Moto Cultures, Movie Reviews

When you sit on a Hog for a long period of time, say to Sturgis and back(around 2,000 miles) your mind goes bonkers!!  While it is one of the best feelings you can have(if you like riding motorcycles) your mind does jump around a lot.  Maybe it is the freedom feeling of the wind in your face, or maybe the splatter of that extra big bug on your face mask or maybe the smell of cow manure or maybe just the loud sounds that only a Hog can make.  At any rate I came up with this thought process coming back from the North country that approaches near brilliance.  My mind wondered over into what I call the “culture zone” of the motorcycle riding world. My mind says that there are basically four obvious cultures when it comes to the people who ride motorcycles.  Always taking the lead is what has been called the “one per centers.”  These guys and gals are the real tough guys and nasty women who are not beyond committing every crime and sin possible to mankind.  They created the real bad person image of the motorcycle riders with their wild parties that involved everything from scratching their butt while savoring their most favorite drug or alcohol cocktail.  Throw in a sex party or two and you got this crowd pegged!!  Now a days many of these originals are dead since they lived life hard with no regard for their long term health and complete oblivion to living to collect medicare.  Then there is the second culture that would be a reformed member of the first group who did wise up to considering that they would like to cash in on social security and medicare and while they still have the tats covering their body, still smoke Camels, and drink light beer, they are living a healthier life and still riding the highways.  Now we come to the third culture that may have a small percent of the second group hanging on but for the most part they ride the motorcycle just for the sake of riding and may have been riding since they were kids.  Their focus is on the road and not the side ventures of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, wild sex and gang membership.  They are just happy feeling the wind and hearing the sound of the moto as they cruise down the pavement. It also gives them a feeling of living out their alter ego that would reveal they enjoy feeling like a bad boy/girl, and looking the part of a “one per center.”  The fourth culture is the group that has made Harley Davidson a billion dollar company(the one per centers nearly broke it!).  They are the professionals(lawyers, engineers, doctors,CEO’s, nurses, librarians, and hair dressers) that buy a motorcycle to not just ride but to be as much like the first three cultures mentioned above and feel like they are real moto riders.  Now whether they are or not doesn’t really matter since that is their business; however, when they send their motos to Sturgis on a trailer and then fly into the Black Hill country to ride a few miles around the area you wonder what are they thinking.  Some where snuggled into these four groups or possibly they make up a fifth culture would be the “crotch rocket” riders.  These guys ride like there is no tomorrow and I am sure they are retired kamikaze pilots.  They just want to defy any type of safe riding and when they go down they splatter big time.  Recently I saw one doing wheelies on I-27 as he entered Amarillo at 80 mph.   Go figure!!  Now for a good ride this weekend, can’t hardly wait to feel the late season bugs hitting the face mask!!

Movie Reviews:

2016: Obama’s America, *****,-DISCLAIMER-I have never been or plan to be a Democrat or Republican, I vote for the man I feel best fits the bill for the President of the United States.  I have been a student of the United States of America presidents from George Washington up to the present for the past 8 years.  I have my opinions about each of these presidents along with my own rating system; however, it must always be understood that the rating of presidents only comes to realization after they have been out of office at least 10 years(my opinion). Plus, the overall world conditions must be considered while rating the president(again my opinion). There exists a panel of 238 presidential historians who use 20 categories to rate the ex-presidents of the USA.  They must have completed their terms and be out of office before they are ranked.  As the the succession takes place the new rankings are calculated and published.  Now for the movie review(possibly my thoughts on this subject should be published in future blogs about the rankings, etc.):  This movie is a documentary created by conservative author Dinesh D’Souza and is very well done.  While I have never heard of this person before in my lifetime, I was very impressed with his background(a native of India but educated in the USA) and his presentation in the movie, 2016.  His purpose was to demonstrate the dire consequences of a second term by President Barack Obama.  The movie is presented in a low key presentation that challenges the viewer to establish their own opinions and search for the truth relative to the performance of the current president.  He uses a lot of his information from the books written by Obama relative to the influence of his father on his philosophies and beliefs.  D’Souza makes a case that the president’s dream for this country is not in line with what many consider the American dream. I promise that some of the facts as to how our country is being “neutralized” by the actions of the president will give you chill bumps. One friend of mine who saw the movie said he didn’t sleep well for two nights. I challenge my readers to purchase a matinee ticket, get some fresh popcorn, watch the movie and decide for yourself.  

“Hope Springs”, ****, This is a very entertaining movie with excellent acting and a very true to life story(even though this movie is not a true story).  It stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as husband and wife for 30 years.  They are empty nesters and have slipped into a real rut in their marriage.  Streep decides she has had enough and enrolls them in a marriage revival week with counselor Steve Carrell.  The points that are missing in the marriage are: no sex, no fun, no thoughts off of the every day set pattern, etc.  Very well done and enjoyable to watch with a great ending. 

“The Words”, *****, This is an excellent movie and worthy of cinema awards recognition, at the end of the year.  Rory Jansen(played by Bradley Cooper) is a struggling novelist.  While rifling through his old belongings he finds a manuscript in an old briefcase he bought in Paris.  He reads it and decides to plagiarize it.  It becomes a huge success and makes the best selling list.  He is given many awards, money and recognition in the publishing industry and then the Old Man(played by Jeremy Irons), the true author of the manuscript comes into his life. This story was written by the Old Man about his own life.  A must see!

EA, SH.......:)!

greerman