It seems to me, the whole world is looking for something that is right in front of them. Find the right thing, and hell… just do it.
Put yourself out there; every time I’ve done it, something good has happened. That is, if you want something good.
Rock the hell on!
It’s a sunday morning. Read More »
yeah, I’m sick as hell of it.
I’m not explaining it any further, or defining it, or whatever.
Just be a good person. it’s as simple as that.
This whole thing is dumb.
I took a couple days off next month, and I’m fairly fired up about it. I haven’t had a good long ride in a while and I want one. Fuck that, I kinda need one.
Life is a tricky thing, it seems. Being a father, a husband, performing at work; all these things must be, yet you are torn to do what you wanna do. I don’t believe in Utopia; thats just a fools dream. The trick is, handling the shit you gotta do, and mixing in the things you wanna do. Balance… That’s just how life works, and I’m good with that. It seems to work.
Me? I wanna ride somewhere. It fills the tank. It’s fuel for the fire.
I’ve ridden almost every major road in Arizona, but highway 191 that hugs the edge of New Mexico, I haven’t. I’ve heard its the best bike road in Arizona. I can’t wait.
Just ride a place, and see a thing. After this, I gotta explore New Mexico and Texas 🙂
The last highway in Arizona Read More »
Turns out, I record shit on my DVR, and I’m pretty particular. A lot of documentaries, history Channel stuff, Shark Tank, American Pickers….. I do like the Business stuff, because I’m a capitalist at heart. Really, anything that I find interesting, or I can learn a thing from.
There’s this series on AXS TV Called “The big interview with Dan Rather”. He interviews guys like Merle Haggard, Robert Plant, Neil Young and a bunch of other classic celebrities and in a Dan Rather sort of way, tells their story.
The man just gives a good interview. He’s a throwback to when News was News, not Pop culture shit that gets a reaction from people, but respectful interviews whether Dan Rather Agrees with them or not. If he doesn’t, you’d never know.
He had Bryan Adams on his show, which I remember from the 80s and when I was a kid from the MTV years, but I never really paid attention to his music to be honest. I downloaded his latest album, and this is what I found.
Hell yes, good stuff. An ode to the Classics. I’ve been listening to it all this week on the way to work.
Nicely Done, Bryan Adams.
Remember Bryan Adams? I find this fairly Jammin. Read More »
This song came on the Radio Tonight. It took me back…
Billy Gibbons is the man. He’s come through Phoenix on on tour and I’ve never seen him, but I’ve always wished I would have.
I’ve ridden through La Grange Texas, and I have a good memory of it.
The thing I like about Texas, is the pride. Texans are proud to be Texans. The place is a republic, and they do their own thing.
I actually have a lot of good memories of Texas, but my favorite is from the 2nd Easy Rider tour — we’d broke a tie down strap on the captain america bike that we had from our chase vehicle. We pulled over a little west of LaGrange, and tried to figure out the problem.
At least 2 Texans in trucks pulled over to help us. One, pulled a tie down strap out of the back of his truck to fix the problem. We got the bike upright, and tied down properly so we could go on our way.
I offered the man $20 for his efforts and the tie down strap; he’d stopped and given of his time and helped us out. He Refused. He simply said “that’s just how we do things here”.
I Immediately liked this part of Texas.
Rock on. I still owe that man a favor. It’s how it should be.
It’s a Saturday night….La Grange Read More »
So a lot has happened the last few months.
Most of you know I’m a huge Easy Rider Fan. I’ve made a hobby of sorts the last 20 years riding to movie locations and researching the movie. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve compiled a lot of info, and now and again I get film makers or even tour groups hitting me up for info on the film. Some of them have been pure bullshit, some have not.
An established author hit me up a couple of weeks ago who wants to do a book on the 50th anniversary of Easy Rider to be published later this year. He asked for my Easy Rider story; Initially I told him no, but after looking at his books I somewhat trusted this guy. We talked on the phone last weekend, and he seems legit. He’s written some books on the history of old Hollywood. We’ve talked on the phone, and I like this guy. We’re co-authoring the book.
I first saw Easy Rider 20 years after it was released in theaters. I’d never seen a movie like that before, and after I first saw it, I was a bit in shock. I bought my first Street Bike the next day. I’ve been riding a bike since I was 11 years old, but I gotta say it did have an impact on me. Seeing them cross the country on bikes made me realize that I want to do the same thing. I’ve been trying to ride as much ground as I can ever since then; Look for adventure, and whatever comes my way…
So I have a question: what is your Easy Rider Story? I’d like to know. I’d like to put them in the book. Did you see it in the theaters when it came out? Whats your thoughts on the movie? Gimme a quote, or a paragraph, or 5 pages. Let’s talk,
I’d love to hear them. If you’ve got a good story, let me know. Email me: mrzip66@gmail.com
I need your Easy Rider Story Read More »
It’s just a spring clean for the may-queen.
Meaning: if there’s something not right, clean it out. Get yourself right.
A great song.
You can over complicate it if you want, but IMO it’s just that simple.
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow… Read More »
2018 Has been a helluva good year, at least for me. 2016 was a transition; 2017 was adjusting to the same, 2018 was for feeling out my situation, and 2019 is for owning it all and kicking a little ass.
I took 10 days off of work this year, and I gotta admit I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Every day is a little more fuel for the fire that I wanna light come January 2nd.
Time to surprise myself with what is possible. I’m sorta fired up about it.
Hope you biker pricks had a Merry Christmas.
Fuel for the fire….
6 more days till 2019 Read More »
Easy Rider was filmed Starting in late February of 1968. It produced the arguably most famous and iconic bike of all time, the Captain America chopper. The Billy bike, while less famous was also made. Before filming concluded, the remaining 3 bikes were stolen.
Who Stole them? I gotta think that someone out there, knows what happened.
We know this: There were four bikes made for Easy Rider. 49 though 51 Police Panheads, Bought at auction and customized for the low budget movie Easy Rider by local LA bike builders Ben Hardy and Cliff Vaughs. Two were made for filming, and the other two were backups. The backup captain America bike was pretty much destroyed by the ending scene, and what was left of it was given to Dan Haggerty. I love Grizzly Adams, but his stories are all over the place. Turns out, he sold a lot of “original” Captain America’s, and I question his credibility.
Then, before filming was completed the remaining three bikes were stolen. They completed the movie without the bikes. Tex Hall was the stuntman on the movie, and the story goes he went after the guys who stole the bikes to recover them. Guns were involved and a recovery was unsuccessful.
The rumor was, is that the Hells Angels stole it to repay a “debt” in their eyes. Before Easy Rider, Peter Fonda made a movie a year before Easy Rider was even an Idea called the Wild Angels. It was another Roger Corman funded film, and quite honestly set the stage for Easy Rider. If you haven’t seen it, its a pretty campy flick about the late 60s 1%’er motorcycle culture, but worth watching.
I’ve read Sonny Bargers book several times. He’s clearly not a fan of Peter Fonda or anyone flippantly using or disrespecting the name of the Hells Angels. I think he felt Peter Fonda tried to capitalize on the HA name when he made Hells Angels on wheels. Personally, I think he was right.
We also know the Hells angels were not afraid of throwing their weight around in a big way when they needed to. When the HA felt they got screwed over at Altamont for the death of Meredith Hunter in 1969, The rumor was they put a hit out on Mick Jagger. It got real enough for the Stones, that they eventually settled with the Angels.
I actually hit up George Christie who was the President of the Ventura chapter of the Hells Angels for 35 years. I’d read his book as well. George is a natural born leader and quite honestly, a very intelligent and gracious guy. We talked on the phone for a bit. Even though George became a Patched member of the HA/MC 8 years after the Easy Rider bikes were stolen, I kinda wondered if discussions of the of the original bikes being stolen by the Angels could have crossed his path at some point. He was also a member of the Southern California MC crowd around that time with the Galloping goose MC, Satan’s Slaves and the Question Marks. He woulda been involved in the scene during those times. I asked him directly, and he said he didn’t know.
I’ve just always been curious: Who stole the Easy Rider Bikes? Do you know?
Who stole the Easy Rider Bikes? Read More »
About a year ago I won one of these Google Home things, and for the most part I’ve found it fairly worthless. It’s good for asking for random facts here and there, and my kids and I giggle when we make it repeat swear words. Other than that, I can’t really say its changed my life. I mostly think it was made to listen to my every word, and its saved in a database somewhere in the NSA data center in Bluffdale Utah.
I keep all my controversial conversations in the garage, while my cell phone is in the fridge.
But this commercial kinda made me giggle:
Nicely done Google.