Friday, December 02, 2022
"how was the ride with your dad?"
His dad drove Wayne Gretzky to his first game, age 5
He drove his dad to his last game, at Madison Square Garden
Gretzky, Phil Hartman (SNL) and Alexander Graham Bell all came from the same town
I bet a really good book would be stories from people that had a terrific or formative ride with their dad.
Mine taught me to drive a stick in his 80s F150, and there's a lot to learn real fast when you're 16, have never driven anything, and suddenly you're trying to smoothly work a clutch, and learn what gear to choose and why, and when.
It's unusual for me to find poetry about car related stuff, but today I came across this
There’s a little old fellow and he has a little paintpot,
And a paucity of brushes is something that he ain’t got,
And when he sees a road sign, the road sign he betters,
And expresses of himself by eliminating letters.
Thus THROUGH ROAD
Becomes ROUGH ROAD
And CURVES DANGEROUS
Is transformed to CURVES ANGER US
But the old fellow feels a slight dissatisfaction
With the uninspiring process of pure subtraction.
The evidence would indicate he’s taken as his mission
The improvement of the road signs by the process of addition.
RIGHT EAST BOUND TUNNEL
Is elaborated to
FRIGHTENED BEASTS ABOUND IN TUNNEL
it goes on, this is only about 1/2 of it, but it's the best part
Have you heard of Daniel Macdonald? Known to his 13 million TikTok fpllowers as Daniel Mac. His videos have a simple concept: He approaches people driving expensive cars and asks them what they do for a living. It's that simple, and it makes him $100k a month.
If you’re baffled that a young person could make millions by asking rich people what they do, filming it on their iPhone and posting it on social media, I get it — think about how wealth has basically always been a fixture in media and pop culture.
Magazines are focused on it, Forbes, GQ, etc. Tv shows were focused on it, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Now podcasters are making millions on nothing else, simply talking to celebs.
“Part of the absurd genius of what Dan does is combining the eternal fascination with extreme wealth with a simple question that can be repeated over and over,” she told me. “The responses are eye-opening, wide-ranging and occasionally ludicrous — ladybug breeder and professional cuddler are a few of my favorites — and they’re packaged in entertaining bite-size videos perfect for social media.”
He’s trying to maintain relevance by broadening his schtick — he’s asked yacht owners and first-class-airline passengers what they do for a living, for example, and is working on a new video series featuring wealthy homeowners in their mansions. There’s also a video podcast in the works, and he’s hosting a car rally next March — tickets to that event cost $3,750.
https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-12-02/daniel-mac-tik-toking-his-way-to-millions-essential-california?utm_id=78100&sfmc_id=5280695
“Part of the absurd genius of what Dan does is combining the eternal fascination with extreme wealth with a simple question that can be repeated over and over,” she told me. “The responses are eye-opening, wide-ranging and occasionally ludicrous — ladybug breeder and professional cuddler are a few of my favorites — and they’re packaged in entertaining bite-size videos perfect for social media.”
He’s trying to maintain relevance by broadening his schtick — he’s asked yacht owners and first-class-airline passengers what they do for a living, for example, and is working on a new video series featuring wealthy homeowners in their mansions. There’s also a video podcast in the works, and he’s hosting a car rally next March — tickets to that event cost $3,750.
https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-12-02/daniel-mac-tik-toking-his-way-to-millions-essential-california?utm_id=78100&sfmc_id=5280695
The Toyota Lexcen - named after Ben Lexcen, who was responsible for the revolutionary winged keel that helped Australia II win the America's Cup yachting competition in 1983. thank you Graham!
You would think that the Lexcen would have lots of innovations - instead it was just a badge-engineered Holden Commodore.
Thursday, December 01, 2022
the largest North American steam switcher was the Union Railroad’s unique 0-10-2, dubbed the “Union” type, built by Baldwin in Pennsylvania, weighing in at 644,510 pounds and delivering 90,000 pounds of tractive force, with another 17,150 pounds available from its booster. All that theoretically added up to 3,600 hp.
The Union Railroad is relatively unknown outside the Pittsburgh region. It is one of several lines formerly owned by U.S. Steel and heavily oriented toward industrial and ore-delivery operations, operating on about 200 miles of yard track and 65 miles of main line serving industrial customers within a 10-mile radius in Allegheny County.
The machine met a very specific need: obviate pushers used at two locations where grades reached 2.5%. A five-coupled engine was determined to be the answer, augmented by that extended two-wheel trailing truck supporting a large firebox.
The 0-10-2 was surprisingly compact, despite its claim as biggest steam switcher. Its huge boiler, measuring just 70 feet in length, was abbreviated on account of turntable length and other restrictions, and accomplished in part by dispensing with the engine truck and making the tender a rather short but tall affair. Its ungainly appearance was mollified to some extent by boiler jacketing extending to the end of the smokebox.
The 0-10-2s put in nearly a solid decade of faithful service before the Union was obligated to join the movement toward dieselization in Pittsburgh, borne of the smoke-choked city’s push for cleaner air. Still way too useful to scrap, the nine Unions in 1949 were transferred to another U.S. Steel road, the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range at Proctor, Minn., where biggest steam switchers went to work on the Iron Range for another decade, renumbered as 600-class engines.
the govt says there is a very high probability that lava flow from Mauna Loa will reach key Hawaii Island highway
Lava flowing from Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, could reach a highway connecting the east and west sides of Hawaii's Big Island within days, according to officials.
There is "a very high probability that this lava flow, if it continues, will definitely reach the road," Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, told CBS News. "So we're looking at about two days out."
Although the flow is slow-moving, it is still persistent, and emergency managers are ramping up their planning as it threatens to cross over the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as the DKI Highway or Saddle Road.
There is "a very high probability that this lava flow, if it continues, will definitely reach the road," Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, told CBS News. "So we're looking at about two days out."
Although the flow is slow-moving, it is still persistent, and emergency managers are ramping up their planning as it threatens to cross over the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as the DKI Highway or Saddle Road.
if the road ends up being shut down, the detour will add hours to the drive to get around the lava flow
Beverly Hills Cop, not just a movie, it's the job description of the highest-paid municipal worker in Claifornia. The Hollywood assistant police chief took home $716,000 last year, state records show.
$208,087 in regular income, with the rest for lump-sum and other retirement pay, according to a report published by the state controller’s office.
He retired last year as assistant police chief in Beverly Hills after 4 years and 7 months in the role, according to his LinkedIn profile.
As part of his separation agreement, he was issued a final payment that included 12 months’ salary and benefits, as well as compensation for unused leave, the city said in a statement.
71 Sport Fury GT at the MCACN
I don't think I've ever seen one with this pinstriping and lettering, and I don't think I've ever seen one that had 440 under the T
It' been a few years since the last Transformers movie, did you even hear they'd made a new one?
and Optimus is back in classic semi truck COE form
and bumble Bee is back in 70s Camaro form
finally, a sequel to Indiana Jones as good as the 1st. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer
with a tuk tuk chase, car chase, chase through the subway, a fight on top of a train, motor bike chasing an airplane, car chasing a side car, checker cabs
a chase through a parade, on a horse, and a motorcycle
Top Gear co-host Dax Shepard had Porscheophile Jerry Seinfeld on his podcast
Dax mentioned how the 911 outperforms the much flashier (maybe even more expensive) competition Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Pagani, etc ... and that is what makes a 911 special.
Dax totaled his Charger Hellcat and there isn't a single mention of that online, not on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or googling recent news. Just on his podcast, so, not something he wanted to instagram.
Huh. I never like the Porsche 911's looks, don't care about how it performs (nor any other millionaires toys or race cars - I'm interested in good looking cars, mostly the muscle car variety) but I'm fascinated by this perspective and insight that the reason some people prefer the 911 is because it's just better designed to accomplish the one task.
Well, I think the Vette beats the Porsche in cost and performance, but hey, I'm not about to get to comparing all the races they've been in, stats on test courses, or whatever to see which does what.
That's what the board on Top Gear did back before Clarkson lost his shit and got fired.
Anyway:
the 959 cost about 250k to purchase, and about a million to make. Porsche, like VW making the Veyron, knew they had to make a halo car to show what they were capable of, even if it was a a ridiculous cost to the company
Dax totaled his Charger Hellcat and there isn't a single mention of that online, not on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or googling recent news. Just on his podcast, so, not something he wanted to instagram.
restoration of a Sally Saw... no, I've never heard of it before, but it's a nice long restoration video of a machine and the Briggs and Stratton type small engine.
Cummings Machine Works was a Boston, Massachusetts based business. It was founded by Henry Havelock Cummings in 1881, when Cummings was 23 years old.
The company was among the firms which contributed to the building of the Boston Opera House, completed in 1909, supplying steelworks used in the construction of the stage.
Cummings Machine Works has been credited with the development of the sally saw. A patent filed in 1945, and assigned to the company, describes a saw with a circular blade. The blade could be rotated between horizontal and vertical, thus allowing a tree to be felled, limbed, and bucked with one saw. Other inventions included a hydraulic hospital bed, automatic doughnut machine, teardrop vehicle and Hookups.
Last owners were Robert M. Mustard, Sr., Pres., and Lewis W. Mustard, Treas. Last known address was 10 Melcher Street in Boston, MA. Went out of business in 1958.
Cummings Machine Works has been credited with the development of the sally saw. A patent filed in 1945, and assigned to the company, describes a saw with a circular blade. The blade could be rotated between horizontal and vertical, thus allowing a tree to be felled, limbed, and bucked with one saw. Other inventions included a hydraulic hospital bed, automatic doughnut machine, teardrop vehicle and Hookups.
Last owners were Robert M. Mustard, Sr., Pres., and Lewis W. Mustard, Treas. Last known address was 10 Melcher Street in Boston, MA. Went out of business in 1958.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
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