Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Urban Assault Race 2011 - Austin, TX
This is a short video from the end of our ride. We had just left the last checkpoint and were on our way to the Finish line, so we were taking our time and enjoying that last leg.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Haulassin' Down South Congress
I recently realized I could attach my phone to my backpack with just the camera aperture peeking out. Ride and film! Inevitably I'll film myself eating shit
East 6th on a Saturday Morning
I'm so glad I went to bed earlyish on Friday night, because the next morning I woke up feeling great. I stepped outside to let the dogs out and enjoyed the coolness of the early morning. Both Rowena and Camilo did their business and ran back inside quickly. Once inside they would not stop running around, so I decided to take advantage of their energy and use it as an excuse for all of us to get out of the house. It doesn't take much convincing Laura to take the dogs to the park, so she started getting ready right away. I got everything I needed and the harnesses for the pups. We headed out originally destined for Butler Park, but it's been under construction and not as enjoyable as of late. So, we decided to head over to East 6th and get some tacos while we're there. We found a sweet parking spot on San Marcos and we went into Progress to get some caffeinated goodness. I waited outside with the dogs while Laura went in and ordered for us. Considering how many people were there it was pretty quick and we decided to grab some tacos at Pueblo Viejo at the East Side Drive-In Trailer park on 6th to compliment our coffee.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am friends with the owners and help them with their social media in exchange for free tacos, but still this place is crazy good!
Again I definitely have a bias for this place, but aside from that they are getting local, and even national recognition, for being one of the best, most authentic trailers in Austin. I love any of their tacos that have chorizo in them, because they don't skimp on the portions. There are always large meaty chunks of ground pork and the deep flavors of all the spices in every bite.
Chorizo, Eggs, Potatoes and Cheese on a perfectly toasted tortilla from EL Milagro across the street!
I never feel it necessary to even add the salsa, because the taco is so flavorful already, but I find adding just a thin layer helps contrast the rich, creaminess of the eggs and cheese with a fresh and slightly sweet taste of the onions and tomatoes in the salsa. I grabbed a Topo Chico off their counter with no intention of drinking it (I was still sipping on my Progress coffee), but so I could get a photo. I just found out about Instagram and can't stop posting pics.
We finished our tacos while making sure the dogs didn't eat any grease & salsa-laden woodchips off the ground and started on our walk. The pups were definitely ready to go.
Me and my little buddy
We found this little sign we'd never seen before. A neat little concept, except that there weren't any tags. It would work better if there was some way to replenish the tags. Or maybe people who are interested are supposed to replace them. Either way, a very low tech approach to to social interaction, cool.
Too bad more people aren't getting into it
Urban Street Art
Top to Bottom
Not much on their blog either.
Walked by a favorite place of mine, both the tattoo shop where I get my tattoos, Bijou Studio and one of my favorite bars, Liberty.
We continued down and turned around down onto 5th and walked back towards the car that way. I hadn't seen all the new graff on the walls back there, pretty dope. There was even a tag for Merida, Mexico where Laura was born.
I didn't realize until I got close that the texture in the face is made from several tag overlays. Mind = blown
Viva Mexico
Pretty sure the Light Rail uses these tracks too
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am friends with the owners and help them with their social media in exchange for free tacos, but still this place is crazy good!
Again I definitely have a bias for this place, but aside from that they are getting local, and even national recognition, for being one of the best, most authentic trailers in Austin. I love any of their tacos that have chorizo in them, because they don't skimp on the portions. There are always large meaty chunks of ground pork and the deep flavors of all the spices in every bite.
Chorizo, Eggs, Potatoes and Cheese on a perfectly toasted tortilla from EL Milagro across the street!
I never feel it necessary to even add the salsa, because the taco is so flavorful already, but I find adding just a thin layer helps contrast the rich, creaminess of the eggs and cheese with a fresh and slightly sweet taste of the onions and tomatoes in the salsa. I grabbed a Topo Chico off their counter with no intention of drinking it (I was still sipping on my Progress coffee), but so I could get a photo. I just found out about Instagram and can't stop posting pics.
We finished our tacos while making sure the dogs didn't eat any grease & salsa-laden woodchips off the ground and started on our walk. The pups were definitely ready to go.
Me and my little buddy
We found this little sign we'd never seen before. A neat little concept, except that there weren't any tags. It would work better if there was some way to replenish the tags. Or maybe people who are interested are supposed to replace them. Either way, a very low tech approach to to social interaction, cool.
Too bad more people aren't getting into it
Urban Street Art
Top to Bottom
Not much on their blog either.
Walked by a favorite place of mine, both the tattoo shop where I get my tattoos, Bijou Studio and one of my favorite bars, Liberty.
We continued down and turned around down onto 5th and walked back towards the car that way. I hadn't seen all the new graff on the walls back there, pretty dope. There was even a tag for Merida, Mexico where Laura was born.
I didn't realize until I got close that the texture in the face is made from several tag overlays. Mind = blown
Viva Mexico
Pretty sure the Light Rail uses these tracks too
Friday, February 4, 2011
Snow Day 2011
I woke up this morning to Laura saying "Oh my God! It snowed!". She quickly ran to the office and jumped on the computer to check the AISD website to see if they were going to have classes. The website was down, probably too many people trying to check the exact same thing. I pulled out my phone and checked Twitter, "Yep, AISD is not having classes." I told her. I then started thinking if we should open the restaurant or not. The more I watched the news, the more I realized it isn't going to be safe on the roads until noon. I called the owner and we both agreed it would be the smart and safe thing to just not open for Lunch. I got my camera and proceeded to head out into the frozen white landscape.
This is when we first woke up at 5:45am.
These are our dolphins that live in our backyard. (They were here when we moved in)
My old '72 Chevy. Hasn't seen snow like this since New Mexico!
My car
Laura's ride
Our street. Human, vehicle and animal tracks
Pretty sure those are raccoon paw prints
The Sun finally coming out!
This is when we first woke up at 5:45am. These are our dolphins that live in our backyard. (They were here when we moved in)My old '72 Chevy. Hasn't seen snow like this since New Mexico!My carLaura's rideOur street. Human, vehicle and animal tracksPretty sure those are raccoon paw printsThe Sun finally coming out!
Monday, January 3, 2011
2011...really?!?
Laura and I had a great time this New Years Eve. We went to Crumple Blunder at the American Legion Hall and saw some really good lesbian rap duo, called God-Des and SHE, then some booty Bounce dancing by this cross-dressing guy named Christine and a DJ. We didn't stay too late, but came home and chilled. Saturday morning I got some bad news about a family member and we had to go to San Antonio. We spent some time with family and came back. I felt kind of worn out from driving all over and I decided to chill and take yesterday off. About 6pm or so I wanted to play Block Ops. I started the game, played for about 20 minutes getting some Domination. The PS3 is just being really loud with the fans, but it just does that sometimes. All of a sudden, screen goes black, everything is silent except for a quick beep, beep, beep from the PS3 and I looked over to see a flashing red LED on it. So, I think to myself "Huh, that's weird. Never done that before." I turn the hard switch off in the back for about 30 seconds, switch it back on and try to turn on the PS3 with the controller. Nothing. Hit the power button and I see a green LED, then quickly switches to yellow and then beep, beep, beep; flashing red LED.
Now, I'm starting to get worried. I pull out my laptop, open up Chrome and search "flashing red light on ps3." LOTS of posts about this. I think, "Well, if it's a common problem, someone will know how to fix/reset it." First few articles state it's a warning light for overheating. I get up and take a look at all of the cooling vents on the PS3. Not very much dust, I usually try and keep it clean, but it has always run pretty hot. I turn it on again, same sequence of lights, then beep, beep, beep flashing red LED. Okay, back to the Internet, let's see what else people say. I find some longer, more in-depth posts about all sorts of problems with PS3's. I quickly learn about the dreaded Yellow Ring Of Death and how to tell if that is what's wrong with your PS3. I also recognize the tell-tale signs of that most heinous of hardware failures. My PS3 is dead. I got it the Christmas season of 2006 as a gift to myself, because I had gotten caught up in all of the hype before it came on the market. I remember being in awe of starting it up for the first time. A great piece of machinery, but unfortunately as an early-adopter you sometimes have play the role as beta-tester. There were several articles about how the first-generation 60 GB PS3's, because they had backwards-compatibility, also had PS2 components inside them. That's why they were so big and ran so hot. Now, it seems a lot of those first-gen machines are starting to fail. I can't complain really, I had it for 4 solid years and used it a lot. I played lots of games all of the way through and watched countless Blu-Ray movies so I think I got my money's worth. Still, it was a little sad to see it sitting there, lifeless. Oh, and I had Black Ops in the drive when it died. So, that was my next challenge.
Since, I figured I was going to have to buy another PS3, I wasn't about to have to spend money on buying a new copy of Black Ops. I started searching Google again and came across several YouTube videos of how to take apart your PS3. I watched one video on how to crack it open, and I got it open relatively easily. Here are some pics:
The next video I watched actually showed how to disassemble the Blu-Ray drive, which I needed to do to get my game disc out. I didn't take any pics because I was getting kind of frustrated while I was doing it. After awhile of struggling with it I just wanted to get done as quickly as possible and stopped documenting my progress. I finally got it out and then proceeded to attempt to put it back together. It didn't quite fit back the way it was originally, so I might have just really broken it beyond repair completely. Either way, I already got a new one, a slim version. It's nice and small, and it doesn't run super loud or hot. Articles comparing the different versions say the new ones should have a much longer lifespan, just no backwards-compatibility. I never played PS2 games on it anyway. At some point I probably will attempt to "fix" it, just because it would be fun to have 2 in the house for LAN parties. We'll see, it might just sit in my closet for years, that happens around here sometimes.
Now, I'm starting to get worried. I pull out my laptop, open up Chrome and search "flashing red light on ps3." LOTS of posts about this. I think, "Well, if it's a common problem, someone will know how to fix/reset it." First few articles state it's a warning light for overheating. I get up and take a look at all of the cooling vents on the PS3. Not very much dust, I usually try and keep it clean, but it has always run pretty hot. I turn it on again, same sequence of lights, then beep, beep, beep flashing red LED. Okay, back to the Internet, let's see what else people say. I find some longer, more in-depth posts about all sorts of problems with PS3's. I quickly learn about the dreaded Yellow Ring Of Death and how to tell if that is what's wrong with your PS3. I also recognize the tell-tale signs of that most heinous of hardware failures. My PS3 is dead. I got it the Christmas season of 2006 as a gift to myself, because I had gotten caught up in all of the hype before it came on the market. I remember being in awe of starting it up for the first time. A great piece of machinery, but unfortunately as an early-adopter you sometimes have play the role as beta-tester. There were several articles about how the first-generation 60 GB PS3's, because they had backwards-compatibility, also had PS2 components inside them. That's why they were so big and ran so hot. Now, it seems a lot of those first-gen machines are starting to fail. I can't complain really, I had it for 4 solid years and used it a lot. I played lots of games all of the way through and watched countless Blu-Ray movies so I think I got my money's worth. Still, it was a little sad to see it sitting there, lifeless. Oh, and I had Black Ops in the drive when it died. So, that was my next challenge.
Since, I figured I was going to have to buy another PS3, I wasn't about to have to spend money on buying a new copy of Black Ops. I started searching Google again and came across several YouTube videos of how to take apart your PS3. I watched one video on how to crack it open, and I got it open relatively easily. Here are some pics:
The next video I watched actually showed how to disassemble the Blu-Ray drive, which I needed to do to get my game disc out. I didn't take any pics because I was getting kind of frustrated while I was doing it. After awhile of struggling with it I just wanted to get done as quickly as possible and stopped documenting my progress. I finally got it out and then proceeded to attempt to put it back together. It didn't quite fit back the way it was originally, so I might have just really broken it beyond repair completely. Either way, I already got a new one, a slim version. It's nice and small, and it doesn't run super loud or hot. Articles comparing the different versions say the new ones should have a much longer lifespan, just no backwards-compatibility. I never played PS2 games on it anyway. At some point I probably will attempt to "fix" it, just because it would be fun to have 2 in the house for LAN parties. We'll see, it might just sit in my closet for years, that happens around here sometimes.