104: Endless Summer: Cock Everywhere.

Stop. Hold the presses. Just received the new issue of Road Magazine and I certainly didn't catch it the first time through. But I may have missed it because I read the whole issue in 27 seconds.

However, when I turned to an actual news source. You know, one that matters and has interesting thoughts and articles in it. Only then was clued in. And it was only through this re-visitation process that I could finally get down the heart of the Road matter.

The best part is that this advertisement is awesome on many, many levels.

Level 1:
Lets take it from a wide shot. What do you see here? Team unity? Didn't think so. As team Astana reforms and starts its push to take over the world this is a telling ad. Contador riding outside the group clearly states "I'm not a part of this team" and at the same time says "We didn't think you were." So there's that.

Also Note: See on the left there. There's something about Rory Sutherland. No Way. I don't believe it, Road talking to Rory Sutherland. Which issue is this again? I get so confused.

Level 2:
Dig a little deeper and what do you get? Carrot and Onions? Meat and Two Veg? Cock and Balls? I don't care what you call it, its there. Shout outs go to Road Magazine! Nice! Your advertising editor rules! Neil Browne! (who is awesome! just ask him) and Graham Watson! Way to slip it in there buddy. (I'm full aware that is misuse of the "!" fyi). How much better can you get than that? Nudity in a cycling magazine has come to this.

Laugh about that for a minute or two, because I'll keep going.

Level 3:
I'm starting to lose some respect for Mr. Leipheimer. And no it wasn't because of his high pitched whine of a voice. It started with his Road I.D. (Snoozefest) and then was confirmed with this little statement. "I don't drink coffee." Sorry duder, you're out. Of pro cycling and my friendship. Maybe what he needs for his voice modulation problem is a little touch of the Black Gold and it disappoints me on another level because what I'm hearing from this is..."EPO is Ok, but coffee hurts me tummy." Sigh.

Level 0:
Need I say more? Rivendell? I'm sure the guy in the photo is nice. But he's wearing a Rivendell hat. I love it. Sheldon just turned over in his grave. "Rivendell in Road? Huff huff huff grumble."

Thanks goes out to Stevil Kinevil.
Amazingness Prevails!!!

103: Endless Summer — Pubs.

Going to start titling every post with Endless Summer in an effort to never let it die. Summer that is. I'll probably even go see this movie 500 Days of Summer in tribute. And if you see me there, punch me in the balls please (I went for Zooey).

New Grizzly Bear album "Veckatimest" is awesome. Great Summer album. Just putting it out there. Way out there because as I sit in this 106 degree Portland heat I just keep listening to it over and over. Little bit of awesome, lot a bit of Beach Boys.

PUBS
"Pubs" is the term that they use instead of "Publication" in the "biz." I heard it a bit when I was touring the JDK complex up in Burlington. Steve would introduce me and go "he's got that little pub Embrocation." For me instantly springing to mind thoughts of dark rooms with cold beers, complete with grizzled cross racers putting on embrocation in the back room. Maybe not what they were hoping for and probably the reason that I giggled softly whenever he did it, instead invoking more of a crazy person vibe than the necessary "pub-owner" sentiment. Whatever.

The thing is, I really like printed publications. Any and all. Trashy? Fine by me. Arty, well that's cool too. Velonews, not so much, but nice try. Actually there is a Velonews on my desk right now, but its buried underneath Tokion, the last two Wired (one with B. Pitt is great), Wallpaper*, Dwell, Road Bike Action and a little Australian pub called Ride Cycle Review. It is pretty good.

I to tend to lean towards the arty side of things though. Things like:

1. Glory Days - Pascal Alexander sent me this little beauty all the way from Zurich. I'm really into it and the photography and presentation is out of this world. I'm thinking that the other reason why I like it is because there is so much mystery surrounding it. Who are these riders? Where did these images come from? Why is Pascal Alexander so awesome? I want answers people.

I said I want answers!

2. Karen Magazine. - Karen puts out this pub herself. See I'm adept at using that word. She takes all the photos and does the layout herself. When I was doing research for Embrocation Volume One I came across this book somewhere else...and spent weeks scouring Boston for a copy. What a Bonehead! You can't get it in Boston, because it is exclusive and as the price on the cover says "Priceless." You go Karen! (yeah I said that) There are some stories in it that are really good and fit the tagline "A magazine made out of the ordinary." There is a story about a neighborhood Mole Catcher that is really nice. I support.

The magazine has a really nice feel to it too. "Mouthfeel" they say if you're talking about a wine. "Handfeel" I say when I'm holding something nice. The book has a nice "handfeel."


3. Monocle - Now you might be thinking that Monocle is out of place here. If you know of it that is, I didn't until recently. But I do now and I love it. I love it like you love the really rich kid at your school that lets you borrow his car for no good reason. Never run into one of these kids, but if I did, and I was friends with him and I was back in school, I bet he would read Monocle. I think that I also like Monocle because its name is really pretentiois. Pretentious in a way that is sort of assuming. Because they say that they cover Global Affairs. If "Global Affairs" are spendy shoes and boats, well then yes, they do cover global affairs.

Monocle also offers kindly suggestions to nations on the decline as well. They spend one whole issue sorting out the affairs of Iceland, or at least offering suggestions. Good on!

"The Perfect City Block"
Thanks Monocle! This is one of the cool things about this publication. Not only does it use a variety of stocks within, but it also has foldouts illustrating in cool ways things like "the perfect city block." The design and representation of Monocle is fucking flawless. Something to strive for really!

So, that's it I guess.
For the moment.

But if you happen upon a cool publication. Something about cycling? Maybe? Maybe its something about nothing in particular but it looks good. Well, then I want to see it. Maybe it is a pub that just feels good? Well, then I want to feel it. Or maybe it is just plain good?

Any way you slice it. If its paper and its good.
I'm into it.

102: Endless Summer: The Shirts.

You can't actually get your full on tan if you can't get your bibs up over your knee. What I mean by that is if you're hoping to ride your bike, and get the best tan possible. You should probably be certain that you can ride a bike. (ps, is that a real shirt above? Who would make something such an outrageous claim?) That's just one tip for you.

I'm full of tips. Here's one that my uncle used to tell me.
He used to say "You want a tip, I've got a tip for you. Don't Smoke."
Cracked us little ones up every damn time too. So clever.

I digress.
T-shirts...

I made a commitment to myself not too far back to stop wearing t-shirts so much. How indeed am I to advance the sport of Male Fashion if I do not participate. Therefor, no more t-shirts, or at the very least, less of them. One week is all that I could manage. For I only bought two other shirts and they pretty much look the same.

The other thing that doesn't help the situation is that every time I turn around people are making sick, sick t-shirts. Like who? Well, I've got a few examples for you.

1. Trackosaurus Ride Hills T-shirt. Black is always good. Joy Division. Also good. Except for that movie that came out a couple years ago, Control. Not so good. I have to think that the life of Ian Curtis just wasn't that pretty. I mean the acting was good and the shot list pretty good too. However, I guess thats what you get out of a director who made music videos for U2. Lucky for us, when I looked him up on IMDB hoping for something else interesting I saw that he's making a new movie that Bono is writing. Whatever.

That kind of went down the negativity road. Shit, I'm starting to sound like A. Myerson. Someone put me out of my misery. The shirt however is dope. I don't even mind saying "dope" its that good.

2. JJ & Jens & Fabian & Stuart. by Gage and Desoto. Can I just say that I love this shirt too? I love this shirt because every time I wear it someone asks about it and they're always the craziest questions. One time it was... "Is that like, a shirt from a Law Firm?" I said "Yes," because I could actually see this as a Law Firm. And if I could have anyone representing me in the court of Life it would be either Stuart O'Grady, or Jens Voigt. You know that either of those dudes are willing to go the distance. Another time it was..."Oh my god, I can't believe you're wearing a Crate & Barrel T-shirt." And then you've witnessed the power of Helvetica.

I could also go on and on about Gage and Desoto, and I will, but not here. Not now. Soon.

3. MASH Tour of California Shirt. Go to the site and look at the back. This is what you see when you climb Mt. Palomar on a road bike, and these guys did it on fixies. Craaazy. Garrett sent this over right around the time he was putting together a little piece for the next Embrocation about their experiences. Ok, he sent it later, but I was just trying to shorten the timline. Its a really cool shirt though, and I couldn't get great photos of it because the graphic is on the back. Look through the other stuff while you're there because Garrett is an awesome graphic designer...



4. Chamois Time is Tanning Time. Oh hello, here's this one again. Try to stay calm as it is an Embrocation original. Well, actually that's not entirely true. Remember when I said that D. Action said embro felt like young girls licking his legs? Well, that is true and this is creatively what came of that scenario. A little direction and those cats over at JDK can really crank out the hits... you can't see it here, but once I get some close ups you'll see that there is not only an Embrocation Moka Pot, but the JDK logo buried within the design.

We only got a few of these made so get one before they are gone. You know. Like summer.

God damn it is so hot out.

101: True (Mango) Love.

I know that this looks like "fat siphoned out of Marlon Brando's Ass" (name that movie quote) but it isn't. In fact, I don't think that they'll let you take that on a plane. Or maybe they would if it was within the 3.6oz limit. What's in that plastic bag is actually is Mango Love siphoned out of James Selman's jar of Embrocation. At the airport.

James is at the Airport with Carey SH and they're on their way to the last leg of the Rapha Continental summer tour 09. Its almost as big as Wolfmother releasing a new album only in Australia and then touring (only in Australia). That's how exclusive this group of cyclists are.

Anyway I have to commend James for his diligence.
I wouldn't want to give up a jar of that sweet smelling sex-for-your-legs-in-a-jar either.

Who is James Selman though? That is the question of the hour. Well, lets start with this photo. Intensity is the first word that comes to mind when you look at this. At least that's what I think, and I took the photo. He was sitting right there. And he didn't blink for five whole minutes. I timed it.

Besides being intense James is also a designer. An Uber Designer if you will. The reason I chose this photo is two fold.

Fold 1) Mellow Johnny's. James was the man behind the design of the Mellow Johnny's branding. Which, if you follow bike racing at all (I don't, but if you do) you might notice that a few interesting people are behind this Mellow Johnny's scene. People like Chris Horner because you'll note that he and Levi Leipheimer wore it at the Tour of Gila. But besides that he's done some other interesting design projects as well (*cough* HUP) like being the Creative behind the Beloved Bicycle design I spoke of earlier...

Fold 2) My friend Kaiko Shimura made this hat. She made this hat for James, but it was too small, so I gave it to Erin over at Mellow Johnnys. She made it as a sort of one off tribute to Big Tex* (if you haven't seen this, its one of my favorites, but only because I wanted to be a professional basketball player). Anyway, she makes great hats (I've heard) but she's also got a lot of other irons in the fire...more on that later.

*its too deep, I have to add stars. James actually made this ad.

Up Next:
Hipster Showdown on the streets of Portland, and T-shirts.

100: Eye Think, Inc.

099: My New Hero.

This is what I'm talking about.
Action! Drama! It's all there.

Mr. Joe Staples, whom you may remember from his Embrocation techniques a few weeks back, sent this over yesterday. It was contained within an email titled "DO NOT OPEN IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE TOUR TODAY." I immediately opened it based on the fact that I hadn't seen the tour but still wanted to be able to keep up with the times.

I've found that its actually pretty easy to fake that I've been watching the tour.

You do it like this—

If Someone Says anything about Boonen...
You say "Tommeke Tommeke Tommeke!" and pump your fist in the air.

If Someone Says anything about Lance...
You say "Grumble Grumble Grumble"
OR "If he doesn't win it will be because Horner isn't there."

If Someone Says anything about B. Wiggins...
You say "what the fuck? I thought that guy was fat. How did he climb like that?"

If Someone Says anything about Cadel Evans...
You say "I know, right? He does that every year."

and so on and so forth.

Good Luck and let me know how it turns out.

098: Neighborhood Watch

I figured while I'm in the neighborhood I should really get to the bottom of this IF Embrocation bike. What does it look like up close? Can I touch it? I say things like 'awesome,' 'amazing,' and 'rad' way too much, so I'm sure there's something better to describe. In any case, stay tuned for a little more in depth interview with Clint Lunsford the head painter over there (who's also somewhat of my personal brother in arms as well.)

The Embrocation Moka Pot looks good wrapped around like this. The pattern works well. Check out the White inside of the fork.

I wonder what would happen if you unleashed our design team on a whole bike? I mean seriously, I'm sure that we could get our heads together and come up with something cool right?

You'd totally ride that. Who am I even talking to?


Speaking of the design team they have actually been cranking out some kits in the past few days.

And the place that I'm staying has cable television. And you know what that means? Nurse Jackie. A lot. Which I have to say is ok. The episode we watched last night included some of the a good amount of drugs, some screaming and yelling, more drugs, a payoff, and a leading lady that looks like a man.

Sound like anything else? (especially the leading lady part as I recently heard someone call Lance a "Dyke" no joke I laughed for about ten minutes, after which she explained herself and I kind of went...ooooh yeah).

Which we all know that Lance already won.

"I think...uh..I think, there might be something personal between those two teams."

This was Lance's quote when asked why they chased down Hincrapie. Weak. His response should have been "this is a bike race, that is what you do when you realize that one of your competitors is off for the leaders jersey."

Or Hincapie should have paid everyone off with Hincapie Jean's. Although as I typed that I figured out why he couldn't do that. Because the sizing of the jeans start at a 30 waist. Big mistake George, don't you know that the largest rider out there is going to get lost in a 26? Have you seen these guys George? Oh, wait, maybe you haven't because you've been too busy riding off the front?

Moving on.
As I was flying from Austin to Boston I saw in the in-flight magazine tucked into the back pocket of the seat in front of me that they had already published the winner of the 2009 Tour de France, and there he was in his new Whirlpool team kit on. I did a little google research on his new team and this is what I came up with.

Compare
Take a look at Mares Martin's bio. He's got some pretty interesting stuff going on there as well. He lists his favorite race as "none" and his interests as "all kinds of sports, hockey, movie, coffee." Ok, so no one ever claimed that professional athletes are all that interesting? But seriously..if this Cycling Team is your Marketing Plan, what are they doing for you Whirlpool? At least give me some shots of a bunch of dudes in a Whirlpool. I mean, they do make those right?


Now Contrast
Take a look over here in the Basketball arena. Contrast Mr. Martin with that of Ron Artest and his website. Really check out this website, its very space age and there are all sorts of interesting nuggets stored within (nay, on the front page) that will make you love Artest and his sensibilities. No matter how off they are.

For example:
He has a quote on the front page that says:
"As a lifelong fan of Michael Jackson I want to apologize to anyone I may have offended with the language I used in my Michael Jackson tribute..." Then directly underneath this quote are three things. His autograph and then two icons that say things like "Watch Video" and "Read More." Now I clicked on the "Read More" first and was I greeted with a treat. I thought it was going to have something to do with Michael, and I guess it kind of does, but ...no go. Check it out. Its about Dogs Balls. Not even joking.


The gang is back on the road and there is already some pretty sweet video to attest to the fact that they are having a great time and getting slogged by PVB on the gravel. I tried to hold back the tears when I watched this film, but, its ok, to cry. After all, this is emotional stuff.

ANGEL FIRE, NM from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Ok, I tend to get a little off topic when I'm talking about the tour de france, but my meanderings are just to cover up for my mis-steps. If you want some actual coverage and commentary that is really good. Check out the Pavé website. Aside from having been a DS, Whit Yost actually knows how to write about it too..

And then there's Here Come the Belgians.

Which is just plain awesome. So, check that out too...

097: More Later.

Has anyone seen the Independent Fabrications blog lately? There is some Hotness going on over there. Seriously. And I'm not just saying that because My Man James' (have you noticed that whenever I mention James I say "my Man James?") bike is featured there. It is the one that looks especially hot and has Embrocation SSR in the title. Check it out.

James also got a win last weekend, so I guess that kind of makes him the man of the hour.

Pay attention to his style on the bike though. Arms outstretched. Fingers pointed skyward in a sort of "pistol" style. I like riders with a little style and James had definitely got it.

We've got a new secret clothing jam in the works at the moment. Should be picking up those from the screen printer in a couple of days. I'm psyched to be back in Boston to see everyone, but also to finalize a few little projects that are in the works. Projects like, Volume4 of Embrocation. You know, the issue where we take a little Road Cycling, dip it into the a brand new jar of Mad Alchemy Mango Love Embrocation and then roll it in a nice crust of Belgian Cobble-dust. No big deal.

What is a big deal though? Working with ||||| JDK Design on it. (What? That's what they do, little dashes). So, stay tuned for that. I'll give you a little list of what to expect as far as content though...in no particular order.

-phil wood
-belgium
-pegoretti
-some cool photos from belgium
-the tour of california
-looking and smelling like a proper cyclist
-awesomeness
-training: back kicks

Fierce.

Also got to see Pete Rubi's art show last night. Good stuff. Really, really good stuff. In fact, it was great to see everyone come out and support our favorite local pro cross racer. Because, it is almost that time of the year. As you can see above. Kaiko and Jason (go there, they're too fucking cute) were in full effect with their Superb Hats...and if you'll pay even closer attention you can see that our sweet friend from Pedal Strike is also making the same Pistol Grip pattern that James is making above.

Well played friends, well played.

Also got to check out their new shipment of swrve clothing. This stuff is looking good. Jason showed off a little bit of the collection without going in to too much detail. I hear that renovations are going smoothly and the Boston scene should have a new addition shortly.

096: Schematica Futurama

Bird/Boat/Bike - The Art of Peter Rubijono.
Art will be showcased at Bloc 11 Cafe the months of July and August.

Opening Reception:

July 14th 7-9pm. 11 Bow Street Sommerville, MA

I'm really psyched to be back in town and checking this out! Drinks before-during and after (that isn't official, just an inkling).

I've been working/hanging out with Peter Rubijono for a few years now. We started racing together on the Harris Cyclery Racing team a while back. That went well, we traveled around the East Coast hitting up Cross and Road races where we could. Sleeping in vans, "papering nests" where we needed to. All was good.

When I was compiling work for Embrocation Volume One I saw a drawing that Pete had taped above his desk. It was an amazing line drawing of a Lion leaping through space. Claws outstretched, mouth agape, and ready for action. After seeing that drawing I enquired as to whether or not Peter would be interested in putting some of his drawings into Volume 1. The rest, as they say was history.


Volume 1:
His drawings consisted of mostly bike related artwork with a little bit of the birds thrown in for good measure. Great stuff. Too bad that's all sold out.


Volume 2:
Even better. Lots of different drawings. Airplanes. Lots of airplanes. This one is sold out too and I think that it might have something to do with these drawings. It was after seeing these drawings that Jennifer Park (co-owner of Bloc11 Café) and I started talking about putting together a collection of his drawings and displaying them at Bloc 11. I have to admit, it was her love and admiration for his artwork that brought this show about...


Volume 3:
After a trip to Alaska the drawings take a decidedly different turn with boats. Fishing boats and breakdowns of their interiors. It is apparent that Rubi is growing with his artwork and the collection of writing that goes along with these compliments the artistry involved in the boat drawings. James just informed me that we're almost sold out of this one too... which I'm guessing is a good thing.

Also check out his Rapha Continental Profile. You'll see a little drawing in the corner there..and if you click through the other East Coast riders you'll see that each one has a photo in a similar fashion to this one. These were all done by Pete, because he's amazing.

The above photos are some that I've seen of the show. Jennifer sent them over to me and told me that the show looks great. Come check it out because all of his works in their large format drawing glory are for sale.

High Fives all around.

095: Finally you too can Be Part of The Tour

Finally.
Finally I've found a news source that I can trust. When passing through the Pdx airport I saw this display. My first inkling was to abandon any hopes of travel and sit in front of the Colombia display and hope to win a new Scott bike. Then I realized its real intent. To inform.


So I got closer, and upon closer inspection I realized that the internet and blogs have finally died and we've returned to a more traditional way to let viewers like you know what is happening in the world of cycling. My favorite part about this display is where it says "Crashes and wind and raing — oh my!" So Clever. And I SO want to be part of the tour.


Breaking News:
I just learned some disturbing news from the road today. I know I'm probably behind on this, but I'll try to post as much information as I can, as it comes it. The times that we live in are rife with information (as you may notice above), when the interwebs are concerned you can get everything you need at the tips of your fingers (or in the airport).

But believe you me, you heard it here first.

Lance won the Tour de France today.

I can't really go into all the details, since I need to head over here to celebrate with him. Apparently he's going to fly right back to Austin to hang out with us and celebrate.

For this:

One lucky team is going to walk away with this little beauty of a trophy. And then we're going to watch the movie afterward. And then we're going to party. A lot. Now, I don't know about you, but this shit is happening in a way that I don't think the TdF is going to ever be able to match. Ever.

I like short sentences.

This is our tour guide to Austin. In conjunction with Erin of course. More on that later. But if you're wondering why Christopher Stanton is so serious. Keep scrolling. He's serious because he means business. Watch out Austin.

See you soon.
High Five.

094: Tour de Lance for President.

One year when the Tour rolled around (pun intended) I conned my girlfriend at the time into getting cable just so that "we" could watch the Tour. Granted I coded it in secret speak of Dog Whispering, late morning Ellen, and even a Sex in the City or two. But I think she really knew the truth. That every night I was going to come home and sit in my chamois, stink up the place, eat too much pasta, drink beers with Floyd, and really just LIVE the Tour de France.

What happened? I haven't watched one minute of the Tour de France yet.

I'm actually trying to hold off for as long as I can. I Gave up on the likes of Cycling and Velo Newses a while back. Pez I thought would fill that void. But it didn't, so I kind of just stare up at the sky and wonder whats going on in the world of professional cycling... actually I was just thinking about this new PBS hat.


So, I started asking around to find out what is going on. This is the heart of journalism right? That's what we're all after here. The story. The next story. Breaking the story....

Well, Steven told me that Cancellara won the time trial. Handily.
Joe told me that "the Dish" won stage two. And not only that but the fact that no team could even respond to the train that is Colombia. Roar!

"What about their new kits?" This was my question to him. These are the important things here people. I had read something days earlier that they were talking up their new kit design."They're pretty much the same, minus the abs, and with some green bits thrown in."

Boring.

Where did their fake abs go? That's what I want to know. How are these Gladiators of the Road supposed to withstand the deathblows from their competitors? What if Cav's fragile body gets tossed into the barriers? Or Tornado Tom suddenly decides to start racing again? What then I ask?

With this open void left in my life, not having to watch the Tour, I found all sorts of ways to fill the time.

First I help up this Mario Cippollini sticker in my backyard and pretended that he was sprinting for the win over and over. And yes, I know that he's got aero bars on. But a boy can dream can't he? I did this for about ten whole minutes. Sometimes closing my eyes and thinking about that striped behemoth wizzing by, sometimes trying to picture the "muscles" skinsuit.

Then I tried to go to a BBQ in my neighborhood. Being new to town I asked my roommate where it was. He tried to look it up on his Superphone and this was all that happened. 007. Like the number of Lance's wins. 7. Then Brian came over and explained that an "infinite loop" is kind of like what goes on in Lance's head..."must win at all costs, must win at all costs, this is MY team, must win at all costs," and it just kind of keeps repeating over and over.


Then I sat down and read this pamphlet (pictured below) cover to cover. Its filled with some pretty good sentiments. I found it attached to our refrigerator the other morning and found myself wondering "has this been here the whole time, or is it new?" Is it pointedly directed at me?
I'm revising it and thinking about putting out a few versions of my own.


-101 Ways to Spend Your Days While Everyone Else is Watching The Tour. (See above)
-101 Ways to Help Lance Win the Tour From Your Home (loose lips sink ships after all).
-101 Ways to Make Love with a Cyclist Without Doing it. (#23 Whisper "you're such a Badger" in his/her ear randomly.)
-101 Ways to be a Gentle-er Lover.
-101 Ways to convince your friends wives that you're not gay
-101 Ways to apply a nice sheen of embrocation to your legs. (these last two should not be used in conjunction with each other.)
-101 Better (Looking) Uses for the Rapha Silk Scarf than I can come up with.

I think that there could be a future publishing venture here. I'll check it out. And once I've got the price quote for "cheesily printed brochure" down I'll let you know and we can settle on one of the choices.

What else can I do to distract myself from watching? Seriously.

093: Two More Videos Friday.

I've got two more video's for you. The first one is from my new camera. Its a Canon G10. Everyone has one and takes their photos with it, so I thought that it might be time to "get a clue" and upgrade the old one a little bit.

Then I realized in my neglect that Ants had taken over my BKW water bottle. Not a good thing either, because this has become one of my standby water bottles in the last couple of weeks. Mr. Joe Staples has some BKW over-socks (as the brits call shoe-covers) that I have been coveting for weeks. I usually tell myself that if I just hang on to this water bottle, the powers that be will raise up and bring the conspicuously vacated BKW site back from the dead. Or send me some socks.

Then I went to his site and realized that ants had taken over that as well. This is what has come of it too.

I pray at night people.

I pray that BKW can come back not as a blog, but as something more magnificent. Something far reaching. Something like a really nice glow in the dark velvet painting of Elvis, or a gold chain of Dracula's Fangs, or an Embrocation so fierce that it reaches up and punches you in your shit (be it "balls" or "other") and reminds you that you're not going as hard as you should be.

These are the things that I pray for.

Have my prayers been answered? I asked myself that question as I clicked the link too. What does this mean? Where is it coming from? I mean, obviously I see where it is coming from. But really, where is it coming from? And why is its interface so usable? So friendly? So damn familiar in a way that you can't place your finger on?

I think that this might actually be closer though: The Acid Sweat Lodge. Where all my dreams may come true yet. Thank you world, for existing to cheer me when I'm down.

Adam Myerson said in the Comments section yesterday that he thought Embrocation was turning into the Look At This Fucking Hipster (nevermind that it took him a duo of tries to get the url right) of Cycling Blogs. I hate to be the one to point out, dearest Adam, but we've had that for a while now. Its called BikeSnobNYC. Yikes, come on guy, no one comes here for humor. They come here for arty videos of ants crawling around the top of a waterbottle. Everyone knows that.

Besides, the truth is that I wish I had the time and resources to do an interview that would even come close to capturing the Real Adam. Something like this Pez interview in fact. However, and I put it to you dear friend. I'm going to be back in Boston later this month....who know's?

Maybe magic does happen?

Speaking of Magic and moving on at the same time...Carey clued me in to this amazing little video.

I don't really know what else to say about that one aside from the fact that it looks really great. Ok, well that and "How the hell do you get all those policemen to execute something like this so flawlessly with out screwing it up and pummeling the crap out of each other? I guess there are PRO's in every field?