My balcony, my street

Let me first say, now that I have internet in my home, it will be waaaaaaaaaay easier to post. I could have paid for internet for a decade for what I've spent in internet cafes. And, I never felt quite comfortable doing this at work.

It's a little confusing having a Hungarian IP address: google comes up in Hungarian, even blogspot. Computers are smart: they always know where they are.

Here's Monday's post. It's a bit late, but expect better service from now on. No, demand it.

As a lad I knew it as Cafe Racing: men, and women I suppose, hurtling on two wheels at terrifying speed, cornering with their knees almost touching, but not quite, the asphalt. This is my street, Erzsébet Körut, but without the corners. Riders hurtle from stop light to stop light as fast as their racing bike can carry them - in first gear. I suppose if the bike they rode where the motorcyclic equivalent of a top fuel dragster, or even a Formula 1 racer (WARNING: turn down the volume before you click that last link), they might get the bike into second gear and still have time to brake. These riders assiduously observe traffic lights. Up and down the boulevard they speed and brake, brake and speed, going as fast as they can in 100 m before they must slam on the brakes. Imagine 100 m sprinters called back, yet again, for another false start, then you will capture the futility of this urban racing: Sisyphus would ride a 1000 cc Kawasaki Ninja AND play saxophone (see "Ode on A Parisian Saxophone").

So, allow me to put on my science teaching hat: why don't those bikes fall over in tight corners? A spinning wheel generates a torque and the faster the spin the stronger the torque. Did you ever try to tip over a spinning top? It's because of the torque the wheel generates that you can't easily tip it over. Imagine each wheel on the motorcycle as a spinning top and you'll understand why motorcycles are so stable when they are moving at high speed. Or maybe I got that wrong? I'll know for certain once I start teaching grade ten physics.

The correct response to last weeks (or two) survey: in English, bérletigazolvány, means "pass".

Thanks to everyone who has visited this blog. "kenikoop abroad" now rates a hit on google!!!

Viszlát!

Next week (no, for real): I stick my neck out with a tribute to American Imperialism and The Poppy Family with "Where Evil Grows".