Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Just So You Know!
Be out here for this.
Just So You Know!
With plenty of time to plan and get yo' shit together.. get out here for this. It's going to be a freakin BLAST!
(um - BREW TOUR???)
Translation...
Photo of a stencil I saw in a neighborhood of Jerusalem called Nahlaot.
It reads:In Beirut and in settlements, children want to live!
**
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
lame.
lame lame lame.
Lame.
Some dumbass must have thought that Cache's mural and also the trees would look better smeared with mustard yellow paint.
They were wrong. It looks lame and shitty.
I wish people wouldn't make good graffiti look bad.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Yeh. Me and Nelson Vails.
Nelson Vails was at the velodrome this morning.
In case you don't know, Nelson "The Cheetah" Vails was a bike messenger in NYC back when a bike messenger in NYC could make really good money. Basically before fax machines were invented. Then he won the silver medal for cycling (1000m sprints) in the 1984 Olympics.
He was also in the movie "Quicksilver".
Boo.yah.ka.shah.
bad jelly belly's.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Jelly Belly's. Especially the buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Belly's. But these ones are N-A-S-T-Y. And not in a good way. I don't know who came up with the brilliant idea to add vitamins c and b, and electrolytes to over-sized, Gatorade flavored, bad textured, gritty sugared, jelly candy, but I urge you to never, never try these expecting good Jelly Belly's.
However, if you do decide to try them, please follow the directions for consuming the 'Sport Beans' and "eat one packet about 30 minutes before exercise with 1-2 cups of water". You're also urged to "eat as needed" during your workout, and "eat to help replenish" after your workout.
Um.. Ok..
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Talia's portrait of my pink baby girl
circa 2003 I think..
Talia Lempert's Bicycle Portraits at Interbike
those are my old bars (circa 2003?) on the left...
Talia painting at Interbike
I got an email from Talia a couple weeks ago. She was selling the painting that she did of my bike bars (the one in the picture above this picture, with a blue background). She told me that some asswipe in SF has been directly copying her art work and selling his lame copies on ebay. He started by listing SIX direct copies. She contacted ebay and they removed those but he only listed more.
I just did an ebay search for him and it looks like he's not selling anything at the moment, but here's the link to Talia's documentation of his complete crap, and the link to Talia's wonderful paintings.
My bars went for a steal at $395.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
in memory of a wall..
that got completely buffed a couple days ago..
in memory of a wall..
that got completely buffed a couple days ago..
in memory of a wall..
that got completely buffed a couple days ago..
in memory of a wall..
that got completely buffed a couple days ago..
in memory of a wall..
that got completely buffed a couple days ago..
Ho' Tell Am*damn
Fxx, who is an old friend of some of my best friends in NY, took this photo. It was my last night in Amsterdam. I was finally heading home the next day after a total of six weeks of traveling.
Amsterdam is a city that melts my heart. I love it there. The city was so beautiful and crisp. People ride bikes everywhere. Coffee shops sell weed. The Van Gogh museum is there. Really nice messengers live there.
The first night that I was in Amsterdam I called Rxx. I had never met him before, but Dxx and Mxx were friends with him. He is super cool and picked me up from Dam Sq. and rode me Dutch style (think 'side saddle' with my feet dangling daintily to one side) over to a bar.. I was a mess from traveling but he put me in touch with Jxx, who I had met at the Worlds in NY, and sent me over to find him at The Doors.
I spent the rest of my time in Amsterdam doing tourisy things during the days and hanging out with Jxx and other people at night.
I made this sticker in honor of Jxx, Fxx, the other Amsterdam messengers I met, and all the messengers they have hosted in this amazing town.
I know that's a lot of weight to put on one sticker, but it is a one of a kind.
I love my friends.
Ho' Tell Am*damn
Close up of the sticker I made for Jxx...
Megan built a bike!
You really can't tell how beautiful this bike is from the photo, but this is the bike that Megan welded and brazed (I don't really know the terminology but she built it from scratch dammit) in her A-partment, venting out the window or something like that!
She's building it up at the Bicycle Kitchen and will hopefully have it ready to ride to the Velodrome in Carson tomorrow for the Swap Meet!
Yes - those are pink Keiren grips, on gold drops, on a gold stem. HOT!
Friday, January 26, 2007
SWOON
On Beverly Blvd
SWOON
on Alvarado
SWOON is one of my favorite artists ever.
She is also a friend, a super rad person, totally into bicycles, and really fun to hang out with. I was thrilled to hear she was installing a new collaborative show with Faile and David Ellis Over at New Image Art Gallery on Fairfax and Santa Monica Blvd. The installation was going great and they had been working non-stop for days when I finally dragged them out of the gallery, into the sunlight, and a few miles down the road to Scoops for an ice cream break.
I try to take all my out-of-town friends, and basically anyone I can, to Scoops (Heliotrope off of Melrose) because it's the most amazing ice cream on earth. Besides that though, I also wanted them to see Orange 20, and the Bicycle Kitchen.
Scoops of course was awesome, and it was neat that they got to check out the Bicycle Kitchen and Orange 20 because LA has such a bad rap when it comes to bikes (which I think is only because people don't know!!). They got to see that this type of bicycle goodness not only exists in Los Angeles, but is kicking strong!.
SWOON wanted to hit the streets of LA with a few pieces before she left (see Alvarado south of Olympic Blvd. and a certain pink door on Beverly Blvd east of Rampart). She had one very complicated piece and said she needed a good few minutes of safety in order to put it up. She asked for suggestions, so I took her back over to Orange 20 :)
I can't tell you how excited she was to leave this present for the LA Bike Community. I can't tell you how excited I am that she put it up there.
And in the (paraphrased) words of TJ (one of the Orange 20 owners) 'It's not everyday that a shopowner comes to his store in the morning and is really happy to see a piece of graffiti up on his wall!!' Or something like that...
Anyways, SWOON - you're welcome in LALA anytime.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
French racer crash at UCI WorldCup Classics..
At the velodrome in Carson, CA
French racer crash at UCI WorldCup Classics..
At the Velodrome in Carson, CA
French racer crash at UCI WorldCup Classics..
This French racer had crashed on the velodrome a couple hours earlier during a race. He went down really hard. His skin-suit was shredded and ripped all up the side. He had patches of raw, bloodied skin and black friction burns all up his side, back and butt.
He was finally getting cleaned off by the first aid people when I started brazenly snapping pictures because he seemed so brave and I liked him. After a couple shots he looked at me, gave me this hammed up look and a grin and then went back to screaming in pain from the antibacterial sprays they were cleaning him with.
I told him to blow on his scrapes, that it would take the sting away. He said 'yeah?' and he started blowing on his elbow...
I told him 'that was a great race' and walked away as an official told me not to take photo's of him 'like that'..
