DOWN! ...SET! ...

Ahhh, Football. I love it. I played it for 11 years straight. So, the older i get (you know this one), the better i was.

Picture this: the Fall, Wings, Beer, and Football.

Bush

Met the leader of the free world yesterday. No big deal. Like him or not, he has a great handshake.

The Rock is Gone, the thrill was not.

Well, after 4 years plus, I've decided to retire from the mighty King Belvedere. I can no longer keep a full-time rocKstar schedule and be a good daddy. Whataya gonna do? I'm going to retreat back to my house and start improving my playing alone, become a student of the instrument again. As for playing with others, I'll be jamming with a good friend of mine who plays a wicked drum and I'll be writing with another very close friend who sings with the fattest, widest, warmest tone of anyone I've heard. As for shows, I'll be poking my head out with impromptu gigs along with my two new part-time music co conspirators and occasionally sitting in on a KB gig as a "guest" player. How odd to type that last bit. Will I miss standing in front of my Marshall with it turned to 11 on stage with a bunch of crazies? ...more that you know. Does this mean that I am no longer a rocKstar? NEVER!!!! ...b-a.

SHORT RANT (warning: profanity)

Brekenridge sex ring. Men having sex with 12 year old girls. Brooke Bennett, dead. Nothing makes me more sick or angry. Her own uncle taking her to mens' houses for sex and threatening to cut their throats. I just want to murder him. All child sex offenders should be murdered. Brutally murdered. Eaten alive by wild animals while people shit in their mouths. Then lit on fire to die. That's all I have to say about that.

Number 2!!

Well, got the word last week number 2 is going to be a girl! Very, very stoked. She will not be spoiled. I will not put a chin strap on a tierra and have her wear it everyday. I will let her touch the ground without flowers under her feet. I'm not going to be a pile of mush who does anything she wants. Name? yes it's coming... the big G and me are very close on that one. we think we have it already:

"Princess Beautiful the Queen of All"

Flows nice, no? Not to grandiose?
Anywho, can't wait. Curly hair and blue eyes here we come...

2 wheels = :)

Well, I bought a bike. Not another freestyle bike, of which I have two, but a motorcycle. I've been salivating thinking about one more and more over the last 8 months or so. I work(ed) with this guy who had two bikes, one of which he took to the track quite often. He was always coming in on Mondays, still high on the weekend's adrenaline, spouting off about the joys of controlled chaos. Then to top it off... 2 of my closest friends went out, got their licenses and bought bikes! ...the nerve. Fortunately, I've had my license since 92 so I didn't have to worry about that part. Then there's the matter of my wife not particularly wanting me to ride with a son and another baby on the way. Of course, I understand her concern but I just don't see owning a motorcycle as a death certificate. I do see family as a reason to exercise great care and not ride like a jack-ass. ...that being said...

I couldn't decide what kind of bike to buy. Or even if I wanted to really "pull the trigger". I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something since I don't currently have a garage; she's gonna have to be an outside toy. So, I needed to lay down some parameters. One: I don't want to lean forward and grab clip-ons leaving my wrists and back to remind me of my ever increasing age. Two: try and get something that fulfills one or more items on my bike attribute wish list or actual model wish list...

SWEET AMENITIES
*Italian
*Single-sided swing arm
*High mount pipe(s)
*Collectable
*old-school-cool
*extraordinarily quick
*twin cylinder

SWEET MODELS
*Ducati Monster
*Ducati 848
*Ducati 1098
*Yamaha FZ-1
*MV Augusta F4
*Triumph Speed Triple
*Honda Hawk GT

Of course, all of the amenities can be achieved with one bike. A ducati monster. So, I combed the nation's craigslists for an old monster in good shape for as little money as possible. ...along with other bikes that fit one or more of the above. I put a max of $6000 at first and rode a couple bikes. I rode three FZ-1's and loved them all. I just couldn't spend the $6000. I put money down on a couple then chickened out. I rolled my price-point back to $4000 and found another FZ-1 but it was in shady condition. Then I found a 1995 Ducati Monster 900 with a great add for $4500. I ran to go test drive. It was awesome. Never rode a monster before. It was in need of some cosmetic love and every question I asked about maintenance the guy said, "I don't know man, I haven't had to do anything...", "...but I really like it!". Ducati's, like Porsche's, need vigilant maintenance in order to last forever; which they are capable of. Otherwise, off to the poor house for you. I learned that valuable lesson with my first Porsche. That story will come later... Anywho, I offered $3800 and he said he'd go $4000 and I said no. Note to self: when I have enough to buy a new bike and a garage to put it in, it's a brand new monster for me.

Then I moved my price-point down even more to $3000 and started looking at early 80's standards like the one my buddy just bought. They're usually around $1500 and need a couple hunge to really get them road ready. I looked at some adds, didn't drive any. They just didn't do anything for me.

Then I saw her... the exact model as my very first bike. Sudden nostalgia overload. Memories of the years where all I had was a bike. Rain, snow, heat, art school. Yes, a bike for art school. Try carrying your portfolio on a bike. Not easy. How about a clay bust you're working on. Yeah, not the brightest idea. ...but I looooved that bike. He was asking $3000. I went, I drove, I remembered, I needed. I offered $2400 and he bit. Bam! I gotta 1988 Honda Hawk GT nt650. It's at my buddies garage right now and coming home this wknd. I can't wait. It's blue, it's got a single-sided swing arm, it's got history with me, it's a twin, it's a very pedestrian reach to the bars, and it's ohhh so affordable.

Sooo, there you have it. I'm back on two wheels but just for fun. Good, clean, safe fun. I'll keep you posted/bored with all the work/upgrades I do to bring this bike beyond it's original glory. I needed something new to obsess over and now I have it! Time to dust off the helmet, get a good jacket and some gloves.

Watch out for bikes out there, they're people too!! (except for the ones who wheelie on the highway)

Back in the saddle...

Well, i did it... i dropped a bunch of cash and upgraded to a proper digital camera and finally bought my first camcorder. I'm about 10 months late on both, the age of my wunderkind, but better late than... Anywho, i'm pretty stoked. I've actually been very into all things electronic ever since my first boombox at the tender age of 9 or so. It was so cool. It had a removable cassette player that you could carry around like a "walkman". It also had removable speakers which you could place a good 3 feet away from the receiver and point in any direction for your listening pleasure. Those features are old news these days but back in the day... wow...

I remember sitting on the corner with fresh batteries listening to another on bites the dust... or devo... joy division... electric avenue... anyone, anyone... super freak, i love rock and roll. Yup! i'm that old. Plus, you could tape straight from the radio, rather than carefully placing a tape recorder in front of your stereo, to record your favorite songs off B104's top ten. Yeah, i said B104. Then there was my Sony watchman. A beautiful little B&W t.v. not much larger than an ipod. I used to take that to school. I would place the watchman in my Trapper Keeper under a sheet of paper, then i would cut out the bottom three sides of a square out of the center of the paper directly on top of the watchman's screen. This would create a "visor" allowing me to see the screen but only letting the teacher see a one inch square piece of paper sticking up from my bengal tiger covered Trapper Keeper. Of course, i would route the earphone wire up my shirt, down my sleeve, and cup it in my hand; which I placed gently against my ear with the appearance of holding up my head. To bad there wasn't anything good on daytime t.v. back then. Where's Jerry Springer when you need him! I could go on to my first Credit Card sized radio that i would sneak along on fieldtrips, or my first polaroid camera, or my first 35mm camera (Yaaayyy Pentax!!) or even my first, and only, ipod. I'll save all that for later.

All this brings me back to my point, which is, i'm finally able to buy the gadgets i've always loved from afar. I was a picture maniac when i used to ride and all my friends skated. I would go through a couple rolls a day shooting anything that moved at Landsdown. Sure, 72 pictures doesn't sound like much these days... but when you're paying 10 bucks to develop each roll, you learn to be conservative. As for the camcorder, as i mentioned before, i've never owned one. In fact my parents never had one. They did have an 8mm they used to shoot my brother who's 4 years older than me. Unfortunately, by the time they got to me their aspirations of child documentation had faded. So there are no moving pictures of me as a small child and barely any photos. Oh well. I have a feeling none of our kids will suffer the same fate!

Well, that's enough for now, off to study my new gadgets' manuals. I actually love reading that crap. I'll see you from behind the lens, baby!

IGNORE(ance)

O.K... just a quick complaint / observation:
Can someone tell me why full grown adults in a professional workplace, or anywhere for that matter, would use a sentence like:
"Where is you been?"
I just heard it in the hallway, just one of many illiteracies I catch here at work...

Seriously, is that some sort of intentional attempt to "keep it real" or are there people who make it to their 40's+, can acquire a fairly high paying job and yet still aren't able to string a simple sentence together? I know they watch T.V, movies and have conversations with other english speaking people so wouldn't some proper grammer rub off on them?

Also, i know this is covered thoroughly by Chris Rock but, what's up with the phrase,
"know what i'm sayin?" after everything you say? Man that's annoying.

What happened to the days when there was a certain amount of pride surrounding your vernacular? I suppose, like all things, the pendulum must swing and for now idiocy is en vogue. It's all over our current pop culture: the music, tv programming, blah, blah... Dumb is in!! Spread the word! ...no what i mean?
(i sound old)

I was watching John Adams on HBO, a little mini-series "biopic", which is odd for me because american history always put me to sleep in school. (But then, i guess everything put me to sleep in highschool!) It's so well acted though, Paul Giamatti's excellent. Anywho, i was watching and listening to their language flow (granted it was written today, by professionals, but...) it was so interesting to hear, it's almost musical, melodic. The sentence structure is sometimes flipped putting the subject @ the end, subject delay, keeping the listener hooked until the end.

ex: Quickly, into the crisp, dark, silent body of water, the girl flung herself uninhibitedly.
vs: Dat crazy bitch jump straight in, know what i'm sayin?

Just exaggerating to get a point across there...
It seems like everything else in our crack culture, people are in such a hurry they lay out the sentence right away, no time for presentation. It's a shame because conversation, at the end of the day, is one of our biggest gifts, know what i'm sayin?

Work, Spring, Happy.

Ahhh, Spring... it's starting to warm up outside and I'm getting several "itches". The itch to buy a new motorcycle, the itch to be outside, the itch to go to the beach, et cetera. The only problem these days is, all though i still get all the same itches i'm no longer able to scratch them. It's ironic that when you get to a place in life where you have the means/knowledge to do whatever you want, you're usually bound by responsibilities and the inclination to make the "responsible choice" so you do nothing. It's kind of like the metaphor in the great porno for pyros song, "cursed male" ringing true. just replace "old" with "responsible". I spent a lot of time and energy trying to be responsibly irresponsible. I had it down to an art form. You can take that act so far then you have to jump to one side of the fence or the other. My feet are dangling on the responsible side. Ultimately, it's easier. ...and ultimately, i'm into "easy".

So will i buy a ducati this spring, head to the beach to live for the summer, party every night after working a long shift behind the bar, go to some house party, play guitar all night and get hammered? Nope! But i could... Instead, i'll be at my house working in the yard and playing with my family outside as much as possible. Maybe we'll head to the beach and ride bicycles on the boardwalk.
(but i'm still going to play guitar and get hammered @ some point...)

First and Foremost

Well, here we go. I'm going to give this a shake.

Reasons for starting this so late in the blog game:

• I hate the word blog, so i was apprehensive
• I dislike many people who i've met who "blog"
• I find blogging to be a very self absorbed behavior
• I also feel that blogging just heightens people's delusions of grandeur and self importance
• Haven't really had the spare time...

Reasons to start blogging now:

• Because being self absorbed is cathartic and fun
• It gives me an in with others when blogging is the topic of conversation
• I too enjoy delusions of grandeur, i am a leo for god's sake
• I have a lot of crazy things in my crazy head and I think this may act like a poor man's therapy

That being said, Let's get it on...