It's not a pizza until it comes out of the oven!

We made pumpkin pizza last night, with a nice pumpkin-base sauce and smoked wild boar. My daughter wanted to add cucumbers, so I let her put one on a corner, and showed her one of my favorite Seinfeld clips:

Zombie Bicycle Thief

$6 for a tube and $10 for labor?

Smith Tower Penthouse

Apparently Buckminster Fuller's former baby-sittee lives atop the Smith Tower in Seattle.

The interesting work of John Ioannidis

Interesting article from the Atlantic on the work of meta-researcher John Ioannidis. It's of course not so surprising that medical research should fare so poorly in his studies. It would be interesting to see how other fields fared, though it is hard to see how other fields would be exempt from the influences affecting medicine and physiology. What's disturbing though is the trust we as a society put in medical research, not only emotionally but also economically.

(Graph courtesy of AAAS.) This is a frightening graph in many ways. We are on the cusp of a full-fledged energy crisis, yet the amount invested in energy research is a pittance compared to the money we're throwing away at medicine. As Ioannidis points out, the more money we throw at the field, the more phony results are likely to turn up. Still, it would make me a lot more comfortable to know that the field is given resources proportionate to its importance.

The other interesting element this article presents is whether the general trust the public has in science should be allowed to tarnish due to public exposure to Ioannidis's work. Doctors are held in special esteem by the general public, and for large swaths of the practice to be exposed as little more than fraud doesn't do much for the public acceptance of science (not to mention how it might poison the health-care debate in the US). Truly important issues of climate change, energy policy, stem-cell research, high-energy particle physics experiments, and science education can all be questioned by a science-questioning public (just look at the comments section of this NYT opinion column on climate change), but the public needs to maintain an open and tolerant mind, subject to change. I have no doubt that there is lots of lousy climate science out there, but the bulk and breadth of the total research combines to constitute fairly robust knowledge.

But the original article is of particular interest when one considers that the pharmaceuticals we're being fed unnecessarily end up right in the ecosystem. If we can trust her research, of course.

Magical Numbers

Daniel Gilbert wrote an excellent column for the Grey Lady today outlining the issue of irrationally favored numbers. Coincidentally, I taught classes today focusing on numbers and measuring units, sort of a pet interest of mine. Though I didn't bring up my dozenal society fantasies, or Swedenborg's octal counting system, I did mention the lesson of ring sizes in Sweden, which frequently utilize fractions of millimeters rather than the decimal counterparts to more easily help customers find appropriate their appropriate ring size and limit the range of sizes a jeweler must stock.

Tension cot

I was flipping through a Manufactum catalog yesterday and this cot, designed by Ole Gjerlov Knudsen in 1962 caught my eye. The use of natural material turnbuckles, as seen on a traditional bow saw, to form the tensioned tie beam in the structure is a clever use of traditional materials and technology. He designed a chair too, apparently.

Though the end results are quite different, a similar structural strategy is used in the LuxuryLite ultralight cot. This uses tensioned aluminum and carbon fiber poles instead of the traditional turnbuckle mechanism. The principle, using a tensioned tie beam, is the same.

It would be interesting to see further use of this principle in collapsing furniture. I've long been interested in the use of ratchet tie downs in other applications, and this would seem to be a natural use for them. Modern steel turnbuckles could also be used in this application.

Bridgestone MB-6 Project, Part 2

I visited the powder-coater with the bare frame this week, and was a bit taken aback by their new pricing. Really, the price is reasonable considering the work it takes, and to tell the truth I haven't been very satisfied with the work done for 200 kr. 800 kr, the current asking price, includes bead blasting and clear coating, luxuries previous junk bike projects have gone without. This is a vanity paint job more than anything, since it's not covering up any frame modifications. But the original paint was in such bad shape, I think I'll go ahead and do it. I'm going to blast the frame myself though, and save a bit on the total cost. They even had a pink, RAL 3015, which seems a popular color for bikes.

It seems a shame to spring for a new paint job without doing any frame modifications. The most obvious route, since it's going to be a singlespeed anyway, would be to put on some track ends. That way I'd avoid the trouble of gimmicky chain tensioners and whatnot. Still, I have a feeling this bike will live to experience another build, and I may want that derailleur hanger in the not-so-distant future. Also, the dropouts feature a couple fender/rack mounts, which will probably come in handy, and which are generally lacking from track ends if you don't drill and tap some of your own.

Another nice feature for a future build would be down-tube shifter mounts. These would add flexibility to any geared arrangement with derailleurs, and would allow the use of cheap and plentiful friction shifters either on the frame or on the bars. But again, the current build plan is to go singlespeed, and exposed and unused shifter bosses are even worse than exposed and unused canti-bosses, in my mind. So I think we'll forgo any additions or removals from this frame.

Is this frame really worth the trouble I'm putting into it? Of course I think so, for a number of reasons. Since I salvaged the frame, and am building the bike largely with the detritus of parts bins, my total cost won't be anywhere near that of a new bike, especially of the quality of this one. I believe any sort of adaptive reuse is a better solution for an old bike than the landfill, but there are particular bikes which represent especially good candidates for these types of projects. Road bikes from the 70s, 80s, and early 90s are widely appreciated. Quality, especially mid-market and up, was particularly good, industry standards still in use today were solidifying, and the geometry favored by builders was appropriate for a number of applications beyond that of road-racing.

Perhaps less appreciated today are the mountain bikes of the early 90s. There was a golden window, when mountain bikes were at the height of their popularity, that a number of factors came into play:

1 Geometry was more racing-oriented than that of most mountain bikes that came before, which means these bikes ride well over a variety of terrain. Also, they were not yet "suspension-specific", meaning the gap from bottom of the headtube to the tire falls is reasonable-appearing with normalish tires and fenders.

2 Standards in use today became firmly established: gone were the oddball U-brakes behind the bottom bracket and E-stays. Also, modern headset sizes (threaded 1", threadless 1 1/8") were common. Watch out for oddball headsets though! A good shop can help with things like facing a JIS-standard fork for industry standard races, but stems for threaded 1 1/8" forks or threadless 1" forks or anything 1 1/4" are hard to come by!

3 Taiwanese construction was established and relatively good by modern standards. Preferable exchange rates meant Western countries could buy relatively high-quality frames at low cost. Tube sets of complete double-butted chromoly and nice investment cast fittings were the norm even on mid-level bikes like this one. The aluminum bikes that stormed the market a few years after these are fine bikes, but they can't be as freely modified or repaired as bikes with steel frames.

4 Suspension forks hadn't yet entered the mainstream at the mid-level pricepoint, which automatically made these bikes a better all-around value than those that followed. Not having a suspension fork reduces the overall complexity of modifying these bikes for other use, as you don't have to spend time searching for finding out-of-production replacement parts. Fortunately, there are plenty of rigid replacement 1 1/8" forks available for those stuck with an obsolete fork.

The Bridgestone frame I am working on with this project benefits from all of the above. 26.2mm seatposts don't grow on trees, but otherwise almost everything on this frame is relevant today. The 1" threaded fork means I can pick from a variety of interesting stems, and cantilever brake bosses open up the world of modern and vintage cantis and V-brakes.

All that being said, it's not a lightweight:

Frame: 2342g
Fork: 882g
(with original paint)

The Levytator

This seems like a very practical solution for many adaptive reuse building projects when the building owner requires or desires increased accessibility for end users without compromising the architectural or cultural values of the original structure. The logistics of disembarking may prove challenging for some, especially since it differs so greatly from the experience of escalators of which we are so accustomed, and one can worry about crowding in the potentially dangerous staging area. The principle reminds me somewhat of funicular railways.

Corned Beef in a few weeks

The local store is having a special on högrev (chuck steak) from Ireland, so I picked up a kilo figuring I'd have a hankering for reubens in a few weeks.

Below you can see my preparation for beef corning.

I've got a lidded glass container I can keep the beef in while it seasons for three weeks. In the picture you can see that I've covered the beef with water to estimate the amount I'll need to keep it submerged. I measured the water (about 3 cups) as I decanted it into a small pot. As I heated the water, I determined that I needed about 1/4 C of course salt (I'm going roughly by Joy's recommendation here, though I've learned to cut the salt in half), which I stirred in just before the water reached a boil, and then poured it into the glass container. I've also seasoned the brine with a bay leaf, white peppercorns, allspice, mustard seed, cloves, and a couple tablespoons of sugar. It's cooling in the fridge right now, but this evening I'll free the beef of it's plastic wrap and submerge it in the brine. I use the stainless steel chain pictured in the bottom right (acquired at a marine supply shop) to keep the beef under the water level of the brine while it sits in the fridge from 2-4 weeks.

Frugal Engineering

This article makes some interesting points about engineering and product design, concluding that frugal design and engineering have a lot to contribute to both the developed and developing world. Curiously, the article skirts the ideas of appropriate technology or the Long Now foundation.

At the same time, I read in Newsweek that there will be 5 billion mobile phones in use next year, out of a global population of 7 billion. Considering the number of people either too young or too old to use mobile phones, that is a truly incredible statistic. Of course, the majority of those carrying mobile phones around the world use them for little more than calling or sending text messages. Phones like the Nokia presented in the first linked article offer these services and little else.

This is a frustrating use of resources. Sometimes I felt like I was the last person in Sweden to start using a mobile phone five or so years ago, but I couldn't really be convinced of the utility of carrying a device that could only make (expensive!) phone calls. When I bought my first mobile phone it had a decent camera on it, which was useful for note-taking, but I also very quickly learned to love Opera Mini, which gave me access to almost the entire internet through GPRS. This was a more monumental event than gaining access to the internet for the first time in college. Back in '96, the internet had the tiniest fraction of the world's information searchable, but by 2006 it was a different story altogether.

The point is, every mobile phone has the basic functions to allow access to the internet. They are by their very nature telecommunication devices, so network access shouldn't be a problem. They have displays, even if they are rudimentary, that can present text. And they have some sort of input device, a keypad. The internet is now a great depository for all manner of sounds, video, and images, but it is still largely driven and organized by text. That 5 billion people next year can have access to that information from almost anywhere is truly revolutionary. But can these simple phones access the internet? Are they provided with the software to make it possible? I certainly hope so.

Smart phones are great, but I think these not-so-smart phones could be truly earth-shattering.

Bridgestone MB-6 Project, Part 1

I love junk bike projects. Taking a bunch of old, abandoned parts and making something new, useful, and maybe even beautiful out if it can be a lot of fun. Of course, working with nice parts has it advantages, but the challenge presented by a pile of junk is unique.

This 1991 Bridgestone MB-6 may not be the finest salvaged bikee out there, but it is a tigged-in-Taiwan double butted Tange Chromoly frame with pretty decent geometry. It's actually pretty similar (probably identical, save for the size) to my MB-5, and like that bike, I plan to limit this build to a single gear. I perhaps too-hastily built it up for my cousin visiting last month, and it barely survived the 100km gravel race she rode it in. My main problem in that build, besides chain tension, were the frozen-in-the-frame bearings and stem wedge. Carrying it home from the bike club, I ran into a fellow with a high-pressure hose cleaning out the tram turnouts in the street, and had him clean the mud off of the thing. After about an hour at Veloform today, I left with a bare-naked frame and fork, ready for powder coating.

A local powder coater has had pretty reasonable rates for bike frames, which encourages one to experiment or modify a frame more than one would without a cheap and effective way of covering the frame up again. For example, my fixed-gear bike is a salvaged road bike with brazed-in track ends, replaced brake bridge, and removed down tube shifter mounts and brake cable stops. My wife's commute bike is an old mountain bike with down tube shift bosses added. I don't think I'll be doing any frame modifications to this bike, but it certainly needs paint.

Walking home from the shop today with the frame I ran into Patrik, carrying a repaired Surly Cross-check. We compared frame weights a bit, and can only conclude that this frame is a boat anchor. Of course, one only has to consider the 26.2 seatpost to realize that the tubes are a bit thicker than bike snobs may be used to...

But like I said, good geometry, a solid frame and rigid fork. It should be a fun bike.

A Whole Chicken

Every so often, once a week to once a month, I'll take advantage of a good offer and buy a whole chicken. I could roast it whole, of course, or cut out the back and roast it flat as Bittman advises. Usually, though, I butcher it and take it through the following steps:

1 Breasts get used for fajitas or stir-fries, or are maybe marinated and grilled, and sliced and served alongside heaps of veggies and starches. At any rate, there are just the two of them, and they're usually not that big when I get them off of the whole chickens on offer here. But they'll provide the animal protein for a family meal at any rate.

2 Drumsticks get separated from the thighs and, and these together with the wings (and oysters, if I remember to dig them out) are marinated and roasted and served whole, or pan-fried, or thrown into a simple chicken stew. More flavor, and fat in these pieces, though they're filled with those cumbersome bones.

3 The carcass is really what we're working towards here. The other parts can get bought and used already prepared, but the carcass is special, especially in a country where canned chicken broth is unheard of. Here you're stuck with salty, suspicious bouillon cubes or doing it from scratch. I keep a big yogurt bin in the freezer I periodically fill with vegetable trimmings: the ends of onions and carrots and celery, and when I've got a chicken carcass (or back) to work with I throw it (trimmed of fat and skin) in the stock pot along with whatever's in the freezer. I usually get enough stock from this process to make a pot of soup and a batch of risotto.


There's nothing new in any of this, of course, but it does require a little planning ahead and a bit of time on the part of the cook. We're not a vegetarian household, but that doesn't mean we don't respect the animal or can't try to make the most of it while limiting our intake of animal protein. Making a chicken last three or four meals is just part of that philosophy.

Spock with a beard

Paul Krugman is Spock with a beard.

Pastry Cutter Improvement

I've been making a lot of biscuits lately, partly inspired, I guess, by Bad Bart or whatever The Dude II was called in Crazy Heart.

"Oh yeah, biscuits. Need to do those more often."

By the way, why the cream of tartar? I'm guessing he was using some antiquated recipe before pre-blended baking powder was available? At any rate, I don't use cream of tartar, though I have found a source in Sweden: Curry House, in Haga has it in stock. I forget if they call it vinsten or cream of tartar, but at any rate you can't get it at the pharmacy anymore.

To incorporate the butter and flour in biscuits, or for pie crust, I've been using my stand mixer for the last number of years, because it's there and it works, and because I hated my pastry cutter. Maybe I've been using it wrong, but I didn't like the way the handle rotated in my hand, and the protruding nut on one side always dug into my skin. So the pastry cutter languished in a drawer, and every time I set about making a little batch of biscuits I'd fire up the Hobart, which seems like overkill.

I tried replacing the bolt with some stainless screws I had laying around from an earlier project, but the hole for the through-bolt was so big the screws didn't bite very well. So I decided to make a new handle.

I had some ash laying around, so I got out an appropriate knife, cleaned up its edge, and got whittling.

A little 240 sandpaper later and the handle was ready. I cut it off and rubbed some canola into the grain, followed by some beeswax, and then used the stainless screws to fasten the handle into the pastry cutter again.

The whole process was done before my potatoes finished boiling. And it didn't cost me a cent. And it will make using the pastry cutter a whole lot more pleasant. So why did I put it off for so long? These sorts of little projects can make life easier and more enjoyable, and aren't exactly a nuisance. And are in every way sustainable: I have repurposed a tool I found lacking rather than replacing or discarding it. This project will moreover enable me to use a simple hand tool over a complex and energy-demanding power tool when appropriate.

Fixing a broken or lacking tool is the sort of thing that should be second nature to us, but seems more and more to be a thing of the past. That I should be blogging about this mundane repair is on the surface ridiculous, but I believe we need to think more in terms of making do with what we have.

Oct. 5 update: I furthered refined the handle by rounding the hard edges visible in the above photo.

Ronde van Retaard Pictures

Hallisar has finally posted his enormous batch of pictures from this year's Ronde van Retaard!

Clen-tador

The NYT chimes in on the increasingly complex physiological and pharmaceutical knowledge cycling fans are expected to keep track of. But they fail to link to the leading source of doping chatter, the Clinic Forum over at cyclingnews.com.