Raleigh Rodeo

Ken decided he was coming to Raleigh, yay! Then he talked Matt into joining. And I convinced Erik to come. So local friends and I gathered here and there all over town to pack in quite a fun-filled weekend.

Friday: Regina left a huge bag of St. Paddy gear on my doorstep! “Hide it until tomorrow” ok! ❤️ Young Hearts Distillery then Raleigh Times for plates and drinks; Slims for loud noise and bad beer.

Saturday: Slept through St. Paddy’s parade, met at 444 for breakfast coffee chat, headed to St. Paddy’s street party at Hibernian; met Kelly and Shannen, drank much Guinness, Erik fell in love with the young singer; went to Morgan St. Food Hall and grabbed pizza etc, had our epic Epic Axe battle, Matt wins $5 off us all by ONE POINT; Watts and Ward Old Fashioned Raleigh tradition, chilled and chatted; Regina met us for amazing Brewery Bhavana dinner, she and I shared small plates, everyone enjoyed such such good good beer… we were all pretty crispy by the end!

Sunday: up, breakfast, coffee, chill… toured ArtSpace’s gallery and studios; epic ART LESSON from Matt! He was in town all day, awesome; Regina called us to The Davie to meet up with Bob and LeeAnn and her sister Lisa, such a great mashup of great people; next we planned exits, how sad… Erik ran everyone to the airport.

Can’t wait for the next one!

MasterChef season 10

Let the contest begin!

Rules:

Pick 1 keeper and 2 losers. Gain a point for each loser that leaves the show. Lose a point for each keeper that leaves the show.

You can pick anyone you want at the start of each show.

In the future, as agreed, if rules emerge, then we may update rules as agreed before the start of the episode.

If Mike wins, Dan endures an hour of Blender pair programming hell. If Dan wins, Mike sets him up a quick website with authentication.

UPDATE: Mike is a pussy who got tired of endless entrails of wasted animals and bailed out. Sorry, these “world class chefs” are Julia Child era dinosaurs.

APE-RONS
Bri Baker, Dallas, Texas, Cocktail Server
Dorian Hunter, Cartersville, Ga., Creeler
Fred Chang, Redondo Beach, Calif., Revenue Analyst
Jamie Hough, Charleston, S.C., Fisherman
Micah Yaroch, Grand Rapids, Mich., Kitchen Porter
Nick DiGiovanni, Barrington, R.I., College Student
Noah Sims, Epworth, Ga., Septic Systems Foreman
Renee Rice, Ada, Okla., Receptionist
Sam Haaz, Philadelphia, Pa., Attorney
Sarah Faherty, San Diego, Calif., Former Army Interrogator
Shari Mukherjee, Rochester, Minn., Stay-at-Home Mom
Subha Ramiah, West Nyack, N.Y., R&D Director
Wuta Onda, Bronx, N.Y., English Teacher
APE-ROFFS
Deanna Colón, Simi Valley, Calif., Vocal Coach (3)
Kenny Palazzolo, Boston, Mass., Carpenter (3)
Kimberly White, New York, N.Y., Shoe Designer (5)
Evan Tesiny, Brooklyn, N.Y., Sales Coordinator (7)
Liz Linn, Durand, Mich., Events Consultant (9)
Michael Silverstein, Pittsburgh, Pa., Real Estate Flipper (9)
Keturah King, London, England, Freelance Writer (11)
ScoreDan winDan loseMike winMike loseEliminatedDanMike
Ep1+22020
Ep3 2020
Ep4+5 2020
Ep6+7 2120
Ep8+9

2120
Ep10+11






2120
Ep12+13





Welcome to Raleigh, Weaver Street Market!

Finally got back on my bike today. I love my bike. It’s the tires. At over 100psi and just the right thinness, with Kevlar to keep the flats away, it’s the fastest way around downtown.

My adventure was only 2 blocks. That’s the distance to anything downtown, in my estimation. To misquote Everett from Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, “what a geographical oddity, 2 blocks from everywhere!” But in this case I’m not too far off.

Weaver Street Market opened in Raleigh today at 10:30am, and I was there to become a member (and get a t-shirt!). Sure I have everything delivered, from Purple Carrot to Papa Spuds to (embarrassingly) Amazon… so it’s a double win as it will get me off my ass and get me better produce.

I’m over 100 days in on this round of GI troubles, which means no meals all summer. My food comes from a bag on my back. Sad. So I’m obsessing about better days head. I read all the local restaurant menus, look into vegan meetups, I read cookbooks… I’m also targeting the oldest farmers market around, 2 blocks away (honestly it is), which has evaded me as it is only open Th-Sat. Wish me luck towards finding a better day! Peace.

Sharing maths with friends

Cara Dan and Erik are sharp non-programming friends of mine. We share life’s trials and tribulations with each other. So I shared a little bit of my recent programming stupidity with them. Oops.

When you try to explain basic things developers take for granted, you realize that they aren’t always intuitive. :-)

Animal Show is live and in the house

Animal Show on Soundcloud

I finally got out for an Animal Show in NYC! Landed on Friday and found BKLYN House Hotel, our base of operations for the long weekend that included a Reiley move.

We met Al for lunch/dinner at Loving Hut, which I will always be grateful for.  Hi Al!  Great to meet you.  :-)

First night, Reiley took me out to Bruno’s bar, Cape House, and he took far too good of us. His favorite, Fernet-Branca, a very complex tasty digestif, left me feeling far too happy and DJ’ing until 4am. I regret some song choices.

Saturday started out with recovery – sleeping and Champs breakfast in the afternoon – well worth the 30 minute wait for takeout of scrambled tofu, seitan strips, vegan sausage, hash browns, and coffee, which when combined made a miracle.

Al got a bass string replacement at Johhny Albino Music Center, and we picked up a tuner for Rei too.

We were ready to walk to the gig. Al said we are NOT getting an uber that is NOT Animal Show, awesome oops my bad, rofl… Reiley held out for Julian to skateboard up, and a ride with Dave that we heard rumble up from a couple blocks away. Dave’s southern charm had us all at ease and instantly smiling. This gang is beautiful and thick as thieves, I have to say.

The show was beyond high expectations, the videos speak for themselves.  SO GOOD.

The Brooklyn Bazaar venue was crazy fun on multiple stories.  Lower level was a barcade with pool and sweet potato fries that Eli and I had been obsessing over (and they payed off).  Upstairs was the stage and dancehall.  Highlights included the passing of the pink cowboy hat from stage to crowd and eventually landing on my head for most of the night. My first green room experience was full of friendly folks and free water (no drinking for me thank you!) and plenty of free second hand smoke, heh. Met Andy and Dale and Jonathan the MC, lots of band members including introducing myself to headliner Brianna who politely gave me a warm hello, spun on her heel, stepped up two steps to the stage, and crushed the audience within a moment.  After the bands played, Jonathan and crew hosted a dance party, with Reiley and the other band members as judges.  Reiley called me out to join the dance party!  I again proved my cowardice.  Next time I’m all in.  Dave drove us home, what a gentleman, and I hit the sack at 2am while everyone else carried on.

Sunday started with vegan donuts at Dun-Well the vegan donut Mecca, as I watched the owner pour hand-brewed french presses one after the other into a huge tub from which we filled our silk-creamer-primed cups.

Monday morning allowed for another donut indulgence, you can never get enough and its a good thing I dont live close…. Then Reiley and I went shopping for some basics, and finished up with a game of Palace, before I headed to the airport. Wow!