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Monday, June 15, 2009
Salvador Dali's Bicycle . . . (re-visited)
On a recent trip into Paris I couldn't help but notice this bicycle with deformed wheels attached to a downspout. On another recent trip into Paris I had seen another bicycle in similar condition, photographed it, and posted it in these pages, wondering if it was Salvador Dali's bicycle. So now, based on a random sample of two events, I'm starting to wonder if there is a phenomenon occurring in the world where bicycle wheels are spontaneously becoming non-linearly round, or to put it another way, badly bent ? ? ? What is going on here ? Have they caught bicycle flu ? Are they depressed and unable to bear the weight of daily life any longer ? Do their owners maybe need to lose a few pounds ? Are there roving gangs of idiot youths going around in the dark mugging bike wheels, jumping on them to produce this effect ? ? ? If that last option is the answer, that's pretty sad. Have any of you ever seen a bike in this condition where your live ?
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20 comments:
I like the idea of the bicycle depression! Maybe they feel depressed because they are no longer fashonable and flashy and become getting older?
Have a nice week and do zobaczenia!
(It means see you)
It looks like a cartoon bike panting with sheer exhaustion...!
Knowing much about bikes I know too that it took much force to put it into such a condition.
Would like to 'use' some of it to enforce my life - just wonder what the bike did to deserve this?
Thank you very much for the hint to see those pictures! Together with the bike they gave much food for thought.
Will check for such bike here and yes, very right, seems out of a painting done by Dali.
Well, to put my spoke in I would suggest that these bikes have possibly escaped from a chain gang (yes, wheely) and are trying to break the cycle of violence which has led to their current condition. As George says, Ride on Josephine (or was that Napoleon??)
My son (a bike nut) sent me this link to his latest wish for tricking out an art bike. You might enjoy this LED wheel invention. http://www.monkeylectric.com/m464q.htm
When this post first went up, I tried like hell to comment and got bupkis! Thus, as I prepare to hit the road to mid-America, I would just like to mention that one of my very first photos in 1976, during my first trip to Paris, was of just such an abandoned bicycle in the 13th. When I get to France and unearth my photo albums, I will scan and post it as an homage to your photo study and research on the enigma of those Dali-esque objects!
Ciao, Bello!
Unfortunately I have seen to many of these! ... and unfortunately for the owners they cannot get any Dali price for them! Maybe better to go for the Velib solution?
Well.. you don't see many bikes around here at all, apart from the racing bicyclists who take up the whole road.... In fact, I reckon that could be the fate of these bikes, they have had the wrath of a driver upon them.
Or it could just be that they are unfortunately placed in the general area of an opening portal, which everyone knows, carries so much force with it it could easily bendyfy a bicycle wheel.
I remember a band from the 1980's called Dali's Car but Dali's bicycles are new to me . It does look rather sureal and if they keep popping up I predict global warming will soon be blamed.
Hi Owen! I used to see bikes in much worse condition, but the very expensive lock was still guarding them!
PS: I saw on Lille's blog that you asked how to put the words over the comment box? If you go to your Blog settings, under the "comments" tab, scroll down to the "Comment Form Message" and you can put whatever you want in that box.
Superbe Owen ! Ton "ami" ce soir a besoin de voir cette journée très très loin ! La violence dans mon job, c'est pas simple tous les jours !... Je gère dab ! Et des fois, faut gérer après ! ! !
Ciao mon pote ! Ton message de ce jour avec la bicyclette m'inspire ! Je reviendrai t'en dire ma vision !
Bonsoir Owen !...8:)
I too have a shot of a bicycle with melted wheels...this one in downtown Calgary...Salvador Dali's ghost at work?!?
Hi Joo, well hopefully getting older isn't too great a source of depression... otherwise there'd be alot of it around; am trying to get older gracefully, one day at a time... but could be the case for this unfortunately bi-pedal...
Steve, yeah, the little bicycle that couldn't ... ;-D
Robert, I think you're right, considerable force and effort were used to bend these wheels... leverage of some sort. Which implies intent and purpose...
Oh Sagittarian, you easily win the Bad Bicyclists Bountiful Punning award for today ! And you can take it home and ... FRAME ... it !!!
And I suppose it was both George T. and Napoleon ;-D
Hey Bill, crazy wheels there... not sure I'm ready for that on my own mountain bike... but someone must like 'em...
Hi Fram, will look forward with great anticipation, even if it takes a little while, for your photo ! Sorry you had trouble leaving a comment, sometimes Blogger is SO aggravating...
Peter, there do seem to be alot about, a shame for the owners, especiially if they don't have a car, and don't have space in their apartments in Paris to get them in off the street. The Velibs seem to be doing good business... a great idea !
Waterkits, I sure hope nobody was riding this one when it got hit by a wrathful driver... riding in Paris is a risky business, as Parisian drivers can be a menace !
James, never came across Dali's Car, but like most everything else, I see they're on YouTube... and you are no doubt on the money, it must be linked to global warming, everything else is, right?
Rain, yeah, sometimes they just leave the frame and the lock... thx for the cmmts tip !
Jeff, pas de souci... gère bien... un bon verre de... à bientôt
Chicken... guess it's a worldwide phenomenon... too bad, people should be nice to bicycles these days, we need to use them more, not abuse them...
Definitely another bicycle that belonged to Salvador Dali. Remember those plastic, drooping, melty watches?
Or, I don't know, are people gaining weight in France as they are here? and the bicycles can't support the increased avoirdupoids? C'est drole, de toute facon.
Margaret, could be that people are gaining weight... or maybe someone spiked the water supply with LSD, and I'm just seeing things strangely ???
:-)
just like "les montres molles" de Dali!
Bikes here in India have no age, or decades and decades... i'll share one shot one day ; as of today I have started a series of magic "Three"... hope you'll like it!
See you my dear Owen
Loulou
Looks like the day just got a little hot and it melted a bit... that's all....
David
Hi Owen, It's been a while since I posted a comment on your wonderfully, amusing blog. I enjoy your witty descriptions of each one of your post.
Sadly enough, there is a bike in poor condition ( but the wheels are not bent ) sitting right in my shed. It is a 1969 Royce, Roll Fast, with white wall tires and chrome fenders. It is mine from when I was 13....I used to take good care of it and wash it and shine it every week. It moved with me when I got married and I stored it safely down in my basement. Well!....I had 3 kids and when they grew up they decided to take over my basement, and moved my Royce into that horrid old metal shed....that began the demise of the Royce. It is now all moldy and rusty....poor thing, yet I can't depart from it.
There ya have it!
Thank you for stopping by my blog.
Cheers!
Owen,
I've seen bikes like this, also. The result of deliberate attacks. The derailleur on the ground is also a sign of the violence of the attack. From the wear on the tires, this was a bike that someone rode ALL the time. It's a shame to see it turned into this by some wacko who while he may love Dali, needs some serious anger management therapy.
hi :-)
i love your Dali bike shot - but if Walter is right, then i am sad too, attacking bikes, omg, what will come next? i remember the problem they had in Berlin, all the window of the tramways, rapid trains etc. being systematically scratched until they became almost opaque...
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