The artist Von Dutch is credited with being one of the grandfathers of pin-striping and flaming. From hot rods to hot bikes, flame jobs are synonymous with bein' bad.
http://community.motorcycleshows.com/_Top-5-Flamers/blog/3944965/151420.html
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The Ghost and The Machine
Story by Koz Mraz
Joshua Tree has a very mysterious vibe about it. Native Indians claim the trees are spirits of dead Indian warriors ominously guarding their desert domain. Its home to the world’s largest freestanding boulder the oldest living organism on planet earth, a time machine energy dome, haunted Inn, mystics and shamans and Joshua Tree is a cauldron of intrigue.
Heading towards Joshua Tree we first visit Cabot Yerxa Pueblo in Desert Hot Springs. It’s an amazing 4 story, 35 room Hopi Style Pueblo. Cabot homesteaded here in 1913 on Miracle Hill and discovered the now famous natural hot springs
Highway 62 heads north and we pass by the Joshua Tree Inn. That’s where Gram Parsons (The Byrds music group) died in 1973. Room 8 is supposedly haunted and they tout its “Home of Gram Parsons Spirit”. People come here from all over and hold séances. The site of Gram’s desert cremation was marked by a small concrete slab which has since been removed by the U.S. National Park Service and relocated to the Joshua Tree Inn. It’s a really bizarre true story made into a movie called Grand Theft Parsons (starring Johnny Knoxville), definitely watch it before your visit.
Off the 62 hwy is Old Woman Road which take’s you up to Landers, home of Giant Rock and the Integratron. Giant Rock is thought to be the world's largest freestanding boulder and sacred place of ritual and ceremonies for Indian shamans. Dr George Van Tassel, one of the leaders in the UFO movement of the 1950’s, held annual "Spacecraft Conventions" at Giant Rock for 25 years. He built the Integratron, a 38-foot high, 55-foot diameter, all wood structure originally designed as a rejuvenation and time machine. Re-opened several years ago you can have a neuroacoustic sound bath, attend healing workshops or participate in an Unplugged Goddess retreat.
“King Clone” is a Creosote plant ring which is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth and has been alive 11,700 years in the central Mojave Desert near present day Lucerne
Riding back through Joshua Tree National Park the scenery is surreal. The rocks take on a strange liquid like form as if floating gravity free. Armies of Joshua Trees loom before us, defending their arid empire. It’s an absolutely beautiful ride. We head up to Keys View and at 5575 feet the vista is staggering. You can see Mexico Pinto Basin road through Cottonwood Pass
Contact me @ gary@quickthrottle.com
Monday, March 17, 2008
FREE TIBET
Live Free, Ride Free
The world watched anxiously as a single student held back the entire Chinese Red Army for one short moment. The Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4th 1989 was a lens into Chinas communist philosophy. It’s believed that thousands of innocent Chinese students were gunned down on that day. I was among the first Americans invited to perform in Communist China only four months later. We each had out own interpreter (Security) and the itinerary was strict. In between our concerts for 17 thousand Chinese nightly we played a special concert for Chinese government officials. At the subsequent dinner I asked candid questions to an officer seated near me. “Why did China roll in with tanks and subdue the students with violence?” My interpreter nervously translated to the high ranking army official. He peered into my eyes and responded directly without hesitation or emotion. “China has no homeless, everyone is fed yet we are unattached to world economics. One small shift can completely alter the balance of our social stability. That will not happen.” I asked him about the Chinese response to the return of Hong Kong by Britain in 1997. He replied, “We will roll in with Tanks.” That they did.
While sipping Hefeweitzen in Munich Germany in November of 1989 the news broke that the Berlin wall was coming down. Destruction of this sinister symbol of isolation and control freed Russia from communism. The Chinese official was right, it was a small shift that changes the social stability. I think a political shift may be in the stars for Tibet.
I’m an American, I’m a motorcyclist and I live free, ride free and am heading to Tibet to motorcycle the Himalayas for two weeks. Forcefully annexed by the Chinese decades ago suddenly its De Ja Vu all over again. Here come the tanks, this time its monks being killed but even more seems at stake this massacre. 20 years’ later Communist China is inexorably attached to the economics of the world and the world is watching.
Sunday March 9th 2008 His Holiness the Dalai Lama participated in the prayer ceremony in Darhamsala yesterday to mark the 19th anniversary of the imposition of martial law in Lhasa on March 8th 1989. The same year he was given the Nobel Peace Prize.
Friday March 15th. Riots in Lhasa again remind the world Tibet is a country in turmoil since the invasion by China in 1959. ”Some ignorant monks led by a small handful of people did some illegal things that can challenge social stability" foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. "To safeguard national security and social order is the responsibility of our judiciary and law enforcing departments. We will continue to combat any illegal activities" he said. Over 300 monks and Nuns were arrested and at least 30 people killed.
Saturday march 16th. On Saturday morning the first images appeared on the popular U.S Video site Youtube along with video streamed foreign news reports, photos, and commentary. Then suddenly all of China’s 210 million Internet users who try to access the U.S based video site will only get a blank screen.
Sunday March 17th 2008 BEIJING (Reuters) - Rioting erupted in a province neighboring Tibet on Sunday, two days after violent protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule in Lhasa in which the region's exiled representatives said 80 people had been killed. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said the Tibetan nation was in serious danger and called for an investigation into what he called cultural genocide in his homeland.
Monday March 18th 2008 China has prohibited the entry of foreigners to Tibet and asked the tourists currently there to leave. This in response to the wake of the worst-ever violence in two decades in region's capital stemming from pro-independence protests.
Within two weeks the Olympic torch (lit in Greece on March 25th) is to be brought to the top of Mt Everest in Tibet. No applications for climbing Mount Everest between March and June are being accepted because of the torch relay. No matter whether you're an individual or group, it's impossible to get permission to climb the mountain during the period.
China has much at stake in the new global economy, as do we. America has handed her torch of liberty to a communist country that’s burning down our house. And we don’t even smell the smoke. Watch with cautious eyes, listen with lucid ears and ask for the truth. If I ride Tibet I will live free, ride free and tell her story.
The world watched anxiously as a single student held back the entire Chinese Red Army for one short moment. The Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4th 1989 was a lens into Chinas communist philosophy. It’s believed that thousands of innocent Chinese students were gunned down on that day. I was among the first Americans invited to perform in Communist China only four months later. We each had out own interpreter (Security) and the itinerary was strict. In between our concerts for 17 thousand Chinese nightly we played a special concert for Chinese government officials. At the subsequent dinner I asked candid questions to an officer seated near me. “Why did China roll in with tanks and subdue the students with violence?” My interpreter nervously translated to the high ranking army official. He peered into my eyes and responded directly without hesitation or emotion. “China has no homeless, everyone is fed yet we are unattached to world economics. One small shift can completely alter the balance of our social stability. That will not happen.” I asked him about the Chinese response to the return of Hong Kong by Britain in 1997. He replied, “We will roll in with Tanks.” That they did.
While sipping Hefeweitzen in Munich Germany in November of 1989 the news broke that the Berlin wall was coming down. Destruction of this sinister symbol of isolation and control freed Russia from communism. The Chinese official was right, it was a small shift that changes the social stability. I think a political shift may be in the stars for Tibet.
I’m an American, I’m a motorcyclist and I live free, ride free and am heading to Tibet to motorcycle the Himalayas for two weeks. Forcefully annexed by the Chinese decades ago suddenly its De Ja Vu all over again. Here come the tanks, this time its monks being killed but even more seems at stake this massacre. 20 years’ later Communist China is inexorably attached to the economics of the world and the world is watching.
Sunday March 9th 2008 His Holiness the Dalai Lama participated in the prayer ceremony in Darhamsala yesterday to mark the 19th anniversary of the imposition of martial law in Lhasa on March 8th 1989. The same year he was given the Nobel Peace Prize.
Friday March 15th. Riots in Lhasa again remind the world Tibet is a country in turmoil since the invasion by China in 1959. ”Some ignorant monks led by a small handful of people did some illegal things that can challenge social stability" foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. "To safeguard national security and social order is the responsibility of our judiciary and law enforcing departments. We will continue to combat any illegal activities" he said. Over 300 monks and Nuns were arrested and at least 30 people killed.
Saturday march 16th. On Saturday morning the first images appeared on the popular U.S Video site Youtube along with video streamed foreign news reports, photos, and commentary. Then suddenly all of China’s 210 million Internet users who try to access the U.S based video site will only get a blank screen.
Sunday March 17th 2008 BEIJING (Reuters) - Rioting erupted in a province neighboring Tibet on Sunday, two days after violent protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule in Lhasa in which the region's exiled representatives said 80 people had been killed. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said the Tibetan nation was in serious danger and called for an investigation into what he called cultural genocide in his homeland.
Monday March 18th 2008 China has prohibited the entry of foreigners to Tibet and asked the tourists currently there to leave. This in response to the wake of the worst-ever violence in two decades in region's capital stemming from pro-independence protests.
Within two weeks the Olympic torch (lit in Greece on March 25th) is to be brought to the top of Mt Everest in Tibet. No applications for climbing Mount Everest between March and June are being accepted because of the torch relay. No matter whether you're an individual or group, it's impossible to get permission to climb the mountain during the period.
China has much at stake in the new global economy, as do we. America has handed her torch of liberty to a communist country that’s burning down our house. And we don’t even smell the smoke. Watch with cautious eyes, listen with lucid ears and ask for the truth. If I ride Tibet I will live free, ride free and tell her story.
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