Re: [CR]"shoreline"

C'R'vousers,

No prize winners yet. One close, but not specific, so, he should buy himself a cigar.

You'd think that during steel's heyday, that in at least one glossy magazine, from the U.S. or elsewhere, at least one framebuilder would have been quoted using "shoreline" synonomously for total lug edge. Surely a citation would reflect its usage off the printed page.

I'd never heard it used until I heard it used my me and as written below by me:

"One day I walked by a row of frames in for repaint, and one caught my eye because of an unusual appendage jutting out from the lug. "Damn! Somebody beat me to it!, I said. "The boot-like shape of Italy, cut right out of the lug!" After closer inspection and a bit o' research, that somebody turned out to be Ernesto Colnago, and the frame was one of a style built 13 years ago with special "Arabesque" lugs. The appendage isn't Italy after all, but a stylized shape resulting from lines borrowed from Arabesque architecture. So I'm not beat yet; I can still be the first kid on the block with my favorite shoreline cut into the lugs, right? The best of the best coastline on the West Coast? East Coast? Bays, inlets, peninsulas, lakes and ponds are all candidates for my frame. Perhaps I'll go global and airbrush on longitude and latitude lines. A Tropic of Capricorn model. Hey, lugs are supposed to move you. I'm leaning geographic here, but my musings can take me elsewhere. I'll always love Nervex lugs. They're simple but perfect classics. I think Rivendell lugs have set a new mark -- I like how they elicit both hard and soft feelings with their unique blend of art nouveau-medieval lines. And nobody does better out-of-this-world designs than Glenn Erickson with his moons, stars, and comets.

These days, my obsession with lugs isn't a retreat from the rise of non-steel frame materials. In fact, there are more and better steels today than in the days when steel frames filled the peloton. Steel's strength, ductility, and resiliency make for a reliable, repairable, and beautiful frame to last a lifetime.

It isn't that I just like lugs, either. I just like lugs that are evocative. Sometimes all that means is "nice details," but that's the highest praise one can give a craftsman of any object."

(From Rivendell Reader, issue 16, 1999/Summer in an article titled, "Why People Who Like Lugs Like Lugs." Peter Mooney, Tim Isaac, John Murphy, Richard Sachs, Roland Della-Santa, Hank Folson, Chris Kvale, Peter Weigle, Mike Barry and Marc Muller also each wrote a piece in the issue.)

And so Ladies and Gents, my "So You Wanna Be A Research Libraian Star" contest is still open for any who can find a publication that beats the date of my entry. I think I found a worthy prize, as well as an unworthy prize. This contest is only open to CR members who have previously posted on the CR list, and as I shall judge you, as I've gleaned from your posts, guess which prize you get?

Also, in the Almighty KOF Timeline: Notable Achievements, it shall be written all about Joe Starck's usage of "shoreline," UNLESS a researcher can find a prior usage, in which case this prizewinner shall be footnoted in the KOF Timeline to boot!

That's all for now. If the rules change I'll post it.
Joe Starck
Madison, Wisconsin