First half of November has been pretty rough. Lost a close family member to cancer, and Current TV laid off a ton of people (I dodged the bullet this time). I’ll eventually write about both things (once I get a slice of free time) but in the meantime, here’s a video I stumbled across on the interwebs and it made me laugh out loud (seriously). I thought I’d share it with you. It’s my new goto “pick me up” video.
So when we last left off, I had outlined what my plans were for rebuilding my bike as a cafe racer. This past weekend I started making good on those plans.
First up, I picked up a Vance & Hines exhaust system from a guy who was going to tear down a Seca II he bought and convert it to an electric. Sold it to me for $100. It was covered in surface rust and missing a couple of the exhaust springs; the can was stained and oily and overall the whole thing was snotty, crusty, but entirely salvageable. I called up V&H to see how much it would cost to order new exhaust springs, and much to my surprise, they offered to just send me a bunch for free. Now THAT’s service. I broke out the 120 grit sandpaper, steel wool, rust remover, high temp black paint, my latex gloves and set about refurbishing it.
Day 1: Refurb the Exhaust.
Refuribing the old rusty exhaust took most of the day. I finished it up and left the bike for the night. The next day I picked it back up by removing all the leftover fairing mounts, disassembling and removal old speedo / tach, removing the old turn signals, cutting out the original light bulb based tail and replacing it with a LED tail light I hacked together from a truck trailer LED light, and taking off the old bent handlebars and replacing it with a brand new club man bar. Needless to say, it was a long day in the garage.
Day 2: Turning an old Japanese sport-tourer into a badass cafe racer: the beginning steps.
Next steps: Install the freshly rebuilt 7″ round headlight, install LED turn signals (front and back), rewire bike’s front end electrical system, and install & calibrate a new speedometer/tachometer. Plenty more to come.
Much like everyone else on the planet, I never actually took the time to watch what was on Current TV. All I knew about it was that it was “Al Gore’s TV Network” and two of their reporters were arrested in North Korea. Back in July of this year I ended up doing a freelance gig for Current, and it turned into a full time position. That was the first real exposure I had to any of the content that they produce here. After being here a couple months, I have to say that not only is the quality of the shows made here very high, it’s without a doubt one of my favorite places to work.
But I digress. I spend most of my time at Current working on the Embedded and Vanguard series (and I’ve previously talked about them at length on this site). I was even lucky enough recently to have some of the work I did for Embedded ripped off by the Mr. Jon Bon Jovi. I do however want to highlight a show that many people probably haven’t seen, but should. It’s called infoMania. It’s an incredibly witty and funny show that airs once a week on Thursday nights. Current is even kind enough to host the shows after they air on it’s website.
Last night’s show was particularly funny and I wanted to share it with all 5 people who read this blog. Enjoy.
Bon Jovi loves the ironic. His newest music video is called “We Weren’t Born to Follow”, and somehow it manages to completely rip off the title sequence that Micah Hahn, Mike Beynart and myself created for Current TV’s Embedded Series. For a song who’s title claims they weren’t born to follow, whoever created the video missed the meaning.
Yes, I said it. The video is a rip-off, a copy, a fake. I’ve been noticing this for awhile tho, big name artists and the massive corporations behind them have no shame in biting off of the work of other artists who aren’t as big as they are; a prime example being one of the most blatent rip-off artists of all time, Timbaland.
I guess I should be flattered, but honestly, Jovi’s video isn’t just a blatant bite, but it’s a POORLY done rip-off. C’mon now, if you’re going to rip off my work, at least improve on it.
Now you might say “…but Bon Jovi’s video premiered Oct 10, 2009, and Embedded aired on Oct 14th!”. Well to that I’ll say that Embedded was originally supposed to air in early September, and promo’s for the show (which include segments of the title sequence) were viewable on Current.com and on Current TV for a good month or so in advance. You decide for yourself.
Embedded Title Sequence:
Bon Jovi’s “We Weren’t Born to Follow”…heh
So, um. Let me get this straight. THIS is supposed to persuade me to FIGHT global warming/climate change? Apparently the hotter it gets, the more clothes these models take off.
Recently I heard from friend from way back in the day. My friend (who shall not be named out of respect for his/her privacy) was a religious individual. One who searched for the truth in the belief of a god, or THE God, or what have you. I have great respect for people of faith. Evangelicals not so much, but educated individuals searching for truth, not hillbillie bible thumpers damning all that disagree or challenge their “view”. Anyways, my friend recently contacted me through email to ask me my views on certain theological topics, from an atheist’s perspective.
Just as a sidenote, it’s no secret that I’m an atheist. I’m not ashamed of it, nor do I feel the need to be. Some of my friends and family strongly disapprove of my views, or my publicity of them, but most are indifferent or at least not vocal about it. It is one of those three taboo topics for dinner conversation though. The others being politics, and sex; one pure, and one evil…but I’ll let you decide for yourself which is which.
I felt like the questions that were asked in My Friend’s email were extremely interesting from a purely theological perspective. I feel like it was a chance for me to really define what I believed in relation to what was being asked by someone who’s religious faith had been shaken. My friend’s identity will be protected, but I’ve included the theological portion of the initial email, and my response as I think it starts a very interesting conversation.
My Friend’s Initial Email:
Hey Mr. Tibbs,
< snip >
Secondly, 2009 has sucked for me because I quietly disowned my lifelong exploration and quest of trying to believe in a god. The admittance that our existence is, by default, without purpose makes me sad and intimidated by this huge world that has little governance. What’s more: we’re born, then we die, and for nothing worth bragging about… done.
My question is, how do you enjoy your life from day to day knowing that what we see is what we get?
Any insight you can provide, I’d appreciate.
< snip >
My Response:
Mr < snip >,
< snip >
I’m terribly sorry to hear of your disillusionment in the pursuit and understanding of your faith and exploration of religion/god. Having a realization (if you can truly call it that) which balks at the very epicenter of what you’ve grown to believe and put your faith into cannot be a very easy ordeal by any stretch. My deepest condolences to you for that. The reasons for your departure of faith are your own. It’s something very personal and I empathize with your internal struggle with it.
That being said I don’t think the question is how do I enjoy my life from day to day knowing that what I see is what I get. Rather, I find the question to be more how do I not enjoy my life with all the wonderful fleeting moments that are in it?
My self-actualization comes from the belief that each and every moment I experience while alive is limited, finite, and fleeting. Every path crossed. Every friend made. Every fight won or lost. Every tragedy. Ever triumph. There is a very simple, but astoundingly subtle beauty in it for me. No moment is unique. No moment is ever the same. No moment will ever be repeated. And at some point, in my life, I will cease to be aware of those moments, I will cease to exist, and all those many multitudes of experiences I’ve encountered will also cease to exist with me (though it can be argued that I live on through my shared experiences with friends, children, and/or family, etc…). It’s this time limit that makes it so special. If it continued evermore in whatever incantation that man creates to dull the mind to the fear of death, then the value of my life and my life experiences would be diminished. I personally believe that because there is a limitation, or an end to life, that anything experienced during that duration is that much more special.
To me, the beauty is that nothing lasts forever.
As for the declaration that “our existence is, by default, without purpose…”, I disagree with you. For that statement to be true, some higher power would have to decree that you have a specific use and purpose. In my personal beliefs, I find that to be one caveat of religion that I truly cannot understand. To me an individual’s purpose is whatever he or she wants it to be. You can choose to be and do whatever you want. You can affect peoples lives in great and deeply moving ways. You can spend your years doing absolutely nothing, and that’s okay too. Purpose to me is a personal choice. It’s whatever you want it to be and the fact that it’s yours makes it significant. I think that however you feel about what you choose to do should be the barometer by which you measure your own greatness. That freedom of personal choice is scary though. The question of “what is my purpose in life?” is one of the most complex and challenging questions that mankind faces.
I hope that my personal opinion can offer you some solace, or even direction on this experience you’re having. These questions you’re asking now will only beget more questions…but that’s the beauty of it. You’ll be viewing your world and your experiences through a lens untainted by the dogma of doctrine. You can experience life in it’s purest form.
What are your thoughts?
So back in February I got hit by a cage (car for the non-riders). Hit and run actually. Banged up my 96 XJ600 Seca II pretty bad (I walked away unscathed; take the MSF course and ALWAYS wear gear). Lost my front fairing, scraped up the exhausts on both sides, bent the handlebars (not the fork or trees thankfully), and generally turned my once pretty bike, into a mangled mess.
At the time I was unemployed so I just took the money and pocketed it, and fixed the mechanics on the beast to keep it running until I had some money to buy a new bike. I’ve since been working again but instead of a new bike, I decided that a new computer is more important (I’m an aspiring director so I need good tools) so I’ve decided to make a cafe/rat/hooligan bike out of my old SECA II, and since I love the project threads so much, I’ll be making my own.
For posterity, here’s how my baby looks right now:
She’s in dire need of a bath, but mechanically she’s pretty solid. Could use a carb cleaning and all, but that’s part of the plan. I have it pretty much worked out that I’m going to rebuild her in stages.
Stage 1 – The Basics
In this stage, I’m replacing the dash cluster with an Acewell Unit, 7″ headlight, LED turn signals, LED brake light, black clubman bars, grips, and bar end mirrors. I went online and purchased a bunch of stuff and it’s slowly arriving. Hopefully by this weekend I’ll have all the parts I’ll need for this stage.
Stage 2 – Performance
I’ve recently come into a V&H Supersport Exhaust full system for my bike. They usually go used for about $500, but I picked this gem up for 1/5 of that. The thing is super light. I can effortlessly lift it with one hand. Definitely a departure from the heavy and gargantuan system currently weighing my bike down. It does have some surface rust and scratches, but I’m going to refurbish it (more on that in another post). Anyways, Full 4-into-1 Exhaust System, black heat wrap, silicone sealing spray (for the wrap), a 20mm Pilot Jet, FactoryPro Jet Kit, and a good ole fashioned carb cleaning and (if needed) valve adjustment.
Stage 3 – Suspension & Propulsion
For Stage 3 of the Hooligan conversion I’ll be getting a new rear shock (progressive 420, or an OEM), going with a heavier oil on the front forks, getting some steel braided brake lines, going down 1 tooth on the rear (48 -> 47) and going up 1 tooth in the front (16 -> 17), new Pirelli Sport Demon Tires (upgrading from a 130 to a 150 in the back), POSSIBLY do a FZR front end swap so I can get dual front breaks (and better stopping power), and a partridge in a pear tree.
Stage 4 – Spit and polish
Re-black the engine, matte black (or graphite grey) paintjob for the tank, side panels, and rear plastic.
I’m budgeting ~$2k for this upgrade. I know I can buy a faster, better bike etc, but I’m doing this because it will be awesome to build my own custom bike, I’ll learn a buttload about bikes, I’m an artist so this kind of thing appeals to my creative side, and I think those mad max looking bikes just look badass (if done right).
This week on Embedded, The Silversun Pickups, K’Naan and Arcade Fire.
Another great episode. Check it out at 11pm ET/PT, 10pm CT/MT.
Current TV can be seen on: DirecTV 358, Dish 196, Comcast 107 or 125, Time Warner 103 or 142!
If you’re a total douche (or your cable sucks), you can also watch it on Hulu. So no excuses.