my wife Benz, my daughter Kite, me and Pyke
(photo by: Jayson Arquiza)
From our family to yours,
here’s greeting you the most wonderful Christmas
and even more blessings for 2008!
Cheers!
~John, Benz & Kite
www.weddingsatwork.com
whoridesavespa.com
as seen in a shop window in Paris
(photo courtesy of Amanda of Frenchesque)
Even Rudolph and the rest of the reindeers need a break once in a while. So when Santa Claus needs to rush and deliver some remaining gifts to the nice kids all over the world in time for Christmas day, his rides a scooter. 
Ho…ho… ho… rides a Vespa?
-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
First saw images from this biker chick shoot in Louie A./grillman’s camera a couple of months ago when we volunteered our Vespas in the Levi’s fashion show. The biker babe here is Marcella who was also one of the Brazillian models in the Levi’s show. The green Vespa GS used here is Louie’s while the vintage beemer is Manolo’s. These two guys are seriously into vintage rides and I got the pleasure of riding with them for the ‘butt-busting’ North Luzon Loop.
Check out this Style File Episode courtesy from clickthecity.com (thanks for the heads up, minggoy!)
shoot credits: Read the rest of this entry ?
Last Friday, Vespa Club of the Philippines (VCOP) held it Christmas Party at Pivo Beer and Brats in Ortigas Home Depot complex (thanks for accommodating us, Rikki!). At the same time, Rico & Eugene (VCOP co-founders) decided to hold the very first election for the club on that same day. Here’s the list of of the VCOP officers for 2008.
from left: Mario (sec), Rico (past prexy), Joseph (RD), Mon (VP), Dax (PRO) and me (prexy) [photo courtesy of Bob R. aka don vitto]
President - John Rana (bartmaniac)
VP / Tresurer - Mon Santelices (Naughty DOG)
Secretary - Mario Rodas (waspUP)
PRO / Enforcer - Dax Morfe (cruiserdax)
Ride Director - Joseph Santos (projectV)
I know what you’re thinking. I couldn’t believe it myself, at first. Me… Vespa club president? 
haha! Read here for some backstory so you won’t remain as shocked. 
Read the rest of this entry ?
The last time I was into bicycles was back in the 80s during my pre-teen days on a BMX. Twenty five years hence, I got into biking again; only this time, it’s not on street bikes with my next door neighbors but on mountain bikes with some of my Vespa buddies. Gone biking with Bimbo and his family on a dirt track in Alabang one weekend and twice around UP Diliman Academic Oval with Yey.
To transport the bike for these biking sessions, I load it behind our SUV on a bike rack. If I’m ready to leave home, can’t just hop in to drive & go with all the strapping, fastening, and tying I have to do to make sure the bike is securely mounted. If only it was possible to mount the bike on a Vespa…
A quick search n the web and I found out it’s possible as done in these Stella scoots.
(photo courtesy of Shane Kullman)
(photo courtesy of Shane Kullman)
FEEDBACK: When I asked Shene’s permission if I could borrow his pics, he said: “Knowing that the rack works and hasn’t caused me to crash, makes me feel better showing it off.” That’s great!
Here’s another one with the bike mounted on the rear rack! Read the rest of this entry ?
Popular songs which I tend to hear repetitively on the radio and television have this effect on me: either I like it or I hate it. There seem to be no middle ground.
Take the song by Rihanna called “Umbrella” (the single topped the charts all over the world, remaining at number one in the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and in the UK for ten weeks - source: wikipedia); I didn’t like it at all though I must admit that it has a hot music video with the all the dancing with splashes of water and the shower of sparks. I usually got really annoyed whenever I heard the part that goes “ella… ella… eh… eh… eh….” Call me an old fart, but I just didn’t get what was that about. 
Fast forward to last week: while I was in a cage (that’s how most bikers refer to the four-wheel contraption) driving, I heard the same song; only this time it was slow and sung by a guy. It blew me away! I never realized how good a melody this song has until I heard it sang in a totally new and different way. I didn’t catch who the singer of that version was so I searched the ‘net to look for the song. Listen to what I’ve found…
If you liked the song as well and you want to sing along, feel free as I posted lyrics after the jump. Read the rest of this entry ?
When WeddingsAtWork.com (W@W) held its early Christmas Party at the Fernwood Gardens last November 23, we had 25 professional photographers and photo-hobbyists who conducted some prenup pictorials (e-sessions as it is known in the States) for free to soon-to-wed members of our online community. Though Fernwoods is a big place with different spots ideal for pictorial, some pictures may inevitably look the same since we were taking about 25 different photographers all in one day utilizing the same backdrop.
So my wife and Clarice (the W@W party’s tireless event coordinator) decided that some photographers use props to differentiate their shots from the others. My friend Norman Lleses of the Sexy Times Crew then requested me to bring my Vespa as one of their props. Of course, I liked the idea. Any proud Vespa owner would gladly ‘pimp’ their scoots for a chance like this.
Norman, in tandem with Chris Tabungar, make up the Sexy Times Crew. Though both are night owls mostly covering nocturnal events among Manila’s party set, they willingly agreed to participate in our daytime pictorial.
Here are more images of some W@Wies (that’s how our members fondly call themselves) posing with my beloved, PYKE: Read the rest of this entry ?
Enrico & Bing Gaw of Gallery 7 / Art is Me gifted us with our very own 16×20 family pop art. My wife & I were never really into buying paintings nor having big portraits of ourselves displayed in the house that’s why, for the longest time, our walls have been bare… until now.
We felt that this pop art is the best compromise between a painting and our self-portrait: casual, colorful, fun, a bit self-indulgent but definitely not highbrow.
Enrico simply asked me to send a high-res photo via email and I submitted one from this series. After a few of days, we already got an email from Bing with a couple of studies for approval. We sent back our comments and color suggestions and that was all there is to it. The only time we physically saw each other was when I picked-up the actual artwork in their shop. It helped that we have an idea of the quality of their work.
Here’s a closer look of the final artwork of my Vespamilya. Read the rest of this entry ?
photo by Bob Fortuno
Just as when the very last scooter departs, there is nothing left to do but to send our deepest gratitude to all those who supported the event for making it the success that it was. Below is a list of the companies who supported us in staging Vespa Attack III.
INTERNATIONAL SPONSORS
Genuine Scooter Co. | Scooterworks | Warrior Clothing, UK | Slaughterhouse Chicago | Tattoo Factory | 2Stroke Buzz | Modernista
LOCAL SPONSORS
2211Works | Manila Speedzone | Hotrocks | Motoworld | Spyder Helmets | Petron | Motorcycle Riders Course | Teknic Philippines | Yellow Cab Pizza | Philippine Motorcycle Assistance & Towing Center | West Drive Auto Spa | Roadstar Enterprises | Vespa Supermarket of Parts and Accessories | Pietro’s Pizzeria
MEDIA PARTNERS
Scoot Quarterly | Motorcycle Philippines | Vespinoy! | Stoplight TV | Mad about Wheels (Makisig Channel) | Sexy Times Crew
I personally would like to make special mention of the Angono Scooter Boys who initiated the design and sponsored the printing of the nice legshield banners (see below) for Vespa Attack III just when we almost failed to realize that we still haven’t got any a day or two before the event.
photo by Bob Fortuno
Again, kudos to Jordan Cinco, to all the officers & members of Euroscoot, Scoot66, Vespinoy! Forum, VCOP and to all the independent scooterists who supported the event. As what we say in the local parlance…
Maraming salamat po!
-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
[1] that’s the actual pocket calendar I was refering to in this post.
Call it cliché, but a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Now get ready to immense on a post that could be as lengthy as an epic novel with these colorful images taken from the 3-day event called the Vespa Attack III. See the rest of the photographs. Read the rest of this entry ?
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