 Cycling injuries
posted by Dante on 5.17.2004 - 12:46 am
There's something almost ironic about sports injuries. There you are trying to improve your overall health and you wind up doing damage that can halt your progress, and even cause you to lose ground. My most recent learning experience in sports fitness - proper adjustments to a road bike are essential when you plan to put a lot of miles on your bike. The proof for me came after several rides when I managed to develop a pain toward the back of one knee.
Internet research suggests this pain is common when you ride in too high a gear and your seat isn't high enough. Being new to road bikes, I wasn't aware of how much hamstring it was possible to use on the recovery. Those clips really allow you to work the pedals through the whole stroke. The mechanics at work here are probably obvious to anyone who has ever ridden a bike, and people who haven't needn't worry or care.
The morals of the story are 1-to make sure your bike is properly adjusted for you. The proper fit is key, and all it takes is an inch on your seat post to save you from a world of hurt. And 2-keep your cadence high and the gear low for the first several rides. Build the cardio capacity, and give your muscles a fighting chance. If you jump on the bike and try to do a century without moving off the biggest chain ring then you'll be joining me on the sidelines soon enough.
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|  altec lansing VS2121 speakers
posted by Christopher on 5.17.2004 - 11:02 am
speaker shopping for me is one of the worst experiences of anybody else's life that's involved w/ the process. i think it's kind of fun, though. it took me a good month of constant listening and searching around in college to settle on my klipsch bookshelf speakers that i'm actually still using today (and they still sound great, almost 10 years later). a few days ago, i went shopping for computer speakers. jenny decided to be a good sport and go along for the punishment... (or to make sure i didn't drop criteria #1 from the following list). the criteria was: 1. under $110 (though i was trying to push it out to $150), 2. has a headphone jack, 3. two-speaker-and-a-subwoofer system (where the hell are 3 or 5 more speakers going to go?) 4. doesn't sound like crap.
i went to compusa to give a listen (yes, it's noisy in there, but where the hell are you going to find a hi-fi shop with a listening room that has a set of sub-$100 powered speakers?), this was supposed to be a first run where i get a feel for what's out there, so i didn't even take along a cd or my mp3 player. i started listening to a number of sets of speakers, and always found something glaringly wrong w/ them. no (and i mean NO) midrange was the most common problem. i admit that most of the music i listen to is electronic, which doesn't rely heavily on the midrange (if at all), but occasionally i get nostalgic and go on a spree of listening to old genesis (peter gabriel years), old rush (pre-moving pictures), or elp. without midrange, those all sound a lot like ass. the $200 harmon kardon soundsticks were very noticeably lacking in this area. other complaints were the usual... sloppy bass, tinny high end, blah blah... i was starting to lose hope.
then off to best buy. i tried out their whole lineup, starting at the $300 end (notice how the $110 limit started to become less of a factor?). the offerings were better there, but still not the sound i was after. as i kept going from one to the other on the "high"-end side, jenny started corralling me toward this one set of $50 altec lansing speakers. "$50?" i laughed, you've got to be kidding me. so i set the selector over to them, gave them a brief listen, and walked away. i couldn't pinpoint anything glaringly wrong with them. so i listened a bit more to the $300 set, picking out things i thought should have been a lot better, and then moved back over to the cheap side of the lineup... i chose the ones to the left of the altec's.. just what i'd expect from a $30 pair... tinny, crappy sound. i chose the ones to the right... these should have been better for $150, and they're klipsch, too.. huh. went back to the altecs... "they, uh, the sound, uh..." but no.. couldn't find anything wrong. yeah, they didn't sound like my speakers at home, but those were $300/pair 10 years ago, and you still need an amp to power them. fifty bucks for the whole set of altecs, and they sounded fine.
so, after much deliberation, i brought a pair home. "they just sounded okay because it was noisy in best buy, yeah, that's it". so i set them up at home, plugged in my mp3 player (since that's what i'd be using them with mostly), and started sounding them out. i began w/ a whole bunch of electronica (surely two little sats and a sub couldn't do midrange worth a crap). the bass was tight enough, and the high ends were clear enough. again, not clear like the horn-loaded tweeters in my bookshelf klipsch, but this whole set cost less than a single one of those speakers, and they were clear enough that it didn't bother me. no tin. i was really, really impressed. ok.. time for some rock.. this, i thought, is where these things are just going to suck. figured i'd start w/ the old stuff... genesis, 1972 vintage. it sounded good. impressively so. ok, move up a bit... rush, 1982. sounded fine. fine, phish, 1997. a little bass-intensive (there are no adjustments on the speakers themselves), but with a little EQ work, it was fine! i couldn't believe it. i spent the next 2 hours throwing everything i had at them. everything came out consistently good. and for $50! and they sounded better all around than the $300 set in best buy. i'm still in shock, but really enjoying the sound and have $60 to throw at something else frivolous.
if you're in the market for computer speakers, and are on a budget (or even not), i'd really strongly recommend the Altec Lansing VS2121's. looks like amazon has them for $40... man, even better!
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| napoleon dynamite
posted by Christopher on 5.17.2004 - 11:15 am
saw a free screening of napoleon dynamite a few days ago. it's not slated to be out until the summer, but they're trying to build hype for it, so they were giving out free tickets.
the movie was really, really good. it's also NOT for everyone. there was no sex, violence or profanity (well, unless you count DANG, GOSH, and FLIPPIN'). it also didn't move fast. any movie w/ all those characteristics also has a thin line between boring and great. that thin line is very moveable, depending on the viewer's attention span, and how well they relate to the content. did you like the royal tenenbaums? ghost world? anything by christopher guest? roger dodger? the cuckoo? the man without a past? yeah? then you're probably a pretty decent candidate for this one. it's also good for people who grew up in places like rural idaho, but came to california seeking something more exciting.
here's the trailer
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| aren't i just mr. talky today...
posted by Christopher on 5.17.2004 - 11:27 am
forgot to mention that this strip was done in the 'iron artist' format. came in under 4 hours, woo!
very happy w/ the shuffle panels... not so happy w/ panel 6. having minimal to no backgrounds is what does it. as i get faster and more confident, i can start adding in more background stuff again. for now, not feeling like this is taking over my life is key. i like drawing, but i'm just not fanatical. too jack-of-all-trade-y, i guess.
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| Congratulations to my wife --
posted by Dante on 5.18.2004 - 10:11 pm
I know she goes a long time without mention here, and goes even longer without accolade, but it needs to be done this week. On Sunday she has finally earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School.
There was a lot of work that went into this. High school performance leading to a good college. Good college performance and an extremely solid LSAT score leading to Stanford Law School. Through it all, she has been incredibly dedicated, hard working, and has never lost sight of the goal. One more test to go: the dreaded 'Bar' (which I am sure she will utterly destroy) and then she's out there practicing law.
Way to go, babe!!
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