Dear readers:
You’re hereby invited to a Bike Bash at 8 Mile Creek (240 Mulberry St., near Prince), sponsored by my awesome local bicycle shop, Bicycle Habitat, the evening of Thursday the 8th.
I’ll be one of five finalists reading original odes to our bicycles, all competing to win a new Trek Soho S. The audience will vote on our performances — so I need friends to be there! The party lasts from 6 to 9; happy hour is in effect until 10. The first 50 attendees get a free drink! The readings will take place around 7 or 7:30. The event will be held in “The Creek Bar,” downstairs.
The bike I’ve written a poem for is my recently retired crappy red Schwinn. I rode it hard and it served me well. I’ve written about it lovingly before. I’d publish my poem here but that would spoil the surprise, so turn out and lend me a push! (If you turn out and help me win, I promise to post the poem here.)
David Byrne was there — for a little while at least — but where were my peeps? Just kidding, of course. I was seriously out-Facebooked, which shouldn’t be hard to do considering I don’t do Facebook. The winning entry was a limerick in which “fatten” rhymed with “flattened” and the keyword was ass. My poem was much too long for a crowd of drunken 30somethings, and I think the satire on sentimental poetry was lost. Oh, well. The fellow who should have won performed his ode on mandolin. I would have voted for him if I hadn’t already cast my ballot before the reading started, which is a little sad considering he lost by just one vote.
I tried to see who Byrne voted for (like me, he cast his vote before the readings) but couldn’t quite make out where he dropped his little slip of paper.