Month: July 2005

6 Songs I Love

Jeff tagged me for six songs I love, so here goes:

Duh. (Run, Run, Run, Run, Run – The Velvet Underground) Three cords at its finest, bumpin’ bass line, catchy lyrics, drummer absolutely out of her mind. One of the common themes you’re going to find in my favorite songs is variations on a theme – I absolutely love listening to musicians take a riff – blues, jazz, rock and/or roll, hip-hop – twist it beyond all recognition, and then re-converge on the same riff at the end.

Take Five – The Dave Bruebeck Quartet, Time Out. Same elements as the Velvets, ‘cept Jazz. I got to see Dave Bruebeck with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra a few years ago – absolutely insane to think I had a chance to see one of the greats.

Up Against the Wall – Jerry Jeff Walker, Viva Terlingua. Captures the Texas with which I grew up. Granted, it was mythology even as I was growing up, but it was living memory to my folks and grandparents. Mind numbing stretches of two lane, small towns, people larger than life. Knowing a bar-b-q joint or a store with an ice-cream cooler at just the right time on every trip. Fishin’ in farmer’s tanks. Heh – maybe my cycling fetish has something to do with a desire to shrink the world into knowable chunks.

Twofer – Rhymin’ and Stealin’ – Beastie Boys, License to Ill and When the Levee Breaks – Led Zepplin, (The Stairway to Heaven Album). Guess it’s time to place me within a year or two. I got a hold of License to Ill back in middle school. My parents found it, listened to about 30 seconds and pitched it. Hmm, that’s got to be a cool album. Dubbed a copy from a friend, hid it under my mattress, and listened to it every night. Everyone else thought that Fight for Your Right (to Party) was where it was at – I was captivated by the big drums and references. Towards the end of high school, I figured I’d try to see what the stoners and heads saw in Zepplin (as an “Alternative” kind of guy, if it wasn’t English, or if it was played with a melody, or rhythm other than “bangbangbangbangbang”, I wanted none of it). Dropped my jaw when I heard the big, booming drums at the beginning of When the Levee Breaks, and in one fell swoop had a huge appreciation for “classic” rock, hip hop’s re-interpretation of everything (hey, three in a row for taking a theme, bending it, and returning to the beginning), and finally understood what piano and violin teachers couldn’t push through my thick skull – the difference between melody and rhythm (Yeah, I’m a slow learner).

Fat was a Feminist Issue – MJ Hibbett and the Validators, This is Not a Library – Uh, yeah. I’m also a lyric guy – these are priceless. Plus, these guys are, like, normal types. You may have heard their “Hey, Hey, 16K” tribute to old computers a while back – someone did a Flash animation for it. Sweet horn section. Did I mention good lyrics?

Superfly – Curtis Mayfield, Superfly Soundtrack – Sweet mix of funk, jazz, and soul, and a kickin’ horn section. Plus, ripped off by the Beasties. AND another epiphany and appreciation for both Funk and blaxploitation flicks. Heh. Archeology through audio.

Special Bonus – 40 – U2, Under a Blood Red Sky. I’ve always struggled with faith. You may not have noticed, but I’ve got a pretty analytical mind. Faith, true faith, does not lend itself to analysis. Patience, likewise, is not something I’m inclined to. “Waiting patiently for the Lord, incline and hear my cry …” Likewise, redemption, promise, and hope – “I will sing, sing a new song.” Vertigo had a very similar effect at a tough time in my life last fall.

So, that’s that. Dear god, I hope no-one tries to psychoanalyze me over this.

I’d like to tap – well, someone, but I’m about 3 generations down on this one, so it’s tough to find people. Kind of like multi-level marketing.

25 things I love about the bike – #24




LardBar.JPG

Originally uploaded by billjank.

Got to love the post-ride lard bar … sorry, meal.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always associated riding with eating. There’s randomness thrown in – the farmer’s market the town over that you had never really heard of before, a patch of berries spotted while flying down a hill, etc.

Then there’s the added carrying capacity of the bike. I haven’t quite worked out the hydration logistics of running for much more than an hour, but on a bike, it’s a no-brainer – plop a bottle in the cage, and you’re set. Don’t need to hold on to anything, doesn’t affect your pedal stroke, etc.

But somehow, food tastes sweeter after a good ride.

25 things I love about the bike – #25




Bike Frame

Originally uploaded by billjank.

#25 Frames

This is my old Trek 360 frame. Well loved, it had a couple of massive chips in its paint, and I was afraid of it rusting out from under me. So, I stripped and repainted it this spring. It’s shiny now, and ready to be rebuilt and ridden for another 15 years.

But I’m not meaning to be specific about my stuff.

The basic bike frame is an amazing thing. Absent me telling you what kind of bike this was, and who built it, the double triangle shape has been set for well over a century. The stuff that hangs off of it has changed – kind of. Turning the wheel by pulling a chain with a foot crank hasn’t, and likely won’t in our lifetime – it’s too darn efficient. Likewise the double triangle shape – can be made pretty light and pretty strong with almost any material around.

There’s a line in The Princess Bride that goes “There are only so many perfect things in this world…”

The bicycle frame is one of them.

25 Things I Love About the Bike

So I could do yet another Fred gabs about the Tour de France for the next month series of posts. But, that’d largely consist of me sitting on my rump in front of the tee-vee for a large chunk of the prime of the year, and encouraging y’all to do the same. Which kind of strikes me as counter to the whole point of Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Cycle, Cycle, Too.

Which is not to say that I didn’t get my watchin’ in today – we had biscuits to start the day watching the pre-race hype, and bookended it with pizza. AND, I was not disappointed – I (and the boys, but I don’t think the baby had any clue why) was up off the couch cheering when Lance passed Jan – what a potential bookend to one of the great rivalries of sport. And it’s not to say that I’m not going to be doing my bloggin’ from the couch watching after the boys are in bed. But I’m most looking forward to going through the stack of videotapes this winter.

So the aim here for the next month is to give y’all 25 things that really, really get me jazzed about cycling. They’re in no particular order, and I’m kind of flying by the seat of my pants in coming up with them (I am open to suggestions if there’s either something that really fires you up, or if there’s a question that’s been nagging at the back of someone’s mind.) But, much like when I joined the Navy, this seems like a good idea at the time.

Allez.

Socks

I’m looking for recommendations.

Did the run sockless last night, and today there’s a couple of tender spots on my foot. No actual blisters, per se, but after a couple of weeks of running sockless and a couple runs on sand, there’s enough grit imbedded in the shoes to rub.

So I’m wondering what y’all wear – I’ve been pretty content with plain cotton ankle socks, but with an imminent increase in mileage, might “invest” in a couple of pairs of fancy socks.

That I’ll was after every use.

Second Verse, Same As the First

‘Cept a little bit slower and a little less worse.

Yeah, I was a camp kid. Every summer, I got trundled off to day camp, or when I was older, off to overnight camp. The crazy thing? I loved it. Nothing better than living in the woods with other kids, getting to shoot and paddle and run and play. I even really enjoyed sing-alongs, be they bawdy camp songs or hymns at chapel. Best job I ever had was as a camp counselor, ’cause I got to get paid for playing. And the only evaluations that mattered were then ones at the end of the term when the campers’d bring over their parents to say “Hey – this is Billy. He’s cool”. Well, that and making sure that every night we tucked in the same number of campers that we woke up each morning and hadn’t lost any to drownings, rockslides, snakebites, gunshots, etc.
Continue reading Second Verse, Same As the First