Greenscreen
More photos from the garden. The subjects were dill, capsicum and thyme.
The 24
This is my version of the ultimate single-speed and best urban bike out there. It’s basically a larger wheel BMX with its 24” wheels and stout build. It’s set up to do my favorite trick, the long rollback. With its rear coaster brake, not only do the pedals not turn rolling backwards, you can also back pedal and use the brake even while rolling backwards. It keeps those long downhill rollbacks from becoming too hairy from speed.
It started life as a Redline race cruiser bike. I reduced it to a frame, ground off all the brake apparatus to give the frame a clean look and painted it a new color. This build was going to use a teal/brown/chrome color combo. It has ten sealed bearings throughout while the coaster brake is loose ball all the way. I must admit to running the seat this high and resisting the temptation to lower it just for the photos to look cool but really who cares about that? I like having at least some leg extension for street mileage.
As far as the single gear ratio is concerned, I gear it a little low to give it a chance off-road and just pedal faster when demand requires. Also, when all the hot dogs pass you, it’s easy to have a laugh at them because that smirk on their face was from passing a single-speed balloon-tire kid’s bike.
This bike gets ridden more than all my other bikes combined. With my limited skill, it’s the easiest bike I have to be creative on and it never breaks down. I haven’t had a flat in over two years and I ride it at least 10 hours a week.
Brisbane's newest bridge
Brisbane’s newest pedestrian and cycling bridge is called Kurilpa Bridge. The bridge stretches from the North Quay end of Tank Street in the city to Kurilpa Point in South Brisbane, adjacent to the new Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Kurilpa is an Aboriginal word meaning 'place for water rats'.
The back yard garden
I try to use the back yard to help with the cost of living. I also like to grow things and get dirt under my fingernails. If at all possibly, it’s great to be self-sufficient in something you can grow at home. Use just a few small to medium size pots or a small patch of soil and some elbow grease and you will never have to buy cherry tomatoes, mint, parsley, coriander, basil, rosemary or thyme ever again. Our household saves about $10 a week on groceries already and when the seeds I have on the go start to produce, there should be another ten spot in savings.
I put on some good tunes (listening to the new Built To Spill album at the moment) and get Zen about it. Growing in pots helps with slugs and other varmint without the use of chemicals, which is good because the soil in the yard is so bad I have to grow almost everything in potting soil anyway. Water use is less than 20 liters a day and it takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour a day to keep everything moist and looking good.
The produce you grow at home tastes likes it’s from another planet compared to store bought produce. This is especially true with things like peas, which from the moment you pick them start to change in taste because their sugars turn into starch. The tomatoes we grow are amazing and have a sweetness you can’t buy. With our five plants at the moment, we produce enough tomatoes to even have some extra to give to neighbors and friends.
The Fixie
I know it’s trendy to own a fixie (or fixed gear bike) but in their defense, they are a lot of fun to ride and good for your fitness. Mine tries its best to be un-trendy by the inclusion of a front brake and the fact it’s mostly made up from old parts I had laying around the house.
Most of the drive train is from an old 20”, the frame from an old dirt jumping MTB and the forks are a pair of hi-ten steel beauties that my local bike shop gave me for free just to get me out of their hair. It’s topped off with a Fizik saddle that was reclaimed from the dead and is over two decades old and a new pair of cushy purple grips.
The few bits of classic kit include the front hub, a Suntour Superbe Pro track hub and a Sugino gold spider from way back in the early days of BMX. So maybe it might be a little trendy after all.
Anyway, it’s easier on the wrists than my BMX bike, makes me think more when riding and adds to the general level of roadside craziness as you have to blast through almost every light because you can’t really stop on these things.
Of this earth
I’ve been using magnification and an extremely shallow depth of field to bring out the surreal in the real.
Beatle soup
With all the attention bestowed to Beatlemania at present and with every new day bringing a different angle on the same story, for those of us lucky enough to have been around when the Beatles were happening in real time, the stories that matter are both more personal and powerful. This is one of those stories.
By the time the eighties rolled around, my music listening habits had expanded in an explosion of styles and sounds. It may have started with the Beatles but my interests in music took off in a wild rampage of disparate forms both popular and esoteric but no matter how far from pop music they became, the fab four’s influence could be felt and not just musically.
I was working with a friend’s band, a sort of wanna be Faith No More outfit and enjoying the camaraderie slightly more that the musical exploration. We all went to the drummer’s house one day just to hang out because his parents were rich and had the proverbial big house on the hill. His father and stepmother were both DNA scientists who were at that time working on finding a cure for Aids at the DNA level, heavy stuff. He told us some hilarious stories of how his parents were so involved in their brainwork that they did the craziest things like getting so involved in thought they pulled the car out of the garage without opening the door, apparently that had happened more than once.
I went there expecting a very clinical house with very expensive and tasteful décor but what I ended up experiencing was a revelation. When we walked in the front door of this huge house, we were greeted by a décor that was more Hard Rock Café than suburban science lair. My friend explained that his real mother had been a photographer and designer in London in the sixties and the house was filled with his late mother's work.
There were signed photos of David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Carly Simon and the original story boards for numerous album covers by Cat Stevens and other artists. Needless to say I was amazed and walked throughout the house checking things out. Then I came upon a simple image hanging on the wall that took my breath away. There in glorious black and white was what appeared to be the original cover of my favorite Beatles’ album of all time, Revolver. I asked my friend if it was real and he casually said that his late mother had dated Klaus Voormann before she had met his father and when they broke up, Klaus had given her the artwork he created for the Beatles. I was stunned and gave it a very through appraisal. Looking at it from an angle I could see the photos stacked upon each other and the hand drawn nature of the rest of the image. It was real!
How the original version of one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century ended up on the wall in the house of a scientist in Southern California could only come from the world of rock n’ roll. Here was this most incredible work of art, just casually displayed on a wall in a house in La Costa overlooking a yuppie golf course with the Pacific Ocean off in the distance. It was an amazing moment for me and one that is still as vivid today as it was all those years ago.
I’ve long ago lost touch with that band and its members and haven’t been back to California in over a decade but every time I listen to the Beatles’ music or read about them, that memory comes flooding back.
Seventies Simon
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