A Matter of Form Over Function

On such a lovely sunny day, and with the icy roads thawing quickly, I thought the time was ripe to pull my Fantic Caballero from it’s hutch. And indeed it was; a fun journey ensued that lifted my spirits. But after the twenty-mile ride had concluded, I found my boots somewhat soiled…

Filthy disgusting footwear

…and the bike an absolute disaster…

Filthy disgusting motorcycle

This was due entirely to a front fender that had been designed for pleasing aesthetics: not warding off road crap…

Putrid but handsome mudguard

I spent the first fifteen minutes of the rest of my life hosing the bike down. So, it seems, from now on I’ll have to choose my riding conditons more carefully – like when the roads are entirely dry…

That’s more like it!

However does anyone really care when the machine looks as good as this? It’s referred to as an urban chic street scrambler: but I think it looks kind of groovy in a rural environment. Oh if only they could keep the roads clean!

Tooty’s plaything.

Aesthetics: The Art of Considerate Parking 5

In my original Art of Considerate Parking I mentioned that, whilst living in Spain, I would endeavour to park my metallic purple Renault Twingo beside bright yellow cars because I liked the aesthetics of the colourful juxtapositioning. I also mentioned that (at the time of the post) I had a tedious silver car, and that I didn’t bother these days because nothing looked good with silver. Well that car is gone – replaced with something much more visually interesting. And, finally I’ve found a yellow car to park it with…

Yes, now I can park considerately too! And if the manufacturers would produce more yellow cars (not…yawn…an ocean of grey, silver, and black), I’d do this more often.

 

The Art of Aesthetic Laundry

You may have noticed that I’m prone to banging on about aesthetic parking – for example HERE – and about colour co-ordination in general. Well I think I may have over-stepped the mark. Taken it to excess, even. Check out my Art of Aesthetic Laundry…

Well if you have to hang your hanky and socks out to dry, you might as well try to make them look nice – don’t you think?

 

Aesthetics: The Art of Considerate Parking 4

I’d just dropped into the driver’s seat of my car, and was about to press the Start button, when my eyes alighted upon a trio of cars parked in the next aisle of the underground carpark. “What’s this,” I cried, “have people taken on board my pleas for aesthetic parking?” It certainly looked that way. In an ocean of dull grey, silver, black, white, and turgid cars (mine included – you can just see my car’s paintwork through the windscreen), these three shone like a beacon of colour, elan, and parking verve. Aesthetic Parking X 3…

Aesthetics: The Art of Considerate Parking 3

In the original Aesthetics: The Art of Considerate Parking, I mentioned that is was impossible to park a silver car beside any other hue – unless it was black and you happened to be an Oakland Raiders fan –  and remain aesthetically pleasing. Well I have to pick myself up on that subject. Two subjects actually. The first is that I was wrong. The second is that the Raiders have moved to Las Vegas. Would you believe it, but I have discovered a colour that silver contrasts nicely with. It’s metallic sea blue/green – with a touch of autumnal foliage thrown in to frame the scene. And this is it – right outside my bedroom window…

Well I thought they looked nice anyway. Subtle. Nothing garish. Can’t beat bright red and yellow though.

 

Aesthetics: The Art of Considerate Parking

When I lived in Spain, I drove a metallic purple Renault Twingo. It was a terrific car, which I enjoyed driving more than any car before or since. One factor of the day-to-day pleasure came in the form of selective parking. That is – deciding which car (in a car park or at the side of the road) to park my car beside. “Ugh?” I hear those readers less concerned with aesthetics (and more into practicality) say in consternation. “Surely it’s best to park closest to where I want to go.” Not so, say I. You should always consider how your car would look beside another. I mean, you wouldn’t want to park a green car beside a red one, would you? Gosh – wouldn’t that clash horribly! Or a black one beside a silver one. Of course you wouldn’t: at least not unless you were an Oakland Raiders fan. Take a look at this picture that I snapped recently in a supermarket car park…

Now that is considerate parking. Either the driver of the yellow car spotted the complimentary shade of the blue car, and duly pulled in beside it: or it was blind chance. I prefer the former theory. When I owned the aforementioned Twingo, I actively sought out parked yellow cars – just so that I could look back and admire the artistic merits of purple and yellow. Fortunately yellow cars are quite popular in Spain. Even more fortunately,  orange cars are not. Imagine that: orange and purple: yuk! Sadly, these days, I drive a dull dark red car, which matches only with white cars – just; and a silver car which matches with nothing at all. When the time comes to replace one of them, I’m going for something more spectacular. A colour scheme that will have aesthetists going out of their way to park their car besides mine!