cfsmtb in low earth orbit

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Veggies of Wrath

Tassie tottiesGet big or get out, vegie growers told

AUSVEG hold crisis import talks

I've been watching this issue develop in the media. Now take into consideration the potential of a future oil crisis. Will Australia retain the ability to supply it's own homegrown fruit n' veg, or will market forces make us depend upon "
10,000 mile caesar salads"?

Is this issue of supply & demand a lot of hyperbole or are we all being squeezed into a dangerous and unsustainable dependance by the big supermarket chains? Just fired off a email to the
Transport Australia email list to prompt a discussion.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

PubBUG Goes To The Community Cup

Community Cup 2005 - SpokesBack to stuff in the Southern Hemisphere, PubBUG pictures right here. In no particular order. We had a lovely day that finished up nicely with cherry beer at BBC
The
Goat boys ran out of hightail et al and we were forced to imbibe the new Surefoot Stout instead. A harsh chore, but someone had to pitch in & drink it. Which we did.

Changed deadline for written submissions for Kapunda Road Royal Commission

Apologies for the short notice, news on the Kapunda Road Royal Commission. Important note: Written submissions Terms of Reference for 9 and 9A.

Extract from Terms of Reference:
9. You may include in your report recommendations arising from your findings as to such reasonably practicable reforms of any law, practice or procedure that will enhance or improve the investigation and prosecution of similar offences.
Must be received by Commission staff no later than c.o.b Friday 1 July, 2005.

Commission Premises
Level 1, 26 Flinders Street
ADELAIDE SA 5000


Phone: (08) 8463 7971
Fax: (08) 8463 7988
Email: krrc@saugov.sa.gov.au

UPDATE: Related issues, here's a link to a Letter Writing Guide by Keith Thomas, based upon the original Sierra Club Guide.

Holy Bicycles Batman! Cycling News mentions Critical Mass!

Bless theeWill wonders never cease? For further signs and wonders, read the article on "Blessing of the Bicycles". Also read the previous cileo blog entry on spirituality and bicycles. I firmly believe the '3-in-1 oil' would be a cheaper and wiser proposition than the going rate of 60 quid a barrel.

Bloomberg: Crude Oil Trades Above $60 on Concern Over Iranian Production

Radio Nation - The National Interest: The future of oil

Worried? Then stop worrying, find ideas and inspiration via BikeFix

Vancouver Bike Month attracts over 1200
History was made yesterday in Vancouver as cyclists took to the streets in the largest numbers yet. In celebration of Bike Month, bicycle advocates called for 2000 + 5 wheels and handily topped their target by pulling over 1200 people to the event as cyclists joined the rolling mass of bicycles, skate boarders, and in-line skaters.

Hallelujah!
Vancouver's bikes are blessed, anointed with '3-in-1 oil
Bicycle is symbolic of an ecologically responsible lifestyle,' reverend says
Rev. Emilie Smith of the Anglican Church and Rev. Peter Fischer, a Lutheran, blesses bicycles and bicyclists at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver Friday afternoon. A dab of sunscreen went on the nose and a drop of oil on the chain of bicycles. About 50 people stood on the steps of Christ Church Cathedral with their bicycles Friday listening to the ringing of bells. Bicycle bells, that is. Mounted on bicycles wearing their bike helmets and rain jackets, the cyclists rang their bells to start Vancouver's first blessing of the bicycles event aimed at promoting cycling as an alternate means of transportation to the automobile. Reverends Paul Borthistle and Emilie Smith of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster and Rev. Peter Fischer of Christ Lutheran Church led the blessing, that included the sprinkling of holy water over cyclists and the anointing of bicycles with "blessed 3-in-1 oil. (more wondrous tales in article)

Uri has a crack at doing a Brompton

Uri Geller Bike - Bend it Bag it Bike

*cfsmtb runs around excitedly, does a silly dance - then falls sideways*

Sunday, June 26, 2005

What's new pussycat? Woah! Woah!

The Cat Came Back!The Cat Returns

cfsmtb management have enjoyed one hellva good weekend, and this was only Friday night before the bicycle-themed mirth really kicked off. On Sunday June 26, in the throes of a Melbourne winter, we somehow ended up with sunburn.

PS. Before someone starts asking the bleeding obvious, we dislike Furries. We like kittycats, bicycles and occasionally being a complete fruitcake. Simple as that. So please take any anthropomorphic clichés elsewhere and kindly yiff off.

More about bikes, Daleks, singletrack trail building and PubBUG's outing to the footy soon. We've also deliriously happy that the pesky ear infection has cleared up. Woah! Woah! Must go have a big nanna nap now.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Here's some pretty pictures that are pleasing to the eye

The NEW Bike1The NEW Bike2
The NEW Bike

The First Frank!
The FIRST Frank saved from Northcote Tip - awaiting restoration - promise!

Furry Frank!
The ONE, the ONLY Furry Frank, hero of many a Melbourne Fringe Parade!

Arty Shot of Succulents!Catty Dreams
Arty pic of succulents in the yard + SLEEPING cat yoga!

Sleeping 17yo Blue Heeler!
Sleeping 17 year-old BLUE HEELER

Sleeping Fat Harry!
Sleeping FAT Harry!

Yes, it's Winter.

In other news, if you're in the Melbourne area, why not come along this Sunday arvo & enjoy the company of the PubBUG crew at the Community Cup. Bring the (NEW) bike, bring a blanket & thermos, & the all important beer money, we'll work out the details later. We'll be stationed somewhere close to Mountain Goat Beer. Look out for the rowdy (middle-aged) bike gang. A possible post BR wind-down?

Light weekend reading from Bicycling Life by Mighk Wilson:
Bicyclists, Motorists and the Language of Marginalization
Racism, Sexism and Mode-ism. Some might be offended by the idea of comparing the hatred and violence directed at bicyclists with the hatred and violence directed at people due to race, culture or gender. Yet, I believe it is entirely appropriate.
To some in our culture, bicyclists are strange people who wear odd clothes and act childishly. Native Americans were described in those same terms by colonists. But what do we take, or seem to take, from motorists? It's time, the ultimate abstract resource. We are perceived as being a "hindrance" to motorists. We supposedly steal their precious time. (Never mind that the vast majority of motorist delay is caused by motorists.) And where does our culture stand on hatred toward cyclists? I can't say it's supported, but it is often ignored and accepted as "natural."

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Courtesy of the Daily Telegraph funny pages

Hell on wheels by Mr Bruce McDougall

Stop! Law Breaker!Before we begin, an observation of the photo used in article :: Children should ride on footpaths. The linkages in the brain with which you perceive hazards and solve problems for direction, speed and distance are not developed in children under ten cannot cope with motor traffic and should never ride unaccompanied on the road.


They've become one of the biggest scourges of city streets – idiots on two wheels who daily place themselves and others in mortal danger. Bending the rules with no regard for other road users, they run red lights, ride on the footpath and blatantly refuse to wear a helmet. In some of the worst cases, caught on camera by The Daily Telegraph, they even ride the streets while speaking or text messaging on a mobile phone. Finding new and creative ways of breaking the road code has been turned into an art form by a growing band of two-wheel maniacs. Professional couriers, long among the greatest offenders, have been joined in their law-breaking ways by a range of other cyclists of all ages.
Call Security!!!
And I believed Hell on Wheels was a movie I saw a fortnight ago. Anyway.....Bruce McDougall from the Daily Telegraph believes Sydney is swarming with cycling terrorists. What load of bullshit. A simple exercise. Simply alter all cycling references to that of motorists. Now there's a more realistic portrayal of what's actually occuring on Sydney streets.

If this shits you, get to it & make your opinions know. Given the recent cycling funding problems and related issues in NSW, this biased news article from the Daily Telegraph is utter crap. The purveyors of media spin don't require advanced thinking like *actually* applying logic and research to issues. Think more ratings & hostile talkback. Ah, what ever happened to the seperation of Church and State? Ah, that's a big question with no simple response, however here's some links to help counter guff generated by minions like Bruce McDougall.

:: Excellent letter writing tips from the Sierra Club ::
:: Have Your Say :: Letters to the Editor :: letters@dailytelegraph.com.au :: news@dailytelegraph.com.au :: Privacy Statement ::

....And Michael Costa's ::
contact details ::
Is just me, or do Costa's eyes move slightly where you refresh the page? CREEPY.
Costa apparently "really enjoys" driving his Prado. Back to the article, Costa shows his absolute ignorance (again) and Bicycle NSW's Alex Unwin making several salient points. But of course, that's buried down the end of the article.....

Further witty appraisals on teh internet::
Farkin.net :: aus.bicycle :: CM-Melb :: CM-Sydney ::

UPDATE: Cycling News: Hit and run on cyclists - Australia's new blood sport? Opinion by John Stevenson :: Daily Telegraph :: General Site Feedback Refer to comments (below) for full articles.

UPDATE 2: Received this link on 24 June:
Ring ring... BOOM! :: 28/07/2003 Remember that email hoax about mobile phones blowing up cars at service stations? Bruce McDougall wrote it up for the Daily Terror - and and the Tool virtually repeated it word for word. Why are we not surprised?

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Weddings, Parties, Anything

Cooo-eeeeee!Photo: Courtesy of Jessica Larva

Necessity is the mother of invention? Severe situations often inspire ingenious solutions. I reckon a prototype, or somehow even borrowing Daniels marvellous invention would be just dandy for little bicycle-themed 10th Birthday Party planned for 25th November in Melbourne.

Daniel Jolliffe: One Free Minute

What would you say, given one free minute of anonymous, uncensored speech? One Free Minute is a mobile sculpture designed to allow for instances of anonymous public speech. When you call the cellphone inside One Free Minute, you get connected for exactly a minute to a 200 watt amplifier and speaker. The speech produced by the speaker can be heard clearly more than 150 feet away from the sculpture. Want to call live? Email us and we'll let you know the number for live calls and the time and whereabouts of the performance the day before it happens.

If One Free Minute isn't being performed live, you can leave a message on its answering machine. Simply call one of the following numbers to leave your one-minute speech:

News: One Free Minute speeches are currently being performed three times a week on an impromptu basis in America's demographically average city: Columbus, Ohio. One Free Minute will be seen and heard at the New Center for Contemporary Art in Louisville Kentucky this fall; stay tuned as we are in the process of scheduling other performances for your anonymous speeches.
Connect live. Email us and the day before the performance we'll send you the live phone number and a description of where and when you'll be speaking :
info@onefreeminute.net

Email us an mp3 of your free minute: speech@onefreeminute.net

Borrow it. One Free Minute was built to enable public speech without fear of recrimination. If you're a group that could use anonymous speech for your demonstration, event, rally or protest, ask us- if we're in the neighbourhood, we'd like to help. We'll set up One Free Minute to suit your needs, and show you how to use it.
info@onefreeminute.net

Sunday, June 19, 2005

If they come for me at night, they’re coming for you in the morning

Time for a laff & a chuckle. No, actually, this report from the frontline down at Kooyong is ALL factual. The writing style sounds vaguely familiar. Um, not telling.

Kooyong Terror Update : Melbourne Indymedia
Kooyong terror levels increase as the terrorist's tighten their stranglehold on the ' city of fear' Kooyong terror update - the terrorists in Kooyong are said to control the entire city apart from a small ' Green Zone ' near the river. The terrorists are mainly local Sunni Liberals with an increasing number coming in from training camps outside the city. The largest of these camps, Camp JeJune, trains the most fanatical Gucci terrorists that ever donned Armani. Their most feared technique? The petro bomb of course.
Bikep0rn in the hallway"How To Build Up A Decent Road Bike For A Small Lady For Under $1500"
The New Steed is almost finished. Only finishing touches required are dust caps & pair of red shiny bidon cages. Velophile aka Bikesoiler is trying to convince me NOT to put matching red shiny guards on a road bike. But I want to, I wish to emulate a Dork image. And a postal rack. (how Audax) See right for a sneak peek, ain't she beeaauti-ful? Further details on actual specs soon.

Quote from cycling news
that's inspiring me to get out there & do some winter base training. Today: Yarra Boulevard. Tomorrow: 100km Alpine Classic. We all have our dreams, don't we?

Who's the favourite to win tomorrow?
"Me," concluded Rogers

You go boy.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Aitor Gonzalez pipped him by 46 seconds. If it wasn't for complications from a cold (ie: bung ears) I'd be out hooning around.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Local Stuff

PubBUG Support Vehicle(Cue Holst, this blog entry comes with it's own soundtrack)

Stargazers prepare for daylight view of Jupiter prepare for daylight view of Jupiter. Pity we're a tad too south here.

Remember to visit Bicycle Justice for the latest on the Kapunda Road Royal Commission

Returning to spinning around Melbourne: the next PubBUG Event. Bring the bike, bring a blanket & thermos, and the all important beer money. We'll work out the finer details soon, of the PubBUG third annual visit to the REAL footy.

The Community Cup Returns The Sacred Heart Mission's twelfth annual Community Cup on Sunday 26th June at the Junction Oval, St. Kilda where The Espy Rock Dogs meet the 3RRR/3PBS Megahertz

Hippy's still frollicking around the European countryside. And he's discovered an establishment with 600 beverages. Lucky bastard.

Ugly, yes, but the overpass served a purpose
Scrapping the Flinders Street overpass will be tough on commuters, writes Stephen Cauchi. Do you remember when the Monash Freeway had traffic lights on it? When the long-delayed link from Toorak Road to Warrigal Road was finished in the early 1990s, there were four major intersections along its length, at Burke, Tooronga, Toorak and Warrigal roads. This was so the government could say it had built an "arterial road" and not a politically incorrect "freeway". An odd decision, and one later rectified when overpasses were built at the intersections. There can't be many motorists today on that freeway who long for the days of traffic lights. Commuters travelling on Kings Road/Way - a major southern artery out of the CBD - are in a slightly different category. From next month, they will start longing for the days of the overpass.

Either way, this area has always been a shitfight for cyclists. Ride on the overpass - bloody risky. Ride along Flinders, deal with numerous x-ings, car park traffic & errant vehicles.

Buckle Track From Lysterfield MTB group:
Trail work, volunteers needed...... Here is the news we've all been waiting for. MTBA has been given the task of building a new link trail & upgrading a current one. The working bee/s are proposed for June 25/26 or July 2/3, or both depending on the number of volunteers and the progress of work. Please reply direct to express your interest. I need to know on what dates and for how many hours you can attend. Email: frm125_steve@yahoo.com.au

Discussions on aus.bicycle:
SHAME FILE-Near Misses Road Rage VIC Salary sacrifice for super and cars, why not bicycles: Salary Sacrifice Another old chestnut: Cyclists on pavement

A odd Victorian/Melbourne road law explained:
The Hook Turn

Smile!
Database blamed for vehicle registration system problems
An outdated computer system riddled with inaccurate records has been blamed for the poor state of Victoria's vehicle registration system, according to Ombudsman George Brouwer. In a report tabled in the Victorian parliament yesterday, Brouwer said the failed system cost the state $554 million in unpaid fines last year. He said the uncollected traffic fines were largely due to difficulties in issuing infringement notices because of inaccurate or out of date registration information on the Filtrates database. 'Inaccurate, incomplete and fraudulent registration records result in millions of dollars of lost revenue for the state of Victoria,' he said.

Remember another old chestnut, of registering bicycles? Taking the above example into consideration its got Sweet FA chance of ever being taken seriously. Dead and buried. Cactus. I'll haul out this news article and recite it ad finitum when the conversation at stupid dinner parties or pub sessions turn to "Cyclists don't pay petrol taxes, don't hold cars licenses blahblahblah." Well, motorists don't either and are you one of the honest ones? Now ShaddupShaddupShaddupShaddup.

UPDATE: From aus.bicycle: Rego call from our 3AW mates

MitH has sent me two mp3's of this 3AW broadcast (20/6). Email me if want a copy, or if you feel up to doing a transcript. Basically covers Nick McCallum interviewing Harry Barber (Bicycle Victoria General Manager) bicycle licensing issues+ Commonwealth Games funding issues + the Obituary Cr*t*cal M*ss References. Please forgive the background interference, apparently a tram was going past during the recording. Or if you're flush with $$$, contact Rehame for a clearer copy.

Email: cfsmtb@gmail.com Details: nick2.mp3 (1063K Download) nick1.mp3 (1722K Download)

Overseas Stuff

Mass LogoTIME'S UP! is a New York City-based not-for-profit direct-action environmental group that uses events and educational programs to promote a more sustainable, less toxic city.TIME'S UP! campaigns support objectives shared globally and locally by people like you. We're community-based and all volunteer. BREAKING NEWS: New York City files a lawsuit to censor TIME'S UP! from promoting Critical Mass (including on this website), and again seeks an injunction against the ride.


Bike Summer 2005BikeSummer 2005 is in Los Angeles, California, and you can be part of it! It's happening between June 3 and July 4. We are celebrating and promoting the bicycle as an efficient, fun, sociable, healthy, environmentally friendly way to get around Los Angeles. We're exploring neighborhoods and places beyond. We're connecting with new people and communities. Envision a more bicycle-friendly Los Angeles - and make it happen!!

LA Bike Summer:
Organizers hoping to raise awareness
Los Angeles – The city of cars is experiencing the summer of bikes. Choking on nearly 2 million motor vehicles, the nation's worst traffic congestion and some of its worst smog, Los Angeles would seem an unlikely place for bicycle activists to stage the seventh annual Bike Summer. Still, if your goal is to encourage bicycle use, stage offbeat cycling events ranging from a men's leg-shaving night to a women's Korean spa ride, and generally try to raise public awareness of all things bicycle, why not carry your flag, as it were, to the enemy's doorstep? "If the purpose of Bike Summer is to (draw attention to) all the benefits of bicycling, there's no better place to do it than in what's been ordained as the capital of car culture," said Matt Benjamin, 31, planning director for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, which is helping to organize the event.



Weeeeeeeeee!
Changing gears, a similiar ride to one we all know about, with a twist....

Invasion of the Spoke Folk - The Downtown Bike Shutdown
What has 75 heads, 150 wheels, is two blocks long and one lane wide, begins at the Capitol building and ends at a bar? Two years from now, the answer might be Butch Otter's gubernatorial motorcade. But for now, it's the Downtown Bike Shutdown. The Shutdown, as anyone who happened to be downtown on the nights of April 16 or May 21 couldn't help but notice, consists of nothing more than a line of bicyclists pedaling in a circle and taking care to make the appropriate hand signals and obey traffic laws when possible.

Passersby have been reported to cheer at the sight of the swarm, and sometimes even run with the bikes, Pamplona-style. Police have been tacitly supportive, while irked drivers have been known to bump back tires and intone visionary insults like "Get a car!" and "Nice bike." But according to the event's founders, it's all in good fun. Sure, a taxi or two gets enveloped, and a few of the hangers-on have unexpectedly begun chants rhyming "oil and gas" with "up your ass," but this really isn't a protest. It is, according to co-founder Mike Runsvold, "Cruising for cruising's sake." Runsvold and his buddies Taylor Bell, Nick Bock, Jeremy Katich and Brian Harvey, all self-described "service-industry twenty-somethings" who own cars but prefer bikes, came up with the idea while biking from a concert to a bar in April. A week and a few homemade posters later, 30 people showed up for the first version. A month later, over 75 showed up, some in costume, others on tricycles, tandems, recumbents, custom cruisers and low-riders.

At similarly foot-powered events like Critical Mass in San Francisco, streets teeming with bikers have invariably led to hurt feelings and bent derailers. But the founders-dubbing themselves the "Spokes"-have no such intentions. As Bock says, "We have no political agenda. There's no chance of violence unless it comes car-side." As long as they maintain that lack of vision, the law seems to be on their side.


Hardcore fixy
A quiet blacksmith who never publicly pedalled his invention
Kirkpatrick Macmillan lived a largely ordinary life and died in relative obscurity. But this Dumfriesshire blacksmith was responsible for one of the greatest inventions of the Victorian age - the pedal bicycle. Macmillan's inspired decision to add pedals to the two-wheeled "hobby horse", originally developed by the German Baron von Drais, might have made him rich. But he preferred simply to cycle the machine he invented - on regular trips to Dumfries, 14 miles from the family home near Thornhill and on one epic two-day journey to Glasgow - and allow others to make the money and take the glory. It was only 50 years after he completed his first machine in 1839 that his role was at last recognised. But even today, it is a subject of controversy.

US chap collects quaint old bicycles
The rider perches five feet off the ground on a wrought-iron bicycle with slender wooden wheels, his feet propped up on pegs as the pedals spin crazily on a high-speed plunge down a hill.Like today's extreme-sports enthusiasts, the men (and a few women) who rode the early bicycles of the mid-19th century were either daring pioneers or crazed self-destructionists.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

More happiness

All New Honey-Flavoured Calico
Much happiness in our household. Even the All New Honey-Flavoured Calico thinks so. Not forgetting - I'm a Cascade drinkin' Southerner

In a move sure to bring a smile to beer drinkers across the country, J. Boag & Son has today re-released their much celebrated Boag’s Honey Porter. Boag’s Honey Porter’s first limited release was brewed in 2003. The beer quickly generated a loyal following, and as only 12,000 cartons were produced, it soon sold out. The beer must have also struck a chord with the beer experts as Boag’s Honey Porter was recently listed in the top 20 Australian beers, past and present. Boag’s Honey Porter is brewed with uniquely Tasmanian ingredients, most notably Leatherwood honey and Van Diemen hops.

HappyHappyJoyJoy

Here's a nice cheery little tale to warm the cockles of your heart and enthuse you for next weeks ride. In other Melbourne news: The Cat May Come Back, if the weather stays cold....

Ridazz MarketStHop
Photo courtesy of foeljox

Night Riders Pedal L.A. With Mettle
There were at least 500 of them, wearing angel wings, rubber tentacles, Girl Scout uniforms and other costumes. But in a city where freakish exhibitionism is as about as original as saying you're working on a screenplay, the more startling sight was seeing everyone pedaling a bicycle. The cyclists commandeered three westbound lanes on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake late Friday night, forming a convoy a quarter-mile long. The absurdity of the scene drew people out of bars, restaurants and even a hookah parlor. For a moment, it was as though the electricity had been shut off in Los Angeles and the streets had come alive with people wondering where the cars had gone. "Is this an AIDS benefit ride?" asked Luis Romo.

Not at all. Unlike the AIDS/LifeCycle, an annual charity ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles that ended Saturday, this ride was staged solely in the name of senseless fun. Named Midnight Ridazz, the monthly gathering of cyclists is a chance to pedal through L.A.'s busy streets with blissful abandon. Call it a mobile fete. A rave on wheels sans the pounding beat. The year-old event is equal parts Dadaism, pro-environmentalism and anti-car culture. "We're here to take back the streets," said second-time rider Beverly Lorenz, one of those not in costume. (more in article)

More than just a blooming gardener

Pete in the garden
Whatever you do, please, please, please read this transcript of the Enough Rope with Andrew Denton interview with the wonderful Peter Cundall. Cundalls been a hero of mine since childhood. I recall a late 70's episode of Landscape, where Pete was planting a lemon tree. At the segments conclusion, he flashed a mischievous grin to camera & turned his back to "water it in"....and up next is the ABC News....

Now here's several superb highlights of last nights interview.

Denton: That's because they're in love. Let us flower, shall we? Tell me, what is about being in a garden that you love?
Cundall: It's something primitive, I think. It's the smell of the soil, really. When you turn over the soil it gives off some kind of gas and it makes you kind of go berserk, you know. It does, it makes you want to start - I think it's the sheer joy of pruning plants and liberating them and it's the total joy, as far as I'm concerned, of being able to pick an apple off a tree and eat it, or pull out a carrot and eat it and know that you're on the most wonderful food of all, and that's the stuff you can grow yourself.
Pete and the pumpkin patch

Denton: Because you have a, would it be fair to say, an almost apocalyptic view of the world?
Cundall: Well, my view of the world is not a depressing one, I've got a very optimistic view. But I feel that we're living in a kind of a fool's paradise. I mean I come from Tasmania, you can see, there, that forests are being destroyed, irrespective of what new little rules and regulations come out. Where I live, in the Tamar Valley, the most beautiful valley, they're going to put in a giant pulp mill, a massive one with a 100-metre stack so that the poisonous fumes are supposed to not drift down the valley.

Pete and the protesters

Denton: How do you break a human being down to a point of amorality?
Cundall: By giving them power. By giving them absolute power over people. I suppose I see, today, the biggest problem in society is what we call the "control freaks". These are the malignant narcissists, right. The people who are - and we've met them. Look, you can go to a tiny organisation, a school parents and friends, a trades union, ABC, we know who the control freaks - it's true, we know them, we know who they are and they want - that's right.
Denton: We've just been cut off.
Cundall: But they're people without a gone conscience and without any pity, and there is not many of them. But when you and I are fast asleep at night, they're lying awake, scheming, and they're hard to compete with, and I'm not joking. You know - anybody that's worked in an office or anything, there is always someone that wants to take control, right. The supreme example, of course, is people like Stalin and Hitler. Hitler, don't forget, almost his last days, when he was in the bunker, he was saying at one time that, "The SS have betrayed me," because they retreated, and he had all his commanders executed. And almost his last words was, "The German people have betrayed me," you know. I mean - and this is an example of a supreme form of pathological narcissism and you do get it. You get it in politics. They're the people who can't admit that they have made a mistake.

Pete in the garden again

Denton: What made you weep?
Cundall: It was over a strange thing that happened, which I find hard to tell because it's so innocuous and so seemingly unimportant. But when I was in this cell - I'd been in a country that was occupied by the Nazis. I remember looking at the table and I saw this kind of little faint square on the table, as if someone had just cut it, and I thought, "I wonder what was that was?" and I looked at it for days, and I remember - and I started picking at it. I found it was really a piece of the table that had been cut out and it was like something underneath, like a compartment. Someone had done it. Eventually I lifted it up and I got the shock of my life, because underneath was a Star of David that someone had carved, some unknown Jew had been in this same cell, and I wept because of the honour - that was his message. That was it, he had probably been killed, but I got a message and I thought, "My brother was in this cell and he's dead," and that was his last act of defiance and he'd sent a message out. I'll never forget that as long as I live. And I sat there, on my little stool, and wept and wept and shook and I didn't know why. Even now, when I think back, that was such an experience, you know, of the sheer power, that he'd sent a message to me, or to somebody, anybody, right, to say, "Here I am, this is what I am."

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Don't let track cycling die

Anna Meares wins the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal for the Women's 500m Time TrialAnna Meares wins the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal for the Women's 500m Time Trial. She set a world record with a time of 33.952.
To: UCI and IOC
"We" (the undersigned) would like to register our surprise that the UCI (
International Cycling Union) has agreed to the decision of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to scrap the Track Men's Kilometre Time Trial and the Women's 500m Time Trial. This could severely damage the sport of track cycling, will curtail the careers of many dedicated track cyclists and could impact on public funding for track cycling in the form of either direct state funding or indirect state funding via sports governing bodies or Olympic programmes. We call on the UCI to rescind its decision and to inform the IOC that different cycling events will be put forward for deletion instead.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
We witnessed Anna win the 2004 Time Trial World Titles right here in Melbourne, please help protest this ridiculous decision by the UCI and IOC! Sign the Don't let track cycling die Petition

Discussion on aus.bicycle:
Petition the IOC

Remember this?!?

Bullshit

I don't like The Australian & hence haven't purchased a copy since 1986. Phillip Adams shits me at times too. But this is superb. Even if it is just a positive critique

Worse than lying by Phillip Adams
As well as all the bull in politics, there's even more in our metaphoric and colloquial language. People are bullish, bull-headed and take the bull by the horns. A Hereford herd of bulls at the gate also wrecks china shops and thunders down Wall Street - to lock horns with the Angus, Longhorns and Brahmins that provide bullshit, bulldust and bullshit artists.

And now bullshit is the subject of serious philosophical inquiry in a little book called On Bullshit, published by the highly respected Princeton University Press. To the surprise and delight of the author, it's stampeding out of bookshops all over the world.

The words of wisdom on this improbable subject come from a 76-year-old moral philosopher, Harry G. Frankfurt. Professor Emeritus in Philosophy at Princeton University in the US, he has been studying bullshit for more than 20 years and has come to the conclusion that bullshitting is at least as bad, and probably worse, than lying.

And while we'll at it: Af-flu-en-za

1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

What's this to do with cycling? A great deal, it influences a myriad of issues, from car culture to road behaviour to community attitudes to idiotic infrastructure decisions made by our governments who are in turn unduly influenced by corporations.Transportion and Urban Design Simply translate the Americisms for Australian conditions. It's not too difficult; Prado, Suburban, AUV, Disco.....

brrrrrr! Nuding up in London & other places

Wind in the hairs....
Cyclists bare all in crude protest
Hundreds of naked cyclists staged demonstrations today in London and Madrid in protest against the West's dependence on gas-guzzling cars - and to push for more use of bicycles. The organisers of World Naked Bike Ride 2005 said protests were expected in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, the United States, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Israel. In London, crowds gathered to watch as about 100 cyclists left Hyde Park Corner on a journey that took them past some of the capital's most famous landmarks.

Most of the riders had stripped naked for the 10 kilometre ride past Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, Covent Garden, Oxford Street and the US Embassy. Some bikes carried banners reading "Oil is not a bare necessity but a crude obsession" and "Support the trade justice movement".

"It's a protest against oil dependency and car culture and the overuse of cars for unnecessary reasons," said Chad Neilson, 24, from north London, who was one of the organisers. "There is too much pollution. It stinks in London, and we use too much fossil fuel."

Oooo, we never this anything this cheeky when I was a lass!
Naughty granny checking out the running gear

In the Spanish capital, Madrid, dozens of nude cyclists pedalled along major thoroughfares past famous landmarks, drawing surprised looks. Most were men, naked except for shoes and helmets, or caps to fend off the hot Spanish sun.

According to news on the WNBR site, the next event in Australia will be on 12th of March 2006. That's wise, too brisk here. Even for the metallic monkeys.
USATODAY.com - Naked European cyclists protest car use
BBC NEWS UK England London Cyclists bare all in oil protest

Friday, June 10, 2005

Kapunda Road Royal Commission gets interesting...

Let the stormy clouds chase. Everyone from the place, Come on with the rain, I have a smile on my face

Look, I know cileo's gripping stuff, but please nip over to the Bicycle Justice blog for several interesting developments. In local news, it's about to cack down across the state, so take care commuting home tonight.

Young Man Abroad

Stu gets his priorities straight
Krusovice Czech Premium Lager £1.30

Hippy,
aus.bicycle uber poster and erstwhile PubBUG drinking buddy, is off exploring the delights of the European summer. Peruse the hippy on tour and hippyblog for choice highlights of gallivanting around drinking beer and cycle touring. View the dilettanti's pics from on the road. Lucky bastard.

Re: Last PubBUG event: Rumours abound that Hippy will have a direct sat link to Goat Night.

hahaha I wish!!! I found an internet cafe in Tournai so I stayed another day!! hehehe Nah, that's not really why I stayed, it's just really nice here.. many beers to sample, awesome weather, super nice people, good food..Can I stay, please, please, can i? can i? pretty pleeeeeeaaaase? ;) If I could work out where to buy phone cards in Belgium, we could hook up some kind of international beer-link... :) cheers! beers! gears!
Back to this side of the world. I've planned a mildly serious bike-orientated event this arvo, and the sky west of Melboring has developed lilac, blue and greenish hues. Time to don the bike jacket & plastic strides.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Repeat after me.....Calm blue ocean...calm blue ocean...

Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!
Contents May Contain Concentrated Extract of Internet: Searching Far And Wide For Cycling Companion

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Say, who missed out on Commonwealth Games MTB tix?

Lysterfield: Buckle Track
State Mountain Bike Course: Lysterfield Park
Actually, just about everyone we know missed out. Looks like because the tickets were free, lots of plebs, er sorry, people grabbed them. Because they could. Doesn't mean they're actual fans of the sport. I tell you now, there's gonna be a reckoning in 2006.....so hang onto your hard hats and commence swinging those mattocks, we're tunnelling in via Lysterfield McMansions aka Nappy Valley....

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Ka-Ka

Ka-Ka goes poo-poos Serving suggestion only

Via the new ads appearing on b3ta's weekly email. I first heard about a similiar product years ago, from friends attending a Melbourne Car Show thingy. So banish your incredulity and marvel at the wonder that is......Sprayonmud. The FAQ is a absolute hoot.
What do I use it for?
To give your friends, family and neighbours the impression that you’ve just come back from a day’s shooting / fishing /off-roading / visiting friends who live on a farm / looking for a country retreat / anything but driving around town all day or visiting the retail park!

Just when you believed 4WD accoutrements couldn't get any more infantile, b3ta throws another link in. Presenting, the All Singing All Dancing Indipod! It's an lovely accompaniment that completes a possible nifty bookend with the Sprayonmud. (was this intentional by b3ta?) There must surely be a snappy jape about covering 4WD's in a brown substance, and then being able to go Number One's & Two's in the rear cabin. Somehow a suitable joke eludes me. But your suggestions are most welcome.

For no apparent reason, other than I can, here's a couple of Wiki links:
Wikipedia: Cycling in Melbourne
Wikipedia: Critical Mass
Wikipedia: Vehicular cycling

There's several noticeable gaps with the Melbourne entry, particularly regarding the Hell Ride on Bitch Road and Ron Shepherd. One will attempt to rectify, when time permits.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Shameless Advertising On Behalf of a Friend

The Sled?

Noice ain't it?

Oooo, that verrryy sexy

Courtesy of Ben from Trisled - Human Powered Vehicles

Well to all those people over the years that I've said "I don't build upright bikes!!" to, this is for you...Look what just fell off my weld/jig table.

Attached is pictures of my new product. It is a single speed with custom dropouts that enable a disk brake to be fitted. Frame is out of robust 4130 cro-mo and Reynolds 531. I even fitted a brooks saddle to the proto for that "old school look" :-)

Please forward to all that may be interested.....gotta pay me bills somehow :-)

Coming soon.....Fixxy:-)

Cheers, Beno


Email: Ben@Trisled.com.au


And very reasonably priced, visit our Showrooms soon

Straitjacket fits

Road to nowhereTransport lobby shows roads rage
Railway lines to Doncaster and Rowville and an extension of tram lines to Knox and Doncaster would ease the city's growing traffic congestion more than huge road projects, public transport advocates said yesterday.

Yesterdays poll results:
Melbourne transport : What's the best solution for Melbourne's transport network?
1. Completion of the Mitcham-Frankston freeway - 4%
2. Eastern Freeway-Tullamarine freeway tunnel - 10%
3 .Better outer-suburban bus services - 9%
4. Better tram and train services - 77%


Total Votes: 938 Poll date: 01/06/05
Related:
Plan to overhaul city's transport network

Melbourne residents illustrating yet again, we don't require more colossal road infrastructure - we need sustainable transport initiatives.

sigh

Sydney:
Uphill ride for pushers of pedal power
The Roads and Traffic Authority has slashed its cycle funding by as much as two-thirds to $5.6 million - equal to just 0.17 per cent of its budget to build roads. The move counters the State Government's promise it was "committed to improving facilities for cyclists and making it safer to cycle", made by the former roads minister, Carl Scully, in 1999. His replacement, Michael Costa, has cut bicycle funding and axed his most senior bicycle official, scrapping the authority's position of general manager, bicycles and pedestrians. Mr Costa's office yesterday referred questions to the authority, which declined to comment specifically on allegations from bicycle groups that funding was cut from $15 million.

another sigh

Idle chatter on aus.bicycle: Money for bikes and Farkin: Sydney doesn't want cyclists?

Sydney:
Commuters voting with feet on accelerator pedal
The shift by commuters away from Sydney trains and into cars is worsening. New government figures show 9 million fewer trips were made on CityRail this year than in 2001-02. As Sydney's train services are shunned after years of cancelled, late and slow services, traffic on the toll roads keeps rising. The biggest increases are on the M4 and the M5.

Meanwhile down here

Yet another product of straitjacket thinking...
The Age: Editorial
The Committee for Melbourne's call for urgent action on transport is timely and should be heeded. Ever since the Bracks Government set itself the bold target of having 20 per cent of all trips in Melbourne taken on public transport by 2020, it has been attacked for not doing enough to achieve it. The Committee for Melbourne's call for urgent action on transport is timely and should be heeded. Ever since the Bracks Government set itself the bold target of having 20 per cent of all trips in Melbourne taken on public transport by 2020, it has been attacked for not doing enough to achieve it.

urbanbicyclist comments upon this wondrous convergence of business interests. I was going to conclude this blog entry with a pithy summarisation of the prevailing straitjacket mentality. Bugger it, instead, lets link to Ken Avidor's Bicyclopolis. Now envisage an Australiasian version.