Finally riding weather. Went Charlestown, Swampscott, East Boston, Revere, Everett, Sommerville, Charlestown. 36.5 miles. To tell the truth that's a hell of a lot further than I had planed on going, but the detour through East Boston wasn't on the schedule...

I think this is the first time I have been out on the bike since my life got all crazy last fall. I knew I missed it, but how much I enjoy being on the bike was kind of lost in the distance a bit. Something about just letting the miles tick by, you see people and places and all the time you just keep the legs turning over.

So, the situation is not nearly as bad as I expected. After a winter of heavy partying, drinking, no sleep, and the plague I can still ride a bike, and feel pretty damn good doing it. Obviously can't race, or do endurance events, but hey, gotta start somewhere.


Lord, what a horrible picutres, but it proves I made it from Charlestown to the beach.

All Grown Up

Wow, must admit Avril's music has always been a bit of a guilty pleasure. Not often one for teen pop, but she has a neat hook. Lately she has been trading singing for modelling, and sk8r chic for high fashion.

Nice...

Egyptian blogger sentenced to 4 years

From fox news an Egyptian court has sentneced Kareem Nabil to 4 years in prison for insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The silence of the left on this and other human rights abuses by islamic governments is astonishing. Of course the violence in places like Dafur is awful, but in their zeal to distance themselves from President Bush, they are increasingly siding with groups who are a much worse threat to human rights.

Somewhere along the line people forgot the meaning of fascism. It is a nice trendy word to throw around these days, but really. Which is the bigger threat, a country where everyone is able to proclaim Bush is the reincarnation of Hitler with impunity, or a seemingly progressive muslim country where a college student can be imprisoned for 4 years because he criticises the stranglehold religion has on government and advocates democratic reform?

Amnesty International Gets One Right

Not often Amnesty International and I are on the same side of an issue, but their call for the immediate and unconditional release of egyptian student and blogger  Karim Amer is spot on.

I am often amazed how the wholesale disregard of basic human rights in Sharia justice gets whitewashed by the US media.  For more background see www.freekareem.org

Kobe Bryant to defend Michael Jackson

Kobe - Jackson

"Michael Jackson's lawyer told a court on Monday he planned to call a star-studded list of witnesses to defend the singer against child molestation charges, including basketball's Kobe Bryant..."

You know, I am not so sure that is gonna work out real well for you Michael.

Trouble with the pledge

Poway Rejects Request For Alternative Patriotic Activity

A local school board has rejected a plea from a parent to have an alternate activity for children who do not want to say the pledge.

I am glad finally see someone standing up to these yahoos.

From the parent in question:
Cornwall told the Union-Tribune that other options should be offered to children who wish not to be present during the pledge and want to avoid being singled out in front of their peers.

Here is a solution, send her to school in Cuba. You'll have no problem with God or the pledge. Might go a little hungry, and have no shoes, but you won't have to worry about that pesky God character.

3

I watched the ESPN movie "3", the biography of Dale Earnhardt. Let's get the obligatory made for TV movie stuff out of the way; Cheesy - yes, bad acting - yes, really bad fake mustache - yes, all that and then some. Still, it was worth the two hours.

The reason it was worth it is that it tells a story that more people need to hear. It tells a story those of us "in the know" (or those of us ignorant enough to have known who Dale Earnhardt and what NASCAR was before he died) have known for years. Dale was an american success story. A high school dropout, coming from a less than humble beginnings who drove to the pinnacle of his profession.

You know when you sit around and think who you would like your children to grow up to be? Dale Earnhardt for me. Would I have them make the mistakes he made? Drop out of highschool, ruin 2 marriages? Of course not. But I want them to have his determination and innate sense of self worth. Dale always believed in himself, not in a way that made him arrogant, but in way that allowed him to accept his greatness without questioning it.

This is a lesson that is often unlearned by the youths of today. Nelson Mandela once said "Our biggest fear is not that we are inadaquate, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure". Too many people fail to realize their true potential because our politically correct society has discouraged them from excelling so as not to upset the sensibilities of those less gifted.

Earnhardt can teach us many life lessons, but the ability to overcome your present circumstances is the greatest. An illustration of this can be found in Dale's approach to restrictor plate racing. Earnhardt hated restrictor plate races. I can't count the number of times I heard Dale say "This ain't racing" when interviewed after such a race. Yet Dale Earnhardt dominated RP races; he was to restrictor plates what Wayne Gretzky was to hockey. This sums up Dale Earnhardt for me. Give me lemons and I am gonna make lemonade.

I am glad I happend in front of the television when "3" was starting. I haven't reflected on Dale for awhile and it is nice to have his memory recalled. The world needs more Dale Earnhardts.