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NY Minutes: Why you need a folding bike

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i.e. a bike you can bring inside. Say no more. Wait! Say THIS . OK, I gotta say more ... At the Film Society of Lincoln Center's GreenScreens event on May 5, I was the lone little panelist touting the virtues of transportation you can take with you, not to mention that you can get your leg over a small wheeled bike when you're 64, 74, 84 ... Present at the screening were luminaries of the bike advocacy world including Bicycle Film Fest's Brent Barbur and Portland Bicycle Transportation Alliance frontman Scott Bricker - featured prominently in the film Veer - who came all the way over to the dark side especially for the screening. Unfortunately, the rain kept most people off their bikes and away from the event. I tried to find Scott after the show for a chat, but I guess he'd already winged it back to the west coast. Naturally I did a bit of the crowdpleasing 1-2 with the pink tikit , and raffled off a Traffic Cone Bag . Thanks to the Film Society of Lincoln C

My mother 71 and 5 days later ...

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You never know who you might run into when you least expect it ... As you can see, mother is still on a tear in NYC. Her visit to 'the center of the universe' is drawing to a close and she will soon return to her 15 year post at Sydney's premier stufforama to the stars, Peter's of Kensington. Not only is she the oldest staff member there, she knows how to sell Alessi accoutrements like a deeeeemaaaan ...   MOMIX: Herbal tonic for eyes! Last night we scored $19 frontish-row tickets to the most amazing, trippy, surreal, illusionist dance performance I've seen since Philippe Genty - MOMIX's 'Botanica' at the Joyce Theater . OK, I saw PG a looooong time ago. Perhaps this stuff is now mainstream ... "It's like Circ du Soleil before the latter went all commercial," said mother. Google MOMIX and you'll see it's commandeered by a truly Dali-esque character-choreographer, Moses Pendleton. This show opened with a stunning multime

Happy 71st in NYC, Mum (that's Mom upover)

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Above: My mother is a big Sesame Street fan. She carries a photo of Bert and Ernie in her wallet. Shot in FAO Schwartz - where you can create a muppet of any kind but the one you're actually a fan of, due to "copyright". What's up with that? I want my own Prof. Bunsen Honeydew , the most Chinese of all the muppets! My mother celebrates 71 years on the planet today - here in "the center of the universe" (as my NY friends call it). In a week she's practically walked the entire length and breadth of Manhattan. Twice. Not surprising - she's recently done belly dancing, quigong, pilates, tapdancing and yes, poledancing with me ! Read the full montymedia about that. I wouldn't be surprised if she enrolled in breakdancing like the show we stumbled on in Central Park last Friday - c heck out my movie . My mother's hero? "TINA TURNER". She even took yoga and pilates mat classes at Joschi , where I'm currently enrolled in a 200-hour yoga

Interview by Matador Travel

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Matador's Julie Schwietert Collazo interviewed me recently on the Handsomest Man in Cuba.

Downward Dog Days in NYC 2009

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Bike Friday customer Colin Freestone is a long time yoga practitioner. "When I did a cycling trip and neglected my practice I became "unco" (uncoordinated)" he said. Read more . BACK from a month of customer evangelizing in Arizona and Colorado I've headplanted myself into a 200-hour yoga teacher training course at a small, Chelsea studio called Joschi Body Bodega . Yup, as I told my Facebook friends, "this is the year for getting certified in everything you normally pay for". Certainly better than sinking money into high risk stocks! I've noticed that my cycling life has probably created, shall we say, certain imbalances in my mortal coil. Crunchy knees , and a stiffish upper body which I sought to rectify by taking up poledancing . Only trouble with that one - you need a pole! I realized I can't be the only cyclist noticing these changes. I decided that with the right education, I could devise a yoga practise suitable for my bicycling br

Countin' Cougars in Colorado

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So here I am in Boulder, Colorado, for the first time in my life, and direct from another Arizona Desert Camp . My Colorado Schedule I've already been treated to a couple of nights at the home of the Bike Friday Club of Denver leaders Tom and Dianna McDermott, who took me cougar spotting at the local Whole Paycheck on the first day. Cougar spotting? Git thee with the times or, for those too lazy to click: Cougar – an older woman who sexually pursues men at least eight years her junior.[12] The term has been used in (American) TV series, advertising and film. The 2007 film Cougar Club was dedicated to the subject. It is also featured in the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch "Cougar Den". There was only one possible sighting - a woman in a baby pink Chanel-cut suit, big glasses, blonde hair, beige pumps. Let's say, the kind of outfit you would not ride a bicycle in except for a Bond poster. "At 46, your qualify as a cougar you put on that flapper dress,"

Got my Greencard at last!

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Well here it is - some 8 years after landing in the USA on a temporary H1B work permit. In truth, I only started applying for it properly about 18 months ago, under the category National Interest Waiver, which I talked about here . The people I must thank include the referees I had to muster to build my case. Either that or get married, and we can't have me doing that, now can we? Thank you to the following people for providing glowing references: Fred Matheny, RoadBikeRider.com Alan Scholz, Co-founder, Bike Friday Dan Okenfuss, VP Public Relations, Little People of America Douglas Card, Adjunct Professor, U of O Eileen Lafer, Professor, U of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio Fred Iannotti, Life Member, Appalachian Mountain Club Gihon Jordan, Transportation Expert Jackie Huba, Principal, CustomerEvangelists.com Jeff Bernards, Bicycle Advocate Jerry Norquist, CEO, Cycle Oregon Jerry Segal, CFO, Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc. Jim Clash, "The Adventure