101: True (Mango) Love.

I know that this looks like "fat siphoned out of Marlon Brando's Ass" (name that movie quote) but it isn't. In fact, I don't think that they'll let you take that on a plane. Or maybe they would if it was within the 3.6oz limit. What's in that plastic bag is actually is Mango Love siphoned out of James Selman's jar of Embrocation. At the airport.

James is at the Airport with Carey SH and they're on their way to the last leg of the Rapha Continental summer tour 09. Its almost as big as Wolfmother releasing a new album only in Australia and then touring (only in Australia). That's how exclusive this group of cyclists are.

Anyway I have to commend James for his diligence.
I wouldn't want to give up a jar of that sweet smelling sex-for-your-legs-in-a-jar either.

Who is James Selman though? That is the question of the hour. Well, lets start with this photo. Intensity is the first word that comes to mind when you look at this. At least that's what I think, and I took the photo. He was sitting right there. And he didn't blink for five whole minutes. I timed it.

Besides being intense James is also a designer. An Uber Designer if you will. The reason I chose this photo is two fold.

Fold 1) Mellow Johnny's. James was the man behind the design of the Mellow Johnny's branding. Which, if you follow bike racing at all (I don't, but if you do) you might notice that a few interesting people are behind this Mellow Johnny's scene. People like Chris Horner because you'll note that he and Levi Leipheimer wore it at the Tour of Gila. But besides that he's done some other interesting design projects as well (*cough* HUP) like being the Creative behind the Beloved Bicycle design I spoke of earlier...

Fold 2) My friend Kaiko Shimura made this hat. She made this hat for James, but it was too small, so I gave it to Erin over at Mellow Johnnys. She made it as a sort of one off tribute to Big Tex* (if you haven't seen this, its one of my favorites, but only because I wanted to be a professional basketball player). Anyway, she makes great hats (I've heard) but she's also got a lot of other irons in the fire...more on that later.

*its too deep, I have to add stars. James actually made this ad.

Up Next:
Hipster Showdown on the streets of Portland, and T-shirts.

097: More Later.

Has anyone seen the Independent Fabrications blog lately? There is some Hotness going on over there. Seriously. And I'm not just saying that because My Man James' (have you noticed that whenever I mention James I say "my Man James?") bike is featured there. It is the one that looks especially hot and has Embrocation SSR in the title. Check it out.

James also got a win last weekend, so I guess that kind of makes him the man of the hour.

Pay attention to his style on the bike though. Arms outstretched. Fingers pointed skyward in a sort of "pistol" style. I like riders with a little style and James had definitely got it.

We've got a new secret clothing jam in the works at the moment. Should be picking up those from the screen printer in a couple of days. I'm psyched to be back in Boston to see everyone, but also to finalize a few little projects that are in the works. Projects like, Volume4 of Embrocation. You know, the issue where we take a little Road Cycling, dip it into the a brand new jar of Mad Alchemy Mango Love Embrocation and then roll it in a nice crust of Belgian Cobble-dust. No big deal.

What is a big deal though? Working with ||||| JDK Design on it. (What? That's what they do, little dashes). So, stay tuned for that. I'll give you a little list of what to expect as far as content though...in no particular order.

-phil wood
-belgium
-pegoretti
-some cool photos from belgium
-the tour of california
-looking and smelling like a proper cyclist
-awesomeness
-training: back kicks

Fierce.

Also got to see Pete Rubi's art show last night. Good stuff. Really, really good stuff. In fact, it was great to see everyone come out and support our favorite local pro cross racer. Because, it is almost that time of the year. As you can see above. Kaiko and Jason (go there, they're too fucking cute) were in full effect with their Superb Hats...and if you'll pay even closer attention you can see that our sweet friend from Pedal Strike is also making the same Pistol Grip pattern that James is making above.

Well played friends, well played.

Also got to check out their new shipment of swrve clothing. This stuff is looking good. Jason showed off a little bit of the collection without going in to too much detail. I hear that renovations are going smoothly and the Boston scene should have a new addition shortly.