William Lyons is spinning in his grave

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned seeing my second favorite car... The Jaguar Mk II sedan.

From Jaguar Mk2

So today I'm browsing through eBay looking at cars I can't afford to either buy or maintain and I run across this... this... clusterfuck. There's no other word to describe it.





Here's the description:

Dare to be different with this one!!!!!! Car started life as a 4 door 1962 Jaguar Mk2. The car is chopped 5 1/2 inches and is mated to an s-10 chassis. This car has a fresh 355 chevy motor and full race t-350 transmission.The motor is an 010 block w/4 bolt main, 58cc heads,noisey gears, scat crank,blue racer cam 284 grind. Roller rockers,750 holly,edlebrock intake and a 750 holley, s-10 v8 conversion headers,new aluminum radiator and lincoln mk3 cooling fan and 0 miles(has been test run) chassis is c notched,and air bagged with fb system, has 4 wheel disc with zinc plated slotted and drilled rotors, upper tubular a arms. Rear end is from 2000 blazer and has new posi unit and 373 gears.Wheels are new 18" Corvette on the back and new 15" Mickey Thompson Skinnies on the front.Car comes with lots of parts, if serious I can e-mail a list to you. I have owned this car for approx 14 years and originally bought it in Arizona which is where it is titled. It's current home is in North Carolina. The hard work is done! Body work needs finishing,interior needs finishing. Let's just say it is a work in progress. The drivetrain is complete as is the exhaust system, but must be wired(new harness included) and plumbed to run and drive. Every one that sees this car freaks out and can't figure out what it is...old ford,mercury...what??? This car will truely attract attention and I don't believe there is another like it. Being a project it is sold as-is where is. Hate to see it go, new business and space require it does.. You finish the way you want, Rat rod, Hot rod, Custom.......Vehicle is listed locally, and seller reserves the right to end auction early if sold.

1962 Jaguar Mk 11 on eBay.

I can't believe someone did this to a poor defenseless Jag.

A Political Response

Yesterday I read a blog from one of my regular feeds... a nice, extremely smart guy from Florida that is of Minorcan descent. As a 9th generation member of one of the oldest ethnic groups in Florida, he's a strong defender of the Old Florida... people that know what a coontie and a datil are.

So it was with trepidation that I contemplated responding to his blog, I've had it... It's the final straw. What set him off was the story about the girl who had a "B" carved into her face because she was a McCain volunteer... which has turned out to be false. I don't know... what was their first clue? That it was backward?

Anyway, he is concerned about voters being unable or unwilling to note Obama's general failings as a viable choice for President. On the one hand, I wish I was HALF as politically motivated at his age.

But on the other, I'm concerned that his arguments, from my perspective, are based on some fairly spurious innuendo by Republican leadership.

So I had to respond... and I tried to do it in a way that does not negate his political views. I welcome people that think differently than me because it makes me really examine why I'm voting. I think we will have to agree to disagree on most things, but want the argument to be substantive.

You're obviously intelligent... I've been reading your blog long enough to pick that up. But I can't understand why you're regurgitating half-truths about Obama.

There are lot of things I don't know about either candidate.

Regarding #1

McCain was, at one time, an amazing legislator. He broke with the party line when he felt that his constituency would not be served by their policy. Frankly, I think McCain is a little too aggressive in his foreign policy. But where it really broke down for me was his choice of running mate. Palin had little business being Alaska's Governor, much less next in line for the Presidency. She has proven time and again that she has little ability to think beyond the confines of her own stunted belief system and she thinks government can be run like the PTA. It was a clear message to me that McCain's interest was doing what he thought could get him elected, not what was good for the country. I don't care how much experience you have, once you start acting incompetent in the present, you negate any claims to experience in the past.

So what we are left with is a questionably senile old man and a poorly informed, hypocritical "hockey mom" or an "inexperienced" U.S. Senator and his 5 term, middle of the road Senator VP nominee. Choose. Now. You’ve got four years to live with your decision.

Regarding #2

The things that I've questioned about Obama, I've actually taken the time to read about... you know, from unbiased sources. What do you disagree with that ACORN has done? Its work to ensure low to middle income families have access to health care and affordable housing? Its work to help Hurricane Katrina victims?

I know... it’s their work to register voters, isn't it? Because you believe that ACORN is involved in massive voter registration fraud, right?

What do you know about it... really? Tell me what they've done. Because everything that I've read that bothers to go beyond the fact that ACORN received fraudulent registration forms notes that they have followed the legal requirements and flagged them as problematic. They have been upfront with the issue that fraudulent registrations have been taken and possibly even submitted by their employees. Yikes! and then they fired them... and cooperated with prosecutors and the FBI. Where does and organization's responsibility for the actions of its employees end?

And what about Bill Ayers? What was the connection to Obama? Bill Ayers is a douchebag. We agree on that. But the connection between the two was tangential at best, and that is obvious to anyone that knows anything about how politics work in the real world. They served on the boards of two non-profits together. Ayers hosted a meet and greet for Obama's first run for Illinois Senate. The Ayers connection there was more with Alice Palmer than with Obama.

If this kind of connection is enough to link someone to another's nefarious past, then I have no doubt that both you and I could be tied to child molesters, the Klan, drug dealers and jack-o-lantern smashers.

As for Wright... I don't really know much about him. I've heard bits of some sermons that I don't necessarily agree with. There are statements that he perpetuated (like the US government made HIV) that are pure craziness. But I've heard sermons in my own church growing up that I didn't agree with and would disclaim today. But if you read some of those sermons about American foreign and domestic policy... the ones that got everybody up in arms... he was largely right. The US government does do a lot of things that make us look overbearing in the eyes of the world. And the US government has treated Native Americans, minorities (probably even MINORCANS) and women as second class citizens in our history. The really funny thing is that McCain defended Obama and his connection to Wright during the Democratic primary when Hillary was beating up on him.

"I think that when people support you, it doesn't mean that you support everything they say. Obviously, those words and those statements are statements that none of us would associate ourselves with, and I don't believe that Senator Obama would support any of those, as well."

Regarding #3

"My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

What don't you agree with? Do you equate everyone participating in a healthy economy to be socialism?

I understand that there are policy issues that you might have with Obama. But please... argue the real issues and not the fake stories that get thrown out there to confuse things and play on our fears.

Punkins

Halloween is my favorite holiday and yesterday was punkin' pickin' day. We went to a new place...

From Kids

Fletcher Farm in Easthampton, of course! We took one of Fletcher's friends from school.

They had some nice pumpkins...

From Kids

...and we made some new friends.

From Kids

Ham, Sausage...

From Kids

...and Bacon.

One of us even kissed a cow.

From Kids

We selected our pumpkins and made for home.

From Kids

I'm taking suggestions for what to carve in them.

A note... don't worry about making the hay ride. There wasn't much to it. We circled one empty field, crossed the road and circled another. Unless you happen to catch a college cheerleading team , Playboy playmates, or a group of librarian fetishists having a weekend outing in Western Massachusetts, it's going to be a boring, dusty ride.

Apple Pickin'

I forgot to post last week's outing... apple picking.

We went to Clarkdale Orchard up in Deerfield.

From Apple Picking 2008

The last time we were there, Blythe was only two...

From Apple Picking 2008

...somebody has grown a bit.

From Apple Picking 2008

Looks like it's time for some apple pie.

While we were there, I saw my second favorite car, the MkII Jaguar... in British racing green, like it should be.

From Jaguar Mk2

After that we headed down to Old Deerfield Village for their colonial chocolate exhibit.

From Apple Picking 2008

It was interesting to have hot chocolate prepared as the colonials did. The recipe called for many spices, including star anise and pepper. I never realized how much chocolate was used in colonial America. As a matter of fact, Ben Franklin sold chocolate out of his Philly print shop and British soldiers were given a chocolate ration during the French and Indian War.

The exhibit was sponsored by Mars, Inc. and you can order chocolate made with an original colonial recipe from their website, American Heritage Chocolate.

Small Beer Press

I first met Gavin Grant of Small Beer Press when he brought the original cover art for The Mount into the gallery for framing.


Cover art by Shelley Jackson

No explanation... just a painting of a dude with a bit in his mouth and a saddle on his back.

When he picked it up I asked him about it, and he told me that he was the editor and publisher of an insane little private press with his wife, Kelly Link, an interesting author in her own right.

Over the years I've crossed paths with them at various events in the area... most often at Holly Black's infamous annual New Year's party. Please... no pictures... I might want a career in politics one day.

Well, for October Gavin and Kelly decided to make their entire catalog of 26 books available for the low, low price of $249 and are giving 20% of the proceeds of all sales to the Obama campaign. So... if you have an interest in some good literary fiction, stop by the Small Beer Press website and see if anything looks good. Everything is on sale... up to 60% off in some cases.

And if you're voting for McCain/Palin, suck it up and buy something anyway. At least you'll have something to throw on the fire when Palin starts burning books.

Would you believe...

...the new daily driver is a 1987 Volkswagen Cabriolet?

From Cabriolet

From Cabriolet

No cracks about it being a girl's car.

There's something about 80's cars that I love. There are few cars from this time period more iconic than a Mk1 Volkswagen... they are the forefathers of the modern hot hatchbacks. Plus it's great riding around with the top down.

The heat works, the air works, new Alpine radio with iPod adapter, tires with tread... and it's pretty good on gas. It's already got the Mustang beat.

Sometimes Nothing Can Be a Real Cool Hand

It's with a heavy heart that I wake to a world without Paul Newman. Note to Lalo Schiffrin... compose something fitting.



Goodbye Lucas Jackson

Goodbye Reggie Dunlop

Goodbye Brick Pollit

Goodbye Ben Quick

Goodbye Fast Eddie

Goodbye Harry Gondorff

And goodbye Butch...



Mr. Newman, I regret I never had the opportunity to meet you. You were a man among men.

Two Years

It was two years ago today that we lost Arthur... I was going through Flickr and found the worst picture of my kids and dog that was ever taken.



As it happened, it was also Arthur's last photo. It didn't seem like such a bad photo after he died. So I dug up the blog that I wrote when it happened and I'm posting it again today... because it sucks to lose a pet.


September 22, 2006

After what happened to Arthur, I just don't have the heart to be an asshole today. This morning Blythe tied a rope around her little stuffed dog's neck and pulled it around the living room saying, "Come on doggie, come on." I've got a headache that won't go away and I feel like I'm going to be sick at any moment. So, instead of wallowing in other people's failings in art, I'm going to talk about a couple good books.

What You Know First
By Patricia MacLachlin
This is a story about a young girl whose family is forced to leave the family farm and how she comes to terms with leaving the only things that are familiar to her. It was written by Patty MacLachlin, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall and illustrated by my friend Barry.

What you know first stays with you, my Papa says.
But just in case I forget
I will take a twig of the cottonwood tree
I will take a little bag of prairie dirt
I cannot take the sky

Big Fish
Daniel Wallace
The book on which the movie was based. It's a cliche, but the book is so much better than the movie. A story about a man who begins to understand who his father was by reconciling the tall tales his father told against the reality of his life.

On one of our last car trips, near the end of my father's life as a man, we stopped by a river, and we took a walk to its banks, where we sat in the shade of an old oak tree.

After a couple of minutes my father took off his shoes and his socks and placed his feet in the clear-running water, and he looked at them there. Then he closed his eyes and smiled. I hadn't seen him smile like that in a while.

Suddenly he took a deep breath and said, "This reminds me."

And then he stopped, and thought some more. Things came slow for him then if they ever came at all, and I guessed he was thinking of some joke to tell, because he always had some joke to tell. Or he might tell me a story that would celebrate his adventurous and heroic life. And I wondered, What does this remind him of? Does it remind him of the duck in the hardware store? The horse in the bar? The boy who was knee-high to a grasshopper? Did it remind him of the dinosaur egg he found one day, then lost, or the country he once ruled for the better part of a week?

"This reminds me," he said, "of when I was a boy."

I looked down at this old man, my old man with his old white feet in this clear-running stream, these moments among the very last in his life, and I thought of him suddenly, and simply, as a boy, a child, a youth, with his whole life ahead of him, much as mine was ahead of me. I'd never done that before. And these images - the now and then of my father - converged, and at that moment he turned into a weird creature, wild, concurrently young and old, dying and newborn.
My father became a myth.

Thurber's Dogs
By James Thurber
This book contains one of my favorite dog stories, Snapshot of a Dog. I remember reading it in my literature book back in 4th grade and it was the genesis of my love of James Thurber.

I want to thank everyone who has expressed their sympathies. It's funny, the night before Arthur died, Fletch and I were sitting on the couch talking about our cat that we had to put to sleep last year.

"I miss Caitlin," he said.
"I do too. But everything dies eventually. Arthur will die someday too."
"I know. And you will too... someday."
"Yeah, but not for a long time. Ok?"
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," he said.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have slept on the floor with Arthur Thursday night. And we would have eaten great blocks of cheese, and mountains of pizza crusts and all the other things he liked. We would have waited up for the skunk and barked in the moonlight if he dared to show up again. And in the morning we would roll in the grass together as the sun came up on the last day of summer.

That's it... that's all I've got in me today. It's going to be a cold winter.

I had no way of knowing that less than a month later my father would die as well. It made my choice of that excerpt from Big Fish all the more apt.

From Arthur