Ah…’tis the day before Hallowe’en and I’ve been saving this video especially for today. Chopper Chicks in Zombietown is a classic B-grade horror flick from the genius folks at Troma Entertainment. And, um…Billy Bob Thornton? Who knew?

Russell Mitchell, tattooed-bad-boy bike builder of Exile Cycles (and formerly of “Build or Bust” on Speed TV) wants us to help him get back on television.

From the Exile website:

“As many of you may know I love doing the bike shows and it seems I’m at a different one in a different State every weekend. I get so many people asking me when I’m shooting the next Build or Bust series and sadly I don’t know whether we will because we don’t actually have control over that. That set me thinking recently as we have so many good ideas for our own TV show. So here’s where you guys can help me out. I’m pitching some great new ideas to the networks right now and would really appreciate the Exile fans out there helping me out. Your comments about how you wanna see the Exile crew back on TV causing trouble would show the massive support we receive from you all. So why don’t you write a quick e mail to say just that and send it to media@exilecycles.com and with any luck you’ll see me and the crew back on TV, hopefully with our own show.
Cheers.
Russ”

It definitely seems that motorcycle programming has been phased out to almost extinction and the new trend is tattoo shows like LA Ink, Miami Ink and Tattoo Wars. With Jesse James without a show and Billy Lane trying to dig out of heaps of legal problems, Russell does seem like the next in the natural selection.

This is a clip from a clunker of a movie called “The Sweetest Thing” which starred Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate. It’s a slightly naughty little scene, but it was probably the funniest part of the entire movie.

I believe I’ve mentioned that my line of work is in advertising, whether I like it or not. It pays the bills. Because of this fact I can’t help but to notice and give credit when I see really good ads.

Whatever my feelings are about Harley-Davidson (they’re sweet, but too expensive and breeds snobby riders) their advertising is always incredible, whether serious or humorous. This one is the latter.

click image to view larger if you’d like

A few months ago I wrote a post about Bikerworlds and the growing popularity of social networking with bikers. Well, I just discovered another social networking site for the biker world called BikerorNot.com.

My initial observation is that this is a hybrid born of hotornot.com and MySpace in the sense that you can build profiles and have lots of friends (just like myspace) and you can rate people who have uploaded their images (just like HotorNot). Investigating the site a little more and it also begins to feel like a biker dating site as well. The biker community tends to be brimming with a lot of sexual energy and this site seems to be spilling over with it. Maybe it’s all the sexy pictures!

In reading the two entries on the BikerorNot blog I realize that this is also a fairly new (and totally customized) site to feed the need for online biker communities. It started in September 2006 and by late August 2007 they had upwards to 10,000 members, 4 million page views per month and 5,000 unique visitors per day. Impressive numbers by any standards.

I decided to add a profile on this site as well and if you’re curious to see what it’s all about, you can visit me at bikerornot.com/rippinkitten. Who knows? You may end up joining, too!

In the spirit of my last post about my hubster’s motorcycle accident, here’s a humorous PSA for this week’s video:

The date of October 14, for most people, isn’t a very special day. But on this day four years ago my life changed forever. I knew when I started this blog that I’d have to tell this story some day.

So here it is:
My best friend (who is now my husband) almost died in a motorcycle accident on October 14, 2003. It was raining heavily that night and instead of riding his motorcycle on the highway, he decided to ride back roads home instead. He didn’t give it a second thought. He had his rain gear and was used to riding in all kinds of weather. He had been in worse storms than this particular one.

The accident itself is hard to determine, but what we think happened is that he got to a rotary area and was forced into the guardrail by a cab. He was thrown from the bike and the cab never stopped (and no one ever came forward). Luckily there was a gas station across the street and the guys there called an ambulance.

I got a call on my cell phone around 4:45 am. When I saw his number calling I thought it was a case of him drunk dialing until I heard a woman’s voice on the line and she told me she was calling from Boston Medical Center and the only words I really focussed on was motorcycle accident.

My apartment at the time had a skylight and the rain was just pounding on it. I remember for a split-second wondering why was he out riding in this weather? and why didn’t he catch a ride with someone else? But that thought was replaced by the urgent need to get to the hospital. I threw on whatever clothes were close by and was at the hospital ten minutes later.

While I waited I called some of our friends and his sister, since his parents were out of the country on vacation. A bunch of people came to the hospital and kept vigil with me.

After 5 hours of waiting with zero information, the vascular surgeon finally came out and told us the extent of his injuries: his spleen had been punctured and removed, seven ribs broken and a collapsed lung, a large gash on his leg, 3 broken metacarpals and oh yeah, his left arm was almost severed: his humorous was shattered and the major nerve, veins and arteries were also severed. They had to transplant a large artery from his right leg into his left arm, which seemed to work because there was blood circulation going to his hand.

in the SICU the day after the accident

His spent the first three days in the SICU (surgical intensive care unit) unconscious and intubated and an additional two days there after he woke up. He had another surgery to fix his shattered bone by inserting a titanium rod and reconnect the nerve. Then he spent an additional week in the rehab ward. The doctors took photos of the entire surgery, but I’ll spare you guys those gory details!

The day after the accident, the left image is the temporary “erector set” to keep the broken bones in place, the right image is a picture of his broken hand with the pins still in place.

The aftermath of having his spleen removed and his right leg where they had to take a vein to put into his arm.

The day the stitches were removed.

A year of pain, physical therapy and lots of determination helped him regain almost full dexterity in his hand, although his ring finger and pinkie finger remain numb due to nerve damage and he’s lost almost all of the muscle mass in his hand. To this day he cannot use his bicep muscle in his left arm (meaning he cannot bend his arm using the muscle) but he’s good at compensating for it in different ways. People don’t even realize there’s something wrong with his arm unless they see the scars or we tell them about the accident.

This experience has not deterred our enjoyment of motorcycles. A month after the accident my husband was daydreaming of riding again. Less than six months later he was back up and riding. And that summer I got my motorcycle license (although I did waffle on the decision beforehand). I’m sure everyone thinks we’re nuts but it’s a big part of our lives that we enjoy.

Maybe it’s a bit corny but the course of our lives changed that night. We each got a huge wake up call and a new outlook on life. It made us realize that life doesn’t wait for you to get your shit together, so get out there and try to accomplish all of the things you dream of. We are thankful to have each other every day. When this time of year rolls around we can’t help but to be grateful that the result of that accident didn’t go another way. And while it’s a day I don’t always want to remember, it’s a day I won’t ever forget.

I’ve known about a lot of different women-only motorcycle publications that have tried to succeed and sadly have failed. The latest magazine that I just found is Biker Alley. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t heard of this magazine sooner since, impressively, it’s been around since 2000.

They publish six issues a year for $19.50 (if interested, you can subscribe through their website). Articles are about safety, motorcycle maintenance, product reviews, motorcycle news and stories of experiences from other women riders. They pride themselves on being a family oriented magazine, open to male readers and they try to keep an informal rapport with their readers:

“Unlike other motorcycle magazines, as you read Biker Ally Magazine, it will seem as though you are sitting at the kitchen table talking to your friend over a cup of coffee.”

Well, that sounds nice. A lot of women on the message boards I read really seem to like it. And if they’ve been publishing this long they must be doing something right.

I’ve made the decision that come hell or high water I’m getting my ass to Daytona next year. I’ve never been and really want to go since I wasn’t able to attend Sturgis this past summer.

Since there is usually snow & ice on the ground here that time of year (and I don’t relish the idea of riding to Florida in 20 degree weather) getting down there may present a challenge. And shipping the bike could be costly. Needless to say, I have some big planning ahead of me!

Unfortunately, I’m not eligible for Harley-Davidson’s Get Down to Daytona contest. If you aren’t aware of the contest, if you’re a woman you can win a spot on a bike trip to Daytona with Karen Davidson.

From the site: To enter, submit a video, 90 seconds or less, describing how your riding mentor helped you improve your confidence and riding skills, and what riding means to you. Make sure to include your riding mentor in your video or a photo of her or him.

You have to own an HD and been riding for less than 2 years (I’m out on both counts) but if you’re a woman who fits those requirements…well stop reading and go submit a video, dammit!