Color Me Marcus, pt. 2

My honey jar has an alter ego. Mild-mannered yet delicious food turns super-powered crime fighter extraordinaire. He has a cape! And while you go about your business, he watches over this city, protecting us all...

Erykah Badu - Honey (Captain Planet remix)

Color Me Marcus

Today I decided I was going to roll over to the farmer's market.

But today, I wasn't there for the usual. Today, I was looking for something a little different...


Today I got bamboo*! I've named it Mr. Shoots. As you can see, Mr. Shoots is already adjusting to his new home and making friends. Mr. Shoots, meet Buzz...


I've been wanting plants for a while now, but at the old place I was always afraid there was too little light to grow anything properly. I wasn't sure what kind of plant to get, until I settled on bamboo as a nod to my appreciation for kung fu cinema and Chinese culture. Perhaps this will be the start of something wonderful! I'm already thinking about what I'd like to get next...

*Well... make that "Lucky Bamboo", which is not related to bamboo and isn't native to Asia. Dang.

Music gets down in your soul, makes you want to lose control

Last night I stepped out to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band courtesy of some free tickets I lucked my way into (thus continuing the tradition of going to see RR for zero dollars). I have to say that the energy level was a bit lower than the last time I saw them perform, and that was a little disappointing. I like my music lively so I can dance to it, but things didn't really pick up until the encore. All and all, it was still a good show. The highlight has to be the covers they played: Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" (which was originally made known to me through the version done by RAtM), Jimi's "Foxy Lady", and a sort of cover / mash-up of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by The Temptations and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Fun stuff. Love that pedal steel.



Next up, a series of Color Me Katie-inspired posts.

In with the old, in with the new

An assortment of cycling-related stuffs from the interwebs, some old and some new.

~Bikes + contortionists + engineers. I think I've got an idea of how this works, but even still this is... this is... I would say this is hard for me to bend my mind around, but that would be in poor form (cause I hate puns).


Read more @ Toxel...

~Cyclists + musical instruments + parades. Why didn't I think of that?? Gonna need to find a fleet of cargo bikes in this town, and stat.

Justin Ancheta Performs at the 2010 Bicycle Music Festival Parade from John Hamilton on Vimeo.

~Cyclists + vandalism + gamer nerds. Looks like some creative-minded people up in Portland went off the deep end. And that make me so happy! I don't think you could get much more classic than this.





Read more @ Bike Portland...

~Cyclists + indie musicians. I don't know how I missed posting this one... Only reason I can think of for depriving you of Coco Love Alcorn's awesomeness is I was keeping her in my pocket for a rainy day to blow your mind. Between this and her song "Intellectual Boys" I could be looking at my future wife. Also, someone to keep in mind next time I've got some spare cash to drop on a record / merch buying spree.



There now, all caught up.

It's Showtime!

Woah... whoever made this music video watches way cooler movies than I do. Here I thought I was doing with Death Race 2000. Clearly I ain't seen nothing yet... So very glad these kids are coming to do their thing at the club this weekend. I am all over it.

Sweet Inspiration (times two)

Caught wind of a couple things lately that take my general feeling of being a fairly physically capable guy and just shake it to pieces.

First, I've been reading an account of the Pedouin family's trek on a quint tandem. Five people. One bike. 7,000 miles from Kentucky to Alaska, by way of Florida. And the trip is for no reason other than just to do it. In and of itself this feat would be impressive enough, riding clear across the country and all, crashing with folks where they can and sleeping outside where they can't. But then they have two extra degrees of difficulty that are sure to wow the judges. Of this family of five, three of them are young girls, at the outset aged 6, 4 and 2. I'm sure most of the energy for this comes from the parents, but I still have to admire the tenacity for sticking it through. If that wasn't enough, neither of these parents are what I would call actual cyclists. About all they had going for them was that they knew how to ride a bicycle, but nothing approaching serious strength or endurance or distance. They gave themselves just three months time to warm up, and the mileage they do is quite paltry, frankly (I could crush them on my worst day). They seem to be getting it done, though, and good for them.

Second, I just caught this trailer for a documentary called "The Ataxian. This guy Kyle Bryant has Friedreichs Ataxia, a neuromuscular disorder that affects muscle coordination. Instead of sitting around and letting it rule his world, he's doing a 9 day, 3,000 mile bike race. I am blown away that he's got so much heart as to make the attempt. This ride crushes strong riders. It takes me a year to do three grand. Just... wow.

Ultimate!

Fourmingoes versus Low Five. I don't believe I've ever seen myself on video. I had no idea this is what I look like...

America!

It's been a little while since I've had any adventures in cooking. I went to a sweet BBQ last night, and while I left the heavy lifting in the cooking department to the grill masters, I did whip out a couple recipes to contribute in the area of sides. One of 'em was something new that I tried out, and apparently it was pretty tasty cause it got destroyed. Managed to get only like two bites of it myself cause I didn't realize it was going over so well. Luckily I took a little off the top for myself before I headed over there, so I'm set.

Show me potato salad! (w/ bacon):

~3 lbs red potatoes*
~3/4 cup sour cream*
~2/3 cup mayonnaise*
~1 tsp salt
~1 tsp mustard
~1/2 tsp garlic powder
~1/4 tsp black pepper
~5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
~1/4 cup chopped green onions*
~1/4 cup chopped green pepper
~1 cup chopped apple*

Cut potatoes into cubes; place in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool to room temperature. In a large bowl combine all ingredients (be sure to fold in sour cream and mayonnaise thoroughly). Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

*Kinda fudging on some of the measurements here. I put in the amount of potatoes that I had, and then based some of the rest on how it looks and feels.

Penultimate baked beans:

~30 oz pork & beans
~~1 garlic clove, minced
~1 pkg onion soup mix
~1/2 cup water
~1/2 cup BBQ sauce
~1/2 cup brown sugar
~2 tbsp mustard
~1/2 lb mostly cooked bacon

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients except bacon together and spread in a 9×13 dish. Top with cooked bacon. Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for 30 mins, then uncovered for 15 mins.

This is the one that everyone killed, even though I didn't follow the recipe completely (hence the "penultimate" as opposed to the be all and end all of beans. As is, I apparently took the championship in the "best side" category. I wonder what would happen if I'd put everything in there? Probably could have taken over the world, or at least a few other BBQs. Personally I thought this maybe wouldn't mind baking for a little longer without the cover, but what do I know? Thought about throwing in just a hint of vegetables too, for variety, but I'll save the experimentation for when it's not my first time.