August 2011

    I hope your summer is cruising along nicely,
    I also hope those of you who went had a great time at the June Jam. From what I hear ya did. As for me, I had to cancel going this year (damn it). But I was ready! This year I made sure my golf cart was running good. I bought my ticket in advance. I pre-ordered a manly sized (spelled “fat guy”) June Jam 2011 event T-shirt. I started packing my clothes and stuff. I put fresh strings on the old Gibson and dug out my harmonicas. Hell, I even rolled a boatload of cigarettes for the weekend and stuck ‘em in my freezer just so I wouldn’t have to do that at the last minute. But as Robert Burns once wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” (Hemingway later titled a book after that). Another way of saying that is “Shit Happens”.

   It’s hard to believe that next month summer will be over for this year. I’ve asked people this before....but is it just me? Or does it appear to all of you (unless you’re in the joint, rehab or hospital) that time just keeps passing faster and faster? And it’s most evident when you’re not looking and things slip up on ya. Sometimes all I gotta do is look at the backs of my hands, and I end up asking myself, “Where the hell did all these wrinkles come from?”
   Often a week has gone by when I thought it was only a day or so. Even whole years have slipped past as a blur. For instance, it was twenty one years ago this month when our troops were first sent to the Gulf. As a matter of fact a lot of the military people who are over there now weren’t even born when Saddam invaded Kuwait. And in a few months it will be ten years since the official beginning of this current war, the longest in US history!

   But dialing back on the seriousness of all that stuff.....
    Many times I think of something that occurred recently, and then realize it was much longer ago. I imagine that the reason for that is the more memories we acquire, the more those memories have to be condensed and compressed to fit into our head bones, even if the people who are supposed to know these kinda things say that most of our brain is left unused. I’ve often said that every time I learn something new I end up having to forget something else to make room for it. That’s my excuse anyway (and I’m stickin’ to it).
    On the other hand, young people have just the opposite problem because their head bones are still relatively uncluttered. That’s why to kids, the six hours they spend in school each day seem to drag on. If they don’t remember much of what they learn there it’s only because they’re not paying attention or they’re not focused. They might forget to take out the trash, but things like, “But you said.....” or “You told me I could!” are often heard in most homes. So, it’s not about their memories. Later to them, the four years they spend in high-school seem to take a lot longer, and if they go on to college......a lifetime.
   When they finally finish their schooling and enter the real world, their first few years as young adults might go by at a relatively quick pace because they’re so busy trying to get their acts together. All of them mistakenly believe that they’ve accumulated a wealth of knowledge since they’ve experienced so much in their young lives. Unfortunately they therefore also think that they possess the wisdom that should accompany this vast knowledge......but of course they don’t because they really haven’t, and often make some absolutely horrible decisions.
    Back in my younger days before MY mind was cluttered, time passed soooo slowly that even things like songs that were heard on the radio and recorded only a few years earlier were considered ancient. We called them “Moldy Oldies”. One of those songs was titled “Ooh La La” by a band called “The Faces”, first released in 1973. It states, “I wish....that....I knew what I know now....when I was younger.” Now ain’t THAT the truth? But what the hell do I know now anyway? I don’t know beans because I’ve had to forget everything that’s really important to make room for the dumb stuff I’ve allowed myself to be exposed to on a regular basis.
   It would be nice to be able to sift through our experiences in life....to actually pick and choose what we’d like to retain in our minds. I’m not saying that we should change our pasts.....our pasts are what make us what we are now. I’d just like to “edit” a few things from memory.
   I was once married to a woman who could do that at will. She had a “convenient” memory enabling her to forget things whenever she liked, or remember them however she wanted to. Needless to say it drove me nuts (and no, it wasn’t my most recent ex). The truth is sometimes I envied that woman because like most of us, there are some memories I wish I didn’t have.

   Moving on....
    I went to a local bike nite at a place called the Ice House Inn last night and noticed something odd for the umpteenth time (which says it really isn’t that odd and I should be getting used to it). This bike nite is pretty big, and there were at least 600 people there, and often there are more (plenty of them my age, or thereabouts). Unlike most of these events, the Ice House has a radio personality DJ, various rodeo games, drink and food specials, raffles and prizes.
   On this particular night I was surrounded by local motorcyclists, and I barely knew more than a couple of ‘em. I remember a time when any bike event in this part of Ohio was full of people I knew. In fact I knew some of my friends ONLY from bike events (like swap meets, poker runs etc.) because the events were so few and far between that some of us had to travel pretty far to get to them. It’s sorta like saying to a long-hair back in the late 60’s, “Hey! There’s a rock festival goin’ on.” We’d do whatever we could to get there, no matter where it was.
   As I walked around checking out the “custom” choppers and various “biker” fashions on the ladies, it occurred to me to ask myself, “Where were these people a few years ago?”, and I had no idea.
   My next question was “Why can’t we get these people to join ABATE?” and I immediately answered that one with, “Because they know nothing about us.”
   There are SO many new riders out there. And every day more and more people are deciding to take the plunge.....to get on a bike and feel the wind on their face, in their hair and in their souls. These folks were never exposed to ABATE by reading about us in Easy Riders when that magazine helped form our organization so many years ago. Back then the magazine even had a whole page dedicated just to ABATE each month. Hell, a lot of these people have probably never even actually read an Easy Riders magazine. If they’ve ever glanced at one every now and then it was just to check out the pictures of the chicks and the bikes. And you can bet that they certainly didn’t hear about us from sitting around having a few beers with their “old-school” biker buddies because most of these newbies didn’t even wanna know us in the old days.
   But that was then and this is now. Just remember, no matter how they project themselves, most of these people are brand-new to the whole lifestyle, even if they DID have a bike for a few months way back when. Directly because of this, they might be even more receptive to our organization, if they could just be told about it. So, get out there and tell ‘em. And let them know that EVERYBODY, from members of the hardcore 1% clubs to the Mayberry Motorcycle Association, supports us and allow dual memberships because WE ARE NOT A CLUB.
    Most bike nites and swap meets will let you set up a table and promote our organization for FREE. Just make sure ya know what you’re talking about so ya don’t come off like a dumbass or make ABATE look bad.
   ABATE NEEDS to grow people....quickly! If “Politically Correct” means what it has shown itself to be in recent years, sooner or later things are gonna change BIG time for all of us in the lifestyle....and THAT probably won’t be good. We need numbers if we want to maintain and salvage anything of who we are and what we used to be. Welcome these people, tell them about what we do, and encourage them to join.......we need them badly.

    Enjoy the rest of your summer and I’ll talk to ya next month,
                                Bummer

PS.....Since I’ve been asked about it a number of times... The book “Onward Through The Fog: Conversations With Pappy” is doing well and is now available through Barnes and Noble as an Ebook (they call it a Nook) and through Amazon (as a Kindle). I’m working on it becoming a Google Ebook, so anyone with a computer will be able to down-load it at my greedy publisher’s price. Of course the actual book that you can hold in your hands (or leave in your bathroom) is still available. I’d suggest buying it from PublishAmerica.com where I’ve arranged for it to be sold there as a paperback for $9.95, even though I don’t make squat from it at that price....the publisher does. It’s not about the money to me anyway, I’d just like ya to read the damned thing. It’s also listed on Amazon from various people for various prices.