Movies I like (cause no one asked)

I had to sit thru a stupid avant garde 'movie' the other night. It was billed as something resembling the last days of Kurt Cobain. To say that it sucked would be an understatement. Maybe it's just me, but movies seem to suck more and more. They don't make them like they used to.
You want quality cinema? These are my favorites.

Still out there...

Don't you walk away.....Look at me!!

Like I mentioned...

Traffic pisses me off. Then again, most things around the 'holidays' piss me off. After the fiasco last month killing the oak tree, I've been a bit on edge. It's not going to defeat me though. I still intend to be actively engaged in horticultural alterations in my spare time. Just something smaller this time.
Tomatoes! Yep. Couple of tomato plants on the deck. Still have tomatoes on them to boot. In December no less! Alas, it's time to cull 'em back, as I really don't think they're gonna survive the winter.
I'm not making the same mistake twice. I've assembled a few handy household 'tools' to assist me in their removal.
Happy Christnaukka

Everything I need to know I learned from SouthPark

Really. It's the only thing that makes sense anymore.

Wanna get high?
No, go away you stupid towel
Okay, I'm gonna get a little high

SouthPark and beer. Hell, SouthPark and lithium! mmmmmmboy!

Friends help you move.....Real friends help you move the bodies...

Don't piss me off. As da girlfriend's brother said in a phone conversation (he's in New York, building his new house) concerning me, whom he'd not yet met........"yeah, Sis, he treatin' you good?" "If not you lemme know, since I'm doin' the foundation this week, I'm diggin' a big hole...ya know whadda mean?"

Point taken.....specially since most of em carry guns. It's not rocket science.

Some people never seem to get the point. Don't piss someone off. It's not rocket science.
Consider the festive holiday season. 8.3 million anal retentive, backed up, pissed off people, the vast majority in SUV's and minivans.......all competing for the #3 lane merge onto 880 from the NB 280 overpass. Throw in a little rain and these people start believing the car commercials. Que snobby upper west side London voice....."The Lexsux BFG9000, Truly a landmark achievement in automotive engineering" "Reserve your test experience today at"....que overdubbed local dealer voice....."Rodriguez Lexsux and Folkswagen of Menlo Park"
Your stupid fucking Lexus is going to be a fucking landmark achievement alright after I downshift my fucking tranny into 4Xlow, and proceed to drive over your dumb ass. Do you not see the bright fucking yellow Jeep? Oh, you're watching your onboard TV, excuse me. Prolly part of the 'driving experience' you fuckwad.
Speaking of onboard televisions in SUVs......most of you wouldn't believe that there is a STATE of KALIFORNIA referendum coming up in Feb. to discuss the playing of 'porn' on peoples vehicle mounted 'entertainment systems'. Seems that a certain % of the Christian Right thinks it offensive to have to be exposed to 'porn' playing in other peoples moving vehicles. Seems that the programming is easily viewed by other cars, especially at night. Some people find that offensive.
It's not rocket science. Excuse the hell out of me, but...what the fuck are you doing watching television in other peoples moving cars, while driving your own? Yo! You!, Yes You! Get the fuck out of the gene pool NOW! Only in California. Coming into work last Thurs. driving on the 'most dangerous public highway in the United States' SR17 NB/SB. That's hiway 17, north and south bound...depending on the commute time.....I come up behind a yep, Lexsux that kept pulling to the fogline, then straightening out, then drifting to the fogline, then straightening out...etc. I couldn't see who was driving because their rearview mirror was askew. Normally you can see the person in front of youse face. I realized the whole ugly picture then. The mirror was positioned so SHE could see her face, or more importantly the eyeliner pencil she had in her hand. I can see lipstick, but eyeliner takes a steady hand. All this at 60 mph on a curvy wet mountain road. I shifted into 4Xhi, and ran her stupid car over. Not really, but where the fuck are the stupid police when you need them.
I feel much better now. The meds are working again. I think I'll shut down my evil laptop and drive home now.

Saturday

I rode my bike. I didn't fall down. True.
Saturday. My bike. Soquel Demo. Soil sampled not, me.

Otherwise on to a semi-vociferous rant on Chris King products. www.chrisking.com
My hub. Rear hub. Chris King disc ISO. Not including spokes, nipples, rim, tube, and tire, the hub was $459.00. A lot of money for a single hub on a fucking bike. I'm not bitter. I understand the 'drag' issues for these hubs. "takes up to 6 months to wear in", and "backpedaling my cause chain slack issues, due to higher amounts of drag when the product is new".
I know they're tight, but it's a little ridiculous. Anyway, when releasing the end nut for service, the 5mm interiors rounded out on both ends. Simple physics I suppose, steel is harder than aluminum, but the 5mm wrenches I purchased new, just so they were perfectly...uhhh 6 sided. Still rounded out. Chris King offered to crack it if I send it in for $89.00.
So.....why is Chris King running the interior sleeves out of aluminum? I understand mine was seized as will happen to aluminum to aluminum now and then, but to offer a 5 year warranty, and recommend service every 2 months? That's 30 times are recommended to crack those things open. Steel tools on the aluminum sleeves. Somethings going to give during that time. I'm just pissed it happened the 1st time I did it.
I'm going back to Phil Wood Hubs. www.philwood.com

Uno mas

...after the below 'mother nature bitch slapped'...article.

Happened again Sunday. 1 week to the day later. Low speed, put out the 'bad arm' instead of rolling.
Fucked it up real good this time.
Had to keep the count current.

my god given rights to buy cheap crap at walmart

Whooooo! This is about my favorite debate! It boils down to a few root questions: 1) Why is something made in the USA so much more expensive?2) Is it actually better if it's made by good ol' American workers?3) What is QUALITY? (lifted right out of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance!)Here's my take - and remember, it's merely one man's OPINION:Americans are universally the most overpaid workers in the world. We are also subject to the lowest commodity prices of any developed nation. The "free market economy" model provides us with the widest variety of choice for an incredibly variety of just about anything. Places like Wal-Mart reinforce the ideal that Americans should not have to pay market price for ANYTHING. Historically, America has been the land of the innovation, the invention. Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile, but he invented a way to make thousands of them quickly. Americans were the first to fly. We figured out most of the alloying processes used in modern metallurgy. We invented nuclear power, for crying out loud, and nuclear weapons. Woven carbon fiber - 3Al/2V titanium - 6061-T6 aluminum. All invented by American braintrusts. We didn't invent the bicycle, but we came up with the OCLV process. We're thinkers, but we're arrogant. We pay less for goods than anybody, but we demand more wages to support our incredibly decadent lifestyle- more cars per capita than any other developed nation, more brands of toothpaste to choose from, more outrageously large new homes with fourteen bathrooms. It's our birthright. This is why US-made products cost so much more.Adding to the dilemma, we're pretty damn lazy as a nation. American workers have lost their attention to detail on the whole. In the post-WWII halcyon days of American industry, we took pride in the products we made. A car cost what a car cost, and the quality was unparalleled. Chrome was thick and highly shiny. Interiors were upholstered! There was very little cost-efficiency conciousness, because the quality of the finished product was what mattered, something we could take pride in - the cost was simply what it cost. Our workplaces were well-appointed, and none of our jobs were at stake.In the ensuing decades, the global market has opened, which is not necessarily a bad thing, only the playing field isn't level. China and Tiawan and Mexico don't have environmental policies to raise the cost of manufacturing. They don't have liability insurance or health insurance. Their raw materials cost a fraction of what American materials cost, because the level of quality control is much lower - the materials are much less consistent and rarely inspected at the molecular level for purity, quality, etc.. Their worker base competes at a fraction of the cost of American labor. They are socialist countries, so much of the revenue generated goes to the state, not the stockholders. Workers may or may not have pride in their products - I imagine they do, and probably moreso than the average American, just from their philosophical basis of existence - but they put in a week's work for less than an American makes in a single hour.Now we have to compete on this grossly skewed market playing field, and the only way to do that is by cutting costs, because Americans want all our **** cheaper in spite of ourselves. We shoot ourselves in the foot over and over. We buy the cheap crap, because it's cheaper (or we demand that similar American product be offered at a competitive price). We rationalize that "in the free market, American companies cannot afford to put their heads in the sand..." So then in response to OUR OWN demands, American companies move production to China or Mexico to cut costs, laying off thousands of American workers who then go on the dole, raising costs to other American companies in the form of unemployment taxes and the like. These folks are now making less, so they MUST buy the cheap crap in order to continue putting gasoline in the family truckster. The companies that try to stay onshore see the writing on the wall, and reduce costs by cutting benefits to workers, such as healthcare and retirement funds. Morale suffers because amenities such as coffee pots, daycare, and hour-long lunches are cut, overtime is refused. The workplace has become someplace we want to leave, where it's not about doing a good job, but rather how to make the weekly 40 hours pass as quickly as possible. When morale drops, so does quality of work. People are daydreaming, or worrying about how the car payment and the mortgage payment are going to get paid this week - when they used to be taking pride in the finished product.The solution isn't easy - it's been a three decade walk into these woods, and it won't turn around in an instant. The government could help by imposing high tariffs on all imported goods coming from these countries with low human rights and worker rights standards, and lower environmental standards. It would help for the cost of imported goods to be raised to a level that represents an American wage-earner's comparable goods. It would then cost more to buy the imported goods, and more of America's companies would benefit by keeping jobs here. We could also benefit from a gross adjustment of subsidized consumer goods (such as gasoline), which in the short term would tank the economy, but in the long term could raise the standard of living by insisting that things cost what they ought to cost. Why do I want a cheap car - do you have any idea how much potential energy exists in a car doing 70? Why do I want cheap plane tickets? For that matter, why do we want cheap bicycle frames? When I'm screaming down a twisty mountain descent on my road bike at 50 mph, I do NOT want to be stoked on how cheaply I got it. We have stopped making quality goods because we can get new stuff so cheap when the cheap stuff breaks.What is QUALITY, anyway?-Sorry for the disjointed ramble. This IS the short version.Peace-

double trouble
Pix by Piffle

Puppy Time !!!

Buddah belly and puppy breath.........mmmmm
This last weekend saw the arrival of a temporary visitor, Sasha the Beaglenator. 7 lbs of Beagle puppy, complete with extra Beagleness. Puppies have 2 speeds, on and off. Mostly it was on, but when it was bed or naptime........it was off. In seconds.
It was pretty cool. She came in and proclaimed all things....hers. This bed? oh, it's mine. That blanket?, mine too. Did you want your other slipper? no good, cause it's mine. Quite the acquisitional little girl. By the end of the 1st day, all large softish things were her beds, all of them, everything else was food.
Bed/food, sleep/eat, on/off. It's all tied into the BeagleBrain. Goes back to the 2 speed theory. Ample amounts of kibbles were of course supplied, but why bother when everything not large and softish is obviously Beagle food. Of course, some things have that very special 'dual status'. Those are things large and softish, and yet food at the same time. Good example of that are those famed Swedish mattress' you've heard about, TemperPedic. I've now learned that they can be lounged upon, while providing a quick snack! Whooda thunk?
Where's the dog? Dunno, thought you knew. There she is. What's she eating? Dunno. Ewww! what is that? Dunno. Why's she eating that? Dunno. etc.
Puppies really, really couldn't care less. "here baby, I'm making you a scrambled egg to go on your kibbles" 'whatever, I'm having a light lunch of this Swifter right now, thank you'. "Shasha, why are you eating the swifter?" 'what's a Swifter?, you done with my eggs yet?...'
All in all a nice weekend.

weird huh?
Pix by Piffle

Bike Porn!

Avid's Juicy 7 carbon.........ummmmm

bike porn......
Pix by Piffle

KMA

That deserves 1 KMA, ohh....I deleted your comment as well!

KMA
Pix by Piffle

Mother Nature just Bitch Slapped me

I feel the need to whine some more.
After the last triade, I actually started to heal. Backs fine again, elbows are still fucked up. I crashed hard 5 days after the burn. Of course, I landed on the then healing burn, and skinned it from one end to the other by sliding on the mud. I figure I secretly wanted a better scar than the burn was gonna leave, so why not fillet it with wet dirt?

That was 2 weeks ago. Sunday was different.
I stopped on a slight downhill to adjust a brake. Fixed it and clipped a foot in to go. I torqued hard expecting little resistance, as I was pointed down a hill. I guess the tire was in a little depression and the fork compressed. I powered myself over the bars without the bike ever moving.
I hit completely flat from my waist to my face. I was still in the pedals, so the bike was in midair for a few moments attached to my feet over my back.
Got the crap knocked outta me, but not even a scratch. Nothing broken, but I was careful for a couple of days due to my previous spleen issues. Nothing torn this time, but I feel like I was punched really hard in the chest....cause I was.
Bitched slapped, me.

As fast as I can...

I'll try to get the other deleted posts back up in the next few hours.

Notice there are very few comments and replies left on the posts. If there are, the're only good ones. I deleted all the bad ones. Because I can! Fuck you all, it's my site !

Cmdr 'neener neener' Piffle

Took it all off since turkey day

A few have asked. I took off the previous 3 posts concerning the printed music due to possible copyright issues.
Keola Beamer gave his permission to post #2 as it's his version of something in public domain.

A: I don't have permission to either link or attach (mP3) any of the 3 TP cd's. I could take my material, and any songs that are in public domian, but I'm not sure which of those are, and I'm way too lazy to go look it up.

If someone wants to send me a line with the info, I'll post it.

HAPA - Because it's close to the holidays, I'm getting a lot of questions on the printed material for their first CD. I am NOT selling any copies of the material. I have given as gifts some photo copies of parts of songs. Even that was borderline and I'd rather not get involved in distributing any of it.
I have Barry's permission for 2 songs under title, neither to be published or reproduced.
(it's how he makes his living, I get a paycheck from a company, it's way different)

Hope the above clears up some of the confusion. If not, too bad.