Battlefield Blue

Hello blogizens, I assume you have not consumed too many heavy metals since our last interaction. The biggest news I have right now links nicely to my last post. I mentioned wanting a motorcycle, and lo and behold, through the science of alchemy I converted a pile of cash into a Buell Blast!

It is a 2006 Buell Blast in Battlefield Blue with 2984 miles on it.  I love it. I rode up and down my dad’s cul-de-sac a few times this weekend (I’m not licensed, insured, or inspected yet) and it is sufficiently fun and terrifying. The Vance & Hines exhaust really makes some noise, louder than my dad’s 750cc Honda Shadow, which is good because people will hear me if they don’t see me first.

The three great enemies of a motorcyclist, so far as I have determined, are weather, cockiness, and everyone in a car.

Weather is pretty obvious; if it’s 10 below freezing, or precipitating in any way, you’re gonna have a real crappy ride.

Cockiness is part of the reason I went with a 500cc over a 250. I've been told that you learn a 250 too quickly, get cocky, and then screw yourself. A friend of a friend of mine had a Ninja 250 that he cornered too fast and hit cinders or a storm drain or something. In short, bike went down and took him with it. He now has a bigger bike, but respects it a bit more. A 500cc should be enough to entertain and scare me for quite some time.

Cars. They’re big. They’re heavy. They are often driven by oblivious morons. People don’t always recognize a bike in traffic, it just doesn't register that there’s a motor vehicle occupying that space and moving. Also, that jackass who’s willing to cut you off when you’re in a car, isn't going to care about a much smaller bike. You’ll just make a dent and fall over as he drives off.

Despite the likelihood of severe injury, I am really excited to get my permit renewed and start riding. Start off with short ice-cream trips with my dad or something and eventually move up to commuting to work. With all the miles I put on my Focus, this can provide some relief.

Expect more pictures of this as we go. In the meantime, I'm long overdue in hanging my Cuckoo clock. Where's my net....

Post Holidapocalyspe Update

So it’s a few days after Christmas and I’m spending money on myself, yay! Specifically on a book about Italian rapier techniques and finally, after much delay and forgetfulness, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 on Wii’s virtual console.

This installment of the Sonic franchise is supposed to be a direct follow up to Sonic & Knuckles on the Genesis console. It’s been a while. I was pretty excited when this came out, but being a broke college kid I couldn’t justify the $15.00 for it. Now that I have a big kid job, why the hell not? (If you’ve ever downloaded on the Wii they use a classic Mario as the loading screen. He’s currently concussing himself on a brick right now.)

After playing it Sonic for a bit, I can’t help but feel that including the homing attack in a 2D Sonic was a mistake. When it comes to precision jumping, if you get too close to a ledge, Sonic will Homing Attack into the void and often kill himself or set you back in some way.

I got a new camera this Christmas so hopefully I’ll be able to post more photos of random stuff.

In other news….Magic has been pushed a bit to the side for now as the friend I play with most has lost interest in it. (He kind of burned himself out while dating his last girlfriend.)  I feel like I should be more excited for the current Ravnica set, but I just can’t justify spending money on it right now. Granted, I could go to a card shop on weekends, but keeping in Standard or other competitive play gets expensive fast. “You mean my deck will work better four copies of this card that costs $30? OK!”

When compared to something like getting a motorcycle, I just can’t support the addiction.  Did I mention I want a bike? Been looking at these:

Harley Davidson parts, designed by Buell. 499cc, single-cylinder motor. Enough to get me killed, but also get out of its own way.  

Alright, I need to go do...something, been sitting too long. Hopefully I'll get back to more regular posting.  

Until next time!