tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post4269882201533021258..comments2024-03-29T10:52:55.716-04:00Comments on Lovely Bicycle!: Bicycles, Walls and the Passage of TimeVelouriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-48404166508126343052013-02-28T12:19:32.958-05:002013-02-28T12:19:32.958-05:00Both films are on one DVD with extras from www.fil...Both films are on one DVD with extras from www.filmgalerie451.de<br />There is also the website with photographs, bike tour and reviews/interview/sounds, etc.<br />www.invisible-frame.de Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-61923933490467387472013-01-24T18:31:23.981-05:002013-01-24T18:31:23.981-05:00For some odd reason I'll watch just about anyt...For some odd reason I'll watch just about anything with a bicycle moving along. Just the simple change of scene takes the place of a plot. I quite liked 'The Invisible Frame'. Very peaceful. That's why I like my bicycle riding so much.<br /><br />I think old movies really do capture as much of the past as can be done. I especially like all the odd little details that weren't even intended to have any meaning. I'm fascinated by details like the way that curbs and lamp posts were constructed in the 1920's in Charlie Chaplin's movies shot on location, the general peaceful sense of emptiness that most old movies have. There's scarcely a car on the roads - it all seems so peaceful and quiet compared to now.<br /><br />Vintage foreign movies also seem to really capture the times. Some of my favorites are 'The Knack and How to Get It' which captures so much of 1960's London... and Les Bonnes Femmes that has so many details of a forgotten Paris. <br /><br />Pictures are worth 1,000 words generally I think. Johnhttp://www.johnnez.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-81716666958887389242013-01-23T16:43:51.679-05:002013-01-23T16:43:51.679-05:00For anyone interested, Berlin has done a good job ...For anyone interested, Berlin has done a good job over the last few years of transforming the entire stretch of the Berlin wall into a well-signed bike trail. Not just the segment separating West and East Berlin, but also the much lengthier segments separating West Berlin from East Germany -- roughly 160 km in all -- are functioning as bike trails. Here's a link to the city's site with maps etc (at least some portions should also be available in English): http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/verkehr/mobil/fahrrad/radrouten/de/mauerweg_1/index.shtml<br /><br />In central Berlin where the tourist attractions are, the distinctions between East and West Berlin are harder to detect. But as one pedals away from central Berlin either northwards or southwards, it's very easy to tell the differences between the two halves of the erstwhile divided city, either through differences in the built form or simply because huge stretches along the former wall still look a little like no-man's land. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-4891692713069054352013-01-23T16:29:05.330-05:002013-01-23T16:29:05.330-05:00Perhaps. But equally (if not more) likely is the ...Perhaps. But equally (if not more) likely is the scenario where the people protesting Swabian gentrification are themselves transplants from western Germany, worried at the prospect of their cozy Berlin lifestyles being shaken up...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-3809622143886339392013-01-22T10:28:45.388-05:002013-01-22T10:28:45.388-05:00Another FYI - the title of the DVD is The Invisibl...Another FYI - the title of the DVD is The Invisible Frame, but in fact it contains both films (and some commentary). And yes the one on Amazon is the same.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-29043542493479826032013-01-22T10:26:10.072-05:002013-01-22T10:26:10.072-05:00I keep getting suggestions to read this book. It&#...I keep getting suggestions to read this book. It's on the list.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-87633678936797179952013-01-22T09:42:20.851-05:002013-01-22T09:42:20.851-05:00Just a note that 2 parties are in line for the fil...Just a note that 2 parties are in line for the film now. Assuming I will get it back, I'll be happy to keep lending it out.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-77063616871467587992013-01-22T06:57:27.958-05:002013-01-22T06:57:27.958-05:00Last week the Times ran a somewhat amusing article...Last week the Times ran a somewhat amusing article about Swabian transplants in Berlin reacting to local resentment toward their driving up housing prices by defacing public property with spaetze noodles.<br /><br />While the Times played up the obvious parallel to trust fund kids gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhoods, I could not help but think perhaps that this deep into reunification perhaps the economic and cultural differences between the wealthy conservative southwestern germans and the northeast that played such an important role in prewar German politics are resurfacing. Matthew Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10408057524387021992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-86845256290310538822013-01-21T23:59:11.123-05:002013-01-21T23:59:11.123-05:00Damn you, autocorrect!!Damn you, autocorrect!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-8691757973622367732013-01-21T23:03:52.978-05:002013-01-21T23:03:52.978-05:00I am in the middle of reading Dervla Murphy's ...I am in the middle of reading Dervla Murphy's book _Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle_. In 1963, she rides alone through Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan on the way to India - with a .25 automatic in her front pocket(!). It is an amazing story and full of place names that are so familiar to us now from the war. I have been thinking the whole time about the impossibility of re-doing the trip. (I highly recommend - and there are several copies in the local Minuteman Library Network to checkout.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10906811197704140730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-16099411340848197902013-01-21T19:41:22.913-05:002013-01-21T19:41:22.913-05:00I'll bet it was the time wasted on those Narni...I'll bet it was the time wasted on those Narnia films that did in Tilda's spontaneity. <br /><br />At least the first sounds rather interesting.Matthew Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10408057524387021992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-52232512849292004372013-01-21T18:02:23.413-05:002013-01-21T18:02:23.413-05:00My impressions are that in the center of the city,...My impressions are that in the center of the city, development by opportunity and design has wiped out a lot of the obvious signs of the old division. And the new realities of the city's gentrification and influx of foreign and domestic residents has shifted the obviousness of various neighborhoods' history. But once you get out to the edge of the city, the old line is still much more obvious.<br /><br />I think the city's divided history still operates as an important marker for those of us old enough to remember the cold war. This too is fading into history however as all things do.MaxUtilitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-10873351718621779562013-01-21T16:58:28.632-05:002013-01-21T16:58:28.632-05:00"Stream of consciousness" was the phrase..."Stream of consciousness" was the phrase I meant to write. But it was too early in the morning, and this happened instead. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-24481987676551071962013-01-21T16:54:20.243-05:002013-01-21T16:54:20.243-05:00I'm not even sure that stream of conscience ex...I'm not even sure that stream of conscience exists, I think it is only stream of consciousness as used by Joyce and Woolf. ( sorry to be a pedant, it's a great review)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-36967618581393482512013-01-21T16:53:15.533-05:002013-01-21T16:53:15.533-05:00fyi you can find the same dvd on amazon for $15.18...fyi you can find the same dvd on amazon for $15.18dougnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-4547501641591626152013-01-21T16:20:04.386-05:002013-01-21T16:20:04.386-05:00I was born in West-Berlin 1968, but my parents had...I was born in West-Berlin 1968, but my parents had enough of being enclosed by a wall and the practical sadism of the east German control personal on the border (they all were members of the Stasi, the east German state security organisation), as well as of the predominant “frontier thinking” (many people in the western part of Berlin saw themselves as kind of heroes, simply because they continued to live in a city amidst the communist eastern block) and for this reason left the city in 1976 (by random coincidence this was the year in which the highest net loss of people living in Berlin occurred – 40.000 people left), taking me with them of course. <br />In 1992 I returned to Berlin, but had to leave again in 2007 because of my job, so I think I took my share of leaving and re-visiting this town. Of course, I’ve been there often even in times when I could not live there, but I think my perspective on this town and its change processes over time is different from people who lived there continuously. And while it is true that Berlin has changed a lot since the wall came down, notably in the eastern part of the city, but my impression is that there are still many residues of former times, and many things did not change at all – below all these new surfaces in many places there are many very old ‘base lines’ that remained unchanged over the times and over the changes of political systems. <br />“Can we ever recreate an experience, or re-visit a place?” – It may be difficult to recreate an authentic East German/East Berlin experience today, but it is very easy to recreate an authentic West Berlin experience and to have a unique time travelling experience, and does even not cost you a fortune – just take a ride on the regular city bus line 218, and with a bit of luck (or planning ahead) you will travel in an original bus from the 1960s or 1970s on a route that remained virtually unchanged over the decades: http://www.traditionsbus.de/linie_218.htm (website is in German only) – this works without any special preparations and just requires a normal Berlin public transport ticket that you can buy everywhere (but don’t expect the bus drivers to speak English readily or even fluently …). If you are in Berlin and have some time on your hands, this is an experience you should not miss, although you may very well come to the conclusion that things were not necessarily better in the past - but at least they looked better sometimes …Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-7997563847993202812013-01-21T15:32:37.632-05:002013-01-21T15:32:37.632-05:00I've been wanting to see these as I love Tilda...I've been wanting to see these as I love Tilda Swinton, Cycling the Frame especially. i love Twilda and happy to see her in anything and a bike involved? All the better. nostalgia trips can be disappointing as the global consumer corporations and monoculture are everywhere and it becomes hard to tell places apart. Even in the country, lovely countryside can vanish to housing developments, and precious memories buried with them.Heathernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-73139800422682212012013-01-21T15:30:07.849-05:002013-01-21T15:30:07.849-05:00I should have included the link in my previous pos...I should have included the link in my previous post: http://homevideo.icarusfilms.com/new2011/cycl.html<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-60505636685734499102013-01-21T15:22:36.797-05:002013-01-21T15:22:36.797-05:00Nice post, the original film, Cycling the Frame is...Nice post, the original film, Cycling the Frame is available from Icarus Films on their website for $24.98. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-70741593346200782122013-01-21T13:56:57.772-05:002013-01-21T13:56:57.772-05:00nah, that's Plato paraphrasing in the Cratylus...nah, that's Plato paraphrasing in the Cratylus. Heraclitus' original wouldn't be so prosaic. Plato even records one of Heraclitus' followers suggesting that you can't even step into the same river once.<br /><br />Authentic Heraclitus river fragment: "On those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other waters flow." Where 'same' can apply to both the rivers and the people stepping in. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-52432444733930191022013-01-21T13:46:34.301-05:002013-01-21T13:46:34.301-05:00Wonderful post, perfect for your blog in every way...Wonderful post, perfect for your blog in every way! Matteohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07339424635893623978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-52069770083098566732013-01-21T13:32:53.650-05:002013-01-21T13:32:53.650-05:00In 2007, I could easily tell by the feel of a neig...In 2007, I could easily tell by the feel of a neighborhood whether it was East or West, but could not sense where the border was.<br /><br />They are apparently "putting back" some of the wall now, to preserve the history and maintain tourist interest. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-86424352226313392552013-01-21T13:28:47.522-05:002013-01-21T13:28:47.522-05:00“stream-of-conscience” is a Joycean variation on “...<i>“stream-of-conscience” is a Joycean variation on “stream-of-consciousness” </i><br /><br />hadn't realisedVelouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-4487472124391966642013-01-21T13:28:39.956-05:002013-01-21T13:28:39.956-05:00"No man steps in the same river twice" i..."No man steps in the same river twice" is of course Heraclitus. <br /><br />Lovely review. ThanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-75730921290038372992013-01-21T13:27:33.887-05:002013-01-21T13:27:33.887-05:00The followup, something like that. The 1988 film i...The followup, something like that. The 1988 film is the one worth watching.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.com