Wrap Up

I had thought of blathering on about the year. Some sort of revisit of some of my resolutions from last year, a wrap up of where my head is and such. Maybe that is what this is, but I will try to keep it brief. There are only a few hours of this year left and I would hate to be the means by which you waste too many of them...

I am not really much of a resolution sort, to ring in a new year. The idea coming into 2011 was simply for me to be better. Just better. A better spouse, son, friend, person or whatever. I am not sure how I would score myself on that resolution. I suppose that would be more up to you, than me anyway.
I think I did better on most counts, sorta. Maybe not much better, but on some counts there was only room for improvement.
So, yeah...
I am probably heading into 2012 with the same resolution.


It sounds pretty simple, "be better."
Right?

It turns out it is challenging, quite.

I mean let us just start with the fact that I am an isolated, introverted, moody, contrary asshole. Prone to surliness and excess. Quick with an insult and all of that. I am pretty conscious of what a little shit I can be, but you know...
I am trying to be better.

Then there are the things I do daily. At what point does "being better" stop? I can also be quite compulsive, so the premise is right up my alley. Well, I am not really great at a whole lot of things. I get by, and I am getting better at some things. I am also trying to chill out on that compulsive part and be better at accepting good enough, when it is in fact good enough.
Trying to get better.

There is the thinking side of this process for me, too. Trying to reason some things out. Get better at thinking. You know, stuff like everyday bits. I have been trying to gain some grip on bigger ideas, as well. Shit like spiritualism and selfhood, big picture kind of stuff. I am not sure I have figured anything out, but I am making an effort at least.
Working on getting better.

Now that I have spelled this out, it sounds like some crap self-help book kind of fuck word pile. I got nothing to preach at you, here. I am just putting a bit of my personal weirdness out there for you to breeze over and maybe think about.


That's it, I guess.
It is sorta how I spent this year. What I have been trying to do...
I will keep after it.


Good luck, fortune and all of that in the coming year.

Cam Cover Chop Cont'd Again

Why not one more?

The dog gets some meds at 3AM, with his current deal.

So, I am up...

Obsessive behavior can hide behind pet parenting, perhaps.

We are at 300 grit and those scratchy pads.

No polish yet, still shaping shit up.

A lot of Velvet Underground, beer and smokes in this.

But I need to medicate my dog and maybe sleep some, so this is where things are now...

That tab reaching the locating dowel may have distorted, early on.

That bums me out...

Some tension in the casting, maybe.  Released when I cut stuff.

I guess I will see how it fits, later.

Maybe heat and move, or just cut the damned thing off.  I want it, though.  It helps locate things in the cam hoohah shit...

Anyway, I should go deal with other things.

You should too...

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Cam Cover Chop Cont'd

I have something like this in mind...

More filing, sanding and shaping to follow.

I think you should be able to get what I am up to with this, though.

I guess it is the eve of a new year, at this point.

This is the sort of thing that makes me happy, most days.

Hopefully, I can do more of this sorta shit next year.

Maybe I will tell you about last years thought bullshit, later...

Things I meant to do, things I hope to do in the coming year.

Maybe.

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Cam Cover Cut

Chopping down the cam chest cover has been on my list, for a while...

No real reason to do this other than saving some ounces, having something to do and looking cool.

This is a spare from a wrecked bike.

There is still a lot of shaping to do, to make it look right, but here it is today...

The final drive sprocket cover will get cut to go along with this.

Lots of holes, too...

Just trying to reduce extra mass and expose some mechanical attributes.

Motorcycles always look better pared down, to my eyes...

Working on that this winter.

Trimming some fat...

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William

I have been a bit silent lately, I know...

My little buddy had a health scare, Christmas night.

Somehow, he got doggy whip lash or something...

We think, or so we have been told.

Best guess shit, without an MRI.

So, I have been dealing with that.

Doggy parent stuff...

He seems to be on the mend.

Little dude is on solitary confinement and is supposed to be kept from doing pretty much anything that makes him happy, for fear that he may be paralyzed by just about everything...

So, we are all sullen and mopey...

Me, my main man, the misses, other pets.

The whole bunch here, but mainly William.

You don't realize quite how central your pup is, day to day, until you gotta lock them away from your world...

Like I said, he seems to be recovering.

I am very optimistic about that.

Just a bit distracted...

Wish well, for my dog.

He is about all that keeps me sane in this world...

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Sweet Jumps

It occurs to me that there used to be a lot more car chases and jumps on television...


Has there been any car jumping on any network TV show, like in the past decade?
Not fake stuff, but actual stuntman wrecking a perfectly good car by jumping it over a fence or something...

I guess I remember one on an HBO series.
Any I have missed?

Two Wheels Tuesday

Bob Gill Kite Cycle edition.


I, uhm, how exactly does...
What about the...

I have more questions than answers on this one.

Big Dick

What did you get?
You know, for presents for whatever happy God hullabaloo you get down with...

Did you get a Big Dick?

I probably would have given you a Big Dick, if you had asked...
But you didn't.
Your loss.








Why the hell can't a decent American kid get a small machine gun any more?

Hell, we let kids shoot the shit out of stuff in pretend video game world, why not give the little bastards some small caliber machine guns, a few thousand rounds and send 'em outside to have fun?

That is a genuine question.

Holidazed

I am confused...

And dazed.

It is some kind of holiday, I hear.

Movies and odd hotel food, not that we are travelling.

Just strangers still, in a strange place.

Home is where my heart is.

With my goofy family, the people who put up with me.

There is nothing quite like the family being transient provides...

Misfits and fuck ups.

Perhaps the only folks I relate with.

This island of misfit toys is about all I know, it seems.

No beaches or photo-op sunsets...

Just happy moments soon lost.

Good times chasing the dawn.

Forgotten names and numbers.

I can never quite figure if my life is magic or sad...

I lean on the hope that magic wins.

Otherwise, what is the point?

Merry whatever floats your boat, life raft or effluence...

The new year is coming.

The end of the world or another new beginning, depending on the camp you bed with...

Either way, I say fuck all.

Get on with it, get down with it.

Bring it on...

Happy deal, you bastard child of happy shit.

Keep merry.

Keep trying to make it better...

What else have we got?

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How Did You Know

Greetings

Angels

Given that we are on the eve of Jesus and all of that...

I thought some kinda song about angels would be appropriate.

Tree Up

Finally got the tree sorted out here...

I went to pick it up, along with some holiday spirits.
If you know what I mean.

Stopped off at a couple spots along the way.
Had s slice of traditional holiday pizza

Got to the spirit shop, grabbed the stash and hoofed it.
Man, bottles and trees are heavier than you think...


Priorities were assessed.
I am pretty sure the mystic tree spirit told me it wanted to be set free.

Free to share holiday joy with every passer by...

Happy holidays, folks.

X Mas Party

Don't forget to bring some beer.



Knock loud...

The Look

The look...

If you don't already have one.

Krampus Carol

Two Wheels Tuesday

I have always had a thing for, uhm, these 750's...

Yeah, the Ducati 750 GT.

City Hall

Went down to the exhibit our associate has the painting in...
It is in the city hall, here.
You know, mayors office and city offices kind of place.

City hall, here, seems to be in every vaguely Philly movie ever made.
Outside of dropping off that painting, I have never wandered inside. So, excuse to wander inside was acted upon.


I had to do some research on the damned place too, now that I have actually considered it at more than a tourist location and traffic obstacle.

It seems very Philly that it was built with the intention of it being the tallest building in the world, but that it took thirty years to finish the whole deal. Other buildings were taller by the time they got finished, so Philly folk made the distinction that it was the tallest habitable building for a while...

It is big, as far as city kinda buildings go. Seven hundred odd rooms, a number required with this city's famous political/bureaucratic systems I assume.

And it is old, like a hundred and ten years old. So there is that modern infrastructure layer on old building. Pipes painted to sort of match the detailed cove ceiling they hang beneath and that sort of thing. Plus the wear that one would expect in a century old office building, I guess.

There were a whole bunch of cops, too. Like a serious bunch of cops. A whole contingent at the entrance, plus one or two at every corner it seemed and at every hallway door. I guess that is a good thing? It sure didn't feel like public space, though. That kind of security made me wonder just who they think is gonna show up?


So, yeah. Field trip to the big old city hall you have probably seen in some movie. If you come visit, I will spare you the security check points and worn floors of a tour. Perhaps I will drive you past the place. You will have plenty of time to examine the architectural details as we sit the miserable traffic the building's odd location creates.

Oh, the train stops right there. We can skip the drive...
Or skip the whole damned thing.

Sunday Drive

The important thing here is that we get to the part where you ask me how I am getting down to the shore...

Black Cobra

My annual effort to provide with some relief from all of the damned Santa music...

I give you Black Cobra.

Stay Classy

The Show Class dudes got something for you to do tonight...




Just up the pike, from me.

Stay classy Philadelphia.

Totally Radical

Girl & Chocolate Trailer from Crailtap on Vimeo.

Dude...

Lakes

I am not going to say much about where this came from, I only kinda know the story and not the guys involved...

Family footage.


History.

Get Some Wind

Dogs in Cars from keith on Vimeo.

Dogs understand.

Wall of Death Wednesday

Hipsters can ruin anything...

Two Wheels Tuesday

Foot down, full on, fuck yeah.

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Cold

It is getting cold here, again...

All you people who say "oh, not really" or "hey, the change of seasons is nice" can stuff it.

I know what cold is, what seasons look like.

Save it for the people who buy that shit...

My nose runs at 65 degrees.

To me, that is cold enough...

You wanna prove how hard you are, in the face of cold?

Come watch my dog sniff a curb in thirty degree temperatures...

I invite you, welcome you even.

I will make some cocoa, while you are out doing that.

Because you are so tough and into chill weather.

Good on you, bad ass...

I know what cold is.

I do not like it.

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Atco

Atco is really close by and still in operation...


Somehow, I was too lame to make it over there this summer.

Who doesn't love a nitro burning funny car?

Sunday Drive

Did that sign say anything important?


I wasn't paying attention...

Dead Milkmen

Did I mention the Dead Milkmen are playing tonight?

Like three blocks from my house...

I have been in Philly for more than a year and I have still not seen them out.

Because I am a loser...

At least I am consistent.

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Done Did It

Can't undo it, just live with it.

Dig it...

Stretch

Our pal from London, Ella, was selected to be in some Mummers art exhibition thing here.

Spent the latter half of the day getting this stretched, squared away and retouching a bit of damage from shipping.

Been a while since I have stretched any canvas, let alone restretching a completed bit of work...

I have probably stapled a few miles of canvas to wood, though.  Muscle memory may have assisted.

We are dropping this off at city hall tomorrow.

If you like art, or at least nice oil paintings of chubby Philly dudes getting drunk in satin dresses you should check the show out...

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Jesus

Not sure where you stand on this campaign cycle.
I know I think it is a terrifying circus act myself...

I also know that this Perry commercial has been making the rounds, and giving him the honor of having one of the most disliked Youtube videos ever.
I just sort of read some of the reaction to it, until just a moment ago.
I clicked play...

Jesus.
What the fuck, man?

I mean really...
It is a majority christian country, as self identified census shows, dude. What is the deal with being "not ashamed" of being part of that whole big crowd?
Good for you and your team, buddy.
And those gays in the military, you know they volunteers right?
Some of them are probably even Christians...
And what the fuck does that have to do with Christmas for your kids, or praying in school?
I mean the Constitution is pretty clear on the whole church/state thing.
We kinda got through that some years ago...

That is your actual campaign ad?
Jesus fucking Christ, man...


And really, what is with the conservative christian under attack thing anyway? Separately.
Under attack from what, from who? Who is conspiring against Christians, really?
Where is this siege mentality based?

Is it just a general fear of Muslims, gays, brown people, Mexicans, hippies or anything beyond the distance one can hear a church bell ring on Easter Sunday? Is it the fact that all of those weirdos hooked up, had an orgy and now their kid is in the White House?

Who seems to consistently be on the attack, while playing the lamb?
The big ass majority, by my accounting.
Self proclaimed Jesus lovers.
How does that work, really, given all that golden rule horse shit?


Damn it, man.

I was in a good mood, too...

Weekend Plans

Something like this.

Fins

This is one of those deals that has been rattling in my head for months...

With my new found free time and a cold night, I just got to it.

I had this air cleaner from the T lounging on the shelf since I sold it.

Thought about adapting it to the bike, but never liked any way I could make it fit...

So, it sat on the shelf.

I have intentions to cut the cam cover on the bike this winter.

I also have a pile of points covers, which I kinda hate.

And I had this old finned tri-power, 2 barrel air cleaner I would never use.

I got around to trying to mill off the mounting hole for this air cleaner tonight, to repurpose it as a points cover.

My old drill press does not like being used as a mill, so out came a grinder and a beer.

A few holes later, for mounting screws, and my new finned points cover is a real thingy...

I need to grab some longer machine screws to hold it on and clearence the backside some more, but there it is.

I had almost forgotten how easy this shit comes.

Or maybe I had thought about it so long, it seemed easy.

It was good to fire up some dormant tools.

Better than buying some bit of crap, for sure...

I could never find a match for that air cleaner.  It is some old odd shit from Eelco I think.

It has a new life now...

Isn't that what we all want?

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Two Wheels Thursday

Let's go with some pared and spare Norton style, today...


Theory on this one.

Month of Tacos

Now this is my kinda quest, right here...


Some dude I don't know, here in Philly has set off on the mission to eat nothing but tacos for the month of December.

Taco Month.

I know!
It is an awesome idea!


Additionally, the dude is documenting this saga with mini-reviews of all his taco stops.
That seems like it should create a compendium of taco shops I will need to visit.

Though, honestly, if it were me...I would probably end up and one or two favorite taco purveyors pretty regularly on a month long tacopocolypse. You gotta go where the quality is, right? I mean we're talking about tacos here...


So, Taco Man, I wish you luck on this journey...
And intestinal fortitude.

Seen This Before

Ever seen this before?


If not, you can thank me for enlightening you on the magical world we all share.



With all this free time I hope to get back to work on the baboonbots.

Taking over the world, all of that business...


Probably for the best, as things were starting to get a little weird down in the lab.

Under-supervised primates come up with some crazy ways to pass the time, let me tell you.
I did leave them a computer. Besides looking for monkey porn they took on some ghost writing deals for certain GOP candidates. The baboons get a hell of a kick hearing there ideas used as talking points in the campaign.

Mr Bitchin

Robert Williams deserves more respect that he gets.

Dude has influenced more than most contemporary artsy folks...
And continues to, today.

Control

One of those that doesn't quite speak to me on some levels...

But shit, this dude has invisible strings between him and that deck.
And there are some things I just haven't seen done before.

That will always get some respect.


The song is pretty, too...

13

Been married thirteen years, as of today...

Karen and I have been a duo five years past that.

She is my best buddy and advocate.

Looks out for me, puts up with me, humors me, loves me...

I am a lucky guy.

Tip your hat, glass or whatever on that.

Better half ain't the half of it...

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Also...

I am vibing on this bit of metal, these past few days.

I have needed some air, and we have found some.

Quiet loud, if you will...

There are not quite words for escape, just escape.

Finding that is harder than it sounds...

For the record, escape growls and lives around 80mph.

We talked.

I feel better.

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Black Unicorn

I am pretty sure I have my mojo dialed, with this pin...

Black unicorn, with rainbow and star.

Wizard type shit.

I am all business, here...

Heavy duty style.

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Happy Song

If you watch this and Muppets do not come immediately to mind, well, then you are a sad, soulless fuck with no appreciation for the fine art of puppetry...




Also, here is a link to the Muppet version, to make you feel better about watching somebody get shot in the back of the head.

And to add some personal bit to this, growing up I had a number of Muppet Show records.
See, this was before on demand cable and VCR's even, back in the old timey days with TV antennas and dinosaurs.
I loved the Muppets, man...
So my mother came up with Muppets Show albums, you know the vinyl things DJ's use.

The albums were the audio from skits on the Muppet Show and I remember sitting in front of the big console record player listening to them over and over. The same way kids today watch Toy Story a million times, I listened to this kinda stuff between actual airings of the Muppet Show.

Formative stuff right there...

Here is another bit on those albums. Another favorite.

Funky Boss Friday

I have inferred some issues with my recent employ...
Not out of the desire to keep things secret from you, but rather to allow some conversations to run their course in that forum.

Well, we have collectively agreed to disagree on some things I felt crucial for my own success and reputation, professionally.
We have also agreed that my relationship with them is at an end...

In that spirit, I give you this.




Sure, this is not the ideal moment to walk away from a job...

It is also not the time to struggle through work that you know you are not gonna have in a month.


So I said fuck it, I want better, or worse with less headaches.


Note: My boss was neither bald or funky and entirely empathized with the stand I took. He is also out of a gig in a few weeks and an entirely good dude I feel rewarded for working with. My whole scene got way out of hand, with expectations not matching incentives. Sometimes, one comes to inconvenient conclusions in regards to what "the man" wants. I did and have decided that change is gonna come, on my terms.

Fan Mail Friday

I get this kinda shit all the time...