That ridiculous thing, Sons of Anarchy, begins its second season – of a proposed seven seasons – tonight, Tuesday, September 8th, at ten o’clock Eastern.
And apparently, 5.4 million of you have had this day marked on your calendars for ten months.
Three weeks ago, according to the Manteca Bulletin, a “mind-boggling” number of the show’s fans waited in “the mid-day heat” at a Lathrop, California Harley dealership to beg autographs from six members of the show’s cast. Some signature seekers actually waited in line for two hours before being turned away.
Last month in Sturgis, publicists for the show built a pretend biker clubhouse at one end of Main Street. The interior featured mug shots of actors with jobs on the show; two sets of “club colors” framed behind glass like a couple of Kobe jerseys; and plaques commemorating the 25th or 30th or 35th anniversaries of imaginary chapters in Sturgis, Laconia and Milwaukee. One of the cuts even sported a “Men of Mayhem” tab. You know, like the “Filthy Few.”
The Sturgis clubhouse gave away bandannas. I demanded and got two of those because my bike had rain spots and I wanted it to look nice and just one bandanna would not do. I was going to stick around and see what else I could demand. But then I saw grown men with tattoos, bellies and beards buying Sons of Anarchy tee-shirts. So, then I ran away because I was afraid.
I still don’t get it. Personally, I would rather watch The Terror of Tiny Town, the musical western with the all midget cast that is usually considered to be the worst movie ever made. For that matter, I would probably prefer to watch the new Sandra Bullock stalker “hit” All About Steve. Instead this weekend, before I started to write whatever this is going to turn out to be, I watched two episodes of Sons of Anarchy. It took me fifteen hours. I kept falling asleep.
I Am Sorry I Tried
“This season,” according to a blizzard of press releases, “Jax and the club must deal with the fallout from Donna’s death bringing internal tensions to an all time high while a new enemy takes root in Charming. The League of American Nationalists, a white separatist organization headed by Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin) with help from his lieutenant, AJ Weston (Henry Rollins), integrate themselves in the community in efforts to force Samcro (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Originals) out. An antagonist not to be underestimated, the club soon realizes to what extent Zobelle will go to destroy the Sons of Anarchy.”
I was disappointed to learn that the series’ producer, Kurt Sutter, has ignored all of my suggestions about how he might improve this show. Consequently, this year Sons of Anarchy will not feature burnouts, wet tee-shirt contests; wet tee-shirt contests starring a brunette named Heather, best breast contests, whore house runs or gang bangs.
I really thought Sutter would buy my idea for a new character, an obsessed and vindictive ATF Case Agent played by Vern “Mini-Me” Troyer. But, it seems not. So, there will be no scene in which Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman are about to have a really tender Viagra movement when ATF Agent Vern Troyer kicks down their security gate, front door, bedroom door and shoots their puppy before announcing, “Search warrant! Demand entry!”
I Really, Really Tried
Sutter also rejected my suggestion for a chapter meeting in which a brother named “Wolf” rambles on about “security” and “intelligence” for a full six hours before another brother named “In-Country” thinks to ask, “Wolf, are you tweaking?” Also there will be no scene in which a pack of Sons is detained for two hours and subjected to strip searches by the side of the road during a “courtesy, safety stop.”
Nor will there be a scene in which an ambition-crazed cop travels to a nursing home in another state to interrogate the 95-year-old grandmother of a Sons hang around. “You know what you did Granny,” he could scream.
“Wuh-wuh-what Sonny. What did you suh-say?”
Pulling Granny out of here wheelchair and slamming her against a cinder block wall, the cop threatens, “Don’t you play deaf with me, bitch! Don’t you know who I am?! I could have you renditioned!”
No Sons of Anarchy calendars or support tee shirts will be seized. And, Jax’s motor home will never be stopped on a lonely highway in Wyoming for failure to properly signal a lane change. After the stop a local cop might develop a reasonable, articulable suspicion that Jax is an international arms dealer. That might lead to a search of Jax’s personal computer because the cop is looking for trophy photos of arms deals. Which is what could lead to Jax’s trial for conspiracy to sell atomic weapons to Al Quaida. Sutter didn’t like that story either. So you will not see that.
Nobody in this show will ever use and properly define the phrase “Terry Stop.” Nobody will ever discuss the merits of competing exhausts. No bike will ever go up on a dyna. No old timer will ever proclaim, “Points were better.” There will be no gun shows, no trips to the border, and no mandatory runs. Nobody will ever break down in the Mojave in the summertime.
Sucker Critics
Instead, the new season “promises to be filled with more bikes, more guns, and a great ride.” And, as if that was not already enough to rattle your soul and wrench your gut, “Also this season, we have our very own Katey Sagal singing a rendition of The Rolling Stones’, ‘Ruby Tuesday.’ This haunting rendition will rattle your soul as it plays through a gut-wrenching scene in episode 202.”
What do you think?
Who cares what you think?
Because sucker critics already love this can of soup. Robert Lloyd, a media whore for the El Lay Times does concede, “There are moments (in this piece of crap) that require you not to think too hard, and some of the black humor doesn’t overcome its fundamental nastiness. But on the whole, it’s a superior package, intelligently constructed and handsomely executed.”
What Lloyd’s review really proves is that the gutless, pointless, dying Los Angeles Times must no longer subject its editorial employees to drug tests. Because the only the way anyone could ever see this show as intelligent is if he was chasing a dragon past cloud nine.
Hamlet
For more than a year, the show’s deluded producers have been grandly comparing this waste of so many of our precious natural resources to the well known drama Hamlet written by the well known Inglese William Shakespeare.
In the Fox television show, club dreamboat, Jackson “Jax” Teller, is supposed to be the sensitive Hamlet. And, the ghost of his dead father, rather than urging him to seek revenge, is personified by an unpublished manuscript written by his old man, which laments the de-evolution of a “Harley commune” into the “chaos” of a motorcycle club.
I admit that I may be too stupid to get this masterpiece, but the connection to Hamlet eludes me. It really does. It reminds me more of Macbeth. At least it reminds me of Macbeth’s line about, “…a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
The Last Frontier
The show’s marketing plan is fairly obvious. Sons of Anarchy is intended to add another few dozen buckets to the running river of books, television documentaries and feature films that promise an “insider look” at the motorcycle outlaw frontier.
In reality, nobody who pisses in this river is really an insider. If he were he could see that the biker subculture is transparent and self-evident. There are no insiders. There is only them and us.
What “insiders” grope to describe is really a political ideology, the ideology of the frontier: People should be let alone to do what they want; be self-reliant; earn a living however they can and settle their differences among themselves; mind their own business; form their own communities; take calculated risks; live dangerously; distrust authorities and experts; be free and so on. It is an ideology that seems increasingly perverse, criminal and anti-social to many people. But, even they can feel this frontier’s allure.
Wouldn’t it be nice to do what you want?
Yes, It Is
Twenty-five years ago the foundering Harley-Davidson Company was shrewd enough to turn this excitement that brave and ornery men know into a commodity that even timid and well-behaved men could buy. But, not everybody could afford an overpriced motorcycle. So next, the last American motorcycle company largely transformed this vanishing frontier into a line of overpriced tee-shirts. And, once people began to think of the frontier as a fashion show, a television soap opera about outlaw bikers was only a matter of time.
All the Gangland episodes, the undercover agent memoirs, the “insider ” revelations by paste-eating geeks like Yves Lavigne, Julian Sher and Kerrie Droban, even that 213 pages of fluffernoodle that Doc Cavazos published last year are meant to be travel guides for first time visitors. Did you just spend twelve grand on an 883 Sportster yet all the other accountants still don’t think you are dangerous?
Here is what you need to know! Bikers refer to women as Mamas! That thing they ride is called a Hog! The Mongols and the Hells Angels are the two most evil forces in the history of humanity and they do not get along! Bikers like women, drugs and guns! Hollister! Vietnam! Laughlin! Crank! Patch! Prospect! Spark plug! Clubhouse! Lube!
The Inside Scoop
So Sons of Anarchy was an historical inevitability. And, to keep this big money train rolling the producers must ceaselessly insist that they are biker insiders. Kurt Sutter we are to believe, has descended into the netherworld of the outlaw frontier, undergone many trials and come back changed to tell us his hair-raising tales.
I might be convinced to willingly suspend my disbelief about this – this idea that Kurt Sutter had a quick beer one night in a bar in Pueblo and came out “Mad Dog” Sutter – but for the fact that so far none of Sutter’s tales are any more hair-raising than they are Hamlet. Nothing in the plots makes up for the insipid dialogue, the contrived characters, the stock locations or the rock bottom production values. The fact is, neither Sutter nor anyone else connected to the manufacture of this biker commodity actually has anything to say.
Which may explain why the show is really nothing more than mere, gauzy atmospherics. Dyna! Springer! Major Service! Pull a train! Club! ATF! Oil change! Mach 10! Uzi! Hay-Kay! Go! Go! Go!
In an attempt to brag these atmospherics credible, Sutter has, on several occasions, linked himself to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club He has even publically stated that the show is an “homage” to the HAMC.
You know, an homage. Sort of like if the Jonas Brothers covered “Ain’t Nutt’n But A G Thing” as an homage to Compton. Or if Miley Cyrus’s recorded her own very special version of “Fuck Off” as an homage to Kid Rock. Or say, if Michael Cera described his role in a new, light hearted, musical, comedy version of Full Metal Jacket as an homage to the Tet Offensive.
No, really. This is how the Entertainment Industry really thinks. This is how Sons of Anarchy got renewed for a second season. And, apparently everybody except me loves this big, brown, smelly pickle. So, who am I to say. Go ahead. Enjoy. Just, don’t blame me for the plots.
Related posts:
September 8th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
It’s just a superamalgamated television series. Many of us enjoy it for what it is, psuedo-outlaw biker entertainment. Care to take a WAG on whether most bikers are gonna grab their beers, and watch Sons of Anarchy or America’s Got Talent tonight? ;^)
BTW, there was a fictional outlaw biker CBC mini-series in Canada called The Last Chapter. Here’s a link to that DVD:
http://www.deepdiscount.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=5739161
September 8th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
hey rebel…….loosen up some and tell us how you really feel…..
doc
September 8th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
During every Gangland “outlaw biker gang” rerun in the last couple weeks they have shown ads for SOA. Everyone knows bikers are evil, worse than Hitler, and Satan incarnate, but that same Everyone sho’ likes looking at bikers (and even looking like bikers). Was the clubhouse selling temporary tattoos?
YYZ Skinhead
September 8th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I agree with the producer. They stole the whole plot line from Hamlet with a little Lady Macbeth thrown in. The should have given writing credits to Bill Shakespeare and called the Sons of Anarchy the the Elsinore Motorcycle Club.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I watched the very first episode; well most of it. Far as I could get. Then when I started seeing SOA cuts for sale on E Bay, I figured tons of that stuff would sell.
I saw a promo last week that had the older lady telling her son’s girl “You love the man first, then you learn to love the club.”
I guess it beats “What Not to Wear” or “House” (My wife’s two favorities) but it is pretty thin.
A mock club house in Sturgis you say?
September 9th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Comrade Rebel,
Clearly, your thinking is incompatible with reality as it exists today. You are either not sane or just didn’t get the memo explaining that: fantasy is fact, fiction is truth, boredom is excitement, and mediocrity is excellence. So, please face the telescreen and repeat after me:
“I pledge allegiance to the Sons…”
Your pal,
Big Brother
September 9th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Is it safe to say that the buyers of the cuts for sale on ebay are going to get a lot of shit when seen on the street with the 3 piece? I mean t shirts are cool but rocking leather with colors? I’m just a hangaround but I’d say something to someone “trying” to be a 1%
September 9th, 2009 at 8:04 am
DYN that the “official” (FX-produced, not the bootleg stuff) SOA “colors” and peripheral patches sold on eBay have a new color scheme–blue and white as opposed to Mongols-looking black and white? I wonder why?
YYZ Skinhead
September 9th, 2009 at 9:03 am
There’s a couple of 3-piece-patch motorcycle clubs here in Southwest Idaho, and every single one of those guys *earned* their cuts. Anyone stoopid enough to buy and wear unauthorized SOA patches from Ebay is gonna get a Darwin Award. Didn’t watch that SOA episode last night, but did record it on the DVR.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Dear Doc,
I thought I was being even handed as hell. I thought I was offering “constructive criticism.” Besides, this chunk-o-barf might win its time slot this year. So, who cares what I think. I’m just making conversation, is all it is.
your pal,
Rebel
September 9th, 2009 at 10:06 am
So you can see for yourself:
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_trkparms=65%253A1%257C66%253A4%257C39%253A1&_nkw=sons%20of%20anarchy&_dmpt=US_CSA_MC_Shirts&_ipg=200&_sc=1&_sop=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_pgn=1
September 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Hmmm… Peggy Bundy…
September 9th, 2009 at 11:40 am
But Rebel, they’ve had that chick from the Soprano’s on a couple of episodes. Man, I’d like to get her in the clubhouse and make her testify. “heavy breathing, heavy breathing!
September 9th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Dear Rebel,
I thought you were pretty much right on point. Dry sense of humor might have come across wrong. Keep tellin’ it like you see it wheather anybody agrees or not. That’s why most of us tune in.
Doc
September 9th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I happen to enjoy the show; I don’t expect it to be a realistic depiction of bikers any more than I expect a cop show to be a perfectly realistic depiction of cops. I actually find it well constructed; I hate it when a story thread gets started and then just kind of gets left hanging. For instance, I liked how in the first season the bit early on where the club got involved looking for a kidnapped girl wound up being important for giving them leverage on her dad at the end of the season.
But for those who don’t like it – that’s cool. There’s lots of stuff out there that’s very popular that I cannot for the life of me figure out how anyone can stand to watch. We’ve all got our own tastes.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I went on their fanclub fx site when the show started and tried to explain to the wannabe turds that wearing SOA patches like a 1%r could get them hurt, humiliated at least. I was reasoning with fucktards and idiots. I gave up. It was worth it to go on there because in their gallery was posted a picture of a 19 year old with a shaved head on a VStar proclaiming his club, Sons of Apathy. No shit. I nearly shat myself laughing – he was fucking serious.
I still don’t know if I believe you wore a SOA Tshirt in Laughlin, Rebel. You said you were pretty shit faced, so I guess I’ve done some retarded things drunk. Not that retarded though….blahahahahaha!
I have to admit I watched – H Rollins as a WhiteSupremist? I couldn’t pass that one up.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Peg Bundy! i’d hit it!
September 10th, 2009 at 2:05 am
Fatbob: Some people are just determined to win that Darwin Award, aren’t they? My understanding is that there’s been incidents over the fact that Zakk Wylde’s band Black Label Society has a logo that’s drawn from the 3-piece patch concept and now their online store where they actually sell the patches has disclaimers all over it. In my opinion, it was a stupid thing to do in the first place.
Due to the show, I’ve actually been trying to explain the “patch thing” to non-bikers who’ve asked me about it and have realized it’s really difficult to get across the idea to people without significant contact with the biker world. If anyone’s come up with a better way to communicate this, I’d love to hear about it, but so far the best I’ve come up with is to explain that it’s a social recognition system. While there are exceptions – here in the USA if you see a car that’s mostly black with white doors – you think “police car.” If you see a bright yellow one – that’s a taxi.
Similarly – 3-piece patch means a serious traditional M/C, whether 1%er or not. One and two piece patches are simply a different category – whether they’re less formal clubs, or factory owner’s groups or whatever. I think I’ll pass on trying to explain why the distinction is important to people for whom it will never be relevant.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Okay…..BUT DID YOU SEE THE SHOWER SCENE!!!???
I really admire Ron Perlman (Clay) and Katey Segal (Gemma) as actors but Charlie Hunnam (Jax) is so damn hot! Just give me just 5 minutes with that dude and I’d tear him up
My boyfriend is a 1%’er here in Southern California and I have to hear him complain everytime it’s on but he’s liked Katey ever since she was on “Married with Children” so he’ll tolerate it. I agree that it’s unrealistic – but it’s a T.V. show!
And do you all know who Henry Rollins is? He was the damn lead singer in the 80′s punk band, “Black Flag,” and is (or was) a gay activist even though he has never publically admitted to being gay…..
Anyway, can’t wait to see the next episode after what happened to Gemma last Tuesday (YIKES!). It was a tough scene to watch and made the new cast (American Alliance) worse then the SOA.
Rebel – you better start appreciating this show for what it is; fake or not. I like you and want to keep it that way LOLOL!
Toodles,
PB
September 10th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Dear Pretybitch,
I am planning to watch episode one of this year’s run but so far I haven’t gotten very far. First, like four guys were shooting Tec-9s and I thought, “Gee, what a swell ghetto gun.” Then I noticed they were on full auto and I thought that was kind of like painting a pig. What is the point of a full auto Tec-9? They are all shit guns anyway. I can make a machine gun better than that in my garage. Then I noticed they were shooting at a prospect with machine guns and I thought that was kind of far-fetched. Then I noticed that were shooting up a lumberyard and I thought, “Geez, they’re going to ruin all that good lumber.” Then I noticed the comparatively tight shot patterns and I thought not even Annie Oakley or Buffalo Bill could do that with a Tec-9 on full auto. Then my old lady walked in and she said, “What is this piece of shit” and I told her and she laughed at me because she thinks I am stoopid so I turned it off. I was bored already anyway.
There was a shower scene?!?
Rebel
September 10th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Dear Dirty Bruin,
I am not sure who would want to wear a three piece patch who hasn’t earned it except to a Halloween party. The next time you are explaining, for whatever reason, that wearing a three-piece patch as a costume is considered bad form, just tell them that doing so is likely to earn them a punch in the mouth.
Last year I heard that Charlie Hunnum was going to wear his patch to the love ride and I wondered, if he played a war hero on TV would he wear his Congressional Medal of Honor to the Veteran’s Day Parade.
Rebel
September 10th, 2009 at 9:59 am
HAIL YEAH THERE WAS A SHOWER SCENE!
I think it’s safe to say that the show is geared for women…and Jax’s full-on nude shower (butt and back only) scene was proof of that. Hot and steamy and all…
Don’t know too much about guns but the first thing I thought of when they were shooting at their prospect was Billy McQueen (sp?) and his book…ridiculous.
You have a wonderful imagination and it’s a shame that the creator of that show ignores the suggestions of those who could really put some spice to it, huh?
We’ll see what he comes up with..
(I hope my this doesn’t post twice – computer is screwy today
)
September 10th, 2009 at 10:02 am
The shower scene is a hit with the ladies…
http://soa.blogs.fxnetworks.com/2009/09/09/recap-%e2%80%9calibification%e2%80%9d/#comments
September 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
DirtyBruin,
I went to an Alice in Chains gig at the Wiltern a couple years ago and I saw a lot of guys wearing Black Label Society gear. At first glance I thought they were patchholders. When I got a closer look at the logo I wondered how long it would take before BLS fans caught hell from real patchholders. Not long, apparently.
YYZ Skinhead
September 10th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
hello if anybody hasent noticed, who in the fuck wears thier cut in a cage?? in my world the first time was a 200 dollar fine. the next time (if your stoopid enough to do it) you got beat down and thrown out. duh
September 10th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
hello if anybody hasent noticed, who in the fuck wears a cut in a cage?in my world the first time was a 200 dollar fine, the second time(if you were stoopid enought to do it) your beat down and thrown out. duh
September 10th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
DB: exactly. I saw that BLS cut too and I was wondering WTF? How could they not know that looked like a 1%r patch. I’m seeing more and more 3 piece patches, but most know that bottom rocker better not say California on it unless you’re one of the “Two”
PB: I never knew Henry Rollins was a gay activist – I liked Black Flag.
I wonder if they’ll work in the NLRiders since they love working the white supremist thing. I didn’t like seeing Peggy Bundy violated like that – Al would beat the shit out of them. Remember, he hammered nails into the table with his head at his high school reunion.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
the reason he claims to be in with the outlaw MC world is the fact that the VAGOS MC does most of if not all riding sceans and members talk with the writters about real things that have happiened to them in there real life and tell stories of events and rules that they live by so it makes good t.v. plus its just a show
September 11th, 2009 at 8:27 am
The ‘California’ bottom rocker is on the cut of quite a few 1%er motorcycle clubs these days. BTW, there’s a club that uses a couple of different Interstate Road Signs as their center patch based on chapter location.
Have this old black sweatshirt (gift from wife) that, from a distance, looks like a 3-piece patch. Gets the LEOs a little too excited until they’re close enough to discern that it’s for a leather shop.
September 11th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Fatbob: I realize it seems obvious to us – but imagine a music fan with little to no contact with bikers. He might get that the BLS gear resembles biker colors – but without understanding what that means. Then he goes to the wrong place wearing that jacket and winds up with a pissed-off outlaw biker in his face … and he has no idea what he’s done wrong because no one’s ever explained the “system” to him. At least he’s got the excuse that it’s just fan gear for a band; the people who buy the Sons of Anarchy patches without understanding what they’re doing are taking what seems to me to be a bigger risk, since the patches actually claim to be for a motorcycle club.
Grumbler: I noticed the “California” rockers on a lot of different colors at an event I attended earlier this year, and I did wonder how that came about. I saw a claim on another thread here that the Mongols gave the right to use it to any club who cared to; I could also see the HA’s perhaps deciding to “dilute” the Mongols’ use of it by encouraging any clubs friendly to them to adopt it as well. Not being directly involved with any of those clubs, I’ll never know for sure – but it is an interesting phenomenon.
As for Henry Rollins – he simply campaigns for what he feels is right whether it affects him personally or not; he always has. Among other things he supports the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. As for the gay thing – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie opposed Prop. 8 here in California; I don’t think that makes either of them gay.
September 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Dear True Outlaw,
All due respect to the Green Nation, but they are doing a fucked up job of advising you.
Look, number one, you should lock yourself in a room and watch The Wire for about three days. The Wire was cynical about cops, about the drug war, about crime, guns, whores, about reporters, unions, real estate developers, about politicians and about gangsters. I know they were mostly black but I still believed them. I am just embarrassed by you. If Sons of Anarchy had huevos you would also be cynical, especially about motorcycle clubs.
And also second, look, I am kinda guessing who you are, Right? Okay? I do not mean to make you shy or embarrass you. Welcome by the way. It is okay. You can use your real name. Nobody is gathering intelligence on you.
I really am flattered that you would take the time to join the discussion. Join in anytime. Lurk anytime. I appreciate you commenting. I appreciate all comments. Welcome to what the Vikings called the allthing. I apologize if in the past I have implied that you are a stupid, yuppie motherfucker who doesn’t respect me and doesn’t respect anybody I know because you have no fucking respect for yourself. Okay, right, I did not imply it. I actually said it. Sometimes I am immoderate. No offense intended. Let those among us who is without sin cast the first stone.
I still think your show is weak. Tell the Vagos to take you to Suzy’s sometime. I would like to look at you. Or ride up to Street Vibrations in a couple of weeks. If you actually ride. I will probably be at the party after the Best Breast. Wear an SOA hat. I will say hello.
Or, I am trying to actually get to one of the Happy Happy Sober Riders defense fund runs. I think they have one near Phoenix at the beginning of next month. Maybe I will see you there.
Your pal,
Rebel
September 11th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I’m still trying to work out if Peggy Bundy’s knockers are real … just for facts sake you understand. I thought the show had some pretty good acting, but based on a poor script (understanding of the subject matter was poor). As for anyone wearing a three piece without earning it deserves all they get, plus some.
September 12th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Well, I have seen an HA in his truck waring his cut……… and who would tell his new old lady, he and a brother just killed someone….. I know, its just TV. Wow,I just love Peggy, always have and would love to take for a long ride………….
September 13th, 2009 at 6:31 am
I was just wondering if it’s still cool to wear my West Coast Choppers t-shirt….
September 13th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Dear PlainOl’Dave,
No. It is not. Biker fashionistas in the know all agree that West Coast Choppers attire is so last year. This season, all the most admired biker poseurs are wearing Samcro for him.
your pal,
Rebel
September 13th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Oh come on Rebel. It’s mind numbing entertainment. Much better than most of the crap on TV. Kick back and enjoy it. Sounds like you need some mind numbing entertainment.
be well
Greenman
September 13th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Hey man, fuck it. It’s the same shits been going on since the early 60′s. Minus Hunter Thomas getting his ass kicked, and set to the modern bread and circuses crowd.
Personally, I am amused at the ease with which these guys shoot the fuck out of everything, regardless of time or place. LOL I wish it was that easy in reality.
Finally, what’s up with the Aryan’s always being the Hollywood bad guy. Seriously, isn’t there any other fucking bad guy in the world other than skin heads????
If they wanted to make a more realistic bad guy they could have stick to the Mayan Vs. SOA story line, or the intra-club politicking.
Either way, I’ll watch, for the laughs if nothing else.
September 13th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Oh yeah, forgot to add. That wasn’t the first time Peg Bundy got ass raped. Remember Al watching her wipe off the pick-nick table when he was on vacation? LOL She must be into that kind of thing….
September 14th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Dear Greenman,
Heroin is mind numbing entertainment. Sons of Anarchy is something less than that.
your pal,
Rebel
September 14th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Dear Philo,
No offense, but comparing Sons of Anarchy to Gonzo Super Freak might actually be more ridiculous than comparing Sons of Anarchy to Hamlet.
The official line of shit on why skinheads are this year’s villians is that the producers were looking for a group that would make bikers look good. So they chose the close cropped look.
The reason why there are so many gunshots in the show is because gunshots are easier to script than stories. “Go, go, go! Apehangers! Bang! Bang! Bang! If you love the man you must love the club.”
“But, I’ve never made sweet, sweet love to a whole club at one time before.”
Buh-buh-buh-buh bang!!! Bang! Bang! Boom!
“Sam Crow!”
“Rebel!”
How come there ain’t no character named Rebel? You know, as like an homage to me? When it gone be Rebel’s turn to get homaged? Real good for a real long time?
Hey Kurt? Kurt? Where the character named Rebel? Sandwiched between Katey Sagal and Drea DeMatteo? Okay.
Bang! Bang! Bang! “Oh, Rebel! This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my life!” Bang! Bang!
“Who’s your Daddy?”
Rebel
September 14th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Of course, I could pick on poor SOA by reminding their writers and casting directors that most racists aren’t skinheads and most skinheads aren’t racist, and that there are a lot of non-white skinheads (like myself), et cetera, et cetera. (Go to an Agnostic Front or Templars gig, or a northern soul/reggae all-nighter in SF or NYC and it will be obvious.) People can’t stand reality intruding on their cookie-cutter stereotypes.
YYZ Skinhead
September 14th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
It’s all fun and games until you’re in court for something and the odd person on your jury just happens to be a fan of that show and believes all the cooked up nonsense and associates artificial and concocted TV antics with your patch wearing self. They’ll consider themselves an “expert” on “motorcycle gangs”, and the rest of the jury will pay heed to the drivel that spews forth from his/her mouth, because he/she will use all the correct “gang” terminology, and surely sound like they know what they’re talking about. Then, all of a sudden, your jury pool is tainted by something that is “just a TV show” and it isn’t so funny anymore.
Or maybe the rural cop that would have previously watched you roll on through his town with little to no interest in you, other than thinking your bike is cool, now decides he should pull you over because even if you aren’t breaking any laws, you’re probably riding dirty, and even if you aren’t, he wants to make sure you know that your kind isn’t wanted in his town. Maybe you can watch the latest SOA episode with him while you’re in 23 hour holding.
Just a couple of examples of how something that is “just a TV show” can really suck for anyone wearing a patch, 3 piece or not.
September 14th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Would be cool if they did an episode with
a run to the redwoods. They could smoke
doobies around a campfire scene and talk
about UFOs like Jack, Peter and Dennis
in Easy Rider. ;^)
September 14th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
The ‘California’ bottom rocker is on the cut of quite a few 1%er motorcycle clubs these days.
Agreed. One small distinction: SOA isn’t a club.
September 14th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
You know, it’s just the humble opinion of one more internet jockey who hit his stride in deepest, darkest Arkansas circa early 70′s, but my experience is that it’s never been easy to be a levi’s and field jacket, combat boots and buck knife wearing, long-haired, motorsickle ridin’ miscreant – 1%er patch holder or not – way before Kurt Sutter or SOA, then or now. (Again with the opinions) shows like SOA, OCC, Biker Build off, et al. are all geared to an audience that either sits at home and wishes, or (if they even own a bike) trailers it to the shop to have a more comfortable seat installed. And just like I can’t imagine anyone with tattoos actually watches all that Kat Von D / Miami Ink crapola, no one we’d want to know is really watching SOA either. Me? hell, I ain’t nobody you wanna know; I kinda liked ol’ Ron when he was in “Beauty and the Beast.” I’ve gotta admit, the thought of running me a warm bath, gettin’ some of the ol’ lady’s bath beads and them fancy Pepperidge Farms cookies of hers out and indulgin’ in me some high speed guilty pleasurin’ next time it comes on don’t sound half bad. I’m curious to see just what kind of hijinx them ol’ Duke Boys, err – SOA fellers – can get into in … So SOA – take me away!
Oh, and by the way – great site Mr. Rebel, Sir. Some good stuff here, I like it.
September 14th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
lets be honest guys nobody who watches that show gives a shit about reality, it’s an hour of mind numbing, the same as burning one or drinking a few, so if you want to tune out reality watching that show is as good as anything I guess……
September 14th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Does anyone remember Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask? The 1% biker club in it were the good guys. I think that was in 1985.
YYZ Skinhead
September 14th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
No no no, I wasn’t putting SOA on the same level with Gonzo journalism, I’m just saying, and anyone who knows anything about this culture knows this, that there’s been a media obsession with the lifestyle since then. That’s what Thompson was chasing when he penned the book. He didn’t invent the idea.
For sure SOA can’t hold a candle to Dr. Gonzo, but WTF, I mean, what do you expect from Hollywood? Seriously, have they EVER got this story right?
September 14th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
YYZ SKINHEAD:
On that note, I read a while back that the kid on that movie, Rocky Dennis’s mom died in a motorcycle wreck. She was really old to, and still riding.
September 15th, 2009 at 7:29 am
The fake SOA cut reminds me a story Bruce Dern tells,
In 1966 he was shooting a Roger Corman movie called THE WILD ANGELS.
The story was about the Fictitious HELLS ANGELS, SAN PEDRO CHAPTER
(Even in 1966 the HELLS ANGELS were used as a marketing tool.)
The movie was a typical Corman low budget shoot with NO teamsters to move the Prop cycles, so the actors had to ride them to the next location. One day while the rest of the cast and crew left for the next location, Bruce was using the bathroom in the one and only Trailer. As he stepped out to ride to the next location He heard a voice say “Take off those ANGELS COLORS”. As he looked up this guy hit him in the mouth. Then ran like a punk. Bruce spent the next two days getting his front teeth capped and his upper lip sown up. Apparently the guy sucker punched Bruce with a set of Brass knuckles.. Wear the SOA cut at your own peril.
Rebel I am new here. Great read thanks for the work you put in to this site
Dex
September 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Rocky’s mom, Florence (Rusty), died 3 years ago at age 70 from an infection a month after her 3-wheeled motorcycle accident.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Philo,
70 to be precise. Pretty tough.
http://tinyurl.com/l98d7l
Viewings of Mask ought to be mandatory for anyone writing/producing an “outlaw biker” movie, tv show, whathaveyou.
YYZ Skinhead
September 15th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Dear Philo,
I wasn’t trying to be harsh. I get you. Most of what is written about the edgier regions of the Harley subculture is derivative of Hunter Thompson’s Hells Angels. But, Thompson was actually trying to report. For all the shit he made up and for what an asshole he was personally, I think he was still trying to be sympathetic and perceptive about his subject, which was the Angels.
The dramatic, writer’s trick Thompson used was to pretend he was Dante descending into Hell. Thompson portrayed himself as a hero descending into a ferocious netherworld where lesser men dared not go and he came back with a very personal tale to tell. He even did the convention at the end where he barely escaped with his life and came back from his adventure a changed man. The premise of his storytelling was that people who read his story would also be changed by it. Forty years later, people are still buying the book.
Because Thompson was a good, competent hack. He understood how to do his fucking job. He got storytelling. Most of the writers about the outlaw world who have come after him only know to imitate him. They are afraid to look and they are not nearly as competent as storytellers as Thompson was. So you wind up with books and television shows that are the equivalent of watching a monkey play the piano.
Sure it is great that people like the producers of Sons of Anarchy can make a show about a motorcycle club and get it produced. It is as great as the monkey that can bang out a couple of bars of Scott Joplin. It is just that the monkey isn’t really much of a piano player and Sons of Anarchy really isn’t much of a show.
Kerrie Droban has a new book about the Pagans soming out, by the way. Speaking of performing monkeys. It will be published by McGraw-Hill.
your pal,
Rebel
September 15th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Dear PlainOl’Dave,
Yes! Yes! You are exactly right! They should do Sons of Anarchy as a Dukes of Hazard remake! If they did that I would love the show.
Where you from in Arkansas? I know Ft. Smith. Then I go into a trance for a few hours and then I am in Memphis. Oh, yeah, somewhere in the trance there is Little Rock, That is all I know about Arkansas. Everytime I am there I miss it.
your pal,
Rebel
September 15th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Sorry about that, Grumbler, I didn’t see you had posted essentially the same thing before I posted! If you are ever in the Huntington Bitch/Long Bitch area I owe you a beer and some pizza at Brewbakers. http://brewbakers1.com
YYZ Skinhead
September 15th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Dear Dread,
I couldn’t agree with you more. It is almost impossible to tell the truth about motorcycle clubs and get published or produced because the stereotypes are self perpetuating.
I had a kind of argument with someone who could have actually made my year the other day. I said the ATF is not a credible source of information about motorcycle clubs. I lost the argument. It seems to me that the ATF probably approves of Sons of Anarchy.
your pal,
Rebel
September 15th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Dex – the official version: Around the time of shooting the funeral for ‘Loser’ outside of the church at North Argyle in Hollywood, Bruce Dern was assaulted and beaten by two real Hell’s Angels; Dern tried to explain he was in a movie, but the bikers didn’t believe him and knocked him out cold on the sidewalk. Later, Bruce said: “It was, like, hey, I’m not even alive in the movie, I’m dead, and they’re STILL beating on me…”
YYZ Skinhead – doubt I’ll be in SoCal anytime soon. If you’re up here in Boise, we could split a pitcher of Buttface Amber Ale at The Ram or Moosedrool on tap at Harley’s Pub in Idaho City. Might be in Mammoth Lake next June … got to grab some big air on Westgard Pass.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Rebel:
Could be. Or maybe the good Doctor was just looking for a good buzz?
R.I.P. Hunter Thompson
“If you look west with the right kind of eyes, you can see the high water mark….”
September 15th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
“Makin’ their way
The only way they know how
That’s just a little bit more
Than the law will allow…”
catchy tune…
Then Rebel asked: “Where you from in Arkansas? I know Ft. Smith. Then I go into a trance for a few hours and then I am in Memphis. Oh, yeah, somewhere in the trance there is Little Rock, That is all I know about Arkansas. Everytime I am there I miss it.”
Ummm, that ‘trance’ is probably from all the meth fumes. If you’re running the I40 corridor, you ain’t missing much. Have to come up around Fayetteville / Eureka Springs to see anything worth seeing. I was in LR ‘back in the day’, these days I’m living up in the northern part …
September 15th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
rebel, before i flip you some shit i got to say, i check out this place ever day. you always have damn good info on shit thats going on with the clubs, and your doing an outstanding job keeping up with the shit case they got david b on. he is a good friend of mine and it is good to see not everyone is buying into the shit they got him on. now that said. its just a fucking tv show, they got to get there #’s somehow. can you see if they made it real. guy gets up goes to work comes home eats and goes to bed. repeat for next 4 days. on fri guy goes to clubhouse after dinner and 9 guys spend an hr bitching because someone did not take out the trash on wensday. then they spend the next 2 days drinking and chasing pussy. no way in hell could they sell that shit. i know its got a shit load of silly shit in it, like not one fucking guy that can shoot str8. they do have guys telling them what the deal is, and there is for sure someone from the 81 that has a pretty good part in it almost every week. the way i look at it is at least it aint another fucking show about god damn cops. take it easy. JJ
September 15th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Dread – The reasons for police animosity toward motorcyclists are complex and may have much to do with the fictional “bikers” portrayed in movies and on television. Here’s a long article about that very subject: http://ijms.nova.edu/Spring2009/IJMS_Artcl.Kieffner.html
Philo & Rebel – Myth, Reality, and Revenge in Hunter S. Thompson’s Hells Angels is an article well worth reading:
http://ijms.nova.edu/July2005/IJMS_RT.Kieffner.html
September 15th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
me thinks JJ is on time , WTF! its T.V. so fuck it and let it be what the fuck it is.. rebel excellent reporting man and i hope one day the douchebags will let you write an episode or two! ride safe brothers!
September 16th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Dear Grumbler,
Thank you for the interesting links: The International Journal of Motorcycle Studies. Who would know such a thing exists? So I turn to the “Why Motorcycles” page on that site and the first three words I read are Jorge Luis Borges. So, since you may also have seen this page I will tell you. I met Borges once. At the Toot in Cambridge. I always thought that literary intellectuals twisted him into something he was not. The interpretation of Borges had become so much more important than Borges. I thought it was very Borgesian. If I saw this he had to see this. Right? So, I asked him why he even bothered to write his stories down. Shortly thereafter I was invited to leave.
Thanks again.
your pal,
Rebel
September 16th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Grumbler, good articles. I read HST’s book in San Francisco after I had met some 81 members and started going to their club parties, most of which were charity throwdowns. The book is a well-written piece of fiction. I know there was 30 years’ difference, but the caricatures in the book were not the men I met from charters all over the Bay Area.
YYZ Skinhead
September 16th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
i went to a christian event not to long ago up in running springs and noticed some guy walking around with a t-shirt of sons of anarchy look kool and all then later on noticed he had covered it. ran into him later on during the event and he had said the Green Machine members that stuck around for about 25 minutes or so told him to take it off he replied ” it’s just a show” they didn’t care they said they didn’t want to see it, he told me he didn’t know who green machine was at first then later heard that they were Vagos, thats kinda weird since someone put up that Vagos does most if not all of the riding seens in the show, i don’t see how this could in any way be good for the show or good for the actors in it should have just left the MC life alone the way we like it because if it gets out of hand and disrespects something or someone that can get ugly realy fast.
September 16th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Rebel – I never had the dubious distinction of meeting Jorge Luis Borges nor any of the other authors. There’s definitely some interesting articles at the The International Journal of Motorcycle Studies website.
Motorcycle Menace: Media Genres and the Construction of a Deviant Culture, can be eyeballed at:
http://webs.morningside.edu/masscomm/DrRoss/Research.html
YYZ Skinhead – I actually purchased the first edition of HST’s hardcover book at age 16 while living in Carmel Valley, CA. Even then, I didn’t believe everything I read. The very next book I got on that topic was Freewheelin Frank by Frank Reynolds with that killer cover shot.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Hey Grumbler, thanks for the links.
All I can say is that my own personal experience as a patch holder was a combination of both Jeff’s:
“guy gets up goes to work comes home eats and goes to bed. repeat for next 4 days. on fri guy goes to clubhouse after dinner and 9 guys spend an hr bitching because someone did not take out the trash on wensday. then they spend the next 2 days drinking and chasing pussy.”
description above, and Thompson’s description in his book.
Club life often is a endless string of monotonous BS, (Like arguing over who didn’t take out the trash, or clean the clubhouse), punctuated by sudden, random, explosive acts of violence or strangeness.
In my experiences, the 1% lifestyle is simply put, a lifestyle of extremes in every sense. It can be extremely violent, boring, heart warming, hateful, truthful, and unbelievable.
The people who live this life are also mostly people of extremes. THE most loyal, and I mean truly loyal, people I have ever met were in the clubs. The most honest people as well. But, some of the most worthless SOB’s I’ve ever come across were also patch holders.
One thing they ALL had in common was that they are unique individuals. True American individuals in the most basic and uncompromising sense.
LLR,
Philo
September 17th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Wanna know what kinda guy wears an Ebay SOA shirt? A bud just forwarded this link to a blog with pixs of that guy in Stockton, CA:
http://4qconditioning.blogspot.com/2009/09/ever-wonder.html?zx=ada129ebe681f41
September 17th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Dear Another Mouth,
I am pretty sure Sons of Anarchy is not the official Vagos show. I think probably some guys just make decent money riding bikes in the series. And, more power to them. The one thing I truly like about the show is that some actual bikers can make money from it.
The Vagos, as far as I can remember, have always been intolerant of patches they do not know. Twelve or fifteen years ago I remember some Vagos had a problem for awhile with guys who were wearing ABATE shirts. Guys who have been around the block know what I am talking about. I think a set of phony colors or phony soft colors is likely to be seen as much more disrespectful than an ABATE tee shirt.
your pal,
Rebel
September 17th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Hey Grumbler, that’s really funny. What kind of fuck nut would actually wear that around? Seriously, WTF???
September 17th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Oh, man…that guy in the pics is wearing a big humongous bullseye on his back.
YYZ Skinhead
September 18th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Ok I just got a chance to watch episode #2 of SOA and had to laugh my ass off.
Unlike most of you who read this site I am just on the fringes of the 1% er culture. I know a few and have bought them a beer from time to time at the cat. What I am deep into is the world of ADULT videos I have been making my living in it for the Past 20 years…
The Gold chain wearing Georgie had me rolling my eyes, Oh No here we go. Yup this guy is right out of the typical PORNO mold. We don’t have to assault girls to work for us, Hell all we need to do is call Jim (an Agent) or put and add on Craig’s list. when Jax and crew came in to bust us the set, seeing a bunch if guys waiting on a No-show actress would not look as good as a sex scene being filmed.. But this is a Show and there Job is to get People to watch so they can sell adds. What Sells is TITS, ASS and Bikers, Just Ask “EASY RIDER” Magazine they have been doing it for years
September 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Damn,Dude. That is about the funniest freakin’ take on this “can of soup!” I’m LMFAO! Hey, I did notice one thing they might have picke dup on in the last episode. Doofusses were’nt whereing their colors when they went to do biz. Maybe there just on a very steep learning curve?
September 18th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
yeah, they were very discrete about what they were doin. guess they can wear colors cuz they shoot tec-9s at people in broad daylight and dont get caught
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Kinda weird about the Vagos comment.Green Machine doesn’t get along with 81 and I know for a fact where a couple of “advisors” are from.Matter of fact, last time I talked with family in Oakland, I asked if they watched the show (I hadn’t seen it yet, just heard of it). They were laughin’….said nawwwww….people might BELIEVE that shit….As regards the patch discussion, people are always gonna fantasize.You hit the nail with the “883,CPA think you’re dangerous” comment.I ride all winter and nobody. Then sunny days and EVERYBODY’s a badass,scooter tramp.Way back when the motor company was begging us to save them,now look where they’re coming from, distancing themselves as far as they can from real life examples of the image they promote.Nothing beats the glassy eyed fervor of the newly converted though and shows like SOA wouldn’t be successful if there wasn’t a market.At least OCC went the way and is gone.Just ride yer sleds and put up with the bullshit from LE and RUBS. If you’re the real deal, you can always recognize another one.
September 24th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Yo Rebel:
Lighten up Bro! SOA is just for shits and grins anyway! I watch it for the escapism, there are people out there that have done more to bring bad Karma on the Biker Scene than the crew that puts on SOA.
When you get up in age like most of us Old Schooler’s I hear that your brain sort of expands and press’s on your skull and makes you cranky. Drill some holes and come back with some mellow comments.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I don’t know if you’ve seen this yet but it get’s even better…
http://sonsofanarchypa.com/Welcome.html
September 25th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
LOL True John, rebel kinda sounds like my Dad sometimes.. LOL
September 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
does the Ron Perlman character remind anyone else of the Lee Marvin character in “The Wild One” ? by design? like it or not,Reb,you got a forum on SOA to rival IMDB.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Dear Philo,
For all I know I am your Dad? What does your mother look like?
Rebel
September 29th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Dear Bob,
Oh fucking joy.
Rebel
September 29th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Dear Sled Tramp,
I was at a little HA thing last Friday night in Reno. There was a guy there, for all I know he worked for the show, wearing a set of Sons of Anarchy soft colors chatting with a fairly senior Angel. The SOA guy looked like Hollywood — wearing his sun glasses as a fashion accessory, up on the brim of his baseball cap in the dark.
He seemed important. Like an honored guest. Who knows?
your pal,
Rebel
September 29th, 2009 at 11:36 am
i bought a soa shirt at the swapmeet 5 weeks ago… i wore it to bike night and actually had people ask me if i was on the show.. i told them yes, i start appearing after episode 6.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Well, after 36 years of being denied a seat in a warm diner -after 400 miles in a winter wind,being run over -with an eye to eye smile- a few times,getting pulled over every ten miles etc…maybe I oughta be GLAD somebody’s making a show about patch holders.At least maybe folks won’t think we’re all dumb enough to ride OCC fantasys.What do I know…(eighth grade was the best twelve years of my life)..I’m still trying to figure out what the motor company means by a “slammed suspension”. Only thing slamming my suspension is my 240 pound posterior anatomy.Don’t be surprised if HD-which didn’t want anything to do with S.O.A initially- comes out with a “Jax” model one of these days.
September 29th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Rebel:
Wa…..wa……Waaaaaaaaa
Que snare drum.
LOL
September 29th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
P.S. shhhhhhhhhh
SOA is on……..
September 30th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Had a brain fart last night – didn’t set the DVR to record the SOA Eureka episode. Fortunately, FX repeats that episode on Friday and Sunday nights, and has 3 minute clip from last night on their website as a temporary fix. Man, came this close >< to having an anxiety attack. LOL!
September 30th, 2009 at 7:56 am
sled tramp (and everyone else):
People on eGay are already selling overpriced, underridden Harleys with allusions to SOA in their ads:
http://tinyurl.com/ydzlv66
Probably the most frightening SOA-themed eGay ad:
http://tinyurl.com/y89njlf FAIRINGS, people! FAIRINGS!!
September 30th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Fergot this gem: http://tinyurl.com/ycrsz46 Ooh scary, kids: 666!
September 30th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Here’s a cool biker patch for those wearing SOA gear:
http://cgi.ebay.com/STARBUCKS-Coffee-Logo-Embroidered-Iron-On-Patch_W0QQitemZ260477596363QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090916?IMSfp=TL090916175003r23282
September 30th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Sorry for the digression, but I fucking loathe Charbucks. They went after the artist who created a parody of their logo like a yuppie after the latest trend. To make matters worse, the poor guy got a judge who had no freaking clue about the concept of PARODY and its value to freedom of speech.
Of course… my loathing for Charbucks is kind of moot since I don’t personally drink coffee – but I do what I can to spread the word about what assholes they are.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
At the Target where I used to shop, the one off the 405 in Carson Mall there is an in-store Starsucks. Like 600 feet away in the Kinko’s and Quizno’s strip across the street there is a drive-through Starsucks. On Avalon right across from Carson Mall there is another drive-through Starsucks. Just off Avalon where you get on the 91 there is…well, you get the idea. A LOT of people in San Francisco hate Starsucks, too. At least in San Francisco there are several other too-strong, so-bitter-it-dissolves-your-tongue coffee chains to give Starsucks some of the competition it so richly deserves.
YYZ Skinhead
September 30th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I’ll slam cold ones on tap anytime over an ex$pen$ive *$ java.
Besides, you can get a decent breakfast with a regular cup of joe for just a couple of bucks more at many of the cafes around here. The *$ in downtown Boise went TU.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Sooooooooooo…..it looks like if my sled is S.O.A. flat black (HD Denim but what the hell, we’re talking marketing potential here), I get more for my beloved scoot? COOL! I’ve had my aging eyes on a Vespa in flat black down the street.Add some T-bars and I’m gonna ride with Jax and the boys in style….
Thanx for the links…yet another way for R.U.B.’s et al to be annoying.I finally got around to watching an episode last night-gave in outa curiousity.When they ragged on my beloved Dyna, I went back to Oprah.
October 1st, 2009 at 10:31 am
Dear Sled Tramp,
Okay, I’ll bite. I don’t watch this show but I might start just to write a weekly review. What do you think? And, what problem could these yuppie motherfuckers possibly have with Dynas?
Rebel
October 1st, 2009 at 11:12 am
Have always liked the Low Rider Sport Edition (FXRS-SP) as well as the ’77 FXS Low Rider when it first debuted. When I originally took a ride on a friend’s FXR on CA-160 from Freeport to Antioch, couldn’t believe how smooth it was compared to my ’75 FLH1200. It looked liked a Harley, sounded like a Harley, but didn’t *feel* like a Harley. Haven’t seen the SOA episode that supposedly dissed a Dyna. That’s like slapping my granny hard enough to make her false teeth pop out of her mouth.
A weekly review by Rebel on each SOA episode would rock whether you give a flip or not. Looking forward to all the textual fisticuffs.
October 1st, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Okay, for those of you who don’t watch, here’s the bit about Dynas….
The club is getting ready to attend a charity ride [as cover for running guns] and one of the members (Bobby) pulls up on a backfiring Harley.
offscreen: “Hey, it’s an old fat boy on an old Fat Boy!”
Jax: “I thought you put that beast to sleep?!”
Bobby: “This Fat Boy ain’t even reached its prime.”
Opie: “Barely looks like it can reach the end of the lot.”
Bobby: “Best bike for a long ride – and I’d put it up against any of you pretty Dynas.”
That’s all there is to it, really; of course, Bobby’s cranky bike causes trouble later on in the episode, but that doesn’t have anything to do with remarks about Dynas.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
LOL…Lawdy….whats I gone ‘n did….I think I was looking for any excuse (any) to switch the channel.First episode,don’t even remember the exact quote (thanks Dirty Bruin for the update…..:-)but I took that as my cue to leave.Since it appears the majority of the actors ride Dynas, there wasn’t any disrespect and in any case, to each his own.While not a fan of soft tails, I couldn’t care less what a person rides as long as they’re happy with it.BTW,I currently ride a Dyna that looks suspiciously similar to the ones on the show.While I still hold out fervent hope Willie G. will come out with a newer version of my beloved shovelheads, I kinda doubt it….but rest assured, I’ll seriously contemplate ritual suicide should the thought of bringing up quotes ever cross my brain again…..although if I ever watch another episode I may have to scald my eyes and sleep with the nite light on.
Since I really enjoy your writing Rebel, and there seems to be a collective laugh over “Sighs of Apathy”, just for shits and giggles,go fer it.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Rebel:
Looking foward to your acerbic weekly review’s of SOA. Got to admit though, Bobby looks Old School enough to pass muster. he’s not to bright, which makes him an endearing biker of sorts.
Charming is a little like the American Dream to me, Blacks, Whites, Browns all coming together to make a quick buck, hell it’s almost like Disneyland ! When the Grey Aliens move in a take over everybody’s turf, I’m patching over! Know a good things when I see it.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Rebel:
I think you should do a weekly review of the SOA. I think it would be funnier than shit. My buds and I get good laughs out of it every week.
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:20 am
I belong to a very popular biker social network. In my e-mail today, I got an offer to buy a REAL SOA T Shirt, exclusive offer just for members. I’m sure they will sell out. I’m disappointed though.
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:31 am
There is a show on National Geographic today and tonight called Rescue Ink. It seems to be about tattooed bikers who rescue maltreated animals. It airs at 3 pm and 7 pm Pacific. That would be sort of cool, a show that focuses on some of all the charity work bikers do for the helpless (sick kids, handicapped kids, veterans, the poor, animals, et cetera, et cetera).
YYZ Skinhead
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 am
sled tramp – I used to ride Limeys for a decade or so. While I dig the Dynas, got to say that the Triumph 1600 Thunderbird is on my short list. Checked one out at my dealer, and it’s the dog’s dangly bits (British slang for “the best”) but haven’t done a demo ride — gonna wait until I’m in the market for a new scoot.
Then again, if the MoFoCo ever came out with an updated Shovelhead, my ass would be in the showroom as soon as they rolled it out.
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:52 am
Dear YYX Skinhead,
Great, P.E.T.A on wheels……
Dear Grumbler,
The woman who bore me and then split (All I remember is a bright light and someone saying,”Oh..HELL no…” )was Scottish so I have dual citizenship.In an effort to connect with my cultural roots through the only thing I really understand, I once took a 1968 Triumph 650 Tiger for a putt along Redwood road in Oakland.Great handling,nice bike. Then I went runnin’ down 880 at which time I a) found religion and b) lost ten pounds right then and there in front of the semi that the bike couldn’t outrun. I’m sure those things are spiffy for the U.K. and the new ones are probably like a Yammie R1 or something but I ain’t never…and ..I.. mean..fucking NEVER, gettin’ on one again.
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
sled tramp: Rescue Ink isn’t that bad, though it isn’t great. These guys aren’t Fanatical Animal Rights Terrorists like PeTA and the “Humane” Society of the United States, who profit off animal abuse but don’t provide for the animal victims. Basically the Rescue Ink guys go to bad ‘hoods and rescue pit bulls, Rottweilers and cats from people who maltreat them (like some ass eater who was shooting cats) or for some reason cannot care for them (like an old Navy Vet who was in the hospital after getting mugged and couldn’t feed his pit bulls). At least it isn’t another “big tatted bearded guys who ride bikes are evil” formula.
YYZ Skinhead
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Thanx YYZ Skinhead, I’ll check it out.Just hope my Pits don’t watch it….they’d drop a dime on me and go wait out front.
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
sled tramp – I actually owned a ’68 Triumph 650 Trophy (TR6R) which had chrome parcel rack on blue over silver gas tank. It was excellent on the backroads, but definitely not on the high speed freeways especially during headwinds like those on US-101 north out of King City.
When I lived in Santa Cruz, we’d ride our Triumphs south on US-101 to Atascadero or continue over 41 to Morro Bay for the night then back home via PCH. I last rode one in 1980 and it felt almost like riding a bicycle compared to my Shovelhead.
The Triumph 1600 Thunderbird is a 98 cubic inch parallel twin with gobs and gobs of torque. Sort of like the Triumph version of a Dyna.
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Weird,you described that bike I rode pefectly,it’s be funny if….
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Grumbler,
Brit bikes as you know, have or had,reverse controls to an HD. In that the motor company styled Snortsers to compete with UK sleds originally, they included that feature. At one point in my life, I had decided I wanted a Snorty. Well, I was late one day for work about a week after bringing home a 1959 XLCH.My shovel was low on gas so I jumped on the Sportster.Ripping across town, an AC transit bus hove into my way.I kept hitting the “rear brake” to no avail.Then it dawned on me…..
Ya ever hear the sound of wet liver slapping a stainless steel counter top?
Yep……..
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:18 am
For me, it’s not so much the biker angle of the show as much as the whole standard dramatic side glances / Soap Opera layout of the show. The episode’s I’ve watched (Hello, my name is Dave, and I’ve watched SOA) are fuckin’ boring. If you’ve been unemployed (or unemployable) as much as I have, then you’ve watched some damn soap operas whether you’ll admit to it or not. You got your dreamy bad boy in black leather and the beautiful doctor who loves him but can’t change him. Hell, there’s your basic staple of every SO(A) (hey, I just noticed that…) ever made. And you got your old, conniving Industrialist-type fucker who’s always double-dealing and generally giving everyone around him a King-Royale ass-fucking. And no SO is complete without the old, but still-kind-of-hot Mom sneak-assin’ around keepin bad boy son’s love interest in tears… I could go on, but you get my drift. If your gonna hate SOA, don’t hate it ’cause it’s bikers – hate it for what it is – SOA(P) (I like that, don’t I?). So I guess we know what a certain someone sitting around in his bathrobe in the shadow of Bumfuck Prison, NJ, waiting for his old lady’s royalty checks to come in was influenced by now, don’t we?
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
BTDT as I still had my ’68 TR6R for a few months after getting the ’75 FLH. Was working at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Fremont then. Right shift/left brake on Triumph. Right brake/left shift on HD. Even got confused now and then starting ‘em. Kicker for Triumph, and electric start only HD. Hey, I used to take AC Transit btw the East Bay and SF.
FWIW, the favorite *big* weekend trip back then was Feather River Canyon from Oroville to Quincy then south to Truckee. There was a covered picnic area right after the CA-70 Bridge over Lake Oroville while eastbound – a right turn then downhill with killer views of bridge and lake. No clue why or when it was removed.
Never owned a Sporty. Last time around I borrowed a friend’s ’86 883-1200 with Storz rearsets from Quincy to Downieville via Gold Lake Rd. Unfortunately, he put a wider rim and front tire on which made it harder to flick through the twisties btw Bassetts and Downieville.
October 4th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Hey, Mr. Rebel sir – a question you might can answer. If you Google/ search Myspace-Facebook for one David Labrava (Happy) you’ll find a whole lot of nothing except an image that appears to be him either shirtless or wearing an ’81′ t shirt and standing next to a bike. The next Google entry then lists one: “David M. LaBrava, a member of the Hells Angels from California, was arrested around 3:30 am Friday at the Inn on Broadway, at 1609 West Broadway.” Might this be one and the same, and could this be the mysterious ‘missing link’????
October 4th, 2009 at 10:02 am
The bald, intense club member who rode with Jax, Piney, Chibbs and Half-Sack on the rescue mission in the Eureka episode is Happy, played by technical advisor David Labrava. He appeared in several episodes last year, but it had been a while since he played a prominent role.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I briefly spoke to him outside of Flash’s last year and asked how he liked the show.Big grin.Hopefully, this recent situation won’t be a big deal.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Grumbler:
Thought you’d dig this.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B0007EHZFW/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all
October 4th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Dear Grumbler,
Pre 1988, I spent in enormous amount of my time along 89 between Truckee and Quincy back when both were small towns nobody ever heard of.And Used to run between Bangor and Marysville on uh….business frequently. Would stop off and camp with my brothers at Prosser res and then back trough Tahoe through Kings Beach down through Grass Valley and Dogpatch/North San Juan on uh…..business.Lotta business trips back then.Had a bad high side near Orville one time, got busted for assaulting a Ranger station with a riot gun near Gray Eagle once….good times back in the day.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
YYZ Skinhead – that’s the cover I was referring to. Have the paperback copy of that book although front cover has a blurred pic of dood onna chopper with superlong extended forks, Z-bars, and king N queen seat. Those out-of-print books are ex$pen$ive. Frank died almost 6 years ago.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
sled tramp – has been decades since I was at Flash’s. Recall it being on the west side of foothill blvd with a bar right next door. Across the street was the machine shop which fixed the battery box of my ’67 Triumph 650 chopper. The woman at parts counter had red hair and couple of missing fingers.
Did you ever stop at Toki’s Cafe in North San Juan on 49? It’s a tiny place with killer breakfast. Been all over those roads through Bangor, Forbestown, Brownsville, et al. Good friend of mine used to live just north of Marysville so we did a bunch of rides around there.
Man, you had a blast in those days. Me, comparable times in Santa Cruz. Did low side while hauling ass on Empire Grade Rd, but my bud sailed over the cliff, and landed 10′ down. All he got was a puncture wound on his leg while his scoot was AFU. Had to go back home, get my van and bunch of friends plus a rope then haul his bike outta there. We all smoked some good shit afterwards. LOL!
October 4th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Ate a lot of breakfasts in Nevada City…we rode a lot down in Felton,S.C.,Roaring Camp etc…Big runs back then, it was neutral territory with no clubs allowed.Santa Cruz hippy girls that loved hopeful scooter tramps.Strong biker communities.Herbal smoke,pig roasts,kids playing with pitbull puppies…Now of course, both politics and the areas are completely different.Late Lonny,Dick Allen,John Carney…all those guys made the 70′s in Santa Cruz worth livin’.Flash’s is now across from the clubhouse.It would be nice if a miniscule amount of the “bikers” nowadays knew about those times.What it meant, the apprenticeships we went through culturally,socially etc.The love of our people and how much we worked on our sleds together.People now have no understanding….Way off the board topic but I wanted to say that…
October 5th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Had lots of breakfasts in GV/NC, too. Unfortunately, that region became a bedroom community with too much congestion. Lived off Felton Empire Rd for awhile. There was a retired member (G.P.) of the club living just off Ocean St in SC during the ’70s. He also had a CB750 in addition to his HD. He was good people and we rode to/from Sacto Drags with bunch of slickbacks. Bill Casey was the big name in Santa Cruz then. Had his own m/c parts biz, and was the wheelie king. Killed in m/c accident near Chico. Yup, times have changed, and not for the better. We hauled ass and helped each other with everything as brothers. Too many instant bikers are nothing more than rolling pirate roadblocks going 10mph or so under the speed limit these days. They’re cagers on bikes.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:36 am
sled tramp – do you recall the Losers M/C in Monterey before they patched over? Knew a couple of them as they went to same skools as me.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Been watchin SOA and this show is getting more and more rediculous as the weeks go by, I watched last season and it wasn’t too bad but this season is so stupid, I have a feeling this show may not make many more seasons, but if it does I sure as hell will be surprised.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Grumbler,
Most of the patchholders I was on a personal basis with were in the S.J. area.Everyone I knew south of S.J. on a more than recognition basis was independent.I remember Bill Casey I think.It amuses me that so many guys now want to style their bikes ala 70′s.Hell, my current sled starts every time,doesn’t leak and I don’t spend Friday night tightening everything.I rode that way back then because we were poor…:-)Rigid frames,true suicides,16/21,bates, a P-pad and apes were great when I was 20.I ain’t 20 no mo’….(Still ride apes tho’).
S.O.A. will inevitably create a style-itself based upon a lot of current 81 sleds-and the R.U.B.’s will emulate it.Whereas we were shoved a few milk cartons of parts,had a manual thrown at us,”Here’s the bible,call if you need us” and we did what our mentors had shown us.Our sleds were a product of both our times and our areas. Norcal vs. LA etc..You could tell a lot about scooter folk from their sled.Now it’s all cookiecutter baggers. I guess it’s better to have people riding something than not but -and I’m not whining about the “Good ol’ days” here, they often meant being stranded or scrambling for a part on the night before a required run-the community as a whole has suffered a permanant loss which was the actual reason to a great extent that guys rode in the first place.I try to explain it sometimes to the newer crop but it’s lost in translation.I actually walked into a dealer and was looking at a bike on the floor when these two older guys-well, older than me and I’m older than dirt-with the full HD regalia getup started the “Well, think you’re man enough?” I kept thinking there was someone behind me since I’m kinda shaggy and covered in flash and more or less fit the profile of “Scooter person from way back”.The second I started talking to them about some older models (I’m always happy to talk to someone who rides), they got real nervous,looked for an exit and trotted away.Later on I found them staring-and I mean staring, at my “support your local” sticker,no effort to communicate once it had been determined I wasn’t H.O.G. material I guess.My point is, there’s a huge chasm of distance between now and then of course and shows like S.O.A. as has been pointed out and rightfully so, is a soap opera and viewers may actually think that’s how it is, but the real deal of the past is in the wind and gone and there was something about that time ,some intangible quality that will never be again.I get depressed reflecting on it,I better go order something black from the motor company so I can be “edgy with street cred”.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Bill Casey lived at northwest corner of Ocean/Broadway in Santa Cruz and rode a Kawasaki 650 W2 with rigid forks (no sliders). I got out of choppers in ’73. Haven’t had a rigid since. Was more into the stripped FLH1200 sleds by the mid-70s. Santa Cruz was mostly Ironheads, a few Panheads, and Limeys. Not much in the way of Shovelheads until closer to the late ’70s.
Am also happy to talk with other old skool riders. Ain’t got much patience for clueless newbies with craptastic riding skills. One thing I’ve learned over the years, especially after being pulled over 27 times in DC/MD/VA at ages 18-19 onna customized scoot, was not to attract unwanted attention. Meaning, keep a low profile. Fads, as we both know, come and go. Today’s SOA theme bikes will eventually be replaced by, who knows, Garbage Wagons with a badzillion LED running lights. ;^)
I don’t give a flip for what anyone rides, but *how* they ride. Tired of getting stuck behind those slow turds on the backroads. Almost as if they’re afraid to capsize if they lean their bikes more than a couple of degrees. Maybe they need seasickness pills.
Knew how to ride motorcycles before I learned how to drive a cage so that affects my perspective on shitty riders.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Interesting blog over at http://sutterink.blogspot.com/ today…
October 5th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
PlainOl’Dave,
Thanks for the link.Interesting…waidaminit…..FREE Harleys?!?!?
October 7th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Yeah, I wondered about “free Harleys” too. Perks for working on the show?
YYZ Skinhead
October 8th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Sled Tramp:
Your right on the money with the “feel of the times” comment. Nothing feels the same as it did in the 60′s or early 70′s. Three is no way to communicate how it “felt” back then. It is depressing to reflect on that aspect. I guess each era has it’s own feel. Everything went south after Disco.
It looks like the Crew of SOA is gloming on the OCC model: grab all the freebie’s you can, while the show is hot. It will ultimately cool down. More power to them, if I could find some chumps willing to give me a free ride, WELL…..
October 8th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
i think this show is the bees knees makes me wanna put ape hangers on my goldwing
October 8th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Along the “feel of the times”; I don’t think any decade since the (early) 70′s has been worth a shit. You had head shops, outdoor rock festivals, sex that wouldn’t kill you, just make you ‘drip’ a little, Easyriders magazine didn’t suck yet, best music ever made – okay, along with redneck cops that hassled you relentlessly – but even so, hell yeah, I miss the 70′s. I saw one of those goofy primary chain belts on Ebay going for a couple hundred bucks recently. I remember Nasty Edwin, my riding buddy, got one when they came out, and him trying to keep his 28″-Levi’s-ridin’-below-a-44″-gut up with 15 pounds of chain wrapped around them. Looked cooler’n hell, but ain’t no telling how many times he walked out of his britches before he finally gave up on it. Don’t know what happened to the belt, but he’s still got the just as goofy leather flyers helmet and goggles he bought out of the back of Easyriders around the same time. Now we’re just old and pot-bellied, but it’s still kinda cool to drag that old junk out of the boxes now and then and tell those “you remember when you and that ol’ chick, Burn-out Betty; or was it ol’ Hatchet-Gash, did… ???” stories. Like the saying goes, “if I gotta explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand…”
October 10th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Rebel,
Give me an e-mail or call me. I represent one of the Mongols whose gone Pro Se. My client wants to have e-mail contact with you.
If you send me an e-mail, I’ll give you all my personal info. I’ve enjoyed your blog and think your a man of rare insight. You are good at thinking outside the box. A friend if you ever need one.
Tanks, G. Patrick Little PI 10380
October 10th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Dear G. Patrick Littler,
Write me at:
rebel@agingrebel.com
I generally get back within 48 hours. Sometimes faster. Pro se is rough. These federal cases can be so technical and unethical that even experienced trial lawyers have problems.
In his current book, Harvey Silverglate talks about, “…a long line of dubious legal assaults against members of the bar. Lawyers as a group are not particularly popular, and those who take on criminal matters often sink to the bottom of an already low pile. Still, the independent bar has been a bulwark against government overreaching and official repression…(and now there is) a prosecutorial assault on lawyers who are, essentially, just doing their jobs….”
Sliverglate goes on to quote Jon Schoenhorn, President of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, as saying that there seems to be a prosecutorial trend “to make lawyers shills or hand maidens for police and government investigators.”
This whole Mongols case stinks of prosecutors kicking defense attorney’s in the ass. Sometimes, Judge Cooper seems to be just a teensy bit gullible.
At the same time, everybody knows the old saw about having “a fool for a client.” I want to like Judge Cooper, but I do not doubt that if she catches somebody in the act of defending himself she will be just as cruel and merciless as any other federal judge would be.
I understand why a government defender might be cowed and/or frustrated by the prosecutors in this case and why a defendant might be dissatisfied with his representation. But the trial is still scheduled for November 24. There is a status conference scheduled before that and all these guys need to lawyer up. My opinion, anyway.
I am not a lawyer. My legal knowledge is rudimentary. I do not know that I can help. But, with that disclaimer, if I can help I will.
your pal,
Rebel
October 11th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Uh, “pro Se” means you represent yourself. I’m confused. You’re a lawyer for a guy who’s his own lawyer?
hmmmmmmm
Just Sayin
October 11th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
PI, not lawyer. Ahhh got it. Never mind. Different type of representation.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:24 am
are these guys in the show? i don’t reconize them. http://www.bikerornot.com/user/197077
October 16th, 2009 at 11:25 am
http://www.bikerornot.com/user/197077 does anyone know who these guys are? are they part of the show?
October 21st, 2009 at 6:34 am
Love the review and the site Rebel!! I still have yet to watch the show and doubt I will. I am friends with many bikers here in the Detroit area and they too have said that they think this show is some funny stuff. People at my work keep trying to get me to watch and say how “awesome” the show is, and for that reason alone is why I think I have not watched it haha.
Keep up the good work on the site, i’ve already given the link to some friends of mine. Also did you ever watch the movie “Stone Cold” with Brian Bosworth and Lance Henriksen and if so what did you think of that one??
October 21st, 2009 at 10:06 am
Dear cementhed,
I haven’t seen that movie for a long time. Is that the thing where at the end they jump a bike into a helicopter? I am not positive, but I am pretty sure I liked it better than Sons of Anarchy. As I remember it, it had some moments. Especially at the beginning. Lance Henriksen could actually seem a little on the edgy side. His character had that edgy smile. Like when he smiled at you you could not be certain if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe I just missed it, but I don’t ever remember seeing a smile like that in the little Sisters of Anarchy.
your pal,
Rebel
October 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
The Wild Angels and Hells Angels On Wheels were my two favorite B movies from the ’60s. The latter was filmed in Bakerspatch after the opening scenes in SF with the Madcaps M/C members as extras. Never saw Stone Cold which is prolly comparable to Beyond The Law. Yeah, Under And Alone supposed to debut next year.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Hey Rebel
I liked that movie alot actually. I thought Henriksens’ character was well done and the funeral they had where they lit the guy on fire was fairly intense. As for “Sisters of Anarchy” (good one)-i’ll be skipping that cuz if all the bikers I know think its crap well if is walks like a duck and talks like a duck then its probably crap–or something like that ha!
Heres one for ya…do you remember ” CC and Company” with Joe Namath and Ann Margaret hahah!! It even had Sid Haig in it (from House of 1000 Corpses). Had to throw that movie out there–Joe Namath as a biker, he of the pantyhose haha.
ride on Rebel
November 4th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Greetings from a “citizen” and dyed-in-the wool square. I wear square clothes and follow square pursuits, and I like it that way. I also like that there are other people in the world who do things in completely different ways from how I do them.
I don’t ride and don’t have plans to do so–too much of a klutz. I do ski, which I suppose could be viewed in a similar light, but being short, I’m close to the ground and can delude myself that it somehow compensates for my klutziness and is still in keeping with my risk averse nature.
I’m just visiting here because I find your world interesting, and I hope you don’t mind that.
I agree that SOA works best as a gangster soap opera–or a non-animated cartoon–with the added pageantry of colors and all the “cool” symbols used by motorcycle clubs. Actually, in my opinion, motorcycle clubs are almost unrivaled in their understanding of the power of complex systems of visual symbols over the human imagination. Do clubs give a “semiotics” patch? Hamlet it’s not; the correspondences don’t resonate in the way that say West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet do.
One appeal of SOA for the general public is that it proports to offer a window into places where most of us don’t venture. Of course, the problem is that it is a sensationalized, time compressed, TV attention span window. Watch Law and Order; then watch a real trial for a similar crime. It will give you some idea of the distance between drama and real life. (hint; real trials in real time are like watching paint dry)
I once read somewhere that the average cop on a TV show fires his gun more times in a single season than most cops draw their weapons in a career. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggerationg, but you see the point. That’t the metric that a viewer should apply to a show like SOA. If real life were as “eventful” as the average TV show, there would be no one left.
I’m appalled that people want to play “dress up” with SOA merchandise, mainly because I find it appalling when anyone over the age of 12 has so much trouble separating fantasy from reality; I think it’s more laughable than profane, but I guess I’d feel as many of you do if someone hung out a shingle and pretended to be a doctor without having gone through medical school, internship, and residency. (We have an especially long prospecting period).
One benefit of SOA that you may not have considered; I’m a curious sort, and SOA piqued my curiosity about a world I had never really noticed before. Fortunately, we now have the internet, which for all its flaws gives anyone the opportunity to try to present themselves to the world in the manner in which they’d like to be seen, and without being bothered by all kinds of people coming up to them and asking stupid questions. So I’ve been doing an internet based tour of the motorcycle world. It’s not a substitute for actually meeting the people about whom I’ve been made curious, but I feel that it at least gives me a fairly easy way to listen and learn. I don’t know yet what I think or believe about all that I’ve read and seen, but at least now I have more than one stream of information from which to draw.
To the extent that many people may form their opinions based on a show like SOA, it’s a problem; to the extent that it gets some people to look at worlds other than their own in a way that increases their understanding of others, maybe it’s not so bad.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Dear Square Verbose Doc,
Welcome to Dr. Rebel’s Advanced Colloquium on Postmodern Themes on the Motorcycle Outlaw Frontier. Required readings for November include Frontier Violence: Another Look by W. Eugene Hollon; All the essays in Richard White’s “It’s Your Misfortune And None of My Own:” A New History of the American West; and, of course, Richard Slotkin’s so swell trilogy on the myth of the frontier in America comprising the volumes Regeneration Through Violence, The Fatal Environment and Gunfighter Nation.
When next I hear from you, I expect you to give me a couple of thousand cogent words on the frontier as a portable and marketable ideology and how motorcycle clubs epitomize that ideology. Make it sing. I need it to be good so I can steal it and put it in my next book.
No, nobody gives a semiotics patch. Don’t over think it, okay? First you must get it. We could use a good professor around here. And, I am certain that eventually your good questions will outnumber your condescending ones.
My personal approach to aesthetics, by the way, is basically Aristotelian. (So that will be the official approach in this colloquium and the only approach that will be tolerated.) Call me a dinosaur. (But only behind my back.) I think there should be more life in drama than there is in life. That is the point of putting on a show. And, that is my problem with Kurt Sutter’s fine Hollywood presentation. Granted, I concede, there are more gun shots in Sons of Anarchy than in real life. But dramatizing guns shots is easy. Dramatizing life is hard.
And, your other assignment before next we meet is to go out and get some stories. Okay?
Welcome to Anthropology 623. You have my consent to come back some other time. No motorcycle, might be a problem, by the way. We will try it and see. Do you at least own a Bowie Knife?
Your pal,
Professor Rebel
November 4th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Dear Rebel,
That wer sed gud.
Sled Tramp
November 4th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Good god, no intent to condescend. If I say that I think motorcylce clubs are among the best practitioners of the use of systems of symbols, it’s because I mean it, and because I admire that. And now back to my homework.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Oh–one more thing. No Bowie knife, but I’ve got a kick ass paper shredder. I am who I am.
November 25th, 2009 at 7:06 am
(The Wild Angels and Hells Angels On Wheels )
WA started it all for me, the beginning sequence Fonda on the Springer riding along the canal did it for me, scaring the shit out of civilians. The next week I had Apes on my schwinn LOL. Have had a Springer and Apes ever since I could afford it (Harley not Schwinn LOL)…..
November 25th, 2009 at 9:26 am
In typical Hollywood fashion, the combined might of basically every minority came together to defeat the evil white racist. Only thing that was missing were those poor misguided Latino’s who had been sucked into the white racists web of capitalist oppression.
Seriously, isn’t there any other bad guy in the world besides white skinheads. I know I’ve said this before, but FFS! This shit gets old.
P.S. Nice ad for Sutters tattoo’s at the end.
They holed up the family in the clubhouse? WTF is that?? Are they trying to get them killed? party pads are the first thing to get the torch. Well, maybe not in Sutterland.
Here’s to the Hollywood biker eh?
pfffffffffffttttttttttttttt
November 25th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Philo: I had a similar thought myself. Spreading out the friends & family makes it harder for the club to keep watch over them – but also harder for an enemy to hit them all at the same time. Given that Zobelle’s crew didn’t have a problem with attacking Gemma to get at Clay, nor of sending in a car bomb – roll up a big enough bomb at the curb side of the building – no need to get through the gate – and a great many of those people will be dead, most of the rest injured to one degree or another.
The last episode of the season promises to be … interesting.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:55 am
We’ll probably not see any of those fake patch sets out here in the far west.It’s dropped below 45 on a clear day, and in a week or roughly 600 miles, I’ve seen all of two bikes on I-5.One Honda and a couple on a Beemer.Ya can’t freeze yer balls off if you ain’t got ‘em…..
November 25th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
@DirtyBruin:
Exactly. Another example of Hollywood “reality” LOL
What did they use on the Henchman’s clubhouse in Chi-Town? A Ford Taurus? Packed enough into that to make the 3rd largest explosion in America after Oklahoma City bombing and the 1st Twin-Towers bombing. (That was pre-9-11 of course)Are we supposed to believe that those guys couldn’t get enough diesel fuel and fertilizer out there to level that compound? A nation wide conspiracy of oppressive white fascists, and they can’t figure out how to cook a few pounds of Semtex???
Of course then it would only be a two season show, and Sutter would lose the chance to hock his tattoo shit at the end….
You know man, I can understand that it’s all Hollywood BS, but it still gets too stupid sometimes.
What say you rebel? We all know you sit with your ass glued to the lazy boy every Tuesday anxiously awaiting the next episode. LOL
November 25th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Philo: Hmm… C-4 would be easier, I think; it’s active ingredient is all RDX, and that’s safer to handle than PETN (Semtex has a blend of the two). Though I have to admit – I don’t know how touchy the synthesis of RDX is. For an application like this, I’d imagine one would want the most powerful explosive possible – the smaller the bomb, the less suspicion it would raise on being brought close to the clubhouse.
If the SOA had any sense, they’d line the curb with known vehicles so only pedestrians could get any closer than that – given the inverse-square falloff in explosive force, every bit of distance helps… and if someone double parked a huge truck right outside the clubhouse, I’d HOPE the armed lookouts on the roof would raise an alarm.
Also, it occurred to me that the meeting room is what’s next to the street. Assuming that they wouldn’t care to have non-members in there – that could behave a bit like a “crumple zone” in a car, absorbing some of the blast energy.
Sorry for the length of that… once I get started on something like this, it’s hard to stop. I’m a native-born process/scenario wonk; people at my last job who came up with poorly thought out ideas hated me. (I never shredded anyone’s idea … I just illuminated the holes that already existed. *grin*)
It just peeves me they couldn’t toss in a line or two saying that someone had at least thought of this, even if they decided for whatever reason Zobelle, etc. wouldn’t go that far. Ah well; nothing’s perfect. I do enjoy the show for what it is, but I find little annoyances even in the TV shows I love most.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:13 am
Dear Square Verbose Doc…..
Welcome to the mix. The subject does not lend itself to verbosity, It’s existential in nature. It’s the doing that brings understanding. Humming Bird’s hum because they don’t know the words. Don’t be a HUMMINGBIRD !
What I would suggest for you is to borrow Rebel’s copy of “Wild Hog’s” DVD and experience the danger of the open road. Failing that, locate a local crew and become a hang around. Of course they will tell you to “get lost kid” but if you look the part, who knows ?
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:50 am
@John Cokos:
Dontcha know bud?
Rebel had a bit part in that movie. LOL He was Tim Allen and John Travolta’s other riding buddy. The guy with the “Apple” tattoo….
Bwhahahahhahahaha
P.S> HEY REBEL, WHEN YOU GONNA WRITE THE Devils Diciples piece?
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Dear Philo,
Getting there, partner. Fucking swine flu is kicking my ass. Getting there.
your pal,
Rebel
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Wow, what a crock this is:
http://www.sonsofanarchypa.com
If anyone wants to call this guy up and ask him WTF he’s doing, have at it
Registrant:
Georgiann Ross
36 Wilkes lane
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania 18702
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: SONSOFANARCHYPA.COM
Created on: 14-Dec-08
Expires on: 14-Dec-10
Last Updated on: 05-Feb-09
Administrative Contact:
Ross, Georgiann georgiann.ross@bcnepa.com
36 Wilkes lane
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania 18702
United States
(570) 822-9737
Technical Contact:
Ross, Georgiann georgiann.ross@bcnepa.com
36 Wilkes lane
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania 18702
United States
(570) 822-9737
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Rebel, drop me an email…
Hope you get over the bacon death soon.
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I’ve emailed the email address on the web page a couple of times in the past – no response.
Some nice fellow just posted a link to here on the FX SOA forum… expect an influx of new readers.
Hope you get better soon Rebel!
(Oh, and I just got the “-hack”… touche!)
December 15th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
show has a lot of holes in it to be sure. most of my pals think I’m an idiot for watching it. what the hell it only tv I am amazed at the fan response forums about the show podcasts(2) with probably more to come. shit I cant help myself just another old timer got a shovel now, had one in 1970 had others in between 2 evo’s and a twincam, but the shovel is just fine for me.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
fukin amazing
January 14th, 2010 at 1:45 am
I like tramp
February 15th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Jeezuz! SOA is just plain effing fiction. Gangland episodes on 1% clubs is what is put out there from public record and or testimony of former members, in, out bad or other. It is what it is.
SOA is like watching The Shield, The X Files or Dark Skies, etc. – It’s all good fiction for the masses who haven’t been on the inside but would love to have a fictional look at a world that they will never be a part of. It’s all FICTION.
I have met some 1% er’s and have had generally a good experience. Just saying….just my 2 cents. I return to drinking shots. Amen Brothers!
Respects to Aging Rebel.
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