Meet Mister Mockli

This is a picture of Philip Mockli, he is suing the State of Idaho because he cannot by liquor by the drink. We ran the story is in the March 30, edition of the Preston Citizen. The photograph was taken in the State Liquor Store in Preston.

 Philip H. Mockli has made quite a name for himself recently by filing a
lawsuit in the United States Court District of Idaho Eastern Division for
violation of some of his constitutional rights. Mockli filed four
lawsuits for The Ethereal Enigmatic Euphoric Movement Towards Civilized
Hedonism LTD (Three E), his new found religion, for which he is the
official representative.
The lawsuits were first noted by the Idaho State Journal and quickly
spread to other print and online publications.
Under Mockli's title, Bugga-Bugga, he is suing the State of Idaho because
he feels his religious beliefs of drinking on Sunday are being violated.
The Constitution of Idaho guarantees the freedom of religion and that the
consumption of distilled spirits is the right of every American.
He also said in his suit that his Civil Rights are being violated. The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 states everyone is entitled to the full and
equal enjoyment of goods and services, facilities and privileges of any
place of accommodation without discrimination or segregation on the
grounds of race, religion or national origin.
Three E members believe the consumption of distilled spirits is both a
moral obligation and a sacred right.
Mockli claims The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by use of
its political power, has made It so the Three E members cannot practice
their religion in Preston because they can't buy spirits on Sunday. He
refers to his congregation as Pleasure Piggies.
The leader of the Three E religion and the Pleasure Piggies has published
his first magazine, Side Channels, chapter one, "Where Pigs Fly." The
magazine printed on newsprint came out last Wednesday. It would not be
considered G or PG rated. In the publication he talks about his
conversion to his religion. He was studying political science, history
and literature in hopes of becoming a lawyer when he had a change of
heart.
While hanging with hippie friends at the bottom of Lake Havasu Canyon he
had a mystic experience.
"Suddenly, there she was an ethereal vision of beauty, The Old Lady Who
Runs Things," he writes. One of the things she taught him was that,
"telling right from wrong is not the moral dilemma it was cracked up to
be. It's not fun and probably wrong."
The cost of his publication is $10 and he does not take e-mails. If you
want to talk to him write him a letter at Three E, at E Box 54, Preston,
Idaho.

How it all began...

Below is one of my many trademark "Fat Man on a Bike" columns I do for the Preston Citizen, and the reason for the title of this blog. Enjoy!



I’ve gone green.
When gas went to $4 a gallon the last time, I thought to my self, why is
it some joker sitting behind a desk at a large petroleum company or some
sheik in Iraq can determine how I lived my life. I needed to take control.
I figured if I could stop spending money on gas and support people I
don’t like , I would be a much happier guy. Why not take a bicycle
instead of a gas guzzler. It wouldn’t matter what a gallon of gas costs,
it would be money in my pocket.
I decided to ride a bicycle part way home then catch a bus for the rest
of the ride.
My wife thinks it’s my age. She thinks I’m getting old and crazy. She not
only laughs at me, she tells the people where she works and they laugh at
me too.
I don’t care.
I started last March and my goal was to ride until it snowed or
Thanksgiving, whichever came first.
I did until it started to snow in December.
I’m on my third Deseret Industries mountain bike. The first one, a
Schwinn, I road until the rear wheel bearings began to grind so loud the
dogs began to bark about a mile before and after got near them. The bad
bearings also made it hard to get up enough speed to make it up the hill
just before Franklin. I retired the thing and went on to my next DI bike
another Schwinn.
It wasn’t long before the back bearings went out of it too. It has
nothing to do with Schwinn’s, both of the bikes were old as dirt. They
were probably some of the first mountain bikes ever made. I found another
D I bike recently and I’m quite happy with it. Total investment to this
point is 3 X $15 per bike, $45 plus sales tax, about the same as a tank
of gas.
Why a mountain bike with thick knobby tires and a higher gear ratio
instead of the faster more sleek ram horned racer used by celebrity
racers like Lance Armstrong and similar pros with slim smooth tiny
tires. The same bikes used in the LOTOJA would make a faster ride.
My friend Dan said it best, “there is something obscene watching a fat
guy on a bike with skinny little tires going down the road.”
And what about the thin bright colored spandex clothing pro bikers wear.
I don’t have any spandex. I’ve often wondered why cyclists wear such
attire. I’ve come to the conclusion they wear it for three reasons. One
to impress the passing cars, they are so skinny. Two it makes them worthy
to crowd the highways and next to their buddies four bikes side by side.
Third maybe they wear the stuff so they can be noticed by passing cars.
Who knows?
A big body guy like my self in spendex should be against the law. Every
wrinkle and roll would vibrated down the pavement as peddle down the
pavement. Think of the traffic accidents caused by the laughter of
passing motorists.
I figure an enormous guy like my self on a bike needs no spandex to be
noticed, people can see me for miles. I wore a hole in a brand new pair
of jeans, so I purchased some nylon athletic warm-ups from the same
place I bought my bikes. I tucked the warm ups into one sock to keep them
out of the gears. I also wear a long T-shirt to protect drivers from
plumbers crack. That’s the kind of attire expected for a large bodied man
making time along the highway on a mountain bike.
It looks so hideous, what motorists cant see a big ball of dark blue on
two wheels with a red face inching down the highway at a slow rate of
speed. Two years later, I'm still doing it.

By RODNEY D. BOAM
Citizen editor

Idaho Trout can be found all over the United States

Here are some photos I did for a trout story I worked on recently . Sherman Wright owner of Wrights Rainbows lives in Thatcher, Idaho. He ships live trout to private and public ponds throughout the West.

The other part of the story was from Clear Springs Foods, the largest producer of trout for restaurants and food distributers in the United states. The eggs for the company are produced in their Soda Springs location. The photographs are of employees checking eight pound rainbows to see if they were mature enough to lay eggs.

Learning to be a "techie"

I grew up in the ink and paper publishing age, I'm just trying to enter the electronic publishing era. With the help of my my Generation X family members, I hope to electronically tell stories and post photos in the coming weeks. Check back and see some photos and stories of life in the Cache Valley Area.