DClog

Roofers etc.

First Tree Tulip to Drop This Year

The house is getting new shingles and some roof repairs. Here's some photos from Thursday photo gallery. Today it rained but they will be back Sunday to work on it some more.

Looking at the Front Yard

Three daisies and a bud.

Samantha and Django through the fence.

The mailbox flowers.
Last look at the shingles, tomorrow they will be replaced.

Howard Alden

Last night I sat in a small room with about 12 other people and watched Howard Alden play solo guitar and then give a brief seminar about jazz and guitars. What an amazing musician this guy is! Tonight he is playing at Birdland in NYC.

Photos from Kodak Reunion

Finished For This Year

Just home from the FFA conventions, in time to witness (live updates on the internet) the finish of the Brasstown Bald Stage in the TdG. Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) won the stage and, as I predicted, will win the overall race.

Tom Danielson

It was snowing and hail up on the mountain just moments before the finish. I'm sure the thousands of spectators were enjoying that! It certainly made for epic racing conditions here in Georgia.

Australian national TT champion and Braselton, Georgia resident, Nathan O'Neill (Navigators), rode well and finished high up today, so he will be the best placed on GC for his team - well done mate!

Stage 4 - Dalton to Dahlonega

Jose Luis Rubiera (Discovery)

Stage 4 - April 22: Dalton to Dahlonega, 214.7km
Rubiera works for the KOM points, CSC claims the stage win in rain-soaked Tour de Georgia.

The most aggressive rider of the day, as well as the new Georgia Power King of the Mountains, Jose Rubiera (Discovery Channel) rode on the front for most of the stage. He initiated the break from the start of the first climb of the day at about km 20 and led just about the entire way until the descent of the final climb at about km 195. He tried to ride away from the faltering break near the top of the final climb, but was caught by a chase group of 26 on the descent.

Entry #300

From the 'Business Center' in the Holiday Inn located in Athens Georgia, I compose this entry. Mack and I are here to provide music for the annual Georgia State FFA conventions (we do it every year). It's a 3-day affair and we are about half-way through at this time. This is a fairly long break for us, about 6 hours, while the conventioneers focus on trade show activties.

We just enjoyed a tasty BBQ chicken pizza and salads over at Transmetropolitain Pizza. Rachel stopped by in between classes and had a slice and visted with us breifly.

Doug is over near Woody Gap watching the TdG come by. I just spoke to him on the phone and he said it was pouring rain just a few minutes ago and the descents will be treacherous. He's currently sitting with a bunch of team cars at the feed zone just before Turner's Corner. I filled him in on the progress of the breakaway and peloton from the live reports here on cyclingnews.com.

Rachel and I are going to go shopping when she finishes with her history class in about a half hour.

...more updates later.
DC live from Athens :-)

GTC "la Doyenne" recon

Today was a solo ride around the La Doyenne route, this weekend's final of the GTC Spring Classics Series. With temps in the upper 70's, sunny and winds gusting up to 18 mph it was a fairly serious ride but enjoyable ride. Quite a few nice roads that I hadn't ridden on in many years and they are beautiful this time of year. Unfortunately, we are scheduled for a 9:00 AM start this Sunday and the forecast calls for a mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid 30s. Oh well, dress warm.

Cycling and Racing

The Tour de Georgia began today in Augusta and is at this moment heading to Macon. Many top European and domestic pros are in attendance. I have been fortunate enough to know and have ridden with several of these athletes, so I am very interested and keeping up with the racing action live at CyclingNews.com.

Doug has the rest of the week off and is planning to follow the pro cycling action around Georgia, starting with going to Macon for this afternoon's finish of the first stage. But before he left for the race we cycled around the 28-mile Old Thompson Mill Loop hitting speeds of 45 mph and maintaining a prettly solid average speed for this hilly loop.

Appalachian Trail - Spring 2005

Sunday afternoon a small window of opportunity opens
new backpack is packed
call the dogs and head north
start hiking the AT from Unicoi Gap toward the west
into the setting sun
not far from a fresh water spring we pitch camp in a clearing
the dogs run up and down the mountian
moseying about gathering wood and cooking
chow for all and we settle down
sunset and serenity
campfire and the clear night sky
bed down for the night
2 AM inquisitive woodland creature startles the dogs (probably raccoon)
6:30 AM up for the sunrise
dogs resume running up and down the mountain
breakfast and then break camp
hiking East into the morning sunrise
walked slow and stopped often
wished it would not end

Backpacking Adventure Photos

Petrified Frog

The other day there were some men working on our garage installing some electical outlets. After the sawing and hammering had finished I discovered this perified frog had fallen from inside the wall. Completely intact, dried frog.

In Africa and South Korea many claim that petrified frogs can cure many physical ills. I just thought it was kind of bizarre that this frog croaked in my garage wall some time ago and dropped out recently.

Ruth and Rachel

My daughters are the most beautiful and intelligent women on the planet. The photo above is from about this same time last year.

Signs of Spring

...splotches of purples, reds, lavenders, pinks, and oranges of Azaleas flow into one another; the clumps of wisteria blossoms dripping from trees like globs of purple paint as their vines wound around trunks and branches like pythons; the pine pollen giving everything a golden dusting; slowly greening lawns and blackened streets and dark rooftops spotted by a blizzard of lazily falling flakes of "Georgia Snow"--soft, white petals of dogwood flowers plucked from the branches and thrown about by a balmy breeze; choraling birds; the nourishing softened light coming over the horizon. -- excerpt from "Who Makes a Difference?" by Louis Schmier - March 22, 2000

Doug and I cycled through this impressionist painting this afternoon while making good time around the 58-mile Walton County Loop.

Need For Speed - History

Arcade Games: Driving simulators on the PC have been in our house for many years and NFS was a favorite. My daughters were racing high-performance sports cars through the Alps and Pyrenees long before they were old enough to have a drivers license. After seeing a press release for the next edition I decided to take a brief look back at the NFS heritage.

The Need For Speed (08/31/95)
Need For Speed II (04/30/97)
Need For Speed II SE (1997)
Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit (09/30/98)
Need For Speed: High Stakes (09/29/99)
Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed (03/28/00)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (09/30/02)
Need For Speed Underground (11/17/03)
Need For Speed Underground 2 (05/10/04)
and coming this November...
Need For Speed Most Wanted (Q4 2005)

NFS creators, Electronic Arts used the amazingly successful format pioneered by Id software (Doom, Quake, etc) of releasing a free demo and eventually offering online play, updates, and user mods. One can still download the free NFS demos from gamespot.com.

Jazz Quartet in Midtown

Jazz Quartet at the Sheraton Grand Ballroom : Keith, Eric and Mack joined me for a couple sets of instrumentals this evening. It was a fun a profitable gig at a big corporate banquet. The Dogwood Festival was a block away so the crowds and traffic were pretty ridiculous.

Boonen!

Tom Boonen leads Juan Flecha and George Hincapie on his way to winning the 103rd Paris-Roubaix, France, April 10, 2005.

Cycling Tribute

This Sunday was a good day beginning with the CoyBoy ride around the Blackjack loop with Doug and Dean. We added a little trip down Bragg Road, a twisty, steep, rutted, nasty dirt and gravel road. This piece of adventure was our tribute to today's big race in Europe; the Queen of the Classics, "The Hell of the North", Paris-Roubaix! Keeping with the spirit of things, Doug destroyed an inner-tube, but recovered quickly. We got back on the pavement and continued to tap out a pretty quick tempo. Dean hung tough and rode smart. Doug's fitness is solid and he's ready to spend the entire next week riding and following the Tour de Georgia.

Spring Classics

Every spring GTC has it's celebration of the Spring Classics by hosting a series of events that mimc the famous early season European cycling races. Today we did the "L'enfer du Walton" event which was an epic day in the saddle, you can find photos and comments at the GTC gallery.

2005 GTC Classics
La Primavera - March 19, 2005
Ronde Van de Appalachee - April 2, 2005
L'Enfer du Walton - April 9, 2005
Auburn Gold - April 16, 2005
La Doyenne - April 23, 2005

the *REAL* 2005 Classics

March 19: Milano - Sanremo The Primavera is the first of the spring classics is the longest one-day race of the season and the race every Italian wants to win, Milan - San Remo marks the moment when the racing season goes into overdrive.

April 3: Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour of Flanders The Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) began in 1913. Among it's most prominant features are narrow rough-paved roads with steep climbs.

April 10: Paris - Roubaix Also known as L'enfer du Nord (the hell of the North), Paris - Roubaix, the Queen of the Classics, will be the highlight of the season for many riders and fans alike. Considered the toughest race on the calendar, Paris-Roubaix stands above the rest as being a race where good luck and sturdy equipment go hand in hand with strong legs and tactical astuteness.

April 17: Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold race is Holland's biggest race. It has 27, mostly cobbled climbs, ranging from 1,200 to 5,400 feet, with a gradient of 7-23 percent and many narrow, twisting roads.

April 24: Liège - Bastogne - Liège Liège-Bastogne-Liège, known as La Doyenne, is well and truly the oldest of cycling's classics. First run in 1892, it rides through the hilliest parts of Belgium, along routes typical of the Ardennes. In its latter stages the race, cut out for all-round riders and of an attacking temperament, offers a succession of steep hills now fully embedded in cycling lore (Wanne, Stockeu, La Redoute).

Bill Wilson @ V's

My regular piano player, Mack, takes a vacation with his family every year at this time and for the past couple times Bill Wilson fills in [last year's blog entry]. Bill Wilson, son of the legendary Teddy Wilson and an alumni of the Dan Coy Band from the 80's and early 90's is also a tech-geek.

In 1983-85 we used to show up at the gigs with our lug-able computers, the *new* Commodore SX-64 along with a 300 baud modem and Sequential Circuit MIDI interface. Personal computers, MIDI and modems were all brand new then. I also had a dedicated phone line and operated BBS's, long before the internet. Bill, a graduate of Ohio State University, helped me learn to code in BASIC. Later I wrote programs for computer-assisted music composition and other algorithmic creations like ear-training programs.

Of course tech stuff has evolved lot since then. Last night Bill arrived with an IBM ThinkPad with wireless network card and CD burner, along with his 6.1 megapixel digital camera and iPod Shuffle. He took a bunch of photos and burned them on a CD for me. I posted a couple in the photo gallery.

Petroleum is a Finite Resource

While gasoline costs have reached record levels, further price increases are expected. Analysts agree that prices are going to continue climbing higher and most suggest that there's no end in sight.

The upward pressure on gasoline prices stems largely from an energy market that knows global oil production will NOT be able to keep pace with growing demand. Currently there's ample supply to meet demand, but there is also a huge amount of speculation on the oil markets and there is a lot of profit-taking among the oil companies.

It's time to take some steps to expedite energy-related legislation and maybe launch an investigation into gouging at the refinery and retail levels.

A while back Rolling Stone published this apocolyptic view of a gas-less future The Long Emergency

Brazil has long run on ethanol, a corn product. A heavily populated country, it remains a fairly cheap product to purchase despite burgeoning growth rates. The return to localized business exchange and interaction is a good thing. A radical alteration in the fuel supply might be just what the doctor ordered.

Living Will

A living will to thwart future media spectacles.

Living Will I,________________________(fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day. Under no circumstances shall the members of the legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma. Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case. I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency in 2008, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace. I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too. If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.

Do Not Call

It won't hurt to add your cell phone number to the list too.

Criminals!

Instead of sleeping peacefully last night, I was repairing the family computer (not my main machine). No, it wasn't broken, it was the victim of adware, spyware and some other malicious programs.

I wonder how much time each day the average computer user spends sifting through and deleting spam? How much time and money is spent on averting adware, spyware, tracking beacons, data miners, pop-ups, computer viruses and the constant bombardment of annoyances? I'm going to guess thousands, no millions, of hours of peoples lives are wasted every day dealing with these unwanted intrusions.

Fortunately I have figured out a simple solution to stop these criminals from wasting our time and resources. Line 'em all up against a wall and hand me an automatic weapon. End of problem. Enjoy the rest of your day.

The Ravine Turns Green

Samantha, Django and I roamed the ravine this afternoon and noticed the beginnings of the green canopy and the new life all around. Before too long the ravine will be covered with flora and fauna.

photo gallery

Lucky Street Reunion

Last night at Smith's Olde Bar, Kodac, Count, Sean, Nick, Dave, Kristin and Dan reunited for a run through of some favorites from the Kodac songbook.

random images

Sean and Count were providing other-worldly rhythms, Kodac poured emotion into every word and note, Dave showed why is the consummate pro, Nick was brilliant as ever and Kristin completely amazed me with her vocals.

Personal highlights:
Kristin Markiton - unbelievable rendition of "Blues for Louise" !!!
Count M'Butu - every sound he makes is magic
Sean O'Rourke - energy and entertainment without effort
Nick Longo - few can *really* appreciate this genius
Dave Webb - there is no one more rock-solid and musical
Kodac Harrison - the blues and the abstract truth

April First

Django prances up the driveway delivering the morning newspaper, and the day begins with the usual breakfast.