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category: Steve's Musings

Lundy: Thursday Top 7 Comments

The other night I was watching a movie in which the protagonist, an irrepressible adventurer/competitor, invoked a quote from Teddy Roosevelt.

I liked the quote a lot and tried to find it both the old-fashioned way (via “Bartlett’s Famous Quotations”) and the 21st century way (the web), but failed. But to paraphrase, it went something like this: It’s way better to be a doer who makes mistakes than somebody who sits on the sidelines pointing out how the doer might’ve done things better.

And I did find another TR passage that said much the same thing: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirts who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Think about it …

This being a Thursday, all of that motivational philosophy, of course, serves as a lead-in for yet another installment of Top 7: Best motorcycle movies (what TR’s words have to do with bike movies will become clear momentarily):

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1. The World's Fastest Indian. It was record-setter Burt Munro who derived inspiration from the first President Roosevelt.

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2. The Great Escape. OK, it's about way more than motorcycles, but it's such a great movie and Steve McQueen is so cool that it checks in at No. 2. And you remember how McQueen passed the time in solitary with his ball and glove? That would be me in the same situation. Spent a lot of rainy winter days in the basement as a kid doing that sort of thing.

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3. Easy Rider. Fonda, Hopper, Nicholson, Karen Black and some great music. "... in the end she will surely know I wasn't born to follow."

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4. Wild Hogs. This relatively low-brow film is simply hilarious, and Marissa Tomei's appearance makes it even more watchable.

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5. Quadrophenia. I admit I am partial to this movie largely because the Who is probably my favorite band, the Quadrophenia album is among my favorites, and the film also featured an appearance by Sting (I am a big Police fan as well).

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6. Then Came Bronson. This was actually a TV movie that served as a pilot for a show of the same name. The basic premise was a guy riding around the country on his motorcycle, which I have learned is in fact as much fun as it always seemed. This film also makes the list because on days I ride to work, news editor Kim Jackson typically greets me with, "Bronson."

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7. On Any Sunday. Earns the nod over, among others, Marlon Brando's The Wild One largely on the strength of featuring Steve McQueen.

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