ROD-A-DAY:: 1931 Ford Pickup

Crusty, rusty 1931 Ford AV8 Pickup on the streets of Brooklyn.
I'm surprised how many old cars I am starting to see on the streets of this city. It gives me hope for humanity. (Thanks to owner Drew for correcting me on the model year! Shame on me.)

Man...Or Astroman? An Interstellar Return

Holy Haley's Comet, Spaceman! It has come to my attention that the ever amazing Man...or Astroman? is heading to the East Coast to play some shows after some triumphant sets during this year's SXSW.


Image courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan
Having somehow missed out on seeing them play in their heyday (mid to late 90's), I am happy to report that tickets go on sale this Friday for their shows at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan (11/12) and the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn (11/13), where I will be, with my 9 volt tongue.


Check out more photos from a recent show in Toronto at Brooklyn Vegan.

Brooklyn Psychobilly Luau - July 10th & 11th

Woah nelly! Another rockabilly music festival in Brooklyn?? What the hell is going on here! I just heard about one going on from the 16th - 18th of July at the Warsaw in Greenpoint called the Rebel Night Weekender, but didn't post about it because I just didn't have the time. That one is much more traditional rockabilly sounding (The Trashmen, Sit & Die Co., a lot fewer bands), but who knows! Could totally rock.

So about the Luau: a few weeks ago I was at my friend Mike Fisher's band's show at the Lit Lounge in the LES. Mike's band is called D.I.S., punky death metal at its finest! Mike is also a great artist; check out his work at www.maxiumumflouride.net. While there, I met a guy who works for Rebel Angel productions, and though I forget his name (I wrote it down somewhere but lost that piece of paper), he was super nice and told me about how Rebel Angle had recently put on the first Deadbolt show in ages a little while back and said I should check out their site.

Rebel Angel is putting on music events for the hot rod set in NYC constantly, and the Psychobilly Luau, already in it's 4th year, is coming up next weekend! Good thing I finally got around to looking at their website, eh?


Psychobilly Luau @ the Bell House, July 10th & 11th, Brooklyn NY.

In addition to a zillion great bands playing over the two days, there will be all kinds of other rod-related revelry to partake in: sideshows, vendors, fashion shows, burlesque dancers, hot rods, BBQ, contests and more!

Just check out the list of bands:
(Saturday July 10th - ALL AGES!!)
GUANA BATZ (Midnight)
The Goddamn Gallows (10:45)
Memphis Morticians (9:45)
The Hypnophonics (8:45)
Stellar Corpses (7:45)
Psycho Charger (6:45)
The Arkhams (5:45)
The Othermen (5:00)
Viva Le Vox (4:15)
The Rebel Angels (3:30)

(Sunday July 11th - 21+ only)
THE NEANDERTHALS
The Swingin' Neckbreakers
Jukebox Jodi & her 45s
Labretta Suede and The Motel 6
The Thunderfucks
King Sickabilly One Man Band
Thee Atomic Cavemen
Amy Rose and Her Trouble Makers
The Twang Bangers (Germany)

Damn...that's a lot. Tickets can be found on the Rebel Angel website and are $25 for Saturday, $20 for Sunday and $40 for a weekend pass. See you there!

Upcoming Events: 6th Annual Exhibition of Vintage Motorcycles - Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Sun. Aug. 23rd

My custom bike-building friend Peter sent me this just now and I'm rarin' to go. The 6th Annual Exhibition of Vintage Motorcycles, "Brand X", is being held this Sunday, August 23rd @ Works Engineering 168 N. 14th Street Near Wythe Ave in Brooklyn in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure I've stumbled onto this show before back when I lived and worked in Williamsburg, and although I have no clue what happened to the photos I can tell you it was an insanely great showing of two wheeled power, technique and creativity. Best of all, the bike crowd is scary and angry enough to keep most of the curious hipster trash away.


The show is from 10am to 6pm with plenty of booze, BBQ and bands to keep your Sunday rollin'. Be there!

ROD-A-DAY: '62 Brooklyn Buick LeSabre

Almost every day during the summer months when the sun is out and I'm not hungover, I mount my bike and make the harrowing 7.9 mile commute to where I work in Bushwick, Brooklyn. (That's 7.9 miles one way, mind you.) That means this week I rode 47.4 miles, not including any detours here and there off the designated path or jaunts to the supermarket. Lets say I ride three days every week for the last month (that's 189.6 just in commuting) and then there was the day long bike trip to Red Hook last weekend (another 12 miles)... Jesus. You get the idea. I know there are probably plenty of people out there who are riding 40 miles a day or something, but try doing that during rush hour in NYC and we'll see how long you last.

My regular route to work is an exhausting forty minute, smog-hazed, pothole-ridden, death defying, asshole filled road ragin' ride that makes me question my sanity just as much as it makes me feel like I'm incredibly' hardcore.


See? Insanity. The route I take almost every day to work on the ol' two wheeler.
While the trip certainly is filled with interesting smells (the artificial scent factory on 36th street somewhere, rotting piles of garbage marinating in the summer heat) and sounds (cat calls, car horns) and obstacles (road construction, gravel pits, flattened pigeons, blind assholes with drivers licenses), it tends to be lacking in interesting things to look at.

This seems like a bit of an imbecilic complaint on my behalf, because as everybody who bike commutes in this city knows, the minute you stop thinking and looking at the road for one millisecond is the minute you meet your maker. So naturally, why in the world would I want things to distract me? I guess what I'm saying here is that I've found the fastest, safest route to work that I ride several times a week and it is getting SERIOUSLY BORING seeing the same factories, tenement buildings and civil service workers every single freakin' day.

There is one thing however that I pass almost every day as I head up 3rd avenue right around Caroll Gardens that lifts my spirits - the '62 Buick LeSabre.

It might not be the showiest of things, but in a city fof 8.3 Million people crammed into 305 square miles of concrete, asphalt, rats and roaches, it's a nice breath of fresh air to see something with some character now and again. I keep fantasizing that one day as I'm slowing my riding speed to take it all in that the owner will come out (from wherever he - presumably - lives) and tell me that for $300 in cold hard cash "that hunk of junk can be yours for the taking." One can dream.

ROD-A-DAY:: Rumblers in Coney Island

1937 Chevy pickup (I deduce) at a recent Rumblers show in Coney Island, which I missed (as usual).
Photo from Jamie NYC via Flickr.