Yadda Yadda Yadda
CD in Play: Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme.
No True Love Quite Like Your First Love
I was 11 years old when I met my first true love. But unlike Durante degli Alighieri, (aka Dante) who was nine when he spoke to her his and something like forty when he next spoke to her again, I was with my true love for six constant years. She may be the reason I have a soft spot for redheads. She may be the reason I have a softspot for Japanese beauties. I dream about her frequently. She could be found faithfully beside me or underneath me until I was 17. Her name was Maruishi, a 5-speed cruiser my father bought for me when in 1981 just before i started sixth grade.
Other kids had BMX's, Norco, Kuwahara, Mongoose, R&R, Diamond Back and Hutch. I really wanted one, but I was taller for my age and growing fast so there was no way I was getting a BMX. I would have outgrown a BMX in no time. I was still shorter than the average mountain bike being sold at the time (they were still pretty new at the time) and needed something I didn't have to grow in to.
Look up cruiser online and you will inevitably see either a bunch of likes that look kinda girlie or low riders that look cool but go slow. Mine was kind of like what you might get if a BMX had been able to impregnate a mountain bike. Or maybe it would have looked like one of those human evolution charts. I cannot find a picture of it online.
When I first got it it had red, foam grips and red, knobby tires. In 1982 I switched out the bars for motocross bars which were slightly wider across. When the knobbies wore down there were no more coloured tires to be had, the fad had died out. I took that bike everywhere. By the time Grade 12 rolled around I was just a bit too tall for it. My Dad kept at me to sell it to his neighbour's 12 year old daughter for $50.00. In return we went out and picked up a Nishiki Barbarian. It was a good bike, a solid and reliable 18-speed... but it never quite held me like the Maruishi did.
I would see Nicole riding it and I felt like a pimp. The Maruishi passed on to her little brother and then the family got rid of it. I know this because I tried to buy it back, once their son had a newer bike. I still dream about that bike and remember the times I had on it: The distances travelled, the places I visited, the races raced, the tumbles, scrapes and near-death experiences. I want my Maruishi back.
Don't Panic
I have been re-reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in addition to reading Philip K. Dick's very odd work, Ubik. It occured to me that the way Adams describes the Guide within the book itself, he makes it sound like a cross between Lonely Planet and Wikipedia. Both entities came well after the Adams' work on the radio plays in the 70's, but it is kind of uncanny.
Wikipedia, like The Guide, has its detractors who criticise it for inaccuracies and mistakes in reader input. Said people point out that the online Encyclopaedia Britanica does not share trhese problems, that it is a hallowed and respected institution. If you've read the book you will know that that is exactly how some people compare The Guide to the Encyclopaedia Galactica. Hmmmm.....
Fear and Loathing in South Burnaby, a Foreword
Why do I so enjoy frightening the hell out Mormon missionaries fresh out of Brygham Young University?
And Just One Last Item
I begin my First Aid training this month, OFA Level 2. Just need my WHMIS certification after that and maybe a Hydrogen Sulphate ticket and I am ready to rock. Hey... I should see if they could use a guy like me in Antarctica? I will be looking at jobs in Northern BC, the NWT, The Yukon and Nunavut.
No True Love Quite Like Your First Love
I was 11 years old when I met my first true love. But unlike Durante degli Alighieri, (aka Dante) who was nine when he spoke to her his and something like forty when he next spoke to her again, I was with my true love for six constant years. She may be the reason I have a soft spot for redheads. She may be the reason I have a softspot for Japanese beauties. I dream about her frequently. She could be found faithfully beside me or underneath me until I was 17. Her name was Maruishi, a 5-speed cruiser my father bought for me when in 1981 just before i started sixth grade.
Other kids had BMX's, Norco, Kuwahara, Mongoose, R&R, Diamond Back and Hutch. I really wanted one, but I was taller for my age and growing fast so there was no way I was getting a BMX. I would have outgrown a BMX in no time. I was still shorter than the average mountain bike being sold at the time (they were still pretty new at the time) and needed something I didn't have to grow in to.
Look up cruiser online and you will inevitably see either a bunch of likes that look kinda girlie or low riders that look cool but go slow. Mine was kind of like what you might get if a BMX had been able to impregnate a mountain bike. Or maybe it would have looked like one of those human evolution charts. I cannot find a picture of it online.
When I first got it it had red, foam grips and red, knobby tires. In 1982 I switched out the bars for motocross bars which were slightly wider across. When the knobbies wore down there were no more coloured tires to be had, the fad had died out. I took that bike everywhere. By the time Grade 12 rolled around I was just a bit too tall for it. My Dad kept at me to sell it to his neighbour's 12 year old daughter for $50.00. In return we went out and picked up a Nishiki Barbarian. It was a good bike, a solid and reliable 18-speed... but it never quite held me like the Maruishi did.
I would see Nicole riding it and I felt like a pimp. The Maruishi passed on to her little brother and then the family got rid of it. I know this because I tried to buy it back, once their son had a newer bike. I still dream about that bike and remember the times I had on it: The distances travelled, the places I visited, the races raced, the tumbles, scrapes and near-death experiences. I want my Maruishi back.
Don't Panic
I have been re-reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in addition to reading Philip K. Dick's very odd work, Ubik. It occured to me that the way Adams describes the Guide within the book itself, he makes it sound like a cross between Lonely Planet and Wikipedia. Both entities came well after the Adams' work on the radio plays in the 70's, but it is kind of uncanny.
Wikipedia, like The Guide, has its detractors who criticise it for inaccuracies and mistakes in reader input. Said people point out that the online Encyclopaedia Britanica does not share trhese problems, that it is a hallowed and respected institution. If you've read the book you will know that that is exactly how some people compare The Guide to the Encyclopaedia Galactica. Hmmmm.....
Fear and Loathing in South Burnaby, a Foreword
Why do I so enjoy frightening the hell out Mormon missionaries fresh out of Brygham Young University?
And Just One Last Item
I begin my First Aid training this month, OFA Level 2. Just need my WHMIS certification after that and maybe a Hydrogen Sulphate ticket and I am ready to rock. Hey... I should see if they could use a guy like me in Antarctica? I will be looking at jobs in Northern BC, the NWT, The Yukon and Nunavut.
posted by Magnus at 22:42
2 Comments:
Forced tor remark the Britanica has plenty of mistakes as well . . .
Don't feel forced, please just do so. Good to know that about Britanica and thanks for stopping by.
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