So on Saturday I built this year’s BIG castle. Unfortunately, because of the early hour of rising (first shovelfull fell before 6am), I was the primary digger*. BUT, I had the brilliant idea of creating a stand for my camera and then creating a stop motion animation with pictures taken every twenty minutes.

Check out the animation here!

You can see the castle slowly grow to it’s final height of over 5.5 feet, and then watch it get carved by many furious hands and destroyed by the vicious tide.

The first picture was taken at about 5:50 am. photos were taken every twenty minutes until water hit the castle. Then the photos were taken at 10 then 5 then 2.5 minute intervals. The camera shakes a little bit at the end because the water eroded my camera stand a bit. Despite this, I’m quite proud of the result.

Next year perhaps I’ll upgrade my technology and create an even better picture spread!

*Ryan Schenk, Nicholas, and Maggie helped too!

Oh yes. The 6 hours of travel was quite worth it. Yesterday, the cape winds were mighty.

Upon arriving in Falmouth, I helped Ryan pack up the car with our gear. Ruth looked on, prepared for windy beach adventures.

There are two kites in the picture to the right, the one on the right is my 15meter, and the one on the left is Ryan’s 9meter. We figured between the two we’d be prepared for most wind scenarios.

I got in a few great runs, and started getting the hang of leaning back and powering the kite properly. I would say my longest run lasted for about 15-25 seconds and felt great.

The wind continued to strengthen as the afternoon progressed, so we switched to Ryan’s 9meter kite. His kite has significantly longer lines and a different aspect ratio (width vs. length). As a result, you can get killer speed with his kite, and killer ‘torque’ with my kite.

The killer speed was indeed killer. During one particular launch, I maneuvered the kite unexpectedly and was whipped forward. The kiteboard which had been calmly sitting in the water, waiting for my eager feet, smashed into my shins. The resulting pain was sharp and lenthy. A few minutes passed before I could comfortably stand.

Ryan pulled off a successful backflip. Check it out on YouTube here.
I like how the kite sweeps into view at the end of the clip.

While the kiteboarding was good, the post-kiteboarding action was not. As we drove home Ryan’s Subaru died. When put in drive, the transmission sounded like someone was throwing rocks down a gutter. So we waited patiently for a friend to come pick us up and as we locked up the car to leave it there for later towing, Ryan mistakenly locked the keys in the car… while it was running.

We went back to the house, and as Ryan zipped off on his scooter with the spare key to turn off the broken subaru, Ruth made some speghetti and I headed home. I got back to CT around 11:30, and I’m feeling it this morning. It was worth it though, I am one weekend closer to complete Kiteboard domination.

Was your weekend Righteous?

So this weekend had all sorts of successes and failures.

Friday night I got in the car and drove to Cape Cod. I spent the night at infinity’s and her roommate Ryan’s place and then after some fun yard sales met up with RyanSchenk to go buy a wetsuit.

We drove to Buzzard’s Bay and, just by chance, met Shannon Best (a kiteboarding professional and kite designer) who happened to be on tour with the BestKiteboarding van. Ryan talked kites as I tried on wetsuits. After the wetsuit was purchased we returned to Falmouth, bought some lunch, and hit the beach.

Kiteboarding was fantastic.

The wind was strong and after Ryan took a few runs, with a couple near 10 foot jumps, I got my gear on and went into the water.

I made huge strides with my riding. Ryan has a new kite with excellent power control and after a few tries with the kite and board I was able to get up and stay up for both the power dive and the upstroke.

The way Kiteboarding works is as you sit in the water you control the kite so that it hovers directly above your head. Then you steer it sharply downward and the kite dives into the power zone and gets a boost of air. That will pull you out of the water. Then you loop the kite back upward and repeat so that the kite moves in the air in a sinusoidal path. The toughest parts for me are the upstroke, keeping pressure on the kite, and properly digging the edge of my board into the water.

My best run probably only lasted about 10-15 seconds. But what a rush!

Shortly thereafter I gave the reigns back to Ryan and he then started practicing some backflips.

Video 1: This video shows the kite moving in that sinusoidal path that I mentioned above. Also, check out ryan’s sweet circular turn around.

The only downside of the weekend was that the road to the kiteboarding beach was a bit… crazy. In addition to completely soiling my car, I bottomed out at one point. The process of bottoming out resulted in my transmission oil pan getting mauled. So upon arriving back in CT I found that I was leaking transmission oil.

Tonight I’ll be heading over to the junk yard to see if I can salvage the part from another Altima.

This weekend was completely uneventful. Saturday morning I went to work and the afternoon and evening were spent on my RPI application. Sunday I spent some time outside doing yardwork, and you know? that was my favorite part of the weekend. I removed a large metal post that was uglying up our driveway and started some planning for a stone retaining wall along our side yard. I enjoy yardwork. It is very rewarding.

In other news, I leave for China in two days. I should really put together some automatic posts so that mikedidonato.com doesn’t fade into oblivion. Perhaps I’ll spend some time on that tonight.

Here’s a survey I made up, feel free to copy it, paste it into the comments and fill in your own answers.

Middle Name: Anthony
Celebrity that you think you could most easily beat up: Dakota Fanning
Celebrity that looks most like your dad: Patrick Stewart
Animal you fear most: Snakes
Favorite daytime soap: Days of our Lives (will Jennifer and Frankie’s wedding go smoothly?!?!)
Favorite type of deciduous tree: Oak
Least favorite cheese: Swiss
Favorite computer storage media: I have a deep, though outdated, respect for the 3.5 inch floppy
Do you wear your watch on the wrist of your dominant hand? Never.
Are you fatter than Sander (hint: no)? no.
What is your blood type: A+

Scenarios:

If your car ran out of gas on a deserted road and a tractor trailer pulled up being driven by a giant lizard and if it promised to bring you to the closest gas station, would you get in the cab with it? I don’t think I would.

Would you prefer to have a REceding hairline or a PROceeding hairline? Receding.

Your workplace is invaded by carnivorous unicorns, what would be your weapon of choice to defend yourself? Probably gloves of eternal fire.

An elf with severe acne walks up and offers you a piece of his candy bar (nutrageous). Do you accept or politely refuse? I would refuse.

You find out that your favorite female actress is dating Gilbert Godfried, are you disappointed? Extremely disappointed.

The weekend was pretty fun. Outside of the average 3 hours of sleep a night, the 18 hours spent in cars, and the bachelor’s trip to the emergency room*, it was pretty fun.

Despite the near-constant rain we still got out each night and enjoyed some dance clubs and restaurants. I think Steve had fun overall and that was most certainly the goal. If I get my hands on any publishable photographs I will certainly post them. For now, I must do some serious work catch up. Rock on

*he hurt his back during some messing around. After 6 hours of waiting, he saw a doctor who prescribed some drugs and eventually we continued the adventures.

Most of this weekend was spent healing myself from a cold. Naps and orange juice were plentiful, and laziness was extreme. BUT, one kickin’ thing did happen and that is that I painted my kiteboard.

Check out these photos.

Mini Iconic Stegosaurus on Top

Kickin’ Iconic Stegosaurus on the Bottom
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

My only concern is that I used spray paint, and I think hard-core boarding will pull the paint off the board. So I’d like to put some sort of coating on top that will prevent the paint from chipping off. Any suggestions?

In other news, I also attended the RPI class on Friday night. It was absolutely remarkable. The class dynamic was fantastic, the teacher was stellar, and my attention was kept for the full 4 hours. I have been in no class like it. I will definitely be applying for the program.

This weekend was a busy one. Saturday after some chores I zipped out to cape cod to see Old Man Schenk, Ruth, and Meowstrow in their new Falmouth apartment. It was awesome. Not only is it a super quaint area, the house and surrounding naturesqueness is gorgeous. After some fun times and tasty tofu (tasty?), I continued onward to Eastham where I helped the rents with some lawn mowing.

‘Lawn mowing’ isn’t quite the right phrase. ‘Power deforestation’ is closer. I didn’t cut the grass, I introduced the grass to its maker. Brush was taken down with a violent hurrah. It was as close to X-TREME LAWN CARE as you could get. I took a video and will post it tomorrow in the feature section.

After some beach and some bbq, I made the loooong treck back to CT. It ended up being a smart move because Memorial Day morning I had the opportunity to do some outdoor climbing. I went with two gents from the climbing gym: Devon and Chris. It was my first experience with Traditional climbing, where the climber places his/her own gear. I was not leading but ‘following’ or ‘seconding’ because I don’t quite have the experience or know how for protection placement. I also did my first multi-pitch route. A multi-pitch is where climber A climbs halfway up the cliff face. He then secures himself and provides a belay for the Climber B. Climber B follows up the route cleaning the protection as he goes. Upon meeting climber A at the half way point, climber B takes up the belay, and climber A continues onward. In this manner very high cliff faces can be climbed without the need for a 600 foot rope and four hundred thousand pieces of protection.

It was really relaxing. A very beautiful day on the rocks indeed.

Finally, I finished up my weekend with some yardwork, home improvements, and tennis. Overall I would say the weekend was a stunning success.

This weekend was loaded with hustle and bustle. Saturday involved all sorts of gardening and yard work as well as a visit from Tim Baird, some rock climbing, and some crazy fun hacky sack.

Sunday, we had a tree taken down in our front yard. We were all amazed and pleased and feeling great about our progress until we found two little baby birds laying on the ground beside the felled tree. Their nest had been in the tree and only upon seeing the little bodies did my ears hear the mother screeching her heart out overhead. It was stunning how quickly our spirits dropped. Jesse went in to internet-investigate ways to save little birds while Mrs. Marzullo and I carefully picked up the little guys and placed them in a small container with small woodchips and leaves.

Jesse came out shortly thereafter having researched the topic. We learned that if you put the birds in a small container in a place close to where the nest was previously, the mother will not reject them. We climbed onto the roof and lodged the box behind a downspout just outside my window. One of the birds was in very bad shape the other seemed to be moving more though still struggling.

I haven’t seen the mother approach our makeshift nest. And this morning the box lay unchanged outside my window.

After seeing those birds so helpless and weak, I had trouble getting to sleep last night.

Friday night my sister Theresa visited and we teamed up to host a dinner party for some family friends. The feast consisted of a vast array of dishes including:

Strawberry walnut salad
Egg drop soup
Bread, cheese, and crackers
Ginger scallion noodles
Beef and Broccoli
Cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies

Great food, great company, great times. The House of Rock truly was rocking.

Saturday and Sunday mostly consisted of yardwork. I got the two secondary driveways clear of debris, mowed and weedwhacked the lawn with Thomas’ help, and took out most of the unwanted brush. The yard looks a lot better. Given a few more weekends, I think it could start looking great. Now, we need a grill.

Yesterday I went climbing outside with a group of people I’ve come to know through the climbing gym. It was fantastic.

I showed up at a Southington trail edge at about 12:15. I had to hike to the base of the cliff face and unfortunately got horribly lost for about 2 hours trying to find the crag. Finally with phone support, careful horizen geography, and landmark descriptions, I managed to get myself over to the cliff’s edge.

Pete, Irene, Katie, and John had set up three or four topropes that twisted down the 70-80 foot face. After warming up with a 5.6 and 5.7, I tackled a 5.11c with Pete’s beta (sequence instruction). It was really amazing, not only climbing such a forearm pumping strenuous route, but also just feeling the warm rock and sticking that desperate grab while blinded by the sun 25 feet above the tree tops and hundreds of feet above the valley below. Sharp rock biting into straining fingertips on a 3/8 inch ledge with prayers that that foot chip is as solid as it appears… it’s a feeling that’s hard to beat.

It was great spending time with this group as well. Talking rocks and relaxing in the perfect spring weather. I expect this climbing season to be extremely rewarding.

Saturday night I went to see George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars with Mandy at the Worcester Palladium.

Unbelievable.

They performed such hits as: We want the funk, gotta have that funk; and Flashlight
There was such amazing energy. It was easy to feel the respect and appreciation that the crowd felt toward G.Clinton. Funk is amazing.

If you have the chance to see these guys on tour, I would highly recommend it.

This weekend can go down in the record books as “really sweet”

Saturday night was Double Dutch 2006 v2.0. Caitlin took some photos which you can find here.

We had a huge turn out. About 20 jumpers stopped by for excessive jumping action.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Ryan Schenk’s vault over TimBaird into the fury of ropes
Nicole on Jay’s Shoulders, jumping single rope
Danielle jumping single rope inside bigger jumping ropes
My getting in, and holding the Double Dutch for a solid 15-20 seconds
Bisol’s Dbl Dutch entrance pose
Infinity’s double dutch debut
Jon Abad’s track suit
Ben’s music and Joe Havelick’s truck
Pushup jumprope
Katrina. Just in general.
Tom & Mykal’s timed entrance attempts into the two rope craze
Cupcakes.
Single Rope Swingers entrance swings

And so much more.

if you’re reading this, and did NOT attend DD2006v2.0, don’t worry. The next one will be in April.

Sunday was spent cooking with Tom, Mykal, and Mandy. We made homemade ravioli. The sauce was epic. EPIC.

And yesterday I went to Alicia’s performance with the FIREBIRD ENSEMBLE. Violin, Viola, Chello, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Piano, and Drums — covering Rock and Roll music. There was disturbed. There was Rage Against the Machine. There was a flute solo that put Anchorman to SHAME. SHAAAAME. I am going to go to more of their shows. this is certain. And they should put out a CD. I would buy it in a second.

I left the place after my mom won me two hamburger patties. Rumor has it that Kurt, who went to the show right after us, also won a prize.

It was a wonderful weekend. Thanks to everyone who participated.

My weekend? yes. it was good.

Friday night I struggled with the Acclaim. It’s still jacked up in a pile of pieces in my garage… so it’s safe to say that my tinkering was not entirely successfuly. It turns out that the locking ring for the fuel pump is very rusted, and is not giving to my furious brass blows. Tonight I’m going to try and fully remove the gas tank instead of just lowering it. I’ve also decided to replace the old rubber crusted fuel lines. It only makes sense.

Saturday I hit up the worcester arcade with Mandy (DDR, it turns out, is fantastic), followed by my sisters wild birthday dinner in Providence (Happy Birthday T-rex!). We went to a Japanese steak house where they cooked in front of you in a fury of fire and wild knife slashing. Michelle was struck with a flying Lemon. Theresa took a bunch of pictures and everyone had a blast.

J.B. happened to be in town so he went with us out to dinner. He’s exactly the same and spent most of the evening trying to wig me out with sexual advances on my sister. He does get a few points for a stirring rendition of “You lost that Lovin’ Feelin”

Sunday I went skiing for the first time. that’s right Steven McFarland. I went skiing. I got a handle on the movements by the end of the day while Mandy spun circles around me on her snowboard. I had fun, but the entertainment to money ratio was a bit below that of rockclimbing. I suspect, however, that once I feel more confident stopping that my enjoyment of the sport will skyrocket.

This past weekend was better than expected. Friday night Mandy and Becky both arrived safely, and around 7:30 we zipped over to the rockclimbing gym. Everyone climbed and had a wild time. We returned to the HoR to make two of Theresa’s recipes: Pan Fried Noodles and Aloo. Both came out great. Jesse and Joel arrived a short while later and we all hung out and had a good time.

Saturday started off with an 8 mile run with Mandy. It was breathtaking. (ha ha… ha) After that there was more rock climbing, and I’m pleased to report that I conquered a 5.12b that I’ve been working on. It was a big deal because the route was replaced the very next day. I was very happy to beat it before it was taken down.

Saturday night we all went to Jesse’s dad’s show in Winstead. It was Jazzy and snazzy. The 6 of us took the acclaim to fame and used the far underloved middle seat in the front, resulting in a very cramped, ‘that 70′s show’esque, hour and a half of driving in sleet, hail, and slush. We played car games and JonAbad rocked “wanna buy a duck?”

Sunday there was more running with Mandy, resulting in my legs today feeling completely useless. Mark had four more guests over Sunday evening so The House of Rock was full. And when the House of Rock is full, Fun can’t be avoided.

This weekend was good. In addition to tons of guitar playing, there was a jam session, kung fu, cooking, gaming, and plenty of work on the acclaim. I also managed to clean out a good portion of junk that’s been cluttering my room. I’m going to try and get rid of as many of my unused posessions as possible over the coming weeks. Old Clothes, old papers, old computer files, everything. Simplification is the goal and the trash barrel is the means.

Update:

I forgot to mention, last night I had a dream that I won the grand prize in a contest. as a result, I got to spend a whole afternoon with the entire cast of the hit 90′s TGIF show: Step By Step.

This was the most exciting New Years I have ever experienced.

It started off with Double Dutch 2006.

I got together with Ryan Schenk early that afternoon to Silk Screen t-shirts. We used the MSPaint image above on some bright yellow shirts from A.C.Moores. The results were breathtaking:

Ryan and I got to Erich’s place around 6:45 and set up the christmas lights ambiance and got the boombox rocking some M.C.Hammer. a light snow had started to fall. everything was ready. and everything was magical.

RyanSchenk, Molly, Erich, Nicole, and Myself were the only jumpers, but what we didn’t have in quantity we made up for in quality. We ended up jumping rope for a solid hour and a half alternating between single and double ropes.

Turns out, double dutch is hard.

Erich, shown below in his Double Dutch 2006 pose, was the first to successfully navigate himself into the center of the spinning ropes of fury.

He stayed in for a solid 10-12 rope turns and when the rope finally did catch, we all exploded into cheers of excitement and joy. What a rush! Erich was the hero of the night.

By the end of the night we had all had a taste of double dutch. Even Ryan Schenk, whose busted collar bone restricted his ability to rock hard, logged some serious air time in the hot spot. But we weren’t satisfied. That’s why Double Dutch 2006 is going to strike worcester again. Likely in February, and likely around Valentines day. I cannot even describe how much fun it was last night. Special thanks go out to Erich and Molly for hosting the event. I look forward to many more jumping opportunities.

This weekend there was Winterminator 2006. It was a calm and fun get together in worcester that included such weblog personalities as Infinity, The Captain, Caitlin, Ian, Jake, Kaiapopolis, Rachel, and The Internet. I think the entire experience can be summed up with this video of a huge Jenga balancing act.

Here.

I think the sound is by far the best part. In the few seconds of that clip there is quiet calm, urgency, dispair, and laughter. And the warmth that the picture conveys really brings it together nicely. Excellent video jonabad.

I was disappointed that Wizzo, MoreUh, and Stability were not in attendance… but it gives me good excuse to return at a later date post January 12th.

This weekend was busy. Friday night saw rigorous climbing with Tommy and Pindar, Saturday was full of work, exercise, and cooking, and saturday night included a trip to worcester.

I was able to spend some time with Ian, Ben, Old Man Schenk, Ruth, Tyler, and various folks at the post-Steven Lynch party. The highlight of Saturday’s adventures was the fire at Old man schenk’s place. There we were, playing backgammon and discussing the nuances of kiteboarding, when the fire alarm began to blare. We looked at each other in confusion and went to investigate.

No fire was noticeable, so we continued our game. Shortly there-after we began to smell smoke.
“let’s get out of here.” I suggested. Old Man agreed.
After calling the fire department, we spent a feisty two or three minutes catching Meowstrow and stuffing her into a box*. Meanwhile smoke was billowing ferociously through the back door.

After leaping from the second story windows into snow banks**, we waited for the fire department. as it turns out the first floor had had an unfortunate oven incident while baking brownies (Ryan informs me that these were likely very special brownies). After some windows were opened, our adventures continued from where they had left off. I think ryan won that game. But it was close.

*Meowstrow, as it happens, has the strength of a puma.
*this was made up for the sake of the story. we didn’t actually jump from the windows. instead, we walked calmly down the front stairs.

Last night I climbed a 5.11c/d. That’s one small step below the glorious 5.12. It was triumphant. I started the night with an easy 5.7 and progressed quickly through some tried and true 11a’s. My fingers were feeling strong and motivation was flowing, so I decided to challenge myself and attempted the 11d. It was not clean, I feel two or three times, but I reached the top. I am very proud.

Here’s a story from last weekend.

Jill and I were in the car on Saturday going to pick up Rick Richter. In the quest for wonderful music, Jill was scanning some radio stations when I heard the impossible to miss chords of Journey’s WHEEL IN THE SKY.
“WAIT WAIT,” I shouted concerned “That’s journey, go back go back.”
Jill rolled her eyes and switched it back. Sadly, it was the last chorus and a few seconds later the song ended. Just as Jill was about to change stations I heard a DJ mention that it was ‘double play day.’ I pushed her hand away from the radio just in time for THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT.

Two journey songs! I was in heaven.

Jill changed the station at that song’s completion. Suddenly on the new station, I heard the tell-tale opening riff of LIGHTS. “More Journey!” I shouted as Jill scoffed. So we listened to that, and you know what? It was block weekend on radio station number two. We heard THREE more journey songs: ANYWAY YOU WANT IT, DON’T STOP BELIEVIN, and LOVIN’ TOUCHIN’ SQUEEZIN.

SIX journey songs on the radio on a single car ride. It was EPIC.

My weekend was excellent. Saturday I drove back to MA to see my dad’s band, Tabasco Fiasco, play at a bar in Andover Ma. They were stunning. Foolishly, I left my camera behind. But I assure you, it was a sight to see. Two saxes, a bass, drummer, and guitarist, Tabasco Fiasco played for a solid 3 hours to a full dance floor and extremely enthused bar patrons. My dad is the newest member of the band, but it was clear that he added a lot of energy to the group. He switched between tenor and baritone sax and rocked hard. They played a lot of classic hits: stevie wonder, sugarloaf, nat king cole. very classy.

I will likely be going to see them again in the coming weeks, if you’re interested in joining me fire me an e-mail.

Other weekend highlights included:
Decimating Rick Richter in Foosball
Trying Tom & Mykal’s Mulled Cider and Pickled Carrots (ridiculicious!)
Spending some time with Jill

If all my weekends could be that fun, I’d be thrilled.
Don’t Forget! MSPaint entries are due by thursday at midnight. Topic: That which you would least expect to find at the end of a rainbow.

Jill visited this weekend. We went to the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. It was a really enjoyable museum. We also made some dinner, hit up a sushi place, and watched Hotel Rwanda. It was an excellent movie. Alicia, if you get a chance, watch and review this one.

I’ve started downloading a huge selection of Disco favorites. This downloading frenzy was ignighted by this:

Elevator

(curtosy of joe)

I’m back from my trip to England! it was a good time, but the entire trip was shrouded in a veil of exhaustion. 14 hours of flight, 10 hours of driving, and 18 hours of meetings over four days is a lot. But I ate very well and the meetings were productive. I’m finally feeling refreshed after some serious rest this weekend. Our flight’s feature film was Herbie, Fully Loaded. What a Ride!

I snapped a few photos of the hotel and such but have yet to take them off my camera.

This is a triumphant week in Mike D history, as I will be starting classes for my masters in Mech Eng. I am not very excited, but I do hope that it will go smoothly. To compensate for the dreary life that will accompany the return of Homework, I am bumping up my physical activity a notch in hopes that I will reach new levels of fitness.

In other news, Jill, Ruth, and Old Man Schenk visited this weekend. We hit IKEA and made lots of delicious food for consumption. It was fun. Usually I don’t like vegetarians, but Ruth and Old Man seem pretty cool. I think they might be carnivores at heart. I will continue to use peer pressure to convince them that bacon, is in fact, Rediculicious.

Jill and I went to Tanglewood last night. Josh Groban was there.

he was pretty deece. Good voice, though I must admit, I wasn’t screaming his name like 90% of the 15000 women in attendance were.

Really though, we couldn’t have asked for a better night at Tanglewood. The weather was perfect, and it was Hollywood night. So, John Williams was conducting all sorts of hollywood hits. Including none other than the Star Trek theme, which, when you hear it performed live as you stare into the starry sky, is quite a phenomenon.

Jesse and I are in line at Shaws and there happens to be a cute girl standing in line in front of us. She has only one arm and as she is loading up the conveyer she drops an item.

Jesse informed me afterwards that he almost leaned over and helpfully asked: “need a hand?”

Also, the sizz turned 23. Jill, the sizz, and I watched “A very long engagement” (amazing movie!), and I rode on my first rollercoaster since 1988.

It was a good weekend indeed.