Something Random

[ddrueding]

[minor musings]

2AM, just got home from SF. Many people think I'm crazy driving ~600mi/week for dancing, but I think I've figured it out.

The feeling I get while getting ready and driving to a milonga is the same as a first date; nervous, anxious, but still very interested in what is going to happen. Excitement and speculation abound, there's no spare brain power to get bored on the 90-minute drive.

While there it's like a dozen dates in a row; making eye contact, asking someone out onto the floor, asking their name, holding them close and getting to know them in a way words couldn't describe, then trading smiles and moving apart; your mind still going over what the last 15 minutes were really like. If you're a regular at some of the places, you establish connections with some of the others; not real friendships, as there's practically no exchange of words (It took me 6 months to discover two of my dance partners were seeing each other). It's a socially acceptible way to have a dozen mistresses.

The drive home is just like driving home from a really good first date; the mind flashing back to all the beautiful smiles, giggles, and embraces; still picking out the different aromas embedded in the shirt.

Yep, I'm hooked.

[/minor musings]


.....


[questions]

This hobby brings me to 2 different questions:

1. I want to buy a ~600cc sport bike to save on gas and mileage, any suggestions?

2. I want a way to photograph movement in very poorly lit enviroments, any suggestions?

[/questions]

 

[timwhit]

I don't know if a motorcycle would really save you all that much gas. Maybe if you drive it slowly and accelerate slowly it would save gas. But, most people I know with bikes end up driving them insanely fast and accelerating as fast as possible whenever the chance presents itself.

 

[Groltz]

I want a way to photograph movement in very poorly lit enviroments, any suggestions?

Fuji F30, if the shortcomings that some sites are reporting don't faze you.

 

[timwhit]

I don't know if a motorcycle would really save you all that much gas. Maybe if you drive it slowly and accelerate slowly it would save gas. But, most people I know with bikes end up driving them insanely fast and accelerating as fast as possible whenever the chance presents itself.

Here is a site that lists MPG for some popular models of motorcycles.

I would still take those numbers with a grain of salt. You also have to take into account the fact that you can't carry anything with you or anyone else (well one person, but having ridden as a passenger on a bike, it is not fun). Also, insurance on a crotch rocket is not cheap at all.

The one factor that should be forefront in your mind is that you WILL crash it as some point. I have 3 friends that own crotch rockets and all three of them have crashed at some point. None of them were seriously injured, but they easily could have been. Their bikes did sustain thousands of dollars in damage though.

 

[ddrueding]

Savings in gas is a minor point, keeping the mileage down on my current car is another factor. It already has well over 100k miles on it, and I'm currently doing about 1,000mi/week. It suits my needs for hauling/towing/passengers quite well. The point of the bike would be to fill the nitche of transporting me without stuff through areas of congestion (60% of my needs). The biggest expense will actually be something I've been thinking of for quite a while. I haven't had health insurance in nearly a decade, and it would be a must if I rode a bike. Crashes? Yes, they happen. Everyone I know who rides has crashed. Only one person ever went to the emergency room, and only 2 have ever not been able to ride their bike away from the scene.

I'm currently looking at something like this

 

[Santilli]

David: Don't do it. One computer guy I know bought himself a bike, and he's now in a wheel chair for life, and can't move any of his 4 limbs, worth anything. He was 22 when it happened.

That drive is really a kick. Have a look at something like a Lotus Super 7, or something along that vein, that's safe in our months of rain around here.

I used to love to make that drive, late at night, at high speeds, with radar detector, in a very fast mustang I had.

4 wheels handle far better then two, and, get something with a roll cage in it.

I realize youth tends to make one think they are invulnerable, but, it can, and will happen to you.

Greg

 

[LiamC]

Risk is a personal factor. I rode a bike for three or four years. After the third or fourth "off", I realised that I was too stupid to ride a motorcycle and sold it.

If you're dropping the thing, then you don't have the smarts to ride it.

Best graffiti I saw: On a motorcycle clothing store:

"Leather is murder!" And scrawled underneath:

"So is gravel rash mate!"

 

[LunarMist]

Especially for David this is a really bad idea.

 

[Santilli]

Quick story. Doing 130 in my funny car, down highway one, outside of Carmel, going to LA, at about 3 am. Nearly hit a Porsche 930 doing the same.
After that, with about a 300 foot drop, on the right side of the road, I see a flasher, something about road dropping off 10 inches, and I'm by it. I start hitting the brakes as hard as I can, but, after trying to stop a 3200 pound car, for nearly an hour, they are really near gone. It takes a long time to get down to a reasonable speed, and, when I do, the road drops, maybe 8-10 inches, onto gravel, and I start sliding, but, at least straight. Any faster, and I'm sure I'd be gone. Such tricks at night, on a bike, can be VERY fatal.
Highway one is a blast at night, but, I think it's much better in a car. Too many animals, skunks, raccoons, etc. that can turn a bike into an airborne object. I've hit them in the Santa Cruz mountains, as well.
Course David, you are hanging out with the bike crew at your place, so, it's not a shock that you'd like to be able to talk to them about their adventures.

My boss at the Shadowbrook bought a 440 Chrysler Barracuda so he could talk to us about cars. With it's squishy suspension, automatic, and about 440 horse, he stomped on it, scared the daylights out of himself, and went out and bought a diesel rabbit truck. :wink:

Why not just borrow one of your friends' 6 bikes, or just buy one from him?

Anyway, I have the feeling by saying don't do it, it will cement the bike idea. Do they make anything that does 0-60 in 2 seconds, for 10 grand anymore?

Greg

 

[Bozo]

Beter check about bike insurance. Some bikers I know have said that it is getting very expensive.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[ddrueding]

Do they make anything that does 0-60 in 2 seconds, for 10 grand anymore?

Plenty.

 

[Santilli]

This looks more like the Katana I had a ride on:

http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/146_0106_suzuki_gsx_r1000/

Greg

 

[Mercutio]

Anyone here shave with a straight razor or old-fashioned safety razor?
Couple days ago I got a haircut and my barber offered to shave my face, too. My face didn't get irritated at all from his razor and today it was almost painful to go back to the Gillette disposable.

I've looked into it and safety razors cost basically nothing ($20 for the handle, $.30 for the two-sided blades).

Why am I paying $3 for a disposable blade that only lasts a week or 10 days?

 

[Will Rickards]

If you got it shaved at a barber he probably did a few things that make it less irritating.
1) used hot foam lather
2) used that barber aftershave stuff (I just use cold water from the shower)
3) Is a professional

 

[ddrueding]

The thing that I find makes the most difference is the steaming hot towel they lay on your face before and after. After getting a great straight-razor shave in Nepal, I looked into all the possible options. These days I use a telescoping convex mirror and shave in the shower. It's the most comfortable fast shave I can get.

 

[Howell]

These days I use a telescoping convex mirror and shave in the shower. It's the most comfortable fast shave I can get.

I shave by feel in the shower. We don't need no stinking mirror.

 

[ddrueding]

Why am I paying $3 for a disposable blade that only lasts a week or 10 days?

Count yourself lucky. Here's the lifespan on mine:

Day 1: Use it
Day 2: Use it
Day 3: Realize my GF has used it on her legs and it's completely destroyed, throw it away, get a new one.

 

[Mercutio]

Either way it's a scam.
My barber did it with hot towels, a brush and shaving soap, not hot lather.
I'm thinking that, even if the man is a professional shaver, I've had years of practice to get good at shaving and so far, here is what I know:

If I shave the way you're supposed to, I have a 5 o'clock shadow on my neck, chin and moustach area by about 9:00AM.
If I shave excessively, from every possible angle and using lots of shaving cream (I also shave by feel in the shower), it takes 20 minutes and I put off the five o'clock shadow until noon.
Either way, the skin on my neck is permanently irritated. With the "excessive" shave, my whole face is irritated for about a week.
Electric razors don't so much remove hair as create permastubble.

In short, shaving sucks and if there's a better way to do it, I'd love to know about it.

 

[Tea]

Ha! And you think you have troubles?

 

[ddrueding]

I'm a bit assymetrical. I do considerable "excessive" shaving on my right side, and only the typical shaving on the left (My dance partner's right ear is against my right cheek - hence the additional attention). I find the irritation on my left side gone after a few seconds under the very hot water of the shower, and the right side gone after using a facial clenser. Aftershave would be tempting, but I can't use anything that smells to strongly or my dance partner would be discomforted.

 

[ddrueding]

In case you're curious, this is a video done at my main hangout in SF. Luciana Valle is one of the best in the world, and Homer is one of the local hotshots.

 

[Howell]

I don't get irritation at all. I shaved dry for two months of backcountry camping.

 

[Will Rickards]

I don't get irritation at all. I shaved dry for two months of backcountry camping.

:eekers:

 

[Will Rickards]

I only shave about twice a week because it irritates me.

 

[CougTek]

Bunch of weaklings and whiners. When I shave (rare), I use a sharp heated hunting knife. Never needed anything more fancy.

 

[LiamC]

Bah. I shave at least once a day. If I'm planning on a night out (rare! Young children), I would need to shave a second time.

Shaving commercials make me laugh. They show barely pubescent boys with no facial hair getting a "smooth, close" shave. If they had confidence in their product, the would use my face in their commercials. :mrgrn: :rant:

It'll never happen.

P.S. Three blade and four blade razors are a wank. They just clog up on my beard.

 

[mubs]

I get a 5 o'clock pretty fast too. The last time I had to get my pic taken for my driver's licence (had used up all my renewals), the pic taken at noon looked like I hadn't shaved that day. :evil:

My skin irriatets easily, and if I do a Merc (all angles), I'm sore for a couple of days.

The last time I let a barber shave me, he used the safety, and I was sore for days. Though he unwrapped a new blade in front of me, it felt like it was blade #1 that King Gillette had personally manufactured and it had been in use since then.

I'd grow a beard if I could. My problem is I have enough hair that shows and feels like sandpaper, not enough for a beard, and the ones that do grow are like steel pylons.

 

[paugie]

I'd like to grow a beard, too. :lol:
Or a mustache.

But it takes 5 days after a shave before the hairs start to grow out of my chin. And there are maybe about 50 on the right side and30 on the left. And about a third of those are white.

On my lip, there are like 5 hairs on the right and 7 on the left. I can count them.

My daughter won a Gillete 3blade razor in the company raffle more than a year ago and gave it to me as a gift. My son uses it, I use it and I think my son-in-law uses it, too. I decided once or twice to change the blade, but the replacement costs $2 and I can't just get myself to shell out the money. Besides . . .

If I just wet my face and let it soak for a minute or two, it still does the job. I'm sure it does, because I just did it this morning.

 

[Bozo]

I still have and use on occassion the double edge razor I bought when I first started to shave. About 45 years ago.

Sometimes it's worthwhile trying different shaving creams. I believe you can still get a shaving brush, mug and soap. I always thought the shaving soap was better as it's rubbed into your beard instead of just being layed on top.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[Tannin]

I haven't shaved in years. I have an electric barber's clipper, and do three things with it:

• Bare clipper for the upper lip and lower lip
• #1 comb for the beard
• #2 comb for my head

Shaving or a beard trim is OK, cutting your own hair is rather tricky till you get the hang of it. One thing that helps is that I simply don't care if it doesn't look right. The wildlife doesn't give a damn either way about my barbering skills, and as for what humans think, I don't give a damn.

I went clean-shaven for a month or two about 6 years ago, decided I didn't like it and that shaving was getting to be a drag. Besides, I look better with a beard. Before that, last time I shaved was for a dress-up party when I was maybe 32 or so, and last time I went clean-shaven for any length of time was through most of my 20s.

Used a blade about half of the time, the rest of the time I used a battery-powered electric razor. This was the best: didn't do all that good a job but It was a real time-saver. My car back then was a Mazda rotary and I was very consciencious about warming it up in the mornings before I thrashed the hell out of it. So, every morning, I'd go out onto the street, start the car up, and sit there idling the motor whiile I shaved, then drive to work. One or two of my workmates, seeing me sitting there every once in a while, figured I had some kind of illicit affair going on which was why I shaved in the car!

 

[Howell]

FWIW, I lather up with Lever2000 bath soap as shaving cream.

 

[Mercutio]

Paugie, are you saying that you've been using the same razor blade for months?

That is really awful.

Tannin, not everyone can grow a beard. I have exactly the same problem as mubs.

You know, you'd think someone would figure out a way to make hair removal easier...

 

[time]

Mubs, Merc, I feel your pain. My facial hair is coarse and irregular. Rather than being fashionably elegant with designer stubble, my desperado appearance tends to frighten children and animals.

I've always found safety razors ineffective, like using a pen knife to cut grass - I need a mower. Although frustrated with most electric shavers, I'm now happy with the better Braun models that include a cleaning 'machine'. The ability to cut against the grain suits the way my hair lays down, a big advantage over a blade.

I think safety razors only work well with soft or short hair (both of which cause problems for an electric shaver, BTW).

The Braun foil has a 'B' profile with two rows of cutting discs. There's also a flat blade that nestles in the valley, and IMO this is what allows it to shave so close, i.e. there's no comb between your face and a motorized blade! Yes, you can cut yourself if you push too hard.

Howell et al, shaving in the shower wastes water, something that we're becoming acutely aware of here on the driest continent.

 

[Pradeep]

China rolls out the big guns, aiming for a dry Olympics

FRAGRANT HILLS, China — When he's not tending cherry orchards outside Beijing, Yu Yonggang can be found behind the twin barrels of a 37mm anti-aircraft gun, blasting shells at passing clouds.
Yu is one of 37,000 peasants enlisted by the Chinese government to help produce rain in parched areas. The 45-year-old farmer works with China's other trigger-happy rain men to water the crops, break up damaging hailstorms and put out forest fires. After a sandstorm blew through the capital in May, he lobbed shells and rockets skyward to coax rains that washed sand and grit from city streets.

Now Yu and the other rainmakers face their toughest challenge: making sure it stays dry for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The idea is for the peasant gunners to work with meteorologists watching radar in the capital. Together, they will hunt pregnant rain clouds and pound them with rockets containing silver iodide. The hope is that any moisture will fall before the clouds can threaten the parade of athletes and lighting of the Olympic flame at the new National Stadium.

China's leaders want the Games to be a showcase for the country's astonishing economic development. The cloud-busting effort shows how far they will go to ensure that nothing interferes with the pageantry.

Yu, who wears a green military jacket and helmet in his gunner's seat, is already feeling pressure to perform. "The whole world will be watching the ceremony," he says. "We must guarantee its success."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-29-china-rain_x.htm?csp=34

 

[cjstaples]

<searches Google Language Tools for Chinese version of "Rain, Rain, Go-Away...">

=cjs

 

[LunarMist]

The big thing about the Element is that it's entirely plastic. It's made to be hosed out when it gets dirty on the inside. No carpet, no leather, just vinyl or plastic. Despite that, it's nice to sit in and seems pretty much designed for my needs.

Doesn't all that plastic make you sweaty? And what happens to the hosed water?

 

[Mercutio]

It's plastic, it seems like cloth. It seems to breathe about as well as cloth does.

Water: I've tried it once now (jug of milk sprung a leak in my back seat). It just sits. You get a towel and wipe it up.

 

[Handruin]

I've just moved all my major stuff out of my house and I'm sitting on my sleeping bag in my bedroom because all my stuff is gone including my bed. I haven't moved places yet, but due to timing I had to move my stuff this weekend into storage. I still have my laptop and net access...need the essentials. :-D

 

[mubs]

Glad you have a handle on things, fella. Everytime I've moved, some evil fairy keeps hiding more stuff into all the nooks and crannies of the dwelling, and I never finish extricating it all out and disposing of / packing the unending stream of stuff!

 

[ddrueding]

I've just moved all my major stuff out of my house and I'm sitting on my sleeping bag in my bedroom because all my stuff is gone including my bed. I haven't moved places yet, but due to timing I had to move my stuff this weekend into storage. I still have my laptop and net access...need the essentials. :-D

Good job, the essentials checklist is useful:

1. Computer
2. Internet Access
3. Place to Pee
4. Place to Sleep
5. Something to Eat