August 31st, 2010

Hey everyone! Saturday was truly a great big dport7 surprise!! The wonderful KATE put together the first dport7 Short Shorts Party Pub Crawl!!!!! The dport7 staff got together this past year and decided that the SSP was going to possibly retire due to the previous year’s party nearly killing Paul. Kate not wanting to see a good party in the prime of it’s life fade away organized the SSP pub Crawl in secret! I was surprised at Sharleen’s by a bunch of our friends in short shorts to kick off the day. To be honest the day was a blur after that. Strangely enough we ended up at the office for a BBQ completely unrelated to the SSP but a great way to end a long, and I mean long party day. Thanks again the amazing KATE and JON and everyone that came by for the first SSP Pub Crawl. See you next year!!
There are more picks and more to come on my flickr





























August 20th, 2010

Here we are in Seattle!!!!! With Aaron Alison and puppy Bella. Got in late last night and had a beer and went to bed. We are headed into the city now! Check my flickr I’ll be posting all day.





August 8th, 2010

The end of the very short vacation is here. We both with it was possible to spend a week here and feel some real relaxation. Maybe in a few years i guess. Anyway the last 2 day can only be summed up with one word and that is beach. Friday we walked over to Jetties Beach is pretty calm. No waves at all really just how you would imagine a New England beach. This year kate was able to get me in the water. Which is tough because the cold coast water is not my friend. After a day at the beach listening to the “locals” tell there children how beautiful and smart they are we started our walk back the Century House.
After a appetizer and a drink we headed to 21 Federal for dinner. As you may have gathered from the name it was a bit more fancy than we expected. Not to be disappointed the food was great. I had the steak and Kate had the Pork loin and half lobster. After all that fancy time we then head to accomplish our island goal by snagging a cab and heading to the Chicken Box.
The Chicken Box was a kind of strange paradox. From the interior and exterior it seemed like a locals place. Somewhere the privileged kids wouldn’t even think to go. Long story short the band began to play and this junior senator looking kid white guy danced out on the floor took off is ribbon belt his buddies started to limbo under it. Kate then told me we had to leave before we both got in a fight… No one named Baby, we checked all the corners just in case.
Our last day was much the same except we rented a scooter and checked out some beaches with waves. Dinner at Dune sadly not so great.
We are sad to be back but you gotta work right?









































August 6th, 2010

Don’t worry I didnt forget about you. Check this out, we were at the airport at crazy o’clock in the morning and the plane was delayed. Jet Blue is awesome and the free wifi in the terminal keep us happy. Once the plane boarded and took off i fell asleep and woke up in Nantucket only 5 minutes later than our scheduled time of arrival. If only JetBlue flew more out of LGA I’d never stray.
We couldn’t check in till 2 so we got a Lobster Omelet and a few Bloody Mary’s and tied to wait it out. A little advice if your at the Even Keel, they make a pretty good Lobster Omelet but they gouge you on the Bloody Mary’s just FYi.
We walked around the harbor where all the boats are parked and man oh man that just makes you feel bad. Massive yachts, where and how do people get all this money? Schools need to start offering classes on making more money. All this hand holding talking about doing what you love is a racquet. I would love owning a vacation home and a huge yacht my friends and I could sail round and party on.
After a thunder storm and and afternoon nap we went for a drink at the Club Car, and made some local friends. This part is kind of a long story. We met this lady named Donna. She has been here for 8 weeks with her son and was happy because she felt they had really bonded right before he left for college. Then the conversation turned dark. She had received a text message from her boyfriend on her way here 8 weeks ago. He wanted to break up. Kate made the observation that he was a coward because he broke up with her over text message. We all agreed and then went on to tell us all about him. They both live in Montclair although she claims that it’s “her town”. According to Donna Montclair is like a little Manhattan with the best restaurants in the world, many of them owned by her EX. This kind of talk went on for a while and Donna seemed to be getting less and less coherent. Recognizing this herself she decided it was time for dinner and made her way around the bar saying good by to the bar staff. Before she left as not to leave us alone in the bar she introduced us to her friend Trevor.
Trevor is a Scottish roofer that has been on the Island for 20 years building his company. Most of his roofing work is in the off season. From what we could gather the rest of his days are spent having a good time. Trevor was in his early 50′s married and had a daughter. He also knew just about every lady in the bar. There seemed to be a bit of tension between Donna and Trevor and at one point there was a slight mention of a Hot tub incident of which Kate and I couldn’t quite muster the courage to get into. I’m not certain but Donna’s exit from the Club Car seemed now to be directly related to the appearance of another women that we can’t remember the name of but was younger hand had long black curly hair. Presumably not Trevor’s wife. At this point I think everyone had had enough to drink and dinner was urgently needed.

Kate and I once again head to the Lobster/tourist Trap. Another great lobster dinner. check out the proof below.





















August 5th, 2010

It’s that time of year again. We are off to Nantucket on what the great Tyson Thorne once dubbed our “White Peoples Vacation”. Although unintentional it seems to be indisputably true. Kate and I have been visiting this old whaling island for a few years. I have to admit it’s grown on me. At first I complained about all the waspie people but after some thought realized that although we may be on the same island as these folks they still exists on a plain of wealth that seem invisible to our middle class eyes. Thus the island seem almost deserted and relaxing.
This year Kate and I have two goals for the trip. First, for several years now we’ve been recommended a locals place called the Chicken Box. Till now the name has always slipped our minds while on the island. NOT this time my friends. Second, (Kate’s idea) we stay on the island and become dance instructors for the rich folks. We take a young girl under our wing named Baby and we teach her dance. After a long and tedious learning period, Baby gains self esteem while learning to trust people. I have to admit this plan sounds familiar some how.
I’ll be posting often so check back.





July 12th, 2010

Is it just me or is dport7 gasping for air. The infrequent post the global take over of Facebook and Twitter. Personal blog are dropping off the face of the internet by the hundreds. I’m trying to keep this ship afloat but it’s harder and harder every year. either way it’s still a log of my life so continue I must.

So, there is a lot to talk about. First the triathlon! I survived although not by much. I started my leg of the race (the run) at about 10:30 or 11am and by then it was already 95 degrees. Let’s just say that I made it and leave it at that. Kate on the other hand was a star. She was a pro on the bike like she does this every week.








The next weekend found us in the middle of no where Wisconsin for Ian and Pink’s wedding. Everything was lovely they both looked great and had a genuinely picture-esic wedding. see the pics below along with my flicker It was great to see the Swanson’s along with Big John and Aaron and Allison. Brain was also there from near by Chicago.
























Lastly Check out this video I found today. It makes you glad that somewhere out there someone is doing something cool.


click




June 23rd, 2010

so let’s talk about this….
This Sunday the 27 is the big race. That’s right we thought there was plenty of time and then one day it’s next weekend. Let me fill you in on my progress. As you know about a month and a half ago I hurt my knee over training. This really put me out of the game. I lost all my momentum….. it was a disaster. Then 3 weeks ago we all went up to Baltimore to test out the course. I had my first real run in about a month and it was a epic fail. I don’t even think I made it half way. Needless to say this was extremely upsetting. Now the rest of the team did great and i worried that I would embarrass myself when the race day came.
With 3 weeks till the race I knew that a strict routine was my only option. So I’ve been running a 5K around the park every other day and surpassingly the knee seems to be handling it fairly well. Dr. John gave me some strength building stretches to do for the knee along with a ice and Alive regiment.
With the race days way, i have to be honest i’m a bit worried. The Baltimore course it extremely hilly. I train in Prospect Park and it is completely flat compared to the course. The worst train for my knee is step down hills and Baltimore certainly has it’s share of those.
Either way I’ll survive. I just hope I can complete the course with a decent time that is at least respectable for my age and overall physical ability.

Hey is anyone watching the World Cup? I’ve caught myself watching a few games. I’ll say this for the worlds favorite sport. It puts me to sleep at least twice during the game. They are short naps that always durning the precious moment when a goal is scored. Things i like about “football” there is a 90 minute clock that never stops (accept for halftime). I prefer this over american football where it seems as if the clock stops after every play.

No we haven’t gotten new iPhones yet don’t even ask. The pre-orders are pushed back to mid july. I can and will wait!



bad picture of the Baltimore teams









June 3rd, 2010

the visit to Chicago was a full success. I packed 40 hours of consciousness into 2 day. You heard about the first day already and the second was just as good. We went to the bean downtown, pictures below. I can’t decide if pictures do the bean justice or not. The name of the piece isn’t been infect it’s called the CLOUD GATE by Anish Kapoorz. It’s truly awe inspiring. The reflection of the city on it’s complex surfaces are mind blowing. I’m completely fascinated with how it must have been made. So far I haven’t been able to find any construction videos but it would be great to have an understanding of the construction.
After the bean we took the bikes down by the packed beach then over to a deep dish Chicago pizza place called Pequod’s they clam to have the universe’s best pizza. I’ll be honest it was pretty good. After a quick stop home for a nap we continued out for the second night. The highlight was Karaoke everyone sang which is cool. Brian did an inspired version of Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show. I held it down with Saturday and Private Eyes.For some reason I can’t understand the songs really take a lot out of me these days. I don’t know if it’s because I’m trying harder to sing them better or if I just can’t hack it anymore.
Anyway a huge thanks goes out to Brian and the guys in Chicago. Thanks for showing me a great time in what seemed like just a few hours!!!!

MUNNYLOPE is DONE and it is amazing. I printed it solid so it has a pretty good weight to it and is pretty sturdy. I’m nervous about the antlers but even those seem reasonably robust. I wish i could make one of all of you but sadly the process fro one of these suckers is not only long it’s $$$$. I don’t have a figure on how much it costs to make one because i don’t know material costs or what machine time goes for as I did this one in my office. I do know that it took the machine 30 Hours to complete it . Nothing to sneeze at.

Headed to Maryland this weekend I’ll let you know how that goes.





























May 29th, 2010

hey everyone just a check in from Chicago. Hanging out with Brian for the weekend. Yesterday we went to the Cubs/Cardinals game. The Cubs didn’t disappoint by giving up 5 runs in the first 20 minutes of the game. Needles to say another day at Wrigley Field another loss for the Cubs. We had a few after game beers with Chris and Jim along with a visit from my good friend Jay. Thanks for coming out everybody.
I’m staying with Brian and his roommates and this little guy Dose Tres. Dose Tres and I are friends from a few years back, good to see the years have been kind.
Lastly I have a few pictures of the MunnyLope fresh of the 3D Printer!!!!!! From what I can tell it looks pretty effing good. The antlers may be a bit shape but we’ll have to see. It finished up yesterday and my co worker sent me the photo’s. I cant wait to see it for my self.























May 18th, 2010

so i had the idea to make a munnylope the other day. so i did. I think I may get to 3D print it out watch the site for that.
Hey Paul how can I have the same iPhone wallpaper as you have? well here it is drag it to your desktop and sync it to your phone.





click here for a desktop image as well.