Coydog

Trips and Stories by Dave Zimmerman

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sun, 01 Jan 2051 06:59:00 +0000

The Coydog site has always been a place for me to put writing about my interests. I’m in the process of moving things from an old format over to this one. If you’re looking for something and don’t see it, let me know. Otherwise, click a link below and browse around.

Thanks,
Dave

Motorcycles

Travel

Music

Miscellaneous Stories and Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 21:30:00 +0000

Some random videos I’ve made that I think are cool…

San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival Revue Timelapse I took 2 1/2 hours of HD video from the Revue show I put together and ran it through a program called ffmpeg to extract 1 frame from every 30. I then compiled those frames into a video and had ffmpeg take every 5th frame from that video. I batch processed those frames in Photoshop to oversaturate and create the effect of a tilt-shift lense and then recompiled them into the final video. When it was done, it seemed to deserve its own soundtrack so I recorded a little modal melody I wrote on my octave mandolin (converted from a Harmony Tenor Guitar), added some bass and voila.

Changing All Four Tires A similar timelapse technique to the one above but instead of compiling the video from the extracted frames and then extracting more (thus losing quality), I wrote a script that goes through the frames extracted the first time and culls them down to the number I want.

Gorilla Backing Up the Stairs I don’t care who you are. This is just funny. Our dog, Gorilla, loses confidence when she gets to the top few stairs in our house. For some reason, approaching them backwards is less daunting. She does this about half the time at this point.

Alix’s Ode to a dog named Gorilla Ashamed to say we spent most of the night before this writing the song. This was the public performance although it was clear that our campground neighbors had heard it enough.

My song on the Today Show This was a weird one. Ann got in the shower first one morning so I turned on the TV. The Today Show was on and Ann Curry was pitching to the next segment. Next thing I know, I hear one of MY songs playing in the background! Well, since then, I’ve been in contact with the guy who put the segment together as well as BMI and no one really thinks it’s a big deal. Oh well, maybe no royalties but at least I know I’m famous!

Video of my mom learning to ride a bike Sorry mom…

Jackson gets her wheels My 16 year old husky taking a set of wheels out for her first time.

Music Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 21:27:00 +0000

I’m still moving stuff over from my other site but here’s what I have so far. Let me know if you’re looking for something you don’t see…

Instrument Building

Stories Coming Soon:

The Tiny Tele: 5 string electric mandolin
DZ-18V: Martin Dreadnaught Guitar Kit
Octave Mandolin Conversion from a Harmony Tenor Guitar

Teaching

The Pick: My project to support bluegrass and Americana in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jams, shows, band ensemble workshops.
Take the Stage: 8 week band ensemble workshops where I coach 7 strangers to put on a show at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley.

Non-Profits

The California Bluegrass Association: I work with the CBA to develop community and interest within a younger, more urban demographic. I also provide support with web projects and coordinate a stage at their annual Father’s Day Festival.
The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival: As a committee member for 3 years, my main interest has been in developing workshops and opportunities for less experienced bands to participate. The workshop day and Bluegrass & Old-Time Revue is a developing tradition that seems to be taking off.

Bands & Performances

Homespun Rowdy
@ Verns 2009

Homespun Rowdy
@ The Freight 2009

The Deuces
@ The Hotel Utah 2009

The Pick @
Bluegrass in the Schools 2010

January 2009: New Zealand

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 21:21:00 +0000

Travel Stories

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 21:14:00 +0000

November 2010 – The Honeymoon…

A honeymoon drive from San Francisco through Mexico and Central America in our 2004 Nissan Xterra.

Check out the dedicated trip web site at http://www.adventuresofdaveandann.com/.

January 2009 - New Zealand

When Mom announced that she was taking a trip to New Zealand and did anyone want to go with her, we signed up on the spot. While we might not have booked the trip with a tour group like Wilderness Travel on our own, they did a great job hitting the highlights of the South Island.

Go to the first post | Index of all posts

July 2006: Germany, Austria and Switzerland

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 20:22:00 +0000

Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a motorcycle
July 13th, 2006: Leaving San Francisco
July 14th, 2006: Arrival in Munich, Germany
July 15th, 2006: Munich, Germany
July 16th, 2006: Munich, Germany to Imst, Austria
July 17th, 2006: Imst, Austria to Feldkirch, Austria
July 18th, 2006: Feldkirch, Austria to Interlaken, Switzerland
July 19th, 2006: Interlaken, Switzerland - Lauterbrunnen and Grindewald
July 20th, 2006: Interlaken, Switzerland to Andermatt, Switzerland
July 21st - 22nd, 2006: Andermatt, Switzerland to Locarno, Switzerland
July 23rd, 2006: Locarno, Switzerland to Zuoz, Switzerland
July 24th, 2006: Zuoz, Switzerland to Innsbruck, Austria
July 25th, 2006: Innsbruck, Austria to Munich, Germany
July 26th - 27th, 2006: Munich, Germany to Berlin, Germany (by train)

May 2009: Ave of the Giants Dualsport Ride and a 10K

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 20:11:00 +0000

Ave of the Giants Motorcycle Trip (plus a 10K!)
North through the Wine Country to Clear Lake
Through the Mendocino National Forest and North to the Redwoods
Avenue of the Giants Race and South Down Highway 1
Heading Home

July 2009: Colorado and the TAT

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Sat, 31 Dec 2050 19:56:00 +0000

Heading for RockyGrass and CO on the motorcycles
July 19th, 2009: Pony Express Trail (well, sort of) and Hwy 50 to Eureka, NV
July 20th, 2009 (Dave W): On the actual TAT
July 21st, 2009: Sawmill Canyon, the SPOT spot, and Salina
July 22nd - 26th, 2009: Stalling resolution and great weekend at RockyGrass
July 27th, 2009 (Dave W): Lyons to Buena Vista via Rocky Mountain National Park
July 28th, 2009: Buena Vista to Lake City
July 29th, 2009: Cinnamon Pass to Telluride
July 30th, 2009 (Dave W): Telluride to Manti-La Sal
July 31st, 2009: Manti-LaSal into Moab (and Onion Creek)August 1st, 2009 - White Rim Trail
August 2nd, 2009 (Dave Z): Moab to… well…
August 2nd, 2009 (Dave W): Moab to Green River
August 3rd, 2009 (Dave W): Green River Train Tracks & Black Dragon Canyon...
August 4th, 2009 (Dave W) - On the ride to Salina
August 3rd - 4th, 2009 (Dave Z): Oh no, stuck in Grand Junction again...
August 5th (Dave W): End of the line...
August 5th - 6th, 2009: 2 x 2 wheels in the back of 6
These are broken...

These are broken...

noreply@blogger.com (coydogsf) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:00:00 +0000

So the next morning, we got back in the UHaul to make our deliveries around town. First stop was the KTM dealer where we parked in the back alley, rolled up the door and wrestled the crushed orange down the ramp.

In the lead up to the trip, both of our service departments had worked on the bikes doing last minute updates (and in my case failing to diagnose my fuel pump issue) so they knew exactly what we were planning to do with them. Still, the look on their faces as the bikes rolled into their bays was priceless. Six months ago, two n00bs had walked through their front doors looking for adventure bikes and now those bikes were coming through the back door pretty well thrashed. Sand and bits of sage brush from Nevada, thick mud and rock dings from Colorado, and red dirt from Utah had created quite a respectable patina.

Next was the BMW dealer. Oddly enough, my service writer had called while we were in the UHaul limping home across Nevada. "Hey there, funny, you should call now," I said. "Guess where I am? Well, I'm in a UHaul with my brand new bike in the back. No, not because of the stalling issue you guys couldn't figure out in the three weeks leading up to the trip - we resolved that out on the trip when, after a day in Salt Lake and three in Denver, we realized that you had never installed the fuel pump I'd asked you to install because it was backordered but didn't tell me. This time, it's because the clutch went out with less than 4,000 miles on the bike. Anyway, I'll be stopping by on Thursday with the bike and a new set of clutch plates. It'll need springs as well. See ya then."

That was three weeks ago... We're both still waiting for our bikes.

	ADVODNA – Adventures of Dave and Ann Honeymoon drive from San Francisco south through Mexico and Central America. Check it out at http://adventuresofdaveandann.com/
	July 2009 - Colorado and the TAT Three weeks on the bikes trying to cover as much dirt as possible between San Francisco and Colorado.
	Mandolin #1: A Stew-Mac F-5 Kit Read about my adventures and misadventures building my first mandolin.

Coydog

Trips and Stories by Dave Zimmerman

Miscellaneous Stories and Stuff

Music Stuff

Instrument Building

Teaching

Non-Profits

Bands & Performances

January 2009: New Zealand

Travel Stories

July 2006: Germany, Austria and Switzerland

May 2009: Ave of the Giants Dualsport Ride and a 10K

July 2009: Colorado and the TAT

These are broken...

August 5th - 6th, 2009 - 2 x 2 wheels in the back of 6

August 5th (Dave W): End of the line...

August 4th, 2009 (Dave W) - On the ride to Salina

August 3rd - 4th, 2009 (Dave Z): Oh no, stuck in Grand Junction again...

August 3rd, 2009 (Dave W): Green River Train Tracks & Black Dragon Canyon...

August 2nd, 2009 (Dave Z): Moab to… well…

August 2nd, 2009 (Dave W): Moab to Green River

August 1st, 2009 - White Rim Trail

July 31st, 2009 - Manti-LaSal into Moab (and Onion Creek)

July 30th, 2009 - Telluride to Manti-La Sal

July 29th, 2009 - Cinnamon Pass to Telluride

July 28th, 2009 - Buena Vista to Lake City

July 27th, 2009 - Lyons to Buena Vista via Rocky Mountain National Park

July 22nd - 26th, 2009 - Stalling resolution and great weekend at RockyGrass

July 21st, 2009 - Sawmill Canyon, the SPOT spot, and Salina

July 20th, 2009 - On the actual TAT