Underground Science

Portland, Oregon will soon vote to fluoridate its water. This in a city that prides itself on having the cleanest, best-tasting water of any major city in the United States; a city where the cleanliness and purity of the water has led directly to a boom in silicon chip manufacturing, beer brewing and drinking fountain usage. For some reason, a large and powerful political coalition has latched onto this issue and is pushing it forward, despite the controversy this is creating in our community. Quite some time ago, I blogged about the dangers of fluoride in toothpaste; I'll leave the technical arguments for that post for the most part, though I will add one new point of information that has come to light since then: fluoridated municipal water supplies cause fluoridated wastewater to be released into rivers and other waterways, which can impact the health of fish and other aquatic species.

He did an excellent job articulating his messages, he showed emotion, and he did effective combat against a lot of the anti-intellectual ideas that the opposition has been throwing up recently.

I predict that his new for-the-people offense will prove successful in passing the jobs for america act. The question is, did he write enough oomph into it to provide an effective-enough boost to the economy to ensure his re-election? I'm curious to hear Paul Krugman's analysis of what the macroeconomic effect of this bill is likely to be...

Still, I suppose that the bottom line with regard to Obama's reelection will involve many more variables than just the degree of success of this bill.

For instance, the surface transportation reauthorization bill will be another upcoming opportunity to inject massive amounts of funding into capital infrastructure improvements, which have large job-creating capabilities... This will be thus another good opportunity for Obama to exert leadership and use the bully pulpit to fight for large expenditures on transit and bike/ped, which are proven to generate large numbers of relative jobs per dollar spent.

State of California November Election, 2010 ********************* Governor: Jerry Brown Discussion: The state is a mess; it needs Jerry Brown to come fix it. Meg Whitman's a rich idiot, and the other alternatives are jokes. Lt. Governor: James "Jimi" Castillo Discussion: This is pretty much a joke job with a good salary anyways. Let's just be honest about that fact, and use this opportunity to elect a Green Party member to statewide office. The other candidates are former politicians just looking for a good way to continue collecting a salary for doing nothing. Let's elect somebody who might actually shake things up a little. U.S. Senator: Barbara Boxer: This is not the time to replace Boxer. She's not perfect, but she'll do for now. Attorney General: Kamala Harris Discussion: Yeah, as AG of SF she's been a little soft on crime, and the streets of SF are still the streets of SF. For this statewide office, she seems like a thinking, open-minded human being who may at least give some serious thought to the important policy issues of the day. You can't say the same for the other candidates. Treasurer: Bill Lockyer Statewide Measures: Measure 19: Legalizes Marijuana. Discussion: I probably don't need to say much, but I will. This needs to be done for two very good reasons: One, it will undercut the funding for foreign mafias that currently profit by trafficking marijuana into our country, and thus have definite foreign policy benefits; and Two, it will undercut the funding for domestic drug gangs that currently profit by trafficking marijuana within our cities and within the country, and thus have definite domestic policy benefits. Estimated Financial Impact: The state's going to bring in a ton of cash from this. Recommended Vote: Yes Measure 20: Redistricting. Discussion: Takes the carving of the pork out of the wolf's hands. Recommended Vote: Yes Measure 21: VLF for State Parks. Discussion: Seems like a rather poor use of funds collected from vehicle license fees, and if the state parks were to all "close" tomorrow, as long as they didn't begin actually clear-cutting them, at least they would be preserved for future generations. Recommended Vote: No Measure 22: Prevents State from Stealing Money from Other Jurisdictions. Discussion: I was horrified when I heard that the State of California could do this to begin with. F*ing fix it already. Recommended Vote: Yes Measure 23: Suspend AB 32 until hell freezes over. Discussion: Funded by oil companies to protect profits and advance the Conservative cause. Go tell them where to stick it. Recommended Vote: No Measure 24: Remove some business tax exemptions. Discussion: There's probably a good reason for some of these exemptions, if you ask the right lobbyist. But, the state is really, really, really broke. It needs cash, and it shouldn't have to steal it to get it. This is a logical way to raise revenue without raising taxes. Recommended Vote: Yes Measure 25: Allows the Legislature to pass a budget with a simple majority vote (currently, 2/3 is needed). Discussion: This is a democracy, which is majority rule, not minority rule. Requiring a super-majority vote on an issue is effectively creating minority rule. That strikes me as wrong. This measure will go a long way to fixing politics in this broken state. Recommended Vote: Yes

Measure 26: Requires 2/3 vote to enact or raise fees. Discussion: See above, about minority rule = bad. Recommended Vote: No

Measure 27: Opposite of Measure 20, Redistricting. Unlock the coop, leave a trail of blood to the forest, and put up a god-damn neon sign saying "The chickens are sleeping, come and eat them Mr. Fox". Recommended Vote: No

Alameda County

Measure F: Vehicle License Fee for Bicycles, Transit & Urban Greening. F*ing yeah! Right on. This is a great use of VLF moneys. Appropriate use of funds, given the revenue source. Recommended Vote: Yes

BART Director, District 4: Robert Raburn

Mayor, Oakland:

1) Rebecca Kaplan

2) Joe Tuman

State of Oregon

*************

United States Senator: Ron Wyden

Representatives in Congress:

1st District: David Wu

2nd District: Joyce Segers

3rd District: Earl Blumenauer

4th District: Peter DeFazio

5th District: 

Kurt Schrader

6th District: Just kidding, Oregon only has 5 districts.

Governor: John Kitzhaber

Treasurer: Ted Wheeler

Oregon Metro Council President: Bob Stacey Discussion: Bob will show decisive leadership on important policy issues, and that's still what metro (and Oregon) need.

Measure 70 through 72 were referred to the people by the Legislature, and thus already represent the result of a well-reasoned consensus that has been reached by our elected body of citizen representatives in Oregon.

Measure 70: Amends Constitution: Expands availability of home ownership loans for Oregon veterans through Oregon War Veterans' Fund. Estimated Financial Impact: None. Discussion: This seems to be mostly a clean-up bill to rationalize what seems to be a slightly irrational set of rules governing this program. Recommended Vote: Yes.

Measure 71: Amends Constitution: Requires legislature to meet annually; limits length of legislative sessions; provides exceptions. Estimated Financial Impact: Not estimated to exceed $100,000. Discussion: You know, this sounds like an interesting experiment, and I'm all for interesting experiments taking place in Oregon, if there's not pre-known to be a predictable adverse impact. Know what I'm sayin'? Recommended Vote: Yes.

Measure 72: Amends Constitution: Authorizes exception to $50,000 state borrowing limit for state's real and personal property projects. Estimated Financial Impact: This should provide for lower financing costs to the state to acquire debt. Discussion: The state says it needs more tools in its financial toolchest. It's going through hard times. This seems like a really good idea. Recommended Vote: Yes.

---

Measures 73 through 76 were referred to the ballot through citizen initiative petition.

Measure 73: Requires increased minimum sentences for certain repeated sex crimes, incarceration for repeated driving under influence. Estimated Financial Impact: $18.1 million to $29.1 million per year after it fully takes effect after its fourth year of impact, lesser until then. Discussion: While this seems like a good law-and-order measure, in these hard financial times, I'd like to see it come with some financing attached to help pay for itself. I don't see that. Without more evidence that this is the best solution available for the problem at hand, I don't see the compelling cost-benefit analysis that says this is the best use of the state's limited funding. Recommended Vote: No.

Measure 74: Establishes medical marijuana supply system and assistance and research programs; allows limited selling of marijuana. Estimated Financial Impact: Up to $20 million in revenue to the state in the first year alone. Discussion: Some time has passed since Oregon legalized medical marijuana, and in that time, experience has shown that additional regulation could improve the situation. This measure is therefore an evolutionary step forward from the present situation in Oregon. Recommended Vote: Yes.

Measure 75: Authorizes Multnomah County casino; casino to contribute monthly revenue percentage to state for specified purposes. Estimated Financial Impact: Yeah, allows for opening a casino. I think it might bring in some cash. Maybe a few dozen million per year or so in taxes, something along those lines, once a casino begins operations... Discussion: I think there are much better-thought-out options to raise cash for the state, including some of the other measures on this ballot. We don't need to stoop this low yet. Recommended Vote: No.

Measure 76: Amends Constitution: continues lottery funding for parks, beaches, wildlife habitat, watershed protection beyond 2014; modifies funding process. Estimated Financial Impact: None,  unless you happen to be another state program competing annual for lottery funding since this is a renewal measure, these funds are already currently obligated to this purposes. Discussion: This is micro-managing the Legislature. As good-intentioned as this sounds, I believe the Legislature actually might already have a process to work this out, which is what we did elect them to do. Since this is a renewal measure, this is just a matter of reinforcing our already-good judgement to use some lottery funds to help support the parks. Recommended Vote: Yes.

People's Republic of Multnomah County:

Measures 26-109, 26-110, 26-111, 26-112, 26-113, 26-114, 26-118: Yes

City of Portland:

Measure 26-108: Yes

Measure 26-117: No

Tri-Met:

The link to the radio program is here:

http://www.capradio.org/programs/programdetail.aspx?showid=8045

So, I was invited to write an op-ed piece for the Oakland North blog, discussing pedestrian and bicycle safety in North Oakland following the wave of incidents in recent weeks.

This is my submission:

http://oaklandnorth.net/2010/06/16/you-tell-us-rebuild-oaklands-streets-to-make-them-safer/

Please share it widely among folks who might be interested; feel free to forward it to lists and groupservs that might hit folks who live in North Oakland (or elsewhere) and care about this issues. I would like to continue to use the Oakland North site as a forum to begin a community dialogue about these issues, and see what might be made to happen as a result.

If you don't live in north Oakland and are reading this post, please tell me what you think right here on Underground Science!

thanks,

OK, so a number of years back (in 2006), I put out specs for my ideal automobile, updated the post later in the year with a progress report... then gave up on the idea of anything happening soon, and settled for buying a 20-year-old diesel Mercedes wagon to run on biodiesel. Since then, Mercedes has announced plans for a new diesel-electric hybrid car at some point in the future, as has Volvo and others... and I followed up with specifications for the ideal plug-in biodiesel hybrid wagon... but I since announced that there are lots of poor options when it comes to new cars, and lots of great options when it comes to new bicycles...including the bakfiets, the station wagon of bicycles. You pretty much have to go to Europe to get a decent car right now with good gas mileage that is biodiesel-capable. So, enough about transportation. I've tried to make a difference, and maybe I have, but these things take time. Right now, I'd like to turn my attention to the cell phone. There have been a lot of advances in cell phone technology recently, and indeed, there seem to be a lot of decent phones on the market right now. But.... BUT... my personal cell phone is now at least five years old. Verizon has been offering to give me a free new phone of my choice for at least the past three years, and I keep turning them down. Why? It's not that all new phones stink... it's just that none of them actually meet all of my specifications, and I keep hoping that the right phone will be released in the next two years, so I might as well wait for it. Besides, my current phone (an old Audiovox) works just fine, with decent battery life, good call quality and reception, and the ability to take photos and video, send and receive text, picture and video messages, and even do some rudimentary web surfing and gaming (i.e., tetris and chess). So, without further ado... what would it take to get me to upgrade? Here's the list:

It needs to work on the Verizon network, native, with full support. I hate AT&T, having done business with them a number of times in the past and had to endure their monopolistic thinking and shoddy customer service. I won't do it again. I've been with Verizon since they used to be called AirTouch, and aside from their politics, I see no reason to leave (though, Working Assets/Credo Mobile might start looking more attractive if Verizon keeps supporting the Blue Dog Democrats)...

It needs to offer at least 120 gigabytes of on-board storage capacity, and preferably closer to 200 gigs -- or more. I'd like to just take all of my music and a lot of my movies, plus some of my photos, with me when I'm mobile. Why should I have to limit myself to a certain sub-set of my collection? The technology now exists and is quite cheap to just give it all to me when I'm on the go.

It should have a 4+ megapixel digital camera built it, with an actual physical zoom lens (3x minimum), a decent flash, and decent night-time photography capabilities (this is apparently mainly a software thing now). I'd love to have a physical viewfinder, but... I could live without it if one feature had to get cut. It should, in short, be a good digital camera... not the best, but it should certainly be competitive with the best compact digital cameras circa, say, 2004 or 2005...

It needs to plug in to a standard USB port for synching, but it should act as a standard external drive when plugged in, with no funny business with regards to copy protection, digital rights management, or any of that bullshit. Let me use it how I want to use it, that's why I'm paying money for it -- keep your corporate paws out of my private business.

It should be an excellent music player, with the ability to support noise-cancelling headphones, either corded or via bluetooth, and excellent sound reproduction, including transfer of frequencies from 10hz to 200khz, that is, just outside both edges of human hearing -- just in case I decide to plug it into something other than headphones that may have the ability to actually reproduce those frequencies.

It should be an excellent cell phone, with perfect call quality when service is good, the ability to operate either in digital or analog mode, the ability to switch modes on the fly without dropping a call in order to achieve top call quality, and the ability to operate on any network in the world that uses any technology currently in use by cell phones.

It should have decent battery life, that is, the ability to talk for a few hours, or listen to music for a few hours, and then be in standby for a few days, on a single charge. I don't have unrealistic expectations for this, and I'm certainly fine if I need to plug it in when I go to sleep every second, third or fourth night depending on how much I use it -- but at least out of the box, I shouldn't have to plug it in every night, and I certainly shouldn't need to plug it in more than once a day (unless I'm using it for like eight hours straight for battery-intensive operations).

It should be good at surfing the web, at least as good as the iPhone is currently, and be able to view some version of all standard web pages, not just the "mobile version."

I think it probably should also support Flash. It should be MY decision, not the decision of Steve Jobs, if I want to take the risk of running Flash. Maybe I should have to sign a disclaimer saying that I know I'm an idiot if I want to do this, but then, I should still be able to do it. Please, just let me be my own idiot when it comes to installing and running programs on my device that, technically, should be able to run on that device just fine.

It should be able to run a variety of other applications, within reason (i.e. I don't expect to be able to run a full-fledge GIS on it, but a slim version of Google Earth might be nice).

It should have the standard accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, GPS, and other functions that any modern iPhone or competitor now has, and the ability to use them.

It should be tough. Like Dvorak has suggested, "make the thing out of tungsten. Drop it, and it would break the floor. Tungsten has a great finish. People will ask, "wow, it's actually made from tungsten?"" Or, you know, find some other way to make it really tough, and hard to break... I don't care if it's tungsten, titanium, aluminum, or just stainless steel. I've dropped my current phone dozens of times, on a variety of surfaces. It's a flip-phone... that's one of the reasons I like the flip-phone design. The thing just takes it and keeps working, and it's made out of plastic. Give me a reason to pay $50 more for something that will last a long time (like a MacBook Pro laptop or a Mercedes), and I will.

Maybe it should have night-vision camera capabilities. That would be cool... or even just the ability to hold it up and see the night-vision view on the screen. OK, that's maybe just a cool idea for an app, I don't quite understand all the technology involved. That's not a requirement.

It should definitely have the ability to run a powerpoint show (via some dongle that, say, plugs into its USB or monitor out port and into a standard VGA cable) or even show movies via a projector or TV. After all, it will be able to hold dozens of movies on its massive HD, why not allow you to watch them on a full-size screen?

It should have an average-size screen. The screen on the iPhone is fine. In fact, the dimensions of the iPhone are about perfect. It could even be a little bit thicker, to accommodate more battery and more storage device (hard drive, flash drive, whatever works best). Not TOO much thicker, but a few more millimeters wouldn't be a deal-killer.

It should be tough. Did I say that already? If it gets dropped, I don't want anything breaking, including the screen. MAKE IT TOUGH. I'll pay extra. I need to make that clear. Also, just build it to last -- don't skimp on the components, go for the high-quality stuff. But, within reason. I'd pay $400 for such a device, maybe even $500 with a good warranty... but not much more... so, be really smart about the design and manufacturing...

OK, that's a pretty long list, so I'll quit while I'm ahead. I think you get the picture. Comments are open and welcome.

cheers,

Hi everybody, It's me, Garlynn. I'm just writing with a movie recommendation that I think you should all see. And I'm a bit conflicted about this, because, well, this movie, called "Capitalism: A Love Story", by Michael Moore, is a pro-American screed against the capitalist system that is holding us all down. So, it doesn't make much sense to go out and line some corporate pocket in order to see it. If you can figure out a way to sneak into the theater for free, well, I highly encourage it. Otherwise, well, do what you have to do. Personally, out of all the people whose pockets I could potentially line, however, Michael Moore ranks pretty low among those who it would piss me off to do so. This is, apparently, his best movie yet, which sets a pretty high bar -- and if lining his pocket now rather than later is the real choice, I'd rather do that now if that's what it takes to send a proper f*ck-you to Wall Street. (It's just the corporate middle-men who run AMC and United and the other corporate soul-sucking theatre chains that I'm less happy about, but then again, well, at least they've agreed to show his movie.) Here's what the San Francisco Chronicle has to say about the movie. And below that, is what Michael Moore wrote that convinced me to go see it tonight -- I just got back from the theater, and let me tell you, it's worth it. It's a rousing movie, and I hope it inspires us all. cheers, ~Garlynn *** San Francisco Chronicle: "Documentary, 127 minutes, Rated R Love him or hate him, Michael Moore's latest, most impassioned diatribe has a flat-out polemic wizardry that'll frizz your hair and break your heart: promoting a radical democratization of economy, he touches on everything from the low pay of airline pilots to the 2008 financial meltdown. Simplistic, smart-alecky, primo Moore. -- A. Biancolli, SF Chronicle"

Michael Moore: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Moore Date: Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 2:17 PM Subject: A Great Opening Night -- Do Not Put Off Seeing "Capitalism: A Love Story" -- GO TONIGHT! All of Wall Street is Watching! To: garlynn A Great Opening Night -- Do Not Put Off Seeing "Capitalism: A Love Story" -- GO TONIGHT! All of Wall Street is Watching! Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 Friends, Thank you, all of you, who packed the theaters across North America last night to see my new film. The movie houses were rockin'! The national movie exit poll company announced this morning that the audiences in America gave "Capitalism: A Love Story" a rare "A" rating! Wow, thank you! In most multiplexes where "Capitalism" played, it was the #1 or #2 top-grossing movie there for the evening. That is nothing short of amazing. For those of you waiting till next week to see it, I can't say this strongly enough: Do not put off going to see "Capitalism: A Love Story." It is not just a movie. It is a referendum that is being closely watched by the CEOs of America. Let me tell you bluntly, the suits on Wall Street are closely watching to see how this movie does this weekend. So, too, are the members of Congress. If "Capitalism" has a huge opening, it will send shivers down their corporate spines, telling them loud and clear that the American people are mad as hell and are not into taking it any more. It will put all the bosses on notice that the vast Obama-voting majority has awoken from its silence and are out in full force. But if the attendance is just "ok" or "so-so," then they will be relieved knowing that there is not a popular groundswell of opposition out there -- and then they can go about their business as usual. I'd like to send them a different message. Treat tonight and tomorrow as if it were election day. Blow their minds on Monday morning when they show up at their executive suites, switch on CNBC or Fox Business News, and learn that America turned out in droves to participate in a raucous denunciation of Wall Street and everything it stands for. I often hear people ask, "What can I do to make my voice heard?" Your answer is at the nearest theater showing this movie. Trust me, packing these movie houses tonight and tomorrow will eff them up in an overwhelming and profound way. Last night, there were many reports of spontaneous cheering throughout the film in nearly all the theaters. Theater managers reported difficulties in getting people to clear the theater lobby afterwards because groups of total strangers assembled to passionately discuss what they just saw. One manager wrote to me and said, "It's a good thing we carry Gummy Bears and Junior Mints at the concessions stand instead of pitchforks and torches! These crowds were ready to march over to the local Citibank and do something!" Another manager said a crowd in the lobby formed around the little Chase ATM machine next to his popcorn stand and started to "yell at it." Jeez! (Click here to see some of the cell phone photos fans have sent from various theaters around the country last night.) Here's what I've heard the most about last night: Audiences were stunned and shocked by many of the things I reveal in the movie -- stuff that the networks have refused to show them -- even though they have the footage! They purposely withhold this news from you, the public. And because I dare to show it, some networks now refuse to license any of their footage to me. So I get my hands on it and put it in the movie anyway. I truly don't care. I'm sick and tired of the truth not being told to the American people -- and I am willing to suffer whatever the consequences come my way because I showed it to you. Fortunately we have "fair use" laws in this country that have kept my hide out of court so far. There is something so patently wrong with not being told what Wall Street and Corporate America are up to. If you go see "Capitalism" tonight, you'll see what I mean. You will alternately have your head spinning and then find yourself laughing your ass off! Much more is riding on the success of this movie than the amount of popcorn that is sold. If we do well this weekend, the studio will expand the film to smaller towns next week. Don't put off seeing it! Click here to find out where it's playing and order your tickets now. Call some friends and make a night of it. My crew and I have put nearly two years of our lives into this and I am honored that it has been so well received. Join in on the fun of giving AIG, GM, Bank of America and all the other thieves the shellacking they deserve. And send me a photo of you and the crowd there tonight! I'll post it and personally send it to the heads of all the financial institutions and the members of Congress. They need to get a clue -- right now -- and I'd like you to help me send them that clue! Thanks again, and I'll see you tonight at the movies! Yours, Michael Moore [email protected] MichaelMoore.com

Meet Franny, my Dutch cargo bike. Yes, that's me after riding it home from the grocery store, with two full bags of groceries on the front rack, along with my messenger bag, which generally holds my lunch bag and other stuff... Also, I *do* normally wear a helmet while riding, which you can see resting on the rear rack -- I took it off for the photo! Why a big and heavy Dutch Bike? It's not just about having a heavy bike so as to give the rider a Cadillac-type ride. These bikes are built to carry racks, bags, baskets and child seats, while remaining stable. They maintain generous clearances around your feet and have the structural integrity to support heavier loads. These bikes are built for everyday transport of both people and things. They're not built for racing (though there is a pretty amusing video from 1933 of folks racing these 50-plus-pound beasts around the streets of Bussum, near Amsterdam -- actually, what they're racing are called transportfietsen, or Transport Bikes, which were used by bakers and butchers to deliver their wares -- those were the delivery boys doing the racing!), but rather for everyday transportation, in style. The previous owner tells me that it is a Franssen Panningen (a fact that I have been unable to confirm or deny via the interwebs). I bought it off Craigslist from a guy in L.A., who had it imported from The Netherlands a few years ago, but then discovered that it was too tall for him to ride safely with his daughter on the back. So, my friend agreed to put it in the back of his truck and deliver it to me on his next trip north to the Bay Area... and now it's mine! A mechanic (who used to work at Tip Top Bike Shop, near my house in north Oakland, and was previously an employee of the Dutch Bike Company in Florida) who inspected it tells me that it is actually an unbranded Azor Opafiets, based on the lugs and the welding. Azor is a well-respected Dutch bicycle manufacturer that is known for producing frames and complete bicycles of a very high quality. My frame is no exception, though I have had to slowly upgrade the components one by one to bring them up to the same standard... When it first showed up at my house, it looked like this: Stock, it came with a front hub drum brake, operated by a hand lever, and a rear coaster brake hub with an internal Sturmey-Archer 3-speed gearset (model 'AWC (II)'), operated by a gripshift on the handlebar. It also came with front and rear fenders, rear skirt/coat guards, a full-enclosure chain guard, plastic pedals, a nice black paint job, lots of chrome, a stock vinyl sprung seat, a front and rear incandescent-bulb lighting system operated by a bell dynamo running on the front tire, and a really nice Dutch bell. One of the first things I did was to remove the bell dynamo (Named for its shape, that's a type of dynamo, or electric generator, that operates by friction by rotating against your front or rear tire) and incandescent lighting system. I replaced it with a system of lights that runs off a hub-based dynamo generator (which still includes a drum brake, but is frictionless, operating instead using magnets), and turns itself off and on based on the ambient lighting level, but that I can also switch on or off manually if I want to. I did it using these components: - a Sturmey-Archer X-FDD Generator/Brake Hub: - a switched Busch and Müller Lumotec Oval Senso Plus headlight with standlight and sensor: - a Busch and Müller 4D Lite Plus fender mount taillight, with a metal bar to protect the plastic lens in case of a rear end collision, and a Standlight: Next, in order to make it into a proper cargo bike, I added a five-rail Cetma rack with custom handlebar mounts and struts, made in Eugene, Oregon: This rack can carry a LOT. I've carried C on it, and she weighs like... uh... as much as a human being... I've also carried home four 15-pound bags of compost for the garden, no problems. Here's a photo of me bringing home a TREE on the rack (along with my bag, which probably also had a 6-pack of beer in it): I also wanted a comfier seat for my ride, given the generally poor condition of roads in the Bay Area. I chose a classic choice to match the classic style of the bicycle -- a Brooks B.135 double-sprung saddle with a two-wire frame, which looked like this when it was new: However, I recently performed a procedure on it to make it "Butchered and Tied," resulting in it looking like this:

What has happened is to bring the middle of the seat down and away from constant contact with the sensitive groin area of the rider. This, on a Brooks Saddle, also loosens the seat, making for a much more comfortable ride on both counts. Another modification that I've made is to the coat guard, which previously had basically a friction fit onto the fender. I drilled a hole in the front and in the back, on each side, through the coat guard and the fender, and threaded a small piece of steel wire through the hole to hold the coat guard in place as the bicycle goes over the major bumps that I encounter constantly when cycling in the Bay Area. The modification looks like this:

I just twist up the end of the wire like a twist-tie, so that if I ever need to remove the coat guard, I can just untwist the wire and unthread it to facilitate the removal. (Or, cut the wire.) Next, I'd like to add a Sturmey-Archer X-RD8 internal 8-speed rear hub with drum brake, to give me an easier time getting this nearly-50-pound bicycle up hills. While I'll miss the coaster brake, I'm sure I'll eventually get used to it, and having a drum brake on both the front and the rear should give the bike amazing stopping power. This modification will also require the addition of a new front crankset, because the X-RD8 has as its lowest gear a direct drive ratio, while my current 3-speed Sturmey-Archer rear hub actually has a 33% reduction for its lower gear. The result is that, while I can get away with a 46-tooth cog on the front today, after the upgrade I will need more like a 28-to-34-tooth cog in order to get the big beasty up the hills. The choice of 28 or 34 teeth depends on whether I can successfully find a set of 74mm Bolt-Center-Diameter [BCD] cranks, or whether I'm limited to the chainring that can be bolted directly to 110mm BCD cranks. Here's what I'm talking about, for you folks who, like me a week ago, just got lost by that previous sentence: