I don't normally do this

I try to keep this place reasonably original & don't like copping stuff from other message boards, blogs, or anything (unless, of course, it's super heroes in questionable positions) and if I do happen to do this I'll try to give credit where credit is due.
If I fail to for any reason, please feel free to call me out on it.

That being said, this is too cool not to steal and re-post.
I was sifting through some old posts on the HAMB looking for something completely different and found this....which someone "stole" & posted....so maybe I should just get over it?

















I'm convinced these could have been taken in Anytown, USA in the 70's.
They remind me of being a little kid & pedaling too far from home to hang in the parking lot where cars like this one (and by "this one" I mean, these actual cars):


This one:


This one:


And this one (Sorry for the crummy pic. It's this car here but close to 40 years ago.


would cruise, hang, race & do some of the craziest stuff I've ever seen....all in the name of having fun.
I've always felt a bit slighted that the scene had died down a bit by the time I hit the streets but there will always be the guys telling you how things "Used to be".
I kind of like to think their influence was felt.


(Actually, my apologies for quite a few of these crummy pics....digital photography sure has come a long way in 10 years!)

Guitar Hero

I can't believe it slipped my mind to mention this.
The Back CC's opened for The Mummies last week & their guitar player is my new hero.
Not only did the whole band "Get" the whole trashy rock & roll thing but 3 songs in to their first set, the guitar player asked the sound guy if he could be turned down.
God, even now, when I type it it feels like I am speaking a foreign language.
The guitar player asked to be turned down.
This is a first....anywhere.

Here's all I could find of them on Youtube.
The skinny jumping guy only sang once with them...and his main function seemed to be unplugging microphones and leaving his shoes behind.

My own "Little" Shovel project

A while back I mentioned I had a little shovel project of my own happening. 'Cause, you know, when you've got a bazillion more important things to be doing, it's always best to waste time with plastic toys.

Now's a good time to mention that, if you're squeamish about "Ruining" or otherwise "Devaluing" rare-ish & harder to find model kits it might be a good idea to go listen to the best playlist in blog world over on Missinglink's, nicely ask Cain for an update, or look on in horror here as monkeys learn to use firearms.

I'm sure no one knows this but I've got a pretty decent little pile of motorcycle models & I'm going to say it's my hot rod upbringing that facilitates cutting up the ones that are harder to find.
Like this Triumph.
Which, for the hipsters keeping score at home, now sports things like a Model A tail light on what used to be the front fender:


Anyhow, this time around it's Revell's old Chain Gang chopper, that they want to sit like this:


Not that there's anything wrong with that really, I just had something different in mind & until the model companies start making what I want, I gotta "fix" that they gave me.


It seems like it may just need a little off the top.


According to the date on the box, this kit has been untouched since 1973 yet, with one uneven cut the "Collector" types can have a teeny little conniption.


Of course, there's nothing a little 2 part epoxy and some time upside down can't fix.



After taking away most of the forks, this is what I was after.


Now, being the geek that I am, I've got a hefty little stock pile of tanks & I wanted to try my hand at what the magazines always referred to as an "Axed Fat Bob".
(Did I get that right? I'm never good with the lingo)

Here's the beginnings of the hack job on this tank.


Some cutting, filing, sanding and puttying & I am ending up with this lopsided alien looking thing.


Obviously there is still some more puttying that needs to be done but I am hoping to be able to fake it enough.
I've kind of always thought of my models as "suggestions" more than anything.


All this work might wind up being for nothing anyhow...one I figure out how to get a tunnel in the bottom of the tank.
Right now I think it's going to involve some drilling....I want it to sit down over the backbone.


Yup....nothing says, "I've never been with a woman!" quite like customizing little plastic vehicles.

I need a Truck

OK, so...I don't need a truck.
I want a truck.
I need a job.

Whoever "They" are

They always say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead....so I am having kind of a hard time coming up with something to say about another one of The Ventures kicking it.

At one point, this band was super important to me.
So important in fact, I remember exactly where I was (Heading north up rt 128) when I heard Mel Taylor had died.

Oddly, it was the first tour after Mel had died, one with his son playing drums, that I got a chance to meet them & I kind of wish I never had.

30 years after their prime & they were nothing but arrogant and dismissive.
Now, I wasn't looking for an ass kissing or anything but you would think a band that could have easily become Vegas Elvis would be a little more appreciative of the people that held them in such high esteem.

Whatever.

Bob Bogle is dead.
75 is a good run for anyone, especially a musician.

Here's some pics of the T bucket from the cover of "The Ventures in Space"

I really don't know why this is so funny to me

As found on a Boston music message board:

This one

Can't she just go back to shooting animals from helicopters?
Jesus lady, shut the f*ck up already!

Guess how many pictures I took in Jersey

None.
Not a one....'cause I'm a loser.
Anyhow, here's some of my favorite year GTO taken at a local "Cruise" night.
You know, those weekly car shows where people....uh...well....where people sit in a parking lot until the street lights come on.
Yeah, 'cruisin'.




I kinda wish people could just park their cars at these things. I hate taking pictures with open hoods.

Soon

Like....tonight

Whatever you do, don't listen to me!

Ever!
I find it odd that this has happened twice now.
Here's the story.
A few years ago this friend of my then roommate calls wanting to know if we can give him a hand.
It seems his "Pan" (One of those new...I dunno...are they S&S repros?) wasn't starting.
I agreed to go along mainly to satisfy my own curiosity.
You see, I couldn't give a good God damn if this kid ever got his bike running.
I wanted to go 'cause the guy's a total know-it-all & I was dying to see what we could possibly add to his life.
Well, we arrive & sure enough, this kid is red faced, winded and still kicking like a mad man.
Sounding like a disappointed child he says, "I'm gonna have to put an electric start on this thing! This is bullshit!"
Almost as a reflex action, I asked the same question I always ask first.
"Does it have spark?"
I'm completely ignored.
Remembering who I'm dealing with (the kind of guy who'll argue math) I sort of rolled with it & got comfy on a bar stool in the corner of his garage.
"Kick, kick, kick"
Nothing.
"Does it have spark?" I asked again, willing to start from the beginning.
"Of course it has spark! It's got a fucking magneto!" This dingbat says, all while pointing at his mag and (I think) calling me an idiot under his breath.
"Kick, kick, kick"
"It sounds like it has no spark." I offered, still with the attitude that I could help this kid and be home within the hour.
"What do you mean, 'sounds like no spark'? How can it sound like it doesn't have spark?!?!"
"I dunno" I admitted, (and I don't, but you know what I mean, don't you? Sometimes you can just tell) "I can't explain it...you can just kind of tell when a motor has no spark."
"The motor has a MAG-NEE-TOE!"
Now he's talking to me like I am a child.
"Do you know what that means?"
As calmly as I can (I try my best to keep an even keel these days) I say, "Yeah, and a magneto always works. Right?"
"Yes!" he says, as though he's just taught me something.
"Kick, kick, kick"
This was probably where I should have asked if he had the thing clocked right, but I didn't.
I always found the less conversation with this jerk the better.
So...I sat on the bar stool for what seemed like an eternity while he and my roommate made their expert diagnosis.
"Kick, kick, kick"
"Blah, blah, blah, choke"
"Kick, kick, kick"
"Blah, blah, blah gas"
"Kick, kick, kick"
"Blah, blah, blah, no gas"
"Kick, kick, kick"
"Blah, blah, blah hold your face this way"
I perked up when I heard my roommate say, "We'll push you!"
"We who?" I was thinking.
Apparently these two geniuses came to the conclusion that the way to get this bike started was by push start.
"No way" I said.
"I'm not pushing his ass around until he checks for spark."
The two of them, almost in unison yell "IT HAS SPARK!" It has to.....blah, blah, blah"
I'll spare you the transcript of the ensuing argument.
The high lights however were as follows:
My point that, if they are so confident the motor has spark then just check it, eliminate it as a possibility & I'll shut up again.
Their counter point that checking spark would be a waste of time and me telling them it's already been two hours.

So, for the next twenty minutes I kept myself occupied by flipping through some bullshit "Lifestyle" magazine (The same magazine this nimrod was quick to point out "Is worth blah, blah, blah on E-bay 'cause it's a first issue." You should have seen the look of confusion on his face when I told him I threw out the first two issues of this magazine 'cause it's crap.....but that's another post all together)
Sure enough, they come back unsuccessful & I'm getting the "Evil eye" for being the douche bag that won't help.
"(Insert doofus's name here)" My roommate says, "You think maybe you should check the spark?"
His answer made me question my own sanity & had me wondering if the last 2 hours and 20 minutes had actually happened.
"You know, yeah, I should see if it has spark."
I watched and waited, knowing already what the outcome would be.
"Hey!" Dimwit says, "There's no spark!"
I tossed the magazine on the workbench & said, "I'll be in the car."

Now, fast forward about a year and a half to this past weekend.
I'm standing in my father's garage while he tries to start one of his prized possessions, a John Deere riding mower.
"Wee, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee."
"Wee, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee."
"Wee, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee."
"I don't know what's wrong with this thing."
"Does it have spark?" I ask, having never learned my lesson.
"It did last time." My dad says, like I'm suppose to know what the hell this means.
"Uh....the last time what?"
I didn't really want to know.
"The last time it didn't start The Guy (His mobile small engine repair guy) said it wasn't spark." He offered, like this all made perfect sense.
"Wee, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee."
"Wee, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee."
"Wee, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee."
"It sounds like it doesn't have spark"
Again I will never learn.
"What do you mean 'Sounds like it doesn't have spark'?"
Not wanting any part of this scene I simply say, "Never mind. Want me to check and see..."
"NO! It has spark! It has to!" My Dad says making me wonder why such a notion offends people so much.
With that, I offered him "Good Luck" and bailed.

This morning, I get a phone call....it's my Dad.
"Yeah, hi" He says (30 years in the phone company & he has absolutely no "Phone Etiquette") "The Guy just looked at the mower. It needs a coil"
"So....it didn't have spark huh?"
"Heh, no." He says...not in a way that would indicate "I should have listened to you" but more with the tone of "Who would have thought?"
My only question to him at this point was, "And what did he charge you for this diagnosis?"

It's gotta be me.
What do I know?
I don't even have a job!

65 years

This picture also makes me feel like a wimp.

We're just gonna make our own rules apparently

My gal's brother Michael went down on his bike last night.
He's fine, although the bike is kind of munged up.
As the story goes, the guy in front of him puts his "Hazards" on and pulls to the right.
As Michael starts to go by, the guy in the car whips a U-turn & they kind of hit head on.
Now, the guy in the car said he didn't see the bike, but also wanted to know why Michael didn't know he was going to pull a U-turn (ON a double yellow line road no less).
I mean, he did put his hazards on.
What?!?!
When did this mean, "Hey, I'm going to pull a U-turn...NOW!"
I'm not sure what's worse, this guy thinking his four-ways give him a license to be "Hazardous" or the fact that he tells Michael he is going to let him know how much it will cost to repair the damage his bike did to the car.

20 Years

This picture makes me feel like a wimp.

I'm not sure where

my aversion to parking my bike in the "Show area" comes from....but I hardly ever do it.
This past Sunday was no exception & maybe it was for the best.
Although it was a good show, the parking lot behind Sisson's Diner was really cramped & everywhere I turned I felt like I was in someone's way...good day for riding, bad day for agoraphobics.
Anyhow, that's my reason for not taking more pictures....but as I've said before, it's all the same picture, just a different bike.





Someone had said there were 3 Indians there.
I managed to get photos of 2 of them.







There was a TON of nice stuff there (the kind of stuff that makes you wonder where it's hiding all the time) but every picture I would have taken would also include very unfortunate angles of Harley T-Shirt clad beer guts, Championship Wrestling belt buckles or leathery biker "Babes".
Sometimes...all on the same person.

Quote of the day

"I never shook the hand of a disc jockey without a hundred dollar bill in it."
-Joe Bihari

If you "Blog" this I'll kill you

Due to threats of my own personal death, I am not allowed to comment on the "Goings on" of this place:


I will say, however, it was the first time I'd ever heard "Blog" used as a verb.

I'll give you one guess

Much like The game You Can Play at Home I'll give you one guess as to which one of these drills actually worked.



And yeah....so it only sparked a little.