Saturday, October 23, 2004
Bike comments
Nick said this recently...
>That's because bicycles are redolent of communism and sex. They're erotic as hell, and they're the future.
...and this is what I think: Sure, I'll grant you that bikes are erotic, but if bikes (in Japan) are sexy, what kind of sexuality do they possess? Since 'Bobo' Japanese kids all have folding bikes (except for Jiji, who we imagine isn't really Japanese at all, but an undercover counter-terrorist agent), but THEY NEVER ACTUALLY FOLD AND UNFOLD THEM, what does this mean? A kind of repressed sexuality? A non-erectile eroticism? We all know that if we go to any really green town in America, Europe, or Down Under worth its salt, we'll find a bunch of kids (young and old) foldning and unfolding their bikes, mixing and cross-fading their two-wheeled wonders with other forms of transportation (fold bike, take it on the train/in the car/on the bus, unfold it, explore new turf), but this doesn't really happen in Tokyo. Here the folding bike (the dominant form) is bike as sheer fashion, not as function...and therefore this translates into a sexuality of potential energy? Who knows, but it does go swimmingly well with the zeitgeist of Nakameguro, that locus of sublime limpidity.
>On your bicycle you're rushing along at a comfortable yet exciting 25kph, and it feels like you're flying >through the air. If you're in Tokyo or Berlin -- bicycle-friendly cities -- you're safe on the sidewalk or in a >dedicated bicycle lane
Hummm...I don't know about Berlin (where by the looks of the size of the town I'd imagine getting around on a bike is only for the transportationally martyred) Tokyo is NOT a bicycle friendly city. There are simply a lot of bikes here, that's all. The rider of a bike here in Tokyo knows that it is a true free-for-all, since there are no dedicated bike lanes (I've never seen one here). You can ride in the road, on the sidewalk, or in the in-between zones. Translated into terms of sexuality, perhaps bikes in Japan are having a kind of sexual identity crisis? For the moment, the brave biker can use this to his advantage, but...
>and there are many other cyclists all around, a democratic mass.
I say this for those in the know, since I've no time to explain right now. There is a certain ebb and flow to the demographics of bike riding in Japan, true...but when it comes to the dreaded おばたりやん and her fearful biking, the rules of the road quickly turn into something like a Mad Max movie.
>That's because bicycles are redolent of communism and sex. They're erotic as hell, and they're the future.
...and this is what I think: Sure, I'll grant you that bikes are erotic, but if bikes (in Japan) are sexy, what kind of sexuality do they possess? Since 'Bobo' Japanese kids all have folding bikes (except for Jiji, who we imagine isn't really Japanese at all, but an undercover counter-terrorist agent), but THEY NEVER ACTUALLY FOLD AND UNFOLD THEM, what does this mean? A kind of repressed sexuality? A non-erectile eroticism? We all know that if we go to any really green town in America, Europe, or Down Under worth its salt, we'll find a bunch of kids (young and old) foldning and unfolding their bikes, mixing and cross-fading their two-wheeled wonders with other forms of transportation (fold bike, take it on the train/in the car/on the bus, unfold it, explore new turf), but this doesn't really happen in Tokyo. Here the folding bike (the dominant form) is bike as sheer fashion, not as function...and therefore this translates into a sexuality of potential energy? Who knows, but it does go swimmingly well with the zeitgeist of Nakameguro, that locus of sublime limpidity.
>On your bicycle you're rushing along at a comfortable yet exciting 25kph, and it feels like you're flying >through the air. If you're in Tokyo or Berlin -- bicycle-friendly cities -- you're safe on the sidewalk or in a >dedicated bicycle lane
Hummm...I don't know about Berlin (where by the looks of the size of the town I'd imagine getting around on a bike is only for the transportationally martyred) Tokyo is NOT a bicycle friendly city. There are simply a lot of bikes here, that's all. The rider of a bike here in Tokyo knows that it is a true free-for-all, since there are no dedicated bike lanes (I've never seen one here). You can ride in the road, on the sidewalk, or in the in-between zones. Translated into terms of sexuality, perhaps bikes in Japan are having a kind of sexual identity crisis? For the moment, the brave biker can use this to his advantage, but...
>and there are many other cyclists all around, a democratic mass.
I say this for those in the know, since I've no time to explain right now. There is a certain ebb and flow to the demographics of bike riding in Japan, true...but when it comes to the dreaded おばたりやん and her fearful biking, the rules of the road quickly turn into something like a Mad Max movie.
