A wake up call that fell silent in the city bustle!!

It is official. The biggest causative agents  for global warming all over the world  are industrial and auto emissions.  The situation is no different in Kerala as well. Kochi, the business hub of this state is infamous for its staggering number of vehicles that push through the bad roads, causing terrible traffic congestion and emissions. Cochin has  one of the highest car densities in India, which is ten times more than the national average. Most of the vehicles on the city roads do not pass the emission standards and one can see thick plumes of dark smoke emanating from the tail as these vehicles of all shapes and sizes  wait at the traffic signals! Blame it on adulterated fuel ( many drivers mix additives to petrol to increase the mileage!) or lure for profits- the fact is that the damage goes unnoticed!

What we need  now are hybrid cars that run on battery. Till these are ready to hit the roads at prices that are affordable to you and me, the only option is to use the available resources sensibly. Public transport is the best mode of transport to commute; if  you find it too slow or crowded; ( Cant we run more Volvo buses at rates that are affordable to the common man?) the next best option would be the shared private cars. Yes; you heard it right. People who stay in adjacent flats and share the work space can very well share their vehicles with their colleagues! However, the irony is that most of them prefer to turn a blind eye. Is it that we have become too narrow minded that we do not feel like picking up our next door neighbor or is it that we wish to be at our own pace and do not want to reschedule our timings for another person? In either case, if we all could make this small adjustment, it would be a big step in the right direction!

So, next time when you see someone from your gated community, ram that brake and offer a lift! It can save the world! By taking turns, we all can save fuel and money; above all, foster friendship and good will:)  If your work place happens to be near your residence , you would  be  one of those few lucky souls who could tuck in a work out regimen into the day  if you decide to chuck out the car and walk back home from work! As they say necessity is the mother of invention and the time has come for all of us to put on our thinking caps to come up with novel ideas to save this world  from being a cauldron of burning gases.

Let us admit it; Keralites have  a penchant for the gas guzzling luxury cars, which they buy to satisfy their vanity rather than to meet  their needs. These air conditioned road rulers with just one person behind the wheel  are not just adding up to the congestion of city roads but are also adding up to the green house effect. Increasing the taxes of luxury cars could help bring down the numbers to some extent; better still, the city administration can bring out a law that allows a person to take out the car only on alternate days as is the system in many foreign countries. The alarm bells  are in the air. And if we choose not to do anything now, there might not be a second chance or a  tomorrow!

[Via http://news.karmakerala.com]

Los Angeles, Universal Studios and Disneyland

Pulling the worst poses known to man on Splash Mountain, Disneyland, CA

Los Angeles, Universal Studios and Disneyland

Having stayed overnight in a northern part of Los Angeles called Van Nuys; Birmingham RV park $63 per night (very expensive in our opinion), Universal Studios beckoned. We arrived at 8.30, far too early for the park opening at 10am but managed to get an annual pass for the same price as a day ticket. Useful considering I’m travelling until December 2010!

Universal Studios – Very different to Paris and allegedly Florida, this flavour of park is home to actual film sets such as War of the Worlds, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Psycho and the TV show Desperate Housewives. With many rides including Jurassic Park water ride and The Mummy roller coaster, to name the better ones, combining the theme park and studio tour capped off a good day of entertainment. Worth a visit at $69 for the day.

Los Angeles – Was very disappointing. Where is the glamour? Where is the shining, glitzy Hollywood Blvd star trail we here about? Hollywood Blvd makes the Blackpool Golden Mile look up-market, trendy and fashionable. Don’t get me wrong, the stars on the floor is great but then place tacky bars, shops and a continual harassment to visit the stars homes for the same price as a deposit on a house and the experience becomes marred. Homelessness was obvious, sheer lack of up-keep was obvious and a police patrol every minute showed crime was obvious. I’d never rush to go back despite driving through Bel Air along Sunset Blvd and witnessing where all the American tax dollars are being spent. We hired a car for LA to the tune of $80 to drive through, it’d be virtually impossible in the RV.

Disneyland – Woeful. Am I 9 years old anymore? No. I’d find more thrills in a packet of cornflakes. $72 was the fine, spend a further $25 and you receive a 1-day park hopper. We did just this and popped over to Disney California Adventure park located opposite Disneyland pleased us no end. Thrills galore including, a roller coaster that make grown kids scream, water rides, 3D shooting experience. When I have children I’d love to bring them back to Disneyland to see their faces light up at each Disney character, but without children the only option is to skip this park.

Where did we stay for Disneyland?

Disneyland is located in Anaheim, southern part of Los Angeles and having a motorhome we set down at Anaheim Resort RV Park. Offering a Jacuzzi, heated pool and a $4 shuttle bus to Disneyland for a meagre $61 a night. 3 nights here helped us rejuvenate before Las Vegas.

Cystic Fibrosis related problems?

NO! My, it’s such a relief to say this two lettered word. The nebuliser cable arrived after a hugely appreciated forwarding from Jim and Marian Black to us in Anaheim – thank you so much. The nebuliser works and I can finally lasso with the cable again… no, no just kidding wouldn’t want the hospital to think I’m playing conkers or herding cattle with it.

The cough has subsided to a more than normal, but acceptable level and the cold has disappeared. I hope it stays this way for the rest of the trip.

[Via http://carrows.wordpress.com]

Watching the sun rise in my rear-view mirror and bats flying beneath the underpass.

Currently, I am preoccupied by this question posed to me by a good friend:

“What do you think about after you drop me off and drive away after spending the weekend with me?”

I was caught off guard by this question. I had picked him up from a party and he was clearly intoxicated yet he posed this in all seriousness. I stammered for a moment, and he repeated the question. Not sure how to respond, feeling as if this was some sort of trap, I said, “Well, I dunno.”

He didn’t let it drop at that. He pushed for a better answer. Finally, I said, “Well, I spend all weekend with you so when it comes to Sunday morning, I find I have quite a long to-do list I have to…” He cut me off there saying, clearly agitated by this response “Alright, got my answer.”

“Wait!” I said, “you didn’t let me finish.” I scrambled to try and right my supposed error, “After I drop you off, I need to think about my to-do list so I can start organizing and planning for when I get to see you next.”

He just turned up the music in response (Limp Bizkit’s ‘Faith’ – “Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body…”). “Whatever” was all he said.

After I dropped him off the next morning, and I drove away, I began thinking about the question some more. As I pondered, I noticed the sun rising in my rear-view mirror, a bright burnt orange sphere like you’d see in a Monet painting.  For a moment, all of the confusion of our recent conversations did not matter, and then I saw a bat flutter underneath an underpass and I immediately thought, “Oh cool. He would have loved to see that, I’ll have to text him about that later.” Then I realized why my answer had been wrong. I had lied. I had the both scary and exciting realization that he had slowly become the context for all of my thoughts, and all he had wanted, and hoped for, was for this confession, for this admittance of some sort of feeling beyond that of just friends. I had a moment of clarity as a watched that sun rise in my rear-view mirror: I had fallen in love with my best friend, and my best friend loved me back. Needless to say, I cannot wait for next weekend.

[Via http://itsbetterifyoudo.wordpress.com]

Bothersome bikers!

Last evening, Lady of the House and I decided to drive into the countryside to have a meal in the Rob Roy Inn at Buchlyvie (if you don’t know the village, don’t even try to pronounce it!)

The weather was beautiful, and we took the winding road through  the gorgeous Blane Valley with the low sun glinting off the Campsie Hills. Other car-owners had obviously decided to take the same route and we all meandered along well within the speed limit.

It was very pleasant and enjoyable, until, suddenly there was this tremendous roar from behind and to my utter amazement, there were three ton-up boys, on exceedingly powerful motor-bikes, accelerating past me, on the wrong side of the road, on a blind corner!  There were no more than two seconds between each of them and they cut-in and out as they weaved between cars, pulling-in as coaches and lorries came towards them, with sickengly little distance to spare! 

So why do they go out on these wild sprees?….is it to terrorise motorists……is it to show-off about the power of their bikes….is it for an adrenalin kick?

It certainly can’t be to admire the scenery….or to maintain the quiet of the countryside……or to endear themselves to other road users…..or to encourage others to take up the sport….or to minimise their global footprint….or to show respect for the sanity of motorists…

Can someone please explain why I should abstain from driving them off the road!….so, if you are a biker, please pay those of us who keep to the law, a little bit more respect!

[Via http://irishpisky.wordpress.com]

Ferrari California pictures

More information about this car: http://www.blogofcar.com/auto/2010/03/ferrari-california-added-6-speed-transmission-model/

[Via http://blogofcar.wordpress.com]

EARL COOPER | AUTO RACING LEGENDS AT THE DAWN OF THE GOLDEN AGE

*

Earl Cooper, auto racer, taken at the auto races at Salem, New Hampshire. Cooper’s last major victory was here at the Rockingham board track speedway. He won that 200-miler with a front-drive Miller in 1926.  – Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS— Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

*

Nebraska-born in 1886, Earl Cooper became a star just as the Golden Age of auto racing was dawning. Cooper’s illustrious racing career, in which he racked-up three National Championships (1913, 1915 & 1917) and 11 top 10 points finishes, all started in 1904– in an ironic and bittersweet twist.

It was 1904, and Cooper was on the West Coast working as a mechanic at a Maxwell auto dealership.  Cooper was bitten by the racing bug, but when he appealed to the Maxwell dealership for sponsorship in a San Francisco race, he was refused.  Turns-out his own boss was competing in the same race and did not welcome the friendly competition.  So Cooper scoffed at the dealership’s snub, and somehow was able to convince a kind old woman to let him enter  her brand new Maxwell in the race.  Cooper soundly beat his boss– and just as quick, found himself unemployed.  With nothing left to lose, he went on a racing tear, up and down the West Coast, where he was at times unstoppable.

Cooper joined the Stutz racing team in 1912, and just one year later went on to win the National Championship– racking up 2,610 points.  Cooper dominated the scene that year, winning five of the eight major road races, along with one 2nd place finish.

*

Earl Cooper and his riding mechanic in the Stutz car. Picture taken at Indianapolis 500 qualifying in 1919. (Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo. Noel Allard collection)

*

In 1913, Cooper’s Hell-bent rival, Barney Oldfield, was driving for the Mercer team.  The two battled fast and furious in a battle of skill and will on the track–

Cooper and Oldfield would run head-to-head at the Santa Monica Road Race, held on an eight-mile macadam course near the ocean. Oldfield blasted away from the starter’s flag and held a sizeable lead, but Cooper passed Tetzlaff for second and began running Oldfield down. With a 4-minute lead over Oldfield, one of Cooper’s tires blew out and he had to coast into the pits. As his riding mechanic struggled to get the wheel off, Oldfield roared past. Cooper jumped out of the driver’s seat and wrenched the wheel off, the tire was changed and the car back on the track to begin running down Oldfield once more. In his exuberance to stay ahead, this time Oldfield blew a tire and bumped into the pits as Cooper whisked past and on to the checkered flag as the winner.

On September 9, 1913, Cooper and Oldfield again met head-to-head on a 3-mile paved track that circled the town of Corona, California. Cooper, after experiencing the tire problem at Santa Monica, had cannily practiced on the course to find what maximum speed he could drive in order to not make any tire stops at all. He determined that if he drove 75 mph. for the entire race, he could do just that. Oldfield, hell-bent-for-leather, predicted that the race average would go to 90 mph. Oldfield set the pace from the start, over Cooper, Tetzlaff, DePalma and Spencer Wishart. He clocked an awesome 98 mph on one lap, but the track had started to break up from the pounding it was taking from the heavy cars. Oldfield burst a tire and Cooper inherited the lead. Oldfield was back on the track and again at speed when again, a young spectator ran onto the track in front of him. Oldfield swerved to avoid the lad and crashed heavily, injuring several people and himself. Cooper won again and would go on to take his first AAA National Championship.

–Noel Allard

*

Earl Cooper in action at the start of a race in 1925, Laurel, Maryland.

*

1915 was another banner year, as Cooper battled back from health issues that had kept him largely sidelined in 1914. He won the first race of 1915 at Point Loma, California, then was forced to take time off from racing due to his health for the early part of the season. He scored points at Indianapolis with a 4th place finish, along with another 4th place finish at Maywood, IL, and two 2nd place finishes at Tacoma, WA. Cooper also managed 2nd in a 50-lap invitational on the Chicago board track. He followed that with a win in one of two events at Elgin, IL, and at a 500-mile race on the cement speedway at Fort Snelling, MN, outside Minneapolis. He also won three 100-mile non-points-awarding races in the West to close the season.

On May 26, 1925, Earl Cooper became the first driver to exceed 110 mph at the famed speedway in Indianapolis when he drove his Junior 8 to 110.728 mph in an official qualification lap. The record didn’t last long. He was eclipsed later in the day by Harry Hartz with a speed of 112.994 mph and again the same day by Peter DePaolo at 114.285 mph in a Duesenberg.

He also set a four-lap qualifying record at 110.487 mph in 1925, but was topped by Hartz, DePaolo and eventual pole sitter Leon Duray in a Miller at 113.196 mph.

Earl Cooper’s impressive racing career lasted until 1927. But retirement did not mean an end to racing– Cooper spent several years as a team manager. Along with his loyal mechanic over the years, Reeves Dutton, they built three front-drive Cooper racing cars, one of which competed at Indianapolis into the 1940s.  Earl Cooper died on Oct. 22, 1965 in Atwater, CA, at the age of 79.

*

San Francisco, California — Photo shows auto racing legend Earl Cooper of San Francisco at the race at Rochingham. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

*

To be continued…

*

[Via http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com]

Disappearing Act

This weekend I’ll be staying with my older sister, to look after my nieces while she’s at work. I should be back by Tuesday. She doesn’t have internet, so unless I can pick up someone else’s signal, you probably won’t hear from me for a few days.

I can’t say today was better than previous days. I was almost hit by a car this afternoon. I went to cross the street as I was leaving campus, in a crosswalk mind you. One foot was in the crosswalk, and as I was about to take another step, this white car cuts right in front of me. I didn’t see the car because it came from behind. But if I had taken just one or two more steps, the car could have hit me.

I spent the afternoon with my brother. He got a call at work (he works at Gamestop), and it was hilarious. A woman called in to ask about some games, but didn’t specify for which system. He asked three times. For the rest of the time I was there, his coworkers and a friend teased him about it.

His coworker called the store and asked about the games, while he was standing in front of the register. He then told his wife she should get everyone in her office to call GS and ask for the games, without saying for which system. Even my brother’s friend called in and did it. Oh, he was pissed.

Later I ran into a friend from German class while I was waiting for my mom at work. I also got to see a guy I hadn’t seen in a while. He used to be a demo for Sam’s, but once they brought in an outside company, he became a ‘Zoner’. It was nice to talk to both of them.

I have at least 30 themes for my 365-sketch challenge. That’s a good start. For now though, I need to pack and call it a night.

[Via http://ahstudios.wordpress.com]