THE FIRST SCOOTER FILM FEST Loyal readers know that we (members of the scooter club) got ambitious this past winter and, even though we all lacked experience, we went out and made a scooter movie for entry into the first scooter film festival. Well, it was either that or sit around our hibernation caves and get fat on barley beverages and snack cakes. The results were sent to us mere hours before this column's deadline and sadly we were not awarded a prize -- nothing at all! We were robbed! The whole thing was a set up - a fix, I tell you. There was no.... huh? oops. Right. The film fest had 12 entries submitted ranging from music videos to animations to documentaries and the entrants were from around North America (Minnesota, California, New York, Oregon and British Columbia). The winner was Laurel Parker's "Clay", a movie about choices between youth and maturity. Hmmm... sounds like a common scootering theme. The runner up was "Sightings" by Conor Beuscher featuring a scooter-riding Elvis visiting a gas station. No wonder we didn't win -- we were up against The King! The coveted Audience Choice award went to "Jet Zero", a scooter spy story, by Alex Azam. Even though we didn't win, we had fun with the whole process and hopefully would do it all again. A NEW SCOOTER CLUB?In June the Twin Cities area got another scooter club! Wow. Who would've thought? This is great news for scooter enthusiasts as we now cover both ends of the spectrum -- vintage and modern. Although it should be noted that neither club is exclusive of the other type of scooter. If you own a scooter, well, that is about the only qualification you need. Minn-Max, The Minnesota Maxi-Scooter Club, is based in the Minneapolis / Saint Paul area and is focused on Maxi-Scooters, like the Honda Reflex and Helix (though all scooter riders are welcome). As their website explains: "For the sake of this club the terms Maxi-Scooter and Touring-Scooter are simply meant to define any scooter capable of doing prolonged trips at sustained speeds of 55 mph or better. Our rides will vary in length, though putting in 150 miles in a day would not be unusual. Scooter riders who are comfortable with these speeds and distances will probably get the most enjoyment from Minn-Max." You can join up or find out more information online: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Minn-Max DINNER AND A MOVIE "Quadrophenia," that quintessential English movie about music, Mods, Rockers and lots of scooters, is being released on DVD on September 25th and to celebrate Rhino Home Video is sending the re-mastered movie around the country for viewing on the big screen. It will be screening at the Oak Street Cinema July 13-19th. Join us for this event! We'll meet on Sunday July 15th at 2:00 pm in downtown Minneapolis at Brit's Pub for late afternoon lunch and then we'll ride to Oak Street Cinema for the 5:00 pm showing! Thankfully there aren't any cliffs overlooking the ocean here. COMING SOON: 2nd ANNUAL RALLY The Regulars annual scooter rally is rapidly approaching and we are all frantically organizing and planning and making flyers and posters and obstacle course items and... and... whew. We are just plain working hard so we can all have fun come August. The Regulars 2nd annual rally will be August 10-12th in Minneapolis. This is a city rally (no camping) and we'll have games, prizes, bands, events, rides, cookouts in the park, food, and plenty of drinks. Here's a brief itinerary: Friday Night from 8:00 pm until whenever: meet at The Triple Rock Bar, sign-in, eat, drink, socialize, etc. Saturday at 10:00 am we'll meet for breakfast, take the big ride, afternoon cookout, etc. Saturday from 5:00 pm until the wee hours we'll take over Grumpy's Bar in downtown and have our big contests, prizes, 3 or 4 bands will play and other general mayhem of scooter sorts. Sunday morning we'll drag our butts out of bed and meet at 10:00 am for breakfast and our short ride before our guests and visitors have to head for home. We hope to see you there. Last year was a ton of fun! Visit the website for the latest updates and info. RANDOM BITS Congratulations are in order! Regulars members Chris and Erin Payne have brought a new member into our club - their first child was born on Friday June 29th and his name is Alexander Xavier!   That's it for this month's issue. Coming very soon: a scooter shoot-out. We'll be doing testing and evaluating of several different scooters so you have a sort of reference guide and comparison chart. Until then... Ride safe. Ride often. The Twin Cities' Vintage Scooter Club, The Regulars, meets on the first and third Sundays of each month at Pizza Luce in Uptown Minneapolis (32nd and Lyndale Ave) at 2:00 pm for socializing and riding -- as long as weather permits. Join us! The website is located at http://www.minnescoota.com or send me a message - jeremy@minnescoota.com or meddlinkid@excite.com     M.M.M.