While I have become a bit of utilitarian when it comes to my small stable of bicycles, I’ve come to appreciate a few particular styles of bicycle design:
Momo Velo. A fantastic selection of styles and design philosophies. Their track bike/cafe racer is just awesome, as is the Milk Tea bike.
Vanilla Bicycles. I think I’ve mentioned these guys before. Wow. But I don’t think I could actually own one and ride it — the frames are just too pretty.
Matt Chester. Matt’s titanium fixed-specific 29er/cyclocross frames don’t fit the same design niche as Momo and Vanilla, but the utility value of his bikes is very high.
Posted on 4 February 2005
Reason‘s Cathy Young explores the philosophy and person of Ayn Rand nearly twenty five years after her death. I must admit, I was enchanted when I read The Fountainhead, and that led, in part, to my brief affair with Libertarianism. But as Young points out, Rand had no time for compassion, and not everyone who fails in the free market does so of their own volition. Young does a nice job exploring the person of Rand, and how even she had problems living the life she espoused in her books.
Posted on 4 February 2005
Yes, it has been quiet around here, but not without good reason. First, the discussions over at the Dialogical Coffee House have been capturing my attention, and I’ve peppering some other sites with my comments. Second, the latest issue of the New Pantagruel is out, and there is plenty of good stuff to absorb there as well. I’ve also been half-heartedly trying to write “other” things lately in an attempt to recapture the creativity of my youth. Also, I’ve finally procured a winter beater fixie, and it’s nearly ready to roll. Photos will forthcoming.
Posted on 2 February 2005
We have, over the years, tried to become more considerate consumers. Realizing that materialism and consumer have overcome our society, we wanted to try to go against that grain best we could. But last night, while at the local supermarket obsessing over what coffee to get (since I couldn’t stop at La Prima in the morning), I realized something. We are bobos to some degree. While we don’t dress the part as hippies (or yippies), and we don’t often speak the bobo language, we still are only marginal participants in the ecological movement.
Sure, we succeed in many aspects. We only own one car. I ride my bike to work everyday. We bought an old house in an old neighborhood. We don’t spend much money outside of necessities. But we’re certainly not green. One reason is simple: money. I’d love to buy all my clothes from American Apparel and Patagonia, but realistically, that’s just not an option. $78 for a pair of pants or $15 for a plain white t-shirt also seems a little extravagant to me. So what to do? Is there a middle road to beoming a better consumer? There I was last night, looking at Fair Trade coffee while in a massive supermarket. Did my purchase of 12oz of coffee beans amount to anything more than a drop in the bucket? Was I doing anything more than making myself feel better for buying that coffee, rather than saving myself a few dollars and buying a mass-marketed coffee? It’s not like I was crossing the line of protestors to go to school — this wasn’t some symbol-laden act. We needed coffee.
It’s really a question of finding balance. Unless we become subsistence farmers with no electricity or gas heat, making our own clothes, tools, and pther necessities, we will have to compromise. I ride my bike to work. Great. I save on gas consumption, I don’t put as much pollution into the air. But the process of manufacturing the metals used on my bike is very resource-instensive. We are, of course, told by God to find balance — in Genesis, Adam and Eve were made stewards of creation. They were not told to leave it as is — they could develop it and care for it. So, that’s what we’re left with — finding a way to develop and care for creation in the face of sin. Do we simply pick our battles (drive our car to work, but only buy organic from a co-op)? Do we seek to make as few compromises as possible? Where is the middle?
Posted on 26 January 2005
The white, fluffy snow that softened everything this weekend has been transformed into piles of wet, dirty slush. The city hasn’t gotten around the completely clearing most roads, so the ride to work is mix of wet asphalt and a thin coating of slush — less than pleasant riding conditions. The road conditions seemed to worsen as the day progressed yesterday, and when I left my office, nearly every street was covered in slush. I was ready to wave the white flag and take the bus until the roads dried up a bit. I was a beaten man. Old Man Winter had won. As I was riding through the Strip, however, I saw another messenger coming from the opposite direction on Smallman Street. I lifted my head a bit, and as we passed he yelled “Yeah trackbike!” and I returned a “Yo!” Suddenly I didn’t care so much about the slush and cold, and I remember why I was doing this — I love to be on the bike.
Posted on 25 January 2005
Gideon Strauss has started about the new Left he envisions as a future for Christians in politics. Crooked Timber posted a link to this book review by Tony Judt examing the political divide between Europe and America, with coffee as a central metaphor. A couple of interesting bits:
To a growing number of Europeans, however, it is America that is in trouble and the “American way of life” that cannot be sustained. The American pursuit of wealth, size, and abundance ?as material surrogates for happiness ?is aesthetically unpleasing and ecologically catastrophic. The American economy is built on sand (or, more precisely, other people’s money). For many Americans the promise of a better future is a fading hope. Contemporary mass culture in the US is squalid and meretricious. No wonder so many Americans turn to the church for solace.
Yet despite such widely bemoaned bureaucratic and fiscal impediments to output, Europeans appear somehow to manage rather well.[5] And of course the welfare state is not just a value in itself. In the words of the London School of Economics economist Nicholas Barr, it “is an efficiency device against market failure”[6] : a prudential impediment to the social and political risks of excessive inequality. It was Winston Churchill who declared in March 1943 that “there is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.” To his self-anointed disciples in contemporary America, however, this reeks of “welfare.” In the US today the richest 1 percent holds 38 percent of the wealth and they are redistributing it ever more to their advantage. Meanwhile one American adult in five is in poverty?compared with one in fifteen in Italy.[7] The benefits don’t even trickle down anymore. To many foreigners today this is a distinctly unappetizing vision: the “American way of life” is at a steep discount. As an economic model the US is not replicable.[8] As a social model it offers few redeeming qualities.
Before you think I’m some sort of socialist (maybe I am, maybe I’m not), Judt doesn’t have all the answers, and neither does Europe. But his criticisms ring true, and they need to be addressed, especially by Christians.
Posted on 24 January 2005
In the end, it was easy, again. Sebastien Loeb has won his third consecutive Rallye Monte Carlo. Loeb went into Sunday with a two minute lead over Marcus Gronholm, but any chance of challenge from Gronholm disappeared during the Col du Turini stage. Both Gronholm and Petter Solberg crashed during the stage thanks to snow piled on the road by spectators (a common occurence on the Col during dry road conditions. Both cars lost a wheel during their offs, but only Gronholm managed to limp back to service with three wheels on his 307. Between time lost thanks to the crash and an additional five minute penalty for arriving at the service park late, Gronholm lost his spot on the podium, but still managed to finish in the points. Solberg was not as fortunate and saw his best finish at the Monte slip away.
Thanks to that mishap, Ford’s Toni Gardemeister took second place (his best result ever) and Mitsubishi’s Gilles Panizzi took third. Thanks to Harri Rovanpera clawing back into the points (remember, the Finn was Peugeot’s gravel expert for three years and had not rallied on tarmac in two), Mitsubishi saw their best points haul since Tommi Makinen led the team in 2001. Markko Martin slipped into fourth place in his first event for Peugeot, despite finishing over five minutes behind Loeb. Manfred Stohl was the only privateer to slip into the points, and Ford’s Roman Kresta rounded out the points for a decent start to the Blue Oval campaign.
The only team that walked away from Monte Carlo empty handed was Subaru. Both Solberg and Stephane Sarrazin retired, and Solberg’s off came at a time when he was challenging Gardemeister for second place and setting scratch times in the process. Skoda has a less than satisfying rally as well, with Armin Schwarz retiring and Alex Bengue finishing just outside the points.
Posted on 23 January 2005
As expected, Sebastien Loeb has a comfortable two minute over his nearest challenger, Marcus Gronholm. Loeb was feeling the heat earlier in the day from teammate Francois Duval until Duval had an off on SS6, taking out a utility pole and halting the stage. Duval was ok, but damage forced him to retire from event. Skoda’s Armin Schwarz was also a victim of a shunt, crashing his Fabia on SS7 (and forcing an early end the stage). Ford’s Toni Gardemeister is a having a fine first rally for the team, holding a slight edge on Subaru’s Petter Solberg. Mitsubishi had a fine day with Gilles Panizzi taking one stage win and posting several other top 5 times. The team has to be happy with the speed of the retooled Lancer, especially on tarmac. And should Harri Rovanpera hold seventh tomorrow, the team will walk away from the rally with a nice points haul (the only other to have two cars in the points is Peugeot). Solberg is only nine seconds adrift of Gardemeister, so the Norwegian may push the pace a bit tomorrow to score a podium spot.
Posted on 22 January 2005
Mark Dery has a scathing critique of the “Not One More Damn Dime” (NMODD) boycott.
Posted on 21 January 2005