HEAVY METAL UMLAUT!!!

i find it extremely comedic that there exists the phrase "heavy metal umlaut," in order to distinguish it from other uses (namely, correct ones). a branding tool used to arm any unassuming word (or band name) with a bit of viking flair, i think the term is a dead ringer for a possible name!

or maybe not... but still, its so obtuse, its awesome!

"The German word Umlaut roughly means change of pronunciation, as it is composed of um-, "around", and Laut, "sound". Adding an umlaut indeed changes the pronunciation of a vowel in standard (i.e. not heavy-metal) usage... "

(ps. or, tim, it could be recursively acronymed to "HMU MEANS UNHOLY!"

Happy Birfday Jesus! ~1,970! THATS OLD!

that said, spyker, maker of rediculoid expensive (and extremely feminine) exotic cars out of holland, has introduced a bicycle. it costs 16,000 usd. made of titanium, carbon fiber and fiber glass (wtf?), its basically just a bicycle that had every part custom made for it. although, only 50 will be made, i suspect the profit margins are like 95% or so, seeing as none of that technology really costs that much.

the one random part, however, is what looks like a fixed or single speed rear hub. its actually a 14 gear INTERNAL rear; those gears must be so close ratio you cant even tell when you shift- hopefully theyve included a 2-gear hop in the shifter... else all youd be doing is shifting all the time...

also worthy of note, its interesting how the fixie aesthetic has worked itself back upstream, so much so that extreme high-end bicycles are looking to reach their inherent no-nonsense minimalism. to bad it costs as much as a car- evidently, they have some ways to go.

GNRA is Not a Recursive Acronym!

in address to tims suggestion, what, then, are the etymological requirements for a recursive acronym?

obviously, the first word is also its acronym, but does it need to end in a negator of another option- ie, "TNC Not Cars!" - ?

or can it simply be a collection of the first letters of a statement, where the subject is the acronym? ie, "_____ Ride For Odins Service!" would become "_RFOS Ride For Odins Service!", where the first letter (the blank) would be one of our choosing?

(inset image is the logo-beast of the GNU peoples.)

elysium...?

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysium:

In Greek mythology, Elysium (Greek: Ἠλύσια πεδία) was a section of the Underworld (the spelling Elysium is a Latinization of the Greek word Elysion). ...

The Elysian Fields lay on the western margin of the earth, by the encircling stream of Oceanus, and there the mortal relatives of the king of the gods were transported, without tasting death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss (Odyssey 4.563). Lesser spirits were less fortunate: an eerie passage describes the twittering bat-like ghosts of Penelope's slain suitors, led by Hermes:

"down the dank
moldering paths and past the Ocean's streams they went
and past the White Rock and the Sun's Western Gates and past
the Land of Dreams, and soon they reached the fields of asphodel
where the dead, the burnt-out wraiths of mortals make their home"

- "Today, We Ride For ELYSIUM!" but say it like russell crowe in gladiator, when hes revving up his men to go to battle. cept this time were battling lethargy, four-wheeled death machines and un-renewable energy addiction.

heres what i imagined

or rather, heres a sketch like rendition that emulates what a mascot / flag / coat of arms might look like. its based arround a drawing of mike giants, plus track cog, odd font and crappy banner.

words, words, words

Halcyon: Halcyon was a bird, now believed to have been the kingfisher. It was supposed to have a calming influence on the sea at the time of winter solstice. Folklore held that during the "halcyon days", from seven days before the solstice until seven days after it, storms would not occur at sea. By extension, halcyon has come to mean the best period of one's life or career, or a period of great happiness.

That is a damn fine word indeed. Cyclin Halcyon? Hmmm, I guess that's false rhymin.

I do like Carlos' Dad's idea of Bespoke. It sounds like the acapella groupe Homer was in, the B Sharps. What about B-Spoke.

Under One Sun is pretty... it calls to mind a quiet, peaceful revolution. Which reminds me of a bike shop I found in a small town in Aotearoa which was actually called The Quiet Revolution. Ooo, Revolution... it begs a relation to the revolving bicycle wheel.

The wheels are turning... ;)

tim said:

The wanna-be hacker in me is always partial to recursive acronyms a la GNU ("GNU's Not UNIX").

At a loss for any cycle-y ones.

werd to that tim. ideas anyone?

i like tims words

as i listen to 'halcyon + on + on', remember many a stoned nights at the 45, and ponder clever word usages, im thinking i like this word halcyon. like halcyon for days or halcyon noctem

or

yeah! maybe something latin! who speaks latinese?

-circus liberalis
-even deus ex machina could work, seeing as it literally means "god from the machine" or "god is from [within] the machine"... i dont know... my coffee is wearing off.

updates, downdates

1) html is open for the tweakin, if anyones interested!

2) first guess at name included cycle jerks (pun on early '80s la punk band, circle jerks, which is pun on a masturbatory game). and im allready over that one.

3)pun vein: my dad suggested something based arround the adjective form of bespoke, and it feels like it needs a secondary zen pun / reference as well. (like "bespoke; be free." or "bespoke, be one.") i dont know...

4)play on words style, like aim high velo or by cycle we ride

5)punk rock: the totally unrelated, and somewhat punk rock sounding vein, like under one sun or against the flow or nation of geek or goin' on down slowly (G.O.D.S.)

6)you choose: the ambiguous "you fill in the meaning" string vien, like F.Y.R.E. or ASHS

thoughts?

i kind of like the ambiguous one, simply because everyone can pick their own meaning...

the funky chickens ride again

Is a bike club at all like a bike gang? I'm so there.

In 5th or 6th grade my friends and I formed the "Funky Chickens" -- we rode around on our huffy bmx bikes, drank brown-bag-encased bottles of Dog n Suds root beer, and did our best to disrupt suburbia. We earned many sideways (and, we hoped, disapproving) glances from local yuppies about their business.

I daydream of those halcyon days.

Behold: The Glory.

at Carlos' behest, I am posting what was ONCE a comment as a blog. With some adumbration.

****ORIGINAL POSTIE****

I'm in! And my crazy disco era Raleigh is in too. Actually, I'm unsure whether it's disco era or more throwback space-race atomic wonder, but the skinny tires suggest 70s and the insane blue color echoes that suggestion...

I feel somewhat guilty being 'in' though as my bike and I have only recently become acquainted, and though I purchased it from the crawl space of a strange man named Mike in Warwick, RI, I have yet to make swell modifications other than buying a really noxious-sounding bell that clangs. But it will happen. MWAH!


****MODIFICATIONS...*****

The Mike Story.

Providence, RI, is a strange and ghoulish place. It is incredibly small, and yet, incredibly divisive (class/race/mob (oh yes, mob)/insane, etc... barriers everywhere....), and thus, if you do not have a car, difficult to manuver. Hence, bike land galore.

I had to convert. Or try to. Or risk another suicidal winter of discontent holed up in a creaky Victorian with only Netflix, the bodega down the street, and a bi-monthly trek to NYC to keep me going. The quest began.

There is, among many things, an anarchist bike collective in Providence called (I think) circle-A bikes, that makes gorgeous, clean, utterly devastating single gear beauties with paint colors reminiscent of sexy old Biannchis but allegedly make on the platform of availablity for all (hence, not so costly I want to rock back and forth with guilt and shame...or something). This is a lie. I do not know how to manuver single speed lovelies, but my friend Ryan does, and he too coveted the Circle A treat we kept seeing parked in front of favorite bar/brunch place, and so he called. And the Anarchist's generous idea of a base-line 'deal' was....something like $1500. To start. Because they want to make bikes For The People, and by people, they mean the faux slumming offspring of venture capitalists and old money that populate Brown and RISD. Not like I can talk, sort of, as I'm at Brown, but I'm on scholarship... ANYWAY.... No gorgeous bike for me or Ryan.

The quest continues.

I can't buy anything new, I prowl Craigslist like a jackal, nearly getting several old cruisers, a 50's era Schwinn with amazing stripey detail, a 70's Italian object...but no. Finally, I find a post for something called "Siesta Bike Service." Go to Craigslist providence. Go to bikes for sale. Search it. More than likely you will find Mike (the owner's) postings, and you too, if you want, can drive down I95 to scary Warwick RI and buy a used (but nicely appointed, in a humble way) bike for not lots of money.

However, the actual act of obtaining the bike is odd.

Envision:

You are driving down a ghastly stretch of road. Rhode Island in parts is pretty, but in most parts looks like some sort of wooded New England body dumping ground, which I suppose, it is...punctuated by strip malls and jenky hair salons in converted churches. You pass an airport. You turn into what is ostensibly "the suburbs" and (if you're from CA, as I originally am) note the grim, midcentury faux-colonial track homes of lower middle class sorrow that you might find in outlying environs of LA (oh Mike Davis, how I love you.).

The you in this story is Ryan and me.

We find such a house, on the corner. There is rusty lawn furniture, but hope too, as the owner is apparently building some sort of pond/wishing well (we can't tell what). A tall, gawky smiley man comes out. HI! I'M MIKE! COME WITH ME TO WHERE THE BIKES ARE! We follow him into....the house. Bikes in the house? Oh no. The basement! I'm from a place where basement is shorthand for scary, since we don't usually have them in CA, but I've gotten over it, sort of, and blithely walk downstairs. The basement is...a nautical themed bar. Hard core. Rope, anchor weights, weird glass prism things, a stuffed Cap'n, ugly nougahyde chairs, the distinct smell of must and aged liquor bottles and damp. No bikes. Anywhere. 'THE BIKES ARE IN THERE!" Mike says. 'There' is a 2X2 foot crawlspace door on the floor. "GO ON IN AND SEE!" I'm wearing a short, pert little shirtwaist dress. "Um, you first...." "SURE!"....Mike crawls in. I follow. Ryan stays outside to keep watch/run for the phone if I meet my certain death on the other side. But there is no death. Instead, an old bike paradise! A panalopy of 50s-80s cruisers (a few), road bikes (a lot) and a few sexy italian things with self generating lights on the front that make my knees weak. Apparently, Mike keeps them in this weird space to keep them safe from the damp salty air of RI. I thought I was going to die, but in actuality, I have found happy bike heaven.

I see several, but the wacky Raleigh catches my eye.

I take it out. Ride around the block. Haven't ridden in 8 years, barely, but ohhhhhh it's love.

adam said:

adam left a comment on the first post, so im reposting here, so all can read. dont be hesitant on posting!

"Carlos, I'm in. And my bike, Ashitaka, is stoked too. How do I go about "inviting" other people to this blog? There are a lot of bicycle aficionados here in Portland as you can imagine.

I look forward to chatting with you more about this, and many other things, in person, soon.

peace brother."

it SHOULD be easy to invite people, as i did it from the settings > permissions tab. fyi, the first round of invites i sent out were to a) the riders amongst the vista krew (mateo dlb, ian, brianna, adam, etc) b) people the vista crew knows directly (sarah, marcus, tim, etc), or c) one degree of separation (those whom with i ride in london, or have ridden with in san francisco.)

at least at first, im suggesting we keep it to similar constraints until we get details ironed out - like name and logo(s) - so invite away if youve got homies that ride, but, for now, lets get us a damned name.

werd is mightier.

POST STUFF PEOPLE!

really, its an open forum, so slap some crap up here! here, ill start the bidding...




this is my 1980 peugeot px-10. originally built by alex zeh, i now retain sole ownership rights. click here or here to get a full break down on parts. alex calls it the purple monster, others call it the purple people eater. whatever the name, its actually lilac, okay?

my ride is my pride: i baby it like it was one, because it gets me everywhere i need to go (within london, where i live). course, in urbia, distances are shorter, so fixed gear works wonderfully. i love riding in traffic, running red lights and track standing, although i need more practice on the last one. im currently working towards a masters on the impact of sustainable development on design, and how design can and will lead the transition from our outdated - yet current - mode of think, as prescribed by the industrial revolution, so long ago. as such, one can imagine why im so into bicycles, and not cars (as a main mode of transportation that is un-renewably powered).

aiaight peeps

so this is a basic forum for, um, us to post idears about getting a bicycle club started. what does a bicycle club do? why start one? what is the square root of 49,392,278.7? i dont know any of these answers, thus you must look deep, deep within, to find any of these answers.

basically, i was blabbing on to sarah, when it struck me that starting an international bicycle club might be fun, so i passed it by her, and her words were "I'm TOTALLY into the bikeclub idea, especially if we can get some patches or something made." so then heres the preliminary (but loose) premisii: 1) organization of people who ride bicycle, 2) enjoy riding. for no good reason, im going to start by opening up invitation to anyone i (we) know who rides and enjoys it. (obvious prerequisite being, you need a bike.) original idears included getting some sort of team patch made, with options to expand to basic t's(?), and/or events.

HOWEVER, this is by no means a decree, and is simply the instigation of a forum for any potentially interested kids to a) join in, b) pick a name, c) pick a team design, d) coordinate events, and or e) take over the world.

thoughts? please post...

ps. gay photo from pride parade supplied for pure entertainment value.