Dale's Scene: December 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Monday, December 29, 2008

Thanks to Hank

Henry "Hank" Ruhe Wilson, April 29, 1947 - November 9, 2008

Earlier this month, the community gathered in the Castro for "Thanks to Hank: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Hank Wilson." Hank had a hand in many, many community causes, and groups such as the GLBT Historical Society put together altars, tables, and displays showing some of his work. I remembered seeing Hank many times giving people information about poppers, I took a shot of this scene: his provocative black and white flyers were pasted, taped, and tossed around a small trio of folding chairs. It evoked Hank's commitment to getting the word out by any means necessary.

Many people helped with the event, and afterward we were led by Extra Action Marching Band to a final celebration at Harvey Milk Plaza. Here's one of their dancers!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Sanchez St., part 2

This recent photo shows the ongoing work on Sanchez St. north of Market. See Part 1 for more info.

New 3-speed Mikado Commuter

Thanks to local bike store Citizen Chain and the bike coalition's winterfest, I've now got a "new" bike! I just took it for a ride to Golden Gate Park, and wearing my green jacket, I looked just like Christmas. It's a mint-condition, vintage 1979 Japanese bicycle. From what I can tell, "Mikado" was a minor bike line, and the Mikado Bicycle Division was a small part of Toyoda America, Inc. (an importer of Japanese manufactured goods, which must have translated the bike's Owner's Manual). Toyoda America, Inc. is still around, only now it's called Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. and it's owned by Toyota. So I guess my new bike is a Toyota.

A Massachusetts cyclist named Sheldon Brown - who, sadly, died in 2008 - has interesting background on Japanese bicycles at his website.

The bike comes with a cartridge-type Shimano three-speed hub. I got the paperwork on that, too, and it's copyright Dec. 1978.