Dress Your Dalai Lama Redux

Some of you may recall back in the spring when I posted about having found The Daial Lama Paper Doll Book. Dover Publications' weekly samples have some sample pages from the book in this week's set. Go see it in the next couple of days or it may be gone; Dover usually only has samples up for about a week. Here's an image of one of the sample pages:



The notes page included in the samples is interesting and informative about the costumes, describing coloring of the linings, symbolism embodied in certain accouterments, and listing ceremonial uses of the garments.

(no subject)

One of the science news feeds I follow coughed up an interesting article about why mental illness persists and is common...specifically citing that some mental issues in lite form are very adaptive. I guess it's akin to sickle cell anemia in that way.

An excerpt:
To explain our susceptibility to poor mental health, Randolph Nesse in "The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology" (Wiley, 2005) compares the human brain with race horses: Just as horse breeding has selected for long thin legs that increase speed but are prone to fracture, cognitive advances also increase fitness — to a point.

Full article here

Aren't I the blitz-posting fool lately?

Bike Panniers: your input requested

The awesome evalerie, who has google-fu magic of which I know not, pointed me in the right direction for finding some folding basket panniers. I decided after reading a few reviews of wire-frame folding baskets that they are not my first choice, because they can be noisy, and are usually not quickly removable. I have three major candidates for metal frame fabric baskets:

http://www.bikemania.biz/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BikeProUSACityBasket-C12

http://inertiadesigns.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=177

http://www.amazon.com/Avenir-Metro-2-0-Shopping-Pannier/dp/B00165Q8ZO/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

They all seem pretty equivalent. All are cordura nylon or similar. (I found a hemp/cotton one, too, but worry it will not wear well.) All fold when not in use and have wire frames to help them keep their shape when in use. All are easily removable and have a shoulder strap, so they can be used directly as shopping bags. Two of the the three mention or show a bungee attachment to keep the basket from bouncing off the bike, but I bet they all have that. Rain covers are available for each of them, some of which are bright yellow with reflectors for safety. The main difference I can document so far is price, with the Avenir bag as the least expensive at $30 each. The bikemania one has the least expensive rain covers. The Inertia Designs one, which is around $50, has some great reviews, but I haven't found as much information on the others.

Does anybody have experience with any of these or know something about panniers that might help? I plan to get a pair to start, probably will get rain covers soon after, and maybe eventually will get a laptop messenger bag or backpack pannier, so the removability of the baskets is a feature I really like.

I am also concerned that I need to take much better care of my bike from now on, since I plan/hope to be using it much more and it will be getting heavier use. How do I tell when I need new tires because the tread is wearing? What maintenance do I need to do or learn to do regularly?

Thanks in advance!