The Thread about Nothing....

Wilchemy said:

Epic rants, Vadar. Perhaps Dan is a lurker on the TAN 😄

Thanks and apology for the rants - more out of self preservation. If not to the TAN then most certainly to NSW Police next time over the border and I already have had one major barny with them at a border crossing going toe to toe - this yielded one current outstanding formal complaint against them.

That was last month. Just last week the missus and I were detained and lectured for over 15 minutes for not having a valid permit by a cop just arrived from Sydney who proceeded to tell us he is getting too many emails and doesn't read them. Of course we later established that we did have absolutely the correct permit and he was a total clueless nufty. But the ARROGANCE of them in the moment - its breathtaking and makes you utterly question any future interactions with them. I mean lets face it - every second high school drop out is choosing to join 'The Force' and they get pumped up into a sick organisational culture. The Police Force is the second most pathetic public service you can choose - second only to the ATO.

I will never forget the AFP Officer (I used to play football with his brother) would say 'yeah the courts are a joke we wouldn't arrest people if they aren't guilty' and he was dead serious. Their culture is bankrupt but they are virtually untouchable politically.

The [censored] that has gone down over the past 8 weeks on the border courtesy of NSW State Government policy enacted by Service NSW and NSW Police is beyond pathetic. They are lucky they have backed down regarding border residents or I would have turned an absolute fury on them. [censored].

Over and out!

It’s been ages since we have had an ace massive rant on the TAN (beepers excluded). It almost makes the lockdown and border closures worth it.

Lama is in happy clappers monthly. Go with god Lama. He’s wiv da angles now.

I’d buy that mag, except the content lacks [censored] and I got the tour guide instead.

BTW, the internet has [censored] the cycling mag market. Can’t get pro cycling or Rouleur or road bike action or cycling plus in the local newsagents anymore, it’s mtb [censored] or bisexualcycling Australia only. I’ve let my Rouleur subscription lapse because the [censored] forget to send reminders and [censored] it all up last year as well and it’s expensive and I’m pov now. I got a Peloton subscription instead (more issues for less money) but the mag still hasn’t turned up yet. [censored].

Speaking of the newsagent, the one I go to recently halved the shelving for magazines. There is [censored] all there. Even the papers, they have a small stack of the Hun, a couple of AFRs for [censored], and I don’t reckon I’ve noticed an Age or Australian there in yonks. Luckily I don’t care as they are all [censored]. The shop is Tatts, some cards and stationery, a bit of Daryl Lee, [censored] sports memorabilia and a book shop now. The other newsagent moved in to a premises half the old shops size. Financial guru classic1 hot tip, don’t invest in print media or newsagents. Beat that for financial advice Kochie you cnut.

Heading off today for a ride over on the East Coast of Malaysia for a few days of head-clearing (and pro’ly rain-drenching). Modern Lovers to get me in the mood for a pre-dawn start...

classic1 said:

Lama is in happy clappers monthly. Go with god Lama. He’s wiv da angles now.

RIP

After riding 500km to Pulau Duyong to take large format pic’s of the traditional boatbuilding, I arrived to find my favourite Gitzo tripod had decided to abandon the ride. I recalled hearing a ‘tinkling’ sound, reminiscent of the gentle oscillations of carbon fibre on asphalt, and have some GoPro footage that shows the tripod abandoning ship.
Oh, well - Looks like I can park the 4x5 and all its ancillary kit for the remainder of the trip, and enjoy it for what it is (The 4x5 was really just an excuse for getting out of Dodge for a few days). I’ll have to resort to video for the rest of it.

So..... TdF starts tonight. I notice Gary Gatt has been replaced by Guillaume Brahimi.

Monsieur Gate has retired.

Ah bon! Je préfère Monsieur Brahimi.

I prefer the English language, just like Jesus spoke.

בסדר

DPF Chadwick Boseman. I had no idea who this bloke was until all of a sudden the interwebs had a meltdown about him carking it and went into a universal bout of grieving not seen since Mark David Chapman accidentally killed John Lennon while trying to shoot Yoko Ono.

Apparently he was in Black Batman or something. I saw it on tv once and fell asleep and didn’t get all the fuss made about it, just like with all the other superhero movies that aren’t called Deadpool. I suppose falling asleep during Black Batman means I’m not woke and I’m overdue a social media pile on, which is [censored] because if they made a movie about a Black Cougar I’d be all over that [censored].

I guess I’m no longer a bit out of touch with popular culture, now I’m completely out of touch. FWIW I still don’t know any Kanye West songs and prefer to keep it that way.

Someone riddle me this.

Road brakes. Why couldn’t the quickstep mechanic undo the through axle on that ghey disc brake special needs bike. Overheated brake causing the bolt to expand? That is my guess. How [censored] stupid that you can’t change a wheel without having power tools. Also, do they actually NEED to have through axles? My special needs MTB doesn’t have them. I know there are potentially issues with brake alignment and possibly road forks not being as stiff as MTB forks, but does that outweigh not being able to change a wheel and finishing the stage by walking?

On to rim brakes. If it’s gonna [censored] rain and you have descents like that, wouldn’t you think aluminium rims would be a better option? I haven’t ridden state of the art carbon wheels, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say carbon rim brake performance is better than aluminium.

I have a pair of aluminium wheels with 28 hole 30mm rims and cheap spokes I built that are approx 1650 gms with skewers. Nothing particularly special about any of the components either. 20/24 holes, tubular rims, expensive spokes, radial on the offside, light skewers, exotic straight pull hubs would knock 300-400gms off that easy peasey. Surely the gain in braking in those conditions and not stacking all over the place is worth the loss of a handful of watts in aero? I actually said this to some NSW bloke at an NRS race who was complaining about lack of braking in the Traralgon crit, a course with a steep descent into a roundabout. I think my exact words were “you’re a [censored], it was raining at the start, why didn’t you put in different wheels”. He flounced off. [censored] if I know why, I was being constructive and helpful, the ungrateful [censored]. It takes two minutes to change a pair of wheels and brake pads. Plus it was an excuse, he was getting dropped uphill every lap.

Final one. I know in Europe when it hasn’t rained for a while that once it does rain the roads become ice rinks due to the diesel. I can remember them cancelling a crit in the tour of tassie for the same reason, riders were falling off while warming up as it hadn’t rained for a few months. My sister used to live in Noosa. She’d say the same thing, it wouldn’t rain for weeks, then all the [censored] up there would stack at the roundabout on the greasy road. I remember this distinctly as my sister is as big an [censored] as me and would actually walk down the road and go and sit at the roundabout to watch the entertainment because it was funny as [censored], but I digress.

The lack of rain may not be the whole cause of the slippery roads. The story is the tdf organisers had a detergent manufacturer in the publicity caravan spewing out soap bubbles around the circuit as part of some advertising gimmick. There are pics of it, and also video of water running down the road with what looks like soap suds in it. If the tdf organisers let that happen they need shooting. No last cigarette either.

Pulau Duyong - Boatbuilding under a bridge...
Pulau Duyong 003 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Pulau Duyong 005 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Pulau Duyong 006 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Pulau Duyong 007 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Pulau Duyong 004 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

DPF - Peter Green (later Fleetwood MAC)...

So many questions. Where to stage onesself.
An answer.

Sorry to hear of your Tripod loss Eoin. I've spent enough time driving the unlincenced Fartographer around, socially, she pays her professionals, but have also been lucky enough to to visit those studios and retailers, and yeah, the loss of a proper expensive prized carbon tripod en route (yes, French. Classo you [censored]) sucks.
I like the waterlogged ball. Boat.
Xx.

classic1 said:

DPF Chadwick Boseman. I had no idea who this bloke was until all of a sudden the interwebs had a meltdown about him carking it and went into a universal bout of grieving not seen since Mark David Chapman accidentally killed John Lennon while trying to shoot Yoko Ono.

Apparently he was in Black Batman or something. I saw it on tv once and fell asleep and didn’t get all the fuss made about it, just like with all the other superhero movies that aren’t called Deadpool. I suppose falling asleep during Black Batman means I’m not woke and I’m overdue a social media pile on, which is [censored] because if they made a movie about a Black Cougar I’d be all over that [censored].

I guess I’m no longer a bit out of touch with popular culture, now I’m completely out of touch. FWIW I still don’t know any Kanye West songs and prefer to keep it that way.

Yep.

VadarStrikesBack said:

Looks like they have rolled over today and local residents are getting free movement across border again within 7 to 10 days. I can put my pitch fork away by the looks of things. They must have seen the storm coming....

When they let you over the border again please come and visit me in OhsoquietSydneytown. I would like to meet you, dear sir. There's spare rooms.

I'm like a waterlogged ball
that noone wants to kick around anymore.

Context. It matters.