Biker Buddies and Motorcycle Zen

Not long ago, Dan (biker buddy) introduced me to a little hole-in-the-wall diner named Shirley Mae's (I hope I have that spelling right). Stunningly good food, exceedingly generous helpings (Ms. Skald and I share a plate), and just the right ambience for a couple of bikers. It seems Dan's got a nose for eats, but more, he's got a poet's soul and he liked this blog's notion of Motorcycle Zen – so he couldn't help but send out a bit of a prose poem – here it is for your pleasure and edification:

About 2 years ago, I purchased a Royal Enfield Bullet 500 ES Classic - pure 1950's technology, built in India on 1950's machinery and tooling from Redditch, England. Of course this means that I need to spend time about every 100 miles checking all the bolts, wires, carb settings, etc. But I learned a lot about motorcycling with the wee bike. The only thing that did not thrill me was the max top speed of 67+-. Trucks kept making me nervous.

Then, a year ago I bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. A 2004 Fatboy: a Twin Cam 88B, fuel injected, internally balanced (less vibration), 88 cubic inch engine. Lava Red and only 8000 miles on her! Oh, the power when I got her out on the highway and opened up the throttle. She became my main commuter, carrying me the 34 miles one way to work, relegating the faithful little 4 cycle one-lunger to the occasional short ride around town.

But today, I got home and parked the Harley-Davidson and looked over at the Royal Enfield. That black paint and gold pinstripe called to me. I walked over, put the key in, turned on the fuel and kicked him over (yes, it's a him). Brruumm, poppapoppapoppapoppa. I got on and went for a spin. What a difference between the two. One, a big, heavy, fuel injected modern beast versus the other, a light, carbureted, single cylinder running on 1950's technology. No computer to deal with, no idiot lights if things go wrong. Just a 500 cc (32 cubic inch) thumper moving me down the road on a saddle between two tyres (they are Avons, so that is the correct spelling). Simplicity on a sunny, first-of-summer afternoon. Sorry Mr. Harley and you Davidson brothers, but Redditch tech wins today. I will be taking off for work about 30 minutes earlier tomorrow – the back roads are safer for the Enfield than trusting to rushing commuters on I-5.

Flatheads, knuckleheads, panheads and more – oldies worth riding… like Dan said, it's summer, and it's time to pick the June bugs, Mayflies, and love bugs out of our teeth and hair. Well friends, I'll meet you at the pub after the ride.

Stay free, ride hard.

Truth or Dare and Tithe!

Ahhh, Willamette Valley Vineyards – a wonderful 2004 Riesling I've been saving for, well, drinking at some later date J and today is that later date. Now then, with a couple of glasses of wine the truth of the matter is a little clearer – lucky for me the choice was a Riesling rather than a fruity merlot or some snobbish cabernet variety that's so darn hard to see through…

The truth about what? This comes via Coffeespy's Call to Arms, a multimedia extravaganza concerning the financial straits that the Rightwing Nuthouse is currently navigating. [sigh] If I only had 23 loyal readers to offer! But I do have a baker's dozen… is that thirteen? If I can donate a sawbuck or two so can you [pl.] [evil grin]

Since I've stolen Coffee's poster, because it is kind of cool, I'll also use it to explain the truth about truth. The truth about what? Yup, truth. Pundits like the Coffeespy, Rightwing Nuthouse, and others seem to actually share the knowledge that there is a real, objective, world out there. Moreover, they seem to share the notion that truth can be a property or attribute of a sentence, statement, or proposition. With just a few more steps, we can also reach the idea that there is both good and bad in the world. Dudes and dudettes, Captain America fought against the Nazis because it was the good/right thing to do – the Nazis were an evil regime that was building an evil culture.

While it is "true" that one's enemies rarely view themselves as evil (and sometimes they are not), perception is not the arbiter of truth and good. Comic book writers seem to have a better handle on the common sense notion that there is an objective standard by which we can judge things to be true or false, good or bad. Captain America would not have looked at the cultural practice of "female circumcision" and concluded that it was something to be accepted in the spirit of multiculturalism. For damn sure Wonder Woman would not have! Without an extended discussion of correspondence, coherence, or minimalist theories of truth, the common sense point is easy – one does not "tolerate" vile or evil behavior for the sake of "can't we all just get along?"

Wow, that was a bit much… nahhh. Now go drop your tithe in the Rightwing Nuthouse J

After Memorial Day

First, my apologies for letting this languish for a week. With that out of the way, and having celebrated Memorial Day by taking off for the weekend, I was somewhat taken aback by another pundit suggesting we bring back the draft. My response is easy: ABSOLUTELY NOT.

I like the all volunteer force. I like knowing that the soldiers and sailors serving in the armed forces chose to serve their country. After reading and listening to a few odds and ends I find myself appalled by some of the sentiments masquerading around our country as noble! For example, right before Memorial Day I saw a bumper sticker that said "He's not MY president." Now that is another one that deserves the "horseshit" moniker. While serving in the armed forces, one of the presidents I served under was Bill Clinton, a president I wasn't entirely glad to have in charge… especially as my Commander in Chief since he frequently failed to offer the simplest of military courtesies to those who served him honorably. Know what? He was MY president. After the vote was tallied, OUR country had made their choice, WE had a new president.

I like the all volunteer force. I like knowing that the soldiers and sailors serving in the armed forces chose to serve their country. By mutual consent, OUR country's citizenry agree to be governed by those selected via the exercise of OUR franchise. So, when some chubby little Dixie Chick says that veterans are not fighting for or defending her, I don't have a real problem saying that she's an ethical moron. When you eat a steak, you have the same moral standing as the butcher. When you participate in a REPRESENTATIVE democracy, you have the same moral standing as those who represent you.

I like the all volunteer force. I like knowing that the soldiers and sailors serving in the armed forces chose to serve their country. I especially like the way Robert Heinlein put it:

No state has an inherent right to survive through conscript troops and in the long run, no state ever has. Roman matrons used to say to their sons: "Come back with your shield, or on it." Later on, this custom declined. So did Rome.

We deserve to lose our freedoms when our citizens are no longer willing to defend them. I like the all volunteer force. I am more than proud of my father's, my daughters', my family's, and my friends' (you all know who you are) service to country, I honor them and their brothers and sisters in arms.

Motorcycle Zen

Not long ago I described a fun flat on my Harley. I managed to damage the rear wheel and rim in addition to shredding the tire – kind of a spendy repair. The shop was able to true the wheel and knock the kinks out of the rim (hallelujah!). I replaced the old rubber, front and rear, with beautifully scribed whitewalls. The ride home was circuitous, allowing time for the Harley mind-meld – that great place where rider and scooter are one… think Caddy Shack, and well, **BE the bike.** My Harley is often helpful in ways other than one might expect. It keeps me from running away from home, from going postal, from just choking the life out of people who disagree with me J

I suppose there are several reasons to mention "just being." Part of it is associated with Winnie-the-Pooh, another part with the Te of Piglet and the Tao of Pooh. In the Tao of Pooh we learn the importance of just being, Pooh just is. In the Te of Piglet we learn about something essential to the Tao – Virtue. This is a virtue that is partly reflected in the Judeo-Christian idea that "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." The Chinese character can be written two ways according to Benjamin Hoff; one way combines the characters for both "upright" and "heart." "The second way adds the character for 'left-foot,'" Te, or virtue in action.

Why even mention this? Primarily because some new age freaks want to make these ideas mean something other than what they are. These ideas do not deny reality or claim that our thoughts create our reality – that somehow our minds conjure matter. This continual fascination with "best-case scenarios," "positive thinking," and "creative visualization" is becoming a serious obstacle to sensible people. WE NEED OUR EYORES!!! Someone needed to say, "Maybe they won't greet us as liberators." Somebody needed to explore the worst-case.

OK, apart from my gratuitous jab at the administration, the point is that we can't simply "think" our future into existence – we must interact with our REAL environment. We need to DO. We are in Iraq; we need to finish the job. Remember the Goddess Nike? "Just do it." Again, why even mention this? OPRAH WINFREY is why even mentioning this seems prudent. John Gravois of Slate Magazine has a must read article at the previous link. Slate is soliciting anecdotal accounts of when negative thinking, "a healthy dose of pessimism," or envisioning the worst has helped you. Let's send these to Oprah via Slate to illustrate just how dangerous "The Secret" is, and as a result, take steps to prevent the same kind of errant nonsense associated with Christian Scientists refusing medical attention for themselves and their children. Like trying to convince the liberal left, it is extremely difficult to use facts to elicit change in people who deny reality, and "The Secret" advocates essentially that – reality bites, think it away.

Mmmm, maybe I've gone too far… nahhhh.

Knowing, Nike, Perfection, and Just Doing It

So I'm motoring down Hwy 99W on my Harley, enjoying a perfect day for riding – (though yesterday was more perfect J, yes, there is an inside joke there) – when suddenly the rear end of the scooter goes into a skid toward oncoming traffic. Well, the old sphincter puckers, I muscle a turn into the skid and apply the front brakes and accelerate to right slide, and it works way too well and I'm now skidding toward the right shoulder. I pretty much do the same thing again, i.e., turn into the skid, and since there is no oncoming traffic, there is no need to apply front brake and accelerate to enhance the correction. I fishtail out of danger, slow, come to stop on the shoulder. I HATE controlling skids on a motorcycle, especially when the rear end just does not behave like it should!

I've been riding motorcycles for a large portion of my fifty years, and I've never had an explosive flat on the rear tire before today. So that's why the rear end behaved so poorly <blink, blink>. After five or ten minutes my sphincter un-puckered enough to let go of the seat, I started breathing, and either my heart finally started beating again or it simply slowed down. My perfect day was no longer, but I did spend the night in…

That wasn't a sea story, and unfortunately, I have a rear tire to repair this weekend. It is however a story that exemplifies the kinds of experience I not only tend to enjoy (in hindsight), but also helps to explain my fascination with philosophy, religion, and just generally being contrary. Danger that brushes up against my mortality spurs me on to re-examinations of my beliefs. Today, it brought to mind a conversation Gravebinder and I had earlier in the day on the nature of perfection. Though we disagreed on the nature of perfection, the conversation raised certain flags for me concerning epistemology – elements of that branch of philosophy I thought I had quite settled…

I realize that to most people understanding the nature of knowledge, i.e., what it is, how it is acquired, and what people actually know is beyond boring. In fact, most people probably disdain the study of any of the five major branches of philosophy, but it does provide foundational material for conversations on the nature of perfection… I mean really, can some perfect thing become "more" perfect? Is the answer to the question obvious? It's a conversation that occurs in philosophy, religion, and BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT, ETC! Nifty, hey?

Maybe I'll just stick with poetry and politics and not be concerned with how I know about these subjects <grin> of course, process is important and perhaps Nike is right:

The Goddess Nike On Performance Anxiety

Her lover said:

Tell me how, tell me where
Tell me when, talk me through
And tell me you came too

Tell me that I know how
To put that look upon your face
That in any other time or place
People would confuse with pain

She said:

Don’t talk unless you talk hard
Don’t ask unless you wanna know
The answers that I have, but oh!

God, don’t tell me what or how and when
But God! Just whisper. Then moan!
Sweet Jesus! Then groan!
Don’t talk, don’t stop, but oh God, Just Do It!