I got some more trivia questions read on the air in this week’s PodQuiz (Julie and I are big fans of the weekly trivia podcast).
You can listen to the questions here and see how you do:
Click here–> http://www.podquiz.com/
Listen to episode PodQuiz 348…my questions are the “quick-fire round” on TV dads and thier occupations.
Good Luck!!
Hit the Facebook “Like” button below or leave a comment and let me know how you do!!
Last weekend, Julie and I (long with 6 of Julie’s family) went to the Chico Cabaret’s 8th annual showing of the play “Rocky Horror“.
We had a blast, as always! Dinner at Franky’s (which ended with tequila shots), the play, then 80′s night at LaSalles.
Between the drinks at Franky’s the drinks at the Cabaret, and drinks at LaSalles, the next morning was pretty rough…I spent most of the morning in the sun sealing my brother’s roof. That will teach me!
A taste of things to come…3 of those ended up as mine!
Once you get into the play, if you have never seen it before, you are branded with a big “V” for “VIRGIN” with lipstick. This is Julie’s cousin and her boyfriend. Virgins no more!
The play had helpers (called phantoms) as ushers and sold raffle tickets during intermission…I had to get a shot of Julie’s nephew Brandon and His girlfriend Hannah with one of the phantoms
Anthony Varicelli was the lead in the play for years and years…he actually took this year off.
Things just got weird at the bar after the play!!
Oct 15
Today, I got a package in the mail from Cee Bailey‘s, a motorcycle accessory company that makes windshields and related items.
I had ordered a set of wind wings for my 2007 BMW R1200Gs. They are supposed to reduce the wind buffeting common on motorcycles at freeway speeds. I wasn’t sure if it would fit with my CalSci (California Scientific) windshield, but they assured me it would.
Install went pretty straight forward…
1- Mark the holes
2- Drill the holes (I purchased a brand new bit for the cleanest hole):
3- align the wings, and install the screw, washer, washer, and nut
4- Clean the dead bugs off the bike and go for a ride!!
Next up…I have a crazy loud horn on order from England…as soon as it get here, I’ll be blasting drivers on their cell phones!
[added that the same day] WOW. Took the first low speed test ride to the store and back. At 40 miles an hour, I have a huge envelope of calm air behind my screen…awesome!
Sep 24
This blog was never intended to be a BMW R1200GS modding blog, but everyone has hobbies, and mine lately has been adding stuff to my bike.
So, until I run out of modification money, I’m posting the stuff I add.
This week, I added Touratech handguard spoilers.
The handguards are supposed to offer protection from branches while trail riding (not that I do much of that), and wind while touring (I DO do that). The stock BMW guards are somewhat small, and offer little in the way of wind protection, so I purchased some spoilers to make them bigger.
Before:
Just a few bugs on my dirty bike!
and now After…not a great pic as it was getting dark and the angle isn’t great to show the full size of the spoiler:
You can see how much taller they are with the spoiler…hopefully that will help with the cold wind as the weather changes.
Sep 20
My bike (like most BMW R1200GS bikes), has a case of the leans:
The reason is because it’s designed to go offroad also, and it needs lots of clearance, thus when it’s parked, it leans due to it’s height.
That’s not a problem when parking in the driveway, but if you park on dirt, gravel, sand, or mud, the kickstand will sink and your bike will fall over.
Today, I bought a kickstand foot enlarger from Touratech…this thing is big and bad and increases the size of the foot.
Before:
See the quarter I used for the scale…now check out after:
BIGfoot!! No worries about where I park now!
Back when I had my cruiser motorcycle (a 2003 Suzuki Volusia VL800), the choice of helmet was simple…just a generic half-helmet. The Volusia had a big windscreen, and the half-helmet served my needs perfectly.
When I sold the cruiser, I purchased a 2007 BMW R1200GS, which is a whole different kind of beast. I purchased a modular helmet, but never really liked it. It was heavy and loud. Next, I purchased a motorcross helmet that has been okay during the warmer months…but I have always been on the look out for THE helmet. I needed quiet, good fit, lightweight, and comfortable.
I did a TON of research, and found the Shoei Qwest full faced helmet. It got great reviews, was supposed to be one of the quietest helmets on the market, so I bit the bullet and bought it. As soon as I got it, I was disappointed. I had to order smaller cheek pads, and it wasn’t nearly as quiet as I had hoped. But…I was stuck with it, so I decided to modify it to make it a bit more suited for me.
2 weeks ago, I took a 600-mile trip on the motorcycle to Crater Lake Oregon. The Shoei helmet had a huge drawback; it fits so snug (which is normally a good thing) that I can’t wear my headphones while riding (I know, I know…don’t judge me). Every time I put on the helmet, it would pull the ear buds out of my ear. When I DID finally get it to stay, my ears were killing me after less than 30 minutes.When I got home, I found a set of helmet speakers online and ordered them. Installation was easier and harder than I thought it was going to be. Easier in that the helmet already had built-in pockets for the speakers, so they installed like they came from the factory. Harder in that the helmet liner is not removable, so routing the wiring was a bear and not nearly as clean as I’d hoped. The result is musical bliss.
I can’t show you the speakers in my helmet, but they are like this:
The sound out of the speakers is pretty darn good, and the wire has a volume control, which is nice.
The other drawback to my Shoei helmet is when using the motorcross helmet has a large bill to shade my eyes from the sun…the Shoei doesn’t. I purchased a Frog Lidz visor on eBay. It’s a cheap (you get what you pay for) piece of plastic that installs on your helmet. It’s effective, but a bit cheaply designed. Can’t complain too much…it works.
Again, I don’t have a pic, but this is the pic on the eBay auction (mine doesn’t have the lettering):
So…two effective mods to make an okay helmet better. Not great, but a notch up from not bad.
Aug 28
Julie and I love listening to trivia podcasts when we are driving around, and this week something pretty cool happened…I was actually mentioned by name on two different trivia poscasts in one day! I’m famous!!
One of our favorite trivia podcasts is PodQuiz, from http://www.podquiz.com/. The format is 20 questions that are broken up into 4 categories. The first 4 questions are normally short music clips with some type of connection…question 5 is to name that connection (such as all the bands have a color in their name) . The rest of the questions fall under various fun categories Occasionally, people will send in questions, which is what I did. I sent him 6-8 questions on Crime Scene Investigation, and he picked a couple to read and gave me a nice shout-out.
Check out PopQuiz #340 at http://www.podquiz.com/ and see if you know the answers!
My second podcast shout today came came from a newer podcast called the Thursday Trivia Podcast. Julie and I just found this bi-weekly podcast recently, and I wrote a short review for it on iTunes (my review was the first review posted). I mentioned in the review that the host tends to talk too fast and needed to slow down a bit. The host actually thanked me in his podcast for the constructive criticism, and sure enough…he slowed down it was much better!!
Check out podcast #11 “State Stuff” at http://thurstriv.tumblr.com/
I’m available evenings and weekends for autographs 
Aug 7
Well, the time has come to hang up my softball cleats.
I played in the Lance Utterback Softball Tournament this weekend, breaking every promise I made to myself saying I wouldn’t play again.
Lance was a Chico Cop, Marine, co-worker, friend, and all-round good guy who’s life was cut way short to cancer. A softball tournament is held every year in his name to fund a scholarship for our local police academy.
I have played softball the last several seasons, and this tournament is normally the end-of-the-season send off. The problem is that the tournament is getting bigger and bigger every year, bringing in better and better teams. My team is usually put together last minute and not competitive at all. I was told there was a good chance that we was going to lose all 3 of the Saturday seeding games. That’s a good way to get me to sign up.
So…Saturday rolled around, I grabbed my mitt and cleats and went to play. As soon as I showed up, and was told I was pitching. Crap. I’m usually 1st base, and I feel like a big ‘ol sitting duck out on the mound.
The first game we got blown out of the water. After 5 innings, the other team was more than 15 runs ahead, so the mercy rule was called and we lost. I did hit okay though, 2 for 3.
The second game we got blown out of the water. After 5 innings, the other team was more than 15 runs ahead, so the mercy rule was called and we lost. Hitting suffered, 1 for 3.
The third game we got blown out of the water. After 5 innings, the other team was more than 15 runs ahead, so the mercy rule was called and we lost (I traded off pitching this game each inning). Hitting sucked, 1 for 3 again.
Needless to say, on Sunday we was seeded last in the losers bracket, and we was picked to play against the last team we lost to.
On Sunday, rolled out of bed…very slowly. I was sore! My arm was on fire!! I rode over and put on the cleats. We played and…lost (you was expecting something different??). The good new was we actually made it a game and scored some runs early. They just scored more. I hit well this game, going 3 for 3. With that 4th loss, our games was over and we got to go home. By the evening, I was so sore, I was like the tin man.
So…I always joke that I will never play ball again, then sign up one more time. But god as my witness, I think I mean it this time. I stopped having fun a while ago, and I’m had even less fun this time.
Time to find a new sport…something less physical. Competitive gambling? Maybe Swedish bikini judging (okay, that’s more of a hobby than a sport)!
Aug 5
I have kept pretty quiet lately, mostly do to some intense studying I have been doing.
A few months ago, I joined my local fraternal organization, the Freemasons, in Orland, CA (Lodge 245).
There are 3 levels to Freemasonry. I just passed the 1st level, and it involved a bunch of memorization, so my time lately has been studying, stressing, memorizing, and stressing some more.
One level down, two to go!
I purchased myself a masonic ring to celebrate finishing the 3rd level as an incentive to keep my nose to the grindstone and to get though the tasks I need to get though.
It’s hard to get a decent photo of it, but the symbol is laser engraved (not black)…looks sharp. I can’t wait to earn the right to wear it!
Ed
The other day, I heard a commercial on the radio for a band called “Metal Elvis” playing at a local Indian casino (Feather Falls Casino, in Oroville, California). He was playing on Friday June 3rd.
The story of Metal Elvis is that it’s an Elvis impersonator who sings Elvis hits, but his band plays 80′s metal and hard rock. The mash up sounded like fun, and the cost was only a $5 cover.
Knowing Julie is an Elvis fan, and we both love 80′s metal, it was something we couldn’t resist seeing.
We drove over to Oroville, which is just under an hour away, and got a seat right in front. The band (called the Monsters of Rock) began playing (the drummer was dressed like Peter Chriss, the bassist like Nikki Sixx, and the guitarist like Slash), and Metal Elvis hit the stage. It was pure awesomeness! The bassist had apparently broken an ankle that day, so he started the show, but finished back stage, but the show was fun and worth the drive. We are now Metal Elvis fans!! Julie even got a kiss and a scarf from Metal Elvis!
Here are a couple of pics from the show:
And a video of Metal Elvis singing “Don’t be Cruel” to the tune of Sweet “Child ‘O Mine”.
The sound is crappy because of my iPhone..they sounded great live!
If you get the chance to see Metal Elvis…be sure to go!! It was a work day for me, so I was up at 5am, and we went to see Metal Elvis that night. It was 2am before I got to bed, so it was a loooooong day, bot it was totally worth it!
