« February 2005 | Main | April 2005 »

March 31, 2005

Keeping Abreast with Motley Crue

In November Motley Crue announced that they would be touring in the new year after a five year hiatus. I was quite happy. I was the biggest Crue fan in all of my high school. My bedroom walls were plastered with every poster and photo from Circus Magazine. And of course for Haloween I dressed as Nikki Sixx. I went online and found out that the fan club members could get premium pre-sale seats early. So I joined the fan club for $40 and recieved an ugly t-shirt and purchased two tickets for $90 each. The venue was the Oakland Arena. I knew the tickets would be floor seats but I did not find out until I recieved them in the mail two weeks prior to the concert date. I have seen the Crue twice prior to this concert in Toronto, but my seats were never this close. I assumed Sharon would join me at the concert, fist pumping and singing all the songs with Vince but she declined. Although Peter was an Iron Maiden fan in high school, I decided I would ask him. He liked the old Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil albums. Peter accepted the offer and the Cruesters were ready to rock! Late February, Sharon said we had to attend her friend's wedding on March 26th. I said, "Sorry honey thats the night of the Motley Crue concert. I'm so upset I'm going to miss the wedding." Sharon didn't fuss as I had purchased the tickets a month prior to the wedding announcement and I was in the clear. The tickets arrived and I was very happy to see that we acquired ninth row seats, left center stage! I thought we were in range for Nikki Sixx spitting water on us but it ended up we were about 50 feet from the stage. The day of the concert Sharon and I woke up at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco after an evening of celebration with my employer Topix.net. I was a bit hungover and cranky as Sharon dragged me through Macy's, shopping for bedding. I wished I was at home in my cave. At 2pm I jumped on my motorcycle and headed across the Bay Bridge to Peter's place in Oakland. The fresh air helped me out a lot. Peter and I went for a motorcycle ride through the twisty roads in the Oakland hills with views of the entire bay. The g-forces got my blood flowing and I was getting amped up for the concert. We had dinner in Rockridge and caught the BART to the area and got in line with thousands of other thirty to forty year old metal heads. It looked like a freaky high school renunion. I didn't wear my $40 Motley Crue t-shirt because I and Peter believe that wearing a band t-shirt to their concert is like wearing a San Jose Sharks uniform to a Sharks game. It's obvious I'm a fan already, because I paid 90 bucks to see them. I brought my camera to the concert because the tickets did not say "no cameras", but a the door the doorman searching me would not allow me into the concert. So, I had to check in the camera across the way where I could pick it up after the concert. I was thankful for the service. The concert was loud and the the Crue pulled every chiche rock and roll concert trick out of the hat. Half way through the concert Tommy Lee came out with a video camera. It was given to him because of his experience with video cameras. This camera was called the "Titty Cam." I was recording and it's display was on the big screens behind the stage. As he zoomed the camera on the crowd, girls starting revealing their breasts. Fate had it, that two hotties were parked next to us ready to reveal their mams. I whipped out my Treo 650 which has video recording capablities and caught the girls in the act. This is my first time editing with iMovie on my Mac. Enjoy! Click here to watch video with Windows MediaPlayer | Click here to watch video with Quicktime | Download Quicktime

Posted by stephen at 1:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2005

GSing on a K75S

My friend Peter and I went on a day long ride through the Santa Cruz Mountains to explore some areas we've never been. We went down Wright's Station Road to Lake Elsman and came to the gate that blocks off the road around the lake. The property is owned by the San Jose Water Company and it is supposedly policed. Later I learned that you can ride up to the Wright's Station Train Tunnel opening not far from the bridge that crosses the creek.

We turned around and headed west on Summit Road to Mt. Bache Road to climb our way up to Loma Prieta Ave. I have never such beautiful vistas from the ridges near Mt. Loma Prieta. We could see the clouds covering the Ocean for miles. At the end of the road pot holes and gravel roads appeared. Peter was anxious to tackle the roads with his V-Strom DL1000 and my K75S was not afraid so we went for it.

We rode past some beautiful homes that were quite aways from civilization. The maps I printed from Microsoft S&T were not that detailed and it didn't tell us that the roads were paved or not. We continued onto Uvas Canyon Road which looked more like a road suited for 4x4ing. We hung a left onto Casa Loma Road and GSed our way down that until we popped out at a clearing with two pickup trucks waiting behind a locked gate.

Damn! We were stuck. One of the guys waiting was a chiminey sweep and he had just finished some work in the area. We all looked around the gate for the key in some 'secret spot.' I asked him who he did work for and why doesn't he call them to find out where the key is. He couldn't call them because his cell phone was out of range. I pulled out my Treo and I had 4 bars. I lent it to him and he called and found out the key was on the back of the mail box just around the corner. Peter as usual was not prepared and was low on gas so we headed into San Martin via Glen Oak Ave along the Chesbro Reservoir Park. It was cool and foggy and quite beautiful along that road. People were fishing and the water was like glass. It was like a scene from On Golden Pond.

After filling up we drove through the city of Morgan Hill for my first time. The downtown area is very poshe. On the way back home we drove though New Almaden and headed up Hicks Road. Curious, we drove up Mount Umunhum Road to see how far it went, since we were on the other side of it this morning near Wright's Station. We knew of all the gates and the old contaminated Air Force Spy Station at the top of the mountain but there was no way past these gates even with motorcycles.


It was time to eat so we stopped off (for my first time) at the Los Gatos Brewing Company in downtown Los Gatos. Not only was the food amazing but so was the beer. On the way back home we took a ride around the Lexington Resevoir and traveled down the Old Santa Cruz Highway which is always a nice alternative to Highway 17.

When I got home I checked out my California Topo Map Software and found lots more GSable roads in the area. There's a lot more exploring to do in my area and a new R1200GS would come in handy. ;)

[I forgot my camera so I took the photos with my Treo 650.]

Posted by stephen at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 9, 2005

Mile Marker 35

Tomorrow is my 35th birthday. I know one thing for sure will happen. My mother will phone me in the morning and sing "Happy Birthday" to me. When this week comes around every year it tends to bring lots of introspection. I'm not upset that I'm getting old. That doesn't bother me one bit. I'm just passing another mile marker on the highway of life. For some reason, the feeling reminds me of the November blues in my first year at away from home at university. Well cheer up Stephen! There's two types of highways in my map book; the long straight flat interstate or the curvy secondary roads through the mountains. I think I'll stick to the roads less travelled; yes the twisty ones. The views are better and my motorcycle likes them too. When you stop in the small towns on those roads the people you meet are much more friendly and interesting. This brings me to my next adventure at the end of April. I am going to ride up on my motorcycle to Washington and the US/Canadian border to renew my work visa. Last time I went, I took "the slab" otherwise known as the interstate there and I didn't see much. This time I'm going to take all the secondary roads and see parts of the northwest that should be seen. It may take two extra days but it will be worth it. I think I may have a birthday resolution here. I'm not always going to be in a rush like those people on the interstate. I'm going to take it easy and stop and smell the roses while driving on those back roads. What's the rush?

Posted by stephen at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)