The League of American Wheelmen was founded by Kirk Munroe and Charles Pratt right here in Newport on May 30, 1880. It was founded to promote bicycle safety and sponsored rallies and races as well. They were also involved in the Good Roads Movement, created to promote the paving and maintenance of roads throughout the US, well before the advent of the automobile. Now known as the League of American Bicyclists, it keeps a list of bicycle-friendly cities and towns, and promotes the idea of turning unused railroad tracks to bicycle paths. There's a small 3-feet-high granite memorial to the LAW in Touro Park facing Bellevue Ave.
For today's video and musical enjoyment, my first pick just had to be Queen's "Bicycle Race", also known as "I Want to Ride My Bicycle". There were a lot of choices on YouTube for this song; I picked this one because the slides used were just right for this week's theme.
Now the next bit is a little more history. Remember the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, and especially near the end when Dave disables HAL's memory? HAL ended up "singing" "Daisy, Daisy" (also known as "A Bicycle Built for Two"), part of his start-up sales pitch program. Well, Kubrick borrowed that from Bell Labs' Max V. Mathews, who in 1961 created the program to make the Bell Labs' big IBM 704 computer sing the song. Being the electronic/computer music geek that I am, I actually have a copy of that historic recording; here it is:
Max is still with us, and he's one of my heroes. He now teaches at Stanford University, one of the hotbeds of computer and electro-acoustic music, and was Scientific Advisor with IRCAM (Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) in Paris. His focus is on performance, i.e. creating programs to allow the performer to use the computer in live performances. He's been a huge influence on people like Donald Buchla (synthesizer and digital interface inventor) and Thomas Dolby. Which brings me to the final video: Max himself in 2007 improvising over the original program for "Daisy, Daisy", this time on the much more convenient laptop computer rather than a room-sized IBM 704. Enjoy!
Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
First entry I visit and you never disappoint! Always did like this Queen song :)
ReplyDeleteAnd great history lesson, as well. Nice carving ( or do you know if that was mechanically done? )
I really enjoyed the bit of history about Daisy, Daisy on 2001. We tend to take things like that for granted, and never know what went into creating it.
ReplyDeleteWow! I loved this. Maybe because I'm a retired computer programmer -- but whatever reason...this was great!
ReplyDeleteI'm in what may be the most bicycle friendly city in the country. We have strong laws for bicycle lanes here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the slice of history.
ReplyDeleteOh, yea, QUEEN! -J
very cool roy...liked the history on 2001...very few areas to ride here other than a great trail where the old railroad used to run...they paved it over end you even get to go through a tunnel int eh mountain..
ReplyDeleteI want a League of American Wheelmen coffee cup.
ReplyDeleteRemember the Bell Labs movies from school, like Our Mister Sun and Hemo the Magnificent? They usually ended with a great wonders-o'-nature montage set the celestial chorus of Beethoven's Ninth.
Turning unused tracks into bicycleways is a great idea .. sadly not enough tracks here but we do have cycleways on most highways and freeways.And I never knew that about the old computer and Bicycle Made for Two! My Gran used to sing the song quite a lot when we were little. I wonder if Daft Punk use old Max's technique, many of the 'voices' on their tracks are computer generated rather than recorded and distorted. You covered the topic well Roy! I didn't have time to play this week.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is so fun...I learn something new every time I visit! Loved the first video...haha!
ReplyDeleteRoy, I quite enjoyed reading about The League of American Wheelmen AND of course, as you know, I LOVE Queen!
ReplyDeleteLiked your music video better than mine!
I consider the Penny Farthing an excellent practical joke.
ReplyDeleteWe do indeed peddle down the same cycle path. But that additional material about the LAW means that, as far as I am concerned, you win the Golden Cycle Bell.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I found this post very interesting and informative!
ReplyDeleteTake care
i remember my old nan singing Daisy Daisy. She had a sister called Daisy too...
ReplyDeleteShame there isn't a vid. of that penny farthing race!
Love the journey back in time. Thanks
ReplyDeletestill making my rounds from last Thursday
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