Out and About in the Real World

Howdy folks ... notice how quiet I've been lately in all the usual places ? Hasn't it been wunderbar ? Heh.

Here is why. I'm currently typing this from an Internet Cafe in cold but most interesting city of Edinburgh while LSCP is out shopping for tartan ... or tartin out and about at the shops or something like that.

We've been doing the Planes, Trains and Automobiles thing for the last week, plus a bit of shipping. Started in London, then up to Newcastle on the train a few days later, then over to Cologne Germany for a couple of nights via the Channel and Holland, all just so we could slosh down litres of Glühwein and let me make an eisel of myself with my poor Deutsches language skills. Then it was back to Newcastle and a train up to where we are now.

Anyway, enough waffle, so here are some pix instead.

Business class. Only way to travel.

Cheeky fellas at Buckingham Palace. :)

LSCP "eyeing" out London ... Gettit ?

First London Pub Lunch ... which wouldn't be complete without Pints !

Spam, lovely spam ...

Here we are , from "Station to Station"

To the Tower with her !

"The whole world is a stage" ... especially at Shakespear's Globe

Glühwein mit Ameretto. That's "mulled wine with extra illcohol" ... compulsory street trinken !

My xmas present !

Something to do on the Channel Crossing ? :)

okay, I dunno when I'll get the chance to drop another line so deem Mery Bah Humbugs still included.

regarDS

Songs of the Labyrinth

"Last night" LSCP and I went to the Perth Concert hall to watch Feyd-Rautha looking like Duke Leto Atreides singing "Massage in a Brothel" whilst playing the Lute with an extremely talented Bosnian mate named Edin Karamazov.

Okay okay, it was really "Songs from the Labyrinth" of which you can read all about here: http://classicalmusic.suite101.com/a..._the_labyrinth and here for Edin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edin_Karamazov

We were in the stalls literally the back row for the support act and unfortunately for everyone around (and the poor soul it happened to) the colostomy bag for someone in a wheelchair near us broke/leaked about the same time the lights went down.

Real eye-stinging stuff. Sympathies to the poor person it happened to; sh!t happens ... but please pardon us for not being able to handle it.

Think of being trapped inside a tipped-over porta-potty towards the end of a "Big Day Out" festival, and not being able to scream out for help.

So, come interval we went down to the front desk and explained the predicament (at that stage we didn't realize it was the issue just described - we thought it was something wrong with the Concert Hall loos wafting in through the exit) and asked with eyes streaming from acid burns, to be moved anywhere else, please, for the love of Loki & Thor, anywhere !

Apologies were issued along with two new tickets to anywhere else.

The anywhere else turned out to be middle seats 5 rows back from the stage, barely 8m away from Gordon Matthew Sumner out of his comfort zone. Twas great to see his humbleness, serious efforts, and sweat upon the brow as opposed to the distant blurr we witnessed early this year at Members Equity Stadium when he was touring with "The Police".

On ya to the team on stage, but big boos to the purile young things sitting to our left and in front of us to our left who insisted on heaping giggles upon noisy giggles (much to the embarrasement of all around and probably even Sting onstage) while watching Erin doing some amazing/incredible/frantic lute playing in a quieter balladic piece (they thought he looked amusing whilst playing the instrument the way it traditionally is supposed to be played, apparently.)

The burst colostomy bag was far less offensive than that Stye of Giggle-Gutses. Such effing Ozzie audiences don't deserve to be exposed to quality ... talk about casting pearls before swine !

Anyway, cheers once again to the Perth Concert Hall Staff who looked after us and who explained the full situation when we went back to thank them after the concert.

Cheers to Sting and his crew. Great show and thanks for coming back to Western Australia again. Glad you didn't get blown up when you took a wrong turn East off the beach just North of Swanbourne* earlier that day.

Okay, rant out ... back to Lurk/Away mode. If you really miss me, I may be updating my blogs via email from time to time over the next month. See: http://derspatz.blogspot.com and http://derblatz.blogspot.com , oh, and even http://www.flickr.com/photos/derspatz/

Oh, and in case I don't pop back in before, deem "Bah Humbug" and "Happy Saturnalia" included for later this month.

regarDS
* Nudist Beach ... Sting had accidentally walked through the middle of it when on a stroll up from Cottesloe Beach, so he apparently went left to avoid coming back down through it again.

Left of the beach is the Military Firing range, with potentially unexploded ordinance a-lurking here and there.

Giant Steps is what you take, walking on a bomb !

Get Up Stand Up, GetUp! for your Lefts ...

Just when I thought I could put the circle-jerking Fanatical Religious Zealots over at Whirlpool's "ILCF" (ISP Level Content Filtering) forum thread in a blog thread all but itself (see the "derblatz" link) and leave it out of this one, they go and bring a whole new level of scary and disturbed comedy to the stage ... stuff so internutty that I can deem it worthy of a rant in here.

Hang on to your noses coz this is gonna get a little more offensive than usual. :)

As you may have realised, I've found the "waa, waa, waa"ing going on among the aforementioned quite fascinating. I mean, who couldn't help but be amused by a whole bunch of folk going "Teh Governet is out to enslave the nation and take away free speech, it is Hitler and Stalin and Mao all over again" (always funny to hear Gen-XYZers say that !) when at best the unlikely reality is that all of a sudden they may have to start paying instead of saying "Thank you for the music, the songs I'm stealing" or the movies they are "pirating", as well as face the prospect of having to get through a few more layers of conscience in order to click one handed through the kind of online material that their Grandmas, Mothers, Wives, Girlfriends, Sisters and Daughters would probably most wish did not even exist in the first place, let alone that their grandkids, dads, husbands, boyfriends and brothers were encouraging its continued development and proliferation along with all the heartache, degradation, disrespect and even slavery it brings !

Ok, I exaggerated. I realise the Gen-XYZers aren't necessarily big on "thank you"s ...

Anyway, these forever plugged in lifeless worshippers of "The Internut" who deem it to be the sacred cow of our age as well as unimaginatively consider it "the last bastion of free speech" want the likes of you and I to think that they have our best interests at heart by trying to PREVENT suitable and justifiable national rating and control of internut/online content as it is done in The Real World where all the Real Living is done.

Yeah right ... get your sticky hands off it - we all know who you really are thinking of; you're not fooling anyone other than yourselves if you really believe that.

So what are these fanatical virtual anarchists up to now ? Well it seems that there is no loathsome low to go to when it comes to the situation of maintaining the link between The Addict and The Supply/Poison. They've now reached the stage where they are haplessly handing over cash to an Oz organization that is so Radically-Extreme-Yet-Carefully-Camouflaged-Left that they make the Evil Lefty Greens look like die Hitler-Jugend !

But Of Course I am referring to "GetUp!". If you've not heard of them before, the "GetUp!" stands for "Greenie Environmentalist Terrorists Undermining Peace!" though they would never tell you it stands for that ... but Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Baum, ja?

This gaily painted sinister lobbying group casts the combined shadow of every Lefty political party you could imagine, including those yet to be spawned from whatever Bog of Eternal Stench it is that continually manages to foist such wrongness upon common humanity.

Think of every issue and controversy that divides Oz and you will find the GetUp! crowd busy lobbying in favour of those on the WRONG side of the division and working towards making things even WORSE for Oz than it already is.

This unsavoury mob not only worked hard spending conned, uh, donated coin to put Kevin747 into Government at the last Federal Election, but also had the favour gratefully returned by being allocated no less than an alleged ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN SEATS in KRudds own little circle-jerk involving the ridiculous and highly unrepresentative "Summit of 1000 Best And Brightest Brains".

HA and BAH !

With so much "Left" on the collection of 1000 chattering useless clueless noses in the publicly funded trough, nongs, it is no wonder our nation is rapidly being reduced to going around in circles ... having one leg shorter than the other tends to do that, but I digress.

So what are the ingredients of this cake half baked ?

On one hand we have a bunch of internut worshipping freeloaders worried about having to pay for supply and Do The Right Thing for a change, and on the other we have a shady organization with the typical Loony Lefty Left agendas always pragmatically happy to relieve the naive of their coin and raise their lobbying profile at the same time by associating themselves with popular faddish causes likely to get media attention.

Real "Cake and Eat it too" stuff ... and history tells us what usually happens to THOSE types.

Oh, I should mention that because they are a political lobbying group, thankfully the coin fleeced from the seduced desperate special interest groups that sustain and sponsor their true evil causes, is not tax deductible - so it isn't ALL bad.

So what is going to be the likely outcome of all this ILCF hoohaa ?

What is going to be the likely result of the GetUp! marriage to the ugly useless bride once the dowry runs out ? A dowry that could be much better spent in so many other ways and places ?

(ah, but this ain't about charity or taking care of the needy - this is about maintaining a mainline connection to The Drug !)

Oh, who cares ... fools and their money are always soon parted and there are a million and one more interesting things to be involved in out there.

Some even via the Internut here and there ...

Anyway, to paraphrase one Captain Oates, a truly noble and brave soul (as opposed to moi), "I am just going offline and may be some time".

All this online madness is prompting me for some overdue DownTime along with a Reality Check, so I'm out to explore life offline for a while.

Oh yeah, just in case I don't pop back in here before next year, deem a Merry Bah Humbug and Happy Saturnalia to you too. :)

Keep it Real and if not, don't be too internutty ...

regarDS

Blog Clog and Circumventing Filterers

I've decided to head off the blog clog that has been beginning to form in here as a result of my recent fascination with the funny fanatical folk at whirlpool forums busy worrying about their sacred cow; the internut.

How am I addressing the blog clog ? By creating a secondary blog, that's how.

Just like this one, there is no "sitemeter" nor any kind of tracking to let me know who has been visiting, and just like this one, there is no comment roll nor private messaging enabled.

What you will find at http://derblatz.blogspot.com/ are all the messages I've written at the whirlpool forums, including the ones that various questionable and amusing forms of moderating have tried to remove from public record with lazy/unrelated/slack/and even corrupt excuses such as "trolling", etc.

Click on the labels up at the right on the "derblatz" blog and see exactly what I mean.

Ah, but it is a tough and thankless job being a Mod so it isn't surprising when they favour the majority points of view over the contrary minority view ... tis much easier to keep the peace that way after all. As a pragmatist I can well understand and appreciate that, so no hard feelings, kids ...

As for this blog ... it's back to normal programming should I have anything particularly interesting or particularly banal or particularly offensive to share.

Maybe next week ...

regarDS

Let's do a time-warp again ...

"Today I ..." spent some of my day-light savings by sitting out in the sun and taking a time-warp back to my childhood by making the effort to give my beaten up old Blundies* a well over-due polish.

Earlier today I resisted the urge to cheat and take the easy way out by buying that sponge delivered "scuff stuff", and instead opted for a tin of Dark Tan Kiwi, a tin of neutral Dubbin (for waterpoofing after the polish), a $1 soft-cloth, and a $1 Brush ... all made for the job.

My after school duties (to earn my 20c a week pocket money) when I was a kid was to chop the wood, light the scary Bremair Hotwater system, and polish my Barters (with the compass in one of the heels) whether I had actually worn them that day or not ... they usually came off my feet the moment I was out of sight of the house and I spent the day at school as barefoot as possible.

I mostly hated all of those jobs - as one would when having to do them day after day, year after year. Today was different.

I popped the lid on the 38g Kiwi polish and The Smell of it began the count-down to the time-warp. Putting one of the Blundy Boots on my left hand and plunging the cloth into the polish to wipe up a big mess of it prepared the way further and by the time I had smeared the first of the boots all over with the wonderfully smelly finger staining polish, I was grinning my head off and well and truly in my past some 35 years ago and wondering why I used to hate doing this so much.

Talk about being a relaxing and an instantly satisfying task. Scuffy/chipped/faded/grotty/riff-raffy looking boots soon transformed into dark and clean and healthy looking leather. I smeared, I wiped, I brushed and brushed, and allowed the smells and sounds of it all along with the sun warming my body to remind me of simpler and slower days and ways.

Sadly, it was all over too fast, but I know that tomorrow at work, when ever I look down at my stained fingers or catch a pleasant wiff of my traditionally polished boots wafting up from under the desk, I'll remember and I'll smile and I'll look forward to when I might choose to take that particular time-warp again.

Tis but a step to the right ...

regarDS

* http://www.blundstone.com/

The "internut" by any other name ...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=internut
internut - an individual who spends at least 15 hours/day online in a leaky sub-basement. "when we severed the wifi conection, strange sounds emitted from the sub-basement which we thought was uninhabited; upon investigation, we learned that it was the domain of the internut."

**** Selah ****

Recently I happened upon a serious and snarly little collective of apparently long-regular web forum inhabitants and was quite shocked that not only were many of them somewhat ignorant of the titled ancient noun/adjective/verb (how far do you think it could reasonably be stretched without totally murdering common understanding of what constitutes the English Language ?) that soon became the more applicable word to use instead of "internet", but also seemed to be somewhat offended by both its existance and use ... well, at least in their sheltered little web world.

It was very surprising to discover a collective of vocal McWeb consumers who took things "internet" so seriously that they could barely abide the thought, let alone the presence, of anyone who didn't take it as seriously as they. Especially anyone who might happen to observe and remark that their level of interest/support/defence of it was bordering on ridiculous and somewhat unhealthy ... and even (dare I say ?) "idolatrous".

Now, anyone who has bothered to wade through my more opinionated blog pages of cynical and arrogant self-righteous waffle (interspaced with tales of motor-cycle Rattery and stuff less likely to offend too many too much in one go), would quickly recognise that I just luurv to find and expose and sometimes even ridicule examples of Fanatical Religious Zealotry that don't involve the Usual Suspects related to more traditional religions and religious behaviour.

Thus far, I've drawn attention to the likes of "Environtologists and the Church of Environtology" in relation to the FRZeds (Fanatical Religious Zealots) getting all hot and bothered about Yet Another period of ice-melts in our solar-system, and then there is the "Cult of Darwin and Dawkins" and their nonsense "evolution of species" flim-flam show that continues to fail every test of evidence possible let alone make it out of base-camp on the way to falling off the cliff-face when trying to climb "Mount Improbable."

Oh, and don't get me going on so called "Sports" and "Sports Teams" and their "Fans", nor the "Cult of Celebrity" ... yup, I'm seeing religions and religious behaviour all over the place; everyone seems to have a favorite "Sacred Cow" or two, and usually at least one they just luurv to get all Fanatically Religiously Zealous about at that.

I feel that it is now time to add the very "internet" to that list of Sacred Cows folk can get FRZ about. Warning, don't mention in a favorable manner things like "filtering" or "clean stream" or ILCF (ISP Level Content Filtering) or "Senator Conroy" in the midst of the kinds of FRZeds who hold the internut to be sacred ... not unless you've got some of the following to hand over !

They won't turn you into an "internewt"; they'll help you get better. :)

**** Selah ****

[Overly Offensive Mode]

"There is nothing more offensive than the brutal truth delivered brutally to those who don't want to hear it ... except for willfully ignorant brutes who prefer and promote a lie.". - derspatz

Yeah, I don't even mind quoting myself. :)

Continuing on the topic of "content filtering" and "clean stream" etc, you've now arrived at the reason I don't bother to have "comments" turned on for his blog. I'm not interested in providing Yet Another online space for the cowardly anonymous to try and advertise their crass banalities in and nor do I have either the energy or time to filter through all the usually resulting dross and abuse in the hope of spotting a gem worth keeping. I'm already disillusioned enough with much of the more recent generations of so called "humanity" as it is thank you and thus far from keen to have it try and crap in my little Web-Nest.

I've already got THAT angle covered, cheers.

I'm so disinterested in what folk might have to say about my twitterings here that I don't even run any kind "who has visited" type auto-magic metering/logging software ... and if I don't care about who may be visiting then how much less do you think I might care about giving a voice to any who should visit ?

Got something to say ? Go join a forum or publish your own blog and maybe I'll accidentally happen upon it one day. Or better still, DON'T ! :)

So, that's a big "No" to "comment enabling" from me. Deem yourselves pro-actively filtered and think of all the time and energy we've saved each other ... and children we have protected from yet more repetitions of the more foul and offensive forms of internuttery that can be demonstrated by internuts on this here our internut. :)

[/Overly Offensive Mode]

regarDS

anti-internut-censorship brigade at Whirlpool forums censor derspatz :)

G'day there Whirlpool Moderator.

About my sudden, inconsistent, and mysterious arrival to Whirlpool's "sin bin" in relation to my participation in the "ISP Level content filtering" discussion.

Although I disagree with and question just how the judgement of "picking fights" has been determined and strongly object to the application of the unfounded and oft misused and lazy "trolling" descriptor to my valid contrary view that not only has/is being consistently expressed in areas other than just Whirlpool but also is consistent with a view expressed online for decades, I acknowledge receipt of your notification of "sin binning" and accept the application of your filter to forbid further active participation in that thread however subjectively that decision has been arrived at despite however unjust and one sided and uneven-handed I personally feel and observe that penalty to be ... especially considering that I haven't posted the slightest thing that could be deemed "flaming" but rather have tolerated mostly without comment or report a whole load of hostility and insult that has largely been ignored by moderation.

At very least this all serves to prove (at very least to me) a number of the points I've been trying to educate the hysterical masses about anyway, including a demonstration of the hypocrisy at the heart of the topic that has now seen the very kind of attention being complained about metered out to the minority opinion rather than the misguided populist one.

I recognise that you are only doing your thankless task as per the wishes of the weak of character/reasoned thought who are more prone to push the "herring" button than realise and face up to the poverty of their choices let alone be confronted with fair and reasoned challenges to the same, and so I accept that it is probably nothing personal ... and nor should it be.

I do find it quite ironic that that the majority of a vocal minority protesting censorship and filtering should call upon for the censorship and filtering of that which challenges and inconveniences their misguided view, but I don't mind being the example that exposes their hypocrisy for the offensive and inconsistent nonsense that it is.

Thus, this "sin binning" amuses as well as serves to prove the point ... and thanks to the broadness of the internut, shall continue to long after the topic that has spawned this tiny object lesson (and handing over of pound of flesh to the Pharisees unable to handle challenge) has passed and been forgotten.

regarDS

More on bringing the internut into the 21st century and reducing the gap betweem offline law and order and online virtual anarchy. :)

This time, here is a politician's view on it, in the form of a letter response to one of the hysterical "waa, waa, waa" crowd populating the whirlpool forums on this subject.

Dear ["not thinking of the children" (name substituted to protect the guilty)]

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding the Government’s clean feed internet filtering system. I am aware that the proposal for ISP filtering has attracted some criticism from those, like yourself, who are concerned that it will lead to censorship of the internet and to a slowing of internet speed. However, the Australian Government has no plans to stop adults from viewing material that is currently legal, if they wish to view such material.

I believe that freedom of speech is very important and the Government’s cyber-safety policy is in no way designed to curtail this. The Government wants to ensure that Australian parents can access a ‘clean feed’ internet service. This will be informed by the technology adopted in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Canada where ISP filtering, predominantly of child pornography, has been successfully introduced without affecting internet performance to a noticeable level.

The proposed ISP filtering policy is being developed through an informed and considered approach, including through industry consultation and close examination of overseas models to assess their suitability for Australia. We are committed to working closely with internet industries to address any concerns, including costs and internet speeds. These concerns will be carefully considered during the pilot and will further inform the Government’s cyber‑safety policy.

The internet is an essential tool for all Australian children through which they can exchange information, be entertained, socialise and do school work and research. The ability to use online tools effectively provides both a skill for life and the means to acquire new skills. However, while the internet has created substantial benefits for children it has also exposed them to a number of dangers, including exposure to offensive content. As such, parents rightly expect the Government to play its part in the protection of children online.

The Government has committed $125.8 million over the next four years to a comprehensive range of cyber-safety measures, including education, law enforcement and filtering. These measures include:· Education activities – funding to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to implement a comprehensive range of education activities;· Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team – funding to detect and investigate online child sex exploitation;· ISP level filtering – funding to develop and implement ISP filtering, including undertaking a real world ‘live’ pilot;· Websites / Online helpline – funding to ACMA to improve current Government cyber-safety website resources and to make them easier for parents to use, and to provide up‑to‑date information.

ACMA will also develop a children’s cyber-safety website to provide information specifically for children, and improve the online helpline to provide a quick and easy way for children to report online incidents that cause them concern;· Research – funding for ongoing research into the changing digital environment to identify issues and target future policy and funding.These initiatives will tackle the issue of cyber-safety from a number of directions to help clean up the online environment and to protect Australian children from the dangers of the internet now and into the future.

This approach acknowledges the key role parents have in the online safety of children, and provides them with the necessary information to assist with this task. This initiative also recognises that there is no single solution to ensure children can access the internet safely.Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I hope this information is of assistance, and please don’t hesitate me with any further concerns.

Kind regards,
Melissa Parke MP
Federal Member for Fremantle

regarDS

"Waa, Waa, Waa, teh govamin R breakn teh interweb"

No, that's not me crying and pouting because the menu at McNet is being changed in order to match the healthier diet found in the offline world. I am But Of Course talking about all those unimaginative users who are getting hysterical at the thought of one way or another having to act more or less as responsibly when plugged into the internut as they do when they are busy obeying the laws of the land in the offline world.

In case you haven't heard or don't remember, our elected government (who I didn't vote for - well, other than a vote for Family First first, and the Evil Greens last) made a promise to all who elected them (all those "working families" busy wage slaving for double incomes to pay off their negative equity and too busy to have a parent at home being, well, A Parent, and so in dire need of KRudd and Co to be defacto parents to their children instead) that something would be done to make teh McWeb a safer place for the kiddies to be ... as well as bringing it more into line with the laws of the land in relation to illegal stuff and activities as the offline world.

Enter the ISP-Level Filtering System (a bit like what the likes of Blue Coat Systems do but on a national level. Here is a link about BlueCoat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Coat_Systems )

The idea of it is to try and stop illegal material coming in, going around, or going out of the country via the internut. Sure, it is going to be difficult (actually, impossible) to get it working with 100% accuracy and without a degree of system overhead and impact, but does that mean it shouldn't be attempted ? Does that mean we should continue to persue, prevent, and prosecute illegal material and activity in the offline world of law and order only to make no attempt to tame virtual anarchy and lawlessness ?

It seems somewhat incongruous and hypocritical to me that most of us in Oz want to live in a safe country with law and order and are generally willing to act responsibly enough to make it work to a reasonable degree yet at the same time want "anything goes and damn the torpedoes" when plugged into the McNet.

Anyway, I am in principal, in support of attempts to bring into line online material and activities in Oz with the laws of the land which we have a responsibility and obligation to support if we really are interested in being worthwhile citizens.

Over at whirlpool's forums on the topic (see http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1075390 ) I'm reading a lot of "they r taking away my freeeedom" type stuff, along with a whole load of frothy hysteria, but sadly, from this alleged typical representation of internut users, I'm not seeing much in the way of anyone willing to support the prevention of illegal material, nor even begin to think of ways to take our global communications systems to new levels that benefit the whole globe (such as those locked away behind the Great Firewall of China).

It really has become the McWeb/McNet for them ... and Baby Wants It Now !

Anyway, I must get back over to whirlpool and continue to try and reason the hysterical and fanatical back down to some sort of useful ground, so I'll close off this entry with a message posted to the yahoogroups ozltuae list last night.

SOQ

>>> richary: Not quite sure if he (derspatz) is just playing devil's advocate or not
>> derspatz: Not even in the slightest.
> richary: Yes you are proposing a Gibsonesque world where everyone can jack in wherever and whenever they want. Now let's look at the real agenda you are pushing as you always have.

Breaking down the Great Firewall of China ? Getting people to see a bigger picture ?

> Which I obviously can't bring up in WP (whirlpool).

Tis certainly pretty trigger happy on the "filtering" side at WP ! Thank goodness we can let our hair down a bit here. So, let's party ! :)

Somewhat ironic considering the topic ...

> The End Times are coming

Don't worry, Obama the Messiah will save you ... well, at least appear to for a while. :)

> in the meantime lets create as much destruction and chaos as possible

Ah, so THAT's why I'm continually giving what has amounted to many thousands of dollars to Israel so that their kids can be fed and clothed and their aged can be properly housed and have hot water and their soldiers can have warm clothing and care packages and Jewish believers in Yeshua Ha Mashaiach can be compensated for things being denied to them bytheir fellow Jews in their own country merely because they dare to say "hey, we got it wrong about our brother Jesus - He is our messiah after all and silly us went and got him killed ...".

You've gone and exposed my true motivation for my giving of my not so hard earned - I'm busy sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction so Jesus will come and rescue me sooner ! (rolls eyes)

If what you are suggesting is the case, then I must have one weird interpretation of Luke chapter 12 going ... especially verse 43..

> those are the fore runners of those times. Of course, you can't do that by being nasty to anyone or hurting them as that would be a sin.

Isn't living with/sleeping in the same bed as someone who isn't one's wife a sin too ? Whatever happened to in for a penny, in for a pound ?

> let's just do it by stirring the pot for a reaction. Or as it was put on WP, trolling. Subtle trolling of course, given your skills learnt here over many years. But I recognise it for what it is, as does Mark (Newton).

(sigh) and yet if I shared the same opinions as you or Mark and the wailing mostly selfish and ignorant masses expressing their irrational fears of having their daily poisons intake reduced, there would be no mention of stirring or trolling. Kinda sad (and telling) that a well reasoned, coherent, and consistent opinion that also happens to be at odds with the majority of participants in that thread, is chosen to be viewed as trolling or stirring, mind you.

Hmmm, who are the Fanatical Religious Zealots, now, Richary ?

What I am finding even more disturbing about what I am seeing at WP, is a spoilt, selfish, "it is mine by right", and "how dare I be required to do/sacrifice/lift a finger", "what do you mean by 'responsibilities'" attitude, along with utter apathy in relation to do anything other than complain.

The spirit in there isn't about pioneering the internut into something new and better that benefits us all ... it is instead all about having what basically boils down to having a McNet to go along with every other Mcthis'n'that the Gen-likewhatevers are all about these days.

Things that make me go "Bah."

Things that also inspire me to calmly address with a basic logical yet visionary approach that exposes the fanaticisms being expressed for what they are and instead attempts to bring things back to a useful middle ground.

> But you are pushing the wrong barrow. As I recall from many years ago of bible studies it is the destruction of Israel that will bring about the rapture.

You're not trying to teach your grandma how to suck gravel there are you richary ?

> And think about the possibilities. Hypothetically a Muslim based party gains control of the Senate and deems Christian sites unacceptable. Well damn, you guys have already let the technology in so all of a sudden every Christian webpage is on the blacklist. Bad luck, you have made your own grave so lie in it. Yes it's an unlikely scenario but once the technology is in place then anything is possible.

And this is supposed to bother me because ? You do remember that you are talking to someone who finds very little (if anything) to be sacred in this world, and someone who not only isn't an idolatrous book worshipper, but rather is a self confessed book burner as circumstances dictate, along with someone who wrote message filtering and processing software for FIDOnet ?

"Empire" - Echo Mail Packet Incisive Record Extractor and all that. :)

Considering that and remembering the kinds of things I was vocally against back in FIDO days of LTUAE and the other echos, it should be of no surprise to you that I would in principal be in support of Government control of illegal material online (and more besides), so there really is no need to be making silly appeals to a notion of "I'm trying to bring about amageddon" ...

Besides, I've nearly ALWAYS been about working towards the return of Yeshua Ha Mashaiach for Him to do His "rule with a rod of iron" thing (ie, more filters), but these days I've settled upon helping Israel with my finances as being the most effective way of achieving it.

> Of course until your dream of a free from any interference "cyberspace" is possible. So instead of criticising the freedoms we have now, why don't you get off you backside and try to help design it?

You missed the suggestions I've already made about using short-hop wireless devices independent of ISPs and telcos (etc) to constantly packet forward distributed net style ? On the amateurish pirate/stealing side of things, maybe something could be made to piggyback on the mobile network in the short term by way of behind the scenes development.

Oh, and that's the other problem I'm having with most of the "waa, waa, waa" brigade on WP.

The scary lack of imagination.

Ah, that's better. I've been feeling so stifled for free and unfettered expression over the last few days at WP.

Cheers richary, for flipping the cap on that one. :)

regarDS

Der Ratte Attack stage 2 complete ...

More fine weather, more second thoughts, and at last a chance to break out the matt black rattle can again. I changed my mind about the path some of the wiring and the engine vent-2-pod plumbing took. For those who know what I'm talking about, you can see that the vent (lower right corner) now goes straight up and then over to the left, level with the frame, and then hits the T junction to go back to the pods. This should stop any condensating vapour from pooling. The wiring looked very messy but now most of it is tucked up out the way at frame/seat level and just the bare minimum heading south to the battery and solinoid, etc.

Aside from the fact that rear guard has now got rattle canned, and the battery sled wood doesn't look like wood anymore now it is painted, notice anything strange towards the top left ? Where has the shock absorber gone, and WTH is bolted there instead ? See next pic. Heh.

Okay, this is called my "claytons" suspension, so named because it is the suspension you have when not having suspension. A bit like the drink by the same name. It is essentially two bits of flat bar bolted between the existing shock mount and a spare hole on the old seat/guard mount, and then the stock shock firmly bolted closer to the latter than the former, giving me pleasing 28cm distance from old centre to old centre where formerly it was near 35cm.

Not only has this given me a much lower and more comfortable ride, especially now I can rest at traffic lights with both feet flat on the ground AND have bent knees, but also made the ride so much easier to control - the handling has vastly improved. Who woulda thunk !

Due to certain angles and bulkiness, the shocks are under a little sideways stress but I can live with that in the short term - the shock covers make it look worse than it actually is, but it is hidden from certain critical eye by the saddlebags anyway.

Yes, I am on the look-out for shorter shocks and have even made a trip to the local bike wreckers in search of them, but they are somewhat elusive in this neck of the woods so I'm going to have to wait to do it properly but in the mean time I am quite happy to do it Ratte Style.

Which is what I also had to do to the kick-stand. Left at it's stock length it pushed the bike over the wrong way. Not very useful, and the centre stand is a chore now things are so much lower - also not helped by the fact that I've also dropped the front forks near 3cm in the triples. So, off came the kick-stand, out came the angle grinder and welder, and half an hour or so later, most of it spent muttering about the reduced conductivity aspects of a badly rusted welding lead clamp, a shorter kick-stand came into being.

Yup, my ratty guestimations had made it a bit on the short side and the bike now had a bigger lean going on than a politician coming out of the Parliment House bar after a long Friday lunch. So, more muttering and more welding saw the stand grow the necessary 1cm it needed to look good whilst also being functional, as well as prevent the draining of battery fluid from the lowest corner. Seriously, I am amazed how much angle you can put on this bike when lowered before it even thinks of having a lay down.

So, that is how the beasty now looks without the saddle bags and side panels. Yup, got the beasty all nekked in time for summer. You can see I finally got around to stretching the gaitors down and hose clipping them. The sticker ? It says "Support the Royal Flying Doctors" which is a charity I like to support and promote the support of. It won't mean much to you if you are outside Oz mind you.

And once again with bags on. Stage 2 over. Can there be a stage 3 ? Maybe. I've been tossing around the idea of enclosing the top third or so of the rear wheel by adding removable covers to each side of the guard. Sure, the bags do that to a degree already, but I don't like that gap showing between the wheel and the rear of the rear guard, which is why I wanted to go for a wheel hugging guard in the first place. Too bad I've had to abandon that idea for the time being.

Anyway, just say no to shiny expensive ridable things. Make cheap and matt black your friend instead. Trust me, more fun is to be had with something you're not worried about taking an angle grinder to than something you don't want to get wet, have to keep clean and polished, and costs you a fortune in insurance every year.

Riding should be about fun and feeling free, so buy yourself that rather than yet another possession that makes you yet more of a prisoner.

Ratte IS the new black.

regarDS

Burbles and Wobbles ...

A quick post-note to the last entry where I mentioned that after a day and a half of throwing various tools and lumps of wood etc at Der Ratte, it still looked more or less the same as when I started and merely smelled worse due to a good fish oiling.

I have now discovered that removing the stock air-box and replacing with the Pods makes a simply marvelous difference. Not only in the get Up and Go department, but also in the 'hey, that sounds Good" section too. I'm sure those of you who have done similar are nodding their heads knowingly.

What a beautiful burble now emits when cruising, and what a satisfying 'hey, I'm here, get out of my way" volume increase when opening up the throttle ! Who would have thunk that such a simple change could make a bike so much more enjoyable to ride !

The economy seems to be better too ... I've already gone over 20 kilometres over where Der Ratte usually starts coughing for a switch over to reserve, but still no sign of cutting out.

Okay, that is the Burbles" side of this blog entry done.

Now for the Wobbles. Nope, nothing to do with Der Ratte.

I was reading with some interest today as to how quickly ice is melting away in the Northern Hemisphere due to this current cycle of natural global climate change we are being blessed with.

Glaciers are retreating at a fast rate of knots even in most Northern Greenland, Arctic ice is soon going to be no more, permafrost in Siberia (etc) is becoming swamp, millions of tons of driftwood and scary amounts of defrosting mammoth meat is finding its way down Northern rivers after being released from previous frozen areas, etc, etc, etc.

In short, billions of tons of frozen water accumulated in various heaps in the North, is following the path water best likes to travel, and is flattening out into the form of less cold wet stuff wot boats can float on.

All good as far as I'm concerned ... we're merely returning to the way things were back when Greenland was more hospitable to the Vikings and the like.

But what is happening at the better end of the globe ? That place South of the land of Oz where yours truly lives, loves, and laughs from ?

Apparently ice at the Antarctic is getting thicker. A bit like all those Environtologists of the Church of Environtology who are running around telling all who will listen to their religious nonsense (and be taxed for the privilage) that the sky is falling and it is all our fault.

Ok, here we get to the wobble part.

Anyone got any kind of idea as to how much ice has to turn to water (with accompanying changes in water tempurature and current directions, etc) in the far North in comparison to how much water has to turn to ice in the far South before this spinning mis-shappen ball we live upon must naturally see a change to its axis wobble due to weight redistribution ?

regarDS

One of those Ratte days ...

Ever have one of those morning when you jump out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed all eager and ready to carry on with where you left off on yesterday's work, then when you go out and take a look at it you realise that you just hate most of what you actually managed to get done the previous session ?

That was me this morning. I looked. I pondered, then I put on my beret, pulled the cork out of a bottle of red with my teeth and took a swig, cut myself some cheese with my belt knife and ate it off the blade, then put on my best French accent and stomped around telling myself off saying things like "merde, sacrebleu, what waas ayee thinkin, thees is sheet. non, non, thees will not do at all, escargot but this rat weel not, now feex it beforrr I taunt you a second time".

I took a look at the tail-light cluster, slapped my forehead and said "non, non, you eediot". I looked at what I was doing with the rear-guard and proclaimed "your mother wears army boots and your father sucks elderberries, you silly canigit".

I decided that the only thing I had done right was the bit of bar that the tail-light was bolted to, and the removal of the air-box and all. Sigh. So, back to the drawing board. First I decided to remove the tail-light again, turn the bar it was mounted on slightly, then raise the rear-guard up to meet it. I drilled and bolted it (yes, I did remember to put some rubber spacers inbetween the bracket and the guard). I had to turn upsidedown the mounting I had made for the battery end of things but same holes worked, so all cool. Back to a fixed guard rather than swingy one.

Okay, that looks a bit better. Note that the shocks and exhaust is off at the moment. The plan to trial a Hard-Tail look and feel rather than head straight away for shorter reach shocks. Next was to rebolt the tail-light cluster back to the mount bar I made yesterday, this time use some rubber spacers and put a third bolt into the guard at the top so the thing can't fall/be pushed forward. Deem it a case of removing temptation. Heh. The two holes in the guard to the right of the light are for bolting the seat back on. Yep, that means all my clever bending and bracket making yesterday was in vain. Sigh.

What else does Der Ratte need ? I'll give you a hint. The Best boats are made of this stuff and apparently witches who weigh as much as a duck are made of it too. Give up ? WOOD ! Yes, not only have I added MORE plastic to a motor cycle, I have now also added wood. You will see it better a few pics down. It has been incorporated as a base for the battery to rest on.

What are you looking at in this next pic ? Ah, a bit of Ratty cleverness I hope ! I've replaced the stock airbox with these pod filters, but what to do with the engine vent that usually feeds into the airbox ? I figured "why not split the feed up and direct it into each pod ?" What I did was drill a hole in the center of each pod and thread a couple of outboard engine fuel fittings through from the inside (with an o-ring on each) then push it into some suitable hose and then clamp. Lurking to the lower right of the photo you can see a white T junction. This is on a hose that connects up with the engine vent. See where this is going ?

Next you can see the pods now clipped onto the carbs and the twin hoses being fed by the T junction and the hose leading down from near the guard then across near the bottom of the battery and back to the engine. I've relocated the indicator relay to up under the seat on a bracket using the twin square thingumijigs mounting point. The other mounting point is the new earth. The regulator is now bolted direct to the guard. The starter solenoid is mounted on the side of the battery strap/bracket. And there is The Wood. :)

Next is a look from the other side, providing a better view of The Wood, the regulator, the pod and engine vent feed, and how I've secured the battery. I basically bolted the original battery strap thingo to a stainless steel angle that formerly was the wet end mount point for a boat echo sounder. All the holes were in the right places - ie, regardless of where the holes were, I compromised to use them rather than try and drill new ones and destroy more drill bits. Anyway, this lovely bit of stainless steel has been secured by four stainless steel self-tappers into the bottom of The Wood, and the original battery thingy first bolted with nylocs to a bit of mild steel bar, then that bar nylocked to the stainless steel ex-echo sounder bracket.

Why did I put the whole thing on The Wood ? It actually acts as a sled to give access to the battery should it need removal as there is not enough room to swing the door open on the original thingy. The sled is merely secured with two bolts (and nylocs) to the metal tray underneither and I reckon The Wood looks much better than yet more metal, and I'm sure the battery will be healthier on it.

Oh well, there went the light again. Sheesh, where did a day and a half go ? Here is a last shot before the side covers go back on again. "WTF ?" do I hear you exclaim ? "You do all that and then put the covers back on ? Anyway, how can they go back on with the pods and the fact that the top mount points have been removed ?"

Why ? Coz I'm not quite ready for Der Ratte to go nekked yet. I want to get it lowered and re rattle can matted first. On the lowering side of things, I did bolt on a bit of tube with holes at 9" centers to see what Der Ratte felt like when that low and that rigid.

It was scary. To start off with, it was a LONG way down from off the center stand, and the side stand was useless - it wanted to push the bike over rather than hold it up. I liked the sitting position, but even without riding it, it was painfully non-flexible. Worse than that, LSCP, (the gorgeous girl who has been my Life Style Choices Partner for the last six years) didn't want to go pillion and see how it was. Not a good sign. Like I said, scary. :(

I still want to do it though, so I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and go for some shorter shocks. The default ones are 13" centers, so I guess a 4" drop is too far. Maybe an 11" will be the go ? In the meantime, I adjusted the defaults to the sloppiest/weakest/lowest they can be. I was even considering taking to the springs with an angle grinder to drop them a bit more, but there is no way back from that kind of mod and it doesn't help with the UP bounce. sigh.

And here is the final short for the day just prior to me slinging the saddle bags back over again ... making it look like I hadn't done a damn thing for the last day and a half. Heavy sigh. See, the side covers fit just fine with the pods ! How did I put the covers on ? Simple, the bottom bits went into their usual slot, and the top bits I just cable-tied to the top frame. Chuckle.

End result ? Cosmetically it virtually looks just like it did a couple of days ago, but it smells far worse due to a liberal dosing with good old fish oil in preparation for some more rattle can matt black. No doubt my neighbours hate me again for that. Heh.

Anyway, what a Ratte of a day. How was yours ? Accomplish much ?

regarDS

Ceasefire over. Der Ratte Attack Stage 2 continues ...

I was confronted with the prospect of a day of beautiful weather upon crawling out of my bed around midday today. My first 4 day break after near a month on the new shift pattern with the new contract, so it was about time I got to treat myself to staying up Really Late, and then similarly sleeping in Really Late too.

So, what to do ? Do I put the boat in the water and go for a cruise down river ? Or do I do some more damage to the CX500 Rat in the making ?

Having decided that because too many folk were getting used to/accepting of the increase in fugliness I have already inflicted on an ugly by default motorbike, it was now high time I resumed hostilities against the rideable metal, and see how much more fugly I could make it.

So I figured that the river could wait, coz it was time to break out the Made in China safety boots, angle grinder, drill, rusty mild-steel bar, blunt drill bits, striking devices of various sizes, weights and shapes ... and the odd cuss word.

First to do was to rip the seat off again and then the rear mudguard. This meant that the stoplight and number plate cluster had no where to go. Hmmmm, time for the first bit of rusty mild steel bar !

Above picture is the planned new rear-guard. Gunna make it so it swings up and down with the wheel rather than the wheel swing up and down into it. Except there won't be any swing having decided to Hard-tail it anyway.

Take a last look at current battery position on the airbox, and the old rear-guard on the ground to the far lower right. Note the handy holes at the end of the Harley sissybar. See where this is going ?

Ok, you can see that I have my Made In China safety boots on. This is important. So too is taking the guard from off the angle grinder. Safety First, Folks ! Then it was a case of bashing a right-angle into a bit of mild steel bar, roughly marking off where the number plate finished and leaving enough for the other end to be bashed over when cut. After the cut, a quick score with the angle grinder makes for an easy bend. A bit of drilling, muttering and cursing while looking for non-blunt drill bits, and yowser, the following was soon possible. I was a little bit worried for a moment that the stop-light and number plate cluster could easily end up pointing towards the ground with a bit of a push ... and it probably could if one had the mind to do so. Heh. Anyway, then it was time to break out some more mild-steel bar and do some crafty bending in order to provide a new way of holding the seat on now that the rear-guard was gone. Note hurled to the ground drill bits. Heh++

Seat now securable, time to get the new rear-guard on. Before that though, it was at last time to remove the battery and air-box ready for the new plans for that to come later. Here is a pic of the airbox gone and most of the electrics swinging in the breeze and my crafty front mount for the seat involving a stainless steel bit of bar held onto the frame with some hose clips.

Next is a view of how one end of the rear-guard is now secured to Der Ratte. I found a stainless steel bit of angle in my boat stuff, so after more muttering and cursing while trying to drill it (don't you just HATE how stainless steel can kill a dying drill bit in no time flat ?) and a few thumps with a hammer to bend it over even further (I jammed it into the boat trailer to do that) it was simply a case of a stainless steel bolt and nyloc nut cushioned by a rubber washer between the guard and the bracket, then another stainless steel bolt and nyloc between the bracket and the up-and-coming battery tray that came pre-equiped with a suitable slot for proper centering.

Yes, I realise that this anchor point will have to change if I don't hard tail things, but I'm determined to give it a go for a week or two. Alternative is to drag the welder out and tack an anchor point mid swing arm under where I've currently bolted it ... or better still, loop it with a large U bolt ? Did that make you shudder ? Yes, I realise I'll have to rethink certain clearances too. Nothing that can't be sorted out with an angle grinder and a bit of muttering.

In that above pic, you can also see my front seat mount a bit better. Maybe I'll weld it on, maybe I won't. Anyway, I ran out of daylight, so more tomorrow ... gotta have it back on the road by the end of the day. Will break out the matt-black rattle cans another day. The fish-oil spray will need a day or two to dry out and set properly anyway.

While I'm repositioning all the electrics in that area I'm going to make a point of doing away with every connector and solder every join instead.

I call that the "take off and nuke it from orbit - it is the only way to be sure" approach. :)

regarDS

Sea Fever

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied:
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

- John Masefield (1878-1967).
(English Poet Laureate, 1930-1967.)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
and he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
and when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
he said "all men will be sailors then, until the sea shall free them"
but he himself was broken long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom
like a stone.

And you want to travel with him,
and you want to travel blind
and you'll think maybe you'll trust him,
for he's touched your perfect body
with his mind.

- Leonard Cohen. "Suzanne"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Enjoying today's moments shared in this split infinity I hope ? Anyway, here is Der Spatz thought for the day:

Avast, me Hearties, howest faireth thee one and all ?

"Unless laughing or learning, try looking forward more to where you are going than to where you have already been. Don't sacrifice too much of the future merely for the sake of a past probably best forgotten."

regarDS

Hangin' around for The Rainy Days.

A break from machinery for the moment. Time for a waffle. This one is inspired by the plight and challenges faced by most of us in Oz society in its current form. The stuff being endlessly repeated in our news media with no apparent happy ending in sight.

Yeah, "Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down" type stuff.

The secular humanist society promoted in these ~enlightened~ (~ = sneer quotes) times by the likes of Dawkins, most of standard left-wing academia, and the public school system is clearly showing the kind of fruit it bears, and the grafting going on exchanging branches within the same tree ain't going to make it any better either.

Lately I've been personally lamenting the plight of our young, our brethren in remote Aboriginal communities, and the apparent sickness of the soul of our whole nation. I have been wondering what it would take to turn people around and if such a turn around will happen.

I know I can be extremely negative and critical of the time and age we have no choice in partaking in, and I am generally and usually of the view that not much can be done about it and that it is better to hasten the end rather than patch up something doomed to fail.

However, I am also reminded that we are not abandoned nor forsaken and that the proliferation of hopelessnes, pointlessness, wickedness, and all the things reported in our news media, etc, although are very distressing observations and relatities for any parent, are still serving a useful purpose and aren't impossible to turn around.

Part of the useful purpose I reckon, is that it serves as an example to Dawkin's crowd that they are just plain wrong, wrong, wrong about most things and that their brave new world built upon subjective morality and base self interest is doomed to failure that can easily be extrapolated by what we are currently already seeing. I won't go on. Heh.

Not impossible to turn around ? See: http://www.welshrevival.com/ from which I'll quote a tiny bit from the "history" section.

SOQ

"a storm had hit the churches yet for so many it was a storm of love and power which completely transformed their lives.

People were changed in so many ways. The crime rate dropped, drunkards were reformed, pubs reported losses in trade. Bad language disappeared and never returned to the lips of many – it was reported that the pit ponies failed to understand their born again colliers who seemed to speak the new language of Zion – without curse and blasphemy – even football and rugby became uninteresting in the light of new joy and direction received by the Converts.

Colliers and tin-men of the working classes expressed their joy in so many ways – so many original prayers

But perhaps the song that captures what most of these felt was a song sung by Sam Jenkins a tin plate worker from Llanelli – a song translated at the time from English to Welsh – Can y Rebel “Am Achub hen rebel fel fi” - "For saving an old Rebel like me"."

EOQ

You see, I'm reminded that in the final days before God is obliged to step in an put things right again with mankind having been given all the chances due a rebellious child by a patient parent, the promise is to pour out His Spirit on all flesh - and when that happens, I reckon the likes of the Welsh Revival will be small potatoes !

Apparently during the times of Welsh Revival, people were even falling over in the streets overcome with a sense of their need of God's love and forgiveness. Imagine the turn around and return to hope in remote Aboriginal communities should that happen ? Same too in our city's "night spots" ?

How long does it take to turn people around ?

Surely but a blink of an eye once the choice is made ?

On a more secular level, look how easy it is to shape the public view of an entire nation if not tongue ? A couple of newsprint articles, a bit of 6 oclock news time, then the odd collection advertisements, and wallah ! Done !

I reckon BRING ON the last days outpouring of the Holy Spirit as prophecised by Joel (2:28) ala "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions."

"After this" ? After what ? Heh. I'll let the interested go look that one up ...

Anyway, Dawkins and crowd not withstanding, I'd rather see us all, especially our young and our Aboriginal brethren, and our leaders under the influence of the Holy Spirit rather than what seems to be the norm at the moment.

That kind of Rainy Day (regardless of what day it falls on) certainly won't be getting me down.

Other than on my knees in thanks that is.

regarDS

CX500 rAt Attack stage 2 begins ...

Yay, at last I've rid the ratte of the Hateful Honda Custom seat. I scored off ebay for around $50 a "Bar Enterprises" Cobra model designed to suite Harley Sportsters and then had to fend off some fierce bidding (actually, I just swooped down der spatz like at the last minute to clean up) for the Harley Sissy bar to compliment it. Not so cheap at about $135 but considering the bidding that was happening I reckon myself to be a winner AND a grinner this time around.

I had to hose clip to the top of the frame a stainless steel rod (borrowed out of a boat trailer roller) in order to hold down the seat at the tank end, and I simply drilled through the mud-guard at the rear to use the existing holes in the seat along with the bolts from the original oh-so-gay Honda seat to hold down the other end.

All temporary measures. I'll weld on proper brackets when I pull the mudguard off and replace with a wheel hugging version late in "stage 2" or early "stage 3".

I decided to junk the Honda pillion grab rail (LSCP is happy enough holding on to either me or just below the back rest) and instead mount the indicators into the perfectly matched stem holes in the Harley sissy bar. For now, I've also raised the positioning of the default stop-light cluster on the mudguard to bring things more into line.

To aid in the ongoing uglification I've bunged a mini cargo net thingy over the tank ... got a spare one coming so that will probably be stored in streched out form over the same location. Heh.

What else ? Added some Triumph Cub gaitors to the front

forks to cover over more annoying shinyness. Lots of fun with a wheelie mega hydrolic car jack, lumps of wood under the centre stand, and light tapping on a cut off broomstick to push the forks down through the triples in order to get them on. Left the front wheel on the forks and just let the brake calibers hang and disconnected the speedo cable from the gauge end. Learned that what can be tapped out easily enough ain't so easy to push back in when gravity is going the other way and a heavy round thing is on the bottom. Heh++

Actually, it wasn't so hard to get the forks back in the triples again. Once they were lined up and well sprayed in suitable lubricant it was simply a case of holding the front wheel with one hand whilst letting pressure out of the jack under the engine with the other. A little pushing of the wheel back towards the radiator saw the forks easily glide back in. Then it was a simple matter of tightening up one side at the right spot then letting down the jack and applying pressure to the other side to get the top of fork line-up exactly the same as it was before the operation to hide shiny metal behind dull rubber.

Next ? Observe the small-arms ammo box, the brand new Harley chopper custom guard, and the pod air-filters an image ago. Yup, that means that the stock air-box is going bye-byes along with the standard mudguard and side covers and instead the battery and half the electrics are going to live in the ammo box which will be where the airbox used to be. While that area is all opened up I'll take the tank off and weld in some new seat brackets and a bracket to the swing arm in order to mount the new guard that will remain a constant distance from the wheel and swing up and down with it. By then I'll be ready for some lower shocks, so I guess I'll see what I can trade at the local 2 wheel wreckers from what I've junked ...

Oh, and why remove the tank again ? Coz I don't like welding and angle-grinding around petrol containers. Safety First Folks (yup, those are armoured and double lined chamos I'm modelling under that beaten up old Belstaf jacket, leather cut-offs, and nice unshiny new helmet), and until next time ...

regarDS

CX500 rAt Attack stage 1 completed

Okay, never mind the current and well justified "Art Rage" re: Uncle Bill's highly questionable, inappropriate, and universal betrayal of adult to child responsibilities (not to mention clearly being at odds with any "permit for working with a child" police clearances) going on in Oz at the moment, here are some more happy snaps of my current "rAt Rage" instead.

The CX500 that I'm applying my own forms of artistic freedoms of expression to is of 1981 vintage, which in bike years (that at least match human years) makes her 27 years old - more than old enough to have her photos taken in such compromising states of being ... and she certainly didn't consent NOT to have such happy snaps taken. :)

Until the new seat along with a modest Harley sissybar and backrest arrives, I've resorted to camoflaging the current seat with some classic beaten up leather saddlebags virtually donated to the cause by an old friend who probably doesn't share my distaste for shiny, polished, and clean machinery. Cheers again CW ... perhaps you'll have time to take it for a spin next time ... oh and you were right about the bad earth probably causing the indicator to play up! Actually, I reckon the bags lend themselves well to The Look I'm aiming for, so I hope they are still high enough when the new seat goes on.

Like the red light installed on the centre stand ? It's wired into the park lights (and on a separate switch) and puts out a nice glow to remind night drivers there is something on the road in front of them. Which is also the reason for the gratuituous use of those ugly looking reflectors.

The narrow 55watt drive lights have been relayed into the high beam ... decided I didn't care about doing the split thing of putting one on the main beam and the other on the high beam. Yes, I realise that the charge system might not keep up with the drain, but I doubt that the drive lights are actually going to get all that much use anyway. Like the light-up toggle switch ratted onto the fusebox next to the ignition ?

Yes, that IS plastic spiral wrap that has been used on the pillion grip, crashbars, and handlebar tie-bar. Yes, I've deliberately introduced MORE plastic to a motorcyle. Who says my idea of "rAt" has to be the same as your, hmmmm ? Heh.

Aside from the seat/sissy bar arrangement on order, some pods for the carbies are coming so I can get rid of the stock airbox and move the battery and electrics into the middle under the seat and get rid of the side-covers. I'm still on the search for some shorter reach shocks so I can lower the rear a few inches. I've also got a different kind of guard on its way. That one is going to be mounted off the swing arm so that it hugs the tyre.

I'm also on the lookout for an old B250 Tractor seat to interchange with the main seat as whim takes me. Why a B250 seat ? Coz ten years or so ago I spent many hundreds of hours sitting on one as I used the tractor it belonged to as my beast of burden to get artistic and creative with the 5 country acres I had.

See pic of one gorgeous piece of quality 3D functional Art. Oozes talent, eh ? Oozed a bit of hydrolic oil too.

Remember folks, chrome won't get you home.

Oh, and IL BL, you're a IL DL. Both of you even. Heh.

As for more on the Art Rage as opposed to Rat Rage going on at the moment, see: http://www.behindthebox.com.au/showthread.php?t=31467

regarDS