My close friends and colleagues Matthew and Rachel will be joining me on stage at the San Francisco Film Society on Tuesday next week for an update of our 2012 talk for The Art and Science of Lucasfilm Speaker Series. Please contact SFFS if you're interested in attending. (This event is likely full already, but there may be extra space).
More details here:
This yearlong series is a collaboration with San Francisco-based
legendary visual effects company Lucasfilm, now in its sixth year.
Several times a year, experienced professionals from the various
Lucasfilm divisions share their knowledge with Bay Area middle and high
school students in behind-the-scenes, interactive multimedia
presentations that demonstrate the intersection of art and science in
the entertainment industry. Each event includes time for discussion,
where students have the opportunity to ask questions of Lucasfilm
directors, supervisors, artists and engineers.
Upcoming events:
March 25, 2014, 11:00 am
We Build Cool Stuff: A Day in the Life of a Lucasfilm Software Designer
Mike
Jutan, Rachel Rose, and Matthew Parrott will talk about their work as
software engineers in Lucasfilm's Research & Development
department. They will discuss how their experiences studying computer
science and art helped them to achieve their goal of working as software
engineers for Lucasfilm.
http://www.sffs.org/Education/Youth-Education/the-art-and-science-of-lucasfilm.aspx
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Mountain Bike Demo: 2014 Santa Cruz Bronson C
A couple weeks ago I was back at the EPIC Duthie Hill Mountain Bike park in Issaquah, Washington. MAN it is awesome there.
In the spirit of trying something new and getting more experience on a full-suspension bike (like back in May last year on this Specialized Epic Comp 29er), I went to the stellar Kirkland Bicycle to rent a bike for hittin' up my fave track again.
Kirkland had a few regulars for rental bikes, namely the Salsa Horsethief as well as the Giant Trance X3. I was interested in both, though the Salsa has a bit of a different vibe than the usual -- it seemed intriguing but my buddy Ollie steered me towards the Giant or, even better, the Santa Cruz Bronson. Kirkland demos the Bronson... but this ain't no ordinary Bronson... it's the freakin' Bronson C SPX... Carbon Fiber!!!!!! Absurd. Safe to say this bike costs just about as much as an off-lease Mazda 3. I made sure to take good care of it. :) MSRP on this bad-boy is somewhere around the $6000 range, so it is clearly the fanciest bike I've ever been on and was way out of my skill level. That said, it was awesome to try it, and wicked that the good folks at Kirkland Bikes let me take it out for its "maiden voyage!" Epic.
Kirkland rocked and apparently they name all their rental bikes after characters in The Big Lebowski?!?! Clearly I'm renting from this place again.
And off we go...
So, how did it fare?
Duthie Hill was amazing as always and I had an incredible time. Last time I was here I was so blown away by the vibe of the hill and this time was no different. That said, I spent much more time on the track and a lot less time freakin' out about how incredible and over-the-top awesome the track was... I just spent all that time ON the track instead :)
So, since I was a little more familiar with the trails, I was able to push myself quite a bit harder. I started off with the "Boot Camp" trail, my old favourite from last time. I found that the handling was truly excellent on this bike -- I've heard from quite a few people now that the "650b" format bike, this 27.5" wheel, is a sweet spot between the standard 26" wheel (what my Gary Fisher Tassajara hardtail is) and the crazy massive 29" wheel (the Specialized one I rode a while back). To be honest, this 27.5" really puts the 29" to shame in my opinion, especially for a track like this and given my height. I found that handling on tight switchbacks on the 29'er was really tough... it was nice to be able to roll over any rock of any size, but I did feel like I lost a lot of control in the handling department. This 27.5" felt pretty similar to my 26" at home, but I definitely did have increased confidence.
The brakes were super sharp given that this bike was brand new. I found them very responsive, though strangely I sortof feel like the braking on the Kona Blast hardtail I rented last time was "cleaner". No idea why that was. Maybe just the ground was slicker today as there was some snow and sleet I had to bike though, and there may have been a bit of rain overnight. I found the brakes on the Bronson incredibly responsive, but I noticed that my wheel was skidding a fair bit. I guess that has more to do with the weather I suppose than the brakes themselves.
As I mentioned, this bike is strongly outside of my level of ability, so I tried to change the air pressure on the front Fox shocks and the switch on the back shock, but wasn't sure what to expect/feel from the difference. The "travel" on the front fork changed a lot with the pressure gauge, but I wasn't sure what vibe to feel when changing the back shock. The seat was also a drop-seat with a trigger on the handlebars, pretty crazy. I tried it out a couple times on the practice jumps but didn't do anything TOO crazy.
The full suspension definitely glued my bike to the track this time. I bet with the weather conditions this time, I would have been sliding a bit more on a hardtail. The bike was glued down and when I got some minor air on a few of the up-and-down slaloms, I was right back on track and the tires hit the ground and kicked in with gusto.
The gear setup was similar to other newish trends, a 1x11. It's funny not to have a front shifter but it seems pretty solid given that you can trigger up and down quickly. I wonder if I could commute on this bike in San Francisco though or if there would just not be enough gears to go around in the city. The Shimano XT triggers were fast and very responsive and a shiny chrome colour. Badass.
Duthie, as always, did not disappoint. I did the Step it Up trail 2 or 3 times as well and really started to get the hang of it. There is one longer uphill section about 2/3 of the way through, but it's definitely worth it for the stellar opening and middle portions with lots of berms, nice flowy parts, and great opportunity for little jumps.
I think I can safely say I loved this bike and really enjoyed the comfort and stability of a full-suspension on this hill and in these weather conditions. I also think I can safely say I like the 27.5" better than the 29". That said, I have no idea if this would be "THE" full-suspension for me (clearly, would definitely get the Aluminum and not the Carbon though if I were to go Santa Cruz one day). I am going to definitely demo and rent a bunch more 27.5" bikes when I can and try them out to get a feel for one brand of bike over another. Generally I loved the design of the Santa Cruz, but I don't know enough or have enough experience riding full-suspension bikes to know if this is the best fit for me and my skill level, or if it just looks awesome and rides like a champ. Hmm... better keep renting bikes and hitting the hills till I figure that out.
All in all, an AMAZING bike with some really great handling on tight corners. And in beautiful fluorescent yellow, it's like it was made for me. :)
In the spirit of trying something new and getting more experience on a full-suspension bike (like back in May last year on this Specialized Epic Comp 29er), I went to the stellar Kirkland Bicycle to rent a bike for hittin' up my fave track again.
Kirkland had a few regulars for rental bikes, namely the Salsa Horsethief as well as the Giant Trance X3. I was interested in both, though the Salsa has a bit of a different vibe than the usual -- it seemed intriguing but my buddy Ollie steered me towards the Giant or, even better, the Santa Cruz Bronson. Kirkland demos the Bronson... but this ain't no ordinary Bronson... it's the freakin' Bronson C SPX... Carbon Fiber!!!!!! Absurd. Safe to say this bike costs just about as much as an off-lease Mazda 3. I made sure to take good care of it. :) MSRP on this bad-boy is somewhere around the $6000 range, so it is clearly the fanciest bike I've ever been on and was way out of my skill level. That said, it was awesome to try it, and wicked that the good folks at Kirkland Bikes let me take it out for its "maiden voyage!" Epic.
 |
| Damn this thing is hot |
Kirkland rocked and apparently they name all their rental bikes after characters in The Big Lebowski?!?! Clearly I'm renting from this place again.
And off we go...
So, how did it fare?
Duthie Hill was amazing as always and I had an incredible time. Last time I was here I was so blown away by the vibe of the hill and this time was no different. That said, I spent much more time on the track and a lot less time freakin' out about how incredible and over-the-top awesome the track was... I just spent all that time ON the track instead :)
So, since I was a little more familiar with the trails, I was able to push myself quite a bit harder. I started off with the "Boot Camp" trail, my old favourite from last time. I found that the handling was truly excellent on this bike -- I've heard from quite a few people now that the "650b" format bike, this 27.5" wheel, is a sweet spot between the standard 26" wheel (what my Gary Fisher Tassajara hardtail is) and the crazy massive 29" wheel (the Specialized one I rode a while back). To be honest, this 27.5" really puts the 29" to shame in my opinion, especially for a track like this and given my height. I found that handling on tight switchbacks on the 29'er was really tough... it was nice to be able to roll over any rock of any size, but I did feel like I lost a lot of control in the handling department. This 27.5" felt pretty similar to my 26" at home, but I definitely did have increased confidence.
The brakes were super sharp given that this bike was brand new. I found them very responsive, though strangely I sortof feel like the braking on the Kona Blast hardtail I rented last time was "cleaner". No idea why that was. Maybe just the ground was slicker today as there was some snow and sleet I had to bike though, and there may have been a bit of rain overnight. I found the brakes on the Bronson incredibly responsive, but I noticed that my wheel was skidding a fair bit. I guess that has more to do with the weather I suppose than the brakes themselves.
As I mentioned, this bike is strongly outside of my level of ability, so I tried to change the air pressure on the front Fox shocks and the switch on the back shock, but wasn't sure what to expect/feel from the difference. The "travel" on the front fork changed a lot with the pressure gauge, but I wasn't sure what vibe to feel when changing the back shock. The seat was also a drop-seat with a trigger on the handlebars, pretty crazy. I tried it out a couple times on the practice jumps but didn't do anything TOO crazy.
The full suspension definitely glued my bike to the track this time. I bet with the weather conditions this time, I would have been sliding a bit more on a hardtail. The bike was glued down and when I got some minor air on a few of the up-and-down slaloms, I was right back on track and the tires hit the ground and kicked in with gusto.
The gear setup was similar to other newish trends, a 1x11. It's funny not to have a front shifter but it seems pretty solid given that you can trigger up and down quickly. I wonder if I could commute on this bike in San Francisco though or if there would just not be enough gears to go around in the city. The Shimano XT triggers were fast and very responsive and a shiny chrome colour. Badass.
Duthie, as always, did not disappoint. I did the Step it Up trail 2 or 3 times as well and really started to get the hang of it. There is one longer uphill section about 2/3 of the way through, but it's definitely worth it for the stellar opening and middle portions with lots of berms, nice flowy parts, and great opportunity for little jumps.
I think I can safely say I loved this bike and really enjoyed the comfort and stability of a full-suspension on this hill and in these weather conditions. I also think I can safely say I like the 27.5" better than the 29". That said, I have no idea if this would be "THE" full-suspension for me (clearly, would definitely get the Aluminum and not the Carbon though if I were to go Santa Cruz one day). I am going to definitely demo and rent a bunch more 27.5" bikes when I can and try them out to get a feel for one brand of bike over another. Generally I loved the design of the Santa Cruz, but I don't know enough or have enough experience riding full-suspension bikes to know if this is the best fit for me and my skill level, or if it just looks awesome and rides like a champ. Hmm... better keep renting bikes and hitting the hills till I figure that out.
All in all, an AMAZING bike with some really great handling on tight corners. And in beautiful fluorescent yellow, it's like it was made for me. :)
Seattle 2014: Seattle, the Redux!
And just as I was saying I never post in this blog anymore... here weeeee go! I've been too busy having fun, but here's a quick little post about a recent trip m'lady and I took back to Seattle.
You may remember from my blog that last year I went to Seattle in April to have a little mental vacation from the craziness here in SF. It was epic, and we decided to head back to Seattle to take a more-or-less 1 year anniversary trip of our first Seattle trip together. GREAT times.
Yes, I went back to Duthie Hill, the best damn bike park ever made. But more on that in a separate post. Here are a few quick highlights from the trip.
First, Dinner at Spinasse again. This time, together. And MAN was it good.
And then for some epic dessert, plus a random stop at GameWorld, probably just the awesomest place ever. You can play video games as well as games which give you winning tickets. The tickets can be cashed in for anything a young person might desire: namely, candy. We got a pixie stick as well as some other random candy and some slick hipster plastic glasses. Most importantly, we got my buddy Frank a hilarious fuzzy mace that I just figured he really needed to have.
Next morning, we headed to Crumpets and then I biked at Duthie Hill. Followed by some SWEET pizza.
Man. Great frickin' times. Seattle rocks.
You may remember from my blog that last year I went to Seattle in April to have a little mental vacation from the craziness here in SF. It was epic, and we decided to head back to Seattle to take a more-or-less 1 year anniversary trip of our first Seattle trip together. GREAT times.
Yes, I went back to Duthie Hill, the best damn bike park ever made. But more on that in a separate post. Here are a few quick highlights from the trip.
First, Dinner at Spinasse again. This time, together. And MAN was it good.
 |
| Let's DO THIS |
 |
| Spinasse: you legend |
 |
| Awwww |
 |
| Frozen Custard?!??!?!!! |
 |
| And now, we ride |
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| Wheel of Fortune |
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| This thing is paying out! |
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| Then we got Frank his gift, a fuzzy mace |
 |
| Man, GameWorld ROCKS |
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| Classy |
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| Crumpets! |
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| This is getting serious |
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| Potato Pizza |
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| Mushroom amazingness |
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| I love this place |
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| Mmm |
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| Hilarious umbrella that looks like a dress |
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| We be straight-crushin' it at life |
Long time no blog!
Hi friends and diligent readers,
I've been pretty heads-down at work and at play and haven't had too much time over the last little bit for Blogging. If you're an avid reader you've also no doubt noticed that my blog has changed quite a bit over the years -- from an initial "here's everything I ate for breakfast and what I did every minute today" over-sharing extravaganza, to a glorified re-posting "check out this article" long-winded-re-tweeting system, I've modified my blog strategy as time has progressed and new social media has come in and out of fashion.
Anyhoo -- it seems that lately my blog has mostly been for particularly targeted articles, like the Batkid one I posted back in November.
What will the blog become? I am not sure, but lately I haven't been writing much. Never fear, though. :) As always, my blog will definitely remain very much squarely focused on travel writing. I have a lot of crazy trips planned this year (China, Scotland and Israel!) -- so feel free to mentally prepare at any time for a wealth of blog-tastic epicness. I look forward to posting tons of photos and sharing my experiences. It's going to be an awesome year of travel this year, one of my busiest in a long time. Here's to the open road!
Mike :)
I've been pretty heads-down at work and at play and haven't had too much time over the last little bit for Blogging. If you're an avid reader you've also no doubt noticed that my blog has changed quite a bit over the years -- from an initial "here's everything I ate for breakfast and what I did every minute today" over-sharing extravaganza, to a glorified re-posting "check out this article" long-winded-re-tweeting system, I've modified my blog strategy as time has progressed and new social media has come in and out of fashion.
Anyhoo -- it seems that lately my blog has mostly been for particularly targeted articles, like the Batkid one I posted back in November.
What will the blog become? I am not sure, but lately I haven't been writing much. Never fear, though. :) As always, my blog will definitely remain very much squarely focused on travel writing. I have a lot of crazy trips planned this year (China, Scotland and Israel!) -- so feel free to mentally prepare at any time for a wealth of blog-tastic epicness. I look forward to posting tons of photos and sharing my experiences. It's going to be an awesome year of travel this year, one of my busiest in a long time. Here's to the open road!
Mike :)