S Tier Water Avenue River Trip Blend light/medium roast funky complex taste A Tier Water Avenue Boxcar Blend dark roast classic taste B Tier C Tier Stumptown Hair Bender light roast extremely caffeinated, too much so for me, gives me the jitters D Tier F Tier unplaced / need a retry

Here’s an ongoing list of emojis that I wish were part of the Unicode standard zombie or walking dead blushing face that isn’t a smile with a slight blush hug that doesn’t look like two high-fives

Welcome to toozej.com. Take a look around and enjoy your stay! Please note all content unless otherwise specified was created by me, J. Tooze, and thus is owned by me. © 2000 – 2020.

b/w S Tier Eastman Double X 200 very old school look, very high contrast, looks like the movies should consider bulk loading this… Ilford HP5 fun amounts of grain, moderate contrast, useful in lower light situations way more contrasty and grainy at 1600 which makes it look more Eastman Double X-ish, but with the added benefit of working in lower light situations Fomopan 200 high contrast most of the time looks old school and I dig it, also cheap Kodak TMax Professional 400 great all-rounder used to shoot a lot of this in highschool, so nostalgia hits hard A Tier Ilford Kentmere KPan 100 surprisingly good and smooth while also being cheap, low grain, high contrast Kodak TMax Professional 100 super smooth, very low grain B Tier Ilford Delta Professional 100 super smooth, very low grain, a bit greyscale Ilford FP4 very low grain, but also pretty low contrast C Tier Ilford Kentmere KPan 400 nowhere near as good contrast-wise as ISO 100 version Rollei RPX 400 not very contrasty D Tier F Tier unplaced / need a retry Fujifilm Acros II 100 need to shoot again, didn’t work well in Halina 35X as first roll due to mostly indoor + overcast shooting, needed higher ISO film + fix light leak + better understanding of focusing the Halina colour S Tier Lomography Color Negative 800 extremely useful in lower light situations whilst maintaining good grain aood grain and sharpness expensive, but worth it, especially in bulk packs for traveling A Tier Fujifilm Fujicolor C200 Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 Kodak Ultramax 400 Kodak ColorPlus 200 probably better than Ultramax but harder to find B Tier C Tier Cinestill 400D hallations not my jam with mid-speed daytime film Lomography Color 100 pretty meh for the price probably rebadged Kodak or something, not worth getting again D Tier F Tier unplaced / need a retry experimental S Tier Lomography Lomochrome Metropolis a lot of fun to shoot, looks like Soviet Russia A Tier Lomography Lomochrome Purple pretty interesting color tones B Tier C Tier Film Photography Project Retrochrome pretty interesting in interior lighting or darker exteriors, but really not good in low light (very grainy) or direct sunlight (very over-exposed looking and washed out) D Tier Lomography Lomochrome Turquoise 2021 pretty weird, very few photos I’ve taken with this I actually thought were cool F Tier unplaced / need a retry

hardware very portable, 13" or smaller older and reliable like a Thinkpad or Dell / HP business class ultraportable, although a 12" MacBook would be cool too as they’re small and light USB-C charging large battery SSD, likely a larger one for local storage and services comfortable keyboard for writing built like a tank but at the same time cheap enough that you don’t care too much about it’s appearance stickers at least a couple cores and 4GB RAM integrated graphics only, low res screen is fine good well supported wifi card and Ethernet jack (Intel) software OS LTS distro, likely Debian minimal with packages installed on top suspend properly supported userspace very lightweight WM instead of full DE i3 or Sway powertop and similar power savings modes and daemons Docker for running local services, but disabled and stopped by default for battery savings disable all visual effects quick screen off and sleep times software offline Wikipedia download with web UI office tools torrent client the usual vim and terminal tools mapping tools VPN clients VLC media player + ffmpeg

My first Gambler 500 experience was an absolute blast. I heard it best described as a “Burning Man for Redneck, Car Nerds”. Even though Butterface, my team’s 1988 Mercedes 190E, didn’t even make it to the campsite in Chemult, Oregon, I still had a great weekend and the smiles per mile factor was through the roof. So many hilarious cars, questionable modifications, and goofy people having a good ol’ time out in the blazing hot desert.

Now that I’ve graduated college, and will be “settling down” into a ~40 hour a week job, from being a full time student AND working two jobs totaling ~30 hours a week, I’m going to have a lot of free time. I definitely plan on writing more (so check back here more often :P), reading more for pleasure (rather than pain, I mean for boring classes), getting more exercise and spending more time outside whilst the weather is nice, and finally, playing the stacks of video games I’ve had building up for the past few years that I haven’t got a chance to play yet.

Firstly, I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving everyone! When I was young I always thought thanksgiving was a fairly pointless holiday. Just an excuse for people to eat too much, and for me and my friends to play excessive amounts of video games (I remember beating FFX for the first time over thanksgiving one year). But now as I’ve grown older (and hopefully wiser) I’ve come to the realization that thanksgiving actually does matter.

Singapore: what an interesting and very entertaining country. It was a surprisingly good way to ease into Asian culture, considering I had never traveled to the Far East before. One thing I should have done before leaving the US of A though is read a little more about Singapore’s history, because then the British colony feel would have been much less of a shock. Although I’m really not complaining; it was a welcome surprise and a really nice way to enjoy a part of the world I thought I would feel very alienated in.

I’ve only been back at school for 3 weeks, but I feel like summer was a life time away. And what a summer it was! Probably the best of my life, if I’m honest. Never before in my life have I woke up every weekday morning at 0700hrs and been so damn happy about being up and “having” to get ready for work. Guess that just shows I was working in the right industry, at the right company, with the right people (you know who you are).

Race day! Many, many photos to come, but that might take a while. I will create an update here when photos are online and ready to view. Update: photos are finished and uploaded. Email me for login credentials!

I was driving to work a while back and came across three of what I think are the best looking “normal” cars (read: normal cars as not sports cars) in one 15 minute drive… Ford Fusion (Americas Gen2: 2013-2015…): Aston Martin grille Mazda 6 (Gen1: 2004-2008, Gen3: 2011-2015…): Dodge Dart (2012-2015…): I’ve actually driven a Dodge Dart, not bad at all for a normal economy car. Would have been more fun in manual, the auto had a bit of a mind of its own…

While yes, the new VW Golf R SportWagen answers many car enthusiasts’ prayers for a rapid hot estate car that doesn’t blow the bank, it’s not quite perfect, for two reasons. It’s missing the most crucial ingredient: the VR6 sound track the quad exhaust tips The first one, sadly, won’t ever be “fixed” I’m sure, due to increased pressure to attain better MPGs and decrease the impact to the environment. However, I’m fed up of hot hatchbacks having dual catback exhaust with quad tips, plus it’s even more obscene on a 4-cylinder car.

Seriously BMW? You make some of the coolest cars on the market today (and tomorrow), including the soon to exist, and totally awesome 2015 M235i, but just can’t figure out how to make the back look like something you wouldn’t mind following (because let’s face it, you’re going to be following the M235i, it’s going to be mighty quick). Nice wide mouth, the signature kidney grilles aren’t connected to the headlights (good, they’ve been learning something!

Hot hatchbacks should not be stealthy. I coworker of mine recently purchased a new Ford Focus ST, in silver. Silver?!? It’s the hottest hatchback Ford has ever sold in the US of A, and it unfortunately looks like a rental in silver. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Focus ST; it’s on my very short list of cars from 2013 that I would actually buy with my own money, and it’s definitely the best of the latest round of hot hatchbacks (although I must say I prefer the European version with 5 doors rather than the tri-door example they sell over here).

Today’s topic: why do people have to park right next to me when I’m parked miles away from everyone else, and how is that act related to human nature. Seriously though, if I’m parked way out in the boonies, there’s a reason for it, and my reason is I don’t want my car to get dinged by Mom’s carrying a kid and tons of groceries, kids on their cell phones, or any other careless idiot who doesn’t respect cars and other peoples’ property like they should.

Based on that title, I bet you were hoping for a post about ladies bottoms. Well sorry, go spend some time on Reddit if that’s what you’re looking for. Today I’m discussing the backsides of cars these days. Seriously, what’s with all of the new cars these days that look interesting, angry, unique or otherwise cool from the front but are ruined by the hideous, bulbous, and generally chunky backs? BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Volkswagen, all the big names are just as guilty as one another.

What better way to start off my car reviews than with my own. Without further-ado, here’s my caR: it’s an electric silver on nordkap blue 2006 Volvo S60R GT (Geartronic aka girlytronic aka automatic). When this car first came out I thought it was pretty cool looking for a sedan, and I loved the blue dials on the dash. Never thought I would actually own one though. For those of you who don’t know much about the S60Rs/V70Rs, they’re a AWD mid-sized car on the Volvo P2 chassis powered by a 2.

I was driving to work a while back and came across three of what I think are the best looking “normal” cars (read: normal cars as not sports cars) in one 15 minute drive… Ford Fusion (Americas Gen2: 2013-2015…): Aston Martin grille Mazda 6 (Gen1: 2004-2008, Gen3: 2011-2015…): Dodge Dart (2012-2015…): I’ve actually driven a Dodge Dart, not bad at all for a normal economy car. Would have been more fun in manual, the auto had a bit of a mind of its own…

To continue today’s theme of bitching about perfectly good things, I turn my attention to Spotify… why can’t I organize playlists? why can’t I at least view them in alphabetical order? I shouldn’t have to save an album to download it (cache it) to my mobile phone where did the queue and play history go? Those were useful, bring them back it would be especially cool if I could change the content of the right “social” panel to display the queue and play history… why can’t I collapse sections of the left panel (mainly local media…)?

Firstly let me explain this, as a car person we often describe certain cars as having character, a personality, or some sort of x-factor which really sets it apart from others, as well as creates an emotional bond with its owner. This tie often isn’t entirely logical. For example, it is widely known that Alfa Romeo makes great, but generally unreliable sports cars. Somehow this trait, which would normally be seen as a negative, helps to define the character of the car, and in doing so creates a bond and a fanaticism amongst Alfa owners.

Seriously BMW? You make some of the coolest cars on the market today (and tomorrow), including the soon to exist, and totally awesome 2015 M235i, but just can’t figure out how to make the back look like something you wouldn’t mind following (because let’s face it, you’re going to be following the M235i, it’s going to be mighty quick). Nice wide mouth, the signature kidney grilles aren’t connected to the headlights (good, they’ve been learning something!

Hot hatchbacks should not be stealthy. I coworker of mine recently purchased a new Ford Focus ST, in silver. Silver?!? It’s the hottest hatchback Ford has ever sold in the US of A, and it unfortunately looks like a rental in silver. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Focus ST; it’s on my very short list of cars from 2013 that I would actually buy with my own money, and it’s definitely the best of the latest round of hot hatchbacks (although I must say I prefer the European version with 5 doors rather than the tri-door example they sell over here).

Why ruin a perfectly good road with manhole covers every 20 feet? I understand the need for manhole covers, there’s got to be a way for maintenance crews to get down to the sewers and make sure all is well down there. However, it is pretty excessive to one literally every 20ft, tarnishing a freshly paved road. After months of work, and shattering my suspension on rocky, half-paved and dirt roads to get to my humble abode, the city gov.

Oh Windows. I have grown up with you, loved you since a young age when I didn’t know there were any alternatives, any other ways to use a computer. While things have changed over the years, I still really enjoy using Windows. However, I have one major gripe with it (and don’t think Windows is the only guilty operating system here, there are many more I can assure you). Here’s my gripe: pop-up windows, or other applications, stealing focus of the keyboard when I’m in the middle of typing, or for any other reason.

Today’s topic: why do people have to park right next to me when I’m parked miles away from everyone else, and how is that act related to human nature. Seriously though, if I’m parked way out in the boonies, there’s a reason for it, and my reason is I don’t want my car to get dinged by Mom’s carrying a kid and tons of groceries, kids on their cell phones, or any other careless idiot who doesn’t respect cars and other peoples’ property like they should.

Based on that title, I bet you were hoping for a post about ladies bottoms. Well sorry, go spend some time on Reddit if that’s what you’re looking for. Today I’m discussing the backsides of cars these days. Seriously, what’s with all of the new cars these days that look interesting, angry, unique or otherwise cool from the front but are ruined by the hideous, bulbous, and generally chunky backs? BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Volkswagen, all the big names are just as guilty as one another.

Over the years I’ve read quite a few books, listened to many lectures, and just generally “learned” more than I care to learn about others views on leadership. So here’s mine: First things first, you can’t learn how to be the leader you want to be just by reading a few books. A majority of leadership books I’ve read are just studies performed in controlled environments about the stories and abilities of a handful of folks who went from being average-joe-workers to CEOs.

There’s just nothing like it. Exhilaration like I’ve never experienced before, cutting and swerving to dodge trees and children (who are seemingly invincible little dare-devils; roped to their parents who are quite obviously scared shit-less). Tips flapping and shaking at the speed, jumping over lumpy patches and inconveniently placed rocks. Wishing you hadn’t spent the off-season drinking and eating so much, your fat ass is so out of shape; calves and thighs burning, howling in pain.

Wow it has been a long time since I’ve posted on here, oops! Anyway, today I’m going to give my initial impressions of my new Sangean WR-22 bluetooth FM radio / alarm clock. I purchased it so that I could be awoken to music in the morning (or news, depending) rather than the super obnoxious “beep beep” of my old buzzer-alarm clock. Much more pleasant to wake up to! Pros:

Below is a description of my current overly-complicated stereo setup called Rhythmrug, named after the A Tribe Called Quest song “Can I Kick It?” Naturally this was the first song I played on the rig when I finished setting it up! Currently the physical setup itself is kind of a mess due to the layout of the room the equipment is in, so once I move it all and get it setup right I will add some photos here.

Wow it has been a long time since I’ve posted on here, oops! Anyway, today I’m going to give my initial impressions of my new Sangean WR-22 bluetooth FM radio / alarm clock. I purchased it so that I could be awoken to music in the morning (or news, depending) rather than the super obnoxious “beep beep” of my old buzzer-alarm clock. Much more pleasant to wake up to! Pros:

What better way to start off my car reviews than with my own. Without further-ado, here’s my caR: it’s an electric silver on nordkap blue 2006 Volvo S60R GT (Geartronic aka girlytronic aka automatic). When this car first came out I thought it was pretty cool looking for a sedan, and I loved the blue dials on the dash. Never thought I would actually own one though. For those of you who don’t know much about the S60Rs/V70Rs, they’re a AWD mid-sized car on the Volvo P2 chassis powered by a 2.

What better way to start off my music reviews than with one of my all time favourite albums, Audio Secrecy by Stone Sour. Starting at the start I suppose, the title track, “Audio Secrecy,” strangely, is a short instrumental intro song which does a great job of setting up “Mission Statement” which is a fantastic way to start the album, easily gets you hooked right off the bat. English teachers and marketeers often talk about baiting your first sentence or idea and using it as a hook to capture your audience.

I got the idea to start this list from a Scitimes article, however I didn’t agree with a lot of the IPAs they chose (or that the rankings on sites such as BeerAdvocate chose), so here’s mine. This will be a continuously updated list as I travel to more states and try more IPAs across the country. Alabama: Good People Hitchhiker IPA Alaska: Alaskan White IPA Arizona Arkansas California: Russian River Brewing Pliny the Elder

A good G&T, just what I needed after a very busy first half of the week. Which brings me on to a good point, check out my drinks reviews here. I update the beer section of that sheet fairly frequently, and it should auto-update here on my blog (it uses google docs publishing and a WordPress google docs plugin). However I update the wine and liquor sections less frequently. Why you may ask?

To continue today’s theme of bitching about perfectly good things, I turn my attention to Spotify… why can’t I organize playlists? why can’t I at least view them in alphabetical order? I shouldn’t have to save an album to download it (cache it) to my mobile phone where did the queue and play history go? Those were useful, bring them back it would be especially cool if I could change the content of the right “social” panel to display the queue and play history… why can’t I collapse sections of the left panel (mainly local media…)?

Oh Windows. I have grown up with you, loved you since a young age when I didn’t know there were any alternatives, any other ways to use a computer. While things have changed over the years, I still really enjoy using Windows. However, I have one major gripe with it (and don’t think Windows is the only guilty operating system here, there are many more I can assure you). Here’s my gripe: pop-up windows, or other applications, stealing focus of the keyboard when I’m in the middle of typing, or for any other reason.

Best Black Label Society – Mafia “Fire It Up”: really cool guitar at the start, slow fade in, riffs, winning. That is all. Tool – 10,000 Days “Vicarious”, probably the best known Tool song, and also one of their best, is a really good song to start an album. It starts slow, builds, has a monster drop, and powers through all the way into the rock greatness. Plus, the lyrics are entertaining to think about, a interesting take on humanity: “Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies.

What better way to start off my music reviews than with one of my all time favourite albums, Audio Secrecy by Stone Sour. Starting at the start I suppose, the title track, “Audio Secrecy,” strangely, is a short instrumental intro song which does a great job of setting up “Mission Statement” which is a fantastic way to start the album, easily gets you hooked right off the bat. English teachers and marketeers often talk about baiting your first sentence or idea and using it as a hook to capture your audience.

Directions to Parking Lot: Follow Harrison Blvd as it turns into Bogus Basin Road zero your trip computer (odometer) at Curling Drive by Highland Elementary School Drive up Bogus Basin Road for 11.9 fun, switchback-filled miles park in an unmarked side-road parking area to the left of the road Hiking Directions: head south west on trail from parking lot when you walk through a narrow, rocky and tree-covered section of trail and out into wide section of path that is a driveway up and to the right, continue going down (south) follow this well-traveled trail around the side of the hill, and go straight when you run into a fork in the path (designated by a rock with a stick in it), note you came from the left fork (which will be on your right when you return) keep going until you run into the East Side trail (#120) fork, and take a left.

Over the years I’ve read quite a few books, listened to many lectures, and just generally “learned” more than I care to learn about others views on leadership. So here’s mine: First things first, you can’t learn how to be the leader you want to be just by reading a few books. A majority of leadership books I’ve read are just studies performed in controlled environments about the stories and abilities of a handful of folks who went from being average-joe-workers to CEOs.

Singapore: what an interesting and very entertaining country. It was a surprisingly good way to ease into Asian culture, considering I had never traveled to the Far East before. One thing I should have done before leaving the US of A though is read a little more about Singapore’s history, because then the British colony feel would have been much less of a shock. Although I’m really not complaining; it was a welcome surprise and a really nice way to enjoy a part of the world I thought I would feel very alienated in.

Race day! Many, many photos to come, but that might take a while. I will create an update here when photos are online and ready to view. Update: photos are finished and uploaded. Email me for login credentials!