Cool Windows Mobile Twitter client

I’m trying out a cool little Windows Mobile Twitter client called Twikini right now. Pretty nice, simple interface, seems to work well in the 5-10 minutes I’ve been using it so far. It has some nice features that were missing from another client I was using before. The ability to get to a URL in a tweet without using the menus is nice, and it seems to work better for one-handed operation as well.

Here’s a sample shot of the “Seattle” theme, which closely matches the color scheme in SPB Mobile Shell that I’m using right now as well:

Thanks Twikini for a clean interface!

The Greenwood Car Show, 2009

Yesterday while Wendy worked for a couple of hours I wandered down Greenwood Ave. outside her office, where they had closed the street to traffic from 72nd to 88th except for a couple major cross streets. This was for the 17th Annual Greenwood Car Show in Seattle. Quite the collection of classics and a few modern miracles as well. Right outside the office was a jet turbine powered dragster, and a chopper with the biggest rear tire I think I’ve ever seen on a motorcycle.

Here’s a bunch of pictures from the day (Warning – Long thread, about 60 pictures):

            

 

A big mass of Mini’s from SAMOA (50th Anniversary)

     

SuperSpeeds cleaned up nicely

The two Gillette SuperSpeed razors I collected on a recent trip have cleaned up quite nicely. I even used one of them for a nice close shave this morning.

Here’s the pictures, along with the 30’s vintage Gillette New Style razor.

I’m actually looking forward to trying out that old 3-piece razor, it looks like it might actually provide a decent shave…  

To Central Oregon & Back

This past weekend Wendy and I went to visit my sis down in Sisters OR. We took a few pictures on the way down and a coupe on the way back, so I wanted to share.

A wind farm just south of the OR/WA border – lots of generators out there on Hwy 97. Pretty cool.

One of the mountains in view.

And another…

Neat old building in the middle of a field.

The Three Sisters – part of the view my Sis gets every time she leaves home to head to town.

This is Mt. Adams, I think. Another part of the view.

Broken Top.

Three Finger Jack.

T.F.J. and Black Butte.

 

A panoramic of most of them, Three Finger Jack and Black Butte are off to the right. The camera had a limit on how many frames I could use for the stitch process. :( Linked to a very large version…

Sophia fell asleep on Wendy on the way home.

RAD – Stage 2…

This weekend we went to Oregon to visit my sister Kimry, and we stopped at the Antique mall and Fruit Stand at Thorpe… and I entered stage 2 of Razor Acquisition Disorder. There were a few razors there, and a couple more at an antique store in Sisters. So, here’s my collection so far:

From Top to bottom:

• My first razor, a Weishi from RetroRazor
• Next I collected a 1948-50 Gillette SuperSpeed
• Then, this weekend, the rest, with pictures…

An EverReady brush that I’ll be restoring someday with a Badger Silvertip knot:

A 1918-1921 Gillette Old Style razor with a cracked handle and missing the butt. Not sure what I’ll be doing with this one other than cleaning it up a little bit:

A 1930’s Gillette “NEW” style razor, gold plated. Well used, the plating has been worn off the head, but still in excellent shape. Should be completely usable with a little polish:

In this picture, it’s with an old box that it was sold in. The box is a 1940’s box.

 

With the early razor above, below is pictured a 1957 C1 Gillette SS3 Red Tip Super Speed, and a 1960 F4 Gillette Super Speed. Both need a little clean up:

The gem for this trip is a 1951 E1 Gillette Tech. New, never used, in the original box that was an American Red Cross gift, and came with three spare blades and one (Gillette Blue) in the handle (slightly rusty.) Two of the blades are in Red Cross wrappers, and the third is a Gillette Blue. Photos:

Trying to identify a brush…

Wendy bought this shaving brush for me many years ago, and I’m interested in determining what brush it actually is. If anyone has any clues, I’d appreciate it if you could let me know.

What I know: I’ve had it for probably 8 years now. I’m pretty sure it’s a Super Badger, but it may be Best Badger. It was purchased from Excalibur Cutlery & Gifts. That’s about  all I’ve got.

Here are a few photos of the brush:

On my birthday… :)

Hi everyone,

This year, on my birthday, I thought I’d do something a little different. After a little research, I decided to put together a short list of historical facts that, when I read them, had some sort of positive emotional reaction within me. So here’s my look back, on this day, June 18^th, through history:

On this day:

1155 - Frederick I Barbarossa was crowned emperor of Rome.

1778 - Britain evacuated Philadelphia during the U.S. Revolutionary War.

1873 - Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote for a U.S. President.

1925 - The first degree in landscape architecture was granted by Harvard University.

1927 - The U.S. Post Office offered a special 10-cent postage stamp for sale. The stamp was of Charles Lindbergh’s "Spirit of St. Louis."

1928 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales.

1942 - The U.S. Navy commissioned its first black officer, Harvard University medical student Bernard Whitfield Robinson.

1948 - The United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights.

1948 - Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record, the 33 1/3, in New York City.

1959 - A Federal Court annulled the Arkansas law allowing school closings to prevent integration.

1959 - The first telecast received from England was broadcast in the U.S. over NBC-TV.

1966 - Samuel Nabrit became the first African American to serve on the Atomic Energy Commission.

1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience made its debut performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in California.

1983 - Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

I share the day with a couple of interesting people (more than this, but these strike me):

M.C. Escher 1898

Paul McCartney 1942

If you can think of anything else I should know about this day, please feel free to share it with me, I’d love to hear from you! :)

Stephen

Shaving.

A few months ago I went to the Seattle Green Festival with Wendy, where I met Chadd from RetroRazor.com. Up until this point I’d tried a couple of different electric razors, and multi-bladed razors. I was shaving with a really snazzy Schick Quatro Ti at that time, replacing heads every few weeks (shaving just my cheeks and throat – had a little more beard at the time). In talking with him and seeing his wares, i decided to give a double-edged safety razor a try. Since then, I can’t imagine going back to anything else, except maybe a straight razor.

Since then, my skin has improved, shaving has gone from a chore to a process I enjoy every morning, and I’ve had the closest shaves of my life. It did require a few extra steps, an a little more time, but the results are, to me, well worth it. I’ve even ended up with an antique razor that has has become my favorite so far.

Here’s my whole basic kit:

Clockwise from left: ê Shave Cream (Green Tea), a shaving brush Wendy bought me years ago (collapses into the handle), Burt’s Bees Garden Tomato toner, The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil mattifying moisturizer, Pacific All Natural Shaving Oil, a Weishi Double-Edge Safety Razor, a 1948-1950 Gillette Super Speed double edge safety razor, and finally a l’Occitane Alum Stick (aka styptic pencil).

Here are a couple of detail shots of the underside of the SS’s shaving head:

I know, the first one is a little fuzzy, and I need to clean it up again already… but I got it for a great price and in great condition. The handle has a nice classic machined knurl, and the weight is just about right.

Since purchasing these items, I’ve also encountered some other very nice folks through Twitter that have some great tips and tricks for better shaving. Some have even put the time in to create some great how to videos. Mantic59’s “Introduction to Traditional Wetshaving” is really entertaining.

I admit it, I’m a convert. Thanks RetroRazor, at least I have someone to blame…

Goldfinches Galore

This past month we have been seeing lots and lots of Goldfinches here in Seattle. They first emptied all of the black oil sunflower seeds out of out feeder al over the deck. We have now put up a feeder full of Niger seeds, and they seem to be much happier. Shot this morning.

We’ve also been getting nearly over-run with hummingbirds. We heard from a neighbor who also set up a feeder that there are at least 5 birds in the area. This one from yesterday is just finishing off the last of the nectar that was just put out a few days before.

Today the temperatures around here are a pleasant 65-70 or a little higher, where as yesterday we reached nearly 90. It was 84 on the second floor of our townhouse when the temps outside finally started dropping. Happy for the cooler day today while working from home.