Derby girls rock!

September 2, 2007 RF Leave a comment

Sittin' it out I was fortunate enough to show up at a derby demo earlier today, and I was impressed. Those girls are something else to see.

If you’ve ever watched a derby girl close-up doing her thing, you’ll fall instantly in love. Who else could be graceful, tough, agile and quick – not to mention good-looking – while banging out a member of the opposing team? How they keep it all together while slamming each other around a flat track is beyond me.

Rolling on by while warming up

The costumes are outrageous. Torn fish-net stockings. Mini-skirts. Tank tops. Tube tops. Stay-ups. Make-up is grossly exaggerated to match the clothing – with a look from girl-next-door* to naughty* to virgin*.

Yes, they’re wearing elbow pads, knee pads, helmets and gloves while getting slammed onto the floor or into the railing. Not so tough, you think? Just watch them compare bruises before the match.

Did I mention that those girls can skate too?

In my next life, I want to date a derby girl. She’s got it all goin‘ on.

Oh, yeah, there were also some guys wearing skates, but who the hell cares about them?

*For characterization purposes only. I would never impugn the character of any woman, no matter how she appears.

Encounters, Personal

The beat – like the road – is still going on

September 1, 2007 RF Leave a comment

The mighty scroll It was released fifty years ago, but Jack Kerouac had been paying his dues for a long time before that. I discovered On the Road on a library shelf when I was 12 or 13. I remember reading the first page there in the library — and I was transfixed; then taking it up to the desk to check out. Perhaps the librarian hadn’t read it, because back then it didn’t even warrant a concerned look from her. I wonder if that would hold true today.

* * *

Years later, I pulled into Dalhart. It had been sunny and hot and dry and dusty all day, and I was looking for a cool, shady place to sit down and relax and have a cold one. I parked behind a bar out of sight of the road — I don’t remember the name now, but it’s just one building off the corner of the main crossroad, and still painted gray with a black star on the wall — walked in and sat at the bar. It was mid-afternoon. I exchanged a few pleasantries with the barkeep and asked for a Lone Star.

After only a few minutes of sitting in the cool, dark bar, the sheriff wandered in — in full modern regalia — and proceeded to sit down beside me and be neighborly. He must have watched me pull into the back and wanted to see what was going on. He started out by pushing his hat back on his head and adopting that yokel demeanor that was supposed to hide his interest, and then settled in to tell jokes so bad that even I knew the punch lines.

Well, I wasn’t in the mood for that, so I started stepping on his lines. After about three more jokes I could tell he was getting annoyed, so I finished my beer, got up and got the hell out of there.

I never stopped in Dalhart again.

Neither did Jack Kerouac.

The road must eventually lead to the whole world. Ain’t nowhere else it can go — right? But no matter, the road is life. — on the road, Jack Kerouac

Politics, Short trips

Distant memories, fond memories

August 25, 2007 RF Leave a comment

In memory of

Flight Sergeant J.A.B.G. (Alf) Galloway, R.C.A.F.

R/69154

March 9, 1942

Update: Effective May 8, 2010 the new name for the museum is the Bomber Command Museum of Canada.

Today the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum hosted an event to honor Americans who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) during World War II.

Canada declared war on September 10, 1939. Before the United States declared war against the Nazis in December 1941, approximately 9,000 Americans joined the RCAF. Of these, about 800 were killed in RCAF service – 379 while serving with Bomber Command.

Canada’s Bomber Command Memorial lists 10,643 names and includes all the Canadians who were killed serving with Bomber Command as well as those of other nationalities who died while serving with the RCAF in Bomber Command.

“They were colorful, those volunteers – professionals and playboys, convicted felons and husbands on the run, idealists and mercenaries, kids seeking adventure, youngsters seeking nothing but an opportunity to fly, middle-aged men looking for work – and to all of them, the RCAF’s need was their golden opportunity.” – Spencer Dunmore, “Wings for Victory”

I listened to some of the “old boys” relate memories of their comrades filled with laughter and joy and resignation. I didn’t hear one say that he wouldn’t do it all again.

It's painted black on the underside because it made its bombing runs at night.

In memory of

Flight Sergeant J.A.B.G. (Alf) Galloway, R.C.A.F.

R/69154

March 9, 1942

Short trips

Head-smashed-in

August 22, 2007 RF Leave a comment

Before the Egyptian pyramids, before Stonehenge, North American Indians drove buffalo herds to their death over prairie cliffs.

Medicine women and men performed rituals to ensure a bountiful hunt. Young runners disguised under animal skins were sent out to find and herd the animals toward the cliffs.

As the buffalo were herded down the narrowing lanes by the runners, and kept from dispersing by stone cairns along the edges of the run, hunters would jump out at the base of the run to keep the panicked animals running towards the cliff edge.

After falling, most were only stunned or wounded. Hunters below the cliffs would kill the survivors to keep them from escaping and warning other herds of the trap, or so it was believed.

The dried meat was used to prepare pemmican, but the remainder of the animal was used for tools and hides, leaving almost no part of the animal unused.

Short trips

The Whiskey Gap

August 21, 2007 RF Leave a comment

The Whiskey Gap

From 1916 and for the following eight years of Alberta’s prohibition, whiskey flowed through the gap in the Milk River range like water over a dam. Not to be outdone, during America’s prohibition, it flowed in the opposite direction. Now, all that remains is a historical plaque – that, and the fact that the Whiskey Gap still stands on the watershed between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay.

Where once a railway branch reached out, a store was built, elevators constructed, and to where wheat was hauled for shipping, nothing remains but a vast expanse of empty, wheat-growing prairie wilderness, punctuated by the occasional farm enterprise.

What buildings remained have been removed to Del Bonita, across the Milk River and 12 miles to the east, where a store and post office are in the same building and still serves the local area.

Uncategorized

Brigitte, 1967

August 20, 2007 RF Leave a comment

Here’s a link to a retrospective of Brigitte singing the song, Harley-Davidson. Here’s some information on the motorcycle in the video:

The bike was built by Maurice Combalbert who was a mechanic in a shop located in Paris, selling cars, motorcycles and furniture ! The P.A.M.A. as it was called, mainly sold british bikes, but Maurice – who is a very old man now – was always tinkering around with Harleys. Handmade ape hangers with an eagle in the middle, or with iron initials of the owner, as well as huge exhaust pipes (up to 3 on each side) were his typical trademark. The black WLA he built for this song is certainly the most important bike in France’s Harley history. All old timers know exactly that this Flathead was stolen after they finished shooting the clip, then it was dismantled and the frame and other parts were thrown in the Canal de l’Ourq in Paris. — Charlie Lecach

Rules

Taking care of business

August 20, 2007 RF Leave a comment

Here, prime riding season is probably six to eight months guaranteed steady riding, with the rest of it being chancy, to say the least – and it’s probably more like five good months of winter. Given the foregoing, were I a motorcycle dealership, I’d be giving her all I could for that six months and pray for at least another two months of sunshine.

I wouldn’t close for lunch and put a sign on the door saying, “Back in a hour.” Back in an hour from when? Now? Fifteen minutes ago? Forty-five minutes ago? Is there some reason that out of all the employees on the payroll, one or two can’t keep the doors open to satisfy the people who come by at lunchtime?

I’d try to get my customers their parts in a timely fashion. I wouldn’t make them wait six months for an order that had been prepaid. (See the first paragraph, above.)

When a customer buys a brand-new motorcycle with a promise that accessories purchased within 30 days are guaranteed a discount, only to have that customer find out that what he wants to buy isn’t available, I wouldn’t be telling the customer, “We’ll talk about the discount on unavailable parts when the parts become available.” We all know what that means.

Being in business isn’t easy. Being in a multi-million dollar business is even more difficult. However, if one wants to survive in that multi-million dollar business, one had better strive to satisfy their customers and keep them coming back, one at a time. Finding new customers is much more difficult than keeping the ones you have.

There’s always somewhere else to go, whether it’s OEM or aftermarket.

Is that so hard to understand?

Riding farther, seeing more