Thought Sausage

Riding Bertha to work the past few days has helped me draw a few key conclusions about the functionality of a computer (pictured on the right) on a beach cruiser. Specifically, it is about as useful as tits on boar I never even bothered to properly calibrate the lil' fucker (although it is amusing riding a beach cruiser with a spedometer telling you you are moving along at 30+ mph). I kind of knew that when I bought it but let it slide under the guise that having a computer as big and dumb as that one would somehow be characterized as "cool".

It has also occured to me that my fill of Drive-By Truckers, Tom Waits and their ilk extends beyond the time I leave work and would be most enjoyed on my otherwise relaxing ride home. It also bears mentioning that the computer gave up the ghost when the whims of the weather decided to dole out a terrential downpour last friday while I was @ the bar with work peeps.

Which brings me to my current juncture. Mobile audio. This is a particularly hair-brained idea since most small and inexpensive speakers that would suit this cause sound like an open can of ass (yeah I'll take an extra helping of hiss with that treble please). But what I aim to do is lend the computer to the cause due to its unique mounting capabilities and fashion a small speaker system that can be easily detached (and if you were wondering, yes I'm exactly the kind of person who thinks this would be a good idea).

My first instinct was something like this, however as the reviews indicate, this is going to be way too quiet (I'm not looking to wake up the neighbors, but c'mon...we're in downtown Chicago here). My attention was then diverted to this:

What I'm thinking is that this could be permanently mounted on the face of the computer and the whole thing could be detached on the fly when parking outside. It says they sound good, but now i'm not so sure of its ability to be particularly portable. So now i'm thinking some portable speakers that could be permanetly afixed to the computer shell and then one of those plastic ipod cases for mounting the ipod itself.

Obtaining the supplies could very well occupy my lunch break tomorrow.

Bertha's beverage holding capabilities also grew last Thursday night. I don't have pics, but it can hold beer bottles like a champ right on the handlebars right now. Unfortunately, that's about all it can hold. My idea of a Foster's can seemed brilliant in a unabashedly Bohemian way, however my measurements were a little too tight and it doesn't seem to like soda and gatorade bottles as much as I hoped. So back to the drawing board on that one.