Saturday, May 29, 2010

Goot Morn-ink!


Was taking out trash, to put in in-seen-a-rator and found other peecture of Slovko, laying een dirt. Not Slavko laying in dirt, Peecture of Slovko. Anywho, was beeg excitement to see heem on T.V soon. It youst goes to show, jew nayver can tell!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Slavko Zgonjanin


About Me:
painter, ceramist, sculptor, teacher....
I started to paint early in life. After attending a school for applied art, started my professional work as a painter and graphic designer. Discovering great joy in sculpture and ceramic creations made my work wide open in mediums, styles and techniques.
I am painting what i like, my thoughts, my visions, my dreams, places in my memory, feelings, that's the freedom of my life and work. All of my work fits in my concept of creative art. I never had a wish for narrow aspect in paintings and specializing in it. Variety, experimenting with different styles and techniques are deep inside of my being. Difference is what make life interesting.
Emotional and spiritual connection between beauty temptations in my inner mind and my heartfelt emotions, create freely in a variety of mediums, challenges for mind and eye.
When I first met Jeemy, he was leetle boy, maybe nine yeers old. Now, just luke at what fine young man he eez.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Test For Echo



I was out half the night looking for the idiot Slovko. My last communication with him was on his dying cell phone which is not formatted to the western world's telecommunication technology. It was around 7 pm when I got the call. "Jeemy! I tink I bray-keyed all-a-da fingers een my foot! Am layin' een deetch out by Shasta Dam!" Long story short, we found him. Drinking and singing Ukranian folk songs 'round a warm campfire of ATV people. His foot is just fine.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

Slavko's Back In Town!


Early Saturday morning I was abruptly awakened to the sound of a bicycle bell ringing. Then I heard a deep voice yelling, "Jeemie ees Slovko, Geet up you weemp! Ees time to ride bi-seek-els!" I lay there in my warm bed thinking to myself. Oh please, not today. But it was 7 am so I cracked open my front door and told him I would be down at CM at 8 am and to meet me there. An hour later I arrived at CM, there he was, sitting in front of the shop. He jumped up and yelled, "We have beeg party tonight com-pleet weeth sauna and birch-branch beat-ink!" Here we go!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Insane Tankslap Recovery

For those of you who are not familiar with the term "Tank Slapper" here is a perfect illustration of it. This must be what I looked like last night as I crossed the Sundial Bridge on my bike in the wet conditions. As I rolled across the bridge, I tried to move to the left. Suddenly my handlebars crossed up, yet I continued moving forward, in a straight line. Thanks to a bit of deft maneuvering and a lot of luck, I didn't go down. I did however provide a Japanese family with some entertainment and hopefully many happy memories. That's just the kind of guy I am.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tai Shan by Rush


“High on the sacred mountain… Up the seven thousand stairs… In the golden light of autumn… There was magic in the air.”
The Dharma bums - Google Books

Monday, May 17, 2010

Great Bike Travellers #1: Frank van Rijn, pt 2 of 2 // BROOKS ENGLAND

Counterparts... Your Choice!


"Behold Sancho," Said Don Quixote. "I swear likewise that Thou hast the shallowest brain that any squire ever had in the world. Is it possible that in all the time you have gone about with me, you do not perceive that all matters relating to Knights-Errant appear chimeras, follies and extravagances, and seem all done by the rule of contraries?"

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Rack On!


“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged*. Also ANTHEM... SFC! Hint, hint, clue, clue!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Stick It Out


Sometimes the thought of just closing up shop and going fishing, sounds real nice. I could use a little recharge. Maybe some new surroundings. Then I realize it's Friday again. My little retreat out of "The World." I feel much better now. Good luck everyone at the Anderson Century Ride tomorrow!
Don't swallow the poison
Spit it out
Don't swallow your pride
Stick it out
Don't swallow your anger
Spit it out
Don't swallow the lies Lyrics by RUSH.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Xanadu


We found a little traveled path off the main Escalator Trail which took us into some very strange country indeed!
I had heard the whispered tales
Of immortality
The deepest mystery
From an ancient book. I took a clue
I scaled the frozen mountain tops
Of eastern lands unknown
Time and Man alone
Searching for the lost--Xanadu
Xanadu--To stand within the Pleasure Dome. Lyrics by RUSH.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

American Pickers


I had a real, American Picker drop by the shop looking specifically for steel bicycles and old components. He was a real nice guy named Roy from Santa Rosa. It's fun to share your treasures with like minded people. He loved my Bianchi Axis CX bike, as well as the 1987 Rockhopper that I've made into a dedicated single-speed, drop-barred, Rock-Combo looking affair. He left with a few items and told me he comes through fairly regularly. Even though I know how much something may be worth, there's no way I can get those prices up here in far Northern California. So away goes the crap (at half price) to a place where everybody knows the game.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Name that Tune!


anarchist reactionary running-dog revisionist
hindu muslim catholic creation/evolutionist
rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist
Armchair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
Deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist
Be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metallist
Gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist.
First one to post the correct video wins a very special surprise!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Limelight.


Listen to THE PROFESSOR!

Friday, May 7, 2010

The Color of Right


Heaven only knows how it's come to this. Looks like another long, lonely night. But please don't judge me too harshly, the timing's just not right. Besides, I'm so full of crap, I can't tell what's strawberries anymore.

A quality of justice
A quantity of light
A particle of mercy
Makes the color of right

Gravity and distance
Change the passage of light
Gravity and distance
Change the color of right Lyrics by RUSH.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Shins- Phantom Limb



Phantom limbs are phenomena in which a person continues to feel pain or sensation within a part of their body which has been amputated. An explanation for this refers to the concept of neuroplasticity, as the cortical maps of the removed limbs are believed to have become engaged with the area around them in the postcentral gyrus. This results in activity within the surrounding area of the cortex being misinterpreted by the area of the cortex formerly responsible for the amputated limb. Pain is often experienced due to the association of this area with the pain that may have been experienced by the limb before it was amputated. Much of this was discovered by neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, who also developed a method of treatment for it called a mirror box, again using neuroplasticity to remove the association of the limb with the surrounding cortex by providing visual feedback to make it appear that the limb is responding.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Lakeside Park by RUSH

Midway hawkers calling
"Try your luck with me;"
Merry-go-round wheezing
The same old melody
A thousand ten cent wonders
Who could ask for more
A pocketful full of silver
The key to heaven's door

Lakeside Park
Willows in the breeze
Lakeside Park
So many memories
Laughing rides
Midway lights
Shining stars on summer nights

Days of barefoot freedom
Racing with the waves
Nights of starlit secrets
Crackling driftwood flames
Drinking by the lighthouse
Smoking on the pier
Still we saw the magic
Was fading every year

Everyone would gather
On the twenty-fourth of May
Sitting in the sand
To watch the fireworks display.
Dancing fires on the beach,
Singing songs together...
Though it's just a memory,
Some memories last forever.

Monday, May 3, 2010

My Trusty Steed, Stumpy


"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art."
- Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616) Spanish novelist.
I gave my old Stumpjumer a Seely'Cyclery tune up and wash up last week. Knowing that I was going to ride it on Saturday with my dad and possibly brother Tim, I wanted to put my best face forward. What started off as a simple spit-shine, soon turned into an all-day drive-train degrease, bath and bike flossing! The Web-Foot Season was particularly rough on my old steed, but until I chiseled off the layers of grime I didn't really realize. My middle chain-ring's teeth looked like pins! The chain was practically falling apart. Brake pads, worn down paper thin. Now that Stumpy's all smoothed out all proper-like, Bianchi's lookin' a little worse for wear!