Another year. Another June. Another ROT Rally. If only you knew the emptiness I felt inside now that there are another 361 days until it happens again. This year marked the greatest rally going experience - EVER! I don’t even need to go into just how awesome Yellow D-116 was, as I am sure you have read about it. We had the RV spot this year, hands down. So much so that several people came up to us to tell us this… like all the activity, partying, boozing and nudity that was happening right in front of us didn’t tip us off to this revelation. Oh, and there were motorcycles too! Oh, and a little musical extravaganza by an all time favorite of mine… you might know him as The Charlie Daniels Band.

The amount of debauchery that took place this year was immeasurable, which is probably a good thing. I also can’t (well won’t upon this site) share with you the really awesome photos and activities partaken in, but I will tell you this - you owe it to yourself to come down to Austin next year and live through the experience first hand. Let the countdown to ROT 2009 begin!

I’ve been riding under a type of “national chapter” with the Freemasons Ride Club for well over a year now. As of late, there have been enough of us in the Central Texas area to form an actual chapter, which we named Hill Country Low Twelve (it’s a Masonic thing). I was very much hoping to be tapped for putting together the web site, so when I was instead asked to design a chapter patch, I was a bit hesitant.

I like to think of myself, on the design side of my job, as more of an arranger of sorts - especially considering the fact that I have no drawing ability whatsoever. Needless to say, there was a lot of arranging going on to come up with this design. In any case, I passed it on to the group and pretty much lost track of it as someone else was tasked with the job of turning my vector art into an embroidered masterpiece.

Well upon opening my Email this morning, what should I find? A scan of the 3.5″ patch from a company that should be cranking out our order for shipping… just in time for ROT! This marks the first time that anything I have done was turned into something tangible - more so something that anyone other than myself would actually want and use.

(Click Image For Larger Version)

This past Saturday marked the date of this years Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament for my Lodge. I was designated the official event photographer which required me to step foot on my first ever golf course. It should be known that I don’t play golf, or have any interest in said activity. This aside, I found two things that will make me love golf unconditionally from this day forward: the golf cart and the acceptable early morning drinking of beer.

It is true that the golf carts don’t obtain record speeds, but those little windy cart paths they expect you to ride on are just begging for some daredevil action. I was able to get my cart on two wheels on numerous occasions as well as laid plenty of rubber down. Good times!

Below is a small (and I do mean small) sampling of some photos which I took of the course and event. I arrived just before the sun came up, which provided some nice photo opportunities.

A lot of information can be found about the building itself on the official website. However, it isn’t until you are actually inside this enormous, full city block sized building that you can even begin to appreciate all the treasure and history which is contained within - and I was fortunate enough to have a private tour by one of my fellow SR Brothers.

The Cathedral is the largest Masonic building, and considered by many as the finest example of Neo-Gothic architecture, in the United States. The main tower features a 54-bell carillon and rises 212 feet above Indianapolis. It also has a floating ballroom. Other features are patterned ceilings, ornate carved woodwork, and artistic stained-glass windows. The auditorium has 1200 seats, and has been called a beautiful testimony to craftsmanship. It also has a large pipe organ.

Public tours are given from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm during the week by same very knowledgeable Rite members. You can also take a virtual tour - but it is no substitute for the real experience.

Beef Fajita

Wow, another taco review coming out of nowhere. And oh, the drama that surrounds this one place! Those of you in the Austin area know all about the controversy that is Las Manitas, but that’s neither here nor there for we are discussing their tacos. I do remember that we, along with all of Austin for that matter, had to do a last minute dash to this place due to the fact it was going to close down. But they didn’t. They are still open and I for one am calling shenanigans!

Let me just get this right on out of the way - these tacos took me to a whole other level. They were insanely delicious, ginormously huge, and intensely intense. Well maybe not intensely intense… but pretty intense. I mean, just look at them!

They were kept simple and I appreciated that. Nothing fancy or odd (I’m looking in your direction, pineapple) to distract the taste buds from what this taco is all about - beef fajita. The meat was tender and delicious with that great grilled fajita kind of flavor. I was also amazed at the amount of guacamole on each taco. And less I not forget about the handmade corn tortillas which were cooked just to my liking (meaning not thick and rubbery).

I am really glad that the politics surrounding this place have died down and they are still alive and well. The food was great and I really loved that outside seating area in the back, which was almost like sitting in one of those bird houses at the zoo.

Pork al Pastor

The groups forth stop in the Tacogasm 2007 Tour was just - all the way back in 2007. What can I say, I’ve been busy. Or perhaps it is the fact that I was putting off writing this review just as much as I was putting off trying these tacos. You see, I have a deep seated issue with fruit mixed with savory components, add in the Pork and this is fear inducing! I’m no stranger to the pineapple and pork combination, or the “Hawaiian Pizza” as we call it on the street, but I was still a bit put off.

We hit up the North Austin location for Curra’s Grill, which funny enough is now closed down due to the fact they stopped paying their rent (or so the notice on the door once read). You can still hit up the Oltorf location and try their Tacos Al Pastor plate which consists of two tacos filled with rotisserie cook pork, served with cilantro, onions, the always delicious pinapple, and finally avocado sauce - which if I recall was delicious.

As I mentioned, we consumed these tacos a while back so I am going to deviate from my regular reviewing style and get a bit more personal on your ass. When the NW Austin location opened, Edward and I hit it up several times. We would always sit at the bar and pound a couple beers and get some food before we headed out looking for trouble. The first time we ate there, I ordered the appetizer sized quesadillas - al pastor style. To my surprise, not only did I find the delicious pork I was expecting, but also pineapple (which I was not). They were delicious!

As time went on, we went there less frequently due to a declining nature in the quality of their food. The last time we went there, specifically for this review, I believe it was the beginning of the end for this location. The tacos were OK at best, but the al pastor wasn’t nearly as good as it was the first time I had it. Thus, I am in a quandary. Are these tacos as good as I was expecting at the original location on Oltorf? I imagine they would be, and if that is the case, I would recommend them if you don’t mind the whole fruit + meat = awkwardness.

After I was done, we were sharing a beer and he ultimately told me that he really could give a shit what some judge thought about him. That he was built for danger and adventure… not sitting in a taped off area with a number next time him. He was right. Thanks to his wisdom we both had an awesome day which unfortunately had to conclude way to soon.

By the end of it however I had ridden just over 350 miles, sampled delicious food and beer, saw what seemed to be hundreds of thousands of wildflowers, sampled more delicious beer (the first being at 9:42 am at Harry’s), and came across four other traveling brothers.

Stops Along The Way

I’ve only used it to reload .40 S&W, since that is all I shoot in my Smith & Wesson M&P pistols, but I imagine it won’t be too long until another caliber is added.

These red and white flowers from my front yard bloom around this time every year. I have no idea what type of flower it is (I’m not a garden person), but they have survived two separate moves and what I imagine to be not as much water as they should be receiving. In any case, it’s always a pleasure to see them return.

04/11/08 UPDATE: According to my mother, the flowers are Amarilis.

Download Photo As Wallpaper

This photo was taken by myself this past summer at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Park in Crow Agency, MT. This park memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their way of life. Here in 1876, 263 soldiers and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer, met death at the hands of several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors.

Download Photo As Wallpaper

With all the changes going on around here, I decided to do a little house cleaning and did away with a couple sub-domains which housed various projects. One of these sites was my “widget” site which housed my creations for Apple’s Dashboard application. Out of all the widgets posted there, only one was still drawing traffic.

My Travel Bug widget is basically the same search feature found on the main Geocaching web site, albeit in a much smaller form. You can search for geocaches using a variety of methods including zip code, cache name, city, state, etc.

I unfortunately haven’t had an opportunity to go geocaching in quite some time and therefor don’t frequent the main website anymore. Should any users come across an issue with this widget and how it interacts with the site, please leave a comment and I will update it as needed.

Download The “Travel Bug” Widget

I took a few photographs of one of my CCW’s for the M&P Pistol Forum and figured I would toss one up here as well. This is a factory standard Smith & Wesson M&P Compact chambered in .40 caliber, without the magazine safety.

The UPS person was already in their truck and pulling away when I finally made it to the door. You know, their usual “knock-and-get-the-hell-out-of-here” delivery that they are so famous for when no signature is required. So as I opened the door and shouted a big thank you, because for some reason I feel that me expressing my appreciation will keep him coming back and delivering my packages in a somewhat steady and timely manner, I looked at the very carnival-esque box at the ground between my feet.

Upon picking it up, I was greeted with three words which instantly jolted my memory: Tastes Of Chicago. I came across an article on them several months ago and shared it with my mother. Needless to say, in all her awesomeness, she tucked the web site away and after all this time surprised me with their Eli’s V-Day Special which consists of a heart shaped cheese and sausage pizza, and a heart shaped raspberry cheese cake. Thanks Mom, you’re the best!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we decided to go out to the grounds, in the rain no less, and crack open a couple 24 ouncers. Good ol’ Miller High Life… it really is the champagne of beers!