photo out of context
photo out of context
I ain’t a cyclo-facist
but Bikesnob nails it:
It’s fascinating how readily we’ve come accept this notion that we must have respect for a car’s “power,” as though it’s some force of nature beyond all human control. Sure, someone who goes into the wilderness, starts poking grizzlys with a stick, and then gets eaten should maybe have a little more respect for the power of the bear, but that’s a different scenario. Oddly though, if a bear is just doing its bear thing and kills somebody we’ll go out of our way to destroy the bear. Yet if a human being kills somebody with a car we just charge them $42 and blame the victim.
from my voicemail
Uh, yes, my name is ————. My telephone number is ————. The purpose of my call is I’m listening to public radio, and, uh, they’re talking about, uh, viral, uh, strains of, uh, birds. Uhhh, I was parked at Walmart, and a woman was feeding birds, and I said, “Ma’am, don’t do that,” I says, “Ya know, they they they know how to live on their own.” And, uh, the guy from Walmart came out, the manager of the store, and says, “Oh, you’re gonna have to leave here because, uh, the, uh, asphalt’s too weak for an RV.” And he was, it was pouring rain out; he was really acting like an idiot. I did call for the Centers for Disease Control, and they don’t seem to care what one way or another that people feed birds. And I just can’t imagine why, since birds spread diseases more than anything else, uh, why, uh, these people just aren’t taking it seriously. But. I’m sixty-six years old; I’ll be dead in a few years. So what difference does it make to me, ya know? It just it irritates me how ignorant we are, ya know? Umm, just don’t feed the birds, ya know? It’s crazy. They can fend, they know how to forage for themselves. And I love birds. I learned how to fly. I’ve been a pilot all my life. And, uh, airlines and corporate. And, uh, but, uh, you just don’t feed birds. That’s that’s craziness. Ya know, and I, but, uh, if more people, if they, uh, really know about it, then, uh, maybe they might do something about it. But, uh, there’s the other people that’s just gonna say, “Oh, hooey, I’ll feed birds whenever I feel like. It’s my right to do whatever I want to do, so.” Well. I guess that’s the case, ya know? Anyways. Take care. Bye.
Also: The related episode of WHYY’s Fresh Air.
All my cloths
are on the floor of my car.
I could use a nice big dresser.
headline of the day, II
Man believes he is in heaven after finding a free beer truck
Jason Molina – Don’t It Look Like Rain
The wolf outside my door don’t need
Anymore of my blood
Of my bood
She don’t wait for nothing
nothing anymore
She’s watching for nothing anymore
Moon above my light
Starts fading out
I live for nothing anymore
I live for nothing
Downhill trike racing at 55 mph
Three guys going 55 mph down a mountain highway, with traffic, on tricycles, using the soles of their shoes for brakes.
Wim Delvoye, Tyres
Untitled (Car Tyre)
2007
H 81.5 x 19 cm
Hand carved car tyre
Wim Delvoye is a Belgian artist “perhaps best known for his digestive machine, “Cloaca”, which he unveiled at the Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerp, after eight years of consultation with experts in fields ranging from plumbing to gastroenterology.”
tweet of the day
headline of the day
Wrestling Sisters Take Down Hit-And-Run Suspect In Oklahoma
If you needed a little schadenfreude today
then this will hit the spot. It did for me, anyway.
Dear Clusterflock
Post the most accurate picture and/or link to your first car?
1934 BMW R7
Although this BMW is more than 70 years old, it could pass for a contemporary concept. Master engineer Alfred Böning designed one of the most visually arresting motorcycles ever built, one that was equally advanced mechanically.
The R7 featured enclosed bodywork, a pressed-steel frame and telescopic forks — a first for motorcycles. The 800-cc boxer engine, mated to a four-speed transmission, produced 35 horsepower and a top speed of 90 mph. The cylinders and cylinder heads were a single component, with hemispherical combustion chambers.
Plus nine more beautiful motorcycles to lust over.
Danny Macaskill, Industrial Revolutions
The latest industrial light and magic from bike riding wizard Danny Macaskill.
(thanks, Amy)
GM Futurliner Quarter Mile
Want to see the most amusing quarter-mile in automotive history?
General Motors built the Futurliner to promote a traveling show called the “GM Parade of Progress” in the 1940s and ’50s. The slippery-lined bus, which was penned by the legendary Harley Earl, is one of 12 that traveled the U.S. to show Americans the future of motoring and technology.
The Futurliner weighs 30 tons and is powered by a four cylinder diesel engine with a top speed of 40 mph. The Wikipedia article has a dozen pictures, and you can follow the history of its restoration at The GM Futurliner Restoration Project.
photo out of context
The Aston Martin DB5
From a gallery of cars competing in this year’s Silverstone Classic:
The Aston Martin DB5, one of Britain’s finest motor cars ever. It was a luxury grand-tourer. It was a race car. It was the most recognizable (and arguably coolest) of James Bond’s cars.
headline of the day
Drunk father lets 8-year-old son drive pickup
headline of the day
Architects design home made entirely of Hummers
photo out of context
headline of the day, II
Woman’s truck rammed because attacker thought she looked like Casey Anthony
headline of the day
Girl, 12, crashes truck, takes out town’s power
motorcycle tooth removal
A youngster has his tooth removed via sisterly love, a long piece of dental floss, and a mini motorcycle.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gas Station
The town of Cloquet, Minnesota plays host to the world’s only Frank Lloyd Wright gas station.
In the early 1930s, Wright began developing concepts for Broadacre City, a city spread out to the point where it would be ‘everywhere and nowhere,’ kind of like what we would eventually call ‘suburbia.’ The design for the Lindholm gas station came directly from this conceptual project, and it was built in 1956. The station remains open and fully operational today, and it’s currently getting restored to its original condition.
Click through for a link to a video of some of the station’s details.
(via @coudal)
