“Portrait of my grandfather: 80 and still cycling” is a short documentary movie by Florent Piovesan, about his grandfather Benjamin Piovesan and his passion for cycling.
Category: Cycling and Music, Cinema, Art
Composer and sound designer Johnny Random transformed his bicycle into a musical instrument: created without the additional use of synthesizers, samplers, or drum machines, Bespoken by Johnny Random was inspired by childhood memories of riding bicycles and placing cards between the spokes to hear them in the wind. But it is much more sophisticated than that: Johnny Random utilized a violin bow and other music accessories to achieve some of the unique sounds produced.
Another cycling-related song. This time, from Tom Waits: Broken bicycles. A very, very beautiful, romantic, and sad song. From the 1982 album named “One from the Heart”, a soundtrack album of Tom Waits’ compositions for the Francis Ford Coppola film of the same name.
I received a surprise package today, a gift from a friend: three books and a micro bicycle. I won the books in a bet, actually: Alberto Contador vs Chris Froome at the Tour de France 🙂
I always liked the songs, movies, and music videos about bicycles, or those using bicycles as visual materials. Folon (meaning “in the past”) is a beautiful song from Malian artist Salif Keita. According to Wikipedia, Keita is unique not only because of his reputation as the “Golden Voice of Africa” but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita.
Here is the music video of that beautiful song, enjoy.
“Au Vélodrome”, also known as “At the Cycle-Race Track” and “Le cycliste”, is a painting by the French painter Jean Metzinger. According to the art historian Erasmus Weddigen, it illustrates the final meters of the Paris-Roubaix monumental classic and portrays its 1912 winner Charles Crupelandt (1886-1955).
The painting was acquired by Peggy Guggenheim in 1945 and is now permanently on view in her museum in Venice; Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Jean Metzinger (June 24, 1883- November 3, 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, writer, critic, poet, and sensitive and intelligent theoretician. Along with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Albert Gleizes, developed the art style known as Cubism.
Quote of the day, from Dino Buzzati. Buzzati was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter, and poet, as well as a journalist for Corriere Della Sera. He was also a cycling enthusiast.
1924 Giro d’Italia was very extraordinary. Because, Alfonsina Strada participated in that year’s Giro d’Italia, and became the only woman to have ridden one of cycling’s three 3-week grand tours.
Vita in Salita (Life Uphill) is a beautiful song by Italian singer&songwriter Marcello Bettaglio.
“Ciao Fausto”: Goodbye Fausto, a very beautiful song by Italian singer and songwriter Mario Gualtieri.