Monday, January 24, 2011

Hell Bent for Leather: The Aesthetics of Cruelty

(The time-traveling t-shirt-wearing retro-Fred from the planet Tridork knows a secret.)

While Minnesotans may scoff (provided they can chip the ice off their beards first), it's been quite cold here in New York. In fact, it's so cold that cyclists are crawling under recently parked cars in order to warm themselves, like stray cats. Indeed, this may be the coldest day since people started blaming global warming for any temperatures either slightly above or slightly below average, and the only logical conclusion to draw from this is that we're all doomed.

If you were born in the early 1900s like I was, you probably remember a time when unusually cold days were considered natural, and instead of getting all smug about it you just went over to Cornelius Vanderbilt's mansion and groveled for more coal. Now, apparently, we know better, and every temperature fluctuation we experience, every purchase we make, and every morsel we eat is an opportunity for introspection and self-flagellation. I was reminded of that this past Thursday, when I mentioned I had installed a Brooks saddle.

Having come of age in the flapper era (I admit I was a male flapper back then, otherwise known as a "flipster"), I didn't realize that saddle installation could be so controversial. Some commenters took me to task for contributing to the evil livestock industry, while others argued that a "palping" a leather saddle was preferable to raping the Earth for the petroleum necessary to make one out of plastic. Still others accused me of being a "hipster" for riding a Brooks (even though the company predates even the "flipster" movement), and one commenter even called me a "sellout," which struck me as funny since at that very moment I was seriously contemplating using my Brooks to make a nourishing Depression-era leather boot stew. (Ultimately I just ate the Proofide.)

Subsequently, I spent the entire weekend racked with guilt. Was my saddle in fact not adequately "sustainable?" And if it wasn't, and if plastic saddles like the ones I have on my other bikes weren't either, then what saddle could possibly pass muster with the forces of smugness? Ultimately, I realized the only answer was to curate my own artisanal saddle, and so I fashioned one out of snow using two pieces of bamboo for the rails. However, the white "colorway" was decidedly too "Euro pro" for me, and so I colored it using a totally sustainable dye. (I won't tell you what I used , but let's just say that while you're not supposed to eat yellow snow I see nothing wrong with sitting on it for awhile.) Unfortunately my saddle will only last until that catastrophic global warming-induced temperature shift known as "the springtime," but by then I hope to have come up with a warm weather solution, possibly made out of fruit leather fashioned out of rotten pears salvaged from the Dumpster of the Park Slope Food Co-op.

Still, I must say that I still don't fully understand the ethics of bicycle accessorizing, since I was under the impression that the "bike culture" loved absurdly pretentious handmade leather frippery, which was the driving force behind that whole Portland "dandycross" phenomenon, what with its leather shoulder slings:


And $45 holders for your $.45 beer:


And of course those bike polo mallet holders:

This is what I find so vexingly elusive about the "bike culture;" just when I think I've gained access to it by way of a genuine handmade leather accessory, I find out that my new accessory is just not gratuitous enough. I guess sitting on leather for extended periods of time is bad, but using it to organize the toys you use to play your drunken bicycle-themed party games is good.

Meanwhile, sitting on a dead animal while you ride your bike isn't the only way to get in trouble--you can also run afoul of the smugness police by letting your dog kill a rat:

This is even more confusing to me than the whole leather bicycle accessory controversy. I always thought when a wanted animal (like a cat) killed an unwanted animal (like a mouse) that this was cause for celebration, and so in the case of a dog killing a rat I would think that the same general rule would apply. Really, my only concern in the dog-on-rat scenario would be the that the rat could give the dog a disease--or, given the ample size and strength of New York's rodents, that the rat might win the fight, disguise itself in the dog's hide, infiltrate its owners home, and then make off with the contents of his or her apartment. Sure, I realize that what constitutes a "wanted" animal is somewhat arbitrary, but I'd also argue that if your pet rat were to successfully protect you from a feral dog that the same standard should apply. And of course, endangered animals are always an exception, so if your pet rat defends you from a panda that's like totally uncool, even if the panda was stealing your food, defecating on your floor, and gnawing at your stable of environmentally sustainable bamboo bicycles.

So maybe all of this means that the city is indeed losing its "edge," and that the guy who got a ticket on his bike and declared that New York is no longer "real" enough is right. Perhaps the answer is to bring back some of that old New York City "grittiness" and market it. One good way of doing that would be to make bicycle saddles from rat hide, which strikes me as a truly nauseating yet eminently sustainable endeavor. I also have no doubt people would pay good money for genuine NYC pitbull-hunted rat seats, since they're also willing to pay almost a million dollars to look at defunct factories from an apartment. If you're from "normal" America this may seem absurd--especially after that whole mortgage crisis thing--but in Brooklyn that's exactly what people are doing:


In August they moved into a $980,000, three-bedroom apartment at 80 Metropolitan. Through his living room window, Mr. Signer can see the Domino Sugar factory and the Williamsburg Bridge, partly obscured by the steel beams of new construction — just the industrial feel he wanted.

Wow. Back in the early 1900s when I was born people actually paid lots of money so they wouldn't have to look at factories, and even today it seems to me that if you want to live in an industrial wasteland you can do it for way less than a million dollars. Incidentally, the above photo is part of a New York Times article and slideshow called "Williamsburg, Toddlertown" about how people with children are now moving to Williamsburg. Of course, there were always people with children in Williamsburg, but until recently most of them weren't rich people, so of course it never warranted media attention. Now, however, people pay a million dollars to live there so that they can experience the sublimely smug satisfaction of simultaneously looking out the window at factories and gazing at their children, knowing that they will never, ever have to work in factories:


Yes, here in New York, thanks to the decrease in crime, neighborhoods are nicer than ever before. This is a huge problem, since it means it can be incredibly difficult to find a fashionably distressed setting in which to raise your kids:


Eve and Rich Kessner left the West Village for Park Slope with their daughter, Avi, last March. But after six months, they found themselves looking for a new place to live. “It felt really suburban to me,” said Ms. Kessner. “Park Slope has puppets and guitar strumming for kids. In Williamsburg, it is like rock ‘n’ roll for kids.”

Sure, little kids hate puppets. They really prefer that squalid old-school chic Jacob Riis vibe:

So, in search of designer squalor, they moved to "the Edge:"

The couple bought a two-bedroom corner unit in the Edge, two towers on Williamsburg’s waterfront, and moved in at the end of December.

The Edge, by the way, is that place where you can live in "hardcore luxury." I'm still not sure what "hardcore luxury" is, but I'm guessing it probably means that there might be rats in the building, but you're not allowed to kill them.

I guess yesterday's cry for social reform is today's real estate advertisement.

110 comments:

Anonymous said...

win!

Anonymous said...

hot poo - I won!!

Anonymous said...

leather ball bag!

Anonymous said...

nope, try again tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

pod

Anonymous said...

top ten

Anonymous said...

eh

JohnVeloBlake said...

TOP TEN 3RD WEEK READERSHIP
DAILY

mikeweb said...

Smell the glove.

Anonymous said...

wow!

Anonymous said...

Six thousand dollars and it's not even leatha

JohnVeloBlake said...

The summary of everything I hate about the marketing of authenticity and those who move in for that authenticity and and replace it with, "Life goes better with coke"
The revolution will not be televised

samiam said...

One of my students showed me this video by 30 seconds to Mars. i found it quite disturbing. Has this already been covered? Someone tell me how to feel about this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTMrlHHVx8A&NR=1

I am the satirical engine. said...

Dark very dark, today.
I snorted my herbal all organic made by friendly panda's green tea with added all organic inner city bee honey, with extra wax added.

I suspect your skin is much thicker than you let on.

I recommend some sort of ammusement park, with an urban theme, bring back Ed Koch to officiate dog/rat fights, and bring back some of theose doughy policemen to randomly give tickets to passerbys.

Perhaps The park masket should be Ratso, and bring some extra hookers to chear up the kiddies.

PETA needs to read a textbook on vermin.

Anonymous said...

bikes?

Anonymous said...

principal vingt

sweatpants cyclist said...

bsnyc,

speaking of toddlers, when are you going to release a scratch-and-sniff sticker collection? some ideas i can think of are:

- chain grease
- chamois cream
- sweat
- fresh spandex
- electrolyte goo
- brazing fumes
- squished banana / pbj
- diesel exhaust
- espresso beans
- mud
- fresh asphalt
- clenbutrol
- 2nd place (i know this doesn't have a smell, per se, but you can be creative)

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

More Liz Hatch please.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see urban ratting still goes on. Back in the late 80s/early 90s I lived in the Fleet Street area. There was a caff nearby that left its rubbish in plastic bags on the street, a magnet for the rats in the area. Used to send the young dog (willing but dumb) in to flush them out and then loose his Mum(smart and quick) to get among 'em.

Marcel Da Chump said...

Your riff on Nyc's gentrifizing horde and their quest for urban authenticity truly ravished my funny bone. The Jacob Riis reference just killed.

Terre Haute Karl said...

so PETA wants to convert all the carnivorous animals to vegetarians?

They should probably take into consideration that the dogs filling up on wild rat are reducing the demand for regular dog food which contains those infamous "meat by-products" that are surely the result of some horrific treatment of livestock.

Pontius Pilate said...

HAIL CSZR

-P.P.

Anonymous said...

Zounds! A man who, properly, capitalizes Dumpster is a man not to be trifled with. Well done sir.

CAMPIONE CYCLES CALGARY said...

I totally get the desire for a factory view. In olde days, nostalgia for nature drove people to purchase homes with bucolic views.

Now, longing for a time when things were actually made in the USA drives people to associate with factories. Of course, nowadays that they are vacant, they are not belching out coal smoke or PCBs.

RANTWICK said...

Leather? Hmmm. You just can't do anything without pissing somebody off.

Check out what the indignant masses can accomplish when the cycling accessory material is PVC...

CAMPIONE CYCLES CALGARY said...

Also, I assume you meant "ate" the Proofhide. We shmear (sp?) Proofhide on bagels. We find the Proofhide particularly effective at sealing out the juice from sliced tomatoes and watery condiments thus maintaining bagel integrity.

hillbilly said...

where has disgruntled ed gone? in his honor:

"Ultimately I just at the Proofide"

and then some idiot said...

"Williamsburg, Toddlertown". Finally, a market for Pabst N.A.

Anonymous said...

Park Slope too suburban so they move to the most suburban looking buiding in Brooklyn?

Fools with money fool themselves.

I iss crime it kept these folks away in New Jersey.

mikeweb said...

Leave it to PETA to argue themselves into irrelevance.

Though I find it interesting how people find dog fighting and fox hunts repugnant, yet the 'sport' of dogs hunting rats seems OK. I guess it all depends on the likability of the animal in question.

I plan to buy a 'flat' overlooking the Brooks factory. That way my offspring can attend chamfering for kids classes.

g-roc said...

Maybe death by dog is too merciful for NYC rats. I imagine PETA would prefer they suffer a slow painful death by rat poison. Not that I have a clue what I'm talking about...

Unknown said...

T'was brillig on the bridge today.

runr53 said...

Maybe the next stage is abject luxury.

ringcycles said...

If Brooklyn is not "real" enough for these dilettantes, I imagine a month in Newark or Detroit might change their point of view.

Anonymous said...

Eve and Rich Kessner left the West Village for Park Slope with their daughter, Avi, last March. But after six months, they found themselves looking for a new place to live. “It felt really suburban to me,” said Ms. Kessner. “Park Slope has puppets and guitar strumming for kids. In Williamsburg, it is like rock ‘n’ roll for kids.”

FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Marcel Da Chump said...

I love Rock n Roll, but I'd rather have kids around puppets and guitar strumming than Keith Richards.

Velocodger said...

In Merrye Olde Englande there is a movement to hunt and eat those pesky American squirrels, who apparently are pushing out the effete native variety. True story!

Anonymous said...

Campione gets POTD:
"Now, longing for a time when things were actually made in the USA drives people to associate with factories."

Elvis Costello said...

Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue
Must have been a wonder when it was brand new
Talkin' 'bout the splendour of the Hoover factory
I know that you'd agree if you had seen it too

It's not a matter of life or death
But what is, what is?
It doesn't matter if I take another breath
Who cares, who cares?

Green for go, green for action
From Park Royal to North Acton
Past scrolls and inscriptions like those of the Egyptian age
And one of these days the Hoover factory
Is gonna be all the rage in those fashionable pages

Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue
Must have been a wonder when it was brand new
Talkin' 'bout the splendour of the Hoover factory
I know that you'd agree if you had seen it too

It's not a matter of life or death
But what is, what is?
It doesn't matter if I take another breath
Who cares, who cares, who cares, who cares?

Top said...

stov top!

CommieCanuck said...

NYC hasn't been the same since cannibalism by the poor was outlawed, and the murder rate was above 1400/yr. Good olde days.

Anonymous said...

I guess calling the dog a "Rat Terrier" because it was bred to kill rats is "Illegal" too...good gravy

Chazu said...

I lived in lower Manhattan for several years when Ed Koch was mayor.

I saw a rat at the entrance of a pedestrian overpass near NYPD HQ. It was literally screaming at everyone who approached.

I chose to not use the pedestrian bridge; opting instead to descend to street level and take my chances with the traffic below.

NYC is a great place to live if you are Bono.

mikeweb said...

When did the New York Times turn into Town & Country?

Esteemed Commenter DaddoOne said...

a long long time ago

Norman said...

mikeweb sez: "Though I find it interesting how people find dog fighting and fox hunts repugnant, yet the 'sport' of dogs hunting rats seems OK."

An example of such a person, perhaps?

For the record, I support dogs eating rats, foxes, each other, & PETA members. But I also think that Michael Vick should be forced to look at pictures of Bert Faver's penis as punishment for both their "crimes".

Esteemed Commenter DaddoOne said...

well rats are ugly, ferocious, destructive and disease carrying creatures and dogs and foxes, for the most part are cute

grog said...

The city should issue rat-polo mallets to every bicyclist. Let the games begin.

Thankfully we use every piece of the larger beasts: we consume the meat, make the flesh into shoes and saddles, use the bones for frames and spokes. Udders and scrotums would make dandy shoulder bags and purses.

wishiwasmerckx said...

Doug, squirrel stew is called "Burgoo," and is actually quite popular in Appalachia.

Og LoneWolf said...

I thought this blog was about Liz Hatch....

FTW

gator joe said...

Get out while you can, Snob. The heartland is calling.

Anonymous said...

Putting a couple hyperlinks off in the margins to finance free content is called "the internet", and at least our dear Mr Snob covers the downsides to his endorsements in great detail.

Selling out would be to actually alter content in the hopes of attaining commercial success - a funny charge coming from someone in the process of enjoying that content for free.

Mr Snob, thank you for not selling out, putting up a pay-wall, or making us sit through streaming ads.

Watch out with the sponsorships though - those friendly puppets over at PBS have a whopping 26 at least. You can never get into the plot before being interrupted by Elmo reminding you that "today's episode was brought to you by the letters AYHSM & B " .

Anonymous said...

feed the rats to the cats
and the cats to the rats
get the rat seats for nothing.

leroy said...

The only time my dog attacks is when he drops me after wheel sucking all day.

Hairy legged ingrate.

Hey, CommieCanuck -- have you been working out?

libertyonbikes! said...

Horse based glue for the eco-friendly bamboo bike.
Recycled plastic for your 13 mpg suv.
It's cool to be green.
And 'Nothing Is Cool'.

PawnShop said...

Scoff.

Fred said...

Rats frequently cannibalize their own young. When's PETA going to do something about that shit?

Marcel Da Chump said...

Judging by the Portland DandyCross picture, bikes are not just for transportation- they're for beard scratching.

Charles said...

So I read the full article on Williamsburg in the Times. Did not know whether to laugh or cry when the guy says he decided *not* to ask the noisy people to move away from near his home, possibly waking his son, because he thought it might be uncool.

Hardcore luxury indeed.....

Great post today snobbie!

jno62 said...

Jay-sus!

That is one big rat. I'm truly impressed.

God I love this blog.

Anonymous said...

Maybe a saddle made from nutria hide would be guilt free: http://tinyurl.com/4wbd6ew

Spatch said...

Blimey Guv'nor a transcendant post today .

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Hey Bike Snob NYC,

Interesting Link on Jacob Riis. Thanks.

stupid name said...

Damn, where is the plague when you need it, I hear wiener dogs spread it.

Maybe we could get the mountain bike chasing wiener dog to give us a hand at that rat eradication.

Better yet child labor, let those little snivling rug monsters earn their keep.

PMG said...

This post was like 10% bicycle commentary, and 90% social commentary, mainly aimed at the gentrifying element of NYC (which is probably most readers of the blog, myself included). NICE!!

Salty Seattle said...

Never fear. New York qualifies as gritty again.

There's a now-locally-famous deli in Seattle, Tat's Deli, that offers a sandwich called the New Yorker. It was a tower of pastrami, corned beef, and Swiss cheese (though I ordered mine without the cheese--I'm too edgy for that.)

I am proud to report that the sandwich lived up to all that is outlined in today's post, and then some. It was gritty, overpriced, larger than any other sandwich in the world, and lacked any trace of what may have been a vegetable product. And it was good.

So maybe it was more like the New York that I recall from my childhood, and not the one that exists today. Either way, old New York is alive and well.

In the sandwiches of Seattle.

SmugSeattle said...

You know, Daschunds make great rat hunters. I think you're in on the ground floor of a lucrative business venture.

PawnShop said...

Sustainable leather saddle material: foreskins.

No petroleum involved, no cattle harmed. Just a bunch of baby boys that were going to lose them anyway, due to pan-religious societal customs. And scissors. Hopefully, sharp ones.

When Eric the Chamferer shows up at a bris for more than just all the hipster pussy, we'll know that Brooks has gotten on board.

bikesgonewild said...

..."Hell Bent for Leather: The Aesthetics of Cruelty"...

...wow, what a palpably ironic coincidence !!!...

...my new historical novel, basically a scathing expose about the life of oscar wilde titled "He'll Bend for Leather: The Aesthetics of Cruelty" is being published this month...

...what are the odds ???...

Marcel Da Chump said...

that leather U-lock hoslster belongs on a domanitrix......
....maybe the Portland S&M crowd prefer U-locks over whips

Nogocyclist said...

Just image what a world ruled by PETA would be. A real Utopia!

The real world if PETA ruled:
Billions of people the world round dead or dieing from starvation due to the rats devouring such a large part of the grain supply. Crops devastated due to hog populations reproducing without limit. Dogs and cats starving on the city streets everywhere due to not enough people left to adopt any more.

I dream of a PETA utopia......
Well, maybe some may consider it a nightmare instead of a dream. I would write a joke about PETA, but the truth seems more appropriate. Some people just don't think what they views will logically lead to.

bikesgonewild said...

...without 'jack russel terriers' to help control the rat population, jolly old england wouldn't have made it out of the middle ages...

...just sayin'...

Anonymous said...

PETA should get over it and eat a dick

Comment deleted said...

@ PawnShop

Yes, but as soon as you sat on said saddle, it would turn into a couch.

Nogocyclist said...

samiam, The video you mentioned was covered in the BSNYC Funday Fry Quiz! on Friday, November 13, 2009

As for disturbing, I find this video more an artistic expression. It includes a car hitting a cyclist and this is an action that occurs in real life. This is just what art does, takes something from real life and tries to express the emotion the event has caused.

What I find disturbing is when real people just living their lives die needlessly because of carelessness by anyone, including cars toward cyclist. Life is hard enough as is.

Question Mark said...

What would a NewYork deli sandwich called the Seattle consist of?

Anonymous said...

I live in the Pacific NW where many long time hipster vegans are starting to eat meat again, but only if it's sustainable, local, free-range, and grass fed. They seem to be growing more fond of leather goods as well, but I think the justification is that it's okay if you are buying something used or vintage.

It seems to me that the next big thing will be the locally sourced artisanal leather saddle! I'm going to see if I can put together a business plan to sell leather saddles made using hide from organic Skagit Valley bison that has been processed using a NW native tanning technique.

Stranded said...

Anything that makes me as happy as that leather shoulder strap is obviously making the dufus in the photo has got to be worth it. I'm getting one. Never mind the fact that I ride my bike instead of carrying it around. I'd rather be happy than sustainable. Of course, he's probably looking up the skirt of a just-off-camera girl who's imitating Britney Spears' pantyways, but an old fart like me can hope.

Kent Johnson said...

My cat just killed two rats two nights in a row. i am a bit worried about the first one, it looked like it died of fright, not a mark on it, the second had been de-headed old school style...

Both were trespassing so I guess its OK for the cats.

crosspalms said...

TTTSWRFFTPTD knows what "hardcore luxury" is. But it's a secret.

Test Tickle said...

New York's so great, if you like

SAXO PHNS

New York's so great, if you're a

HOMO SXUL

balls.

Thelonious Punk said...

....just who started this "sustainable" talk?
....I'm no physicist, but nothing that exist is "sustainable"
....doesn't everythng end?

Anonymous said...

Same problem with possums in Melbourne - run all over your house at night, make a mess in the roof space if they get in, and you are only allowed to catch them and release the darlings within 50 metres. A good thing the bridge of the roiver is on;y a bit over 50m away! Dunno whether they'd have thick enough skin for a bike seat.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/possums-pose-a-pain-in-the-park-for-dog-owners-20110122-1a0ow.html

PawnShop said...

"Yes, but as soon as you sat on said saddle, it would turn into a couch."

Maybe if Frilly sat on it. Me, probably not. If a saddle turns into a couch, does the safety bike become a recumbent? And choosing a color for the saddle could be rife with racial undercurrents.

Methinks the "circumsaddle" warrants further research. If I wasn't already cut, I'd get started on it right away - great excuse for foffing off. Not that there was ever a bad excuse...

Anonymous said...

Sustain this:
Panties!

Anonymous said...

thx for the Jacob Riis link, very interesting

Anonymous said...

The Edge is now selling units at reduced prices by using that edgy urban archetype: the tarck biker!

http://twitpic.com/3t3dr6

Anonymous said...

I love it when you get started. You are my hero.

Anonymous said...

Pawnshop--Normally I would say no, no, my booty is nothing special. However I've really stepped up my running workouts and it could finally be paying off. Whilst attending a party last weekend, a woman cupped my ass and complimented me on its 'juiciness'.

MrIndieDay said...

Yay.

Marcel Da Chump said...

"Whilst" is back in our lexicon. And it's nice to hear. Let's bring back "thou, thee and thy". Sweetness is thy booty, Frilly, really.

Anonymous said...

“You can go out in the neighborhood on a Friday night and feel sexy and single-ish,” Ms. Liebman said with a laugh. “And then wake up next morning with the kid and take him to the farmers’ market and the play center.”

how retarted and bored can rich folks be....bla bla bla caffee latte!

Quandry MacIntosh said...

My wife and I had our baby because it matches our couch. Now we want a new couch - what to do with the baby?

Atala the Pun said...

The developers who built the Edge are constructing a neighboring condo to be called-what else?- the Bono.

Anonymous said...

These Williamsburg parents should know that, because of it's industrial past, that neighborhood is a cancer 'hotspot' -- meaning the cancer rates are way above the norm, especially for people who live there a while. And children. Maybe co-mingling with puppets isn't that big a trade-off, you putz!

Anonymous said...

I'm sure your Williamsburg rich kids will think you're really cool when you're still desperately clinging to your last shreds hipsterism and you're having swinger parties with the other skeletal walking cliches living in "The Edge." Sounds like a nightmarish sitcom, actually.

Anonymous said...

Lanterne Rouge!

Marcel Da Chump said...

Hardcore Luxury:
only the fortunate few
who have attained
core luxury
know of the luxury strata.

Anonymous said...

With all of bloomies crappy development along the waterfront, not one school By the time little ethan starts kindergarten they'll have sold at a loss and moved to montclare.

Eric McClure said...

"...possibly made out of fruit leather fashioned out of rotten pears salvaged from the Dumpster of the Park Slope Food Co-op?"

Pears in the Dumpster? Sorry, but the Composting Squad would never allow that to happen.

As for Williamsburg, those rock 'n' roll parents might want to run a Geiger counter around their place some time. Maybe then "suburban" Park Slope won't seem so dull.

leroy said...

"Hell bent for leather" is a lyric from the theme from the TV series Rawhide and the lede for a post about saddles.

Is that ironic or what?

(101 comments. It's like podium for the new century.)

Girl in a short skirt said...

RetroFred knows A secret? as in just one secret? The headline promises thousands. Yet another example of why I don't subscribe to Bicycling. . . .

Neil said...

I'm still a little pissy after getting chased by a dog during a group ride Sunday and now I see rats are further up the hierachy than me. That's just swell.

Anonymous said...

I can remember a time, sitting at a restaurant, when I got criticized by my girlfriends pal for eating animals. I asked her how that dead cow felt wrapped around her feat (very fashionable at-the-time Doc Marten boots)???

Oh,and...

HELL BENT, HELL BENT FOR LEATHER!!!

Thank you Rob, and thank you Snob.

Anonymous said...

Remember Minneapolis, that city in Minnesota that is the Bike Capitol of the World according to some magazine?

Well, Minneapolis is now the Gayest City in the World according to some magazine.

It is probably some conspiracy by Portland and San Francisco to get rid of the freaks that plague both towns.

Anonymous said...

I ride a Brooks saddle and eat cow meat so that ties in nicely.
I didn't think people like Eve and Rich Kessner actually existed. Are they for real or just twats?

Anonymous said...

I ride a Brooks saddle and eat cow meat so that ties in nicely.
I didn't think people like Eve and Rich Kessner actually existed. Are they for real or just twats?

Anonymous said...

this is one of the best in a long time

SingleWedge said...

I live in Portland. We love bikes. We have special green boxes for them. We even have spirited debates and a lobby group about where to put bike lanes and all sorts of other stuff.
Cultural Backwater. No we have the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the Portland Art Museum, the Japanese and Chinese Gardens, lots of concerts, several marathons and we are close to Seattle. I commute 100 miles a week here and feel safe every day. We have special websites devoted to near misses and hits to help riders id trouble spots. Its great here, but bring your rain gear.

Fixie Bikes said...

Holster? Really? God damn it XD