Laptop Round Up for the Real Goal Reached, and that is just the beginning...

Here Ryan (not wearing a tie) and Luiguuy graciously take a minute to pose for me and my ubiquitous eyephone ap. Note: Ryan's eyes are wide open...

On my regular commute in earlier today the rhythm of the constant cranking combined with fact that a patch of my soft rubber tires were making a narrow short but firm contact with the man made enhancement to the earth's surface, I had a thought. This original Bill thought started with a sound in my ears, like a ringing: Life as well as our existence in it is truly more than who we are, or who we perceive ourselves to be. This is not about me, or anyone specifically for that matter.

According to our accounting department, as of June 1, ten laptops with functioning operating systems (the Hackers told me operating operating systems 'sounds' funny) have been delivered to Haiti and are in the loop on the ground helping folks who live in a place where time stands still. That is good.

Even better though is that thanks to the overall support of Hackerspace Charlotte, Smiles, Danny, of course Ryan, and a few others who need no press we were able to pass to Luiguuy five working machines last night. That means that the Laptop Round Up for the Real has been able to meet its goal of 15 donations. Dough Nay Shuns. The crazy part is we will be steadily passing by the original goal for our own kinda victory over the next months and perhaps into early next year. In other words, (we) still have more to fix in the hole, and really wonderful humans have made commitments to our project that will keep it going well into the fall.

Just as the Hackerspace was trying out their new perfectly legal pneumatic Rocket Launcher along side the main train tracks that service both freight trains and speeding by Amtrak passengers, Luiguuy pulled in to make the pick up. Before we gave him the computers, we made sure he got to see at least one launch. No tease, that paper/duct tape missile lofted up over 250 feet above our heads. Shock and awe, the Hackerspace never lets you down.

Jwaye told me that back when she was in college her communication media professor taught her that this image is classic, "Grip and grin." Jwaye, all the money that your parents spent on your college experience was well worth it, you are educated.

Here Luiguuy and I complete the collegiate degree with a very natural, grip and grin. Both of us are actually smiling because what is happening around us is completely real.

Quarry Swim

Eyephone Ap Image of Mein Schatz with goggles on in the center of the frame last Monday afternoon shot by me.

For those of you who missed it, this is the quarry I passed on my solo 125km ride the previous Sunday from now.  I was in northwest Cabarrus County, about as far away as Jerry's cue took me when just below the road at a steep angle was the most perfect looking swimming hole I've seen in years here in North Carolina.  There was no way I could stop then, I had to keep pedaling for the house was still hours away.

The next day however I had the chance to surprise my kid with a clean cold water swim transfer.  Before we left she kept asking questions about what it was going to be like.  She understands completely how polluted the water in our county actually is and wanted to verify that she was not going to be let down after having to spend an hour in the car each way.  Google earth satelite imagery a few hundred feet above the deck was all she needed to see before suggesting that we leave right away.  So, we did.

It was hard to believe how far away the spot seemed by UN Montero as compared to my bike ride.  That place is out there.  I found myself reminding her each time she asked about how much longer was it going to take to get there that just the day before I had made it on my bike and home, it cannot be that much farther.  Finally, the spot.  A short descent down a steep and a scan of our selected place along the water's edge.  Safety first.  There were no postings and we happened to be the only ones there for just under two hours. 

Earth like lunar planet (like plan it) landscape, clean smelling cool water. Sun blast information disc heat on shoulders creating a happy kid disappearing under the surface of molecular water.  I really felt for a split second that I was in the sacred place of Utah while knowing damn well I was in the center of the Tar Heel State.  The dry wind felt amazing on my wet skin when I walked out of, not on the water.  Bright sun photon light energy (E=MC2) blasted us as we frolicked.  Warmth and quiet looking with birds flying high above.

My kid continues to amaze me with the way she receives her natural surroundings.  She is older now, being pulled between the safety of being a small child, naive to the aggressive nature of the agenda above us and stepping out into her own reality check.  Beauty in feeling what her emotional capacity has to offer makes her bright eyed, especially in the water which is one of the three colors that makes up her earth colored eyes.

Now I know why I went on that long ride alone...

Crepuscular Rays

Are what you have been looking at for the last week or so up top.

Crepuscular Rays (a.k.a. God Rays) have always caught my attention whenever I see them forming.  As a small kid running around on a hill in Connecticut I can remember seeing them up by the power lines that would stop me in my tracks.  Power line, get it?

The evening sky was looking right just a week and a half ago, so I ran around the front and down the street for a somewhat clear line with the old lens on and one in each in my two front pockets.  These rays were not that impressive, however, as an experiment they were worth capturing.

Basically Crepuscular rays occur in our visual cortices when the sun's hectic photon energy streams through gaps in the clouds.  The effect is dramatized through my eyes when the under side of the clouds that the light is streaming through becoming more shadowed and dark.  These light shows usually happen in the late evening hours which is how they got there name.  Here is the definition of crepuscular from the dictionary:

-adjective
1.  of, pertaining to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct
2.  Zoology.  appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects

So, now that the science part of this post is over, I would like to share something I find hilarious with you.  Cedar Posts and Barbed Wire Fences (a.k.a Cedar) is the only blog (not bike related) that I am completely addicted to, have been for a few years now since I accidentally discovered that he had Rock and Roll Stop the Traffic linked on his blog roll.   Although I do not agree with everything he believes in, I am amazed at how truthful his information is as compared to say, any other local media outlet in the region.   If you want to get the real insight as to what is happening in our town, I highly suggest checking in with him regularly.  He is brave.

Anyhow, the other day I was reading his post about something sort of dumb that NBC did during the start of their coverage of the U.S. Open Golf Championships.  That dumb thing turned even more dumb when NBC as a Corporate 'voice' electronic entity apologized for the first dumb thing on Twitter almost immediately after it had happened.  Okay fine, I am updated, but what was hilarious to me was in the comment line three down.

(sorry in advance for the F-bomb being posted on this blog.  That happening is a first, and at least it is not mine)

Anon 11:17pm lovingly writes:


its - a possessive, similar to your, NO FUCKING APOSTROPHE
it's - a contraction of "it is", as in 'it's fucking simple', A FUCKING
APOSTROPHE


Need a trick? Fine - when using it's or you're, expand the contraction. If
"you're head is full of shit" becomes "you are head is full of shit" and doesn't make any sense (maybe it will to you because you're a fucking idiot), then you are using the wrong word.
June 20, 2011 11:17 PM 

 Then Cedar replies with:

Cedar Posts said...

Funny comment even with all the F-Bombs.


Note to the rational, normal people in the world: Thanks for understanding!


To everyone else, its a BLOG! So before you work yourself into a stroke, please consider these ten points:


1) Most of this is "Orginal Content"
2) done on the fly from a BlackBerry
3) By someone wjo can't spell
4) or type
4) and has limited math skills.
5) While most people can "read around" typos,
6) this writer has come to accept that some people are obsessed with even the smallest of tiny details.
7)Sad but over the years I have come to learn that small people have small lives, and live in small homes where the littlest things drive them crazy.
9) I have to laugh and hope they aren't armed and that the bus route doesn't run close to their homes.
10) But its OK with me if you want to rant your life away.
June 21, 2011 4:39 AM 

 Yesterday I made a happy handed from brain mistake when I wrote: This will be another 15 second proceeding in where the defense will inform the judge and the state whether it has had the time to read the discovery it was presented at the last court date. 

Over twenty years ago I learned HOW TO APPLY WHETHER, AND I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN.  (Until yesterday apparently)

Of course when I read my post this afternoon and caught the fact that I had left out an 'or not', I fixed it after feeling the blog writer's invisible humiliation. You can't see it, but it kicks you in the gut every time and makes you think about dying. Cedar has the right understanding of the problem making mistakes.  I need to learn from him and just build a bridge so I can ride my bike right over it.  I was however sort of let down that a raving lunatic did not blast me with an anonymous identity on my comment section. Thanks once again Cedar, this time for drawing my attention to what is completely real...

No I haven't Forgotten, how could I ever?

I am sharing [with no intent to sell anything] this picture of Radok that I found on his memorial faceliftbook page.  The original credit looks like it goes to Laura Dwyer whose name was attached to the image. (I changed her original work to Black & White and did an 'e' crop)

It has been over five months since Radok left the face of the earth, and I am often tacitly reminded about the life he lived during my daily existence still living.  Small things you know.  For example, on my inbound commute I pass the white wall that I was sitting on behind the Exxon 'on' the run, while waiting for him to roll up that day he followed me in to make a picture in the rain.   Another example would be that about an hour after passing the wall, I get coffee down at the CM2 in the South End is near.  On the cabinet door below the shelf that the coffee thermoses are on is one of those Chris Radok sitting in the chair stickers.  When I look at him, he stares right back.   Two hours later, I am in the courthouse.  For the rest of my career I will not be able to go into that house of judiciary without knowing that is where Radok's murderer is being brought to face the truth of his projection and manifestation.

After I leave the courthouse, on my way to deliver the work  I often climb up to Tryon on Trade Street which has me go right by the Ritz.  Hey, that's where Radok worked.  Time goes by and I ride around on the schedule to the firms and a few hours later I find myself racing (sort of) to a call for an ASAP.  It is tight traffic on south Tryon and street side parked autos have me pinched in a tiny little place of a line.  Once Radok ran backwards with the wide lens and body in his hand to get a cool cold rainy day shot of Nate and I.  More time passes, back to the courthouse and another return trip.  In the afternoon, on my way home that very same day I will go right by that same white wall again.  How could I not recognize it for the spiritual message that it actually is.  Radok, it's not just me man.  You're life, the way you lived it and the impact you had on those people fortunate enough to have spent time with you will be felt forever...

Maybe I should get you all caught up on the court proceedings in the case of The State of North Carolina v. Antoine D. Young.  Here is the organic down load as of today.  After the post pone meant of the Rule 24 Hearing one was had on the very next monthly calendar opening.  The state, headed up by Gabrielle Macon publicly presented their intent to seek the death penalty for Young as punishment upon conviction.  I was there that day with some gum chewing energy amongst other friends, but I missed Young being led in to be told about his own death.  After the hearing and the intentions of the state being read I felt neutrality, revenge is not apparent in what I feel.  Process.  Rule 24.

Since then there has been one other court date, which is not considered a hearing.  Bev in the District Attorney's office has answered my calls and always takes the time to explain to me what is going on.  I should also let you know that I check in with the criminal clerk every several weeks to see if there is any new info.  The last court date was back in May and it was a 15 second admin session where basically the state presented the defense with all the evidence discovery that it had collected in the case.  The defense stated that it had received the discovery, Young was never brought in the room or seen on the screen.

The next court date has been set for July 7th in CR5350 on the 0900hr docket call. This will be another 15 second proceeding in where the defense will inform the judge and the state whether or not it has had the time to read the discovery it was presented at the last court date.  Once that has been determined an announcement will be made regarding how the case will proceed.  I will check with some folks this week and next to make sure there are no surprises. If there are any changes or new information that is important I will be sure to pass along here and on the FLB Memorial Page.

After the July date it would make sense that there will be a plea hearing sometime in the fall.  At that point Young will have to enter a plea of guilty, or not.  If he admits the truth and his guilt a long trial will be avoided in trade for his execution. If he chooses the other entry, a long trial will most likely start in around a year, to a year and a half from now.  I think I speak for a few when I say that no matter what happens, the state has to guarantee that if Young admits his guilt or is convicted he has to spend the rest of his natural life incarcerated. Justice is in the hands of the people and we will be with this one all the way through...

Good News & Bad News

So, what do you want to hear first?  The good news, or the bad news?  Fine you bunch of dedicated optimists, I'll lay the good news on you now then I will move on to the bad news. 

The good news starts with a presently local fine art landscape photographer named Jeff Botz who I met in April of 2001.   In that first introduction on the second floor of Charlotte's main library I got the organic down load regarding the large format film project that Jeff had been working on since the seventies.  Botzie shoots with an 8 x 10 inch negative view camera high up in the mountains of Nepal and Tibet in an effort to capture the appearance and identity of the largest mountains in the world.  Years of experience, personal sacrifice and dedication to the collection of work has given him the opportunity to form an awareness understanding and true education of the region.

In addition to getting a crash course on his project that day he also let me know that Everest was not Everest at all.

 

Here is a scan of his huge poster supporting the show he put on at the Hickory Museum of Art in 2007.

He recently returned from Kathmandu where he had been since April setting up his first show at the Patan Museum and as well building a gallery housing his work that will run for five months in the Thamel section of the capital city.  Jeff had good successes on this trip and even more local people heard what he had to say about the true identity of the mountain.

The Himalayan Voice wrote a current article openly discussing Jeff's theory that for the sake of the dignity of not only the mountain, but the people of Nepal the mountain should return to its original name Sagarmatha (Mother Goddess Earth).  On the Tibetan side that would be Qomolangma, which I have heard translated to both Holy Mother, and The Stick that Turns the Universe.  I am very motivated and compelled to share with you this developing news about how one man staying true to his Dharma can  have such an impact on not only the people in the area, but the entire world.

I swiped this photo of Jeff working high up in the field from his Facebook page.


Now for the opposing bad news, which is actually a tragic event that took place on June 15 in Keene New Hampshire less than a week ago.  According to multiple sources including first hand witnesses, 58 year old Thomas James Ball walked up to the Cheshire County Courthouse on Wednesday evening, doused himself with gas then lit a match.  His suicide by immolation was planned, he left a 10,000 word essay outlining the reasons why he felt it necessary to take his own life.  You can read what little information is out there about this amazing event by starting here.

Of course I read what I could find, but I wasn't at all sure of what to believe considering that none of the normal sources I consider somewhat real had touched it.  Several 'news' agencies tried to make a comparison between America's response to Ball's self immolation, and the sparking of the very still present Arabic uprising in the not so far away Middle East when 26 year old Mohammed Bouazizi lit himself on fire after having his vegetable cart taken from him based on 'law' by the Tunisian Police.

Now, not forever ago past or an unattainable event in the future.  Right now.  Several things got my attention about this horrible event taking place in New Hampshire last week.  First, like Everest not being Everest, journalism is not journalism.  It is only a series of collective decoys from what is really happening at that exact same time.  Second and more importantly, in Thomas Ball's final post he observed that the United States was becoming a nation without laws.  He suggests that the government uses a second set of books which is a collection of policies, procedures and protocols that courts and executive agencies rely on.

Not knowing what truly brought Mr. Ball to his actions leaves me stunned and sad for any family members that he left behind in trade for what he believed.  This is a very real event which has set into motion cosmic projection not yet manifested. 

I grabbed this image of the Cheshire County Courthouse taped off from WMUR New Hampshire.

Feel it or Not, it is very real to me...

As you my lovely audience have recognized with your infinite wisdom and capacity to see the obvious, the posts here at the Traffic Stop have dried up as of late.  My will to write about what I see as true going on around me collided with the searing reality that I may not have the guts to do it.   A short list of recent actual events which have driven me to blog block comes to mind:  Radok's murder, the devastating larger than Haiti sized earthquake destruction in Japan, a new billion dollar presidential approved contract on war killing more innocents in Libya while we as a people keep up the rationalizations in the form of separating the physical reality from how we feel, the big win 'taking out' OBL, no jobs, yet there is plenty of work to do all around us, the connection between continent sized storms dropping huge fatal tornadoes out of the sky in the center of this fine nation and the amount of chaos we project globally with American made weapons in trade for it all.
 
I know, I know, if you don't read the paper, look at the news, or talk to some smart folks from Europe these items could easily be dismissed in the form of rationalization that the trade is worth it and its end result does not affect you.  My realization is different than most, has been since Christmas day when I was seven years old.   What I see happening right now is a direct connection between American made military weapons, the daily death of innocent lives of all ages and a nation desperate to keep that form of progress going infinitely into the forward future.  None of this causes me to live in fear or some sort of perceived state of unhappiness.  Like someone smart once told me when we were discussing how many people take corporate produced pharmaceuticals three times a day to achieve whatever grace they are seeking, "The cure for unhappiness, is happiness."  My time here cannot be spent chasing an ultimate goal of something as whimsical and unattached from what is really going on around me as happiness.

Self Portrait roughly 25 minutes before cracking, or better yet being cracked by Jwaye near the end of our 107 mile (173.4km) ride.

Besides the normal bike bound work and commute week, the past several weekends have been rather interesting on the ride front.  50 miles south of Charlotte, 75 miles (Spamerton), 107 miles of Smoot's best century, 77.5 miles east of here out of the house solo.

Notable points of interest:  These were all fixed gear rides.  The first three rides listed above were done with one other rider, Jwaye.  She is a crusher who has only been riding for a few months and while we were riding the 107, at mile 102 inbound on the other side of the airport she decided to destroy my will to live by opening it up on Wallace Neel.  As she pulled away I thought to myself, no way, she cannot have this in her.   Reaching into my man purse of courage I tried to stay on however there was only a little bit of lint in the bottom of the satchel.  My heart was well over 100bpm at 6hrs and 40 something minutes in.  Could I be about to have a massive heart attack?  Does Jwaye know CPR well enough to keep me alive until MEDIC can find me?  The tall Swede, some 15 years younger than I danced across the tarmac at 46x18 disappearing off the front of my view.  She had to be going 25mph, either that or I was down to a 4mph crawl.  Demoralized, with cement filled legs like I never remember experiencing, my life spark was squelched in the hot heat, but I had to keep going to finish the ride so I did.  My heart continued to leap inside my chest cavity creating a 3D hologram image of itself (the muscle that pumps life through my body) on the movie screen in the front of my mind.  It looked like it was alone speed lurching almost spasmodically inside the protection of my rib cage.  But then my mind and brain housing group befriended it making me feel more alive than I had been.  During that twenty minutes of the ride, time stopped completely.  I cannot ever remember being that cracked on my bike...

Self Portrait one week after the 107 mile cracking.  At the time I made this picture (75k into the 125) I was feeling great and recovered from the spanking I took earlier in the week. Yes, standard and metric talk can get slightly confusing to understand scale when used together, either way it is BIG and only math. 

*NOTE:  To those of you paying attention, I have (4) serviceable UXC jerseys left in my lycra drawer, and no, it is not the only jersey I own.  New clothes are for Canadians...


Last weekend's 125km solo effort wound up being a great recovery transfer.  The first 20km was with Stuckey before he took ill and had to turn around in the oppressive asphalt, my fault upper nineties heat.  Then, just over 105k alone with my body, mind and single speed machine.  Jerry's route that he had passed to me via email was beautiful.  There were rolling hill climbs that seemed innocuous compared to the ones I had faced in the previous weeks out west of town towards the foothills.  Crossing the formal Amish settlement that is Lentz Harness Shop Road was the highlight of the ride.  At the start tall pines lined the road on one side, and huge round hay bales dotted the open expanse of fields on the other.  Gentle climbs up a bit through the pastoral arena led to a turn near an old farmhouse.  Then, all of a sudden the road surface went to dirt.  Yes, dirt.  Nothing lifts the spirits on a long road ride alone like hitting an unexpected section of dirt, nothing.  Goody, I thought to myself as I looked out ahead seeing the gray ribbon of hard packed dirt roll over the green landscape in front of me disappearing at the visible horizon several thousand meters away. 

Those long minutes in the saddle draw my attention to how important living in the now actually is...

Picture of the Week

This creature died in my presence today.  The eyes are amazing and look as if they have human characteristics and sad elderly quality under the green glassy orb.  Manual Nikor 55mm macro lens in full sun.