friends

Here is some cool stuff, only some of which is tangentially related to American football. ;D

LED Football?!

Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts (now on ESPN LA) points to a nostalgia-inducing awesome thing: LED Football for iPhone, which is, as he puts it,

A replica of the greatest game ever, Mattel Handheld Electronic Football.

It's also free for today only.

The more you know...

Speaking of tweeting and football, Bob Timmermann informs us,

Little known Super Bowl fact: Because New Orleans is playing in the game, the NFL rulebook will be replaced by the Napoleonic Code.

Yes, yes I am!

"Inside the Dodgers" asks the rhetorical yet vital question, "Are you ready for some baseball?":

It's the last official day of football season, so get it out of your system now and get ready to start watching America's pastime.

Good gracious, yes!

Streaking Kings

The LA Kings have reached a franchise-record nine-game wins in a row and are going for 10 against crosstown rivals the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow. They're currently in fourth place in the Western Conference.

Blaming the victims? ;)

bikecommutenews tweets,

Cyclists on busy roads a nuisance http://ow.ly/14NvT #bikenews

which prompted me to reply,

@bikecommutenews Yeah, to me, it seems like the *cars* are the nuisance on a busy road, not bicycles. :)

Noteworthy

Slashdot mentions a blog post by a computer science student who sticks with a pen and paper instead of a laptop for note-taking during class, "My Classmates Are Taking Their Notes Digitally, But I Can’t Fathom How They Keep Up"

I noticed today that as I frantically scribbled to keep up with my philosophy professor’s lecture, there was an audible hum of typing in the classroom. It was the first time I noticed that I could count more students using netbooks than notebooks to take notes in class.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like to take notes with a pen and paper. As I’ve discussed previously, the act of writing helps cement the lecture material in my mind better than passive listening does, and studies have shown that it’s not just me.[...] Still, I know that my old-fashioned ways are quickly going out of style.

A couple of videos I shot of The HoPpErS practice a couple of weeks ago. Can't wait for their next gig! :)

<br/>The HoPpErS: Mocking Bird<br/><br/>Art Schindele | MySpace Music Videos</br/></br/></br/>

<br/>The HoPpErS: Breakdown<br/><br/>Art Schindele | MySpace Music Videos</br/></br/></br/>

• Chris Leroy: Guitar, Vocals
• Tony Fate: Guitar
• Art Schindele: Drums
• Tim Loughlin: Bass

Just in time for Halloween, our buddy Sluggo playing stand-up bass in psychobilly masters Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures.

"Redneck Vixen From Outer Space" (Sorry about the abrupt ending.)

"Transylvania Terror Train"

"Zombie A Go Go" (Not for the weak of stomach! ;)

You can also see and hear the band in the new Halloween II movie directed by Rob Zombie, and they'll be opening for him on tour (see tour poster for dates). Unfortunately, the Halloween show in Hollywood is long sold out. Bummer!

"Never Gonna" by The Lonesome Ones, with my buddy Art Schindele on drums.

<br/>Never Gonna<br/><br/>Art Schindele|MySpace Music Videos</br/></br/></br/>

The Lonesome Ones Live at Characters in Pomona California 10-10-2009 Derek: Vocals Larry: Guitar Bobby: Bass Art: Drums Filmed by Laura in HD

My friend and fellow hiker Alex writes the Ravens in Hollywood blog. He was quite concerned about the wildlife that were threatened in yesterday's fire, not that far from his house.

He sent me an awesome picture he managed to capture recently (before the fire) that has become his new masthead banner.

(Click to see in context and full size.)

Flickr has a ton of shots of the fire from various folks. Unfortunately, with the apparently even-worsening drought situation, we'll be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing.

Let's hope all the wildlife in Hollywood (not to mention the numerous hairless primates) are okay.

Here are some photos from yesterday's hike.

In the Blaine St. parking lot at the bottom.

This is a Floss Silk Tree, visible alongside the road as you walk up to the trailhead. I love this tree and always take pictures when we come through here.

Close up of the Floss Silk Tree.

Part way up Two Trees Trail, looking back down on Riverside. That's Sugar Loaf on the right.

Part way up Two Trees Trail. Photos up here seem always to come out like impressionist paintings. :)

Otis digging food out of his pack while we take a breather in the parking lot halfway up.

Pharaoh takes a break while I check out directions.

Confirming the GPS is pointing things out properly. ;)

Alex spies an interesting bird and sneaks up for a picture.

From the midway parking lot, looking up the trail leading to the top.

On our way again.

Alex and Otis work out the local geography.

That white shape is part of the giant letter "M" overlooking Moreno Valley, at the top of Box Springs.

Pharaoh is pooped. :)

Reche Peak to the left, with Reche Canyon and the area around Hulda Crooks Park just beyond.

Last October, Alex and Otis and I, along with Pharaoh the standard poodle, took a hike up Box Springs Mountain, chronicled in my post "Box Springs Mountain, Riverside County". Before today, I'd done that hike three times, I believe. Also, we'd done the Two Trees Trail twice. Today, we combined the two hikes.

Alex had borrowed a GPS unit to try out today, so hopefully we can get some real data off of it later.

Here's a view of both trails in one 3D picture (click for larger):

Parking is in a dirt lot at the farthest end of Blaine Street in the vicinity of UC Riverside, at 1245'. A short distance away is the trailhead for the Two Trees Trail, about 100' higher. The top of the trail is at about 2305'. Around 1.5 miles one-way to the top, through some nice terrain that gives great views of the university and out to downtown and beyond. Here's a 3D view of this trail by itself:

Here's the rest of hike from the perspective of the other side of the mountain:

This portion is about 2.3 miles one-way with a 725' elevation gain from the parking lot. According to the map, this is officially Box Springs Mountain Road, but it's dirt in various states of repair all the way up, providing access to the various towers and antennae dotting the top.

The views were hazier today than they have been in the past, so not as much could be seen past a certain distance. Despite this, however, there is still much to see.

The tally for the day:

• 8.04 miles
• 1,805' elevation gain
• A little under 4 hours

I should have some actual photos later on. Photos here.

With this hike, I've also officially gone over 100 miles for the month, combined walking, hiking, and biking mileage, which was a goal of mine.