Alek's blog

Misc. Nifty Stuff

2010-03-30T10:51:00.002-06:00

I won't win any awards for prolific blogging, but a few thingsof interest:
The HULK recently helped out Arby's
A nifty Antarctica cruise vacation
The Full Moon setting over the Colorado Rockies
Skiing at Steamboat Springs over Spring Break
Snow Sledding at Tantra Park, Boulder, Colorado.

Backyard Balloon Landing

2009-09-09T11:02:00.004-06:00

So after waking the kids, packing their lunches, and sending them off to school, it is a peaceful morning ... when I hear a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" from outside the open window. I realize it's a nearby hot-air balloon ... when they are close, you almost always hear them before you see them. I look to the West ... and it is coming right at my house ... and is very low. It drifts slightly to the South and he sets down in a skinny section of open space right behind my back yard - first time ever in the 10+ years I have lived here in Lafayette, Colorado - bummer my kids had already left for school.

P.S. Picture taken with a Canon 50D - maybe a Canon 7D next time! ;-)

Utah Heli Skiing - WOW!

2009-04-16T09:06:00.008-06:00

I've enjoyed skiing for years, and it's fun to get together on the slopes with my brothers. In 2004, we signed up to go heli-skiing, but due to high winds, weren't able to go. After trying every year since, we finally pulled it off in 2009 and went Heli Skiing in Utah - read the whole saga there with wayyyyy too many pictures. Shown below (in order) is Kris, Kurt, Myke, and myself ... plus a group shot along with one of the Diamond Peaks Helicopter.

Kurt airs it out a few weeks later
Mission Ridge Ski Area, Washington

Crazy Christmas Lights

2008-12-10T13:21:00.006-07:00

Yes, it is that time of year again, and the Controllable Christmas Lights for Celiac Disease are online for 2008.

There are three live webcams and X10 powerline control technology system so web surfers can not only view the action, but also *control* 20,000+ christmas lights. Heck, you can even inflate/deflate the giant Santa, Elmo, Frosty Family, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Homer Simpson - D'OH! ;-)

The website is totally free (and totally fun) and is one of my zany ways of raising awareness & soliciting donations for Celiac Disease - my two sons have this condition, so it's personal for me. If folks are so inclined, you can make an optional donation directly to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research. Over $30,000 has been raised with ... holiday lights - go figure!

You can watch Christmas videos that replay the live action while listening to free Christmas music. Plus send Christmas messages to Santa's Workshop. And be sure to surf on by Christmas Eve to look for the Big Red Guy as seen on the Santa Tracker ... HO-HO-HO! ;-)

Hulk'in Halloween

2008-10-13T11:41:00.006-06:00

The 2008 halloween decorations are up - be sure to check out the halloween webcam which has three live webcams and X10 technology that allow you to not only view, but also control the 7,000 lights and giant inflatable Pumpkins, Grim Reapers, Frankenstein, SpongeBob, and Homer Simpson - D'OH! Listen to a fine collection of free halloween music - spookier than the christmas music which is coming soon - HO, HO, HO!

Colorado Rocky Moonset

2008-09-17T20:45:00.004-06:00

Once nice thing about living in the Republic of Boulder is not only do you get some nice sunsets over the Rocky Mountains to the West, but there are also some cool Colorado Moonsets. Here's one from earlier this week - more at the link. This actually kinda gets me in the mood to start putting out my halloween decorations ... and yes, with three webcams and X10 powerline technology, you'll can view and control those halloween decorations - D'OH! ;-)

Rocky Mountain Airport Airshow

2008-08-02T13:47:00.006-06:00

In early June, there was an airshow at the nearby Rocky Mountain Airport. It's always fun to hear some Jet Noise - The Sound of Freedom! The first picture below shows the F-16 climbing in afterburner ... and while the second picture isn't quite a satellite photo, there really was a crescent moon high in the sky that the F-16 appeared to fly through.

Farm Dog battles Wile E. Coyote

2008-05-07T10:52:00.004-06:00

Despite not blogging for a while, I've been keeping busy. Among other things, I've had some fun taking pictures and here are some recent wildlife ones - these were taken with a Canon 40D DSLR and Canon 55-250 telephoto lens. Click thru to read the entire saga's:
Farm Dog battles Wile E. Coyote
Colorado Red-Tailed Hawk.

My brother got married ...

2007-08-16T12:44:00.000-06:00

My brother got married last weekend and in addition to have 16 people stay at the house, we hosted a post-wedding Brunch for the bride & groom ... who were much cuter than Hulkzilla & Homer - D'OH! ;-)

More Hulk Married Homer Simpson!

Hippo Attack!!!

2007-06-20T15:33:00.000-06:00

My wife Wendy works for an Adventure Travel company, so she travels to the far corners of the Earth to see exotic animals and wildlife such as the Churchill Polar Bears. In June/2007, she and a co-worker Jacquie had a really close-up wildlife encounter while on an African Safari. You can read the entire blow-by-blow (it fortunately had a safe ending) of the Hippo Attack and this picture pretty much sums it up!

Webcams Galore!

2007-05-26T22:42:00.000-06:00

During the holidays, the three DLink Webcams are pretty busy. During the off-season, one is busy watching my growing grass ... and since the house is being painted, two of 'em are online now.

SuperHero's William and Kyle

2007-02-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

William and Kyle are ready to take on The Incredible Hulk! ;-)

Tasty Kiwi Martini

2007-02-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Ever tried making and drinking a Kiwi Martini? See that page for a complete recipe & step-by-step instructions/pictures - tasty! ;-)

Controllable Christmas Lights for Celiac Disease

2006-12-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

The controllable Christmas Lights are baacckk!! ;-)

Three live webcams allow you to view the 15,000 lights and giant inflatable Elmo, Frosty, Santa, and Homer Simpson with X10 power technology allowing you to turn 'em on and off - D'OH! Plus over $14,000 raised for Celiac Disease Research. You can also listen to free christmas music while checking out the christmas decorations ... and keep an eye out for the Big Red Guy on the Santa Tracker.

Merry Christmas and HO HO HO! ;-)

Halloween 2006 - D'OH!

2006-10-22T21:40:00.000-06:00

Halloween 2006 is up and running - see the halloween decorations page and be sure to check out the halloween webcam which has three live webcams and X10 technology that allow you to not only view, but also control the 7,000 lights and giant inflatable Pumpkin, Frankenstein, and Homer Simpson - D'OH! And check out the first snow in Colorado pictures and videos.

Superman Kyle

2006-09-20T12:43:00.000-06:00

Plenty has been going on, but just haven't blogged in a while ... so here's a cute picture of Kyle as Superman - one of the better halloween costumes I've seen. Speaking of Halloween, I'm setting up the halloween decorations webcams (will be three of 'em for halloween 2006) and hope to have 'em online in the next week or so. Note that this is a warmup for the outa-control christmas lights.

Hulk'in Limeade Stand for Celiac Charity w/live webcams

2006-06-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

I blogged last year about the Hulk'in Lemonade Stand ... ooops LIMEADE stand - don't want to make the Big Green Guy angry! ;-)

It was a ton of fun for me and my kids, so I have decided to take it up a notch this year and broadcast it live on the Internet via three webcams. I've also enabled X10 powerline controls so surfers can turn stuff on & off. It's online now (with a "lemonade stand" in my basement) so people can check it out - turning the groovy lava lamp on & off seems to be the favorite. So go check it out and leave a comment on the lemonade blog.

We plan to start late in the morning on Saturday, June 10th after "Touch-a-Truck" which is a fun activity at the Louisville Rec Center where you get to (duhhhh!) see/touch/hear a lot of big trucks - total guy stuff. And we will NOT be serving Puny Human Powder Limeade - as can be seen in the picture below, we'll be juicing/smashing real limes and adding just sugar, water, and ice ... and maybe a shot of Tequila for the big kids! ;-)

And I thought it might be fun/worthwhile to see if we can raise some money for celiac disease which is something my kids have. So we'll not only donate all profits from the Limeade Stand (we made $9 last year), but since people will be able to view it online, I'm hoping there might be some donations via that route.

So swing by this Saturday afternoon and enjoy some fresh squeezed Limeade. And if you can't make it in person, check out the action on the three live webcams and consider making a donation to charity.

2005 Hulkin' Lemonade Stand

Webcam1 in Basement that's LIVE NOW!

Hazel Miller ... and the HULK!

2006-05-24T16:28:00.000-06:00

So I wrote back in August/2004 about how a neighbor hired the locally famous (and rock'in) Hazel Miller Band. Turns out they did it again the following year ... and since I live across the street, I offered my driveway for her to park.

So this year, the neighbor next door to them hired her and asked if I could let her park in my driveway. What great neighbors, 'eh ... and then even put up with my shenanigans at halloween and christmas. So heck 'ya, I'm happy to help out anyone that invites me to a party with Hazel Miller plus the catering was yummy. So I had the HULK save a VIP spot for Hazel and her band.

Eeverybody likes my BBQ Ribs!

2006-05-24T14:10:00.000-06:00

So I've had my recipe for BBQ Ribs out there for a few years. It's a big hit, especially with my son Dirk who loves to eat my "world famous ribs" and says they are his favorite of all of my grilling recipes. So Philipp sent me the "slightly modified" picture below showing that everyone likes these!

Ultimate Frisbee Karma

2006-05-09T15:32:00.000-06:00

Karma is one of those generic concepts that if you are "good/nice" to people, things, and the world, good things will happen to you. The reverse if you aren't. My wife was talking about the concept of what goes around, comes around ... so I mentioned an incident that happened the previous weekend while playing ultimate frisbee.

I've played ultimate frisbee for a while. It's a bit like soccer/football for those not familier with it - you attempt to advance the frisbee past a goal line by passing to a teammate. You can not move while you have the disc and (idealy) it's a no-contact sport. Sportsmanship is emphasized since there are no referees and "good spirit" is appreciated.

So while playing frisbee Sunday, I caught a pass very, very close to the sideline. It was clear where my foot was, so just a matter of looking at the sideline cones. Unfortunately, they were not that straight, so it would be just as easy to say I was in as it would be to call myself out. Several other people (on both teams) had a good view, but it is my call. We were close to the end zone and needed to score as we were down by a few points.

After looking both ways for about 30 seconds (as other people on both teams looked also), I determined I was ever-so-slightly out; so I said "out/turn" and dropped the disk. Several comments from other team about "good call, spirit, etc."

The Captain of the other team picked up the disk as if about to throw it ... and promptly dropped it ... saying "turn" I.e. he intentionally tanked it so we would have the disc back. Everybody understood and respected what he did - classy move on his part ... and I think both of us gained some good karma.

Where might this sign be?

2006-05-02T22:02:00.000-06:00

So my wife Wendy went on another one of her amazing company trips and came back with this picture - any guesses on where exactly it might be?!? ;-)

Famous Autograph

2006-05-02T21:35:00.000-06:00

So I've been involved in this V7ndotcom Elursrebmem Search Engine Optimizatioon (SEO) contest where people try to rank #1 for that nonsense phrase in Google on May 15th. Winner gets $7,000 ... but if I bring home the bacon, I'll donate it all to celiac disease research since I'd love to see a cure for my kids. The SEO community is ... interesting ... lotta snake oil in this business, plus there is bazillions of dollars at stake as everyone battles for eyeballs. One very informational blog I especially enjoy reading is Philipp Lenssen's Blogoscoped which presents a pretty impartial view of the SEO world that is also technically accurate with a twist of humor. I commented to Philipp how well known (and good) he is in the SEO community and joked that he should Email me his autograph. So he did. This could be worth a lotta $$$ on eBay! ;-)

Kyle turns 5 ... kinda

2006-03-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

So Kyle turned 5 years old and had a fun little birthday party at his pre-school. I had a great time attending - one fun little ceremony was where Kyle wears the "King outfit" and all the kids form a circle while he has to run around the world 5 times. My wife Wendy is out of town on another company trip (no, not an african safari or seeing the polar bears this time) visiting the southernmost city in the world - any idea what that might be?

I asked Kyle that night how he felt about being 5 years old ... and he replied that he was still 4, and would not be turning 5 until his Mommy got home for the Rope World party a week+ from now. Same story the next day - OK Kyle, you are still 4! ;-)

Boys learning to Snow Ski

2006-03-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed snow skiing (and water skiing) for years, and it is a great family activity. So I was excited when my kids started to learn to ski at Eldora, Colorado. They are having a great time ... and after a couple of lessons, they informed me that they had "defeated all of the Greens" and were ready for some blue runs. Kyle still needs to learn how to turn (he likes to go straight down), but most importantly, they are having fun with it. More pictures/stories at the link above. Coming up next - the 1,000 gallon martini glass! ;-)

Boys on Bikes

2006-02-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

My 4-year old son Kyle decided it was time for him to start riding a bike without training wheels ... and since he is fairly athletic, it was no surprised that he picked it up pretty quick. As can be seen in the first picture, it was whooo-nellie to start, but he progressed incredibly fast. 7-year old brother Dirk is in the the last pictures.

Monopoly Rules

2006-01-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

So for Christmas, Santa brought two Monopoly sets. A Junior Monopoly that is a bit easier for the kids to play, and "regular" Monopoly which we decided to fire up a few days ago. 4-year old Kyle was on my team, and 7-year old Dirk was with Wendy. While I had the upper hand for a while, the dice turned against me and it was downhill from there. I was getting pummelled, but instead of running out of cash, Dirk and Wendy were willing to take properties. They ended up owning the whole board, and even with some then amazing rolls (I kept landing on Free Parking), I was finally down to my last dollar.

I should have taken a picture of the board, but every property had hotels or 4 houses on it as I rolled the dice while holding on to my last dollar ... and landed on "Go to Jail." So I'm thinking what are the Monopoly Rules for this situation - I don't have the $50 to bail me outa jail. And even if I roll doubles, everywhere I land bankrupts me. But then I roll double-sixes ... which puts you on the Chance spot ... HEY, not bad! ;-)

I draw the card ... and it says "pay poor tax of $15" - boy, was that ever a unique way to lose!

A mouse in the house ...

2006-01-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago or so, Dirk (my 7 year old) said "I just saw a mouse" in the kitchen. Dirk is actually a darn good wildlife spotter (takes after his mother) ... but I wasn't sure until later that night, my wife Wendy screeched - the last time I heard that was when we had a bat in the house - so yeah, there is a furry critter around. I thought maybe he would go away, but even I saw him two days later ... so my wife then picked up a couple of victor rat traps.

I said lets wait until he shows up again, so needless to say, we didn't see him for over a week. But I just went downstairs to finish up the dishes, and I see him scurrying across the kitchen. So I start the dishwasher, unwrap the two traps, put some peanut butter on them, and place 'em on the floor next to the cabinets.

Not even five minutes later, I hear a SNAP ... and lets just say that mouse won't be making any more appearances around the house. I asked Wendy if I should re-use the trap ... she said my decision, but said they are two for a dollar ... so I decided it was a one-time use. I left the other one out in case there are more than one - it has been 15 minutes and no SNAP yet.

Update: So several hours later that night, I heard another SNAP ... and mouse #2 is history. I told my wife that I guess we need to buy a few more mouse traps in case any others are around. Here's a picture of the black hat rat.

Rocky Mountain News versus Denver Post

2006-01-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

In addition to the local Republic of Boulder Camera, there are two major daily newspapers here - the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. I have subscribed to the Post for probably close to a decade, although I get the Rocky on Saturday since they have a Joint Operating Agreement. Since they both report the same basic news, probably not a lotta difference between 'em ... but I've noticed that the Rocky seems to do more in-depth narrative articles - one of my favorites was Final Salute. That's a pretty somber piece, so here's a more uplifting story about our men and women in uniform and how jet noise is the sound of freedom.

But one very significant difference recently highlighted is their willingness to correct errors. Rivaling "Deway defeats Truman", almost every US media outlet incorrectly reported that 12 of the 13 Virginia Coal Miners were alive - unfortunately, it was the opposite. The Rocky goofed as did the Post.

However, in the very next day's Rocky Mountain News, the publisher, John Temple, had a lengthy explanation/apology that ran on page A2 with more info on his blog. Since I get the Denver Post print edition, I looked ... and zippo beyond a generic article about the national media's boo-boo (but not mentioning the Post's snafu) by their TV critic buried halfway in. I saw nothing until almost a week later when in a postscript to "The curse of the news cycle" editorial, the Post added "Early editions of Wednesday's Post carried the headline mentioned in the column. Later editions reported 12 miners had been found alive, while final editions reported only one survivor." Not quite as timely and prominent as the Rocky correction, 'eh?

John Temple is right - there is a difference between the papers. I switched my subscription from the Denver Post to the Rocky Mountain News.

26,000 Controllable Christmas Lights

2005-12-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Better late than never to post this, but with help from my visiting parents, I put up 26,000 christmas lights over Thanksgiving - yes, that is 1,000 more than 'ol Clark Griswold! And I have three webcams where you can view the christmas decorations - no, they are not ugly christmas decorations and yes, it's real this year compared to the fun little christmas hoax of previous years. And yes, you can actually turn those 26,000 christmas lights on and off via the Internet ... along with the Santa, Frosty, and Frankenstein (don't ask) inflatables. You can "try" to inflate/deflate the Hulk ... but don't get him angry. Skeptics should read some of the media coverage (they were a bit more diligent this year!) and the christmas FAQ for more info - no christmas trees or leftover ugly halloween costumes or ugly halloween decorations though. Finally, I have some christmas videos including one of yours truly that answers the question "Why do I do this?" And perhaps most importantly, I'm using the christmas lights to raise money for celiac disease. Yes, christmas lights have already raised over $3,000 for the University of Maryland - take that Mr. Scrooge! ;-)

Jon and Wendy's new little girl

2005-11-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Jon and Wendy moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado several months ago - recall we went up there for the cattle drive the 4th of July weekend. Not only did they move, but Jon switched professions ... and just to make life even more interesting, they just had their second child - a beautiful baby girl named Neve. I suspect she'll be just as hot a snow skier as her parents are.

Dirk's 2nd Grade Science Fair Project

2005-10-24T21:49:00.000-06:00

I was glad I finished putting up my halloween decorations up - including the infamous halloween webcam - by early October ... since the last few weeks, I've been busy helping my 7-year old son Dirk with his 2nd grade science project. We're doing one about rainbows ... or more specifically, "How do Rainbows Form" I thought about using some of my colorful christmas stuff for the show-n-tell, but I think our little display came out just dandy.

Cub Scout Camp Patiya

2005-09-16T21:01:00.000-06:00

Dirk recently joined Cub Scouts - Pack 371 which includes his good friend Brenden. And we had our first Cub Scout campout last week at Camp Patiya which is a nifty little spot about 20 minutes out Boulder. Incidentally, you drive right by Green Mountain where Wendy and I got engaged. While we have camped out a bit as a family, this was the first time it was just Dirk and Daddy, and we had a blast ... although I think Kyle had just as much fun have a "special time" with Mommy. Pictured below are Dirk and I in front of the Camp Patiya sign and ~~Brenda~~ Brenden hauling stuff in with the wheelbarrow.

Will your Christmas Lights be as good as Alek Komarnitsky's?

2005-09-11T21:32:00.000-06:00

So my wife (Wendy Komarnitsky) and I are at a neighborhood party of about 50 people. As typical, I'm over at the buffet table pigging out, while Wendy is chatting with a couple that recently moved in and discussing kids and misc. neighborhood activities. Alan mentions that he has heard that our neighborhood has good holiday lights and asks "but does anyone have Christmas Lights as good as that guy Alek Komarnitsky who was on CNN?"

At this point, Wendy comes over to me and says "I gotta introduce you to this guy" ... so I walk over and say "Hi, I'm Wendy's husband, Alek Komarnitsky" ... needless to say, it was quite the crackup, perhaps even more so for me.

Alan had read the whole Christmas Decorations story and had an amazing memory, so it was fun chatting with him. He's also a pretty serious photographer, so we talked about that too. Nice guy (and nice family) and I'm glad to see 'em move into the neighborhood.

And oh yeah, I'll be warming up with my halloween stuff so my Christmas Lights this year will be as good as Alek Komarnitsky's! ;-)

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

2005-08-27T02:25:00.000-06:00

Late August in Colorado means fresh peaches from our two peach trees. One year, we got a couple of hundred peaches, but this year was more typical and it was a few dozen. The birds and bugs like 'em as much as we do, so by time they get super ripe and sweet, they are often picked over a bit as can be seen here:

But while they look gnarly, these work just fine for homemade peach ice cream and the end result got a big thumbs up from my son Dirk and brother Myke.
P.S. I added a stamped concrete cam so that those interested can actually see the (slow) progress being made and will be able to see the concrete pour which I really hope will happen next week.

Gone Fishin' with Captain Crudd in Seward, Alaska

2005-08-16T12:50:00.000-06:00

My family pulled off a surprise 40th birthday on me when they all showed up and we scaled Longs Peak, Colorado ... so turnabout was fair play a few years later for my younger brother Kurt - aka Captain Crudd! ;-)

So we surprised him on a Seward Alaska fishing charter. This was a ton of fun and we basically "limited" on Silver Salmon, Halibut, and Cod - was over 400 pounds of fish! Like most fisherman, Kurt is superstitious - so he always wears his Captain Crudd fishing shirt which not only helps catch fish, but is good for beer drinking.

Mongo Deck - Part 2

2005-08-11T13:35:00.000-06:00

This is proceeding a little slower than I had hoped, but the deck demolition derby is all done and they are putting in the concrete forms per my deck design plans which includes some really cool patio landscape lighting. Because of the expanded size, two of the three shade trees that I put in back in 2002 had to be removed. I had grandiose plans of some type of overhead shade structure that woulda cost a buncha bucks - instead, my wife picked up a pair of patio umbrellas for $119 apiece at Home Depot! ;-)

Mongo Deck

2005-07-31T19:22:00.000-06:00

Living in Colorado it tough on wood decks due to the dry climate. It is especially so for our patio deck since it faces to the South and West and just gets pounded by the sun. I've tried the "really good stain with 6-year warrenty" which lasts all of a year or two ... and then the deck looks like crap again. So after 7 years, we're going to replace it with stamped concrete - I pumped about it! ;-)
Here's the patio deck design for it and hopefully, I won't have to do any concrete cutting after this is done ... ;-)

North Pole Polar Bears

2005-07-28T17:29:00.000-06:00

My wife works for a wildlife adventure travel company which sends people on churchill polar bear tours - Wendy says (from first hand experience) they are pretty darn cool. I haven't been on that trip ... although I did get to go on an African Safari a while back. So my dad Emails me these pictures which are described as coming from the USS Honolulu (a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine) that was in the Arctic Circle about 280 miles from the North Pole. Here's a few more pictures of these North pole polar bears. While I'm sure the sub crew was pleasantly surprised to see 'em, I wonder what the polar bears thought seeing a big black object coming crashing up outa the ice. Not something you see every day! ;-)

Hulkin' Lemonade Stand

2005-07-24T20:38:00.000-06:00

The kids have been bugging me for a while to do a lemonade stand so we did one today ... although technically it was a limeade stand ... or perhaps hulkade stand. ;-) Read more at the URL above, but needless to say, it was a huge hit ... and we even made 9 bucks!

Hulkin' Lemonade Stand

Correction: Limeade Stand!

Happy Customers watch Kyle burn out the Juicer

VirtualEarth is cool!

2005-07-23T23:50:00.000-06:00

Google Maps is pretty darn cool as it allows you to not only map a location(s), but also generate a satellite/aerial picture with a click of a button. Microsoft just released their Virtual Earth response and it's darn cool too - very fast/snappy (so far at least) and even works well with Firefox. The satellite photos of my house are from the drought year of 2002 when my grass didn't grow too much. This stuff is just fun to play with and still amzes me what we can do at our fingertips.

July 4th Neighborhood Parade a Hulk'in Success

2005-07-07T22:40:00.000-06:00

I mentioned earlier the upcoming neighborhood parade and it was a lot of fun again. See all the pictures and read the whole story on my neighborhood parade page

Steamboat Springs Cattle Drive

2005-07-04T20:08:00.000-06:00

For the 4th of July weekend, we went up to visit our friends Jon, Wendy, Alden, and Woody the Wonder Dog. My friend Jon - who has a great Steamboat Springs blog - sells Real Estate in Steamboat Springs. Some places he thinks would be a perfect for us and the kids areMarabou Ranch, Wild Horse Meadows, or One Steamboat Place. I've always liked that part of Colorado (great ski area) and it's beautiful in the summer. And while geared toward tourism, it's still a "cow-poke" town as we came upon the Steamboat Springs cattle drive - I wonder what a herd of polar bears in Churchill would look like! ;-) Click on the image to see a blow-up of the cattle drive.

Kyle thought doing a "giddy-yup" was kinda fun, while Dirk loved racing down the Alpine Slide.

Dirk's First Bike Ride

2005-07-01T10:48:00.000-06:00

A milestone in any kids life is their first bike ride. Wendy and I had worked for quite some time to try to get Dirk interested in riding a bike without training wheels, but we were just giving ourselves back pain from leaning over all the time. So Wendy signed him up for one private bike lesson ("I heard she's real good") and he came back, showing he could walk his bike and "glide" on it for a few second - i.e. coast downhill with his legs hanging out - I'm thinking big deal. But we go out the next day ... and by golly, Dirk gets it. While he looks a bit unstable in the picture below (click on it for a larger image), he recovered from this position and by the following day, he was able to start himself and bike a 100+ feet. The $75 bike lesson seemed a bit extravagant, but turned out to be money well spent. Now Kyle, the younger brother, has asked (insisted) that we take the training wheels off of his bike as he wants to learn! ;-)

We're visiting friends in Steamboat this weekend (I fired up the radon gas test in our basement) so I have to somehow fit Dirk's bike into our Toyota Sienna XLE minivan so he can practice and/or show off up there. Way to go Dirk - Mom and Dad are very proud of you on your first bike ride!

Hulkin' 4th of July Neighborhood Parade

2005-06-28T22:52:00.000-06:00

Our neighborhood has a lot of families/kids, so we tend to do some "old-fashioned" stuff such as Easter Egg Hunts, campouts in the common space, and a July 4th parade. One participant the last couple of years has been the Big Green Guy who adds some levity by not only participating in the neighbood parade but he can also end up in the pool. Needless to say, Hulk hopes to make an appearence this year.

Practical Father's Day Gifts

2005-06-21T22:20:00.000-06:00

My wife Wendy is the master of practical Father's Day gifts, and she scored again this year. Since I am Mr. BBQ Grill Man she decided I need yet another accessory ... so I got a Grill Stone to help clean my bbq grill. I also got a new set of windshield wipers for my car, which I really did I need. So all practical stuff (heck, I got Wendy a vacuum clean for Mother's Day!) that I like, although I was a bit disappointed I didn't get any Hulk stuff of something wild like my bro's CZ7 Zodiac Boat ;-)

Killing Weeds

2005-06-14T18:09:00.000-06:00

When you have a lawn with growing grass, you also end up with weeds. My father-in-law Larry was in town and said he had a great weed puller to take care of 'em. But then I brought out my Big Green Buddy and demonstrated how the Hulk's SMASHING foot is a stronger weed killer! ;-) Even Tony the Tiger got involved with his weed whacker.

Republic of Boulder goes to the Birds

2005-06-02T06:53:00.000-06:00

While the "Republic of Boulder" is a wonderful place, we can be a bit "full" of ourselves at times ... and this letter I wrote to the local paper pretty much sums it up.

I got a good chuckle out of reading about the 39 chickens, dressed in red vests and capes, set loose in Fairview High School for the Senior Prank. Vanessa Miller reports that the Humane Society is planning a full investigation with the possibility of 39 misdemeanor counts, each punishable by a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail for letting these birds roam free in the school. And the Principal is quoted saying: "The vast majority of students were concerned about the chickens and their welfare" although I have to wonder just how scientific that survey was.

Fortuitously, on the front page of the Business section, Alicia Wallace has an article headlined "Wild Oats opens the cage; Grocery to sell eggs only from cage-free chickens" in all of their 75 stores. While they express some concern about availability, the Humane Society assures them there will be a ready supply.

But just in case there is a shortage of cage-free eggs, I'm sure that the Republic of Boulder is ready to turn Fairview High School into a giant free-range chicken farm. And perhaps instead of being fined and serving jail time, the Senior Prankers will be hailed as community hero's for contributing to the higher education of chickens ... since perhaps we don't have enough bird brains around town!

Dirk's Birthday

2005-05-28T08:51:00.000-06:00

While I have passed my 40th birthday, my son Dirk turned 7 today - boy, they are growing fast. In addition to a bowling party with his friends, Wendy and I said we'd make any meal he wanted. Among his favorites that I thought he'd select are Flank Steak, BBQ Ribs or one of my other bbq grill recipes - although he's a bit young for a watermelon martini. But he picked ... McDonalds ... so we're off to the Golden Arches for a Happy meal for the Boys!

Update: In response to the questions about why Dirk picked Micky-D's, his response was "because McDonalds has Happy Meals and since it was my birthday, I got an extra one" - boy, my BBQ recipes can't compete with that! ;-) The bowling party was a lotta fun per the picture below. Kyle's shiner is from a collision with a hammock the day before - goes well with the Hulk shirt! While Dirk was the birthday boy, Kyle was the star at the lanes as he bowled a 100.

A dinosaur ... and my boys - Part 2

2005-05-17T22:11:00.000-06:00

So I wrote a month ago about how I saw Craig's Blog entry about a local dinosaur ... and with some assistance from Art Smoot, my Boys were able to see the Triceratops. I happened to have lunch with Art last week, and after thanking him in person for his help, he said he could do one better. He had a large box in his car which contained some (wooden) dinosaur bones that he had uncovered while cleaning out his basement. He wondered if Dirk and Kyle boys would like them - you betcha! It was just a pile of bones (some assembly required with no instructions), but we had recently assembled a balsa wood Stegosaurus. While this was a Tyrannosaurus-Rex, dinosaurs are "put together" in similar ways ... and with a bit of work, we were successful. And did you know that TRex's are the king of the weed whacker's? The Boys are shown measuring the BIG TRex - click here for a large picture.
Thank you Art and Craig!

Hulk's Hideway

2005-05-14T21:41:00.000-06:00

I wrote a two months ago about a lotta digging and the basement crawl space project is (basically) finally done! I added some wood flooring, covered it with some leftover carpet, and have been moving all the junk from my basement into there such as the halloween decorations and christmas lights. Not surprisingly, The Incredible Hulk is a tight squeeze getting in there because he's ... well ... so big!Dirk-n-Kyle with their Big Green Buddy

Great Horned Owl Nest

2005-04-17T21:36:00.003-06:00

Three posts in a month is a lot for me, so three in a weekend is easily a record. My wife works for a wildlife adventure travel company and is really into animals. The baby foxes next door were a big treat, and during the progressive dinner last night, a neighbor mentioned a great horned owl nest within walking distance ... so we ambled over there this evening with the boys. Wildlife is often hard to see, but the nest was fairly obvious as can be seen in the first picture below. In the second picture, you can see a parent above the nest, with two babies below it - one in particular is checking us out - be sure to click on the picture to see a larger image. Great horned owls can be over two feet long and they sure looked big through the binocs. I shot these with a Sony F828 digicam using the full 200mm telephoto - I needed about 2-3x that to really get in tight.
Update: Added (with permission) an impressive (different) owl picture shot by Paul Beiser - click on it for a larger image. Shot with a Nikon D2X with 300mm F/4 and 1.4x TC14 II tele-converter using mirror pre-release and 2 second self-timer to minimize vibrations - check out more Paul Pictures.
2010 Update: After some Red-Tailed Hawks took over, the Great Horned Owls returned to the nest - perhaps the next generation?!? ;-)

The Biggest Martini

2005-04-17T08:12:00.000-06:00

Our neighborhood has an annual progressive dinner, which is a ton of fun. 58 people signed up this year, and we start at two houses for appetizers, then 8-10 people per house for dinner (the Bickels did an awesome New Orleans theme for our group), and then a final house for desserts. We hosted the appetizers, and since I have a lot of christmas lights, I was able to spare a few from my basement (since it's off-season ;-) to make a martini glass in the front lawn. For those wondering, it is 14' tall with a 6' base. The top is 10' across and 5' deep (130.9 cubic feet) which means it would be a 1,000 gallon martini! The olive is 18" in diameter and the swizzle stick is 8' long - gotta be the biggest martini ever ... Hulk-sized!

Was a heck of a lot of fun last night and nice to catch up with people we haven't seen for a while, plus meet some new folks. Perhaps not surprising, a number of folks talked to me about my christmas hoax and they hope that I'll continue my christmas spirit. It certainly would be possible to do the internet controlled christmas lights/webcam for real ... although remains to be seen if anyone would believe it! ;-)

A dinosaur ... and my boys

2005-04-16T15:03:00.000-06:00

Craig Newmark (from CraigsList) "allows himself to pontificate" from time to time on his blog and it's an interesting mish-mash of stuff. He posted a picture of a dinosaur while speaking at the CU World Affairs Conference. I've lived in Boulder for over 15 years, but hadn't seen memorable display, and since my two boys like dinosaurs, I asked Craig where this was. He was nice enough to write back, and my friend Art Smoot help provide more info about the CU Paleobiology/Geology Museum. So after Dirk's soccer game this morning, we wondered over there to check it out. Dirk and Kyle thought the Triceratops was pretty cool, but didn't think too much of the rock collection.

Foxy Neighbors!

2005-04-13T12:19:00.000-06:00

As widely reported in the national news, Colorado got a bit of snow this wekend that shut down the roads and the airport for a day. But this 1-2 foot dump of snow was a typical Spring snowstorm, and believe it or not, was basically all gone less than 2 days later as sunny skies and 60° weather followed. For those wildlife fans out there, many animals blend into the surrounding grass,, but with the white snow, they are a bit easier to see. We see foxes periodically go through your backyard, but this time, we noticed a new family of foxes next door playing in the new snow. We have counted at least 7 Kits (including two that are noticeably smaller (younger?) than the other 5) and, as expected, they are most active in the morning and evening hours. Mom and Dad show up periodically, often bringing home some ... uhhhh ... food. The first two pictures were in the morning, but notice how fast the snow has melted 4 hours later.

Christmas Lights Webcam/Webcontrol for REAL - will anyone believe it?

2005-04-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

My christmas webcam (where people on the Internet could turn my lights on and off) was a huge hit in 2004, even though I finally had to disclose it was fun little christmas hoax. Bazillions of people seemed to enjoy that aspect even more and in the first 3 months of the year, many have written asking how will I top this? So with it being April 1st, I'm considering doing it for real in christmas 2005 - i.e. people on the Internet really will be able to turn my thousands of christmas lights on and off via the Internet - do you think anyone will believe it?!?

Digging out my basement crawl space

2005-03-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

As you can imagine, I have quite a few christmas lights so I need some place to store 'em when they are not displayed on my house for the neighbors (and the world!) to see. I have an unfinished basement (that's where I keep The HULK) but this ends up just being a mess and gets in the way of the kids playing down there. So I decided to finish remodeling my basement crawl space which among other things, required cutting 8" rebar concrete from my house foundation walls. It's not the easiest job in the world, and in the confined space, wearing a bike helmet is a really good idea.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus ... but Alek's Christmas Lights Webcam is NOT real

2005-01-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reports "High-Tech Holiday Light Display Draws Everyone But the Skeptics" that describes how I approached them to finally "come out" about my christmas lights webcam. I have a detailed explanation of the christmas hoax and also some comments on the media coverage including misc. corrections - needless to say, the press was not happy about the hoax and they hammered me a bit, but argueably got carried away a bit - for instance, Colleen Slevin from the Associated Press quoted someone who refuted it the very next morning. Plus Wayne Harrison and the Denver Channel seemed a bit annoyed. Even so, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I'd encourage you to read my side of the story and then form your own opinion.

My 15 minutes of fame is just about over. It's been an interesting rocket-ride and if nothing else, I succeeded in providing some christmas cheer and then subsequently a good chuckle to a lot of folks. My life is returning to normal and I've neglected my family quite a bit during this whole affair, so I look forward to going back to being a husband, father ... and a geek! ;-)

Alek's life has been hopping ...

2004-12-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Been a little busy and kinda forgot about my blog:

Wife goes to Africa (work trip) for 2.5 weeks - I have two young boys who can be a handful.
I get my 17,000 Christmas Lights up despite impending snow storm.
I plan a SURPRISE 40th birthday party for my lovely wife - BIG success!
Christmas Lights go out on the National Wire.
Among the countless media interviews, I get to do alive airborne report from Chopper-7
MajorGeeks.Com has write-in campaign to put me on National TV

After all this is over, I'm going to join my buddy Clark Griswold for a Christmas Vacation! ;-)

Halloween Wrapup - Christmas coming up

2004-11-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Been busier than all get out, but Halloween did end a while back. I actually extended the webcam until election day since the Hulk for President was lotta fun. You can read way more than you want to know about it on my halloween decorations page.

And this is all a warmup for my christmas lights which will once again include the christmas webcam - given how popular Halloween was this year, I'm actually a bit worried about Christmas! ;-)

My folks come into town on Thanksgiving so I'm hoping to put them to work - had 22,000 lights in 2002, but only 3,500 for christmas 2003 when I was "burnt out" ... but I hope to go full-bore for christmas 2004 and have even started thinking about christmas 2005! ;-)

I realize one might think that all I think about is christmas lights, but I'm really looking forward to having my folks visit and my boys will really enjoy it.

Hulk for President!

2004-10-25T13:13:00.000-06:00

As of this morning, there have been over 165,000 hits on the halloween webcam, so the halloween decorations have been pretty popular. The HULK continues to lead the voting for president - current standings with just over a week to go are:
HULK-8,658 Bush-8,400 Kerry-7,902

I wonder if having Hulk enter the race as the Green Party candidate is scaring some folks (here is the official Hulk for President statement) as someone wrote a "Kerry-Bot" that continually accessed the webcam to vote hundreds of times for him - needless to say, these votes were thrown out and that IP address was "banned" from the webcam.

Regardless, this has sure been a hoot and it's a bummer I gotta wait 4 years to do this again! ;-)

Webcam gone Wild!

2004-10-17T09:32:00.000-06:00

The halloween webcam has gotten fairly popular - over 35,000 hits and climbing. The "vote for your favorite candidate" by toggling a zone of lights seems to be fairly popular - The HULK is currently winning with 1,640 votes, followed by Bush with 1,531 and then Kerry with 1,462 ... but we still have two weeks before the election, so anything can happen! ;-)

Blue Heron Hermit Club

2004-10-11T09:23:00.000-06:00

As a followup to my last post, the Halloween stuff is up and running, which includes the infamous halloween webcam - it's real simple to add some "vote" buttons for Bush, Kerry, or the Hulk which oughta be fun ... unless my wife nixes the whole idea since she feels strongly against one of those candidates.

I'm also starting up the Blue Heron Hermit Club where once a month, neighborhood tele-commuters like me can go out to lunch - we'll see how that goes.

I've been looking forward to the upcoming weekend for a long time - my wife and kids are off to Kansas City, so I'm a "free" man without the usual family demands on my time ... so I can work on the basement ... plus I can do stuff like load the dishwasher "wrong" and not get nagged! ;-)

It's beginning to look like ... Halloween!

2004-09-24T20:59:00.000-06:00

Another week that just flew by - had fun attending yet another shin-dig at my wife's company where I'm apparently the official BBQ Griller - but the Nathab gang is always fun and I enjoyed talking to guides from all over the world.

Wendy is out this weekend with "the girl's" ... so "the boys" are bach'ing it. She's also gone the following extended weekend for a work trip to Yellowstone - this is probably one of the less interesting places they go to! ;-)

So I'll have my hands full ... but the boys are getting older/easier, and they are going to help me put out my halloween decorations which should be a riot again this year and is the warmup for the infamous christmas lights.

BBQ this, BBQ that ...

2004-09-18T21:10:00.000-06:00

Continuing our burst of social frenzy, we had two sets of neighbors over at our house this week - their kids are about the same age as ours, and things are getting easier as the kids get older. We played some bridge with the first couple - I've played for years with my folks/siblings, and Wendy recently took some lessons, so this was fun - laying the groundwork for the retirement years! ;-)

So on Sunday we had BBQ Shimp - both sweet and spicey - once again, this was a huge hit. And on Thursday, I made Flank Steak which got compliments too - highly recommend folks give these a shot along with the rest of my bbq recipes - you won't be disappointed!

The neighborhood pool closes after this weekend, so we'll try to get a few more dips in there - Dirk is quite proud that he can swim the width of the pool underwater on one breath ... and Kyle enjoys touching the bottom of the 8' deep end - I give him a bit of push to nudge 'em down. They both enjoy diving for stuff underwater - Kyle especially looks like a duck when he goes under.

Party Update

2004-09-13T11:19:00.000-06:00

The Hazel Miller party across the street was a ton of fun - you know it's a good party when the cops stop by (twice) ... although this is suburbia, so it was 8'ish or so when they came by. It was actually kinda funny as they said to the host "wait a minute, is THAT Hazel Miller playing in your backyard" to which he replied "Yes it is" and they responded "WOW, she's great" and then he offered to let them stay.

The neighborhood Margarita party was also a big hit - including the coconuts used as drinking cups and the Pink Flamingo lights. BTW, as I was leaving for that party, I turned on my sprinkler system, and unknown to me, I had previously run over a sprinkler head with the mower ... so I had a 20' geyser coming outa my grass - people walking to the party said "you got a problem" ... my kids thought it was hilarious.

Hurricane Colorado

2004-09-05T10:53:00.000-06:00

Hurricane Frances is churning up Florida right now (my father-in-law had to bail from his place), but it felt like we had one of our own on the "boys campout" in my Colorado backyard last night. As you can see in the picture below, our friend Brenden joined Dirk and Kyle in the "winnebago" tent last night (sleeps 8 adults ... comfortably ... it's big, but cheap). Every other time we had tried camping this summer, we had gotten rained out, but there was some blue skies as we set up ... but as you can see to the West, that didn't last for long. We had a great time hanging out and telling stories - highlights were the Billy Goats and Three Little Pigs where everyone got to play a part - guess who I was in those stories? We then turned the lantern off, and as we started to doze off, we could hear the thunder from the first wave of the storm approaching. We had quite a light show and it rained fairly hard, but not for too long ... but it is REALLY loud inside a tent. I thought the boys might be scared, but they laughed through it. After that, everyone went to sleep except me - my nice queen size air mattress had a slow leak, so it wasn't that comfortable of a night. About an hour later, I could hear the second wave coming ... and this one had a lot more thunder and lightening, and pounded us with rain for a while (sounded like hail inside the tent) - amazingly, the 3 boys slept right through it ... and the tent didn't leak! I asked Wendy in the morning if it had really rained that hard and she said it poured. Then in the early morning before dawn, the wind came up - again the boys slept right through it while I waited for the non-aerodynamic tent to collapse ... but it held up. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too much, so I might be hurting at a party we are going to tonight. My 40th birthday party was just a "regular" shin-dig, but this one is going pretty upscale and includes a tent/performance in their backyard by a noted (even "uncool Alek" has heard of her) local musician named Hazel Miller. Good news is that it is right across the street (less than 100' door-to-door), so I don't have to worry about drinking and driving. Ditto on the neighborhood Margarita party next Friday - wow, two adult functions (no kids) in less than a week!
"Hurricane Colorado" coming

RTD X Followup

2004-09-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

RTD X was (as expected) a great success. I was on the road shortly after 6:00AM and there was not a cloud in the sky to be seen - glorious weather! About 50 people met at the Boulder Justice Center by 7:00AM. Dan gave his typical pep talk, we did a "comm check" (walky-talkies are kinda fun on the trip), and then we drove up past Rollinsville to the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel where trains go through the Continental Divide. They have a "straight shot" into Winter Park, but as mentioned below, we have 2,500 vertical feet to go up ... so by 9:00AM, we started the bike ride up. Because of the good weather, we dilly-dally'ed a bit more than previous years, and we reached the top after 1:00PM - still great weather - one year, I was in the lead providing lightening updates via the walky-talks ... yikes! BTW, the "highlight" of the trip is dragging your bike over Needle's Eye Tunnel which is closed - a bit of a haul when you have a 50+ pound bike with child seat on back. The top of Rollins Pass is 11,671 feet - I didn't bring my manometer to verify that, but the air is skinny. I mentioned before about zany things people bring - previous years, I had brought "Pepperoni Sticks", CrunchBerries, Worms & Dirt, Twinkies, so this year it was Hulk Chips (don't ask! ;-) But people have really gotten outa control, so we had not one, but two watermelons at the top ... and Mike (with dragged a bike carrier the whole way up) opened it up and we had a Fiesta at the top of the Pass - see picture below. Oh yeah, I had found one of the original pepperoni sticks, "best if used by Dec/1996", and we stashed one in the sign at the top of the Pass - we'll check in future years to see if still there - on RTD VII, the hermetically sealed Twinkie made it through the first night, but was gone the following year. The ride down is a bit easier/quicker than the ride up, and we were in Winter Park by 4:00 - time for quick shower, and then dinner, hot tub action, ice cream social, and then party time. I crashed early, so I missed the Naked Congo Line - probably for the best! Most of the gang then biked back on Sunday, but Wendy and the boys drove over and picked me up, and we had a fun family outing in Rocky Mountain National Park ... which ironically had closed the road on Friday due to 2+ feet of snowdrifts - remember that nasty weather just before our bike trip - whew! A few pictures are shown below (click on them for larger size) and this really is where the train went before the Moffat Tunnel was built as you can clearly see in the picture of me on the trestle. I got these courtesy of JeffK and you can see more on his web site

Ride-The-Divide X

2004-08-27T08:46:00.000-06:00

I've been associated with a local group named CHAOS (Colorado Hiking And Outdoor Society) for a long time - in fact, I met Wendy there and eventually proposed to her. One annual tradition is RTD ... which is a 30 mile bike ride over Rollins Pass - this used to be used by the railroads, but they now go through the Moffet Tunnel 2,500 feet below us. There are about 50 or so folks that go, and it's quite a lotta fun - people dress up their bikes and bring zany things (I'd love to bring him, but The Incredible Hulk is a bit too big for my bike)- one year, we had ice cream on top - they had a cooler attached to their bike - WOW! The weather can be dicey and we have had lightening and snow. Looking out my 2nd story office window right now, it's solid overcast/rain over there, but the weather is predicted to clear somewhat - lets hope so! Dan Murray organizes this every year and does a GREAT job, so it will be fun regardless.

First Post

2004-08-26T17:27:00.000-06:00

This is a test - gotta go fire up the BBQ Grill for dinner ... more to come ... eventually!