24 Hours of Ass.

Couldn't make it out for a ride with Alberto & Co. last night, so I went for a ride in the Ass. Forest this morning. Which got me thinking: my contribution to the nordic-cross winter race series (slated for Feb 18, I think) is going to be called 24 Hours of Ass. Maybe 12. We'll see. Either way, it's going to be epic. 2 person teams.

OTT: The Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven

$922.10

That's how much our tally in "the book" comes to, as of last night. Should be able to push it over the $1000 mark by Christmas. Good work boys and girls. This year's spring ride is going to rock.

OTT: Gillian Welch, Throw Me a Rope

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #8,197 in Books

So I confess I've been checking my amazon.ca sales rank semi-regularly over the past couple of weeks. Egomaniacal, I know. But it's kind of fun to watch it shoot up and slowly sink back down. Was getting dangerously close to 60,000th place for a while, before it reached a new high this morning. This leads me to think that it only takes a purchase or two to rise 30,000 places or so.

OTT: Carolyn Mark, In a Valley

tuesday night

meet at the footbridge (inside the park) @ 9:20. on your way to the park scout trails for potential rides - we'll poll the masses and pick a route.

re: profile picture.

mac computers come with a built in camera and program called photobooth. lets you do weird pictures.

hardcore

kick-ass!

tuesday night meetings

throwing out a proposal to non-hockey members of fgbc:

1) meet for a ride at assiniboine park on tuesday nights @ 9:30. can be road or trail, usually the assiniboine forest is fun because of the amount of walkers

2) be at the f-n-h for 10:30 - no need to wait for the hockey guys (nothing against the hockey guys) for us to start (hockey guys get there too late anyways).

who's in?

ciao

Sunday night cruise

Nice little ride last night. Vic, Jonny G, Dave L, and myself. Rode the trails over to Whittier, where they proved unnavigable. Dog walkers are not doing their part. So urban exploration and skid-fest back to downtown, in and around the exchange.

First legitimate winter ride of the season, for me at least. Hopefully the first of many. Future rides will be posted here.

Forgot to mention one other event that is sure to be a highlight of the upcoming race season. Dave L is planning a haiku-cross. 5-7-5.

Any other brilliant initiatives should be forwarded to the race director.

OTT: Lesbians on Ectasy, Bring on Noise

nordic-cross

American Hardcore rocks hard. Go see it.

Saturdays are evidently karaoke night at the F & H. Don't even bother. Planning for the winter race series went down at Dave L's place instead.

Full nordic-cross details coming soon from the editor. But the kickoff is Dec. 17. Looks like an all-you-can-eat race, a smorgasbord of suffering. Other highlights: Food drive alleycat in early Jan; March Madness race, cage match, and Duke vs. Carolina in Altona on March 4; and much, much more.

Paddy also has something in the works. Better start getting ready now. This one's going to be big.

Ride tonight. My place, 9:30 pm. Winter's here. Bring it on.

OTT: Band of Horses, The Funeral

weekend schedule

Saturday: American Hardcore - 9pm, Cinematheque.

Sunday: night ride - meet at my place, 9:30 pm. The more the merrier.

OTT: Sex Pistols, Search and Destroy

letter from Rwanda

In case you missed it in the latest Dirt Rag, Tom Ritchey is on a mission. He's one of the driving forces behind Project Rwanda, an attempt to contribute to the reconciliation, forgiveness, and hope already taking place in the little country that used to represent the embodiment of genocidal trauma. See their short video, Wheels of Mercy. Their strategy involves a variety of efforts: bringing better bikes and tools to the people of Rwanda, promoting Rwanda as a place to ride, and perhaps most importantly seeking to heal the wounds of Rwanda's recent history through difference-overcoming events such as the Wooden Bike Classic bike race and the development of a national cycling team.



In their own words, Project Rwanda’s vision is to “further the economic development of Rwanda through initiatives based on the bicycle as a tool and symbol of hope. Our goal is use the bike to help boost the Rwandan economy as well as re-brand Rwanda as a beautiful and safe place to do business and visit freely.”

gratuitous reflection dept.

Much of the violence that infects our world is due, I suspect, to the fact that we have lost the capacity to interact meaningfully with the dead, even as we are tantalizingly enthralled with death. Hollywood reflects this tension in some obvious ways. Capitalism cultivates, among other things, a perpetual present, a life shorn of the capacity to remember meaningfully. Nostalgic sentimentality is not memory. But Robert Pogue Harrison, in a fascinating book I just finished reading, presents an alternative vision that identifies resources for resistance/hope:

“The dead depend on the living to preserve their authority, heed their concerns, and keep them going in their afterlives. In return, they help us to know ourselves, give form to our lives, organize our social relations, and restrain our destructive impulses. They provide us with the counsel needed to maintain the institutional order, of which they remain the authors, and prevent it from degenerating into a bestial barbarism. The dead are our guardians. We give them a future so that they may give us a past. We help them live on so that they may help us go forward.” (Robert Pogue Harrison, The Dominion of the Dead, 158)

OTT: Joanna Newsom, Monkey & Bear

what, me worry?

The autumn wind that is making its way through town today is apparently blowing down to Moab too. This courtesy of the live webcam link Charlene passed on. Though not an officially sanctioned FGBC event, some of us are heading there over the holidays to scout it out for a future spring ride. At least we should be used to riding in snow by then.

OTT: Miles Davis, Bye Bye Blackbird

Autumn Wind reminder

Bike klub meeting at Jonny's tonight. Any time after 10:30. Film showing shortly after 11:00.

cx in the nyt

First fixed gears, now cx. Seems another bandwagon is open for boarding. When you show up in the New York Times, you're no longer a forsaken little dirty girl, but captured firmly within the gaze of the mainstream. This is not all bad. The more the merrier.

“Every race, you want to vomit, you want to quit, your bike’s not working, and then you come up a run-up and everyone’s cheering and you get pepped up. As soon as you’re done, you can’t wait for the next race. It’s kind of like a cruel drug — addictive.”

And it's beautiful too, in a perverse sort of way. When does nordic-cross begin?

OTT: Townes, To Live's to Fly

Floyd and the dude

Yet another reason why Floyd is our honorary captain:

As an aside, before Floyd and I sit down to write his book, I definitely need to watch The Big Lebowski a few times. Landis, who has a particularly keen sense of humor, can riff on that movie like no one's business. (from Martin Dugard)

If that's not the best movie ever, it's very, very close. But I reserve judgment until I've seen the Autumn Wind.

OTT: Sam Roberts, The Gate

sanctoral cycle

Word is getting out. Also here. This could pose a problem since we are running out of room for all the bikes and stuff that has been donated. But there could be worse problems, I suppose.

OTT: Neil Young, Love in Mind

friday fun file

so, i bet you this is exactly what happens when the doors at olympia close at 9:00.

hmmm, do you think she would win a fgbc wheelie contest

shamelessly stolen form fearless gearless

memo from the poosher

movie night - bond at silvercity

talked to paddy yesterday and it looks like it is still a go. meet at olympia prior to closing, but it would be a good idea to call first.

sadly, i will not be able to make it. have fun.

The Autumn Wind - blowing near you

Well, I have seen it, heard it, felt it... yes, The Autumn Wind...

Two showings coming up:
1. At the next Altona Scotch Society meeting in Altona, Saturday, November 25, at the president of said society's home, 8:00pm. (Special arrangements have been made for any FGBC'ers who want to show up.) The film's creator will be there... might even sign a few autographs... maybe not... you know how film people can be.
2. Jonny G's the following Tuesday, November 28. Don't arrive sooner than 10:30pm, movie showing at 11:00ish with the arrival of the hockey crew. Bring your own libation. It should go without saying, but, just in case, I'll say it anyway: No meeting at the clubhouse!

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll whither under the force of the mighty (springish) Autumn Wind.