Vespaway

In Other News

Following on Paolo Timoni's letter in the New York Times yesterday, today's New York Daily News reported a pothole being filled four days, 1 hour and 35 minutes after someone from the News anonymously reported it to New York City's 311 service. Although they say that turnaround time is average, this fix happened to occur

during an all-out blitz by the city that saw some 5,746 other potholes filled with 255 tons of asphalt since Friday, officials said.

This pothole patching party is supposed to last until the middle of next month or until all the potholes are gone, whichever comes first. Since the former will most certainly come first, this is fantastic news to all New York scooterists.

Any New Yorker can dial 311 and report a pothole (or report other city-related problems, or choose from a whole menu of information choices such as alternate side parking rules). Not to bury the lead or anything but, in case you hadn't guessed, I have officially moved back to Brooklyn full time. I will miss San Francisco scootering but I have to say I love being back in the land of the greatest bagels and the crappiest coffee, reading the Daily News. I still like the New York Times sometimes, in spite of a number of reasons I won't go into here. I must confess the Sunday crossword has utterly supplanted my religious practise, and my favorite is the Science supplement every Tuesday, the day Paolo's letter arrived.

Conspicuous Thrift Is Cool

Chris Ayres, Los Angeles correspondent for the London Times provokes chuckles with a BoBos in Paradise sort of approach to the Vespa alternative. Driving a gas-guzzler had driven him to inwardly brooding over keeping up with the Joneses and their hybrid cars. Sensing what would make him happy, his wife gave him a Vespa for Christmas.

“Don’t worry,” she cooed. “You’ll look cute on it.” Now, as any man knows, there is a whole universe of difference between cool and cute.

Don't worry, I say too, Chris. Once you've logged more than 50 miles and have gotten past the wobbles, you'll be cool. [Thanks to Pete Selkowe, Vespaway reader and PX200 rider from Racine, Wisconsin for this story]

Airfield Traffic Pattern

This happens to be the picture of the day on Wikipedia today, the anniversary of the first commercial flights of the Concorde. How does this relate to Vespa you ask?

Piaggio was, and is today with Piaggio Aero, an aircraft factory. After World War II, recognizing the need for conversion to civil market, it approached this idea using internal skill, expertise and spare parts: in the first exemplar one can recognize the typical aircraft technology of molded steel sheets riveted at the edges, the front wheel with lamp was actually a landing gear, the engine was derived from a starter of an airplane engine, attention to aerodynamics is evident in all the design, in particular on the tail.

If you have to ask, ask Wikipedia.

Happy Talk

Mobile phone use does not lead to a greater risk of brain tumour, the largest study on the issue has said.

This news from the BBC prompted me to go a-hunting for a fitting geurrilla image pasted up at several strategic intersections in the Bay Area. What I found, to my delight, was this:

Its source is Yellow Pages Commando. How had I not found this hilarious blog before? I think the site is supposed to be about advertising and marketing but this guy Dick Larkin goes so far afield he makes my allusions to comic books and jazz footnotes seem like direct quotations from a Piaggio factory manual. Makes for a good read, though, don't it? His, I mean -- me, I'm just getting started still. Anyway, the pic here is from a 2003 archive and, in a momentary deficit of commentary the only context he has is This sign is popular everywhere except New York. Now it is this week's brain teaser for me. I don't get it. Maybe Mr. Larkin thought New Yorkers were upset a whole two years from being the first State to mandate hands-free phoning while driving (that is to say, you can't be holding a phone in your hands -- you're not required to use a phone at all if you don't want to). Trust me, Dick, New Yorkers moved on. Since then, only one other State and the District of Columbia have enacted similar laws. Many cities have done it, and more are working on it [2004 reference: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]. Man, though, California, I gotta say, of all places, I mean, I've been known to espouse the wonders of modern telecommunications on this site because, yeah, it's great but, geez, California, WAKE UP, HANG UP AND DRIVE. The image I was originally looking for is of a skull with a cell-phone in its skeleton hand. Make no mistake. Mobile technology can kill people in quicker ways than with cancer.

Seattle Even Especially

If the rain comes they run and hide their heads.
sdaeh rieht edih dna nur yeht semoc niar eht fI.
(Rain) Lennon-McCartney

I was listening to the radio again, listening to WNYC again, this time this NPR piece about record rainfall in Seattle. No cause to recant the song and dance about unrelenting winter riding, it was, on the contrary (even though I got soaked today), only a reminder of what I might have mentioned in the first place. Everyone knows Seattle gets tremendous amounts of rain but what you might not know is that it also plays host to many hundreds of happy Vespisti, among them stalwart members of such organizations as the Belladonnas, the venerable Emerald City Flying Monkeys, nottomention the well established Vespa Club of Seattle. Maybe that even makes you want to pay the great scooter city a visit so don't forget about the deal at the Hotel Monaco -- Vespa rental rolled into the bill for a lovely suite. If the excellent offer hasn't been extended or if you plan to stay with family anyway (hi Mom!), you can go directly to ScootAbout for hourly, daily, and weekly rentals.

I can show you. I can show you.

All The More Reason

'Tis the season to be swallowed up by a giant puddle -- supposedly. San Francisco just celebrated another Big Wet One scooter rally that this time really was a big wet one. My pal in Los Angeles reported a record rainy season for LA but that was December. Recent weather checks reveal relatively mild climes for the times. As testament to the record high temperatures New York has been having, the Vespa that never moves from its parking place down the block was away today. My theory is that my Brooklyn Heights neighbor was away during the transit strike and the holidays -- away in some warm place where one can rent a Vespa, like Bermuda or Costa Rica -- and the very day they got back they hopped on the ol' ET4 for a leisurely January spin.

Yesterday I heard a spot on WNYC featuring an expert horticulturalist taking telephone questions from a few of New York City's innumerable home gardeners. The focus of the show was what to do in the way of plant maintenance during the winter months, whether indoors or out. The point was that, just because it's January, that doesn't mean the flora are dead. Tips were given for soaking up light at the bottom of a light well and mulching for soil that is heavy with alkaline from all the concrete. Nothing was said about gardening in the city being unusual. As I see it, city life cries out for growing things.

People write in asking about scootering in the city. Interestingly, they have not been asking about riding in the rain for quite a while. On the contrary, more people than ever have been saying they are thinking about getting a Vespa very soon, regardless of what time of year it is. I guess the masses are catching on to a proven practice, thanks indeed to a manufacturer which continues to delight but also to all the happy customers who can't shut up about it (it's not just me). The ones still shopping keep asking us, however, about the dangers of contending with downtown traffic, and they keep asking about best methods for beginning from scratch; what the learning curve is. As to just starting out, the new automatics make it a cinch. Furthermore, blogmate Barton has mentioned many times what a boon we have in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. The courses they offer not only provide a smooth transition from pedestrian to fully licenced scooterist, they are recommended for seasoned riders as well. Speaking of blogmates, our sister site Vespaquest is doing much to enlighten the first-timers especially. As to living in the city, I say all the more reason. [insert famous photo of Gene Kelly on a Vespa here]

I'm Not Dead Yet

(singing) I feel happy...I feel happy...

My brother and I convened in New York City yesterday for holiday cheer. We could not get tickets to Spamalot but we did succeed in entertaining each other with Monty Python references and other such boyish, hallowed, embarassingly silly esoterica.

And now for something completely different,

a man with three scooters... One is the 1977 Vespa Rally I will never sell (it is priceless). I sold the Lambretta Silver Special and the Bajaj Chetak in order to get more Vespas: an LX150 and a GT250 -- I couldn't make up my mind. I do a lot of city dashing and a lot of distance hauling. One or the other would be perfect for a little of both but, like I say, I do a lot of both. It's not like I'm going to go driving around in a car, either. One new car would cost twice as much as two new Vespas together. I'm not even talking about a real luxury car, either, and luxury is what I do get with a Vespa (or three).

We could use the £5,000 to buy a spoon...

Speaking of which, did you catch that CNN scoop last month about the new rules for ice cream? It got me going through the holidays looking for reindeer ice cream. I didn't find any. Not even at eCreamery. I did find this, though, not ice cream, but a chocolate bar from Lake Champlain thanks to Steve Almond in Utne Reader.  The Utne article about how chocolate helps your heart and mind also talks about the serious importance of fair labor policies, and mentions the fact that the dark chocolate is the healthy kind, not the milk chocolate. Well, for me, a bite of a Dagoba Eclipse bar with (got Milk?) a swig of organically farmed cow juice and luxury is what I get every time.

Note: no child labor was used to create the Vespa scooters or the chocolate bars mentioned in this post -- only the post itself (Natty Bumpo helped but we both did it for love and no money).

Here 'Tis

It's the moment you've all been waiting for. This morning, at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, PiaggioUSA announces the GTS 250 i.e.  This is the bike that has been setting fresh benchmarks for maxi scooters as well as classic scooters since the Spring, when it rolled out in Europe.  All through Summer and Fall everyone has been asking us, when will it come to the States? Now it has arrived. Expect, as we experienced recently with the LX150, to see demand outpace the supply for a while. In two words, waiting list. You may well get lucky and get one right away, depending on which of the Fifty is your state. The wait suits me personally at any rate; before I get ready to celebrate fifty years since GS Rex with a whole new all-time great, I want to spend more time honoring sixty years of Vespa with the li'l ol' LX.

Summer In Argentina

That's right, in the Southern Hemisphere, it's Summertime, and Vespaonline's second annual Desert Raid is underway. Bustling Buenos Aires is behind them. So far they have encountered fewer and fewer cars as they get deeper into the Pampas Desert but they still get the occasional tractor trailer blowing past them. The air displacement from the trucks gives them a bit of practice for the extreme crosswinds they will soon encounter on the unpaved Ruta 40. The parties of vultures stripping cow carcasses to bone are giving them a bit of solemnity for the extreme distance they have to make before they see Ushuaia. The spaghetti they brought is giving them plenty of comfort at night.

Brreezing Along

Now the wintertime is coming,
The windows are filled with frost.
I went to tell everybody,
But I could not get across.

Bob Dylan, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

On the subject of bundling up, we have a couple of posts so far, one on gloves and one on coats. Who would have thought this would be a fitting context for skirts? David Hunter of the SF Bay Area asks us, What do you do when it rains? Answer: 1) Use more caution and less throttle, 2) Breathe deeply the negative ions and smell the freshness, 3) Let the rain bounce off and try to avoid letting the rain puddle in the groin area. The invention many riders have imagined when set with this third challenge has been finally and marvelously executed by Ruben of ScooterSkirts.com and Oakland, California. That's your neighborhood, David. Incidentally, the kind of weather we're feeling even on days like today is really nothing to complain about compared to the many places where scooters spend whole snowy months indoors. And with that, I put on my Swiss Army coat of rubberized canvas and am off to traverse cablecar tracks, to defy the slickness, to enjoy the ride.

What'd You Call Me?

For calling long distance friends and associates via PC, or via regular mobile phone for that matter, lots of people have been happily using something called Skype. Now, you would think that being called Gizmo --already a fairly common word in English-- would give Skype's new competitor an unfair advantage in a Google Fight but, check it out, Skype dominates. We'll see how long this holds out. Among many rave reviews of Gizmo, this one is typical...

Better, oh much better, than Skype! [QuantumBlog.com]

Who Will Hold The Bag?

Did I mention Timbuktu? Well, do you know about Timbuk2? I found out about them for real when they offered to sponsor VespaOnline for last year's expedition through the deserts of the Southwestern US.

I have not one but two of these excellent pieces of equipment in constant use. Yet, I was only reminded of the Vespa connection when, flipping through flickr, I came across this piece. Vespaway Trivia: Where else has this particular bag appeared on a link from Vespaway?

Over The River And Through The Woods

To Grandmother's house we went. A lovely drive it was, too, as usual. I have suggested before that Maine has no shortage of exquisitely curvacious, majestically scenic, well maintained, luxuriously deserted highways and byways. For the shortage it does have of Vespas on those roads, I offer a second solution to add to the previous one of getting some Mainers to open a Vespa shop. The second solution is for non-Mainers to participate in the next Cannonball, supplement the trip with an eighth-day leg-up to Portland, and just stay there. I mean you should move to Maine. On your Vespa. This second semi-perennial cross-country scooter adventure was originally pencilled in as a Portland-to-Portland thing (Oregon to Maine). It is currently scheduled (to be fleshed out further at High Rollers 2006) as starting September 10th near Portland, Oregon and ending September 17th in Bloomfield, New Jersey. What say we meet September 18th in Bayonne and complete the port-to-port concept?

Gas Gas Gas

More reporting on big numbers at the pump, this time from Wired...

For anyone with a fresh idea, expensive oil is as good as a subsidy - with no political strings attached. Indeed, every extra penny you pay at the pump is an incentive for some aspiring energy mogul to find another fuel.

...or how about a way to get more than sixty miles per gallon? Does that make Piaggio's Paolo Timoni an energy mogul? Meanwhile, Spencer Reiss goes on to suggest that the best way for Americans to build interest in research for alternatives to fossil fuels is to drive those SUV's more often.

Crude hit $70 a barrel last August, but oil companies have learned the hard way how quickly prices can crash. They adjust their expectations accordingly - downward. [full story]

And from a consumer's perspective, I don't pretend to have any expectations that people will start driving big cars less often any time soon. Ride safe, kids, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Who's Next?

(See link) Jon,

I also go by the name Jon on occasion. More confusing, I share this blog with my compatriot Neil, who in turn shares a watch over the New York Scooter Club with another Jonathan. That's my name too. I gave Neil a jingle to shout congratulations over the new club but I'll say it again publicly here that it delights me to see the thing come into being after sitting at a table over pizza and listening to Jonathan and him and others saying "wouldn't it be a good idea if..."  I'm still headquartered in San Francisco, though. If you, Jonathan Perkel and I avoid being in the same city at the same time we can keep people guessing about whether we are the same guy. A couple years ago it seemed like every third ocassion you met some joker on a Vespa his name was Dave. Can it be that Jon is the new Dave?

What Next?

Dry cleaning goes to a whole new level.

A waterless washing machine that removes stains from garments in a few minutes has been developed at the National University of Singapore, the facility said on Wednesday. The appliance uses negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to clean clothes. [Via The Gadget Blog and Engadget]

To last week's theme, as well as to this new bit, I should add the old news that a long ride through lush countryside is downright wonderful for aerating not only your motor and your lungs but also, of course, the clothes  you wear.

Then What?

I went on a long ride. With an old two-stroke motor, it's always a good idea to get out and open it up so as to blow out the carbon buildup in there but the main idea is getting fresh air into your human engine and four-stroke moto riders know all about that too. I know I've been promising a mountain road analysis of the LX for some time. Yet it is on account of getting hooked on the 2006 LX that I have severely neglected my 1977 VSD and so I pulled the sweet thing out of the garage to put in some quality time.

But first, before I could go have fun, I had to deal with the EDD. California has a great program for compensating workers who miss work for family reasons. However, getting the actual checks to come takes work. I took paternity leave in August and am still working on convincing them (with proper forms in triplicate) that I did not get paid for six weeks (nottomention that I am family-related to my son, as the documents provided by the hospital indicate). I had half a mind to ride a hundred miles straight to Sacramento and march into their office brandishing a photo album but that wasn't necessary. I think we've worked everything out. My long ride remained purely recreational.

Then what? Then I slept. Then ate. Then I went back to work.

My Way

I dragged myself away from long hours in the office yesterday only to discover it had been an unseasonably beautiful day in the Bay Area. Early this morning I purposefully checked to see if today promises more of the same. Sure enough, it should be in the mild 70's any minute. I have plotted a hundred-mile course. I mentioned Yesterday I came away from Wayfarer with all waypoints and no routes. Today it's just the opposite. In any case, now that I have managed to save my work, I can go back and add waypoints if I happen to observe any sites of interest along the journey today. Until then it's just me and the road. Ciao regazzi!

Way Far Along

Way back in June we all got access to the Google Maps API and since then a few people have been doing something with it. Take a look at this from the blog at Wayfaring.com...

After several months of late, late, late nights, we finally have a site that we’re ready for people to look at. As you’ve heard over and over from the 37Signals guys, it is better to get something out and work on it live than to stew on it forever adding features in the basement.

...Now take a look at Wayfaring.com itself. At the time of this writing, it is a but fledgling thing. As member number seven, I have been having some considerable trouble creating the maps the way I want to. After several hours creating waypoints and manually tracing twisty routes, I still haven't a single map saved. Why? As noted in their blog, many updates are being made right now and I have been kicked off, having to reset my login and start from scratch several times. Is that going to stop me from whacking a virtual machete around the backroads of the hinterland? Not likely. I look forward to new features from these guys, such as being able to undo a leg of a route instead of having to cancel and begin again. Then you can look forward to too many routes to choose from from me.

Optiwear

I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet

The traditional US Army issue "fishtail" parka came to serve the purpose of shielding a white sport jacket from grease and bugs, but wind and sleet? On a speeding scooter? Okay, maybe sleet comes in chunks of water big enough to not get into the fabric where raindrop shaped water has no trouble penetrating. Riding home totally soaked in one of those things always made me feel extra sorry for the soldiers. These days we have Gore-Tex. It's more than space-age textiles that turn outerwear into opti-wear, though. It's pockets designed to distribute every tricky accoutrement at the ready. For example, the Sanyo Multi-Function Pocket System has a special pocket for Palm devices lined with static shielded material as well as a cell phone pocket lined with anti-magnetic material. Last year Land's End put out a Gore-Tex trenchcoat with similar features but I can't find it anymore. Their city wear tends to get buried. Their lightweight raincoat that stores away in its own pocket is still a standby, suitable for keeping under your seat.

Helmet Hair

I ride a GS scooter with my hair cut neat                                                                                        

Back again to "back in the day," when we went without head protection in the California sun, I fretted about how scootering blew my hair dry in a style I did not want. The girl I had my eyes on, when she momentarily turned her eyes to me called me Eraserhead. I later discovered that, not only do girls like guys who have enough sense to wear protection, but donning a helmet every day is what has given me the do I did want. Duh, it's good to wear a helmet, but what are some other advantages it brings with it? I have been known, while fumbling with my keys or lacing my boots, to tuck my StarTac into my half-shell for hands-free gabbing. I have since discovered the wonders of plug-in headsets that fit inside a full-face. That's nothing, though, compared to the baby giant step for mankind Motorola made with Momo, and the shuffle-ball-change Scala followed with, I no longer have to remove my helmet at all, so type of haircut is moot. Whether you need to raise Starfleet or call in sick (no need to mention diagnosis: Vespa Obsession), you just be sure to wear some kind of helmet or you may really need to miss work. Live long and prosper.

Internationalism

Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck                                 

Approaching winter puts me in mind of stripey scarves. Whenever summer is coming I think back to my Grandfather on the back porch of a New England cottage with oilpaints from his retirement pastime pallette accidentally getting on his seersucker shorts and him swearing. In this context it's a seersucker shirt. This is part of the British kids' image of an American playboy with the top button undone. It's funny, in the 'eighties, when my friends and I were first trying to define ourselves as mods in America, we would invite ridicule from the squares at school by closing the top button of our shirts. We didn't realize this was less of a style than it was a habit betraying Brits trying otherwise to cultivate the look of a circa 1961 Ivy Leaguer. Of course the look was additionally supposed to be mixed with that of the original Vespiste, the smart Italian. French fashions also were a big influence during that first flush. The thing is, riding a Vespa is as much a statement of cosmopolitanism as it ever was, even as much as the interperetation may be different. In recent times we've seen East End kids imitating the Vespisti of cities such as Athens and Seoul, in shorts and sandals. Nervertheless, navigating gotham on two little wheels is still somehow a sign of sophistication, especially when the get-up is appropriate for working at a restaurant, travel agency, or publishing firm.

Modernism

My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked                                    

I can't tell you what a thrill it was for me to see three-button suits with thin lapels and tapered trousers coming into fashion around the Turn of the Millenium, and kickpleat skirts for the ladies, too. It's not just that the clean lines echo those of the bike, it's that you can be calmly sitting there midflight, zipping around town without the wind blowing where it's not supposed to (up your pantlegs; under your collar). Dig the current ubiquity of early 'sixties fashion motifs for fun all you want but I love it for its sheer practicality. Look at modern architecture, not the disposable kind but the enduring kind, the kind that is majestic and poetic without having curlicues to collect grime and soot. That's what flat-fronted trousers are about. It's fiscally practical at that, now that it's been around in the mainstream long enough to start coming available in thrift stores everywhere. My minimum wage teenage budget would have been all over it. Today I can tell you I'm just plain thrilled that this stuff is available brand new.

Nothing Is Planned

By the sea and the sand...

     My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked,
     Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck.
     I ride a GS scooter with my hair cut neat,
     I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet.

There's a fellow at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club who used to belt this Pete Townsend refrain whenever he'd see me coming. Maybe it was his way of trying to make a suited scooter rider feel welcome among a bunch of leatherclad motorcyclists, but those guys are friendly enough without the song and dance and I think, without my saying anything, he soon realized the Quadrophenia reference was the only thing making me uncomfortable. This isn't to say I don't still hold a place in my heart for the movie that inspired me to get a scooter in the first place. What can I say? I was fourteen years old. I'm happy that it did lead to getting myself on a Vespa the next year (I couldn't wait until I was legal), and I'm happy that a whole new way of living came with it. I am also happy, however, that the lifestyle evolved beyond the inspiration to the point of making Quadrophenia references seem to me, erm, perhaps a little trite.   

Yet, no matter how cool scooters are, part of the equation is a subtle reminder not to take oneself too seriously. To wit, this is practically the message Quadrophenia provides. Besides, I cite the Sea and Sand chorus above because it provides a snappy format for four aspects of style I'd like to explore this week, starting today with the next post, Modernism. 

Wild World

On the subject of false advertising, I am sad to see my fellow Americans are still falling for offers on eBay of Vietnamese "restorations" which are actually prettily painted Frankenstein monsters made from one part scrapped Vespa Sprint, one part scrapped Vespa Super Sport, two parts salvaged Bajaj Chetak, and ten parts Bondo. They may make impressive lawn ornaments but better leave the gnomes to work that job because the gnomes are not going to work on that travesty of a motor for you, and neither will self-respecting US certified mechanics. Do yourself a favor and leave those vehicles in Vietnam where the "art" of keeping such machines alive is practised. At the same time, I am happy to see the LX125 is now in healthy rotation over there. 

Vespaworld

Vespa, Vespa, Vespa, everywhere you look, and it makes many an exciting photograph. But not everywhere you look on Flickr that has the tag 'Vespa' is it the Tyner I mean the real McCoy. I've talked about this before. My little plan of making a game called "Non è un Vespa" has not yet been fully realized. Meanwhile, an alternative diversion emerges. Finding one or two choice portraits of Vespas within wide-ranging travelogues tends to satisfy the eyes quite a sight better than finding a scary snap of someone's butt among a hundred scenes of scooters at a scooter rally, much as we love scooter rallies and, um, yeah. Coming across that pussycat peering through the backrack of a PX in Cinqueterre served to remind me of another meme we have yet to see manifest. You guessed it, it's the Vespaworld tag. Vespaworld --one word-- will one day soon be the tag to search for unique images of Vespas around the world from Timbuktu to Tierra del Fuego. If you want to put yourself in frame to say I was there, great! Only make sure 1. there is a Vespa in picture, and 2. it is a Vespa, not some cheap imitation.

Why Max?

With Apple announcing one million Vpods sold and Sony announcing ten million PSPs sold, we are seeing a spreading of a trend. That trend is video consumption. If we trace the trend from the beginning of broadcast television up to now, we could describe this new development as a flowering for which everything else -- cable, MTV, TiVo -- has only been one long sunflower stalk. I'll stick with the word spreading anyway, since it connotes kudzu. In either case, it is natural. It is natural that we humans, with two eyes facing forward, continue to grow our cathode ray, plasma screen, and LCD viewing capabilities. Given the introduction of Cadillac dashboard DVD players and such truck, I get a little nervous. However, given the proliferation of GPS applications, Motorola's announcement today to support WiMax is a boon to our lovely world of personal transportation.

Don't Be Scared

A few photos of a thing by name Night Of The Vespastics, but was actually the whole weekend of October, may be found in the night gallery. Looking at a handful of snapshots will probably not turn you into a zombie. Rest assured, however, watching this video clip will most definitely mesmerize and enthrall you. Beware! Prepare to leave this life for another if you do... Bwaa ha ha ha haaaaa!

Happy Halloween, kids! Ride safely!

Fresh Sox

Congratulations Chicago! My belated congratulations too to Clemens and Pettite, and to El Duque for getting the Astros and the White Sox together in the first place for what did prove a memorable World Series.  Speaking of a memorable...

Take a moment on Thursday, all you Red Sox fans out there, and think back to what you were doing one year ago.  [MLB.com]

Libero Nato

Ciao Petsters, from the people who brought you the "no pets" warning on the helmet compartment...

The city of Rome is cracking down on careless pet owners by introducing fines for those who fail to take their dog out on regular walks. [Read the full story at BBC.co.uk]

The new laws also protect cats, birds, fish, and prevents any pets from being given away as prizes at fairs.

For many more scenes of Italy like the one seen here, visit Laurie Poon's photostream.

Forward Scoot

While the VOIP Security Alliance toils in the background to batten down hatches and patches, iSkoot keeps the motor running on its very friendly offer for forwarding Skype calls from your PC to your phone. Who are these guys and how did they get to be so smart?

Among The Stars

Just now, flying through the night, I strained my neck from 21F to watch Bewitched and see today's top of My Free Pass List (a.k.a. the special list of celebrities you'd be allowed to sleep with w/o marital damage*), you guessed it, Will Ferrell. I'm kidding, of course, it's Kidman, kids. And here she is in a movie I have not yet seen due to a few tepid reviews even though it's directed by Sydney Pollack and is filled with my favorite players (Nicole, Sean Penn, UN Headquarters, Vespa), The Interpreter.

*contemplating this list reveals its absurdity in my case because...well, I'm not going to go into who all make up the whole eleven because...my God, my wife is all of these amazing women rolled into one, plus she is not a celebrity, which is a big big plus. She looks good on a Vespa too.

Heart Of The Matter

For fluid motion through the heart of metropolis, I heart the LX150. My experiences with it so far in New York and San Francisco have cast out any lingering misgiving whatsoever as to classic vs. contemporary chassis design.  To say nothing of great brakes and quality torque (I'll say something about those later), its sheer maneuverability has it standing alone at the top of its class. It's like there's some kind of gyroscope inside. I zip in and out of traffic like Quicksilver.

Next step of the LX analysis: canyon carving

Throwing Down The Gauntlet

...I've got my gloves to keep me warm... but I always manage to lose one, so I try to have a backup. Occasionally I buy two pair at a go (four of a kind) so I can replace one at a time. More often I spend days hunting around for the same old style in order to not have to throw away the one I didn't lose. This has been my default system since that time I did find the same style right away in the discount bin. Those are long odds to play because they wind up in the discount bin for the same reason they more commonly wind up nowhere I can find them -- the style is discontinued. I think it's a conspiracy among glove manufacturers that none of them settle on a single success and repeat it. That way, at every new purchase, I will have to buy a backup set. I challenge all glovemakers to put out a classic, no-frills all-weather motorcycle glove and keep it a classic by continuing to provide the same style from one season to another. Note: by "no-frills" I mean you can guarantee it won't go out of fashion by refraining from making it look like something Gene Simmons would wear; I do not mean leave off the little faceshield-wiper rubber strip on the thumb (why all moto gloves do not have that is beyond me). Here is a nice pair of basic examples to go by. Unfortunately these retail around $69.99 because I couln't find good examples for $35.

Gericke Eco Gore-Tex                                                                                  

                                                                                           

                                                                        Dakota Power Trip

I Can Go Anywhere...

Word on the street is that Google's proposal to blanket San Francisco with free wireless Internet access is making positive progress at City Hall. Think of what that could mean for Luca Barzelogna's Vesputer.

Buyers Rejoice

Get a load of Steve Rider, whoever he is. You know how some of us like to accessorize with multiple mirror stems, well, he's got the whole Space Needle coming out of his headset. That's not what I wanted to tell you, though. If you flip through the flurry of fotos he posted to flickr yesterday, you'll see what sure look like the revels of a new GT owner. It reminded me of a note I got the other day from a guy in Washington wondering whether to get an LX150 or a PX150. I too am torn. So much so I have been tardy in my reply, so I thought for a second that he'd gone ahead and settled the decision with a GT200. This dude is in DC I see upon return to his note to me, and his name is Craig, not Steve. I don't know how deep he is in the DC metro area but, without getting into the differences between X150's yet, let us establish once and for all that the biggest difference between a 150cc and a 200cc scooter is the area you want to cover. Steve Rider seems to be ranging from Muckilteo to Tacoma. For simply zipping across town, as Neil says, getting to pole position from the back of a pack of stuck cars on a GT is more of a trick than it is on an ET4 (the precursor of the LX). Then he goes on to develop as deep an appreciation for the GT as I'm sure every GT rider, Steve Rider for example, is infected with. For now, however, my job is to respond to Graig's question of an LX150 or a PX150. As I mentioned parenthetically, the LX150 is the present evolution stage of Vespa's millenium generation. That new look is not just a look. I've been getting the feel for over a month now so, while I'm getting ready to do a dedicated review of the LX150 very soon, I will just say again, perhaps to the surprise of many of my friends on classic Vespas, that I am torn between the LX150 and the PX150. This is not a commercial. This is what this blog is supposed to be, third-party customer-to-customer points-of-view. My initial impulse was to tell Craig to get the P, not only out of envy from living in California (the only State in the Union where the new P is not available), but also out of speculation that the classic design is more likely to continue to accrue in value. Then I happened to swing over to San Francisco Scooter Centre, well esteemed for honest dealing, where I witnessed a two-year-old ET4 selling for more than what its brand new sticker price was. Its performance record stands up, as I am quite sure that of the LX will. I understand your dilemna, Craig. Luckily, you can't go wrong.

Musical Eleven

I have many unrelated passions but, for my birthday, my focus is one that relates to at least a couple of previous posts. Music always brings goodness. That's the name of no less than a couple of songs by Ornette Coleman but, for those who don't dig Ornette, it's not necessarily a true statement. The Music Genome Project has come up with a way to have the DJ play what you do want to hear and give the thumbs-down to what you don't. Anyone can now go to the College Music Journal online, select Radio CMJ from the menu,  and click on Discovery Radio to create self-propagating playlist based on artists and songs typed in by the listener. Try it, it's fun! Pandora may become a favorite dj of yours too. Although there are many dedicated and friendly people behind Pandora, she herself is a fembot. My ten other favorite deejays are actual persons. Someone named Shawn on SOMAfm is responsible for a show called Beat Blender featuring the good ol' Brand New Heavies weaving in and out of old old and new new smooth grooves. What drew me to SOMAfm though was a show known to a few as Secret Agent masterminded by a guy codenamed Rusty Hodge. These online channels will fill holes in any weekly agenda. Set reminders and double alarms to hear Mr. Finewine every Saturday evening and Trouble every Thursday morning, both on WFMU. Early weekday mornings on WKCR, we have Phil Schaap dragging out crazy rare acetate recordings on his all-Charlie-Parker show Birdflight, before that Syd Gribbitz driving the blessed Daybreak Express.

Besides the weekly shows mentioned above, numerous special broadcasts occur throughout the year, pre-empting all regular programming for at least 24-hours. These include Birthday Broadcasts:

Clifford Brown
(b. October 30, 1930; d. June 26, 1956)

Coleman Hawkins
(b. Nov. 21, 1904; d. May 19, 1969)

Today being Tuesday, I turn my attention again to KPOO where Wanika runs the Uplift program: from Noon Pacific it's four hours of the music and wisdom of John Coltrane. That's where I heard that Carnegie Hall concert with Thelonious Monk months before its commercial release. First, at 8AM Pacific, comes JJ playing 'sixties soul and, before that, from Midnight Sunday-Monday comes four hours of Jazz music and poetry from The Night Fly who, like JJ, spins vinyl only.  My favorite dj of all time anyway has to be my older brother David Ogilvy whose handle on WCFM during the punk explosion of '79 was "The Youngest DJ in The Berkshires" although at age thirteen he was probably the youngest in the country picking, announcing and, most importantly, jockeying discs for his own weekly show. Since then he's had shows on KZSC, KZSU, and KDVS. I think now he should go on over to KALX (and if they give him a show I will activate a link from portal site Vespaway).

Tune in tomorrow for a new thing -- stuff about scooters.

Multiple Sightings

We know about the spare time a Vespa gives you in the parking part of your life. To those who've been taking that time and squandering it over a picturesque parking spot, I apologize for having been lax in capturing the visual products of your labor. Here's one I saw in Soho, New York (the photo fails to show the metal sculpture perfectly placed in the background).

Have you been to flickr lately though? Here's one I found there from Soho, London (a much better photo than mine).

If you go to flickr and do a tag search for Vespa you get more than thirty-five hundred images. Now here's the catch. They're not all Vespas. Many are definitely Vespa-related because they were taken from a Vespa (parked and moving). Many are merely mistakenly identified imitations. The most common culprits are Hondas and Yamahas. To those who've been noticing these errors, I challenge you to a little game of "non è un Vespa." I don't know how we'll keep score or how to determine the winner but for an example of how to play, visit this list of pictures tagged 'Vespa.'

C Is For Chowder Bar

Chances are, if you've visited the Northern Coast of the United States, East or West, you've tried New England Clam Chowder. 

Familiar as it is, New England clam chowder is a little strange. Clams 'n' cream? Really, if you didn't know, you'd never know. [from Nina Lalli's review of the Chowder Bar in The Village Voice]

What's particular about this chowder on Bay Shore, Long Island, is not just that it beats the chowder at Nicky's next door, but that it beats the chowder on Nantucket. Furthermore, Bay Shore is a perfect stopping point along the middle of Long Island's Atlantic Coast. Now that the months have R's in them, you can sample oysters unhampered by elbow-to-elbow traffic in the Hamptons.

Coming to the Chowder Bar

1. To get there from Vespa Southampton, go West on the Sunrise Highway (or the Montauk Hwy).

2. To get from Vespa Queens to the Jackie Robinson Parkway, this map is as good as any. In case you didn't know, Parkway means No Trucks Permitted. Unless you're daft enough to like drafting behind trucks for speed, you probably prefer to have no trucks around while riding your Vespa at full tilt. You can take service roads most of the way along The Long Island Expressway East of Corona Park. Nevertheless, The Jackie Robinson Parkway is fine and curvily takes you straight onto The Grand Central Parkway, which becomes The Northern State Parkway. Here we do want that L.I.E. s service road because that becomes Old Westbury Road as it intersects with Glen Cove Road. Glen Cove Road is an easy way to get to the Old Country Road entrance for the historic Meadowbrook Parkway. Of course you could stay on the Northern State the whole way to where the Meadowbrook begins. And of course there are many other short cuts along surface streets but, well, they're on surface streets and therefore aren't really shortcuts. The main thing is that The Meadowbrook gets you to Ocean Parkway. Ocean Parkway has none of the curves or overhanging willows that beautify the other parkways of the TriState Area. It is yet by far the lovliest. Follow it all the way East, past Gilgo Beach, to the Robert Moses Causeway. After the bridge, take the first exit on the main land towards Bay Shore. That's 27A not 27 aka Montauk Highway, and here it's called South Country Road (where there's a BP station), and it soon becomes East Main Street in Bay Shore.

I don't know why throughout Long Island street names are called East on their west ends and West on their east ends but, anyway, from West Main Street, just after the theatre on the left, make a right turn onto Maple Avenue and you're practically there.

3. To get from Scooter Bottega or Brooklynbretta take Union to Prospect Park and, from Grand Army Plaza either 3a. take the long way via Eastern Parkway to the Jackie Robinson and the rest of the directions above, or 3b. take the other long way via Flatbush down to Linden Boulevard, Linden Boulevard (27) all the way out to Conduit and the rest of the directions from yesterday. Actually, Nassua Expressway takes you all the way out to Atlantic Beach. There's a toll, something like a buck and a quarter, to enter the town of Atlantic Beach but from there it's almost a straight shot to Ocean Parkway. However, if, just after the airport, you get back onto the Belt and take the exit for Sunrise Highway, it's a straighter shot.

Heading homeward, West from the Robert Moses Causeway, I had Ocean Parkway all to myself, save for the sea birds hovering out over the water. I watched them beat their wings against the giant orange sunset sky. They watched me beat my LX150 up to 70 mph without maximum throttle. Must have been the wind... or the chowder.

Chances are, if you've visited the Northern Coast of the United States, East or West, you've tried New England Clam Chowder. 

Familiar as it is, New England clam chowder is a little strange. Clams 'n' cream? Really, if you didn't know, you'd never know. [from Nina Lalli's review of the Chowder Bar in The Village Voice]

What's particular about this chowder on Bay Shore, Long Island, is not just that it beats the chowder at Nicky's next door, but that it beats the chowder on Nantucket. Furthermore, Bay Shore is a perfect stopping point along the middle of Long Island's Atlantic Coast. Now that the months have R's in them, you can sample oysters unhampered by elbow-to-elbow traffic in the Hamptons.

Coming to the Chowder Bar

1. To get there from Vespa Southampton, go West on the Sunrise Highway (or the Montauk Hwy).

2. To get from Vespa Queens to the Jackie Robinson Parkway, this map is as good as any. In case you didn't know, Parkway means No Trucks Permitted. Unless you're daft enough to like drafting behind trucks for speed, you probably prefer to have no trucks around while riding your Vespa at full tilt. You can take service roads most of the way along The Long Island Expressway East of Corona Park. Nevertheless, The Jackie Robinson Parkway is fine and curvily takes you straight onto The Grand Central Parkway, which becomes The Northern State Parkway. Here we do want that L.I.E. s service road because that becomes Old Westbury Road as it intersects with Glen Cove Road. Glen Cove Road is an easy way to get to the Old Country Road entrance for the historic Meadowbrook Parkway. Of course you could stay on the Northern State the whole way to where the Meadowbrook begins. And of course there are many other short cuts along surface streets but, well, they're on surface streets and therefore aren't really shortcuts. The main thing is that The Meadowbrook gets you to Ocean Parkway. Ocean Parkway has none of the curves or overhanging willows that beautify the other parkways of the TriState Area. It is yet by far the lovliest. Follow it all the way East, past Gilgo Beach, to the Robert Moses Causeway. After the bridge, take the first exit on the main land towards Bay Shore. That's 27A not 27 aka Montauk Highway, and here it's called South Country Road (where there's a BP station), and it soon becomes East Main Street in Bay Shore.

I don't know why throughout Long Island street names are called East on their west ends and West on their east ends but, anyway, from West Main Street, just after the theatre on the left, make a right turn onto Maple Avenue and you're practically there.

3. To get from Scooter Bottega or Brooklynbretta take Union to Prospect Park and, from Grand Army Plaza either 3a. take the long way via Eastern Parkway to the Jackie Robinson and the rest of the directions above, or 3b. take the other long way via Flatbush down to Linden Boulevard, Linden Boulevard (27) all the way out to Conduit and the rest of the directions from yesterday. Actually, Nassua Expressway takes you all the way out to Atlantic Beach. There's a toll, something like a buck and a quarter, to enter the town of Atlantic Beach but from there it's almost a straight shot to Ocean Parkway. However, if, just after the airport, you get back onto the Belt and take the exit for Sunrise Highway, it's a straighter shot.

Conduit To Clipper

The other day I said another installment in the exciting Destinations series was on deck and to "tune in tomorrow." Today I still say tune in tomorrow because I'm going to string you along with a mention of an important discovery I made for myself (and maybe for you) on the way to that Destination, which happens to be on Long Island. I've been flying back and forth between San Francisco and New York more than usual since my job is on the West Coast and my family is on the East Coast.

I've also been testing the LX150, kids (having a blast, mind you), and one that had so few miles on it when PiaggioUSA handed me the key I didn't want to open it up to full throttle (the manual says max is 80% throttle until after 1000 miles or something). Thus I found myself on the Nassua Expressway, trying to string together Rockaway Expressway and Rockaway Boulevard in order to avoid major highways (the Belt Parkway in this case). For whatever the Nassua Expressway used to be (it still serves the Sunrise Highway but now only via that weird stretch of the Belt), it is now the access road for JFK International Airport. Eureka!

On the SFO side my wife Catherine and I have some favorite surface roads for carry-on-only travel. Sometimes you can get a break on long term parking with a scooter. For picking up and dropping off, you can often get a break in the passenger loading zone. You can always get plenty of smiles from other travelers seeing you go straight from Boeing to Vespa.

Alberto of Scooter Bottega in Brooklyn says he's had no trouble taking his girlfriend and luggage on his old 125 on the beautiful Belt Parkway. Me, I took the Eastern Parkway to Rockaway Parkway to 27. You can also take Atlantic Avenue all the way out to Conduit Avenue.

Girls And Boys

Gather 'round, it's story time. As Mrs. Barinoff of the Casis School would put it, scoot your scooters forward!. It's been such a while since my last post, there's a lot of ground to cover. The why of my not posting I'll spare you. The wi-fi of how I might better in the future I'll save for a separate snippet. What I'll try here is a summary of some of the things I've been thinking about over the past few weeks. It's the stuff that blogs are made of. It includes scooters. It's also about ontology and technogeny, sex and politics.

Something has happened and I don't think it was deliberate. I think the plan was simply to have two blogs: one about "urban mobility" and one about "life's journeys." The former would relate to the Vespa as sensible solution in the same category with palmtop computers, Fandango, and Gore-tex. The latter would relate to the Vespa as sensible solution in the same category with marriage, a subscription to National Geographic, and a weather scanner. That is to say, while the former might be about navigating city life, the latter might go beyond city limits.   The thing that has happened is a modern spin on the classic dichotomy between, you guessed it, the masculine and the feminine. If, when I mentioned, "sex and politics," you thought I was going to discuss the erotic or the topical, I must apologize for the tease. We're talking more Platonic forms and their contemporary morphs. As far as I know, it was not planned that Vespaway would be penned by men and Vespaquest by women. In fact, way on down the road, this could change. What we have for now, though, is me spouting about space ships, comic books and video games, and Justene relaying family vacation anecdotes.

Thank god for Neil and Crystal keeping the rubber side down. Yes, this is about the Vespa and its many applications. The Vespa is what brings me here, literally and figuratively. What's just as interesting to me, though (and to a number of you, judging from your cards and letters), is the way the particular personalities are unfolding. I mentioned Vespaquest having a conversational nature. Even as she stays on the subject of scootering, Justene reveals who she is as a human being, both cautious and wild; both ruminative and impulsive. Crystal hilariously contradicts the implicit hipness of her role with, in the interest of reporting Vespa news, admitting her addiction to the reality show Big Brother. As for Neil, I don't know whether it is due to having had the pleasure of meeting him F2F recently or what, but I get the sensation he's warming up from nerdhood like a garden gnome coming to life and dancing a jig. And, speaking of conversation, I'll take this opportunity to say, hey, Neil, thanks for being a pal and holding the fort by yourself while I was offline and, for that matter, I must apologize for never making it to the weekly Wednesday night as I had hoped to while I was in NY.

And that's the thing, I think it's worth a moment of examination when, for example, my recognition of a friendly dialogue between two women bares a contrast with what heretofore may have amounted to reticence between two men. Is it just me or is it a typical case of gender distinction? When the call went out for Vespa bloggers, I was intrigued by the Vespaquest theme because I'm given to open roads, nottomention Philosophy, but I was drawn to Vespaway because I go in for geeking out downtown stylee and because I also like to present information cut and dried. Even my announcement of my baby is somewhat matter-of-fact. On the other hand, Justene, rather than ramble about her feelings, connects them to a biofeedback device which is in turn connected to a computer game. Maybe it is just me. Maybe there is no story and I am the one who is rambling. Okay. The End.

I haven't covered half the ground I wanted to; only went in circles. Tune in tomorrow for the next in our Destinations series. Then we'll be getting somewhere.

You Go Girl

Girl, you go! We may be permitted the old Oprah Winfreyism here as we refer in jubilation to a blog by scootering women. In case you haven't been following already, our "sister site" has been up and running for a month already. Vespaquest is a lively dialogue between one Justene Adams, who wants to find the right ride, and one Crystal Waters, who's ridden enough to offer some sound advice. The blog also definitely has the feel of an open conversation with the readers all around, as a good blog should. Justene is a lawyer and a mom (hooray for moms!) and you may already know Crystal from girlbike.com (not to be confused with girlsbike.com).

Yeeahh Boyeeeee

New York, NY
20.08.05 
At 10:53 AM  Nathaniel MacGregor Ogilvy, eight pounds and seven ounces, is brought into this world. Swimmingly, mother and child go from pod unit to tandem.

22.08.05
The new father has a shave and a haircut at the barber up the street from the hospital, tells of his joy to everyone he meets, and they all agree  this news is the greatest news of the day, of the week, nay, it must be the greatest news of the millenium.

24.08.05
For continuing rest and wonder, the family returns to the nest in Brooklyn, where the peace is hardly disturbed by the regular passage of scooters outside on Clinton Street.

25.08.05
Little Natty Bumpo says, "Hi."

Currently On Current

Current TV, the happening new cable channel that may be more viewer interactive than QVC --it's certainly more interesting-- is running a little piece this month called 'Scooter Rage.' Host Vanessa Wruble thought a scooter rally might be a fun thing to attend and she was right -- fun, and funny. Click here to see if Current TV is available in your living room.

It's Not A Mopod Either!

Pah! It's a Mopah! What you get when you cross an electric scooter with an ipod, mopod appears to be the idea design student Michael Tseng was going for. I don't know why he called the result mopah. It could have as much to do with personal frustration in the realization of his vision as with corporate licensing*hazards. I do know why it looks so boxy, though. Beyond whatever manufacturing limitations Michael might have had, what he wanted to do all along --indeed, what he achieved-- was no less than the creation of another milestone in the line of portable stereos that started in the 1970's with the boombox.  This is elegantly made clear for us at MyAnalogReality.com in the theory and engineering sections. There is also a reaction section with pictures of hip urbanites checking it out and you can almost hear them saying, "How cool!" The reaction of my compatriot Neil Barton was to say no more than, "That has to be just about the ugliest scooter I have ever seen." But don't think of it as a scooter. Think of it as a boombox you can ride.

*The tip for this came from the UNOFFICIAL Apple weblog.

Electronic Eleven

Way back in July, as part of a post about the latest Marvel Team-up, I said I would follow that roster of superheroes with a little video game catalogue. I guess that xbox deal is well due since, without planning it, this list shows no games built around Marvel characters. Also without even trying, however, this list does have three games with scooters in them.

Jonathan's top eleven video game experiences (in order of occurence):
1. Night Driver
2. Battle Zone
3. Tempest
4. Q-bert
5. Freakshow
6. Runabout
7. Twisted Metal 2
8. Final Fantasy 7
9. Bushido Blade 1
10. Sitting Ducks
11. GTA 3

Daddy's Home

Part four in our space ship segment says simply that Discovery has returned safely. Says Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune,

If that modest, almost circular goal lacked the drama and imagination of the first moon landing, it did not lack for importance. NASA needed a successful Discovery mission to erase the stain of the failed Columbia flight that came before it--and to prove to Congress and an increasingly skeptical American public that the bureaucracy-laden space agency can manage infinitely more complex plans to return to the moon and, eventually, fly on to Mars.

"A" Is For "Alice's"

Among many great places you can travel to on a Vespa, our premiere posting in the Destinations department is Alice's Restaurant in La Honda, California, at the intersection of scenic highways 35 and 84. On any Sunday one may see hundreds of motorcycles stopping there or driving past, just because of the lovely mountain roads between Silicon Valley and the sea. I recommend taking a scooter on a Saturday, though, because nearby Cañada Road is closed every Sunday to all vehicles excepts bicycles. Those lovely roads do attract a lot of bicyclists too, so be on the lookout for them whenever rounding a blind turn. A few of the velo guys hate anything with a motor in it. A few others, more familiar with European customs, will accept a draft up a long incline if you know how to provide one. Regardless, leave them alone on Cañada Road; leave them behind as you find the top of your throttle. This map shows you how to find it from the North.

Approaches to Alice's

1. Cañada Road From Trousdale Drive in Millbrae, Black Mountain Road in Burlingame, or Crystal Springs Road in San Mateo, follow Skyline South along the reservoir until it intersects with Highway 92 (East on 92 reconnects with Skyline upon the ridge, or, over the ridge it goes to Half Moon Bay and Highway 1). West on 92 goes to Redwood City and the San Mateo Bridge. That's the left turn you want to make for the first right turn on Cañada Road (unless it's Sunday) to continue along the reservoir. At the intersection with Woodside Road in Woodside, make a Right. 1A. Route 84 is now the road you're on, and you can follow it all the way up the hill to Alice's. 1B. King's Mountain Road appears on the right at the end of the straightaway through Woodside, with a sign for Huddart Park. Make that Right, pass Huddart Park, climb all the way to the top and turn left on Skyline to get to Alice's.

2. Big Basin Way From Highway 9 in Saratoga, wind your way up the hill and make a Right at the top. From Highway 9 in Santa Cruz, wind your way up the hill and a Left at the top. From the intersection of 9 and 35, it's six and one half miles to Alice's.

3. La Honda Road From Highway 1 in Pacifica, or Highway 1 in Santa Cruz, head inland at San Gregorio for some of the sweetest sets of S-curves ever.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

The 28th of July 2005 marks the kickoff of Mile High Mayhem #8. Denver, Colorado is not the very center of the United States even if you count Alaska and Hawaii as the Western edges. Nearby Erie is, however, the epicenter of Stateside scooter racing, the midpoint meeting point showdown grounds between the dominant American Scooter Racing Association out of California, and the up-and-coming Eastern States Racing Association.  Mile High Mayhem has been on the rise among our top scooter rallies, indeed for its convenient location, but mainly for its thoughtful organization. Now it's not only a weekend for cruising the Colorado countryside, but a time for testing those ten-inches out on the track. In 2004 the weekend began on Wednesday with the inaugural Scooter Racing Nationals. 2005 sees it the other way around, with the races taking place after the party, on Monday, August 1st.  Maybe this way an idle visitor or two will have a go during Sunday's practice session, decide to enter officially the next day, and call in sick or something. Maybe it's not too late for you to change your travel plans either. I encourage you to try it!  Vespaway Trivia  Guess who that is getting a good look at the speedometer...

Station To Station

In case, for no reason, your RSS feed for updates on Space Shuttle Discovery is being fed by Vespaway and not NASA,  it is up to me to let you know we have achieved liftoff and are on our way to the International Space Station. It says in the status report,

Today the Space Station crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer John Phillips will prepare the complex for Discovery’s arrival.

Are they going to bake a flourless cake and hang zero-grav streamers? They should. That's some exciting video in the right-nav there.

Alone And Blue

The sky was a grey-blue too. My phone camera didn't quite capture the deep bluestone hue of this P200 parked near San Francisco's City Hall the other day. It almost matches the beaux arts dome, which used to be covered in copper oxidized green, but since the post-Loma Prieta restoration is something more like slate. It was a bright moment for my sleepy soul, though, on the way home from yoga, lying on the sidewalk (the clean curb of a long row of motorcycle parking -- thanks, City Hall!) in my grey poplin suit, trying to get the shot.

Ride To Work

My favorite radio station is a black-owned radio station and they're never sorry when little February ends so quickly because, "at 89.5 KPOO, every month is Black History Month."  This is not to say Black History Month is a bad idea. It's more of a random segue, based on what was coming through my speakers and my inbox at the same time. I heard the old saw quoted above from my favorite DJ at the same time as I was opening these photos of Ride To Work Day. Thirty or more New Yorkers took time out of their New York lifestyle to voice their praises of the 2-wheel lifestyle.  That's time they earned by not being stuck in a truck.  Click to enlarge the one on the steps of City Hall to see the rope put up to demonstrate the contrasting measurements of a typical congestive, non-efficient SUV. The fight is on for fair parking rights. Go New York! My other favorite radio stations are WKCR and WFMU. Later on, I'll tell you my top eleven radio disc jockeys on the planet. Meanwhile...

at Vespaway, every day is ride to work day!

Bendable Electronic Paper

Someone who cares about me sent me this news as soon as it came out last week. Since then, I've been trying to think of possible applications for Fujitsu's new programmable paper, other than commercial signage. Will it be the ultimate recyclable Daily News or what? Can I get a suit made out of it? At the very least,

...electronic paper can be conveniently used in conjunction with mobile devices as an easy-to-read and portable display device.

Here again is the the link for the full story on Overclockers. Here on our site, we seem to be establishing a subsection for cool mobile technology. We'll keep you posted.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

This qualifies as the third in what is sure to be a long series of scooter sightings, even though it does not qualify as a Vespa. The Ducati Brio was manufactured during the 196o's but it proved to be no competition for Piaggio's products. The relic in the picture was parked near Moscone Center the other day. Are we seeing a new way to attract attention at a trade convention?

Note to the owner: Speaking of conventions, if you are the same fellow who was at Scooter Rage 18, you may be pleased to know that, because of you, the trophy category for Best Oddity was restored to the custom show at Scooter Rage 19. Why not try again next year? The bike has only been waiting four decades for some recognition.

Marvel Eleven

At the big Comic Book Convention in San Diego today, Marvel is announcing a big new xbox deal.    I'll take this opportunity to tell you my favorite Marvel superheroes, in order of my meeting them.

    1. The Hulk  2. The Vision  3. Dr. Strange  4. Capt. America  5. Luke Cage  6. Shang Chi  7. Silver Surfer  8.  Two-Gun Kid  9. Spider Man  10. Daredevil 11. Capt. Marvel

Coming soon:

- my Eleven Best Video Games, elsewhere at this Web site.

- ARANA #8, at a newsstand near you.

Scratch That

I did some minor whooping and hollering previously about the upcoming Space Shuttle Discovery launch. This is just a note to say it is still upcoming.  That horse has been scratched for now. No matter -- it's not like it's racing against anyone else. It's just a little problem with the fuel sensor reading full when it should read empty. You can go the Washington Post for the full story.

Thar She Blows

The top item on the agenda for that ICANN get-together in Luxemborg last weekend was Monday's yes-vote on .mobi --the new mobile-device-specific Internet domain name extension. On Geek.com Christopher Anderson points out,

As anyone who has surfed on a mobile phone knows, everything looks good while you follow the cell-specific links from your cellphone. As soon as you try to go somewhere normal on the 'Net, it blows up.

Whether the domain will be universally adopted on schedule next summer, or the rapid advances in mobile technology defeat its purpose remains to be seen.

Peace Nick

I can't find my friend Nick. I'm looking for a link to his new pub on the outskirts of London. I have this picture of it, MARS bar (get it?), short for "Mods and Rockers." I know Nick from Secret Society Scooter Club. He was in the San Diego Chapter and then the San Francisco chapter and then he packed up for the Old Country, and then showed up for a visit at the twenty-year reunion, where I met him, though he's not pictured here or here. Secret Society SC puts on an annual event for scooters and motorcycles together with our friends the San Francisco Motorcycle Club and we call it Mods VS. Rockers as though there were some bitter rivalry, as though we all were any more than regular people on bikes. I hear people throw similar rallies in Sydney, Austin, San Diego, New York, Toronto, and of course, Brighton. What was all the fighting about forty years ago?

Out In The Heat

Another new map app allows us to stay on the sunny side.

Weather Maps lets you view real time weather information on a map. This can provide some very interesting information, particularly in areas with microclimates, such as San Francisco.

Each temperature tag bubble sports a tail indicating wind direction and, like eighth- and sixteenth-notes in music, wind speed. This link is for the info page, since high traffic has recently slowed load times, but click on the Weather Maps link at the top and then enter your zip code. Note: it works best with Firefox.

Out In The Cold

I was in Maine and New Hampshire over the last few days. The weather was suitable for swimming in the North Atlantic. I'm used to seeing many different Vespas every day in San Francisco even in foul weather (see photo) so I was surprised not to find a one while I was away. I saw countless motorcycles, their riders all smiling at the sunny freedom the weekend afforded. Is it that the big bikes fly South for Winter in a way Vespas would be less inclined to? Hey, Maine! Hey, New Hampshire -- the "Live Free Or Die" State! What is the excuse for not visiting the Vespa dealer in Boston?  There is no excuse for every one of the hundreds of riders I saw going helmetless when there's a Davida dealer on a lovely stretch of Highway 1  between Belfast and Camden but, I understand, no helmet law and, yes, glorious weather. Hey, waitaminnit, there has got to be a huge untapped market for Vespas up there. It's time for someone to open a boutique in Maine, New Hampshire, or how does Vespa Vermont sound, Brattleboro?

Caveat Emptor: I am not an employee of Vespa, i.e. they do not pay me so I may be speaking out of turn in terms of timing et cetera for a new shop in New England. I do know they have a rigorous process in place for anyone interested in becoming a dealer. Maybe Mainers will have to continue relying on Boston for more than Baseball and Basketball. 

Saw Your Scooter

So, yeah, the idea is that, since there's a camera in my telephone, I can take pictures of all the scooters I see, no matter where I find myself, and post them here, with a caption such as "PX150 - warm and fuzzy on Peachtree Street, Atlanta," and you can elbow your pal whom you know parks her prize in that vicinity, then she can go online to see if her scooter is famous. Well this one I happened to capture in the wild a few feet from the front door to my apartment. It's got snakeskin upholstery and the plate cover says Vespa Scottsdale. Did someone recently move from Arizona to San Francisco? Welcome to the neighborhood.

More Discovery

This was one of those cases where the XML feed really saved me from doing all the anxious checking by myself. NASA and a few of their friends went into a meeting Wednesday morning, it got to be Thursday, Thursday afternoon and they weren't done yet. At last word came of a press release and the word was 'Go' for Space Shuttle Discovery's Return to Flight on the 13th of July. The image here is a link to a webcast of the preparation proceedings on the 10th of July. I'm sure some information about a webcast of the actual takeoff will be provided soon. The XML will tell.

On Our Way

Tara Calishain notes in the researchbuzz mention of the new Google Maps API release,

    People were doing pretty terrific things without an API,
   but this new interface makes it possible to do them
   more "legally" and I expect more easily.

This is great news. If we have to wait much longer for someone to come up with maps of scooter-friendly routes, we can decide to create our own.

First Sight

My Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Barinoff used to refer to our "scooters," as in, "Story Time, children! If you want to look at the pictures while I read you'll have to move your scooters forward." That's not the kind we're talking about when we say, "saw your scooter the other day!" We're talking about your very sophisticated method for getting from a reading at a café dowtown to look at pictures in a museum uptown. We see your Vespas everywhere. The subtle stenciling on the side of this ET4 stood out when the sun hit it in San Francisco's SOMA district yesterday.  Who's the owner?

Re-animator

The story of the week had to be the one scooped on Monday (Tuesday in Australia) by Nick Buchan of NEWS.com.au about the Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research in Pittsburgh success with zombie dogs. Man alive. They replace their blood with a cold saline solution and then, three hours later, swap the blood back in to bring the canines back to life.

    Tests show they are perfectly normal, with no brain damage.

It hurts my brain.

Sparkle

You don't need a steel hull to crack open a bottle of champagne. Come to think of it, opening the bottle from the top allows you to fill a few glasses as well as celebrate a launch. To mark the maiden mission of a new Vespa we recommend waiting until after the ride, when your head is already bubbly from the breeze. To mark the beginning of this Vespaway blog here, go ahead and get that chilled Prosecco out of the fridge already. If you insist on nothing but the French stuff, that's fine too, but not even a clean Californian combination of nuts and pears would lessen the occasion. Cin cin!