chopper parts.

 

and happy birthday johnny cash.

sad state of affairs....

so as many of you know i work at a dealership here in Milwaukee. As lame as anyones work day can be, mine is much more amusing than one would think. However, if there was one thing that i could say that pisses me off more than anything in my regular work day, it's the video/music that's played over the loudspeakers around this place. Either one of two things has happened.... either the company that produces the music video lineup has no idea what people are listening to these days.... or the modern Harley rider REALLY DOES have this bad a taste in music. i tend to believe its the latter, and its only confimed when bringing a customers bike around to the front of the building and taking a quick listen to whats currently in their CD player. rubbish.

So i can understand the occasional cheesy bikers song here or there, and a little Van Halen never killed anyone, but it's this modern country they throw in there that absolutely kills me. Rascall Flats, Dierks Bentley, Sugarland... country my ass. Pop music with cowboy hats is what i prefer to call it, and it's a damn shame. Every song is just talking about who's country, whats country, shes country.... and not a single one of it sounds like anything more than a pile feces to me. it's like everyone in Nashville decided that theres too many people out there that don't like country... lets make it sound more like britney spears with boots and the American public will love it.

and sadly, they do.

Anyway, I've had this song stuck in my head for the last couple of days, so i figure you might as well too. one of my favorite tunes by a REAL country singer.
the one and only Waylon Jennings.

news.

oh, the irony that exists in our world today.

Killer Whale trainer is killed by Killer Whale..... i guess they are Killer after all.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/24/killer.whale.trainer.death/index.html?hpt=T1

And Indians have started drilling for oil on their own reservation....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tribal_oil

guess that whole "mother earth" bit gets thrown out the window when theres billions of barrells of oil under your casinos.

Frankly, my dear, i just don't give a damn.

I just want to be riding again.

repost- UPDATE! - one more time!

"The name of the guy on the bike is Lillen Hammarstrand, and not Hammarström! The reason i know this is, I am the guy on the bike. The picture is taken 1968 in Stockholm. Both the bike and the girl are gone.. boy do I miss that bike."
Lillen

thanks for the update and correction Lillen!

beans!

so i promised you guys some cuban recipes, and i figure its high time to deliver. Black beans are a staple of cuban cooking so we'll start there. Pick up a small bag of black beans at your local grocer. doesn't have to be the big bag, the little one makes plenty. empty the bag into a big pot and sift through looking for any funny colored beans and/or rocks- yea, you do find them on occasion. fill the pot with water up to the top of the beans or slightly higher. let them soak in the pot overnite.

 

day two: chop up one large onion (i used a spanish onion this time, but yellow ones work just as well), one green pepper, and one clover garlic. This is a tad more garlic than my mom usually uses, but it came out real good, so i'm sticking with it. drain some of the water out of the pot of beans, but not all. Fill it back up with water roughly 2-3 inches above the level of the beans. put it on the stove and bring to a boil, adding in the chopper onion, green pepper, and garlic.

 

now the tricky part- the spices. I say tricky cause there isn't really any measurement, it's kind of a "little bit of this", "lot of that" type thing, but it isn't all that hard. Throw in a fair amount of Garlic powder, Onion powder, basil, and "Complete Seasoning" (don't ask me what it is, but apparently its complete.). Go a bit heavier on the Cumin, but don't go nuts, and go REAL easy on the oregano cause it's a tad bitter. of  course a little salt and pepper, and two bay leaves. be sure to crack the bay leaves to get some good flavor out of them.

 

once you've got the pot at a boil and the spices all in, let it boil for another 10 or so minutes, then turn the heat way down, cover, and let it simmer. Now, beans are like chilli- the slower you cook them and the lower the heat, the better they are. I started these around 4:30 and didn't pull them off the burner till about 10:30. Be sure to check on the beans about every 20 minutes or so, give em a good stirring, and if they look low on water, don't hesitate to add some. BUT don't go crazy! you want the sauce to be thick and not watered down.

 now, I made 2 cups of rice for the one pot of beans and it measures out just about right. don't start the rice till about 20minutes before the beans are ready. Pj's mom Virginia almost fell over laughing when i had to ask her how to make rice. She couldn't believe a cuban didn't know how, but she showed me the ropes. 2 parts water to 1 part rice. splash of olive oil, and a bit of salt. bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 10minutes. keep checking on it so it doesn't dry up, and stir so it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pot. pull them both off the heat when finished.

 

now put down a heaping helping of rice, pile on the beans and enjoy. 

My mother would consider it sac-religious, but i chopped up some raw onion and put it on top, along with a bit of hot sauce, but you can enjoy it any way you want. 

 other than the beans, it's been school, work, and choppers. 

here's one from way back that butters just sent me. me and one-leg dave on top of the hill at the first Shady Mayhem... I believe we were about to indulge in some devil's lettuce if i'm not mistaken..... 

boy, long hair and quite a few more pounds.

suggested listening:

about 7 years back i had a fling with a girl from high school while she was home from college in New Orleans. super cool girl that i always wanted a shot with and finally got. Anyway, shes the one that got me REALLY deep into the blues. I was kind of a fan before, but i was addicted after she went home. I started buying all sorts of different albums from all sorts of blues guys. one of my favorites was and still is John Lee Hooker. More so than just Boom Boom, he had a swagger and a style all his own. I still remember playing this album in my truck and my buddy jumping in and asking what the hell i was listening to. 

buy this one. The first track gives me goosebumps as i dream riding over the golden gate bridge. 

 

 and this album is always on repeat in the garage.

busy busy lately. no pics of course, but i'll be checkin back in periodically. 

and don't worry, i didn't forget about the cuban recipes.  

a way with words.....

 "were bringing back 1980s cocaine fast fucking bullet proof super machines made for pounding miles, hauling ass, and looking tough doing it!"  -Kevo (who else?)

forget trends. build something fast and go somewhere far.

thats all from me for a bit. i gotta buckle down.

florida report...

kevos been meaning to send me a pic of his pops bike for a while. started life as a softail, kevo cut it and made the super short rigid section. it's got a 113inch in it, so i'm betting wheelies are a snap! 2-4-1: that's his corvair lowrider behind it that he got for a steal a little while back! nice man, but i'm ready to see KEVOs evo!

wow wow wow

i had to rip this one from ZZCHOP- Look at that pan up top! holy crap is that thing cool!

oooh ra ra....

http://spice-mc.blogspot.com/

i don't remember where the hell i found this either....

but i was totally stoked when i did. Its actually from the Page Field airport in my hometown of Ft.Myers, FL. if you know the airport now, its really small and strictly for private planes. but to think this is the kinda stuff they were doing on it way back when is pretty cool.

nerd alert!

 found this one from a little ways back- me on my first american motorcycle. i still had my first bike (67 triumph) but it was a constant maintenance machine. I loved her, but i needed something steady that i could get to work on time with. My dad found this '99 1200 custom at the BMW dealership for a great deal. the previous owner had put 1000 miles on before taking it in to have Screamin Eagle heads, cams, ignition, vance and hines pipes and a slew of other goodies installed. he put another 700 miles on it and sold it. I think this is the morning we were leaving for the smokeout 4. This is also where i learned the value of not riding with a loaded backpack. later sold the bike for an fxrp, that i later sold for... well, we all know how it goes from there.... Dad and dog Willie in the background.  

don't know...

where i stole this from, but this picture is so rad....
**update**
"This is Stockholm, the proud owners name is Lillen Hammarström..." -thanks Anonymous!

the swedes kill all.

the blurriness just reflects the drunkeness

thanks for the good times and hospitality guys- always good to see you all again.