End of an Era Part 2?

Should be interesting to see how Game 6 goes - is SA energized by the lucky victory and rides momentum? Does Memphis crush the older team at home to move on? We shall see.

End of an Era?

Twice in the last week I turned off Spurs playoff games, disgusted by lack of execution, as well as overall effort. This is the first time this has happened since Pop took over in 1994. I think it may be time for him and Timmy to bow out. Duncan could probably do pretty well if he wasn't still the only big man worth his salt on the roster (that gets minutes, but that is another post entirely). This regular season was a pleasant surprise, but when Blair went to the bench in March it was pretty much the beginning of the end. McDyess is a great player to have, especially in the playoffs, but increasing his minutes at that point was just a bad move. The NBA has moved on, but it seems to have left Popovich a bit behind. His refusal to play young players has stunted this team's growth, and the defense just isn't there anymore. It's been a good run, but it may be the right time to move on.

Senna

They showed the movie Senna at SXSW this year (2011). A friend of mine recommended it to me, saying it was an amazing documentary. I asked him what it was all about, and he just kinda stared at me. "You don't know who Senna was?" "No, I have no idea." "He was an F1 driver from Brazil." Not being an F1 junkie, I was kinda at a disadvantage, but said I would check it out. I asked my roomate (Krisp) about it. He said more than a few people insisted that Senna was the best F1 driver of all time, and that he was especially good in the rain. That certainly threw me for a loop, I had assumed everyone slowed or they stopped the races. Needless to say, Krisp procured an extended version of this movie - ~2:40.

I would go out on a limb and say this is easily one of the finest documentaries in existence. I went from not having a clue who this amazing person was to a total fan. Not only was he one of the finest drivers ever to enter a cockpit, he was every bit as good a person. After his passing, it was revealed he had given millions of dollars to help poverty, hunger, and education in his native Brazil. No one knew exactly what he had been doing until he was gone. He was also very passionate about safety for his fellow F1 drivers. His life ended at 34 in 1994, but his legacy lives on as a national hero of Brazil - his grave attracts more visitors yearly than JFK, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis combined. Three million Brazilians were out on the streets during his funeral procession in Sau Paolo.

Also of note is his rivalry with the Frenchman Prost, another legendary F1 driver. They drove each other to ridiculous heights, and the quiet animosity between the two in interviews and on the podium was palpable. They interview Prost quite a bit, and you can tell he still has very strong feelings about their rivalry. However, the day before Senna crashed, he sent a message to Prost saying something along the lines of - "Hey friend, I miss you." Prost had retired that year because he had no wish to be on a team with Senna. In the interview when he revealed this, the day one of his good friends died on the track, Prost was halted in his tracks. He could not believe that Senna's mind was on him at a tragic time like this, and he was touched. He breaks down in the interview, and you can see him struggle with various emotions - was he wrong about this man the whole time? He was certainly touched, and the events of the following day made the message even more poignant. Today Prost sits on the board of Senna's charity. He refused to speak about Senna until 4 years after his death, having served as a pallbearer at his funeral. He states that a part of himself died the day Senna did.

Needless to say, the few to zero people who read this should be encouraged to watch this amazing film.

Weekend Doings

If you know me, you can guess where I was on Friday and Saturday nights. Out Draughting. Saturday, however, I went out to Thirsty Planet to visit their facility and hopefully see an old friend from Victoria. She ended up not going ( I didn't RSVP on Facebook and she is tired of going to things solo), but I went out with my buddy Tim, one of the owners of Good Libations - a brewery hopefully getting started next year around this time. The guys who work out at Thirsty Planet are great - Tim and I got to check out their brewhouse, cold store, and bottling setup. They have an amazing taproom as well. Bit of a gamble, but as Tim said, they were probably banking on HB 602 passing, and it's past the House and on to the Senate. The bill allows for onsite sales after a tour, which is fantastic for a production brewery. They also had several experimental brews on tap - a Chipotle Goat Amber, a Mate IPA, and a double Buckethead. Alas, they were a bit disappointing - there is a bitterness in the finish that just seems a bit off and even seems to affect the aroma. Tim chalked it up to a pH problem with the water they were using, and he would know far better than I.

Today my Mom came up, and we went to eat with my sister and brother, then all hung out for a bit. My Mom turned 59 this last Tuesday, one more year until the big 6-0. She seems to be in much better spirits these days. The only thing missing was Zoe, and we all missed her dearly. But it was her mom's weekend, and I am not about to insist on breaking up her Easter. We have plenty of candy for her here now ;).

IPA Season

Is here, but I drink it year round anyway. It is nice to see new IPAs popping up at the Draught though. They have Inversion, Stone, Torpedo, and Racer 5 on atm. Some others too, but I don't need those when I have these and Hop Rod Rye. For me, it doesn't get any better than a well hopped beer.

We will very soon see if the measures I have taken with my house to conserve power are effective. Here in Austin we are going to be in or around the 90s. I put solar screens on most of the west facing windows, and I am taking advantage of the weather to dry my clothes - windy and sunny. Jettisoning my overly long couch guest will doubtless help this as well. That is another whole topic entirely, though.

Which I will go into here. My advice is to never let someone stay on your couch for more than a week or two at a time, or best, they can crash one night when they are too drunk to drive home. I let my situation linger for quite some time, mainly because I needed the extra money. Now I have a couch with a broken spring in the middle, and a friendship that is a bit rocky to say the least. Just because you stay on someone's couch for a nominal amount of money does not in any way mean that the living room is your room. Stay out of their way, don't camp out all day when you are not working. It's the quickest way to piss someone off. And make damn sure you don't sleep in someone's bed if they are out of town without even asking.

/end rant

Two Days In a Row?

Sure looks like it. I wish I had more interesting things to write about. For some reason my random musings seem like they may not exactly appeal to a wide swath of the general population. I have seen the looks when someone catches me taking bathroom pictures, like I am some turd herder looking for gold. It somehow makes it worse when I try to explain what I am doing, so I just give a big creepy grin to see if they scamper off. So, on to more interesting topics:

My daughter (6) is currently obsessed with climbing trees. She can get up about 12-15 feet in these trees in the park next to her school (see picture). She has been spurred on by a classmate in this endeavor, and her name is Olive. She went so high in these trees last Monday the Fire Department had to rescue her. If only my beautiful daughter would exhibit the same type of fearlessness in regards to her bike. We are still in the training wheel stage. My ex wife is terrified about this development in her climbing, but I would rather her not act afraid of her own shadow - two weeks ago she was only climbing about 6 feet off the ground. In other Zoe news, she is not a very good loser. I suppose that this is largely my fault - I let her win at nearly everything, but I have beaten her the only two times we played Parcheesi. I blocked her up the first time a lot, and she lost on the last throw. We play again two days later and she attempts to block me the whole time and barely loses again. But I won! It was nice to win at something without the rules changing in the middle of the game.

Double Bastard finally made it to Austin! And boy is it great. Thanks to Sunrise Market for pricing it at a wonderful $7.99 - same price as it was in Santa Rosa at BevMo! In other beer news, my flight to GABF in Denver is booked, and I will probably make it out to Thirsty Planet on Saturday for their event. I may even speak with a woman I do not know, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I may just get wasted and look at my feet, making an occasional borderline/inside joke like always. I just don't have the energy for small talk anymore. It's not that I am not good at it, I just get bored with it. Ask my friends, I am totally full of crap and lie all the time. It's just difficult with someone I don't really know for some reason. I usually prefer to be quiet, and am quite comfortable being alone and quiet, so I must put a great deal of pressure on myself in a situation I perceive that I must be gregarious. I'm not sure if I am a misanthrope, a sociopath, or a nice mix of both.

I've had a couple great opportunities recently to share some great music with some friends. I always love doing that, and I usually get some good stuff in return. I'm still preaching the El Stew gospel 10 years later! Also, in case you are curious, I have indeed watched both seasons of the League 30 times, currently on lap 31. Currently about to watch Epitafios, recommended to me by Netflix. Also reading a book called The Fourth Man. I am trying to read at least a book a week this year, but I have some ground to make up. Goodreads.com is great for tracking this.

Lastly, I would like to thank Joe Rogan for inspiring me to write something. I tend to create elaborate, hard to read sentences, but there are some nuggets of funny in there. I have no comedic aspritations, but getting my thoughts down could never be a bad thing. Listening to his podcasts and how he makes himself write constantly write to stay mentally active and creative. Maybe my mote of creativity will respond positively. I'll try and post something every day.

Bathroom Critique - Phil's Ice House

Yes, no one who reads this, it has been some time - 11 months in fact. I will try to keep no one updated when this blog is updated to retain its integrity, of which there is little to none.

Anyways, on to the good stuff. Phil's Ice House in Austin, TX. As you can see from the first photo, it's easy to show an entire dining room someone's penis by merely opening the door if they are using the unirnal - some, such as myself, would call this a critical design flaw. Others might see it as a free show, but this is a family restaurant with a gigantic playground full of screaming kids. The second photo shows another common flaw in design - the ubiquitous sink next to the crapper. Some may enjoy the view to the right, but I would imagine most people try hard to just look straight ahead or at the wall while washing hands. I do understand that there is usually extremely limited space, but with a little thought about layout, these flaws can easily be averted.