shanghaied!!

BarHookUp is now open for business.

2011-11-19T23:55:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a trip that was. Poor Mason had to endure the whole build-out of the bar. I certainly hope it doesn't ruin his marriage. Some ten-hour days here. Some four-hour days there. Couple hours here. A couple there. Now there is a bar on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach that does not belong. I am about to begin an advertising campaign to end all advertising campaigns. I'm hoping to get the word out since I have to close for a week while I'm gone to Japan. Get back and really put the pedal down on luring a crowd in. It is such a nice place. Huntington Beach certainly does need something like it.

Bar Hook Up is close to being open.

2011-11-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

Only a couple more things to do before I can officially open the bar up to the public. I don't think it belongs on Beach Blvd. but if word gets out, it should become popular. I need to put up the lighting, install the showcase, install the menu fixtures and order alcohol. Also hook up the dvd players and hang and hook up the sound system. And also construct and install the front bench.

more bar photos

2011-11-06T19:43:00.001-08:00

more bar progress

2011-11-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Mason and I put in a couple days last week and now the front entry is done as well as the storage room wall and ceiling and bathroom blocker wall. (before you could see the person walking into the bathroom from two feet away if you were sitting at the back booth. not my style. I want my distance.) The bathroom sink piping was re-plumbed by our friend Punker Ron so I could put in the corner sinks. I tore into the wall and am in the middle of the shitty job of sanding the drywall patch. I am doing my best but does it usually take six passes of mud to get it smooth? I think I shimmed the drywall board a hair too high. Eh. Whatever. It'll look fine. I'm hoping to find someone to help with the laying of the laminate for the countertop. I need to buy the t.v.'s and vcr's and set up the sound system, get the cooler and ice machine repaired and finish building the armrest, footrest, drink rail and get to polishing the floor. And also buy alcohol. And weld up the legs for the front driftwood bench. Got to order a credit card machine, wireless internet, get glassware and towels and soap and paper towels and fill the condom and dirty photo machines and the underwear machine. Sheesh. By Friday? Well, here it goes.

Trike done. Bar next. Starliner after that. Then movie.

2011-10-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

Man, that was a TRIP! I probably should have passed on the trike build but it's Shige's 20th and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to show some respect and love to the Shige-san and Mooneyes so goodbye sleep, hello hell. Oh! Where to begin and where did it end? As far as the last post goes, that was two days before delivery. I was able to get everything done but starting and riding the night before delivery. Poon, Grant and Drews were nice enough to join Rodney and I for the first kick. It lit but started flooding pretty bad so after a while everyone split and I buttoned a few things up and figured I would take care of the starting and riding before I loaded it in the net day. Carlos let me borrow his truck in the a.m. and we got Drews bike in the back and delivered no problem. We then shot over to Rodney's place and I put new oil line clamps on all of the lines and tilted the carb up a bit and tightened it down. One kick and it lit and idled like I had never changed a thing. (Ralph at Mesa Cycle had recently done a full split-case rebuild and I had not fired it since it went back together) The thing was idling sooo nice and then BAM! An oil line was resting against the pipe and I didn't see it. It burst all over me and the stuff behind me and jesus. I jumped! I shut it down and ran to the hardware store for some more oil line and replaced it before loading it in. It looks like I'll be riding this one for the first time again in Yokohama behind the Moon Cafe the day before the show. Sometimes, that's how things go. I put the word out to the Japanese homeboys that we'll be wrenching the day before and they're stoked to have a hand in it and I'm stoked that it's coming together this way. I get a kick out of finishing something like this but to share it this way with the guys who live and breathe motorcycling like we do but on the other side of the earth...sheeeeit. THAT is cool and that is what it is really about. The photos are of Drews and I the day of delivery.

jesus will I finish this?

2011-10-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

roadblocks etc.

2011-10-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Holy crap. Here's some good info for those of you who plan on taking a servicar rear end and mating it to a big twin motor. Sheeeeit. I split the rear end apart to chrome it and forgot to pull the races and bearing out of the ends. (the races are huge, fine threaded and spin out) I figured the chrome plater would silicone the shit out of them but no luck. chromed and frozen bearing in one and plated race in the other. I got it back and ground the bearing out. Rodney got the race out somehow and I went and bought a slightly undersized bearing with the same original inner diameter and master Rodney made a race for the race. It looks like it may work. I'll be putting the rear end together tomorrow night and hope to light it up by the weekend. I better since I have to deliver this bike on the 26th. I have to wire it, set up the oil lines and clutch and work out a master cylinder still. And also the brake pads may be too big for the drums now that they are re-lined. Eh. 5 more days. No problem.

Building the trike in ten days.

2011-10-16T22:02:00.001-07:00

I have begun putting the trike back together and it is looking really cool. The paint job by Jose and Maestro is really stunning in the light. I picked the color from a color book of new paint options for hondas and fords. The color is Jade Metallic and it is one of my favorite colors.

Tran and the red interior

2011-10-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Tran came in today and knocked out some seating for me. There are now three half booths and one full plus two very long benches. It's hard for me to believe that all of the interior was free and fit perfectly.

hola crapola there is progress

2011-10-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

Mason and I put a day in at the Hook Up and a DJ booth appeared. The floor is a foot off the ground and we used a fiberglass form as a radius that I picked up in the big wood recycle I got behind that warehouse around the corner. The trike is coming along also. Here are some shots of the frame and tank.

stained spruce facia

2011-09-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

I have been working on installing the front wood on the bar and finally finished but it looked like a wild west saloon with the untreated spruce standing out like a sore thumb. I bought and returned five or six pints of stain before enlisting the help of wood stain guru and all around good guy Ross Morgan of Morgans Woodshop for some faux treatment consultation. I began with a watered down pail of white kilz paint and rolled that on. I let it dry then watered down a water-based black paint and brushed it on for that 'old' look. Thank you Ross for the direction. I am very happy with the results.

New exterior shot

2011-09-23T00:11:00.001-07:00

I have almost completed the spruce exterior and will probably just install the wood around the door and paint the door red. Ross suggested I do a silver "wash" of black and white paint watered way down and rolled onto the wood to mimic the silver color it will turn as it ages. I can't wait that long. I want it silver NOW. I have all of the booths and will go purchase the vinyl for the bottoms that I am missing and some shiny red vinyl for the inside panel on the door.

Seven new HEATHENS videos

2011-09-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

While trying to master the video editor, I put together seven new Heathens videos for you to enjoy. It's FAST humor. http://www.youtube.com/user/chmediagroup

Hook Up sign night view and bar wall construction

2011-09-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of the completed sign after Ky installed today. Next is the installation of the spruce facia and front bench fabrication. Mason and I built about half of the bar yesterday. We will build the radius that leads to the other wall tomorrow and possibly the bar top. There's only about 27" between the front and rear beer coolers for the bartender but I guess I don't need much distance to move around back there anyway.

Trike seat fabrication

2011-09-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of the bike with the rear seat structure. Rodney and I put a small grab bar in front of each seat for safety's sake but there isn't much safety for the riders of the Pleasuredome, that's for sure. Tomorrow we mount the headlight and taillight/license plate bracket and make a battery box.

Making a new sign for the bar.

2011-09-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

First thing you do is pick a name, measure the panels for the signage, design a panel and take it over to your local sign guy, mine being Sharp Signs in Westminster, CA. Ky at Sharp Signs has fabricated all the signage I have ever designed from the Avalon arrow to the church cross neon to the Charles Todaro Gallery sign and all plastic signage in between. Here they are laying out the panels...

Yokohama trike coming along smoothly.

2011-09-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Rodney and I have been bending up the tubing to mount the rear seats and oil bag and it is looking like a real bike now.

How to buy and build a bar in 60 days.

2011-09-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Monroe Club was, I am told, the last true dive bar in Huntington Beach, CA. The last owner was running hookers out of it....rumor has it, of course...not a week before I got it. I have known about the bar for the last four years and stopped by weekly to talk to the property owner to check status. In June, the owner mentioned that the lease holder was in arrears thirty days on rent going on sixty. From that day forward I carried six grand in my back pocket and stopped in to the property owners office every morning at opening time. Eviction was begun and the Sheriff was expected to post the eviction at any moment. I could then sign a new lease and get the place. Up until the moment the Sheriff tacks the notice up, the lease holder has the right to pay his back rent and continue his lease.The owner had it on the market for 125k and couldn't come to agreement on price. He then turned his electricity off which constitutes abandonment. He did that on a Tuesday night, I was there on Wednesday morning at 8:30 signing the new lease and twenty minutes later the old lease holder is arguing with my locksmith in front of the bar while holding a check for 11k to pay the back rent and penalties. Too late. Gotcha on a technicality. The new bar is called The Hook Up.

When building a bar, you want to cut costs wherever you can. I have taken to scavenging behind local warehouses for wood. Here we have Mason post load up of the 1" ply, 3/4" ply, built radius corners and moulding I got from behind an abandoned warehouse off of the 405 and Goldenwest. That wood ain't cheap. Mason says it's worth at least 400 bucks if I were to buy it from Lowes. This should build the bar back, bar top and armrest plus the raised dj booth. The last photo shows the giant beams stacked near the pile we pilfered from. Holy crap those were big trees!

1960 Ford Starliner body and paint completed

2011-09-05T08:43:00.001-07:00

The galleon is almost completed and it is looking very nice. Maestro, my 125.00 a day bodywork friend and I knocked out the 'to the metal' bodywork job in two weeks of eight hour days. As we worked, I had my friend Tran stitch up a full show interior in white naugahyde covered in diamond stitch pattern, which I am fond of. (see interior of panel truck) I am cloning a car that I had many great memories in...Joe Kennedy's 60 starliner which he called 'The Galleon'. Joe, Pokey and I were coming back from somewhere in Huntington Beach, up Beach Blvd at about Talbert when a car full of women pulled up and told us to pull over. We pull over, they pull over, a couple girls jump out and jump into our car and off we go. We didn't even talk. It just turned into a make out session down Beach Blvd. That happened on Beach and Slater once when I was on my motorcycle. I'm glad Russell witnessed that. That shit only happens in movies.

Da Bomb!!

2010-12-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

I guess you need to be in the know to know what this is and how it relates to me. Whatever you do, DON'T eat the whole thing in one sitting! Nervous breakdown!

Clear Outer Primary

2010-12-14T19:07:00.001-08:00

Scott Craig and I put our heads together and, with the help of an aircraft windshield maker friend of mine, hand vacuum formed 12 of these clear big twin outer primaries. This was a fun project but sadly I got the short end of the stick and only ended up with one for all of my effort. I still have that one cover in the garage. It was fun working with that machine and cutting out the forms on the bandsaw. They turned out great: that I remember. We took them to Japan and I don't think we sold even one there. We were sure they were going to be a hit. (kind of like the lighters! Ha!) They eventually ended up at some shop of Scott's in Echo Park where they got lost or were stolen or something to that effect. Either way, it was a cool experience with a cool product for the scene. I wonder where they all ended up?

Asphalt Gods, A Photographic History

2010-12-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

This is a project that has been on the top of my OCD list for the last three or four years. I started out playing music with lyrics from a 60's club members point of view and that turned into a three camera, two car shoot from California to South Dakota to interview the original members of the Venice and South Bay Heathens Motorcycle Family. Crazy. I couldn't believe I was going to actually do it while I was coordinating the camera crew and renting vehicles. If someone came to me and said "hey, I'm going to hang out with this motorcycle gang that I met. You want to bring a video camera and film it?" I would think that guy was crazy. Motorcycle clubs don't put up with that shit. Well, this group liked me enough to let me sit down with them and tell the story of the rise and fall of their club in the 70's and 80's. Hours and hours and hours of video footage, interviews, hundreds of vintage photos collected and too many crazy stories to tell in one sitting. That turned into the book that you see here. It turns out editing is extremely expensive and this movie is going to take a good chunk of time in the editing booth. Toru, a friend I met thru Mooneyes and my trips to the Mooneyes show in Yokohama, took the time to lay this out for me and it is up on the web and selling a few a week. www.asphaltgods.net Maybe this movie will get made after all.

Biker Cover #2

2010-12-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

The goal of building bikes has always been to look cool, go fast, and hopefully, in the end, contribute to motorcycling and custom style in a positive way. Hopefully, someday, could be tomorrow or 20 years down the road, someone looks at the bikes my friends and I have done and are inspired to continue a true 60's style. My favorite style that I hope lives on with these two bikes. # 272 February, 2011 Biker Magazine

Biker Cover #1

2010-12-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

This was my first cover and it was a big deal to me. I really love Biker Magazine. It's as close to the old magazines as you can get. You can tell every issue may be the last but the editor and contributors just won't let it die as long as clubs continue to run around the U.S. I hope that my contributions to this great magazine added to the cool factor. When I designed this sissybar, everyone and their uncles told me that would immediately vibrate itself to death and break off. It took years to actually bust off on the offramp to a bar I was riding out to for Scott Craig's birthday. The bar was called the TeeYee. I pulled up at the bar and 'damn', I thought. 'Where the hell did that go?' I rode home that night with a hope that I would find it on a trip up the freeway in the morning. LaLa and I jumped into the ranger and did 20 miles an hour in the fast lane from my house to that off ramp and back for a second pass. I found it on the damn offramp that took me to the bar. I put it back on and a year or two later it broke off on the 22 freeway at about Magnolia heading West. I felt it break off and faintly heard it tink tink behind me into nowhere. I pulled over and turned the bike around on the shoulder and started riding the opposite way on the freeway. Not very smart but I have been known to make bad decisions. Anyway, riding the wrong way on the shoulder I come upon a honda civic facing the wrong way with a flat tire, parked in a pool of radiator fluid. The elderly asian man is standing in the iceplant with his hands to his head as I pull up. I jump off the bike and he comes up and tells me that 'a shiny thing popped his tire and killed his radiator'. I bent over and looked under the car but no sissybar. I wished him luck and continued on down the freeway on the bike in the hopes that I would find the sissybar. I got stopped by the cops at Harbor and was told to keep going on foot or turn the bike around and follow the flow of traffic. Ok. I hoofed it one more exit but no dice. The sissybar attacked the honda and disappeared into thin air, never to be seen again. # 241, November, 2006 Biker Magazine

looking back on the last few years

2010-12-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking back, over the last few years, and going over all of the stuff that I did, tried to do, wanted to do and didn't, thought of doing and forgot to, obsessed over, and so on and so forth. Let's look back on a few of these things. I thought that these zippos were going to be the last word in cool. They didn't sell worth a damn in Japan. They sure were fun to design and lay out. I found a guy down a back street in a bad neighborhood in Saigon. A referral from some other shady dude at a used zippo shop. The engraver guy, his son, and I negotiated, haggled, went over designs, kicked around this and that, ate pho, haggled some more and finally came to an agreement on eight designs and a logo thrown in on the backside. Looking back, it was a really good deal at the price I ended at when you break it down per zippo but I could have done better if I had more time to source the zippos. I decided to do this two days before I was to fly out so I was on a tight schedule. Drew the designs out on a bunch of napkins in a noodle joint under the shadow of New World Hotel. I'm sure it was humid as hell. Takes me back to that shop every time I watch Apocalypse Now.

I found some new stuff going on...very excited.

2010-11-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

First off, the 47 panel has passed on into other hands now. A guy and his dad came by and showed the cash so off it went. They were old chevrolet truck guys so it went to a good home. They mentioned leaving the two-tone primer job so keep an eye out. In it's place is a 1960 Ford Starliner. Very nice. I got it running and did the brakes up, had the worst of the rust dealt with and all of the trim is out at the polisher/chromer as you read this. Juwan has it so pray for me. I'll be cloning the late, great starliner, 'THE GALLEON'. Those of you in the know remember this grand chariot crushing the streets from Fullerton to Huntington and all points in between. Built by Joe Kennedy in '95, it was sadly sold to some rockabilly goof who stashed it in a garage until he hit the lean times and sold it to a car shop who completely tore it apart and made a SIMA sympathy wagon out of it. I'll be slapping a nice white paint job on it. Top to be bronze. White leather interior. Astro supremes to be sure. The Undertaker will be putting the brush to it at some point. The beautiful LeBaron is now officially for sale. 2k for that incredible machine.

Secondly, I have a new guitar from my friends at Hidecore Leather. All class.

Not much going on. I'll work on that.

2010-08-04T18:40:00.001-07:00

Dang. The time goes by so quick. I had to back out of the trike build. I gave the front end back to Drews and leaned it up against the wall again. I'm hoping to knock it out next year. There is just too much going on to press the 'build it in a month' button. KrylonJohn and I shot the Biker article at the AvalonBar the other day. Setting that up was a drag. Two models just decided not to show up. One was named Sunshine. She works as a dancer at California Girls. The first scheduled shoot she called up last minute with a story about seeing some girl stab another girl in the head at the club. Ok. Let's reschedule. The day comes. No show. No call. No nothing. Sheesh. Strippers. I was warned. I will say that. Fast forward a month. I put an ad out on Craigslist for a topless model. (surprising how many girls will send nude photos from a random ad) I picked two. The first was a no-show. No call. No response. Nothing. I had all the lights set up and the bike out and in the bar and I wasn't giving up so easy. I called the second girl and she shot out from L.A. in an hour. Got the shoot done. She was great and very cute and photogenic. Tall. Thin. I hope it gets cover. If so, it'll be my second in a row. Can't say for sure yet. Terese still has to sign off on it. I'm not exactly sure what I'll post on here now. I guess if the book gets done, I'll let you know where to buy it. If I finish another lamp I'll post a photo. I am working on the 53 chevrolet truck so I'll take a photo of that. See ya.

Donated front end from Drews

2010-06-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent photo of my mock-up on the trike project. I'm feeling the rake now so it's going to stay. It really looks cool up close. The excitement meter has risen by two points.

1947 chevrolet deluxe panel van

2010-06-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

New 'old' glide front end ready for modification...

2010-06-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mr. John Candy Edwards for the shaved and filed wide glide trees. He put some hours into these, that is evident. That saves me time and allows me to put more time into the lower legs. The trees were 200 bucks and that is a fine deal. He also put two sets of lower legs into my hands. One an untouched and stock set and one that has been turned down. I want to take material off of a set but need to make sure that the turned set has enough meat left. I'll mic the stock set and put that up to the turned set to tell me the difference. Stuff those into the lathe and see where we end up! I can't wait. I have had a springer and a narrow glide. This is my first wide glide and I think they look good if they are done in the style that I prefer. Stripped and lowered is what I like. Engraved would be nice but I can't afford it on this build. (or can I?) Rodney and I had lunch yesterday and kicked around the neck de-rake and seat frame construction. Stretch, if you read this, please compile some tank-molded-onto-frame trikes and choppers for me, will ya? I need some points of reference on the tank.

Monarch boardtracker is close to completion!

2010-06-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

I was able to take a few hot laps on the monarch today. It's fast and it's dangerous! I also got to stop over at a friend's shop for the first time. Holy crap! Is that a B24 engine or something? Incredible stuff when you get up close!

1947 chevrolet panel headliner

2010-05-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

I had Tran stitch up a headliner worthy of a deluxe panel. It's not done but I am very impressed with the progress up to now. Junko and the goat are impressed too.

I am adding a photo of the completed interior with t pieces attached and of the fenders painted. I need some new stainless clips to re-install the trim package and then I'm almost done with it. On to the next project. I do really like this panel. Not as much as Grant, Candy, Drews, etc., though. They own it. I'm just fixing it up for them.

Chassis backstory.

2010-05-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is the chassis I will be starting my build with. The frame came from Walker's Frame Shop at the 405 and the 710 freeway interchange, if I remember correctly. I purchased it a few years ago. At the time, Scott Craig and I were collaborating on a clear outer primary cover and in passing, I mentioned to him that I wanted to build a big twin trike. He told me about a frame that he purchased but returned to Walker's Frame Shop. I guess Walker is quite an abrasive fellow and Scott and he had a few words which, for whatever reason, made him return the frame. He warned me before I made the treck out to the shop that we would get in some sort of argument. I could see where Scott was coming from. Walker started out with the usual "what do you want, kid?" and "that old frame? I can't sell that." We talked a bit and he cooled off. I gave him the run-down of what I wanted to do with it and he agreed to sell it. I think I paid 750.00. As for the rear end, I bought that in a midnight deal at Negotiable Parts in Riverside. 200.00. I had seen it at Long Beach when he used to drive that box van out full of stuff. I got his card and set up a time to buy it out at his shop off of the 91 I think. I was pretty stoked to get that rear end. The chrome isn't good enough to run but it is complete. The rims are genuine servicar. Mason bought those from Ty and brought them over for the project. I think I paid 60.00 for the pair. I guess they are pretty rare and are in great condition. Well, that's my chassis story. Hope you enjoyed it.

I think I'll try one more motorcycle and I'll share it all start to finish.

2010-05-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

I've decided to knock out the big twin trike that has been standing up against the wall in the garage for the last two years for one last run at Mooneyes and another Biker Mag cover. That's gonna be it. The next bike I do will be a living room build in front of the wood stove for the kid's college fund. I am looking forward to putting some time in with Rodney again and getting the front end tricked out with John at Banzai Machine. It won't be on such a crazy time schedule like the last but I'm sure it will have it's usual ups and downs. The frame is a stock servicar rear end section mated to a swing-arm neck and downtubes. There is significant rake on it presently but now that I have decided on a front end, Rodney can put it up on the frame table at RSD and kick it back to stock. I was considering running a Indian Chief girder but I just can't get around the single spring. Little things torture me and that spring bothers me enough to abort mission. I have decided to modify a stock early wide glide since this is going to be another 60's flashback. The rear end is a fully chromed stock unit with chain drive and hydraulic brakes. The seating arrangement is going to be totally mental. I'm stripping it down and building my idea of a perfect early custom panhead trike. I'll make my usual lane splitting tiny controls and I would like to get another gsxr master cylinder from Rodney for the brakes so we'll see what happens.

1953 restoration

2010-05-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have been in the middle of wet sanding the fenders on this damn 53' and shit. What a backache. I have hours left before I get a break. Here are some photos from the day.

central coast run

2010-05-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Junko and I drove the 47 up to Atascadaro, CA for Don Coffin's birthday at the Molochs clubhouse. I packed up the panhead and we drove non-stop and made it in six hours at 55-60 mph or so. I had already changed the rear end gears to a Patrick's 3-55 set and put 16" wheels with 650-16 Cokers the day we split. What a change! I went from 47 mph with a screaming whine to 60 mph with no noticeable sound other than my windows rattling and my door handles jiggling off every hour. The bike fit in with inches to spare after leaning the 1/4 seat forward. Junko posted up in the back in a lawn chair and we rolled out. The last grade into Atascadero, the truck kept slipping out of 3rd but mellowed out on the level straights. I guess I need my syncro's synroed. We pulled in at dusk and got the bike out. Don hadn't ever seen it so I got my hands on Keith's new baby and the crew got a good freak-out on the bike. I got a few jack and cokes under my belt and we were off to Don's for elk chili and a solid pass-out on the living room floor. The morning found us back on the road and a stop off in Pismo for breakfast. We pulled off for a short nap on the grass in Seaside and back home. Lot's of fun and Junko held her own again. She's hardcore. The club guys like being around her.

Completed lamp installation

2010-04-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here are three lamps that were built for Dwellings Interior Design in Costa Mesa last year. This was a fun project. I look forward to building more of these fixtures.

some random photos from week

2010-04-23T17:26:00.001-07:00

I saw this great painting at the Long Beach Antique swap last weekend and I'm glad I shot a photo. It has great perspective. There is also a nice shot or two of Hannah, daughter of Jun and Seiko. She was kicking around on the gym and I took a pic. Also a photo proving that she is taller than a vintage 100 watt Marshall head. There is also one of Tran, the apholsterer for the AvalonBar getting set up for our nightly poker game. The 1932 Ford 4 door was taken at the shop this afternoon. Pokey put that car together in a week.

surf wagon

2010-04-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

monarch boardtracker

2010-04-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what bars these are off of but I have a similar pair on a tandem I restored last year. They look just right now that I put them on the boardtracker. Joe got me a nice pair of chain tires from Long Beach swap so I'm footboards and a seat away from tearing down main street.

panel progress

2010-04-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the shop where I spend my days at and of the panel with it's newly restored and apholstered two-piece suburban bench seat. I have two openings on the floor under the seat where I need to add plates so I can mount the suburban seat correctly. The seat's mounting bracket drops into this hole. I went to IMS metals in Irvine and spent an hour digging thru the remnant pile and ended up just going up to the front and buying a new sheet of 26 gauge for 67 cents a pound. They wanted to charge me 24 bucks for three cuts on the shear! DAmn! I'll take it to Banzai Machine tomorrow and use his shear. There is a nice view of the recently painted dash also. It looks like I am going to need to remove the head and take it to a guy in Santa Ana who removes broken studs and taps. A drag but it will give me a chance to spice up the engine compartment a bit more. / So the shear was too weak at Banzai so I had to go back to IMS to cut the plate and damn it if it isn't just barely off and a centimeter too big. Figures. That and Rodney has my hand grinder. My template sucked. That will teach me to measure twice before having something cut. The guy at IMS gave me the Saturday price. 3 cuts for 10 bucks! Alright!

partial restoration of panel interior

2010-03-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

When I am not fixing up the bar or at the shop working on the 53 Chevrolet truck, I am at home working on the panel. I did up the jams and put in the weather-stripping and painted the interior a bit. Still plugging away but it feels good to get this together. I can't wait to get the seat installed. Tran is upholstering it now.

Monarch Boardtrack project!! Fast and dangerous!!

2010-03-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of the motor in the frame. I'm not too far off now!

Oh man. Now what?

2010-03-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

Ah, the delicate touch of Mason Byers has brought me to this low, low place. Here are a few photos of the tap broken off in the head, where not a week ago, the stud got broken off. I'm not sure what else we can stick in there to break off but if anyone has any ideas, i'm up for suggestions.

the panel hit a roadblock.

2010-03-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Damn. I worked on the panel all day, trying to get the exhaust manifold back on but after surfacing the thing, it refused to line up! I called Mason, resident genius and mechanic to lend a hand. After some drilling and banging, he grabbed the big pliers to twist out the stud and sadly, it snapped off way back in the head. Oh man. Not good. We took a few days to consult a psychic and were told to drill it out and run a tap so that's what we are gonna do. Until then, I have been painting and laying weather stripping into the door jams and getting ready to install the restored suburban seat, re-pop floor mat, and headliner. I'm hoping to have the dash and rear door jams painted this weekend. Last photo is of a favorite person at a favorite bar. Local Carpenter Extraordinaire and all around good guy Ross Morgan at the AvalonBar.

47-53 chevrolet suburban front bench seat

2010-02-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

Ha! After a long wait and many dead leads, I have scored the seat I wanted for the panel truck. This suburban bench has a small seat on the passenger end that leans forward. I want it so I can roll the panhead in and edge it that much further forward for a perfect fit. Off to the sandblaster and then to Tran for a nice diamond tuck in pleather. I paid 350.00 for the set as seen here. I also scored a set of 16" black steel wheels for the panel. I bought a set from a guy right when we got there for 100.00 with chev script caps and told him I would be back for them in a bit. Offhandedly I said if he could sell them for 200.00 before I got back, we would split the difference. I get back a few hours later and the guy has packed up all his stuff for the night and split. I walked the aisles for two hours because I couldn't figure out which space was his! I finally figured it out and he had left me a note saying "sold your wheels for 140.00. Had to go but will have your 120.00 tomorrow." Seriously? We were not staying the night since it was pretty obvious it was going to pour that night so now what? I went back to our space and Joe had spotted another set of wheels with a couple of useable tires in the north 40 for 100.00 so we hoofed it over and I bought those. I left a note on the guy's note with my phone number. He got a hold of me the next day and promised to send me the money via snail mail. Whatever. The t-shirt on the other hand is the score of the day! It is for a long forgotten band out of Seattle, Washington. I bought 4 shirts. Chris got one, Jun got one, I got one and one is stashed away. All in all not a bad Big 3 this year.

gonz paint detail

2010-02-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

church sign has been completed and delivered

2010-02-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

Here are photos of the sign I designed for my church/cult. It turned out great but I may go with painted letters next time. I had a mount base made so it could sit in the living room while I wait on an adequate storefront. White neon on both sides with black gloss paint. Made of aluminum. 4' tall by 3 1/2' wide at the arms. 7" by 7" thick.

progress on the 47 chevrolet panel

2010-02-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here's some photos of the panel. I had a nice sized exhaust leak so I pulled the manifold and found it was warped pretty badly. I had to take it over to Pilar's shop to have him call his machinist to surface the thing. I hit the Truck Shop in Orange for a gasket and 250.00 later, I was ready to re-install the manifold. No dice. The dang thing won't line up. I suspect the amount of material removed has caused the intake inserts to now be too wide. I can't say for sure but I'm going to try again Sunday when we return from the Big Three swap in San Diego. I'm almost ready to build the bed assembly and the guy with the 47 Chevrolet Suburban front two-piece bench seat is one call away from selling.

The 22nd Street Landing

2010-02-09T19:03:00.001-08:00

if this is what pre-promotion is like then I can't wait till the real thing...

2010-02-07T18:06:00.001-08:00

I have just about healed from my first of two ear surgeries and am starting some new projects and working harder on some old ones. The movie is pushing along slowly. I am hoping to have a 30 minute working edit done in the very near future. I am told it will help me secure a narrator. The first two trailers I put together had only three interviews out of the 20 or so that I have completed. A new edit will give a better overview of the footage compiled. Also, Ryan Bingham won the Golden Globe for best new song on a soundtrack with 'The Weary Kind' from the movie Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges. I'll be using an early album of his as the soundtrack for my film. I knew he was destined for stardom when he released his first album. They are very talented guys and I look forward to showcasing an earlier album that was as good as anything he puts out now. I made some posters for the film for Sundance 2011 and went out for the weekend of the festival to pre-promote. (a bit premature maybe but I tend to be a bit overenthusiastic when deep into a project) The plan was to put up my posters during the day on Thursday and meet up with Denny back at the airport in the evening for a nice weekend of snowboarding and films. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way. While I was putting up the last of my posters on the bulletin walls they erect along main street in Park City, a couple of guys came up and started putting up advertising for some computer company over my posters. Not one here and one there covering a corner or two but ten posters stapled up to completely cover all of my posters which I had just taped up. Now I'm cold as hell and have wet feet. It's snowing and I have already had a run in with some other kooks from another non-movie related advertising team so I'm not in the best of moods at this time. So I look over at these guys and they know they just completely covered my stuff and they are laughing to each other so I start tearing all of the posters they put up on my stuff and proceed to tear all of the posters they put up off of the wall, all the while calling them f-ing assholes and other colorful names. One of the guys tries to push me back from the wall and I give him a nice punch in the mouth and he falls back into the gutter snowbank full of filthy black slush. They have a crew close by putting up stuff so these guys start yelling for them, the cops, security and generally trying to get the crowd and passerby riled up against me. I'm about half way up Main Street and I need to get to the bottom and to the Marriott where the shuttle loads up to take people from Park City back to Salt Lake City airport. I grab my carry on roller and my backpack and start walking down. These guys have gone from two to about ten in thirty seconds and they're yelling at me that they're making a citizens arrest, that I need to stop and wait, someone call 911. Generally being total fags about it but since the street is jammed with people, other good citizens get involved and they start yelling and walking behind me. Nobody is touching me but I have about 15 people yelling for the cops ,the pope, and Robert Redford practically as I walk my cold ass three blocks down Main Street. That was a slow-assed three blocks, let me tell you. If they had torches and pitchforks, it would have been perfect. So I get to the Marriott shuttle turnaround and the van is there with some poor bewildered stoner guy holding the passenger door. There is also a lady inside already. Half the crowd is yelling at the van driver to wait for the police and the other half is milling around inside the Marriott trying to get the staff to hold the shuttle. Turns out the shuttle is not Marriott related but more like a cab so I put twenty bucks into the drivers hand and tell him to get us out of here. I can hear the freaking siren in the background and I know I will have no chance explaining myself with this crowd carrying on. I got the vibe that the driver had something to lose if the cops pulled up so he jumped in and literally drove thru some dipshits who were trying to hold the van back by pushing against the front fenders. We were pulling out and the last thing I heard was some lady screaming out "FUCK YOU" at the van as we drove off. I explained as best I could the situation on the ride back to the lady and the driver and then closed my eyes for the next 45 minutes. I wasn't sure if these dummies were going to make some stuff up and tell the cops I pulled a knife out or something so we hit the airport and I beelined it to the counter and switched my flight to 8:45. That's 1 hour away. I'm supposed to meet Denny there at Nine p.m. but I'm too freaked out so I hit the terminal and am on the plane taxiing out as Denny is taxiing up. I try to explain but what do you say? My trip to Sundance was twelve hours in all. Two arguements. One punch. An angry mob. A quick flight out. Great. Nothing ever goes smoothly.

new bicycle project in the works

2010-02-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Instead of going out to the GNRS last weekend, I drove the six hours up to Turlock with Pokey, Joe, and Chris for the antique car swap meet. During our dig for 32 Ford parts, I came across this Monarch frame and fork set. I also picked up the two trophies just in case I am invited back to Mooneyes next year. John at Banzai Machine in Huntington Beach has been working on a 5 horse motor install into a bicycle frame and he has it just about perfected. The plan is to put a motor into this frame and fab a tank and some drop bars for a board tracker look. I am drawn to the monarch for the springer, which looks like a big twin style with front and back legs, rockers, and springs to boot. I plan on dumping the front sprocket and cranks and making some footboards.

24 hours on a plane for a 72 hour show. still worth every minute.

2009-12-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

I want to share some of the photos I took while in Yokohama this year. We had a great time. The bikes were just incredible. I picked a triumph that was just about completely hand made for my best of show pick and a knucklehead with a narrowed wideglide for the 60's style award that Scott Craig and I usually give out. I think Scott would have agreed. I spoke to the guy and he bought some of the parts from El Camino last year. My best paint pick was a super, super stretched and raked HD with so much flake detail, I had no close second. It turns out, the painter was a tiny japanese girl who was soooo stoked to get the award. Each year I make the two awards that I give out. I put a blue CMS pedal into a shadow box for the 60's style award and I bastardized an old soccer trophy for the best paint award. It was great getting out into Tokyo with all the Japanese guys and checking out the shops. Most of the shops there are no larger than a single garage. No lifts in some of them. Clothing on the walls to help augment the slow season. Really doing it for the love of it. I relate. I really love motorcycles and Harley Choppers specifically but the whole he said-she said/I decide who's cool movement going around has really turned me off to our scene at home. There aren't enough of us to alienate even one guy or girl. The scene is so small that you just can't afford to blacklist people. With the Japanese guys, all they care about is that you are there, you dig the parts and the bikes and that you care enough to get together. Try that at home. It's funny that the Japanese have to teach US how to be bikers. Until everyone here can dig riding for riding's sake and get past this new chopper royalty shit, I'm tuning out. The knuckle on the BelraY wood display was my 60's style pick. He was there with his wife and two year old daughter. The nicest people you could ever meet. The front ends I shot 'cause I knew stretch would get a kick out of them. The rest were mostly parking lot bikes. The video is the Hide booth. It was pretty cool. They had a projector screen showing surfing and motorcycling and they were blasting rock and roll. I dug it.

what I am taking with me to Japan

2009-12-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

I'm off with everyone to Japan Thursday and I'm getting everything ready to put into my bag. The video shows the zippos I had engraved when I was in Vietnam and the small keychain viewers I have put together. I deliver the 34 coupe to the shipping company for the trip across the pond and into German hands tomorrow. I am pretty bummed about that but did you see the RULING car I am driving now? It is a 1985 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country Convertible Mark Cross edition! Gayer than hell but looks so cool and is a convertible! The '47 Chevrolet Panel has a new rear end gear set coming but will have to wait for a month or so.

So I was hoping to get another item done for the table at the show but I don't think I'll have the time. You never know, though. Who needs sleep?

And this is how I really get around!

2009-11-12T15:35:00.000-08:00

This is a video of Drews and I on our panheads rolling Long Beach and San Pedro. I am very proud of this clip because I don't have much footage of my friends and I riding in the areas we hang out in. Thanks to Toru, Makoto, and Shige for taking the time to work with us on this. Plus, this shows Drews on his ride to and at work which is what Drews is about- crushing the Vincent Thomas Bridge and the Pedro docks. Drews on his green pan and I on my new version of the pan I crashed on the 405 and Seal Beach Blvd exit in '96. Music is classic Reason to Believe, track is Fr I Fl. Early musical influence for both Drews and I.

This is how I get around.

2009-11-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

I think that my car will soon be driven by someone else so I'm going to post a video of how fun it is to drive in it. You may not get the same feeling that I do when I'm running around in it but it'll be nice for me to look back in a year and play this. I have driven this car as my only mode of transport (non-motorcycle) for the last two years and thinking back, I have had many adventures in it. Every trip is interesting. I'll have to get a new and fun car to replace this one. I really don't think the 47 panel will be as interesting to drive. I really love the panel but I can only go what? 60 max with the new 3-55 rear-end gearing? I'm not into that and my trip to San Diego for Coast Guard certification was a blast apart from 43 mph down and back.

I thought I was going to Ireland! WTF?

2009-08-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well it's coming near to the end of this leg of the journey. What a trip it has been! I'm not too sure what the craziest moment was. I'm looking forward to getting back so I can get some miles on the panhead and see everyone. I'm sure the babies at my house have grown a lot since I split. I can't wait to give them a squeeze. My flight is at freaking 4 a.m. tomorrow so I guess I'll just drink till then. I spent most of the day at the vintage military shop getting a dozen custom engraved zippos done for Japan. I picked out the images and the sayings last night and some old vietnamese dude is going to spend the next 5 days engraving them and giving them the ol' vietnam era patina. I think they will turn out very cool. I thought this photo of the motorbike trailer was interesting. Not much to it. They just weld on some thick all-thread and hook that trailer up and get to work! The fish merchant was another thing altogether. It looked really cool when it passed by. I didn't see any dead fish. Did you?

Well, unless the plane crashes and I live and walk myself to civilization to let you know what happened, I'll probably put this site off until the Japan trip in December. Who knows? Maybe I'll get stuck in another jam before then. I wouldn't bet against it. See ya. g

A brief overview of the hell that is Jakarta, Indonesia

2009-08-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

I left Kuta, Bali, Indonesia and I had a one night layover in Jakarta, Indonesia. It seems that since I went thru a travel agent in Saigon, they got me the crappiest route back to Saigon from Bali. I shouldn't say that Jakarta is bad. It really isn't. I don't care where you are in Indonesia, the people are so nice and so helpful, even if the situation is grave and shitty, the people around you are so laid back and want to give you a hand. That is, unless you work at the ticket counter at Lion Air in the Jakarta Airport. I had a 4 hour flight from Bali and since I had no idea where I was or what to do when I got off of the plane in Jakarta, i just walked outside the terminal and struck up a conversation with the first person I saw. It happened to be an old Indonesian guy who worked at the airport and having been in the Indonesian Navy, had been to the U.S. ports and wanted to discuss each port in detail. I was fine with that. He was really excited to talk about his time in the Navy and speak english so we sat down for a bit and had a chat. It turns out that you go outside of the terminal and hop on an hour long bus to a tourist area called Jalan. It's three streets connected together and full of bars, restaurants, used book shops and hostels. Lots of backpackers hanging out. (How's that salon sign? I won't be getting a haircut there.) I arrived to the bus station and as I stepped off of the bus, I was overwhelmed by all of the taxi and motorbike drivers wanting to give me a lift, all yelling prices and destinations at the tops of their lungs. I made it thru the throng and started walking beside the row of busses, trying to get a driver alone so I could get a fair price. I got to talking to one guy and he told me that the minimum price to get from the bus station to the tourist hotel area was 2.50 u.s. due to the fact that it is pretty far away. I tried to talk him down on the price but he was pretty adamant about the cost and started walking away. I figured 'eh, he must be telling the truth', so I started making small talk as he walked away. I followed him into the terminal food area: a big tent loaded with rolling carts full of nasi goreng and nasi champur, all of the ingredients in bowls in display but unfortunately with flies all over it. That's the way it is here so the driver and I sat down and we each had nasi champur. It was 22,000 rupiah, which is a special tourist rip-off price but I hadn't eaten since the plane so I found a cold rhino can drink (grape this time and the best yet) and chowed down. We finished and I hopped into the cab. I needed a bank so he stopped at a couple banks but I'll be damned if all of the banks in Jakarta close at 3pm and since it was 3:10, I was shit out of luck. I had enough rupiah to pay the cab driver (on a side note, the bus station was in fact directly across the street from this tourist area but he took a long route and gave me the tourist burn) so I said later to the cab and walked hotel to hotel till I found one that took a credit card (there was only one) and I had a room and a hot shower. I got sorted out in the room and made it out to the street at about 7pm. I put down a couple beers with the last of my rupiah with the hope that I had enough for the tax to leave this place in the a.m. My flight was at 7:50 a.m. so I was going to have to get up at 5 a.m. to get a motorbike ride to the bus station ($1.00), the hour bus ride to the airport ($2.00) and I figured a $10.00 tax to leave Indonesia. So I walk around for a bit and hit the sack. Up at 5 a.m. and make it to the bus station and into the terminal and up to the lion air counter. The guy at the counter smiles and tells me that I cannot get on the flight since my visa to Saigon is expired. I explain that I can purchase an emergency visa at the terminal when I land in Saigon. He has a powwow with a few other employees, walks around the terminal, comes back and tells me too bad, I am will not make my flight AND my ticket is no longer valid if I don't make the flight, meaning I will need to buy another ticket. And he also tells me that I only have one more day left on my Indonesian Visa so I am screwed. Each day you overstay a visa, it is $20.00 u.s. He tells me that the only way to fix this is to take the hour bus back to Jakarta and beg the Vietnamese Embassy to grant a temporary visa so I can get a flight the next day. No guarantees, though. I asked for a later flight that day. No later flights. Also, no credit cards. I needed cash. I was out of that almost so I left the terminal and my flight left without me. There were no banks in the terminal so I hired a motorbike to take me and my heavy assed backpack and box of hand carved picture frames about 15 minutes from the airport to a building that housed a few travel agents and luckily, a bank branch. I was able to get money from the bank and that was a relief. I walked next door and sat down with a travel agent. How much to LAX today? Right now. Direct. $900.00 u.s. How much to Saigon tomorrow. One way. Remember, I still have a return ticket from Saigon for September 1st to LAX. So thru the travel agent, another ticket for the next morning is $400.00 u.s. Shit. Thru the Lion counter it's $139.00 u.s. but I had so much trouble with them that I was afraid that they would, thru their incompetence, not sell me a ticket or bump me at the last minute. The whole time they bumped me from my first flight, they were laughing, not really understanding or caring that 1. I could get a temp visa in Saigon airport and 2. missing my flight would cause me to have to buy a whole new ticket to Saigon. Fcuked. Well, it's 9:30 a.m so I catch a motorbike back to the airport, catch the hour bus back to Jakarta, catch a tuk tuk (see photos- it's the three wheeled, enclosed vespa) back to the tourist area and into an internet cafe for the address to the Vietnamese Embassy. I got that written down and caught another tuk tuk from the tourist area to the Embassy. I walked in, sat down at the window and pled my case to the man in charge, a Vietnamese guy who laughed the whole time at my predicament. Needed all kinds of paperwork that I didn't have like the address and room number I was staying at before I left Saigon, the address and room number I would be staying at when I arrived, a copy of my ticket for September 1st, a passport photo (which I had, I couldn't believe it) and 40.00 cash. Well, I happened to have the reciept for the room I stayed in in Saigon before I left but the guy accused me forging it. I didn't have a copy of my U.S. return flight and I wasn't going to be able to get that for him. He shook his head and said "too bad, next!"
"WAIT!", I yelled. "What if I write a statement with all of the facts so you can show the man in charge?" He stood there for a moment and thought about it. He looked around the empty office. Said something in Vietnamese to the security guard. The security guard shrugged his shoulders. He looked back at me and said "ok." He gave me a blank piece of paper and a pen and I went to work. Two long paragraphs later I slid it back thru the window to him. He took some time to read it and slid it back. In his broken english, he got it thru to me that it hadn't expressed how sorry I was that I put myself into this situation on paper. Man, I didn't know what to say to that. I was so beyond being shocked that I asked for another piece of paper and in a nutshell, wrote that I was a total idiot and should not travel, would check myself into an insane asylum when I return to America and I hoped that they would feel sorry for my disasterous vacation and grant me a visa, good for six days so I could exit Indonesia, enter Vietnam, exit Vietnam and enter the U.S. I passed this revised statement thru the slot, he took it, said "Lunch. Two hours. You come back then. No guarantee.", pulled down the shade and that was that. I just stood there and stared at the glass. I was dumbfounded. I had some lemon cookies from the night before so I went outside the embassy to the street and the tuk tuk driver, who was waiting, and I sat there for the two hours and shot the shit as best as we could, eating lemon cookies and hot water out of his bottle. Two hours goes by and the shade goes up.
"Bad news" he says. "Denied." "Just kidding!" Big laugh from the security guard. I just had to laugh. It was all so retarded, I couldn't do anything else. He took my $40.00, gave me my passport back with the new visa inside and told me to have a good day. I was very relieved but knew I had to take that hour bus ride back to the airport to deal with Lion Air again. I wasn't looking forward to that. Well, get it done. I had the tuk tuk guy take me back to the bus station, on the bus for an hour and into the airport terminal and up to the Lion Air window. Oh shit. These guys were something else. I stood there at the window for two hours arguing with them as they ate food, smoked, laughed and had a great time, all the while telling me that the visa was no good, the dates were wrong, I needed a different visa from the embassy and whatever else they could think up. I was starting to think I was going crazy. These bastards sent me to the Vietnamese Embassy to get the new visa, which I could have gotten in Saigon had they just let me on the plane, and then when I get it they tell me it's no good. I finally noticed that one of the employees was not participating in this game and when she came out I cornered her and asked her to help me out. She went inside the terminal and spoke to someone who came out and stepped into the office where all the employees were having a good old time on my account. They saw this guy and they all straightened right up. This guy was screaming at the top of his lungs, out of the 5 of them, a girl and a guy started crying. It was great. I guess they were just fcuking with me and wanted to see if I would give up and leave. The supervisor gave me my passport, ran my card, gave me my ticket, apologized and I there I was, owner of another valid ticket for the next morning's flight. I flipped the 5 employees the bird and walked back to the bus, got on for the hour ride back to the tourist area, found a cheap hostel room and hit the sack. Up again at 5 a.m. for the motorbike ride to the bus station, the hour bus ride to the airport and into the terminal and up to the Lion Air counter to check in. I couldn't believe it. They started telling me that my Vietnamese visa wasn't valid and my Indonesian visa was now expired so I couldn't fly. I just sat down and shook my head. I took a few minutes to calm down, went back to the counter and pulled one person aside, showed them the dates closely on the Vietnamese Visa, explained that the date on the Indonesian Visa was valid for the day I was flying and somehow talked them into letting me thru to the terminal. But it wasn't over yet. Oh no. So before I could go thru to the boarding area I had one more checkpoint for the Indonesians to knock me. They look at your visa and I'll be damned if this guy didn't tell me I owed him $20.00 because I was flying on the last day of my visa. I tried to explain that I was permitted to fly and he looked at me square in the face and said "You want me to cancel your ticket? Give me the money." Screw it. Here's $30.00. You win. Let me the hell out of here. He took it. I walked. I made it on the flight and wouldn't you know it, the freaking pilots invited me into the cockpit halfway thru the flight to hang out. I couldn't believe it. I grabbed my digital camera and shot video of my shocked ass as I went in and LANDED WITH THEM!!!! Are you serious? I couldn't be more stoked. Ok. So that was Jakarta. In a nutshell. The photos are as follows. The top two are of some shaft drive bmw's that I thought Rodney would like. They were just sitting in front of some closed business a street over from the tourist area. The third is of two three wheeled motorbikes. Cool chassis. There was an aftermarket chassis like that you could weld on to your harley in the 40's. A modern version here. The car here was the only V8 that I saw in Indonesia but the two I saw were well taken care of. They sounded tough and the body style was very cool, slightly lowered and both black. The chicken photo I thought was funny 'cause it's on a banner in front of a restaurant but the chicken photo does not make me hungry for chicken. It is plump. I will say that. The next is of a common toilet in Indonesia. That's what you get. Do your business squatting over that bowl, for gods sake don't slip and fall or touch anything and when you are done, there is no toilet paper, you just grab that scooper in that filthy water and splash up on yourself...explaining it is grossing me out. I had to show you the level of disgusting using the toilet is here. 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. The next photo is of naturally green eggs. I had never seen a green egg so I took a photo. I shot a photo of the 'green sands' cans for Roland. They named a drink for you here. It should be in one of those stubby cans, though. I guess you look taller in photos. Then there is a photo of the tuk tuk and a frame by frame when it broke down on the way to the tourist area. A little side of the road clutch cable repair. Those tuk tuk's are Vespa powered and too cool. I loved it. As we were reparing the cable, the locals ran up to have their photos taken. The one guy insisted that I shoot a pic of him posed down on the chair. I loved it. The locals are just great. So friendly. Not one frown in the whole month I have been here. Nobody angry. It's so different from home. People are just so cool to each other here. Lastly, a model of minivan not offered in the U.S. which I thought had a cool looking body style, some green eggs, the side of the van is for Jason Ryder. The power of underwear! And the last video is cruising in the tuk tuk. I had to. It is just too cool. It's coming up to the end of my trip here. Let's see what happens next. I'll be as surprised as you.

Could this be the high point of a crazy trip?

2009-08-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

This was pretty awesome. I was invited into the cockpit of the jet we were on... at 37,000 FEET! I'm sure it is pretty obvious I am super stoked. It almost makes up for the torture I had to endure at the hands of the Lion Air ticket agents and the Indonesian Visa guards. No, it did make up for it.

a night out with the international crew and Ricky from the hotel

2009-08-25T02:01:00.000-07:00

I took Ricky who works at the hotel out to all you can eat tapas last night. We met up with a small group of people that I met the night before. Joseph was from England, Amy was from South Africa, and there was another guy who was from Italy I think. I forget his name but a cool guy nontheless. They just came from Laos and will be in Bali for another few days and then they are off to Darwin, Australia where they plan on picking fruit for the next six months. Jesus! The night ended in a neighboring alley at a small shop called 'Green Box' with a tray of Arakin front of us, which is a seriously strong liquor similar to ouzo, my favorite licorice liquor. The shots were only .50 u.s. and we each had 5 or 6. I tried to read when I got back to the hotel but I was a mess. Today I had a motorbike guy take me to Denpasar so I could buy some hand carved picture frames. I stopped off at a vespa restoration shop on the way back and shot a video for Drews of the ghetto restoration process. They purchase Thai repop parts for the bikes. I asked him about the difference between Indian parts and Thai and he said Indian is junk and the Thai is licensed by Piaggio. The finished product is very, very nice. A completely restored '60's vespa is under 2k u.s. shipped to Los Angeles. That is very cheap. I have a few other odds and ends to buy before heading out to Poppies to sell my board and pack up for the flight to Jakarta in the a.m. One night there and two in Saigon and I'm back in good ol' U.S. of A.

drunk australians like fire

2009-08-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

I was in Billabong across from my hotel, upstairs, on the couch in front of the big screen tv they have set up and snapped a photo of the row of boards. I was foaming. In the evening one of the employees puts on a recent billabong flick with the directors audio on so I sit my ass down like it's my living room and watch. They don't seem to mind at all. Actually, they come up one at a time and hang out. The boards with the artwork were at another shop and they reminded me of Ross' Morgans painted boards so I snapped a photo of them. He did a shipwreck series one year which was very cool. The two vespas were just on the street. The red one was a piece of crap but the painted one was nuts. This guy had a matching helmet for himself and his kid! There are a few shops here with nicely painted vespas in the display windows. I'll try to get a shot of those if I can. The vid is of the fire dancer guys in front of the restaurant I was at. Most of the nicer restaurants along Legian Road hire this crew to swing fiery ropes around. Without fail, some drunk Australian guy will come up and try to grab one of the flaming ends. The flame guys hate this and I saw one of them hit a guy with an end. I had to get a shot of them. I have a few more days here and then off to Jakarta for a night, two days in Saigon and back to sunny California. I'm thinking LaSelva Beach. I am really missing Northern California. Where from there? I have no idea and that is a nice way to live for now.

I am having motorcycle withdrawls.

2009-08-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

I am missing my motorcycle. I love this photo.

...and I thought my old job had management issues!

2009-08-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

This Kartika Plaza Hotel place is brutal! I saw this sign on the door leading to the personnel department. Damn. I guess if you are willing to submit to a rectal swab at work, you certainly aren't going to complain about some overtime or working weekends. Good way to weed out the troublemakers! I shot over to the Plaza again last night to catch the beach screening of 'A Fly in the Champagne', the new Irons surf movie but my damn hotel didn't fix the clock after the last power outage so I was an hour late and the movie was an hour long. Plus it rained on my the whole ride over. Still, I'm in Bali so no big deal. I went out to the beach anyway to see if there was anything going on and they were setting up a balinese rockabilly band on the beach. The lead singer was one of the Kuta lifeguards, I was told. I did like that a little kid jumped up on stage and danced thru a couple songs and the singer ended up picking the kid up and telling him to get off the stage. That was funny. So much for family fun. I got to talking to two girls who I recognized from the night before at 'The Drifter' premier. Tara and Ray. They had led the beach yoga before the movie. I asked how that went and they said nobody showed but the orphans that came for the movie. The hotel must have kicked all the orphans out after the film because I didn't see one orphan walking around. They girls were really funny and we had a good laugh. Hopefully I'll run into them Saturday at the Matt Archibold documentary. Ray has sarcastic humor that I really like. My mother and Carlos have the same dark wit. H-bomb does too. But then he shows you the duct tape and carpet in his trunk and the joke has gone too far. Anyway, they gave me a lift down to Poppies and I walked up to the hotel and ordered the Nasi Champur, a Mi Goreng and a melon drink, posted up in the hotel and read half of Gorky Park and one quarter of The Exorcist III. Exciting! Or not. The Macho Man is a powder that they sell where I get my melon drink. I like that it says 'top instant'. HA! How much is that?

The surf is small but the surf movies are good.

2009-08-20T02:39:00.001-07:00

It turns out my illness was due to bad noodles and sauce, not deadly mosquitos. That's a relief. Last night was a good time. I got a pass to the screening of the Steele/Machado film 'The Drifter', which was run at the Kartika Plaza Hotel. It was a very nice affair with jim beam served before and after. There was no q and a but I was able to corner Taylor Steele after and pick his brain for a while. On my way over I took a photo of my favorite surfer, Kassia Meador, wrapped on a quicksilver delivery van. I bought a pass to the screening of her new film, 'Dear and Yonder' for the end of the week there at the Kartika. I also got a shot of a custom gas tank off of a rigid triumph that was parked on the side of the road. I would have taken a shot of the whole bike but the owner's friend decided to jump on and tear ass down the street. I was late for the show so I took off after the tank photo. That ran till 10pm. I caught a ride on a motorbike back to the hotel and dug into some Nasi Champur and the new Mario Puzo book I just traded the Dumas book for. Tonight the film 'Fly in the Champagne' is screening on the beach for free at 9 so on comes the deet and off I go. I'll catch a surf at dusk, come back for the usual dinner and hitch a ride over to the show.

Off to Lombok and really, really good waves

2009-08-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

So anyways, I had to split because at that moment I was going to sit or heave. Pick one. I shot back to the room, took an immodium and a tradol, laid down and pulled a little shao-lin don't puke focusing. Don't move a muscle cause the medicine will come up and we'll be at square one again. I woke up a few minutes ago and was able to walk here without any stomach drama. I hope it was just the greasy chicken carbonara I ate last night topped off with a chocolate and a vanilla shake. I'm crossing my fingers. So last we spoke I was just getting my debit card sorted out. I had purchased my earplugs and the guys at the hotel gave me a ocean and earth boardbag that fits the 6'2" I bought used. I had to get a new plastic zipper put on but that $5 saved me $40 off of a new one. I picked up a new long sleeve rash guard off of Poppies also. I saw something cool at the Hurley store, where I stopped to look for the earplugs. Little Scott Stopnik was posted up on the wall in an art exhibit they put together on the second floor. I took a photo for ya. I told one of the girls who works there I knew him and she gave me a kiss. HA! Nice to see someone I know here even if it is just a photo. Carito had called the hotel the night before and told one of the three guys at reception that she would be arriving the next night so I waited for her to see if she wanted to shoot out to Lombok by rickety auto ferry and on to Kuta Lombok by mini-bus. She showed up and was all for it. As long as she was back by the 17th to split Bali to meet her guy somewhere, she was on board. We hit Legian street, which is the other main drag that cuts across Poppies II to make a reservation for the ferry and for pickup the next morning at 6:30 a.m. Got the pickup with no snags. We were driven in a cramped 8 person rickety minivan to the nearest port and waited on the street with a crowd of about 600 people for the ferry to start boarding. I didn't sleep very well the night before so I wanted to try to get a sleeping berth from one of the ferry crew. I had heard a rumour that I could ask anyone in a uniform for a berth and they would rent their own bunk out to you for a small fee. There was a big crowd forming on the dock as the ferry dropped it's roll-on auto ramp. Carito is a charger so she jumped into the middle of it waving our tickets and as they decided who was going to board this grossly overloaded ferry, she cajoled her way past the crowd and freaked the gate guy out with her broken columbian/english. She got thru and somehow I shimmied past all these yelling people and made it thru the gate, up the haggard looking auto ramp and up into the gaping maw where they park the cars. I felt like I wasn't doing my part so I hit up the guy for the berth and he led us up to the wheelhouse deck and into a 4 berth cabin. 100,000 rupiah was his first offer. Carito stepped up, being the brutal negotiator that she is and got it knocked down to 50,000 rupiah, or $5. We each had a bunk to ourselves plus two to spare so of course, she bolted out to try and sublet the other two. She dragged two super hot French girls in to look at the cabin but they balked so I calmed her down and told her to look at the bright side. At least if the ferry rolls over, it will be a quick death for us. Everyone else was piled upon each other in the aisleways and on anything they could stretch out on. It was wild. They would be tossed into the sea and devoured by sharks. We always had the chance of getting Poseidon on it. I would play the part of Ernest Borgnine, of course. So we got comfortable and woke up 4 hours later sweating and half boiled alive from the humidity in the cabins. The ferry arrived in port and we were off to find our shuttle to Kuta Lombok, another 2 hour ride across the island. During the ride we got to talking to a New Zealand couple who were on vacation from their boutique winery. Rough life. Very nice people and they had the same list of hotels we had so we searched the small town of Kuta Lombok together for pair of rooms or a room to share since every place was booked solid for the next week. We finally found a place called Kens Hotel. They were willing to rent us the employee quarters. Dirty but accomodation nonetheless. There was only one and of course Carito was first to the desk and had the transaction on lock within moments at a reasonable price. The New Zealanders were assed out by the other crowd that arrived in a shuttle moments before. We offered to split the room with them and they accepted. After a moment getting settled, the hotel opened up one of their nicer rooms for them so they hopped on that and we continued on in the employee quarters. That night the New Zealanders came out to dinner with us. We found a place called Lombok Cafe, right on the beach where they offered a Baracudda steak with all the fixins for 45,000 rupiah. Needless to say I ate that all three nights we were there. It was cooked with some special indo bar-b-q sauce that I could have bottled and sold at home. A few Bintangs and we hit the hay, ready to go exploring by motorbike the next day. The morning found Carito dashing across the street to see if there was any accomodation available at a little homestay/cottage we had been turned away from. Of course, she weaseled us in and we had a very nice room with hot shower and flushing toilet for 22,000 per night with bannana pancake breakfast included. We moved our stuff, rented a motorbike and we were off thru the Lombok hills towards a beach called Mawun. It turned out to be a picture perfect bay with a right and a left on each side of the opening. Not working that day but we were told by some Germans we met who were off surfing around that the next beach, Maui, was hitting and was good. It was getting late so we decided to head back to town and to hit Maui in the morning. We did that and oh shit. Look at the video. I wish I would have had everyone there with me. It was a solid swell so only the left was working but I saw during the smaller sets that on a smaller swell, there was a head high peak that rolled in with a perfect right and left bowler peeling right into the bay. The rights on the other side of the opening to the bay weren't working due to the tide but they were large and breaking a bit like San Ono on a really, really big day. Spent most of the day there and then back down the road towards town. It's a 40 minute ride from Kuta Lombok to Maui beach. The road is half paved, half dirt rutted from ox carts and totally dangerous. I didn't take this road at night but I guarantee someone has died taking one of the hills too fast. There are ruts, water buffalo, chickens, rabid dogs, monkeys, giant rocks, giant holes, and super steep inclines and declines. Add an incredible view everywhere you look and it's almost impossible to keep your eyes peeled for either one of those animals bolting out of the bushes to take you out or riding into a hole large enough to stop you dead in your tracks. Another think I noticed is these Indonesians live way way way below any poverty line we might draw. When we stopped the motorbike for a photo, little kids would come out and ask for water, not money. Every little village we passed thru, groups of kids would gather and wave as we rolled in and out. Everyone smiling and wanting to share the english words they know. Certainly the nicest and friendliest country I have ever been to. We made it back to the hotel just before nightfall and ran over to the restaurant where they have the incredible barracuda dinner. We caught a beautiful sunset, drank our share of Bintangs and took a cruise down the coast for an hour or so towards the largest hotel in town, Novatel Resort. This place is really well designed. Almost like a Gaudi sculpture. Full of spires and high peaked thatch buildings, temples around all of the bungalows..very nicely done. On the road I would get behind a slow moving truck or bike and kill our lights so other than the lights ahead of us, it was pitch black aside from the stars above. More stars here than on a good night in the desert. Breathtaking sky and you could hear the surf pounding on the shore. After an hour of cruising around on the motorbike, we headed back to the hotel. I had purchased the dvd's Ulu 32 and Bruno from Kuta Bali and Carito wanted to see Bruno but we didn't have a dvd or tv in our room. There was one in the hang out area at the hotel reception. We took the video up front and it was packed with all of the backpackers and tourists. There was a long table that seated about 15 people that everyone was sitting at with the dvd setup on a bookcase right at the head of the table. I asked everyone if they minded that I put on a movie and nobody seemed to care. There were about 4 french and spanish girls, 5 german guys, 4 french guys and the whole family who owned the hotel sitting around. I went up and fiddled with the wires, got the dvd in the player and hit play. I took a seat right up front and Carito sat beside and behind me a bit. I hit the volume to drown out the guy playing guitar and oh shit. I haven't been so freaking uncomfortable in a very, very long time. The movie is one step away from a gay porno. At one point it was full frontal dong for about 10 seconds on the screen and I could only guess what the French and Spanish girls were saying as they rushed out irate and swearing in their native languages. These people weren't expecting this. It was so funny, I died laughing when we made it back to the room after it was over. On a side note, the germans loved it. I'm not surprised. That was our last night and we were picked up at 9:30am by the shuttle to take us to the ferry and the ride back to Kuta Bali. We got a lot of icy stares when we were paying our bill. I ended up giving the dvd to the germans. HA! Figures.

this is how long you can sit when you feel like shit

2009-08-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Before I get into the gory details I must share some of the dreams I have been having. I think it's due to the deet mosquito repellent I rub into myself morning, night and afternoon. Either way the dreams I am having are wild and so vivid, I wake up and wonder if it was real or not. The latest was great. I was outside of a house in a neighborhood just south of Trask on Beach Blvd. in Westminster, CA, where I live. I was standing with some people in the front yard and two indonesian guys came up and asked if I wanted to buy some cocaine. I said no and turned to the people I was standing with and told them I suspected it was guys sent by the Westminster P.D. trying to set me up. I split from that place and next I'm riding up to a bar on the Kill Yourself pan/shovel. I'm going to throw up right now so I will have to continue this later. Ok I'm back. So a group of guys pulls up on their newer bikes and I tell the bouncer, who is standing outside that I suspect it's the P.D. again and start rolling my bike back to split. The new guys ride up and take offense to this and block my way with their bikes. One guy gets off and grabs my arms from behind and the other guy steps up in front of me. I reach back and pluck out the eye of the guy behind me and then reach forward and do the same to the other guy. They lie writhing on the ground in the parking lot as I back my bike out and split. THEN I'm standing on a street with Drews and a 1960's Customline van pulls up, faded blue, and stops on the street. The side barndoors open and it is packed with the about 6 of the Hells Angels from all of the Roth Posters. Buzzard, etc. Buzzard jumps out and gives Drews a hug and pulls him into the van where I watch them all talk for a while. Drews then jumps out and pulls me up to the van. He says that the Pres has some words of advice for me. I look in and George Christie is sitting there among the older Angels from the posters. He motions me to jump in and I do. He looks me square in the face and tells me "Next time get some punches in. You pluck a guys eye out and it's all over. Where's the fun in that?" I agree and get out. I woke up thinking, "shit, did I poke a guys eye out last night?" I can usually trace my dreams to things that happened to me the previous days. I was wishing I could find a copy of the Deadwood series in Saigon so that takes care of popping the guys eyes out. I also came across a Vietnamese guy in the backpacker area who was totally covered in tattoos. I asked him if I could take a photo with him for posterity. He agreed and when I looked on his back, I was stunned. He's got no idea what the tattoo means at home. To him, he's just saying 'screw society'. That's only one of many really cool dreams I have had. Probably pretty boring to the reader but they are so vivid, I actually feel like I was in the van talking to these guys. It's crazy. The brain is so cool.

the battle with citibank operators

2009-08-10T00:58:00.000-07:00

The next few days are spent walking around Kuta trying to get Carito straightened out with her diving trip she is taking, hanging out on the beach and trying to kick the ear infection. The ringing is unbearable and the pain is painful. Still, I am in Bali. So Carito gets dialed in to head up to Northern Bali where she is meeting a guy so while sitting on the beach I strike up a conversation with a guy from the Santa Cruz area who is here surfing and he tells me what I need to know to get the ferry over to Lombok and off to Lakey Peak, where I plan on staying for a while. Talk to some people there and maybe head to Timor. Well, cancel that. Carito is getting her stuff together and I can't for the life of me find my goddamned debit card. WTF? I just had it. I never put it down, ever. It is always in my back pocket. I value that thing more than my passport! Well, it's not here. I still have my credit card as backup, thank god. Carito and I head over to the local bank and I'll be damned if the freaking card didn't expire in 2006! I never use it and haven't ever looked at the...ah forget it. I cut that thing in half and I talked Carito into spending her last night getting me sorted out with her Skype account. Making a call here is totally expensive-.80-1.00 per minute and I know that calling Citibank is going to take a while. We got over to the internet cafe and I how wonderful! I connected right away with a helpful and caring Citibank operator who understood my plight and truly wanted to help! Oh happy day. Carito wisely brought along the card for the hotel so I gave the hotel address, phone number and even the hotel owners email address to the operator and she assured me that a new card was being sent out right then! She would personally put it in the mail and it would be there by Thursday. It was Monday night. Well, I checked my pockets and I still had about 11 bucks in Rupiah so hell. No problem. A couple days posted up in the room, eat cheap. No beers. I can wait it out. Carito offered to loan me some cash but I put up my hand and proudly declined. I can wait a couple days. She was off in the morning and I did the usual. Off to the small cafe down the street for a bannana pancake and some strong coffee. About 4 bucks. That leaves me 7 bucks. Have a 3 buck dinner and I'm down to 4 bucks. One day to go. Thursday comes. And Thursday goes. No card and not nearly enough money left to make a call to Citibank. The three guys that work at the desk are aware of my delimma so they offer to pick up some dinner when they go to get there own. The usual meal here morning, afternoon, and night is either nasi goreng: spicy rice with a small bit of chicken, mi goreng: spicy noodles with a small bit of chicken or nasi champur, my personal favorite: rice with some sauce, bit of chicken and a small piece of tofu. Sometimes you get a little piece of eggplant if a piece accidentally gets caught up with the other stuff as the cook puts it together. The meal is wrapped up in a folded piece of construction paper and you eat with your hands. Mi goreng costs 5k rupiah, or 50 cents, nasi champur costs 75 rupiah, or 75 cents. I got down with the nasi champur. I also bought a can of melon juice with a rhinocerous on it. It tastes exactly like fresh honeydew melon. There is a photo of both. Well, Friday passes. I get one meal. Saturday passes. I get one meal. Sunday passes. I get one meal. Still no card. I pool all of my money and I have just over one dollar left. I head out to the internet cafe and get the number for Citibank. I then go to a couple local vendors and find one who will let me use their phone to call a toll free number. The next ten minutes I spent trying to convince the citibank employee that I was on a borrowed phone and she had typed my password in wrong, transposing two letters. If I could have reached thru the phone, I swear to god. I finally convinced the lady and she put me on hold. What? AAAAAAAAH! All the while the phone's owner is trying to get me to give her the phone back but I am almost there. They are going to tell me where the card is! Almost there! 5 minutes later the lady gets back on the phone to tell me that the address I gave her was incorrect and that UPS tried twice to deliver but could not. "Where is the card now?", I ask. "I don't know", she replies. "What do I do now?", I ask. "I can't tell you", she replies. I'm beside myself at this point. After I explain to her what a shitty situation I am in, she asks me if I want the tracking number. No. I don't want any possible solution to my problem. What's wrong with you lady? I get that out of her and hang up. I hand the phone back to the lady, who is visibly upset. I thank her profusely and make my way back to the internet cafe. 30 cents to use the internet long enough to get the address of UPS in Denpasar, where my card MIGHT be. No dinner that night. Monday morning rolls around and I head out to the road to get a motorbike driver to take me to the Denpasar office. Problem is I only have 10,000 rupiah left, or $1.00. It's past the airport and when I got here, it cost me 3 bucks just to get into town from there one way. I'm needing a round trip ticket here. I finally find a guy who is willing to take me. I don't think he knows how far it is and if I get the card from this office, which is no guarantee, I plan on kicking this guy some extra. Can't make that promise, though. This is my last buck. Were off and 30 minutes later we pull up to the UPS office. Up to the counter and I show my tracking number. The lady shrugs her shoulders and walks into the back. I follow her to the doorway and watch as she digs into a big pile of boxes. I'm looking for a credit card here. After a few minutes she reaches the bottom of the pile and pulls out an envelope with my name on it! Bastard! I have a look and the stupid Citibank operator didn't put the complete address. Whatever. I take out the card and try it in the closest atm. Nope. A second atm. No dice. It seems I need to call citibank to get it activated. I just have to laugh. I ask the guy to take me back to the lady with the phone. I'm leaving it up to her. If she says yes, ok. I get the card activated. No, I break the fcuking thing go sell my surfboard and my ipod on the street. We get back and the lady is in a great mood and hands the phone over to me! Nice! I get Citibank on the phone and again, with the password! Just activate the damn card so I can go to the atm. What do you mean it's not an atm card? They didn't send me an atm card, they sent me a credit card. I don't have a credit account with Citibank. WTF? Who decides how much $ I get? I just want my own money at this point. Citibank waves a magic wand and tells me to go to a bank and hangs up on me. WTF again. I cross the street to the closest bank and they don't do cash advances there but the other branch does, a mile away. I get the feet going and make it to this other branch. I show my card and my passport and they hand me money. I should have been more careful with that damn debit card.

an interesting change of events

2009-08-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

Third day and i'm getting it together. I wake up around 6am and shit. There's that motorbike guy again sitting in a chair at my door. The curtain is open so he can see right when I wake up. I slowly roll over and go back to sleep, hoping he'll leave. I get a few more hours sleep and open my eyes again at 9. Damn. The guy is still there! I have got to piss badly but I really don't want to deal with this guy so I lay there for another hour in pain with one eye cracked waiting for him to make his exit. Finally I see him get up and walk away. I hear a scooter and BAM. I'm up, I take a desparately needed leak and bolt out the door. At the reception area a French guy is talking about buying a surfboard with the owner. I chime in that I want to do the same so after the customary greeting, were off. All the while I'm just waiting for the motorbike guy to come busting out of the bushes to join us. I have waited him out so I get a brief reprieve. We get a bite to eat and hit about 10 shops. I can buy a board at any of these shops. The majority on the used racks are what I ride anyway. 6'3", 2 1/4, narrow as hell. The frenchie though, of course he needs a fish, which is not too popular here and not on the used racks at all. We check every single used board rack before he finally finds a new board and gets to haggling about the price and he also gets a big-assed board bag, extra leash, rash guard, track top, etc. Good god, man. Each thing he's haggling on. Forever. Oh shit. From my seat watching this unfold I see the motorbike guy slowly riding past the shop. Damn! I pull a board in front of me to block the view and he passes. We finally get out of there and hoof it back to the hotel, drop our stuff and wait a bit. The frenchie has another frenchie coming in. This guy shows up and off we head for Kuta Beach and a break called 'halfway'. The beachbreak here on a crappy day is better than a really good day at home so we got out and there was a small crowd but not too many people bobbing around. I do need to say the local talent here is so good, it's crazy. Every section they kill it, airing out of every wave. Even the littlest kids are out there ripping. So anyway, I get a few waves and then a clean up set comes thru and I get thoroughly thrashed. My eardrum pops again and I get all disoriented. I can't see straight and it hurts like hell. I don't know if I am coming or going. I grab my board and just hope I'm pointed in the right direction. I make it back to the beach and have a seat for a half an hour or so before making my way back to the hotel around 4pm. That's it for me so I decide I need a set of good earplugs if I am going to be in the water. I fall asleep and wake up at 3am to that damn motorbike guy humming outside my door. Shit. I roll over and I can't sleep until 6am. The guy is still sitting there. He's gone when I wake up though so I get moving quick and get myself out of there. From the reception area I can see him posted up at the end of the alley so I lurk back to the rear of the hotel and hop the wall (some genius has cemented broken glass along the top of the wall so I have to be very, very careful. I would rather take a chance slicing myself up than deal with that motorbike guy. I get over and make my way to Poppies Lane and the travel agencies to inquire about the ferry to Lombok and Dili, hoping to get over to Lakey Peak. Inside one of these agencies I run into a really nice Columbian girl named Carito who looks so much like my old girlfriend Danielle that it is almost creepy. Fortunately Danielle was very beautiful so Carito and I decide to go off and have a drink and discuss our travel plans. She's travelling alone thru Indonesia also. Before we part she tells me she is paying 14 dollars for a room with hot water, ac, a beautiful pool, etc. and she says there might be vacancies. We go by and there are no vacancies but out of nowhere she offers to split the room with me. Off I go to get my stuff. That first night I dreamt I was on speed and as I stood over a sink in a dirty old house, I watched pincher bugs crawl out of the skin on my forearms. In my dream I was thinking "hmm, this is what it's like on speed?" I had also picked holes in my face too. I woke up with a big mosquito bite on my cheek. Little did I know the bottom was about to drop out on me.

off to kuta bali

2009-08-08T04:45:00.000-07:00

u

So I got out of Saigon on the 29th, 4 connections later and I'm in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. I had planned on staying in Saigon for a surgery to repair my ruptured eardrum and a layup of 3 weeks. After taking a tour of the local hospitals, I decided that I would rather do the procedure myself with some bactine and some sharp q-tips than lay in one of those dirty places for any length of time. There is really not much to do in Saigon so I figured, where else would I like to spend the next month? It was another grand to change my flight in any way so I dropped the 400 bucks and now here I am. There I was, I mean. On the 29th I was in the Denpasar airport, standing on the tarmack outside of the plane 'cause in these countries you are actually standing on the runway outside of a 747 while another takes off 500 feet from you. My flight landed at 1:30 am so I ran with the crowd up to the ticketing platform and just as I spotted the money changing office, they turned out the light and walked out the door. Shit! The town of Kuta Beach is about 20 minutes on the back of a motorbike and without the local currency, the Rupiah, you will get ripped using dollars and the walk into town is sketchy, dark, and looong. I only had two one-hundred dollar bills in my back pocket that I was meaning to change over to Rupiah so I found a dark corner and tore my backpack apart for some smaller bills. Stuffed into some shorts at the bottom of my bag were three one dollar bills! Stoked. I got all my crap stuffed back into backpack and then out to the throng of taxi and motorbike drivers, calling out to everyone who looks foreign. I had to get there in three dollars and had no idea how much to get to Kuta from the airport. The prices change at 1:30 am since the only other option is walking an hour and a half into town so I was getting hit with 50k, 80k, and even 100k Rupiah (one u.s. dollar is equivalent to 9800 rupiah). I pulled one motorbike driver to the side and we did a bit of negotiation. I offered three u.s., he feigned indifference, we parted, he countered, I snubbed, he waved the helmet, I showed the money, he accepted, I hopped on and we were off. Holy crap. There was still lots of traffic on the road, even at that late hour and this guy was a madman. Pulling across the center line to pass, directly into the path of whatever was coming up. Even if we didn't need to pass, he passed. I almost wished I had passed. We finally made it into Kuta and geez, it's so completely built up, it's hard to take it all in. There's a Hard Rock Cafe on the main road along Kuta Beach and Poppies II and Legian, two of the main streets in Kuta are now built out to 110 percent. Shops, Starbucks, McDonalds and in between, the local Indonesians trying to make a buck off of noodles, hats, belts, surfboards, wooden dongs, bumper stickers and whatever else they think the tourist may buy on their walk to and from the beach. So I told the driver to take me to the cheapest hotel in town. He dropped my right at the entrance to town and pointed and drove off. He wasn't pointing at a hotel, he was pointing at nothing so he could leave me wherever and get back for another fare. Dick! I started walking. First hotel. Full. Second hotel. Full. 15th hotel. Full. Damn. I was totally lost, totally tired and sick of walking. All the while, guys are standing along the streets offering rides, weed, etc. I didn't know who knew what so I just kept walking. Another 10 full hotels and I think I hit every one. No dice. Walking back down Legian at 3 am, a guy hit me up and said he knew of a hotel cheap and with a vacancy. I was out of $ and told him but he said pay later so I hopped on the back and off we went. The first place he stopped was the first place I was told no vacancy. Then he went to another I had already gone to. And another. "Dude", I said, "I already went to all these places. " So we start riding and after a few more lefts and rights, he pulls into the darkest alley I have seen yet. He's doing 15 mph down this alley and I say shine and slip off the back and onto my ass. He stops, looks back, laughs at me and points to the end of the alley. He pulls to the end of the alley and out of sight and a light comes on. I see cars and a sign with rates on it so I get off of my ass and pull a carol-anne. I go towards the light. The driver is in negotiation with the hotel owner for a 10 dollar room. I tell him I'll take it and off the motorbike driver splits. I get my key and go into my room. No a.c., no sheets, no sink or hot water. Cool. No mosquito repellent either so not cool. They were unmerciful but I wrapped myself in my towel and didn't wake up till 10 the next day. Who is sitting outside my room? None other than my motorbike driver from the night before. Creepy but he has a motorbike and I need to change money and get my bearings. I get up, clean up the best I can and hitch a ride with him to change a hundred. I pay him a few bucks for the night before and a few for the day and we're off. We finish riding around midday and I tell him thanks and I'll see him another time. He wants to schedule another ride around Kuta but I'm thru with that. I want to go to the beach. I tell him no a few times and he splits. Off to the beach. There are waves and there is beer and there is sun. Ok. Things are getting better. My first wave bodysurfing and pop. My eardrum lets water into my ear canal, I get completely disoriented and have a hell of a time getting back to the beach. I almost have to ask for help to lead me back up to the sand. As for the photos, one is of what you need to get here, one is of a full sized panhead carved out of wood and hanging in a bar somewhere here and another is of the first hotel I stayed at. It was primitive as hell.

a video and photos of motorcycling in saigon

2009-07-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

So the days consist of getting up at 3 am because I can't get a sleep rhythm with my ear infection, walking across the boulevard to get nitro coffee and walking over to the local vespa repair shop to spend the morning. I read the rest of the day away or play guitar. The gas tank was on a yamaha or a kawasaki. The big-twin looking bikes usually have a bit of flair. This is a great airbrush of a chick with a machinegun. Represent! Also, here is a photo of a tiger gas cap. I hear it's going to be all the rage next year. I'll get one for me and one for Poon cause he has the eye of the tiger anyways. The longer I hang here the more I realize that all of us in the U.S. are not even close to committed motorcyclists. The Vietnamese start riding on the way home from the hospital! They put their kids, pets, grannies, sheet of glass, groceries, tank of propane and whatever else will tie or strap on and head from point a to point b. The kids usually start riding alone to wherever they need to go from about 10 years old on. And they ride till they are old and die. No car ever in their lives. I saw a guy transporting snakes and a gecko on his scoot yesterday. I saw 10 propane tanks. A drum of gasoline. I knew it was a drum of gas cause it was leaking and I could smell it. I saw a guy with 6' X 3' sheets of glass destroying his lane! He was owning it and smiling all the way! I saw two babies and three adults on one scooter. Super hardcore. No paint, no WM1, no bates, just two wheels gas, air and a spark. Damn. I give these people mad respect. And they never flip each other off when they get cut off. Ever. Tonight I'm going to video the rats.

last night before flight

2009-07-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a video from my drive up to the airport from Pnobscot, Maine. This is one of Maryanne's family homes. Beautiful location with one of two saltwater pools in the state.

suspension due to boring life

2009-07-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'm going to discontinue the blog since I am off the ship till next year. (hopefully I can get back on for another voyage somewhere other than westminster, ca.) It seems that my life is actually pretty boring unless I'm risking my neck. I guess my last post will be this. I'm in Nha Trang, Vietnam looking at a really dirty hospital. The bus ride was 12 hours to get here. I had to walk a mile with all of my shit from the ship to get to the hospital. It was so dirty and unsanitary, I walked in and out cause I didn't want to catch anything and walked back to the bus scheduling place. I bought a seat for the 8pm 12 hour bus back to Saigon. Shit. The hospital in Saigon is the cleanest I have seen but there aren't as many french doctors as there were a few years ago. I'm sure the Vietnamese doctors are good but I ain't taking the chance. Since I don't have insurance, it's cheaper to come here to get my eardrum fixed for a couple grand than take the 20k life ending bill that is sure to come after a surgery of any kind in the states. The damn ear won't heal in this sweltering heat. I'm short on cash and have 8 hours till the bus gets here. Life is an adventure, whatever happens. All I can do is sit on the curb, smile, and shake my head. Thanks for all the nice comments you have left while you watched my sailing plans implode.

I have got to say that this Vietnam place sucks to be stranded in. It's hotter than hell and so humid you end up swimming in your own sweat most of the day. I'd split but recent developments at home have left me with an empty bank account so now I'm too poor to leave and too poor to stay. No matter what, I can always take a step back and laugh at how crazy the situation turns out. I'd bang my head against the wall but I don't have insurance.

skocich peninsula drive

2009-07-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Tony and I took a nice drive up the peninsula to skocich and a nice view of the open ocean. Here is what I found.

well this was unexpected

2009-07-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

So 7 days ago and two days out of Boston enroute to Bath, Maine I came down with a nasty ear infection. It seems I popped my eardrum again descending into either Seattle or Newark airport and when water got into it up in the rigging, it became infected. I tried to recuperate down in the bunks, which are in the hold of the ship but the hot and damp environment made the infection much worse, causing the infection to spread to my eye. I stayed in my bunk about 20 hours and when we docked in Bath, Maine at the Maine Maritime Museum, a really nice museum volunteer named Peter drove me out to the local hospital where I was admitted to the emergency room. Kick the infection or lose your hearing. Get a graft for the eardrum or the infection will return as soon as I get more water into it. No more ship until I can get the surgery. The doctor tried to keep me there in the sterile room so I could kick the infection in a clean environment but without insurance, that was a no-go. I left the hospital and checked into the Rodeway Inn across the street. 36 hours in bed at the Rodeway Inn and Tony and Maryann from Hidecore make the 3 hour trip from Penobscot, Maine to pick me up and get me out of that 89.00 a night nightmare. Made the drive and pulled into their beautiful compound that you can see at http://www.bayviewhomesale.blogspot.com/ I felt good enough to get out for a walk today and was picked up about a mile from the house by a woman who could tell I was lost. I was looking for a trail to the ocean but the road that I was walking on did not allow crossing over by foot...all private property. She let me jump in and she drove me to her house about two miles up the road. The video shows how beautiful her place is. She just dropped me off in the yard and told me to enjoy myself and that she would pick me up and drive me back if she saw me on the road later. I spent about 3 hours in a hammock overlooking the ocean, thinking about my crappy turn of events. I have come to terms with not crossing the Atlantic now and am trying to figure out the best way to get this eardrum fixed with no insurance. (and limited $) I can always hop aboard next year now that I have my Coast Guard Certification. Until then, I am here with my good friends in a warm and positive environment and I am looking forward to the next chapter of my adventure. We just got back from the grocery and are making a big pot of Maine fish chowder.

some photos of town and the bel espoit docked beside us

2009-07-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

It's the 4th of July and I woke up at 6 a.m to take a leak and decided to get another entry in before we sail. Tonight there will be two fire boats beside us shooting fireworks off. I thought we would be out sailing around but it looks like we are docked for the night. I was hoping to be sailing around the Statue of Liberty but no go. Here's a photo of Lucky at the bar the night before I left, one of me painting in the galley, the crew, a little v-twin engine on the dock, some photos taken while walking from Union Square to Times Square and a photo of The Bounty's deck in the morning and the French ship tied up beside us, the Bel Espoit. Yesterday I walked back to Times Square with Dan, Svetta, Andrew the Brit to see if there was an acoustic/electric there. I found a 199.00 model but it was a round plastic backed guitar. The sound was great but I thought it was a bit expensive. I did get a really small waterproof video camera from one of the little shops along Times Square. I had a good time negotiating with the guy. The people in New York are cool once you corner them. Other than that they seem like they are really stressed or in a hurry. This city is really cramped. I look forward to Boston and Maine.

I arrived on the ship and now it's work nonstop

2009-07-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

I arrived on The Bounty the 29th at about 5pm. It's just about at the full complement of crew now, which is 20. My previous berth, which was a top bunk and totally show and large was taken since I was gone so long so I am relegated to a bottom bunk with plastic bags nailed up all over. When the ship is heeled one way or another when we are underway, the bilge water sloshes from side to side and comes up into the bunk thru the cracks. Did I mention that the bunk also leaks from above? I'll fix all of that here in a day or so. I'll have the most kick-ass bottom bunk on the ship. That I promise. I'll start by pulling all of that plastic down and filling all holes and seams with a sealant of some sort. I'll then make a mattress extension since the berth hooks to the left. That will make it so I can lean up against the hull for reading or whatever. I'll also buy some air freshener because the 4 man berth I am in smells like a 4 month old cast dunked in toilet water. Not much air circulation down there, unfortunately. I will say that I am surrounded by great people that are teaching me how to be a competent sailor, which is what I am here to learn. My friend Svetta is here. She and I took the Coast Guard Certification together last month. Adam, Sara, Gabe the younger are here. Caleb and Rebecca, who I first met in San Pedro are here for the night. They are on vacation but will be joining us in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The last few days had the crew sanding and varnishing brightwork, recieving and stowing 6 months worth of food for a crew of 20, and this afternoon in the pouring rain I mastered 'seizing'. That is where you take a length of twine 1 and 1/2 your outstretched arms length and use it to securely tie two lengths of line together. Today we secured the shrouds, which had been tightened up for our voyage. That keeps the masts from moving around. I have a bit of a sore throat but hope to be well enough to go to Time Square in Downtown NYC to visit the Sam Ash Superstore. I want to buy an acoustic-electric guitar. Caleb left his beautiful Takamine on board, which I found out this afternoon when they arrived. They had it stashed in their closed-up cabin. I would like on that is electric, though. Yesterday after our work was completed and dinner was over I walked to a Guitar Center at Union Square, which had no good deals. I then walked to the Sam Ash at Time Square but they had closed. Toys R Us was across the street so I went there looking for the Tony Hawk Helmet Cam but it was discontinued a few months back. The computer in Customer Service noted that there was one on the floor so of course I took an hour and a half looking everywhere for it. No dice. They finally kicked me out and I walked back. I walked almost 6 miles and all I got were some batteries and some cookies. Oh yeah. So I left Pier 66 on this journey and it was humid so I took off my shirt and started walking. I noticed that nobody else here had no shirt on but I didn't really care. I hooked a right at 8th ave and two or three blocks down and I'm in the middle of gay new york city. All the bars on the ave are open to the street and I'm getting fully harassed by dudes hanging out the windows. I put on my shirt and high stepped it out of that zoo. Those guys are nuts! That happened to me in San Francisco about 10 years ago but they gave me walking directions to the bar where I was to meet my friends at and they sent me straight thru the castro district. Bastards. I'm off to plan my bunk renovations.

Seattle enroute to Manhattan to meet The Bounty

2009-06-30T04:52:00.001-07:00

I was able to stop off at my parent's house on the Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington overnight before coming out to the ship. Here is a video of the front yard and a photo of the logs which come up near the house during storms.

Two all-nighters and I fired the pan first kick. And THAT feels good.

2009-06-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Shoot. Two nights ago I attempted to wire the bike off of a Robinson drawing but crossed something up and when I turned the key, one of the wires started smoking and then turned cherry red along the center downtube! AAAAHH! Thanks to Syd's quick thinking of throwing oily rags on it, we got it out without any damage but a hurt ego. I pulled all the wiring and consulted Rodney when he showed up the next day. He tried to talk me out of it but I refused to split and had him draw me a diagram for the wiring before he went home. I stayed up all night and knocked out the wiring, all the while referring to all the things Ralph at Mesa Cycle has said over the years about doing show wiring. One main line along the top tube. Hide all zips. Cover all ends with shrink so no wire shows at all. I got it done and filled the fluids. Slept on a cement floor and went at it three hours later. Rodney figured out the brake and we pulled it off of the lift. I twisted the wick a time or two and it fired first kick. That was a proud moment for me. That means that I get to go to Japan with my good friends Roland and Drews and Cole and Kutty and we get to party our asses off with Mochi and Gaku and all the NFK guys. I am so stoked. Keith Coffin is here at the house now with the Moloch brothers from Norcal and alot of my friends are coming over tonight to check out the bike and see me off. I fly out tomorrow at 11:30AM for Seattle and day after that to Newark, where I will make my way to The Bounty in Manhattan for the beginning of my adventure across the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy my trip. It's gonna be crazy.

I was too busy to bring in the camera last night...

2009-06-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

So I got the petcock and a single plug from Scott Craig after driving all the way out to L.A. downtown and on the way back, picked up the other missing plug from Candy so my tank is now fitted, installed, and ready for fluids. Oil bag is mounted, plumbed, and ready for fluid also. I began on the electrical by wiring the headlights back and the taillight forward. I ran the generator wire to the battery. The key switch with one side to all accessories and one to the battery positive. Ran the other side of the coil to the distributor. Zip ties hidden. Shrink tubing in all the right places. Turn the key! Oh SHIT! Smoke! That wire is turning CHERRY RED! AAAh. Pull the positive on the battery. Pull out the offending wire as it's burning hot. Check the paint. No damage. Just some smoke and buzzed up nerves. The wire that ran from the key to the positive on the battery was toast as well as one of the two headlight wires. Hmmph. Where's Rodney? Sick. He would know. I'll try again this afternoon.

controls and whatever else. just a little bit more to go but only 72 hours left!

2009-06-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ralph at Mesa Cycle for the advice and to John at Banzai Machine for dropping everything when I walk in to tap or turn down something holding me up. Rodney and Stretch are always standing there to lend a hand or pull off some fabrication miracle. Mason hooked me up with some banjo adaptors for the police oil bag. He had them sitting right there on the bench like he knew I was coming over for them or something. Here's a few shots of my progress today. You think I'm stressing? Never. Back to the shop. This will be an all-nighter.

John Candy working on the paint and a sneaker of the finished product

2009-06-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm on the home stretch but damn! The little things kill ya'. It took all day to hunt down the correct belt drive components since the primo stuff isn't interchangeable 64 to 48. Rivera discontinued the front tapered shaft pulley I needed so instead of just buying a pulley for 40 bucks, I had to buy the whole 400 dollar pulley-basket-belt updated system. I'll just go get that money out of the bushes here. Just a sec. Candy did a great job on the oil bag and fender. I took some shots of him working and here's a good one. Vid is a quickie of the parts together.

some photos of the ship I will be sailing on across the Atlantic Ocean

2009-06-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Stretchy Stretch, in his search for obscure photos, has come across these gems. Here are studio shots from 62' when the Bounty was built for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, starring the late, great Marlon Brando. This is the actual ship I will be on as we make our way across the pond to the land of red hair and freckles. Check them out!

jun odashima dealing with the clutch basket

2009-06-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Jun and I dealt with the transfer of the Kill Yourself clutch basket and belt drive to the panhead. Here's a photo of Jun looking for the odd bolt to make the puller pull. Thanks for the hand Jun.

here's a mock-up photo

2009-06-19T21:15:00.001-07:00

Here's the panhead at The Kennedy's shop the day I made the sissybar and cut down the bars. Pokey helped me figure out the hidden fender and tank mounts. Gettin' there.

Certification for international ocean voyage completed

2009-06-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back from San Diego where, on the Navy Base, I took the Coast Guard Certification course that allows me to sail into International waters. It was a five day course that covered firefighting, emergency medical, disaster at sea, abandoning ship, etc. Let's hope I never have to use this stuff. I also got to go onto the Star of India, which is docked in the bay. It is an incredible square rigger from the 1800's. A "cape horner" some would call her. She is the oldest working ship of her kind. I wish I were born back when those ships ruled the seas! Brutal! Also, I threw in a video of my sleeping quarters for the last week. I drove the 1947 Chevy Panel Truck from Huntington Beach to San Diego and back. Not a problem whatsoever. This truck is a trooper! Comfortable, too!

Close-up of master cylinder and video of Rodney's contraption

2009-06-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to eliminate the stock master cylinder commonly used on Harleys and I wanted it to be as small as possible but still stop the P.M. 4 piston caliper that Roland gave me. I have never liked the fact that the front down tube and part of the cam cover is covered by this part. Those frames are so cool looking. I wanted to open that up. Rodney suggested we go with something off of a sportbike so we checked out a couple laying around the shop and went with this. I think it came of a GSXR. I could be wrong. What is not wrong is the placement of this thing. Sideways and tucked under the transmission. Is that ruling or what? Also, here is a video of this crazy contraption that Rodney built. It is battery powered and you use a toggle to direct it where to go. Pshhht.

Setting the motor into the frame.

2009-06-11T16:41:00.001-07:00

Sheesh. Had to take the motor to the shop in the 34 today with no way to tie it down. Hang on! Literally. So these aluminum rocker boxes are a bit bigger than the stock pan covers and I tried to put the motor right into the cradle but no-go. I took off the front head...no-go. I took off the rear head and it fit right in. Cock the rear head a bit and it slid onto the barrel. Slide the front on and uh-oh. The third mount for the stock gas tanks between the front legs is in the way! Shoot. So out comes the cut-off wheel. Slice and on it goes. A little semi-gloss and good as new. Took all day but the motor is in the frame. Get everything cinched up on the motor tomorrow and put the inner primary on and hopefully get the brake sorted out. Got to get it moving. Only a week of working time left. UPDATE: I got the bike over to Rodney's shop, The Nest yesterday to sort out the engineering of the brake and clutch arms I bent up. We put a sportbike master cylinder under the trans so we had to work out a cable and attach it to the arm. There's a photo of Father Stretch installing the exhaust and of Rodney in contemplation over the brake assembly. Also a photo of Pat checking out the finished product. I'm off to San Diego for a weeks worth of Coast Guard Certification so when I get back we'll get this bike started. Just need to install the throttle cable, clutch basket and pulley, wiring and oil bag, fender, and oil bag mounting bracket...and oil lines...and fix all the stuff that is going to go wrong, right? I'm off to San Diego in the 47'. 44 mph down the 5fwy. HA. Sad but true.

Rocker boxes back from Tay

2009-06-10T10:24:00.001-07:00

Here are pics of my rocker boxes before I bolt them on and set the engine and driveline. Again, Tay did incredible work. The lids were the finned aluminum but I had John at Banzai Machine face them so I could throw some engraving on 'em. The Klan image is by muralist Thomas Hart Benton. It was part of a mural done for the 1933 Chicago Exposition in the Indiana Pavilion. The title of the mural is 'Parks, The Circus, The Klan, The Press'. I added it because it reflects the lack of minority representation in the club.

Video of Harpoon blasting off.

2009-06-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here's Harpoon on his Pan doing what he does best. He is out every night crushing the pavement till all hours. Splittin' lanes and takin' names! Do it Poon!

Picked up cam cover from Tay today.

2009-06-09T02:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the cam cover for the Panhead. It has elements of The Heathens stories from the documentary slipped in here and there. Tay Herrera is the best engraver out there and I didn't have to sit there and try to explain the whole thing. I drew out some ideas, told him what elements I wanted and he just got it. My most important request was that it be traditional colt/remington gun style engraving, which he has 20 years of experience at. My Pan lids are still there with him and he will be done with them tomorrow. The craftsmanship speaks for itself. Between Tony and Maryann at Hidecore Leather and Tay Herrera's engraving, my head is going to explode just from the great artwork on this machine!

Artwork at HoSumBistro in Newport Beach, CA

2009-05-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

How cool is this? A local artist painted on a HUGE canvas an image of my car in front of the Avalon Bar in Costa Mesa. It is hanging in HoSumBistro in Newport Beach, CA. The guy is a great artist with an excellent choice of subject matter, obviously.

Finished gas tank for the panhead

2009-05-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the finished product. The tank was an original Hap Jones that I had Pokey lower the tunnel a few inches on. John Candy shot it in fine silver flake. I then took it and adhered recycled glass to it. After that I covered it in surfboard resin and then 5 layers of clear. It is crazy. I got the idea from an old David Mann painting. I'm not going to give the exact painting away but it's a good one. The story behind the seat is this: Duster, member of The Heathens now but in different clubs thru the years since the late 1960's shared this priceless tale with me in Sturgis while we were filming the documentary. Duster is no nonsense, loud, funny and has lived the club life and only the club life the last 40+ years. I'll try to tell the tale but when you watch it it's gonna be a thousand times better. So Duster has just gotten home from Vietnam. It's 1968 or 9 and he's around 20. He's out putting around on his panhead and pulls behind a local bar, midday, just looking to kill some time. The entrance is around the front so he puts the bike out back and starts off around the corner of the building. Down the sidewalk towards the front of the building, two cops are ratpacking a Satans Slave who is handcuffed and on his back on the sidewalk against the wall. Duster casually walks towards the scuffle and kicks one of the cops in the face and knocks him out. The other cop grabs his gun but is too close to the slave's boot. The Slave kicks him in the face and knocks him out. So now it's Duster standing there, a Satans Slave on his back in handcuffs and two unconscious cops laying on the sidewalk. Duster grabs the handcuff key off of one of the cops and unlocks the Slave. They split to the Slaves clubhouse and Duster doesn't come out for three days. That's three days of chicks, drugs and what else. Why did he get involved? "Two on one," he says. "It wasn't a fair fight." Sweet.

songs written on The Bounty

2009-05-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

On the front page of this blog I have installed songs that you can download. They are songs I wrote when I was last aboard The Bounty. I plan on playing these and others that I write as we cross the Atlantic at bars in the ports we stop at in Ireland and the Netherlands. I have a good amount of Lemonheads songs under my belt now and will mix those in as well.

two friends taking off on skinner lake run

2009-04-17T17:57:00.001-07:00

I dropped by John Candy's house as Grant was pulling up for their skinner lake run. The 47 Chevy Panel in the background is my latest find and one of my dream cars.

Pasadena City College Swap Meet with Stretch

2009-04-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

Stretch and I went to the P.C.C this morning. I took two of the lamps I made in the hopes of being mobbed with buyers fighting over the chance to own my handiwork. No. I did score a Harbour "Trestle Special" 9'11" longboard! $50. A little new glass and I'll be in the water at uppers displaying some fancy footwork. I also got a photo of Stretch with the Hamburglar. I thought he was living in Uruguay.

Another study on slag lamps.

2009-03-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

The slag lamps getting easier to complete. I plan on a few different sizes with a large 3' round by 2' tall piece as my largest and a few more small round and square pieces to perfect my technique. I would like to do a 6" round tube by 4' but have yet to order the material. Here is my latest color and shape.

On a maritime note, Svetta called today and told me she has confirmed her berth on the Bounty for the voyage across the pond. That is exciting. She is very nice and a competent sailor. I feel better knowing she is going to be up in the rigging. Svetta is currently crew aboard a masted yacht in the Sausalito area up in Northern California.

a favorite photo of a favorite person

2009-03-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

I took some photos of my friend Drews earlier this year and this is one of my favorites.

Killing time before returning to the ship.

2009-03-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to fill my days lately and knocked out a couple slag glass lamps. Along with numerous trips to the chrome/polish shop, I have few new ways to kill the hours until I answer the call of the sea. Custom panheads and vintage lamps.

I have left the Bounty and I don't like it on land!

2009-02-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

So I left the Bounty Thursday morning. Caleb drove me to the Clearwater airport where I picked up a rent-a-car which I drove to Orlando. I caught a flight to Seattle and my Sister, Terae picked me up and took me to our parents house. In the morning, my stepmother, Teresa, and good Aunt Corina piled into the mercedes and we three drove out to downtown Seattle to hunt down that Custom Ford LTD, in the hopes of making an offer on it. After driving around a while, we found the house and unfortunately, no owner home. I did get more photos of the car, though. Enjoy the 4 switches, hydros, Daytons, detailed frame, and I even saw a plaque on the dash for the 35th L.A. Roadster Show Entry. This car is the bomb but is slowly being lost to the elements. I also saw a 65 micro deluxe vw bus one block away in another driveway rusting. Great neighborhood!

I need to rent my two empty rooms back at home before I can sign myself away for the trip across the Atlantic. It's odd just dropping into what amounts to a tiny apartment with 10 people you don't know to learn a trade that nobody else but you and this group cares to keep alive. As difficult as it might be, you get used to the rhythm of the ship and the characters you see 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You get attached to the same faces you know will be in the galley looking for a chess game or to another one late for the morning capstan meeting without shoes...again. I can count the number of times on my hand that I left the St. Petersburg pier during the three weeks aboard and while away, I was usually trying to think of reasons to go back on board. I know that I need more work up on the yards and although I read about the rigging and lines till my head just about exploded, I really can't get it right unless I have my hands physically on the rigging and am pointing out where lines go while standing on deck trying to shake the right line to knock off the noisy birds. I guess I had better post photos of my rooms on Craigslist and get these people paying rent so I can get back to my friends in Florida...Viva Le Swamp, Eh?

painting the ship

2009-02-27T21:27:00.001-08:00

Here's some footage of me hanging off the side of the ship painting more red. Two days straight.