Moto Dynamic Changed Saki's Life.

You might remember the picture to the left. I posted about a week ago, and it showed Saki in all it's glory. There was one glaring problem though, and that was that giant rear fender on the back. It serves multiple purposes, in that it holds the license plate, the turn signals and also keeps road water being picked up by the rear tire, from spraying all over my back. Even though all of those are very useful things, that fender is just ugly, and detracts from the esthetics of the bike. It is also a distraction for me, my eye is always drawn to it, because it is the one thing, that looks like it doesn't belong. It seems to be an afterthought by the designers, that put all this raw beauty in the design of the front, side, motor, and what not, to only have a fender that looks like it belongs on something from the 70's. This is where Moto Dynamic comes in. I found out about this company a few months ago. I was watching a video of a guy that had done some modifications to his Ninja 650. The Moto Dynamics Integrated Taillight was one of those things. When I looked into them, I saw that they also had fender eliminator kit as well. I could kill two birds with one stone It may have cost me a bit more than say another Fender eliminator kit, but when you added it all together, I came out at a lower cost. Other kits allow you to put your old turn signals on the side of the plate mount. Moto Dynamics had that same option, but with the new integrated taillight, I don't need those protruding taillights.


     This is what I was working with. You can see, that even from the back, it wasn't appealing. It's is just awkward from any angle. The Moto Dynamic taillight and fender eliminator kit came in earlier on Friday than I expected. which was great, because it freed me up on Saturday to go hiking with a friend, but we will get to that later. I got the box open and took everything out. I looked at the instructions for the fender eliminator kit first. I figured that I could get that put in, and then tackle the taillight. That after allow as going to be the toughest part of the job, because wires were involved. I set Saki up on the tire stand to work on it, and removed the back seat. That was were all the magic was going to happen after all. The instructions were kind of simplistic, and left me a bit baffled, that meant I need to call on Youtube for the answers, so I started looking up videos on how people did stuff.

     That was after I got the new license plate bracket on though. That was a bit of a breeze. It was taking three bolts and a screw out, and unplugging all then wires. Well, I only needed to unplug the wires for the turn signals and the license plate light, but since I was there, I unplugged the brake light as well. Once I got the new plate mounted, I tackled the taillight. This is where I began getting ahead of myself, and realized that I didn't have enough room to work. There was no way I was going to get that light out, with the rear fairing, or cowling, whatever you want to call it. I found a video on how to remove that, and ended up with this.

That was the left side removed, I ended up taking both sides off eventually, because it was just easier to work with. Things began to fall into place after that. I got the new taillight in, and started wiring it up to test it, and I got super lucky. I managed to plug the right and left turn signals in the right spot, so when I checked them out, they did exactly what they were supposed to do. This is also the spot that I was supposed to program the lights, but the default setting worked perfectly, and I had to do nothing. I got a video of it after I finished that I will show you later. Apparently, if you don't want the sequencing of the lights, that is what the programing is for. Oh, I forgot a picture. I did take a picture once I put the new plate mount on, so you can see the difference from the one above that has the fender, and this one that doesn't.

     There ya go. That was a major improvement over that big nasty fender. Anyway, back to the taillight install. I had all the wires hooked up, and was ready to button everything down. This is another one of those spots where I got ahead of myself. I thought I was being smart, by running the wires through the biggest available spot from the taillight to where everything connected. I was wrong, and I found this out, after everything was tightened down. That was an adventure in itself. It took me a little longer to get the rear fairing all together, and the small grey piece that covered the top of the taillight, was a real problem. It took some wrangling to get it all together. I was finally ready to put the seat back on, when I realized that all the wires were in the way. Yes, I put them through the area that the seat locks down to. There was an easy fix. I just unplugged all the wires, and carefully re-routed them through a smaller more difficult area. I got everything plugged back in, and realized that I didn't have a license plate light. I tried to remove the one from the old fender, but that wasn't working, so I figured I would just have to go without it, and hope that I wouldn't get pulled over. I started cleaning things up, and that's when I found one more thing that I needed to add on. you guessed it, it was the license plate light, that Moto Dynamic provided with the new plate holder.

I had to go back and remove the plate, so that I could run the wires through the plate and also attach the light. You can't see it in the picture to the left, but it's all there. I installed it on the plate mount, and ran the wires through and plugged it all in where it needed to be plugged in. I went to test it out, and it wasn't working. I switched some wires around, and bingo, it worked. Now I could finally tighten everything up, and then clean up the work area.. I was done, and it took much longer than it should have. It probably took me two hours, but now that I know what I'm doing, fi I had to do it again, I think I could get it all done in about 15 minutes. It wasn't hard, I just got ahead of myself a few times, and didn't use the full capacity of my brain. It happens sometimes.

     With all of that done, I decided to take it out for a ride, to see if everything stayed in place. I had to see if it worked and nothing shook loose, so I rode to work, to check out the new machines that went it. When I arrived at my work, I took a quick walk around the bike, and everything looked good. I succeeded in my task. The owner and his son where there, and they ride as well, so they wanted to check out how the bike looked and what the new taillight did. The were impressed and loved the new look of Saki. The son, said it looked like an entirely different bike. I had to agree, The new lines make Saki look faster and tougher. The bike simply looks fantastic. I posted a picture of it on Instagram, and one person commented that it was the best looking bike out there. I'm partial so I agreed, and thanked them for the compliment. What's that? You want to see it for yourself? You didn't think I wasn't going to share a picture with you did you? There is reason that I haven't yet, and that is because after I left work, I found this great little park that I had no idea, was just around the corner from where I work. I rode past on when I went a different way to just ride, and saw it, so I had to turn around and go back. It seemed like a great place to get a picture of Saki, and this is the result.

     What do you think? Looks really different right? I took the picture right in front of the opening into a walk way. It turned out to be the perfect location. I knew that this small change was going to make a difference in the way I looked at Saki, but I couldn't imagine how drastic a change it would be. I'm more in love with that bike than I was before. I'm going to do a few smaller things, like tank grip and maybe change out the mirrors, but the only other real big thing that I'm going to do, is get a new exhaust system for it. I love the look of that one, but it is just too quite on the road, and cars don't hear me, and when they don't hear me, they don't see me. Right now though, I am happy with it, and can go quite some time before I get that exhaust.

     With all of that done, I decided to put Saki up for the night, and celebrate my accomplishment at my favorite watering hole. You know the place? It's the one with the bartender that I want to ask out. While I was there my favorite person in the world began texting me, and asking me if I had asked out my bartender. I hadn't. She was telling me why I should, and that I shouldn't worry about it, and basically giving me the pep talk that I needed, but just wasn't getting that rally feeling going. I just did something I didn't think I could do, and was pretty sure that I was going to screw it up somehow but managed not to, and I still couldn't ask out my bartender. I mentioned that I needed liquid encouragement to get the job done, but that by the time I had enough to do it, I had had too much to do it. It's a double edged sword. The truth of the matter, is that I just don't have the confidence yet, and drinking more or less, isn't the answer to the problem that I have. I need to get over me being me. There was one thing that happened that night though, that made me feel like, well, it made me feel like I want to experience that particular thing again. I had made some throw away comment, in an attempt to be funny, and she laughed like I had never seen or heard her laugh before. I want to make her laugh like that again, and again. It was such a beautiful sound. I think it had to do with everyone that was working that night, being in costume for Halloween. I really don't remember what I said, but that isn't the important part. Her laugh, that was the most important part of it. Now I took a picture of everyone in their costumes that night, and I've debated whether or not to share it here, so that you can get a look at her. The reason I'm against it is, that there are people that know her that possibly read this, and that could turn out bad for me. I don't know, this is where I become pessimistic about myself. Screw it, I'll just post the picture anyway. This was always about being honest about myself so here goes.

     Everyone was dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. I'll give you a moment to look it over, and take a guess at which one she is. You get a good look yet? Any favorites in your eyes at which one is the one that I want to make laugh in that way that I had never heard before? Alright, She is the one dressed as Dorthy. If you don't know which one Dorthy is, we need to have a serious discussion about one of the greatest movies of all time. I guess you could say, that I have let the genie out of the bottle, because it is now out there for everyone to see. So depending on who reads this, and what they may or may not do, will decide whether or not I have to hang my head in shame for the rest of my life, or just when I go in that place. Who am I kidding, I'm not that proud of a person that it would make me hang my head. It could get awkward for a little while though.

     Let's do a quick recap of Saturday before I get that video up for you, and I head off to bed. I got to go hiking in Gainseville at a place called Payne's Prairie. It is apparently the first wildlife preserve in Florida, and home of a ton of alligators. Yes, it is more than likely the reason that the University of Florida's mascot is a gator. It was an old horse farm, they even have one of the original stables up and intact for you to walk through, on your way to the trail that takes you out to an observation deck. it's only a 1.5 mile walk from the car to the deck, but it is jam packed full of wildlife. Beside the gators, there are all kinds of birds, horses, bisons, snakes, and what not. I did see the horses out in the wetlands, but from time to time, they will run up the path where you are, My friends was lucky enough to have that happen to her when she went out there before. The bison weren't out as far as we could tell. The preserve is acres and acres of land, so they could have been anywhere.

     I took this one picture while I was out there, and it is just a small portion of one of the banks with alligators lounging in the sun. I you look close you can see that there are at the very least 10 big gators laying out there soaking up the sun. It was a pretty miraculous day. I saw new born hatchlings that were about 6 inches long, to big old bull gators that were somewhere around 15 feet long. Oh yeah, they also come up on the trail from time to time. There was none of that while I was out there, but that would have been fun to see.

     That's the quick wrap up of the weekend. I'm going to post the video of my new taillight below. It's a bit bounce, because I had to start on one side of the bike to hit the brake, and then walk around to the other side to hit the turn signals. I did all of this while stretching back to keep the camera on the light. The first thing you will see, is the light lit up simply because the light is always on because motorcycles need to be seen. When I het the brake, you will see three quick flashes and then the light holds a bit brighter. Than I walk around to the other side of the bike and hit the left signal, right signal, and then the hazard lights. I think it looks really cool, let me know what you think.

     Well, there it is. Once again, let me know what you think of my handy work. Oh yeah, before I leave, I'm going to have a surprise for you on Tuesday. You are never going to guess what it is. Peace in and goodnight.

Good, Better, Best.

     I finally got some good news this week, but first. Oh yeah, there is a first. When I went to the bank to get a new debit card issued, they found two more charges added to the batch of other fraud charges on my card. That brought the grand total to, way too much. Apparently they were trickling in after holds were put on them. Here is where the good news comes in. They were able to track all the charges down, and I was reimbursed my money. When my card was usable, I went to the bank and did an inquiry just to make sure, and it's all there. Oh yeah, I have to correct something from the other night, it wasn't FICA that covers banks it's the FDIC. I got my initials mixed up. Either way, it should all be behind me now.

     I checked the tracking on the parts for Saki, and they are moving on schedule. I should receive them tomorrow, and depending on what time they arrive, I will either have Saki with a new back end tomorrow night, or Saturday morning. I don't have a light in my garage, so if it comes in in the evening, then I will have to wait until Saturday morning to get started on it. I'm really excited about this, and can't wait to get it all on Saki, so those lines are cleaned up, and that bulky awkward fender is gone.

     I'm off work tomorrow, because my company is getting in two new machines, and we are getting rid of one of the old ones. I will walk into a mostly new set up on Monday, but I plan on going by tomorrow and getting sneak peak at what everything looks like. Oh yeah, I work in plastics manufacturing, and they are mold injection machines. I'm not sure of the size of them, but the one we are getting rid of, is a 75 ton machine, so I'm sure that at least one of them will be that size as well.

     Often times, I get to thinking during my work day. I won't say that they are profound thoughts that no one has every thought before, but they are thoughts that are, maybe not so normal. Maybe other people have these thoughts, and maybe it's a bit of narcissism on my part. Anyway, the thoughts are about how a affect other people. Do I give them something that makes a change in them? Do they see the things I'm trying to do, and try to do them as well? Am I making an impact on this world in a positive way? See what I mean about narcissism? Anyway, while I'm having these toughs, I start thinking about the way people are posting things, and I have seen a change. Is it because of me? Maybe, but maybe they just want to do something more positive as well. Maybe they have seen that negativity gets them no where, and why waste your time with it. Maybe they whole current environment of the world has just gotten to them, and they want to see things differently. What ever it is, I have seen many more positive posts from people, than negative. There is a change happening, if you look around you can see it as well. It all comes down to choice. You can spend your time on negativity, or you can put something positive out in the world, and watch it spread. I know I've talked about RAK's before (Random Acts of Kindness), but I don't remember if I've done it here. So here is the goal for this weekend. Do one RAK for a complete stranger. It can be anything from as simple as holding a door for them to walk through, or putting a inspirational phrase like "You're Fabulous" on a post it note, and sticking it on a random car window, or even better yet, put it on a box of cereal in the grocery store for someone to find. If you want to go a little further, pick up someone's tab at dinner, or maybe buy someone a drink and not tell them who it's from. Give a sandwich to a homeless person, or help a lost child find their parent. There are so many things that you can do. Make that choice to be the positive force in this world. We can out number all the negativity that is out there, and you will see more of the change that I see. It's an amazing thing, and I can't wait to see how far it goes. Personally, I hope that it is an endless loop of kindness, but every good thing has an end. That doesn't mean, that we can't start a new beginning when that end comes.

     A friend of mine, sent me a message saying "I saw this and thought of you", with a picture of a sign that read, "Why do we only rest in peace? Why don't we live in peace too?". That's a good question, and eventually that picture will come up on my Instagram for Picture of the Day. Here is the answer, we can live in peace too. It all comes down to what you make of it. You make the choice to live in peace, no one makes it for you. You can't control what other people do, you only control yourself, and if you want to live in peace, you can. I couldn't be happier to know, that when someone I know sees something like that, that their first thought is of me. You know what that means? I do have an affect on the people I know, and it seems like it's a good one. Peace in and goodnight.

Can't Win For Losing.

     Remember how I said that this weekend was a disaster? Well, it managed to continue into the week. Last night when I finished dinner, i developed this very odd cough. It sounded like I had fluid in my lungs, and it was difficult to breath. I took an extremely hot shower, which helped elevate some of the fluid in the lungs, but I still had the nagging cough. It made me feel woozy and a bit weak, so I went to bed early. I woke up with the cough near gone, but not completely, and my abs hurt like I did a thousand sit-ups. Coughing is the best ab workout ever, after all. I still have a bit of the cough, but it might be the shortest lived illness that I've ever had. That is assuming that this is on the out, and not sticking around.

     The good times don't stop there though. I got home from work today, and received a call from fraud alert. It seems that there were some dubious charges to my debit card. Charges to the tune of a few hundred dollars. Someone had skimmed my card, and I believe I know where. The only place that I used my card recently was at the gay bar, that my buddy suggested that we go to. a $9 charge for two beers, seems to be costing me much more. FICA should cover the fraudulent charges, but I still have to get a new debit card issued to me. Fortunately my bank prints them on premises, so I will be going there tomorrow afternoon to get one. Of course I will have to wait 24 hours before I use it, but that shouldn't be a problem. I won't need it until I need to get gas, or when I run my errands on Sunday. Let's hope that this weekend ends today, so that I can move forward.

     I got a decent picture of Saki on Sunday after I wiped the gunk and dirt off it, and this is the result. The main reason I'm posting the picture, si so that you can get a good look at that ugly fender on the back there. If I manage to do everything right, that fender should be gone on Saturday. My new taillight and license plate mount should be arriving on Friday. That is the day that the tracking notification is giving for arrival. I'm really hoping that I don't somehow screw this all up. I've seen a few videos of people that have put this particular taillight on, and they said it took about 45 minutes. I'm going to be taking pictures and video of the whole thing, so that if I do something wrong, I can go back and see what it was, and fix it. Hopefully that won't happen, and the picture and video are just something I can add on here, for all of you. I got to tell you though. I love that bike already, and when I get that funder off of there, and those lines are cleaned up, I believe that I will love it even more. Once I clean those lines up, I'll do that early morning photoshoot, and post some of the picture up here. I'm sure, that one of them will make its way onto my Instagram account That will be one of those few pictures outside of my Picture of the Day.

     I'm going to finish up tonight, with a bit of sadness. This world has lost two people, that brought joy to peoples lives through what they did. First is the effervescent Kevin Meaney. He was a stand up comedian of unique ability. He could make you laugh just by looking at him, but beside that, he was riotously funny. His stand up was based on his life and what he observed, with signature bits about his mother and the guilt she would lay upon him, and of course his lib synch version of "We are the World".

     You can see from the clip above, that he had some singing talent as well. It was more of a Broadway show type of voice, but it worked for his style of stand up. In my opinion, he was at his best when he was bombing. I know that that seems strange to say, but it's true. When he would bomb and the crowd wouldn't laugh at his jokes, he would bust out in a little song entitled "I Don't Care". It would do one of two things. It would either get the crowd back, because of how ridiculous it was, or it would completely baffle the crowd, which would sometimes make it even funnier. Here is a version of that song for you to enjoy.



     Kevin left this world at the age of 60, and as far as I'm concerned, that is just a bit too soon, or as he would say himself, "That's not right", in his mother's voice. If you listen closely tonight, you can hear Kevin singing in the ether, and making the stars laugh.

     Pete Burns was another that left far too son, at the age of 57. Most people know him as the gothic Boy George from that band Dead or Alive. Although accused by Boy George himself, for stealing his style, he was one of the truly unique people this planet has ever seen. He completely changed his appearance from what you knew him as to what he was at his death, due to a self proclaimed addiction to plastic surgery. He once said that the only thing that wasn't altered were the soles of his feet, and that plastic surgery was like buying a new couch. Even though his success in America was limited, he had many hits in the UK. He even appears on Big Brother as one of the most memorable contestants that the show ever had. People who like to judge would see the outside appearance, and miss the man that was underneath. From every account of anyone who knew him, he was funny, gracious and loving. In honor of Pete's passing, I bring you Favorite Song of the Week. He may have only had one hit song in the states, but boy was it a goody. I'm sure that Pete is in the ether swirling like a dervish singing this very song. Here is "You Spin Me Round".



     I now this was a heavy video night for you, but if you take the time to watch all of them, I'm sure you will get a laugh and the desire to dance, or at the very least, sing along. Live in this moment, and do the things that you want to do. You have no idea how much time you have, so make the most of it. Peace in and goodnight.

And Then There's Maude.

     Where do I start with this weekend? I guess that Friday is the best place to start. Friday became a mess. I had to make sure that the package that came for my buddy got to him. That wasn't all that difficult. I knew he would want to go out for drinks, so I could just get it to him when we met up. The problem is, that I would have much rather have been riding Saki. I had to lock myself in the box, so that I could get him his wine. It worked out in the end, because he gave me a couple of bottles.

     His plans change, so he wanted to bar hop. I knew deep down, that this was a bad idea, but I went with it anyway. This brings me to another reason why the night was a mess. With him there, I couldn't break my rule and attempt to ask my bartender out. I know that if he is there, it will be ruined, and I don't want to deal with that. I just sat there, and ate a French Dip which they have on the menu right now, and several Jack & Cokes. I really have no idea how many, because a very kind gentleman picked up my tab. He has done this before for me, and I'm alway grateful, but I would like to grab his tab some time. I have to work something out with the bartenders to get his in advance, so that I don't have to sneak around to get it.

     With our tab paid, that is when we decided to make the first hop, and hit another bar. I knew at this point, that all my plans for the weekend were shot. We ended up in the Village at another pizza place. this one is nowhere near as good as the one we just left, and the service isn't as good either. The have an upstairs outdoor patio though, so that creates a new environment. Guess what? The patio was full, so we had to go to the downstairs inside bar. Service was rather terrible, so after two drinks we decided to head somewhere else. That is when we found out that Jack was half off, so we ended up staying for one more. This was around the time, that we got into a conversation about him being my wingman. He started it up with asking me if he wanted me to be his wingman. First off, you don't ask if you can be someone's wingman, you just are. I then told him that he is terrible at it, and he doesn't know how to take a back seat. Also that he has hijacked my conversations with women in the past. His response to that. I didn't know you were into them. That is when I threw one of his statements in his face. "If I'm talking to a woman, I'm interested in them." He said that to me once, when he accused me of messing up his "thing". I probably made a big mistake at this point, because that is when I told him that I was thinking about braking my rule, and who I was planning on breaking it with. This cold blow up in my face now. We will just have to see how it goes.

     After the "conversation", we headed out. His suggestion on where to go? Anyone have a guess? Ok, I'll just tell you. He wanted to go to the local gay bar. I really don't know why he always suggested it, because he always seems super uncomfortable there. Personally I don't care. People are people to me, and everyone has a story they want to tell. I'm just the right person to sit and listen to it.
I ended up running into a transgender friend of mine, and talked with her most of the night. We talked about motorcycles, and she told me that she was getting a Hyabusa soon. I thought that was pretty cool, and warned her that that was a very big bike. I also talked to a guy from Dallas that was in town to help out his mother for a little while. My buddy ended up leaving and I stayed and talked for a little while longer. I also needed some of the alcohol to burn off.

     I finally made it home, and drank as much water as I could, but I knew it wasn't going to solve the problem that was coming in the mooring. Yep, mild hangover was on the schedule for the day. That meant no early morning ride on Saki and no photoshoot either. I also didn't make to either that place in Vero Beach or Universal Studios for the day. The day was a complete loss, so I just watched shows that I had recorded. I'm going to impose a limit on my weekend drinking. I know this is going to confuse a lot of people that I would normally drink with, but too bad. I have too many things that I want to do, and I just can't get them done if I'm dealing with a hangover. Creativity is gone, and so is any physical activity that I want to do. I'm over it, and it's time for a change. "But what about those two bottles of wine your buddy gave you?". Very good question. I will drink those, but it will take me some time to do it.  I've already set my limit on that. I only get to drink those, when I draw or paint. Not during, but after. It's kind of like a reward. I used to do that when I was painting a lot. When I would finish for the night, I would have a glass of wine. Since I'm real susceptible to hangovers from wine, I'm not doing a whole bottle in a night. I can span that over two night per bottle, and I'll be good.

     With yesterday being a complete loss, I made sure to get out on Saki today. I went for a quick ride this afternoon, and I should have worn a jacket, it was a bit chilly out there. Oh yeah, that reminds me, one positive thing did happen on Saturday. I finally ordered a fender eliminator kit and a new integrated taillight. Saki is going to get those line problems from that big ugly rear fender solved. I ordered it from Moto Dynamic. I found out about them a few weeks back, when I was looking up fender eliminator kits. This is the cleanest way to do it, and still have the safety of turn signals on the rear of my bike. Most people just take the fender off, and hang a new license plate holder, getting rid of the turn signals. A lot of kits will allow you to keep your existing OEM turn signals, but they are rather bulky. With this new taillight, I get the turn signals integrated into the taillight itself. When you hit the signal, the side you hit lights up in yellow and goes from the middle out in an arrow pattern. It's super cool. Once I get it and put it on Saki. I'll get a video of it, so that you can see how it all looks. I think it's going to make Saki look even sexier than it already is.

     The Walking Dead's new season started tonight. Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say this. If you have had any conversations with me about this season finale, then you know who I thought Neagan was going to kill. I was right, and that's all I'm going to say. Oh, I will say this, I think it was a pretty boring episode. I'm sure that is just me, because I watched the first 5 minutes of Talking Dead afterward, and people were stunned and upset from the loss of a character. I just didn't feel that loss. Maybe it's because I prepared for it from the end of last season, or maybe it's because I realize that it's just a show, and I can't get that emotionally invested in it. It was one of those episodes that gets you to the real exciting stuff. It's necessary, but for a season premier, it was a bit odd. Once again, just my opinion.

     I'm going to call it a night. I guess I should say, that since I ordered that taillight and fender kit, I'm putting of the photoshoot until I get it on. I will make sure that there are before and after pics, so you can see how the lines of the bike change with a simple elimination of the fender. A title just came to me, and it's going to make absolutely no sense, until you get here, and then it's probably still not going to make any sense. I've just always wanted to use this particular line, at a time that would just baffle people. If you know what it's from, then bonus points to you. Peace in and goodnight.

We Are Going To Funky Town.

     Nothing remotely exciting happened today. I listened to my favorite podcast, it is Thursday after all. It's Greg Proop's Smartest Man in the World Vodkast. Vodkast is a play on his favorite drink, which just so happens to be vodka. It's a great podcast, but be fair warned, Greg is very liberal in his politics, and if that isn't your cup of tea, than perhaps his podcast isn't either. Anyway, that is where I heard that the prolific Rod Temperton died. Wait, what? Who is Rod Temperton? How dare you. seriously though, I get it. It isn't a name that is easily recognizable, but it should be. He was a musician, producer, and songwriter. He wrote a few songs you may even know. Songs like, Triller, Rock With You, and Off The Wall. Those are only the songs he wrote for Micheal Jackson. He got his start in a British Funk/Disco band called Heatwave. His most notable hit, is also a song you may know. Ok, you might not, but there is a slim chance. My love of Disco and Funk has had to rub off a bit by now.



     That's the one, Boogie Nights. That's just some good funk there. I highly suggest that you look him up, and look at the songs that he wrote, and maybe take a chance to listen to a few of them. You might just find yourself dancing. Rod Temperton is swirling as the new ambassador of funk in the ether.

     Remember when I mentioned that on The Howard Stern on Sirius XM, that he had gotten 14 bands to cover the songs on The Beatles Revolver album? I think I forgot to mention, that I listened to it. It was fantastic, but there was one song that really stood out to me. It was by a group that I had never heard before, and I am now a fan of. The group is a Mother/Son team, called Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear. From what I understand they are from Mississippi. I didn't look that up, so I could be wrong, and right now, I'm too lazy to check on it. Anyway, they covered "Yellow Submarine", and they did a great job with it. It starts out with a banjo, and just sounding fun, but when they get to the chorus, I think, they kick in a horn section, that are playing with a little New Orleans jazz flare. When that happens, you can't help but smile. It truly makes you happy. What, you think I'm making this up? I have proof, of it's affect. I played it for my ukulele teacher tonight, and when that horn section kicked in, He got the biggest smile on his face. I watched it happen. Unfortunately, I could not find a version of it on Youtube, or Soundcloud, so I can't let that big smile fall upon your face. If you have Sirius, you can go to the On Demand section and find it on the Howard 100 channel log. In the meantime, how about a song by them? This is "Down in Mississippi". It shows of their folk styling. It's not "Yellow Submarine" but it's a goody. Just take a listen.



     Ok, that is a little bigger than I thought it would be, but it works, so give it a listen. Really, scroll back up a bit and tap the little Play arrow. You are going to enjoy it.

     I finished up the night watching then second half of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was the new version of it, and it was ok. I can only say "ok" right now, because I didn't see the whole thing, so I may be at a bit of a loss for some things that were going on. It appears that they added an audience of actors that were doing the crowd participation activities. I'm not sure it worked. The thing that is great about that part of the movie is, that you have to go to an actual screening to get the full effect, and that doesn't come over well in a fake version of it. That being said. I do believe that they did a great job of casting it. Everyone looks the role, and they are talented singers as well. Here is the catch though, it appears that they were all lip synching their parts. I could be wrong, but it came off a bit odd to me. Now, it was all of their own voices doing the singing, but it just seems that they played to track on the songs. People that I know, that were in it, were: Laverne Cox, who played Dr. Frank N Furter, and come on, she is perfect for the role. She is an actual transgender woman. Tim Curry plays the investigator. He was the reason I was giving this a chance at all. If He was in it, it gives it some credibility. Ben Vereen played Dr. Scott, and seeing him in stockings and high heels at the end, was priceless. Christina Milian played Magenta, and was really good. I've only known her as a singer, so the acting was a nice surprise. Finally Victoria Justice played Janet. She definitely channeled her inner Susan Sarandon. Her version of "Toucha, Toucha, Toucha Touch Me" was an almost exact version of the original. I guess the album is being released tomorrow, which would be Friday. If you can find it somewhere to listen, or at least sample it, give it a try. I think they do an ok job, but I need to see the whole thing before I can give it a full review.

     I have no plans for this weekend, but the good news is, that I only have to worry about two days this week. I'm actually working tomorrow. I know, I can hardly believe it myself. I'm truly working a full 5 days this week. I'm a little beside myself in the joy department. I was thinking of hitting Universal like I mentioned earlier in the week, but someone mentioned to me about a place in Vero Beach, that a lot of bikers go to. He said that it was fun to ride down there and just look at all the bikes that sit outside of the place. I may do that. Oh yeah, I broke a thousand miles on Saki, on Tuesday morning on my way to work. I was excited. Now, we are heading fast and hard for two thousand.

     Well, I better get to bed, I have to work in the morning. Peace in and goodnight.

What Do You Do When The Power Is Off At Work? You Think Of A Way To Ask Your Bartender Out.

     Work has been uneventful so far this week. Well, I can't really say that. I rode in this morning, and the lights were off, which meant the power was out. Our building is notorious for having power outages, because of very old unreliable equipment on the power lines.  It took them close to 2 hours after we arrived to get the power back on. It seems that one of the large fuses at the transformer fell out. There also seemed to be a lot of corrosion on it, so the lineman, had to clean it up real good. i"m hoping for a 5 day work week, but I'm already seeing that our orders are still down, so it's more than likely going to be another 4 day week.

     The good news is, that the weather is full cooperating with me this week. Rain chances are very low, and by Saturday it looks like we are going to have highs in the upper 70's. That should be perfect for riding, and maybe getting that photo shoot in with Saki. That would also be a good time to head over to Universal for a day at the park. I could head over about mid-day, hit a few rides and then head home. That is the beauty of having an annual pass. I don't have to spend my whole day there. I can always go back whenever I want to, or when time allows.

     I'm betting that some of you are wondering if I broke my bartender rule yet. I can tell you that I haven't. The reason is, because I haven't been there and seen that particular bartender yet. Maybe this weekend, or perhaps not. I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for drinking this weekend, but I do have to give my buddy a package that he had delivered at my house. That means I will have to be in the car, in order to transport it to where we will meet, which I'm sure will be a bar, and more than likely, not the one that I want to go to. We will just have to see.

     I was a little bummed today. The cable box on my TV in the living room, had a bit of a meltdown today. I had to unplug it, and then replug it, to get it to work. This is of course after I bought a new HDMI cable for it. I thought that was the problem, because when I unplugged that from the TV, things changed. New cable, no problem. Wrong, new cable, same problem, which meant it was the box itself. I tried to turn it off, and nothing happened, that's when I got the bright idea to unplug the whole thing, to cut power to it. In essence, it was a hard reboot. it worked, but, I lost everything that I had recorded on it, and I can't remember everything that I had on it. Fortunately, I did know of a few shows, and got a couple of those On Demand. One was Supergirl, and then to add insult to injury, Calista Flockhart is leaving the show. She said she will be back, but I'm a little bummed. For those of you that read the 365, you may remember my fawning of her, when I saw her on the show as Cat Grant. She looks fantastic. Which brings me to something that I was thinking about today.

     I don't know if this is going to come of as misogynistic, or chauvinist, but there are two women that I put above all humans on this planet. No, Calista isn't one of them, but she is gorgeous. The two women, actually kind of look very similar, which I realized when I was thinking about this today (i have no idea why the thought popped into his head. he's a loon.). I guess I should just get to the names right? Well, here they are: Brooke Shields, and Jennifer Garner. In my opinion, they are the most beautiful women on the planet, and they just get better looking as they age. I don't want to meet them. There is no "locker room talk" involved. I just think they are, what I believe to be the perfect woman. If you look them up, you will see that they look very similar, and maybe that means that I have a "type". I've never dated anyone that looked like them, so apparently I go against type. That's all I have on that. Is there anyone out there, that you see as the perfect woman, or man? Would you ever want to meet them?

     You know what time it is kids. It's time for Favorite Song of the Week. Now, I'm still pretty infatuated with "Vowels" by Capital Cities, but even though I didn't set any rules about repeating a song, and have done it in the past. I didn't feel right giving you the same song two weeks in a row. The time I did it earlier with "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots, there were a couple of weeks in between. I put some thought into this one. I wanted to pick something good, with a great beat, that you could dance to. I think I have a winner here, and it just so happens, that this artist was just nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I'm not going to get into, whether the R&R HOF is really the "Rock & Roll" Hall of Fame or not. It is what it is, and since it is that, all are welcome. Ok, I'm going to get into it briefly. I think it should simply be called the Music Hall of Fame, because all the artist in it, are not Rock & Roll. There I got that off my chest. Now back to FSOTW. The song I picked, si maybe the most famous song that this artist did, and it just so happens that it is written by my favorite artist of all time, that being Prince. When he heard this artist sing, he fell in love with her voice, and wrote this song just for her. Yes, he released a version of it on his own, but he wrote the song for her, and wanted her to do it. She did, and it was magic. She was a tremendous Disco icon in her early days, but when the 80's hit, and disco was declared dead, Prince came along, and brought new life to her career. There were other great songs of the album she did, but this was the stand out. Here it is, "I Feel for You", by the immaculate Chaka Kahn.




     Admit it, even with all the 80's that is all over this video, it's a great song. A few little facts about this song. The harmonica player, is none other than Stevie Wonder, and the rapper that has the early hook is Grandmaster Melle Mel. Every person involved with this song, it seems was an icon.

     Sing and dance a little. While you do, I'm off to bed. Peace in and goodnight.

Plans? You Don't Get to Have No Plans.

     The weekend didn't go quite as I planned it. I worked Friday, which hasn't happened in quite some time, and it felt good. I planned on doing nothing that night, and that's what I did. I went to the bank, and then stopped by the tattoo shop to talk to my artist. Just seeing how he faired in the storm, and all. He came through it pretty good, he only lost a few limbs off a tree, and that was it, He didn't even lose power where he was. After that, I went home and watched a few more episodes of Luke Cage. Episode 7 was another slow one, Not as slow as the first episode, but still kind of slow. I think they are setting up for a big finale. I originally thought that this took place in the timeline before the Jessica Jones season, but I was wrong. This is a little while after that. I know this for certain now, because Rosario Dawson showed up. She is the one character that has made it through every series so far. She was introduced in DareDevil, then showed up for a couple of episodes in Jessica Jones, and is now in Luke Cage. I'm wondering, if she is going to be the glue that brings The Defenders together. She is appearing to be the common thread. Outside of DareDevil, these are all comics that I didn't really read, so I don't know much of the mythos behind them all. It's fun getting to know them though.

     Saturday came along, and this is where things went awry. The plan was, to wake up before sunrise, and ride Saki out for a little sunrise photo shoot. I did rise before the sun, but I went by the spot on Friday night that I was going to do the shoot, and I saw a bunch of no trespassing signs, and it threw me for a loop. I still think I can sneak the bike up close to the building and get the shot I want, but I lost the nerve, so I decided that later in the day, I was going to head to this motorcycle shop in Melbourne, to check them out. That didn't work out either. I texted my drinking buddy to tell him something, and he was working on his bike, and needed a pair of vice grips. I went to the local hardware store and got the smallest pair that they had, because he said that is what he needed. I got the right size it seems, but on the way to his house, was a bit of an unexpected adventure of sorts.

     I was riding his way, and since it is Biketoberfest in Daytona, there are a lot of bikes on the road. I went riding by a guy on a Harley, and gave him the thumbs up, because he had a nice bike. We ended up at a stop light across three lanes. There was a car in between us. When the light turned green, I took off the way I normally do, and I heard him goose his motor. He wanted to show off a bit..I couldn't let him have all the fun, so I rolled the throttle hard, and blazed out. He hung with me until we hit 45 MPH, that is when I shifted into second, and left him behind. Now, he may have just bailed on trying to keep up, but when I hit 3rd gear at 80, he was long behind me. I had to start slowing down though, because my exit was coming up fast. As I turned onto the ramp to get on the Beach Line, the traffic was stopped dead. It appears that there was an accident somewhere up ahead, so I weaved my way up to the front of the exit, one of the benefits of being on a bike in traffic, and saw that the accident was right where the two roads merge. The story I was told, was that a bike went down with two passengers on it. I never saw the bike, but I did see them load a single stretcher onto the Life Flight. It was interesting to watch that helicopter come in and land on the highway, and the paramedics load up the wounded person. I have no idea what happened to the other rider. People told me that their were two bodies lying in the road, so it's possible that the other person didn't make it. I can only take a guess at what happened, and my thoughts are that a car clipped the bike, sending it down. With the road merging right there, I'm sure the bike was accelerating hard to get up to highway speeds, and if a car came into their lane, they didn't stand a chance.

     While I was standing out there waiting, I talked to a few people, and the guy who had a truck that I parked Saki next to, asked me how this made me feel, since I was on a bike. I told him that it didn't bother me, and that when I merge onto a road like that, I look for a wide gap between vehicles to hop on the new road, then I can just gun it and get going without a problem. He said he used to ride, and did the same back in the day.

     That stop, delayed me by about an hour, maybe more, but they finally opened the road back up a few minutes after the chopper took off. I worked my way up to the front of the exit just as they opened it up, and I was off. I was in a pack of about 6 bikes, and all of us took to the wide open road.

     I finally arrived at my buddies house, and we got the bike running. It needed a few adjustments on the idle, but I think we nailed it down. He didn't want to ride it though, because his registration had expired, and he was worried about being pulled over. Here is the thing though. During Bike Week, and Biketoberfest, the police don't really hassle motorcycle riders, because most of them are from out of town, and bring in a bunch of money to the area, so they kind of just turn the other way, as long as you aren't doing anything really stupid. I told him this, but he just didn't want to risk it. By the time we were done, it was too late for me to head to that shop in Melbourne, so I'll have to go down there some other time.

     I went home and made some dinner and was planning another night of Luke Cage viewing, but, that wasn't happening. another buddy of mine wanted to meet up for a beer, and since I hadn't seen him in a while, I just went with it. This was a bad idea. One beer was never what happened. He was drinking sort of slow, since he and his wife had been drinking long before I even showed up. I went with Jack & Coke instead of beer, and 1 turned into 4. The place we were at, started closing down, so he suggested that we head to his place for a few beers there. I should have called it a night. I was planning on doing the Saki shoot in the morning, but the theme of the day was plans not going according to plan. I went to his house, and didn't get home until 3 in the morning. There went the waking up before dawn idea. This not only ruined the photo shoot plan, but it also ruined another plan that I had for the weekend, and that was to crack a thousand miles on Saki. I fell about 11 miles short. I would have done that easily riding to the location and back home, but it wasn't to be. I will just have to crack that thousand mile mark riding to work this week. It's not as fun, but it should still be somewhat satisfying.

     Speaking of riding to work, it looks like this week is going to be rain free, so I should be able to ride every day this week to work, and then to that shop this weekend. I do have a wine tasting on Thursday to go to, but don't worry, that won't interfere with the post on Thursday night. I don't plan on drinking too much. I'm hoping that it will be a school night, and that I will have to get up and go to work in the morning. Hangovers don't make for good work partners. Peace in and goodnight.

Why You Do That?

     Since I've been off on Fridays lately, I haven't had much time to hit the audio books. That is the day that I do my listening. This week has been great for catching up. With the Howard Stern Show on vacation, I managed to get all my podcasts listened to, and finished one book, and started another. This new book is a continuation of a series that I thought was over. It was a pleasant surprise to see a new book in the series. It's the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. It is quite good. Wait, what's that? A woman can't write fantasy fiction. Uh, yes they can, and they can do it very well. This is the 5th book in this series, and she also has another trilogy that she began. I'm actually reading those as they come out. I'm nearly done with the first one, and have the second one on deck, but I believe I will finally sit down and read the new Harry Potter book before attacking the second one. Ha, that's funny. More proof that a woman can write fantasy. J.K Rowling sound familiar? She is only one of the most successful fantasy writers of all time. I don't think I have to argue this point any further. Get out there and grab a book by either of these talented women. I guess I should tell you the books in the new trilogy. They are, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and A Court of Mist and Fury. I don't have a title for the third one, but it will be out in 2017.

     After a few months, I finally get to work on a Friday, so that means more books to listen to. Anyway, it's still technically a 4 day work week for me, since I didn't officially get back to work until Tuesday, because of loss of power. I did however get to work a couple of hours on Monday, so It's almost a 5 day work week. The weather has been great this week, and everyday has been a Saki day. Saki has gotten out and about, well to work and back, but the weekend is upon us, and it's Biketoberfest in Daytona, which is only about an hour away. I'm not planning on going there, but I will get out and ride this weekend, and I'm hoping to get that little photo shoot in of Saki. I need to get Saki in a a somewhat post-apocalyptic vibe. I mentioned that I noticed an old dilapidated buildings near by, that might be perfect for a early morning shoot. I want that burnt orange light of a sunrise to show off Saki, looking shiny and polished near something old and dusty. A good contrast I think. I'm thinking Saturday for that little event, and then ride until I get tired.

     I don't think I'll go out drinking tomorrow night, or Friday, I know that for some reason, the email version of this doesn't get sent out until the next morning some time. I think it's about 8 hours after I post this. It seems that my drinking is getting in the way of my riding, and that is a problem, so I have to call it quits on the drinking when I want to ride in the morning. I don't want to fight a hangover, when I'm trying to have a great time on Saki. Oh yeah, if I do get the shots of Saki, I will post them here on Sunday.

     For years now, Jimmy Buffet, Oh I guess I should say, that I'm a big fan of Jimmy, and do consider myself a Parrothead. Anyway, for years now, Jimmy Buffet has simulcast his concerts on his online radio Margaritaville, and on his SiriusXM channel. Lately though, he has been simulcasting his concerts on Youtube as well. He doesn't do all of them, like the radio broadcasts. They are more random. Well, probably not random, but far and few in between. Tonight is one of those broadcasts, and I have it going in another tab as I write this. He's a Red Rocks, in Colorado. It is such an amazing place to see a show. You may remember me talking about how much fun I had seeing Twenty One Pilots there. If you ever have the chance to see somethings there, go. If you too, are a Parrothead, and want to know when these Youtube shows are, simply go to his website and sign up for the newsletter. That is how I find out about them. They usually send an email the day that it is going to happen, but normally the send an email once a week with random things, and bargains for merchandise. You won't get overwhelmed with emails from him. Here is a link that will take you directly to the mailing list Jimmy's Mail List. 

     I noticed something today. Ok, it's something that I notice quite often really. It's a motorcycle thing, that kinda of bugs me a little. It's the dragging of one's feet when they take off from a stop. I don't understand it, but I think I know what it is. I think it's a lack of confidence. That doesn't bug me. Any new rider should have a little lack of confidence. That lack will can save your life. It keeps you from doing stupid things. Here is the part that bugs me, and this is a generalization, but it's something I see more often than not. It is normally a rider that is wearing no sort of protective gear. No helmet, jacket, gloves, nothing. They have the confidence to go without gear, but they can't simply pick their feet up as they take off. From everything that I've read, and hearing it from riders that are far more experience than me, that is a very bad habit. It is one that should be corrected when you are learning to ride, but once it is stuck in your head, it is very hard to stop. The reason people do it, I think, is that if they have to make a sudden stop, they already have their feet down to keep the bike up. Here is what I've heard about that. If you keep your feet dragging, more often than not, if you have to make that sudden stop, you are going to snap your leg, trying to stop the bike from going down. You are much better off, with your feet on your pegs. They are out of the way, and actually balance the bike much better. Also, if you go down, you can push the bike away from you with your hands and legs, as opposed to getting stuck under the bike. If you ride, please get in the habit of picking your feet up as soon as you throttle the bike. You might just be amazed out how much more in control of the bike you feel, and how much more confident you will be in the saddle. You can ride an incredibly slow speeds and keep that bike balanced, and if you can't, you need to work on that. Remember if you ride, you can always learn how to ride better, and smarter.

     Well, Jimmy is playing Cheeseburger in Paradise, and I think that is a good song to go out on, so I'm calling it a night. I'll finish up that song, as I post this. Peace in and goodnight.

The Rover Has Landed.

     Strange title right? This is one of those few times, where I have a title before I even start writing. It will all make sense later, but right now, we have to delve into that part of me, that is self questioning and full of doubt.

     Oh joy, this sounds like it's going to be a fun one. I get it, people don't want to know about their own self doubts, much less someone else's. This all started when I was listening to podcasts today. I know, if you have been reading this for any length of time, you know that Tuesday is an unusual day for me to be listening to podcasts. Well, this is an unusual week. I didn't work yesterday, because my place of employment had not regained power. That right there threw off my listening schedule. Then I came to find, that the Howard Stern show is off this week. That altered my listening schedule even more. Since I wasn't at work last Thursday due to the hurricane, I didn't get to listen to my podcasts on my normal day, and had quite a few built up. With no radio show to listen to, and several episodes of podcasts, it seemed fitting to listen to them today.

     Here is the thing, they mostly seemed to have a theme. It wasn't planned and totally coincidence, but there were talking about following your heart.. Oh wait, ti gets even better. I was catching up on recorded shows, before The Flash came on, and those shows, including Flash, all had a hint of that theme as well. Weird right? Is the cosmos trying to tell me something? I'm taking it as a yes. So, it's time for me to take more chances and follow my heart more. Now, when I say more chances, I don't mean anything stupid or deadly, or anything that can harm anyone else. That would go completely against who I am, but what it does mean, is that maybe it's time for me to break some of my own rules.

     I guess the first rule, and easiest to break, would be asking out one of my bartenders. I do have one in mind, and I think I can do it in a way, that doesn't make things awkward. Should it be this weekend? I don't really have anything planned, I just have to make sure that my drinking buddy is nowhere near the area, when I do it. The greatest wingman in the world, will dive in for the kill, if he sees that there is even the smallest possibility that I have a chance of succeeding. I'll keep you all up to date on how everything goes, when it goes.

     The other thing I can do, is to simply follow my passions a bit more. Writing of course is a big one, but so is art. I need to get the pad and pencils out a bit more, and focus on creating. I can feel ideas in the back of my head. They aren't fully visualized yet, but they are there, and waiting to come forward. It may just take a little coaxing on my part. I do believe that when the art comes, so will the stories. The go hand in hand. Every drawing and painting have a story, and usually it is up to the viewer to find that story. The artist has their own version, but they generally want the interpretation to be up to the eye of the beholder. I can create a story from the image, and bring a whole world to life, and that is what I want to do.

     Playing the ukulele more and better, is another one. I want to learn more, and play more. I know that all of that will come with time, but I need to put more effort into it, and make the songs come to life. Paint a picture with the melodies, so to speak.

   

      Here is where that title is going to come into play. I need to ride my skateboards even more. I walked out this morning to a package on my front porch. I had no idea it was supposed to be there, because no shipping information was sent to me, but I finally received my brand new 121C Boards Rover. It was part of a Kickstarter campaign that 121C Boards did for their brand new short boards. I already have one of their Aileron, and now thanks to the Kickstarter, I have the Rover. As you can see that it has red wheels, and will match pretty well with Saki. The put cutouts in the front of the board so that you can attach it to a back pack with a carabiner, which just so happened to be one of the stretch goals that they achieved. The bottom picture shows the top of the board with the carabiner attached to it. I really can't wait to go riding around on this and my Aileron more often. So as the title says, "The Rover Has Landed".

     It all comes down to taking risks based on my passions. The last one to talk about tonight, is beer. Yeah, you heard me. I do have a passion for beer. I want to learn how to brew properly, and maybe, just maybe, I can leave my job and work in a dream. That dream would be working in a brewery. I would pretty much do anything at this point, but I think brewing itself would be the smartest way to go about it. If I knew how to do it right, and on a large scale, I could do anything in the brewery. I could even try to stick my foot in the door as an assistant brewer. Crazier things have happened. How great would it be, to ride Saki to the brewery every morning to brew beer? I know what you are saying to yourself, "I thought you didn't drink when you were on Saki?". I don't, and brewing isn't drinking. Of course I would taste it throughout the process, to see how it is coming along, but I would never have a full beer while on the bike.

     Speaking of Saki, I guess there is one more passion, and that would be riding. This is a rebirth of an old passion, that is growing stronger every day. I want to find more time, places, ways to ride. I will, that is a promise to myself. I love hearing the roar of the motor, and that feeling when the bike gets light, as it cuts through the wind over the road. It's the place where human and machine become one, and just connect in a way that can't be described. You are just sort of there for the ride. The bike will do most of the work. It wants to ride as much as you do.

     It's time for Favorite Song of the Week, and it's a good one. This song came out a couple of weeks ago, by a band that only formed a couple of years ago. They are a duo, that have a great throwback sound. It's a bit 80's mixed with 70's, with a touch of today. I think this song should be a hit, and it should be a hit now, but that's just me. Give it a listen and see what you think. This is Capital Cities with their brand new song "Vowels". Enjoy.



     It's time to hit the sack. I think I will be working this Friday, which will still only be a 4 day work week, but at the other end of it. I'll let you know who the dive into the deep end goes. Peace in and goodnight.

I Survived.

     You read the title right. I survived, the most catastrophically overhyped storm of all time. Listen, I know Hurricane Matthews history, and the devastation that it dealt out to Haiti, but the way this storm was coming up the Florida coast, and what side of the storm that was going to strike us, I knew that there was nothing to worry about. When you grow up in Florida, one of the many things that you learn about hurricanes is, that they Northeast quadrant of the storm is the worst part of it. That is where all the energy seems to go, and with us being on the Northwest to Southwest side of things, we weren't going to get much more than some high winds and rain, and that is exactly what we got.

     I went riding Saki around Cocoa Beach yesterday, and it appeared that nothing more than a very strong Tropical Storm had passed through. There was minimal damage, nothing that can't be taken care of in a matter of days. The worst that happened to me, is that I lost a few large branches off a tree, and I was without power for 3 days. I just got it back today at 4:30. It went out on Friday morning at 1:44 AM. Really, the worst part of the whole thing, was listening to generators droning through the night. I ended up going to my favorite watering hole  last night, and getting a tad bit drunk, so that I would pass out, and get some sleep. It worked for the most part. I slept uninterrupted until 3 in the morning. Then it was listening to the generators again.

     Funny thing happened while I was sitting at the bar. The bartender was a bit frazzled. There was a pretty big crowd for that time of night, so I understood it. Here's where the fun part comes in. I was getting my second Jack & Coke, when she pours the Jack, and then swiftly plants the bottle in front of me instead of the shelf. Everyone sitting at the bar let out a gasp. She quickly looked back at the bottle in front of me and proclaimed, "What the hell am I doing". I just laughed it off, and asked if I could get some ice. I was hoping that while I was there, I would get power back, but that didn't happen.

     I have a picture of my cooking setup from this morning, but it seems that it hasn't made it to the cloud yet, so I can't post it for you. I'll just tell you about it. I have a two burner propane camping stove, that I had to set up on a folding tray and a potted plant stand. It worked, I was able to make a decent breakfast, nothing spectacular, but it fed me. I had forgotten that I had that, and only remembered this morning. I could have eaten much better of I'd remembered sooner.

     Let's get back to Saki for a moment. I have to tell you, that the motor is opening up nicely. It seems to run better and faster than it did before. It even sounds a better louder when you roll on the throttle. I spotted a few places that I think would be great for a little Saki photoshoot. I have this image in my head of Saki in front of dilapidated buildings, and I think I found two very good ones on Saturday. I've actually known about theses building for a while now, but I never really looked at them as I rode by until Saturday. I want to do it at daybreak to get that real soft natural light. I might try it this coming weekend and see what I get. I'll post the best picture here, when I get them done.

     I think I'm going to call it a night. This should be the first night that I get some decent sleep in a few days. I don't sleep well when it's hot, and the last few nights without electricity has been nothing but hot. Sweating in your sleep sucks. With that in mind, peace in and goodnight.

Matthew is Knocking on My Door.

     Today has been rather unproductive. That is the thing about hurricanes, they lean you towards waiting around. You have to wait for it to show up, you have to wait for it to go through, and then you have to wait for the aftermath to clear. Right now, we are in the 15-20 mph winds, and occasional rain. The power is clearly still on, and the local channels broadcast nothing but hurricane coverage. I get that people need to know things, but they don't need to hear and see those things every 5 minutes. Local stations should really consider,  just giving briefs from time to time, and leave normal programming on, so that people can get away from what's going on. Floridians know what this storm is. We have lived through them before, and we know what to expect. I know that their are some transplants that have no idea, but telling them over and over, does nothing. I'm sure that they got it the first half dozen times that you said it.

     That's my rant about the hurricane. The bulk of the storm isn't supposed to hit until tomorrow some time, which would be Friday. We will see how long I keep having power. I'm sure it will go out, my particular block in my neighborhood, always loses power. Once it is gone, it will probably be out for a few days or so. It normally takes about 3 days to get it all back up and running, but who knows with this storm.

     I moved the last remaining things in the house, that I needed to get in. Garbage cans and what not. Gotta keep those things from flying around and doing damage. I also backed my car as close to the garage door as I could. It is supposed to help keep everything in place, but the real reason is, so that you can drive off in a moments notice if you have to. All but two of the storm shutters are closed. I need a little natural light, and to be able to see what is going on outside. I'm sure that once the storm hits it's peak, I will head out on the porch and watch it. That is something that I have always done. I'm always fascinated by the power of storms, even afternoon lightening storms. I am as secure as I am going to get, and there is no need worrying about things that are beyond my control.

     I watched the first 4 episodes of Luke Cage. The first episode was loooooong. It was only an hour, but it seemed to go on forever. Good news is, that it gets much better in the 2nd episode, and is continuing to grow at this point. If you don't know what Luke Cage is, it is a Netflix Marvel show. Superhero stuff. It continues the DareDevil, Jessica Jones part of the MCU [ Marvel Cinematic Universe]. I believe that The Defenders is the next part of it. That is where everyone in the Netflix thing comes together like the Avengers. After that, I think it is on to the Punisher. I could have those flipped around though. It will be good binge watching for years to come.

     Howard Stern finally put up a list of the artist and what song they are doing for The Beatles - Revolver tribute. If you go here Revolver  you can see the list for yourself. I'm pretty excited about it, and I hope I still have power on my phone to listen to it Friday evening. I've heard clips from some of the songs, and they are fantastic. Jewel's version of "Eleanor Rigby" in particular is great. It has this funky french sound to it. Before I even read her quote about the song, I thought of the french connection. I'm looking forward to hearing the whole versions of the ones that have been sampled, and the rest of the songs, that I haven't heard.

     It is abnormally early for one of these posts, and that is because of the sitting around doing much of nothing all day. I'm lazily tired. I'm going to hit the sack, and wake up to much stronger winds outside. I'm hoping to make the scheduled post on Sunday, but that may not be possible. If there is a way, I will get a post up. I haven't missed a deadline on this yet, so wish me luck. For you subscribers, if you don't see anything in your email on Monday morning, you know that at the very least, the power is out. I'll post as soon as I can, if I miss Sunday. It will be a special post on whatever day, I get the power back. In the meantime, peace in and goodnight.

And the Winner for Strangest Opening Goes to...

     I know what you are thinking. Actually, I have no idea what you are thinking, I only know what I'm thinking, and a lot of times, those are rather unusual thoughts. That being said, I really had no better way to start this tonight, so why not go a bit weird.

     If you are in Florida, and you watch any news cast, it is the end of the world. The most devastating storm ever will careen into the state with a force that man has never felt. Our governor apparently learned the word catastrophic today. He used it about a hundred times in his news conference. I guess I should use it here to describe the impact on the Florida Coastline. It will be a catastrophic impact. There, I got that out of the way. Here is what a native Floridian does. He gases up his car (i'm using he because i'm talking about me), then he goes home, and plans what cocktails he is going to make to watch the storm go by. I'm not all that concerned about this storm. It's big, and powerful, but I'm not convinced yet, that it's going to come barreling into the Space Coast, like the meteorologists are saying. Want to know why I'm not convinced yet? Too bad, I'm going to tell you anyway. I rode Saki in to work today. I know, that really doesn't sound like a reason for why I'm not concerned about the storm. It will make sense when I'm done. The weather forecast for today, was rain and more rain. When I rode in, it was supposed to be pouring down rain, when I rode home, it was supposed to be pouring down rain. Here is the reality, I rode in under clear early morning skies. I rode home under clear afternoon skies. Now, it didn't rain during the work day, which was a pretty good thing. It gave Saki some bath time. This was beneficial, because when I got home, I wiped Saki down real good, and gave it that showroom quality shine. Saki looks great. With all that rain we were supposed to get, Saki simply took a shower. Like I said, I'm not all that worried.

     On to bigger and better things. As promised, I have a couple pictures of the new Chucks. I will be posting one on Instagram tomorrow, after I post the picture of the day. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can simply go here Counterfeit Squirrel and you can see the pictures I post. For the most part, I have nothing to do with taking the pictures, I simply find pictures that I think people will like, and possibly put a smile on their face. I post one picture a day, but I may post an extra picture or two if something interesting comes up, like new Chucks. If you have an Instagram account, and like what you see, hit those three dots, and turn on notifications. That will let you know when I post a new picture. By the way, since I started doing picture of the day, tomorrow will be the first time that I will have posted more than one picture in a day. It is a very rare occurrence. With that, here are the pictures.

     The pair on the left, are the Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe Chucks. I've been wanting these ever since I saw them a few months ago, but alas, Nike bought out Converse, and whipped out my account, and would not let me into my Nike+ account. I had to use some ingenuity to get a new account, so that I could finally buy them. Here is the bonus, since I waited so long, and maybe other people were having the same problem that I was, I got them for 50% off. I'm completely pleased with them, and since I'm a sucker for Chucks and great music, I bought the pair on the right, which are in honor of the band The Clash. It's hard to see in the picture, and I'm hoping you can blow it up a bit, but those are pink skull and crossbones on them. In the picture to the right, you can see the bands logo on the upper tongue, and of course, the mint green tongue of the Marilyn Monroe shoes. The tongue on those, actually matches the sole. I didn't get a picture of that, but if I remember for Thursday, I will try to get one.

     I watched a new show tonight, that was pretty good. It's called No Tomorrow. The idea behind is, that a girl meets this guy, that has this crazy idea, that the Earth is going to be destroyed by a meteor in 8 months, so he is living everyday to the fullest, and he tries to talk her into doing it with him. He has a little book that he carries around called his "Apocalyst". It has a list of things that he wants to do before the Earth ends. It's kind of the "live by no rules, experience what ever you can"plan. It's fun in that, what would you do if you knew the end was coming. sort of way. The best part of the show, was when they took a ride in a dune buggy type thing, and Twenty One Pilots song "Tear in My Heart" was playing.  You all know of my love of TOP, so you should understand now, why I like the show. Here is the thing though. I always knew what that song was about, but I never really put it in context, until I saw they way they did it in this show. It all made perfect sense. Oh, and before you take a guess, it is not the FSOTW. I have something else planned for that. I can tell you that TOP is going to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this week. I will be watching it, assuming that I live through the catastrophic storm, that is coming, and I have power. I digress though. Back to the show. The guy ruins the girls life, but in trying to make up for it, he causes her to get an injury that in turn, saves her life, because doctors find a real big problem while she was in the hospital. That of course, makes her appreciate the life she has more, and she buys into his "Apocalyst". If you are up for a fun and senseless show, give it a try. It is on right after The Flash, so I'll surely be seeing it again.

     It's time for Favorite Song of the Week. Truth be told, I really didn't have anything planned, so I could have easily just went with "Tear in my Heart", but it just didn't seem right. Give me a moment and I'll head over to Youtube and find something for your enjoyment. Alright, I found something on the first try. I was just feeling that I needed something with a little funk, and a certain band popped into my head. The first song I saw was the winner. I grew up listening to this band, and this song. I don't know much about them, other than, they had some great songs. It comes from the disco era. You know, that time when women, latino, and gay performers started getting noticed, and people took exception to it. They had to knock them back down, and the whole "Disco Sucks" revolution started. Well, let's take a step back into that era, and head straight on in to "Boogie Wonderland", that's right, the classic funk disco hit by Earth, Wind & Fire. I promise you, that you won't be able to stand still, so just get up and shake yo thing, and boogie on down.




     Now be honest, you were up doing the bump to that one, and if you don't have anyone around, you did it the way we did it back in the day, and you threw that hip into a wall or a door. That's great stuff right there. I think I need to bring the bump back. I was doing it a few years ago, on a New Year's Eve. I was a tad bit drunk. See I used to have this tradition, that a buddy and I would drink shots of tequila every hour until midnight. We would also be drinking beer in between those shots. It was some fun times, and we always had a good tequila. Usually an anejo that was aged in some unique way. We weren't doing shots of crappy tequila, this was the good stuff.

     Enough reminiscing, if I'm alive and have power, I will post on Thursday night. I haven't missed a post yet, and I don't really plan on doing it now, so I will be willing everything to go as it should go. Real quick, I guess I should give you an Ok Cupid update. There is no update. That was quick, and good thing too because it is time for bed. Peace in and goodnight.

Chucks, Beer, Brewing, and Beer. Did I Mention Beer?

     I'm not sure that I said everything I had intended to say on Friday night. Also, I rarely go back and read what I've written, and since I haven't gone back to read that, I have only a slight idea of what I did write. Needless to say (wow, i've been saying "needless to say" a lot lately), I was a tad bit on the inebriated side of things. I talked with some interesting people. I know that Sammy Davis Jr. and The Beatles were topics of conversation, and that my favorite watering hole switched the size of their tall glasses, and not in a good way. Oh well, they still did the trick. I also know, and this was one of the things that I managed to forget, is that I was racking my brain for story ideas. Nothing was coming, and it was really bringing me down, that is what spurred me wanting to write on Friday in the first place, that, and the passive aggressive behavior of one of my friends. We won't get into that last part though. It's behind me at the moment, and I'd rather not dig it back up.

     The writing thing however, we can get into. It has been quite some time since a story idea came to me, and wandering off into those little worlds of fantasy, are kind of cathartic to me. They relax me and take me to a different place. Even if it is a couple having a peaceful night alone. I step into that world, and live in that moment. No, I'm going crazy, and no I don't think that I actually live in the moment of something that is fiction. In my mind though, it is that other world, I get to step out of being me for a little while. When I write characters, I feel their emotions, and their thoughts. When I am done writing something like that, I am exhausted. It takes a lot out of me, but there is a great deal of pleasure attached to it. It's a feeling of accomplishment, that can only be experienced, and not told about. I miss that feeling. Something will come to me at some point, but in the meantime, I have this as an outlet. Me talking to you, whoever you are, helps keep my sanity, similar to how writing fiction does for me. Yes, I know I sounded insane earlier, and that writing shouldn't keep me sane, but it does.

     Oh, here is something I should have mentioned on Friday night, but the morning was so soberly long before the end of the night. I managed to order two near pairs of Chucks. The Andy Warhol pair I mentioned quite some time ago, is one pair, and I got them at a discounted price. The other pair are a black pair with pink skull and crossbones all over them. They are in honor of the band The Clash. I think they are arriving Tuesday, which will be perfect timing to get pictures to post of all of you to see.

     I had a lot of fun yesterday. I think I mentioned about riding to Daytona to look at some Moto Guzzis. Well, thanks to my drinking, I didn't wake up early enough to head there and see them, before I had to be back, to head to Titusville, to go to an event at the expansion of the Playalinda Brewery. It was Zwanze Day. It's a pretty big deal Begium sour release. It was kind of tasty. You needed a ticket to get that particular beer, and a buddy of mine had an extra one, that he offered up to me. I was already heading up there to meet with anther friend, so I accepted his offer. I had a few of the sours, I'm a big fan of sour beers. They are an acquired taste, but once you acquire it, you are hooked. I also got to try one of Playalinda's beers. It was called Key Lime Slice. It was pretty fantastic. They offer it with whipped cream on the rim, but I didn't want anything to do with that. The beer tasted exactly like a key lime pie. I really enjoyed it. I would have gotten some of the food, which looked fantastic, but my wallet fell out of my pocket in the front seat of my car, so I only had limited cash on me.

     I kept my drinking down to a minimum, and hung out with my friends for a few hours. When we all decided to leave the Brix Project, that is the name of the expansion, one of my friends mentioned that we should go to the original place and have a quick beer. I said I was going to head home, and there was no such thing as a quick beer. He pressed, and I caved.

     I had never been to the original brewery, so this was going to be a new experience for me. It's located in an old hardware store in downtown Titusville. Because of city ordinances, they couldn't change anything about the outside look of the place, so it says Hardware above the door. You have to know what you are looking for, or you are never going to find it. We got there, and a couple was getting up from a table, and called us over to take their place. We thanked them and had a seat. Everyone put in their order, I got the Skateboarders Pale Ale. it was a solid pale ale. This is where things got hilarious. One of my friends saw someone that they know, and this person, had never treated them very well at all. I won't use his words for her, but let's just say, she was short and dismissive of him. He only wanted to introduce himself, and compliment her on her brewery. Well, she wasn't having it. While he was telling these stories, they were the funniest stories I had heard in a along time. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. It didn't help that he was being somewhat loud, and she was within earshot of us. The good news is, that her and her friends were hammered, so I doubt they knew anything that was being said.

     Our quick beer, turned into an hour long stay, I told you there was no such thing as a quick beer. We headed our separate ways, but before we left, something really good came out of this whole really fun night. If I'm off again this Friday, I'm going to get to learn how to brew by the brewer of my favorite brewery. If I can learn everything I need to know from him, and he is very knowledgable on brewing, maybe I can work their as an assistant brewer. That would be kind of a dream job. He is wanting someone to take over doing the normal everyday type of beers, so that he can focus on the more off the wall creative ones. I told him that if he taught me, I would be that guy. I would only add in, that I would want to sit in on his mad science experiments, because I know they would be incredible.

     I didn't ride Saki the past two days, and this week looks bad. There is a hurricane coming up the coastline, that should keep Saki in the garage most if not all of the week. I have to keep Saki dry. That means that i will be cooped up in the car for the week. it's a good thing I have good music on my iPod.

     That's all I have for tonight. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, I always do, when I think back in my head what I wrote and what I was supposed to write. Peace in and goodnight.