The Power of Crystals

The Great American Autobiography

2012-01-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

came in the mail today.

Biking Wine Country

2011-12-23T22:25:00.001-08:00

Dry Creek Valley!

25 flat miles... We must have biked by 50 wineries. Stopped at 3!

Holiday Half

2011-12-18T15:54:00.001-08:00

At the start line

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Inverted

2011-12-18T15:52:00.001-08:00

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The Next Level

2011-12-01T11:00:00.001-08:00

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Nickelback

2011-11-22T20:06:00.001-08:00

Yet Another Package Has Arrived For David

2011-11-14T17:01:00.001-08:00

Like Father Like Son

2011-11-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

I saw this, grabbed my camera and set it on the highest megapixels hoping I could get a shot in time with enough clarity. Worked out great! Some things maybe shouldn't be passed down to the next generation.

Worth the Wait

2011-11-08T17:03:00.001-08:00

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Here We Go

2011-09-08T11:10:00.001-07:00

Back to Alaska!

Just fucking drenched and dark in Ketchikan! Hopefully will be nicer when we ferry in in a week...

Nice in Sitka! Can't wait to get back here and see something besides the airport!

Juneau!

Too Liquored to Lose at the ferry terminal!

Ferry---

Skagway!

Estimated times....

Team captain Max and Brenden

Leg 7!

Skagway!

Part of the race course

Leigh nearing the end of 23 miles.

Tom and Gina

Candy at The Rock in Whitehorse

Team Dancers at the curling center!

Too Liquored to Lose after the race

Leaving Skagway

Videl in Sitka

Old Russian cemetery

Black IPA? Don't mind if I do!

Baranof Island Brewing in Sitka. We got a tour!

In the bar aboard the ferry Columbia

Petersburg at night

Wrangel in the morning

Asleep in the solarium on our way to Ketchikan

Ketchikan!
Mommy and holly at the Arctic

Crab legs and Rainier at Hole in the Wall!

Let's fucking party!

Water taxi to the airport... I need a vacation from this vacation

Location:Marine Way,Juneau,United States

Diamond Lake Trip

2011-09-02T19:52:00.001-07:00

Steamboat Creek

-Diamond Lake and Mt. Bailey!

Summit of Mt Bailey!

Hemlock Butte ski cabin

Wizard island!

Shadow Lake fire!

Big Lake was closed!

Swimming at Hubler's...

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Location:Crater Lake N Hwy,CHEMULT,United States

Your Package Arrived David

2011-08-30T13:12:00.001-07:00

Another witty entry!

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Goodbye Blue Pig

2011-08-28T11:32:00.001-07:00

We're gonna miss you like crazy!

2009-2011

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Location:SE Division St,Portland,United States

Sabos Raly

2011-08-18T22:22:00.001-07:00

At Pioneer Square! Great to see him again and I even got a high five as he walked by. He looked a little overwhelmed by it all.

He's the tallest shadow on the stage.

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Employ Picks

2011-08-16T16:50:00.001-07:00

section at Movie Madness. A true timeless masterwork!

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Watership Down

2011-08-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

"They'll never rest until they've spoiled the earth."

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Location:Cape Kiwanda Dr,Cloverdale,United States

Hot Dog Cooker and Gunshots

2011-08-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

David had these pictures at his house. Some great memories!

Colin with the original prototype electric hot dog cooker

Balls

Cold Ramen in Big Sur

I'm not sure what is happening here. Out of the van hippy!

View from Marin County. I have no ass. We then drank piss.

But we're still making new exciting memories. Hit with the Daisy at point blank. LOL! This spawned 5 minutes of knee slapping laughter and fortunately there was no embedding.

Downtown Zombie

2011-08-09T19:10:00.001-07:00

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Location:SW Morrison St,Portland,United States

Craig Lake Hike

2011-07-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

Yeah! Craig Lake! I'm going to add some commentary to these pictures in the next couple days.

Location:Sisters,United States

Mayer State Park

2011-07-16T13:12:00.001-07:00

First time paddling the Gorge. Our kayak guide book warned "...similar to open ocean conditions, paddling the Gorge may involve swells, swift current, heavy wind and large commercial boat traffic. It is not for the inexperienced." This scared the shit out of me but I've been wanting to boat up that joint for a couple years so screw it- all or nothing!

But first I need to make some coffee. On top of the car. The cup I got at the 'Dog Something or Other' in Hood River was good but I needed more caffeine.

We put in next to a steep boat ramp. Incident free!

Great day for a yak ride! We set sail around 10am- there was some shifting winds but nothing too scary.

Looking west towards the cliffs and Hood River about 12 miles away.

Looking east towards Biggs Junction. The high desert dwellers of Central North Oregon told David and Frosty of a great restaurant in Biggs Junction open late named "McDonald's." Unfortunately it is maybe 30+ river miles. Just too damn far to see what all the fuss is about.

Oh nothing.

I feel so insignificant. What's the meaning of it all? In this picture you can see the 'river in the river' we crossed a couple times. A point of land juts into the Columbia at Mayer and the blunt of the current wraps around. It creates a swift bumpy section that was interesting to fool around with. I got scared and wobbled about but made it through. Then we saw some shirtless heroes with dark red tans and sit-on-tops just ride that thing all the way to Lyle. Studs!

The beer holder was confused. What is this?

Looking to the south shore at the community of Rowena.

Some really cool houses right on the shore of the river. Some of them very nice expensive looking estates. Some of the a mowed lawn, a hammock and a storage shed for their canoes.

Nice newer place. You could sit their all day and look at the river and read and wonder about stuff. Drinking coffee until 3 or so and then switch over to beer!

There's also a few places like this. A tucked away cabin that looks like it hasn't changed for 100 years. Cool!

A little Dapper Dan for lunch! Can't hit Hood River without stopping here. We knew 4 people that were here including a childhood neighbor of Gina's. Small world?

Location:Columbia River Hwy,The Dalles,United States

After Double Mountain we walked down to the water front. Check out this hero on a unicycle! There was some other unicyclers studding around.

This picture doesn't really capture the spirit of the hustle and bustle of the Hood River waterfront on a weekend. It's a mad house and a pleasure to sit in the grass and watch hundreds of people walking around, kite boarding and wind surfing. The massive parking lot is full of campers and vans and there's a section of trailers offering up lessons and rentals for various outdoor sports. And there's a bar on the end of a dock surrounded by picnic tables. It's the perfect setting for a sports themed coming of age movie.

On the Eighth Anniversary

2011-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just over a year ago I talked about my Oregon's Funnyman phase. I recently had the opportunity to tell many of the old jokes to someone who had never heard them. They were a captive audience on a long road trip! I dug around a bit and found the audio that Eli recorded from my show at Bink's. I've edited it down to it's bare minimum- the punchlines. If all you here are the punchlines it's actually kind of funny! Many of you have heard the tales but this will be your first listen.... that's right Jesus!

Housewarming Gift

2011-07-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Derek and Stephanie rolled a 20 for radness!

Before and After

2011-07-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Some photos from my 'Random' folder.

Bald Eagles, Mouse Pointers and the Blazer Forum

2011-06-26T11:55:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I go off topic on the Blazers forum. This was a fun conversation I had with several other forum members. By the way- all though I didn't post it here we should be proud of fellow forum member "lanny." He's been able to stick to his new exercise and diet regimen for several weeks now and it's making his wife very happy. Way to go "lanny!" I go by "blzrjimmy" in order to maintain anonymity.

Posting this reminded of something kind of funny I did a year or so ago to fellow forum member "Blazer Wookie." He posted a link to a picture to show us how his dog loves to watch the mouse pointer move around on the screen. In record time I downloaded the photo, changed the screen image and then reposted. It got some great hardy hars and no one was angry. Thanks "Blazer Wookie" for being a good sport! Cute dog too!

2nd Annual Astoria to PDX Fun Ride!

2011-06-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Edit: several people have asked about the details of the ride and I thought I would include the original email that started it all, Here it is in all it's glory!

"Hi Everyone!

I've got great news: it's time for the 2nd Annual PDX to Astoria Fun Ride!! Sorry for the dumb name but I was trying to think of something that would express the joy and ease of our leisurely trip to the coast. So true! OK- here's what we know so far- we'll be catching the max the morning of Friday June 3rd with our bikes and meeting at the end of the line in Hillsboro. From there we'll bike to Big Eddy State Park which is approximately 40 miles of beautiful flat farmland mixed with subtle hills and a long stretch of rails to trails near Vernonia. Cool! We have a camp site ready to go at Big Eddy. In the morning we'll bike the rest of the way into Astoria. This is around 60 miles of gentle country side with one moderate short easy climb cresting in the stunning coast range. On this day we will pass through the quaint wooded villages of Jewel, Mist and Olney. Who wouldn't want to do this!?

We are waiting to hear back about a large house in Astoria we can all stay at. If a house doesn't pan out we'll book hotel rooms somewhere which is what we did last year. I looks like there will be 2-3 sag wagons (support and gear, and beer (Niki, Susan, Krystin)) coming along that will carry everything we need. We're also working on the logistics of getting our bikes back to town on Sunday the 5th. There are a few truck amongst us.

This is a great ride and is much more mellow (i.e. way less hill) than the Nestucca River Highway we did all those years ago. It sounds like there will be bikers of all abilities (fast: Gina, slow: Seth) so it will be fun for all in that regards. The main point of this ride is to have a good time, look at stuff excitedly and drink beer. Only the funnest people have made this email list!

Ok- Let me know what everyone is thinking and I'll get back about lodging stuff. Check out these links for the bike route and take a look at a couple pics from last year. Good times!

Seth"

Links to the actual route:

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=36638&a=316549

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=36638&a=316550

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=36638

Studly Route Map

Fun ride! Hundreds of people have been harassing me to post these photos so here it goes. Plus, I want this to motivate for next year! We had 12 riders this time- can we have 20 next time? Come on Smart Mike! Come on Ben and Alex!

Eli rocking the MAX on the way to Hillsboro- our starting point.

The steps of some building in Hillsboro. Thanks stranger for the photo. Good job! Let's see- from L to R that's Gina, Anna, Ian, Seth, Eric, Brad, Travis, David, Eli, Jessie and D-Town. Joel wasn't in this picture for some dumb reason- like an ultra sound or something.

City park in Banks.

Banks-Vernonia rails to trails. Fuck yeah!

Good job!

Nice work!

David asking the park hosts if Ranger Steve is working. Ranger Steve runs Stewart-Stubbs State Park. Oregon's newest state park! Whoa!

Trav-dog! See another picture of Trav-dog on his bike here. Far left!

Huh... what should I get?

Birthday boy Rico! Happy birthday studmuffin!

Black Bear Cafe in Vernonia! Beer please! Hurry up we just rode our bikes here!

Three members of Wrecking Balss.

Once the fish eye got broken out it got crazy- as you'll see soon.

Ha ha.

SAG heroes Krystin and Amy. Yeah!

This was on the wall in the cafe. Huh.

Big Eddy campground! You wouldn't mistake it for The Big Sleep campground with the neighbors we had.

Good job.

Not a bite :(

But great form hero!

he he these are great

ROFLMAO!!!!

LOL!!!!!

Some serious action chess!

Me hanging out in Birkenfeld with some Harley guys.

Elk refuge near Mist. No elk but a nice place to rest before the big climb.

Good job Joel!

Whoa! Tilt shift!

Where am I? Who am I?

The summit!

Fuck yeah Eli! Good job stud!

Olney general store.

LOL!!!!

Astoria at last!

The final last push!

Goo goo gah gah D-town!!!

So tired.....

Can you solve this math problem Big Brain? The world depends on it!

Hey sweet heart- thirsty? How bout some bubbly? Do you like my fish tank? Come over here and see this sunset... oooohhh aaaahhhh.... oh- these here pants are chaffing me a bit, just a sec.... that's better.

A shitload of super hungry bike riders need a shitload of pizza.

Thanks Astoria! Great times!

Eternity

2011-06-10T13:15:00.001-07:00

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Anarchy

2011-06-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

I haven't seen this kind of rebel anarchy since 8 years ago during the Alberta gentrification years. I bet the owner of that little coffee shop just crushes and destroys the economically disadvantaged people of our fair city. Probably crushes their spirit too with their smug condescending laughs and grimaces!

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Oregon Wine Country by Bike!

2011-06-06T16:27:00.001-07:00

Thirsty for adventure, over Memorial Day weekend we got in our cars, drove our bikes to Champoeg State Park and then biked some of Oregon's beautiful wine country. Yum! I believe this to be our route- about thirty miles.

Geared up for fun!

Natalie Estate

"Yeah we did bike here. Give me more wine."

Stud heroes.

"David, put one of these barrels on your bike rack. Thanks."

Gravel!

Downhill!

Roco Winery.

"I said keep it coming you asshole. I just biked here!"

Notes of pepper with a stone fruit finish. Is that coffee and rust hinting at my palette?

"I preferred the third pinot." "Why is everyone dressed up?" They better not trade Batum."

Who has the map?

Argyle Winery.

Success! Now time for 100 beers in my mouth.

The tranquility of nature! Can we have our picnic table back and do you mind moving your truck?

I guess popcorn doesn't work this way.

Smiles all around!

Traveling Highway 30

2011-06-02T19:54:00.001-07:00

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Location:E Columbia River Hwy,Astoria,United States

It's Yak Season!

2011-05-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

It's been cool and wet here in Portland but that's ok because it means plenty of water in Smith and Bybee! In fact, all of the times I've been here tooling around I've never seen the water so high. It was like a magical mangrove wonderland! K and E picked up some yaks this week so I got all fired up. D-Town and I loaded ours up on the wagon and made our way to the pennisula.

Whoa! Look at how high that water is!

D-Town! Look out for those mangrove serpents!!!

We saw some commotion by this drown tree in the middle of the lakes. Small asshole birds were harrassing these beautiful bad ass eagles. They were massive!! Like 4 times the size of the osprey around and probably 50 times the size of the little punk sparrows. We couldn't tell if they we youthful bald eagles or heroic golden bad boys.

Wow! It looked they had a 3+ foot wingspan.

This section of the lake was protected from the mild wind and slight waves. Look at D-Town kicking ass!

You can really see how high the water is here. The bird blind is partially submerged! Damn!

Wow!

Hey D-Town! Look over here and smile!

That's better stud! You look like a hero!

Nice job stud hero!

Back through the low hanging wetlands!

This rotten dead carp is way bigger than my huge foot. Whoa!!

Every fun day has got to end bro....

The Changes At Dad's Place

2011-05-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

I love doing this thing lately with the old pics in the new world. Dad built his house (the house I grew up in) 40 years ago(!). Most of my friends have heard the tales: no neighbors, a mile to the highway on a dirt road and no electricity until the end of the 70's. Wow! I remember getting stabbed by the cactus in the dark while someone was lighting a kerosene lamp so we could see. That's livin!

I was back up there last weekend and we checked out a few trees Dad had cut down so they wouldn't fall on the house in case of a big wind storm. It's a bit of a big deal because changes happen at a glacial pace around the farm. An event like cutting down a tree seriously takes years of deliberation and contemplation and debate. A good example of this is another recent change. I went into the kitchen and there was a nice new stove top! To understand the significance of this I'll tell you about the old stove top: it was avocado green and pulled out of a house that was being remodeled. In 1976! Pops thinks it dated from the 60's and it had been in our house since he had electricity put in. He said it heats much faster. Imagine that! This is the one of only a few changes the house has undergone since it was built. That's big time!

Anyway, these pics are from 1972- before I was born. As you can see, when Dad bought the property the trees around it were small second growth and the house was built in a wild meadow which now is a grassy yard.

This picture below is interesting as it's almost impossible to see the old world within the new one. When the house was built it had a beautiful view across the South Santiam valley. That view is now obscured by 100 foot tall trees! One thing hasn't changed though- there's still piles of firewood!

Friends Forever

2011-05-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was David's birthday. Here's the card I made for him!

Back to AK

2011-05-10T18:14:00.001-07:00

On Sunday Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wranglers played at The Arctic Bar. It was his son's 21st birthday and quite the throwdown.

Upper Quinn Street to Laura and Max's house.

Tosh showing his fiddlehead loot. Yum!

Ward Lake Trail.

Fiddleheads! What a great word....

Lunch on the backside of Pennock Island.

Deer Mt.

This landing plane made me a bit nervous but we had plenty of room.

Our friend Eric on our evening walk through town. There's ever present Deer Mt. again!

Eric's rad tapestry.

Lunch Creek Trail.

Back under the dock for a stunning sunset. So serious. So demure. So thoughtful.

Ketchikan at night from a boardwalk I can't remember the name of.

Sunny day at Mountain Point.

Fish eye!

Hole In the Wall finally opened!

Brenden, Laura, Max, Niki, Joel, Gina and Dawn

Dawn passing by during the Totem to Totem half marathon.

Here comes Laura in Saxman.

Finish line! Laura and I teamed up to do a relay. It was great! I told everyone I know have one year to train for the full 1/2 marathon, which is probably what I need. Although I did beat my goal of 10 minute miles. I came in around 9:40s. I realized that many people who do these events are bad ass as I came in the second half of runners.

Dawn getting a well deserved high five as she crosses the line!

Joel and Max did a relay and fucking dominated. I couldn't get any pics of Joel because he was about 9 minutes ahead of me!

On a short cruise up good ol' Thorne Arm.

Dinner at Tom's place.

Tom and Joel.

The view from Tom's deck. Shit man- better put on some more sunscreen!

Tom trying to break his record for how fast he can make a keg of gin and tonic. He shattered the old record with a new time of one minute and twenty five seconds!

Max explaining the logistics of the Klondike Run using toy cars and a good bottle of whiskey.

The Potlatch Band with Dave Rubin on the right. We got rocked at The Fish Pirates Saloon.

From Upper Quinn St.

It seems the only videos I take anymore are for trivia night. Here they are!

Pics from the Iphone.

A huge spray painted dick on the by pass. Why not?

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Location:Young St,Ketchikan,United States

Johnson Named Everything- It's A Mad World

2011-05-07T01:59:00.000-07:00

Another animated comic based in part in reality. After some reflection of the hilarity of this tale I found it to be so fucking funny I decided to create a new episode of Johnson Named Everything. Hey Driscoll- I hope you enjoy the actor's voice over! BTW: Heavy inside jokisms at work here.

The Many Colors of Junip

2011-05-05T16:32:00.001-07:00

Went to the Wonder Ballroom last night and got my ass handed to me by Junip. Fucking great! I am really digging these guys right now and they didn't disappoint live.

Well... except they should have played another hour or two.

Watch the full video at Baeblemusic.com

Thanks David!

2011-05-02T18:43:00.001-07:00

LOL!!!!!

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A Good Idea

2011-05-01T21:16:00.001-07:00

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Location:NW 14th Ave,Portland,United States

Alaska Video Clues. Again.

2011-04-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

These are the final clues from y recent trip to Ketchikan. Good times!

How Many of These

2011-04-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

does he need?

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I Like the Four Subaru's I've Had

2011-04-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

but not as much as this girl I saw at the Blazer game last night. Check out the sick tat!

Close up. Whoa!

The game kicked ass by the way! My ears are still ringing.

Another Fun Day at Work

2011-04-21T11:52:00.001-07:00

My first wax ring job! edit: a wax ring job, at least in this case, is not a sex move.

Location:SE Division St,Portland,United States

Mail Man

2011-04-19T17:27:00.001-07:00

I love our mailman. I wonder how long he spent trying to jam that through the hole before he just left it hanging.

Hands Around the Sun and Twinkies

2011-04-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

I just completed the first new video in the Johnson Named Everything series in over 3 years! It's called 'Hands Around the World' and is based on an experience that left me sleepless with anxiety for years. It also instilled in me lessons in case I ever became a father: as a parent try and reduce anxiety, not make it worse! It makes for a pretty funny story decades later though.

For those who are ardent followers of Johnson Named Everything you noticed a lapse between episode 9 and episode 11. It turns out I had completed episode 10 but if I remember right I didn't really like it that much. I wasn't sure it had that 'pop' that the others have. But after a few years and seeing it again I realize it has it's own charms. It's a story my friends and neighbor Rex's Dad told us. What a great story!

I Wonder What This Means?

2011-04-14T09:32:00.001-07:00

Is seit something I'm unfamiliar with? Or perhaps someone is unsure of what my name is?

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Slowfactory

2011-04-11T21:33:00.001-07:00

has my number! No more pep talks!

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Alaska Video Clues!

2011-04-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

By the way- this fucking amazing song is Kaputt by Destroyer.

30something

2011-04-02T15:36:00.001-07:00

Although I felt a little mean about this Facebook conversation with Travis' friend, I still laughed really hard. For them it's hard to know context. They don't know me or know how dumb and stupid my humor is!

I'm Excited

2011-04-01T15:48:00.001-07:00

about this new club my friend Eric and I started. It's similar but different to a club I was in in 1985. He even drew the logo for it! At first we were thinking we could meet once a month, but now we're thinking maybe 4 or 5 times a day. Rad! EDIT: Eric did the text, but Krystin did the amazing drawing!

Good Morning Sunrise

2011-03-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

I'm back with a heavy heart- and it's insanity here! I woke this morning to a wide open blue sky... Just bought a reward beer for the end of Perseverance! Boom!
There it is!!!
And frozen Ward Lake

Our miller was literally on ice.
Tongass Narrows
Ktown street
I think I could live under the dock if I had warm clothes and enough wine. Good evening sunset!

Location:Denali Ave,Ketchikan,United States

The iPhone pics are a little rough so here's some from the Canon

Looking north. A newish promenade for the tourists. Looks like a good place to go jogging!

This Ketchikan 'road' was under construction.

Looking at the back of The First City Saloon

That's Upper Quinn St. and Laura and Max's house where I crashed. Fucking great!

Looking south. Deer Mt. on upper left.

I saw this on Slate and thought I would try my own amateur version. 1998- welcome to 2011.

Downtown. That's my former workplace the Federal Building with Deer Mt. in the background.

Creek Street of course.

From Laura's porch looking south at the sunrise.

Same porch. Same sunrise. That is west.

Ward Lake. Although it was still frozen over we were sweating from the sun on our Perseverance hike.

At one point there was a 'crack' noise.

City Park.

Whoa! 1994 meet 2011. Nice hair!

If you know me you know my love for wine and beer while staring at the ocean from 'under the dock.'

I'm not really a graffiti guy but this massive rubber bumper is hidden from view from town and I feel deeply about the message.

Downtown.

First City piano. That's Terri with no head, Danny and of course Ryan.

Necessary eagle shot by the tunnel. There's Terri's head!

Coast Guard beach out north. There was some sort of whale way off in the distance.

Danny and Brooke.

Yes.

A colony of small starfish.

I believe Brad had sent me an amusing text from down south so I was inspired to pee his name. My iPhone couldn't capture it's glory so this will be the first time he sees it. Danny complimented my writing.

Old friends! Sarah, Charlie, Brooke, Ryan, me, Danny.

Buggy's Beach out south a few miles.

Looking north to midtown from Rainbird Trail. It was so nice my head almost exploded.

In 1993 and 1994 I lived in the bunkhouse on the left. What you can't see in this picture is my friend Aaron who pushed our old fish stained couch out the window to the dumpster below.

Laura's place and her neighbors. One last photo before my trek to the airport.

Some Doesn't Like

2011-03-22T15:42:00.001-07:00

Roky Erickson

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Location:SE Division St,Portland,United States

3 Year Anniversary Trivia Party

2011-03-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Check out these short videos I made for the 3 year trivia party at work. They were a hit!

Rod Stewart and Sharpies

2011-02-17T17:13:00.001-08:00

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Tampa Florida!

2011-02-06T18:33:00.001-08:00

View from our room

University of Tampa

Community garden eggplant

It's difficult to know what to do in a city without some sort of local advice from someone with similar taste. The Wine Exchange was good but it felt like we were eating dinner in Bridgeport Village.

Very small and friendly birds.

Hey Cafe- finally some good grub and a local IPA!

Trolley

Art

Boat ride

Ww 2 supply ship

Captain Larry

Bridges

Dead bridge

Crew

Classic Neevel pose

Tampa's Proper Eats

Goodbye Florida!

Hello Houston!

Location:E 8th Ave,Tampa,United States

David Jinings Video Clues!

2011-01-28T10:42:00.001-08:00

Roller Coaster Rides and the Great State of Florida

2011-01-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

----- Message -----
From: SETH M
Sent: 1/26/11 10:37 AM
To: Frank M. Warren, MD
Subject: Roller Coaster Rides and the great state of Florida

Hi Dr. Warren- I had my surgery on December 20th and I'm flying to Florida February 4th. One of the things on our to do list while in Florida is hit an amusement park which according to my buddy Joel has some really fun roller coasters. OK here's my questions:

My ear seems to be healing fine and I've even been hearing to varying degrees from that side- is it ok to fly in an airplane and is it ok to ride a roller coaster? You did mention that I can blow my nose now so I figured that would probably ok the airplane flight, but I don't want to shake anything loose while traveling 100 miles an hour upside down on a roller coaster. It will have been approximately 6 weeks since my surgery when we head to Tampa. Although i would enjoy a scary ride I would much rather make sure my ear is healthy.

Hope you're doing well and getting a little time away from work!

Seth M

PS: It has never been my desire to go to Florida but I'm traveling with Gina for a work conference so what the heck.

RE: Roller Coaster Rides and the great state of Florida

To:

Seth M

From:

Frank M. Warren, MD

Received:

01/26/2011 5:12 PM

Good to hear that things are going well. I think it is quite safe for you to partake in the roller coaster rides. You will be far enough out that everything will be pretty well set in place.

Have fun!

In An Art History Class

2011-01-19T23:21:00.001-08:00

while at PCC I drew this in my note book for some reason.

Maybe I was broken hearted at the time. Heavy!

And this too. Wow!

Of course, being an art class it looks like I took a stab at recreating some classics which I am sure you'll recognize.

Powerful Stuff

2011-01-06T21:20:00.001-08:00

"Love Thi Neihbor"

" "Not everyone can be a unicorn but at least I'm not a penguin" "

"it's more obsession without recourse"

"Where you always this studip??" -VHR

"Toy Story 2 was okay"

"It turns out I don't know what works"

"I love Brian Proctor!"

"TECH"

"WOOSH!"

"I love me"

"The only sure weapon against bad ideas is good ideas"

"I love nice woman"

"Why do no guys in Ptown wanna do a cute chick?" "I do!"

Questions

2010-12-18T17:11:00.001-08:00

for my doctor.

Blazer Game Fun

2010-12-18T09:42:00.001-08:00

This Is What

2010-12-07T10:35:00.001-08:00

deep inside my ear looks like.

Location:SE Sunnyside Rd,Northwest Clackamas,United States

Human Centipede and Other Things

2010-12-03T15:42:00.001-08:00

Julia is in this picture somewhere.

Hello Mr. President.

Rough sketch of the single cam.

I hear ya man.

Trying to explain to someone what the movie was about.

This guy again.

How much of this carpet do you think they sold.

Amanita party.

I don't know why this was on my camera.

Thanksgiving pie.

Joel's Nickname Initials

2010-11-25T09:29:00.001-08:00

are appearing on the side of buildings in SE Portland.

Googling "Chanterelle Jerky" Didn't Work

2010-11-11T21:11:00.001-08:00

I went mushroom hunting today with my friend Ben and we found several pounds of chanterelles on the Nestucca River Road not too far from his place. Inspired by a story I heard yesterday by a caller on Think Out Loud I decided to make some mushroom jerky. One of my favorite foods is jerky. The chewier and saltier the better. To get the recipe I Googled "chanterelle jerky" (yes, I used quotes) and Google told me there was no matches! I did find this website that almost gave me a migraine. I'm writing this to enter "chanterelle jerky" into the internet lexicon. And to tell the tale of my experience trying to make it. I'll start before the beginning with this picture below.

While riding to Claudia's the other night to catch the Blazers get blown out by the fucking Lakers I passed this guy on his bike who is getting ready for the new Tron movie. Lot's of people from various porches were yelling at him and cheering him on. The picture doesn't really do his get up justice.

Before Ben and I hit the woods to find the mushrooms he showed me how to put a chicken to sleep. Unfortunately I didn't take a single picture of us in the woods gathering our treasure. We did hear some gunfire, found an elk skull and got really wet.

Here's some yummy shrooms I brought home. We ate some in chanterelle quesadillas and then the rest i'm making into chewy salty sticks.

According the caller on the radio show she cooks her chanterelles in soy sauce with garlic. The best tofu jerky I've ever made was with Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce so I'd thought I'd try that again. Here's a great shot of the shrooms being cooked. Wow!

Damn!

Next step: I've set the jerky in the dehydrator and ground some black pepper on them. A concern is that all the mushroom flavor will be lost because of the teriyaki sauce. Well... as long as it's chewy and saly. I'll find out in the morning!

UPDATE
I dried the chanterelles for about 24 hours before I called it quits. They never really quite became what I envisioned. After 24 hours they turned into these kind of gelatinous blobs with a sort of slimy texture. My fears of the teriyaki sauce being too strong were founded, and when the mushroom flavor did come through it turned out that the flavor combination wasn't too good, or maybe even it was plain bad. Final verdict: don't follow this recipe! We did head back to the woods and found bags full more of chanterelles. W made chanterelles and leaks and then chanterelle and squash lasagna. Yum! We also walked by The Alarm Clock tree while out hunting. Fun!

Iconic Wizard Staff Imagery

2010-11-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

From David's mind blowing GIF diary!

Fun Email Chain

2010-10-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have kept some names anonymous for privacy concerns.

On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 4:50 PM, ---- wrote:
Sounds like ---- and I are going to try and meet up Thursday around 5 to shoot hoops. Hopefully its not raining or we may have to go to the blazer bar and shoot on the little hoop. You down?

On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 9:06 PM, ----- wrote:
Yeah, and -----! ------, if it's raining could we play at -----?

Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:43:20 -0700
Subject: Re: b-ball thursday at 5:30
From: --------
To: ----------
CC: ----------; sethmgross-hotmail.com

I will check if anything is happening in the gym that day at that time. Sometimes there's yoga and shit down there.

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 6:43 PM, Seth Gross wrote:
maybe we could just watch the yoga stuff instead

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:40 AM, ------- wrote:
how's the indoor basketball option looking?

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:40 AM, ------- wrote:
we're all (including you) going to the movies, brah!

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 12:05 PM, ------ wrote:
oh man - i thought we'd do both!

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 12:49 PM, ------ wrote:
I forgot all about this! Should I check on the gym, or should we just go to the bar?

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 1:36 PM, -------- wrote:
hey dudes, there is yoga in the gym today at 5:30 so i guess we better just go to the bar.

On Oct 28, 2010, at 1:47 PM, ------ wrote:
Awesome! There goes yoga making me drink again.... Where and when?

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 1:59 PM, Seth wrote:
I'm thinking So77 around 6ish. That's pretty close to jack ass area. Or we could get some beers and watch yoga

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 2:02 PM, ------- wrote:
i was thinking we'd just sit in the atrium, look down at the yoga and all jack off?

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 2:15 PM, ------- wrote:
good movie warm up.

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 2:51 PM, ------- wrote:
i was asked not to masturbate any more at work. But you guys should knock yourselves out!

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:59:34 -0700 Subject: Re: b-ball thursday at 5:30
From: ------
To: --------
CC: -------; sethmgross-hotmail.com

guhhhh... thanks -------!

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 3:01 PM, Seth Gross wrote:
how many warnings for masturbating do you think you could get before they fire you?

On Oct 28, 2010, at 3:04 PM, ----- wrote:
one of ------ students got caught in someone else's class...didn't even get suspended.

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 3:15 PM, Seth Gross wrote:

In my junior high there was this kid Jason who was just gone one day without a word. The rumor spread like wild fire that he had been caught jerking off and his family had to move. I guess times have changed.

Mastering

2010-10-27T11:47:00.001-07:00

Song order

Opening Night!

2010-10-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

I've Been Fascinated

2010-10-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

by this new Google Earth 3D building thing. I've highlighted two former places of employment. The fourth floor Forest Service office and the street level toy store. Fun!

The Game of Sports and Other Adventures

2010-10-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

My old Alaska buddies Jack and Davis were in town for a few days. Good times man!

If you come here bring earplugs

Pink door

Hungry slug

Golden Eye!

Skating the Dock

2010-09-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

I looked at the new Ketchikan web cam and saw the kids skating the dock. When I first moved there in '92 some of the first people I met were doing exactly what you see in this picture exactly where they're doing it. Some things never change!

SE Oregon Road Trip

2010-09-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

Waldo Lake

Kayak camping

Fort Rock

Cave Lake- Modoc National Forest California

Mt. Shasta through binoculars.

You can see Shasta in the background of this one.

Greaser Petroglyphs from the Clovis folks

Antelope Refuge

Prongdonger by the water hole. Through binocs again.

Heading to the summit of the Steens.

Wildhorse Lake

Oops. Broken wheel strut. From the looks of the tracks two people walked away.

Snowy Steens from the Alvord.

Pete French Round Barn

Riddle Mountain- Dan's future home.

Drake Peak... high on Montisore and barely able to hang on- to the bottle

8400 feet

Steens! Ok ok 9700 fucking feet!

For a place that only gets 7 inches of rain a year we've seen a ton.

The most difficult part of camping is the two or so hours between coffee and beer.

Huge hot spring!

Mickey!

Lunch at the Lucky Pine in Mitchel. Yeah!

Yeeeeee!

It's always hard to come home from a trip but at least we have Double Mountain on the way.

Couldn't Take

2010-09-02T10:05:00.001-07:00

the heat.

Jotto

2010-08-31T20:54:00.001-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows about my passion for Jotto. My Dad played with his Dad and then I played with my Dad, and maybe someday I'll play Jotto with a friend's kid. I got my girlfriend to play too. Once. For some reason years ago I tore out this score sheet and saved it. Am I glad I did- now I can reprint it any time I want to play a game with anyone who is willing! After a while we didn't use the score sheets anymore. We just used pieces of scratch paper.

My Beadwork

2010-08-31T20:40:00.001-07:00

When Joel and I worked together in the summer 1999 in Alaska we spent a lot of time on various rocky coast lines. Sometimes it's hard to find a place to go to the bathroom. This bead design I created aboard the Tongass Ranger one evening after being inspired by something I saw on the beach that day. Sadly, I never actually made the pattern with beads but it was a pleasant surprise to stumble on the pattern while unpacking a box.

Hey Aram

2010-08-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

post surgery December 1988
photo by: my Dad

Hey Aram! Glad to 'hear' that your brain tumor doesn't 'sound' like it will be 'silencing' you anytime soon! When I was 15 I was diagnosed with a congenital cholesteatoma after 6 months of misdiagnoses. After two surgeries I've had near complete hearing loss in my left ear. Since I was 15. Get used to the 'what?' jokes! I've heard them so many times I have probably said 'I've never heard that before' 10,000 times! The first year or two of hearing loss was tough- anytime there is any background noise you could pretty much rule out any conversation- it really is every third or so word I would hear. Plus, being a kid I was afraid to just come out and say 'would you mind standing on my right? I can't hear out of my left ear.' An early experience was walking through the woods near my house and hearing what sounded like an owl. I eventually spun a complete 360 because every time it would hoot it was on my right!

On two occasions my hearing issues may have cost me some action- once walking on the beach with a girl who was my brother's girlfriends friend. Just the two of us... a stunning sunset....a beach to ourselves... and her on the ocean side. Waves pounding. Me walking there wishing I could here anything she was saying, nodding blankly, but only hearing the pounding of November waves and her mumbling noises. What deep secrets did I miss? Confessions of love? Hints of romance?

The second time I was working the slime line in Alaska when I was put beside the hotty of the cannery. This Canadian beauty we all talked about around lunch and later during beers- for some reason, of which I'll never know, had taken a mild interest in me. My disbelief in this precluded any chance of witty comebacks or confident facial expressions. Instead I would respond with three word answers and eager wide eyed stares at the cement floor to her jokes and questions. This would inspire actual sincere anger in my best friend at the time whom I worked with and would witness my bumbling. One day at work the boss put me beside her on the line. I walked over and her eyes lit up and she smiled big and said "Hi Seth!" The slime line is very close quarters and we were even bumping shoulders on occasion as we cut into the salmon. She began chatting up a storm and to my terror I could maybe pick up every fifth word. She's standing on my left- in front of me is a trough of loud running water and on my right is a large and loud machine called a guillotine which makes a non-stop racket. I didn't stand a chance. She was trying to tell me about her college life in Bellingham and her family and friends. I was curious like crazy but couldn't even hear enough to formulate some sort of follow up questions to express interest. A few weeks later she left AK and I never saw her again. The memories are vivid though!

I think I've gotten better with 22 years of practice- I still say 'what's that?' all the time but maybe a combination of reading lips and being more forward with my hearing loss has helped. But back then forget it- I was helpless!

Plum

2010-08-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

for 73!

Hobknoblers

2010-08-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

While camping at Lost Lake (the Santiam Pass Lost Lake- not the Mt Hood one) last weekend I noticed there was hobknoblers everywhere. There was these monster hobknoblers as big as my hand and there was also smaller hobknoblers. Here are some beautiful pictures of the hobknoblers I took.

So proud.

Magnificent beasts of the wild.

These monstrous huge hobknoblers only came out at night. I tried to see where they hid during the day but couldn't find one anywhere. Then dusk would fall and all of a sudden one was walking through camp. One tried to attack me kind of by the lakes edge so I poured really cold PBR on it's head and it jumped in the lake to escape. A friend told me they have really porous skin so he was probably swimming around all wasted.

The big hobknoblers seemed to be disinterested in humans. I could put the camera right next to them and then shine a flashlight around them and they didn't care a whole lot. We must not be their natural enemy. They probably come out at night to avoid all the hungry birds in the area.

This one looks like it might be king of the lake.

As well as the softball sized hobknoblers there was also little teeny ones that seemed to only be by the lake and not up on higher ground. They were more weary of humans and would hop away as we approached. It made capturing a good picture difficult because they were always on the move. The hobknobler above is enjoying a nice view of his home.

There were hundreds of these small hobknoblers. You had to watch where you step!

What a beautiful day for a swim.

This Week in Music

2010-08-06T11:29:00.001-07:00

It has been very busy week with some mind numbing shows! First is iconic juggernaut Weird Al.

Notice the puppet fan in the front row. The puppet lip synced to every song and Weird Al shook his hand after the encore.

Wow! I thought Weird Al would be good but he blew the Roseland! The WeirdAlHeads in the front had to be calmed by the security guards! Me and my fellow attendees made a pact to never miss another Weird Al show. It was fucking stunning.

Up next was a drive south to Albany to my childhood haunt Monteith Riverpark to see my favorite jam band The Mother Hips!

Even though their newer songs seem to be influenced by more domestic lifestyles (hence our witty jokes The Mother Hip Replacements and The Grandmother Hips haha) they still rock a solid show. Good times drinking beer in the grass!

Tonight begins the highlight of the year for live shows. Two nights in a row of Joanna Newsom at the Aladdin. I'm actually getting a bit nervous. That's ridiculous. Better have a morning beer to calm the nerves. Hope I don't get too tipsy and make an ass of myself tonight. Oh well shit happens.

More later!

Front row seat! Joanna's harp!

3rd row seat! There's Joanna's harp night number two!!!!

Update: 8/10/10

So- we enjoyed two nights of Robin Pecknold and Joanna Newsom. I'm not sure that there's a way I can describe this experience. Using words like epic, overwhelming, emotional, perfect, can't do it justice! It's like that time you have really high expectations and it's still 63 times better than that. It was intimate and beautiful. It came to life very nicely live.

PEACH PLUM PEAR <----- She closed with a rocking version of Peach Plum Pear which kicked ass like crazy.

Here is Eric before the show expressing how we both felt.

Here I am standing next to the secret way into the theater. First in line! When the guy opened the door I scared him.

In the audience.

This is the best pic I got. I tried to do a little video recording but the security guys were like hawks. What a night!

Below is a video I was able to get of opener Robin Pecknold of the Fleet Foxes. It almost doesn't seem real that Robin would be playing with Joanna Newsom. The two best bands on the planet right now. Damn! Because this is a quicktime video I was unable to edit it- the music starts at 2:18.

I must have been going through a pretty hard core Joanna phase back in February 2008 because I made this funny video. She rocks in it! but her style has become somewhat more refined over the years.

And finally- here's a picture of Joanna holding a painting of me and of my pet cow. Wow!

Here's a picture Eric drew of me at the show. Very appropriate I would say!

Today

2010-07-29T15:27:00.001-07:00

Mike turns 30! Proper Eats for lunch!!

Location:N Philadelphia Ave,Portland,United States

Guest Host Party

2010-07-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

Pure Gold

2010-07-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to organize several large boxes of paperwork today but it's distracting when you keep running across lost treasure.

This picture says 1990 on it. It also says 1990 all over it. Two things jump out- my stunning product free hair. It's fucking huge! And my stunning sweater! My Grandma made that for me! I still do that weird arm thing when I'm cold.

Anyone who knows me knows I love to draw clowns. Siamese Clown maze like drawing! I think I only partially finsihed it for some reason. It's kind of the Partial Martial of Siamese Twin Clown Maze drawings.

Found on the back of a trivia answer sheet at work. Best spell ever- Kitty Cat spell! Cool!

David found that cool sexual position font so I thought I would experiment with something similar. I wonder why I wrote "He"?

A friend of mine told me Neil Hamburger enjoyed Hot Quarter. I wonder what joke Inventing was?

Amongst the goodies is some heavy treasure. I found this in a box. I made it for my friend Matt way back in probably 1996ish. Anyone remember the name of the bead shop where Franny used to work at the south end of town near the Federal Building? edit: several people have informed me it was Beauty and the Bead!

Here's a picture Alex gave me of his fishing boat when it was grounded by the tide somewhere in Alaska. When the tide came up they just sailed it away.

I just found this great post card David sent while he was visiting Seattle a few years ago. That's the front and the back.

I just learned from a medical document that it was January 22, 2005 that I was walking home from Bink's with Joel and David when I slipped and broke my ribs in the snow on Alberta St. Ouch! I could feel the break for about two years whenever I would roll over in bed or cough!

I just found this shopping list in the hand writing of an ex girlfriend. Ha ha what a list. It was found in a bag of stuff from 1994! It's crazy what kind of shit will bring back really intense memories. This list brings me back to playing gin rummy in a windowless attic room, being anxious on a ferry, watching airplanes take off and sitting on the dock.

Wow! I think this picture is from about 2002 or so. It proves that back then I still knew how to really fucking party!

Kayaking to Washington

2010-07-09T22:31:00.001-07:00

Hey David, I Have Good News

2010-06-30T11:35:00.001-07:00

The Faces Of Beverly Beach State Park

2010-06-27T21:09:00.001-07:00

bathroom

The Limits of My Lying

2010-06-23T15:24:00.001-07:00

3 Years

2010-06-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

It seems impossible to me. I remember the day we opened- David was our first customer and we made him sweep the floor.

What Rock and Roll Is About

2010-06-23T13:52:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been wondering what rock and roll is about. Then I remembered that my friend Adam and I had already figured it out:

It turns out it's about seeing someone in the audience smile when the drums come in midway.

Sports Illustrated Shot

2010-06-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last winter Travis and I went to Hoodoo Ski Area and hit the slopes for a couple days. I was just looking at those pictures and found this rad one of T-Dog shredding the moguls. That's him in the bright yellow safety pants.

Travis and I were riding the chair up to the top when I saw these studmuffins jumping off a bluff. I got my camera ready and snapped a guy shooting off it. To my surprise he did a sick back flip! It's like that guy from the 80's that had a huge mohawk!

Here's a zoom. Wow!

I got curious about that mohawk skier and found some pictures. He's the great Glen Plake!

What the fuck!

Wow!

And the best find! Someone made some mazes out of his mohawk!!!

Hurry Up

2010-06-18T18:06:00.001-07:00

and wait

The Lights Out

2010-06-12T14:25:00.001-07:00

Central Oregon tour! Haven't done a band tour since Hamburger in 03... Redmond and Bend are about get thier asses rocked!

7th Street Brewery

Set list

Press

The Tumble Inn

Good morning Redmond

Amphitheater

Completely ridiculous!

Oh you know....

Super fan just got off the river!

Lap steel presented by Kelly

Bryon from tour mates The Rosa's Buds.

Not nervous at all

Front men

Zooey and MW's mics. They played a few days before. No prob

View from the drum set mid set

Nitro!

Oh nothing....

Our biggest fan

Gina's niece Cailin!

Bend BBQ

Bend view

Goodbye Pilot Butte

Crooked River

300 feet straight down!

Spitting.... errr I Mean Drooling

2010-06-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

This is a poor picture but I didn't want to look like a weird old guy with a camera. There's this group of 6 or more high schoolers that spend their lunch breaks in front of work. They seem nice enough and they don't graffiti the tables or cause any other damage. They drink gallons of soda and eat bags of chips and they smoke and hold hands and laugh and all that fun stuff. They even take their garbage with them. But the one thing they do that I find fascinating and disgusting and curious is how much they spit. It's incredible! After they leave there will be like 6 square feet of wet disgusting spit where they were sitting. I wonder what they do with all that spit while they're in class?

edit: Derek and I were talking about all the spit and I mentioned how the guys sitting there are usually outnumbered by the girls at least two to one, and how the girls probably aren't spitting. He said something so obvious and simple that only a genius would recognize it: it's not spit. The guys are drooling while hanging out with the girls. Of course! 6 square feet of drool!

Location:SE Division St,Portland,United States

I've Got Some New

2010-06-11T00:38:00.001-07:00

reading material.

This will keep me busy for about 25 hours. I'd like to read between the lines as well.

"I'll give you a call for one last hurrah. And if you come see me, you will upset the order. On a good day you can see the end from here. When I see stars I feel your hand. And I reel again. And the will to remain for the duration. I'm afraid of The Big Return."

Then I'll be rereading an old classic.

"Only the vegetables can hear him." That's outside the lines in this tome.

Location:SE 51st Ave,Portland,United States