Genius

 I'm sitting in the Sweet Spot listening to music. I first listened to a Beatles Compilation. It's pretty amazing and greatly satisfying to remember that these, mostly uneducated, untrained lads were such musical geniuses. Then I listened to Time Out by Dave Brubeck. Totally different but still genius. Then I thought about my background in music. I was, if you can be, a music major in high school. I played the trombone. I was pretty good. I'll tell you my favorite story about that time. I was taking private lessons from a guy named Woody Thompson. He was a trombone player and he was the musical director at Arcata High School, we both lived in Eureka, across the bay. Back then there were dinner clubs where you could have dinner while a dance band played for you. Woody had a dance band. There was actually a musicians union. The union had a band that played at local events for free. Woody was the director of the band. When I was a junior in high school Woody invited me to join the band. My mother drove me to the first practice and I wasn't late but everybody else was already there. I got out my horn and went to the trombone section. The other trombone players were already seated and the only empty spot was first chair so I sat there. One of the other players, a grown up who got paid to play trombone, said "Mr. Thompson will assign a place for you to play". I hollered "hey Woody, where do you want me to sit?". He replied "you're good right where you are". Take that asshole. I wasn't a genius though and I split my lip later playing a fourth of July parade with the Musicians Union Band and ended my musical career. 

The Sweet Spot

I'm sitting in the Sweet Spot, a protected from the north wind exposed to the south sun corner on my deck. It's raining at times and sometimes hailing. I'm under the eaves and have a half patio umbrella to protect me from the rain. I have a propane fire pit with a really cool heat projector thing. I'm comfortable and warm. I like being outside. I have some new outdoor speakers for my streaming stereo. I usually don't play them very loud because I don't want to offend my neighbors who are wonderful.  It's winter, it's raining, they won't be outside to hear my music. Pink Floyd,The Dark Side of the Moon.

New Post

I worked for the City of Arcata from about 1964 to 1981. Most of those years I worked at  City Hall across from Flynn's Inn which was myArcata home bar. One year I was the inspector for a contractor doing TV inspection of the sewer lines. The crew was "old guys" probably about thirty years old. One time we went to Flynn's after work to drink and play shuffleboard. We finished a game and went to the bar so the losers could buy a round. When we went back to the shuffleboard table someone had taken it. An argument ensued and all of a sudden it was the four of us at one end of the bar and everybody else at the other end. A college kid stepped forward and one of my "old guys "stepped up. My "old guy" took off his shirt and he looked like Popeye, tattoos and muscles. The college kid went "Oh my god". No fight occurred.

Rambling Thoughts

I'm sitting on the deck, in the Sweet Spot, with the propane fire pit going and a glass of wine. I have some rambling thoughts going and was going to share them on Facebook. This is a better space to share rambling thoughts although they may not be read by anyone.

For some reason I am remembering Oregon Ducks sports, probably because Susan just posted photos of masks she has just sewn and some were Ducks fabric. We became Ducks fans because my buddy Jeff Boyer went there to grad school and Eugene, with big time college sports, is just four hours drive away. Our interest was mostly football but some basketball. We went to a couple games at McArthur Court, the old brick arena. One game was a Ducks game and our seats were near the ceiling. It felt like we were looking straight down onto the court. The fans would all stomp on the floor in unison and the whole building would shake. They had to pause the game because the backboards were swaying too much. Another game we attended was an NBA exhibition game between the Trailblazers  and the Pacers. Our seats for that game were about four rows off the floor but behind one of the goals. Not the best but Paul Allen was sitting right behind us.

I'm Back, I Think

I think that I want to start writing to my blog again. This post is a test to see if it is still available to me.

New Saddle

I rode Spring Thaw a couple of weekends ago. Notice "I rode" not "I raced". I've decided I'm not a mountain bike racer. I just ride the Cat 3 course and enjoy myself. My stock answer when asked how my race went was "Uneventful". One high point of the day was that I won a new saddle in the raffle. Check out how good it looks on my cross bike. It's perfect. Thank you Amy, and whoever donated it.
Last weekend I rode a loosely organized ride in the Illinois Valley near Cave Junction. The people who own the local bike shop in Crescent City have a cabin near O'Brien and invite friends to come ride and have a barbecue afterward. We had a good time but my young Chinese friend crashed on a downhill about five miles into the ride. He was pretty banged up and got taken to the hospital in Grants Pass. He did a face plant into the gravel shoulder at about 45 mph. He's okay but his face is pretty scraped up.
Next weekend is Return on the Jedi. I'm taking my trailer again and spending the weekend. I'm racing short track on Saturday with my single speed and "riding" cross country on Sunday. I again opted not to race the Super D Saturday afternoon. I'll just kick back with a glass of wine to prepare for Sunday morning.

Pork BBQ

I cooked some pork barbecue yesterday, and took pictures.
I injected the meat with a mixture of apple juice, brown sugar and salt at about 6:00 a.m.






Started the coals at about 7:00 a.m.







Applied a mustard moisturizer,







a seasoning rub,







and placed into the cooker at about 8:00 a.m.







Initial temperatures, 248° in the cooker, 41° meat internal temp.







It's going to be a long day. I need to be comfortable. The coffee cup later became a bottle of beer and eventually, a glass of wine.






The final product at 7:00 p.m.







There were some intermediate steps that I didn't photograph. After about 3 hours, internal temp 130°, I sprayed the meat with apple juice and continued to cook. After about another 3 hours, internal temp 160° I double wrapped the meat in foil after pouring on a wrapping mixture of butter, honey, brown sugar, yellow mustard and water. Then back into the cooker for another 2 1/2 hours to internal temp 192°. Then wrapped in plastic wrap, insulated with beach towels and placed in a cooler to rest for about an hour. Then unwrapped, lightly coated with the seasoning rub and back into the cooker for about 30 minutes. Then drizzled with bbq sauce and into the cooker for another 20 minutes. This is from my favorite cookbook, Serious Barbecue by Adam Perry Lang.

Oh, it was delicious.