the warfare is mental

City To Close Streets On Two Sundays

*from The Potrero View

"As a bird needs to fly... People need to walk,” Bogotá, Columbia's former mayor Enrique Peñalosa is supposed to have said, in reference to that city’s weekly Ciclovia, during which 90 miles of roads are closed to automobiles. On Ciclovia, held on Sundays and holidays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., an estimated two million people take to the streets to recreate, dance and participate in cultural gatherings.

Ciclovia – “bike path” in Spanish – is a simple concept: create a car-free zone for people to use.  Cyclists, skaters, skateboarders, joggers, strollers and recreational enthusiasts of all types are encouraged to participate, free of charge. 

Thoughts on the Nature of Evidence

Today I thought about evidence. Not any evidence about anything in particular at first, but more about the root characteristics of evidence - what it is, what it isn't, when it is strong, when it is weak, etc. What we call evidence is merely nothing more than some fact or feeling, and it occurred to me that many of us (myself included) misunderstand the nature of evidence we often hang belief upon. Even more interesting was the discovery that in debates between atheists and believers, much evidence is inconclusive as opposed to genuine. Genuine evidence lends well to incontrovertible conclusions. On the contrary, inconclusive evidence cannot reliably sustain incontrovertible conclusions. Also note that several pieces of inconclusive evidence pointing to a conclusion carry greater weight than just one piece.

Tips On Starting A Business Or Non-Profit: Part 1

For the would-be entrepreneur or humanitarian, the necessary paperwork, unfamiliar language and administrative red tape required to launch a new business or non-profit organization can be vague and intimidating. After recently starting the process of creating a new business and 501(c)(3) organization in the state of California, city of San Francisco, a few tips and resources have certainly helped.

For the layperson wishing to create a new business or non-profit organization, the necessary preparation involves cultivating a near-impenetrable sense of patience. As one website was quick to point out, forming a non-profit is not for the faint of heart. The inconsistencies, roadblocks and errors often encountered when dealing with government agencies can drive otherwise dedicated, intelligent and passionate people raving mad. People will give you wrong information. People will make mistakes. People will be rude and susceptible to all the other human traits that compromise professionalism. If you are short-tempered, tell yourself ahead of time it will be beyond difficult, and just accept it. You'll also want access to the internet, a printer to print the forms, and a working phone to direct any questions to the appropriate agency.

On Evangelism

I was in the blogosphere this morning and came across a question:

"Is it okay for atheists to try to change people's minds? To try to convince people that their religion is mistaken, and that they should de-convert and become atheists instead? And is there any difference between that and religious evangelicalism?"

To begin, I'd respond by saying atheists are fundamentally incapable of any form of evangelism. This is because the word itself is inextricably intertwined with positive affirmations of faith. Now this is not to say that atheists can't or don't undertake similarly deplorable methods as evangelists in getting their points across. Nonetheless, the question the author asks is valid.

Are We Alone In The Universe?

In general, I take a non-committal stance on the question of extraterrestrial life. Like nearly every other question entangled in religion and metaphysics, the question of humanity's role in the universe is inevitably muddied by pop culture, mass ignorance of science and ulterior motive. It's fine if UFO enthusiasts and little green men supporters want to believe that carbon-based biogenetics also happened to evolve metazoa capable of traveling to Earth in mechanical craft ala Newtonian means, but don't say the facts of astronomy, physics or statistics support it!

Extraterrestrials Exist

Well, so says Bob Lazar and countless thousands of others at least. I'd like to discuss a few claims from Mr. Lazar as well as a few claims made about him in the following short video. If you're at all the type of person interested in the ET question, then this article is for you, but first I ask that you observe the evidence for yourself.

False Argument #15: The Telepathy Tropes

There are two opposite polarities of misinformation surrounding the phenomenon of telepathy. The first erroneously dismisses the entire gamut of legitimate evidence, and the second erroneously bolsters what little legitimate evidence actually exists. That no scientifically acceptable, persuasive evidence exists and that telepathy is a scientifically proven phenomenon are both equally false arguments. Although the phenomenon is inherently difficult to test systematically and is by no means proven, significant telepathic experiments have been conducted resulting in published works and peer-reviewed papers.

Psychic Kids: Children Of The Paranormal

As I was writing yesterday, I overheard a trailer for this show about kids experiencing paranormal phenomena. Since I've had more than my fair share of interesting phenomena occur throughout my life and have dedicated a substantial amount of time to reading and independent thought about the subject, I anticipated its 10:00pm debut on A&E. The show turned out to be both about as good and also a lot worse than I expected, and I do not mean to eschew or denigrate the families or producers. Contrary, I side with the parents in their estimation that what is happening to their children represents an authentic phenomena, but I think the methods used by the producers to present such a controversial subject to the general public are subjective, counfounded and devoid of any substantive scientific value.

Skate Dog

No offense to Rob, but this beast puts Meaty to shame!

Atheism And Theism - Both Logically Flawed

Many and possibly all traditional expressions of theism and atheism suffer from inherent logical flaws. The idea is in general accord with a debate I'm currently re-hashing with myself over whether a successful ontological argument exists, or whether one is even capable of existing, and if yes or no, then also on what grounds. My area of expertise is not philosophy or logic, and the presupposition in this particular argument is that I correctly understand the terms I use to support my thesis.

Teamrider Promotional Banners

These are a couple of web ads I did for Mike and Angel in early 2007, using Photoshop and Illustrator. Henry Sanchez sent me a message and said that Mike's ad "was dope." Mike is ultra sick and I'm glad to see things finally working out for him. He's the newest am on the Es squad and soon to be officially on Krooked, and everyone in Ventura knew for a long time.

Angel took Mike's place on Es flow and I can guarantee you'll be seeing more of him soon. He'll be in an upcoming Transworld article along with Mike and some more of the Yeah Brother crew. Angel was on DC flow at the time of this ad. He lives and skates in Ventura and works full time as a plumber.

Some Exceptional Writing Advice

If you are a writer who takes your work at all seriously, I cannot overemphasize the importance of this post.

I found a maize-colored, folded-up piece of paper a few years back that I couldn't assign to any particular source, but the words were so powerful and relevant to writing that I kept it. I don't know who wrote it. I'm posting it here not only because I think every so-called writer needs to refer to it several times annually for at least five years, but also in the hopes that somebody might know where the little gem came from at all.

OG Cardiel

So I was cruising around Jake Rosenberg's page again, and came across this great footage of John Cardiel. The Embarcadero stuff is classic. Check the benihana down the big three! Stay down!

Televangelist Transgression: The Health And Wealth, Abundant Life Tropes

Interestingly, this new age of televangelist reminds me of the classic New Age, realize-all-your-dreams-and-desires guru: Impeccably clean and dangerously persuasive, with just a slightly discernible veil of cunning. I wanna spout off about some of the typical American religious chutzpah I'm listening to right now, conveniently on Sunday morning.

The Minutemen - This Ain't No Picnic

Skateboard Freely!

Do you skate freely? Or are you chained to your ego?

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to progress is ego. We cannot reasonably expect to learn if we are unwilling to take risks, fall and appear vulnerable. Ego smothers creativity and the experimental approach to almost any art form.

In skateboarding, as well as other creative endeavors, we are usually much better off to operate freely with a spontaneous, subconscious, experimental approach than a rational, logical, problem-solving one. This applies especially in the raw generation of new forms, tricks, styles or techniques, where we respond to impulses from within as opposed to generating impulses from observation of pre-existing stimuli.

I frequently skate with people who dramatically over-think much of what they are attempting. I can almost hear their internal dialog: “Can I do this? I don’t know. This is hard. Arggg!” Such people are not wholly playing. If we take a playful approach to skating and enjoy it, learning becomes smoother and more fun.

Of course, polarization is almost always paralyzing and the problem-solving approach has its place in skateboarding as well. Working out a complex trick involves use of the problem solving mind and asking oneself a series of questions: “Why does the board slip out? I need to lean a bit more forward. Why did I fall forward? I need to lean a little further back.”

Think of the some influential skateboarders, and more likely than not it was their unique creative approach that changed the game: Mark Gonzales, Rodney Mullen, Daewon, Tony Trujillo, Paulo Diaz and Christian Hosoi come to mind. However, skateboarding also has its share of left-brain powerhouses as well: Jamie Thomas, Kerry Getz, Paul Rodriquez and PJ Ladd.

In any art form, what we should strive for is balance, and the master learns to condition the mind to switch freely between approach. There is a time for the rational, logical, problem-solving mentality and there is a time for the relax, let go and have fun mentality.

YouTube Experiment

So, I've noticed lots of bloggers break up the monotony of reading by including pictures and YouTube videos. This represents my first attempt at posting something other than raw text. Enjoy.

Anyone like to take a shot at explaining this peculiar phenomenon?

Had to balance the scholarly side with a little music... Hyphy's kinda dead, though.

Exploring Skateboarding's Familial Context

I can see how skateboarding gets messed up to the point of one skater disrespecting another. It’s just a microcosmical expression of something much larger.

Nowadays the humanity between people is often superficial. In our inner cities, some people generally spend the majority of their days surrounded by other people whom they rarely, acknowledge personally, if at all. Indeed genuine friendly-types exist who actually get to know the people they surround themselves with, but they are often looked upon with suspicion or a stigma of desperation.

In life, there are people who only exist and confide in a very small and limited, carefully pre-selected group chosen largely on accord of perceived congruence with self. The uncongenial attitude has now carried over into skating. In the beginning, there were very few skaters. Therefore, to see another soldier mobbing the streets was more of a rarity than a guarantee. After a while, most of the skaters across the country and even spreading further came to know each other. It was a tight-knit community. Now we have so many people into skating. Skaters commonly pass by or act aloof to other groups of skaters, taking them for granted, disrespecting their style, or whatever. I know it happens because I do it too. It's like an ingrained feature of humanity, but also one we need to question if we wish to progress.

On the other hand, it is also true is that now, there are so many skaters that to actually take notice of all them you encounter would eventually become encroach on valuable skate time, and here we find an equal argument for being an occasionally antisocial hater.

Dale Dreiling

Dale Dreiling is a Los Angeles based mixed-media artist with a diverse and very signature style.

Ken Goto

Especially if you skate, I would recommend giving Ken Goto a visit.

Ian Johnson

If you haven't had a chance yet, check out Ian Johnson, whose upcoming monograph will be available from Paper Museum Press.

Basil Wolverton Juxtapoz Ad

This Basil Wolverton feature was a full page ad for The Original Art Of Basil Wolverton, Last Gasp Publishing, running in Juxtapoz in October of 2007. I did the Mad bite in Photoshop; the rest was Illustrator.

Hinduism

Rooted in India, Hinduism is one of the older primary religions in our world.

Most every major religion has a collection of sacred texts and Hinduism is no exception. Over the centuries, Indian sages formulated a series of teachings and suggestions about life, which were slowly written to insure their preservation. Perhaps the oldest of them, the Brahmanas are a set of rules the priests gave for worship written between 1200 and 1000 bce. Estimated as being written around 800 bce, the Upanishads are a collection of answers from famous Indian teachers concerning questions about life and the universe. The ancient poems and hymns known as the Vedas were composed around 500 bce, and The Great Epics, a series of philosophical and religious poems mainly about legendary heroes and gods, had been passed down verbally for centuries before they were finally written about 100 bce. The Bhagavad-Gita is a short section from one of these epics, and it has become the preferred religious text of India. Its influence has spread to the west as well.

Although Hinduism is pantheistic in asserting that God is not a personal creator but the totality of all things seen and unseen, it is important to note that pantheism does not exclude the spirit world or spirits, and in Hinduism there are also personal beings, gods and deities of various order. A recurring Hindi trinity consists of Brahma, the creator; Shiva, the destroyer; and Vishnu, the redeemer. The three are said to work in a continuous cycle of creation, destruction and redemption. Brahma creates a new world. Shiva destroys it, presumably when the point of moral or spiritual no return has been reached, and Earth cannot hold any more evil. Vishnu comes in the form of a human to teach men something for a problem they cannot solve on their own. So for the Hindu, Christ, Buddha, Mohammed and Ghandi and other avatars are just further manifestations of Vishnu. The purpose for this continual cycle of creation is to perpetuate the karmic cycle and liberate humanity from its physical trappings. Furthermore, not all Hindus interpret these gods as personal beings, and some interpret them as essential human ideals humans imagine to be real. Under this idea, the real function of worshiping personal gods is to direct the worshiper towards the knowledge of the ultimate one truth.

As stated above, Hinduism asserts that God is not a personal creator but the ultimate reality behind and beyond all things. Different from Brahma, which has personal attributes and character, Brahman is impersonal ethereal and all pervasive. In essence, Brahman is not the most rudimentary aspect of life or of the universe; it is the most rudimentary aspect. The term denotes the supreme unity, "that" or "that one," the all which lies behind or beyond both existence and non-existence. In Brahman, there are no fundamentally divisive or exclusive differences. Rest and action are joined, as are good and evil. Everything is united, part and parcel of the same god or creation force. In the sense that Brahman lacks any division or represents a state of unison and the oneness of all things, one finds ancient conscription to the idea that behind order lies chaos. Hindus use the neuter pronoun in order to avoid any idea of a manlike god, personal creator or first principle.
 

Response To "A Different Way Of Knowing"

So I recently got into a thread that resulted in a near ban by the blog owner. I don't want to drone on about that here. Instead, here I wish to respond to what I feel are legitimate flaws in the piece in question, flaws that prompted my original thread comments in the first place.

In A Different Way Of Knowing, the author begins with slamming insights about the value of the intuitive-creative processes, arguing persuasively that irrational decision-making processes are valuable. For example, love, art and music all essentially reject empiricism and involve listening subjectively to our hearts, feelings and intuitions, and nobody would argue that these human traits lack value solely on account of their resistance to empiricism. Conceding that some aspects of life are better left to the intuitive method of gathering information, the author proceeds to argue that "the God hypothesis" is not one of them, and is better evaluated via empiricism and the scientific method.

Cult, Occult

The word cult (Latin colere) means ‘to cultivate’ or ‘to worship,’ and is occasionally mistaken as occult but has nothing to do with it, except that some cults base their rituals and worship around occult ideas. Occult (Latin occulere) means ‘to cover, hide or conceal.’ A cult is a noun and refers to a movement or group of people with a specific agenda; occult is primarily an adjective used to describe any of the various ideas represented by the Old Religions or their modern offshoots.