MNO Blog – Motorcycles, News, Opinions

(Palm Bay, Florida) A man riding a motorcycle was killed Thursday night after being struck by a Honda Accord near Minton Road and Emerson Drive in Palm Bay. Police identified the victim as Nicolo Puglisi, 33, of West Melbourne. He was not wearing a helmet. Victor Puglisi, his 8-year-old son, who was riding with him was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando with critical injuries. The boy was wearing a helmet. A 40-year-old man who was driving the Accord has been arrested on a charge of DUI manslaughter.
Jose Ramon Cabrera also faces charges of felony DUI, DUI with serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage.

Cabrera has a lengthy arrest history dating back to 1995, police said. He has two prior DUI arrests. If convicted, he might face a maximum term of 15 years. The accident occurred a before 8 p.m. Traffic homicide investigators continued to work at the scene late into the night. Traffic flow at the intersection was affected for hours. Those trying to go north on Minton Road near Emerson Drive were being directed to use alternative routes.

The above is a article that was published in Florida Today September 28, 2007 written by reporter Kaustuv Basu. Readers of this blog know that I rarely use re posts from other sources. However, somehow this story slipped on without my knowledge and it caught my eye yesterday in the Florida Today breaking news forums. My sincere condolences and sympathy go to the family of the victim, Nicoli Puglisi and prayers are for his son who survived the crash. From what I have read in the story chat, the child has undergone surgery and is still in ICU at the Orlando hospital he was air lifted to. There is talk of a fund being set up to help the family and when I get that information I will post it here for those who wish to contribute.

This story is disturbing in itself, and struck up some serious debate in the forum.  As in many stories of this nature where the writer makes mention of whether the rider was wearing a helmet or not, the great helmet debate ensues. Many times as in this particular case the helmet issue clouds the discussion over the greater issues. Another human life was taken of a motorcyclist by a person driving under the influence (DUI) in a automobile. Moreover, this man, Jose Ramon Cabrera has a long history of traffic infractions that include two previous arrests for DUI.

The last two posts in the story chat really caught my attention.

WHAT???!!! At first I didn’t/couldn’t believe what Nala41 posted, but it’s completely true. This piece of crap was let out of jail, committed yet ANOTHER running a light infraction and gets a friggen TICKET??? By the way, scum bags court date is November 28. Posted by: sweet_vindication on Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:19 pm

Well, I could not believe this myself. So I pulled the case to see if it could have been an error. To think that Mr. Cabrera could be out on bail and committed this careless driving offense days later was unimaginable. A Florida driver license check brought back the following information:
As of Oct 12, 2007, at 08:07 PM, driver license number C166-436-67-161-0 will soon be CANCELED, SUSPENDED, REVOKED, or DISQUALIFIED. Reason listed refuse to submit to breath/urine/blood test.

The citation that was issued in case  05-2007-TR-076556-AXXX-XX  indicated that the citation was NOT issued to Mr. Cabrera while driving days later as it appeared. It was issued as a summons request on 9/27/2007 and given to the Brevard county Sheriff office to be served. In fact as of today Jose Cabrera is still being held at the Brevard county jail under $320,000.00 bond. The record on case 05-2007-CF-061893-AXXX-XX reflects that Cabrera was arrested on the date of the crash and charged with DUI felony third or subsequent offense, DUI Manslaughter, DUI serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage. You will notice that the Case Type is Non Capital Murder for these charges. The Case Type for case number 05-2007-TR-076556-AXXX-XX is Traffic Infraction.

No dates have been set for docket soundings and the second appearance originally scheduled for 10/26/2007 has been canceled.

UPDATE 10/14: for the next 10 days donations can be sent to

Ronald MCdonald House Room #4

Arnold Palmer Medical Center

Att. Vincent Puglisi

1630 Kuhl Ave.

Orlando, Florida 32806

Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/BREAKINGNEWS/309280005

Technorati Tags: brevard county, driving drunk, DUI, fatal crash, florida, motorcycle news, palm bay

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Sanford Bikefest this weekend
• Sanford Bikefest
• Two attorneys appear for Billy Lane – DUI Manslaughter Case continued
• Biketober Photos
• Photo Gallery

Related items

• Billy Lane DUI hearing cancelled, no new date set
• New date set for Billy Lane Case – clerical error at fault
• Two attorneys appear for Billy Lane – DUI Manslaughter Case continued
• Billy Lane Changes Attorney In Criminal DUI Manslaughter Case
• Dodge answers auto negligence suit

The past few days have been rewarding for me getting my PC back on track. I had to plot out some type of course on what would list the top priority programs I wanted to get installed after last week’s mishap.

Because I build my own computers, they do not come with all the preinstalled trial software that has a tendency to bog most brand name computers down out of the box. I see a lot of the new computers come with free trial offers of 2 or 3 different Internet providers and 2 anti virus programs both running on start up, batched up with other programs to sell you things you don’t need. Add to all that signing on with America Online and your are pretty much screwed from the moment you start up your new computer.

Fortunately I simply start out with my OS (operating system) and a direct Internet connection tied in to my home/office network. One of the biggest barriers I have ran into so far is getting my dual boot system to back running. I am skipping that error for now, because I still have access to both drives and operating systems. So for now, I am running XP 64 and installing from there.

Ok, so if you have purchased one of these computers, or plan on doing so. The first place for you to head is to your control panel and click on the add remove programs and strip off all of the trial and unwanted software. Sign up with a ISP that gives you a fast reliable  direct internet connection preferably by cable or DSL. In other words you should always be connected to the internet so that you simply bring up your browser and go! If you want to set a home page to get current news and things, you can easily do that yourself. If you are using any type of provider that requires you to sign on through their system and are immediately taken to their home page, you are headed for trouble. If you are new to computers and you think you need this type of connection to lead you around to where they want you to go, think about it real hard. Take the money that you are spending for that connection and take a few hours of basic computer instruction instead. You will be so much better off.

So, now we are starting off with a basic computer with a operating system and direct internet connection. From here you will want to make a list of what it is that you want your computer to do for you. There are some other basic programs that most of you will want and need on any type of PC. Email is an important program, so that you will be able to communicate with others from your computer. However, before we get our email set up we need to think about protection. Email can be a very useful tool if well protected. On the other hand email can become a task of sorting through all of the unwanted messages that seem to came from nowhere as soon as you open your program up, this is commonly known as spam. There are many programs on the market to combat spam that you can run out and purchase. Don’t do that! At least not until you have finished reading on and looking into what these programs can or can not do. Furthermore, how much should you spend on a program to combat spam? My suggestion to you is that you spend nothing, not a penny on a spam prevention program. I use and strongly suggest that you try, for FREE SpamAware. This product integrates with Outlook and Outlook express easily and it will delete those unwanted messages for you. Visit Jam Software and download SpamAware if you are using either of these Microsoft products as your email program. Alternatively, you can use Mozilla products such as FireFox for your browser and Thunderbird for your email, which are also FREE and are highly suggested products if you want to stay away from Microsoft. Personally, I use both browsers and Outlook for email.

Another item for protection that you will need to have installed before you begin using your email is a quality anti virus program. Again, there are a lot of products on the market that you could go out and spend money on. However, I would like to point out that you DO NOT have to rush to the store and purchase a AV program and I strongly suggest that you stay away from the so called bundled software packages. These all have a tendency to slow your system down and cause conflicts beyond belief. There are two really good FREE anti virus programs available for you to download on the web. Because I use dual boot and run both 32 and 64 bit systems I needed a software program that is compatible with both. I used to use AVG Free and it is a good product for anti virus protection which you can read more about and download at Grisoft and though they say that their software is compatible with Windows Vista, they have not made a X64 version yet. I did a little research and I came up with a impressive anti virus software made by ALWIL software called Avast which is also Vista compliant and they have a X64 version. I strongly recommend either of these AV protections, but I am running the Avast without any problems. Avast also integrates with Outlook trouble free.

Now we have a computer that is up and running with an operating system, email program protection against virus and spam. You will want to make sure all of these programs are updated. You have a direct connection to the internet and you are using either the current version of Internet Explorer or FireFox.

The next thing you may want to add is a program to write letters and faxes, use databases and spread sheets for your office or home work. For my last tip on free software in this post, I want to suggest that you check out Open Office free office suite. This program compares with the expensive office products on the market and will serve you well to download.

I hope that you have found some good computer tips in this post. I do computer upgrades and tutoring in my spare time now, but I used to have a store. If you have any questions or need help with problems not covered here feel free to contact me. I will be making other posts on computers and the internet in the future and I hope you find them useful.

Technorati Tags: computers, software, email, spam, antivirus

Related items

• Nexus Radio – Free radio that you can record
• Google goes black and turns out the lights at earthhour.org
• Make it a habit
• How fast are you going?
• FindTheBest Motorcycle Comparison

I remember a day when having data backup was so important to me I installed a tape drive that ran daily backups of all my data. After years of trouble free computer use, I have grown more relaxed and only backed up certain items rarely.

A couple days of days ago I purchased a new 500GB hard drive from Staples. No big deal, I have replaced or upgraded hard drives before. I usually buy Maxtor hard drives because they have been reliable and have a good warranty backing them. Maxtor provides a program called MaxBLAST ™ that will copy your old hard drive over to the new one and this too has always been trouble free. That is until the new version of MaxBLAST™  and the third attempt in getting my old drive to copy over to the new one.

The new version 4 of MaxBLAST™ decided on the 4th attempt to do a drive copy that it would format my old hard drive (erasing all my data) and then take over 6 hours to copy the blank hard drive that it had formatted. Needless to say that now, after losing a lot of my old data, I am going to be a backup freak again. I am looking at weeks of installing all of my programs and updates before I get my machine back to where it was before this “accidental” formatting of my data and there are many things lost that will never be recovered.

Backup your important data folks. You never know when you might need it. 

Technorati Tags: backup, computers, software

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Billy Lane DUI Update
• Billy Lane Trial Update – Prosecutor’s motion granted, defense motion in wings
• Mike’s Favorites
• Biketober Photos
• Get Twisted With Torque.TV!

Related items

• Getting back on track. Computers, the Internet and protection
• Three days down without a computer!
• Patriot Guard Riders a security risk?
• Nexus Radio – Free radio that you can record
• Google goes black and turns out the lights at earthhour.org

Paris Hilton, by way of one of her myspace pals has started a online petition to be pardoned so that she will not have to do jail time.

The story of Paris Hilton being arrested for DUI was no different from other Hollywood celebrities, except there seemed to be a rash of them in one month. Today I read a story about how Schwarzenegger ‘Too Busy’ to Bother with Paris on Hollywood.Com that tells of the petition to pardon Ms. Hilton and how the California Governor has distanced himself from the case.

This petition, called the FREE PARIS HILTON PETITION  is addressed to Arnold Schwarzenegger calling her DUI a “honest mistake”.  She was sentenced to 45 days in jail for breaking the terms of that DUI and driving on a suspended license, that was no mistake. One day Ms. Hilton is claiming she is ready to face the consequences of her DUI and later asking for a pardon. Her lawyers have already filed an appeal of the sentencing on her behalf. Question is, why was she not taken to jail then? Paris Hilton is to report to jail on June 5th with a appeal and online petition in progress. Paris stated that she is not above the law in  the same interview, yet was photographed driving only a few days after her sentencing.

I have to wonder just how many will actually sign such a petition. Moreover, how many of those who do sign will regret they did when someone close to them is hurt or killed by someone driving impaired or on a suspended license. Realistically, how valid would a petition like this be? Given that the petition originates from a myspace account and there is no entry for age or voter verification.

Here is an interesting outlook by Attorney Alan Dershowitz about celebrity injustice entitled Star cases put our entire legal system on trial. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

Technorati Tags: celebrity injustice, dui, dwi, hollywood, law, paris hilton

Related items

• Is the Second Amendment in jeopardy
• Judge accepts plea in Lane case sentencing scheduled for August
• Billy Lane faces new charge and Judge
• Billy Lane DUI hearing cancelled, no new date set
• Lane trial in holding pattern

I have to admit, I do not watch much television, I listen, but seldom watch. Tonight was one of the times for me to watch with the first airing of Motorcycle Mania 4 on TLC. Commercials, wow! Cindi commented on how there was so many of them. My answer to her, “would you rather pay to see this, or let them pay”? So with that said, in the review of tonight’s show, I will include our top picks of use of air time to pay the bills.

With just the opening few seconds of the show, I was ready to go back to Daytona Beach and do bike week again. Working during these events takes from a lot of the fun, but hey, its still a great job. One of the best things about watching Motorcycle Mania tonight was that it was filmed during bike week and watching the show was exciting for that reason.

For those of you that watched the show tonight, I am sure you could see how busy custom motorcycle builder Russell Mitchell was during the live build. However, Russell, like many other celebrity builders will almost always take the time out to talk to fans. It was a pleasure to speak with and meet Russell in Daytona. Speaking of fans, one of the highlights of  the show tonight was watching Russell autograph a fans head. This was not a normal autograph though, this was done in the form of a tattoo. Though Russell claimed that he had not been on the controlling end of the tattoo gun before, he did an excellent job of signing the guys head for life.

Unfortunately, I was not present during any of the time that John Mellencamp was around, I would of like to have met him as well. He seems to have settled down in the years past. I remember seeing him live in Orlando back in the seventies where he racked up thousands of dollars in fines for using prohibited language on stage. I expected to hear more of John’s music, but was satisfied to see him do a unplugged version of “Pink Houses” during the presentation of his original Exile Cycles Mellencamp Rigid.

First good commercial goes out to the TLC reality show Real Deal where Richard Davis is trying to teach some bikers how to make money in real estate by fixing up houses. He leads in to a statement about drinking and … a guy holds up a nail gun and continues driving nails. Then a guy sitting in the class with hair standing straight up ask how long it will take for a persons smell to come back after working on a socket that the electrician left live.

Russell and the guys from Exile Cycles get ready to start the build and once they seem to have everything in place and ready to go, Russell announces that they do not have a full bottle of the gun blue stain to start the frame. Now, it appears that he will only have four days to finish the bike, were it was originally planned he would have five. No sweat, right?

Next good commercial was done by BMW motorcycles. The entire commercial was free of words and was composed of motorcycle stunt video footage. Great commercial to get your point across without saying anything.

Back to the show where Iraq war hero, Capt. David Haigh is presented a custom motorcycle built by chopper builder Bill Dodge with the help of Paul Cox and Keino. The custom motorcycle was given to him on the Hard Rock Roadhouse stage were he got to see it for the first time. I was not around during the presentation, but my hat goes off to Bill Dodge and his sponsors for showing their support for Capt. Haigh and our troops in Iraq.

Thanks goes out to Amour All for the next commercial that made us laugh while the Bud Light commercial was, well not so funny. Back to the show and the final day of the build. Russell completes the wiring on Mellencamp’s bike and wants to hear it run before he calls it a day. The crew gets the bike gassed up and ready, and with a final check, Russell touches two wires together and the engine fires right up. Next up, Russell celebrates by doing a burnout that heats the exhaust pipes up cherry red and draws the attention of the Daytona Police. NAPA auto parts follows up with a commercial full of hot rod burn outs without the cops.

The ending scenes of the show are of Russell and John riding around the Daytona loop and up Highway A1A with John Mellencamp’s new song Freedom Road playing. It was a pretty good show with too many commercial interruptions that remind me of why I do not sit in front of the television to often. It was cool to see all of the bike week happenings on TV, but I would rather live it.

Technorati Tags: exile cycles, motorcycles, bike week, television, motorcycle mania

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Motorcycle Mania 4 Visits Daytona Beach During Bike Week
• Bike Week Main Street Daytona Beach
• Mike’s Favorites
• Motorcycle Blogs
• Photo Gallery

Related items

• Motorcycle Mania 4 Visits Daytona Beach During Bike Week
• Bike Week Main Street Daytona Beach
• Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach?
• 2008 Daytona Bike Week Live coverage
• I love the sound of motorcycles in the morning!

Today, I am speaking with Byron Morelock. Byron, is the brother of Gerald Morelock the motorcyclist killed on September 4^th 2006 when he was hit head-on by an oncoming Dodge Ram pickup in a no passing zone on State Road A1A in Melbourne Beach, Florida. It was later discovered that the driver of the Dodge pickup, William D. Lane, did not have a valid driver license and was driving while intoxicated. Lane and female passenger Erin Derrick were injured in the crash, but were released from the hospital later. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab reported that Mr. Lane’s blood alcohol level was at .192 which is higher than the legal Florida limit of .08. Mr. Lane’s driver license was under current suspension for refusing to submit to a breathalyser test in June of 2006 after he was pulled over by State Police in Rowan County, North Carolina for driving on the wrong side of the road and not wearing a helmet.

There has been quite a bit of local news coverage on the crash of September 4^th in Brevard County, Florida that took the life of Gerald Morelock because as fate would have it William Lane, known as Billy Lane of Choppers Inc. is a motorcycle builder based in Melbourne Florida and he is popular in the motorcycle industry. It was later discovered that Billy Lane did not own the Dodge pickup that he was driving when the crash occurred. The Dodge Ram pickup was one of 3 promotional vehicles owned by
DaimlerChrysler Corporation and had been loaned to Lane to promote Dodge products. All 3 vehicles had custom paint that prominently displayed the Dodge name, Choppers Inc., Billy Lane and the Dodge ram trademark.

One of the most important issues in this tragedy has lacked news coverage and that is what are the thoughts, the feelings of the family that has lost a loved one. That is what I want to discus with Byron Morelock today. I did this interview by telephone, but was invited out to meet with Byron and his son Sean on Melbourne Beach. To meet them in person and talk was very touching. Sean is very quiet and walked off while his father and I spoke. I took Cindi along and she took some pictures as we talked. The following is the interview that took place by telephone.

 Good afternoon, Byron

Byron: Mike, can I say a word or two first to clarify something??

MNO: Sure.

Byron: Thanks.. I have always been a slightly shy kind of a guy. Not bothering anyone and expecting that in return. We all dream about being a movie star or getting in the news for doing something great…Maybe its just a human thing.. I never would have dreamed in a million years that I would have to stand up and publicly Talk about and defend my family and our situation.
I guess that it is something that I must do. Too much hurt and pain have interrupted our lives. The sword has been passed to me. Mostly , we have heard from thousands of caring souls telling us that they too have lost a loved one and that somehow sharing our problems with others might help some one else. That’s why I’m here with you Mike. I wish I wasn’t,. not that you are a bad guy or anything !! I mean that I would much rather be fishing on some beach, waiting for Gerry to come walking up and saying “Hey Bro…whats up”

Ok ..fire away !

MNO: Where do you live? Are you from Florida?

Byron: My son and I live in Indialantic ,Florida now. My daughter Chelsey also lives in Melbourne. Actually Mike, I have been coming down to Florida since I was a baby. My Dad had an Aunt that lived locally so we were drawn here by family. We grew up in Ohio.

MNO: When did you move to Florida?

Byron: I moved to Florida in 1992.

MNO: Gerald Morelock was your brother?

Byron: He sure was….

MNO: Where did Gerald live? Was he from Florida?

Byron: Gerry lived 3 miles south of us in Melbourne Beach. Gerry was from Ohio like me.

MNO: When did Gerald move to Florida?

Byron: Gerry moved down here in 1988. We were always close so I moved down a few years latter.

MNO: Was Gerald older or younger than you?

Byron: Gerry was my big brother…always my big brother. Even though I became a bit “bigger”I always looked up to him as my big brother.

MNO: What was Gerald like in his youth?

Byron: Gerry was always into music & art. We both grew up with the most beautiful Mom & Dad. Kinda like a Rockwell painting. Dad always took us out fishing & hunting. We both loved the outdoors..

MNO: Are there any other brothers or sisters in your family?

Byron: Yea, I have a little sister “Squirt”…I mean DAWN….She always wanted to hang out with us so Gerry & I started calling her Squirt.

MNO: And where does she live?

Byron: She lives up in Ohio about 10 miles from MOM.

MNO: Tell me about your parents, are they both still alive?

Byron: Mom is still kicking….that’s for sure!! Dad died in our arms in
1984 with pancreatic cancer. That was horrible…but I was glad that we were there for him… Dad brought us into to this world and we thought it was our duty to help him out…..Gerry too. Matter of fact …I thought at the time that it was the worst thing that would ever happen to me ……unfortunately ……I was wrong …………As for our Mom: (I call her “BUG” because her name is JUNE )….get it ??? “JUNE BUG”Well she is my saving grace…Always there for both Gerry & I as well as my family. She fell in love with my Dad as a teenager and stuck with him …even to this day…she never remarried. She always says: “Once you’ve had the best …you don’t want the rest!!”

MNO: And you, do you have a family of your own?

Byron: I surly do. My son Seany lives with me and I have a beautiful daughter ,Chelsey , that has her own “pad” now. My ex-wife Carmen lives locally and is always involved with her children.

MNO: So your son, Sean lives with you? Tell me about him.

Byron: Well ….Seany and I are about as close as God allows. I know that sounds strange
to some of you but that’s the truth. If he is feeling sick then I start to feel sick. if I am worried then he too, worries. We are a kindred spirit. Everyone that knows us , tell us that they have never seen such a closeness of two souls. Lately though…..I have noticed him quiet, wanting to just slam our door closed when he comes home .maybe to escape our reality….. I don’t know exactly how to put into words. We constantly get bombarded with the realization that Gerry will never be here again. For me, it‘s horrible!!
…but to see my beautiful boy struggling to figure out all this crap just kills me.

MNO: I see, so this tragedy has had a big effect on Seany, your son?

Byron: Mike…..I don’t know you very well…….but I have to tell someone and I trust you ….my brother Gerry was not just an uncle to Seany…..He also represented his Grandpa, as well as a good understanding friend. Seany always would sit with Gerry and find the answers that he needed to hear. He would call him weekly .

You see, Gerry always helped both Seany and me in so many ways. He would LISTEN to us without judgment and try and understand how we felt . Sometimes a Dad & a son or daughter need Individual space , to be free to say what’s on their minds to someone that cares . Gerry always opened his heart to help us .

MNO: What other changes has all this brought to Sean’s life? School? Hobbies?

Byron: Both Seany and I were paralyzed when we were awakened at 2:59 am by 3 policemen pounding our door down last Labor Day. I didn’t sleep for 7 days…Seany finally passed out 5 days latter on the couch. My Mom flew down As fast as she could to help us. Everywhere we went , people would hug us and cry and ask us how we were doing.

 Our phones rang and rang. Emails after emails. All of these wonderful people were truly concerned about us. Seany could not make himself go to school. His school tried to fail him because of all this. He was devastated. I had to call the Governor’s office and vehemently defend my boy’s reasons. Three days latter I got a call from his school telling me that
Seany was welcome back to his school…….This was an awful thing for him. How dare anybody dictate a time for grieving !!!!!!!!!!

Especially to a beautiful boy caught up in a horrific tragedy. Both Seany and I really haven’t wanted to go out much since Gerry was killed. We use to always go to Sebastian Inlet and fish and play like we were on a deserted island. Build a campfire, and cook (hopefully) fresh fish and then Gerry would come over and eat and talk. I try to be a good example to my son Mike……

But I just can’t hide my pain and he knows it. Too many nights we both just lay in my bed….looking at the ceiling….not saying a word but knowing how much we need each other….He lost more than an uncle……that’s all I can say.….

(Cell phone rings)

Byron: Excuse me Mike.

MNO: Sure, go ahead.

Byron: Sorry, That was Seany….He calls me 5 to 8 times a day since Gerry’s death. We both always say I Love You a hundred times a day. I am not complaining at all . I truly love that boy so much ! He seems to be scared of …”WHATS NEXT ??” syndrome.
Maybe he is frightened with the possibility of loosing me ya know?….

MNO: And you? How has Gerry’s death effected your life?

Byron: (long pause)…

Gerry and I were not just brothers…we were best friends. Confidants of life. He would listen till 2 in the morning about all the crap I went thru and still not be judgmental. He studied all the religions in the world and always would come up with the perfect idea. I still almost stop by his place every day to say hi but then I remember…

Gerry didn’t like to cook , so Seany &I always did for him. If we were making killer lasagna, we would double the amount and take it over to uncle Gerry’s every week. A lot of the times Gerry would come over and bring his guitars and play the most beautiful music while Seany & I would be cooking.

Matter of fact, he played the most beautiful version of “GREENSLEVES “ in the whole world. Every time I would ask him to play that………… This Christmas did not come to Seany & Me .We both would get tears in our eyes listening to music….especially Greensleeves on the radio .14 years… we cooked for him and he always would say to me “I m so proud of you brother”…I miss that in my life now a days.

MNO: Do you think that this has been harder for you, your son and family because Gerald’s death involved a celebrity?

Byron: Of course,. So many more people know of the famous Billy lane. I mean , the first newspaper article barely mentioned my brother Gerry. They were more interested in the famous man that killed Gerry.

MNO: Did you know who Billy Lane was before this incident? Sean?

Byron: No. I really didn’t know of him. Seany and his friends new OF him.

MNO: And the rest of your family? What feelings have they expressed?

Byron: Mom has been devastated by all this !!! She doesn’t know what to think or do .She basically now hides in her home and tries to not think of this tragedy. Thank God that my little sister Squirt lives close by.

Mom doesn’t drive so Squirt picks her up and brings her to her home .Mom still just cleans around the home and worries about our families reality now that Gerry is gone. I am embarrassed to say that Mom probably worries too much for Seany & me and what we go thru here in all of this mess. I love my Mom so much and worry that this tragedy has broken her heart and the will to keep on.

MNO: Did anyone from the media try to talk to your Mom at her home in Ohio, I mean outside of Florida media?

Byron: No , I don’t think so Mike but then again , I am afraid to talk with her like I always use to. I don’t want to take a chance of getting her more upset.

MNO: And you? What was the media attention like when this all first happened?

Byron: From the day after Billy lane killed my Bro all hell broke loose in our lives: .Reporters, photographers, journalists , policemen, coroners, lawyers, prosecutors, Florists, funeral homes, Doctors, …Ya get it ???

Reporters at Seany’s school, waiting for us at home,…a nightmare

MNO: Now?

Byron: Still get hundreds of emails from all over the USA everyday, and phone calls and letters and blogs …. Mostly supporting our cause.

MNO: I’d like to hear more about Gerald. Can you tell me what kind of a person was he?as a Brother?

Byron: He was my friend, my best friend as Seany let me know. You see , I have been a single Dad with my kids for along time. I happen to believe that my kids came 1^st.

Therefore I didn’t go out a lot . I stayed at home and mostly spent time with Gerry. Yea, he was my big brother…and I mean big too. Every single time I saw him , he would give me a big Viking hug and say :”I’m so proud of you !!”

I was lucky I guess to have a bro and a friend in one .Gerry always tried to help. I mean help anyone. I really don’t believe that he knew just how much he helped so many others. To be truthful…I even didn’t know until he was gone myself how I depended on him just to be there.…We have gotten thousands and thousands of people around this great country telling us how Gerry and all this has helped them some way , some how. Many have told me that they have lost a loved one in a traffic tragedy like us. I only hope and pray that my sweet brother can see how much good he had done.

MNO: Did Gerald have a wife? Kids?

Byron: He was married at one time. His only kid you might say is my boy Seany. They had a wonderful relationship !!!!!!!!

MNO: And Gerald was a park ranger?

Byron: He worked at Sebastian Inlet Park and loved it ! Our Dad took us there as kids all the time when we vacationed from Ohio. I guess that’s like a big circle.

MNO: We know that Gerald had a Yamaha motor scooter. Did he have any other bikes?

Byron: He had a big ol BMW.

MNO: When did Gerald first start riding?

Byron: Not long I guess. Maybe a few years. He liked the wind in his face. But ya know what he really loved about bikes and bikers? He loved the idea of being a part of a group. A comrade. He would always tell me how great it felt when a bunch of Harleys would go by and WAVE to him……And now so many more are waving and supporting him and us……he was right,………..bikers are more than cool !!!

MNO: Gerald wore a helmet when riding?

Byron: The 1^st day he got his bike I came over. We both went out
and found a killer helmet! He looked really cool in it too.

MNO: So, Gerry enjoyed riding motorcycles. Other articles I had read said that Gerald was thinking about selling his scooter?

Byron: Well , I was always trying to talk him into getting a sports car with some more METAL around him. He loved the feeling of a bike though.

MNO: I think I read somewhere that before this incident, you and Sean did not know much about the biker community?

Byron: I grew up with a lot of bikers but for some reason I was afraid to
ride myself. I always liked most of the bikers I met, kinda like fishermen….

MNO: And these days, what are your feelings towards bikers?

Byron: Both Seany and I as well as my Mom And Squirt now have only love and good feelings towards bikers all over this great country !!

MNO: Byron, you have a computer, correct? How long have you been “on line”?

Byron: Yes , got 2 of them. I’ve been on line for several years now. why??

MNO: I was wondering if you have been reading these forums, blogs and on line articles about what happened?

Byron: That’s a 2 bladed answer my friend.

MNO: Okay, have you become active in any of these?

Byron: Some….mostly to defend my brother!!!

MNO: Some of the threads seem to get out of control and it appears that you might have been hurt by some of the things said. Is there anything you might want to say about that?

Byron: What has happened to me and my family has happened to way to many others before us. Trying to get thru day by day is bad enough. But to get emails from all over with comments to look at a blog because of a hurtful remark is heartbreaking all over again…

I am at awe with the maybe millions that seem to be supporting our cause in this tragedy. From all our locals here on the beach, friends, M.A.D.D. and B.A.D.D. members from Germany to Japan!!! At the same time it only takes a few bad remarks or false statements said to bring this big Ohioan to tears. Maybe some do not understand the whole situation.

MNO: What about the way some have chose to turn certain threads into a mob scene and hateful remarks against Gerald, you or your family?

Byron: There are several reasons that I will respond to a few hate mails towards my Bro or my family.

One being that I promised my Son, Seany, that Labor Day night that I would never give up , NEVER

The other reason is to try and turn this tragedy into something positive to help others…Gerry would want that. But I guess the single and most important reason that I will fight for our cause is very simple and plain…..

” A BROTHER”S LOVE>>>IS A BROTHER”S LOVE”

MNO: And those who do so against Billy Lane?

Byron: I think that it is wrong. The man that killed my Brother has to go thru our legal and civil system. I once said this statement but not many picked up on it except you Mike..: “ No matter what happens …..Everyone looses in this tragedy “

MNO: I know you can not answer many questions about the civil action filed against Billy Lane and DaimlerChrysler, but I want to just point out some things. Would that be okay? If I ask something that you can not answer, just tell me so.

Byron: Okay.

MNO: Your mother has filed an auto negligence suit against Dodge and Billy Lane for the wrongful death of your brother Gerald, correct? Ur, well I should say DaimlerChrysler I guess.

Byron: Yes. Against Billy Lane because he was driving and broke the law, Dodge because they owned the pickup that he was driving when Gerry was killed.

MNO: So Dodge is involved because it was their pickup that Lane was driving?

Byron: Yes, but that is all I can say for now.

MNO: Byron, thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak with you about all this, I know it is a hard thing for you to talk about.

I did a post on Gerald Morelock back in November of 2006 that includes many pictures of Gerry and his family. You can see that post by clicking here.

Technorati Tags: auto negligence, billy lane, civil suit, daimlerchrysler, dodge, dui, law, personal injury, trial

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Gerry Morelock, a man I wish had met
• Passenger in Billy Lane DUI Case files civil law suit
• Settlement reached in Billy Lane Civil Case with Morelock Family
• Autopsy report reveals new evidence in Billy Lane DUI Case
• Radio sports commentator claims Billy Lane interview

Related items

• Blog Action Day Post – Gopher Tortoise
• Billy Lane DUI hearing cancelled, no new date set
• New date set for Billy Lane Case – clerical error at fault
• Choppers Inc. announces limited retail location store hours in 2007
• Billy Lane Changes Attorney In Criminal DUI Manslaughter Case

I guess one of the biggest draws to the famed Daytona Beach’s Main Street during bike week is for the cruising. Whether you choose to walk or ride this strip of bars, shops and restaurants that are packed along Main Street beginning at S. Peninsula Dr. that continues up to Ocean Ave., it is a people watching safari. Two and three wheeled vehicles of all shapes and sizes and covered with everything imaginable will appear on this strip at least once during the ten day Florida Motorcycle Event. Men and women from all over the world will visit Main Street to shop, eat and drink will checking out the masses that migrate to Daytona Beach annually for bike week.

Wet T shirt and bikini contest are almost an hourly event as the bars attempt to draw in thirsty spectators. Beer Tub Babes, half naked, draw the eye of people passing by while every cell phone with a camera is in hand to grab a shot to bring home as a souvenir of the visit to Daytona Beach, Florida.

The motorcycle industries top names also appear in this area. I was lucky enough to catch custom motorcycle builder Russell Mitchell of Exile Cycles working on a build at Automatic Slim’s on Main Street next to Dirty Harry’s saloon. The bike Russell is working on was to be presented to John Mellencamp and will be featured in Motorcycle Mania 4 to be aired in April.

With all the things to see on Main Street, the number 1 attraction? Babes. Biker Babes, Beer-Tub Babes, babes in chaps and bikini babes.

There is always plenty of great looking eye candy on the strip in Daytona.

More Bike Week Babes on my Bike Week Daytona web site.

Technorati Tags: bike week, motorcycle news, daytona beach, florida, motorcycle events

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Biketober Photos
• Photo Gallery
• Photo Gallery
• Bike Week Pictures are being published – finally
• Biketoberfest Pictures

Related items

• Bike Week Final Saturday Wild
• I love the sound of motorcycles in the morning!
• Riding the Volusia County Loop during Bike Week
• 2008 Daytona Bike Week Live coverage
• Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach?

Staying at home in my bed after tent camping for 6 nights made it hard to get out of the sack early Saturday morning to return to Daytona Beach for the Rat’s Hole custom bike show, but I did. The annual Florida motorcycle event was not extremely busy the first few days, in fact up until Wednesday the bike week scene seemed tamed. Putting aside the nightly party that was happening on our end of the campgrounds, but that is another story all together.

As promised, the weather for the first Saturday was cold and wet and the cold did not give way to warmer temperatures until Monday. The good thing was that out of the 10 days of bike week we only seen rain one day. We postponed our Daytona Loop photo shoot until Sunday due to the in climate weather on Saturday.

It is hard to wrap up nine days of bike week into one article, so I am not going to try. I am still in the process, but closed to finished, of sorting out the pictures that we took during our visit. The final Saturday of bike week was wild and crowded. Running late coming from Melbourne and getting caught in the Daytona Speedway traffic did not help. It took nearly an hour to get from the International Speedway Blvd. Exit of I-95 to the Daytona Lagoon were the Rat’s Hole bike show was being held.

For the first time, the Rat’s Hole featured a V8 Chopper build-off! The bikes and the main stage were set up in the Tidal Wave Pool that normally holds 500,000 gallons of water. The water was gone for the event…. wonder where they put 500,000 gallons of water while the bike show was set up? Any way, the show was held under blue skies and there was plenty to keep our cameras busy. I will do more on the Rat’s Hole later.

Heading down SR A1A to Main Street later in the afternoon to check out the happenings, we found that Main Street was wall to wall. Where there were not bikes, there were people and no room left for either. For the final Saturday of bike week 2007, Main Street took on the look of the bike week of days gone by. It was almost a feeling of “let’s see how far we can take this” pushing the red line on what would get by. It was a good thing and a good feeling to see people having fun, real fun. None of this”I am shocked at all this” looks. For Pete’s sake, if you want family atmosphere head over to Orlando. It is probably too late for the city to revive the entire event back to Daytona Beach, but it looks like they may get a day of the old days.

There were just as many people the entire time of Bike Week, with the exceptions of a lot of Floridians riding in for the day, it is just that they are more spread out now. US 1 has become the new Main Street and a lot of the traffic has been pulled to the North with the opening of Destination Daytona along with other anchor industry leaders like Corbin. New biker bars, custom chopper and motorcycle dealers and tattoo shops are popping up all around the Ormond Beach area. I will get to all this later on as well.

So, I am back from Daytona and will try to get as much information about what happened at the event posted in the next day or so. Keep an eye out for them.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle news, bike week, daytona beach, florida, motorcycle events, bike shows

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Bike Week Main Street Daytona Beach
• Photo Gallery
• Riding the Volusia County Loop during Bike Week
• Biketober Photos
• Photo Gallery

Related items

• Biketoberfest 2007 Entertainment Calendar
• Bike Week Main Street Daytona Beach
• Bike Week Begins
• Riding the Volusia County Loop during Bike Week
• First blog post of 2007

I just learned of a critical situation that will be going on in Washington DC on March 17th. So critical that I have heard the call to be present in DC on that day. The call of  a group called Gathering of Eagles has brought to attention that there are anti-war protesters that wish to use the Vietnam Veterans Memorial also known as The Wall as prop in their political protest march to the Pentagon.

 I can not….. NO! I will not sit in Florida and wonder if there are enough volunteers that will show up to help protect The Wall. I will be standing with the eagles to send a message, a message that will be heard around the world.

Most important, a message that will be shown to our troops that are currently on tour and fighting with their lives on the line every day. The troops need to see that America cares about them then and now. They need to know they they are not forgotten, just as those who have already given the ultimate sacrifice are not forgotten. While the anti-war protesters from answer, code pink and other so called peace movement organizations claim they march for peace, we have seen the destruction and defacing that they have committed during past protests.

These anti-war protesters have the right to protest, but they are so very wrong if they think they will be able to approach The Wall as part of their demonstration. Leave The Wall out of it!

Gathering of Eagles, an impromptu coalition of veterans’ groups, pro-military organizations and Internet activists, wants to right the wrong. “We are a non-violent, non-confrontational group. We look to defend, not attack. Our focus is guarding our memorials and their grounds,” they explain. “We believe in and would give our lives for the precious freedoms found in our Constitution. We believe that our freedom of speech is one of the greatest things our country espouses, and we absolutely hold that any American citizen has the right to express his or her approval or disapproval with any policy, law or action of our nation and her government in a peaceful manner as afforded by the laws of our land.”

What the Eagles will not stand for, however, are “violence, vandalism, physical or verbal assaults on our veterans, and the destruction or desecration of our memorials. By defending and honoring these sacred places, we defend and honor those whose blood gave all of us the right to speak as freely as our minds think.”

Watch this video below by clicking the play button

Never Forget what they did for us.

 Don’t forget those who are fighting now.

The message needs to be clear that the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC is sacred ground and there is no tolerance for political debate or abuse toward it and the honorable Americans that it represents. This can only be accomplished in numbers, strong numbers of Veterans, Friends, Family and Volunteers standing shoulder to shoulder in protection of our memorial.

What will I do? I am going to be there to help and document a very important day in American history. What can you do? Join us on March 17th in Washington DC to show we care. We care about and support the men and women that have fought in the past and we care and support those who are fighting now. If you can not make it for any reason, you can help me to make the trip. This month is a very expensive month for me as it is and finances would dictate that I not go, but I will not allow that to stop me. If you wish to help me with the added expense of travel to DC, click on the donation button to the right. Any amount is appreciated. If you are going to be in Daytona for Bike Week, hire me to do photo work of you and your motorcycle. If you can not afford to donate, help by spreading the word to your friends. Thanks for any effort you may be willing to give.

More information at www.gatheringofeagles.org

Source:

http://www.gatheringofeagles.org

http://www.smalltownveteran.net/bills_bites/2007/03/a_gathering_of_.html

http://www.desertdispatch.com

http://www.michellemalkin.com

Technorati Tags: anti-war, iraq, protest, veterans, vietnam, vietnam memorial, washington dc

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• BlogShares! Fantasy stock market using blogs
• Shipping a Harley
• Passenger in Billy Lane DUI Case files civil law suit
• Sons of Anarchy hit the road September 3 on FX
• Subscribe Me!

Related items

• Is the Second Amendment in jeopardy
• Congratulations, YOU made it!
• The right to blog The right to Speak The right to know
• 2007 Rider’s Choice Awards
• Osama Bin Laden killed hiding in plain site

I love to camp, but nothing beats camping in a tent during bike week and other motorcycle events. Waking up to the sound of a motorcycle starting up, then another and on to almost a continuous roar of engines gets me revved up for the days work.

We camp and base our bike week operations out of the Cabbage Patch Bar. Camping is very reasonable,  $10.00 a head, per night for tent camping only. This works out well because Cindi and I do a lot of the photo work for the bar web site. Here you can party and walk home!

Bike Week Camping is a lifestyle where you can make new friends and see old friends from the years past. The camp ground gets packed pretty fast, but there is a lot of room in the wooded area across from the bar.

Wednesday by 10:00 am this is what the place looks like! Motorcycle parking overflow is pushed into the camping area for the world famous cabbage patch coleslaw wrestling. Make note: The women’s coleslaw wrestling is now held on 2 days at the cabbage patch bar. You can now catch all the action on the first Wednesday and second Saturday of Bike Week at the Cabbage Patch Bar, Samsula, Florida.

Come join us!

Technorati Tags: bike week, blog, camping, daytona beach, florida, motorcycle events, motorcycles

People who looked at this item also looked at…

• Photo Gallery
• Bike Week Pictures are being published – finally
• Photo Gallery
• Bike Week Main Street Daytona Beach
• Bike Week Video

Related items

• Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach?
• Bike Week Main Street Daytona Beach
• Riding the Volusia County Loop during Bike Week
• The Wall of Death Bike Week motorcycle thrill show
• First blog post of 2007