Burnt Orange w/ ThunderDrive

This is yet another post about using AI to assist in creating virtual photographs. I found that I first discovered and started playing with the concept one year ago on Tuesday!  That was the first 'my eJournal and images' post with the tag, AI-generated images, but since then there have been four or five dozen.

The tools have progressed at lightning speed.  They are bound to get better and better.   I don't think the general public is ready for the onslaught of artificial images, videos, and text.  It's hard now for even the most discerning eye to tell if an image is real or not.  I have a friend who recently brought a brand-new motorcycle.  I thought I'd take about 10 minutes to create an imaginary, future one he may own.  

I can now photograph anything that I can imagine!  Literally, anything.  People can wield so much power through this technology.  Unfortunately, this means that seeing ain't believing but I guess intelligent people have always known this.

   

Image credit:  Midjourney

Kawasaki Vulcan S Cafe for 2021

During the last thirty days, I've been all over the map as far as getting a motorcycle for the summer.   Perhaps this is proof of a COVID-related mental issue?

I fell almost instantly for the looks and specs of the Kawasaki Vulcan S. More research also prompted me to consider a new Honda Rebel 500 as well. Just a few days ago, I was thinking the whole idea of spending so much money on something so frivolous is ridiculous.

  2021 Kawasaki Vulcan S Cafe 

Now, I'm back to the point where I think my initial choice was right.  Because buying a bike is a rare occurrence, I might splurge for a Vulcan S Café edition. It seems silly to pay hundreds more for a tiny windshield and two-tone paint. But that is currently my thought de jure.  In fact, I wrote again to my local dealership making sure he'd have one available if I decided to pull the trigger.  He will.  Will I?

The Road to Bella Coola

 

I dusted off this image from 2005 to include on a friend's Facebook today. Tim and I have been discussing the possibility of buying motorcycles. I found this photo of 'The Hill' on BC Highway 20. It leads to the town of Bella Coola. The B&W photo shows a dirt portion of the highway we travelled in July of that summer in my old Ford Ranger.  I thought it might encourage the further discussion of motorcycles as British Columbia has some great, if far-away, places to ride. 

Later in the evening, we did use messaging.  We sort of concluded that buying motorcycles didn't make a whole lot of sense. They are not too practical and rather expensive for what one gets. More importantly, owning one would only be satisfying if there were others with which to ride.

Just Like My Little Yellow 1970s Bike!

Over the last couple of weeks, I've taken a renewed interest in the idea of motorcycling again.  I have pretty much decided that I'll get a new Kawasaki Vulcan S after we get back to British Columbia for the summer.  Getting a motorcycle doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'm determined to not let that dissuade me. 

I have not ridden a motorbike in many decades.  During one change in driver's licence jurisdiction, I somehow lost my motorcycle endorsement too.  I'll be taking a BC motorcycle operator's test as a 61-year-old dude.

I couldn't remember much about my small, high-school era bike.  In the 1970s, my dad provided me with some motorized wheels to get around. I knew that the machine was a 100cc Kawasaki and I remembered it as being yellow.  

Thank you, Internet!  These pictures came up when I did a little search.  Yellow must have been a popular-selling colour. The images brought my memories of it into a much clearer focus.  Yikes, and wiping-out on a sharp corner on Lake Avenue now comes to mind as well!

Help Me Decide

I am interested in purchasing a small-displacement cruiser motorcycle during our upcoming summer.  From my research, I am favouring a new Kawasaki Vulcan S at the present time.  Yet, I'm clearly underwhelmed with the colour choices available for the 2021 Canadian models.

The first is called Metallic Flat Spark Black.  I never saw black sparks before.  The name for the second one is Metallic Flat Raw Greystone.  Yeah, give me a flashy motorcycle that's the colour of a rock.  Finally, one can opt for the Pearl Blizzard White.  I do not intend to be on two wheels underwater nor when it's snowing.  These are undoubtedly creative names for a few really boring choices.     

When did the world suddenly become so monochrome?  So, if these were your only choices, how would you vote?

Ninjas Look Like Toys

Damn it, Tim. I'd not considered a motorcycle for 40 years and now I find myself googling Internet sites that showcase two-wheeled transportation. We both know that motorcycles are not practical for a location where it rains for 150 days out of 360.  I guess Jay and I do end up going away for a great many of those.  Still, two wheels are hardly as useful as something with a backseat and a trunk. Right? 

I don't like the bare engine of the now popular retro motorcycle designs. However, I definitely don't like the freakish covered styling of the more modern ones either. I can, sort of, say I like the Kawasaki Vulcan, even the toy 650cc cruising model. That's certainly enough engine for occasional riding. I don't want to own a bike I could not pick up if it ended up on its side!

   

The Vulcan S is liquid-cooled and has ABS brakes but is practically unchanged since 2015. I guess if they keep offering 'em that must mean they continue to sell. Canadian pricing seems pretty good too. 

I'm glad I'm in Playa del Carmen, Mexico right now and cannot jump in the car and drive up to Burnaby Kawasaki.

Odds and End of a Day

I had a bit of a Messenger exchange with Tim. He tossed an interesting idea into the ring: a possible, future motorcycle adventure in India. He's talking about buying some motorcycles there, explore the country for a few months, and then either sell or ship them back to Canada.  It's always fun to have some exotic travel adventure or other on a back burner. Honestly, I've learned much more from global adventures than I ever did in any sort of formal schooling.

Today, we went to the ATM again and withdrew money to pay for another month at the Palmarena. We are deciding month by month without locking us into plans for the entire winter. I know we'll be here in Playa del Carmen until at least February 7th.  We're wondering if after we should explore another Mexican city for a few months this winter too. 

I just asked Google, my Spotify Daily Mix volume lowered, and my assistant said, "Tomorrow in Vancouver will be rainy with a high of 7°C and a low of 4°C."   Suddenly, our idea of an April 7th return date to BC sounded just about right!  

 

Obituary for Richard John Hurd

September 18, 1932 to April 5, 2019
(Age 86)

Richard (Dick) Hurd passed away after a short stay at the Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, New Hampshire. He had been an active resident at the McCoy Home for the Elderly in Newport, New Hampshire for the past seven years.

Richard was born in Newport, NH on September 18, 1932.  He was an only son to Burt and Ina Hurd. He attended training at the Vocational Tech College majoring in Auto Mechanics and specializing in Auto-Body repair. After completing school, he served in the US Army in Ft. Benning, GA. Upon returning from his Enlistment, he used his training in auto-body repair working with his father, Burt, at Sunapee Auto until obtaining a different position at Avery's Auto-Body in Newport in the mid-1960s. However, the majority of his working career was as a set-up machinist at Sturm, Ruger & Co. He retired at 55 years of age, to enjoy his time both travelling and volunteering as a missionary worker at different locations across the United States.

Richard married Martha Ann Osgood of Sunapee, NH in 1959 and was a devoted husband and quickly became the proud father of a son and daughter. Richard loved the outdoors spending many weekends camping in the White Mountains of NH with his family and friends. He also liked to slip into the wilderness with one of his muzzleloaders during deer season.  He was successful only a few times but said he liked being in the woods and his time spent there.

Richard Hurd was self-reliant, practical, and a bit of a collector.  Even after selling the Wendell home, he kept property with a large, old shed he called, "his barn". For many years it contained either entire or parts for snowmobiles, Volkswagens, tools and test equipment, campers, motorcycles, wind generators, and antique engines. Occasionally he would find something or other which surprised even him!  He enjoyed, as he put it, "tinkering on different projects."

As a consequence of his automotive and mechanical knowledge, he was able to keep dozens and dozens of different vehicles on the road throughout the years in New England’s fickle weather. Some were also used on a few long-distance road trips to locations such as Nova Scotia, Alaska, California, and Florida. Dick was interested in the diversity and variety of the United States and felt as though there were always new places in our country worthy of seeing. Though, he remained an ardent New Hampshirite in thought and spirit.

Richard (Dick) Hurd is survived by his son, Dennis S. Hurd of New Westminster, BC, and daughter, Laurie Wilcox, Le Claire Iowa, along with his grandchildren, Christopher and Elizabeth, and great-grandchild, Tyler, all of Le Claire, Iowa

He was preceded in death by his parents, Burt Hurd and Ina Hurd and his wife of 23 years, Martha Osgood Hurd.

Honoring Richard's wishes, there will not be any calling hours. The family will gather at a later time to privately scatter his ashes.

From Here to Haojiang- Day 114

Motorcycles are, of course, extremely popular here in Luxor, Egypt. In a poorer country, they are one of the first mechanized forms of transportation that a family can afford. An area near the National Ferry dock holds hundreds, as people can ride in from surrounding towns and catch the public boat for a commute over to the East Bank.

A headline on the Internet read today:

Beijing takes bite out of Big Apple's claim to 'billionaire capital of the world.'

One thing that came as a bit of a surprise to me is that all the motorcycles on the road here were made in China. I've seen just several Japanese bikes which were obviously very old ones. In North America, we are certainly aware that most stores are full of products from Chinese manufacturers. In developing countries many larger items and infrastructure projects are now Chinese in origin.

I guess this is why that headline makes sense.

Testing New Motorcycle Drivers

You know, I don't think that most people nowadays remember they are carrying around a camera with them for most of the day. Anyone with a smartphone has a better quality digital camera then could have been purchased as a standalone device a decade ago. I see on Facebook that friends create albums for special events, but it seems most people are not in the habit of using the functionality on a daily basis.

There are many times, for example, when one needs to remember something where a photo will do. The things one doesn't think of as special, will probably appear so in the future after they've changed. This is primarily why I have over 10,000 images on Flickr. I could show you just about any important and unimportant thing in my life during the last 10 years.




This is not even about me, but today on the way back from the campus, I saw a motorcycle driver's test in progress. Rather than just having the candidate drive around a parking lot, I spotted a test car following the motorcyclist. That's interesting, I thought.

It's not very important, but it didn't cost me anything to capture. More importantly, it provided me with something to blog today. Ensuring that I always find something for an entry is not easy!

Day 32 - Goodbye, Hanoi.

How wonderful to be able to sleep in a little today.  The only restriction was to be able to go the the hotel dining area at around 9:30 for breakfast.  We had to pack too as we needed to check out before noon.  (We left the bags.)



Later, we walked about the lake area here.  Lot of folks were out as it is Sunday.  For some reason we have seen many newly, or soon to be married, couples being photographed.  Perhaps it is a tradition to be photographed in this area.  We slowly wandered through the busy, narrow streets looking for a place to eat dinner.  We found a German-Turkish-Cambodian place that served donairs, or what we call shwarmas. Just seeing Hanoi street life is an interesting adventure. Being Sunday, loads of people were out and about. Did I mention the motorcycles?



We ate a little too quickly it seems as we were back to the hotel by two in the afternoon.  A van will come to the hotel here between 5:00 to 5:30 to pick us up.  So we are sitting sipping on free tea waiting to get set up for a 24 hour bus trip into Laos.

My Smart (Aleck) Phone

I put this picture here today, not because one of the motorcycles is mine nor because I really want one of them. I included the image for several reasons nevertheless.



First, I liked the perspective of the shot. I parked today in Lot #7 at the Burnaby Campus of BCIT. I pass the motorcycle parking area as I walked to NE 1 for class. I took out my phone as I walked past.

In addition, I wanted to stress that there were many there. It surprised me a bit as today was the first that really felt like autumn. It was amazingly foggy this morning and continues so, right to this minute. The temperature will probably not get much above the current 10C (50F) and that seemed a little nippy to ride to school on just two wheels.

Most importantly, as soon as I snapped it, I heard my phone make a familiar sound. I want to share this. It meant that Google Goggles had kicked in and identified something in the shot. I clicked on the notification and learned that my old Nexus One had decided the closest machine was a Yamaha FZ6. I could identify the brand by the logo of the three tuning forks on the tank. (I guess that company manufactured pianos before transportation.) I couldn't see a trace of the model and I can no longer identify the make of newer motorcycles.

I do hate it when my phone appears more well-informed than I am.

I Share Only Miss Piggy's Temperament

I will have to re-donate these jeans to the Salvation Army Thrift Shop as they're now too big. So, it seems as if not eating in 2012 is starting to pay off. (Okay, I am prone to a wee bit of hyperbole.) Parting with favourite jeans is always sweet sorrow especially when they're headed to the great denim heaven in the sky. It is a little less difficult saying goodbye to a pair that one has yet to wear out.

Yet, I have to state proudly that I am also a customer of the organization mentioned. It fits right into my ideas of recycle, reduce, and reuse. This has been especially true during the last several years. Essentially, I've been swapping out clothes for those of a lesser size. I buy them and re-donate when I fit into smaller ones. The original pants were 40's, then 38's, recently 36's, and now at long last, 34's. The shirts have followed a similar story from XL's to M's. Yay!

I'm not yet done losing weight as I still weigh (naked, this morning) 181 lbs. I have recently discovered that 164 is the largest weight under current BMI calculators that'd make me "normal". That's not something I've much felt the compulsion to be, but in this case I'll make an exception. It will still take me a while to get rid of the final 17 lbs, but I think it'll be sometime this year. I want 2012 to be the year I went from 212 to 165.

The following picture is one of those taken with a cell phone in the mirror. I hate this type of self-absorption generally, but you'll have to forgive me as I'm trying to chronicle my slow climb down the bathroom scales.

The leather belt I have on sports a Kawasaki buckle and was made when my mom took up the hobby of leather tooling in the mid-70s. I drove a 100cc motorcycle with that brand to the Sunapee High School in NH during my junior year, up to the point snow prevented it. I think I can remember bike buds, Cynthia (Nicholes) Walker, Candy (Winn) Fuller, and I wearing snowmobile suits when it got really cold.

In this picture, I have it in a hole that was added sometime in the 1980s. The fact I can get it around me at all astounds me. I nearly thew away the belt a few years ago when I saw little hope of ever using it again!

Up Your Nose

I was in Walmart this morning. Yes, indeed the Christmas decorations were there and have probably been up for quite some time. I smelled the pine scent that must've been deliberately sprayed near their collection of artificial trees and ornaments. 

Even pre-school children know that smell is one of the five senses. It is probably the least obvious one though. The other four are used almost exclusively during our ordinary days. Surely, the ability to smell rancid meat aided the evolutionary process of humans. The fact odors can be classified as bad probably have to do with ancient survival genes.

Today, of course we can manufacture and disseminate smells to a greater extent than nature does. Therefore, I tend to think that smells deemed as good are most probably products of our learning environments. There's nothing particularly advantageous in believing that pine scent is nice. Of course, a prehistoric man may have taken quiet refuge in forests of them, but I'd venture our love of the smell of conifers probably has more to do with kitchen cleaners and Christmas. The smell of baking bread obviously links to taste and the physical comfort of consumed carbohydrates. Surely, there's nothing intrinsically nice about the smell of bleach but it is associated with nice warm sheets that more directly affect other senses.

These associations, to a great extent, explain why we appreciate specific olfactory moments. Just to prove this point, I have to admit to loving the smell of two-stroke engine exhaust. Ah, surely that has more to do with a little, 100cc Kawasaki I had in high school than with the motorcycle I was on in this photo.

A Badge of Honour

In New Hampshire, one could get a driver's license at the age of 16. Of course, I did, even though that meant petitioning our school district to let us take Driver's Education as a summer course in the neighbouring town of Newport.

We lived about three miles away from the town of Sunapee and so a yellow 100cc Kawasaki motorcycle replaced a 10-speed bike during my first year on the road. That seemed much better than pedalling even if it meant suiting up in snowmobile attire on cold November mornings. This worked out okay until, at least, the snow actually started flying.

Eventually, my father gave me a junk car. Now, I'm sort of proud to claim that I once drove an early-70's Ford Pinto. It was rather smart of him to give me an underpowered crap car. I see teenaged drivers wrap their pricey, new rice rockets around trees nowadays killing them and their friends. My Pinto had a replacement 1600cc engine we installed during high school shop class. It couldn't make it up the tiniest of hills in fourth gear; consequently, I quickly learned now handle a manual transmission. At 40 mph a car is dangerous but a little less lethal than one travelling at 80. In retrospect, however, Pintos did become rather infamous for blowing up in rear-end collisions.

I don't think I have a single picture of my first car. I guess I didn't take photos in those days. These two pictures were copied from the Internet. See, the Net is useful for more than distribution of porn, isn't it?


The colour of these two different cars even matched my Pinto's. That obviously was a popular 1970s tint. It does, in a way, go right along with kitchen decor from That 70's Show, or perhaps they had avacado. I believe this particular Ford hue was called Freudian Gilt as Good Clean Fawn was a little grayer. Oh yeah, I also painted black racing stripes that curled up behind the rear windows. That must've given me at least a 2 mph boost!

As silly teenagers, a group of us still managed to flip it over a stone wall and have it land on it on its roof in the woods. I swear, I wasn't driving but did help to throw all the unopened beer cans from its little trunk far out into the bushes before the police showed up. No one was hurt. Unfortunately, the accident left me without a car during most of my freshman year in college.

An Ultimate Road Trip

I haven't worked in the Middle East for nearly eleven years. After this amount of time, there are surprisingly few colleagues that I've kept up with. This entry, however, does relate to a person with whom I occasionally contact. Sally is in Dubai and on MS Messenger. Years can go by with little messaging then, suddenly, we will strike up a conversation. One such 'give and take' occurred a few months ago. Wait, it was even longer ago than that! Maybe this topic came up when we were discussing our research into wide-screen TVs last autumn.

Sally asked if we'd seen any episodes of Long Way Round. I hadn't heard of it at the time. I did see that it was available from our mail-based DVD rental company though. I put Disc 1 on the bottom of our ziplist. Eventually, its position moved up thirty or forty slots. It arrived last week.

Although only four episodes were on the first disc, and two of them dealt only with the planning, we got hooked and I moved up Disc 2 on the list so it'd arrive quickly. Here's the info as found at www.zip.ca:

Documentary, Travel & Adventure Documentaries - 2004
Two friends. One extraordinary journey around the world.

The adventure of a lifetime begins when two longtime pals, Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, The Island, Moulin Rouge) and Charley Boorman (Deliverance), set off on their motorcycles taking the "long way round" from London to New York: west along the rough terrain of Eurasia, across the Bering Straight, and covering 20,000 miles before completing their journey in New York City.

Long Way Round: The Entire Series includes ten 1-hour episodes, including a new episode that has never been broadcast on television.

Take It Down the Highway

I was only ten years old when Easy Rider was released. I think my dad may have brought us to the drive-in to see it, which is rather weird. Maybe it was some prior motorcycle movie. Still, I really knew only fleeting references to the 1969 film.

Today, I watched it.

Is there anyone who cannot go in for a road story? You know this specific genre of American film, I'm talking about. They take place with copious, stunning stretches of endless road. They use scenic variety to showcase a type of modern frontier. Most importantly, they all involve characters hitting the open road in order to find peace and inner freedom. I nearly get all teary-eyed just thinking about this while humming, This Land is Made for You and Me.

I don't imagine this genre's myth translates well to other cultures. Geography and circumstance seems too specific to this continent.

This particular version of the road story, seemed to chronicle the angst of an entire era well. It's been re-mastered into Dolby 5.1 so the sound track sounds great. In conclusion, some sections made me wish I'd been born eight to ten years before I was. The ending made me feel lucky I ducked those times.

Pic 03/04 - I Want to Ride My Bicycle

Now I know the reason that I looked fit in yesterday's photo with my grandmother. Apparently, as a teenager, I exercised! I lived about three miles from town. For the years before a 100cc motorcycle, peddling was a major way of getting to school, Sunapee Harbor, or to friends'. I could've ridden the school bus but that was just too uncool.

As I took a photo, I obviously liked this bicycle a lot. Prior to my 'ten-speed', I can remember that my folks had bought a black, 3-speed Raleigh for me. This white bike was much better because it didn't have coaster brakes. A chainguard might have been useful in the days of bell-bottoms though.

This image must have a date approximately the same as the past two.
I am guessing around 1972. This was also scanned from a slide.