Removed by request

removed by request

Attorney: Bernard Madoff Will Not Attend Son’s Funeral

Having taken his own life, obviously due in part to his fathers lack of ethics. Bernard Madoff will not attend (or has attended, considering this is from news of past December). His claim is it is out of respect for the family, but the truth should seem a lot more obvious under the circumstances. In that he has made this decision, perhaps he should spend that time considering his distorted level of remorse for the people he .

The courts ,rather than allow him to remain comfortably in his cell, should be condemned to participating in the activities that he so callously robbed from his victims, and give him a better understanding of how many lives he took away with nothing more than a stroke of the pen.

Is he paying the costs of his incarceration, or just a further demonstration that the American people are paying tens of thousands of dollars to maintaining him in some 'country club' prison, while he should be out using muscles that have not been used for constructive pursuits in his lifetime.

One of those neck constraints that will deliver a life ending blast should he venture too far from his assigned location.

The Desire to End the Pain

It's not that I want to die. I no longer want to live.

Life continues to bring out the worst in me. Arrogant, depressed, obnoxious. And I let this irritablility turn into comments and emails. And as follish as any or all of them may be, they continue to gnaw at my insides. I am reaching a point where living like this will not, and can not, go on much longer.

Prayer to the Sleazy Dealer

A day existed in the past when you could go into Sears, and not only find a salesman, but one who could identify a screwdriver or hammer.

But the really disgusting people are those who feign friendship, and make promises they will never keep. Pride in a product has disappeared and chair-people of the board of large companies don't care as long as they get paid.

Harley-Davidson lost a customer this week. One who spent tens of thousands of dollars on high profit Harleys and merchandise. All because one cheap asshole wouldn't lift a finger after a sale was complete. Anyone know a good lawyer? It would be worth a lot to me to be able to sue the Sales Manager of the dealership that sold me my bike.

Each night I say my little prayer:
"When that asshole gets canned because you just can sell only so many Harleys in a shaky economy,
"Dear God, Help him to learn to say "Would you like fries with that?" in a courteous and polite fashion."

And Lord, when you cause the great decline to close dealers, keep the family owned ones, and obliterate those dealers run by cheap bastards. Obliterate them from the face of the earth so Harley riders will no longer be cursed by their ignorance and poor service. Who were all those angels singing "86 Crossroads HD"?

Thank you Lord, and feel free to ride any of my motorcycles anytime. Oh.... if I have not asked too much, oh Great One! If you happen to run into Dave and a pit of vipers handy, could you please just whisk him over the edge of the pit? Bless you.

One day I will learn that you should be kind to everyone. The evil ones will take care of themseves.

Zoe

Sometimes it is Zoe that keeps me alive... and Benjamin. Not much else...

Mackinac Bridge

Taken by the Mackinac Bridge in 2003. We thought he was a friend.

About 1,000 miles from home, he had a stroke. A mild one but it must have been frightening. We could have left him there in a hospital bed in the Upper Peninsula, but we didn't. Not even those to whom he had been frequently cruel and demeaning.

I don't like too many people on the passenger seat of my bike (I don't like too many people at all). It's like sharing toothbrushes. A personal thing. But I rode his wife the entire trip home, as we didn't think it safe for her to ride on his bike considering his condition.

The stroke must have affected the part of his brain that controls appreciation, tolerance and gratitude. If he had any, it was gone.

Nonetheless, even if the exact same situation recurred, I probably would have done the same thing. I have matured enough in my lifetime to realize I am not responsible for other people's shortcomings. I have not, however, been able to deal with the intense and persistent pain some people have caused me.

Scared and Alone

He doesn't know who wants to help him or who wants to bite his head off,

Harley Chrome

The mortorcycle these parts are on is a Harley Davisdon Custom Vehicle Operations Scremain' Eagle FLHTCUSE5 Electraglide Ultra Classic. It retails at $36,900. The missing chrome fell of the bike in the course of about three months while it was stored under its supplied cover in a garage. Crossroads HD, the selling dealership, wants $10,000+ to repair the motorcycle. Harley feels it should not be covered under warranty.

If you are reading this and are planning the purchase of a Harley or any accessories, you would be wise to give your business to someone other than Crossroads. Schaeffer's HD, a family owned busness, has always earned top marks in sales and service. Schoch is another family owned business, as is Dean's. All in the area. It's my understanding is the background of Crossroads owner is that of a user car salesman. Dealings there have that flavor. The customer is always at fault. And rather than support a customer having spent well over $100,000, they scurry off into their rat holes and cower at the thought that they would ever spend a dollar of their own to make things right for a customer.

Please pass this information along to people you care about who ride Harleys, and feel quality products, ethics and morals are more important than corporate greed and profits.

Innocence

For a fleeting period in our lives we were blessed with the gift of innocence. A time when concepts like cruelty and bigotry were unknown do us.

The Frog

Didn't work last time.

Duck

Babar

Once a Year

Seems like once every few years I find an old blog and record my degree of depression. Took a while to even find this

Pagoda Run

Ouch!

That's gotta sting a little...



Crashes Compilation - video powered by Metacafe

John Mark Karr Not Charged in JonBenet Murder

Gee, what a surprise! The question remains as to if there was any relationship between Karr and the Ramseys, and was his confession something more than that of an uninvolved attention seeker?

The media has already devoted far too much attention to recent events. I mean, we even found out what Karr was having for dinner on his flight back to the US. Will they let this die quietly, or will some wily reporter discover there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Guitar

The NY Times article behind this video is quite interesting, and worth reading.

Here's the link: Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last

Today's Depression Threat Level

weltschmerz (VELT-shmerts) noun

World weariness; pessimism, apathy, or sadness felt at the difference between physical reality and the ideal state.
[From German Weltschmerz, from Welt (world) + Schmerz (pain).]

The Far Side

I ran across one of my favorites tonighrt while I was cleaning up:

Cultivating Stem Cells

If they can do it without destroying embryos, is that better for the Democrats or Republicans?

Dubya Visits Harley Plant

In case you missed it. Our president was at the HD plant in York, PA this week. Looks like a Softail Deluxe he's riding...




George Bush At The Harley Convention - video powered by Metacafe

How Close is Mars?

An up-close view of Mars? Not likely, says Penn State Erie professor from PhysOrg.com

Thinking about cozying up with your sweetheart later this month for a once-in-a-lifetime-chance to view Mars at its closest contact to Earth in recorded history? Think again, and bump up that quality time by a couple of weeks.

[...]

Pluto No Longer a Planet

What's the Solar System coming to? This is really just election year politics. The Republicans just want to claim that they are leaving us with a leaner, safer solar system. Along with the reclassification of Pluto, we can sleep better at night knowing that there is also definitive proof that Osama Bin Laden is not living on Pluto.

Today's question: How many celestial bodies currently meet the criteria to be considered a planet based on the enhanced definition of a planet?

Political Humor from JibJab

If you're a big fan of George W. Boob, and like me, believe that his main strength is to provide fodder for political satirists, you'll enjoy JibJab.com. Here's one of their offerings. But go to their website and check out the 2-0-5 year in review. Classic stuff

Photos While Riding

One of the nice things about motorcycling is all the things that you see along the road, that otherwise seem more distant when a windshield separates you. I was on my way up to Binghamton , NY when I spied this interesting classic car. Without slowing down, I set the cruise control (yes, motorcycles have cruise control, too), pulled out my little Leica (small enough to fit in my shirt pocket), and snapped off a couple of shots. The Leica has image stabilization, which help make the picture nice and clear. All this happened without much thought. But when I look at this simple snapshot, I cannot help but think about how, a decade ago, this would have been much more difficult to accomplish. No motorcycle with cruise control, so I'd have to stop. No ultracompact camera, so I'd have to unpack it. No digital camera, so I'd have to get the pictures developed. Not to mention having to determine exposure settings, and having to focus the camera.

And no blog to post the picture on, so it would just sit in a pile, never to be seen by anyone but me. So when I think about it. I would never have taken that picture in the first place a decade ago. But here it is, waiting for someone to come along and click on it. And for just a second, it will evoke a thought or a memory that otherwise would never have occurred. 

I think I'll call him Dennis, Hopper

Taken with Nikon D200 with 60mm Micro-Nikkor. Post processing with Neat Image (to remove noise) and Adobe Photoshop Elements. Click photo for high resolution view.

Zoe

This is Zoe, my Lilac Crown Amazon. I think she's about ten years old. I am her third, and hopefully last home. I also have a Congo African Grey named Benjamin. 

Did John Mark Karr Kill JonBenet ?

My opinion for today:

No, of course not. The real question, however, is did he have any involvement in her murder? I would not be at all surprised if the real killer attempted to enlist Karr to provide themselves with an alibi.

Einstein, the African Grey Parrot

If you haven't seen this video yet, you've really been missing something. My Benjamin is also a Congo African Grey, but doesn't come close to Einstein. I guess I should have invested in private school.


Talking Parrot - video powered by Metacafe

Cool Mini Video

Check this out:



Crazy Mini Cooper - video powered by Metacafe

My Next Car

My next car. 2007 Mini Cooper S. Due out in the first quarter of next year, the new Mini Cooper boasts improved fuel economy and performance. With maximum torque achieved at below 1,700 RPM, the new model promises to be a blast to drive. Lots of new colors, too. I can't wait.

Clover Art

If you haven't figured it out yet, I like to take pictures. Hopefully as I learn this 'blogging' stuff, I will start posting my thoughts and opinions, as well as my photos.

If you enjoy my photos, please let me know.

Thanks,

James

Dragonfly

Taken with Nikon D200

Nikon 80-400mm VR zoom lens.

The VR stands for Vibration Reduction, which allows you to shoot at 2-3 stops slower speed and achieve equivilent results. It really is an excellent lens.

First Picture

Posting my first picture to see how it works. I like to photograph Mail Pouch barns in my travels. 

James' Blog

Testing Blog creation