Hansen Report by Kristian Hansen

Made it to the Big Easy for Jordan’s graduation from...

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:08:01 -0400

Made it to the Big Easy for Jordan’s graduation from Tulane Law.

Hanging with Anton’s family and exploring Cajun cuisine.

Here is a shot of me from Sunday Streets on Valencia. I was...

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:42:42 -0400

Here is a shot of me from Sunday Streets on Valencia. I was helping out Joey the Cat to raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma research and his bid for Mr. Mission 2012!

We were about 25 % at our goal of $1000 by the end of the day… But $1000 is NOT enough, so Joey has decided to DOUBLE the amount to $2000 for charity.

We are going to be throwing special events over the next few weeks to bump up the proceeds. If you are in San Francisco and looking to help - a great way is to hit up Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem at 19th and Mission. We have a skeeball machine in the back of the bar. Every dollar of skeeball fun you have will be going to support research.

Max

Tue, 01 May 2012 23:08:10 -0400

Max:

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

cinemagr.am

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:39:58 -0400

cinemagr.am:

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

San Francisco Ferry

Tue, 01 May 2012 03:10:02 -0400

San Francisco Ferry:

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

RACERS READY?

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:25:13 -0400

mashsf:

Go For It and Go Naked

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:21:04 -0400

The fact that the TSA and Federal Government has stripped away many of our civil rights has been rightfully protested by John Brennan, who today disrobed fully at the PDX airport in protest.

Here is the sound of the 460 Engine in my new truck. And a...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:43:26 -0400

Here is the sound of the 460 Engine in my new truck. And a priceless photo of the truck before I have started to clean and restore it.

Its a beast. I think I might even call it The Beast. If you are in Marin, Sonoma or SF and want a ride somewhere I can make that happen. If you need something heavy moved or scared, I can do that too.

K-Dawg

New Van She video. Its a bit of an ode to Greg Gladwell. And...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:19:34 -0400

New Van She video. Its a bit of an ode to Greg Gladwell.

And what is up with this video? I do not know…

This is going to be awesome! Can hardly wait.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:27:47 -0400

This is going to be awesome! Can hardly wait.

The new and improved Peugeot PX10 from 1971. I’ll be...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:38:20 -0400

The new and improved Peugeot PX10 from 1971. I’ll be cruising in style this Spring.

Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny Sunday. Blue skies go a long way...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:54:22 -0400

Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny Sunday. Blue skies go a long way in making me smile.

Go figure, only in Ross California are we going to find a Go...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:08:00 -0400

Read the license plate!

White Ferrari in Ross

Go figure, only in Ross California are we going to find a Go Ducks University of Oregon Ferrari.

Speaking as a cyclist, I am not really one to gloat over vehicles. I don’t really care how fast or expensive most cars are ( I care about capacity, mileage, dependability, longevity). But I have some best buddies who attended Eugene for school, so this picture is for all of them.

Cheers guys.

- Kristian

Normally I would not take a Friday evening to write a posting...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:56:21 -0400

The T-Mobile Bill

T-Mobile Adult Settings "webguard"

Normally I would not take a Friday evening to write a posting about my cellphone bill, but I tonight was a No-Go-Out-Friday-Night-night.

What does a late 20-something do exactly when chilling alone?

In my case, look at my phone bill and check in with my plan.

Over two years ago I was coerced into getting a phone. I had been using Google Voice for a 4 month period, but all my friends and family got really pissed at me for not being available 24/7. I finally caved and bought a pre-paid Blackberry from Best Buy on Broadway in the village. For something like $250 I had a new phone with wifi capability and a bill of $90/month. Which was much cheaper than my previous plan with ATT (around $110 a month at the time of 2009).

Between January of 2010 and January of 2012 I was on a month-to-month plan. T-Mobile coverage is okay. Nothing to write home about. They recently tried to get me to upgrade my plan. Which totally backfired for T-Mobile because it got me thinking about my phone and my rate plan. Last July/August they introduced a $60 All-Everything Plan, which I signed up for saving me about $30/month. But in December/January this year, as I was looking at cost-cutting measures I realized there was even more I could do.

I realized I did not need unlimited talk, text, and data. In reality, my phone already had unlimited data, talk, and text - via my UMA network capability enabled via wifi connections.

The fact that a blackberry email connection is required to send emails ($10/extra per month) on top of the data connection and on top of the talk charges really put me over the top.

So now I have a $30/month plan. I have 1500 minutes or messages to go through and a 30mb data plan for when I am not around a wifi network. The screen grab shows my account after 27 days of usage. I have three days to go through 252 texts or minutes on the phone, and nearly 66% more data plan to suck up.

Now I am hooked.

Mr.Money Mustache should be proud.

Gotta love Hot Chip. Over the years its been fun following their...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:42:19 -0400

Gotta love Hot Chip. Over the years its been fun following their success. I recall ever so fondly my performance with them back on Halloween of 2006. It was held at the Roxy skating rink in what is now the neighborhood for Chelsea/Meatpacking District.

The theme of the party was revenge of Carrie. I was Carrie’s prom date. And killed off/covered in blood by the end of the evening.

Good Times.

Give me a better Tire Lever Please

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:11:08 -0400

Photo: Pink Tire Lever from Pedro’s, Two black multi-tools are from Park Tools and last lever is from SOMA (made with a steel core).

Tonight I was reading through my RSS feed on Google Reader and came across Michael Green’s posting about Cobra Tire Levers. Check them out here.

Fact is simple to any ardent cyclist: Tire Levers Break all the damn time. They like to break when you are in a rush and have just got a flat.

Its like putting salt into a wound. Not only did I just get a flat - which is pissing me off, but now the stupid tire levers I have in my kit are breaking too!!

If you really want to piss me off, I would suggest giving me a flat tire and broken tire levers. For the last two years the most consistent lever I have owned is my Brooklyn Brewery or Anchor Steam Brewery bottle openers. The anchor steam bottle opener is made of titanium and the most bitchy tire will come off the rim with this puppy.

Tonight, when I heard about the chance to win a new “indestructable” cobra tire lever I decided to throw my hat into the mix.

In my image above, let me give you a run down.

1. Pink lever is made by Pedro’s. It has a lifetime warranty and I bought it at King Kog a year ago. On its first usage I snapped one of the two levers. I am too lazy to mail it to them for a replacement. I threw it out. Even though it has a “lifetime warranty” - it doesn’t matter. Too much effort. It should just work, I shouldn’t have to get postage and mail a piece of plastic.

Rating : Shit

Cost : $2.50

2. Park Tools Multi-Tool with tire levers on the end of the tool. I use this for my day-to-day fixing things and working on the tool. Its been pretty great so far, although I would like to combine all of these tools into one tool. Take two or three from each and have one tool with 7 working tools. There are tire levers built into the structure of the tool’s casing - but they are only made from hardened plastic. The first tool’s lever snapped off and the second one is bent so far its worthless.

Rating: Shit times x2

Cost: $12 - but it comes with tools.

3. SOMA tire levers. These are not half bad. I would say from all my levers these work best and are dependable. I probably lost one of them. But the one I do have left that is functioning is missing the plastic end. It snapped off, but the “metal core” remains.

Rating: Okay

Cost: $5.99

Where does this leave me?

Well, I want a product that works. I want something that I do not have to send back to the manufacturer. I am looking for a product that is functional, designed well, and works. Dependability is the name of the game for me and many cyclist/messenger friends. Its not always about style or hip factor, its about having tools that you can count on. When work is on the line you can not be late. When you need to change a flat you need your tools to work with you, not against you.

Cobra Tire Levers I look forward to testing you out!

Images like this encapsulate history. Kind of like answering the...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:24:37 -0400

Images like this encapsulate history. Kind of like answering the how and they why all-in-one.

Why start National Parks? - Duh, look at this vantage point.

Who started it? These dudes, John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt.

When? - During a time without color photos, so a long time ago

Yosemite was just as beautiful 100 years ago as it is today (except I posit with less annoying tourists and garbage).

awesomepeoplehangingouttogether:

Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir at Yosemite

For all my friends abroad - I mean you Chris Allen - here is a...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:51:12 -0400

For all my friends abroad - I mean you Chris Allen - here is a short, snappy video I made during my visit to the Republic of Georgia.

Hoping one of my Georgian friends will give me a proper translation of this dude’s rhetoric.

There is a silent war being waged by major United States...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:01:18 -0400

There is a silent war being waged by major United States corporations. We’re talking big budgets, lobbyist, PACS and IMAX.

This war is covert, black ops, and beyond government oversight committees. Its the battle not for East vs West, Jesus or Muhammed, but Jake Gyllenhaal vs Ryan Gosling.

In this battle there are no winners, just casualties.

kristianpickles: Holy Water of Fuck! is what I was basically...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:47:13 -0400

Boat in Kentfield, 2005

My backyard, 2005

Backyard, 2005

Kristian in the Rain, 2005

kristianpickles:

Holy Water of Fuck! is what I was basically thinking when my brother woke up the family at 5am.

There was a wall of vicious Class V rapids rising in front of my parent’s house. The day was December 30th, 2005 and it screwed my sleepy neighborhood.

Visiting back home for the Holidays, I was in the unfortunate position of watching my household and portion of my town get completely screwed by the unrelenting power of Nature. Its something that we often do not hold in high regard. Having lived in New York City I was accustomed to buildings sheathed in air conditioning. To re-enter the volatility through the Great Flood was an eye-opening experience.

Today its been over six years since we fought the waters of 2005, but its raining again outside and people are getting jittery. Will there be another huge flood? What has been done to stop this type of thing from happening again?

In this common era I do not subscribe to the idea that controlling these situations is beyond our control. In certain scenarios I can fathom why certain conditions occur again and again. Twisters in the Midwest, crazy directions in the Bermuda Triangle, Earthquakes in California, Volcanoes on the Pacific Rim… these can not be stopped - they can be explained, but not accurately forecast.

Floods in Marin are a different organism. Grand levees have been built for thousands of years to control flood conditions. Look at the Nile and its vast Delta. The Egyptians worked out methods to control this magnanimous resource over 5,000 years ago. In their ingenuity, brillance and desperation to survive they explored all facets of the Nile, its ramifications and its strength. Yet, in 2005, with the Army Corps of Engineers and some of the richest tax payers in the world - we, the USA can not control, channel or rectify a known floodplain.

New Orleans was built below sea level, but so is a large percentage of the Netherlands (with 21% of its landmass below sea level).

Our ability to control or rather not control Mother Nature is rather astounding. We live in an automated, digital world which has been operating under the assumption that life will go on as normal for some* time to come.

The vulnerability of the human race and the precious ecosystems that are built around us should be revered and respected. Taking clean water for fact, convenience and granted should not be how we view the world’s resources.

First world people with first world problems.

Looking forward to the rain and all its glory. My cover crop is thirsty and this is the last push before its time to till the soil and get the seeds in the ground.

Just a few more weeks and Kristian Pickles will be in its next phase of production (ergh, I mean growth).

-Kristian

* Some being the “for generations to come