2.22.2013

Tweet summary on 02-22-2013 for the past 7 days

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 2:00 AM 0 comments  

2.21.2013

Pics of Strider

K. managed to get some pictures of Strider last night, while he was riding around on my shoulers.



Posted by Scott Zrubek at 12:39 PM 1 comments  

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Tweet summary on 02-21-2013 for the past 7 days

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2.20.2013

Boskone 50, aka a weekend update

I took a trip up to Boston for Boskone this past weekend, mainly to chat with folks about Art Show lighting.  I also help sit the table for LoneStarCon 3 to sell memberships, and was finally able to meet an online aikido friend in meat space.  Quite cool!

Thursday

Up at 3:30 a.m. to catch a 6:05 a.m. flight out of Hobby.  K woke up and drove me to the airport because she wanted to be able to use both vehicles at some point during the weekend.  I got through TSA fairly quickly, boarded the plane, and took off.  On the first leg I was able to doze.  On the second leg I managed to get some reading of "Borne in Blood" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbor done.

Arrived in Boston, and bought a 7 day MBTA pass.  Hopped the Red Line to the Aquarium station and found myself right in front of my hotel.  The hotel had a great location for everything except the convention, but with judicious planning that became a non-factor.  I checked in, repacked the suitcase and backpack for convention going, and then headed off to the convention hotel.


I tried following the Google Maps directions, but they were so detailed they were useless.  So, I got a general sense of where they were sending me and explored.  I had some trouble once I got to World Trade Center Station trying to figure out the best way through/around, but I managed.  the distance from hotel to hotel was about 1.4 miles.

I got to the Westin and discovered that there was nothing to do for the con for another few hours.  I chatted a bit with Jim Mann and Ben Yalow until they went off to a meeting.  At that point, I curled up with the book again.

At around 5, I went down to the con and helped to set up the Art show.  My height, as usual, was called into service several times.  I stayed there until about 10, and then walked back to the Harborside Inn.


Friday

Up around 7, I walked about 0.8 miles to the Capitol Coffee House on Bowdoin.  It's a small local, Italian-family owned place.  Decent food, obviously a bunch of regulars were dining there.  From there, back to the Harborside and then off to the Westin.  I helped with more setup until a little before 4. 

At that point, I took off on MBTA to get up to Beverly to see Poxbox at his aikido dojo.  I took the Silver Line to south Station, caught the Red Line to Park Street Station, the Green Line to North Station, and the commuter rail to Beverly.  I partially attempted this when I was at Boskone 4 years ago, but I was under the weather and was cognitively impaired.  I failed back then.  I succeeded this time.


I got to the dojo, met Eric and watched the class.  Afterwards, we drove to Salem and ate at the Salem Beer Works.  Decent food and good beer.

Eric then drove me back into town and dropped me off at the hotel.

Saturday

Up at 6 a.m. to make it to Kane's donuts in Saugus, Ma. at a decent time.  I'd seen Kane's on a Food Channel program that rated it as one of the 10 best donut shops in the U.S., so I had to give it a try.  through conversations on Friday, it was recommended that I get some extra to hand out at the LSC3 table, so I planned on getting 2 dozen.


So, the trip was on the Blue Line to Wonderland Station and then the 426 bus to Kane's.  It took about 45 minutes.  Kane's is a small little place, about the size of the typical Shipley's in Houston.  5 tables and a small counter facing outside, for folks to sit and eat at.  After I grabbed my 2 dozen, and a t-shirt, I went and waited for the bus.


It was snowing, and my phone said the bus would be a while, so I went back inside and ate a couple of donuts.  They were pretty good.  They did offer quite a variety!


Outside again, in the snow, I caught the bus in to Wonderland station.  I think my connections were as follows: Wonderland to Airport Station on the Blue Line, Airport Shuttle to terminal A, Silver Line to World Trade Center.  And then walk to the Westin.

So, I sat at the table and wandered the Art Show and Dealer's Room.  At around 5 I chatted with Chip Hancock about lighting and then got my "Faces of Science Fiction" signed by Jerry Pournelle.

Sasha, one of a few dogs wandering the con

I then walked to "No Name Restaurant" where I had broiled swordfish and blueberry pie.  the blueberry pie was forgettable, but the Swordfish was okay.

Then on back to the Harborside.

Sunday

Up around 7 or so and off to breakfast at the Paramount.  The trip there required a couple of connections on the subway and a 6 block walk in driving snow and pretty cold temps.  I was wondering whether they would be open, given the conditions.  When I got there at their opening time and saw several folks already inside, I realized that this is typical weather for Boston, they would not close for this.



I had French Toast, bacon and orange juice.  Good stuff.


Reversed my travel, bundled up nice and warm for the walk to the Westin and headed back to the con.

More sitting at the table, more chatting about lighting, and I got my "Faces of Fantasy" signed by Greer Gilman.  Then, tear down of the Art Show.

Then off to dinner at Amrhein's with a bunch of the Art Show folks, back the the Westin and then the cold walk back to the Harborside.

Monday

Up around 7, off to a nearby Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.  Not that great.

On to the T to get to the airport.  Got through TSA and onto the plane.  Managed to get the seat with double legroom.  Reading CQY's "Commedia della Morte".  I finished that book on the second leg and started John Scalzi's "Fuzzy Nation"

We were delayed in the air by storms at Hobby, so we got in a bit late.  K was there, waiting to take me home

An adventurous and productive weekend.




Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:55 AM 0 comments  

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2.13.2013

Sourdough from this weekend

I made a loaf of sourdough this weekend.  Started on Saturday, reviving the starter, and then moved on to mixing the dough on Sunday.  The recipe called for the dough to ferment in the refrigerator overnight (which I had not noticed - I do tend to under-investigate recipes before plunging into them).  So after the bulk fermentation, I put the loaf in the banneton, covered it with a cloth and slid it into the fridge.

Monday, after work, I got it out of the fridge and put it on my rising shelf (the top shelf over the washing machine) to let it get ready for the oven.  After about two hours, the dough was ready.  I'd already heated the oven and the baking stone, so I put the loaf on my homemade bread peel and slit it onto the baking stone.  I spritzed the loaf with water, covered it with the body of one of my enamel roasting pans, and let the heat do its work.

It turned out amazing!  My best loaf yet!  Even though I did not turn the oven down when I should have, and the result had just a little charring.  The crust was fabulous, the crumb was great and the look was perfect.  You'll notice, in the pictures of the cut slices, the left bottom corner is just a little too dark.

Below are pictures.





Thanks to Northwest Sourdough for the recipe and technique.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:37 AM 2 comments  

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Volleyball, 3-0

We had a good game last night, against one of the newer teams.  The first game we won fairly convincingly, the next two were pretty close.  I think we let off a bit, we were not playing well in the last two games.

I took a risk and did some jumping during the match and, while I can tell I did a little more than normal, the knee's not giving me a lot of grief.

2-0 so far this season.  Cool.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:23 AM 0 comments  

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2.11.2013

Lunching out: Papa Gayo's

I stopped by Papa Gayo's this past Friday.  It was hidden away in a strip center.  the name sounded like a chain to me, but the interior indicated to me that it's locally run.  Traditional colors and a little shop-worn

It was a nice place.  A crowd of regulars, I'd bet, made up the patrons.

Dive?  Close enough

I ordered their mixed fajitas, as I saw no Enchiladas Suizas on the lunch menu

I'm starting to work on a rating system for Mexican restaurants.  Each of the below categories is out of a possible 5

Atmosphere:4 (too much music)
Green Salsa: 4
Red Salsa: 2 (canned tomato taste)
Chips: 4
Rice: 5
Beans (charro): 5
Fajitas: 4

It scored really well.  This is the running a our regular place.  I need to try it again and see if my digestive troubles were caused by this meal.  We also need to try it and see how their margaritas are.



Papa Gayo's on Urbanspoon

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:39 AM 0 comments  

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At the Movies: Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania: 3

A Sony pictures animated film with the voices of: Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomes, Kevin James, John Lovitz, and David Spade, among others.  The story revolves around a single Vampire father (Count Dracula), raising his daughter in a world where he believes humans are out to get all of the monsters he knows.  He's created a hotel where monsters can be safe: no humans will find them.

Until, one day, a human backpacker stumbles across the hotel.

Hijinks ensue as the Count tries to keep the hotel guests from discovering that a human is in their midst as the backpacker and the Count's daughter fall in love.

There are scenes that work in the movie, but the story does not hang together as a whole for me

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:32 AM 0 comments  

Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at Papa Gayo's
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Dug holes for new location for blueberry bushes
Put in new stakes for grapes and blackberry bushes
Harvested one blood orange tree
Aikido
Nap
"Hotel Transylvania" on DVD

Sunday

Artfire work
Paid some bills
Balanced the checkbook
Started dough for sourdough bread
Attempted dough for Marbled Rye, but the Rye flour was infested with bugs
Started dough for Light Wheat bread
Did LSC3 art show work had been putting off for a bit
"Fellowship of the Ring" on DVD
Baked the Light Wheat
Put the sourdough in the fridge to ferment overnight

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:24 AM 0 comments  

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2.10.2013

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 2/9/13

Aikido players: Tim, Hussein, and Rob.

Ukemi:

I helped Rob and Hussein and took a few rolls myself

The Walk:

Twice as usual.  Then we spent a lot of time on the last four of the Walk

Releases:

Hussein and Rob worked on the first 4, and then exposed Rob to the fifth release

Techniques:

Tim and I did a little work on double bokken stuff.  My gut was complaining, so I chose discretion as the better part of valor and got off the mat before something happened

Aftermath:

Gut was probably upset at something I ate.  Not sure what it might have been.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 10:35 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 2/8/13

Aikido players: Tim, Trey,  Marvin, Gail, Dennis, and Rob.

Ukemi:

I watched over Rob and Deniis.  I did take some front rolls.

The Walk:

Twice as usual. 

Releases:

I worked with Rob.  We got through the first 4.

Techniques:

Did a brief introduction to "Punch the Dummy"

Aftermath:

None of note

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 10:32 AM 0 comments  

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2.08.2013

Aikido Thursday Night - 2/7/13

Aikido players: Troy

Ukemi:

None

The Walk:

Not tonight.

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We worked through 1, 2, 3, and 5 of Ju Nana hon Kata.  Sticky feet were an issue on the mat tonight for some reason.  That was mucking with both of our footwork.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 3:13 PM 0 comments  

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Mexican restaurants - updated

Here are 92 Mexican restaurants that Urbanspoon lists in our area.

I've broken them into groups to make this more manageable

Untried and close



Martinez Mexican Bakery NASA/Clear Lake -  17637 El Camino Real
Tejas Cafe Almeda Ellington - 12348 Gulf Fwy

Untried and further away


Alberto's Mexican Dickinson/Texas City - 129 Grand Ave

Anthonys Mexican  Dickinson/Texas City - 941 Grand Ave

Benito's Dickinson/Texas City - 1309 1st St

Cabos Grill Dickinson/Texas City - 3474 Palmer Hwy

Campo Azul  Dickinson/Texas City - 2441 FM 646

Don Julios  Dickinson/Texas City -  1804 West FM 646, Suite F

El Patio Cafe Dickinson/Texas City - 2819 22nd Ave N

El Sombrero Cafe  Dickinson/Texas City - 9302 Hwy 6

Garcia's Grill  Dickinson/Texas City - 2015 Fm 517 Rd E

Juan Big Burritos NASA/Clear Lake -  176 Gulf Fwy S

Juanita's Taqueria Alvin -  106 S 3rd St

La Brisa Mexican Bar & Grill  Dickinson/Texas City - 4001 Hwy 146

La Frontera  Dickinson/Texas City - 2301 Hwy 3

La Michoacana Dickinson/Texas City - 3528 Palmer Hwy

Laredo's Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake -  2119 Bayport Blvd

Las Flores Mexican   Alvin - 306 E House St

Nopalera Grill  Dickinson/Texas City -  1736 Texas Ave

Orlando's Mexican Cafe Alvin - 2625 S Loop 35

Rio Verde Alvin - 1109 W Hwy 6

Senor Frog Dickinson/Texas City - 13210 Hwy 6

Señor Sombreros  NASA/Clear Lake - 2640 E. League City Pkwy

Taqueria El Jaliciense  Dickinson/Texas City - 2013 10th Ave N

Taqueria la Estasion Alvin -  23930 W Hwy 6

Taqueria la Tapatia  Alvin -  617 S Gordon St

Taqueria Los Panchitos Alvin -  22440 W Hwy 6

Tequila Mia's  NASA/Clear Lake -  800 Bradford St.

Taqueria Ringos NASA/Clear Lake - 3520 Nasa Pkwy

Valdo's Mexican Cafe Dickinson/Texas City - 942 Grand Ave

Vicki's Burger, Burritos and... Dickinson/Texas City - 9302 FM 2004

Viva Mexico Dickinson/Texas City -  5828 Fm 517 Rd E

Tried and remain a possibility


Don Pico's Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 2110 Bay Area Blvd

El Centinela  NASA/Clear Lake - 104 Hwy. 3 North

El Dorado Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 1962 El Dorado Blvd

Esteban's Cafe & Cantina  NASA/Clear Lake - 402 W Main St

Gabacho's Mexican Grill  NASA/Clear Lake - 4449 Nasa Rd 1

Leila's Mexican Restaurant  NASA/Clear Lake - 18119 Egret Bay Blvd/Fm 270

Los Ramirez Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 16630 El Camino Real

Mom Alone Mexican Grill  NASA/Clear Lake -1199 Nasa Pky

Papa Gayo's  Ellington -  10943 Scarsdale Blvd

San Lorenzo Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 3202 Marina Bay Dr

Tried and rejected


Anita's Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 4624 Nasa Pkwy

Barcena's Mexican  Friendswood - 2200 W Bay Area Blvd

Bravos Mexican 69% Ellington -  10906 Fuqua St

Delia's Cafe Alvin -  2211 N Gordon St

Don Julio's Mexican...  NASA/Clear Lake -  2900 Nasa Parkway

Dos Mas Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 103 W Bay Area Blvd

Eduardo's Mexican Kitchen  NASA/Clear Lake - 911 Nasa Parkway

Ferrufino's Restaurant Ellington -11051 Fuqua D

La Brisa On The Creek NASA/Clear Lake - 501 N Wesley Dr

Las Haciendas Ellington - 12933 Gulf Freeway

Las Haciendas Mexican Bar &...  NASA/Clear Lake - 1020 W Nasa Rd 1

Luna's  Friendswood - 704 W Parkwood Ave

Luna's Dickinson/Texas City - 8399 Emmett F Lowry Expy

Lupe Tortilla - Clear Lake  NASA/Clear Lake - 891 W Bay Area Blvd

Mamacitas  NASA/Clear Lake -  515 E Nasa Rd 1

Marinas Mexican Restaurant  NASA/Clear Lake -  3500 West Main St.

Moreno's Bar-B-Q NASA/Clear Lake -1425 NASA RD 1

Moreno's Mexican  Friendswood - 2407 W Parkwood Ave

Olivia's Mexican NASA/Clear Lake - 223 E Nasa Rd 1

Rancho Mexican  Friendswood - 146 W Parkwood Ave

Refqueria-Taqueria Palmeras NASA/Clear Lake -  17651 El Camino Real

Rey Del Pollo  Ellington - 10092 Kleckley

Rivera's Mex Sal NASA/Clear Lake - 233 E Nasa Rd 1

Taqueria NASA  NASA/Clear Lake - 2622 Nasa rd 1
 

Chains


Berryhill Baja Grill &...  NASA/Clear Lake - 19431 Gatebrook Dr

Burritos & Wings NASA/Clear Lake - 1227 Bay Area Blvd

Cafe Adobe NASA/Clear Lake - 1330 W Bay Area Blvd

Casa Ole' Alvin -  1483 E Hwy 6

Casa Ole Mexican  Ellington - 12350 Gulf Fwy

Chuy's (Webster)  NASA/Clear Lake -  20975 Gulf Freeway

Freebirds World Burrito  NASA/Clear Lake -  528 W Bay Area Blvd

Monterey's Little Mexico  Dickinson/Texas City - 3327 Gulf Fwy

Pappasito's Cantina  NASA/Clear Lake - 20099 Gulf Fwy

Taco Bell  Ellington -  10906 Scarsdale Blvd

Taco Bell  NASA/Clear Lake -  1033 1/2 Bay Area Blvd

Taco Cabana  NASA/Clear Lake - 705 W Bay Area Blvd

Taco Cabana Ellington -  11212 Fuqua St

Taco Cabana NASA/Clear Lake -  207 Marina Bay Dr

Closed?? (or could not find)


Calientes' Mexican  NASA/Clear Lake - 3905 Nasa Pkwy

La India Bonita  NASA/Clear Lake - 213 E Main St

La Pradera Mexican Grill NASA/Clear Lake - 1227 Bay Area Blvd

Las Tortas Mexican Style Ellington - 12800 Scarsdale Blvd

Taqueria Arandinos NASA/Clear Lake -  620 W Nasa Rd 1

Taqueria El Gavilan Ellington - 10739 Kingspoint Rd

Zealeto Lindo Mexican... NASA/Clear Lake - 1212 Nasa Pkwy

Closed

Cinco de Mayo Mexican Grill NASA/Clear Lake - 20784 Gulf Fwy
Durango's Mexican grill  NASA/Clear Lake - 939 W Nasa Rd 1

El Valle Mexican Cafe NASA/Clear Lake - 620 W Nasa Rd 1

La Salmantina Ellington -  9910 Fuqua St






Posted by Scott Zrubek at 9:03 AM 0 comments  

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2.06.2013

At the movies - The Hobbit

The Hobbit: 4

It took us a long time to go see this movie.  We'd considered going to see it as a midnight showing on opening night, but thought better of it.  I wish I'd seene it sooner.  I really enjoyed it.

There were several items that were not in the book, or as I remember it from the book, but it was still enjoyable.  I don't remember the stone giantts or the necromancer.  Bilbo's escape from Gollum was slightly different from the book, as was his entrance into the Goblins' area.

I don't remember the orc pursuers, but it did heighten the drama a bit.

I'd be willing to see it again, but I don't think it'll last much longer at my local theatres.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:00 PM 0 comments  

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Lunching out - La Brisa's on Clear Creek

I stopped by La Brisas on Clear Creek this past Friday.  I've passed it up the past because it looked too big.  It's not what I would call a dive.  I need to clear it off my list in my search for the new, go to spot.

Well, I was right.  It's huge.  You walk in past a fairly big dining room.  I was then taken further back, past about 3 or 4 good sized party rooms, through a small hallway and into a huge room.  It's easily as big, if not bigger that the building in which I work.  Past that room, was a patio about the same size.

So.  Dive?  No way.

I ordered Enchiladas Suizas (or whatever they call it).

I'm starting to work on a rating system for Mexican restaurants.  Each of the below categories is out of a possible 5

Atmosphere: 1
Green Salsa: 4
Red Salsa: 3
Chips: 5
Rice: 5
Beans (charro): 5
Enchiladas: 4

It scored really well.  If it weren't for the atmosphere, I'd try it again.




La Brisa On The Creek on Urbanspoon

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:56 PM 0 comments  

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2.04.2013

Super Bowl Ads - XLVII

Here is the run down on who had ads during the Superbowl

28 ads - CBS
9 ads - NFL
5 ads - Budweiser
3 ads - Hyundai, Coke
2 ads - godaddy, Doritos, Toyota, Subway, Lincoln, Honda, Reliant Energy, HEB, KHOU, Kia
1 ad - M&Ms, Audi, Pepsi, best Buy, Oz, Oreo, Fast & Furious 6, Calvin Klein, Cars.com, Star Trek Into Darkness, Milk, VW, Taco Bell, Skechers, Gexa, Comcast, Jack in the Box, Iron Man 3, Century 21, Blackberry, e*trade, Axe, Mio, Gildan, Pistachios, Speed Stick, Beck's, NFL Network, Xfinity, Ram, Tide, Soda Stream, Mercedes, Samsung, Allstate, Napa, Ford

Most of the ads were blah.  the ones I though rose above the rest are:

Hyundai - Dog Slobber
Audi - Bravery
Oreo - Library
VW - Jamaica

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 10:41 AM 0 comments  

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Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at La Brisa's on Clear Creek
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Bank transactions
Aikido
Dinner at El Centinela
"The Hobbit" in the theatre

Sunday

Started dough for slider buns for the SuperBowl
Grocery store for more supplies
Roasted tomato salsa
Guacamole
More work on slide buns
Lamb, Bison, and Beef sliders prepped for the grill
More work on slider buns
Cinnamon Brownies with Ganache
Nap
Started fire for grilling
Super Bowl

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:49 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 2/2/13

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy,  Dan the Elder, Marvin, Gail, Hussein, Dan the Younger, and Rob.  Nice big crowd

Ukemi:

I helped Rob, DtE, and DtY

The Walk:

Twice as usual. 

Releases:

We skipped the releases with DtE and Marvin due to the amount of time we spent on them on Friday.

Techniques:

We worked on Oshi taoshi and Ude gaeshi at one-step distance today and things went pretty well.  spent a lot of time on the footwork for the pivot and kuzushi for Ude gaeshi.

Trey did some work on Kata Otoshi, Aikinage, and Ushiro Kube Gatame

Aftermath:

A few of us did some heavy hauling for Tim.  We moved a treadmill from the dojo to his house, and a couch from his house to the dojo.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:42 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 2/1/13

Aikido players: Tim, Troy,  Dan the Elder, Marvin, and Rob.

Ukemi:

Troy helped Rob, while I oversaw DtE

The Walk:

Twice as usual. 

Releases:

DtE and Marvin spent most of the evening on releases.

Techniques:

Very briefly touched on Oshi taoshi at 3-step distance.  I'd really like to work with Marvin on his footwork for this distance, and for releases.  He tends to shuffle, as opposed to tsugi ashi (sp?).  since we have puzzle mats, it is, in part, to keep from stubbing toes.

Aftermath:

Just a remnant of swelling on the knee.  New bruise on the inside top of it, though.  Probably from walking up flights of stairs on Thursday.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:38 AM 0 comments  

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2.01.2013

Aikido Thursday Night - 1/31/13

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

None

The Walk:

Not tonight.

Releases:

Worked through all 8.  He had more issue on number 8 tonight than usual.

Techniques:

We worked through 1-5 of Ju Nana hon Kata.  Number 5 and number 4 were the trouble spots tonight.  We got tied up at the wrist on Ushiro-ate and had trouble on the left side for Gedan-ate.  I didn't want to spend too much time on Gedan-ate as my knees complained about the strin.

Aftermath:

Knees sore and bruised, still.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 9:45 AM 0 comments  

1.28.2013

Lunching out - Brown Sugar's BBQ

I've driven by this place for what seems like an eternity.  Never gone in.  I've been put off by the fact that it's in a strip center near Almeda Mall.  Not an enticing location for BBQ.

Now I know that I never have to go back.

I ordered a two meat plate of sliced beef and links.  Beans and potato salad were my sides.  I also ordered a peach cobbler for dessert.

I was disappointed in everything.

The beef, while lean, was dry and flavorless, even though it had a nice smoke ring.  The links were a decent texture, but the flavor was *off* somehow.  Maybe a weird combination of meats used for the sausage?  The beans weren't too bad, but the potato salad was pretty flavorless.

The cobbler had a decent flavor for the filling, but the crust had a slightly off taste.

On the whole, the best thing of the meal was the cobbler.

On Saturday, K. and I went to Joe's BBQ in Alvin to wash the flavor of Brown Sugar's out of my mind.


Brown Sugar's Bar-B-Q on Urbanspoon

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:19 AM 0 comments  

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Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at Brown Sugar's BBQ
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Haircut
Dropped a shirt off at the dry cleaners due to a potential photoshoot coming up
Aikido
Iced the knee
Dinner at Joe's in Alvin

Sunday

Repaired a pen a customer sent back.
Napped with ice on my knee
Watched the Pro Bowl while eating stew and cornbread.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:09 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 1/26/13

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy,  Dan the Elder, and Rob.  I stayed off the mat as much as I could today to rest the knee.

Ukemi:

Occasionally hopped on the mat to help make suggestions for DtE, at his request.

The Walk:

Twice as usual. 

Releases:

Trey and DtE ran through theirs.  I occasionally jumped in to hold a foam sword for DtE to reach for on the last four releases.

Techniques:

Troy and Trey did a run through of Koryu Dai San No Kata.  I brought my camera along and took some pictures.  About 18 turned out halfway decent.

Here's the flickr stream for them .  I took them in sepia as the walls of the dojo are just too wildly colored to make for a decent picture.

Aftermath:

Swelling's going down, slowly, on the knee.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:05 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 1/25/13

Aikido players: Tim, Troy,  Dennis, and Rob (a new student).  I stayed off the mat as much as I could tonight to rest the knee.

Ukemi:

Occasionally hopped on the mat to help Rob learn forward ukemi

The Walk:

Twice as usual.  I then watched Rob as he worked on the first eight stones of the Walk.  He did amazingly well remembering that much on his first night.

Releases:

Troy and Dennis worked on the first four

Techniques:

None tonight.

Aftermath:

Swelling's going down, slowly, on the knee.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:59 AM 0 comments  

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1.21.2013

Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at Gina's Italian
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Swollen knee
Iced it in 30 minute intervals for about 5 hours
Watched the Barrett-Jackson car auction for the 5 hours I spent icing the knee

Sunday

Chilled on the couch with my knee propped for the entire day
Read
Watched football and various other shows during timeouts and haltimes

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:17 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 1/19/13

Aikido players: Tim,  Troy, Trey,  Dan (the Elder), and Dan (the Younger)

Ukemi:

Partial set. Helped DtY with his rolls.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

We then went into a little exploration of the time to draw a weapon when someone else has a weapon drawn and is charging at you.  during said demonstration, I syumbled and landed on my knee.  It promptly swelled up.  I then sat out the rest of the afternoon.

Releases:

The second release was worked on for most of the afternoon.

Techniques:

None tonight.

Aftermath:

Swollen knee.  Dr. appointment in the offing, probably off the mat and off the volleyball court for a while.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:14 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 1/18/13

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy,  Marvin, Gale, Dan (the Elder), and Dan (the Younger), Dennis

Ukemi:

Helped DtY with his rolls.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.  I then spent a good portion of the evening with DtY on learning more of the Walk

Releases:

DtY and I worked on the first four releases.

Techniques:

None tonight.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:11 AM 0 comments  

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1.20.2013

Tweets for 01-19-2013

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 2:10 AM 0 comments  

1.19.2013

Tweets for 01-18-2013

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 2:10 AM 0 comments  

1.18.2013

Aikido Thursday Night - 1/17/13

Aikido players: Troy

Ukemi:

Very light warm-up

The Walk:

Not tonight.

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We spent the evening working on no. 17 Hiki-otoshi.  We tweaked: the footwork, the interception of uke's attacking hand, the joint lock to the elbow, maintaining center parallel to uke until the last moment, trowing uke away instead of down.

We then spent a bit off time just familiarizing ourselves with the footwork on the left side and working through the same stuff in a condensed form.

Aftermath:

I tried a little knee-walking tonight.  I supported myself with my hands, so that my knees weren't doing all of the work.  I think that this is going to be a good regimen for regaining the flexibility needed for the kneeling katas.

Tonight was the 7th anniversary of my first night on the mat for aikido.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:26 AM 0 comments  

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Tweets for 01-17-2013

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 2:10 AM 0 comments  

1.15.2013

Weekend update

Friday

Ate in as I ate out on Thursday
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Took Gandalf for an oil change.  Took longer than I thought and barely made it to aikido on time
Aikido
Started two batches of bread: Buttermilk cluster and Fuddrucker rolls
Football
Baked the two batches of bread

Sunday

Went to the store to get stuff to grill out hamburgers
Grilled burgers
Football

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:21 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 1/12/13

Aikido players: Tim,  and Troy

Ukemi:

Full set. 

The Walk:

Not today

Releases:

Not today

Techniques:

We ran through 1-17 with Troy, both sides.  That took us about 2 hours.  Things went well overall.  We played with sumi-otoshi for a bit.  If I did not attempt to recover and try to take a big fall, the technique went well.  If I attempted the recovery, the angle changed and we did not have a successful attempt.

I'm going to get Trey in to watch and see what's happening.  I'm giving conflicting recommendations as uke to Troy at the moment.

I then ran through the first 14 of Yon Kata.  We ran through it once at regular speed, and then once as fast as we could do it.  1 minute and 10 seconds.  I'd heard rumors of it being done in 30 seconds, but that's just bloody well impossible.  We finished the first 7 techniques in 25 seconds.

I was on the mat for several minutes recovering from the exertion.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:17 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 1/11/13

Aikido players: Tim,  Trey,  Marvin, Dan (the Elder), and Dan (the Younger)

Ukemi:

Full set.  Helped Dan with his rolls.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.  I then spent a good portion of the evening with DtY on learning more of the Walk

Releases:

DtY and I worked on the first release

Techniques:

None tonight.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:11 AM 0 comments  

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1.11.2013

Aikido Thursday Night - 1/10/2013

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

None tonight.

The Walk:

Once

Releases:

Sal did his releases tonight.  We had some issues with: 2, 5, 6, and 8.

Techniques:

We worked through the first two of Ju Nana Han Kata to knock off some rust since it'd been a while since Sal had been to class.Sal was not taking me out far enough for an off-balance for no. 2, particularly on the left side.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 8:21 AM 0 comments  

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1.10.2013

Movies ranking from 2012

Movies seen in the theatre in 2012, or released in 2012 and seen on DVD

Wreck-it-Ralph : 4
Django Unchained : 4
Skyfall : 2
Argo : 4
Brave : 4
The Avengers : 3
Dark Shadows : 3

8 new release movies seen in the theatres.  Far fewer than I would like.  There are probably that many out right now that I would like to see.  Oh well.

So, between the 4 films I rated as 4s ( "Wreck-it-Ralph", "Django Unchained", "Argo", and "Brave"), I think the order would come down to:

4: Django Unchained
3. Wreck-it-Ralph
2. Brave
1. Argo

It was a tough choice between Argo and Brave, but Argo made me concerned that thinks would work out in the end, even though I knew they did.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 11:05 AM 0 comments  

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Volleyball 2-1, 0-2

This week was the last week of this session of volleyball.  It was the championship tournament.  We won the first match, against a team that we'd beaten twice already, with our usual score.  We lost the first game and won the last two.

The next match, we got manhandled.  Our play, in both matches, was not that great.  My serves were ineffective and my net play was nothing of note.

Another season is around the corner.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 10:46 AM 0 comments  

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1.07.2013

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 1/5/2013

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Dan (the Elder), and Dan (the Younger)

Ukemi:

Full set.

The Walk:

Twice.  I then spent a good portion of the afternoon working with Dan (the Younger) on getting through the Walk completely

Releases:

Not today

Techniques:

I ran through some "Punch the Dummy" with DtY.

We then ran through the standing portions of Koryu Dai San with Trey and I as tori.  It went fairly well.   I did not bend down low enough for Kote Kajiki.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 3:28 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 1/4/2013

Aikido players: Tim,  Troy, Marvin, and Dan (the Younger)

Ukemi:

Full set.  Helped Dan with his rolls.

The Walk:

Twice as usual.

Releases:

I watched over Troy and Marvin do their sets.  Troy was having issues with Marvin as an uke

Techniques:

We ran through 6 and 8 with Marvin and Troy taking turns as uke.  Marvin worked on 8 for the first time and did fairly well.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 3:23 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 1/3/2013

Aikido players: No students showed up, so I went home.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 3:20 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 12/28/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, and Troy

Ukemi:

Full set.

The Walk:

Not tonight

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We ran through 2, 7, and 14 with Trey.  He was struggling with the difference between Trey and I as uke.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 3:19 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 12/29/2012

Aikido players: No students showed up, so I went home.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 3:17 PM 0 comments  

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12.26.2012

At the Movies: Django Unchained

Django Unchained: 4

Another Quentin Tarantino movie, which means I had to go alone.  My wife will no join me to see a QT movie as the violence repulses her.  As QT movies go, the violence was not everpresent.  when it was present it, as usual, violated laws of physics.

Django is a slave, turned bounty hunter, turned romantic.  Godd performances were turned in by Jamie Foxx, Christopher Walz, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo di Caprio.  I think Samuel's was the best of the lot.  Don Johnson's appearance was nice little bonus.

My wife is tempted to see the movie since QT dies in it.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 4:59 PM 0 comments  

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At the Movies: Wreck-it-Ralph

Wreck-it-Ralph: 4

An animated film that takes through the worlds of 1980's arcade games and the lives they lead after the arcade closes at night.  A fun film that I enjoyed.  The voices of John C. Reilly and Jane Lynch were used for a couple of the main characters.

Wreck-it-Ralph is a bd guy in the arcades tired of being a bad guy.  He almost brings down the entire arcade economy in his attempt to become a good guy.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 4:54 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 12/22/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Hussein, and Dan

Ukemi:

Full set.  And I helpd Dan with his.

The Walk:

Twice.  I then spent some time with Dan on some parts of the Walk.

Releases:

None for me today

Techniques:

Troy did 1-17 of Ju Nana Han Kata and was promoted to Ikkyu.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 4:12 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 12/21/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, and Dan ( a new student)

Ukemi:

Full set.

The Walk:

Twice

Releases:

Trey, Troy and I did our releases together.  The first time we've worked with each other in quite some time.  It was good to work with someone who could find the faults.

Techniques:

I then worked with Dan on "Punch the Dummy"

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 4:10 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 12/20/2012

Aikido players: No students showed up, so I went home.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 4:08 PM 0 comments  

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12.20.2012

Volleyball, 3-0, 2-1

The last week of regular play in this current season.  We played an inexperienced team with only four of their players on court.  We handled them fairly easily, but did have a close call in the second game when we had the guys setting.  That caused a huge amount of confusion in positioning on court.

The second match was much closer.  We lost the second game and won the third 15-13.

Now on to the playoffs

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 11:06 AM 0 comments  

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12.18.2012

Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at Taqueria El Nopalito
Aikido
Attempted to get to Texas Art Supply - failed due to traffic

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Mailed an artfire order off
Texas Art Supply
Aikido
Did some more mat work
Dinner at San Lorenzo

Sunday

More mat work
Football
Dinner at Joe's

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 1:20 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 12/15/12

Aikido players: Tim and Troy

Ukemi:

Just a few warm-ups

The Walk:

Not today

Releases:

Not today

Techniques:

We worked through the first twelve of Ju Nana Han Kata with Troy as tori.  It took us about two hours.  We ended with Kote-gaeshi.  My falls for the left side of that need some brushing up.  I'm going to have to have some folks throw me with that during warm-up.

I then ran through the first 14 of Koryu Dai Yon.  I'm, still having trouble with 8 and 9 ( the counters to 1 and 2).  The hand transitions are just not in my brain yet.

Aftermath:

A number of bruises from the entry for Ushiro-ate.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 9:17 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 12/14/12

Aikido players: None.  No one showed tonight.  We'd tentatively cancelled class and no stragglers showed up.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 9:14 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 12/13/12

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

None tonight.

The Walk:

Once

Releases:

Sal and I both did our releases tonight.  Mine were not very good.

Techniques:

We worked through the first two of Ju Nana Han Kata to knock off some rust since it'd been a while since Sal had been to class.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 9:13 AM 0 comments  

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12.13.2012

Volleyball, 2-1, 3-0

Another late night of volleyball and we played fairly well.  We probably should have one all of the games, but we just lost the third game of the first match.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 6:33 PM 0 comments  

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12.12.2012

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido

Saturday:

Blueberry muffins
Refreshed the sourdough starter for bread on Sunday
Walked the dogs at Frankie Carter Randolph, took a minor spill on a slippery slope
Aikido
Worked on matting some art
Into town to Texas Art Supply, Rice Epicurean, and 59 Diner
Worked on matting some art

Sunday

Started some sourdough loaves and some Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
Football

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:08 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 12/8/2012

Aikido players:Tim, Troy, Brad and Hussein

Ukemi:

Partial set.

The Walk:

Twice, as usual

Releases:

I worked with Brad on his releases.  They went pretty well

Techniques:

I worked with Brad on 1-10.  I'd told Tim that he was just having occasional issues on a couple of techniques and thought he might be ready for promotion.  Brad had a rough day and was off on most of the techniques.

Troy and I worked on Aigamae-ate as a follow-up to Friday night's run-through.  This technique exposes a number of the issues Troy had on Friday night with a number of techniques.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:04 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 12/7/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, and Troy

Ukemi:

Full set.

The Walk:

Not today

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

Troy ran through 1-17 with Trey as an uke.

Trey ran through O Waza Ju Pon with Troy as an uke.

I ran through the first 14 of Yon Kata with Trey and Troy as ukes.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:00 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 12/6/2012

Aikido players: Troy

We decoded, for various reasons, that a class tonight would be unproductive.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 6:59 AM 0 comments  

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12.03.2012

Weekend update - SMOFCon 2012

K and I flew out to Philly to go to SMOFCon this past weekend

Friday:

Up at 5 a.m. to catch the flight to Chicago and then on to Philly.  Caught the train to downtown and then walked to the waterfront and in to the Hyatt.  "Planning across Divisions" and "Discussing difficult issues calmly" were the two panels I sat in for the afternoon.  K and I then wandered into the city and ate at Eulogy, a Belgian beer restaurant.  A large group from the con was there that we had managed to miss joining up because of elevator issues at the hotel.

We got back to the hotel and watched a little football.  We were asleep before the first quarter ended.

Saturday

Up and off to breakfast at Mrs K's Koffee Shop.  Good food good prices.

"Understanding Skill Sets and Jobs", "Evaluating Yourself: What Jobs Are You Best For?", "Maintaining SF Con Culture" were the panels I sat in on for the morning/afternoon.  I then met with a number of Art Show folks for a couple of hours.

Then on to the Fannish Inquisition.  It went fairly well with the exception of one poorly phrased question which pointedly called out one person and castigated him in public.  It was very poor form.

Dinner was with the Exhibits division. 

I chilled out after that until time for the "Statistics and Probabilities" panel (i.e., Poker tournament).  22 people entered, I ended up ni 6th place, 2 places out of the money.  I think I was active in around 10 hands.  One had me with a pair of 8's and the flop was K-8-K, so I flopped a full house.  I managed to pull in a few of chips on that one.

My last hand, as big blind, with not enough chips to make big blind, was 9-5 off.  I lost that hand quickly.

Sunday

Up early for breakfast with my sister and niece.  Panels for the morning were "How to Talk to Tech", "When the Chair Is the Problem".  We then caught a cab to the airport with another fan.  Back through Chicago and back home, arriving home around 11 p.m.


Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:48 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 11/29/2012

Aikido players: Brad (I thought we were going to have a busy class, but it did not materialize)

Ukemi:

Partial set.

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We worked through the first five of Ju Nana Han Kata, right side only.  Gyakugamae-ate, Gedan-ate and Ushiro-ate had a few issues  I keep thinking he's ready for promotion, then we have issues on a number of techniques.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:30 AM 0 comments  

11.28.2012

At the movies: Skyfall

Skyfall: 2

I was really hoping my wife was wrong (she'd already seen it) and that it wasn't just an homage to the past 50 years of Bond movies.  But, she was right.  I was disappointed.

Several things threw me out of the movie: the Komodo dragons, the fight at the top of the skyscraper, and the subway train.  I think the main thing was that MI6 was on the receiving end of things, they were not proactive and doing things unto others.  They were having things done unto them.

The change of personnel was not unexpected.  I just wish it had happened in a better movie.  I n my opinion this is, by far, the worst of the Craig movies.  I'd have to do some research to determine how far it falls in the rest of the Bond franchise.

There was the good Adele theme song.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:15 AM 0 comments  

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Volleyball, 0-3, 0-3

Ugh.  the games were all close, we just failed to finish them properly.  I was not playing terribly well, but I got a couple of kills in.  Those were more than offset by my goofs.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:10 AM 0 comments  

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Weekend update - Thanksgiving 2012

Wednesday

Baked two pies - a regular Pumpkin and a Rum/Orange Pumpkin.  I let the pie crust dough chill too long and it was tough to work

Thursday

Up at 6 a.m. to start working on the rolls for the meal  Everything ended up being done right on schedule at 11:45 for us to leave at 12:15 after things had cooled enough for us to handle easily.
Off to my sister's for the meal
Football

Friday

I don't remember the morning, possibly worked on matting some art work
Skyfall - the new Bond movie in the evening

Saturday

No blueberry muffins
Aikido
Froberg's for an exploratory pecan shopping expedition
Joe's Bar-B-Cue for dinner
A&M football game on TV

Sunday

More mat work
Football

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:09 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 11/24/2012

Aikido players: Trey, Troy, and Brad

Ukemi:

Full set

The Walk:

Once, pretty high speed.

Releases:

With Brad

Techniques:

Brad and I worked on 6-10 of Ju Nana Hon Kata.  With a few minutes left at the end, we worked on Gedan-ate some more.  Overall, he did really well.

Troy and Trey worked on 14-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata and then a little bit on Kubi-guruma.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:04 AM 0 comments  

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11.20.2012

Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at El Centinela
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Football
Dinner at El Tucan with K and K

Sunday

LoneStarCon3 work
Football
Work on matting some pictures - figuring out the colors and sizes

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:35 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 11/17/2012

Aikido players: Tim,Troy, Liz, Charles and Hussein

Ukemi:

Partial set, watched over Liz

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.  With some individualized comments and work on specific steps.

Releases:

I spent most of the afternoon with Hussein on his releases

Techniques:

I did a little work with Hussein on Shomen-ate

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:33 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 11/16/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Troy, Brad, Marvin,  Liz, and Charles

Ukemi:

Full warm-up set

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

I worked with Liz on her releases

Techniques:

I worked with Liz on Shomen-ate the rest of the evening.  There was some trouble adjusting to my height, but she did ok.  She needs to work on finishing the technique in a solid posture.

Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:31 AM 0 comments  

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11.16.2012

Volleyball, 2-1, 3-0

we started a new season this week.  It's a short league, and every night is a double-header in order to get all of the matches in.  It looks like most of our matches will be at the 8 p.m./9 p.m. pairing (boo! hiss!)

It looks like there are a number of new teams in this league, so it's tough to judge how we'll do.  This week's results show promise, though.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:23 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 11/15/2012

Aikido players: Troy

Ukemi:

None tonight.

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We worked through the first six of Ju Nana Han Kata.  We only managed the right side for Oshi-taoshi.  Progress in knocking the rust off on all of them proceded apace and without any real unexpected issues.

Aftermath:

A number of bruises from the entry for Ushiro-ate.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:21 AM 0 comments  

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11.13.2012

ExtJS, formpanel, and new windows on submit

I struggled a bit trying to figure out how to, when submitting a form from a formpanel in ExtJS, have the destination page open in a new window.  I found the answer in a post on the Sencha forums, but it took me several hours to find for some reason.

The key is in the submit button on the form.  You need to add an extra parameter.

This way of doing it gets you a new tab in Chrome

this.up('form').getForm().submit({target:'_blank',params:{selEmpId:empidArray}});


This way of doing it gets you a new window in Chrome

Ext.getCmp('tsDatesRangeMaster').getForm().submit({target:'_blank',params:{selEmpId:empidArray}});

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 1:03 PM 0 comments  

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Weekend update - IlluxCon 2012

K and I flew up to Altoona, Pa this past weekend to attend IlluxCon 2012.  Well, we flew to Pittsburgh and then drove the rest of the way to Altoona.  IlluxCon is an amazing convention for fantasy art and artists and is a feast for the eyes.  My main goal for the weekend was to press the flesh and try to not spend any more money on art for the year.

We got up at 5 a.m. Friday morning, left the house around 5:40 and made it to our gate in plenty of time for our 7:25 departure.  Off to Baltimore, change planes, and then to Pittsburgh.  Landing around 2:30.  Grabbed a rental car and drove the 2+ hours to Altoona.  We made it to Altoona around 5:50 or so, too late to check in to the convention, so we headed straight to the hotel.

As were were walking into the hotel, we ran into Jannie, Andrea , and the Zipsers who were heading out to dinner.  We told them we would join them at the restaurant after we checked in.  We did that, eating at Aldo's on Chestnut.  Good Italian food.

Back at the hotel, the evening's Showcase was in full swing, so I started talking up next year's WorldCon.  I handed out some business cards and *may* have attracted some folks to the con.

Saturday morning the con did not start until noon, so K and I went wandering about the countryside south of Altoona, after grabbing breakfast at the hotel.  I think we got lost once or twice, but we got to see some nice countryside.  Nice farms and a fair number of dairy cows.

We made it back to the convention and wandered around the main gallery.  I talked to a number of artists and handed out a few cards, but lost my mojo after talking to someone who made me think it was a futile effort.

K and I then sat through a critique panel and kept track of the A&M Alabama game on my phone.

Dinner Saturday was at Friendly's across from the hotel.  The waitress was bringing out my chicken/sauerkraut/bacon sandwich and lost control of it just before she was going to hand it to me.  So, I had to wait another twenty minutes or so to get my meal (which they nicely comped).

Back to the hotel for the Illies and the Artist Jams.  I did not manage to stay awake for them, unfortunately.

Up at a reasonable hour and off to Tom and Joe's diner downtown.  Great food, great prices.

Back to the con to wander around and, *sigh*, buy art.  I bought four small pieces: two by Todd Lockwood and two by Omar Rayyan.  My checkbook wants these to be the last pieces until next year's WorldCon.

Out of Altoona and on our way back to Pittsburgh.  Caught a flight to Chicago where we ran into some weather delays.  Then back home, with the pilot making up the lost time.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 12:59 PM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 11/8/2012

Aikido players: Troy and Brad

Ukemi:

None tonight.

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We spent about 30 minutes working on Gedan-ate with Troy providing some much needed external input.

Brad and Troy then worked their way through 1-5 of Ju Nana Han Kata left and right side, skipping Gedan-ate.

Aftermath:

Right knee complained again.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 12:41 PM 0 comments  

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11.06.2012

At the movies: Argo

Argo: 4

I really enjoyed this film.  I actually got caught up in some of the suspense, even though I knew it turned out ok in the end.  Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Alan Arkin all turned in nice jobs with their roles.

I was interested in this movie for a couple of reasons.  Back during the hostage crisis, I was in D.C. on the day of Reagan's inauguration and the freeing of the hostages. 

Supposedly, the film used in the actual escape plan was Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light".

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:13 AM 0 comments  

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Weekend update

Friday

Lunch at Rivera's Mex Sal
Aikido

Saturday

Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Football

Sunday

Lunch and a movie with my mom and sisters
Football

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:09 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 11/3/2012

Aikido players: Tim,and Hussein

Ukemi:

Partial set, watched over Hussein

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.  With some individualized comments and work on specific steps.

Releases:

We spent a lot of time on the releases today

Techniques:

None today

Aftermath:

My right knee made me stop just a little bit early.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:06 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Friday Night - 11/2/2012

Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Marvin, Gail, Liz, and Charles

Ukemi:

Full warm-up set

The Walk:

Twice, as usual.

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

We played with some double-hand grab stuff covered in the seminar.  It was an interesting evening


Aftermath:

None of note.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:04 AM 0 comments  

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Aikido Thursday Night - 11/1/2012

Aikido players: Sal

Ukemi:

None tonight.

The Walk:

Not on Thursdays

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

Sal and I worked on 1, 2, 3, and 5 of Ju Nana Han Kata.  He'd missed class for about a month, so we needed to review and work off the rust.  He did pretty well.

We stopped a little bit early, as my right leg was telling me to quit.

Maybe it'll stick.

Aftermath:

Right knee complained.

Posted by Scott Zrubek at 7:01 AM 0 comments  

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