400cc NYC

After an 8 month absence from ridding, the modified 400cc Suzuki feels wonderful. Gently popping its throttle pulls the motorcycle ahead at breakneck speed. A conspicuous yellow paint job and deafening muffler draw looks from everyone in traffic.

000

We encounter two bullet bikes.

One rider turns back and nods.

The other waits impatiently.

000

One foot and a hand above the breaks,
the other foot pushing down on the shifter,
three fingers poping the clutch, and
two fingers guning the throttle

The road is no longer three lanes.

.....Its............

...............an

ever

shifting ..........

...........path.

Slipping through a collapsing line

we take the

lead.

Smile, downshift, make a U-turn and return home.

The Suzuki is returned to its owner.

The rider converses with the law.

As always interesting pictures from an equally omoshiro photographer:

http://www.oohsix.com/#photos/nyc/random%2009:0

a dryer towel

..............................................Dryers

.........Japanese consumers refrain from buying em.

..Philipinnos say the electricity costs too much

Taiwanese humidity means they can take two hours.
......Koreans feel there a winter thing; imagine frozen clothes.

Recipe for Disaster

INGREDIENTS:

4 bicycles
1 girl
3 boys
1 Hudson River bicycle path
2 distractions

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat Manhattan to 70 degrees F
2) Put the 3 boys and 1 girl on bicycles.
3) Position a boy and the girl so that they are ridding side by side. Place the two other boys in an identical position behind the boy and girl.
4) Insert them onto the Husdson River bicycle path.
5) Mix in a mildly inappropriate, yet captivating conversation between the boy and girl.
6) Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated Manhattan.
7) As the inappropriate conversation caramelizes quickly pop in two distractions. Allow the girl to panic stop, crash, and entangle one of the boys behind her.
8) Remove the other two boys for their bicycles and allow the 3 boys and 1 girl to cool on the side of the path for 10 minutes before serving.

Suggested wines: A 1983 Fractured Elbow Vickonnay
Palate: Mild
Nose: Tingling discomfort
Finish: Short, with a hint of blue sling

For a stunning photo explanation of this recipe visit:
http://oohsix.com/photos.html#photos/nyc/random%2008

Tagging the Stonewall

Tuesday nights are typically boring.
Standing in a crowded subway car I watched as a local vandal tagged his name in unreadable charters on the door of the subway car. This upset me, but he put his pen away, so I said nothing.
Then he took out the pen again, possible to do a touch up job on the door. I debated whether I should say something or not. I looked him up and down. He was a big guy, much larger than I. Just look at the size those hands. I’ll bet he could clobber me if he wanted to. Wait, that pen is on the door again. “Stop drawing on the door. Go do that on your bedroom wall,” I burst out. Embarrassed he quickly pushed the pen into his pocket and looked straight at the door. Hmmm that was easy, maybe too easy.

Seconds later the shock of public embarrassment wore off and he started looking around the train trying to discern who had chastised him. Though I could have remained anonymous I took off my sunglasses and looked him right in the eye. Our eyes met, he looked away. I put my sunglasses back on.
He looked back at me again. I took off my sunglasses once more and looked him deep in the eye; never waving for a moment. The adrenalin started pumping through my increasingly beating heart. The tagger looked away again, but I continued to stonewall him; this was all about intimidation now.
Finally he mustered up the courage and spoke. “I do draw on my bedroom wall. It’s a sickness man.” I shook my head and said, “Do that somewhere where people want to look at it.” As the subway door opened he retorted, “Oh you must not be from around here,” and then quickly stepped out of the car. I was glad to see him go, but wait this was my stop as well. What should I do? Hell I am not messing up my commute over this.

I stepped out of the car as the doors shut and walked towards the stairs. The tagger was almost to the top and looked over his shoulder to find me behind him looking right at him. Blessedly by the time I reached the top of the stairs the tagger was out of sight and I never saw him again.
By an amusing coincidence my Tuesday unexpectedly ended at the Stonewall Inn eating stale popcorn.

ER

Emergency Room’s can be such interesting places. When life reaches an impassable level criticality it’s the one place we can all turn. This past weekend I reached such an apex when my right eyelid became extremely swollen for seemingly no reason. While one would assume a Sunday morning in an Emergency Room would be rather slow the presence of three security guards told a different story.

No sooner had I sat down did the an altercation began when an older gentleman on a cell phone started arguing with a security guard while he carried on a conversation on the phone. I was impressed with the older gentleman’s ability to multitask, but was disappointed that there was no blood involved. Luckily a women holding her boyfriends bleeding hand walk through the door just then. The triage nurses on duty looked at the girlfriend as asked, “Did you do this to him?” With a nevous smile the boyfriend responded, “No, I cut myself while I was opening a box.”

It was about then that I was called into the doctor’s office. “What seems to be the problem,” asked the doctor. I removed my sunglasses to show him my eye and asked, “Is this pink eye?” He glanced at my eye and responded, “No, it’s just a sty.” “Great, some of my friends really had me worried,” I answered. “Yeah too much access to the internet,” answered the doctor unenthusiastically.

I walked out of the doctor’s office pleased with my diagnosis to find another gentleman yelling at one of the security guards. While the security guard was going his best to calm the man down, his kind words were having little effect. Though I wanted to stop and watch the fireworks a $2.95 breakfast at local diner was calling my name.

I reentered the stable world, enjoyed my breakfast, and then ventured off to Central Park for an afternoon of Frisbee. Jie, thanks for the pictures once again:
http://oohsix.com/#photos/nyc/diggers%20day%20out

Chocolate Hills

Imagine a high plateau with perfectly shaped hills resembling Hershey Kisses all around. On each side of the road lie rice fields with water buffalo meandering about. Above a stormy sky, gathers strength and for once your motorcycle is working.

An indescribable green coats everything. The smell of humidity and grass fill the air. In the distance a rumbling of thunder warns you of an immanent mid afternoon tropical deluge. The first raindrop hits your goggles, then a second; the rainstorm has begun. Ahead a small church sits along side the road. You quickly park and run inside. There you sit as the rain washes everything.

A fresh smell begins to fill the air and soon the rain has stopped. Continuing on you find yourself on a now muddy dirt road. You race your friend passing jungle huts and stray dogs. People standing along side the road laugh and wave as you rush past. Trying to take the lead you enter a corner too fast and begin to slide out. This has happened before; you remain calm, let off the gas, and allow your natural reflexes to keep the bike upright.

Needing gas you arrive at a gas station. As you step off of your motorcycle the gas station attendants, customers, and your friend start laughing. You look down at your shirt to find it covered in mud. With out a word you just smile and know you’ll get Travis back later on.

Bohol, Philippines

My deepest thanks and complements to Jie for these great pictures of our adventure at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens Cherry Blossom Festival. Things to look for:
1. A girl posing delightfully in front of a pile of garbage.
2. Joe drinking beer with an amusing look on his face.
3. Jie in the lens of my glasses
Things that will not be seen in these wonderful pictures
1. The three of us attempting to balance beam across the back of a bench on the way home.
2. Jie and I making a mess of Vicky’s kitchen while making pasta.
3. The awesome view from a rooftop pool; which I did several back flips into.
P.S. The life guard at the pool wants to hang glide off of the building. I told him to take some hang gliding classes and study the wind patterns in that area before he tried it.
Cut and paste this link into the address bar to see the pictures: http://oohsix.com/#photos/nyc/brooklyn%20hanami