PODCAST

I made a radio show of some songs I like:

Club 8, Royksopp, acoustic and electronic mostly, indie pop. Things I like, in earnest.

Listen here:

http://soundcloud.com/fun-deficit/podcast

Eye for OG PAINT

Today I got the bright idea in my head that my VW is looking a little too drab and dirty. I love my Volkswagen for its "original ganster" hoodride type patina. But, there's no need for it too look completely shabby and neglected. Thus, I marched off to Autozone and picked up a can of Rustoleum Clear coat. I cleaned the bus with just some rags and water, getting all the imperfections and oxidation off. I just painted the passenger door, because here it started to rain and I ran out of daylight. Here's the result. Notice the contrast between the door and the front end that didn't recieve cleaning or paint.



Here's the hoodride looking a little bit more dignified. Note the muddy tires, from a little urban mudbogging I did this past week (driving the VW off road is great!). Click on the picture to see it in bigger detail.

Here's a picture of the VW from a few months ago when I was getting the back tire patched. Notice the blotchyness of the front door.


I'm perpetually unsure of what to do with the front of the bus. I popped out huge dents up there and scraped off lots of bondo. I prefer just looking at the bus from the sides, because the front end does look terrible. One of my friends comments that it looks like it's been through a warzone.

Maybe I'll tackle that sometime soon. In the meantime, enjoy this requisite dreamy TtV shot I took of the VW not so long ago.

ALTERNATIVE ROCK APPROVE!

I'm sure I haven't heard this song for years until today, but it's constantly in my head. I thought it was Mercury Rev or Sebadoh, but it's by a band called The Candy Skins.

Vespa Revival.

It's been a year since I last rode anywhere on my Vespa. For some reason only I understood at the time and I have no idea of now, it was last January and February 2009 when I got into riding the Vespa constantly. I rode it carefully around patches of ice to work and back. Then there was an unfortunate incident involving a very negligent owner of a BMW X3 and a disenchanted breakfast date, and my interest in the Vespa completely faded. I no longer self-identified as a "scooterist," but rather as "just some dude." I looked at it every once in a while, pushing it out of the way in my garage while riding my Lemond and driving the Fun Bus. Gradually, I forgot about the Vespa for a while, using it only to keep my Westfalia mattress off the garage floor. However, recently I've remembered the scooter aficionado I used to be, and I decided I wanted to start riding my Vespa again.

So today, on a break from work, I got started. I knew the Vespa wouldn't start, and I wanted to go through it to make it roadworthy. The first step was draining all the gas from the gas tank. I removed the seat and took out the gas tank, found my spare gas can and checked to see if the flow looked good. It did, and I put the old stale gas in the Volkswagen, which is by far a less picky eater. After that I took the carburetor off and disassembled it. I don't know why anyone ever refers to cleaning out a Dell'orto as "rebuilding it." It has fewer than 20 parts. I took each piece off, sprayed some mystical "carb cleaner" spray can at it for a few seconds, and then put it back together. I went with a 110 main jet, and realized for the first time ever that my idle jet says "60" on it. I don't think I even knew that one existed (it's under the pathetic little filter on top of the float). Then I put that together and put it all back. I put the rear mixture screw at its customary starting position of 1.5 turns out from all the way screwed in, and I put the idle adjuster at its position of all the way in until just before the throttle slide kinda starts to slide open.

Autozone down the street had two NGK B7ES spark plugs, which they sold me for a meager $4.98. Then I got fresh gas and a bit of two stroke oil and the cockroach of a scooter fired up on the third kick. It even idled in a hearty way only a two stroke single cylinder can do, casting a pulsing glow on the rainy driveway. I rode it in a small victory lap down the street and back in to the garage.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Vespa. It's built from pieces of other Vespas to the point where the most original features are scratches, dents, and rust. It's been a steady accessory through girlfriends that have come and gone, through apartments and places that are now only memories. It hasn't really been a trusty companion, as it's broken down all sorts of times, but never as much as you would expect. I have gotten sick of it a whole lot of times, but then put it away. Then I realize the problem was likely something very small, and it will only take a few ounces of effort to fix.

The major problem with my particular Vespa is that the fork is still bent. Luckily, I have line on an original replacement fork. Parts have been disconcertingly hard to come by, for some reason. I don't know why. The Italians stamped out tons of Vespas back in the day. It's not like it's a Citroen SM or something. It's supposed to be a common deal. Local scooter torch bearers P Town Scooters told me I would have to order a new fork from SIP in Germany, which would set me back somewhere in the multiple hundreds of dollars range, they guessed. So I called around a week or two ago, inspired by my Volkswagen's increased gluttony for fuel, among other things, and got a line on one from a reputable longstanding scooter shop, many states away. I realized I missed talking shop with scooter people, rattling off that I was looking for a 16mm fork, but I would consider a newer 20mm style one. Hopefully that fork will get here soon and I can get the scooter buttoned up a little bit more.

The great thing about owning old vehicles for a long time is that every year they are more rare. More people are giving up on their old vehicles and going with some sort of more sane alternative. My Vespa was around 25 years old when I got it, and now it's around 30. Every year it's getting older, and a little bit more classic.

How Those Days Just Disappear.

Poster from The Lucksmiths farewell concert, 2009.

Kind of Like Spitting - "Valentine's Day is over." (Billy Bragg Cover)

Kind of Like Spitting covers Billy Bragg on a cassette from 12 years ago:

LINK

My Favorites

According to Last.fm, this is a ranked list of my 100 favorite bands:

1		The Lucksmiths			1,301
2		The Hold Steady			589
3		Defiance, Ohio			578
4		Elliott Smith			551
5		The Promise Ring			533
6		Kings of Convenience			511
7		Turtles In Time			446
8		Explosions in the Sky			435
9		Kind of Like Spitting			400
10		Damien Jurado			356
10		The Magnetic Fields			356
12		The Wrens			329
13		múm			316
14		Club 8			311
15		Jawbreaker			300
16		Braid			289
17		Bob Nanna			287
18		Brand New			279
19		Fun Deficit			272
20		Belle and Sebastian			266
21		The Microphones			265
22		Billy Bragg			263
23		The Mountain Goats			248
24		Low			245
25		Cat Power			240
26		Idlewild			239
26		R.E.M.			239
28		The Field Mice			237
29		Weezer			236
30		Rockets And Blue Lights			231
31		The Weakerthans			229
31		Apples of the Earth			229
33		Pinhead Gunpowder			226
33		Bright Eyes			226
35		Beulah			219
36		Small Factory			213
37		The Get Up Kids			209
37		The Notwist			209
39		Cap'n Jazz			200
40		Ted Leo and The Pharmacists			193
41		Blur			177
42		Nada Surf			176
43		Casiotone for the Painfully Alone			174
44		Fennesz			169
45		Another Sunny Day			162
46		Styrofoam			161
47		Built to Spill			160
48		The Streets			159
49		Phish			157
50		One Reason			153
50		Wu-Tang Clan			153
52		Christie Front Drive			152
53		that dog.			149
54		Streetlight Manifesto			144
55		Townes Van Zandt			143
56		Against Me!			142
57		Yo La Tengo			140
58		The Capstan Shafts			137
58		The American Analog Set			137
60		No Kids			136
61		Ben Lee			128
62		Superchunk			125
62		The Softies			125
64		Reggie and the Full Effect			123
65		The Sea Urchins			122
66		Castawaves			120
67		The Pine			119
68		Ash			118
68		Pavement			118
70		Boys Life			116
71		The Secret Stars			115
71		Kalpana			115
73		Ben Folds			113
74		The Walkmen			109
75		Maritime			103
76		Graham Coxon			100
77		The Smashing Pumpkins			97
77		Silver Jews			97
77		Mirah			97
80		Blueboy			96
81		Death Cab for Cutie			94
81		The Transmissionary Six			94
83		The Orchids			92
83		The Knife			92
85		Novi Split			91
85		Trembling Blue Stars			91
87		The One AM Radio			90
87		Hot Chip			90
89		Jason Anderson			88
89		Oasis			88
91		Jimmy Eat World			87
91		Saturday Looks Good to Me			87
91		Röyksopp			87
94		M83			86
95		This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb			85
96		Unrest			84
97		Superdrag			83
98		Bad Religion			82
99		Rocket Punch			81
100		The Evens			77
100		Jets to Brazil