I thought the first four Harry Potter books were wonderful children's literature. The last three were sorry, pretentious, detestable dreck.
Little did I know the Harry Potter books and movies were not in fact juvenile literature. Rather, they are the pinnacle of Western Civilization. J. K. Rowling belongs in the pantheon of great writers. And all literature and movies are now best discussed in terms of Harry Potter.
Just so you know.
This is for real. In downtown Salt Lake, near Squatters. There were flags available on either side of the crosswalk.
If a pedestrian is hit in a crosswalk without a flag, is it the pedestrian's fault?
Until I saw the film "Bill Cunningham New York", I had never heard of Bill Cunningham. When I learned he was a "fashion photographer," Gerty had to drag me to the theater to see the film at all.
Wow!
A very interesting man living a unique and modest life and whose work, to which he is utterly dedicated, is extraordinarily prominent.
I wouldn't say the film was excellent but learning about Bill Cunningham made it one of the best films I have seen in the last couple years.
From the NYTimes review:
[H]is life is one of monastic solitude and simplicity.
He owns what look to be roughly five articles of clothing. (His signature piece is the same royal blue workman’s jacket worn by Parisian street sweepers, which sells for about $20 and comes in a plastic bag.) He favors $3 lunches. Until he moved, when Carnegie Hall reclaimed the artists’ residences there for other uses, he lived in a tiny studio with no kitchen and with a bathroom down the hall. He gets around on an old bicycle and sleeps on a cot surrounded by filing cabinets containing every negative of every shot he has ever taken. And yet somehow the patrician image is further burnished by the radical lifestyle. He’s an aesthete and an ascetic, a member of the establishment and a bohemian, and among the last of his kind.
In the dark of the moon, in the flying snow, in the dead of winter,
war spreading, families dying, the world in danger,
I walk the rocky hillside, sowing clover.
-- Wendell Berry
Location
Edging away from the edge of American space
News and comments about tours, touring, & racing. Good things not seen elsewhere.
Many reviews, a DIY project or two, and some fun posts about biking.
A great, active blog.
The struggles of a fat guy on his way to middle age and the classic battle of the bulge. Against him, the entire agricultural and food production system, American Midwestern attitudes towards food and eating and a lifetime of sloth and drunkenness. His only weapon, his bike.
An exhilarating cycling blog. Formerly the authoritative site for Danish handball news and the bike porn contest (my entry was rejected), Freewheeling is a site I check out ever day.
Wonderful writing from a "bicycle obsessionist."
Sharp-witted cycling advocacy and photos
Kent Peterson is Issaquah’s Favorite Car-Free, Ultra Long-Distance Racing, Techie-Turned Mechanic
It's a magazine, newsletter, blog, and the mind boggles to think what else.
Charming, "fresh" writing about biking in University of Illinois Land.
Rick Smith's bikey comic.
Wrapped up effort to get a "share the road" vanity automobile license plate. In February 2008, failed to raise the maximum fine for running over a cyclist while the driver was failing to yield. (Bicycle Colorado was pushing for $1,000. Radical.)
Positive trajectory in doubt, trending back to ass-kiss mode. Too bad.
Denver shows why it's behind the curve. (I really didn't think this page could get worse . . . Wrong again.)
The most experienced mechanics in town and the most complete collection of tools and parts in the West. No place like it.
Last Friday of the month. Meet at Civic Center Park at the Seal Fountain pool between 5:30 and 6:00 pm.
The Denver Cruisers meet at the The Ginn Mill at 2041 Larimer Street every wednesday at 6:30pm, until September 30th.
Adventures in Local Living
Biking, Walking, and Public Transit in Denver, Colorado
A free, non-profit, collectively run community bicycle shop on the west side of Denver.
The world's first and only cruiser magazine has it's home right here in Denver. Aren't we the lucky ones!
A east side (Park Hill) non-profit bike place that encourages folks to build and fix their own bikes and gives them the tools and help to actually do it. Nice dedicated folks who seem to know what they are doing. (As befits a foundation-funded operation, the website description is opaque and baffling, but I've been there and it's a good place.)
Friendly, competent, and cool.
A large collection of articles and links on cycling and sustainability.
To inform and inspire. And it does.
(Cyclists Inciting Change thru Live Exchange) dynamic site promoting cycling as a viable and sustainable transportation choice.
"Explaining" cycling in cartoons. Works for me.
The NYTimes series on irresponsible, multitasking drivers.
The blog of the New York Streets Renaissance - advocacy in action - and as everyone knows, it happens in NYC first.
grassroots group that uses direct action and education to push for a sustainable NYC.
Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Though it's about cooking and food, I love the writing - snappy and downright . . . rollicking. Read this.
The Paris Review is a literary magazine featuring original writing, art, and in-depth interviews with famous writers. And its website is a collection of literary curiosities, fiction, and essays.
"I want to learn about sustainable agriculture, as much as I possibly can. . . . I plan to hop on my bike and head north, following the growing season in a giant loop around the country, stopping to learn and work . . . I imagine this will take about a year, maybe longer."
"[They] built the bikes, sold the house, got married, quit a job," and are cycling around Asia. They finished their tour in May 2010.
THE place for cycle tourists. If you are planning, dreaming, or riding a tour . . . .
David Byrne cycled around in the world in 1975. Now retired, he's doing it again. Why? "I can think of nothing better to do."
The best, most knowledgeable, compulsive person to talk to about panniers and racks is Wayne. Has any business, internet or brick and mortar, ever know so much and been so helpful about this stuff? His prices are great, too.
Movie stars and their self-propelled vehicles.
Fukuoka, Japan.
Interesting photos and descriptions of Japan. No bikes.
Bicycles and cycling in Japan from someone quite opinionated about Japanese cyclists and commuters.
No cycling here but a collection of glimpses of Asia, mainly Japan -- from baseball beer girls to beaches.
Calculates gearing in several useful ways and provides extra info like required deraileur capacity.
Lennard's Zinn's bike fit calculator. The link goes to the Road version.
Gardening in Denver from the staff Horticulturist with the Colorado State University Extension office in Denver. Good stuff.
