Rear Window

After 3 weeks of great weather it finally decided to rain. Lightening is something that doesn't occur here very much and the storms last night had quite a bit of it. Reminded me of an old Midwest storm. Rain forecasted all week. We'll see how that pans out. Definately hard to keep motivated to ride 20 miles in the rain - at least it will be in the high 60s.

Not much happened this weekend. Went out to eat at Pambiche again on Friday. Although the Cuban food is good it's hard to have a conversation. The tables are packed so tight because they really need more space. By 6:30 pm the line was starting to form for a table. I don't think we'll be coming back for awhile. At least until they expand which I did overhear a waitress mention. Saturday was errand day. Made in Oregon [Mother's day and gifts for Mom for next weekend], Powell's Books, a lunch stop at Good Dog Bad Dog [not bad but the fixings weren't that good... not sure where you get a Chicago dog around here - maybe the ballpark], Walgreens and finally New Season's. Heidi made some good carrot cake cupcakes. I can't keep myself from eating them - especially with the cream cheese frosting. Sunday we went down to Rickreal [near Salem] to have brunch at a winery, Eola Hills Winery, with Heidi's parents. There are alot of winery's here. Going to go on a bike ride wine tour in August. Food was excellent, especially the eggs benedict. Winery had ostriches behind it - I'm assuming for some farm purpose. Finished up the Soprano's season 2, almost done with In Living Color. Watched Rear Window on Sunday night - what a great old movie - I'd watched it once before but forgot the plot.

Heidi's first ride

Helped Heidi by a bike last Saturday. A Trek 4300 WSD.

This is a great entry level starter bike. Although she may not ever ride any trails at least if she wants to she can. So yesterday we went and road on a bike path down by the Columbia. You can kind of make out Mt. Hood on the horizon.

Teacher Man

Just finished Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. This was the 3rd in the line of books he's written. Pretty interesting guy. Not bad book. Not as good as the first one, Angela's Ashes. So i'd rate them in this order:

1. Angela's Ashes
2. 'Tis
3. Teacher Man

I think the 1st is a must read. Read the others if you have time or want to.

Sigur Ros

Last Thursday was the Sigur Ros concert at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The venue was upscale. Not a normal rock n' roll concert joint. More like an opera house. We had seats in the nose bleed section but they were still good. It was a weird concert in that it was totally quiet while they played and people only clapped and cheered when a song finished. It was really good. They had a 4 piece string group (cello and 3 violins I think) and then a kick ass drummer a bassist, a guitar/piano guy and then the lead singer who played his guitar with a bow (the object you use to play a violin). It was really cool. The band that opened up before them was called Amiina. Unfortunately I only got to hear 2 of their songs because we arrived late from dinner at Pazzo Ristorante. The restaurant was upscale and had really good food. Maybe if I was a millionaire I'd go there more often. But back to Amiina, of the two songs I heard, 1 was really good - the girl was playing a hand saw... the other song was ok. Overall I think it would be worth checking out there music. Next time I'm making sure we get to the show early - I can't tell you how many times Ray and I have found new bands during a show.

Btw, I'm finding it a little annoying that some of these Portlanders ride on the wrong side of the road against the grain of traffic. I know, I know. I shouldn't complain. It's nice that there are so many riders. The spot that aggravates me most is going over the I-5 bridge. There is only enough space in the lane for 1 rider - it's basically like singletrack. You can go over the bridge on either side, so there should be no excuse for riding against traffic but yesterday as I was coming home from work I had to pull over 3 times in the steel girders to let some bonehead by that was riding the wrong way... /sigh Perhaps I was just feeling a little aggressive because I was jamming to Tool on the iPod while I rode [which would be hypocritical of me since you should ride and listen to headphones because you can't hear as well to your surroundings].

Update:

I found a short video of Amiina - this was actually the 1 song I liked. She's play a hand saw... There's some additional info on the girls as well. Check it out.

Tool ... 10,000 Days

I bought 3 CD's last week. Tool, Pearl Jam, and Godsmack. All 3 bands with new albums all at once. It's like Xmas. I can't get the Tool out of my head or stop it from playing in the iPod. It's that good. 10,000 Days, rocks... get it. My recommendations are The Pot and Right in Two.

btw - my prediction to Heidi came true - Tool kicked Pearl Jam's ass by selling almost 2x the amount of albums and tops the charts @ #1!

Catch up

I was politely informed today by Gabi that I haven't posted in awhile. "What's going on?" Thanks for kicking me in the butt - I needed it.

I have some great shots of hiking and waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. We went hiking and visited a bunch of waterfalls, including the original waterfall Ray and I saw 9 years ago. I posted the pics and later I'll give a good breakdown when I have some time.

Weather has been great. No humidity. 70's. Skies with no clouds. It does get a little chilly in the morning - 40-50s. So there is like a 30 degree temperature swing.

I haven't raced yet... sounds strange but after injuring my back I basically had to start all over. My total mileage for April was 38 miles. I've started by commuting one-way to work now (19 miles) and driving the other way back home. That at least gets me riding everyday. 152 miles in May so far for 10 days. Plus I think the 40 miles a day taking me 3 hours was just too damn much time... But I have to tell you - there are a LOT of bikers out here. It's pretty cool. You can't go more than 2-3 minutes either by back or car without seeing someone riding a bicycle. I'm looking forward to checking out the racing scene.

It's cool to see the WORS series has started back up. I see Ryan went Clydesdale. Come on Ryan! Sum-bitch. I do miss the races and hanging out on a nice day, grilling out, camping, socializing, riding and of course - the hazing, teasing and cajoling. Ryan with the "F--- this shit!" or Ray with "That sun feels good" or Butch with "?" - well he doesn't have a saying - but he'll have his lawn mowed, driveway sealed and a new foundation put on the house before you get out of bed - what'd you do today? Hope you guys are having fun!