An extra bit of sculpture for you

Saw an article on the news today about the refurbishment of Oscar Wilde's tomb in Paris. The tomb, designed by Sir Jacob Epstein, had become damaged by the amount of visitors (women presumably) who had left lipstick kisses on it. The tomb was refurbished and protected by a glass screen, and was formally unveiled in a ceremony by Oscar's grandson, Merlin Holland, and the actor Rupert Everett (pictured).

More details on the BBC website.

Nostalgia

Over the last few years I've been a bit amused by how styles from the 60s and 70s have become fashionable again, and there's also nostalgia for a 'golden era' that allegedly existed in the 70s. I say allegedly because I was a teenager then and it was rubbish, so I'm rather amused to see trendy pop groups wearing clothes that I wore when I was 16. However, they don't get the subtleties - 'plain' sports shoes are pretty cool, but I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I saw a picture of Liam Gallagher wearing a parka! And, no doubt, thinking he was really cool! Us 'oldies' who lived through it the first time round know that anyone who wore a parka past the age of 14 was immediately branded a 'Mummy's Boy'!
The automotive world hasn't been spared this 60s/70s nostalgia, just look how successful the VW Beetle, Mini, and Fiat 500 have been by aping previous styles, and Triumph's whole Bonneville range has shown that bikes aren't immune from it either.
Even children's toys like the Raleigh Chopper and the Spacehopper have made a comeback, and they've been joined by another horror from my childhood. I was a branch of electrical shop Maplin and what did I see but a Stylophone! Yes, a good old Stylophone as advertised by Rolf Harris.

I did a bit of looking round the Web and found that the Stylophone is back in production. Let's hope it's better than the version built back in the 60s and 70s, which to be honest sounded like a wasp in a Coke can. Add to that they used to go out of tune depending on battery life and keyboard cleanliness, and the keys were sometimes out of tune with each other.
However, they did have their celebrity fans. David Bowie used one on Space Oddity,

And later in his career,

It almost goes with saying that Kraftwerk have used them, and have even played one live,

Here they are doing Pocket Calculator live on minimalist instruments. At 0:27, you can see Karl Bartos playing one. Also, dig the groovy dancing - who says Germans don't understand irony!
I also found some video of Little Boots using one one Later with Jools Holland:

The info with the video mentions that the thing with the flashing lights is a Tenori-on made by Yamaha, a sort of touch screen sequencer type thing. You can tell I don't know anything about this, so you may as well go to the website.
I like how she uses a mixture of 'good old technology' - a grand piano, 'good new technology' - the Tenori-on, and 'oldish rubbish technology' - the Stylophone. Can't help thinking it would have been much easier sampling a Stylophone into a modern instrument with a 'proper' keyboard'.
The most important thing about the Stylophone is the price. In the late 60s one cost £8.80, and now it costs £9.99 from Maplin. Shows how the price of electronics has gone down, and I would imagine that the new Stylophones are made in China rather than the UK, as was the case with the old ones.
I would also imagine that with the advances in technology, the new Stylophone is a lot better electronically, and will stay in tune, and be less 'battery hungry' that the old ones. Whether it still sounds like a wasp in a Coke can, we'll have to wait and see!!
I might buy one to see what it's like, but if you've got small children, DON'T buy them one for Christmas. The insistent, tuneless buzzing will drive you mad!!

Unusual Fountain/Sculpture of the Week

'De Vaartkapoen' by Tom Franzen in Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium. Website

Friday bike

Yes, I know it's Saturday!

Some manufacturers set out (or end up!) with a distinctive 'signature' that defines their products. A lot of the British companies stuck by the parallel twin, Ducati and Moto Guzzi are defined by their V twin engines, BMW their flat twins, and most of all Harley Davidson with their custom V twins. The Harley signature is so well defined that other manufacturers try to copy it as closely as patent laws allow. (Remember Harley tried to take a legal action against Honda who they said had copied their distinctive 'potato, potato' engine sound?)
You've got to admire Harley Davidson as they've made a successful business out of marketing a range of bikes that are distinctively different from other manufacturers, and are the one brand non-motorcyclists have heard of. Personally, I don't get the Harley 'thing', but enough people do to keep the company going, and if that's what they want, who am I to disagree?
However, there is one (and only one) Harley V twin that I have ever wanted or admired, and to underline the fact that I don't get the Harley 'thing', it's their least successful model!

The 1977-79 XLCR Cafe Racer. Built as a competitor to European and Japanese sports bikes, and latching on to the 'cafe racer' fashion popular in the US at the time, it never really 'gelled' as a model. Too different from the norm for Harley riders, and too expensive and slow to compete with European and Japanese bikes, it was destined to fail.
Basically just a Sportster engine in a modified Sportster frame with alloy wheels, good brakes (a first for a Harley!), but stupendous styling! Most Harleys are, to British tastes, pretty ugly and styled in the 'tart's handbag' mileau, but the XLCR looked really sharp. A BMW type fairing, a tank similar to a Honda CB400, a tailpiece influenced by flattrackers, and THAT exhaust, all added together to create a well balanced package. The beautiful way the exhaust downpipes flow in then out of each other is a work of art, and are the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned.
Whilst it's undoubtedly a beautiful bike, owning one might be a bit of a chore as the engine is very low tech and it was built during an era were build quality was far down the list of priorities for Harley. But would it be any harder to live with than a 70s British bike?
According to what I could find on the Web, about 3,200 were built, and no doubt very few made it to the UK. So few in fact, that I've never actually seen one, and have only seen a couple for sale (for ludicrously high prices) over the years.(Cue Larry coming along and saying 'I've got three in my shed, and they only cost me $10 each!')
More details here.

Cool car

Sometimes when you're looking on the Web, the most unexpected things pop up. I was looking at the website of a company that makes number plates, and in their 'Plate of the Month' page there was this lovely wedding photo:

Imagine going to your wedding in an early Trabant! Not sure what this model is called, but no doubt mr.combo will be along in a minute to tell us (It's a bit older than the one he had).
Also, isn't the colour very similar to 'Periwinkle' and 'Creme de la Creme'? - That's what's called 'good taste'!

Useful things no. 2

A friend showed me a little device he had bought that impressed me so much that I bought one for myself. It's a small (and I mean very small) powered loudspeaker for use with iPods, etc, called the x-mini. It folds down to smaller than a tennis ball.

In use it unclips and expands to become a proper resonator.

Pictured here expanded along with the carry bag and recharging lead that come with it. You can also see the connecting lead that clips to the base when not in use.
To give an idea of scale, here's one connected to an iPod Touch, with a tape measure, a £1 coin and a 1 Euro coin.

In use the quality of sound is stunning! I would never have believed that you could get such a high quality and volume of sound out of something so small. I had expected it to sound really 'tinny', but it manages lower frequencies very well.
It has a 3.5mm output socket, so that you can 'daisy chain' another x-mini for more volume. This socket is useful if you want to use it with a radio or an Ipod with a radio function.
Personal radios use the earphone lead as an antenna, so the short lead of the x-mini doesn't work very well. If you plug another lead into the x-mini's output, it will act as an antenna and pick up radio stations adequately.

The battery is recharged from any USB port via the supplied lead, so can be plugged into a laptop computer.
Ideal for carrying on a bike when touring as it allows you to listen to your Ipod or radio in your hotel room or tent. If you don't have a laptop with you, you can always recharge it from the USB port you can fit to your bike (next 'Useful things' post).
I got mine from Amazon, where strangely it's cheaper in black. There are loads of other people selling them on the Web, so hunt around for the best price.

National Motorcycle Museum

I've posted some photos I took during a visit to the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham in 2000 on Flikr. Here

This was before they had the fire, so it's possible that some of the bikes here have been lost.
Sorry for the poor quality, but I'd used a compact film camera with a tiny flash.