Saturday, June 21, 2008

Click on any image to enlarge ...

Today, there were three neat WWII vintage war birds at the Seattle Museum of Flight. Above and below, a B-17 bomber.

Besides being able to crawl around inside these, for the princely sum of about $400, you could take a 30 minute ride in them. This specific aircraft flew a mission for each bomb painted on the nose, and shot down a number of German fighters sent to interdict them. Each represented by a swastika painted on the nose.

They also had and flew a B-25, below. This one sank at least one japanese ship and shot down 10 Japanese fighters.

And finally, they had a neat P-51 Mustang. Only 6 Mustangs were made with 2 seats. This was one of the six. and for the princely sum of $2,200, you could buy a 30 minute ride in the Mustang.

This was a cool reminder of the progress aviation has made in the last 60 years. In 1948, the B-17 was about the biggest and baddest aircraft in the skies. This is a dinky little plane compared to a Boeing 747, or an Airbus A-380. It is roughly equivalent to an abacus compared to the super computer represented by, say, the B-2 bomber. The P-51 is more or less a Volkswagen compared to an Audi R8 representing a Stealth fighter. We’ve come a long way baby ... 

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Planes
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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

What if the framers of the Constitution could step into a time machine, set 2008 Washington DC as their destination, and take a crack at a new Constitution? Would they set down the same rights and privileges as they did in 1787? Somehow, I doubt it.

Because the context of the country is different than it was in 1787 (or 1791 when the Bill of Rights was adopted), I think we would end up with different rights. Some rights identified then, make no sense in today’s context. Some rights we would insist on today would have seemed ridiculous in the 18th century.

Take the right to bear arms, for example. In 1787, the country was primitive. You could literally be eaten by the wildlife. A settler could be attacked and killed by Indians. Parts of the continent were colonized by different nations whose colonists sometimes attacked neighboring colonies. Law enforcement was far from a ubiquitous presence throughout the country. The “right” to bear arms and more generally the necessity of a well regulated militia made complete sense.

Today, the American context is entirely different in every important respect. I’m reasonably sure “the framers” would skip the Second Amendment!

In 1787, we had no telephone service (we barely had mail), a primitive banking system, and a fledgling criminal justice system. There were no computers to keep records and data. There was no internet with which to commit data theft. If you wanted to be a private person, you simply didn’t tell anyone about yourself and your privacy was all but assured. Consequently, there was no notion of the “right” to privacy.

Today, the American context is entirely different in every important aspect. I’m sure “the framers” would go well beyond the Fourth Amendment and insist on including the “right” to privacy in the Constitution for the new Century.

I’m not suggesting that Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Madison (et. al. or their 21st century counter parts) rewrite our constitution. It has been perfected by 221 years of amendment and interpretation and works pretty well for us.

But it gives me pause when I think about the US trying to impose an American-style constitution on Iraq. It gives me pause when I observe America trying to impose an American-style democracy on Iraq.

If we believe in democracy, maybe the Iraqis should be free to develop a Constitution that is relevant to our times. Maybe the flavor of democracy they choose should be relevant to their context. Maybe we should let them experiment with a 21st Century implementation of a free and democratic state and stay the hell out of their way.

Maybe we would learn something … important … in the process.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Politics
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Monday, June 09, 2008

Well ... more like a pink streak.

I was on Seattle U’s campus today for a meeting (I’m on the Entrepreneurship Board, on a couple of Committees, and teach from time to time). Coincidentally, it was the last day of classes. The seniors have a tradition of streaking(1) the campus on the last day of class and today was no exception. About 50 men and women (a few % of the graduating class) participated. A few thousand observers (about 200% of the graduating class) … well … observed. And cheered!

The weather was about 50 degrees with light rain … which reminded me of one of life’s great lessons … “In the cold, all men are created equal,” at least anatomically.

And not to be outdone, all the women were … “perky.”

And as for the Jesuits, well they were mostly impersonating a famous 1982 TV character(2) … they were mostly St. Elsewhere.

A good time was had by all.

Footnotes:
1) In case there’s anyone on the planet who doesn’t know, the practice of streaking (running naked) may have originated in the early 70’s, mostly on college campuses but occasionally in other venues.
2) St. Elsewhere … 121 episodes over 6 seasons.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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Saturday, June 07, 2008

Click to expand ...

Space is full of stars: Which we can see only when away from our light polluted cities. Get away, now!

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Last Friday, three Duc’s were spotted flying North!

My daughter on her Ducati Monster, my son-in-law on his Ducati Supersport, and I on my Ducati ST3 took off for our annual road trip. Here’s at least part of the story.

Click any photo to enlarge ...

Every adventure deserves to be started with a proper breakfast, in our case croissants and café au lait from a local French bakery. This steeled us for the first part of our ride in pouring rain. Within 30 minutes we rode out of the rain and dried out by the time we reached the border with Canada.

We crossed the border without incident. My daughter, who went first, drew about 10 minutes of scrutiny; my son-in-law about 5; and I skated by with a cursory nod. Consistent answers to the standard questions were growing tiresome for the guards.

You need to understand that while one Ducati might turn heads, three are quite unusual. When we reached the Ferry Landing at Tsawwassen, we met some other riders. These riders had one question top of mind … do you guys work for Ducati. Sadly, no! But we got to know them a little and they us. I find when I am wearing motorcycle gear; I seem to be more outgoing.

After the two hour crossing, we ran on up to Parksville for the night. We stayed in a low-budget place; on the beach, but otherwise nothing to write home about. As we were removing our gear, my daughter asked, “What do you do while you ride?” I responded that I sang to myself. It turns out all three of us did and, among other things, the song we all sang was the old Monkeys song “Last Train to Clarksville.” And interestingly, we all substituted Parksville for Clarksville. The beach did have a killer sunset. And it was the venue for the first international rock skipping invitational wherein the treachery of age proudly defeated the energy and enthusiasm of youth! Go age!!

Our next destination was Campbell River. For years friends have been going to Campbell River to fish for salmon and have spoken of it with a reverence only a fisherman can understand. For that reason, our destination was larger than life for me. But fishing was not our mission. The road was fine but once we got there, it was merely a gas stop. The main event was yet to come; the subsequent leg to Gold River.

Gold River is the platonic purity of the notion, “It’s not the destination, but the journey.” When you ride motorcycles, the road is everything. A perfect road is: 1) Good pavement; 2) Good engineering; 3) Plenty of twisty turns; 4) Good scenery; and 5) A great place to eat at the end. We developed a protocol for riding turns … if a turn was caution posted at 60 km, we’d take it at 60 mph. Do the math and you find it’s almost 2x the caution speed. Perfect for 3 Duc’s flying north. We scuffed up the sides of our tires. We ran into a couple of riders at a park side pullout, one on a big BMW bike and one on a Honda trike (2 wheels forward, one to the rear) and they were impressed at our speeds. Hmm, felt normal to us.

Next day we made a great run out to Tofino. MPH was the new KPH again. But on this road the pavement wasn’t as good. My son-in-law observed that he saw a Volkswagen and a Vespa at the bottom of one of the holes he crossed. On the way back we saw the Island’s largest tree. Not quite in the same league as the world’s largest ball of twine, but pretty cool all the same!

On our way back from Tofino we stopped in Port Alberni for gas and to stretch our legs. We wandered down to the local pier where Nick and Carolyn goofed off with a local statue. While we were goofing off, a 10 year old dressed in jeans and a T-Shirt came up to me and asked why were wearing these funny suits. I told him we were riding motorcycles and these cloths kept us from getting killed. Then I asked him why he was wearing his funny suit. Big grin on his part he responded, “So I can play!” I think I like his answer better than mine!

Our next destination was Port Renfrew. To get there we rode through Chemainus. What a great little town with many many cool murals.

Look closely ...

Two years ago my daughter and I rode from Victoria to Jordan River, part way to Port Renfrew. This trip we rode from Victoria, through Jordan River, and on to Port Renfrew. The first half seemed easier, like they had straightened the road. Maybe we’re just better on our bikes! The second half was an agony of busted pavement. Nice destination, but not worth the bucking bronco ride, in my opinion. If you go … turn back at the burger shack at Jordan River! Or repent your decision later.

Time to head home; we took the ferry from Sydney to Anacortes, and then main roads and freeways back home. Turns out the Border Guard in Sydney was a biker and owned a Ducati S2R (the S2R is a high-powered version of my daughter’s Monster). We got more questions about our bikes than about purchases, fruits and vegetables, nationality, or the validity of our passports.

After the 1,000 mile trip I am reminded of one of the reasons I ride:  Riding motorcycles is a great social leveler. In my gear and on my bike, I feel comfortable talking to folks I’d be afraid of if I met them on the street. Rich and poor, tough and meek, young and old, scruffy or geared up … we can relate to each other because of the context of our interest. We can check our rank, social status, and net worth at the door and simply relate to each other.

Not a bad outcome, wouldn’t you say?

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Motorcycles
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