30 August 2019
Ride Bikes? Ride Bikes.
Over the years there's been a lot of hot air devoted to what cycling is 'about': It's a metaphor for what your life is about, or what your life isn't about, and it says something about you, or it doesn't, and your bike is wrong, or it's right, and there are rules, but also there are different rules, and on and on. I find all of it to be more than a little exhausting, because who gives a shit?
Just ride your goddamn bike.
Ride your mountain bike, your road bike, your gravel bike, your e-bike, your fat bike,* your push bike, your three wheeler, your whatever. Ride it up hills, down hills, over hills, around hills, on the flat, in the wind, out of the wind, in the rain, in the snow, in summer / winter / spring and fall, in a big circle, take the lift and coast downhill or pedal up, ride to your friends house, to work, to your loved one, to the pub, to run errands, for fun, for fitness, for community, for freedom, for escape, because you want to, because you have to. Just ride your fucking bike.
If you don't like riding bikes that's cool. Do something else, for whatever reason you want to do it. Don't let anyone gatekeep that thing. Gatekeeping is bullshit.
These videos from Rapha are slick and polished marketing but I think they tell a good story about how crazy people can be about riding bikes. It helps that Lachlan Morton is a low-key savage on two wheels. Maybe it speaks to you, maybe it doesn't. I got a kick out of it.
Enjoy your weekend.
* I struggled with this one. Fat Tire e-bikes are... not my favorite. But you do you.
22 August 2019
A Formidable Record: Rolling Stones Greatest Hits
A friend of mine went to the Rolling Stones concert tonight. I guess it seemed good on paper? I watched some grainy recorded video and Mick doesn't quite hit the notes like he used to. Go figure. You'd be better off queuing up the Greatest Hits record on your local HiFi and getting real baked at home. By yourself, or with friends. Either way you save a lot of money and have a way better time. And you beat the traffic.
Ruby Tuesday is my favorite Rolling Stones song. Brian Jones on recorder for this track, if you were wondering.
20 August 2019
Long Time No Talk - How Have You Been?
No, I didn't quit the blogspace. I actually think about it quite a lot, but then I don't get around to putting the time in to deliver on the mediocre thoughts. In the past month I have traveled a bit, and was able to see some friends in San Jose while on a work trip.
I went to Cabo San Lucas for a long weekend. Cabo is nominally in Mexico, but feels way too much like a lawless suburb of Newport Beach, right down to the people that go there. It's not that Cabo wasn't fun - I went with friends and had a good time, but it's not my kind of fun. There is nothing to do there but go to the bars and go to the beach, and the big advantage of Cabo over a place with bars and beaches that are a short drive from where I live is that it is cheaper, and the weather tends to be reliably warmer, and it is much easier to get all the cocaine you want. (Not even kidding about that last part - if the market is any indicator of demand then coke is it. I couldn't walk 20 feet without some street vendor trying to sell me blow. It was not what I expected at all, but for some people it is probably paradise.)
I have been riding my bikes as much as I can on the weekends. Very exciting.
While I was in Cabo there were not one but two more mass shootings in the United States, which was sad and terrible and caused some in-bad-faith calls for mental health awareness and also some type of Federal law that will allow people declared dangerous to have their guns taken away. Not sure how much experience you have with the judicial system, but anyone involved in it will tell you that it is a shitshow that is only occasionally functional, and then only slowly. There are already laws in place in some states (like California) that if you get a restraining order force you to get rid of all your guns. They don't work.
The best way to keep people from using guns to kill people is to keep them from getting guns in the first place. Guns of all kinds are far too easy to get. You can get a gun more easily than a drivers license. That is absurd. I am in favor of gun ownership if you can demonstrate competence: go through thorough interviews and background checks and show that you are capable of owning and operating one safely. I think a gun should be on par with getting your entry level pilot's license, with a strict supervised test and regular checkups on your competence. (Maybe force all shooters to qualify at the same standard as your local police officers.) This would prevent many people from owning guns, but if you are not qualified to operate it then you are not qualified to own it. Tough luck for you, but better for everyone, including you, since you are a danger to yourself and others if you own a gun and do not know how to use it.
It's a shame that this kind of approach gets no traction, and instead we get stupid blanket bans on certain types of weapons and similar bullshit. That does not solve the problem! You can ban magazines, and black rifles, and 'assault weapons', and on and on, but it's not going to do a damn thing. Make gun ownership as a whole more difficult, and force gun owners to prove their mental and physical competence, and you will see a sharp decline in mass shootings.
You will never ban guns completely, because the constitution is broken, and the Senate is also broken. Banning 'assault rifles' does absolutely nothing for the many, many millions of rifles already in circulation. You think people like me are going to turn them in? Fuck you very much, and I am a downright moderate when it comes to this kind of thing. Make guns harder to get, and you will meet the needs of people that want to work for gun ownership, and all the lazy half-wits and gun-humpers can go find a new hobby.
I went to Cabo San Lucas for a long weekend. Cabo is nominally in Mexico, but feels way too much like a lawless suburb of Newport Beach, right down to the people that go there. It's not that Cabo wasn't fun - I went with friends and had a good time, but it's not my kind of fun. There is nothing to do there but go to the bars and go to the beach, and the big advantage of Cabo over a place with bars and beaches that are a short drive from where I live is that it is cheaper, and the weather tends to be reliably warmer, and it is much easier to get all the cocaine you want. (Not even kidding about that last part - if the market is any indicator of demand then coke is it. I couldn't walk 20 feet without some street vendor trying to sell me blow. It was not what I expected at all, but for some people it is probably paradise.)
I have been riding my bikes as much as I can on the weekends. Very exciting.
While I was in Cabo there were not one but two more mass shootings in the United States, which was sad and terrible and caused some in-bad-faith calls for mental health awareness and also some type of Federal law that will allow people declared dangerous to have their guns taken away. Not sure how much experience you have with the judicial system, but anyone involved in it will tell you that it is a shitshow that is only occasionally functional, and then only slowly. There are already laws in place in some states (like California) that if you get a restraining order force you to get rid of all your guns. They don't work.
The best way to keep people from using guns to kill people is to keep them from getting guns in the first place. Guns of all kinds are far too easy to get. You can get a gun more easily than a drivers license. That is absurd. I am in favor of gun ownership if you can demonstrate competence: go through thorough interviews and background checks and show that you are capable of owning and operating one safely. I think a gun should be on par with getting your entry level pilot's license, with a strict supervised test and regular checkups on your competence. (Maybe force all shooters to qualify at the same standard as your local police officers.) This would prevent many people from owning guns, but if you are not qualified to operate it then you are not qualified to own it. Tough luck for you, but better for everyone, including you, since you are a danger to yourself and others if you own a gun and do not know how to use it.
It's a shame that this kind of approach gets no traction, and instead we get stupid blanket bans on certain types of weapons and similar bullshit. That does not solve the problem! You can ban magazines, and black rifles, and 'assault weapons', and on and on, but it's not going to do a damn thing. Make gun ownership as a whole more difficult, and force gun owners to prove their mental and physical competence, and you will see a sharp decline in mass shootings.
You will never ban guns completely, because the constitution is broken, and the Senate is also broken. Banning 'assault rifles' does absolutely nothing for the many, many millions of rifles already in circulation. You think people like me are going to turn them in? Fuck you very much, and I am a downright moderate when it comes to this kind of thing. Make guns harder to get, and you will meet the needs of people that want to work for gun ownership, and all the lazy half-wits and gun-humpers can go find a new hobby.
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