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Juggling

I had been riding the unicycle for a couple of years, and for some reason everyone associates the unicycle with juggling. After growing weary of people of people asking after my nonexistent juggling skills something had to be done!

The Klutz book with its 3 square cloth bags of walnut shells appeared in April 1996. For a time those bags would accompany me just about everywhere! Everyone had to remain constantly on the lookout for my bad throws.

My skills have improved and now my arsenal of props includes rings, a variety of clubs, glow-in-the-dark stuff, even - gasp - tiny anvils. That black area across the top of the image in the background is the bottom of an IBM keyboard. See? They aren't that big. They're big enough to break a toe, though, or injure small animals.

In the summer of 2003 I collected my nerve and added torches to my repertoire. If you think that throwing fire is exciting from a spectator perspective, you ought to see it from the other side. It's hot - as expected - but it's also loud as the flames whoosh by your head. My neighbors have become accustomed to seeing me light 'em up from time to time.

I'm happy to point anyone that cares to the best place to purchase juggling gear, Brian Dubé in New York City.

Technology

Not only do I work with this stuff, I play with it, too! And it's a good thing, because the family's IT needs can sometimes be a handful.

I run a fair-sized shop, considering that this is my home we're talking about: individual virtualized servers for tasks like media, databases, Intranet, Web development, file and backup services, print queue and so on; wired networks with ports in each room; full wireless network services. All major equipment has battery-backed failover power. Utility power failures, rare to begin with, may merely drop us off the Internet for a bit while the internal networks hum along. A bit overkill for the home? Perhaps.

My son grew up in this kind of environment. He believes hot-and-cold running broadband is as much a given as running water. He knows no other way. Is that right or wrong? For me, that's the way television was and I'm none the worse for wear.

Unicycling

In the summer of 1994 I took the unicycle. I remember having a conversation with Joe and some other folks in the cafeteria of a building on Mount Airy Road in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. I mentioned how I had always wanted to ride one, but never had the opportunity. "Let's go buy one!" was the outcome of that conversation.

It was hard to buy a unicycle back in those days. Today it's easy: simply visit unicycle.com, plunk down a credit card, wait for the guy in the brown truck and be riding in a few days. I bought my first unicycle from George Quigley, proprietor of Quigley Bicycles in Manville, New Jersey. George, an ex-bicycle racer from days of yore, had a Schwinn, unassembled, in a dusty old box that looked as though it had not seen the light of day for years. I wanted to take it home, assemble it and play, but Mr. Quigley was insistent. He promised to have it assembled and ready for me the next day. And he did. (Sadly, George passed some years back and the building that once held his shop was razed for new development.)

An hour a day for a week, and I had managed to freemount and ride for about one sidewalk panel, maybe three or four feet. After that week of frustration progress came quickly.

Today I own two unicycles. My old 24-inch Schwinn is built like a tank and will likely outlast me. In June 1999 I added a Coker Big One which has a 36-inch wheel. The extra 12 inches of diameter add considerable speed and range. I've customized it with an air seat and alloy pedals.

In August 1999 I joined other unicyclists, and rode the Coker the length of Long Beach Island, New Jersey, to raise funds for the Alliance For A Living Ocean. (The ALO site seems a little bit ill-maintained these days...) It's a fairly long ride (well, for this old guy, anyway) on one wheel but I've taken the annual ride a few times. There are a few pictures here and here.

Motorcycling

This is a common story. I rode in my younger days then stopped for a number of years to concentrate on career and family. At my wife's urging I returned to two wheels a few years ago and never looked back.

Today I ride nearly every day. Less in the cold season, certainly, but even in the dead of winter I manage to get at least some miles in each week. Not putting the bike down for storage has definite advantages. Remember that Saturday in January 2007? Over 70 degrees! That was a drop-everything, two-and-a-half tank day for me. (February 2007, though, was pretty darned cold - I suppose Nature had to make up for that freaky January day somehow!)

There is some great riding to be enjoyed in the northwest part of New Jersey. I may add some of my favorite routes here, but it's more likely that the sporadic ride report will simply appear in my blog.

I'm a frequent lurker on the Usenet group rec.motorcycles.harley. Most of the reason that I'm mentioning this is because r.m.h seems to be quite the anomaly. Many years ago the Usenet was a good resource. But today, IMHO most of the Usenet is absolutely useless - a cesspool of all manner of depravity. Yet somehow r.m.h maintains the quality of years gone by. Styled as a biker bar transplanted to the virtual, r.m.h is populated with a diverse core of seriously no-bullshit people who manage to keep the riff-raff down to a dull roar. I've learned so much from r.m.h it ain't funny! Go have a look on Google Groups - perhaps not the best Usenet interface, but one of the simplest. The FAQ for r.m.h is a meticulously-tended resource in and of itself, worthy of study.

Music

As a kid I played guitar. I've got a nice 1958 Gibson LG1 to show for it. Okay, maybe nice is debatable - an encounter with a 427 Ford crankshaft (don't ask) back in the 1970's left a scar on its face. It still plays well and sounds fine. So a few years ago I was in Sam Ash with my son to buy some drum sticks and I spotted a Splatter Strat on clearance. The rest, ahem, is history.

In winter I play some most every day. But in the summer? Nope. At this rate I should be good by... well, maybe never. I'm still having fun, though, and that's what counts.

At the 2007 Digital Life show in New York City I couldn't pass up a chance to play a little with one of the most celebrated guitars in the whole world, the Gibson Les Paul. Doesn't it look like I'm having the time of my life?

I've been known to sing a little. But keep your ear plugs handy because I'm not very good at all.