(1) Disneyland Paris reimagines its events offer (Exhibition World)
(2) This post has some amazing personal significance! #serendipity
Today marks 50 years since the first flight of #Concorde. See some striking stamp designs to commemorate the occasion -> https://t.co/UR4N3p0us3
— The Postal Museum (@thepostalmuseum) March 2, 2019
…or see it in real-life @BrooklandsMuseu for their special day of celebration! pic.twitter.com/ExbKE4SrYY
(1) Oregon bike tax is coming: Here are a few quirks in the law and how shops feel about it (BikePortland)
(2) Lawrence Solomon: Ban the bike! How cities made a huge mistake in promoting cycling (Financial Post)
File Under: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas or Bah Humbug
(1) Innovations Threaten the Neighborhood Bike Shop (NY Times)
“‘The change in the outside world is profound,’ he said. ‘We haven’t been as affected by the internet as bookstores and record stores, but it is coming.'”
(2) Generation Lost…
(1) Stunning Photos of Trains Roaring Through Picturesque Landscapes (My Modern Met)
Some of these photographs remind me of the Yellow Train by Francois Roca.
(1a) Flashback: Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival
(2) Brightline Brings High-Speed Trains To Florida: The 125-mph Brightline trains will be the first privately run passenger service to debut in over 100 years (The Drive)
Channeling Henry Flagler?
*Scan is from The Art of Makoto Shinkai
(1) How theme parks like Disney World left the middle class behind (Washington Post)
(2) The Brave Old Temeraire by James Duff
Our friends depart, and are forgot,
As time rolls fleetly by;
In after years none, none are left,
For them to heave a sigh;
But hist’ry’s page will ever mark
The glories she did share,
And gild the sunset of her fate,
The brave old Temeraire
(3) My first Playmobil photos since December 31, 2014 (a very small tribute to Horst Brandstätter):
Dry Dock
For the purpose of being broken up…
Oak, and iron, and man
(1) Eminent domain on steroids? New bill threatens cities, towns (Fairfield Citizen)
(2) How Bad Religion Has Bequeathed Us ‘An Anxious Age’ (The Federalist)
First ride of 2012! It was mostly an excuse to test the installation of a Brooks Flyer Saddle. I rode to the post office and stopped for coffee.
I had a copy of the Wall Street Journal in the basket which I retrieved from the end of the driveway before my ride. I thought about taking a picture of it in the basket and titling this post, “Green & Pro Business” but my legs felt like rubber and the camera was upstairs (awful, right???). I did commit to stamping correspondence with a bike to indicate it was delivered to the post office using ‘my old rubber legs’ and now a trip to the Great American Stamp Store (local retail) is in the offing.
The bike itself though is a good pro business metaphor (a contemporary version of the pencil) and it all begins with a humble and brilliant artisan like Mike Flanigan of A.N.T. and an idea.
But there is also another dynamic at work in this metaphor and that is the venerable history of Brooks England which has endured since 1866 despite being subjected to the creative destruction of capitalism.
It’s a tough lesson but prior success (market share, profitability, etc.) doesn’t guarantee survivability in perpetuity. I love Lehmann Gross Bahn but a myriad of factors resulted in their decline. And the government could have intervened with a bail out or offered subsidies BUT none of that would have offset changing market conditions. Additionally, precious resources would have been restricted from finding their most efficient and productive use despite some period of displacement.
Unfortunately what persists in this country now is a perversion of free markets (crony capitalism) where government is choosing winners and losers for political gain (self-preservation). The theater is cute – Warren’s secretary at the SOTU – but all sorts of companies are benefiting from these government-driven perversions (see related) and it’s a ‘stick in the spokes’ to honest and hard-working entrepreneurs (job creators).
This post seems SO juvenile but I’ve spoken at length with college educated people who were never taught common sense economics.
Related
Buffett’s Burlington Northern Among Pipeline Winners
Solyndra Not Sole Firm to Hit Rock Bottom Despite Stimulus Funding
A.N.T. Open House: Lovely Bicycle Sightings
Yeah. I’ve added a category for tires/tyres because of my obsession with vulcanized rubber. Photographs of tires/tyres for me are like hi-res food shots to foodies.
I watched Tokyo Story last night and Noriko [Setsuko Hara] was employed by the Yoneyama Trading Company whose business was tires apparently (?).
Speaking of pron; here is some new bike pron! The first is an illustration/drawing by Scott White from Bermuda Journey. The second is from another movie with Setsuko Hara called Late Spring.
(1) Get-Tough Policy on Chinese Tires Falls Flat (WSJ)
(1a) The reincarnation of the Playmobil Classic Car (6240) with accompanying tire pron!
This has nothing to do with tires but was part of my weekend reading:
(2) Boardroom Conquerors (WSJ)
“The good life, Mr. Kluth suggests, is not to be found by trying to imitate those we consider leaders and successes, who are rarely all they seem. It consists of doing what we must, as well as we are able, perceptions and consequences be damned.”
