reMembering Tucson

It is great to be able to write articles over time. For example when this was 1st written it made sense:

Some of our hosts have requested that we take a moment to remember some of the happenings in the various cities. Seems like the kinda thing that might happen frequently but more likely this will be the only one, so enjoy it fucckos!

Now it seems silly and pointless. Suck is life...

Remembering Tucson aka Chukson

Our friends from the Detritus Network had been scheming to bring rad bike folk to the Southwest for some time. This visit was the impetus for the entire trip and much of the timing of events that have transpired have been due to this.

Fuh-Kin-Rhad is how the native settlers to this area might have described this weekend. It was Dry River's third year of operating a radical resource space. Of course they needed a major party to celebrate. We have only shown both movies on the same visit in 2 other cities (Seattle and SLC, both bike porn meccas in their own right) and nowhere in Arizona, New Mexico or Texas has The Pornography of the Bicycle been screened.

Dry River is also dry, as in no alcoholic beverages are consumed on premises. As some of you might already know this can be challenging for some working though thier various stances on pornography. Nevertheless our troops were able to muster though masterbaterfully.

Both screenings were at capacity, which was exciting to see although neither of them generated much money. This frustrated our hosts and organizers greatly:

"All these kids come drive down from the suburbs in their parents cars and plead poverty. I just want to shake them soundly and yell, 'Ask your mom for $2 you spoiled brat!'

Still it was exciting to see all the overwhelmed faces straining to understand what they had just seen, including a performance by the Whiskey Breath Burslque who in their creative-ly stripping-mocking fashion were the first people we heard using the phrase, "Obama-Nation" only days after he won the November election.

A front runner in "The most uncomfortable moment of the Westward Ho! tour award" goes to a lanky bearded fellow following the screening. A person resembling Brent Barber of the Bicycle Film Festival hounded our pornographers for about an hour. He had many of the same facial expressions and kinda awkward behaviors as Brent. Perhaps a relative?

He was very interested in many of the "secrets" of the bike porn bizness... how many submissions we receive and other such insider info. Could this lead to some sort of cross bike film festival showdown? Conspiracy theorists, please comment below.

Over the course of the weekend we were able to to a radio interview on Free Radio ChukShon with Estaban Caliente.

The bike porn interview starts at 41:30, but the entire program is about bikes and features bike related songs by Tom Waits, Pink Floyd, Public Enemy, Clinetle, Chumbawumba and others. Plus listeners will learn the origin of the name "Tucson" which we found fascinating.

We were able to partake in the All Soul's Procession. 1000s of joyful mourners parade down the street in costumes and face paint, carrying photos or otherwise remembering those souls lost.

Then there was Bicas. Possibly the most amazing bike shop we have visited on this tour. There was an enormous collection of well organized parts with lots of instructional signs to help people learn more about bike repair. A few workers there were overjoyed that we were coming, but many (possibly most?) of the shop folk were specifically avoiding the show at all costs. Nevertheless the ones that did come were very stoked and connected us with some bike polo players, who turned out for some sport two days in a row when they normally would not. We hope that with the half dozen new players who showed up will become regulars to the sport will get connected with the growing international hardcourt polo movement and visit us in PDX sometime.



Thanks to our hosts who showed us the size of the local cactus.