January 26, 2008 - VIDEO BLOGGING: TESTING
MY HOMEMADE CAMERA MOUNT
One of the things I want to do more of this year
is video blogging. When done well, Video Blogs are a ton of fun to watch.
Just check out 88Hawaii or blatherskyte on YouTube and you'll see what I
mean... those guys are the best.
One of the things needed to pull it off though
is a camera mounting system that is stable and at the same time safe. Ideally
I would like to have some kind of helmet mount but I haven't quite figured
out how to make it work for me yet. I have however been messing around with
the homemade tank mount pictured above.
I got the idea from a guy on the SV Forum and made
it out of a deck tie and a few nuts and bolts found at Lowe's. The video
below was shot today (brrrrr cold) with this set-up... It's just a test but
I hope you enjoy it.
I was doing some server house cleaning tonight
and came across a dozen or so pictures of my old Honda CBR600 F3. For several
months now I have been bummed out because I could not find any pics of this
bike... so accidentally stumbling across them tonight was a nice surprise.
They are lo-res but at least I have some record of the bike
now.
I had this bike a few years ago and rode it for
about 8 months before trading it in on another bike. It was a '95 model,
had about 16k on it and was in great shape. It also had the distinct honor
of being the only bike I have ever actually dropped. It happened one day
in my driveway, about where these shots were taken. I don't even know what
happened... I was making a "U" turn back towards the street at extremely
low speed and before I knew what happened, it was down on it's right side.
Fortunately it didn't do any damage to me or the bike.
It's funny, looking at these pics makes me wish
I still had it. Still looks cool to me... in a retro sort of
way.
January 18, 2008 - THUNDER ROADS TENNESSEE
- FEBRUARY 2008
The February 2008 issue of Thunder Roads Tennessee
will be in the stores next week. If you are in Tennessee, be sure to pick
up a copy and check out my article on page 20 about the unveiling of the
new Buell 1125R at Bumpus Harley-Davidson. Those of you out of state can
check it out on-line at www.thunderroadstennessee.com.
And while I'm mentioning their website... In case
you didn't know it, Thunder Roads Tennessee is one of my web design clients.
Click the screen-shot below and check it out... then contact me... I'd love
to create a site for your motorcycle business. For more info
CLICK
HERE.
Every year in January, local promoter Bobby Appleton
gives Nashville area bikers a break from the ho-hum of Winter and puts on
the Music City Motorcycle Show. This years event is this weekend so this
morning I found my way down to the Nashville Fairgrounds to check it out...
and the show was great!
Of course, I took a camera and although lighting
was horrific for photography (it always is at indoor bike and car shows)
I still got some shots to share. Here's a couple but if you follow the link
below you can check out a bunch more.
January 7, 2008 - YEAH GOD... THAT WAS
A NICE ONE TODAY!
They
say that if you don't like the weather in Nashville, all you have to do is
wait a few days. And you know what...they are right. After an extremely cold
few days last week, today we enjoyed temperatures in the mid 70s and to
celebrate, I rode the SV to the office. It was great and delivered a knock-out
punch to my case of DMS (Dark Month Syndrome) to which I and my family are
grateful! Check me out with no jacket on in January! Yeah God... that was
a nice one today!
Hey... and BTW, I wanted to let everyone know about
a YouTube find of mine. There is a guy here in Nashville who is making a
trip from Nashville to Los Angeles on an ST1300 and is video-journaling the
trip. It's way cool and makes me want to make a similar trip.
I don't know the guy but would like to meet him
one day since we are in the same town. If you get a chance check it out at
YouTube by
CLICKING
HERE.
January 5, 2008 - SUPERCROSS SEASON
OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF... GO BUBBA!
Today
is the day! The AMA Supercross season officially kicks off in Anaheim, California
tonight and SPEED Channel will be carrying the event with 3.5 hours of coverage
starting at 9:00pm Central. I will be watching every second of the broadcast
and if you are into motorcycles at all, I highly recommend you do the same.
Chances are, if you catch one race, you will become a long-term
fan.
Of course I will be pulling for my favorite rider
again this year. James "Bubba" Stewart is the man to beat and is quite amazing
to watch. Nobody is better through the whoop sections and if you want to
see the definition of a "scrub" watch Bubba over the table-tops. He's quite
amazing and barring any crashes... you can look for Bubba on the green Monster
Kawasaki #7 to be out front tonight... and most of the season.
Oh, and check out the new "toy" I got. I've started
collecting motorcycle figurines and my daughter brought this one home last
week. She knew Supercross was starting soon and knows who my favorite rider
is. What a great daughter!
January 1, 2008 - HAPPY NEW YEAR...
A FEW MORE ACTS OF KINDNESS
Wow...
I can't believe that today is the first day of 2008. It just sounds so futuristic
to me. I guess I'm getting old. At any rate… let me say Happy New Year
everyone. My wish for all of you is that 2008 is a blessed and prosperous
year.
2007 was a great year for me not only on a personal
level but also with BikerSwag.com. I just pulled some stats on the site yesterday
and I was amazed to find out that BikerSwag.com is currently averaging over
500 unique visitors a day! That's not hits but actual unique visitors coming
to BikerSwag.com. That calculates to about 15,000 per month which is more
readers than some published magazines can boast. Incredible! Thanks to all
of you that find my RANT interesting enough to keep coming back to read it.
As long as you keep reading, I'll keep writing.
And of course, a special thanks goes out to those
of you that have used my web design and photography services in 2007. I
appreciate it very much. Now… the rest of you… what are you waiting
for? Let's hook up in 2008 for a way cool website for your business!
CLICK HERE NOW.
But back to today… As in years past, I really
wanted to get out on two-wheels to start the year off right. The temperature
was not very cooperative but despite a deck thermometer reading of just 32
degrees, I headed out this morning for a 100-mile jaunt to bring in the New
Year in Biker Swag fashion… and it was great! There wasn't much to take
pictures of so I stopped at a local H-D dealer to get the photo
above.
It was pretty funny actually. There I was lying
on my back in the middle of the parking lot trying to be artsy with my
photography when a nice lady pulled up beside me to see if I was OK. I must
have looked pretty strange laying there in an empty parking lot beside a
motorcycle. I told her I was fine… just a deranged photographer…
and thanked her for taking the time to stop and check on me. What a good
lesson it was for 2008. She could have driven right by, choosing not to get
involved, but she cared enough to check on a total stranger. We should all
take the cue from this lady and focus on a few more acts of kindness in 2008.
Happy New Year!
They
say that if you don't like the weather in Nashville, all you have to do is
wait a few days. And you know what...they are right. After an extremely cold
few days last week, today we enjoyed temperatures in the mid 70s and to
celebrate, I rode the SV to the office. It was great and delivered a knock-out
punch to my case of DMS (Dark Month Syndrome) to which I and my family are
grateful! Check me out with no jacket on in January! Yeah God... that was
a nice one today!
Today
is the day! The AMA Supercross season officially kicks off in Anaheim, California
tonight and SPEED Channel will be carrying the event with 3.5 hours of coverage
starting at 9:00pm Central. I will be watching every second of the broadcast
and if you are into motorcycles at all, I highly recommend you do the same.
Chances are, if you catch one race, you will become a long-term
fan.
Wow...
I can't believe that today is the first day of 2008. It just sounds so futuristic
to me. I guess I'm getting old. At any rate… let me say Happy New Year
everyone. My wish for all of you is that 2008 is a blessed and prosperous
year.