iPhones save time and prove men should run the planet

I finally took the plunge and ditched my old dumb phone for a smart phone. Being a Mac kind of guy I opted for the newest iPhone 4S which may well be obsolete by the time I post this as technology changes so fast.

Let me state that I am amazed at the amount of information I can access from almost anywhere including Facebook updates, pictures people post about their pets and other riveting things.

Besides the mundane such as emails and text messages I am now able to get the weather forecast anywhere in the world, pull up addresses with interactive maps, find gas, food, ATMs, fake having a Zippo lighter (fun but useless app) and Tweet about everything I find silly. I also have my own pocket secretary that takes dictation. Apple calls her Siri, I call her hours of entertainment. Sure, sure there is the 'talk to text' allowing me the ability to text faster but you can also have fun. The command "talk dirty to me" produced the following response:

"humus, Compost, Pumice, Silt, Gravel" letting me know that geeks have a sense of humour.

I am looking forward to this summer's motorcycle tour as I will be able to update viewers much quicker with pics, tweets and Facebook status updates , all while trying to sweet talk Siri into sexting with me.

While this sort of thing may not be new to so many of you already have a smart phone in some form or  other I am like a kid at Christmas with a new toy.
The downside to this switch from my old coal burning piece of crap cell phone to the most advanced one is that they don't talk to each other. Maybe they were married once??
This has required me to re-enter all my contact info manually. I figured it would be easy as so many of them are on my Facebook. A simple status update of "Hi folks, I have a new iPhone and need to re-enter all my contact info. Please text me so I can add you and send your email address too."
Problem solved right? Um, no. I forgot many of my contacts are female.
The resulting hassle of re-adding everyone has proven to me why the planet is mostly run by men and should remain this way.
Over the past 3 decades I have noticed a HUGE increase in the ego of the once fairer sex. It seems today's gal has a "Me, Me, Me, 'Aren't I the most important princess in your world?' Me" kind of attitude or maybe they just like to message back and forth and intentionally leave info out.

Every woman I know that has texted me just assumes they are the ONLY person in my world that has their given name. 7 billion of us on this orb, what are the odds I know more than one?? I believe it is a throw back to the "It's me game" girls play on us men early in the dating stage to see if we are 2 timing.
You know the call:

Me- "Hello?"
Her- "Hi its me!"
Me- "Me who?"
This is always followed by the cold treatment, no sex or just anger and no more dates.
Even my own sister ( I have 2) played the mind game as you can see by the screen shot below. Why do women do this? Especially when its your own sister?

This is why I am convinced men should run the planet. It keeps diplomatic communication from breaking down.
Example: The red phone rings:
President of USA- "Hello?"
Caller- "This is Korea and we are attacking!"
 President of USA- "Which Korea? I know more than one?"

Can you see the problem?
Ladies, we men love you dearly but at times you must accept that you are not the only thing on our mind. No really, its true. Now if you will excuse me I have a sexting date with Siri...if she remembered. At least she doesn't order the lobster then say "No!"

Sometimes technology really sucks

All the video I shot this last half of the summer is stored on a portable hard drive that just decided to stop working. It was fine one day and then I went to plug it in and nothing. No magical lights, no being recognized by my computer, no noise from it. It may as well be a rock.
Sometimes you just have to hate modern technology.
Thankfully the unit is under warranty. I am going to attempt to decipher the instructions to save the data and hope that it works.
 I don't want to name names but the unit really looks a lot like this.

Lets hope they can fix it and I don't lose hours of video that cost thousands to collect.

Now before any of you video pros tell me that I should have it backed up on 2 hard drives blah blah, the day you figure out how to fit all that on a bike you get back to me.
There was a finite amount of space and a finite budget for equipment. One of the quirks of small indy productions. You use what you have.

 Getting back to my gripe about technology. Over my many years of working with computers I have marveled at the leaps we have made but often at the expense of reliability. I'd rather have a slower computer that I knew would not freeze, die or crap out suddenly with no way to breathe life back into it than to have something that is faster including breaking down faster!

At times I think we are reverse engineering stuff from the Roswell crash and may not really understand it. Judging by some of our human behaviour I really doubt we have the intelligence to come up with some of these items on our own.
The offending drive has been sent in for data recovery. Lucky for me I discovered much of my footage still on my camcorder! Here is the latest episode until I unlock the rest of my files from my pocket "Borg"
There is a new one coming  very soon. Stay tuned.

Post travel recovery

I made it back home on September 27 just after midnight. It was a helluva day that started in Devils Lake North Dakota on a chilly 12C morning. Temps soared to 30C as I headed west and the wind decided to be a pain with a constant 60km blast with gusts exceeding that.

As the sun set I found myself still several hours from home and true to my memory of Alberta weather, once the sun goes down it takes the mercury with it.
Near Bassano AB I rode thru 4C temperatures. Quite a shock to the system as I was peeling layers off to stay cool just a short while before.
Since leaving Gander NL just 7 days earlier I have covered a lot of ground with several long days in the saddle to arrive home in time for a doctor's appointment. An appointment with a specialist that lasted 15 minutes and resulted in "We need to do another ultrasound on your injury." If only our medical system was as fast as my bike.

Now begins the work of building the 2012 tour. Plans are in the works to make this an even bigger year! Stay tuned.

My last few hours in Newfoundland are ticking away as I wait for the ferry. My visit to this most eastern and unique province was too short and probably not at the best time of year. September gets chilly and wet on Da Rock and because of that my chances to do any site seeing were limited mostly to the Trans Canada Highway and what I could see from there.
Even so it was a fun time. The Newfies, as they liked to be called, are some of the warmest, friendliest people on earth when they are in their happy place. No place seems to make them happier than being in Newfoundland itself. Because of this their enjoyment of home and their life is contagious.
I found myself doing things I wouldn't normally do in other provinces, breaking personal rules and not feeling any danger whatsoever.

Unable to find a campground still open near Cornerbrook, a local man invited me to set up my tent in his yard which was behind a pub.
"There's going to be a party tonight in the bar, come join us!" he enthusiastically said. Since it was getting dark and I had no where else to go I thought "Why not?". This tour is more about the adventure of finding something out of the ordinary and camping behind a bar certainly fit the bill.

In Grand Falls, after the show, I partied with strangers who took me out on the town and let me stay at their place. Well, in their shed. It sounds weird but believe me it was great. These are not like the 'sheds' back home, all filled with earthy smelling garden implements. No. These are like little guest cottages minus any plumbing. "Just water da bushes if you need to in the wee hours." I was told. Okay.

The fine folks in Buchans  were a lot of fun. Given the fact they live in a mining town that went thru hard times and exists where the paved road ends their behaviour is more like that of someone who lives in a tropical paradise. I parked my motorcycle on the sidewalk because that's what you do in Buchans.

It was they that honored me by getting me "screeched in"and making me an honorary Newfie myself. The ritual was fun, comical and heartwarming. Repeating a verse I can barely remember, kissing a cod and slamming back a shot of Screech, a throat warming, extra strong rum that gets your blood flowing!

 I was also treated to a Jigs dinner, which was a belly filling,  traditional Newfie meal. It was awesome!

Some of the things I did here would seem odd anywhere else, Here on Da Rock people are so laid back and non judgemental that it seemed normal. In fact they just greet you when you poke your head out of your tent in the morning as they pass by going to work....like it happens all the time!
I look forward to my next visit here and a bit more time to explore.

What to do next? What to do first?

I had fully intended to have a few more video episodes online by this point in my trip. The logistical obstacles I've encountered are as follows. Keep in mind this is not intended to be a "Poor me" story, I am just saying it the way it is.
OBSTACLES
1) Time. After riding and/or doing a show my time (plus energy) is not always there. Currently I am wearing many hats and doing most of the work myself.
2) Glitches. Maybe its my disdain for how they make computers faster yet they are not more reliable or perhaps I am one of those people that produce electromagnetic waves that interfere with electronics. The past two episodes I made were close to completion when suddenly sound tracks would go out of sync or stop working altogether. ARRGGHHH!! I have had to redo them both at a great time expense. iMovie (which I am currently using as my editing software) has some problems and they don't seem too busy over at Apple on fixing them.
What I need is new software or better yet, an editor that can travel with me so I can concentrate on the other stuff like a daily blog, pics, newsletters, shooting video and of course the comedy. Trying to add video editing into my task list (combined with travel weariness) just seems elusive at times. If you have ever done video editing you know its an art unto itself. Add glitches and it makes it very frustrating.
I also bought a new portable Hard Drive that has been acting up but have not had the time to take it back. Faster, not more reliable.

A ghost a work? you can see thru me on this one

SOLUTIONS
Currently I have been searching forums for the fix to my iMovie woes and seem to have that bug  sort of , kind of worked out. I should have a new episode out soon.
I will be making them shorter to ease the editing burden and to keep iMovie happy. In its inferior state it gets cranky when videos pass the 5 minute mark.

As always my brains asks "What to do next?". Tonight I decided after a day spent riding in rain, waiting in a picnic shelter for almost 2 hours waiting for said rain to stop, that my brain was not able to accept video editing stress so this blog won out as the task to work on tonight.

A more "focused" me, working by lantern at night

Often that is more my method, "What do I have energy to do today?" What I have now begun to do  on this trip is to take more pictures of unusual places and things. This blog will be about those. iMovie and the next video can sit one more day.

Beach at "The Ovens"

Last night I had a very cool campsite at at place called "The Ovens" which is a privately owned natural park in Nova Scotia. My campsite was perched upon a tree covered cliff with the sound of surf crashing below. I felt like I had the 3-D version of a subliminal motivation or relaxation CD.
This area was part of a gold rush in the late 1800s when gold was discovered along the coast in these caves dubbed 'The Ovens". There is a very pleasant self-guided walking tour along the coastline where you can view these caves and actually enter some. A must see if you are in the area.

My camp by day

I'm always intrigued by places like this especially when you are allowed to self explore. Guided hikes move too slow for me... or too fast depending on what we are examining at the time. For the caves I set my own pace and snapped a few pics and shot some video, which I will fight with in iMovie later.

There is also a cool cafe that serves awesome food for a very reasonable price, especially considering the view it came with. The Atlantic Ocean with a bank of fog several miles offshore back lit by the setting sun. Add food and beer, all this was had for under 30 bucks.They also had live music at night from some very talented local artists.
I never would have found this place had I not bumped into a pair of motorcycle couples that insisted it was THE place to camp. They were almost pushy but then, they were right.
For a flat lander camping by the ocean is a treat. The crash of the surf, the smell of the salt and, in this case, the far off fog that loiters in the area. It actually came inland in the morning to give me

Checking out one of "The Ovens"

my full maritime experience.

The choice of cool campsites was a struggle as being their after summer's last long weekend meant I pretty much had my pick. I chose the one on the cliff rather than one seaside as I felt it offered more weather protection. Rain was in the forecast for the next day.

Inside the cave

Had there been a clearer forecast I would have stayed 2 nights. Later that night the rain came to prove the weather man correct. By morning it had stopped and just hung like a thick dew as a morning fog slowly crept back out to sea.
I was treated to a bit of sun for an hour and used that to break camp while things were dry.
I had a warm bed in Halifax waiting and that won out over huddling in a nylon dome for what was about to become a very rainy day.

This is my first long spell of days off and as Murphy would have it, coolish and damp. So much for camping and time to visit old pals so Halifax is where I am parked.

Don't forget to check out the latest Episode #13. I will have #14 up soon.
Thanks for stopping in,
Cheers, Daryl Makk

After dinner drink. Wish you could see this for real.

Moose antlers made into art

Foggy beach looking back toward my camp area

Caveman dumbells?

Travel by motorcycle and at times you feel small!

It's been warm and I am loving it

Hi folks

I’ve recently been treated to some very good riding weather the past few weeks. In fact I  did 6 days in a row in +30C temperatures! Yes! 

It gave me a chance to test the Tourmaster jacket in heat while packing away my electric liner for awhile. Other than when stopped in traffic the jacket’s flow through ventilation works well at keeping me cool. It is a touring jacket, not a mesh jacket more adapted to commuting in hot areas, so I expected some heat while in traffic. On the road,with only a wick dry t-shirt underneath it is fine until you get in the high 30’s which is not fun in any gear.

The Tourmaster Venture pants, while waterproof can get a bit clammy inside on warm days when its too hot to wear my Oxford Chill out undergarments. (these are great at wicking moisture until the temps get above 25C then you cook). It would be nice if they could add a vent, with a Velcro flap over it (like on the jacket), on each leg for some airflow. I could just switch to my Draggin Jeans but there are still a lot of bugs and I hate doing laundry. My compromise was to just sweat it out and drink plenty of fluids and open the side zipper up for some weak airflow

I’ve also had a chance to use my Tourmaster Orilmesh hot weather gloves, which proved to be quite comfortable in the heat. The only caution is when taking them off; as with any glove with an inner liner, pinch the fingertip, as you remove your hand, to ensure the liner stays in the finger hole. I removed one too quickly and had the liner shift in one finger and it took a bit of hand wriggling to get it back in. They have become my daily glove in the heat.

The heat is nice but it’s also nice to have some relief. I shouldn’t complain that I got soaked today so, I won’t. It was a ‘wetter than needed to be day’ and lets leave it at that. Solid rain for 4 hours will cool you off and also wash off a lot of the bugs collected on the front of the bike.

I’ve since left the prairies and its excessive amount of insects in exchange for Ontario and its excessive amount of speed enforcement that seem as thick as flies in an outhouse. It baffles me how the public can swallow the “Slow down for safety” BS that is nothing more than a disguise for taking your money. 

90 kilometers per hour is all the widest province in Canada will allow, sometimes even less. With today’s cars and bikes and their improved handling, tires and brakes it smacks of nothing but a cash grab especially given the militant amount of patrol cars I have seen in Ontario. It almost resembles a police state given the amount of patrol cars (most seem to be fuel sucking SUVs for some reason)

The powers that be cite it is for safety but I disagree. Making people go slower than need be creates an adverse effect on both motorcycles and cars. I’ve seen more stupid close calls on these slow speed highways than when I was on the 110kph roads of the prairies. When you slow everyone down, their thinking slows down too. Why do we cater to the lowest of skill levels? Better to scare 'iffy' drivers off the road in my opinion. Its safer if they are on a bus.

I am reminded of a line from the 1976 movie Gumball Rally character Bannon, played by Michael Sarrazin “Fifty-five (90kph) is fast enough to kill you, but slow enough to make you think you're safe.” commenting on the USA federally mandated speed limit imposed in the 70’s which was a failure.

On a sport-touring bike you feel robbed. The bike handles better at triple digits and I get more airflow hitting my shoulders, which takes the strain off my arms/wrists. 

On the map Ontario looks like winding roads through forests and lakes but the powers-that-be have ironed out most of the corners to the point where they are even boring in an 18 wheeler. I know, as I used to drive semis through here often, in a job that seems a lifetime ago.

To get some lean time in and prevent my tires from going square, which can spell disaster should a biker suddenly have to swerve, I have developed 2 methods to counteract the boredom and address the safety factor.

Method 1- Scrub the tires often. When no traffic is present I slow the pace to scrub the tires, which is a method of zig zagging while increasing the aggressiveness of each zig and zag. The idea is to get the edge of the tire scrubbed to a fresh surface.  You see racers do this before the start of a race.

This should be done whenever you start your day, go through puddles or come off a gravel area. You don’t want to leave a gravel parking lot with dust on your tire and when the need to swerve arrives your contact patch has debris on it that can cause a loss in traction. I like to use the dotted lines and find my slalom course through them ceasing when I see oncoming traffic although I do give them 1 or 2 zags so they notice me from a distance

Method 2- Enter the corner late and take a late apex. Coming into the corner late then making the turn allows me to find an apex that will simulate a real corner and get some lean time in. Often I can do several in one big sweeper.

Leaning and cornering is what makes motorcycling fun and to the non-riders out there please understand this. If you are the slowest one in traffic (read- tourist in a motor home) let us by before the twisty sections come up. Trust me, you won’t see us for long and it is these corners (which scare you) that bikers have ridden for days to experience. Pull over. Being behind you is a safety concern as a bike is unable to see ahead for road obstacles etc.

Riding without leaning is like golfing without clubs, pancakes without syrup or sex without a partner. You just don’t get the full experience.

Traveling through Ontario’s north is an exercise in patience. It’s a big province to cross taking 3+ good, full, looong days of driving to complete. Luckily I had a few stops to make to break it up. There are some nice lake areas to see and, if you are into fishing, Ontario has it in abundance. There are boat rentals at almost every body of water or just fish from the shore for walleye, pike, bass and muskellunge. If I had a bit more time I’d go try to catch dinner.

It seems some of the rough roads of Saskatchewan have loosened a luggage bracket so I am going to go over the bike and tighten things up. I don’t want her being too loose a woman.

Cheers

Daryl Makk

She has a name!!

Well after a few weeks of running a contest, some debating amongst my esteemed panel of judges (read-drinking buddies) plus an online poll of the best contenders one name has emerged victorious over all others.
I shall now refer to my new bike as Wild Blue Mama - Road Seductress or Wild Blue or Wild Blue Mama for short.
A close second was Touresa, which had a nice ring to it, but did not follow the contest rules. The first letter of the bike's name had to come from one of the letters in the factory monicker (K1200RS). Hmmm, no T in there but Touresa  is a cool name none the less. Perhaps I'll use it for my second bike I plan on buying in the fall. One can never have enough bikes.

Road Seductress...I suppose so as I have already put almost 10,000 km on her since getting the plates and registration done just a month and a half ago.
Her first trip was a helluva test for an unknown bike. We just released the video of the maiden voyage.

Episode 12,  the return leg will be out soon.

This week I'll be riding Wild Blue Mama out to the KGB show in Crawford Bay, BC. Come join me for the funniest outdoor show this summer. Maybe we can go for a ride and you can chase Wild Blue Mama  thru a few twisties?

Once she is parked for the night I'll be at my campsite sipping a few cold ones. Please bring more ! It can get very dry around a campfire.

So far I have been very impressed with the bike.

 It has great power with the same fuel economy of my old bike. It handles like a dream. The comfort level is much better than my old bike and I cannot say enough about how awesome it is to have real cruise control for the straight sections. It gives much needed relief to the right wrist after holding the throttle down for hours.

I do have one small niggling complaint and it is one I have with many motorcycle manufacturers. The windshield (or windscreen if your prefer) is made for a runt! I'm talking a runt of 5'9" or shorter. Have the factories not clued into the fact that many many riders, especially in North America, exceed 6 feet in height? Because of this too low windshield I am constantly buffeted and putting up with excessive wind noise. Even with earplugs it is a bit much on a long day and this bike was designed for long days in the saddle (which is a very comfy saddle for my meatless arse).

Currently I'm seeking a solution. I purchased a Laminar Lip that gave some relief but not enough. I am now looking into a taller windscreen to test. If you know of any progressive thinking company that makes one please let me know.

Cheers

Daryl and Wild Blue Mama