But since I returned from the battle with my liver that was Las Vegas, Ive run into a touch of the 'Vegas throat' coupled with the 'phlegm lung'. To counter this, Ive begun taking a daily regiment of vitimin C (duh) and oregano pills. They are the secret weapon against all that ails you, and I swear by them. The only down side is that they make you smell like a touch of the death..

I myself tend to hum on a good day, however after Wednesday mornings bike ride, once my sweet new jersey was dry, it wafted a pretty rank oder, but after last nights ride, it smelled like a cat had peed all over a pile of bum poo.

Horrible. Anyway, that being said, I rode my mountain bike before work, and then again after. I got to ride the one bike I wasnt able to include on my total nerd out a few months ago.
This one here is my lovely Hunter geared mountain bike;

But before my jersey got its stank all over it, I sacked up and rode a specific bit of trail Ive never before attempted, nor have I seen anyone else attempt since I moved here.

So what youre seeing here is what it looks like if you were to attempt to climb it, which I still have not yet accomplished. Riding down it however, you have a choice of two lines. The off camber, and generally slippery line to our right, or the shute right down the center. While the former option has a slightly less ominous appearance to it, the penalty is about the same, which is a long, long drop off to the left.
Now the center line has two challenges going for it. One being that its pretty narrow, and if you were to hang a pedal or chainring on the rock, it might stop you dead, and send you down the aforementioned long, long drop off. Assuming you clean that, youll notice that there is a round rock protruding up from the dirt at the bottom of the shot. Well, despite the appearances here, that little guy is tall enough to deflect you, and being that at this stage in the game, your male, or female parts are nearly resting comfortable atop your rear tire, its not out of the realm of possibility that you could get pitched over your bars and straight into the abyss.

Finally, after 5 years of negations with this section, Wednesday, October the 1st 2008 marked the first day Ive ever cleaned it. Was it the new fork? Was it the good juju that Parkin left on it after borrowing it? Was it the jersey?
Maybe, perhaps it was a combination of all three. And you know what? After all of the hemming, hawing, and hand wringing, it ended up being super easy.

Now riding up it is going to be an entirely different story.

Anyway, before I hurt my shoulder patting myself on the back, lets move on to other stuff. Another Wednesday night ride has come and gone, again consisting of a relatively intimate group. On one end we had the powerhouse that is DanO, dragging our weary carcasses over hill and dale, and on the other end was... well.. the rest of us I guess.

However what was particularly noteworthy about this ride is that it was the first real ride that Becker, (pictured above on the right) was able to partake of since he underwent back surgery nearly a year ago. Hes not your usual bike jock. He doesnt work hard at being a good bike rider, rather hes one who is naturally adept at it, and even after all of the grief and seemingly insurmountable physical challenges, he can still school the best of them on a descent while atop his cross bike.
Particularly on this evening, seeing him out and about was truly a thing of beauty.

At one point a fellow showed up on a BMW bike that had a ton of stuff on it,

that left Danny B slightly befuddled;

After nearly four years of Wednesday night rides, and as hard to believe as it is, for the first time we broached the topic of sex, which we discussed with fervor.
It sounded like a campout consisting of a bunch of retarded adolescent Boy Scouts.
Eventually we made our way through the very dark darkness, down a twisty and relatively treacherous stretch of trail with maybe one blinky light between all of us and fell into the bar for some food, drink and high fives. As difficult as they sometimes can make Thursday, I wouldnt trade my Wednesdays for anything.

Lets get onto other stuff, shall we? First of all, Im going to be at Manifesto in Oakland this evening to partake in an informal reception for a small show of some of my paintings. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, stick your head in and say hello.
Youll be able to recognize me by my beret, gigantic vocabulary, and insufferably pompous attitude.
I am an artist, after all.

However, ifin youre in or around Lincoln, Nebraska, youll be needing to get out in support of some new work by our big buddy Hoss;

My man is an absolute super hero, and if anybody deserves the support, its him.

Eric got ahold of us with an email that is tied up in square knots to the strings of my heart;

"I figure with your love of my all time favorite band - the dirtbombs - you may be aware of one of their collaborators/influences Mr. Andre Williams. We made a doc about Dre, and interviewed da Bombs and other D-troit legends, some of which appear in the film, some on the web videos, some in both. Anyhoots, the film is screening in London this Sat., and then in NYC, LA and St. Louis throughout the fall. I'd appreciate any plugs or hype you can help generate, even if it's just emailing one friend in London and telling them to go. Here's some links to sort out the details...

amhmovie(dot)blogspot(dot)com

agilemobilehostile(dot)com

there's a trailer and video shorts on the official site, screening info on the blog site, and eventually all info will be more easily accessed on the official site.

thanks for even the slightest modicum of interest, and thanks for writing witty shit that distracts me from work, and thanks for making cool product, of which you'll be sending a Folsom to my Chicago office for some daily driving when I'm in that part of the world.

viva!

Eric"

Thank you Eric, and youre welcome, youre welcome, and youre welcome.
Everybody, do yourself a favor, and if this documentary ends up in your neck of the woods, for the love of all thats right, get to it.

Now then, an old high school compatriot of mine, and a dear friend of 685 sent an email in on Thursday that I feel is of the utmost importance;

"Stevil,
Normally I would resist perpetuating something like this, but there were too many forces at work. Specifically, the entire first column and the name of the site. Perhaps you are behind it?
dapperstache(dot)com.

TJ"

As I wrote back to TJ, emotionally I should have been the one behind it, but intellectually, Im barely able to tie my own shoes, so in reality, I couldnt possibly have been.

Say, before the story gets cold, I feel as though I should clue you in on the plight of the new Swobo intern.;

Oh the things we all do for the love of El Corpo...

The North Bay has got their first cross series since sincy Gianni was around, and if yoire familiar with Gianni, then that means youre as old as I am. More info can be found here;

Hey, I mentioned this before sometime, but while Im on the topic of Swobo, weve got a new feature on the site that allows folks to chime in with their own two cents in regards to any of our products. If you love something, please elaborate. If you hate something, then by all means, bring that up as well. All of those comments are read by us and posted, so if you have a particular criticism, spell it out, and we can then use that information to continue to make our stuff even better.
I keep attempting to post comments about needing prosthetic muscles in my shirts or that they should name an item of clothing 'The Stevil', but I suspect that they have an idea that it might be me...

Parkin sent a shot from his book signing on to me that upon first glance doesnt appear to have much happening in it;

Upon closer inspection however, youll see a giant man with a shaved head named 'Ballbreaker' pitching an amazing amount of woo towards me, then theres Holt whos "just happy to be here". Next to him is Joe, with his devil-may-care game face. Simon is in the foreground wondering where it all went wrong, and behind him are a slew of Velo Pressers, and Sky waiting for the black hole to open up and swallow us all where we stand.
Any time theres an event including someone named Ballbreaker you know its only a matter of time before shit gets critical.
Its like a law of nature.

You know, we havent had a Friday Hero here in some time, and based on my incredible power of clairvoyance, I was struck with a bolt of inspiration Wednesday night and knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that there was going to be a girl reading this today that might possibly go by the name of Shannon. Shes got dirty blond hair or maybe light brown hair and is wearing a red shirt. Based on this fit of clarity, I thought it only right to crown her todays Friday Hero.
If Im right, send me an email. If Im wrong, then rest assured, it isnt the first, nor will it be the last time that that happens.

Another weekend is upon us, and I dont know about you all, but Im of the opinion that we deserve it.
To celebrate I got a hair cut, and Im gonna go out and paint the town red with it.
If I see you tonight, then I will, and if I dont, then well catch you on Monday.

Always and forever, 'high fives save lives'.