James Morrison
Undiscovered
(Polydor)
The young Brit comes by his rasp honestly. A childhood bout of whooping cough left him with special powers to convey longing. A first encounter might leave you saying, “Wow, Terence Trent D’arby must have been listening to a lot of ’70s Stevie Wonder, and learning.” Morrison gives urgency to what are mostly love songs. A dramatic ramble in the deep end of the piano begins the opener “Under the Influence.” On “One Last Chance,” the will to avert personal ruin takes on epic proportions. For soul devotees, the recent revival creates a sense of panning for gold at high tide. With this amazing debut, the UK adds new quality to what was, at its best, an American music.
Doug Taylor
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Why did he honk?Was the cyclist acting appropriately or like a fool?I haven’t seen too many cars doing this without reason so what gives?Without knowing the case, I would hope that the cyclist was acknowledging the differences between cars and bikes at least and not acting arrogantly.
If bicycles have as much right to be on the streets as cars do, then I suggest bicyclists adopt a driver’s attitude toward driving. Number one, stop passing all of the cars and wait your turn at the light like all the drivers in cars do. Number two, quit riding your bike on the sidewalk…sidewalks are for PEDESTRIANS…aka, people who are walking…not for bicyclists. When I’m walking down a sidewalk, I will NOT get out of your way. You’re on my turf. Get on the street.For all the bad drivers out there, there are proportionally a lot of bad bicyclists who think because they ride a bike that they are invincible. Regardless of which column you fall into…all of you…grow up and learn the rules of the road.
The opinion on bicycles seems so mixed. “Ride on the sidewalk”, “Ride on the road!” “Follow the rules of the road”, “Get off the GD road, you’re in my way”.A rule for drivers when doing the driving test should include a bicycle test as well. They have to ride thru downtown on a bicycle.
Hey walker, If bikers should not pass cars waiting at red lights then cars should not pass bikers who are travelling on the road, right? Especially when they have to veer across the centre line to get past them! This is especially vexing when a car passes too close and then cuts me off at the next intersection to turn right. I agree about sidewalks though – bikers really stay on the road. Why can’t we all get along?