Category Archives: Torque

Glenn Gould plays Bach and hums

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I bought two CDs of Glenn Gould playing Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations (1981) and The Art of the Fugue. He’s a brilliant pianist and he really rocks the Johann Sebastian Bach but I sometimes wish he had shut up during the recording sessions. I don’t hear it during the organ fugues but his off-tune humming comes through on many of the piano tracks. In some places it’s cute but mostly it evokes jittery images of Frankenstein hunched over his work in one of his mad genius fits. Excellent albums.

Less Whim, More Plan

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Buy a motorcycle: check. I bought a 1985 Honda Shadow 500cc cruiser (a.k.a. VT 500c, VT500C) with about 3,400 miles. It’s perfectly smooth at 80mph with me, a backpack, and a large bag fastened to the tank with magnets.

Sell my furniture and move in with my grandparents: not so fast. We decided one week would be a good amount of time to spend together.

WordCamp 2007 is in San Francisco in July so I’m planning a 7,000-mile road trip (calendar, map). The map shows stops approximately 500 miles apart. I will ride each of those intervals in 1-2 days, taking detours through state/national parks when possible and stopping frequently to stretch and get online. I will be photographing and blogging the trip.

The bike runs very well and gets 55mpg but it needs a few things before a cross-country ride: clean the gas tank and carburetors, replace the fork seals, change the oil.

Lodging is up in the air; motels and couch-surfing are my main options as I’m not going to buy camping gear. If you live near the route and would like to host me for a night and/or join me for part of the ride, please leave a comment. It would be wonderful to ride into San Francisco with a WordCamp posse! The route on the map linked above is tentative; I’ll change it if it makes lodging or touring more convenient.