Mobil'Homme

Outta Here

2009-10-26T01:41:28Z

I never got into LiveJournal that much nor made that many posts, but the bill just came to extend my paid service, and that prompts me to make a decision: I won't be posting to LiveJournal anymore.

Most of you already follow me elsewhere--directly or indirectly. But in case you're curious, I'm most active in these locations:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mobilhomme
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mobilhomme
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilhomme
Tumblr: http://mobilhomme.tumblr.com

If you're also interested in moving off LiveJournal, I highly recommend Tumblr: it's dead simple, free, attractive, has lots of options, lots of subscribers, and has none of the kludginess of LiveJournal. Those of you who like posting to different groups of people will find Tumblr an inadequate substitute--but I do very little of that here or elsewhere.

All That's Left

2008-10-11T00:40:58Z

I've been feeling political today, which is unusual for me. Last week's ridiculous "bail out" followed by this week's stock market melt down coupled with the contentless debates and magical duck speak of the candidates brought me inspiration.

I guess I needed some catharsis.

Durrrrrr.......

2008-08-29T23:27:53Z

Addicting Games

2008-08-27T21:55:31Z

I warn you against doing this if you have a deadline to meet.

Fantastic Contraption is a game in which you are given a set of simple parts and must build a contraption to perform a task. In all cases, there is an Object and a Target Area with some obstacles between. The objective is to build a machine from the available parts to get the Object to the Target.

On the one hand, you can almost always build a Baroque contraption to achieve the goal by brute force, but I personally like the contraptions that minimize their design and achieve a result through elegance.

Here's one of mine:

Marital Help

2008-08-27T20:16:37Z

I ran across this today and thought I would share.

You're welcome.\

Shanghai Recap

2008-04-07T12:43:46Z

Last Saturday (March 30) I flew to Shanghai to do some consulting work on Intel's Developer Forum. I returned this Saturday. Here's a recap in no particular order:

We were booked at the Oriental Riverside Hotel--a big government-run hotel attached to the Convention Center. It sucks. So, on the second day I...

Moved us to the Marriott Union Square Executive Apartments--a business traveler type short-term apartment complex. It ruled. When I travel on business for more than a couple days, I'm going to try staying in suites/apartments more. It's MUCH more comfortable, and ends up costing the same when you have a few people sharing.

I heard comparisons of Shanghai to Las Vegas--I agree. My impressions are that it's an inelegant, inorganic city. It's history and culture are thin. It's been scraped off so many times, I think, that it just hasn't developed the patina and cultural complexity that make other cities so vibrant. Of course, maybe I just didn't locate the complexity and richness.

It is a fun place to shop, and in the right places, it's fun to haggle. There, it's a sport: after talking and old fellow down from 150rmb to 35rmb on a funny little carving, I handed my money over and he grinned broadly and patted me on the back as if to say "well done, white boy."

But it's also a pushy city full of fakes--people are always up in your grill trying to sell you something, or scam you, or convince you that you're getting something authentic. It's a city ful of fake designer goods, fake antiques, big fancy faccades hiding shoddy workmanship, fake communist propaganda. For someone who believes strongly in authenticity, it takes its toll. The phrase to learn is "boo-yao" which roughly means "don't want it" but the relentless sales pitches get tiresome and one should go prepared to be "taken advantage of."

While there I taught a couple of beginner Balboa classes to their local swing scene. Both were well attended and I received enthusiastic responses. Wrangling the multilingual classes was difficult, though, and teaching without Shana proved challenging. But, I can fudge the follower's part at the beginner level and people seemed to get it and have fun, so I would call it a success. I also attended their regular Tuesday dance which was fun, although the dancers are very rough around the edges.

Bikehugger is a terrific connector for us. Dahon loaned us a pair of folding urban bikes for the duration which we used to get to and from the convention center and we hooked up with a British Expat/cycling blogger who we know from blogging. He took us for an urban ride winding through the backstreets, and we saw a little of the "real" Shanghai. Then we went back to his house for beers, popcorn from a street vendor, and hanging with his son. It was a nice afternoon.

On our last day, we hired a translator/tour guide and a driver and toured the city for sight-seeing and shopping. We visited the Jade Buddha temple and, as it was a national spiritual holiday, the temple was in full show. If I was ever to join a religion, I think it would be buddhism. No rsk of that ever happening, though. back to his house for beers, popcorn from a street vendor, and hanging with his son. It was a nice afternoon.

Our guide took us to a variety of shopping centers for pearls, silk, "antiques," tea, etc. Although she was getting a kickback from each of these places we did find some pretty good deals. I bought Shana a strand of very nice pearls and matching drop earrings that seemed to go over well, and I had a fun time looking at the merchandise and doing some haggling. Next time, I will try to get a guide and driver again, but I will see if I can arrange it so the agenda is less driven by the guide's kickbacks and more driven by showing me authentic sights.ack to his house for beers, popcorn from a street vendor, and hanging with his son. It was a nice afternoon.

The new camera held up great and was a ton of fun to shoot with. Can't wait to learn more and polish my SLR skills. Canon Digital Rebel XTi.

Elopement Action Photographer

2008-03-24T05:44:21Z

This guy was awesome.

Oh yeah, also, we eloped. Shana can tell you the rest.

mobil_homme @ 2007-12-21T13:12:00

2007-12-21T20:14:49Z

Bailey's Magical Xmas Special:

Dog bless us, everyone!

The Office

2007-12-17T20:26:53Z

Not long after I officially moved in with Shana, we decided that we HAD to remodel the spare bedroom to accommodate my office, her office, all our clothes and shoes, sewing space for her, and a guest bedroom. We just have too much stuff together and needed to add a bunch of storage to hold everything. That's a lot for 120 square feet.

After much discussion and negotiation, we hit upon a solution:

A built-in desk for two, storage cabinets above, plus a new wardrobe, mainly for shoes, in addition to the now-more-efficient closet. An aero-bed, neatly hidden away, could accomodate our guests.

In October we put in a new cork floor (which is wonderful) and Shana painted the walls, and for the past six-or-so weeks, I've been working on building the desks which, though simple in design, were time consuming to finish. 10 days ago we also took a HUGE shipment from Ikea containing wardrobe, cabinetry, and lots of other goodies.

I'm proud to announce that this weekend we put in the desks and cabinets, and they seem to be just right. We've a lot of odds and ends, but this was a major hurdle. Until we finish and have our official office christening, pictures will have to suffice:

Still left to do:

Under cabinet lighting
"Backsplash" (metal or possibly grass cloth)
Art for the in-between cabinet nook (and art light)
New curtains for closet and window
Build/stain/finsh mobile peninsula
Ambient lighting solution

More Coverage....

2007-11-17T22:11:01Z

Hey, we're in Computerworld!

Did I Mention We're in Dwell?

2007-10-29T01:19:05Z

Dwell Report 6
Originally uploaded by Hugger Industries

My business partner is the expert for "Dwell Reports" in this month's issue of Dwell magazine. It's nice exposure for Bike Hugger and for Textura Design--a couple of our businesses. Pick up a copy if you're interested in what he has to say about urban bikes.

Sharks with Lasers....

2007-10-21T17:54:00Z

Sometimes, coming home from a foreign country really makes me want to go into the criminal mastermind business.

Departing TPE was easy, stress-free, even peaceful. I didn't even have to take my laptop out of my briefcase, let alone perform all the other rituals involved in U.S. flying, and the other passengers were well-behaved and polite. The airport was clean, comfortable, and quiet.

Arriving at SFO is jarring. It's noisy, smelly, and disorganized. People who left Taipei without any fuss become idiots upon stepping onto U.S. soil--they start elbowing, nervously craning their necks, and running into eachother with luggage carts. Customs is frantic and confusing. The agents are surly and stupid. Everything feels slap-dash--like no one has ever thought about how an airport might function.

We have the worst customs and airport security I've experienced--perhaps with the exception of Estonia.

I'm adamantly not a self-loathing American, but I don't understand the disaster that is the experience of entering the U.S. My suspicion is that it's such a mess because everyone knows, deep down, that x-raying everyone's shoes just isn't a viable security policy. Make enough people go through the motions of a pro-forma ritual enough times, and you end up with a lot of bad-tempered zombies.

So Glad to be Headed Home....

2007-10-21T00:41:02Z

Miss Shana terribly. Only needed two extra days in Taipei instead of the four I took. Travel belly. That is all. KTHXBAI

Quick Update from Taipei

2007-10-18T03:59:55Z

After a very long day of travel, I arrived in Taipei late this past Saturday.

On Sunday, we went for a 20 mile ride around Taipei with a couple guys from Dahon. So much fun. The traffic in Taipei is controlled chaos, and you ride in close proximity to cars, truck, and the gazillion scooters--but at no time did I feel threatened by traffic.

We rode south west of Taipei 101 to Bitan lake were we ate really excellent pizza and and drank Stellas. The pineapple here is like no other I've tasted.

On the way back, we climbed a nice little hill and had an exhilarating descent back into downtown Taipei. On the way, we partook of Betel nut--a working-class stimulant--for which we received some guff.

Monday was consumed largely with Intel. Afterward, however, we went to Dahon HQ to look at bikes and speak with their leadership. The bikes are bitching and the Dahon people really have fun playing with their concepts. Hopefully we will do more with them.

Then it was off to explore more of Taipei with Thomas, Matt, and Ingrid from Dahon. We went to a Buddhist temple, wandered around some night markets, and finally ended up in a Chinese medicinal restaurant.

My pineapple and bitter melon broth with black chicken is in the foreground. I can't really recommend it, but everyone else enjoyed their meals.

Tuesday was again an Intel day and afterward we had a celebratory dinner for IDF participants. We received the sign of approval of our work: an invitation next April to Shanghai. So apparently we were considered valuable to the event and we'll be pitching some new ideas to our customers.

As the party was in taipei 101--the tallest building in the world--Byron and I went to the top (in the fastest elevator in the world). Both are very impressive. I could have stood around taking pictures all night.

Yesterday I spent mostly working and moving from one hotel to a new one. The new one is in a much older, gritter part of town and at half the price of the Grand Hyatt, is has about twice the character.

Then I met with some people--Aron and Scalley--who I met on the internet through Flickr. Aron has some great Taipei food photos and after talking back-and-forth, he agreed to take me eating. We went to the Shilin night market and ate Shanghai style dumplings (Yum!)

Spicy fried chicken breast (Yum!)
Pork buns (yum!)
Stinky tofu (yum!)
Noodles with tripe (eh)

And finished off with odd ice cream prepared using a repurposed drill press contraption to spin a frozen block of the ice cream against a blade, creating paper-thin ice cream shavings.

We had some kind of citrus, sweet flavor and peanut butter. Both amazing.

Busy so far. Much more to do.

Los Angeles: Mission Accomplished

2007-09-11T21:03:36Z

On Thursday we flew to LA for Baljam. Shana got herself booked to DJ at Lindygroove and arranged to stay the weekend with Lance and Vicky. The plan was to shop, eat, DJ, and dance Balboa. All four were accomplished.

Thursday:

We arrived at Lance and Vicky's in the afternoon. It's an understatement to say their house is beautiful, even though it's still in progress. The location is wonderful&8212;just off Melrose in West Hollywood&8212;and the 20s Spanish architecture is charming. The guest suite is gorgeous, with an incredible bathroom (marble, tile, HUGE bathtub with dual shower heads), and French doors from the bedroom opening onto a lovely, enclosed front courtyard. It's going to be even more amazing when they remaining work is completed.

After some nice chatting and a dinner at a local place called Table 8, we headed off to Lindygroove in Pasadena. I had a great time, even though I took it easy dance-wise. The floor at the venue is beautiful, and it was packed from beginning to end&8212;Shana's set killed. One quote from a Lindygroove regular, related by Lance (paraphrased by me): "it wasn't at all the kind of music I like dancing to, yet, I was having such a good time I couldn't stop dancing." I think when you go to an established venue and succeed in giving the regulars something new, that's saying something.

We ended the night with a delicious late night snack at In-n-Out. Yum!

Friday:

We spent the day shopping and eating. Lance and Vicky introduced us to a little, crappy-looking sushi place called Sushi Time, where we had an amazing omakase. It was so good my head swims thinking about it.

Then Shana and I went to a few shops, including ReMix. I'm glad to finally have seen their men's shoes in person&8212;I don't like them and so can stop thinking about buying some. Later, we went to AOC Winebar for Shana's birthday where we had awesome Tapas, mediocre wine, and crappy service. The friend who suggested it later told me that she forgot to tell me to sit at the bar to get the best pairings. Oh well, it was still fun.

Then, off to Santa Monica for the first Baljam event: DJed dancing at a nice little event hall. Marianne and Kyle DJed, and I would like to say, in the nicest possible way, that I am fucking sick of the monotonous instrumental trad dreck served up by these two (punctuated by obnoxious, ear-splitting, loud-mouth commentary from Kyle). Granted, Kyle has a great collection and incredible knowledge, but you must also know how to spin. Of the two of them, I have only seen Kyle dance, and then only occasionally and only just passably.

Saturday:

We made our way to Beverly Center to visit H&M. We got some staples there and then, on the way out, I spied the Ben Sherman store and had to stop in. Then, on the way out, I spied the Eilatan store and had to stop in, where we each proceeded to find dozens of shoes. I bought these:

I found out later than the brocade ones are girls shoes. So, if my feet turn queer, that's why.

We also visited Modernica to decide if we want a pair of these for matching office chairs:

Answer: Yes pleeeeze!

That night we had a low key dinner at Whole Foods before heading to Baljam and Jonathan Stout in Santa Monica. It was also low-key, and the orchestra was somehow not totally on. We were both a little grumpy and edgy and Shana decided to go home while I went to the late night dance. The contests were good, but the floor sucked. I enjoy dancing with Teni in part because, when it sucks, she's right there embracing the suckness. That's what we did on Saturday, preferring to stand pulsing and doing touch-steps than continue to struggle with the crappy, rosin-covered floor.

Sunday:

We got up late with a plan of wandering around, maybe going to a flea market, and then going to Ikea on the way to Bobby McGees in Brea. Lance and Vicky decided to join us, so we walked together the two blocks to the flea market. On arriving, it looked kind of lame, but Lance convinced us to go in, offering to pay the $2 cover.

Inside, we started find booths full of good stuff. Great vintage pieces of jewelry, interesting, unique furniture, and lots of books at records. And great prices. Thanks to Lance for dragging us in.

We rounded a corner and my heart leaped when I saw a booth displaying vintage posters. It was one of those moments when you see, or hear, or taste something completely unknown to you, but which you recognize immediately. It was a booth full of original, vintage serigraphs from the 60s and 70s. The style was "familiar" but I had never seen the work before and I fell in love immediately. As I got closer, I realized they were all signed, numbered originals.

They turned out to be from a designer named David Weidman. He had been a Los Angeles illustrator and designer in the world of ads and cartoons from the 50s to the 70s, and then started creating serigraphs as art. Anyone familiar with "Fractured Fairy Tales" might recognize his style. I know it's not everyone, but for me, this is exactly what one hopes to find at a flea market: an under-valued treasure. We bought four prints of various sizes from his nephew&8212;a surly man who implied that he would do nasty things to me if I did not return to buy the prints I had asked him to hold. He became much more friendly when I returned with a fist full of cash.

Afterwards, adrenaline still pumping from the art, we dropped off the flea-market finds and headed toward food, stopping into various cool little shops along the way. The macrobiotic lunch at M cafe on La Brea and Melrose was delish and we had a bonus star siting: Elizabeth Berkley of Showgirls fame.

On the way back we stopped at Fluvog to try on shoes, and the at Goorin Bros. hats. Whereupon I bought hats, undeterred by the fact that I never wear hats.

Ikea and Bobby McGee's? Eh....not so much.

Back at L&V's we hot tubbed and then headed off for the Derby for the last night of Baljam. This was preceeded by a stop for Pho. I learned that I Taiwan Beer is yummy. Also, pho is not too bad.

Shana and I had some really fun slow, made-up Bal-esque dances to Mora's and it was cool to finally see the Derby. Mora's sextet was tight and awesome.

But the true highlight of the weekend was getting to know and hang out with Lance and Vicky, who could not have been better hosts and who, we discovered, are fun, gracious, interesting people. I love uncovering little treaures like that.

My Head Was About to Explode....

2007-09-04T20:13:03Z

So I posted this. I'm feeling much better now.

[For the curious, I will simply note that one need not be a Democrat to hate Republicans. One can hate them both simultaneously and with equal fervency.]

Moving Stuff, Organizing Stuff

2007-09-04T03:10:46Z

This labor day, Shana and I decided to celebrate the true spirit of the holiday. Instead of buying into all the Labor Day hype and commercialism, we didn't go camping, boating, barbecuing, or road tripping. Rather, we expressed our solidarity with all the laborers of the world, and worked.

It was the Great Stuff Merger: On Saturday I performed radical surgery on Shana's garage, installing shelves and removing lots of stuff from both garage and house. Sunday was spent removing more stuff and organizing as well as delivering Shana's old couch to Pete and Marybeth and picking up my couch and other large items. Then today, we emptied my apartment of remaining stuff and filled Shana's garage back up again.

Hooray for stuff!

Next weekend we go to LA for Baljam. Shana DJs at LindyGroove on Thursday and her birthday is on Saturday, so it will be a weekend of dancing, food, and shopping. Maybe somewhere in there we'll find time to relax, too.

One Ring to Rule Them....

2007-08-25T17:38:45Z

On Thursday we went and bought Shana's ring. What's that you say? You thought we'd already bought it? Psych!

Actually, we knew from the outset that the princess would have to be reset and we could never find a setting we liked. Meanwhile, we found a ring design at Tiffany that we really liked and then, last Saturday, a similar ring at a local custom jeweler.

I was pretty much sold when the owner--a younger, healthier, less grungy version of Tom Waits--spent two hours showing us diamonds under a microscope and just talking about ring designs. We went in there thinking we'd get something custom made. But, there was a ring in the case that kept catching our notice. A nice size, shiny, sparkly, a perfect design for Shana's lifestyle, and "contemporary" without being cheesy. Very sleek and minimalist and beautiful on her hand.

We went back in on Thursday, and took another look. We were both sold when they told us it could be resized and shipped* to us by the end of the day.

I must admit, it's a little shocking to spend that kind of money in one fell swoop, even though I knew intellectually what the final figure would come to. If you ever need to really experience the sense of having made a serious decision, go spend the cost of a kitchen renovation on a piece of jewelery. It tends to brings it home.

But, what a great investment. It looks beautiful on Shana, matches her personality and lifestyle, and I get the added enjoyment of watching her admire it every few minutes.

[*Since we live in unincorporated Boulder, we saved 3.5% in city tax, which adds up when buying a hunk of rock and platinum. And, a little delay of gratification never hurt anyone.]

Vote for me

2007-08-23T17:27:35Z

SxSW Interactive is one of the more important Online-media related conferences of the year (nope, it's not just for music). It used to be that if you knew someone on the panel selection committee, you could probably get yourself a speaking gig there.

Not anymore. Last year they put it to popular vote. Now you have to submit your panel idea and let the unwashed masses vote for (or against) you. No doubt, the organizers turned it into a popularity contest because of accusations that it was just a popularity contest.

So, here's where you come in: Vote for Me! (And my colleague, Jay, too.) Anyone can vote, you'll have to create an account, etc. But it only takes a few minutes and it will be a big help. If you're feeling REALLY helpful, vote against some other panels too, since the SxSW organizers have turned this into a zero-sum game.

If you're interested, here's where I posted on it at our agency blog.

Netfux

2007-08-22T21:45:37Z

N

The expletives uttered when you get that friendly email informing you that your next three DVDs will be unwatchable vintage art house cinema that you put in your queue three years because they were recommended on a "movies anyone who aspires to the label 'pretentious' must see" list published by the Grandious Movie Critic's Guild.

I Need Help

2007-08-21T15:22:18Z

I need to find a control freak to run my professional life and to start doing project management for my agency.

http://www.texturadesign.com

I posted a job description here:

http://denver.craigslist.org/bus/398699018.html

Pay is going to be $25-$60/hour, and it's a work-from-home, contract job.

If you know anyone who could be a fit, send them my way.

Things of which I have grown weary....

2007-08-17T01:59:13Z

Guys wearing flip-flops, olive green shorts, and black polo shirts. Seriously, I never get the memo on these things, and then I go out in public, and then I stick out like a sore thumb.

Also, shaved heads and goatees.

What I was Going to Say....

2007-08-14T22:22:39Z

In response to another thread going on nearby.

I thought I'd weigh in with a few thoughts from the "hasn't been dancing very long" perspective." (I will have been dancing for about two years next January). Here's what I've observed and, BTW, these are not directed at any one person, these are just some things I've seen lots of people having difficulties with:

All the best dancers bust their asses to get and stay good.
When I work hard and focus on improving, I get better. When I don't, I don't. I try not to let this take me by surprise.
Just because someone exerts effort, spends money, wishes really hard, or takes lots of classes does not mean they will become objectively good.
Relax.
A lot of dancers think they're much better than they are, but most of the really good dancers think they're much worse than they really are. The corollary to this is: if you think you're good, odds are you suck.
Some of the "rock stars" are assholes while some are really nice and helpful. If you take classes and ask for help from the latter group and avoid the former, you tend to have better experiences. (This also works in life.)
Neither type will come hunt you down and stroke your ego for you--you've got to go find them and respect their time and energy.
It helps to watch and listen to good dancers and to your instructors. As the American Indian proverb goes: "You have two eyes, two ears, but only one mouth. So shut the f--k up already."
If the competitions are unfair and rigged such that the rock star judges only choose other rock stars as winners, why are you so fussed about the results?
When, on the social dance floor, some visiting rock star keeps sending his follow into you, it never hurts to humbly smile and say "Sorry Skye!" Especially if the culprit is Peter Strom.

LOTR 2007

2007-08-13T21:05:30Z

I really enjoyed myself at my first ever LOTR. I was relaxed and, probably as a consequence, had some really fun dances with Shana, Annette, Jme, and quite a few others. They were fun for me at least and I think the lesson of the weekend was: not really caring is key to having good dances. I had a number of follows warn me in advance that they were tired, or broken, or just sucking, and we went on to have really good dances, probably because I gave myself permission in those cases to keep it simple. The simple dances were the best.

I skipped the classes and the contests, which is probably why I was relaxed. My fabulous fiancée deservedly won the Balboa J&J and a little part of me wished I had competed.

As much as she has practiced and worked on her Balboa, Shana certainly earned the win and I think she objectively gave the best performances up there. In her third dance, she was partnered with Ben Morris, and you could just see his (limited) Balboa blossom with her. It was really fun to watch and to see that hard work and concentration really pays.

Only one out of my top three Balboa leads placed and I was surprised that the overall level of leading was not higher--I didn't think there were any standout leaders, which probably made it hard to judge, though I thought Joshua got robbed. Overall, I did agree with the judging of the follows--my top four included the judge's top three, though I might have quibbled with the relative placement (with the exception of Shana).

I did have one thought during the event: enough with the "no taping" already. Seriously, are you going to lose that much money on your big-fish-small-pond event if you just let people tape and photograph? My guess is that, long term, letting people take videos and photos and post them on the Internet will benefit you in terms of attendance, and even if that's not the case, is the lesson of the music industry not clear enough for you? Some clever party is going to figure out that the free, massive distribution and underlying audience potential of peer-authored media is a potential benefit, not a hazard.

Eat This

2007-08-09T22:21:38Z

I ran across these at Safeway a few weeks ago. I've tried the Sea Salt Corn Chips and the Sea Salt Potato chips and bought are excellent. These are not the horrible baked crud they try to pawn off nor the fake oil chips that taste and feel like they were fried in synthetic 10w-40. Apparently, Popchips are "popped" under heat and pressure with some, but minimal, fat. However they do it, it works. They taste and feel like real food at a fraction of the calories of conventional chips. Which is salvation for a salt+carbs+fat addict like me.