Now Playing: Archer's of Loaf Chumming the Ocean
Thank you to everyone who came out, contributed and rode their bikes in Glenn's honor. Check here. And here. And maybe later, here.
Representing with big Mick!
Also, I want to give a shout-out to Bill Sympson in Minnesota for sending me some more Moon Eyes stickers. Now I don't have to make fake ones...
Jason Burton is the first one to contribute to the Glenn fund and for that I say thank you. The stickers should be done for the Kzoo event. I was trying to think of other ways to raise some money, but Dane came up with the simple and awesome plan to get raffle tickets for people to purchase. We have a lot of prizes already (Animal sent stuff two times!), so I think the raffle will be good. It sounds like a lot of people are planning to make the trip.
This past Sunday we had most of a Cobras Local 77 reunion with Solan, Phil Rase, Sean Rakos and Chris Hatfield. The glaring ommissions from our one-time weekly Sunday morning session was Davey HK Coop and Chris Yankee, who was rumored to possibly show. Davey had a good excuse as he was in Flint and also had a bruise like no other on his shin. He redeemed himself at Modern tonight by landing harder than I've seen anyone land in a long time. Yeah Davey. It was a fun session, though a bit hectic with people flying all around the park. The friendly folks at Veteran BMX had some new die-cut stickers that were so awesome I put one on my bike right on the spot (I don't even have a new Deliverance sticker on the bike I'm riding right now).
Out New York way, Kelly Baker is single-handedly building a skatepark in the town where he lives. I'm not making this up... Kelly's blog I talked to him last night and on his blog he is down-playing how much work he is doing, almost all by himself. Beyond that, he is paying for concrete and materials himself. Every new thing I learn about Kelly, I am even more amazed than before. The dude is dedicated! In the new Ride UK there is a great interview with Ian Schwartz. He mentions BMX people having "Unorthodox priorities", which is the most right on description for the way a lot of us think. I've known Ian for quite a while and he's the real deal. I'm glad to see him on the move.
So don't be surprised if I try to strong arm you into paying $5 for a sticker (kinda ironic after that post from last week, huh?). If you can make it to Kalamazoo, please do so. The jam is going to be fun, the rest of the park will be open to ride and now it is for a really good cause...
This New Year's day marks the beginning of the 17th year of my being a vegetarian. No meat, no fish, no chicken stock in my soup--I'm sure by mis-information in a restaurant or whatever, but my motto is "If you don't know, don't go". I don't think I'm self-rightous about it or preachy or in-your-face. Live and let live is why I do it and also how I feel about other people's lifestyle choices. I guess talking about it on a website is kind of self-rightous....
Anyway, there are FODs who are on the veg. plan and these noodles are my latest recommendation. $1.99 at Trader Joes, the ultimate grocery store for vegetarians, pretty much.
So I'm going to throw this question out there to anyone who thinks they could possible answer it: If I care so much about animals, don't eat them, try not to wear to much leather (guilty by default due to my job on this one, but again, not preaching about it), definitely aware of the cruelties and abuse of animals (my wife and I choose the Humane Society as the only charity that we donate to), then why does it seem like I always have a wild animal drama to deal with? The deer incident on Xmas was crazy, but that was not even the beginning. Our two "cute" little dogs
have caught and/or killed no less than six baby rabbits in the last couple of years (including two on Easter!), several of which I was able to rescue. Now this:
This giant racoon has been camped out in the flower garden since early this morning. I called the Humane Society and they were no help (the thanks we get!), telling me to call Animal Control. I think of "dog catcher" when I think Animal Control but I called them anyway. They said to wait for awhile and see if it leaves, because sometimes they get flushed out of their homes when it rains a lot. It did rain a lot, three days ago, but this guy seems sick. You can see the carrot in the pic, which he didn't eat. My wife tried to give it some chicken as well. It's fairly responsive when we talk to it, but I don't know what to do.
On an un-related note, FOD Dane Wild and I were involved in a scary-ass crash last night in Modern. 205 pounds + bike - brakes divided by 120 pounds + bike - brakes = trainwreck. We actually collided at the top of a big wedge, so it seemed like an eternity as the crash unfolded. I honestly had time to think "thank God neither of us is running pegs" as we waltzed down the ramp in a tangled mess. We were both laid out on the floor afterward and definitely shaken up, but both more or less okay (I have a weird tire burn on my wrist, of all places). I decided that my new $14.99 jeans from Old Navy are my "crash pants". I ate shit street riding the day before wearing them and had them on again last night.
Yeah. Rambling. Bye.