Is Steampunk Dying?

We strip-mine your underground culture
Take the bite out and rinse it clean
Give ourselves credit for creating it
Then sell it back to you
At twice the price

- Fleshdunce, by The Dead Kennedys

Will Steampunk survive being the next big thing? There were a couple of things this morning which some might interpret at signs of the coming Steam-pocalypse.
First is the mere existence of this story in the New York Times Fashion section on Steampunk. Major media attention is frequently to the coup de grace to an emerging subculture.
Second is to be found within the the article, the mention of Giovanni James of the James Gang magical performance troupe opening his own bricks and mortar Steampunk shop in NYC:
He plans to offer brass Rubik’s cubes, riding boots, early-20th-century-style motorbikes, handmade leather mailbags and brass or wooden iPhone cases, all under the label TJG Engineering.

There will, of course, be a clothing line with vintage and new looks modeled on Mr. James’s own neo-Edwardian sartorial signature. “I’m so sick of baggy pants hanging off your bottom,” he said. “This is more refined. It goes back to a time when people had some dignity.

“It’s a new day.”

Off-the-rack Steampunk? Why I say, how gauche! Any real steampunk casts their own goggles and gears from... Wait... did that say early-20th-century-style motorbikes, and handmade leather mailbags?

I am so there!

I mean really, Steampunk was dead to begin with. It is all about reanimating the mouldering corpses of bygone fashion, technology, and manners. So what if someone purchases their tails at a haberdashery rather than a thrift store?

Scooter Blog Roundup

It must be Spring, because the scooter bloggers are posting in earnest again.
Many of the bloggers are commenting on the deluge of news stories of people turning to scooters to beat $4 a gallon gas prices. The more astute of you might notice that the previous link is to ScooterFix, which is the new incarnation of Crystal Waters & company's Girl Bike. Girl Bike has been one of the longest running scooter blogs, but it is nice to see that Crystal (who was at one time an official Vespa blogger) is moving to a more gender inclusive scooter platform. Of course, I kid, I kid, because I love. It looks like ScooterFix will sticking with the long-running Girl Bike tradition of covering pink scooter gear, though, so it should feel pretty familiar.
One of the other long-running standbys of scooter reportage, 2 Stroke Buzz, has been posting some learned insights into the economics of scootering. Most recently Illnoise linked to this post on Justinsominia documenting the cost of ownership for a year on a Vespa LX 150. For those you who like to cut to the chase:

Total

In total, with the 3rd service I already mentioned above, I’ve spent $1,193.85 on maintenance over the last year, of which only the $150 brush touch up could be considered unnecessary, though at the same time I lucked out that the $260 clutch pulley replacement happened within 4 days of my warranty expiring. So for a vehicle that only cost me $4300, I’ve already spent 27% of purchase price on maintenance. Ouch. I don’t know if I’m paying a San Francisco labor premium or what, but I’m not sure I’m going back to the Vespa dealership now that my warranty has expired.

Gear, insurance, parking

And of course that total does not include the cost of riding jackets, rain gear, helmets, and gloves which I’ve probably spent about $500 on. Or $500 a year on insurance. Or $60 a year for city street parking plus the inevitable parking tickets (I’ve probably gotten 3-4 so far at $40 a pop).

All that said, I love my Vespa. I wish it looked better, but it’s a tool, not a museum piece. It allows me to get to work on my schedule, and park in the city where ever I want.

I don't know about the SF labor rates, but I think living in the Bay is definitely impacting his insurance rates...

Still, 2 Stroke Buzz has a good point in another post on scooter economics where he does the scooter math:

Spending money to save money is a popular American pastime (e.g. buying a Kitchen Aid mixer reasoning you’ll eat out less, or the scary trend of “Earth Day Sales”). Numbers can be twisted to make you believe anything, but don’t trust them unless you’re the one doing the math, filling the blanks with your own, honest, real-world, data. Change your lifestyle and your consumption over time and you’ll see savings, but don’t go out and finance a $5000 60mpg Vespa at 28% APR to ride on sunny weekends, because your interest on the loan is going to cost you more than the few hundred bucks you’ll save on gas. If you want it and you can afford it, get it, it’s goodtimes, believe me, but don’t blame the Saudis for your attraction to Italian industrial design.

Very good point, Bryan. Oh, and for those of you who are junkys for latest machines to come from Piaggio, he also has a good report on the upcoming Vespa 300 Sport.

Orin, over at Scootin' Old Skool, just reported today that cartoonist Dan Piraro, who draws one of my favorite strips Bizarro, rides a Vespa. Since Breathed, Waterson, and Larson's retirements / slow-downs, it is common to hear folks complain that the comics page just sucks, these days. Bizarro (as well as Mutts, Zits, and Foxtrot) makes the comics page worht being the first thing you turn the paper to.

He is also the original and only owner of the P125 (which has been kitted to 175cc) in the picture above. “For years, It was covered in crash bars, stadium mirrors, etc., and looked very ‘Quadrophenia’,” he writes. “It still has the crash bars but I’ve taken off the stadium mirrors so I can lane split here in NYC (Piraro and wife Ashley are longtime residents of the Big Apple). I’d love to put them back on, but I use it all the time in the city and need it to be more utilitarian.”

I’ve always wanted to ride in New York City. People think I’m crazy. Writes Dan, “NYC is the safest place I’ve ever ridden precisely because of the traffic and chaos that makes people think otherwise. Heavy traffic keeps speeds down and the chaos of pedestrians, bicycle messengers, roller bladers, scooters, mopeds, skateboarders, whathaveyou, keeps drivers on constant alert.”

So where’s a dangerous place? “Soccer moms on the phone, driving an SUV full of noisy kids in Dallas were the scariest kinds of drivers I’ve ever faced, by far.” Piraro grew up in Oklahoma and spent time in Dallas before moving to NYC.

This is actually encouraging, since moving to the East Coast, I have been fantasizing about scooting into Gotham, myself. Great scoop, Orin!

Speaking of Scoops, Steve over at The Scooter Scoop, has a crazy post up about a guy who crammed a 600cc Honda Silverwing motor into a Ruckus frame. Now, I have long thought that the Ruckus had a sweet design, that was underserved by it's miniscule engine, but... Good Lawdie! Click the Crazy Post link for pictures and more info.

Well, sorry about the "clip show" (of other people's stuff), I'm working on my (seemingly) never-ending series of scooter gear posts. Currently in the works is a post on the various materials used in textile jackets, but technical info on this stuff is hard to come by, so it is turning into more of a research paper than a blog post.

Also, just this evening, I cracked out my oil paints for the first time in seven years. So you can look forward to more painting posts in the coming days.

Until next time, Scoot On!

The Artist as Parent

Blessed Mother by Kevin Kresse

I am so overwhelmed with various emotions about being an expectant father, that it has been very hard for me to blog, or do much else productive.
I've been organizing the studio, though, as I have the premonition that this surge of feeling will eventually manifest itself in some creative work.
Though we are socially conditioned to see artists as hedonistic libertines, the connection between creativity and reproduction makes a certain sense to me. But as I try to wrack my brains for examples which illustrate this connection, the only one I can come up with is one of my artistic heroes, Kevin Kresse.
Kevin and his partner Bridget, had just quit their real jobs in order to focus on developing his artistic career, when they learned they were expecting twins. From this combination of circumstances Kevin began a series of paintings which exemplify many of the feelings I am facing.

Take for instance this one, Outside the Ring of Marys

of which Kevin says: "The overall idea is about the limitations of being an artist versus the power of creating a new life."

A couple more of my favorites from his work from this period are Daywatch and Nightwatch:

I've always been struck by something powerful in these pieces, a palpable sense of anticipation which I've recently begun to understand all too well.

I have a feeling in a few months this sense of fretful expectation will give way to the feeling of overpowering protectiveness Kresse expresses in Papa Bear (Safe Mountain), of which he says: "One of two Papa Bear paintings based on the new feelings that children bring out in a parent- the need to protect and nurture."


I just thought I'd share a few of these with you, because well, I'd love to see Kresse get a larger audience, and I'm trying to kick myself into gear to paint more. I don't have much tangible to offer a child. But I can do my best to be a good example, which entails doing more with my talents and skills.

In Utero Update

So Jes went in for her first prenatal exam yesterday...
Apparently, our estimates were just a tad off... where we'd thought she was 12-15 weeks along, turns out it is more like 25 weeks...
We checked out the birthing center we'd like to use, and it's pretty nice.
Jes also had her first sonogram, (seen above) looks like it is a girl. The experts tell us she is doing just fine.

I however have quit smoking, and am totally freaked.

Scooter Gear: Part 2, Textile Jackets; Subsection A, Hi-Viz

It's taken me longer than I'd hoped to get back to my ongoing series on safety gear for scooterists.
Since the news of impending paternity came in the middle of this series on safety gear, my priorities have changed. I don't have any plans to quit riding. Since $4, or even $5 a gallon gas seems likely by the end of the year, I hope to be using the Vespa even more for low-load trips. Plus I have no illusions that my life as I know it is over, and my 16 mile round-trip commute, may just become the lions share of my free / recreational time. The Vespa will help me maximize fun and minimize spending.

Suddenly, safety gear seems like an even more important topic than ever. I mean, I certainly want to be around to advocate for what I feel to be appropriate personal transportation for some time. But even more so, I want to be around to embarrass my spawn with my choice my choice in personal transportation.

One of the most important skills a scooterist or motorcyclist can have is analyzing risks and weighing those risks with a realistic assessment of one's skills. For many sport riders who like to push the envelope of speed and technical ability, this can be a pretty complex task. For me, not so much. About the most dangerous thing I do is get on the bike. I've taken classes, I read books on safe riding, and I am content cruising along with traffic speed, and taking scenic routes. I like taking breaks every hour or two, when on a long ride, and don't push my endurance too far. The biggest risk to me, is most likely, other drivers.

And in motorcycle / automobile collisions where the cager is at fault, what are the most common reasons / excuses from car drivers? "He came out of nowhere," and "I didn't see him."

Visibility of cyclists and scooterists is like the weather, everybody complains about it, but few folks do anything about it. "Start seeing Motorcyclists" stickers are all well and good, and I hope more cagers remember them when making left turns. Still, anything you can do to get the attention of that cell-phone chatting SUV driver, is a good idea.

Hi-Viz Lime Yellow ‘jumps out’ on a primal level because it is not naturally occurring, and because the human eye is most sensitive to light in this part of the spectrum. (The eye is least receptive to red & black). The brightest color possible under visible light, Hi-Viz Lime Yellow is more effective than fluorescent colors which, because of their chemical makeup are dependent on the uv radiation in sunlight to ‘glow’, making them less effective at night and in vehicle headlights. The piercing Hi-Viz Lime Yellow carries plenty of visual ‘punch’ even under incandescent and low-light conditions. The well-known Hurt report contains data indicating that most drivers colliding with motorcyclists list “not seeing the rider” as a primary cause of car/motorcycle accidents. As another weapon in the arsenal of the urban commuter, these garments are unmatched.
--From Aerostich's page on their Hi-Viz products.

A study of motorcycle accidents in New Zealand found that:

... drivers wearing any reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk ... than other drivers. Compared with wearing a black helmet, use of a white helmet was associated with a 24% lower risk ... Self reported light coloured helmet versus dark coloured helmet was associated with a 19% lower risk.

The radioactive shade of lime-yellow, also called hi-viz yellow, and slime-yellow, was originally developed for fire-trucks, and some studies have shown that it has had significant impact on reducing accidents involving these emergency vehicles.

During the four years of the study, red or red/white pumpers responded to fire calls 153,348 times, and lime-yellow/white pumpers responded 135,035 times. Those runs (responses to fire emergencies) resulted in twenty-eight accidents involving fire pumpers. Since eight accidents were not visibility-related, study results included only 20 accidents. Of the 20 accidents, red or red/white fire pumpers accounted for 16, while lime-yellow/white pumpers accounted for only 4. Red or red/white fire vehicles resulted in 10 towaway accidents and 7 injury accidents compared to 2 towaways and 1 injury accident for lime-yellow/white vehicles.
-- From Solomon and King's study of accidents involving emergency vehicles in Dallas, Texas.

These are some pretty compelling statistics.
Even more compelling is the visual evidence on the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center's website. They have a whole sub-site, highviz.org, devoted to tools and techniques for making sure that other drivers see you. Their pages on reflective vests and brightly colored jackets feature photographs showing the difference between a rider in a traditional black jacket, and one in a hi-viz jacket with ample reflective material. Check it out, it's pretty convincing.

So, what's available in hi-viz from high quality protective gear manufacturers?
Well, I'm glad you asked...

One of the granddaddies of textile gear for motorcyclists, Aerostich is also one of the originators of hi-viz gear. Hi-viz versions are available in both their Roadcrafter and Darien lines.
is one of the few riding garments out there available in Hi-Viz colors. Above you see the Roadcrafter jacket in hi-viz yellow with black ballistic patches. The roadcrafter also features some generous patches of 3M ScotchLite material, for extra visibility. The Roadcrafter features full-armor for the elbows, shoulders and back. The bulk of the construction is of 500 denier Cordura, which has been treated for water-proofing. Potential impact zones on the shoulders and elbows are 1050 denier Cordura.
The Roadcrafter comes as a separate jacket and pants or as a one-piece suit, which is famous for the speed with which it can be put on and taken off. There are a slew of stories of riders who have walked away unintentional dismounts in Roadcrafters which they still wear. Google "Aerostich Roadcrafter Reviews" and you'll get some idea. Aerostich has a stellar reputation, their products are available only from them, and they do custom orders. In fact on their website, you can use a web interface to build the color combination of your preference.
With a little dinking around, I generated this version of the one-piece suit, which I call Kid-Flash.
I've been playing around with the concept of doing a Flash or Kid Flash themed custom Vespa for sometime, and if I ever get around to it, I'll probably have to get the above one-piece suit.

Man, if that don't make the youngster go "Aw, Daaaaad!" nuthin' will.

Also available from Aerostich is the Darien Jacket (and pants of course) Like the Roadcrafter, this is a classic choice for BMW riders and other long range tourers. It is likewise well regarded for bullet-proof performance, and top-notch waterproofing. Aerostich prides themselves in the fact that their gear is frequently used by riders making transcontintenal voyages. It IS that good. It's priced accordingly. The one-piece Roadcrafter runs $797, the Roadcrafter Jacket is $467, and the Darien jacket is $517. Of course Aerostich also takes these garments back for repairs, and as I said earlier, it's not unusual for riders wear one of these for more than ten years of heavy use and abuse.

Aerostich has a devoted following, especially among BMW riders (who can afford the premium which 'stich's reputation seems to add to the bottom line). But they have been selling the same basic design for many years, and some folks seem to believe they have been resting on laurels for too long. So of course, there are other manufacturers nipping at their heels.
Another company who is really committed to hi-viz riding gear is Olympia Moto Sports. Above is their Bushwhacker jacket, which is a mesh jacket that includes a removable water-proof thermal liner for three-season riding. Of course the solid panels are made of 500 denier cordura, the mesh is ballistic, it has CE armor in the elbows, shoulders and articulated back armor. Nice if you're looking for the Summer convenience of mesh, but with a little more versatility. Still, though this jacket should perform well for one crash, but I don't think you'd be using it much after that. The Bushwhacker costs $250.

The real competition to Aerostich though, are the next two garments. Above is the Olympia AST (for All Seasons Touring,) Like the Aerostich offerings, this is a dang fine piece of protective gear, in hi-viz or no. The bulk of the jacket of the jacket is 500 denier Cordura, and the panels on the elbows and shoulders are 2000 denier Cordura. Serious stuff.
Like the Bushwhacker, it has a waterproof and thermal liner, unlike the Bushwhacker it has bonded breathable waterproofing on the outer shell, and five waterproof exterior pockets. It also has elbow, shoulder and back armor. I suppose it also worth mentioning that the removable liner has been designed to be worn as a seperate jacket, looking like a basic windbreaker. The integrated venting system is reported to be very effective when open, yet maintaining waterproofing when closed. Some of these are features you'd find on the Aerostich gear, some go beyond that. Despite this fact, the AST retails for much less, at $289.
The Olympia Phantom fills out their options available in slime yellow. It's basically the AST in a one-piece suit version, and aims to take on the Roadcrafter one-piece head on. Besides having tougher Cordura at the high-impact points, ancedotal accounts say that it is more waterproof than the Roadcrafter due to a different zipper set up. This different setup does have the deteriment of making the Phantom slightly more involved to get into and out of. The Phantom lists for $449.

Now, I know that radioactive neon gear is not traditional amongst scooterists. Neither are one-piece suits. I'm just throwing these options out there, because I think they definitely have some pluses. The hi-viz suit was made for urban and suburban commuters who are daily riders on dangerous crowded roadways. I think that describes the average scooterist better than the average motorcyclists.

Sure, a lot, if not most scooterists, prefer riding gear which is subtle and looks as much like street clothes (preferably hip, stylish clothes) as possible. But if you have a serious commute, which you under take in all kinds of weather, one of these options just might be right for you. Get a suit, for safety while riding, and wear whatever you want underneath. Just store the whole thing in your topcase when you are off bike.

Of course there are some of us scooterists out there, who are attracted to scooters as a manifestation of form following function. Personally, I think wearing a day-glo riding jacket is pretty punk rock. Finally outer-wear which will recapture the shock value the leather biker jacket had sixty years ago...

New York Times article from 2004:

As for looking cool, that's subjective. Mr. Goldfine, lacking a windshield, pays a price for giving up the camouflage of black leather. ''The high-visibility yellow garments become plastered with oil, bug stains and other road filth,'' he said. ''To me this looks as authentic as faded denim or well-worn shoes. But most nonriders find this alarming. Several times when I've met someone, their eyes alight on the crud and their expression changes from friendly to a kind of nonverbal eeeeewwww.''

Anyway, Mr. Goldfine said, when you show up on your motorcycle, ''it's not what you wear that makes you cool; it's that you rode there.''


Previously, Scooter Gear: Part 1, Leather Jackets

Beginning of a Great Adventure

More proof, if any were needed, that Lou Reed is the most underrated song-writer of the 20th century.



Some great jams here, but the vocals are a little muffled.
And so you can truly appreciate Lou's take on a middle-aged hipster staring down paternity's double barrels, I give you the lyrics:

It might be fun to have a kid that I could kick around
A little me to fill up with my thoughts
A little me or he or she to fill up with my dreams
A way of saying life is not a loss

Id keep the tyke away from school and tutor him myself
Keep him from the poison of the crowd
But then again pristine isolation might not be the best idea
Its not good trying to immortalize yourself

Beginning of a great adventure
Beginning of a great adventure

Why stop at one, I might have ten, a regular tv brood
Id breed a little liberal army in the wood
Just like these redneck lunatics I see at the local bar
With their tribe of mutant inbred piglets with cloven hooves

Id teach em how to plant a bomb, start a fire, play guitar
And if they catch a hunter, shoot him in the nuts
Id try to be as progressive as I could possibly be
As long as I dont have to try too much

Beginning of a great adventure
Beginning of a great adventure

Susie, jesus, bogart, sam, leslie, jill and jeff
Rita, winny, andy, fran and jet
Boris, bono, lucy, ethel, bunny, reg and tom
Thats a lot of names to try not to forget

Carrie, marlon, mo and steve, la rue and jerry lee
Eggplant, rufus, dummy, star and the glob
Id need a damn computer to keep track of all these names
I hope this baby thing dont go too far

I hope its true what my wife said to me
I hope its true what my wife said to me, hey
I hope its true what my wife said to me

She says, baby, its the beginning of a great adventure
Babe, beginning of a great adventure
Take a look

It might be fun to have a kid that I could kick around
Create in my own image like a god
Id raise my own pallbearers to carry me to my grave
And keep me company when Im a wizened toothless clod

Some gibbering old fool sitting all alone drooling on his shirt
Some senile old fart playing in the dirt
It might be fun to have a kid I could pass something on to
Something better than rage, pain, anger and hurt

I hope its true what my wife said to me
I hope its true what my wife said to me
I hope its true what my wife said to me
She says, lou, its the beginning of a great adventure
Lou, lou, lou, beginning of a great adventure
She says, babe, how you call your lover boy
Sylvia, quite you call your lover man

That's right baby, take a walk on the mild side...

Anniversary, Announcement, and Assorted Aliterations

Well today is the second Anniversary of my first post here on Honky-Tonk Dragon. Over 1100 posts and 75,000 hits later, it might seem like a good time for reflection, and indulging in laser accurate probes of hind-sight. I'm sure I'll get to that eventually, but right now, I'm looking toward the future, for reasons which will become obvious in a moment.

The announcement part of this post is probably the biggest personal announcement, ever.

Jes is preggers!

We are both, excited, anxious, overwhelmed, ecstatic, worried, and overjoyed.

The timing could be a little better, I suppose, as we are both still settling in to Connecticut. But neither of us is getting any younger, and just about every parent I have talked to agrees that you are never ready, it just happens and you become ready.
I always understood that notion, intellectually, but now it is tangible. The more the concept of impending parenthood becomes real to me, the more it becomes a source of strength. I am not being naive, I know that our lives as we have known them are basically over for the next twenty years.

I'm sure this development will impact the blog somewhat, though the details remain to be seen.

Scooter Gear: An interlude, Why gear is important.

Well it's taken me longer than I expected to get back to the topic of riding gear for scooterists, and I apologize for that.
Originally, I planned on doing only one post on the whole topic, but after starting with Leather Jackets, I realized this is a topic which needed more in depth coverage.
The topic of safety gear for scooterists doesn't get discussed enough. To a lot of folks, the possibility of a scooter accident is like the 500 pound gorilla in the room. They hope if they don't talk about it, it will go away. Part of the appeal of scooters, especially the high-end Italian models that so many of us enjoy, is that they are fashionable. Indeed, when the Vespa was first being designed, the intention was to create a motorized two wheeler that wouldn't dirty a business suit, and would allow ladies to wear skirts and heels. You still see representations of this in scooter advertisements.
I have to admit, when I first started scooting, I didn't wear anything more protective than a helmet. Despite all of our protests to the contary, many scooterists think of a scooter as just a step up from a moped. It is easy to think of a scooter as a bicycle that you don't have to peddle. In fact that is a great bit of it's appeal to urban commuters. And, again, I have to admit, I can't stand the idea of wearing a helmet on a bicycle.
But this is a subject on which my opinion has changed with time. On one hand, I actually think a scooter is safer on the road than a bicycle, due to it's ability to keep up with traffic, and marginally safer than a motorcycle, due it's slightly better maneuverability, the simple truth is the road doesn't care what you fell off of when you hit it. While I believe that an experienced rider will be fractionally more likely to avoid an accident on a scooter than a motorcycle, and perhaps significantly more likely to perform an emergency dismount when an accident is unavoidable (due to the step-through design), the fact is that riding a scooter at motorcycle speeds, requires the same precautions as riding a motorcycle.
Look at this way, sex with a condom, is still sex, it's still the most fun you can have with your clothes off. And you are much more likely to live to be able to have more sex. Rding a scooter with protective gear is still riding, it's still the most fun you can have with your pants on, and you are much more likely to live to be able to ride some more.

Working in a Vespa dealership has really brought this home to me. I see so many new Vespa riders who think that a helmet is all the protection that they need. And, sure, I'd love to sell them jackets, pants, gloves, and boots out of our stock. But much more, I'd like to know that they are getting protective gear from anywhere, and using it. Yes, I know that new Vespa is a fashion accessory for some folks. For others, it is an economical, reliable automobile replacement. For some it is a toy, a means to motorized bliss. But in all these cases, there exists protective gear which will fit your priorities, and should the worst happen, increase your chances of pursuing them in the future.

Day Late and a Dollar Short Movie Review: The American Astronaut

Just got this disc in the post from the Dragon's Arkansawyer correspondent, Iain de Sane, and I gotta say it is a Drive-in Classic!

Now Iain has been raving about this film to me for some time, and quite honestly, I thought his hedonistic lifestyle had finally caught up with him, and he was just getting the name of that Astronaut Farmer flick wrong... How wrong I was...

The American Astronaut defies easy classification. Some reviews call it a Science Fiction / Western / Musical / Comedy, but that really doesn't give you much concept of what this film really is, and actually does it a disservice. The American Astronaut is what would happen if a rock band attempted to make a independent science fiction art-house movie which broke all of Joe Bob Briggs' Drive-in traditions, but would still be something that Joe Bob would say, "check it out."

If you have no idea what I am talking about, yet take this as a sign that this film is not for everyone, then you are correct! Indeed, Jes couldn't make it all the way through. I, on the other hand watched the film, then watched the director's commentary (given live, with Q&A from an audience in a Brooklyn bar), then watched the movie again!

Now, I'm not big on musicals. Though I'm an obvious fan absurdism, the average musical in absurd in a way that bugs me. I suppose the absurdity is generally not taken to the aesthetic and humorous extremes I'd like. A short list of musicals I like will make this obvious, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Ruling Class, and Improv Everywhere's guerilla performance art piece Food Court Musical, all illustrate a peculiar and original interpretation of the genre.

The American Astronaut definitely qualifies as peculiar and original. Set in a Sci-Fi universe which seems one part William S. Burroughs and one part Philip K. Dick, it's musical numbers either fit seamlessly with the plot, as performances which are taking place in bars or mass assemblies, or they are completely absurdist, beyond that absurdity of characters just bursting into song which one might expect of Broadway. No, these explosions of song, verse and choreography are delivered with a Discordian wink, a nudge, and even a "say-no-more." The number linked above "Hey, Boy" is just one example.

So, I don't know if Joe Bob would have reviewed The American Astronaut, as it is a strange mix of B-Science Fiction, and Art film (or more likely, art-school drop-out turned rock-musician), but I'd like to think it woulda gone a little like this:

No dead bodies, but countless piles-of-ashy-remains-of-disintegrated -bodies. No breasts, but one "Boy who actually saw a woman's breast." Disintegration pistol fu. Public restroom Polaroid. Two giant fish bowl space helmets. Two F-bombs. Space-gimp in a rubber suit who smells like poo. Description of homo-erotic acts by 19th century Nevada silver-miners. Gratuitous Flash Gordon-esque painted space scenes. Spaceship hidden in floating space barn.

Also check out this review from Boulder, CO, where for sometime the film has shown with Rocky-Horror-like frequency:

The whole movie, including the music, is infused with an odd mix of working-class sensibilities and intellectual irony. The roughnecks at the bar wear leather, don’t shave, drink rotgut, and dance as though their masculinity depended on it. At the same time, the longest mis-told joke on film can only really be appreciated in a post-modern, ironic frame of mind. And our hero is subjected to the humiliation of having a Polaroid taken of him on the toilet, something you will see in no blue-collar commercial for Chevy Trucks.

In music, if you mix the aggression of hard rock with ironic lyrics, you get something like punk. Add a little country, and you have the music from The American Astronaut. Maybe the fact that it’s all so incongruous and puzzling (and still funny) is what makes the movie watchable over repeated viewings.

Four stars. The Dragon says, Check it out!

Buy The American Astronaut at Amazon

Free Shipping on the Dragon's Shirt Designs

This weekend there is free shipping at SpreadShirt. I suppose you could use this on any old graphic, but why, when you can get these fantastic scooter designs by yours truly. You can see all my images here.

This offer is good April 19th and 20th, in the US and Canada, just use code SPRINGFREE (or CADSPRINGFREE for Canada) when asked for a coupon or voucher code as you order.

New Painting: January Sky

Just finished this painting, and I'm pretty happy with it. It is the most intensive piece I've completed in like four years. There are little bits I was tempted to keep refining, but a voice inside my head started saying, "Step away from the easel, and no one will get hurt..."
This of course is a reference to an old artist's joke:
Q: How many people does it take to paint a painting?
A: Two. One to paint, and the other to shoot them in the head, when it's finished.

If this image looks familiar, that's because it's something I've been working on for several years. It originated with a photo I took in my senior year at Evergreen.
This image of my good friend Sky was part of a series of digital photos I took of friends in bars. Here is the original...

While I did a little editing of the digital file in Photoshop, this consisted of nothing more than using the computer as a digital darkroom. I fiddled with contrast, color balance and the like, but the source was always one image. The image itself was made possible by altering the digital camera's settings to operate in low light with no flash, which is why it has the appearance of a double exposure. This is still something that interests me, the ways in which a digital camera acts differently than film.

Anyway, I've always liked the photo, though I had the feeling that I saw a potential in it, which others didn't quite grasp.

A couple years later, I finally got around to playing with the image again. This sketch was actually done on a plane, during my first trip out to CT. I'm very fond of it, as I am of the original photo, though for different reasons. It was one of the first serious sketches I completed after a long dry spell. It deconstructed the photo, which was very 21st century in its conception, in a very classical manner. That amuses me, in a perverse way. Plus, Jes's father, David, was very emphatic in his appreciation of the sketch over the photo. As best I can tell, David has very a sophisticated, albeit conservative, aesthetic. So, not long after returning home from that trip, I skritched down some outlines with vine charcoal on an extra canvas...
And then I let that canvas sit for a year.

So for my birthday last year, Jes and her parents chipped in to get me a new easel. A really nice new easel, the kind of tool, gift which demands use. So I started going through my stack of blank canvases, and there was that under-drawing. At the time, I was in the mood for some daring experimental work, and indeed I started several other pieces which are more abstract and non-objective. You can see the influence of this approach in the image above. But once I gotten to about this point on this painting, it had started to dominate my thinking.
At about this point, I'd abandoned all pretension of abstraction and non-objective painting. Unsatisfied with how the work was progressing based on those strategies and the original sketch, I returned to the original photo. There was something in it which had originally entangled my thinking about the piece, an ephemeral quality which was only hinted at in the sketch, and was missing thus far in the painting. At this phase, you can see where I attempted to do away with some of the more obtrusive mandala-like elements which had existed previously in the background.

There is no set interval to these work-in-progress shots. But I think the progression is interesting. Though not the best example, this work does show some sign of what technology can mean to traditional artistic endeavors. Though this work was executed in acrylic, smearing pigments on prepared cloth is an antiquated endeavor. Still, for all the convenience of modern media, this painting will be around centuries after inkjet prints have faded, and optical disks have become unstable. All our advances have yet to displace the smearing of minerals coated in a binder on a substrate.

At about this point, I began to be dissatisfied with the composition as it had been scrawled on the canvas in charcoal.
Oops. Too late for that. Well, I guess I started with some abstract intentions, so at this point I figure I'll just tweak the abstracting of the background and color strategies to compensate.

Almost done here, the magenta shades on the left side are pretty well finished. But it took several hours of work after this point to get the depth and texture which I felt the piece needed on the right hand side.


Though the depth that is achieved through varying layers of glazes, velaturas, and scumbling, can't really be captured by photography, you can see how the layers of colors interact. So some of the depth which is readily apparent in the actual painting is lost here, you do get a sense, though flattened, of how color was used in the piece, as well as some of the brushwork.

January Sky is 16" x 20", Acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas, ready to hang, and can be yours for $1000 USD. Contact information can be found on this page, or notify me of your interest in the comments.

(Edited 04/15/08. Posted better quality images of the final painting and the closeup. Also, removed text complaining about the poor quality of those initial photos.)

Comics Britannia: Alan Moore Interviews

I just found this lovely series of videos of comics writer Alan Moore discussing several of his projects.
If you are a fan of Mr. Moore, then you probably are aware of most this stuff. It's highly entertaining, nonetheless. If you only vaguely recognize the name, (and you should as the man behind the comics which inspired the films V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the upcoming Watchmen), beware of spoilers.
Also some of these (particularly the 4th) are not exactly work safe.
Probably my favorite bits are when Mr. Moore reads excerpts from his work. It's interesting to hear the emphasis and inflection he places on the text.

Part 1: V for Vendetta

Part 2: The Watchmen

Part 3: League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Part 4: Lost Girls

Like Everything Else, Those Dastardly French Raise Comics to Fine Art

Heather McDougal over at Cabinet of Wonders, has a wonderful (pardon the redundant pun) post up about the joys of French comics:

For a number of years now, I have gone to France as often as I and my family can afford, and each time we make a pilgrimage to a particular store in St. Michel that sells literally thousands of these kinds of comic books, along with videos, manga, and other things. Imagine going into a shop that rises up on several levels, with at least two of them literally solid with the spines of comic book albums. Every book on the shelves is large format, beautifully printed, and relatively reasonably priced (considering you can get ten or twenty years out of them; the terrible bindings I've been finding on modern American softcover graphic novels only last a few months in the hands of enthusiastic readers before they start giving up their pages like moulting birds). We always choose two or three books to buy. They have to be readable in our lame high-school French, and at least one of them has to be readable to my daughters, because we can only fit a couple in our luggage. But they're worth it.

Sigh.

Sigh, indeed.

Oh, comics. Despite your constant reappraising by pop culture, the true depth of your potential as an artistic medium is constantly overlooked. Except perhaps, in France, where artistic endeavors are held in slightly higher regard than in the Colonies.

Case in point, Ordinary Victories by Manu Larcenet. If Bill Waterson were to write the great American graphic novel, it would probably look a lot like this. It is pure genius, better in many ways than most celebrated novels I've read, to say nothing of comics. It should be a best seller among mainstream readers. But it is a comic, and it is hard for Americans to over come that stigma. Larcenet melds traditional western visual storytelling with lessons from Manga effortlessly, coming up with something that has the Zen-like beauty of the best Calvin & Hobbes sunday strips.

Seriously, I have comics picked out to help my kids learn to read, to help them adjust to adolescence, etc. This is the comic I will give them when they graduate college. This is the "OK, you're an adult now, welcome the real world" comic, with all the freedom, joy, numbness, and true existential angst (as opposed to adolescent poseur angst) that entails.

Sigh, indeed.

News on the Dragon's Favorite Blogs

Which do you want first, the good or the bad?

Ah, you're like me, you want the bad first, with the good to follow to cusion the blow, well...

One of my favorite blogs is going into extreme slow down, if not ceasing to post altogether. Yup, Steve Williams over at Scooter in the Sticks is moving on to greener pastures. This makes me very sad, as Steve frequently came the closest to describing the ineffable Zen of scootering, without relying on trendiness, fashion, or allusions to Robert Pirsig. Steve was one of the first bloggers to notice your humble Dragon, and I still hope to actual bump into him at some point, preferably when we are both on scoots. Plus he had magnificent photos, and even won an award for his blog. Still, he has a life, a family, and quite a photographic talent to be tended to. The Dragon wishes him the best of luck with all of these, and hopes to hear something about how they progress.

On a more positive note, Tinkergirl over at the Brass Goggles blog, is looking for a steampunk blogging co-conspirator. She is feeling a little overwhelmed with maintaining both the best blog deovted to Steampunk items, and the best forum devoted to Steampunk culture. Who can blame her, she's done a bang-up job so far, which we salute her for. Drop her a line if you are interested. I'd pony up, but my steampunk blogging is probably a little more sporadic than she is looking for.

Speaking of, Steve, if having another hand at wheel would help you keep Scooter in the Sticks going, well I'll through my Stetson into the ring. Heck, living in sticks in Connecticut, I think I might be able to generate ample fodder, now.

EDIT:
You should check out Orin at Scootin' Old Skool's post-mortum for Scooter in the Sticks, his analogy to Calvin and Hobbes is most apt.

Scooter Customization on the Cheap

Piaggio is supposedly releasing a series of various decals for the Vespa S. It seems a little odd that these stickers are being tied so closely to the S. Like they won't stick onto a GTS? The sets of stickers are fairly pedestrian, Italian flags, Union Jacks, racing stripes... yada, yada, yada... Follow this link, and it will take you to the S accessories page where you can see pictures of the sets.

I guess I can understand some of the marketing-think for this. The S is harkening back to the sport models of the 60s and 70s which scooterboys get all misty over, and scooterboys are prone to pimping their scoots in one way or another.

It takes me back to my skater days when a skateboard deck, no matter how cool the graphics, had an undeniable attraction to stickers, mostly for favorite punk bands of the week. I guess I'm showing my age, but I see a strange evolutionary connection between skateboards and scooters. Skateboards being transport for early teens and scooters being the next stage of mobile independence.

Any how, while I'd be hesitant to put many stickers on a car, (even though it might improve the appearance of Jes's beater Escort Wagon I'm driving), stickers just seem natural for scooters.

Perhaps you are following my train of thought, but are hesitant to plaster your beloved scoot with "Nuke a gay whale for Christ" or some other such slogan. Well let me tell you, the world of ready-made stick-on graphics has changed a lot since the days of Black Flag logos on Vision decks...

I've mentioned Scoot Graphics in the past, and have meant to link to Pimp My Scoota, and Scooter Art, but somehow neglected to.

Pimp My Scoota has many different sets of large vinyl graphics designed by artists. These designs are very distinctive, stamped with the various artists particular style, and crafted to fit exactly on P-series Vespas. If you've got a P and you find something you like, you are in luck.

Scooter Art has stylized 50s looking space age designs. A little more generic perhaps, but the style does work well with the Modern Vespas.

An idea that percolated through my head for a while is using wall-stickers. Blik has a variety of wall-stickers that have cool potential for customizing a scoot. They also make some of their designs as auto stickers, but I think the wall stickers are more removable. Above you see Matthew Haggett's Spheres in the Autographic version. I think those spheres could be the basis for one really sweet scooter.

All of these various decals stem from the revolution in desk-top vinyl cutting. If you want something really custom, try finding a local sign shop. Chances are they will be happy to cut adhesive vinyl into your design. Also try searching Etsy for wall stickers, you'll turn up all sorts of crazy stuff.

Virtual Vespas

Linux News is reporting that H.R. Block virtual offices within Second Life are giving away Vespas (you know, virtual Second Life Vespas)

As the tax deadline nears, H&R Block is serious about giving real-life advice to made-up characters.
Why?
Because those characters are controlled by real people, otherwise known as potential clients.
This is no digital dalliance. Last year Computer World magazine named H&R Block Island one of the eight most useful corporate sites within Second Life. The island, which has been up for more than two years, has eight tax offices, an auditorium, product pavilion and DJ playing pop songs in a nightclub, complete with lighted dance floor and disco ball.
Free Stuff
Since dancing is popular in Second Life, Block gives visitors a free computer script that allows their avatars to dance. (They also give them a virtual H&R Block T-shirt, hoodie and Vespa scooter.)

I haven't spent much time in Second Life. I downloaded the base application over a year ago, but I was playing a lot of World of Warcraft at that time, and well Second Life just seemed a little dry compared to WoW.
But you know, I have been procrastinating the taxes... And if I ever was to spend time back in Second Life, a Vespa would be aweful nice...

The Rezistor DIY Vespa Conversion

The Rezistor - World's Quietest Vespa | V is for Voltage Community
A member of the V is for Voltage EV community has converted a 1970 Vespa 50S Special to a DIY electric scooter. Apparently he recently won best Rat scoot at a Portland scooter rally.

Very Impressive!

Apartments Designed for Scooterists/Motorcyclists

Dezeen » Blog Archive » NE apartment by Yuji Nakae, Akiyoshi Takagi and Hirofumi Ohno

This is one of the cooler things I've seen lately. Three Japanese architects have designed a unit of eight apartments specifically for two-wheeling residents.
The C-shaped unit has an open, central common area which connects to the street, a kind of shared driveway. Each apartment has a small garage off of this central hub.
I can just imagine that weekends at this unit would entail a lot of wrenching and BSing about modifications and bike performance...
So awesome.

Scooter Gear: Part 1, Leather Jackets

I've been promising you for awhile, and myself for even longer, that I would post something in depth about riding gear for scooter riders.
Well, I just stumbled upon this recent article in the New York Times about leather jackets, and thought it was a good place to start. It's a strange article, with an accompanying set of photos of male models posing on Vespas. One of the photos even features a chopped Lambretta, though most of the scoots are modern Vespas. The thing that gets me though is all the jackets are fashion leather jackets, ranging in price from over $600 to over $5k! I know the dollar is weak, but good lawd!
Now, I'm sure the piece was intended as a fashion article, and I'm sure someone in the creative department had the brainstorm that Vespas are way more hip than motorcycles, thus the photo shoot. But I have some problems with this.
First of all, some of these skins may be styled after classic riding jackets, but none of them actually strike me as being riding jackets. The leather looks thin, design features intended to let in and keep out air are totally forgotten, and I'm sure there is no armor to be found. Sure, any leather jacket is going to be better protection than a nylon wind breaker, but these things just scream poseur to me. Plus, I'd imagine one good slide would totally destroy them... and then there is $2k down the drain. Whereas a good $300 to $500 motorcycling jacket would probably just need a little mink oil, and would good as new.
The article does touch on the mystique of the leather jacket:

Since the early 1980s, when American men first truly embraced the leather jacket as the antihero’s anti-sport coat, a new one has risen from the tomb of rebels past every six or seven years. In the 1980s, there was the ’40s-style WWII bomber (very Indiana Jones), then, in the late 1980s, the ’50s-style motorcycle jacket (very Mad Max). In the 1990s, the ’70s hip-length jacket (very John Shaft) had a moment, followed by the 1960s-style streamlined “cafe racer” that would shout Steve McQueen if McQueen ever shouted.

But I think if you are really trying to emulate rebel machismo emphasizing form over function, isn't the way to do it.

My other problem with this article, is that leather isn't that popular with scooter riders. I suppose there are a multitude of reasons for this, from the classic Mod vs. Rocker feuds, to the fact that a lot of scooterists view their scoots as day-to-day transportation, and don't want to tailor their whole wardrobe around their ride. Plus, though I have no stastics to back this up, I think you will find significantly more vegans and vegetarians on scooters than on motorcycles. Plus, if a scooterist did decide to go with leather for their riding gear, I think this article does them a disservice. There are now plenty of stylish leather jackets, which are made for riding and its dangers, which don't make you look like a Hell's Angel or like you are ready for Le Mans.
And while a lot of folks might think that any leather and the hardened outcast image it brings with it would be incongruous, I don't necessarily agree. In my mind a scooter is way more punk-rock than a motorcycle, especially when you get into the DIY subculture of 2-strokes. And unless you are a vegan straight-edger, a leather jacket is still pretty iconic punk-rock. I also think the right leather jacket can be pretty steampunk, giving off a vibe of the classically civilized adventurer in a way that is very difficult for ballistic nylon.

So without further ado, I bring you the Dragon's guide to leather riding jackets that are both fashionable AND functional.

The jacket pictured above is the Triumph Rivton. This is currently my favorite leather riding jacket. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the elbows feature quilted patches like the shoulders, and the leather has a supple, aged and broken quality. We've got these at the shop, and the one in my size