PostSecret

Recent PostSecret postcards that have hit close to home:

I totally do this. It may not be the only factor, but it's a heavily-weighted one.



While I didn't postpone my vacation for the book, I'm gonna be imposing a media blackout around myself from the day the book hits the streets untill the day I finish reading it. If some dipshit radio DJ or bloggertastic web-nerd blows the ending of a...what...10-year story for me, I will be forced to hunt them down, and pound them into dust. And you can put that in my official police confession. I'll sign it.

Pay up, $ucker

Virginia is rethinking the bullshit, exorbitant fees they recently tacked on to some driving offenses (including some relatively minor ones...$1000 for "driving too fast for road conditions"??). Strangely enough, the subjects...err...citizens of our fine state were right pissed.

Fees for Driving Infractions to Be Reassessed
GOP Lawmakers in Va. Rue 'Mistake' of Including Minor Offenses After Protests

Not sure how much petition sites like this matter, but if you wanna attempt to tell them that they can take their fees and stick them up their collective asses, click below:

http://www.petitiononline.com/va3202/petition.html

Relaunch

I got the Monkey dirtworthy again after finally finishing up some half-complete upgrades:

* Changed out the rear tire (thanks DT)

* Removed the fancy 18t Boone Ti cog (thanks for the loaner, DT)



* Added new slightly less fancy 20t Surly cog (thanks DT)



* Changed out my flat handlebars for a new Titec/Jones H-bar (thanks DT). (Note: If Titec woudn't have had such a crappy totally-Flash-based site, I would have linked directly to their product page. But alas...)



* Changed out the old brake cables for new. (F* you buddy, this was all me!)

I gotta say, after only one ride, I'm loving the new H-bars. Although they make me feel kinda like I'm driving a bus when I'm sitting high atop the Monkey's 29" wheels and XL-sized frame



I took the bike out for a quick shakedown spin around my ~9 mile neighborhood trail. I'm not sure if it was because of the new bars, or just the difference in the ride of the 29er vs. the 26er I've been riding a lot lately, but the ride definitely felt more smooth. Almost like I was running suspension. I really like the hand position on the new H-bars, too. The swept-back placement felt very natural. The 20t cog made a huge difference as well. I made all of the climbs with relative ease (with the 18t cog, it was a struggle). Spinning on the flats/downhills was expected, but was no worse than the spinning I do on my 26er. And to be honest, I need all the help I can get on climbs. So I'll deal with the spinning.

I may pick up another set of the H-bars for my 26er. Anybody doing another team buy anytime soon ;)

BugMeNot

One of the best tools to arrive on the net in nearly forever is BugMeNot. BugMeNot is site which hosts a database of generic log-ins and passwords to many sites which require you to log-in before showing you their (free!) content. Think washingtonpost.com and nytimes.com. They're two of the worst offenders.

The thing with BugMeNot that gives me an occasional chuckle is that I never know who I've logged into a particular site as (I'll usually save my BugMeNot-generated login info in my browser so I don't have to retype it). So I will sometimes go to washingtonpost.com, and will be greeted with a small "Hello MRFUCKWADPOOPYPANTS" at the top of the screen. Other times, there will be something less angry. My current washingtonpost.com login greets me with "Hello lovvver". Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy getting my daily news.

Coolest. Jam. Session. *Ever*. Period.

Spinal Tap + an Army of Bass Players @ Live Earth

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=VJchUEz9IgE

Said NME:

"...However the real centrepiece of the performance came before the closing 'Big Bottom', before which David St Hubbins introduced 'every bass player in the known universe...'.

Joining the band were [among others] Foo Fighters' Nate Mendell, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, Bloc Party's Gordon Moakes and Madonna's bass player and producer Stuart Price.

However, Metallica frontman James Hetfield and the entire Beastie Boys also made it onto the stage to join in the fun.

Garden and *what*??

I...

I mean...uhh...

I just wanted...to...uhh...rant about...

Oh fuck it. It's beyond words (and logic, and reason):

Garden and Gun Magazine

And in case you though I made that shit up (and created the website for fun), you can subscribe via Amazon.com (tho I wouldn't recommend it, but that's just me).

Back at it.

Saturday, the girl and I got back from a much-needed week at the beach. I spent most of my time doing as little as humanly possible down there. Read a couple of pure fluff books. Snoozed a lot. Did a kayak tour of a swampy/marshy river. Went out one day and half-heartedly took some shots of some kite surfers who were playing near the shore. (If any turn out un-horrible, I will probably post them here).

Upon my return home, I found that the Sigma lens I sent in for repair had finally returned. It had been with them for over a month. When I opened the box, I was pretty surprised (and quite happy) to see that instead of repairing my lens, they had shipped me a brand new one, complete with lens cap, shade, protective bag and all documentation (why it took them a month to swap a lens is beyond me, but I'm not bitching). Not a bad deal considering that I bought my lens used for about half the retail price. Perhaps customer service isn't dead after all.

Also in my absence, my pre-ordered copy of the new Bad Brains CD had arrived. I held (and still hold) great hope for this CD, as it was produced by Adam Yauch (MCA from the Beastie Boys) who has been a lifelong Bad Brains fan. The disk didn't hook me immediately, but I think it's stronger than their last one (perhaps two) studio releases. Maybe it will grow on me. But it could never come close to the seminal "I Against I".

And while we're on a musical subject, it looks like Bad Religion have a new disk out next week. They are one of those rare bands who's current work totally rivals their early stuff. They don't seem to have lost a bit of steam or creativity over the years. I'm holding my breath for this one. I expect great things.

Anyway, the Sunday after my return home, I met up with Spearman and his girl Donna for a ride at Rosaryville State Park in MD. I'd been off the bike for weeks, so I fully expected to get my ass handed to me by both of them. Lucky for me, they spent the night before boozing and didn't get home till 2am. Since they were both riding with hangovers, I didn't get dropped *too* badly. Spearman still managed to handily leave me in the dust. But he was kind enough to wait up every couple of miles.

Monday night, I drove down to Arlington then biked into Georgetown where I met up with Spearman again, this time at a favorite pizza/beer joint. Our final destination was a free outdoor show at Fort Reno by local punk legend Ian MacKaye's band "The Evens". (It also didn't hurt that the opening band was that of former McKaye band mate and Fugazi bassist Joe Lally). Once Butch, the third member of our motley crew, arrived we remounted our bikes and pedaled up Mount Georgetown. Essentially heading straight north into the city. Arriving at the park, we locked up our steeds, met up with Donna and Stoner and set off to find a place in the grass to recover from our climb. (Well...at least *I* was looking for a place to recover). As we walked around, we saw another local punk hero, Henry Rollins wandering through the crowd. Mostly unmolested by the gathering horde.

Eventually we found a clear patch of grass and settled in. Before long, another local hero, Gwadz, comes wandering by and hangs out for a bit.

The show was decent, although not really my kinda music (I prefer the edgier/angrier/loudier kinda punk). The event provided the photographers amongst us (basically, everyone other than Donna and me) an opportunity to shoot some up-close-and-personal photos of the bands in action. I made the choice not to bring my camera along (not wanting to ride with pounds of expensive stuff strapped to my back. I knew the climb outta G'town would be bad enough without it). Gwadz has some photos posted on his blog (linked above). Spearman has promised to post his, post haste. Not sure where (or even if) Stoner and Butch share their masterpieces. But I'd like to see what they were able to catch. They both have skillz behind the lens.