So You Want Ride a Motorcycle?

(This post needs editing, please forgive the grammatical errors.)



Last year at about this time (Oct 08) I decided it might be fun to own and ride my own motorcycle. I had come across a YouTube video of a test review of a Ducati Monster 696. Up until that time I knew nothing of motorcycles other than the impression that they were dangerous and pointless.

However, after seeing the video and checking the performance numbers, I thought "wow, I could never afford a car that can perform like that Ducati". The Ducati 696 is a middle weight performer, the base model of that company. And it was available for about $10,000 CAN.

From that time forward I researched and sought after everything I could find on the WWW that had to do with motorcycles. I researched sport bikes, cruisers, dual sport, tourers and even scooters.

The best site that I have found for researching bikes is MotorcycleNews It's a British site but has a short review of just about every kind of motorcycle out there. They are somewhat prejudiced in favor of sport bikes but it's a great starting point. My bike is known as the Yamaha XJ6 Diversion in places other than North America. Here, it's fully faired. This brings me to a point regarding naked bikes. Naked bikes look bad ass but they have little or no wind protection so if you want to blast down your favorite highway it might end up being a pain in the ass rather than bad assed. The wind blast will wear you down.

By late fall I had committed to owning and riding a bike by the Spring of 2009.

This post is to outline my experiences in this project, what I did right and what I did wrong and maybe to change some impressions of motorcycling that some of you might have.

I want to start off with a few suggestions:

1) When you buy your bike, also purchase a heated vest. There is nothing that kills the fun of biking like cold does. The cold is not only uncomfortable, it's unsafe. To ride properly you need to be flexible and you need to pay attention to every move you make. When you are cold, you are stiff and you end up thinking about how cold you are instead of the plan you have for your next corner.

The heated vest keeps your core organs warm and when they are warm they don't draw heat from your extremities, therefore your hands, legs and feet stay warmer. Believe me, regardless of where you live, you will sometimes be in a cold environment and you will really appreciate that vest!

2) Take a safety course OR pay someone you know that is an experienced rider a lot of money to spend at least 15 hours with you teaching all he knows about riding. I took a course that cost me $700. Basically their goal was to see that I passed my road test to get my license and that's about it. I would rather have given an experienced rider that money for 15 hours of 1 on 1 training instead of the 40 hour group course I took.

3) Plan to spend several hours a week riding your bike and not just to and from work. You only can get good (safe) by riding a LOT and in various situation, city and highway. It's a time commitment you have to make for safety sake.

4) Do not purchase an underpowered bike. Regardless of all the crap there is on the net about starting off "slow" and getting a 250 or a similar bike, just never mind that crap 'cause that's what it is. If you are committed to learning, your skills will grow exponentially. When you start, your bike will seem scary, intimidating. But you will learn and you'll learn fast. You will outgrow an underpowered bike in a matter of weeks and you'll be saying to yourself "I wish I had more power!". I guarantee it.

5) If you have a history of traffic convictions, if you commonly take part in reckless or impulsive behavior, if you are heavy drinker, if you have serious heath issues that effect your mobility or if you are submissive and like others to be in control, then motorcycling is maybe not a good idea for you. Conversely, if you are good at video games and/or are a control freak, then motorcycling might be your life passion.

After months of research I purchased a Yamaha FZ6R. It's a 600cc sports-tourer with 77 Horsepower. It's a great bike with good power but also docile in the lower rev range. YOU control how much power goes to the wheel. The bike will do only what you tell it to do. Do not be afraid of a powerful bike. Just use the power wisely.

Honestly, I would not consider a bike under 600cc unless you are a female. I say that not out of sexism but only because of the weight issue. My bike weighs in at about 470 pounds loaded with fluids. Occasionally, when starting out you will lose your balance with your bike and it will start to fall. You need a lot of strength to keep it off the ground in that case. It's happened to me three times and each time it took every ounce of strength I had to keep it from falling. And I am 6' 190 lbs.

Those are my five suggestions which I feel are critical.

Now you have to choose your bike.

In order to choose your bike you will have to really analyse why you want to ride. Is it for economy sake? Because you want to look "cool"? Because you want to learn a new skill? Because you seek danger? You want to go fast? Your friend has one and you want to join in the fun? You want to tear up the backwoods trails? All of the above?

Your reasons will dictate what kind of bike you choose. I would say 80% of all the bikes in my town are cruisers, Harley types with lots of chrome and loud pipes. The are probably the most comfortable and nicest looking bikes. If you are after looks and sounds then maybe that is the type of bike to get. The problem (for me) with a cruiser is that they are not particularly fast not do they handle or brake as well as a sport bike.

You need to decide how much you want to spend. For me I didn't want to go over $10,000. Partly because I wasn't sure if I would really like biking and partly because I wanted a brand new bike and I only had so much money to spend. Having only $10K really limits your choices on a new bike. That may be a good thing because in the 13 - 20K range there is so much choice of really good bikes that choosing one would be quite a task.

As I alluded to earlier, I wanted the kind of performance I could not get in any car I can afford. The kind of performance that one can experience in a Corvette Z06 or Porsche 911 and then some.

The "middle weight" bike I chose will go 0-60 mph in under 5 seconds and can reach a speed of 135 MPH. That's pretty fast, at least in acceleration. Super Sport bikes can get to 60 in under 3 seconds and are electronically limited to 186 MPH although they could go faster. They are the fastest production vehicles on the planet. You just have to look at the size of the disc brakes on these bikes to know that they stop very fast too. Super Sport Bikes are racing machines that are legal for the street.

There are two classes of Super Sports. the 600's (Yamaha R6, Kawasaki ZX6R, Honda CBR600) and the 1 Litre Bikes (Yamaha R1, Kawasaki ZX10R, Honda CBR1000RR, Suzuki GSX-R1000). A nice compromise between the two might be the Suzuki GSX-R750. There are some others too, like the Ducati 848 and Triumph Daytona 675.

Well I am getting ahead of myself.
I am going to say this now: DO NOT PURCHASE A SUPER-SPORT BIKE IF YOU ARE A NOVICE RIDER. My entire experience this summer on my bike was a learning experience in order to reach the next level, that of owning and riding a Super Sport bike safely. That's my goal for the future.

I rode my bike 12,000 km this season and in every one of those kilometers I tried to learn something or practise a skill I had learned.

I don't know much about cruisers or Harleys so from now on anything I write has to do with sport bikes in general from a perspective of someone interested in performance over all else.

There seems to be the misconception out there that motorcylces are not safe. I spent most of my 55 years thinking that until I actually learned to ride.

Now I consider bikes to be safer than cars in most situations for three reasons:

1) Agility. Your bike is so much more agile than a car its like comparing an elephant to a gazelle. Your ability to avoid a sudden danger is much more enhanced on a bike than in a car.

2) Room: A car has about a foot of space on either side of it's lane. A bike has about 3 feet or more. This gives you a tremendous amount of options on where you want to ride, depending on the conditions. You can ride where its safest, you can adjust your position to where the view of the road is best. It's amazing how much room you have. Space +Time = Safety.

3) Awareness. If you were about to go hiking in the woods and the park warden warned you that there was a bear around how would that effect you? You would hear every branch move in the wind, every squirrel move in the bush, every leaf that fell to the ground. You would be looking over your shoulder every few seconds.

The increased vulnerability of riding a bike makes you just as aware. When riding, your level of awareness raises to a measure not seen since your pot smoking days. You see more, you hear more and you feel more. You look for danger. It's an amazing feeling and one reason I love riding and it's the main reason you will be safe. It's your built-in survival instinct.

The hazard I have developed most fear for is a loss of traction due to debris or obstacles on the road, especially on the riding line you have picked. It could be gravel, leaves, a pot hole, or the slippy tar strips they use to plug cracks. You need to remember that you only have two small wheels keeping you upright, two small patches of rubber. You need to think about traction ALL the time.

Riding is all about the laws of physics and how your body and your bike will interact. Every move you make affects your bike. You need to learn to communicate with your bike and learn it's particular behaviour. If I do this, then this will happen. Practise, practise practise. I've always thought that learning to ride was like learning a hard video game. It's rewarding to see yourself get better each time you play. You learn a little something with every game experience that you can apply the next time you start the game.

When I got my license and started to ride I was really awkward and I felt awkward when I saw other bikers whizzing by me.

MOTORCYCLING IS NOT A CONTEST! The term "ride your own ride" is one of the most important that I know. There will always be better skilled bikers than you. Unless you are in a race on a track it doesn't matter what other bikers do. The temptation is to try and match their speed in a corner before you've developed the skills to do so. So it seems obvious but: DO NOT RIDE BEYOND YOUR SKILLS. Failure to do so will earn you a trip to the emergency ward.

Fear Is Your Friend

When you start to ride and even if you are experienced you will encounter what I call "uncomfortable moments". This happens usually in corners where your body tells you that what you are doing may endanger your life. You get a shot of adrenaline and maybe a sense of approaching doom. Your body is telling you to take some sort of action to change the situation.

Listen to your body, it is trying to keep you alive! Cornering fast and accurately is the toughest and yet most rewarding skill to learn, I am still learning. The most common mistake is entering a corner too fast for your skill level. Or taking the wrong line, usually because you haven't made a plan for that corner, or thought about it too late.

Do not take any corner for granted! Every corner needs a plan and once committed to it, you need to start thinking about the next corner, especially if you are on a lovely twisty road. In my case I usually get into trouble, not by going too fast, but by turning in too late because my attention was elsewhere.

It's much safer to enter a corner too slow and apply power in the corner, than to go too wide either because of speed or poor line decision and then try to apply brakes or induce a greater lean angle.

Sometimes I will enter a strange corner much slower than I could have. I tell myself "what a weenie you are". But the next time I take that corner I know I can go faster and best of all, I might be a weenie but I still have all my body parts intact.

In the first few weeks of my riding I approached my bike with a measure of trepidation or a healthy nervousness because I wasn't smooth and my muscle memory coordination wasn't fully developed. This is natural and a good thing. It goes away and then you will stop thinking about how to ride a bike and start to enjoy the benefits of learning advanced riding skills, like high speed cornering.

Now when I get on my bike I have three goals in mind:

1) To avoid getting a speeding ticket.
2) To avoid causing myself or my bike harm.
3) To go as fast as my skills allow without jeopardizing the first two goals.

Let's face it, if you are thinking about a Sport Bike, you are not thinking about maintaining the speed limits. My entry level sport bike is much more capable than the speed limits which seem agonizingly slow. If a corner says 70kmh its safe to assume you can take it at 100km on your bike with safety to spare. it's just the way it is.

If you are never going to break the speed limits then you are wasting your money on a Sport Bike, buy a cruiser. I'm not advocating breaking the law, I'm just telling it like it is.

My theory on speeding is this: On any given 4 hour trip if you were to speed all the time you might have a 40% chance of getting a speeding ticket. If you were to speed 50% of the time, then that gets reduced to 20%. And so on. So I speed (and by that I mean going in excess of 10km over the posted limit) about 10-20% of the time. This reduces my chances of getting a ticket down to between 4 and 8%. I can live with those odds. I budget myself for one ticket per season.

You will be ticketed, it's just a matter of how many tickets you are prepared to take.

Speeding 15-20% of the time means I can still get my adrenaline rush every now and then. The nice thing about a motorcycle is that it can slow down almost as fast as it can speed up. Unlike a car, especially an automatic, a bike doesn't have the momentum of weight or a massive flywheel to keep it going after the throttle is turned off. Combine that with much more pronounced engine braking and you might find you hardly ever needing to use your brakes on the highway. The point is that if you suspect that white sedan coming around the bend, the one that looks suspiciously like a Crown Victoria is a police cruiser, you can slow down to legal limits real fast.

If you pick your spots carefully and assume every car out there is a police cruiser until proven otherwise, you may be ticket free all year. Good luck with that.

Sharply Focused and Dialed Into The Zone

Earlier I had suggested that if you were proficient in video gaming, then you might really enjoy motorcycling. Why? Well when I am gaming, nothing else in my world matters. All my concentration is involved in the game. A bomb might go off in my neighborhood and it wouldn't matter until my game was finished.

I don't multi-task. I do one thing, I give it all my concentration. I do it well and then I move on the next task. If you are a person who is able to focus in on one task, give it all your attention and the expense of everything else in your world, then you will be a skilled biker.

Because when you are on a motorcycle, that's pretty much what you have to do. Concentrate on that one task of controlling that bike and making sure it does what you want it to do. In a car you can daydream, you can be on your phone, some people even text message, you can listen to your stereo, you can talk with your passenger, you can scratch your nether parts.

On a bike, at least on a Sport Bike all or any of those things (if they were possible on a bike) would result in grievous bodily harm.

One reason I love to motorcycle is just the fact that I can and need to block out everything else in my life and concentrate on my bike and the road in front of me. On any task, whether you are bowling or writing a blog or a goaltender on a hockey team, or whatever you are doing, when you are "dialed in" you know you will do a good job, it just goes with the territory.



When I am on my bike, on my favorite highway on a warm sunny day there is no better feeling I have ever felt than to be "sharply focused and dialed into the zone".

It Your Fault!

I don't care what the Police Report says, or who had the right of way, or what the circumstances were. If you fall off your bike, it's your own fault. 99.9% of "accidents" are preventable. As a Rider is up to you to protect yourself against mistakes by other drivers or riders, your life depends upon it. The onus is on you to foresee all the hazards that may approach you and to have a game plan for the unexpected.

Gear

Ok, lets talk helmets. I'm not going to get into the debate over whether or not helmes are mandatory. In all parts of Canada they are. In British Columbia, where I live, you can get away with the skimpiest Beanie type caps.

The helmet you wear will be decided by the type of bike you have. If you ride a cruiser, or even a tourer, you will not have a full face helmet. That's just the way it is. And if you ride a Sport Bike you WILL wear a full face helmet.

Even you wanted to wear a full face and owned a cruiser, you wouldn't, you'd be laughed off the road. It's just a funny part of motorcycling.

It just proves that Sport Bike Riders are way smarter than the Cruiser Dudes. They would love to ride with a Full Face on but know that the unwritten rule says you can't.

Most people would conclude that a rider wears a helmet so that, in the event he is in a crash, his skull will be somewhat protected against severe trauma.

While that may be true it is not the cheif reason why I wear one. I wear it for comfort.

The Full Face helmet I wear isolates my head and most of my senses from the hazards that come with hurtling through the air at high speeds. Those hazards being wind, rain, stones, and most importantly Bugs. Just think about driving your car without a windshield for a moment. Sure, most Cruisers have some form of windsheild, but who wants those, they are an incredible drag on your bikes performance. And they still do not protect you like the Full Face does.

Even in a low speed accident, if you fall on your face, there might be a lot of painful and expensive dental work that needs doing. Your face is fragile, most of us like the way it looks as it is. If you want to keep it that way, the Full Face helmet is the way to go.

If someone would absolutely guarantee by some divene intervention that I would never fall off my bike I would still wear a Full Face helmet for pure comfort of riding.

I can't tell you the amount of times a massive insect has been splatterd on my visor. If that bug had hit my bare skin or worse, my eyes, I would have been in serious pain or distracted enough to fall off my bike.

I also like the Full face cause it makes me anonymous to others on the road, it look evil and badass, and for a Sport Bike Rider, thats important.


The Icon Airframe Seventh Seal Helmet


I have one peice of advice for those purchasing a Full Face helmet. Make sure it fits very snug, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. Don't forget that helmet will need to travel through the air at high speed and the last thing you need is to have it bouncing around. I have the Icon Air Frame Seventh Seal Helmet and I'm really happy with it. But there are lots of good helmets out there, just make sure the fit is excellent.

Ear Protection

When I started riding I didn't wear any ear protection, I wanted the hear "everything". Well, unfortunately, "everything" includes a lot of buffeting wind noise which I rate right up there with a wailing baby, a whining cat and the theft alarm installed in my Mustang as one of the truly annoying sounds in my world. It can be very tiresome and pretty much eliminates what you really want to hear, which is the sound of your motor, the heart of your bike.

So get some earplugs. I've tried many and I've settled on the waxed cotton plugs as the best for me. They form nicely to your ear shape and you can drive them deep in your ear to the point where all harsh noises are silenced. The result is that you're able to hear your engine clearer as in runs up and down the rev range, and really, is there a better sound in the world than that? Because the wax attracts dirt, they can get pretty skanky after a while so you need to change them after every 5 to 10 rides.

Jackets

I made a mistake when I purchased my first jacket. A $400 mistake. Ok, well I still wear it around town but it's no good on the highway. The first jacket I purchased was the matching one for my Helmet, the mostly textile Icon Seventh Seal Arc Jacket.
There is nothing actually wrong with the jacket. It offers great protection and looks badass cool. It just is too loose and baggy for the highway. I bought about a half size too big, thinking I could wear layers of clothing underneath in cooler weather. A great idea in principal.

Remember that air is your enemy. The easier you can slide through that air, the more stable your bike will be. A loose fitting baggy jacket will act like a sail at highway speeds, making you think you are riding into a headwind or crosswind or mixture of both.

Get a tight fitting heavy leather jacket if you intend to ride on the highway! The next jacket I bought (also about $400) was the Joe Rocket Blaster 4.0 Jacket. The difference is like night and day. The JR slides though the air like a hot knife through butter. I felt like I was on a different bike, the ride was so much more stable. The tight fit and heavy leather might not be quite as comfy but you'll appreciate the benefits of a jacket like that as soon as you get up to highway speeds.

Gloves

If you've ever watched motorcycle racing at the highest level, like World Superbikes or MotoGP you will see the best riders in the world fall off their bikes. They know, during the course of their season that they all will fall once, maybe more often and mostly at high speeds. That's why I think motorcycle racers are the bravest people on earth.

The big difference between them and us is that they have learned how to fall, if they haven't they would never have made it to the level they are.

If you watch them fall, you will notice, without exception, that none of them use their hands to break their falls. Quite the contrary, they keep their hands away from contact with any hard object. They know that, without their hands and wrists being in top notch shape, they will not be successful.

On a motorcycle, your hands are used to communicate with your bike, they are your most important body part in riding your machine. They have a big job to do. They control braking, shifting, throttle and most of the steering input. Thats pretty much everything to riding a bike.

When you choose your gloves there is a compromise to be made (unless you have the major bucks to purchase the best gloves out there). You want protection, but you also want dexterity.

The first gloves I purchased were Icon Long Merc gloves. They have a ton of protection and thick leather and I think they look cool. As summer approached I began thinking of maybe a lighter glove.


To be continued....

My Daddy Is a Sniper...What Does Your Daddy Do?

Recently three Navy Seal snipers took out three Somali Pirates thus freeing a kidnapped American Captain of a Merchant Ship.

All the world cheered. And I have to admit I did too. Those damn Pirates got what they deserved.

But I have to wonder, what kind of a person wants to be a Sniper? Obviously it's a position applied for and desired by a select few sharpshooters. It's a position that allows you to be a professional and legal Hitman. To hide in the shadows, the trees, an abandoned building or somewhere in the dark, aim your scope at some unsuspecting skull up to a kilometer away and blow his head off.

What kind of person wants to do this?

No one feels sorry for the the now headless Pirates, they probably got what they deserved. But I'll bet most "targets" are people with no other crime than being on the wrong side of a conflict.

I have to ask: Is there a lower form of humanity than a Sniper? Has anyone done a psychological analysis of these people? Are they actually serial killers that have found a legal outlet? Do they dream of the day when they'll be called on to shatter the brains of another human being?

Captain Richard Phillips actions were probably heroic. The actions of the Snipers served to free him.

But the Snipers themselves? Just plain creepy.

Motorcycle Update

Last week I graduated from Motorcycle School and I've been riding my Yamaha FZ6R for almost two weeks now, having put almost 500 km on the odometer.

The first break in period is 1000km, during which time I should not rev the engine for "prolonged periods" over 5800 RPM. So I've been obeying that and am really impressed with the power available in the lower rev range. Makes me really want to see how it performs in the sweet spot between 9000-11000 rpm.

So I really want to get this break in period over with fast.

Trouble is, the weather is not cooperating fully, cool damp conditions this last weekend.

The thing is, I won't ride unless conditions are right to have fun riding. Being cold is not fun. The only problem I am having with cold is my hands because my Icon Merc Long gloves are not cold weather gloves, they are made for protection, and that's it.

So for instance this morning I cut my ride on Westside Road short because my hands were just too darn cold.

In the 500 km or so I've ridden I can make a few observations.

If you are a control freak (like me) riding a motorcycle is the ultimate gratification.
It's pretty much all about control, the machine wants to be controlled and you get to input your commands every millisecond of your ride. Every movement of your body results in a corresponding action of the bike. It's an incredible power rush. If you don't like being in control then buy a Ford Focus.

I feel safer on my Yamaha then I have ever been in any automobile. This is totally opposite of what I thought I would feel. The reason? Read above. You have so much more control over your bike than you ever would in any car. The bike is infinitely more agile and responsive. Not only that, you have so much more room on the road.

Where a car (cage) is limited to maybe one foot of movement on either side of the lane, the bike has about 4 feet on either side for which to choose your road position.
That's a huge advantage.

Visibility, even with a helmet, is far superior to that of a car, even a convertible.

Now let's talk curves. There are no sideways G forces on a bike that you uncomfortably get in a car. Because you are leaning, any G forces are directed downward or almost totally minimized. The curves are what it's all about, the raison d'etre of any rider. It's a magical feeling you really have to experience to appreciate.

The only issue regarding safety I have is going into a corner "too hot". Until I get more experience I'll need to slow down a bit since I haven't developed the leaning (counter-steering) skills required to really pull off a fast corner. The last thing you want is to corner too wide into oncoming traffic. That would be messy.

So far it's been a total blast being a rider and with warmer weather coming, it'll only get better.

A Good Hygienist Is Hard to Find

Over the years I've been to a lot of dentists, some good some not so good. For the last few years I've been seeing Dr. Darren Berg here in Kelowna.

I like Dr. Berg for a couple of reasons. He's painless and he doesn't chit chat. When I see a professional person, be it a doctor or dentist or lawyer or even a barber all I want to talk about is the business of why I'm there and Berg is pretty much all business (at least with me). I'm truly not interested in discussing any part of my personal life with these people, who are basically strangers.

But the best thing about Dr. Berg is not Dr. Berg, it's his most excellent young hygienist, Britney.

For me the reluctance of seeing a dentist was never about the needle or the drill. It was always those Maidens of Torture, the clumsy hygienist who seemed intent on seeing how much blood could be drawn from your gums.

When I first had Britney work on my teeth I was left confused. I felt nothing uncomfortable and actually asked her if she had used an anesthetic on my gums before she started. Maybe it was new technique.

Well anyway she hadn't, she just knew what she was doing. Amazing. After all these years of torment to actually come across a hygienist who cared enough to be careful where she placed her instruments.

So if anyone out there is looking for a really, really good hygienist, go to Dr. Berg and ask for Britney.

Hey YouTube Posters: Can The Music!

In my quest for the perfect motorcycle I have viewed a LOT of videos. Some from Commercial sites like Motorcycle News but most from amateurs proud of their bikes.

For some reason most of these amateur posters seem to think that the viewers would prefer to hear their usually tasteless and inappropriate music tracks over the sounds of their fantastic bikes.

They might think this is the greatest song in the world, however I bet most of us think it's crap.

If I want to hear music, I'll plug my buds in and turn on my iPod. When I want to view motorcycle videos the only sounds I want to hear are those coming from those exhaust pipes.

Below are two examples of what I'm talking about. In the first clip you can hardly hear the bikes for the crap "music" thats playing.


The second example is perfect. Incredible exhaust music from the Yamaha FJR1300. Well done!

Motorcycle Update

Yamaha FZ-6R and '94 Mustang GT

Since my last post some news.

I have my learners license and I have purchased my bike. But it's not the Triumph. My new bike is a Yamaha FZ-6R, a 600cc 4 cylinder sport bike. It's a somewhat detuned version of the FZ-6. In Europe, the bike is called the XJ-6 Diversion.

More Info Here.

I didn't get the Triumph for a couple of reasons. First the price was about two thousand more than I really wanted to pay. It offers no wind protection without expensive add ons and the salesperson at the dealership wasn't very friendly.

The reviews on the Yamaha have been good, everything about it seems to suit what I was looking for. And the people at Kelowna Yamaha, including my salesman, Bob Purdy, were a nice bunch.

The extra 30 or so horsepower the Triumph has over the Yamaha is probably something I would never use. The Triumph is for sure a more capable performer but not so much so that a novice would notice. It's not about speed anyway, this is all about learning a new skill.

My new Yamaha is capable of 225 kph and 0-100km in 3.5 seconds, pretty fast enough. And even more importantly, it is comfortable. At least on the showroom floor it was.

And the black and yellow colours just happen to match those of my '94 Mustang GT almost perfectly.



I can't ride it. Not until I acquire my second level which I won't get until the end of March. That sucks but it's still February and probably too cold to enjoy it anyway.

Still the main hurdle, that of deciding on the bike and forking over the hard earned cash. is completed.

I still have to get a helmet, gloves, boots and a protective riding jacket.

I'll keep ya posted.

I've Decided On My Bike

Last fall I decided I wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle and to purchase same sometime in the spring of 2009.

There are steps to such an endeavor such as :

1) Acquiring a learners license (written test).
2) Taking lessons. Cost $700 approx. with Kelowna District Safety Council classes.
3) Taking and passing the final license test.
4) Deciding which Motorcycle to buy.
5) Purchasing the motorcycle.

Well, so far I have done only step 4.

After scouring the Internet for weeks and actually visiting some dealers last fall, the bike I want is the Triumph Street Triple.

I looked at Cruisers to Scooters. My price ceiling is $10,000. I wanted as much bike for my buck as possible. I would rather grow into a bike than grow out of one.

I have no doubt that the Triumph fits that bill to a tee. Less than 400 lbs and having 106 HP (more than 6 of the cars I have owned) ensures a lofty learning curve and hopefully years of biking pleasure.

My goal: To own and ride that bike on or before May 1st. I'll let ya know.

Retire # 10?

Artwork by Ken Henderson


A few weeks ago the Vancouver Canucks retired the sweater number of Trevor Linden, that being # 16.

Now I've never been as HUGE a fan of Linden as most Vancouver Canucks fans. He was a good but not great player. His real claim to fame was the attachment he fostered with the Vancouver and British Columbia community and the fact that he played a lot of games for the Canucks over the 15 1/2 years he was with the team.

I'm not here to argue whether or not Linden's sweater deserved to be retired. But the reason's should be clear. This honour was for his service to the community and not for his on ice performance.

Linden's numbers are really not that impressive. His highest goal total never exceeded 33. His highest point total was 80. Hardly Hall of Fame figures. I've always thought Linden was an underachiever.

He had size, was a very good skater and possessed a pretty good shot. He was on the number 1 line and pretty much on all the Power Plays, at least he was in his prime years throughout the early '90's.

Linden should have been a consistent 40 goal scorer, especially during the goal happy era in which he played.

Makes you wonder if he truly deserves the acclamation he has received over the years.

For my part, I don't care what the players do off the ice. I don't care if they are lying, cheating drunks. I don't care if they are the reincarnation of Mother Theresa.

For me, the only thing that matters is their performance on the ice and their contribution to their teams' success.

With that in mind I will say that Pavel Bure was without a doubt, unquestionably the greatest player ever to play for the Canucks and one of the best players ever in the history of the NHL.

His talent was phenomenal. And his numbers prove these statements. 437 Goals in only 702 NHL games! That's .62 goals per game. Compare that to Linden's paltry .27 goals per game.

And let's not forget that Pavel did not have a LaFontaine or a Brian Trottier or Adam Oates feeding him sweet passes all game long. No way. Bure had to make due with the likes of Clif Ronning, Linden and a host of substitutes, none of which deserved to be called a first line centre. That's an important point.

I've been watching hockey pretty regularly since 1969. As a kid I saw Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, I saw Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, Mike Bossy, Gretzky and Lemieux.

With the possible exception of Lemieux, Bure was the most exciting, entertaining and heart stopping player I have ever seen.

He had incredible speed and was able to handle the puck at that top speed. His shot was among the best in the league.

But the one thing that set Bure apart was an insatiable desire to score goals. Something that Trevor Linden never had. Every time Bure scored, it was as if he had won the lottery. He had a need to score like no other player and played as if he felt he HAD to score on every shift.

Granted Pavel's career with the Canucks was short. He played only 427 games for the Canucks, scoring 254 times while collecting 478 points. I was lucky enough to see him in his prime and those back to back 60 goal seasons from 1992 to 1994 will probably never again be duplicated anytime soon by anyone. And surely never again by a Canuck.

Sadly, as did happen with Bobby Orr, injuries forced him to prematurely end his career at the end of the 2003 season at the age of 32. The guy is still in his 30's! It's quite possible a healthy Bure could have scored close to 1000 goals in an injury free career.

No, he did not ingratiate himself into the local community. But remember that Pavel was born and raised in Communist Russia. The cultural differences must have been immense. There is a big difference in a kid coming to the Canucks from Moscow and another from Medicine Hat.

Yes Bure left on not so good terms. He asked to be traded, which was his right. Why he felt he needed to be traded is between himself and the team. It doesn't take away from what he did on the ice.

He's been accused of being selfish. Well maybe he was, depends on how you define that term. Bure knew what his role was, that of scoring goals. Perhaps if Trevor Linden would have been a bit more selfish his stats would have been that much more impressive.

One thing is for sure. Neither the sweaters of Stan Smyl nor Trevor Linden will ever see the inside of the Hockey Hall of Fame while Pavel Bure's is sure to.

Pavel Bure was the greatest Canuck ever. There is no question about it. He was our first Superstar.

As long as I live I will remember the excitement and the hope he gave to every Canuck fan after years of misery.

I don't expect to see his sweater retired but I make the case that it should be.

Keith Endorses Obama!!!

Well, duh...

In theory this should be the most one sided presidential election in recent history.

But then again never underestimate the stupidity of the American Voting Public. After all, they did return George W. for a second term, well they did, sorta.

Obama is brilliant and articulate, someone the world can look up to, instead of laugh at.

I honestly can't see anyone voting against him except the Reactionary Rich, the Trailer Park (white) Trash, the Die Hard Racists and the Die Hard Republicans (is there a difference?) that absolutely refuse to vote for a Democrat even knowing he is the better man.

If McCain hadn't booked into the Hanoi Hilton, he'd be as lost in obscurity as I am. He's a doddering old man posing as a "rebel", it's the only gimmick he has.

The other gimmick hasn't really worked out so well. The novelty of Sarah Palin has worn very thin very fast and her 15 minutes are almost up.

She is a fool and McCain is a fool for choosing her. What the hell was he thinking?

I can't help thinking that McCain is the sacrificial lamb the Republicans are offering up, knowing they were going to get soundly thrashed regardless of who ran.

Surely to God they have better people available than McCain?

If not, God (they love God) help them.

Lyrics to Hand Of The Almighty! (God Will Fuck You Up) by John R. Butler:



VERSE 1
Oh, sinner, do not stray
From the straight and narrow way
For the Lord is surely watching what you do
If you approach the Devil's den
Turn 'round don't enter in
Lest the hand of the almighty fall on you.

CHORUS:
He'll fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)
Yes, God will fuck you up
If you dare to disobey his stern command.
He'll fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)
Don't you know he'll fuck you up
So you better do some prayin' while you can.

VERSE 2
Long ago a man named Lot
Had a wife he thought was hot
But she could not stop her black and sinful ways.
You know it was her own damn fault
When God turned that bitch to salt.
That's the way he used to work back in those days:


CHORUS:
He fucked 'em up (he fucked 'em up)
He really fucked 'em up
When the people went and turned their backs on him
He can fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)
No shit he'll fuck you up
Just like he fucked the people up back then.

VERSE 3
I used to have a friend named Ray
Who walked that evil way
He cursed and drank and broke his neighbor's fence
You know Ray was full aware
That some sheep were over there
And he knew them in the Biblical sense.

CHORUS:
God fucked him up (he fucked him up)
He went and fucked Ray up
Went and paid him back for all his wicked sins.
He fucked him up (he fucked him up)
Fucked that boy completely up
Now he's married to a Presbyterian.

Ramblings

I've been way too lazy to post anything lately but a few things have come up which I have to speak out on.

It's been recently revealed that the latest "foot" to have been found is a hoax. So now we just have the very normal situation of 5 random REAL feet having been found.

A sixth severed foot was found along the British Columbia coast this week, the sixth within the last year. Very strange. Even stranger was the police position that "It is a little mysterious, but we don't know if it is linked to others."

Don't know if its linked to the others???? Huh? In a television interview one cop suggested it still might be a coincidence.

Are you kidding me? I know the police have to keep an open mind but a trillion to one coincidence, I don't think so. Give me a freakin' break.

The U.S. Justice system never ceases to boggle my mind.

The dog fighting "referee" in the Michael Vick case was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison. Six and half years for orchestrating the dog fight and seven years for trafficking in marijuana.

Six years?? In Spain Bull Fighting is the national sport, in Canada we allow thousands of seal pups to be bashed over the head till they die. We kill millions of cattle and chickens each year.

In Canada, trafficking in Pot won't even get you ANY jail time.

Yes the dog fighting is distasteful and should be illegal and punished. But six years? We have violent thugs and chronic thieves who barely get a few months in prison yet this moron gets 6 years? They are freaking crazy down there.

Lastly. There are a group of people I call the Wii people and no, they aren't those hooked on that Nintendo game.

It stands for Well Intentioned Idiots. Last Sunday in Vancouver a protest against the automobile was held where a portion of Commercial Drive was closed to motorized traffic. A Wii representative was on camera imploring us all to forsake our cars and stop building more roads, and he was really sincere about it all, really well intentioned. Too bad he is an Idiot.

The public will NEVER, NEVER give up their vehicles.

On that same day in Kelowna, where I live, I attended the Annual Boyd Automotive Fathers Day Show 'N Shine. That event featured the downtown streets filled with hundreds of automobiles and the thousands of us who were there to admire them. It was an Auto Love-In.

People love cars and they always will. For most of us being in our vehicles is where we can experience our music the way we like it and enjoy the most comfortable seat we own. It's a place where we are in total control, where we can say what we want (often to ourselves) or even yell and scream if we want to. Its the last domain of the independent individual.

Regardless of what the traffic is like or what the price of gas, our vehicles represent and place that we can call our own.

The Wii gang would be better off protesting against what goes in to the fuel tank and what comes out the exhaust pipe, not with the Automobile itself. There will always be cars, they may be electric cars or hydrogen fuel cell or solar or whatever, but there will always be cars.

And so I say: Build MORE ROADS.

There Are Benefits To High Gas Prices

A few weeks ago, during a one week Mid May vacation my wife and I took a trip via my Mustang GT Convertible to one of our favorite destinations, Nelson, B.C.

She likes Nelson for the shopping and the lovely ambiance this town has. I like going simply because I love the beautiful drive there. It's about a 200 mile one way trip through some of the most beautiful and serene selection of mountain highways, probably in the world.

Planning a topless trip at that time of year can be dicey, weather wise. And this spring has been and continues to be unseasonably cool and wet.

But we got lucky. We left on a beautiful sunny Sunday Morning and returned on an equally nice Tuesday afternoon. Monday was rainy and cool in Nelson.

It was a perfect drive. And what really enhanced the perfection was the fact that there was no traffic whatsoever. For pretty much the whole trip we had the highway to ourselves. Minutes would go by, sometimes up to 10 minutes without seeing another car or truck in either direction.

Has the price of gasoline scared travellers off the road or was it just an oddity that we had no company on these roads?

If it was the price of gas I say, keep it high. My Mustang, though not what you would say is a gas guzzler is not a thrifty car. In the old scale of measure I get about 25 miles per Imperial Gallon. Not great but there are vehicles that get a lot worse that aren't near as much fun.

A trip like we had was priceless and well worth whatever the price of gasoline might be.

I guess the main reason that I don't care about gas prices is the fact that I drive pretty much for pleasure only. My drive to work is short and uses maybe 2 or 3 liters a day, if that.

I can choose how much I pay for gas in a given week or month. It all depends on how much pleasure I want. And what is the price for pleasure?

Some people think nothing of dropping $50-$100 for a dinner at a nice restaurant (the thought of which abhors me as a colossal waste of money). Others might spend up to $100 of more for a day of skiing. A case of beer costs how much...I don't really know.

But I liken these expenses to what I pay for a tank of gas. A four hour road trip that cost me $35 last year now costs me $50. So what? I'm not going to gripe over $15 when I consider the fun I got out of driving my 'Stang with the top down and the smells and sounds of the forests in my senses.

I don't care how expensive gasoline gets. The more expensive, the more road that belongs to me. I say bring it on. Raise the price.

I had to smile in bemusement at the story on TV last night. This fellow was trying to sell his Jeep CJ because it just drank too much gas (of course it did, its a piece of crap ancient technology relic that should have been retired years ago, but whatever, he loved it anyway).

He was selling it because he recently bought a new fuel efficient vehicle that will save him lots of money on fuel.

The brand of his new vehicle wasn't mentioned but lets say its a Honda Civic which gets 40 miles per gallon. Lets also say that it costs him $20,000. Let's say he gets $10,000 for his Jeep (if he's lucky).

You can buy an awful lot of gas for $10,000.

I think I'll keep my Mustang for a good long while. It's all paid for and there aren't many fuel efficient cars that can come close to its Fun Factor.

Nonis Dismissal Is Well Deserved

Dave Nonis



Last night the news came down that the Canucks' General Manager, Dave Nonis had been fired. I have always liked Nonis, he seems like a straight up guy trying to do the best he could.

I think the job was too much for him. Late in the season when it was obvious the Canucks needed an infusion of talent before the trading deadline, he chocked.

The only trade made was the mean nothing trade of Matt Cooke for Matt Pettinger.

Just before the trade deadline, Nonis was interviewed on the CBC's After Hours Show. He was asked about the possibility of trades and the same old story was retold:

We will not give up our good young talent for a short term fix. We will not sacrifice our future.

Unfortunately Canucks fans have been hearing this for the last 38 years. I wonder what future these GMs are referring to?

If your always living for the future then you aren't living for the NOW. And the future never seems to come.

Its a lame excuse GMs' make when they haven't got the guts to pull off a big trade. In the end thats what Nonis lacked, GUTS.

If he had a pair he would have given up Bourdon, Edler, Bieska or Raymond or whoever else it took to grab a Brad Richards or a Peter Forsberg or whoever and make a serious run at the Stanley Cup. But he chickened out and it cost him his job.

In this day and age of free agency a GM can rebuild his team in a year or two from scratch. Hanging on to young players is not as critical as it used to be. You have to give something up to get something back.

Canuck fans are fed up with hearing about the future. Lets get a GM that can live in the NOW and get us a cup contender. I'm not interested in potential or how great the team will be in a few years. We've all heard that song and dance for too long.

Nonis, I hope you've learned your lesson. You'll be back in action somewhere soon. Get that "F" word out of your mind and live in the present.

Elliot Spitzer, Women and Cars

Porsche 911











Ashley Alexandra Dupre




Elliot Spitzer











As usual, when it comes to sex, Americans go off the deep end.

As we all know, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer felt he had to resign as a result of the fallout resulting from his dealing with a "call girl".

I'm really at a loss to figure out what all the fuss is about.

It seems to me that there are a few things about this that the public is upset about.

1) A married man obtaining sex outside his marriage. Well that's not unusual. Most of the Politicians in both the U.S. and Canada would have to resign if that was the problem.

2) A married (or any man) seeking his pleasure from a Prostitute. Most women can't understand this. Even though it's been going on for thousands of years. Mr. Spitzer is a relatively good looking, relatively wealthy and relatively powerful man. He doesn't need a Prostitute, he could no doubt have any young (or old) intern or secretary or pretty much any number of women he wanted at no charge.

He didn't need a Prostitute, he wanted one. He wanted one because of the "no strings attached", no "Fatal Attraction", no "you said you were going to call" whining, no "when are you going to leave your wife" baggage that having a real affair entails.

Why he wanted sex outside his marriage is his business, it's between him and his wife and no one else.

3) The fact that Spitzer engaged in an illegal act, that is soliciting the services of a Prostitute is probably the crux of the issue. The majority of the public in North America, from any polls I have seen, think that Prostitution should be legalised and licensed. Still he is the Governor and should uphold the laws. I won't even get into the hypocrisy and irony of this same Governor that initiated a crackdown (no pun intended) on the very practise he was caught engaging in.

4) $5000/hour! Wow, that's the aspect of this case that really intrigues me. And I think that's what has stirred the public so much.

There is a genuine hierarchy when it comes to Prostitutes. "Call Girls" rank at the top of the heap, generally recognised as being very professional, very good looking, very discreet and with a wide knowledge of most or all of men's "needs". They make the big bucks and I've wondered sometimes how much the top whore makes. Like in sports they always claim this or that player is now the top ranking money maker.

I wonder if there are some of these girls that make in excess of 10,000 per hour. Genuine Superstar Hookers.

My question is, what exactly do you get for $5000? I mean that you can't get for $500?


I think it's like cars. Both a Honda Civic and a Porsche 911 will get you from point "A" to Point "B". One cost $20,000, the other costs $120,000. I've never had a $5000 Call Girl and I've never driven a Porsche Carrera. One I'm not allowed to do one and the other I can't afford to do. But how much would I pay for a one hour ride in a Porsche?

Elliot Spitzer has a lot more money that I do. $5000 for him would likely translate into $500 for me.

Would I pay $500 for an hour in a Porsche? Yes I would. Why? Because I want to find out what all the fuss is about. I want to know why a great many people shell out over $100,000 to purchase this automobile. When they can get to Point "B" just as easily and as quickly (obeying the laws) in a Honda Civic.

And maybe if I had a ride in a 911 I would come back a month later and hand over another $500 for another hour ride. Maybe it's just that good.

Maybe Ashley Alexandra Dupre was worth $5000/hour. Who can say? It's up to an individuals taste. Maybe a non-car guy would get in the Porsche and say "what's the big deal"? Obviously Ashley had or did something that was right up Spitzers sweet zone.

There is a woman and a car for everyone. Some are fast and furious, some are reliable and dull, some are hard to maintain but the rewards are worth it. Some are old but loved. Some are young and driven hard. Some are abused, some are babied. Different colours from different areas of the world. Some with pedigrees, others commonplace.

Some will break you, or kill you.

Men fall in love with them or grow to hate them. They'll all do one thing. Get you from Point "A" to Point "B". But often it's not getting there that matters, it's the trip itself.

As far as I am concerned when it comes to Elliot Spitzer: It's his money, it's his dick and it's his marriage. Let the guy resign but don't condemn him for doing what thousands of men, some very powerful men, have done for centuries.

Can I Have My Rash Back?

About 6 years ago, for no apparent reason that I can think of, I developed a rash on my lower right leg. Just above the ankle and extending along the side and front shin area for about 6 inches upward toward the knee.

It developed overnight and was with me for about 18 months, off and on. It went as quickly as it came and has never returned.

I miss it. This rash had one overwhelming quality, it was itchy as hell. It was never sore, just unsightly and itchy.

And scratching it was the absolute best feeling on earth. I'm not sure what kind of hormones or dopamine or seratonins or other feel good agents were released into my bloodstream when this rash was scratched but it must have bin akin to a junkie filling his veins with heroin. It felt that good.

The only reason I would ever stop scratching was because blood was starting to surface, then I knew I had to stop until the area healed and I could scratch some more. I had to develop new ways of scratching to prevent the blood, like scratching backwards so the dull end of my nails pestered the surface of my skin.

I would let the urge to scratch build up as long as possible. Then I knew that when I finally did scratch, it would be like a trip to heaven. God did it feel good!

I think of that rash now and then and feel blessed that it visited me for that short time. That kind of euphoria is rare these days. I wish it would return but I have no idea how to acquire it again.

Whatever it is that provides that intensely enjoyable feeling needs to be manufactured and marketed. It's in the body anyway, it must be natural, it must be good.

And Your Time Of Death Is...

Every hockey player knows that, sooner or later, he will suffer a very painful and possibly bloody injury.

Last night Taylor Pyatt of the Canucks took one (a puck) in the mouth. He had several stitches and according to reports his teeth were scattered about his oral cavity. A very painful and possibly disfiguring occurrence.

Every player knows that the chances of this or another kind of painful injury happening to them sometime in their careers is very very good. If Pyatt knew that, at some point in last night game, he was going to suffer this injury how would it have affected his game?

The chances of something really bad happening to each of us in our lives is really good. But since we don't know what those things are or when they might happen, most of us don't fret about it.

There is one certain thing that we all have to deal with. Our own death. We wonder how and when we will die. And more importantly, how we will react when the Grim Reaper comes for us. Will we even be aware of his presence?

At age 53 I am now approaching the autumn of my life. I know my days are numbered. I could have 20 to 40 years left.

The last 30 years have gone by so fast, it's amazing how really short a lifetime is.

If you knew when you were going to die would it make any difference? Most of us live our lives as if we were immortal. There is a small percentage of high achievers that seem to know that they have so little time as a human being that they make every moment count. They live life as if it were their last day on earth.

I envy them.

I thought it would be an interesting thing to predict my own time of death. I'm very healthy. I don't drink or smoke. Other than an occasional "enthusiastic" drive in My Mustang GT I don't partake in risky behaviour.

Counterbalancing that is the fact that both my parents died of disease very young, so the Genes are against me.

With that in mind I predict that I will die on: September 17, 2037. At that time I will be 83 years old. I have no particular reason for that date, it just came to mind.

Anything past that, well I will consider it Bonus.

So I have only 29 years to live. Yikes!

Movies, Movies, Movies

Mary Elizabeth Winstead



Ok, finally another post. What have I been doing?

The Christmas Season sucks, I hate the period between December 10 and January 1. I can't stand Christmas and I wish the general media would stop referring to it as the "most wonderful time of the year".

For me the most "wonderful time of the year" over a short period anyway are the first few warm days of Spring, which around here arrives in mid or early March. After which I consider the period between Sept 15 and October 15 as the "most wonderful time of the year". The Christmas Season is the WORST. Especially for those of us that work in the retail industry.

Anyway I have been spending some considerable hours with my new Hi Def TV and watching Movies in Hi Def from the pay stations Movie Central 1 and 2.

I hate going to movie theaters but I really like a good movie. In the past I've been renting the DVDs from the local Video store who have the nerve to charge over$5.00 for a year old movie.

Movie Central provides 2 year old ad free movies presented in Hi Definition for $17/month. And I can save them to my PVR, watch them when I want, and then I can transfer them to my other PVR where I can burn them to a disc and further enhance my movie collection which now stands at 693 movies. You gotta love technology!

So here is a list of the movies watched lately and a brief one line critique:

Final Destination 3:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead: 10. Rest of Movie: 7. This one was filmed in Vancouver and basically a carbon copy of the previous 2. Winstead is freaking gorgeous!

Fun With Dick and Jane:
Better than the critics say. I love Jim Carrey, not his best but I give it a 7/10.

The New World:
The critics loved this one. I thought it was tedious, very boring. Stay away. 3/10

Hannibal Rising:
I think everyone can relate to the Joys of Revenge. Nicely done movie. 7/10.

You Me and Dupree:
Like the Carrey move, better than advertised. I like Matt Dillon and any movie with Michael Douglas can't be bad. 6/10.

Broken Flowers:
Bill Murray and his morose best! Very good unpredictable movie.
Why can't they make more of these? 9/10.

The Notorious Bettie Page:
This is one of those movies you hope gets better as it progresses but alas it never did. It has some merits and might be worth seeing. 5/10.

Saw II:
Good creepiness value to it, nice tension level. But not as graphically violent as one would hope. 7/10.

Open Water:
How to stretch a 15 minute "movie" into 80 minutes. They could have done a way better job with this one. Good premise but not enough substance. Supposedly based on a true incident. 6/10

Lord of War:
I don't like Nick Cage but I did like this movie. Like 8MM, he does this stuff well. There are a lot of slimy people controlling the world. Kinda makes you think. 8/10.

Brokeback Mountain:
If you can get past the creepy gay "love" scenes you can see why this movie was awarded. Very well done with good scenary shots. 8/10.

RV:
Good unconventional comedy. Better than I thought it might be. 6/10.

Cache:
Warning: Subtitles. This French movie keeps you guessing at: What's going on? You got to pay attention and for that I give it a 7/10.

Click:
Sandler's best movie and might be the best comedy I've seen in years. Funny and poignant. Great premise. 8/10

The Queen:
Maybe not quite as good as the critics suggest. I'm sure Tony Blair loved it. Interesting insight into the Royals. I wonder what the Queen thought? 7/10

Capote:
I used to see the real Capote on Johnny Carson a long time ago and Hoffman nailed him to a "T". The movie itself was tedious at times. 5/10

Munich:
I would have expected better from Spielberg considering the heavy subject and his own background. I thought it was a bit frivolous and pretty boy Eric Bana as the lead was a joke, bad casting. 6/10

A History Of Violence:
Best movie I've seen in a while. This is what movie making is all about. Absolutely fantastic! 10/10.


A Good Woman:
Everyone likes looking at Scarlett Johansson but casting her among some really great actors exposes her weaknesses. This movie has great dialogue and wonderful scenary, costumes and set. Very watchable, witty. 8/10

Into The Blue:
Jessica Alba in a bikini, hmmmm. Do you need to know anything more? So-so movie, pretty in Hi Def but you won't miss anything if you don't see it. 5/10

Good Night and Good Luck:
This is more of a documentary than a movie and I hate the Black and White, we know it was the '50s. Nice history lesson but that's about it. 5/10

The Constant Gardener: Melodramatic movie trying to make an important statement. It doesn't succeed. Borderline boring. 5/10

The Dark Hours:
Low budget done well. I still haven't figured it out and need to see it again. Keeps you guessing.
8/10

The Devil's Rejects:
Not for the squeemish, hehe. Deliciously horrific display of low life violence and utter human disrespect. I loved it! 9/10

Wedding Crashers:
Owen Wilson couldn't save this mess. Utter trash. Vince Vaughn is terrible, who told this guy he was funny? 2/10

Pride and Prejudice (2005): I totally love period pieces, especially those made by Britons about Britons. This movie is exquisite! Beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted. Keira Knightley might be a scrawny anorexic but the girl can act and she has a face you can look at forever.
9/10

Role Models

Michael Vick was sentenced today to a 23 month term in Federal Prison for his role in the Dogfighting Fiasco he unwisely took part in.

The judge, Henry E. Hudson, told Vick: "You need to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to you".

And why, may I ask, did they look up to him?

Athletes are mistake prone people just like you and me and should never be viewed as Roll Models.

Where did that even come from? Who started that? Probably the same people who started tipping in restaurants and giving seniors a discount for their purchases.

Let's end all that once and for all.

Professional athletes are people with a specific set of skills that they have worked on very hard to reach the point of excellence. Just like welders or bus drivers or retail merchandisers.

The difference is that many people are willing to pay a lot of money to watch these individuals exercise their skills. That's it.

Athletes have no legal or moral or ethical obligation to live up to anyones expectations. Their only obligation is to perform their skills at a consistently high level.

Trevor Linden of the Canucks has extended his career by a few years, cleverly exploiting his well groomed "nice guy" image to cover up his long past athletic abilities.

I honestly don't care if Linden is the second coming of Mother Theresa. If he can't play I don't have any use for him, "Role Model" or not.

I honestly don't care if the Canucks dressed a line of Hitler, Stalin and George W. Bush. If they could help the team win, I'm gonna cheer for them.

It's not my role in the world to judge or condemn someone else's personal morality. Nor should it be yours.

The only Role Model a child should ever have is their Parents and perhaps a sibling.
Parents are the only ones responsible for developing their child, no one else, good or bad.

Vick is getting shafted. Yes he used poor judgement, yes he must suffer consequences.

But 23 months in prison as well as a ruined multi million dollar profession? Give me a break. He's getting shafted.

Once again the animal hierarchy comes into play. If it was cockfighting, it would be a minor story. Colonel Sanders is allowed to kill millions of chickens a day, but to kill a few dogs (that they eat in Asia) brings the wrath and indignation and hatred of our hypocritical society.

In Vick's case, his fame and extreme skill at his chosen profession became a huge liability.

If Vick was still a nobody living in the rural Virginia countryside I doubt he would even be charged with a crime let alone be given a prison sentence.

Hi Definition Television

My New Sharp 52" Hi Def Flatscreen with Motorola PVR (top right).



I hear a lot of people saying, they don't really think Hi Definition TV is a big deal. They think it's not worth it or that it's over hyped and that their current TV and current signal is good enough.

I was one of those.

My iMac changed my mind. Through QuickTime, an iMac user (at least one with a recent iMac) can download 1 - 3 minute Hi Definition clips of Movie Trailers and other films. You can go here if you want to try it.

The crystal clarity of the clips on my 20" iMac was amazing. I couldn't help but stare and replay the scenes.

I thought it was worth the investment. Two weeks ago we purchased a Sharp LC52D64U 52" 1080p Widescreen LCD Television (pictured above).

It's a beautiful machine even when it's turned off. We still had standard analogue cable and the picture was good but not great. Not a whole lot better than my 61" 1998 Proscan Rear Projector television it was replacing. In fact my wife complained that it was too small.

Last Monday, the Shaw Cable Guy came over and hooked us up to Hi Definition. He installed the Motorola DCT-6416 III, a 160GB PVR with Dual Hi Def Tuners.

Some people have compared Hi Definition Television to Standard Television as being like DVD's to the old VHS videotape, as far as quality improvement.

No way. A better analogy would be from going to Black and White to Colour Television. Or from going from an antenna reception to cable.

I'll go one step further and say that Hi Definition Television is the most dramatic improvement EVER in the history of Television Technology.

The viewing experience is amazing, it's like rediscovering what it's like to watch Television.

The first night we had the HI Def we watched Memoirs of a Geisha. I think my mouth was open in wonder at the beauty of the images we were watching.

Last night we watched "House" and then an episode of the fantastic series on the early life of Henry VIII called The Tudors.

You have to see for yourself. So much detail is exposed that you find yourself looking at the background scenery, the props, the beard growth on House's face, the jewelry garnishing Henry's royal robes. It's so freaky because you almost feel like you are with the actors in the scene.

And to watch the Canucks humiliate the Anaheim Ducks in Hi Definition, well who would pay $100 for a seat at GM Place when they can watch it just as clearly if not more so in the comfort of their home.

Expensive? Yes it is. The Sharp TV cost me around $3000, the PVR with the dual Tuners, close to $800 with taxes and a modest increase in my cable fees.

I think it's the best $4000 I ever spent. Will the novelty wear off? Maybe. Technological Standards rise with every passing year. I'm still able to access all my previous Standard Definition cable channels. What I thought was pretty good reception now looks unacceptable.

If you have the money, go for it. If you never liked watching televising before or thought it was a waste of time, this new technology will rekindle your fascination with what is available for you to view.

Tasers = Lazy Police

Thanks to the Internet and the fact that video cameras are everywhere, pretty much the whole world viewed Robert Dziekanski being killed at the hands of four RCMP officers at the Vancouver International Airport.

I carry my tiny Canon SD600 camera everywhere on the off chance that something monumental might occur that I can record. So far, nothing has, which might be good or bad.

But anyway, back to the lazy cops. Yep that's just what they were, lazy. Rather than risking messing up their uniforms or getting a bruise on their precious skin they chose instead to inflict, at the very minimum, intense pain and shock, at the worst, death on this unfortunate man. Of course, the worst happened.

There is no way anyone can tell me that their health and welfare were threatened in any way, shape or form. There were four of them, four against one panic stricken weaponless man.

So they took the easy way out and tasered him. And now all the world can see what a pack of lazy power crazed thugs those policemen really were.

At the very least their employment as RCMP officers should be terminated. They should be charged with manslaughter.

I've often wondered why, when a bear makes a nuisance of himself in an urban neighbourhood, he is peacefully tranquilized via a dart and carried off safely for all involved. Yet us miserable humans are zapped with a potentially lethal force. Can they not use the same tranquilizing method with people?

The Internet has been used for a lot of murky practices for sure. But the fact that injustice can be recorded and publicized makes up for all that evil and then some. Whether it be tyranny in Burma or thuggery in Vancouver, these acts of evil can now be exposed.

The video is clear, people can judge for themselves. People the world over.

Most police officers I think are admirable beings. They have what must be the hardest job in the world. They see the worst of people and the most horrific circumstances. They see the mayhem of automotive carnage, the broken bodies and lives. They have to tell mothers and fathers that their children have been killed. They have to prevent enraged husbands from beating their wives or children.

Still, there is no excuse for what happened at YVR. A gross injustice committed by the people we rely on to protect us.

I've said it many times:

The only thing worse than the criminals running wild is the police running wild.

Trying To Re Invent The Wheel

Mavis Johnson, so called "Traffic Safety Expert":

At the conference I'm attending there has been a lot of discussion about shared space. It's a European Concept. You remove the signals, lane designations and many of the signs that confuse people, sometimes even the sidewalks, and force everyone to negotiate rather than relying on traffic lights or stop signs."

Huh? What's confusing about traffic signals and stop signs. Seems to me its pretty clear. Red means stop, green means go. A stop sign means you have to stop.

What's confusing about that? This is a case of a so called "expert" dreaming up an idea, or at least considering one that is not needed and has no merit.

It never ceases to amaze me how few traffic accidents there are when you consider the amount of traffic there is on any given day.

I can't speak for elsewhere but I think the drivers in Kelowna are excellent.

Sure there are always a few Yahoos, either testosterone induced or senility impaired individuals who will cause mayhem.

That's always been the case and always will be. Most drivers, I find, are respectful. Almost to a fault. My pet peeve with drivers is the ones that give up their right of way to you, thinking they are being "nice". The result being that no one knows who is going where, when.

Stick to the rules of the road and everyone will be fine. And Mavis, that means don't fix it if it ain't broken.

To Upgrade or Buy?

NVidea 7800GS Superclocked



This week my Ati Radeon 9800 Pro All-In-Wonder Graphics Card died. I'd had the card for about two years enabling me to play my favorite PC Games.

I only play four games and four games only:

1) EA Sports NHL2007 (might get the new 2008, not sure yet).
2) G*T*R (FIA GT Racing Game)
3) GT Legends
4) Colin McRae Rally 2005

In order to play any of the above you NEED a quality graphics card.

I wonder how many people have purchased a computer in the $500 to $1200 price range, took it home only to find out it can't play games.

Computer manufacturers do not put quality graphics card in machines of that price range.

Sure computers are good for other things. But I have my Core 2 Duo iMac for that. Macs are great but they don't do games.

I have a PS2 and about a half dozen games with that. But a SD television screen cannot come close to the realism and resolution you can achieve with a computer screen. Not even in the same ball park.

So I prefer the computer games. And I need a Windows-based computer for that.

My current computer is about three years old. It an HP a620N with 160 GB HD and 1 Gb of RAM. It has the AMD Athlon 3200+ CPU.

It's old and outdated but it's fast enough for the games I like, especially with a good graphics card. It has the old AGP Bus so it limits the cards I can still acquire.

Anyway I got my new card yesterday. It's an Nvidea 7800GS (Superclocked), about 2 to 4 times faster than my ATI AIW 9800. The stats show this is one smokin fast card, not the fastest but near the top of the heap. Sweet!

The Future Shop site indicated it needed just a 300W power supply, which I thought was standard in most machines.


However when I purchased it I read it needed a minimum of 350W and even further to my surprise I found my a620n only had a 250W supply. Yikes.

Well I played NHL 2007 and it ran sweet and smooth as silk. But that game probably doesn't demand too much power-wise.

Colin McRae 2005 is the absolute best simulation of any kind that I've seen. The graphics are dazzling, its pretty darn close to virtual reality. I've played this "game" for probably thousands of hours.

It played well but I could see some areas where it should have performed better.

So now I am convinced I need to upgrade my Power. For 69.99 I can get a 400W unit.
That's on top of the $179.99 + tax I paid for the new card.

Yikes.

So I'm off to Future Shop now to get one of those bad boys, hoping it will fit my machine. Later..

Ok I have my new Dynex 400Watt power source installed, very easy installation. I'm set to go.

When my Radeon Card died I was very tempted to buy a brand new computer. The thing is I already have 5 (five) computers up and running and online in my home. Collecting computers and watching them become outdated is getting to be an issue.

But are they really outdated? The computer I was looking at was from Future Shop, an HP M9080N sold for as low as $1799 (reg $1999).

Yes, expensive but we are talking about an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz CPU, 3 GB of RAM, 1 Terrabyte of hard drive storage, and the deal maker, an NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS.

That's impressive credentials. But the more I thought about it the more I realized those specs were an exercise in overkill.

The HP I have now runs at 2.2 GHz, yes it is a "single core" but I don't multitask on it, when I play a game that's all I do I play 1 game. Its fast as I need it to be. I have a Core 2 Duo iMac and honestly its not that much faster than the single core CPU on the old a620n.

3GB of RAM. So what, who needs it? It most cases I don't come near even using the 1 GByte I already have, I doubt anyone does.

A Terrabyte (1000 GB) of storage. That's just nuts. Yes the dream machine is PVR capable for recording television but I already have two of those. Additional storage is cheap. And what happens when your hard drive crashes and everything you have is on it? It's wiser to forget about the huge hard drive on your machine and just get an external hard drive for back ups and something you can grab easily in case of a house fire.

The NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS is near the top of the food chain as far as graphics cards go. But the Nvidea 7800GS card I just bought is not far behind.

So I'm happy I saved my money. My games run great on the equipment I have. The fancy dual and quad core processors are probably overkill, most people will never use their capability unless you are doing a lot of video editing and other tasks at the same time.

I think it's going to be difficult selling desktops in the future. People who have computers are satisfied with their speed. Most computers sold in the last 4 years have plenty of storage and, as I mentioned, additional storage is cheap.

Wires

I haven't been writing much lately. Just don't feel like it. Sue me.

So I'm going to leave you with this tribute to my wires. A truly amazing sight.

Enjoy!

Raikkonen Finishes Fantastic F1 Season!

One of the biggest sports stories of the year is one most North Americans won't hear of.

That's the result of this years' Formula 1 Racing Season.

Against all odds, my man, Kimi Raikkonen, feasting on the bad luck of Lewis Hamilton, won the fiercely contested World Championship with his win in Brazil today.

While most North Americans seem to like watching cheap low tech cars driving around in circles, real racing observers know that Formula One racing is the absolute pinnacle of the motor racing world.


The skill required to operate these amazing multi million dollar machines is beyond the imagination, perhaps only the skill of a jet fighter pilot could come close.

I've been following Formula One now for a few years and was becoming very bored watching Ferrari's Michael Schumacher win almost every race.

This year was different, it was amazing. Full of intrigue, bitter rivalry, dirty handed tactics, a Cinderella story (gone terribly wrong) and ruthless competitiveness.

In Formula One, hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. Twenty or so of the world's greatest drivers from all over the world competing for total supremacy.

In the end the sensational Rookie, Lewis Hamilton, ran out of answers and his inexperience cost him dearly, especially two weeks ago in China.

The Iceman, Kimi Raikkonnen prevailed. From being almost out of contention early in this year to World Champion, well for me that was the Cinderella Story.

The big question when this season started was: Could Raikkonen hope to fill the shoes of the greatest driver ever, the Wayne Gretzky of auto racing, Michael Schumacher.

The answer: Michael Who?

Congratulation Kimi!!

Let's Get Back to Nuclear Power

There are a lot of people violently opposed to Nuclear Power Production. They feel that the dangers of this power source far exceed the benefits.

Much of those fears are based on two incidents from the past: Three Mile Island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986).

The truth is that technology has come a long way since those incidents decades ago. It would be next to impossible for those series of circumstances to re occur with the knowledge and computer power of today.

So that type of "accident" should not even enter into the equation when debating the Nuclear Option.

Currently our power is mostly derived from two sources: Burning Fossil Fuels and Hydro Electric Power.

Both these methods cause havoc and irreparable damage to the environment and wildlife habitat.

Yet those that oppose Nuclear Power, the cleanest, most cost efficient and most environmentally friendly method of producing electricity, would prefer our world to be soiled by the current methods.

Alternative methods of power production such as Solar, Wind, Tide are so far off into the future that they cannot be considered serious sources for the next 50 years.

Hundreds of nuclear power plants have been in operation for decades throughout the world with no significant environmental impact other than the use of large amounts of fresh water for cooling.

Nuclear waste can easily be disposed of safely and for long term.

It's time to re-evaluate and put our biases and prejudices behind us.

Let's reconsider the Nuclear Option. It's not about bombs or radioactivity. It's about saving our Planet as we know it.

Dec 10

Since writing this post I found some support here.

The Americans Just Don't Get It

Newt Gingrich


I just listened to a speech by Newt Gingrich where he expressed his deep concerns and fears about the Terrorist threat and how thousands of Muslims are waking each day with the express desire and hope of destroying the United States of America.

He talked about the recruitment of children and women for suicide attacks. He talked about the threat of a nuclear attack on an American city and he talked about the inside threat of American Citizens whose loyalty resides with Islamic Extremists rather than the United States Constitution.

I believe all these concerns are valid.

But do the Americans ever ask themselves why? Why there is so much hatred directed toward them from these so called Terrorists and their sympathizers?

Hello! You are occupying their countries and their areas of influence.

I wonder how the Americans would react if a foreign power occupied Florida or Alaska.

Exactly.

Don't get me wrong, my loyalties are with the West. I love my hedonistic and superficial lifestyle and I want it intact for the future.

But do the Americans ever try to see both sides of the story? Do they ever look at themselves and questions their tactics regarding their relations with the rest of the world?

Do they ever wonder why they are regarded with contempt by a large portion of the world?

The stock answer is : Because you (other nations) are jealous.

Jealous of what? Many nations are richer than the US. Many nations are "freer". Many nations are healthier. And an awful lot of nations are just plain happier.

Jealous of exactly what? Military strength? Honestly I have no idea.

The kind of rhetoric Mr. Gingrich expresses will only spread fear not only among his fellow Americans but especially among the Islamic community.

A scared person is a dangerous person.

It seems to me the US is doing everything it can to increase tension and confrontation in the Middle East.

Maybe they should try a little cooperation and understanding instead.

Great Drives In British Columbia

Autumn View From Highway 6


Highway Route 6: Vernon to Needles

There is nothing in this world that gives me greater pleasure than an aggressive drive with my Mustang on a twisty, open highway on a beautiful sunny day.

I can imagine few other places in the world where the combination of curves, elevation changes and scenery combined with occasions where the highway is yours alone can be realised by a driver other than one living in the Southern Interior of B.C.

This is a first in a series of planned posts exalting the euphoria I sometimes acquire when driving these amazing roads.

The Vernon to Needles/Fauquier highway has it all and it has one major feature which makes it so endearing which I will explain later.

The trip from Vernon to the small town of Lumby is nice enough with lots of pastoral farm scenes and small hills, very green and lush and some nice curves to it. The sometimes heavy traffic can be frustrating so you just have to sit back and relax and take the sights and smells (if you have a convertible) all in, knowing that the fun has just begun.

When you get to Lumby there is a nice detour you can take, time allowing. That being the 40ish km trip north to Mable Lake. I can tell you that is a nice sweet road with awesome twisties and not well travelled. Beautiful to drive aggressively or passively.

Make sure you have adequate fuel to get to Needles and back, its about a 160 km (est) or so round trip. There are a couple of independent gas stations along the way but their reliability is questionable.

This road has it ALL. The highlight being a 15 km stretch (about 30km west of Needles) of the twistiest highway road I have ever experienced. This is a stretch of road that begs you to drive your vehicle at the edge of what you think are its boundaries. Its downhill going east for those that love hard braking and easy power-on, the optimum direction.

Just past that, still going downhill are about a half dozen 1 km+ straights in which you can easily test the top speed of your car.

Most of the rest of the highway is a collection of curves and elevation changes that you can play with as you like, a continuous toy to delight in.

Of course the bane of all highway driving is traffic. Sadly this road is frequented by a lot of logging trucks and other slower vehicles.

As with any twisty road, passing opportunities are few and far between. It's very frustrating, knowing you are wasting these precious curves crawling behind some old man in his Buick or a heavily laden truck.

But here's the thing: This road "ends" at Lower Arrow Lake where there is a ferry terminal that delivers you to the other side at Fauquier. See what I'm getting at?

Westbound traffic travels is clumps and there is about a 20 minute gap between clumps.

If your timing is lucky you can make your turn around just as the ferry is crossing towards you. This pretty much ensures you of at least 30 km of traffic free road ahead of you, the highway is YOURS!

If you arrive at Needles and traffic has just embarked and on its way toward vernon, well there is a nice rest stop there, take 10 or 20, have a coffee and enjoy viewing the Lake and the quiet (there is no town, Needles is just a ferry terminal).

Wait for the ferry to come towards you and then take off. Just knowing that the road is yours alone will put a wide grin on your mug with anticipation of a fantastic driving experience ahead.

There are hazards.

Wildlife. In my most recent trip last week I came across three occasions of deer on the road. They will come out of the woods with no warning and they are stupid.

It's unwise to be speed crazy with this in mind. No matter how good a driver you are, no matter how awesome your vehicle is, there is little defense against a deer running across the road with no warning.

At the very least your car will be destroyed at worst, you'll die.

Weather. This is a high elevation road and a nice day in Vernon or Lumby can be cold and miserable at the higher elevations, snow is possible anytime between Sept and April.

If you are driving a convertible, bring heavy clothing and gloves.



If I somehow or other acquired a Ferrari or Porsche or 'Vette, this is the first road I would travel.

It's amazing.

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The Lake at Needles

Dennis Miller: The Ugliest American

Dennis Miller became a famous comedian back in the 70's as the wise cracking sarcastic "News Anchor" for Saturday Night Live.

He was a funny man then, wow have times changed.

Mr. Miller was once again on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Why Leno continues to invite this person on his show remains a mystery to me. I guess for equal time purposes, to counter all the bright, happy and funny people he usually has on.

Dennis Miller is a very sad man. This ultra conservative, far right wing neo-Nazi is a hateful, bigoted, racist, war mongering Fear Farmer who takes pleasure in spewing all sorts of spiteful vomit from the hairy blow hole that occupies the space between his closed ears.

The kind of vomit with enough acid content to burn through 3 inches of diamond coated stainless steel.

Still not only defending President Bush but actually still praising him and his stupid illegal war.

If Mr. Miller directed his kind of hate towards the African American as much as he does against the entire Arab and Islamic Community he would have been run out of his own country long ago.

He is a bigot and a racist.

Mr. Miller is a very scared man, it's so sad.

All Americans have felt and still feel the pain of 9/11.

Most have gotten over it and gone on with their lives. Most have come to realize that that Iraq had nothing to do with that event, that Iraq never had "weapons of mass destruction", that the American invasion of Iraq was an unlawful and despicable act against a sovereign nation.

Most have come to realize that the War in Iraq is President Bush's own personal war bent on revenge for daddy.

For Mr. Miller, it comes down to the "Terrorists", it's all about the Terrorists.

News flash for you Dennis, the "Terrorists" won long ago and you are the living proof. If this was 1950 your hero would have been Joe McCarthy and instead of looking under your bed every night for them Arabs, you would have been checking for Communists, "the Goddamn Reds".

Some things never change.

Most pathetically is the fact that you display your fear and hate for the whole world to see. And like me, most are thinking "this is a very sad man" and shake their heads in that realization.

Mr. Miller now makes his money feeding the fear frenzy of the trailer park crowd with his radio spot. God knows what kind of garbage he is producing for those eager yet ignorant minds.

Happily, like most conservatives, his fear overcomes any hint of intellect and its all too apparent to those that watch that show unfold.

I used to get angry at Miller's rantings, now I just get sad.

Canadian Idol, Photo Finish

Carly Rae Jepsen


I honestly don't know who's gonna win this thing now. Last week it looked like Brian Melo had it wrapped up. I said it was his to lose.

And he very well might have. Whiter Shade of Pale was a dumb choice of song, Jake's choice I think. No one sings that song, its a plodder. And the 15 second instrumental part in the middle of the song was very awkward. Brian had a problem hitting that loud high note too.

He redeemed himself in the second song somewhat, but I dunno, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't good enough.

I think Carly had her best night ever. Her Janis Ian song, "Seventeen" had everyone on the verge of tears.

I would have preferred her sing "Society's Child", one My Top 30 All Time Songs. But anyway she did the song justice. Her second song "White Flag" was a better version than the original, which I've never liked much.

A perfect song choice for Carly: How about the Joni Mitchell tune, "Chelsea Morning"?

Anyway, Carly was awesome, it would be a shame if, as Zake said, the public didn't get it. But I think she should lay off the Doritos.

What can you say about Jaydee? He's definitely improved over the weeks and now I don't have a problem with him. Still a bit too much twang for my tastes but it wouldn't be a total disaster if he won.

It'll be sad to see any of these three go tonight.

Three Noises That Should Be Outlawed

I've written a lot of stuff that I know a lot of people have disagreed with and maybe even some people have become upset over.

Good! Very satisfying!

Now I'm going to express an opinion that I KNOW will be agreed upon by 99.9% of the population.

We all know Noise Pollution is a problem. Much of it just comes with our Society and there isn't a lot that can be done with it.

But there are three noises that are created that should be outlawed, preferable with the threat of a jail term.

1). Boom Boxes. I'm talking about those Bass fixtures that young males install somewhere in their cars.

There is absolutely no point to these other than for these man-boys to proclaim :

"I am here, and I am young and immature, and I am an asshole!"

There really isn't any other reason. Enhance the music? Give me a break. Most of these Bass explosions are so distorted they are more likely to resemble a train wreck than any type of music.

Who do these young idiotic punks think they are that they can invade the psyche of every living being within a 500 meter range with their obnoxiousness?

Outlaw them and throw offenders in jail.

2). Motorcycle After-Market Exhaust Pipes

You know the one's I'm talking about. No manufacturer ships bikes with noise polluting mufflers. They all conform to noise limits set by the Government.

Once again, young Males (for the most part) feel the need to proclaim their presence by annoying the rest of us. So they buy and install what are really straight pipes with no muffling capability.

For no good reason.

I'm all for exhaust sounds. My 5 Liter Mustang GT makes some really sweet sounds. But that sound is withing reasonable volume limits.

But the Jackhammer sounds of a large (Harley) unmuffled motorcycle engine are anything but pleasant.

They are for one purpose, to announce the fact that: "The rider of this bike is an obnoxious fucking asshole!"

That's about all it does.

3). Propane Canons

Yes rare indeed. But if you've ever lived near an orchard or a crop field that is threatened by birds, you might know of what I write.

Who do these "farmers" think they are, that they feel they can freak the rest of us out by exploding these rude machines?

I say if you can't grow your crop without using them, get another occupation. I can't believe communities allow these things to operate.

Further, I would encourage anyone that has been victimised by these things to sneak up to them in the middle of the night and sabotage them. I would.

Senator Craig is Getting the Shaft

I'm no friend of Larry Craig and I'm especially no friend of his Politics. I'm not a fan of Conservative "Family Values" Politicians that want our Society rewound about 50 years.

But I know when someone is getting screwed over and I believe this is one of those times.

Craig was arrested for "lewd conduct". Huh? What lewd conduct? His shoe touched that of another man while in the bathroom stall. Whether intentionally (by either party) or by accident how is that possibly considered lewd?

In the heterosexual world, that's called "flirting".

I agree with Craig that he was entrapped by an overzealous police officer (possibly a gay one?) that wanted to make a name for himself.

I realise Americans see the world a bit differently than us Canadians. I can't imagine any member of any Canadian Police Force wasting his time arresting people for this so-called "lewd behaviour".

They have more important things to do, like handing out speeding tickets.

Craig was railroaded and is now being screwed over.

Sad.

The Most Compelling Reason Against The Death Penalty

How many innocent people have been put to death in the United States via their obsolete Justice System?

Read this story of how Steven Truscott has finally been acquitted 48 years later for the rape and murder of a 12 year old girl.

Mr. Truscott was initially sentenced to Hang and spent 4 months on Death Row (this when Canada still had the Barbaric Penalty of Death).

Thankfully sanity prevailed and his death sentence was commuted.

New evidence, based on the latest science, established that a miscarriage of justice had occurred based on lazy and sloppy Police work.

In the US this young man would probably have been killed, like many other innocents have been.

To those that still, against the flow of all advanced nations, still believe there is Justice in legalised killing I say to you: Get a brain and think with it for a change instead of letting your animal reactions control you.

More thoughts on the Death Penalty.

Better to have 100 guilty men set free than to imprison 1 innocent man.