Video - 3 cameras...

 

The video from yesterday's ride, shot with the Insta360 X2, Insta360 Go 3, and HoverAir X1.  No voice-over, no reviews, just enjoying the ride on the Burgman 200.  Come along for the ride...

 

Live From Laurel Canyon...

 

We met friends Mark and Cindy at MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) last night for a concert.

 

"Live from Laurel Canyon - Songs and Stories of American Folk Rock" is an evening of live music and narrated stories of some of the most influential songwriters who lived in Laurel Canyon in the mid 1960's and 70's.   Similar to other legendary rock and roll neighborhoods of the same era like Haight Ashbury in San Fransisco or Greenwich Village in NYC, Laurel Canyon was a community of artists who would forge a new genre of music (Folk Rock) and forever change the look, sound and attitude of American pop music.   Live from Laurel Canyon celebrates The Mamas and The Papas, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Doors, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Neil Young, James Taylor, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, America, and the Eagles with their own unique interpretations of some of the most iconic songs of the era. 

Yes, the above paragraph is from their website.  It is more than just the music - between the songs, they tell the stories of the performers and the music.  The musicianship was good: nice vocal harmonies; the lead guitar player was particularly good.  I think we all enjoyed it - Joan was particularly taken with the stories they told to go with the music.

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I just got photos from Steph - Wednesday night (when I was left unsupervised), she and Joan went to a lavender soap-making class (a Mom and daughter experience for them)...

The end result: each of them came home with a "brick" of soap...

The soap has to set-up for a couple days to get firm, then they can cut it to a more usable size.  They can get clean and smell like lavender!

All Hands On Deck...

 

That is a call for immediate assistance from everyone present and available.  No, it isn't an emergency... I took the Insta360 X2, the Go 3, and the HoverAir X1 with me on the ride today.  I don't know why - if I bring it along, I feel the need to use it.  The shooting happens rather seamlessly while I'm riding (except for the HoverAir X1 drone), but it takes a while to sort through all that video and come up with an end result.

I am running out of time today: we are going to a concert at MIM this evening, featuring the music of Laurel Canyon, a lot of music came out of that area, which became a celebrity enclave from the 60s on.  Should be an entertaining event.

In the meantime, I will get to the video at another time - here are some still photos of my time on the Burgman scoot today...

From the Insta360 Go 3 above; the Insta360 One X2 below...

A glorious day in the desert today: it was 72º when I left the house around 10:00.  The high was 83º.  Lots of sunshine.  Looks like we have a reprieve from the 90s (and higher) for a few days.  One must take advantage of that when it presents itself.

Unsupervised...

 

In my defense, I was left with no adult supervision.

Joan and Steph went out for supper and then to a class to learn to make lavender soap.  No, I don't think we're going into the soap-making business - it was an early Mothers Day present.  They left right after Steph got home from work.  I fed their kitties (and Murph) and gave Alfie his meds; Dan had to work late.

Joan told me to expect some Amazon packages.  That is a daily occurrence.  The first box I opened was quite large and had this in it...

 His and hers sombreros?  I had to look in our Vine history on the computer to figure out what they were.  In the meantime, I sent a text to Joan, letting her know I opened the sombreros.  "Try it on," she texted back...

I am not one to be easily swayed from getting a laugh.  My search on Vine showed me that you zip these together and they become a "cat tunnel... cat playhouse... cat donut."  I opened the next box; it was much smaller, but opened up to this...

Not much in the way of directions, but I thought some part of it might be an adult diaper...

Nope, just a pop-up cat toy...

Will Murphy play with any of this stuff?  Maybe...

He is a curious boy.  The real question is: will he get in it a second time?  By this point, the sun was down, and I had promised Murph that we'd go outside once it started cooling off...

The boy enjoys his outdoor time.  And, his lounging time...

Even though this latest batch of cat toys does collapse and fold down, I'm not sure where we're going to put all this stuff.  Vine can be dangerous: you start to feel like: it's there... I should order it.  Or, in my case: I should figure out what all this stuff is.

Selling my seat...

 

The new Corbin?  The one that makes your Burgman scoot so comfortable??  Not, just no, but absolutely not.  That seat is perfect for that bike.

I have posted some videos about the Burgman on YouTube.  I also posted a video there about the Corbin seat.  One viewer asked me if I'd be interested in selling the stock seat... really, I hadn't thought about it.  It is big and is taking up space in the overhead storage in our garage, but I figured I'd just hang onto it, in case there comes a time when I want to sell or trade the Burgman (yes, I am over saying, "This will be my last bike... blah, blah"), I can put the stock seat back on it.  For absolute certain, I won't use that stock seat again as long as I own the bike.

I thought about it, and responded with a price... low enough to make it attractive, but not giving it away.  The guy said he wanted the seat and he lives just north of Phoenix.

I gave him a call last night - it was a pleasant conversation, we have decades of riding in common.  He recently bought a Burgman 200, but I think he keeps the scoot outside.  If that's the case, the seat will be the first thing that Mother Nature chews up and spits out.

The Burgman (and a Harley) are his conveyances - no car.  I offered to bring the seat to him when we are in north Phoenix for anything (rather than make a special trip)... and told him I won't be offering the seat to anyone else, so I consider it his, and we'll just work out the details on my getting it his direction.

He thanked me and told me he lives in Shangra La Ranch, a resort in New River.  And then told me he could get me a couple passes to use the resort.  I thanked him for the offer, but declined, not thinking much of it.  Later in the conversation, he told me, "Shangra La is a nudist resort, if you aren't familiar with it."

"No, can't say that I was aware of that.  I'm no prude, but I can tell you that you don't want to be putting your naked ass on this black vinyl seat if the bike has been sitting in the Arizona sun!"  He laughed and suggested I pull up the resort on the internet, just in case I want to check it out.

So much for "all the gear, all the time."  ;-)

You Can Tell It's A Full Moon...

 

"By that big round white thing in the night sky?"  Yeah, there is that.

The crazies come out.  Ask anyone who has worked with the public - it's a real thing.  And this morning, around our house, it is a real thing: Murphy Jones is a bundle of wild energy.

Joan was up around 5:00 this morning... I heard her.  Prior to that, I heard Murphy knocking around the shade on our patio door.  I rolled over, but sleep didn't really come back.  By the time I got up at 6:30, Joan had taken Murph outside to let him "blow some steam off", brought in one of his (many) toys on wire arms that he can bat around, fed him (that's usually my job), chased him off the counter (about 20 times) and told him, "No!" a time or twelve when he was clawing at the leather couch as he made laps through the house like a race car on a banked curve.  Joan was on her second cup of coffee.  It wore me out just hearing about it.

Murphy rarely has the "evening crazies"... he saves that for mornings.  And this morning, he was wilder than usual.

You can't tell what's going on there?  That's Murph moving between his many toys, mostly just a blur.

"Settle down, little man!" I tell him...

"I can't help it, Dad - the Devil made me do it!"

It has to be the full moon.

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The 4 of us...

"Um... 4?  Did you get another cat?"  OMG - did you read the above?  Music today with Mark and Ron... and Rosco, Ron's dog.  With the 3 of us (the humans) we can get down parts for any new songs before we get the bigger group together.  Part of our routine is a walk from Ron's place to lunch (usually a couple blocks); Rosco gets to go with us, because we intentionally go to a place that is dog friendly, with outside seating.

(photo courtesy of Ron)
 

We set up in Ron's living room, with mics, mixer, guitars, etc...

It's a nice atmosphere.

Only The Beginning...

 

If you said, "From the song by Chicago Transit Authority (later: Chicago), Beginning, 1969," you get 15 bonus points.

It got to 100º yesterday, will top that, since it is 100º at 2:30.  Yep, just the beginning of the summer heat.

I did get out for a ride this morning, before the heat really kicked in... didn't even need the cooling vest.  It is not a race or a timed event, but doing my "run" up the mountain, it generally takes me between and hour and 15 minutes to sometimes longer than an hour and a half.  This morning was a new world record: one hour and 5 minutes.  By leaving at 9:00, I missed all the school and work commuter traffic; didn't get stopped at any of the stoplights, and no traffic in front of me anywhere on the mountain.

And, yes, I did stop at the top parking lot to get a couple photos and re-hydrate.  Out on the Burgman today...

I have come to appreciate that backrest.  The seat is still comfortable without it, but it adds one more "support point" when I'm riding in a sporting manner.  ;-)  A "selfie" from the phone on the handlebars...

Wearing the new jacket, no cooling vest under it.  The white definitely makes a difference.  With the higher temperatures and no rain in a while, the desert landscape is changing - from green to brown...

Oh, there are still green plants out there, but the ground cover is rapidly changing.  Still, the ride is fun, and I am appreciating the views and the fun road.

Back home and breakfast on the griddle.  By the time we were done eating and I had the griddle cleaned, it was time to retreat indoors to the air conditioning.  It's a dry heat... 100º, but it only feels like 99º.  ;-)

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Happy Earth Day!  Let's take care of this planet of ours - it's the only one we have.  It does make me wonder: Do the other planets have their own celebration day?  Or, are we Earthlings just being egocentric, like us holding the Miss Universe Pageant?