Saturday, June 30, 2007
The Full Moon overhead
In astrology, the "...Moon represents [our] instinctive nature and mysteries of the self that often remain hidden." While I fairly certain I did not solve any mysteries tonight, I do know that the moon looked bright and beautiful as I rolled along under its watchful presence. I was over at TerryHo's house catching up with he and his family (Trevor is getting BIG!). Terry and his wife Kristin are always good times and I really regret not being able to find more time to hang with those kids. A mental note to do something about that has already been posted to the bulletin board. We hung out, watched a couple of movies, and took it easy. Old age is catching up to all of us, it would seem. :)
Eventually it came time to ride home. Thankfully, the threatening skies that muted the afternoon gave way to high altitude drifters, and predominantly clear heavens by night fall. When the sky went deep indigo and the stars began to visibly glimmer, the whole scene made for a beautiful backdrop to the moon in its full glory. Coincidentally, I was trying dad's novelty half-shell helmet on this trip out, since I might be buying a DOT half-shell in the near future, so I had a virtually unhindered view of Mother Nature's greatest creations.
It's times like those, particularly when you are alone with the motorcycle, that you begin to realize just how much we miss from the confines of our 4-wheelers. The coolness in the night air, the stillness of a side street at 2 in the morning, the blanketing glow of the moon overhead. This is the part of motorcycling that gave birth to the saying, "If I have to explain, you probably wouldn't understand." On a night like this, with the weather cooperating so beautifully, you want to take a long ride with neither destination nor ETA. You want to kickstand up and ride around for hours, soaking the night air in and grinning ear-to-ear. I realize now that I should have taken the longer route home, down by the beach somewhere, so that I could park and stare at the stars for a bit. The proverbial smelling of the roses, but parking is the hard part and Friday nights are not the safest nights to be rolling around Pinellas County's streets.
I didn't take the long way home, but I did take some time roll slow and enjoy the ride. Destinations never seemed so irrelevant to me as they do now. That fact is all the more pronounced in those moments when the iron horse is helping you focus on the journey. With that, it's time for bed. :)
Labels: motorcycles
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Mommy knows best
This is an actual commercial for an Australian restaurant in the Chili's/Applebee's vein. There's so much wrong here that it is absolutely perfect!
Labels: video
I may be paranoid
Once our brains become capable of retaining and evaluating input, each of us begin generating our own distinct versions of the truth. We receive input from our sensory organs, interpret the incoming data, and store this data according to past experience. Much like the observational effect that presents itself in quantum physics experiments, the very process of interpreting and storing alters truth. If our minds and bodies are healthy and fully functional, the distortion is minimal, but still inevitable. If we are ill, the distortion grows and can ultimately become so pervasive that reality is completely eschewed in favor of a totally fabricated existence.
None of us can intelligently know reality in its purest form. So long as we are cognitively processing reality, we can only know existence as a cerebral process. As such, what is real and what is significant becomes a totally subjective experience. And that intelligent subjectivity holds the power to imprison us, or to set us free.
I think I have written about this before, but the idea that our understanding of reality is an illusory construct bears repeated exploration. Buddhists, and to a certain degree Taoists, see proclamations of Truth and the idea of fundamental laws as being something between amusing and dangerous. Amusing, in that using one's mind to formulate an objective understanding of one's subjective reality is something like a dog chasing its tail. Dangerous, because the subjugation of the spirit to the mind can lead to all sorts of dangers. Imprisoning the spirit's potential within the mind's limitations is what ultimately leads to fear, greed, hatred, violence, and the multitude of ills that have beset humankind throughout the entirety of our short time on this planet.
So then, our minds distort reality to some degree, which means we cannot rely on our conscious awareness to lead us toward a path of absolute truth. This is where dantien, which I also remember having written about before, comes into play. By tapping into dantien, we are doing the equivalent of listening to our "gut", which is said to be a stream of consciousness that originates in the spiritual, rather than physical, aspect of our nature.
And right now, my gut is telling me that human interaction is highly overrated. Honestly, I could not count the number of humans I interact with through the course of any given day, and amongst all of those people, I have no way of being certain a single one of them is relaying their inherently distorted truths in a totally honest fashion. With that in mind, does it make sense to believe anything you are told with 100% certainty? The best we can do is place our faith in others, in hopes that they might provide a completely honest version of their perceived reality, but that in and of itself is the very best we can hope for.
All of which leads me to believe that truth and the search for it have to be unique, internal journeys, and that we must each be our own allies, mentors, and support systems. In this all too brief march toward life's greatest question, we can only ever be certain of our own experience. Everything else is faith and hearsay. We will have family, friends, lovers, and acquaintances, but our trust in them will always be a matter of faith, not of certainty. That’s not to say that we cannot or should not have that faith, we have to, otherwise I think we would all go mad, but it is a reminder that caution is always advisable when dealing with our fellow humans.
Labels: life
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
5 months old and living it up
It seems hard to believe, but the twins are already 5 months old! While I was downloading the below pics, it suddenly dawned on me that, in 5 short months, the idea that the twins being "the twins" has gone from strange and amazing to being a "normal" piece of the life fabric. Likewise, it is now completely normal to think of Scott and Laura as parents. That is not to say that the amazement has warn off. What I am referring to is the sense of normalcy surrounding their existence that was not present less than six months ago. Our minds are constantly making adjustments and redefining our understanding of reality. Our perceptions and understanding are liquid, so that new additions eventually become integrated pieces of a new, different whole. Life as it was before is subsequently discarded as an outdated "ordinary", and a new normal woven in its place.
Where was I going with that? Probably nowhere cohesive, so here are the aforementioned pictures. I defy you to look at these pictures and NOT smile! :)
Labels: the twins
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Nothing new under the sun
CNN recently added this article to CNN.com. Normally, I would go off on a meandering diatribe about the fall of Rome, the degeneration of social morality, and the repulsiveness of our modern cheap-is-easy-is-bliss mentality...blah, blah, blah. But I'm old now and old people are supposed to be wiser than they were in their youth. With that in mind, let's look at the topic from a different, more realistic angle.
Humankind has been doing drugs and having promiscuous sex for the entirety of its existence. There has not been a day, month, or year in ALL of human history that did not see at least one human, somewhere, getting high, or having sex for pleasure. Despite my desperate clinging to ideals like spirituality, love, and good health, the reality is that humans are still very much animals. As such, we will seek to be gratified via one means or another, whether we are cognitively aware of the seeking or not. We are animals, intelligent animals, but animals nonetheless, so it is foolish to expect anything but animal-like behaviors from our species. Getting high and having lots of sex with as many partners as possible is going to be a part of that equation.
But that doesn't mean we all have to accept or embrace being animals. We can work to transcend and be free of our animal nature. In fact, many people (I want to say most, but I think that would be inaccurate) will in fact develop the degree of self-awareness and self-control needed to facilitate recognition of their animal impulses at work in their psychology, so that they might contain them (if they so choose), and achieve a greater level of mastery over themselves. The fact that most marriages end in divorce and that an ever increasing number of people have, are, or will cheat on their significant others speaks to the power wielded by the primal aspect of our collective psychology and the willingness to act on impulse.
No religion, philosophy, or social movement has been able to significantly dent the human drive to copulate and inebriate. This is the way our species has always been, and appears to be the way we will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The exceptions only prove the rule, in that the exceptions are exceptional and noteworthy. For some, happiness is only one sex act or chemical experiment away, and again, none of this is news. Which brings me to the different angle which is starting to take shape in my mind.
Where once I thought we should all be outraged and alarmed at the way things are going, I now have finally accepted that this is the way things have always been. There may have been a time when I would make the argument that things are getting worse, but in reality, things are simply repeating. There may have been brief instances in history when more people saw sex as something precious or even spiritual, but the fact of the matter is that for most of human history, intercourse has been little more than just one more way to experience physical pleasure. After all, prostitution IS the oldest profession, right? We may have more known diagnoses of STDs today, but syphilis has been killing people for thousands of years.
So there is no intelligent, rational reason to believe human sexuality will align with human spirituality in a healthy, transformative way, at least as a general trend. Again, the exceptions will continue to be exceptional, but the generalization still holds. It may be easier and more acceptable in some cultures today...part of Paris Hilton's fame is the direct result of more young men and women being able to relate to her behavior...but that ease and acceptance is not a sign of something new at work within society. It is simply a natural progression of collective psychology. Don't forget that humankind has embraced child molestation and incest at varying points in its past. Making promiscuity mainstream seems almost quaint in comparison.
While I can't claim to be alright with any of that personally, I think we all have to understand that this is simply the way things will always be, so long as we are stuck in our present state of evolutionary development. We are the bridge between base primates and a species capable of greater understanding. We are a transitional stage, in my opinion. As such, we are blessed with incredible potential and incredible failings. There is no easy way around, over, or through this particular reality. Humans will continue to sleep around, get high, and seek pleasure irrespective to the physical, psychological, or spiritual consequences. Once we accept that, we can gain a sort of resolute indifference to it, which ultimately sets us free from concern. This freedom allows us to live and let live, without becoming overwrought with worries of what goes on around us.
By setting ourselves free of these concerns, we take a step beyond the norms and give ourselves a chance at a new level of understanding without having to embrace the random exchange of bodily fluids or a life lived in altered states. In this way we take a more reasoned, more intelligent approach to our own existence. At the same time, we divorce ourselves from the emotional chaos and instability caused by promiscuousness and drug abuse, thereby taking a step away from the human failings that so often derail or outright destroy human lives. That certainly can't be a bad thing, can it?
Saturday, June 23, 2007
I'm 30 years old
It seems strange to say it and a little surreal to type it, but there you have it. Officially and without question, I am now 30 years old. I hope the next 30 years are as healthy and as educational as the previous 30 have been. The search for better questions continues. :)
Labels: life
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Randomerrific!
Amateur video editing is getting flat out awesome. :)
Norwegian Kids Mess With Train - Watch more free videos
Laneplitting game (Tip: The cruiser is HARD to work with)
Play Games at AddictingGames
Jason Pullen stunting a XL1200 Harley-Davidson
Life as art
Art is life. Art, in its myriad forms and functions, is a basic component of human existence. Whether the form of expression is graphical, musical, or physical, humans make art and everything we do can be treated as an art form. Computer programming can be made an art form the same way skillfully managing a group of people can be. In this way we are all artists. The balinese embrace this concept so fully that there language does not include a word equivalent to "art", because they literally see everything as a form of artistic expression.
Why shouldn't we in some way embrace this philosophy? Think about it. If we were to see everything we do as a form of self-expression, and give it the attention an artist does a creation, would we not be better off? Take driving, for instance. If the average person drove with the same focus and attention to detail that a sculpture would approach a fresh piece of stone or clay, would they not be better drivers? Would we not have fewer accidents and traffic fatalities? What a better place the world would be! If we lived in a world where people were consciously aware that everything they do is a form of self-expression and conducted themselves accordingly, things would inevitably get better.
Life as a work of art makes perfect sense to me. It is in our power to live our lives so that we can be the people we want to be. We are our own creations. It takes courage and fortitude to commit one's self to one's self. If you disagree with the majority, you have to willingly discard the huddled masses' ideas of normalcy and define your own. That is the only way to truly be an individual. You cannot succumb to the same fears, the same limitations, and the same conformist practices as the majority and then claim to stand out in the crowd. Not everyone can stand out from the crowd, otherwise there would be no crowd. Some people need the safety of numbers. If you feel better falling in line and doing what others do, by all means, fall in line, but at least have the self-awareness and self-respect to admit that you are part of the herd. If your life's fate is to be a reproduction in a stack of reproductions, there's no shame in that, but don't fool yourself or anyone else by proclaiming that you are not, in fact, a copy.
And if you should discover that you are a copy, but want to be something different, for the love of Jebus CHANGE! The world is so packed with sameness, monotony, and mediocrity, anyone desiring something more, but settling for something less, should be thrown off the proverbial island. As much as ever, the world needs good people doing good things, so get up off your ass and change something. Most of us will not ever change the world, but we might make a small difference. It may be the equivalent of painting the Sistine Chapel with a single drop of paint, but a few million drops working toward the same end over a few million lifetimes makes for some incredible possibilities.
It seems so simple, and it is! The problem is finding motivated souls willing to actively participate. At present, there are over 300 million legalized citizens in the US. If only 10% of that 300 million were to commit themselves to positive change, or at the very least, commit to painting their lives with goodness in mind, you would have 30 million people working toward the proverbial "greater good". If 10% were doing evil, and the other 80% continued being apathetic passengers on the cruise ship Life, good works would STILL be carried out collectively, if not en masse. It would only take a meager 10%...10 lousy percent, but even that number is unrealistic. You won't ever get 30 million people working toward similar, never mind identical, goals. And the majority will always be too busy or too cynical or too self-absorbed, to get involved. I know because I have been all those things. Hell, in many ways, I am STILL all of those things, but I'm trying not to be. I'm trying to embrace the idea that I can be the change I want to see in the world. That I can paint my life in different shades and colors. Shouldn't we all at the very least TRY to paint our own pictures? Is that really so much to ask? I no longer think so, and I hope I'm not alone.
I found a quote in Free Play, that compliments what I am trying to say here beautifully: "The creative artist and poet and saint must fight the actual (as opposed to ideal) gods of our society - the god of conformism as well as the god of apathy, material success, and exploitative power. These are the "idols" of our society that are worshiped by multitudes of people." - Rollo May
Labels: life
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Life rolls on two wheels
The world is a much different sensory experience from the saddle of a motorcycle. Auditory inputs overlap and intertwine to a much greater degree than they would in a car. Your eyes are interfered with by fewer impediments. Smells are more apparent and powerful. You can feel a shift in the wind, variations in temperature, the pinprick of rain drops at 50mph. In a way, you are literally more alive when riding a motorcycle, in that sensory stimulation can be a measure of life. But riding is more than just having your neurological system firing at a higher voltage. It clears your mind and focuses your sense of purpose.
Riding a motorcycle distills life down to its most basic ingredients. You have the labors of survival, the joys living, the conquering of fear, and for some, the thrill of taking unnatural risks. In many ways, it really is like nothing else you can do short of skydiving or climbing Everest. Everything you do on a motorcycle while riding traffic has a potential impact on the likelihood of surviving the ride. Clutch up into wheelies, weave in and out of lanes, or ride over your head, and the probability of making it home alive drops significantly. But ease up a bit, take a breath, find your groove, and things seem to flow around you. You can't necessarily relax the same way you would on an empty stretch of highway, but it is not the "on-edge" experience most people perceive it to be.
But most of us are fortunate enough to live on a higher level than the first rung of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, so survival does not have to be enough. In fact, motorcycling could be seen as a compromise of one's personal security in the name of a transcendental, or "peak" experience. Of course, riding traffic isn't the purpose of throwing your leg over a motorcycle, but it is unavoidable and not necessarily a nightmare. The risk is manageable, but not ever undeniable. At times, I imagine that there is no danger and that riding is as safe as flying, which only heightens the enjoyment. I want to tour mountain byways and ride the more beautiful pieces of both coasts some day. There's really no point in doing any of that at 150mph.
Admittedly, I have been riding for less than two months, so it could be that the newness of the experience gives it an additional weight within my perception. Will I feel the same way in a year? I definitely hope so! Nothing I have experienced short of sex (and perhaps drawing/creating) has had the sort of cleansing effect a ride on my motorcycle can. After only a few minutes, a mind clouded by trivial distractions, lingering annoyances, and malignant concerns clears as its singular purpose becomes enjoying "the ride". No cell phone, no email, no work, no school, only the sensory experiences that are unique to two-wheeled travel. It is a clarification of purpose and brings about an acute awareness of the temporary nature of existence which may be impossible to realize in the same way under any other circumstances.
It is not for everyone, but it certainly is for me. My only regrets are that it took so long for me to get up on two wheels and that there is not more time available for riding. I'm going to have nearly 2,000 miles on my bike after only 2 months of ownership. This would be a worry in the Subaru, but it is nothing short of therapy on my Harley-Davidson. I think that says it all, really.
Labels: life, motorcycles
Friday, June 15, 2007
"Over-thinking, overanalyzing, separate the body from the mind"
When going through a drought that makes the Atacama Desert look like a Brazilian rain forest, one must keep one's self busy, lest one snap, and commence humping random, inanimate objects. But it seems that the Fates do indeed have a cruel sense of humor, as the more one tries to focus on other things, the more one's mind is distracted by female loveliness. Whether it's the girl you dated, but never slept with, and kind of wish you had, who just happens to reappear at the gym, or the motorcycle model you have a surprisingly coherent conversation with during her photo shoot, the world is full of distractions that tease the biochemistry at work within all of us. The longer it sits and distills, the more pervasive it becomes. Even at my advanced age, hormones rage, and my basal nature howls in both ears. Thank the Great Spirit for workouts, the visual arts, and motorcycles!
The most unfortunate aspect of attraction is that we often find ourselves powerfully drawn to potential partners with opposing worldviews. For instance, I am drawn to girls with vastly different ideas about sex than mine. I am to casual sex what Lindsay Lohan is to sobriety, yet I have routinely found myself becoming attracted to women with a much more cavalier attitude. The behavior goes all the way back to my early teen years, if not beyond. It is as if that thing we know is least right for us becomes compelling for the very reasons that make it incongruent with who we are. I don't buy into the idea of completing ourselves, as someone who is not whole will only find codependency, not completeness, through someone else. My thoughts on the subject fall more in line with the camp that argues for something a bit simpler. Simply put, we are drawn toward experiences that are new to us, so it is inevitable that we would be attracted to people who are not like us. In short, we are looking for something outside of our ordinary.
So what is to be done about it? That's the million dollar question and I do not have a satisfactory answer. In fact, my answer is so completely wrong, so totally piss poor, that I'm trying my best to abandon it entirely. My answer is no answer at all, since I have found myself stepping away from girls that spark my interest, working under the assumption that any girl who fires my neurons on more than an everyday level must be someone who will only end up horse-kicking me in the proverbial nuts down the road. And I hate getting horse-kicked in the proverbial nuts.
And yes, it is a stupid/irrational/ridiculous thing. It may even be childish and the resultant drought may be me getting exactly what I deserve for allowing myself to allow my fears and presumptions guide my actions. But here's the thing about people, we are all stupid/irrational/ridiculous about something. We can't help it, and it is a constant battle for all of us. Worse, no matter how hard we try, it seems that our fears are inescapable as well. We can face them, we can even contain, or seemingly transcend them, but they always seem to be there on some level. In matters of the heart, fear becomes even more powerful, because the desire to be loved is a massive part of being human. People hurt us and the resultant sting has an effect on our psychology. Ultimately, this psychological change manifests itself in future behaviors and we develop compensatory mechanisms. Some will discard emotion as a factor, thereby taking the deeper risk out of sex entirely. For some this is effective, as it gives them an illusory sense of control that allows them to seek physical gratification and validation without being troubled by the emotional implications of being intimate with numerous, uncaring people. Eventually this self-denial catches up with them, assuming they believe in love at all, but often times they seem to go on for years, if not entire lifetimes, being indifferent to love as an idea. I wouldn't want to live such a life, but for some it works.
On the other hand, you have the romantics. These are people who think that they believe in love's significance and power, but have unrealistic expectations of both themselves and other people. These are the people for whom love is an all powerful experience that can define or destroy an existence by its presence or absence alone. They seek out a perfect relationship and dream of an easy relationship with a person that fits like a purpose-built puzzle piece into their world. Most people would see these people as being pathetic or at the least, hopeless. Unfortunately, I think I am one of them, and recognizing this, realize that my predicament is wholly of my own making. The difficulty arises in trying to temper my compulsion to pursue this mythical relationship in a world where love is a disposable thing soaked in spermicide. Accepting that perfection is unattainable is one thing, cutting out the naive child inside that keeps hoping to find it anyway is something altogether different. I'm intelligent enough to know that the storybook love affair is a lie sold to us since childhood, but I have not found a way to silence the voice inside that hopes for it anyway. Until I do, there's really only one inevitable outcome...hand parties, lots and lots of hand parties.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Harley-Davidson may be looking to buy Ducati
According to this article at Financial Times' web site, Ducati's CFO, Enrico D'Onofrio, was quoted as saying, "Ducati...would consider a merger with US-based Harley-Davidson 'anytime'." For those who aren't familiar, Ducati builds and races the sexiest, V-twin sport bikes on the planet. Their current flagship, the 1098S(which can be seen here, costs a cool $19,995, brand new, but what you get for that money is tantric sex on two wheels. If a long ride on my Harley-Davidson is a slow, patient, soulful encounter with a gorgeous Lady(with a capital L), a Ducati would seem to be a wild, frantic, bout of animal sex with a silk-skinned model. Either way, it's a great time, and neither of the bikes in question are cheap, but then special bikes, like special women, never are. :)
Anyway, the Harley crowd seems to be all for it, as the H-D engineering department would certainly benefit from Ducati's mastery of the water cooled V-twin, and Ducati could only experience an increase in sales with H-D's marketing wizardry pushing their product. Personally, I'd be all about getting a 1098S, or maybe a Hypermotard. I love the look and the stance of multi-purpose bikes. Of course, Ducati and Harley-Davidson would seem to be marketing to different target markets entirely, but not so fast. According to the same CFO, "Half of all Ducati owners in the US also own a Harley." Interesting stuff.
Both brands have long, storied histories. H-D was founded in 1903 and Ducati dates to the 20s, according to the article. Both trade heavily on sex appeal and exclusivity. Both make most of their money with bikes retailing in the high teens, or low-20s. Both are famous for their two cylinder engines(Harley's in a "V", Ducati's in a "L"), and both have a focus on beauty and style at the core of their design aesthetic. Where they differ is in their financial positions. Harley-Davidson is in an extremely strong capital position, where Ducati has been struggling. It would seem that the two are ripe for a union, and it sounds like Harley may be looking at acquiring Ducati outright. Personally, I think it would be awesome.
Seeing the world's most beautiful sport bikes in the same showroom as the world's most beautiful cruisers would be sensory overload! Harley could certainly use the technology available for future endeavors in the V-Rod vein(eventually all H-D motors will have to be water cooled), and Ducati could extend its market share and awareness, two things that are key to growing a brand, as well as keeping it healthy and strong in the market. I have nothing but respect for the engineering and performance you find in metric sport bikes...saw a very nice Triumph 675 at Quaker Steak and Lube last week and was thinking about Suzuki's GSXR750 a little over a year ago...but none of them have the soul appeal of Ducati.
It's an interesting thing. I would imagine the sport bike world would be enraged, but then anytime Harley-Davidson's name is mentioned, sport bike riders generally react with disgust, if not outright hatred. But then, most of them wouldn't spend the money on an H-D or a Ducati anyway, so their opinion matters least where it ultimately matters most, in the accounting ledger. Personally, I could see myself on a Ducati in a year or so, once I've paid the Deluxe off. Of course, I'll have to move into a single room studio, complete with double doors so that I can park the bikes in the house, but I think that I could live with that.
Speaking of Quaker Steak, I saw a few vintage Harleys that caught my eye, so I snapped a few pics with the camera phone. Of course, the quality leaves a lot to be desired, but you'll get the general idea. The coolest of the bunch was an all original, 1943 US Army bike, but the '31(!!!), and the old Panhead weren't bad either. :)
The Panhead
The 1931
And the all original 1943
Labels: motorcycles
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Dealing with "the drought"
There was a time when going without sex was easy, primarily because there always seemed plenty of time for plenty of that, once I met the "right" girl. As time has gone by, I've come to realize that the "right" girl is almost certainly not ever going to come along, and "the drought" has become something of a different animal. Where there was once optimism, there is now concern brought on by the realization that time is ticking, I'm growing older, and in the process I am shedding the few things I have in common with my peers. I have not ever been a typical guy, chasing ass just wasn't my thing, so it was a foregone conclusion that I would not ever get laid as often as most. I got alright with that many years ago. The serial monogamists and the promiscuous crowd have their enlightenment. I knew that I would have to look elsewhere for mine.
I was always hoping that something real would cross my path, but all the girls I've spent time getting to know seemed more concerned with the drama and the games that typify your average relationship than getting genuinely connected. Finding someone I share interests with who can enjoy the some time seems to be nigh on impossible. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to be, I honestly don't know and opinions seem to vary. But I do know that I dealt with this reality differently in my youth. Where I feel a twinge of dread intermixed with sadness today, I was simply angry then, and embracing that anger allowed me to push through the yearning. As I grew older, anger was eventually replaced by a cautious optimism. There was hope for discovering something more, which sustained me for years, but there was certainly an awareness that the well I sought to draw water from was akin to Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth in its scarcity.
So how the hell does everyone else deal with a lack of rain, so to speak? Obviously, given my weakness for ideals and fondness for child-like naivetee, one-night stands, quick hook-ups, and sport fucking are out. Just as obvious, lots of pressure valve release via manual manipulation is in, but good lord in Heaven that gets old. To the one or two people reading this (that aren't my sister-in-law...that just seems weird somehow), what the hell is a grown man with morals supposed to do? I'm friggin' dyin' over here!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Music to my ears
Was out working on the scooter and thought it might be fun to record a little engine music. The quality could be better, but this will give you a good idea of what my bike sounds like at idle and very light throttle. Should have revved it a little harder...maybe next time. :) For the record, this is a Harley-Davidson Twin Cam 96B with Screamin' Eagle stage 1 air cleaner and Vance & Hines Bigshot Staggered exhaust.
Click Here!
p.s. You'll need Windows Media or WinAmp (or another WMA compatible audio player) to hear the file.
Labels: motorcycles
Friday, June 08, 2007
Building Triumph's Rocket 3, Salvador Dali on "What's My Line?", etc
A brilliant video detailing the heritage and precision involved in Triumph Rocket 3 production. Salvador Dali(one of my favorite artists) does a Q&A on the game show "What's My Line?", and other random stuff I found on the internets this evening. Amazing stuff!
Annnnnd done!
Labels: video
To gear or not to gear, that is the question
Motorcycle gear is a touchy subject in the riding community. Those who don't ride, or do not know someone who rides, might not know what "gear" is referring to. Basically, it's protective gear or clothing appropriate for protecting a rider's physical well being in the event of a crash. Specifically, the ideal most people recognize would include eye protection, a DOT helmet, leather jacket, denim/leather pants, and riding boots. Of course, there is no universally accepted standard for what constitutes adequate gear, so you have different camps in the community that make a variety of arguments for and against being fully, partially, or completely unprotected.
On one end of the spectrum, you have the no gear set. These are the riders who wear little or no protection when they saddle up. This group is the type you would see in a baseball cap, tank top, shorts, and flip-flops (seems insane, but I've actually seen it on the street). Their justifications range from the 'if something happens, I'm probably going to be dead anyway", to 'it won't happen to me'. Seems kind of ridiculous, if you ask me, but they are out there. At the opposing end you have the ATGATT(All The Gear All The Time) crowd. This group advocates wearing a full ensemble of protective gear every time a rider straddles the motorcycle. This means helmet, leather or textile jacket, gloves, denim or leather pants, and purpose-made riding boots, every time, no exceptions. Of course, no one in the ATGATT crowd can claim to truly practice the ATGATT dogma. Like most people, they fall somewhere in the middle, as circumstances, your comfort level, and the weather can have a huge influence on how much, or how little, gear you put on prior to a ride.
Personally, I would be best classified as a MOTGMOTT(Most Of The Gear Most Of The Time) guy. The one thing I most often ride without is my jacket. I've been shopping textile jackets, but have so far been unable to find one that fits my needs. I feel fairly comfortable riding around town in a t-shirt, so the textile is more for long rides, as there are often times when I will be over the average highway speed, and a few extra pockets for storage would be nice. That said, I wear my helmet every time I leave the neighborhood, and always ride in jeans and appropriate footwear. I am a total believer in helmets, and I am one of the few Harley riders I have encountered that wears a full-face. Some wear modulars, which feature fronts that flip up, but in my opinion, nothing provides the protection of a high-end, high tech, full helmet. The gloves do occasionally get forgotten, but I prefer the feel of the controls when wearing them, so I've usually got them on.
This ramble was inspired by something I read on a forum that shall remain nameless. The topic was a stunter who went down out of a wheely at around 90mph. She was at a stunt meet, and was wearing minimal gear at the time, which caused some people problems because this particular girl is anti-gear, apparently. Fortunately, she was wearing a helmet, but her tank top, jeans, and shoes did little when the pavement came up to meet her at a high rate of speed. Several breaks, a lot of bruising, and plenty of road rash were the result, but with that kind of accident, she's lucky to be alive. While stunting isn't something I am particularly enthusiastic about, it does make for decent viewing. That said, stunting without heavy gear seems a little nuts to me, particularly if the stunts you're pulling are at higher speeds, but to each their own. At least this incident was in a controlled environment, rather than on a public road within traffic. Two weeks ago, a 26-year old in shorts and a t-shirt splattered himself after losing control of an 80mph wheely through a Dunedin intersection, hitting a curb, and being thrown from his bike. No amount of ATGATT would have saved this particular incarnation of Evel Knievel. While I do not wish any rider ill, I do have to wonder WTF this particular rider was thinking.
Gear is a rider by rider thing. I have ridden with helmetless riders in t-shirts, jeans, boots, and sunglasses. It's their life and their call, as far as I'm concerned. There is no need to lecture, as they know the risk they are taking every time they throw a leg over the bike. Going lidless is tempting, as I've tried it within the confines of my neighborhood and found it to be very enjoyable, but can't see the risk being worth the gain. Whether or not one wears a helmet should be a choice, just as what level of gear one wears should be up to each individual. That said, we all have to be willing to accept the consequences of our choices, but then, that statement applies to every aspect of our lives, so it should not be anything new for any of us.
Update: Found a Vanson Leathers jacket I had been trying to track down for weeks! It's called the Vent Max 3 and looks a lot like this, except mine has red where the white is, and white where the silver is. This jacket has also given me an idea about paint work on the bike. Happy times! :)
Labels: motorcycles
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Ramblings of an old man
It is hard for me to fathom, but my 30th birthday is only days away now...16 days, to be exact. In a way it will be a relief to have it over and done with. I'm not planning any sort of celebration, and as far as I know, my friends and family are going to let the day pass without making a spectacle, which would be my preference. As far as I am concerned, it is just another day, so I'm quietly hoping everyone else will treat it that way. My plans are to keep it quiet and low key. A long, solo ride at a slow, leisurely pace is the most appealing idea bouncing around my cranium at this point. I'm thinking leave at around 8:00am, ride through a full tank of gas, and go nowhere doing it. Honoring the passage of one more year with a relaxed journey through time and space with no defined destination seems somehow appropriate, given the manner in which my life has unfolded to this point.
Of course, it's not all bad. In the past two weeks I have had two younger ladies guess that I am 24 or 25, and they did it without giving the impression that they were just being kind, so that was a bit of an ego bump. The funny thing is, I find myself relating less and less to the concept of age and associated social expectations. Honestly, I am not even certain what is expected of a 30 years old male in a place like this. There was a time when the expectation would have been marriage and children, an expanding mid-section, a station wagon, family trips, and so on. Honestly, there is a certain appeal to the idea, assuming that the family is a loving one and the mid-section expansion is reasonable. Obviously, that sort of life was not in the cards for me, which is fine, as there is a real risk of the Norman Rockwell ideal metamorphosing into something like a Hieronymus Bosch painting, should things go sour.
The problem with worrying about societal expectations and norms is that subscribing to those expectations instantly robs us of our ability to properly define ourselves. At nearly 30 years old, I am far behind the curve of society's expectations. Whether or not that is a problem is going to depend on your perspective. Where some people see a loser renting a room from his parents, others might see someone who is free from the labors of home ownership. One might see my car and motorcycle as monumental wastes of money, where others might see them as investments in life's enjoyment. My honest assessment is that all of the aforementioned opinions are valid and accurate, but none of them matter and therein came something of a personal breakthrough. I'm not sure when it happened, or how it came about, but at some point I came to understand that the opinions of others are wholy irrelevant. Similarly, I have come to understand how little value there is in my own opinion.
In this life, the only thing with any real value is action, because only action can exact any change and change is the driving force behind purposeful existence. So I haven't met any of society's benchmarks: no wife, no kids, no college degree(s), no house, etc. But what does all of that mean? Does any of it contribute to a real understanding of what it means to be alive? Again, it depends on one's perspective. Is this life about fulfilling expecatations? What are those expectations? How many of those expectations are learned or taught, and how many are integral to our existence? These are key questions, even if most people find them irrelevant. I don't expect I will ever meet anyone's expectations, but at nearly 30 years of age, I am old enough to realize that there is no point in caring.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Motorcycles and models
Played the assistant on a magazine photoshoot last night. A buddy of mine does photog work for a few of Primedia's magazines(Super Street Bike, Corvette Fever, etc), primarily focusing on custom sportbikes and choppers. He has shot bikes for Von Dutch Kustom Cycles and did Shaquille O'Neal's Superman Hayabusa last year. From what I've seen, most of his work gets published.
The shoot was originally scheduled to feature one bike and one model, but plans changed when a bike that my photog friend had been chasing all week finally came available. The first bike was a nicely modified, Orange/Silver Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R with the requisite chrome, a slight stretch in the swing-arm, wider rear tire, etc, and so on. The second motorcycle was a heavily altered Honda CBR1000RR, featuring a LONG, custom swing-arm and custom paint/bodywork centered around a psychotic clowns theme. I prefer the paint on the clown bike, but would rather have seen it with the conservative swing-arm of the Hayabusa. Both bikes would do shoots with a model, the 'Busa with a deep-tanned, very pretty, 21-year old from Tampa, the Honda with a friend of its owner, a beautiful woman in her 30s from Orlando.
Personally, I'm not too excited by most Japanese sportbikes, but the 'Busa is probably my least favorite of all. Suzuki's "fastest production bike on the planet" is a supertourer class sportbike, so it's stupid fast in a straight line, but the general consensus seems to be that the bike is a pig through the corners. I haven't ever ridden one and lack the skills to discern the difference, so I have no opinion on the bike's performance. All that really mattered is how the bike would look in digital and print. As motorcycles go, it is not an ugly bike per se, I am just not into its proportions and stance. Regardless, Suzuki's 196mph monster has a huge following in the crotch rocket world and the customizing crowd seems to be obsessed with them.
The first shoot went smoothly. The bike looked good, the girl looked gorgeous, and the whole set took around 2 hours to work through. I have to admit that I was a big fan of outfit number one...an orange bikini with just(and I mean just) enough material to cover the R-rated areas. :) The second bike/girl combination was placed in a different spot, and again, things went well. Word to the wise, string bikinis seem to be the thing, if you're modeling for these kinds of magazines. lol
It was all typical car/bike magazine stuff, but everyone seemed to have fun with it and everything wrapped up in about 4 hours. Unfortunately, the work didn't really start until 8:30, so we left Ybor at around half past midnight, which means I didn’t get home until 1:30 in the AM. It was a late night and it has been a long morning, but it was a learning experience and I genuinely had a good time. By observing the entire process, I learned some things about lighting scenes for photography that I had not previously given much thought to, and made some mental notes about positioning, angles, and creating dynamic imagery for a camera. I saw that most of what I have learned during my years of drawing transfers over to the world of lenses very nicely. Moral of the story is that I may be in the early stages of taking on yet another hobby, as if I needed another interest to consume what little remains of my spare time.
My thinking is that it is becoming paramount that I find a way to combine my interests, so a removable tour pack that I can strap onto the bike would seem to be in order. How cool would it be to take a long ride out to some remote location, do a little drawing, shoot a few digital photos, and enjoy a long ride back to "civilization"? The word "very" comes to mind. :)
Labels: motorcycles
Monday, June 04, 2007
Free Play
Been reading a book entitled Free Play by a gentleman named Stephen Nachmanovitch. The focus is on improvisation in the arts and in life. Nachmanovitch is a classically trained musician, so he references his personal exploration of improvisation in practice and in his performances, but the book does provide some useful insights and ideas for increasing one's capacity for generalized improvisation. Some of the things he mentions are tried and true methods of tapping into what is commonly thought of as our subconscious, i.e. breathing exercises, meditation, etc, with the focus being on putting one's self into a free, focused state of mind, so that we can create on the fly. The concept is about freeing ourselves to create without interfering with the creative process, to push personal boundaries, and explore our true potential.
I am only about half way through the book, but have been impressed with some of the ideas Nachmanovitch puts forth. Here are a few of my favorites so far...
"A creative life is a risky business. To follow your own course, not patterned on parents, peers, or institutions, involves a delicate balance of tradition and personal freedom, a delicate balance of sticking to your guns and remaining open to change."
"Impulse, like improvisation, is not "just anything", it is not without structure, but is the expression of organic, immanent, self-creating structure."
"...[E]verything in nature arises from the power of free play sloshing against the power of limits."
"Galumphing is the seemingly useless elaboration and ornamentation of activity...we galumph when we hop instead of walk, when we take the scenic route instead of the efficient one...when we are interested in means rather than ends."
For one reason or another, these quotes jumped out at me as I was reading. All of this came full circle in class tonight, as it was the first night of the Summer term and we were presented with a still life made up of a balloon animals (apparently a previous class had created a large pile of these things, and Mark decided that they would make a good drawing). At first, I started in with my usual contour drawing approach, then fell right into my usual habit of working from one point outward. It's something that is ingrained in me and in some ways it works really well, but I'm looking to expand so as to explore my true capabilities. So it was decided that I would do blind contours, which means that I would draw what was in front of me with a continuous line, that is, without lifting my pen/marker/pencil, and that I would draw this picture without looking at the paper I was working on. The idea is to connect your hand to your eye without having to watch your hand move across the paper. It's an interesting exercise and I found myself getting totally absorbed in the effort involved in "flying blind". If you haven't tried it and you enjoy drawing, I would highly recommend it.
So now I am assigned with the task of doing three, layered, blind drawings of a particular section of my bike, then doing a controlled, ordinary, contour drawing of the same afterward. It should be interesting and I have to admit that I'm eager to get started. :)
Speaking of the bike, I FINALLY got the pipes and air cleaner on, which means she makes a LOT more noise now. I can only describe the sound as being a cross between a bass drum and a thunderclap happening immediately to your right several times per second...music to my ears.
Sadly, my vacation is at an end. I have been off since Saturday, the 26th, so it's been a while since I saw the inside of the office. I can't say I'm happy to be headed back, but at least it will be a short week and a brief wait for the weekend. Here's to a quiet week in the cube farm and a sunny weekend of riding. :D
Sarah Silverman was already awesome
But she just got awesomer in my eyes. :)
Labels: vids
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Three beers
Three beers gave me a buzz. I almost couldn't believe it, but three Yuenglings in the span of an hour or so gave me a mild buzz. Haven't had something like that happen since I was 21 and honestly, it feels good. Let me clarify, it feels good to get a buzz off of three beers, the buzz itself not so much. Since last August, my alcohol consumption has dropped to near zero, and I can say with complete honesty that I do not miss it in the least.
The long nights putting away drink after drink after drink with little or no effect have lost their allure. Waking up after four hours sleep and having to drag myself to the sink so that I could start re-hydrating has totally lost its charm. The fun I had partaking in all of that consumption was real enough, but the enjoyment was tainted by the nature of inebriation. Another of life's grand illusions, it would seem.
Tonights trip out proved to be more enjoyable than what I drank and the buzz I experienced. It was karaoke night at a small, neighborhood bar called The Palms in Palm Harbor. A couple of friends were meeting another group there and invited yours truly to tag along. There wasn't much else going on, so I met them up. In all my years of bar hopping, I hadn't ever experienced the unmitigated hilarity of a karaoke night, so it seemed like a good time to venture out. Honestly, all those trips out paying $7 or $8 for a cocktail were more or less wasted, as I don't think I ever laughed as much as I did watching ordinary humans singing the songs of rock gods and guitar heroes. The most surprising part was how well some of the imitators faired. Good times were had by all, and I must admit to being more than a little surprised.
It is the simple, unpretentious, uncomplicated things that we can most honestly settle into and enjoy. I spent so much time in the South Tampa, Channelside, and Ybor scenes, I suppose I never came to understand how appealing a small bar with relatively cheap beer could be. While I don't miss the drinking, I probably did miss some genuine opportunities for simpler, cheaper, more genuine good times. There are no plans to catch up, or to get up on stage to sing, but I can't say that this will be my last time to head out for a couple of cheap beers in a small bar full of locals just looking to relax and have a good time.
And a good time is exactly what I needed, since I had to drop the scoot off at Fletcher's for its thousand mile service this morning. The bike won't be worked on until tomorrow, I decided to run it in before the rain set in. It's a good thing, because the Heavens opened up and dumped liquids for the remainder of the day. For the first time in over a month, Audrey isn't occupying the spot immediately behind dad's Sportster in the garage and I'm not ashamed to admit that this bothers me. Apaprently, I've become somewhat addicted to riding and the fact that I very likely won't be doing any two-wheeled cruising this weekend (due to weather, as well as the bike being out of my possession) has me bummed.
Luckily, I'll be bolting my pipes and air cleaner on as soon as the scoot is back home, so all won't be lost. I've got an oil cooler and a vintage air cleaner cover on the way from Chicago H-D, so there will be more mods to bolt on in the near future. Finally, for the first time, I'll get to experience the rat-a-tat-potato of my very own big twin very soon. Can't wait. :)
Labels: drinking, motorcycles