out of my league, i have birds in my sleeves, and i wanna rush in with the fools.

my new road bike. ive ridden it twice so far. its light, comfortable and fast. a shorter stem would improve my positioning but i think i am going to keep it like it is for now. my first ride consisted of staying local and someone in a white bonneville and ohio plates flooring his car and playing see how close i can get without hitting me with the mirror. further down the road when i was approaching him at a light he pulled in front of me and slammed the brakes.

that basically cut my ride short for i was afraid he was trying to kill me. i ended up talking to a cop in a parking lot (a friend actually and not that a cop could do anything). since it was raining his response was, you shouldnt be out in this anyway.. oh! thats right. what the hell was i thinking. sometimes you just go home disappointed and it just takes time to forget the bad.

the second ride was with jimmy and i ended up hitting a large stone that flatted my front tire instantly. we had a tube and co2 because i asked jimmy to bring one since i havent picked up any road tubes yet. further down the road and closer to home i noticed jimmy had a slow leak....no tube no co2. i know jimmy made it pretty close to home but i have a feeling he walked the last half mile.






thanks to those of you who came together to help me get this bike built cost effectively. especially jason and jason. diurba donating the frame and drivetrain and harmer donating the levers. time is flying by and we finally had some rain. fall is around the corner. its harvest season here so tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, squash, zucchinni are all in abundance.

i visited dr clune today to get some larabar and soap. since his accident he will not be able to run the last marathon he always wanted to do. he is always in good spirits and if you ever get the chance to visit him in his store next to philadelphia candies please do. he has some excellent products.

when my past became my present state of mind

i had these videos posted last week but ended up falling asleep. i watched them again this morning and decided they were definately worth posting again. this eugene francis jnr is probably considered abstract and eccentric but i find him quite likable, not that you cant be all three. did you see that owl in the video. anyway....i hope you enjoy these videos as much as i did.



if that video and song didnt win you over maybe this next video, kites, dedicated to eugenes mother and sister, will. my mom and sister both looked after me and still do as i continue growing up which is nice. every once in a while when we get together we sort through hundreds of photos and laugh and remember. we never had a video camera, and only one special audio recording that we have listened to uncountable times.

as i see the memories recorded in this video, the sled riding, the water, the bike, the sled, the tents, i remember similiar times with my familiy. growing up is something else, to look back can overwhelm you with so many feelings.



my own pollution

i got a gnome in the backyard, i put him right on the X mark.

a fantastic rain the past two days. i spent the weekend around west virginia riding one incredible trail that we usually get to ride once a year called quebec run and a place called coopers rock. jimmy managed to lose two brand new water bottles over the weekend. we probably only rode about seven miles of coopers rock before we decided it wasnt for us and opted to venture to the brewery in morgantown, WV. great pale ale and an ok porter. met some nice folk who were familiar with some beer bars in pittsburgh, had an excellent black bean burger, and headed back to pittsburgh for the rest of the weekend.

apple store, dress pants for the wedding, crepes, thai cusine, belgian beers, anniversary ale, rei, and riding through the city. fat heads doesnt like you to park your bike outside of their bar which bothers me. sometimes i think the south side is just lame.

below is the video to "oh mandy" from the spinto band. this song was picked for the background of my friends skate session in his skate video, launch radical. a spectacular video to match the song.





the weather has really been great the past week. sweatshirts are almost acceptable and hot coffee is becoming more enjoyable with the cool mornings. the new imacs are nice. i am interested in the new wireless keyboards although there is no number pad and i wish they would incorporate a trackpad or mouse into the keyboard.. i mean, if you are on the couch with your keyboard and ipa you dont really have a place for a seperate mouse. i also am trying to figure out the pros and cons between the airport express, airport extreme, and apple TV. they all do something different...they all do the same thing..

as for music... i have okerville river on my mind in chicago, the weakerthans are coming to mr smalls in october, and peter bjorn and john will be there in december.

best new music is john vanderslice. road bike is built. i havent cut the fork tube yet and i may be going with a shorter stem with some degree of rise. ill put some miles in on it before i make any changes. its light and unique. cotton wrapped, wine corked bars. kelly take offs with dura-ace stick shifters. surprisingly i am looking forward to some road rides. if i dont like it there is a good chance it will go up for sale.

its been so long since we have had a rainy day like this. its great. enjoy the video. i did... it had some of my favorite things in it.. bikes and trees... i didnt see any beer or coffee but we all know it was there somewhere.

Famous-sounding words make your head feel light

a video for now. actually there has been several times i have wanted to post but havent had the time. enjoy.

i stop and hold my breath and watch the way you used to be

iconcert cal has a new version up that has a tab devoted to album release dates. if you are not familiar with this application it takes your itunes library and searches for concerts (you input the search radius) of the bands you have in your library. actually, it came in real handy when i was going to see a band i know very little about, the weakerthans, and i found out they will be playing at pittsburghs mr smalls.

i am currently building a road bike since i have never owned one. a alluminum frame was given to me by a friend so i bought everything i could from frankford and ordered the rest from three other shops. i also ordered from Rivendele Bicycle Works which is one of the best bicycle websites out there.

to continue with music i recently went to club cafe in pittsburgh to see guggenhiem grotto. a band from ireland that put on a great little performance. club cafe, although disguised with neon lights and motorcycles parked out front, is a cool venue. small, about 15 tables, and close to the stage. i was also taken to a place called TRAMS, vietnamese food.... i heard a lot about how mean tram could be but on this day he was in a fantastic mood. the fresh spring rolls were great and the spicy prawn was fair enough to call good. it all washed down nicely with a growler of paleo IPA from north country brewing!

i spent a few hours with my good friend jay over the weekend. he drilled me about questions of the future and i soaked it in and tried to answer his questions. he says i am getting better. after thirty years, he is no longer vegetarian.. i showed up giving him some garlic and a few beers, shut-down ale and the berliner weisse from dogfish head and he sent me off with buzz love coffee, a road bike for a friend to ride when home, and goat meat. i cooked the goat meat that night with squash, rice and black beans. tough like leather.

well, a nice storm is moving its way here and i hope we really get slammed. its been the driest summer than i can remember. its already august. my favorite months are around the corner.