Guy In Blue Jersey Wins Tour de France

I've been watching some of the Tour de France coverage this year. For me, oddly perhaps, it's not about the race but the photography. The French countryside through which the bicyclists travel is simply gorgeous. The coverage from day to day is like one big travelogue for rural France.

The race itself can be exciting at times, like when someone sprints away from the pack. You sit glued to the TV to see if anyone else will break away and catch up to him.

But one thing that annoys me is how some fans react. I think these guys have been standing out in the hot sun on a hillside too long sucking back the vin rouge.

You see, as the bikers draw near and start to climb an incline the fans on both sides of the road crowd in and what once was a two lane road quickly becomes a gauntlet barely wide enough to fit a bike and it's rider.

And the fans whoop and holler, wave flags and clap. The braver fans - or maybe the more inebriated - slap the bicyclist on the back or, stand in their way or run along beside them bumping them almost off their bikes. It's just crazy. And the more die-hard fans run along beside the riders dressed up in costumes. Weird.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday one fan decided to take matters into his own hands. What did he do? Well, watch...

Way to go, mon ami. This year, as far as I'm concerned, the guy in the Blue Jersey wins the Tour de France.

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav...

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! ...

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

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