Rob @ RBR must be getting tired of me whining about my Speedmachine.  He yesterday handed me the info of a guy in Missouri who is looking to purchase a Speedmachine.

So why would I think of selling it after endeavoring to purchase it and having my wife kick in a big chunk of change as a father’s day gift?  The thing is shaky at slow speeds.  I mentioned that in the pros/cons list in a post back when I was trying to decide between it and the Grasshopper.  It’s fantastic at higher speeds, but I don’t always get an opportunity to go riding for 30 miles at a stretch.  Sometimes, it has to be rides on the bike path with plenty of stop/go traffic.

I’ve been taking test rides on a variety of bikes at RBR, many of which feel much more stable at low speed than the Speedmachine.  Every successful ride makes me think that the Speedmachine was perhaps a bad purchase.  But then I look at it and think, “God damn that bike looks badass.”

So, my options are: sell it for enough money that I can get a different bike; actually ride the thing more so I get used to it - I’ve had almost no riding time this summer; convert the Speedmachine to under seat steering and see if that helps.

I think I’d rather try options 2 and 3.  I know I shouldn’t like a bike because of its looks more than its function, but that’s exactly where I am with the Speedmachine.  Plus, I don’t think I’ve given it enough of a chance.  I’m going to try to get it out for some rides next week since I won’t be spending time at the shop (RBR is closed next week).  Maybe I’ll feel differently after that.

First, it was two weeks of fake “CNN Alerts” in my spam box. Now, it’s all Paris Hilton. For example:

• Paris Hilton’s Bust Goes Missing
• Paris Hilton Hates Nicole Richie
• Paris Hilton In Online Plea For Leniency
• John McCain To Paris Hilton: “Cosmo, bayatch!”
• Paris Hilton Fires Talent Agent!
• Letterman to Interview Paris Hilton’s Vagina
• Paris Hilton: Let Me Be Yearn For Zion Girls’ Role Model
• Paris Hilton asks: Has anyone seen Mike Hunt?
• Paris Stilton no longer FHM Magazine Sexiest Women List big cheese
• Paris Hilton Had Sex With Aliens
• Paris Hilton confuses Animal Control Cops

My favorite is that last one.

Illumicog

Originally uploaded by ratsinis

Somebody traded in a really old trike at RBR today. I don’t have all the details on it yet, but it’s in sorry shape. It is in dire need of a good clean, tune, and recondition.

But even a beat up old trike can look great with some light behind it.

My favorite time of the day is when I wake up from an overly elaborate dream and then find my mind racing through a variety of thoughts.

This morning, I had a dream about daywalker vampires gathering to celebrate the worldwide lord of all vampires.  Unfortunately, he was unable to be there, so his second in command (largely considered an eccentric undead dude) took over for the festivities.  This allowed an opening for a renegade faction, which included the #1 vamp’s mom, to penetrate the grounds and go after #2.

I woke up from that and imagined a story in which vampires had finally conquered the Earth.  It seems to me that nearly any story about vampires ends up having somebody that stops them from ruling humanity but also has any number of living humans who aspire to be vampires.  So what happens in a world where vampirism is the dominant state?  Would there exist a sub-culture of people who eventually declare their individuality by harkening back to imagery of a brighter world?

Specifically, I imagined a group of anti-goths called the Waukees, named for the city of Milwaukee, setting of Happy Days.  Hundreds of years from now, the visions of bright 50’s americana would be as counter-culture as the visions of darkness and isolation that drive counter-culture today.  In a dark world, what would be more jarring than to see people patterning themselves after Richie Cunningham?

Want to give your friends, enemies, and acquaintances some gin-yooo-wine Hannah Montana wake up calls? Wal-Mart to the rescue!

No, you can’t have my phone number.

I rarely do maintenance on my hosted web space since my provider just keeps increasing my quotas, but something made me look inside the old FITHlan folders today.

And out popped a whole buncha photos.

I’ll be 36 by the time this ships.  That’s far too old to have a Millennium Falcon kiddie pool.  Of course, I will have two children by then.

No no, I can’t.  I won’t.  Damn it.

Ha, no, that’s not what it’s really called. But admit it, that’d be a fantastic title for an adult film.

No, what I really wanted to do was bring your attention to some absolutely stunning photographs of the Large Hadron Collider @ CERN. There aren’t many calendars I would buy, but this one? You betcha.

REINDEER FLOTILLA

I’ve complained in the past about a certain photo contest for a certain bike ride in a certain city of brotherly love.

Well, found out. I won.

Now we just need to figure out how Fuji is going to get a Shangri-La LX cruiser to me.