It's all gone a little blurry....

Well, that's all folks, just as we were starting to settle into the holiday after Princess Jessica's kidney drama, we have finally ran out of time,as I post this we are sitting waiting in the departure lounge at San Antonio for our two and a half hour flight to Chicago, then another couple of hours wait for our connecting flight to Manchester, eight and a half hours night flight sees us into Manchester around 0750 hrs on Friday morning, then straight off to fetch the dynamic duo from the kennels, looking forward to getting licked to death, especially after a day and night travelling. Plenty of time to think about the Aermacchi project and the forthcoming rebuild that's for sure, got to get my head around the boxer racer too, I still have some unfinished business with that one, at the moment, I'm thinking of going 750, possibly short-stroke, so that we can get it revving, I've had a look at the Siebenrock website (link here if you want a butchers http://www.siebenrock.com/en/) they do some really nice kits for the boxer engines but, even Ron Maul is struggling to get the bhp to compete with the big Guzzi's and Laverda's and is getting a K series in-line four BMW built for next season, so, I reckon the way may be to go 750 which gives me the option to race it in either the BEARS series with the BHR, or the post-classic 750 series with the CRMC, like i said, a lot to think about and I've not even mentioned my plans for the Sporty yet, oh, I just have done......

Show Me the Monkey

Hello, Mr's B here, big shopping day today, we hit the mall's, Mr B's panicking because he was worried we might not make it home to watch 'Sons of Anarchy' and guess what? We get home and the old fart goes to sleep and misses it anyway!

Don't Mess With Texas

Bandera, a real life cowboy town, deep in the heart of Texas, for me, one of those life defining moments, just a quick recap, I was born in 1959, yep, a long time ago, I was born into a family from mining stock, my dad was a ww2 veteran, he got blown up on the beaches during D-Day, got a direct hit from Geman aircraft as he was moving a lorry that was blocking the exit from a beach in France, he was shipped back to England and re-deployed in the Pacific fighting the Japanese, my old man was an old school dad, never talked too much, never took me to a football match or kicked a ball on the park, but, he was still my dad, I can remember watching films on a Saturday afternoon, usually old John Wayne and other cowboy films, waiting for my dad to get home from work, he would get in, take off his boots and watch the end of the film with me, often speaking the script before the actors, ( an annoying habit I've picked up, just ask my kids) cowboys and indians, six-shooters and bows and arrows, cattle, ranches and creeks, today, I was in a real cowboy town, un-bloody-believable.....

On The Mend

Sitting here tonight, listening to 'tune in' radio on the ipad, (for a Luddite like me it never ceases to amaze me that you can stream music straight to your headphones, every type of music, current favourites are dubxtra, (dub reggae mash-up) party vibe, (old school rave tunes) 99.5 kiss rocks San Antonio, (the local rock station), rockabilly radio (uk) and punk rock 77 through today for a blast of, well, guess...) the girls are watching 'Dusk Till Dawn' on the t.v. Jess is lying on the floor, with bright pink curlers in her hair, Jack is shouting downstairs to tell us all about the mighty Rams, Mrs B is contemplating getting her hair cut in a Betty Page stylee and President Obama and Mitt Romney are going head to head in the live Presidential debate, guess everything's almost back to normal then?........

Inside Out

Time to 'fess up, my daughter Jess has been pretty poorly for the last five days, we originally thought she might have been suffering as a result of trying to take her old dad on in a chile eating contest, (that Jardines, 7J Jalepeno Verde is serious stuff, like a tattoo in a jar) Mr's B's mum intuition kicks in and we end up at the Baptist Emergency Hospital to get Jess checked out, Mr's B reckons Jessie B has the classic symptoms of an appendicitis, (Mr's B is a physiotherapist and Scottish, don't even go there) the Doctor in the emergency room agrees, 'typical appendicitis symptoms, I've checked the' 'Mcburney, not a modest man' counters Mrs B, the doc suggests a CT scan, twenty minutes later Jess is down for a scan, it's not an appendicitis 'Godamn, if I owned a hat, I'd have to eat it!' Turns out she has a kidney infection, she gets hooked up to some intravenous fluids and drugs, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do is leave my little girl in that hospital......

Fredricksburg

Sorry to keep harping on about it, but, as an Englishman abroad you need to cut me some slack, we headed out on two-lane blacktop, zig-zagging our way north, a thousand acres of sky stretching to and beyond the horizon, to Hairy Larry in California, my brotherman Whitey in Oz, Joe C. In Indiana, Turbogoof in Cinncinatti and everyone else who is lucky enough to live where their daily view is 'big-sky', unfettered by chimney's, buildings, power lines, industry and fucking McDonald's Golden Arches, you are blessed people, I love getting lost in it, vastness. Just consider that for a moment, the ability to just disappear into the ether, take a look around, beautiful, we stop for gas, I stand filling the tank, hot sunshine, petroleum spirit in the air, birds, the tick, tick, tick of the pump as it tops the tank, we arrive in Fredricksburg almost by accident, a German settler town, apparently the original settlers refused to learn English and would only speak German, I resist the urge to jump out of the motor and sing 'two world war's and one World Cup, head butt the local's and shout 'come on Fritz, let's fucking have it!' (Sorry, I've been watching too many 'Family Guy' episodes while I've been out here) and instead just appreciate the town, one of the most surprising discoveries is the Admiral Nimitz and Pacific War Museum, just looking at the Japanese Memorial garden and the memorial brick's set in the pathway's are a jolt to the system, so many lives given, so much sacrifice, fathers, sons and sisters, mums, cousins, daughters, grandparents, best friends and brothers........

Gasoline

After the 'too kool for skool' attitude of the biker bro's it was a breath of fresh air to meet someone who wanted to talk about their ride and what a ride, how's about a '55 Mercury Monterey? What a car, up there for me with the Tri-Chevy's as the ultimate '50's ride, (my ultimate though would be a little later, the '66 Galaxie 500, total '60's muscle car, oh for that lottery win...) I dreamt about cars like this, strange really for a daft Derbyshire lad, bought up on a diet of British Leyland's finest, old Mini's with rotted out floors, Angle-Boxes, Allegro's, (complete with square steering wheels, I shit you not!) Cortina's and the nearest thing to a Yank car, the venerable Dagenham Dustbin, the Ford Capri, no wonder I used to covet the American cars I saw in my mates-older-brothers 'Hotrod' magazine, (coincidentally, I had a look at a copy today in Barnes and Noble and it was a pale imitation of what it used to be) anyhoo, back to the plot, turns out the geezer is a founder member of the San Antonio Pushrods Car Club, a 60 plus member club dedicated to classic car's, hotrod's, custom's and drag racing, a really nice bloke, 'sit on the wing dude! you ain't going to bend it, it's real steel 'bro, you know what I'm sayin' yep, I know what your saying, loooong lake pipes running down the side of the sill and the coolest club plaque hanging off chains at the rear, little further on down the street and i found this bleached out '85 Lincoln Town Car, just so cool, paint on the bonnet down to the metal and with a light rust just starting to come through, it's the car version of a one night stand, you look back and regret it, but it still makes you smile.......

Fast Harley?

Just outside the old German town of Gruene we stop for something to eat, sitting eating lunch I spy a Harley dealership just up the road, well, be rude not to call in and have some sport, in amongst all the stock bikes was this big s+s engined drag bike, Buell front end, long swingarm and lower than a snakes belly, I tried to get some skinny on it but unfortunately all the employee's were too busy walking around trying to look cool and being far too important to actually answer a question regarding a bike, they could tell you all about the 'motor clothes 2013 range' however, which, just goes to show what a global brand Harley Davidson is because that's exactly how the dealerships in the U.K are too, shame really, when you think about Harley's racing success you would think that they would want to talk about it, anyhoo, let me tell you about my sandwich......

Johnny Cash - 'Ring of Fire'

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlj5vjp3Ko
Just click the link, I swear you will have this tune in your head for the next three day's! Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, baa.........

Jardine's

Jardine's, 7J salsa, black bean and corn and jalapeño verde, absolutely the best salsa in the world, except no substitutes, anyone fancy some Johnny Cash?

Gruene

Gruene, originally a German immigrant farmer community, established in the mid 1840's, the surrounding land was planted with cotton as the number one cash crop, the success of the cotton crop brought in around another 30 families, the small town blossomed until the depression and a disastrous boll weevil infestation which saw the settlers move out, the only business to survive being the Gruene Hall, the legendary music venue and the oldest dancehall in Texas, some of the artists who have graced this stage include (one of Hairy Larry's favourites, Lyle Lovett) Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis (hell yeah!) and Willie Nelson as well as being featured in loads of music videos, sorry I can't post a photo of it but, you know how the Loveless luck rolls, the day we visit, it's bloody shut, well worth a look and a true slice of Americana...