allow me to get heavy.
as my ride home from work last night involved partial chaos, i counted both blessings and pedal strokes. i had thunderclouds assembled off of my starboard shoulder, just right there within reach. if i were zeuss or some high-standing cosmic fucker like him, i’d have just pushed the cloud system back a couple of yards so that i could find my way home as a dry man.
all for naught. it poured in my face. even the gayest of jerseys couldn’t scare off that particularly bullying assjock of a thunder-squelcher. rain was up in my shit like a raging squad of basque morons hired to pitch buckets of crushed ice at my face. my nerd specs didn’t help much, big as they may be. not a big deal, but not unimportant.
please look at this link. study the work put into the elegant craft of a two-wheeled masterpiece. i realize fully that it’s not leg-powered.
please watch this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_GgowniQWk[/youtube]
may the triumphant soundwaves of boris serve as another example of the fortitude of japanese spirit. as i see things like that motorcycle above, which blows my mind to examine, and hear the metal that is boris, and see the ways in which the spirit of the land of the rising sun bestow upon us our own culture so brilliantly reinterpreted, i feel sick in my heart.
please consider the date upon which my somewhat epic commute home occured. while reflecting upon the way i whinged my way home exactly 65 years from the day we threw our dicks in the toilet, i thought of pain, power, glory, failure, humility, compassion, aggression, innovation, and freedom. i had my freedom surfing home in the whitewater of a thunderstorm. thousands had no such freedom as they unexpectedly succumbed to fire, concussion, radiation, shrapnel and death.
tonight i drank this:
please take 20 minutes to witness our government’s clinical recount of it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo55bCfntNQ&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]
i don’t think that it’s not unimportant.
Cool post…I felt like I should have paid for a subscription.
…if shinya kimura’s work is elegant, it’s an elegance coaxed & hammered out of harsh, gritty, visceral, techno-organic forms…aluminum & steel brought to life & powering through eternity…
Seems like something’s missing. You could maybe have used-oh, I don’t know-an account of the atrocities committed on a global scale by the empire of Japan? Yes, that would have done nicely. But it would have taken hours, rather than minutes.
shinya has driven me to the point of insanity with his work, beegee. it’s out of control. he’s made machinery a vision of nature for me.
yeah, joe. thanks. i really appreciate that you’re constantly around to keep us all in check, buddy. good looking out, and god bless joemerica.
Nice…makes me wanna get a SanRensho kerin bike and pop some fuggin wheelies when I hear that Motorhead/Nintendo music.
While Hiroshima was a bitch, Nagasaki was perhaps even more tragic…straight up unnecessary vulgar display of power there.
I’m eatin some maguro nigiri for lunch today.
…we can praise & drop flowers or piss on graves all day long but the truth is that the war against the axis powers was all but over except for the mopping up when the bombing of hiroshima & nagasaki happened…
…the new course of history with two “about to be” superpowers was on the horizon for those who cared to see..
…japan’s wartime action allowed for it to be seen as a justifiable testing ground for nuclear weapons for one reason only…
…let the soviets know that the american nuclear program was that one step further in advance of their own…“dear russia…THIS is what we are both trying to achieve…THIS is nuclear warfare…this is what it looks like & this is OUR level of preparation…take note”…
…japan was simply ground zero with a purpose…consequences be damned because we didn’t understand what the aftermath entailed…
…for years now, we’ve known the ugly truth of what those consequences are…
…the cold drenching you received, o’ bespectacled one seems to have awakened a core in all of us…
…ugliness aside, there is a certain interesting humor/pattern/whatever to the fact that in the most literally mobile industry, that of the cult of the auto, the german audi/mercedes/bmw group & the japanese honda/nissan/toyota group got their starts in the most war ravaged of the economies in 1945…
..their literal need to survive by providing goods & service have, over time, stood them well…
…just sayin’…
Erronious. Conventional wisdom at the time believed a ground invasion of mainland Japan was the only way to “end” the war (the war was indeed over but someone forgot to tell Imperial Japan). Fact: Both bombs saved lives. It also assured a generation the threat of nuclear war. Not an actual nuclear war.
My sincere apologies if your original post laments the loss of life (regardless the reason). Unfortunately, your post invited comments from folks who clearly should’ve paid more attention in HS.
BGW, totally. AND, I was thinking that Japan and Germany both got a wicked dose of humility from the war, which they turned to their favor.
My dad used to say that losing a fight taught you more than winning one.
Not to be unpatriotic, but it seems like there’s a lesson in here somewhere.
i very much appreciate the way that this thread is going. this conversation could last quite some time, and it’d be nice to have it remain civil.
i appreciate #8’s sentiment for the tragedy of ruthless sudden loss of life, however, if you’re going to regurgitate the warm-fuzzy go-USA soup of high school history class, you can take a hike.
our interpretations of history are fueled by emotions. the facts are the facts, and decades of analysis will skew things wildly in many directions.
my sympathy in this matter will remain, regardless of the mid-century motivation our country may have had. point the finger at everyone else if you want to, but our govenment has taken abhorrent actions on many many counts. for all of those who have suffered as a result, you have my compassion. i’m not making a plea for japan, here. i’m making a plea for humanity.
You got it Snake.
Kilgore went to one of them there colleges for history, and it’s dear to his heart.
Revisionist history is a very important movement, which you’ve described perfectly.
Or, to quote Fugazi: “Never mind what they’re sellin…it’s what you’re buyin”
I’m out…gotta ride to work to fix bikes.
peace and axle grease,
Kilgore
Got this image from Silence7 quite a while back. I feel it’s apricot here:
and to borrow from K-Trout, it’s a straight up unnecessary vulgar display of house slipper abuse. But dangsome, it’s rad to the point of ratarded. Thanks Silence7, where ever you are!
I don’t disagree with the sentiment. Your issues with the “type” of history we were taught is an issue with history in genreal. The victors normally write it.
For the record, you could not find a single scholar on the issue that would disagree with my assertion that the disposition of the Imperial Army would’ve required a costly ground invasion. It does not, however, take a scholar to see that the casualties from a ground invasion would dwarf the casualties from the bombs.
For context, google Edward Demming and the Marshall Plan for perspective on post-war reconstruction.
Interesting post, and so polite! Getting rained on ain’t bad unless it turns to flying ice and you’re far away from any houses or shelter. That happened to me that Easter way back in Tucson and it was the only time I came close to freezing to death. My head stone could have read:
Dude on a bike
75-99
Froze to death in Tucson.
But alas, thanks to someone, my ass was saved.
sweet holy fuck, that picture rips my brain apart.
fully apricot.
…i agree with the peaceful sentiments as i’m sure we all do…
…you are right mr. taylor as regards the bombing saving lives over a protracted ground war, which to put it into ugly terms, was a bonus side affect…
…russia became the threat during the war…i’ve read statements from ‘manhattan project’ participants (don’t have the info at hand) that while earlier in the war they were concerned about germany’s potential to exploit nuclear capabilities, by the end of the war they had information that the russians were beginning nuclear testing & that they were at that point, considered to be THE major concern…
…allies, ‘comrades in arms’, the ‘lend lease’, that was all window dressing from the past even though the war wasn’t over…
…again, russia & her politics was seen as THE huge threat, bigger than the axis powers they had worked together to defeat…
…i stand by my previous statement with a slight amendment…“the bombing of hiroshima & nagasaki happened…to let the soviets know that the american nuclear program was that one step further in advance of their own…in other words… “dear russia…THIS capacity is what we have both been trying to achieve with our research…THIS is what the beginning of nuclear warfare could look like & this being OUR level of preparation, we now hold the key, the upper hand…please take note”…
…so yes, the threat was real at that point…
” the war against the axis powers was all but over except for the mopping up when the bombing of hiroshima & nagasaki happened…”
BGW, et al—
The atomic bombing of Japan saved hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of lives, both Japanese and American.
No one is qualified to comment on this issue until they’ve read Paul Fussell, _Thank_God_For_The_Atomic_Bomb_. Fussell was a Marine Corps grunt staged forward for the invasion of the home islands when the war ended.
It should not really bear mentioning that Japan attacked us, and had rapacious imperial ambitions all over the Pacific. Also, re-read Daniel Yergin, _The_Prize_, he very clearly explains how and why Japan sought to conquer the South Pacific— oil.
Nothing changes, does it? Sigh.
Mikey and Yours Truly in agreement? On POLITICS, yet???!!!
I believe I’ll have that second* drink after all.
*And maybe a third. Oh, screw it! Just keep ’em comin’.
rippin’ post hawk, as usual. but man that jersey is gay as all hell.
i was summoning the thundergods in all thier assless chaps glory.
They killed our boys
Yup, and we killed their women, children, and elderly.
War sucks.
The jersey is glorious.
It is my contention that the photo is staged. His inside foot isn’t even on the pedal.
Agreed with Kilgore Trout.
The majority killed were women, children & elderly, because most of the able bodied men were away fighting.
Sucks, as opposed to fighting you face to face, we’ll destroy anything that you had to go home to.
Yes, seriously bad shit happened, especially in the Japanese invasion of China.
But I’d like to believe that we can learn & move on as better people.
(& IkeTaylor, no big impressive words, just Fuck You)
Wanker.
I wholeheartedly felt that the US was wrong in bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki until one of the last conversations I had with my grandpa where he told me about being aboard a ship heading to invade Tokyo when they dropped the first bomb. It would have been bloody and I probably wouldn’t be here right now writing run on sentences. Maybe I’m selfish but I’m glad my grandpa didn’t have to go through that.
That’s what they always resort to when there’s nothing intellegent to say.
Absolutely, especially when the person in question is not worthy of intelligent consideration.
do you girls know each other or something?
keep it clean, ladies. no hair pulling.
Hello!!!!!
Sorry, but did you know that Greg Lemond has won the tour de France with this jersey Z…. It’s not so bad…. 8 seconds … 3000 km. Remember.
Salutations from a drunked cyclist from France!!!!
…monsieur etienne…
…quite correct as regards lemond winning ‘le tour’ in the team z jersey but that was in 1990 while the “8 second win” over fignon was the 1989 race when he was ridding with ‘adr’…he also won his second ‘worlds’ with ‘adr’ on his american team jersey…
…vient de dire…
Funny, maybe it’s just me, but that old Zed logo always looked like if Lichtenstien was drawing Superman farting.
…kilgore trout…
…there was always “something” quirky about that logo that was therefore left unsaid but i believe, you sir, just found it & said it…
…perfect !!!…
Kilgore Trout, FTW.
Sorry, Boss…what does FTW mean?
For. The. Win.
It’s apparently what the kids say. No, I don’t act my age.
Ah, cool.
’round here it means Fuck The World.*
couldn’t figger out the connection
*meth is not a stranger to my community, sadly
thanx, Jefe
Yeah, there is the Hell’s Angels connection, too… 1% and all…