Vox Import

Burrowing muskrat causes levee to fail in Missouri

Looks like we need to improve our anti-muskrat technology:

Burrowing muskrat causes levee to fail in Missouri

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw...

Residents Henry James, left, and Herb Crosby sit on top of a house as they wait for the floodwaters to arrive after a levee break Friday, June 27, 2008, in Winfield, Mo. A section of an earthen levee broke Friday morning, releasing Mississippi River waters that officials predicted will "ultimately inundate" part of the small town. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Dance dance dance

Not only is it a Murakami book you should read, but its the subject of this short film.  The music is close to being too inspirational sounding, but I like the whole thing too much to be bothered by it.  Oh, if its all chunky and skippy, turn off HD.  It doesn't really affect the image quality (as far as I could tell) and its a lot faster.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Uniqlock

Found this funny clock on the Uniqlo site called the Uniqlock.  Uniqlo is like a Japanese Gap but with (I think) better stuff.  I didn't realize it was a clock at first, so I watched it for about 10 minutes waiting for it to end, always thinking, what do the numbers mean?  Duh....

Uniqlock

Update: I replaced this with the no-sound version since it auto-plays and I want to keep my friends.  However the music is awesome, so you should enable it via the volume control at the bottom of the clock or click the link above and visit the site itself!

What in the neighborhood?

Photo puzzle!  Here's a piece of machinery in the 6A neighborhood, SOMA, SF, can you guess what it is?  Most people interact with this type of machine (not necessarily this one) every day.  Note that this is the inside of the machine and it is not normally visible.  A prize relating to this machine will be given for the first correct answer (anyone with me at the time of the photo excluded):

Machinery

Machinery

I need more comparisons to 70's cartoons

I followed a link to an article on the new iPhones being announce next week this morning.  It was to this Information Week article on the WWDC, the Apple World Wide Developer's Conference here in San Francisco.  In the first paragraph, while trying to frame the importance of this conference with respect to the much bigger MacWorld, the author gives this helpful comparsion:

If Macworld is Scooby-Doo, then WWDC is Scrappy-Doo.

Really?  It that what its like?  Things like attendance numbers and media attention don't really click in my head, but this comparison really nailed it for me.  He even helpfully linked to YouTube so those of you who may have become a bit hazy can remind themselves of the complex relationship between Scooby and Scrapy-Doo.  My guess is that its actually closer to Daphne (sexy with a dash of style) against Velma (smart and resourceful), but lets not split hairs.

I think this is a veritable untapped gold mine of metaphor.  Just think of it; how much easier would your life be to comprehend if you could place it in terms of "Josie and the Pussy Cat's" characters?  "Speed Racer" is now in mainstream media again...why are we not taking advantage of that???  And lets not keep it to the 70's.  "ThunderCats" is packed with relevant archetypes for modern life.  We are on the brink of rebuilding the tower of babel, let us not waste this chance as He-Man did when allowing Skeletor to escape back to Snake Mountain.

Say Hello to Piximix!

Say Hello to PIXIMIX

Hey all, come by and check out the Piximix opening at Double Punch tomorrow, Friday, June 6th!  We've got some great framed and unframed prints up for the show as well as our usual assortment of t-shirts buttons and comics.  The show starts at 7pm and there will be wine and light snacks for your art browsing enjoyment!  If you can't make the opening, don't fret; our show will be open for the month of June, so stop on by whenever.  Hope to see you there!

Address
1821 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

Double Punch Map

Vrooom!

With much help and support from Papi Chulo I got my motorcycle up and running today!  Whooo!  Steve brought over his bike and we both worked on our bikes:

I had to drain the crummy old gas that was still in my tank from three years ago, and found that a bag of potting soil helped keep the tank steady as it drained in to the jerry can:

This opened up the bike in full nakedness so I could replace the coil and put in the new battery:

Meanwhile Steve changed his oil and lubed his chain:

This is pretty much Steve's position the whole afternoon, though every now and then one of us would have to leap up and chase down something that flew away in the crazy wind that was going on today.  After getting everything together, we spend about 30 minutes trying to get it started again.  It was pretty obvious that fuel wasn't flowing to the engine but it wasn't clear what was blocking it.  After draining gasoline on ourselves several times ("yup, its flowing up to this point") I noticed that a little pin inside the carburetor was stuck.  This tiny pin that only moves up and down about 1/8 inch was holding up the gas.  We squirted it with WD40 and put the carb cover back on and after a few coughs, vroooom!  We were able to take it for some test drives up and down the street:

It needs a few more things done on it (carb rebuild and balance, replace the clutch cable, new wheels and new side mirrors), but its working!