The California Highway Patrol (CHP) released a new educational video called, "Thrill or Buzz Kill?", designed to make riders aware of how dangerous riding a motorcycle is. It uses some gory photos and videos of actual accident scenes...
And here it is....
It's not quite the same as the CHP's famous, "Red Asphalt", which largely shocked driving students into submission. Instead, it's more of a testimonial video, that has various CHP officers, and accident victims, to warn people that no one is invincible.
Sonny Barger, the famed leader of the Hells Angels MC, is suing HBO because they cut him out of the company's newest drama series, "1%"...
The Hollywood Reporter says...
Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger filed a lawsuit last week against the pay cable network, the production company behind the project and its writer/executive producer Michael Tolkin claiming that the concept and the script for the show were developed with his collaboration. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles federal court, contends that HBO, the White Mountain Co. and Tolkin cut him out of the project and violated many of his publicity rights when he demanded changes to protect his own brand.
Iron City Blues is a new film documentary by Scott Jackson that debuted at Daytona Bike Week earlier this month.
It chronicles the adventures of biker blues musician Big Mike Griffin and his ex-Marine buddy Jason Neese as they ride into the town of Iron City, TN, to find out the story behind the legend.
Griffin wanted to write a new blues song and had heard stories about Iron City as being one of the roughest toughest towns in all of America. It's a town that hasn't had any police department since 1989, a town where insurance won't sell coverage to business owners, and where buildings lie burned and abandoned.
So he summoned up his cigar-chewing buddy Jason to be his guide and bodyguard. The two loaded up their guns, hopped on their Harleys, and headed into town to find material for his song. There they found pre-teen boys rolling their own cigarettes, a half-crazed moonshiner named "Monkey Tidwell", a cross-eyed Mayor, and locals who pass their time away racing lawnmowers.
They gathered up stories of Insurance Bluff, a place where locals drove their brand new pickup trucks off of a cliff to collect insurance money, and stories about moonshining like the time when a colored woman shot Monkey Tidwell four times because he wouldn't sell shine to some kids.
Griffin learned that there are many in Iron City who are peaceful and considerate, but find themselves helpless when outsiders wander into town to run roughshod, shoot their guns, and fence their illegal substance business.
The documentary concludes with Griffin inviting the town's folks to a concert to perform Iron City's new blues anthem.
Having won five film festival awards, the documentary runs 52 minutes in length, and the DVD offers an additional CD of soundtracks by Griffin.
I found Iron City Blues to keep you well entertained and does a pretty good job of keeping you intrigued with Iron City's veil of mystique. And if you like the "biker blues" genre of music, you'll find the additional soundtrack CD to be worth the price of the DVD itself.
What "Girls Gone Wild" did for spring break, will "Bike Clubs Gone Wild" do for motorcycle club events?
A man named Levon Hinton, through his company Vandem Productions, is offering a DVD for sale called, "Bike Clubs Gone Wild", which showcases the lifestyle, culture, charity events, and wild parties of motorcycle clubs.
The DVD largely chronicles the Black Tigers Motorcycle Club and their annual Pajama Jam Event of last November, featuring "never seen before footage" of the club conducting their meet and greet, stunts, the wild parties, the women, and their charity fundraising efforts.
According to the Vandem Productions, they're describing this DVD as a "breakthrough in the motorcycle club community", allowing the viewers to witness actual footage of the culture and lifestyle of motorcycle clubs.
According to Levon Hinton, on why he produced this video...
"I wanted to show people that motorcycle clubs really do a lot for the communities they represent and charities they support."
Opinion
I think Hinton makes a good point at showcasing a motorcycle club conducting a charity event, but his video also shows riders doing wheelies on what appears to be a public street. That's the kind of stuff that reflects back on all motorcycle riders.
On the other hand, my guess is that Hinton isn't trying to sell this DVD to the general public anyways.
As for this DVD being a "breakthrough in the motorcycle club community", I don't think so. Other video production companies have sold DVDs of MCs going bonkers at biker rallies.
Hell Ride is the name of a new biker movie by Quentin Tarantino, described as an homage to the old biker gang flicks of the 1960's.
FirstShowing.net published some photos and a synopsis...
Larry Bishop stars as badass biker Pistolero, who along with his brother The Gent (Michael Madsen) and Comanche (Eric Balfour), hit the road to avenge the death of Pistolero's old lady Cherokee Kisum, by the 666ers, a rival motorcycle gang. Dennis Hopper and Vinnie Jones also star. I'll be damned if this doesn't look like one hell of an awesome throwback to biker cinema.
So, everyone's watched the movie "Wild Hogs" by now. There was an interesting post on HDForums asking the question, which character are you?
Here's the primary cast of riders...
Woody Stevens (John Travolta) - Leader, lonely, wealthy, always wants to ride somewhere, has plenty of time for it, but can't get people to go
Doug Madsen (Tim Allen) - Tied down at the job, always worred about work, always worried about everything but riding
Bobby Davis (Martin Lawrence) - Pussy-whipped, bark is worse than his bite, can't ride because the wife won't let him
Dudley Frank (William H. Macy) - Science nerd, politically correct, in touch with his feelings
Jack (Ray Liotta) - Leader of Del Fuegos, needs to be center of attention, always wonders what his idols would have done
Damien Blade (Peter Fonda) - A former clubber turned independent, blazes his own trail, doesn't try to be cool because he just is
Most people who responded on the forum saw themselves either as John Travolta's character or Tim Allen's character, either because they saw themselves as often having to lead and never finding people wanting to ride, or never having enough free time to ride.
I suppose I see quite a bit of John Travolta's character in me, in that I'm usually the one who steps up to plan a ride and organize a ride, and often find myself searching for people to ride with. My job situation is such that I can usually ride most any day of the week. I also see a little of that William H. Macy character in me because of my quirky thoughts and introverted self.
As for Peter Fonda's character, some people likened themselves with that. The truth is that his character is the biker we all want to be like: free, independent, a bit of a rebel, fearless, and wise. But no one ever becomes all of that. Some people surround themselves with the people, places, and things they idolize in hopes that it rubs off on them. Most of us try to conform to the culture a little, but not too much. I mean, how many of us wear vests when we're taking the family out to dinner? A few of us just screw the culture altogether.
Basically, nobody is "Damien Blade". Most of us are one or more of the Wild Hogs, and only a few us are "Jack".
Here's gossip piece from StarPulse.com claiming that Tim Allen, one of the stars on the new movie, "Wild Hogs", wants lessons on how to safely crash a bike...
Funnyman Tim Allen is begging the motorcycle experts who trained him to ride a Harley Davidson for new film Wild Hogs to teach him how to crash - because he doesn't want to risk injury now he's hooked on motorcycle.
Apparently his brother was injured on a motorcycle, and because of that, he's been skittish about riding.
The Christian Science Monitor is one of the first fish wraps out with a review of the new biker movie, "Wild Hogs".
Peter Rainer, the paper's film critic, pretty much picked it apart, ridiculed the pieces, and tossed it all in the trash. He gives it an "F"...
The subculture of weekend warrior bikers is such rich comic material that the ineptitude of "Wild Hogs" is doubly offensive. After all, it's not often that a subject this good comes along. The whole time I was watching "Wild Hogs" I kept putting together in my mind the movie I wanted to see. Not a good sign.
Who is he trying to kid, anyways?
I already know film critics are going to barf at this movie.
The reason why I'm going to watch it is because those of us who ride cruisers, and make them our lifestyle, see plenty of RUBs (rich urban bikers) everywhere we go. We'd like to laugh at them at loud, but we don't, because it's not cool to laugh at people.
So, we go to a movie like Wild Hogs and laugh out loud at the people we'd really like to laugh at in real life.
For many others, they'll be laughing at themselves. And who know, I may just end up laughing at myself too.
Sacramento-based television station KCRA reports that the California Highway Patrol is working on a motorcycle-version of the classroom movie, "Red Asphalt".
The movie is supposed to highlight the statistics on motorcycle accidents and the dangers of riding, containing scenes of real crashes and deaths, like the stuff you only see online...
Based on alarming statistics about motorcycle accidents, the CHP is working on a new film highlighting motorcycle dangers, very similar to "Red Asphalt," the classic movie about the dangers of driving cars. It is not only a safety video. It features real crash scenes, including fatalities.
The film is designed to scare riders into taking safety precautions, the CHP said.
The quote appears at the end of the report from KCRA. The report focuses on the growing number of motorcycle accidents.
I watched the movie when it first came out several months ago, and really enjoyed it. Even if you're not a big motorcycle fan, you'll love the story of Burt Munro, who takes his 1920 Indian Scout (majorly customized) to the salt flats of Bonneville, ID to push his ingenuity to the limits.
He sails from Invercargil, New Zealand to Los Angeles, California, and discovers an entirely different society. He hooks up with a transvestite, and fabricates a trailer for his motorcycle.
Then he begins his travel to Bonneville. Along the way, he has sex with a lonely widow who lives out in the middle of nowhere.
He also meets up with a crazy Indian who gives him dried dog testicles for his enlarged prostate, and he actually eats it!
Once he gets to Bonneville, he discovers he never registered for the competition, and they won't let him in. But his codgy old mannerisms and his New Zealand charm, manages to convince the officials to let him compete.
The result?
He blows everyone away with this frumpy little Indian Scout and becomes the hero of his hometown!
Sound too good to be true? Well, it turns out it really is true.
Custom Choppers - The Art of the American Motorcycles
by Steve Sunday, January 09, 2005
A new documentary on DVD entitled, "Custom Choppers - The Art of the American Motorcycles" is scheduled to be released this Monday (Jan 11) covering the annual biker event in Daytona Beach, Florida. Viewers will see a "dazzling array of motorcycles on display", and I'm sure plenty of girls. The documentary runs 60 minutes.
Reported on Star Search Casting, extras are needed to play the parts of a biker gang in a short film:
Billy Sparrow and The Whack-A-Mole King is a short thesis film about a down on his luck cowboy (John Williams) who 'bumps' into the eccentric Billy Sparrow. Together they try to woo back Lucy Lou, John's former girlfriend, in this racous comedy. All actors will recieve a copy of the finished film. Transportation and food will be provided. Shooting will begin January fourth and run through the fourteenth.
Breakdown Description:
Billy Sparrow: Billy is a seasoned New Yorker who is also the brains of the operation as he helps John try to get his girl back. We need an extremely eccentric person to play Billy: old young, short , odd...there are no parameters or archetypes for this role.
Extras: Need gruff types to play a biker gang and another short person to play a "penguin"
", now's your chance to see it on DVD.
A new documentary on DVD entitled, "
