turnings

The end of the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test is near. You can’t rush a taste test, nor can you rush greatness. Put them together… and well things can take a while. That’s the way it goes. Below is Seth’s brief comments on the various flavors.

Pay attention now… because Seth’s really cool. And here’s why: For six years Seth has been riding in the Pan Mass Challenge, raising serious amounts of money for the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber. Last year (2007) they collectively raised 33,000,000 dollars. Seth himself has raised $23,845.94 to date. Righteous! So go right now and help him raise more money this than ever. I’ll wait…

Click here to raise money for the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber.

One last thing… the software development community supports Seth’s efforts and gives software which he in turns auctions off. Besides feeling really great about yourself for donating, you can also score some awesome software (scroll down).

Thanks! Now about those Mojo bars, if you need to catch up here’s a reverse chronological list:

• More of the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test
• The Great Mojo Bar Taste Test – Gerry rides, eats, and…
• Mojo: Fruit Nut Dipped and Crunch
• We’re getting our Mojo on…
• The Great Mojo bar Taste Test!
• Raising the (Clif) bar

The reason the GCBMTT is almost done is simply because I (purposely) never completed my own reviews of the products. Undue influence and all. So that’ll be coming up in the next week or so. Meanwhile, keep reading and get your Mojo on!

The Great Mojo Bars Taste Test: “It’s been a few months since I tried them, and I’d be lying if I said I could remember the names of all of the flavors. Instead, I looked up the names in one of Daniel’s old posts. Once I saw the names, I did at least remember what I thought of the bars.

Mixed Nuts: Eh. About what you’d expect. Tasted like mixed nuts, but in bar shape.

Fruit Nut Crunch: I liked this one.

Mountain Mix: Eh. So-so.

Chocolate Peanut: Very tasty. Two great tastes that taste great together, and I’ve always been a sucker for a Reese’s.

Honey Roasted Peanut: I was expecting (or at least hoping for) the taste of Planter’s honey-roasted peanuts, but it isn’t really like that. It’s more like really sweet peanuts.

Peanut Butter Pretzel: If I remember this one correctly, then it’s one of the four I would buy again. Sweet and salty.

Peanut Butter and Jelly: This had one of the best flavors, but could have a used a touch of salt.

I’m still not a fan of granola bars during bike rides, but I do like to have one at least 30 minutes before heading out. Unfortunately, Mystic Cycle doesn’t carry them, so I need to talk them into picking some up for me if I’m going to make them part of my daily routine.”

Seth, I hope Mystic helps you get your Mojo on! Thanks for taking part.

Crummy - Tasty Breadcrumbs Plugin: I have worked on many applications that require breadcrumbs. Every time, one of the developers has built a quick custom solution. Finally, I decided that we needed a complete solution that we could easily add to future projects, and thus Crummy was born.

script/plugin install git://github.com/zachinglis/crummy.git

After a weekend with no voice, and the gentle knell of my attempts to clear my throat the predominant sound in the house this weekend, I dropped by the RBC picnic with the as yet untested build of my Karate Monkey. Mostly Deore, a few Ritchey bits, and Avid mechanical brakes, the build is fairly inexpensive and not particularly light. To me that means not worrying about breaking stuff, getting it muddy and wet. I have some bits and pieces in the closet to try, some handlebars, a wheel, etc. and I’ll do that slowly over the next few months… but I’ll talk about them more when I get them on the bike. It is fun to ride even now.

I’d love to try a truly fat tire like an Endomorph on the front to see what that feels like. Maybe someone has a Pugsley or something in the area?

I was dressed casually (even sloppily) for the picnic, which explains the running shoes… but it was really humid and hot out, especially the spot where the picnic was held. When we went for a ride around the lake, it was obvious that there were much cooler spots. The club is raising funds by taking portraits of members with their bikes. I have every intention of doing this, but yesterday was not the day I intended to do it. Between my cold and the heat, the lack of caring about the way I dressed… I was a site. Nonetheless, pictures were taken by David, and naturally I look awful. Awful! No matter. I do enjoy the pictures of my playing photo apprentice and NBA style sweat mopper as seen here for my riding pal Jenni. I can’t wait to do this for real (the picture part, not the apprentice part) with Lisa & Noah.

A few of us who brought bikes decided to loop the lake. I ride a road bike so much of the time nowadays that in trying to navigate around the families that sometimes clog the path, I’m reluctant to run on the dirt. There I am hesitating, checking out the dirt looking to see if it is firm enough when a fat tire angel (or is that fat and tired angel? Whatever… :~) whispers in my ear that to stop looking and just go. Hah! So much for skinny tires.

After one loop the picnic crashed to a close with a thunderstorm and copious amounts of rain. Fun!

Articles like this about the “Battle for Central Park”, where joggers and runners are forever aggravated at cyclists and vice versa, and everyone hates the car folks and vice versa, don’t speak to anything but extreme crowding.

The resources (open space, clear of “traffic” (defined as anything that interrupts *your* activity)) are too scarce. We are constantly jostling each other in our attempt to simply move about. Of course everyone is annoyed! Sadly though, there is a strong sense of entitlement and greed that runs as an undercurrent to the interactions.

I have no answers here, except for my personal one of making a choice to find more space for my family as quickly as possible.

I haven’t been on a Subway in a while… every few months it seems there’s something that causes me to take one, but I don’t ride the subway on a regular basis.

Going to meet a friend for lunch the other day it seemed to make sense to grab one, so I (and my boss) did. We got some unrequested help from the platform guy, who in years past would’ve been stuck in a booth handing out tokens, but now is amongst the people walking then through the steps of putting value into Metrocards.

As we swipe our way through the turnstiles, someone cuts in front of us and jumps the turnstile. He then proceeds to walk down the platform and pees into a corner. He now hears from the platform guy who warns him that the cops are on the way.

The not a joyous member of society saunters off down the platform knowing that a train is going to pull in any second, long before even a close by cop could respond.

All entirely too matter of fact.

Makes wonder about tourism in the City, which I now see daily, as I pass through Times Square.

Sunday morning’s bike ride with Jenni (shown) and Maria. 24 miles. Nice!