They don't make them like they used to

The important thing is that you watch all the way till the end of the video.. or just watch the last minute.

peanuts by charles bukowski

alright i saw this on dooce.

rice rice baby

Getting crazy in the rice paddy.

I'm telling Lars

So this? This is fantastic.

Be sure to take a listen to the ad, as well.

Awesome

The results of this year's RAIN ride are now posted at the ride's official site. Although those who don't finish the ride generally don't have their names listed on the results spreadsheets, they made a special entry (by my request) this year... check it out.

You know how I'm feeling? Like crap.

It's time for the 10:26 celebration - my back has finally loosened up enough that it doesn't constantly hurt.

I don't take injuries well - I'm still of the belief that I can conquer anything through exercise and positive thinking - so when I end up with something chronic I just get pissy. Ask Gina.

On a positive note, I finally had my broken tooth issue fixed last Thursday, and as of now it's been a successful procedure. The tooth was in very bad shape, with some decay to the root/nerve area, and there was concern that the fix wouldn't take. But so far it has. Knock on wood.

It's really quite odd to be able to eat with both sides of my mouth again. Hooray.

They built a platform to speak from and then put a toilet on top

Dur dur dur, dur dur.

The comments are equally enlightening.

You may have noticed that David Beckham is in America

ESPN is doing a fantastic job of overhyping Beckham's first game, which is supposed to be Saturday. The hype would be too much if he was planning on playing; From his MLS All-Star game halftime interview last evening, it sounded like he's not. He stated that the ankle injury is an 8-week injury, and that he's in week 7. He pointed out that he'll be playing in MLS for 5 years. And he said "[His career in MLS is] not a sprint".

Does that sound like someone who's planning on playing?

Apparently Victoria's reality show finished third in its time slot, and America hates her. Whatever. I think she's funny and looks like sex in robot form. And I'm perfectly ok with that. I don't know what that says about me.

Call me, Decepticons.

In other MLS All-Star game news, once again they forced some band no one's ever heard of on the television audience as "halftime entertainment". I have no idea what sort of thought process leads to this... If the band isn't popular enough to draw in viewers, who benefits from them playing? Instead you end up with your fan base going "well here's another half-assed MLS attempt at god knows what."

In other soccer news, I guess Chelsea's star defender John Terry broke a toe yesterday. I like John Terry, but I hate Chelsea. Hahaha, Chelsea.

So now that RAIN is out...

I've kinda got a new idea, that looks a little something like this.

225/17 mph = 13.23 hours

7 am to 8 pm... hmmm.

Post-heavy wednesday

While looking at my stats, I realized that somehow this blog gets nearly as many hits as Hoosier Beer Geek... or maybe I read that wrong. Odd.

I did read that wrong.

Here's a goody, the last of the series.



Brent does wear a beret now; Atcheynum was the last name of famous St. Louis Blue Blair Atcheynum, who I'd imagine is now out of the league. I don't remember what Blair Atcheynum was good at, I'd imagine it was something like looking like a caveman.

This one goes out to Mark, who loves bicycles

So after the extensive damage list (I mean, somehow I even managed to bend a seat rail... the rail that supports the seat... I think I was actually hit with the force of god's hand or something), it became apparent that I'd be better off getting a new bike than to bother fixing my beloved LeMond. Sorry, LeMond.

I'll only buy from Gray Goat Sports in Indy - I've heard so many stories about bad bike shops, and Gray Goat has always been good to me - so my choices were LeMond, Trek, Specialized, Orbea, Scott, and Bianchi.

In my size and price they had LeMond, Trek, Orbea, and Bianchi.

The LeMond was basically the same bike I've been riding, and looking at it I couldn't help but think "here we go again"... I took two years for me to tweak the LeMond I had to where I wanted it, and while the bike really didn't need anything... I just felt like maybe I should let that go.

Trek makes a nice bike, and it's pretty close to the LeMond (they're the same company, actually), but Trek's graphics are a big turn off for me. And Trek is the bike Joe Consumer buys, because Trek is the brand everyone knows - Thanks Lance Armstrong. So no Trek.

The Orbea was a nice bike - made in Spain, great paint, solid as a rock... in fact a little too solid. And it had Campagnolo components (the stuff that shifts the bike) and I'm used to Shimano's stuff.

That left the Bianchi. Bianchi is an Italian company with quite a cycling heritage - they're known for the shade of green the bikes are painted ("Celeste") and I've always liked their bikes - I've got a thing for bikes with a classic look, it's what drew me to my LeMond.

And the Bianchi was a slight step up from the bike I was riding - I figured if I was going to spend the money I should at least get a little joy out of it. And so, tonight I'll pick up this:




I don't have the money for any of this, of course; I'm using the money from my savings account that I had put aside for dental work (because as it turns out I don't need nearly as much money as the original estimate) and I'll take Gina's half of the rent and John's rent money and pay the rest off at the end of the month. Well, almost. Thanks American Express, you freakin' own me.

I just couldn't be without a bike - I've cut my calories down to like 1000 a day since the wreck because, well, I need to lose some more weight, but mostly because I know what happens when I don't exercise. And without a bike to ride I don't know what to do with myself when I get home from work. Anyway.

I'd write something about a change of luck, but who knows. Hopefully.

RSL trades Mehdi Ballouchy

Well, RSL have traded away the reason I ever liked them in the first place... depending on who you ask, Mehdi Ballouchy was either good, but more likely horrible... but he was my guy. And so.

As an added insult, RSL traded him for Kyle Beckerman, who is a white guy with dreadlocks. I don't care how good you are...

I dunno. I'll worry about who I'm gonna root for next year. Probably Columbus. Something about those horrible uniforms...

Before the disaster

someone took video of the RAIN ride start.



that's alot of bikes.

if you pause it at 2:31 you can see me, just barely, a flash of white on my jersey, on the far side of the road. EXCITING.

Bike damage estimate is back.

Saddle
right shifter
fork - steering tube bent
handlebars - bent
stem damage? not sure
frame damage? not sure until the rest it lined up
front wheel destroyed

estimate: $600 - $800, more if I want to replace the saddle

guess i'm bike shopping. now taking donations...

No deer were harmed in the creation of this comic

It's been a while since Dave backed his car into something.

Conclusions on a collision

So when I took a look at my helmet, and read what other people had to say about the rumors going around at the bike ride, I've gathered this:

I hit the deer, flipping the bike and myself forward (the bike was attached by my clip-in pedals), landing on the left rear side of my head (thank you, helmet), then my left shoulder, across my back to my right hip and leg and finally foot. Then I did a bit of skidding.

If I would have hit my head without a helmet, I'm probably looking at some sort of brain damage - perhaps Maritza the future brain surgeon could tell me exactly what, but my preliminary investigation points to vision and motor skills damage. AWESOME!

Let this be a lesson to you - wear a helmet. Because the freakiest things can happen to you... I might start wearing a helmet to work.

Still waiting on the bike estimate.

I guess I'll live.

New doctor, my old doctor took a new position at a hospital. Talked about running, listened to my breathing, gave me a tetnus shot, sent me out the door.

I feel underwhelmed.

RAIN RIDE 2007

I've been having a pretty rough couple of months on the bike. Although my average speed has been higher this year than ever, I've had plenty of problems - 6 flats in the last two months (most guys get maybe one a year), a noisy wheel... but going into the RAIN ride I felt like I had everything sorted. I had installed new tubes and tires, the bike was shifting nicely, and I finally had gotten over the burnout that had started to creep into my training rides.

So when my riding partner, Dave, started to worry about this year's ride, I tried to calm him down; we were going to be riding with people that were a bit faster than us, but I felt like we had the training in to stick with the pack. And we did out of the gate - from the start we were moving at 23+, but closer to 25 mph. We rode through Terre Haute with the police escort, and as we made the turn onto Route 40 the pack split up a bit, but the lead pack was within our sights.

We had caught on with a group of cyclists from Nebo Ridge bike shop - about ten of us in a double paceline, me on the back at about mile twelve.... and then the deer ran across the road and collided with my bicycle, breaking my front wheel, twisting my stem, throwing my bicycle across a lane, throwing me onto the pavement, cracking my helmet, and leaving me with road rash across my back, and scabs on my wrist, knee and ankle.

I couldn't really tell you how it happened... I heard someone call out "Deer!", I saw the deer and the
next thing I knew I was trying to pull myself out of the traffic lane. Someone picked up my bike and pulled it to the side of the road, and my riding partners Dave and Dale stopped to make sure I was ok. I told them to go on, thinking that I was hurting but ok, not realizing the extent of the damage... as I gathered my wits I considered trying to get back onto the bike, then realized my wheel was destroyed. I called my support vehicle and sat on the side of the road watching the remaining 80% of the pack go by.

I can't help but wonder what might have been - we were definitely on course for a record time - and although Dave abandoned when he met me at near my house (which is right on the route) at mile 90 due to frustration (and loss of his riding partner), Dale pushed on and finished in 8 hours even - a speed I'd like to think I could have maintained with him.

I guess we'll find out next year.

My bike is now at the bike shop, with a tore up new Specialized Toupe seat (which I bought a month ago), a taco'ed front wheel... something's wrong with the back wheel as well... all in all I'm guessing it's going to be a $500 bill.

In addition my back is stiff, my foot is swollen, I'm scabby... but in good enough spirits anyway. Of course I'm frustrated that I put in all the training and then had the results taken away from me. And I'm pissed that deer don't generally have insurance. I'm anxious to see what the doctor will find.

Oh well...

I find this thrilling

I am solely responsible for all Google results for the word "Franeytown".

See?

Remember Today's Special?

Of course "It was all foam" is a line my friends and I still (rarely) use today. Usually when wasting something.

When I was a kid I hated "Today's Special" but Grandma didn't have cable so I saw a lot of it. I also hated fucking Pinwheel on Nickelodeon... that show was like 7 hours long.

mornin..

Jon has started a new blog, which is going by the name Haiku Chop. I'm a contributor. Want to be a contributor? It's fun to contribute.

the hits keep coming. at one time you could buy a fight of the wild goats t-shirt. no one ever did though.

RAIN is Saturday

Am I ready? Well, maybe not as ready as last year. I did 95 miles Saturday, and things went well... probably the best ride I've had in months. So I'm going to go with that feeling.

This year we'll be riding with a couple of strong older guys, so we should have a group of four to work with - splitting up the time pulling a line of guys really does cut the work considerably.

I've heard the words "Mike is strong" more than once from the mouths of these guys; We'll see. I'm excited. What I'm most excited for is the weather though... the current forcast calls for a Saturday high of 80. Last year it was 95+.

JINX JANX JUNX My bike has new tires and tubes JUNX JANX JINX

I hope I'm ready to go.

Hey look

Nice post over at He Writes About Words on David Beckham, MLS, and the state of soccer journalism.

This one has it all...

Love, Robots, Batman, Fire... why bother seeing the Transformers movie when you've got this animated classic?



I saw the Transformers movie. It was pretty good/ok.

Dear mysterious stranger,

Alright Mr. Spitz, I may be on to you.

I must admit I still haven't listened to Alice Cooper's radio show.

It begins.

yeah, these move.

for mr. brown

$50 car paintjob... done with rollers in the driveway.

Holy moly.

HEY FOLKS IN ILLINOIS

July 21 (Sat) - Indiana Microbrewers Festival (Opti Park in Broad Ripple)

This event is gonna be pretty great - it's a $35 ticket (which is kinda expensive) but I'm gonna get my money's worth. And I invite YOU to come out to Indianapolis to join in the fun. That means anyone reading this. Leave me a comment. Come on out. IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME. I want to see y'all.

remember?

Bidet Fan

Surely it's a strange thing to be a fan of the Bidet - but my Bidet experience in Japan has convinced me that the Bidet is the Bid-est (Bidet + Best).

Perhaps you're thinking that it's not a manly thing to enjoy a spray of water up the ol' wazoo, but that's just because you're a filthy animal.

Anyway, while browsing another blog, I saw an ad for the Washlett. I now present to you.... a parade of smiley asses.

Oh there's this, Chicago Fire fans

...with Hamlett likely to remain as head coach and former Fire marketing director Steve Pastorino becoming the team president.

Sun Times

We suck

As it turns out, USA C-Team isn't very good. I guess it's better to find this out in tournaments we have no interested in winning, but it would have been nice to get out of the first round - it sort of feels like the world cup all over again, except this time I don't really care.

But it's about time we stop claiming moral victories because Argentina didn't beat us by 6. Any time you lose 4-1 you got spanked, regardless of what Diego Maradona says. Or anyone else, for that matter. This isn't 1990 - a loss is a loss.

Last night's loss to Paraguay was just as bad as the Argentina loss - poor finishing, lackadaisical play, and guys that just aren't ready...

Anyway, it's the C-Team - I guess this is what we could have expected. I was just hoping for better.

* * * * *

In other news, Heiðar Helguson appears to be on his way out at Fulham. In his place they're looking at Diomansy Kamara (who may or may not be signed already) - he's got 21 goals in 60 appearances for West Brom, so I guess he'll be a nice pickup. It beats Brian McBride's 28 goals in 123 appearances - and I thought McBride was pretty productive.

Former Fulham man (and Canadian) Tomasz Radzinski is set for a move to Rangers in Scotland, where he can compete for time with DaMarcus Beasley, I guess. Hmm.

Ok, that's all I got.