Top 15 "Electro" tracks for Mr Hall

My top "15" in no particular order are:  

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (might have gone for Personal Jesus but it was released in 89) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGSKrC7dGcY

Carl Craig - At les 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUzR26NGgas

Model 500 - Night Drive [ Time, Space, Transmat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvqDBXrk_N8

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf8j1bUgwJ8

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0x9QF6Uh-k

BOC - Roygbiv (this one has nice fan made vid too)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT0gRc2c2wQ

Future Sound of London - Papua New Guinea 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfWMv8Y1V5E

Aphex Twin - Window Licker (Genius video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwcxAnZzItg

NIN - Closer (Bit of a cross over...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTFwQP86BRs

St Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZAajrxvDs4

St Germain - Deep in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEB0vxRoFtI

Daft Punk - Da Funk (you cant really escape this...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmi60Bd4jSs

(But I like this more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa3VDErv2wk)

Autechre - Second Bad Vilbel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6zT3kVtpHc

Plaid - Light Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc3MKUOYs24

Goldie - Timeless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoV85P4L8kI

and finally UR - Hi Tech Jazz. They have bigger tracks but this is the one I like most

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE8Ka3OcC0A

Andy Lagan

http://andylagan.wordpress.com/

US Cyclists forced to grovel by US Olympic Team

Bike radar link

I'm surprised that El Presedente Bush Jr can turn up in China and provide criticism of China's human rights record seemingly without causing any problems (it was all probably agreed with the Chinese in advance anyway) but four US cyclists who appear to be acting reasonably intelligently to prevent themselves being affected by smog have to provide a groveling apology to the "people of china" for the offence they caused.

Oh wait......actually that doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

In other smog related cycling news, the Head of the New Zealand Olympic team describes the smog as "sea fog". The NZ Herald gets its geography right by pointing out the Beijing is 800km from the sea and in a sudden outbreak of straight talking, Julian Dean (NZ Road Race Champion, Garmin Chipotle team member and general straight talker) admits "it is going to be challenging...its going to have a big effect on the race".

NZ Herald

Japan does an International Whaling Commission on the Kierin?

The murky world of Olympic kickbacks gets murkier:

BBC World Investigation into Kierin kickbacks

Perhaps some of the members of Japanese Whaling Commission used to be involved with Cycling?

Twin 6 / Opsal

Spotted a good online sale yesterday:

http://www.twinsix.com/gear/gear_t607j005.htm

Riding gear can get rather expensive over here in the UK but given the USD/Sterling exchange rate this stuff is a bargain - particularly because the designs are nice. In the UK you can pay a real premium for this kind of thing.

Hopefully the better half likes her new "I love cyclists" t-shirt!

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The other site I found whlst trawling through all the Interbike coverage which is coming online is OPSAL. Check out the posters and the jerseys - these are dope (maybe not such a good description but just keeping it street).

http://www.artbyopsal.com/pages/home.html

Interbike antidote

I like new gear but its pretty safe to day that when I bring home my latest new geegaw that I'm only the one in my domicile who takes the slightest bit of interest in it - although my Alpina B10 BMW got a little bit of notice from the boss, mainly because she now gets wafted around in air conditioned performance car comfort. Other than that, zippo.

Normally, I'm very interested in what happens at Interbike, the cycling cornucopia that happened last week in Vegas. It's the high temple of bike shows and gets all the shiniest stuff. This year, I've found the coverage rather boring and the stuff kind of uninteresting. Although that might be a reflection of the interweb coverage this year, when the single most interesting thing I find is a new way of attaching crank arms to chain rings it seems like a bit of a bad year:



(image from www.pezcyclingnews.com).

Because of that, I thought I'd share (with anyone that is bothering to read this blog), my favourite cycling find of the year. I've got some stuff this year that I think is quite nice, like my toupe saddle, my bargain basement Reynolds Alta Race wheels and my Bob Jackson 953, but the thing I think is nicest and better than anything I saw in the recent interbike coverage is this:

Its the Trek Angel bottle cage and it costs about £5. In real life its a bit shinier than this too. I can report that it fulfills its main purpose in life - holding your bidon securely, admirably.

I'm not big on stuff from the Trek Bicycle making company (except for the new Madone which looks great apart from all the weird non proprietary part sizes on it) but this bottle holder is the shizzle. Light, cheap, stylish and a lot better value than the carbon cages that are sold for upwards of £30.

Possibly it was inspired by the Nitto R Cage? I don't know. Anyway, its the Interbike antidote bike cage and I quite like it.

City Police in crackdown on Cyclists

"Dear City community,
The City of London Police Cycle Squad and Wards officers based at Snow Hill Police Station are working together to target cyclists committing road traffic offences, which we know is one of the key residential complaints in the City. During a week of action they will target the four 'hotspot' junctions in the City with the aim of the initiative is to highlight the ongoing cycle related offences e.g. Contravening Red Traffic Signals, Careless Cycling and Lighting offences especially relevant during the run up to winter with visibility of cyclists being a key issue. The officers will also engage with the cycling community and offer crime reduction advice on cycle security and promote 'Immobilise' the free to register national property index recording system."

Excerpt from London Fixed Gear and Single Speed: http://www.londonfgss.com/discussion/1875/rlj-clampdown-just-so-you-know/#Item_0

Good to see that the City's finest are getting their priorities right and that cyclists are a "key residential complaint". I'm not sure who the bigger morons are, the residents or the Police for listening to them. Personally, I'm more concerned about the gangs of youths robbing and assaulting pedestrians, road rage directed at cyclists and gun crime - but hey, I'm just an evil red light running cyclist. What would I know?

You can email your views to: CycleProblemsSnowHill@city-of-london.pnn.police.uk

Here is my response:

Dear Sir/Madam

As a cyclist and resident, I am constantly concerned by pedestrians walking out in front of me at various junctions in the city of London when they do not have a green cross signal. I have experienced numerous instances of nearly being knocked off my bike and having to swerve to avoid pedestrians which places me and other road users in danger.

In the same manner as you are currently highlighting your initiative against cycling related offences, I look forward to the announcement of an initiative against pedestrian related offences.

In the meantime, I also look forward to you concentrating your resources on countering bike theft and possibly gun related crime if you have some resources spare.