the dark side is a lonely place

doesnt this just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside?

"The United States, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the only major industrial country to have rejected Kyoto, has been on the defensive since the conference kicked off on Dec. 3."

via msn

additional justification

this post is to serve as additionally justifying me breaking my promise that i would post every day in december.

*sniff*

this is supposed to be a really RAD title

and the body of this blog posting is supposedly super AWESOME and RADICAL.


just imagine that, thats the whole purpose here.

lately everyone is critical

why is it that everyone around is critical of something? im to blame too. but ive been thinking about this. everyone seems critical of something. whine whine moan. on and on. it gets so tiring, so old. ive been trying to scale back my critique. in doing so i reach this point where i dont have much to say but compliments.

and the real trouble beings. some people find compliments to be critical.

...

hows that for a preface to the fact that i said i would post every day in december and havnt? call me a hypocrite. i really hope no one is too let down. in return i have this wonderful opportunity: if you send me a cash for $1000, i know these guys in nigeria who have some sort of inheritance for you.

---
im super bummed i cant go see heima tomorrow night. i have a meeting. i hate meetings.
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i had a dream last night that i turned my alarm on. turns out i didnt and i slept in.
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i think it would be fun to live on a sail boat. im just not sure how lonely it would be and if i could handle it.
---
does anyone make little plugs to plug into the bottom of an ipod to keep all the sensitive connections clean?
---
people like to eat snow cones in the summer and summer sausage in the winter. how weird. And in the winter, when i drive by the ymca at night downtown there are like a million people all running frantically on treadmills. its hard for me to understand this. why dont they just run outside? even on perfectly nice days people run on treadmills, in their basement, watching tv. which is cool i guess...but its just ironic that they are healthy motivated people that would not have to run on treadmills if they just motivated themselves to eat a little bit less. unless they want to "be able to run" or "call themselves a runner" in which case is even more funny cause they seem to be training themselves to run on treadmills BY running on treadmills and the treadmills dont get anyone anywhere in life.
---
i guess im being critical again.
---
*sigh*
---
i hate the long nights of winter. they are like loneliness.

and suddenly, as if someone threw a switch, he lost control of his...

bodily functions?!?!

its not even noon and ive successfully consumed six (6) giant cups of coffee.

ex caffeine aficionados know what im talking about.

if i run out of toothpaste what can i use as a replacement?

i ran out of toothpaste. in all honesty, this has never happened for more than about 6 hours. always, always do i go and get more. or, i rummage through all my backpacking and camping supplies and find some crusty small tube of crest from when i was in 8th grade and had really bad acne. apparantly, i rummage through all that stuff frequently, because last night i couldnt find anything.

really, it started on sunday. toothpaste gone. dang. i used some useful techniques to try to get just another pea size out it. (one can always get another pea size blog of paste when they really try.) and i was sucessful. so monday morning comes. again. then monday night. oh boy...better try a little harder. then teusday morning...you get the picture.

well this morning, i could not get another pea. i think i literally strained a tendon in my finger trying. i even scraped the paste out from inside the opening...nothing left today though.

what an interesting experience. the things we take advantage of. does anyone have any idea how discomforting it is to not be able to have toothpaste? ive had thoughts today of using handsoap, comet, dishwasher detergent, baking soda. the list goes on. ive concluded that dishwasher soap would probably work the best. but baking soda would taste best. ive even thought about getting some mint flavoring, mixing it up with baking soda and viola! maybe tonight... if i still dont go to the store.

meanwhile, here is a good article: the media and mass murder.

i like'em real thick and red lettered...

...you cant find nothing better.

the Godtube. heard of it? i just did. without expressing any personal views on the website, i would like to direct you to some of the content of Godtube:

baby got book:


pretty awesome eh!

"a word to the Christian sistas: i cant resist ya"

so everybody's doing it

i like december cause a lot of people post pictures every day. i would hate to hold out. but really, im not in to taking pictures lately. but i do like words. so ill try to write a bit each day. bits about random thoughts, good songs, fun youtube, amazingness and horses.

random thoughts:
-why can't they fix daylight savings? i hate going home when its dark
-i decided im a carnivore - the opposite of a vegetarian: the texture of lettuce makes me want to barf and i get sick.
-gmail has been in beta for a really long time, are they going to make it alpha then require a membership fee?
-is there a place in the world where one does not have to pay property taxes? i would like to retire and not have to pay anything to anyone.
-i plugged my tv into the cable jack the other night to see what would happen. turns out i get a free 85 channels of cable. some things are freee!

good songs & good youtube videos in one:
bands that come up with lines like: "do they smoke grass in outerspace or do they smoke astro-turf" and " too many mutha uckas uckin' with my shi-" are very enjoyable to me. see the following videos by the great flight of the conchords. (oh and the last one is David Bowie's Space Oddity (a brilliant song i might add))

the auto industry is like the devil

Conspiracist over here! me! *raises hand*

ive long time believed and have preached that the folks behind the auto industry are like devils. they intentionally build crappy cars that are intended to break. AND they intentionally do not make the cars fuel efficient.

the reasons are simple: (1) if cars keep on breaking, mechanics will have jobs, so will places like autozone, napa auto parts, sears, etc. furthermore, the auto industry can keep on selling more and more cars. people think they need a new car when its like 5 years old! just think about the modern stigma attached to a car: 80,000 = time to get a new car. thats bull. to prove it, i keep on driving my truck (keep fixing minor things myself) and its got 230,000 miles so far. people are amazed by that, but im not. engines should be able to go a long long time if properly maintained.

and reason (2): the oil industry and the auto industry are lovers. its simple. the oil industry pays the auto industry tons and tons of money to keep all the cars out there from being more efficient. obviously, if they are less efficient, the oil industry makes more money. the government is in on the deal too. as you read below ask yourself why the EPA has not changed the minimum fuel economy standards..?

i heard a story one time thats true about this guy in texas who designed a carburetor for his old ford torino (or something like that) and it got like 70 miles per gallon. then he got it patented. you know what happened? well, Ford stopped over, bought the guy a few drinks and offered to buy the patent for some obscene amount of money. the dude sold. Ford took that patent and probably filed it away in a safe place so no one would ever use it. sure as hell they would.

so this morning, i was reading this article about the gov wanting to up the efficiency standards on cars and trucks by 40%. thats awesome! here's what is says:

An agreement among congressional Democrats to support a 40 percent increase in U.S. vehicle fuel efficiency by 2020 has been hailed as an historic step by both environmentalists and the automotive industry.

Did you know that since 1990 (thats 18 years!) the EPA standard on fuel efficiency has been stuck at 27.5 mpg!!! thats ridiculous. eighteen years. so with this new deal, it would be raised to 35 mpg. thats not too bad. in fact, "it would save consumers $25 billion at the pump, based on gas costing $2.50 a gallon, and it would reduce the nation’s oil consumption by 1.2 million barrels a day" (i wonder who has been pocketing that 25 Billion thus far?)

anyways, i kept reading the article and came accross this statement:

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said Monday that the automaker would be able to meet the new, tougher requirements without having to abandon any of its lower-mileage truck or SUV lines.

BAM!! Caught in the act!! You know what Alan is saying? He is saying that they have the technology (and the patents) to make some pretty efficient cars. its no problem. all the existing Ford Excursions...they just need to swap out a few parts and boom! 40 mpg.

oh...this really upsets me. really.

im not being treated fairly

on strike

Ecclesiastes 1:3

What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?

wesley's Notes say this:

What profit - What real and abiding benefit? None at all. All is unprofitable as to the attainment of that happiness which all men are enquiring after. His labour - Heb. his toilsome labour, both of body and mind in the pursuit of riches, or pleasures, or other earthly things. Under the sun - In all worldly matters, which are usually transacted in the day time, or by the light of the sun. By this restriction he implies that the happiness which in vain is sought for in this lower world, is really to be found in heavenly places and things.

well thats it then. im going home.

but then in 2:14 it says:
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

and in 5:8
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.

oh dang. i better stay.

(i think about these verses often.)

best quote ive heard in a while:

"Young people spend too much time indoors and spending time indoors leads to them being consumed with thoughts of sex. People need to get out-of-doors, to experience the out-of-doors and to learn in the -out-of-doors. The out-of-doors allows the mind to expand to other thoughts..."

via from the rooftop

peace on earth and stuff

Peace on Earth: A Holiday Album is coming out tomorrow. you can download it for $7. dmr free. it doesnt get much better than that. oh, other than the following are contributing to the album:

Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
American Music Club
Aaron Robinson
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Sleeptalker
Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin
TW Walsh
Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie
The Winston Jazz Routine
The Long Winters
Rosie Thomas
Great Lake Swimmers
David Karsten Daniels
Via Audio
Quiet Company
The Cotton Jones Basket Ride (Michael Nau of Page France)


from its hard to find a friend
oh, and while youre there, be sure you download a live show by david bazan for free here

this looks ridiculously fun

and ridiculously dangerous

project BAM! 7

Boka is a great Djembe player. The Djembe is a great drum.

organs, crosses, and mandalas

oh boy! first-plymouth congregational church is having a big auction in their church. they're selling crosses. as if turning God' s building into a marketplace isnt bad enough. lets sell our icons and ideology.

and may i remind you: first plymouth has one of the most grand organs for hundreds of miles. (photos from here and here) i will admit, when i was in the men's glee choir and sang beneath these pipes, i had chills running down my spine for about 20 minutes. awesome. (make sure you listen to it here)










































though i tend to side with presbyteer concerning the correlation between a church's understanding/clarity of the gospel and the size of their organ. (see his graph below)























the fun part about this story, is that its ties into tradition. tradition and stigma has it that a church needs to have a big gran ol organ. with Fat sound. true.

but these things cost money. a lot of money. like half a mill (ref). funny that a church with a half a mill organ needs to use their place of worship to sell crosses. but anyways...

its time to break out of tradition. i would LOVE to see a church use a Nord C1 Combo Organ with a sweet set of speakers. Nord's are notoriously good at replicating many different organ and keyboard sounds. For a fraction of the cost. my roomate has a nord electro, i have a fender rhodes from the 70's; the other night we got the nord to sound exactly like the rhodes. seriously. if i were cool, i would put sound bits up. but im not.

anybody want to split a cabin with me?

one thing ive longed for since i was about 8 - it was around that time when i read Hatchet - was to have land in the middle of the forest. the wilderness. i cannot even begin to explain the excitement my heart feels when i start thinking about this. just a little plot with a million trees, maybe some water and a cabin that i will build myself. then there will be the trails. miles and miles of trails going everywhere. yes...this would be nice.

it starts with things like the land for alaskans program

so if anyone wants in. check out the following sites for some plots. we could be neighbors or something.
alaska state land offerings
University of alaska land management

clever kids

One Halloween a trick-or-treater came to my door dressed as 'Rocky' in boxing gloves and satin shorts. Soon after I gave him some goodies, he returned for more.

"Aren't you the same 'Rocky' who left my doorstep a few minutes ago?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, "but now I'm the sequel. I'll be back three more times tonight too."

san diego county fires

link

i want us to become brothers again, like we used to be

darjeeling limited

somedays i think blogs are full of useless information

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via Punctuation

robotic love

i read this article recently that describes how in the near future "robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them."

i pause there.

something seems really strange and twisted and perverse about falling in love with robots, having sex with them and marrying them. even just falling in love with robots is bad enough. my initial thought is: "yeah right! go ahead and try falling for a robot..i dare you." but, then i hesitate and realize that our twisted world is really that fallen; i bet people could fall for a robot. the article brings up two points of why one could fall for a robot:

"one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable."

"Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that's programmable too."

is this really what falling in love is all about? is this all i need to do? find someone similar in personality? in knowledge? and know that they like me? But if i found someone that was just like me personality wise, and had the same knowledge i do. then they would be just like me!? so i guess i should just make a robot of myself. then ill fall in love with my robotic version of myself, have sex with it, and marry it.

then the world would be at peace.

or not. no matter how i work around this whole robotic love thing, it just does not work, and it just shows me more and more and more how terrible things are getting. and how terrible things could get. sometimes i hate technology.

in the meantime, i might put an add in the paper:

"Looking for someone w/ different personality, different knowledge. must love dogs. not expecting to like me. must be non-robotic."

do the burnin bush

this really got me laughin after a while:

why your prius is worse than a hummer

so i ran across this article today that touches on why a Toyota Prius is worse, environmentally, than a Hummer. Its very intriguing. I did a little research and found the "Dust to Dust Automotive Energy Report." Now this, is a good document. You can download the actual report here.

I highly recommend reading this 458 page report. After all energy efficiency is more than just fuel economy...

flat front tire?

this little trick works well in two scenarios:

1) your tire goes flat on your way home
2) you need to haul something and you just have your bike.

2 accidents involving bikes

i have experienced two accidents in the last week, both of which, involve bikes.

the first is more strange than anything. it occurred 1 week ago when i was running. for a little background information, i must say i ride my bike about 90% more than i run. i like to go for 20-30 mile rides a couple times a week. most of these rides are along the lincoln bike trails. when i ride, my two biggest fears are 1) getting hit by a car. (this can generally be avoided if im paying attention. and its not to worrisome) and 2) hitting a person on the bike trail. i have never hit a person while riding my bike, but i came very close last year. to avoid it i ended up crashing going about 20 mph and it was a bad deal. but thats a story for another day.

so i was running the other night on one of my rare running episodes. i was on about mile 2 and it was dusk. i was keeping to the right side of the paved trail and enjoying the brisk air. oh, and to give a little background, for those of you not up-to-date on the lincoln bike trail scene...there have been some nasty things happening on the trails. there have been kids putting lines across the trail so when one is riding, they hit these lines and go sailing. then....there was a stabbing. 5am. a male jogger stabbed in the back. not the most pleasant thing to think of when running at dusk. and thats what i was doing.

ok. back to the story. so im running and out of the darkness appears a bike rider. i see him about 100 yards away and i assumed he saw me about the same time i saw him. at the 100 yard mark, he was on the other side of the trail. as i watched him get closer, he slowly started to veer towards me. the whole thing, remind you happened in about 5 seconds. he was veering into my lane. and his veer, well, it was directly towards me. i dont know if anyone has ever experienced this feeling, but let me tell you, its very strange. at about 2 seconds before out paths crossed, the thought occurred to me that this guy was aiming for me. he wanted to attack. a suicide mission or something. him and his bike kept veering directly towards me. it was not a drunken veer. it was an intentional bee-line to hit me. i moved over. he kept coming. i moved over more, to the very edge of the trail. he kept coming over.

so at this point, the thought was already in my mind that this guy was trying to hit me. since im well-trained in...lets call it "kung-fu" for the sake of the story, i knew that i should not keep veering off to my right. a skilled bike rider, aiming to hit someone could simply veer with me and still hit me. so i kept my course, running at the very fringe of the paved trail. i running at him, he riding at me. i developed a plan in the 0.5 seconds i had at this point. my plan was to jump out of the way of him at the last minute to avoid his attack. and i thought that if perhaps if he was just bluffing, he would veer back away from me. the milliseconds counted down and he was not bluffing.

neither was i. so it happened that just as he was about to crash into me at great speeds, i jumped to the right and grabbed his chest and threw him to the ground. those of you that know me close, know that i have a temper and i was pissed. this guy was trying to attack me. the grab came kind of as an instinct. in the milliseconds that followed, that felt like eternity, i threw him to the ground, bike and all, and kept running, prepared for a foot chase. but just as he crashed, his surprise overtook him. "oh!" he yelled, tumbling in the grass. "im so sorry"

dang. i was wrong. I was sorry. this poor dude maybe really wasent trying to kill me. he kept apologizing and i felt terrible. i ran back to him and kept asking him if he was ok. "yeah, im fine" he kept saying and kept apologizing, but i was apologizing too. regret full force.

in the end i kept running. he, presumably rode off in the night.

so weird. has to be the weirdest thing thats ever happened to me involving a bike and a runner.



ok. incident two, and this one is a million times worse:

today, i was driving north on 27th st, past cornhusker and was in the right lane to turn into walmart. suddenly about 8 firetrucks and ambulances came screaming behind me. i pulled up on the grass and they went by and stopped at the intersection in front of me. they all took up the whole intersection and fireman and paramedics came running out of their vehicles. "holy crap" i thought. i was about a minute late of a bad accident. i drove my truck through the grass and parked in front of blockbuster and my roomate and i went up to see what happened. there were people all around.

then i saw one of the worse sights ive ever seen in my life. in the middle of the road were two little bmx bikes twisted like paper clips. my heart sank so low that i about broke into tears. one little boy was sitting on the curb with fireman all around him. he was about 9 and his body weighed probably 40 pounds. but behind him was a black ford explorer with 8 fireman all laying on their stomachs, heads and hands reaching for the other boy who was trapped under the suv.

i cannot begin to tell you the emotion and rage and sorrow and hope i had. seeing right there in front of me a small child stuck under a car. the boy and suv were about 20 feet from the bikes, and to think that he was drug...

i wanted to run over and help but there were already a ton of trained professionals already trying to free him. everyone around was speechless.

im about to cry just thinking about this. it took them about 5 minutes to get him out. when they did they carefully moved his body on to a stretcher and started bracing all sorts of things. i couldent really tell if he was moving or not, there were a lot of fireman all around him working like bees. i didnt know what else to do. i didnt have any words. so my roomate and i just walked away, full or sorrow. i have yet to read about it in the paper but my prayers are with that little man tonight.

life is so strange and fragile. meanwhile we all go 100mph. and little kids just ride their bikes.
i dont know what to think.

i dont really know what sport this is

but it looks really cool (from darkroastedblend)

its a dog eat dog world: there are no loyalties

so nbc had a little fight with apple. they said they wanted to charge $5.99 for a tv episode on itunes. apple said no, its either $1.99 per episode or get out.

they got out.

and now they are coming out with their own program called "NBC Direct". talk about lame. super lame. that has to be the lamest name Ever given to anything in the history of the world. in fact NBC is the lamest thing that ever happened in the history of the universe's history. Ever. and Eternity. forever terrible. i despise tv. Especially big fat nasty greasy stations that feed us big nasty greasy retarded shows hour after hour after hour interspersed with commercials that basically yell things at us like: "YOURE UGLY LIKE A HORSE, BUT BUY THIS BOTOXAL-GLUTIGHTER-LIFTUPFACIAL-IMPLANT-BOWFLEX-STEROIDAL-HEMAN-ZEONON WARRIOR SUBSTANCE AND BE BEAUTIFUL FOR LIFE...FOR ONLY $UMPTINE TRILLION. NOW NOW NOW"

yeah. great. just what we need. and yet, i think part of the reason i hate it all is that i am a victim of it. i grew up with a tv and have wasted many hours in front of it. ive fallen victim of wanting the newest toy for Christmas. ive fallen victim to watching soap operas over lunch and have gotten really depressed from it. thankfully ive become a bit smarter and now have the tv in the basement with it not even hooked up to bunny ears. but i still long for it. it still tempts me and once every year when the newest season of LOST or THE OFFICE comes out on DVD, i buy it and hole up in my basement and let my body degrade.

so im torn because this whole NBC Direct thing...they are going to offer The Office FREE to download. and that, my friends is amazing.

and in the end i stick it to the man, by watching their free episodes. even if there are commercials, ill just mute them. then its kind of like a comedy show. especially if i do voice-overs.

remediating phishing

i dont know if big fat rich companies really do anything about this stuff. but i forwarded that phishy email i got a few days ago to bank of america, of which im a member. they sent me this nice email with 6 "easy clues" to determine if in fact, its a phishing scam. lets review:

Stay safe from Phishing: Easy clues to help you keep your personal information secure.

The main goal of a phishing email is to get you to a site where you will provide your personal information. With these basic, but powerful, clues, you can easily recognize the threat and ensure the safety of your identity and finances.

1. Does the email ask you to go to a website and verify personal information? We won't ask you to verify your personal information in response to an email.

yes, check.

2. What is the tone of the mail? Most phish emails convey a sense of urgency by threatening discontinued service or information loss if you don't take immediate action.

urgent tone, check.

3. What is the quality of the email? Many phish emails have misspellings, bad grammar, or poor punctuation.

definitelycheck.

4. Are the links in the email valid? Deceptive links in phishing emails look like they are to a valid site, but deliver you to a fraudulent one. Many times you can see if the link is legitimate by just moving your mouse over the link.

[...]data-exchange.co.tz[...] ummm...check

5. Is the email personalized with your name and applicable account information? Many phish emails use generic salutations and generic information (e.g. "Dear Customer" or "Dear Account Holder") instead of your name.

"dear bank of america client" check. no account info. double check.

6. What is the sender's email address? Many phish emails come from an email address not from the company represented in the email.

noreply-mail@google.com. check. checks on every account. hopefully you learned something today.

the legend of homos in the wilderness

if youre an outdoor enthusiast in lincoln, more specifically an avid biker, and even more specifically a mountain biker, Then you will know of the Legend of Wilderness Park and (homo)sexual activity. you may not know where you heard the legend, but somewhere it was spoken to you, and there it remained: in you mind, while riding those brilliant trails day or night.

i have never been too worried about it.
a) im on a bike
b) i go fast
c) i wear a helmet
d) if molested i can release my seat post from bike frame and beat on the molester and
e) i am stong (like dwight from the office)

but today i read in the lincoln journal star that theyve been caught. legend turns to truth. and such a sad truth it is. i think i might start carrying a paintball gun with me on my bike rides. i would love to read in the paper the next day that a flasher admitted himself to the hospital after unexplained paintball wounds to certain areas.

and so the story goes:

Undercover police officers spent the day at Wilderness Park Wednesday.

What they found may seem surprising.

Police say they arrested 10 men during the day-long detail intended to keep sex in public parks in Lincoln from becoming a problem.

They ranged in age from 39 to 73. Seven were from Lincoln. The others were from Omaha, Seward and Kearney, Police Chief Tom Casady said.

“In these 10 cases, basically undercover police officers in the park were approached by men who either groped the officer or exposed their genitals or both,” he said.

In two cases, he said, men were masturbating in a place where they could be seen by other park-goers.

It’s no secret to police some people go to certain Lincoln parks looking for an anonymous sexual encounter, Casady said.

“Wilderness Park is not the only place in Lincoln that’s had this kind of a problem from time to time,” he said. “We try to do a little bit of enforcement on occasion to keep this from becoming a problem.”

He said it started happening at Wilderness Park in the late ‘80s, and even before that at Van Dorn Park and the Interstate 80 rest stop. Cities around the country deal with the same problem, Casady said.

In Lincoln, it’s illegal to have sex in a public park, he said. If both participants are willing or not, it’s still indecent exposure.

Casady said it’s not a victimless crime.

“What I get concerned about is that people do, from time to time, stumble across these things going on inadvertently... They’re there to ride their horse or go for their run or ride their bike or just use the restroom and they get confronted by this kind of a situation.”

It happened to him once, years ago with his son.

They’ve had complaints, including one during the detail, at nearby Standing Bear Park, Casady said.

The man was on his lunch break when a stranger took his pants down in front of him.

In the detail Wednesday, 10 men were arrested — six on suspicion of third-degree sexual assault and four on suspicion of public indecency.

Third-degree sexual assault is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year imprisonment. Public indecency is punishable by up to six months in jail.

if your gonna phish, at least make sense

got this email today. it pretty radical. copied in its entirety for your viewing pleasure:

Dear Bank of America client,

You have received this email because you or someone had used your account from different locations.For security purpose, we are required to open an investigation into this matter.

In order to safeguard your account, we require that you confirm your banking details.

The help speeed up to this process, please access the following link so we ca complete the verification of your Bank of America Online Banking Account registration information.

(then the link)

If we do no receive the appropriate account verification within 48 hours, then we will assume this Bank of America account is fraudulent and will be suspended.

The purpose of this verification is to ensure that your bank account has not been fraudulently used and to combat the fraud from our community. We appreciate your support and understanding and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

project BAM! 6

there are about a million videos of drumline folk. this is a good one of the tenors. about as fun to watch as it is to listen.

theres some nutty folk around

paying $2426 on 4 tickets to the upcoming nebraska vs usc football game.

on ebay of course.

for that kind of money one could buy a pretty sweet 50" plasma television, get digital HD cable, buy a whole lot of food, beer, pop, chips and dip along with some pizzas, home made icecream, a live dj and maybe even a few balloon art clowns, then invite a billion friends over and have a grand time.

but hey. some people want to brag.

Museum of the Odd

i used to live across the street from the Museum of the Odd. Which, oddly enough was inside the home of Charles P. Johnson. Give him a ring and check it out yourself: 476-6735

project BAM! 5

one might ask: who could possibly jam with jimi hendrix and compliment his brilliant style. buddy miles could, i would say. buddy miles grew up just a short ways from here in omaha, nebraska. he joined hendrix and billy cox in a brilliant live 3-piece called band of gypsies. the album, band of gypsies has remained in my top 10 best-album-of-all-time list for probably the last 10 years. one song the band performed live was one that miles wrote himself. its called "changes" or "these changes". i remember first hearing this song and being totally blown away that he could sing so greatly and play drums at the same time. needless to say, he is a great musician. in my opinion, he's probably the best drummer that ever accompanied the worlds greatest rock guitarist.



also check out "machine gun" written by hendrix.

its all normal

dont worry, everything is normal. we will be back to regular programming shortly.

Felix made landfall with 160 mph winds — joining Hurricane Dean last month to mark the first time in recorded history that two top-scale storms have come ashore in the same season.

"The situation is chaotic. Puerto Cabezas is being totally destroyed," said Antonio Joya, a regional government official. "I'm sure it is going to be a total disaster."

The storm was following the same path as 1998's Hurricane Mitch, a sluggish storm that stalled for a week over Central America, killing nearly 11,000 people and leaving more than 8,000 missing, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua.

Meanwhile, off Mexico's Pacific coast, Tropical Storm Henriette strengthened into a hurricane with 75 mph winds and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was churning toward the upscale resort of Cabo San Lucas, popular with Hollywood stars and sea fishing enthusiasts.

below is a radar map of hurricane Felix as of this morning. honestly i have a sick feeling in my stomach when i look at that swath of red reaching ocean to ocean while 18,000 people in the area are all evacuating their homes in search of a safer place.

sony's rolly

sony is comming out with something. nobody really know what it is yet. its called the rolly.

check out the site: http://www.rolly-show.com

and the add:

project BAM! 4

stevie wonder. brilliant man. played nearly every instrument on his best albums.

ive been waiting for them to pick up on this

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20513656/

has anyone realized that we've had a abnormal amount of storms and rainfall around the midwest? think theres a reason?

oh yeah.

'course, IF global warming is taking place, we should probably just let it run its course right? afterall, God is omnipotent, so we should just let Him run His course yeah? like diseases and death and murder? just sit back and enjoy all the green plants. because after all, the End is only coming sooner.

but i must point out Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.""

fill the earth and subdue it. personally i dont think subduing the earth means drinking margaritas while watching all this shit going on around us.

project BAM! 3

for the third exploration of project BAM! i want to share something i treasure close to my heart. the one and only live version of Santana's soul sacrifice performed during the 1969 woodstock. being raised by two full time rock stars, i grew up around classic rock and Santana was fed to me at the dinner table. however, when i first rented the documentary on woodstock and saw Santana play this live...i experienced a new level of music enchantment. theres Carlos Santana playing brilliant stuff that to this day i have not idea how he came up with it, Mickaël Shrieve cranking out a genius drum solo, you also have a great organ, sweet back up conga and shaker players, bass, the list goes on. in my opinion this live performance could not be any better. it just stands alone and anyone who knows drums or Santana will probably be familiar with this performance. i think ive watched Shrieve pound away with his sticks a hundred times and i still transcend just about everything with goosebumps when i watch it. but enough words, listen:

(warning: this video contains nudity (it is after all the documentary on woodstock))

project BAM! 2

ive always been a lover of the sound of the steelpan drum. its origin is trinidad. the drum part of the name comes from the oil drums used in their production. the steel drum came into existence from the enslaved africans in trinidad who used discarded material as their only means to make musical instruments. below is the classic moonlight sonata played by steel drums. i cant help but think about slaves playing their hearts out on these drums under the moonlight after a days hard work. tears streaming from their eyes...

project BAM!

for this first installment of project BAM! we have the following.

you feelin it?

strange dreams and shaking windows

i tossed in and out of strange dreams for 2 hours this morning while a helicopter whirled overhead. turns out im not insane.

i thought maybe they were after me for watching this

'course, theres always the other side.

my next project

to keep myself busy while living the single life, i like to do projects.

this one seems promising.

meno meno meno mana

introducing a new favortie: menomena

i will say this about menomena. if i were to create music, would probably do it like menomena and it would probably sound a lot like menomena. these guys record a bunch of sounds into their computer. drum loops, guitar riffs, vocals. the whole gommit. then they mix it all around until they get something magical.

you can listen to 5 selected tracks from the newest album, friend and foe, here:

http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/menomena/

menomena's myspace...if youre into that kind of thing.

big pimpin

you want competition for move??

i will give you competition for move

no no its called global cooling

49 deaths in the midwest from the chill factor?!?

the aussies are out.

Last month, Prime Minister John Howard announced that every school would be eligible for help to install solar hot water systems and rainwater tanks.

genocide of the 21st century. could it be?

the ice is melting! quick, lets get rich!

still reading the news...

i read this statement this morning on msn:

Microsoft has said disruptive changes in the software industry — a shift away from desktop programs and toward applications delivered over the Internet — will touch every one of the company's products, in ways yet to be determined.

now i dont know what you think about that, but i think its pretty dang big. the really sad part of the whole deal though is that microsoft, pretty much the biggest software co. ever in the history of the universe, is getting into advertising. so not only will we be bombarded with even More adds from even Bigger companies, we will continue to buy useless crap, generating a cyclical sick perpetuating machine.

kind of like deforestation

one piece of advice: get adblock

its summer

there are those folks. whom i love, naturally, that like to get on my case for believing in global warming. now that summer is here, i can add to the drama:

southern heat wave blamed for 33 deaths

global warming is here

Arctic sea ice melting faster: study

"During the first week in July, the Arctic sea ice started to disappear at rates we had never seen before"

oh and i guess that some blogger forced NASA to admit global warming figures error. but they forget to tell you in the headlines that the error was that last year was the 4th warmest year as opposed to the 3rd and that "the corrected figures left evidence of long-term warming intact." right, right.

now if i really wanted to get into it, i could mention that global warming is causing a rise in flesh eating diseases, that its killing elvis fans, that tropical rainforest trees are glowing twice as slow, that its ruining grapes for wine, that its threatening moose and wolves, that its reducing agricultural production by 25%, that it caused the recent new york tornado, its increasing hurricanes, and causing heavy rains. but that would be silly wouldent it?

afterall, its all a hoax...

just like the holocaust.

ratatat ! !

been working way to hard. (aka too much) and in my sleep deprived mind, ive started to hallucinate. that makes things interesting.

none the less. ratatat has been pulling me through. great band. heres a poor vid but cool location for you. the song is lex

i can feel it: upon the seat of a bicycle built for two

to show my support during the "scenes i go back to" saga. id like to share a scene i love. its from 2001: Space Odyessy by Stanley Kubrick. i love the sounds in this movie. i love the images. but the thing i love most in movies is dialog. here is some of the best dialog. spoken true from hal 9000. the computer:

Hal: I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.

Dave: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.

Hal: It's called "Daisy."
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.

i dont understand this

but i think its really cool

River Lewis Maranville

"he will be president."

award for mosts comments in a day

goes to: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/if-you-were-a-terrorist-how-would-you-attack/

over five hundred comments in about a day. 594 to be exact in under 12 hours. no wonder comments were disabled.

looks like too many people are coming up with attack ideas
looks like too many people are coming up with attack ideas

quote of the day

said by famous polar scientist, Artur Chilingarov:

"I don't give a damn what all these foreign politicians there are saying about this, If someone doesn't like this, let them go down themselves ... and then try to put something there. Russia must win. Russia has what it takes to win. The Arctic has always been Russian."

and if your (blank) causes you to stumble...

ive been "starving" lately for random good stuff. (literally) you see, at one point in my life i had this magical thing called google reader. when i went to it, it provided a magical door to many peoples websites. this magical door would allow me to read everything they wrote in real time. and the best part is that i got to decide which peoples websites i wanted to peer into ...in real time of course.

so began the stumbling. i would add more and more useless crap (aka: extremely amusing websites and blogs) to my google reader. it was good in that it provided hours of entertainment, but it was bad in that it was completely useless other than impressing people with useless crap. there were, of course, friend's websites linked to it, but that was by far the minority. so this continued and continued.

now the really bad part about this, and my personality, is that i basically have to read everything in my google reader whenever i look at it. period. so it would take longer and longer to read everything. it made me late for dinner parties and engagements. (neither of which i actually have, but for the purpose of the story lets pretend i do). it made me really depressed when i would get off line at night and realized i just wasted 1.8 hours reading useless crap. basically my whole being suffered.

then one day, one saterday night i believe, it reached a climax: i could only read the content just as fast as it came in. there was no getting ahead. it was not humanly possible for me to read all the content. more would pop up. you see...its in real time. so it was a trap. a terrible one. it was like tv. just sucked into crap. and it never ended.

and so i hope at this point in the story you will have learned the moral.

i did too. and so what i did to remedy it is as follows.

1. create a separate gmail account.
2. copy all useless rss feeds into the account.
3. delete all the useless feeds from main gmail account.
4. make up a really complicated and random password to the second, rss-feed dedicated gmail account.
5. write the password on one little piece of paper. (if you have a photographic memory...dont photo it.)
6. put the piece of paper in a plastic bag.
7. open up the sewer main in basement.
8. attach bag to sewer main wall and close.

and Ta Da! i can only read all the useless crap when i really really really dont have anything better to do.

and as i sit here today over the lunch hour. i miss my rss feed. i miss my sin.

oh the life of a sinner. *sigh*


(sadly...ive been reading the news instead. uuuuugh.)

the Daddy

today:

Case Maranville is a daddy. And Lindsay Maranville is a mommy.

congrats!

people learn from history - when they want to

i appreciated this article on msnbc this morning that discussed bridge deficiency and the need of repair. Here are a few excerpts:

"More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion"

"But with that said, as a result of this catastrophic disaster, we’re going to be looking at the rules and finding out in fact if they should be tightened, made more stringent"

"They are built not to fall down. This is an anomaly and we’re going to try to find out why this is an anomaly and prevent that anomaly from ever happening again"

"We’re not doing what the engineers are saying we need to be doing"

"At least 73,533 of 607,363 bridges in the nation, or about 12 percent, were classified as structurally deficient"

welcome to my job. i encounter this stuff every day. problems on top of problems with all sorts of things from pipes being too small going beneath your grandmas house, to dams that could break, to old brick culverts running beneath "O" Street that are falling apart and too small. (oh yeah, thats right!) and sometimes i see the disaster, the flood, and its not a surprise. and sometimes i hear the city official tell the single mother whose basement is full of water and her children dont have a place to sleep, that it wasent their fault. bla bla bla.

and it pisses me off.

but its also why i like my job, because thats the point i can say something. and i make the best case i can in hopes of convincing that power hungry beast that he needs to fix it. it is his fault.

but it gets weird. and complicated. like most things in life. because, in reality, its that single woman who pays the salary of that man, and pays taxes to fix the broken pipe going through her yard, and its my taxes too. and that tax money goes to other things we need like education and law enforcement. so we either a)pay more taxes for this stuff to be fixed, or b) the govrnmt needs to do a better job with allocating what they got.

oh deer.

so what happens today. a bridge collapses, kills people and someone is actually doing something. a friend made a comment to me this morning that the gov. is already working on a bill for the bridge/highway funds, and he was surprised. like "good for them." well, thats bs. shame on them. shame on them for waiting until six people die, hundreds hurt, and millions freaked out next time they drive their volvo across a bridge. why does it always take a tragedy before someone does anything?

oh and that $188 billion...where do you think thats going to come from?
"we're not doing what the engineers are saying we need to be doing." thats a bold statement. thanks for making it.

then. call me a germaphobe. uncle john.

so. at work, i occasionally go to the bathroom. i don't want to go into any details about the adventure exactly, but i do want to draw attention to an item in the bathroom that i see. i see this item only when i go into the "stall." you know the one. the one with inch thick fiberglass walls, held together with shinny metal connectors. a door, complete with gaps on either side of it.

and most famously, the large gap beneath the walls. the gap that men and women look at each others shoes through. the gap that kids will lean down and look out of. (and other kids will come up to, and lean down to look up into.) this large gap, however most intriguing it is, is not the item i want to draw your attention to though. not today.

what i see when i go into the "stall" is uncle johns bathroom reader. and not just one of them. its always either two or three. and these big shiney colorful books are always stacked at the back of the pot. the johnny. the johnny on the spot. there they are. every time. and ever time i see them i have this thought that runs through my head: do people actually read these?!??

wait what? really?!? you mean, people that are doing the ol johnny spot reading the uncle johns bathroom reader?!? are you serious?!? i know it says "bathroom reader" but does that mean people "read it in the batheroom"? im appalled.

the reason i know people read these is because they are always kind of shuffled around. the pages are worn, maybe even bent, and.... ... discolored. AND they get rotated. about every two weeks one disappears and a new one shows up. wow. incredible. incredulous. inscrumpable. the ol unlcle john on the johnny spot.

one time i even saw it on the floor. oh man. i think i even had a gag reflex. i calmly shoved it with the point of my shoe to the edge of the johnny and tried not to look at, or think about it. (i still try not to think about that)

and so it goes. so the life of public restrooms. so the success of uncle johns bathroom reader. i will admit, it is tempting to read such wonderful useless facts all day long. it really is. but at the risk of getting some sort of viral meningitis, i think ill pass.

sorry john. but thanks for watching my back anyways.

nerd it

got this in an email at work today. they're fun.

Comprehending Engineers - Take One
******************************
An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was
better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he
enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring
relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress,
because of the passion and mystery he found there. The engineer said, "I like both."
"Both?" Engineer: "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will
each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the
lab and get some work done."

*****************************
Comprehending Engineers - Take Two
*****************************
To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is
half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

*******************************
Comprehending Engineers-Take Three
*******************************
A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a
particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with
these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The doctor chimed
in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude! "The pastor said, "Hey,
here comes the Greens keeper. Let's have a word with him." [dramatic
pause]
"Hi George. Say, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow,
aren't they?" The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of
blind fire-fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire
last year, so we always let them play for free anytime." The group was silent
for a moment. The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a
special prayer for them tonight." The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm
going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he
can do for them." The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at
night?"


*******************************
Comprehending Engineers-Take Four
*******************************
There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things
mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he
happily retired. Several years later the company contacted him regarding a
seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multimillion dollar
machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the
machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer
who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer
reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine.
At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular
component of the machine and stated, "This is where your problem is". The part was
replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company received a
bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemized
accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly:

One chalk mark $1.00 Knowing where to put it $49,999.00 It was paid in
full and the engineer retired again in peace.

*****************************
Comprehending Engineers-Take Five
*****************************
What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?
Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets.

*****************************
Comprehending Engineers-Take Six
*****************************
An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him. He
walked over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog
spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful
princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his
pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried
out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you
and do ANYTHING you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and
put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter?
I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week
and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look
I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

*****************************
Comprehending Engineers-Take Seven
*****************************
"Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers
believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."
----- Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

*****************************
Comprehending Engineers-Take Eight
*****************************
Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where
did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied, "Well, I was
walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman
rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes
and said, "Take what you want." The second engineer nodded approvingly,
"Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

i can do a high kick, i can kick it higher than you

i can do a back flip, i can flip it backer than you

and this is why i dont dive in the sea

i was reading up on some chemical warfare mishaps over at dark roasted blend. and was completely shocked and disappointed in the decision makers of this country and world. as deep sea news reports:

"The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels." [link]

so...how would a conversation addressing this actually occur? at some point someone had to have made the decision to dump enough nerve gas, mustard gas, chemical-filled bombs, land mines, rockets, radioactive waste, and not to mention things like VX nerve agent into the sea. maybe the conversation went something like this:

kid A: Sir, you wanted to see me?
kid B: Yes I did.
(kid B shuffles his feet, takes a sip of scotch and inhales long on his Malboro.)
kid B: I want to you to take all those VX rockets and sink them in the Ocean about 100 miles from Atlantic City.
kid A: Sir, thats some nasty stuff. Are you sure we want to do that? Joey told me that a drop of that stuff is enough to kill a man.
kid B: Thats right, that why we need to dump it deep into the Ocean. We signed a Chemical Warefare agreement and we have to get rid of it.
(kid B pauses as if he is forming a logical statement in his mind, but is having trouble and instead wants to be golfing.)
kid B: the best place for VX rockets is at the bottom of the ocean. Do it. And dont tell anyone of it. Ever.
kid A: yes sir.
(kid A leaves and dumps over 7000 VX rockets into the sea off the shore of Atlantic City. He then goes to the casinos and makes note to never take his family there on vacation.)

by the way, 200 micrograms of VX can kill a man. that means one pound of the stuff contains 2,267,961.9 lethal doses. and how many rockets did we sink?

7,380.

read more here and here and here

and have a nice day.

how to dispose of a whale

this is the most entertaining, educational, gross, brilliant, classic youtube clip ive seen in quite some time.

enjoy

coloured out and emergency room

my life has suddenly turned crazy. not that it wasent crazy before. its just that for a few weeks now its been relatively calm. but now im surrounded by 1600 colors. to pick from. to paint with. i am painting the entire first floor of my house with a total of 8 different colors.

dont ask.

in the end, it should have a nice feel to it. some strange feelings, some nice, a bit of warm, a bit of cool, and a bit shocking. now everywhere i go i notice the colors. color color colour.

to add to it, at about 3 am monday morning i started carving away at my arm. literally. i decided in my sleep deprived, cleaning toxin - high brain to remove a wart in my arm with a knife. i wont go into the details, but lets just say i got pretty deep. so deep, that in fact, i freaked out. to add to the drama, the hole in my arm is in between my forearm and bicep where theres a lot of veins and important body things. i am a fool. so i drove myself to the emergency room full of embarrassment and total regret. at first the nurses looked at me like i was silly for being there when i told them what the problem was, but when i removed the self applied bandages, they were taken aback. one man said..."wow, you really did a good job at that." (what is that supposed to mean?!?) and of course, i got chewed out by every one of them. but it was a good time to practice humility. i went there because i was afraid of infection getting into my arm and causing... loss of a limb or something. it turns out i need to let it heal from the inside out. they didnt want to sew it up. so they gave me some antibiotics, some special gauze that promotes skin growth, some liquid with germ killer or something, and instructions as to how to tend to my self-inflicted laceration. i really hope it heals soon. but im guessing it will take a month or so. and im taking pictures every day for those of you in the medical field.

so why am i sharing this?

well i wanted to share a few very valuable lessons ive learned in the last few days, that will remain with me for a lifetime:
1) do not, EVER, try to remove a wart yourself.
2) do not use x-acto blades on your body, nor on other bodies.
3) twenty-six year old boys should not even own x-acto blades that are assessable at 3 am, especially when they are high from cleaning substances used to clean kitchen sinks.
4) picking out colors is no easy task.
5) the colors on the color swatches dont look the same on the wall.

oh and someone told me to write a poem about color. ill take a stab at it (though i should really stop "stabbing")

color.
oh you charmer
like a girl
so full of flavor and spice
so beautiful on the paper

but on my wall you stare at me with scowl
you clash
you change the room, just by being in it
and i love you

if only
i could find the right one
that one with warmth that sooths
that brightens up and invites
the one i like.

an experiement of thought

in about 26 minutes. i will be the owner of a 1955 ranch style stone house. complete with a bike trail adjacent to my back yard.

and i can do whatever i want to/with/at/in/on/around it

interesting thought.

squirrel 3

squirrel 3

i want to be a squirrel
i think a black one
with a little fluffy spiked fur tail
and little claws
that i could climb with
(little cute claws)

sharp things can be cute too
cause i could unwrap my acorns - seedlings
and nibble and treasure and store up in my cheek
or i could share one with you - or two

and i could purse my wiskers

deception and waste

pew

(this post has been modified by "my other self" its hard to keep the two inline. sorry if i offended you. (especially YOU, sarah))

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.' "

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

When evening came, they went out of the city.

-Mark 11:12-19

random thoughts

you know her parents love you when they give you the garage door code

this.bigstereo.net rocks

aaron roberts is radical

its hard to start a new business by yourself

ive drunk way too much coffee today

i keep thinking about these monks

how many spouses let their spouses read their journals?

everybody

click here

my bikes

i usually get embarrassed when asked how many bikes i have. its not that im shy or ashamed. i think that it boils down to others not understanding my passion behind bikes. or maybe they just dont understand bikes. or maybe even more they dont understand passion. since i was about 5, i treasured riding my bike. it was my main mode of transportation. it was my main source of fun and mischief. it was my get away vehicle. it was my pimp mobile. and it was rad.

as i grew, it became my fun. it became my hobby. my friend james and i would ride every day. after school during the year, and for the most part of the day in the summer, we would be out riding out bikes. usually on construction sites, making makeshift ramps and jumps. conquering obstacles. testing our limits. and crashing. but sometimes we would venture into the sonoma mountains where we would ride up and up for 2.5 hours. then down in 15 minutes. top speed: 52 mph.

and i think radio freddy has done a fine job this morning describing "the bike room":

Every cyclist needs a place where they can both retreat and hang their equipment, a place where old tubulars go to die and plastic bins divide up small parts and little things that one day will prove their usefulness again. A place where chain lubes and embrocations stand side-by-side, ready to serve both rider and machine. This space maintains a degree of organization that differs as greatly as cyclists do, yet it allows every rider the ability to be prepared to roll out the door in a matter of minutes. It's as much physical space as it is mental space. Whether it's a closet, a corner of the garage, or a full-blown room, the area that houses your gear is called the bike room.

Over the years, my bike room has ranged from a messenger bag to the trunk of my car to a full-on basement complete with a roller cabinet filled with tools and a floor covered in anti-fatigue mats. My brain sees things in retail terms, a result of my years in the bike industry. Hooks for wheels and machines, a cabinet for tools, which is organized by things that open and close (pliers, cable cutters) to screw drivers and allen keys to frame tools. Everything has a place and aids in the efficient flow of bike building, simple repairs and, of course, coffee at dawn. During the coldest winter months, it's a training studio complete with DVD player and rollers: a place to recharge the soul when the roads are unrideable and to tinker on old machines in a sort of "on-going, non-going" project.

The bike room is a vacation, a spa, a bunker, a spin class, a tool shed, and an all around hide-out. The bike room allows me to completely immerse myself in my passion and escape from the outside world.

ive been thinking about hobbies lately. what are they? why do some people have them and some do not? can socializing be a hobby? can praying be a hobby? how about work? how about those people that have a million hobbies? how about trading them off like the latest fashion and collecting a huge mound of crap that was once a passion and now it collects dust. ever been in the store "play it again sports"? incredible. dead hobbies. passions lost. out-grown.

out grow.

i think hobbies and passions are good.
and i get a lot of quality time with myself in my bike room. and on the trail.

kind of like this:
The Lord God took the Man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. -Ge2:15