news from tokyo...

cmwc2009tokyo...

it's not time but it's almost time. hope you cats have been saving up...sh*t, i hope you cats have your tickets already. looks like the kids over and tokyo are putting on a race to be talked about for years and years to come...check out the jerseys...

click here to enlarge...

along with a great race, party, and so on comes an opportunity for people to show off their art skills. Lord knows the messenger community is filled with artists with all kinds of greatness and tokyo has acknowledged it by putting together an art rush...

Please send us your original work.
Print, hand drawn, stitched, re-make, the format does not matter.
Use a T-shirt as your canvas; entries are open, as long as the image is related to messenger.

check out all details here. also, don't forget to not only register but also pay up. remember, the earlier you pay the cheaper it is...

Entree fee paid by end of June: 7000Yen
Entree fee paid between July and by end of August: 8000Yen
Entree fee paid between Sept and by the day of race: 10000Yen

*The price will vary depending on the day of payment,
not the day of registration!!!
*Your registration will be finalized by the payment.

keep an eye on their main site and the blog. good luck to any and all who show up and play in tokyo. wish i could join you cats...peace.

congratulations...

this isn't really a congratulatory story but you'll see where im headed in a few. anyway...before i begin please know that not all our messengers are as special as this man. to keep it even more safe i won't say his number but for the sake of argument we will refer to him as dan? yeah...that works.

so...i didn't receive the call but was around when the other order taker was telling us the story. a customer called to complain about one of our drivers. before i continue i would like to say that thank God it was one of our drivers and not our bikers. although we have special bikers our drivers are a bit more "unique"? i'll continue...the customer had a couple complaints about dan. first, when he showed up to the pick up he immediately, without asking permission, went around the counter and treated himself to some water and used the sink to rinse his arms and hands...wtf?! what a maniac. i know it's hot out but at least ask permission. im sure the ladies would have been more than gracious to help dan out.

he finally leaves and im sure the ladies would have let that slip if it wasn't for the next half of the story. at the drop he delivers flowers, sorry, forgot to mention he picked up flowers. anyway...he delivers the flowers and in a raised voice says..."congratulations, you have a package". i know, i know...you don't get it yet...whats wrong with that? first off, it's kinda silly to say congratulations. i understand that they are flowers but why say anything beyond..."i have a delivery for so-and-so"? well...turns out the flowers were for someone who just had a death in the family...oops! who the f*ck says congratulations to someone who is mourning the loss of someone?!?! i told you we have "unique" drivers. i have no idea what will happen to the driver but i know it won't be pretty.

will this be a lesson learned? i have no idea but i hope all you messengers who actually read this silly sh*t learn to not be a jerk like dan...peace.

did the world stop?

no it did not. it kept turning and turning just the way it's supposed to but...for a few minutes, it felt like it stood still. no, i take that back...things were still moving. calls were still coming in for orders. we were still dispatching orders. we were still on top of things but we were all glued to the tv or internet waiting to hear if it was true. i apologize if you thought this was a bike messenger story...michael jackson has passed...



so many hits to chose from...so many memories. my mom even called me to tell me the news and she started telling me stories about how i had the red jacket. how i used to steal buttons from my sister to take to girls at school. how i practiced the moonwalk time and time again. i understand that many don't care but i do...why? memories i guess. im a sap? who knows...i just felt like saying something. R.I.P M.J...peace.

heat warnings are funny...

it's that time of year when things go from complaining about the cold weather to complaining about the hot weather. personally...i've always enjoyed hot, hot, hot weather. 90+ feels good to me but then again...i am no longer riding so who am i to say anything. that being said, the weather people in the chicagoland area have issued heat warnings...

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90’s Wednesday, and the heat index could climb as high as 105 degrees, the weather service said.

To avoid illnesses, drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room and stay out of the hot, sweltering sun.

check article here...

i always loved how the news would always report to stay inside on really cold days and really hot days. what if your job consist of being outside for 90% of the time? sure there's down-time and Lord knows it's been slow but messengers still have to go out there. can somebody call discovery channel and them to do a show about messengers? you know, like deadliest catch? bike messenger has to be up there with some of the most dangerous jobs...right? traffic and weather? anyway, stay hydrated kids...heat stroke is nothing to mess around with...peace.

step your game up...

man.o.man...have you kids seen these...

click on pics to enlarge...

boston is not messing around. the naccc's aren't too far away and the boston crew is getting things done right. these saddles are too nice. check out these limited edition saddles over at brooks and don't forget to check on the boston naccc's page randomly cause im sure surprises will keep popping up. at least i hope so.

speaking of the naccc's...the new york crew is setting up a race/ride from new york to boston for the naccc's...

click on flyer to enlarge...

STAGE 1 TUESDAY JULY 28 NYC-NEW HAVEN
(APPROX) 77 MILES GMAP PEDOMETER ROUTE

STAGE 2 WEDNESDAY JULY 29 NEW HAVEN-PROVIDENCE
TBD (APPROX) 120 MILES

STAGE 3 THURSDAY JULY 30 PROVIDENCE-BOSTON
TBD (APPROX) 50 MILES

it's a three stage race but for those who don't want to treat it as such are still welcome to join in the fun. check out the details here. thank you cyclehawk for the heads up on the saddles and the race. don't forget to register for the naccc's...we're less than two months from boston showing us a good time...peace.

umm...really?

well...enough with the good times. time to get back to work. got a call from 1117 the other day at 71 south wacker...

1117...seventeen.

j.dot...what up? what up?

1117...package isn't at the messenger center. do you have anymore information?

j.dot...umm. wait...you're picking up from the 71 south wacker manangement.

1117...yeah but they don't have their information. no number and they don't know where they are in the building.

...wtf?! i seriously don't know whats wrong with people. if you read the above situation and still don't know whats wrong with this picture i will pray for you. we are picking up at 71 south wacker and we are picking up from the 71 south wacker management...get it?! how do they not have the information of the management of the building? how do they not know where in the building management is and how do they not know how to get a hold of them? i had a phone number so after about 15 minutes the messenger finally had the package in hand. ridiculous.

on a similar silly people note...we had a driver pick up from some location out in the burbs. no big deal. everything went fine but we got a phone call about a complaint anyway. i sort of wish it was me who picked up the phone but apparently the client was p*ssed off that the driver had an anti-olympics in chicago bumper sticker. he called to express his disgust and could not believe how anyone would not want the olympics in our great city. while i do hope that chicago does get the olympics in 2016 i also will not get all crazy cause of someone expressing their opinion about something like this. especially not over some bumper sticker. the man threatened to jump ships and never use us again. we told him what he wanted to hear but honestly...what does one tell the driver?

hey...get rid of that bumper sticker. i know we ask you to use your own vehicle but you have to get rid of it?

i honestly don't know if the driver was talked to but i seriously hope he wasn't. that sh*t is just ridiculous. i also hope that we don't send that driver to that pick up anymore...ha! we can't afford to lose any work...especially over some silly sh*t. on another note...it's supposed to rain all week...



at least it's going to be warm? ride safely, everyone...peace.

chicago did it's part...

velocity hit chicago this weekend. big thank you's to everyone and their mama who help put this together and to those who came out to play. it started off friday with a poker run. it wasn't a race...instead it was just a time limit and best hand wins. about 35 riders total but it was a group of three riders and among them one who won. don't know his name so if you read this and know who he is or you know who you are...please step forward. not only did he win but he also donated all the winnings back to the ccu...wtf?! how nice is that? the night ended early for some and later for others. i, in true form, did not attend...ha!

i did manage to get myself out of bed and make it to the track for the main event...

pic by Just.Max...

the day started off rainy and cloudy. by the time i got to the track there was no one there but the weather was turning in our favor. some phone calls were made and little by little we had about 25 riders total...give or take a few. they started off with warm ups followed by a very small clinic. most of the riders already had some experience on the track.

al urbanski and christina, sorry i don't know your last name, won for the messengers catagory. i believe she came by way of san francisco? andrew yeoman and val brostrom won for the non-messenger category. imo...the match sprints were the most fun to watch. the last two races in both categories were pretty close and came down to the line...

messenger...al vs perkins...



non-messenger...andrew vs stanley...



check out my set of pics here and dispatch101's very own photographer's set here...

pic by Just.Max...

pic by Just.Max...

pic by me...

thats right simon...you heard me. i got my own photographer...raising the game...ha!

all in all...it was a great time. thought i would make it to the saturday night relax and drink madness but didn't have it in me to get up from the couch after eating. sorry kids. im sure you guys were able to drink the beer without my assistance. thanks again to everyone who help put this together. a special thank you goes out to ben and, like most events that take place around here...augie...

pic by Just.Max...

keep an eye on the cuttin'crew site...im sure they'll have more specifics about the event. anyway, get ready san flan...you cats got next...peace.

the day has come...

and it's freaking raining...well, i think it stopped but it's cloudy. we need some sun and the track to be dry as a bone. let the praying begin...if you don't pray now would be a good time to start...



on the plus side...the rest of the week looks amazing. good luck to all participating at velocity today. i'll be there cheering you cats on...btw, the afterparty should be fun...





i'll try and get details about where and when soon...peace.

technical difficulties...

i had an interview up but was told to remove it for reasons that...well...i don't know and don't ask. maybe one day i'll have permission to put it back up but till then...we will continue with the regularly scheduled program. maybe i'll get another interview from a different person? maybe? in any case...lets not forget about the weekend activities...

poker run on friday, june 12th...



and velocity on saturday, june 13th...

well...

things have changed dramatically in the office. that being said, i will not be dispatching as much as i used to. i guess at this point i should just be grateful that i have a job but it doesn't feel very good. why? well...i love dispatching and thats been taken from me. not anyone's fault...just some changes that had to be done in this struggling economy. it is what it is.

on another note, i still get to dispatch the last two hours of my shift...ha? it's actually kind of annoying cause many disappear by the time i get on the radio. where do they go? home? to another job? i have no idea but i do know that all i get is silence when i call them for work. today seemed slow all day until, ofcourse, i get on the radio...

6731...hey, i got a flat. you're gonna have to take that package off of me.

j.dot...alright. don't worry about it. have a goodnight.

6758...five eight.

j.dot...what up?

6758...just caught a flat. im at one of the drops but i won't be able to drop the other one.

...f*ck!!! are you serious?!?! first off...there's about five people who didn't show up to work. not a huge deal cause it's slow. second...about six people leave without checking out so i was under the assumption that they were still working. third...why don't these cats have tubes and/or patches?! any good messenger knows you fix and go and if you're really good your dispatcher will never know. i let go of a couple people early cause it was slow at the time and i wasn't thinking people would be getting flats and not be able to fix them.

anyway...now it's a mad scramble. all i have are 6721, 6414, and 6761 for the next hour and half. i keep hoping we can get through it and then it starts...solo after f*cking solo start coming in. at this point i got the three of them just picking up and the drops would come later. i had them holding packages that i knew would be ok to leave. i had them holding packages that i knew i had called the client and asked or extra time. little by little the work got done. some jobs didn't quite make it cause people left but, again, it is what it is. i worked with what i had...not to knock the three that stayed with me. in that last minute hustle they all made decent money. not great but pretty good. not only that...they hustled their a** off and got it done.

thank you to them for helping me out...im gonna miss trying to figure out routes for x amount of messengers. this new position should be interesting. like i said, i won't be dispatching as much...can't wait for more late evenings. i have a feeling it's gonna be like this for a while. not sure how long i can handle this new position. like i said, i love being a dispatcher...peace.

lights, camera, action...

i received an e-mail last year from a lady by the name of marie ullrich. there wasn't much detail but she wanted to know if i had some time to spare to get together and talk messengers. do i have time to talk messengers? suuuuuure...why not? turns out marie is working on a film based on a female chicago bicycle messenger...nice! marie is/was doing research and figured she should start reaching out to our community to make the film as authentic as possible.

anyway...we got together and had a few drinks. i shared all i could in the limited time we spent together but i left pleased. why? i knew marie was being sincere in wanting to make sure the movie wasn't just some quicksilver type film. not that there's anything wrong with that cause Lord knows i enjoy a good laugh but...well, you know. well, time passed and we kept exchanging e-mails. i remembered that a fellow co-worker and friend, rene, of four-star was into film. the man is great people and i knew this would work out fine. soon...they got together and now production is on it's way on faster, a short film.

she was also able to get a hold of the talented christopher dilts to come in and take production stills. marie is doing a great job from the look of things. even though she's busy running around on getting this film to come to life she was able to provide a small interview. again, i have to apologize for my silly interview skills as far as the questions go...Lord knows im not very good at this...


1. without giving too much away...what exactly are you working on? what is the movie about?

Faster! is a short narrative film shot in HD about a bike messenger working in Chicago’s Loop. It’s based on the main character of a feature film that I wrote that was a finalist for the Sundance Filmmakers Labs a couple years ago. The short is its own complete story and the plot is somewhat different from the feature, but it’s based on the same main character, Jasper. She’s burnt out trying to work and put herself through school, and it’s showing.

pic by christopher dilts...

2. why did you decide to do a movie with messengers? why chicago?

Why messengers? I don’t know. I have never messengered myself although especially when I lived in Boston I commuted on my bike year round. At one point I was biking 15 miles a day to work plus whatever else I was doing. I don’t know if you’ve been in Boston or looked at a map of it recently, but the streets are a mess of one-ways and rotaries and roads that veer off into random directions. And the drivers are very aggressive – that’s where I get my fancy driving techniques from. I lived in the Fort Point area for a while, which is downtown across the Channel, by South Station, so I would drink at some of the same bars with messengers and got to know a few of them. I always admired them and the lifestyle. I guess messengering is something I always wanted to try but never did - I freelance in film so I’ve got to be able to take a gig when it comes along.

Why Chicago? Well originally my screenplay was set in Boston. But I moved to Chicago and I love it. So it’s gotta be in Chicago.

3. how "real" will this movie be? what kind of research have you done?

Ha ha! Well I have been doing research on messengers since the early 90’s. Even before I met you & Rene I was also researching it here. I was supposed to go on a day of runs with this one dude George but he stood me up… but I talked to a few messenger dudes and showed some of them my feature film script and made some changes based on stuff they told me. I found sites like messmedia.org and would read as much as I could. Had a few messenger zines – you know, on paper! – too. So I’ve been reading a lot and I observe a lot on the street, too.

Now, as far as this short film goes, I guess I started researching it hard core in December or January. I had come upon your site a while ago, and then finally got up the courage to ask you to talk to me about it. I guess I was afraid that folks would think I was stupid for trying to make a film about something I’ve never done myself. But I’ve tried to be as real as I can be. You gave me some tips, and you hooked me up with Rene, and he has been fantastic. My lead actress Jenny (Strubin) has never been a messenger either, or probably even ridden a bike downtown. I did try to find a messenger chick with some acting chops, and almost cast someone who is not a messenger but who races. But she ended up bowing out. And Jenny has been incredible. Rene gave her some tips and lessons and took her out on some runs with him while he was at work. Alexis talked to us about what it’s like being a biker chick in the city. She has never messengered either but she works at Upgrade and is a year-round hard core city biker.

*Ok and so this is the part where I have to tell you that I have knowingly done some stuff that’s not 100% authentic. Rene asked me if I can put a pop-up in the movie wherever this happens, letting y’all know that I shot it that way against his advice. So maybe in the extra features I’ll have Rene narrate and tell me all the things I did wrong! Stuff like, I knew she needed to lock her back wheel to the frame. That’s the expensive wheel. But the way we had the dolly set up, you couldn’t see her face at all if she did that, so I had her lock the front wheel. So I’m one of those Hollywood assholes who does it all wrong. Jeebus, I hope not. But there will be some things that you’ll notice.

On the other hand, when Chris (Dilts) was on set taking photos, he kept saying that he found it to be really authentic. like the scene where she’s in the elevator and guys are staring at her ass and making comments about her. Or people trying to bully her into taking a delivery that’s clearly a car job without paying extra for it. It has been really great to have the support of the biker and especially messenger community. I’m sure there will be people who will nit-pick or talk trash about us, but we tried to be as authentic as possible. I’m trying to be respectful. And the story comes from a genuine concern and wanting to get the “Share the Road” message out there some more. I bike in Chicago too. For the most part I feel safe on the streets but I get harassed a lot and I’ve been lucky not to get doored or anything (knocks on wood). I live near a ghost bike, and I see them all over the city and it really affects me. I mean I want this film to be kick-ass just as a film. But I also want to do some outreach with it. We’ve got a section on our film’s website fastershortfilm.com called Share the Road and I’m looking for links, photos, and images – so please send them along.

pic by christopher dilts...

4. what have been some of the challenges so far?

Holy crap, where to begin. I mean I knew from Day 1 that this was going to be a very challenging shoot just because of the nature of it. There’s action, being outdoors, location shooting – lots of moving parts. Did I mention location shooting? Getting locations is always a huge bugaboo, but Batman kind of screwed us independent filmmakers for a while because they were able to sprinkle $10G location fees around like cinnamon apparently. So many people have told me that this is the worst time they’ve ever had trying to secure locations – even worse than right after 9/11. You’d think that with the economy sucking, folks would be glad to make even an extra $500 or a grand. But you'd be wrong. They have this attitude that it’s not worth them getting out of bed for anything less than $5G. They don’t give a crap that you’re an artist or that your project is important and not some crappy commercial. They’d rather have a crappy commercial because that’s where the money is; even places that have a reputation for being involved with the arts – same story. So locations were a nightmare and a real struggle. My Production Designer was even looking for locations for us, working all her connections. It’s just rough out there. Locations fell through left and right and we ended up using some locations that were not Plan A or Plan B but more like Plan Z. But that’s where we ended up.

Then you’ve got the weather. Initially they were forecasting rain during our entire shoot. That stressed me out. All these people have made themselves available to work on the movie, but if it rains, they’ve got other gigs, jobs, plans… It ended up being okay. The weather was weird and iffy the whole time, but we got stuff done.

OK, and then my Art Director had his garage broken into during the shoot. The thieves stole all his tools (about $800 worth is the rough estimate), plus the custom-made messenger bag that we had already shot with. We had the film’s logo silkscreened onto it, and they distressed the hell out of it – it had one of production’s walkies on it, and other props inside it. So I get a call early one morning that we can’t shoot because we’re out the bag. But the scene we were doing that night, we only had that location for that one day. It was a one-shot deal, No other date was available, and I was going to lose my actor if we couldn’t shoot that week. But the Art Department, bless them – they had an extra bag with an alternate logo on it. They had to strip that logo off, get the thing silkscreened again, buy replacements for the other props, not to mention all the work they already had planned to do on that day – not to mention that Colin came to set that day with a fever after having all his shit stolen. Now THAT is dedication.

I mean in some respects production is always chaos. You plan like hell, and then when you get out there it has a life of its own and you just ride it like surfing a big wave. You gotta be able to move with the chaos and make it work for you. And we did that. For all that it seems like we had it rough, we were actually very lucky. When I think of all the things that could have gone wrong but didn’t – we were very lucky indeed.

pic by christopher dilts...

5. your opinion on messengers?

In my experience, almost everyone who loves bikes is good people. With some exceptions. (Recumbent dudes, I’m looking at you!) (JK) (kind of). What can I say? Messengers are a kind of romantic figure for me. They’re hot, obviously. But they’re smart, too. They get shit done. One of the first times I ever rode my bike in downtown Boston I had a mechanical failure in a bad, bad spot - and before I even knew what was going on there was a messenger dude who grabbed a tool out of his bag, fixed me up, and he was off. I swooned. Never even got his name. Of course now I’m a little more experienced and better prepared. But still. I get the appeal of being out there on your own, making it by your own muscle, your wits, your skill. I have a lot of respect for messengers. I hope it comes across in the film.

there you have it people. i made her promise me to let me know when and where the premier is so keep your eyes and ears open for that madness. i have faith that this will be a nice film. wow...this was a long post...ha! good luck marie. let me know if there's anything else i can do. rene...the pressure is on...don't make us look bad...dun.dun.dun...peace.

*favorite paragraph

i won't do that again...

i hate to sound repetitive but...well, actually i don't...it's been slow. that being said, me and scott have tried to steal as much car work as we can to keep our crew busy. whether it's distance or weight...we grab what we feel is doable. i sent 6752 to grab a car solo...solo's are our fastest most expensive runs...

6752...five-two.

j.dot...what up?

6752...this is a heavy box.

j.dot...i know. i told you it's a car solo. paying good loot but that it was a 20 lbs box. you should be able to handle it.

6752...i think it's heavier than 20 lbs. more like 30.

j.dot...like i said. it's paying a car solo. just rock it real quick and get paid.

...i know what you cats are thinking. why do i keep insisting he take care of this. it's dangerous to ride with such a heavy box around town. well...it was going from 21 south clark to 70 west madison...holy sh*t!!! now thats distance!! for those of you not from chicago...im being sarcastic. the delivery is less than a 1/4 block. he's not going to ride the box over...he just has to walk across the street with it. it's gotta be like 30 feet or so of walking. he gets to the drop...

6752...man. they made me take the box up. that took a while. they wouldn't take it at the messenger center.

j.dot...ok? umm...i figured you would. like i said...it's paying a CAR SOLO. you're not going very far and there's nothing to do.

6752...well, im just saying. it was heavy and then i had to wait for the freight.

j.dot...tell you what. i won't do that to you again. it's paying good loot but obviously it's not worth it.

...this cat rather sit around for 30 or more minutes than make some money. if it was going two blocks away then i would sympathize but cry me a f*cking river. i've had other cats rock more weight and more distance with that weight than this. i won't do that again...thats a promise. he won't get no car love anymore. sh*t...i had 6414 rock a 20 lbs box from 21 south clark to the tower...thats at least five blocks. i had 6721 pick up two banker boxes from the tribune building to washington and michigan or somewhere near there...that means he has to cross the damn bridges with two big a** boxes.

God bless five-two...i have my suspicions about him but thats another post...to be continued...peace.

what did they say?

i have no idea what they are saying but i know it's informative and good. how do i know that? ummm...lets just move on. check the vid here. ecmc'09 took place in berlin this year and slowly but surely the world is recovering. pics are popping up on flickr as we speak and the ecmc site has some links here and here. most of them are not english links but nice pics need no language. looks like good times were had...good job berlin.

The ECMC 2009 brought hundreds of professional bike messengers from Europe and beyond together for three days of races and social activities. We celebrated our unique profession and attendant lifestyles.

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO BERLIN, IT WAS A PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU HERE AS OUR GUESTS!

don't forget...the naccc's will be up soon and we'll have to show our brothers and sisters across the water how we do it...i have faith in boston. one more thing...lets not forget the yearly main event. the worlds...peace.

cuttin'crew said it best...

we definitely got next...check out the pics from portland velocity...

pics by Brujo)))

for the complete velocity set click here or head over to cyclehawk for more links. no word on the results yet but im sure they'll pop up somewhere.

in any case...chicago, milwaukee, and any other city within shouting distance, get ready cause we got next. the events start on friday, june 12th with a nice friday night poker run sponsored by chicago cuttin'crew, ccu, and pbr...

click on image to enlarge...

race starts at 7pm at the goldstar(1755 west division). try not to get too silly cause we got the main event going down on saturday, june 13th, in kenosha, wisconsin. keep your eyes and ears open for possible car pooling and whatnot. check out the ccu for more info. still working out details on saturday night event(s) so i'll post that when i receive them...peace.