Sat Apr 13
That color picture is my oldest daugher refinishing a table her grandfather made, and our dog. It's not a super-keeper, but I like it and I like the flowers in the pot. Taken with Hasselblad with 80mm lens, Kodak Portra 400. I was all down there and yelled "Katie!" and she turned her head and there it is.
----------
My photographer hero is Roberto Dutesco. He has a studio at 64 Grand Street in NYC, there are a couple of books, and now a movie. It's a long one, and I'm going to watch it this weekend. I know the story, I own a book, I've been to the studio several times (every time I go to NYC, which isn't tons, I go there.) If you don't hate horses and wildish things and photography, you will probably like this movie. He shoots film. I wonder for how long. Does it matter? Kinda, to me, yes.
https://dutescoart.com/chasingwildhorses.html
-------- is that too heavy to start with? maybe---------
Our first nearly but not totally complete frame and bike catalog ever is due to be delivered and arrive here by about April 20th. John at Rivelo in Portland will have a bunch of them by midweed that week, and I'm going up there that weekend to see John and Darby and hang out some at the shop and maybe I don't know what else. Blue Moon camera shop too, maybe. It's hard to say or commit, but I've got a ticket and there's no stoppiing it now.
-------
Mark was sick but now he's back and assembling bikes again, and we're doing OK again. The Hail Mary thing isn't fading. It's still the or at least a, and probably the high point in Rivendell's life, so amazing and we're so grateful. At some point repeating that over and over becomes something self-indulgent and spoils it or something, draws attention to the wrong thing, makes it about showing appreciation rather than just conveying what are and should be private emotions about it, but I can't help it and don't know another way. Telepathy doesn't work, so there it is.
------
Our Australia wool-clothing supplier has gone out of business. We'll try to revive some MUSA wooly things. There's still Devold from Norway. And...this next October we should have some of the Derby tweed stuff from England, made with Cheviot sheep wool. Not Merino. It's not underwear, it's outerwear, and if you have an older WoolyWarm sweater or vest or something, it's the same stuff. It is the handsomest wool I've seen, and I've been a wool-harper forever, so that should count for something, at least a look.
------
The Dia-Compe N980 cantilevers are due in two weeks. These are the most pure, basic cantilever brakes ever made, in my opinion. They're basic and unaffected by the things, the styles and look that affect almost all modern bike parts, AND they work great and as cantilevers go, are fairly easy to set up and adjust and change pads on.
The Dia-Compe centerpulls are two months out. The Silver2 shifters are, who knows if not me, and I don't know, but maybe September? At this point it doesn't matter. There are good alternatives--the MicroShift thumbies, for instance--but the Silver2's will be worth waiting for.
-------
Somebody sent me a book on punctuation. What did I do—miss a comma or apostrophe? Well, I like books like that, anyway. I was reading it last night as I was brushing my teeth and came upon this part, which I found interesting, and I'm not going to point out why. Discover it yourself:
It's not a quiz, but--did you catch the irony?
------
The ABUS Phantom lock we love so much is now made in China, so when we sell out (you should get one now), we won't reorder. We have found a replacement:
FLASH: We haven't received any yet- or sold any--and it turns out there are some problems with it. Good luck to the good and no doubt stressed out people behind this lock. We're just gonna wait for now, but below is what I'd written before this. The ABUS Phantom is ... pretty good. But we're still looking for a replacement, and OTTO may not be it. Isn't it. Yet.
It's an OTTO lock, made in the USA. This one here is the medium length, and we'll carry the long one--a thirty-incher. The med is -- let me measure.
What? Twenty-eight inches? Plus the lock part makes almost thirty, so what am I goofing up on? Rumors are the long 30-incher comes in black only, yet this one...well, whatever, it'll be sorted out soon. Meanwhile, this orangey weighs just 5.5 ounces and fits anyhere and is basically a fancy, steel-and-kevlar zip-tie with a three-digit combo lock. OTTO acknowledges that it's not for long-term lockage overnight in slums or behind bushes on college campuses, but it'll foil an opportunist or a guy who figures an unlocked bike is owned by a stupe who deserves to be liberated of it.
Cross-sectionally SPEAKING, it has the placticky coating, and inside that is:
first layer of kevlar
first layer of steel that seems to resist cutting
second layer of kevlar, just in case something gets thru the first layer and the steel
second layer of steel
third layer of kevlar
third layer of steel
fourth layer of kevlar
then the plastic coating on the other side
(we destroyed one to find out what was inside)
picture:
It can supplement a U-Lock or anything else, or it can stand alone. Anyway, I can vouch for its effectiveness by Walnut Creek's Ace Hardware store and Target, and I dig that it's so light and compact and easy to use. And made here, at least for now.
------
There's a new Dave Eggers book: The Monk of Mokha. Dave Eggers is as good a writer as anybody, he just goofs off seriously with words and books and I've loved every one he's written. This one is about coffee. I don't even drink coffee, but this one made me try some. If you DO drink coffee, you'll want some Yemenese stuff that's the star of this non-fiction book.
https://www.almokha.com/
It is worth looking in to if you're an addict. We got some here at Rivendell, and as long as we have it and it's on the pot or however that works, you can have some for the asking. I don't know if we'll always have it.
But look into the book, too. If you read books and haven't read Dave Eggers, holy cow; and if you read and like coffee, holy mary mother of joseph, get the book and the coffee.
------------