Thunder Ridge Motorcycle Rally - Directions and Survival Guide

DISCLAIMER: I am not an organizer for the event, just an interested geek, rider and blogger.  I want this rally to get bigger and better for riders in mid Mississippi.

I went to the Thunder Ridge Motorcycle Rally in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi on Saturday afternoon.  The first problem I ran into was finding the place.  The maps from Google and Bing did not show the right place.  It is NOT right outside Philadelphia, MS.  I've submitted changes to Google, so hopefully this won't be an issue in the future.  The second problem was that I was very low on gas when I got there and didn't know where a gas station was.  However, I made a custom map showing the Right location and the nearest gas stations.

Real Map to Thunder Ridge Motorcycle Rally location

I hope you will find it useful. ( click 'Right location' or the map to view in Google Maps )  The event is on Hwy 19, just a few miles from Hwy 25 in Winston County, well, it might be in Neshoba County, but close to the county line either way.  I also marked the Natchez Trace because it would be cool to ride the Trace almost to the Rally.

After going in a big circle - adding an extra 36 miles to the trip! - we finally found the right place thanks to folks at Woody's in Noxapater.  The first thing I realized we would need to bring to the August Rally was Camp Chairs.

If you don't want to sit on the ground or your motorcycle, bring camp chairs.  If you will be lounging around during the day, bring a source of shade!  Canopy tent, umbrella, whatever kind of shade you can carry around with you.  Also - Wear Sunscreen.

We went during the day, so there was not a whole lot of bikers out and about.  This is only the second year of the Rally, so not a whole lot of vendors - although I did get a great Chubby Cup quick release cup-holder for my Vulcan 1700 classic, "Sexy."  It is made in Amory, MS, so a double bonus!  I am sure the later evening and night would have been much better, but we have a huge trip coming up and couldn't spend the night partying.  We will plan a longer stay at the August Rally.  All in all, it was a good 220 miles of riding for the day!

I Looked for a "Rally Etiquette" guide somewhere, but didn't see one that worked.  So, just some a couple 'good idea' rules :

1) You can look, but don't touch someone else's motorcycle.  Don't get really close if the owner is not around.  Do NOT sit on any motorcycle that does not belong to you or your significant other.  If you want to check out a motorcycle, ask the owner first.  Still do not touch.

2) Be Courteous.

Here is the link to the Facebook event planning and Here are some pics :

View from the car parking area toward the ticket tent and hwy 19

View from the car parking area toward the stage and vendors

View from the concessions building porch toward the stage.

Little girl belting out some serious tunes

Okay, this needs some explaining.  We were behind the stage and I thought they were playing some Alannah Myles or some Vixen - seriously great vocals.  When we came around to the side and saw this little girl in a yellow top and pink shorts, I was greatly surprised.  She has some awesome pipes!  Not sure how I feel about the content of the songs she was singing at her age, but they were good.

Motorcycles and campers in front of the stage

Motorcycles in front of the stage and vendors beside it

Motorcycles in front of the stage, vendors and the space jump at the end.

Tattoo booth!

My Wife, Willice, talking with Mr. G about the stone jewelry his wife sells.  This is where I got my cup holder!!

Me washing and waxing my Vulcan 1700 Classic, "Sexy," after the Rally

Here's your post...

"Watch facebook tonight" - well, here's your post.  Remember - click the links to read more.

Ever since my obsessive, dangerous stalker tried to get me fired by sending my boss and cow orkers my blog and facebook links, it has been interesting.  I have enough trouble speaking when I'm not ticked off and frustrated, so talking politics in an office full of delusional con-jobs is beyond my verbal capacity - which is why I type.

So, I hear talk about how Obama is dodging the IRS "Scandal" and other bullcrap.  For one, the White House doesn't control the IRS, second, Bush appointed the IRS Commissioner who did the 'inappropriate' screening of 'conservative' groups, third, the IRS screening groups whose main agenda is making political statements against paying taxes is a no-brainer, it is NOT inappropriate.

"Miller became acting commissioner in November (2012), after Commissioner Douglas Shulman completed his five-year term. Shulman (a Democrat) had been appointed by President George W. Bush."

I'm disappointed in Obama for not standing up for the Truth and Facts.  "Sorry, if you form a group whose main objective is not paying taxes, then expect the IRS to scrutinize your application for Tax-Exempt status." - That is what he SHOULD have said.  The 'targeting' of con-people groups was done three years ago- in 2010.  If there were any 'liberal' groups dedicated to not paying taxes and picking apart the government, I'd assume that government groups, especially the IRS who is responsible for collecting taxes, would target them too.  Its just LOGICAL.

Taxes, which, by the way, are at a LOWEST Point in decades! So, the Tea Party nutjobs are doubly delusional.

"We have a 1950s level of taxation and a 21st-century-sized government," says Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a deficit-reduction advocacy group.

Meaning if you are serious about reducing the deficit, you want to increase taxes - specifically on the upper 2% and the tax-free Wall Street buys and sells.  We pay when we buy anything, shouldn't Wall Street money-changers do the same?

Benghazi - now there is a right-wing-nut manufactured 'scandal.'  How many of the 40 attacks on embassies and other diplomatic outposts have been investigated and politicized by the GOP in the past 50 years?  It seems they only give a crap when they are not the ones in power.

"What Fox would like to erase from its viewers’ memories is that, as the chart shows, there were many attacks on U.S. missions overseas during the administration of the most recent Republican president, George W. Bush.  It is crucial to Fox’s politicizing of Benghazi to make those attacks disappear down the memory hole, because there is an inconvenient fact associated with them: In the wake of the seven or more attacks on American overseas interests on Bush’s watch, Democrats did not politicize them the way Republicans are politicizing Benghazi today."

 And - Duh-Ta-Duh - the 'conservatives' fall right in line and when anyone mentions FACTS they sigh, "here we go, blame Bush."  Its not placing BLAME, its pointing out the facts and how much of a hate-based hypocrite you are.

"Speaking of 9/11, Republicans need to be reminded that after the attacks that September day, Democrats rallied around George W. Bush, a president they rightly viewed as an illegitimate Supreme Court appointee, because, in the wake of the attacks on their country, liberals reflexively saw themselves as Americans first and partisans last."

"Conservatives," however, see any attack against us as another weapon to destroy our president.  Screw the country, screw the economy, screw doing anything to actually improve things - they MUST destroy the president at all costs.  They are so power-hungry that they are blind to the damage they are doing.... or maybe they just really don't care... or worse, they want the country to suffer because it helps their cause.  They are sure we'll forget that they were in power for six years before the economy tanked, that they passed the Patriot Act and other catastrophic bills against freedom.

And to wrap up, here is another fine example of Fox New biased and often blatantly false "reporting" : Gas Prices and the President.  In 2008 under Bush, Fox took the stance that the President doesn't have any control over gas prices.  When Obama was elected, it changed the tune to say that the President has almost total control over gas prices.  So, which time was a lie?  I'd say both, because Fox News always lies.

Ever seen a Briar Root?

You can call them stickers, thorn vine, briars or other things that shouldn't be said in mixed company, but they are those annoying, hard to get rid of, thorny, tall briars.  They can grow straight up into trees even.

Ever wondered why they are so hard to get rid of?  You cut them down and they just come back, over and over and over again.

Here is why :

A PIECE of the root system with the single shoot of briar poking up.

A larger PIECE of the root system.

Most of the root system of a single briar.

I dug that root up on 4/27.  Below is what our garden area looks like now :

And, while I'm doing pictures - here are a couple of my first attempts at HDR photography.  I took these in RAW format and used Fotoxx to edit the RAW into different exposures and pieced 5 together to get these :

Yard Thistle - yeah, if you visit, leave the Thistle alone!! :)

Our Water Lily in bloom!

A couple more things....

From my last post, I had a couple more things to say...

"I believe the money I make belongs to me and not some liberal governmental functionary, Democratic or Republican, that wants to share it with others who don't work"

You know who doesn't work?  Mostly it is the elderly, children and the severely disabled. You may can add in stay-at-home Mothers of small children.  I admit there are some lazy, no good yet perfectly healthy individuals that are mooching off the system, but they are very few.  I am not willing to turn my back, our collective backs, on the needy just because of a few.

That is why we have Government - to do things as a whole that we can not do or do not want to do as individuals, to protect those of us who are most vulnerable from the predations of those who are most powerful and villainous and to protect the minority from the majority.

"I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac or any other item, you should do it in English.
I believe there should be no other language option."

And that is why we are falling further and further behind other nations.  I believe everyone should speak at least two languages.  That being said, speaking English is important for citizens of the United States. But how can you ask others to speak two languages if you are not willing to do so yourself?

"My great, great, great, great grandfather watched and bled as his friends died in the Revolution & the War of 1812. "

My great, great, great, great, great, great grandfathers fought and bled as their friends and family were slaughtered for their land, declared 'savages' and inhuman animals without souls by illegal aliens (also known as 'settlers') coming to his land from across the great ocean in the late 1700's.  My other great, great, great, great, great, great grandfathers may have been involved as settlers, but I think most came to these shores much later - being expelled from Scotland, running from famine in Ireland, escaping early Nazism in Germany.

They came here escaping governments with deep corruption, who had established official state religions and allowed monied corporations favors and privileges and tax cuts not available to their citizens... oh... wait!  That is almost where we are now!!  And exactly where the Republicans want to take us!!!

"My heroes are Malcolm Forbes, Bill Gates, John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and Willie G. Davidson, who makes the awesome Harley Davidson Motorcycles. "

Hmm... My Heroes?  Bill Gates works.  The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and him taking a $1 salary...
Warren Buffett maybe.   Henry Ford of course.

"What right have you, save service to the world, to think that other men's labor should contribute to your gains?"
"No one loses anything by raising wages as soon as he is able. It has always paid us. Low wages are the most costly any employer can pay."
(here is a good article about Ford and our situation today)

Bernie Sanders - the longest serving independent in congress.  Elizabeth Warren.
Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks.  Matt Damon.  George Carlin!! Willie Nelson.

Liberal Motorcycle Rider - a Conservative's Worst Nightmare

I found this post in a biker forum about him being a Liberal-Progressive's Worst Nightmare - which is apparently a well circulated hoax?

Well, I thought I'd respond here - since the post is a couple years old and I don't want to raise a zombie.

I am the Republican Conservative Regressive's worst nightmare.

I am a Multi-Racial, Happily Tax-Paying, Liberal, Progressive Motorcyclist.

I am a Computer Technician, a Programmer.  I work long hours with my hands and mind to earn a living.  I get paid to think for myself, use logic and reason to solve problems.

I was born on an Army Base and grew up in the country, feeding hogs, raising chickens, working fields, hunting, fishing and roaming the woods.  I build my own furniture and sheds and till and plant a garden to have fresh veggies and fruit.

I believe in Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Religion and Separation of Church and State, you know, like in the constitution.

I buy American Made products when they are of good quality and within my price range, but realize that doing so is not always possible because the pay of hard working Citizens has not kept pace with inflation or the pay rates of executives.  Everything keeps getting more expensive, but I'm not paid any more.  I also realize that Harley Davidson, Ford, Chevy and others have as many foreign-made parts, if not more, than 'foreign' brands and are not necessarily any more quality nor long-lasting.  Kawasaki - who makes my Vulcan 1700 Classic - has been making products here for over 40 years.

I believe the money I earn belongs to me, but I realize that I owe my share of paying for our military, public roads, law enforcement, utilities and the running of our government - even if I don't always agree with it.  I also don't mind chipping in to help those who are less fortunate, even if some low-life individuals abuse the system.  I also realize that a good bit too much of the money I earn is not given to me, but is given to executives who have little to nothing to do with my contributions to keeping my employer successful.

I think owning a gun is perfectly fine if you hunt for your food (not for sport), but you don't need an assault rifle unless you are in the military or law enforcement - and you should leave that one at work.  I think universal background checks are just a good idea and realize that its not the same as 'taking away our guns.'  I realize that there is a difference between protecting your home and over-compensating for being scared and feelings of inferiority.

I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God when and where they want to.  I do not, however, believe they have a right to force or coerce others to join them or even listen to them.  I do not believe that our public schools should be used to indoctrinate children into a specific religion - and it is not fair to ask kids to set themselves up for bullying by opting out of school-enforced prayer.

I don't hate the rich - I object to rampant greed. I realize that the ones taking more than they need while short-changing hard working people are hurting our economy, not the other way around.  I don't hate the poor who have the system's boot on their necks, keeping them down.  I don't blame the victim.  I realize that being rich or poor doesn't mean you earned it nor deserve it and that either fiscal position is often a conspiracy of circumstances.

I know wrestling is mostly scripted entertainment, not 'fake', but those are some amazing athletes and I'll watch it occasionally.

I've never owned a slave, nor was a slave - but I don't deny it happened and I don't deny that there are some people who would like to go back to that.  I have seen racial, sexual and religious discrimination, persecution and hatred.  I realize that "Freedom" doesn't include the freedom to harm others for your own gain or amusement.  I know that passing laws to try to force everyone to conform to your religion's set of rules and regulations is the opposite of Freedom and Liberty.

This is the United States! One country in America, which has thirty six countries in it if you consider North, Central and South America.  I don't like it the way it is right now - effectively paralyzed by a small group of loud obstructionists - and neither do a lot of our citizens. 

I Love the Promise of the United States, which we have yet to realize.  I want to keep moving (making Progress) toward the promise of all men (and women) being equal, with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and that means people of every race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, lifestyle and ability.

I support term limits for all elected officials and absolute bans on going from elected official to paid lobbyist.

I believe every citizen has the right and responsibility to vote in our elections - even those stupid enough to believe Fox News tells the truth or is 'fair and balanced.'  Although I'm on the fence about those who can't tell the difference between "There" and "Their" or "Then" and "Than", etc.

If you were born here and don't like it, you are free to move to any fascist country that will have you.  Stop trying to re-write history and 'get back' to that fictional version of our country that you created.

I think the cops have a right - and responsibility - to give you a ticket or arrest you if you are breaking the law, no matter how rich or well connected you are, but not just because you are riding a motorcycle or because of how you look or dress or the bumper stickers on your vehicle.

I also think it is good to have a photo id.  Its also good to register your vehicle and your gun(s) and any other potential weapons of mass destruction.  I think that is just being Responsible for your Actions.

I realize that "God" wasn't on our dollars until the 1950's.  I know that "In God We Trust" wasn't our motto until 1956 - replacing "E pluribus unum."  I realize that there has been a slow and steady erosion of the separation of church and state our founders created, weakening our country and our constitution.

I realize that not every child is lucky enough to have two parents to raise them and that just because they have only one parent or no parent or are rich or poor, that they still deserve every opportunity to learn, achieve and excel.  I prefer to base policy on reality rather than an idealized, mythical version of a 1950's household.

I believe Illegal is Illegal, no matter how much money you have or how well-connected you or your parents are and that being poor and unable to afford a lawyer (or congressman) is not a crime.

I believe "too big to fail" is a myth and that corporations are NOT the same as people.

I don't feel the need to belittle or deprive others just to make myself seem more powerful or privileged.  I realize that the better off my neighbors are, the better off that I am.  I realize the only rights you are entitled to are the ones you afford everyone else.

I don't need weapons to feel safe, I'm not afraid of people who don't look, talk or believe like me and I don't need a specific version of God, or any God, to be and do good.

I believe in The United States of America, in Freedom, Liberty and Justice for All.

If you think that makes me a Communist or Socialist, then you don't understand either term.  If you think that makes me a Bad American, then you don't understand our country.

Feel free to share and spread this if you like it.  Also feel free to comment, expound on it, etc.

Genetics Blows Bigotry's flimsy basis away

So, some mental Neanderthal claimed that 'it is proven' that Black people come from Neanderthals and White people come from a more advanced ancestor.

Well, that is just not true.  In fact, the factor that determined skin color is....

The Amount of Sunlight

Yes, as our common ancestors grew in population and spread out over the Earth, those who went to cloudy, rainy areas got pale.

Where our ancestors moved to and lived for thousands of years determined their skin color - and hair color.  I can just imagine the taunts and bullying that the lighter skinned children received at first.  Just because they were adapting so they could get more vitamin D from the sun in the cloudy region they were born into.

We all have African genetic traits in our DNA.  Some of us just changed more to fit our less sunny environments, our more forested environment, etc.

So, come on, people, now, smile on your brother, everybody get together and love one another right now....  :)

Fear and Living in Los Divine

Do you wish to be overwhelmed by something coming at you, or by something coming from you?

I've been thinking a LOT lately on why people act certain ways and I've pretty much boiled it down to one thing - Fear.

Many people are just plain Scared - terrified even - of so many things.  Somebody is going to steal something from them - somebody is going to try to beat them up - somebody is going to cut them off in traffic - somebody is going to have a belief that doesn't match theirs (so theirs might not be right?) - even extra terrifying (apparently) is if its someone who doesn't look or talk or dress like them.

For many people, their fear drives them to become exactly what they are most afraid of.  Often in an "I'll do it to them before they do it to me" reaction.  Or in the spirit of confronting what you fear - drive fast and aggressive to confront the fear of being cut off in traffic, Carry guns all the time to confront the fear of being robbed or shot, etc.

In essence, fearful people create the environment they fear the most.

Its not like I've stumbled upon something new or anything :

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration."  litany against fear, the Bene Gesserit, Dune, Frank Herbert

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” - Yoda (Star Wars)

"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes" FDR, 1st Inaugural Address

“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth.” Publius Cornelius Tacitus

“Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.” Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), English logician and philosopher

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Edmund Burke

“We tell lies when we are afraid… afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger.” Williams Tad

Below is a link to a great book to read or audio book to listen to if you prefer.  One reviewer I read said, "this book truly frees one's soul to live life without fear."

"NDW: Yes, but it just all sounds so overwhelming.

God: You are being overwhelmed now. It's just a question of what you choose to be overwhelmed by: present conditions, which could destroy your lives, or magnificent ideas that could re-create them.

NDW: Well, when you put it that way...

God: That is the only way to put it, because that is the way it is. Here is the question before all of humanity right now. BY WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE TO BE OVERWHELMED? Do you wish to be overwhelmed by something coming at you, or by something coming from you? You are right, this does all "sound overwhelming." It is supposed to be overwhelming. With this force -- the force of your ideas, the power of new beliefs -- you can overwhelm all the negativity in the world."

There are still things that I fear, but I am working on those.  One of the big ones is being humiliated (thanks, jerks in school).  I don't say things or do things a lot because of that fear and I hope to change that soon.