Blog Neglect

Our Bowerbird stall

The first sign of me being busy is usually my post count, hence my absence from these here parts. My last few weeks have been crazy with paid work, non-paid work, and just life in general.
I've recently fallen into a new job and am now learning all about upholstery from the safe side of the staple gun, I love learning new skills and I have no doubt I'll be able to apply the knowledge into future design projects. Speaking of projects, I had a stand at Bowerbird Bazaar again over the weekend. That event is always great motivation to tie up projects on the go and as such we released a new stool and previewed the prototypes for a new line of hooks. Pictures will come in due time. On top off all that, my sparsely populated social life still manages to keep me surprisingly busy.
Of course I still manage to find time to browse the internet while devouring my breakfast of a morning or while cooling from a ride, so I have the usual overflow of poached material for posts. I've been putting an image or two on flosculation whenever anything appeals, plus brace yourself for a bombardment of hyperlinks over the next few days!
For the moment here are a few random images from the last few weeks. Now I'm off to paint a car.


Got the mountain bike rolling again and went for a blast in the dirt with the boys.

Posted at the request of Dutchdingo

Fun times

Random Image #45: Smoke

via kemosabe and the lodge

Look Mum, I'm On TV

The children show, Totally Wild, were at the Australian Hard Court Polo Championships back in November and the episode finally aired the other day. It features an interview with Damon, Caff and others and includes plenty of great footage from the first day. My team: Ivan Mallet, is in there quite often too, Neil's advanced crashing skills are captured nicely along with some close tackling, so keep any eye out for the white shirts [black wheel cover in my case].

Come play polo!

Adelaide Bike Polo

Some Assembly Required #4: Jacques Tati

via Secret Forts

Blood

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Protesters have poured over 60 litres of blood in support of the ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, the act was touted as a "ritual aimed at bringing down the government".
I'm sure its a strong political statement to many people, but the first thought through my mind when I heard about the steps of the Thai Parliament being doused in donated human blood was "what a waste".
As a cyclist and motorcyclist I recognise and accept that I face a higher chance of accident and injury than those who lead more pedestrian lives, but I don't discount the practicalities of these risks. I'm an advocate for wearing protective gear, for riding safely and for the education of all road users on the vulnerability of those on two wheels. These are the primary preventative measures, yet we will never escape the need for curative measures, this is where we need efficient emergency services, strong heathcare systems and those altruistic enough to donate from their body for their fellow man.
Blood donation is eternally in short supply, so the sight of so much blood being 'wasted' saddens me somewhat. If only we could instil the same passion felt by those who donated for this protest into people in general as a passion to help the rest of their community.
Seek out your nearest blood bank, arrange organ donation, give to charity, every small action helps.

Rant over.

Ice Sledge Hockey

Has everyone else out there been catching the Winter Paralympics? I've not time to kick back and follow it these days but I'll have it on from time to time, the other night I flicked it on and found Ice Sledge Hockey. Rad!
I am not a 'sporty type' by any stretch of the imagination but one of the things I love about Ice Hockey [and bike polo] is the fluidity of the hole game. Sledge Hockey manages to improve on that, it's all about sweeping arcs, tight circles and constant motion. Check it out if you get the chance.

The Lake

I headed up to Lake Gairdner with the old boy again last week, this year we merely played spectators due to his streamliner being mid-modification again. While I missed being "part of the action", I still thoroughly enjoyed the short time I spent on and around the salt. There is never a shortage of things to see or people to talk to, this is the beauty of the salt: the never ending demonstrations of good ol' ingenuity and the builder is right there, usually willing to have a chat and talk you through their pride and joy.
If you are even slightly interested in cars, bikes, speed or just the apparent absurdity of going as fast as possible in whatever you have handy, and you have the time to head out there, even if only for a day (as was my case this year: 14 hours travel for 25hours up there) I can't recommend it highly enough!



You can see more of my photos, some accompanied by a little information, in my Flickr set here





Update: User.One's comment reminded me that I'd been remiss in including the DLRA link for further information and results.

Take a Seat

I finally got a moment to watch Take A Seat after I'd been recommended it by a few different people. The documentary follows Dom's cycling journey from the top of Alaska to the lowest tip of Argentina. The trip in itself is worthy of sharing but it is the mode of travel that really makes it exceptional: he travelled solo on a tandem and picked up random strangers along the way!
It's a fantastic and inspiring journey for cyclists and travellers alike, and is currently available to view on ABC iView, but only for one more day, after that I highly recommend seeking out a way of viewing this film.

Such Nice Young Men

Giving hot rodders a good name back in the day when they were considered degenerates and hoodlums [the good ol' days?].
Just when you think you've seen it all, you see something like this: note the filled windows on the '33 ['34?]. That's a new one to me.

via Speed Seekers

Hubless BMX

I needed to post something to get that damn monster truck .gif away from the top of the screen, so I randomly scrolled through the stupid number of tabs* I have open and landed on this:

This is the first time I have seen a hubless concept and not been completely aghast at the stupidity of the whole idea.
Note that I said 'completely, but at least this pretty picture shows the frame and fork connecting to the rim at the ground, rather than the top as most do. This addresses the loss of strength of a spokeless wheel by providing support at the point of impact. Most of these types of design seem to forget that the spokes do more than merely connecting the rim to the axle, they provide a generous portion of the wheel's strength.

Zigzain via Arkitip

*flosculation was intended to alleviate this issue but it seems I have more to say than I thought....

Monster Trucks...

...are dumb and pointless*:

...but I'm impressed!

via fuck cunts


*just like drag racing, street luge, beer and ludicrously expensive limited edition furniture, but I love them all too.

Rube Goldberg

Who doesn't love a ridiculously over-complicated mechanism?!
Check out all the smashed TVs in the background, looks like fun!

Thanks for the heads-up Steve.

Slacker

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It has been brought to my attention that it has been well over a week between posts, the reasons for this are numerous, the main ones being that I've been busy with work and life in general, the other is that my internet connection dropped out nearly a week ago. Back now, but no less busy.
I'm just about to head off on the bike again and go criss-crossing the city for various engagements, hopefully dodging the rain, and then I'm heading up to the salt before dawn [photos upon my return, I promise]. Therefore I have no time right now for a properly researched, written and formatted post so I'll just leave you with these pretty ladies for now.
Regular service will resume shortly.

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