He's Turned the Corner

There really is something to that phrase "over the hill". I mention this because on thinking back on Matt's birthday party, I noticed how the older people get the more they really do revert to children in many ways. Infants even. What got this whole train of thought careening down the tracks was that I realized 10pm was pretty early for a birthday part to end. So early bed times led me to notice soft foods, lack of hair (scalp located at least), poor motor skills (automobile- and physiology-wise), diapers, and... well things just snowballed form there. You get the picture. Clearly I'm not the first person to think of this, but I always thought it was a little silly until I gave it some thought.

Matt's party was at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Everyone showed up that evening for the bonfire, but the hardcore group of real friends showed up early that morning. And by that, of course, I mean Matt's surfing buddies. Not me. I was sleeping. But I did show up around lunchtime and Matt and I spent the afternoon playing cornhole, and he even got me out on some waves. It was gnarly, brah. (not really, but I had fun)

The evening was spent, eating, cornholing, and burning a small forest's worth of wood. (Who put Matt in charge of the fire?) Anyway, happy birthday, Matt, good times. (You probably won't read this until the morning, since you're probably in bed already. It's 9:30.)

Pics here, natch.

had to cut the board wax out of my chest hair later

beth told matt he could have cookies before dinner

this didn't suck

Tour de Tuesday

Matt and I have been meeting up on Tuesday nights so he can avoid American Idol. Generally we just grab a bite or catch a flick or watch some Flight Of the Conchords or just hang out and generally be awesome. Never before did this involve any amount of exercise beyond opening and shutting a car door, but a couple weeks ago we went for a bike ride down to Manhattan Beach to grab dinner. Justin was supposed to come too, and we'd turn it into a photo op as well, but he bailed. Somehow we managed to get along without him.

I had been trying (unsuccessfully) to think up a rig to attach my camera to my bike. If you look at the pic below, you might see the moment of inspiration finally arrived.

Pumping air. Sadly that air was little help in stabilizing Matt's
loose rear wheel. He could use some Heavy Duty maintenance.

We got inspired by some NASCAR highlights on SportsCenter, so we figured I could just screw my camera into my dSLR GorillaPod and last the GorillaPod to the bike frame with duct tape. Genius? You decide. Here is a closer look at the handiwork.

My idea was to do some time lapse movies as I rode my bike around the strand / town. Per the yooz, the first few didn't turn out great. The bike is just too stiff and the uneveness in the road transfers right up to the camera resulting in a jittery, motion sickness inducing video. I was able to steady it a little better once we got down to the smoother Strand, but it's still a little jumpy.

Strand Bike Ride Time Lape from Ryan Tuttle on Vimeo.

I'll have to build some sort of isolation system for it this summer. I was also thinking of getting one of those 3rd wheel trailers and securing it to that. Most importantly, I think I need to waste a lot more time tinkering around with this. We had a pretty good time, and I got a little more practice with my new fast lens. Even though it's a little washed out and a little out of focus, I liked this one of Matt.

Hi there.

It shows how great portrait shots can be with a lens like this. The shallow depth of field really emphasizes his face (not usually a good idea with Matt, I know) and blurs the background.

I'll post a couple more pictures below. Everyone enjoy the rest of the weekend. And Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. And Mom's go ahead and get your drank on for some extreme relaxation. You deserve it. Slow your roll.

I estimate that roadie was going approximately a brazillion (thanks,
Matt) timesfaster than me based on the image blur. I did the math.

I thought this one was kinda cool. You might disagree.

Saw Kate outside the new pub.