A dog in a barber chair

Something you probably don't see every day..

This is my companion who accompanies me whenever I'm in my garage. When I'm not taking a break in my old barber chair, she's always happy to keep it warm for me.

My new favorite T-shirt..

I love this shirt equally on two counts.  The first.. is because my kids gave it to me.  The second.. is because of my borderline obsessive fascination and love for White Castle sliders.

(Heck.. I've got a White Castle slider scented candle in my office if that tells you anything)

Innaugural ride on my 1963 Schwinn Deluxe American..

So this has been sitting in my garage for over a year now..

It's a 1963 Schwinn DeLuxe American.  Never one to shy away from a new bike project, this one took me awhile to get started on.  The bike has been in my family for quite some time, but I personally inherited it a little over a year ago.  A family members passing brought this bike to me, and there happens to be a lot of sentiment attached to it.  The truth of the matter, is that I just couldn't bring myself to even ride the bike until now.

Last week however, as I sat in my garage after finishing some projects, I began gazing upon the bike with great admiration.  After a few moments, I came to the realization that I was doing this bike a gross injustice by letting it hang from the garage rafters only to gather dust and spider webs.  I took the bike down, dusted her off, and gave the electric horn button a push in hopes that it still worked.  It did not.  I grabbed a screwdriver and opened up the frame tank to find that the battery had simply become dislodged from its holder.  A quick adjustment made it snug again, and the horn was functioning once more.  I'm not sure what to liken the sound of the horn to.  Maybe my old 73' Volkswagen Beetle?  Check out what it sounds like for yourself..

At one point I had big plans for a complete overhaul on this bike.  Now.. I've greatly changed my tune.  The nicks, scratches, and dings make it all the more endearing to me.  It definitely looks like a bike that had an incredible life.. its wear and tear offering up inevitable proof of this.  To me, it's every bit as beautiful as one that's been completely restored to its original condition.  I look at the bike and can only imagine what stories it could tell.

With exception of the saddle, rear reflector, and tires, all parts on this bike are 100% original as you'll see below.  A true testament to how things used to be built so much better back in the day.

42 year old "Schwinn approved" grips

I thought about cleaning them up, but they just looked too darn cool.

 42 year old pedals

Original Chrome Rear Rack

 

The headlight is aftermarket, but compliments the bike perfectly, so I'll leave it alone for the time being.  I do happen to have the original red and white spring saddle that needs a little TLC.  Once it's spruced up and reinstalled, it should round out this classic bike perfectly.

I took the bike out last Thursday for a modest six mile ride.  While it functioned nicely, I can definitely feel differences between this bike and my 2010 Schwinn Cruiser.  The old school handlebars force a forward riding posture that I'm not accustomed to on my other cruiser.  The combination of 26 x 2 x 1/34 tires and thick heavy steel frame make for some noticeable drag during the ride, but it was by no means unbearable.

It's simply a pleasure to ride, and I look forward to rolling her into the rotation of morning and afternoon rides.  I will do some minor maintenance such as changing out bearings, etc.  As for the total restoration, I'll get around to it someday, but for now.. I'm going to enjoy her in all of her rough, scratched, oxidized, and beat up glory.

The first PEZ impulse buy I've succumbed to in years...

ANIMAL!

House rent boogie by John Lee Hooker

Flipped on XM satellite radio this morning and this gem was playing.  It's definitely Blues at its best, and succinctly.. happens to be the song that George Thorogood based a lot of his own song "One Bourbon, one Scotch, one Beer" off of.  I so love this song.. and will not let another 15 years pass before I hear it again.

Deep Rock Paper Cup Oragami for the bored office worker

Bavarian Alpine Hat

What can you, or.. have you made out of spent Deep Rock paper cups?

Perfect Day for a long afternoon bike ride

83 degrees in Northern Colorado today with a slight breeze.  I swear, if there was a way for me to make a living riding my beach cruiser.. I'd be doing it.

Changes coming to Dad's Dish..

I've been pondering exactly what to do with this blog for quite some time now.  There's been times I've wanted to just scrap it to pursue other interests, but could never bring myself to do so.  I've written so much retro content that's now archived here, there's no way I can just abandon it now.  I have a broad array of interests that I don't often write about here due to feeling constrained by the retro format of the site.  Therefore, I will be tweaking the format of this blog. 

Mind you, it won't be a drastic change, and will still offer gratuitous amounts of retro goodness, but will also encompass many more of my interests such as travel, life and leisure, current pop culture, good living, and anything else that excites me (for the good or bad).

I think it will be a good change for the blog.  I've held myself back an awful lot in regards to content, and this will surely equate to more content to share very soon.  Keep your eyes on this space for changes soon to come!

Crafty Latvian Thrift Store find

I came across an interesting piece during my last retro treasure hunt that made its way home with me.  It was originally an item I came across, snapped a quick picture of, and moved on.  For reasons inexplicable to me, I felt a strange urge to go back and take a closer look at this small crafted leather notebook.  I immediately put a hold on my treasure hunt, and made my way back across the store to take a better gander at it.

For some strange reason.. I found myself deeply enthralled with this crafty Latvian notebook, and felt compelled to go back and look at it again.  What was written inside piqued my interest even more.

 

Gifted to a Ms. Dohra Fuehrer on Christmas Eve of 1973 by the "Latvian Ladies" and Pastor of their church, this item seems to have hardly been used, apart from nine pages missing from the note pad.   It's items like this that really get my mind working.  What era is depicted on the front of this book?  What were the "Latvian Ladies".. a Latvian Lutheran ladies club perhaps?  What significance does the image on the back of the notebook cover hold?

This notebook was obviously nicely taken care of for the better part of 40 years, which means it may have been a cherished gift.  It then brings questions to mind like when, how, and why did it part ways with its owner? 

Items like books, Bibles, and old antiques that have been personalized in this manner always tend to catch my interest.   It adds another dimension to their uniqueness, not to mention an air of humanity.  I guess this book is so intriguing to me, because of the mystery surrounding it.  I've already begun scouring the web for images similar to the ones imprinted on these leather covers, so as to learn more about them.  I've also read some history on Latvia and am still trying to figure out exactly who and what the "Latvian Ladies" were.

So in the end, a 40 year old leather notebook ended up getting me to take time out of my busy life, to learn about an entirely different culture and church that I'm not familiar with.  So much of life is about imagining, growing, and learning new things, and buying this little book for a couple of bucks.. has helped me to do a little more of all those things.  It's definitely the best two bucks I've spent in a long time!

STAR TREK The Next Generation "The Best of Both Worlds" Movie event on April 25th, 2013

I attended "The Best of Both Worlds" one night only event on April 25th, that took place in select theaters nationwide, and I've got to say that it was a BLAST!

To refresh your memory, the "The Best of Both Worlds" was a two part episode that began with the season three finale.  During an encounter with the Borg, Captain Picard gets captured and assimilated into the Borg collective.  The episode ends with the Borg ship and Enterprise facing off, and about ready to destroy one another.

The event featured both a Star Trek slide show with trivia questions and featurette which showed before the episode started.   The episodes were digitally remastered from the original negatives, and looked stunning. After the movie was over, there was a STNG blooper reel that absolutely had everyone in the theater in stitches.  The mini documentary involved the cast and crew sharing their thoughts and experiences on the two part episode "The Best of Both Worlds".

In the featurette, Patrick Stewart shared a story that bolstered the notion that this two part episode may arguably be one of the greatest TV cliffhangers of all time.  Stewart shared a story of when he was driving down Pacific Coast Highway one afternoon in his convertible, not too long after season three had ended.  He pulled up to a stoplight and a family also driving in a convertible pulled up next to him.  After whispering amongst themselves for a moment, the mother reared up in her seat and yelled something to the effect of.. "You know.. you ruined our summer!"  And that's how it was for Next Generation fans.  That was indeed a loooooooong summer that we had to endure, and the possible outcomes of the season three finale weighed heavy on our minds for months!

All in all it was a wonderful time. The only negative to the whole evening, was that when I left the theater.. I found myself a little bit down in the mouth. Seeing my favorite sci-fi series on the big screen, was a somber reminder that STNG is no longer on TV (apart from reruns). It reminded me of a simpler time when sci-fi and fantasy fans could sit down with the whole family on the weekend for hours on end, to get their fill of wholesome stimulating entertainment that truly was on the cutting edge. However, I guess I still have my memories, and of course DVD's that I can pop in at any time.

I truly hope more events like this one pop up in the future, and if they do.. I will go out of my way to be at every one.