John Kerry!!!

Wow
The debate just ended. It is shameful that our current president is our president, but a light is at the end of the tunnel. Did you listen to them? John Kerry WILL win, I just don't understand how he couldn't. John Kerry should be our president... it is sooo obviously, jumped in your face clear!!!
Wow
I feel good, I know it is gonna happen.

1st Presidential Debate

The first Kerry/Bush Debate is this Thursday at 9pm ET...tomorrow. I encourage you to watch it and ask your friends and family to watch.
*The Republicans are already lowering expectations by stressing that Kerry is supposedly this great debator. 90mins of tv everyone in America should see.

11 Days

It no longer itches like it had, now it only gives me a dull scratchy feeling. Some comments I've gotten: 1. Damn, that's growing fast 2. You look scraggly 3. I just want to rub your face 4. Makes you look kinda like Pete Townsend 5. What's that on your face? Nah, Ashbaugh's not gonna like that.
4 Days Beard
11 Days Beard
20 Days Beard
28 Days Beard

Halloween

Strong progress with my costume today. Have you started building your costume? Don't wait till the last 2 weeks, it'll get hard and the goods'll be scarce.
**I encourage EVERYONE to dress up. Take a digital photo and I'll post it. Halloween's excitement multiplies by the number of people taking part. No excuses! It is so much fun!

My 3rd Car

1986 Suzuki Samurai, 5 speed
As I said before, after selling my Saab I quickly realized I no longer had transportation. Remembering the Samurai sitting in the driveway "so it looked like someone was home at all times". I called my mom and she consented to letting me use it if I could get it to start, it harden't been driven for a while. Oil, fresh gas and a jump gave it life. A year and a half later I parked it where it is pictured and moved to Seattle. This picture was taken in September of 2002. Here is a factoid for the trivia book, to date 1986 has been the newest year of car I've ever owned. I remember saying many times that the Suzuki Samurai was the worst vehicle ever manufactured but I now don't think that's fair. It wouldn't die. The engine, brakes, tires, and tape player w/a crappy in-dash speaker were absolutely reliable, nearly everything else, however, seemed to disfunction at one time or another. I never got the windshield wipers to work. Rain was an issue. Never had to drive far under obligation, I waited tables 7 or 8 minutes away. Hadn't thought about this before, why didn't I walk? Oh well. Fear would spring every time a light sprinkle would smatter the windshield. Knobs weren't covered, latches had trouble latching. The heater was cold. It had a 4cylinder engine, one of the pistons had extremely low compression and was worthless. It went thru a quart of oil every 500miles; thankfully it wasn't burning it only leaking so I never changed the oil, only added it. It smelled like mildew. Leaked water in the cabin. Was bumpy. LOUD inside. Thick ice was in various places inside all winter; no heat so nothing melted... all winter. Driving bundled up in that thing, the fan blowing cold air as hard as it could, etching away a tiny, little portal thru iced fog to see the road. Shivering, coming home from the restaurant with an open window smoking a cigarette. Oh, it couldn't be locked. After outlining all those things wrong with it I can't think of a time where it didn't start or ever being stranded by it. It may seem like a low bar but this thing always worked in the most basic sense. So in 1999 I parked it where you see and came to Seattle...The Samurai has not since moved an inch, but has housed hoards of angry hornets (spray'm at night) and invisible rodents. It is decaying. Inside is an overwhelming stench of rancid animal byproducts. It sits there now and periodically things fall off.
*I rode that Kubota tractor for almost 7 miles as it was being towed, you can see the tow strap. Some guy fixed it up and split the profits with my mom, she got $1500 out of the deal.
1. My First Vehicle
2. My Second Vehicle*
3. My Third Vehicle

Badminton Stunk

Today's badminton was a drag. The place was packed for the second straight week, loads of good players. I knew this meant a lot of sitting, still I pulled out my racket vowing to make the most of the few games I'd be able to get in. I played a mere 3 games... three games with the absolute worst badminton players imaginable. Mojo is multiple times better. The combination of circumstances and this damn compulsion of mine to be polite to strangers made tonight feel negative. My fault. Just a complete waste of time. The only people that weren't some variety of Asian, SE Asian was this group of derelect hippie kinda sorts and me. Oh they latched onto me. Damn, absolute waste of time. I cannot emphasize how bad these people were at badminton. Distortedly bad, Jerry Lewis flopping around as a badminton player. Now I don't claim to be great at the sport or any other but I'm pretty good at this one for a dreamy-headed amature. I have a competative nature that has evolved over the years, I don't need to win, but it helps me focus. Being in battle, tuned in, physical exersion, stradegy, harnessing skills. I feel a bit like an asshole, but I really enjoy that heightened sense of being that battle can bring; paddycake is only so much fun. Every once in a while I'd rocket one in, somewhat to the annoyance of the girl on the other side. Marshmellows are only entertaining for about 10min max. I was a good fellow, though. The plastic smile I put on ached after the 10th whiff, hurt after the 20th, and felt like it was full of hot needles by the end. The pain grew progressively worse, less than half into the 3rd and final game I decided I was playing to get this thing over with. I was gonna try and hit only really good shots, I wouldn't blow them outta the water, only good shots. Surprisingly, I came nowhere near to hitting them all.

Beard 1

I will do my best to get a better picture next week. I need facial hair of some variety for Halloween. So I figure, if I need facial hair of some indeterminent sort, why not grow a beard and work back? So that's what I'm doing.
It didn't come thru in the photo, but my face looks very dirty and feels moderately itchy. The longer it grows, the less it itches and the redder the whiskers become. Lepricon like, I guess. Hmmm, gonna be fun.
4 Days Beard
11 Days Beard
20 Days Beard
28 Days Beard

C Brown

1. Fantagraphics
2. Seattle Weekly Story

Capes

Who knew?. Ok, so that link isn't for capes, but I've nevertheless been seeing them... 2 today, periodically others. I guess it is the goth sorts wearing most of the capes nowadays. In my search to find a cape on the internet, I found that gothic folks are often lumped in with Renaissance folks. Are they of the same ilk? Maybe they balance eachother out. I wonder if there has ever been a fight between a Goth girl wearing a cape and a Renaissance guy in full regalia. Of course if I witnessed one I'd try and stop it, but if I couldn't I'd take a photo. Damn, I never have my camera with me so I'd probably miss getting a picture... I'd have to retell the story to people. No one would believe me.

My Second Car: 1978 Saab 99*

1978 Saab 99GL 4door
This quite possibly was my overall favorite car that I've owned. In the summer of 1995 I found it sitting in front of a house in the country township of Moreland, OH with a sign that read, "For Sale $700". Bought it for $200 offa a shirtless, sagging chested man selling it by proxy for his out of town son. He wanted it outta his yard and I wanted it cheap.
The reason for the asterick, it was truely my 3rd car. For 1 week before I bought the Saab, for $225 I bought a pile of crap, mid 70's Volvo 244. I don't know why I did it, maybe to drive something more fuel efficient than a 70's era American V8 engine. Rusted to shit, holes everywhere and the decomposing floorboard sagged deeply. It did run well, though. So one week before I bought the Saab I bought the Volvo, then one week after the Saab, I drove the Volvo to a junk yard and traded it for 4 lightly used metric tires for the Saab. Probably not an even trade, but those tires took me everywhere I went, to Philidelphia a couple times, through Michigan, Kentucky, Canada, and of course Ohio.
This car introduced me to the world of rubber tramp hoboism. Really invigorating. I easily slept in the back with the rear bench folded down. While camping by myself, I once freaked out on the Alegany (sp?) Reservoir. During a massive snow storm while visiting in Chuyahoga Falls, OH, I kicked a hole in it's left front fender. I was temporarily stranded in Windsor, Ontario as my ATM card had died a week before in Niagra Falls and the toll bridge to Detriot only took cash... lived on a credit card, cashless.
The very original color of the car was actually a beautiful shade of lime green, never actually seen a car of what I imagined it to have been. The shame was someone along the line had spray painted it, obviously using cans of black aerosol spray cans. I don't know if anyone can do a good paint job using this method, but that's alright as long as you give it your all. Whomever did this did not give it their all. The top of the car was funny, a fuzzy green line following the length of the roof. My guess was the guy was really short and couldn't reach far enough across. I didn't need a baddly painted black and green car, so I painted it in one afternoon. At the time, I think I wanted a lot of attention and I got it. It was fun.
How my life with the Saab ended:
Past midnight, 1997, Taco Bell drive thru, One Tostada One 7-Layer Burrito, Wooster, OH. Some kid sticks his head outta the window as I'm recieving my junkfood and asked, "Cool car, wanna sell it?" i say "I don't know, how much?", "$400" , "hmm, ok". So I sold it 'cause I was nearly broke but quickly realized that I no longer had a car.
Problems:
1. Once the engine was warm, if I shut it off and wanted to start it again, I'd have to open the hood and prop the 'air sensor plate' with a screw driver. This feature sometimes made me mad, this is why I kicked the hole in it.
2. The brakes never quite worked right. Never hit anything but a telephone pole at low speed... of course this was as a result of my daydreaming not mechanics
3. It was a 4speed manual transmission... really wish it were a 5th. Very high RPMs at 65mph, in the summer I had to keep it around 55mph for sustained driving or it would borderline overheat
*** I loved this car
1. My First Vehicle
2. My Second Vehicle*
3. My Third Vehicle

Big Fish

I didn't know it was such a good movie until i saw it last weekend.
I don't remember it being advertised.
Tim Burton
The descriptions sounded dull, it wasn't in the slightest

3voor12:London Calling 2003/2

London Calling Concert Audio List
So I was a bit slow in discovering this, but there are a whole host of shows available streaming from the same source as the several times posted Fiery Furnaces Show. *** Also 1 song on video for each artist.
Follow the above link.
So What's There?
Arab Strap; Electric Shocks; Fiery Furnaces; Franz Ferdinand (gipped, 2mins only); Hawksley Workman; M.A.S.S.; Patrick Wolf; Sluts of Trust; The Barbs; The Darkness; The Hells; The Mountaineers; The Veils

Have you listened to the Fiery Furnaces concert audio yet? You don't have to respect my opinion to just listen to it. All you need is RealAudio. The link is up top or on my side bar. If you'd like me to listen to something that was easy to grab ahold of, I would. You know, I'm generous. I forget the name of the program that I use, but it was free... RECORD WHAT'S HAPPENING ON YOUR SOUND CARD... It is extremely easy, real time, though. If on the radio they play a single you don't have, pull it up from archive and record it. The library is also a goldmine, best explained *HeRe* but also apply to CD's.

Coffee Roasting 2

Whoa... roasted more coffee last night. Fresh offa my nice second go round, ego blooming, I went for a double batch.
Did not do a good job. Man, I made a crappy batch. Not pleasant. Think I didn't roast it long enough. Shaking the pan, smoke billowing out, sweat dripping off my forehead, hardcore curse words intermittantly leaving my lips, arm tired and aching.

Bumbershoot 2004

Today is my first and last day attending the Bumbershoot Music Festival this year.
Subject to change, My Planned Schedule:
1. Harvey Pekar 1pm (Did you see American Splendor? He's the guy)
Alright, I rode my scooter in a mad fury in a fruitful run at 11am to get a wristband for the priviledge to see The Pixies...wheu, got one. Then back home to stock up "supplies". All stocked up and set to meet Kathy at this Harvey Pekar show, I left again, this time long striding it from Capital Hill to Queen Anne. 40minutes later I confront a giant line outside a theater with a "Show Full" sign. Damn. How could I possibly get in? As is often the case, one can wait for people to leave and get a seat into the performace. I was far back, though, didn't look good. I'm stubborn and wanted to see this guy, so I planned to wait it out. But who is 5th or 6th in line? That's right, Kathy. Without the slightest qualm about sliding up in line, I became 6th or 7th. Hot damn, missed only 5minutes or so. Initially I thought it'd be a long hour, Mr. Pekar speaks with a lot of "umm" "uuuh" "things like that" "I don't know, something" (s), but slowly it became clear that he was actually very coherant. Famously he is an unhappy clerk in Cleveland, my old neck of the woods. He had an awkward way of developing ideas. In and out of tangents, slowly painting a very entertaining picture that eventually made sense in its own way. I'm glad I saw him, truely unique.
2. The Fitness 2pm or Aveo
Damn these damn festivals. Recurring theme from this day, if you don't get in line early, your not gonna see the small/ med shows. They had about twice capacity waiting outside to see Aveo... Didn't care to see The Fitness, have once before and just didn't...care to. Later in the day I was also squeezed from seeing competetive break dancing... coulda been cool... ya, I said it, cool. Onto food.
3. The Marley Brothers 3pm or The Turn Ons
Big venue, so I was able to see The Marley Brothers, starred by Ziggy Marley. Now I ain't any kind of Rasta guy, but I had a ton of fun at this show. I tell you, Reggae performed just feels really good. You can't help but dance...and, in spite of my Seattle NoDance defacto policy, I danced and wasn't self conscience... It Was Fun!
4. Harvey Danger 5pm
Damn these damn festivals. Not a chance in hell to get in. Consolation, I talked to someone who saw them and he claims they were horrible, even laughable. Either drunk or uninspired or (?)
5. The Killers 6:30pm
Damn these damn festivals. Consolation, the line waiting to hopefully get in was stuffed with pimply, sweaty, 13yr/olds. After this my second straight disappointment, with a stomach full of grease and junk, we set on a long walk outside the festival's bounds. I love loooong walks. I should talk about epic walks sometime, did one on Sunday. Well, went up one of the highest hills in Seattle, Queen Anne hill. Roaming, walking and daydreaming.
6. Built To Spill 8pm
Made it in shortly after they'd begun. Good show, but unlike many others, this band has never altered how I look at the world.
7. The Pixies 9:30pm
This was neat. I first heard The Pixies in highschool, after they'd split up. Pretty standard fare, if you know The Pixies, you are surely a fan of some degree, huge to "sure they're good". I am somewhere inbetween, more historical context. Those in attendence, I want to say millions, but there weren't... Still, it was the densest sea of people that I can recall being a part of. The set started with near literal interpretations of the tracks on album which led be to think the show was gonna turn into a drag... thankfully the show evolved and grew. The albums turned from scripts to skeletons. This and Harvey Pekar were definitely the highlights for me. Oh, The Pixies played a one song encore, "Wave of Mutilation"... don't get me wrong, it is a good song, trouble was they'd played it about a 3rd of the way into the show.hmm.
They ended at 11pm, home by 11:30. My legs were jelly. Then I thought, Holiday Pay for today! working is mostly bad, but not 100%

Coffee Roasting

My quest for the perfect cup of coffee continues. First the press pot, then grind beans right before use, then perfect perportions, perfect brew timing, a whole host of different coffees in airtight storage, filtered water... and then a big gap of no new innovations untill my birthday. I've talked about it but never acted, roasting green coffee beans for myself. Kathy gave me 2pounds of green coffee beans, 1lb of Costa Rican Peaberry & 1lb Kenyan Peaberry.
Now, I am not gonna buy some expensive machine for hundreds of dollars. With coffee, and other things, I espouse the fundamaental tenent, simplicity mastered yeilds the most desirable results. Last year I saw a demonstration of traditional Ethiopian coffee roasting, in a pan over a fire. While an open fire may not be practicle, the concept is transfered easily enough to any kitchen with a stove. As you may or may not know, I am a thrift store junky; not just clothes, but pictures, board games, cookbooks, misc things, and kitchen supplies. For some reason I'd bought a wide, shallow, stainless steel pan with a lid some time ago, and I'd found no good use for it. Then I recieve beans and instructions... recieved because I was to lazy to initiate it myself. Needed a thermometer as 350 to 500deg were key temperatures. Got it. Need to install the thermometer to the pan, drilled a whole in the pans lid, installed it. Then I roasted coffee.
Have now done it twice, first on Friday and second last night. I over roasted my first batch. Drank the coffee Saturday morning and was less than impressed. It was thin and empty. I paid closer attention and adapted my process to observations from my first go round. I'll be damned, I did a really good job. My second roasting attempt and it turned out really well. Kinda weird, didn't seem like I should be able to do it... on top of it, I'll only get better. As with most things trial and error, learn from all the trials and squelch out errors, hone. If done properly, this is an active process, being aware of what was done right and wrong and building from there.
I sure do love coffee, just wish there was the slightest health benifit from it, unfortunately, there isn't.

Russian Hostages

Crazy... no more hostage situation, at least 200 reported dead, 600+ wounded after the school was stormed. Remember the theater hostage situation several years ago? The Russian government accidentally used poison gas; I don't remember how many died, but it was in the 100's. Chechyans need to embody nonviolence. Tragedy all around, loss of life and loss of sympathy for the Chechyan's legitamate case for independence.

I Shouted !!!

"Get outta here!"
"You're a bum, Bush!"
"Booooooo!"
"You're getting voted out!"
"You stink!"
"No more, honky!"
& similars
No one else yelled that I could hear. I did get a couple yelps of encouragment.
I enjoyed it, definitely therapeutic.

The Great American Shout-Out Tonight!!!

Have you heard about this? The Great American Shout-Out
As Bush collects cheers approaching the podium from the Republican crowd at their disingenuous convention, YELL OUT YOUR WINDOW, Network style... remember "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore"? What's great is this is real life.
It's gonna be fun and feel good. If you disapprove of this administration, yell something disapproving... we have to get these guys out of office.
*** Here is a short article on it***

Sourdough Bread Recipe

I kinda bastardize this recipe taken from "Alaska Sourdough" by Ruth Allman. I highly recommend this sourdough book. The only parts typed in the whole thing are the copyright page and back cover, the rest is handwritten print and drawing. This book opened me up to sourdough, not just recipes, the Alaska sourdough story, who knew there was one? I didn't, interested in sourdough? this book will get you started, if you get no inspiration, i'll buy it from you and give it to someone I know, keep your receipt.

Understand the chemistry of any recipe, what each thing is there for. Take away, add, or change however you see fit:

Basic Sourdough Bread:

2 cups Sourdough Starter
1 cup Water/ Potato Water [plain water will use more flour]
1/4 Sugar [evaporated cane sugar/ small amount mollasses]
<=3 tbsp Oil [can even not use any/ Olive Oil absolutely]
1/2 tsp Salt [Sea Salt]
5 Cups Flour [mostly white/ at most if used 1 cup Wheat]

1. Make Soft Sponge: Mix Sourdough, Sugar, Water, & Oil
2. Add 1/2 of the Flour: Mix well
3. First Rise: Cover and let double in size
4. Add Remainder of flour & Salt: enough to make it easy enough to handle
5. Lightly knead it around for a couple of minutes, make it smooth all thru
6. Second Rise: Cover with damp cloth and let double
7. Full Knead: 10 to 15 minutes... feel like closer to 15, the feel gradually changes. you can feel the glutonous strands stretching and strengthening.
8. Third/Final Rise: Cover with damp cloth and let double
9. Form into loaf(s), let set 15mins
10. Bake on Hot Pizza Stone or Cookie Sheet
400deg for 55mins [more for larger loaves, less for small]

Since I can't own a Basset Hound, my pets are the millions of little yeasties in my sourdough culture.