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Wanderlust
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Riding a very soft and smooth wheel: Group tours by bike are also very popular.
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Jurgen, that Muppet Bikes video is so peaceful and pleasant, makes me want to go cycling. Vancouver has turned into quite the cyclist friendly city over the past couple decades. Many streets have been converted into cyclist friendly streets with protected bike lanes throughout.
The one song that play in my head when I think of cycling is this timeless classic.
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Oh yeah Jung,
„Raindrops keep falling on my head“. A beautiful song that I love to listen to again and again. I also like the video-clip from the movie „Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid“: wonderfully carefree and light-hearted.
I would also like to go cycling in Vancouver. Is the area flat or are there hills? Stanley Park must be great. I’d love to have something like that right on my doorstep too. ????
PS: The bicycles in the Muppet sequenze are really hot. Do bikes like that really still exist or is it a kind of retro look?
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Nice video about bicycles, people with a passion for cycling will love that. I was holding my breath at the end waiting for them to surface.
In recent years Vancouver has become a real cycling paradise. There has always been an incredible walking path called the “Seawall” that goes all around the water that effectively takes you all around the city, and they added a bike path to it, and expanded it even more. It is all flat, unless you leave the metro core of the city. There are lots of bicycle rental places all over the city, so a great way for tourists to to explore the city is by renting a bike as you can go almost anywhere in the city around the beautiful seawall and extended bike paths. For any avid cyclists here is a short video about cycling in Vancouver and Canada.
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Jung,
Vancouver looks great for biking.
Here is an international ranking of the top 20 bike friendly cities.
All Europe except for Buenos Aires, Minneapolis & Montreal.
I was wondering where Davis fits in since we claim to be the most bike-friendly city the world.
https://www.wired.com/2015/06/copenhagenize-worlds-most-bike-friendly-cities/
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Thanks for the ranking Tom. I am not surprised that Dutch cities are so often in the top 10. I think the Netherlands is one of the most bike-friendly countries in Europe. But you better ask Fred, he can tell you much more about it. In Germany there are also some nice cities where you can cycle well. In typical student cities like Münster, for example, there are so many bicycles. And here where I live it also works quite well.
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Thanks for the link Jung. The skyline of Vancouver is breathtaking. The skyscrapers are located directly on the water and are framed by green hills in the background. Great, that invites you to go cycling and walking. You seem to live in a very beautiful city.
And here are a few cycling impressions from Austria. That reminds me a lot of vacations with my parents (except for the music). Only the Alm, the chairlift and the Wienerschnitzel are missing ????.
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Juergen,
you should try to share the Austrian video with the Twins.
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A nice idea Tom, but I think M&L have more important things to do at the moment. I hope that their new album will be ready soon and I’m looking forward to enjoying it then. I’ve chosen the video of the cyclist because I like the acrobatics and the body control on the bike so much (Viola Brand is a three-time vice world champion in artistic cycling). And of course also the beautiful landscape. Admittedly, the Dirndl (that’s the name of the traditional dress she is wearing) and the houses seem a bit cliché, but there are really beautiful and dreamy places in Austria and also in Bavaria like this.
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I’m not sure if I’m more impressed by the beautiful Austrian scenery or the amazing cycling acrobatics, but both are amazing. Thanks Jurgen.
Interesting rating of cities list Tom for best cyclist towns. Top 2 cities I am not surprised as I’ve always envisioned cycling is huge in the Netherlands (Holland).
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I remember being blown away by the sight of Kermit riding a bicycle in the first Muppet movie. I’m still not sure how they managed to achieve that effect in 1979. It was as impressive as anything in Star Wars.
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Yes, I also wondered how they did it David. It looks so realistic. Also the whole Muppet Gang at the end of the video: really impressive. Here is a very interesting “making of“:
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Thanks for finding and posting that, Juergen! Even knowing now how it was done, it still seems remarkable that it worked so convincingly.
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Fahrrad fahr’n (ride a bicycle)
Lyrics:
Sometimes life is pretty easy / Two wheels, one handlebar and that’s enough / When I ride my bike / Then the world is very simple / The cars are stuck in traffic, I drive past / All traffic lights are green, the lane is free / When I ride my bike / Right through the city / ride a bike / When I ride my bike / I pedal / And don’t need motors / ride a bike / Nothing is as nice as / riding a bike / For me the ideal / The wind blows in your ears / Sometimes in life everything goes smoothly / Assuming you have a bike / Then thoughts fly / And you don’t need to fill up either / The police greets friendly, “Guten Tach ‚!” / Because I always do everything right/ Should you be without a bike / Can I lend you mine? / Cycle / Nothing is as nice as riding a bike / I can whistle on the car / I only need two tires / And then when it rains / I put on a hat / And if it rains again / I gladly accept the rain / Better this way than if I run / (Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike) / ride a bike / When I ride my bike / That’s the best / And lift the sandals
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Niagara on a bike, thanks Tom. I haven’t heard of Juan Luis Guerra yet, although he seems to have had some international success. A very nice rhythm that gets into your blood. I like latin music. Is the lyric just meant to be fun or is it more of a fair amount of criticism of the local health care system?
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Juergen, i am up an hour too late.
I just have to ask… what time is it over there? and when do you sleep?
If you wonder about the spanish lyrics i will look them up soon.
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It is now 7:51 AM Tom. I have had breakfast and the day can now begin.
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You’re my hero.
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One of my most dubious musical purchases back in the day was an entire album by Napoleon XIV, best remembered for “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” The rest of the tracks are similar, but not nearly as creative, except perhaps for “I Live in a Split-Level Head”.
Anyway, I thought I’d post this “song” from the album because it sort of fits the topic of this thread:
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David thanks for posting this video. The group or the artist „Napoleon XIV“ says nothing at all to me. I also listened to the song (or better: verse set to music) „They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!“ right away. Which musical direction does the band belong to? Sounds to me like a mixture of Monty Python and something completely different. How did you know their album? (dubious pretty much sums it up ????)
Here is also a somewhat weird bike song:
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I have always listened to Bike as a love song.
“You’re the kind girl that fits into my world. I’ll give you everything if want things”
Nice choice
JP
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Juergen, Napoleon XIV is a guy named Jerry Samuels who made a career out of writing and performing songs in which he comedically portrayed a completely insane person.
I found the album on cassette in the comedy recordings section at a record store in the late 80’s. I had already heard his one big hit on the radio, so I decided to risk a few dollars to find out what else he had to offer.
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Thanks for your feedback JP. You are right, the song „Bike“ seems to be a kind of love song. Each verse starts with a new idiosyncratic declaration of love. “The Piper at the gates of dawn” was my first Pink Floyd LP. Admittedly a very quirky album, but I see it as a kind of total work of art. I like it very much until today, even though I rarely listen to it.
David I googled for the song “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”. In 1966 it was placed among the top 5 in UK and US. In Germany, the song was able to place only after a German version was produced, “Ich glaab’, die hole mich ab, ha-haaa!” (Hessian dialect). Oh boy…
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Hi Tom,
when I asked you if you sail you answered:„Actually – i would walk to the dive site if they would let me“. It sounds to me like you’re an avid diver. Diving vacation. Also a nice way to enjoy the distance and switch off from everyday life. Are there any special dive sites that you love?
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Dance with the waves,
move with the sea.
Let the rhythm of the water
set your soul free
(Christy Ann Martine)
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Juergen,
us Northern CA divers have bragging rights for diving in cold murky water,
but i would much prefer being anywhere closer to the equator.
It’s been so long since i put a wet suit on.
BTW – quelle jolie La Mer (la musique) !
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Blue Sway / Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney recruited award-winning surf filmmaker Jack McCoy to create a music video for his previously unreleased track “Blue Sway.” Written nearly 20 years ago, McCartney’s never-before released song, “Blue Sway,” is available for the first time on the bonus audio disc of the special edition of McCartney II.
Jack McCoy has been capturing the surfing vision in a truly unique way. Using a high powered underwater jet ski, the filmmaker found that he was able to travel behind a wave, creating underwater images that have never been seen before.
“Paul was pretty stoked with what I’d created. He immediately thought my images might be suitable to go with his unreleased song “Blue Sway.” said McCoy.
McCoy compiled and edited footage that he filmed off Tahiti’s Teahupoo reef to create what became the “Blue Sway” video.
“When I saw Jack McCoy’s underwater surfing footage put to the soundtrack of “Blue Sway” I was blown away,” said McCartney.
(Source: unknown)
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Imagine this: You lie on the beach in the evening. Maybe cozy in a hammock and look out at the wide sea. The sun slowly ends its daily hike over the horizon and enshrouded the waves, which roll relaxedly onto the beach, in an orange shimmer. You feel a warm, salty breeze on your skin. Wanderlust fills your soul and in your thoughts you follow Paul McCartney far out into the winedark sea.
What music do you like to listen to to end a nice day at the beach or the sea?
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Hi Jurgen, that’s a nice McCartney song, really catchy, I like it.
I always liked this Simon and Garfunkle song I associate in my mind to traveling on the sea or getting away on a trip to feel that freedom.
It was used as the theme song for an early 70s movie called the Voyage of The Yes that I saw, and ever since this song had an impact on me. Song evokes feelings of getting free.
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Thanks for sharing the beautiful song Jung. Simon and Garfunkel are two absolutely exceptional musicians for me. Some of their songs I knew as a child without knowing who even wrote them. El Condor pasa is one of this songs. They have a feeling for beautiful melodies and often managed to reduce them to a minimum: only the sound of their voices and their guitars. Without superfluous ballast and frills. Music as pure essence. I once bought a CD of the music duo Parrish & Toppano. These two artists had a talent similar to Simon and Garfunkel, but for me personally they never reached the genius of Paul and Art.
BTW, I have found two nice quotes on the subject of the sea. Maybe you already know them. The puns they contain are difficult to translate. I’ll give it a try anyway:
„Nicht Bach! Meer sollte er heissen: wegen seines unendlichen, unerschöpflichen Reichtums an Tonkombinationen und Harmonien.“
– Ludwig van Beethoven –
(„Not Creek! Sea he should be named: because of its infinite, inexhaustible wealth of tone combinations and harmonies.”)
– Ludwig van Beethoven –
„Es heißt, dass Johannes Brahms mit einem Freund am Strand spazieren ging, der sich beklagte, alle gute Musik sei schon geschrieben worden. ‘Oh schau’, sagte Brahms und zeigte aufs Meer hinaus. ‘Da kommt die letzte Welle“.
(„It is said that Johannes Brahms was walking on the beach with a friend who complained that all good music had already been written. ‘Oh look,’ Brahms said, pointing out to sea. ‘There comes the last wave’.“)
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La petite fille de la mer. For her, the sea was more than a dream, it was a place she could go to find herself and understand her longing. And when she returned to the town, you could see the sun in her eyes, feel the wind in her hair and hear her soul laughing.
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