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One Nation Indivisible POSTED: 6/30/2010 8:03:09 PM | PERMALINK  On June 21st, 2010, Charlotte Atheists and Agnostics, a group I've been a part of for many years, put up our first billboard. After considering a couple of options, the group decided on a simple message that would coincide with July 4th. The billboard simply reads "One Nation Indivisible" and is intended to spotlight the contradiction of placing "under God" in the pledge of allegiance. To quote Joseph Stewart, the person who came up with the concept: "When the words 'under God' were inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance between 'one nation' and 'indivisible,' they made a lie out of both those ideals because you can't have an indivisible nation if you draw a line between the godly and godless. We all belong here.".  Over the following weekend, one or more persons defaced the billboard by spray painting the words "under god" and an arrow pointing between "One Nation" and "Indivisible". However, this stunt has seemed to have backfired as word of the vandalism spread, the story of the billboard grew even bigger than before and is now being covered by many more news outlets both National and International. This news coverage has also brought in a flood of new members to CAA. The crime has been reported to the police and a new billboard is expected to be installed before the 4th of July holiday. Many people responding to the story (and even some news anchors) were not aware that the words "under God" did not actually appear in the original pledge of allegiance written in 1892. (They were added in 1954 in the midst of the McCarthy era and under the fear of Communism.) I believe that our country can never truly achieve the pledge's goal of "liberty and justice for all" until the separation of church and state that our founding Fathers conceived of is fully realized. Hopefully this small consciousness raising effort will help to plant a seed in those who see the billboard or read about in the news.  Night Photography at Kiawah Island 2010 POSTED: 6/29/2010 9:28:48 PM | PERMALINK This is my third night photography attempt at Kiawah Island and I incorporated all of the lessons learned from the previous outings. I branched out from my previous attempts by incorporating my light figures into the natural surroundings of Kiawah Island. I also visited many different locations than before adding a little more variety to the images. Most images were shot with a 90 to 150 second exposure at night with no light except for the (almost) full moon.
Unicycled the Booty Loop for the First Time! POSTED: 5/30/2010 4:40:51 PM | PERMALINK Had a great unicycle ride today! I took my usual route to Freedom Park and did a few laps around the water. I got a lot of the usual comments and one man sitting on a bench even took my picture. After unicycling by the soccer fields and baseball fields, I found myself at the East Blvd. entrance to the park. I realized I was just a couple minutes away from the famous "Booty Loop" (where the "24 Hours of Booty" charity event is run), so I thought I'd give it a try. I couldn't believe it... I was actually able to ride my first lap around the 3 mile Booty Loop without stopping. I decided to try for a second lap and completed it with only one UPD (UnPlanned Dismount). It was great to be out on the course with so many cyclists. (They were all passing me of course.) I received a lot of positive comments from many of the people on the loop and a few puzzled looks as well. One cyclist actually pulled ahead of me, stopped at an intersection and took my picture as I rode by. She said she had never seen a unicyclist on the Booty Loop before. This was my first ride with a Speedometer/Odometer, so I was able to track my distance more accurately. Total Miles: 11 Avg. Speed: 7.2 mph Ride Time: 1:31 Unicycling! POSTED: 5/22/2010 4:55:07 PM | PERMALINK Since I've been spending so much of my time unicycling lately, I decided it's about time to add a "unicycling" category to my blog. Just to catch up: I've been unicycling since July, 2008 on a 24" Torker CX unicycle. I've just recently upgraded my ride to a 36" Nightrider Pro unicycle. I've been on about 5 rides with the Nightrider and it's unbelievable. The Nightrider tire rides so smooth and the extra speed is amazing. I love being able to feel the wind in my face as I ride! It took me about 10-15 minutes of getting the feel for it and getting my confidence up. I learned quickly that I had to lean forward more than with the 24". Pretty soon I was zipping around the neighborhood with no problem. I went with the Qu-ax 145mm ISIS crank arms which are a little shorter than the standard 152mm that I'm used to. This together with the size and weight of the 36" wheel makes it a little more challenging to accelerate or to slow down on a sleep hill, etc. Hopefully a little more leg strength will compensate for this. Freemounting a unicycle is always a challenge for me. After watching a few videos online, I've settled into a rolling mount technique that works for me. I can now land a freemount within about 1 to 3 tries pretty consistently. The standard gel saddle is a ten-fold improvement over my Toker CX seat. I feel like my weight is more evenly spread over it. I'll see how it does for longer rides and decide if I want to upgrade it later to a KH fusion or something. Overall, I love my new Nightrider Pro and I can't wait to put many, many miles on it!
Inside the Mind of a Tea Bagger POSTED: 4/19/2010 9:06:08 AM | PERMALINK My first attempt at a comic...  |
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