24 December, 2008

BMX









20 December, 2008

Every little thing the reflex does leaves you answered with a question mark

Not many updates on the BMX front, which isn't to say I haven't been busy... Having secured an ebay bargain for some awesome Graphite Tuffs it was a long process finding out the tools and bits needed to convert newschool 14mm axles to fit into oldschool 3/8" dropouts, the fun never ends eh? Some cheery mushroom style grips were purchased at the same time to replace the batmanesque Cobras. It's looking pretty badass now.




Who could possibly guess from the evidence of these photos, showing the contents of my front room that I live alone?

Bachelor's Hall is always the best
If you're sick drunk or sober it's always a rest
No woman to scold you, no children to bawl
Always stay single, keep Bachelor's Hall.
Stay stay close to my door

Bachelor's Hall, Bachelor's Hall,
I'll always stay single, keep Bachelor's Hall.

Trad.

11 December, 2008

Chevrolet glory years

Those who follow these things may know that The entire LIFE photo archive is being uploaded to Google, and that most of these images have never been published before. Absolutely amazing stuff, whether you are looking for pictures of Steve McQueen racing motorbikes across the Mojave Desert, Ballerinas, Vietnam or more likely just putting a search term in and seeing where it takes you.

How about this incredible collection of pictures from Chevrolet's Tarrytown plant circa 1959. Here are just a handful click for biggety.

Edit: Tarrytown is still employed (for now) by GM for truck assembly. Click here to see a map of just how many auto plants currently face difficulties - if anybody tells you this is merely an issue for Detroit they're out of touch.







10 December, 2008

Kaneda!

It will be with a heavy heart that most anime fans hear of the plans to remake Akira for an American audience. Let's face it, true fans thought it was a fucking disgrace when they dubbed the original. Cartoonist Harry Partridge isn't impressed - the bitterness is strong with this one...

06 December, 2008

A long time ago at a racetrack far, far away...

It had been a throwaway comment of mine, some banter with a friend that you could plot a pretty much dismal trajectory of Quality over Time watching films that spanned the career of George Lucas.

I'm terribly fond of Star Wars (1977) I fit into that loose generation for whom it came at just the right time in their lives for maximum impact but even through my rose-tinted glasses I can see that there's plenty about it that's pure cheese - those transitions... a diagonal wipe George? Really? What is this a PowerPoint presentation?

But Star Wars was great back then - a fact that George seemed to drill home when he had the opportunity to go back and retrospectively add in the bits that would finally make it his vision. His vision it seems included extra bits of CGI slapstick added like a turd on a wedding cake - way to prove the theory correct George.

Then I got round to seeing American Graffiti (1973), Lucas' hymn to the hot-rod and it confirmed the theory as true - George was a petrolhead and the older the films the better they were.

I haven't actually seen THX 1138 (1971) yet, but on this reckoning it should be pretty promising.

I concluded my pet peeve with the friend by proposing that in theory George's final major project from Film School should be an absolute 100% belter - if we trace the Quality/Time graph backwards it suggests something pretty cool. But what the hey, this is idle banter and I forgot about it.

Out of the blue then imagine my surprise to hear that somebody has got hold of George Lucas’ 1966 senior thesis film from USC, a dialogue-free short called A Man and His Car or 1:42:08. It’s basically nicely edited footage of Australian racecar driver Peter Brock racing his Lotus 23 around Willow Springs Raceway.

It's very much a short. Sparse, atmospheric and beautiful - it's not for everybody, but if your favourite films include Le Mans and In Car 956 then I can guarantee you'll enjoy it. See it on YouTube here.



Some folk who managed to sustain their fandom through the 'new' Star Wars films seem to reckon that the livery of Anakin Skywalkers pod racer owes something to Brock's Lotus - I wouldn't know about that, I'm just hoping that ol' neck-bollock doesn't decide that what this short film really needs to add the final cherry on the top is a computer-generated japanese in the pits resplendent in wireframe glasses with goofy teeth and horrific dialogue.

03 December, 2008

Triumph Rocket 3

Branislav Kropilak

Still on a parking theme. Branislav Kropilak takes beautiful photographs investigating the way in which modern technology has shaped the human environment - including car parks. Click for embiggening.