I know that I've ranted and railed against "hipster fixies," espcially their garish color schemes (if, indeed, they can be called "schemes). However, I rather liked this bike, which I saw on my way to work today:
For one thing, it cannot be properly considered a "hipster fixie." It is indeed a fixie, but its frame is from a department-store mountain bike. Plus, the bike is used for restaurant deliveries. Finally, the man who rides it is anything but a hipster: He's a Salvadorean immigrant who was happy that I took the photo.
I complimented the color scheme--which he did himself: al frente, la rueda roja con la llanta amarilla; y, a trasera, al reves. He complimented my Spanish, which makes him a truly nice man. (Really!)
Just for the sake of contrast, I propped Vera in the same spot after he left with the non-hipster fixie:
Mention "bicycle movies" or "movies with bicycles" and the first ones that come to most people's minds are Ladri di Biciclette (usually translated as The Bicycle Thief, but is literally Bicycle Thieves) and Breaking Away. Both, I think, deserve their reputations, although BA is a bit more of a "feel-good" film than LdB.
I've seen both more than once. Seeing either one reminds me of what Robert Graves said about Shakespeare: In spite of all the people who say he's very good, he really is very good.
Anyway, there's a lesser-known (at least here in the US) bicycle film that I'd like to see again. Las Bicicletas Son Para El Verano (Bicycles Are For The Summer), released in 1985, was directed by Jaime Chavarri and based an eponymous play written by Fernando Fernan Gomez. I have not seen the play, but it was well-reviewed. I imagine it deserved those reviews if the film is in any way true to it.
The play and movie take place during the Spanish Civil War. Luisito, the son of upper-middle-class Madrilenos Don Luis and Dona Dolores (Sorry, my keyboard doesn't have accent marks or tildes!) wants a new bicycle, in spite of having failed his exams. However, the war forces his parents to delay the purchase of his bicycle and that delay, like the war itself, drags on longer than any of them expected.
More than anything, it's a story of survival and adaptation. In that sense, it has more in common with LdB than with BA, although the dreams and hopes of one of the characters are as central to it as they are in BA. I'll try not to give too much away in saying that, in time, Luisito has to abandon not only his hope of getting a bicycle, but his education and his dreams of becoming a writer, much as his father did. Meanwhile, Luisito's sister Manolita has to abandon her dreams of becoming an actress after having a baby with a soldier who dies.
Also, the story reveals class resentments between the family and their neighbors and friends but how, ultimately, they have to rely on each other in order to survive the privations of the war and the subsequent Franco regime.
Those of you who are fans of Pedro Almodovar will be interested in this film because it features one of the early appearances of an actress who would later star in several of his films: Victoria Abril.
I don't know when I'll get to see the play. But I'm sure there's a DVD of the film to be had somewhere. The first chance I get, I'll watch it.
I like to take a "big" trip every now and again. But Memorial Day weekend is one of those times I'd prefer not to. The weather has been warm and sticky; it rained on and off on Friday and Saturday. But one of the great things about being in New York on a weekend like this one can be seen here:
This is the view down Washington Street, near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. I was on a bike, and I had it all to myself.
Ironically, the most congested part of Manhattan may well have been the Greenway along the Hudson River, only a block away. Tourists always flock to the Intrepid, which is about two miles up the Greenway, for this holiday. And, it seems that everyone who isn't going there renting a bike, or stopping to sprawl themselves across the Greenway to take photos.
Here is another view from Spring Street:
After my ride, I went to the barbeque my fiend Millie has every year. I more than made up for all of the calories I burned on my ride!
