Friday, June 26, 2009

DON'T build it and they will come?

Ahhh..
The passion.
Almost fanatical.
It's no wonder why some (most) laugh at the serious cyclist.

Last nights bike coalition meeting.
We quickly worked through the core business,
leaving the Bicycle Master Plan until the end.
At that point I should have just up and left.



Some feel that there should be full bike lanes,
EVERYWHERE.
I used to think that would be nice,
but would never happen in this city.
It's way to much for so few cyclists.
I also agree with the notion that
if you relegate cyclists to lanes:
1. drivers & cyclists will not know how to interact.
2. it will reinforce the idea cyclists DO NOT BELONG on roadways.
address ALL issues with driver education (DMV) and
cyclist education, starting in elementary school (gym teachers),
and reinforce those principles with roadway markings (not signs).
Simple as that, for the most part.



Also throw in some protection for non motorized roadway users.
Stiffer penalties against aggressive drivers, and drivers found
at fault for serious 'accidents', which really are cases of
negligence.

Last nights meeting wrapped up with severe disagreements of:

'we just need more cyclists on the road, then things will change'

well, I went with the other opinion that is:

'right now all the 'serious' cyclists are out there battling
traffic, other people are coming out due to economic or
environmental reasons. But the general public will not ride
on the street because they don't feel safe, or protected.
And they're half right. So you can't 'just get them out there'.

It's education, and reinforcement of rights.
Not lanes all over the place.
Even serious recreational/racers do not commute regularly.
They only feel safe in large group rides.

So it boiled down to somehow people will just
magically show up on their bikes,
and things will start changing.
It was also dicouraging when the Master Plan
was labeled: The 20 Year Plan.
Twenty years, so when are you going to start on this?
What is ACTUALLY going to happen NEXT YEAR?
What's that?
You don't actually know when it's going to be implemented?
GREAT.



With storms rolling in (again).
I packed up and headed out,
at least the local police Pipe & Drum band were out practicing.
So the bagpipes cried as the dark clouds rolled in.
I don't know what was really accomplished.

the accidental artist

It's been said,
one cannot call themself a photographer,
unless they earn their income by being one.
So I guess I'm not ACTUALLY a photographer,
I just enjoy taking pictures,
and the less post production, the better.

Apply the same to definning an artist,
and I'm probably not an artist either.
Although I did go to the University for art,
I was an accidental artist.
I just fell into it.
I 'fall' into ALOT of things.

I had no plan for school or life.
I just didn't want to wear a suit and work in a cubicle.
After a year of college I needed to 'decide'.
So with my list of classes taken, I went to the counselor's office.
The stipulation, 'no math classes, and very little science, please'.
HEY! BFA!
So I cleaned house in the production art classes.
Desktop publishing, offset press, design & layout, screen printing.
Got my associates in a year and headed off to the University,
ready to be an 'artist'.

But my portfolio wouldn't waive the foundation level classes,
so I was starting over, no problem.
Ceramics, art history, the obvious favorite
print making, acid etch, stone, any form.
But the installation class ruined any concieved idea of art.

To stand out on the sidewalk,
looking at a stack of bricks wrapped with barbwire,
trying to decipher the meaning, oh, sorry..
'interpret what the artist is trying to convey'
with a bunch of bitter divorced women....
Well, there's no asthetic point to it.
The debates with that teacher led me to many conclusions:

In the grandest form, art is just a joke on the observer.

or,
If YOU like it, that's all that matters.

The crappy, mass produced painting on a motel wall,
yeah, it's ART.

In my sculture class, we used five gallon buckets for molds.
Everyone carefully removed their molds,
chipped away at it,
and spent countless evening hours sanding away,
to create that perfect work.
Mine?
cracked while removing the bucket.
So I kicked it's ass with a hammer and called it a day.
There was skating to be done.
When the class critiques came around the next day,
well, it'ld make you puke.
I still can't stand being next to people 'critiquing' 'art'.
But I more than passed.
Much to the disappointment of those who knew
how little work I did.

I'm an idiot, but I didn't think I had some 'midas touch'.
It just reinforced the joke of art.

There's no reasoning.
When I get that photo I love, it comes out perfect,
it doesn't sell.
The random half assed photo with no importance to me,
but I still submit it,
sells on opening night.

So maybe I can call myself an artist,
since it is a joke in itself.

With that said,
the gallery show this month is 'Off the Wall',
a sculpture themed show.
Well, MY goal this year was to submit to every show,
and get in.
BUT I SUBMIT PHOTOS.

So with an idea completely stolen from my tattoo artist,
wood, chicken wire, and Great Stuff,
I submitted my 'sculpture'.

Remember I'm an idiot?
Yeah, Great Stuff is great at glueing your hands together,
which is what I did. And it's also great at NOT COMING OFF.
For two days it looked like an elephant sneezed in my hands.
AWESOME!


I don't know what to say.


Except that this was ACCEPTED into this month's
'Off the Wall' show, opening July 3rd.
I don't know who the joke's on.....but it's not me this time.
Except for the Great Stuff that's still stuckto my fingernails.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

rescue a bike, or six

well,
if you stopped by, sorry.
I've been a bad updater lately.
I'll try to improve...maybe.
Today, just a short bit on:
saving bikes.
I'm also a bad bike owner,
so maybe this will buy me some bike-behaves-well karma.

I loaded some kids,
'cause why make an easy job any easier?
and stopped by a local shop that was doing some
late spring cleaning. well,
the way it's been raining - it feels like spring.

so here are some random shots of randomness.

I've got to get more organized,
but I'm fighting that tech-update, wired constantly urge.
we'll see what part wins - especially since I've got another case
of iphonelust,
and at the same time I want to throw my tv out the window.
anyways, this was about bikes,
and I'm an idiot with severe cases of bike lust,
but more on that in a day or two...

Thursday, June 18, 2009

shrimp on the bar-b

the reward for a ride out into the country...

shrimp on the barb-b

food is my friend/enemy...
and made up for a rained out day at the pool.

relationship neglect

'irresponsible bike owner'
'bike abuser'
'jackass'
or
'half ass'

If my bike had a brain, it'ld dump me.
Quick.

Any fleeting moments of free time are spent searching ebay,
looking for random parts to piece together ANOTHER bike,
searching craigslist for a deal, or thumbing through a stack
of magazines - all filled with the 'newest' & 'greatest'.
Dreams of 'the next build'.

When I do the mental balancing of my money,
and realise there is no money,
it's time to be somewhere ten minutes ago,
so I grab my bike, throw a leg over, and one block later-
FLAT.
Oh, and it's raining.
and my brakes are squealling like a mad pig.
That's what I get when I shove the other wheelset in -
why?
because the last ride out into the 'country'
udder-ly destroyed the road wheels-
since the roads were like cobbles and fireroads
with all the road work going on.




At that point,
torn apart on the side of a country road
I realised how crappy of a bike owner I truely am.
I'm actually bad at alot of things:
mailing birthday presents (sitting next to me since March)
posting photos (maybe back in March?)
posting here (last Friday?)

So it's no surprise:
my derailuer looks like it was molded out of mud,
my wheel's weird 'hop' has returned,
I'm out of clean socks,
oh,
and since I switched wheels - did I switch spare tubes?
NOPE!
SUCK!



So I did a quick adjust of the brakes,
which left no tension,
which I didn't bother to reset until
I went to ride to work the next day.

But the brake pad drag up the hills
left me questioning everything.

Are my crankarms too short?
Why do I have such a crappy spin?
Is that really brake drag?
How do you loose weight quick?
Is my seat height too low?
What's that pain in my chest?

That's what hills do to me.


side note- this is where I meet up with your mom.
don't tell your dad!



Bringing a camera on your ride allows you to stop,
take a nice long break,
and not look like a winded Fred that can't climb.
Thanks Mr. Farmer,
proper barn placement - at the crest of a hill.

I still hate riding in the country.

Missy Giove busted?


-NOT MY PHOTO

'You holdin?'
For the story...
View it here.


Maybe it's a replenishment since Dave Matthews Band
played SPAC the other weekend.

I guess the bike trailer does come in handy after retirement,
awesome if it still had "Cannondale" across it.
Maybe it's R&D for the new Fatty...

Friday, June 12, 2009

eclipsed by your six year old


actually she was four when she took that,

Albany, New York — The 13th Annual Art on Lark was held on Saturday June 6th with record breaking attendance. An estimated 40,000 people attended the one-day Arts street festival that went from Washington Avenue down to Madison Avenue on Lark. With almost 200 artists, musicians, dancers and performers, it was the biggest Art on Lark ever.

"Throughout the day, a number of competitions were held on the Madison Stage and at the Upstate Artists Guild. The winners are as follows:

People’s Choice Art Award (Adult)-
1st Place- Nina Stanley “Where is my golden ball?”
2nd Place- Tommy Watkins “Society’s Anomoly”
3rd Place- Gutman “Symphony #21″

High School People’s Choice Art Award (High School Students)
1st Place- Rachel Rees “Memory Quilt”

Kid’s People’s Choice Art Award (under 14)
1st Place- Lucy Anderson “Montreal Wall”

art on lark

again...



read up people...

"The cyclists were riding east on the shoulder of Oklahoma 51 near 161st West Avenue when a woman in a sport utility vehicle veered off the busy highway and crashed into them from behind about 4 p.m., Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Warren said.

A woman and a man, both in their early 30s, died from traumatic injuries. Medics took a third man, also in his early 30s, to St. John Medical Center in serious condition, EMSA spokeswoman Tina Wells said.

Warren said the driver tried to leave the scene but was eventually stopped by other motorists. Authorities found an open container of alcohol in the SUV and detained the woman while they took a blood sample for a toxicology test. She likely would then be arrested, Warren said."

found here.

Reading comment sections, you see how ill informed most motorists
are. And sadly, the driver will probably loose her license for
six months, do six months in jail. No DA has the balls to go for
homicide, with 10-15 years, won't happen in a car-based society,
because everyone on the jury drives, and doesn't want that sentence
imposed upon them at some point down the road.

You're a cyclist?
You're not even a second class citizen.
Your life amounts to little,
solely because you ride a bike.

"Why would you ride a bike, when you can drive?"

I want to see a DA who views a car as a weapon,
I want to see a driver get an ACTUAL assault charge,
that delivers YEARS in jail.
They're not giving anyone an incentive to change their
behavior.

Why can't I get the article of a cyclist who pulls
an aggressive driver from their car?

Thursday, June 11, 2009

just going for a ride...

you can choose your ride,


you may disagree with blowing stop signs,
but there are alot of other things in life
that will also get you killed,
You ARE responsible for YOUR actions.

and being the perfectly mannered cyclists,
obeying every rule of the road,
isn't a guarantee that you won't get hit by a car.


I've posted this before.
And I love that a cycling company put out a decent video,
a romantic feel,
but rides are never quite like this:



and then,
just something different:

Kunstler



always a 'must read'!


"Through the tangle of green shoots and sprouting mustard seeds, a certain nervous view persists that the arc of events is taking us to places unimaginable. The collapse of General Motors and Chrysler signifies more than the collapse of US car manufacturing. It spells the end of the motoring era in America per se and the puerile fantasy of personal liberation that allowed it to become such a curse to us.

Of course, many Nobel prize-winning economists would argue that it has only been a blessing for us, but that only shows how the newspapers are committing suicide-by-irrelevance. And if other societies, such as China’s late-entry industrial start-up, want to adopt a similar fantasy, they will only find themselves all the sooner in history’s garage with a tailpipe in their mouths.

Here in the USA, we will mount the most strenuous campaign to keep the motoring system going — in fact, we’re already doing it — but it will fail just as surely as two (so far) of the “big three” automakers have failed. It will fail because car-making is only one facet of a larger network of systems that is coming undone, namely a revolving debt cheap energy economy" more here.

or check in @ www.kunstler.com

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Troy Night Out.

A first,
and VERY unprepared showing,
but one of the best nights out.

VACANT ARTIST SHOW.
Scramble to turn up with a box of 16 works.
Turn a vacant store front into a one night showing,
with band.

Nothing sold.
But good a response from everyone.
Old and new friends,
and a chance to shoot new stuff,
and Critical Mass was a rain out.
So it worked out.

where's the love?

thanks to sis who sent this.

"BOULDER, Colo. — A Boulder County man accused of accosting a bicyclist in a weekend road-rage incident has been ticketed on suspicion of reckless endangerment.

The ticket, a class-three misdemeanor, alleges that Chris Loven created a “substantial risk of bodily injury to another person” by nearly forcing a cyclist into oncoming traffic. The charge is punishable by fines ranging from $50 to $750, and a maximum of six months in jail.

The incident that led to the ticket happened about 6 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Lee Hill Drive and Olde Stage Road. Loven said he came upon a cyclist in the middle of the road who refused to move over and then punched his truck after a verbal confrontation.

The cyclist claims Loven was driving aggressively. Sheriff’s officials said a witness to the incident claimed Loven, not the cyclist, was the aggressor.

Loven, 43, will appear in a Boulder courtroom late next month. On Wednesday, he said he plans to fight the charge.

“When I do something wrong, I’ll take the blame for it,” he said. “The only thing I actually did wrong was slow down to engage this person. It’s just really unfortunate.”

Although sheriff’s officials have not yet identified the cyclist, because the case is still open, Boulder resident Scott Boulbol on Wednesday confirmed he was the bicyclist involved in the incident.

“I was in my lane, perfectly legal, going the speed limit,” Boulbol said.

Boulbol, 44, described the evening incident as frightening, in which the truck first brushed by him at 35 mph and then tried to force him into oncoming traffic.

“He passed me extremely close,” Boulbol said. “I could feel the wind of the mirror brushing by my arm.”

He said as the truck zoomed by, “maybe mistakenly, I yelled, cursed and told him to give me my room.”

Boulbol said the truck then pulled over ahead, and matched his speed as he passed on the left.

“He starts riding next to me, on the right side of me, slowly easing back into the lane,” Boulbol said. “This is when the other car coming the other way started to scare me. That’s when I started screaming curses and I hit his car.”

The cyclist said he “gladly” admits he hit the truck, but said he did it only because “it was the only thing I thought would get his attention.”

Candace Loving, a Boulder resident who witnessed the incident as she drove behind the arguing men, said she was scared the cyclist was going to be forced to the ground or into oncoming traffic.

“It was wrong of that truck driver to use his vehicle like a weapon,” Loving said. “It was really shocking.”

Loving said she thought the men might have been friends stopping to talk to one another on the side of the road, but then she realized they were fighting.

“The pickup truck starts pushing him over like a gladiator into the other lane,” she said. “The bike couldn’t get away from the truck.”

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Rick Brough said deputies decided to ticket the driver because of Loving’s account.

“They each have their side of the story, but in this case there is a witness who corroborated the cyclist’s story,” Brough said."

I love the 'share the road'.
Road rage should just be an automatic 6 month suspended license,
no questions asked. People think it's just a right.

CARS ARE WEAPONS, there, I found the new name for the blog.

I love how if you swung a metal bat at someone,
it can be aggravated assault and a lengthy jail sentence.
But wielding two tons of steel can be pawned off as an
'accident',
or maybe 'negligent operation of a vehicle'.

Since everyone owns a car, and want the 'accident' card to play?

Monday, June 8, 2009

Country roads

John Denver had no idea what he was singing.
Country roads suck.
Can't stand them.
The only thing worse is suburbia roads,
at night,
with no street lights.
Again, why I love riding in the city.

I'm a fish out of water here.
What I thought would be a quick ride out in the country,
for the aunties pool party
turned into something worse than the cobbles,
my wheels are screaming at me now.
The pinging of spokes.
The wondering if that last smack will
leave a dent in the rim.
long ride turned into longer,
followed with dark clouds and no rain gear.

Finally reach smooth roads,
and I meet my enemy,
the silent and careless Prius owner.
Swear those things are out for me.
Country roads don't take me home...

FUN-draising

wow,
I managed to put up two turds of posts this last week.
between busy days at work and the related drama & nonsense,
then we have two birthdays, visiting family, two art shows
back to back, massive yard work and house work,
and then the fundraising ride yesterday.
I'm spent.
Everyday I take pictures and my bike commute
gives me time to think of relevant posts,
unfortunately with my lack of time at home,
I never get near the computer.

So here's today's,
the ADA Tour de Cure is like a group ride with
training wheels. It's supported, planned, and
an easy way to get 'into' group cycling. What
kept crossing my mind was:
"why can't half these people ride a bike on a
regular basis? even once a month?"



I used to do this ride in support of my dad who passed
away two years ago from diabetes related health issues.
The circus and token-ness of fundraisers has worn thin.
Kind of like bike month. Every month for some IS bike
month. But if it gets a few more people riding on a
regular basis, then it does serve a good purpose,
I suppose.



This is little man's second time doing this ride.
To him it's 'The Bike Race!'.
So a good part of the time is spent reinforcing
'it's not a race, it's a ride, a large group ride'.
NO sudden turns.
NO sudden stops.
Straight lines and a steady pace.
over & over.



And no matter what,
the last stretch undoubtedly becomes a sprint to the finish,
followed with grand tales at home about how he won!
I have the feeling this will be repeating itself next year,
and probably the year after.



at least he understands the term 'Broom Wagon',
and kept looking over his shoulder to make sure it
wasn't behind him.
As far as bikes?
Most fundraisers are like a census of the general population,
leading to alot of 'whys?' and 'what the hells?'.
5% impressive
20% everyday rides
30% rusty & abused & neglected
and what seemed like
45% bastardized/hybrid/acidtrip inspired confusion of parts...
Tri bikes automatically fall into this category.
$3000 bike, $400 in clothing, then sneakers?
And the nauseating 'shop talk' of riders
about whether it's Performance, Colorado Cyclist, or Nashbar....
ugh.
Unfortunately, I lack the brashness to just take closeups
of random people, maybe next year. Or I bring a longer zoom.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

brakes?

we don't need no stinkin' brakes!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Michael Moore on GM

For a company that helped dismantle mass transit,
it would be appropriate irony that they retool
to make mass transit vehicles.
Don't even get me started on that massive turd
marketed as a Hummer. Again, it does make it easier
to sort out idiots.




Goodbye, GM
by Michael Moore

June 1, 2009

I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?

It is with sad irony that the company which invented "planned obsolescence" -- the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one -- has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh -- and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to "improve" the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes.

So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company's body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with -- dare I say it -- joy. It is not the joy of revenge against a corporation that ruined my hometown and brought misery, divorce, alcoholism, homelessness, physical and mental debilitation, and drug addiction to the people I grew up with. Nor do I, obviously, claim any joy in knowing that 21,000 more GM workers will be told that they, too, are without a job.

But you and I and the rest of America now own a car company! I know, I know -- who on earth wants to run a car company? Who among us wants $50 billion of our tax dollars thrown down the rat hole of still trying to save GM? Let's be clear about this: The only way to save GM is to kill GM. Saving our precious industrial infrastructure, though, is another matter and must be a top priority. If we allow the shutting down and tearing down of our auto plants, we will sorely wish we still had them when we realize that those factories could have built the alternative energy systems we now desperately need. And when we realize that the best way to transport ourselves is on light rail and bullet trains and cleaner buses, how will we do this if we've allowed our industrial capacity and its skilled workforce to disappear?

Thus, as GM is "reorganized" by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking President Obama to implement for the good of the workers, the GM communities, and the nation as a whole. Twenty years ago when I made "Roger & Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions:

1. Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. The conversion took no time at all. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.

We are now in a different kind of war -- a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.

The other front in this war is being waged by the oil companies against you and me. They are committed to fleecing us whenever they can, and they have been reckless stewards of the finite amount of oil that is located under the surface of the earth. They know they are sucking it bone dry. And like the lumber tycoons of the early 20th century who didn't give a damn about future generations as they tore down every forest they could get their hands on, these oil barons are not telling the public what they know to be true -- that there are only a few more decades of useable oil on this planet. And as the end days of oil approach us, get ready for some very desperate people willing to kill and be killed just to get their hands on a gallon can of gasoline.

President Obama, now that he has taken control of GM, needs to convert the factories to new and needed uses immediately.

2. Don't put another $30 billion into the coffers of GM to build cars. Instead, use that money to keep the current workforce -- and most of those who have been laid off -- employed so that they can build the new modes of 21st century transportation. Let them start the conversion work now.

3. Announce that we will have bullet trains criss-crossing this country in the next five years. Japan is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first bullet train this year. Now they have dozens of them. Average speed: 165 mph. Average time a train is late: under 30 seconds. They have had these high speed trains for nearly five decades -- and we don't even have one! The fact that the technology already exists for us to go from New York to L.A. in 17 hours by train, and that we haven't used it, is criminal. Let's hire the unemployed to build the new high speed lines all over the country. Chicago to Detroit in less than two hours. Miami to DC in under 7 hours. Denver to Dallas in five and a half. This can be done and done now.

4. Initiate a program to put light rail mass transit lines in all our large and medium-sized cities. Build those trains in the GM factories. And hire local people everywhere to install and run this system.

5. For people in rural areas not served by the train lines, have the GM plants produce energy efficient clean buses.

6. For the time being, have some factories build hybrid or all-electric cars (and batteries). It will take a few years for people to get used to the new ways to transport ourselves, so if we're going to have automobiles, let's have kinder, gentler ones. We can be building these next month (do not believe anyone who tells you it will take years to retool the factories -- that simply isn't true).

7. Transform some of the empty GM factories to facilities that build windmills, solar panels and other means of alternate forms of energy. We need tens of millions of solar panels right now. And there is an eager and skilled workforce who can build them.

8. Provide tax incentives for those who travel by hybrid car or bus or train. Also, credits for those who convert their home to alternative energy.

9. To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.

Well, that's a start. Please, please, please don't save GM so that a smaller version of it will simply do nothing more than build Chevys or Cadillacs. This is not a long-term solution. Don't throw bad money into a company whose tailpipe is malfunctioning, causing a strange odor to fill the car.

100 years ago this year, the founders of General Motors convinced the world to give up their horses and saddles and buggy whips to try a new form of transportation. Now it is time for us to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. It seemed to serve us well for so long. We enjoyed the car hops at the A&W. We made out in the front -- and the back -- seat. We watched movies on large outdoor screens, went to the races at NASCAR tracks across the country, and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time through the window down Hwy. 1. And now it's over. It's a new day and a new century. The President -- and the UAW -- must seize this moment and create a big batch of lemonade from this very sour and sad lemon.

Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.

So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com