That one time in New York.

Posted on 29/10/2014 by mtl_dokkaebi

Several years ago I had a chance to visit New York City for the first time and on my own.  It would be a short trip:  I would only be getting one night in the city.  Afterwards I would have to head out of town to see some friends.

Flew in to Newark, took the public transit bus to the HI New York City hostel and grabbed a bed in a shared room.  On the odd chance she’d be free I called an old friend as soon as I got into town.  Unfortunately she had plans that she couldn’t break for the evening.

mtl_graff

Being a short trip I had list of a few things I wanted to check out.  Central Park, which was near the hostel.  Taking the train was also on the list so I rode it to Harlem.  Walked around for a while without any real destination in mind until I realized I wasn’t seeing any one else on the side walks. Continue reading →

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J’làche pas… …la tendresse

Posted on 05/10/2014 by mtl_dokkaebi

Was riding around town and saw several of these.  Simply wanted to share them.  The literal translation is “I’m not letting go” but I believe in this sense it’s meant more as “I won’t give up”.

j_lache_pas

“The tenderness”

la_tendresse

Ensemble on a “J’làche pas… …la tendresse”.  I won’t let go (or give up) the tenderness.

Love you Montréal,

mtl_dokkaebi

 

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A slice of life from Joe Leisner.

Posted on 25/09/2014 by mtl_dokkaebi

Joe Leisner ran the Comic Book Heaven comic book store for over 25 years.   Reddit pointed me to this great 12 minute video of him getting ready for retirement.  The video has this great feel to it and some words of wisdom that make it worth watching.

I’ve talked before about the struggle for happiness.   In 12 minutes Joe discusses love, loss, happiness and life.  There are certain points I don’t agree with (video games) but otherwise I thought this video was a great slice of life.

I’m pretty sure Joe made them put this online approximately one year ago.

Keep it real folks.

mtl_dokkaebi

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Beta testing the STM Lionel-Groulx Bike Shelter (Abri vélo)

Posted on 12/09/2014 by mtl_dokkaebi

As you may have read from a previous post I recently got a new bicycle on the road!  The STM (Société de Transport de Montréal) announced that they would be testing a bicycle shelter at the Lionel-Groulx Metro and bus station.  In October of 2013 that bicycle shelter was opened up to the public in a pilot project.

In order to get access to the shelter during the pilot project you must/had to fill out the request form found on the STM website.  In my case a reply a few weeks later inviting me to stop by either Berri Uqam or Lionel-Groulx metro station and have my pass modified to allow access to the bicycle shelter.

I’m very excited about this specific service provided by the STM.   I say this as someone who’s been known to call their service laughable.  I also regularly use this metro station so being able to lock my bicycle in a secure shelter is exciting.

Let’s have a look at their setup!  The bike shelter is located on the west of  of the metro station exit.  Here’s a picture of it from a distance, approaching from the west.  The big building in the background is the metro station and it’s only exit on the east side.

back arrirere Continue reading →

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My custom ride: Vilano Wave 3 speed internal hub with manual shifter.

Posted on 05/09/2014 by mtl_dokkaebi

I’ve always ridden bicycles.  Living in a smaller city it was a great means of transportation as well as being a good workout.  When I used to live in the western Canadian provinces I owned a mountain bike and would often go riding down the Canadian Rockies.  We’d use one vehicle to shuttle all the bicycles to the top of the mountain.   We’d leave all the other vehicles at the bottom. You would then ride down the mountain to your waiting vehicles.

For the past few years I had been using an old mountain bike I had modified to ride on the street.  It had served me well but was showing it’s age.  It was with this in mind that I decided I would purchase/build myself a new bicycle this summer.

Over the winter months I had done some research/shopping for the frame I wanted to purchase.  At the beginning of April I made the decision and I ordered a Vilano Wave off of amazon.  My intent was to tear it down, customize almost everything and get it repainted:

vilano wave Continue reading →

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