Bike auction, sale, Dawn of the Dead, dinner @ Logan's

After a solid three hours of sleep or so, I got up, showered, and drove to Falls Church around 11 or 1130 for the bike auction and sale at Coleman Powersports. I found the place with no difficulty, parked next door in the Patriot Motor Sports lot--Coleman's lot was dedicated to bikes and running a parking shuttle to [somewhere else], but traffic convinced me to park where I was.

I got a copy of the tentative items-to-be-auctioned list, checked out the bikes that were present, and headed inside to register to bid. Once I'd done that (by about noon), I headed into the "half price" section, focusing mainly on helmets but also featuring a selection of gloves, jackets, pants, and other gear. After a lot of searching and try-ons in the available stock, I finally selected a Shoei X-Tec "Starfire"/TC-1 helmet (normally $617) and a pair of Schoeller/Milne GP500 gloves (normally $165) for a total of $408. Not pocket change, to be sure, but a fantastic deal--and you get what you pay for when it comes to helmets and gloves. (In this case, better fit, sound-damping, venting, and impact protection--not to mention graphic design--metallic silver, metallic blue, orange/yellow/red/black, with a cartoon devil on the back.) I later picked up a good helmet bag with the 20%-off-one-accessory coupon included with the flyer for the auction/sale.

As for the auction itself: There were several bikes I was interested in, all sport or sport-touring style, including: A '98 Honda VTR1000, '96 Kawasaki GPZ1100, '92 Kawasaki ZX6D, '98 Yamaha YZF600, '96 Yamaha Seca II, and nicest of all, a yellow '00 Ducati ST4 in excellent condition. However, all of these went for more than I was willing to pay, if I actually considered bidding--but it was interesting to observe the auction anyhow, and see people pay too much for a parts bike, too little for a good bike, butt heads with the auctioneer over $50 or $100, etc. (There was also a '00 Hayabusa (Suzuki GSX1300R) in mint condition--I think that one went for about $5K. The damn thing looked fast sitting still!) Also up for auction--but not of interest to me--were a host of cruisers, dirt bikes, scooters, jetskis, and lawnmowers.)

I've now added the new V-Strom to my bike wish list, incidentally. :)

The auction was over and I was done with my shopping by about 1515, so I called Nathan to sort out the details of the 1630 movie he and I and his dad were seeing--Dawn of the Dead in Centreville. Due to timing and bad traffic, I opted to meet them at the theatre and ditched 66 in favor of 29, arriving at the theater around 1615. Got tickets, some food, and watched the movie--pretty good, but nothing special. (I need to see the original now. :)

After the movie we headed our respective vehicles--including Nathan's mom coming in from her house--to Logan's in Manassas; I called Christina to have her meet us there after getting approval to extend the invitation from Nathan's dad. Logan's was quite busy so there was about half an hour wait, but the food and service were good--even if they -were- out of the prime rib that was my first choice. :)

As I was leaving Coleman I got a message from Phill--done with wedding festivities, up for something tonight--but as I already had plans for the day, I hope to meet up with him in the morning.

Pretty pictures, music rant/video, and sylvieLinks. Also, Phill!

From Shauna and others, gorgeous nebula photos: Rose, Rosette, Rosette (blue), eye in space, Rosette Megaprime, Rosette (yellow), and a whole gallery of space photos.

Also, a photo from one of the sites with space photos that, if you love very young children, you will probably love.

From djkangal, a rant about Heavy Music:
The Brides of Destruction Will Save Rock and Roll.
You know, I really wish somebody would force the dorks in Linkin Park and all those other whiny little pinheads that are their ilk to sit down and watch this video like 20 times in a row, so that they might gain some small Fucking Clue about what Heavy Music is all about.
(28MB QT video -- Brides of Destruction - S.T.F.U.)

From sylvie: Design Your Own Tartan, and a scheme to convince heterosexuals to allow gay marriage that is, as she says, twisted, clever, and cute. All at once. :D

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I'm getting a visit from Phill in an hour! Haven't seen him in almost a year, more than likely--stationed in other parts of the country, then on a tour on the USS Nicholas for 6 months, getting back to his station of Norfolk shortly after I left for Australia..

PhillVisit!

Since Phill was in town for the weekend to attend Fiona's wedding, I wrangled a visit--which wasn't too difficult, as he insisted on one anyway. :) So he came over around noon, checked out my townhouse and pets, and gave me my birthday/xmas/whatever gifts: A copy of Behold the Power of Ignorance, an Overclocked Lemon t-shirt, and a set of worry beads from Greece. :)

We then headed out for lunch, ended up at the American Cafe in Springfield Mall, and had some tasty food and good conversation, before heading back home so he could head home to Norfolk. (We also listened to an extensive selection of his music by skimming through his mix CDs, and he explained the story that he hears in Rob D's "Clubbed to Death" from the Matrix soundtrack.)

Later, I shall rent and watch the original Dawn of the Dead with Christina, and possibly Nathan if he gets back from Improv rehearsal early enough.

I've also offloaded the motorcycle-damage and Doug-party photos off of my camera, so those should make an appearance soonish.