i'd like to...

extend a Laurel and Hardy handshake to all you facebook hipsters out there.

Planet Bike Cup: Saturday

gallery from saturday @ the 'cross extravaganza.

Jonathan Page Planet Bike Cup // WCA Cyclocross 2008 Series Race #1

what i don't have a picture of is me running through wal-mart in my full kit (i think i took my helmet off, but i really don't remember...) looking for stove bolts.

after warming up, i went back to the car and decided my saddle was a cm too high. you can probably guess that adjusting it an hour before my race was a bad idea. while tightening the collar, SNAP! stripped threads. (to paraphrase Bjarne Riis, if you don't ever over tighten, you'll never know how hard you can screw.) so, here i am, warmed up at the venue, in full regailia and a floppy saddle. if i tried to go back to madison and get a new seat collar, i'd never make it back. if i did nothing, i wouldn't race anyway. so, i decided to try to go get another collar. while dirving i thought that if i just had a bolt & nut that would fit in the now striped out collar, that'd work. U-turn into walmart and clomp, clomp, clomp past the cart nazi. in what must have looked like the scene from the David Lee Roth music video for yankee rose ("gimmie a bottle of anything and a glazed donut... TO GO!") an employee notices the sort of cross between desparation and cluelessness on my face and offers assistance. "nuts and bolts and things, please?" before you know it, i was respectfully declining the offer for "a bag for that," and was on my way back to the angell park speedway.

20/20 hind sight:
1). don't make bike mods 45 minutes before launch
2). Dan Z. suggested that i prolly could have gone to one of the bike manufacturing tents or bike shop tents & begged.

for the love of...

could someone please show leonard zinn how to focus his friggin' camera?

More UCI C2 cyclocross in wisconsin

bike geek shot...


"casual sunday" at the office, so front derailleurs were optional today. (now that you mention it, that'd solve one of my problems...) THIS is what the folks paid to see (ok, it was free but you get the idea...). Todd Wells, Jonathan Page, Troy Wells & Tim Johnson racin' yyyyyeeeeehhhhhhaaaaaawwwww! wonder if the UCI officials gave Johnson crap for no right shoulder bib number?
bib #1 gets a new bike flipped his way
flowers dress up any podium
back to the A bike

Todd Wells got a gapthe Boss went to work
last lap Wellsie. what's gonna happen? i can't watch!
Coming over the top of the last hill... will the title sponsor & personage settle for second?
a respectful fist pump indicates the outcome.

wha?

am i missing something or does velonews.com not have a live ticker for WORLDS road race? S-H-A-M-E!

Jonathan Page's Planet Bike Cup: Day One

first round of the 2008 WCA cyclocross series in Sun Priaire, WI. The race bore his name, and he was there.

Brian Matter leads out Mr. Page (to you),


mechanics in the pit wait...


Troy Wells follows Jonathan Baker early on. Baker was having a fine day out until his chairing decided it was time to saw into his leg. Last word from the medical tent "he's a good clotter."
the fans just went ape for the man they paid to see. i mean, look at that enthusiasm.
race organizer Renee Callaway and the winner discuss the win.


Post race, Jonathan makes a new U23 friend:
as for me... you'll have to hear of my wal-mart adventure later.

here piggie, piggie, piggie...

committing the act of journalism.

AS a bike-geek poseur (yes, it's truly sad when someone isn't even qualified to be a geek, so they have to be a geek wanna-be), i do get interested when the bike trade show season rolls around.
i will never get to go one, let alone own even the medium-zoot stuff that is on display at these things.
but, it's kinda ironic that the best coverage doesn't come from the journalistic sources that one might assume would know how to capture an event. sources such as velonews, cyclingnews.com or bike radar. their coverage is a hand full of pictures of product from their biggest advertisers and maybe some company who might start to advertise because they've started to supply a pro team. also, the pictures are as bland as the straight from the catalog marketing captions they regurgitate.

second best coverage award goes to competitive cyclist. yes, the discuss the brands they fence, but there is at least some detectable honesty in their commentary.

top podium spot goes to G R E A S E M O N K E Y, a blogger. there's an opinion there (so, agree or disagree or just listen) and the pictures are as much of the event as they are of the stuff you're supposed to drool over (but will never see the light of day in your bike shop's display cases).

as we approach cyclocross season 2008...

BKW said it well. that fukr doubt.

Armstrong to NY Jets

well, at least Cadel Evans will have a new excuse.

ok, this was unexpected.

since forever ago, i've been having a problem with my 'mano 105 front derailleur drifting. shift to the big ring and it grinds against the chain while on the smaller sprockets. reach down, twist the barrel adjuster, and a little while later... lather, rinse, repeat.

i was quite confounded by this. cable stretch? is the cable slipping where it clamps to the front derailleur? is 105 just that bad (ok, this was just looking for an excuse to sink the $$$ into campy stuff)? but why doesn't the barrel adjuster ever completely unscrew?

and finally, the reason. i'm lubing the chain, just happen to bump the handlebar and see this:

if you can't watch the video, every time the bars go right, the cable guide binds on the barrel adjuster and makes it turn a little, thus screwing up the trim on the FD. not to mention making that annoying CREEEEK!

the cause: discovered.

the cure: well, i'd always considered running this as a 1x9. but i am open to other suggestions. maybe a metal cable housing end instead of the stock plastic one?

8 sept 2008 :: BWoUpdate... i replaced the housing and used a metal housing end & lubed generously. now the adjuster turns both directions. not quite the fix i thought it would be, but 105 users can't be choosers.

perhaps i'll just get lubed more generously.

hey fuq-u, get a car.

the scene:

My brakes: SQEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Me (from behind the dump truck and accompanying trailor): "Hey @ss h#l&! what the f^$%! was that?"

Me (along side the dumper, eye contact with the "driver," Mr. Witty): "Easy, easy, easy!"

Mr. Witty: "Easy? Hey, fuq-u, get a car."

yes, my initial reaction was combative. he might take a moment, as he's passing me approaching the red light, to consider the differences in the physics of my 30lb vehicle and his 500,000 ton one.

but boy, do i feel put in my place.

i mean, all persons riding bikes should get a car. that will solve everything.

please, all cyclists out there, be careful.

i feel like i'm abandoning old friends...

so, i have to admit i've been listening more and more to David Harmon & Sean Kelly on euroSport yahoo! for my tour de france (and other races) pxp & color commentary.

if you're in the usa, and am foolish enough to try to follow professional cycling (especially pre-internet age), then Phil & Paul are the voices of the sport. ("gwwwah, and this is life at the back." "yep, when the legs are gone, it's lights out in the engine room.")

i don't know. maybe it's just "different" than who i've been listening to for years. maybe it's Sean Kelly is more of a name than Sherwin. maybe it's the challenge of trying to understand what the %&$# Sean Kelly is mumbling about.

kinda wish my french was better so i could understand Ja-ja Jalabert, 'cause i've read he's a great color man. mais, je ne comprendre pas.

of course, i'd listen to cats being tortured before being subjected to some past TdF commentators, such as James Brown (yes, the NFL studio guy) and Arman Keteyian (unlistenable at any speed). you could just tell that they did it just to write off a summer vacation trip to paris.

googlemaps street view of TdF

this will be old news to some, but there is a google maps street view section for the '08 tour de france.

will the camera on top of the google car make it under the inflatable alpe d'huez banner? you'll have to find out for yourself.

see it personally? maybe, someday.

Filter Life Out Error.

or, "what am i gonna do with all these left over pictures on the memory card?" Security guards on segways outside of Caesar's Palace shopping mall (add your own caption... it will be wwwwaaaay more funnier than anything i can come up with).

I might be sheltered, but this was a new one for me. The mini bar went by the weight of the product you picked up:
it was pretty creepy... i mean, you felt like you shouldn't even look at it because if you just bumped the snack tray and the pringles fell off, you'd get charged $276 for it. i didn't have the guts to even open the fridge part. oh well, at least the ice was still free.

this was the (as in one) cloud that went by in five days, but it must have been a powerful one, since its passing signaled the end of 90s & calm to 60s & windy.

but to imply the weather was miserable would be... misleading.

tax dollars hard at work at just ONE of the DTV areas. spin the wheel and get a pen or pad of stickie notes, or a water bottle, or a hat or...

FloorLife:

Chuck: "Are you sure it works?"


Center Guy: "Of course it works!"


Chuck: "What about with one server?"


Center: "Well, let's ask him. HEY! He'll know hardware. HEY!, 'camhere"


Right Guy: "Well, it should work, but, that's Version next-point-oh, which will be ready later this year, early next at the latest."

Chuck: "What about with the kind of files CBS is working with?"


Right: "Oh yeah, we've been working with just about everyone... and I think CBS too."





after a few days of that, you can feel like your b#llsh$t filter has been hard at work:

but then a hit of Kool & the Gang makes it all OK:

and then again, it is nice to be home.
thanks to Margo, Marlone & Patsy for putting up with me being gone. i love you.
thanks to all of you in the WISC operations department for enabling me to be gone.
thanks to my WISC & WKBT pals for hanging with me while i was there.
thanks to MMM/WISC-TV for sending me.
thanks for your generous donation.
thanks to YOU for tuning in!

NABlog 4

I never thought one could spend that much time in JUST the lighting section.


Spawned by a conversation Colin and I had about some “adjustments” to the news set, I chatted around with almost all of the lighting manufactures, looking for some low-profile lighting that can change color conveniently. LED lights are cool, modern & sexy… and have the price to prove it. But, there are more reasonable, all be it traditional, options.

I was also looking for an Urban Theater rock and roll lighting wish list and was surprised in a disappointed way when there no rock and roll lighting makers there. Oh well, you’ve got to draw the line somewhere.

This is from rosco, the colored gel & gobo pattern (cookie) manufacturer.
It’s a photo of a skyline printed on a scrim for use as a background for a set. You light the front of the scrim to see the day light shot:

Then backlight the scrim see the night shot.

So, you don’t have to hang a different picture to get a different look, just change the lighting. $25 a square foot, and lighting is prolly kinda tricky, but might be useful someday.


this still creeps me out. the big camera manufacturers (sony, jvc, panasonic etc) hire people to sit in these little scenes for you to test their cameras. it's just too much like i said before: "a exquisitely bored young adults section from the San Diego Zoo."


And Colin, you were right about the supaCam booth.

NABlog 3 Headlines:

On the floor: with Chyron \\\ The "Curse" goes On \\\ On Test: Colin's math skills.

Chyron Camio is a do-hikey that they demoed in Madison last fall, but I missed it… so to the NAB booth I go. Here’s the deal. To replace the HD still store, now-a-days, one just buys two HD chyrons… one to be a lower third machine & one to be a still store. Their camio product would replace control air for font & the still store control panel with one playlist. All the lower thirds AND still store events would then be entered via iNews. there’s also a graphic creation portion, which is pay to play. It acts like a very rudimentary photoshop, where you can slap stock photos on base graphic to make OTS’ & the like from any computer. The idea is that reporters or producers or directors or? could build a still… similar to how lower thirds are “built” typing them in iNews. I’m gonna just let you sit back and imagine that one for a while.
… … …
Welcome back.
I can see us using portions of the full blown camio.
~
One of the points of going to a trade show is to chat with the folks you already use, about things. Good things and well, less than good things.
I thought maybe I’d take the opportunity to find our pals at Avid and try to chat with them about “things.” Problem is, they elected not to by a booth at NAB this year. No problem, rumor has it that they set up shop over at the hard rock hotel. A cab ride later, I’ve got my plan on how to chat with these guys and I begin the search. After two trips to the front desk and a search of the facility no avid folks are to be found. Well, I don’t have any contact info, and the only number I can remember is for Avid tech support. I call & just hit buttons until I get a human. I try to explain to the tech support guy where I am and that I’d just like to meet our new sales rep., since I’m in vegas. The tech support guy tries hard enough, and finally just transfers me to the regional sales manager’s voice mail. So, I just kinda hang for a while, thinking that a sales person would never hesitate to call anyone back. Just as I was ready to give up and leave hard rock, Chuck calls. He has found Avid; they had abandoned the Hard Rock for a hotel conference room closer to the NAB’s convention center. As I wandered Hard Rock trying to make sense of this fiasco, I found the answer WHY:

The Curse of Carlos has struck again.
I don’t know how Chuck’s conversation with Avid went but at least he had one.
~
Parting shot:

Colin does a reality check of dessert. The menu’s assertion that the chocolate cake has 23 layers was found to be:

~

AND NOW, a word from the sponsor.yes, i'm riding TOUR de CURE this year, brought to you by our MyMadisonTV14. if you'd like to donate money towards diabetes, more info is here.

thanks for reading

NABlog Day 2: "Fruit is God's candy." -Mike VanSustren

Highlights: hugs from the station owner, the subtle language of managers & a reality check?

breakfast was a presidential punditry session with a groupetto of politicos, namely Sam Donaldson & some dude from CNN, and a bunch of other political webbies. food=weak, conversation=better than the food.
~
Let’s go to the flo-or, let's go to the flo-or, let's go to the flo-or and see some HD stuff!

went back to our new best buddies at Ross corp. (the HD switcher we demo-ed last year... or was it 2006?). ANYWAY... although slightly revised, to the best of my analysis, the changes are for the better. So it’s still VERY in tune with what how we do our shows. We even get a FREE M/E if were one of the first 135 buyers! So, basically what we could do is order a two M/E model and get the third for free. Unless someone out there wants to give a compelling argument for us to keep track of four M/Es... (the Rachel Kisko plug-in is extra).

here’s an chyron product that prolly will be practical to us in HD land… it’s a black box that hangs on the HD MC switcher. It will put things like school watch, sports ticker, time and temp, morning ticker, weather warnings etc. on the air. Of course, this seems to be an all in one solution. But, if a piece of gear has a limitation, we will find it.
~
Have you gotten a hug from your station owner lately?

The afternoon held a meeting unique to our Morgan-Murphy media stations. All of the TV & radio stations got together, mainly to discuss the up and coming engineering needs/wants. Although I’m still new at this, I did pick up on a couple of situations where a particular station’s budget figures, shall we say, “Needs Clarification.”

We went around discussing futurevision from the NAB floor. Then came the February 19th, 2009 checklist. We’re in pretty good shape.

Chuck presented his flow-chart for WISC’s transition to HD news, then HD programming and lastly promo editing. When can we go buy the stuff on the flow chart? Well, that answer comes later.

It wasn’t all engineers there, managers of assorted responsibilities had their take on the proceedings, as well as a discrete management “language.” Here’s an example. This is Scott Chorski, General Manager at WKBT in LaCrosse. Note the position of his sunglasses:
This position= “I understand.”


This position= “Your technical mumbo jumbo has lost me.”

A very enlightening day from start to finish, indeed.
~
Lastly, by way of follow up to the CNN party post: Mickey Thomas performed at the Roscor party. Hmmm, let’s see. Kool and the Gang @ LAX, or Mickey Thomas @ Imperial Palace. Defense rests.

~

AND NOW, a word from the sponsor.yes, i'm riding TOUR de CURE this year, brought to you by our MyMadisonTV14. if you'd like to donate money towards diabetes, more info is here.

~

Margo & Marlone, I'll be home soon. -love, me.

"I've only been here four minutes BUT...

i like this [cnn] party better than the roscor party." "there. i said it and i don't regret it." to paraphrase Dan Akroyd imitating Tom Snyder. the luxor's lax room has that elusive extra added chic that the imperial palace ball room just doesn't.

let's face it: NAB is about the schmooze... soft sell, hard sell... whatever it takes to keep your brand in good stead with clients past, present & future. and apparently, having lavish parties is an effective schmooze tool.

i felt quite like a party crasher; a production geek at the journos' party.

meet and eat... cocktail food, of course, with some nice attendees; Andrew Humphrey (L-weather anchor for Local4 NBC in Detroit), Charlotte Humphrey & Jim Nagy (R-news director, KCSG in St. George, UT).

after the waitstaff blew out the sterno cans under the chicken-kabobs. Kool & the Gang hit the stage. (it's a .mov file, so if it doesn't play... tough).

while i don't know who was at roscor's party this time... i'll bet that they weren't better than K&tG.

guess, i need to say thanks to Mark Koehn... if he hadn't lobbied to get the CNN feed back, probably no CNN party for me. so, thanks Mark!

more on today's developments (and there were plenty of 'em) later. right now=sleep.

~

Margo & Marlone, i'll be home soon. love, me.