Missed Helmety Photo Op

I've posted a couple of pictures related to the Cool Breeze Century, where I rode the metric century (62 miles, but the route was only 58). Usually at these large organized rides, there's an official photographer, and his/her position will be marked on the route with a warning sign. Well, I say "usually," because we didn't get our warning sign, so I didn't even know when my picture was taken. And, also unfortunately, at the place where the photog was, some other dude carrying a camera crossed the road right in front of my little paceline, so we were concerned about that guy, who was on the other side of the road than the designated picture taker. Great. All five seconds of this happy exchange can be seen in the pictures below.

Going,	going,	gone!

I'm the dude in the green jersey in the middle, and you can see the random dude we latched on to pointing out the road hazard. My bike buddy Micah is right behind me. So, no awesome bike pose for me. Wah!

Helmety Language Barrier

As a fan of anime, I'm all about the subtitles. Sometimes, it's a little hard to follow the words along with the action on the screen, but that's what pause and rewind buttons are for (as opposed to pause, rewind, and super-slo-mo...). But usually subtitles add to cross cultural understanding, not detract from it. I guess it doesn't matter to Sarge very much, since he only hears what he wants to, no matter what language is spoken.

"Menos hablando, yendose."

Helmety Loneliness

Sarge, of the Red Team, is one of my favorite characters from the Red vs. Blue machinima series. A natural leader, he always knows how to tell someone what to do. And if he doesn't have anyone to order around, apparently, he also knows how to make some minions. It's easy if you know how to work with cardboard, duct tape, and broomsticks...

"I see them out there with their glowsticks and their tribal drumbeats."

If It's The Last SAG Stop at Cool Breeze...

...then it's all about the popsicle!

Very important to replenish those polysorbate levels...

58 miles. 16.8 mph average. Pacelining on Highway 101 through Ventura on the bike lane getting passed by semis and RV's. And the featured snack at the second SAG stop? Watermelon!

Update: I just inspected the official Cool Breeze jersey, and found this cool easter egg on the inside collar.

I like how small traditions become epic lore.

Helmety Achievements

I don't own an Xbox 360, although since they lowered the price, I'm seriously considering purchasing one. However, one thing Microsoft added to keep the addiction level high, er, uh, I mean, the replayability of the console games was to add "achievements" to all their games through Xbox Live. This idea is similar to the medals Halo 2 handed out for certain things you did in the game, like a one-shot sniper kill without using the scope, except every game has them now, for redeemable "gold" in the Xbox Marketplace. And this gold business is like the tickets you used to get for high scores in Skeeball. Thank you, Microsoft, for reminding me of my Chuck E. Cheese experiences. Of course, the Red vs. Blue guys have their own opinions on these achievement thingies. Just so you know, the video seems to end early, but just fast forward to the last ten seconds. For you achievement whores, it's so totally worth it. For the rest of us, meh.

BLEEP BLOOP

Helmety Product Demonstration

A few weeks back, we saw a couple of different commercial genres trying to sell human-based stroyent (no accident that it reminds one of soylent green; it is made of people, somehow...). We had prescription drug testimonial and a gimmicky "as seen on TV" appliance, but we didn't have the product demonstration lab, complete with overly stimulated audience. Well, here you go. I guess the voice actors had to go with referencing that Aussie hand waver, only because trying to shoot for the ubiquitous Billy May would have required graphic intensive "beard enhancement."

"Order now, and receive this handsome, commemorative plate!"

Helmety Talks Break Down

Don't you hate it when negotiations are going well, but then they just stop because of one little thing? Granted, that one little thing might just be one big thing, especially when the transmission of documents appears to obliterate the other party's civic center. I hear that fax machines still work very well...

"There is a high probability you are just being nice."