Some numbers

This is for my benefit more than the world's...

The car dash was showing 10000 on the odo and 10:00 on the clock this morning as I drove to collect my bike from being serviced.

And the large circuit (partly off-road) of the village is 1.67 miles.

Film -- The Wind Rises

Miyazaki's latest farewell to his directorial role is a love letter to early aviation, the sort of thing that has appeared in many of his other films -- Porco Rosso, Laputa or even Howl's Moving Castle -- now given free rein in the story of the designer of the Zero fighter, admittedly one that elides the war years entirely. It manages to both retain the usual Ghibli quirkiness, while yet being a sober and mature work. Simply the best movie I've seen in years.

It also co-opted his most notorious protégé, Hideaki Anno, as both key animator (getting to draw the Zeros), and in the speaking role of the lead character, in a part which involved a small amount both French (the poem of the title) and German (sung) at times. Hence the little shout-out to Anno's major work in the telling of how the casting must have gone.

April cycling

With the odo at 9670.8 after finishing the 30 days challenge -- albeit some days just a mile or so around the village, or a rather perfunctory up and down the road in the rain on Easter Sunday -- that makes 365 miles for the month (compared with last year's 250-odd including lingering snow), a pace of about 12 miles a day on average; and 1123 year-to-date, meaning 3500 for the year should be doable but 4000 quite a stretch.

And talking of stretch -- I missed the window between "replace the chain" and "replace the back block as well", with all the other things going on, and it won't be until next weekend that I have a window to put the bike into be serviced. And with that likely count of miles, reckoning on services every 4 months rather than every 6 going forward.