on my drive...

home, i was wondering that if i would be able to call myself a native american? i was born here; therefore i am native to this land. that way i could get money from the government, and other tax cuts.

just a thought...

i'm noticing a trend...

on my blog. and i apologizes to those who don't like it, but....

i caught the 'intriguing' interview this morning, while i was enjoying my morning cup of joe. what interview you may ask? well the insightfully ann curry interviewing angelina jolie in namibia africa.

the insight from this 'interview' is that jolie wants all children in the world to have at least a fifth grade education. she believes that with this then the aids rate would go down along with poverty. without an education she believes that the potentail of humans is just being wasted.

ann asked her about the educational system at 'home.' this the u.s. jolie replied that we just can't fix our own house, while our neighbors is falling apart.

is our house fixed? i think we have a long way to go to being fixed. also to touch on her other point...just because you get a fifth grade education does that mean that you won't get aids? following her 'logic'...so everyone with aids has less than a fifth grade education. scientific proof that aids only effects the stupid, or at least according to jolie.

this also brings up another point about education. is it a right? i don't believe that it is. it is a privilege. as tuition goes up more and more, it becomes a privilege of the rich. those who are able to afford it. also, culturally, is it a necessity? as our country has the ablilty to produce these jobs, and has a use for the 'education' that schools provide. does namibia have a need for educated citizens? educated in the u.s. sense. what about tribes living in the jungle? are they really worried about the pythagorean theorem, or just putting food on the table? the question becomes what is the societies needs?

surly-test

surly-test
Originally uploaded by divine_gear.

i set up an account with flilckr.com, and just wanted to test it out...

by the way i was checking out a catalog from a cycling clothing company called rapha in the u.k. and they have fixie specfic clothing, and the guy on the bike in the pic. was on a steamroller. nice...

enjoy life...

i present the...

question: where do laws come from? let's not get too deep into this question, now.

in the news the other day i heard a story, that i just didn't get. so if anyone is able to help me, then please do so.

in a school on the east coast a girl is on the track team. what does the track team do? to my knowledge they run around a track. run being the operative word here. well, she is in a wheelchair due to some spinal cord disease, and she is on the track team. she wins everytime. here is the link to the story... teen is off to the races

my question is why?

at first she wasn't allowed on the team, but then a judge said that she had to be allowed on; due to a lawsuit of some kind. the other girls on the team love it. they don't care.

fine, but wait a minute...track team. running. she has a set of wheels; which as we know, are able to go faster than a pair of legs. an obvious advantage. a mechanical epo.

so a judge handed this verdict down. a law that comes from where? in this case, emotion. sure it sucks that she is in a wheelchair, but the point is not to rule through emotion. if we ruled through emotion, then how would our society be built? laws are set up to instill some sort of conformity, or fear of repercussions. don't do the crime, if you can't do the time. i do not do 'x', because of the consequences of doing 'x'. a type of fear, or knowledge that my actions have an effect on others, if not myself.

there is no empirical reason for her to be on the team. none. she is more than able to compete with others in wheelchair's, but should not be able to compete with able bodied persons. if this is allowed then why don't other para-olympic athletes compete with able bodied athletes?

in my view this decision is un-lawful, and a smack in the face of society.

i'm going to...

make a political statement. i know that this (my blog) really isn't the forum for it. for i have always tried to stay away from such banter here. but...

there has been a lot of things going around being said about the issue of immigration. this is a hot topic right now here in america. i believe our former president teddy roosevelt said it best in a nineteen nineteen speech...

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...

There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

this was written by president roosevelt ten years after his presidency to the american defense society.

what to take from this...

one flag. one nation.

united we stand, yet divide we fall (don't forget the second half of this)

thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the fifty stars represent the fifty states, the thirteen stripes represent the thirteen original colonies; known as Old Glory

white for purity and innocence
red for hardiness and valour
blue, the color of the chief, for vigilance, perseverance and justice
the star "is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun." -the house of representatives; nineteen seventy seven.

just another...

quote.
"in our infinite ignorance we are all equal." -karl popper

so i've been listening to some odd stuff latley. in particular moloko . been getting into more of what i call the electric sound. music that you could 'chill' with or have a good martini with.

a ride is coming up this weekend out in lorain. it's free. i'm in. it should be a good road ride. i've never rode out there before, but some of area that i see as i drive by looks really nice. so that should be fun.

so take care, and until next time...

a good friend...

of mine once gave me some advise. i first believed this advise to be due to the beer we were consuming at the time. for many odd things come out of our mouths from beer. but i remembered it. and listened to it. i tried to observe it in life, and experience to validate it. as i take it, i change or tweak it a little to fit a broader sense. because i would hate to pigeon hole anyone or anything.

he once said (and i'm going to paraphase)...you can't trust anyone that doesn't have a vice.

think about it...are you able to? can you trust anyone that doesn't have a release? if a person doesn't have a vice, then what is their outlet? how do they release tension?

let's take the example of alcohol. i'm not talking about an alcholholic, but just a drink now and again. a hard day at work, or what-ever. just to open a beer and enjoy it. to get a little release. if there is no release, then what happens? things then tend to get bottled up. repressed. buried. a tightly wound bomb, just waiting to go off. these are people that you can put a chunk of coal up their ass, and get a diamond.

we don't need an extreme of any one thing, but a medium. aristotle called it the mean between two extremes. buddha called it the middle path.

become the water in a stream, and not the rock in the stream. if you are able to flow and let go, you move with more easy. unlike the rock; which doesn't move at all. the taoist riddle: what is stronger; water or rock?

let go a little. enjoy life.

a beautiful day...

down at mohican. took the single speed out, yet again. i think my other bike is getting jealousy.

anyway, as we made our way to the top...
here you can see the xc trail on the left, and the dh trail on the right...

we deserved a break. riding along with thomas "i'm not that committed" konsen, ubermodelr, and edmund "eighteen wheeler" konsen.

out into the field and back into the woods. edmund clears some logs...

then it was to the road and back in again to more trail and logs.
ubermodelr...

no commitment thomas...

eighteen wheeler...

down into some tricky rocks, where we all should have gone a little faster...

foot down, i repeat foot down...

looking good...

until...

thomas got a flat from a bridge a little bit back. the story goes that his wheel got caught. edmund started to go over, but had to abort, and change direction mid-stream. i was in the back so i had plenty of time to change...

i take too many self portraits, but i'm the only one that wants to take pics...

edmund and i were the only ones to take the bridge...

looking good edmund...

the first part of the loop is clearly marked. the second half not so much. as we hit the second half, we basically took what ever we saw as a trail...

coming at cha...

this was fun...

we hiked up a hill, just to go back down. this is where it started to turn into somebody's property. as we took the trail, what happened was that we were going the other way on the trail. no biggie. not too many riders out here today. headed back to the cars. and looked forward to a much deserved beer. we stopped at a little cafe in loundenville, for a great lunch and a beer.

mohican is definitely going to be hit more often this summer. its a great ride, with lots of challenges.

take care...

the things...

we find when we go through our stuff is pretty interesting.

as i was going through an old book of mine, and i found this from the old bike shop...



a postcard that was made up for fork maintenance. this postcard was from nineteen ninety-nine. for those of you that remember...enjoy.

the dream...

is dead. a dream that i have had for over ten years. gone. in a flash. with no warning. i'm left standing in the dust. and it is all because of some celebutard. and who is that celebutard that ruined your life, you may ask. well i will tell you. it is gwyneth paltrow. that stuck up, nose in the air ruined my dream. how? the question chews at my soul. you think that you may be on top of it. you are at the poker table. you have the hand of your life. a full house is looking you in your face. but then, there it is. someone has a royal flush. damn them. what did she do? well, i will tell you. i have had a dream for the last ten years to name my first born son (if i ever have a son) moses. moses hamad. it just flowed. sounded right. how many other moses's do you know. i know of two. the one from the bible, and a jewish philosopher from the middle ages. well she took it. named her kid moses. damn it. damn her celebutardness. now i guess that i'll have to go with my second choice. which is...

quote number one...

is by david hume from his work a treatise of human nature.

"the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous."

i have put...

a new feature on the blog. to the side bar i put a little section that i call 'philosophical quotes..." this will be a place where i shall post random quotes that i either find interesting, amusing, thought provoking, or just plain fun. i will update this when i find good quotes to put up. i might even put them in a posting, just so you are able to comment on them if you'd like. i won't give any background or anything like that. just a quote. it will be your responsibility to take it from there.

take care...

red light go...

is a great documentary about some of new york cities bike messengers. click the link above to go to the page.

i don't normally recomend movies, but i thought this movie was appropreate. check it out if your into what bike messengers do, or if you just like a really good documentary. this movie takes you into more than just the deliveres. it takes you into their community. they take you on some of their races; which are called alleycat races. the biggest prize in these races is respect. thats all. nothing else. its worth the watch.

enjoy...

did you...

ever hear the statement "now he is living the life style"? i came across this in a magazine i was reading one day. it happened to be a cycling mag. but now i want to explore this in depth...

"living the life style." what does that mean?

taking it from a cycling perspective, it could mean that a person is highly reliant on their bikes. be it for transportation, or a job.

transportation: getting from one place to another on a vehicle. a mode of transit.

job: delivery. bike messenger.

insert any definition that you will.

in any case...when we say such a phrase, we emote a hint of jealousy. the green eyed beast. we soon forget that the grass on the other side of the fence needs to be mowed, too.we wish that that would be our life style. how great it would be if the bike were our only mode of transportation. would it? as i go to school i see the same bike locked to the bike rack. nothing special. just some bike from wal-mart. now think about their life. a cheap bike (under five hundred bones). locked to a rack. carrying a heavy book bag. day in and day out. through snow. rain. and anything else that god throws at you. and why is he doing this? is it really the life style? or is it that they can't afford anything else?

a bike as your only mode of transportation. i couldn't work in what i'm doing now. and i love what i'm doing. i live in a house that is right now comfortable for my standard of living. i work on the far east side. and the far west side. i could not live in either county. too much money. about thirty miles in either direction. now how long would that take to get from one end to the other? i would have to leave pretty early to get anywhere. and i would be getting home pretty late for anything. much less getting food, and other things that one needs. and getting anything done for that matter.

job: bike messenger. how cool would that be? riding my fixie all day. taking things to people. zipping in and out of traffic. in and out of people. cool. oh, wait...weather. god throwing things at you. oh, wait...is that car door going to open up or not? i'm sure it has been a dream of all of us who ride, but what really goes into it? just like in the movie quicksilver (which i received on dvd the other day), "you can't ride your bike forever." meaning what are you going to do after being a bike messenger?

there is a man whom i often see in my neighborhood riding his bike, with a huge bucket attached to the back. he pedals the streets looking at garbage to pick up, and do with what ever he will. others do this, and often times they have a truck or something. but is he "living the life style"?

so the only life style that i want to live is mine. the one that i am in right now. and if i wanted any of those others, i would have to make some big changes in my own. am i willing to do that? if i desire. which right now that is a moot point.

i'm not saying to throw away your bike, and drive your gas guzzling, piston clanking horseless carriage all over the place. but, the life style that you need to be concerned with is the style of life that you are living. not someone else's. if you want something else, then make the change. not because of anything else other than you.

she has been...

christened. sunday was a great day for a ride. edmund and i headed out to the knob is wooster. the weather was overcast, but no worries on our part.

on our way down we saw someone else heading down. bikes on the back. going the same way. the thought pops in our head; is there a race today? we will find out. one of the bikes on the back was a single speed. nice. rigid fork. now that will be punishment.

not too many people there. edmund and i are the same. we take our time getting ready. no hurry.

we hit the trail. a hard mud welcomed us. some puddles. not too bad. as we enter the trail i can tell i'm in trouble. gearing way too high. but i thought i'd give it a try any way. edmund will not care. thirty two sixteen. too much. but i was quick on the flats.

down into the rock beds, and up and out over and down the planks. she handled great. quick and nimble. just the way i like my single speed. a lot to get used to with the hard tail. as the ride went on i got into the groove.

a short stop to shed some layers...


the monolith at rest (looks good). down hill ahead...



in the immortal words of mr. big ring..."never be afraid to bust out the walk." and that i did. to this point...



and then up some more...



we ran into some trouble after this. there is one section that is a tight switchback, where there is no good line to take. it's all rocks. you have the choice of going wide and hitting a lot of rocks. or going tight and hitting one big one. i do best trying to go wide. edmund took the latter. it becomes a fine balance of making the turn with enough momentum of going over the rock. well, that balance he didn't find. as he went down he bent his rotor. so we had a small mechanical moment. one rider went by, and asked if everything was o.k. other than having a spare rotor, we were fine. he also asked if we were racing that day. crap. the thought then came that we better get out of here before the race starts. worst case...we would get out during the race and then people would think that we were in first. after bending the rotor back into a rideable position...we were off.
this was my triumph of the day...



i beat edmund up the hill. he laughs at me saying "one out of ten." hey, a journey of a thousand steps begins with one.
the rest of the ride was great.

i love the monolith. she will see many more riding days.

"greed, hatred and delusion are unskillful. whatever the greedy, hating or deluded person does with body, speech or mind that is unskillful, also. whatever one overwhelmed by greed, hatred or delusion, with mind uncontrolled, does to another, unjustly causing him suffering through punishment, imprisonment, fine, abuse, banishment, or on the grounds that 'might is right'- all that is unskillful, too."

peace...