Dad is clearly teaching this little four year old girl how to handle a motorcycle, and she is laying on that throttle. No helmet. Wearing shorts. Weaving through traffic on the streets of India. At least she is wearing eye protection, not to mention the biggest sh*t-eating grin ever!

What do you think? Disturbing or kinda cool?

Pee Wee writes:
“Yep, I went to South Dakota. (Road trip! Great idea for a movie, by the way…) Get ready for some more name dropping. At the Buffalo Chip were: ZZ Top, Buckcherry, The Guess Who, Bob Dylan and television’s ‘Renegade’ — Lorenzo Lamas. I got a new chopper, burned rubber with about 500,000 fellow bikers and ate the legendary donut burger — the most delicious thing on the planet, and I hear it’s totally good for you too. I met a cowboy named Cork and had beautiful women crawling all over me– I have that effect on beautiful women. BBW — any, and all women. I weighed-in remotely to the Tonight Show (doesn’t everybody these days?!) and I got a tattoo. Didn’t hurt at all. I brought some friends from Funny or Die to record my personal video diary or VLOG, if you will. I love internet lingo!!

Enjoy my journey, okay? I’m changed since I came back from South Dakota. I understand stuff I didn’t understand before.”

Looks like Pee Wee at Sturgis was a heap-load of fun. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

Here’s a taste of what to expect if you’re lucky enough to go this year!

Spike has posted two new clips on their site for our viewing pleasure!

Punk rock legend, Henry Rollins,  joins the cast of Sons of Anarchy season 2!

A legend in the punk rock world (and an icon from my misspent youth…I can’t tell you how many shows of his I’ve been to!) is joining the cast of Sons of Anarchy for a six episode arc. That’s right, just when I thought I couldn’t get any more excited I just learned that Mr. Henry Rollins is joining SoA this upcoming season.

If you didn’t grow up listening to punk music in the 80′s then here’s a brief bio on Mr. Rollins. He is a singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, stand-up comedian, author, actor, activist and publisher. He was the front man for punk band Black Flag in the 80′s and has since formed the Rollins Band, written a few books, done a ton of spoken word & stand-up tours, has a lot to say about social and political issues (whether you agree with him or not) and even has his own show on the Independent Film Channel.

He will appear in six upcoming episodes of Sons of Anarchy and will play a new antagonist in the show who poses a deadly threat to SAMCRO. Even Kurt Sutter is excited to have him on the show. From his blog, SutterInk:

“I fucking love Henry Rollins. Been a fan for years. From Black Flag to his one-man shows. He’s a super smart cat with exponential intensity. So excited to have him on the show.

I don’t want to say too much about who his character is right now. As we get closer to air, more information will be revealed. Suffice to say, Henry will fucking chew it up.

While Henry’s better known for being an angry, little man and not known for being a fantastic actor, it’s sounds like he won’t have to stetch his acting legs too much. He just needs to have a bad disposition and scowl a lot. I think he’s pretty good at both of those things.

And now for your viewing/listening pleasure is “Liar” by the Rollins Band.

February is my least favorite month of all. Even though it’s short it just feels…so…long…But I’ve snapped out of it and I am raring to go.

Here’s a few interesting bits of late:

All ladies summer tour through Alaska

MotoQuest Tours is planning an all women, 9-day, 1200 mile trip (on all paved roads), with lodging-through Alaska from June 26th to July 4th.  An average day will be about 250 miles so everyone can take in the scenery and all the riders will be followed by a 12 passenger van to schlep all the luggage and provide snacks and refreshment. Full details and information can be found at http://motoquesttours.com/09ladiesintro.html

Sons of Anarchy, Season Two

There’s very little to report lately about the next season of SoA. Writer and creator, Kurt Sutter, posted in his blog a month or so ago that they were back in the writing room working away. Shooting allegedly begins in April, with new episodes hitting the air hopefully in September.

Jesse James News

No, it has nothing to do with Jesse’s appearance in the next “Celebrity Apprentice” or his show “Jesse James is a Dead Man.” This video is of Jesse winning a pie-eating contest at the Tennessee Vally Fair. Just because I think it’s funny.

About a week ago I read an article that said the spring rally in S. Carolina is not neccessarily dead after all. It’ll just be happening everywhere except Myrtle Beach. “Cruisin’ up the Coast” 69th annual bike week will be happening May 8th-17th in Horry County. There’s lots of information at http://www.mbbikeweeks.com and http://www.myrtlebeachharley.com.

“…the City of Myrtle Beach has never played a role in bike week and has made it clear they don’t want to play a role. In years past, over 90% of the events taking place were outside the limits of the City of Myrtle Beach. The new rules and regulations really WILL NOT affect your visit or any of the activities and events.“

So this sucker is still ON and it sounds like as long as bikers stay OUT of Myrtle Beach then none of the new rules & regulations will apply. I’ll be really interested in seeing how this all pans out. Thanks to Dee Hal for sending me an email and giving me a nudge to get a post out about it.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the animal rescue group, Rescue Ink. I love what they’re all about and someone left a comment that I felt the need to bubble up into this post.
From Stefanie:

“Hi, I just want you to know that Rescue Ink is an AMAZING organization. In fact, they’re so amazing that we are holding a fundraiser for them on Saturday March 28, 2009 at Jib Lanes (http://www.jiblanes.com) in Queens, NY at 9:30am. Please tell your friends and family to come down so we can raise some serious money for these great guys!!!”

I hope this fundraiser goes well for them and I plan on donating my next Google Adsense check to them when it comes in. If you’d like to help them out you can either send a donation or buy a Rescue Ink t-shirt.

The other night I caught a promo for this season’s Celebrity Apprentice. Anyone else seen it? Jesse James will be playing for the Long Beach Unified School District and intends for the cash to assist the district’s industrial design classes (i.e. auto shop).

Other than my crush, Mr. James, my other favorites would be Tom Green and Dennis Rodman. Looks like they’re making the “Dice Man” out to be the heavy of the show. I’m looking forward to it. Anyway, here’s a clip:

So, while I recover from the shock of getting back to the daily grind, I’ll leave you with the top 10 viewed posts of 2008!

1. Steampunk Motorcycles-even though I wrote this post a year ago, it is the most popular post of my site. The Steampunk movement has gained much popularity since then.
2. BikerorNot.com: bikers and social networking pt. deux-social networking sites are booming. It seems that every subculture has formed their own social community these days. Since this post was published I have received numerous emails informing me of yet another new biker social community and asking me to join or write about their site. I can only keep track of so many accounts these days and it makes me wonder if more is better.
3. Bikers and tattoos-Two of my favorite subjects! A brief history of tattoos in America and how they touch my world.
4. Bring Exile Cycles back to TV-the popularity of this post surprises me a little. Prior to this post I had read a myspace bulletin from Russell putting out the call to fans for some help. This year we’ve seen Russell on VH1′s Rock of Love and of course, that silly Comcast commercial that featured Exile Cycles, with an actor playing the part (instead of “hardcore” heavily-tattooed Russell) that confused so many people. Here’s hoping we see a lot more of him in the future.
5. Anatomy of the Kawasaki Vulcan-in the summer of 2007, Greg White contacted me and hooked me up with Kawasaki to test ride the Vulcan 900 Custom. I spent a few gleeful weeks riding this bike and this is my dissection of various elements of the bike in detail. Thinking back on the experience makes me remember how much I enjoyed riding this bike. And yes, the skinny front wheel felt safe!
6. Biker Movie Hell Ride in theaters August 8-this movie was all the buzz for us this summer and it came and went in the blink of an eye. It had a very limited release in theaters and when it finally came out on DVD it would be an understatement to say it is a love/hate kind of movie.
7. Slayer launches a line of helmets-*RAWK!* Rockhard helmets launched a line of motorcycle helmets emblazened with graphics of our favorite thrash metal band. They’ve since increased their lineup of bands that include: Lynard Skynard, KISS, Slip Knot, Motorhead (yes!), AC/DC and The King. These suckers ain’t cheap but if you’re a fan I’m sure they’re well worth the cash!
8. Garage Girls: a new site for women, or is it?-this was my initial review of Sara Liberte’s new online venture. I was as honest as I could be while reading through the site (maybe too honest?). So much so  that I actually received an email and blog comment from Sara letting me and everyone else know that the site was brand-spankin’ new and to cut her some slack. I revisited the site three months later and was pleasantly surprised at the changes that had been made and the fresh content that had been added. Props to Sara.
9. Video Tuesday: Harley-Davidson Dark Custom-this video accompanied the announcement of HD’s newest and coolest motorcycle. I also went on a bit of a tirade about how out of touch Bruce Rossmeyer is with a younger demographic.
10. My first motorcycle love-I’m so happy to see this post made it to the top ten! This is a guest post, written by my nearest and dearest, recounting the love of his first motorcycle, the experiences he had while owning it, and then eventually trading it in for a newer Road King. Definitely a good read. Hmm, that reminds me…I think I’ll bug him to guest post more often!

There’s a new landing page up for Spike TV’s Jesse James is a Dead Man. Apparently, they need our help!

“Jesse wants your ideas for crazy, stupid, and ridiculously dangerous stuff for him to do. He’ll pick the wildest challenge, bring you out to LA to explain what it is on the show and then he’ll do the challenge on the show!”

Send in a video challenging Jesse to perform whatever crazy stunt you come up with! (In order to submit your idea, you will need to register for an account on spiketv.com, which is just a bullshit way for them to capture data, in my humble opinion…)

Jesse’s calling you out!

So, I thought I would take my gift of “free time” to kind of slow down and catch up with my bloggy life.  I do have a few little bits and nuggets of news to share.

This is hardly new news but the winners of the Harley-Davidson Bikes, Camera, Action! video contest were announced earlier this week. I have to give these ladies credit for taking the time to make these great videos. I think a video contest is a lot to ask of the general public and these ladies rose to the occasion. Congrats to them!

Here are the top three:
Her Need for Speed
Girls Night Out
Here Come the Bride

In additional Harley-Davidson news, it’s been announced that registration for the 2009 Women’s Experience ride in Daytona is now open. The second annual MDA ride will take place on March 3rd and only the first 500 women to register will be eligible to take part in the event. Last year they raised $60K from the event. Here’s hoping they beat that amount this year since it’s for such a good cause.

Here’s a bit of Sons of Anarchy news from writer, producer Kurt Sutter’s blog SutterInk:
“Based on final ratings, FX’s critically acclaimed freshman drama series Sons of Anarchy has proven itself to be a worthy successor to the network’s award-winning drama series The Shield, which completed its historic seven season run last month.

With the Live +7 ratings factored in from Nielsen Media Research on a multi-telecast basis, Sons of Anarchy delivered a weekly average audience of 5.83 million total viewers (jumping 16% vs. the Live numbers) and 3.9 million Adults 18-49 (up 18% vs. the Live numbers), the highest ratings of any new series on FX since the network’s hit series Rescue Me, which debuted in 2004. On a first-run basis the series averaged 2.6 million total viewers and 1.75 million Adults 18-49.

For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, Sons significantly surpassed new and returning basic cable shows on delivery of Adults 18-49 including Saving Grace (1.59 million), Battlestar Galactica (1.58 million), Eureka (1.42 million), Raising the Bar (1.37 million), The Cleaner (1.11 million), Mad Men (879,000) and Breaking Bad (821,000).

Sons of Anarchy showed incredible consistency on a week-to-week basis and actually saw audience growth over the final two episodes, hitting its peak with the season finale (episode 13), which delivered 3 million total viewers on its first run. The second-to-last episode (episode 12) delivered the most Adults 18-49 (2.04 million) in the series entire run. The series premiered on 9/3/08 to 2.87 million total viewers and 1.73 million Adults 18-49.

FX has picked up a second season of Sons of Anarchy, slated to begin in Spring 09.” Not too shabby! There’s also another interesting post going back a few weeks about the new defunct HBO project 1% that got HBO in all that legal hot water with the notorious Sonny Barger.

Recently I’ve joined the collective of microbloggers and have been tweeting away! If you’re on Twitter, aspire to get on Twitter to see what it’s all about, you can find me @rippinkitten. A bunch of my fellow blogger tweeps are there as well as some new friends. Come say hi!

I know that we all read a ton of motorcycle blogs of different form and fashion but I’d like to take a minute to plug a new blog written by my friend: ArtBiker World: Art, Bikes, Bikers, Culture. I’ve known ArtBiker, aka Matt Linton, for over 10 years when he used to live here in Boston. He now resides in Houston, TX with his family and is one dude who lives and breathes motorcycles and the biker culture. Oh yeah, and he’s one hell of a photographer, too. His blog went live only a few short months ago and it is a great read. Go show him some love!

Now I’m going to make some hot chocolate and watch those flakes start to fall.

Bettie Page died today as a result of a heart attack she sustained over the weekend. She had been hospitalized for pneumonia weeks before and spent the majority of this week in a coma. I had heard the news this past weekend, wanting to write about her then, hoping that the inevitable might not happen. I held my own silent Bettie-vigil, waiting for any kind of news. And today it was news that I didn’t want to hear.

I don’t even know how or where to begin to write about Bettie Page. She was a secretary-turned-model that ended up being an unlikely icon for generations based on bondage photos and Teaserama dances. She inspired many girls to covet and acquire those trademark, fringe bangs. She had an enigmatic sweetness in her smile, despite all the naughty things she might have been doing in those fetish photos of hers! And she had a body to die for. Not like these sticks with tits that grace our magazines these days, but a real woman’s body with curves that Did. Not. Quit.

There’s no shortage of information, books, videos, photos, websites, movies and songs dedicated to Bettie. She is the subject of many an artist, most notably Dave Stevens (who also passed away this year at the young age of 52) who rendered the famous illustration of her in his comic The Rocketeer, and Olivia De Berardinis, who probably owes all her fame to recreating Bettie’s visage.

"The Rocketeer"

devilish Bettie by Olivia

recent years: Olivia, Hugh Hefner and Bettie

Bettie’s likeness also inspired many people to get lasting tattoos of her iconic beauty and she also graces plenty of motorcycle tanks!

Painted tank by http://www.grumeretz.com

My post is only one of hundreds that you will find online. I didn’t want to rehash the details of her life, you can go to plenty of articles and pages to learn those facts. I really just wanted to pay my respects and write a small tribute to this icon of a woman who influenced me and so many others.

Bettie, you will be missed.

Admittedly, it took me a while to get into watching this show. In the very beginning, I dismissed it as a “Shield” or “Sopranos” on motorcycles. I also couldn’t get past how the “club” was portrayed, the fake tattoos, the lame dialogue and the shiny, new HDs they were were riding.

From the start I did appreciate Katy Sagal’s portrayal of Gemma. As they say, behind every great man is a great woman and Gemma is indeed the great woman behind Ron Perlman’s club leader, Clay. l was unsure about Jax’s character in the beginning. I didn’t get what he was all about, other than a womanizing loser who seemed like a sheep, just following what everyone tells him to do. I always liked Opie’s character and I think I like him even more now that I learned he was intended to be killed off (Ryan Hurst, the actor who plays Opie just signed on as a series regular).

I watched when my husband turned it on, but I didn’t always stop what I was doing to watch intently. Until we got past the middle of the season. Then I noticed the show began to hold my interest more. I realized how good the writing was becoming and, independent of reading any news articles, how much the show was drawing from Shakespeare. Then it all started to click in my head. Jax was a character who was wondering: “To be, or not to be…”

From the SoA page on Wikipedia:

The family drama is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet indeed, star Ron Perlman has said, “I’m sure they’re going to stick to the structure of Hamlet all the way to the end” of the series. Clay is based on the role of King Claudius and Gemma as a Gertrude figure.

Jax stands in for Prince Hamlet himself; his reflective questioning of the SOA culture, brought on by the birth of his son, references Hamlet’s melancholy over the death of the king. Additionally, Jax “communicates” with his dead father by way of his late father’s unpublished journal/manuscript; Hamlet, of course, literally communicates with the ghost of his father.The drama and characterizations are also enhanced by drawing on Macbeth, another Shakespeare tragedy.

Ron Perlman’s portrayal of the Claudius-like character, Clay, is so guilt-ridden that he resembles Macbeth more than Claudius at times. Even more, Katey Sagal’s Gertrude-like Gemma resembles Lady Macbeth because, while it is never entirely clear from Hamlet how complicit Queen Gertrude is in the murder of Hamlet’s father, it is obvious that Gemma has willingly participated in the cover-up of the murder and may even have encouraged Clay in his treachery.

The last two shows were the most intense of them all.

Sons of Anarchy Spoiler Alert!

The turning point and ultimate summation of the season came in the last 10 minutes of the 90 minute season finale. The hint of a weakening leader when Clay is not able to button the sleeve of his shirt. The homeless woman (who we first met outside of the grocery store enlightening Gemma while asking for a few dollars in order to help her boys) shows up again, this time showing Jax the path to redemption. You can’t get more biblical than seeing Jax literally wash away the sins on his hands with the cold water in the graveyard. And he then silently spoke louder than anyone by walking (not riding his motorcycle) to Donna’s burial by himself (wearing white, of course) standing opposite of everyone else decked out in black. The tell-all gazes he shot at Clay, Gemma, Piney and Opie that told them all what he wanted them to know before walking away.

With such smart writing I’d like to think that the show is finally hitting its stride. Beautiful symbolism combined with great writing allows the story to build up and a possible future to be paved.

As a person who wasn’t eager to add another program to my already packed list of television-watching, by the end of the season I can say that Sons of Anarchy is now on my list of must watch shows for next season.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that two of my other favorite shows this season we canceled.

When I got in from work last night I grabbed my pile of mail that was sitting on the floor. Bills, bills, bills…NETFLIX! Jackpot. For, in my hot little hands, I knew that I held a movie I’ve been itching to watch. That’s right, Hell Ride on dvd had finally arrived.

I didn’t have time to watch it last night, but I’m using today’s Video Tuesday to psych myself up for it. Plus, I just read a review over at Road Captain USA’s blog and now I’m even more excited to see it!

That was the subject of a contest held over at Crackberry.com recently for those who consider themselves BlackBerry addicts. They were giving away 10 BlackBerry Storms to those who were willing to do whatever it took to win one (and they actually had to follow through on their promise!).

They received 3,000 entries to the contest and “a popular theme of entry that emerged was extreme brand loyalty, or in other words, showing off your love for BlackBerry and/or CrackBerry for the whole world to see.”

The first winner was TJ of Revelation Tattoos in Toledo OH, who had a lifesized BlackBerry tattooed on his leg. Two things of note: 1. TJ didn’t pay for his tattoo. He works at the shop and had it done for free. 2. The tattoo artist, Brian, is a total Mac fanboy and die-hard iPhone lover. It must have killed him to do this tattoo!

While I don’t find the fact that he had the tattoo done to win a phone all that shocking (I hang out with a LOT of tattoo fanatics/artists who get work done for less meaningful things), I find the backlash a little surprising. What makes this guy’s tattoo any different from anyone willing to have a Harley-Davidson tattoo put on their body? It’s essentially showing the same kind of “extreme brand loyalty.”

If you’re interested in reading the war of comments you can read them at Crackberry.com and on Information Week’s blog, which also did a post about this today.

They also took video of the entire trip and edited it down into a four-video series, which I commend them on. I know from personal experience that it’s a daunting task to take a ton of video and attempt to edit it down to short, digestible clips for mass viewing.

So, here’s the first video of the series: Toledo to Frankfurt.

And try to check out the other videos of Lucas County Choppers: Michigan on Two Wheels. You won’t regret it.

While I do not condone drinking and riding (or drinking while riding)-there is nothing like a really cold beer after a LONG day of riding in hot summer weather.

Swearing, on the other hand, is an activity to be enjoyed on your motorcycle, off of your motorcycle, in the shower, while eating breakfast…

[*grin*]

This is a commercial for Bud Light that just won an Emmy, despite the fact that it has never been aired on television. It has been viewed over 12 million times and won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial.

My favorite line: “Will the owner of a white station wagon please go f*ck yourself.”

Their popularity parlayed itself into the creation of a great marketing site ( http://cavemanscrib.com ) where you can tour the Caveman’s home (as well as flip through his photo album, watch the videos on his cell phone and many other easter eggs). It’s a great place to waste some time if you’re bored!

But like all good things, it appeared that people were getting a little sick of the Cavemen and gravitating to the cute lil gecko instead (did you see the picture of the gecko pinned on the dart board in the Party Out of Bounds section?).

Despite the failed attempt at their own tv show “Caveman’s Cribs” (which aired on ABC last fall to dismal reviews and viewers), the Geico Cavemen have recently made a fierce comeback in a new commercial for Geico’s motorcycle insurance.

In true fashion, HD wastes no time in not only releasing the new line-up of motorcycles for next year, they also have the marketing machine working in full force. You can view the new line of motorcycles on their site.

The video is perhaps a little long for my (and maybe your) short attention span, but it’s a pretty good video. I have a few favorite models that I like, mainly the Softails.

If you wanted to (or had to) ride an HD, what would be your favorite model?

Did anyone get to see it in the theater??? I know that critics blasted it in their reviews, but I’ve heard that actual movie goers enjoyed it. If you saw it, please let me know what you thought of it.

Today’s video has nothing to do with Hell Ride, really, other than the fact that it’s from a movie and it’s about bikers. It’s a clip from the classic movie “The Wild One.”

“Chopper Zombie” is a new graphic novel created by Thom Beers (yes, the same guy that brought us “Monster Garage” and “Deadliest Catch”), which was unveiled last month at Comic Con. For the occasion, a custom-built zombie chopper was created by Russell Mitchell and Exile Cycles (dressed with specially created zombie parts).

Image borrowed from Dread Central. View entire gallery of photos from the event there!

Beers got the idea to create a chopper/zombie movie for his ten-year old son, melding his own love for choppers and his son’s love for zombies. The graphic novel (and eventual movie-due to go into production in 2009) is about a motorcycle builder who refuses to sell his formula for a new super-fuel to a dangerous corporation. When a team of thugs drowns him in his own toxic creation, he rises from the dead with a score to settle. It sounds a bit like “The Crow” with motorcycles, but I’ll take it! You can be sure that I’ll be following any news about the movie when production starts.

Go to http://www.chopperzombie.com to check out pages from the graphic novel!

Choppers and zombies are two great tastes that taste great together (not to mention trendy these days)! Since I was unsuccessful in finding any videos of this event from San Diego’s 2008 Comic Con, I decided to go with a video of Russell Mitchell and Exile Cycles celebrating their 10 yr. anniversary.

My name is Chrissy and I’m working with FX Network to help promote their fall premieres. I noticed your recent post regarding the upcoming series premiere of “Sons of Anarchy”, and I wanted to follow up and provide you with some additional digital assets and information in support of the series.

SONS OF ANARCHY
Series premiere – Wednesday, September 3rd at 10:00pm

Official Press Release: Coming Soon, but here’s a sneak peek:
“FX Network’s new original series, Sons of Anarchy, is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their simple, sheltered town of Charming, California remains exactly that. Charming. The MC must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. Behind the MC’s familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegally thriving arms business. The seduction of money, power, and blood.”

In addition, FX Network is hosting offline events in support of the premiere. I know you’re based in New England, but thought that you or your readers might be interested in the following “Sons of Anarchy” motorcycle rally events:

Fri Aug.8-Sunday Aug. 10
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Sturgis, SD

Saturday, Aug. 16
Salute to American Veterans
Winter Park, CO

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if there’s
any additional information I can provide you!

Best,
Chrissy

So, there you go everyone! If anyone is going to Sturgis drop me a line!

Sorry things have been quiet around here lately. You know how summer time is, everyone wants to be outdoors either riding or vacationing (not reading or writing blogs, ha ha!). I managed to take off to NH for a week and enjoy some of the nice weather we’ve been having (in between a lot of the rain, of course!).

Here’s a custom motorcycle company that’s come to home for me: Red Wing Motorcycles started by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (who are from Boston for those that don’t know). They debuted their first motorcycles back in 2007 and have an interesting, retro feel to them. What do you guys think of them?

And if you’re a huge Aerosmith fan, each bike is signed by Steven Tyler himself!

So, today’s video is of course, by Aerosmith and is one of my favorite songs.

Relative unknown, Charlie Hunnam stars as the conflicted hero, torn between the love of the brotherhood and the apprehension of its lawlessness. Ron Perlman (Hellboy) is his step-father and club president and Katie Sagal (Peg Bundy from “Married with Children”) is Mom. And you know there is all sorts of dark family drama to go along!

Look for “Sons of Anarchy” on September 3rd. If you’re completely jazzed and need your SoA fix now you can go to the official FX page or check out their MySpace profile!

Marketing to women: Harley-Davidson proves once again they’re a mega-marketing machine
Harley-Davidson is a force to be reckoned with, for sure, whether you love or hate them. Since we now have a Harley in the family it’s been more and more apparent to me why people have such brand loyalty to them. They constantly reinforce a feeling of belonging to a family with their customer service, their membership programs and mailings. They’re one of the first brands to really being marketing towards women and they’ll be damned if they don’t bust into my demographic if it kills them. They were one of the first to put a special section on their website geared towards women, they offer women only garage parties and now they’re offering something that’s sure to make women feel like they belong to an exclusive community: they’re giving away an exclusive designer ring to women who buy one of their bikes.

This exclusive HD ring was designed by Karen Davidson

Goldmember would be jealous: a chopper made of GOLD
This extravagant piece of art was shown at the International Motorcycle show in Seattle. It’s gold plated and only costs a mere $500,000. Where can I get one?

View more photos of this magnificient beast at funtasticus.com

Red band trailer for HELL RIDE finally available for viewing
Here it is in all it’s glory, boys and girls. Definitely not safe for work so tread lightly where you’re viewing it. Glad to see that tongue is still planted firmly in cheek after seeing the trailer and I am definitely looking forward to some raunchy sex & violence with this flick.

Anyone else still eager to see it?

Sorry, I have to interject here: do you think if Jesse wasn’t married to Sandra Bullock that he’d even CARE about skincare at all? That he’d even know what the hell Kiehls was?

Photograph courtesy of Kiehl’s and Vanity Fair.

“I’m not metrosexual or anything,” insists James, whose ruggedness—or maybe his baby-smooth cheeks—has gained the charms of wife Sandra Bullock. “But I’m pretty fuckin’ hard on my skin.”

Mhmm.

Well, that didn’t stop Jesse from slapping his name on a Kiehl’s exclusive Jesse James Dopp Kit which includes: Facial Fuel Energizing Face Wash, “White Eagle” Ultimate Brushless Shave Cream, Ultimate Man Body Scrub Soap, Facial Fuel Energizing Moisture Treatment and a deluxe sample of Ultimate Strength Hand Salve for a mere $66.

Anyway, here’s the accompanying video to the motorcycle build. Jesse’s not in it, but the end result isn’t too shabby.

One of the first videos I posted was from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. It was the scene after “Tequila” and the Big Shoe Dance and Pee Wee finally won all of the bikers over. Also to my surprise, in this past year I’ve never posted the actual “Tequila” scene. Until now!

Some people love Pee Wee, some hate him–I still love him!

But since the biker weeks are not official Myrtle Beach events, the city is still trying to figure out how to get the bikers not to just show up.

The city says it wants the month of May to go back to being a family vacation month, not a time for rowdy partying.

“It’s what you and your thousands of event attendees do when you are here. It’s not who you are or what you drive. It’s what you do and what your behavior is when you’re here. That’s the issue,” says Mark Kruea. (source: WIS News 10)

Bikers from across county are planning to attend the Horry County council meeting on July 1 at 6 PM to show their unified support for continuing both rallies. “At this point we still have both bike rallies and what we need to do is sit down with city (of Myrtle Beach) officials and talk about how we can make the future bike weeks better,” said Hakim Harrell, CEO of Cycle Shoe International and promoter of the Memorial Day events held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. (source: scnow.com)

One of the more exciting bits of news for Sturgis this year is that mother-f*ing KISS (and Kenny Chesney) will be headlining each of the Rock’n the Rally shows! I’m so, so SAD that I cannot go this year. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t!
I will be hosting a contest to giveaway tickets to each show! Stay tuned!

In the meantime: join the legion that is the KISS Army, put on your demon make-up and rock out to one of my favorite songs:

In the meantime, I found an interesting video clip from Daytona 2008, featuring an interesting trio hanging out together.

If you watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) then that scary, yet handsome bald fellow should be no stranger to you: that’s the “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine, riding his 2008 HD Crossbones. The other guy, who is the comic relief, is BMX-er Michah Kranz. The hot blonde is Jes Rickleff, who was the “winner” (if you can call that winning?) of season one of Rock of Love with Brett Michaels.

It seems like yet another example of Harley-Davidson trying to engage a younger demographic. Hey, it got me to watch!

Over the weekend, as most of us know, the Rolling Thunder rally was underway with thousands of motorcycles heading toward the Pentagon to honor the fallen. The President was even made an honorary member of the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group.

While this video says it’s 9+ minutes long, it’s really only about five minutes long with a lot of dead space at the end. Despite that it’s put together well and still worth watching all of those that took part in the ride this year.

“Foo Fighters and Three Days Grace are incredible additions to our already stellar line-up for the 105th Anniversary,” said Ken Ostermann, Harley-Davidson’s general manager of Outreach Marketing.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it, Harley-Davidson definitely is trying it’s hardest to market to a younger generation and it’s blatantly obvious when looking at the full line-up of bands at this event. On one hand I think it’s great that us “younguns” can finally listen to musicians of our generation at a biker event. But I would think it would give the actual concert a feeling of disjointedness and that the generation gap of those in attendance would be glaringly obvious. It’s just another instance that shows times are a’changing.

This video was done in February 2008 and took 15 hours to complete. But you get to watch it all happen in just two minutes!

I know a ton of wrestlers ride motorcycles, in fact Mr. Jesse James built custom choppers for Shane McMahon (son of evil genius, Vince), the Undertaker and Goldberg (you can check those bikes out at West Coast Choppers website if you want to check them out).

I remember when the Undertaker dropped the “Deadman” schtick for a little while and went into full on Amercian-Badass-biker-dude persona. I liked that Undertaker, sans dyed black hair, so I went looking for some videos of that era. Well, I found 2 great tastes that taste great together: “Hollywood” Hogan (the evil version of Hulk Hogan) destroying the Undertaker’s motorcycle during one of the shows. It’s painful to watch this gorgeous bike get destroyed, but wrestling is ultra-sensationalism at it’s best (or worst, however you see fit to view it).

The initial destruction by Hulk Hogan.

And of course, the reaction from the Undertaker. Don’t you love how he gets so mad that he starts kicking the bike? Like it’s going to make him feel better?

Good thing there wasn’t anything red, shiny and candy-like. I’d be all done then!

(sorry for the ads, blame revver.com)

The premise of the show is that Earl has done a lot of bad things in his life and after winning the lottery & then getting hit by a car, he has an epiphany and decides he has to cleanse his karma by righting the wrongs he’s done.

Last night’s show, Stole a Motorcycle, details a night that Earl and his brother, Randy, stole a motorcycle from the OCC guys shop (not a chopper, it was a crappy beater bike that looked like a Sportster) that someone left the keys in. Paul Sr. and Jr. did their typical arguing schtick and Mikey was the jokester who left the keys in the bike. Screen time was short and sweet.

(the videos are from nbc.com, so sorry if there’s ads in them)

The interesting thing is that OCC was also approached to create a My Name is Earl theme bike to be auctioned off for the Make a Wish foundation. If you watch the show, then you can understand how humorous the paint job and plaid shirt seat cover is.

The actors talk about the Teutels’ acting abilities and Paul Sr. talks about creating the charity bike:

If you can try watch the episode either in a re-run or somewhere online. I highly recommend it!

It’s kind of formulaic for a “metal” music video.

• Rock stars: check. (Introduction on the bullhorn by none other than Mr. Vince Neill, Sully from Godsmack and Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme in case you were wondering.)
• Cool motorcycles: check.
• A hip-looking crowd with some hot babes that have big boobs: check.

‘Nuff said. Throw up the horns and rock on with your bad selves!

Which brings me to a creation that’s been making the rounds all over the internet: a steam-electric hybrid motorcycle called The Whirlygig Emoto, built by an artist named Tom Sepe. The frame is 1967 Tote-Gote and while it’s steam-powered it actually doesn’t “go” using steam, it’s propelled by propane and batteries. But the steam still gives it a cool effect, even if it sounds like the tea’s done!

If you’d like to read up on this kooky creation, here’s a few links:

Steampunk Workshop

Tom’s Flickr page with lots of photos

Recently, Johnny Knoxville decided that he was going to attempt an Evel Keneval-style stunt by flipping a motorcycle backward in the air. Problem was, he didn’t really know what he was doing, let go of the bike mid-air which promptly landed on him-breaking the handlebar off in his crotch.

So today you guys get a 2-for-1:

Here’s a short and sweet clip of the crash itself (no sound).

Here’s a much longer clip of Johnny on the Jimmy Kimmel show discussing the accident, the actual accident shot from a different angle and imparting the joys of having a catheter.

I know, he’s an idiot.

So, our video today is about how to pick up a dropped motorcycle. It is information that appears on almost every website geared toward women riders. Is it helpful, sure. Does it need to be on every website out there? Debatable. But still something every rider should know how to do.

One of my favorite streaming radio stations of late is Radio Nigel, a station that plays ’80′s music WITH ATTITUDE. Anyway, yesterday they played “Harley David” by the Bollock Brothers, which sounded somewhat familiar to me. Low and behold, I even found their video on youtube in all it’s hilarity.

Honestly, these guys don’t look like they would even know what to do with that motorcycle!

This video is brought to you from the guys at Smart Cycle Shopper.

So what do you think? Twenty years from now do you think people will remember when Victory did this?

Rossmeyer, who owns 14 Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country, just acquired Boston Harley-Davidson and also opened up a high-end HD shop to sell overpriced t-shirts and gear to tourists on illustrious Newbury St.

He was quoted in a recent article written in the Boston Herald newspaper as saying:

“The image of Harley-Davidson bikers as ‘rebel riders’ is pretty much gone these days. We’re ‘Rolex riders’ now.”

Huh? Perhaps that’s the case in Mr. Rossmeyer’s world, but I think he needs to buy himself a clue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the face of the modern biker is changing. Gen X and Y are getting in on the action and they definitely do not fall into the RUB category. There’s a younger demographic of riders out there just waiting to be tapped and the HD mothership gets that.

This video accompanies the announcement of HD’s Dark Custom line of bikes that’s had the motorcycle world buzzing for weeks now. These bikes are stripped, chopped and raw and extremely cool looking!

Even reading some of the comments on youtube the clash of the age groups is palpable:

“…you need a young spine to ride a hard single seat with your hands above your shoulders all day. these “radical customs” are poser bikes. hard core riders ride roadies, dynas, and softies and not fatbobs, nighsters, or boneses. you just cant sit on one all day.”

“Harleys aint for the old anymore – just ’cause i am 24, doesn’t mean i want a p-o-s bike. i want a harley, now i am gonna get me one. thanks for finally acknowledging not all gen x is broke…”

This is an interesting time to be a younger biker. I think I’ll sit back, watch and go along for the ride.

Disposable Hero is a documentary chronicling Brian’s recovery after a near fatal accident and determination to be back on top. Here’s the description from Netflix:

“The impressive scar on Brian Deegan’s abdomen says it all: He’s been through a lot during his reign as an X Games champion and freestyle motocross icon, a journey that’s explored in this riveting documentary that chronicles the ups and downs of his professional career. A Guinness World Record holder who’s racked up more motocross medals than any other person on the planet, Deegan has lived his life outside the lines.”

I haven’t seen this yet, but you can be sure that I’ve added it to my queue.

Today’s video Tuesday is not motorcycle inspired at all, but the opening scene from one of my all-time favorite Christmas specials: Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special!

I’ve decided to take a bit of a break and I will be back online after the New Year! See ya in 2008!

Here’s the background: Ewen and Charley decide they want to go on a motorcycle adventure together (on BMW R 1150 GS duel-sports) from London to New York: by going the “long way ’round.”

Their trip would take them from London to France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada before arriving 115 days later at their final destination, New York City. Their trip that often took them through some of the most beautiful countries, also took them through some of the most treacherous and unrideable terrains.

I was exhausted after watching all seven episodes in a row! The most extensive road trip I’ve done was almost 1,000 miles in two days-and that made me a little cranky. I can’t imagine doing it for almost 4 months, although I’m sure the longer you’re on the road the more acclimated you become to it.

But what an adventure they had! And, I never had much of an opinion about Ewen McGregor before but he is the cutest!

No doubt you’ve probably seen this Harley Davidson Christmas ad on tv. I just love the Evil Santa!

So, it’s with mixed feelings that I post this video of Joan Jett singing “Bad Reputation” for TLC and the latest season of American Chopper.

P.S. Rippin-Kitten.com is mentioned in the latest (and fabulous) blog post by GO! Smell the Flowers! So, a big thanks and many flowers to them!

His first pilot is called “Metal Church.” It will showcase his talents as one of today’s best welders and fabricators. Having seen his bikes in person, I can tell you his welds are vastly superior to any other custom bike builder out there.

I don’t know what happened to the “New Mayor in Town” show and it’s too early for a clip of “Metal Church” so on this video Tuesday here’s a little Jesse clip. It’s a small history of why his bikes look the way they do.

Today I am serving up another commercial that made me chuckle (I can’t help it I work in the industry). It’s male focused, unlike the previous one, but I’m guessing that over 90% of Big Dog sales are to men.

It was a great day. And my video editing skills are improving quite a bit, too! By the way, I’ve got a new song, “Scary Kitty” featured in the video (got rid of that awful banjo music!) by my friends, the Missing out of NYC. So, BIG thanks to them for letting me use their song. They rock hard!

According to the Guinness Book of World Records this is the biggest, rideable motorcycle in the world. It’s 15-foot high 25-foot-long, built by a guy named Greg Dunham, who likes monster trucks and wanted to build a monster motorcycle. It’s pretty amazing, see for yourself.

This week seems to be a big music video week among a lot of bloggers. In the spirit of things, here is BLS‘s “Suicide Messiah” featuring rockin’ bad-ass Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osborne’s guitar player, for those who don’t know). Choppers, naughty women and ear-bleeding rock-this video is adrenaline overload and a biker’s dream. I feel like I should be running on the treadmill at the gym right now…

This is Harold, who made a special trip fro NJ to MA to drop off this pretty machine.

And to give me paperwork to fill out and sign. There it is. The 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom. Ain’t it purdy?

Before I took it out for a spin…

And here’s the video shot shortly thereafter:
I also want to thank Mr. Forrest Frazier for all of the support, photo and video work that he has done for this site!

I just knew it.

But on every motorcycle site or forum I went to everyone kept saying that they saw it and liked it. And it was one of the top movies when it came out. So, I added it to my Netflix queue and watched it this past weekend. Now, clearly I am not the demographic for this movie. I’m not a middle-aged man with a mid-life crisis. But 10 minutes into the movie I was already groaning, loudly, at how bad it was. And I couldn’t believe all of the actors that were in this piece of crap, who had shown promise back in their hey-day: Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei, Jill Hennessy and…Peter Fonda?

I somehow stuck it out until the end, and I’m glad I did because the bits playing with the end credits were the best part of this crappy flick. Usually the bloopers are funnier than the movie, so here they are for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, they’re only mildly funny.

Well, apparently I wasn’t the only one: Cyril Huze beat me to it and posted the same video on his blog a few days ago! Oh well, those are the hazards of blogging in a niche. I guess great minds really do think alike…

Enjoy!

Here’s a first from me: a video post!

I feel the need to interject a bit of a disclaimer here:

• this was not shot with a real video camera, it was shot with my digital snapshot camera
• the production of the video is not the greatest, but I had fun doing it (especially when I found the banjo soundtrack!)
• I have ZERO training or skill being in front of a camera. I kept giggling while trying to shoot it. I’m just a hack.
• This was shot under the disguise of being an “instructional video” but it’s really psuedo-instructional. For the most part I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about!

Now that I’ve got my first video post under my belt I kind of know the ins and outs of what it takes to create one and now know what to expect for the next one. I hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

I am not a frequent viewer of the Food Network. I have caught a few shows here and there and am familiar with who Alton Brown is. I have seen his other show Good Eats before.

So, while scrolling through the cable program guide the other night I saw the listing for Feasting on Asphalt and with my trusty DVR I recorded a few shows. I’m really glad that I did.

The premise of the show has Alton and crew road-tripping on motorcycles (BMWs, no less) across the country to find and highlight the places and history behind American “road food.” They avoid highways at all costs, pledging to ride the forgotten back roads to find the dwindling, one of a kind roadside eats. Alton Brown an enigmatic and well-educated food-geek, the show itself is an interesting blend of road-tripping, history and mouth watering food!

From foodnetwork.com:

“Feasting On Asphalt merges a little Easy Rider with good eats and great tales from our road food’s past and present, while preserving the map for its future.”

Season one had them riding across the south from S. Carolina all the way to Los Angeles. For the recently kicked-off season 2, they head up the great Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico up to Minnesota.

I don’t know when or even if they are still on TV, but when I had a different schedule I used to watch the show on Tuesday afternoon.

It’s mostly a half hour ad for Paramount Harley Davidson in Worcester, MA. There were some good segments about riding locally, some how-to’s and even this little nugget.

Mistress Carrie is a local radio DJ and fellow female rider here in Boston. She’s also one of my friends on the Rippin-Kitten MySpace page.

I’ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump,
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps

Bust out your box of tissues, this one’s going for the heart rather than the throttle…

This video is a follow-up from that documentary and shows the “Magnificent 6″ regrouping for another ride together.

(music: “Push Push (Lady Lightning)” by Bang Camaro)

If you want to check out the actual photos in addition to the video, check out the Laconia photo set on my Flickr page!

“I’m your turbo lover, better run for cover!”

“Hell on wheels, heaven on earth that’s us. Isn’t that right Mama? That’s right daddy…“

Here’s the full text:
“I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line. But, you didn’t see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk. But, you didn’t see me, playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But, you didn’t see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by. But, you didn’t see me, driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn’t see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you, stare at my long hair. But, you didn’t see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.
But, you didn’t see me, and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.

I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn’t see me, cry as my children where born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn’t see me, going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn’t see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn’t see me, pat my child’s hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road. But, you didn’t see me, squeeze my wife’s leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn’t see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn’t see me, trying to turn right.

I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in. But, you didn’t see me, leave the road.

I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
But, you didn’t see me. I wasn’t there.

I saw you, go home to your family. But, you didn’t see me.
Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family.
But, you didn’t see me.”

Be careful everyone!