Bizarre ongoings

Now, among the bizarre things I've seen lately...

I saw this guy on empty roads past midnight, towing a pretty Cannondale with XT disc brake groupset etc., with vintage bike that has two flats, a chain that's sagging nearly onto the ground. I bet no one can figure out the full story.

Barcelona 1 - Inter Milan 0. Inter celebrates(?) as they advance to the finals.

What is this?

Give yourself a pat on the back if you know what's behind each picture...

Picture 1 The poor guy seriously looks like he just stole a bicycle. How many of you would have guessed that the guy in the picture broke his chain from the first look? (Notice it hanging from the left handlebar of the Cannondale).

So, I offered the guy on the Cannondale a tow halfway across the country. Along the way, we nearly got mowed down by a bus on an empty road: the driver probably thought we were having fun of a bodily sort(?)  (kudos to the guy, he clung onto my saddle rail from the side for the whole distance, although it was a suggestive position and I couldn't stop laughing about it), and decided to plough all the way onto our lane and push us to the kerb.

Eventually, I realized that there was no way I could make it to work the next morning, at that rate hence I offered to pay his taxi fare, but he didn't want to take my money. I decided to tow him for a further distance as I searched for solutions. Audaces fortuna iuvat, we went past a construction site, and he thought of an idea. He asked one of the construction workers (derisively branded as "foreign talents" here and often associated with bicycle thefts) if he could have one of the bicycles at the site. It was broken: a pair of tubulars with two flats, one brake wasn't working, and the rear wheel was out of true. But still rideable.

The person who tuned that bicycle is a class WW because the derailleur was held in place by 2 nylon cable ties (seriously, the pictures don't do it justice, but take a look if you can); hanger gone. The chain had stretched to a point that it would touch the ground if you cornered on that bicycle. And it could still shift! Those must be the legendary vintage rims (a la Nisi) that weigh sub-250g each... The foreign worker acceded to the request without any hesitation. Our country could do with more foreign talents.

Singapore society didn't cease to amaze me with more truly imaginative and storied assaults along the way. We passed by a number of road cyclists, dressed in full cycling colors (helmet, shades, gloves, clothing made out of petroleum derivatives) and all, who only threw him with suspicious stares and didn't bother asking what he was doing: if he was stealing a bicycle, stop him; if his bicycle broke down, it wouldn't hurt to offer help - "Is there any way I can help you?" - or at least say something nice - "All right, take care." He eventually passed by a police patrol at 2 AM, in a deserted neighborhood. And they didn't bother to question him.

Picture 2 Frankly, I hate football. I don't like the idea of sitting there for nearly 2 hours, add another 30 minutes for commentary that really doesn't change anything, just to see 30 seconds of goals OK? That's infinitely boring. I respect the people who train day in day out, go for hospital checkups regularly etc. all right, I have no qualms that it deserves respect. I equally respect the people who train for seasons; have to watch their diets regularly; spend days at a wind tunnel; plan training routines; exercise the discipline to record their power data etc.; pour over a bicycle to adjust the cable tension to the finest; toe in brake pads; adjust seat height by millimeters; ride in the snow and rain...

But let's look at it this way: how many of you would want to watch the Tour de France televised-football-style: about 5 hours from overhead view, almost daily for 4 weeks, with 1 hour of commentary before, inbetween and after the event... My word... I didn't even watch the World Cup in 2006. 

However, there's one exception. I do enjoy watching Barcelona play now and then, since 2003 or so. I always do, when I'm flipping channels. They make the whole match seem like a complete buildup to checkmate, like a game of chess, which is worth following from start to end. And it was pretty sad to see them lose.

AND, whoever-it-was (clearly a Barca supporter) gave me a good laugh by turning on the water sprinklers at maximum flow on their opponents at the end of the match as they were defiantly celebrating on a hostile pitch. It didn't seem to dampen their spirits, but it was absolutely funny watching as the camera view rotated and we're shown only the sprinklers at that particular corner working, in stark contrast to the rest of the field.

The photos are just comedic... you could argue that football separates Man from the rest of the animal kingdom, because these are just plain weird. And clearly, this supports my point that it is worth one's time to follow Barcelona's matches.

Picture 3 Not the most recent of pictures, but Neil Dawson's "Horizons" is a metal sculpture which looks very unreal. I couldn't explain what it was from the photo alone until someone in the loop put a name to it.