So I'm an official "cycling nut" now. I bought a set of panniers so I can go to the grocery store and shop. They are bright red. I had trouble getting the rack I have to fit on my bike. It's a mountain bike and doesn't have eyelets where the rack attaches to the seat stays. I had to buy a rack with c-clamps to go around the stays. Another problem was the bolts included with the rack were too big for the bottom holes. It cost $0.76 for new hardware. I put the rack on last night. I'll be ready to geek when it stops raining. Yay efficiency! Someone has to do it.
Like most nuts, I'm in a cult. You can check it out here:
http://www.sfbike.org/
My membership gives me 10% off groceries, books, some athletic gear, and bike stuff of course:
http://www.sfbike.org/?discounts#shops
They are hella cool. I interned there for a while. They have made a lot of progress making San Francisco a more bike friendly and clean city. I applaud their efforts. YOU GUYS ROCK.
I am moving into a new place this weekend. My friend Cory needs a new roommate. He's totally cool. Mellow and not a slob. I've moved in with friends before only to discover that they never clean the toilet, or anything else. I was trying to find a place with a female roommate, but as Cory is one of the few neat males in the world, everything should work out fine. My room is quite large too. All my stuff should fit without a problem. It's in the Mission on 21st St, close to everything.
My friend Erich has been totally cool to me. I've been staying at this place for a while now. He has been very generous and laid back about the whole thing. He said it was cool to have me around, and even told me to stop thanking him for letting me stay. Sorry man, but one last time, THANK YOU, YOU ARE SERIOUSLY COOL AS HELL. I OWE YOU ONE!! We've BBQed, played a lot of Tiger Woods 2007 (now I can finally beat him), and laughed our asses off at the Daily Show and Colbert Report. It's been cool living with him. He's awesome. DUDE, THANKS AGAIN.
So I've been reading a bit lately. I have a hard time reading anymore. So many books bore me, but Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden is definitely an interesting tale, probably because it's true. It's the story of how the US and Columbian Governments hunted and killed Pablo Escobar, the most notorious cocaine kingpin ever. The story reveals much about the recent history of Columbia, it's government (or lack thereof), and the U.S. relationship with it, through both official and unofficial channels. The size of the manhunt was truly staggering. At one point, the F.B.I., D.E.A., C.I.A., Army Centra Spike, Delta Force, and various Columbian police, army, and vigilante units, were all hunting for Pablo Escobar. It is fascinating that a man with that much money and power could be killed with the help of our Government, but we still can't seem to find broke-ass Osama Bin Laden hiding out in Pakistan. I find this ironic, and I wonder if it is intentional. Osama is worth more alive to the Rebublicans and the military industrial complex; like the war on drugs, it gives them justification to blow lots of money on the military, when there is no military solution to those problems. When Escobar was finally killed, there was more cocaine flowing into the United States than at any other point till then, something along the lines of 300 tons a year, worth about 30 billion dollars. The war on drugs was a joke, just like the war on terrorism. There is no military solution to the war on terror, because the goal of the enemy is not military victory, it's political. Their primary tool is fear, and when we succumb to it and let it influence our actions, the terrorists have already won.
Anyway, Killing Pablo is a great book. Now I'm reading his other book, Black Hawk Down. I own the movie, but I wanted to get inside the heads of the men on the ground. Books are better for that. They certainly convey thoughts and feelings with more details than most films. The movie was very good, and so far, the book is great. It certainly shows the Somali side of the issue more. I'm sure I'll write more about it later.
Like most nuts, I'm in a cult. You can check it out here:
http://www.sfbike.org/
My membership gives me 10% off groceries, books, some athletic gear, and bike stuff of course:
http://www.sfbike.org/?discounts#shops
They are hella cool. I interned there for a while. They have made a lot of progress making San Francisco a more bike friendly and clean city. I applaud their efforts. YOU GUYS ROCK.
I am moving into a new place this weekend. My friend Cory needs a new roommate. He's totally cool. Mellow and not a slob. I've moved in with friends before only to discover that they never clean the toilet, or anything else. I was trying to find a place with a female roommate, but as Cory is one of the few neat males in the world, everything should work out fine. My room is quite large too. All my stuff should fit without a problem. It's in the Mission on 21st St, close to everything.
My friend Erich has been totally cool to me. I've been staying at this place for a while now. He has been very generous and laid back about the whole thing. He said it was cool to have me around, and even told me to stop thanking him for letting me stay. Sorry man, but one last time, THANK YOU, YOU ARE SERIOUSLY COOL AS HELL. I OWE YOU ONE!! We've BBQed, played a lot of Tiger Woods 2007 (now I can finally beat him), and laughed our asses off at the Daily Show and Colbert Report. It's been cool living with him. He's awesome. DUDE, THANKS AGAIN.
So I've been reading a bit lately. I have a hard time reading anymore. So many books bore me, but Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden is definitely an interesting tale, probably because it's true. It's the story of how the US and Columbian Governments hunted and killed Pablo Escobar, the most notorious cocaine kingpin ever. The story reveals much about the recent history of Columbia, it's government (or lack thereof), and the U.S. relationship with it, through both official and unofficial channels. The size of the manhunt was truly staggering. At one point, the F.B.I., D.E.A., C.I.A., Army Centra Spike, Delta Force, and various Columbian police, army, and vigilante units, were all hunting for Pablo Escobar. It is fascinating that a man with that much money and power could be killed with the help of our Government, but we still can't seem to find broke-ass Osama Bin Laden hiding out in Pakistan. I find this ironic, and I wonder if it is intentional. Osama is worth more alive to the Rebublicans and the military industrial complex; like the war on drugs, it gives them justification to blow lots of money on the military, when there is no military solution to those problems. When Escobar was finally killed, there was more cocaine flowing into the United States than at any other point till then, something along the lines of 300 tons a year, worth about 30 billion dollars. The war on drugs was a joke, just like the war on terrorism. There is no military solution to the war on terror, because the goal of the enemy is not military victory, it's political. Their primary tool is fear, and when we succumb to it and let it influence our actions, the terrorists have already won.
Anyway, Killing Pablo is a great book. Now I'm reading his other book, Black Hawk Down. I own the movie, but I wanted to get inside the heads of the men on the ground. Books are better for that. They certainly convey thoughts and feelings with more details than most films. The movie was very good, and so far, the book is great. It certainly shows the Somali side of the issue more. I'm sure I'll write more about it later.
posted by Darren at
3:10 PM
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