President's Day, Karate Monkeys, food trucks, the beach, Valentine's Day. This week, some things from my President's Day ride, a couple things from Hollywood... and one beer.
1. Crazy Monkey Love
It occurred to me that I rarely mention my Karate Monkey. Although it is technically my backup commuter, I haven't had a need lately to use anything other than my black Cross Check.
As I was looking in our spare room yesterday, I started thinking about how the Monkey came to be.
It seems like only yesterday...
The year was '06. Gasoline was nearing an unheard of $3.00 a gallon. I was not very good about hitting the gym after work. Originally I was thinking of getting a Vespa to save on gasoline, but when I went by Vespa of Santa Monica to take a look at the options I discovered that it was permanently closed. Rather than travel all the way to the San Fernando Valley to the nearest Vespa dealership, I got the crazy idea that perhaps I could make the ten-mile trip to work by bicycle. This way, I could save money on gas and get a workout at the same time. If I don't exercise, I don't get to work (or home in the evening). After committing to the idea, I went about finding a bike. The salesman at the local bike shop told me that the Trek 7.5 FX was exactly what I needed, and what do you know, they happen to have one in my size already assembled on the sales floor. Under the impression that this gentleman must know what he is talking about (he does do this for a living after all), I went home with my new Trek. After a trial run on the weekend to gauge safety, distance, etc., I started riding to work. It went pretty well, but became quite apparent that this may not be the perfect bike after all. The aluminum frame sent every vibration from the pitted roads up through my body to the very top of my head. It felt like my teeth were going to rattle right out of their sockets. Also, the frame, which the salesman assured me was exactly the right size, was starting to seem not so perfect. I was feeling a bit cramped and having some knee pain. At this point I started doing some research and decided that a steel framed bike might be a better choice. That is what led up to me buying my black Cross Check. For a time, the Trek served as my backup, though the times that I had to use it seemed more like I was being punished. That is when I decided to purchase the Karate Monkey frame and transfer most of the parts from the Trek over to the Monkey.

I switched over everything that would work from the Trek to the new frame. This was my first experience with building up a bike from the frame up (with the exception of the headset). After a time, I replaced the inappropriate low-spoke-count wheels of the 7.5 FX with some sturdier wheels and big, cushy tires. For a time afterward, I still referred to this bike as "The Trek". "I just replaced one part" I would say, "the frame." This has always been a fun bike to ride. Technically a 29'er mountain bike, it serves more as an around-town cruiser for me when I don't need to haul anything.
Anyway, as I spotted the bike yesterday and was feeling guilty for the neglect, I swear I heard it say to me, "Hey dude, what the hell?"
Thinking about the sunny, near-80 degree day awaiting me outside of my apartment walls, I decided to take the KM for a ride towards the beach.

2. Yet Another Food Truck
I don't know if the rest of the country is experience a huge flood of gourmet food trucks as we are here in Los Angeles, but at this point the number is probably approaching 100. There is quite a variety of food available. The whole food truck revolution started with the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck. Now you can find trucks selling Indian food, American BBQ, gourmet burgers, desserts, and breakfast, as they sell on the Buttermilk Breakfast truck.
This happened to be parked outside the office one recent morning, so of course I had to try it. I had the applewood smoked bacon buttermilk breakfast sandwich with the rosemary garlic hash browns.

It was pretty tasty, but I have to say I don't think the biscuits travel that well. The bacon and egg were great, but the biscuit had that reheated in the microwave texture. There is nothing like homemade biscuits fresh from the oven, but it just isn't possible to replicate that on a roving truck. I would definitely have it again, but you just can't expect that homemade biscuit flavor. The hash browns were tasty as well. Next time I might try the Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders.

3. Outside The Office Window
The latest in my series of shots taken out our office window.
This is the crowd waiting for the premiere of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, Valentine's Day. I have noticed, after observing many of these things, that the size of the crowd seems to be inverse to the quality of the film. I think this is probably the largest crowd I have seen gathered for a premiere. There were people in lawn chairs on the sidewalk as early as 7 AM. I guess if there is a chance that you may catch a glimpse of Ashton, it is all worth it.

/p>
4. The Beach
After parking my bike on the Third Street Promenade, I walked the couple blocks to the beach, then to the Santa Monica Pier. With temps near the 80s, the beach was jumpin' on this President's Day.

Catchin' some rays on Prez Day.

Crowds of tourists walking lemming-like towards the end of the pier.

The "West Coaster"

The Pacific Wheel, billed as "The world's only solar-powered ferris wheel."

Here's the place to go for shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That's about it. (Courtesy of Bubba in Forrest Gump)
5. Last Chance For T-shirt and Shorts Ice Skating
The Santa Monica skating rink was supposed to have been open to just January 31, but it was extended until February 15, President's Day.

This being the last day, you will have to wait until next year to skate in your short sleeves and short pants.

6. Reissdorf Kolsch
I believe this is the first time I have seen an actual Kolsch from Cologne in the store, so naturally I had to give it a shot. There is no shortage of "Kolsch style" beers to be found, but this is the first time I have seen the genuine article. A lot of American Summer beers are brewed in the Kolsch style. Since the rules governing the brewing of Kolsch are very strict, there is not a lot of experimentation that can be done, but that is not why you buy Kolsch. You buy it for the refreshing Kolsch flavor. The store had two different varieties (both of which I tried), but this is definitely the better (and more expensive) of the two. With a light golden color, this pours with a very fluffy white head.
This was very refreshing, particularly with the warmer weather we have been experiencing the last few days. Mostly malty, with a touch of hops, it has a crisp, clean flavor.
If you see this around, pick some up. At 4.8% ABV, you could easily put away a few of these on a warm day. I will definitely get some more the next time I see it.
