The finished speakers

I completed the speakers and delivered them to Michael today. Here's a couple of shots of the finished product.

Front (Well duh)

Good view showing the dovetail joints.

Wow! The back even looks OK.

Here they are at Michael's place. You can't tell it from the picture but we were listening to them and they sound pretty good.

And Michael showing proper affection for his Narra speakers.

A fun woodworking project and my first using Narra.

Narra Speaker enclosures by Bill

Thought I'd show a bit of what has been occupying me (Bill) of late. No, not mountain biking again - though that is still in there but a bit reduced due to another pull at my time. Woodworking!

I am building a pair of speaker enclosures for a teacher here at Brent. They are made from the treasured national tree of the Philippines - Narra. Click on the links if you want to know more than you wanted to know about the species Pterocarpus indicus.

Here is a couple of pictures taken after the first coat of lacquer was sprayed just last Friday. I'm not sure why I am always so surprised when I get to experience how the finish makes the grain pop to life, but it surely does.

Here is a shot taken before the finish was applied.

Since Narra is a protected species due to over harvesting I purchased some reclaimed wood which, I believe is quite old, and was rescued siding from an old building. It started out pretty ugly!

And so it took a bit of work to see its striking beauty show through. First - Sandpaper.... It helped but a ways to go yet.

Then hammer, chisel and pliers to remove these....

(Old reclaimed wood remember.)

Glad I didn't try running it through my thickness planer before checking. Even with the above metal being removed there is still several pieces left in the finished cabinets - I hope without any future bad news to be reported (but let me know Mike as it features my full, unqualified, 'Tail-Light Guarantee*).

After a bit of layout work and some careful cutting etc.,

I ended up with this pile of boards.

I used my Akeda rig to machine dovetail joints.

Then glue and clamps.

Did I design these enclosures? Nope. Though I dabbled in that in bygone days (Heath Co 1967-1973), I cannot take any credit for this design. Rather it is a copy of Mike's current speaker cabinets. Here's a picture of them side-by-side. (Hint - the particle board one is on the left and the Narra on the right.)

















What do you bet he switches back to the original cabinet when he gets to his next post?


* -Tail-Light Guarantee - When my tail lights are out of sight the warantee has expired!

Corregidor Island

Dea and I with Keith & Ginny Edwards posing before a mural of the Filipino-American War





















Keith Edwards was here in PI from California doing some teaching and we were fortunate that he and Ginny took some time off from adjusting to the time change and teaching to take a trip with us to the historic Corregidor Island. It sits at the mouth of Manila Bay and Saturday morning we took the 1hr 15 minute ferry ride out there. You are welcome to look through my web album displaying many of the sites. click on: http://picasaweb.google.com/wmodavis/20090110#





























Dea pointing the ways to Tokyo and Sydney.





























Dea, Bill & Ginny after the Malinta Tunnel Sound and Light Show.































Dea and I with Douglas.


Also added some of our pictures to my Facebook.

Dea's 2008 Brent School class

I have added an album of photos taken in August of this year in Dea's Brent classroom and at the beginning of the year school assembly. Please see them all HERE.

Dea is currently enjoying a three week Christmas break. We are looking forward to visits from Keith and Ginny Edwards in January and Braedyn who will share his third birthday with us the end of February bringing along his Mommy and Daddy Talisha and Mike.

Visitors in Brentville

Last week we enjoyed a visit from Dea's sister Barbara and Marilyn so the three sisters were together again. Here they are.
















Then Last Thursday Reed and Kathy took a side trip from Indonesia to visit us.

Picture above is of a Saturday outing to Sonja's Place in Tagaytay. After which we took a unique 'Bill Davis' shortcut home via Aling Pina's, Buko Haus and Cardiac hill. Yup, in the car!



















Earlier Saturday morning Reed (the inventor of mountain biking) and I went for a bicycle ride. We set out from the Paseo in Santa Rosa and headed for Cardiac Hill.
















This is the beginning of the 'hill' which is visible in the background.


















... and here he is ?enjoying? a fresh Buko drink after having finished the more strenuous phase of the ride. Then a Kodak moment just into the Farmhouse trail just after the rest at Buko Haus.






















The 'going home' phase - riding down Upak trail to Duck trail. Didn't see any ducks but heard some firing at the Special Forces firing range we past which meant we had to duck.


Reed (who should know) assured me 'this ain't no bull' on the duck trail and was the only one to take the creature head on.



































Everyone else took an alternate trail, including me!

Biking again?

Yeah again! Not too much to report on that front however, - haven't fallen (much), am not bleeding, am making it up Cardiac Hill OK and without incident. So what's there to report. Well...

I riding with the group about twice a week. The rides are mostly similar in that they're about 22 miles in length, in fairly hilly terain (as in Cardiac Hill which is well named) causing a bit of huffin' and puffin' but that's what I'm doing it for - the exercise. The riding is on a variety of surfaces. Some paved road, Most on bumpy single lane farm or fire roads, and quite a bit on single track which is like a foot path. The rides last anywhere from 3.5 to 5 hours, are sometimes in the hot sun (unless riding through shaded mountain like trails) or sometimes in the pouring rain (fortunately not very often but have done that a couple of times). We do a couple of 30-45 minute rests along the way. Usually the Buko Haus (coconut drink stop) and at Aling Pinas for an early lunch of rice soup with a hard boiled egg in it and a plate of lumpia. Aling's place is at the farthest point from there we head back. And going back is different cuz it's mostly down hill though on some pretty bumpy tracks.

Here's some of the bikers hanging out at the Buko Stop.

And some of the bikes parked there.

A high level discussion going on out front.

The guy and his assistants preparing a coconut so you can sip the juice from a straw. Quite a pile of coconut hulls in the foreground.

Sitting around the cooler.

Getting ready to head into a single track portion of the ride.

On the road to Aling Pina's

A bunch in front of Aling's lunch stop.

Ocassionally a mishap. This one not me. Kelly had a run-in with a stone when she didn't get out of her clip-in pedals. But she's attended to by Lisa with hydrogen peroxide and Betadine. Had several stitches after arriving home so should be good as new.

Buko Haus again without stopping!

Not big news anymore but I'll have to admit I was wondering if I could actually do it twice. That is to make it up Cardiac Hill without stopping for a rest again. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to try it again so soon after my Thursday crash. But to my surprise the twisted and scraped knee and bumped tail bone were feeling pretty good so I took off for the Saturday Sabak Bike Ride.

I'll admit there was a little extra incentive to go because one of the Brent teachers wanted to go. But never again! At the top of Cardiac Hill I announced to her in front of the group that I wasn't bringing her again cuz she didn't follow the rules! Rule #1: Don't pass someone older than you, Rule #2: Especially don't make it look that easy!

And though I did make it to Buko Haus again without a rest, just as Triumphant Thursday, there was a let-down today also. Not a crash type of let-down like before but this time one of the young whipper-snappers I was talking to over sipping my fresh coconut juice through a straw, said he had just done Cardiac Hill 6 times that morning. Since it was a hot morning he hadn't done his regular 8 times. Oh well. That's his problem not mine.

Then there was a pat-on-the-back as one of the Sabak owners, Edwin, told me that I was an inspiration to them all when they see me puffing up the mountain. Actually I'm not in it to show anyone up. My ticker needs the exercise. It keeps me feeling good and attentive to the surroundings as I try to keep my front tire out of the rut. And they're a good bunch of guys and gals to be with. They watch out for each other on the trail. We stopped once when one of the experts heard an unusual noise coming from Jeannie's bike. Found her rear wheel was loose and her rear derailer mis-adjusted so fixed it on the spot. Later when another rider's chain broke there was Edwin sitting in the middle of the road with his chain tool putting it back together. They also noticed Kelly's front tire was pretty hard and so reduced it to about 30 PSI so she would have more traction for the type of trail we were on. When one rider got way behind and didn't show up for one 'stop to re-gather', they blew their whistles and contacted him on his cell and directed him on in. Like I say, a good group to bike with. Come and join us. That's an invite.

Milestone Bike Ride Today!

I met one of my riding goals this morning. I went on a ride on the Santa Rosa trails pretty much as usual and with a group of 5 or so. The Ride was a total of 25 miles - not astounding in its own right. The milestone ocurred in the first 4.5 miles, which is what it takes to get to the Buko Haus where we usually stop to get refreshed by sipping the juice from a fresh green coconut. The milestone was that I made it all of the way up Cardiac Hill without stopping and in fact all the way to Buko Haus. Up to this point I've either pedaled as far as I could go and walked the bike the rest of the way up, or more lately, pedaled as far as I could go, rested a few minutes then pedaled the rest of the way.

Today I pedaled all the way without stopping!


Here's the Buko Haus Rest Stop (N14 13.874 E121 00.939)

View looking back down Cardiac Hill from the tower. Looks much bigger and steeper when pedaling up.

Here's my GPS track (in yellow) of the days ride with the first 4.5 miles highlighted in light blue. That is the "Triumph" part. The other dotted tracks are some of my previous rides.

I do have one more goal. Don't know when I'll make that one. It is to make it all of the way up to The Palace in The Sky without being assisted. I have ridden that trail and the key part is steeper than Cardiac Hill and the ride is longer with more total elevation change. On that ride I was assisted by another in the group much stronger and more capable than I, who during the steep portion of the assent literally pushed me by putting his hand in the middle of my back and pedaling for both of us thereby boosting me to the peak. Wow! And Thanks.

So stay tuned. I'll keep you posted. The Palace is mentioned in the following link (http://www.tagaytay.com/what2do.htm).

I didn't strike out like Casey taking the joy out of Mudville, but after the triumphant 4.5 miles I did get dumped while on the Liliput Tail portion of the ride resulting in a bloody knee (again), twisting my knee (the bloody one) so it's double sore, and landing hard on my back. But thanks to my Camelbak Lobo hydration pack and helmet only minor discomfort resulted.

I do not claim fame nor any notoriety but....

Well I can toot my own horn if I want. And guess I'm going to but only a little cuz there is, in reality, precious little notoriety involved and what little there is none-the-less a bit flattering to this humble blogger.

On 'My Other Blog' I address mostly health and diet issues that are important to me. Those having to do with cholesterol and heart disease. In the course of researching for my own interest and then posting my findings on the blog I have on several occasions received comments. Two of those comments have come from a medical doctor - Jeffrey Dach MD. WOW! Was I surprised.

The adrenaline rush (or what ever it was) came when I was reading some good articles on his web site and I noticed in the left pane way down (and I mean way way down) under "Blog Roll" where he lists other peoples blogs that for whatever reason he has chosen to provide a link to, there was mine listed. WOW Again! Somewhere around 70 places down in the list is mine - Pi-Bill Blog. And also on that list are some of the hero's I've quoted in my blog - Duane Graveline MD, Malcolm McKendrick MD, THINCS, and Weston Price not to mention a couple of medical journals I've used for research JAMA, and NEJM.

Well my arm is broke now from trying to pat my own back when I should be out riding my bike instead.

Buko Stop

Here's some cyclers coming up the trail to the Buko Stop Saturday. I made my second ride with a group who met at Sabak's in Santa Rosa. What's a Buko Stop you ask? Well it will be clear after you look at the picture below (I hope!)

Well if it's not clear, I'll explain. Buko is Coconut. And the 'Buko Stop' (see the sign) is a place along the trail to stop and get a refreshing drink from a freshly cut green coconut. It's quite good! Especially after the long climb to get there. And it's a busy place.

Here's a view looking up the trail showing some of the patrons' bikes. I counted about 30 but they were coming and going during our 45 minute rest there.

Here's the group I rode with. I left the house at about 7AM and rode the 4 1/5 miles to Sabak's Bike Store where I met a group to ride with. The group part of the ride was a little over 14 miles through beautiful back country here in the Philippines. Some on one or two-track trails amoung the coconut and pineapple farms, some on narrow roads. One section was called the Coffee Trail because of the coffee farms we passed. On one narrow single-track I tensed up a bit and my wheel left the trail dumping me hard on my left shoulder. Feels a bit like I cracked a rib. No hiccuping or sneezing or deep breaths for a while.

All-in-all a good ride and pleasant way to get excercise in the great outdoors. Planning on going more or less on a regular basis and get some of these trails logged in my GPS.

View from just below Tagaytay Highlands.

Bill on cycle ride with group from Sabak Sports. This was taken about 12.5 miles into the ride and about 0.7 below the peak. The 0.7 to the peak was very steep riding. I'd like to say I made it on my own but... that's another story. At this point I look somewhat fresh and clean but that's deceiving cuz just had a rest. The view looks mainly east toward Laguna de Bay. My Brentville home is just behind the tree and Mt Makiling is just out of site on the right.

We stopped for some porridge and spicy tofu at ALING PINA's - a bikers rest stop along the way.

Here's what my bike looked like at the end of the ride. I looked about the same. That was yesterday. Today I'm somewhat sore but feeling good overall and anxious to try this ride again, maybe over and over until I can do it unassisted.