Red Riding Hood Productions

For the last 3 years there's been this killer Cutthroat's event/party/weekend of madness in Richmond, Virginia called Cycle Slaughterama.

Every year so far, for whatever reason, I have not been able to make it and unfortunately for me, this year is no different.

Every year I regret not going.

If you can make it and you don't go, you are out of your mind.

Here's a link to Santana's flickr set from last year so you can see the awesome insanity that Cycle Slaughterama is.

Here's the Cutthroat post and this years flyer:



A major part of the slaughterama this year is the best in show competition! we wanna see all those gnarly rad bikes you huys keep all locked up in your cribs. bring 'em out, show em off, you could win radical prizes and be the envy of all RVA!

++++++++++++++++++++PLUS+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bring out those fancy lil' boombox's ya'll be playin'. we're gonna have low frequency radio....so with enough boombox's we can blow up any spot we ride toooo....let's do this! we need you guys to make it happen, so come one come alll!!!!!

People are starting to arrive, a million bands want to play and we have 600 dj's....i bet you wanna be here for this!

The 30-31st of March marks the 4th annual Evil Fool's Day Cycle Slaughterama. You'd have thought this shit would be totally played out by now, but you have absolutely no idea. Quit your job, sell blood for a bus ticket, and come bro the fuck down.

Friday the 30th - Scavenger Hunt. 5pm Oregon Hill Parkway.
Teams of three or more, if you don't have friends we'll make you some. This isn't some pseudo messenger circle jerk. This is an open invitation for any and everyone that likes to ride their bicycle and do stupid shit. Guaranteed fun and prizes. The fastest may not win, and only the tight shall endure the challenge!

Saturday the 31st - Belle Isle - Hangover O'clock

Better, Bloodier, and way more sweet than it's ever been done before. Come to get down, or just sit back and witness the spectacle.

Click on the photo to check out the comment debate that people have been having on Flickr over the content of this photo.

Tod Seelie rocks. For more reasons than just this photo. But this photo is the reason for this current 'Tod Seelie rocks' bit.

He documents constantly. This photo was taken during the maiden voyage of Miss Rockaway Armada this past summer.

**edit 3/24/07 - Tod Seelie still rocks - But recently it was brought to my attention that this photo was actually taken by the lovely and amazing Miss Antlers!

For some reason it was posted on Mr. Seelie's flickr page and not Miss Antlers's flickr page.

Go figure :)

***edit 3/26/07 - OK - last edit for this post:

Tod Seelie and Ms. Antlers both rock even harder because they both took the same shot! But - the one I have here is the one that Tod Seelie took, which is why his copyright is on it. Duh..

On the way home from getting pie ingredients, we stopped at a gas station. I saw these kids the instant we pulled up. They had their bikes and their Dad. I asked if I could snap some photo's. Sometimes I have terrible manners. They asked me to say the magic word. I said "Pretty please?". They were getting air for their tires. They let me snap photo's. Turns out their Dad is a messenger downtown. He had his cruiser bike rigged up with gears. It was sweet.

I am so glad that Andrew woke me up to go get pie ingredients with him this morning because I think this is may be my favorite shot that I've ever shot in LA so far.

Andrew made so many yummy pies it was ridiculous. We had apple pies, triple berry pies, peach pies and vegan strawberry pies. All with homemade crusts.

Andrew is the master baker.

Our boy Drew got t-boned last week. His bike and his body are all banged up. If you're in NY - go race this race tonight and give him some money.

Afterparty at Bushwick Country Club at 618 Grand Street between Leonard and Lorimer in Brooklyn - 9pm.

Pedaling a Two-Wheeled Solution in the Capital of Cars is a talk by bicycle activists Monica Howe (Bicycle Kitchen, LACBC) and Liz Elliott of (cicle.org and bikenow.org). They’ll explain how “an urban bicycle culture will make this a better place to live.”

Farmlab Salon/Under Spring, 1745 N. Spring St., dwntwn.;

Fri., March 9, noon; free. (323) 226-1158.

http://farmlab.org

Bicyclist critically hurt when hit by Toyota Previa on Dover Avenue in Newport Beach.

By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register

NEWPORT BEACH – Police are looking for the driver of a light-colored minivan who drove off after hitting and critically injuring a bicyclist on Dover Avenue this morning.

The bicyclist was riding north on Dover near Cliff Drive when he was hit by a Toyota Previa about 6:20 a.m., Newport Beach police Sgt. Jeff Brouwer said. Police found him lying in the brush with traumatic injuries after he was thrown from his red Bianchi 10-speed.

Officers are trying to identify the victim, described a Hispanic man in his 40s, who did not have any identification on him when he was hit. He is at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he remains in critical but stable condition.

Police haven't located any witnesses to the crash, but traffic investigators are hoping a broken front grill and other van parts left behind at the scene will lead them to the driver. The parts are from an off-white or silver Toyota Previa made between 1991 and 1997.

Anyone with information about the accident or the suspect vehicle was asked to call Newport Beach police at 949-644-3746

This show is going to be AWESOME!! I got a sneak peak at some of the cans today and let me tell you - the can's that Cache did are out of this world. Particularly the cans that he turned into a chicken spinning records on turntables with speakers that actually play music!!


Here's the deets from the website www.crewest.com

A huge group exhibition showcasing original works created
on actual spray paint cans. Some of the globe's hottest artists
recycle old and rusty aerosol cans into unique and exquisite
pieces of art.

Opening reception:
Saturday, March 3: 5 to 9 pm

Downtown Artwalk:
Thursday, March 8th: Noon - 9pm

Closing reception:
Saturday, March 31: 5 to 9 pm
DJ's and Live painting by select artists.

This show is at New Image Art Gallery. It was supposed to be taken down on Feb 24th but was so succesful they're leaving it up until March 17th. Which means - if you haven't seen it yet, you still have time!!! Aren't you lucky.

So now I ask you -

Why are you still sitting there??

Get off your butt and GO SEE IT ALREADY!!

Labels: SWOON "David Ellis" Faile "New Image Art Gallery"

This article was sent over the messenger email list by Joe Hendry who runs messmedia.org

Inside the Capitol

The Oregonian, March 02, 2007

By Harry Esteve

Attention all you fans of "fixies" out there -- yeah, you know who you are. You ride stripped-down road bicycles or track bikes with fixed gears. You disdain brakes. Occasionally, you get nailed for it and find yourself explaining to a skeptical judge how you can stop really quickly, even going downhill, in the rain, just by pushing back on the pedals.

You feel like outcasts -- and that's the way you like it.

No more. You've now got a friend in the Oregon Legislature. And he might surprise you. He's no liberal bike-riding Portland Democrat who thinks cars are evil.

He's a conservative bike-riding Southern Oregon Republican who knows pelotons from velodromes.

Sen. Jason Atkinson, who ran for governor last year in the Republican primary, has introduced a bill that would explicitly exempt fixed-gear bikes from a law that requires all bikes to have brakes capable of bringing a bike to a skid on dry pavement.

"I've got a lot of friends in the cycling community," said Atkinson, who used to race internationally. "When I was racing, I used to train with messengers for speed work."

Bike messengers, who zip around downtown Portland rain or shine, prefer the single-speed, no-brake bikes for their simplicity, feathery weight and, let's face it, outlaw cachet.

Atkinson cops to riding one as well. "When I campaigned, I always had a fixed-gear with me."

In Portland, that might have been enough to get him a ticket and a fine. Last year, in a case that outraged a hefty segment of the two-wheeled set, a Multnomah County Circuit judge found four cyclists guilty of riding bikes without brakes. The fines were about 70 bucks, but that still hurts.

A bicycle attorney argued they weren't breaking the law, that their leg muscles were brakes. The judge had none of it. Some fixies staged a demonstration of how fast they could stop, including jamming a stick between the rear wheel and the frame.

Like I said, outcasts.

Atkinson's bill, Senate Bill 729, would settle the issue for good. It would change Oregon law to require all bikes to have brakes EXCEPT fixed gear ones.

Woo-hoo, said Jonathan Maus, an activist who runs BikePortland.org, an all-things-bicycle blog.

OK, that's not a direct quote. He did say it's a good idea not to criminalize a perfectly legitimate form of transportation. But he also cautioned against inexperienced cyclists hopping a fixie without some serious training. They're difficult to ride. And, yes, to stop.

"Everybody would agree, there's a safety issue," Maus said. But, he said, the popularity of the cycling style is growing fast and
addressing it in state law is a good idea.

"It's a fashion thing," he said. In the bike world, there's always some new twist to spark riders' interest. "The fixed gear is definitely in the running to be the next big thing."

Atkinson also is behind a bill that would set aside state parks money and matching grants to build two velodromes -- banked tracks for racing fixed-gear bikes -- one each in Portland and Southern Oregon.

Whether his bike bills get traction is anyone's guess at this point. The Legislature has plenty of bigger issues on its plate. In the meantime, Portland's fixie community must put its hopes in probably the only man in the Legislature who knows how to shave his legs.

Read Harry Esteve's Inside the Capitol blog and other coverage of the state Legislature at oregonlive.com/legislature.

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The background deal is this: A while back (this past summer) this girl Ayla in Portland was stopped by a cop and ticketed for not having a brake. She took the matter to court saying she could prove that she could skid to a stop just like a bike with brakes, that her legs were her brakes.

here's the vid that Dan Kaufman of Crank My Chain did for pdxk.tv showing how nicely Ayla can stop her fix gear bicycle:



The judge said no-go even though she could prove that she could skid to a stop. The Judge wanted to know what she would do if her chain broke and suggested that maybe if she had a stick to rub between her frame and wheel to use as a brake, maybe then she would have a case.. (to which many people replied: what would someone who has a coaster bike do if their chain broke? or what if someone's brake cables broke? etc etc) So some kids in Portland held a contest to see who could stop with a stick as the Judge suggested..

here's the video of the competiton directed by the legendary Rev Phil: