As I mentioned on Fridays Guywire®, my better half and I were comped free passes to see the Bret Michaels Band on Friday night at the beautiful Fox Theatre in downtown Salinas California. Without getting too involved in my reaction to the evening, Ill just breakdown some thoughts in the form of a list;

1) Unlike this photo I stole from the interweb, Bret was actually wearing a t-shirt adorned with a huge image of his own face. You thought it was a faux pas to say... go see Alan jackson, or perhaps Third Eye Blind and then wear an Alan Jackson shirt or Third Eye Blind shirt to the show? Bret trumped the hell out of that...
And you are correct- It would be a faux pas to go see Third Eye Blind in the first place.
But not Alan Jackson.

2) There was clevage everywhere. I mean seriously- It was like standing in a field staring up into space on a perfectly clear night and seeing every star in the sky, except for that they were boobs.

3) A drunk guy at the bar told the girl- "I was back here looking and I just gotta say, I really like your ass" to which she responded "Thanks! Ive never actually seen it myself, But I guess I like an ass every now and again too." Then he mumbled something about her being an 'asstrologist'.
Awesome.

4) Two of the tramps from his VH1 hit 'Rock of Love' were there. It was unconfirmed weather or not they were actually charging thirty dollars a piece for body shots.

5) I saw a guy with a faux-hawk and a bald spot. Im no fashion diva, but Im reasonably sure its possible to have one or the other, but you can never have both.

6) From our perch we saw a sweet girl fight.

7) When upon stage Bret points alot as if to say, "Hey there you are! Oh, no way! I remember you! Oh! you there.. I saw you when we played the State fair! Yeah! Youre that guy!"

8) The opening band was called Sosa, or Sose or something and at one point towards the end of their set the singer announced, "Ive got a question for you all... Sammy or Dave?" I was so flabbergasted I could only stand with my mouth agape, but nothing could have prepared me for the flatlined response from the audience. They then launched into five of the most spot on, and flawlessly preformed tributes to classic Van Halen as my ears have ever heard.
I turned to the girl and said "from this point forward Van Halen will forever be known to me as 'Lee Roth'.
They were really that good.

9) As far as I know, (I got fed up and left before the show had concluded) The Bret Michaels Band has nary an original song in their set, as they played strictly Poison songs and a cover of 'Knocking on Heavens Door' that had he been dead, would have resulted in Bob Dylan turning in his grave so many times he could have drilled his way to China.

10) Bret Michales is a true showman who gives the audience 110%, and I have to give him credit for that despite the fact that hes a total douchebag.

And that concludes my live music review for this installment of How to Avoid The Bummer Life.

Now then- weve got a friend named Joe whos a pretty smart cat. Well he used to make these track hubs that went by the name of The Chub. He threw the whole project on the back burner for a couple of years, until recently when he got the old machine running again.

He says theyve got the pictured track hubs and single speed mountain hubs, but that you could use em for anything as long as you pay for em, and that Chub will have an honest to goodness booth at The Sea Otter ifin you would like to check them out for yourself.
Dont bother telling him that he should include a toy surprise inside of every hub though. I already tried that, and I dont think he listened.
You know those brainiac types.. They always need to come up with the kick ass ideas for themselves.

Recently the law firm for which Loudass is employed has fallen on some hard times and as a result have resorted to having him to stand outside the office on his lunch break in an attempt at drumming up some business.

If that doesnt instill confidence is the firms abilities, then I dont know what will.

"Spiderman, Spiderman... Doing what it takes to get you off of the public urination charge, Spiderman can."

Recently Ashley sent this site along to us, which has a pretty entertaining collection of photos such as the one below;

Generally Im always digging around in my bag looking for my camera when the good stuffs going down.

..Except for maybe this one I got of Sean.

I dont fancy myself as much of a photographer, but Im tying myself into knots patting my own back for this one.

CFO just sent shots of his new belt buckle that he had Jen Green make for him. I want one like that, but big like the Leadville 100 buckles. You know.. so big that it hurts to sit down.

I figure Jen could do it, but it would probably cost me about two weeks salary, and that just wouldnt be prudent seeing as Im still in debt to Circle A Cycles.
Of all the folks in my life to whom Ive recently owed money, I think I like owing money to them the best.

Chris said theyve been snapping shots in the shop as my new steed comes along, and when he puts them up on their site, you can bet Ill be bringing it up here incessantly.

Hey, what do you suppose George has been up to?

"hope all is well over there dude. check out the pics from one Friday in Denver. backyards, pan handler, a wedding and a sleepover party.
Good night and sweet dreams!

George"

I always like the photos George sends because they kinda dont have anything to do with anything, but I especially like the last one of the girl holding the knife due to the fact that presently Im reading 'The Dirt'- An autobiography on Motley Crue... And no offense to the depicted, but she could very well be one of the endless cast of the depraved that are so often referred to within the books pages.

And finally, any self respecting bike nerd knows that the world famous Paris Roubaix, or 'Hell of The North' bicycle race was this weekend, and as Ive done for the last dozen or so years, I went and took it out on myself on the back roads, and most pothole pitted descents I could find.
If youve spent any amount of time reading this here blog thing, you know that for the last decade Ive pretty much had my heart torn from my chest in regards to the world of professional road cycling.
Well, the Roubaix holds a very special place for me in that I feel as though it wads up the drug scandals and Michael Balls and just casually punts it all in the trash bin.
To me its always seemed bigger then that, and I can recall an issue of Cycle Sport in which the centerfold was a Graham Watson photo of Andre Tchmil the first year he won.

His knees were bloody and his face was purple, and I didnt know him from Adam, but I knew that here was a god among men, and no matter what kind of pain or hopelessness Ive felt on a bike, that it paled in comparison to what this individual was experiencing in the photo.
Fifteen years later I still have that poster, and I still have endless admiration for those who go to battle in this race and emerge victorious.
Its races like the Roubaix and people like Tchmil and this years winner, Tom Boonen that give me hope for the future of this sport that has at times had me on the edge of my seat with goose bumps, and conversely has at other times had me holding my head in shame and disbelief.

Congratulations Tom. Youve made me feel pride again.

As always, heres to everyone having had a great weekend, and as tolerable a Monday as you can. Its just two days away from Wednesday, which I kinda like to think of as a midweek Friday...Then you just gotta hold on for two more days until Friday hits and we can do it all over again.