I went for a bike ride this evening and got another friggin flat! That makes a perfect record for the whole month of October. Not one road ride was without a flat. The thorns are positively thick out there right now.
Anyway, the ride is about 90 minutes with no problems. Long ass uphill and then really fast downhill. If I have no problems then I can make it home before it gets dark. "If" I have no problems...
My rear tire started to get soft almost at the top of the climb. There was no way I was going to go 40mph downhill with a soft rear tire. Disaster would be unavoidable. So I pulled off and replaced the tube. I'm getting pretty good at that by now.
I got back on the bike and went as fast as I dared in a very gray and dim twilight on a cloudy, moist evening. The next bit was relatively uneventful except for a bug that hit me just below my left eye with a wet SPLAT. I could see the pavement for the most part and managed to avoid any potholes. I admit I had visions of one flatting my front tire, sending me sliding on a trail of skin into the ditch.
A ways further down the hill there is a spot where the road gets REALLY steep (I've clocked almost 52mph down this spot in the past) and there are big oak trees that hang over the road. It was already dark when I came to this spot. To say it was intimidating would be to put it mildly. I just tried to point the bike into the middle of the blackness and gave myself over to fate. It was honestly like what I imagine riding through a black hole would be like. Amazingly I came out the other side and resumed my ride by braille in the waning darkness fervently hoping another car would pass me nice and slow so I could see the road in their headlights for a ways. Then...
It started to rain. Not hard, but enough that I had to squint fiercely to keep the water out of my eyes. I have no experience riding this particular bike in the rain, let alone at @30 mph. Add in the darkness and it was quite the harrowing finish to a quick weeknight ride.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
But I'm going to the bike shop tomorrow to buy a light...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Alan Watts is awesome!
I've been curious about Alan Watts since I caught some of his recorded lectures on KPFK here in the LA area a while back. (I hardly even listen to KPFK - it's a bit too left for me in general.)
I bought his book Nature, Man and Woman a couple years ago but failed to really get into it to any depth.
More recently though I picked up The Way of Zen and I'm finding it to be quite stimulating. His ability to enunciate some of the concepts of Zen and Hinduism is really astounding. It does require quite a high level of concentration to comprehend though. Not the best thing for a light read before bed...
I bought his book Nature, Man and Woman a couple years ago but failed to really get into it to any depth.
More recently though I picked up The Way of Zen and I'm finding it to be quite stimulating. His ability to enunciate some of the concepts of Zen and Hinduism is really astounding. It does require quite a high level of concentration to comprehend though. Not the best thing for a light read before bed...
"How can you possibly believe that?"
What makes a person so stuck in their political views that nothing will change their mind? How do you use an unstoppable message to change an unchangeable mind?
I would argue that Obama has been more effective at this than any politician in recent history - even more effective than Clinton and Reagan before him. Clinton was great with empathy. His clarity and directness with the common citizen was largely responsible for his success. Reagan is a bit before I started paying attention, but he was a very personable speaker and again I believe folks were able to understand and empathize with him.
I think it great that Obama is so effective in this regard. But what really puzzles me, is why is it that some folks can never be reached?
Ideologues on the far left and the far right are so walled in by their perceptions of the world and their place in it that there is literally nothing that can be done to break through. How is that possible? How is it possible that anyone can be so stuck and stubborn that even literal proof will not sway an opinion, or even less, cause a second thought or raise some curiosity? Why do some people cling so ferociously to ideologies that are so extreme in relation to the general populace and even humanity?
I am struggling to find some way to understand this and I'm afraid I may not find one. I suspect fear is the largest factor, but I bet there's a mix of certitude in there as well. Frailty of ego... Ideological upbringing... This is a huge puzzle for me.
Why absolutism? I don't get it. And I strive to avoid it in my everyday life, but can I? Is it possible to be truly objective?
I would argue that Obama has been more effective at this than any politician in recent history - even more effective than Clinton and Reagan before him. Clinton was great with empathy. His clarity and directness with the common citizen was largely responsible for his success. Reagan is a bit before I started paying attention, but he was a very personable speaker and again I believe folks were able to understand and empathize with him.
I think it great that Obama is so effective in this regard. But what really puzzles me, is why is it that some folks can never be reached?
Ideologues on the far left and the far right are so walled in by their perceptions of the world and their place in it that there is literally nothing that can be done to break through. How is that possible? How is it possible that anyone can be so stuck and stubborn that even literal proof will not sway an opinion, or even less, cause a second thought or raise some curiosity? Why do some people cling so ferociously to ideologies that are so extreme in relation to the general populace and even humanity?
I am struggling to find some way to understand this and I'm afraid I may not find one. I suspect fear is the largest factor, but I bet there's a mix of certitude in there as well. Frailty of ego... Ideological upbringing... This is a huge puzzle for me.
Why absolutism? I don't get it. And I strive to avoid it in my everyday life, but can I? Is it possible to be truly objective?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Almost There
Today it started to hit me. Our 8 year long national nightmare may finally be coming to an end. It's starting to look like Obama may actually win. And win big. I was almost overwhelmed when I realized this.
Maybe I'm not insane. Maybe the rest of the country is no longer insane and has finally begun to realize that electing Bush twice in a row was a bad idea. Maybe the bill of goods the Republicans have been selling is finally being seen for what it is by a majority of sane Americans. Maybe, just maybe the right thing will happen for once...
Fear is a powerful thing. The use of fear for political gain has been used shamelessly by leaders throughout history. The Republicans have gotten away with it for almost 8 years now. 9/11 and the fear of it happening again gave the Republicans control of government and to a large extent the media. Because of fear the general public decided that it was ok to lose privacy (wire taps), lose face in the world (Iraq, torture), lose a stable financial system (current financial crisis), lose lose lose. So it re-elected a man in way over his head surrounded by fear mongering neocons. Idiots!
And now we might win. And by we, I mean everyone in this country. Even the evangelical Christianists that are so afraid of letting women have contol over their own bodies. Afraid of not being able to pray in school. Afraid of gays getting married. Afraid of scary big government. Afraid of people thinking for themselves. Afraid of terrorists turning our country into a militantly controlled Islamic colony. (See, there's that fear again. More on this thought line soon.) They win because their ideas and beliefs are in no way threatened by an Obama administration. Only their ability to push those beliefs on the rest of the populace through political means will be lost. And good riddance to that.
If you have seen Obama speak, have seen him calmly and confidently debate, have seen how he carries himself with that thoughtful patient visage then you must know personally the sense of hope that has infected vast swathes of this counrty. He's the real deal. Just you wait...
No, just you go out there and help in any way you can to get him elected. We have to make sure it happens. The consequences of another Republican administration, especially with the angry unstable McCain and the horrifyingly unprepared Palin, would be unthinkably disastrous. But I won't get into that here because this post is supposed to be about hope and the good that may be on the horizon...
12 days to go! Can't rest now. Of course, the real work will begin after the election. The work of digging our way out of this huge mess.
Just one other thing before I call it a day...
George Bush is the Worst President of All Time!
Maybe I'm not insane. Maybe the rest of the country is no longer insane and has finally begun to realize that electing Bush twice in a row was a bad idea. Maybe the bill of goods the Republicans have been selling is finally being seen for what it is by a majority of sane Americans. Maybe, just maybe the right thing will happen for once...
Fear is a powerful thing. The use of fear for political gain has been used shamelessly by leaders throughout history. The Republicans have gotten away with it for almost 8 years now. 9/11 and the fear of it happening again gave the Republicans control of government and to a large extent the media. Because of fear the general public decided that it was ok to lose privacy (wire taps), lose face in the world (Iraq, torture), lose a stable financial system (current financial crisis), lose lose lose. So it re-elected a man in way over his head surrounded by fear mongering neocons. Idiots!
And now we might win. And by we, I mean everyone in this country. Even the evangelical Christianists that are so afraid of letting women have contol over their own bodies. Afraid of not being able to pray in school. Afraid of gays getting married. Afraid of scary big government. Afraid of people thinking for themselves. Afraid of terrorists turning our country into a militantly controlled Islamic colony. (See, there's that fear again. More on this thought line soon.) They win because their ideas and beliefs are in no way threatened by an Obama administration. Only their ability to push those beliefs on the rest of the populace through political means will be lost. And good riddance to that.
If you have seen Obama speak, have seen him calmly and confidently debate, have seen how he carries himself with that thoughtful patient visage then you must know personally the sense of hope that has infected vast swathes of this counrty. He's the real deal. Just you wait...
No, just you go out there and help in any way you can to get him elected. We have to make sure it happens. The consequences of another Republican administration, especially with the angry unstable McCain and the horrifyingly unprepared Palin, would be unthinkably disastrous. But I won't get into that here because this post is supposed to be about hope and the good that may be on the horizon...
12 days to go! Can't rest now. Of course, the real work will begin after the election. The work of digging our way out of this huge mess.
Just one other thing before I call it a day...
George Bush is the Worst President of All Time!
Gossip In The Grain
The new Ray LaMontagne album is out. It's absolutley stunning. The songwriting. The production. The sound. Everything is just stellar.
I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the album, but I truly expect my relationship with it to become deep, fulfilling, and immensely rewarding as I get to know it better. The same thing happened to me with his first two albums - the second more than the first.
All three albums are seriously contending for solid spots on my top 20 list. Til the Sun Turns Black is currently in the top 5...
I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the album, but I truly expect my relationship with it to become deep, fulfilling, and immensely rewarding as I get to know it better. The same thing happened to me with his first two albums - the second more than the first.
All three albums are seriously contending for solid spots on my top 20 list. Til the Sun Turns Black is currently in the top 5...
Prop 8 Proponents Proudly Proclaim Preservation of Patriarchal Pro-Family Position
My local newspaper has an opinion section that routinely demonstrates the redness of my small town suburban California surroundings. Today was no exception.
There were 3 - count em 3!!! - letters to the editor expressing support for Prop 8. And one letter complaining about their "Yes on 8" signs being stolen.
Letters against 8, you guesset it - ZERO!
Every letter had many justifications as to why Marriage should be protected in California. The fellatious idea that now gay marriage will be taught in school, the idea that the gays already have the same rights as everyone else, that "our religious views are threatened", etc..
Lets get this straight(heh) - Prop 8 is DISCRIMINATION pure and simple. It will disallow rights to a select group of citizens that don't meet the approval of a segment of society that is religiously bigoted in their views and afraid of what they don't understand. It will make the law of the land that some are not as good as others. This goes against the very core of the American ideal that all men (and women) were created equal. There is simply no justification for this Proposition.
Please help defeat this disgusting affront to fairness and equality. Donate here.
There were 3 - count em 3!!! - letters to the editor expressing support for Prop 8. And one letter complaining about their "Yes on 8" signs being stolen.
Letters against 8, you guesset it - ZERO!
Every letter had many justifications as to why Marriage should be protected in California. The fellatious idea that now gay marriage will be taught in school, the idea that the gays already have the same rights as everyone else, that "our religious views are threatened", etc..
Lets get this straight(heh) - Prop 8 is DISCRIMINATION pure and simple. It will disallow rights to a select group of citizens that don't meet the approval of a segment of society that is religiously bigoted in their views and afraid of what they don't understand. It will make the law of the land that some are not as good as others. This goes against the very core of the American ideal that all men (and women) were created equal. There is simply no justification for this Proposition.
Please help defeat this disgusting affront to fairness and equality. Donate here.
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