Man-Van

I work at BlueCircle Insurance Brokers and we are in the insurance business, but one of the great things about being a part of this team is that we don't just work hard to provide our clients, family and friends with some exceptional coverage for them and all they own, we also get to do cool things like help out with the Calgary Motorcycle Ride For Dad and raise funds for things like the Man-Van. Last year, the Ride For Dad handed over $60,000.00 for prostate cancer research and another $60,000.00 went to the awareness campaign, which includes the mobile PSA blood testing clinic affectionally known as the Man-Van.

PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen, which is an early indicator of a man's prostate health. With one in seven men developing prostate cancer and a 95% survival rate when detected early, one can see why the testing is important. Time after time we hear great stories from men who got tested, found elevated levels of PSA, prompting them to get in to see their doctors for further testing which resulted in early intervention that probably saved their lives.

We had a decent turn out for our event, held at the BlueCircle Tower. And not only did we get to help some men get tested, we got to meet many of our neighbours in the Highfield area where we now reside. Thanks to everyone who helped get things set up and clean up after ward, but also many thanks to the fantastic staff and volunteers with the Man-Van! And finally, a big shout out to all those who showed up for the testing. We're happy to be able to contribute a little something to our community and help make a difference in someone's life.

Not that you have to ride to be a part of the Man-Van event, but we had a few riders on their bikes come and visit.

We had some fun and used the catchphrase"get your butts over here, but have no fear, there's no rubber glove involved and it's just a blood test!!"haha

The Ride For Dad executive came by to say hello

BlueCircle's very own Craig Phelps went for the test.

So did our good friend Troy, from 'Ride Stop n Go'

Ride For Dad because you love Dad!

I signed up for the test

Gerry also had his PSA tested

There goes a hundred of my chest hairs, as part of the Prostate Cancer Centre's "Tear A Strip Off" campaign.

Although Gerry was the charbroil king for the event, I took over the grill while Gerry did the PSA test.

Jumbo hot dogs and sirloin burgers for all our guests

We love a crowd!!

Wah!! Poor baby got stuck with a needle!! haha!

Yes...FREE!!

It was nice to meet some our our neighbours up here in the Highfield area.

Erin and Sarah are thumbs up for the Motorcycle Ride For Dad

I love the social media marketing campaign that Coca-Cola came up with for their coke cans!

Calgary and CP Rail

How to tell it's lunch hour or rush hour in Calgary!! Seriously, CP Rail does whatever it wants, whenever it wants, with impunity. 

The Blind Lawn Bowling Nationals 2015

This week saw Calgary hosting the 2015 Blind Lawn Bowling Nationals and Blue Circle, and the Inglewood Lawn Bowling Club, were pleased to be a part of it by sending volunteers to help out. 

We acted as Markers for several of the games and not only did we enjoy ourselves and meet some very nice people, we learned a few things too. 

Of course, we knew that sight impaired people have many admirable skills and attributes but we were very impressed with just how well these competitors played and how well they demonstrated some of the finer points of the game, plus some excellent sportsmanship. 

It certainly made me a lot more conscious of my own game and what can be done to be a better bowler, and perhaps this might be used as my own league fast approaches the end of the season and the Championships on September 13th. 

Sarah, from Blue Circle, acted as a Marker for one of the Singles Matches

Most of the provinces were represented at the Nationals

Some accurate line and weight with the red bowls, impressive for someone who is sight impaired.

The Director gives advice to the bowler as they make the shot

This 94 year old gentleman was sitting out for the first time in his playing career

Ontario came to play

I was Marker for the Alberta v.s. B.C game

Sarh and her 'official scorecard'.

ASRAB

Sarah is one of the hard working and committed young members of the BlueCircle Insurance office, but she's more than just an amazing organizer of our 'paperwork' and all of that goes along with making sure policies get endorsed and payments get made on time. Sarah also happens to be a volunteer, helping out with the Alberta Sport and Recreation Association for the Blind ( ASRAB). For 'Sight Night', you will find Sarah manning a station along a designated route and giving directions to runners. as participants head out into the dark of night to run an 8 km course or walk a 3 km route. The idea is to raise awareness of some of the daily issues facing people with visual impairments may have, hence the night time start which puts sighted runners/walkers in the dark and levels the playing field, so to speak.
As well, Sarah is helping with a special event this month and volunteered for the Blind Lawn Bowling National Championships, being held here in Calgary during the week of August 26 - 30th. Sarah, along with a few other BlueCircle volunteers, will act as Markers for the sight impaired bowlers and their coaches. It's world class bowling, so look for a future post later in the week featuring some of the game play.
And, great job Sarah! Without volunteers, so many things would not be possible!

  "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give"

Sarah asked for volunteers to help while playing at her own league night with the Inglewood Lawn Bowling Club.

Big Daddy and Rat Fink

As mentioned in my post "Big Daddy", which featured that beautiful custom BMW R80, the inspiration for that bike was Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Starting back in the late 50's, Roth proved to be a real entrepreneurial guy who did everything from cartooning and illustrating to customizing cars and hot rods and pin striping. He started the 'monsters in hot-rods' cartoon craze with the 'Weirdo" t-shirts he created along with fellow artists and hot rod pioneers like Stanley Miller and Dean Jeffries. One of the quintessential Big Daddy cartoon characters was the Mickey Mouse anti-hero "Rat Fink", still popular enough today to warrant the 'Rat Fink Party and Kustom Kulture Extravaganza' held yearly in California.
Roth created many custom hot rods, like the surf buggy 'Surfite', seen in 'Beach Blanket Bingo' (with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello) or 'Beatnik Bandit' which resides in the National Automobile Museum in Nevada. He also did his fair share of custom motorcycles and trikes and was, for a time, involved with a few outlaw motorcycle clubs who frequented his garage. Roth couldn't get any mainstream motorcycle magazines to publish his ads, let alone his features on custom choppers, so he printed his own black and white publication and distributed it himself. It only lasted about 3 years but was the first of it's kind and certainly paved the way for other such magazines down the road.
After a few 'incidents' with bike gangs and the police, Roth changed things up and eventually, with his 4th wife, joined a church and became involved in social work .

Rat Fink was the anti-hero, in contrast to Mickey Mouse

Big Daddy was a bit of a ham! He was likely the first to use the Iron Cross in association with 'biker' culture.

Ed  independently published  and distributed 'Chopper' magazine

Big Daddy loved nicknames and catch phrases

Rat Fink rides

One of Ed's custom trikes

 Big Daddy airbrushes one of his 'Weirdo' t-shirts

Ed took a lot of photos of bikers and made up posters to sell

'Monsters In Cars" cartoon

Big Daddy!

Even though this post is about a custom bike I really love, I titled it Big Daddy, after the inspiration for the custom work done on this drop dead gorgeous customized BMW R80. The builder, Nigel Broughton, was inspired by one of the originators of the custom build culture, Ed "Big Daddy' Roth, who played a major role in the 50's and 60's with the California Kustom Kulture. Watch for my next post, where I'll do a feature on 'Big Daddy', 'Rat Fink' and all those crazy cartoons I remember from my youth.
As for this beautiful bike, I first saw it via a BMW Motorrad tweet and loved it instantly. It's not that there aren't plenty of customs on bikes other than the usual 'American Iron' that are so popular, but this one leans a bit toward that old school style usually associated with that genre. Suffice to say, I'd love to roll around on this bike and must give huge kudos to Nigel for this awesome creation!

I love the big fat white walls and matching paint on the rims

Very cool custom paint

Clean and simple

A 'Big Daddy' touch

It looks great from any angle

Again, clean and simple lines

A nice profile

How To Get Paid To Ride A Motorcycle: Part One

I know a few motorcycle cops and we've shared a laugh over it being one way a person could enjoy the freedom of riding while also collecting a pay cheque. In the U.S., motorcycles have been used by the police since 1908 and the first official patrol unit was purportedly in 1911. I did a previous post on that era of riding so here's a few photos from a couple of decades later, when low cost and efficiency coupled with mobility and speed made the motorcycle very popular with many police forces. And, apparently it was a great way of attracting recruits to the force because, as I said in the title of the post, who wouldn't like to get paid to ride?

This looks mid 30's

The 60's maybe

Texas oil patch?

Indian Motorcycles were also marketed to the police

The white socks might also give you a clue about the era! haha!

The kick-start era for sure.

Old school police bikes in a recent parade

Another Indian in the force

This might have been one of the first uses of high viz colours.