Discuss, Poll #32, Motorcycles.

I'm conflicted in this week's poll - on one hand, I've had my motorcycle license for over 1o years, but have not been back on a motorcycle since I took the special class down in Champaign to get the State of Illinois certification. On the other hand, it's about to be Harley-Davidson's 105th (kind if an interesting number) Anniversary and MKE will be inundated with Hogs. This does not bode well for me as I live on a busy street, keep the windows open, and almost all drivers accelerate up the block. It's going to be noisy.

Anyone else got a good motorcycle story? Burns, babes, or body bags?

Results, Poll #31, Exercise.

Wow, one of the lowest poll totals in recent times and also one of the most lopsided. I guess t.c readers are the most read and most fit on the world wide web.

> 12 people (92%) chose "yes", they have worked out in the last week - it is interesting to me that so many people reading the t.c blog do get out and active. I'm pretty sure it's much much less than 92% for an average American.
> 1 person (7%) chose "no", they had not worked out in the last week- perhaps it was an off week, full of stress and headaches, though exercise could help with these troubles; I should know.

New poll up now. I tried to spice up the choices after hearing no one likes to fill 'em out if it just "yes" and "no" choices (which could be borne out in last week's low total?). Go vote!

Window Decoration.

Warning: this is not for everyone. Send the kids to bed or put the ear muffs on their eyes.

One other shop I only *walked by* while I was in Chicago is known as Cupid's Treasure, and happens to be in the Boystown neighborhood. (ok, truth is i walked too far and had to turn around and go back on the same street, i hate that) Now, as I walked under the hot sun in a neighborhood I have always found pays off with laughs if you pay attention... I had to double take at the window front I walked by. It looked like this:


"Who would be shopping for bar-b-queing stuff at a Cupid store? Why did they dress up the mannequin like that? Or is that a real guy? Dressed as a "chef"? Oh yes, it's a man." What's that, you don't think it's a real guy either? Well it is. How do I know - would a mannequin wear an Ace bandage on his leg?


Look real close, left leg, above the ankle. Many thoughts raced through my head as this all came to me in seconds - "...how can he stand there motionless? doesn't he get hot under the sun and in a window? wait, is he wearing *any* clothes? oh, maybe he's not so hot."

More plate for the Review Board.

I'm sorry, but only in WI is a car of this color acceptable transportation. If you drive this down to Soldier Field, watch yer back.


I don't know if the Review Board would be responsible for the car's color as well, but this would still pass in the state of WI. Other states? Maybe not.

Now, for one of my favorite under-the-radar license plates of all time (so far):

Pretty interesting if you know what to look for... and I'd seen this Volvo station wagon parked on my block before. As I went down the street today to ship some eBay items, lo and behold, there it was parked right by my building. As many may know, Volvos are known for their Swedishness and also their high safety standard. Ok, where we going with this? Well, "sov" means "sleep" in Swedish and "vagn", well I didn't go over that in Swedish class, but let's presume it means "wagon". So, you have the "sleep wagon". I can see it now - cramming the family in the wagon for a rod trip, only to be left at the wheel with everyone else snoozing. Not bad, not bad at all - your license plate has been APPROVED!

Reverse in Profile Store.

I was recently in Chicago and was able to visit a popular online company that recently opened their own store. The company was founded and is still run in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago, so it makes sense that their new store is also in the city. It's located on Broadway, a few blocks south of Belmont. As I hope you'll see, it's a store worth checking out, for a variety of reasons. I'm going to go through it in reverse, maybe you can figure out what the store/brand is by the end of the post?

Hmmmm, what is it, an art space under the L tracks on Franklin? A new spot in Wicker Park? Well, this is the upstairs loft at the joint and it's not very big, but it crams a lot in. Don't quote me on it, but I believe it's local artists and changes pretty often.


There's even a place to sit while you just stare off into the art. I like that. Reminds me of the scene in the museum in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.


Here's a nice big possibility for that tattoo I've been talking about. Maybe just like this, on my back!?! Or maybe it was telling me something right before the job interview I was on my way to?


So, now we're getting to the nitty-gritty, ok, really just their product. It's t-shirts, all day and all night. Mind you, these are not just normal t-shirts - this company uses online submissions and voting to determine the designs of all their printed stocks. And, if you submit a winning design, you get more than just pride... you get cash and credit (for their products). They basically make everyone creative (or dumb) enough to send in a design a partner in the company (to an extent, of course). All the actual t-shirts are on the shelves, but above each rack is a flat screen monitor that shows you normal and not-normal folks in the t-shirts... kids, adults, crackheads, everyone.


It might be a bit hard to see the screens, so here's a little bigger picture of one. Each t-shirt screen has images that scroll as you shop. This particular shirt/screen features some pretty good celebs if you like Best Week Ever, Flight of the Conchords, or Human Giant. It's Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel... pretty cool for the "local t-shirt joint"!


Nice front counter and they even have paying customers!!! You know it's good. (ah, no, I didn't buy anything this trip.) It's also interesting to note that they pack A LOT of thought and features into a physically small space. It's bi-level, but not very big. You get the art space, retail space, dressing rooms, office, etc. Pretty neat. Good things come in small packages.


Well, if you hadn't guessed it by now, the company is called Threadless, which is the name on the storefront as well - makes sense. If you're in the neighborhood, check 'em out. If you're not in the neighborhood, look 'em up online and submit a design or grab some sweet shirts.

Discuss, Poll #31, Exercise.

I'm just trying to find out if the t.c reader spends a lot of time reading, exercising, or both. I would count 20 (or more) minutes of running, cycling, walking (not just to your car), weight training, chopping wood, mixed martial art fighting, etc., as "exercise". If you have to convince yourself that something you did was exercise, maybe it wasn't?

Also, if you have any comments about the poll's question or choices, please comment here.

Results, Poll #30, Earthquakes.

After the recent earthquakes in China and the US, I was interested to know how many of us had been through them. A friend in NYC/CA, had just flown home only to experience the most recent CA earthquake one hour after arriving - great timing, huh?

Here's how it sorted out this week:
> 5 people (31%) chose "yes, pretty fun/freaky" - I can only imagine. I guess everyone is still alive from their 'quake or they couldn't have voted. Maybe they're just more scary than anything else... at least the common ones in CA.
> 3 people (18%) chose "no, but my family/friends have" - Hmmmm, the firsthand knowledge must have steered them clear of wanting to try it on their own.
> 2 people (12%) chose "sort of, I have bad gas" - comedians... but I guess I was the one that started it in the first place. I dealt it.
> 5 people (31%) chose "nope, but I'd like to try a little one" - this choice tied with "yes" for the most votes. I'm in this pile myself as I think it would be something one would want to try once in their life. I guess it could be pretty risky as you don't know how strong the quake would be. If the one time I got to experience once was the last time I was alive or I got buried for days and my class' hall monitor had to save me - I'll pass.
> 1 people (6%) chose "no, not interested, thanks" - are you sure you're not just a little curious? What if someone could guarantee it wouldn't be bigger than like a 4.0 or something? I think it would be interesting to find out... try everything once.

Thanks to the the 16 respondents this week, new poll up NOW!