Cycles

I seem to be forever guided by whims and fancies.

Fortunately, I've started using this particular weakness to my advantage (I think).

Having recognised my tendency to latch onto things and form mild obsessions, I've been running an experiment to see if I can cultivate said mild obsessions for things that would be good for me.

So far, it's kind of working. I've been endeavouring to develop a love affair with cycling, and I can definitely feel it taking hold. I'm buying cycling magazines because I actually want to read the articles and look at the ads. I'm borrowing books on the history of cycling. I'm finding joy on the days when I can ride my bike to work (and a slight depression in the fact that, when one lives in the tropics, one can either have inclement weather or good light to ride by, but not both).

This is really feeding off my fancy for unicycles and penny-farthings (one of which I already own, the other I lust after) and my whim to participate in a triathlon earlier this year. Both involved paying more attention to wheeled things, so I thought I'd try to direct some of that whim-and-fancy energy into actually riding my bike more.

I have been riding my bike more. Heck, I even bought one of those indoor trainer thingies so I could keep riding it even when it's too dark/cold for me to go out somewhere for a ride.

Trouble is, I think I'm feeling very tempted to take cycling up as a hobby and, as hobbies go, it's not cheap. In trying to convince myself to ride my bike more, I'm starting to develop a desire to own a better bike. Something I could use to go touring, maybe. Perhaps two bikes - the tourer and a mountain bike. And then maybe join a club that could show me where the good mountain biking trails are in the area.

And, of course, I'll need to keep the bikes in fine working order, which will mean buying new parts for them on a semi-regular basis. Nice, shiny parts like you see in the magazines... parts which cost a fortune.

On the one hand, this would probably put a dent in my finances that would hinder my "I want to go to Estonia for a year or so" plans. On the other hand, I was thinking of cycling most places once I got to Estonia, so improving my fitness and endurance on the bike would be a good investment, right?

Why do the good bikes have to cost so much? It just fills me with a lack of confidence in the bikes that fall within my price range. I mean, if the top-of-the-line road bikes cost over $10,000, what kind of bike would I be getting for my $600? Could I put enough faith in it to go for a ride to the next town?

Oh, and in riding my bike around town, have confirmed a long held suspicion: the Town Planning department in Townsville hates cyclists and is trying to kill us. They've got plenty of lovely little Sunday-afternoon-stroll type bike paths around the place, but try to ride your bike to the shops or to work and you take your life in your hands.

I mean, who designs a bike path that ends up throwing you onto the main road, facing oncoming vehicles, with no safe place to cross the six lanes of seething traffic? The Townsville Town Planning department, that's who.

Did I say I thought this was going to be good for me?

Take three films...

I was reading an "Out and About" piece in The Baltic Times (yeah, I'm still reading whatever I can for free even though they cut me off mid sentence) that got me thinking about my own culture.

I may technically be an Estonian as well as an Australian, but deep down inside "I still call Australia home", and most of my cultural musings will draw a line back to the Green and Gold eventually, even if they start in the Blue Black and White.

-- As a sideline, surely Australia and New Zealand are amongst the only countries in the world who do not have their national colours on their flag? That's just weird, really. But, then, that's Australia (and NZ) for you. (For anyone who doesn't know, the national colours of New Zealand are Black and Silver - neither of which appear on the NZ flag).--

Anyway, this particular article mentioned three movies, stated they were beloved by Estonians, that almost every Estonian had seen them and they were such a part of the cultural cannon that anyone who was interested in the Estonian culture should watch them. They were: Kevade, Suvi and Sügis.

I haven't seen any of these movies, and until such time as I can figure out who, if anyone, sells the DVDs over the 'net, I probably won't. I know the DVDs exist. I know it is possible to buy them. I just haven't found a DVD retailer with a nice, simple interface (like Apollo Rammatud) that someone with limited Estonian skills can navigate.

Anyway, what it got me thinking about was this: If I was going to recommend three Australian films to anyone who was interested in what passes for Australian culture - three films that almost everyone in Australia has seen and loved - what would they be?

Now, this is a hard one because by and large (almost to a man) Australians hate their films. We can't stand anything set in our country or about our people. The only film I can think of off the bat that would fit the bill is The Castle.

Most other Australian films completely polarise the population. A surprisingly small number of people have seen them, an even smaller number of people liked them, and there's a strangely large group of people who refuse to watch them but still claim to hate them.

I know most people outside of Australia would probably start shouting "But what about Crocodile Dundee?" at this point, but the truth is that Crocodile Dundee was actually designed to sell Australia to the Americans. No one in Australia actually regards it as an Australian film so much as a big joke. It is the cinematic equivalent of drop bears and hoop snakes. (Oh, if anyone asks, drop bears and hoop snakes absolutely exist. I would be remiss in my cultural duties if I suggested otherwise. Also, kangaroos really do make that strange 'tch' sound you hear in episodes of Skippy and the opening scenes of Dot and the Kangaroo. Honest. Honest and for true).

Unlike the Estonian culture, which was hard fought for and fiercely held under trying circumstances, the Australian culture has never exactly been cherished or celebrated. Sure, around ANZAC day we start feeling a glimmer of national pride and a nostalgia for the Australian culture that existed "back in the day", but that culture has been long gone (except in a number of pockets - remnants of remnants, as some might say), and there isn't really a recognisable "Australian" culture that isn't completely caught up in the "cultural cringe" that so characterises our self-view.

I think the only part of the Australian culture we actually do celebrate is "taking the mickey". If you don't know what that might mean, refer to the above comments made about drop bears and kangaroos.

If, they had actually made a film of Ray Lawler's play, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll back when it was at its height of popularity, that probably would have made it on the list.

Okay, I'll rephrase that. If they had actually made a good film of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll it would have made it on the list. Technically, they did film it, but someone thought having an American/UK/Australian co-production staring American and British actors and completely re-arranging the story would be the way to go. It wasn't. When I used to teach The Doll to high school students I would threaten them with the movie (A Season of Passion) if they didn't behave. That's how bad it was.

So, are there another two films I would add to The Castle as films you must watch if you are interested in Australian culture and want to see things that are deeply entrenched in the Australian cinematic psyche? Possibly Storm Boy, although I've never seen it myself, and maybe Rabbit Proof Fence (David Gulpilil take a bow), although I don't know if Rabbit Proof Fence is loved or just respected (that, in itself, an achievement in this country).

Personally, the Australian films I love the most are Dot and the Kangaroo and The Little Convict. Oh, and the middle part of Hercules Returns. Sad, but true.

'Stella' Rocking Stool

For the person who absolutely refuses to relax:

As you do

Life is interesting, isn't it?

I just read a news article about an Estonian soldier killed in Afghanistan. He was handling infantry supplies when the wheel of a passing vehicle fell off and ran over him.

That's right, the guy is hanging about in the middle of a war...er... peace keeping mission/police action/whatever euphemism we're using instead of war... zone and he gets killed by a run-away wheel from a truck.

It was obviously a very large wheel, which was obviously very poorly attached to this truck (armoured personnel carrier), but still. No one goes to war to get hit by a truck. No one goes to war to get hit by part of a truck.

How do you explain that to the grandkids?

"Vanaema, how did Vanaisa get that medal?"
"He was killed in the war, sweetheart."
"What war?"
"The one in Afghanistan."
"What war was that one?"
"Um, I'm not sure exactly. I think it was 'The War on Terror'".
"Was he killed by a terrorist?"
"Ah, no."
"Was he killed by an enemy soldier?"
"Ah, no."
"Was he killed by an explosion?"
"Ah, no."
"So how was he killed?"
"Um, a wheel from a truck ran him over."
"A truck ran him over?"
"No, just the wheel."

Still, it does make a great conversation piece, I suppose. I always like telling people my great-great-grandfather died from shock after being cut in half by a train. You'd think being cut in half by a train might have killed him but, no, apparently the shock got him first.

I suppose the fact of the matter is his family don't really care how he died. They'd just rather he hadn't.