My new friends at Bikesenjava in Maine have gone all out for my demo tour. I put together a little video of the obstacles they made for my visit because they are just amazing, right down to the details. If you live in the Maine area, please do come out to the public show they have organized on Saturday.

I am in Rockland, Maine with my wife Caryn, a bit of a long day to get here. Started at 4am, got to the airport, checked in, paid through the nose for my bike as usual, proceeded to customs, they pulled me aside because my travel plans were suspicious, they questioned me for about 30 minutes, finally got out, and proceeded to get the full security check feel down and bag search, then finally we rushed to our flight that was actually departing 25 minutes sooner than on our original schedule. Starving on the plane we ordered the only food they had which was a dodgy ’snack pack’ and a ‘right pack’ of pre packaged food, along with some tepid tea. With an hour long layover in Chicago that turned in to a 5 hour layover, we finally arrived in Maine and amazingly our patient ride, the owner of BikesenJava, Chris Christie and his son Hayden, were still there waiting for us. A typical travel day!

Yesterday was a blast at John Henry bike shop in North Van. I did a show, but the highlight for me was racing an ‘88 Norco Rampage in Jay Hoots dual speed stunt course, good times! Jay, you put on an awesome event buddy!!

More from Maine soon, should be a fun week of shows!!

It has been a week since I was diagnosed with bronchitis, and I thought I was almost over it, but it seems to be lingering today. I guess I’m a little impatient because I have lots of stuff coming up, like a demo at a local bike shop on Saturday (John Henry in North Vancouver), then I’m flying to Maine on Sunday for a week worth of school and public shows, followed by a school tour when I get home in BC, followed by etc etc!! So yah, I want to be healthy and strong. 

On another note, I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar (as Caryn has), and seeing this young, eleven year old fellow, Sungha Jung, do his thing is just unreal!

And on yet another note, check out this link to my friend Pats flickr page from the Sea Otter Classic.

Later….

I just finished reading a book by Frances Moore Lappe called “Getting a Grip - Clarity, creativity, and courage in a world gone mad”. The book talks about the current state of of the US Government right now, which she calls Thin Democracy; she spends much time talking about how as a people we have the power to create ‘living’ democracy. Learn more from her website.

Quotes….

Our ideas about reality determine what we see, what we believe is possible, and therefore what we become.

And when you think about it, how could we ever believe “the world” can change unless we experience ourselves changing?

The four hundred richest americans are all billionaires, with combined wealth of 1.25 trillion, roughly comparable to the total annual income of half the worlds people.

…as well as the need to feel that our lives matter, which for many people means contributing to something grander than our own survival.

Failing to bring meaning. Finally, Thin Democracy is dangerously vulnably because its materialistic premise can’t satisfy our higher selves’ yearning for transcendent meaning….Thin Democracy’s narrow, insulting assumptions about human nature cannot sustain dedication and sacrifice. Many US soldiers now risk their lives in war, believing they’re serving a high calling. But the built in logic of one rule economics mocks their idealism. Since 9/11, thousands of American soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq, while executives of US armament corporations have made a killing, doubling their own compensation.

Living Democracy-democracy as a way of life, no longer something done to us or for us but what we ourselves create.

And the most productive hunters share the most.

Worldwide, for example, more than a third of all grain and 90 percent of soy gets fed to livestock. Future generations may well scratch their heads: You mean, in the early twenty first century their feedlot system put 16 pounds of grain and soy in to cattle to produce only one pound of beef on their plates? You mean that with the amount of water they used for that one pound of beef they could bathe for a year?
Similar plenty appears once we drop the scarcity lens surrounding energy. Our sun wind, waves, water, and biomass offer us a “daily dose of energy” 15,000 times greater than in all the planet harming fossil and nuclear power we now use, says German energy expert Hermann Scheer.

We and the butterflies are in this together.

Beneath our awareness, perhaps, we are coming to realize that our acts do matter, all of them, everywhere, all the time.

One Choice We Don’t Have: In fact, we have no choice about whether to be world changers. If we accept ecology’s insight that we exist in densely woven networks, as just noted, then we must also accept that every choice we make sends out ripples, even if we’re not consciously choosing. So the choice we have is not whether, but only how, we change the world.

Monkey See, monkey do, suddenly took on a whole new meaning for me. Since we humans are wired like our close relatives, when we observe someone else, our own brains are simultaneously experiencing at least something of what that person is experiencing.

In private life, when we go to a friend for advice and that friend simply listens, we’re often amazed to discover it is we oursevles who have the answers. We may have had them all along, but formulating our ideas to make ourselves clear to someone else enables us suddenly to “see” those answers for the first time.

Most of us learn to deny that we’re squelching such needs; maybe it is just to painful to acknowledge how much of ourslves we’re giving up. But if these needs aren’t met, most of us don’t just roll over and pretend we don’t have them; we seek their satisfcation in less than ideal ways…unable to safisfy our yearing for connection through common endeavor, we try the next best thing, to feel included because of our outer identities, wearing what’s “in” choosing work we think will please our parents or bring us status…Our yearning for power gets twisted, too. Power, as I’ve said, means our “capacity to act” but if we feel we can’t make a dent positively, we go for control. If we feel put down at work or at home, not heard or seen, we’re temped to try to exert control over something, maybe our child, our spouse. In its extreme form, the response to thwarting our innate need for power is violence.

Sitting deep in the cushioned armchair, his sweet face framed by a stiff white priests collar, Reverend Njoya paused for only a moment. Then he said, “Fear is an energy that comes from insdie us, not outside. It’s neutral. So we can channel it into fear, paranoia, or euphoria, whatever we choose.” He rose out of his chair. “Imagine a lion,” he said, crouching. “When a lion sees prey or predator, it senses fear first. But instead of lunging blindly in defense or in attack, it recoils.” Reverend Njoya moved back, leaning on his left leg and crouching lower. “The lion pauses a moment, targets his energies. Then he springs.”

I’m just a drop in the bucket. My effort might make me feel better, but it can’t do much…..Every time we act, even with fear, we make room for others to do the same. Courage is contagious.

From this premise of lack, we are finished. We end up locked in a belief system that actually creates the very scarcity we fear.

“Seeing is believing” is a charming aphorism, but maybe it’s also wrong. More accurately, when it comes to humans, “believing is seeing.” We must believe another way of living is possible in order to see it actually taking shape around us.

Mare Mead “Big campaign donors aren’t in it for altruism. They don’t consider their money a contribution; they consider it an investment.”

Which head of lettuce you pick up today or where you buy your next T-shirt may not seem like a world-chaning decision. But it is. The Spiral of Powerlessness is generated not only by laws on the books but by norms that our daily acts create. If we buy pesticide sprayed food, we’re saying to the food industry, yes, yes, give me more of that. If we buy organic instead, we are stimulating its production. (Why do you think McDonalds serves organic milk in Sweden but not here?)

I had this open in my browser for two weeks until I finally had time to watch it. PBS is such a fantastic resource, and since I rarely watch TV, having access to programs like the one I link to below is perfect.

Much of what was in this documentary is what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was pointing toward in his speech last week.

I hope you can make some time to watch this documentary, click here then on “Watch the Full Program Online”. Yes it’s US politics, but it is truly a global issue…Go Barack!!

Just a short video to share some of the sights and sounds from the Green Living Show in Toronto last weekend. I think it is now officially trendy to ‘be green’, and I can’t think of a better trend to jump on the bandwagon with.

I am just enjoying some last minute rest before heading out to do a demo. While drinking a cup of freshly juiced carrot, apple, and ginger juice (supposed to be good for the bronchitis), I stumbled upon this trailer for a new movie (yes, it’s Mike Myers), check it out….(I clicked through to this on a blog I frequently visit).

On the topic of movie trailers, I’m a Jackie Chan fan, and a Jet Li fan, so going to see this movie will be a no brainer, nice!!!

On a more serious note, read and then click on the link to watch….

If you’re a BC resident, this short documentary is an interesting glimpse in to the privatization of river power plants throughout the province. Sign up for the e-mail to stay informed and spread the word, good to be aware of what’s going on.

I have just arrived home after a month on the road, a fantastic month of shows that took me through Northern BC, down to California for the Sea Otter Classic, across to Toronto for demos at The Green Living Show, then finally to Ottawa for a shop show. After mixing in some very early morning photo shoots, breakfast TV shows, and late nights, and not enough yoga, my body decided it had had enough, so now I am at home in bed, sick with either bronchitis or pneumonia, and strep throut. Have you ever gone through an exceptionally busy time and right at the end, when all commitments were done, got really sick? Our bodies way of giving us a forced rest.

For me though, it’s tough, this rest is short lived, I have to pick up my trailer and get ready to perform on Saturday. Hopefully the antibiotics kick in in time, because it’s hard to cancel a show that is being advertised on the radio, and in the newspaper, some people make an extra effort to see me, and I have known people that travel a fair distance to do so. Even if it is just one person, or one kid that is bummed, that is enough for me to grit my teeth and make it happen. One worry is being contagious, but as I understand, after two days of antibiotics, people around me should be in the clear; or is that an old wives tale? Robin Coope, hopefully you can come announce for me buddy, like the good ‘ol days where you couldn’t get a word out of my mouth!

So the last demo in Ottawa  (well technically Gatineau), my symptoms were starting to show. The weather was cold, but clear, and I had been up at 5am in Toronto, to get a photo shoot in. Of course traveling to the shop, and eating nothing but ‘Timmies’ and ‘Coffee Time’ didn’t help with my health. I then started setting up my old demo structures which live out in Toronto. I was at this shop last year with my ‘nice’ western demo set-up, so as far as the look and flash, it’s a step down. Managed to muster off the show, sign a whack of posters, and all was good, and my petty worries about performing on my old stuff was a non-issue. Friendly folk there, even took me out to Dinner, thanks JF!

Once I muster enough energy, I have a little video tour edit of the Green Living show to post, I was so excited to have been a part of that event, and wanted to share some of it with you.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out over the last month, couldn’t do these tours without all the great people along the way. 

Nice!! 

Ryan

An interview with one of my favorite authors; Ken Wilber tells it like it is, through his brilliant integral perspective which has helped me make sense of the big questions, helped me make sense of the science vs religion arguments that just can’t be ignored in todays times. If you make it through the interview, a good chance you may just pick up one of his many books for more.

Ken Wilber Interview

an exert….

You’ve written that there’s a philosophical cold war between science and religion. Do you see them as fundamentally in conflict?

Personally, I don’t. But it depends on what you mean by science and what you mean by religion. There are at least two main types of religion. One is dependent upon a belief in a mythic or magic dogma. That is certainly what most people mean by religion. Science has pretty thoroughly dismantled the mythic religions. But virtually all the great religions themselves recognize the difference between “exoteric” or outer religion, and “esoteric” or inner religion. Inner religion tends to be more contemplative and mystical and experiential, and less cognitive and conceptual. Science is actually sympathetic with the contemplative traditions in terms of its methodology.

When you refer to mythic religions, are you talking about the kinds of stories we read in the Bible?

Or any of the world’s great religions. Laotzu was 900 years old when he was born. According to the Hindus, the earth is resting on a serpent, which is resting on an elephant, which is resting on a turtle. Those kinds of mythic approaches aren’t wrong. They’re just a stage of development. Look at [Swiss philosopher] Jean Gebser’s structural stages of development. They go from archaic to magic to mythic to rational to pluralistic to integral and higher. Magic and mythic are actual stages. They’re not wrong any more than saying “5 years old” is wrong. It’s just 5 years old. We expect there to be higher stages. There was a time when the magic and mythic approaches years ago were evolution’s leading edge of development. So we can’t belittle them.

Where do you think the scientific worldview falls short when dealing with religion?

Conventional science has correctly dismantled the pre-rational myths but it goes too far in dismantling the trans-rational. The mythic and magic approaches tend to be pre-rational and pre-verbal, but the meditative or contemplative practices tend to be trans-rational. They completely accept rationality and science. But they point out that there are deeper modes of awareness, which are scientific in their own way.

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