19-Jan-2010 20:15
Yehaaa - the second ever ride of the newly formed posse, The Vesperados, has taken place. Brad Carter, a young muso from bands such as Stereogram and Pistol Youth, asked if I wanted to join The Vesperados at the end of last year for the inaugural ride. I was in like Flynn. I love blatting around the clogged asphalt arteries of Auckland City on my trusty ol' '99 Indian-assembled two wheeler. Weaving around the poor old SUV enclosed citizens as they sit at the traffic lights or in long queues of fellow bubbled commuters gives me a strange sense of being slightly superior.
Three of us turned up for the first ride and two weeks ago when we were hailed for a second outing, it was such a buzz to see 10 beasts lining up.
Although I am probably the grand daddy of The Vesperados, I must say it feels a little more grounded than the plethora of aged Harley riders now plying their monsters around town at the weekends.
I have recently moved to a humble one bedroom flat in one of the upmarket enclaves of Auckland. You know it is the weekend because of the sound of the surrounding baby-boomers cranking up their newly acquired Harley Davidsons on Saturday and Sunday mornings for their weekly taste of belated rebellion.
We're looking for more Vesperados so if you have one gathering dust in the back of the garage, get it out, mix up your two stroke and keep an eye out for the postings on the
book of faces known as facebook.
Yehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
On a different note, one of the ballsiest people I have had the pleasure of getting to know, Peter Bethune, was recently on the receiving end of the bow of a boat load of Japanese killers in the southern ocean. So committed to their scientific research are these Japanese scientists and their harpooners, that they decided potentially drowning a boat load of kiwis was a fair price to pay to better understand, in a scientific way of course, how better to slice whale meat from its freshly slaughtered carcass... Yummmm sushimi. Our dork-head Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully, ever fearful of the economics of standing up for a worthy cause, came out and essentially stated that the kiwis deserved it and the poor hunters were being harassed.
Mr Mc, if you had a nut sack half as big as Peter Bethune's, you might be worthy of me and my fellow citizens paying your wages for you.
Here's a photo I took of the boat that Pete built, after it broke the world record circumnavigating planet earth using bio-diesel, prior to joining the protest fleet.
Check out Pete's DVD "Riches to Rags", he, his wife and their family literally sacrificed a comfortable life to build this boat and do good for the world.
Thanks Pete, shame Muzza.