I'm happy things have changed

Never forget, but accept that things and people can change. That said, you Japanese bastards still aren't getting my prized old Harley parts, even if you are building some nice bikes. Ha! Case in point, really tough Japanese built Panhead:

It's been hot in Seattle these past few days

Hot like working with a torch in short sleeves and burning your arm hair hot.

Completely Rad

I had to go take pictures of a bunch of stuff I really didn't want to take pictures of today. I did run across this on the way home. Rad.

Marshall Wollrey - Pacific NW Sheet Metal Artisan

Grille insert my friend Marshall made for a Y-block powered Model A he's building. The guy is an amazing sheet metal worker and hopefully a piece I did on him will run shortly in R & K. Although he's a perverted, rotten cuss of a human being, he deserves it more than most. He's the real deal.

Little Rider

I swiped this from Maurice's blogger here because I knew my wife would love the picture. She grew up in Syracuse, NY where the guy who wrote/directed/whatevered the Wizzard of Oz was from. Each year the town had an Oz fest and hoards of wee folk came into town to get their Oompa-loompa freak on. Apparently the little buggers made wife uncomfortable back then, just as they do now. I on the other hand, find them to be cute and good drinking partners.

If anyone knows where I can get another one...

This is an old Ed Roth decal that's in the back window of my truck. I'd like to find another one for my Panhead but I'm not having much luck. If you know of a guy who knows a guy, let me know. Thanks.

This guy pretty much rules Japan

Always good to see someone actually having fun with this stuff. With all the stumbling over scenester bullshit, back stabbing, and holier than thou attitudes you'd think it was highschool, not chopper building.

And here's the car the tire below belongs to...

Ryan's nice little 29' Model A.

Rough Weekend...Tired

Amazing Gracie

My buddy Jake's little girl showing how she gets down with the twisted square bar. Not only can she weld, she's a cutie too. Note aluminum welding rod necklace with washers. Stylish, yet practical. And if it was in fact her birthday, happy birthday Gracie. You never can tell with kids...ours wear the birthday stuff whenever they see fit.

The Needle Ferris Wheel

Although the Space Needle is largely viewed by locals as a tourist trap, I like it. Many non-Seattle natives don't realize there's a little amusement park near the base of the Needle, which we visited today. It's nothing special, but they do have a small Ferris Wheel that provides a great view of the surrounding area. The big guy and I decided to check it out while Laura and Leah rode some other rides.

Big guy thought it was pretty cool and I was surprised by his lack of a fear of heights.

This is the top of the Experience Music Project building, photographed while at the top of the Ferris Wheel. The EMP was designed by Frank Gehry, a well known modern architect, and is Paul Allen's showcase of his music and science fiction memorabilia. He has some great ray guns.



This is a view of a portion of Capitol Hill. It's a fun neighborhood to visit and has good bars, restaurants, and cafes. There are a lot of gutter punks, tweakers, and vagrants on Capital Hill though and they come out of the woodwork at night. That bothers some people. Oh well.

Urban Assault Minivan - aka "The Black Hawk"

She calls it the Black Hawk. I kind of hate it, but it's grown on me. It's got a 4Q sticker in the window too. That's about as punk rock as a minivan can get.

Stairs

When I'm stressed, I head to these stairs and destroy myself running up and down them. They're about half a mile away from my home and they're nuts. I've never counted, but I'd say there's 70 or so. They're easy to fall on because the pitch is steeper than normal household or building stairs. I've done it.



This time of year there's wild flowers everywhere and the stairs smell good. Well, the air around the stairs does. I've yet to sniff the actual stairs.



This is the path leading down to more stairs, for days when things are really fucked. Some people are into hanging themselves, I'm into stairs.

Max's VL

Good person. Good bike.

Cannibal Joke

Two cannibals, a father and son, were elected by the tribe to go out and get something to eat.

They walked deep into the jungle and waited by a path. Before long, along came this little old man. The son said, "Ooh dad, there's one." "No," said the father. "There's not enough meat on that one to even feed the dogs. We'll just wait."

A little while later, along came this really fat man. The son said, "Hey dad, he's plenty big enough." "No," the father said. "We'd all die of a heart attack from the fat in that one. We'll just wait."

About an hour later, here comes this absolutely gorgeous woman. The son said, "Now there's nothing wrong with that one dad. Let's eat her." "No," said the father. "We'll not eat her either." "Why not?" asked the son. "Because, we're going to take her back alive and eat your mother."

I don't like traffic

I don't like dealing with traffic on the 520 bridge and need to decide which of these two options will fit the truck better.

Amazing old picture

This guy...he's cool. I bet he had a pretty girlfriend.

Pretty Flower

I don't believe in buying flowers for your girl, but I'm all for making a bouquet from stuff you've picked from neighbors' lawns, leaving it on the door step, ringing the bell, and running to hide behind a bush. My son taught me that one. He's rad.

Pipe Hitter

Some pipes

An Entirely Different Level

Plenty of people are screwing bikes together these days, but few are doing it with the style of Four Speed Garage. Old parts, beautiful fabrication, and amazing sheetmetal forming. True masterpieces.

And no, this is not at all the direction I'm going with the VL below.

Just Wait

It's going to take a year or two, but this one's going to turn into something really special.

My Girls

Laura's glasses were really big that day.

I Love Panheads

A Little Exposure for the Friends

The current issue of Rod & Kulture features two stories I wrote and shot. The first story is on my good friend Mike Soldano's Olds powered Model A-



The second story is on my good friends' 32 Roadster. Steve Glucoft and Josh Higgins of AMOCAT Speed Emporium are rulers and I'm shooting a couple more of their creations shortly-

Jason Jessee Sculpture

High on Fire Makes Everything Better, Even Mondays

One Anarchy Burger Please

As much as I hate to admit it, Americans are struggling with good old fashoned nonconformity these days. Hell, we created nonconformity, but we've somehow managed to suck the life right out of it. Thank capitalism, thank the media, whatever. All I know is that I'm feeling desensitized, miss being shocked, and find myself looking to the young Japanese for what we've somehow lost, hence Adolf Mickey above. Those guys are having fun.

Pickles on the side please. God bless The Vandals

Dave's Roadster Pickup

Shot this last weekend for a feature and hope to finish the story tomorrow or Sunday. Great little pickup with alot of restraint used in the build. I bet Good Luck Gary recognizes the background.

Dad's Cool

Good dude for a short guy.

This could take alot of the pain out of my commute

Lifting off

In grocery getting mode.

Jason Jessee Soul Surfing

Picture from a long time before I was into Harleys.

Jerry's Chief

My friend Jerry's Chief with all sorts of old timey go-fast secret special sauce. The bike was put together for Jerry by Ken Edmiston, who recently passed on. He was a talented guy.