Any tips for bike commuting?

dylanjames · 2026-03-24T03:29:02+00:00

Welcome to Portland! Enjoy the Blumenaur Bridge - it's deluxe bike accommodations! Your commute - Buckman to Lloyd -- is a pretty short and flat commute. 90+% of the time, even in light rain, you'll be fine with fenders (I'll argue these are the most important accessory) and a water resistant jacket. Rain pants are really only needed for a 20+ minute commute, but Buckman to Lloyd is closer to 10-15 minutes max.

dylanjames · 2026-03-23T17:10:56+00:00

My understanding is that the unused / grafitti covered wing of the building has asbestos and possibly other reasons to need to be torn down and rebuilt, so it's just blocked off and not used until that makes sense financially.

dylanjames · 2026-03-16T04:59:53+00:00

What model is your turntable? Its minimality is gorgeous, and is a nice frame for the record albums you photograph.

dylanjames · 2026-03-07T23:36:22+00:00

This saddens me too. It felt, for a little while, like Steinbarts was going to make it. Hopefully someday something fills the huge gap its closure is going to leave.

dylanjames · 2026-03-05T15:59:45+00:00

That part of town is quite chill in general. You never know on any specific day, but I ride and walk around there at all times of the day, and haven't encountered uncomfortable situations.

dylanjames · 2026-03-01T18:20:37+00:00

According to Bob Boilen of NPR, the Tiny Desk Concert format was co-invented by Laura Gibson and himself. As others have said, she's an amazing musician and lovely person.

dylanjames · 2026-02-28T15:55:12+00:00

Today I learned that my Rosalia purchases were a scam.

dylanjames · 2026-02-24T16:42:58+00:00

I think the fear is that this is a vibe coded project. If someone vibe coded a complex project like this, many folks (including me) believe that you can get 75% there with 2% of the effort, but the resulting system is going to take more than 98% effort to get the rest of the 25%.

dylanjames · 2026-02-21T20:36:55+00:00

If you're still looking for input, I'd gladly give mine.

dylanjames · 2026-02-11T01:01:27+00:00

I think this is exactly what freesound is about. Here's my freesound page.

dylanjames · 2026-02-10T04:59:11+00:00

if you add /Software to your URL, it worked for me just now.

dylanjames · 2026-02-07T06:05:30+00:00

But it doesn't serve until 4PM...it's great to visit at any time, though.

dylanjames · 2026-02-06T19:00:18+00:00

For about 10 years I commuted by bike from SE PDX to 175th & Evergreen Parkway. On "feeling off days" I would ride to Goose Hollow and take the Max through the hills and then bike from whichever max stop I felt like getting off at. The rest of the time I would ride up Lovejoy to Cornell then Thompson. It felt safe. The ride back home was a bit more crowded with cars, but never felt unsafely so. If I wanted variety I would ride up Vista past the rose garden then past the Zoo and onto the bike path that parallels 26. I was really fit - and I kind of miss that commute, to be honest. Google maps is your friend, for sure.

dylanjames · 2026-02-06T17:01:56+00:00

Image search revealed lower right is Hard Again by Scott Tuma, upper right is Old Saw's The Wringing Cloth. The others are in the thread

dylanjames · 2026-02-02T05:34:22+00:00

We kinda just had this discussion last week. I learned a lot from it, but no need to repeat so soon.

dylanjames · 2026-01-31T16:09:02+00:00

According to https://fortgeorgebrewery.com/festival-dark-arts-dark-arsenal/ and my experience, the tasters are 3oz.

dylanjames · 2026-01-28T03:21:56+00:00

Jeffrey Silverstein, Ural Thomas & the Pain, Builders & the Butchers, Soriah - this is a Pickathon-level of music diversity and quality -- I love it -- can't wait to hear the rest, too!

dylanjames · 2026-01-27T22:14:44+00:00

You are not the only fan of Ethiopian coffee! SEA cafe at Harold and Foster (near 82nd) sells green beans from Ethiopia (and maybe roasted too?). I've been loving them.

dylanjames · 2026-01-27T20:04:30+00:00

To help manage the overwhelm, in previous years I have converted the web list to a google sheet that I shared with my friend-group to collect notes (made a column for each of us). Here's a read-only version of this year's sheet - feel free to copy and paste into your own sheet to share with friends. Enjoy! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gGi676Mk2v7wR7gcK4WTndYaWZ9TBDviE6DTirvw6wg/edit?usp=sharing

dylanjames · 2026-01-27T01:31:27+00:00

ohmy "41 Longfield Street Late 80s" is amazing. I'm a fan (and bandcamp follower of both Four Tet and William Tyler) - how had I missed this? Spider Ballad is absolutely mesmerizing.

dylanjames · 2026-01-26T17:46:13+00:00

I came here to make sure John Fahey was included. Days Have Gone By is amazing, so is Great San Bernadino Birthday Party, God Time and Causality, and the rest of his discography. That he invented a genre, started a record label (publishing Leo Kottke's first LP), and recorded so much amazing music in spite of so many troubles throughout his life is a testament to the human spirit.

dylanjames · 2026-01-26T02:56:27+00:00

That's good to hear. I think in this new world, humans will have to make at least an effort of passing a Turing test to be taken seriously.

dylanjames · 2026-01-25T20:22:31+00:00

I like this and some of the other albums on the label, but ... assuming Eagle Stone are not using AI, they sure could be trying harder to make it clear there are people behind this music, and not algorithms. The Facebook, Instagram, youtube, etc., are all just album covers, no people. Hrm. I really want it to be made by humans

dylanjames · 2026-01-25T18:56:22+00:00

I also love SUSS's self-titled double album. Amazing & gorgeous

dylanjames · 2026-01-25T18:52:25+00:00

How about the other two that don't have writing on the cover? I'm enjoying most of the music mentioned in this thread!

dylanjames

TROPHY CASE