Friday, September 30, 2016

First Ever Friday Night Edition!

     I totally expect you to read that title with a huge amount of excitant. If you didn't, go back and do it again. I have a need, and that need is for speed. Wait, that is a totally different blog. Did I mention that I am very drunk at this point?  I can not tell you how much I had to drink until I see my receipt from tonight, and I dare not look at it right now. It might push my down a spiral that I'm not willing to go down.

     Let's start with the day.. I guess I should tell you, that the reason I am writing tonight, instead of waiting for Sunday night, is because I have so much pent up emotion and anxiety, that I have to let it loose. I do believe that I said that this could happen from time to time. If I didn't, well I'm telling you now.

      The day started like any other, I woke up, took my walk. Ok, it wasn't like any other. I would normally be going to work, but since we are short on orders, this is then typical Friday. I wake up, make breakfast, take a walk to hatch pokemon, and then get on with my day. That usually means going to the bank, (which I did), and then whatever. Which I did, but that just doesn't seem enough to warrant a blog post.

     I went to the bank and then I headed to the tattoo shop, to drop of a chord sheet for my artist. If you have no idea what I"m talking about, you may want to read the post before this one. I was on a mission to ride. I have a great bike and I love to ride it. You have seen the pictures of Saki by now, so I'm not going to bore you with more of them. I got a text from my drinking buddy. I asked him if he had his bike road ready. He said that he still needed to tune it, and that he would work on it tomorrow. Also, he said that he didn't ride in this kind of heat. He then asked me what I was doing. I told him, that I was riding around in this heat, and that I would help him tune his bike, so that he could sit and stare at it, since he seems to have no plans to actually ride it. I brushed him off, since he said he was meeting up with an old friend tonight, in Orlando. I wasn't in the mood for his passive aggressive behavior.

     I ended up going to my favorite watering hole, and low and behold, they changed the tall glasses on me. There were quite a bit smaller. Since I was  feeling that they were over pouring me all along, I wan't upset by it. I just wanted Jack and Coke, with a bacon egg and cheese burger. That is what I got,and I got it without passive aggressiveness.

     It was a fun night, but it was a bit mixed. I was pressuring myself to come up with an idea for a book, but it wasn't coming, and the drinking was compounding things. I was getting a bit depressed. It was definitely sending me down the rabbit hole. I couldn't come up with anything that I thought was original. It was mind numbing.

      An older couple sat down beside me. I knew them, but to by name.We have been in the same are several times without being formally introduced. I began talking with the gentleman about the Beatles. We have mutual appreciation for them. After a while everyone started talking trivia. This is where I shine I have a trivia mind. It isn't much use for anything else, but I am a wiz at trivia. They were astonished at my knowledge of events that should far exceed my age. Turns out, I am much older than they think I am. That is my hidden secret.

     That conversation was over, and a new one was around the corner. A couple came in that I had talked to before. I have no idea what their names are, but they are good people, and that is all that matters. We talked New Orleans, Motorcycles, food and drink. That is all I really need to have a good time. All the while that this was going on, a friend of mine was there with his girlfriend. His girlfriend is the only woman, that I can't put in the friend zone. I see her, and I'm instantly attracted to her. It was a distraction to say the least. I have tried to put a blind eye to her, but I just can't. I immediately become overly mysoginsioc, and want to have sex with her. That is where my thoughts go. I can't seem to stop it. I want to, but I can't.w There is this weird ultra attraction that I have to her, the I just can't shake.  

     Let's move on to tomorrow. I'm going to head to Daytona in the morning to take a look at some Moto Guzzi's. I found a dealer in the area, and I just want to take a look at the bikes. What's better than riding on a bike to look at bikes? I know my buddy would have nothing to do with it. I'm sure he would say something like, "I got a bike.Why do I need to look at blkes". Maybe because bikes are beautiful in all that they have to offer.

       After I get back from my ride, I'm going to head to a brewery for a sour event. That's right, sour beers. I do love sours. I'll tell you all about it on Sunday. It should be a good time. I'll get to seem all kinds of old friends there.

     I'm getting too tired to write this, at this point, so I'm going to leave you a picture of my in a new shirt that I got from one of my favorite people in this world. By the way, this is what I look like when I'm going on a ride. Notice the braided Viking beard. That is what I call it, because Viking beard sounds  much more manly the braided. The shirt reads, "Hooray Everthing", and has a unicorn pooping a rainbow. truly the greatest shirt ever. With that, I bid you peace in and goodnight.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Dueling Banjoleles, or Maybe Just One, By Itself.

     Well, my work week is over. I'm getting real tired of these 4 day work weeks. I know, most people wouldn't be upset that they would have to only work 4 days a week. I however, feel very unproductive when this happens. There is good new though. I rode Saki every day this week so far. The weather forecast isn't looking favorable for tomorrow though. I would really love to get some good ride time in, but it just may not be in the cards.

     Oh, I found a picture that I forgot to post on Sunday. It's of me and my other friend that went to Universal, on the Hogwarts Express. It will give you a quick look at what the train car looks like. Trust me, we enjoyed it far more than it appears that we did. I'm kind of awkward in front of the camera, so I never really know what to do. This is why I don't have many pictures of myself. Really it's better that way, there is no need for pictures of me.










     I finished up Pure Imagination in my ukulele class tonight. It's going to take a lot of work, to get it sounding the way I want it to, but I'm up for the challenge. There are a lot of weird figure positioning to get some off the wall chords. They aren't your everyday cowboy chords here. These are coning from the jazz world, and you know those crazy jazz cats. They like to throw the rules out the window.

     After class, I headed to the tattoo shop. I promised may artist that I would help him out with something. A little while ago, a client of his, gave him a banjolele. If you can't guess what that is, it's a tiny four string banjo. They are cool little instruments. This one happens to be pretty old. We know that it is at the very least 60 years old. The woman that gave it to him, said that her dad had it since the 50's. There are some little pen doodles on the body of it that look like 40's era art. I was helping him out, by stringing its for him, so that we could see what it sounded like. I think I was a little more excited than he was. He doesn't know how to play, so it's just a object to him, but I told him I would get it stringed, tuned, and teach him a few chords, so that he could play around with it.

     It wasn't easy stringing it. The part where you set the strings was a bit odd. The only thing I could see to do, was tie a knot in the end of the string and slide it behind a little v'd opening. It worked out pretty well. I had to place the bridge, and fortunately my ukulele teacher told me what to do for that, so that wasn't all that difficult. I got all the strings on, and then I had to play with the tuners. Since they were old, they were very loose. I didn't want to scratch or break anything, so I had to be very gentle with it. I only had a knife on me, that I could use to tighten the small set screws in the peg head tuners. When I finally got those tightened down, tuning was the next obstacle. It took me quite a while to get it tuned in. I found out, that I was making too big of a turn on the pegs, and it was throwing everything sharp. I dialed it back and started making very small adjustments, and it all started coming together.

     I got it all tuned in, and started playing around with it. It was really fun. It had that twangy banjo sound, but on smaller higher pitched scale. It was great. I played an old Eddie Vedder song, that I know. He plays a mandolin for it, but it sounded really nice on that little banjolele. Don't ask me the name of the song, because it escapes me right now.

     My artist finished up with a client that he was tattooing, and I sat him down, and showed him how to strum it, and play a few simple chords. He is having the same problem I had when I started, which is, fat fingers. They get in the way, and don't move the way you want them to. The good news is, I got past it, and so will he. He took to it pretty quick though. He liked the way it sounded too. He isn't sure what he will do with it, but he is going to get it appraised to see if it's worth anything. It does have some good tones for an old instrument, and it's very playable, but we have no idea what make it is. There is nothing on it that says it anywhere. There it is on the right, in all it's glory. You can see the pen doodles on it, and the strings in place. It's soprano size, so it's a tiny little thing, but it really puts out some sound. I strung it low G, so it has a little bottom end to it. I'm going to draw up a chord chart for him, and a chart for a song for him to play around with. I'll take that up to him tomorrow, so that he can spend the weekend on it. Pretty good shape for a 60+ year old instrument. I have it in my head, that it si from the 40's. When he gets it appraised, we might just find out if I'm right.

     I plan on spending the weekend riding with Saki. I will have to see if the weather clears. Tomorrow doesn't look too good, as I said earlier, but the rest of the weekend holds promise. I know, that no one else is going to ride with me, so I will be hitting the highways alone. I have no plans on where to go, so I'll just have to see where the road takes me.

     Let's call it a night, and part on good terms. Have a safe and wonderful weekend people. Peace in and goodnight.




Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Who Wants to Go to a Concert? No One? That Sounds About Right.

     I need to vent a little tonight. I was holding it back, but I just can't anymore. The language may get a bit saucy tonight, so If you don't like that , then you should turn back now. With that out of the way, let's just delve into this, shall we? On Sunday, I posted pretty much exclusively about going to Universal, but there was more to the weekend. Friday in particular. I didn't talk about it, because I was going to try and let it go, and also, because I knew that Universal was going to take up a huge chunk of the post. Friday, my drinking buddy texted me wanting to meet up. I wanted to ride, but the weather was far too sunny for him to get his bike fixed and out on the road. He wanted to spend it drinking. I'm all for that at times, but It was a beautiful day, tailor made for riding. Anyway, I decided to meet up with him at the place that he likes. We've gone over how I could do with or without this place, but that isn't the problem. I went had soda and talked with him. Not to get into his business, but he went on a date with one of the bartenders there, a week or so earlier. Most of you know my rule about dating bartenders, but for those who don't, the rule is as follows: Don't do it. It's as simple as that. I spent time to build a relationship with my bartender so that I get the service that I like, and I'm not going to let my penis get in the way of that relationship. That being said, I don't really care about this place, but I still have a polite relationship with the bartenders there. He spent the time telling me about his date, and what he wanted to do, nothing sexual mind you, just what his plans were that didn't succeed.

     After a while, he decided that he wanted to bounce to my favorite place. This is where I have cultivated that bartender/patron relationship. Once we were there, he got a text from his new date/girlfriend/whatever, and she said she was going to stop by, but she didn't want to interfere with our time. I told him to tell her to turn around, I didn't give a fuck if she showed up. He did, and she came up. It was ok for a while, but then, my buddy started telling all these stories to paint me in a bad light. He got most of the facts about them wrong, which made me look even worse. My only guess, is that he was trying to make himself look better to the woman. I don't know why. He mentioned one time, that her friends all thought that she was dating me. I have no idea where they even came up with that idea. 1. I don't date my bartenders, and 2. She isn't my fucking type. Ok, that last bit was a little rude. He has no need to worry about me trying to take her away, so I don't get it. He knows my rule about dating bartenders, so I can't grasp his mindset on this one.

     If you want me to be your wingman, and make you look good, you don't have to throw me under the bus to do it. I will gladly build you up, so that you look the best you possibly can. I'm a damn good wingman, and I have succeeded in that role many times. If he ever pulls that shit again, I'm going to get my tab, pay it, and walk the fuck out. I don't need people like that in my life.

     Whew, got that out of my system, but wait there's more. This pertains to my own stubborn stupidity. Against my better judgement, I bought tickets to see Panic! At The Disco. They are hitting the Amway Center in April, and it looks like I'm going to be there. This is why it is against my better judgement. I had mentioned after seeing Twenty One Pilots at that same venue, and once again eating an extra ticket, that I was no longer going to see a show locally. I would simply travel to places that bands were playing and watch them there. Either it would be with friends that I know like the music, or hell, I'd just go somewhere new, to see them in a different atmosphere. What happens, with me, is that with a couple of months to go, I will start posting that I have an extra ticket if anyone wants to take advantage of it. I never charge anyone for this ticket, it's simply first come first serve. If anyone feels so inclined that they have to give me something in return, they can buy me a beer at the show. That is it.

     With a month to go, I start asking people directly, and they always say the same thing, "When is it?". I tell them, but the truth is, that they are only saying that so that they can have an excuse not to go. They always have something else planned. Could they really have something planned? Of course they could, but for the most part, these are people that plan nothing, so their excuse seems a tad bit flimsy to me. With a week to go, I fucking give up, and just eat the ticket. I go to the show alone. I still have a good time, but it would be so much more fun to enjoy it with anyone. That will more than likely be the case with P!ATD. It will be a great show, that I paid double the price for. These are the times, when I fucking hate people, and I don't want to hate. Hate creates so much bad energy, energy that I don't want in my life, just like above with people that bring that bad energy in my life, I don't need it, but here I am again, setting myself up for another overpriced concert. I'll enjoy it, when I'm there, and I will get over it, but there will be that time, when I will just be pissed off.

     Ok, that is all of it, I promise. Now let's get to something a little more enjoyable. Remember when I mentioned that I had a song, that I've been wanting to post as the Favorite Song of the Week for a while now? This is the week. It has finally arrived, and nothing has gotten in the way. There was a possibility though. Howard Stern announced this week, that in honor of The Beatles 50 year anniversary of the Revolver album, he had gotten 14 different bands to cover the songs on the album. Revolver is my favorite Beatle album, and the bands that are doing covers are fantastic. He played a few short clips of the songs, and I instantly fell in love with a few of them. Fortunately, there is nothing online of any of them, and the special doesn't air until this Friday on Sirius 101. That means that this weeks song is still safe.

     Quite a while ago, I posted Aurora's version of David Bowie's "Life in Mars", I'm still very much in love with that version of the song, even though people are going crazy for the Peter Gabriel version, that was most recent'y used in the Netflix show Stranger Things. Don't get me wrong, it's a great version, I'm just transfixed by the Aurora version. Because of that version and her interview on Howard Stern, I bought her album. There is one song on there, that just blew me away. It is a story book song, and I won't go into what the story is about, you will figure that out on your own when you here it. it is beautiful, haunting, melancholy, and just on a whole different level than anything else. I think the reason I let others songs take precedence over it, was because it wasn't the right time for me to share it with you, and tonight is that time. Here is Aurora with "Nature Boy".



     Let me know what you think of it. I truly hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. It is an amazing song.

     This week has been great for Saki and me, but it looks like tomorrow is calling for rain a bit earlier in the day. I'm thinking about just saying, screw it, and riding to work anyway. Rain isn't a fear of mine, like it is my buddy's. I didn't get into his rules of riding, maybe someday. Just know that riding in the rain, is something he won't do. Sorry, i promised I was done with the rant, and I am.

     As a matter of fact, I'm going to call it a night. See you all on Thursday, or whenever you read Thursday night's post. Peace in and goodnight.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

It's Always Fun to Spend a Day at the Theme Park.

     I made it to Universal on Saturday, and had a blast. This was my first time back since getting my annual pass. We arrived shortly after 9 AM, and went straight to Islands of Adventure. We had to make quick stop at Guest Services to pick up the tickets that my friends had won. Well, maybe it wasn't so quick. The place they had won the tickets from, didn't really completely their task of doing what they needed to do, in order to make this very simple. All they had to do, was email a confirmation number, or at the very least, give them the confirmation number when they went and picked up the parking pass. The woman at guest services worked as quickly as she could, but she of course had to locate all kinds of information first. In the end, the tickets were handed over, and we made our way to the gate.

     Our first goal once we were in the park, was to head directly to the new Skull Island, or as everyone calls it, King Kong. There was already a 45 minute wait when we got there, and it only took us maybe an extra 20 minutes to get in. We got in line, and were pretty excited to be riding a brand new ride. It opened a couple months ago. I have heard mixed reviews about it. Some people said it was fantastic, others said it was, not so much. The lovely lady you see on your right, greets you when you get into an anti-chamber in the line. She is speaking a language that you don't know, but you can make out Kong when she incites the villagers. The begin chanting Kong, Kong, Kong, as the excitement builds. Her eyes roll back into her head, as the pitch of rises, and then, the lights flicker and everything resets. We saw this, maybe a dozen times as we waited in that little room. There was a delay on the ride, so our 45 minute wait soon became an hour. That still didn't matter, our excitement hadn't died. We finally made it on to the safari bus that would take us around Skull Island. Our driver, who on a first look seemed like a real person, but on further examination was just an animatron. He assured us that the legend  of Kong was just that, a legend. We drove around a bend, and saw some adventurers get attacked by giant bats, then around another corner to see that one of them had escaped the attack, only to be attacked again by a giant crab, or something like that. We raced away an were confronted by T-rexes (is that how you spell many t-rex). Out of nowhere Kong himself jumps in and starts fighting with the T-rex (maybe that is the plural and no "es" is needed). The jump back and forth over our safari bus, and then the fight is over. We round another corner to see the giant head of Kong roaring at us, and the ride is over. Here is the thing, the ride has some fun parts to it. The fight for example, but all in all, it is far too short, and not worth an hour wait. When I go back, and I see a 5 minute wait, I'll ride it again, otherwise, I'm not interested.

     After we got over our disappointment, we headed to Hogwarts to get on the Hogwarts Express, and head over to Universal Studios, so that we could hit up Diagon Alley. We were able to hope right on the train, because no one was really ready to switch parks that early in the morning. The train ride is fun with a little video display to entertain you on your journey. Turns out, and I didn't know this. The video is different depending on which way you are traveling. That makes it all that much more fun.

     Once over in Universal we headed straight to Diagon Alley and toe Gringotts ride. It just so happens to be one of my favorites, and Diagon Alley itself is quite spectacular. The did a really good job of putting you into the books. The pictures to the right and below are of the enormous Chandeliers that are in Gringotts. It's quite beautiful inside, and any wait is pleasurable due to there being so much to look at when you are in there. I believe we only waited about 20 minutes to get on that ride. They keep things moving so well. They get people on and off the cars quickly. There is never really much of, just standing around. You stop briefly and then walk about 5 feet. The ride itself is a 3D rollercoaster. As for the rollercoaster part, there are no loops or spirals, but there are some quick drops and banked turns. The car itself also spins around which adds to the thrill. Most of the riding part is done in the dark which tricks your senses into believing that you are going faster than you really are. Fun all around really.


      If you get the chance to go to Universal, one of the first things you should do, is go to Diagon Alley and ride the Gringotts ride. I think it's called Escape from Gringotts.
It's super fun, and the best part, is that once you leave the ride, you are back in Diagon Alley. There is so much to see there, and I tried to show my friends all of it, but you really need a few days, just to look around the whole thing. There are all the little shops, that are representations of the places in the books, and the interactive areas, if you have a special wand. You can buy them at Ollivander's Wand Shop. Yes they are pricey, but they are so very cool. There is Knockturn Alley with it's dark mischievous demeanor. The robe shop, where you too can have you very own wizarding robe from your house of choice. Of course if you have already gone on Pottermore and had your house selected for you, you can get that one. We didn't get a chance to have any butterbeer but we did get a real beer there, and it was quite good. It was one of Universal's own beers, which is brewed by the Florida Brewing Company, called the Wizard's Brew. They bartender said that it was a red hoppy lager, but I think it was more a red hoppy ale. I didn't get lager from it, but to my surprise it was quite good. FBC is known for doing lowest common denominator beers. Bud clones and what not. The also brew the Duff beer for the Simpson's area of the park.

     We started getting hungry, so we left Diagon behind and headed to New York. There is an Irish Pub there that has pretty good food. There wasn't a crowd inside, so we were sitting quickly and got our food, just as fast. it was really good, and we managed to finish just in time to see one of my favorite side shows at the park, which is The Blues Brothers. They drive up and hop on an outside little stage and perform the hits from the movie. They get people dancing and singing, it's a real good time.



     We went from there to the Transformers ride. it's another 3D rollercoaster, but it doesn't have the ups and downs and fast turns that Gringotts does. It is more of a visual and hydraulic thing. The car moves on a track, but it bounces around and tips up and down and sideways with the screen that is in front of you. You get a sense of falling when the screen shows you going down, and the car shakes. It was pretty fun. Sorry, don't have any pictures from that one.

      After Transformers, was the rollercoaster that I can never remember the name. It's called Rip Roarin' Rockin' Rollercoaster or something along those lines. You get to pick the music that plays as you ride, and they videotape you with that soundtrack. I've never looked at my video, so I don't know how well they come out, but it is a super fun rollercoaster. You start by doing a 100 foot climb straight up, and when I say strait up, it is a 90 degree vertical climb. Then you go over the top and immediately go into a spiral, with whips and turns, and all kinds of fun. They make you take everything out of your pockets and place them in lockers before you get on, because you will lose everything in them. We did single rider to get through the line faster and we only waited a little more than 10 minutes. Another ride, that is totally worth the wait, but why do it when you don't have to.

     At this point we had covered all the rides that we wanted to, so we took a quick jaunt back to Diagon Alley to see a bit more of it, before hopping back on the Hogwarts Express for IoA again.

We got a few more pictures. The top one is one of my friends and I, trying to get the Gringotts dragon in the background. If you squint you can see it
 This of course is the dragon as it is breathing fire. It does that about every 15 minutes or so. You begin to hear a rumbling and everyone in the area stops and points their phones or cameras at the dragon, waiting to capture this very moment. This one was taken by my friend, and she nailed it. perfect timing on her part.
Finally, here is the Hogwarts Express. In all of it's glory. I'm not exactly sure how far you actually travel on this, but In my head, it can't be much more that a hundred yards. The ride itself seems to take a while because there is so much going on with the video presentation in the cabins. The cabins are just like in the movie. You sit 6-8 people in  cabin and you just enjoy the ride. The ride back was particularly fun, because my friend pointed out a woman to me, that had major sideboob going on. She was wearing a bra, but it was still visually appealing. It must have been kismet, because we all ended up in the same cabin together, and she sat across from me. Here is it gets even better. When she sat down, I don't know if she did this on purpose or if it just happened on her own, but her tank top slid over revealing almost her whole boob. I couldn't help but stare. The really strange thing is that her daughter or sister or some family member, was sitting directly across from her, and never told her. I believe they were from Spain, so maybe it's a cultural thing not to care about something like that. My friend however, was dying laughing when I told her about it.

     We hit a few more rides. One rollercoaster, that is an old favorite, then Harry Potter ride, which I can't remember the name of, and the Jurassic Park ride, which is not called that at all. I think it is called River Quest. The end result of that ride, is that you go straight down a 70 foot drop or maybe more, and then you get drenched. The guy that directs you to your lane, made sure to put us in the front. I think it was because we looked like fun people and were joking around with him. I was soaked. This is where Universal does things best. You always exit through a little store so that you can see you photos of you going down the drop. This one in particular sells all kind of shorts and t-shirts, so that you can change into dry clothes. Here is the kicker, they make sure that the AC is blasting so that you are tempted more so, because of how instantaneously cold that you get. I powered though and didn't fall for it. That was or final ride before heading out of the park. We wanted more food.

     There was a new place at City Walk. That is what the area before you get tot he parks is called. They have clubs, restaurants, a movie theater, and little shops. Well this new place was some kind of chocolate factory and eatery. We figured we would give it a try. The place was packed. The line to put your name in was about 15 minutes long. We walked trough the confections part of the place, and then left. It smelled great in there, but we just didn't want to wait long for food, so we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe. We got right in and were seated immediately. The Elvis room was our location for dining, and it was freaking cold in there. That was mostly because I was very damp from that boat ride. The food was great. They really do a great job there. It's expensive, but when you taste the food, you don't mind as much. Our server happened to have a striking resemblance to myself, and my friend wanted to get a picture of both of us, before we headed home. He was happy to oblige, and the following picture was taken. Oh, I have to add, that his name is also Bob. It's a little freaky.

We could be brothers or at least some long lost relatives. My beard looks a little our of sorts, since it was soaked about an hour before, and I had no comb with me. What was I thinking, not bringing a comb. That was the end of the day right there.

      There is some sad news tonight. The sports world lost two big names today. I woke up and was looking at my phone when I saw that Jose Fernandez had died in a boating accident. I was shocked. Fernandez  was a pitcher for the Miami Marlins, and he was knowns for his skill, and love of the game. He was also very fan friendly, always looking to throw a kid a ball, or sign an autograph. He was well on his way to greatness. I know of one player in particular that faked an injury so that he wouldn't have to face him. He was worried about the effect it would have on his numbers. Yes, I'm talking about Bryce Harper. he denied that this was the case, but anyone who knew how Jose owned him at the plate, could see the truth. Jose Fernandez is swirling in the ether tonight, and will be missed by baseball fans and his family alike.

     The other big loss, is a true legend of the game of golf. Arnold Palmer along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, popularized the game of golf when it began being televised. They were the biggest stars on the course, and Arnie was one of the biggest names of the three. It seems that everyone knows the name Arnold Palmer. If not because of his golf game, then it is because of his signature drink, which was s simple half an half mixture of lemonade and iced tea. Palmer had won Majors, designed golf courses, he released his own version of his drink, and he worked to make the game of golf more accessible to middle and lower class families. Palmer also swirls in the ether tonight, setting up a tee shot for a hole in one.

     Truly a sad day in sports. The great that could have been, to the great that was. These two had a profound affect on many peoples lives, and did their best to hep people in every way they could. They will be missed.

     Weather looks pretty good this week, so I should be riding Saki to work for most of it. That is always a good thing. I'm off to bed now, so Peace in and goodnight.















     







Thursday, September 22, 2016

Lightening Bolts be Trying to Bring Me Down.

     Today went unusually well, considering all the obstacles that keep getting in the way. For instance, I have no power right now, due to a lightening strike right outside my house. I still have internet, so I'm going to type this up as fast as I can.

     I decided early on this morning, that I was going to ride Saki into work no matter what the weather report was. I hadn't ridden since last Friday, I needed to get on the bike. I lucked out. Even though the weather called for rain around the time I went home, none came. Well, not until after I was home and on my way to ukulele class. On my way home from work. I was waiting at a light, and I heard someone calling over to me. I looked over, and a guy wanted to know what it was like riding in the rain. Even though it didn't rain, there was an ominous looking cloud heading our way. I told him that there wasn't much to it. You just had to slow everything down, and watch the other vehicles on the road better. He noticed that my tires don't have a lot of grooves. That is the thing about sport tires on a bike, the tread is minimal. The idea is to get as much rubber on the road. That is great in dry conditions, but not so great in wet. I don't worry though. Like I told him, you just slow down a bit. He mentioned how much he liked Saki, and then thanked me for giving him the answers he was looking for.

    Further down the road, I ended up behind Porsche. The person driving revved the engine and shot off. I felt like playing, so I did the same. I caught up to them in a second. Then I threaded the needle and split the lane to go around them. They didn't bother trying to chase me down. I guess they knew that as fast as their car was, it couldn't maneuver like Saki. It was fun.

     I headed out to uke class, in hopes that we would finish up "Pure Imagination". My teacher walked out to get me, and he was strumming a beautiful chord. It was the one he was having trouble with last week. Little did he know, that there were more peculiar chords to come. We got through most of it, but there are still a few bars left to go. Next week should wrap it up.

     On the way home, I was rerouted due to a road closure, but when I got to the end of the detour, they rerouted me again, back the way I had come. I decided to make the most of it, and take an advanced look at a road I've been wanting to take Saki down. It's a nice little ride, with some open areas to open it up a bit. It took me out of my way, and kept me from stopping by the tattoo shop to talk to my artist, but it was worth it in the end.

     I spent the rest of the evening watching TV. I caught up on a few shows I had recorded, and was wasting time until Conan came on. Panic! At The Disco was the musical guest tonight. I was really looking forward to them playing on the show. I finally made it to 11, and was watching the opening segments when that bolt of lightening took out the power. Because of that bolt, I'm writing this in the dark, and charging my phone on my laptop. It's working out pretty good. I have 31% batter left on the laptop right now, so I should get a good amount of charge on the phone before I unplug it to save battery life on the ol' Macbook.

     I'm heading to Universal on Saturday. It's my first time back at the park since getting my annual pass. The weather should be a bit better than the sweltering levels of hell that they have been, but it's still going to be hot. I'm looking forward to riding the new King Kong ride. I think it's called Skull Island, but I'm not positive. I'll tell you all about it Sunday.

     I just got an update on my phone that says fewer than 5% of customers are reporting a power failure. That means it should take quite some time for them to get it fixed. If it was more or in a rich neighborhood, they would hop right on it, but since this is a middle class neighborhood, I'm not expecting miracles.

     With that, I will call it a night. I still have to come up with a title for this thing. By the way, normally, or about 99% of the time, the title is the last thing I come up with, which is funny, because that is the first thing you see. At least I think it is. Oh, one just came to me. I hope you like it, Peace in and goodnight.

         

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

From Bad, to Good, to Really Making Me Happy.

     I received some not so good news yesterday. My mom went to the doctor because she has been having some trouble sleeping as well as other things lately. The doctor told her, that her heart isn't working right. Part of her problem is that she can't remember things anymore either, so she couldn't tell me what it is that's wrong, just that she is ready to die. That is always fantastic news. She is going to see a cardiologist soon, and maybe there will be more answers, and possibly something written down, so that I can see it as opposed to her trying to tell me. I'll let you know what I know, when I know it.

     That leads me to Favorite Song of the Week. I have had a song in mind for a few weeks now, but there is always something that overpowers it when it comes to the time to pick. This week is no exception. I'll get to that song at some point, but in the meantime, this song showed up in my Youtube subscription list, and I've been listening to it as much as I can. It's a new song which is an old song. My favorite band in the world did a cover of one of my favorite songs on The Black Parade album. That's right, this is a cover of a My Chemical Romance song. The original is such a fantastic song, but this version might just be better. It feels like Tyler is singing this song to someone specific, and it comes across hauntingly beautiful. The song is "Cancer", and the band is Twenty One Pilots, so without further explanation, here it is.




     Let me know what you think of it. I  have no information on why they did this song, I only know that it is fantastic. Feel free to look up the original by MCR, and compare the two. You may see it all differently, but that is the subjective nature of music. What is good to you, may not be to others, but there is that magical space in between where common interests intermingle. That is the place where the Clique takes residence. It's all about the music and being together. Enjoy.

     The weather reports have been dismal this week. Saki has been staying dry in the garage, and it doesn't look good for tomorrow. Saki wants to go out and play, and I do too. I've been looking at a few things, to make Saki look a little better. First thing I have to do, is get rid of that ugly rear fender. I was originally looking at fender eliminator kits that would either incorporate the turn signal lights, or have some with it, but I have found a rear taillight with integrated turn signals in it. It is rather awesome, and rather cheap, considering most of the things I was looking at were over $100. I'll still have to get a license plate mount, but I can go for a much less expensive one now. The Integrated taillight comes in it at $80. Yeah, I know, that isn't cheap, but it's a lot cheaper and much cleaner looking than a $100 plus dollar fender eliminator kit with big lights sticking out the side. This will clean up those lines on the back end of Saki. After that, I think I will invest in getting rid of my handlebars and put some clip-ons on. Clip-ons put more of the steering over the front tire, and give the rider better control of the bike. I found a set with a simple conversion bracket that will fit nicely. After that, the last thing I'm thinking about doing, is putting a new exhaust kit on Saki. It will make it louder (which is more safe on the road, because cars will hear us coming), and will add a little horse power. That is never a bad thing. The exhaust is going to be the most expensive, and time consuming. I may have to add a new chip in it, as well as dyne the bike to get it to ride right with a new tuning on it. That is why that will be last. I'm thinking I'll be going with a Yoshimura RS4. It simply sounds the best, looks the best, and has a great performance record. That will probably be a year or two off though. I need to clean up that back end first.

     I think I'm going to keep this short, and call it a night. I still have to come up with a title tonight, and I kind of want it to be a real good one. After all, it is going to be the first thing you read. Peace in and goodnight.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Saturday Night Was Not All Right, Because Friday Was too Fun.

     This weekend was, well how should I put it? This weekend was a mess. That is probably the best way to put it. I didn't ride Saki much, and I'll get to that in a little bit. I did do one productive thing though. I ordered a new book that is in a series that I'm reading. Amazon sent me an email saying that it had been released, so I went on the site to order it. When I checked out, I had enough points to cover the cost of the book, so I got a free book. Not only that, I ordered it Friday morning, and it showed up Saturday morning. I could have waited for it, I'm in the middle of another book right now, but I have it, and it will be ready when I am.

     I got on Saki and rode to the bank, and then took a long way home, to get a mile or two extra on the tires. It was fun, Oh, I nearly forgot. I did something else productive. Before going on that short little ride. I took the bill off my helmet. It made a huge difference in cutting the air when I was riding. I'm sure I'll put it back on at some point, but for now, I'm going to leave it off, and see just how fast I can get Saki. Keep looking here for an update on that.

     After I got home, I had already decided that I was going to hit my favorite watering hole that night. They were back from vacation, and I couldn't be happier. My drinking buddy was back in town, so I knew he was going to want to go to his new favorite place, which is a place I really don't like. Remember back to last Tuesday's post were I said if people wanted to see me, that it was going to be on my terms? I stuck to it. I told him where I was going, and that was it, there was no discussion about any other place. He didn't bring any up, but if he did, I wasn't changing my plans.

     While I was at my favorite watering hole, there was a woman there, that I've been trying to get to go with me to Universal Orlando. I have a pass, she has a pass, hey, let's go spend a day at the park and have a good time. I spent months trying to get her to agree to go. Finally I gave up. I would talk to her about if she had gone or not, but I no longer brought up, the two of us going. So, it's Friday night, she is there, and she looks me dead in the eye, and says, "We still have to go to Universal.". cI was shocked. My drinking buddy said, "she just asked you to go to Universal". It wasn't like that, and Im not reading anything into it. He then said that that is how these things start. Things don't start with me, it's as simple as that. My buddy had to leave for a date, but not before making plans to see the theme park woman on Thursday. He is such a great wingman.

     I stayed around after he left, and was waiting on another buddy of mine. I had texted him earlier in the day, because I hadn't heard from him in a while. Turns out, he had to get a new phone, and lost all of his contacts. That's a pretty good reason not to keep in touch, and since I no longer have Facebook he had no way to get a hold of me. He finally showed up a few hours later, and I was deep into drinking at that point. The strange thing is, that I wasn't feeling any affects from it at all. Which is a little unusual. I normally sense the alcohol hitting me about 5 drinks in. There was nothing that night. We left and headed to his house, to have a couple of beers before hopping to a couple more bars. I think the slight break at his house, did me in. We had the beers, and I felt fine. We hit the first bar, and half way through my beer, I started feeling it. I couldn't finish my beer. We proceeded to the next place, and I was done. I never made it out of the car. I slept in his car while he went in and had a few or one, I have no idea. We got back to his house, and he was already telling me that the couch was mine for the night. I was more than happy for it, but I never made it to the couch. I went to the bathroom and just laid down on the floor. At some point he came in and gave me a pillow and a blanket. That is where I slept until about 6 in the morning. I quietly left his house, locking the door behind me, and went home.

     I slept until around 10:30 at that point, but I had the worst headache in the world, and no desire to eat. I got a Gatorade and some aspirin, and went back to sleep. The headache didn't leave, and I didn't eat until around 3 in the afternoon, I think. I really didn't eat much at all, and since I was sleeping most of the day, instead of drinking water, the headache stayed until far into the night. It was about the time I called it a night, that it finally left. Needless to say, I didn't get any riding in.

     I ran errands today and washed my clothes, so that was pretty productive, but still no riding. My buddy had sworn that he would have his bike road ready by this weekend, but I didn't get a text from him until this evening saying his bike was almost ready. I have no faith that I will ever ride with anyone again. People keep telling me that they are going to be ready at this particular time, only to let it slide and forget about the whole thing. I'm not asking anymore, this goes back to my terms, and I will ride when and where I want to. If someone happens to fall in line for a ride on that day, then so be it, other wise, this wolf rides alone.

     I'm going to call it a night. I'm hoping to ride Saki to work tomorrow. The weather report is calling for a lot of rain in the mooring, but it also called for it this evening, and that didn't happen, so I think my odds are pretty good for tomorrow. I'll let you know how it all went on Tuesday. Peace in and goodnight.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Dali and a Double Header.

     This is another one of those nights where I really have nothing to write about. There's a couple of things, but they are rather short, and I could probably fit them all in this first paragraph if I chose to do so, but I'm not. I'm going to draw this out as long as I can.

     I'll start with the winner of AGT. I can tell you, that it was one of my favorites. I can also tell you that there were a couple of surprises along the way. Sophie Dossi and Tape Face didn't make it in to the final 5. I had an idea that that would happen. I loved their acts, but they were a bit different and obscure for the general audience. Those two weren't a surprise. What was a surprise is, that after they narrowed it down from ten to five, the took it another step further and reduced it to the top three. Brian Justin Crum, did not make the top three, which was a bit of a shock. He even mouthed the word "WOW" when they eliminated him at number four. He had an enormous crowd reaction every time that he sang, so it was understandable that he was a little shocked himself. He took it in stride, and had a laugh about it. He smiled, thanked America for voting for him, and said that we will be seeing more of him soon. I believe that we will see much more of him. He is far too talented not to have a very good career in music.

     I guess you know who the winner is then, since Brian didn't make the cut, and that leaves only one more favorite of mine. I had a feeling that she had the potential to win it all from the bar beginning, and she did. Grace Vanderwaal won the night. They narrowed it down to two acts, which were of course, Grace, and a kind of magic act called The Clairvoyants. They were a very good act, and if they won, I don't think I would have been floored by it, but I would be a little surprised. This season (and i've only been watching for 4 seasons now) was by far the best season for acts that I have seen. any of the top five or maybe even most of the top ten could have taken home the victory. Grace bawled her eyes out. They were tears of joy, and she thanked everyone between sobs. My only thought now is, when does her first album come out. She sang four original songs throughout the contest, so that is about half an album right there. I do think that she needs to sharpen her skills on the ukulele a bit, and I'm hoping that she will do that before the release an entire album. I could easily see her releasing "I Don't Know My Name". I could see that being a hit song right out of the box. It was received so well that on the results show, they had her play it live again. That was the first song she sang, and could be the very reason that she won. I think that song alone, carried her through the competition. Keep an eye out for her.

     M friend got her tattoo yesterday. They had set a time of 3 hrs for the whole thing, and after I saw the plan, I knew there was no way it was going to be that short of time. I managed to show up for the end of it, which put it at about 5 1/2 hours. It looked amazing. I would show you a picture, but it's not my place to show you her tattoo. After everything was all wrapped up, we went for a few drinks and some dinner. While we were sitting there, she mentioned something about the conversation she had had with the tattoo artist, which is of course, my tattoo artist. She said that he was very fond of me, and that he told her that I was a really good friend, and that friend like me were hard to come by. I was floored. That is maybe the greatest compliment that I have ever gotten. It warmed my heart to hear someone thought that way about me. I told her the story about how I met my artist. I had walked in to see the owner of the shop, but he was busy at the time. He called for my artist to come out and see what I wanted (it wasn't as rude as i seem to be making it out. i'm just trying to keep things somewhat brief). He came around the corner covered in paint holding a paint brush in his hand. I knew right then, that this was the guy. We vibe right off, with the idea I had. He threw in a few ideas, and that is how we have done it ever since. I bring him a rough sketch of an idea, and I let him run with it. It has fantastic results. I'm not done yet, I might just try to work my way into just a single tattoo. As of right now, I say that I have three. My original tattoo on the inner right wrist, the love symbol on my left ribs, and my left arm sleeve. Yes you could argue that the sleeve is comprised of a bunch of tattoos, but where is the fun in that?

     Here is something cool that I found out yesterday. MLB released all the schedules for 2017, and the RAYS have a scheduled single admission double header. I couldn't be happier about that. It's on a Saturday, but it didn't matter what day it was on, I'm getting tickets and I'm going. Tickets won't go on sale until sometime in February, so I have plenty of time to wait, before I can get them. It's going to be exciting, I've never been to a double header, and anymore, they do day/night double headers, which means that they clear out the crowd after the first game, and bring in a new crowd for the second. This is going to be one crowd for the entire game, with an intermission between games. It's going to be a fun day. I can see it now, Dali and a double header. I think I just found my title for tonight.

     I have tomorrow off again. I'm getting a little tired of only working 4 days a week. I feel unproductive when this happens. I'm going to have to find something to do tomorrow. That search will start with riding Saki, but I have to see the weather. It's been rather erratic lately. There was supposed toe be a high chance of rain today, but I had a feeling that the rain would hold off, and it did. Me and Saki rode to work today, and Saki stayed dry under the trees. I might hit downtown Cocoa and try the place with the great looking burgers. I'm going to leave it to a spur of the moment kind of thing. I'll just see where the wind takes me.
 
     Once again, I say that I have nothing to say, and then I write a book. I won't keep you any longer tonight (or today by the time you read this), so I'll leave you with this ending. Oh, you already know what it is. Peace in and goodnight.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Don't Give Up.

     I've been thinking the past few days, and it's time for a change in my life. I'm going to be a bit selfish with my time. It seems like, for the most part, that if I want to hang out with friends, I have to do it on their terms, and never on my own. That is where I'm going to be selfish. I have always changed plans, and rescheduled things to hang out with friends when they've wanted to, but when it comes to me making plans for friends, they never come off. So I will make no plans for friends, I will only make plans for me, and those plans will be solid, I will not change them, if someone wants to spend time with me, they will have to find a way to fit into my schedule. I know, it sounds harsh and arrogant, but that's the way it is.

     It appears that it is going to rain all week due to a tropical system floating over the area. That means that Saki is going to have to stay in the garage. I'm hoping for clear skies at the end of the week, I don't want Saki feeling left out. We need to ride.

     I'm going to have a few videos for you tonight, so bare with me. There is one however that I won't be able to post, because it isn't up yet. I'm talking about AGT of course. It was Finals night, and the acts were very good. I have four favorites at this point, and I'm confident that at least one of them is going to win it all. They are, Sopie Dossi the contortionist, Tape Face, the mime funny man, Brian Justin Crum, the singer, and of course Grace Vanderwaal, the singer/ukulele player.

     I think Sophie managed to top her act from last week, which is very impressive Yes I have the video to show you. She is astonishing to watch. I don't think it was enough to win though, and you will see why with the other videos. Here is her performance.




     Grace, beauty, death defying and mind boggling body bending. She is incredible to watch, and remember she is 14 and self taught with all of it.

     Tape Face is up next. Now before his video starts, they did a little piece about his lead up to this moment. He is in a white room and gets a call form someone saying that he needs to bring his "A" game. He empties out his chest of "Stuff", and is left with nothing but a cassette tape that reads "B" game. He then flips it over to reveal his "A"Game. That brings us to where this video starts. His act is the most obscure act that you will ever see, but it is also the most outrageously funny act you will ever see. He takes the most inane things and makes them into something that is wonderful. He might be a real life Willy Wonka. Enough with all of this, let's get to the video.




     Tell me that you didn't smile when you watched that, and yes, I'm watching all of these again as I go through them. He is brilliant, and I think he chose Mel B. because he knew she would get that annoyed look on her face. I absolutely love his act, but again, I don't think it is enough to win, and you will see why next.

     Brian Justin Crum has been one of my favorites since the first time I saw him audition. His story resonates almost as much as his voice does. Through out this process, you could see him grow into a master performer, and tonight was no exception. He truly became larger than life tonight. Once again, he did a cover with his own arrangement and completely made it his own. I'm not going to be able to tell you anything that you won't be able to see yourself.




     Howie said its best, "Epic". That is a fitting word for that performance. Doing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror", and turning into something that transcends even the King of Pop himself. When the stage lifts, it's like it is lifting Brian straight to the victory. As soon as this performance was over, and it was about half way through the night, I said that he just won it all.

     I believe that until the final act of the night, and I have good news, they just posted it, so I can show it to you. I bet you can guess who it is. I'm not even going to give this video an introduction, because it will speak for itself.




     If you didn't think it was going to be Grace, you clearly haven't been reading along this whole time. I honestly thought that after Brian's performance, she couldn't do enough to overcome him, but I think she might have. I'm torn between picking one over the other, and I was sure, I was going to be typing about how much I love Grace, but Brian took it all. I can't say that now. What do you think? Who won to you? Now there is a chance that one of the other acts could come out of nowhere to win this thing, but I think these 4 were the absolute top of the night. With the exception of Sophie, who I enjoyed but didn't think she could do it, but came on strong in the later rounds, I have had the other three as my favorites the whole time, and they made it all the way to the end, so I'm pretty confident that it is going to be one of them, and as I said, I'm torn between Grace and Brain. Regardless of what happens, those two are destined for greater things. They are only going to rise higher and we will be hearing from them for some time to come.

     It's on to Favorite Song of the Week. I saw this video late last week, and it became an instant favorite. I have been following the artist for some time now. I found her when she would still show her face, so I now what she looks like, and she is very attractive, so people thinking she is hiding a hideous face are out of luck. It is none other than Sia, and her new song "The Greatest" is a tribute to the victims of Pulse. There is a lot of symbolism from the very beginning when Maddie smears rainbows on her cheeks, to when the dancers all fall and there are bullet holes through the background at the end. I would tell you all of the stuff, but that takes all the fun from you looking it up. The impact of this video is powerful without knowing that it is a tribute, but when you know it, you can't help but get hit with the raw emotion that Sia, Maddie and the rest of the dancers put out. I really hope you enjoy this one, because I do so much.




     That was the last video, I promise. I'm sure your eyes are blurred now, from reading so much and not tears streaming down your face, so I will call it a night. I finish this tonight, as I always do, and always plan to. I may have rare occasions when it calls for something else, but for now and always, peace in and goodnight.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

When Cupid Comes at You, Ride Off as Fast as You Can.

     A lot happened this weekend, so lets just jump right in. As I mentioned on Thursday, I was going to breakfast with a friend on Friday. I rode Saki up to see her, and we caught up a bit. It's not like we have a lot to catch up on, since we keep in touch quite often, but it's different when you get to see each other in person. The funny part of the whole thing is, that we were talking so much, that the waitress had to come over 5 times before we stopped long enough to look at the menu and give our orders.

     She told me of her ordeal with her rental car company, and how they screwed her over big time. I wish I could remember the name of the company so that you could save yourself that pain and avoid them at all cost, but I didn't commit it to memory. We said our goodbyes and she headed off to see family in South Carolina. She is returning briefly in the middle of this week to get the tattoo that I helped design. That's a  pretty big deal, My tattoo artist did the heavy work, I just came up with the basis, but it is still someone putting one of your ideas on their skin.

     On my way to see her, I cracked the 600 mile mark on Saki, so it was time for that first oil change. That's the milage that is recommended, so on my way home, I thought about stopping at the dealer and seeing if they could fit me in, but then decide against it as I went by. I called and made an appointment instead. I know what your saying, "Can't you change your own oil?". Yes I can, but I wanted them to do it, so that I was sure that all the metal shavings were cleaned out of the system, plus they were doing a full maintenance on the bike as well. Checking everything to make sure it is running properly. I managed to get an appointment for later that day. I contacted my drinking buddy to see if maybe he would want to meet for lunch while I waited for Saki, but he was busy, and we decided to meet up later for drinks.

     We met up at the place that he likes, I'm still not a fan, but no big deal. We had few there, and then he wanted to head to downtown Cocoa. We tried to go to the Jazz club, but it was packed. People have discovered our little secret, and now we can't get a seat. We tried another place. Packed again. He suggested the gay bar, but it was far too early for that place to have anyone there, so I suggested a place further down. We were in luck, this place was only about a third full. We moseyed up to the bar and got our drinks. For some reason, they gave us a free shot. I'm never one to turn down a free shot, so I shot it down. That was about the time, my buddy asked me if I'd been on any dating sites. I hadn't, but it put a bug in my head to give one a try. My buddy was fading fast. He hadn't eaten much during the day, so the whiskey was hitting him hard.

     When I got home, I looked up OK Cupid. A friend of mine told me I should try it about a year ago, but I don't do well on those sites, and I didn't bother. with it until Friday night. I filled out the profile, and put up a few pictures, and then immediately got a message from someone trying some kind of scam. The good thing about OK Cupid, is that you don't have to pay to get messages, the bad thing is, that you don't have to pay to get messages. What that means, is that scammers can get on there and message anyone they want because there is no safe guard protecting you from that.

     I did talk to one woman about motorcycles for a while, but I guess it wasn't really going anywhere, and I messaged a few others, but didn't get any response. Saturday I logged in, and tried messaging someone else, and I actually got a response. I had a mark against me, because I wasn't taller than her, but I thought I might have a chance to over come that. I was wrong, I guess. We messaged back and forth up until this evening, but then out of nowhere, she got very harsh, and abruptly put an end to it all. She seemed to have a one dimensional view point, and assumed a lot with out asking, and I think that is why she put an end to it. Oh well. I'll probably stay on there for a couple of weeks and then call it, the "been there done that", and move on. I'm not really looking for any, but if I met someone that would like to hangout and go to dinner and shows, that would be a good thing.

     Enough of that stuff though. Since Saki was fully primed, and I hadn't ridden since I got home from the service of Saki. I took it out for a long ride to Orlando, to see a very good friend of mine. This was going to be the first time going a pretty long way at highway speeds. I have to say, that it felt great. I got over to her house in pretty good time, and I didn't have that much of a problem with my throttle hand numbing up. It did a bit, but I got around it pretty easily. I don't know exactly how long we sat and talked, but I did know that I only had a little over an hour to get home before sunset, and I didn't really want to be on the highway at night, not to mention that I had no place for my sunglasses. Oh, I did get a micro tank bag, that is perfect for carrying my wallet and keys and  a few other things. It held up great with just the magnets. Let's say that I put it through a really good test on the ride home. It held on at 115 MPH, but my helmet caused me to slow down. The bag didn't even budge, but the bill on my helmet started to flex and bend because of the wind, and started obscuring my vision. I had a lot of open road ahead of me still, cars were a good quarter mile off, but I wasn't going to risk going any faster and have that bill fold down in front of my eyes. Saki and I backed it off to just above the speed limit and got home safely.

     I have a great song for FSOTW this Tuesday, I think you will like it. Tomorrow is a work day, so it is off to bed for me. Peace in and goodnight.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

What Do You Say When You Have Nothing to Say?

     I was contemplating on whether or not to write tonight. The reason. I really don't have much to say, but I do have a schedule, and I would like to stick to it. I can give you a brief update on AGT. My favorite act of the night, did make it to the finals. It wasn't an easy ride there though. Sophie Dossi ended up in the bubble three acts. Once there, she did win the save, but I was really shocked that she was down there. I really thought that she had the best act of the night. I think people judged her too harshly for her slight bobble when she was in the spinning hand stand. She didn't fall people, and you try to do that on just the flat ground without the spin. You can't do it can you?

     Brian Justin Crum also made it through. He was put through based on the vote, which I expected to happen. He has a very good chance of winning the entire thing. Here is the thing though, and this goes for all the singers in the competition. I think them getting a show in Vegas under serves them. Singers have to tour to get their name out there. I know that there are singers that do residencies in Vegas, but they are already established performers, that have a very strong core audience, that will travel to see them. Someone that wins a talent show, doesn't really have that core. I don't know how it will work for them. Oh, in case you didn't know what the prize was for AGT, it is a one million dollars and a show in Vegas for a year. It's basically a one year contract for a million dollars. I know that singers have won before, and I think they did their year stint in Vegas and then went out on tour, but you really don't hear much about them. It will be interesting to see.

     It's Thursday, so that means that it's ukulele night. I decided to torture my teacher tonight, and asked him for "Pure Imagination", by Gene Wilder. He started listening to it, and then he turned towards me and said, "Why do you do this to me?". I just laughed, and told him that he was going to hate me for this one. Here is the surprise. That song is full of jazz chords. I never would have guessed that song to be a jazz number, but it seems to be. There are some really difficult chords in there, and the melody is a bit tricky for a High G ukulele, but it can be done. We got half way through the song, and it is sounding really good. I think it is going to be a slick little tune when I can get it down.

     I know this is short, and I told you I really didn't have much to say tonight, but it's late here as I type this. I'm off tomorrow, but I'm still waking up early so that I can have breakfast with a very dear friend of mine. She is in town briefly before she whisks herself off to North Carolina, and then back, and then off to New Orleans to celebrate her birthday, so I have to take a visit with her where I can slip it in. And with that last line, which I know is going to end up getting a snigger from some, I bid you, peace in and goodnight.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Funko Spiral Contortionist.

     Let's start with yesterday, because today, wasn't so great. Oh wait, i have to go back to Sunday for a second. Whilst running my errands, I ran into something I absolutely didn't need, but decided that I had to have at Target. I walked through the outer edge of the toy department where I saw this. They only had one, and it says "Only At Target", so I put it in my cart. I think it's super cool, but that is my nerd showing. Let's face it, it is super cool.

     Ok, now back to Monday. The weather held off long enough for me to get a short ride in. I decided to head up an area called North River Road. It's a nice little ride. It's slow speed, but the road is canopied with trees, and at some parts, you are feet away from the water. Beautiful expensive homes dot the landscape, with men a few historic ones as well. It was really nice riding that area, but it didn't fulfill my need to open it up. I got back on US1, when I got to the end of River Road, and headed back towards my house. Something I just started noticing while riding this weekend, at a certain speed, it feels like the bike disappears. It becomes weightless, and just glides across the asphalt. It's an incredible feeling, and I don't thin I can describe it better than that. That feeling is a new high for me, and I want to feel it every time I go for a ride. I don't know if anyone else has felt that before, I've never heard anyone talk about it, but if you know what I'm talking about, leave a comment about your experience with it. Oh and tell me what you ride. I'm not one of those people that think there is only one bike out there, and that you should ride it. I love anything on two wheels. I have a Harley-Davidson Nightster and a Kawasaki Ninja 650. It doesn't get much more diverse than that. In common belief, those two bikes are polar opposites, and would ever be owned by the same person. Kawasaki has been using the hashtag #ridebold, on their recent photos. I think that is a good statement, and everyone, no matter what they are riding, should ride bold.

     Now on to today. Today wasn't at all uncommon, with the exception that I began having that good old feeling of utter and absolute loneliness. It hits me without warning and just takes me down. So far down, that I began feeling that if something happened and I died on the way home, that would be just fine. The only other thought that went through my mind, is that I would be upset that Saki would get ruined. That however didn't keep the thoughts away. I haven't gone down this deep in a while, and usually in cases such as this, the one thing I could look forward to, is that I would have a creative explosion. That hasn't happened yet. Story ideas, a need to draw or paint, nothing. I even tried to push the envelope and force a story idea. Just a short story, but nothing.

     I'm not out of it, but there was one thing that lifted me up a bit, and that is when I went into iTunes, and saw a Little Richard playlist. Little Richard is a hero of mine, and I know that someday in the near future, I will be writing about his death, so I'm not going to go into his history, or even mine with hearing him for the first time. I will save all that, but it did give me a great idea for Favorite Song of the Week. I'm not going to build it up, I'm just going to post the video and you can have at it. The song is "Freedom Blues".



     Wasn't that fantastic? Now you can see why it lifted me back up a bit.

     Tonight of course is AGT night, and I'm going to see if they have the videos posted yet, right after I talk a bit about it. I'm beginning to have a bit of a problem with the judges. They are starting to make the show more about them, than about the contestants. It's not going to make me stop watching, but it is a bit annoying. Tonight was the last night before Finals week. The acts all did a pretty good job, but there were a few acts, that didn't live up to their previous level, and I think they will not move forward to the finals. With that in mind, there were two acts in particular that were fantastic.The first one I'm going to mention wan't my favorite act of the night, but it does bare mentioning and deserves a view, if I can find the clip. Good news, all the clips are up, so I have them for you to watch. Brian did his usual great job. He just fills the room with his voice, and he does things with the arrangement of old songs that just makes them his. Here is his clip.




     As good as that was, there was one act that I thought was better, and not by just a small amount. If this act was for the finals, I think it could have won the whole thing, but it is only the semi-finals, so we will have to see if it can be improved upon. The contestant is contortionist Sopie Dossi. If I remember right, she is only 14 years old, and she is self taught. She hasn't had any formal training at being a contortionist, she just really wanted to do it one day, and boom, she's a world class contortionist. This act was beautiful, brilliant, and breathtaking. There is a slight bobble on one of the moves, but considering how hard this act is, I ignored it. It's truly captivating. I don't think I can talk it up any better than just watching it serve it much better.




     You know my rule about disco balls. Wait, you don't know my rule about disco balls? You should, I've only mentioned it a few times on this blog already, and I know I've mentioned it about a half dozen times on the 365. Ok, so for anyone new, disco balls make everything more fun. Forget about that though. I just want to take moment to point out the second time she goes up on the ring. It isn't until the camera moves in a bit closer, that you realize that she is only holding herself up with her neck. That is absolutely astonishing. I've never seen anyone do that move on a ring like that. I've seen it with a neck harness but never with a metal ring. I think that this was my favorite performance of the entire run of the show. I hope she can top it for next week. I can't seen any way possible that she doesn't go through to the finals with a performance like that. I'll let you know on Thursday if she made it or not. Same goes for Brian Justin Crum.

     I'm going to call it a night. Peace in and goodnight.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Really? You Want to Race Me in Your Family Sedan?

     It's been a long weekend, and I still have one day left of it. Holiday weekends tend to be miserable for me. Simply because I have an inability to reach out to people to do something. In my head, I believe they have much better things to do, than to hangout with me. I also believe that I will be imposing the entire time I'm there. Keeping that in mind, my weekend has been very solitary, and will continue on that path until I head back to work on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to that.

     As the title would imply, someone decided that they needed to race me on my bike, while they were in a family sedan. Yesterday, I was in the mood for a beer, because I hadn't had one in several weeks, maybe even a month. I grabbed my backpack and a growler, and hopped on Saki. I know what you are thinking. You don't drink when you are on the bike. Why are you riding to get a beer? First off, don't be so condescending with your tone. Second. I was heading to my favorite brewery to get a growler filled with said beer, and then heading home. The brewery is about a half hour from my house, so I was just cruising down the road. I was going about 10 over the speed limit, but traffic was real light and easy going. All of a sudden, I saw a car coming up from behind me. He swerved over into the passing lane, and blew past me. He then cut in front of me, and tapped his brakes. If you have ever raced anyone, that is a sign to let the person behind you, that you just blew their doors off. I found this funny and unnecessary, because I was just riding down the road, and wasn't trying to race anyone. About a half mile down the road, he was stopped at a red light. I saw an open lane, so I moved over to it, and as I was rolling up to the light, it changed green. I just kept rolling and accelerated normally. I of course went past him as he was still sitting at the light. I guess that didn't sit well with him. He came flying up the road and passed me, but this time as he did, he swerved over into my lane a bit. Now I know he is insane, so I stayed back.

     We came up to another light, and this one was much longer, so I ended up in the lane next to him. I could hear him revving his motor, so I watched the light, and waited. The best safety feature a vehicle can have sometimes, is the ability to go faster than the crazy people around you. This was going to be one of those cases. The light turned green, and I took off. When I was about 5 yards in front of him, I heard his tires chirp at the line. When I looked back again, he was about a hundred yards behind me. I stayed in from of him until I had to turn off. I got a glimpse of him as he passed, and saw that he was an older man, probably in his 60's. He was completely dejected by what had just happened to him. I later looked up what he was driving and found out why he looked so. I knew it was a Chevy, and that it was a four door sedan, what I didn't know, is that it was the Chevy SS Sedan, which boasts a 400+ hp motor. He really must have thought that he had a street monster at his beck and call.

     Here is the thing. Most cars on the road, aren't going to be able to win a race with a sport bike, so if you are out there, please stop trying. You put yourself, the rider of the bike, and all those on the road around you at risk. I had to stay on it, because I was worried that this guy was going to try and hit me the next time he went by me. I think the only reason he didn't try to hit me when I was waiting to turn, si because there was another car behind me waiting to turn as well. The entire time, I was looking in my mirrors to make sure that he stayed behind me, and once I had stopped, that he wasn't going to try to turn into me. My protective gear is only going to do so much in a crash, and maybe even nothing in a situation like that. If he would have hit me from behind, I doubt my helmet would do any thing other than hold my head on my shoulders.

     I forgot to mention Thursday night, that Grace Vanderwaal had made it to the finals of AGT. I was pretty sure that she was going to make it though. One of my other picks however, was on the bubble. Every week, they have three acts that are on the edge of elimination. They take those acts, and you can vote that night to save one of them, and then the other two are up in front of the judges to see who the final act to go through is. Tape Face is one of my favorites. He is just so funny, and his act is really nothing, but that is why it is so great. It's just ridiculous humor, and it's just fun. It's not mean spirited in anyway. If you haven't seen him before, he is a strange guy who wears a piece of tape over his mouth so that he can't talk, which is all part of his schtick. People ask him questions and he tries his best to answer through pantomime, and some times he just runs away. Here is his performance from Tuesday night, and see for yourself, that it is just odd and ridiculous fun.




     I can't help but smile and laugh during every one of his performances. They are just fantastic, and I wouldn't mind if he won the whole thing. I don't think he will, but I do think that he will be pretty high in the voting. I'm leaning towards one of the singers taking it all. I think it will be either Grace, or Brian Justin Crum. They have both been very good, and it will probably come down to who everyone likes best. I don't think that the winner will come down to, who does the better performance. Shows like this, have a tendency to sway towards the popular vote and that doesn't always line up with the absolute best performer. That doesn't mean that I think the winner is a bad act, just that maybe they won't be the best that night. We will see, I think there is one more semi-final round, or maybe two, I'm not really sure, so the finals will be in a couple of weeks or so. I'll keep you up to date.

     I want to go riding tomorrow, but it looks like the weather will not be cooperating. There are pretty god chances of a storm tomorrow morning, into the afternoon. I hope not. The weather reports have been pretty wrong lately. For instance, yesterday was supposed to have storms most of the day, but it was sunny all day, up until the evening.

     I have a bit of a headache for some reason right now, so I'm going to call it a night, and try to sleep it off. Peace in and goodnight.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

What is Your Ukulele Called?

     I just finished watching Brooklyn again. This time, from start to finish. It really is a fantastic movie. If you get the chance give it a look.

     Now on to bigger and better things. Well, just things really, there is nothing bigger and better about them. I watched a video this week, by Prince Ea. If you haven't heard of him, you should take the time to get to know about him. He posts videos on Youtube, that are not only inspirational, but just plain good for the soul. His newest one is about spreading negativity. The funny thing about it is, what he is talking about, is the very reason I deactivated my Facebook account. People were posting too much about the negative things that they hated, rather than post about positive things or things that they liked. I even brought up one of his points to some one a very long time ago, and it was about why are you spreading this thing that you hate? Don't you realize that you are feeding into what they want? There was no answer for that, and I believe that it was the first time that thought was ever put in her head. It didn't change the way she posted about things that she hated, but I'm hoping that she at least thought about it each time. Oh, and if you didn't think I was going to post Prince Ea's video, you were kidding yourself. It's worth a view.




     I subscribed to his videos quite some time ago, so when he posts something that I think you can get something out of, I'll share them here. That doesn't mean of course, that you can't just go and subscribe to his channel. It's worth it.

     For the first time in a couple of months now, I'm working all 5 days this week. It's unreal, I know. I might be the only person alive, that actually wants to work at my job the allotted time that I am supposed to. I will however be off this Monday for Labor Day, but that is a holiday, so there is nothing I can do about that. If the skies are clear, I will just have to take Saki out for a ride. This week hasn't been good for Saki. It's been rainy all week because of Tropical Storm? Hurricane Hermine? I'm not sure what it is at this point. It's not like I couldn't turn on the TV and just find out. After all, the local media goes crazy when a storm comes to town. The do hour to hour coverage, and break in to every show, while putting a crawl underneath and above every show, including their own news coverage. For those of us that have been here for a while, don't care about the coverage. We have a pretty good idea of what the storm is going to do, how powerful it is, and how much alcohol it is going to take to get through it. I'm not even bothering with this storm. It's far North of where I am, and it isn't that strong. That doesn't mean that it won't cause damage, but for the most part, Floridians now how to handle a storm. The State government would have you believe that we are clueless, but as is always the case, we are the ones that rebuild and recover from these storms, with little help from them.

    That is enough of a storm rant for me, I finished up my Nina Simone song in ukulele class tonight. It ended up being a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. There are some funky chord changes near the end that you wouldn't expect. Speaking of ukuleles, I'm getting closer to my build date with Mya Moe. For those of you that don't know, Mya Moe is a ukulele build company in Washington state. The make wonderful custom ukuleles, but, they are going to stop building custom ones very soon. The announced a week ago, that they only had 50 build slots remaining. I was lucky enough to get in on one of the final build slots. I already have a beautiful ukulele by them and am very much looking forward to this new one. My original is a High G Myrtle and spruce tenor. the new one is going to be a Low G Chocolate Heart Myrtle, and Red Cedar top, with a cutout tenor. Here is a link to the build page if you want to take a look at the set up for it. My new uke. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will see the wood that I selected for it. You won't be able to see the top until the put it on though. I guess I should give you a link to the original one as well, so here it is. My original uke. You can really see the transformation from start to finish on that one. When they start the build on the new one, I will post a link for updates on it, so you can watch it being built as well. I have to come up with a name for the new one, but that probably won't come until it gets in my hands. That is what happened with my original one. As soon as I picked it up, Cindy Lou was born. It just hit me, that it should be called Cindy Lou Uke, Cindy Lou for short.

     Well, I'm going to call it a night, and get to bed early. I have no plans for the weekend, and it looks like it might be a miserable forecast for rain most of the weekend, so we will see if any fun can be had. Fun that doesn't cost anything, which is normally not much fun at all, but I'm going to make the most of it. Peace in and goodnight.