Life is too short for traffic

For the past seven years I've talked about getting my motorcycle license. The key word here is talk. The winter puts my desire on the back burner, it's too cold and dreary to want anything other than a cozy sweater and some hot soup. Once the snow melts and the trees bloom, all I can imagine is being out in the open air with an old 1956 Triumph below me. It's a beautiful bike with a teeming history (and price tag, yeesh) that alludes to a time when you could still work on something yourself if you wanted to keep it running. Did I mention it was beautiful?

And while we're on the subject of Motorcycles and beauty, Danny Lyon's The Bikeriders is a resplendent piece of photojournalism. The simplicity of his title betrays the content, but it (the title) seems somehow so perfect. Gritty backgrounds and fearless faces break through on every photo, each one layered with every emotion that drives the heart of the young. 

Another great set to check out is Eliot M. Gold's set of the Chosen Few

The Selvedge Yard

Get into it:

Books

Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaws by Hunter S. Thompson

Hells Angels: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angel's MC by Sonny Barger

The Mamoth Book of Bikers by Arthur Veno

The American Motorcycle Girls: A Photographic History by Cristine Sommer Simmons

The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara (The movie is great as well, I know that it doesn't really revolve around motorcycles, but the bike was the catalyst for his adventure, plus it's my blog, so there.)

Grettir's Saga, author unknown *Disclaimer: this book has nothing to do with motorcycle culture. It was written in Iceland, around the 9th, 10th or 11th century. It's an amazing book, and I'm pretty sure Grettir is the original outlaw.

Movies/TV

Quadrophenia (scooters are awesome too)

Obviously, The Wild One and Easy Rider (psh, obviously)

Sons of Anarchy

*The biker scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, classic

*The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse in Raising Arizona

Tim Walker

There's something about this man that tells me he can see both tree and forest.

Greaser Girls, Monster Movies and Strange Pets

 When I decided to start this blog, I really wanted to post something once a day because it's a nice distraction from litter pans and sheep brains (don't worry, I'm not feeding them to the kitties, I'm taking an anatomy class and for some reason the powers that be feel that sheep brains and eyeballs are a good visual for nursing students. This makes me sad, especially when the eyeballs have eyelashes attached to them). Because of my procrastination, I've decided to post a few images with no real connection to each other, other than the fact that they're in black and white.  Enjoy!

"The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue."-Dorothy Parker

                       Behind the scenes of "Creature From the Black Lagoon" via Retronaut

And now for something completely different...

Color Me Illuminated

Photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnston in the 1920s, The Ziegfeld Girls were performers in the Broadway show known as the Ziegfeld Follies. Inspired by the Folies Bergere (missing the grave accent because I'm hopeless in figuring out how to make that happen) in Paris, the visually stunning hybrid show of broadway meets vaudeville charmed it's spectator with elaborate costumes and sets. I took a particular interest in the set "The Illuminants" which are pictured above. The surrealist concept and it's subtle hints of irony make me want to run away and join the circus. 

Source:

Ziegfeld Grrl