Fanning the flames of mild unrest.



Regarding Monday’s post, or really any post in which I have stood atop a soap box and declared an idea I feel strongly about, I want to speak the truth, and be the type of individual whose ideals the establishment would struggle to subdue. Like most of us I try to fly right and keep my nose clean, but every now and again I can’t help but dip my toes in a pool of subversion. Of course I could use this site to tell you all about the new stem I purchased and document it ad nauseam, but I could loan you my cat to swing in order to hit two dozen other sites or forums that offer the same tired drivel.

Of course bikecycles are the catalyst and what brought us all together around this table to begin with, but it’s not what defines us, and second to keeping women out of cycling, it’s an impetus I hold most dear.

As the years have passed, the All Hail The Black Market project has evolved to a degree, but the bottom line is, as I have expressed in the manifesto, its directive first and foremost is to be a hub of information exchange. I never intended to light a fuse of revolt, but will stand in commitment of my ideals with my dying breath, and every day count my blessings that in doing so have found that I have the readership as comrades in arms.

It’s without pause that I believe in what we have here, and recall one of my favorite quotes by Margaret Mead- “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.

With this impassioned declaration exclaimed, it’s barely appropriate that I get into something nonsensical and contradictory, like for example, the following email from El Gato;

Hey Stevil,

The Pagans have stolen the Wizard staff in the name of Festivus!

And I quote:

“The 8-foot-tall Festivus pole, comprised of 23 Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, stands several feet away from the manger scene and the town’s Menorah. Stevens said the pole’s low-budget construction was a conscious choice;”

Now a Menorah made with eight 8 foot tall beer can “candles”, THAT’s a holiday worth celebrating!

Keep on killin’ it!

El Gato

I can’t give a shit about Festivus or Christmas, but I like the cut of Chaz Stevens’ jib, and I hope to see him in Seattle next June 22nd.

And as long as I’m going to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks (which I think is somewhere in Canada), I might as well take this one step further and post an image that the Festivus pole inspired me to assemble;

Everybody knows babies and farm animals have no place at a Wizard Staff party, except for when they do.

Last week Devin got in touch with a head’s up regarding a friend in the trenches who has just launched her own project which you may want to follow;

Stevil,

Not sure if you have tomorrow post stated or have room….. Jay Hollywood Henderson’s wife Kristy and gal pal of hers have a new company and I was hoping you could pimp in Friday’s edition.
Link is here… You Partied and Pedaled with the Henderson’s at Fomie and Bandit Cross. Super good people.

Hope all is as well as it can be…
Thanks,
Devin Curran

That they are, and if you happen to find a wee bit more room in a random stocking you might be stuffing, give Kristy and Teri a shout.

From Nick CZ, I received a request to spotlight a recent video effort of his featuring the recent Ice Weasels Cometh crosstacular styled bikecycles athletic pursuit;

Racing bikes and having fun? I’ve never heard of such a thing.

And speaking of fun, two people who put it in the ‘funk’ are Snakehawk® and The Gnome™, formerly of Drunk Cyclist, both of whom have embarked upon a new path, which Snakehawk elaborates on thusly;

A brotherhood born from Arizona’s sun-ravaged buttes, treacherous golf-cart paths, and the infamous chambers of Drunkcyclist, Gnome and Snakehawk combine forces to bring you a different brand of bitter gourmet. Though now in separate quadrants of the Union, they knuckle down to bring you their shade-grown, single-malt, air-hardened blend of double origin universal truth: Superissimo(dot)com;

On January 1, 2013 Superissimo will plop upon the pavé with a crisp smack–like the wet hand of woman upon the cheek of a pig. Nothing pretentious, nothing precious. Extraordinary things being appreciated in ordinary ways.

We say build a small house and keep it free of crap.

Our dinners are not filet brazed.

Our herb garden is grown with water, not myst.

The layup of our base layer fibres has not been painfully thought out and argued; someone else thought that out.

Like so many others out there, we are good, too. We usually do not wake up with enough time spared to press coffee, but when we do, oh, when we do… We put it in cheap plastic bottles and go for a ride.

Check in early, and check in often.

Finally in closing, and on the chance that we’re all wiped out by a gigantic snowball on Friday, I would like to share a clip that Gisselle sent to me of an interview with Graham Hancock, who was one of the people who initially discovered and translated the Mayan Calendar.

It’s a long interview to be sure, but one that is equally compelling;

Of the many points and observations he elaborates on, one that was most timely is the following;

The Mayans are not saying that the world ends on the 21st. They’re saying that a great cycle of the human story reaches a culmination and a new cycle begins. This is an imminently cyclical calendar, and it’s interesting that in the long count calendar, the last 5,126 years or so, are the thirteen Baktuns of the long count calendar. And what’s interesting about that, is that’s precisely the period of what I would define as urban, centrally controlled civilization. That’s really when the story of civilization as we have understood it- the ‘city state’, begins to arise and becomes the dominant form and the dominant force. What’s interesting as we approach the 21st of December, 2012, what we are approaching is the limits of the state model. Really, you can trace almost all the problems of the world today to the sickness of the state, and to the institutions that crop up and are associated with the state, which include all the large, mainstream religions.

To be honest, I don’t think anything is going to happen on December 21st, 2012. -I don’t know whether any cataclysmic earth change is coming. I actually don’t think it is. I don’t think you can pin anything like that down to such a narrow window.

What I do think is that for all of us, we have the incredible gift of being born in a human body. It’s incredibly fortunate. We’re human beings… We have this incredible equipment. -This amazing ability to see the difference between right and wrong… To make choices, and to learn and to grow and to develop. We have this precious opportunity of life. But surely the most important thing is to live life right, and to use this gift that we’ve been given to the fullest extent and not to add to the misery and darkness of the world, but to do whatever we can to subtract from it and to bring light and joy and goodness and to give love, and that remains true whether or not some great cataclysm is coming.

These are words to live by, and when a revolution happens, I can only hope that it will be based on Graham’s profoundly astute observations.

Spread this like it's sick

Leave a Reply to Snakebite Click here to cancel reply.

7 Responses to “Fanning the flames of mild unrest.”

  1. Thomas December 19, 2012 at 7:37 am #

    Well if this may be your last. Just to help you sleep better tonight. If the shit hits the fan up here on the east coast of he double two sticks. I’ll send you a message so when the smell hits the left coast you can be ready to plug your nose.

    -Bluenoser.

  2. dfLbrad December 19, 2012 at 7:50 am #

    TRB Two is a great album, and a great cover.

  3. Mike December 19, 2012 at 8:18 am #

    I like that last bit. Thanks for sharing.

  4. Snakebite December 19, 2012 at 8:49 am #

    You’ll loan me your cat? Sweet!

    What’s in Seattle June 22nd?

    • Stevil December 19, 2012 at 8:55 am #

      W.S.A.T.U 2013.

  5. East Bay Ed December 19, 2012 at 11:18 am #

    That is one fine photoshopped manger scene.

    But I’m still not seeing the penis.

  6. fupapack December 19, 2012 at 3:22 pm #

    oh god, ice weasels. where i did an extra lap and all the hotties cheered me cuz they thought i was dfl. the hot burn of shame crosses my cheeks.