I Will Be On Fuel TV...

So, yesterday I was at the Dew Tour in Chicago's Grant Park, long story short I will be on Fuel TV for Dew Underground while Chris "Dune" Pastras interviews my new friend Kevin Porter. Kevin owns an all Vegan coffee shop called Delicious Cafe with his wife. Dune put me on the spot and asked me what my take on bikes and pegs at the skatepark was, I stumbled because I wasn't expecting to be in the show. I froze, stammered and said "Just don't get in my way," what a dork, and America will see me. I also will be wearing my Buster Bear "Lonely Boy" shirt so my black friend Alex will get exposure globally.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Heaven & Hell" by Phoenix from the album "Destination Goa: The Seventh Chapter" 1998

Tuxedos... UPDATE...

So, it turns out that the Tuxedos cookie franchise has sucked me in again with another great cookie. This time the cookie flavor vortex includes a delicious Cinnamon Bun flavor. OMG, TD4, SFG.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "On Lydia's Sixth Moon" by Another Green World from the Return to the Source compilation "Deep Trance & Ritual Beats" (Disc 2) 1995. Some more great ambient chillout music.

Awe Crepes! No Scurvy For Me, Thank You...

So, were you think of maybe someday making breakfast for your sweety? Well, here is a recipe for Orange Crepes with Fruit Filling. The recipe is from the Florida Department of Citrus and Chef Scott Uehlein of Canyon Ranch.
Start with the ingredients for the Crepes:
4 Eggs
3/4 Cup Orange Juice (I personally would use tropicana not from concentrate)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
7 Generous Tablespoons of Flour

Now for the Fruit Filling:
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries
1 Cup Fresh Raspberries
1 Cup Fresh Quartered Strawberries
1 Cup Fresh Blackberries

Powdered Sugar is Optional.
Directions:

In a blender container, place eggs, orange juice, sugar and salt. Cover and pulse 15 seconds until combined.

While blender is on, add flour one Tablespoon at a time until blended well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Melt 1/2 Tablespoon butter in a 10" nonstick saute pan. Pour 3 Tablespoons of batter into the pan and swirl around to coat the bottom of the pan evenly. Cook until edges are nice and brown and middle is firm to the touch. Loosen edges and flip crepe and cool for approximately 15 seconds. Slide out of pan onto plate, cover with foil while continuing to make crepes with remaining batter.

In a medium bowl, combine fruit with 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Using a fork, crush the berries slightly to allow the juices to come out.

Place 2 crepes on a plate. Ladle 1/4 cup of the fruit mixture on one side of each crepe and roll crepe over the fruit. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.

For more recipes from Chef Scott Uehlein featuring the fresh. bold flavor of Florida Orange Juice, visit Florida Juice.

I did not write this one, I copied it directly from a recipe card that we printed at my old job. It looked so good that I took one that was cut crooked home with me in the hopes of making it someday for my sweety, now I may have that chance.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Departure" by Jeff Loomis from the album "Zero Order Phase", 2008. He tried out for Megadeth in 1987 but was too young.

Dew Tour...

So, yesterday myself and my friends Gordon & Marfa went down to the Dew Tour BMX qualifiers in DWNTWN Chicago just south of the Buckingham Fountain and the Taste of Chicago. We were invited by our friend Kevin Porter who was riding during the qualifiers, unfortunately he did not place, there were like 50+ riders that had to get cut to 13. So many great riders that didn't make the cut, that doesn't mean that the shit they pulled wasn't any less amazing. Speaking of cutting we found a place to sneak in without badges.

As we make our way to the Athlete Entrance we see another biker guy we know, known to us only as Ryan, walking down the stairs of the bleachers we wave and he walks toward a hole in the fence where he too apparently had snuck in and motioned that the coast was clear. I guess we could have waited, my friend Jim was coming in like 15 minutes with some free passes he had acquired that morning. Now, when Jim gets there and hands us the passes we notice that the date on the pass is for Friday not Thursday, now Jim get a little mad because he can't come Friday because he's going to see KISS play up in Milwaukee, WI for $15 at some festival, maybe Summerfest.
Summer is definitely here, the Sun was out in full effect, blazing with it's shades on proper with a shit eating grin while "the dreaded storm" everyone was talking about never showed up due to The Sun flexing those beefy biceps, even after the the storm gleeked on us for three minutes it was back to dry in ten. Just enough to make the course slippery enough to not ride, but not too much too run for cover. Well, some other babies ran, but we stood there. It felt KNDA good to get a few cold drops on you during a good swelter.

I have never been to a BMX contest nor have I ever seen this calibre of riding in person. Sure, there are some riders that come to the park and do some crazy ish, but not like this. You can prolly see in the video above just exactly what I'm talking about. In person things just seem a bit more real than sitting in the AC watching the live stream.

Even though I am not a biker I can still acknowledge and respect all that goes into being that kind of athlete in the non traditional sense, KNDA like me going to a baseball game and respecting a 98 MPH sphere being shot at your face. I've always been into the fringe sports, rather than the "trad" sports for jocks, ever since I was a little Lonely iSapien Hudude Boy. Motocross, BMX track, BMX freestyle, Formula One, Truck/Tractor Pulls, Mud Boggin', you name it. If it had to do with flannel & blue jeans I was a fan.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Masterplan" by Beck Session Group from the album "The Singles" dunno what year. I can't find much info on this group except that I had found them on some blog that said "I had to hear this band", so I did. Maybe you can to if you find it out there in the webernet fun zone.

Lonely Boy...

So, this is what happens when Lonely Boy tries to get a little shut eye. Thanks to Mama Joy for the extra coverage, I know it gets cold at night in the basement, my banky might not be enuff. There should be website called stuffonmyspencer for the world to enjoy.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Blind" by Godflesh from the album "Merciless" 1994.

Pudding Pops...

So, I remember as a kid that I used to love eating Jell-O™ Pudding Pops℠ all the time, maybe that's why I was a husky plumper for most of my life despite skateboarding 6+ hours a day in the mid-west heat. As I recall, they were creamy, delicious and gone in a day usually.

Bill Cosby and his comedic timing... yah see, was just what kids were looking for in a mascot for coooool summer sucking fun after playing a friendly game of Four Square or Smear the Queer. We however had a pool and just Cannonballed or did Ho-Ho's all day with our old skate decks.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Vibrasonic" by Huntington Cads from their 7" single "Cads Are Go!" released in 1997. Just some Surf Rock dudes picking around.
UPDATE!!! Bill Cosby has an app available now for iPhone, Android, and the berry of his people... the BlackBerry.

Paseo Boricua or Something like that...

So, this WKND was some huge annual Puerto carnival festival in my 'hood in Chicago, IL. called Humboldt Park, the other day, Thursday, myself and the rad chick that is dating me went to it and walked around. Said girl wrote this article last year for Time Magazine online for their travel section. This was my first time going in the 3 years that I have lived in this neighborhood. I live on the other side of the park and she lives less than a block from the epicenter, and let me just say that the center was petty epic.

First stop: Funnel Cake, this is basically pancake batter poured into a deep fryer, put onto a plate and covered with powdered sugar, TDF (to die for). We then walk through everything, I must say that I have been missing out on this display of family and unity within my time here. Humboldt Park has had a bad name for itself for some time with gangs, drugs and racial rift. The latin kings are based out of Humboldt Park.

After getting powder on our faces, licking our fingers and fulfilling our guilty need for grease and sugar we then decide we need some sort of liquid to wash our pleasures away be them guilty or not. We happen upon a man with a tray of Piña Colada samples (non-alcoholic of course) to which lights her face up and we make a Bee Line to the booth which holds what may seem our destiny in the form of a refreshing liquid. Hmmmmm do we want the Piña Colada in a cup for $5 or in a cored out Pineapple with six slices and a cherry pierced with a pipe cleaner frog skewer for $8? Do you really have to think about that?

Liquid Gluttony out of a blue straw during our weaving steps through the fest sampling, with our eyes, the wares and wears that this sort of event brings to the surface. Stuffing our proboscis' full of tradicional local smells will only lead to us stuffing our faces with Chicken/Pork skewers con Arroz. After trading money for sustenance we find ourselves a secluded block of 5 foot x 10 foot concrete to feast upon our food as well as our appetitus societatis. People watching for the people by two people.

A whole world of wonder passes in the foreground like some strange dream we could never think of, our minds need not any more stimulus than that of which walks before us. Taking turns feeding and scraping out our pineapple treat in efforts to sweeten our buds enough to match the visual procession of sweet treats that are constantly replenishing right before our eyes. Pineapple gone, let's experience more.

Games, let's try to ignite the fire of our inner child with a few games that are sure to induce laughter and smiles. We stroll through game alley taking in all the temptations of stuffed animal heaven, stopping at the Pig Races where the goal is to toss your ball up a ramp in a Skee Ball type fashion trying to get the ball into different colored holes each color making your Pig "run" faster or slower. Long story short, I won. I picked out the most Atomic green stuffed frog we had ever seen, I say Atomic because even as dusk approached and set upon us, this little green friend still seemed to glow just as magnificent as if in the sun. Before we made our walk back home through the park admiring the glowing frog we stopped to win some kewl mirrors.

You remember those kewl coke mirrors as they have become known? Well, the object is you get three darts and for each balloon you pop you get a small mirror, if you pop all three you get a medium sized mirror or three small ones. I hand over my money for my three darts, One: *POP*, Two: *POP*, Three: *POP*!!! I'm such a stud. We then admire which three small mirrors we should get to adorn our households. The first pick was a BVM picture (blessed virgin mary) KNDA in the trad with red, yellow and green background, the second pick was for me and it was of five Horses, not Pegasus' or Unicorns, but no less majestic, running through a breaking ocean wave at night with a full Moon with the atlantic blue tones and pink glows accenting the mountains and night sky. Lucky pick number three was another BVM with the exception that this one was a great airbrush masterpiece of the BVM in the background and what looks to be a '74 Chevy Impala low-rider with the license plate reading "low life" in three wheel motion.

We end the night with a walk through the Park at night, something I would never have done in 1990 or even in 2000, back to my house to feed The Squishy and watch Roseanne on TV Land because they have like a Nine block of Roseanne and it is something the both of us like to do at the end of an Awesome Day.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Rag" by Shudder To Think from the album "Your Choice Live Series 021" 1992.

New Poll Is Up...

So, I just set up a new poll question about who your favorite Australian band is, I know that there are prolly some band you like that are not on the list list, but let's face it. It's too long as it is. That's what she said.

As of the end of this post I am Currently listening to "This Is Not A Love Song" by Public Image ltd. (PIL) from the album "Commercial Zone" 1983. Cassette was one of the first tapes I had bought after moving to St. Charles, IL in 1985 and started skating in 6th Grade, 1986. To this day it is one of my favorite albums of all time. John Lydon is so far removed from Johnny Rotten from Sex Pistols.

I didn't find out that Lydon and Rotten were the same person until I was reading the cover story article in some Magazine in 7th Grade in one of my Junior High classes in 1987 about the 10th anniversary of the "Never Mind The Bollocks..." album, both of which I was listening to side by side at the time. So let me update by saying, both Cassette and Never Mind The Bollocks are two of my favorite albums, to this day, that I will turn to 11.

Bob Bogle...

So, Bob Bogle, one of the founding members of The Ventures, died Sunday at the age of 75. Bob had formed The Ventures with Don Wilson in the late 50's in Tacoma, Washington and went on to become the most famous and influential instrumental surf band ever, instrumental not only in their playing but also in their place in the annals of rock history. So influential in fact that they were given the label of "The Band That Launched a Thousand Bands." None of this would have been made possible if it were not for Don Wilson's own mother starting her own label, Blue Horizon, to promote and get the band started after them being rejected by nearly everyone.

I remember when I first got my guitar I would come home some nights to find my dad dabbling on around playing some old Venture one stringers with the Reverb set to like 8 or something. I was always too cool for The Ventures but I listened to Agent Orange all the time, who played the surf covers, ahhhhh the retardedness of being a naive teenager who knows it all.

As of the end of this post I am Currently listening to "Brooding & Breeding: The Training Of The Owlettes" by Passenger from the album "Broken Hearts Of Brothers Lost" 2006. This was a local area band that recorded two albums worth of music, but never released it after one of the members died. I came across the two albums on a blog written by the guy who [the band] hounded to give them a chance listen. He did, and was blown away and recorded them, tragedy struck and it sat on the shelf finished for two years before he decided that it were too good to sit on a shelf, the concept of these two album was about a war between the Owls and the Rabbits, the best part is that both albums are instrumental so the range of feeling is even greater because you can tell your own story in your head.

It's KNDA weird that this post has two instrumental bands, in both respects, and two great musicians who had Died.

ManMadeMan...

So there is a really great group that I like called ManMadeMan, yes, written just like that. I Had just recently acquired the "Hex EP" and I am sooooo psyched, I am listening to it right now. There is a different mix of Trance Siva on this 12" vinyl than from the other version they had done with Andy Guthrie on the 3xCD Teleportation album, it is called Transiva (remix) on that album. Here is the Discogs profile of this duo. They have podcasts on iTunes that you can DWNLD three of their albums for free.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Sketch" by Menis from the "Temporary Insanity" album on Koyote records 1998.

thuMp! The World...

So, recently a skater friend of mine, the 42 year old, Amos "Soma" Fuller made a video for his group thuMp! at the Car Wash ramp on Chicago's south side in the Back O' The Yards neighborhood. Soma is an amazing songwriter, bassist and drummer, it was after visiting him at his Apartment this winter and playing on his Alesis QS8 that I got the bug to pull out at least one of my own synths and start getting back into noise making. You see, I own an Alesis QSR and it is what I used as my main source of synth and drums in all my old songs.

As the story goes apparently, Soma was getting back into skating and saw me riding at one of the local parks during the winter about 6 - 8 years ago and I sort of inspired him to get back into it more due to my lack of taking skateboarding seriously and just doing my own thing skating my own way and having the best time at it. After hearing him tell me this a few years back there was a weird feeling it gave me inside to know that I made a difference in someone's life to make them want to skate more.

Sidetracked, Okay here in this video we also have Tim (MC Activist), the kid standing next to him at the piano, who does some rapping for thuMp! on other songs. Tim is also a good street skater, kinda tech and low key with a Ray Barbee smile to match. Also in the video, Tim is wearing black next to my colored friend Alex "Turbo" Cohen of Buster Bear Clothing who is wearing the red hat painting the mural on the Canvas. "Shirtless" Mark Szymanski is the guy skating around Elena while she sings in the flat of the mini ramp. I think they did pretty good at making the small space and the ramp look as if it were filmed right in Elena's exposed brick loft apartment. I'm pretty glad the video turned out good, Soma is really excited about this project. Have a Kewl WKND where ever you are.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Virtual Environment" by Valleyman from the "Pondou Fever" compilation mixed by DJ Dara Lee on Peyote records 1997.

Beast As Hell...

tumbl me #5 from Kevin erst on Vimeo.

So, for those of you who didn't know already, Dry Bones is Beast as Hell. Dry Bones, of course, being the Dry Bones Nation. Stay Dry, Stay Chiodo, Stay Fuct. HAKAS tour is coming soon be on the lookout as they might PWN a park near you. The nation is Fuxd.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Pass The Axe" by G.B.H. from the album "A Fridge Too Far" 1989

Caffeine Bomb...

So, I was really into a band B in the D called Fretblanket and their album was called Junkfuel. Now, I used to listen to that album alllllllll the time, they even had a song on a 411VM10 and I was so psyched that they were on there. Somewhere along the way I had either lost, sold or better yet... someone stole it. I'm going with Lost or Stolen seeing as I listened to it soooo much and would never part with it.

Anyway, as time went by and slipped away I had since forgot about it until someone had said the term "Curtainsville" and it brought back that song into my head and then slowly the band name crept back in and then the mind racker, the album name itself. Then it got me to wondering WTFrick happened to my copy that I had bought Brand New in 1994.

I then started to search used CD bins for my lost heart string pullers, six string no less. I started typing in Artist and Album in a thriving yearning search to achieve ownership of what was once rightfully mine. In my search I had come across a compilation mix that had not only My beloved Fretblanket, but another great band that I <3 (greater than 3) aka: heart aka: love... Mega City Four. Okay now that I had seen them I knew I had to DWNLD this album, also included were bands like Snuff, Leatherface and The Wildhearts. As I read from the fellow bloggers post, he too had said it was the best money he had spent in finding his used copy of Junkfuel.
Get a dose of the Caffeine Bomb that you need.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Happy Birthday (Timitico's Party Blast)" by Technohead from the compilation "Make'em Mokum Crazy: This is the New Sound of Popcore" 1996 (Technohead was one of the many side projects of Lee Newman & Michael Wells, husband and wife duo, Greater Than One)

Tygers of Pan Tang...

So, once upon a time there was a band by the name of the Tygers of Pan Tang, a band riding the New Wave of British Heavy Metal or NWOBHM as it has become known, a great band with powerful licks and heavy kicks. Why this band never got the notoriety that Iron Maiden or Saxon I will never know. Hell, even Grim Reaper got more coverage than these guys. I found this album as a digital DWNLD back in January of this year, 2009, and was blown away on why I hadn't heard of this band before now. You never hear of this band whenever they do those NWOBHM stories on television. So let me just inform you on some band albums from this era that you should listen to.

Volume 1 by Pagan Altar has a kind of Sabbath feel to it being dark and broody, Cloak & Dagger by Witchfynde sounds like Christopher Guest stole from their sound for Spinal Tap or the Self-Titled album by Cloven Hoof which make great use of dual guitar solo harmonizing on pretty much every song which is something I never get tired of hearing. If all you know of the NWOBHM is Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motörhead or even just the first three Def Leppard albums, please dig deeper into a whole movement that influenced generations to start bands in their garages and gave us all the birth of the modern Air Guitar. For a short time in my life, between '87-'89, I was known as "the skater with Megadeth on his shoe.". (or wherever you put periods when using quotes).

As of the end of this post I am Currently listening to "Skate Death" by Skate Death from the album "You Break It - You Buy It" released in 1985.

Inspiral Tributary...

So, Dear readers of SRC Bypass, you will now see more updates on this blog due to a new AirPort card I am purchasing for my G4 Mac Cube. I now have two Computors set up at two locations. Each location keeps me surrounded with inspirations for future posts, new ideas and new music for the post endings. Who knows, maybe I could even be hearing a movie in the background and tell you about that. You will still be updated with the same stupid ramblings of a man with nothing too interesting to say, but with the same humour you have all come to know, maybe or maybe not love. Hope you keep Czeching back to see what nonsense I come up with next. Hey, like this post. Gotta go now my Cat (the squishy) is staring at me to get fed, I think she's fed up with staring at me too. Okay, now for what most you prolly don't care about... As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Something Vicious for Tomorrow" by Treepeople from the album "Something Vicious for Tomorrow/Timewhore" 1992. Members from this band were also in The Halo Benders, Built to Spill & State of Confusion.

Is 8 Really Enough...

So, I don't know if the seven of you now noticed that we have an 8th that has joined us, It is SAG Arthur Zone from the Kewt Spoof bloggable web funzone. Now when I address you people I will now be saying "the eight of you" and no longer say, Seven (7). No song for this post, I'm Auto Filling and charging my 1GB iPod Shuffle. Oh, and instead of saying random, I will be saying shuffle from now on. "OMG, that's soooo Shuffle"

Apple G4 Mac Cube...

So, I just recently re-hooked up my G4 Mac Cube that I acquired in 2006. Sure it's old, but it gets the job done, still is fast enough and here's the plus I was given it for free by a good friend along with his old 30GB 4th Gen iPod. The one drawback though is that I need to get an Air-Port card for it, which I have already found online for $49.99 at OWC. I love ordering from here because they are like in Woodstock, IL or something and when you order, it gets to you the next day. Okay, I have to get going. As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Catch A Tiger" by Thor from the album "Keep The Dogs Away" 1977

Picture this Daddy...

So, this photo above is one taken by my Dad. He will be having a few pieces showing in an art show out in Dixon, IL this weekend. Tonight is the opening reception at 6pm at a place called The Next Picture Show located right smack dab in the middle of downtown. My dad has been taking photos pretty much all his life as far as I know, I remember as a kid he would have a tiny darkroom set up in like a closet or one section blocked off in the basement and is one of the reasons I took up photography in college. I was given his old Asahi Pentax which, to this day, I always thought it took the best pictures, they always came out with such vivid color and the clearest images with such great defining edges.

He would take pictures of anything from Trains derailing, Flooded Rivers, Wild Turkeys or even the inside of the cooling tower at Byron Nuclear Plant. He enters these thing pretty regularly and places pretty well, even if he doesn't place in the Top Three he'll be given the Honorable Mention. If you happen to be going out that way this weekend at all czech it out. Maybe you're going to the new skatepark in Davenport, Iowa, maybe just want to get out of the city and go visit a State Park, it's a straight shot out of Chicago on I-88. Have a great Weekend

.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "The Plank" by Buffalo Tom from the album "Buffalo Tom" from 1988 on SST Records.

Maple XO...

So, once upon a time there was a girl named Lindsay Holmes. A girl with an idea for saving landfill space and a sense of style that was above and beyond others all the while supporting a sport that stands for individuality, much like her own. I am talking of course about Maple xo recycled skateboard jewelry. Linsday takes old skateboards and cuts them up and sands them smooth into many different shapes and sizes of Earrings, Bracelets & plain old Rings. They are also sold at mai friend Steve's skate shop in Bartlett, IL. called Yeah! Boardshop.

Live. Love. Wear. Three words to live by if your heart is truly in the [not a] sport of skateboarding. I'm sure you all have some sort of friend of the female persuasion that is down for skating just as much as you are or even if she is just doing it to get your attention. Girls, if you are out there and skate, by all means get behind this product and show your support for another girl who is down for the cause and for life. If you are a girl and you follow GRO or SLAG or if you know a girl skater who loves the sport but is afraid of the boys being pricks or just trying to get on them, czech out these two sites. They are aimed at spreading the word of skateboarding to girls who are afraid to start for those reasons or that they think that skating is for boiz only. Here is a clip from the Hollywood Summit Show interviewing Courtney from GRO [facebook] and here is a video of a SLAG video clip of a clinic for you to watch. Long story short and possibly boring, Support girl skaters, support local business, support the little guy or girl doing their own thing because they're not just out to make a buck, they are out doing it because it's there passion and it is what they believe in.

As of the end of this post I am currently listening to "Sunrise (come my way)" by Buffalo from the album "Volcanic Rock" 1973, some great rock that would be right up the Good Ole Boys alley. Goodnight.

Today's Time Capsule...

So, Some of you might recognize this song by the Skyhooks from when Iron Maiden played it with Paul Dianno in 1980. This song however, is from 1978 when Glam was in full swing. A lot of what you are given to see when it comes to Glam Rock is cheesy Gary Glitter, Bay City Rollers or [the] Sweet marching in place with some sort of metallic leggings and broad futuristic shoulders, but in reality some of these bands, like Skyhooks, were under the radar and the unsung heroes of rock influencing anyone from Saxon, Iron Maiden, Culture Club, Joy Division, Green River, Mother Love Bone, Morrissey, Spacehog, Nirvana and even Oasis.
Mötley Crüe took Glam to Hollywood Boulevard and added more evil flair to the happy image and even more hairspray, covering Brownsville Station's 1973 hit "Smoking In The Boys Room" on their 1985 album "Theatre Of Pain".
Quiet Riot covered the song "Cum On Feel The Noize" in 1983 which was huge when I was in 4th grade and done originally by Glam greats Slade.

Later, I have to go eat something, prolly some pasta before my sauce goes rancid in the fridge.

As of the end of this post I am Currently listening to "Agitate" by Noise Unit from the "Another World: Electronic Body Music" compilation. 1990 Noise Unit is a Side project of Bill Leeb from Front Line Assembly.