FOOD: Pita Pit

For lunch, my good friend Emily and I met up at the Pita Pit on the corner of US 1 and New Haven. The shop shares a building with a gas station, but it was surprisingly cozy. The decor was definitely fun, and the food was fast, fresh, and pretty good -- I had the Hawaiian on White, and Emily had the [very] Spicy Southwest on Wheat. It was kind of expensive for my taste but nice to try once with a friend... all the food have faces!!!

JOURNAL: Mom and Dad made the News

[Mom & Dad made it to the front page of today's Baltimore Sun newspaper (Health section)! -- read it down, the Chings get a mention and a quote!!!]

Spinning around town on bicycle built for seven
By Tom Dunkel
Sun reporter
Originally published June 7, 2007

"This really is the perfect ride for this thing," says Stuart Blum as he and six friends pedal his bike along the Light Street side of the Inner Harbor.

Yes, that math is correct: Seven cyclists are pumping away on one, single, not-so-solitary "Conference Bike."

Sometimes whimsy can be the mother of invention.

A Dutch sculptor/wannabe mechanical engineer created the Conference Bike. There are about 150 in circulation worldwide. Blum, a 47-year-old lawyer who collects exotic bikes, teamed with a friend to buy a used one on eBay last year for $9,000.

The group saddled up at Blum's Otterbein townhouse, bound for Sunday breakfast in Fells Point. The Inner Harbor makes for perfect riding conditions because there's a wide shoulder - and no hills. The Conference Bike is a beast, a normal bike on growth hormones: 400 pounds of steel in motion, maximum speed about 12 mph.

It looks like a poker game on wheels - three to be exact: The Conference Bike technically is a Conference Trike.

Seven people sit around a large, circular handlebar, legs independently turning pedals linked to a central chain drive. The rider in the rear seat-post position (in this case, Blum) commands the brakes and steering wheel.

"Dude, you should be in a parade," Karen Pfarr, a first-time rider, says to Blum as they cruise past startled tourists.

In a way, the fire-engine-red Conference Bike is its own parade. Crowds always form. Eyes bug out. Cameras get pulled from pockets. A contagion of smiles spreads across once-stony faces.

Everybody perched on the Conference Bike feels compelled to wave, as if they're transportation royalty out for a spin among the lumbering, lead-footed masses.

Listen to what those lowly bipeds have to say:

"Awesome!"

"Hilarious!"

"It's a great physics experiment."

"Check that out!" shouts one onlooker. "Go, baby, go!"

Something about any bicycle and its youthful connotations puts people in a good mood. Something about weird, multipassenger bikes makes folks almost giddy.

Larry Black is the founder of College Park Bicycles and Mount Airy Bicycles, and Blum's Conference Bike co-owner. "I've always been into bonding on bicycles, having gotten too little love as a kid," he says, jokingly. "The Conference Bike is the best way to surround yourself with people. It's literally a barrel of laughs."

Cindy Ching, who knows Blum through their membership in the Baltimore Rowing Club, brought her parents along this morning. Her father, Chay Ching, is an environmental engineer. He's impressed with the design of the Conference Bike, how it transforms seven sets of legs into "one power generator." He wonders if this might be the commuting future: bikepooling?

"It's amazing," Ching says as the big bike glides to a stop at the Fells Point waterfront. "You turn the flat power into rotational power. That's not easy."


Blum says the Conference Bike is a low-maintenance marvel that has the added bonus of being "grossly overbuilt." Eight feet long and 6 feet wide, it is almost impossible to roll yet steers like a dream.

"It's not a hothouse flower," he adds. "This was built to be used."

When in use, the Conference Bike delivers a surprisingly good calorie burn. After all, that's quite a pile of steel to push around. Riders do a lot of talking, but also a lot of sweating.

"It was more of a workout than I thought," says Paula Hickey, as she sits down to breakfast, shirt wet with perspiration.

Blum has chugged as far as 25 miles on the Conference Bike. He's thinking of taking it to Bike New York, the five-borough, 30,000-strong cyclefest, next spring - providing he can recruit a team of like-minded masochists: "I would need seven people that at the end of 45 miles would still be friends. Forty-five miles on this would be work."

Meanwhile, Blum is willing to rent the Conference Bike for fun jaunts: $125 an hour. But beware: Supercycling can be seductive. Ask his wife.

"I fell in love with the bike first," says Larysa Blum, "then Stuart."

JOURNAL: Clemson is #7!

Wasn't sure what category this goes into, and I didn't want to create a special "SPORTS" label, so "JOURNAL" it is. Clemson made #7!

GAY DAY PICS: ME!

Me with the ladies greeting visitors at the TTC :)
Cori and Me
Splash Mountain... I manage to stay dry. HA!
Does this queen make me look gay?
I love my Stitch Sticker
Just chillin' with my son on Sunday

GAY DAY PICS: Seeing Red - Bears Edition

As you can tell from all the other pictures I've posted, there were a lot of bears in attendance at Gay Days. Here are some pictures:

VIDEO: Shoes

Here's the video that was referenced by one of the Gay Day shirts:

VIDEO: SYTYCD S3, Brandon Norris

So You Think You Can Dance, Season 3, Brandon Norris, Clogger, Awesome:

GAY DAY PICS: Seeing Red

(just some more pictures from the weekend)

GAY DAY PICS: PDAwww

If you ask someone about the early Gay Days, you'd probably hear about extravagant, flamboyant displays of gaiety. It's my experience -- this being my fourth year -- that the event is becoming milder as far as costumes go and the love that we share and express is no more different or extreme than any other. Here are a few pictures of some PDAwww from around the park:

bears hug

the young ones
we heart each other
red and blue

[p.s. in the third picture, the guy facing the camera is wearing a shirt that reads "Can I refund my hotel room? Because all week I slept on the beach"... niiice.]

GAY DAY PICS: Shameless

Five shameless (some would say stalker-ish) pictures of guys at the parks this weekend.

Shameless Pic #1: This guy looks like an older Dermot Mulroney. He had an Asian boyfriend (who I'm Totally cuter than).
Shameless Pic #2: We're looking at the guy on the right... with the girl. Kevin (on the left) was a very good "subject of the photo". I didn't have to say a word.
Shameless Pic #3: I was just trying to get a picture of the shirt. Cori would sacrifice his body if it means I'd get that really-good shot (looking at the Incredi-bears... not the guy in the yellow).
Shameless Pic #4: Yee-haw to the guy from Woody's Cowboy Roundup. I like the combination of baby blue, canary yellow, and sweat-on-his-brow cowboy.
Shameless Pic #5: Dream Along with Mickey at the guy on the right. There were also some pretty girls on stage. (What am I saying?!)

GAY DAY PICS: The Red Shirts

Here are my favorite shirts from this year's Gay Days:

Honorable Mentions
"Just Married"
Location: Ticket and Transportation Center
When: first thing in the morningComment: Simple yet strong. Just the words evoked a feeling of something new, hopeful and exciting. (What a great way to start the day!)

"Thing 1s and Things 2s"
Location: Bridge between Liberty Square and Main Street USA
When: early morningComment: The encounter of these two couples was one of those "everyone's part of this one big family" sort-of-moments, which is great for Watermark (the local gay mag). Unfortunately, Dr. Seuss is Universal Studios, not Disney. (Disqualified)

"Sinner"
Location: Tomorrowland
When: I don't rememberComment: Just like me. I would Totally wear that shirt out. (but not to Disney)

"Mine's Bigger"
Location: In front of the Country Bear Jamboree
When: 12:30pm-ish on the way to check up on the Leather Pirates gatheringComment: Mischievous and fun-looking couple. I love the monkeys and the lettering. (Cute Cute Cute)

"Rub My Tummy"
Location: In front of the Country Bear Jamboree
When: at the 1:00pm bear gatheringComment: Pooh Bear + Asian-theme = "I've gotta take a picture of your shirt"... "Just the shirt?!"... Awww. (Yeah, I rubbed it)

"Incredi-bears"
Location: Everywhere
When: early afternoon Comment: Very organized, great work with the logo and presentation - clean, crisp, very well-executed shirts.

"Misses"
Location: Fantasyland between the Carousel and Peter Pan.
When: late afternoon Comment: Very nice idea. I like the thought, collaboration, and handi-work involved with the shirts. And the guys had nice... um. Yeah... they looked good. Unfortunately the shirts were black, not the official color red. (Disqualified... definitely too bad)

The Runner-Up
"OMG Shoes"
Location: Liberty Square heading towards Frontierland
When: i don't rememberComments: Subtle, yet not. Inside, but not. G-rated funny, yet with PG-13 material (69). Totally random shirt. (I love it)

My Favorite
"I Married Him"
Location: In the queue for Winnie the Pooh
When: right after the 3:00pm paradeComments: I like how the shirts have a childhood picture of the other person on it - one with "I Married Him" on it, and the other with a thought bubble with a hamburger in it. I liked their shirts the best because they're playful and really shows how much they care for each other.

VIDEO: PetSmart Bulldog Commercial

EVENT: GAY DAYS!

OMG, THAT WAS SUCH A GREAT WEEKEND!

It started on Friday with a wonderful lunch with a good friend in Celebration, followed by a visit to the Gay Days Expo, a trip to Disney-MGM Studios, then to the Tea House, and then overnight with my friend Cori and his partner Marty.

There were heavy rains early Saturday morning but that didn't stop us from getting to Magic Kingdom by rope-drop. We were able to ride everything that we wanted and then some. We gathered for the 3 o'clock Make Your Dreams Come True Parade and oh, THE SEA OF RED WAS AWESOME!!!

I then headed over to Universal Studios' Hard Rock Coliseum to meet up with some other friends for the Lisa Lampanelli show, and that was also Super Awesome, especially when she ragged on the deaf people and their interpreters. Instead of the contracted 1 hour set, she did 2 HOURS! (The Orlando crowd really cheered her up... awwww).

And Sunday, I just stayed over at my friend Pom's and watched A LOT OF TV (Top Chef marathon, Sheer Genius marathon, America's Next Top Model marathon, The Next Food Channel Star...) and LAYING AROUND... what another great day!

I'll post the pictures by the end of the week. Now I absolutely must take a shower and goto bed.

EVENT: Getting Ready for GAY DAYS!

Okay, in less than an hour, I'll be on my way to Orlando for a Gay Days weekend. I've got butterflies in my stomach already and my vision is blurring in-and-out.

This will be my fourth year there, and I still feel like I don't know what to expect... which in itself may be a source of __(dah-dah-dah-dah <-- i.e. good things)__ [words are failing me at the moment].

I'll be sure to post pictures of some of the pretty boys I find there. (Woo!)

Have a wonderful GD weekend!

EVENT: Proctor Reception

Last evening, I attended the wedding reception for my friends Travis and Teresa. It was held on the oceanview deck of the Crown Plaza. There were delicious heavy hors d'oeurves, a dj, and a character artist. Here's a couple pictures of some of the food:

I met Travis and Teresa through a mutual realtor when I moved to Melbourne. We went to go see Charlie's Angels 2. Then came a series of dinner parties at both their and my houses -- for the holidays, for watching Desperate Housewives or movies, or for no other reason but to catch up and eat Teresa's cooking (wait, that's one of my reasons -- she's an AWESOME cook).

Anyways, congratulations to Travis and Teresa -- to two people who are absolutely perfect for each other.