betterer

I found a better video hosting service and here is the that same video, only better....and here is the web edit for Fresh Air Cure.  I'm really excited to have this web video stuff up and running.  Originally, I wanted to put Fresh Air Cure out on those little 3 inch DVDs, but it actually cost more than regular DVDs.  It seemed ridiculous to put an eight and a half minute video out on a full length DVD. 

      I rode Kzoo tonight with Sean Newtron Bomb, the White Lotus and UP Mike.  Here are some rad pitures of Mike and the Lotus, shot by Sean, of course...

Note the Lotus' stache and Mike's shirtless approach, even in October.  He should be wearing a red and black flannel shirt.  I think I just renamed him "Lumberjack Mike".   It was a fun session.

   I got the new Props Rock and Roll Road Fools today and it's super good.  Davey Coop has a couple clips and a speaking part.  I love Props, especially the Road Fools series.  Check it out. 

 

 

The Dowagiac Files
I've been wanting to do this for awhile and I got it figured out tonight.  It's a re-edited segment from Fresh Air Cure and you can see it right here.   It's kind of a bittersweet accomplishment.   I worked really hard on this and it came out well, but posted on the net it loses a lot of quality.  It's my first effort at a web video, so I hope it gets better as I learn more about it.   I posted twice tonight in case you missed the one below...

We ride!
Now Playing: Elliot Smith: Coast to Coast
Tonight, Levi and Sean FarvegNewton came over to check out the trails.  I've been working hard on them and was excited for someone else to actually see them in person.  Daylight was fading fast, but we took care of business.  Here's Levi carving the newest berm.

And  here's one of me, jumping the mid-section.

Sean took the pics with my camera, so they aren't up to his usual hight standards (I think the photos are great, but I know he was kind of bummed with them and can do better).  He's a Canon guy.  I'm a Nikon guy (who still doesn't know how to fully work my camera). 

  I love trails, even my small, weird ones.  I'm considering some rebuilds now after having visitors.  

PS  Ryan Garvock still comes to this site.   He told me so  himself.

 

 

 

 

night train
Now Playing: Witch

I'm siked, I just got in over an hour's worth of digging in pitch darkness.  This light cost me $11.99 and was worth every penny.  Just as I started adding to my new berm, I noticed something sparkling about ten feet away, in the weeds.  I walked over to discover a super gnarly spider.  He winked at me and grinned.  I backed away slowly and got back to work.  These jumps aren't huge, but they are getting bigger and more dialed every time it rains and every time I work on them.  Dowagiac jam is shaping up.  Celebrities such as Dave Moon, Davey Coop, The White Lotus and more are expected to be on hand....

Speaking of celebrities, my old friend McGoo posted on nice comment under the "Biltwell" post.  If you go to their site, you will see McGoo's latest MC build, which is a site to behold.   

  On the mend are both FODs Chris Hatfield, who has a new bike built up and is riding strong again after his broken ankle and subsequent surgery and Kelly Baker, who broke his hand a few weeks back and just got his cast off.  I know it's  hard on Kelly to not be able to ride, but he's shredding vicariously through his chillins.

   I probably should have called 911 tonight when we saw this instead of taking this picture, but, uh, I took the picture instead.  Poor guy...

 

 

 

choo choo charlies

It may have been there for awhile, but I just noticed that on the FBM site, you directly purchase Deliverance product.  Dans Comp has lots of stuff as well, including Bar Bags.  Albes has some tees, too!

      It's raining today, but next Sunday's forcast for the Dowagiac jam is 100% nice with a 100% chance of radness.  Here's a shot of Fro, guilty as charged with both forcasted elements in place.

   I got my trails and my motorcycle running this weekend.   Pics sooner or later. 

 

 

biltwell
Now Playing: TBIAPB Evil Livin

Yesterday was gyped day.  My wife and I spent over 40 dollars on dinner somehow and are still trying to figure out what hit us.  I got shorted 37 cents on a check because the cent amount wasn't in the box on the far right of the check (note to self).  that over-priced, starchy dinner came back to haunt me after Sean Wildebeast Newton and I drove almost an hour to the Dowagiac park.  We got there just before dark, rode for about 10-15 minutes and then it was just too dark to shred.  We waited for a few and the lights came on (albeit slowly).  We resumed the sesh, and I started feeling lightheaded with a clammy sweat.  It's some sort of blood-sugar crash that I've experienced for years, although not very often.  I think it's really a vegetarian problem.  If I eat a bunch of starchy carbs and no protein, it burns off really quickly and shit goes haywire.  I found a smashed up granola bar in the bus, ate it, and I was normal again.  Unfortunately, the weather had taken a nosedive and monsoons were coming in.  The rains hit hard and fast and we were back out. Two hours of driving for twenty minutes of BMX.  Dammit. 

     My friends McGoo and Bill Bryant run Biltwell, as well as being the main guys behind Snafu.   Goodest dudes ever.  Bill's Triumph is a site to behold. 

This is what a man's motorcycle should look like.  I've been working hard on my old Honda and my goal for this weekend is for it to roar to life.  that might be a lofty goal.   I need to take to my trails and do burn outs on the runways.   I jumped some more jumps today and I'm stoked.  Stoked after being bummed about being a wuss.  Hitting jumps for the first time is scary bizness, especially when the jumps are soft and the trail is rough.   fuck it. fuck me.  fuck you.  not you, but them.  I told myself I was gonna stop swearing.  I lied.  I wonder if Ryan Garvock still reads this blog?

 

 

video daze

I am a video nerd, straight up.  My wife is out of town and the boys and I have watched the latest Props, Road Fools 3 and parts of Grounded since yesterday.   I'm old enough to say "back when I was a kid, we didn't have..." lots of things, but we for sure didn't have videos.  Home video machines weren't even around yet.  I remember when they came out.  My dad bought a video disc player instead of a VCR.  It played these giant discs that were bigger than record albums and they skipped and were just ridiculous (I think I've posted about this before, sorry if I'm repeating myself.  I'm old!).  I remember the first time I saw myself racing BMX on video.  It was wild!  My friend Larry's parents had a Super 8 movie camera and we filmed some BMX stuff with that, but it was such a huge production to even watch it. You had to set up a screen, the projector, turn out the lights, etc., then the damn movie was only four minutes long!  After it was done, you had to run the film back through the machine and onto the spool.  You always wanted to watch it backward, but it would get sucked into the projector and wreck the film.   I know all about this because the Deliverance "film", Fresh Air Cure, was shot mostly on this archaic type of equipment.  It's quite novel and looks cool, but it's super expensive and a total nightmare to deal with.  For one, you have no idea if the film you are shooting is even coming out...

    Anyway, I remember the first real video that I saw.  It was the Bones Brigade Video Show skateboard video.  It was so good and watching it got us so fired up to go skate that when it was over we were out the door before the credits even finished.  That was 1985.  Fast forward to today and you can watch the latest BMX video while you're supposed to be learning in school--even in college (right Sean?).  Here's a link to the much anticipated HD Mutiny video.  It looks incredible....

After I typed this up, I went to YouTube and did a search for the Bones Brigade video.  It took three seconds to find it and five seconds to edit the link (it's kind of corny, but it stands the test of time, for sure).  The future is now.  One point of interest if you watch this, is the first song "Skate and Destroy" by the Faction.  There is a line early on that says "Kick that bike, skate and destroy" and later on, another says "The cops are coming after me, their sons are BMXers, they always try to stop me but urethane is faster than boots".  Roots of the holy wars.

Around these parts, bikes and skateboards are all on the same page...

pic by Sean Highwater Newton.

   One more thing.  Jason Burton posted a comment on the previous post about the sidepull brakes on my "trail" bike.  I don't know why I was so hell bent on using a caliper brake on that thing. The frame has V-brake mounts and v-brakes work well, but they're kind of fruity.  It was so much work to get that damn sidepull brake to work on there!  And of course, it works horribly.  Jokes on me.

 

 

 

 

double dippin
Now Playing: Crimpshrine: Inspiration

The BMX world is a crazy place these days.   Sunday night I watched the Dew Tour on TV like an old fat guy would watch a football game (easy, I know what  you're thinking!).   Flip whips, double dips and ego trips.  It's absolutely nutso.  One thing that really bothers me about those shows is that they'll say "Mike Aitken is leading in points right now" and not show one second of footage of him.  He's off the TV star radar, I suppose, but he's the best.  I could watch him ride all day.  Luckily there are shots of him in this, along with the ender (also no where to be seen on TV, unless I just missed it--I don't think I did though) of Morgan Wade's unthinkable line/trick/daredevil stuntery. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've been working hard on the trails and finally hit a couple jumps on a twenty incher.   The frame is a one-off deal that I won a couple years ago.  I'm sure it looks goofy if you are less than 30 years old, but a few dudes know what it's all about.  More importantly, it rides really well and it is built up with huge knobbies, a 39-13, big bars and a Kashimax seat.  A what?

  The D wack jam i shaping up. I think a lot of people are going to make it....

 

 

truth is stranger than fiction
Now Playing: Howard

Several elements of this collage were photographed by me, this past weekend.  It's embarrassing to admit that the most absurd of the images are the ones I expierenced (dog in ballet outfit, man with cig in dog suit, monster truck).  Noah and I went to the Kalamazoo Speedway for their annual "Night Of Destruction", which involved several different events.  They had school bus races, where busted old buses raced around the oval with camper trailers and old boats on trailers behind them.  The boats would fall off the and the other buses would run them over, it was outrageous.  They also had "train" races, where three cars were attached together, with a person driving the first and last car, while the middle car just careened between the two.  It was crazy.  There were monster trucks running over motorhomes and spinning donuts, burn-out contests with cars off the street and some actual race events.

Noah couldn't get enough of it and I had a good time too.  Hillbilly events are the best.

    I've been working on trails too, which is cool.  I need some rain though.  

Here's a link to some nice photos that Fro Aredelean took. 

and yeah, that' it....

 

 

 

BLOKES
Now Playing: Maritime

Although I don't miss living in Detroit, I certainly miss my friends from the area.  THis week I was fortunate enough to see Otto, Hatfield, Solan and Davey Coop all on the same day.  Hatfield, Solan and I had delicious Krishna food (I'll bet Solan didn't plan on that when he woke up in the morning).  I met Davey at his hi-tech post-production job.  Super cool place and nice people.  THey even did a Deliverance piece that I haven't used yet.  Hopefully soon you'll have something to see on this site besides stolen photos and crude drawings.  The trails here at the house are starting to come together.  Noah and I have been working hard.  Actually, I've been working hard and Noah's been throwing rocks, but it's awesome regardless....