Thursday, May 05, 2005

Bald Hill Sessions v1.0

If you are not into mountain biking (or cycling in general) this all may seem pretty dull. But if you are a bike junkie like myself, then its "uber"-cool! Whoever said Strong Island doesn't have good downhill sections needs to give me a call and arrange to tag along next time I go hucking with Monkey. These are shots from the Bald Hill preserve, the second tallest point (highest "natural" point) on the Island. Cool stuff, so enjoy!

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Hello down there! This is a view down the northwest face of Bald hill from about midway down the Hill itself. I am perched about 90-100 ft. above Monkey who just flew down one of three tracks leading down the face.
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Here is another view. What I like about this section is that even the decent is not that tall, it is very steep and goes very quickly. Not much room for mucking around - just find your line and hold on.
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This is the steeper and more curvy of the three tracks. This track is cool because there is a slight lip midway down that (if you are going fast enough) you can grab some decent air off of. Looking up makes it seem less steep, huh? :)
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This track is a straight and shallower track. Would be awesome to nail a ramp down at bottom.
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Monkey was thinking the same thing! So here he is starting to engineer a make shift launch ramp.
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The log and branch reinforcements were proving a bit dodgy. What we really needed were a few shovels to pour dirt between them, but of course we had none handy. We did find some lovely deck pieces people who have houses along the forest must have dumped back there.
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As we both tried to man=handle a rather large fallen tree, Monkey gave it a good yank and bashed me in the ankle. Not seriously hurt but sore nontheless, we settled on a smaller but more stable launch ramp to ride.
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This ramp would be great for practicing the art of landing airs at speed, a bit different from dirt jumping. The point is to maintain speed and straight line.
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Monkey puts the finishing touches on the lip to the launch ramp. Let the games begin!
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These shots didn't come out too bad but I didn't have a tripod and I was using a point and shoot Nikon Coolpix 5400. Can't wait until I get my Canon 20D (aw yeah)!
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After a few runs on the ramp Monkey decided to hike his way back up the hill face and do some downhill runs. I popped these shots while trying not to slide down the hill face.
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All in all it was a great afternoon of riding sans the little ankle bashing. Next time Monkey will get some shots of me ripping down the hill for sure! :)

Monday, May 02, 2005

Monkey's 30th B-Day Bonus Footage!

I have limited explanation for these shots. I do remember them all being taken, but its still foggy. Damn, Sashka is smooth! Anyway, here are some more shots from Monkey's Birthday Bash.

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The Piper Twins!

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Aww, such a sweet couple!

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No, no, killer! We must wait to give Monkey his B-Day ass whoopin'. Sshhhh!

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Working Man and Krystie loungin'!

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Let the ass whoopin' begin, bitch! Your monkey style is no match for my Wu-Tang!

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More refreshments? More cake?? More Piper??? Brilliant!!!

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The old fart and his leaning tower of cake! LOL

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The Cop doing a little Kung-Fu Fighting to my amusement. Monkey still with his nose in the iTunes playlist. It takes monkeys longer to type apparently even though they have thumbs!

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The meeting of the minds! The Cop, Monkey and myself full of the good Piper share tales of previous adventure, pillage and spoils. In the background, Methodical was spinning on a swivvel chair and at one point nearly went down the steps backwords. That would have been priceless! LOL

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The Cop, myself and Monkey pluggin' in some tunes for the party. iTunes rocks, yo! I'm not sure whether I am starting to feel the groove or making fun of Nazis (I do both quite often) but most were laughing at my expense which is still cool! LOL

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Merzy from Jersey, that same bird whose name I cannot recall, and her beau. I remember he said he was a musician but I forget what instrument he plays. At this point the Piper was kicking in.

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Brian schmoozing with some of the other party-goers. The dude on the far right (who looks like he is sleep walking) is from Ninu's Ph.D. program, this much I recall. A truly eccentric knobby who's well published!

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We had many visitors throughout the night and not all of them walked upright. Ninu puts out some peanuts for the raccoons but many debated whether or not they were really there to snatch some imports.

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Bella making the rounds in the busy kitchen. Better than a Dirt Devil, any crumb below the ankles was gone faster than Primetine!

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Monkey stopping for a pose with a chick who is in Ninu's Ph.D. program. Of course, I cannot remember her name. One detail that isn't too foggy is that she's a tall glass of Tang! LOL

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The Cop and Methodical with Krystie playing monkey in the middle.

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H-Bomb gives the paparazzi something to shoot. Brian offers a brew and a smile instead. Silly wabbits!

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Brian takes the traditional route for two-fisting brews, while Monkey achieves it single-handedly. He's quite coordinated even at 30. LOL

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Krystie, Methodical and Monkey raiding the many coolers on the back deck. Monkey loves imports as do I. Each cooler was like a box of chocolates, you never knew what you would pull out! LOL

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Foreground: The Cop, a bird I've met several times but can't make her name stick in my mellon, Brian - Background: Me and another bird. I'm so bad with names, yo! LOL

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The Cop and I take time to play with Bella. H-Bomb eyes the bar and pretty soon there wouldn't be a dry glass in the hizzie!

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Methodical decided to grab the Bella by her balloon while taking in the party decor, and prolly eyeing the bar. Ninu did such a good job decorating and the music was fabulous.

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Now the party begins! As the rest of the crew arrives we all notice the pink balloon floating about. Krystie (The Cop's wifey) thought it was uber-cute.

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Sashka taking some time out to grab some Piper. Everybody loves the Piper! I never knew the paparazzi drunk on the job. LOL

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Brian admiring the bar selection! Most of the brew was outside though. One good thing about winter is free brew cooling.

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Ninu's weener dog is so low to the ground that in a crowd you can easily lose her. So the little balloon trick was so pimp! A living breathing conversation piece. LOL

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Monkey was the first of the crew to hit the big 3-0! The party was slammin'!!!
So here are some highlights provided by Crooklyn's finest Sashka, that lovable Rooskie!

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Monkey and Ninu greeting guests as they arrive. The two would be illuminated by camera flashes throughout the night. Ninu organized the whole bash without leaking it to Monkey. Many kudos to her for Monkey was really surprised!