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characters

Scott

Tori

Curt

Sants

Brian

Amanda

kshot

Nugget

Zac

Mom

Lee

Chrissy

Ayr

Cheryl

Bret

Derrick

Kafka

Sophie

Seaweed

Rob

Steve

Jerdar

Kourtney

Nathan

Corey

Cooley

Arthur

Shane

Dani

Kevin

Lauren

CattleDecapitation

Jessica

Jon

Dan

Dave

Erik

Dad

Heidi

Ty

Gage

Mark

KO

Little Thingies

Jeff

Ted

Ryan

Fuzzy

Chase

Connie

Lace

Cal

Jon

One trophy, one miserable failure, one weird final.




Christmas travel.




Initial thoughts on Shadowverse Champions Battle and Gunfire Reborn. More Elden Ring and Across the Obelisk.




Prepping wood planks for the next project, chasing an elusive Gloomhaven personal quest, concatenate layers in ML, and a little bit of recreation.




Trading the stroller out for a baby backpack. Retrofitting old posts to new markup. A couple Elden Ring dragons.




Final thoughts on the live action Cowboy Bebop, diving into Far Cry 6, and the Back 4 Blood final boss.




Buckling down for the totally-predictable omicron surge by watching (anime) Cowboy Bebop, Wheel of Time, and audioreading Ringworld. Also: Back 4 Blood, Gloomhaven, Nioh 2, Mass Effect 3, and Risk of Rain 2. I should go outside. No, wait, omicron.




Jack arrived!




Hindenburg Research is short DKNG and Redditors discuss short selling. Hilti tools are the ultimate flex.




WSB donates its tendies to fellow apes. Some wheel trading analysis. Games: Bloodborne, Fire Emblem, Remnant.




Danielle arrives. And some other stuff while nevously awaiting delivery.




The first night surf photography session in awhile. Halloween, elections, brushfires, and stonks.




How to build a carbon fiber monopod for a telephoto. Part 2 of my TLOU2 review. Some other stuff in the era of covid.




I set up a remote X-Wing miniatures match for Jon and Rob. It gets heartwarmingly LARPy.




Saturday I put the remodeled media room to good use with some socially-responsible zombie killing. The Last of Us Pt II was released on Friday; the long-awaited follow up to a game that ranked third on J's all time list and fell just behind Metal Gear Solid on mine.




Covid eases. Less PUBG, more Payday. Some lockdown pastimes.




Lockdown video gaming, socially-distanced beer exploration, and site generator improvements.




Another week of quarantined programming, video games, and hitting f5 on economic news.




The uncertainity of two weeks ago has given way to various stages of compulsory home isolation.




Derrick, Jon, and I went to Whistler this year.




A road trip, Fire Emblem Three Houses, and BL3 Handsome Jackpot.




Hand-crafted lists and best-of content.




A Maui trip during humpback season.




Mount Hood brocation.




Christmas was the usual fare: travel, eggs benedict, prime rib, secret Santa, wine.




Halloween, PUBG, and a trip to Seattle.




Gaming: PUBG, fantasy, Alienation, God of War, X-Wing miniatures.




Neural style transfer using DL4J and other starter projects. An ATL trip and two hours before the mast.




Park City ski-brocation, a Kingwin HDD switch for multi-boot, and first thoughts on Sea of Thieves.




Weather, Monster Hunter, thoughts on my Zero S, and The Last Jedi.




Trips to Oakland, OC, and some Paragon.




Wedding.




Travel and Warframe.




Cache Creek rafting, pool vball, Warframe, and Witcher 3.




Ty got married.




The 'rents were out on Kauai for a birthday, so I joined them.




Some decorative surfboards and shelving.




Having played around with Jon and Derrick's GoPros this past month, I wanted to throw together a short video of the skiing, volleyball, and motorbiking. There were a few issues though.




Wiffle ball, high tide surfing, a Raiders game, and skiing.




Halloween happened four times this year. So, four costumes.




August is always the craziest month. So megapost.




The League of Sport camp and crawl and returning from Oregon by train.




The big island at 14,000 feet above sea level and 60 feet below.




The 2015 Blind Lady Ale House Cape Run.




After five years I bid qcom adieu to take on a new challenge in the startup world. This meant cleaning the cobwebs out of the study and setting up a proper work environment.




A couple of trips and an AT-AT costume for Kafka.




The 2014 Medieval Gridiron season has arrived, we drafted at Casa de Santos this past weekend. Good food, good drinks, Ryan and Dan drafted using the same fantasy football magazine - I know, right?




The last night session left me in need of a Ikelite-Ikelite sync cord with which I could trigger an off-camera SB800 using the Ikelite flash. My cord eventually came in and everything hooked up as it should.




An Ikelite underwater housing, a D700, and some night surfing.




KO turns 40, Dad turns 60 in Hawaii, Lee and Carly get married.




Okay, so my domain expired and I didn't renew it quick enough. When this happens they want $150 more so I just let it really expire and then re-registered, and did so through my host so that's nice. But I'm back, so let's see...




Cenote diving near Cancun and some fireworks watching.




Skiing Kirkwood and taking the dogs to Fiesta Island.




This year's Super Bowl party was probably the best so far. Since it's been cold, the original plan was to screen the game in the living room, but the cable line wasn't having any of it. Of course it was in the mid-eighties during the day so relocating the backyard wasn't a big deal.




Everyone made it out alive. No zombie flu, only a few stitches between the lot of us. The food rocked, there was a massive handegg match, dogs were all over the place.




The 2011 Red Bull Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.




E3 2011, deck work, and a shindig.




Removing the old, damaged railing.




Swapping HIDs into the VR4 and lots of powder in Tahoe.




Dog Seger and I spent a few hours on the road this weekend, making the standard Christmas journey.




Civilization V, Dave Matthews, and Warp Riders.




Fed up with the garage door that opened into the dryer (pictured below), I bought a replacement that would open into the side room. I went with a steel exterior type.




Like I said, no more Super Bowl at Players so Cheryl took it upon herself to organize a similar event with better food for half the cover.




I took a brief trip to NorCal. Ted's place is looking good, too bad he can't decide on a railing.




My 20mm f/2.8 came today, the one with the 62mm diameter. Doctor Daddy wants me to shoot his kid's first birthday party and the 50mm and 105mm won't cut it. The plan is to foreshorten the crap out of them (below) so they all look like bobbleheads. That's cute, right?




I've finally made the jump to two fantasy leagues, but will maintain my own rule that




Pinhole shots using the P-Sharan cardboard camera and film photos from dirtbiking Plaster City.




July 4th bbq and fireworks.




A trip to NoVa.




Well, I do have another time lapse [Ed: removed] from another epic Settlers match, 17 vps. This one added the great river and event cards, the latter being wondrous at enforcing a more reliable resource distribution. We'll see how Jon does with his.




Jon, Connie, and myself played a couple Settlers matches. We let White Lambda WIN both since it was his bday. He bailed from SoCal (WIN[?]) early because the prospect of being trounced at Axis and Allies cast a grim shadow over his remaining days.




This past Friday I was honored with my first piece of original art. My old boss came over with his family for some steaks and wings, his wife brought along an awesome Japanese-style painting. (And I did in fact straighten the frame after taking the photo.)




The pool light switch was backward. It broke the common so I was getting power to the light even with the switch open. That resolved, my sweet led bulb is working its magic at a whopping 2.75 watts, compared to the 500 watt incandescent I pulled out.




Dirt biking Plaster City, Settlers of Catan, bathroom renovation.




Rides has finally been done right. The featured machines hail from many countries, decades, and backgrounds. Caymans, Camaros, Skylines, new Mustangs, M3s; the list is extensive because no car survives more than a fraction of the film.




We left off with our heroes needing to remove some thin set. This called for a terrazo grinder, readily available from Sunbelt and not Clairemont Equipment. While I slaved away at a keyboard, dad and Jon took care of the downstairs concrete. Not to worry, I partook after they headed back to the Bay.




One of these weekends I'll mortar some brick bases around the pillars. But at least I have a well supported deck.




I had quite a few visitors this weekend. The main project - other than good times - was resupporting the deck.




Okay let's get started. Chris? Present. Okay, item one: paint the deck. Behr redwood semi-transparent. Two gallons coated it twice (barely) with each coat taking a couple hours.




Jon came down for the weekend. Naturally, this meant hot pot, Settlers, and diving. The hot pot was good, but needed chilies. Settlers was fun, Connie/Jessica beat Jon, Erik, and Jes/me. The dive was significantly different from Maui, but it was good to get underwater.




Some motorcycling, diving, and golfing on Maui




Erik's got a blog now. My forecast is interleaved Penn and Teller Bullshit-style rants and updates on the reich rocket (pictured). If only Connie, Curt, and me could convince him to join the photo class there'd be some great imagery to go with it. Relatedly, sign up for intermediate black and white at UnEx if you like to party.




San Diego was too cold so I flew north. Virgin is a pretty sweet airline. I played Doom all the way up, no credit card required. On the subject of video games I'm considering this one for the chilly January nights.




So the ol' 1.6 Athlon setup finally choked. Hard to say what it was, I've failed to diagnose the problem hardware having independently swapped everything out. I'll revisit when I'm setting the box up as a terminal in the garage.




I furnished the media room with some proper couches. They're just one palette up at the moment, but it's great for running audio wiring.




The 'rents came down this weekend. Mom bought me the taxadermed animal I wanted so badly.




I threw up a surf rack and a hanging device for the neoprene. The garage is slowly becoming more spacious.




Floors are in for the dining room, living room, and entryway. Now to find me a bearskin rug and moose head.




I tried the other angle and Jon found a football. And then a 2x4. The conflict started with sponges and quickly escalated.




Renovations.




Turning the corner gracefully on the hallway floor proved challenging. So we knocked off the entryway area pretty quick (two or three hours). It went well with Jon on the nail gun, Curt on precision sawing, and Connie and Krista picking planks. The ledge into the living room is being obstacular, the remaining gap is just larger than the width of the nosing.




Busy days and nights. The beams have been verathaned. The shower and fireplace are nearing completion. Tomorrow will be a foray into flooring. This weekend will feature some prodigious laying of hardwood.




The first round of tile went in to the downstairs shower. China multicolor slate.




Progress. I picked up the centerpiece for the media room. Furnishings include a futon and Justin's chair. The game systems are there, though tomorrow I have to call Microsoft to take the xbox back a second time. And the tv speakers were atrocious enough I immediately set up audio system.




A door.




Enjoying the bbq and pool.




Another day, another few photos. The kitchen is now cleaned up, real renovations (cabinetry, counters, sink, etc.) are planned for a later date. But tonight was the first real meal thanks to finally having a selection of appliances. That would be chicken and waffles, delish.




So a little while ago the Morelos Era came to an end. It was an lengthy, sickly death with people coming and going in the closing weeks - not befit of the three years of history within the walls. Everyone's parted ways for greater commitments, girls mostly, so I guess it's time to grow up. No more California burritos and daily house memes.




Truth: evaluative focus is complete rubbish. Stop using it, everyone. Anonymous Cohort 1 was about 50/50 for having cars in focus at the last autocross. Anonymous Cohort 2 shot yesterday and was about 30/70. More than one person in my photo class have presented photos completely out of focus.




Jon, J, and I watched the Aeon Flux Rifftrax. Such great commentary for such a terrible movie. If only we'd had the time to also do Over the Top.




I was chatting with Jon about the application of neural networks to stock trading, which is basically a perfect example for explaining the science. It went something like a'this:




Yesterday was autocross.




Jon's Falken Torque5s with Hankook K106s came today. Now we just need his car.




Is it a shame I have new wheels and tires before Jon? Yes. Will that be the case when his come in and they're shiny and scratch-free? No.




A few photos from Saturday's session at the MB jetty, thanks Connie. The weather is hot, the water is cold.




2 Fast 2 Furious (5)




Today was autocross. Here are some pretty pictures courtesy Connie and Ted.




Saturday started with Mario Galaxy and In 'n' Out, then we drove down to Qualcomm to scout the autocross scene. Jon and Ty rode with Erik for a couple of laps, J and I did some shooting. Can't wait to get the vr down there. Scroll down for more information on the autocross events.




We finally got on the bandwagon. Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah. Apologies, sore tendons makes me giddy. Rock Band is basically Forza with instruments instead of a wheel. It takes practice, patience, and you really can't compete at a high level without knowing the track. Damn, pun counter is at two already. I'm on fire.




Title courtesy Ty(R).




The 30th featured a trip to Northstar. I took the atc to see how it would stack up to the Canon. Pretty much the same results - nasty camera shake - but easier to wield. Videos may come later, but here are some stills from the 640x480 video.




Scene It Ty and I cleaned up on Saturday. Three comeback victories in a row against the roomies and their girlfriends.




The flight out was excellent all around. No rush, no traffic, no waiting. Jon was happy to take me to the airport at 5:45 and I got into Portland on time. Getting through Portland was smooth, the trolly is adjacent to the baggage claim and will take you all the way to Beaverton for a mere $2.00. I got through a fair amount of I Am America (And So Can You!) on the way.




On Saturday my mechanically-inclined associates hosted a soiree in commemoration of Halloween.




So in the past month:




They say when you die everything you've seen and known flashes in front of your eyes (or, by some accounts, it's more of a montage). I'm not there yet, but at 25 it's kinda like that. Pretty much everyone came out to eat some yaki burgers and play soccer, kickball, and football. It was most enjoyable, as I do like sports.




What do you buy for the spoiled little brother who gets everything? Road rash, of course. So I put together a dirt biking excursion to Corral Canyon. We rented a CRF230, TRX250, and XR400 from Califorina Motorsport. They were pretty good to rent from.




Played some tennis this morning.




The swell's a'comin'. Erik, Matt, and I went out to Fletcher's for some surf n' shoot. Then got pho with the White Lambda who stumbled into my large, empty house.




Flew out on United, landed at five local time. It's amazing how pleasant a flight can be with DS, an mp3 player, and copy of MC with twelve articles about the new Gizzixer. Mom, brother, and I ate at Coconuts. It wasn't bad, but a bit pricey/touristy.




March 17th started with Bailey's pancakes washed down with Guiness. From there the drinks only got nastier and nastier. More on that later.




A farewell to departing colleagues. Happy hour at Cozymel's.




So yesterday was the Player's Sports Bar Super Bowl shindig. It was all you can eat, all you can drink for a modest $75. And in the event that either half's kickoff be returned for a touchdown, everyone would get their money back and ten g's would be up for grabs in the raffle.




Fort Point in black and white.




Getting some motorcycling practice in.




Rosarito.




A ski trip.




A few shots from a Tahoe ski trip.




I tried my hand at snowboarding for the first time. Eh, skiing is better.