Raven Lord

Squawk! While COD: Black Ops was being a son of a bitch last night, I picked up my first rare drop mount in WoW. The reins of the Raven Lord used to require a druid to even summon the boss that dropped the mount. Patch 4.0.1 changed that though. Now Anzu is just hanging out waiting to be solo farmed. It took me the better part of three weeks. Clearing to and killing Anzu takes about 20 minutes. So roughly six to seven hours, as I skipped it a few days. Not as satisfying as the mounts I've earned (Plagued, Rusted, Frost Wyrm Jr., Frost Wyrm Sr.), but still cool.

Site Watch
Totem Spot sounds like a play on Tank Spot sure. It is in fact a Shaman focused site created by some of the members of the Elitist Jerks shaman forums, WoWInsider columnist and various other sites. EJ has always been my go to resource, but mining quality data from threads that are 50 pages plus can be difficult. Hopefully TS gets support from the EJ and other community and stays around for a while.

One for the Other Hand

After weathering the toughest schedule of any team in the league this season the Steelers came out to do it one last time on Sunday. The emotional roller coaster that was Super Bowl XLIII saw the Steelers up 13 points at one time during the game. The Cardinals rallied though and with 2:37 left in the game they took a three point lead. Big Ben wins games though and did what he has done all season by putting together a last minute drive to win the biggest game for the black and gold.

Before the game on Sunday two MMA stars went toe to toe Saturday night in Vegas. B.J. Penn stepped up a weight class to 170 lbs to challenge George "Rush" St. Pierre for his welterweight belt. The first time the two clashed in 2006 it was a close split decision in GSP's favor. So the rematch to finally answer who was the better fighter was a long time coming. Well Saturday night St. Pierre put all the debate to rest with a steller four round dismantling of Penn. People said Penn would win in the stand up and George worked him over. People said Penn's guard was killer and Rush passed it at will. In the end Penn's corner threw in the towel before the fifth round even started in what I would say is an embarassing way to end a fight for someone who holds a belt already.

Site Watch
I know the post above probably paints me as a violent sport loving mans man, but I have a soft spot for contemporary architecture, furniture and design. I just so happen to have discovered the contemporist which focuses on all of those.

My Lonely Bike

Boo to the man who lets his tires go flat, his chain dry up and his ride sit unloved through the autumn and winter months. Sadly on this day, I am that man. The excuses run far and wide with various amounts of depth and breadth, but it all boils down to a few key steps.

1. It got hot
2. Crystal got pregnant and sick
3. Video games
4. It got cold

Of the reasons listed above the only one I could shamelessly defend is Crystal getting sick. It got bad there for a while and I was more than happy to put everything on hold to take care of her. So great I have a reason I didn't ride for roughly 2-3 months out of the 5-6 I have been sedentary.

So what is a boy to do? Circle the wagons and get back on the saddle is what. Grant is down with a bum leg, but the rest of the crew is out there. I'm sure Russ, Mehtul, Landon and Hose have been riding. I need to reach out and force myself back on the bike so I can see my friends with greater frequency again. I need peer pressure, obligations and commitments. Here I come!

Site Watch
Slate is already a site you should be checking on the regular, but the second annual "Year End Gaming Club" is worth every minute it takes you to read it. The authors come from various organizations of various renown and are all worth reading. Specifically, Newsweek, MTV, New York Times and Slate. Go to it.

Guild Progress
Malygos 25 (753rd US) down and only tough achievements to keep us busy until the next raid instance. I picked up my valorous shoulders and chest last night and its on to crossing my fingers and wishing for a Torch of Holy Fire tonight.

That There is a Baby

Seeing Crystal's stomach get a little bump hasn't really made ze baby seem real for some reason. It could be because she is just starting to put on weight after dropping 21 pounds in her first trimester. That or the last time we saw our child to be it was a gray oval with a heartbeat. In any case the baby we saw last Thursday and seen above looks just like a miniature human. No more tadpole alien for us. That thing has a nose and five fingers, click it for a bigger view and see for yourself.

We took our first steps toward baby prep over the weekend by making our way to Babies"R"Us. Surprise, there are lots of babies and baby related items there! I am sure I will have intimate knowledge of this fine establishment as they drain my wallet for the next two years. Baby paraphernalia is ten kinds of expensive. Does bargain shopping for your heir make you a bad parent? I hope not. I also hope that our bay wants for nothing.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
In semi baby related news, Crystal was feeling well enough to attend a moving picture show this weekend. An event we have not partaken in for what feels like ages. Unfortunately we saw a film that could easily be saved for DVD release or even skipped if you are cynical enough. It wasn't horrible by any means, but mediocre is mediocre. The characters and writing seemed almost too life like and by extension a bit mundane. Regardless of how plain the movie felt, I also felt a bit too old to be watching it. Like the target demographic was 16-23 year olds and we slid in the back door undetected. I guess being awkward around girls and not knowing what you'll do after high school aren't really topics that speak to me these days.

Site Watch
I usually like my online comics funny and well drawn, but I'll make an exception for super funny and lazy stick figures. As long as the funny is super of course and that is were xkcd exist. The tech, math and science jokes are usually right up my alley, but can occasionally go over even my geeky head. Monday's comic was particularly good.

With Child

That's right we are expecting! We have talked about having children since we started dating some eight years ago, but we did not do so with regularity or serious intent until we got married. The plan was to wait five years post marital start line, so we could spend time enjoying each others company. Well we are at three years and change and we are both ready to share in each others company and a babies. It just felt like the time and we could not imagine anything in our lives that we would not want to share with our child.

I am nervously over joyed about our big news. I can't wait to hold our new born child, but what if I'm a horrible father. Sure everyone says "Oh you'll be great", but serial killers and dictators have parents who were probably told the same thing. I'm not the type to worry or get worked up about stuff like that though, so rest easy friends and family who might contact me to tell me "Oh you'll be great". I'll read the books, listen to the conflicting advice and hopefully filter it all down into what I think makes for a good parent.

We had our first doctors appointment the other day or the "Shit just got real!" appointment if you will. We got to see the babies heart beat and a blurry oval that the doctor assured us was the baby. Crystal had me throw out all of our turtle soup, shark steaks and sword fish fillets because she can no longer eat them. I also got to sit in on her yearly check up, which was awkward to say the least. Lets just say my doctor never gives me an over sized paper towel and a directive to get naked by the time they come back.

The icing on the baby cupcake is the gear and gadgets I get to pick out. I am on the hunt for a digital video camera to record all the moments no self respecting guest to our home will actually want to watch in ten years. I'm also looking for a manly diaper bag. I don't plan to be caught out on the town with a paisley explosion Vera Bradley over my shoulder. There are a bunch of options, but I am leaning toward a messenger style bag customized for baby care. I picked up two new domains earlier this week as well in anticipation of the media blitz we will force on family and friends. More on that in the future though.

Site Watch
Dad Gear has stuff that I would actual wear and/or carry, I guess that is a strong enough endorsement.

Greens No More

My baby shaman with the new car smell is starting to grow up. Between honor grinding and ten man raid content I have amassed a decent set of healing gear. As of last night I exchanged my final piece of green gear with a purple, Cord of the Ring->Guardian's Ringmail Girdle. First that was a huge upgrade and second I can no longer be mocked for wearing a horrible pun. I still have a cloth helm that needs to be replaced, but it is nice to shift my focus to rings and trinkets.

Just shy of ten months to the date of Zul'Aman's release and my first and only trip to the 2.3 dungeon, I went back in to full clear it this weekend. Granted I was with seasoned vets this time and they were carrying me for the most part, but it was nice to see the instance in its entirety. Even nicer were the 23 badges I picked up and monster healing shield. Hopefully I proved my worth to the nine other guild members who took a chance on me and I will be invited back. Lord knows I could use the other gear that drops there.

Finally a lot of my time has been spent in battle grounds lately, think 95%. When I am not doing dailies for cash I am honor and mark farming the night away. So any break from that norm (see above) is most welcome. Last night we played ten games on our 5v5 team (appropriately nicknamed fail fives) Paper For My Daddy. We end up going 6-4 after a rocky 2-4 start. The team is essentially built to fail with me as the lone healer and two of our DPS speced for PVE. The take away for me is an opportunity to heal under real pressure. Something that doesn't happen when I am playing Xbox while farming marks.

Site Watch
After finding a good 40k community site (forums, guides, etc) I went looking for a news site and found Bell of Lost Souls. It is a great place to keep up with 40k news and rumors and has been added to my list of sites I check daily.

Arr Arr Oh Dee

It's not a super secret pirate cult password (that involves a handshake), but the death of a good friend.

Time of death was called on my Xbox 360 at 9pmish Wednesday night, July 23rd, 2008. I guess I was just like every naive teenager that doesn't think pregnancy, gateway drugs or car accidents can happen to them. Lets be honest, that just happens to other people, it won't happen to me. Saturday it choked and stalled twice during Gabriel's and my NHL 08 season. I thought like any self aware organism my 360 was just entering it's terrible twos. When I came back to it Wednesday I found out those stalls and chokes were cries for help, not a tantrum over a toy it couldn't have.

Three restarts later and I was just another victim to the RRoD. I am in good company though, I have five friends that have had it happen (one of them twice) and even the proud papa isn't safe from its own spawn. I have heard tales of excellent customer service and I have read great tales of woe as well when it comes to the repair process. Thankfully it is all free of charge, if I had lint in my dvd drive it would be a flat fee of $99, but because of the PR nightmare that is RRoD the fix is on Microsoft's dime. Maybe a free shirt could ease all this pain.

Watchman Trailer
I forgot to mention that prior to Dark Knight there was a trailer for the Watchman film coming in Spring 2009. It looks right out of the graphic novel and I am already losing sleep in anticipation. Apparently there is going to be a game as well, hopefully it is better than the rubbish Iron Man one. By the way where is the Dark Knight game?

Site Watch
InStockTrades is where I am buying my trades from this point on. The appeal of my local comic shop is soured a bit by the high prices, poor selection and the lack of a Cheers "where everybody knows your name" enviorment. If any one of those was fixed I would at least consider buying locally, but for now my LCS might as well be a 711 and the internet wins another round.

My Wife the Geek

In the past I have written about the great extent of my geekdom and politely left my better half out of the fray. I often joke with her about putting up with my geekiness and wonder aloud if she knew what she was getting into. Earlier today a study linked on 1up caught my attention though. Apparently women are picking up game controlers like hot cakes. That got me thinking more about our roles as geek husband and geek sympathiser wife.

After collecting my thoughts and reevaluating everything I know in this life, I came to the stunning conclusion that my wife is actually a geek. Apart from hobbies that have tried to introduce to her, she has sought out and taken up a geek scepter of her own. She scrap books, knits, sews and makes jewelry...craft geek! She goes through books a mile a minute in the summer and give me grief for not keeping up with her...book geek! She owns two bikes and likes wearing bike hats in public...bike geek! She grew up playing Super Nintendo, the Wii in our house is hers and she owns a pink DS, that she has played until the battery dies on many occasions...*gasp*...game geek! Oh and did I mention she is a math teacher?

I love my geeky wife, it just took me a long time to realise that she was in fact a geek. Last night she had finished 8 of the 10 Y: The Last Man trades and wanted to make sure I had ordered the last two. We stood in line for an hour Friday night just to be seated for the Dark Knight and she even got excited about and enjoyed Hellboy 2. Life is good in our geek house. I used to make a big effort to get her in to playing WoW. Now I know that she doesn't have to participate in all my geek hobbies because she has her own. I know I don't want to knit.

Site Watch
Web comics are a procrastinators best friend and a geeky math and science related comic seems appropriate given today's topic. Go read xkcd!

R.I.P. Estelle Getty
She passed away at the age of 84 yesterday.

Fourth Tradition

Fireworks on the fourth is an American tradition. There is joy and amazement in every child's eyes the first time they see explosions in the sky. What about the 26th time though? Frankly I'm tired of fireworks on the fourth. Specifically the act of attending a fireworks show. Give me a beer and a gross of bottle rockets and I'm a happy man, but that could be any day of the year.

So this year we had friends over, grilled up some burgers and went to the movies. That's right the movie theater is open on our nations birthday and there is no one there. Crystal and I go to the movies quite frequently and usually brave waves of kids, tweens and teenagers to do so. We go to late shows in an attempt to cut down on the kid to adult ratio, but it is never full proof. Well the one day that there are absolutely no kids at the movies is the fourth of July. Until we have kids of our own we will make plans to go to the movies on the fourth of July for the forseeable future.

Wanted
Yet another comic based movie. Unfortunately I can't speak to how true the film kept to the pages, but I can say that I enjoyed it. It was the definition of a popcorn movie. The kind of film you can just sit back and enjoy. There were no complex plot elements, it required a strong suspension of disbelief and it delivered loads of action. The majority of the CGI looked incredible save one or two scenes that looked terrible and the comedy elements held up nicely.

Site Watch
World of Raids used to be my site of choice for WoW news, then I found MMO Champion and started following it instead. After my six month break from WoW I came back to find World of Raids redesigned and much more aesthetically pleasing. It is now my WoW news site of choice for the second time.

Riding by Numbers

Riding a bike shouldn't be math or science homework, it is an organic experience that should be expressed in feeling. Let the spandex covered, juicy juice injecting "pro" cyclist worry about the numbers. I just want to get out and ride with my friends. I ride for joy, well mostly...

I do keep a log of my rides and try to pedal more miles in the current month than I did in the previous. Hopefully that doesn't lump me in with weight shaving, geometry obsessed junkies, but it is nice to look at my spreadsheet Monday mornings and garner a small sense of accomplishment. Below are my numbers since the month of February this year...

February: 46.6 miles
March: 82.25 miles
April: 121.42 miles
May: 135.22 miles
June: 94.02 miles

With only half of the month of June elapsed I am well on my way to surpassing May. Another point of pride are my May miles falling just four miles shy of three times my miles in February. Unfortunately, I am sure I will miss my goal at some point. My affinity for riding in groups and summer vacations already on deck almost guarantee it. That and at some point my free time dedicated to riding will clash with how long it takes to ride longer distances. Oh and July and August are hot, who knew!

In the end it is about having fun and hanging out with my friends. I look at the pictures way more than the spreadsheets and tell the stories more than I toss and turn at night about miles pedaled.

Site Watch
Firefox 3 is hitting the streets today. Our family is a FF family, corporate America can keep their IE7 and Mac zealots can have their Safari, we Tabib's like us some Firefox. Apparently alot of other people do too.

My God the Heat!

Sunday morning at 6:30 am my alarm woke me to dark room and a tired body. The previous day had been spent from two in the afternoon till ten at night participating in and running portions of Grant and Erin's wedding. Beating the heat with a 7:30 start time Sunday sounded like a solid plan, but my body disagreed. I never had to stop, but it was the most tired I have been on a bike in a very long time. The heat was semi-beat and I was stomped. The rest is in the pictures...

At the half way point when the temperature started to rise
Russ

Mike

Adam

Adam's Surly

Russ's Rivendell

Mike's Bianchi

Fixed Gear Fame
I submitted a fixie I saw and snapped photos of last weekend to the FFG and it got put up yesterday. I'm e-famous on the shoulders of another Richmond resident and a cyclist at that!

Site Watch
There was a great article on wired yesterday about hypermilers that lead me to a more in depth article on the topic at mother jones. It reminded me that I need to get my tires up to the recommended pressure, get a better air filter and change my driving habits. I saw regular unleaded gas for $4.05 a gallon Saturday. Good God!

Marriage and Married

Minister: Do you?
Lone Starr: Yes
Minister: Do you?
Princess Vespa: Yes
Minister: GOOD, you're married. KISS HER!

Grant and Erin are gonna get hitched on Saturday and Crystal and I will be right in the thick of it. I'm a groomsmen, so I hold it down at the front of the church in Grant's wingspan. Crystal has a much more important job, she is the MC (Mistress of Ceremonies) and unlike Kid 'n Play she will not be on tha mic flowin to the wheels of steel care of Martin Lawrence. She runs the show and makes sure Grant and Erin have the best and stress free wedding possible. Saturday is supposed to be in the three digits, wish us look in tuxedo pants and coats.

Wednesday this week was Crystal and my anniversary. We celebrated three years of married bliss by going out for Italian (fitting given our honeymoon in Rome/Venice). Let me be clear, in that, when I say "bliss" I mean it. Non of this ball and chain, life goes down hill after marriage sarcastic crap that is the stuff of bad comedy routines and douchey golf buddy jokes leading up to the big day. Our marriage has been fantastic, we were best friends pre-wedding and still are to this day. Here is to many more with my lovely lady and hopefully some little ones in the near future.

Site Watch
I don't consider myself a etymologist by any means, but I do get the occasional phrase origin questions stuck in my head. I usually just plug the phrase in question into the Googles and see what pops out. More often than not the best answer comes from The Word Detective. Linking this site today was not because of a recent inquire of my own, but Erin's (Grant's bride to be) random thought about the phrase "in a pickle".

Cycling is My Church

Post Grant and Erin's big move on Saturday I wanted to get my cycle on for the weekend. Russ, Mike and I meet up Sunday morning for a ride out Fort Harrison way. We were on the road by 10am and back in time for eats around noonish. The rest is in the pictures...

Out of the Northside and into the Fan

The rolling hills of route 5

Mein legs (photo: Russ)Group shot under Harrison signage

Goats!

Cross Check!

Tasty burgers and beers at Dot's Back

The rest of the photos

Site Watch
A few months ago I started reading Destuctoid for an extra gaming journalism fix and then I stopped. Well I picked up reading it again yesterday, it has a cool look and the writing is on point. I may stop again for the same reason I stopped last time (similar content to Joystiq), but for now I am reading it.

The Check in Pictures

I came to the realization this week, that I dedicated post and time to chronicling my Cross Check build, but never shared the fruits of that labor. Imagine a newborns father casually brushing aside inquires into his fresh little miracle. I don't want to be that guy, strung out on meth, neglecting his many children and a restraining order against against 2 of his 3 baby's mommas. So in an effort to rectify my past transgressions, I am showing up on Christmas eve, off the stuff for a solid week, with a present under my arm...

Grant's BPW

Fort Harrison last weekend

Maiden voyage to Riverside

Riverside in May

Fort Harrison last weekend

Star and Checks

The wheels, the new saddle shot?

Shades of light at Ft. Harrison

Fort Harrison Gallery
This past weekend Grant and I rode out and back to Fort Harrison again. Some of pictures above come from that ride, but there are many more on my photo gallery.

Site Watch
If I wanted to pursue it I know I could get a business card from my company. Similar to a black berry though it might mean having to do more work on non business hours. I'll pass for now, but should I get a tingle for more paper in my wallet in the future I would like my corporate masters to consider some of these options.

P.S.
Is this post my clip show?

MTB Throwback

I wrote about my cycling origin almost two months ago after inspiration struck from a photo of my grandfather. It included how I learned to ride and riding as a youth, but also included the second chapter in my two wheeled life, mountain bike racing. Along with fond memories of those times, I also keep an album of my adventures in my office. To that end I am in the middle of getting cycling photos, new and old, together for a wedding present for Grant. Mehtul was kind enough to take these analog photos and digitize them for me...so I can turn them back to analog for the album, crazy no?

So with out further ado, I present old mountain bike photos...

Poor Farm 99: Grant, Me and Mike M.

Poor Farm 00: Grant and Me

Poor Farm 00: Me and a Climb

Poor Farm 00: Grant and a Creek Crossing

Poor Farm 00: Grant and a Winter Climb

Poor Farm 99: Me and a Dirt Jump

The rest can be found in my photo gallery and should not need much of a description. I should be done with the album soon and with Grant and Erin's wedding fast approaching I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Site Watch
Not really a site you should watch on a regular basis, but something worth checking out for funzies. Steampunk computer mods are all well and good, but a true geek likes a good steampunk watch.

Fenders, Transform!

When I arrived home yesterday there was large box waiting for me. It would have been like Christmas if I didn't know what it was and it wasn't so damn functional. I have needed fenders in the worst way since completing the check almost two months ago. The majority of the rides I have been on with my new toy have been in the rain or post precipitation. This leaves me covered in rain water at best and a slurry of mud, grease, pesticides and human milkshake at worst. In step the fenders to make my bike slightly less cool, slightly more geeky and supremely functional.

Last night was game four of the Penguins v. Flyers series. So in between the second and third period I set my cell phone alarm and went out to the sun room to install the front fender...

Parts unpacked and spread out

Front fender assembled

Front fender installed (still needs a little tweaking)

Back to hockey with rear fender left wanting

Today is the start of the Lebanese food festival in the far west end. Among other things this weekend I will be grubbing all three days on kibbi, zalabia and shawirma. After dinner at the festival tonight I will hopefully come home and install the rear fender in preparation for a ride tomorrow morning.

Site Watch
Sam Adam's apart from making a killer beer takes pretty pictures too, especially of bikes.

Solo is Lonely

While an entire post about the lonely path of fandom for the blockbuster hit barely notable film Solo could be intriguing to some, those aren't the pants this bee-logger wears. Mario Van Peebleities aside I don't like solo bicycle rides. It is not because of rides like the disastrous solo Good Friday ride I took a little more than a month ago. In fact some might say that my generally antagonistic view of the worlds populace would make me more prone to going it alone on two wheels.

It may come as a surprise, but I actually like my friends. I like getting out on the road and talking up politics, culture, blue humor and anything else that might spark our interest. Riding in a paceline (pullin' and peelin') and having someone along to shout out "car back" are nice, but it is the company I prefer. Solo riding is a lonely activity that may be nice for some who prefer "getting away from the world", but it is an exercise in mental anguish that seems more like work to me. Solo cycling as transportation is a different story. Getting from A to B on your lonesome has its merits for sure. Going for a loop by yourself to relax is where I tend to draw the line though.

Site Watch
I blogged many moons ago about my epic fail with the table top game War Hammer 40k. I think what I really fell for was painting the miniatures, as actually playing was kind of an afterthought. This geeky craft love often springs up in the form of model railroad fantasies with my unborn son, daughter, no son child. It also manifest itself in cups of drool for cool action figures. Which brings me to Wired's article on Jin Saotome's amazing custom action figures. Jin (a pen name) creates some of the wildest and detailed action figures through a process of re-purposing, mixing and modding a myriad of action figure parts. He creates a lot of his own pieces too and more of his work can be seen on his site.

2008 On Two Wheels

Mid ride yesterday Grant wondered out loud if Spring had ever been this rainy. This question was posed after three of the last four rides were in the rain. I pondered the thought momentarily and responded that "we never really rode this much before". The real point being the consistency with which we have ridden since February 2nd.

Like clockwork weekend rides have been a matter of when not if for the past two months and change. We started on a whim at the beginning of February and had so much fun the first Saturday that we made it a bit of a tradition. We have started to extend our riverside loop and yesterday found a perfect loop from the Fan to Fort Harrison that will be added to our roster. A forum of sorts has been reestablished so we can plan rides without the encumbrance of lengthy email chains. Reddish Knob is on deck for this spring (or summer) and Williamsburg repeat is a guarantee for this summer as well.

Getting back in to cycling has been a breathe of fresh air. For the last two to three years I have admittedly ridden maybe once or twice a month in between annual big rides that I was not prepared for (Lake Anne, Williamsburg and Lake Chesdin). Being on the bike every weekend and making cycling a big part of my life again not only better prepares me for the big rides, but makes me ambitious. Russ is a 100-300k machine and invites us to join him on a regular basis. Sometime this year I will take him up on those offers.

Comics
I started reading Queen and Country this weekend and it did not disappoint. I made the mistake of picking up two volumes of the "Declassified" side story trades on my first trip to the local comic shop. I went back to my LCS and picked up vol. 1 of the regular story and now can't seem to find vol. 2. To Amazon I go!

MMA
Big fight over the weekend that I missed for dinner and a movie. St. Pierre avenged his previous loss to Matt Serra in a big way and came out the UFC welterweight champ. I admittedly like Serra, but a I have huge man crush on the Canadian champ.