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Van Halen held a press conference this week announcing a new tour. Eddie, Alex, Dave, and Eddie’s son Wolfgang on bass. They have 25 dates planned in the U.S., and envision playing in Europe after that and then recording. And yet, I’m not sure that I care. Wait, yeah, I don’t really.

Now of course, Back In The Day, I was a HUGE VH fan. Still am, really. I have the CDs, and I’ve seen them live probably 5 or 6 times. I saw them when they toured with Gary Charone, for cryin’ out loud. I’ve always given VH, specifically EVH, the benefit of the doubt.

But I was always more of a fan of Sammy vs. Dave. And the last time I saw them, with Bill K. at Scottrade Center a few years ago, Eddie was clearly drunk, the show was pretty sloppy, and Sammy and Mike looked like they just wanted to finish the show and get out of there. It sucks to see your heros flail about like that – really bummed me out.

And now they have reunited, again, with DLR. I just don’t feel it, I guess. I actually have no real desire to see the show. If someone handed me tickets and said “Yo Cleez, check out the show”, of course I would, but I don’t see shelling out $50-ish for a nosebleed seat for this tour. Sorry homies, you lost me. All I can see in this tour is a lackluster performance and one last pay check for the guys. And don’t even get me started on the whole “I’m really a guitar player, I’m just playing bass in this band for now” issue. If Wolf plays with a pick, I just can’t go..

Maybe I’ll be wrong. Maybe Ed is cleaned up, is playing like his old self, and the band just kills it live. That would be cool, but until I hear or read something to that effect I’m not buying a ticket.

I love Van Halen. I’ve loved them since I was 15. But I think most of us who love VH actually love what VH used to be, not what it has become. So if an STL date is announced, and I never thought I’d say this, I’ll most likely pass.

After 8 years and 30,000 miles together, I finally traded my 1997 Suzuki TL1000S off on a shiny new ride. I purchased a 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050 in Fusion White from Donelson Cycles this Saturday, and yes, I’m giddy like a school boy.

After a 15-mile test ride I decided we’d probably get along okay, so I made the deal and took it home. After a 210-mile ride today, I am completely stoked on my choice!

Simply put, this bike rocks. It’s more of a standard, sit-up-straight bike versus the sportbikes I’ve been riding the last 10-12 years, and it has more suspension travel, so it’s definetely a different feeling than I’m used to going down the road. But I quickly got used to it and ended up grinning in my helmet after most every twisty road.

The motor is awesome – lots of power, very smooth, and absolutely seamless power delivery. The brakes are fantastic, better than my racebike’s. The suspension is a bit softer than I’m used to, but does a good job keeping the bike composed. I’ll probably be switching to sticker tires than what came on the bike, but for now they’ll do fine.

What really surprised me the most was the handling. Although you can’t (or shouldn’t) really ride it like a sportbike (hard on brakes, turn in, blast out), it is still really quick. You just need to take a smoother, more-corner-speed approach and the thing just floats along and rips. It turns in easier than just about anything I’ve ridden, is stable at all lean angles, etc. – just a ton of fun. Plus you’re sitting upright, so there’s no real weight on your wrists, you don’t have to move around and hang way off, etc. – lots less fatigue.

I’d say today – the first time I’ve ever ridden the bike –  I was going at 85% of my normal pace on my old bike but with 50% less effort. Exactly what I was looking for. Plus it’s so comfortable that I could easily see riding the thing all day on road trips and whatnot. This thing rips, I love it.

Here are some pics of the new addition.

Seda and I had a very nice two-week vacation in Turkey earlier this month. It was great to see her family, as well as see some new (to me) areas of Turkey.

The first week we spent along the coast of the Black Sea, going east from her hometown (also on the coast) of Eregli to Giresun. This is where both of her parents grew up, so it was neat to see this area. It’s very green and mountainous, and the mountains just sort of drop into the sea – very pretty. The mountainsides are virtually covered in hazelnut trees. Her dad has a house literally next door to the house he grew up in, in a smaller village outside Bulancak.

We spent some time doing touristy things with some other aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. We saw a couple of nice scenic overlooks, the castle at Giresun and the Boztepe in Ordu. These are both up high overlooking the cities and the Black Sea – gorgeous views all around. We also visited the Sulema Monastery, which was amazing – it’s literally a monastery built in the side of a mountain.

After a few days we drove to Ankara, the capital city, and spent two nights at Seda’s aunt & uncle’s house. We also spent one afternoon/evening with a college pal of Seda, Emel, and her husband Hakan. I probably drank a little too much Raki at dinner, but it was all good.

From Ankara we flew to Bodrum, on the coast of the Agean Sea. We’ve been here before on our honeymoon, and it rocks. Gorgeous sea, lots of sun, you name it. We spent 5 days at an all-inclusive resort basically eating, drinking, swimming in the sea, napping, and repeating. As the snowboarder in me would say, Maxin’ and Relaxin’.

It’s amazing to me how many different landscapes are in Turkey. The Black Sea region is all green, yet in Bodrum it’s very arid, almost desert-like, with shorter vegetation on the hillsides that are more yellow-ish or brown versus the deep greens of the Black Sea coast. Lots of scenic variety in a country that just a little bigger than the state of Texas. Oh yeah, the food is great too!

We had a fantastic time and, once again, every one of Seda’s family and friends were awesome to me; super hospitable, super nice, and willing to endure my slow Turkish language skills and help me learn new phrases (but no dirty ones!). If you want to see some pics you can check this link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8ja7k9uj.5mitf9m7&x=0&y=kh21t6