Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung
The grass is riz
I wonder where the birdies is?
The little birds are on the wing
How absurd!!
the little wings is on the bird!

The need for speed - it's an addiction!

Story here

August 27, 2007

Self-confessed speed freak Andy Sills will face the greatest challenge of his life at the 2007 International Speed Trials to be run on Utah's famed Bonneville salt flats from September 2-6.

He was 56 when he set a World speed record at Bonneville of 279.32km/h for non-turbo, part-streamlined standard motorcycles under 1350cc; this year he'll be trying to break the 412km/h World record in the 1200-1300cc class where almost anything goes in terms of modifications and type of fuel.

Sills discovered motorcycling in his forties with lots of time – and money - to spare after selling his manufacturing business and able to satisfy his need
'It’s not about how long you've been riding, it's about how much you've ridden'

for speed
'It’s not about how long you've been riding, it's about how much you've ridden'
. He says he's ridden more than 650
000km in 10 years.

"It’s not about how long you've been riding, it's about how much you've ridden. I've had all the time in the world to ride and ride and ride," he said.

"I'm only 1.57m and 58kg but I've always been attracted to big bikes. I had a Harley and a Ducati, then bought a BMW K1200 RS, which gave me the opportunity to ride very fast for hours at a time."

He lives in California and soon found the desert was a great place for speed. He travelled to Nevada and Arizona in search of roads with well-maintained tar and good visibility where he could ride fast in safety.

It was around this time that he thought it would be
'Bonneville is a magical place - that was clear on my very first run seven years ago'

good to get involved in chasing land speed records
'Bonneville is a magical place - that was clear on my very first run seven years ago'
.

He read an article in a motorcycle magazine about San Jose BMW in California (which set a speed record on a modified BMW boxer) so he rode there, introduced himself to dealer principal and tuner Chris Hodgson, and told him he was there in answer to his advertisement for a test rider.

"What ad?" asked Hodgson. So Sills came clean and explained he had no day job and spent much of his time riding fast in the desert; surely he was the perfect man for the job?

His belief that he had more experience of high-speed desert riding than anybody else paid off six months later when he got a call from Hodgson, who said he couldn't compete at Bonneville Speed Week because his wife was pregnant.

Andy Sills found himself on the start line, living his dream, at 51.

"Bonneville is a magical place," he said. "That was clear on my first run seven years ago. There I was there on the start line with 30km of salt ahead of me and these mystical floating mountains in the distance – and a guy in a "streamliner" car capable of 700km/h behind me.

"The starter said 'The course is yours' and I opened the throttle carefully – after all, you're not racing anybody but yourself! Once I got to 200km/h I tucked in behind the screen and accelerated; it was a holy experience – one I’ll never forget!"

A really fast motorcycle

Meanwhile, Sills had bought a new K1200 S transverse four in 2004. He soon became a fan of its rocklike straight-line stability and decided it would make an ideal basis for a really fast motorcycle; say, 400km/h?

He explained: "We're building a bike to enter the 1200-1300cc class, which is the fastest bike class out there. You can use any fuel, turbocharger or nitrous oxide system and the record is 412km/h set by John Noonan.

"The bike will look just like a K1200S, but about 75mm lower and 200mm longer; the engine is completely modified although the body panels are virtually standard."

The bike will be tested in stages and the 2007 Speed Week will be its first active test in preparation for a serious attempt on the record in 2008.

Stage one will run at Bonneville over September 2-6, 2007; the bike will be turbocharged, lowered 75mm and re-geared using a modified transmission and standard shaft final drive.

Sills hopes to run stage two at the final land speed event of 2007 at Bonneville over October 3-6 with a new transfer box/chain drive converter that will allow a 200mm longer wheelbase and much taller top-end gearing.

Stage three is scheduled for June 2008 with the turbo and external engine modifications relocated for maximum aerodynamic efficiency together with additional fairing modifications, ready for a serious assault on 400km/h.

Touch the salt

But what's it actually like riding a motorcycle on salt?

"When you put your hand down and touch the salt it feels slippery, almost like fine gravel," says Sills, "but once you get moving it feels just like riding on tar. It doesn't feel slippery as long as you don't accelerate too hard or change gears too quickly."

Sills uses a clear visor on his helmet but wears polarised sunglasses for high contrast and uses foam earplugs; it doesn't matter that he's colour-blind because everything out there is white!

"You want as little wind as possible for your runs," he says. "When you get a gust of wind the best thing to do is to relax and lean into it.

"Once I tuck in I always focus on a point in the distance – which is how I keep the bike in a straight line – and I find it entirely peaceful riding at high speed.

"The course is usually about 8km long with your speed measured between the sixth and eighth kilometres. On the K1200S I'm usually up to speed after 4km so I pick a mountain in the distance to focus on; that way you don't see the salt in front of you.

"Realistically, we've a lot of development work to do. 412km/h is the mark to beat and the only 'bikes' that go faster are the streamliners – purpose- built rocketships that look nothing like motorcycles but are capable of more than 550km/h."

'No white students are allowed to enter'

No whites

August 28 2007 at 07:40AM

By Angelique Serrao

A parent has objected to the "no whites" entry requirement for an accountancy Olympiad.

The parent, Rhett Kahn, whose daughter attends Welkom High School, said he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a notice for entry to the Olympiad which stated: "No white students are allowed to enter."

Kahn said he was outraged that his daughter could not enter the Olympiad while all her classmates could.

"I'm an ANC member and my daughter is the only white child in a black school. I deliberately kept it that way. How do I explain to her that her friends can write the Olympiad but she can't?" Kahn asked.

But Olympiad organisers said the competition was aimed at changing the demographics of people employed in the profession.

The SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) explained that the competition - the Softline Pastel Olympiad - was aimed at transforming racial demographics among chartered accountants, and was targeting black pupils at 40 schools in the Free State.

"Our objectives are to try to change the demographic over-representation by whites and Indians in the sector," said Natalie Zimmelman, project director for transformation at Saica. The winners will be awarded bursaries to study accountancy at university.

"We aim this Olympiad very specifically at black and coloured learners, it's a part of our broader strategy for transformation in the sector."

Zimmelman said of the 27 000 chartered accountants registered with SAICA, 25 497 were white, 2 405 Indian, 857 black and 788 coloured. "In 2006, there were 700 African students who passed maths on higher grade with a C+ or more in the country.

If you look at the average, about two will get to be chartered accountants," Zimmelman said. "We have many projects trying to change this, and the Softline Pastel Olympiad is one."

Zimmelman said the imbalance also ran across gender lines. Of the 25 497 white chartered accountants, only 5 225 were female.
_______________________________________________________

This crap has GOT to end. No seriously. How many more fucked up kids are we creating through our myopic world view. Now if i were actually a racist this would be beautiful ammunition to use .... "yar the stupid blacks coloureds and women".

*spit*

I don't suppose many people know, but zimbabwe has a large number of mathematically inclined people. The results of a huge drive to encourage mathematical skills in schools from a number of years ago. That is how it should be. Educate, encourage, THROW MONEY at the schools .... they are the future. I'm not sure how zim did it years ago, but the results are a generation of people who are more than just "competant", they are good at it. It's not about colour. Never has been never will be. But lets face it, a kid in a township school would not know about the greater applications of maths, and the crap education they're being given wouldn't help either. Shame on Pastel and Softline. Softhead more like it. Instead of giving to all, they want to sit and pick demographics to massage their bloody small egos.

Oh, and anyone who wins a demographically correct compeition OF ANY SORT has been cheated, insulted and screwed over by the organisers.

*For the record, i am not racist and think any racist is a fucking stupid person.

Ho hum

blog ... write ... blog.... um ..... think ..... idea.... ... ...

The Pizza Delivery

Ok, so these guys figure Scooters can deliver a pizza in 39days .... to London!!!

From sunny SA. ummmmmmmmm AWESOME!!!!!!!

Now that's the kind of thing i'd RATHER be doing ....

Life, the multiverse and all the spaces in between

Again i am forcing myself to write. Nothing specific to say, but i need to get something down. I have been offish lately, nothing big or important, just stuff grinding away. Crime etc, see my previous posts, you'll get the idea.

But once more, despite anything that may surround, I AM HUMAN ... bring it on! *cheeky grin*

The human spirit continues to dominate, despite the odds. Some smash and grabbers were caught this morning, people saw them and reacted. Phoned the police, phoned the head of police, before a crime was committed (on this day). They were caught, amongst them mozambique illegal immigrants etc. But it worked ... society overcame a challenge. The same goes for the minister of unhealth, society has had enough, they are marshalling resource and opinion, and as obtuse as the fucking stupid presidancy is, they cannot ignore and bluff their way forever. Granted it has been long enough, but even ANC insiders, that have avoided the political purges of the past are starting to get annoyed.

And while it's not a good thing, Tokyo Sexwales wife Judy and child were hijacked recently, A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE!!!!
This situation cannot continue forever, hope springs eternal from the breast of mankind!!!

WOOOHOOO!!!!

Btw ... spring is here
All the trees and bushes are springing back to life!!! it's WONDERFUL

Man pays high price for attempted burglary

August 19 2007 at 10:05PM

A suspected burglar suffered burn injuries and died after being hit by a home-owner with a paraffin lamp in Grahamstown, SABC news reported on Sunday.

Police said the 25-year-old man was trying to break into a house at the Joza informal settlement when the owner hit him on the head with the burning lamp.

The man sustained serious burn wounds and died at Settlers hospital.

The 23-year-old home-owner was arrested and would face a murder charge, the SABC reported. - Sapa

Um, yeah what can i say. Somebody fought back, and is now on a murder charge. What a fucking waste of our resources. He was home, asleep and was attacked. Hardly a threat to society, and he's just had his life totalled by the free ANC government.

Getting angry

This isn't really how i feel at the moment, right now all be well with my little world. However almost every time i read the news or anything like that, i feel this anger biting, and it's not going away.

I am a south african. Moreover i'm a proud one. We have a great and colourful history, and despite many bloody battles between the boere and rooineks, we can be friends now, and respect our respective cultures. I am seeing much the same with blacks and whites, whatever the bigger picture, the "common" people are getting along fine, learning and sharing from each other.

However, we have these retarded sub human MOTHERFUCKERS who have wiggled their slimy fat asses into power, and the results are very apparent, sad, disgusting, revolting and all encompassing.

This country in 1994 was a well working country. Despite the many tensions which flowed, and the emotions that nearly broke down, there was relative peace, security, and everyone had enough to eat. The problems etc were managed, and we came through the most turbulent time of our history with barely a scrape.

Now we look around. Everything is broken, dirty and diseased. People who expose lies and treachery to the citizens of SA get summarily (and illegally) fired, while criminals get pardoned and run roughshod over the law. TERRORISTS who bomb innocent civilians are put into positions of power, like chief of police. They have so complicated our legal system (yes the wonderful fucking constitution) that they can do as they will, because it's that easy to twist OUR human rights.

If a criminal attacks me in my house, and we are both injured, i will be taken to a govt hospital, and subjected to what can ONLY be regarded as a life threatening experience in it's own right, while the CRIMINAL will be taken to a private hospital, paid for by my taxes!!! If i am attacked in my house, and disarm the attacker and shoot him, i will be arrested for murder/attempted, as well as unlawful possesion of a firearm and ammunition!!!! If a criminal hurts himself in my house while plotting to kill me, he can sue me for loss of income!!!!!!

Crap almighty. While grandmothers are fined for speeding, daily people die because of uncaring taxis, driving wherever they feel like it. Because of crime, they offer more police. Those same fucking police take bribes, assist the REAL criminals to evade the system, and bully any law abiding citizen who they get their grubby little paws on. The road laws are enforced willy nilly, with the worst possible offense being an outstanding fine. There is no organised effort to make our roads better or safer. The only brainfarts that have registered have been monumental fuckups. The N1 single driver idea is one: on a 3 lane highway that is standstill traffic daily, close the right hand lane to any motor vehicles with a single occupant. Never mind the fact that here in SA, public transport is not an option. Seriously. My heart bleeds when i see the less fortunate being subjected to the daily horror of mass transport.

Health is an abortion. My friend's grandmother was admitted to JHB gen recently. He visited her to find her in a bed, unwashed, in her own filth. The drugs given her were enough to send a fucking battalion to mars. A hospital keeps killing newborns, and the president claims the statistics are acceptable!!!!

In the midst, we have law after law being passed, telling me not to smoke here, there or fucking anywhere. The leaders of this nation honestly believe in their own status above the rest, getting driven around without thought for speed limits or any other road SAFETY law, pushing vehicles off the road and threatening bystanders with guns. The presidential motorcade was involved in an accident in pta recently, hitting a car that had right of way, purely out of arrogance they believe the laws of physics would step aside for their convoy. I just read the SECOND incident in so many months about a VIP protection officer using his firearm in a personal argument. But i am not allowed a gun. I know that if i go apply through the proper channels my appllication will be torn up after i leave, otherwise it will be lost, then refused on a refuse all basis, Only after querying and re-applying do firearm licenses get issued. And even then only valid for 5 years. IT IS EASIER FOR ME TO GET AN ILLEGAL WEAPON THAN A LEGAL ONE. And a hell of a lot cheaper. Just don't get caught.

I shall say this: myself and my friends, who have not yet left the country, will NOT bow to these cretins. We shall fight. If you come into my house at night, you will die. And i will do it quietly. Your body will never be found, nor mourned. I will not drive around with my number plate showing, for you to harass me at will. I will not stop when you lazily wave your arm in my direction. I will obfuscate and create confusion for the authorities wherever and whenever i can. And lo the day will come when i take up arms against those who wish to destroy my kin.

If you are a big big tree, we are a small axe .... ready to cut you down, cut you down - Bob Marley

Echoes Part 1

Overhead, the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves, in labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time, comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and summery

And no-one called us to relent, no-one knows the where’s or whys
Something stares and something tries
Stars to climb towards the night

Strangers passing in the street, by chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand, and lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can

And no-one calls us to revolt, and no-one forces down our eyes
Some-one speaks and no-one tries
No-one flies around the sun

-> Pink Floyd - off the Live at Pompeii album

Cut and paste agian

If we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when, and what was its real origin?

It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon. And it started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly this side of the Flood!

Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of the Babylonish system that has gripped the world ever since—the system of organized competition—of man-ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the Tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, many other cities. He organized the world's first kingdom. The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from "Marad," meaning "he rebelled."

From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostasy from God that has dominated this world until now. Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.

Through her scheming and designing, Semiramis became the Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," and Nimrod, under various names, became the "divine son of heaven." Through the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod became the false Messiah, son of Baal the Sun-god. In this false Babylonish system, the "Mother and Child" (Semiramis and Nimrod reborn), became chief objects of worship. This worship of "Mother and Child" spread over the world. The names varied in different countries and languages. In Egypt, it was Isis and Osiris. In Asia, Cybele and Deoius. In pagan Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet is to be found the counterpart of the Madonna, long before the birth of Christ!

Thus, during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the pagans of the Roman world were "accepting" the new popular "Christianity" by hundreds of thousands, carrying their old pagan customs and beliefs along with them, merely cloaking them with Christian-sounding names, the Madonna and "Mother and Child" idea also became popularized, especially at Christmas time. Every Christmas season you will hear sung and chanted dozens of times the hymn "Silent Night, Holy Night," with its familiar "Mother and Child" theme. We, who have been born in such a Babylonish world, reared and steeped in these things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy and sacred. We never questioned to see where they came from—whether they came from the Bible or from pagan idolatry!

We are shocked to learn the truth—some, unfortunately, take offense at the plain truth! But God commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression" (Isaiah 58:1). Shocking as these facts are, they are the plain facts of history and the Bible!

The real origin of Christmas goes back to the ancient Babylon. It is bound up in the organized apostasy with which Satan has gripped a deceived world these many centuries! In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for "Queen of Heaven") was born December 25th. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Christ.

December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus the true Christ! The apostles and early true Church never celebrated Christ's birthday at any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Bible—rather, the celebrating of birthdays is a pagan, not a Christian custom, believe it or not!

Thus the ancient idolatrous "Chaldean Mysteries," founded by this wife of Nimrod, have been handed down through the pagan religions under new Christian-sounding names.

Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
The Plain Truth About Christmas
Christmas

Central bankers on red alert

Aug 13 2007 09:14 AM

Frankfurt - Central bankers in Europe held talks with bank supervisors and top financial executives over the weekend to assess the dangers from risky US mortgage debt to the financial system, industry sources said.

Central bankers by late Friday had restored an uneasy calm to panicky financial markets by injecting a massive and unprecedented $323bn into money markets that had almost seized up in panic over exposure to complex credit derivatives linked to defaulting US mortgages.

They appear to have succeeded in keeping cash flowing through the arteries of finance for now.

The cost of borrowing money overnight in the US federal funds market, a critical measure of conditions in the financial system, tumbled to 1% by late on Friday, way below the Fed's 5.25% target rate.

This showed that masses of cash were sloshing around the banking system and markets can keep operating. The first major test comes on Monday when Japan's markets open.

Toxic debt

But the fear that overwhelmed markets on Thursday and Friday looks unlikely to fully disappear until investors regain confidence that no major bank or fund is loaded with toxic debt and in danger of collapse - a problem that could turn a temporary crisis of confidence into a full-scale credit crunch and then an economic slump, analysts said fund managers said.

"Uncertainty has turned to panic the last two days and we have come very close to a self-fulfilling liquidity crisis," said Marcus Annunziata, chief economist at Unicredit Markets in a client note.

What is gnawing at investors and traders is not knowing the size of overall credit losses linked to US subprime mortgages that is buried in banks and funds - and not knowing who holds the risk. This has caused money-market traders to hoard cash and investors to dump riskier assets, especially European stocks which erased all their gains for the year by Friday.

Until more information is available on the scale of exposure to complex debt derivatives created in the US subprime market and sold worldwide, analysts said it will be hard to restore a lasting investor calm.


"Volatility is highest when people realise they cannot figure out what investments are worth," said Frank Partnoy, a University of San Diego professor, in a Financial Times column.

German exposure

German banks made moves to provide more information this weekend. Their industry is at the centre of the maelstrom in Europe, after the bailout of small lender IKB sent shockwaves through the financial community.

WestLB, a state lender which was hit hard by rumours its balance sheet also was in trouble, said on Saturday it has €1.25bn in US subprime-related debt, 98% of which is rated A or better, up from the 93% it had cited last week. That is a relatively small amount for a bank with €285bn in total assets.

But the fact its exposure has changed shows the difficulty in valuing the credit derivatives, which slice up and repackage riskier pieces of debt and resell them, making it hard to know the price of the underlying asset or who has a claim on it.

Deutsche Postbank, with €288bn in assets, also said on Saturday it has €600m in exposure to IKB, which was undone by US subprime problems.

This was accompanied by revelations on Sunday that several major European institutions - Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and BNP Paribas - are creditors of bankrupt US mortgage company HomeBanc Corp. The amount was not cited.

Still, Standard and Poor's ratings agency on Friday said the West European bank problems revealed by IKB was an "isolated event", and it did not expect widespread bank ratings pressure.

First test

Japan will be the first major test of investors' nerves when its money markets open on Monday. If US dollar deposit rates, which hit 6.5% or higher last Friday soar again, central banks may be need to resort to another injection of cash to soothe nerves.

A good sign would be interbank money trade nearer the fed funds rate or lower, reversing the trend seen last Thursday and Friday.

Even if Monday goes well, most analysts expect a long shakeout.

"We'll probably remain very volatile at least until some time in September," said Ira Jersey, credit strategist for Credit Suisse in the United States.

"There's too many questions that need to be answered, and we're not going to get the answers to those questions for at least another month," he said.

- Reuters

Comment: This is bad. This is VERY bad. This problem is not going away, and the only way they can deal with it is injecting $323 BILLION?!?!?!?!?!? (that's in cash btw)
The whole subprime problem in the states has been building for a long time.
It's also the second major scare this year, the previous was also quenched by massive cash, and all the info i have read show that the ready cash is nothing more than laundered drug money. Erm ... *sigh* Folks ... witness the fall of free market capitalism.

I love laptops

Sitting here on a sunday morn with my feet in the sun,baby running around doing stuff, lots of it. Kids have got no conception of time. They want to do everything NOW. *grin* It's hard work even watching them. Now the church bells are going, what a calm yet strong sound! Pink Flowd put it as: "the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to it's knees, to hear the softly spoken magic spells."

I couldn't resist getting something down on paper, so to speak, this morning. Such a wonderful feeling of contentment, peace on earth and all that. It's not really, but sometimes if it FEELS it for a while that's enough.
I'm not going to make the bike run today, something i am a little miffe about, but ce la vie, lets the days fall as they may. I will certainly take a ride today, just a question of when.

Coffee and a cigarette, my opiates, and sitting here in the sunday sun they are good to me, and aid this feeling well.

Babies are such wonderful creatures. Their minds so big they can learn to talk, yet so simple that anything can serve for hours of entertainment. Yet it's not all fun, watching them learn and grasp the basic concepts like gravity, and cause and effect, and balance, you come face to face with what it is to be HUMAN. Sad and broken humanity, when will we be proud to be human? The things to make us complete flood our world, yet we neither see nor appreciate them for what they are. But fun is something babies do naturally, the exhuberance with which they apply themselves is amazing, and the onlything they are NOT interested in is the word NO. Everything else is fair game.

Birds are something else that fill my world right now. Cooing and chirping and squawking and twttering deluxe fill the world with sound. Shadows flit past, shapes dance in the trees and everywhere life rejoices in the morning sun. I think one of the most enduring reams of man has been to fly. Since even in the garden of eden was man earthbound, mad to stare with longing at the birds flying free, and the stars high above. Almost like the fish, but free, faster and lighter, singing their songs to all who can hear. The bird has hollow bones for a lighter weight, which help to recieve sound, their whole body an echo chamber. Scientists have theorised that a bird's feathers act as aerials, sending and receiving signals to others. They believe that when birds fly in formation, high speed cameras have shown that those at the back of the typically v-formation, turn in synch with the leaders faster than it would seeem to be, if they were reacting to vision alone. Birds are clever too, with many species capable of astounding acts of intelligence, from mimicing and talking, to using berries to paint their nests.

The world is so full of wonder and fascination, that we as adults are programmed to ignore. I love going out of the city on the bike, finding a quiet spot, switching off the bike and enjoying that busy quiet of the open lands. It can't be called quiet, because it's not. But it is peaceful, and calming. Curious smells and gentle faraway sounds, buzzing humming and rustling to its own rythms, infusing one's mind with a real connection to the earth, and its inhabitants. I sometimes feel guilt at going out to those places with a noisy dirty motorbike, but that too is beyond my control. All i can do is have a relaively quiet bike, that burns its hydrocarbons cleanly, something that is a priviledge. I yearn for a long walk, months and days of wandering quietly in the african bush. But that can not be, the necessity of work and so on forbid, hence taking the second choice, the bike. But getting away from the city is something that must be done. It is too dulling, to mindnumbing and stupifying to accept as normal.

Nature surrounds us, all we must do is recognise it, and embrace it and accept it for the beauty and wonder that it is.
Peace and love to everyone who reads this, and even those who didn't.

Ok, i'm here .... can i go home now?

Happy fridayeveryone, even if it's a bugger ...... *grin*
Me is at work, although VERY little is happening, anywhere.
I am doing well mostly .... all sunny side up ... which is useful on a bike :)

WOW

I just found another blog, deathofjohannesburg.

People ... that's it ... i'll testify that that shit is real ..... even i'm surprised when i look at the pics, but i've seen it. Strange how you close your mind to it. And that fucking smell *puke*
either way ... good that someone has documented this ... for posterity.

Damn this country has broken, completely and utterly :(

You Think English is Easy?

Can you read these right the first time?

01. The bandage was wound around the wound.

02. The farm was used to produce produce.

03. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

04. We must polish the Polish furniture.

05. He could lead if he would get the lead out.

06. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

07. Since there is no time like the present , he thought it was time to present the present

08. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

09. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10. I did not object to the object.

11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .

13. They were too close to the door to close it.

14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18. Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.

19. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?


Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indixes? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital, ship by truck and send cargo by ship, have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill-in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't Buick rhyme with quick?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is UP

It's easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or toward the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends. We use something to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers, and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP We could go on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP , so: Time to shut UP ! Oh... one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P

Thank you

I have the visit counter running ... curiosity is a bastard *wink* but i do see that people are reading my stuff. Whoever you may be ... thank you ... it's kinda cool just knowing that people come and get whatever it may be from te site. I don't get many comment, so i only know a few people, but thanks either way :)
If you have any suggestions let me know, would be interesting to get any feedback at all.

Peace love & chickenwings

Heavy fuel

Good morning world ...
Its a short week is week, with either 4 or even 3 days YAY!!!!
Was a lekker weekend my side, i accomplished VERY little. Went to Boys Town, close to Magalies as part of a Think-Bike / Christian Motorcycling group to introduce the boys to bikers. "have a good look boys, this is what will happen if you don't straighten up!!".
Yes. Was fun though, and certainly educating all round ... big thumbs up !!!
I gained a moment or 2 of fame as the guys noticed my camera avoidance system (CAS) on the bike. Honestly, and i know i'm biased, but sheet it works beautifully!!!
It proved it's worth this morning again, as pulled into the garage to buy smokes, and lo and behold there were about 6 metro pigs cars, with the guys and gals stocking up on coffee and nibbles. Well i ride without plates, something which would have attracted their attention for sure. No problem, quick flick and hey presto, a n number plate!!! So being thus legal, i pulled right in beteen the suckers and even smiled at them *grin* ... not that they could see ... helmet an all ... *chuckle*.
Someimes life is too precious.

Speaking of precious ... it seems the petrol woes are not yet over, in fact it seems like it's an even bigger problem than last week, which WAS just a scare.
The biggest refinery in south africa has just shut down. Govt is NOT getting involved in "employer/employee relations. Go Govt, we need more quiet diplomacy.
It WILL become a problem for us, because we've got the added problem of getting here, once they've imported it, which is sure going to cost THEM (the corporates .. BP and Shell were mentioned) a packet. Again i ask with tears in my eyes, wtf is SASOL not doing all it was supposed to, all that it was promised to us (the sa public) many years ago?
Either way, fill up, and keep it filled up. Also, be careful when you do, because when the fuel tanks are low and you fill up, you very kindly help the garage owner recycle all the crap and sediment that accumulates in his tank over time. And YOU get that crap in YOUR tank. So ask if they've been filled recently, like in the last few days, otherwise you'll be buying yourself a tank full of engine damage.

Ho Hum time for me to pretend to work......

Happy friday

Its another day .... and almost weekend. I guess the nicest thing about friday is that everyone else is in a good mood.
That goes a long way to making everything work a little better.
I been really quiet lately, just posting lyrics reflecting a thought for the day, sometimes they say it better thani could. And loving music, there's something written for every mood, every state of mind.

Right now i'm in a metallica state of no-mind .... just passion, energy, frenzy driving me hard into the next riff.

hmmmmm ... i got stuff to do ....

peace love & chickenwings

PS

AWAKE

Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity
First thing you see.
A vast radiant beach in a cool jeweled moon
Couples naked race down by it's quiet side
And we laugh like soft, mad children
Smug in the wooly cotton brains of infancy
The music and voices are all around us.
Choose they croon the Ancient Ones
The time has come again
Choose now, they croon
Beneath the moon
Beside an ancient lake
Enter again the sweet forest
Enter the hot dream
Come with us
Everything is broken up and dances.

Jim Morrison & The Doors

Metallica - Of Wolf And Man Lyrics

Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt
Therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb

Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
We shift
Pulsing with the earth
Company we keep
Roaming the land while you sleep

Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life

Bright is the moon, high in starlight
Chill in the air, cold as steel tonight
We shift
Call of the wild
Fear in your eyes
It's later than you realized

Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I've been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life

I feel a change
Back to a better day
Hair stands on the back of my neck
In wildness is the preservation of the world
So seek the wolf in thyself

Shape shift, nose to the wind
Shape shift, feeling I have been
Move swift, all senses clean
Earth's gift
Back to the meaning of wolf and man

GRRRRRRRRRR

Just a low pitch growl from the back of the throat. Animal. Predator. Teeth showing. Lips snarling. Stance poised. Ready. Slight lean forward. Tense. Ready to strike.

The animal is alive. Life boiling over into madness. Insane action. Blood. Instinct.

Mankind is only a heartbeat away. We have our ancestral anima just under our polished exterior. Waiting. This veneer of civilisation is nothing more than our own lie to ourselves. The kill or be killed instincts guide us daily. The veneer only serving to constrain, restrain and numb the agony of anger.

Of wolf and man. Steppenwolf. Phaedrus. Half man half beast. Wild hunter with table manners. Roaring snarling growling into the night. Death but a whisper away.

Cold eyes razor mind frozen heart ... no compassion. Fight or flight. To the death or just a temporary break. Another sunrise.