I was born on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay
Maryland and Virginia have faded away
And I keep thinking tomorrow is coming today
So I am endlessly waiting...
—A. Duritz and Counting Crows, "St. Robinson and His Cadillac Dream"
One of the blogs I read on a near-daily basis (in part because they publish on a near-daily basis) is JNC, Japanese Nostalgic Car. And today they honoured a Farrell-Churchill tradition, Punch Baja. You can read all about it here (scroll down to the Baja photo).
On our way back from Valentine to Lincoln, Jessa's Outback blew a tyre on the eastern edge of the Sandhills, about 4 miles north of Bartlett, Nebraska, population 120 or so. Roughly the middle of nowhere. From a practical point of view, not an ideal place to have a breakdown.
On the other hand, if you're going to have a breakdown, you couldn't ask for a lovelier spot: a nice bit of grassland with a couple of photogenic trees. And Nebraska does good sunsets, so we were actually grateful to have an excuse to sit while waiting for the wrecker out of Grand Island, some 70 miles away.
Photos by Jessica Farrell-Churchill for the Nebraska Sandhills Department of Sunsets.
On my way back from hawking the other day, I encountered one of those massive electronic signs on the motorway—hardly noteworthy, as they have become ubiquitous—except that I was struck yet again by how misused they typically are.
ACCIDENT AHEAD
PREPARE TO STOP
is useful, I admit.
WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS
DRIVE WITH CAUTION
could I suppose be useful as well, although one would think most motorists would have noticed already. But as often as not, these signs bear messages—multi-screen messages, mind you, with each screen displayed for several seconds to accommodate the slowest reader in the fast lane—along the lines of
HELLO, I'M AN
ENORMOUS ELECTRONIC SIGN
PLEASE READ ME AND ALSO
DISTRACTED DRIVING IS BAD.
(Have these DOT people never heard of the Stroop-Stirling effect? You can't really opt out of reading these things, not without a great deal of conscious effort, anyway.)
But the one that triggers my ire, despite its brevity, is CLICK IT OR TICKET. Really, that's the best we can do to promote the use of safety belts, CLICK IT OR TICKET? Pathetic.
Allow me to suggest an alternative. It would really work best as a PSA on the radio, read in an authoritative voice...British accent...hint of menace. I'm thinking Mark Strong, or maybe Vinnie Jones. But if DOT want to put it on a big flashy sign, I reckon the precedent is there... Anyway, here it is:
SEAT BELTS ARE SAFETY DEVICES
THE REASON TO CHECK THEM ALL TWICE IS
TO AVOID A CITATION
OR A DEFENESTRATION
'CAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO PAY THOSE STEEP PRICES
Of course, there are ways of getting around the Cinque Terre besides boats and trains.
Bicycles, for instance.
And scooters.
But my favourite vehicle in the Cinque Terre may be the motorcycle-engined three-wheelers by Piaggio. A lot of the work that gets done here gets done by these little "trike trucks".
I think we've solved the mystery of Carhenge. Jim Reinders' kitschy automotive replica of an ancient Druidic monument is really a dovecote, cleverly disguised as a kitschy automotive replica of an ancient Druidic monument.
Or maybe not.
But engine bays, wheel wells, frames, and suspensions have certainly been co-opted by the rock dove, one of the most commensal species mankind has known. The birds' grey plumage nicely matches the matte grey of the cars, while the iridescent greens and purples, accented by the bright orange jewel tones of their eyes, make for a pleasing contrast.
The entire pigeon experience is on display at Carhenge: rivalry, courtship, mating, brooding, feeding, fledging, and dying, all amidst the carcasses of Detroit steel on the high plains north of Alliance.
So maybe there is some spiritual value to be found here; maybe it would not be such a bad idea to stand amongst the "stones" on an autumn day, under a bright blue sky, to feel the breeze as it crosses the continent, and to contemplate the mystery and miracle of life on this bright blue marble we and Columba livia call home. The birds are our neighbours, our relations, our fellow citizens...
Just be sure to wear a hat if you linger long here. They are, after all, pigeons.
After three days in Sneem, the IHC/IAF field meet relocated to Moyvalley in the Irish Midlands. Jessa and I, however, opted to stay on in County Kerry for a few more days. We've still got plenty of pictures, mostly from the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring, so I'll try to post some daily (roughly in order) until we run out.
On the road between Sneem and Kenmare, Jessa spotted this structure and insisted we go back for photos. I don't know if this was a legitimately old building, and if so what it was—I can see elements of house, castle, and church—or if it was constructed as a folly, but it now serves as the front gate for an estate that evidently faces Kenmare Bay. Prime real estate to be sure... (If anyone from County Kerry chances to see this and knows its history, please let me know.)
This, incidentally, was our transport whilst in Ireland: a slightly battered Dacia Sandero. This little Romanian car is almost entirely without amenities—the driver's seat didn't even recline, as far as I could figure out—and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my Subaru.
But, without going all James May about it, I must say the little Sandero did win my grudging affection. Its small size was welcome on the narrow roads—on blind corners, I advised Jessa and any other passengers to "Think skinny thoughts!"—and its light weight and low gear ratio, while not ideal on the motorways, were well-suited to mountain driving. In the end, we dubbed it "the rally Dacia", and I felt a tiny bit wistful at the end of the week when we finally dropped it off at the Dublin airport.
[More shots of the rally Dacia in the highlands, and more thoughts from May.]
Enormous thanks, by the way, to young Mr. Farrell (no relation so far as we know) who figured out a way to hire us a car without blowing our budget completely out of the water. We owe you one, mate.
Madison Avenue knows how to sell cars, and by this point, using a decades-old song in an advertisement isn't exactly ground-breaking. You can probably identify some cars just by the songs: "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin. "Eminence Front" by The Who. AC/DC, "Back in Black". Bob Seger's "Like a Rock"—I don't know if that one still airs, but I guarantee you're thinking of Chevy trucks right now. Were I back at WLUR-FM, I'm sure I could fill at least an hour of airtime with co-opted classic rock hits.
But I was not prepared for this: I'm sitting in front of the TV in the break room at work. The Weather Channel (I think) goes to commercial break. A new ad for Lexus; I'm a Subaru guy, and not remotely in the market for a car, so I start to tune out...holy hell, is that Pylon?!?!
Yes, yes it is. A major automobile company is using a song from 1979 by a semi-obscure band from Athens, Georgia to tout their latest luxury sedan. "Cool", a.k.a. track 2 on the perhaps ironically-titled Hits. (Well, maybe it's not ironic, but it does need to be kept in perspective...)
Pylon may be best known to "outsiders" for their influence on another band, neighbours and contemporaries: R.E.M. did a cover of "Crazy"; R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck noted, "I remember hearing their version on the radio the day that Chronic Town came out and being suddenly depressed by how much better it was than our record." I missed out on a few aspects of the Athens music scene (I only arrived there in 1991), but I did get to see Pylon at the 40 Watt, and I can assure you that they were the real deal.
Thanks, Lexus, for the flashback. And for the benefit of those who were not there, here's the full song, complete with Vanessa Briscoe Hay's jarring vocals (and, incidentally, Pylon's trademark schematic/spec-sheet graphics):
Falconry, hawks & hawking; dogs with jobs, especially hunting dogs and sled dogs; wolves and coyotes; stickball in its various forms; Pendleton blankets; fishing, especially fly-fishing; and whatever else I happen to think of...
