On the subject of two wheels

The last post left me feeling CRAP. Totally and utterly crap. No other way to see it. However, a different posting puts a slight silver lining on the dark clouds.

Yes it's cloudy, but we can actually do something about it, starting with acknowledging the problem, even when it's ourselves at fault.

Thank you to Andre Visser, ER24 for this excellent short article, reprinted in full.

25 August 2011

For most teenagers freedom is a necessity whilst completing their last few years in high school and this freedom is found with the ability to use their own set of wheels, so to speak. No more nagging mom and dad for lifts to a social gathering or long walks to school for sport practices, but instead, a set of keys which enables you to find your own way around.

Most school pupils go through the motions of acquiring their driving licence in their last year of high school, but for a few, this little plastic passport to freedom comes a bit earlier in life in the form of a motorcycle learners licence. What few teenagers realise is that with this newly discovered freedom comes a huge responsibility.

ER24 emergency services attend to hundreds of motorcycle accidents annually and have noticed a sudden influx of scooter and motorcycle accidents in Kimberley. The influx of scooter related accidents is in no way isolated to this Northern Cape city as these cases are reported daily across South Africa.

Due to the short time period over which these accidents took place, paramedics in Kimberley felt the need to investigate the anomaly; what they discovered was shocking.

Upon questioning the teenagers involved in the accidents they discovered that most of the young adults received their motorcycle to drive to and from school without ever gaining any experience in driving a vehicle on two wheels. In other words, most of the teenagers had never even been on a bicycle before the day of receiving their scooter.

As adults and parents we serve as examples and mentors to the youth and therefore need to educate the young drivers. The paramedics in Kimberley identified this need to educate the youth in the area on the skills necessary to drive the motorcycles and what to do in the event of an emergency should the situation arise. With the help of local traffic officials and bikers from the surrounding area, the group of educators invited all the kids one Saturday morning and mentored the young commuters on certain safety aspects.

Living in a civilised society comes with its set of rules and morals. This is valid for all licence baring road users as we have a responsibility to go about our daily commute in a safe manner. As the youth of this nation evolves and use the roads whether on a scooter or on four wheels, ask yourself the question: “Am I a role model when it comes to good road etiquette?”

Fallen bikers in 2 months

Day / Date Fatalities
Friday 1 July = 1
Saturday 9 July = 1
Monday 18 July = 2
Saturday 24 July = 3
Sunday 25 July = 2
Thursday 4 Aug = 1
Sunday 7 Aug = 1
Monday 8 Aug (School Holiday) = 1
Tuesday 9 Aug (Pub Holiday) = 3
Wednesday 10 Aug = 1
Friday 12 Aug = 1
Saturday 13 Aug = 3
Thursday 18 Aug = 1
Saturday 20 Aug = 2
Sunday 21 Aug = 3

Monday = 3
Tuesday = 0
Wednesday = 1
Thursday = 2
Friday = 2
Saturday = 9
Sunday = 7
School / Public Holiday = 4

Special thanks to Nunique, who runs the www.fallenbikers.co.za website who collates these numbers. Not an easy job, especially at times like this. Mostly dad's with families ...

I feel sick, not much to add to the numbers, they speak volumes.

For fuck sakes guys ... take it easy out there.

Sunset and birds

http://onestonedcrow.blogspot.com/

Gives you just the right feeling hey, i love it!

Gonzo quote

Call on God, but row away from the rocks. - Hunter S. Thompson

Patience

Shed a tear 'cause I'm missing you
I'm still alright to smile
Girl, I think about you every day now
Was a time when I wasn't sure
But you set my mind at ease
There is no doubt you're in my heart now
Said woman take it slow
It'll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience
Said sugar make it slow
And we'll come together fine
All we need is just a little patience
(inhale) Patience...
Ooh, oh, yeah

Sit here on the stairs
'Cause I'd rather be alone
If I can't have you right now, I'll wait dear
Sometimes, I get so tense
But I can't speed up the time
But you know, love, there's one more thing to consider
Said woman take it slow
Things will be just fine
You and I'll just use a little patience
Said sugar take the time
'Cause the lights are shining bright
You and I've got what it takes to make it
We won't fake it, Oh never break it
'Cause I can't take it

...little patience, mm yeah, ooh yeah,
Need a little patience, yeah
Just a little patience, yeah
Some more pati... (ence, yeah)
I've been walking these streets at night
Just trying to get it right (Need some patience, yeah)
It's hard to see with so many around
You know I don't like being stuck in a crowd (Could use some patience, yeah)
And the streets don't change but maybe the name
I ain't got time for the game
'Cause I need you (Patience, yeah)
Yeah, yeah well I need you
Oh, I need you (Take some patience)
Whoa, I need you (Just a little patience is all we need)
Ooh, this ti- me....

Thanks to Guns & Roses.

Little ditty been playing itself for me ... nice song.

BIKER THINK

From a lady who is a paramedic, apparently posted on facebook, i found it on drink bike.

***

People I think it is time to say a few very harsh words to all the riders out there. Firstly, I have no idea what you guys are thinking but the accident and death rate is way to high for the brotherhood. Now I have the pics of most of the accidents as well as other information pertaining to each and every rider that has gone down. This, if I may say so is alot of bullshit!!!. We adult enough to own and ride bikes, so why can the decision not be made on the adult basis of when and when not to ride? I am not going to mention names of the riders but these are the points that are involved in majority of the accidents:

Speed
Alcohol
Reckless Driving

10% of the accidents are caused by cage drivers that think they own the roads, the 90% left is caused through our own negligence. We all enjoy a good rally and day jols, we are bikers after all and that is our lifestyle. But there is a time to stop the partying and think rationally. If you believe that super bikes were brought out so that you can ride the shit out of it, think again! Yes they fast and awesome, but you as an adult should at least know the dangers of such a bike. That same super bike, if you dont respect her, will put you hard down on you ass. Let me ask you this, how many of you that have gone down and managed to tell your stories of your bike accident, ever thought of how your family reacts when they hear the news that you were involved in an accident? Have you ever thought of the agony your family goes through when you laying in a hospital badly injured? Or thought of something in the line of "What will my wife and children do if I die?" If you have children, do you not teach your children discipline, respect and right from wrong? Let me tell you this much, I have attended to bike accidents, seen the rider begging for me to save him and I have witnessed the grief of the families. I have watched riders pass away because there was NOTHING we could do to save him. I have called a wife to a scene where we know the rider is about to blow out his last breath, just so that she can say her goodbyes and tell him she loves him. Then the harsh reality kicks in when the rider dies and we have to watch his wife fall apart. Do you think this is fair?

Riders that ride for clubs, just because you have a patch on your back does not make you invincible. Your fellow members, Presidents, Vices and even council members should know whats right and the right thing to do is TAKE YOUR KEYS AWAY if you intoxicated!!!! We always ***** about the cage riders, STOP right there and ask yourself these questions:

Did I keep a safe distance to avoid an accident?
Was I speeding?
Was I thinking wow super bike Awesome time to burn some rubber and show the entire road that I am untouchable?
Was I under the influence?

I can tell you this much, from the latest accidents and reports I got in from SAP and the morgues, these are the answers pertaining to most of the accidents:

No
Yes
Yes
Yes

There is but a handful of the accidents that was not the fault of the riders. Unfortunately some of these riders passed away, the others that are not part of the handful, I have one message to send to you..................STOP ACTING AS IF YOU OWN THE STUFFING ROADS, AND STOP THINKING YOU FLASH GORDON OUT THERE. YOU ARE CAUSING AGONY AND GRIEF NOT ONLY TO YOUR FAMILIES BUT ALSO TO YOUR BIKING BROTHERHOOD.

I will put up pics of accident scenes, because I feel if you adult enough to act like a total ass out there when you on your bike, then you should be adult enough to accept the reality of what we as medics go through at a scene when we have to pick you up and save your life. Did you also know that when you go down and you too intoxicated, no medical person may give you pain medicine and no ops can be done until your alcohol level has dropped....think about it.

I am sorry if some of you think this is a bit harsh, but it is time you were brought down to reality. Don't teach your children right from wrong, or discipline or respect if you dont adhere to your own advice. The following rules should apply to every single biker out there, so PLEASE before you get on your bike to hit the open road, stop and think.

Respect the road
Respect other road users
Dont drink and drive
Keep a safe distance so that you can avoid an accident
Stick to the speed limits
RESPECT YOUR BIKE AND ITS POWER (because no matter how untouchable you think you are, your bikes power is more untouchable than you, and I can promise you this YOU WILL COME OFF SECOND BEST)
Ensure you have some form of identification on you
Clubs....ensure you remove your riders keys if he or she is too intoxicated, been the President or Vice is not just a name given to you, those are names you get because you need to take control of your club and its members.

The sticker saying THINK BIKE is good but now we should have one that says BIKER THINK.

I am sorry if this is harsh to some, but we have to be cruel to be kind, and I care for my biker family that is why I preach the way I do. If you as a rider cannot adhere to basic rules, then please sell your bike you dont belong on the roads on 2 wheels.


****

Happy Thursday

It's a great day, for me so far!

Had not a single person pull out in front of me this morning!! Of course i don't trust it to last, but wow that must be a record!!

Eye-wateringly cold out there, but fresh and crisp clean air ... nature is waking up to spring already!! Sunlight is bright and warm too ... Jody and i were running from sunlight to sunlight beam on the way to school ... that's how it should be!!

Peace and love and happy day to everyone :)

PS, this is how i feel today :D

Life etc

Just a catch up post here, no actual topic, i think. It's great having the blog, i'm talking to "you" but i'm just laying out my thoughts on paper, so to speak. It's really cathartic sometimes. Every morning i have a hundred thoughts about what exciting things to say, and they never usually make it past getting to work. There's a lot going on lately, in my little life, and if i look at it one thread at a time it seems a bit messy, and disordered. Only when stepping back and taking a fresh look can i see thicker strands and patterns emerging.

I am involved with mankind, we all are, and it's mankind's problems that consume my mind. I guess mankind is a grand word, but it's really just the people i know. My life, sorta, the extended version, but i look around and just see so much pain, so much stupid, so much lost. Whether it's the friend with a marriage that isn't working, the friend who has been raped in every way except physical, the friend who is obsessive compulsive and constantly fretting over the stupid stuff, completely unable to stop and enjoy what she has. I guess i have my own failings too, i'm just better at hiding them, because i know it's all just illusion anyway. Or is it?

I can't answer the questions people ask, never an answerable one, really, it's just a wish wrapped up in a different wrapper. So the best i can do is help unwrap the wish, show them what it is, show them where they are, sometimes.

Like a great big soul mirror, i give people an insight into themselves that i HOPE is a little more honest than they give themselves. What else? I can't give them much, can't usually say much to help, just be there, and listen, and hopefully show them what i see in THEM, that's all. Is it enough?

Had the most astonishing conversation last night, with some new friends. And we spoke of how we are ALL connected, and all dependant on each other, and how one person's decisions affect another, and how the one thing we were all certain of, was the importance of kindness. How all the latest "quantum" discoveries show that it all does boil down to INTENT. In capitals. It's that important. And how the intent shapes the outcome, and how we are NOT single, but moving as a semi solid mass toward the future ... and co-creating that future as we go.

And since almost every person on this planet is broken, what does it bode for our future together? There is a solution, a small yet vital piece of the puzzle that many seem to think irrelevant ... INTENT. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" ... i hear that and it's another of those things that makes you angry without knowing why. INTENT IS EVERYTHING. It's also intangible, completely immeasurable by our feeble sciences. And yet we run roughshod over the good intentions of others every day, blindly smashing their love covered gifts.

Strange though, that even a child recognises it, they understand ill or good intent, and responds instantly. Only we "a-dolts" will sit and argue about intentions having value, or even existing.

Meanwhile, the only really sane thing to do is go outside, enjoy the crisp clean air, and wish a dragonfly a happy day.

peace and love and good intentions

Shit Religions

Shit Religions

zombiedriveby

For a long time we've increasingly given over our thoughts and our lives to whoever had the ability to shout into our souls the loudest.
From somewhere we got the image of a spotless and perfect hero, and it's driven us to be terrified of failure. So we've avoided confrontation with what we felt was wrong, because it was convenient and everyone was doing it. We've had twisted and ruined versions of our own ideas and our own lives sold back to us, which we gave up in good faith to the wrong people when it wasn't simply taken away, and we've been weakened to the point where the darkness could take us over if we decided we wanted to be part of it.

zombiedriveby

http://zombiedriveby.com/2011/06/13/some-kinda-way-out-of-here/

I couldn't help but marvel at the prose, well written and clear. The ideas resonating in my mind like being on the inside of a great big bell. And a sub harmony from Terri came through in her latest post:

Subject all humans to the machinations of a marketing and media organism which has as its one objective hypnotising people into believing that owning material goods equals power and worth, while at the same time making sure that the poor do not ever have enough nutritious food to eat - substitute junk food made from real junk, and watch those minds fail to grow and thrive.

http://aquilakahecate.blogspot.com/2011/08/never-mind-reasons.html

Peace and love and clarity to you all

Vroom!

More from Cling On For Life.

Appeal for information

Looking for family/friends of lady +-24, medium length black hair, riding black quadbike in Waverley Pretoria. Involved in Quad MVA. has engagement/wedding ring on ring finger & small eyebrow ring. Still unconscious, understand brain scan is being done. No one in vicinity of acc. knows her."

If anyone knows, please help. Just mail me.

UPDATE:

Ok - we have found them - thanks everyone.

Looks like it is a happy ending.

She will be discharged soon.

Thanks to RichardVZ for making this information available.

Cling On For Life

clingonforlife.blogspot

A guy with the nick "CB 750 Freak!" runs the blog, he's busy rebuilding a CB750. Doing magnificent work, and runs a very neat blog. I'll add it to the right soonest.

Plenty of great pics and stories, all CB750 stuff.

Now of course, the CB750K is the first bike i rode, and the first bike i crashed. eautiful machine all over, i'd love to own one, preferably one of the cafe racers i've seen. The cop pic below is from there, i couldn't resist :) but there's a red CB i want to post.

I keep saying CB, and my 400 is WAY overdue for a rebuild.

Haha

Ok, i'll stop now.

The Ratanang Family Trust

How Julius Malema pulls tender strings
FIONA FORDE, CRAIG MCKUNE & LIONEL FAULL JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Aug 05 2011 00:00

The Ratanang Family Trust, founded by Malema, the ANC Youth League leader, holds shares in On-Point Engineering, which administers a large part of the multibillion-rand budget of Limpopo's roads and transport department.

This means that Malema has at least indirect influence over who is awarded tenders from a three-year budget allocation of reportedly R4.6-billion -- although he, On-Point and the department deny it.

Just read it, all of it, every single excruciating detail. Billions, literally, pissed away by these cunts. And they just deny, deny, deny. No morals, no conscience, no regret. Only a bloody minded purposefulness to fucking rape everything they find.

And the same super-capitalist cunt is screaming louder for nationalisation, lying, and lying, and deceiving and inciting. Excuse my language, but there aren't other words. In fact, a very specific word comes to mind ... the word that will get me locked up longer than if a kill someone. But when use use that word about these animals, they're right. That's even worse i think.

*deep breath*

ANGER ... pure blind rage, sadness too. What a stupid bloody waste. And when will these fuckers be put down???

Vilnius Mayor A.Zuokas

I've found a new favourite person ... Vilnius Mayor A.Zuokas. Ok, Vilnius, Lithuania, if you didn't know :p
So why would i vote for this guy? Because he means what he says. He is an avid cyclist we are told, admirable. And his town in Lithuania is a very pretty town, with an old school feel and bicycle lanes ...
But like everywhere, you et the assholes. Rich people in fancy cars who do whatever they like, like parking in the bicycle lanes. So alon comes a bicycle ridin mayor, and decides that the best way to solve the problem is of course, a tank. I agree entirely.
So after ensuring that news crews have the cameras rolling, he selects a merc that's parked in the bicycle lane, across a pedestrian crossing, and drives a tank over it. Really ... look.



You'd vote for him too right?

TOYRUN!!!

So following on the previous post, i am getting SO excited about the Toyrun. It's happening !!!

So we're doing the Oosrand this year, brand new venue, a blank sheet. Last year was great, but too many little problems made it into a less than perfect venue. So this year we're starting off with some new start venues, a new end venue, and a whole bunch of highways and roads to transverse.

Following on think bike's shame, they have completely abandoned our cause. Double shame. Thankfully, not all bikers are as bad, and we already have a huge team of guys from a number of places, some TB, some helivac, some private, and we're getting more guys from elsewhere too. I believe that the TOYRUN is a biker event, by bikers for bikers and most importantly for the kids who receive the toys.

It's ALL about TOYS ---> KIDS ... it cannot be simpler than that. And despite the many stupids who really are trying to damage us, it's not working. Toyrun is strong because Toyrun is for good. No politics, no BS, toys or bust.

Start thinking about how many ways you could turn R100 into as many happy kids as possible. R100 could be tens sets of colouring books and crayons, R100 could be 10 personal hygiene packs, R100 could be a BAG full of sports equipment. These are kids who have NOTHING, and while the teddy bear is the symbol, i hope that people are smarter than to think a teddy bear is what all kids want or need. Any and all ideas are gratefully received, and we would love fresh ideas on how to make this event bigger ... and the pile of toys bigger too.

Waiting to go ...

My view ... for a lot of the time. Just a bike, ready and waiting to go.

Do i understand?

Ok, something someone sent by email, usually i don't notice too much, but this one is just too true.

LET ME SEE IF I UNDERSTAND ALL THIS...

If you cross the North Korean Border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.
If you cross the Iranian Border illegally you are detained indefinitely.
If you cross the Afghan Border illegally, you get shot.
If you cross the Saudi Arabian Border illegally you will be jailed.
If you cross the Chinese Border illegally you may never be heard from again.
If you cross the Venezuelan Border illegally you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.
If you cross the Cuban Border illegally you will be thrown into political prison to rot.

HOWEVER

If you cross the South African Border illegally you get

* a job,
* a drivers license,
* a pension card,
* welfare,
* credit cards,
* subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house,
* a free education and
* free health care.

Perks include

* weapons of your choice.

And in South Africa you can

* murder,
* use drugs,
* drink and drive,
* steal,
* rape

BUT PLEASE South Africans DON'T SMOKE in a public place - it is illegal.

Otoya

I've held off saying anything, nothing to say really, except may the dead and survivors both find peace.

Then i saw this article, from IOL, and it seems to some up everything very well.

Rider Henrik Bauer Larsen said at Lake Tyrifjorden, looking out towards Utoeya island: “We've got Hell's Angels, Coffin Cheaters and Outlaws riding side-by-side out here tonight - the first time these gangs have ever ridden together.

“These groups are not friends - normally, they fight tough - but we agreed there would be no politics here, that everybody would stand together.

“In each of these clubs, somebody knew people who died on the island - we just wanted to pay our respects to the victims and their families.”

“The truce won't last,” he admitted, “but even the police bikers wanted to join in when they saw the Tommy’s Facebook invitation on Sunday.”

NSRI Request

As these things go, my dearly beloved name was abused, again.



I received a call from the NSRI, National Sea Rescue Institute. They're raising money as ever, to cover what must be a very expensive operation, and like everywhere else in SA, do not receive their due share of the taxes we pay. Also, thanks to the lottery abortion, they are severely restricted in the way they raise funds.

I sadly cannot donate anything, that's the way it is. Truthfully, i'd rather be out there working with them. But these things go round, and i'm reposting here to hopefully inspire someone a bit more financially endowed than i to give a little bit.

They offer a R25pm "contribution", tied to a lucky draw.

Either way, if you're moved to do so, give Geran a call on 021 430 4715 and help him hit target. You could also go visit the NSRI website and see what they do, as well as donate directly.

Here in jozi the sea is a distant dream. Damn i miss the ocean.

peace

I'd like to meet him ...

PEACE AND LOVE, in their purest forms.

Velomobiel

Velomobiel

Here you can read a story about building a streamline to fit my Honda Innova 125i.

But first I present you a list of mpg and some background information with it.



A project to decrease the fuel consumption of a 125 scooter. Aside from the astonishingly well made result, his work and analyses are painstakingly accurate and meticulous. From conception to completion, he displays the most rigorous criteria for achieving his goals.

Quite a large webpage, but worth the time to follow his journey.

Enjoy!!!

Back to work

*blink*

*yawn*

*blink again*

I'm at my desk in my office. After being off for a week, Monday morning traffic came as a hammer blow to the senses. But i'm feeling way better already, i'm not some energiser bunny with flat batteries, which is kinda accurate for the last few months.

I found a few items of interest which i'll post soonish, a lot happened in the last week, some good some bad. I hope this week brings only the good stuff!

peace

No petrol

Following on the last post, nothing is indeed better than not needing petrol at all, or if you will, a lot less. I'm stuck at home this week.

Not voluntarily, and thankfully it's not the bike that's bust. It's me. Broked. By order of the doctor, i am sent to bed with 3 meals a day and pills for pudding. And one of them fancy inhaler thingys. I also got read the riot act about smoking, the doc looked quite smug with his admonishings, i almost expected a finger wagging too. funny thing though, as soon as i pointed out the real problem, which is bad airconditioning for 8 hours a day, he dropped the smoking ....

He also pointed out that there was no scientific basis for believing that vitamins aid the body in recuperating. The only reason to take vitamins for him, was a vitamin deficiency. So on his recommendation that a vitamin b12 (i think it is) is only useful for it's placebo effect (*snigger*) i'm going to get one, as soon as i can get there.

So home, doing some work (*gasp*) listening to Janis ... dreams of summertime in this cold ;-) Now if i can only convince myself that i'm allowed to sleep in the daytime, if only for this week, then i'll really heal well :D

Peace and love, don't work too hard!

#gotpetrol

Go there, when you, you know, need petrol, and can't find. Twitter btw.

Mobs swamping garages at the sight of tankers, petrol attendants being extra careful to get your cash without you leaving first ... it took a week?

And the cars just keep rolling, highways full. You can't stop, not really. I don't go out much, but this weekend, was Centurion today and going to be Benoni tomorrow ... i'm going to need fuel again. Accident on the highway, http://twitpic.com/5r02fz cars backed up for about 5km? The truck had crossed all the lanes, and i think dropped cargo, i saw wire frames and hay. 5 lanes and none moving, except for the bikes, whizzing precariously past.

When i filled up, a bakkie driver marveled at my bike, at the 20km/l i get. His old nissen 1 toner would be a thirsty drive ... but the funniest are the comments about not being able to afford to drive anyway. It's getting there. Wife and i both get 20km/l, she drives a 1.0 spark, 3cyl thing. Horrid, but functional. But the highways are so full anyway, this country just requires you to cross land. I can think of 2 friends that i could visit and walk to, every other friend or family requires a drive of half an hour to an hour. Maybe it's just me ... but i don't see how you can stop using both petrol and roads and the wear and tear, even if you use public transport, you're still paying all that. Public transport is a massive cash rape scheme in south africa, and now with the toll roads they've taken it to the ultimate, we will toll you to get to work in the morning.

I'm kinda hoping this all goes down soon, i'm sick of the constant build up. Let's release some pent up energy.

SHAME ON THINK BIKE

I have to say something, although what i've yet to actually formulate.

Here's an basic outline of yesterday's events:
Think banned blanket banned people believed to be involved in the Helivac Marshalling team.
Now Helivac marshalls were formed because the Think Bike "team" had become too unpleasant to remain in, for MANY marshalls, and they wanted an alternate way of keeping cyclists safe.

Think Bike however, has decided that Helivac are a threat to the commercial interests of Think Bike, and so henceforth banned, no arguments. The list of banned includes both people who were not Helivac marshalls, and fully paid up Think Bike members.

Now apart from being a cunt, TB has also completely disrespected both it's paid up members, and the community at large, which it is bound to "foster". It has also clearly shown that TB is no longer a community of safety orientated bikers, but a narrow minded small group who wish to exercise their rights to free trade (and profit i imagine), while using a section 21 company to do it.

I don't think i'd be too concerned if they were open about it, but while this all is going on, there's a whole SHHHH don't say anything or you'll be banned attitude on TB, and don't talk about the YOU KNOW WHAT, otherwise you'll be threatening TB's public image and fiscal well being, or something. So a public NPO that advertises itself as a community based organisation, is now actively destroying the small community that exists, of bikers who are PASSIONATE about safety of ALL road users.

I'm way pissed off about this, and they don't even have the guts to debate these issues publicly, relying on hiding, deleting, obfuscating, ignoring and other bits of silliness.

There are enough anal bike gangs, i mean clubs around, and they're all a dismal failure in terms of reaching a WIDE audience. Think Bike is different, was different, is SUPPOSED to be different ... but i guess not.

TB is not a charity, it's a group motivated by commercial interests, that will not hesitate to enforce whatever might it has. Nuff said.

Apparently there is a discussion in members only places, i'll read that later once everybody has had their say and i'll let you know if there's anything juicy.

It's all in the mind

I came to a rather startling conclusion last night, about motorbike riding. The entire journey is taking place in your head, probably about 1-2 seconds ahead of your body. There's a definite split that happens when you ride, and you are constantly focused on in front of you. I think to a certain degree it's almost like the SUBconscious takes over, and leads for some time, trailing the conscious behind, to merely witness the experience.

Bang, wait, ok. So this means .... ?

We're busy with the Toyrun. Planning, scheming, organising, etc. Essentially what has to happen is the toyrun needs to take place in our heads, first. Not only the run, but possible runs, possible problems, and and every alternative scenario needs to take place in our heads before we even start. Is this the same? I think so.

Humans are the only creatures that are able to exercise this ability, of looking forward into time. Of course, since it's hidden we never really see clearly, but we have the imaginative ability to look forward, and hypothesis about what could come, based on our previous experiences. In the sense of the Toyrun, it's a vast body of information that needs to be processed a long time in advance. Starts, routes, end venue, food, security, saftey, toy collection, distribution, etc. All of these need to be forethought, pre-invisioned if you wish, until the day when all these parts actualise and become reality.

Faster and faster and faster ....

Until you're on the ride, which you've now done several hundred times in your head already. You're moving at the speed of thought, faster .... your mind is focussed on there ... that spot in front of you that you know you will be at in about ... half a second. The faster you go, the further away that spot goes ... until you're focused at that point in the horison ... and you are already there!!! It's just your body that is BEHIND YOU ... being dragged forward by scientific certainty.

I hope i've explained it ok, i know that now that i've identified it, i'll feel it a lot more. But it hints at something much bigger than that, almost bordering on the mystical. It becomes a waking separation of consciousness, where the subconscious takes over primacy of the body's actions. It explains so well why everything clears when i get on the bike, mind clears completely. No bills, no problems, no hunger, thirst or anything. There's nothing, a beautiful blankness in which the mind truly awakens.

There's so much more to it, but suddenly i feel a Eureka moment, this has to be true, it explains quite a lot. Like why guys are dying, there minds are out front, and don't have the right parameters, rules, for their mind, and their mind goes where their body can't follow. That's it, right there.

I'm also VERY curious about other implications, especially for how it affects the rest of our waking life. It also PERFECTLY explains my "moment of ecstacy" the other day ... this kind of mental schism that i've tried to describe is the perfect mindset for ... mystical experience.

I'm off for a smoke, the other mystic practice.

peace and love

Toys

VrooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM

No really that's AWESOME!

I must get a pic of the pressed tin racing car i got the other day. Was about a half a second before "seeing" and "reaching" ... my friend i was in the shop with burst out laughing, his is at home he tell me.

These are somewhat more refined than pressed tin, but carries the same "motion" that is irrisistable to boys of all ages. The guys name is James Corbett, and you can find his website here:
http://www.jamescorbettart.com/

He also does animals, and other stuff, but it's the bikes and cars that he really makes alive.

Family

So in the last 2 weeks, my family has grown by a kitten, a puppy, and a human. The human is temporary. This excludes the broken family we're (kinda) supporting a return to "normality". And i didn't want any more pets, or people for that ... lol.

I know what happened, i blinked. That's what, i freakin blinked for a 10th of a second and the universe thought, NOW.

The kitten was looking for a home, and the puppy was too. Tiger and Shadow respectively. Tiger because it's like a bosbevokked bengal tiger gone suburban, and shadow because it's like a hole where the light should be. The human is named Herman, and his mom is in ICU and his dad had to go to Botswana on contract, and he's black too, although i wont make any jokes about that, since his parents aren't ;-)

There's a something that is happening, that happens rather in our house: people get there and relax. Odd isn't it? Thankfully i know i had nothing to do with it, generally i just ignore most of what gets said and done, otherwise i'm like, responsible, you know? So i just stay out the way, making sure there's a fire and coffee, chase the kids outside and make sure ashtrays are cleaned out (not so much - ashtrays are better full).

And these people come visit, and end up sinking deeper into the couch than they expected, enjoy the coffee more than they thought they would, and unwind and start talking and sharing and laughing and joking ... inexplicable really.

Of course, it's still my fault. Banning television, playing Pink Floyd, keeping it all very low key ... well you know there isn't enough of that kind of thing. I know because of the surprise most people express when they leave and smile in a relaxed sorta way. They didn't expect that.

Good.

i like keeping people off balance ... ;-)

Brother, where you bound?

For the sake of all that's holy
Listen good to what I say
I can feel them all around me
They could be here any day
But you act like you don't know me
Why d' you look at me that way

If there's one thing that is clear
We gotta get away from here
We've gotta leave this place
It's just a hopeless case
Ain't no one else to blame
We're gonna lose this game

Brother Where You Bound Lyrics
Supertramp

Food wars

93 days in jail over a vegetable garden. for a regular mom with several great children who has never been in trouble,who abides by the laws, who has no record, who has committed no crime, and who doesn’t cause trouble. and I didn’t do anything wrong.

i wanted to just put that in writing to see if it made any more sense.

it doesn’t.

http://oakparkhatesveggies.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/more-love-from-the-city-of-oak-park/

Another of these stories that are growing more common daily. This woman is being prosecuted because she is growing vegetables on her FRONT lawn. This conflicts with the city ordinances which stipulate "suitable" plant matter, and "suitable" equates to "common" in the city's dictionary, and vegetable gardens aren't common, so they're not allowed.

Did you follow that? http://oakparkhatesveggies.wordpress.com/

Russel Peters

Russel Peter's Blog.

I watched a lecture from this man last night, entitled "The Primacy of Consciousness", freely available on youtube. Get it watch it. What do you think? Ok, maybe watch it again ... lol It's very heady stuff, but his breakdown of the subject into a clear hour long journey is astounding.

His conclusion is: I AM GOD. But not in any way that i've ever heard before, and his message isn't religious, it's scientific. Like i said, you have to see this :)

I'm reading the blog now, i love his thinking, and way of expressing these ideas, it's so seldom you find someone so clear.
___________________________________________

I'm home sick today, got the flu, again. I both needed and deserved it, so no complaints, i've bookmarked a spot in the sun to warm up with a book maybe, or maybe just the garden to keep me company. Have a fantastic day all.

Aqualung

Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze
when the ice that
clings on to your beard is
screaming agony.
And you snatch your rattling last breaths
with deep-sea-diver sounds,
and the flowers bloom like
madness in the spring.

Sun streaking cold
an old man wandering lonely.
Taking time
the only way he knows.
Leg hurting bad,
as he bends to pick a dog-end
he goes down to the bog
and warms his feet.

Thank you Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull

A good winter song for the winteriness outside. A hot fire, warm drink, and hopefully a warm atmosphere, and you can sit inside and marvel at the inhospitability of the outdoors. That being said, i want a bike ride. Fast, alone, long winding roads and the freezing air flapping at you and reminding you to stay alive.

My next bike

Beautiful.

Gitanes racing

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Sitting to death

I found the most astonishing "infographic" they call it on News24. Now i drive a desk all day, sitting vegetating in front of twinkly lights. But it's a massive problem for a lot of people, you sit and sit and sit and sit, and when you stand up it hurts.

http://www.health24.com/fitness/General/sitting.asp

The artwork is really good, kudos to whoever put it together, very cool.

Story of a Fazer

Origionally posted on the FZ6 forum, reposted here because i can, just a short history of my favourite motorcycle, my fazer :)

I bought my fazer 4 years ago this month, 2nd hand with just over 30 000km on, still very neat. Looking around the showroom she just caught my eye, and i still rate her the most beautifully designed bike of the last few years ... it's the eyes i tell you!

The price was R48 000, and worked out to about R2000pm for repayments and insurance and fuel. Because i've done some mechanic work before, and thanks to the forum supplying the manual i decided to maintain the bike myself. That's what this thread is about, sort of.

My first problem was the charging system, replaced battery, rectifier, stator, in that order, although not without a lot of confusion on the way. Eventually it was fixed, and i didn't have to bump start every morning, and afternoon, and in between.

The next problem was more serious. I had stripped a spark plug thread on #3, and i quickly decided that any fix was above my humble abilities, and got referred to a guy in my area who had a workshop, and was highly recommended. He removed the engine, and had a helicoil fitted with the cylinder head still on the motor. After costing a small fortune, the bike was left with a horrible stutter on pulloff, something i found to be caused by a plug cap which someone had kindly stood on, and i managed to repair (at R350 per plug cap, R1400 plus VAT to replace plug caps wasn't an option)

What also happened, was that the mechy hadn't tightened the engine-frame mount bolt correctly, that is why my frame cracked. After finding an airplane engineer who could weld the alloy, we first tried to weld with the engine in place. This didn't last long, so the next was stripping the frame. I didn't clear out everything, just engine, swingarm, plastics etc. The weld is still strong, and i must still spray it, to make pretty, but it's holding. (i discovered that they had also "lost" the bolt that fits into the cyl head through the frame, and used another similar bolt. Similar, they used a 1.5mm pitch when they should have used the 1mm thread. I found out when i realised the frame was loose against the head and investigated).

Service time came around again, and i stripped another spark plug thread, #2. Aside from feeling like a complete retard, i was convinced that no other workshop was going to touch my bike (see above). However, there was nobody that i could find to insert a helicoil as before, and the best option seemed to be to remove the head, which i did.

Eventually i found an engineer who could help, and for almost no money inserted the special 10x1 thread helicoil. they also ran a tap through the remaining 2 plug threads, to ensure they were clear, and i mounted the head with the plugs in place. I torqued the plugs into place on the workbench, visually inspected and everything seemed fine. The valves and been found to be leaky, so new valve stem seals, re-seated valves, and everything looked to be 100% ok.

Imagine my surprise about 2 months later, when a spark plug climbed out ... this time #1. I have now stopped believing that i messed up the first 2, and was desperately trying to find a reasonable explanation for the failure. The same engineer who had helped before was unwilling to work on it again, as the thread had gotten badly damaged, and there is NO space to work with, between the plug threads and the valve seats. I investigated helicoils, easy inserts, and about 5/6 other thread repair options. All were unworkable. The head had been irrepairably damaged. Welding is not an option either, as it makes the alloy too soft in a crucial place in the engine, and the long plug stems make only 1 side (by the gasket) accessible. 5mm is as deep as anyone can weld, and if you look at your plus, they're just over double that length.

I found 3 replacement heads:
1x R4500 on exchange
1x R4500 straight
1x R7500 straight

Guess which i got. Very cool place though, they split the head from the engine in front of me, i got given all extras like tappet cover, cam chain tensioners, etc. Went home and mounted. Had some troubles, but i've already done the head removal /replace so many times i'm getting embarrasingly good at it.

Since i'm now paying off the loan i had to take, i won't be celebrating paying off my bike with lots and lots of mods until i pay of the loan ... patience in a virtue i keep getting told

I don't know for sure, but i think i've unwittingly become the most experienced fazer rider/mechanic around. Not best ... most experienced, not exactly a good thing but hey

Bike is now 114455km (last night) and going like a rocket, still stock standard, albeit with a history. I had also dropped my bike while stationary, and have just fitted some replacement plastics.

I love my bike. When i was considering getting another commuter, there wasn't any worth looking at, none are remotely as all rounded as the fazer, and frankly if mine breaks, i'll get another just like it.

That's my little story. I've decided that the cause was metal to metal corrosion, exacerbated by the extremely small plugs that the fazer uses, and the solution as given me by several mechanics is copperslip. The head i collected had been treated with something similar, and the threads were squeaky clean, plugs too.

Moral of the story?

1. Be super careful with replacing spark plugs
2. Check and recheck and check again that all bolts are torqued to spec.
3. Love your fazer, it's the best out there.

Thanks for listening
peace

Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

I seem to recall having posted this before, last year perhaps. No Matter, these beautiful ideas surfaced in a conversation earlier in the week. It's enough to stun you into shutting up and smiling at the sky for a while. Enjoy it.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1970) An excerpt

DOSTOEVSKY ONCE ENIGMATICALLY let drop the phrase: "Beauty will save
the world." What does this mean? For a long time I thought it merely a
phrase. Was such a thing possible? When in our bloodthirsty history
did beauty ever save anyone from anything? Ennobled, elevated, yes;
but whom has it saved?

There is, however, something special in the essence of beauty, a
special quality in art: the conviction carried by a genuine work of
art is absolute and subdues even a resistant heart. A political
speech, hasty newspaper comment, a social program, a philosophical
system can, as far as appearances are concerned, be built smoothly and
consistently on an error or a lie; and what is concealed and distorted
will not be immediately clear. But then to counteract it comes a
contradictory speech, commentary, program, or differently constructed
philosophy--and again everything seems smooth and graceful, and again
hangs together. That is why they inspire trust--and distrust.

There is no point asserting and reasserting what the heart cannot believe.

A work of art contains its verification in itself: artificial,
strained concepts do not withstand the test of being turned into
images; they fall to pieces, turn out to be sickly and pale, convince
no one. Works which draw on truth and present it to us in live and
concentrated form grip us, compellingly involve us, and no one ever,
not even ages hence, will come forth to refute them.

Perhaps then the old trinity of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty is not
simply the dressed-up, worn-out formula we thought it in our
presumptuous, materialistic youth? If the crowns of these three trees
meet, as scholars have asserted, and if the too obvious, too straight
sprouts of Truth and Goodness have been knocked down, cut off, not let
grow, perhaps the whimsical, unpredictable, unexpected branches of
Beauty will work their way through, rise up TO THAT VERY PLACE, and
thus complete the work of all three?

Then what Dostoevsky wrote--"Beauty will save the world"--is not a
slip of the tongue but a prophecy. After all, he had the gift of
seeing much, a man wondrously filled with light.

Be Kind

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
– Plato

Peanuts

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."

Bike news

The cylinder head is fubar. Cracked at the valve seat.

No, i have nothing else to say :(

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!

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)

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

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.

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.

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 ... ;-)

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!!

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?

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

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?

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

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.

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.

Freedom

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 :)

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 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 :]

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!

That's it!

Source

Vroom

Bike is running.

*breathe*

BOOM

http://soho.esac.esa.int//data/realtime/sps/lasco/c2/2011/04/20110407_1248_c2_512.jpg

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.

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

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.

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