shoes on powerlines

for quite a few days.

be back with pictures, stories, dehydration.

Sometimes you get home, and you are really hungry but you need to work on your scooter, and you know that’s going to be messy. And your stomach is like “hey man, get some hummus and crackers. Maybe even those little peppery salami slices you’ve been so into lately!” But then your hands say “whoa, cowboy. You are going to have some seriously greasy fingers in the next 10 minutes, and gloves are for pansies!” When it comes to those times, Goldfish crackers and Peanuttles win out, because I can grab the package and shove the “food” in my mouth without touching it.

No pictures or video, but I started the scooter up last night and it ran. Hooray! Lots of cable stuff tonight, new gas and figure out where all that smoke is coming from.

And for a good laugh, check out what the miracle of the internet found over at SinPies. I remember this day, but I don’t remember being that clean shaven and that damn skinny.

Taken two hours before actually putting the engine in the bike.

Tonight - carb and cables. Oil, gas, and kick kick kick kick.

Wow - a video for “Love is Stronger than Witchcraft” that I didn’t know even existed before. It is a really “personal” video with home video of Robert and his wife in their house, driving around, etc. Kinda weird, but it’s great to listen to the song. Check out the “Asshole 2″ cover at the very beginning (I love to put on that record every once in a while).

via Pop Zeus

Finishing clutch today, setting flywheel timing and putting the engine back in the bike.

We’ll see.

From Calling Zero:

Climb through the chambers
I’m hiding and seeking
The strangest mask I wore
The dumbest costume I swore
I’d never wear again

I’ve been all over
I’ve been nowhere
I’ll go everywhere
Before it’s all over

Where is the wind?
Where are all my friends?
Where are all my dead friends?

Robert Pollard and Mac McCaughan’s collaboration “Go Back Snowball” has a lot of highlights for such a small record, but “Climb” may be one of the overlooked.

Opening with dischordant guitar and keyboard, it immediately blooms into, quite simply, a really awesome distorted guitar hook that makes me immediately turn the song up.

The song ends on a weird, sad note. Clocks in at just over 2 minutes.

I’ve written about Calling Zero and my favorite song on the album before, right here.

Go Back Snowball - Go Gold
Robert Pollard - Gold
Guided by Voices - Gold Hick
Guided by Voices - Gold Star for Robot Boy
Guided by Voices - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
Lexo and the Leapers - Will You Show Me Your Gold?

And of course the seminal album “King Shit and the Golden Boys”

Robert - I don’t like gold!

Tomorrow evening I’m heading to North Hollywood to get my crank set. Ha! Seriously though, my crank and bearing will get set tomorrow, leaving me to finish up the clutch and the rebuild on Saturday.

Also, Saturday night is “My Generation” with a pre and post party at my place. 

No pictures - but I hung a thermometer in my garage today. It got up to 80.

Plastic scooters are a real bummer.

Spent 5 hours in the garage tonight, prepping the engine for the new crank, etc. Basically, it is sitting there waiting for the crank to be put in. The crank is waiting for me to put the new bearing on it (as well as the flywheel side bearing) but this is a lot harder than it sound. I had the flywheel engine case in the refrigerator with the bearing sitting on the freezer side for about an hour, but it didn’t budge. Didn’t even try the crank. I’m going to make a phone call to my secret westside 2-stroke expert to see if he can do it, other wise I’m going to shoe cobbler that sucker on there and hope I don’t ruin a brand new $150 Mazzuchelli race cut crank.

After that is done, I can seal up the cases and put the top end on. Last night at Westside Scooter Club’s wrench night, I chambfered the ports on my new cylinder and prepped it to be dropped on the cases. AFter that, I think timing the flywheel will take most of my time. Then I’ll throw the tire and new pipe on there, and I’ll have a complete engine ready to be set into my frame.

I sat and looked at my frame for about 15 minutes tonight. Granted, I’ve been drinking Rolling Rocks all night, and I was listening to Wild Honey, but I had an epiphany about Vespas. They are so damn simple and elegant and beautiful and awesome. Once you get your head around the engine, it is pretty easy to comprehend. And if you are only doing a top-end rebuild, (and own something like a P200) engine access is amazingly simple. The frame is stamped out of a single piece, and everything makes sense if you just look at it. And people wonder why I talk shit about non-Italian scooters. Even modern Vespas are way more complicated and confusing (don’t get me wrong… I really miss my LX150). Basically, what I’m saying is I’m in love with my scooter.

From Sgt. Disco

I landed a job on the higher seas
You bet your Bob, and yes sirree
King of the wind, that happens to be me

Straddle a soap-studded rudder, brother
Parting the waters for sons and daughters
To a riot of gold teeth, which I bequeeth

and many twisted vines
and photocopied throats
are leaving with my boats

Link further communication
from bombs to glaring red
Yes sirree, you bet your Bob
That happens to be me!

You can listen/see the weirdness here.

Official Circus Devils website here.

Left work early to pick up my engine cases from the valley. A week late. Unhappy with the work vs. what I paid for it. Could have done it for free.

To do:

Clean aluminum out of engine cases
Attach crank bearing (either using blowtorch/freezer method, or taking it somewhere)
Build cable for newly jetted carb
Rebuild entire fucking engine

I have 10 days. No break in. A little furious. 

Saturday: Pre-party before “My Generation” at the Good Hurt, and after party at my place as well. 

10 days.

Because Ghostbusters just got added to Hulu.

DOGS AND CATS, LIVING TOGETHER!

No human being would stack books like this.

We got the tools, we got the talent!

Tell him about the Twinkie.

Hey! Does this pole still work?!

Print is dead.

Hey, Dean Yeager!

There is no Dana, only Zuel!

Ok, who brought the dog?!

Image Credit

Awesome!

Most of the previously considered lost footage from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis has been found in Argentina. The full article is here at the Guardian.

I’m not a huge fan of Metropolis. As a fan of silent film, I respect it and admire the way Lang created one of the most important science fiction films ever. But repeated viewings weren’t required for me. However, now that new footage has been “discovered,” it will be interesting to see how they clean up and reincorporate the footage into cuts that are largely accepted as being definitive.

This is also exciting because it is always sad to read about films that have been completely destroyed or lost. In the digital age, this is pretty much impossible. If you want to ensure something lasts forever, upload it to the internet and even if it gets lost in the ether, some digital archeologist can uncover it in time.

However, when it comes to old acetates and physical medium from nearly 100 years ago - these are obviously unrecoverable. Also - as being a fan of old things and wonderful finds, this plays to my fantasies of going in some old barn and finding an old Vespa GL under some hay or an original copy of Propeller on vinyl at some garage sale. Treasures all.

What are some things you’d love to find for a song? We all have treasures we could probably have if we paid enough. But what do wish you could discover in some thrift store for a dime? A first edition? A Velvet Underground acetate? A VHS copy of Desert Warrior?

What’s this? A blog? I’ll update it!

Watched the best fireworks show I’ve seen in San Clemente for the 4th. Also did some swimming in the ocean and visiting with old friends. One of the old friends has a kid… and although I generally enjoy kids, you need to walk a fine line with them. Be friends with them, but not BEST FRIENDS. Because then they end up dumping sand on you all the time and telling you stories about ponies.

I also realized when I got home that night that I had forgotten to bring my new waterproof flash videocamera, which would have been cool to test out in the ocean.

Went and watched “Easy Rider” at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and it was just as bad and boring as I remembered. It had been over 10 years since I had originally watched it, but I’ll go see anything at the Cemetery screenings. Finished up the night at the new Father’s Office in Culver City - snot a bad bar for beer selection but can’t really see myself hanging out there.

Also rearranged the apartment and put the record player in the living room, but still haven’t listened to my “Little Green Onion Man” EP. Party this Saturday at my place!

Ok - now that I’m at work and getting paid to surf the internet, I’ll do some catching up. Anything I missed? How was your fourth?

Ber-bye!