swfong

This is the playlist for my 35 mile motorcycle commute to work via 101. I Will Follow - U2 Mongoloid - Devo Date With The Night - Yeah Yeah Yeahs Detachable Penis - King Missile Clap Your Hands - Wu Tang Clan Soldier - Eminem Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers Disorder - Exploited Ride To The Bottom - Small Axe Raw Power - Stooges Wicked - Ice Cube Metal Militia - Metalica This mix started with riding at night. The streets are for the most part quiet and weirdness steeps into my ride. Part of it is the limited visibility; navigating the road surfaces at speed becomes a mental exercise. Sometimes you can remember how the road bends or bumps, or you can draw from your experience to find you the right line. I will just imagine how I am are going to roll through it and hope for the best. It was also an experiment. I wanted to see if I could ride safely while listening to my Ipod. I listen to music on most of my rides, safety and the laws be damned. This playlist originate...

"The people who try to divide society on the basis of ethnicity we call racists. The people who try to divide it on the basis of religion we call sectarians. The people who try to divide it on the basis of social class we call either populists or elitists." - David Brooks I think this was an elegant statement on racism and other means to divide us. Beyond the very clear cases of discrimination, most stories about racism are really about rudeness. "Someone said something I found offensive concerning race". There is a blog on the SFGate website, and the author wrote about visiting an Oakland jazz club and his outrage seeing "Happy Nigger Day" scribbled on a bathroom wall board. Is this graffito offensive in a racial? Definitely. But is something written on a bathroom wall even worth mentioning? I thought it was more racist to comment about the almost entirely white audience, as if personal tastes in music and friends is an attempt at discrimination. But...

These are the elements to any great Batman story. 1. Must have a scene where he is brooding in the Batcave. Bonus points if he is also solving a mystery. 2. Have you ever met a professional rugby player? Average height 6'3", weight 230lb. While football and hockey players are just as huge, covered up in pads and helmets, they do not tower like a flanker or centre does. Batman should dwarf the mere mortal, and many comic book artists cannot do perspective correctly. Tim Sale does it perfectly in series of panels with Catwoman: 3. Beat up the supercriminals, finesse the regular ones. Yes, yes, Batman can trash henchman by the dozen. But it is way cool to see a high tech device in action, one of the many reasons why Batman has endured for 70 years. But there has to be some creativity lest you fall into the campy bat-belt cliché. I just read No Man's Land, and Batman threatened to destroy the Penguin's generators with a micro electromagnetic pulse device. He was bluf...

Sorry. Yep, I have to immediately apologize for my personal philosophy. Sorry. I make no bones about liking chaos, anarchy, and subversion. Sorry, again. I wish we still had social and economic classes. Maybe if I was part of the landed gentry or a Brahmin, I would be much more at ease with my intellect, sensitivity, and aesthete. Even if my entrance to the highest castes was not guaranteed, then I might strive to join them or to tear them down. Instead, I am a part of a society which encourages equality by diminishing achievement with flashy and petty distractions. So I've learned how to yell over the crass and uncaring, to surprise the punks with a few tricks of my own. And don't get me started with the classic battle of "I Fought The Law". I realize that on my miserable drive to work in the rain during rush hour while I like two-wheeled transport: it is the closest thing I have to freedom. On a moto, I barely subject to traffic laws and on a bicycle, I am not ...

I was going to call this post Night Riding, but I realize that there is no park that I know of that allows you to even enter at night. You can't be surprised. In our litigious, overprotective-mommy, society, having fun that hurts no one (except possibly the participant) is verboten. I actually like riding in the dark. No hikers, no horseback riders, and when do see another rider, there is an instant bond. "That guy must be as crazy as me!" Recently I went to Water Dog Park in Belmont. One of my favorite after work spots, only about 10 miles of trails but most of it singletrack. I drive up around 5pm and I take my time getting ready. About 20 minutes later, just as I am about to ride away, a Belmont police cruiser rolls up. I know what's going to happen next, but I decide to play along. "Yes, officer, I am leaving. Yes, officer, I know riding at night is illegal. No, officer, I won't do it again. Yes, officer, my bicycle is worth $5000. Yes, officer...

Yep, I fantasize about winning the lottery. Don't tell me how improbable selecting 7 numbers are, I've had some dark moments that dreaming what I would do if I won have lifted me out. Here is my car list: Dodge Challenger - Love American Muscle Cars - think they are unreliable, gas-guzzling, money pits; but the roaring Hemi V8 and the Cylon-visor grill is a definite middle-finger to the world. Thought to myself this morning I wish I could make it look like Mad Max's Interceptor. That would be bad-ass. Jeep Wrangler - I would probably have a nice condo in the city, so I would like a small car to jet around town. I was thinking about a Mini or a Smartcar when I remembered I used to own a Jeep Wrangler. Living in New Orleans, where it almost always warm and road conditions are third world, a Jeep was a great vehicle. I finally gave it up because it would always be damp from the rain, but I'm going to have multiple vehicles when I strike it rich. Sprinter Van - After ...

During my trip to New York, I went on a long hike with one of my best friends, DJ. Plenty of time to discuss the important and the trivial, and one of the less serious topics was Mixed Martial Arts vs. Boxing. DJ is one of the wisest people that I know, a description I rarely hear today, and I consider it an honor to be a friend of his. He is able to keep the distractions of life separate from his focus on his family and his art, so idle talk for him is a rarity. I think debate is the best way to refine and test your views, so I will converse on topics from the inane to the serious with anyone willing. A talk about sports would be a good chance for me to see if I can knock him down a peg. The debate of MMA versus Boxing is well-known. Boxing is an ancient sport, with all the accolades and criticisms of an institution which has been long established but at a plateau. MMA is less than twenty-five years old, still a very new sport to most. The uninitiated see the unfamiliar strikes...