le Tour and le Ashes

It's Tour de France time, and as usual SBS is embracing it and giving it a very continental double cheek kiss.

For your enjoyment, every Australian's favorite frog, Gabriel Gate, gives his now regular gastronomic tour. I have a few of Gabriel's cookbooks, and while they're excellent, they don't allow me to hear his fabulous accent, so his Taste le Tour spot is just that bit better. I have onions sauteing as I type for the pissaladière. Won't be doing anything good to my breath, but I'm not too concerned!

I like to catch up with the Tour highlights every night, but I have to admit that I don't really follow the race itself. I enjoy the spectacle of so many men on cycles bunched together like that. It's suspenseful. Any minute they could go down in a spectacular heap. Once one goes down, that's it for anyone but the most fortunate. The bikes look so spindly and slight. And the men themselves do if you really look at them. And those outfits; that's part of the interest. I live at the foot of a so-called mountain that attracts cyclists from all over town. They look quite hilarious in their tight little outfits, but during the Tour that's the standard! One of the few places in the world you're not risking a beating by venturing out in public in an outfit that is little more modest than paint.

Image from Britain's Daily Mail

The other thing I love seeing is the French countryside. Generally if I'm watching I'm looking over the cyclists' shoulders at the vista. I don't get sick of that.


These days the first thing the Tour de France brings to my mind is Kraftwerk. It's my favorite of all their albums, and you can get a little bit of it here.

While we're tuned to SBS, the novelty of them hosting The Ashes isn't wearing off any time soon. Cricket on telly without having to suffer Tony Greig or Bill Lawry, or the strangeness of having the radio on and the television turned down! No limited edition autographed prints for sale for several hundred dollars! No Tubby Taylor and his inanity! Wonderful! Stuart McGill is turning out to be an urbane and witty host, too.

Image from SBS

I think it's safe to say that this year's Ashes have made Nathan Hauritz Hervey Bay's most famous son. Poor guy has had a nasty finger dislocation -- his spinning finger, too! -- so will most likely be out for a while, but still. He's one of ours, and we love him for it.