Zen Proverb about bicycles

‘A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery and had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, “Why are you riding your bicycles?”

The first student replied, “The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!” The teacher praised the first student. “You are a smart boy! When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over like I do.”

The second student replied, “I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path!” The teacher commended the second student, “Your eyes are open, and you see the world.”

The third student replied, “When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant nam myoho renge kyo.” The teacher gave his praise to the third student, “Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel.”

The fourth student replied, “Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all sentient beings.” The teacher was pleased and said to the fourth student, “You are riding on the golden path of non-harming.”

The fifth student replied, “I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle.” The teacher sat at the feet of the fifth student and said, “I am your student.”’
Zen proverb

Via QuickRelease

Monkey Warfare!

Last weekend I got to see a great film called Monkey Warfare (2006). It had been a while since a saw character that I could actually identify at so many levels. Killer soundtrack, or that is great non existent soundtrack. My friend Dave has pretty much all of the songs in the movie, so hopefully he will post a sort of Un-official one.

oh white christmas...

I was happy to recieve this email this late evening :

...."Hi Omar,

I hope that you had a great Xmas. I hope that Santa did not bring you
a new Ipod because I was shoveling our steps and I found your-- still
working-- Ipod, buried in snow. I have placed it in a bag of rice to
help dry it out. I hope that you are still coming to the party
tomorrow. I am sorry that I did not find your Ipod sooner, i.e. when I
looked before Xmas.

Later,

Alex
"....

I love this comic strip

II wonder if she knows the works of mexican illulstrators and comic geniouses, mexicans :Jis y Trino. In the meantime some of canadas best comic strip and Part of our Heritage


Also on a lighter note, somedy told me once that I was a Hedonist and my friend I could not agree more.

I am making Nova Scotian scallops sauteed in organic butter and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, Salt and Pepper of course. Some home made fetuccini noodles and a delicious red cream sauce. Oh yes my friend. I am a hedonist and part time epicurious.

Can't believe that it is winter oficially... I terrible miss the great PNW.

I also love Texas Toast. Great video and of course now I have been addicted to that song. I wish my camera could take video. Oh well.

A Taste of The Toast from Michael on Vimeo.

The Do's and Don'ts of bathroom Etiquette

I always poop and shower every morning right on time, at the same time everyday.always before I go to school. One day, I was hungover(went to Shortys the night before) and I overslept. so I was in a hurry and freaking out cause I was going to be late, and thats a big no-no in BEAUTY SCHOOL. so. I went straight into the bathroom and kinda forced myself to poop. keep telling to myself "c'mon, lets do this, we gotta go" and after kicking and pushing. finally something came out. nothing to fancy, kinda average. no big deal, so I jumped into the shower to start my routine. And Im in there all happy singin, dancing, shampooing my hair trying to be fast and all of a sudden..... a big gigantic fucking CRAMP!!! it was horrible, it totally made me bend over in pain. I didnt know what the fuck was going on. but then after the pain started to fade I realized, it was nothing more than a fart that got kinda confused and lost in the way out. so I let it out, cause you know, I kinda like the way my farts smell (vegan farts are silly) particuraly in the SHOWER,cause they just stay there like hoovering around you because of the density of the steam and blah blah. anyways. so I did. and it felt really good. it was one of those really long ones, kinda airy, more like a sigh, pretty deep. but here is the strange thing...at the end of it, something weird happened. I heard something strange something more like a *cough* and all of the sudden I looked down on my bathtub, in beetween my legs (and at this point I still have my hands on my head all lathered up) and theres NOTHING.then this is were it gets even freakier. I looked, to the SIDE of the bathtub and there it is... a quarter size, well maybe more like 2 nickels, a piece of poop!!! kinda like a hersheys kiss, sitting just chilling there. not being touched by the water. and here I am. FREAKING the FUCK out! what should I do?!?!?! my options are as follow: A ) Get out of the shower,all wet and my face full of shampoo, avoiding slippin' down and breaking my head, pick some paper towells, go back to the bathtub, pick it up, roll it up, and thorow it in the garbage. Or B ) Stay there, use my bare hand, pick up the tiny piece, get out of the shower, all wet and my face full of shampoo, avoiding slippin' down and breaking my head, get some paper towells, roll the fucker up and throw it away. and keep in mind this all happened in seconds. And Im late for school... the SOLUTION: I just stood there, looked at it. and then proceded to mush the shit out of it, with my FOOT, not my hand. until it kinda desintegrated,and the fucker went down the drain. But hey, I got to school on time! Ps Dont Judge me!

In the beginning there was rhythm

So here I am. The day has come now, I have been dreading this moment from a couple of months now. There is finally snow outside my house. Its cold, very very cold. Im not used to these minus 28 Celcius readings. But at the same time it makes this experience a lot more memorable. Think of movies like The shining, (or sheen-ing if you happen to have a mexican accent :).
But alas I do have internet, food, and music. And of course a lovely wife and a silly old dog. SO all in all everything is good in the jungle. The mighty Jungle.

The big question is: how the hell am I going to ride on the snow? I was reading somewhere on how to make or "pimp" some bicycle tires with screws in bwtween the rubber and the tire. Weird, but apperently they are the best thing for riding on Ice or Snow. And also I need to build my new bike pretty soon. It better be ready for the spring. Plus not having a Fixed gear bike in this town would be a shame, since there are virtually no hills. Except the big ones that go to the mall. So I should be fine for now. No need to go to the mall, not in this insane holliday times... even a small city gets the Xmas fever.

Riding in the fall was probably the most fun ever. Sunny yet crisp. A perfect weather for riding bikes. There was also not a lot of rain unlike the summer. We had a lot of rain. And I thought we left that weather in Seattle but no. Our vegetable Garden survived, but gave us a decent amount of produce. The peppers however were not spicy at all. The jalapenos tasted like a really ripe Green pepper. Almost like a Poblano but without the heat. We needed sun and we have it now.

Anyways ladies and gents. i should go work on my Mixes for Xmas presents. I know lame, but hey, they are thoughtfull gifts, in these cold bloodded old times.