...and thus ends my first and last season of softball

We won it all. Champions. And I don't plan on playing softball ever again (because fly balls at night just stress the shit out of me). Sure, I can hit/run like a Puerto Rican, paddling made my arm into a legit cannon, but when it comes to balls flying through the lights, beaming at me out in right field, I'm just lucky that I never took one right in the eye.

I was also lucky to get away with no errors during those 3 championship games yester-eve and I'm going to go ahead and say that's why we won (probably not).

The best part of it all? The team we beat was entirely made up of guys my age or younger (and that one smoking blonde that the old guys couldn't stop talking about). FYI my team has some pretty dudes on it - two of them actually go injured last night and had to sit out of the game. Anyway, that's what happens when you go hard and even though we got crushed in the first game, we rallied and destroyed those fools in games 2 and 3. Anyway, turns out that the league has been going since 1979 and the trophy is pretty big...peace out.

That also marks the end of all my coed sports for 2011. Time to step up my PS3 game...



Since I really have nothing else to do, I got a lot of fun stuff planned out for this weekend including Nuit Blanche. I need redemption because my 2010 pictures sucked. Hard. So check out these shots from 2009 instead...and even those kind of sucked.

TG-I'm-Finally finished with softball.

...and that's the last dragon boat video for the year (finally). Banana Boat vs GWN Challenge 2011

I'm now officially on hiatus from Premiere Pro while I attempt to learn FCPX. Turn up your speakers for this one...

Ruger 10/22 - Tuffer Buffer (Does it last a lifetime?)

The Tuffer Buffer is probably the quickest mod you can do to your 10/22 - it's dirt cheap and really easy to install. This piece of plastic polymer tube that's cut to spec replaces the stock steel bolt pin in your receiver so that when the bolt flies back, instead of meta/metal contact, it hits this softer material instead.

I haven't fired off any rounds with this thing in but apparently it really reduces vibration and changes the sound it makes when a round cycles. One of them is supposed to last a lifetime, so as to why I bought 3 who knows (HINT: I'm cheap and it's a better deal).

Tuffer Buffer is just one of the brands that makes such a part, and I don't know how much they can vary from brand to brand, but this is a Canadian product with free shipping so that worked for me.



It was more or less and after the fact kind of thing when I thought about it and I ordered it after I installed the Marauder Kit, so I had to break it down (again).

It's not a difficult task but the two screws that hold the forend in are turning out to be a real pain. That's because the barrel gets in the way when you turn your allen key, so instead of being able to do a full rotation you need to do about 100 tiny ones per screw. Annoying.



So anyway, that's the pin that gets replaced and you'll need to remove the trigger assembly to get to it. Easy.



From here you can see what happens: when the bolt flies back it stops/hits against that meal pin and apparently that metal/metal contact could be smoother. From what I hear the vibration can offset/damage your optic, but since I have a $40 cheapo red dot that is barely accurate I'm not sweating it too much.



Now go ahead and swap out that metal cylinder for a polyurethane one (I don't even know if it's polyurethane). They probably cost about $0.005 to manufacture but  because most of us don't own the facilities to process chemicals, materials and extrude stuff, we gotta pay the premium. Everybody's gotta make a living somehow.



That's it - pie. It was a little difficult pushing it in (that's what she said) because the buffer was so sticky/lots of friction against the metal. I sprayed some gun lube on it and it sort of did the trick, but just like any other situation you just gotta force it in.



Time to turn my attention to this last race video. I'm about 70% through but I got softball finals tomorrow night. Yes, despite me being barely able to catch we made it to the finals. Our league is awesome.

CZ 452 Trigger Kit Upgrade (Yodave style)

Living out in the city, a day at the range is a pretty big deal for me. I was planning to go on Saturday (and man was the weather nice) but real life trumps all and shit got real. What I wanted to do was get a baseline before I did these mods but turns out I couldn't wait.

Here's the kit. This is what $18 buys you - a couple springs and shims.



So I previously installed and uninstalled the lightest spring of the kit, but because the trigger pull was so light I didn't know whether or not it was actually legal. Turns out there are no laws, just safety concerns with that kind of thing. I didn't use the shims because it didn't have much trigger creep anyway, but this time I just replaced everything.

Go ahead and check the site out because the instructions there are pretty straight forward.

The 1/8" punch that I have is not small enough and you need smaller. Maybe the Czechs have it different, but I don't have a drift punch and this one couldn't make it in the holes (that's what she said). So instead of spending more cash, I fabricated my own and used some grinded down nails. It was pretty ghetto but worked.

This is the first pin you need to remove - it holds the rear of the trigger and spring rod in place.



Let me just tell you that this was really difficult to get out the first time because the ends were actually mushroomed (and I didn't realize it). While it wasn't as hard as the sights of a 10/22, it was still kind of sketchy since those parts are so thin. It was easier this time around but still snug, which I think is a good thing.

Luckily all the parts of the trigger are metal instead of plastic like the 10/22, so being rough with those pins felt mildy acceptable.



Once the pin is removed the trigger swings down as well as the spring assembly. Don't lose the washer above the trigger adjustment nut either.

That spring is what determines the trigger pull weight. I used the second lightest spring in the kit.

If you're interested, this guy does a good job explaining the whole setup, how it works and where the creep comes from.



Remove the second pin and the trigger comes completely free. The gap where second pin fits is where the creep comes from. When you pull the trigger the tiny space that the pin has to travel before actually making contact with the sear is creep. You can think of it as a dead zone before things actually go click.

I didn't really have that much before but I can honestly say that now I have none...or so little that it's not noticeable to me anyway. Pretty much a light touch will fire it now.



Once you have the trigger out it's just a matter of trying out the different shims to see what fills the gap between the sear best. Turns out that the red one fits mine or at least that's what I thought at the time. It's 1/16000" inch thick.



It's trial and error with this step and you basically need to keep putting back/taking off the trigger to see what works. You can't really tell by just half putting it back on and eye balling it (I learned that the fool's way). You really put everything in to see if it actually fits alright.

Maybe because I'm such a noob, but the difference between shims is so small and barely noticeable that I honestly don't even know if I chose the right one.

The kit also provides you with a new pin (left) to use instead of the old one (right). The replacement isn't actually a pin, but a rolled piece of metal.



The kit comes with 4 springs. The lightest is rated at 0.5 pounds and the heaviest 3 pounds. Since there's no measurements for the ones in between, I guess the second lightest is around 1 pound. That's a complete guess but it's noticeably lighter than the stock spring, which I also don't know the weight of. The lightest one felt borderline dangerous and would probably just fire if the stock was hit.

Put everything back together and you're done.



On a related note, I finally scoped the thing. The stock iron sights are pretty awesome but because I have horrible eyes and can't even see the targets at 100 yards I took the dive.

Because of the design of the sights and size of the scope I had to pull some magic. It could also be considered foolishness depending on how you look at it.

Dovetail to weaver rail riser and medium rings. It needed a lot of clearance. A lot.



Anyway the scope is on and I have to sight it in and that's something that I've never done before. I'm guessing that it will be a pretty frustrating experience so we'll see.



That's that for this rifle. 1022, you're next.

Take me out to the hater's ball...

I firmly rejected an invite to my high school reunion the other day because the way I see it: if there's anyone from back then that I'd actually want to get together with, I'd get together with them. Luckily for me that kind of thing actually happens, so I can avoid a silly situation like this one with a clear conscience (and I hate most of those people's guts anyway).

Sure, we might not meet up for that kind of thing very often but whether it's been weeks, months or years the conversation just continues as if it were yesterday and you know that it's legit. And since there isn't 300 other people standing around that you don't really want to talk to anyway, there's nothing to sweat, not judgments to be made and nothing is forced. I ain't exactly Mr. Social Network so I appreciate those kind of people and situations, especially if it's one of your friends that trying to throw it together.

I try to avoid those fake conversations as much as possible, mostly because I'm socially awkward and don't know what to talk about, but also because fake conversations are exactly that - Tila Tequila's tits.



Admittedly, it's been like 10 years since high school and back then we were all idiots. You can't even tell me that you knew about the world and how it worked because you didn't. Face it, your 15 year old brain couldn't comprehend anything back then and if you think you had it all figured out, odds are you haven't learned much. 90% of us just wanted to make it through the day and the other 10% just wanted to keep reliving it. If high school still remains to be the best years of your life then holy fuck.

No, my high school experience didn't suck. But you you can't deny that it wasn't until you studied, traveled, met different people and went to work that you actually got just a little/tiny/minuscule taste of what really goes on here.



It's true that people change and although my man-child body and hair style might say otherwise, I am a completely different person than I was 10 years ago. While I don't regret anything, I look back now and wonder what the hell was I thinking back then. But that's life and that's real.

Sure, most of those people have grown up and changed but who knows? Not me and I don't care to find out. Pass me the haterade player because I'm thirsty and Saved by the Bell is coming on soon.

Anyway, if there is some sort of message to this then I guess it's to surround yourself with good people and everything will be alright. Right?



Take that with a grain of salt though because including my mom, Facebook tells me that I have sixteen fifteen friends. I'm assuming they're still working the bugs out of their system.

T-HELLYES-G-I-F

Fat guy tries to run - Part 1: What you know about running? (HINT: Not that much)

So I guess this is my first entry for this short series, so here we go...

I somehow convinced myself that I should do my first ever running race, and for me 5km is pretty much a marathon...as to why that chick on the splash page has two arm warmers and one glove on is beyond me, but I'm pretty sure I need that kind of swag to step up my running jogging game.

Let me give you some background info: I'm a short, buck-eighty, beer drinking, wing eating, video game playing everyman with a bad knee that sits at a desk all day, every day. I don't run for fitness or leisure or even to catch a train. The first time I actually legitimately jogged was earlier this year for the Swordfish fitness test, where I laid down 11 minutes walking/jogging for 1.7 km. That combined with doing 0 pull ups that day was a pretty sad showing, but I didn't sweat it. Actually I did sweat it for like 3 weeks afterwards. It haunted my dreams.

Anyway, the next time I really ran was at the Banana Boat practices about 2 months later, where we stepped up our game and did 3 km fun runs after every practice. I think I only did 3 of those but managed to pull off 17 mins flat as my best time ever. That was the furthest distance I've ever run.

So with this race being less than a month off I decided that I actually needed to do some sort of training to achieve a respectable 5km time so that, when it came down to it, mothers with strollers wouldn't overtake me as I hobbled along clutching my liver. So I ran 5km yesterday for the first time ever and here's what happened.



Turns out that GPS struggles under rainy conditions at an indoor tack, and a cell phone flopping around in your basketball shorts is not ideal. But I completed it and while it pretty much just felt like I was enduring it I didn't stop or get any cramps, which kind of even surprised me. Confidence +1!

So with only 3 weeks left until the actual race I had to formulate a plan. Come on, let's be reasonable. I'm not trying to become a serious runner, I just need to know that I can do this.

So here's the tentative plan, taking into consideration that I don't know about run training techniques and need time to heal my frail body...

WEEK ONE: 5km + 4km + 3km (complete all distances without stopping)
WEEK TWO: 5km + 5km + 5km (get idea of race pace)
WEEK THREE: 5km + 4km + more horse steroids (practice races)
WEEK THREE: Race!

Based on the fact that my friend (who actually got me into this race) runs 5km in 22 mins, I still don't know what a target time should be but I'll figure that out once I get some more runs under my belt.

Without dropping some weight, pushing around this frame is no easy task. While I'd like to jog more, my feet and fat ass pounding against the pavement isn't exactly a smooth move and I can definitely feel it in my knees already. I only ran 3km + 5 km this week (Tues & Wed) but my knees already hurt and glutes are sore as hell. Perfect.

To be continued...

Now featuring 200% more BS!

I knew it had to happen eventually. With all the traffic my helmet cam sees I knew that someone would pull a noob move - they just had to. Turns out that it happened at the very last race of the year. Go figure.

What happened here? Is this the scene of a crime? Why would you have a conversation at this location?



Anyway, I've managed to cut up the 2 days worth of GWN footage but let me tell you that the song selection is really holding me back. That's mostly because I've just been listening to fascinating podcasts all day and don't even know what's hip on the airwaves.

Based on my previous videos' mixed feedback I'm undecided whether to go full cheese with the song or maintain my artistic integrity. I guess that's only really valid if I didn't stare at a computer screen all day I was actually some sort of artist, but the mob is fickle after all (I don't care because I don't entertain requests).



I took a look at the archives last night and I'm leaning towards some pretty heavy rap, but I know that the N-bomb kind of makes everyone but me and my one black friend uncomfortable. And sometimes those indie songs are just a little too indie for chicks the masses, and I don't want to have to fight off any hipsters trying to claim shit that thousands of drunk americans, lumberjacks and people who appreciate a durable pair of glasses have been enjoying for millenia anyway.



If it Friday yet?

You know you play a lot of Tiny Tower when...

I told myself that I'd quit at 50, but I couldn't stop. I COULDN'T STOP!



It's actually WAY faster and WAY more precise than any of the previous elevators. It's balling.

I'm life Annie and I'm biting you in the ass!

What a mess I was last week. Between getting injured and lacking sleep I was able to get some work done, but nothing felt right and I just wanted to make it through. I had to make it to Stratford for 8 on Saturday and it was pretty crappy considering that I went to sleep at like 2:30.

The whole week/end felt like when you have to wear cotton that one time to play sports after you've been wearing dry fit since forever - it's gross and you wonder how people can be such savages just doesn't feel right. Awesome analogy, I know.

Anyway, so I paddled with BMO and the Row Bots on Saturday and although we didn't win any hardware both teams did finish within the top 16, which isn't too shabby. It was kind of a logistical mess because both teams ended up in B division races, but that's what happens when you over commit crews are short people.

Seems like a lot of teams are just thrown together without really practicing because it's after all the big races and I think it's one of the very last regattas in Ontario. They probably just want to keep the train going, but as a result it's not a very competitive race and the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed (because most of the team didn't even bother to warm up for the final).



If you don't know, the course is right at the Theater - it's kind of weird/uneven/shallow but other than that they have more or less everything you need, including free water, live bands and a fry truck. There were 61 teams there and since the venue is not that huge the athlete's village is always pretty tight. Real close quarters.

Nice event though since other than the plays nothing else really goes on there there's a lot of community support.



And that's a wrap on the 2011 dragon boat season (finally) - if it has anything to do with me paddling then save it for year.

Quick shout out to C&K too, because their house/warming was pimp. Man I gotta get one of those.

Step up your hamburger game with The Burger's Priest

If you don't already know about The Burger's Priest then go ahead and educate yourself.

Conveniently located at Coxwell and Queen (for all you dragon boaters), we couldn't have thought of a better meal to enjoy after our last "practice" of the year. And boy was it a good one.

Once again, the Priest serves up American style fresh ground beef burgers that are cooked up on a flat top for all to enjoy. Whether you want purity or excess, you can have it made simply or done up to the tits with stuff like breaded/deep fried jalapenos, patty cooked in ballpark mustard or grilled cheese as the buns - your call.

The usual suspects...



I stepped up my cheeseburger game this time around and graduated from The Priest to The Judgement Day. I couldn't get enough of that cheese stuffed, panko breaded deep fried mushroom goodness so I opted for two of them. I was going to get The Tower of Babel but just like every other situation in life I folded at the last second (it wasn't a bad thing).

Other options you ask?



If you're looking at their site and don't know what I'm talking about then go ahead and Google for the Burger's Priest Secret Menu. Your heart will thank you.

This is what $18.07 worth of burger swag looks like. Fresh bun, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, option (mushroom stuffed with cheese, breaded with panko and deep fried), cheeseburger, another option and the bottom bun.



Shazam! Enough grease to ensure you a smooth exit. The dude at the counter even had a hard time wrapping it up, which isn't too surprising considering that it weighs 2 pounds and is half a foot tall. Hey Mikey, I think he likes it...

Bye bye baby it's been a sweet love...

I'm a mess this week. I haven't been getting much sleep lately and as a result I've been getting these weird/socially awkward right-eye-twitches and I don't think that it's impressing the ladies (that much).

Unless things somehow turn out like Fight Club then I'm probably going to have to force a real deep sleep soon because it's really messing with my mojo. By my broad estimation this would involve at least 10 beers, Korean BBQ and a jacuzzi.



I don't know...call it dragon boat overload or whatever but I'm not feeling it and I can't wait to get this last regatta over with. Don't get me wrong, I like to get out on the water and race as much as the next guy (probably not) but I kind of regret agreeing to be a sub, especially if we lose since GWN was such a righteous end to my own personal season.

Since I'm a crap writer It's hard to describe what I mean but after this Sunday it felt good, as if I somehow became at peace with this season and I could put my paddle to rest. But now I got this extra noise to deal with and I just can't seem to get into it...

I just want to pack up my gear and be done. Son.

Banana Boat slays the GWN Dragon Boat Challenge (again)

If this sunburn is any indication then it usually means that I was racing over the weekend...and I was...for two days...so that's twice the sunburn...I showed up to work this morning with a really greasy shiny looking face becuase I'm not sure if cocoa butter was the correct solution but I regret nothing (it's delicious).



GWN is our biggest regatta of the year and we finished the season with some serious steeze. Banana Boat jumped up another division, moving from F to E, all while picking up that gold medal swag. Although we didn't go 3/3 like in 2010, 2/4 ain't so bad right?



All in all, we had some pretty embarrassing crushing defeats, some hard earned wins and some tough changes in our practice routine, which kept things interesting all year.

There would have been no better way to end our last regatta unless it somehow involved eating lobster, drinking champagne or getting more gold medals. Great job team.



This year, instead of soy milk and energy drinks the sponsors gave us cases of Frank's RedHot and Tiger Balm. If you don't know what Tiger Balm is then think of Windex for the Greeks but for Chinese people. Eska water also sponsored the event, so there was tap water flowing freely.



If my my memory serves me right (that's suspect) then we threw down a 2:26, 2:34 and 2:26 - landing us in the E Consolation final. I felt ashamed after the second race because it was full of noob moves, as far as I could see from seat 4 anyway. I'll admit that I was also ker-plunking like mad but there were strong winds, the water was crazy choppy and our boat was totally left heavy.

We somehow managed to pull it together for the final though...but I wonder how...



If it ain't intravenous it ain't illegal, right?

Whatever, haters gonna hate. I don't know whether it made a difference but it was way more effective than trying to get hopped up on energy drinks, having to pee every 15 seconds, burning out before the actual race, then getting all dehydrated and headaches.



We also managed to slay my buddy's team again (who we beat in the finals last year by only 0.04 seconds), which was just more delicious icing on that victory cake. Just like us they stepped it up another division but only to have their dreams shettered (again). Better luck next year (see you at practice tonight). Mwah ah ah ah ah...

Cheering in our opponents faces immediately after we won the race? Check.



Some more hardware to add to the 2011 collection. Unless someone has active mouth herpes, there's no way I'm not drinking out of the cup this year. Believe that.



Gold baby gold. Season done. Time to ride.

2011 GWN Challenge tomorrow! Finally...

This is it. We need to win. We have to win...

Finally! It's our last regatta of the year and in true dragon boat fashion there's the usual end of season decline in practice attendance and that gotta drop out for the last regatta of the year for legitimate reasons foolishness to deal with. Hopefully we can still do some work and win another trophy (because that would be sweet). I never did get a chance to drink out of the one from last year, but I'm not holding it against anyone (that much).

One thing that I'm not looking forward to is the parking. If I can't get a spot at the TSCC either of the days then I'm pretty sure that I'll just park at Sunnyside ($9), instead of the CNE ($20), and just walk the 2KM to Marilyn Bell Park. I'll use that surplus of cash to buy (even more) turkey legs and kettle corn to fuel me for that 20 minute loner walk...which could actually be a walk of shame if we end up losing or even worse dropping down a division...

In other news, I folded Robert Lang's paper rabbit the other day - it looks fairly simple but there's actually one pretty frustrating really challenging fold in it.

Go ahead and try it. I dare you.



YouTube sure has made it easy these days though, because half the challenge of folding origami used to be trying to figure out what the diagram in the book meant. It's all gravy now though...


TGIF.

Why do smokers think it's their god given right to throw down cigarette butts wherever they please? Enjoy the cancer jerks...

Like seriously? You're just going to throw that cigarette down onto the sidewalk, step on it and then walk away like everything is all good? Or flick that garbage out of your sunroof while doing 130 on the highway in your Audi like it's no big deal? Or stand right in front of the restaurant entrance when people are trying to get in and then toss that burning butt onto the street because all of a sudden you're in a huge rush to get inside, order your quinoa salad and drink your San Pellegrino? Congratulations, I hear lung cancer is a real good time.

Can you tell that I have not been impressed by smokers this week?



Is it Friday yet? IS IT?!!

Go North I say...

You know, Webers really is not all that great good. Despite the fact that the line is always huge, the burgers are small, probably overcooked and that ice cream tastes kind of old, everyone just stops there anyway because humans need food in order to survive that long drive.

Ok so maybe the drive to Muskoka isn't actually that bad but that spot along Highway 11 is right about the time when you get hungry, am I right or what? They should take a page out of Burger's Priest's book and step up their 57 year old patty game, but I think Mr Weber is probably too busy rolling around in his money piles recruiting more high school kids to take that initiative.



Anyway, despite the fact that I didn't shower for like 3 days and a hot ember burnt the poop out of my bare bum, I always like getting out of the city.

Between shooting pop cans and drinking beer maintaining the fire we actually got some work done too. Well not that much work, but it's crazy how fast a couple of chain saws can lay waste to an area of trees. Owning some legit raw land is a lot to deal with.

All I can say is that the food we had at camp was luxurious compared to Webers. Congratulations to the land owner's ass as well for dealing with at least 5 cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped jalapeno peppers that we made/grilled over the fire. He inhaled them with grace and bested us all.

In retrospect, pepper vodka was not the best choice as a chaser for those. You know the saying: twice as hot on the way out...



Last dragon boat practice of the year tonight...what a season...

LINE Traveling Circus 4.1 Summer Van-cation

Just got back from the wilderness and I'm officially burnt out.

I'm also pretty disappointed to say that the magazine from my Marauder kit does not work properly...at all. Not only does the guide spring cut up your thumb, but mine fails to feed properly...if at all. What a disappointment.

Apparently, it was a defect with the feed lips for the first batches that went out, so I gotta contact the dealer to see what he can do. I know Hical.ca is offering free replacements, but it's a crying shame that they had to do that.

At least TC season 4 just dropped to cheer me up. Monday Tuesday, here I come...

A deal so nice I bought it thrice.

And then there were three...

Coming from a guy whose collection consists of games like Black Ops, Homefront and Bad Company 2, Killzone 3 is quite the change from those everyday modern themed FPS. It's kind of a new thing being able to drive around in a robot or throw down a turret, but it's just a different dynamic for me to suck at it definitely makes things interesting.

Those brutal melees are fun to watch and so is laying waste to Helghast dudes with a minigun, but I'd say that the action is more along the lines of BC2 than COD (not in a bad way). Just like in BC2 there's classes, stuff around the map for you to play around with and the environments are pretty big/intricate. But their maps aren't so big that there are vehicles to roll around in and there don't seem to be that many MP weapons either (I think).

I do like the fact that you can take on a fair bit of damage before you actually die (so you can run away, mwah) but I do think that the running effect is kind of lame and so is the story line thus far, heh. Game looks good though. Real good.



On a totally different note: Australian timber oil - it really works!