Zombies

I don't like scary movies. My wife and I were remembering just last night that the last really scary movie we saw was "The Ring." That was back in '02 and I still regret seeing it.

I do however enjoy "killing" the undead, if that's the word for it, whenever possible through various video games. The very best game for all ages would be the De-Animator by Bum Lee. You all need to head over there and De-Animate some zombies right now. Don't worry, it's not bloody or anything, all the flesh eaters are shown in silhouette and it's very uncomplicated. Fun the whole family can enjoy. Here's a couple of tips, there are three types of zombies, shooting them in different locations will expose their weaknesses. Use the shift key to switch to the shotgun but remember the shotgun reloads really slow. All the zombies die with just one shot when they are emerging from the underworld.

My high score is 138, top that and brag about it right here. Good luck and good hunting.

Edit: 182 at 7:48 this morning. That is the new record.


PS I am not responsible for all the things you will neglect because of this game i.e. work, laundry, children, eating, church stuff, philanthropic pursuits or your social calender.

Bike snobbery.

I know that you have all been waiting for this so here are some progress pictures of the new Coconino. I ripped these from Steve Garro's blog Great blog if you are ever interested.

This is what Steve had to say on his blog.

Mark W., this is your bike! a single speed curved top tube 29er with slider dropouts. nice! i get to use one of the sweeet prestige seat tubes i still have stashed from 94' because it fits jussstt right. a fine mix - true temper, prestige, dedacciai, 4130 and paragon. this baby will be going to southwestern Utah.



So he takes that box of parts and starts working his voodoo magic.






This is the final project ready to go to paint. Steve's shop is in Flagstaff and they got a little snow.



Curvaceous deliciousness.



You don't find work like this every day. Steve uses a brazing technique instead of your normal welds and then files, sands and buffs those babies to perfection.



Sarah didn't realize that this is what she was getting me for Christmas. She is so lucky that I am easy to shop for.
Hopefully the next post will be of the complete bike. Stay tuned.

Worst ever

For lack of any really important or interesting topics I give you this, if you make it all the way through you are stronger than I.

I posted it and I can't make it all the way through





I have seen better film on teeth.

OUT

Watching people sing is painfull

Nobody came to my door this year caroling, come to think of it nobody came last year either. Has this tradition jumped the shark or just in my neighborhood? I have to admit I am kind of glad, think back to the last time carolers came to your door. You were enjoying a quiet evening at home with your family when this shows up at your door.




So to be nice you stand there letting all the cold air in watching people try to revive a tired tradition from the days before we had radio, CD's or Ipod's. I have to admit I have always felt uncomfortable watching people sing up close like that. Especially when they don't sing well but I am pretty sure you could put me in a room with Pavarotti and I would feel the same way.

So I googled caroling and apparently it is still a viable Christmas tradition in many parts of the world. In fact I found a website that teaches you how to put on your own Caroling Party.

Here are the high points;

Invite friends who really enjoy singing ' on key, that is. Members of a church choir or other singing group would be perfect.

Step2

Invite other friends who can't hold a tune. Tell them they can help decorate your tree, so they won't feel they have to sing. Chances are they'll join in the caroling anyway.

Step3

Ask guests to bring their favorite scarves, hats and mittens to get the right look.

Step4

Buy books of Christmas carols for your guests. Make sure everyone will have a copy since many people do not know every verse to every carol.

Step5

Make candle holders by poking holes into paper plates if you plan to carol outside. Slide the candles through the paper plate. These candles will provide light so people can read the lyrics.

I would like to add my own step 6; Be sure to make eye contact with the people to whom you are singing to ensuring true and total discomfort.

The very mediocre band Blink 182 came out with a Christmas song a few years ago that has been a staple in our house since I found it. If you are already offended by this post and believe that caroling is fun and enjoyed by all, feel free to navigate away from this page and go no further.

04 BLINK 182 - I Won't be Home for Christmas from http://menotyou.vox.com/


I hope you all had a Merry Christmas with or without the carolers.

Memory Lane

I was thinking this week about a trip that I took to Moab back in 96' with Johnson and Dustin. Dust had his Landcruiser and Johnson was driving his Toyota truck that was loaded with who knows what until the springs where resting on the stops. He had his bike on top of the load and as we headed up Mapleton Canyon his bike fell of and proceeded to bounce down the hiway. Lucky for him the only casualty was his seat. The rest of the bike came out relatively unscathed, a minor miracle.

Here is Johnson with his new seat right at the top of the single track on Porcupine Rim.



It was early spring and still a little cold. We finished Porcupine rim and realized that he had forgot the keys to his Land Cruiser back at the trail head in Johnson's truck. We proceeded to break into and hot wire the vehicle with a Topeak Alien Multitool. We were congratulating ourselves on our cunning until we ran out of gas three miles down the road and had to hitch a ride back to town.



You can tell it was the mid 90's because of the facial hair and the retro green gloves and fork. That was the Sean Palmer specail edition Manitou, oh how I lusted after that fork.





This is the Alien tool we used for our breaking and entering. Dusty and I are both Eagle Scouts which I am sure helped us in our McGyverness. Which is probably the only thing I ever got out of being a scout. Which brings up a point completely off subject, why did all the scout leaders tell us that we could put it on a resume and get a job? I am glad that I don't have a son because I would never have to lie to him to get him to go to scouts.

Back to the story; we drove around the rest of the trip having to start the vehicle with the screwdriver option.
This is the kind of stuff that happens more often than you think, you can't get those experiences on a golf course.

The problem with a tool that can do everything is that is does nothing really well but it's easy to carry and when your in a bind you take what you can get.

I have a million Moab stories, maybe next time I will tell you how we got stuck. Destroyed a truck, a washing machine, a car wash and bailed on a tow truck service call that saved us $300, all in the space of about 5 hrs.

Good times in Moab..........good times.

Recent goings on

A week or so ago Mike Curiak was back in town and we got together out at Gooseberry.

This is myself and if memory serves a guy named Fred who resides in Moab. You meet all kinds of characters through cycling. Mike is also a great photog and caught us with the peaks of Zion in the background.


This is a video shot by Curiak that I ripped from his blog. He has a helmet camera that really gives some good perspective of what it's like to ride. I defy you to watch this and tell me that it doesn't look like fun.

Untitled from lacemine29 on Vimeo.

School uniforms

A friend of mine from High school found a couple of pictures that I thought you all might want to see. I don't remember having school uniforms but here is the proof in black and white.

White T shirt? Check. Timberlands? Check. Acid washed jeans? Check. Mullets? Check.
Top row; Brent Allsop, Todd Passey, Dustin Warr.
Bottom row; Mike Bearnson, Matt Izatt and Yours Truly.
That was from our senior year seated on the "senior bench in the lobby at THE Bountiful High.


Graduation trip to Lake Powell. If memory serves this was taken in the parking lot at Stromboli's Pizza in Page Arizona. Let's play where's Marco. The first to locate me correctly wins a prize.


There is a lot of neon colors in that picture and some really short shorts. I remember being pretty cool but I had no idea I was that cool.