A fat man in little pants.

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The title of today’s post (not to mention the accompanying image) is of course a metaphor to illustrate that today we have a lot of information to cover in a relatively short amount of space.
Without further ado, let’s get down to business.
At the top of the pile is good news for anyone who got on board with my Bandit replica jersey project. It seems as though Earth, Wind, and Rider ran into a hiccup with their primary manufacturer. This caused Bill (who is the captain of the E,W&R ship) to pull what hairs hadn’t been turned grey by this occurrence, out by their roots.
Thankfully though, he was communicative with me during this process and let me know that come hell or high water, we would eventually be seeing our beloved woolie goodness.
It was just on Wednesday that his better half sent me order confirmation information, as well as a request for the dough I’ve been sitting on these many weeks;
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As tempted as I was to take all that cash in invest it into something that I doubt anyone could fault me for;
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I didn’t do it, though if I had, I would at least promise to give each customer a ride to small claims court.
From the depths of the mail bag and the varying items contained therein, Andrew got in touch some time ago with some news that just kinda rounds the week out;
“My new neighbor;”
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Everyone knows cute little buddies all go bananas for the dark lord.
An individual who is far from cute, but loves Bananas is the one known as Sov of the Surly Bicycles Empire. He has kept his head down and his eyes focused on this weekend’s second annual Dirt Burger event in Decorah, Iowa;
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This is just another in a long line of events that I feel almost a spiritual hunger to be present at. Last year’s Dirt Burger was a huge success and received high marks from everyone who attended.
I urge you to go blow some fingers off in my absence.
In other news, the Black Market readership may or may not remember a short while ago when I went to Levi’s San Francisco headquarters and sold my soul;
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Master Tailor Jared stares contemplatively.
Word has come down from the top that this entire project is still moving full speed ahead, and the goods should be available everywhere mid-summer at the latest.
Speaking of Levi’s and bike specific clothing made by them, while there are a barrage of events scheduled around the country at which they plan to officially launch their line, what they have in store for Minneapolis West is a bit different. They are actually the title sponsor at this year’s Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Challenge.
One of the folks attending/competing at this fall’s challenge is Joshua Muir from Frances Cycles who is known far and wide as a builder who makes stuff that leaves people scratching their heads asking ‘how the hell did he do that?”
Lucky for me, he opened his doors to me recently and gave me a preview of what he might be armed with as he arrives at the ball;
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Joshua, clearly thrilled by my interruption of his work.
Walking into the gated backyard of a house that appears to have all of the markers of a happy commune, I’m first greeted by a creme colored duck, and then though the roll up door of a small shop tucked into the corner of the backyard, I get a nod from Joshua who is busy brazing away on a fork clamped onto his bench;
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He puts down his torch and warmly extends his hand to shake mine. While he seems to be a man of few words, it’s clear that he is passionate about what he does, and looks forward to putting the final touches on his entry for the Challenge, which he mentions almost seeming to remind himself, is only four months away.
It was just a few years ago that Josh took the Green Tortoise bus to Eugene, Oregon in order to pick up a Human Powered Machine for a local messenger company he was working for at the time. As he rode the bike back down the coast with his two Labradors Soupy and Bellow, he began thinking about, if he could, what changes he might include to make a better bike.
With a lifelong background in tinkering, and a sharp eye for detail, in 2006 Josh launched Frances, and hasn’t looked back since;
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Before I departed, Josh pulled out a current project, which though it doesn’t have any connection to September’s show, (because for now, that’s still a bit of a secret), I shot a few images of just to highlight his skill with metal and fire;
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Besides Frances Cycles, there will be a good number of other incredibly talented frame builders and designers displaying their wares this fall in PDX, and with a little bit of luck, I will be there in both body and mind, decked out in all of my Levi’s finery.
You’ll be able to recognize me because with all euphemisms, analogies, and visual substitutions aside, I’ll literally be the fat man wearing some little pants.
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4 Responses to “A fat man in little pants.”

  1. -dan June 10, 2011 at 7:19 am #

    holy shit! where did you find that picture of me? that was just a few years ago.
    i lost that crucifix necklace a while back. if anyone finds it, send it to Stevil to be returned to me. it was the only one i could find that wouldn’t get caught up in the hair.
    thanks.

  2. Ken June 10, 2011 at 7:30 am #

    Dirt Burger will be like this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov1XxyvCS3o

  3. irishpunk59 June 10, 2011 at 8:18 am #

    Josh is such a good guy and a great builder too, made me a fork for the Wicked wish I could get a frame some time

  4. josh muir June 12, 2011 at 3:06 pm #

    Thanks for the visit Stevil!
    josh