Archive for July, 2007

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I got Lomo’d!

July 31, 2007

I wanted to get into Lomo a little after I got my Vespa. I’ve always felt the two fits the same carefree and hip lifestyle. As I did a little research about Lomography through LomoManila, I’ve realized that — although I love the texture of images it creates — I’m not up for the arduous footwork involved with the hobby by having films processed and developed before seeing the images I took. I thought it was as easy as digicam. From then on, I gave up on the idea. Below is a mock ad about the “don’t think, just shoot” attitude involved in the art of Lomo lovin’.

Recently, J-Mag got into the lomo craze and I’ve never seen him without his new ‘toy’ since. When hanged-out in the Threelogy office last week, he took several shots of me as I arrive on my Vespa. Here are the resulting lomographs. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Advertisements, My Vespa, Photos | 4 Comments »

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Homer rides a Vespa?

July 26, 2007

I watch The Simpsons Movie yesterday as it opens here in Manila. I am a big fan of the show and a collector of everything Simpsons so understandably, this movie is something I’ve waited for for more than 15 years!

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Don’t get the wrong idea. Homer didn’t ride a Vespa in the movie. The image above is just something I did based on this Simpsons artwork. Posting it here is just an excuse so that this blog entry would have some semblance of not straying from my usual blog topic. But Homer did ride a motorcycle in the movie which was crucial to the plot, but it wasn’t a Vespa.

Like what I said in this other blog I maintain, the film is entertaining not in the big Hollywood blockbuster kinda way, but it’s clear that the creators had fun making the movie with the intention to mess up with the audience. It’s a fun watch that I recommend to anyone who appreciates the TV show.

What makes me more amazed is how they marketed this movie. Consider these…. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Movies, Topic Off-Vespa, Videos | 7 Comments »

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An Artsy & Gastronomic, Off-City Ride!

July 10, 2007

The Vespa community here in Manila, regularly meets Wednesday nights almost every week. Nothing fancy, really. Just an informal get-together among buddies and is usually done at a nightspot anywhere in the Metro. But recently, the Vespa riders from Angono, Rizal (just about 30km east of Manila) invited the rest of us to hold one of the regular meets in their town, and everyone welcomed the idea.

The Angono boys (at least four Vespa riders based in the town) told us they’ll take care of the planning and logistics. Everyone was expecting the event to be just another regular Vespa gathering. But boy, were we so wrong! First, they surprised us with this one:

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COOL POSTER! Now, it suddenly looked like it’s a well-planned event. But I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore as the Angono boys come from a place considered the “Art Capital of the Philippines.” Right then, I realized that Angono’s reputation as a town where artists are grown really holds true. It’s not just a place where some of our great artists call home (three of them already hailed as National Artists), but it’s also where one could find the Petroglyphs - the oldest known work of art in the Philippines.

The first part of ride to Angono will consist of visits to some galleries, art studios and museums; including a tour of the residence and studio of National Artist Botong Fransisco. I’m no painting fanatic, but having the chance to visit such a historical place during a ride doesn’t happen a lot, so I’m looking forward to it (detailed itinerary posted here).

Compounding the excitement is what’s in store for us after the tour. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Local Scene, Rides & Travels | 7 Comments »

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Rider’s Profile - Amerivespa series: Bryan Bedell

July 7, 2007

It’s the weekend and time to end this series with bang! Okay, if that’s too much of a word, then maybe ‘buzz’ is the more appropriate term. ;)

You see, today’s profile features a guy I consider ‘the main man’ when it comes to online scooter news. In fact, he has been scooter blogging back in the days when blogging seemed too geeky a concept meant only for computer nerds and loners. Talk about some pioneering work! His site is well known among scooterists in the States, here in the Philippines, and probably the rest of the world (or at least, the English-speaking part of the world)!

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That’s him back in 1995 on his first ever scooter — a vintage Vespa Primavera. Let’s get to know more about this guy and the work he’s done in the U.S. scootering scene. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Rider's Profile, Site Review, Vespa Overeas | 8 Comments »

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Rider’s Profile - Amerivespa series: David Mangano

July 6, 2007

The next guy in this series in not a just a blogger. He’s more of a podcaster — coming up with weekly episodes about scootering and stuff. The music’s great too! I have been fortunate enough to be his guest for this week’s episode (if you haven’t caught that yet, you may listen to it here); and it was one hell of an experience for me!

rider_dave-magano3yo.jpgHe maintains a blog for the sole purpose of posting show notes for each episode and to post related images and links as mentioned in the show. Basically you just hear the guy. For listeners curious to see the face behind the voice, the only picture of him in his site is this black & white shot taken back when he was three years old. Pretty mysterious guy, huh? But for his profile here, he sent me his current picture along with his three(!) Vespa scooters — one even has a sidecar! *drool* Check ‘em out. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Rider's Profile, Vespa Overeas | 4 Comments »

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Rider’s Profile - Amerivespa series: Steve Williams

July 5, 2007

A series about American Vespa bloggers wouldn’t be complete without seeing the name of today’s featured rider. His blog was named the “Best motorcycle or scooter blog” in the 2007 Rider’s Choice Awards by the Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI) — an association of riders who write and maintain motorcycle blogs, which we’re both a part of.

He is a photographer by profession as evident with the scenic and postcard-ish images found throughout his blog. He has (wittingly or unwittingly) created a signature style of photographing a Vespa. In fact, in one out-of-town ride during a certain stretch where I had the chance to be by my lonesome, I took a few pictures with his style in mind. Understandably, my shots turned out way inferior since I lack the talent and all I had was a cellphone camera. :oops: Still, I hope to post those images in the future as an homage to this guy’s artistry.

Just how good a photographer this guy is? I’ll let his picture do the ‘talking.’

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His photographs are usually like the one above: a rural landscape with only his Vespa. Strangely, his images feel so alone but never lonely; instead you get some sense of serenity and contentment. If I were to describe his pictures in a word, I’d say: SOLITUDE.

But his blog is famous not just because of his stunning photographs. He’s a good storyteller as well. I’m just glad he agreed to participate in this series. On with his profile… Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Photos, Rider's Profile, Site Review, Vespa Overeas | 3 Comments »

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Rider’s Profile - Amerivespa series: Ben J. Armstrong

July 4, 2007

The next featured rider/blogger is a visual artists who is currently building his own airburshing and illustration portfolio. In fact, he says he loves ink whether it’s printed, crowquilled, rapidographed, or subdermally injected.

Having said that, let me first show you this Art Vespa below - an unassuming skin art which I first saw in a blog post of our featured rider.

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That’s not our featured rider’s tat, but something he would’ve considered if it hasn’t been done already. I myself would want to get me one of that the moment I saw it. For the uninitiated, it may seem like a petty hand-doodle of some childish arithmetic. But for any vintage or classic Vespa rider, that would make perfect sense. It’s subtle and witty with just the right touch of sense-of-humor. And the placement of the design on the left hand couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Now let’s meet the guy who features interesting art, motorcycle & scooter related stuff such as that in his own blog. Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Art Vespa, Rider's Profile, Vespa Overeas | 2 Comments »

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Rider’s Profile - Amerivespa series: Orin O’Neill

July 3, 2007

Since Amerivespa is coming up next week (July 12 to 15), I thought that featuring American Vespa/scooter bloggers for another round of the Rider’s Profile series would be a great idea.

Amerivespa is sort of like the Vespa Attack held annually here in Manila every December. The difference is that the U.S. counterpart is hosted by a different city each year under the umbrella of the Vespa Club of America. For 2007, the host city is Seattle, Washington.

And what better way to open this series and start the ball rolling by featuring a rider based right where all these scootering action will be! Let’s get to know him and more about his participation in this year’s event.

Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Rider's Profile, Vespa Overeas, Vespa Tidbits | 5 Comments »

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Stutter here, stammer there, ‘Uhmm’ & ‘Actually’ everywhere!

July 2, 2007

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The podcast interview I was talking about last week is finally out. It’s pretty cool to see my riding pic accompanying the episode once it got loaded in my wife’s iPod. I just had to take a screenshot for posterity. ;)

But the coolness stops there! Don’t get me wrong. Dave did a pretty amazing job with how he edited our conversation. If you know me and if, after hearing it, you’d say it’s obvious that I was a nervous wreck the entire time; try to imagine how that could’ve sounded raw.

But despite that, I think the interview is still pretty interesting. You can actually listen to it three times. First, to count my how many times I said “actually.” Next, count the times I went “uhmm.” And finally, listen to the actual conversation and stop being so critical! hahaha!

iCringe,

-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA

john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com

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Posted in Local Scene, My Vespa, Personal | 15 Comments »