I was coming back from a camping trip and decided to take a break in Watertown New York. There was a farmers market, with the usual soaps, fruit...tons of junk food..including fried Oreo cookies..lemonade, music and a leather worker.
He was an older man who made belts, wallets bags and a holster for a handgun. He explained as I picked it up in disbelief that it stays close to your body. This was a craft market in Watertown New York, and here I could buy a holster worthy of Elliot Ness or Al Capone!
Of course this is America where people can carry guns. There are people who feel as if a gun protects them and others harken to the days of the wild west where you were in danger from an Indian ambush, or a wild gunslinger on the street..or wild animals. I saw none of these in Watertown. The saloon was quiet and Billy the Kid was no where to be seen.
The argument is that guns protect. Against what? Against other gunslingers? "it stays close to your body" he said his eyes shining with the prospect of a sale. No thanks!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Road cycling and Cleats
After much research and discussion about SPD versus Road cleats I have learned that the only rationale for road cleats is that there is a larger contact area and hence you can get more power transfer,
That is the theory. But realistically, it is a false argument for 99 % of us. The power transfer is really a function of technique and how your foot contacts the cleat. You DO NOT WANT to pedal flat footed and good technique involves pointing your toes.
The small difference in platform sizes between a shimano SPD pedal and say a Look pedal is minute.
SPD cleats means you can wear mountain shoes with recessed cleats. This gives you the incomparable advantage of being able to walk.
I recently did a bike tour that involved going on ferries and over bridges. In the rain, my race footed friends were slipping and sliding dangerously. My mountain shoes had no issues.
Unless you are doing a time trial where you will go all out and not dismount, or are in cyclo dome for track racing, I fail to see ANY advantage to road shoes. In fact, I see downright disadvantages in not being able to walk.
That is the theory. But realistically, it is a false argument for 99 % of us. The power transfer is really a function of technique and how your foot contacts the cleat. You DO NOT WANT to pedal flat footed and good technique involves pointing your toes.
The small difference in platform sizes between a shimano SPD pedal and say a Look pedal is minute.
SPD cleats means you can wear mountain shoes with recessed cleats. This gives you the incomparable advantage of being able to walk.
I recently did a bike tour that involved going on ferries and over bridges. In the rain, my race footed friends were slipping and sliding dangerously. My mountain shoes had no issues.
Unless you are doing a time trial where you will go all out and not dismount, or are in cyclo dome for track racing, I fail to see ANY advantage to road shoes. In fact, I see downright disadvantages in not being able to walk.
The Camelback
I like to road bike and like all road bikers have the bottle on my bike. However I recently tried a camelback system. This is a slim little backpack in which I can fit all my road tools, spare tube, my wallet and holds almost 2 liters of water.
The water stays COLD during a hot ride and keeps my back cool. I find I drink more, which is a good thing and don't get dehydrated or tired. It is light and areo and I don't need a little saddle bag anymore, or even a water bottle. The weight is hardly oppressive.
The only drawback is keeping it clean and the fact that it hides the great graphics on some of my jerseys.
To keep it clean I have learned the following:
Clean after every use
Store in freezer
Only use NUNO tablets or similar electrolyte tablets..no endurance drinks
Buy a brush system for it and a spare mouthpiece
So far, I am very impressed. It is comfortable and because I don't have to reach down and lose some speed, I am more likely to drink during a ride.
Road cyclists however are prone to fashion...and therefore I wonder if this will ever catch on!
The water stays COLD during a hot ride and keeps my back cool. I find I drink more, which is a good thing and don't get dehydrated or tired. It is light and areo and I don't need a little saddle bag anymore, or even a water bottle. The weight is hardly oppressive.
The only drawback is keeping it clean and the fact that it hides the great graphics on some of my jerseys.
To keep it clean I have learned the following:
Clean after every use
Store in freezer
Only use NUNO tablets or similar electrolyte tablets..no endurance drinks
Buy a brush system for it and a spare mouthpiece
So far, I am very impressed. It is comfortable and because I don't have to reach down and lose some speed, I am more likely to drink during a ride.
Road cyclists however are prone to fashion...and therefore I wonder if this will ever catch on!
Bike clothing....
Today I did a bike ride and was joined by members of the TREK cycling team, a world champion, the Discovery team and numerous members of Lance Armstrongs old Tour de France team. I was cycling on a road near Ottawa.
None of these cyclists would have made the tour de France and yet here they are wearing team kits with all the advertisements. Why? I suppose for the same reason that recreational hockey players buy jerseys from their teams.
I have a kit that is full of advertisements but there were sponsors who paid to be on our jerseys and shorts.
There is too much advertising in our cities already. We are deluged by ads and billboards and wearing advertisements while on a bike, in my opinion is simply offensive to the senses.
None of these cyclists would have made the tour de France and yet here they are wearing team kits with all the advertisements. Why? I suppose for the same reason that recreational hockey players buy jerseys from their teams.
I have a kit that is full of advertisements but there were sponsors who paid to be on our jerseys and shorts.
There is too much advertising in our cities already. We are deluged by ads and billboards and wearing advertisements while on a bike, in my opinion is simply offensive to the senses.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Kony 2012
Two days ago I got an excited phone call from a friend about the Kony 2012 video which I watched. Child soldiers...yes I knew of those years ago and Romeo Delaire wrote a book about them. The video went viral and now has people putting up posters and having id bracelets. I have to wonder why the excitement and interest.
Granted child soldiers are a horrible thing, but give me two minutes and I can mention many horrible things in the world.
Lake Victoria has a lot of oil, it is interesting to me that the US has sent 'advisors' there. Remember Vietnam? Congo is already solidly in the hands of the Chinese and perhaps the US is seeking to protect some interests or rather gain interests.
What a clever idea it would be if the US congress could point to the many people who post posters (and whose Ip address would be known by the way), have ID bracelets etc and say "look we have worldwide support..yes it is time for military intervention". It would be a grassroots military intervention. Unlike other cases when you actually have to make an argument before you send young soldiers into battle or invade a country..this would be "to save children AND it has international support" How brilliant is that?
Social media as my sister pointed out is as big as the invention of the press. It is a very quick way to spread information and indeed misinformation. What has taken me by surprise is the number of people who were blissfully unaware that there were child soldiers for many years. Do they not read?
The moral of this story is don't believe everything you read and if it comes from social media take it with a very large grain of salt, or in this case a dash of oil.
Granted child soldiers are a horrible thing, but give me two minutes and I can mention many horrible things in the world.
Lake Victoria has a lot of oil, it is interesting to me that the US has sent 'advisors' there. Remember Vietnam? Congo is already solidly in the hands of the Chinese and perhaps the US is seeking to protect some interests or rather gain interests.
What a clever idea it would be if the US congress could point to the many people who post posters (and whose Ip address would be known by the way), have ID bracelets etc and say "look we have worldwide support..yes it is time for military intervention". It would be a grassroots military intervention. Unlike other cases when you actually have to make an argument before you send young soldiers into battle or invade a country..this would be "to save children AND it has international support" How brilliant is that?
Social media as my sister pointed out is as big as the invention of the press. It is a very quick way to spread information and indeed misinformation. What has taken me by surprise is the number of people who were blissfully unaware that there were child soldiers for many years. Do they not read?
The moral of this story is don't believe everything you read and if it comes from social media take it with a very large grain of salt, or in this case a dash of oil.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Why Wagner operas don't work
I recently attended the final installment of the Ring Cycle by Wagner. His Twilight of the gods...complete with Valhalla burning, Siegfreid being murdered, the Rhine maidens etc. It was 6 hours long.. and at the end I felt like survivor. I was exhausted...and I felt let down. Lest people attack me for being a musical misfit, I was trained as an opera singer so I am well aware of the immense vocal demands in Wagnerian operas.
Wagner was famous for his motifs. Each character has a theme attached to them, but unlike Rhinegold, the first one, one has no sympathy for any of the characters. When Siegfreid is killed, there are no tears...just great symphonic music with that wonderful brass section. He is carried off. Even when Brunhilde joins him on his funeral pyre which sets the world alight, there are no tears. It is not like Queen Dido with her stirring...Remember me aria.
Wagner fails in his operas to touch our souls. His operas are a mix of mumbo jumbo and myths that are not well done because unlike a good story they fail to capture our imaginations. When Butterfly commits suicide, there is not a dry eye in the house and you can hear the sobs...that is opera! When Don Pasquale is tricked and his new bride makes a shambles of his home...we all laugh at the miserly Don. When Don Carlos's lover sings of his fate and hopes the angels will be kind...you can imagine the angels welcoming the unhappy Carlos with them....and everytime Mimi, the fated lover in La Boheme dies, I cry with Rudolpho and dare I say the entire audience.
There is none of this in Wagner. Wagners opera are as sterile as a new petrie dish. The villans stare at you as if trying to show how evil they are. Hagen in the recent Met production had a great voice but 0 acting skills. The music is sometimes thrilling but not memorable apart from the orchestral score.
Wagner holds his audience captive for 6 hours and throws motifs at us, tubas that he invented for his music, rich brass tones, some wonderful staging by the Met and yet in the end, there is nothing that we can hold on to. In a way, the audience as in the same fate as the gods of Valhalla. The gods we are told gloomily await their doom in the great hall. There is no laughter, there is no music there is no life. They await the end, trust me we too were awaiting the end.
Wagner realized he was not an opera composer. Opera is about grand passion, love, hate, devotion, sympathy and to be good it has to resonate with the souls and hearts of the audience. We have to love, or hate the characters. We too must cry when Thais ascends to heaven...we must see ourselves in the characters. Even if it is mythology, we have to care. If something that is called opera fails to do that, it is not opera.
Wagners orchestration is second to none...but for opera....no.
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