Well, this is a classic response from me... I sort of see both sides of this.
When Ken first discovered and adopted the old building in Bisbee for his bike shop cum-museum, naming it the Bike Brothel, I thought is was rib tickling funny and cool!
Ken is such a style man, always does things so well and tastefully, I thought it was a way neat idea. Then by the time he moved out of that old house of ill repute and into the most recent location, the name was permanent, even if the reason became less directly applicable. His collection and display is so awesome that his little 'den of iniquity' was destined for fame...
I was lucky to get one of the very first of the Tee shirts and donned it gleefully.
But..... I slowly discovered that outside the circle of insiders-and-chuckling-old-vintage-bike-guys, it was not so easy to wear that shirt! I am around kids and customers and womenfolk all of whom just-don't-get-it! The world I uncomfortably find myself living in is that of a 60+ year old guy who is no longer Mr. rock and roll! My wife's family for instance does not think this garment's image & connotation is absolutely hilarious around the their pre-teen girls! Imagine that? And I am not crazy about how suddenly, in the Pop culture, some people are sort of legitimizing and going public with pornography, "Hos" in music videos, and all that sort of mess. Seems sort of bad taste and unseemly. All of a sudden, having once thought of myself as a bit of a firebrand and even wild at times person, I am not crazy about all this vulgar stuff! Where does that put the Bicycle Brothel? It's certainly not the same, but enough to cause me to be a tiny bit conflicted about it!
So.... I love Ken and his place, both are really unique and splendid, but I am not expecting everyone to buy into celebrating the name or the darker part of our shared history. Everything in it's place...
Dale Brown Greensboro, North Carolina USA http://www.classicrendezvous.com
-----Original Message----- From: Tom Sanders <tom@orderandchaos.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Sat, Dec 19, 2009 2:15 pm Subject: [CR] "Bisbee Bike Brothel" - a put-off?
I move that when Dale and Ken agree we rename the list the Classic Rendezvous Bike Brothel.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, MI USA