Saturday, 18 June 2011
Friday, 17 June 2011
Risks accentuate the bravery and tragic clarity of choice
Reprinted in it's entirety, from Irish Road Racers and origionally printed in the Irish Times.
This is the heart and soul of why people do seemingly bizarre things on a daily basis. This is the spirit of humanity that will not even stop at death to achieve greatness. To those who go before, we salute you!
The Irish Times
DEREK BRIEN is the third. This year, he’s the third. The 36-year-old died at the mystically named Gorse Lea. They often do die somewhere beautifully named. Snaefell Mountain, Rhencullen, Stonebreakers Hut. Ballaugh Bridge. Greeba Castle. Lambfell Cottage. Peaceful names, remote places, sometimes on a majestic sweep of mountain with nothing but the stone walls and greenery. Laurel Bank. Gob-o-Geay. Glentramman.
Brien’s tragedy is piled high on the list of names of those who have perished at the Isle of Man TT and again brings us to one of the most defiant pieces of rock on the planet. Like Everest the island accepts the riders every year and every year it takes a few. The unofficial list now is 234 deaths, not including officials or spectators. Everest’s appetite is just short of that and lists vary but one estimate stops at 216 deaths with around 150 bodies still on the mountain.
Within a month Brien’s crash brings together two Irish people that died for the sports that thrilled them. On May 21st John Delaney failed to come down the mountain, the added anguish to his family being that his body remains in the Everest ice near the summit. Perhaps there is a strange comfort in that, and also for the family of Brien. What consumed both was more than a dalliance with the intrinsic appeal of danger but a relationship, familiar and natural, one that gave enormous pleasure.
The Isle of Man TT is as stunning a spectacle as you will ever see. It is a place where mortality is force fed, where the riders appear to go too fast into bends but somehow come out the far side, where they rear out of the seat to use their bodies as air brakes, smash into birds at 180mph, hit sticks on the road, find slippery bits of white line on hairpin bends. It is the community as much as the sports themselves that are the attraction.
Extreme bike racing and mountaineering are lifestyles and asking people to stop contributing to the body count is to ask them to change their lives because of our own buttoned-up sensibilities and infatuation with living safe and long. It is to say that doing one thing with a life is better than another. In that debate the bravery and the tragic clarity of choice of Brien and Delaney seems a creditable one to take."
This is the heart and soul of why people do seemingly bizarre things on a daily basis. This is the spirit of humanity that will not even stop at death to achieve greatness. To those who go before, we salute you!
The Irish Times
DEREK BRIEN is the third. This year, he’s the third. The 36-year-old died at the mystically named Gorse Lea. They often do die somewhere beautifully named. Snaefell Mountain, Rhencullen, Stonebreakers Hut. Ballaugh Bridge. Greeba Castle. Lambfell Cottage. Peaceful names, remote places, sometimes on a majestic sweep of mountain with nothing but the stone walls and greenery. Laurel Bank. Gob-o-Geay. Glentramman.
Brien’s tragedy is piled high on the list of names of those who have perished at the Isle of Man TT and again brings us to one of the most defiant pieces of rock on the planet. Like Everest the island accepts the riders every year and every year it takes a few. The unofficial list now is 234 deaths, not including officials or spectators. Everest’s appetite is just short of that and lists vary but one estimate stops at 216 deaths with around 150 bodies still on the mountain.
Within a month Brien’s crash brings together two Irish people that died for the sports that thrilled them. On May 21st John Delaney failed to come down the mountain, the added anguish to his family being that his body remains in the Everest ice near the summit. Perhaps there is a strange comfort in that, and also for the family of Brien. What consumed both was more than a dalliance with the intrinsic appeal of danger but a relationship, familiar and natural, one that gave enormous pleasure.
The Isle of Man TT is as stunning a spectacle as you will ever see. It is a place where mortality is force fed, where the riders appear to go too fast into bends but somehow come out the far side, where they rear out of the seat to use their bodies as air brakes, smash into birds at 180mph, hit sticks on the road, find slippery bits of white line on hairpin bends. It is the community as much as the sports themselves that are the attraction.
Extreme bike racing and mountaineering are lifestyles and asking people to stop contributing to the body count is to ask them to change their lives because of our own buttoned-up sensibilities and infatuation with living safe and long. It is to say that doing one thing with a life is better than another. In that debate the bravery and the tragic clarity of choice of Brien and Delaney seems a creditable one to take."
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Monday, 13 June 2011
Malloy
So in the realms of material things, usually i'm not too fazed. However this is something i would sell intimate bits of my body for:
The Malloy Hoverbike.
Words fail me.
YES, YES, YES ... OMG YES ... <--is about as far as i get.
Go see his web site, very nicely done.
UPDATE: The Kneeslider also featured this ... vehicle. Go see, some nice comments too!
The Malloy Hoverbike.
Words fail me.
YES, YES, YES ... OMG YES ... <--is about as far as i get.
Go see his web site, very nicely done.
UPDATE: The Kneeslider also featured this ... vehicle. Go see, some nice comments too!
Friday, 10 June 2011
Happy lane changing day
Happy lane changing day everyone. Yeah i think so too.
You know the OTHER queue is always moving faster? Well today there was a lot of that on the highway. I'm a little more used to the bike today, so was feeling more confident, but after seeing the traffic patterns i decided to be VERY careful. Good thing that, 10km along the highway green kawa had been taken out already. I stopped, the rider had a broken leg, but nothing life threatening. The pig on the scene got happy about "onlookers" so i had to leave. Hope he heals up soon.
It did have a slightly more calming effect on the traffic though, although not much, as they were bumper to bumper shortly after that. Got to work with no more surprises and feeling quite comfortable, despite the cold.
Remember the R6 i told you about with the worn sprocket and other stuff? Well, it was written off last night. According to the guy it was exactly the same as my first accident. Car pulls up at intersection, pulls forward, then stops, then, waiting for the perfect opportunity and timing, pulls off into you. Shit happens, fast. Bike is ugly badly fucked. Rider less so, sprained arm, and i think the helmet i lent him did it's job, his lip is badly swollen. At least he listened to me when i told him to tie the helmet straps ...
I have to go to JHB central today, to collect some helicoils to get MY BIKE BACK. It's a few blocks away from where i used to work, so an unwelcome trip down memory lane is instore for me. And JHB central? *shudder*. And this wind? Hahaha all the wrongs chills hey. But we go on, day in and day out.
I'll leave you with this little ditty, which i recently introduced my son to, and i think he gets it ;-) You have to have the right sorta smile on to sing this:
"Life is sad, life is a bust, all you can do, is do what you must, You do what you must do, and you do it well ...
I do it for you, ah hunny baby can't ya tell?"
Courtesy Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan)
You know the OTHER queue is always moving faster? Well today there was a lot of that on the highway. I'm a little more used to the bike today, so was feeling more confident, but after seeing the traffic patterns i decided to be VERY careful. Good thing that, 10km along the highway green kawa had been taken out already. I stopped, the rider had a broken leg, but nothing life threatening. The pig on the scene got happy about "onlookers" so i had to leave. Hope he heals up soon.
It did have a slightly more calming effect on the traffic though, although not much, as they were bumper to bumper shortly after that. Got to work with no more surprises and feeling quite comfortable, despite the cold.
Remember the R6 i told you about with the worn sprocket and other stuff? Well, it was written off last night. According to the guy it was exactly the same as my first accident. Car pulls up at intersection, pulls forward, then stops, then, waiting for the perfect opportunity and timing, pulls off into you. Shit happens, fast. Bike is ugly badly fucked. Rider less so, sprained arm, and i think the helmet i lent him did it's job, his lip is badly swollen. At least he listened to me when i told him to tie the helmet straps ...
I have to go to JHB central today, to collect some helicoils to get MY BIKE BACK. It's a few blocks away from where i used to work, so an unwelcome trip down memory lane is instore for me. And JHB central? *shudder*. And this wind? Hahaha all the wrongs chills hey. But we go on, day in and day out.
I'll leave you with this little ditty, which i recently introduced my son to, and i think he gets it ;-) You have to have the right sorta smile on to sing this:
"Life is sad, life is a bust, all you can do, is do what you must, You do what you must do, and you do it well ...
I do it for you, ah hunny baby can't ya tell?"
Courtesy Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan)
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Lifeand life and death
Ignore the heading, it's stupid and lame and irrelevant. Moving along :)
You are alive, undeniably, and you will die, just as certain. The rest are all variables that could be anything from 1-99 on a scale of probability. We in JHB have higher death probabilities than just about anyone else on the planet, Mexico, LA and Iraq are probably comparable. Death by bullet is "lead poisoning" which counts as natural death around here. Arguably the highest peacetime death toll from violence in recent history. Funny thing is: you're more likely to die in a road accident, in JHB. Wonderful thought to stir the passions, no?
So you're not high risk, you're the high end of high risk, so what do you do? You ride a motorcycle, of course. And when the wind blows, you ride, and when it rains, you ride, and when your visor and glasses are so fogged up you can't see the handlebars, you ride, only way to clear foggy glasses is to ride. And when your bike breaks, you ride, if you can find a spare. And when they tell you that the bike isn't insured, please be careful, well you fucking ride!!!
So all you adrenaline junkies out there ... here, have a fix that'll make your eyes water, and your stomach knot in twisted agony. That's if everything goes fine ...
... if everything doesn't go fine, well you're fucked, try not soil yourself ok?
So that's what i'm doing, riding a new(ish) bike that isn't insured through the metal madness. It's a 650 kawa, i won't say anything more than i want my freakin bike back please.
I was thinking about the death chances we face, and then i went to Think Bike and saw all the guys down. One guy was repairing a bike's brakes, went for a test ride, brakes failed, dead. Another was off to some rally, "misjudged a corner" about 10km out of town, dead instantly. Us bikers are mostly middle aged white guys, and i can tell you honestly we're all fucked in the head. The death urge is so strong where we're at, it's the white consumer culture, it's the black violence culture, it's the total don't give a shit cos there's no point to even trying culture that our beloved state has imposed. Every single avenue of "normality" has been twisted and bent out true. I see it around me, i feel it inside me too. This death urge that makes us want to live too fast, fly too high.
And it's not an exultation of the spirit as i've spoken of before, it's panic. Raw fear. K posted a cartoon where the guy says he has everything, except a reason to live. Goes that way for a lot around us, but more stuff is about all that we are socially allowed to want, oh, and "happiness" that ethereal fairy that teases and drops you. And so you got an entire generation of death junkies, who live and die all day every day, and yet never live, and die stupidly.
I mean no disrespect, but this death urge has got to be addressed. Hug someone, thats a good start, you may never get another chance. Now THAT'S living ;-)
peace and love
You are alive, undeniably, and you will die, just as certain. The rest are all variables that could be anything from 1-99 on a scale of probability. We in JHB have higher death probabilities than just about anyone else on the planet, Mexico, LA and Iraq are probably comparable. Death by bullet is "lead poisoning" which counts as natural death around here. Arguably the highest peacetime death toll from violence in recent history. Funny thing is: you're more likely to die in a road accident, in JHB. Wonderful thought to stir the passions, no?
So you're not high risk, you're the high end of high risk, so what do you do? You ride a motorcycle, of course. And when the wind blows, you ride, and when it rains, you ride, and when your visor and glasses are so fogged up you can't see the handlebars, you ride, only way to clear foggy glasses is to ride. And when your bike breaks, you ride, if you can find a spare. And when they tell you that the bike isn't insured, please be careful, well you fucking ride!!!
So all you adrenaline junkies out there ... here, have a fix that'll make your eyes water, and your stomach knot in twisted agony. That's if everything goes fine ...
... if everything doesn't go fine, well you're fucked, try not soil yourself ok?
So that's what i'm doing, riding a new(ish) bike that isn't insured through the metal madness. It's a 650 kawa, i won't say anything more than i want my freakin bike back please.
I was thinking about the death chances we face, and then i went to Think Bike and saw all the guys down. One guy was repairing a bike's brakes, went for a test ride, brakes failed, dead. Another was off to some rally, "misjudged a corner" about 10km out of town, dead instantly. Us bikers are mostly middle aged white guys, and i can tell you honestly we're all fucked in the head. The death urge is so strong where we're at, it's the white consumer culture, it's the black violence culture, it's the total don't give a shit cos there's no point to even trying culture that our beloved state has imposed. Every single avenue of "normality" has been twisted and bent out true. I see it around me, i feel it inside me too. This death urge that makes us want to live too fast, fly too high.
And it's not an exultation of the spirit as i've spoken of before, it's panic. Raw fear. K posted a cartoon where the guy says he has everything, except a reason to live. Goes that way for a lot around us, but more stuff is about all that we are socially allowed to want, oh, and "happiness" that ethereal fairy that teases and drops you. And so you got an entire generation of death junkies, who live and die all day every day, and yet never live, and die stupidly.
I mean no disrespect, but this death urge has got to be addressed. Hug someone, thats a good start, you may never get another chance. Now THAT'S living ;-)
peace and love
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Stormy weather
I'm still alive and kicking ... stuff.
Stormy weather we been having lately huh? Woke up this morning and thankfully didn't have to GET up ... until later. The view from my window made me think fondly of Cape Town winters, Cape of Storms ... they don't fuck around down there.
God must agree with me, JHB is a dirty place, so we got a good gale followed by rain by the bucketful. The skies are crisp and clear, clouds racing along like the little twigs and leaves we used to race along the water drains, as kids. Plenty of water back then, i recall weeks and weeks of fine rain back then. You and your friend would each choose a stick or leaf, and drop them together in the water drains, and run along beside them as they raced along until the big hole. Everything ended up down there eventually.
I need to go now, but peace and love and great big wood fires to all of you.
Stormy weather we been having lately huh? Woke up this morning and thankfully didn't have to GET up ... until later. The view from my window made me think fondly of Cape Town winters, Cape of Storms ... they don't fuck around down there.
God must agree with me, JHB is a dirty place, so we got a good gale followed by rain by the bucketful. The skies are crisp and clear, clouds racing along like the little twigs and leaves we used to race along the water drains, as kids. Plenty of water back then, i recall weeks and weeks of fine rain back then. You and your friend would each choose a stick or leaf, and drop them together in the water drains, and run along beside them as they raced along until the big hole. Everything ended up down there eventually.
I need to go now, but peace and love and great big wood fires to all of you.
Friday, 3 June 2011
Where is Molefi Nonyane?
Citizen activist time. This story needs to go viral, FAST.
Molefi Nonyane, the man who cradled Andries Tatane as he lay dying, has been arrested by Bloemfontein police and allegedly denied access to his lawyer. It's a particularly worrying development, as he was due to appear in court in Ficksburg as a key witness in the case against eight policemen accused of Tatane’s murder. Community activists said they did not know where Nonyane was and were concerned for his safety.
Go read the whole story at The Daily Maverick written by the excellent Mandy de Waal.
UPDATE: Captain Dlamini, an SAPS spokesperson, says that Molefi Nonyane was arrested after an old fraud charge against him was reopened. Dlamini says the charge relates to a case that the police opened against Nonyane in 2008. Nonyane is being held in Bloemfontein but was arrested in Ficksburg. Captain Dlamini says: "Nonyane is being held in Bloemfontein because his crime was committed in Bloemfontein. I can't comment on his lawyer not being able to speak to him. I don't know anything about that. He will have a bail hearing tomorrow (Friday) at the Bloemfontein magistrate's court." DM
___________________________________________________
Fucking cowards! These swine never stop. The dog has turned rabid on it's masters, time for the pound.
Look here:
Huffpost
How far away are we from this?
There's an angel keeping count of this shit, can't wait till he comes down to balance the accounts.
peace and love, treasure what you have.
Molefi Nonyane, the man who cradled Andries Tatane as he lay dying, has been arrested by Bloemfontein police and allegedly denied access to his lawyer. It's a particularly worrying development, as he was due to appear in court in Ficksburg as a key witness in the case against eight policemen accused of Tatane’s murder. Community activists said they did not know where Nonyane was and were concerned for his safety.
Go read the whole story at The Daily Maverick written by the excellent Mandy de Waal.
UPDATE: Captain Dlamini, an SAPS spokesperson, says that Molefi Nonyane was arrested after an old fraud charge against him was reopened. Dlamini says the charge relates to a case that the police opened against Nonyane in 2008. Nonyane is being held in Bloemfontein but was arrested in Ficksburg. Captain Dlamini says: "Nonyane is being held in Bloemfontein because his crime was committed in Bloemfontein. I can't comment on his lawyer not being able to speak to him. I don't know anything about that. He will have a bail hearing tomorrow (Friday) at the Bloemfontein magistrate's court." DM
___________________________________________________
Fucking cowards! These swine never stop. The dog has turned rabid on it's masters, time for the pound.
Look here:
Huffpost
How far away are we from this?
There's an angel keeping count of this shit, can't wait till he comes down to balance the accounts.
peace and love, treasure what you have.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Post post post brrrrrrrrrrrr
I have to post something, because well it's time to post. So far, i've actually managed to warm myself by not moving from this patch of sunlight. When i move, i get cold again. I'm not even going to talk about the exquisite agony of a smoke break. Being on a bike in this icy cold isn't fun at all. The entire body and mind just want to shut down and find a warm place to hibernate for winter. Even people in cars have beanies and jackets and mugs of warm something. Us bikers? We're MEN. Bloody cold men at that!
My day was made today though, i found someone indubitably worse off than i. Some poor little piggie was sitting on the concrete center barrier of the highway, trying to hide behind the camera from the wind. Ouch.
I was trying to remember the tune for "frosty the snowman" but that didn't work, got stuck with "Alice's Restaurant" instead, not a bad trade i think ;-)
It's quite amusing to me how others spend so much time and effort in listening to music while travelling. From sounds systems to fancy speakers and headsets, they all seem to need that music going. Listening to the radio is just mental suicide. Loud bike, loud music, and they're happy it seems. Me, i've given up on music while riding. It's inconvenient. For starters, i need to hear my bike, and traffic, i also need to focus, kind of hard with metallica at earthquake generating volume. Not only that, but suddenly you find that this morning you don't want metallica, you want something quieter, but the controls are buried beneath 5 layers of tightly closed padding, and you're wearing leather gloves, so metallica stays, and throws your mood out.
Of course, many also opt for hands free cell phone kit, and so music until someone phones. But again, that strikes me as a bad idea. First up, i'm not crazy about being phoned to start with, if you're phoning me, most likely you want something from me, not that i mind per se, but honestly, it can wait until i'm not doing the death dance okay? So i'll ride along, cellphone far enough away for me to not hear it ring, everything else packed away so as not to fall out, and nothing but the wind and road and my breathing for sounds. This is where the fun starts.
My brain is infinitely creative, and i am blessed to have my own private stereo that no-one else can hear. It's not even quadraphonic, it doesn't rely on your ears, beams it straight into the brain, brain, brain, brain, brain .... It's quite astonishing really, and as long as i avoid the bloody infection of popular radio seeping into my consciousness, then the selection is as arbitrary as it is pleasant. I have no idea who the deejay is, because i don't usually choose the tune, it just sorta starts playing, and usually within seconds i'm humming along happily. Unless it's something really bouncy, in which case you'll find me bouncing along happily, waves arms andf pulling silly faces at the traffic, not that they can tell, behind the tinted visor, but it's the thought that counts ... ;-)
My day was made today though, i found someone indubitably worse off than i. Some poor little piggie was sitting on the concrete center barrier of the highway, trying to hide behind the camera from the wind. Ouch.
I was trying to remember the tune for "frosty the snowman" but that didn't work, got stuck with "Alice's Restaurant" instead, not a bad trade i think ;-)
It's quite amusing to me how others spend so much time and effort in listening to music while travelling. From sounds systems to fancy speakers and headsets, they all seem to need that music going. Listening to the radio is just mental suicide. Loud bike, loud music, and they're happy it seems. Me, i've given up on music while riding. It's inconvenient. For starters, i need to hear my bike, and traffic, i also need to focus, kind of hard with metallica at earthquake generating volume. Not only that, but suddenly you find that this morning you don't want metallica, you want something quieter, but the controls are buried beneath 5 layers of tightly closed padding, and you're wearing leather gloves, so metallica stays, and throws your mood out.
Of course, many also opt for hands free cell phone kit, and so music until someone phones. But again, that strikes me as a bad idea. First up, i'm not crazy about being phoned to start with, if you're phoning me, most likely you want something from me, not that i mind per se, but honestly, it can wait until i'm not doing the death dance okay? So i'll ride along, cellphone far enough away for me to not hear it ring, everything else packed away so as not to fall out, and nothing but the wind and road and my breathing for sounds. This is where the fun starts.
My brain is infinitely creative, and i am blessed to have my own private stereo that no-one else can hear. It's not even quadraphonic, it doesn't rely on your ears, beams it straight into the brain, brain, brain, brain, brain .... It's quite astonishing really, and as long as i avoid the bloody infection of popular radio seeping into my consciousness, then the selection is as arbitrary as it is pleasant. I have no idea who the deejay is, because i don't usually choose the tune, it just sorta starts playing, and usually within seconds i'm humming along happily. Unless it's something really bouncy, in which case you'll find me bouncing along happily, waves arms andf pulling silly faces at the traffic, not that they can tell, behind the tinted visor, but it's the thought that counts ... ;-)
Monday, 30 May 2011
Coral Castle
And i thought i had covered all the wierd and wonderful places, apparently not.
Here's the most fascinating account of a man who built a whole playground our of coral. 30 ton blocks arranged in what clearly was a personal taste, but more astonishingly, one man alone seems to have achieved that.
The Incredible Mystery
Of Coral Castle
By Christopher Dunn
From Atlantis Rising
7-14-3
Go have a look and see what you think!!
Here's the most fascinating account of a man who built a whole playground our of coral. 30 ton blocks arranged in what clearly was a personal taste, but more astonishingly, one man alone seems to have achieved that.
The Incredible Mystery
Of Coral Castle
By Christopher Dunn
From Atlantis Rising
7-14-3
Go have a look and see what you think!!
Friday, 27 May 2011
Bad jokes
So against my initial thoughts, i'm going to talk about the rapture, the one that didn't happen, ergo, small r.
Now it's all very bizarre to someone like me, who likes things to kind of make sense, sometimes. So when you want to talk about the "rapture", you are looking at christian teaching, as based on the bible. So we look at the bible and discover that:
a. The "rapture" isn't actually stated, just inferred by 20th century thinkers
b. The bible explicitly states that no one will know when it is, until it is.
It's very clear to me, it's a minor theological point of discussion with the only certainty being it's uncertainty.
So when someone, anyone stands up and says "i know when it's going to be, based on the bible" ... they're bullshitting ... everyone, including themselves. It only remains for the rest of us to ignore such stupidity, and carry on with hopefully more meaningful pursuits.
But despite that, there is an even worse aspect to the whole story, which i want to examine. The aftermath, not really all the now poor and suicidal idiots who believeds the story, i'm actually reffering the the millions of others who didn't, YET STILL GIVE THE WHOLE STORY VALIDITY. How do they do this? By actively engaging in the story, by making jokes about it, laughing and deriding it. Now i do need to tread carefully, because the rapture doctrine is something that has affected me personally very strongly in the past, but same time i don't actually accept it as such.
Anyway, the point is the complete mockery applied to ALL aspects of the situation. From "jesus" jokes, to "christian" jokes" to EVERYONE talking about the rapture like it was a cold morning, not some theological gray area. As i'm typing this, someone sends this:
http://www.hayibo.com/rapture-happened-but-only-rick-astley-fans-taken/
Now before i get pilloried for being an overly sensitive christian apologist, i'd like to make the same complaint about the alleged death of bin laden.
Now to me the entire bin laden story is a bad joke. From his rich family background, to it's cia kickstart, to what we have come to accept as 9-11 to the truly monstrous security state we all seem to live in now, to his death, and even more security for our safety., it's a macabre story. Even the final chapter, containing scenes of him being shot in the head unarmed and his wife also being shot, for "lunging" at these "special cunts" ... it's inhuman.
So after all the news stations had run their rubbish repeats of propaganda feeds from the white house, the jokes started. From actual jokes to stupid fucking gif images that everyone seems to think is funny, except me. I mean, it's like laughing at a cripple .... wtf?
I get accused sometimes of being overly serious, a charge i accept gladly. But this is not the same, i mean it's not about having a sense of humour, it's about exercising a selection process as to what is funny. Men being "double ttapped" naked in their bedroom isn't funny. Ever. For anyone. Under any circumstances. Ever. There's a silent scream of anguish that escapes me over all this. It's not only about watching people DEHUMANISE themselves, and dehumunising others, which is what they are doing, but also about the completely narrow perceptions they have, completely preprogrammed mentality, down to the off colour jokes.
Somehow despite us all being unique and driving our own colour and make car, we are surrounded by this ... sludge mentality that pervades those around us. All the same mindsets, and it's not a utopia of thinkers and artists and mystics, it's a dirty polluted river where each square metre perhaps appears different, thanks to same unique item of rubbish to be found, but right under the thin surface bubbles the same turgid, smelly thought patterns. And the jokes have the same smell.
It's a rant i know, but i appeal to those who read this to stop and think about these issues for a moment. Is a dead man funny? Is a deranged 90 year old who has ruined thousands of lives funny? I keep hearing my voice of reason say things like: humour is a means of dealing with "trauma" which could be a very good argument, but i cannot accept it. Humour in this case is nothing more than a deflection of intent. While people are amusing themselves to death, the death is only coming closer.
So please, next time you get a stupid joke about something that's not funny, don't send it, ok?
Now it's all very bizarre to someone like me, who likes things to kind of make sense, sometimes. So when you want to talk about the "rapture", you are looking at christian teaching, as based on the bible. So we look at the bible and discover that:
a. The "rapture" isn't actually stated, just inferred by 20th century thinkers
b. The bible explicitly states that no one will know when it is, until it is.
It's very clear to me, it's a minor theological point of discussion with the only certainty being it's uncertainty.
So when someone, anyone stands up and says "i know when it's going to be, based on the bible" ... they're bullshitting ... everyone, including themselves. It only remains for the rest of us to ignore such stupidity, and carry on with hopefully more meaningful pursuits.
But despite that, there is an even worse aspect to the whole story, which i want to examine. The aftermath, not really all the now poor and suicidal idiots who believeds the story, i'm actually reffering the the millions of others who didn't, YET STILL GIVE THE WHOLE STORY VALIDITY. How do they do this? By actively engaging in the story, by making jokes about it, laughing and deriding it. Now i do need to tread carefully, because the rapture doctrine is something that has affected me personally very strongly in the past, but same time i don't actually accept it as such.
Anyway, the point is the complete mockery applied to ALL aspects of the situation. From "jesus" jokes, to "christian" jokes" to EVERYONE talking about the rapture like it was a cold morning, not some theological gray area. As i'm typing this, someone sends this:
http://www.hayibo.com/rapture-happened-but-only-rick-astley-fans-taken/
Now before i get pilloried for being an overly sensitive christian apologist, i'd like to make the same complaint about the alleged death of bin laden.
Now to me the entire bin laden story is a bad joke. From his rich family background, to it's cia kickstart, to what we have come to accept as 9-11 to the truly monstrous security state we all seem to live in now, to his death, and even more security for our safety., it's a macabre story. Even the final chapter, containing scenes of him being shot in the head unarmed and his wife also being shot, for "lunging" at these "special cunts" ... it's inhuman.
So after all the news stations had run their rubbish repeats of propaganda feeds from the white house, the jokes started. From actual jokes to stupid fucking gif images that everyone seems to think is funny, except me. I mean, it's like laughing at a cripple .... wtf?
I get accused sometimes of being overly serious, a charge i accept gladly. But this is not the same, i mean it's not about having a sense of humour, it's about exercising a selection process as to what is funny. Men being "double ttapped" naked in their bedroom isn't funny. Ever. For anyone. Under any circumstances. Ever. There's a silent scream of anguish that escapes me over all this. It's not only about watching people DEHUMANISE themselves, and dehumunising others, which is what they are doing, but also about the completely narrow perceptions they have, completely preprogrammed mentality, down to the off colour jokes.
Somehow despite us all being unique and driving our own colour and make car, we are surrounded by this ... sludge mentality that pervades those around us. All the same mindsets, and it's not a utopia of thinkers and artists and mystics, it's a dirty polluted river where each square metre perhaps appears different, thanks to same unique item of rubbish to be found, but right under the thin surface bubbles the same turgid, smelly thought patterns. And the jokes have the same smell.
It's a rant i know, but i appeal to those who read this to stop and think about these issues for a moment. Is a dead man funny? Is a deranged 90 year old who has ruined thousands of lives funny? I keep hearing my voice of reason say things like: humour is a means of dealing with "trauma" which could be a very good argument, but i cannot accept it. Humour in this case is nothing more than a deflection of intent. While people are amusing themselves to death, the death is only coming closer.
So please, next time you get a stupid joke about something that's not funny, don't send it, ok?
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
The Pig Farmer
It's not often you find a truly beautifully written story, complete with moral and happy ending. But i found one this morning, and couldn't stop reading until i was done. A story which is fairly common in fact, but usually just dismissed in our daily bustle, and the deeper issues glossed over like cheap paint on a picket fence.
A sincere thanks to Running cos i can't fly for reposting from the orgional story to be found on John Robbins Blog.
I'm not going to repost, or even print excerpts, the story must be read and enjoyed as a whole, so when you have your drink of choice, and a comfy chair, and some time for a good story, please go have a look and read and feel the hope that shone through to me.
peace and love
A sincere thanks to Running cos i can't fly for reposting from the orgional story to be found on John Robbins Blog.
I'm not going to repost, or even print excerpts, the story must be read and enjoyed as a whole, so when you have your drink of choice, and a comfy chair, and some time for a good story, please go have a look and read and feel the hope that shone through to me.
peace and love
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Tiger, tiger, burning bright ...
William Blake. 1757–1827
489. The Tiger
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
489. The Tiger
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Friday, 20 May 2011
Don't play the blonde ...
Yes i know it's a stripshow, yes i know it's a very good strip show. However, have a listen to the music, if you can :p
Very cool, my new theme tune for a while, just happy .. you know?
peace
Monday, 16 May 2011
Will power
There's been a thread of thought lately about the Will, yes, with a capital W. Our will, as people, how to harness it, activate it, use it in some way. It's starting to look remarkably like the holy grail to me. While pondering a post and how to present my thoughts, i quite accidentally found the following essay, entitled Will To Power: How The Public Corrupts Us To Act In Bad Faith by macthephi.
About the accidental: through a google image search i found an image which resonated, i then scrolled through the image directory, and finally to the homepage, where i found the essay. Well thought out and presented, extra points are scored by his referencing Kierkegaard (!) amongst others. It's an existential crises that is coming to the fore of consciousness, over a centuries long awakening in our minds. But it's here, i sometimes take solace in pretending to be a medieval serf, and try imagine the simplicity of thought he might have had. But it could only ever be a fanciful flight and never sustainable for long. Ever more into life ... through it ... to the other side, to see if it perhaps is anything.
Something worth mentioning briefly, which happened on the way to work this morning. Lane splitting along the highway, the high clouds bubbling between patches of deep blue sky, the rising sun casting patches of bright orange between the gray. It wasn't cold, and the traffic was remarkably docile for this early Monday dawn. The sun peaked out from behind a cloud, shining straight into my visored face. I could feel the warmth, feel the energy and power of this celestial marvel, and as much as the light pierced my vision, it's rays pierced straight into my soul, and for just a brief moment, i felt the most wonderful joy bubble up inside. I think it was Maslow who first used the term "peak experience", but that's what it was. Of course, as soon as i realised it i was over analysing what i felt, as much as trying NOT to zone out while doing 50km/h through standing traffic.
An almost ritualistic task, a calm collected countenance, and the wonder found every morn ... and i am drawn back to Blake:
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
This ... door to a new world was opened to me in traffic this morning, very gently but unmistakably. I guess the modern man reaction is wtf? But i'm left laughing at the irony of it. The buddha is as comfortable in the cylinder head as he is at the top of the mountain, to paraphrase Robert M. Pirsig.
I think the point i'm reaching to, is that we hold the keys, every moment of our lives we are able to access this ... hidden world, but we don't. We are enslaved to ourselves as much as to others, and yes, freeing oneself from oneself is infinitely harder than freeing oneself from another.
The Will to Power essay lays hold on one of the primary reasons for our weakness, and yes it's external to us, and yes, it's something that can be overcome, but only at the price of your sanity, which is your "acceptance of socially condoned behaviour and thinking". which brings me back to one of my favourite phrases in all literature, from Herman Hesse Via the Treatise of the Steppenwolf:
PRICE OF ADMITTANCE YOUR MIND. NOT FOR EVERYBODY.
Please go read Will To Power: How The Public Corrupts Us To Act In Bad Faith - macthephi and think about where your power and will have gone.
About the accidental: through a google image search i found an image which resonated, i then scrolled through the image directory, and finally to the homepage, where i found the essay. Well thought out and presented, extra points are scored by his referencing Kierkegaard (!) amongst others. It's an existential crises that is coming to the fore of consciousness, over a centuries long awakening in our minds. But it's here, i sometimes take solace in pretending to be a medieval serf, and try imagine the simplicity of thought he might have had. But it could only ever be a fanciful flight and never sustainable for long. Ever more into life ... through it ... to the other side, to see if it perhaps is anything.
Something worth mentioning briefly, which happened on the way to work this morning. Lane splitting along the highway, the high clouds bubbling between patches of deep blue sky, the rising sun casting patches of bright orange between the gray. It wasn't cold, and the traffic was remarkably docile for this early Monday dawn. The sun peaked out from behind a cloud, shining straight into my visored face. I could feel the warmth, feel the energy and power of this celestial marvel, and as much as the light pierced my vision, it's rays pierced straight into my soul, and for just a brief moment, i felt the most wonderful joy bubble up inside. I think it was Maslow who first used the term "peak experience", but that's what it was. Of course, as soon as i realised it i was over analysing what i felt, as much as trying NOT to zone out while doing 50km/h through standing traffic.
An almost ritualistic task, a calm collected countenance, and the wonder found every morn ... and i am drawn back to Blake:
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
This ... door to a new world was opened to me in traffic this morning, very gently but unmistakably. I guess the modern man reaction is wtf? But i'm left laughing at the irony of it. The buddha is as comfortable in the cylinder head as he is at the top of the mountain, to paraphrase Robert M. Pirsig.
I think the point i'm reaching to, is that we hold the keys, every moment of our lives we are able to access this ... hidden world, but we don't. We are enslaved to ourselves as much as to others, and yes, freeing oneself from oneself is infinitely harder than freeing oneself from another.
The Will to Power essay lays hold on one of the primary reasons for our weakness, and yes it's external to us, and yes, it's something that can be overcome, but only at the price of your sanity, which is your "acceptance of socially condoned behaviour and thinking". which brings me back to one of my favourite phrases in all literature, from Herman Hesse Via the Treatise of the Steppenwolf:
PRICE OF ADMITTANCE YOUR MIND. NOT FOR EVERYBODY.
Please go read Will To Power: How The Public Corrupts Us To Act In Bad Faith - macthephi and think about where your power and will have gone.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Freedom ... reprise
“Don’t you wish you were free, Lenina?” he asks.
“I don’t know that you mean. I am free, free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody’s happy nowadays.”
He laughed, “Yes, ‘Everybody’s happy nowadays.’ We have been giving the children that at five. But wouldn’t you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina? In your own way, for example; not in everybody else’s way.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she repeated.
From 1984, By George Orwell.
“I don’t know that you mean. I am free, free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody’s happy nowadays.”
He laughed, “Yes, ‘Everybody’s happy nowadays.’ We have been giving the children that at five. But wouldn’t you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina? In your own way, for example; not in everybody else’s way.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she repeated.
From 1984, By George Orwell.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Friday, 6 May 2011
Existentialism
One sticks one's finger into the soil to tell by the smell what land one's in; I stick my finger into existence - it smells of nothing. Where am i? Who am i? How did i come to be here? What is this thing called the world? What does the word mean? Who is it that has lured me into the thing, and now leaves me there?
... How did i come into the world? Why was i not consulted, why was i not made acquainted with its manners and customs, but was thrust into the ranks as though i'd been bought from a kidnapper, a dealer in souls? How did i obtain an interest in it? And is it not a voluntary concern? And if i am compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I would like to see him.
More from Soren Kierkegaard, from his novel "Repetition".
I'm really starting to like this guy.
... How did i come into the world? Why was i not consulted, why was i not made acquainted with its manners and customs, but was thrust into the ranks as though i'd been bought from a kidnapper, a dealer in souls? How did i obtain an interest in it? And is it not a voluntary concern? And if i am compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I would like to see him.
More from Soren Kierkegaard, from his novel "Repetition".
I'm really starting to like this guy.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Boredom
The Gods were bored, so they created man. Adam was bored because he was alone, so Eve was created ... Adam was bored alone, then Adam and Eve were bored together; then Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were bored en famille, then the population of the world increased, and the people were bored en masse. To divert themselves, they conceived the idea of constructing a tower high enough to reach the heavens. This idea itself is as boring as the tower was high, and constitutes a terrible proof of how boredom had gained the upper hand.
Soren Kierkegaard, Translated by D.F. Swenson.
Soren Kierkegaard, Translated by D.F. Swenson.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
William Blake
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
.........................................
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
William Blake - Auguries of Innocence
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
.........................................
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
William Blake - Auguries of Innocence
Friday, 29 April 2011
Piece of sky
I look up, at the sky framed by trees
And walls and wires
Stars twinkling softly in the dusky sky
Cold and distant, impossible to grasp
I recall soft campfire lights
Where the stars were only an arms length away
The crisp globe of sky part of my evening meal
And the ground too
Crunchy soil and dead leaves moulding
The immediacy of their touch
Around me trees and people and stuff
All part of my soul, imprinted forever
Tonight i leap up and try
To recapture my sky
Mind reaching out across the cavernous reaches between
To hold a star gently in my mind
Caress it and marvel at it's brilliance
So far ... so far away from me the stars tonight
No more than ever, but somehow it's me
Too small to see
Where i end and where i am lost in
The light reaches out
Piercing my eyes and my soul
Longing for that union ... oneness
Where i am it, and it is me
Shining through me, like a candle in a million mirrors
But i alone and cold and dark in a foreign land
Feel the light reflect off my face
And show contrast between light and dark
Warmth and cold, me and it ...
Open my mind ... my heart my soul
Smash down these walls of fear and regret
Hate and malice and strife
Oh for open eyes to see the wonder of shimmering glory
That is our creation
For that instant sparkling ray of heaven
That shines upon my mortal mind
To know that light shines always ... pure and clear
And that only i turn away ... like a blind man
But even the blind know the sun
How then do i doubt the light?
How then do i mimic the madness
And question what is divine?
Like a flower bursting open in spring
Dazzling all with it's colour and scent
Allowing the cosmos to glow in vibrant harmony
So too must i
explode
Dissipate
Disperse
Myself
To fling my consciousness across the universe
And claim
My piece of sky
And walls and wires
Stars twinkling softly in the dusky sky
Cold and distant, impossible to grasp
I recall soft campfire lights
Where the stars were only an arms length away
The crisp globe of sky part of my evening meal
And the ground too
Crunchy soil and dead leaves moulding
The immediacy of their touch
Around me trees and people and stuff
All part of my soul, imprinted forever
Tonight i leap up and try
To recapture my sky
Mind reaching out across the cavernous reaches between
To hold a star gently in my mind
Caress it and marvel at it's brilliance
So far ... so far away from me the stars tonight
No more than ever, but somehow it's me
Too small to see
Where i end and where i am lost in
The light reaches out
Piercing my eyes and my soul
Longing for that union ... oneness
Where i am it, and it is me
Shining through me, like a candle in a million mirrors
But i alone and cold and dark in a foreign land
Feel the light reflect off my face
And show contrast between light and dark
Warmth and cold, me and it ...
Open my mind ... my heart my soul
Smash down these walls of fear and regret
Hate and malice and strife
Oh for open eyes to see the wonder of shimmering glory
That is our creation
For that instant sparkling ray of heaven
That shines upon my mortal mind
To know that light shines always ... pure and clear
And that only i turn away ... like a blind man
But even the blind know the sun
How then do i doubt the light?
How then do i mimic the madness
And question what is divine?
Like a flower bursting open in spring
Dazzling all with it's colour and scent
Allowing the cosmos to glow in vibrant harmony
So too must i
explode
Dissipate
Disperse
Myself
To fling my consciousness across the universe
And claim
My piece of sky
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Fracking bad idea
This is why Shell's ideas on fracking the entire Karoo (it will never be less than total destruction, that's how these guys work):
Bradford County's director of public safety said a Chesapeake well went out of control late Tuesday night. That means the well blew near the surface, spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze.
DEP is taking ground water and stream samples to determine the extent of the spill.
______________________________________________________________
A massive chemical explosion. So ... what chemicals?
http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Hydraulic%20Fracturing%20Report%204.18.11.pdf
About every damn chemical ever invented in that list, and that's only raw chemicals, they do not show what secondary substances are generated by mixing etc.
For an excellent article on what fracking is, see here:
http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/
They have greased all the beaurocratic gears with plenty of oil dollars, and we commoners are expected to sit back and allow government to destroy our land. The time for a half brick approaches.
Bradford County's director of public safety said a Chesapeake well went out of control late Tuesday night. That means the well blew near the surface, spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze.
DEP is taking ground water and stream samples to determine the extent of the spill.
______________________________________________________________
A massive chemical explosion. So ... what chemicals?
http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Hydraulic%20Fracturing%20Report%204.18.11.pdf
About every damn chemical ever invented in that list, and that's only raw chemicals, they do not show what secondary substances are generated by mixing etc.
For an excellent article on what fracking is, see here:
http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/
They have greased all the beaurocratic gears with plenty of oil dollars, and we commoners are expected to sit back and allow government to destroy our land. The time for a half brick approaches.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
The Parrot Rossi
We have taken into our household a parrot recently, looking after it on behalf of a friend, who is unable to look after him right now. His name is Rossi, and he is an african grey with a bright red tail.
What an astonishing creature!! Apart from the ability to mimic, his choice of words and his reactions to specific people is also very ... disconcerting almost. He is a very intelligent bird, and you can immediately understand that in the jungles, he would be the king.
His mimicry can be annoying, like over the last few days where he has taking to impersonating the cough that i have (i'm sick as a dog the last few days) ... but hearing yourself cough form the other side of the house is ... odd. He has a full reportoire of birds, whistles, clicks and squeaks and squawks, but words and almost prefect imitations of people. You hear a child ask and adult answer in one breath, and Rossi gets the tone and pitch just right.
He doesn't like me at all, which is apparently cos i'm a male, and he ... takes offense, or something ... ? LOL. He won't talk to me, and if i stand near his cage he goes silent, and watches me intently, taking no action while i'm there, the second i'm gone, he calls for attention "come to me", turn around and go to him, silent. He loves attention, and the kids all have their relationships with him, and he responds differently to each.
It's a shame he's not ours, in the sense that he hasn't bonded to us from young, and there is a whole other level of trust and interaction that can be accessed. Trust, thats an important word in this, and it's him that has to trust, and he does so very well, i wouldn't trust me either if i were him. But considering that this is all new to him, and different, he has adapted remarkably well to OUR environment, specifically. I do want him back with his "mommy", but until then i'm happy to have his noisy humour punctuate the air. For he is a very happy little bird, and friendly, in his own way.
peace :)
What an astonishing creature!! Apart from the ability to mimic, his choice of words and his reactions to specific people is also very ... disconcerting almost. He is a very intelligent bird, and you can immediately understand that in the jungles, he would be the king.
His mimicry can be annoying, like over the last few days where he has taking to impersonating the cough that i have (i'm sick as a dog the last few days) ... but hearing yourself cough form the other side of the house is ... odd. He has a full reportoire of birds, whistles, clicks and squeaks and squawks, but words and almost prefect imitations of people. You hear a child ask and adult answer in one breath, and Rossi gets the tone and pitch just right.
He doesn't like me at all, which is apparently cos i'm a male, and he ... takes offense, or something ... ? LOL. He won't talk to me, and if i stand near his cage he goes silent, and watches me intently, taking no action while i'm there, the second i'm gone, he calls for attention "come to me", turn around and go to him, silent. He loves attention, and the kids all have their relationships with him, and he responds differently to each.
It's a shame he's not ours, in the sense that he hasn't bonded to us from young, and there is a whole other level of trust and interaction that can be accessed. Trust, thats an important word in this, and it's him that has to trust, and he does so very well, i wouldn't trust me either if i were him. But considering that this is all new to him, and different, he has adapted remarkably well to OUR environment, specifically. I do want him back with his "mommy", but until then i'm happy to have his noisy humour punctuate the air. For he is a very happy little bird, and friendly, in his own way.
peace :)
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Helping a friend
So i offered a colleague some help with replacing his chain and sprockets, my garage is better than many i guess, and i don't mind getting dirty to help. So we went through after work, stripped the wheel and chain and sprockets and proceeded to fit the new ones.
The job went from bad to worse to stupid to broken. Very very quickly. You see, he was in a hurry, to go on a date, where he'd promised the girl a ride. So quickly quickly, everything in a hurry. I discovered that part of the reason for haste was a non working headlight. I also discovered his back brakes were worn. Not worn as in the pads finished and the metal is scraping, i mean the metal was finished, and the disc is nearly gone. The sprockets were finished, not as in replace now, as in, they should have been replaced several years ago. GONE. No teeth on the front sprocket. Back sprocket slightly less bad, but way past worn, and teeth broken in some places. The chain was similarly beyond any hope.
The job failed, miserably. And i'm glad. I'm torn over not being able to help a friend, as i had planned. I feel like a bad mechanic and friend, those feeling are normal kneejerks to failing in the garage, with any job. But when i get through all the egotistical crap, there is a slow realisation that the bike standing forlornly in a foreign place is preventing it being ridden. And that is a positive thing. For now at least i guess.
I love bikes, i tolerate bikers, and i sincerely wish to see many many more on the roads around us. But the caveat is that it can only be done within a safety orientated framework. The thrill of the ride lasts only as long as the metal that makes it move, when the metal fails, so does the thrill. And when metal fails at high speed, so too ends the life of the person on it, and pillion too, if you're counting.
I also watched first hand how NOT to approach a mechanical repair job. The slow, ponderous, thoughtful approach of all the mechanics i know is there for a reason. Even when things go wrong, which they always do, taking slow allows a solution, eventually. Battering your will against the hard reality of cold metal brings blood, and pain, and fustration, and broken metal. And broken wills too.
I'm glad that the bike is broken, and not the rider. I'm glad that the bike is now going to be taken and fixed, by those who are trained to do so. This doesn't change my views on home repairs though, i've just reassembled my own bike's engine. But i have a much greater respect now for both the bike and the methods of approaching the bike. On the road and in the garage, respect first and foremost, for without that respect, fear and even awe of the engineering, we are but children playing with a very hot fire.
peace and love
The job went from bad to worse to stupid to broken. Very very quickly. You see, he was in a hurry, to go on a date, where he'd promised the girl a ride. So quickly quickly, everything in a hurry. I discovered that part of the reason for haste was a non working headlight. I also discovered his back brakes were worn. Not worn as in the pads finished and the metal is scraping, i mean the metal was finished, and the disc is nearly gone. The sprockets were finished, not as in replace now, as in, they should have been replaced several years ago. GONE. No teeth on the front sprocket. Back sprocket slightly less bad, but way past worn, and teeth broken in some places. The chain was similarly beyond any hope.
The job failed, miserably. And i'm glad. I'm torn over not being able to help a friend, as i had planned. I feel like a bad mechanic and friend, those feeling are normal kneejerks to failing in the garage, with any job. But when i get through all the egotistical crap, there is a slow realisation that the bike standing forlornly in a foreign place is preventing it being ridden. And that is a positive thing. For now at least i guess.
I love bikes, i tolerate bikers, and i sincerely wish to see many many more on the roads around us. But the caveat is that it can only be done within a safety orientated framework. The thrill of the ride lasts only as long as the metal that makes it move, when the metal fails, so does the thrill. And when metal fails at high speed, so too ends the life of the person on it, and pillion too, if you're counting.
I also watched first hand how NOT to approach a mechanical repair job. The slow, ponderous, thoughtful approach of all the mechanics i know is there for a reason. Even when things go wrong, which they always do, taking slow allows a solution, eventually. Battering your will against the hard reality of cold metal brings blood, and pain, and fustration, and broken metal. And broken wills too.
I'm glad that the bike is broken, and not the rider. I'm glad that the bike is now going to be taken and fixed, by those who are trained to do so. This doesn't change my views on home repairs though, i've just reassembled my own bike's engine. But i have a much greater respect now for both the bike and the methods of approaching the bike. On the road and in the garage, respect first and foremost, for without that respect, fear and even awe of the engineering, we are but children playing with a very hot fire.
peace and love
Sunday, 17 April 2011
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
And I wake in the night at the least sound
In fear of what my life or my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
~Wendell Berry
hat tip to K :]
And I wake in the night at the least sound
In fear of what my life or my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
~Wendell Berry
hat tip to K :]
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Back in the Saddle
It's day 3 since i rode my bike again, after a 2 week break, and it's a miracle i've not yet maimed myself. I can't stop, i can't turn, i can't balance at slow speed, nothing like that.
All i can do is try miss all the damned cars that seem intent on sending me to the hereafter. Had an altercation with a rich black bitch in a fucking huge white merc. After not stopping at a stop street, and pulling straight in front of my path without even slowing, she the attempted to drive away as if nothing had happened. So i pulled her over and explained what a brain dead bitch she was. I hope i ruined her day.
For my own part, i'm just trying to "reconnect" with the machine. Trying to get that feeling back ... don't get me wrong the bike, apart from sounding like either a beetle or a tractor, thanks to the valve lifters, has developed an engine tone an octave lower, only noticable once you open the throttle, but a deeper than usual ROAR lets me know there is plenty of grunt waiting for me.
The thing is, i NEVER "floor it", i never gun the motor as i ride, there's too much. I'm always riding very gently with the throttle, opening is small manageable amounts, gently pouring more power through to the wheels. That's why i love my bike so much, absolutely linear power band, utterly responsive to even the most sensitive throttle adjustments. Speed up, slow down, and all with the finest twitch on the throttle producing immediate results. Even when i do want to go fast, never the "dump" movement, throwing everything at once, but i keep the throttle at absolute minimum for the required acceleration, otherwise i'd have been thrown off a long time ago.
But it's tempting, that low throaty growl i hear under me when i give that little bit extra. It's that growl of an animal about to pounce, of pure power unstretching itself.
This weekend, i'll fix some of the valve clatter, collecting the footpegs today, and the plastics soonest, but i want frame sliders before i fit the new plastics, otherwise i'll crash probably 2 days after fitting said new plastics ..lol.
peace and love and safe travelling!
All i can do is try miss all the damned cars that seem intent on sending me to the hereafter. Had an altercation with a rich black bitch in a fucking huge white merc. After not stopping at a stop street, and pulling straight in front of my path without even slowing, she the attempted to drive away as if nothing had happened. So i pulled her over and explained what a brain dead bitch she was. I hope i ruined her day.
For my own part, i'm just trying to "reconnect" with the machine. Trying to get that feeling back ... don't get me wrong the bike, apart from sounding like either a beetle or a tractor, thanks to the valve lifters, has developed an engine tone an octave lower, only noticable once you open the throttle, but a deeper than usual ROAR lets me know there is plenty of grunt waiting for me.
The thing is, i NEVER "floor it", i never gun the motor as i ride, there's too much. I'm always riding very gently with the throttle, opening is small manageable amounts, gently pouring more power through to the wheels. That's why i love my bike so much, absolutely linear power band, utterly responsive to even the most sensitive throttle adjustments. Speed up, slow down, and all with the finest twitch on the throttle producing immediate results. Even when i do want to go fast, never the "dump" movement, throwing everything at once, but i keep the throttle at absolute minimum for the required acceleration, otherwise i'd have been thrown off a long time ago.
But it's tempting, that low throaty growl i hear under me when i give that little bit extra. It's that growl of an animal about to pounce, of pure power unstretching itself.
This weekend, i'll fix some of the valve clatter, collecting the footpegs today, and the plastics soonest, but i want frame sliders before i fit the new plastics, otherwise i'll crash probably 2 days after fitting said new plastics ..lol.
peace and love and safe travelling!
Monday, 11 April 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Friday, 8 April 2011
http://soho.esac.esa.int//data/realtime/sps/lasco/c2/2011/04/20110407_1248_c2_512.jpgThursday, 7 April 2011
Thunder day
It's appropriate. I had to check which day it was first. I can imagine a great hammer smashing down through the ether, shattering and breaking and smashing anything it connects with.
After fire comes the melting. White hot metal pouring like rain across our horisons.
The bike is not yet fixed, more bits at the engineers. For some unknown reason, i had not 1 or 2, but 13 valves not seating properly. No signs that the valve hit the pistons or anything that extreme, just broken anyway.
Thanks to the last while, i'm now officially depressed. I'm a crap mechanic, apparently a crap husband, father, and all round fuck up. Can't say i'm surprised to hear it, just ... it's deflating i guess.
Aaaargh this merry dance we make ... what a load of bullshit.
After fire comes the melting. White hot metal pouring like rain across our horisons.
The bike is not yet fixed, more bits at the engineers. For some unknown reason, i had not 1 or 2, but 13 valves not seating properly. No signs that the valve hit the pistons or anything that extreme, just broken anyway.
Thanks to the last while, i'm now officially depressed. I'm a crap mechanic, apparently a crap husband, father, and all round fuck up. Can't say i'm surprised to hear it, just ... it's deflating i guess.
Aaaargh this merry dance we make ... what a load of bullshit.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Happy monday!!
Unlike everybody else i know, i like mondays. It's the fresh day, start the week. We usually start it wrong you know, like by going to work ... but it's a good first day i think.
I'm busy playing wrench monkey again today, but even the hardest job is made easier by friends visiting and sending support.
QOTD:
Originally Posted by DefyInertia
Don't waste your money paying some tool to molest your bike!
FROM: www.fz6-forum.com/
:D
I'm busy playing wrench monkey again today, but even the hardest job is made easier by friends visiting and sending support.
QOTD:
Originally Posted by DefyInertia
Don't waste your money paying some tool to molest your bike!
FROM: www.fz6-forum.com/
:D
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Time
Been busy, been busy waiting a lot too. Got everything together this afternoon, and it wouldn't start.
Looks like the cam chain is 1 tooth out ....
Just had an awesome roast dinner, so feeling human again, almost.
Looks like the cam chain is 1 tooth out ....
Just had an awesome roast dinner, so feeling human again, almost.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Metal madness
I've been patient all week, waiting for stuff to happen, as slowly as it needs (it's always slowly when you're in a hurry).
Got the cylinder head back from the engineers yesterday, even got them to use a die on the other threads to clean them out properly, all nice and tip top shape.
The plan was to get working this morning. You cannot rush around most the day then sit down to mechanicals, thats how you break things. I prefer to wake in the morning, able over to the garage, and start on some easy stuff, like waking up. And so last night was my boy's birthday, he and his cousin kicked me away from the pc so i went and wandered around the garage a bit, you know, just looking. Looked at my shiny clean head on the bench, and the spark plugs lying next to, and thought to myself, this is the easiest spark plug insertion i'll ever do on my bike, since i'm apparently so freaking bad at it, i may as well practice.
And i'm glad i did, the other 3 holes took the plugs perfectly, but the one thats just been done, not even halfway, then stuck.
I don't know, i'm not any kind of expert, so i'll have to ask, when someone has a chance, and take it from there. This is where self control is hardest, and while i'm quite upset, it won't help to express it, it any way.
I guess i'll go read a book, that never hurt anyone.
peace and love
Got the cylinder head back from the engineers yesterday, even got them to use a die on the other threads to clean them out properly, all nice and tip top shape.
The plan was to get working this morning. You cannot rush around most the day then sit down to mechanicals, thats how you break things. I prefer to wake in the morning, able over to the garage, and start on some easy stuff, like waking up. And so last night was my boy's birthday, he and his cousin kicked me away from the pc so i went and wandered around the garage a bit, you know, just looking. Looked at my shiny clean head on the bench, and the spark plugs lying next to, and thought to myself, this is the easiest spark plug insertion i'll ever do on my bike, since i'm apparently so freaking bad at it, i may as well practice.
And i'm glad i did, the other 3 holes took the plugs perfectly, but the one thats just been done, not even halfway, then stuck.
I don't know, i'm not any kind of expert, so i'll have to ask, when someone has a chance, and take it from there. This is where self control is hardest, and while i'm quite upset, it won't help to express it, it any way.
I guess i'll go read a book, that never hurt anyone.
peace and love
Monday, 28 March 2011
Home, sweet home
Which is where i am while the bike is repaired, yup, by me.
A second spark plug hole is stripped, entirely my own fault i guess, just bloody annoying. So between work, i've got some to do, and studying, can't get the info in fast enough, and cleaning the insides of a bike, i have enough to do.
Added to that it's school holidays, so i have 2 kids home with me today.
A walk to the shopping centre later, i need a mousetrap (a big one) and some scraper blades. It's all misty outside, my favourite walking weather, great days are made from days like these. Well not great, but the best sort i think :)
peace and love
A second spark plug hole is stripped, entirely my own fault i guess, just bloody annoying. So between work, i've got some to do, and studying, can't get the info in fast enough, and cleaning the insides of a bike, i have enough to do.
Added to that it's school holidays, so i have 2 kids home with me today.
A walk to the shopping centre later, i need a mousetrap (a big one) and some scraper blades. It's all misty outside, my favourite walking weather, great days are made from days like these. Well not great, but the best sort i think :)
peace and love
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Supermoon Pics
Flikr Photos
Above is a shortcut to a search on Flikr of all the uploaded images fro "Supermoon" from around the world.
Just browse, some gorgeous images there.
Above is a shortcut to a search on Flikr of all the uploaded images fro "Supermoon" from around the world.
Just browse, some gorgeous images there.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Neurofeedback Defined
http://www.neurofeedbackdefined.com/members.htmlFound via the main page at: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/index.html otherwise known as the The Global Consciousness Project, the shortcut is called: globalbrainpainting.
Awesome!
Friday, 18 March 2011
Happy moony!!
Well here's something that is entirely natural, beautiful, and interesting all at the same time: The Lunar Perigee.
Go have a look here, it says that the difference in apparent size between perigee and apogee is as much as 12%! Quite a bit when you think of it.
I don't know what, if any, affects it would bring, there is a LOT we could discuss and theorise about that, but hey, as a lunatic this makes my day! ... erm NIGHT :D
peace and love
Go have a look here, it says that the difference in apparent size between perigee and apogee is as much as 12%! Quite a bit when you think of it.
I don't know what, if any, affects it would bring, there is a LOT we could discuss and theorise about that, but hey, as a lunatic this makes my day! ... erm NIGHT :D
peace and love
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Going Nuclear
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but about Japan's Fukushima power facility?
Japan has told the UN nuclear watchdog a spent fuel storage pond was on fire at an earthquake-stricken reactor and radioactivity was being released "directly" into the atmosphere, the Vienna-based agency said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing information it had received from Japanese authorities, said dose rates of up to 400 millisievert per hour have been reported at the Fukushima power plant site.
"The Japanese authorities are saying that there is a possibility that the fire was caused by a hydrogen explosion," it said in a statement.
“That would be like Chernobyl on steroids,” said Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1.
People familiar with the plant said there are seven spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi, many of them densely packed.
Gundersen said the unit 1 pool could have as much as 20 years of spent fuel rods, which are still radioactive.
ALSO:
Fissionability of cooling ponds:
The threat of a fission explosion at the Fukushima power facility emerged today when the roof of the number three reactor exploded and fears that a spent fuel pool, located over the reactor, has been compromised. The pool, designed to allow reactor fuel to cool off for several years, was constructed on top of the Fukushima reactors instead of underground. As of 2010, there were 3450 fuel assemblies in the pool at the number three reactor. The destruction of the number three reactor building has experts concerned about whether the spent fuel storage pool, which sits just below the roof, could have survived intact the hydrogen explosion. The explosion was much more severe than Saturday’s blast at the number one reactor.
..........
According to Albert Donnay, a former nuclear engineer, “This means the common pool is now full of radioactive and corrosive seawater that will cause the fuel assemblies to fail and burst open, as they are doing inside the reactor cores that have been deliberately flooded with seawater. If the pool drains or boils away, the fuel will melt, burn and even possibly explode if the fuel collapses into a sufficiently critical mass.”
This may explain why the Japanese government began adding boric acid to the reactor spent fuel pools at the facility shortly after the earthquake and tidal wave.
“If those solutions – the sea water and the boric acid – don’t work, there are no more arrows in the quiver. They have shot everything they have, they have run out of options and there is nothing left.”
AND:
The problem is if the spent fuel gets too close, they will produce a fission reaction and explode with a force much larger than any fission bomb given the total amount of fuel on the site. All the fuel in all the reactors and all the storage pools at this site (1760 tons of Uranium per slide #4) would be consumed in such a mega-explosion. In comparison, Fat Man and Little Boy weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki contained less than a hundred pounds each of fissile material.
____________________________________________________________
Don't panic or anything, it's North America that should panic, and Japan i guess. But with the Japanese market imploding, and the US not far behind, the implications of this are going to be PROFOUND. Food stortages, towards the end of this year for US IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Peace and love
Japan has told the UN nuclear watchdog a spent fuel storage pond was on fire at an earthquake-stricken reactor and radioactivity was being released "directly" into the atmosphere, the Vienna-based agency said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing information it had received from Japanese authorities, said dose rates of up to 400 millisievert per hour have been reported at the Fukushima power plant site.
"The Japanese authorities are saying that there is a possibility that the fire was caused by a hydrogen explosion," it said in a statement.
“That would be like Chernobyl on steroids,” said Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1.
People familiar with the plant said there are seven spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi, many of them densely packed.
Gundersen said the unit 1 pool could have as much as 20 years of spent fuel rods, which are still radioactive.
ALSO:
Fissionability of cooling ponds:
The threat of a fission explosion at the Fukushima power facility emerged today when the roof of the number three reactor exploded and fears that a spent fuel pool, located over the reactor, has been compromised. The pool, designed to allow reactor fuel to cool off for several years, was constructed on top of the Fukushima reactors instead of underground. As of 2010, there were 3450 fuel assemblies in the pool at the number three reactor. The destruction of the number three reactor building has experts concerned about whether the spent fuel storage pool, which sits just below the roof, could have survived intact the hydrogen explosion. The explosion was much more severe than Saturday’s blast at the number one reactor.
..........
According to Albert Donnay, a former nuclear engineer, “This means the common pool is now full of radioactive and corrosive seawater that will cause the fuel assemblies to fail and burst open, as they are doing inside the reactor cores that have been deliberately flooded with seawater. If the pool drains or boils away, the fuel will melt, burn and even possibly explode if the fuel collapses into a sufficiently critical mass.”
This may explain why the Japanese government began adding boric acid to the reactor spent fuel pools at the facility shortly after the earthquake and tidal wave.
“If those solutions – the sea water and the boric acid – don’t work, there are no more arrows in the quiver. They have shot everything they have, they have run out of options and there is nothing left.”
AND:
The problem is if the spent fuel gets too close, they will produce a fission reaction and explode with a force much larger than any fission bomb given the total amount of fuel on the site. All the fuel in all the reactors and all the storage pools at this site (1760 tons of Uranium per slide #4) would be consumed in such a mega-explosion. In comparison, Fat Man and Little Boy weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki contained less than a hundred pounds each of fissile material.
____________________________________________________________
Don't panic or anything, it's North America that should panic, and Japan i guess. But with the Japanese market imploding, and the US not far behind, the implications of this are going to be PROFOUND. Food stortages, towards the end of this year for US IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Peace and love
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Bad moon rising
Well we know about the coming supermoon, and the opposition of Jupiter and Saturn, but my heart goes out to the people of Japan right now. The footage and news is mind-numbing.
The footage of the tsunami is ... i'm gobsmacked. I believe a nuclear plant is leaking radiation into the jetstream, so the japanese and US west coast are going to have radiation sickness soon.
Volcanoes all over the Pacific ring of Fire are blowing their lids, and apparently the seismic waves went around the planet 4 times.
This is all just very unsettling. Interesting times indeed.
The footage of the tsunami is ... i'm gobsmacked. I believe a nuclear plant is leaking radiation into the jetstream, so the japanese and US west coast are going to have radiation sickness soon.
Volcanoes all over the Pacific ring of Fire are blowing their lids, and apparently the seismic waves went around the planet 4 times.
This is all just very unsettling. Interesting times indeed.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
YOU FUCKING PANSIES
NEWS24
Eighty-six percent of Gauteng motorists are not willing to pay the proposed toll fees, a survey released on Thursday has found.
The survey, by marketing research company Synovate, showed that only 10% of motorists were willing to pay the proposed rate of 66 cents a kilometre, while four percent were undecided.
Spokesperson Roger Gibbs said 69% of Gauteng motorists were happy to pay to use the toll roads provided the amount was significantly reduced.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Well, my fellow cizitens, gautengers, vaalies, mine dump dwellers, whatever-the-fuck you call yourselves these days.
You bunch of gutless, brainless, spineless, cowering TURDS. Fuck you all, you are going to deserve what you get. Fucking retards.
*spit*
Oh please sir, we want to pay less. Like fucking children. Never mind that you'll be paying for something that was STOLEN from you. It's ok, all of you can go vote DA, and bullshit yourselves that the world is a better place because of it.
Eighty-six percent of Gauteng motorists are not willing to pay the proposed toll fees, a survey released on Thursday has found.
The survey, by marketing research company Synovate, showed that only 10% of motorists were willing to pay the proposed rate of 66 cents a kilometre, while four percent were undecided.
Spokesperson Roger Gibbs said 69% of Gauteng motorists were happy to pay to use the toll roads provided the amount was significantly reduced.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Well, my fellow cizitens, gautengers, vaalies, mine dump dwellers, whatever-the-fuck you call yourselves these days.
You bunch of gutless, brainless, spineless, cowering TURDS. Fuck you all, you are going to deserve what you get. Fucking retards.
*spit*
Oh please sir, we want to pay less. Like fucking children. Never mind that you'll be paying for something that was STOLEN from you. It's ok, all of you can go vote DA, and bullshit yourselves that the world is a better place because of it.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Police have 'lost' 20 429 weapons
Cape Town - The police force admitted on Tuesday that a lack of discipline and weapon control was "worrying", after it came to light that police had "lost" 20 429 weapons since April 2004.
Top management couldn't say in Parliament on Tuesday how many officials had been criminally prosecuted, disciplined or fired due to the losses.
...
"The Firearms Control Act puts a huge responsibility on citizens but an official can lose one weapon, a second and a third weapon and still keep his firearm licence. But if I lose my weapon, it is another matter," said Annelize van Wyk of the ANC.
She said the conditions were much stricter for civilians than for police officials. "If you take into account all the losses, police are responsible for the increase in illegal firearms."
WHAT
THE
FUCK
????
Top management couldn't say in Parliament on Tuesday how many officials had been criminally prosecuted, disciplined or fired due to the losses.
...
"The Firearms Control Act puts a huge responsibility on citizens but an official can lose one weapon, a second and a third weapon and still keep his firearm licence. But if I lose my weapon, it is another matter," said Annelize van Wyk of the ANC.
She said the conditions were much stricter for civilians than for police officials. "If you take into account all the losses, police are responsible for the increase in illegal firearms."
WHAT
THE
FUCK
????
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Western Cape Grows Hemp
From: IOL
A plan to establish and develop a hemp industry in the Western Cape has been given an enthusiastic thumbs-up by the city’s economic development and tourism portfolio committee.
...
After Budden’s presentation, chairman Pat Hill confirmed that the committee supported – “with some enthusiasm” – Hemporium’s plan to apply for a licence to grow hemp commercially.
Budden said the Western Cape was the ideal place to cultivate hemp crops. However, he said the country was being left behind in the wake of other countries that were already reaping the commercial, social and ecological rewards of industrial hemp production.
...
While a sceptical Koos Bredenhand, of the ANC, initially put Budden through his paces, he was apparently won over after being shown raw hemp products, one of which he declared to be “beautiful”.
...
With the support of the city, Hemporium will now attempt to obtain the necessary permits for local hemp production. - Cape Argus
www.hemporium.com/
Mr Tony Budden (?!) We salute you!!!
:)
A plan to establish and develop a hemp industry in the Western Cape has been given an enthusiastic thumbs-up by the city’s economic development and tourism portfolio committee.
...
After Budden’s presentation, chairman Pat Hill confirmed that the committee supported – “with some enthusiasm” – Hemporium’s plan to apply for a licence to grow hemp commercially.
Budden said the Western Cape was the ideal place to cultivate hemp crops. However, he said the country was being left behind in the wake of other countries that were already reaping the commercial, social and ecological rewards of industrial hemp production.
...
While a sceptical Koos Bredenhand, of the ANC, initially put Budden through his paces, he was apparently won over after being shown raw hemp products, one of which he declared to be “beautiful”.
...
With the support of the city, Hemporium will now attempt to obtain the necessary permits for local hemp production. - Cape Argus
www.hemporium.com/
Mr Tony Budden (?!) We salute you!!!
:)
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Constitution
How's yours? Mine needs a little work i discovered. You see, the constitution has been set up as the massive over riding foundation stone for everything that occurs in our society. We are society, all of us, and supposedly despite any differences we have, the CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA is our common banner.
So what is a constitution? It is a declaration of principles as given by a corporation. Pretty much. It is applicable to members of that corporation by their consent and for their benefit. So, if the benefits cease, consent can be revoked. The thing is, any and all contracts are voluntary, they can be no other way. Any and all contracts need to be an agreement between 2 parties with full disclosure and a meeting of the minds ... that's all perfectly logical and reasonable.
So what about this citizenship thing, is that a contract too? Absolutely, and even better they did not offer full disclosure, so you may, at any point, cancel the membership. This is quite a novel concept i think, certainly not one i had thought about before now, but given the circumstances i can think of nothing more urgent, appropriate nor enjoyable than to hand in my resignation to "society" and get on with my life, and a society of my choosing, consisting of family and friends and neighbours, who right now, are less part of my life than a bunch of beaurocrats who operate entirely in a fictional world.
We of the 21st century are well versed in fiction, to the extent that the reality of your immediate place and time becomes secondary to what happened on the soapy last night, or what the upcoming blockbuster movie is about, or even the vileness that is gaga ... these fictions are given more reality than the clouds and eartgh and sky that has been real for aeons, and will continue to be real for aeons more, after mankind loses his childish thoughts.
Sadly reality has been sorely neglected, and requires great effort to restore it to a semblance of acceptable. But waking people from slumber is difficult when they are having pleasant dreams, or even when they are having unpleasant ones. The dream is real and more urgent.
I got to work this morning, having negotiated the heat and dust and noise and aggro of the morning madness, and went onto our balcony outside for a ciggy and coffee. Like a bursting balloon the tension popped, with my racing mind suddenly confronted with a wall of trees before me, and a myriad gay birds flitting this way and that, calling out their wonderful songs. Of course i, great human, am on my arse before an electromagnetic radiation generator, under neon lights and in a cubicle, but the real world is only a few steps away, and available once an hour on good behaviour.
ROFLMAO!!!
The constitution is a sales brochure, no more and no less. It's a glossy magazine with an attractive island paradise on its cover, and page after page of alluring glamour and grace. you cannot read it without feeling that preprogrammed nationalistic balloon swelling inside you, causing you to do stupid things like join in and sing kumbaya. Of course as soon as you've signed, you get overcharged, given the runaround for various medical, financial and other reasons, put on a plane that reminds you of the old war movies, and bombers limping home, dropped into a back alley in the smelly part of a town that is 100 miles from the ocean, and about 50 miles from any toilet. I could go on, i'm enjoying myself, but you get the idea. And every time you phone to complain they refer you to the sales manual, and accompanying agreement you signed, and how you honestly should be more grateful.
Our holiday ... government ... society is like the story above: broken, utterly beyond redemption. I want my money back ... i want to go home, my home, where it's warm and comfortable and i can have a cup of tea whenever i want. So i'm reading the sales stuff, and agreements, and they lied to me, to you too for that. I'm cashing out, i have that choice and so do you. Of course, you can't walk out the casino with their tokens, they're worthless out there, and they aren't going to help you in taking your cash out their establishment, they'd rather you lost everything and went to your home which is now indebted too. makes for great business and even better entertainment.
But, i'm the customer, the real source, the human being flesh and blood. I am not a gaming chip, i am not a croupier, i am not security or management, i'm the man with the money.
So what is a constitution? It is a declaration of principles as given by a corporation. Pretty much. It is applicable to members of that corporation by their consent and for their benefit. So, if the benefits cease, consent can be revoked. The thing is, any and all contracts are voluntary, they can be no other way. Any and all contracts need to be an agreement between 2 parties with full disclosure and a meeting of the minds ... that's all perfectly logical and reasonable.
So what about this citizenship thing, is that a contract too? Absolutely, and even better they did not offer full disclosure, so you may, at any point, cancel the membership. This is quite a novel concept i think, certainly not one i had thought about before now, but given the circumstances i can think of nothing more urgent, appropriate nor enjoyable than to hand in my resignation to "society" and get on with my life, and a society of my choosing, consisting of family and friends and neighbours, who right now, are less part of my life than a bunch of beaurocrats who operate entirely in a fictional world.
We of the 21st century are well versed in fiction, to the extent that the reality of your immediate place and time becomes secondary to what happened on the soapy last night, or what the upcoming blockbuster movie is about, or even the vileness that is gaga ... these fictions are given more reality than the clouds and eartgh and sky that has been real for aeons, and will continue to be real for aeons more, after mankind loses his childish thoughts.
Sadly reality has been sorely neglected, and requires great effort to restore it to a semblance of acceptable. But waking people from slumber is difficult when they are having pleasant dreams, or even when they are having unpleasant ones. The dream is real and more urgent.
I got to work this morning, having negotiated the heat and dust and noise and aggro of the morning madness, and went onto our balcony outside for a ciggy and coffee. Like a bursting balloon the tension popped, with my racing mind suddenly confronted with a wall of trees before me, and a myriad gay birds flitting this way and that, calling out their wonderful songs. Of course i, great human, am on my arse before an electromagnetic radiation generator, under neon lights and in a cubicle, but the real world is only a few steps away, and available once an hour on good behaviour.
ROFLMAO!!!
The constitution is a sales brochure, no more and no less. It's a glossy magazine with an attractive island paradise on its cover, and page after page of alluring glamour and grace. you cannot read it without feeling that preprogrammed nationalistic balloon swelling inside you, causing you to do stupid things like join in and sing kumbaya. Of course as soon as you've signed, you get overcharged, given the runaround for various medical, financial and other reasons, put on a plane that reminds you of the old war movies, and bombers limping home, dropped into a back alley in the smelly part of a town that is 100 miles from the ocean, and about 50 miles from any toilet. I could go on, i'm enjoying myself, but you get the idea. And every time you phone to complain they refer you to the sales manual, and accompanying agreement you signed, and how you honestly should be more grateful.
Our holiday ... government ... society is like the story above: broken, utterly beyond redemption. I want my money back ... i want to go home, my home, where it's warm and comfortable and i can have a cup of tea whenever i want. So i'm reading the sales stuff, and agreements, and they lied to me, to you too for that. I'm cashing out, i have that choice and so do you. Of course, you can't walk out the casino with their tokens, they're worthless out there, and they aren't going to help you in taking your cash out their establishment, they'd rather you lost everything and went to your home which is now indebted too. makes for great business and even better entertainment.
But, i'm the customer, the real source, the human being flesh and blood. I am not a gaming chip, i am not a croupier, i am not security or management, i'm the man with the money.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Faust
Mephisto:
All right. But do not plague yourself too anxiously;
For just where no ideas are
The proper word is never far.
With words a dispute can be won,
With words a system can be spun,
In words one can believe unshaken,
And from a word no tittle can be taken.
(Goethe's Faust, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Author), Walter Kaufmann (Translator,),pp.204-205)
All right. But do not plague yourself too anxiously;
For just where no ideas are
The proper word is never far.
With words a dispute can be won,
With words a system can be spun,
In words one can believe unshaken,
And from a word no tittle can be taken.
(Goethe's Faust, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Author), Walter Kaufmann (Translator,),pp.204-205)
Maria Aguinda
RUMIPAMBA, Ecuador (AFP) – She has no legal training, and doesn't speak the Spanish that dominates government in Quito but indigenous villager Maria Aguinda helped bring a landmark judgment against US oil giant Chevron for polluting the rain forest she calls home.
The diminutive grandmother whose modest home sits near marshes clogged for decades in sticky oil has been at the heart of the David-and-Goliath case, and spoke out after Chevron was slapped last week with a $9.5-billion fine, among the heaviest ever handed down for environmental damage.
"Before I die they have to pay me for the dead animals, and for what they did to the river, and the water and the earth," the 61-year-old Aguinda told AFP at her home in Rumipamba, a town in remote Orellana province where pollution caused by 30 years of oil drilling and petroleum accidents had become a sad fact of life.
The diminutive grandmother whose modest home sits near marshes clogged for decades in sticky oil has been at the heart of the David-and-Goliath case, and spoke out after Chevron was slapped last week with a $9.5-billion fine, among the heaviest ever handed down for environmental damage.
"Before I die they have to pay me for the dead animals, and for what they did to the river, and the water and the earth," the 61-year-old Aguinda told AFP at her home in Rumipamba, a town in remote Orellana province where pollution caused by 30 years of oil drilling and petroleum accidents had become a sad fact of life.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
I under stand
For the first time in my life i've had a true epiphany, a lightening bolt of illumination that sets the entire landscape into bright white light. The landscape is the world around us, not so much the physical, but the surreal world that overlays all of our actions, thoughts and plans.
I under stand how money works, around the world and around us. I under stand how i am liable for all the bad things in society, how i give consent, frequently and emphatically to the powers that be, in our case the wonderful ANC. I under stand how they rule, what they need to continue, and how it is i who give them that. I under stand the source of their power, their weakness, and their bounds. I under stand how to say NO, fully, and finally, and to at last, after 33 turns of our pretty roundabout, how to regain my honour.
In my life, i have 3 main areas of operation:
physical
emotional
mental
and i have been struggling with the highest of these for a very long time, trying to reconcile the confusion of our times, and my own life. What astonishment that it is at the PHYSICAL where i must most urgently apply myself, that my emotional and mental well being is intrinsically dependant on my physical actions and statements.
Not so suggest that i have been negligent in the physical, i keep good hygiene, eat well, visit doctors when necessary, and so on. That's not it. I have silently accepted the world for what it is, with the humble intent of trying to under stand it, as well as abide by the rules in the world.
There's always been an assumption in our society, that the human instinct is to self destruction, but i have always taken issue with that, as most "normal" people i know would never hurt anyone unless forced. So why is this planet so badly messed? Blaming people is easy, explaining the whys and hows less so. In fact, there seems to exist contradictions in our society that are not logical, reasonable, moral or anything else of value in any way. There's a WILDCARD out there, working tirelessly against my own personal ambition of a happy, healthy family and lifestyle. We know this, and pointing a finger at "money" or "government" is easy enough, we KNOW it's them, but we cannot show how, and their entreaties to "pay our debts", "do our duty" and "follow the laws" only serve to re-inforce the confusion.
Like the TV license adverts: "it's the right thing to do". No it's not. It's the legal thing to do. If you don't you will be subjected to all the horrors they can muster, from debt councelling, blacklisting, court ordered deductions from your wages, and imprisonment ... all this for not giving them money for something they have given you whether you want it or not, a cancerous VHF signal of electronic garbage. That CANNOT be "right" under any reasonable scenario. But they do it, and are literally getting away with it.
So i stand, and choose where i stand. No longer can i sit and watch, i said this at the turn of the year, and it is taking shape and form and substance of it's own volition. THERE IS HOPE.
So i have been quiet, apologies to my frequent visitors, but i will make it up to you i promise, not with words or pictures, but statements of fact and proof. That's my story for the day, and i'm sticking to it.
peace and love
I under stand how money works, around the world and around us. I under stand how i am liable for all the bad things in society, how i give consent, frequently and emphatically to the powers that be, in our case the wonderful ANC. I under stand how they rule, what they need to continue, and how it is i who give them that. I under stand the source of their power, their weakness, and their bounds. I under stand how to say NO, fully, and finally, and to at last, after 33 turns of our pretty roundabout, how to regain my honour.
In my life, i have 3 main areas of operation:
physical
emotional
mental
and i have been struggling with the highest of these for a very long time, trying to reconcile the confusion of our times, and my own life. What astonishment that it is at the PHYSICAL where i must most urgently apply myself, that my emotional and mental well being is intrinsically dependant on my physical actions and statements.
Not so suggest that i have been negligent in the physical, i keep good hygiene, eat well, visit doctors when necessary, and so on. That's not it. I have silently accepted the world for what it is, with the humble intent of trying to under stand it, as well as abide by the rules in the world.
There's always been an assumption in our society, that the human instinct is to self destruction, but i have always taken issue with that, as most "normal" people i know would never hurt anyone unless forced. So why is this planet so badly messed? Blaming people is easy, explaining the whys and hows less so. In fact, there seems to exist contradictions in our society that are not logical, reasonable, moral or anything else of value in any way. There's a WILDCARD out there, working tirelessly against my own personal ambition of a happy, healthy family and lifestyle. We know this, and pointing a finger at "money" or "government" is easy enough, we KNOW it's them, but we cannot show how, and their entreaties to "pay our debts", "do our duty" and "follow the laws" only serve to re-inforce the confusion.
Like the TV license adverts: "it's the right thing to do". No it's not. It's the legal thing to do. If you don't you will be subjected to all the horrors they can muster, from debt councelling, blacklisting, court ordered deductions from your wages, and imprisonment ... all this for not giving them money for something they have given you whether you want it or not, a cancerous VHF signal of electronic garbage. That CANNOT be "right" under any reasonable scenario. But they do it, and are literally getting away with it.
So i stand, and choose where i stand. No longer can i sit and watch, i said this at the turn of the year, and it is taking shape and form and substance of it's own volition. THERE IS HOPE.
So i have been quiet, apologies to my frequent visitors, but i will make it up to you i promise, not with words or pictures, but statements of fact and proof. That's my story for the day, and i'm sticking to it.
peace and love
Friday, 18 February 2011
Victory in the Southern Ocean Day for the Whales
VSO Day
It’s official – the Japanese whaling fleet has called it quits in the Southern Ocean, at least for this season. And if they return next season, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will be ready to resume their efforts to obstruct and disable illegal Japanese whaling operations.
“The Nisshin Maru made a significant course change immediately after the Japanese government made it official that the whaling fleet has been recalled,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen from the Bob Barker. “She looks like she’s going home!”
The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker has been tailing the Japanese Nisshin Maru factory ship since February 9th making it impossible for the whalers to continue their illegal whaling operations.
“I have a crew of 88 very happy people from 23 different nations including Japan and they are absolutely thrilled that the whalers are heading home and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is now indeed a real sanctuary,” said Captain Paul Watson.
The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, and Gojira will remain in the Southern Ocean to escort the Japanese ships northward. “We will not leave the whale sanctuary until the last whaling ship has departed,” said Gojira captain Locky MacLean.
“This is a great victory for the whales,” said Captain Watson, “but we did not do this alone. Without the support of the people of Australia and New Zealand, we would not have been able to send voyages out for seven seasons from Australian and New Zealand ports. We are grateful to Senator Bob Brown and the Australian Greens Party. We are very grateful to Mr. Bob Barker for giving us the ship that turned the tide in our efforts to force the Japanese fleet from these waters. We are grateful to all our onshore staff and volunteers, supporting members and ship crews. We are grateful to the Chilean Navy and the government of France for their support. It is a very happy day for people everywhere who love whales and our oceans.”
It’s official – the killing of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is over for this season and the whalers did not even take 10% of their quota. Sea Shepherd estimates that over 900 whales have been saved this year.
“It’s a great day for the whales,” said Sea Shepherd Chief Cook on the Steve Irwin Laura Dakin of Canberra, Australia, “and it’s a great day for humanity!”
Monday, 14 February 2011
Common Law
1. A workman is worthy of his hire
(Exodus 20:15; Lev. 19:13; Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; II
Tim. 2:6. Legal maxim: "It is against equity for freemen
not to have the free disposal of their own property.").
2. All are equal under the Law
(God's Law--Ethical and Natural Law). (Exodus 21:23-25;
Lev. 24:17-21; Deut. 1:17, 19:21; Matt., 22:36-40; Luke
10:17; Col. 3:25. Legal maxims: "No one is above the
law."; "Commerce, by the law of nations, ought to be
common, and not to be converted into a monopoly and the
private gain of a few.").
3. In Commerce truth is sovereign
(Exodus 20:16; Ps. 117:2; Matt. 6:33, John 8:32; II Cor.
13:8. Legal maxim: "To lie is to go against the mind."
4. Truth is expressed by means of an affidavit
(Lev. 5:4-5; Lev. 6:3-5; Lev 19:11-13; Num. 30:2; Matt.
5:33; James 5:12).
5. An unrebutted affidavit stands as the truth in
Commerce (1 Pet. 1:25; Heb. 6:13-15. Legal maxim: "He
who does not deny, admits.").
6. An unrebutted affidavit becomes the judgment
in Commerce (Heb. 6:16-17. Any proceeding in a court,
tribunal, or arbitration forum consists of a contest, or
"duel," of commercial affidavits wherein the points
remaining unrebutted in the end stand as the truth and the
matters to which the judgment of the law is applied.).
7. A matter must be expressed to be resolved
(Heb. 4:16; Phil. 4:6; Eph. 6:19-21. Legal maxim: "He
who fails to assert his rights has none.").
8. He who leaves the field of battle first loses by
default (Book of Job; Matt. 10:22. Legal maxim: "He who
does not repel a wrong when he can, occasions it.").
9. Sacrifice is the measure of credibility
(One who is not damaged, put at risk, or willing to swear
an oath that he consents to claim against his commercial
liability in the event that any of his statements or actions is
groundless or unlawful, has no basis to assert claims or
charges and forfeits all credibility and right to claim
authority.) (Acts 7, life/death of Stephen, maxim: "He who
bears the burden ought also to derive the benefit.").
10. A lien or claim can be satisfied only through
rebuttal by Counter-affidavit point-for-point, resolution by
jury, or payment (Gen. 2-3; Matt. 4; Revelation. Legal
maxim: "If the plaintiff does not prove his case, the
defendant is absolved.").
____________________________________________________________
Curiuosly, common law greatly resembles "biblical" laws, or rather, people in the bible accepted certain laws as "natural". Do not harm people or property, and don't use fraud. That's about IT. All the other laws are statutes, which you CONSENT to.
(Exodus 20:15; Lev. 19:13; Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; II
Tim. 2:6. Legal maxim: "It is against equity for freemen
not to have the free disposal of their own property.").
2. All are equal under the Law
(God's Law--Ethical and Natural Law). (Exodus 21:23-25;
Lev. 24:17-21; Deut. 1:17, 19:21; Matt., 22:36-40; Luke
10:17; Col. 3:25. Legal maxims: "No one is above the
law."; "Commerce, by the law of nations, ought to be
common, and not to be converted into a monopoly and the
private gain of a few.").
3. In Commerce truth is sovereign
(Exodus 20:16; Ps. 117:2; Matt. 6:33, John 8:32; II Cor.
13:8. Legal maxim: "To lie is to go against the mind."
4. Truth is expressed by means of an affidavit
(Lev. 5:4-5; Lev. 6:3-5; Lev 19:11-13; Num. 30:2; Matt.
5:33; James 5:12).
5. An unrebutted affidavit stands as the truth in
Commerce (1 Pet. 1:25; Heb. 6:13-15. Legal maxim: "He
who does not deny, admits.").
6. An unrebutted affidavit becomes the judgment
in Commerce (Heb. 6:16-17. Any proceeding in a court,
tribunal, or arbitration forum consists of a contest, or
"duel," of commercial affidavits wherein the points
remaining unrebutted in the end stand as the truth and the
matters to which the judgment of the law is applied.).
7. A matter must be expressed to be resolved
(Heb. 4:16; Phil. 4:6; Eph. 6:19-21. Legal maxim: "He
who fails to assert his rights has none.").
8. He who leaves the field of battle first loses by
default (Book of Job; Matt. 10:22. Legal maxim: "He who
does not repel a wrong when he can, occasions it.").
9. Sacrifice is the measure of credibility
(One who is not damaged, put at risk, or willing to swear
an oath that he consents to claim against his commercial
liability in the event that any of his statements or actions is
groundless or unlawful, has no basis to assert claims or
charges and forfeits all credibility and right to claim
authority.) (Acts 7, life/death of Stephen, maxim: "He who
bears the burden ought also to derive the benefit.").
10. A lien or claim can be satisfied only through
rebuttal by Counter-affidavit point-for-point, resolution by
jury, or payment (Gen. 2-3; Matt. 4; Revelation. Legal
maxim: "If the plaintiff does not prove his case, the
defendant is absolved.").
____________________________________________________________
Curiuosly, common law greatly resembles "biblical" laws, or rather, people in the bible accepted certain laws as "natural". Do not harm people or property, and don't use fraud. That's about IT. All the other laws are statutes, which you CONSENT to.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Tech fail
So the wife's car broke, and stayed broked. The agents are singularly unhelpful, first asking for the vin number, which i could only give them the following day. So a day later, i present the number, and get told it still doesn't help. I must bring the car to them, which i explained was while not quite IMpossible, but highly problematic. It was most likely a specific component, could i bring the component in for them to test? Oh no they tell me, they are unable to do that, the whole car or nothing. So i've gone elsewhere. I've dropped the component, for a small fee they will assess whether the part is working, and whether they can repair it, and if so how much.
So for a few days the good wife was banished to the mercy of public transport, constant need for cash, getting to the bus stop on time, avoiding going barmy while waiting for the bus, and getting over the headache caused by being in the bus. Which is all fine really, because at least you are able to get to work. Of course, within 3 days the bus drivers implemented a strike, against being treated like the busses they drive. The strike began at 2pm. So all the people who caught busses to work no longer had a ride home. Is that not inhumane? Certainly not very nice, on anyone's part.
Thankfully i have a motorbike, and so i am actually able to travel around this city, as opposed to those in cars, who can only pretend to travel, while being stuck in traffic. So i ride into the cesspit, i mean city, along the roads, i mean parking lots, and collect the good wife. I discover that the cause of today's re-enactment of Dante's Inferno but our fellow citizens is in fact due to the traffic criminals, who have in fact decided to play traffic cop in the middle of an intersection, where the signal lights are working! And not doing a very good job either, in fact i'm certain the robots handle the traffic better than humans. Perhaps they should go play traffic cop at an intersection with a broken signal system?
This morning good wifey had to present herself to the Randburg office, which meant that i could take her to work with me, since i can go through Randburg en route to work. Traffic was bumper to bumper the entire stretch of highway, to the offramp we were to take, after which it seemed to clear. The road we turned onto was similarly blocked, and it was near impassable to the many cars parked along it's length. After cheerily going between and around them all, we found the source of the problem: a broken down bus. 1 single bus had managed to severely negatively impact the simple act of going to work for THOUSANDS of people. The waste in fuel, energy, goodwill and happiness amongst it's victims is incalculable.
These problems are so typical of our lives we hardly give it thought, and i really pity all the people who really suffer because of them. It's a fail, a broken, and not just the car, the system to fix the car. Not just the bus, but the transport system, and the means of maintaining and fixing the bus, and the bus drivers. It's all a wild web which we've weaved ourselves into, and cannot get out of. Of course any old spider can come along ... we're woolies for predators. Who are now in charge of busses, no doubt.
So for a few days the good wife was banished to the mercy of public transport, constant need for cash, getting to the bus stop on time, avoiding going barmy while waiting for the bus, and getting over the headache caused by being in the bus. Which is all fine really, because at least you are able to get to work. Of course, within 3 days the bus drivers implemented a strike, against being treated like the busses they drive. The strike began at 2pm. So all the people who caught busses to work no longer had a ride home. Is that not inhumane? Certainly not very nice, on anyone's part.
Thankfully i have a motorbike, and so i am actually able to travel around this city, as opposed to those in cars, who can only pretend to travel, while being stuck in traffic. So i ride into the cesspit, i mean city, along the roads, i mean parking lots, and collect the good wife. I discover that the cause of today's re-enactment of Dante's Inferno but our fellow citizens is in fact due to the traffic criminals, who have in fact decided to play traffic cop in the middle of an intersection, where the signal lights are working! And not doing a very good job either, in fact i'm certain the robots handle the traffic better than humans. Perhaps they should go play traffic cop at an intersection with a broken signal system?
This morning good wifey had to present herself to the Randburg office, which meant that i could take her to work with me, since i can go through Randburg en route to work. Traffic was bumper to bumper the entire stretch of highway, to the offramp we were to take, after which it seemed to clear. The road we turned onto was similarly blocked, and it was near impassable to the many cars parked along it's length. After cheerily going between and around them all, we found the source of the problem: a broken down bus. 1 single bus had managed to severely negatively impact the simple act of going to work for THOUSANDS of people. The waste in fuel, energy, goodwill and happiness amongst it's victims is incalculable.
These problems are so typical of our lives we hardly give it thought, and i really pity all the people who really suffer because of them. It's a fail, a broken, and not just the car, the system to fix the car. Not just the bus, but the transport system, and the means of maintaining and fixing the bus, and the bus drivers. It's all a wild web which we've weaved ourselves into, and cannot get out of. Of course any old spider can come along ... we're woolies for predators. Who are now in charge of busses, no doubt.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Genocide by Stealth
By G Annandale
Ever wondered how you commit genocide by stealth?
You only have to look at South Africa to realise that Hitler and other genocidal maniacs could’ve taken lessons from the ANC or perhaps Southern Africa in general. Mugabe has killed almost as many people in a year as the Apartheid regime killed in forty years and if one ads to the Mugabe tally, the number of Khoi and San killed hundreds of years ago in Mashonaland the numbers become really significant. In South Africa the number of whites killed since 1994 are estimated to be over 30 000. Again add to that number the Khoi, San and other foreigners murdered through the years and the killing by the apartheid regime pales into significance.
...
We can only imagine the joy of the heroes of the ongoing struggle when they celebrate the death of Gerhardus Groenewald, father of four, who was stabbed to death on his property on Friday; the cold blooded shooting of Doris De Jager, the 50 year old mother of two, in full view of her son in her garage not to mention the killing, we do not know by what devious means yet , of the 65-year old Georgie Jackson who was abducted at her home on Friday evening and found dead near Sasolburg yesterday.
...
Yes I know my accusations are unfounded and these deaths have nothing to do with racism and genocide. Answer me this; how many black people were murdered by whites in this country in the past week?
Ever wondered how you commit genocide by stealth?
You only have to look at South Africa to realise that Hitler and other genocidal maniacs could’ve taken lessons from the ANC or perhaps Southern Africa in general. Mugabe has killed almost as many people in a year as the Apartheid regime killed in forty years and if one ads to the Mugabe tally, the number of Khoi and San killed hundreds of years ago in Mashonaland the numbers become really significant. In South Africa the number of whites killed since 1994 are estimated to be over 30 000. Again add to that number the Khoi, San and other foreigners murdered through the years and the killing by the apartheid regime pales into significance.
...
We can only imagine the joy of the heroes of the ongoing struggle when they celebrate the death of Gerhardus Groenewald, father of four, who was stabbed to death on his property on Friday; the cold blooded shooting of Doris De Jager, the 50 year old mother of two, in full view of her son in her garage not to mention the killing, we do not know by what devious means yet , of the 65-year old Georgie Jackson who was abducted at her home on Friday evening and found dead near Sasolburg yesterday.
...
Yes I know my accusations are unfounded and these deaths have nothing to do with racism and genocide. Answer me this; how many black people were murdered by whites in this country in the past week?
Monday, 7 February 2011
RIP Gary Moore
This man could play, i was listening to his inimitable "Blues Alive" album the weekend. Used to be my sound check tape for the Truth commission, LOL. Never forget the one time we played it at lunch, and we had all these political types coming over to tell us how great the music was. "Blues and Ballads" was the first cd i ever bought, kept me warm a good few nights.
He was only 58, died in his room at the luxury Kempinski Resort Hotel in Estepona on the Costa Del Sol. A post mortem will be carried out later today in the nearby city of Malaga.
Tribute:
“He was a genius player. Even as a teenager, he had something special about him and throughout his career he worked really hard at improving his technique.
“His contribution to the Irish rock canon was immense, both in his own solo work, his days with Skid Row, the great records he recorded with Philip Lynott and with Thin Lizzy and in various other cameos. (Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press)
RIP Gary Moore, thank you for the blues.
Parisienne Walkways - Gary Moore and Phil Lynott
He was only 58, died in his room at the luxury Kempinski Resort Hotel in Estepona on the Costa Del Sol. A post mortem will be carried out later today in the nearby city of Malaga.
Tribute:
“He was a genius player. Even as a teenager, he had something special about him and throughout his career he worked really hard at improving his technique.
“His contribution to the Irish rock canon was immense, both in his own solo work, his days with Skid Row, the great records he recorded with Philip Lynott and with Thin Lizzy and in various other cameos. (Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press)
RIP Gary Moore, thank you for the blues.
Parisienne Walkways - Gary Moore and Phil Lynott
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Maybe
I should ... try mitigate yesterday's post. I certainly shan't apologise, nor change a single word, as ever, i said what i thought and be damned.
After arriving home feeling murderous, i took some medication and focused n the kids. They knew something was up, and it's startling how a small hand can instantly just calm you.
I meant it though, all this posturing and pretending and lying and getting ahead ... i can't anymore. Never could, but it's worse now. I feel physically ill when i see someone bully another. When i see people get trampled ... i get sick, and insanely angry. When i see the wanker in a big car, i want to hurt him.
I need to get out of here.
After arriving home feeling murderous, i took some medication and focused n the kids. They knew something was up, and it's startling how a small hand can instantly just calm you.
I meant it though, all this posturing and pretending and lying and getting ahead ... i can't anymore. Never could, but it's worse now. I feel physically ill when i see someone bully another. When i see people get trampled ... i get sick, and insanely angry. When i see the wanker in a big car, i want to hurt him.
I need to get out of here.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Enough
Far enough, hard enough, fast enough, had enough.
At what point does enough become too much?
When do you reach that level where ... "no more" is about all that still stands alone in your tumultuous mind?
Get up in the morning and the only thing your brain can think is "FUCK" not again.
Well i'm there, again, still, i dunno really. It's all so fucking stupid. The obvious overwhelming reality that everyone politely ignores. Work, family, tax ... omg i got an sms from SARS reminding me to pay tax, and thanking me if i have already. An sms saying "dear taxpayer" ... i want to puke.
Enough of this fucking retarded mine dump, full of it's retarded fucking go-getting money minded shit-for-brains corporate rapists. Enough of this fucking happy families that we all play. Enough of "happy happy" and enough of fucking be nice or else.
Enough of roads, millions of morons every day being STUCK. No other word for it. Stuck behind the car in front of them on the way to get stuck behinfd an email inbox. NO THIS ISN'T LIFE,. Not fucking life. This is death ... LOOK AT IT!!!!! It's fucking death wearing a halloween mask and playing for time.
And the crowd laughs together ... smiles for the last time, last rounds, last dance ... last kiss.
And in this all the supreme self control. This socially conditioned reflex to stand in the queues to the gas chambers. Dignity they call it. Fuck dignity. Fuck society. And the good people talk of heaven and universe and oneness. And they are AS stuck as everyone else, except in their heads. Never for me ... gods this life so short and so excrutiatingly long. Never enough, always too much.
And at the last, comes hope. And i take hope by the throat and give it a mercifully quick death, enough lies. ENOUGH FUCKING LIES and eternal fucking delusions.
But i am dead too you know. I'll go home, be nice. Wake up, be a good worker. Go home and cry. Go back for more. Dead. But the dead feel no pain. Do they? Or is it just the fires of hell that never burn hot enough to destroy? I feel like fire ... hot wild passionate and frenzied, ever seeking new paths to take ... but destroying everything behind.
Enough of this fucking post too
At what point does enough become too much?
When do you reach that level where ... "no more" is about all that still stands alone in your tumultuous mind?
Get up in the morning and the only thing your brain can think is "FUCK" not again.
Well i'm there, again, still, i dunno really. It's all so fucking stupid. The obvious overwhelming reality that everyone politely ignores. Work, family, tax ... omg i got an sms from SARS reminding me to pay tax, and thanking me if i have already. An sms saying "dear taxpayer" ... i want to puke.
Enough of this fucking retarded mine dump, full of it's retarded fucking go-getting money minded shit-for-brains corporate rapists. Enough of this fucking happy families that we all play. Enough of "happy happy" and enough of fucking be nice or else.
Enough of roads, millions of morons every day being STUCK. No other word for it. Stuck behind the car in front of them on the way to get stuck behinfd an email inbox. NO THIS ISN'T LIFE,. Not fucking life. This is death ... LOOK AT IT!!!!! It's fucking death wearing a halloween mask and playing for time.
And the crowd laughs together ... smiles for the last time, last rounds, last dance ... last kiss.
And in this all the supreme self control. This socially conditioned reflex to stand in the queues to the gas chambers. Dignity they call it. Fuck dignity. Fuck society. And the good people talk of heaven and universe and oneness. And they are AS stuck as everyone else, except in their heads. Never for me ... gods this life so short and so excrutiatingly long. Never enough, always too much.
And at the last, comes hope. And i take hope by the throat and give it a mercifully quick death, enough lies. ENOUGH FUCKING LIES and eternal fucking delusions.
But i am dead too you know. I'll go home, be nice. Wake up, be a good worker. Go home and cry. Go back for more. Dead. But the dead feel no pain. Do they? Or is it just the fires of hell that never burn hot enough to destroy? I feel like fire ... hot wild passionate and frenzied, ever seeking new paths to take ... but destroying everything behind.
Enough of this fucking post too
Monday, 31 January 2011
AngloGold Shamed
Anglo Gold shamed at Davos.
South African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti scooped the unwanted "Public Eye Award" for environmental and social "irresponsibility" Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
"AngloGold Ashanti has destroyed over 50 rivers in Ghana that are indispensable for the residents. The rivers dry up, or mining toxins cause them to die off completely," the activists alleged.
Did anyone hear about the "minor explosion" at Davos?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70Q14T20110127
And i saw a comment about "global burnout" presented at Davos too. Global economical burnout??? WTF ... and why are they talking about that, and we keep getting told how great it all is?
EGYPT: Stay strong. Libya, Zimbabwe, you guys taking notes?
South African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti scooped the unwanted "Public Eye Award" for environmental and social "irresponsibility" Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
"AngloGold Ashanti has destroyed over 50 rivers in Ghana that are indispensable for the residents. The rivers dry up, or mining toxins cause them to die off completely," the activists alleged.
Did anyone hear about the "minor explosion" at Davos?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70Q14T20110127
And i saw a comment about "global burnout" presented at Davos too. Global economical burnout??? WTF ... and why are they talking about that, and we keep getting told how great it all is?
EGYPT: Stay strong. Libya, Zimbabwe, you guys taking notes?
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
The world on fire
Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon. All happening at once.
What is most surprising is that Egypt has been a very firm dictatorship for many years, and the people had become very afraid of voicing any protest.
That has just changed.
http://egypt.failar.nu/
Go look at those pictures, thousands of people in the streets, with only hundreds of riot police. You tube is growing with everyone taking as much footage as they can on cell phone cameras. I really believe this is taking the establishment by surprise. Nobody else is surprised, because it's been building a long, LONG time, but suddenly enough is enough for these folks, and they are not afraid to show it anymore. I believe pricing on basic commodities has gone through the roof, and people are tired of Mubarak, a 30 year tyrant who is nothing more than a paid american dictator, yes another.
Lookee here, and have a great day.
PS, a request from a blogger on that side (Mohamed Abdelfattah), make THIS go viral!!!
What is most surprising is that Egypt has been a very firm dictatorship for many years, and the people had become very afraid of voicing any protest.
That has just changed.
http://egypt.failar.nu/
Go look at those pictures, thousands of people in the streets, with only hundreds of riot police. You tube is growing with everyone taking as much footage as they can on cell phone cameras. I really believe this is taking the establishment by surprise. Nobody else is surprised, because it's been building a long, LONG time, but suddenly enough is enough for these folks, and they are not afraid to show it anymore. I believe pricing on basic commodities has gone through the roof, and people are tired of Mubarak, a 30 year tyrant who is nothing more than a paid american dictator, yes another.
Lookee here, and have a great day.
PS, a request from a blogger on that side (Mohamed Abdelfattah), make THIS go viral!!!
Monday, 24 January 2011
My Motherland
1.
Chorus
This is a great river, its waves are wide and calm
The wind blows through the rice flowers, bearing fragrance to either shore
My home is right there by the water
I am used to hearing the punters' whistle
and seeing the white sails on the boats
Solo
This is a great river, its waves are wide and calm
The wind blows through the rice flowers, bearing fragrance to either shore
My home is right there by the water
I am used to hearing the punters' whistle
and seeing the white sails on the boats
Chorus
This is the beautiful motherland
The place where I grew up
In this expansive stretch of land
Wonderful landscape can be seen everywhere
2.
Solo
Young ladies are like flowers
Young men have a big heart and grand visions
In order to construct a new realm
They have waked the sleeping mountains
And made the rivers change their appearance
Chorus
This is the motherland of heroes
The place where I grew up
In this stretch of ancient land
There is youthful vigour found everywhere
3.
Solo
Great mountains, great rivers and an amazing place
Every road is flat and wide
When friends are here, there is fine wine
But if the jackal comes
What greets it is the hunting rifle
Chorus
This is the strong motherland
The place where I grew up
On this stretch of warm and friendly land
The sunshine of peace is everywhere
"My Motherland" was called as "A Big River" (Chinese: 一条大河) by the author initially; it represented the hundreds of rivers that flowed by the homes of the Chinese people. The title was changed when it was published with movie.
Although the song was written for the movie about Korean War in 1950s, there is no mention of the war at all. It describes a soldier (or anyone who is away from home) thinking about his home and his family. Thus, this song is extremely popular even when the movie itself is almost forgotten.
________________________________________________________
A chinese nationalist song, played on the piano by Lang Lang, for Hu Jintao and Barry Soretto in the white house.
Chorus
This is a great river, its waves are wide and calm
The wind blows through the rice flowers, bearing fragrance to either shore
My home is right there by the water
I am used to hearing the punters' whistle
and seeing the white sails on the boats
Solo
This is a great river, its waves are wide and calm
The wind blows through the rice flowers, bearing fragrance to either shore
My home is right there by the water
I am used to hearing the punters' whistle
and seeing the white sails on the boats
Chorus
This is the beautiful motherland
The place where I grew up
In this expansive stretch of land
Wonderful landscape can be seen everywhere
2.
Solo
Young ladies are like flowers
Young men have a big heart and grand visions
In order to construct a new realm
They have waked the sleeping mountains
And made the rivers change their appearance
Chorus
This is the motherland of heroes
The place where I grew up
In this stretch of ancient land
There is youthful vigour found everywhere
3.
Solo
Great mountains, great rivers and an amazing place
Every road is flat and wide
When friends are here, there is fine wine
But if the jackal comes
What greets it is the hunting rifle
Chorus
This is the strong motherland
The place where I grew up
On this stretch of warm and friendly land
The sunshine of peace is everywhere
"My Motherland" was called as "A Big River" (Chinese: 一条大河) by the author initially; it represented the hundreds of rivers that flowed by the homes of the Chinese people. The title was changed when it was published with movie.
Although the song was written for the movie about Korean War in 1950s, there is no mention of the war at all. It describes a soldier (or anyone who is away from home) thinking about his home and his family. Thus, this song is extremely popular even when the movie itself is almost forgotten.
________________________________________________________
A chinese nationalist song, played on the piano by Lang Lang, for Hu Jintao and Barry Soretto in the white house.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Mo Shaik US Patsy
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Wikileaks-exposes-SA-spy-boss-20110123
The cable – one of 250 000 leaked to Whistleblower website Wikileaks but obtained exclusively by Media24 Investigations – also reveals that the US Embassy in Pretoria actively cultivated Shaik as a key source of information on Zuma’s inner circle and the “motivations and strategies of the Zuma camp”.
Dated September 10 2008, two days before corruption charges against Zuma were initially dismissed by Judge Chris Nicholson, the cable was sent to the Secretary of State in Washington DC and copied to US consuls in Durban and Cape Town, the CIA, the US Defence Intelligence Agency and the White House National Security Council.
It is one of a number of classified cables recording meetings between Shaik – who was controversially appointed head of the South African Secret Service (SASS), South Africa’s foreign intelligence wing, in October 2009 - and an unidentified US embassy political officer.
“Shaik complained that all these people know Zuma is innocent and that he does not understand why they have not come to Zuma’s defence before now,” the cable noted.
_________________________________________________________________________
Let the sh1t hit the fan. Way for wikileaks, this is where it takes all the lies and backstabbing and shines a little light. Enemy of the people comes to mind.
The cable – one of 250 000 leaked to Whistleblower website Wikileaks but obtained exclusively by Media24 Investigations – also reveals that the US Embassy in Pretoria actively cultivated Shaik as a key source of information on Zuma’s inner circle and the “motivations and strategies of the Zuma camp”.
Dated September 10 2008, two days before corruption charges against Zuma were initially dismissed by Judge Chris Nicholson, the cable was sent to the Secretary of State in Washington DC and copied to US consuls in Durban and Cape Town, the CIA, the US Defence Intelligence Agency and the White House National Security Council.
It is one of a number of classified cables recording meetings between Shaik – who was controversially appointed head of the South African Secret Service (SASS), South Africa’s foreign intelligence wing, in October 2009 - and an unidentified US embassy political officer.
“Shaik complained that all these people know Zuma is innocent and that he does not understand why they have not come to Zuma’s defence before now,” the cable noted.
_________________________________________________________________________
Let the sh1t hit the fan. Way for wikileaks, this is where it takes all the lies and backstabbing and shines a little light. Enemy of the people comes to mind.
Saturday, 22 January 2011
M & M Adventure bikenstein
Thank you Burst Sausages
That grabs me, totally. Not just the female profile *grin* but look at that bike!!
The front wheel is big, the nose perfect. The exhaust is spot on, the rear spring and swingarm assembly ... the whole bike screams ride me!!!
Mine would be silver with bright red trim.
More on it here ... alas a photoshop :(
Friday, 21 January 2011
Fabricating God
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg46991.html
Ok, so at the link above, i found what was there, as one does. It covers a lot of ground, over many wide ranging topics. So why does it resonate so strongly with me?
Myths of old that still haunt mankind, and you're never sure whether it's just an old scar that is visible or fresh marks, evidence of recent activity. There's a link that goes straight from modern science to ancient superstitions, but everywhere the tracks have been washed out, covered over, obscured and false trails laid over them.
I think to know any truth of value, you have to climb so far out the paradoxical reality we have created, that the only appropriate state of mind for you is insane. But of course, not all insane people have truth of any sort ... so who is the madman and who is the visionary? Is there a difference? And do those differences even matter? And are we not all insane anyhow, rushing around all day taking money from everyone we can make believe our carefully scripted stories?
All a delusion, all of it, a carefully manicured delusion which wastes our lives and energies and intentions all day every day, leaving us unable to contemplate any more than a soap opera. Anyhow ... play a delusional, and read the link, perhaps it shines some light into your deluded soul.
Ok, so at the link above, i found what was there, as one does. It covers a lot of ground, over many wide ranging topics. So why does it resonate so strongly with me?
Myths of old that still haunt mankind, and you're never sure whether it's just an old scar that is visible or fresh marks, evidence of recent activity. There's a link that goes straight from modern science to ancient superstitions, but everywhere the tracks have been washed out, covered over, obscured and false trails laid over them.
I think to know any truth of value, you have to climb so far out the paradoxical reality we have created, that the only appropriate state of mind for you is insane. But of course, not all insane people have truth of any sort ... so who is the madman and who is the visionary? Is there a difference? And do those differences even matter? And are we not all insane anyhow, rushing around all day taking money from everyone we can make believe our carefully scripted stories?
All a delusion, all of it, a carefully manicured delusion which wastes our lives and energies and intentions all day every day, leaving us unable to contemplate any more than a soap opera. Anyhow ... play a delusional, and read the link, perhaps it shines some light into your deluded soul.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Comet Elenin
Staying with stellar matters, we are about the welcome Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1) to our solar system.
http://spaceobs.org/en/tag/comet-elenin/
http://planetarydefense.blogspot.com/2011/01/comet-elenin-c2010-x1.html
Hey look, it's going to cross right in front of earth, bringing lots of lovely space debris our way. Twinkle twinkle little star? More like "hey look, another fireball".
:D
http://spaceobs.org/en/tag/comet-elenin/
http://planetarydefense.blogspot.com/2011/01/comet-elenin-c2010-x1.html
Hey look, it's going to cross right in front of earth, bringing lots of lovely space debris our way. Twinkle twinkle little star? More like "hey look, another fireball".
:D
Monday, 17 January 2011
Ophiuchus
Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20
"The tilt of the Earth's axis has gradually shifted since the ancient times when the Babylonians determined the dates of the Zodiac. The calendrical rejiggering also supposedly re-introduced a sign discarded by the Babylonians: Ophiuchus, alternatively called the much-cooler sounding Serpentarius," according to ABC News.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa
Brilliant ... everybody who "believes" in astrology has just been kicked up the jack. Certainly it doesn't change any of the basics, much, but well, all the crap i ever heard about how i'm a "typical taurus" .. well i'm not. Another label done with ... nice!
Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20
"The tilt of the Earth's axis has gradually shifted since the ancient times when the Babylonians determined the dates of the Zodiac. The calendrical rejiggering also supposedly re-introduced a sign discarded by the Babylonians: Ophiuchus, alternatively called the much-cooler sounding Serpentarius," according to ABC News.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa
Brilliant ... everybody who "believes" in astrology has just been kicked up the jack. Certainly it doesn't change any of the basics, much, but well, all the crap i ever heard about how i'm a "typical taurus" .. well i'm not. Another label done with ... nice!
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Acid water ... time
News24
Venter said that while South Africans were witnessing the "catastrophe", the government committees were debating the water crisis in boardrooms, and nothing was been done to prevent the decanting of acid water.
The increased rainfall over the last few months had considerably raised the level of the acidic mine water in the underground mined-out pockets of the Witwatersrand.
On the West Rand there were now reportedly about 40 million litres of sour mine water in the Tweelopiespruit each day.
In July 2010 the department stated that potential decant within the Johannesburg area could take place within 18 months, or by early 2012. Those 18 months had now shrunk to 12 months, Venter said.
____________________________________________________________________________
I feel the storm approaching, powerless to do anything, save what meager preparations i can, and wait. The rain we've had has been great for the water table, if the system is capable of handling it, but if it gets polluted, then johannesburg will become a very nasty place to be.
Venter said that while South Africans were witnessing the "catastrophe", the government committees were debating the water crisis in boardrooms, and nothing was been done to prevent the decanting of acid water.
The increased rainfall over the last few months had considerably raised the level of the acidic mine water in the underground mined-out pockets of the Witwatersrand.
On the West Rand there were now reportedly about 40 million litres of sour mine water in the Tweelopiespruit each day.
In July 2010 the department stated that potential decant within the Johannesburg area could take place within 18 months, or by early 2012. Those 18 months had now shrunk to 12 months, Venter said.
____________________________________________________________________________
I feel the storm approaching, powerless to do anything, save what meager preparations i can, and wait. The rain we've had has been great for the water table, if the system is capable of handling it, but if it gets polluted, then johannesburg will become a very nasty place to be.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Coronal Hole
Full size image here: http://hfradio.org/images/20100615_1415_f0193_coronal_hole_lrg.jpg
Comments? I have NOTHING to add ...
Monday, 10 January 2011
Perspective
Whenever i find a new object or situation, i try approach it with an empty mind. Of course i have ideas, i just try ignore them until i get the ideas inherent in the object i'm looking at. Then i see what it is, and what it does, and can evaluate it according to those values. It possibly needs repair, or adaptations, to suit "my" purposes, but essentially i leave things as they are, and i'm happy to have some aspect of it that seems incongruent, having aspects of life that are not perfect is par for the course ... but on the whole it will remain as it is, with me changing to suit it, which is often easier than trying to change it.
When the wife approaches an object or situation, she sees it "as it should be" ... according to standards and expectations of her own. She then proceeds to change it and everything around it, until the object is "as it should be". Perfection is a requirement, and any incongrueties are dealt with ruthlessly.
So i get a runalong concept that works, with little involvement.
She gets perfection, at whatever price.
I'm not going to bother going deeper than that, i couldn't anyway, this kind of comparison is enough to bend the mind, and i'm bent enough as it is thank you. Just thought it important somehow, or merely noteworthy. I don't believe there's a "better" in this anywhere, just an "other". They are opposing ideals, and effectively colour any activity with their tones.
When the wife approaches an object or situation, she sees it "as it should be" ... according to standards and expectations of her own. She then proceeds to change it and everything around it, until the object is "as it should be". Perfection is a requirement, and any incongrueties are dealt with ruthlessly.
So i get a runalong concept that works, with little involvement.
She gets perfection, at whatever price.
I'm not going to bother going deeper than that, i couldn't anyway, this kind of comparison is enough to bend the mind, and i'm bent enough as it is thank you. Just thought it important somehow, or merely noteworthy. I don't believe there's a "better" in this anywhere, just an "other". They are opposing ideals, and effectively colour any activity with their tones.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
One Note
Big Note concept
"Everything in the universe is ... is ... is made of one element, which is a note, a single note. Atoms are really vibrations, you know, which are extensions of THE BIG NOTE ... Everything's one note. Everything, even the ponies. The note, however, is the ultimate power, but see, the pigs don't know that, the ponies don't know that ..."
Spider in Very Distraughtening ~ Lumpy Gravy
Spider: We are ... actually the same note, but ...
John: But different octave.
Spider: Right. We are 4,928 octaves below the big note.
Monica: Are ya ... are you trying to tell me that ... that this whole universe revolves around one note?
Spider: No, it doesn't revolve around it; that's what it is. It's one note.
Spider: Everybody knows that lights are notes. Light, light, is just a vibration of the note, too. Everything is.
Monica: That one note makes everything else so insignificant.
A Different Octave ~ Civilization Phaze III
In Frank's world, every sound had a value, and every action was part of the universal diapason, a colossal vibration that made energy rather than reflecting it.
Germaine Greer - Frank Zappa's Treasure House - The Guardian (14th April 2005)
"Everything in the universe is ... is ... is made of one element, which is a note, a single note. Atoms are really vibrations, you know, which are extensions of THE BIG NOTE ... Everything's one note. Everything, even the ponies. The note, however, is the ultimate power, but see, the pigs don't know that, the ponies don't know that ..."
Spider in Very Distraughtening ~ Lumpy Gravy
Spider: We are ... actually the same note, but ...
John: But different octave.
Spider: Right. We are 4,928 octaves below the big note.
Monica: Are ya ... are you trying to tell me that ... that this whole universe revolves around one note?
Spider: No, it doesn't revolve around it; that's what it is. It's one note.
Spider: Everybody knows that lights are notes. Light, light, is just a vibration of the note, too. Everything is.
Monica: That one note makes everything else so insignificant.
A Different Octave ~ Civilization Phaze III
In Frank's world, every sound had a value, and every action was part of the universal diapason, a colossal vibration that made energy rather than reflecting it.
Germaine Greer - Frank Zappa's Treasure House - The Guardian (14th April 2005)
Friday, 7 January 2011
The Sea Shepherd
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Mission Statement
Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.
Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.
___________________________________________________________________________
I'm spellbound by their website, the videos and stories and their life really. All year all they do is patrol the Southern Oceans, and get in the way of the Japanese whaling ships, who conduct the equivalent of a rhino or elephant tusking orgy, that of the slaughter of whales. Against all international convention, they continue the facade of "research" to plunder what is not theirs. It's the lie, that they are researchers that make me the angriest. Like a rapist performing an "interview" ... there is no comparison.
The Sea Shepherd group stands proud on the tradition that they do not cause injury, a massive task since the whalers have no such compunctions. Beginning of last year the whalers deliberately rammed a boat ... 1200 miles from the nearest port, and did not assist with their SOS. That's against every single moral principle and maritime law since the first man set off in his canoe. I am grateful that someone, somewhere has the resources and courage to stand up to the corporate rapists.
Here's an excellent article from the mainstream press:
Gojira-High-tech-anti-whaling-vessel-clashes-Japanese-fleet
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
The Celtic Cross
We've all seen it, the cross with the circle, on monuments, jewellery, designs, tombstones, and just about everywhere else you could imagine. A religious icon, one that shows the early spread of christianity ... we imagine?
Not so according to Crichton E M Miller, who has patented the "celtic cross" as an: "astronomical, surveying and navigational instrument" ... in 2000 in Britain. Indeed.
This one particular detail can literally transform our understanding of "pre-historic man", and explain so much in terms of architecture, shipping, and several other "scientific" mysteries of the time. A simple device, easily made, which is as important as the wheel, or even perhaps the humble ruler.
The Working Celtic Cross.
Not so according to Crichton E M Miller, who has patented the "celtic cross" as an: "astronomical, surveying and navigational instrument" ... in 2000 in Britain. Indeed.
This one particular detail can literally transform our understanding of "pre-historic man", and explain so much in terms of architecture, shipping, and several other "scientific" mysteries of the time. A simple device, easily made, which is as important as the wheel, or even perhaps the humble ruler.
The Working Celtic Cross.
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