efficient transportation

Not difficult to see which is the most efficient.

why the remarkable stupidity

A terrifying piece in the NYT this morning about what is going on in Afghanistan and what our government is doing to our boys and the Afghan people in the countryside. Pure destruction. Read the article - the Tao says that weapons are instruments of fear and the story this morning confirms it. Send the idiot Bush and his ilk to the Korengal Valley ~ he might last 5 minutes.

adventure cycling people

On our lunch ride the other day we met Tammy and Chuck, Adventure cycling good people. A little rain, but it looked like a lot of fun...

something new every day

I am going to try to import 2+ year's of WordPress blog back into Blogger.... We'll see.

ANyway, unrelated. I commute in to work on my bike whenever I can and this moring I saw something (which I did not take a picture of) that I have never seen before and hope I will never see again.

On the side of the road on the shoulder - a flesh-tone dildo .... I guess somebody threw it out the window of their car??

just think this one's funny

musings on my commute

With my new job my bicycle commute has gone from 16 to 30 miles, round trip, and now includes some serious elevation. The new route is traffic-nuts, but also sublime, taking me right through Torrey Pines park, beaches and estuary. To my point; things one experiences on a bike vs a car. Riding home the other night (with my Light & Motion headlamp beaming) I had a bat come zooming in from my right and miss my head by just a couple inches - got my attention. The night was cold (for here) near the water and I made my way down to the coast highway. Then, not a couple miles further as I began to climb the Torrey Pines grade the temperature changed suddenly, becoming for some reason quite warm. Immediately my glasses and rear-view mirror fogged-up and I rode blind for a few meters, chuckling to myself at the experience. Insulated in a car, I would never have experienced any of it. Just the little things.

ahem, just coincidence, I guess

we must get out now, no more excuses

These boys lost their father in the bombing of a popular pet market in Iraq yesterday. I don't imagine they will think kindly of the criminally misguided efforts of the Bush Administration to occupy their country to control undeveloped oil markets in the name of democracy. Yesterday's blast was particularly heart wrenching because its reporting contained so many classic elements and human miseries of this debacle. "Many children were killed in the Bird Market" ~ Probably trying to find a small window of beauty to forget the horrors of daily life which for 65 people (many children) is over now. Condi condemns, "The absolute brutality and bankruptcy" of the terrorists ~ Look in the mirror Ms. Rice. An earlier article I read this morning talked about the success of rooting out insurgent strongholds (ALL of which are Al Qaeda, NEVER anyone else?). One example was given where to begin the "rooting" 40,000 pounds of bombs were dropped in the "insurgent stronghold" in 10 minutes. Precision attack, no doubt. Women suicide bombers carried out the attack. The Iraqi police claim they were "mentally impaired". Apparently after inspecting their severed heads this was obvious. A shopkeeper who survived the blast describes one of the women as quite normal, with the chilling twist that she had been shepherding a small boy in a completely normal manner, adding, "the child had vanished and I can't forget the innocent look in his eyes" "Later, someone covered the bomber's head with an empty cardboard box of Wonder potato chips" "Its chaos" A critical observer can draw the correct conclusions despite the propaganda: Violence is "down" because the media is less able to report all but the most horrific acts, the Shia militia stopped its overt attacks, we have befriended Sunnis who will be our buddies while it serves their short-term interests and the collapsing economy at home has diverted people's attention. The sins of this Administration's idiotic forays will fall hard on all of us for generations. As my paycheck goes a shorter distance and my tax dollars go to waste and greed, I could not be more disgusted with my political leaders. Send them and their children to watch the beautiful birds and tropical fish in the Baghdad pet market.

get those bikes out of the warehouse!

Torelli and Raleigh (AKA Vaca & Negro) in a corner of the warehouse ready for spur-of-the-moment blasts up the Torrey Pines grade. On my commute the other night (thank you, light & motion - ungodly good bicycle lights) from the “protected” slough (which the Coaster train runs right through, so you can’t hike in to observe the birds, but you can blast through on rails blaring and rumbling along at 90 MPH?) I heard a cacophony of frogs from near the water. I had not heard frogs like that for a long time and, apart from the fact that they are out at the coldest time of the year around here???, I think this means the water in the marsh is of good quality. When things are polluted, frogs seem to be the first to go (which I have assumed is why I never hear or see them any longer).

saw it coming .......

This “big surprise” meltdown of the mortgage securities market was obvious to me. I’m sitting on the deck of my rented house warm in barefeet, happy I am without debt of any kind. The troika of credit score agencies, financial industry lobbyists and Manhattan financial hubris dickwads can kiss my ass. I’ll ride my bikes, loll in the surf, play with my digital video, follow my friend Michel’s wonderful French philosophy of life, keep reading interesting things and fall further into the life of the Epicure.

every once and awhile .....

Interesting, but common phrase. Things have been busy and it is difficult to believe that I haven’t written for well over a month. Here’s a shot off the deck yesterday at sunset. In the two-and-a-half years I have lived here, this may have been the most beautiful sunset I have seen. Fog over the water, clouds swirling and, invisible in the photo; huge waves braking underneath. The Maverick’s surf contest was today — biggest in two years. Will try to get some Wind-an-Sea video later today.

why not in the right context?

I’ve been thinking a bit about drug use in the US and how all drugs seem to get lumped together. In particular opiates with hallucinogens. I no longer use any drugs, including alcohol, but there was a time when that was not the case. I have pretty much experimented with everything with the exception of heroin. My notion is how beneficial drugs like psilocybin and LSD can be in certain situations. Environments should be controlled and kept as familiar/safe as possible. I always preferred being out in the forest in the mountains (although I have tripped out at wild Halloween parties - not recommended). I guess I think it would be a good thing if everyone, at one time or another had such an experience. I learned a lot about myself and, when I was active with it, took LSD maybe once a year to clear things away. I remember thinking that it was a way of unscrambling my brain and putting the pieces back together in a slightly different, more satisfying way. Unfortunately, most such drugs are used for recreation or as a means of escape; this is absolutely true of the opiates. Anyway, nothing will come of this but it was just something I was thinking about.

Tour de France

It's anyone's game - I am really enjoying the Tour this year. Without Lance it could be anybody.. ahh, but it won't be Bernard Hinault or Greg LeMond; I just liked this picture :-)

test

will this make it?

Mexican Elections

I am really heartened by the goings-on in Latin America. The recent Mexican elections are a good example - populism is alive and being respected, regardless of who the ultimate winner is. Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile - all moving moderate, or leftist, but all I think from a core of "the people". Poor and lower-class people pushing/pulling their governments away from the exogenous military/industrial/congessional complex. I can't help but wonder if the popular movements in Latin America are benefiting from our misguided sinkholes in Iraq and Afghanistan. With our military muscle being exhausted on other continents, the US maybe doesn't have the horsepower to prop up the reactionary military juntas any longer.

Immigration Debate

Who gives a shit other than politicians? Building a wall in the name of national security? How goddamned stupid do these politicians take us for? No illegal immigrant is hurting me or my family - Should I turn my back on someone who has the initiative to improve his or her life? It is not one whit about "National Security" -- it has everything to do with maintaining power. I'm with Neil Young, "Looking for a Leader" and with every breath I take I am more convinced it isn't going to emerge from this wellspring of "plurality" - Democrats vs. Republicans. My forebears didn't have to wind their way through bullshit bureaucracy in order to become citizens, yes, its true that some social services are strained in trying to deal in particular with the Mexican influx in particular, but the positive economic affect of these immigrants must dwarf the negative cost.

The "Slack Water" Mountain Range of the Pacific Northwest

I love the Pacific Northwest and, although born and residing now in California, I really feel like Oregon is my home. I was cruising through Wikipedia a few days ago looking at pictures of the mountains familiar to me (the Sisters are above) when I came across a reference to how the Cascade Range got its name. Apparently, a doctor on Vancouver's ship noted the proximity of the rushing cascades of the Columbia River to St. Helens, Hood and Adams and began to call them the "Cascades". The name stuck. Now to the irony. Today the cascades of the Columbia are nothing more than slack water behind the Bonneville Dam. I guess the only thing to do is rename the range ......

Vahik's Cafe

It is not really a cafe and I don't have any pictures. Vahik has a coffee stand in the parking lot on the corner of Nautilus and La Jolla Blvd. It is shaped like a Volkswagen bug chopped off at the top and it has 38 coffee beans painted on it. I know this because my son once counted them all in exchange for Vahik giving him a biscotti. I talk to Vahik everyday on my way into work and there are always a gaggle of neighborhood characters there. Anyway, several days ago Vahik was sporting a new hat. It was a camouflage baseball hat with a Wind'n Sea sort of logo on a shield in the front of it. This hat represents some kind of fraternity of beach rats from the area a group of which (Vahik among them) had also gone to France for a foosball tourney and had a wonderful time getting their asses kicked. Even amongst this group these hats are apparently valuable because Vahik was only allowed to have one when he agreed to post a large picture of the original owner's parents; this was a black-and-white from what looked like the late '40s or early '50s. I found the story kind of funny (you really have to see the picture) and showed up the next day with a small black-and-white of my parents holding me in probably 1955, with some unknown women standing next to us. Vahik thought that was funny and so started a "gallery" on his volkswagen coffee stand. Today, while I was at the volkswagen recovering from riding to Swamis (see below), some other customers were looking at the pictures and wondered where the "extra hands" on the original picture. Somehow there was another person hiding in the picture or some speculation that perhaps a mannequin was somehow involved. This discovery immediately cheapened my picture -- there were no curious appendages or inexplicable digits anywhere. Vahik wondered if I might have something that would work. As it sits now, my little picture is still there .. but far outclassed - I will have to find something.

Swamis

I rode out this morning up the coast to North County. I am learning this area but I know I passed through Del Mar, Solana Beach and Cardiff by the Sea. My goal was to get to the "Self Realization Center", or what people hear tell me is called Swamis. There is supposed to be a great surf break just off of where this place is but I didn't go down to check it out. I thought I was spoiled riding in the Bay Area Peninsula with the multiplicity of good rides, but this is better. The route along the coast is the perfect mix of rolling elevation and the surf views and bike lanes are great.Maybe somewhere in Europe might be better but I don'tknow where it would be. Even the south of France between Cannes and Nice probably isn't so good (I have just driven it in a car). Southern Spain or Portugal, I can imagine .. or maybe Australia ???

Apple

A little over a year ago I left the Windows world and bought a Powerbook. I got the same machine for my wife and for my daughter a mac mini. This was before the intel world and so, in order to run quickbooks seamlessly I also got a little VAIO notebook (I have been using SONY laptops for the past 5 years or so after using Thinkpads forever). We also got the assortment of iPods. I should say here that I was a lucky dog when Marco sold Verdisoft to Yahoo and I was able to do this - its kind of a once in every ten years kind of thing. Anyway, my point is that now everybody in the house is doing something creative on their machines. Making movies, watching movies, playing songs, shooting video and editing -- you name it. Microsoft can't come close and I don't think ever will be able to (even with more money than God). And I spend a lot of time cussing out the little VAIO because of the clunky WIndows environment. Vista? How many gigs is it? Can't wait for it to be released and start blowing up machines.....