Friday Aug. 12

Dave Tree - an activist/rocker friend of mine from way back; he fronted the band Tree and now the J. Geils cover band Blow You Your Face Out - is one of the motivators behind a Friday night event in Allston called "Art Show and Bike-In." The idea, behind the event, co-sponsored by the bikie co-op Commonwheels and SweeTree Ink? Ride you bike to the Penniman Road Park, lock it, and enjoy the geeky pleasure Pee-Wee Herman in "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" on the outdoor, new art will up inside the adjacent studio and there will be music as well. The new art's by Tree, another Boston music bud, Alvan Long, Matt Kruass and Massiel. Said Tree: "I got a bunch of new work on the walls and there will be two floors of art for your viewing pleasure, live entertainment by a some folks busking inside on acoustic instruments. The event is free and open to the public and kid friendly."
     I'm a big Pee-Wee fan and think this sounds like a fun night for the whole family. But there is this war going on. Certainly, you've heard. You've been out on the streets. You've seen the headlines. You know there's a cars v. bikes v. pedestrians battle going on out there. Too many accidents, too much carelessness and, well, some blame-gaming going on. Me, I'm a car and ped kind of guy. I gave up my bicycle riding days - same those stationery ones at the gym - about 1980 when I moved to the Boston area from relatively rural Maine. Simple decision: Cities are not for bikes. You can easily get killed out there. Now, the bike guys have had their say and there's bike lanes and bike safety awareness and bike awareness campaigns, with the one little problem being: Bikers. The 90 percent who scoff at all traffic laws, very much including headlight laws, stop lights, peds in intersections, you name it. They're on their cell phones, driving hands-free. They're on the sidewalk when they want to be pedestrians, weaving in and out of foot traffic. Basically, all the laws that apply to cars apply to bikes. Reall.y But the police don't enforce these. The penalties are non-existent or toothless which gives a lot of bikers an "Eff you, stop me if you can" mindset.
  I mentioned some of these things to Dave and e-mailed back:  "Well, as a guy that drives a van and rides a bike in Boston for over 20 years, I can understand some complaints by drivers that cyclists don't obey traffic laws, weave in between lanes and ride aggressively, because they do. Not all, not most but some do, and when they do they take their own lives at risk. But drivers have to understand that they are guilty of doing the same, and when they do they don't obey traffic laws and run a red light they don't take their own lives into the same risk as a cyclist and more than likely will kill someone else. Happens all the time. The animosity building up between drivers and riders is stupid and dangerous and some kid on a bike is going to loose his or her life to some angry guy in his SUV who doesn't want the bikes to 'Take Over' and then it will be too late. All I ever hear from the media is angry voices and outrage at the cyclists and that helps fan the flames of misunderstanding and violence. No 'One' rules the roads the roads are for us all to share."
   Now, our little debate has nothing to do, really, with your enjoyment of Pee-Wee and Friday's event. It's just when I first saw this movie, I fell in love with Pee-wee's love for his bike and the pleasure he took from it and the pain he felt when it was gone. And then bikes became something pervasive, powerful and ominpresent, speeding cockroaches whipping along city streets. I agree with Dave, in that drivers often suck, too. Basically, there's way too much sense of entitlement on all sides.
   Starts at 7.

Penniman Rd., off N. Beacon and Brighton streets, Allston, 617-787-3874 or 617-442-4141 www.bostonparks.org