elijah’s adventure

When I used to live in NYC I absolutely loved riding from Brooklyn into Manhattan and up to Central Park and back. There was an incredible air of excitement, as I felt myself become hyperaware with the flood of potentially lethal stimulation. Having grown up on Saint Simons Island Georgia, beautiful and with a laid back atmosphere, the transition into biking on NYC was frightening at first. I knew that the best way of conquering my fears was to bike straight into and out of the madness - Times Square.

If you’ve never been there, I’m sure you’ve seen videos. The glaring advertisements from the omniscient LCD panels, the exhaust, car horns, sea of yellow taxi cabs, buses, food stands, tens of thousands of pedestrians…..It’s incredibly overwhelming. Especially if you’re trying to bike through. There was even an occasion where I hoisted the bike above my head to “walk” through a twenty-thick crowd of pedestrians. The insanity is refreshing.

Once you get the hang of it, by learning to ride on the line between cars, cautiously cross vacant intersections underneath red lights, and to pedal as furiously as possible during the green lights, bike riding can be quite effective. It’s certainly faster than driving, and sometimes faster than the subway, depending on the total distance.

Bikes are maneuverable, fast, healthy (they decrease the risk of heart disease, but increase the risk of head trauma), better for th environment, arguably better for national security, and fun. There are monthly mass (thousands of riders) rides to remind people that bikes belong on the streets and are a considerable alternative to cars. More information is available at a critical mass and times up websites.

Ahh, the entire point of this post was to show you this race:

On January 23, 2007, staff at Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, were alerted by fishermen to a ’strange eel like fish with razor sharp teeth’. The fish was identified as a female 1.6m frilled shark and was captured by park staff who were concerned that the shark appeared to be unhealthy. The shark died a few hours after capture. This rare surface appearance of a frilled shark has been attributed to the animal being unwell and possibly disoriented. More information about this shark can be found at wikipedia. The video, of course, is on youtube.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)’ Office of Protected Resources has an excellent breakdown of the threats to endangered species.

Hilarious.

John Munro, a video artist of London, has released a piece that encourages us to reconsider both normality and purpose:

The Free Hugs Campaign was started by Juan Mann, who returned home to Sydney only to discover no one was to pick him up from the airport. He was lonely, and needed a hug. Here’s a prime example of how to make lemonade:

In a bid for publicity, a group called Modern Day Robin Hoodhas been handing out free cash in places like New York. Now that they have our attention, what will they do with it?