Honda Rider's Voice

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Desert Double Feature hosted by The Cinemated Man

In this episode The Cinemated Man proudly presents...

THE DESERT DOUBLE FEATURE!

King Solomon's Mines (1937)

The Legacy of a King Awaits Them!
Directed by Robert Stevenson

Music by Mischa Spoliansky

Total Running time: 1hr 27min

Don't go anywhere!
The Second half of our

Desert Double Feature is ...

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

1750 to 1! Always outnumbered! Never out-fought!

Directed by Henry Hathaway

Music by Herman Hand

Total Running time: 1hr 48min

The Greatest Show on Earth

Right now taking a moment to write while watching the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. What a show! Truly fantastic. It puts anything else of this magnitude to shame and raises the bar for any kind of large show like this.

The classical choir singers were splendid. I just loved the whole darkened stadium effect with the lit up dancers and performers. Truly a work of moving art. And when the flame went out, I had tears in my eyes as I did when they played the national anthem of Great Britain, hearing that and seeing the Olympic rings brought me back, somehow, to my high school days and one of my favorite movies of that time, Chariots of Fire. 

Even though I love Jimmy Page (who doesn't?) and the whole London double decker bus w/ David Beckham was fun stuff, the dancers around it, representing the British upcoming games were really no comparison to what we had been seeing with the Beijing ceremonies. London will have to fill some seriously large shoes after this.  

All in all, a wonderful event, and as the OIC chairman said in his speech, these were truly excellent games. 

Let the Games Beijing!

They say, that the best response to critics is success.

 

Well, China's answer to the protests over whether they should host the Olympics is a resounding, and spectacular one. Man alive, can the Chinese do spectacle!

What a magnificent opening ceremony! I've never seen anything like it. Not since the days of the wonderful Jim McKay has an opening ceremony made me feel this good about the Olympics.

That flame run. Man alive. With the scroll unrolling as Li Ning ran, showing the journey the flame had taken to get here, to Beijing, boy, I got choked up watching that. And with the finale of his run, as he connected full circle to show the then unseen grande large torch being unveiled and finally, lit. Gosh, what a moment!

Who would've thought that with all this cynicism around us, all this complaining, all this commercialization, Charlie Brown, that an opening ceremony could do that, could still, through all that, create a moment where all else is forgotten, where all eyes are watching a solitary figure, one man running with a small spark of humanity held high.

The power of spectacle, the angelic singing, the imagery, and the magic of night all conspired to produce an unforgettable moment worthy of Titans.

Well done, China. Well done.

And what about the protesters in the peanut gallery? No picture included here, thank you very much. But don't worry, you'll be seeing plenty of them from our reliable media, that's for certain. When I think of it, I find it curious that the self-proclaimed protectors of rights of others wish to extinguish the Olympic flame, which is another's right to display.  Another shining example of intolerable intolerance from those who preach tolerance.

Well, the world doesn't care. The world is watching the Olympics, now, not the silly antics of spoiled and sponsored children hoping to get on camera and earn some extra credit from their equally spoiled college professors, who are too cowardly to do what they inspire, say rather indoctrinate, their own students to do. And that goes for any athletes who wish to poison the waters by getting political in any part of the games. We didn't stand for it with the Black Panthers and we shouldn't stand for it now. To think, a gentleman like the incredible Jim Thorpe had to give back his medals when all he did was play in a semi-professional game, violating, ever so slightly, the rules of the amateur. Now, we have professional athletes competing on their off season and complaining about fairness. 

It's doubly ironic that a communist country, one with a checkered past of squelching dissident views is the target of protesters wishing and hoping to squelch the flame that this nation hosts, the flame, a symbol of freedom and competition - both, very uncommunist characteristics, mind you - and integrity. And it is a symbol of hope, that many, perhaps naively, feel can unite the world for at least a short time, in enjoying these, the esprit de corps of The Games.

Grand Opening! Team Super Cub online shop

Cartoon Characters

American Cyclists arrive in Black Masks

Well, since the Americans chose to arrive in Bejing sporting BLACK masks and Beijing in BLACK on the T shirts, obviously trying to make some political point beyond their concerns over the pollution, I thought it was time to revive this poignant and wholly truthful cartoon once again. 

Actions like those children who were invited to participate in the games, makes me ashamed to be an American. It's NOT the place to be political, dorks.  Thanks for spoiling the mood. The only pollution in the air, that's worse than the factories is their own hot air. Grow up and do your sport. No one wants to hear your whining. 

I was sent this by a friend. It says it all. I can't make out who the cartoonist is, but he/she really hit the mark.

Too bad those who are protesting won't bother to heed the message or even learn from it. They'd rather just make a lot of noise, get themselves on the news and spoil things for others. If they really cared about the issues that they say they do, they would have been protesting long, long ago, and for many, many other issues as well.

Reminds me of the anti-war protesters who went ballistic when 6 people were killed in an accidental bombing by a U.S. warplane. Very tragic, without a doubt. But those same 'caring' protesters were silent when Saddam was lowering his citizens into plastic shredders and feeding the human gel to his palace dogs over years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years, etc. Nope, not a raised eyevbrow from the 'outraged', not a inch of activity from the activists, not a whisper from the 'outspoken'.

Nope. Nada, nothing, nowhere.

It's come to the point where I make it a point to ignore any and all protests. It's a shame too, since many of them are/could be valid in their pure form. But what with corporate sponsorship of protests, and billionaires funding them, fahgetaboutit. Who can trust that message any more then the message they are trying to silence? Not me.

And I firmly stand against anyone who thinks attacking a woman in a wheelchair is a valid political statement.

And I wonder where those masks were manufactured, anyway. And how 'green' those factories must be.  

Happy Anniversary, Super Cub! 50 Years Young!

I went back to the dealer to pick up an air cleaner element and took a couple more photos. 

In that short span of time, someone dropped off a yellow Motocompo for used sale on the second floor. 

Here's some sneak peak early shots of the brand new 50th Anniversay Edition Super Cub and Little Cub, still not fully assembled at the dealer. 

The added indicators look a bit 'add-on' for my tastes, but I'm sure lots of folks will appreciate them. I would've rather seen them incorporated into the speedo face like it is on the Little Cub, or as separate bezeled openings on the handlebar cover. 

The differences in powerplant are evident here with the lack of cooling fins on the cylinder head and black crank casing. 

Still not ready to see your public!

The Gold-on-Dark combination is tastefully commemorative of the 50 years of a winning creation. And the black crank case works better with the dark body color and dark leg guard (only available with a regular 08 Little Cub). 

Overall, not a bad look here. 

Or here. But I just can't get used to that black crank casing. It seems out of place next to the aluminum chain guard. Especially on a lighter colored Cub, like this Little 'un. 

The Little Cub harks back to the original Super Cubs with it's 1950's Blue paint scheme. 

Here's a trio of Little Cubs, '08 models that are not the 50th Anniversary Edition models. They look a little lonely over there next to the Zoomer. 

Visit the Honda website celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the Super Cub, click here.

Extra Baggage

Home and Country

On a recent trip back home, it was good to see clear blue skies, green lawns (that aren't over-manicured and picked clean of all natural nature) and of course, superb weather, albeit, mighty hot.  I rented a Chrysler Caliber and drove around the area taking some photos. 

Your intrepid over-sleeper, here out in front of friends' restaurant in New Hope, PA, looking mighty jetlagged. 

Inside the restaurant, Bucks Bounty.  Hard to see in this pic, but the arched ceiling has a native American motif painted by friend and designer Tom Gass also of New Hope.

Restaurant owner/chef John restoring the old colonial house next to the restaurant which served as a B&B at one time. 

Some well-heeled neighbors. 

The now defunct Bethlehem Steel Mill sits dark and lifeless like a derelict spaceship. 

Back to Japan. Inside Narita Airport Train terminal 1.