New Blogging Duties

So I rarely have the time to devote to this blog these days, and it looks like that is only going to be increasingly true over the next few months.

HOWEVER, I will be blogging all sorts of Power Sports goodness at the new Branchville Motors & Vespa Ridgefield blog.

Check it out!

This way I can blog about cool scooter and motorcycle stuff during the down times at work, without violating my old-school work ethic.

See you over there!

Rules for the Cult of Capitalism

Recently, my buddy Klint renamed his Technoccult blog, Renegade Futurist, and his focus for the blog seems to shifted some.
No worries, though, he's posting some awesome stuff like this "Rules for the Cult of Capitalism":

3. When the government charges for its services (taxes), this is theft. When private enterprises charge for food and rent, this is just.

4. Theft is the worst crime known to man. It is a far worse that rich people are forced to pay taxes (if their accountants can’t get them out of it) than that poor children are allowed to go hungry.

What do Scooterists Want in a Steed?

Steve over at The Scooter Scoop recently conducted a survey which polled scooterists on what they would like in a dream scooter. (Though I participated in the survey, I didn't link to it, because The Scooter Scoop wasn't displaying in my browser for several days.)

The results of the polling are pretty interesting. Though no brands are mentioned, the statistics give a pretty good idea of why Vespas rule in the North American market.

So, out of Price, Performance, Handling, Comfort, Appearance, Build Quality, Brand Reputation, Reliability and Storage capabilities, "Reliability" came out on top, followed closely by "Build Quality", then "Handling" and "Performance (speed)". Most found Storage and Brand Reputation to be of least importance.

These findings pretty much eliminate the no-name Chinese imports, as well as to a lesser extent Korean and Tiawanese scoots. Japanese and Italian products both score well on these features.

When it came to body-styling though, the classic Italian design was the strong leader among American Scooterists. This tips the scales toward Vespas, in my opinion significantly, because while Honda has the Metro, and Yamaha the Vinos, both of these models look a little too much like imitators of the style. But when we get to question #4:

Question #4 asked for your prefered engine size or displacement. Answers ranged from the petite little 50cc all the way up to the monstrous 400+cc class. Looking at the answers it was a pretty close call with "Large (200-300cc) just edging out "Medium (150-180cc)" at second place and "Extra Large (400cc+)" taking third. Again, if you want a closer look, just click on the image. 50cc came in last with just 4.8% of the vote.

Now we can see why Vespa continues to dominate the desires of the American scooterist. When you look at all that data as a whole, it seems that we yanks want scooters like Vespa's GTS 250, GT 200, and LX 150. We don't want maxi-scoots for the most part, and 50cc bikes are sadly too underpowered for most American roads. When you throw in Reliability, Build Quality, Handling, and Performance, you pretty much come up with a Vespa. The Japanese just aren't importing scoots that we want. (Except perhaps the Vino 125.)

Some random thoughts about this survey: Manual versus Automatic wasn't included in the questions, neither was 2-stroke versus 4-stroke, I assume because the conventional wisdom is that manual and 2-stroke machines are headed the way of the dinosaur. Still if a major manufacturer were to come out with a classic bodied, manual 250 cc, even in a 4-stroke, I think they would find a lot of buyers. (Are you listening, Piaggio?)

And to throw some pointed comments to the Japanese: What the Frak are y'all thinking? You all have some great 50cc designs, such as the Metro, the Ruckus, the Vino and C3, but these bikes are useless for most American commuters. You offer us little to nothing in the most desirable ranges of 150cc-300cc, and what you do offer us is only what a small niche of American Scooterists want. Most of us do not want a step-through version of a GoldWing! Yamaha, for instance should bring back the Riva 200, perhaps in a Vino-styled body. Sure, many of the old school scooter-boys would laugh, but they'd be doing it as they were rebuilding carbs, or waiting for essential parts for their GTS.

I also think it is interesting that 200cc to 300cc catergory came out ahead of 150cc to 180cc. I wonder if this would have been the case 5 to 10 years ago. It is my suspicion that the arrival of the Vespa GT and GTS, introduced a lot of scooterists to the idea that they could have a machine that came in the styling they wanted, was freeway capable, and was still nimble in an urban environment.

Anyway, Good Work Steve! Are we gonna see something that incorporates these findings from Italjet?

What is a "Honky-Tonk Dragon"?

I've just realized that we are rapidly approaching the Dragon's second birthday.
And I guess it is about time that I publicly address the question of just what this blog is really about.
Like writing an artist's statement, this is a project I've attempted many times, but never been able to satisfactorily complete. The working definition I've been operating under for at least the last year, is that Honky-Tonk Dragon is a lifestyle blog for weirdos.

As an adolescent, I was always attracted to the term "alternative lifestyle." Examined superficially it has so much potential. It suggested to me, someone who was deeply influenced by the writings of Thoreau, Kerouac, Stewart Brand, Douglas Adams, and Hunter S. Thompson. It took me a while to realize that it was really a euphemism for someone who enjoys the intimate company of their own gender.
Not that the Dragon has any issue with that. In fact, socially, I prefer the company of sexual deviants. But, when it comes to the bedroom, well, I think men smell bad.

As an aside, I was in college when the term "metrosexual" first entered common parlance. My roommate Klint, in trying to define the term, tried to use me as an example. After all, I'm urbane, educated, creative, obsessed with the arts and independent film, love to cook, and had the worldliness of being ten years his senior. But somehow, almost as soon as he'd said it, he realized that it didn't fit. I was still a little too redneck, and a little too much the burnt-out grandpa punk, to fit the exfoilating lotion stereotype of a metrosexual.

So, in a sense, that is what a Honky-Tonk Dragon is, a metrosexual punk-rock redneck.
The smoldering remains that are left after the explosion of that cognitive dissonance, that is what a Honky-Tonk Dragon is.

But the intent of this post was to help you, the innocent reader, comprehend what you can expect from a Honky-Tonk Dragon Blog. And, as always, I am merely dancing aroung the issue. And that might be the best definition of what you can expect. Not dancing around the issue in general, as I hope that I will always say what I mean. But, dancing around the issue as to what you expect.

This blog is, has always been, and will most likely continue to be, a record of my Asperger-like obsessions, whether those be scooters, art, steampunk, or pop culture. I hope that it is a place for you to come to find things that are ignored by the mainstream media. And personally, I see a connection between these disparate themes. I don't know what else to call that connection besides Honky-Tonk Dragon.

Like I said, it's a Lifestyle Blog for Weirdos. And like the man says, "When the going turns weird, the weird turn pro."

I hope you'll stick with me, to see what develops.

Scooter Rumors

2Stroke Buzz is also reporting that LML, the former Vespa licensee and manufacturer of Genuine's Stella, is going to be producing a four-stroke, manual-shift, P-series clone. Even better the scoot will be available in displacements up to 250cc!
No word yet, if Genuine will be importing them stateside.
I've also heard some rumors that Piaggio is at work on a similar project. I don't recall a link, off the top of my head, and am a little dubious about this one. Right now, I rank it up there with the perennial rumors that Apple is about to release an OS X based Newton. It's definitely something that should happen, just like Fox should bring back Firefly.


Some other Vespa rumors, which have a little more weight behind them:
There has been some buzz in Europe that Piaggio will be coming out with a GTV and an LXV "Navy." These scoots will have the distinctive retro-inspired bodies of their V-series older siblings, but will come in Midnight Blue, (which is currently one of my favorite of the standard Vespa paint colors) and their split-saddles will be vinyl instead of leather. The Navy versions will have stock wheels instead of chrome, and may lack the rear-rack that comes standard with their predecessors. They will also sell at a lower price point than the GTV and LXV. That's pretty exciting, and though there is some speculation as to whether or not these bikes will make to this side of the pond, I'm gonna bet they will. Piaggio makes a bunch of dumb moves in the American market, but I'm pretty sure they know when it comes to 2-wheelers here, retro-appearance is king, and I think they know the only reason the current GTVs and LXVs aren't flying outta the showrooms is the significant markup on the already luxury-priced marque.

Yet another Vespa rumor is that there will soon be a GTS Sport. This rumor is a little more solid than the one about a Vespa four-stroke P-series, but not as solid as the Navy ones. But there is some interesting speculation going on. Some folks believe the GTS-S will sport a 300cc engine that Piaggio has developed. More conventional wisdom holds that for many reasons, such as small wheel size and the constraits of the GTS body, 250cc's is as large as they will ever get.
Along these lines, the more believable rumors are that the GTS-S will be akin to the LXS: it will feature some physical changes which recall the Sport models of the 60s and 70s, but will be mechanically the same as the previous GTS. Still I find this pretty exciting, as my main complaints with the modern automatic Vespas and the seats which are sculpted to a single riding position and don't allow a single rider to slide into the most comfortable angle for them, and the gloveboxes which intrude so far down into the footboards as too significantly reduce the rider's ability to stretch their legs out.
Having said that, I'd like to direct a couple points directly to Piaggio. First is that the above mentioned adjustability of a rider's position is one of the things which initially hooked me on scooters as opposed to motorcycles. I have long and restless legs, they like to be able to change position every few minutes. Though I deeply desire to move up to a larger, touring capable scooter, my next purchase will probably be an LXS, because my sweetee needs and automatic to learn on, and I'd like a scoot with old school leg-room. I expect you will find that a lot of the old -school 2-stroke scooter kids will make their first entry into modern Vespas with the LXS for similar reasons. If you are considering a GTS-S, that would be something to keep in mind.
On a related note, I'd hope that Piaggio would consider making a larger, touring retro-styled scooter, something in the 500cc range. You have already shown great responsiveness and insight into the American scooter market by rebadging the Gilera Fuoco, and bringing it here. Thanks again for that.
But we Americans are hopeless addicts to the bigger-is better-mindset. Touring for us means thousands, not hundreds of miles. I know you will never make a 300 or 500 cc Vespa. But what about resurrecting the Moto Guzzi Galleto? You could keep the big wheels a scooter of that displacement would need, while still having the aura of retro chic. Properly handled, a 500cc Guzzi Galleto could dominate a certain niche of the American maxi-scooter market, putting a serious hurting on Honda, Suzuki, and even Kymco. Heck, I can even direct you to an industrial designer for the project. Oh, but if you are going to do that, please improve your support for dealers on this side of the pond. The Vespa nuts aren't defecting yet, but your Guzzi sales are definitely hurting because of shoddy dealer support.

Oh, and Piaggio, I'm available as a freelance consultant on the American scooter market.

Scootering in the Wall Street Journal

No less a mainstream media institution than the WSJ ran a story recently about scooter usage by suit wearing executives in Paris.

For Parisians in the business world, motor scooters -- two-wheeled vehicles with engines that are generally smaller than motorcycles and have automatic transmissions -- are an acceptable means of transportation. The convention has moved into the highest ranks of some French companies and has gotten even more widespread as heavier traffic jams tie up the city streets. Scooters are cheap to drive, easy to park and, some say, the only way to arrive at appointments on time.

Scooters are really only news to Americans. From Madrid to Madras the bikes are an indispensable part of a typical street scene, and to urban dwellers in other major European cities, seeing a man or woman riding one in business attire isn't a surprise. But the spread-out cities and gaping highways of the U.S. make the bikes impractical, and therefore rarer.

They aren't as safe as cars. And helmet can quickly kill a good hairdo. But many Parisians feel the risks of riding a bike are worth taking, and expats working in the city -- as Ms. Oxendine discovered --will have to consider them, too.

"I used to be one of these executives," said Cyril Masson, a native Parisian who said he found himself trapped in a car. "I missed a few planes because traffic."

It's an interesting piece, though I wonder if the average American has advanced enough from their disdain of the "Cheese-eating Surrender Monkeys," to really consider this traffic solution.

via 2Stroke Buzz

see also this old post

Vitruvian Barbie by Michael Morris

Well, it seems that Michael Morris read my belated post about his recent print exhibition, and was kind enough to send me images of my favorite pieces from that show.
Above is Vitruvian Barbie, which obviously comments on ideals of beauty, both classical and modern, as well as consumerism and mass production. Those themes seem pretty accessible to any viewer with a passing exposure to pop culture and art history. Digger a little deeper, I think there is some struggling here with the conflicts of art and commerce. This also seems fairly obvious to me, but this is a conflict I've spent no small amount of brainpower considering. Perhaps it would not be so apparent, or even valid, to a non-artist.
The appropriation of DaVinci, barely needs to be commented on. Except I'd like to point out, that to many artists, Leonardo can represent the pinnacle of "Fine Art." Not exactly "art for art's sake," Leonardo's works, especially his sketches, are the paragon of the concept of art as a means of inquiry.
A layperson can easily understand how art can comment on reality and human existence; can communicate existential, philosophical, and even scientific truths.
It is perhaps more difficult for the uninitiated to grasp, that art can also be an extremely effective tool for discovering those truths. And I don't mean that solely in the sense of the tired chestnut of "Truth is beauty, Beauty is truth." (Though the validity and import of that truism should not be underestimated.) Science and Art both involve intense study of a subject, intense observation. Leonardo Da Vinci represents to me, and I suspect to Morris, how disciplined observation links painting and the harder sciences.
An interesting example of how Da Vinci's art blended and melded with his science, is his study of water and hydraulics. This is an excellent example of how close artistic observation can be to scientific observation. There is also the interesting corollary of the impact the study of water had on Morris's work:

An emphasis on the elements is found in Morris’ paintings, and it was his experimentation with water that prompted him to pioneer the Massurrealist art movement 15 years ago.

“Painting water took a long time to learn,” Morris said. “I spent about six months on it before ‘Orange Crush’. Water is made up of secondary colors—green, orange and violet—and blue added on top for the reflection of the sky, then the foam…water is what got me started, it got me excited."

Of course, the artist and the scientist face a similar dilemma: How does one get paid to study, get paid to observe? Scientists, are perhaps fortunate in that they may still rely on the strategy Leonardo exploited, patronage. Of course corporations and federal agenicies now fund laboratories, rather than merchant princes... but ultimately that is a difference of semantics.
This brings me to the second artist who Morris alludes to with his Barbies, Andy Warhol. The use of repetition, the staccato rhythm of the army of jumping-jack dolls in their multi-hued uniforms, brings to mind many of Warhol's works, where one subject is explored with the same rainbow-tinted bass line. The fact that this subject is an artifact of mass-produced consumer culture, only reinforces this association. In fact for commenting on the effect of marketing on standards of beauty there is no better subject than Barbie. It is actually surprising that Warhol didn't attempt a similar work, though he would not have executed it with the complexity and humor that Morris has.
If Leonardo represents the artist as scientist, as an curious observer kept almost as a potentate's pet, then Warhol represents the artist as marketer, as a factory for images. Warhol, more than any other artist with whom the layperson would be familiar, represents the commodification of art. If one were to distill a single theme from his life's work, from his place in art history, it would be that images are products for commercial distribution, just like cans of condensed soup.
Interestingly, Morris, like Warhol, was an art director for many years. But he is doing something very different with that experience. While Warhol's Marilyns and soup cans were the epitome of cool or cold art as Baudrillard would describe it, there is something else going on in Vitruvian Barbies. The dolls don't quite fit the molds. They are held up to measure against the proportions of classical beauty, and they are found wanting. No other artifact of American consumer culture so sums up our standards of beauty, as does Barbie. Yet she doesn't fit the geometries of the golden ratio.
Some how, Morris has discovered an aesthetic cold fusion. The analytical structure of Vitruvian Man is cold, and analytic. The Warholian use of repetition and subject matter is cold, and even cynical. Yet in bringing these two cold elements together, he has created a friction, like dead twigs they rub against each other and they spark. The dissecting eye of impersonal geometric analysis is superimposed on plastic, and yet the viewer comes away with a sense of warmth, wit, and reassurance.
If even the unobtainable Barbie body-type doesn't measure up, perhaps we with our love handles, our oily skin, and our cellulite, are OK. The humor here is more than schadenfreude at Barbie's failing. It is a hopeful giggle that beauty is too slippery to be captured in simulacra. It is a chuckle at the realization that flesh is prone to joys and pleasures which fall outisde of hyperreality. It is the Monty Pythonesque protest of painting..."I'm not dead yet! I feel better!" It is art chomping on Samuel Clemens cigar, and ribbing us that, "Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated."

Well, I rambled about this piece far longer than I expected. I'd wanted to talk a little about my favorite piece by Michael, Homage to Munch, but I have some paintings of my own to work on, so it will have to wait for another post.
Oh, and having mentioned art and commerce, I'd be amiss if I didn't tell you that prints of Vitruvian Barbie are available from Morris's website. $140 for a high quality 15”x 15” gicleé print. That's a steal, art lovers!

Scooters and Art

Have I mentioned lately, how much I love my new job?
I'm sure I probably have, but today was the best day yet at work.

The day pretty much started with delivering a vintage Vespa to a customer in upstate New York. It was the first time I'd done a delivery, and I was very nervous about driving the shop truck with the hydraulic ramp. Plus, having just moved to New England, I'm not familiar with all the back roads and all that.
But Mapquest steered me right for once, and I had no problem finding the place. My problems began when I unloaded the scoot, and the customer asked me to start it up for her. The scooter was a mid 60s VBB Vespa that had been extensively restored in Indonesia. If you know much about Asian scooter restos, you probably know where this is going... On top of that, it was about 10 degrees out, not the best environment for any vintage two-stroke. Plus, the danged thing was flooded from the jostling of the trip.
Well, long-story-short, after about a half hour of kicking my left leg numb, and pestering Larry with stupid questions, hoping I was missing something obvious, I couldn't get the scooter to start. The customer, understandably, didn't want to accept delivery of a non-starting scooter, Larry even dishearteningly agreed that maybe I should bring it back to the shop.
I wasn't ready to give up though, having dealt with hard-starting vintage Vespas, and luckily the customer had a friend on-hand who'd had alot of experience with 2-stroke bikes. Between the two of us, and a can of starting spray, we got it to turn over.
Still, after taking it down an initial down the drive way, I wasn't confident. The bike was really cranky, and I wasn't confident enough in my mechanical analysis, or driving ability on a gravel driveway coated with icy compacted detritus of being snow-plowed, to really put it through the paces. I suspected the bike just needed a an "Italian tune-up", but really didn't want to drop it in the customer's drive way.
Luckily, her friend, who has probably been riding longer then I've been sucking fumes, decided to take it for a test ride, before we loaded it back on the truck. He kicked it over, and tooled out the long driveway onto the winding country road.
When he pulled it out of ear-shot, the customer and I both got a little concerned. We thought maybe it had died on him. But we got the opportunity to chat for a bit. Turns out, she is a portrait painter, and has a sidecar for scoot. Her plan for it is to load painting supplies in the sidecar, and use the scoot to paint on location.
Now, if you know the Dragon at all, you know this idea immediately made me very fond of this customer. I've have done extensive dreaming myself on how to tweak a scoot to be a Artistic Assault Vehicle. My current scheme, however involves an MP3 500 and one of these:

Oh yeah baby! Now that's $240 worth of pudding! Oh yeah!

Anyway, once the customer's volunteer test rider returned, he declared the scoot to be in good operating condition for what it is, a forty-year old 2-stroke Vespa on a cold New England day.

So I had a good time chatting with these folks. Especially the way the gents eyes lit up, and he did a little swaying dance when he talked about the possibility of getting a Mp3 500, sometime in the future. I hear ya, brother, I hear ya.

When I got back to the shop, another cool thing happened. A local architect, who's been in at least once kicking scooter tires, came in. Jim greeted him, and he asked Jim if he was "Psycho-Elf" on Modern Vespa. I poked my head up from what I was dinking with on the computer, and said, " Do you mean Punkelf?"
That's right, for the first time, somebody came into the shop looking for me, by internet reputation.
Needless to say, I was quite stoked.
Have I told you lately, how much I love my new job?

Online Tools/Resources for Visual Artists

So, like a relapsing junkie, or a backsliding Baptist, the Dragon has of late, resumed easel-painting in earnest. In fact, embracing this life-long obsession, has been one of the reasons why my posts have been so infrequent and brief the past coupla weeks.

To laundry list and extrapolate on the reasons for my seven year hiatus from my painting addiction, would an exercise in self-indulgence which even I am unprepared for. Let's just say that one time or another I've been guilty of the first eight items on the list above.

But, somehow pigments and binders are in my blood (probably literally, though I'm scared to take the tox-screens which might verify this.) My current proximity to NYC is inspiring, Jes is extremely encouraging of my creative endeavors, and she even says that I'm easier to live with, and seem happier when I'm painting.

Unfortunately, I'm not one of those artists who is content to paint solely for their own enjoyment. Someday I'd like to earn some recognition for what I do, and maybe even something resembling a living wage... In order to keep these hopes, and their inevitable shattering from once again interfering with or even halting my artistic growth and production, it is important to keep in mind "5 Facts Artists Have to Face to Succeed in Business"

1. You will not get "discovered."

Marketing your art is hard work. There are thousands of artists making extraordinary efforts to promote their work each and every day. Waiting for an angel benefactor or hoping for a patron, is just a way of procrastinating. You need to stop making excuses and put a plan into action to deal with the reality of the hard work it takes to get recognized.

2. You will not find a gallery that "understands your work" and feels as passionately about it as you do.

... artists have to stop dreaming about finding the one person out there who can be their "art soul mate" and realize that galleries are in business to sell art, and that is exactly what you are hiring them to do for you. They do not need to understand your work on every level, nor do they have to be emotionally moved by it...what they do have to do, is be convinced that they have the contacts and collectors that will like your work.

3. No matter how original you think your work is, it has been done before.

Originality does not define quality, quality defines quality. Regardless of whether or not your work is original, what makes art exceptional is the context in which it was made from an art historical point of view.

4. Just because your work looks just like Jackson Pollack, (or, fill in the blank) doesn't mean it's as good, or that you can price it the same.

The price of your art has very little to do with what it looks like, what it is made out of, or how big it is...it has everything to do with what the market will bear, supply and demand, and your exhibition and sales history.

5. You will not be able to make a living off the sale of your work.

Sales are great and every artist needs and wants the positive feedback that comes from collectors buying your work. But, assuming that you want to live above the poverty level in the United States, to make a decent living you would need to sell over $150,000 worth of your art to net $75,000 before taxes. That would make your net approximately $50,000 before you deducted any expenses for studio space, art supplies, framing, advertising or promotion. Of course, it is possible. But, if you keep waiting for it to happen without accepting the reality of the odds, you are doing yourself and your work a disservice.

These are condensed from an article on Sylvia White's Art Advice website, which I highly recommend. Her checklist for making the transition to becoming a professional artist is also required reading, if you find yourself at that stage.

Fine Art's relationship with internet has been strange... I've been surfing since the mid-90s and of all my obsessions it has been the most difficult to research virtually. There is whole essay at the least, probably more like a doctoral thesis, waiting to be written about why that is... but for now let's just accept it as a given.

Recently though it seems that artists are really coming around to using internet tools for promotion and commerce, which is freaking awesome!

Empty Easel's 8 Must-Read Art Blogs for 2008. You should also check EE's articles on online art marketing.
In particular, Empty Easel is the best place I've found so far for comparison's of the various sites that have sprung over the last few years which sell paintings. If that's what you are looking for, their market analysis of these sites could be of real use to you. They also have a nice comparison of their features.

Noticable omissions here are Etsy and Absolute Arts.

Another interesting site I've come across recently is MyArtInfo, which is kind of life a Facebook, or MySpace for Visual artists. it's still in beta, but the design is clean and attractrive, and they are an off-shoot of ArtInfo, a site from the folks who publish Modern Painters, so it just might maintain some art-school cred.

Speaking of art-school cred, here are some links to to some resources for polishing yours up:

Links to Free Art Education Online

M.I.T.'s 20th Century Art

By way of an endnote, this disjointed rambling was greatly influenced by a recent IM chat I had with my friend Gretchen, who is trying to get a photography business going. You should check out her site: www.gretchendrewphotography.com

Sexy Vespa Messenger Bag

So one of the things I'm doing at Vespa Ridgefield, is going through some of the inventory that has been hanging around too long, or worse yet, has been stuck in a corner of a basement. There are definitely some strange artifacts, and rifling through them has been kinda fun.

Some items I'm putting on ebay. And I promise I won't be blogging about every obscure nut and bolt I list, but when I come across some scooter specific items... well I just might mention them here.

Vespa Ridgefield, was one of the first ten Vespa dealers in the US, back when Piaggio brought the brand back stateside. We still have a lot of strange "Boutique" products, like Vespa soaps and bath salts. This messenger bag is one of the coolest items from that era.

What really interests me about the bag is that I have been unable to find it anywhere but in our inventory, and a five year old catalog of Vespa "lifestyle"merchandise. Google can't even turn up evidence of its existence, which in my world is almost the same as not existing.

And that's a shame, because of all the strange fashion accessories and toiletries being stamped with an official Vespa logo from the time, this is one of the coolest. Made in Italy of very high quality supple leather, this bag is nice. It's a bit on the small side as far as messenger bags, and a bit more metrosexual than is my style, so I don't really want one for myself. But they are nice bags, and it puzzles me that we still have some, and that I can find no mention of them online.

I guess back in the day these were available in colors to match the paint schemes of Vespa ET2s and ET4s. We sold out of the colored bags, but still have a couple of the black ones. Which again is weird to me, I can't see wanting one of these in "Vintage Green," and every hipster and fashionista knows, black goes with everything.

Beatle Bailey Scoots (and Bikes!)

One of the things I'm adjusting to with this move, is just how many extremely talented folks live hereabouts.
Keith Richards and Jose Feliciano both have been known to show up at a local saloon's open mic, for instance.
Or, these cool ads for our shop, that were tweaked by legendary cartoonist Mort Walker, creator of Beatle Bailey and Hi and Lois.
We had a drawing for an original comic by Mr. Walker, at the store recently, which afforded me the opportunity to chat with him a little. He is a sharp and congenial fellow, I must say.
Anyway, these ads with Beatle on a Vespa scooter, and a Triumph T100 motorcycle never fail to make me smile, so I thought I'd share them with you.

Paying Dues, or Jimmy Olsen's Blues

Well, I've progressed to working at Vespa Ridgefield full-time, and am basically loving it.
I add the qualifier to that statement, because at the tender age of 36, it kinda feels like I'm starting all over again. While I enjoy everyday at work, everyday is also a reminder of how much I have to learn. The concept of the aspiring journalist starting out in a newspaper's mail room comes to mind.
Which of course brings to mind, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen:



Though the Spin Doctors were basically a hippie-jam band disguised as 90's alternative, I have always been quite fond of this song. I can not think of a better example of geeky white boy blues that actually has some funk to it.
Perhaps that fondness stems from the fact that, when the song initially came out, I was starting my longest running to date career, a job which paid me entry level wages, yet required me to wear a tie, while I lived downtown in metropolitan area, and rode a scooter work. It was hard not to feel an affinity to Jimmy Olsen, the every-boy construct so obviously thrown into the Superman Mythos so that the perceived average reader would have a sympathetic character to relate to.
Of course, in American Super-Hero Mythos, Jimmy Olsen was eventually replaced by Peter Parker. In Petey, we have a character who is a stand-in for the geeky reader (and, ***ahem*** rides a moped in the latest film interpretations) while also being the hero/ wish fulfillment vehicle of the story. But Spiderman could never provide us with the beautiful tension, that is Jimmy Olsen's Blues. The genius of Spiderman is that this tension is integrated into the character, which disallows the potential of the emotion of "I can't believe my dilemma is real, I'm competing with the man of steel." Spiderman's tension is more post-modern, one of competing with oneself.
Anyway, these points are academic. As the Dragon's humble alter-ego already HAS his Lois Lane, his MJ, and is quite content with her.
Still, professionally, here I am paying dues all over again. It is a strange feeling, humbling, yet invigorating at the same time.
While, officially, my job at Vespa Ridgefield is supposedly something along the lines of Office Manager, in reality it is do whatever I am able to. And right now, due to some obstacles beyond my control, I am unable to do a lot of the duties I was hired for. Instead, I am doing a lot of gopher work. And, honestly, I don't have a problem with that. I'm learning the business from the ground up, or basically, paying dues.
Today, for instance, I spent a lot of time cleaning and detailing bikes on the showroom. Now, it would be easy to see this task as a tedious and thankless one, yet I quite enjoyed it. Bikes are quite sensuous, easily an example of the kind of erotic technology which Cronenberg explores in many of his films. I guess that is why I am so attracted to painting on them. Painting is a sensuous, erotic experience, and painting on the sweeping curves of a bike exponentiates that sensation in way which canvas, paper, or pixels never could. So to me, detailing a bike is almost like foreplay.
Like Jimmy Olsen giving Lois Lane a back rub.

Oh, and if somehow, you didn't play the video, because you were carried away with my purple prose, well, you should. It's a student film (paying dues, again) that gives a visual narrative to the song. It hasn't had a lot of hits on Youtube, which is a shame, as I think it is a far superior music video for the song than the official one.

The Scooter Scoop Sells Out!

Of course I kid!
I kid because I love!
The Dragon wishes extreme congratulations to Steve Guzman of the Scooter Scoop for his new job as US front man for Italjet scooters.
While it has been mentioned in the scooter blogsphere that Steve is putting his credibility on the line with this development, and even Steve himself has said that he may stop reviewing other scooter manufacturer's products because of a possible perceived conflict of interest, I don't see it. Steve has always been enthusiastic without being fanboy blind in his reviews, and I really doubt that will change.
The main advice the Dragon can give to him is, Damn it, Steve! Make those Italians bring a Dragster stateside, ASAP!
But really, friends, as a new employee of a Vespa dealership, I gotta say, be very discerning in your critiques of the the stateside dealers and importers of scooters. Despite our passion for this particular form of conveyance, most international scooter manufacturers view the US market as an afterthought.
So if Steve is forced to deliver us bad news, don't blame the messenger. You know as well as I, that he is doing the best he can.

Unconvential Marketing Wisdom

Slate has an interesting article up about how Starbucks can actually improve the business of local Mom & Pop coffee houses. If you think about the role of Starbucks in coffee-culture at all, you probably think that the opening of a Starbucks means the closing of a local, independently owned java-joint. And this does certainly happen, but...

But closures like this have been the exception, not the rule. In its predatory store placement strategy, Starbucks has been about as lethal a killer as a fluffy bunny rabbit. Business for independently owned coffee shops has been nothing less than exceptional as of late. Here's a statistic that might be surprising, given the omnipresence of the Starbucks empire: According to recent figures from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 57 percent of the nation's coffeehouses are still mom and pops. Just over the five-year period from 2000 to 2005—long after Starbucks supposedly obliterated indie cafes—the number of mom and pops grew 40 percent, from 9,800 to nearly 14,000 coffeehouses. (Starbucks, I might add, tripled in size over that same time period. Good times all around.) So much for the sharp decline in locally owned coffee shops. And prepare yourself for some bona fide solid investment advice: The failure rate for new coffeehouses is a mere 10 percent, according to the market research firm Mintel, which means the vast majority of cafes stay afloat no matter where Starbucks drops its stores. Compare that to the restaurant business, where failure is the norm.

I've seen some of this myself, in the Mid-West and deep South, where until the early to mid 90s (the time of Starbucks initial explosion) coffee shops of any kind besides the neighborhood diner were virtually nonexistent, now there are coffee shops, both local and corporate in every decent sized community. Heck, whereas once you could only get some tepid, rusty-colored dishwater at your local convenience store, now every gas station in the country has a variety of coffee flavors at your disposal. If anything, Starbucks has single handedly introduced the country to the concept that coffee can be more than the swill you are used to getting at Dennys, (actually since Starbucks ascension, even Dennys' perennially despised brew has improved significantly.) For reasons beyond those mentioned in the article, this has benefited those local businesses who make a great cup o' joe.

This is actually a discussion I've had with several people over the years, including one today. I've heard it expressed that McDonalds' omnipresence in the world is a sign of American cultural dominance. An American tourist, no matter where they are in the world, knows that they can go to a McDonalds and receive a burger which, while it may not be the best in the world, will be just what they expect. A kind of colonialistic, imperialistic comfort food. I think Starbucks represents the same sort of thing but for the caffinated elite from the Pacific NW, who came to the forefront of our economics at the same time as Starbucks. Even though you know that it won't be the best No Caff, Soy Latte you ever had, it WILL be a No Caff Soy Latte. And that's reassuring on some level.
But still, if faced with a choice, any good Pacific North Westerner knows that Starbucks is not Seattle's Best Coffee.
Which brings my thinking back to McDonalds. I've heard it said that McDonalds spends millions of dollars analyzing markets and traffic patterns before opening a new store. Wendy's, on the other hand, just tries to find a new location near where a new McDonalds is...

The Dragon's Portfolio and Guerrilla Marketing

I began this blog almost two years ago with intent of it being a platform for promoting my creative endeavors, as well as a tool for archiving the assorted internet weirdness that inspires me. In that time, well it's turned into something slightly different.
Ironically, I guess one of the reasons for that divergent development is that I have a hard time tooting my own horn, despite that being the original purpose of this blog. It's not that I have low artistic self-esteem or anything. Far from it, I probably think more highly of my talents and potential than my output warrants. But self-promotion just seems kind of rude... like a dinner guest who only talks about themself... (Just counting the first-person singular pronouns in this paragraph makes me cringe...)

Anyhow, as I make baby steps to developing some self promotional materials, I've started referring potential contacts to this blog, and have realized that there is no easy way for readers to find my personal works. Clicking on Painting just gives you every post on painting, frequently featuring works by other artists which tickled or inspired me. Same goes for Art or Photography.

So to make it more convenient for those who might be interested in browsing images created by yours truly, I've gone through and labeled posts with my personal works as Portfolio.

If you are interested, you can always check a different version of my art portfolio here, without all my usual insipid ramblings.
The same goes for the photographic portfolio here.
Yes, I'm working the free online image storage services for all they are worth. My artistic endeavors are being operated on a hobbit's shoe-string budget (that is to say nonexistent), so if you'd like to see these images in a more professional dedicated environment, you could always buy one of my t-shirt designs or one of my fine-art prints...
On the other hand, if all the above has bored you to tears you could just use the Scooters label for the dedicated Scootin' posts, or the Steampunk label for some RetroFuturist love...

Any artists out there have any other suggestions for guerrilla marketing tools and techniques, or ways to overcome a Mid-Western feeling of self-promotion being cheesy, greasy, and sleazy? I'd love to hear some conversation on this in the comments.

Scooterlife

So for the past few weeks I have been working at what has to be one of my dream-jobs. That's right, I'm working at a Vespa dealership! Vespa Ridgefield and Branchville Motors, which are two faces of the same Janus-like business, is where I'm spending my mornings. In addition to Vespas, we sell Triumphs and Moto-Guzzis, as well as the best selection of high-quality riding gear I've ever seen under one roof.
For now it's only part-time, but I'm really enjoying it, to say the least. It's a small locally owned dealership that is located within two cool old structures. The Vespas, Piaggio scooters, and gear are in an old wooden building, which was a house in it's original incarnation, and a specialty gun dealer prior to housing sweet Italian two-wheelers. The motorcycles and service area are in an awesome old stone building that looks like it was purpose built as a garage back in, well back whenever they first started building garages. The owner, Alex, has been selling vehicles here for some time, and the basement has all the parts you'd expect for the marques we carry, as well as a smattering of Royal Enfield, BMW, Indian, and even Whizzer parts!
Look at that, that's what I look at every day when I get to work!
(Sigh.)
We have a small crew down at the shop, and I'm really starting to like and respect these guys. After my last corporate job (which was so horrid, I don't think I ever mentioned it on this blog) it is so nice to go to work and associate with people who really care about what they are doing.
Jim, the guy I work with the most, has been selling bikes for over twenty years, and riding and racing longer than that. He is an amazing resource of knowledge, as well as having the best collection of cowboy boots, this side of the Mississippi.
Boy, look at that GTV... such a pretty scoot.
Don't get me wrong though... I'm certainly not drooling over over scooters all day. I'm drooling over Bonnevilles and Thruxtons. Seriously though, it is an interesting atmosphere to work in. Our customers tend to be very serious riders, not content with the view that Harleys are the end-all-be-all of the two-wheeler world, and not looking for the latest Japanese racing Sui-cycle. I'm beginning to understand why many Vespisti later go on to Bonnevilles, when they feel the need for greater displacement.
Speaking of the never ending biker's lust for more cc's and Triumphs, have you seen the Triumph Rocket III?
This monster is the largest production motorcycle in the world, with three cylinders weighing in at 2300 ccs! Um... yeah. It's definitely impressive, though not for me. I mean I still feel quilty for lusting after the upcoming Piaggio MP3 500. IllNoise, over at 2Stroke Buzz recently posted a video on this bike, that looks like it was produced by Monty Python for Triumph. I guess over the top British humor is the only way to promote over the top British engineering.

But the coolest thing, from this anachronistic countrified reptilian scooterist's perspective about this job, is that I work with the fine gentleman pictured above. I'd seen this picture on the BBS or on Scoot.net some time ago, never thought I'd meet this guy. He's Larry of the Checkered Demon S.C., and he's a scooter mechanic where I work.
Though we normally work in different buildings, one morning he comes into the wooden building and asks Jim, "What's the story with that crazy Woody Vespa in the back?"
After the obligatory exchange of info about scooters ridden and owned, I discover that Demon Larry is about as old-skool a scooterist as I've ever met. Heck, his wedding to his lovely wife Sam is listed as a rally in the gallery section of Scoot.net.
Anyway, Larry told me that Jes and I "just had" to go this party for the folks who organized the most recent Gotham Rally, that was coming up. Well, long story short, once we found out that there would be an open bar and go-go dancers, we reckoned it just might be worth the trip into mean old NYC, to meet some fellow scooterists in the area.

So after much studying of train schedules and subway charts, we ventured off into Babylon. Now some of you may be thinking that the Dragon, whose scientific name is Dragonis Rusticus, might have been like the country mouse venturing into city mouse territory. Well, I'll inform you if you didn't already know, I've lived on the streets of N'awlins as mohawked punk, wandered the projects of Lil' Rok back when it had the highest murder rate per capita in these here United States, and even eatin' dangerous looking patty-melts at Norms. Still despite living in some tough areas, having had a gun or two pointed in my face, and even sharing a one room apartment with not one, but two of the owners of Last Word Books, I will admit, I was a little intimidated by the thought of my first trip to NYC. And the Lower East Side, on top of that.
These hesitations vaporized once we got off of that last subway car and emerged on East Houston. 10 p.m. on a Saturday night in New York City. Neon, bustling people of more ethnicities than you ever thought existed, traffic like crazy, and taxi drivers illustrating that smallest quanta of empirically measurable time is the interval between the light changing and cabbie hitting the horn. That's right, baby, the night life ain't no good life, but it's MY LIFE.

After a few blocks of of extreme urban sensory overload, we reached our destination, the Parkside Lounge. The scene was just about what we expected, loud, cramped, and sweaty. Luckily Larry and Sam where right near the door, and so were easily found. We met a lot of cool folks, and I must say felt right at home with the NYC scooter scene, and Lower East Side bar scene. I guess hipster drunks really are the same, wherever you go.
I don't know how much of the party is really appropriate to report with these pixels, but as you can see above there were some loverly scoots in attendance.
I spent a lot of the night chatting with yet another fella named Larry, who was the sole Rocker in attendance. He showed up on this great 1973 Honda 350, which he informed me was the highest selling cycle in the states, back in its day. He'd heard about the gathering on NYCVINMOTO.com , a site I'll be investigating in the coming days. We had a great conversation about smaller displacement motorcycles, scooters, and the principles of appropriate technology as they apply to personal transportation. Larry also happened to to be a Reed Alumnus, so we discussed West Coast liberal arts colleges (emphasis on the Liberal), and the classic Eastside vs. Westside conflict.

Of course, as all good things must, the night had to end eventually, and the bell started tolling as we neared the deadline to catch the last train to CT. Sam and Larry let us know that they could hook us up with a place to stay in the city, but Jes thought it best to head home. I was torn between the angel on one shoulder, advocating shooting a homeward azimuth, and a devil on the other whispering, "but there's free booze and go-go dancers here!" Luckily, the angel and my sweetie's wisdom won out over diabolical influences, and we hoofed it back to the subway.

So after all that, I will leave you with your notion of Zen for the day:
"If you meet Jack Kerouac on the road, kill him."

Art and Commerce

I promised some scooter photos a couple days back, so here you go...

Actually, fulfilling that pledge is only a secondary purpose of this post. The real motive behind this post is to notify the world that I now have a small select group of fine art prints available for purchase at Imagekind.
And by small I mean, um... three.
For the past week or so, I've been distracted from my usual quirky, snarky blogging duties, by a personal experiment in the abomination of intellectual endeavor which is trying to marry art and commerce.
I've known way too many extremely talented individuals who steadfastly believed that trying to make a buck off of their creativity was a lost cause, and thus exiled themselves to the service industry. Seriously, for every waiter who wants to act, there is a Van Gogh busing the tables after them. And as much as I am prone to argue with these folks, and at least try and encourage them to SHOW other people their work, I am a crappy example. Sure I spent several years hawking paintings in group shows, and small exhibits in coffee houses and bistros, but I've let defeat and apathy get the best of me. I haven't made a serious effort to show and sell my work for sometime, cordoning myself off from the world in a labyrinth of rationalizations and self-pity.
Anyway, lately I've been trying to hack my way out of that maze. I haven't made as much progress as I might like, but I do have a few things to show for the struggle. Like the above digitally edited photo of an extremely Mod Modern Vespa , taken at AmeriVespa in Seattle this past summer.



Also available are prints of this image, called Goldmund's Gaze. It is a highly digitally edited image of a painted collage I did a few years back in a fitful rage of creativity after reading Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse. The original is currently in the collection of Ben Coffraw.




And last but not least, prints are finally available of this painting of Fudo Myo, or Acalanthara Vidya Raja. More simply called Demon Buddha, I finished this painting (still one of my favorites) in 1994. It was featured in the 40th annual Delta regional exhibit in 1995. Since 1996 or so, it has been in the private collection of a thief.

Meditations of a Bibliophilic Nomad

Warning: Extremely Stream-of-Consciousness Post Ahead!

Still preoccupied with the various tasks associated with moving, and therefore neglecting the blog.
Moving gives life a syntax, a grammar. It allows us to gaze Janus-like at the path behind us and the road ahead.
The Dragon is of course a lazy nomad. I seem to camp out somewhere for a period of years, before moving on, and have yet to find a place I would truly call home. Olympia has been great, but it's time for a new place.
When I reflect back on my time in the Puget Sound, the predominate theme seems to be books. We just finished packing up the majority of our library, and have about two dozen average size boxes. Of course there are still a few shelves worth of titles which for one reason or another we want readily accessible until the last possible moment.
I heard somewhere once that wizards and sages draw power and wisdom just from the presence of a strong library. I think some glassy eyed Wiccan told me that, though it may have come from a fantasy paperback, or even a dream. Regardless, there is a sentiment in that statement which I strongly second.
I feel naked if I can not easily put my hand on certain tomes. Ralph Mayer's Artist's Handbook, and David Gottesgern's similar guide to the materials and techniques of painting, for example. Then there are the books I've been meaning to get around to, and am not yet willing to admit the cause is lost, even in the face of moving. A current example is Letters from the Earth by Samuel Clemens. Twain is on my mind a lot lately, as mid-west boy who's traveled extensively through the west, and looks to be settling down back-east. In fact, he settled a scant few miles from where Jes and I will be renting a quaint little carriage house. While we were visiting for Barbara and Dave's 50th, we were able to hit up the Mark Twain Library's book sale. So that's another 5 or 6 boxes of books which are already waiting for us in CT. Not to mention probably another two-dozen or so boxes which I have stashed in Arkansas and Kansas.
If you couldn't already tell, I waver between feeling guilty and greedy about books, to feeling self-righteous and snobbish about them. Though I am a voracious reader, I have immense volumes of references on subjects which I am tangentially interested in, which I have never cracked, but will fight tooth and nail to keep. Because someday, it will come up.
My good friend Bart, back in Little Rock introduced me to a programmer's corollary to the adage about wizards and sages not long before I moved to Oly. For programming it's not necessary to know every command and algorithm, so much as to know basic syntax and structure, and know where to go to find everything else.
So yeah, when I find a definitive work on a topic or in a field, especially if it is area I think I may to deal with in the future, I pick it up.

Which leads me to this genius question on Metafilter: What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?

There are more jewels in that thread than I can catalog here. It's certainly a heck of a starting point for a reference library. (I don't have a Metafilter account, but if I did, I would add James Elkins's What Painting Is, for those who desire a layman's introduction to the discipline of painting.) Were you to seriously read a chunk of these books, I daresay you'd end up with at least as strong an education as most folks get from a liberal arts bachelors degree.

Anyway, I originally moved to Olympia to go to back to college, but after graduation, I stayed for the books. I've heard it said that college is important for geeky folks (who tend to be perpetually self-educating) because it introduces you to important books you might not have come across otherwise. This was certainly true in my case, with the added Evergreen bonus of seminars in which group discussion of the reading material significantly deepened the understanding provided by lectures and individual reading. But academia is only a small part of why I will always associate Oly with the printed word.

Around Labor Day 2003, the crew at Last Words Books asked me to join as a partner. I'd been working a summer job at the school's digital imaging studio, and spending most of my free time hanging with the bookstore boys, and the fit seemed right. In a fit of irrational enthusiasm I joined up. And books became my life... for a few years at least.

This essay began as an attempt to grasp how that experience has impacted me, but even with such a long lead-in, the task seems Herculean.

The modifier "meta" keeps coming to mind, and not just because Metafilter seeded these ruminations. Running a bookstore develops your meta-knowledge. Your knowledge about knowledge. You may not have all the answers, but you have a pretty good idea of where to begin looking for them. After a while, you become like a walking Whole Earth Catalog.

And it changes how you look at people. Your understanding of people both deepens and becomes more superficial. You become the kind of social monstrosity who inspects a host's bookshelves somewhere between the introductions and the second glass of wine. If like me, you ride the Myers/Briggs border between E and I, you begin to develop relationships with folks whose names you don't know, but you know just what author and title they need to read next. You give yourself extra-points if they a) have never heard of said author/title and b) end up loving it.

Recently, I've been thinking about how I've become a book-snob. It's hard for me to accept, but it's true. During my formative reading years, I cut my teeth on mass-market science fiction, pulp as it were. Or what Jes, in bartender's parlance, calls "Pabst."
Now sometimes you don't want to slowly sip on an 18-year old single malt Sartre or Camus, so much as you just want to slam back a nice unimposing Stephen King PBR. I get it, I really do. Of the two dozen boxes clustered around our wood stove, at least four of them are solely comics and graphic novels, for Buddha's sake.



Jes likes really pulpy fiction. What I think of as Pop-fiction. She'll buy a Stephen King book she hasn't read, and she'll keep one she has. Now, I'm not so much a snob that I won't read Stephen King. I've enjoyed several of his stories, and there are some I haven't read which I'm looking forward to getting around to. But I just can't see myself buying them, and I cringe at the thought of them taking up permanent shelf space, space which could instead be inhabited by Ken MacCleod, or Richard Brautigan.

I guess I think of my personal library as a home for books that are special to me. Stephen King doesn't belong, because well if I get the itch for that I know it will be easy to find, and the itch will generally not be so overwhelming that I need it "right now!" On the other hand, if I get the itch to Etidorpha, it might take me some time or expense to find a copy.

So, without much further ado, a list of what is on the Dragon's bookshelf until/during the move:

Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punishment, The Order of Things
John Berger, Ways of Seeing a classic, for when I might need some "comfort food" reading.
Jon Longhi, Everyone at the Funeral Was Slamdancing, The Rise and Fall of Third Leg (both signed, no less!) Longhi is the shiznet! We Gen-X mofos have waited too long for our own Bukowski, our own Kerouac, our own Pekar. Longhi is it. You know that grandpa hipster in your scene, who's a genius, but focuses all his talents on getting high and scoring babes, well Longhi is that guy if he actually finished his novel. And then wrote another one. I loved Wake Up and Smell the Beer, and can't wait to sink my eye-teeth into these. For any doubters out there, Longhi has gotten R. Crumb to do covers for both of his novels.
Richard Brilliant, Portraiture
Harold Norse, Memoirs of a Bastard Angel
James Morrow, Towing Jehovah I'm most of the way through this, but think it might make a good book for Jes and I to read to each other during the drive.
Terry Prachett, Going Postal Jes is in the middle of this, and it looks like a fun read.
John Kennedy Toole, Confederacy of Dunces Because it's been far too long, and I'm hoping to get Jes acquainted with Ignatius J. Reilly.
Vincent Van Gogh, Dear Theo A collection of Vinnie's letters. Again, comfort reading.
Charles Bouleau, The Painter's Secret Geometry One of the few books I scored at the Twain Library Sale which merited being shuttled cross-country twice. I've started it, but it's dense and meaty, so I plan to take my time digesting it.
Haynes, Vespa P Series Manual 'Nough said.
David Hough, Proficient Motorcycling A two-wheeler's bible. I won't feel comfortable packing it until the Vespas are loaded on the truck.
Berke Breathed, The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos Light bathroom reading.
Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near Heavy bathroom reading.
Various Authors, Various Html, web design, and photoshop manuals For a project I hope to unveil soon...
Kevin Siembieda, The Palladium Role-Playing Game Revised Edition For reasons which will be illuminated in a later blog-post.

There you go, not exactly a Desert Island island, just a what I need to get through the next month list. Granted, I'll probably be adding a graphic novel or two to that list in the next couple of weeks.

If you seek further understanding of both why I had to join the Bookstore, and why I had to leave, I direct you to the BBC comedy series, Black Books, which sadly, is funny 'cause it's true.

In closing I give you the Last Word Books Late-Night Computer Elf Mantra:

"Books! Books! Books!"

A Scooterist Architect's Master Thesis

Wow!
It's been a little bit since I've blogged any new scooter posts, but here is a hum-dinger for all you serious scooter geeks out there.

Stephanie Winters' Masters thesis for architecture at University of Cincinnati is supa-cool. (And when was the last time you heard that about a Master's thesis?) She has created a structure with the intent of being an immersive, interactive, scooterist's haven.
The first part of the thesis is a study of similar buildings such as a Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, from which she obviously drawn a great deal of inspiration. This part was mildly interesting to me, as I am mildly interested in architecture in general, and the idea of creating a space suited for automobiles and humans is novel and intriguing.
The second part of the thesis is the really nifty part though. She has designed a space suited for habitation by scooters and humans. It is comprised of multi-levels, with many ramps for scoots, and includes areas for scooter sales, mechanical work, education, as well as a cafe and rally meet-up space for social interaction.
There is also a really cool appendix delving into the history of the motorscooter, going back as far as the 19-teens.

Ms. Winters' proposed site is in Cincinnati, and I'm not really familar enough with the area to know if it could support this kind of business venture, but somewhere certainly could. In the right market, this design, utilized by a shop with a diversified product range (say carrying new Vespa and Piaggio models, as well as say the Genuine and Kymco lineups, and catering to vintage scooterists as well) would really be gang busters.

Maybe it's just me, but this design writes it's own business model. It's generally well known that two-wheeler retailers have only razor-thin markups on bikes, the real profit margins come from accessories and service. Yet the kind of business models which are proven successes in regular retail and service businesses are rarely applied. Most two-wheeler businesses are only comfortable environments for a half-hour at most. They seem to if not discourage hanging out, at least they do not accomadate loitering. By creating a casual environment where customers can take classes in maintenance and repair, riding skills, and scoot customization, as well as a place to get spark-plugs and oil, sales of helmets and jackets which might otherwise be lost to internet retailers, can't help but increase.

Heck, once word got out, such a place would become a scooterist Mecca, drawing riders from well outside the local community.

Heck, I'll do it, if any venture capitalists out there wanna give me backing...

via Scooter Swag

and, hey, if anyone out there is really interested in starting a scooter business (or already has one they are tweaking) here are some thoughts from other scooterists on the issue.
"Where is the Scooter Market Going?"
Kind of silly, but some insightful answers, too: "Scooter co-location ideas"

DIY Publishing

DIY Publishing

Microcosm Publishing has a new mini-guide out: Let's DIY: Tips and Tricks on Organizing Zine Workshops Microcosm Publishing
AT $1 somebody out there needs this.