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