II: Deep Elem Blues, El Paso, Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Stuff > Morning Dew > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider

E: U.S. Blues

And last night:

I: Jam > Here Comes Sunshine > Brown-Eyed Women > Loser > Lucky Enough > Cream Puff War > Quinn the Eskimo, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl > Ashes and Glass

II: Me and My Uncle, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Mississippi Half-Step > The Wheel > Lady with a Fan > Terrapin > Stuff, Black Peter > Throwing Stones

E: At a Siding > Terrapin Flyer

scheiße!

I left my red jacket on a railing in the Rosslyn metro while waiting for a train. Of course it was not there 25 minutes later. Scheiße! I liked that jacket. Had it for a long time. Got it at some ski expo for cheap. I was one of the first cool people with a MP3 pocket yo. I was in the market for a new one but that old one was still kickin' strong. Now I need to find one somewhere somehow. And soon.

keeping me warm in the Alps on 2-26-2004

UPDATE: And then I discovered Arc'teryx

National x-mas tree comes from the Bitterroot

The National Christmas Tree is coming from the Bitterroot National Forest. Not familiar with the Bitterroot you say? The Rockie Mountains go through western Montana and I spend some time there on occasion for my client the Forest Service. A bit ago they identified the National Christmas Tree and apparently it's a short walk from a coworker's house. I asked him to carve my initials but it's been under 24 hr surveillance since it was made known. They cut it last Saturday and it's making a tour across the nation to DC.

news stories...

Great Falls Tribune

KPAX (w/ pics)

DC celebrates B-Rock!

Once the election was called people started pouring in to the streets of DC. I was at U and 14th where there was a planned gathering and drum circle. A few thousand people were also there. Fireworks were going off. The whole intersection was taken over and people were climbing on trees, bus stations, newspaper machines, and everything else. The cops didn't interfere at all and did a little traffic management being that no one was getting through the intersection.  Lots of cars and buses had to do U turns.  Everyone was in quite the happy mood dancing in the streets. Even the cars that were stuck were having a good time.

The cops did get control of the intersection once but then lost it when more people came from Adams Morgan, the 9:30 Club, and their homes after the 11:00 news.  At some point people start yelling to head to the White House.  Apparently another large crowd was down there.  They should have walked on to the White House lawn.  What would a few secret service guys do if 5000 people started walking up to knock on the door?

I took pics with my phone but being that I've never really used the camera before and it was dark out they aren't exactly high quality shots.

The Washington Post also did a story.

UPDATE: videos

throwin' paint

A couple people from work organized a paintball outing.  It was back in the hills of Virginia near Leesburg at AG Paintball Games. A good time was had by all. And most will feel it tomorrow. I'm a bit sore and have a few bruises from jumping over logs and boulders in the woods while dodging paintballs flying 290 feet per second.

There were 20 in the group; seven of us from the office and the rest friends.  A few professionals showed up with their own gear.  We battled on 3 different playing fields which were all very unique and fun.  The first one was in thick woods with a few places of artificial cover such as piled logs or wooden pallets scattered around.  On one side of the playing field were small wooden structures.  We switched up a few times on each field.  The next one was also quite wooded on a decent grade with a bunker in the middle.  At the start of each game teams would go running for control of the bunker.  And the last one was very large with a decent stream and a slight clearing running down it length-wise. Teams would start on opposite sides of the stream.  Some crossings were deeper than others.  There were some fun battles and interesting terrain on that last field.

I was taken out early in the first games probably for being a little too aggressive.  I got caught in a cross fire in the middle of the field on the first game.  The rental gun wasn't the most accurate or powerful.  A few times my goggles fogged up and I was worthless.  It's not fun sitting in a battle, trying to take cover behind a tree, and not see the enemy who is rapidly closing in.  I learned to control my breathing and to move around when the fogging started (which is not easy when people are shooting at you). I'd probably get my own decent goggles before I'd invest in a gun.  

My team consisted of most of the "professional" friends who came yet somehow we managed to lose the first couple games.  By the end we came around and showed our deadly force. I have quite a few half inch red dots on my body that will be black and blue tomorrow.  Check out the last picture to see how my last game ended...

paintball pics

The Capitals, sickness, The Pietasters, and Matt & Casey

On Tuesday I went with Kevin and Nick to a Capitals game. We picked up nice tickets on the club level off the internet. I forgot how nice the club level is with carpeted floors near the concessions and a bar/restaurant overlooking the arena. The lines for food/beer and the bathroom are quite short as well. Unfortunately only corporate clients get such good treatment as the fans don't have access and the whole tier is almost always more than half empty. Of course we all know it's about money not the fans. The game was good, it went in to over time and then penalty shots. The Caps pulled off the win.  

The next morning at about 6am I woke not feeling too well. I proceeded to empty all contents of my bowels and belly. After that I didn't feel all that bad and assumed I'd go in to work later in the day which I did. I was back home by lunch. Things were not feeling right. I couldn't eat and was feeling a bit nauseous. The next day I tried to go in the office again without success. By Friday I just felt like I had a glob in my stomach that wouldn't go away. I still wasn't eating much and had little energy.

I did make it out to the Pietasters show though on Friday night. It was Halloween and they had a costume contest at the 9:30 Club with the winner getting free tickets to all of the shows for the rest of the year. Kirby, choosing from the few empowered unibrow women of the world, went as Frieda Kahlo. Amy was there feeling quite good with some drinks in her. The band threw down as usual and I found out I can still have fun at 2am on a Friday night while sober.

On Saturday I met up with Matt and Casey while they were between shows at the 9:30 Club. They saw some comedian at 7:00 and then Lotus was playing later that night. We met at a nice restaurant on U Street and that was the first time I felt like I might be able to really eat. Good thing too as I need my energy today to shoot my coworkers with paintballs.