Lucas Chan :: Weblog

No bike riding today. :(

On the plus side, it’s snowing! (I’ve never seen snow before)

Awesome.

(Photo by Cam)

In room 10 at SXSW. The guy sitting in front of me just leaned sideways, raised his left butt cheek a few inches off the chair and let out an extremely vigorous and loud fart.

Being in a room full of geeks is often inspiring but sometimes a little dangerous.

Edit: 2 minutes later. He just did it again. God bless America.

Re-Edit: 3rd time. Joy. I just let out a very loud “ahem” and left to find another seat. I don’t think he got it.

I always get sick at the most inopportune times. I spent all day yesterday in my hotel room. Yay.

Despite still feeling really crappy today I managed check out Haight Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, Fisherman’s Wharf and Union and Filmore Streets. Riding around San Fran is bloody hard work but heaps of fun. :)

Snoozes.

Bringing my bike here was such a good idea. If you’re comfortable with riding in traffic (and don’t mind riding on the opposite incorrect side of the road then it’s well worth the trouble – I didn’t have to pay extra for baggage, yay!). I’ve seen a lot more of the city in just one day than I did in the whole week I was here last time. Surprisingly the cars here seem a lot more considerate of cyclists than in they do in Melbourne.

The Bart cards (Metcard equivalents) are rechargeable. Melbourne really needs to do that. You could give the roaming ticket inspectors little card readers and save a fortune on ink and cardboard? Or just introduce a smart card already FFS.

A couple of bike couriers recommended I check out the bike stores on Valencia St, so I went down there this afternoon. The Mission is a pretty cool area of town; seems like a crazy mix of cultures, especially with Castro being only a few blocks away.

I stumbled across the Chrome factory/store in Soma and went inside to have a sticky-beak. The guys inside were really friendly and they happen to like breakbeat. I’m meeting up with them at a bar near my Hotel later tonight. Should be fun. :)

Track bikes are still very much a novelty in Australia but they’re a dime a dozen here. Despite this you still get the occasional knowing nod from couriers and the like.

Apparently John Digweed is in town tonight, I’ve missed his last 2 shows in Melbourne so I’m tempted to go and check him out. Hyper is also doing a show tonight, he’d probably be a bit more up my alley but I really didn’t come here to party so we’ll see.

The coffee here is terrible, kthxbye.

• When water starts gushing from the roof of your plane shortly after take-off, it is not necessarily cause for alarm.
• There are no clocks at LAX. Anywhere. This is really confusing when arriving from a different time-zone.
• Ordering a “small” serving of anything translates to: “If I don’t need a fork lift to carry it, it’s not big enough”.

Fire:Aid. This weekend! Organised and presented by the awesome crew at Melbourne Beats. All funds raised go to the CFA and Wildlife Victoria.

I’m bummed that I’ll be overseas, but very glad to see this as the featured profile on MySpace today. Nice one!

A couple of years ago Tom, Jules and I acquired an awesome foam-mounted poster of Rob Mills.

The original owner, Esther, discarded it in the car park at Coles and adorned his face with a panty-liner for good measure. After being rescued it lived in our hallway (sans-liner) in Richmond for a few months until we decided to move. Tom has taken great care of it since then, but the time has come to pass it on.

Go forth and bid on this wonderful piece of Australian music memorabilia.