Updated....again! on 11/17 with bonus campaign poster

As you might notice, I'm not the most prolific blogger out there.  The reasons for this are twofold:

1.  I'm lame
2.  See reason #1

Loads going on 'round these parts, you might have seen on the news.....  In the interest of not making this a wholly political blog I'll let the Hong Kong protests and their portents for Taiwan's future go unremarked beyond this.  If you are interested in learning more about what's been going on and why, I'd suggest seeking out The Guardian or the Taipei Times' coverage.

A few random things to share:

Here's a video put together by my cycling team, CCT,  (that's us in the kit that incorporates most all possible colors),  from a race back in April on the east coast of Taiwan.  It'll give you a small window into it all.

There are big elections coming up here in November.  This is good for a number of different constituencies:

1. Printers - there are posters, banners and billboards everywhere - plenty of business if you're a printer

2. Owners of trucks with loudspeakers - they are everywhere playing recordings of the candidates or jingles, or other 'vote for me' kinda stuff.  The best ones have a platform where the candidate rides exhorting passer by to vote for them via said loudspeaker 

3. Bicyclists - as a result of impending elections, there is road re-paving going on everywhere.  I think the incumbents see this as a way to show that they are on the case.  Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining, swanky new pavement is better than what was there.

But just the other day I noticed a trend amongst some campaign posters incorporating 'Little Guys'.. there are several posts earlier in this blog showcasing my fondness for various business and government 'Little Guys' (if that reference confuses), but I was really surprised to see that candidates would create and add personalized 'Little Guy' caricatures on their posters.  A few of my favorites:

Ok, so I can at least wrap my head around the caricatures of the candidates above, but this one just baffles me..."If elected I vow to vote like the cartoon bear on my shoulder advises"?  "If you, too, have a cartoon bear on your shoulder, vote for me"... I like it, but I'm lost here....

Updated:  Just saw this poster this morning and had to add it here...I guess this makes total sense, who better to run for office than running shoes... totally got the whole 'experience thing' locked down. 

I really liked this sign at the trailhead of a path that Shirl, Bo and I hiked a few months back. It really helped drive home the need to watch where you put your feet!  Bonus was on this trail we got to see a giant wasp and giant spider duking it out.  The spider lost and was lunch.  It was our own Mutual of Omaha's 'Wild Kingdom' moment.  While they were fearsome and large, they were still just insects, but even so,  I'm guessing ol' Marlin Perkins would have still been inside the Range Rover with the windows rolled up a good, safe distance away, while Jim was up close and personal with it all.

Lest you think that other bike path photo I've posted here was a fluke, they're clearly on the case to create more stellar bike path/tree interactions... this is a brand new path and tree along a route that I regularly ride so I can confirm that this was all just installed as you see in the photo.  This was obviously planned and executed without anyone stopping to say... "Hey wait a minute...."  It's no big deal at present as the path ends about 150 feet farther up, behind the car parked on the path in the background is a construction fence.  But eventually it will connect up to a longer path.  The time until it is all open will give this tree a chance to grow and really end the path properly.

And last and certainly not least, the following:

Kinda cute for a sort of burly business like freight handling/delivery, but I dig it.  I like the idea of a genetically modified, trunkless elephant koala bear (thanks Mitch!)  cartoon hurrying to get my shipment delivered to me so this works (provided he's not too drugged up/surly from Eucalyptus leaves).   Well done trunkless elephant, err, koala delivery service...

But this one just confuses me every time I see their trucks.   All I can think of is the meeting with the designer when they were working on this new mascot/logo.  I imagine that the first iteration was a bit more 'butch' of a panda, you know stout, steadfast, more interested in working hard to get your package to you than in lazing about eating bamboo shoots etc... and then an executive from the delivery company takes a total left turn in the discussion and says "Yeah, that's ok, but can you redo it to have the Panda mince about a bit, and while you're at it, let's have him dressed like Richard Simmons too, ok?"....cause that's the only way I can imagine that they get to this as their logo.   (And I should state, for the record, that I fully support the rights of pandas to dress and move about in whatever ways they choose, and also, of course, to marry whom ever they happen to love regardless of the gender pairings involved - wow, the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution Equal Protection Clause imagine that!..  It's fun to watch supposed Constitutional literalists writhe, prevaricate, and out and out bullshit to try to get around it when it comes to their opposition to same sex marriage.... d'oh! Political stuff, I couldn't help it!)   I'm just fascinated imagining how this company ended up with this to adorn their trucks, that's all.....