Oh Yeah!

Willie Nelson says thanks for calling him on his birthday.

Where We Live II

If you are a regular reader of the Snot Rocket, you'll know that beyond bikes, transportation and barley pop, my interests sometimes ramble to the design of human dwellings. In past posts, I've talked about yurts and earthships. Recently,I was reading an essay in the latest issue of Dwell Magazine about the pending demolition of the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo. I did an internet search for it, and ended up spending several hours looking at some pretty interesting housing developments from the past that had the future in mind. The photo at the top of the post is of Habitat in Montreal. Pretty wild, eh?
A couple of years ago, I was borderline obsessed with buying a plastic dome from Dome Village out in LA when they closed it down. The domes were sold off on E-Bay for around $3K, and had about 350 square feet of living space. Small, but it is more about a mindset I think than stuff. What do we really need?
Finally, I came across Container City which really piqued my interest as I'm in shipping containers a couple of times a month, and I know you could get your hands on one for pretty cheap. When you get a few minutes, check some of these places out. And if you know of some others, let me know.

Know Nothing

Once again, I don't claim to know much about art, or claim to be an artist. I do know however that Style Wars was a film I really enjoyed, and there is a good article about it here. If you haven't seen the film, do yourself a favor, head down to the local video store and snap it up. While you are there, and in an urban documentary mood, get Dark Days too.

Speakin Da Truth

Got an email from my buddy Jeff Holt, it says:

"We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.

On one side, you have a b*tch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a b*tch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a woman with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?"

God damn it, they got a point.

In other news, the ride back home last night into a constant head wind was f-ing brutal. I had to stop for provisions at Chipoltle for love of Jesus. The Folsom is a great bike, but was pedaling the WHOLE time. Uff Da! The only reasonable thing to do upon arrival at home 2 hours after I left workd, was sit in a hot bath, build a fire and fall asleep on the couch. At 8 pm. I'm a real tough guy.

It Works Every Time

"Colt 45 is stereotyped as being popular among people with low incomes, such as the working class or students, due to its low price and high alcohol content. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in California also conducted a study which showed that malt liquor is favored by homeless, unemployed drinkers."
You don't say. Well, I'm employed and I have a home, and I love that stuff. Tastes like a sunny day.

Ah, Monday.

Sometimes Mondays really make me feel like a monkey on a string riding a small bicycle for the delight of asian people...Other times, it just feels like a boot to the side of the head.
MOTAB last night was pretty sparsely attended, but none the less fun. I brought the Folsom and let several folks ride it with the agreement they would give me their honest opinion. It has been agreed that the Folsom is the "Essential party bike". I take that to be a good thing, as many folks brought it back and skidded to a stop with a big smile on their face.
Sounds like Jeff at Revolution is going to start stocking the Swobo bike line. Sweet.
It was sunny and cool on the ride in, the ride home looks like it is going to be wet and cold...The above image is a shot that Colin took of the trophy from last night's MOTAB won by Scott. That is the head tube off of one of the new Trek all mountain bikes. when flipped upside down the lower cup that fits a new 1.5 inch cup fits a can of Blatz almost TOO well, if you get my drift.

Never Ending Quest

As long as I've been riding, I've been looking for that perfect bar. Above is a sample of what is in the well currently. Still looking. I've got a set of On One Mary bars that I'm pretty fond of, and the wife seems to like hers. But the Nittos, WTB dirt drops, Bridgestone arc bars, etc. I just keep around and try from time to time on various bike builds. If there was one thing I'd really like to make, it would be bars. I mean, how hard can that be?
Also, a friend of a friend was killed in Chicago last week while riding his bike. Sad news indeed. You can read about it here.
Be safe out there.

A Simple Joy

Sitting at home today, windy as hell. Just watched the Red Wings beat the Avalanche in NHL hockey playoffs. Like old times, it's a real treat to see a game live from the Joe!
Shafts of sunlight filling the living room, sleepy dogs. Rode the pit bike up to the beer store for a 12-er of High Life and the wind stopped me in my tracks coming home. Forecast for tomorrow says snow. WTF?
One of these days, gonna get the mountain bike out...who is up for riding to Blue Mounds, gettin' growlers @ the Troll, building a fire, sleepin' on the ground, get up in the morning to drink some cowboy coffee, pinnin' some single track and riding back to Madison?
Email me fools!

The Weekend

Done got here just in time...hoowee, kids. It's been a blur for the most part. Spring is here, the trails are drying out (and getting wet again) just like they do every year. And may is just around the corner.
I'll be damned if I didn't see a mosquito this morning though when I was heading out on my walk about.
If you haven't seen this, do yourself a favor and check it out.

ZR In New Bike Mag

If you click on the above, you can read the review I wrote of my ZR Cycles 650b hardtail. It is appearing in the forth coming issue of Bike Magazine.
Pretty rad for Zack who is out in Colorado mountain biking as you read this. He'll have another review of a different bike in an upcoming issue of Mountain Flyer magazine.