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Real world and virtual world updates

It's +4°C, overcast, raining off and on. Not a good day for painting outside. The SpinCycle frame is inside drying. Same cool green as the Overkill bike.

Hope the weather improves so we can take some pics and vids outside before the SpinCycle is shipped off next week to its temporary home in Calgary. She's a sweet machine!

Yesterday, I set up an Atomic Zombie site on TagWorld, similar to MySpace. It's so easy to spend hours designing your profile, adding vids, tunes, pics, etc. It's funny how many bike builders I've met up with on these sites. Pretty cool. 

Also added some pics to Webshots. There are so many networking sites out there it's practically a full-time job hunting them down and posting. Meeting all kinds of cool people, though, so it's worth connecting with people from all over the world. 

Will have more pics and vids up after this weekend for y'all to enjoy. In the meantime, have a great weekend, and keep in touch. 

Wild Kat test ride

It's +11°C, clear skies and warm enough to be outside without a jacket. Took my new Wild Kat recumbent for its first test ride. Surprised how well it handles with underseat handlebars. First time I've ridden a bike without the traditional upfront handlebars. Usually I wipe out a few times before getting the hang of a new design, but this one was so easy and comfortable. Awesome, AZ! You da man!

Takes some getting used to, but what a smooth ride! I guess it's quite a different design, considering how many vehicles stopped to watch us take turns riding it in a parking lot. Will be able to get some good speed on this baby. Good thing it has a disc brake. I'm looking forward to touring around on it next week. Brad's sanding and priming it tonight, along with the SpinCycle. Yeah, baby!

Bubba's back

It's +6°C, clear skies and beautiful. Finally!

Our squirrel pal Bubba has returned, searching the yard for the nuts he buried last fall. The dog isn't impressed with this intruder scurrying around, though. 

The sweet sounds of the grinding, welding and hamming reverberate throughout the neighborhood. 

My new and improved Wild Kat recumbent is looking good! I'll even have a disc brake this time. Regular brakes just didn't do the job when really needed. 

Should be finished this week, with plans online in the next couple of weeks. I'll be riding in style and comfort very soon. Can hardly wait to get back on the road again.

Bring it on!

It's -3°C, overcast and light snow. Yep, you read that right. Snow. Again. Ugh. SpinCycle will get primed and painted this weekend, providing the weather warms up. Hope the Weather Network forecast is right. 

I can see some grass trying desperately to turn green in parts of the yard. Bring on spring, I say! Thank goodness the snow is melting little by little each day. 

AZ is also building me a new recumbent, but it probably won't be ready for the critical mass ride next Friday. The RU Biking Club at Lakehead University holds one on the last Friday of each month, weather permitting. Will have to join them for next month's ride when we both have our bikes ready to rock.

Plus, we're working on the download service to be launched April 3 (or sooner). This weekend will be pretty busy again. So much to do, so little time. 

Speaking of time, wish we could get to Sturgis this year, but doesn't look like we can spare the time or expense. This is the 66th year - unbelievable! It's about a 15 hour drive from here, but it would be so cool to finally get there in person. Maybe next year?

Thanks so much to many of you who send us emails, stories and feedback. Hope to meet some of you in person some day. Looking forward to seeing more of your pics in the Builder's Gallery.

Building updates and download service

It's -1°C with lots of sun. Still not as warm as we had hoped by now, but spring is officially here, I guess. The snow is quickly melting away. Time to get the bike tuned up and go for the first ride of the season later this week. The SpinCycle for the Telus World of Science is just about done. Needs some primer and paint, then she gets shipped next week. 

We'll take some video footage and make a fun instructional CD to send along with it. It's supposed to warm up later this week to a whopping +7°C. Wow!

I've been listening to an awesome radio station in Stockholm, Sweden recently - www.rockklassiker.com. Lots of great music. You can listen to their on air broadcasts over the Internet. Check it out. Send them an email and tell them you're part of the Atomiczombie.com krew. I received an email from someone at their station last week.

We are working on offering a fee-based download service for current and upcoming CD/DVD releases. With this service, shipping costs will be eliminated and you'll be able to get what you want instantly. Of course, if you still want the actual CD/DVD, there will always be the option to order and have it shipped to you. Unfortunately, we can't offer electronic versions of the books as our publisher McGraw-Hill owns the copyright.

But, with more and more requests from international customers, it makes sense to have a download service. This way, there will be no waiting for the postal service to finally deliver your CD/DVD, if you prefer to buy the electronic version. We hope to have the service fully functional within the next 2-3 weeks, once we figure out the logistics and security options. Will post announcements in the forum, here and in the News section on this site.

See, we really do listen to your suggestions! Keep 'em coming. Now, get out there and build!

Happy Birthday AZ

It's a balmy -7°C and overcast. Got a nice surprise today from Mother Nature - 4 inches of snow so far and another 4-6 on the way. Nice. Yet, just 11 hour drive southeast of us, temps are +17 to +20, with thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Weird. Am I complaining? You bet! Spring is supposed to be officially here this week. Guess that's not going to be the case after all (sigh). Ok, enough of my pity party.

The weekend was awesome, great for working in the garage and getting organized. AZ has the inside of the garage ready for building with the new and improved SpinCycle at the top of the list for the Telus World of Science bike exhibit in Calgary. 

Nothing, not even this ridiculous weather will stop us. Our next CD, Atomic Zombie's Crazy Bikes Vol. 1, will also be released in May. Scroll down in the Plans & Gear section for more info. This one will be fun to make, 10-12 projects.

Two thumbs up to a couple of bands soon to be inducted into the Cool Tunes section - Midnight Grace and Shine. 

The Cool Tunes section will be updated this week. In the meantime, check out their tunes, drop them a line, and show your support. It takes alot of time, money, patience and determination in the music biz. 

Cheers to the University of Toronto Chopper Club. You guys do some awesome stuff, especially getting young people interested in bike building and basic bike maintenance. Kudos! If you're ever in our neck of the woods, let us know. The BBQ is always rarin' to go and we're a block away from the Beer Store.

Hey Tony D. thanks for the email about the Toronto Island Cruise this summer, but your email server blocks all of my messages to you. Can't contact you about the freebies, dude. Maybe post something in the forum so we can connect, ok? 

Right on to the RU Biking club at Lakehead University. We hope to attend the next Critical Mass ride at the end of the month. Check out other Critical Mass rides around the world here.

Last by certainly not least, happy birthday to Brad, the one and only Atomic Zombie. You're da best! 

I'm off to shovel again...

Ugh, more snow

-0°C and overcast. What a rude awakening! Sometime during the night, a couple of inches of snow dared to blanket the ground. It's March for crying out loud. Enough already! I've already started organizing camping gear (ok, I'm a little anxious) and planning out the vegetable garden on paper so planting will begin immediately after the last frost, probably mid to late May. 

Guess I should be thankful. Many parts of the world have been getting some disastrous weather and natural disasters. Maybe the snow isn't so bad in comparison. There's definitely something going on globally and we should all take notice of these signs. The Earth doesn't seem to be very happy these days.

Couldn't believe my ears when I heard that Dana Reeve passed away from lung cancer. A non-smoker dying from lung cancer baffles me. Turns out it's the #1 cancer killer in America. Huh? Then, I learned that radon gas is everywhere and responsible for thousands of deaths annually. Apparently, you can buy radon test kits and find out the levels in your home. I wonder if any manufacturers of carbon monoxide detectors have made a radon detector, too? That would be a good idea, considering you can't smell, taste or see radon gas and it's naturally occurring in soil and water. Scary stuff.

All the more reason to live life to the fullest while you still can. No matter how many hours you work in a day, a month or a year, take the time to enjoy life once in awhile. I'm off to shovel snow, hopefully for the last time this winter. If not, oh well, no sense complaining about it. Maybe it's not so bad after all.

"Think outside the box of dots"

Another clear, sunny day at -4°C. Anxious to get the snow cleared away and get into full swing. Saw some brave souls riding their bikes yesterday, but I'm not that brave yet. Workbench is almost finished and welder gets hooked up this weekend. Let the fun begin! Looking forward to the day we switch off the furnace until late fall. Electricity and natural gas prices are ridiculous these days. 

I'm researching solar power to find out if it's affordable and possible to use for our house and/or garage. Willing to work with any manufacturers and/or dealers, even to be a test site for various alternate energy solutions. So, if you're into alternative energy, especially solar, contact me. At the rate of energy prices, now is the time to seriously look for alternatives. I'm very interested in learning more.

Went to a workshop yesterday, Innovation Takes Flight, hosted by our local technology centre. The workshop on Developing Successful New Products was informative, but the best part of the day was keynote speaker Bill King, VP Business Administration of Cirrus Design Corporation. Bill clearly loves what he does in the personal aircraft manufacturing business. His stories, advice and enthusiasm are inspiring for those of us who dare to be different, to "think outside the box of dots." The story of Cirrus, from its early days as an underdog with an ambitious vision to a present-day champion and innovator in the personal aviation industry, is amazing. I was captivated throughout his presentation.

Sometimes being different is pretty lonely, especially when the majority don't understand you, your ambition, your thinking, your quest to do something unique. How often do you hear from naysayers that you're crazy, your ideas will never work, you're wasting your time? Sure, some plans might fall through, some might be a waste of time and money. And, at some point, you have to realize that not every idea is a great idea worth pursuing.

But, when you hear or read about other successful innovators who dare to do their own thing on their terms despite how "crazy" their idea might be, it makes you even more determined to forge ahead with your own goals. Have a real plan, think positive, have fun and work hard. That's a big part of our philosophy in business and in life, so I think we're on the right track. Thanks for being an inspiration, Bill. It's cool to be different. 

Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines web stats for February 2006

How many more sleeps until spring?

It's -6° C and bright, but temperature still drops to -18° C to -24° C at night, which makes working in an unheated garage very interesting. The warped garage door frame will be fixed this week. Still very cold in there without any heat, though. Despite the temps, Brad is building a workbench and getting things organized to get the newest SpinCycle completed this month for the Telus World of Science bike exhibit beginning in May. 

Recent additions to the site include videos in Info & Media and slideshow in the main frame. More goodies to come in the next few months. We're working on some fun and downloadable stuff. Stay tuned. 

It's been a blast watching video clips and press coverage during recent years. I think one of the most memorable moments was Brad's live interview on a national morning show, Canada AM. We had to transport the World Record 14' 3" SkyCycle to our local tv studio at 6:30 am and be outside for over an hour in -15° C. Poor Brad was a popsicle when he finally climbed down after the interview! Check out the Videos section under Info & Media. 

Had a visit from a local reporter, Jonathon Wilson, last week who's been a wonderful supporter of our wackiness and has given us tons of local coverage that has led to worldwide exposure. Check out the Press section under Info & Media. 

Yes, all of the tunes on the site are composed, performed and mixed by Brad. Speaking of music, thanks to the Deadly Apples (hey Freak) for sending me their Metamorphosis Has Begun demo CD and flyers. Awesome stuff! If you like your music heavy, check them out.

Mini robot, frozen stuff & stats

It's -8° C and sunny today. Happy Presidents' Day to our American family, friends & neighbors!

Check out the Builder's Gallery later this week for some pictures on AZ's newest mini remote controlled robot. It has night vision, a video camera, microphone, all contained in a compact design about 3" x 2". It's a fast little thing, with the two smallest motors I've ever seen. The dog isn't thrilled about this motorized creature zipping throughout the house, hiding under furniture. It's probably smaller than cockroaches in some cities! It should be painted and pics posted this week.

No such luck getting into the garage yet. Thanks to extreme temps, the door is frozen and it won't budge. Trying to come up with a plan to get in without destroying the door. It could only happen to us! Good news - Brad hacked off the doorknob and replaced it. Seems the door frame has warped. Nice.

We get a number of requests about our web stats, so we will post them regularly. 

Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines web stats for January - December 2005

Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines web stats for January 2006

Where the heck is Thunder Bay?

It's -21° C and sunny today. No kidding! Got an email from someone recently asking the above question and here's part of my response:

• Thunder Bay is located along the shores of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world.

• Population of approximately 120,000 with one university and one community college.

• The city is geographically in the centre of Canada and is the largest community in Northwestern Ontario.

• Thunder Bay is Ontario's 12th largest city, Canada's 29th largest.

For more info., check out www.thunderbay.ca . Thank for asking, my Kiwi friend! Hope to see your bike pics in the Builder's Gallery soon. 

Happy Valentine's Day - we have lift-off

Kudos to all web designers. You have my utmost respect for what you do for a living or as a hobby. Unless you design a web site from scratch and learn alot of technologies used for a dynamic site, no one will ever understand the countless hours, frustrations and patience it takes to put that final product on line and functioning properly. The final product might look good, but it sure takes an insane amount of time and alot of aggravation to get it that way.

The AZ site was officially launched live today at 10 pm, and there's still alot more to add as we wade through this latest overhaul. Hope it stays the same for at least a couple of years. This yearly overhaul is really exhausting.

Hope it goes over well. It's sure a ton of work...going to have a cup of tea and veg while the sucker is uploading the hundreds of files to the server. Getting tons of emails from bands and musicians wanting to be added to the Cool Bands page. Methinks I'll be busy doing updates for awhile. First priority though - must get some sleep this week...zzzzzz

Science exhibit comes calling

It's a balmy -8° C, sunny and bright. Feels more like early spring than February. For this time of year, in this neck of the woods, that's unseasonably  warm.

It never ceases to amaze us how people find out about Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines. A few days ago, someone (Terry) from the Telus World of Science in Calgary posted on the forum that they are having a bike exhibit  from the National Museum of Science and Technology, May through September 2006. He was looking to have a Spincycle or tandem for a hands-on display where the public can ride bike(s) in the indoor arena.

Of course, I replied right away on the forum that we would send a Spincycle for the exhibit. What an honour to be included in this event! Once the site is done, Brad will be out in the garage making some mods to a Spincycle to send to Calgary in March. Maybe we'll plan a little vacation and go there, if we can squeeze in a road trip. I think it's a two-day drive to Calgary. Haven't been there since I was a kid.

A couple of years ago, the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa expressed an interest in acquiring the World Record SkyCycle for a bike exhibit, but the shipping cost for the 14' 3" beast was too much. So, it spent another winter towering over our backyard until the summer of 2005 when it was hacked up for parts.

It was quite an attraction for a couple of years, even folks from across Canada and the U.S. visiting or passing through our city stopped by for a look. In hindsight, we should have kept a guestbook, but never thought it would become a tourist attraction. SkyWalker is still in one piece. Brad still takes it out for a spin now and then.

The web site is coming along very quickly. Brad spent most of the weekend re-doing the photo gallery. It's a ton of work! ChopZone.com will be fully integrated into AtomicZombie.com. It was too time consuming to have two separate galleries and sites to maintain. Using Flash will simplify things and there will be lots of interesting stuff to appeal to everyone. Can hardly wait 'til it's completely done and on-line. Brad is itching to get in the garage and start hacking again.

Welcome to our world!

Greetings everyone and welcome to our very first blog! As you can tell by the re-vamped AZ site and goodies we've added, we've been pretty busy getting stuff done before spring, and the official re-opening of our garage. AZ is anxious to get in there and start building more bikes.

We'll try to update here as much as possible, but some days there might not be much to say. Bear with us as we get our various projects organized and on track. 2006 is pretty full already with book, CD and web projects.

Somewhere in between we'll have to find a way to get some sleep. Thank goodness for espresso and Red Bull

In late January, we got our latest book, 101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genius, off to our publisher McGraw-Hill for editing and are awaiting the final edits before it's sent to press for the May 15 release date. Seven long months on that project, but well worth the effort. If you think the average author makes a ton of cash (unless you're Stephen King, Anne Rice, John Saul, JK Rowling, etc), think again! But, seeing your work on a bookstore shelf is quite an accomplishment and something to be very proud of. Now that the book is done, we're gearing up for a very busy year and new projects, once we catch our breath.

We are hoping for an early spring as the weather has been unusually warm most days, not the -30° C & -40° C that we normally get here in Northern Ontario. It's only -8° C here today, unusual for this time of year. Those of you who don't agree that global warming is real, take it from a Northerner - it's NOT normal for temps here in January to be above 0° C! All the more reason to get on a bike and leave the gas guzzling beasts at home as much as possible.

FYI  - all of the AZ stuff we do is in our spare time in addition to our full-time jobs. So, if you send us an email or post on the forum and we don't respond immediately, please be patient. We do read every message. Thanks.