Category Archives: Fun

Public Skateparks on Long Island

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

There are lots of “best skateparks on Long Island” articles online. Many are written by newspaper folks who didn’t skate. They probably gathered random bits and pieces of information elsewhere to hand in an assignment. Some are made by websites for the purpose of showing you ads after you click on their click bait titles. Some write about skateparks accessible only to local residents. A few are written by reputable thrasher sources. But none of them have extensive pictures showing what each publicly-accessible skatepark has to offer, with accompanying videos. I intend to fill in this gap. Continue reading →

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Learn the Two-foot Grapevine on Inline Skates

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

This is a follow-up to my previous article: Learn to Skate the Two-foot Grapevine Analytically from 2016. The first article talked about skating Grapevine on ice. This article discusses how to skate the same Grapevine on inline skates. Almost everything from the first article applies to this article. Thus this article will not repeat the same prerequisite skills and context information about Grapevine that I already covered in the first article. This article will focus on showing differences found when skating this move on pavement, compared to ice. Continue reading →

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Remodeling a garage

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

We’d been mulling over garage remodeling for a decade. The garage remained the same way we found it from the previous owners, for ten years. As cliché as this may sound, we decided to spend vacation money and time that we couldn’t spend this year due to Covid-19, on home-remodeling.

We pulled the trigger, and are very happy about the end result. Whereas tools and stuff were strewn about previously, now they are safely put away inside or behind cabinets. The garage floor is now coated with epoxy for ease of maintenance.

I agonized over a few decision points during this remodeling process. I have documented the entire effort, with pictures showing every step along the way. Hopefully this article will help the next person going through the same process. Continue reading →

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Wesley-Anny Wedding: Making of a Photo Shoot

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

This page hosts pictures taken a few weeks prior to the wedding, documenting the photo shoot session Aaron ran. Most of these are my pictures. Some where I make an appearance are taken by Elisha. I suppose you could call those pictures “Making of the Making of a Photo Shoot”. Most of these pictures will be turned into slideshows for use on wedding day. See previous location recon pictures. Continue reading →

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Wesley-Anny Wedding: Recon

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

This page hosts pictures taken a few weeks prior to the wedding, as we checked out the place for lighting and layout. I haven’t used the Nikon D700 for 5 years now. I almost thought it stopped working. But as it turned out, the depth of field preview button was stuck in salt, rendering most buttons and the menu dial on the back unusable. After prying the button lose, I now have a functional camera again. I am surprised that the original lithium-ion batteries continue to hold their charges. I have never had a digital camera last for more than 8 years since I bought my first digital camera, the Sony DSC-F505, some twenty years ago. Every other digital camera I bought ultimately failed electronically. This one just keeps going, despite my soaking it in salt water in my 2009 trip.

I took pictures with the D700 as well as the Fujifilm X10, for comparison. Raw on the D700 and JPEG on the X10. I processed the raw files lightly in Lightroom. Maybe Aaron will bring remote flash on the D day. I think I’ll just go without flash. Some of these pictures will be turned into slideshows for use on wedding day.
Continue reading →

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HHAMS in June – HarborFest, Paintball and Field Meeting

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

This article exists to house pictures that I’ve turned into a YouTube slideshow. June is usually the busiest month for HHAMS. The first week of June is usually the Port Washington HarborFest where we set up a tent to advance awareness of the aerodrome among natives of this town, and to advertise our upcoming paintball event. The paintball event takes place on the second week of June. Then we have our monthly meeting at the field. Continue reading →

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2019 HarborFest Model Boat Regatta

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

Your reporter has been working for at least 6 years now, as a boat retriever at the annual third-grader’s boat regatta. This is an event hosted at the Baxter’s Pond, as part of the Port Washington HarborFest. For the first time, we have photographic coverage of the event this year from a new vantage point, by your reporter and his fellow boat retrievers on kayaks. Continue reading →

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Anyone can Darth Maul Beat Saber with a double-bladed DIY adapter for Oculus Touch

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

The title of this article is not exactly wrong grammatically. You really can maul your way through Beat Saber, with a homemade double-bladed saber. And you do this on your Oculus Rift, with your Touch controller.

But first, you must 3D-print adapters for the Touch, and modify a PVC pipe to connect the two adapters. You will also install unofficial Beat Saber mods, in order to record a 3rd person view of your battle. When done, you’ll be able to make a video like the one below yourself, to brag with online. Continue reading →

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2018 XiSheng RC Extravaganza 西盛遙控飛行嘉年華

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

New Taipei RC Flying Extravaganza (西盛遙控飛行嘉年華會慶) organized by NTAMA (新北市航空模型協會) took place on Sunday, Nov 4th, 2018. It was joined by flying enthusiasts from all over Taiwan. I went with friends from the RC club from Kaohsiung 高雄市遙控運動協會, courtesy of 陳振國.

This article hosts pictures I took and edited of this event. Perhaps I’ll come back and finish it with additional descriptions. Perhaps I won’t. It exists for now as a place for enthusiasts to browse and download pictures I took of them, or their planes. I compiled two YouTube videos: a shorter one comprising video clips I took that day, as well as a longer slideshow highlighting some of the many exciting moments I captured in still pictures. As usual, some of the best pictures will eventually end up on Wikimedia. Continue reading →

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NorCal for the model aeronautically-inclined

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Xinhai Dude 辛亥生

This is a guide and a preview to upcoming articles I’ll be publishing, on Northern California through the eyes of a New Yorker, with an inclination to see things from a model aeronautic perspective. It is similar to my model-aeronautic take on Ogunquit and its bipolar beach. Here I’ll examine various Napa Valley and Sonoma vineyards on their applicability to flying, while accompanied by my brother’s family. I’ll show you where to find legitimate flying fields manned by AMA chartered clubs, as well as secret flying places that fanatics frequent. We toured San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, Half Moon Bay, Point Lobos, Fort Ord Dunes State Park and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Continue reading →

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