Cool today, chile tomorrow

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 10 Comments
A touch of yellow among the green.
A touch of yellow among the green.

Summer is hitting the door running with its bike slung over one shoulder. The leaves are turning, we’re back to breakfasts like steel-cut Irish oatmeal with black tea, and dinners involving copious quantities of freshly roasted green chile and free-range pork are in our very near future.

I haven’t made the ultimate concession to cooler weather — pulling on the ratty old gray sweatpants — because I’m still a tad scabby and stiff from stacking it on the trail last week. But I may have to start adding socks to my usual T-shirt-and-shorts ensemble, if only in the early mornings.

Political signs have replaced roses in the yard — Hickenlooper, Bennet, Merrifield and Mowle — and a few more opposing three insane tax-slashing initiatives will be joining them soon. I don’t see that overfed, under-taught windbag Doug Bruce volunteering to underwrite a few streetlights, patch a couple potholes or water a park, and frankly some things are worth paying for.

Between you and me, I’ll be glad when the midterms are behind us if only so we won’t have to listen to the ceaseless drumbeat of an ass-whuppin’ a-comin’ from the mainstream media. I’d rather take three beatings than endlessly anticipate one.

Meanwhile, cyclo-cross season starts this weekend. Already? I can still walk, but I haven’t tried running lately, and I haven’t been on a bike since a week ago Monday. So don’t look for me at the Pikes Peak Velo Supercross on the 18th. On a bike, wearing a number, anyway.

At least it’s an ethos

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 8 Comments
And now, "Bowling for Virgins," starring The Dude.
And now, "Bowling for Virgins," starring The Dude.

Jesus, I knew all it took to get on TV was a near-fatal case of the dumb-ass (insert your favorite stupid TV show here), but this Pentacostal pinhead from gator country has lowered the bar so far that Beelzebub can do chin-ups from it.

I’m not going to link to any of the stories about him, because he burned through his 15 minutes faster than a snowboarder does a bong hit and I’m not granting any extensions.

However, I expect the mainstream media will — the NYT is already going through an extended breast-beating session headlined “When a Fringe Figure Becomes News” in its “Room for Debate” discussion group. My news judgment! O my ducats! Choices, choices. I’m not linking to that bullshit, either.

The Rev. Billy Bob Goebbels reportedly has called off his Koran-burning, perhaps so he can spend more time negotiating for his own prime-time program (a cooking show? What kind of barbecue sauce goes with wood-fired sacred text?).

But fuck ’im, I went out and bought a Koran anyway. My copy is “The Koran Interpreted” by A.J. Arberry. I scored the fall issue of Tricycle magazine too ’cause it had The Dude on the cover. Him I will link to. Is that some kind of Eastern thing, man?

Dumb da dumb dumb

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 17 Comments

Sharron Angle (R-Religious Mania) is on record as having made any number of deranged comments in her bid to replace Harry Reid in the U.S. Senate.

One of my personal faves is that Demoncrats were turning Big Gummint into God:

“And these programs that you mentioned — that Obama has going with Reid and Pelosi pushing them forward — are all entitlement programs built to make government our God. And that’s really what’s happening in this country is a violation of the First Commandment. We have become a country entrenched in idolatry, and that idolatry is the dependency upon our government. We’re supposed to depend upon God for our protection and our provision and for our daily bread, not for our government.”

Today, in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, she denied ever saying that and explained that even if she had, it was because she was tailoring her message to suit her audience:

“Actually, that was a discussion I was having with CBN. We were talking in very Christian terms. That’s what Christian broadcast is — that’s their focus — so you speak the language of the folks that you’re communicating with.”

Well, shit, yeah. Fuckin’ A, goddamnit. I’ve always thought the commandment forbidding the bearing of false witness had a little wiggle room in it. And who doesn’t engage in a little message control from time to time? That’s why I hardly ever use the word “motherfucker” around actual Christians. Or call a retard “retard” to her face.

But I’d be delighted to make an exception in Angle’s case. Thanks to Steve Benen at Washington Monthly for the tip.

Read all about it

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 4 Comments

Cycling’s silly season continues with the announcement of two new … magazines?

Yep, two new magazines: Paved and Peloton.

The first is a sister publication to Bike, whose editor Joe Parkin, author of “A Dog In a Hat,” has plenty of chops on road and off. He told Bicycle Retailer‘s Nicole Formosa that Paved is aimed at fans of road cycling and its culture, not the weekend warrior in search of go-fast tips or bike porn.

The second is the brainchild of the newly launched Move Press. My old buddies Adam Reek and Patrick Brady of Red Kite Prayer are on board with Peloton, which BRAIN says will be available at newsstands and online, including iPad and iPhone editions. Look for race coverage, product reviews and travel stories.

Expect to hear more about both publications at Interbike, which may be spending its last year in Sin City. Word is that the trade show may be moving to an earlier date, in August, and shifting operations to either Anaheim or Salt Lake City. Whether either location constitutes trading up is strictly a matter of opinion.