Very cool (and customizable) scooter artwork from LeanDiesel.co.uk. I hope it’s not insulting to call his work “Jamie Hewlett-ish.” Lee also does the “Into the Sunset” illustrations in Scootering magazine.
Category: The Arts
Crazy Daisy Ed steals a scooter
A long-forgotten classic from MTV’s “Liquid Television” from The new Cafe (racer) Society via Brooke.
Huuuugs! Achewood Vespa for sale!
OMG OMG OMG! I heart Achewood. I heart scooters. I’ve been lusting after this Vespa Rally that Chris Onstad painted for years. Now, that very scooter is for sale in the scoot.net classifieds, and it’s going to pretty much take everything I’ve got to not call the dude. Thanks a lot, Matt.
A personal note to dude selling the bike: Please send me more photos, and then tell me it’s already been sold so I can stop thinking about it. Then post it on eBay Platinum Reserve where it belongs.
Ryan rebuilds the “Spindle”
Leeds-area ex-mod finds himself
Neat story: A sixties Mod finds a long-lost photo of himself at a Leeds photo exhibition by Swiss photographer Eric Jaquier.
2008 “Art Vespa” winners
Three winning designs have been chosen from 252 entries in Piaggio South Africa’s annual “Art Vespa” contest. (See more entries here.)
Lamponi Scooter Lamps (new site)
Those scooter-headset lamps that we posted about last year have been turning up on other scooter and gadget sites ever since. Designer Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi has a new well-designed site with more photos. The site is written in English and includes information about ordering the lamps, though they’re surely pretty expensive, and chances are, if you’re a 2SB reader, you a) can’t afford one, and b) have everything you need in your garage to build your own. Also keep in mind that scooter headsets make great wall sconces.
“Junk Scooter”
Artist Nemo Gould’s steampunk-ish Honda-Elite-based “Junk Scooter,” with a body made from an old streetlamp cover and vacuum cleaner parts. Here are some more recent photos. Awesome. (Thanks, Kevan!)
Header Artists
You’ve probably noticed our new random artwork behind our logo over there on the top left of the page. If not, you’re either reading RSS, your monitor is too dark, or you’re pretty flipping unobservant. Anyway, there’s finally a page where you can see all the art and find out more about the artists, and find out how you can submit art or photos for that space, we’d love to have more!
Chicagoland Mod girls needed for video shoot
We got an email the other day from Jessica Herreman, who’s looking for some local Mod Girls for a music video shoot in Evanston in early November. The video’s for a two-girl band collaborating between Mexico and Chicago. It’s a low-budget affair, but they’re offering Mexican earrings, coffee, and a French new wave film DVD as incentive. If you’ve got two X chromosomes, an A-line skirt, and a vintage Vespa (P-series or older, Stella, or Lambretta), email Jessica for more info.
Get bobbly on a scooter
Another reason I’m kicking myself for not checking ScooterSwag more often: Your own personalized bobblehead riding a scooter. It’s totally worth $130 to have your head sculpted in minature by an Asian child, and it’ll keep them busy so they don’t try to restore any scooters. Cassie describes it as “creepy,” but I really don’t think it holds a candle to a bobblehead of you sitting on the toilet clenching your fists with two giant poops on the floor next to you. Geez, when did Jeff Koons start making bobbleheads?
Julie Plug’s “Blue Sky Propeller”
Once again, YouTube (via John Rana) serves up a great music video that slipped by unnoticed (to us anyway) a few years ago. Julie Plug (on MySpace) is a Bay Area band influenced by Britpop and the Sundays. Their 2003 “Blue Sky Propeller” video is pretty much the Filipino-American “Lloyd, I’m ready to be Heartbroken”, only a few years older and more scooter-ific. Read John’s post for more about the band.
Vicious Cycles
Dave McCabe has long been searching for a short film he remembers seeing before Star Wars or Indiana Jones at the Polar Theater in Anchorage. He finally found it on good ol’ YouTube. Despite a resurgence in popularity in the 80s, Vicious Cycles was actually made in 1969. It’s a goofy live-action stop-motion animated film featuring the grungy Vicious Cycles MC facing off against the bowler-hat-clad Mild Ones Scooter Club. If nothing else, it proves the go-to newspaper headline “Mild Ones” (drink!) was already an old joke in 1969. It’s fantastic and authentic, right down to the squeaky Vespa drum brake sound. Stick around ’til the end for a Coke ad featuring vintage motorcycles and a public service announcement about loud pipes.
News chunks: February 7, 2007
Here’s what Vina–and R. Kelly–missed while having their appendices removed:
- The Hartford Courant ran a decent-but-typical scooter trend roundup story Tuesday.
- 40 scooterists rode through Cardiff, Wales to promote a stage adaptation of Quadrophenia.
- Indian political contender Surjit Singh Kohli is campaigning on a scooter in Punjab, while nearly 100 supporters of another Punjabi politician rallied on scooters.
- Bajaj will feature digital twin-spark ignition (DTSi) on all models starting in 2008
- The MP3 isn’t the only new three-wheeler out there. Also, (thanks Chandler),there’s this. Or (thanks, Vespabelle,) this. Hopefully Piaggio won’t face much marketplace confusion from these other vehicles.
- Australian police note that scooterists are creating traffic mayhem down under.
- Kinetic’s sales and income are up, but investors don’t seem to care.
Welcome home, Vina! Now if I could just remember where I put our daughter…
It’s not over until the scooter sings
Lately it seems you can’t stage an opera without a vintage scooter: The Gotham Chamber Opera’s Il Signor Bruschino features “Felliniesque touches, like a Vespa…”, while the Grand Theatre Leeds’ presentation of The Elixir of Love includes a “Lambretta or two” on the stage set. Pietro Tonsenda’s Quattrofini can’t be far behind.