I Think the Radiation Reached Hawaii

Hawaii Bike Polo Blog

Because these cats are freakin' insane!

Apparently, Hawaii got some crazy idea and is going to attempt a game of Bike Dodge Ball. Like the poster says, "If You Can Dodge Traffic, You Can Dodge Ball!" What else would you blame this harebrained scheme? Either the radiation finally got to them, or lots of alcohol. I can hear Jamie Foxx now...
Nonetheless, some of the best poster art I have seen in a while! Great job Eilif!
Play safe out there kids! I want to play polo in Hawaii one day!


~Jinxy

Rawbie To Go!

Submitted the Rawbie Boardz Show wheel covers to print last week Monday, then picked them up on Friday.
Today, I cut them up and then this evening they will be on their merry way to East Van and into Rawbie's garage, where he will do who knows what to them. :D

Until the official unveiling of the covers (Ken threw in a quick screen cap of the unfinished design, in last weeks episode) here are a few little teasers of the official Rawbie Boardz Show covers.

I do apologize for the horrible cell phone photo quality. If you look closely you can see the direct digital print method used in making these wheel covers. The ink doesn't wipe off, I know this because I licked it. If you are worried about that happening or want to prevent any fine scratches, hitting it with a matte spray will help provide a little more protection. Stay tooned for the next Rawbie episode where the winner of the Totally Awesome Wheel Cover Video is announced!

~Jinxy

A Look Across the Pacific

I am very happy to see that our Tokyo friends are doing alright and still have a place to play, even with the power outages keeping them away from their evening practices. 10 days after the quake, they get together for the first time for a game and a birthday celebration.
You can read more and see the photos at the Tokyo blog

Here is a link (by babelfish.altavista.com translator / sorry for the horrible translations) to the Chiba Bike Polo club.
Let me give you a little run down of what I got from their blog article, and share with you their photos of the aftermath.


A few miles to the east of Tokyo, is a little bayside town called Chiba. Closer to the water, and of course, to the epicenter of the 9.0 quake. The photos of the liquefied ground where they used to play polo are just incredible.

Makuhari seaside park

The spot where they play motorcycle polo on the beach

Also Makuhari seaside park

Here is a neat little video illustrating liquefaction.


There is still a lot of work to be done, and a lot of support to give.
Tokyo, stay strong and good luck.

~Jinxy

Rawbie Update and More

 Rawbie and I have allowed a few more days for late entries for the Wheel Cover video contest. So no later than Wednesday will they be accepted. In other Rawbie related news, the winner will be announced in not this weeks episode, but next weeks. Why? Because I wanted to make the wheel covers absolutely perfect before their web debut. Today will be the day that they will be sent to the printers! Sometime next week they will be on their merry way off to Seattle to be smuggled across the border into the hands of Mr. Rawbie Boardz. Also in next week, you will get to see the final product of the East Van Crown covers, the winner of The Best Poster of 2010



Until then, here are a few other bundles of covers that I have done for previous tournaments that I have attended.

My first major set was for the LA Labor Day Polo-Q, which was only 8 covers or so.

Turns out, the most popular thing to put on your bike is your beverage of choice. This weekend also included a very special cover for one of So Cals youngest players, "Boogie Monster"

Once the summer fun was over, and things began to slow down, I started working on the Arizona poster for their Desert Polo Invite tournament which catered to almost 100 people from all over the US. The Denver Mallet Mafia, Edmonton Polo Club and some personalized pieces rounded out this set.

I really do enjoy seeing what people come up with. Some make me laugh, shrug or go "why didn't I think of that?!"

Well, that's enough for now. I can only squeeze these entries out on my lunch breaks or between customers.
Till next time!

~Jinxy

The Worlds Greatest Bicycle Wheel

The Cyclotrope from tim Wheatley on Vimeo.

From the brilliant mind of Tim Wheatley. He is currently a student at the University College Falmouth in Cornwall. This is a wonderful take of a Zoetrope, a very old school way of animating 18 frames of illustrations.
Although it looks like stop animation (or claymation, one frame at a time) this is indeed filmed in real time as he spins the wheel on its hub.

This project has definitely got creative my bits tingly. Well done Tim!

Be sure to check out the rest of his films at http://www.timwheatley.co.uk/

~Jinx

1,000 Thank Yous

1,000 thank yous and almost 1,000 page views. sure about 100 of them are from my checking in and working on my blog, but either way, you wonderful people actually kind of want to hear what I have to say and share :)
Even though there are a growing number of polo blogs out there, I try to make mine a little different. While others are posting about tournament stats, or new bad ass polo bikes (you know, important polo stuff) I like to focus on the more creative side of the poloverse. Not just wheel covers, but the artsy side of polo. So if you would like to share your art work, on or off of the wheel cover, please, send me a link.

And now a quick update on the Rawbie Boardz contest:
We have been getting in a few entries! And so far they look great! I know this contest is going to be pretty tough to judge! And remember kids, the video can be of anything involving wheel covers, or why you desperately need a set. Or, how much you love Rawbie. Deadline is March 17th! (that's easy to remember, although you might be too drunk to remember.) Either way, get on those videos and send them in!


The Ladies Army is going to coming up very soon! May 7th - 8th.
Tina Medley made this awesome poster for the tournament. I will be making my usual Winner's Circle covers along with little full color decals to be handed out. This time I will be doing something a little different. Whenever I make the Winner's circle covers, those are 100% donated. And there are a very small limited amount of covers available. This time, I will have these tournament covers available for sale, BUT the proceeds go directly to the Austin Polo Club. If you would like to order a special limited edition run of the 3rd Annual Ladies Army Tournament cover, email me so I can get the print order in. Covers go for $20.

Ladies Army 3 on LoBP

See you in Texas!
~Jinxy

My First Time

Well, there were a few practice runs before for my own bike, but this was the first cover for someone.
It was a surprise for Joker. I happened to carry a green that matched his bike perfectly! I already had the Bicycle Deck "Joker" vectorized, so a few little tweeks here or there completely personalized it. I changed the US on his chest to the Dodger's LA and the 808 on the rock (which actually means the size of the deck of cards) to 818.

Joker never really played with wheel covers before, but once I gave him these, it was either going on his wall, or on his bike. I'm really happy with his decision.

 

If you are the type of player that really digs a good bike check, check out
Mikey Wally's blog
Mikey's a great photographer too that loves the bike world and has snapped a few of us L.A. cats rollin on the courts.

~Jinxy