What has happened to responsibility? Do we not teach responsibility anymore? Do we not pass on to our children that actions have consequences? That we are all responsible for our own actions? Two phrases come to mind, the first is a little used phrase that used to be applied to young men (or women) who broke the law or maybe were a little rebellious, ‘juvenile delinquent’ this term has fallen out of use, it is a contradiction in terms I believe ‘juvenile’ means below the age of responsibility, and ‘delinquent’ failing in duty. How can anyone be both? The other phrase is well known but not many people really understand its meaning, ‘responsible for your own actions’ this phrase is normally negated by another one ‘it wasn’t my fault’ or even ‘I didn’t do it’
That last phrase is churned out almost by rote as a defence for almost any action.
This morning I was sitting on my bike at the traffic lights in Brixton, two youngsters (around 17 maybe a bit older) were eating Maccy D’s, they finished and just threw the rubbish on the floor about 10 foot from a litter bin. I flipped the front on my helmet up and asked why they couldn’t walk a few feet and put it in the bin. One turned and said, ‘Were’nt me…’ I was gobsmacked…. I replied that I had just seen him throw it on the floor, he shrugged his shoulders and just walked off with his mate and kicked the rubbish as they did so.
He just denied committing any anti-social crime as a matter of fact, he didn’t even have to think about it, his friends reaction was also interesting, now years ago if you were with a mate who was accused of … well anything, you either looked shifty because you knew he was guilty or you backed him up, this guy just looked bored, it was the look that said this is a regular occurrence and I’m bored with it now.
This cavalier attitude to responsibility seems to now pervade our whole lives, from not caring about anything around us, dropping litter etc to health and safety laws that have now absolved us of all responsibility, the more we are cosseted by the state the more our sense of responsibility is diminished. Yet; does this not go all the way back to parental discipline? How many parents actually teach their kids the difference between right and wrong? How many set them a good example. Last week a very large bloke walked out through the traffic into the path of my motorbike, I was not filtering just riding normally towards the lights, which were red, he appeared between two vans and walked straight out dragging his (3-4 year old?) daughter, I sounded the horn and moved to the left to avoid them, he started shouting at me, with language I certainly would not use in front of a little girl. As he got to the pavement he was still shouting abuse at me along the lines of ‘Come on then if you think you are hard enough’ I asked him if he thought abusing people like that, especially when he caused the problem was setting a good example for his little girl, this seemed to make things worse ‘Are you telling me how to bring my kid up’ etc. What was wrong with just holding up a hand and saying ‘sorry mate!’ he was in the wrong, he risked his little girls life to cross the road less than 20 feet from a crossing. Yet he has a go at me.
He obviously thought it was my fault for having a motorbike on the road. FFS.
Youngsters learn a lot from what they see around them, no matter how many times we emphasise to them about manners, morals, or common courtesy, if they see others behaving without such etiquette they will think it’s the norm.
We all need to think about our behaviour, even in the little things. But as things stand, I can see a very long slippery slope ahead, with no way back.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Safe, safer and safer still...
Has life passed you by? Do you feel that you have missed out on something?
A few days ago I was chatting to a bloke at work, he has spent his life working between Edinburgh and Kings cross, yet has never really gone outside of the stations. He is in his late 50's, he lives in Stevenage, goes on holiday to Torbay and thats it. He has never been out of the country! While seemingly happy, he did say he feels that he has missed out a bit, a bit?
When I suggested he try going abroad for his next holiday he changed the subject, muttering something about not like foreign food, so you wont be going on the curry night next week? Oh yes he will, he loves curry. Go figure. Ruths daughter Amy is 19, so far she has been to India, Germany, Australia and next week flies to Canada for 3 months, all on her own. She has seen more of the world than I had by the time I was 25 and I like travelling! We cant say that older people get set in their ways, I know loads of people of retirement age that travel all over the world. Many years ago I offered to take my father to Canada (he was Canadian) to see his fathers grave, he refused to go because my mother would not go, I know this upset him a lot, Mum totally refused to leave the shores of england, we never did find out why as she would not talk about it, I think it had something to do with the war. My dad was in the army and was one of the few who was abroad for almost the whole 6 years, he travelled everywhere ending up in Burma.
I do not understand why some people these days do not travel, its perfectly safe these days,
anywhere you want to go will have some sort of package deal
The downside of this is that there is no new lands to explore, where are the modern day explorers, 50-60 years ago the world was full of explorers, on this planet and the moon.
One of my ambitions was to set foot where no other human had stood, not much chance of that now, have we got to a point where it is easier to take a package holiday to lands which were once inaccessable to ordinary people, than make our own way? Health and safety has made places that were dangerous, nice and safe, we are wrapped in cotton wool and herded around in cosseted little groups, I hate that, I ride a big fast motorbike because I want excitement, I want adrenaline. I could not live in a closed off little world.
We are slowly being pushed into a world where rebellion is rare, where conformity is the norm, where to do something different is seen as unacceptable. And what a sad world it is.
A few days ago I was chatting to a bloke at work, he has spent his life working between Edinburgh and Kings cross, yet has never really gone outside of the stations. He is in his late 50's, he lives in Stevenage, goes on holiday to Torbay and thats it. He has never been out of the country! While seemingly happy, he did say he feels that he has missed out a bit, a bit?
When I suggested he try going abroad for his next holiday he changed the subject, muttering something about not like foreign food, so you wont be going on the curry night next week? Oh yes he will, he loves curry. Go figure. Ruths daughter Amy is 19, so far she has been to India, Germany, Australia and next week flies to Canada for 3 months, all on her own. She has seen more of the world than I had by the time I was 25 and I like travelling! We cant say that older people get set in their ways, I know loads of people of retirement age that travel all over the world. Many years ago I offered to take my father to Canada (he was Canadian) to see his fathers grave, he refused to go because my mother would not go, I know this upset him a lot, Mum totally refused to leave the shores of england, we never did find out why as she would not talk about it, I think it had something to do with the war. My dad was in the army and was one of the few who was abroad for almost the whole 6 years, he travelled everywhere ending up in Burma.
I do not understand why some people these days do not travel, its perfectly safe these days,
anywhere you want to go will have some sort of package deal
The downside of this is that there is no new lands to explore, where are the modern day explorers, 50-60 years ago the world was full of explorers, on this planet and the moon.
One of my ambitions was to set foot where no other human had stood, not much chance of that now, have we got to a point where it is easier to take a package holiday to lands which were once inaccessable to ordinary people, than make our own way? Health and safety has made places that were dangerous, nice and safe, we are wrapped in cotton wool and herded around in cosseted little groups, I hate that, I ride a big fast motorbike because I want excitement, I want adrenaline. I could not live in a closed off little world.
We are slowly being pushed into a world where rebellion is rare, where conformity is the norm, where to do something different is seen as unacceptable. And what a sad world it is.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Think before you vote!!!
I hear a lot of people getting very angry about the scandal of the MP's expense's, I hear a lot of rhetoric and very little substance though. Calls for parliament to be dissolved, sack them all and get new people in. Knee jerk reactions when you are angry are not the way to go, what if we did dissolve parliament? Where would we go from there?
One of two things will happen, either people will vote in the same people again, because they dont know who else to vote for, or, and this is the worrying bit, they vote in someone else just because they want someone different and its the local loonies or BNP candidate. This is a dangerous time, the BNP has a voice now with its party political broadcasts, the fact they they spout nonsense does not matter, they will pick up votes from the disaffected, the unhappy, the downright pissed off.
So if we call for a general election and it happens, who do you vote for? Gordon Brown is now so unpopular, I suspect that the votes for labour will just disappear, the Tories are in the same boat, the expense's scandal has tainted everyone in the house of commons and now the house of Lords.
People wil start looking for someone they can trust, and that's the problem, the taint has now spread so far that people see anyone running for office as a free loading scumbag. Trust has been lost, we used to trust our MP's to do what is right, to see the back-pedaling as they all claim "But we played by the rules..." is disgusting, they set the rules (or people under their control) and to have most of them flout them is not only morally wrong, its breaking the trust that people have in their MP's.
What can we do? I don't know to be honest, we cant let in a load of inexperienced newbies to take over, although there are 'advisor's' who run the country, don't forget that anyone you vote in will have a lot of power. Especially if they align themselves with others. If a load of new guys get in, then they could be advised and handled by the civil service (nothing new there) but, if they get together, they could be a destructive force that might be hard to control.
So before calling for the dissolution of parliament, think carefully about where we go from here, the cure could be worse than the disease.
One of two things will happen, either people will vote in the same people again, because they dont know who else to vote for, or, and this is the worrying bit, they vote in someone else just because they want someone different and its the local loonies or BNP candidate. This is a dangerous time, the BNP has a voice now with its party political broadcasts, the fact they they spout nonsense does not matter, they will pick up votes from the disaffected, the unhappy, the downright pissed off.
So if we call for a general election and it happens, who do you vote for? Gordon Brown is now so unpopular, I suspect that the votes for labour will just disappear, the Tories are in the same boat, the expense's scandal has tainted everyone in the house of commons and now the house of Lords.
People wil start looking for someone they can trust, and that's the problem, the taint has now spread so far that people see anyone running for office as a free loading scumbag. Trust has been lost, we used to trust our MP's to do what is right, to see the back-pedaling as they all claim "But we played by the rules..." is disgusting, they set the rules (or people under their control) and to have most of them flout them is not only morally wrong, its breaking the trust that people have in their MP's.
What can we do? I don't know to be honest, we cant let in a load of inexperienced newbies to take over, although there are 'advisor's' who run the country, don't forget that anyone you vote in will have a lot of power. Especially if they align themselves with others. If a load of new guys get in, then they could be advised and handled by the civil service (nothing new there) but, if they get together, they could be a destructive force that might be hard to control.
So before calling for the dissolution of parliament, think carefully about where we go from here, the cure could be worse than the disease.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
A few thought on MP's expense's
Nearly everyone fiddles their expenses, this is to try and claw back a bit of the extortionate amount that the government takes from our hard earned money, now most will snatch back a few quid, but some corporations have such big lawyers who know the tax system inside out, that they pay virutally no tax at all. The MP's that have 'fiddled' their expense statements are only playing the game, BUT they fixed the rules, THEY know the law and had probably passed on the info to each other on how to get what they can.
Most of the claims that have surfaced are indefensible, this means they have commited fraud in my eyes. So what should be done about this? We cant just sack every MP, chaos would reign and leave the door open for some even more unscrupulous demons to creep in.
Firstly any MP who has blantantly taken the piss should resign and put himself up for re-election, secondly we should take a long hard look at any MP who has been involved. Thirdlywe need a review of the tax laws/rules as they stand, I would suggest that we have a 10% single tax band across the board, EVERYONE pays 10%, companies, big corporations, no expections, you pay on any earned income. Then disallow any expenses, you cant claim for anything!
But then you are only paying 10% in tax, why would you need to claim anything back? Think about it, how much it simplify the tax system, take a look at how much tax some of the big corporations pay in tax after allowances, dont take my word for it, look it up some pay 0% tax.
I think this is a viable idea that should be looked at... and I'm sure some more knowledgable people will shoot me down if my figures dont add up, but maybe this or a similar way of dealing with taxes would simplify the issues.
Most of the claims that have surfaced are indefensible, this means they have commited fraud in my eyes. So what should be done about this? We cant just sack every MP, chaos would reign and leave the door open for some even more unscrupulous demons to creep in.
Firstly any MP who has blantantly taken the piss should resign and put himself up for re-election, secondly we should take a long hard look at any MP who has been involved. Thirdlywe need a review of the tax laws/rules as they stand, I would suggest that we have a 10% single tax band across the board, EVERYONE pays 10%, companies, big corporations, no expections, you pay on any earned income. Then disallow any expenses, you cant claim for anything!
But then you are only paying 10% in tax, why would you need to claim anything back? Think about it, how much it simplify the tax system, take a look at how much tax some of the big corporations pay in tax after allowances, dont take my word for it, look it up some pay 0% tax.
I think this is a viable idea that should be looked at... and I'm sure some more knowledgable people will shoot me down if my figures dont add up, but maybe this or a similar way of dealing with taxes would simplify the issues.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
First impressions.
When you meet someone, do you make a snap judgement and then find it hard to shake that first impression? Would you assume all bikers wearing a denim cutoff are chicken raping lunatics who ride far too fast?
That everyone with dreadlocks smokes cannabis? All skinheads are racists?
We base our first impressions on what we have learnt through everyday experience, this is also modified by what we pick up from the media, the tendency is to lump people into recognisable groups, this gives us something to work from; when we evaluate those people we meet for the first time. Unless we have prior knowledge, i.e. have been told what to expect, we judge initally by appearance, as that is the first thing that makes an impact on our conciousness, next would usually be voice and then what people say and do.
Making snap judgements on what we see is a survival tactic, to evaluate any threat we need information and normally the only available information is what we see before us. This information is processed against what we have already filed away in our heads, when we acquire some input, this is compared to any available information stored in our minds, from there we draw a conclusion that provokes the appropriate response. All living things have done this since they first became aware of the world around them, the difference here is that humans can use intelligence to collate and refine the information to a higher degree. This allows us to modify our first impressions somewhat, we can draw on far more resources to make a much better judgement call on the person we are observing. Even so, until we have sufficient facts we are still guessing; and those guess's are based on experience and/or hearsay. This means most people are pre-judged before we have time to form a proper opinion, once that first impression is made it can be hard to shake off.
You might be the brighest bloke in the world, but if you turn up for an interview looking like an extra from Mad Max, then you are not going to make the sort of impression you need to make to get the job. We dress as we feel we need to match the occassion, or used to, I have noticed a marked change in the way people dress these days, mostly they dress down, now I'm not the best authority in the world, I have the dress sense of a deranged gibbon and tend to look like a reject from a 70's biker movie in my everyday clothes. When going out I rely on Ruth (my better half) to arrange the appropriate clothing, but I do make the effort, it is polite and courteous to dress for the occassion, this way people also get the wrong first impression of me. Many moons ago when I met my wifes parents for the first time, I remember the look of horror on her dads face, he was standing by his car outside and this leatherclad nutcase pulled up on a ratted out, matt black, CB750 Honda, with open pipes and rather tall apehangers. It didnt help that she was 17 and I was 27.....yet it was not long before we became mates, even though I have been divorced from his daughter for nearly 20 years, he stills calls me now and again.
He gave me a chance to prove myself and it worked out, thinking back, if I had been him; I would have chased me off with a big stick!
In this modern world, we seem to have so little time for others, we are constanly rushing around and making instant judgements on everything, should we not slow it down when making those judgements on fellow humans? Have you missed someone who could have been a new friend, lover or even soulmate, just because you didnt take the time to slow down and evaluate them properly.
Next time you meet someone new, take the time to talk to them, get to know them, you just never know......
That everyone with dreadlocks smokes cannabis? All skinheads are racists?
We base our first impressions on what we have learnt through everyday experience, this is also modified by what we pick up from the media, the tendency is to lump people into recognisable groups, this gives us something to work from; when we evaluate those people we meet for the first time. Unless we have prior knowledge, i.e. have been told what to expect, we judge initally by appearance, as that is the first thing that makes an impact on our conciousness, next would usually be voice and then what people say and do.
Making snap judgements on what we see is a survival tactic, to evaluate any threat we need information and normally the only available information is what we see before us. This information is processed against what we have already filed away in our heads, when we acquire some input, this is compared to any available information stored in our minds, from there we draw a conclusion that provokes the appropriate response. All living things have done this since they first became aware of the world around them, the difference here is that humans can use intelligence to collate and refine the information to a higher degree. This allows us to modify our first impressions somewhat, we can draw on far more resources to make a much better judgement call on the person we are observing. Even so, until we have sufficient facts we are still guessing; and those guess's are based on experience and/or hearsay. This means most people are pre-judged before we have time to form a proper opinion, once that first impression is made it can be hard to shake off.
You might be the brighest bloke in the world, but if you turn up for an interview looking like an extra from Mad Max, then you are not going to make the sort of impression you need to make to get the job. We dress as we feel we need to match the occassion, or used to, I have noticed a marked change in the way people dress these days, mostly they dress down, now I'm not the best authority in the world, I have the dress sense of a deranged gibbon and tend to look like a reject from a 70's biker movie in my everyday clothes. When going out I rely on Ruth (my better half) to arrange the appropriate clothing, but I do make the effort, it is polite and courteous to dress for the occassion, this way people also get the wrong first impression of me. Many moons ago when I met my wifes parents for the first time, I remember the look of horror on her dads face, he was standing by his car outside and this leatherclad nutcase pulled up on a ratted out, matt black, CB750 Honda, with open pipes and rather tall apehangers. It didnt help that she was 17 and I was 27.....yet it was not long before we became mates, even though I have been divorced from his daughter for nearly 20 years, he stills calls me now and again.
He gave me a chance to prove myself and it worked out, thinking back, if I had been him; I would have chased me off with a big stick!
In this modern world, we seem to have so little time for others, we are constanly rushing around and making instant judgements on everything, should we not slow it down when making those judgements on fellow humans? Have you missed someone who could have been a new friend, lover or even soulmate, just because you didnt take the time to slow down and evaluate them properly.
Next time you meet someone new, take the time to talk to them, get to know them, you just never know......
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
The Plan
Buy camper - must be a VW T2 Bay window camper with a pop-top - travel around visiting everyone/everywhere we can think of in Europe, writing a daily blog and videoing the experience. Then if it all works out then head further afield for the next trip.
This is not going to happen straightaway, not for about 3-4 months, we have spoken to a couple of people about sponsorship, although I'm not sure about that at the moment, because they want to 'interfere' and we are going to do this our way and not anybody else's. (Same thing happened with a similar idea on motorbikes)
I have travelled and lived in a VW camper for up to 3 months before, having also done some very strange repairs to keep going. We want to visit places off the beaten track, there are loads of places in Europe that never get seen by the normal tourist. I discovered some weird and wonderful places travelling in campers before, we want to go back and see how they have changed, as well as discovering new places, I'm sure there are still loads of little out of the way places; that are just as fascinating as the main tourist attractions.
The way we look at this is this, we want to get out there and see the world from our own perspective, we also want to show that getting older does not mean you have to follow the boring old routes and package holidays, people are living longer and have more leisure time, we want to show that there is a big wide interesting world out there, one that is full of surprises even just a few miles away over the channel.
So next we will probably be looking for a good condition (not perfect but roadworthy) left-hand drive T2 with pop-top, reasonably well kitted out, decent awning, cooking facilities, power hook-up etc. It’s going to need a quite large lockable safe that will take a laptop and several cameras. I shall build my own anti-theft and security devices.
The whole trip from start (buying the camper and planning) to finish returning home, will be documented.
Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can email me captainjake<@>gmail.com (remove anti-spam <>)
Jake
This is not going to happen straightaway, not for about 3-4 months, we have spoken to a couple of people about sponsorship, although I'm not sure about that at the moment, because they want to 'interfere' and we are going to do this our way and not anybody else's. (Same thing happened with a similar idea on motorbikes)
I have travelled and lived in a VW camper for up to 3 months before, having also done some very strange repairs to keep going. We want to visit places off the beaten track, there are loads of places in Europe that never get seen by the normal tourist. I discovered some weird and wonderful places travelling in campers before, we want to go back and see how they have changed, as well as discovering new places, I'm sure there are still loads of little out of the way places; that are just as fascinating as the main tourist attractions.
The way we look at this is this, we want to get out there and see the world from our own perspective, we also want to show that getting older does not mean you have to follow the boring old routes and package holidays, people are living longer and have more leisure time, we want to show that there is a big wide interesting world out there, one that is full of surprises even just a few miles away over the channel.
So next we will probably be looking for a good condition (not perfect but roadworthy) left-hand drive T2 with pop-top, reasonably well kitted out, decent awning, cooking facilities, power hook-up etc. It’s going to need a quite large lockable safe that will take a laptop and several cameras. I shall build my own anti-theft and security devices.
The whole trip from start (buying the camper and planning) to finish returning home, will be documented.
Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can email me captainjake<@>gmail.com (remove anti-spam <>)
Jake
Friday, 1 May 2009
What is a biker?
What is a biker? (Taken from Motorsickle.com)
How would you class yourself in the world of bikes?
This has to be one of the most asked questions, after "How fast does it go mate?"
Defining exactly what a 'biker' is, is probably an impossible task, everyone has a different opinion and to try and lump them together to make a stab at what a biker really is could be very difficult, so guess what I'm going to do today…
Bikers or motorcyclists have quite a few diverse groups that you could belong to, everything from Rocker to Scooterist (different from Mods I'm told) to commuter, I know there are a lot more but I'm not going to list them, these are just examples to give us a feel for how we perceive ourselves. The way each of us sees each other is crucial to this debate, humans are notorious for fitting themselves into categories, different groups that either bind together or are constantly at war, human conflict has been going on since we discovered that bashing someone's brains in with a rock was fun and we have not really stopped since. We all like to belong to group of some kind, even the self proclaimed 'lone wolves' amongst us still like to be classified as bikers which therefore put them into a 'group', there is a kind of camaraderie and comfort to be found in belonging to like‑minded group, you can observe this in other groups as well. Anti‑vivisectionists, football supporters and Freemasons for example all work together for a common cause which they believe in, we are not any different, most of us ride bikes because we enjoy it, even the most hardened commuter will get some pleasure out of riding a bike and when push comes to shove people from the same group stick together and help each other.
Belonging to a group defines our boundaries which show where stand, we wear the uniform of our tribe to show where our loyalties lie, to show other tribes or groups that we are one of a particular band of brothers.
Bikers are one type of tribe that has within it various groups, just like football supporters are the main group that can be broken down into sub groups of the teams they support, bikers can also be categorised further into various sub‑groups. The word 'biker' can mean different things to different people, ask any typical man in the street what a 'biker' is and you will probably get an answer that is not far off from describing the average persons vision of a 'Hells Angel', ask a motorcyclist the same question and be prepared for a completely different answer depending on what he may ride. One will tell you that a biker is someone who rides everyday whatever the weather; another that it is someone who belongs to a club, maybe another view is that a biker should only ride British bikes. The viewpoints are many and varied, leading me to suspect that this question will never be answered to the satisfaction of all.
So I'm going to tell you what I think a biker is, a biker is someone with passion for two wheels, it does not matter to me if he rides a scooter or a Ducati, he may have owned the same RD250 since 1977, keep it polished and running and only take it out on Sundays, or he may like riding everyday whatever the weather, maybe not cleaning it but making sure it works and runs using anything that happens to do the job. It's the passion for the ride that in my humble opinion makes someone a biker, not what they ride, there are lots of riders out there who don't have the passion, they bimble along in their own little world treating their two wheels like an object and not a bike. The passion means they experience the thrill of the ride, whether it's a fast ride through the twisties or the thrill of taking a 30 year old bike on the road after restoring it for years, or maybe just the feeling that comes with going on a run with your mates, it's that adrenaline rush that keeps the passion alive and kicking within us.
Even after riding for over 35 years I still get that rush every time I get on a bike, it makes me feel alive and ready to take on the world, that first spin of the engine in the morning lets me know that I'm ready to rock and FTW!! It's my escape valve from work and the troubles that try to get me down, it lets me feel alive.
Do I class myself as a biker? Yes, because I feel I have a passion for bikes that has never left me ever since I first sat on one as a fifteen year old dreamer, motorbikes allowed me to be someone else, someone different from the small bullied youth that dreaded going out in the early 70's, that passion has never left me and I hope it never will.
At a funeral in January I met Rick, I have not seen Rick for 15 years, he is my ex‑wife's uncle, he had been a biker for years, not in the same sense as most of us, but still a man with passion for his bike, two years ago he T‑boned a car that did a U‑turn and has not ridden since, talking to him was quite sad as I could tell the passion had gone from his life, he asked me if I was still riding with a wistful look in his eye, I could also see that his wife was nervous about us talking about bikes. Such a shame that he has given up but once that spark has gone it's not the kind that can be rekindled, Rick is in his mid 60's and has had a good run though, I don't intend to give up until I am unable to get on a bike! Even then you might have trouble with me.
In my eyes bikes are my life, over the years they have got me into trouble and out of it, they have lost me partners and helped me find new loves and best of all I have met some great mates, mates who I would trust with my life, about how many other 'pastimes' could you say that. I class myself as a biker as I would anyone who has the passion for two wheelers, the rush is the best feeling in the world and I hope all of you who understand what I'm talking enjoy it too, and will do so for many more years.
Jake
How would you class yourself in the world of bikes?
This has to be one of the most asked questions, after "How fast does it go mate?"
Defining exactly what a 'biker' is, is probably an impossible task, everyone has a different opinion and to try and lump them together to make a stab at what a biker really is could be very difficult, so guess what I'm going to do today…
Bikers or motorcyclists have quite a few diverse groups that you could belong to, everything from Rocker to Scooterist (different from Mods I'm told) to commuter, I know there are a lot more but I'm not going to list them, these are just examples to give us a feel for how we perceive ourselves. The way each of us sees each other is crucial to this debate, humans are notorious for fitting themselves into categories, different groups that either bind together or are constantly at war, human conflict has been going on since we discovered that bashing someone's brains in with a rock was fun and we have not really stopped since. We all like to belong to group of some kind, even the self proclaimed 'lone wolves' amongst us still like to be classified as bikers which therefore put them into a 'group', there is a kind of camaraderie and comfort to be found in belonging to like‑minded group, you can observe this in other groups as well. Anti‑vivisectionists, football supporters and Freemasons for example all work together for a common cause which they believe in, we are not any different, most of us ride bikes because we enjoy it, even the most hardened commuter will get some pleasure out of riding a bike and when push comes to shove people from the same group stick together and help each other.
Belonging to a group defines our boundaries which show where stand, we wear the uniform of our tribe to show where our loyalties lie, to show other tribes or groups that we are one of a particular band of brothers.
Bikers are one type of tribe that has within it various groups, just like football supporters are the main group that can be broken down into sub groups of the teams they support, bikers can also be categorised further into various sub‑groups. The word 'biker' can mean different things to different people, ask any typical man in the street what a 'biker' is and you will probably get an answer that is not far off from describing the average persons vision of a 'Hells Angel', ask a motorcyclist the same question and be prepared for a completely different answer depending on what he may ride. One will tell you that a biker is someone who rides everyday whatever the weather; another that it is someone who belongs to a club, maybe another view is that a biker should only ride British bikes. The viewpoints are many and varied, leading me to suspect that this question will never be answered to the satisfaction of all.
So I'm going to tell you what I think a biker is, a biker is someone with passion for two wheels, it does not matter to me if he rides a scooter or a Ducati, he may have owned the same RD250 since 1977, keep it polished and running and only take it out on Sundays, or he may like riding everyday whatever the weather, maybe not cleaning it but making sure it works and runs using anything that happens to do the job. It's the passion for the ride that in my humble opinion makes someone a biker, not what they ride, there are lots of riders out there who don't have the passion, they bimble along in their own little world treating their two wheels like an object and not a bike. The passion means they experience the thrill of the ride, whether it's a fast ride through the twisties or the thrill of taking a 30 year old bike on the road after restoring it for years, or maybe just the feeling that comes with going on a run with your mates, it's that adrenaline rush that keeps the passion alive and kicking within us.
Even after riding for over 35 years I still get that rush every time I get on a bike, it makes me feel alive and ready to take on the world, that first spin of the engine in the morning lets me know that I'm ready to rock and FTW!! It's my escape valve from work and the troubles that try to get me down, it lets me feel alive.
Do I class myself as a biker? Yes, because I feel I have a passion for bikes that has never left me ever since I first sat on one as a fifteen year old dreamer, motorbikes allowed me to be someone else, someone different from the small bullied youth that dreaded going out in the early 70's, that passion has never left me and I hope it never will.
At a funeral in January I met Rick, I have not seen Rick for 15 years, he is my ex‑wife's uncle, he had been a biker for years, not in the same sense as most of us, but still a man with passion for his bike, two years ago he T‑boned a car that did a U‑turn and has not ridden since, talking to him was quite sad as I could tell the passion had gone from his life, he asked me if I was still riding with a wistful look in his eye, I could also see that his wife was nervous about us talking about bikes. Such a shame that he has given up but once that spark has gone it's not the kind that can be rekindled, Rick is in his mid 60's and has had a good run though, I don't intend to give up until I am unable to get on a bike! Even then you might have trouble with me.
In my eyes bikes are my life, over the years they have got me into trouble and out of it, they have lost me partners and helped me find new loves and best of all I have met some great mates, mates who I would trust with my life, about how many other 'pastimes' could you say that. I class myself as a biker as I would anyone who has the passion for two wheelers, the rush is the best feeling in the world and I hope all of you who understand what I'm talking enjoy it too, and will do so for many more years.
Jake
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Hell 'aint a bad place to be.
What do you do when the past comes back and bites you in the arse?
Things you had tucked away or were thought lost come back and you have no one you can talk to, who will understand. You have to sit back and let it roll over you, absorb the impact then take a step back and evaluate what has happened. Tonight a load of lost memories returned for me, not forgotten things, but memories that I thought were lost forever after an accident. These memories have unleashed a flood of emotions I am having trouble dealing with, memories that have not seen the light of day for over 20 years, memories that I thought were lost, things I never expected to remember are now banging away in the front of my brain. Not all are real, and thereby hangs a tale, some are memories are confused with other forgotten memories, to the point I no longer am sure which are real and which are either imagined or composite, by that I mean mixed up memories that may be a combination of past events.
Trying to sort them out on my own is a nightmare, really odd moments are popping into my head, moments of love, moments of violence, moments of hate, moments of guilt. It will take time to sort out all this new information that has invaded my head, it will take time to heal the feelings that now plague me. But do I want to heal? Do I want to lose them again? They were all part of an earlier episode of life, a life so long ago that even people with good memories would baulk at recalling them, yet right now to me they are fresh, some feel like they only happened yesterday, this is what is causing my confusion.
At the moment my head hurts with all this new info, I am glad its back, loads of new memories have suddenly filled in some big gaps in my life, the past is the past, I cant go back so I will not regret anything, I will use this info to look forward.
Once I have sorted it all out and come to terms with it.
Jake
Things you had tucked away or were thought lost come back and you have no one you can talk to, who will understand. You have to sit back and let it roll over you, absorb the impact then take a step back and evaluate what has happened. Tonight a load of lost memories returned for me, not forgotten things, but memories that I thought were lost forever after an accident. These memories have unleashed a flood of emotions I am having trouble dealing with, memories that have not seen the light of day for over 20 years, memories that I thought were lost, things I never expected to remember are now banging away in the front of my brain. Not all are real, and thereby hangs a tale, some are memories are confused with other forgotten memories, to the point I no longer am sure which are real and which are either imagined or composite, by that I mean mixed up memories that may be a combination of past events.
Trying to sort them out on my own is a nightmare, really odd moments are popping into my head, moments of love, moments of violence, moments of hate, moments of guilt. It will take time to sort out all this new information that has invaded my head, it will take time to heal the feelings that now plague me. But do I want to heal? Do I want to lose them again? They were all part of an earlier episode of life, a life so long ago that even people with good memories would baulk at recalling them, yet right now to me they are fresh, some feel like they only happened yesterday, this is what is causing my confusion.
At the moment my head hurts with all this new info, I am glad its back, loads of new memories have suddenly filled in some big gaps in my life, the past is the past, I cant go back so I will not regret anything, I will use this info to look forward.
Once I have sorted it all out and come to terms with it.
Jake
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Gurkha justice
The way the Gurkha's are being treated in this country is so wrong. I have heard so many stories about their bravery, until just after his death I had never realised that my father served in Burma, he never spoke of it, but he always had something to say whenever Gurkha's were mentioned. He spoke of their bravery and selflessness, told tales of their prowess, I had always assumed that these stories were passed on from someone else, now I know different.
The Gurkha's have been a loyal people to the United Kingdom, I will leave it to you to look up their history, which is glorious, their regiment has been sent into every conflict that involved our country. Never faltering, never questioning but often dying.
They need our support, for some obscure reason our government sees no reason to let them settle here as proud British citizens, I can think of hundreds. This treatment of them is a disgrace, public feeling is so high on this subject yet the government cant seem to see why.
Put pressure on your MP to correct this miscarriage of justice.
Sign up to the campaign here Gurkha justice
and also find and contact your MP on here They work for you
and let him know how you feel about this.
The government should be listening to us, not ignoring us.
I shall be at Westminster to protest at some point today, if you are near then pop down to Old Palace Yard, Westminster at noon.
The Gurkha's have been a loyal people to the United Kingdom, I will leave it to you to look up their history, which is glorious, their regiment has been sent into every conflict that involved our country. Never faltering, never questioning but often dying.
They need our support, for some obscure reason our government sees no reason to let them settle here as proud British citizens, I can think of hundreds. This treatment of them is a disgrace, public feeling is so high on this subject yet the government cant seem to see why.
Put pressure on your MP to correct this miscarriage of justice.
Sign up to the campaign here Gurkha justice
and also find and contact your MP on here They work for you
and let him know how you feel about this.
The government should be listening to us, not ignoring us.
I shall be at Westminster to protest at some point today, if you are near then pop down to Old Palace Yard, Westminster at noon.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Off for a few days.
I shall be on my way to Santa pod for a few days, to watch nutters throw the old VW campers and bugs up the strip, it is gonna be awesome!!!
Laters dudes!
Jake
Laters dudes!
Jake
Move forward, dont look back.
If time travel was possible, would you go back and change anything?
Recently I have had reason to think about this, and my answer is no, the past makes us what we are now, if we changed something then we would be different and would you really be any different to what you are now? Think about your answer carefully, you would not have your kids, your friends, your job. Small changes can be make bigger ones down the line, this is known as 'the butterfly effect' in Chaos circles.
All of our life we are ruled by the past, what we learnt at school, the mistakes in our teens, how we grew up, the morals we acquired from our parents and peers. Morals and attitudes do change as we grow and learn, we take different paths as we learn more about life and base our decisions on how we compare the present to the past.
Friends reunited has a lot to answer for, apparently is has caused more marridge breakdowns recently than any other cause, I met Ruth (my partner) through FR she tracked me down more to see what I was up to these days, I have now lived with her for 5 years. I also know two families that have been completely wrecked by friends reunited as well, in one the husband contacted his first girlfriend from school and within a week they had embarked on an affair, he says it made him feel young again, but how long did it last? 6 months, they are not the same people as they were 25 years ago, the initial rush of lust died down and they came to realise that their lives had changed long ago, the are now both living alone, their families are not going to forgive them in a hurry. Yet at the time they were so sure it was the right thing to do.
Humans are creatures of emotion, little chemicals changes can make massive differences to the way we react to situations, adrenaline is a good case to cite, it is what gives us our 'fight or flight' reaction to danger, the problem is, especially if you have lived a bit of a humdrum life, the bloke cited above worked in a office for most of his life and to be honest was very boring (I hope he does not read this..), suddenly getting some exciement can get the old adrenaline flowing and adrenaline is highly addictive, well I believe it is, I may have to check that .
There are other emotions as well, things that can well up from the past and haunt us, or in my case make my life more complete and interesting, as in the case of my daughter, who I had not seen for 28 years. Wishing that you could go back and change things will just make you bitter, you can not go back and change anything, so it is better to look forward and work on making your life and the lives of people around you that much better, why look back when you can move forward.
Jake
Recently I have had reason to think about this, and my answer is no, the past makes us what we are now, if we changed something then we would be different and would you really be any different to what you are now? Think about your answer carefully, you would not have your kids, your friends, your job. Small changes can be make bigger ones down the line, this is known as 'the butterfly effect' in Chaos circles.
All of our life we are ruled by the past, what we learnt at school, the mistakes in our teens, how we grew up, the morals we acquired from our parents and peers. Morals and attitudes do change as we grow and learn, we take different paths as we learn more about life and base our decisions on how we compare the present to the past.
Friends reunited has a lot to answer for, apparently is has caused more marridge breakdowns recently than any other cause, I met Ruth (my partner) through FR she tracked me down more to see what I was up to these days, I have now lived with her for 5 years. I also know two families that have been completely wrecked by friends reunited as well, in one the husband contacted his first girlfriend from school and within a week they had embarked on an affair, he says it made him feel young again, but how long did it last? 6 months, they are not the same people as they were 25 years ago, the initial rush of lust died down and they came to realise that their lives had changed long ago, the are now both living alone, their families are not going to forgive them in a hurry. Yet at the time they were so sure it was the right thing to do.
Humans are creatures of emotion, little chemicals changes can make massive differences to the way we react to situations, adrenaline is a good case to cite, it is what gives us our 'fight or flight' reaction to danger, the problem is, especially if you have lived a bit of a humdrum life, the bloke cited above worked in a office for most of his life and to be honest was very boring (I hope he does not read this..), suddenly getting some exciement can get the old adrenaline flowing and adrenaline is highly addictive, well I believe it is, I may have to check that .
There are other emotions as well, things that can well up from the past and haunt us, or in my case make my life more complete and interesting, as in the case of my daughter, who I had not seen for 28 years. Wishing that you could go back and change things will just make you bitter, you can not go back and change anything, so it is better to look forward and work on making your life and the lives of people around you that much better, why look back when you can move forward.
Jake
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Memory, dont take it for granted.
Some years ago I was classed as insane, or as good as, I had had an accident which bruised the front of my brain and scrambled loads of memory. It took a long time for some of those memories to reappear, just recently I have had a flood of confused memories triggered, they are so jumbled up I do not know what is real and what is either fantasy or a combination of memories that have got mixed up. I still have virutally no recollection of most of my childhood, when people say things like "I remember it like it was yesterday" I cant even imagine how they see such a clear vision. To me anything before 1988 is wrapped in guaze, my memories are like looking through a swirling fog, now and then you get a fleeting glimpse of something, sometimes it triggers a better memory, mostly it just leaves me with a feeling of being completely lost. A good exapmle of this is when riding my bike, if I pick my route before I leave and just automatically follow the route, then just concentrate on riding, I get there with no problem, but sometimes, not always, if I have to change the route, because of roadwrks or an accident or maybe just stopping at lights and getting distracted, I can get very confused. It does not happen often, it happened this morning, riding up to Alexandra Palace I stopped at some lights and when they changed I had no idea where I was or where I was going. I had to pull over and just think about for a minute, I was completely disoriented and that can be quite scary. It normally sorts itself out very quickly
though and I'm back to normal (of course with me 'normal' is a very relative term)
When I was still under the doctor, he recommended I get loads of photos from my past to help bolster the memory system, turns out there are very few pictures of me in the early days, not really sure why, I did knock about with a crowd who didnt like having their pictures taken though.
Two or three years ago I met a bloke from my past, apparently we were good mates for about 6 years, I sat with him and chatted and it was like talking to a stranger, I still have no memory of him and have never gone back to see him.
So treasure your memories, you wont miss them until they are not there.
Jake
though and I'm back to normal (of course with me 'normal' is a very relative term)
When I was still under the doctor, he recommended I get loads of photos from my past to help bolster the memory system, turns out there are very few pictures of me in the early days, not really sure why, I did knock about with a crowd who didnt like having their pictures taken though.
Two or three years ago I met a bloke from my past, apparently we were good mates for about 6 years, I sat with him and chatted and it was like talking to a stranger, I still have no memory of him and have never gone back to see him.
So treasure your memories, you wont miss them until they are not there.
Jake
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Do you believe in god?
Why? Could you explain this to me because I see no reason for believing in something I cant see touch or hear.
The whole concept of god is just too weird for me to accept, I'm told you have to have faith, but why should I? Why should I take on faith something that plainly does not exist?
In a court of law we have to have proof before we can accept any sort of evidence at all, so why is god exempt from this? I have never seen any proof of his existence, yet I am asked to just accept that he does exist.
My girlfriend believes, she is Catholic, and come to think of it most of my girlfriends over the years have been Catholic. Dont ask me how that happened, perhaps deep down I want to believe, perhaps I need to hang on via someone elses belief? Nah!
Lets just take a look at what we have to prove his existence, exhibit one, the Bible, a book that has been rewritten a few times whenever it didnt quite say what some people wanted.
Er... thats it .... I cant think of anything else that could be used as evidence in a court of law. I'm sure I will get a few emails from people that will beg to differ, but none will be able to offer me any tangible evidence other than to say "you must have faith!". Well give me a reason for having faith!
You can not just say to me, have faith, it makes no sense to me.
Perhaps I have missed something, the only time my father disappointed me was a few weeks before he died, he suddenly discovered god after a lifetime of being an agnostic. He could not explain to me why he suddenly found god, I know why though, humans can not envisage their own death, they need to believe they will go forever, this is why almost all religions have a belief in an afterlife or reincarnation. Myself? I accepted a long time ago the fact that when I die that is it, finito, the end, nothing more. This may seem quite bizarre to some, but it suits me, I suppose I could become a catholic, then I could go out and commit the most heinous of crimes, then confess all on my deathbed and join the rest of the Mafia in heaven. What bollox!
Karma? I know some right nasty people that have done well over the years, karma does not affect them!
And what if I'm wrong, well hopefully if heaven and hell exists I'll go to hell, if I dont end up ruling it, I have this plan to make a fortune selling ice creams....
Jake
The whole concept of god is just too weird for me to accept, I'm told you have to have faith, but why should I? Why should I take on faith something that plainly does not exist?
In a court of law we have to have proof before we can accept any sort of evidence at all, so why is god exempt from this? I have never seen any proof of his existence, yet I am asked to just accept that he does exist.
My girlfriend believes, she is Catholic, and come to think of it most of my girlfriends over the years have been Catholic. Dont ask me how that happened, perhaps deep down I want to believe, perhaps I need to hang on via someone elses belief? Nah!
Lets just take a look at what we have to prove his existence, exhibit one, the Bible, a book that has been rewritten a few times whenever it didnt quite say what some people wanted.
Er... thats it .... I cant think of anything else that could be used as evidence in a court of law. I'm sure I will get a few emails from people that will beg to differ, but none will be able to offer me any tangible evidence other than to say "you must have faith!". Well give me a reason for having faith!
You can not just say to me, have faith, it makes no sense to me.
Perhaps I have missed something, the only time my father disappointed me was a few weeks before he died, he suddenly discovered god after a lifetime of being an agnostic. He could not explain to me why he suddenly found god, I know why though, humans can not envisage their own death, they need to believe they will go forever, this is why almost all religions have a belief in an afterlife or reincarnation. Myself? I accepted a long time ago the fact that when I die that is it, finito, the end, nothing more. This may seem quite bizarre to some, but it suits me, I suppose I could become a catholic, then I could go out and commit the most heinous of crimes, then confess all on my deathbed and join the rest of the Mafia in heaven. What bollox!
Karma? I know some right nasty people that have done well over the years, karma does not affect them!
And what if I'm wrong, well hopefully if heaven and hell exists I'll go to hell, if I dont end up ruling it, I have this plan to make a fortune selling ice creams....
Jake
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moon light?
Or do you always take the safe option?
Risk. That taste of copper in your mouth as the adrenaline hits.
Maybe you took that corner a lot faster than normal, or maybe just threw all your wages on red 6. (I dont know if roulette actually has a red 6), stood up to the geezer giving it large in the pub,or maybe just told your mother-in-law to "Shut it for once!"
Most people are quite happy to get their kicks from films, I believe this is why horror films are trying to get more shocking, more gruesome.
Because we now live in a society that mollycoddles (look it up) us, we need more and more shocks in our safe little homes. Saw is a good example, the films got more and more gory because they thought the punters wanted more gore, yet the people I know who watched the first said that was clever, the rest were just gorefests, of course I must admit I have never seen it, Friday the 13th or Halloween, so I have to go on what others tell me. The concept just does not appeal to me, is that because I get my kicks on a 170mph motorcycle? or is there another reason? I quite like some of the zombie films, Dawn of the dead and a few other, but horror films dont really do it for me.
Could the reason be that I dont believe in ghosts or monsters? Do those of us that do like them, belive in monsters and ghosts? Some amongst us dont need horror films to supply that fear.
As our world gets safer and safer, or so they would have us believe, do we need to get our shocks by proxy? Yet, there is more than enough terror in real life to horrify us, we dont want to know about that though, the atrocities carried out in certain african countries, for example, when red nose day comes around, how many of you actually watch the films from countries that have suffered so badly?
How many of us just give our credit card number over without really thinking about what causes it is going to? Do we even care a week later when its over? do we even notice the amount on our credit card bills?
There are people who live in fear out there, some are probably not 100 yards from you right now, terror is not just some thing people in countries far away experience. The wife being beaten in silence, the school boy who makes himself ill so he wont have to face the bullying, the young girl terrorfied her stepdad will come home drunk or drugged up.
They have to face their adrenaline levels rising everyday, they live in horror and fear most of the day.
Other people just watch it on a screen and then can turn it off.
They cant, from the african children who have their limbs chopped off, to the terrified child left on their own, we cant even imagine their fear, we dont even really think about them.
But we dont want real horror, we want to be able to turn it on and off when we have had enough.
I'm not really sure what the point of this blog is, something must have triggered this today, its been preying on my mind all day but somehow I cant quiite explain what I mean, maybe it will become clearer tomorrow.
Jake
Risk. That taste of copper in your mouth as the adrenaline hits.
Maybe you took that corner a lot faster than normal, or maybe just threw all your wages on red 6. (I dont know if roulette actually has a red 6), stood up to the geezer giving it large in the pub,or maybe just told your mother-in-law to "Shut it for once!"
Most people are quite happy to get their kicks from films, I believe this is why horror films are trying to get more shocking, more gruesome.
Because we now live in a society that mollycoddles (look it up) us, we need more and more shocks in our safe little homes. Saw is a good example, the films got more and more gory because they thought the punters wanted more gore, yet the people I know who watched the first said that was clever, the rest were just gorefests, of course I must admit I have never seen it, Friday the 13th or Halloween, so I have to go on what others tell me. The concept just does not appeal to me, is that because I get my kicks on a 170mph motorcycle? or is there another reason? I quite like some of the zombie films, Dawn of the dead and a few other, but horror films dont really do it for me.
Could the reason be that I dont believe in ghosts or monsters? Do those of us that do like them, belive in monsters and ghosts? Some amongst us dont need horror films to supply that fear.
As our world gets safer and safer, or so they would have us believe, do we need to get our shocks by proxy? Yet, there is more than enough terror in real life to horrify us, we dont want to know about that though, the atrocities carried out in certain african countries, for example, when red nose day comes around, how many of you actually watch the films from countries that have suffered so badly?
How many of us just give our credit card number over without really thinking about what causes it is going to? Do we even care a week later when its over? do we even notice the amount on our credit card bills?
There are people who live in fear out there, some are probably not 100 yards from you right now, terror is not just some thing people in countries far away experience. The wife being beaten in silence, the school boy who makes himself ill so he wont have to face the bullying, the young girl terrorfied her stepdad will come home drunk or drugged up.
They have to face their adrenaline levels rising everyday, they live in horror and fear most of the day.
Other people just watch it on a screen and then can turn it off.
They cant, from the african children who have their limbs chopped off, to the terrified child left on their own, we cant even imagine their fear, we dont even really think about them.
But we dont want real horror, we want to be able to turn it on and off when we have had enough.
I'm not really sure what the point of this blog is, something must have triggered this today, its been preying on my mind all day but somehow I cant quiite explain what I mean, maybe it will become clearer tomorrow.
Jake
A few thoughts on revolution
I am getting loads of requests to sign various petitions on the good old internet, there seems to be a new generation of armchair protesters that cant be arsed to get out on the streets, they are content to protest from the 'safety' of their own homes.
This unfortunately has several consequences.
1. Petitions are the lazy way to protest, it makes people feel like they doing something/having their say without actually doing anything at all.
2. The real malcontents get more and more frustrated by the watering down of the effect of these petitions (Please protest against the ants on my lawn, sign up here...)and have to find 'other' ways to get their point across.
3. In the old days these issues were discussed in person in pubs with people who you knew, outsiders found it hard to infiltrate, now its all done on the internet, know one really knows anyone else, most seem to be keyboard warriors.
Signing petitions does no good, especially those ones on the government site that request you to put in a legit email address and name... no one monitoring that then. ("Oh look another one for the list...")
Do those calling for 'revolution' or radical change, really understand what they are calling for?
You cant bring down the government without severe disruption, most people do not want radical change, most want to pay less tax to carry on buying stuff they dont need, things that are now thought of as essentials.
Very few of us are actually unhappy with the way we live, most are really comfortable compared to others around the world. Sometimes we forget this.
Our freedoms being eroded is entirely our own fault, I did my bit to fight years ago and last year had, what I suspect was my last one, another go to get my voice heard.
Radical change will cause much chaos and hardship, do you really think the man in the street wants that? He wants his cake and to eat it as well, getting people to understand that if they do want real changes to be made, things will get a lot worse before they get better, but they dont want that sort of medicine, they want a magic bullet, one that gives them what they want without disturbing their nice little lives.
Do you think that the average joe who is halfway through his mortage wants to risk losing his house for the sake of 'your' freedoms'?
Most do not want freedom, they want MTV, flash cars and the latest music system, good luck with your revolution.
This unfortunately has several consequences.
1. Petitions are the lazy way to protest, it makes people feel like they doing something/having their say without actually doing anything at all.
2. The real malcontents get more and more frustrated by the watering down of the effect of these petitions (Please protest against the ants on my lawn, sign up here...)and have to find 'other' ways to get their point across.
3. In the old days these issues were discussed in person in pubs with people who you knew, outsiders found it hard to infiltrate, now its all done on the internet, know one really knows anyone else, most seem to be keyboard warriors.
Signing petitions does no good, especially those ones on the government site that request you to put in a legit email address and name... no one monitoring that then. ("Oh look another one for the list...")
Do those calling for 'revolution' or radical change, really understand what they are calling for?
You cant bring down the government without severe disruption, most people do not want radical change, most want to pay less tax to carry on buying stuff they dont need, things that are now thought of as essentials.
Very few of us are actually unhappy with the way we live, most are really comfortable compared to others around the world. Sometimes we forget this.
Our freedoms being eroded is entirely our own fault, I did my bit to fight years ago and last year had, what I suspect was my last one, another go to get my voice heard.
Radical change will cause much chaos and hardship, do you really think the man in the street wants that? He wants his cake and to eat it as well, getting people to understand that if they do want real changes to be made, things will get a lot worse before they get better, but they dont want that sort of medicine, they want a magic bullet, one that gives them what they want without disturbing their nice little lives.
Do you think that the average joe who is halfway through his mortage wants to risk losing his house for the sake of 'your' freedoms'?
Most do not want freedom, they want MTV, flash cars and the latest music system, good luck with your revolution.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Balance.
Do you believe in Karma? That there has to be 'balance'?
Why?
It is fairly self evident that there is no such thing, we look for little things that indicate that there may be 'balance' or Karma in this world, we do a good deed and something nice happens, but are we looking for that something nice because we feel we have earned it? When bad things happen we look at the culprit and wish 'Karma' upon them, but it is just wishful thinking.
How often do we hear of someone getting their just desserts? Not that often, we want it to happen because deep down we want revenge, pure and simple, wishing Karma existed is really just another way of wishing for retribution upon a, in our eyes, wrongdoer.
We like Karma when its good, we want to believe that if we help someone we will be rewarded in some small way, but this rarely happens, the best bit is feeling good about yourself when you do the good deed, why should a 'reward' be necessary?
Doing a good deed should be reward enough, wanting Karma for it is selfish, but how many times can you say you have done something good and not expected a bit of karma back? Or even more.
There is no balance, things happen and then other things happen, there is no rhyme or reason for it, other than cause and effect. Some families have loads of bad luck, some have good luck, most just cruise along in an average way, the good and the bad are purely ends of a spectrum that must exist to show the mean.
If there was such a thing as Karma, I think someone would have proved the concept and bottled it by now.
Jake
Why?
It is fairly self evident that there is no such thing, we look for little things that indicate that there may be 'balance' or Karma in this world, we do a good deed and something nice happens, but are we looking for that something nice because we feel we have earned it? When bad things happen we look at the culprit and wish 'Karma' upon them, but it is just wishful thinking.
How often do we hear of someone getting their just desserts? Not that often, we want it to happen because deep down we want revenge, pure and simple, wishing Karma existed is really just another way of wishing for retribution upon a, in our eyes, wrongdoer.
We like Karma when its good, we want to believe that if we help someone we will be rewarded in some small way, but this rarely happens, the best bit is feeling good about yourself when you do the good deed, why should a 'reward' be necessary?
Doing a good deed should be reward enough, wanting Karma for it is selfish, but how many times can you say you have done something good and not expected a bit of karma back? Or even more.
There is no balance, things happen and then other things happen, there is no rhyme or reason for it, other than cause and effect. Some families have loads of bad luck, some have good luck, most just cruise along in an average way, the good and the bad are purely ends of a spectrum that must exist to show the mean.
If there was such a thing as Karma, I think someone would have proved the concept and bottled it by now.
Jake
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
It was long ago and far away...
Repairing broken objects seems to take up a fair bit of my time, we have a 'K' reg Nissan 1600 that we bought as temporary car 3 years for £300, it is still going and just passed its 4th MOT snce we have had it. We recently took some rubbish down to the dump and could not believe some of the things people had just thrown away, do we really have that much disposable income that we can throw away a washing machine with a spilt door seal (£9 and 20 minutes to fit) can we no longer use tools? Last week I repaired a digital watch for a bloke at work, he was going to bin it and I asked if I could take a look, it had a corroded terminal, a quick scrape with a nail file and it works perfectly again.
We seem to have lost the art of repairing anything at all, just think of the money saved if we repaired instead of buyin a new one everytime, and it would also help the enviroment.
The lost art of repair would be a good one to find, it would reduce the amount of waste and could help a few new business's get started, we seem to be sadly lacking in what I call break/fix engineers, most have only been taught to replace parts. In a world where even a simple car breakdown can cost you loads in time and money, remember when we used to bodge sets of points to get the sparks working again? Once we araldited (a type of glue) a ten pence piece into a holed piston to get an RD250 home, there were lots of things we could do to get home in the event of a breakdown. Now with the complexity of todays vehicles you just have to sit and wait for the RAC, the interesting thing is that even though the engines have become more complex, they do not seem to have increased the perfomance or fuel econmy by much. For example my 1976 Honda 750 F1, top speed of 120 (you could make it go a lot faster but no point), 45mpg if you used it in town, 60-65 mpg on a motorway run. The modern equililant would be the CBF600N which does 125 miles per hour and 55mpg overall. What price 30 years of progress?
The 750 was SOHC and could be fixed at the side of the road in the event of most breakdowns, the regulator was mechanical as were the points, the carbs uncomplicated and when it bent a valve (I missed a gear), I removed the tappet adjuster and used a jubilee clip to hold up the valve to stop it from dropping into the cylinder, removed the plug (and ground out the HT lead) then drove it home on 3 cylinders.
If anything goes wrong with the modern CBF600N then its a phone call to the AA. We regularly rebuilt topends, replaced and reground valves, changed pistons and rings even bigends without so much as a torque wrench. The only job I really hated doing was changing steering head bearings and still hate it now. But then again it can be cheaper to buy another secondhand bike than repair it these days, so when does repair become a viable option?
There are very few people these days who can do a roadside repair, there are even less willing to have a go at repairing just about anything, perhaps we need to teach youngsters that engineering is cool, then they may not throw away so much perfectly good, if you fix it, stuff.
Jake
We seem to have lost the art of repairing anything at all, just think of the money saved if we repaired instead of buyin a new one everytime, and it would also help the enviroment.
The lost art of repair would be a good one to find, it would reduce the amount of waste and could help a few new business's get started, we seem to be sadly lacking in what I call break/fix engineers, most have only been taught to replace parts. In a world where even a simple car breakdown can cost you loads in time and money, remember when we used to bodge sets of points to get the sparks working again? Once we araldited (a type of glue) a ten pence piece into a holed piston to get an RD250 home, there were lots of things we could do to get home in the event of a breakdown. Now with the complexity of todays vehicles you just have to sit and wait for the RAC, the interesting thing is that even though the engines have become more complex, they do not seem to have increased the perfomance or fuel econmy by much. For example my 1976 Honda 750 F1, top speed of 120 (you could make it go a lot faster but no point), 45mpg if you used it in town, 60-65 mpg on a motorway run. The modern equililant would be the CBF600N which does 125 miles per hour and 55mpg overall. What price 30 years of progress?
The 750 was SOHC and could be fixed at the side of the road in the event of most breakdowns, the regulator was mechanical as were the points, the carbs uncomplicated and when it bent a valve (I missed a gear), I removed the tappet adjuster and used a jubilee clip to hold up the valve to stop it from dropping into the cylinder, removed the plug (and ground out the HT lead) then drove it home on 3 cylinders.
If anything goes wrong with the modern CBF600N then its a phone call to the AA. We regularly rebuilt topends, replaced and reground valves, changed pistons and rings even bigends without so much as a torque wrench. The only job I really hated doing was changing steering head bearings and still hate it now. But then again it can be cheaper to buy another secondhand bike than repair it these days, so when does repair become a viable option?
There are very few people these days who can do a roadside repair, there are even less willing to have a go at repairing just about anything, perhaps we need to teach youngsters that engineering is cool, then they may not throw away so much perfectly good, if you fix it, stuff.
Jake
Monday, 6 April 2009
Tell them now.
Back in the late 70's there was a group of us on motorbikes, the group changed, people came and went, in the beginning though their were 40 of us, all around the same age. Today I heard that one of the original group died from a heart attack in his local pub. That means there are now only 5 of us left, I have no idea about 3 of them, Tony, who informed me of the death of Ray, has had no reply from the email address'es of the other 3. We have to assume that they are still alive though.
Tony and myself and in our early 50's now, this does not bode well for our odds, we did live hard early lives though, 1 of our number was shot dead over a drug deal in Columbia, two were stabbed etc, but strangely only a few died from motorcycle accidents, most died from heroin.
I was very lucky not to end up as an addict, it could so easily gone the other way for me, hearing about the guys go one by one over the years, it does not really sink in, but after my heart scare in January (false alarm) the reality of my advancing years is sinking in. For a long time now I have accepted that one day I shall no longer exist, not believing in a god or an afterlife means that when I die, thats it. Nothing. Having accepted that there is no afterlife for me has made me want to make the most of my life on earth, I treat most people as I would like to be treated and try to enjoy as much of life as I can, there are still places I would like to see, people to meet and new experiences to ..... experience.
My life has been a roller coast ride, there have been some scary downs and some very spectacular highs, I have never regretted anything I have done, you cant go back and you cant catch up, look at your own life, have you done anything to be really proud of? I hope so, most people waste their lives in the pursuit of what they believe will bring happiness, I no longer need to find that elusive piece of nonsense, realising that just to be content is enough.
Let me once more see a spectacular sunset, feel the road as I corner on my bike at high speed, enjoy the camaraderie of good friends, the love of a good woman, the taste of a fine wine. These may be small pleasures to you, but they make my life what it is, tell the people you love that you do love them, tell your friends that you are proud to know them, do it now, while you can, for tomorrow may not be for you.
Jake
Tony and myself and in our early 50's now, this does not bode well for our odds, we did live hard early lives though, 1 of our number was shot dead over a drug deal in Columbia, two were stabbed etc, but strangely only a few died from motorcycle accidents, most died from heroin.
I was very lucky not to end up as an addict, it could so easily gone the other way for me, hearing about the guys go one by one over the years, it does not really sink in, but after my heart scare in January (false alarm) the reality of my advancing years is sinking in. For a long time now I have accepted that one day I shall no longer exist, not believing in a god or an afterlife means that when I die, thats it. Nothing. Having accepted that there is no afterlife for me has made me want to make the most of my life on earth, I treat most people as I would like to be treated and try to enjoy as much of life as I can, there are still places I would like to see, people to meet and new experiences to ..... experience.
My life has been a roller coast ride, there have been some scary downs and some very spectacular highs, I have never regretted anything I have done, you cant go back and you cant catch up, look at your own life, have you done anything to be really proud of? I hope so, most people waste their lives in the pursuit of what they believe will bring happiness, I no longer need to find that elusive piece of nonsense, realising that just to be content is enough.
Let me once more see a spectacular sunset, feel the road as I corner on my bike at high speed, enjoy the camaraderie of good friends, the love of a good woman, the taste of a fine wine. These may be small pleasures to you, but they make my life what it is, tell the people you love that you do love them, tell your friends that you are proud to know them, do it now, while you can, for tomorrow may not be for you.
Jake
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Dont leave it until its too late
Looking through the Youtube videos of yesterdays protest (1st April 2009) and reading the comments thereon I noticed that a lot of comments were from foreigners, mostly urging people to 'smash' the police, destroy the government etc... yawn.
Lots of rhetoric and little substance, most have no idea what they are talking about when they say smash the system, lets take a scenario, enough people gather together and smash the banks up, force the government out and take over, what then?
Have they thought this through at all? Complete chaos would reign if they actually managed to bring down the system, but that is not what they really want is it, what they really want is not clear at all. Oh I'm sure some of them have the good of the people at heart, but most are in it to just have a go at any one who represents authority, talking to the real protesters, they are there because they are frustrated that no one is listening to them, they feel ignored and that government is now so remote from them that this is the only way for them to be heard.
Then the rioters kick off and it is all for nothing, if you could guarantee a peaceful protest against the government, I am willing to bet you would get many thousands more turn up, people are scared to go on protests because they are fearful of the violence that inevitably happens, there are lots of unhappy people around that feel the government just ignores their voices.
There is a solution, I keep going on about it but it is a viable one, get out there and vote!
If all the people that were unhappy with the status quo, got together, supported and put forward a candidate that they felt would be better at the job than the current incumbents, I'm sure they could make a big difference, we need to get people into power that are accountable to the people, not that just think "Nice cushy job, lets see what I can get out of it".
That is how I feel most politicians now see the world of politics, just another job and it is not just another job, it should be a vocation, you should be there following the wishes of the people, instead of lining your own pockets. The people only see the failure of this government to help them, they do not see any party as better than the others, they are all now seen as having virtually the same policies anyway.
We need change, we need to look harder at the people we elect to govern us, as more and more people grow unhappy at the way we are governed, the more we need to look at making a change for the better, each successive government is just patching over the mistakes of the other, if we do not force a change whereby we stop the patching and actually fix what is wrong, eventually the whole system will collapse and take us with it.
All the protesters will achieve is to alienate themselves from the people they are supposed to be 'fighting' for. Lets get out there now, not a few weeks before the elections, but now, get moving and motivated now! As usual I suspect the British public will not get out there and do anything until its too late and then complain even harder, its your country, its supposed to be your government, take it back while you have the chance. Dont leave it until its too late.
Jake
Lots of rhetoric and little substance, most have no idea what they are talking about when they say smash the system, lets take a scenario, enough people gather together and smash the banks up, force the government out and take over, what then?
Have they thought this through at all? Complete chaos would reign if they actually managed to bring down the system, but that is not what they really want is it, what they really want is not clear at all. Oh I'm sure some of them have the good of the people at heart, but most are in it to just have a go at any one who represents authority, talking to the real protesters, they are there because they are frustrated that no one is listening to them, they feel ignored and that government is now so remote from them that this is the only way for them to be heard.
Then the rioters kick off and it is all for nothing, if you could guarantee a peaceful protest against the government, I am willing to bet you would get many thousands more turn up, people are scared to go on protests because they are fearful of the violence that inevitably happens, there are lots of unhappy people around that feel the government just ignores their voices.
There is a solution, I keep going on about it but it is a viable one, get out there and vote!
If all the people that were unhappy with the status quo, got together, supported and put forward a candidate that they felt would be better at the job than the current incumbents, I'm sure they could make a big difference, we need to get people into power that are accountable to the people, not that just think "Nice cushy job, lets see what I can get out of it".
That is how I feel most politicians now see the world of politics, just another job and it is not just another job, it should be a vocation, you should be there following the wishes of the people, instead of lining your own pockets. The people only see the failure of this government to help them, they do not see any party as better than the others, they are all now seen as having virtually the same policies anyway.
We need change, we need to look harder at the people we elect to govern us, as more and more people grow unhappy at the way we are governed, the more we need to look at making a change for the better, each successive government is just patching over the mistakes of the other, if we do not force a change whereby we stop the patching and actually fix what is wrong, eventually the whole system will collapse and take us with it.
All the protesters will achieve is to alienate themselves from the people they are supposed to be 'fighting' for. Lets get out there now, not a few weeks before the elections, but now, get moving and motivated now! As usual I suspect the British public will not get out there and do anything until its too late and then complain even harder, its your country, its supposed to be your government, take it back while you have the chance. Dont leave it until its too late.
Jake
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Oops I'll pay that one back...sorry....
How many politicians are panicking over the imminent release of the list of their expenses? Why should they get away with not having their expenses scrutinised by the people who gave them their cushy little jobs?
Do they now believe they are better than us? Perhaps one of us should have the job of going through their expenses, I bet they would be correct then, but then I dont believe they should get 'expenses' its just another 'perk of the job' along with loads of others that makes life a hell of a lot easier for them, than for us.
We have to live in the real world, do they actually understand that?
Jake
Do they now believe they are better than us? Perhaps one of us should have the job of going through their expenses, I bet they would be correct then, but then I dont believe they should get 'expenses' its just another 'perk of the job' along with loads of others that makes life a hell of a lot easier for them, than for us.
We have to live in the real world, do they actually understand that?
Jake
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