Continuing the theme...

I could spend a lot of time on this site:

icanhascheezburger.com

lolcats abound.

If you dont know what lolcat is, you're about to find out.

Insert tagline here...

Necessity is the mother...

...of Invention.

And this is one heck of an 'invention'. Less an invention, strictly speaking, and more a niche that someone thought needed filling.

Cheeseburger in a can

Yes, cheeseburger. In a can.

Insert tagline here...

A quick take on the new Subaru WRX

Take one (1) Mazda 3:

Add one (1) scoop:

Market the result:

Look for a longer critique coming soon.

Insert tagline here...

Bigger than Cheeses exploited!

Knocked off from ED and exploited, but stolen first from Bigger than Cheeses.

Insert tagline here...

DRABCD!

I had an interesting weekend.

On Saturday I attended a first aid course at a friends house with several other people, the first one I've ever done. As we all have young children, we dealt in the majority with potential situations that may arise with kids.

A most enlightening day, naturally. How to administer CPR, dealing with bleeding, broken bones, burns, bites and stings. All those typical kid-related injuries you might expect. Much of it had cross-over into adult treatment as well, the principles the same just scaled up or down to suit. The response acronym is a bit hard, but I guess we cant all have R.I.C.E. and H.A.R.M. to remember.

D.R.A.B.C.D. !!

Danger
Response
Airway
Breathing
CPR
Defibrillation

I dont know that we'll be going out to buy a defibrillator in a hurry though. If we had someone in the house at risk of cardiac problems or with serious issues, then yes, they'd be a very important item to have.

On Sunday I did 40km on the bike, just getting home before it really got hot and humid. Spent the whole ride chatting and thinking about "if that guy there falls off and breaks his arm, I know what to do now..."

I've been home alone since Wednesday, so got all the washing out of the way before I attacked anything else. By that time, though, it was really too hot to do anything else outside, and washing the car could wait. I moved the chainring on my single speed bike. Its definitely quieter now, so the 5 minute exercise was worthwhile.

The Sunday afternoon storm rolled in thick and quick, but not as much rain as I'd thought. Still, it took the humidity out of the air a bit and cleaned a bit of grime from roads and cars. Lucky I didnt wash it during the heat, cause it would've just been marked by the rain anyway.

Insert tagline here...

"I think it's my pump, doctor..."

A little while ago I posted about a valve that I managed to pull from a tyre.

Well, I did it again on wednesday night.

I started out for a light half-hour or so breeze on one of my bikes after changing to a set of wheels that normally resides on my Sunday morning group road bike. Long story, there's two bikes and six wheels. They'd been sitting unused for a couple of weeks, and I forgot to check the tyre pressures before I went. I rode no more than a kilometre when I realise the back is down a little. No problem, I've got a pump on the bike, I can get it to 80PSI, enough for a quick ride.

Clip it on, flip the lever, start pumping. Something is wrong, oh so terribly wrong.

The tyre is inflating, slowly, but each time I stop it deflates just as slowly. Out via the valve. Unclip the pump to see that the head has actually bent the valve end and spindle that pokes out from the main valve body. Therefore, if you try and do it up, it deflates itself.

Picture (C) matthewsbikes.com

Yes, it SHOULD be straight, but it wasn't. More like 6 degrees of bend.


I limp home, reflecting that its been a recurring theme on this particular bike...limping at the end of Sydney Gong, limping home twice now. I use a pair of pliers to straighten the spindle. I put 100PSI in with the floor pump, and off I go. 40 minute ride without trouble.


Next morning, I glance into the garage to see the back tyre sitting pretty on the ground, somewhat spread. Again, no worries, I'll just hit it with the floor pump and get it back, leave the valve cap off and she'll be right, right?


Er, no. Every pump in equals a large hissing out. Its about then I realise that this valve has broken away from the tyre as well. Lucky it didnt happen on the road, but what would've done it? Pull it out last night after I got home from work, and sure enough the valve stem has ripped halfway around at the base.


The only thing consitent thing in both these has been the pump. It seems to take a fair bit of force to get it on, and it really rocks when you push it. I'll check the head is on the right way, but I'm sure it is. If so, then its not getting used again on road tyres, I'll save it for my mountain bike once I get it rebuilt and ready to roll. At least I can change the head to fit the schraders on the 26" wheels.


I dont think I'll use the little knurled rings on valves for a while either, till I see if that might be my problem. How tight should they be, after all? Too loose and they vibrate down and rattle. Too tight and it seems they assist in pulling tyres apart.


To top it all off, the back wheel on my road bike spontaneously burst last night out of the blue. I ripped the tube out, despite the late hour, to find a pinch flat not far from the valve. I'd had it trued five days ago, so I guess its been biding its time till now. Maybe it was the temperature rise that killed it. I dont think I can repair it, its too close to the stem. Its replaced now anyway, and Sunday will be a test to see if I get through without popping another one.


Just when you thought it couldn't get funnier, and to bring my 'bad luck in threes' back to reality, my rear 'commuter' wheel seem to have a problem at a spoke hole giving me a flat two weeks ago. Thats #3 for now. Let this be the end, please...


Insert tagline here...

Back at base, bugs in the software...

I've been noticing recycled music coming up again as I flick across my radio dial, generally on the more R'n'B and pop contemporary music stations.

By recycled, I mean songs that were written and released between 10 and 20 years ago being re-recorded by new artists and handed off as new music. Sometimes they even put new words into the old music, but this is more than just sampling.

I guess this has happened before. The Beatles first release wasn't one of their songs. Many jazz and soul singers had 'standards'. If you didn't do 'Summertime', you weren't in the game. Big Bands did too, often performing the same songs as the next band, but having to back it up with flair and showmanship instead of relying on the passing of time to release a new song.

But these are not standards.

Trouble is, nowadays, anyone with a decent voice (not a great voice, there's a difference) can sing a song, have it digitally revised to be in pitch with the music, and release it to wide sales.

It will be interesting to see what music from today people decide some minimal-talent vocalist can recycle in 10 years time.

Insert tagline here...

Shell 'The Circuit' advertisement

Another great ad...




You can download it here.

Turn it up.

Insert tagline here...

The Honda 'Impossible Dream' advertisement

This is an excellent ad.




Insert tagline here...

Bjork

I dont know what it is that intrigues me about this woman so much.

Whilst I find some of her songs annoying in the extreme, overall I find her work quite listenable. Maybe its her Icelandic appearance, and those cheekbones. She comes across as a bit of a scatterbrain in interviews, though maybe thats her english skills letting her down, because her singing is always clear.

I'd really like to meet her, maybe ask her a couple of questions. What they would be, I dont know. And I probably wouldn't know until I had the chance.

Insert tagline here...

Graphic design, photography and images galore

Visit this site, right now.

If you dont get suckered into spending at least an hour following links to pictures, then there is no hope for you I'm afraid.

Insert tagline here...