Happy Memorial Day

I’ve been slacking on posting here due to other commitments and for that, I apologize. You may have noticed that I’ve changed the name of the website from Jack’s Jax to simply Jack Diablo. Since starting this blog, I’ve met tons of awesome folks with like-minded intentions and embarked on many projects and collaborations. As a result, I am trying to focus my efforts within each project to better serve them. So this website is now more of a personal blog for stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else. For Jacksonville community-related stuff, I’ll try and do better to post more often on JaxScene. Music stuff can be found within the pages of EU Magazine and on the website.

So a big ‘ol dose of love to everyone who came out last night to see C&W at Shantytown. It was a blast! I’ll have pics and video up soon so stay tuned amigos! If you missed it, we’ll be playing again June 6th (same spot) with Tough Junkie and Scum of the Earth so don’t miss it a second time.

Today I took advantage of the dramatic change in weather to go on a little bike ride. I recently purchased a new touring bike from Freddy (74 Soundsystem) at the Cycle Spectrum on 3rd Street.

I hope to embark on a trek of significant mileage sometime in the near future so to prepare I biked to Native Sun in Mandarin for a late lunch. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that the hot bar I keep hearing about is actually at the Baymeadows location. I did have a nice little tempeh wrap from the deli so all was well. It was bright and sunny and the traffic was pretty mild. Most of the way was easy riding thanks to the bike lanes and parking shoulder on Hendrix. There is a little stretch on San Jose that gets a little crazy but other than that it is pretty bikeable. The whole trip was 24 miles, give or take. When I made it back to the ‘field, CW treated me to Memorial Day beer (Blanche di Brusseles) at the Boozehole.

And speaking of biking, Cherri is working on a pretty awesome new endeavor that will enable more school-age kids to bike to school. Check it out on her blog actionville.

And finally, just noticed two new posts on the EU website. Check em out!
mc chris v. Astronautilis: A “Rap Battle”
Q&A with Willie Heath Neal

Diablo out!

Chicken & Whiskey Are Go!

Aw shit son!

In case you haven’t heard, I gots me a band now. I plays the drumbs (and I sing/shout a little too). We call ourselves Chicken & Whiskey and even though it may sound like a country or rockabilly band, it couldn’t be further.

So, it’s me plus Big Dunn (Roargan) and Chris Williams (Airport Factory). I won’t even attempt to describe what we sound like but if you need an idea just hypothesize on how a collaboration between Dunn and Chris might manifest itself and you’re still probably nowhere close. Or maybe you’re dead on, who knows?

Better yet, come see us play!

We’ve got several shows booked so far including our very first show May 9th in Gainesville at The Kickstand for What The Fuc? Fest along with other Jacksonville superstars, Heavy Flow and After The Bomb Baby. If you can’t make that, worry not, we’re playing at the best damn boozehole in Springfeild, Shantytown Pub, on May 24th with those crazy kids from St. Augustine, Lighthouse Music. Come get your aural fixation doooooods! And bring some cash cuz we’ll have plenty o’ merch. Gots to get paid!

Still not convinced? Well, we put together a little lo-fi home-brewed recording this past weekend and the tunes will be up on the MySpace page after the May 24th show.

But before you start filling in your social calendar for the month of May, you’d better grab a big ol’ fat permanent marker and write BURY YOUR BIKE II real nice and big over May 1-3. It’s gonna be sick! Free beer (no, really – good stuff too), good people, freak bikes, and complete and utter chaos. Don’t miss it, you’ve been warned…

Richmond Or Bust – Slaughterama 09

Spring Breeeeeaaaaaak!!!

FCCJ is out for the week so I will be spending my time at Zombie Bikes this week, gearing up for Slaughterama 09 in Richmond, VA. I’ve never been but from what I hear it is going to be one wild trip! I found some pics that the Richmond Cutthroats Bike Club posted from a previous event and I have to say, it looks super-rad!

ZBBC will be heading up there on Thursday morning after what will surely be a late Wednesday night of after-Art Walk partying. If you’re bored, come by the bike shop on Main St. and check out all the work being done building tall bikes, choppers, swing bikes, you name it. At some point, you might even catch me tall bike jousting so’s I can get my colors.

Rest assured I will be documenting the shit out of everything I see so stay tuned for a recap…

Midnight Mass + Festival Road Trip

I have been a bad little blogger lately. I can’t even think of a decent excuse for my lack of posting lately. Not going to dwell, though. Onward and upward!

I have several posts I’ve been meaning to write about but I want to get some stuff out of my brain first while it’s still fresh.

Last night was Midnight Mass, the coolest way to spend your Thursday night. If you are unfamiliar with the event, I’ll sum it up real nice and simple for you. We all meet in the parking lot across from the Cummer at midnight on Thursday, every Thursday. I’ve only made it to a handful of rides but there is a pretty strong following that is there every week. Usually around 12:30 (0030 for you military types) we take off and hit the streets to create mayhem and civil unrest. Not really, we just ride around town but it’s lots of fun. If you’ve never ridden through downtown, this is the perfect opportunity because there is hardly any traffic. The locations vary but we stop a few times and hang out and sometimes hit up our local Springfield pub before last call.



Last night was an interesting one. Before the ride even started, two kids were stopped on their bicycles by the po-leese. Between that and the crazy police presence in Riverside last night and all those damn sirens and helicopters and shit, it seemed a little more intense than just an end-of-month quota thing. It’s only been recently that I’ve felt the long arm of the law bearing down, even if just a little. I was harassed at a party for not having a FL drivers license and now they are targeting cyclists? That’s a little ridiculous don’t you think? After a little tall bike joust so Jeff could earn his Zombie colors, as we headed back to R-side another friendly neighborhood po-dogger came behind us and informed us in a commanding southern accent that riding in the evening sans illumination warrants an infraction with a $92 price tag. What he actually said was, “Y’all know riding at night without lights is a nine-tee two dowlar fine?”. Thankfully he didn’t press the issue and left as soon as we acknowledged his helpful advice.

Regardless of all the intrusion, it was a fun time. Always is. If you don’t have anywhere to be Friday morning or an take a day off, you should totally come out. All bikes are welcome and the pace is moderate. It’s not a Critical Mass but it’s a start and tons of fun to boot!

So, this weekend Matt Burro, Christiana and I are doing a li’l road-trippin! Going to hit up Fresh Fest in Tallahassee tonight before we head to Atlanta to have our faces melted at the Scion Rock Fest. Follow me on Twitter for live micro-blogging of both events and check out JaxScene for pics when I get back.





Carry on…

The Ruckus

Awwwwww shit son! The little joint at Dellwood and Osceola finally got those interwebs! That means, like it or not, you will be hearing a whole lot more out of me from now on. It also means I’ll actually have time and access to start making shit happen over on the JaxScene Network so keep an eye out for some better content in the near future. In the meantime you can get your fix of Jaxvillian bloggage over at the extremely dope JaxReader page where all the cool kids go to read about this fine little city of ours. And chew on these kick-ass events happening this week.

Wednesday 1/14


Wu-Tang @ Plush
Best protekt ya neck cuz the Wu is coming and bringing the whole crew (supposedly). Local Hip Hop Hell recording artists will be opening so come early and show some J-Ville love. If you haven’t already scored your tickets you can still probably do so at Royal Treatment Records (BBB), Shantytown, or Nicotine in 5P. I propose we get our own little Urban Core crew together to bring the muthafukkin ruckus, hmmm?

Bike Maintenance Workshop @ Zombie Bikes
The good folks over at Zombie are now hosting bi-monthly workshops on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month covering all topics from changing tubes to messing with de-railers. Class starts at 5:30 and goes until 7:30 just in time for…



Movie Night @ Zombie Bikes
After the workshop, hang around for movie night! Bring a chair and probably a blanket (or fuck it, freeze your ass off, whatever) and food or beverages (or not) and get to know your neighborhood bike community. Showing this week is BMX Bandits starring Nicole Kidman.

Thursday 1/15
Midnight Mass 4th Anniversary Party
For the fourth anniversary of Midnight Mass, the party starts around 8 at Shantytown this Thursday with music from Devil Runs The Truckstop and Elevated Hip Hop Experience. Around 11:45 the gang will ride from Shanty to the normal meet-up spot in the parking lot across the street from the Cummer on Riverside.

Friday 1/16


Jupiter One @ TSI
C’mon people, it’s penny PBR from 9-11pm and then live music, it doesn’t get much better than that. And, as always, you can dance the night away with Nick Fresh until 3am.

Sunday 1/18
Southbank Sunrise
If you are an early-riser and not still drunk from Saturday night, you may want to head over the Main Street Bridge and watch the sun come up with free coffee, the morning newspaper, and jazz music. There are pics on JaxScene and this little tumblelog.

As always, get your daily list of cool shit to do at JaxScene.

PEACE!

Some Kinda Weekend

Hello again, friends…

It’s been another one of those crazy weekends where shit is all fucked up but you manage to put on your happy face and make the best of it and end up having a grand ol’ time.

In case you missed it, Joe Van Dyke put on a killer art show at Fuel on Friday night. I must say I was extremely impressed and it far exceeded my expectations. The atmosphere was very fun and relaxed, completely free of the pretension that plagues some showings. It was all about local artists and their art and hanging out. The perfect recipe for success in my book.

It seems like every time I go out these days I meet someone new who reads the site. On Friday it was Brian Gray, who I’ve been wanting to meet for a long time. He, Tommy Armageddon and I talked for a while about the state of the Jacksonville art scene and shared ideas, not what you usually get to do at an art show.

Being in need of some color for my new haze gray room (more on that in a later post), I bought a ridiculously underpriced splash of color from a young art student, Devin Balara. I’m no art critic to be sure but I found her finger-painted canvases hypnotic and an interesting change of pace from what everyone else was showing. She was ecstatic about the sale and told me it was the second piece she’d ever sold and the first to someone she didn’t know. That’s what it’s all about.

There were many other great artists there including Nicole Middleton, Preston Nettles, Bryan Register, and Grant Thornton, just to name a few. Keep an eye out for the next show he puts out. Guaranteed good time. Check out all my pics here.

And, of course, Saturday night was the BBB Art Show, featuring artist-created Burro Bags and bicycle frames. I missed the bike polo tournament because I was napping after MY LAST DAY ON THE SHIP, WOOT! But I did get there around 6:30 and everything was already jumping. The art was fantastic, especially the bags. Arturo was there, Bold City was there, and 74 Soundsystem kept the party jumping.

There was some high-octane action with games of whiplash, tall-bike jousting, and footdown. Lots of fun and very entertaining. At the end of the night I walked away with some socks from the raffle and a Tommy Armageddon bicycle frame.

And yet, the weekend isn’t even over. Tonight is the Luminaria bike ride through Riverside and Avondale and should definitely be worth checking out. Just the right thing to put you back in the holiday spirit.

Peace!

Happenings: Oct 24-26

TGIF!

Friday, October 24

Green Retail Tour @ BBB Warehouse 1520 Main St – 5pm
Speaker – Jay McGovern 6pm
Free Obama signs then free beer at Shantytown!

Rocky Horror Picture Show Block Party @ The Florida Theatre – 8pm
Street Festival starts at 8pm and doors open for the movie at 11pm. Tix are $5 and prop kits can be purchased for $15.

Portugal. The Man with Earl Greyhound, Wintersleep and Bermuda @ Jack Rabbits

Coyote Throat with Bridge and Tunnel, Oh Pioneers and Environmental Youth Crunch @ Shantytown

Saturday, October 25

Dark Art Celebration @ Seawalk Hotel in Jax Beach – 7pm
21+ $5, Under 21 $7

Sunday, October 26

The Zombie Walk
Starts at The London Bridge Pub at 2pm and proceeds to 9th and Main for the afterparty.

Don’t forget to check JaxScene for anything I’ve missed. It’s updated every day with the night’s goings-on.

Movie Night at Zombie Bikes

Celebrate the hump day by coming down to Zombie Bikes on Main St and watching the movie Pedal. Guess what, it’s about bikes. Movie starts at 9pm and you can bring food or beverages if you want. So grab a chair and meet me there!

The Night Ride Recap

You were there, right?

Well, if not, you missed out. Srsly!

I rolled up to Fuel early as hell on Saturday morning and helped Matt set things up. Alexis from Villin Cycle Works in Gainesville arrived pretty early as well with the most beautiful bikes you ever laid eyes on. Here is the Globatron interview. I didn’t hear any sound but you can still check out the bikes and the handsome devil who walks out the door at 05:15, NICE!

My job all day was to sell raffle tickets, the grand prize for which was an electric bike from Jax eBikes donated by Dyllan. While waiting for the folks to arrive I made sure to check out all the sick bike art at Flux. Very cool stuff, if you missed it. Here’s the Globatron interview about the show with Matt via Globatron.

Throughout the day people came and went checking out the bike polo, bike maintenance workshops courtesy of the Zombie kids, and of course, the Bold City brewery tours. Gotta love that Red Ale! Matt from Burro Bags was the big winner of the raffle, winning the eBike, which you can ride at the shop if you want.

The traffic through Fuel throughout the day was like a trickle, but as the ride approached, 5 Points was full of bikes and cyclists. The ride was wicked cool and we owned the streets! We even got some friendly reminders of bicycle laws from the Sherrif’s Dept, heh.

I think I speak for most everyone when I say what a great time it was and big ups to Matt for putting it all together. We learned a lot about what to work on for the next one which will be even better than a pretty unbeatable event.

Check out some pics of the ride itself and my pics of the day’s festivities.

Zombie Love

Check out this sweet video I found on The Urban Core.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

On a much related note, I started working on my very own, very first fixed-gear conversion yesterday. I went to Zombie Bikes with the girls and Matt and Chris gave me a lot of help stripping my bike down. I did get locked in the shop for a while, but hey.

Today I went by Cycledelic and put in an order with Brooklyn for the necessary parts to customize my fixie. It’s a black 1980 Fuji road frame that’s going to have red rims, black spokes, red tape and a red chain. I shall dub it, Diablo Uno!!!

I’ll be posting pics of my progress sooner or later.