Big Numbers

Think of it this way. Forty thousand years is nine hundred and sixty thousand years short of one million. The Royal Order of Orange Toad is  going on a pilgrimage to "the East" in search of the "ultimate Truth"

Preparing For The Apocalypse

Headgear
Baseball Cap or other Sun Hat. One with a good visor to shade the
nose and eyes. Include a bandanna to shade the neck.
Wool or pile ski hat. Make sure ears are covered.
Balaclava (1) Heavy weight, (1) Lightweight.
Suggested: North Face. Heavyweight must fit over lightweight.
Neoprene face mask. Optional
Head lamp (Plenty of extra bulbs & batteries).
Suggested: Petzl Zoom or Artic.
2 Pairs of Glacier glasses. 100% UV, high quality optical lenses
designed for mountain use, must have full side covers. We highly recommend a
removable nose guard. Suggested: Bolle, RayBan, Julbo Round "Arc". If you
wear contact lenses we recommend packing a spare pair of glasses-it is a
good idea to have these with "photo-gray" or equivalent light-sensitive
material so they can double as emergency sunglasses. If you wear glasses we
recommend prescription glacier glasses (dark gray or green). No more than
6% light transmission.
Ski Goggles, 1 pair. 100% UV & IR. Bolle's Chrono work well.
Climbers with glasses try X-700, they fit over glasses.

Cycling

EPILOGUE

Ride your bicycles!

Keep It Simple

Not this.












This!

Windmills my ASS!

Sancho Panza was, of course, the prototypical sidekick, who traveled around at the side of Don Quixote in Miguel de Cervantes’ historic novel of the same name. Sancho was overweight and dim, riding atop a donkey, yet lovable for his unshakable loyalty to his master, Quixote. Lately, I've been realizing my foolishness in matters academic and would like to retract much of what has been stated of late, here on my tiny blog. Basically, I am trying to set aside many of these preconceived ideas and just move on. Will someone please get word to don Juan that, HE IS FIRED!

Such Fragile Threads

Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush growing in fenny ground, looking very green, but withering in dry weather, represents the hypocrite's profession, which is maintained only in times of prosperity. The spider's web, spun with great skill, but easily swept away, represents a man's pretensions to religion when without the grace of God in his heart. A formal professor flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of his salvation, is secure, and cheats the world with his vain confidences. The flourishing of the tree, planted in the garden, striking root to the rock, yet after a time cut down and thrown aside, represents wicked men, when most firmly established, suddenly thrown down and forgotten. This doctrine of the vanity of a hypocrite's confidence, or the prosperity of a wicked man, is sound; but it was not applicable to the case of Job, if confined to the present world.

Columbus Day Dining

A whirlwind tour of the west coast this last 3 days as we swept up the Tour of California course, looking for my talisman. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, most Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Orient believed in the protective and healing power of amulets or blessed objects. Talismans used by these peoples can be broken down into three main categories. The first are the types carried or worn on the body. The second version of a talisman is one which is hung upon or above the bed of an infirm person. The third is attached to an individual's bicycle, usually in the form of a medal commemorating a saint. And now you know, the rest of the story!

Open The Pod Bay Door Hal

1. persistent and pervasive feelings of tension and apprehension;
2. belief that one is socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others;
3. excessive preoccupation with being criticized or rejected in social situations;
4. unwillingness to become involved with people unless certain of being liked;
5. restrictions in lifestyle because of need to have physical security;
6. avoidance of social or occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact because of fear of criticism, disapproval, or rejection.
Associated features may include hypersensitivity to rejection and criticism. Name that Toon!

WebFoot Potluck

In a tradition of keepin' it new and fresh, we the members of the Seely's Cyclery Collective are swithin' things up a bit this Fall. Instead of a, "So-Last-Year's" bicycle swap, we're having a Potluck Lunch! Noon-??? Sunday October 24, Carpet Mart, California. Drop in for details or just drop in. P.S. You may shake your Groove Thang, yeah!

"Chain Lightning"

Energy is contagious
Enthusiasm spreads
Tides respond to lunar gravitation
Everything turns in synchronous relation
Laughter is infectious
Excitement goes to my head
Winds are stirred by planets in rotation
Sparks ignite and spread new information
Respond, vibrate, feed back, resonate
Sun dogs fire on the horizon
Meteor rain stars across the night
This moment may be brief
But it can be so bright
Hope is epidemic
Optimism spreads
Bitterness breeds irritation
Ignorance breeds imitation

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

I picked up an old hippy yesterday hitchhiking down the old highway to Anderson. He jumped in the bus and then immediately went into his 40 year long running diatribe. "America says that people work only for money. But check it out: those who don’t have money work the hardest, and those who have money take very long lunch hours.
When I was born I had food on my table and a roof over my head. Most babies born in the world face hunger and cold. What is the difference between them and me?
Every well-off white American better ask himself that question or he will never understand why people hate America.
The enemy is this dollar bill right here in my hand.
Now if I get a match, I’ll show you what I think of it.
This burning gets some political radicals very uptight. I don’t know exactly why. They burn a lot of money putting out leaflets nobody reads." Wow! That guy was real different.

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

....Dame Van Winkle ceaselessly browbeat Rip for his failings, saying he was bringing the family to ruin. Rip would shrug and go outside, out of range of her scolding tongue. She treated his dog, Wolf, the same way, and Wolf began to resemble Rip in submissiveness. Rip often sought refuge with a village group that convened on a bench in front of an inn to gossip, tell stories, and on one occasion discuss events reported in a newspaper left behind by a traveler.

Missing Persons

Where do we go from here?
It seems so all too near
Just as far beyond as i can see
I still don't know what this all means to me

I don't know where to go
I don't know what to do
And i don't even know the time of day
I guess it doesn't matter anyway

life is so strange
Destination unknown
When you don't know
your destination
Something could change
It's unknown
and then you won't know
Destination Unknown

Why include Ants in rapid biodiversity assessment?

Ants have numerous attributes that make them ideal
for biodiversity studies. These attributes include high
diversity, numerical and biomass dominance in
almost every habitat throughout the world, a fairly
good taxonomic knowledge base, ease of collection,
stationary nesting habits that allow them to be
resampled and monitored over time, sensitivity to
environmental change, and important functions in
ecosystems, including interactions with other
organisms at every trophic level.
Ants have numerous attributes that make them ideal
for biodiversity studies. These attributes include high
diversity, numerical and biomass dominance in
almost every habitat throughout the world, a fairly
good taxonomic knowledge base, ease of collection,
stationary nesting habits that allow them to be
resampled and monitored over time, sensitivity to
environmental change, and important functions in
ecosystems, including interactions with other
organisms at every trophic level.

Ant Convention

We are starting day 2 of the annual Ant Survey, out here by Motion Creek. Got some good rain out here in the night. Everyone thinks we may have extra good ant viewing opportunity today thanks to it. Come on out if Ya get a chance. Bring your own magnifying glass!

Store Window Dummies

As a boy growing up in Hollywood, I was (innocently) subjected to a lot of (incidental) fashion boutique manikin viewing. One particularly disturbing Store window dummy was actually an animatronic, little shoe cobbler. I hated the sight of that retched little guy so much I would throw a tantrum if my folks even started to drive down the street he was on. My little poodle-shitzu dog is particularly terrified of the image of this one. I am not Rod Serling. You however have just entered, The Twilight Zone.

IT'S HARD FOR SOME MEN TO FINISH SENTENCES

Sometimes a man can't say
What he . . . A wind comes
And his doors don't rattle. Rain
Comes and his hair is dry.

There's a lot to keep inside
And a lot to . . . Sometimes shame
Means we. . . Children are cruel,
He's six and his hands. . .

Even Hamlet kept passing
The king praying
And the king said,
"There was something. . . ." Robert Bly.

Existential Reckoning

In the words of Neil Peart, I've been doing some serious existential reckoning of late. As many of you know, I cannot and will not, allow stock, over-the-counter thinking, writing, acting, or living into my tiny-little, flying-fortress-Of mystery. Every bit of information is thoroughly masticated and then, triple-filtered through the poly-phosphoric membrane. I have recently learned of an analogue transmitter on top of the mighty Shasta Bally that will allow us to once again receive a signal via rabbit-ear antennae. I, for one, am mildly delighted. That is all. OVER!

DOING HARD TIME IN A ZEN MONASTERY

Almost everybody that reads a little about Zen starts thinking that NOTHING exists because everything is inherently empty, so what we perceive as reality must be delusion. But emptiness is the absence of independent existence. What that means is SOMETHING must exist and one of the qualifications of that existence is emptiness...the absence of independent existence is only possible because there is SOMETHING that exists...otherwise there would be no 'need' for the absence of independent existence, and if there was no absence of independent existence, then everything would not be empty.

Self Portrait Completed!

As an art major of the 70's, my ramblings took me to far off lands, in search of artistic expression. Although mainly limited to the West coast, I did do a bit running around in the South-West (New Mexico) and North to Denver. I tended to fancy art of a decidedly psychedelic form. San Francisco as you might well imagine, was a regular destination of mine. Of course, that was all before the "EVENT" that rendered most of "Me" either dead, diseased or dumb. Now three decades later, I have finally completed my thesis. I give you, my self-portrait.

It's Almost TIME!

The hourglass uses the flow of sand to measure the flow of time. They were used in navigation. Ferdinand Magellan used 18 glasses on each ship for his circumnavigation of the globe (1522). Incense sticks and candles were, and are, commonly used to measure time in temples and churches across the globe. Waterclocks, and later, mechanical clocks, were used to mark the events of the abbeys and monasteries of the Middle Ages. Richard of Wallingford (1292–1336), abbot of St. Alban's abbey, famously built a mechanical clock as an astronomical orrery about 1330. Great advances in accurate time-keeping were made by Galileo Galilei and especially Christiaan Huygens with the invention of pendulum driven clocks.

Layin' down The Law... in my opinion.

I find it extremely important that my message be heard. It is perhaps simple, yet manifold. I would like to start with Helmet wearing while riding bicycles. I believe that it is important to do so. Second, I cannot overstate the importance of trail etiquette while riding where pedestrians are walking. Last but not least I would like to state my belief in the Holy Trinity, as I understand it today. Revelation tells us that there is in God a true fatherhood that belongs to the First Person alone. From all eternity, the First Person has been generating the Son, who is not a mere attribute of God, but a distinct Person. This is clear from the opening words of the Fourth Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Proceeding from the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit.

Ridin' with the Good Ol' boys

This past Saturday brought some strange chemistry to our morning bike ride in the form of a couple of crazy old, California-Oakie, Good-Ol-Boy, bicycle riders joining us. The endless, conversations, yelled at the top of their lungs back and forth in that decidedly Bakersfield-twang about Big-Block vs. Small-block and 4-11 Posi-traction vs. IRS with 373 ratio... well finally I just decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Cheers!

Diet For A Madman

Eat more, loose weight! 8am; 2 pieces wheat berry bread, toasted, pat o' butter Tbsp. o' jam. 9am; 1 Banana, 10 raw almonds. 10am; 1 Oz. cheese, 10 whole-grain chips. Noon; 2 pieces Nut and grain bread, fresh basil leaves, homegrown tomato, mayo sandwich. 1pm; 1 celery, 1 carrot. 2:30pm; 1 apple, 1 Tbsp. cashew butter. 4pm; 1 Oz. cheese, 10 whole-grain chips. 6pm; Homemade Burrito- Flour tortilla, basmati rice refried black beans, pepper-jack cheese, shredded cabbage, green onion, sour cream. 8pm; Dessert- small bowl o' Natures Path Organic Hemp Plus Granola, 1/2 cup 2% milk. Drink Green tea and water all day

September Morn...

Stay for just a while

Stay, and let me look at you

It's been so long, I hardly knew you

Standing in the door

Stay with me a while

I only want to talk to you

We've traveled halfway 'round the world

To find ourselves again


September morn

We danced until the night became a brand new day

Two lovers playing scenes from some romantic play

September morning still can make me feel that way


Look at what you've done

Why, you've become a grown-up girl

I still can hear you cryin'

In the corner of your room

And look how far we've come

So far from where we used to be

But not so far that we've forgotten

How it was before


September morn

Do you remember how we danced that night away

Two lovers playing scenes from some romantic play

September morning still can make me feel that way

1984 Rajneeshee Bioterror Attack

Life is complex and multilayered and my naive illusions about the phenomena of perfect enlightenment have faded through the years. It has become clear to me that enlightened people are as fallible as anyone. They are expanded human beings, not perfect human beings, and they live and breathe with many of the same faults and vulnerabilities we ordinary humans must endure. During the "Missing Years" of my life, I did a fair amount o' wanderin'. My boot heels kicked along, down many a tree lined by-way. In the Fall of 1984, I found myself in the quiet little town of The Dalles, Oregon. If "The Bhagwan" had been as clever as he claimed to be, he would have realized that I was going to order a burger and fries and completely side-step the salad bar. Otherwise, he'd a had me too! Bonehead!

Submitted For Your Dismissal

I could a laughed like HADES! I was out riding around in the beautiful drizzly countryside, watching (and narrating) "The movies in my head!" When I got to the part where a lady described her dead husband as, "that Son-of-a-bitch who made my life a living HELL for 20 years"... well, I just fell about the place! Someone in a costume, that made him appear to be my friend, said something about, "that sounds like Me in the mirror." "Oh yeah?" I laughed. "Well what about animals in heaven?" "Go get another cuppa tea you moron!" He yelled, as he rode off.

Cult of Personality

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships. The sociologist Max Weber developed a tripartite classification of authority; the cult of personality holds parallels with what Weber defined as 'charismatic authority'.
A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is propagated by mass media (facebook). However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of religious or non-political leaders.

Gas Pipe Frames

I have been hearing the expression, "Gas Pipe Frame" rather often lately. I find it interesting that... WHAT? Who goes there? It is I, the creator of the entity you dare call, I. It's a perspective, far outside of your work-a-day PAUPER-dom! For you see, the real I, (Me) have created that as well. Turns out that REAL PEOPLE, have been expressing a growing sense of BORE-dom with regards to "your" OPINIONS! Damn you man behind the keyboard! It's a 1958 Bianchi 3-speed, somebody does give a rip about my Milano in the yard. You and your silly Kingdom of Castile!

Come Fry With me...

...come fry, let's fry an egg! Oh Man, the tea-man was just here! I am going home to brew me up a cuppa "Pride O' The Port" tea and I am gonna ride that cup to the moon and beyond! Thank you SanFranTeaMan!
There aint no mountain I cannot climb, long as I got me a proppa-cuppa!

IF SWING GOES, I GO TOO (Fred Astaire / Harry Warren)

They can take away my breakfast!
They can take away my lunch!
But there’s just one thing
That they can’t take,
That’s the rhythm of the swing band bunch.
I like my music
And I like it high
If I try to shake it down
Then I just wanna die.
What’s this talk about waltzes
Taking the place of swing?
I don’t like waltzes
If they cancel my soap operas
I’ll make it through.
They can take away most anything,
But if swing goes I go too!

Slow Boat To China

Trapped! It's a big boat, but not big enough to escape that big mouth that just goes on yappin' and rappin' about my miserable failure, my life. Now that bastard is on the P.A. yelling something about my whole existence being nothing more than a series of token efforts, just enough to get things patched up and marginally functioning, so that I can get my fat ass back in that recliner, a bag of chips and a cold beverage by my side. One of these days I swear to God, I am going to throw that SOB overboard!@#*!

I am Sorry Richard!

Yeah, so I was out riding when suddenly, out of nowhere, it occurs to me that I have some 'splainin' to do. If I refer to myself as you, it is because He is not listening. For you see, He is Me and You are He and We are all together. Occasionally the whole system goes a bit awry and We begin trying to make fun of others in an effort to get the focus off Us. So FRUITCAKE becomes a very bad choice made no doubt by very bad chemicals in Our brain. "I" hope this helps clear things up a bit and that "I" have not offended anyone. LIAR!

FRUIT CAKE !

Ya know, some day they probably will end up throwing a net over my head and haulin' me off to a padded cell. Out of nowhere I had a thought that went like this. If I go to google and type in the words, Fruit Cake, and then check images, I'll bet there will be a picture of Richard Simmons somewhere amongst them. Well folks, I was wrong. There were over 30 pages of images (of fruit cakes) but no Richard Simmons to be found. This chap was the closest thing I could find. Sorry.

Zen Saying...

"When you get to the bottom of the stack-- Keep shoveling."

Everything is Dharmatically Illuminated When You Are Climbing Up Cold mountain With The Man From La Mancha!

We were suddenly arrested by the thought of that old, semi-crippled man, essentially just sitting up there in the clouds, writing poetry. I thought to myself, I'll bet he would love a good vegetarian sausage. And so our journey began. Climbing up Cold mountain with a pack o' Smart Sausages.

Han-shan

My heart is like the autumn moon
perfectly bright in the deep green pool
nothing can compare with it
you tell me how it can be explained

Everything Is Illuminated (2005) Sort of...

Everything Is Illuminated (2005): "- Sent using Google Toolbar" Well after years of waiting for just the right moment, I finally felt that it was time to watch. I (of course) was joined with by my counter-part, Yevette. We had a lot of fun and it was just a lot of fun! If you want to have some fun, we both recommend that you watch this film.

I'm Good, Thank You.: Officious seeing eye bitch

I'm Good, Thank You.: Officious seeing eye bitch: "Click me to see what I am looking at Just got back from watching a sneak preview of 'Everything is Illuminated' and it is an awesome movi..."

Han-shan

(Cold Mountain)
(730? - 850?)

English version by
Red Pine

Original Language
Chinese

Buddhist : Zen / Chan
Taoist
8th Century

Someone lives in a mountain gorge
cloud robe and sunset tassels
holding sweet plants he would share
but the road is long and hard
burdened by regrets and doubts
old and unaccomplished
called by others crippled
he stands alone steadfast

Han-shan (Cold Mountain)

Clambering up the Cold Mountain path,
The Cold Mountain trail goes on and on:
The long gorge choked with scree and boulders,
The wide creek, the mist-blurred grass.
The moss is slippery, though there's been no rain
The pine sings, but there's no wind.
Who can leap the world's ties
And sit with me among the white clouds?

English version by Gary Snyder.

Desolation Peak

"And suddenly I saw the Northwest was a great deal more than the little vision I had of it of Japhy in my mind. It was miles and miles of unbelievable mountains grooking on all horizons in the wild broken clouds, Mount Olympus and Mount Baker, a giant orange sash in the gloom over the Pacific-ward skies that led I knew toward the Hokkaido Siberian desolations of the world. I huddled against the bridge-house hearing the Mark Twain talk of the skipper and the wheel-man inside. In the deepened dusk fog ahead the big red neons saying: PORT OF SEATTLE."

Shuffling Along The Road Of Life

Saw old man shuffling out of Costco yesterdee. Very old, leather moccasin footed. Audible shuffle, scuffing scruffily out into the hot bustling parking lot. Idiot brained, perhaps. Blank face stare, he's driving I wonder? Eve mentions that he's probably the perfect human lighting rod. Start to ask her what she means, then I burst out laughing.

The Short Reign of Pippin IV

The story is quite simple. Pippin is pressured by French political leaders in the year of 19-- to accept the crown of France because of his birthright. The poor fellow just wants to record cosmic showers and dwell in the peace of his family. Yet it is not so easy to reject the notion since he is told that France needs him, and who can ignore that? It seems a coincidence that all 42 political sections decide to support monarchy "for different reasons beneficial to" themselves. So Pippin and his family move into Versailles along with 200 penniless aristocrats. And that is where Pippin takes his role seriously as king much to the chagrin of the delegates (and his wife who feels left out and goes to Sister Hyacinthe for advice). In the few months of his rule, the king tries desperately to understand his subjects' conditions and to discern the relationships among power, corruption, and fear. Exactly how Pippin's reign ends in France is a worldly lesson to all on what "the good life" is. As Uncle Charlie warns Pippin,"When a pawn tries to do the work of the government--then the pawn is a fool."

Over Drive - Group Crash Scene

And Now, A Zen Moment

Master; "What is the meaning of bird?"
Student; "What bird?"
Master; "The bird of one's mind."
Student; "Go to Hell!"
Master; "Gosh!"
Student; "Yeah that's what I thought! You think anyone wants a round-house kick to the head while I'm wearin' these Bad Boys? I don't think so!"

Working Our Way Through France

Day 19; After narrowly escaping the clutches of an overly exuberant Saxon woman, we are back safely in the saddle working our way through France. Rocinante, my trusty steed, is holding up to the rigors of the long journey marvelously! All previous oaths of mine with regards to sending him to the Glue Factory, shall now be proclaimed null and void!

Through Thhe Wormhole

I'm not sure where my fear of German women stems from, but I know one thing, it is not getting any better. Just the other day I was telling a friend about the wonderful new mini-series on the Science Channel called, Through The Wormhole, with Morgan Freeman, when suddenly an older, Teutonic woman who over heard our conversation screamed out, "Tru Da Vermholen!" I began down that decades long inner path of fear and trembling as my friend started up an animated conversation with the lady. Soon, I simply could stand it no longer and had to abruptly excuse myself because as I said, "Somewhere, there is a kettle at full boil, I need a strong cuppa English Breakfast Tea!"

If I Were A Rich Man!

Meanwhile... Back at The Ranch

Lately, a discouragaing word has descended over the blue skies that blanket the Ponderosa. Some letter-writers, like the football players who administered the shears on him 15 years ago are distressed by Mike Landon, or Little Joe's, long hair. "There are people who write in, forgetting that 'Bonanza' is set in the Old West in the 1870's, and they ask is Little Joe some kind of hippie." Landon shakes his full-thatched head in wonderment. "They've got to be kidding--Ben Cartwright's son a hippie?"

Shadow Biosphere

A shadow biosphere is a postulated microbial biosphere of Earth that uses radically different biochemical and molecular processes than currently known life. While life on Earth is relatively well-studied, the shadow biosphere may still remain unnoticed because our exploration targets our biochemistry primarily.

Benner, Ricardo and Carrigan argue that, if organisms based on RNA have once existed, they may still be alive today, unnoticed because they don't contain ribosomes, which are usually used to detect living organisms. They suggest searching for them in environments that are low in sulphur, that are spatially constrained (for example, minerals with pores smaller than one micrometre), or that cycle between extreme hot and cold.

Other proposed denizens of the shadow biosphere include organisms with chirality opposite of ours, that use some of the non-standard amino acids, or that use arsenic instead of phosphorus.

That Seventy's Look

Hello and welcome back! We are sincerely excited about our latest project, one that we are not entirely able to share the details of, yet. Stay tuned all Summer long as our new program director has many new ideas and of course, lots of giveaways!

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish