Good evening,
There’s a good chance of overnight thunderstorms for Whitewater, and a low temperature no better than seventy-one degrees. Hardly good weather for sleeping, but then I’m not asleep.
I was in Lake Geneva and Elkhorn, Wisconsin today, and if there’s a more depressing town in Walworth County than Elkhorn, if I’ve yet to visit it. Their downtown, such as it is, is drab and gray, and they’ve the exacerbating problem of being the county seat. For other towns that might be an advantage; I think it’s only an advantage for those officials in Elkhorn whose careers have eluded greater public awareness. They have thrived in gray; they’d be unsuited to a brighter place.
I’ve been watching the Tour de France on Versus, and reading coverage of it here and there. It’s a shame about the Tour, in one way, though — it’s just not enjoyable to most people, the popularity (I think unfairly earned) of Lance Armstrong not withstanding. Cycling is like the violin to most people — something for the rich, the stuffy, the pretentious. That’s too bad, because it’s not true. Most riders are hardly wealthy, and they should not be conflated with pretentious fans who over-buy and under-ride.
I think LeMond is the better man, and worthier athlete, but Lance is the story of the last decade. He may find, in unwelcome ways, that he’s the story of the new decade, too. America produced a three-time champion in LeMond, in whom all Americans can be proud. LeMond has been controversial to many, but when the current fashion fades, we’ll find that we always had a great cyclist, just from Minnesota, rather than Texas.
Cobblestones for stage three, but there was enough excitement today without them.
I’m not sure if it’s a snowball effect, or slippery slope, etc., but there’s a story about a consequence of World Naked Bike Day in Madison — World Naked Yoga Day. See, First there was the World Naked Bike Ride, and now get ready for Naked Yoga. (For a post on the bike day, see “Wisconsin State Journal: Naked Cyclists Put on a Show.”)
Inspired by the World Naked Bike Ride and hoping to draw attention to healthy body images, yoga instructor Natalia Hacerola is holding a World Naked Yoga Day.
World Naked Yoga Day is different from World Naked Bike Ride in that while the ride focused on public nudity — along with calling attention to oil independence and body acceptance — the yoga day focuses on private nudity, Hacerola said.
That’s quite a difference. I have doubts about effectiveness of the prior bike-riding protest, but it was a protest. I understand that the purpose of the nude yoga day is self-awareness, but I thought that yoga’s practitioners professed that it already brings awareness. If regular, clothed yoga still leaves people needing something more by way of wearing less, then perhaps regular yoga’s been over-sold all these years.