new bike, flipside, the hummingbird
New Bike
So, last friday I went and bought a new bike. The weather is getting beautiful and I didn't want to miss out on the joys of having a bike in Denver on a nice summer day. I went to Sports Authority and ended up getting Diamondback Edgewood '07 Hybrid bike. It has the tire width of a street bike with a little more grip, and a light frame with front shocks and a seat shock. It has contoured hand grips instead of straight round ones. It rides so beautifully. The nicest bike I've ever owned. Also the most expensive ... though it was on sale for only $280. There are bike paths everywhere in Denver, and I was getting tired of losing so much speed to tire traction. This bike flies compared to my old mountain bikes.
My old bike is now permanently a playa bike. It will forever only be ridden in Black Rock City during the Burning Man festival. I need to get new rims and a derailer for it, and then I'm going to deck it out like a giant monkey. I wanna cover it in brown fur, and then put monkey arms and legs down the front and rear forks, have a big tail off the back, and put a giant monkey head on the handle bars. One of the old rims is going to be converted into a pot & pan rack for the kitchen.
Burning Flipside
Tomorrow after work, Mercedes & I are heading down to Burning Flipside. It's the Texas regional burn outside Austin. It's a 12 hour drive in an RV, a 5 day festival, and I'm camping with Wacky Shack/Wacky Ship right across from the effigy they're going to burn on Sunday night. We're the psychadelic pirate ship. I'm reusing my Freelance Proctologist costume and I'll be an "ass pirate".
I'll be helping set-up camp, but I was also put in charge of creating the renderings of our camp look and layout. Evidently, the people at Flipside were impressed and we got more space than we requested, and got prime camp placement across from the effigy. I would like to think that my renderings helped, but I'm sure it was mostly due to how liked Cap'n Schmid-E is.
This will be my first year at Flipside, and Texas even. Mercedes went last year. It's like Burning Man, except it's not in a desert and there's a river with natural pools to swim and relax in. Oh yeah, and there's scorpions & bugs. I'll also be taking the fur coat I made, as well as one of the kilts from Burning Man last year. Oh, and I made a t-shirt that says "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" on it, reference to the Supreme Court case over student freedom of speech. I'm also hopin' people will offer me bong hits, 'cause I love Jesus!
The Hummingbird
Two weeks after Flipside is Apogaea, which is Colorado's regional burn at the Happy Ass Ranch. Moon is organizing a children's play based on the Richard Bach book, There's No Such Place As Far Away. I'm playing the Hummingbird, and we're doing a performance Friday night for adults and Saturday afternoon for kids. It's an existential story for children. Most of the adults in the play couldn't wrap their heads around the message ... though I'm sure little kids will grasp it easier. That goes the same for the adults on drugs, as well. I have about half my lines memorized.
So, last friday I went and bought a new bike. The weather is getting beautiful and I didn't want to miss out on the joys of having a bike in Denver on a nice summer day. I went to Sports Authority and ended up getting Diamondback Edgewood '07 Hybrid bike. It has the tire width of a street bike with a little more grip, and a light frame with front shocks and a seat shock. It has contoured hand grips instead of straight round ones. It rides so beautifully. The nicest bike I've ever owned. Also the most expensive ... though it was on sale for only $280. There are bike paths everywhere in Denver, and I was getting tired of losing so much speed to tire traction. This bike flies compared to my old mountain bikes.
My old bike is now permanently a playa bike. It will forever only be ridden in Black Rock City during the Burning Man festival. I need to get new rims and a derailer for it, and then I'm going to deck it out like a giant monkey. I wanna cover it in brown fur, and then put monkey arms and legs down the front and rear forks, have a big tail off the back, and put a giant monkey head on the handle bars. One of the old rims is going to be converted into a pot & pan rack for the kitchen.
Burning Flipside
Tomorrow after work, Mercedes & I are heading down to Burning Flipside. It's the Texas regional burn outside Austin. It's a 12 hour drive in an RV, a 5 day festival, and I'm camping with Wacky Shack/Wacky Ship right across from the effigy they're going to burn on Sunday night. We're the psychadelic pirate ship. I'm reusing my Freelance Proctologist costume and I'll be an "ass pirate".
I'll be helping set-up camp, but I was also put in charge of creating the renderings of our camp look and layout. Evidently, the people at Flipside were impressed and we got more space than we requested, and got prime camp placement across from the effigy. I would like to think that my renderings helped, but I'm sure it was mostly due to how liked Cap'n Schmid-E is.
This will be my first year at Flipside, and Texas even. Mercedes went last year. It's like Burning Man, except it's not in a desert and there's a river with natural pools to swim and relax in. Oh yeah, and there's scorpions & bugs. I'll also be taking the fur coat I made, as well as one of the kilts from Burning Man last year. Oh, and I made a t-shirt that says "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" on it, reference to the Supreme Court case over student freedom of speech. I'm also hopin' people will offer me bong hits, 'cause I love Jesus!
The Hummingbird
Two weeks after Flipside is Apogaea, which is Colorado's regional burn at the Happy Ass Ranch. Moon is organizing a children's play based on the Richard Bach book, There's No Such Place As Far Away. I'm playing the Hummingbird, and we're doing a performance Friday night for adults and Saturday afternoon for kids. It's an existential story for children. Most of the adults in the play couldn't wrap their heads around the message ... though I'm sure little kids will grasp it easier. That goes the same for the adults on drugs, as well. I have about half my lines memorized.