This weekend...
The time is nearer...the weekend is almost upon us...MOT’s can wait and just because we haven’t had an outing together beyond 1 or 2 miles since last October it doesn’t mean we can’t make it a few miles more to the south coast (or there abouts) of our country with a tent and pair of pants attached. Eating as cheap as poss, drinking booze to numb the pain, talking in sleep and most importantly the sort of camaraderie that only happens once in a while. Personally I can’t wait.
The weather could well be a bit bleak and the task at hand is strangely a little daunting considering the success of such a much more mammoth journey in 2008. Obviously the other thing is that we’ve no idea where we are going to go yet. I think probably the best idea is to get a few beers in Friday night and get a map out. Its not like we haven’t done it before.
For 3 days at least....Street Hawk, Teen Wolf and The Guy From The Sweeny shall be free again.
For C90!!!!
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Friday, 21 August 2009
General ramblings
Its a beautiful summers day and I am on the Oxford Tube heading to see my brother in Brixton. This should be a great thing really, but it has only just dawned on me that it would be the most perfect day possible to ride C90, and I am in a constant state of regret right now, just wishing I had taken this opportunity to cruise my way there. I know I had a bad experience last time but it really shouldn’t put me off having another lone trip to the capital and I feel a bit of a loser, a bit ashamed. What would my C90 think? He’s probably not going to be speaking to me when I get back since it was such a perfect chance to stretch his legs, he is a hardcore tourer after all and must be ridden great distances and for as long as possible.
I can only hope that Bon, Jamie and I finally get round to doing this reunion trip that we’ve been talking about. I think we are planning a little weekend away to the coast very soon. It will be an honour to ride with my C90 brethren again and I do long for it.
Editing the movie is going pretty well. It has taken a long time to get used to editing with Final Cut and the best techniques to using it but I am becoming more adept at it daily and have tried to let it consume me. The results so far however, are a little worrying. The entire production now weighs in at a mammoth 4 or 5 hours, and there must be some severe culling of boring clips involving riding, eating lunch or winging. We will probably keep a ‘directors cut’ for ourselves just so that we have a record of our adventure and can still relive the moments that we find hilarious even though nobody else would get it. Saying that, we are humans, and humans have a lot of things in common with each other even if they pretend not to. I suppose people might like listening to Jamie moan about how chocolate in France isn’t chocolate its always Nutella, or watch Bon fiddle with the arrangement of his bags, or witness my birds nest hairdo mumble incoherently from exhaustion atop a ferry.
Bring on the Cannes Film Festival!!!
I can only hope that Bon, Jamie and I finally get round to doing this reunion trip that we’ve been talking about. I think we are planning a little weekend away to the coast very soon. It will be an honour to ride with my C90 brethren again and I do long for it.
Editing the movie is going pretty well. It has taken a long time to get used to editing with Final Cut and the best techniques to using it but I am becoming more adept at it daily and have tried to let it consume me. The results so far however, are a little worrying. The entire production now weighs in at a mammoth 4 or 5 hours, and there must be some severe culling of boring clips involving riding, eating lunch or winging. We will probably keep a ‘directors cut’ for ourselves just so that we have a record of our adventure and can still relive the moments that we find hilarious even though nobody else would get it. Saying that, we are humans, and humans have a lot of things in common with each other even if they pretend not to. I suppose people might like listening to Jamie moan about how chocolate in France isn’t chocolate its always Nutella, or watch Bon fiddle with the arrangement of his bags, or witness my birds nest hairdo mumble incoherently from exhaustion atop a ferry.
Bring on the Cannes Film Festival!!!
Saturday, 15 August 2009
New Honda Super Cub
Apparently a NEW Super Cub is being released in Japan in 2010!!!!
Problem is I seriously doubt we’ll see it over here which is a huge shame, would be so brilliant to see loads of them combating all the chav-tastic machines making so much noise about the place. Check it out anyway, its a beaut! Personally I really like it as it takes a lot of the old styling and modernises it a bit. I really do hope that we’ll see some over here at some point but as I say...I’m not holding my breath.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Knackered musings on Enlightened dreaming....
I find myself sitting alone in my living room on a Friday night having just drank 2 cans of lager in about 10 minutes, not cool you may say...but I’ve gotten to thinking a bit and anyone who has ever read these blogs (or spoken to me, ever) probably knows what that means. I thought I might put that fact to good use and get finger tips to keys in an outburst of meandering ‘think bits’ just to try and make life a little more coherent, for myself if nobody else.
Anyway. While eating my din dins and necking those beers I sit in silence with a book by A.C Grayling about the history of the Enlightenment. I’m not pretentious, trying to be clever (I’m not) or a pompous twurp, I just found it in a charity shop in Notting Hill. I inevitably relate this evenings readings to myself, I am human after all and humans do this an awful lot.
(Please bear with me, this will eventually relate to C90’s, sort of)
I’ve not finished the book but so far Grayling has mostly been giving an historical account of the oppression of ideas, science, creativity and human flourishing exercised by absolute monarchy and its relationship with organised religion, mostly Christianity: “For religious orthodoxy attempts, in the interests of holy truth, to constrain not just enquiry and expression but thought itself”. As he approaches the time of the enlightenment however, he begins to speak about an exciting time of the movement towards the freedom that many of us in ‘the west’ currently enjoy (or take for granted). My mind is humming with the excitement that must have been felt by the intellectuals engaged in this project and I try to realise just how fortunate I am to be in the position I am. I will be in no way dubbed a heretic, burned at the stake or both for disagreeing with the values of a monarch or poxy government, in fact I can barely remember who the pissing monarch is. My degree of freedom is unprecedented, more than I could possibly hope to understand so be thankful for that friends, not for the ready meal with the 20p yellow sticker on it or a free pint.
The book features a quote from Immanuel Kant’s 1784 essay ‘What is Enlightenment?’:
“Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Saper Aude! [dare to know] - “Have courage to use your own understanding!” - that is the motto of enlightenment.”
Powerful stuff I think, and it begins to smack of C90 dreams (to me anyway). To understand the simple possibility of an act or event is understanding none the less. So here’s to the knowledge that any distance across land is possible to travel, regardless of the means. Here’s to the knowledge that you can drop what you are doing and it will either be ‘ok’ or it wont. Here’s to the knowledge that only you can do stuff, others can’t do it for you. Most of all: ‘HERE’S TO CREATIVE AND INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM!!!!!!!’
I raise what has now turned into a mug of tea to you my friends (getting drunk alone usually turns sour), because regardless of my 10 hour crappy day at work (it was crappy) I am now free to be creative, enjoy or make music and art, discover new science, make movies about C90’s or piss about in any way I like. Without the enlightenment, I would probably have no C90, and definitely no dreams.
Anyway. While eating my din dins and necking those beers I sit in silence with a book by A.C Grayling about the history of the Enlightenment. I’m not pretentious, trying to be clever (I’m not) or a pompous twurp, I just found it in a charity shop in Notting Hill. I inevitably relate this evenings readings to myself, I am human after all and humans do this an awful lot.
(Please bear with me, this will eventually relate to C90’s, sort of)
I’ve not finished the book but so far Grayling has mostly been giving an historical account of the oppression of ideas, science, creativity and human flourishing exercised by absolute monarchy and its relationship with organised religion, mostly Christianity: “For religious orthodoxy attempts, in the interests of holy truth, to constrain not just enquiry and expression but thought itself”. As he approaches the time of the enlightenment however, he begins to speak about an exciting time of the movement towards the freedom that many of us in ‘the west’ currently enjoy (or take for granted). My mind is humming with the excitement that must have been felt by the intellectuals engaged in this project and I try to realise just how fortunate I am to be in the position I am. I will be in no way dubbed a heretic, burned at the stake or both for disagreeing with the values of a monarch or poxy government, in fact I can barely remember who the pissing monarch is. My degree of freedom is unprecedented, more than I could possibly hope to understand so be thankful for that friends, not for the ready meal with the 20p yellow sticker on it or a free pint.
The book features a quote from Immanuel Kant’s 1784 essay ‘What is Enlightenment?’:
“Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Saper Aude! [dare to know] - “Have courage to use your own understanding!” - that is the motto of enlightenment.”
Powerful stuff I think, and it begins to smack of C90 dreams (to me anyway). To understand the simple possibility of an act or event is understanding none the less. So here’s to the knowledge that any distance across land is possible to travel, regardless of the means. Here’s to the knowledge that you can drop what you are doing and it will either be ‘ok’ or it wont. Here’s to the knowledge that only you can do stuff, others can’t do it for you. Most of all: ‘HERE’S TO CREATIVE AND INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM!!!!!!!’
I raise what has now turned into a mug of tea to you my friends (getting drunk alone usually turns sour), because regardless of my 10 hour crappy day at work (it was crappy) I am now free to be creative, enjoy or make music and art, discover new science, make movies about C90’s or piss about in any way I like. Without the enlightenment, I would probably have no C90, and definitely no dreams.
Monday, 27 July 2009
C90 Dreams lives on! New blogs coming up....
So,
I have decided to begin writing again. Let the creativity flow and the stupidity engulf my soul! These blogs may occur every now and again from now on in an attempt to continue the marvelous thing that was/is C90 Dreams. It is almost a year now since the three of us handed in our notice at work and committed to something that I personally am still unable to define. The inspiration to start writing again was a conversation with Jamie over some med style dinner and a few glasses of vino. We discussed what it is to be a man. Big stuff I know, massive massive philosophy involved and in the most structured and coherent way possible. Well, perhaps not. Jamie did explicitly state however: “C90 Dreams is the best thing I have ever done”. Why was a pointless and so finite an exercise such a seminal moment in his life? So my first blog of 2009 will be what I think he might be on about.
First of all I must say that I don’t mean to over-egg C90 Dreams. It wasn’t profound and it didn’t change the world. There are still totalitarian regimes and there is still plenty of suffering whether human, animal or Earth itself. It did however, do something for those involved, it did make us feel different. The world is now smaller, more malleable and we are even less afraid to be silly. In fact I now question whether its being silly that allows one to cast aside one’s existential concerns or questions. Maybe it really is just that all we can do in this life is be a bit stupid and in well measured doses hoping not to cause anyone pain or suffering. Being silly doesn’t necessarily have to mean immature either. You can be silly and have as many adventures as you like in this life, its just that as we grow up we cease to call them adventures and begin calling them ‘challenges’. Why is having your first child a challenge or burden? Why isn’t it an adventure? Being silly with a child is exactly what you have to do in order to communicate with them after all. Of course this comes from a man who has no children on the horizon in any way, but the theory is there!!
It seems on this trip we really struck a healthy balance of those sort of higher pleasures difficult to obtain such as riding unfit bikes 2000 miles (and 2000 miles back if you’re me or Bon) and baser, more convenient and instant pleasures such as French patisserie treats and coffee for breakfast. I wont forget the somewhere in-between pleasures of pure observation: the great fields of gold, the alps, the ocean and the road.
Riding C90’s every day proved to be arse aching and absolutely shattering, but never unrewarding. It was something which I don’t think any of us necessarily thought we would actually do, a mere pipe dream thought up because we were all a bit bored. We did it though, and the funny thing was it wasn’t even that difficult. It was just a case of shifting our consciousness into a different realm.
George Orwell said that poverty annihilates the future...well C90’s annihilate almost everything outside of one’s current sphere of consciousness. Most days they focused our minds to simpler things: the road, beauty, hunger, thirst or simply the disbelief that we were actually in France or Switzerland or Italy or Greece on C90’s. There was I suppose a good few nights of putting the world to rights with some tins as well though, can’t forget those.
So maybe what Jamie was drunkenly trying to say the other night was just that it was an experience like no other, simple as that. As long as we don’t let the finiteness of life depreciate such an experience, then I am sure it is something we will always hold very, very dearly to us.
Liam
I have decided to begin writing again. Let the creativity flow and the stupidity engulf my soul! These blogs may occur every now and again from now on in an attempt to continue the marvelous thing that was/is C90 Dreams. It is almost a year now since the three of us handed in our notice at work and committed to something that I personally am still unable to define. The inspiration to start writing again was a conversation with Jamie over some med style dinner and a few glasses of vino. We discussed what it is to be a man. Big stuff I know, massive massive philosophy involved and in the most structured and coherent way possible. Well, perhaps not. Jamie did explicitly state however: “C90 Dreams is the best thing I have ever done”. Why was a pointless and so finite an exercise such a seminal moment in his life? So my first blog of 2009 will be what I think he might be on about.
First of all I must say that I don’t mean to over-egg C90 Dreams. It wasn’t profound and it didn’t change the world. There are still totalitarian regimes and there is still plenty of suffering whether human, animal or Earth itself. It did however, do something for those involved, it did make us feel different. The world is now smaller, more malleable and we are even less afraid to be silly. In fact I now question whether its being silly that allows one to cast aside one’s existential concerns or questions. Maybe it really is just that all we can do in this life is be a bit stupid and in well measured doses hoping not to cause anyone pain or suffering. Being silly doesn’t necessarily have to mean immature either. You can be silly and have as many adventures as you like in this life, its just that as we grow up we cease to call them adventures and begin calling them ‘challenges’. Why is having your first child a challenge or burden? Why isn’t it an adventure? Being silly with a child is exactly what you have to do in order to communicate with them after all. Of course this comes from a man who has no children on the horizon in any way, but the theory is there!!
It seems on this trip we really struck a healthy balance of those sort of higher pleasures difficult to obtain such as riding unfit bikes 2000 miles (and 2000 miles back if you’re me or Bon) and baser, more convenient and instant pleasures such as French patisserie treats and coffee for breakfast. I wont forget the somewhere in-between pleasures of pure observation: the great fields of gold, the alps, the ocean and the road.
Riding C90’s every day proved to be arse aching and absolutely shattering, but never unrewarding. It was something which I don’t think any of us necessarily thought we would actually do, a mere pipe dream thought up because we were all a bit bored. We did it though, and the funny thing was it wasn’t even that difficult. It was just a case of shifting our consciousness into a different realm.
George Orwell said that poverty annihilates the future...well C90’s annihilate almost everything outside of one’s current sphere of consciousness. Most days they focused our minds to simpler things: the road, beauty, hunger, thirst or simply the disbelief that we were actually in France or Switzerland or Italy or Greece on C90’s. There was I suppose a good few nights of putting the world to rights with some tins as well though, can’t forget those.
So maybe what Jamie was drunkenly trying to say the other night was just that it was an experience like no other, simple as that. As long as we don’t let the finiteness of life depreciate such an experience, then I am sure it is something we will always hold very, very dearly to us.
Liam
Friday, 24 October 2008
Red C90 in London
Hi all,
Well this is a bit naughty because this trip is officially over so I'm not sure I should be blogging anymore, but alas...I'm angry.
I had decided that while unemployed, I would take the opportunity to see people that I don't see all that often. I needed to get down to various parts of London and its not cheap to get loads of public transport in London, in fact it cost a pissing fortune. What better way, thinks I, to get down to London for hardly anything and be able to get around as and when I need to than to ride Red C90! A mere bagatelle I thought as I looked at the route to my brothers in Brixton. I whacked his road into my satnavvy phone thingy just in case I got lost and set off. All told it was at least 2 hours and 45 minutes later that I arrived in Brixton and I was VERY cold, so not a massively smooth trip. I calculated petrol costs at about £1.80 though which is amazing, chuffed with that, a doddle I think...it'll cost me hardly anything this trip.
I park it up down his road and sort myself out (he's not there, can't be arsed to explain). Next day I wake up still in high spirits, only to find that from 8:30 to 5:30 its resident parking only and my little pizza bike has a big yellow c**t stuck on it. I read the ticket..£60 if you pay in 14 days, £120 if not. YES! I think, I love being unemployed. It starts my day off terribly and I proceed to despise the world once more (don't need to point out the lack of ANY problems with the law over 5 weeks riding around Europe). I miserably sit in a cafe reading to try and forget about it. Later I am desperately trying to forget about it as I ride to soho to see someone else. Halfway there I stop for petrol only to reach into my pocket to find my (pretty new) mobile phone gone. I completely panicked and had to re-trace my tracks on a red route in central London looking all over the road for a phone which was probably flat by now. Alas...its just down the road, battery was a few meters away but I re-assemble and it works, its just missing the back so I guess I'll make one out of gaffa tape.
Anyway I breath a sigh of relief for now but still feel like a little naive child who's 'doesn't understand how London works' as people beep me and all that shit. So I park up in a scooter/motorbike bay in soho. I am careful to look for tickets on other bikes, and for a sign, can't see owt so I presume that, like when I spent a lot more time in London as a teenager/scooter rider, they are still free.
I eat and talk.
I find my bike again (almost lost it) and its got..........a ticket on it. £40 if I pay in 14 days, £80 if not. I was beginning to snap out of my resentment for everything ever, and then this. I find some sign miles away which states that you have to call this number between whatever time and whatever time and PAY YOUR PARKING FEE OVER THE PHONE. What the hell?
So...maybe its my fault, I'm a little twurp whatever, I don't care. Maybe its that the law is mental and I can't go anywhere or do anything that I want to. Maybe I was stuck in my Oxford bubble. When you next see me if you are reading this and know me, please don't mention it because its painful.
My £1.80 journey actually costs £101.80 and I have no job, no money...and my self worth has been shot. I've been being all thrifty and trying to save money and when I do HAVE to spend some I have to give it to the government of one of the worlds richest countries, I can't help but feel a bit depressed about that.
Lesson...don't try. Arch de Triomphe is way easier.
Well this is a bit naughty because this trip is officially over so I'm not sure I should be blogging anymore, but alas...I'm angry.
I had decided that while unemployed, I would take the opportunity to see people that I don't see all that often. I needed to get down to various parts of London and its not cheap to get loads of public transport in London, in fact it cost a pissing fortune. What better way, thinks I, to get down to London for hardly anything and be able to get around as and when I need to than to ride Red C90! A mere bagatelle I thought as I looked at the route to my brothers in Brixton. I whacked his road into my satnavvy phone thingy just in case I got lost and set off. All told it was at least 2 hours and 45 minutes later that I arrived in Brixton and I was VERY cold, so not a massively smooth trip. I calculated petrol costs at about £1.80 though which is amazing, chuffed with that, a doddle I think...it'll cost me hardly anything this trip.
I park it up down his road and sort myself out (he's not there, can't be arsed to explain). Next day I wake up still in high spirits, only to find that from 8:30 to 5:30 its resident parking only and my little pizza bike has a big yellow c**t stuck on it. I read the ticket..£60 if you pay in 14 days, £120 if not. YES! I think, I love being unemployed. It starts my day off terribly and I proceed to despise the world once more (don't need to point out the lack of ANY problems with the law over 5 weeks riding around Europe). I miserably sit in a cafe reading to try and forget about it. Later I am desperately trying to forget about it as I ride to soho to see someone else. Halfway there I stop for petrol only to reach into my pocket to find my (pretty new) mobile phone gone. I completely panicked and had to re-trace my tracks on a red route in central London looking all over the road for a phone which was probably flat by now. Alas...its just down the road, battery was a few meters away but I re-assemble and it works, its just missing the back so I guess I'll make one out of gaffa tape.
Anyway I breath a sigh of relief for now but still feel like a little naive child who's 'doesn't understand how London works' as people beep me and all that shit. So I park up in a scooter/motorbike bay in soho. I am careful to look for tickets on other bikes, and for a sign, can't see owt so I presume that, like when I spent a lot more time in London as a teenager/scooter rider, they are still free.
I eat and talk.
I find my bike again (almost lost it) and its got..........a ticket on it. £40 if I pay in 14 days, £80 if not. I was beginning to snap out of my resentment for everything ever, and then this. I find some sign miles away which states that you have to call this number between whatever time and whatever time and PAY YOUR PARKING FEE OVER THE PHONE. What the hell?
So...maybe its my fault, I'm a little twurp whatever, I don't care. Maybe its that the law is mental and I can't go anywhere or do anything that I want to. Maybe I was stuck in my Oxford bubble. When you next see me if you are reading this and know me, please don't mention it because its painful.
My £1.80 journey actually costs £101.80 and I have no job, no money...and my self worth has been shot. I've been being all thrifty and trying to save money and when I do HAVE to spend some I have to give it to the government of one of the worlds richest countries, I can't help but feel a bit depressed about that.
Lesson...don't try. Arch de Triomphe is way easier.
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