mykle systems labs

… we made it!  Ten of the eleven members of Team Jetstream reached the beach, on nine of our ten tallbikes.  (Sadly, Doc was hobbled by knee issues and had to take the sag wagon.  Those issues didn’t stop him from throwing beer at me when I reached the finish line.)

We started together at 6:30 AM, but soon split into Team Fast and Team Slow, with myself in the latter pack.  I got to the finish around 6 PM, so that’s a good eleven and a half hours to travel 104 miles — slow but steady.  About 3000 bicyclists rode in this year’s Reach The Beach; 2900 of them rode past me at some point.  Nearly a thousand of them asked me how I get down from that thing.  But I finished in front of two other tallbikes on our team, including the behemoth tandem captained by Max Taint with no stoker.

It almost didn’t happen; my three-speed rear wheel began to self-destruct a week before the event!  Even worse, my replacement 7-speed internal SRAM hub arrived with pieces missing.  Kudos to Aaron’s Bicycle Repair in Seattle for stocking the obscure sub-parts my obscure part needed.  I got the wheel built on Thursday and spent Friday riding off every curb in my neighborhood, testing it for strength.  On Saturday I rode it 100 miles, and it’s still straight as an arrow.

My butt hurt like hell, but three days later I feel just fine.  It’s remarkable what you can learn about your body by torturing it.  The team training rides we did this month were very helpful.  Last night I spent about an hour stretching out my sore, stiff body, and I noticed my legs have gotten larger.  Weird.

I would like to publicly thank my sponsors: Skeeter, Fiona, Patty & Ralph, the Vosaclos and the mysterious “Oxygn luvr!”  Together we raised real money for a great cause.  I’d also like to thank all the members of Team Jetstream for rallying with great purpose and effort around one of my most far-fetched ideas.

I suppose I should mention at this point that I have an article about tallbikes in the latest issue of Momentum Magazine, and that I’m organizing a tallbike picnic on June 26th in Portland, as part of Pedalpalooza.  Can’t get enough of them tallbikes, I guess.  (Although I haven’t been up one it once since I crossed that finish line.  Walking … I love walking … )

My ten-year-old daughter disbelieves in Santa, the Easter Bunny and God. But every year, on the evening before St. Patrick’s Day, she sets a trap for leprechauns.

Here we have one bottle of Maker’s Mark (the only whiskey in the house), surrounded by bills, coins and four-leaf clovers that she’s collected over the year. That’s the bait.

Surrounding that, barely-visible, is a border of double-stick adhesive tape laid out on white paper, and a second ring of double-stick tape around the neck of the bottle. That’s the snare.

Unfortunately, this morning we found the empty bottle tipped over on the table, and all the remaining bait stuck to the tape! Fucking leprechauns!

But Happy St. Patrick’s Day anyway …

Attention volunteers, weirdos and northern soaks!

Believe it or not, folks, but Snazzy Portland is still in production.  Like a grizzly bear, it takes long naps and wakes up HUNGRY!

We are now planning our third group-shot for the video, set in scenic ALASKA!  We’re very tentatively planning this shoot for SUNDAY MARCH 7.  (At this juncture it’s hard to be sure about the weather, so we will re-confirm or reschedule later this week.)

For this shot, we need extras who resemble typical inhabitants of Alaska, such as:

LUMBERJACKS! (flannel, suspenders, boots, cap, axe, etc.)
FISHERMEN! (rubber rain gear, beards, pipes, fish, etc.)
BEARS! (believe it or not, i already have a bear costume.  want to wear it?)
other WOODLAND CREATURES (moose, crab, hockey player, etc.)
SARAH PALIN!  (stars-n-stripes bikini, shotgun, square framed glasses, etc.)

.. or any other ALASKAN you can think of.  What do Alaskans look like, anyway?  Your guess is as good as mine.  (If you’ve been there, your guess is better!)

As before, I humbly ask that if you are able to show up dressed like this, or if you own any of these prop/costume items and would lend them for the shoot, please get in touch with me so I can coordinate the madness!

Thanks for all you do!
-mykle-

Crap!  Sorry folks, we have a hospitalized cat on our hands.  I have to reschedule this for Wednesday morning, one day later than planned.

Same time, same place, different day.  Sorry to jerk you around, but it’s literally a life or death matter.  (I hope if you couldn’t make it before, you can now.)

So: WEDNESDAY, Feb 10, 2010, 10:00am is the shoot, and the location will be:

VOODOO TOO, the east-side sattelite of Voodoo Donuts!  At 1501 NE Davis St.  (NOT the one downtown!)

-mykle-

UPDATE: Rescheduled to WEDNESDAY.  http://mykle.com/msl/?p=71 .  Sorry.

(original post follows:)

Attention citizens of Portland! Again I beg your assistance.

The second group shoot for Snazzy Portland is scheduled for TOMORROW, Tuesday February 8 2010, at 10am in the morning.The location: 1501 NE Davis Street, none other than the eastside location of Voodoo Donuts – Voodoo Too!  If you haven’t been there yet, you’re missing out.

(Here’s a map link: http://bit.ly/voodootoo)

The theme of this shot is STONERS!  Please come suitably attired in such stony c0ostumes as:

• Marijuana-print clothes
• Jamaican national colors
• Dreadlocks
• Tie-dye everything
• Grateful dead paraphernalia
• Halie Selassie
• Or, if you’re already a stoner, come as yourself.

Furthermore, we are very much in need of the following sorts of props:

• Bongo drums
• Huge headphones
• An enormous joint
• A vast hookah
• A hacky-sack of immense girth
  
• Any smoking paraphernalia that you’re not afraid to be seen with in public & on film.
• Bob Marley
• Anything and everything stony, especially if it’s large.

If you can’t bring those props or costumes, please let me know if I can come borrow them this evening for tomorrow‘s shoot.

Also, be sure to dress appropriately for the utterly unpredictable Portland weather.  Donuts, fruit and coffee will be provided.  Please help us make our stony dreams come true.

Thanks all over again!

-mykle-

Whee!  We just had a great organizational meeting, and the weatherman says we’re ON for tomorrow morning’s shoot for SNAZZY PORTLAND!  Again I beg your wacky assistance: please come if you can.  Fun times are assured!

The shoot starts at 10am on Sunday January 10th — tomorrow morning, as I write this.  We will be shooting by the Japanese Memorial Sculpture on the West Side Esplanade, next to the Steel Bridge.  Here’s a map link:

http://bit.ly/snazzyshoot1

We need a variety of costume items in order to create the illusion of Venice Beach, which will then dissolve into the reality of Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

If you just want to be part of the pack of smiling Portland bicyclists in this shot, simply come as yourself and bring your bicycle.  So easy!

BUT, if you’re willing to be a Californian-Portlander transformer in this shot, please bring AT LEAST these things:

– dark glasses
– cell phone (does not have to work)
– beachwear, lawyerwear or moviestarwear
– proper Portland rain attire, especially a coat and hat, to fit over your other attire.
– your bicycle

In addition, it would be helpful if you wore or lent us

– a blonde wig
– a bikini
– zinc sunblock
– sweat bands and/or leggings
– a small dog in a beach outfit
– a brightly colored jogging suit
– a ponytail
– iguana boots
– board shorts
– flip flops
– spandex in any color, but the brighter the better
– a surfboard
– a skateboard or inline skates (please know how to use)
– any other obviously Californian items you have.

If you have extra of any of the above, we’d love to borrow it for this shot.

Also: please bring enough layers, books, whiskey, etc. that you will be comfortable waiting around outdoors between takes.  There will be hot coffee and snacks.  There will be mirth and hijinks.  There will not be cocaine or groupies, but I’m still looking forward to a good Hollywood-style video-making time.

Thank you a million, billion times over!

-mykle-

Okay, it’s on!  This weekend we begin shooting the WORLD’S MOST AWESOMEST MUSIC VIDEO!  Please come be a part of the weirdness that is SNAZZY PORTLAND! 

This weekend’s shooting schedule:
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello 2010, and hello to everybody who’s expressed interest in helping make the Snazzy Portland video.  If you are reading this and you’re still interested, please reply with these three important pieces of info: Read the rest of this entry »

Drama alert!  If you’ve ever wanted to portray an annoying Californian, a lumberjack or a stoner on the big screen — and by big I mean at least laptop-sized — then read on.

The Bad Mintons – that street-hustling superbusker band of Chet Lyster, myself and a cast of dozens — will be shooting a pop video this January for our super-mega-ultra-hit cassingle “Snazzy Portland.” It is our most popular song ever, and we believe that with the right video it might actually sell one or two copies of our nearly-released record, or at least amuse more of our friends.

But it’s 2009 in Portland and we’re all unemployed.  We have no budget — but we do have a plan.  Right now I’m asking you, our friends and fans and friends-of-fans, for a little help with that. Read the rest of this entry »

I am buzzed to report that our first cider-making efforts have borne fruity booze.  The five-way apple tree I planted nine years ago yielded enough fruit this year to fill a 5-gallon carboy with juice.  Add yeast, secure airlock and stand back!

Hard cider may be the easiest alcoholic beverage there is to make.  Unlike with beer, no boiling or cooling is involved.  The internet is replete with conflicting advice on how best to ferment cider, and almost all of the available instructions seem to give fine results.  Here’s what we did: Read the rest of this entry »