Ruminations in Korea

The following is an expanded and updated version of a post I made a little over a year ago on another site:

The 16th anniversary of the death of blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan was last Sunday, 27 August 2006. Recently, his life and music have been on my mind.

There has been so much written about Stevie Ray Vaughan in print and on the net. Typing his name into Google returns 190,000 hits. I could say nothing about him that has hasn’t been said before by other, more knowledgeable, people. Because of that, I wish to share my thoughts and impressions about him and his music.

Youtube has a very good amature documentary of Stevie Ray’s life:

I knew of Jimmie Vaughan, the leader of The Fabulous Thunderbirds band. I don’t know when I first heard the name Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie’s younger brother. I do, however, remember when i first became fully aware of Stevie Ray. It was August 27, 1990, just two months after returning from my first time living in Korea. Unfortunately, that was the day of Stevie Ray’s death.

I clearly remember all of my guitar-playing friends being quite surprised, shocked and amazed that he had died in a helicopter accident. I remember seeing pictures of the wreckage and news stories on TV. To me, it was only a passing news story about a musician I was not acquainted with.

I had missed the SRV heyday. Although SRV began to make a national and international name for himself with his big break in 1982, I didn’t get turned onto the blues until 1986, the year that SRV went into rehab for a drug and alcohol addiction. Even then, my interest in the blues was limited to the early acoustic blues of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Although I had seen SRV tapes and discs available, I didn’t listen to them because I wasn’t interested in modern electric blues. Then, I was isolated from the blues from July 1988 through June 1990. Two months later SRV was gone.

Due to other extended stays in Korea, law school, and other things in my life, I didn’t get interested in or caught up in Stevie Ray’s music until much later.

During my second stay in Korea from 1991 and 1992, I had discovered Johnny Winter. As with SRV, I had seen his music, but never took the opportunity to listen to it. Johnny Winter’s screaming electric blues sucked me in. The feeling of the Texas Blues, the lightning fast licks, and the powerful slide of Johnny Winter were incredibly intense. I was instantly hooked.

Later, when I finally got around to hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan, I felt a lot of the same feelings and had a lot of the same impressions that I had listening to Johnny Winter. I was amazed by the same Texas Blues feeling, the speed, the intensity, the prowess, the intimate knowledge of the fretboard, and the musical flair of Stevie Ray.

I was also interested to note the many similarities between Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan such as both being hard and fast electric blues-playing white boys from Texas with musically successful brothers. They even shared the same bass player, legendary bassist Tommy Shannon. Shannon, who knew SRV since SRV was 14 years old and played with him for several years until SRV’s death, had also played bass for Johnny Winter in the late 60s.

It was then that I started to backtrack through Stevie Ray Vaughan’s musical career and background to find out who and what he was. One of the first things I discovered was that he had provided the lead guitar tracks for David Bowie’s album “Let’s Dance”, including the hit songs, “Let’s Dance” and “China Girl”.

Simply listening to his music, you can hear that SRV is a great guitarist. I was thoroughly impressed by his talent. However, to only hear SRV and Double Trouble play is to miss out on an important aspect of the musical experience, and that is the visual element.

It is not uncommon to hear people say that concerts are a waste of money because you can spend half as much on the CD and sit home and hear the same songs in a quieter, more listener-friendly environment and the CD performance is better than live anyway. While this may be the case in a few instances, it is generally not true. Listening to audio only can be a satisfying and fulfilling experience, but attending a live concert where you get the sights, sounds, smells, psychology, and vibe of the audience and can see the intensity, effort, and body language of the musicians can be a transcendent experience.

It wasn’t until I obtained the DVD “Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985″ that I because truly awed by Stevie Ray. I had heard it said several times that SRV played every piece of music as if his life depended on it. Watching the DVD, I saw that people people said such things because it was true. He did, indeed, play every piece as if his life depended on it. The absolutely raw and intense emotion he poured into and pulled out of his guitar is breathtaking. He never gave up or lessened his intensity regardless of how long he played. Literally soaked in sweat, near the end of a performance, he is still slamming the strings, bending the strings as fast and far, shimmying across the stage as continuously, and growling as loudly as he did at the beginning.

This awe of SRV as a performer and my never-to-be-humble opinion of him as one of the greatest guitarists ever to have lived is not limited to lowly blues musicians such as myself and die-hard fans. This sentiment was shared by his peers as well as those who came before and went after. Here are a few comments about Stevie Ray Vaughan from three blues guitarists who are legendary in their own rights:

Jimmie Vaughan:

If you’re a guitar player, or a jazz musician, or any kind of musician that plays from the heart that kind of music, it’s sort of like a radio. You’ve got to tune it in. But once you get it on the station, you just sort of receive it. He could go to that place when he was playing on stage. He would walk out on stage, pick up the guitar, and within a couple of songs, just go to that place where he was receiving inspiration…And that’s not easy to do.

B.B. King:

You stop and think, “My God! Listen to this guy play!” His Hands! — They seemed to be flawless the way he moved with it. When I play, I play sort of like talking. Syllables. You say a sentence here, a sentence there. And then I’ve got to stop and think of something else to keep my conversation going. Be he didn’t seem to be doing that at all. It was fluent. He flowed when he played….It would just go on and on, and ideas continuously flowed. I don’t have that.

Eric Clapton:

About three or four times in my life…in a car listening to the radio, where I’ve stopped the car, pulled over and listened, and thought”“I’ve got to find out, before the end of the day…not sooner or later… but I have to know NOW who that is”….He never ever seemed to be lost in any way. It wasn’t ever that he took a breather, or paused to think where he was going to go next. It just flowed out of him. It always seemed to flow out of him…

He seemed to be an open channel and it just flowed through him…I sometimes stop every now and then I stop and think, “What am I going to do now” or “I don’t want to repeat myself.” So I’ll get caught up somehow. You freeze. You kind of freeze. Most players do, and I never saw him do that. He was a channel in some way…

When we were at Alpine Valley [The concert after which SRV was killed]. I couldn’t let myself [surrender completely to his music]. I had to put up a bit of resistance in order to keep my own self-esteem up. Because I wouldn’t have been able to go on otherwise. I’m not joking! To have been completely absorbed by what he was doing, I would have thought “What’s the point?” and done a runner, cleared off, run away.

Praise like that could easily go to your head. During my five years as a radio DJ at some of the top stations in Northern Utah, I attended an unbelievable number of concerts and met many top recording stars of the late 1980s. They ran the gamut from humble, grateful, appreciative artists who realized they were blessed to some of the most self-centered, arrogant people I have ever met. From everything I have ever read about Stevie Ray, he never lost site of who he was, where he came from, and who came before him. He appears to me to have be a real human’s human.

He may have been a little too human. Like many great musicians and others, he fell into the trap of alcohol and drugs. These vices very nearly killed both Stevie Ray and his bassist Tommy Shannon.

Thankfully, Stevie Ray and Tommy Shannon entered treatment on the same day in 1986, thus saving the lives of two great musicians. Unfortunately, Stevie Ray was preserved for only four more years. How he used those remaining years to affect the lives of others both through his music and outside of his music is a testament to the heart of a real human being.

One of the most moving statements I have read about Stevie Ray’s last few years was a letter written by Tommy Shannon in October 1996. The letter can be found on Tommy Shannon’s website at tommyshannon.com. The full text of the letter reads:

October 3, 1996

My name is Tommy Shannon. I would like to share a brief letter with you about my friend Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I have known Stevie since he was fourteen years old. That’s a long time. There is no way I can say everything I would like to in this letter. However, I would like to share with you what kind of person Stevie was. The books and articles written about him focused mostly on his guitar playing. They never talked much about the depth and beauty of his spirit.

Like I said, I have known Stevie since he was a kid. We became friends then. About a year after I met Stevie, we played in a band called, “Blackbird,” and then later in a band called, “Kracker Jack.” Then, in 1981, I joined him in Double Trouble.

About Stevie:

First of all, I have to say Stevie Ray Vaughan was not perfect. He was a human being like you and I. He had problems just like everyone else. He had to work on those problems like anyone who has the courage to try and live a spiritual life. It’s not easy. Many people dare not to choose that path. It means letting go of an old self and by the grace of God becoming our true selves: that which we were meant to be all along. I do not want to sound like I am preaching. I’m not qualified to do that. However, to write about Stevie and who he really is, I have to write about spirituality.

Stevie is the best friend I have ever known. We shared things with each other that no one will ever know. While I was playing with him in Double Trouble, I lived with him and his wife, Lenny (until I got married). While we were on the road, we always had adjoining rooms, so we could always be in touch. I love him so much, it can not be put into words.

Stevie and I went through a lot of changes together. When we were much younger, (before Double Trouble) we had no money. Sometimes we went without food, and other things we needed. However, we didn’t mind this much. We were playing music…that seemed to be the only thing that mattered.

About my nine years with Double Trouble:

During the first few years, Stevie and I were doing a lot of drugs and alcohol. For a long time, we were having a lot of fun. Sex, Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll…that’s how we lived. Eventually, things got worse. Our personal lives, and our relationships with others kept getting worse, and worse. We reached a point where we knew we were in deep trouble. The truth is, at that time we couldn’t stop. There was no human power that could help us. Our friends tried to help, but they couldn’t. I will always remember one night, we got down on our knees and prayed for help. There was no instant answer. We continued getting high. Was that prayer unanswered because we kept using?

That prayer was answered in the most profound way. That prayer was the turning point of our lives. We had to continue doing what we were doing until the pain became too hard to bear. We were broken inside. First Stevie, and then myself. We had no power, nothing to stand upon. We were beaten. However, that was the best thing that ever happened to us. Even that suffering was a gift from God. We had to reach the bottom, before we could be open to God’s grace.

On October 13, 1986, we checked ourselves into treatment…Stevie in Atlanta, and me here in Austin. After that, we started in a program in which we worked on twelve steps which transformed our lives. I watched Stevie grow and change. Stevie was always kind and helpful to others. Whenever he had a chance to help someone else who was suffering what he had suffered, he was there. His eyes would light up and you could see his love and sincerity.

Stevie helped more people get clean and sober than anyone I know. So many people were blessed by his life. So was I blessed by his life.

All of you reading this know how beautiful his music was, how great his talent. I wish you could have known him, I really do…because his spirit was even more beautiful. He was humble, yet strong. All of Stevie’s life he wanted to do the right thing. Even when he was still using drugs and alcohol, he wanted to do the right things. He was always that way.

I believe that if Stevie could speak to you right now, he would say:

“Take care of each other. Learn to love. Turn to God. He has all power. No matter how bad your condition is, he can and will change it…if you let him. Have faith, no matter what.”

On October 13th, 1996, I will have ten years of living clean and sober. Each year, in the program, we celebrate by picking up a chip (or medallion) with the number of years of sobriety on it. Stevie had four years of sobriety when he died. Each year, when I pick up my chip, I also pick one up for Stevie. I will do so this year also, and I will do so for as long as I stay sober. When I pick up these chips, I always talk about, and to Stevie.

In closing this letter, I would like to say that Chris Layton and myself are doing fine. We are playing in a band called “Storyville.” We just released a record on the Code Blue/Atlantic label, entitled, “A Piece of Your Soul.” Also, I would like to say Chris is a wonderful person. Stevie loved him as much as any friend. We were all like family. That also includes Reese.

I would like to thank Martha Vaughan, Stevie’s wonderful mother. In her, I see where Stevie’s gifts come from. I have no doubt that she lives in the spirit of God. I have never known anyone with more strength and faith.

I would also like to thank Jimmie Vaughan. Without him, Stevie would never have become what he was. Jimmie was Stevie’s biggest influence, and his biggest inspiration.

Thank you, Beverly Howell, for asking me to write this letter. There will be more in the future.

God Bless, and thank you,

Tommy

Although it took a decade or more longer for me than it did for others, I finally came to understand the shock and sadness at the loss of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I will never be able to play anything like SRV played. I will never come close. I take comfort in knowing that his legacy as an icon will be preserved because no one else can or will play like him.

I recently obtained another DVD titled “A Tribute To Stevie Ray Vaughan.” That DVD contains a song written by Aaron Neville titled “Six Strings Down” performed live by blues and jazz greats Jimmie Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Dr. John, and Aaron Neville.

As I watched and listened to Jimmie Vaughan’s smooth vocals launch into the incredibly touching song about his six-string guitar-playing brother’s tragic death in a downed helicopter after a concert at Alpine Valley in August 1990, backed up by Clapton, Cray and Guy, who were also at that last SRV concert, and other great musicians, I did something that I have not done while listening to music in a long time. I cried.

I choke up now, just reading the lyrics to that song. They lyrics are:

Six Strings Down - by Art Neville

Alpine valley
In the middle of the night
Six strings down
On the heaven-bound flight

Got a pick, a strap, guitar on his back
Ain’t gonna cut the angels no slack
Heaven done called
Another blues-stringer back home

See the voodoo chile
Holding out his hand
I’ve been waitin’ on you brother
Welcome to the band

Good blues-stringin’
Heaven-fine singin’
Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Been lis’nin’ to your playin’

Heaven done called
Another blues-stringer back home
Lord they called
Another blues-stringer back home

Albert Collins up there
Muddy an’ Lightnin’ too
Albert King and Freddy
Playin’ the blues

T-Bone Walker, Guitar Slim
Little Son Jackson and
Frankie Lee Sims

Heaven done called
Another blues-stringer back home
Lord they called
Another blues-stringer back home

There are places for which we have a certain afinity. When it comes to visiting Buddhist temples, my basic feeling is that if you have seen one, you have pretty much seen them all. However, for some reason I am constantly drawn to Haeinsa Temple. I have been visiting the place for 18 years. Every time I go there is a different feeling. Even though the scenery and buildings remain largely the same, i see and experience different things. I don’t know why, but Haeinsa is a special place for me.

After arriving at the entrance to Haeinsa Temple near Hapcheon at the foot of Kaya Mountain, it is a one kilometer walk to the temple. The walk begins with with a small stone bridge.

The majority of the walk is under a canopy of majestic trees.

One thing I find interesting about Haeinsa is the serious of gates and doors that you must go through to get into the main courtyard.

The first gate.

After the first gate is a long path leading straight to the main temple entrance.

A series of four more gates leads to the main courtyard.

The final gates leading to the main courtyard.

Haeinsa’s pagoda.

Doors.

Roof tiles.

The main attraction of Haeinsa is the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete set of Buddhist text. The Tripitaka Koreana consists of 81,258 blocks are the equivalent of 6,791 printed volumes, and contain 52,382,960 Chinese characters…all carved backwards so that they can be printed from the wood blocks to paper.

After seeing the sights of temple, the perfect end to the day before heading back down the mountain is to turn around and look out over the temple rooftops.

Click here to see more pictures of Haeinsa.

Saturday before last, I jumped on the bike and motored along the road to Haeinsa. The first stage of the trip was from Pusan to Kyoungsan. As the sun was blazing hot and humidity was near 100% the entire trip, it was a great relief to arrive at the air conditioned Harley shop in Kyoungsan / Taegu. After I was relieved of a substantial amount of money buying accessories and other things, it was time head back out into the heat.

Prior to leaving, the shop I mentioned that I was planning on going through Taegu and then heading Southwest toward Haeinsa. I was advised that I would melt and or die of heat stroke before I managed to work my way through Taegu and onto Highway 5 toward Haeinsa temple. He suggested that I take an alternate route. I’m glad I took his advise to go backtrack 45 minutes to Chungdo and then head straight west to Changryoung, then North to Koryoung and on to Haeinsa Temple. I would have missed one of the most beautiful sights I have ever personally seen.

I stayed too long at the Harley shop enjoying the air conditioning. Evening was approaching and the heat and humidity were forming into rain clouds. I decided it was time to leave before it got too late or too wet to travel. In my haste to make up lost time, I caught up to a rain storm moving Southwest about 20 minutes after starting out.

I pulled under an overpass and waited about 30 minutes for the rain to stop. After the rain moved on and the roads had dried a bit, I continued on down the road trying to stay behind the rain showers.

The road to Changryoung turned toward the mountains.

The road led through some of the greenest rice paddies on earth and finally up into the mountains.

The mountain roads were getting dark as the sun began to set. As I reached the summit of the mountain, I saw something I had never expected to see. I was totally unprepared for the beauty of the panorama. What I saw literally took my breath away. I wish that photography could do justice to the reality of nature, but this is what my camera caught:

In the last few moments of sunlight, I snapped this picture of me and my bike.

Soon after darkness fell, it began to drizzle and the final hour of the trip to Haeinsa Temple was spent riding in the rain. When I arrived at the town below the temple, I was shocked to find that all of the motels and hotels were full. There was literally no room in any of the places. I eventually solved the room crisis by paying some restaurant owner KRW 30,000 ($30) to sleep on the floor in the unused second story of her restaurant.

Morning came and the rain clouds were gone. I visited the temple for a couple of hours. While wandering around the temple grounds, I was pleased to notice that a sense of iron is not lost on Koreans. I was amused at the message “Protect the environment” that had been painted onto a big rock in a particularly beautiful section of the temple.

Around noon, I began the homeward journey. I took a longer and slower road home.

On the way back, I rode as deep as I had ever been into the Korean countryside.

Click here to see more pictures of the ride.

Last week, there was a horrible accident. I have only heard bits and pieces of the story from several sources, and I have no way of checking the veracity of the various aspects of the story. However, what I have heard is this:

A guy and his girlfriend were riding his motorcycle from Pusan to Namhae, Korea. They swerved to avoid a car in front of them. They swerved into oncoming traffic and ended up in a head on collision with an oncoming car. The girlfriend went over the car and suffered serious injuries including both sides of her pelvis being fractured. The guy went head first through the windshield of the car. He suffered multiple compound fractures. He was not wearing a helmet. He suffered severe head trauma and was being kept in a drug-induced coma. She will pull through. It is not known what will become of him.

WEAR A HELMET! PLEASE WEAR A HELMET!

I don’t know how much stronger I can say that, or how much stronger I can implore you. If you get on a motorcycle or scooter, please wear a helmet.

I know it’s heavy. I know it’s hot. I know it’s uncomfortable I know you don’t look as cool. But please wear a helmet.

Usually, the most serious motorcycle accidents are not caused by the other vehicle or the actual accident itself. The killing, paralyzing, disabling, mentally impairing, and other most serious injuries are most often caused by an unprotected head smacking something hard like another vehicle, the road, a pole, a rock, or just about anything else. You MUST protect your head. Head protection with a sturdy helmet can greatly reduce the seriousness of injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents.

Every year at this time, the largest motorcycle rally on Earth is held in Sturgis, South Dakota. The week-long rally kicked off this past weekend. Take a brief look at the injuries and deaths that occurred over the weekend. The Rapid City Journal reports:

[A] Missouri man, 59-year-old Clarence Arthur Wade of Joplin, was killed when his 2003 Harley-Davidson went off the I-90 service road at 8:36 a.m. near the Tilford Rest Area, slid into the west ditch and overturned, according to Lt. Kevin Karley, assistant district commander of the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Wade was not wearing a helmet and suffered head injuries, according to the Highway Patrol. He died at the scene. Alcohol was not involved, Karley said.

And then there is this one:

Paul Standiford, 67, of Janesville, Iowa, was traveling west on I-90 when he pulled into the passing lane to allow traffic to enter from the westbound on-ramp. As he moved to the far left of the passing lane, the roadway curved to the right, and Standiford’s bike dropped off the median shoulder and began to roll over, throwing him into the median, according to the Highway Patrol report. Standiford suffered severe head, arm, stomach and leg injuries, according to the Highway Patrol. He was taken to Wall Airport by the Wall ambulance and then airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. Standiford was not wearing a helmet.

In the non-fatal category there was:

Enrique Hernandez Huerta of St. Paul, Minn., was injured when his motorcycle was hit by a speeding pickup … driven by John Nugent, 23, of Big Piney, Wyo. Nugent was clocked on radar at 90 mph as he drove west in Boulder Canyon, and a Highway Patrol trooper who turned his vehicle around to make a traffic stop saw Nugent cross the center line and sideswipe Huerta’s 2001 Indian motorcycle, Karley said. … Huerta was not wearing a helmet, suffered serious head injuries and was initially taken to Lead-Deadwood Regional Hospital.

and:

At 1:15 p.m. Saturday, April Petersen, 27, Denver, was traveling east on Rochford Road on a Harley-Davidson when she lost control on a curve and struck a guardrail. She was not wearing a helmet and suffered a serious head injury.

What happened to the guys that were wearing their helmets when the flipped over in the median?

About 7:49 p.m. Saturday, Vernon Beardsley, 65, of Sterling, Colo., along with his passenger, Jenny Scholz, 42, of Bennett, Colo., suffered minor injuries in an accident near Piedmont. They were riding westbound on I-90 when another vehicle changed lanes, forcing Beardsley’s trike into the median. The trike rolled and came to rest in the eastbound lanes of I-90. Beardsley and his passenger were both wearing helmets and suffered minor injuries, Karley said.

I hope you are seeing patterns here.

I don’t want to get into a debate about whether helmet use should be required by law (which it is in Korea) because it shouldn’t matter whether or not there is a law. Everyone should wear a helmet anyway.

I don’t know who the guy in the accident here in Korea was, but God bless you, man. I sincerely hope you and your girlfriend pull through and heal completely.

Please, people. Just wear a helmet.

Hot Summer nights are good for getting out of the sweltering house and getting some fresh air.

Tonight after getting home from work I took my telescope and camera up to the rooftop to do a little stargazing. The moon caught my attention this evening. I spent an hour just looking at the surface details of our nearest celestial neighbor.

Now it’s off to enjoy a calm, nighttime, solo bike ride up the coast.

The Hells Angels have left Cody. The city is still standing. Who deserves the credit for saving this small Western town?

First, the Angels deserve the credit. They obeyed the law. The behaved themselves. Of the 800 Angels (by their count) in town, only 6 were arrested. Crimes included driving with a suspended license, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, bumping someone arm (’assault”), immigration violation, misdemeanor meth possession, and one single felony for possession of meth. Six arrests over five days. That is good behavior. Much better than others, it would seem because there were 21 non-angel arrests the first two days of the run.

The Angels say that they got along very well with the locals. Some Angles claim that they and the Cody locals are kindred spirits:

It’s a lifestyle that’s becoming a thing of the past. We’re men of our word. We do what we say and try to respect other people’s rights. People here will talk to a stranger and help a stranger. You don’t see that in many places any more…Cody is one of my favorite places - I think the attitude of the townspeople is great.

Second, the locals and tourists deserve the credit. The biggest danger posed by the locals and tourists is that they get liquored up and try to prove how tough they are to an Angel, which invariably ends in that person getting stomped by as many Angels as can stand around his fallen body. However, it appears that the locals and tourists at least tolerated the Angels and at best welcomed them with open arms. It seems that there were no problems between the locals, tourists and the Angels. The locals and tourists also had the guts to stand up to the law enforcement agencies and call them out for being overbearing, oppressive and too heavy-handed.

The law enforcement officers get very little credit from me. I previously listed the numerous agencies and equipment brought in to save the town of Cody, but it appears that I left Interpol and two Kiowa helicopters off the list. The cops eventually had to scale down their presence because of complaints. Even after cutting the police presence by 50% nothing happened. The officers could only very grudgingly give credit to the Angels for not causing problems (as if they intended to cause any), but the officer now attempt to justify their ridiculously overbearing presence.

Using the “If we had not been there, who knows what might have happened” card an officer said:

“Would it have been this quiet if we hadn’t called in the extra help? There’s no way of knowing.”

The law enforcers go on to say that they needed to be that aggressive and overwhelming because of the horrible things that the Angels were doing that nobody knew about. What were these terrible things the Angels were doing? The police say:

1. Hells Angels members wearing club colors were stationed outside the homes of local officers late at night
2. A Hells Angels member wearing his club colors visited the Cody Recreation Center and spoke with [Park County Sheriff] Steward’s 9-year-old daughter.”You’re the sheriff’s daughter, aren’t you?” Steward said the member asked. “I didn’t consider it a threat,…” Steward said. His daughter was not bothered by the incident,… but his wife was.
3. Bikers had sentries posted at gas stations and other spots at entrances to the city, collecting information about law enforcement efforts
4. At times early in the event, bikers engaged in “posturing” in an effort to challenge police

So basically, the cops justified Interpol, CIA, FBI, Homeland security, swat teams from several states, a blackhawk helicopter, etc., because the Angels were watching police watching them, because one Angel asked a nine-year-od girl a question, and because the Angles were looking at the police. Great job officers.

The event is over. The Angels were well received by the locals, the Angels got along with the locals, and the police made life miserable for everyone.

The Hells Angels 2006 World Run drew to an end…more or less…on Saturday, 29 July 2006.

How did the final day of the nightmare that never was go over?

No more arrests. There was so little news about Hells Angels that the Star Tribune from Casper, Wyoming had to report on telephone calls about the Hells Angels.

According to the report, Cody, Wyoming City Hall opened two phone lines this week specifically for people with Hells Angels queries. As of 2:30 p.m. Friday, 37 calls had been placed. Most of the questions dealt with such amazingly important issues such as “what does the “1%” patch on their jackets mean?,” and “are any rival gangs coming to town?”

However, shortly after the Angels arrived, the questions turned to complaints. Complaints about the Angels? No. The complaints were about the police and their heavy-handed tactics.

Constituents dialed state Rep. Colin Simpson with multiple complaints. They also dialed Colin Simpson the lawyer with business, complaining that the hundreds of police officers in town for the Hells Angels were stopping folks for petty traffic violations.

A police officer’s duty is to protect and serve. Protect the citizenry and to serve the citizenry. Their duty is not to harrass locals and tourists and generate revenue for the state. Writing hundreds of traffic citations for petty infractions that have virtually nothing to do with preserving public safety is nothing more than an oppressive attempt to pressure citizens, to try to raise revenue, and to try to make the locals and everyone else hate the Hells Angels under the theory of “if the Angels weren’t here, then we wouldn’t be doing this to you, so hate them and not us.” This doesn’t work. This never works.

Nearly two years ago, I explained why I have more respect for Korean traffic policemen than I do for their American counterparts. Basically, it lies in the Korean policemen issuing warnings to people doing non-dangerous things and not using their authority as a revenue generator.

Going back to Cody, Wyoming, let’s look at some police behavior over the past few days. Keeping in mind that a total of FIVE Angels were charged with anything, look at what the police were doing to the rest of the people in Cody. One example:

Emergency medical technician Tara Hart wasn’t stopped by local police, but said driving the Powell Highway amounted to running a gauntlet of Wyoming Highway Patrol cars. “I was coming home from livestock judging at 10 til 1 in the morning,” Hart said. “They pulled me over for failing to dim my headlights in a timely fashion.”