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LATEST FASHIONS
It happens very subtly and we almost miss it but there are
two fashions that I have noticed recently to have occured. When all your superstars (Millionaires) start
sporting beards , It almost drives me to shave again so I’ll look like a
teenager again. (Pretty unlikely). But
we are still hung up on clean faces in
the Political arena, except for a bit part in a pretty good movie “Madam Secretary” where one of her aides has a partial beard but
even better, one of her female (black) aids has a very weird haircut. If only that
filters down to our real world (as some of the other ideas of the series), life
could improve a bit.
The other fashion
is have you ever noticed that women are mostly wearing tights instead of skirts anymore. This harks back to
early Science Fiction illustrations where all women wore tights (and were not
fat) plus their ever-present belt containing their daily dose of anti-pregnant pills. Well,
BLACK KNIGHT MOVIE
Being of a curious
temper, I rented “Black Knight” as it has gotten so many awards. Wow, was I ever surprised! What an absurd scene. Have
our adults retroed to child-hood? This
was worse than I imagined. The only
thing missing were the white guys. Who
rates all these, twelve year old kids?
MONEY VERSUS TASTE
There seems to be a
close correlation between the two as the more money someone has, their taste
for Design & aesthetics declines. Or is it just me?
IF YOU’R DESPERATE IN Paris and need a Hot Dog fix, get to Harry’s Bar and ask for a “Chien
Choud”
(Shen Showd) And you will get a close facsimely of one. I don’t know where they get them.
It’s like
Cocktails. The French do not like to cloud up their Cognac with sweet crap and
make it look pretty. thirty years ago the only place you could get a cocktail
in France was a Harry’s and a really
large Hotel, but now , the French are getting perverted and you’ll find them
all over. Just don’t ask for a ‘Martini’ as you will be served a glass of Sweet
Vermouth, Martini’s.
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MORE ON THE SMART CAR
Before production
began the Diamler AG folks designed and built the innovative production plant
near the German Border near Hambach, France, now called SMARTVILLE. The central portion is a cross consisting of
the assembly lines on the ground level wirh the upper three stories for offices
and Labs. Most of the components are produced , assembled and guanteed by a
plethera of sub-contractors.
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These companies have mostly built adjacent plants where they
produce various components and actually install them on a timely basis due to
their close proximetry. A few of the
subs are: De Dion Tube rear suspension (He invented the Rear end for cars in
about 1895 for steam Tricycles.), Siemens produces the entire cockpit, cable
trees and batteries. Krupp delivers the propulsion unit, Tire sets are by
continental. They produce about 750 cars a day. ( Thru a company-owned railway
station.)
But you are
probably more interested in the safety of such a small machine. See below.
Since there is virtually no room for a crumple Zone in the
front the car , it has is built in a cage of steel. An American Test using a
five star rating gave Smart a four-star rating,(Front Impact) while it got a
five star rating for a side impact. The real test was getting approval for the
Norwegian “Moose Test” wherever the car
has to avoid an object at a certain speed and not tip over. Smart had to do a re-design
to pass that one.
My old Citreon 2CV
(Due-shay-voh) or two horses), was also a three cylinder power plant but it
only produced about 13 HP at the time(1966). However, the Smart has a beautiful bundle of giszmos
that are in the back that produces 88 HP in some models. The radiator is in the front of the car. But it will get up to 96 mile per hour, fast
enough for me.
WHEN YOU’R FEELING DOWN….
I’ve just come across a musician who is a real inspiration
for us when we are feeling sorry for ourselves
or a bit down. He as a pianist/Arranger
who plays AROUND MIDNIGHT in a manner that is better than Monk himself. If that doesn’t get rid of your
blues, listen to his version of TAKE THE ‘A’ TRAIN, played with his outstanding
side-men. His name is Michel Petrucciani,
see him on You Tube, performing “Round Midnight” & “Take the ‘a’ Train”. This small miserable dwarf can barlely
move about on his little dwarf crutches, yet has managed to excel at Jazz piano
as well as arranging same. If you find
life a little too hard, just play his clip and you couldn’t possibly keep
feeling sorry for yourself any longer. His transformation is close to
miraculous.
QUEEN OF THE DESERT
Gertrude Bell, an early suffragette (She did not support the
cause), was an early supporter of the Arab cause, one of the first mountain
climbers (Europe), and instrumental in
the first days of Iraq when it was originated in about 1925 by the British and
the French. How she was on the scene at
the right time is described in a well researched book by Georgina Howell , “Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert, Shaper
of Nations.” She had a brilliant
mind, from a wealthy British family, fluent in French, German, Persian, Arabic and
versed in others as required. She had
her own caravans and traveled the vast deserts to meet most of the important
Sheiks and Sherifs that would come in handy when Iraq was being designed.
This was all done when women were not to be seen at anything
important.
