$25

Here is the problem. In Premium Rush JGL is this pretty boy bicycle messenger. How many messengers do you know that look like this?

Looks more like Lance Armstrong than a messenger. No offense Lance.

Now let’s look at JGL character in Hesher.

Now this is more what a messenger looks like.

And it’s not just the character roll. It’s the action sequences too. First let’s look at a scene from Premium Rush.

Flying through the air in Premium Rush

Here is JGL character in Premium Rush flying through the air after being hit by a car. What’s wrong with this picture? First, he’s not even looking back at his bike. All a messenger cares about is his bike. He would naturally be looking back to see what is happening to his bike. Second, he has a helmet on. All messengers know you never have accidents when you were your helmet. It’s always when you say to yourself, “It’s to hot, I don’t want to wear my helmet.” That’s the day you get creamed by a car. Back to Hesher.

A REAL day in the life of a messenger

Now this is what’s it’s like to be a messenger. No shirt leap from a diving board on fire while wearing your jeans. That’s more like something that could happen, or has happened, to many messengers. Do I even need to explain it? I think not. So you can see the directors, or casting agents really botched this one up.

Just wait until I go into more about smashing cab mirrors with your bike lock in my next blog!

Let's tango.

For today I am just going to start out with the basic question I got from a friend, “Is Premium Rush a real term used with messengers and courier company’s?” The answer is yes and no. A messengers delivery is based on two things, time and distance. I’m sure there are codes for distance, but in the bike game the most important information is “how soon”. There are usually hard and fast time lines that are not subject to any leeway. In other words, 60 minutes is 60 minutes, not 61 minutes. Usually in the downtown area a slow delivery you have 2 hours to get down. We use to call this the “Econo” Short for economy of course. Then there is the “Rush” which might need to be done in an hour. The next fastest time frame would be a 30 minute delivery. I’ve heard some companies call this the “Domino” originating from the time when the chain pizza joints would guarantee a delivery in 30 minutes or your money back. Finally we arrive at the answer to our question. The 15 minute delivery is about the tightest most companies will quote something. Call it what you want, a TURBO, WHIZZO, SLAMMER, ASAP, GUNSHOT or “PREMIUM RUSH”. It’s referred to as a delivery that needs to get there quick.

Now I’m familiar with the plot (I read the screenplay, details later to come) and the trailer suggests that the pick up is made at 5:30 and needs to get there by 7:00PM. That’s 90 minutes. So why a “Premium Rush” not clear on that one. Maybe it’s priced “Premium” because it’s after normal business hours. I can buy that.  Either way, this movie is going to rock. I can’t wait.

Now that's a problem

But the problem was soon fixed.

I would much rather spend 3 hours in shop waiting for my bike to be fixed than 3 hours at the doctor waiting to get me fixed.

NIce photo

The day ended looking like this! Thanks Adams Avenue, you guys rock.

No Drive train, wahoooo.

1. http://www.latfh.com/

2. http://unhappyhipsters.com/

3. http://www.hipsterhandbook.com/

4. http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Hipster

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_(contemporary_subculture)

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAO4EVMlpwM

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9BJ33KJRI

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eKnSGn914M

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr77efMavEY

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr77efMavEY   **

*Note I am much to busy trying to squeeze in my 29/32 acid washed pegged legged Guess Jeans to have looked at any of these sites.

**This on made the list solely for have the word Duesch in the video title.

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There just aren't enough girl messengers.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. If you want to do something you have to just do it. There is no substitute for action, not words. So when people call me in San Diego and ask how they can be a bicycle messenger I give them two choices. Start their own messenger company in San Diego and they too can be a bicycle messenger by lunchtime. OR, move to New York City and you can walk into most messenger company’s and be working by lunchtime. But the next best thing to being a bicycle messenger is reading Jeff Kidders book Urban Flow. It covers both good and bad aspects of being a messenger. When I read it I was both proud and ashamed to be a messenger for 11 years.

Today I took another page from his book and doctored it up in Photoshop. The idea is that there just aren’t that many girl messengers. (And I took heat for it at the SF screening. During QandA a woman stood up and screamed, “Why the hell no girls in your movie!!!”)  Well, it’s a dirty, stinky, macho kind of job. But the girls that do messenger seem to have the one defining trait of most couriers; they love riding bikes. So at the end of the day, boy or girl, it’s always about the bike.

FedEx vs. The Bike Courier

Every messenger and messenger company employee knows and understands why it’s so important to have “same day” service. It’s because while sometime this week might be ok for a small business to have a packaged delivered in a town of 10,000 where life moves a little slower, it’s not always the best plan of action in the big city. For example, if a building is being built and the engineer can’t begin engineering until the architect sends the plans, well then we all know the builder can’t begin building until they have the numbers and plans from the engineer and architect and the city still has to approve all this. So the minute the architect is done they must send them to the engineer and engineer to the job site and so on. By keeping the ball rolling so to speak millions are saved in time and time is money.

And that is why is always burns my bacon when a client would FedEx something two blocks away. It costs more to use FedEx and it’s slower! But the reason they do it is because it’s easier for them to just package it up with the other stuff going hundreds of miles away that night than to add one more step to their process and pick up the phone to call a bike messenger. Alas… I drone on.

Not the bike, the film!

It’s time to sell the film! Making a film turned out to be less commercial and more personal than I ever thought it would be. So go to the website (any page) and click the buy now and in less than a few days you will be watching the world’s GREATEST messenger documentary.

Thanks to everyone for following updates.

James going for the "record" on the basket bike

Ok, I am bending to the demands of the all powerful consumer. (Both of them.) It’s time to think about selling this film. I know you all were waiting to see it at a “Theater Near You.” I too was hoping for that. A world tour and the works. But since this is my first film it’s time to get it out there. It’s not changing the world for the better (or worse) sitting on the shelf at my house. So stay posted and look for the announcement. Most likely you will be able to purchase straight from the website and then from other outlets such at Amazon etc.

Now for the comment on the picture. The boxes were empty for photo purposes only. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t haul boxes of equal or greater value. But why haul em if you don’t have to. This was a staged photo for promotion. James and I had just bought this basket bike and were sick of people wondering if we could haul big boxes.