Elliot's Bicycle Service & Piano Bar

[Ratty]

Elliott, can you make a small case 'b' look like a naked guy?

[Elliot]

Are you referring to my pot belly?
Otherwise, I don't see how. And since the B is the initial of Bicycle, a lower case b would be wrong.

[BoyScoutGirl]

Elliot, Google Sites is a free webpage building service. It's Google, so the templates are pretty intuitive and the whole thing is free. You can take a custom domain name purchased through GoDaddy and have it point to the Google Site, so elliotsbikes.org is not a waste at all.

[Elliot]

Thanks, Scout! I lost an hour sleep last night thinking of a new name -- like elliotsbicycles.org. (I prefer to use "bicycle" when my tongue is not in a hurry, as that will not be confused with motor-bikes.)
But the latest news, just now, is that Support finally gave me some useful information about how to avoid the sort of trouble I have had. I must wait several hours between each re-publishing. If I re-publish too soon, it gums up the works. Knowing that is gold! So this may be OK after all. Soooo much to learn!

And where on the Planet are you these days, Scout? My brother is in Thailand, studying elephants!

[Ratty]

Is your brother anywhere near chiang rai? They had the best, (and the worst), elephants.

[Elliot]

How about Chiang Mai? In northern Thailand. The place is called Elephant Nature Park. They buy abused animals, nurse them back to health, and give them a happy retirement.

I'm still looking for photos of our bicycle services in camp, for the web site.

[Patsh]

Are you referring to my pot belly?
Otherwise, I don't see how. And since the B is the initial of Bicycle, a lower case b would be wrong.

here's me, being all wrong...

Elliot's Bicycle Service 001.jpg

[Elliot]

Hey, that's not too shabby!

[Patsh]

Hey, that's not too shabby!

I just thought if all three initials were lower case, it might work...

[Ratty]

We go to Change Mai on every trip. All of the elephant places break your heart. The one on the river in Chang Rai has a humane plan in place. They work them for a few months in the jungle then they lay around in the river for a few months taking tourists on short walks. Trips for one hour or one day. They weren't neurotic. I also saw some of the worst conditions imaginable disguised as elephant hospitals. "Give us money or they will die." Skinny beasts chained in the sun. In the north near My Hong Sung we wouldn't go near them and sure enough, the next day someone was killed by an abused elephant. All over the country you can buy bananas and cane to feed them. They are usually rocking and straining against the chains. Your brother is on a serious mission. I hope he was emotionally prepared.

And on a lighter note...Patsh, You're an artist. That looks like a workable design. When we wanted to design our custom playing cards at my work we had a contest. Come on Elliott. What's the prize. (Beside seeing your handy work every day on eplaya).

[Elliot]

Runar & Laura are at an elephant sanctuary that is strictly about rescue and healing and comfortable retirement. And this sort of thing has been his life for three decades. Runar is working on establishing an elephant sanctuary in France, and Laura is working on her doctorate. http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

I still want to try this logo idea in upper case. At first I figured the B would be the most difficult, but now it looks like the E is trickier.
To make it look like a bicycle, it does not necessarily need a lot of bicycle components. A few "speed streaks" behind it will give the impression of movement, and then the brain takes over and recognizes a bike. That's the trick with illustrations.... It doesn't matter what it looks like to a man from Mars. What's needed is for the viewer's mind to recognize what it is, and then the mind fills in the details from memory.

I bet you have heard people say "Ya know, that thing doesn't look much like a dog, but I knew immediately that it was a dog."

[Tiahaar]

you set me up for this didn't you Elliot

[delle]

Ratty's "Naked guy" comment got me thinking. Then Elliot's "Capital E and B" dilemma clinched it for me.

Bums!

Rough first thought just keeps on morphing...

[Patsh]

Ratty's "Naked guy" comment got me thinking. Then Elliot's "Capital E and B" dilemma clinched it for me.

Bums!

Rough first thought just keeps on morphing...

Now, a straw hat floating above and some speed streaks...

[Elliot]

Tiahaar, I have looked at pages and pages of those, yes.
Delle, that is very nice artwork! But I fear it would not be recognized as EBS by most people who see it for the first time.

[BoyScoutGirl]

And where on the Planet are you these days, Scout?

Steady employment has got me tied down to southern California - haven't been out of the country since that three-month stay in Spain before the last burn. On the upside: steady employment! I'm teaching and having a blast. I do have a trip planned to finally get to Yosemite, though, so that's keeping the wanderlust bug at bay.

Also: I'm not great at designing logos, but if you have a sketch you really like, I can turn a photo, scan, or small image into a vector image pretty easily. Vector images can be made as large as you like with no loss of quality (meaning no pixelation), even on banners, etc. Also, when doing runs of stickers, embroidered patches, etc., the companies often want a vector version and might charge money to convert your bitmap into a vector image. Just let me know

[Elliot]

Teachers ought to be the stars of any civilized society. And in some countries they are! Small wonder those countries are catching and passing us.

Later today I will read up on "vector image". Sure appreciate the offer of assistance!

Right now I start upgrading the website. This will probably take many hours, but I have a sore-throat-runny-nose bug, so it is probably just as well I stay inside for a couple days til that is over with. And this time I will be careful to follow the advice Tech Support has given me.

Here is a sample from the website. I had to tell the customer this wheel was not repairable!

[delle]

A recognized logo mashup... lol. Super MG?

[Elliot]

That style "E" just might be the trick that makes the rectangular letter into a tolerably round one!
And the "B" has a section that perfectly matches the downtube on a bicycle, so that could help identify the logo as a bicycle.

[delle]

or we could just set the tire on fire and poke some hotdogs into some of the rungs....



Sure is fun thinking today. Haven't been able to say that for a while now, so thanks for the spark.

[Elliot]

You are thinking about Kernul Killbuck's corn dogs.

[Elliot]

.
My current thinking:
(The non-letter parts of the wheels need to be less visible.)

[arcteryx]

My idea

[Elderberry]

I like the first two.

[delle]

Oooooh. You people have been BUSY. NICE. I really like the last two.


Just to throw another wrench in the machine... (because I just can't for the life of me draw a bike)




(edited 16 times in attempts to resize...)

[Elliot]

Well, The GoDaddy tech Support is pretty much down to... that the problems are either in my computer or in my brain. I suspect the computer -- in this case.
My next question will probably be on the ePlaya "all things tech" thread. What's a "script" in a computer, anyway? Mine keeps going "unresponsive", and that freezes all activity.

But the site is live. There is some background missing on the Home page. And much of the yellow backing for text is missing on the Photo Gallery page, but you can still read it. The LNT page is still incomplete, but all the "required" text is there.

Besides the ongoing battle of wits with GoDaddy, the site is steadily improving.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

[Jackass]

ebs.jpg

Just place a bike under it, or a couple of spoke wheels and wrenches, perhaps a brightly colored mohawk...still needs a little refinement. Brand recognition.

[Jackass]

elliot's punk garage.jpg

I couldn't help myself...

[Elliot]

Good 'un, Jackass! Yes, I have certainly considered Public Broadcasting. And it would indirectly support them. But I would rather not have a person prominent in the logo. This is about Bicycle Service, not about Elliot. So the Elliot-element of the logo should not be any more than 1/3.
I will try to make a new sketch now.

[Jackass]

That's doesn't resemble you Elliot, that's supposed to be your run-of-the-mill customer @ BM.

This is what the "Elliot" logo looks like...

elliot, proprietor.jpg

Do with them as you wish...
(my drawing with the mouse sucks)