Tuesday, February 1
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Tuesday, February 10
If John Travolta and William Hung had a baby…Johnny Lee is back on stage at Baby Grands Dueling Pianos . This time with even more dance moves and even more of teh awesome. Enjoy…
Another update in the ongoing saga of my efforts to bring my 1972 Triumph Bonneville T120R to the point of being able to ride it.
When we last left off, I needed to get my kick pedal bent so it could clear the new muffler (and pipes) that we put on the bike (more about that in the original post, “The Bonnie Situation“). I’m happy to report that the kickstart pedal now clears the muffler and we’ve successfully started the bike…for about 10 seconds at a time. It appears we’re getting good compression from the cylinders, spark plugs are firing, but something is preventing the fuel from getting through.
DOH!!! Rust inside the gas tank!
Visual inspection of the inside of the gas tank shows signs of oxidation (rust). Particles of oxidized metal float in the tank’s ancient fuel…and I have no idea how long this fuel had been inside Bonnie’s tank…possibly 20 years. 20 years of no love, you get Angry Tank (Girl) syndrome.
No doubt the oxidation needed to be fixed, for even if I cleaned the fuel filters and the carburetors, they’d just get clogged again with the rust peeling from the walls on the inside of the gas tank.
Tank removal was fairly easy…once we found the sole elusive bolt that loosened the tank (removed the rubber Triumph medallion right on the top of the tank and there she was!). Emptied the old rusty gas into a can. Dave’s going to let that gas settle and strain it…eventually using it to fuel his weed whacker.
The plan is to give the insides of the tank a nice chemical bath, and/or coat the entire inside with some new fancy goo that will magically make this oxidation go away (possibly both). Mmmm…
Simultaneously, we get moving on thorough carburetor cleaning. Might as well clean it all. The theory being: next weekend we basically have an entirely new fuel system to go with her new exhaust system.
Now, while we had her tank off, we set forth on some good ole’ engine degreasing. She needed some love, for sure!
I have to say…Bonnie cleans up very nicely. Here are some photos of the process:
Bonnie with tank off (above)
Close up of engine post-cleaning.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in San Francisco lately. It’s an amazing city.
Back in the mid-90′s I started a company with several friends called IRdg (Intergalactic Research and Development Group). One of the other company founders was a guy named Mike. I hadn’t seen Mike in many years and recently re-connected with him in San Francisco during the Random Hacks of Kindness event I helped organize. I also found out that he had recently moved out of the city proper because of the “homeless problem”.
Mind you, Mike was a guy who lived out of his car when he first moved to California, and is one of the most unassuming people I know…so to hear him talk about leaving the city because of the “homeless problem?”…well, it was a bit of a surprise. He underscored his point as he led 12 or so of the RHoK SF hackers on an impromptu Sunday afternoon field trip down 6th street near Mission, passing block after block of impoverished, homeless and street people. I never felt threatened, but this wasn’t something I had experienced before.
California (and San Francisco, in particular), has been lauded for their progressive social programs. It certainly seems they are overwhelmed with this issue. According to the SF Chronicle: “The city spends $200 million a year trying to get homeless people off the streets and into a better way of life – but over 20 years, the problem has only gotten worse.
The more able of the homeless find their way into shelters, counseling and housing programs. But the most chronically indigent, called the hard core, steadfastly refuse most help and stay outside. These 3,000 to 5,000 homeless at the very bottom are the most visible, and they give the city its dubious distinction of having what many call the worst homeless problem in the country.” The SF Gate has much more on the subject: San Francisco Homeless.
Orlando has had its share of challenges with homelessness. Anyone who lives or works downtown knows it’s an ongoing issue. If you can track it down, the Orlando-made documentary film, “My Father’s Son” is an excellent look at the sometimes complex reasons why some people prefer to live on the edges of “modern society” rather than be a part of it (the soundtrack includes music from several well-known Orlando bands).
I met Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) last year at the 140 Characters conference. Mark used to be homeless, and now he brings attention to the issue through his site Invisible People:
Last summer I acquired two things: my Florida motorcycle certification and a 1972 Triumph Bonneville T120R 650cc motorcycle. Neither of which have I used.
The Bonneville sort of fell into my lap (so to speak). I wasn’t looking for it…it found me. I bought it from Gene who owns the Holopaw Ural dealership in Holopaw, Florida. Gene hadn’t started it in 20 years.
Gene opens the gate at Holopaw Ural
Unfortunately neither could we. I showed this pic to Andy Armstrong who laughed and said, “Get used to seeing that bike being pushed.”
It started pouring rain. And since we couldn’t go anywhere, my buddy Travis decided he was going to get this bike running. (Florida summer storm in the background)
Eventually Travis took the carburetor apart and put it back together… and we got her running…
You’ll notice in the above video just how loud this bike is with the pipes it had (and no muffler). It was so loud it clipped the microphone off after about 15 seconds. It was a loud, angry beast. I just didn’t feel comfortable riding it that loud. So I ordered new pipes and new mufflers (replicas of the original stock exhaust from Mitch Klempf), which Dave and I put on today:
The problem with the new pipes… the kick start pedal is bent towards the body, so it doesn’t clear the new muffler…making it impossible to start the bike.
And that’s the update on the Bonnie Situation: Travis is going to heat up and bend the kick start pedal so it clears the new muffler. And then we’ll see how she sounds 
Being part of the entertainment and/or service industry pretty much guarantees that you’ll never celebrate a New Year’s Eve with the rest of the world. I’m usually performing and leading the midnight countdown on stage or at someone’s private party….rarely with those who I would choose to be with to bring in the new year.
To combat this, last year a small group of friends gathered at my house a few days after New Year’s eve to celebrate a new holiday that I invented….New Calendar’s Day.
New Calendar’s Day is a day typically two days after New Year’s, on January 3rd (although the date can vary up to a week after New Year’s Eve). Participants are encouraged to buy a calendar (they always go on sale after the 1st of the year). Then we bring together the calendars from the previous year and burn them (using a candle purchased from the Yankee Candle Company). Then new calendars are exchanged as presents and thus the cycle continues.
So if you’re not able to have your own New Year’s Eve celebration…remember you can always celebrate New Calendar’s Day!
This is a song I wrote a couple of years ago for a novel/film project I’ve been working on for close to 10 years. It’s the story of a boy named Kris who grows up to become the man we all know as Santa. The book has just recently been published…Check out Santa Is Real for more info.
Merry Christmas!
The Snowflake Song
Counting snowflakes, counting dreams, count the days til Christmas eve,
Count the snowflakes, count the stars, count them if you’re near or far,
Falling Snowflakes, tumble down, Lift your head and spin around,
Falling Snowflakes, Count them all, a Christmas wish as snowflakes fall.
Crystal snowflakes, crystal night, keep my brothers, warm and tight,
Watch my sisters, safe and dear, til I return next Christmas year,
Falling snowflakes from above, each unique and filled with love,
Keep them safe until I call, my Christmas wish as snowflakes fall.
Making angels in the snow, playful children, watch them grow,
Read their letters, wrap the toys, each made with love for girls and boys,
Little angels, all around, close your eyes and settle down,
Snowflake angels, find them all, my christmas wish as snowflakes fall.
Falling snowflakes from above, each unique and filled with love,
Keep them safe until I call, my Christmas wish as snowflakes fall.
For the first time in 3 years, Skype was down today – and as Dan York writes, this is still in the process of slowly coming back online. A ton of articles were written today, mostly all pointing back to Skype’s blog post or status update, which most importantly said THIS POST about the Skype Outage.
