awkward encounters

Scaredy Cat 2009

2009-10-28T18:45:00.001-04:00

Scaredy Cat 2009 Bicycle Scavenger Hunt

HALLOWEEN - Saturday, Oct 31st - 9pm - Colley & Spotswood, Ghent
* Bicycle
* Lights
* Lock
* Camera / Camera Phone

PRIZES for
* Winner
* DFL
* Least Appropriate Costume

ALL BICYCLES WELCOME ! ! !

Flyer in loving homage to "Return of the Living Dead," one of my favorite 1980's horror movies.

Bicycle "Scavenger Hunt" Saturday

2009-01-06T17:53:00.002-05:00

Race & Flyer by Wes.

The Bike Doctor's First Grandannual Lock U Up Alley Cat Classic.

Saturday, January 10, 3:30pm.

Meet at Blair Middle School on Colley Avenue.

5-8 mile messenger-style bike race with activity checkpoints.

Bike lock & spare tube required.

Helmet & lights recommended.

Special Huffy Class open to all Mal-Wart bikes with MSRP of $200 or less.

Prizes awarded to top finishers!

Free Will Entry Fee ($10 suggested)

Proceeds will go to purchase U Locks for the proletariat.

More information on fotobywes.blogspot.com

Thanks!
Wes

"Track" Race

2008-11-24T12:38:00.003-05:00

Pretty sure this will be on the streets.

Race & Flyer by Pork Chop.
Friday, Nov 29th, 830pm
Pursuit Races, Sprints, Last Man Out, etc.

Scaredy Cat Spoke Card

2008-10-16T17:39:00.003-04:00

Credits best read Large

Details for this Halloween Bicycle Race

Halloween Bicycle Race

2008-10-16T13:23:00.003-04:00

Beware the ….

SCAREDY CAT ! ! !

This Completely Terrifying Bicycle Race will start frighteningly close to 7:30pm, on the Horrifying holiday, All Hallow’s Eve. Creep your most Dire Bicycle over to the Spooky School at the Bone-Chilling intersection of Colley and Spotswood Avenues, dressed in your most Unnerving Costumes, carrying your most Horrendous Bag, and your most Hair-Raising Bicycle Lock.

Friday, October 31^st (Halloween), 730pm

Colley & Spotswood Aves, Ghent

Must Have

Bicycle

Bike Lock

Backpack/Bag

Costumes Encouraged!

ALL BICYCLES WELCOME!

Bailout gives Tax Break to Bicycle Commuters

2008-10-14T17:10:00.000-04:00

Rachel Gordon, SF Chronicle Staff Writer

(10-08) 19:16 PDT -- The $700 billion bailout bill intended to stop the tailspin of the nation's financial sector did something else: It includes federal tax benefits for people who commute by bike.

Starting in January, workers who use two-wheelers as their primary transportation mode to get to and from work will be eligible for a $20-a-month, tax-free reimbursement from their employers for bicycle-related expenses. In return, employers will be able to deduct the expense from their federal taxes.

"It significantly legitimizes bicycling and elevates it to a credible commute mode, like riding a bus or train," said Andy Thornley, program director for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

The money could be used to purchase, store, maintain or repair bikes that are used for a substantial portion of an employee's commute.

Bike advocates have been trying for seven years to get such a provision passed in Washington, but came up short until Congress rushed through the Wall Street bailout package last week and lawmakers squeezed in pet projects. The bicycle benefit was championed by members of the Oregon delegation.

Backers estimate that the federal tax rolls may lose out on about $1 million a year due to the new employer write-off, according to the advocacy group League of American Bicyclists.

History Lesson

2008-10-10T14:12:00.003-04:00

Graphs provided by Dow Jones.

Shows how major events in History affect the Dow Jones Index, as well as the US Presidents in Power at the Time.

Interesting Fact: The Dow Jones never breached 4,000 until the early 1990's.

"The American Idea"

2008-09-18T10:52:00.001-04:00

A collection of Essays, Drawings, and Photographs based on the theme "The American Idea." The following links cover the broad spectrum on ideals and perceptions of our modern country, eclipsing even Conservative or Liberal notions.

From The Atlantic:

To mark this anniversary, we also invited an eclectic group of thinkers who have had cause to consider the American idea to describe its future and the greatest challenges to it. We provided little more charge than that, beyond asking that they accomplish this feat in 300 words or so. We asked artists to perform the same feat with a drawing or a photograph.

In the pages that follow, George F. Will rings an alarm over the danger inherent in embracing a singular American idea, but many of the contributors agree on a rough definition of the idea itself—the easy part, as John Hope Franklin suggests. Yet has this idea been put into practice or not? Is it more threatened by Americans’ faith in God or by their secularism? By Islamic fundamentalism or by our response to it? By poverty, racism, celebrity, the gobbling up of natural resources? Will science and the entrepreneurial spirit carry us through? Should we rejoice on this anniversary, or should we be angry? What follows is a wise, amused, pained, and impassioned cacophony, and, in sum, a statement of the sustaining value of The Atlantic, its commitment to the open mind in pursuit of an idea whose realization was partial and fragile 150 years ago, and still is.

Istvan Banyai
Muslim Democracy
(An illustration)

Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Confidence and Freedom
"We don't have to diminish the American idea in order to save it. Indeed, the only way to prevail in the struggle between freedom and fundamentalism is to enrich that idea in the face of threats."

Michael Bierut
American Smile
(A graphic)

Guy Billout
American Sunrise
(A drawing)

Barry Blitt
Support Our Troops
(A cartoon)

Stephen Breyer
Wise Constraints
"We are not unique; our ideals are not exceptional; and, to everyone's good fortune, our ability to put those ideals into practice, however special it once may have been, has not remained so."

Alan Brinkley
Messiah Complex
"America's self-image is more deeply bound up with a sense of having a special place in history than most other nations' are."

Steve Brodner
The Thomas (Jefferson) Crown Affair
(An illustration)

William F. Buckley Jr.
A Proposition
"Ours are loyalties to an ideal, not to a revelation, and this must have been the reason, even if he was not conscious of it, why Lincoln referred to the American 'proposition.'"

Robert Conquest
Lethal Certainties
"The American idea, as seen by the founders of The Atlantic Monthly, was never an ideological monolith."

John Edwards
The Two Americas Problem
"The idea of America—real, fundamental equality: equality of opportunity, equality of culture, equality of respect—matters more than ever."

John Hope Franklin
The Cover-Up
"Perhaps the American idea was not so admirable."

Frank Gehry
Building Dreams
"As I think of what's gone on in the years I've been on this planet, I wonder why great architecture isn't considered an important shaper of the American idea."

Milton Glaser
The Rise and Fall of the American Idea
(A graphic)

Amy Gutmann
A Dual Mission
"Leaving the fate of our democracy in the hands of a diverse and constantly changing American citizenry that is guided by constitutional democratic principles is perhaps the most enduring American idea of all."

Sam Harris
God-Drunk Society
"America is now a nation of 300 million souls, wielding more influence than any people in human history—and yet 240 million of these souls apparently believe that Jesus will return someday and orchestrate the end of the world with his magic powers."

Ron Haviv
Darfuri Girls
(A photograph)

Arianna Huffington
Pursuit of Happiness
"The promise of unlimited opportunity has given way to rampant narcissism and misplaced perfectionism (and the disappointed self-loathing that inevitably follows the search for a flawless self)."

T. D. Jakes
The World's Pulse
"The question is: Do we live to serve ourselves alone, or shall our lives bear witness to something larger?"

Ed Kashi
Denied: The Crisis of America's Uninsured
(A photograph)

Alex Katz
Vivien with Baseball Hat
(A painting)

George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson
Decency
"In thinking about the American idea, we decided to revisit a concept we first took up in these pages 25 years ago."

Ray Kurzweil
Frontiers
"The American idea is to push beyond frontiers, whether in geography (Manifest Destiny), science (splitting the atom, DNA), invention (the telephone, the lightbulb, the airplane, the Internet), industry (mass production), music (jazz, rock and roll), or popular culture (Hollywood)."

Tim LaHaye
Godless Society
"America's uniqueness is based in the Christian consensus of the Founding Fathers, who penned documents guaranteeing religious and personal freedom for all."

Stan Lee
America Is a Dream
(A cartoon)

Bernard Lewis
Second Acts
"I still remember my first two impressions of Americans, derived from my wartime comrades."

Sally Mann
Untitled
(A photograph)

Harvey C. Mansfield
You Can Have it Too
"The future of the American idea is clouded by the fact that the proof of its success was never intended to be conclusive. "

Greil Marcus
Autocracy and Freedom
"This spring, in the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, there was a full-page ad for sheets. It showed a black woman and a white man rolling happily in their bed..."

Judith Martin
Republic of Manners
"European etiquette was all very well for those snobs and sycophants in class-stratified societies, but it would not do for the proud citizens of an enlightened and free republic."

Steve McCurry
Meditating Monk in Forest, Redwood Valley, California, USA, 2004
(A photograph)

Azar Nafisi
Sivilization
"The idea that I want to believe America was founded on ... depended on challenging the world as it is and, by standing up to civilized society, redefining it."

Janet Napolitano
The Arizona Idea
"Rest assured, if you come to Arizona, you'll find the frontier, and the American idea, alive and well here."

Michael Novak
What is Liberty?
"In its religious roots, the American idea of freedom recognizes the free consciences of all."

Joseph Nye
Soft Power
"During the Vietnam War, the United States was widely unpopular around the world, as it is now... Yet despite unpopular government policies, our openness and self-criticism allowed the American idea to retain its appeal."

Joyce Carol Oates
The Human Idea
"How heartily sick the world has grown, in the first seven years of the 21st century, of the American idea!"

Nancy Pelosi
Youth
"In my recent travels as House speaker, I have met with presidents, prime ministers, and kings, but what has impressed me and inspired me the most are my encounters with young people."

Robert Pinsky
Pudd'nheads
"A great surprise of my brief time in Washington was how often members of Congress turned out to be more intelligent than they let themselves seem on television—better read, more reflective, more sensitive."

Richard Pipes
An Optimist's Worries
"I may be an incurable optimist, but at the age of 84—having lived through the Great Depression, Stalin, Hitler, World War II, the Holocaust, and the Cold War—I think today's world is not in bad shape."

Gerhard Richter
September 11
(A painting)

Arnold Roth
Liberty
(A cartoon)

Eric Schlosser
The Freak Show
"The America that I love bears little relation to the freak show now peddled by Hollywood and the cable-news networks."

Eric Schmidt
New New Things
"America's history of innovation has drawn on the inherent optimism of Americans, even when realities are discouraging."

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Coming to America
"I began dreaming of coming to America when I was 10 years old, because it has no rival as a Land of Opportunity."

Anne-Marie Slaughter
Unexceptionalism
"The values that our Founders cherished as the universal inheritance of the Enlightenment are increasingly identified as American values—or worse still, as not real values at all, but simply a rhetorical blind for the advance of American power."

Anna Deavere Smith
Imagination's End
"As I look out at this land, I find myself in doubt, about our environment and our society."

Ralph Steadman
American Family
(A cartoon)

Laurence H. Tribe and Carolyn K. Tribe
Rekindling the Flame
"Our greatest national challenge is to reverse the profoundly misguided course the last two presidential elections have set"

John Updike
The Individual
"The American idea, as I understand it, is to trust people to know their own minds and to act in their own enlightened self-interest, with a necessary respect for others."

David Foster Wallace
Just Asking
"Are you up for a thought experiment?..."

Michael Walzer
Pluralism and Democracy
"Most Americans believed, almost from the beginning, that pluralism and democracy were compatible, even mutually enhancing."

Steven Weinberg
Inherited Opportunity
"If any one idea can justly be called the American idea, it is that a child's circumstances at birth should not determine the station in life that that child will occupy as an adult."

Cornel West
Niggerization
"The fundamental irony of American history is that we follow the better angels of our nature when we honestly and compassionately confront the devilish realities we would like to ignore or deny."

George F. Will
The Danger
"It is a good and very American idea to avoid the definite article in locutions like 'the American idea.'"

Edward O. Wilson
Manifest Ecology
"The central issue for America is sustainable development. Somehow we, and other countries, have to find a way to continue raising the quality of life without wrecking the planet."

Alan Wolfe
Help Wanted
"We were better off wanting things the rest of the world had to offer than we are now, when we need so little from everyone else."

Tom Wolfe
Pell-Mell
"Since you asked ... the American idea was born at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 1803, the moment Thomas Jefferson sprang the so-called pell-mell on the new British ambassador, Anthony Merry, at dinner in the White House."

Bicycle Race Sunday

2008-09-16T10:03:00.003-04:00

South Scramble AlleyCat race

Sunday 9/21/08
Colley & Spottswood, Ghent

6pm Registration
630pm Race

$2 Entry Fee

Race by J is for Jitensha.

Aug 29th AlleyCat

2008-08-22T09:13:00.003-04:00

Meet at the Norfolk Pagoda
Friday, 8/29. 8:29pm.

Track Stand Contest, followed by Alley Cat Race.
(Head Start in Race for Top Track Standers.)

Prizes Awarded.

$5 entry to benefit SPCA.

Race and Flyer by Wes.

Photos & Article Published

2008-05-05T14:56:00.002-04:00

Photos & Article Published, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

Hlee Xiong is editor for 18XEEM, a Hmong Cultural magazine. She asked to use some of my photos from Hmong New Year in her publication. I gladly agreed, and volunteered photos from the Mother's Day 2007 shoot with Geri and her Grandmother, Chau Vue. Hlee asked for information about her Grandmother's long adventure of a life, which Geri was kind enough to offer. I wrote the article during the middle of February. During this time, Chau Vue passed away.

Last Friday, the magazine was waiting in my mailbox. Geri and her family should receive copies soon. I sincerely appreciate the Yang family's kindness and their being so open with this article. And thanks to Hlee Xiong for the opportunity.

The Chau Vue's incredible story can be read here.

May 18th AlleyCat

2008-04-28T11:44:00.003-04:00

Race will be timed, probably 60-90 minutes. Winner will have collected the most photographs of Norfolk's Cheesy Mermaids.

Spoke Cards -

Tie-Breakers will be determined by Indian Leg-Wrestling.

Free Bicycle Purchasing Advice from the Wrong Person.

2008-04-28T09:37:00.003-04:00

Pete, creeping me out., originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

"Can you recommend a nice bicycle for me?"

I get this question every once in a while, so I'll can it here for future reference. As you can see, I do my best to absolve myself of accountability in the face of customer dissatisfaction. This particular response deals with Road Bikes (the last road bicycle I owned was in high school - a Western Flyer 200lb piece of cast iron I won in the local newspaper subscription sales contest):

If I were buying a road bike, I'd look at and try out a few different new frames. Especially to see if i'm more comfortable with traditional or compact frame styles. And then I'd look on craigslist or ebay for that same frame style in a 1-2 year old model (probably more C-list than ebay so i could actually go see the ride in person/test it out).

Because components are so expensive, buying used seems to be the way to get the best gear on a bike (ie, Ultegra vs. Shimano 105, wheel upgrades, etc). Plus a lot of really well off people tend to buy expensive bikes and find out they don't like riding, so they'll use them very little and sell when bike season begins. Their mistakes can be your opportunities.

This, of course is only one way to shop. You can also just buy within your budget New, knowing that a shop will do your tuneups for life (or they should - it would help to ask). And then you can upgrade components as you wear parts out / budget it in.

As you can tell, I stayed away from dropping name brands. I just don't know who is really great when it comes to road bikes. Even with MTB or track bikes, you can really fall in love with a frame because it's what you ride all the time, and the seatpost/saddle/bearing/brakes are dialed in to what you like. But since that's your only reference point, you can't draw from the experience of riding a few thousand miles on a potentially better frame.

Dear Shimano Cycling N America,

2008-04-22T10:24:00.003-04:00

upgrade?, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

Your website makes quite a claim about the quality of your Dura-Ace products:

"Top of the line performance for serious cyclists... "

Based upon my experience, "top of the line performance" does not include 14T track cogs lasting over 4,500 miles. Maybe I'm not serious enough. Yeah, that's got to be it. Because had I paid full retail for your cog, I would be Seriously heated right now for blowing my investment.

Let's hope this 15T cog from the same line lasts at least 10k miles, considering I'm giving up about 6 gear inches.

"Three key words have emerged as the theme for the latest DURA-ACE system: Speed, Smooth and Strength. '100% Power Transmission' is the goal pursued by the fusion of these three concepts. Lance Armstrong used Dura-Ace to win the Tour de France seven consecutive times."

I'm pretty sure he wasn't riding that same DA groupo all 7 years.

I hope you all choke on your smug sense of self-satisfaction, you jerks.

Sincerely,

- R. Kurtz -Bicycle Commuter

the omega man

2008-04-09T14:40:00.003-04:00

charlton heston, originally uploaded by c_theokas.

From Family Guy episode "And the Weiner Is," during a Gun Club's family firearms safety video:

"Did you know Jesus and Moses used guns to conquer the Romans?"

Alley Cat April 12th

2008-03-31T09:19:00.002-04:00

Liberty Alley Cat , originally uploaded by ( kurtz )

Race by Wes. More details to come.

13

2008-03-17T09:12:00.003-04:00

spoke cards, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

Race is based upon "The Clash of the Titans." Checkpoints will be various statues in Norfolk, Ghent, ODU, and Portsmouth. It's called Medusa's Revenge because "The Statue Race" is pretty boring. The manifest will ask specific questions about the statues or their dedication plaques to ensure good sportsmanship.

Winning the race will depend on your knowledge of the Portsmouth Ferry schedule and landing points, which could subtract or add 30 minutes to your time.

13 checkpoints over a minimum of 13 miles (not including ferry travel distance).

The red ones will be single-sided Spoke Cards. The full color will be backing for the double-sided Prize Cards.

And, yes, I did find all 3 prizes for next Saturday.

. . . and here comes pride in the backstreatch

2008-03-11T11:00:00.001-04:00

Norfolk Bicycle Race, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

That's right. The statue race has a name. Hopefully people will show, and hopefully they will have fun.

Many thanks to David in Portsmouth for all his help.

See you there!

papa's got a brand new bag

2008-02-28T09:18:00.002-05:00

papa's got a brand new bag , originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

(or at least new to me)

my 3 year-old backpack's finally on it's last seams. 12 seasons of biking, hiking, falling, grocery runs, rain, submersion, dragging, and dog-chewing are at an end.

finally, it was time to grab one of those waterproof backpacks I so covet. as always, budget was a big concern, so I searched the Russian Roulette marathon that is Craigslist. friday afternoon, I sent a USPS money order to Portland, OR, and by yesterday, Wed nite, I got my bag back via UPS. a 4 month old, perfect-condition bag, purchased at 50% of Retail. no small feat for a product from a bag company who, based upon my research, never has sales.

i celebrated by new acquisition with a little grocery shopping. afterwards, i tooled around Naro Video looking for an old Cronenberg flick for about half an hour.

by the time i got home i noticed i had been adjusting my posture repeatedly to compensate for the load. obviously, i'm not an Army Ranger hucking 80lbs of gear around 40 hours a week.

so, i checked the difference weight on the bathroom scale: 47 lbs

- bike chain (usually around my waist)
- 3 packets of Kung Pao powder
- can of peanuts
- stick of Pepper Jack cheese
- 2 cans of Campbell's Chunky
- 2lb bag of plain Grits (insert redneck joke here)
- floor mop replacement sponge
- bag o' oranges
- 2.5lbs of chicken breast
- 12 pack of Miller Lite, to replace what i've stolen from Michelle
- 3 dvd's - Hiroku the Goblin, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, The Brood
- 5lb bag of Kokohu Rose Sushi Rice (so much better tasting that long grain, imho)

hopefully i'll get stronger and faster riding loaded down. the bag is freaking huge, though, and i found myself tucking the Wings for the morning commute, to accommodate for the occasional shoulder-check.

i think i'm satisfied, but i do feel that this may be a bit much on the summer morning commute, considering the sweat-in-business-clothes factor. we'll see...

and I get to pose as a bicycle courier, telling tall tales of death-and-traffic-defying mortgage document deliveries. for joy!

back on the horse?

2008-02-27T10:49:00.002-05:00

back on the horse?, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

It looks like my roommate wants to shoot some Divine-days John Waters-style filthy trash. That means costumes, locations, and bodies. Fantastic.

Also, I just bought a discount calendar of old Pulp novel covers. Hopefully I can do some awesome recreations, maybe with women fighting robots and ninjas to save dudes in peril.

Top pic is a still from Bob Tomecular's documentation of my shoot for ALIVE. Bottom is the resulting frame I shot.

planning

2008-02-26T09:00:00.001-05:00

planning, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

finally got close to the crane structures on the Portsmouth side of the Elizabeth river, thanks to David, a bike commuter. hopefully i'll be able to re-shoot this at night, with something like a naked savage sneaking up to catch a glimpse of a sleeping god. and not get arrested.

Russians !!!

2008-02-04T10:28:00.001-05:00

Russians !!!, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

About a month ago, a Moscow woman emailed me asking to print 2 of my photos poster-sized for her home.

I agreed to send the high-res files, in exchange for a pic of the blowups with some sort of Russian publication in frame to show off my new Eastern block fanbase (yeah, i know, anyone can buy a Russian book online - don't poop on my beachtowel, okay?!?).

Here's Sasha, with her copy of Matt, Punching and her husband Joe with a blowup of Roxanne and Matt. I'll be sure to send Matt his Ego Cookie.

Oh, and take a look at this shot in large. This is the biggest print I've seen of a Canon 8.2mp file, and it looks freaking awesome (about 24" x 36" ? ). I can't wait to start printing my own poster-sized prints.

Thanks so much, Sasha and Joe; you made my day!

photo dojo 365

2008-01-02T10:53:00.001-05:00

Johanna, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

today starts the one photo a day project for 365 days.

this is not the photo for today.

possible themes:

pictograms to represent the alphabet and numbers
color themes
self portraits
documentary
conceptual ripoffs of paintings i love

not home for the holidays

2007-12-26T11:12:00.001-05:00

amused, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

I am, however, catsitting. The purring and petting are fun, but the occassional sneeze-fit seizure attack and red eyes from forgetting to wash my hands are a type of fun I can do without.

Sophie and her calico buddy Mittsy are chill, quiet, and fairly non-destructive. A far cry from the Gremlin Yorkies at my house.

Yesterday was blissfully uneventful:
- Catchups with friends and family
- wasting $7 at the cineplex (avp:r - bleh)
- dinner with some old friends
- a few hours with an awesome boxer pup

a lament for the live band

2007-12-21T09:34:00.001-05:00

they call me greyhound, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

Oh, Shiva the Destroyer, please grace the quiet hamburg of Norfolk with a truly fantastic musical performance along the lines of

Kayo Dot
Radiohead
Guitar Wolf
Deerhoof
Lightning Bolt
Mahi Mahi
Melt Banana
RJD2
Tool
anything Mike Patton
Slayer
Nouvelle Vague
Depeche Mode
pretty much anybody who's played at Coachella over the past couple years

Your loyal servant,

- k