Friday, March 28, 2008

Arc'teryx Tango Military Backpack

Well, my brother did not get his hands on the newest Arc'teryx military pack as the new one's have the logo on the outside of the pack as show in my previous Arc'teryx Military Pack post.

But we did get the Arc'teryx packs and these seem to have some serious cache in the backpacking circles! Here are the two packs I picked up for my step-son and I. SUPER-COOL!!!

See the details.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

KTM WARNING: Advice against trips to Tibet

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As some of you know, I am a devout KTM - FAN of almost religious proportions and try to keep up with as much KTM news as possible.

I find it very interesting when you can learn something from different angles, learn things about one subject from different avenues, much like collaborative art projects from two very different people or companies. In the case, KTM & Tibet. It was just a simple association for my appreciation of KTM and a warning of travel to Tibet.

We have all heard the phrase "FREE TIBET" I first heard a bit about it from the Beastie Boys, but honestly did not hear much more than "FREE TIBET".... Guess I never went to any of the Tibetan Freedom Concert during 1996-2001:

My vast-little knowledge of Tibet.
I know the Dalai Lama is from Tibet and while I did not understand the hardships that he and has people have and are going through, you just don’t get much real news from our national news sources.

I also know Tibet and the mountains thereof are the most famous spectacular mountains in the world. Mt Everest is located in the Nepal / Tibet Region and first accended by Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Yea, I am fascinated with mountain climbing culture and the pursuit of adventure. I know what a Sherpa is and his value, knowledge and culture have done for a many mountain expeditions. Other than that my knowledge of Tibet – not much!

Another insight into China’s rougher region. Through my ADVrider.com [adventure motorcycle riding enthusiast site] I have gained new insights and interest and while researching new enthusiasms, I found this DVD:
RIDING SOLO To The TOP Of The WORLD

While I know I will never ride or visit here, it does more than just show you a great place to ride, it shows us into a world we do not understand, or at least I do not understand like the relations between China and India. While I had one idea of India, I know have a different perspective and understanding. I highly suggest purchasing this DVD!!! But you have to have an open mind, even from a motorcycle perspective as this guy is not riding the latest KTM or BMW. But at the end of the day, this guy is super-cool and has all my respect! Buy the DVD at http://www.dirttrackproductions.com/

So, I get the email notifying me of some news from the KTM Adventure Tours website. I see with the introduction of the awesome road bikes from KTM, they are doing some cool riding tours! But, right there on the side of the page I see something that catches my eye: Advice against trips to Tibet My brain quickly remembered the DVD about Riding Solo to the Top of the World, so my curiosity pushed to link to read more. In the context of the warning was “people protested against China’s dominance in Tibet”. That was the section I copied and pasted into the Google window to find out more about the issue.

Google [people protested against China’s dominance in Tibet]: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=protested+against+China%E2%80%99s+dominance+in+Tibet&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The 6th listing is the one that caught my eye:
Tibet hampers the Bush plan for Iran Wake Up From Your Slumber
The Israeli government tries not to anger China (the future Zionist host) by giving too much support to Tibetans .China lodged a stern protest against the ...
www.wakeupfromyour slumber.com/node/4838 - 31k - Cached -Similar pages

“With Bush-Israeli-China-anger-Tibetans” and “WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER” all in one description, I HAND TO READ THAT ONE!!! If you want to know what is really going on, you sometimes have to go some back-history as we easily forget that while we are spending our time learning every engine code and year model difference between every Honda XR from the 1980’s to present and the difference between KTM’s SF, SF-X, EX, EX-C and some ADV’s…
The world and the governments that oversee this marble of marvel, they are diligently doing what they are doing and rearranging “codes,” press-releases and “hype stories” to best suit “their story” yes, “HISTORY” starting with 1950 - so if you want to know: www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/4838

Another item to give you a little global-jolt. China prepares to host the Olympic Games in August and add yet another aspect to the China-Tibet unrest:
www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10903883

While I usually am not a big political talker, it’s issues like this that shape the world, and yet, we the motorcycle enthusiast need to work a lot closer together and remember while we are out riding in the middle of the desert, that very dirt we are free wheeling across is under political debate, discussion and government decisions are been made against you “free wheeling” mindlessly across the land use we deem as our free right. Sometimes we have to fight for our free rights. But the “Free Game” has to be played by their game rules and in their “game house”.

By far, the comparison of our riding area closures does not come close to the scope of what is going on in Tibet, but if helping Tibet is a little too far out of reach or scope, you can always turn to your local issues and help make a difference. Someone needs to organize and vintage-desert-historical-MX-show… at the capitol in Sacramento, that’s how you get all the guys to come out of the desert and come to some event, just at the right place and then issues can be made, signed in numbers, delivered in force.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Hiking around Back Bay, Orange County, CA


IMG_3936.JPG, originally uploaded by Rad1·· ± » ° /*.

Since I have this broke neck, all I can do is walk. I had that nasty cold that was going around, but it stuck with me for like 5-weeks! Finally got rid of it and finally feel human again and needed to get out of the house. So out the door I went with Kona dog in tow and camera in pocket. Left the house around 2:15 and returned around 7:30. Long hike but not at a fast pace, just cruzed. My dawg's [feet] did get tired, but it was worth it. I have yet to map out how many miles it is around the Back Bay and have ridden it for years on the bikes!!! I have no idea how far it is and a Garmin 60CSx sitting right there that could give me all the details! Guess that calls for another hiking session. In the mean time, check out my little photo-essay of what I saw on my BB-Hike.