Living For The City

Back on the bike in a surprisingly short amount of time after suffering a broken shoulder at the hands of an inattentive driver; Jason is a champ.

This Thursday night @ Adrift – my boy Andrew Pommier will be in the house for the release of his Adrift Artist Series T-Shirt which is dope! In the off chance that you don’t know Andrew, you most certainly know his work as it’s been featured in virtually every decent art publication, many outside the art world and on more products (mostly skate related) than you can shake a stick at.

Details from Adrift:

ADRIFT ARTIST SERIES PRESENTS: ANDREW POMMIER

THURSDAY AUGUST 30TH,
7PM TILL 11PM.

A PARTY CELEBRATING THE RELEASE OF ANDREW POMMIER’S EXCLUSIVE ARTIST SERIES SHIRT
FOR ADRIFT SKATESHOP.

SHIRT WILL BE ON SALE, ARTIST WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE.

GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

Get familiar!

Yesterday Michael Vick released a statement of apology for the things he did and the things he allowed to happen – an apology directly largely towards the NFL Commissioner, his coach / team mates but most of all to the kids that looked up to him. What about the dogs? Now, I’m aware that you can’t “apologize” to the dogs via a press conference in any way they’d understand but this type of apology somehow rings hollow. He’s not sorry, he’s sorry he got caught. He’s sorry for the effect his actions have had, not for the actions in and of themselves. Ahhhh well, at least he’s found Jesus, right?

He described his acts as immature; not inhumane, not deplorable, not disgusting – immature. He said that he takes full responsibility for his actions and doesn’t point the finger at anyone else which is at least one step in the right direction. There are a variety of social, economic and cultural influences that allow these types of things to be acceptable in certain circles and a lot of people would have been quick to bring that up and he didn’t. I guess even being one of the highest paid players in the NFL – you can’t change where you came from which shapes your moral values and belief system.

Now, I am not aware of his actual involvement with “Bad Newz Kennels” or whether or not the allegations of him personally killing several dogs are true but based on his Guilty plea, I have to assume that he was involved in more than namesake alone and being intimately aware of these types of things and not doing something about it is as sick and twisted as doing them yourself. But this isn’t even about Michael Vick – he’s just become a convenient target – this is about people that are capable of such cruel and inhumane acts.

If were to believe in hell, I’d have to believe that there would be an especially brutal place reserved for those who would spill the blood of the innocent. Of course, here we enter a debate about how domesticated animals differ from animals used for food; I do not think that the two are mutually exclusive but I do not think that they are one in the same, either. I’m vegan; I have been for nearly 12 years and will be for the rest of my life. I’m well aware of the horrors of the animal based food industry and choose not to support it but I can’t help but feel that there is a fundamental difference between the slaughter of animals for food, as unnecessary as I may think it is, and the torture / killing of animals for sport.

There is no love like the love that a dog will give you – they look to you for protection, guidance and love and provide all in return unconditionally in abundance. They are so loyal that they will fight to their death to please you and this is how you repay them for their loyalty? For their trust? For their unconditional love? You don’t deserve to be forgiven, you don’t deserve for anyone to forget.

No second chances, no mercy – you gave up your right to live a decent life when you took theirs away. These dogs do not receive a second chance; even those fortunate enough to survive are euthanized because they are so poorly adjusted that they cannot reasonably be re-integrated into society.

To quote my good friend Chris during his Left For Dead days: “Why don’t I cut off your head and we’ll call it negative reinforcement? That’s how you treat an animal, you deserve even worse!”

Vick and pricks like him all get The Gas Face!

I don’t like hippies. I mean, I’m glad that they are there – I’m glad that there are people that are care-free, happy every day and genuinely enjoy their lives – but that doesn’t mean I have to like them.

One of the reasons that I’m glad they exist is because things like Car Free Sundays probably wouldn’t happen with out them. A few times throughout the summer Kensington Market is closed to automobile traffic – I’ll accept with the stench of patchouli and the site of rotten feet sticking out a pair of bruck-up Birks to have an entire neighborhood with no cars, even if just for a day. The streets were opened up for live music, street art, capoeira, random fruit hugging, games of SKATE in front of Adrift, and my personal favorite – Bike Polo!

It was my first time playing so I was more than happy with my team’s 7-3 victory! We left just before the drum circle started, damn. Next time, stinkies, next time…

The highlight of my day was running into my friends Che & Adrienne who were with a group of kids teaching a photography workshop. I’m so glad to have such talented friends who are happy to use their time in such a positive way. While I was talking to Che, I noticed a dude with a camera that I hadn’t seen around before so I asked Che “Hey, who’s that?” and he says “That’s Jamel… Jamel Shabazz.”

Now, I’m not one to get starstruck because celebrity doesn’t impress me much but when you have the opportunity to meet someone who has such an impressive body of work who has seen and done so many amazing things, you can’t help but feel that you are in the presence of greatness.

Get familiar!

I don’t have all that much to report on the fest from tonight – we skipped the daytime programs to spend time on our bikes (between rain storms) but the evening program was awesome. I can’t encourage you enough to check out Lucas Brunelle’s films – most of them are perfect examples of why I normally man checkpoints during Alleycats rather than riding in them.

There was a short film about the art of Ko Masuda who has been taking parts such as bars and cranks and grinding some beautiful artwork. It’s a shame that the film showed the process and not the final result, which was confusing and frustrating, but fortunately for us we walked outside and Okapi has a set of Nittos that have been given the Ko Masuda treatment.

Today was the La Carrera / BFF Alley Cat – Sean, Ian & I manned the Skydome checkpoint where Ian was filming for Lucas Brunelle who was riding in the race – more pics from Sean coming soon.

We swung by The Royal where they were showing a bunch of great flicks, displaying a few bikes & offering free valet parking to festival goers.

*freewheel with one brake? are you stupid?

After many hours waiting in the rain, the Gold Sprints @ The Press Room got under way.

Ladies an gentleman, my boss & bikester in training, Andrea:

Skipped the festivities for a nice little (ok, not that little) ride with the boys (and girl) which was super fun.

There’s nothing to see here, move along.

We started the night celebrating the birth of Sparkie Clarkie aka Sparkles, Professional Male Model aka Gramps aka the MFn SUNDOG! Now when kids at To The Lions shows run into the bathroom saying “Dude! You have to come see these guys, they’re like 30!!!” you can be officially included. Happy Birthday, brother.

It wasn’t open when we went by but it looks as if the Inabstracto Gallery on Queen (@ Gladstone) has some bikes on display including this totally bonkers Colagno Pursuit. Is that a 24 on the front? Bonkers!

We then hit up the Gladstone to check out some cycling photos and an Art-Bike show put on by The Winking Circle for the Bicycle Film Festival. There wasn’t too much there but the stuff that was there was pretty cool. We tried to hit up the party next door but the experimental music was making me mental – and not in a good way.

The above photo reminded me of is a wonderful piece of Canadian Cycling History that Kevin Bolger aka Squid in NYC is currently trying to resurrect.

From Cyclehawk.com
“I first heard of the Human Powered Rollercoaster about ten years ago.

A figure 8 shaped track with an over/underpass in the center.

It was designed by John Consalati and built by the Toronto Messenger
Community as far as I know. Talk to Johnny Jetfuel and Peter Lord,
they can fill you in on the details.

From 1996-99 this mythic track hosted 100 rider maximum competitions
in Vancouver and Toronto. “

Read more about the Figure 8 here

The Bicycle Film Festival is coming to Toronto! The festival opens tonight (Wednesday) and concludes on Sunday, the 26th. I’m a little disappointed to see the lack of MASH but there is a buttload of interesting looking films (including Fast Friday, Warriors, Pedal & a couple of films by Lucas Brunelle – amongst many others) and events going on around the city that will make the festival well worth attending.

Get full details at the Bicycle Film Festival site – hopefully I’ll see some of y’all there!

Maxine: Matt wanted this teacher’s ass!
Matt: Holy shit! Hahahaha!
Maxine: I remember having fun in this class.
Matt: As do I… I also remember taking it again in Summer School.

My boys Nick & Ben over at Breadwinner recently designed an Adidas x Marinoni Pista Chrono for the opening of the Montreal Adidas store. The bike will eventually be auctioned for charity – needless to say, whoever ends up with this bike will be very, very happy.

For those of you not familiar with this fantastic Canadian frame builder, get familiar!

I originally saw this on the Mash SF Blog and I haven’t been able to shake it ever since. The song somehow strikes a chord with me and the video is so rad. What can I say, I’m a sucker for synchronized hand clapping?

Crank Brothers steps up to the plate yet again and this time in a big way! When my Power Pump failed the first time they sent me some new parts (and a multi-tool) free of charge – when the pump failed again then sent me a completely new pump.

Not only did they send me a new pump, they sent me their top of the line model which can pump up to 130 PSI which is unusually high for such a portable pump. The pump features dual piston alloy barrels, a precision analog gauge and a dual head which makes the pump useful for both shrader and presta tubes – complete with it’s own little helmet (presumably to protect the gauge) which doubles as a frame mount. All in all, it seems like a great piece of hardware – I don’t look forward to using it on the road, because that probably means I’ve got a flat, but at least I’ll know that I’ve got a quality pump in my hands when it does. Thanks again, Crank Bros.

Robbie leaves for England today and I am definitely going to miss my little buddy. Hopefully I’ll be able to come out and visit soon, if you think that the UK is ready for The Rennick, that is.

Great game of Dodgeball tonight – the whole team really kicked it up a notch and pulled out the W. Next week is the battle for first and we’re all chompin’ at the bit to play against our arch rivals for the championship.

On a much more solemn note, my sincerest condolences go out to Nick & Ben who lost their friend Rob this week – another one taken away from this world long before his time. RIP Rob Piontek

R Kelly has released several new chapters to his Trapped in the Closet “Hip-Hopera.” Now, I am a proud owner of the original DVD and I’ve got to say that it is, by a wide margin, much better than the new installments but it would be hard to top such genius so I’ll cut him some slack – some choice new gems include “Crazier than a fish with titties” and “fucking around with a sausagehead ass police man” – with lyricism like that, who could be disappointed?

Oh shit!